As the alliance marched in, they were almost immediately noticed and attacked. No wonder, Alistair mused, it was hard to keep quiet and invisible, when a passage is narrow and people are many. They obviously attracted unwanted attention and a slew of abominations - quite familiar to the king - came for them. At first, clearing the path was reasonably easy. It got harder at a joint of two passages, but after the rage demons were banished, they encountered no resistance. Nathaniel firmly urged them down one of the passages, stating another one was a dead end. No one questioned his knowledge and Alistair concluded it was due to a brief intelligence mission some days prior that the archer was so sure. Though at some point of proceeding down the empty way, the doubts came - there might be ambush there, in that dead end.
You sure that part back at the junktion was safe?
There is no ambush there. They keep their prisoners there. We killed off all the guards, they were mercenaries, all four of them. We will free the people and make sure they are not diseased on your way back,- clarified Nathaniel.
Good work, - dryly admitted Alistair and the archer just nodded.
The group came to a stop at the end of the passage and entrance to a huge cave. It was so broad and long that they had trouble seeing its opposite wall. And it was not dark, in fact the light from torches and magical creatures lit a line of abominations that were obviously waiting for the group to come.
Who is in charge of you, rascals? - shouted a tall male in a mage's robe.
Alistair tried to step forward, but Nathaniel and Burrel cut before him.
We are.
One of the royal guards murmured to Alistair:
You're not gonna let them know who you are, are you, Your Majesty?
Alistair shook his head. It would have been a terrible idea.
Not one, but two commanders? Where are your two armies? - the mage asked scornfully.
There's enough to put an end to your filthy horde! - shouted one of the guardsmen.
Your people do not know their place, - the mage shouted sardonically. - When we finish them, they are gonna be much more disciplined.
Not going to happen, mage. - Nathaniel said firmly.
Who are you to be so sure? - the man smirked. - I cannot let you live. And I gathered quite a force here. It ends… now.
At the last word, he waved his arm at the group of human and the demons flew forward. But as soon as they advanced a couple of meters, a huge fireball demolished many of them, only sparing the rage demons.
The mage swung back, to see where the ball came from and immediately had to deflect an ice peak coming at him at the hand of a small hooded figure that was obviously Arja. The wardens she took with her aimed arrows coming for the abominations.
A new group of demons emerged between the armed forces and the mages and for some moments the battlefield split in two. The wardens from Arja's group came through the dividing line of foes and joined the group of city guards as the mages switched sides.
Fireballs, electric charges and god knows what were exchanged between Arja and the mage, and the warriors slowly but persistently cornered the remaining creatures and eliminated them, when a wall of force threw Arja away from her opponent and into the group of wardens behind her.
The mage stood straight and smiled at the limping hurlock emissary coming from behind. The darkspawn looked sick and exhausted but he obviously had his power. The mage patted him on the back.
We are leaving now, - he croaked at the people. - Those are the guarantee of our safety, - he pushed two small kids, probably 4 or 5 years old, from behind his back.
They looked terrified, the girl cried and the boy just hickupped trying to get away from the scary emissary.
The kids! They are from the city! - shouted one of the guards. He charged forward only to be stalled by Burrel.
Stand still.
What do you want? - asked Nathaniel.
To get away, - croaked the man.
How do we know you let the kids go?
Oh. You don't. But there's not much of a choice - they either die here or probably live up on the ground.
They poisoned our children before! - shouted someone of the city dwellers.
They'll kill them!
The noise that came next was terrible, the people who saw threat to the kids from next door were almost uncontrollable. Burrel and Alistair tried to calm them down but even the king could not make them come around.
At this point Arja hailed her arm forward and the group froze. The immobility spell worked for a short time, so she shouted to one of the wardens that were with her to give the lyrium potion. As soon as he reached out to her with a vial in his hand, someone from the city people swung his hand agitatedly and the vial came crashing down.
She just followed the fall with her gaze, cursed under her breath and rushed forward. No one spoke or moved after that. Dozens of eyes widened in shock as she run up to the pair of outlaws and stood before the children.
What are you gonna do, woman? I can sense you are out of power, you can't do anything! Why the run to sacrifice?
Warden commander turned around and issued a brisk order:
Catch them!
Then she turned back to the mage and with one fast motion sent the kids flying to her allies. The mage growled and tried to raise his stuff. But Arja was faster - with a swift move she took a dagger from her belt and generously slit her wrist.
Alistair could not believe his eyes - she used blood magic. And she was good at that: the thick ropes of blood swiveled around the pair in front of Arja, then narrowed at them forming choking ropes. The last move was a powerful tug with which she lacerated her enemies severely and covered the ground between them in damp dark blood. The darkspawn and the mage fell to the ground, not moving.
By then, the wardens and Alistair came to their senses and hurried to the scene. Nathaniel was the first one to catch onto the unsteady woman, who tried to grip at him for support obviously losing consciousness.
