~O~
Chapter Ten: Proelio in Rupe
"Hold steady, men!" Elissa's voice filled the ravine the defenders had chosen for their battlefield, echoing a few times before fading away. The unearthly growls it had covered rose again to fill their ears. Unclean green fog spread down the path, and the sound of rattling bone and armor advanced with it. The warriors on the path gripped their weapons with white knuckled fingers.
Rebeka had no idea where they had picked up the knights and the dwarf and the mercenaries, but she was suddenly glad when she made out the first skeletons shambling down the path. They were in varying states of decay, with strips of skin sloughing off as they moved down the path, and their eyes glowed red. The mage could feel her head begin to pulse with pain again as she felt some demonic influence prying at her mind. The same influence shrouded each of the moving skeletons.
Warden Elissa looked agitated, shifting her balance back and forth and twirling her sword. The skeletons advanced rapidly. Rebeka's eyes flicked toward her leader. When was she planning on calling for an attack?
Almost as if she had read her mind, the Warden's eyes narrowed and she thrust her sword forward. "Attack!" came the cry, and suddenly everyone sprang into action.
Battle was too confusing with so many people around. It made Rebeka want to scream—how in the Void was she supposed to cast spells when every useful spell put one of her allies in danger? She finally decided to just pull an arcane shield into being and run forward, throwing lightning from her hands. The pain in her head grew worse with every step she took towards the skeletons, but now she was free to fight. It was exhilarating to say the least, and she didn't hesitate to switch from lightning to fire when she saw how easily the skeleton's dry scraps of skin caught. Their howls were certainly frightening, but there was nothing quite like watching their red eyes fade to black after just a little too much exposure to the flames.
"They're coming from the water! Oh, Maker, they're coming from the water!"
Elissa instantly disengaged from the battle, but that was fine. Rebeka launched a boulder at the skeleton the Warden had been slashing at and grinned when the undead monster exploded into tiny fragments.
"Knights, Dwyn, guard the pass! Everyone else, follow!" Elissa bellowed, and barreled down the hill after the terrified militiaman. Rebeka glanced at the now empty pass and shrugged. Might as well.
It was eerie to watch the skeletons shamble from the water. These ones were equipped with piecemeal armor and various weapons that could have belonged to guardsmen up at the castle. Their red eyes pierced the gloom just like those others though, and Rebeka was just as eager to kill these as she'd been to kill the ones up the hill. They weren't exactly darkspawn, but they were the next best thing and Rebeka was more than ready.
The warriors rushed straight for the shoreline and left the militia huddled in their circle of fire in front of the Chantry. Leliana darted forward to take up a position behind one of the rough wooden barricades. "Rebeka, take cover!" the sister shouted.
Rebeka rolled her eyes and rushed after the warriors. Honestly, it wasn't Leliana's job to give her orders. As far as Rebeka was concerned, it wasn't anyone's job to give her orders.
Preoccupied by the thrill of battle, Rebeka didn't hear the faint cries of "Look out" coming from behind her. The club struck her head with blinding force and Rebeka could almost hear Leliana's "I told you so" as she crumpled to the ground.
~O~
Rebeka was unsurprised to find herself somewhere in the Fade, though the décor was confusing. There was a big four poster bed in the middle of a lake, but it didn't sink into the water and neither did she. All around she could feel rage demons, but they wouldn't venture into the water for some reason.
"How did I do?" a cheerful voice asked hopefully. Rebeka whirled around only to meet the eyes of a familiar desire demon. The mage gazed confusedly at the lake and the bed and shrugged.
"Um, fine, I suppose. You did this?" Rebeka went to sit on the bed only to plummet right through as though it were air. "Actually, scratch that. It needs some work."
The desire demon huffed and sank to the ground—water?— next to Rebeka. "I really thought I had it," she whined.
Rebeka shook herself. She really didn't have time for this. "Listen, I need to wake up. I could be dead soon if I don't."
The desire demon pouted. "I'm protecting you," she retorted. The demon patted the rippling lake. Rebeka's eyebrow lifted as a hunger demon swept up and easily started across the water.
"I'm not so sure." Rebeka rose to her feet and gathered her power, only to have a vertigo inducing vision shift and bolt of pain pierce her head. Suddenly she could see purple tethers stretching from each of the demons that disappeared into the distance. That same headache that assailed her whenever she was near one of the shambling skeletons in the waking world was pounding at her now. As the invisible barrier broke and the demons rushed forward, as she felt her desire demoness friend slip away, Rebeka reached forward and, with a mighty slash, severed every tether tying the lesser demons to that unknown power within the Fade.
Rebeka rocketed back into consciousness to the sound of the frustration of scores of screaming, angry demons.
~O~
"What the—?"
"How in the Void?"
"They're all dead!"
Rebeka's eyes shot open. Skeletons clad in piecemeal armor were scattered all over the ground around her in a ragged ring, one skeleton slightly ahead of the others, as if he had waded through an invisible barrier before the others. Militiamen were creeping forward with torches, still fearful, although it was clear to Rebeka that the battle was over.
Her head was still muddled from the disorienting stabs of pain and shifts in vision she kept experiencing, so when she stood it took the space of one step before she was stumbling again. Strong hands covered in chainmail were there to catch her. "Careful," Alistair cautioned. Rebeka jerked away from the templar.
"I don't need your help."
His hazel eyes were hard but he didn't press the issue. Rebeka was pleased—one less thing for her to worry about. She kicked bones out of her way as she picked her way across the battlefield. So many of these untrained militia had died… a stab of pain went through her at the sight of a disembodied head. That was simply too familiar. Why hadn't she been able to cut the demons' connections to the bodies sooner?
A hand covered in a different gauntlet gripped her shoulder gently. Rebeka lifted hooded eyes to Elissa's face. The Warden was splattered with blood and grime, but her eyes sparked with a quiet sort of victory. "Battle always has a cost, Rebeka." The mage looked down and away. Elissa's tone darkened. "This could have been much worse. I've been through worse. Thanks to us, the cost was not as steep as it would have been. You can be proud of that, at least."
Rebeka watched Elissa with sharp eyes as the Warden wandered away towards the water, Nemesis close behind. Battle always has a cost, she'd said, and Rebeka realized after a moment that for the Warden, they carried extra meaning. For the first time she found herself wondering about the closemouthed noble's past. But there's time for that later, Rebeka thought wearily. At least, she hoped there would be.
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