Hey everyone! Thanks so much for sticking with me. I know I've fallen behind on updates, but I promise I am still writing. Bare with me and I promise I'll get back to updating more often. Thanks again to my beta for all your help and my wife for helping me work out the kinks in the fic. Hope you all enjoy and I will to be posting again soon.
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The first light of dawn had just started to force the stars to fade when the enemy waves stopped. Damien could barely catch his breath as he bandaged a minor wound on his upper left arm. He had gotten careless, or maybe overtired, close to the end of the battle and a corpse caught him in the arm with a dull sword. Perched on the chantry steps, he finished tying the bandage and lowered his scarf to help him breathe a little easier.
"I can't believe we made it through the night yet again," Bann Teagan stated patting Damien on the shoulder.
"I know. It's a miracle. How are the wounded doing?" Damien asked pulling his hood a little lower. He still felt uncomfortable with anyone seeing his face, but the motion was more out of habit than anything else.
"We had fewer casualties last night than any night before. Alas, there were three dead, but only six wounded and they will recover thanks to the healing magic of your mages and the poultices that you supplied," the bann said smiling and sitting down next to the young warden-commander.
"Three dead?" Damien said lowering his eyes. "I was hoping to have no casualties but at least we won and pushed the enemy back. I think this will give us the time we need to get into the castle and find whatever is causing this."
"I agree. Gather your people and meet me by the mill in an hour or so. We can discuss our strategy then," Bann Teagan said standing and heading out into the square.
As Damien watched the noble leave, he started to get the feeling that the man wasn't telling him everything. Bann Teagan couldn't be involved in these incidents, could he? Of course not, if he had, then he would have just let the people die instead of organizing a defense. But what about whatever is happening inside the castle? Could he be keeping something about that from them? Only one way to find out.
Damien pushed himself up onto his feet despite his joints complaining and his mind feeling nearly blank from exhaustion. Maybe they would have enough time for him to grab an hour to sleep or so before attacking the castle.
"Damien, how's the arm?" Neria asked meekly. Despite her role as a healer in the battle, she still didn't have much confidence in herself.
"It's alright. The bandage should be good enough to hold and get me back in the fight," Damien said standing and smiling at the young mage.
"Alright, well... everyone inside is stable and Chantry brothers and sisters are taking over care," Neria said leaning on her staff slightly.
"Is everyone getting some rest?" Damien asked.
"Wynne is taking care of Alyssa's arm where she got scratched but other than them, everyone is asleep," Neria reported.
"Good, they'll need the rest. Is Alyssa going to able to keep fighting?" Damien asked.
"I think so," Neria answered softly. Damien nodded. Neria was certainly a very timid and sweet girl, but being out in the world after growing up in the Circle Tower must have been overwhelming and shook any kind of confidence the girl might have had in her abilities both as a healer and a mage. Damien would have to help her with that if she was going to be an effective member of the team.
"Thank you Neria. You did a great job last night. Get some rest while you can," Damien said smiling at the young, elf girl before making his way toward their cart behind the chantry.
He searched through their gear and found a small potion meant to ward off sleep for a few hours. It wasn't something that he would normally turn to, but his body ached and every fiber of his being begged and pleaded for him to rest, even for just a moment. He sighed and downed the potion quickly, nearly gagging on the bitterly disgusting flavor of the blue-green liquid.
It would take some time for the potion to take effect but he could meet with Bann Teagan, figure out what was happening, and tell the team after they had their rest. He grabbed two more of the vials from the cart and slipped them into his pocket just in case the fight in the castle went on longer than he hoped.
Trudging his way back up the slope to the mill, Damien started feeling the effects of the potion. HE felt slightly more alert but a slight tingling sensation had filled the tips of his fingers and toes. He had never felt anything like it. As good as it felt, he didn't like it. He knew his grip on his daggers would not be as good and he had no idea as to how the potion might have affected his magic. He really had not thought the whole thing through before drinking the concoction.
Damien sat down on a hay bale next to the mill door as he used the wall to rest his back against. He looked across the lake at the castle trying to catch any sign of movement within, but still nothing. He started drawing the floor plan of the castle that he could see but it was little more than the outer walls and walkways along them. He would need someone who knew the castle to help guide them through. That meant that either Alistair was coming along or Bann Teagan. The Bann was probably the better choice. He had lived in Redcliffe far longer and more recently that Alistair. Besides, knowing Alistair's special situation, Damien assumed they would need to use Alistair's heritage as an advantage on down the line whether they liked it or not, so risking him on such a dangerous mission could probably be counted as foolish.
It did not take long for the Bann and the rest of his team to show up at the mill. Damien had managed to keep himself busy by inspecting his armor and sharpening his daggers with the potion worked through his body. His body did still feel heavy, but he could tell his senses had sharpened and the fatigue of the night's battle was little more than an afterthought. He silently hoped that the potion would last long enough for them to get into the castle and take care of things. More than anything else, he simply did not want to have to drink another one of those disgusting vials.
"Good, you're here," Bann Teagan said patting Damien on the shoulder as his group groggily dragged themselves toward them.
"The castle awaits. What's the plan?" Damien asked making sure his throwing knives were settled on his back properly.
"There is a secret passage that leads into the castle dungeon from here. I would have used it sooner but this is the first time that we were not fighting corpses when the sun came up," the bann explained tapping his signet ring with his fingers.
"That makes things easier, but we'll need to distract whatever is making the corpses somehow," Damien said rubbing his chin. He glanced back at the group and cocked his head. "I say we put Alistair in a dress and make him dance the Remigold. A shimmy from him near the portcullis and everything, living or dead, inside the castle will either be mesmerized or laughing to hard to notice us."
"I'm too tired to fight you on this. Fine," Alistair replied yawning.
"Perfect. Leliana, Alyssa, see if you can find a dress for him," Damien said winking at the girls so they knew to play along.
"I think he would look good in a soft blue with yellow trim," Leliana said circling the former templar.
"I'm sure we could find some make-up in the village somewhere," Alyssa added.
"Too far!" Alisitair shouted. "Too far!"
The group burst into laughter, even the bann chuckled. Damien sighed and patted his friend on the shoulder.
"Okay, now that we're awake, let's get serious. Secret passage or not, all of us moving through the passage would be too loud. Bann Teagan will lead the way with Daylen using a fire spell to light the way. Myself, Lyna, Kallian, and Neria will follow along behind. Alistair, you take command of the rest and wait at the gate. We'll open it from the other side and you'll join us on main assault on the castle. Gather any knights that are rested enough to fight," Damien ordered.
"That works for..." Bann Teagan began before his voice trailed off. "Maker's breath."
Damien glanced over at the man before following his sight line to see a woman in fine clothes running toward them with a guard close behind. Her clothes looked to be in good repair and the guard's armor was undamaged. Nothing like how they would have looked if there had been fighting inside the castle. Something was very wrong here.
"Teagan, thank the Maker you yet live," the woman said taking the bann's hands in her own. The undeniable accent in her voice announced her as Orlesian. He had heard a few years earlier that Arl Eamon had married a well-to-do noble from Orlais, meaning this must have been Lady Isolde, Arlessa of Redcliffe.
"Isolde, you're alive... how... what has happened?" Teagan stammered. Damien eyed the guard. He could feel a power wafting off the man like a sick odor. He had felt things like this before in the Circle Tower but nothing on this scale.
"I do not have much time to explain. I slipped away from the castle as soon as I saw the battle was over and I must return quickly. And I need you to return with me, Teagan. Alone," the arlessa stated. That clenched it. There was something very wrong inside the castle and if even half of the ideas running through Damien's head were even remotely accurate, they were in for a fight for the history tomes.
"Right, why don't we bend over and spell 'run' while we're at it?" Damien whispered to Alistair who slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from bursting into fits of laughter. The young commander stepped forward quickly putting himself between the arlessa and Teagan.
"What are you doing? Who is this man, Teagan?" Lady Isolde snapped looking Damien over.
"He is the Commander of the Grey, Isolde. I owe him and those with him my life," Teagan stated motioning to the rest of the group.
"You remember me don't you, Lady Isolde?" Alistair said having calmed down enough to speak.
"Alistair? Of all the... Why are you here?" Isolde snipped. Damien cleared his throat.
"The same thing that I am. Saving your villagers from certain death brought on them by something going on inside that castle," Damien snarled pointing at the building behind him. "Now, you are going to give us the short version as quickly as possible or I'm going to have take the castle by force and kill anything and anyone that resists. If you don't think I can do it, ask the bann."
Damien hoped his little bluff would loosen her tongue enough for them to get at least some kind of idea of what was going on.
"I know you need answers but I am not sure what is safe to tell," Isolde answered wringing her hands. Damien eyed the guard behind her. He was not watching any of them, his eyes were on the arlessa and only her.
"Like I said, the short version," Damien said crossing his arms.
"There is a great evil in the castle. The dead rise and hunt the living. The mage responsible was caught, but still it continues. And, I think Connor is going mad. He will not flee the castle." The woman shook slightly as if an icy breeze had breathed down her neck. She turned back to Teagan and tried to approach him. "He has seen so much death. You could reason with him Teagan. You are his uncle."
"What about the Arl? Is Arl Eamon still alive?" Damien demanded stepping in her path once more.
"Yes. He has been kept alive thus far, thank the Maker," Isolde replied. The answer unsettled Damien even more than the youth had expected.
"Kept alive? What do you mean kept alive? Kept alive by what?" Teagan asked.
"Something the mage unleashed. It has allowed Eamon, Connor, and myself to live so far. The others were not as fortunate. Once it was done with the castle, it turned the corpses in to nightmares and struck the village," she explained. "It only allowed me to come for you Teagan because I begged. I said that Connor needed help."
"Why would this thing care about Connor? If it has killed everyone else, what about your guard there?" Damien asked as his fingers wrapped around the grips of his blades. Everyone else in the group grasped their weapons as well.
"Hold, please my friend," Teagan said grabbing Damien's shoulder. "Isolde, give me a moment." The bann pulled Damien aside and slipped his signet ring into Damien's hand.
"What are you doing?" Damien asked in a hushed tone.
"We needed a distraction to get you and your team inside. I can provide it now from inside the gate. Take Alistair to lead you through the castle. He knows it. Your first priority is to rescue my brother," Teagan answered.
"Did you take a club to the head last night? All we know is that woman came to take you to the castle. She claims that a mage was behind all this, but if that's true, why didn't it stop when he was captured?" Damien asked.
"I will leave that to you. It is better to risk just me on the distraction then several others. Please, commander. Rescue my brother," Teagan begged.
"Fine, we'll move into the secret passage as soon as you two are out of sight. Nothing else about the plan is changing. I plan to rescue everyone still alive in there, so keep your noble butt alive, understand?" Damien whispered patting the bann on the back before turning back to the arlessa.
"I will go with you Isolde," Teagan stated.
"You can't be serious," Alistair protested.
"Alistair, if the bann has decided then that's it. There's nothing we can do. Let him go and hope this doesn't prove to be a trap," Damien said eyeing the woman and tapping the grips of this blades with his fingers.
"But," Alistair started, but Lyna placed hand on his chest stopping him as the Arlessa and Teagan headed up the hill toward the bridge.
Damien watched for only an extra second after they vanished from sight before immediately turning to the mill door.
"How could you let him go? If Eamon... we need Bann Teagan now more than ever," Alistair protested.
"Do you really think I'm going to let anything happen to either of them? You know me better than that. You're taking point on the infiltration team to lead us through the castle. Leliana, find some cloth that we can use to keep his armor quiet and help wrap him up. Everyone else, same assignments. We're on the job people, move with a purpose," Damien ordered throwing open the mill door and starting the search for the secret passage.
"I thought you might have something up your sleeve," Alyssa said crossing her arms in the doorway.
"Yes, I'm a blighted genius. You're going to be taking over command of the gate group. Make sure you are ready for a fight," Damien said looking back at the noble.
"Don't worry. It's under control," Alyssa responded.
Damien smiled and turned back to the floor as his hand ran over an indent with a symbol matching the signet ring. He slipped the engraved piece of jewelry into the indention and twisted causing dust to pop up from the floor around him as the locks released on the trap door.
"Easy as stealing gems from a mansion," Damien said lifting the door.
"Speaking from experience?" Kallian asked stepping to his side and peeking down into the dark.
"Of course. I am the Dark Wolf after all," Damien replied as the rest of the team filed in. Alistair had several small bits of white cloth tied all along his armor to keep it from making much noise but it made him look like he had a bunch bows decorating him instead.
"Don't you look all festive and pretty," Damien teased.
"I know," Alistair replied starting down the ladder.
"Be ready to get wet. This tunnel goes under the lake. I wouldn't be surprised if parts were a little damp," Damien said as Daylen started down the after Alistair.
"Just as long as there aren't that many rats, I'll be fine," Daylen replied.
"Rats? I hate rats," Neria said shivering.
"I'll tell you what, stay quiet and I'll kill every rat that gets near you," Kallian said smiling and patting Neria on the back before following Daylen down.
"What about me?" Damien jested.
"You can kill your own," Kallian teased back.
