Chapter 9
The night came and with it the fear of attack. The villagers that would not be fighting were moved into the Chantry to keep safe. Aedan had seen to it that that the doors were sealed, and then with a parting kiss to Kallian he went up the hill and took his position beside all those who were fighting. Now he found himself standing side by side with Zevran, Sten and Alistair as they waited for the first wave of creatures to come across the bridge.
"What does fighting these creatures have to do with fighting the darkspawn? There is no sense in wasting our energy here." Sten said as they waited.
"We need Arl Eamon Sten," Aedan sighed. "Without him we lose a lot of soldiers to fight the darkspawn. I'm sure that we could get along well with the dwarves, dalish, and mages; but more than anything we need Eamon to help bring down Loghian. As long as he stands in our way we will have to watch over our backs all the time."
"I could take care of that matter for you." Zev said slyly.
"As tempting as that is, I doubt it would be that easy." Alistair said to the elf.
Zev just shrugged his shoulders. "Just so you know that it is an option."
He opened his mouth to say more, but just then something caught something coming out of the castle. Green smoke was coming out of the castle and across the lake. The villagers behind him were starting to panic. "They're…they're coming."
He turned and saw that some of the men with him were starting to back up. "Stand your ground!" He yelled. "Take heart! We shall defeat these monsters!"
The men held their ground, but many were starting to shake in fear. The green smoke reached the top of the hill in front of them. He nodded to the archer behind him, and watched as the man lit an arrow on fire. "Hold until I give you the command."
Aedan held out his arm, waiting to give to the signal. Soon he saw the creatures emerge from the darkness. Having fought the darkspawn and survived the Circle he had thought that he'd seen it all, but these creatures were something different. He remembered fighting some of these creatures back in the Circle, but now they were wearing armor and had bladed weapons with them. The men around him started to fidget. "Hold!"
Just a little more. Come on you Maker forsaken creatures come and get us. Just as the creatures reached the barricade he snapped his arm down. "Now!"
The archer let lose the fire arrow and a moment later the barricade went up in flames, taking several of the creatures with it. "Forward! Stay out of the flames, kill anything that gets through!"
Down with the militia, Kallian's eyes snapped up to the hill when she saw the fire start. Be safe Aedan. She was more than a little nervous about leaving his side. The last time they separated for battle was at Ostagar.
At the moment she was standing along with Leliana while the three mage's stood behind them. The battle plan was fairly simple; Alim and Morrigan were going to concentrate on offensive magic, and Wynne was going to help with defense and healing magic. Natia was standing up more with the militia. Leliana and she were to focus on archery, trying to take out any of these creatures that got close to the barricade. While she had worked with Leliana on her archery, she was nowhere near as good as the bard.
Each of them held a longbow and a quiver of arrows standing upright at each of their feet. Seeing the green smoke start to weave in-between the buildings of the town Kallian drew out an arrow and notched it, but held back on drawing it. "Remember Kallian," Leliana said notching an arrow of her own. "Keep your stomach firm, and breathe out when you release. It will help you to steady your shot."
Out of the smoke the first creature showed its head. Kallian drew back preparing to strike, but Leliana was twice as fast. Before she could even raise her bow, Leliana had let lose an arrow, killed the beast, and knocked another arrow. By the Maker! How did she get so fast?
Leliana let lose another arrow, this one lodging itself into a creature's throat. "I'll teach you later Kallian. For now though, fight."
Kallian focused her attention back onto the enemy. Drawing her arrow she took aim at one of the charging creatures. Breathing deep, Kallian let lose the arrow. She had to fight the urge to jump up and down when the arrow buried into one of the corpses neck.
The battle raged on and they were holding their ground, but soon the corpses were started to come out of the smoke in greater numbers. As more of the corpses came they started to tear away at the barricade that was built. Oh sod. If this continues we'll be over run. Suddenly the front of the barricade rose up in flames. She looked behind her and saw that Morrigan and Alim were working together and casting a spell. Were they the ones that set the barricade aflame?
"We won't be able to hold this forever." Alim grunted.
Leliana let lose another arrow taking down another creature before turning to a young militia man next to her. "You there!"
The boy snapped up at her voice. "Yes my lady?"
Another arrow lose. "Go up the hill and get the fighters up there. Tell them to hurry up and get down here immediately!"
The young hesitated only a moment before he started to run up the hill. Kallian brought her focus away from the boy and back to the battle at hand. The corpses were starting to tear down the barricade despite the efforts of the mages. Aedan, get down here fast.
Aedan ducked down just in time as an axe sailed over his head. Using his family blade in his right hand he reached up and held the attack axe back. Using the Green Blade in his left hand he slashed down cutting the corpse behind the knees and bringing it down. Using his momentum he stabbed his family blade down into the fallen creature's chest and stabbing into the ground.
"Warden. Down."
Aedan had little time to figure out what Sten meant as he saw the giant sword swing towards him. Bending over until his face was in the ground, he felt the wind move as Sten's sword passed over his back. A shrill scream from behind him told him what Sten was aiming at.
Getting off the ground Aedan twirled around, swinging both of his swords around him, and slammed the two blades against an oncoming corpse nearly slicing it in half. Taking a breath he took stock of his other companions who were fighting with him at the moment. Alistair was holding back a corpse with his shield while trying to get his sword out of the belly of the one he had just killed, and Zevran was dancing around swinging his two swords around in much the same fashion as he did.
A low growl was his only warning to what was coming. Quickly rolling out of the way he felt the axe impact the ground behind him. Scrambling back to his feet he put his foot down on handle of the corpse's axe, and then brought his sword down in an arc taking its head off.
Looking around he saw fewer corpses then there were originally. Perhaps we've finally drove them off from here. Or maybe they're not as dumb as I thought.
"My Lord!"
Out of sheer reflex Aedan looked over towards the source of the call. A young man in armor that was obviously too big for him was just finishing his ascent up the hill from the village. Stopping just short of Aedan, the young men doubled over trying to catch his breath. "Take a breath man, what is it?" He asked.
The young man straightened himself and starting talking at such a fast pace that Aedan could hardly make it out. "My Lord, the village is about to be over run, your friends told me to come up and get you."
Aedan snapped back to his friends. "Alistair, Zev, Sten, Wolf; we're going down to the village now! Ser Perth, you got everything covered up here?"
His friends had already started to run down the hill before Ser Perth answered. "Yes my Lord, they won't get through here, you have my word on that."
Nodding to the young man, Aedan ran down the hill into the village. Kallian, please be alright.
Kallian fell onto her back as the corpse pushed against her sword. It hadn't been going to well for the villagers after the corpses managed to break through the barricade that was set up. Once they were through Kallian had abandoned her bow and took out her dagger and sword. The sword however was starting to become quiet troublesome seeing as how she hadn't had much practice with the blade. Wynne, Alim, and Morrigan were doing everything they could to keep the villagers alive. While Alim and Morrigan worked on keeping the corpses back, Wynne was constantly healing the wounded. Natia was scurrying around the makeshift battlefield as she used her axe and dagger to take the creatures down.
Kallian rolled across the ground just as a giant two handed war axe embedded itself into the ground where she once was. She had forgotten for a moment the corpse that had managed to knock her down. It looked like all the other ones, except this one was using a giant war axe, and for some reason it had chosen her for its first target. It had managed to catch her almost completely off guard, which is why she currently found herself on the floor. It had managed to sneak up on her, and by the time she had notice it had alright started to swing. The only thing she could do was to bring her sword up and lessen the blow, but it was still enough to knock her down.
Sod it, Aedan where in the Fade are you when I need you? As if to answer her prayers, a sword erupted through the corpse's chest. She would know that straight edged blade anywhere. It was the Cousland family sword. The beast looked down at the blade sticking out if its chest for a moment, then fell over dead.
In its place stood, quite literally, her Knight in shining armor Aedan. The tall human stood in front her smiling. "You know," he began helping her up. "This isn't the first time I've had to save you from this kind of situation."
Kallian scoffed at him, but then noticed a corpse running up from behind him. Pushing Aedan out of the way she dodged the incoming swing and buried her dagger up to the hilt through the corpse's heart. "There," she said drawing her blade back of the dead creature. "Now we're even."
Aedan quickly regained his composure and took his stance beside her as more creatures came at them. "Not quiet. I still have one up on you for the time back at Highever, remember?"
Kallian ducked and swung low at an incoming corpse just as Aedan spun and did a reverse swing up high. The two attacks cause the corpse to fall to the ground in three pieces. "Then you're just going to have to live long enough for me to save your life again." She said with a smirk.
Aedan crossed his two blades to form a 'V' shape and caught a downward strike. Kallian immediately went in and ran her sword through the immobilized creature. "Well, I don't plan on dying anytime soon. So you're going to need to stay alive in order to save me again. Deal?"
Kallian smiled at Aedan just as they brought down another corpse together. "Deal."
Upon reaching the villagers, Zevran immediately spotted his target. The little dwarf was running around coming up no higher than one of the creature's chest. She used her dagger to cut hamstrings and stab vital points, while her axe she used mainly for defense and knocking over one of the creatures. Sensing a movement behind him, he ducked and spun to his right, and planted the dagger in his left hand into a corpse's lower back right near the spin, effectively paralyzing it. Reversing his spin, he brought his sword around this time and sliced open the front of the creature. After being an assassin for so long he almost had a six sense about someone approaching him from behind.
"Ha, nice moves there Zev. You gonna teach me that little trick later eh?"
Natia had worked her way over to him while he was distracted. Hmmm, she moves well. Perhaps I can teach her some of the Crow arts like she asked.
His attention was then drawn to Aedan and Kallian fighting side by side. Zev had no idea why he had given his oath to the young lord; he had just wanted to live. And he had to admit, this wasn't such a bad way to live. Walking free, not being ordered to do one thing after another, no punishment for a slight mishap, he could definitely get use to this kind of life.
The first rays of sun where just starting to show over the village by the time everything had come to an end. Aedan and Kallian where sitting side by side on the ground leaning up against the walls of the Chantry watching as the men of the village gathered the dead corpses and pile them up to be burned. The attacks had stopped coming shortly after Aedan and the men on the hill joined the others in the village. From then on everyone took turns either standing watch, or sleeping for a few hours. Now with the first rays of light upon them they were finally convinced that the horror was over.
Aedan watched over the men and few women who were working while Kallian and himself leaned up against him and the wall. The head was resting on his shoulder and her eyes where closed. "Ah, my Lord Cousland. Thought I would find you here."
Craning his neck up, he saw Bann Teagan coming out of the Chantry doors. He too had stood with the men in the battle, but once the fighting was over he went immediately back inside the Chantry. "Well, here I am Bann Teagan. And please, don't call me 'Lord Cousland' anymore. I gave that up when I chose to become a Grey Warden."
Teagan shook his head in consent. "I would like to do something, kind of like a memorial for all those who have died these past few days. And after that, I would like you and your friends help again."
Aedan's brow rose. "What do you need our help for now?"
Teagan just waved off the question. "I'll tell you later, after the service. For now, I highly suggest that you and your friends get some rest. We still have a lot of work ahead of us today."
Aedan watched with mild annoyance as the Bann walked away. For Maker's sake. We are Grey Wardens, not some bastard errand boys.
"Easy Aedan. No need to get so riled up. All nobles are like that. Arrogant."
The sweet sound of Kallian's voice brought his eyes down. Her bright green eyes looked up at him with mild amusement over his annoyance. "You are suppose to be asleep my dear elf."
The grin on her face grew. "And so are you my Lord."
"Hey, I hope that, 'All nobles are arrogant', line excluded me."
The elf rested her head against his armored shoulder. "You know Aedan, this would work a lot better if you weren't wearing that Scale Armor all the time. I'd even settle for leather armor if I can't get you out of your armor all together."
"Oh, so you think of me out of armor and cloths often?"
The elf shot up and her face went beat red. "I-I-I meant that…well you see that I-I…oh…shut up! Stop laughing at me."
The elf leaned away from him and crossed her arm's with a 'humph'. Aedan chuckled at the elf's antics. It was fairly fun to tease the elf. Pushing himself over to her, he brought his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him despite her pushing against him. "Hey, Kallian. You know I'm just kidding right?"
The elf turned her head and faced him. "Oh, so you're saying that you never think such things about me?"
This time it was Aedan's turn to blush. But instead of showing it, he stood up and started to walk away. "Come on Kallian, we still have time before this 'ceremony' that Teagan wants to hold. Let's see if we can't find a better place to lay down for awhile."
"Hey Aedan! You still haven't answered my question. Aedan, get back here now. You're not getting away from this one! Aedan!"
Later in the afternoon, after Teagan had finished giving his speeches, Aedan found himself with the rest of his companions near the windmill waiting for Teagan to explain the next part of his plan. "This is what I propose, I have a way into the Castle an-"
"Wait, what? You have a way to get into the castle and you've been holding out on us?"
Teagan faced Kallian after her outburst. "I am sorry for not mentioning this before. But the defense of the village was of more concern. If you had arrived earlier yesterday, perhaps this could've been done then. As it we will have to…By the Maker!"
Aedan followed Teagan's line of sight and saw woman and a knight running down towards them. It took him a minute to recognize her, but there was no doubt about it. She was the Arlessa of Redcliffe, Isolde . The woman ran right past him everyone and stopped in front of Teagan. "Teagan. Oh , thank the Maker that you are alright." The woman drawled with a thick Orlesian accent.
"Isolde-How is it possible. How did you get out?"
"Oh Teagan. It's terrible. The castle has been taken over by an evil force that holds everyone captive. I managed to bargain with it and come out, but you need to come back with me now."
"What do you mean an evil force? Is it a demon of some sort? We need more information if we're going into the castle with you." Aedan asked.
Isolde looked him over. "Teagan, who is this man who dares to speak to me so?"
"This is Aedan Cousland Isolde. And he is one of the many here who are responsible for keeping Redcliffe in one piece."
Alistair stepped forward next. "Hello Lady Isolde. You remember me don't you?"
Isolde's eyes narrowed. "Alistair. How coincidental that you would end up here. Trouble seems to follow you no matter where you go."
"Yup, you definitely remember me."
"But this doesn't matter right now." Isolde said turning back to Teagan. "You have to come back with me. The evil spirit has a hold over Conner. If I don't come back soon with you, it could do terrible things to him."
"The evil spirit has control over your son?" Aedan asked. "How did it even get into the castle in the first place? I thought that demons and other spirits had to be summoned from the Fade. Isn't this true?"
The three mages all nodded their consent to his question. "A mage, a mage got into the castle. He is the cause of all of this. But there is no time. Teagan you must come with me."
"Look lady this sounds like a trap. If you want our help, you better start explaining yourself." Natia said confronting the Arlessa.
Isolde's eyes got even darker than when she talked to Alistair. "And who are you to judge me and my actions dwarf. Know your place."
Zev's quick hands stopped Natia's from drawing her daggers. "Alright Isolde," Teagan said coming forward. "I will go with you. Please go ahead and I will catch up to you soon."
Teagan waited for the Arlessa to leave before he faced Aedan again. "Here is what I suggest. I will go in with Isolde and try and distract whatever evil force there is."
Aedan thought about it for a moment. "You know that this is a trap right Teagan?"
The Bann nodded. "Yes I know. But I am trusting that you will get to the evil spirit before it can do anything rash. Here is my Signet Ring. There is a secret passage that starts in the Windmill; it will lead you down into the lower levels of the Castle dungeon. From there you will be able to make your way through the castle. I will try to bring the spirit to the main hall; it will be the best place to fight it. I will have Ser Perth and other Knights standing ready at the main gate. If you get to it, open the gate and they will aid you."
The Bann handed Aedan a long style ring; then walked off towards the Castle Bridge without saying another word. Aedan twirled the ring between his fingers for a moment before facing his companions. "You heard him. We have to hurry. Ser Perth, get as many of your Knight's who are battle ready. Bring them up to the Castle gates; we will try and let you in once we find our way through."
"My Lord Warden," Ser Perth raised his hand. "Do you know the layout of Redcliffe Castle? Perhaps it would be best for one of my Knights to join you."
Aedan shook his head. "It has been some time, but I remember the layout of this place. Also, Alistair said that he lived here for a time. He will help guide us through the castle interior. You have your orders Ser Perth, please see them out."
The Knight saluted him and walked away. "So Aedan, what do ya think we'll be facin in there?" Natia asked him.
"Alim, Wynne, Morrigan; one of you want to answer this one?" He asked his mages.
"Depends on the type of demon in truth," Wynne said first. "I believe that it is safe to say that we will be facing some of those corpses. There may even be some living people who are possessed in the castle."
"If there are people possessed, then that would point towards a Demon of Desire wouldn't it?" Alim asked the other two mages.
"Yes it would. So you men better keep it in your pants. Desire Demons are known for their ability to attract and seduce men and then kill them." Morrigan explained.
"Oh, so how do we know that you're not a Desire Demon?" Alistair asked slyly.
"Oh Alistair, I'm afraid that you will never know. 'Twill not be I who ties to seduce you. I would rather mate with the hound over there before you. And I'm sure that goes for most women too."
Aedan stepped in-between the Templar and the witch. "Enough you two, this is not the time or the place for this banter. Let us go and get this over with."
Alim dropped down into the tunnel after Aedan and Zevran had said that it was clear. The rest of the group came down the hatch shortly after him with Sten carrying Wolf down. The first thing that Alim noticed was the smell of the place. It was absolutely rancid.
"By the Maker, what is that smell?" He asked covering his nose.
Aedan shrugged. "Blood, dead bodies, rotting corpse, horse sod, take you pick or mix them together and you might get close. Come on; let's get out of here quickly."
Walking through the door and into another section of the dungeon they ran into a pack of Walking Corpses. "Wonderful," Alistair said drawing his sword. "I thought we dealt with all of these bastards during the night."
The corpses finally saw that they weren't the only ones in the room and charged. Alim calmly lifted his hands and fired off a Lightning spell, taking one of the creatures down in a pile of chard flesh. Aedan quickly dispatched one of the other corpses while Alistair used his shield to hold back the third and let Zev kill it.
"Well, that was easy enough." Zev said cleaning off his dagger.
"Hello, is someone there?"
Alim froze when he heard the voice. He would know that voice anywhere. He didn't know how he got down the hallway, but one minute he was standing next to Aedan, and the next he was standing in front of a cell. Inside was his one time friend. "Jowan." He hissed in a voice that he didn't recognize.
The dark haired mage's eyes lit up in recognition. "Alim! You're alive, and out of the Tower how did you-"
"You lying son of a whore!"
A strong arm caught his as he brought it back preparing a spell. The man holding him back was Aedan. "Alim, I know what he did hurt you. But now is not the time for this. We have other matters that must be addressed first."
Alim looked back and forth between Aedan and Jowan. Snarling he wrenched his arm away from Aedan and walked away from the cell. "Alim…I'm sorry my frien-"
"Don't you dare say that Jowan!" He yelled. "You lost the right to call me friend when you decided to lie to me and use me to get out of the Tower. You are not the Jowan I knew once long ago. And I am no longer the Alim that you once knew."
Alim marched away from the cell as he heard Aedan talk to his old friend. Leaning up against the wall he was so deep in thought that he didn't notice someone walk up to him until they placed a hand on his shoulder gently. Looking back, he saw that Leliana was holding onto his shoulder. Her eyes held neither condemnation nor hatred for his actions; instead, they held understanding for what Jowan had put him through.
Alim smiled weakly and gave his thanks to her before going back to the others. "-hired to work with Conner. I was his tutor. But more than that. I was contracted to poison Arl Eamon."
"You know that you just admitted to treason Jowan." Aedan said pointedly.
"More so than being an Apostate? The life expectancy is the same either way."
"Who contracted you to poison the Arl?" Alistair asked.
"Teryn Loghain. He saved me from the Templar's, and then promised me that if I did this job, he would settle things with the Chantry for me. He told me that Arl Eamon was a threat to Ferelden. And that I would be doing Ferelden a lot by doing this."
"Well, he isn't a threat Jowan. And once again you've gotten yourself into another bad spot." Alim said drawing his attention.
"Look, I know that you have no reason to trust me. But please listen to me. I was hired to train Conner in the arts of magic."
"Why would you need to teach the boy magic? If he was showing signs, then he would've been brought to the Circle to be trained." Wynne said lecturing Jowan.
"The boy had started to show signs. And Lady Isolde, well, she is a pious woman. To have a mage as a son was an embarrassment. She wanted him trained, but just enough so he wouldn't be a danger and so that the Circle would never find him. To do this, she had to find an apostate. That is how I got into the castle grounds."
"What can you tell us about what is happening in the Castle?" Alim asked.
"Not much I'm afraid. Lady Isolde discovered that I was poisoning her husband and had me thrown down here. A couple of days ago she came back down with a couple of men demanding to know what I had done. They…tortured me. But I swear, whatever is going on in the castle right now, I've had no part in it."
"Jowan, how much magic did you teach the boy?" Alim asked a suspicion beginning to form.
"Not much, mostly just how to control it. Listen, I know that you have no reason to trust me, but please let me out of here. I want to help in any way I can. I want to make up for the wrongs I've done in my life."
"I say kill the mage and be done with it." Jowan's face paled as Sten spoke.
"I say let the man out. If the Chantry wants him, they'll hunt him down later." Morrigan said offhandedly.
"He wants a chance at redemption, shouldn't he be given one?" Leliana put in.
"What-no. We are not seriously taking about letting a known Bloodmage out on the loose, are we?" Alistair asked frantically.
Aedan turned to Alim. "Alim, he is or was your friend. Do you believe in his want to help us?"
Alim looked into the cell. "Jowan, if you are serious about wanting to help us, then you will come with us to settle whatever has happened up in the castle. Then you will turn yourself into the Circle and wait for their sentence. Those are the terms."
Jowan lowered his head and back away from the cell door. "Alright Alim. I'm tired of running away from everything. I agree to your terms."
"Leliana, could you-" The bard was kneeling in front of the cell doors before he could finish his sentence; and within a few moments the door to the cell swung open.
"Alright Jowan," Aedan said walking up to the free man. "Don't try anything stupid. You're coming with us to sort this thing out and that's it. You try and run, and I will kill you. Understand?"
Jowan nodded his consent. "Great," Aedan laughed clapping him on the shoulder. "Now that we have all those threats out of the way, let's go and see what in the name of the Maker is causing all this trouble."
"Okay, this is getting to the point of ridiculous. How many more of these blasted things are there?"
Aedan was more than willing to agree with Kallian by this point. They had entered into the castle through the dungeon, and since then they were met by wave after wave of Devouring and Enraged Corpses. On a brighter side they had managed to find Valena, the smith's daughter. That was the only good thing to happen so far however. The castle was rigged with several different trip wires, which Alistair found first after he tripped over it. Everything started to get worse once they discovered that the door to the main hall had been locked from the other side. After that they had to find a way around which led them into numerous dead ends and a lot of corpses.
"If I remember, I think that this passageway up there leads into the court yard." Alistair said pointing to an exit in the underground chamber they were currently in.
"Alistair, you said that the last three times. You Surfacers had absolutely no stone sense do you?" Natia said very aggravated about how many times they had to backtrack.
"If you think that you can do better Natia, then why don't you lead us?" Alistair said.
"Enough you two. You're both starting to give me a headache." Aedan yelled at the pair then continued in a softer voice. "I think I remember this place too and I believe that Alistair is right in saying that the courtyard is up ahead. From there we can enter the main hall and unlock the castle gate. Now let's get moving."
The courtyard proved to be much the same as the castle, filled with Corpses. But there was one thing in the courtyard that they had not seen before. A large creature shaped much like a man was standing in the courtyard holding a giant two handed sword in one hand. "By the Maker, it's a Revenant." Wynne gasped.
Aedan drew out the Cousland Blade and the GreenBlade. "Leliana, Kallian. Try to take out those archers up the stairs. Zevran and Natia, go and get that gate open. Wynne get protective magic up now. Morrigan and Alim concentrate your spells on any archers that you see. Sten, Alistair, and Wolf you're with me. Move now!"
Aedan ran straight through the courtyard and clashed with the Revenant, brining both of his blades down. The creature hardly seemed to care as it calmly lifted its blade and blocked both of his swords with little to no effort. His next shock came when the creature struck. He was sure that a falling hardwood tree would be easier to block. This creature's strength was unimaginable.
Jumping forward, he rolled underneath another swing and got his feet back under him behind the Revenant. I got it this time; there is no way that it can move this-
Once again the creature blocked his strike effortlessly. This is ridiculous, not only does it hit like a blasted anvil, it moves faster than a snake. Just what the Fade is this thing?
Aedan had to pull out every technique he had ever learned, even the few recent ones he had learned from his training with Zev and Sten. The Revenant swung horizontally again and Aedan managed to catch it against both of his blades, but the force of the strike was still enough to make him lose his footing and stumble back. Okay, time to think of something different, perhaps I should run in an out of its range.
Standing back a few paces, Aedan waited for his chance to charge. The Revenant had other plans though; it planted its blade into the ground beside it and raised its hand. Okay, now what is it-
His thought was cut off abruptly as he felt some kind of force or something pull him off his feet towards that Revenant causing him to land face first in the dirt. Looking up he saw that its armor had a break in it just below the knees. Before the Revenant could get its sword raise he crossed his arms and slashed the Revenant at the break in its armor with as much force as he could muster.
Both blades went clean through the creature's legs, separating them from the rest of its body and causing the Revenant to fall to the ground. Both of its feet separated from its body. Getting up he reversed the grip on both of his blades and brought the two blades down into the Revenants head. The creature twitched once; then didn't move again.
Breathing heavily Aedan looked around and was surprised at what he saw. Natia and Zevran had succeeded in opening the gate allowing Ser Perth and his men to join the fight. All of the corpses in the courtyard were dead and everyone was staring at him. "Well that was-"
"Foolish Warden. You could've died. No one has ever taken on a Revenant one on one and lived. You shall never do such a foolhardy thing again!"
Aedan and several others were more than a little surprised at Morrigan's outburst. She seemed to finally realize what happened and backed away, a faint red becoming obvious on her cheeks. "While I would not put it so, she does have a point young man." Wynne lectured. "Revenants are very dangerous. If we come across one again, I would highly suggest not fighting it alone."
Aedan realized he wasn't going to win this argument. Zev and Natia seemed more than willing to stay out of this one, as well as Alistair. Wolf just sat on his hindquarters with his head cocked to the side. Alim and Leliana were both off looking over the corpses for any stragglers. Kallian had a disapproving look on her face, but that was covered by her relief of him being fine. Sten was the only one who was not disapproving; in fact it looked as if he had gained some respect in the eyes of the big guy.
"My Lord," Ser Perth said coming forward with his Knights. "Would you like my Knights and I to accompany you into the main hall?"
"No," Aedan said hardly even thinking about it. "It would be better for you and your Knights to stay out here. Check over the castle ground and make sure that all of those blasted corpses are dead for."
Ser Perth nodded and sent his men off on their assigned tasks. "Well," he said facing his companions. "Let's go and see what this 'evil spirit' is."
Inside of the main hall of Redcliffe Castle was in stark contrast to the grounds outside of it. A large fire at the front of the room illuminated everything that was inside. The soldiers of Redcliffe lined the walls of the room as if nothing was happening outside. Strangest of all, Teagan was dancing in front of a boy who couldn't me more than ten or twelve winters old. Beside the boy stood the Lady Isolde with her head hung low.
Aedan walked cautiously between the armored Knights, waving his companions forward with him. The boy noticed their approach and waved off Teagan. The older man obediently sat down next to him. With a clear view of the boy, Aedan recognized him as Conner, Arl Eamon's only son. "So, what is this that comes before me now?" Conner said as they approached.
Aedan noticed something extremely odd about how the boy spoke. His voice was very low, and there sounded as if there were two voices speaking at the same time. "This is a man Conner, just like your father." Lady Isolde said to the boy.
"This is the one who fought against my soldiers as they tried to reclaim my village." Conner said leveling his gaze at Aedan.
"So," Alim said studying the child. "This is the 'evil spirit' that you spoke of. This child has a demon inside, doesn't he?"
Isolde broke down. "No, don't say that!"
"Quiet mother." The child hissed. "Let us be civil here. Why have you come?"
"Well, it seems that you have taken control of this child through some trickery or some ill conceived deal." Alim said calmly still observing Conner.
"It was a fair deal! Father, he wanted him to still live. It was a fair deal!" The demon yelled.
Aedan was about to retort when Conner raised his hands to his face. "Mother," a broken voice called out from the child. "Mother, what is happening?"
Isolde dropped to her knees in front of him. "Oh, Conner you must-"
"Get away from me woman!" The demon yelled coming back to full force. "No one tells me what to do."
"No one tells him what to do, hahahahahha." Teagan laughed beside Conner.
"Quiet Uncle. I tire of you. I want excitement. You there, you came to make me leave. I will not allow it!"
Conner ran off. Aedan made to follow, but all of the Knights drew their swords and advanced on the group. "Try to spare their lives if you can," he said drawing his swords. "They are just possessed."
The fight was brutal. Each member of their group were trying their hardest to only subdue or knock out the Redcliffe soldiers, while the Redcliffe soldiers were currently trying to kill them. The main savor of the battle lay within the mages, who were firing off Paralyze spells, Glyph of Paralysis spells and Disorient spells to try and subdue the soldiers without causing any harm.
The last of the possessed men to join the fight was Teagan. He attempted to slash at Aedan while his back was turned, but his blade was intercepted by Kallian. Who then planted her foot into the side of the Bann's head with a well placed kick knocking him to the ground. The fight was over shortly after that.
Isolde went over to Teagan after he hit the ground. His eyes were open, but they were completely blank. Wynne was over by his side next. After a quick check she began to cast a spell in order to heal him. Slowly recognition came back into Teagan's eyes as he looked around the room. "What-what happened to me?"
"Oh Teagan, thank the Maker that you're safe." Isolde said embracing the man.
"We need to figure out what to do with the child." Wynne said as she went about healing the others in the room.
"If there is a demon in the boy, perhaps 'tis better if we end the child's life." Morrigan said offhandedly.
Isolde's face went ashen. "No! Please, I beg you. Conner is not always like that. He comes back to me sometimes. You saw it yourselves!"
"That isn't Conner anymore. The boy has become an Abomination."
Everyone in the room turned to the new voice. Jowan stood in the doorway scratching the back of his neck. Isolde's eyes deadpanned at the sight of the mage. Marching past all everyone in the room, she walked up to Jowan and promptly slapped him across the face. "You! You did this! You did this to Conner!"
Jowan backed away from the Arlessa. "I didn't, I swear I didn't!"
"Is this the mage that you told me about," Teagan asked. "I thought you said that he was locked away in the dungeon."
Isolde turned and stared at Aedan. "He was. Someone must have let him out."
"That's right." Aedan said not backing down from her gaze. "And I stand by my decision to let him out."
"But he…he is the cause of all of this. He poisoned my husband, and then let the demon lose on my-"
"'Tis quiet enough from you." Morrigan said sharply cutting the Arlessa off. "This mage could not have sent the demon on your son. It doesn't work that way. Conner must have met the demon in the Fade. From there the demon took over your child by offering him something. Ironically, if you had kept the mage out to train your son, this wouldn't have happened."
Isolde's face become more and more ashen with each word the witch spoke until eventually the woman collapsed onto the ground and buried her face in her hands. "That is enough." Aedan said coming forward. "The past is the past. There is no use on dwelling with 'what could have happened'. We must attend to the present. Wynne, is there any way that you and everyone else here could get the demon out of the child."
The elderly mage shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The connection with the demon is rooted in the Fade. In order to sever the connection one must travel to the Fade and confront the demon there."
"Well, what's the problem then?" Kallian asked. "We all went into the Fade back at the Circle. How did that work?"
This time Alim spoke up. "That was a demon that sent us there. There are only three known ways to get into the Fade. The first and most common way is for several mage's to use lyrium and send a mage into the Fade. The other way is like we experienced in the Circle. A very powerful demon can send people into the Fade, but this requires a lot of energy on the part of the demon. The last way is…well-"
"The last way is for a Bloodmage to use its power." Jowan interrupted. "I could use some one's life force and send another into the Fade. But, this requires a lot of power. All of it, in fact."
"So, what are our options then?" Teagan asked the group.
Wynne spoke up. "We have several options. One is to go to the Circle and obtain the lyrium that we need. The other would to have Jowan send one of us into the Fade, and the last would be to kill the child."
"I'll do it."
Everyone was silent as Isolde strode forward. "If one must die, then I will do it. It is the last act I can to save my son."
"No no no." Alistair said violently shaking his hands. "We are not even considering this option. Are we?"
Aedan breathed in deep. "Wynne. Do you know how to send a mage into the Fade?"
"I know the procedure yes. We have enough mages here, but we do not have the required lyrium. That would require going to the Circle. The Chantry keeps a tight leash on lyrium supplies."
"If the four of you work together, can you hold the demon at bay?" He asked the four mages.
"It's possible," Alim said deep in thought. "We could contain the demon, but we would have to stay in the same room as the demon. But this is only a suppressant; it will not get rid of the demon. What are you thinking Aedan?"
Aedan ignored the question and turned to the Bann. "Bann Teagan, are there good horses in the stables?"
Teagan nodded. "Yes, there are several good horses. They are yours to use if you wish."
The plan quickly came together in his mind. But who should come with me? "Kallian, help me get out of this heavy armor. Bann Teagan, I need a set of studded leather armor. Zevran, I want you to come with me, along with Kallian. The three of us are going to travel to the Circle on horse and get the lyrium that we need."
"But…that could take days to get there and back. Wouldn't it be better if I just-"
"No!" Aedan said sharply cutting off the Arlessa. "I am not sacrificing a child or his mother when there is still hope. Alim. Keep the demon at bay, we'll ride hard and fast. But we need you four to buy us time."
Alim bowed his head. "We'll do our best Aedan. I promise you, the boy will be alive when you get back."
Aedan bowed back to him, then turned and walked out of the room. "Kallian, Zevran. Let's go, we have a long ride ahead of us, and not a lot of time to go it in."
Well there it is another chapter out. I wanted to get all of Redcliffe in two chapters, but that was proving to be next to impossible in terms of length. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it. Sorry it took so long to get out, but exams have been slowing me down. Not to mention that I just bought Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 last week and a lot of my free time has been dedicated to playing it. Please review if ya like, it makes it all the more fun to write reading all of your comments. See y'all in the next chapter.
