Title: Ghosts
Author: May Chang
Warnings: general, adventure, AU
Pairings: M!Shepard + Ashley, M!Cousland x Zevran
Disclaimers: Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect are the property of BioWare.
Author's Note: Shepard is a Paragon/Earthborn/War Hero/Infiltrator.
Ghosts
Part Seven
The... thing let out a roar and launched itself at them. Shepard let fly an arrow and it struck the demon which let out a howl of pain. For some reason it continued towards the mage, swiping at the templars who were in its way with its claws. Shepard fired another two arrows at the demon, moving to keep himself in range of it and away from the others so he didn't hit them by accident. The demon howled, reaching up to grab at the arrows and looked right at Shepard.
What happened next confused the commander: the demon was looking at him, he was sure about that, but it didn't react at all to his presence. Shepard was sure that if it had any human expression it would be wearing a confused one right now. Aoibhe took the moment to strike at it with her greatsword, cleaving the demon in two. It shrieked and hit the floor.
"Get back!" Wallace shouted at Lachlan as he put himself between the mage and another shade, his shield taking the brunt of its swipe. He quickly rammed his sword into the demon and threw it off at the third shade. They collided and Shepard took the opportunity to shoot the third shade, aim true as he hit it in the head. Both hit the floor and tried to get up when Wallace and Aoibhe quickly walked over them and slammed their blades through the two demons.
"There are more!" Lachlan cried out and Shepard turned in time to see the mage cast something that sent what looked like a boulder flying at the shade. It knocked the demon back and Shepard took the opportunity to shoot an arrow at it. It slowly got up as two more shades appeared, screaming at them. Wallace and Aoibhe were busy attacking the two other shades, leaving Shepard and Lachlan to deal with the one from before.
Feeling that arrows weren't doing the trick, Shepard slung his crossbow back and pulled out his dagger. He moved quickly at the shade, able to move behind it and stabbing it in the back. The shade shrieked and Shepard yanked the knife out, jumping back as the demon reached back to claw at him. It turned, looked straight at Shepard and did nothing.
What the? Shepard thought in confusion as the shade turned its attention back at Lachlan. He moved quickly to protect Lachlan by stabbing the demon again in the back. It shrieked again and this time when Shepard yanked the knife out and moved away from the demon, he jumped in front of the shade. As the shade looked back at Lachlan, Shepard took the opportunity to shove the knife into the shade's throat and yanked it up hard. The shriek came out as a gurgle and the shade hit the ground.
Shepard turned to the other demons as the shade before him turned to ash. Lachlan had turned his attention to helping Aoibhe and Wallace was handling the other shade alone. Seeing as Aoibhe and Lachlan had a handle on their demon, Shepard moved to help Wallace. He didn't reach for his crossbow, feeling that his dagger dealt a lot more damage and really he wanted to test something. Wallace struck the demon hard, sending it staggering back. Shepard took the opportunity to stab the shade in the back and it shrieked in pain. He pulled back and moved away as the demon flailed about, trying to find the source of its pain.
They can't see me, Shepard thought as he circled away from the shade. His brow furrowed in confusion but then Wallace was charging at the shade with a yell, slicing the demon in two. Aoibhe and Lachlan finished taking down the one they were fighting and for a while they all breathed hard in silence.
"Well. That was some welcoming party," Shepard said, panting. Aoibhe gave a short laugh as Wallace shook his head. Lachlan just continued to try to get his breath under control, though there was a faint smile on his face. "Speaking of which, I don't think any of those demons can see me." All three of them gave Shepard a sharp look.
"What do you mean?" Wallace asked, straightening. Aoibhe also straightened as she and Wallace gave a quick look at each other before focusing on Shepard. The commander gave a shrug.
"When I was fighting one demon with Lachlan, I was able to backstab it," Shepard started to explain. "It looked right at me when I pulled away but instead of going after me, it just went for Lachlan again."
"You're right," Lachlan said, frowning. "I didn't notice that before."
"It happened with the demon I was fighting as well," Wallace noted. "That last one was flailing about even though you were right in front of it." The templar gave Shepard a scrutinizing look before he shook his head.
"First thing's first: we should look for any survivors," Wallace continued. "After that the Knight-Commander and First Enchanter will want to know about your... ability to hide from demons." Shepard nodded, and they all turned to search the Chantry. When nothing turned up Shepard rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the broken temple before at the others.
"Should we go look around the village?" Shepard asked. Wallace seemed to be giving him a thoughtful look and took a seat on one of the unbroken tables.
"I've got an idea, Shepard," Wallace said. "How about you go out and check out the village?"
"What?" Shepard replied in confusion. Lachlan looked horrified by the question while Aoibhe gave Wallace a look of disbelief.
"You said it yourself, Shepard," Wallace explained. "The demons don't see you. Right now you're the perfect person to go look for the villagers, not only because you can sneak past them but also because you can clear a path for them and us, and still be perceived as a friendly face to the villagers." Shepard crossed his arm as he raised an eyebrow at Wallace.
"Sure, but we can't be totally sure that I'm invisible to all demonic presence, can we?" Shepard said. He uncrossed his arms and started to pace. "I'm use to being invisible but I'm invisible by hiding in the shadows, but this... this is a little too out there."
"True, but right now you're our best chance to finding out what happened," Wallace said.
And again, everything is on my shoulders, Shepard thought with a mental sigh. At least this is a one-time thing. I hope. He stopped pacing to stand before the three and shrugged.
"Alright, I'll do it," Shepard said and then grimaced. "Can't say that I'm looking forward to this."
"I don't blame you," Lachlan muttered.
"Would you at least search through the homes?" Shepard requested. "Just having me run around looking is going to take a pretty long time to find anything."
"He's right," Aoibhe said in acknowledgement. "We can at least do that while he runs around in creepy basements and cellars."
"Thanks," Shepard replied drily. Aoibhe gave him a sweet smile as Wallace nodded and stood up.
"Might as well get started," Wallace said. Shepard nodded and they all headed out of the Chantry and began their search. Most of the homes didn't have cellars and they weren't attacked by any more demons though their shrieks can still be heard echoing through the village.
It was when they reached one of the bigger homes towards the back of the village that Shepard got to try out the idea of whether he was invisible to demons only. Aoibhe had found the trapdoor to the cellar and Shepard was shooed down. When he reached the ground Shepard pulled out his crossbow, something that reassured him as much as when he had his pistol.
He suppose that the cellar was standard as cellars goes – shelves of food and a door that led somewhere. Seeing nothing around him Shepard walked over to the door and cautiously opened it. Inside were three demons, two looking like it was made of fire and the third a shade. The three didn't seem to notice as the door slowly opened and Shepard slipped inside. The shade looked over at the door with Shepard closed it, causing the commander to freeze but then it turned away.
Is my heart still beating? Oh yeah, it is, Shepard thought, feeling his heart racing. Seeing as none of the demons moved, Shepard took a chance and walked right in front of the three demons. None of them moved at him, just staring into space and making low noises. Shepard put away his bow and pulled out the knife, flipping it in his hand nervously. His heart was pounding when he walked right next to the biggest one and waved a hand in front of its face.
Nothing happened.
"OK, this is interesting and disturbing at the same time," Shepard said aloud. Still no change from the three. "...Right." He then walked behind the big one and proceeded to stab it in the back. The demon howled in pain as Shepard yanked the knife out and pulled back as the demon clapped a hand on its back. The other two shrieked, turning to see as the big one howled. None of them noticed Shepard at all.
Shepard gave a grim smile as he took the opportunity to take care of the demons. While the big one was searching around for its attacker, Shepard decided to take out one of the smaller ones. It looked rather fiery and Shepard could feel the heat coming from it. Still he had to take them out - it's always better to make sure the path was mostly safe before looking for survivors.
His training with the dagger proved effective as he slammed his blade into the back of one of the fire demons. It howled as Shepard drew back and finally ended in a gurgle as its throat was cut. The commander moved quickly to the other side as the demon fell, the other two howling in confusion. The downed demon suddenly exploded and Shepard ducked behind some barrels to avoid the flames.
"Well, at least things still explode with I'm involved," Shepard muttered to himself. He paused and started laughing as he suddenly remembered Liara and Garrus giving him dirty looks when he set off the neutron purge in Noveria. They had managed to get into and up the elevator far enough when the labs blew, but it still rocked the lift. At least Wrex seemed to enjoy the explosions Shepard had caused, especially when they had caused the geth dropship to fall off of the Exo-Geni building.
The laughter died off when he thought of another major explosion.
Virmire still hurt.
Shaking himself out of the memories Shepard looked up to see the two demons moving around, trying to find out what happened to their companion. Shepard stealthily moved out of cover and towards the other little demon – he didn't need to do stealth but damn, was it an old habit to do so – and stabbed it in the back. It reared back with a howl, causing the shade to jerk its head at Shepard's direction and giving him a minor heart-attack. Shepard stabbed the fire demon once more and then moved quickly to the barrels, diving behind them just the demon hit the floor. Seconds later it exploded and the shade shrieked as it was burned.
Last one, Shepard thought with a deep breath. He looked over at the shade who was now shrieking angrily as it looked around the room. Pulling out his crossbow Shepard aimed and fired a couple bolts at the shade, causing it to shriek and turn towards Shepard's hiding spot. Shepard slung the crossbow onto his back as he moved out from behind the barrels and circled behind the demon, blade out. The shade moved and proceeded to throw the barrels out of the way, stopping to look around in confusion and giving Shepard the perfect opening. He stabbed the demon deep into its back and then backed away quickly as it howled again. When it turned around, Shepard stabbed the shade in the throat. It gurgled out a death-rattled and fell to the floor, and Shepard took a deep breath as he watched the shade disappear.
Putting his blade away Shepard looked around, searching for any clues that there may have been someone mortal in the room. When nothing turned up he walked back upstairs with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck when he came out of the cellar and out the door.
"Anything?" Aoibhe asked as he turned to look at the commander. Shepard shook his head and glanced around.
"Had an encounter with three demons and I'm totally invisible to them," Shepard said. "Where are Wallace and Lachlan?"
"Over there," the templar said, pointing to a house down the road. "You were able to take out three demons?"
"Well, the invisible to demon part really helped," Shepard said. Aoibhe nodded and tilted her head as she looked at Shepard. The commander felt that the templar was studying him at the moment and he just shrugged. "How about we catch up with the other two?"
"Sure, and you can go searching for more demons in the cellar," Aoibhe said cheerfully. Shepard rolled his eyes as he and Aoibhe walked to the house. Wallace and Lachlan stepped out to meet them as they approached.
"Nothing?" Wallace asked.
"No," Shepard said, shaking his head. "But my new ability really helps in taking them down." Lachlan made a thoughtful noise as he looked at Shepard, and again the commander felt that he was being studied.
"No other cellars yet," Wallace said. He was about to say something else only to be interrupted by a horrible shriek. His brows furrowed. "I'm getting a little tired of all that screaming."
Shepard was freaking tired. He had gone through another three more cellars and killed the demons that were in there. Thankfully Wallace, Aoibhe and Lachlan had done their fair-share of demon-killing in some of the homes they checked on. Still it was way too easy for Shepard to just walk in, stab the little ones that exploded and then take out the shade that were still burning from the explosion.
Something's bound to go wrong for me, Shepard thought darkly as he walked out of the cellar and out of the house, dusting off his hands. They haven't found what was making all the echoing shrieks in the village yet nor any signs of the villagers. Frankly Shepard was getting a little worried, wishing he had his crew at his back and a gun in his hands. They were fast to find people and had the firepower to take out anything that was in their way.
Still Shepard wasn't sure how his crew was going to react to fighting demons. He wasn't sure if religion would come into play as they were pretty diverse to start with: krogans and quarians have something to do with ancestor worships, turians believe in spirits but those spirits aren't good or evil, asaris will probably think the demons were bad energy or something, and humans will believe they're fighting the devil's minions or something along that line.
The two templars and mage weren't outside when Shepard exited the house. With a sigh Shepard started up the road, pulling out his crossbow in readiness. There were only two more homes left and what looked like a meeting hall. The door to the last house opened and the three walked out so Shepard jogged over to meet them.
"Nothing but a few more demons," Aoibhe reported, shaking her head. They all turned to look at the large building. "Perhaps they are all hiding in there."
"Most likely," Shepard said. "I haven't found any signs of the villagers, just demons." He paused and then gave a sigh.
"Why is it always the last place we look?" he muttered. Aoibhe gave an amused snort as they group started towards the hall.
The meeting hall was empty and just as trashed as the Chantry. Wallace and Aoibhe carefully walked into the building, blades out as Shepard and Lachlan followed behind, the commander with his crossbow out. It was eerily silent as they made their way down towards the podium. Behind the podium there were two doors on the right and and one on the left.
"I can check out the left one," Shepard said quietly. Wallace nodded and he, Aoibhe and Lachlan went through one of the right doors and Shepard proceeded through the left door. It looked like he was in a sitting room area or something as there were only two rooms. No demons were around and after a thorough search for the obvious and not-so-obvious Shepard left for the main hall. Aoibhe was there to meet him and she gave him a nod.
"There was nothing," she reported. "Wallace and Lachlan went ahead through the last door, we might as well catch up." Shepard nodded and he followed after the templar, finally meeting Wallace and Lachlan before some stairs that led down.
"The cellar, again?" Shepard asked. Even in his ears he couldn't help but sound petulant. Wallace seemed amused by that as he gestured towards the stairs.
"We'll be going with you this time," Wallace said. "It's the last place to look." Shepard nodded and they all proceeded down the stairs.
The sight of blood smeared on the floor and splattered on the walls and ceiling was a bad thing. Shepard was in the lead as he was probably the best in taking care of the demons and finding the villagers. Behind him was Aoibhe who was trailing after him with a bit of distance between them in case he had to move. Lachlan followed after her with Wallace bringing up the rear, his shield ready to protect the mage.
For once Shepard's training paid off in this world; he moved quickly and quietly down the halls, kneeling down to look around corners carefully before he looked back and gave Aoibhe a nod to say that the coast was clear. It was a few minutes later when he finally upon a lone villager standing in the middle of the hall, her back towards him. Without thinking, Shepard held up a fist, signaling the group to hold position as he frowned at the woman.
Something's not right, he thought warily, looking up and around the villager before he studied her. She just stood there, unmoving, making no indication that she noticed anything. Something's definitely not right.
Shepard looked around, looking for something to throw before he spotted some pebbles on the ground. Picking one up, he tossed it towards the villager. The clacking sound as the pebble hit the floor cause the woman the turn slightly, giving a growl. Shepard had been right – the villager was, well, not looking really human to him. She – no, it – looked blankly at the pebble but still made no move before it faced forward once again. He eased back and quietly made his way back to the others.
"There's a... well, I don't think it's a villager anymore," he whispered. Aoibhe and Wallace's expressions went blank while Lachlan bent his head down as a look of sorrow crossed his face. Shepard glanced over his shoulder and then looked back. "So do you think my power of invisibility extends to zombies as well?"
"I'm not sure," Lachlan murmured after a moment. "It's a demon in a mortal corpse. It probably can see you through mortal eyes."
"Let's go with the assumption that it can see Shepard then," Wallace said quietly. "Aoibhe and I will get rid of it." They all nodded and stood up, Wallace taking the lead this time. Treading as quietly as they could - well, as quietly as two people dressed in armor of steel could anyway - Wallace and Aoibhe rounded the corner and attacked. The zombie didn't even have a chance to alert any of its companions as the templars cut it apart.
"Remind me to never get on their bad side," Shepard said as he looked at the hacked-up zombie. Lachlan chuckled at that as the two walked over to the two templars. The mage knelt down by the body and gave it a critical look.
"Sloth demon," Lachlan said. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "So far it's only rage demons, shades and shambling corpses. This keeps looking better and better."
"The Veil is still pretty intact," Aoibhe noted. "How are they getting in?"
"A portal?" Shepard asked. "The blood mage may have created one to bring these through the Fade."
"Yes, yes, you're right. Not a portal but something similar," Lachlan said, crossing one arm across his chest and lifting his other hand to his mouth. "The First Enchanter mentioned a similar scenario at Soldier's Peak. A blood mage for the Grey Wardens had opened up the Veil in their battle against King Arland and wasn't able to close it until the Hero of Ferelden and his companions arrived."
"So we're looking for a portal leading to the Fade," Shepard summed up.
"Yes," Lachlan replied with a nod. "I think I should be able to seal it, but we need to get rid of the blood mage first. He may have enchanted the surviving villagers or worse to keep us from the portal."
"Then let's go," Wallace said. Shepard nodded and took point again, crossbow at the ready. It was a while later when the cellar changed to what looked like an underground cave. Shepard frowned as he paused before the entrance of the cave, studying the opening for a moment. It looked like the walls had been blasted opened and then someone moved away the debris and the parts of the walls that hadn't been blown away. Upon entering the cave Shepard found a villager lying on the floor. He quickly moved to the man, shifting the crossbow to his right hand as he knelt down and placed his left hand on the carotid artery on the man's neck. Shepard gave a quiet sigh of relief as he found a heartbeat before he turned to signal the others.
"Found one," Shepard said quietly. Lachlan moved to kneel by the man's side, already casting a healing spell as Wallace and Aoibhe stood by, alert for any enemies.
"He's... fine," Lachlan said, frowning. "Why is he—?" The villager's eyes suddenly snapped open and he quickly grabbed the mage's throat as though to strangle him. Shepard in an instant smashed the butt of his crossbow across the man's head, rendering him unconscious again. Lachlan fell back, coughing as he rubbed his throat.
"Andraste's flaming sword, he's enthralled!" Wallace swore. "The blood mage must have bewitched the villagers." Shepard grimaced; it was Zhu's Hope all over again except he didn't have any anti-thorian grenades with him.
"I don't suppose you know any sleep spells," Shepard asked, looking at Lachlan. The mage frowned and shook his head.
"Best I can do is probably a mind blast spell that'll stun my enemies for a minute at most," Lachlan informed the group. "But it'll take me at least thirty seconds to recover for another blast."
"That should be enough time for me and Wallace to knock some of them out," Shepard said. He looked at Aoibhe. "I don't suppose you're able to knock people out with just the flat of your sword?"
"Not without beheading them," she replied drily. "Wallace and you are going to have to work fast. I can protect Lachlan long enough for him to ready the spell again." Shepard nodded and he and Lachlan stood up. The plan was set and now it was time to find the blood mage.
I was originally going to write more, but this seemed like a good place to stop for now. I have to figure out the next battle scene. ^^;
[Edit: 12/21/10] Crap, I messed up on Aoibhe and Wallace's weapons so that's been edited.
