Chapter 3: Something to kill
Callie really wanted to kill something; the thought of losing herself in some violence was just so appealing right now. She hadn't wanted to go to Redcliffe, afraid that someone there might recognise her, notice the resemblance to her father or Fergus who were well known to Arl Eamon and many of his knights
She glanced to her right at Alistair. He hadn't left her side since Ostagar, even pitching his tent next to hers when they camped. Ostagar…another betrayal, when Morrigan had told her about Loghain's betrayal of the king, the deaths he'd caused, all she'd wanted to do was get out of the wilds and hunt Howe and Loghain down. She would make them both pay, Howe for her family and Loghain for Duncan, for the king and for all the nameless others that had died on the battlefield because of his treachery.
She hadn't considered Alistair though or what seeing him grieve for those who had died would make her feel. When he saw that she was alive he had hugged her so fiercely that she'd thought he was going to break her ribs, his relief at her being alive so obvious. There was anguish written clearly on his face for all to see as he struggled with the grief over Duncan's and his fellow Grey Wardens' deaths, a grief that she fully understood.
Seeing Alistair's pain had added a new layer to the storm of emotions that she had been keeping shoved down inside since Highever. It actually hurt her to see him in so much pain, this overgrown boy who was nice to everyone and who had shown her nothing but kindness since they'd met. It fuelled her desire for revenge, to hunt down all those responsible for her pain and for Alistair's pain.
Alistair though had other ideas, while she had stood there privately indulging in some very violent revenge scenarios, Alistair talked about Arl Eamon and the Grey Warden treatise with Morrigan's mother Flemeth adding her thoughts to Alistair's ideas.
"Can we do this then, build an army, defeat the blight?" He'd asked
She saw the tiny hope that had kindled in his eyes and listened to his pleading for her to stand with him. She tried to shove the anger and violent thoughts down, clear her head, so she could think about something other than killing people. She thought about the blight, what would happen to Ferelden if it wasn't stopped, but a voice inside told her to forget the blight, to look for Fergus and bring death to her family's murderers, if so many Fereldens were comfortable betraying their fellow countrymen then let the blight have them.
When she looked back up into Alistair's eyes though grief welled up replacing the anger and a new voice drowned out everything else in her head. She decided vengeance could wait. Alistair needed her, needed her to stay strong, to walk by his side and help him do their duty as Grey Wardens. So she would do her duty, she would do everything in her power to stop the blight, not for the Grey Wardens though and not for Ferelden, but for him – they only had each other now.
After leaving the wilds Callie had planned to put off the journey to Redcliffe for as long as possible, but Alistair's worry and distress over the news in Lothering that the Arl was ill changed her mind. Alistair considered the man family of a sort and he was still so raw with grief over Duncan that she thought it would help ease him a little if they headed there first and see if they could do anything.
It had turned out worse than she'd imagined. Not only was the Arl in a coma from being poisoned but Redcliffe village was being attacked by an army of corpses every night, an army controlled by a child possessed by a demon of all things. Alistair of course wanted to help, not that she would have refused, she was her father's daughter after all. People had died though, simple villagers who were just trying to protect their home and she felt responsible. If she'd insisted on trying to enter the castle when they'd first arrived like she'd wanted, the attack on the village may never have happened and those people wouldn't have had to fight or die.
The thought of those unnecessary deaths twisted Callie's insides and the anger that was egging on her need to kill something rose up again. Sodding bloody Arlessa hiding the fact that her demon infested son was responsible for the deaths of so many people. Flaming Banshee of a woman didn't even have the decency to show any concern for the villagers that looked to her and her husband for protection.
"If only Alistair hadn't suggested going to the circle" Callie thought. "I would have happily bled the bitch dry for that mages ritual." Just to never have to hear that Maker awful screeching voice again was enough of a reason, never mind her total lack of responsibility towards the people of Redcliffe and the fact that she made Alistair's childhood so bad. How could anyone treat a child like that, it was beyond Callie's understanding.
"And now I really need something to kill" she muttered under her breath.
Suddenly an arrow hit the ground in front of Callie, looking up she saw a group of bandits coming out of the treeline.
"Look what we have here" a feral grin spreading on her face.
"Why do you look so happy that someone's attacking us?" Leliana asks, pulling her bow from off her back.
"I was just thinking how I really needed something to kill and poof here we are, it's almost enough to make me believe in the Maker" Callie responds as she pulls her daggers from their sheaths and lopes straight towards their attackers.
Picturing Isolde's face in place of her first opponent's Callie laughs wildly as she feels the tension she'd been carrying drain away. She ducks under the swing of his sword while sidestepping as if to go around him; with a quick thrust and a twist with one dagger up in to his armpit she severs the main artery and moves on to her next target in the knowledge that the blood loss from such a wound will have him dead in seconds.
A yell of "duck" from Leliana and she drops to one knee hearing the whoosh of an arrow from the red head's bow as it flies overhead to skewer one of the archers through the throat.
"Nice shot Lel" she yells back before performing a hasty forward roll to avoid the great axe that was suddenly descending on her. Where did this guy come from? Luckily Morrigan hits the warrior with a paralyse spell before Callie has to worry too much about it and she stabs him in the chest with her left dagger while slicing his throat with her right just for good measure.
Looking up she spots Sten on her left taking down two men and Alistair on her right facing off to four more, knowing Leliana and Morrigan will take care of the remaining archers she turns towards Alistair. When Alistair's shield bash knocks two of his attackers over and his body shifts so that she's shielded from the eyes of the other two Callie does another quick forward roll to disappear in to the shadows of the trees. Alistair's opponents are so focused on her fellow warden that she's unnoticed when she reappears behind them, stabbing one on her left in the kidney and sliding her other dagger through the back up and in to the heart of the one on her right.
A sudden thump and a pressure hitting her right shoulder sends Callie spinning, she trips tumbling over the bodies of Alistair's last two opponents pain flaring in her left ankle as she falls and her head hits something hard with a loud crack before darkness descends.
Is she laughing? Alistair frozen in shock for an instance wonders. He'd seen Callie smile maybe half a dozen times and only heard her laugh once since they'd met and now here she was running straight into a fight again and she was laughing!
She's a totally lunatic! Alistair draws his sword and runs after his not so sane friend. Bringing his shield round in a wide arc he manages to intercept four men heading in Callie's direction. "Focus on me please, ignore the crazy woman" he silently prays. He hears her laugh again and it's not so much of a I'm happy laugh but more of a maniacal I'm a piece of cheese short of a picnic kind of laugh, definitely insane then.
His heart misses a beat when from the corner of his eye he's sees a hulking great axe descend on her from behind. There's no way he can disengage from the men pressing him to get there in time, panic flares in his chest briefly before he realises Callie's attacker had stopped moving. Maybe bringing the witch with them hadn't been such a bad idea after all.
Shield bash, down you go. Now where has she gone? Oh there you are. Focus man! Alistair chides himself. He lunges, his sword piercing the man struggling to get up in front of him through the throat, the other victim of his shield bash not moving having been permanently put down with two of Leliana's arrows in his chest.
There's a sudden whoosh and Alistair's heart stops completely as an arrow comes out of nowhere and Callie spins around and falls to the ground not moving.
"Callie, no!" he screams dropping to his knees beside her totally oblivious as a crack of lightning from Morrigan and a charging mabari disappear into the trees in the direction the arrow came from. His heart starts beating again when he feels the pulse of hers, faint but still there.
"Is she okay?" Leliana appearing at Alistair's side asks "I'm so sorry, I thought Morrigan and I had got all the archers."
"Alive thank the Maker, just unconscious, I think she hit her head." Alistair replies "And it's not your fault Leliana, don't worry. We'll need to find a place to set up camp though and get this arrow out, thankfully it's in her shoulder so hasn't hit anything vital."
Alistair snaps the arrow in half not wanting to just pull it out until the wound can be treated properly. Then as gently as possible he lifts Callie, cradling her in his arms and trying to avoid knocking what's left of the arrows length. A large bruise was already beginning to blossom on her temple where she'd hit it. She looks so fragile. Looking down upon her face Alistair is filled with such a mix of emotions it staggers him.