A Broken Circle

With a groan, Eve's eyes fluttered open and she took a moment to catalogue the numerous injuries. Slowly, she pulled herself into a standing position, then put out a hand and pressed against the cold wall, steadying herself while she waited until the room had stopped spinning.

As the dizziness cleared, she opened her eyes and surveyed the corridor. Around her were bodies of Templars and mages; burnt, twisted, dismembered, and there, lying in a pool of blood was Adir's corpse. Eve cried out and staggered backwards, hitting the wall and scraping skin as she slid to the floor., The stench of burnt flesh and coppery blood mingled with smoke that stung her nose. Trembling, Eve covered her eyes, blocking out the horrors and hiding the tears that streamed down her face.

In the end, it had been too much, and the tower had been lost to Uldred and his blood mages. Was this the price of freedom? Death and destruction everywhere, friends turned to enemies, or even worse, dead. All they had to show for this rebellion were torn and mangled bodies and a destroyed tower – Kinloch Hold was a broken Circle.

Once the tears had dried up, she realised that her side was no longer hurting. Curious, she undid a few buttons on her robe and pulled it back to reveal healthy skin. She lifted a puzzled eyebrow. Who could have healed her? Perhaps this meant there were survivors. With rising hope, she got to her feet, picked up her staff and began searching the rooms, collecting any health and lyrium potions from the many corpses that littered the floor. She and the survivors would need all the help they could get if they were going to save the captured Templars. However, as Eve worked her way around the third floor, she became more and more despondent at finding only dead bodies.

An unnatural silence seemed to pervade every room, and it stretched her overwrought nerves to the point of breaking. Surely she couldn't be the only one to have survived? That thought did not sit well with her, not one bit, because if that was true, then it meant Cullen was dead.
Eve wiped angrily at her eyes, forcing back the tears. She wouldn't believe that – couldn't believe that! After everything she'd seen and endured, her present state of mind was fragile, and to accept Cullen's death as the truth would be too much for her to handle.

Knowing there was no chance to save the Templars by herself, she decided to backtrack to the lower floors and continue checking for survivors. If none could be found, then she would have to face Uldred alone. If she couldn't defeat him, then at least she would have died trying.

As Eve traversed the second floor she was startled to see that it was already dark outside. How long had she been unconscious? Her thoughts were put on hold when she noticed a slight movement in her peripheral vision. Turning sharply, a fireball already forming in one hand, she saw Owain sweeping the floor of the stock room.

The fireball was dispersed, and she walked over to him, a feeling of hope blossomed in her chest at finding a survivor. "Have you seen anyone else?"
He turned cold, unemotional eyes towards her and gave a nod. "Yes, Wynne was here, she was with Solona, and some others I do not know."
A large smile spread across Eve's face at this news. "Solona is alive? That's wonderful!"
With Solona and Wynne in the tower then there was a good chance of saving the Circle and the Templars. Eve prayed that Cullen was still alive.

With a sense of urgency and renewed vigour, she said, "I need to find them, where did they go?"
"I do not know. They said they were going to look for First Enchanter Irving and Niall."
Eve shook her head, knowing that Irving was not in his office having already checked there. The
second part of his statement sunk in and she raised a brow. "Why are they looking for Niall?"
"He has the Litany of Adralla."
With a nod, she conveyed her understanding; the Litany would be very useful in fighting against blood magic. "I guess I must have just missed them. I'll head to the third floor and see if I can catch up."
"No."
Eve turned back to Owain, a little startled by the short statement. "No?"
"You have not just missed them. They came through here some time ago."

Their conversation was interrupted by the tramp of approaching footsteps. Knowing that Owain had no way of defending himself unless he planned to use the broom as a weapon, Eve told him to move further into the stock room. She grabbed her staff and prepared to fight off the enemies.

As the steps grew louder, a trickle of sweat rolled down her temple and dampened the collar of her robe. While Eve waited, she quickly went through her repertoire of spells and decided that lightning would be good for tackling numerous enemies. While they were stunned, she might at least get in one or two fatal hits. Electricity flickered around the head of Eve's staff and arced over to her open hand. Swallowing hard, she fixed her eyes on the doorway, preparing for an onslaught of demons and abominations, with maybe a few blood mages thrown in for good measure.

So it came as a surprise when she heard a familiar gruff chuckle, followed by an equally familiar softly spoken voice. Eve faltered and, the next moment, Solona and the First Enchanter stepped into the hall. The lightning sputtered and died down with an anti-climactic fizzle.

Eve was so relieved at not having to face more enemies, she was momentarily dumbfounded. Which, she soon realised, was a bad thing because everyone was staring at her with a hostile gleam in their eyes. A warrior with short, dark blonde hair stepped in front of Solona and Irving, his shield raised in a defensive position and his sword drawn back in what could only be considered an aggressive manner. Moving up next to him was a blonde haired rogue, or so she assumed based on his armour and the fact that he was holding two very sharp daggers.

Anger and disappointment flickered across Eve's face as she tried to understand their threatening attitude. The warrior and rogue might not know her, but Solona, Wynne, and Irving knew her well enough!
"Don't tell me you were part of this, child?"
Or perhaps, Irving didn't know her at all.
Eve knew that she couldn't really blame them for being suspicious. Too many mages had rebelled and they had no way of knowing who had remained loyal. However, the wary look in Solona's eyes still hurt.

Being tired, wounded, and enduring the stares of six people with expressions ranging from cautious to downright hostile, Eve found it difficult to get her brain to function. She swallowed in an effort to get some saliva into her dry mouth with the hope that her tongue would start working.

It was then that Eve spotted Cullen standing at the back of the group. Having fought by his side, she couldn't understand why he wasn't saying something. But, as Eve looked into his eyes, she saw that they were haunted, and there was an underlying hint of anger. He looked exhausted and badly hurt, and had plainly been tortured by Uldred.

"Cullen?" The word was forced through cracked lips and Eve suddenly realised how thirsty she was. Just how much time had passed since the start of all this madness? Cullen's brown eyes focused on her – cold, hard, contemptuous – and Eve knew that the young, shy Templar he'd once been was gone for good.
"What?" His sharp response was painful to hear and she wanted to weep for what he must have suffered.
"Please, tell them I fought with you and the other Templars against the blood mages."
All eyes turned to him and he gave a short nod. "She did."

Swords were sheathed and a smile appeared on Solona's face. "I'm glad you made it, Eve."
With an effort, Eve pushed past the hurt and anger she was feeling. Judging by the look on Solona's face, her friend hadn't had an easy time either. The smile that came to Eve's lips was sincere and warm as she replied, "I was about to say the same to you."

Solona saved the mages that day. Not just by retaking the tower and killing Uldred, but in agreeing with First Enchanter Irving that the danger had passed.