Chapter 24) The Battle

Cleon POV

There was blood everywhere. All over my armor, my knives, and my hands. Some was probably on my face and in my hair at this point. But despite the mess on me, the wolf in front of me was strangely pristine. Its wound dribbled crimson into its soft fur. Its flank no longer moved with labored breaths. Its fangs were no longer fiercely bared. The bright eyes had dulled to glass, seeing the fields of Falon'din.

It was dead. I'd killed it. My first kill. Something of honor, especially at my age. I just wanted to be sick, though. Scrub until the crawling feeling went away.

"Nice job." A warm hand fell on my head and I jerked up to see Zaphikel smiling down on me. As if I'd done something good. But if it was good, why was I nauseous? "Let us say a prayer to Anduril for him," he instructed. "And take it back to the Clan. There will be a celebration for you." A party too? But this didn't feel right? "Cleon?"

"Okay." Answer like normal. Smile like I'm proud. I'd ask Ashalle about how I was feeling later. Because even though I was sick and uneasy, I wanted the praise more than anything, especially from Zaphikel and Hahren. "What are the words?"

Blood flew everywhere. It coated my armor and dripped from my knives. Crusted on my face and tangled in my hair. More joined it each time my weapons bit into a darkspawn's neck or chest, the corpses falling as their burning blood rained down. Mingling with the rain that fell from the thundering clouds overhead.

Normally, it was only one or two kills and then I was done fighting. Anduril grew angry when hunters became greedy and killed more than their fair share. And with shemlen, it was only ever a few that dared venture too close. The trouble was… well, these creatures seemed endless. What was 'my fair share'? They weren't like anything I'd ever met, which grew feeble and nervous when their fellows died. Instead, they marched on their own dead to continue battle.

High pitched whines and muffled screams barraged my ears as I found a small opening in the battle. Just to catch my breath. The familiar warmth at my back told me Aiden had followed me. Good. I felt better knowing that. We'd been fighting side by side since this mess started.

"If you need water, tilt your head back," I whispered to him. The rain was coming down hard. "Little rain never killed anyone."

"This is more than a little," Aiden rasped back. His head nudged mine, and I took the opportunity to check around. The darkspawn were ignoring us for the other Wardens, for the moment. Fierce and untiring, I saw some of them even smiling as they killed. Weirdos. "How's your back?"

"Hmm?"

"Your back. You took an axe to it."

"I don't think it's that deep." Even if it was, battle fever made it so I didn't feel it. "Good armor."

"Yeah. I've noticed." He jerkily pointed to a set of corpses next to us. Young men and women, eyes open to the rain. Their shattered armor made their fatal wounds look even messier than they should. "Mine's held up to blows that broke others." Yeah. Both of us probably would've been dead twice over if the Couslands hadn't let us raid their armory. "Maker, there's so much red…"

"Hmm?" I turned a bit to try and get a read on him, but his back remained towards me. "Yeah, I suppose." Red, green, brown, black, white… there were a lot of colors all over the place here on the field.

"How are you not bothered?"

"By?"

"Everything."

"I'm a hunter," I reminded him bluntly. "I've been killing for years."

"So, one day, I'll become used to this?" I almost said 'yes', but hesitated when I caught a look at his face. Instead, I could only stare as he continued to pant and heave, looking like he was going to break down into either a murderous rage or half-strangled sobs, and I wondered which would be worse when everything was falling apart around us.

Not really sure what to do, I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and tugged him into a one-armed hug. His only acknowledgement was shifted his weight to lean on me, instead of the greatsword he'd stabbed into the ground without my knowing. I wanted to joke, scold, on how that would ruin the weapon, but something told me he honestly didn't care right then.

"My pardon, you two." Only the fact that the darkspawn didn't talk kept me from attacking the interloper. I did, however, snarl at the elderly woman. She took it with a calm smile that reminded me a lot of Keeper Marethari. Or perhaps Keeper Zathrian. "I was wondering if you'd seen the King," she continued, as if being covered in blood was normal. It fell into the wrinkles on her face, stained her white hair. The robes reminded me of Layla's, though there were far more worn, and she held an unwieldy looking staff in hands. "Since you two find a bit of quiet in the chaos."

"No, we haven't," I answered her slowly. Aiden had calmed, but he still leaned on me. "We've been on our own since the charge, really." Surprisingly, the gold armor was really hard to find when everything started staining. "Why?"

"I've a message for him, and it's important." She smiled wryly. "I'm afraid my old eyes don't see quite as well in the dark." Right. Shemlen had poor night vision. "Might you help me?"

"If I can see anything, sure."

"Cleon, we should keep our manners," Aiden mumbled. I glanced at him to see a wan smile. Look like he'd recovered some. "I'm Aiden, Lady Mage. Aiden Tabris."

"Is now really the time for politeness?" I grumbled. It sparked a raucous laugh from him. "Cleon Mahariel."

"I am Senior Enchanter Wynne," the woman greeted, nodding her head at us. Wynne… I knew that name. It came up during the strategy meeting. "You two were with Layla earlier, weren't you?"

"We were," Aiden confirmed. I let him do the talking as I hunted for the Shem-King, or someone who looked like they'd know where he was. "She talked of you." Did she? I didn't remember this.

"Really? I'm glad." She certainly had a warm smile on her face. "I think of Layla as my daughter in many ways. I must admit; I'm worried about her being a Warden."

"Well…"

"Found Duncan," I interrupted, pointing to where Duncan practically decapitated a giant darkspawn with a flying leap. There were very few of them, especially compared to the others, but there were very noticeable on the field. Their size, lack of armor, and giant horns made me wonder just why they looked so different. "Maybe he'll know."

"Right…" Aiden took a shuddering breath before ripping his greatsword from the ground. Mud spewed everywhere, and I couldn't help but compare it to blood from a wound. "Let's make our way over to him," he said. I nodded, and shot ahead of the two of them, making a makeshift path. I knew, without us saying anything, that Aiden would widen the gap behind to make it safer for Enchanter Wynne. She could take care of stragglers, I was sure.

"Cleon," Duncan greeted me as I ducked under a darkspawn's ax and slipped my daggers under its armor to rip its chest to shreds. He paid no attention to the blood that splattered his face. Probably because there was so much there already. "And Aiden. I'm glad to see you two are well. The other Wardens have praised your teamwork." Aiden and I exchanged a silent, confused look at learning that. "Ah, Enchanter Wynne, what brings you here?"

"Hoping you know where to find the King," Enchanter Wynne answered, brushing some mud off her robes. "I need to speak with him."

"King Cailan is around here somewhere. We were making our way towards a lull to talk." Well, lucky. "Aiden, Cleon, how are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," I answered honestly.

A second later, Aiden lied, "Just fine, Master Duncan." I shot him a look, but he merely gave me another wan smile. Well, I suppose even if he wasn't fine, there was nothing to be done about it. "Ah, Your Majesty…"

"What a wonderful group we've gotten together!" There was something disorienting and impressive about how Shem-King Cailan could laugh and smile at a time like this. Every time he moved, blood oozed out of the joints of his armor. Was he injured or did he just get that splattered? Certainly, he wasn't shining in the lightning anymore. "Duncan, as I was saying before that ogre so rudely interrupted…" he began, slowly looking around the battlefield. "I wanted your opinion on when we should signal for the beacon." I grimaced as I remembered the original plan. Get behind and flank. But there was no end. "I know timing is important, but the soldiers are getting ragged."

"Actually, that's what I needed to talk to you about, Your Majesty," Enchanter Wynne murmured. Her smile dropped for dark worry, and the grip on her staff tightened. "I sent a test message to Layla not long ago, to ensure our connection would be fresh for the beacon. She gave me troubling news."

"Troubling?"

"Darkspawn have taken over the Tower." …Wha…? "The group is racing to the top as we speak, but they've already encountered a great amount of resistance." Aiden and I shared a wide-eyed look. This wasn't supposed to happen! "They've had to barricade the doors behind them to ensure they weren't overrun." No…

I started to voice something, but it died when I saw Shem-king Cailan's face. There was no cocky smile. No arrogant gleam. There was real fear there. Fear and sorrow and guilt. They lined his face as he looked away, up to the Tower that so many depended on. "I see," he murmured at last. His shoulders slumped briefly, but straightened before anyone could say anything about it. "Send another message to light the beacon as soon as they can, then."

"Of course."

"I also want the more injured to start falling back with mages who specialize in the healing arts."

"I'll lead them. I am a Spirit Healer."

"Thank you, Senior Enchanter." He gave her a wan smile, and she bowed before leaving. As she disappeared into the chaos, though, he sighed, pushing sweaty locks out of his face. He didn't seem to notice the blood that smeared along his cheek. "How did they get there, Duncan?"

"There must've been a tunnel we didn't see," Duncan answered softly. He looked calm on the surface, but his grip on his weapons seemed far too tight. "There has to be a Vanguard or General here." What was the difference? "Everything is far too organized, King Cailan. We…" He trailed off, glancing at Aiden and me.

But it seemed Shem-King Cailan didn't care we were right here. "We underestimated them," he finished tiredly. I found myself wondering just how old he was. He looked as tired as Zaphikel had in his last moments, and I didn't like the comparison one bit. "There were no signs of the Archdemon, so we thought we could get a quick victory here. But I guess this'll be like the Fourth Blight, huh?"

"Fereldan won't necessarily be like Antiva." What were they talking about? "You're certainly not trying to hold a single city against impossible odds."

"No, I just led our army against it." Shem-King Cailan sighed heavily and looked directly at Aiden and me. "I'm sorry, you two. You probably didn't need to hear that when you're so tired."

"It is fine, your majesty," Aiden reassured automatically. It didn't sound convincing with his swaying. "Please, just pretend-"

"No, I won't. This is a bad situation, and I'm not Nuada. I can't deny what's in front of me." He glanced at Duncan briefly before continuing, "might I ask you two to help move the wounded?"

"Yes, your majesty." Aiden took my arm and dragged me away, but I turned back to look at the two leaders. Their heads were bowed as they discussed something I couldn't hear over the rain and screams, and I couldn't… I honestly couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't going to see them again.

"Creators, please hear me," I whispered as I turned away, following Aiden as we raced by the soldiers all fighting and dying around us. "Please see us through this coarse and let us find victory in the darkness."

Author's Note: Battlefield drama. Not really a lot to say here. Short chapter! …Sorry for the delay… busy September. The Fourth Blight, by the way, started in Antiva, and quickly devoured it. It ended up being the last land liberated, if I'm remembering correctly. (Read Last Flight if you want more details. It's SUPER GOOD and super dark).

Next Chapter – The Beacon with Layla