Chapter 21: Best of Enemies
It had all gone to the void.
Knight-Lieutenant Gaston Delance cursed as he fled to the lowest levels of the circle tower. There were no demons or abominations down here, at least not yet.
He cursed Loghain for his stupidity, it had all gone wrong, Ferelden should be theirs right now, instead his enemies' waged war while the darkspawn advanced slowly towards the northern bannorn, and all because Loghain had failed to kill one stupid teenage girl! Elissa Cousland was gathering more and more support, and then there were the Grey Wardens. Word had reached them that at least a few wardens had survived Ostagar and were now building an army of their own.
It was only a matter of time before the wardens' army crushed Loghain between themselves and the darkspawn horde.
Delance cursed angrily, why couldn't the wardens have all died like they were supposed to!
Now the circle was lost as well, despite all his talk about patriotism and saving Ferelden, Uldred had betrayed them. He and his "young patriots" had panicked when Irving had discovered them. Now, instead of seizing control of the circle Uldred was destroying it, the pride demon he had summoned to aid him against Irving had consumed Uldred.
Now they had a pride abomination loose in the tower.
The Uldred-creature had torn the veil wide open, most of his followers had joined their idiot master as abominations. The few that remained demon free would be used as pawns, thrown at Greagoir and the Templars, when they had been exhausted, and the Templars weakened, only then would the demons attack.
Delance snarled, this was not how it was supposed to be.
He could not get out of the tower, the Knight-Commander had sealed the main door. Delance would not have been surprised if Greagoir had called for the Rite of Annulment. If the Rite arrived, then the tower would be purged, bewitched Templars, blood mages, and abominations would all be put to the sword.
Then Greagoir would turn on the one responsible for watching Uldred. Delance had no desire to be here when Greagoir came after him.
He had to escape.
There was only one way out of the tower now, twenty years ago there had been a deep roads entrance attached to the tower that the Templars had sealed. When things had first started to go bad here, Delance had stolen the key from Greagoir's office.
It would be dangerous, even with most of the darkspawn attacking the surface. Delance was not sure what he would do if he encountered any. He also had absolutely no idea how he would find his way out.
He would just have to put his faith in the Maker. He was a man of destiny, the Maker would protect him, he would one day rule all of Thedas as the Maker's chosen champion.
Andraste had revealed this to him in a vision, it would be so.
He came upon the barrier door the chantry had installed to protect the Circle tower from the darkspawn.
He could still hear the screams for the floors above, he had no choice.
The door slid aside as he used the key, the smell of the deep roads turned his stomach, never the less he started forward. He sealed the doors behind him, whatever happened to him down here he would never see the tower again.
At least one good thing had come out of this mess.
Delance pulled his sword, he needed to get going.
The Templar wandered out into the deep roads, he was looking to find a way out.
He would find his destiny instead.
IOI
The tower was in chaos.
It was all Solona could do to keep from bursting into tears, she knew many mages looked at the circle as a prison, but to her it had been a home, a place to learn, to study magic without fear.
Her home had now been violated.
"Try to stay focused my dear," Wynne warned, "I have no idea how many fiends wait for us up ahead."
Solona had been grateful to find Wynne still alive, despite her injuries. The elder mage had always been the scrappiest of her teachers, Wynne had always had a reputation for being tough, surviving in the darkest of places. In her youth, Wynne had often sought adventure beyond the tower walls.
Solona could not think of a better companion.
"Uldred will pay for this Wynne," Solona growled, "I swear it!"
Wynne gave her former student a strange look, Solona knew what she was thinking. That this was not the girl she had taught all these years.
She had changed; she knew that she had changed. After the werewolves, the broodmother, and Branka how could she remain the same old girl she had been before.
She could not say if that was a good or bad thing.
"Heh, heh," Oghren chuckled, "sounds like somebody has gone and pissed off the boss. Do what you want to him Legs, just give the rest of us time to get out of the way first."
"I am certain our lovely leader has many things in mind for this Uldred," Zevran added, "Perhaps I could interest him in a quick death. It would be better than what our dear warden would grant him I'm sure."
Wynne shook her head.
The elder mage had not been entirely sure what to make of her former student's companions. They were…interesting to be sure, Solona had to admit it herself. Zevran darted forward, scouting ahead, keeping to the shadows. Leliana kept her bow nocked and ready, Oghren twitched nervously, complaining that he had not killed someone in far too long. Alistair stayed close to her; his Templar abilities would be useful against any of Uldred's followers.
Uldred, Solona's blood burned at the mention the man. The fact that he had likely joined Loghain before all this had begun made eager to confront him.
Uldred needs to answer for this, the warden mage thought; he needs to pay for doing this to the tower.
They had encountered several abominations already, and they had to kill the creatures quickly. Solona tried not to think on the fact that these monsters had likely been friends and classmates once. She pushed such thoughts aside, whatever they had been they were monsters now.
She needed to deal with them as such.
They had found the bodies of several Templars as well, Solona checked each one. She examined their faces and barring that they could not be identified that way, she checked their wrist gauntlets for a blue scarf bearing the crest of her family.
So far she had found none.
Cullen was hopefully still alive in here somewhere.
They found themselves in the library, Solona whimpered at the sight before her, books, some of them hundreds of years old burning in the middle of the room.
Solona's eyes narrowed in hate, Uldred would pay for this.
I hope Morrigan's book wasn't in there, she thought.
A rage demon and more Abominations assaulted them. Solona lashed out viciously, she froze the demon in a cone of cold, as Zev, Leliana, and Oghren dealt with the others. Alistair bashed the frozen demon with his shield shattering it.
Solona smiled grimly, it was a small revenge, but she drank it in gladly.
They needed to find Irving, only he could save the circle now, Greagoir had said so. If he was dead…then the Templars would have to annul the entire circle.
Solona would not let that happen.
IOI
They found the tranquil Owain one floor up; he told them about how the mage Niall had come and took the Litany of Adralla.
If Solona remembered correctly the Litany was to protect against mind domination spells. That meant blood magic, Solona's thoughts immediately returned to Jowan, perhaps he had not been the only one dabbling in the forbidden arts. Perhaps…he had help.
Poor Jowan, she did not know if he was alive or dead. She no longer blamed him for what had happened to her, but that did not mean that she would not punish those who had given him such knowledge.
She found herself looking forward to it in fact.
She only barely heard Wynne explaining what the Litany was to the others when she heard voices.
She nodded to Zevran who snuck quietly into the next room. He returned shortly holding up three fingers.
Three of them then, blood mages or perhaps simply possessed, well there was only one way to find out.
She entered the room, the three were still arguing amongst themselves.
Solona loudly cleared her throat.
The three turned, staves at the ready.
She knew them, or at the very least had seen them before. The two men were Randolf and Tristan; they had played cards with Jowan sometimes before lights out. The girl she thought was named Nora; she remembered her always following in Uldred's wake. When Solona had been reading while walking, it was she who would tell her to watch where she was going when Uldred passed.
Solona wasn't surprised to see her here.
"Well look what we have here," Tristan sneered, "the Sensational Solona has returned to the tower."
The warden mage gritted her teeth; she had always hated that nickname. Tristan had made it up for her when Irving had picked her to be his apprentice over him.
She guessed he was still holding a grudge.
"Look at her," Randolf snickered, "all pretty in her grey warden garb, didn't realize the wardens were desperate enough to pick you."
She felt the old insecurities starting to rise; she pushed them back with effort.
"Surrender," Solona ordered, "Before this gets ugly."
"With that hairdo," Nora laughed "I say it already has!"
The three laughed like the bullies they were. Alistair she saw tensed, it was nice that he thought he needed to defend her honor, but it was unnecessary.
She was quite capable of doing that all by herself.
Solona gave them a predatory smile.
The three blood mages tensed.
"You think you can scare us little girl," Tristan snarled, "You think that warden uniform scares us!"
"Oh this is not a scare uniform. Oh wait…," Solona said, drawing her staff, she brought the blade close to her head, let the blood mages see the ichor that stained it. "Now…it is a scare uniform," she grinned.
She could smell their fear, good maybe they could end this without bloodshed.
"We will tear your mind apart little girl," Nora snarled, "Just like we did your little plaything Cullen."
Solona's eyes flashed, "What did you say," she whispered, her voice silky and dangerous.
"We turned his mind inside out," Tristan laughed, "There is nothing left to…"
Solona growled.
A fireball exploded from the warden's hand, it detonated right in the blood mage's face.
Tristan now coated the walls.
Nora shrieked. She dropped her staff in panic.
Randolf was far braver.
He slit his hand, the blood began to rise.
Alistair cleansed him of mana.
The blood mage gasped, as the blood magic faded
"Noooo!" Nora wailed.
"A Templar!" Randolf shrieked, "She has a Templar…"
Solona fell on him like a storm. She didn't bother with magic. Their staves met with a resounding clang. She pushed him back.
Nora tried to help him, but Alistair smited her, throwing her against the wall.
Randolf was good. He had always excelled in staff practice.
Solona however had been fighting for months, and her staff had a sword blade on one end.
Randolf was outmatched.
Her blade sliced across his belly, spilling what was inside. He gasped as he tried to hold his insides inside. Solona had never been that skilled before, and she had never been that vicious.
It was impossible. Solona was a weak bookish little fool!
He should not have forgotten he was dealing with a grey warden.
He tried to heal himself, but he was still drained from Alistair's earlier attack. Solona swung her staff in a wicked arc, severing the blood mage's head.
His blood geysered, dampening her face and spectacles, she did not even bother to wipe it away.
She turned to Nora.
"No," Nora whimpered, she tried to reach her staff, but Alistair scooped it up, snapping it over his knee.
The blood mage sobbed, "Randolf, Tristan, oh noooo."
Solona came closer.
"Sol…Solona p-p-please no," Nora blubbered, "P-P-PLEASE D-D-DON'T KILL ME!"
The warden mage's eyes were dead, cold as stone.
"Where?" she hissed.
"WH-What?" Nora cringed.
Solona pulled the girl to her feet. Nora tried not to stare at the remains of Tristan and Randolf.
This could not be happening!
Solona slammed her hard against a bookshelf, stars exploded before Nora's eyes.
"WHERE IS CULLEN YOU BITCH?" Solona shouted in her face.
"Please," Nora begged, "we were just trying to free ourselves. Uldred said…"
Solona kneed the girl in the stomach; she vomited on the floor as she fell. She lay there sobbing in her own waste.
Oghren whooped.
"That's it legs," Oghren cheered, "show that…"
Solona's cold gaze stopped the dwarf; the mage was not in the mood.
Wynne and Leliana cringed. Zevran watched with clinical detachment, he guessed this Cullen was important to Lona; he filed that information for later use.
Alistair stood at her side, if the blood mage tried anything.
"Last chance," Solona hissed, she pulled the girl to her feet again, resting her blade against her throat, "Where. Is. Cullen."
Nora whimpered something through blubbery tears, she couldn't cast, she had no staff.
Crazy Solona was going to kill her.
"What," Solona snarled, "speak up while you still can draw breath?"
"Harrowing…" the mage blubbered, "harrowing chamber."
Solona threw her to the ground. She glared down at the surviving blood mage.
The girl wasn't a threat anymore. She was a scared cringing animal.
It made Solona sick.
"Get out of here." She ordered.
"You…you aren't going… to kill me." Nora said in a small voice.
"Do you want me to?" the warden mage started to raise he staff.
"No," Nora cried, a mad giggle of relief escaped her lips, "Thank you. Maker bless you. You…you won't regret this, I…I will do something good with my life. I swear it. I'm sorry. I didn't mean…it was all Uldred's idea he…"
Solona stopped her with a deathly glare.
The blood mage squeaked and fled towards the entrance.
Solona sighed tiredly.
She would not get far; Petra and Kinnon were guarding the door. Solona hoped that her threats were enough to scare the girl away from blood magic forever. If not her fate was sealed.
Solona would see to that.
Cullen…worry ate at her resolve.
We turned his mind inside out.
No, she couldn't think about that right now.
"Are you alright my dear, "Wynne asked, Solona was deathly still, and she was drenched in Randolf's blood.
She must look like a maniac.
"We must find Niall," she ordered, "We have wasted enough time."
The others followed her.
Wynne turned regarding the mess that had been two people moments before.
She shook her head.
What had happened to the poor girl?
The answer was easy the elder mage had supposed.
She had become a Grey Warden.