A Rogue's Sparkle
Note:
First of all, things are still a bit crazy for me here, hence the late uploads of this story. Your patience is hereby rewarded with a chapter again however :-)
Second, I do not use a beta at this moment so please let me know if I make any mistakes in sentences/words etc. I do not wish for a beta unless he/she has the time to respond to me within a reasonable timeframe. Not that I think anyone will ask, but just so you know if you do wish to ask ;-)
Last but not least, I do not own anything of Dragon Age. It all belongs to Bioware. I only gave it a little twist of my own which I hope you'll like.
Chapter 9
Demons of Redcliffe
As Aedan talked to Murdock to figure out what we could do to help him, I walked around searching for the little boy. I couldn't wait knowing his sister was in the Chantry worrying over him. I searched some houses at the dock and found one with an open door.
"Hello?" I carefully yelled into the house. I heard a door slam and walked into the little house when someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
"What are you doing?" the man said. I looked at him and smiled.
"My dear prince…" I started to see him grimace. "… I am only trying to find the little boy who is lost."
"Seriously Cath, don't joke around like that. You know… about the prince thing. I will stay with you."
"I did hear something when I yelled hello." I said. I turned towards the room and stepped in again. The room was dark and only a candle placed in the next room lit it up slightly. There wasn't much of value in this house. We walked to the smaller room and I looked at the large closet placed against the wall. I heard something shifting within it and I carefully tried to open the door.
"Ah! Don't open it! Stay away! Get out!" the young voice yelled. I stepped away from the door and smiled.
"You have nothing to fear. Your sister sent me to find you." I softly said. I awaited his response and after a while I heard some trashing. He finally came out and dragged a long sword behind him. His eyes were filled with distrust.
"Really, she did?" I sat down on my knees in front of the young boy and looked at him.
"She's very worried about you, you know? You should go back to her. I'm sure she won't be mad."
"I can't. I want to protect her. These things already took our mother." he said. He looked down at he floor and his face was traced by a thin line of liquid. I reached out and put my fingers underneath his chin and made him look at me.
"You needn't worry. Me and my friends will help defend this village this evening all right? After that we will head in the castle to see if we can put a stop to this." I whispered. He started smiling and whiped away his tears.
"Really? You're helping us?" I nodded and sent him to his sister with a warning he should stay there to be safe. I stood still as the young boy ran out of the house, leaving us completely alone. I stared at the door and Alistair started moving. When he noticed I wasn't coming after him straight away he turned around.
"Are you all right?" he said. When I didn't gave a response he walked towards me. I looked at Alistair and noticed that he was very close to me. I started to get nervous all of the sudden en shifted around on my feet. I looked down and in my mind tried to find my words again.
"Catherine?" he whispered? I loved how he is saying my name. I looked up again and gave a small smile.
"I.. I feel for that boy." I whispered back. "He's too young to lose his mother." He came even closer and took me in a hug. It was slightly uncomfortable with all the armor between us, but I put my arms around him and put my head on his chest to hug him back. The hug didn't last long and Alistair quickly stepped back after letting me go again.
"I... hope you didn't.. mind that." he said with a small blush creeping up his cheeks. "You looked like you needed a hug, that's all. Come... Let's...go." he smiled and he turned around to leave the house. I walked out of the little house after Alistair and we started searching for the others. They were heading to this Murdock and I could see the man standing, or at least I assumed that was him. He looked rough and had dark hair and with his low rough voice he commanded the soldiers he had to gather their armor and weapons and test them.
So if they weren't here, maybe they went to search Ser Perth. Bann Teagan told us about him and I figured it would be the only place they could be. Alistair and I started to walk towards the mill where he should be stationed. On the way I saw an Inn and pulled on Alistair his arm to stop him. He turned around and looked at my hand on his arm. When he saw where my eyes were directed to he fully faced me and chuckled.
"My dear Lady. We are not going to get a drink. I'm fairly certain we can handle tonight on our own strength." he joked.
"Think you're funny?" I laughed at him. "We should let them know they have help. Maybe we can find soldiers for tonight as well? Think about it, we don't need drinks, but they've had this night after night..."
"I get your point." he simply said and we walked into the Inn. It was not very busy and the Inn felt as if it had died. Even the soldiers who were drinking in the corner were quiet. The rest consisted of an elven man, the waitress and a man behind the counter. I walked up to the soldiers and one of them bothered to look up.
"So.. this is your preperation for tonight?" I carefully asked. He frowned and looked back at his drink.
"What hope do we have left? If we have to die tonight, better die while being drunk. That way it doesn't seem so real either and Lloyd there wants to make a profit out of it. That bastard does not even hand out free drinks in a time like this!"
"Me and my friends will help defend the city tonight. Redcliffe has hope!" I said. The soldiers didn't bother to reply so I walked to the man called Lloyd. The man was huge and from the moment I walked in looked as grumpy as one could look. When I approached him he looked up and put his hands on the counter. A rather aggresive way to greet customers.
"Are you Lloyd?" I asked.
"I am. Who may you be." he said. His tone showing everything but interest.
"Are you charging these soldiers for their drinks?" I acted as if I was surprised. The man however, only started to look more annoyed.
"Of course I am! I'm already struggling as it is!"
"Don't you think it's good for moral if the militia get their drinks for free? Think about it. You will be praised for that!" The man went silent and started thinking about what I said. He then smiled briefly and turned to the soldiers.
"Men!" he yelled. "Drinks are for free for the militia!" He said as he raised up his arm. When the men started cheering he smiled again and turned to us.
"Anything else you want?" I shook my head and turned back. When we were outside I looked around.
"They wouldn't make it tonight if we didn't arrive." I said to Alistair.
"Their hopes were non excistent indeed. Hopefully we can get into the castle quick and see what is going on with Arl Eamon." I nodded and we walked towards the mill. It wouldn't surprise me if we missed Aedan and the rest due to our stop at the Inn, but nevertheless we went there. Apart from a few knights it was quiet. When I turned to Ser Perth he greeted us and told us that the party was going back to the Chantry, but would return when they were finished. Alistair and I decided to wait for them so I sat at the edge, facing Redcliffe Castle.
"The view is amazing. It is strange that something so evil is going on there." Alistair sat down next to me.
"This view is so fresh in my memory. Even if I had to stay away forever I'd know how Redcliffe would look like. It did not change a thing."
"So you grew up in the castle?"
"You could say that. Though I never slept in the actual castle. I slept in the hay near the dogs. I preferred it that way as well. The Arlessa was not very fond of my presence. It was she who made me leave Redcliffe and join the Chantry to become a Templar."
"Really? How could anyone not be fond of you!" I said with a smile.
"She was jealous and afraid I think. There were rumors that I was a bastard son of Arl Eamon and Isolde did not like that at all. She couldn't wait to get rid of me. You should have seen the look on her face when I was finally taken away. As if she had won a mighty battle." I lied down and stared at the clouds. There weren't many, but those which were there looked funny. I started to imagine what they looked like.
"She sounds horrible." Alistair chuckled and decided to lie down and look to the clouds as well. Suddenly a head appeared above us.
"Sister! What in the Maker's name are you doing?" he said after which he started laughing. "I have to say you both looked very cute together like that." I quickly stood up and punched Aedan on his arm.
"You have my thanks brother." I looked at him and when the grin was off his face I continued. "I assume you arranged everything for tonight?" He nodded.
"Yes. All we have to do now is wait. Though... you were having fun together anyway so we'll just leave again." I sighed and turned to Alistair. He quickly looked away and walked after Aedan. I stared at him while he practically ran after my brother and sighed.
The sun faded too fast and darkness set in over Redcliffe. The castle could barely been seen anymore and only a few torches kept a bit of light in the village. The Chantry was filled up with people. Everyone was scared and awaiting the end of the battle which hasn't started yet. It was surprisingly silent. Probably most people wanted to listen if they could hear the sounds of battle outside. I sat on a bench when my brother walked towards me. Leliana was right behind him. When I saw them both I smiled briefly.
Since the day she joined us, she had been near Aedan as much as she could. He didn't seem interested in her however, but enjoyed that he had someone all over him. Today was no different.
"What are doing?" he asked. I lifted my shoulders briefly as I looked at him.
"Nothing much. Just sitting I guess. Where are the others?"
"Morrigan is outside, waiting until the creatures arrive. Alistair went to Bann Teagan and he took your Mabari with him. Sten is at the door waiting until we start. That man is eager to do something. Did you notice that he did not smile once since we saved him from his cage back in Lothering? I didn't forget anyone did I?" Leliana let out a soft cough and smiled to Aedan.
"and Leliana is standing right next to me." he quickly added.
"Alistair must have a lot of questions and stories for Bann Teagan."
"I can only imagine yes." Suddenly the doors of the Chantry were opened and Morrigan came running towards us.
"Go outside if you wish to save the village." she told Aedan. We all stood up and ran outside. We could see a trail of dark magic and creatures coming towards the village. We rushed towards the mill to interrupt the main horde there. Ser Perth was already waiting eagerly for our help and the faces of the knights showed relief when we arrived.
"Thank the Maker you arrived when you did. For a little while I was scared you decided not to fight with us after all."
"We're not letting Redcliffe fall, Ser Perth." Aedan replied. We all lined up next to the knights and waited until the horde would arrive. Everyone was silent, but the tension was high. Nobody knew what to expect of the outcome of tonights battle. Despite the little hope we gave the soldiers, they were still shifting around at their feet from time to time.
The first creatures ran into us and we responded. The skeletons were tough to fight, but we managed to shatter them. The next few skeletons came fast after these died and surrounded us. It was hard to fight them off without any of us getting harmed. When too many skeletons surrounded us Morrigan shapeshifted to her spider form and attacked a large group of skeletons. She crushed them underneath the weight of the enormous form she now had. Her poison did its work and the webs immobilized skeletons long enough for us to kill them properly. We managed to survive like this until the waves stopped and we were all relieved to see they were not about to come anymore.
Our rest did not take long as a guard came up running to us, shouting something. When he stood in front of us he caught his breath before he could inform us that skeletons were attacking from the docks as well. The knights of Ser Perth would guard this section as our group ran with the guard towards the docks. When we arrived we saw a massacre. Aedan did not hesitate a second to rush in and help. We all ran after him and I yelled to Aedan to be carefull. He was a bit reckless and eager to get rid of these skeletons. I did not blame him as I wanted to help out as much as I could as well, but I feared he might let his guard down like this. As I thought it, it seemed to happen. Three skeletons appeared behind Aedan. One hit Aedan his head with the back of its weapon, while one other pierced his sword through Aedan. I screamed and rushed to Aedan. Tears threatened to come out, but I refused them. These things will NOT take my brother!
