Disclaimer: I own nothing.
August 9:30 Dragon
Adrianne walked slowly among the abnormally empty halls. Everyone was scattered within the tower. So few left and permitted to walk in the halls. It was a tense, unnerving silence that made her all the more on edge. It was strange, and everything seemed off. Even the templars were standing stiffer and tenser than usual. There was something terribly wrong.
It had been over an hour since Gregor had called Irving and the other enchanters into the conference room. Enchanter Bryant was there. Adrianne was worried something must've happened in the war against the darkspawn. Or that Uldred was trying to ally them with Loghain once more. It seemed peace evaded the tower these days. Whatever the case may be, everyone in the Circle knew things were not normal.
Adrianne passed several apprentices talking in hushed whispers in a secluded and restricted area to those who haven't yet tested for their Harrowing. How were they even permitted there?
She walked toward them and saw them jump in surprise. They looked like the cat caught with a canary. These apprentices looked no older than fifteen. Still children in a sense. There was no way they would be here. Not even with permission. Classes were cancelled today. All apprentices were to report to their rooms.
She waited for an explanation, but they remained silent.
She crossed her arms,"What are you doing? Apprentices are not supposed to be here," Adrianne asked while eying one the apprentices arm that had numerous cuts and scars littered across it. The apprentice immediately pulled down their sleeve once they saw Adrianne's eyes narrowed upon it. These were not just any apprentices. They were up to something. Only a blood mage would have all those markings on their skin.
One of the boys spoke in an attempt to distract Adrianne from making any further connections, "Oh it's you, Enchanter Calligaris um...we were supposed to meet Senior Enchanter Uldred here. He was going to give us a lecture," he explained.
Adrianne looked between the youths, but said nothing. They must've thought she was utterly stupid to believe such a lie. There were to be no lessons or lectures as instructed by the Knight-Commander. All mages had the day off, no magic allowed or training areas to be used. She knew they were up to something at that moment. Something they were hiding.
"Really? All mages have the day off today. Apprentices are to be in their rooms. No exceptions. Now tell me what you're really doing?" Adrianne demanded as she saw the apprentices tense. She had caught them in their web of lies.
She saw one them reach for the dagger and acted accordingly. With one hand she summoned vines from the beneath the stones in the tower and binded the other two against the wall. Adrianne whirled around and kicked the dagger out of the boy's hand and levitated him into the air. He screamed like a child. He was no child.
The templars came running toward Adrianne as she shook the boy.
"Now tell me! What we were you here for?!" she yelled.
"What's going on here?" the templar's asked while eying Adrianne.
Without taking her eyes off the boy she responded, "These are blood mages. They were going to attack me. Now tell me, who sent you here?" she said firmly.
The boy glared at her, eyes full of hatred, "I'm not telling you! We won't be complacent anymore for the Chantry or the templars to rule over us again. HE gave us the power to fight back! Enchanter's like you are templar boot lickers!," he screamed from the top of his lungs.
Adrianne shook him again, "Who's he? I will not hesitate to hurt if you don't tell me who taught you," she warned. This boy was testing her whatever patience she still possessed.
He laughed with a crazed voice, "It doesn't matter!," he continued with his maniacal laughter.. He held the look of crazed man. He was gone, "We've already won!"
They heard a loud explosion in the distance followed by cries and screams. Adrianne turned away only for a second before she saw the boy transform into an abomination before her very eyes. His flesh twisted and contorted every which way until whatever he was before was unrecognizable.
The abomination broke free and lunged for Adrianne. She summoned a shield and in the same motion simultaneously pierced through the abomination's abdomen with her spirit blade. Blood spewed out and onto Adrianne's face and robes. It smelt of death. It was not human anymore.
The other apprentices still attached to the wall shrieked in terror at their slain friend. Adrianne turned to the templars.
"What's -" Claws tore through the skin on her back as she screeched in agony at the pain. It felt as if razors were being dragged across her back. She could feel the fire race across her skin to where she was attacked. She turned quickly, tearing even more skin from her wound, to see three other demons coming up from behind her.
She threw up a barrier quickly as the demon swung again. The templars charged the demons position as Adrianne froze them. She electrocuted them with lightening to paralyze them even more as the templars finished the job.
The apprentices behind her were turning. Child-murder echoed throughout her mind. Adrianne hung her head in shame as she stabbed both of them in the chest before they could complete the rite. So much potential wasted.
Once all was under control, Adrianne touched her back gently and brought back a dark red hand gleaming in blood. She was repulsed by the horrid smell.
The situation became clear: blood mages had infiltrated the Circle's ranks. They were summoning demons to do their bidding. Kill those who would stand against them. Catch them off guard before they gained strength. Make their cause be known and instill fear into those who could be manipulated.
They had succeeded.
"We should hurry before more of those things come," one of the templars suggested as they all stared at the bodies littering the ground.
They ran through the halls like mad men. Adrianne held the barrier around them as demons followed closely behind. She lit them on fire and watched as their bodies turned to ashe.
It was a nightmare. Surely nothing such as this could happen. Not here...not here. The Maker couldn't be that evil. He couldn't. What did they ever do to deserve this? Did he truly hate mages as people claimed? How much did they have to endure?
There was no Maker. How could anyone believe in such a horrid god? One who didn't care for his own. One who allowed suffering to happen.
Adriane lost whatever faith she clung onto. She didn't believe in the Maker and he didn't believe in her.
Adrianne struggled to remain composed as images of Ostagar began resurfacing in her mind. New ones. Old ones. Pieces of the puzzle coming together at last.
"HOLD THE FRONT!" Commander Laurel yelled as darkspawn matter sprayed on her.
Adrianne steeled herself against a hurlock as she blocked it's blade with her glowing spirit blade. With her staff, she flung a boulder across the way and onto the darkspawn creature. She heard it's bones and brains breaking apart before growing quiet. She only had a second to recover before an arrow sped past her.
She ducked behind a barrel as the darkspawn archer missed again. Adrianne breathed heavily as she looked to the motionless knight enchanter next to her. She felt for a pulse quickly and drew her hand back when all there was only cold death on the mage. So many of them had fallen. Many more will share this mage's fate. So much fighting everywhere.
"Someone take out that archer!" Adrianne yelled over shoulder as another arrow narrowly missed her head.
A body hit the ground and Adrianne sprung from her position and fired. The darkspawn hit the ground, burnt to the bone. However many Knight Enchanters that were left, regrouped. They all were battered and bruised from the relentless combat. Some were even at death's door.
"This position is hopeless Commander Laurel! We're going to be surrounded soon if we don't make our retreat!" one of them shouted.
"We're not gonna make it! So many of us are dead, and there's many more dying. You must understand that, Laurel my love," a woman said as she lay a dying Knight Enchanter on the ground.
Commander Laurel shook her head, "No, we must maintain our position for those wardens. They're our only hope to win this battle now,"
Adrianne remained silent throughout it all. She never said it, but she wanted to go home. Not to Circle, but home. With Isabel, and her Father, and Adeline. She wanted to be with them. She had seen so much blood and turmoil these last several days...it was too much. They weren't going back to the Circle. They wouldn't make it back. Their time was up.
"I understand our morale is low, but with our -" armored men came through the door. The Commander's eyes lit, "You must be Loghain's men at last! You're our-"
Commander Laurel's body fell to the ground as blood sputtered from the arrow lounged in her throat. Her gasps for air came to a halt. Adrianne was too frightened to move. They were going to kill them all.
"You killed her! We're on the same side!"
The leader shook his head slowly as he drew his sword from it's sheath, "There can be no witnesses," The gleam of the iron teased the inevitability. Adrianne backed away and held her breath.
They said magic was the blight of all mortal life. That it was curse. There was no worse sin than to possess magic. That it was taint upon the Maker's precious world. It could never be mastered and those under it could never be trusted. That mages were savages.
As Adrianne stared at the man's sword, she wondered what made him any better than her. What about him made people yell in delight? Why was he more deserving of people's kindness than she? He and his men were going to slaughter them. Innocent people fighting for the same cause as him. People trying to protect the very soil they lived on. What made him better than them?
When did it become acceptable to allow living creatures, beings to become nothing more than a hollow shell for others to fear?
Why did the Chantry allow it happen? When was it ever okay to allow good, decent people to suffer under your watch? Were they not people too?
She heard a scream and another body hit the ground. There was no turning back now.
Adrianne swallowed as she wiped a tear from her eye. That was their fate. It wasn't the darkspawn. It was people. People. Not the creatures.
It was people that Adrianne needed to fear, not those who had magic. People were their own worst nightmare.
Flemeth was right: it was better if she didn't remember.
They reached the main doors where a congregation of templars were forming. Adrianne released her barrier as the templars to their brethren. They were safe. Her people were not. They were trapped inside the nest of the demons, blood mages, and abominations. Death was waiting to claim them.
There were so many left behind:Wynne, Irving,...Enchanter Bryant.
Enchanter Bryant was still in there. He was still there. He was there where the explosion occurred. Adrianne hadn't seen him as they passed through the halls. Everything was a mess. People desperate to find safety. What were the chances something happened to him?
He taught her everything. He was there, and made her believe in her gift. Made her believe in herself. To humanize herself and make her skin of steel. To fight against those who would harm them. To never feel the pain again. To be strong.
He saved her life all those years ago. When she was nothing. He never gave up on her. Not when she didn't believe in her gift and not once while she was in the clutches of a demon. She wasn't going to lose him. Not now. Not ever.
He was there in her time of need, now she was going to find him. She was going to find him and bring him to safety. That's all that mattered at this moment.
Adrianne stepped back as the templars motioned for her to come quickly into safety. She shook her head slowly. There would be no going back.
"Enchanter Calligaris if you don't come, there's no guarantee this door will be open when you come back," the templar pleaded.
She looked to the floor before speaking, "No, Enchanter Bryant is still in there. He needs my help,"
"That area is crawling with demons! There's no way he survived,"
She shook her head again. She had to do this. She had to know for sure. There would be no giving up on him.
"I'm not coming back without him," and she ran back into the chaos.
The Circle was bleeding. It was bleeding for help.
The rebellion has begun!
To be continued.