A.N: Yeah, sorry for this chapter being so delayed and short. I kept this on on the burner a little longer since work has been hectic (What use does a farm have for razor wire besides ripping up my hands? I'll never know), and this chapter's been hard to write. I was going to make the whole Skyhold siege one big chapter, but I thought I'd get you guys something, at the very least.
Also, I would like to call attention to another story of mine, if you're interested. It's a Dragon Age 2 Modern AU, like I had mentioned, called Everybody Wants to Rule the World, and it'll be the successor to this story once it's finished. It's not very good ATM, so I would love any feedback on it. Thank you, and enjoy the chapter.
"Hey, what did I miss?" Cantis asked smiling as he entered into the clearing. Sunlight was streaming down through the leaves and illuminating the welcoming glade of grass and greenery. Suledin and the Chevalier were sitting on tree stumps, their chatter cut short as Cantis arrived, with Liam standing leaning against a tree.
"Only an hour of training." Liam shook his head with a smile, hugging his husband and giving a light, gentle kiss. "You silly man."
"We're always training." Cantis laughed, returning Liam's embrace and trying not to show his face. He had deliberately avoided Samson being here, waited for him to leave to avoid taking the Red Lyrium. "Can't fault a man for taking a little time off for himself. Our whole lives shouldn't just be war, should they?"
"Not unless you get yourself killed for not being here." Liam pulled back as the others stood to leave with them.
"That's not going to happen." Cantis shook his head, smiling widely. "You'll be in your own cold grave before you get to watch me fall."
"That's bold talk, potato farmer." Louis laughed, the both of them turning to him as they headed into the forest. "You keep talking like that, and your luck's going to run dry."
"I make my own luck." Cantis laughed, though at this point in his life, he didn't know the real meaning of those words. He was in a beautiful forest, surrounded by his best friends, and the love of his life. What more luck could he need?
"I got you!"
Cantis could distantly hear the voice ringing in his ears, and tried to groan and respond, but couldn't. He was being dragged away from the battle, into one of the towers, and he tried to protest, to stay with his men, but his voice failed him.
Mara was healing him, even as the battle raged on around them. She had arrived at the front line sometime after the first shots were fired. Several Red Templar crossbowmen had him dialled in on their sights, and five different bolts had struck him within the first volley. He had continued fighting through the pain, grabbing a crossbow of his own and returning fire down onto the approaching army, but it had been too much.
"Damn, you took a beating." Mara shook her head, and looked to the fighting. He wouldn't be in battle-ready condition soon enough, and they needed her now. "You!" She shouted, and a pair of soldiers came running over. "Get him as into the Main Hall. We'll start using that as an infirmary. Then get back to the line. Double time!" The men saluted and ran off, even as Cantis groaned his protests through the blood.
The battle erupted violently around them. The Inquisition had Skyhold, but the Red Templars had caught them off guard. A suppressive volley of crossbow bolts came raining down upon them, and dozens died within minutes, and artillery pieces sent death up at at them. Their catapults weren't nearly accurate enough to hit anyone on the walls, but the mere fear of being hit was their true power.
A dragon's roar could be heard in the distance, and it came from the mountains. A towering mass of red crystal and sewn together flesh, wings spread to eclipse the sun. Down it came onto them, searing heat consuming those on the battlements, forcing them to dive out of it's way and into safety.
Then it began.
Hundreds of soldiers surged forward from their front lines in a reckless rush to the walls, shields held out. It wasn't hard to tear down these men, their minds rotted away by Red Lyrium and their tactics primitive. But that wasn't the point. Hundreds upon hundreds of them moved forward in a wave of soldiers, swarming the wall.
And at that moment, the gates began to open.
"Maker's breath." Josephine gasped as two soldiers carried in her love, seeing him like this made spots swim before her eyes, him laying there, covered in his own blood and stock still. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest as she lifted him from their arms, taking him into her own."What…what happened?"
"He was already wounded when the battle began." One of them explained. "Didn't look good. The Red Templars did the rest."
"Oh, Amore Mio." She shook her head sadly, letting his head into the crook of her arm. "Bring anyone wounded here into the great hall. We'll… we'll treat them in here, away from the fighting." She instructed, and they nodded, running off towards the battle. She cleared a table and set him down gently, kissing his forehead sweetly.
More and more wounded came flooding in, those who were no longer in a condition to keep fighting any longer. It made the fighting out there easier, for only the incapacitated to be taken away from the battle, but that made their jobs inside all the harder. It made Josephine woozy, to see so much blood, but she helped the others bandage up the wounded, knowing that their lives were depending upon her, and that there was no place for her fear of death and it's shadow.
She looked over and noticed Gracie sitting on Cantis' throne, in the throat of a dragon's jaw that it had been carved from. She was curled up in a ball, head in her hands as she shook uncontrollably. Seeing that the soldiers were taken care of for the moment and no new wounded were coming, Josephine went over to her, sitting next to her and wrapping her arms around the little shaking bundle of nerves.
"Hey, it's okay." She whispered, keeping her voice soothing and soft. "It's okay, Gracie. Aunt Josie's here to take care of you."
"It's all happening again, isn't it?" Grace whispered, her voice breaking and she curled away from Josephine. "Like… like at Haven. These bad people… they're coming after us again. After mama, and mommy. That nice man with the green hand. They're going to hurt us again."
"No, no." Josephine shook her head, curling her arms around the little girl and pulled to her closer. "It's not going to be like Haven. I promise. Just… just a little scuffle outside. That's all this is. Your mothers will take care of it, make sure it's all done with. Then they'll come right back inside and we can all have dinner together. Okay?"
Grace didn't say anything a moment, staying curled up into a ball even though she know allowed Josephine to hug her. "Okay." She said at last, her voice a little stronger, and Josephine smiled at her.
"Excuse me." A voice came from behind them, and Josephine looked to him. A soldier in Inquisition gear stood there, one of the guards they had been assigned in the hall, looking at Grace sadly. "The little one seems to be… distressed." Josephine nodded. That was putting it lightly. It would be a miracle if she didn't have traumatic episodes for the rest of her life. "Perhaps I could take her into the Undercroft, where she couldn't hear the fighting? I doubt that's helping her at all."
Josephine swallowed hard, and looked at the still trembling little girl before her, and nodded. "That would be best." She agreed, lowered her head next to Grace's. "Gracie, listen to me. Go with this man for a minute. He'll take care of you while Aunt Josie helps out your mothers. I'll come and get you in just a minute, okay?" Grace nodded slowly and slipped off the throne without saying a word. She looked sullen. Defeated. Helpless. It ached Josephine's heart, but she knew that they needed her help up here.
"Lady Montilyet!" A voice called a minute later as she tended to the freshly wounded. The voice came from another of the healers, looking harried. "Excuse me, but that soldier, the one that left? He left his bag." He motioned, and Josephine looked. Sure enough, a knapsack sat leaned up against a table. "He might have left it on purpose if it had elfroot or something else in it. Could you check for us?" She nodded and set to it.
Nothing of use. She sighed as she rifled through it, tossing personal items aside. Nothing abnormal for a soldier, and nothing to be used to help them. She was about to give up until the light glinted on something, making her look closer at it.
It was a bottle filled with Red Lyrium.
