"That gutless son of a whore," Isa felt like throwing something. The mayor had vanished, leaving behind only a note. "That sodding coward! He couldn't even face what he had done!" Vhera clenched her fist, "we'll find him, don't worry. The Inquisition has eyes everywhere. But in the meantime, we need to get to Hawke." Iron Bull and Cole had met up with them at that point. Iron Bull chimed in, "one of the men here in town wants us to check in on an herbalist living up in the highlands. Why don't we split up?" Vhera nodded, "alright. Isa, take Bull and Cole to check in on the herbalist. Solas, Blackwall, Varric, and I will go find Hawke and keep an eye out for Leliana's missing scout. Join us when you're done." "You got it, boss," Bull grinned, heading towards the road. Isa wished them luck and followed with Cole in tow.
The sunny road was rather pleasant, and the small groups of bandits they got to wipe out kept their spirits up. Bull even sang a marching song he had picked up from one of the Inquisition soldiers. They made their way up into the highlands, spotting the herbalist's hut at the top of a cliff. Isa knocked on the door, pushing it open. "Come on in," the pleasant woman turned around. "What can I do for you?"
They had a pleasant conversation, but the instant Bull heard her talk about the dragon in the next valley, they had a new mission. Isa was concerned about just the three of them taking on a high dragon, but Bull was way to excited to be talked out of it, and Cole seemed to be down for it, so Isa readied her bow to bring it down and made sure her shield would be good to go when it was time to get it. "Alright, when it comes down, I'll take the fire, since I've got the shield. Bull, use that axe of yours and give it a good bashing. Cole, get underneath it. Watch the feet, but the belly is softer than the rest. Gut it if you can. It'll be one hell of a fight, but we can do this if we're careful."
They spotted the beast as they made their way towards the fort ruins in the next valley. It was massive, a great hunter, and she was angry. She flew high into the air. "Spread out!" Isa called as she fired her dragonbone bow, aiming for the wings. A few well-aimed shots, and she came down like a wounded butterfly, with a few holes in her wings. Isa strapped her bow to her back and drew her shield, charging the dragon's head, slamming right into her nose. Of course, she had no hope of winning a strength battle against a dragon, but it gave Cole enough time to slip past her great talons to get at her belly, gouging with his daggers. Bull came charging in, with a wide grin on his face, yelling something in the Qunari language, bringing his axe down on her well-armored head. It dazed her for a moment, then she began spewing fire. Bull rolled out of the way, and Isa ducked behind her shield. It grew hot, but it held. Harritt really was a genius.
It was a long battle, but finally Bull struck the killing blow, his axe striking where her neck met her head, cutting it clean off. At that point, Isa was exhausted, slightly crispy, and shakey from an adrenaline crash, but she grinned nonetheless as Bull scooped her up onto one shoulder and Cole on the other, swinging them around, shouting his joy to the world. "That was fucking AWESOME!" Isa giggled, holding onto his horn for support. "Bull, you're absolutely insane, but that was fun!" Cole had a smile on his face, "you are happy. I like happy." Bull set them down, "I could kiss you both!" Cole looked up at him, "please don't." Isa laughed, accidentally snorting, which only made her laugh harder.
They took a bit of time to bandage the burns and gouges they got from the fight before heading back up to the herbalist, who was clearly impressed and sent a crow to the Inquisition, so they could collect the remains. Dragon leather would certainly make for good armor. Isa hoped to surprise Vhera with it.
They met the others near a fishing pond. They had already met the grey warden. Vhera spotted them and jogged over, "goodness, you look rough. Was the herbalist a dragon?" Bull was more than happy to launch into the epic tale of their exploits.
Solas caught Isa's arm, putting his hand to her cheek, which had a burn on it that was hard to bandage, so they had just put poultice on it. "Here," he first used a bit of ice magic, then healed her slowly. She closed her eyes. Though the pain hadn't been bad, it was nice to feel it fading. "Ma serannas, Solas."
"Let's get back to Skyhold," Vhera interrupted the moment. "We need to get some scouts out to the Western Approach. Warden Stroud says there's been Venatori and Warden activity out there. He fears the Wardens have been corrupted." Isa frowned, "that isn't good." Blackwall shook his head, "it's terrible. The sooner we get moving, the better." They returned to Skyhold, one step closer to their victory.