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Beric moved away from the headless corpse and heaved a heavy sigh, "Glad that's done."

I smothered the smile of triumph that threatened to grow on my face and began the search in the ruins for the missing Inquisition patrol. I found them in the cellar, more or less intact from where the Avvar left them. Hope shone bright in their eyes as they took in the Inquisitor's familiar battle regalia, and those that were able rose their feet.

"The Herald came for us!"

"I told you he wouldn't abandon us, thank the Maker!"

"Are you able?" Beric asked those he deemed worse in shape, "It's a long walk back to camp from here."

"We'll manage, Inquisitor." The strong ones hefted the weak onto their shoulders and carried them out of the room. "Again, thank you for the rescue."

"An escort won't hurt." Cassandra declared, "Once we're finished here, we'll join you on the road."

"As you wish." The officer in charge gave his consent.

I couldn't help but offer my services as a healer, watching those brave men and women grimace and moan in agony all the while. Though some showed an unwillingness for a mage to approach them, I healed the most grievous of their injuries for them to have a better chance to walk back to camp without falling over halfway. As my hands work their magic, I could feel Beric's intense gaze on me.

At first, I thought it was just me flattering myself, but then I threw him a sidewards glance. There he was, studying me in silence. "Something the matter, Inquisitor?"

"A warrior and a mage?" I heard him muse, "Most people I've met are one of the two, never both. I find it all intriguing, just an observation."

I still didn't like it, "Well, I'd prefer if you'd just talk to me about it instead of ogling me like a piece of furniture. That I'd much appreciate, Lord Trevelyan."

"My apologies, I forget myself." Beric bowed his head, "Are you finished? It sounds like a storm's picking up."

"I am." I patted the soldier on the back and straightened myself out, "Shall we be on our way then?"

We marched on back through the bog, careful to skirt around the river where the corpse shamblers hung about. Beric's observation proved true, for the wind indeed grew stronger and the rains battered down ever harder upon us. The deafening roar of thunder could be heard miles around, the resulting downpour limited our vision to a mere six feet as we proceeded further into the forests. Soon, the storm had worsened to the point that we could not continue on through the path back to the camp without losing our way.

Fortunately, an abandoned homestead stood in a lonely hill across the glen.

"There! We'll take shelter and wait the storm out!" Beric's voice strained above the rains, "Come along, pick up the pace!"

I pulled the door shut behind me once everyone had gone in. All in all, there were sixteen of us including the patrol we had rescued. Not too cramped in that room, which was one of the few blessings we've had all day. I set the fireplace alight to warm our cold and drenched bodies, noticing how quickly the chill had set on the men as their teeth chattered and their bodies shook like leaves in autumn.

Hours passed as we patiently waited for the storms to cease. At the strike of midnight, I became too restless and walked towards the window to peek out into the fields. The rains were still strong, and the view offered little else than a foggy impression, totally obscuring the horizon and pretty much everything else.

"Where'd you learn how to fight like that?" Beric asked as he approached me.

"My father taught me." I replied, smiling slightly at the memory. "Everything I know and learned was his doing. Oh, but that won't be so accurate. Eight or nine years of my life was spent training in the art of swordplay, archery and the mastery of the arcane. And then one day he was taken from me. I had friends to help me with the rest growing up."

"Taken from you? He died?"

I looked up at the taller man, "No. He's alive, but imprisoned."

"Do you know where he is?"

"I've got a good idea, but it's merely speculation at this point." I sighed, "It's all I have, but I'll make do with it."

"Who took him?" Beric inquired after a period of silence.

I hesitated in answering his question, knowing the string of likened inquiries that would undoubtedly come after. "I don't know how to answer that without having you think of me as a madwoman."

"Try me, it can't be any worse than the things I've been through." Beric gazed at me thoughtfully.

I took another deep breath to prepare myself for the worst, but as I opened my mouth to let the words flow, upon a sudden a shaft of lightning struck the field outside. Worse still, the veil of reality split like a hideous gash, bleeding forth a torrent of black mists into this world! I felt the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end as the malevolent energies pulsated, widening the portal further until it was wide enough to swallow the house we were in.

"Maker's breath, what is that?!" I heard Varric exclaim as he caught sight of it.

"The Dark One approaches!" Amata whispered harshly in my ear, "Ready yourself, milady!"

"Fuck!" I swore, "It's too soon! Are we ready for this?"

"We may not have a choice!" The Loycen Knight declared, "I pray it is only his servants, else this is the beginning of the end for this world!"

"I think we're halfway there already." I said with a shake of my head. Father's sword made an audible hiss as I drew it out of its sheath. Confusion was apparent in the Inquisitor's face as he beheld the creatures of Drangleic as they spilled through the rift.

"What's going on?"

"We're under attack, isn't that obvious?" Varric answered, readying Bianca for another go. "Sparky, how do you want to play this out?"

"I haven't a clue, just rip and tear until it is done?" I replied with a shrug.

"Ah, sounds like a plan!" My beloved uncle quipped.

Four heavily armed knights strode forth from the abyss, their armor adorned with writhing, screaming faces and wicked spikes. Their helms were carved into bristling skulls, with eyes that blazed with unnatural green flames. With the rains obscuring much of the view, that was all my imagination could paint in my mind at the moment.

As I exited the homestead with Amata, they gave off a chorus of animalistic howls and yelps, then marched steadily onward.

One carried a maul laced with black pine that he set alight. The second had a massive warhammer that he dragged through the dirt in his wake. The third moved a bit lighter on his feet than the rest and carried a long, narrow blade that I've heard Papa mention as a 'katana'- whatever the hell that was. And the fourth stayed at the portal, with his longsword stuck into the earth and his hands upon its hilt, watching as his fellows did most of the work for him.

Varric and the others came in late, which was fine by me. I didn't want any of them to get in the way, not until I've dealt with the worst of the lot.

A spray of rain droplets slap across my eyes as the first knight swung his maul with all his might, aimed for my head and would've split it in half had I not gotten my sword in the way. Geisteel rattled noisily as it met the infernal weapon halfway, and then I parried the maul aside to deliver a solid kick at the knight's leg, just at the knee to drive him off balance.

The force of the blow did its work, although it wasn't enough to shatter the bone.

I heard Amata grunt and curse as she went against the other two, struggling to keep in pace with the katana-wielding knight and avoiding the earth-shattering force of the other's warhammer.

The flames of the maul grew hot against my hands as the heat seeped through the gaps in my leather handwraps, "Get off me!" I yelled as the knight put all of his weight upon me, which was all the distraction I needed for him to not notice Beric strike him from behind. The Inquisitor buried both of his blades into the knight's back, causing the Dark One's servant to howl in apparent agony.

I smiled, knocking the maul out of his hands. But alas, I had celebrated too early.

The knight cackled, knocking the Inquisitor back with a well placed kick. "Fool! You cannot kill that which is already dead!"

Well shit. Just what I need, four undying bastards as training dummies.

Out of impulse, I lopped off the knight's head with Papa's sword. The corpse stumbled backwards but caught its balance just as it was about to tip over. I stared at it in disbelief, wondering to myself at what would it take to kill an undead touched by the Dark One's malevolent touch. Inquisitor Beric leaped forward and hacked at the shambler's limbs, reducing the body to little more than a bloodied torso.

Beric heaved, "One down."

I wasn't listening, having my attention drawn to the soul that slithered out of the ruined pile of gore and rode out into the winds until it joined with the other three remaining knights. As if struck by lightning, the knights began to convulse violently! Through the slits of their helms, they spat blood and roared in great agony. Suddenly, tendrils of purest black obsidian burst out from their chests and backs, and their screams turned from human to bestial as did their fighting style!

The death of one chipped away at their sanity, which caused me to fear for what should come after we've killed all three and left to face the fourth and his wrath.

"I will pull your guts out of your mouth!" The one with the warhammer bellowed as he charged at me. Quickly, I somersaulted out of the way and returned to form that I might deliver a blast of hungry flames to devour him from the inside out. It proved to be ineffective, save for driving him into a frenzy. "I will make a goblet out of your skull!"

I grimaced as the powerful weapon shattered the earth beneath me as I dove to the side, avoiding a gruesome end as the knight hammered away with reckless abandon. "From it, I shall drink your blood! And I shall offer your soul to Nahr Alma!"

"Hey ugly!" Uncle Varric taunted, firing a barrage of six shots that impaled the knight's feet onto the muddied soil. "That's no way to talk to a lady!"

Thinking him vulnerable, Cassandra moved in and shattered the knight's helm with her sword, exposing the hideous charred face beneath it. The skull opened its mouth, unleashing a torrent of burning red souls that bathed the Seeker in its malevolent light! Cassandra screamed and shrank back, holding her badly burnt face in her hands as she collapsed onto the battlefield.

Amata moved to the injured Seeker's side and drove her greatblade through the knight's belly, then made a savage pull that tore the knight in half from waist to shoulder! I then dragged the screaming Seeker out of harm's way and put her against a nearby tree. Then, I returned to battle.

The other knights drew from the strength of their fallen brothers and grew ever more powerful. The one with the katana drew a curious battle stance and then breathed fire into the longblade, with this he made one slash and the whole forest around us caught fire!

"What the fuck!" I exclaimed as the air around us grew thick and hot. The rains, for a moment, ceased as the droplets turned to vapor. Bark snapped and groaned as the fires ate away at the oaken treeline, the heat and smoke blinding us momentarily.

It was all the knight needed to do away with our allies, and he cut down the Inquisition's patrol squad as they reeled from the blow.

"No!" Beric cried.

My heart wrenched as I heard the screams of those unfortunates. The men and women of the Inquisition were no match against the wrathful dark knight, and their charred remains proved evident enough.

"Despair, dustlings of Thedas!" The knight thundered, drawing his blade close to his helm in that same battle stance. "The Age of Darkness is upon you!" Uncle Varric shot at him with all he had, but the knight bore the storm of bolts without so much as a flinch.

"Milady! On me!" Amata called, lifting her blade high as she summoned one of her most powerful spells. With a furious shout, she unleashed the powers of winter into a manifested beam of crystalline blue that froze the knight where he stood! The Loycen warmaiden groaned as she put in everything she was worth, the sapping of her strength caused by the spell drove her to one knee but she held on through the sheer force of her will.

I took a deep breath and howled at the frozen knight, the Sundercry shattered his body to a thousand pieces, removing yet another piece from the board.

That took a lot more out of me than I expected. I dropped to my knees in exhaustion, almost forgetting that we had one more opponent to best before the battle could be won. The final knight stood where he was all this time, still watching and waiting for who-knows-what.

Finally, as the souls of his slain brother-knights lent him their strength, the monster plucked his weapon off the ground and approached our weakened party. He came close to me, to which I responded with a slow chop of Papa's sword.

"Pathetic." He caught the blade in his heavily gauntleted hand. "Is this all the Scion of Andraste has to offer?" With a loud clap, the sword broke under the knight's grasp!

I uttered a gasp as the knight held me by the throat. My weight pulled on me, cutting my breath short as he held me aloft. "Behold, Thedas, your savior!"

"Let her go!" Beric growled, coming to my rescue. The knight, unfazed by his attempt, tossed him aside like a ragdoll. The Inquisitor slammed hard against a burning tree, whose branches broke off and pinned him to the muddied earth.

I felt my blood pounding hard against my temples, felt the world grow dim as my lungs fought for air. In that moment, as the knight proceeded to strangle the life out of me, I heard Papa's voice ring in the back of my head.

"Your enemies will show no mercy, show no pity. One day they will lay you low as I've done, but they will kill you. What will you do then? What will you do now?"

My eyes suddenly felt as if two molten coals touched their lids, and a rage that I've never felt in a long while flared within me! My hands trembled as a strength that had gone to sleep since my time in Kirkwall took over, and I wrenched myself free from the tightening grip on my throat. With a solid kick, I pushed the Knight a good three feet away and crouched low like a tiger ready to pounce.

My throat felt raw as I gave off a roar that was more animal than man, my heart hammered in my ribcage like a furious blacksmith striking at a stubborn ingot, and my blood pounded so hard that I could hear little more than a shrill ringing in my ears. Also, much to my surprise, my hair glowed so bright that I might as well have set my own head on fire!

I launched off, lifting the knight off his feet as I tackled him to the ground. Screaming with all the fury of hell, I throttled the knight across the earth and slammed him back down onto the battered soil! So hard was my assault on the surprised servant of darkness that his nigh-impenetrable armor cracked, and the knight was left reeling from the force of the blow.

As he rose to recover, I dragged the heavy warhammer left from the previous battle and put in all my weight to swing it about for maximum impact.

The head connected, sending the knight flying back into the rift from where he came from. As soon as he passed through the gaping maw of the portal, it snapped closed. Soon after, the storm dissipated into a gentle drizzle that calmed the raging flames of the burning forest and my burning heart.

The agonizing feeling in my eyes, chest and ears left as soon as I calmed down.

When all was well for me, I approached my charge and helped her to her feet. Amata had this bottle on her that resembled the one Papa used to drink whenever he was injured in battle. A healing draught of sorts, a useful thing to take to battle indeed. With her permission, I took a sip from its contents, nearly choking to death on the sudden spike of pain that came with it as it restored my vitality.

"Damn it! That stings!" I coughed, "Couldn't you have warned me about that before I took a swig?"

"Apologies, milady. I never thought Estus would prove too much for you."

"A lesson for the future, then." I grunted, thrusting the bottle back in her hands. I took one look at the remains of the battle and beckoned the Loycen Knight to follow, "Come, help me with these guys. Pass that bottle around, I don't want to drag them behind us."

"Yes milady."

I approached Cassandra first, laying my hands on those burns in her face and neck that I may heal them out of existence. The Seeker thanked me quietly and rose to help free the Inquisitor from under the heavy branches. He didn't look too good, and it seemed like it was out of my expertise to treat. "This one'll have to be seen to by the doctors at Haven." The Seeker declared.

I lifted the man onto my shoulders, much to the Seeker's surprise and Uncle Varric's amusement, and set off in the direction of the Inquisition encampment. There will be no patrol to retrieve today, another bit of bad news that everyone's hoping to avoid altogether, but alas we cannot control everything that comes our way.

I just hope Beric won't take being kept in the dark personally when he wakes up.

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