Wilder
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XIII
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At best, Anouk had thought Teagan and Murdock exaggerated the attacks, but the sheer number of walking corpses that flooded the village when nightfall came was overwhelming. But it seemed that the only advantage the undead forces possessed was just that - their forces. The walking corpses did not seem to have any organization, they attacked because whoever or whatever raised them told them to. And with exposed bones and vitals, atrophying muscles and hardly any armor it was not difficult to kill them. But they were relentless!
When daylight finally graced Redcliffe, the last of the undead men fell. A tense silence settled in the air and over the villagers, Anouk could feel her heart beating in her throat waiting for any sign of renewed attack, her bow string taut and ready. She took her cue from the village folk since they had been dealing with the attacks for so long, they would know the signs of renewed attack better than she. So when she saw Murdock sheath his weapon, Anouk shouldered her bow.
Anouk looked down over the village, scanning through the relieved and amazed militiamen as they congratulated one another and cheered. Her eyes burned, her shoulders and arms ached and the muscles of her legs were shaking from being on her feet all night. She needed to rest and when Anouk looked across the way to Leliana whose tired blue eyes met hers with a smile, down to where Alistair plopped himself onto the steps of Chantry, then to Morrigan breaking her usual composure to lean against her staff, Anouk knew they all needed a rest. But she also knew there was not much time to do so, they only had a day to find out why undead men were attacking the village.
The doors to the Chantry opened as Anouk climbed down from her perch and the villagers who had been unable to fight rushed into the square to embrace their loved ones. Anouk's heart simultaneously swelled with joy and clenched in envy at the scene as she made her way to Morrigan, politely brushing off the various thanks of the townsfolk.
"Why do you think this is happening?" Anouk asked the witch lowly.
With a sigh, Morrigan twirled her staff at her side before securing it in its hold over her shoulder. "A demon 'tis most likely the cause. The magic that sustained the undead originated from the castle, the only way to stop the attacks is to seek out the source of the magic and destroy it."
"Then we must find a way into the castle."
"So it would seem."
Anouk nodded her understanding and turned away from Morrigan, closing the distance between her and Alistair before sitting beside him. She could see Sten and Dmitri descending the path into the village while Ser Perth and his men followed behind. Neither Sten nor Dmitri seemed to be injured, she noted with relief. Finally, Anouk turned to Alistair, her eyes met his sharing a relieved and tired smile, then she leaned her head against his armored shoulder, fatigue allowing Anouk to momentarily forget her ire toward him. A Chantry priest eventually came by offering a mug of hot tea and bread, both taken gratefully by Anouk who had been trying to ignore her hunger pains.
"I can hardly believe it," said Teagan's voice behind them. "We survived." He looked down to where Alistair and Anouk were sitting, "Thank you. Truly, thank you."
"It's the least we could do," Alistair said with a nod.
"We must find a way into the castle, Morrigan said the magic sustaining the walking corpses originated from there," Anouk told him.
Teagan nodded, "I see. That is… troubling." He sighed and looked around at the village, "With the blow delivered last night, I feel confident enough to leave the village and enter the castle to seek out my brother."
"Uhm, not that I don't want to see the Arl, but… could we… rest, first?" Alistair wondered and Anouk could hear the fatigue weighing down his words.
Teagan chuckled, "Of course."
"Thank the Maker," Alistair sighed.
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"Anouk, time to wake up!"
With difficulty, Anouk managed to peel open her eyes as Leliana continued to shake her shoulder. Light streamed in cheerily through the windows of the Revered Mother's study, its intensity giving away the time of day. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and trying to work the stiffness from her shoulders and back. Once Leliana was satisfied Anouk was going to stay awake, the redhead resumed scribbling on the piece of parchment spread over her knee. She and Leliana were the only ones in the study still, but Anouk's ears picked up the murmur of tense conversation through the crack of the door.
"Where are Alistair and Dmitri?" Anouk wondered.
"With Teagan and Isolde." Leliana replied and before Anouk could ask who Isolde was, the lay sister told her, "She's Eamon's wife."
That caught Anouk's attention. "Eamon's wife? Did she come from the castle?"
Anouk pushed herself to her feet before Leliana could answer, striding from the study barefoot, and only in the light padding and leather breeches worn under her armor. When she caught sight of the woman that must have been Eamon's wife Anouk wondered how she could look so impeccably put together when the village had nearly been razed to the ground. And yet, the woman's face was flushed, and there was a panicked flickering in her eyes that set off warning drums in Anouk's head.
"… I know you need more of an explanation," the woman was saying, "but I do not know what is safe to tell! There is a terrible evil in the castle, the dead wake and hunt the living. The mage responsible was caught, but still it continues! And my poor Connor, he will not flee the castle and he has seen so much death. Teagan, you must come with me, you could reason with him."
Oh her voice! Anouk thought, gritting her teeth. She was not even aware she had a headache until Isolde was finished speaking. Her voice held the same lilting cadence and quality as Leliana's, but where the lay sister's was endearing, Isolde's was painful. Every syllable the woman spoke in her shrill intonation sent a wave of unpleasant chills down Anouk's spine and it was all she could to not to shudder as she approached.
"We were not aware anyone was even alive within the castle," Anouk said, coming to a stop beside Dmitri. "It is why we have delayed entering."
Isolde rounded on Anouk, looking for all the world like she smelled something unpleasant as her eyes narrowed taking in Anouk's rumpled and exotic appearance. "Who is this woman, Teagan?"
"She is a Grey Warden like Alistair and Dmitri; she helped defend the village last night," Teagan replied.
"I… oh," Isolde stammered. "Forgive me, I would exchange pleasantries, but considering the circumstances…"
"We just need to know what's going on, Lady Isolde," Dmitri said, gently. "You said the mage responsible was caught?"
Isolde nodded and averted her gaze to the floor. "Yes, he… is an infiltrator… I think, in the castle staff and claimed that an agent of Teyrn Loghain hired him to poison Eamon - it is why he fell ill."
The warning drums in Anouk's head intensified as she picked up on the falsehood immediately. No person telling the complete truth would avert their gaze in the manner Isolde did, nor hesitate long enough to invent a fabrication; this woman was hiding something, but what? It explained her fidgety demeanor, the constant shifting of her eyes. What or who was Isolde protecting by lying about the mage?
"You're lying." Anouk stated.
"I beg your pardon!" Isolde cried in outrage, but the panic in her eyes reached a pique only confirming Anouk's suspicions. "That is a rather impertinent accusation!"
"Not if it is true," she answered, darkly. "The dead are waking; this is not the work of a mage, but a demon and if we are to have any hope of saving the village, we must have the truth!"
Isolde's defensive stance crumpled abruptly under Anouk's blunt accusation, but the woman turned to Teagan. "Teagan, please! You must come back with me, if this is the work of a demon what if It thinks I am betraying It? It could kill Connor!"
Anouk fisted her hands at her sides, thinking this was why she had little use for the people outside the Wilds. Many of them were liars or worse. Her father would never have put himself in a position that could have risked his people in this manner. The continued welfare of the tribe and village always superseded her father's own desires. Isolde did not appear to follow the same conduct, placing herself above the welfare of those under her care. But that thought made Anouk feel an abrupt warmth toward Teagan, who had bravely assisted the villagers in their dire time of need.
After a hesitation Teagan said, "I will go with you Isolde, but please, give us a moment to speak."
Isolde breathed a sigh, "Thank the Maker! Bless you, Teagan. Please do not take long, I will be by the bridge."
"I don't think this is a good idea, Teagan," Alistair said as Isolde left the Chantry.
A rueful smile crossed Teagan's face. "Perhaps not, but this is my family. I will go with Isolde, and hopefully I can… distract whatever is in the castle long enough for you to enter unnoticed."
He slid a ring off his finger, handing it to Dmitri and explaining that it opened an underground passage to the castle by way of the mill. He fervently insisted that Eamon was their main priority, that everyone inside the castle, including himself, was expendable. Then with no further ado, Teagan squared his shoulders and bravely brushed past them.
Dmitri turned to Anouk, his voice rimmed in awe as he asked, "How'd you know Isolde was lying?"
She raised an eyebrow at him, her own voice threaded with confusion as she replied, "How did you not?"
.
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"You can't just set a blood mage free!" Alistair cried.
Anouk rubbed her temples hoping that increasing the pressure as she circled would make her head stop pounding. She was grateful that Sten and Leliana did not mind being left in the village so more voices were not added to the arguing going on at her back. Of all the things that could have happened, or that they could have learned upon entering the castle, Jowan's story was the last thing Anouk expected. Connor, the Arl's son, was a mage and Isolde, terrified the boy would be taken to the Tower had hired Jowan, an apostate and apparently a blood mage to teach the boy behind the Arl's back. But what no one knew until it was too late, was that Jowan had been hired by Teyrn Loghain to poison Arl Eamon.
"Oh? Better to execute him, better to punish him for his choices?" Morrigan snapped, her voice seething raw contempt, "Is this Alistair who speaks, or the templar?"
She stared through the bars of the cell at the man who Teyrn Loghain hired to poison Arl Eamon, turning over possibilities. He could not have been older than Dmitri and yet he looked as though he had seen some terrible things that had aged him considerably. Jowan stared only at Anouk as her companions argued, his eyes wide allowing the torches to illuminate the terror flickering in his gaze. He said he had been tortured by Isolde's guards as she demanded that he undo what he had done, and Jowan's appearance did not belay that. Someone had attempted to rearrange his face if the cuts, mottled bruises and ugly swelling were any indication and his clothing had seen better days, torn and heavily stained.
"I'd say it's common sense!" Alistair retorted, his voice echoing against the stone. "We don't even know the whole story yet!"
What annoyed Anouk the most was that Jowan was telling the truth. Yes, Jowan had poisoned Arl Eamon leading to his sickness and he would be held accountable for it, but he did not summon the demon. If Jowan's story was anything to go by, Anouk laid the blame solely on Isolde's arrogance and fear and she was just as accountable for the walking corpses as the demon who raised them.
"He does seem earnest in his desire to atone," Dmitri added reasonably. "He may be a blood mage, but… we could use all the help we can get right now."
"Please, I never meant for any of this to happen," Jowan said, adding his voice to the arguing. "Let me help."
Anouk sighed impatiently, "Have you not done enough?"
"Just give me a chance," he beseeched.
"And afterwards?"
Jowan shrugged with hopeless resign, his expression crestfallen. "I suppose I'll be arrested or… executed, or whatever people like me get."
"And you have made peace with that, resigned yourself to that fate?" Anouk asked.
"I… I'm tired of running," he admitted. "I need to account for what I've done."
Anouk considered his answer before she took a step forward. If Anouk had offered Sten the chance to atone for the murders he committed, then who was she to deny this young man the chance as well? "I am going to release you, and you are going to come with us."
As they made their way through the castle, Anouk was quite sure that there had, at one point in time, been a rather large staff of servants and guards considering the number of walking dead they encountered along the way. It did nothing to endear Isolde to Anouk, who had allowed those who served her to die rather than send her son away for the proper training in his abilities. In fact, the more people who fell before her, the angrier Anouk became, thrilling through her veins and propelling her forward even as they reached the courtyard allowing Ser Perth and his men to enter.
Teagan was putting on quite the show when they entered the main hall of the castle, dancing without a care in the world and moving with an agility that Anouk would not have thought him capable of. "The demon has him ensorcelled," Morrigan warned quietly.
Isolde, austere and slumped, stood beside the boy Anouk assumed to be Connor. He could not have been older than twelve summers, but when he looked up, there was no child-like innocence in his eyes as his lips pulled into an ugly sneer. Anouk felt her mouth go dry seeing the shadows that swirled in the expanse of the boy's gaze, something other using his eyes to see, unsettled to her soul when the darkness within him stared back at her.
"Ah, so these are our visitors!" Connor said, and there was nothing human in his voice, nothing at all. The metallic quality of his inflection rang several octaves lower than what it should be and sent the hair on Anouk's arms raising to their ends. A sudden aching fear crept along her spine, a clenched pity roiled her stomach - even she knew there was only one way to deal with a possession.
"This will not end well," she heard Morrigan utter. "The boy has become an abomination and sundered the Veil."
She was aware of Dmitri speaking to Connor, the bulk of him standing beside her and it should have been comforting, knowing he was there. But it wasn't. Not only could she feel the energy of the same anger that propelled her forward through the castle radiating from Dmitri, a numbness had spread through Anouk as well, preparing her for the inevitable task that was going to be laid at their feet. Anouk would not enjoy killing the child… she shook her head, Connor was no longer a child and thinking of him as such would only make things harder for everyone. No, better to approach this with methodic detachment.
And then everything was chaos. Connor ran from the room and the dozen guards as well as Teagan, ensorcelled by the demon within Connor, drew their weapons and advanced on them. She heard Alistair shout not to kill anyone and Anouk clenched her teeth, having to quickly readjust the hold on her axe to hit the oncoming guard with the handle enclosed in her fist. A shield slammed into the side of Anouk's head and she dropped like a rock, vision spinning, ears ringing, quite sure that her eyes had been knocked clear from her head.
She was still trying to see straight as Alistair helped her to her feet, keeping a hold of her elbows to steady her. "I am fine," she tried to assure him.
"You are not," he insisted, though gently. "I thought you said most people don't find it so easy to sneak up on you?"
Her vision finally stopped doubling as Alistair's handsome face came fully into focus. His lip was split, but he was smiling gently at her, the echo of his playful jibe lighting his hazel eyes. "Last I checked, there were no eyes in the back of my head," she replied, taking back her arms.
"Teagan! Oh, Teagan, are you alright? I am so sorry for bringing you here, if anything had happened to you, I would have never forgiven myself!"
Anouk did her best to hide her scowl as Isolde helped Teagan to his feet. The guards were rising as well, slowly and bewildered looking as if they were coming into the world for the first time. How long had the demon had them under its control? Anouk briefly wondered what their last memories were before their actions were no longer their own.
Teagan, to his credit, gave Isolde such a look of disgust, one eyebrow arched up in annoyance as she fussed over him. "You're sorry? What about the people your actions have hurt, Isolde?"
Isolde stumbled back as she paled, mouth gaping, trying and failing to find words. Her eyes looked around wildly seeking anyone else to lay blame upon and when her gaze found Jowan, Isolde's mouth snapped shut, an all-consuming rage bringing color back into her features. "This is his fault, he summoned the demon!"
"I didn't!" Jowan protested, truly affronted. "I told you already! I did not summon any demon!"
"No," Dmitri interjected, dark eyes solidly on Isolde and smoldering with barely controlled rage. "This is your fault, Lady Isolde."
Isolde looked to Dmitri, aghast. "He betrayed me, I brought him here to help Connor and in return he poisoned my husband!"
"Your secrecy made his actions possible," Tegan answered.
"Enough!" Anouk barked, tired of arguing. If everyone was truly insistent on giving blame to someone, then they would likely be there all day. "Fault can be assigned at another time. Where is the boy?"
"Most likely in the family's quarters," Teagan replied.
"He does not like violence, it frightens him," Isolde added. "... The fight may have brought Connor back out again."
Could that mean - "He may be vulnerable?" Teagan asked, giving voice to Anouk's thought.
Anouk swallowed her disgust with herself and the injustice of the situation. Connor hadn't truly done anything except try to help his father and yet it was very likely they were going to have to kill him. Without the proper training, the boy did not know enough about demons and their tricks to resist. After all, what would anyone give to ensure the safety of those they loved and cared about?
Isoldes abrupt wail of misery sent a sharp pain through Anouk's already aching head. "Please! Is there no other way?"
Jowan stepped forward hesitantly, "There… could be another way."
He explained about the ritual in concise terms that everyone would understand. While killing Connor was the easiest solution, Anouk had to admit that the ritual did have an appeal because she did not want to kill Connor; did not want a child's blood on her hands. And then because they lacked a stock pile of lyrium and several more mages Jowan revealed what the ritual would entail - blood magic and a sacrifice.
"Blood magic!" Alistair spat, his inner templar roaring to life. "How can more evil be a solution! The Circle of Magi isn't too far from here, we can go there and ask for their help."
"That's assuming they would even do it," Dmitri replied. "I doubt they would want to go through all that trouble when simply killing the boy is the quickest, cleanest and easiest answer."
Anouk turned to Dmitri, "And if Connor was your son? Your brother… your nephew?"
It was a heavy handed tactic, Anouk knew, but now that they were presented with the possibility of eradicating the demon from Connor while leaving him intact, she was going to dig in with both heels and take it. Dmitri deliberately crossed his arms, gritted his teeth as he tried to bring his sudden grief to a heel. When he looked away from her, Anouk knew that killing the boy was now out of the question.
Anouk weighed her options: travel to the Circle of Magi and ask them to do the ritual, or allow Jowan to use blood magic to do the ritual and use Isolde, who happily offered herself, as the sacrifice needed. Going to the Circle did have a certain appeal because no one would have to die, but who knew how long that would take. Anouk did not want to risk leaving the boy with the demon inside him only for him to unleash more horrors on the village while they were gone, espeically when there was a very real possibility the Circle would refuse to do the ritual and kill the boy anyway. Those poor people, fighting for their lives every night due to the Arlessa's well-intentioned -albeit misguided- attempt to protect her son, barely scraping by while Isolde stayed safe in the castle.
She turned to Morrigan, the only other mage in the room and conceivably the one who would be going into the Fade. Her golden eyes met Anouk's with curiosity. "Wili nehi advneha hiano?"
She did not miss the surprise that flashed through the witch's gaze as Morrigan crossed her arms and sat on her hip, regarding Anouk lingeringly. Finally, Morrigan sighed passively, "Asehi."
Anouk nodded, turning back to Isolde. "Are you quite sure you're ready to die, Lady Isolde?"
Is anyone going to yell at me for allowing the ritual? I hope not.
Most of the DA fics that I have found that retell the Blight, the author's
all opt to go to the Circle to help Connor. Considering that most of
us already know the condition of the tower when the party arrives
(if you haven't gone there before Redcliffe)it's just not logical to leave
Connor possessed under the supervision of one mage. And Isolde
totally deserves it. Though I do understand wanting your Warden to
be "good", but morally flexible is more fun.
Translations:
Wili nehi advneha hiano? - Will you do this?
Ashei - yes
Annnyyywayyy... Thank you to... Ellyanah, Cibiripilli, and JTheClivaz
for reviewing last chapter! :)
See you next chapter!
-(gxr)-