A/N: Disclaimer: I own none of the recognized characters. I simply am borrowing them to satisfy my muse.

Chapter 36

It was dark in the barn. Rather than going in through the main door where she could now see a path had been made through the deep snow, she'd climbed up into the loft, where Jack and Max had painstakingly stored barrels of grain for the winter months, hay for the horses and cows, and where Billy had been starting a rock collection. Now, there was nothing there but dust. The animals long since gone.

A sharp sound caught CJ's attention, forcing her into movement.

"Let go!" Tommy's voice was high in pain and fear. The sound cut CJ to the quick. "Let go!"

"Shut it, brat!" A slap was followed by Tommy's yelp of pain. It took all of CJ's self-control not to vault out of the loft rashly. No doubt Blatt had traps lain, and she would help no one if she got caught in one of them. Blatt would pay for everything he'd done. He would not escape this time.

CJ approached the edge cautiously, looking for any trip wires.

"Mama!" Tommy yelled. "Mama, help me!"

"Your mama's not going to be helping anyone anymore." Blatt retorted. "She's coming for you. Heard signs of her in the village. But she's going to be too late." A scratch, like a tinder box, and then CJ could smell smoke.

"Mama's gonna get you." CJ felt pride at the defiant tone of Tommy's voice. "She's gonna kill you."

"The only thing your mama's gonna do is listen to you burn."

And then Tommy began to scream in fear.

All thoughts of stealth flew from CJ's mind. She dropped down from the loft, intending to use a stack of barrels as stairs. They broke under her weight, and she fell, landing hard and going down on one knee. But then she was up and moving towards the sounds of her son's screams. The noise of the barrels had no doubt warned Blatt, but she didn't care. CJ was focused on reaching her son. It took her less than a minute to reach the back of the barn, but already smoke was beginning to thicken the air.

There was Tommy, his eyes wide with fright, screaming. He was tied to one of the support beams of the barn, hay and sticks heaped beneath him. There were small flames licking at the edge of the heap. It wouldn't be long before the entire thing went up.

"Tommy!" The name escaped her before CJ could stop it. She rushed forward, solely focused on reaching Tommy and freeing him before the flames reached the child.

"Mama, behind you!" CJ dodged left, and Blatt's battle-axe struck the ground, hard enough to embed itself in the dirt. CJ lashed out with her dagger, catching him across the leg. He swore, but CJ kept moving forward. She kicked the sticks that were burning away from Tommy, not looking to see where they were flung.

"Mama's got you, baby." She said, cutting his bonds easily.

"Look out!" Tommy cried, and she grabbed him, twirling to the side and avoiding Blatt's next blow. She stumbled back, holding the child to her. Blatt's features were twisted in anger. At least, the skin that wasn't pulled tight by nasty looking burns. He must have gotten those from the explosion at Suledin Keep.

"So you came, Dearie?" He gave her a fierce grin. CJ was glancing around, trying to find where she could put Tommy to keep him out of the fight. "Cutting it a bit close, huh?" He rushed toward her, but CJ could see his gait was off. Something was making him list to the right. She saw an opening and dodged around the lumbering Qunari. He was moving slower than he had before. She was trying to make it to the door.

But the flames were quicker. The sticks she had kicked before had struck the side of the barn. Where the dry wood lit up like it had been dipped in oil. They spread along the length of the barn faster than CJ could run. She skidded to a stop, swearing.

"Mama," Tommy whimpered, burying his head into her shoulder. She hugged him tighter as the smoke began to get thicker.

"I'll get you out of here. I promise." Could she force the doors open? No, they were designed to swing out. No doubt there were snow drifts four or five feet deep against them. She wouldn't be able to push through the snow.

"Whatcha gonna do now, Dearie?" Blatt called, and coughed.

Where could she put Tommy where he'd be safe? The best place would be outside the burning building. But how to get him there? He didn't have his wooden leg anymore. What had happened to it? Had Blatt taken it to prevent the boy from running? Either way, he couldn't walk now. CJ glanced upwards. The loft had yet to really catch fire, but it was close. The door up there was still an escape option. Blatt was limping towards her, his leg bleeding freely. CJ was near the ladder to the loft. Flames were beginning to lick at the bottom rungs.

"Hold on tight, Tommy." The boy locked his arms around her neck, and CJ scaled it quickly. Blatt yelled in anger, slashing at her wildly. The smoke was thicker up here, Tommy began to cough. The heat was getting more intense as the fire spread.

Blatt tried following CJ up the ladder, but it broke under his weight. He yelled again, but CJ didn't understand his words. The floor beneath her was already warping, the boards starting to twist and groan. CJ's eyes were burning from the smoke, tears beginning to run down her cheeks, but she pressed forward. Flames were climbing the wall just behind her, deep shades of orange and red.

Unexpectedly, Blatt's battle axe was thrust up through the floor directly in front of CJ. She swore, back-pedaling. It was yanked back down, taking a chunk of floor with it. Blatt thrust his axe again, and CJ had to jump to avoid the sharp blade.

'Stupid giant Qunari!' She thought angrily. 'If he weren't seven feet tall, he wouldn't be able to do that!' She had to avoid another axe thrust. The smoke was a lot thicker now, and her lungs began to ache. If she didn't get them out of there soon, Tommy would be seriously injured by the smoke.

The loft wasn't very wide, maybe nine or ten feet, though it ran the length of the barn. The three-now four holes Blatt had put in the floor was weakening it. She could feel it beginning to bow beneath her feet. Blatt had now created a gap in the floor between CJ and the door. Maybe two feet wide and working on making it larger.

CJ took a couple steps back and then made a running leap. Blatt's hand grabbed her ankle just as she cleared it, and yanked. CJ hit the floor of the loft hard, Tommy being jarred loose from her with a yelp. She scrabbled to find something, anything, that she could use as leverage, to keep Blatt from pulling her over the edge.

"Tommy, get out!" She yelled as the boy began to sob. The door was open. Cold wind was blowing in. "Get out of here!"

Blatt was trying to get both hands on her ankle, but it was an odd angle for him and CJ was kicking like mad, trying to break free.

How deep was the snow outside? Three feet? Four? Maybe even five? Would that be deep enough for Tommy to survive a fall? Tommy was pulling at her hand, trying to help her, but the small boy's weight had no effect.

She couldn't let Tommy get stuck in here. He would not die like this.

"I love you, Tommy." She said, and gripped his shirt firmly. His eyes, watering and red from his sobs and the smoke locked on to hers. CJ's heart broke at the confusion and fear she saw.

"Mama?" She shoved him backward with all her strength. The door was only six feet behind him. "MAMA!" He screamed as he tumbled backwards. CJ saw him disappear over the edge as Blatt got a good enough hold and yanked her down from the loft.

CJ landed hard, the breath knocked out of her, but directed a kick at Blatt's injured leg. He didn't react quick enough, and he went down on one knee. CJ was up in an instant, weapons in hand, ready to fight. Fire was all around them. The roar of the flames was blocking all other sounds. Please, let Tommy be all right!

Blatt snarled at her as he hauled himself up. She had to end this quick, or they'd both die here. He swung at her with his axe, and she ducked, slashing at the undersides of his arms, where the leather armor he was wearing didn't cover very well. She missed and had to throw herself backwards to avoid his counter-swing.

She kept dodging, using her agility to avoid his weapon as she looked for an opening. Instead of hitting her, Blatt kept connecting with beams. Or boards. They were still under the loft, the pens for the pigs and goat were here. The walls were low, only a couple feet, and CJ was using every single tactic she knew to stay ahead of him. She moved from pen to pen, and he followed, hacking his way through any obstacle that came in his path.

Blatt was getting more and more angry with each swing. His stance got more careless as he focused on putting more power and less control into his attacks. One swing, if it would have hit CJ, no doubt would have taken off a limb. She had ducked, and it had gone over head, missing by less than an inch. Instead, it sliced through a beam.

CJ's foot caught on a broken board, and she fell backwards, swearing. As she hit the ground, her daggers were jarred from her hands.

Blatt was on her before she could regain her footing. His grin was manic as he pinned her to the ground, weapon lain forgotten as he wrapped a hand around her throat.

CJ clawed frantically at the Qunari's hand, but it was like a vice. Squeezing tighter. She couldn't breathe! It was pointless to try to reach for Blatt's face, his arm was too long. Instead, she tried reaching one of her daggers. It was just out of her reach, and CJ desperately tried twisting this way and that, stretching to get it.

Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, her lungs screaming for air. Her vision was starting to dim.

"Come on, CJ! You're going to love the lake!" Billy. But Billy was dead. Wasn't he?

Laughter. "Me first! Me first! Roan, Mama said I got to go first!"

"You're just a little kid, Miley! You can't play with us!"

CJ's reaching fingers brushed the hilt of her dagger. That brought awareness back. She gripped it firmly and stabbed it deep into Blatt's arm, twisting it as she did so, severing muscles and tendons.

He roared with anger and pain, pulling his arm back. CJ rolled, coughing and gasping, sucking oxygen back into her starved lungs. Or at least she was trying to. The air was so thick with smoke. Blatt reached for her again, grasping her kicking legs. He was pulling her back, and CJ was all but helpless to stop him.

A crack sounded out, louder than even the sounds of the fire. CJ looked up as Blatt flipped her onto her back. The roof. The roof was caving in.

Her world went black.