Chapter 35 – A Poet and a Madman
The forest was a completely alien place to Wynne. She had been many places in her life, Maker knows she would be the first to admit she was no spring chicken, but she had never been in a place like this.
The sounds of the animals around them seemed almost surreal as they continued through the thinning underbrush. The songs of the birds in the tall trees left Wynne wanting more but then there was the horrifying scream that seemed to pierce the serenity of the forest, according to their leader it was made by a Halla but to Wynne it just sounded like a nightmare.
Worse than the screaming Halla were the trees themselves. Since the witch, Morrigan, had warned them of moving trees, Wynne had been sure every single tree they had come across was looking at her. Moreover, that bard! Her story had set Wynne's teeth on edge and she was desperate to be free of this forest and finally back into civilization. Gripping her staff tighter, she shook herself. One mustn't dwell on what one wants, rather what they have right now. The forest wasn't so bad after all, she was sure eventually she could think of one good thing.
She looked ahead at the group before her. They had once again separated into the grouping that Lyla had expertly placed them. She had learnt well, Wynne had to admit, they had acquired, well stolen, books on tactics but she was not capable of reading them yet. It was nothing to be ashamed off, Wynne knew of many people who struggled with reading and from what Leliana had told her, the Dalish elves only ever taught those with magic how to. So it was up to the bard and Wynne to read to her, often late into the night as they kept watch, or over their meals. Lyla was too headstrong for Wynne's liking but at least she knew it and wanted to change it.
The lessons had obviously taken however, and ever since their first reading together Wynne had noticed a significant improvement in the elf's strategy. They often got on each other nerves during these sessions but Wynne knew the elf well enough now to know when and where to give her a lecture.
Like now for example.
Wynne had not missed Leliana's closeness to the elf in that forsaken campsite, nor had she missed the pet names and hand holding. To bring love into a situation like this was foolish and would only lead to heartbreak, and Wynne worried that Leliana wouldn't be able to handle it. Lyla was a tough, strong, woman. Yes, she was reactive to almost any situation, and more often than not reacting with anger, but she seemed strong enough to be able to end the blight by herself. Leliana though, the chantry sister was innocent and a romantic at heart. Her stories betrayed her emotions too often and the way she looked at the elf portrayed something more than simple attraction. Losing the warden to death would break the bard, Wynne was sure of it, but simply breaking up would not hurt nearly as much.
Yes, she had to talk to Lyla about it. Convince her to back off from the bard, for Lyla's wellbeing as much as Leliana. Difficult decisions were coming and love was selfish, it would blur the lines between emotion and cold hard truth. Lyla needed the latter to truly defeat the darkspawn.
Maker's breath. Another tree seemingly moved, jarring Wynne from her internal monologue. Except it was actually moving, quite quickly in fact.
"Look out!" She screamed before the tree swatted a branch at the golem before her. Its leaves and bark merely bouncing off the strong stone golem as Shale stared back at it, in disbelief. Truthfully, the golem had been knocked back a step or two but not enough to warrant any panic. The tree was a horrific creature, its trunk split off into a strange rib cage like structure where a human's would be before forming a demonic looking skull at the top of its trunk. It sent shivers down the spine of the healer and she feared for the group's safety.
Shale rose its left fist and threw a massive punch into the spine-like trunk of the moving tree. The wood splintered behind its fist but another tree awoke, sending its branches through the ground to capture shale in a natural cage.
Lyla was the first to react, using a natural grace that only elves seemed to possess, she skilfully jumped up the branched cage, using various knobs and knots as positions to lever herself up. Reaching the top, she jumped towards the sylvan, spinning in the air before her axe struck the same place that Shale's fist had crack. The force behind her strike caused the tree to double over, seemingly in pain, and Sten appeared, using the opportunity to strike down, hard, with his great sword and finishing the living tree off.
Neria and Alistair looked at each other as the other tree awoke, realising that the rest of the group had the first one occupied, so they decided to attack the second. Neria weaved her words to enchant Alistair's sword with fire, before sending a ball of flames towards the tree itself. It flew past Alistair's head, a little too close for comfort but he couldn't complain as he heard the sylvan before him screech in pain.
The warden slammed into the tree, shield first, as hard as he could. The tree stumbled backwards slightly, giving Alistair an opening. He rose his flaming sword up high and brought it down fast, hard enough to crack the bark of the tree. The Sylvan screeched once more and swatted Alistair out of the way with a burning branch, but in doing so, it released Shale from its prison.
The Golem charged and the crystals on its back began to glow. As Shale felt its rage growing, the crystals on its wrists and arms began to grow cold, the sapphires gleaming beautifully as the enchantment bestowed upon them began to work. The great fists of the golem pummelled at the tree until it splintered and cracked before Shale, the frost from its fists cooling the burning tree enough to freeze it in places. It didn't take long to die.
Wynne ran towards the crumpled body of Alistair. He had flown a long way after being attacked by the sylvan and hit another tree, hard, and hadn't moved since. She felt her mana waver as she weaved the intricate healing spell around his broken body, feeling for the broken bones in his ribcage and directing the magic to knit them back together.
Completing the spell, the world began to grow dark and she fell backwards, landing on her back as she watched the sky dim. She closed her eyes and silently prayed.
Neria and Leliana gasped as one and rushed to the elder mages side, Neria held her wrist, hoping to find a pulse of some sort and was relieved that she did. Leliana took a small piece of cloth from somewhere on her person, and after wetting it with some water from her flask, she placed it on the woman's forehead. This wasn't the first time she had seen someone faint and she knew how to handle it.
Eventually the mage stirred, much to the relief of most of their party, and looked up towards Leliana beside her. "I… I fell."
"Well noticed, Wynne." Neria smiled, she reached for her own water skin and handed it to her elder. "Don't try to move just yet, drink, and rest for a moment."
"I thought it was all over." She muttered to herself but Neria's ears picked it up. With a wary look to Leliana, she bent down closer to the healer.
"You thought what was over?"
"This." Wynne sputtered, spitting the water over herself but Leliana was there quickly, wiping it up before the mage noticed. "Everything. Neria, I will explain later, I promise, let me rest for a moment."
"Of course." Neria smiled down again, she was confused and terrified for the mage, but she wouldn't let it show. Standing she turned to face Lyla, who had been watching from afar next to her fellow Dalish hunter. "We need to rest a while, lethallan, Wynne shouldn't move just yet."
"Very well." Lyla nodded at Neria before turning to the hunter next to her. "We should scout ahead a bit. I haven't seen any tracks for a while and it's starting to worry me." Mithra nodded in agreement and went to pick up her bow whilst Lyla looked at the rest of the group. "Mithra and I will scout ahead, we need to find these werewolves again, and together we should be quieter than in a big group. Just stay here and stay safe, shoot into the sky if you need us." A smirk was aimed towards her lover and then the pair of Dalish elves disappeared into the forest, quickly gone from sight.
As soon as they left the main group, the elves went into a well-practiced regime. Lyla bent down searching the floor for any sign of disturbance, even the smallest track from a single rabbit would tell her something whilst Mithra shot her eyes towards the sky, searching for strange movement from the birds. Anything to show signs that creatures were fleeing from the werewolves, fleeing from anything.
Alas, there was nothing so the pair had to keep moving. Quietly and without hesitation, they were off, scanning the world around them for anything out of the ordinary. Whilst Lyla didn't know this area of the Brecillian forest well, she knew the forest well enough to be able to know when something was off. Mithra however, her clan had been camped here for much too long but that gave her a unique expertise on the surroundings and the behaviour of the animals here.
The Dalish elves had never had a chance to travel this far east from their camp, the werewolf attacks had kept them close to camp, but it was similar enough to the area around the clans camp that Mithra was able to realise that they had encountered something strange.
The trees seemed to clear out into a singular path, leading down a small hill into a smaller valley. In the very centre of the valley was a singular tree. Like the ones that attacked them earlier it had an eerie humanoid figure, the strange wooden rib cage leading to a horrifying skull, but as they approached, it didn't attack. It merely looked up, bewildered.
"What type of creatures be thee, that approaches me?" Its voice was as old as the forest itself. Somehow, just from the tone of that voice, Mithra felt a strange connection with the creature, as if it was calling to the very nature of being an elf, the very nature of her home in the forest.
"We're elves." Lyla spoke for them. Somehow, this creature sent a strange feeling down Lyla's spine, she was not a mage and had little experience of The Beyond, but even she could sense that the veil between worlds was extraordinarily thin here and it set her teeth on edge.
"It has been some time since I saw your kind last. You planted this forest eon in the past." The tree bent double, trying to bow, causing the elves to draw their weapons. "Allow me to welcome thee; I am called the Grand Oak, or sometimes the Elder Tree."
"Wow." Mithra whispered beside Lyla, she lowered her bow and stared incredulously at the Grand Oak. She had heard tales of intelligent trees, ones that didn't attack, but she had never seen one before. "This forest is more wondrous than I ever imagined."
"It is lethallan." Lyla didn't dare lower her weapons, she didn't trust this tree yet, but she did look at her friend, tearing her sight away from the Grand Oak for a moment.
"If thou dost not deem it too soon. I would ask of ye a single boon." The Oak's voice boomed across the forest but it didn't care, the forest had been its home for ages past and would be for as long as it still lived, there was nothing here for it to fear, except thieves.
"Why do you rhyme?" Lyla asked. Her gaze had shot back towards the tree as it spoke and she silently took it in, searching for any weaknesses as they conversed.
"Why dost thou not? Thy world seems plain, a boring lot. Perhaps a poet's soul in me… Does that make me a Poet Tree?" Mithra snorted beside Lyla and the Warden had to hide a smile. "A simple jest. A singular jibe to entertain my guest."
"I'm afraid I don't understand what you are." Lyla muttered. She had never felt so lost in a conversation before, even the conversations Wynne and Neria held about their magic made more sense than this.
"I am but a simple tree and nothing more, but once there was a time when I would brawl. Perhaps I was a spirit then, drawn to this ancient glen. The world was strange, but from that world to this did I exchange. A spirit joined a tree, and that tree is me." The Oak looked sad, wistful even but it only lasted a moment before it spoke up once more. "There is but one thing that I need. A thieve stole something in his greed. I slept early in one morn, and it came and stole mine acorn."
"Why is that so special?" Mithra spoke up, her curiosity piqued.
"It is all I have, it is my child. With it gone, I may become wild. There is no way I could leave, yet if I stay all I will do is grieve. If I grieve, I will become lost; the thief stole something of great cost."
"Why would we look for your acorn?" Every sylvan they had come across so far, Lyla had had to kill or fight and she didn't understand why this one assumed they would help it.
"My bark has some magic see; if you help I will give some to thee. The forest here would just see me, and would no longer attack thee."
"We will help you then, as long as your brethren leave us alone."
"The other trees are not at rest, killing them would be best. They wither away in their wooden cage; their souls have become lost throughout an age. They would never hurt one of their own, perhaps by helping me that will be shown. Follow the thief from where the sun does rise, and then return to claim your prize."
Lyla slowly backed away from the tree, Mithra in tow. She didn't take her eye off it until she was well out of the small valley. Just because she agreed to fetch its acorn did not mean she trusted it. It was a spirit possessing a tree, and unlike her elven mage, she knew never to trust spirits.
"Are we truly going to do as it asked?" Mithra piped up, she had skipped ahead of the warden a few paces, searching the treeline for anything interesting.
"For now." A smirk found its way onto Lyla's lips as she watched Mithra. The elf was too occupied, in her observation of the sky, and wasn't watching the ground. Slowly, Lyla caught up with her friend, and with a quick movement she caught the back of Mithra's ankle with the hook of her axe, tripped her. A giggle rang out of the Warden, alerting their nearby party who came to investigate.
"Ar tu na'din!" Mithra laughed, jumping up and chasing after the warden. Lyla was quicker however, and ran towards her clan, hiding behind the bard who was smiling like the cat who got the cream.
"Leli!" Lyla screamed, "She's going to kill me, help!" Lyla gripped at the bard's hips, shielding herself from her fellow elf and spinning the bard around. The dog barked and yipped as it bound around the three women, trying to join in with their game.
"What is going on?" Leliana demanded as she tried to act as stern as she could, but it didn't quite work, seeing Lyla have fun was too entertaining.
"That knife-ear tripped me!" Mithra swiped over Leliana's shoulder and just missed the warden's face, which exploded into a smirk that threatened to split it in two. Leliana squealed and shook the warden off her. Revas growled at Mithra but was quickly silenced by the warden.
"Ok, that's enough!" Alistair shouted across the group. The shot across the bard's shoulder had worried him, the group had just had to wait for him to recover, not to mention Wynne, and they couldn't afford any more time wasted. Not to mention how Lyla would no doubt react if Leliana were hurt. "I take it you found something? Can we just move on instead of harassing our chantry sister?"
"Of course, Your Highness." Lyla smirked as she bowed low; Mithra joined the bow but looked quizzically at the warden. "Oh, did we not tell you? Mithra, your clan is in very high company, Alistair there is one of the royal princes. Heir to the kingdom of Ferelden, don't you know."
"Oh, Maker's breath." Alistair groaned, "Can we just move on, please? And, no more bowing! Unless you want me to salute you every time we talk."
"Creators no, please no saluting." Lyla giggled, turning to the rest of the group she quickly told them of what she had seen with Mithra. The oak needed its acorn back, and they had to travel towards the east to find it. Hopefully that would also lead to the lair of the werewolves.
Standing where they were, the trees blocked out most of the sky. This meant that they couldn't use the sun as a guide for their direction from down there; fortunately, that was not a problem for Morrigan. Lyla asked her to shift into her raven form, evoking another gasp from Mithra who was still not used to that form of magic; Morrigan would then fly up and direct them from above the treeline until they were able to see the sun themselves.
It didn't take too long for the party to get on track and as they travelled eastward, the trees began to thin out slightly, just enough for the sun to be visible. Morrigan landed behind Lyla and joined the rest of the ranged fighters in the centre of their group. Shale and Lyla marched onward, knowing that the rest of them would be able to keep up.
"Shale?" Lyla asked quietly.
"It speaks to me?" Shale was not quite as capable of whispering as Lyla and as such, its voice boomed out.
"Yes, I noticed your punches froze that tree earlier, when we first met you laughed when I thought your crystals were just for show, did they cause that?"
"Yes, the crystals are a remnant of the experiments my former master performed on me. He searched all over the known world collecting whatever lore he could of golems and these crystals, which he then added to me. It was not… an unpleasant experience." It grunted and kicked at a stray tree root, demolishing it instantly before continuing, "As I understand it, they allow me to alter the magic around me, as it saw in that damnable village I can detect magic however they also allow me to call upon certain elements. If it wished to add more to me, I would not protest."
"I wouldn't want to take advantage, Shale." Lyla smiled at the golem. Strangely, she enjoyed its company more than she enjoyed nearly every human she had met, and as such, she wanted it to be happy. The fact that it towered over her didn't hurt that either.
"Why not? I don't get to adorn myself with clothing and other accessories like it and the rest of you fleshy creatures, I should like to look pretty as I squish the heads of its enemies." Lyla laughed as the golem spoke and turned back towards the rest of her group, whose reactions made her laugh even harder. Alistair wore the most horrified look she had ever seen and even Leliana looked disturbed, despite the small smile, she gave the elf.
A sylvan stirred before them and Shale laughed as it came towards them, two others in tow. "Another chance to destroy bird homes, how I love travelling with it."
The golem used its enormous hands and gripped the earth below it. With little effort, it pulled a great mound of dirt and rock out of the ground, and with a spin, it threw the missile towards the nearest sylvan, knocking it onto its back in time for Lyla to arrive with her dal'thanu. Neria had reacted quickly and placed the fire enchantment back on their weapons and as Lyla reached the possessed tree, she used the flaming axe to sever its head from its trunk.
Two were left and wasted little time closing the distance between themselves and the lone elf. Stupidly, Lyla had charge ahead again, leaving herself exposed to the two massive trees. Lifting her weapons, she stood defiant in front of them and roared, cursing in elven at them.
"Shale." Zevran shouted as he ran towards the golem. "Throw me at them." He knew that whilst he was not going to be able to take them on himself, he could delay them enough to allow the rest of the party to join them. However, as stupid as his plan was, he was sure it would work.
The golem didn't question the elf and picked him up quickly. It seemed to enjoy itself too much as it launched Zevran towards them, and the elf would swear later that the golem was smiling.
Flying through the air was not something Zevran ever wanted to experience again, but as quickly as it began it was over and Zevran had implanted his daggers into the side of the tree. His momentum had allowed him to get a good hold in the tree and even knocked it back a step or two as he hit it.
His breath had fled his chest as he hit it however, and he was now stuck up near the monsters head. Whilst it was not the friendliest of places Zevran had found himself, he couldn't say it was the worst. The flames from his enchanted weapon were licking at the tree now and all Zevran had to do was hang on and now be swatted off, or burnt to death. Simple really.
Revas bound forward, and Morrigan's bear form was quickly behind him, they leapt as one into the other Sylvan, making it stumble backwards as Lyla began to spin and slash at the branches, cutting them off one by one. As a group they eventually cut it down enough to kill it and with a laugh Zevran jumped from the other sylvan, watching it burn slowly as it died.
"That was certainly fun." His voice lilting, his gaze drawn to the witch before him, as Morrigan shifted back to her natural shape. "Oh, my dear Morrigan, your face is much too delightful for you to waste it with that constant scowl. Try smiling at me, my sweet."
"Oh keep your manure to yourself. It is much better used in a farm than on me." Morrigan groaned as she stepped past the elf, not looking back as she returned to her position in the group.
"I think she likes you." Lyla laughed, "Must you flirt horrendously with everyone here?"
"But of course." He winked. "It would be terribly rude of me not to. What if you suddenly were overcome with the urge and I was not here, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
Lyla shuddered and made a disgusted groan before looking back towards the rest of the group. The fight had been over too quickly for most of them to join, in fact she didn't see a single arrow fly towards them, as she looked towards Leliana she heard Zevran begin to laugh.
"But then, I suppose it is not me who would be satisfying your urge, now would it?" Lyla's blush was so bright she thought that perhaps even the birds in the trees could see it. She could feel the heat from her ears and heard Leliana giggling as she saw it. "Well, if you ever need help with that, you know where to find me."
Lyla didn't think she could become more embarrassed, she felt sick to her stomach as Zevran went on more about how she should 'satisfy' Leliana, but she drowned it out. Talking about that sort of thing freaked Lyla out, it was all she could do not to shake with nervousness and fear as she spoke about it, not even discussing it with Leliana was easy, and she began to wonder whether that bothered the bard. The whole idea of sex, she shuddered as she thought about it, disgusted her and she couldn't help but feel extremely self-conscious about it. Leliana must have had other lovers, ones who cared for sex and what if she wanted it from Lyla, Creators save her, she had to try to get over herself.
"There is magic nearby." Shale had clomped over, its voice a welcome distraction from Zevran's colourful descriptions of positions that Lyla couldn't listen to if she tried. She willed her cheeks to cool and her skin to become less flushed but she doubted it would work. "I can sense it just past those trees."
"Ma serannas, Shale." She nodded her head at the golem before pushing past Zevran towards her clan. "Everyone, on guard. Alistair up here with me, I may need your Templar training right now."
They rounded the corner in pairs, the wardens first. Shortly after, Shale and Zevran appeared, then the rest trickled in. The stopped suddenly, before them was another seemingly occupied camp, but there was no one inside.
A singular tent had been set up beside an old tree stump and a roaring campfire. Revas bounded forward, and marked his territory upon the tent, but as he did so, a strange flash of light shot down from the sky bursting into an explosion of dust and fog beside the fire.
Inside the dust was a man, an old man. He wore his long white hair in a ragged knot behind his head and the wrinkles on his face betrayed how many years he had seen. Behind her, Lyla could hear the mages warn her of how powerful this man was, as they could sense a high level of magic before them and it was enough to make the group wary.
"Oh dear. Oh dear." The man spoke wildly, turning his head in a reptilian fashion as he looked about his camp. "Not a werewolf and not a spirit." He laughed to himself and looked at Lyla for a moment before his eyes darted around once more. "What is the wood coming to?"
"Who are you?" Lyla asked. The man worried her, if he was as powerful as he seemed, he had appeared from the sky, then fighting him would be very difficult, and she wanted to avoid that if possible.
"Questions. Questions, always questions." The man muttered to himself as he paced up and down his small camp. "Questions made me mad; will they make you crazy as well? I do wonder." His head snapped towards Lyla, a smile on his lips that set her teeth on edge. "A question for a question but if you give me an answer, I'll give the same. I do so love to trade."
"We could just kill him." Morrigan muttered beside her. She had stepped through the group to stand beside the elf, she could sense the magic before her, he was almost as powerful as her mother seemed to be and Morrigan wanted to observe him better.
"No." The man roared before pacing around his camp again. He stopped to look at the dog before shaking his head and walking back to Lyla. "That is not a question! It is not an answer to anything I have asked, do you not care for the rules?" His eyes darted to Morrigan's for a moment and a scowl appeared on his face. "You bring a mage to a guessing game? No fair but it is your turn to ask."
"Very well, what do you know about this forest?" They desperately needed information about their surroundings, they weren't lost but they had lost their prey.
"Too many spirits." He crouched low, and felt the ground before standing tall and paced towards the tree stump. "That's the big problem. Or the werewolves, hiding in their cave in the centre of the forest. Oh, they think they're so clever using the trees to hide them but trees are easily tricked. Oh, yes. They are wooden and thick after all, easily fooled if you know how."
"And you know how?"
"oh my. Now that is the question isn't it." The man jumped up and prowled towards Lyla, stopping just short of her. "I think an answer to such an interesting question needs something extra first, don't you?" He winked towards Morrigan before turning his head on an angle back to Lyla. "I stole something from an oak tree some time ago, and now it won't stop pestering me. Be a dear and kill it for me, then I will answer your question for you."
Lyla's mind raced. This man was the thief that the poet tree told her of, but he was apparently very powerful. Then again, so were the sylvans, they had been lucky so far, and overwhelmed their opponents before they could attack but the Grand Oak was much older and no doubt much more powerful.
Then there was the problem with getting past the trees to the werewolves, this mad man claimed to know how to get past them but no doubt a tree would know better, wouldn't it? In addition, it had promised her a way to disguise themselves as the forest, would the trees let them approach the werewolves then?
No doubt, they would. It was decided then, she would help the tree not this human.
The man was closer to Lyla now, the way he stared into her eyes made her feel as though he could see into her very soul. Quicker than the eye could see, Lyla drew her carving knife and brought it up to the man's throat, attempting to slice it. However, as she cut the man disappeared in a flash of blue smoke and appeared a few feet back.
"Ah! Not fair." He cried. "Not fair! That is completely against the rules."
"Interesting." Morrigan spoke beside her, she turned towards the warden and shared a secret smile. "He does not teleport, merely uses illusions to move, impressive ones as well. If his mind were still intact, he would be formidable indeed. Lyla, we won't be able to attack him outright."
"Hah!" The mad man shouted, "You hear that! No more of your shenanigans. Will you or won't you kill that horrendous tree for me? Will you try to attack me again? Or will you admit I am stronger than you can imagine?"
"Morrigan." Lyla whispered, turning her head so the man couldn't see her lips move. "Keep him distracted, I'm going to try and search his camp for that acorn."
"Fool." Morrigan shouted at the mad man. "I hope you have answers for me. That was too many questions."
"Damnations!" The man swore and stalked towards the mage. "Caught by my own rules. Ask me a question then."
The conversation carried on as Lyla slipped by unnoticed. It took all of her skill in tracking to keep her footfalls silent but she managed it. She approached the tent and opened the flap but inside was nothing, not even a bedroll. Revas nudged at her side and pointed its head towards the tree stump beside it. She looked down at him but he just motioned towards it again.
Walking slowly towards it, she noticed it was very strange. There was a small tunnel dug below it, leading to a tiny, filthy looking cave. She could just make out the edge of a bedroll and reached down to see what else she could see when she heard the crack of thunder and the mad man appeared before her.
"That's an old man's home!" He screamed at her. Veins began to bulge in his neck and he bore his teeth to threaten her. "It's private property, stay out."
With a smirk, Lyla realised that this was how she could force the man to attack, and how she could steal back the acorn. "So, I shouldn't do this?" She teased as she reached down into it. The hole was tiny, much too small for Lyla to fit in and she wondered how a man such as him could even fit in. She looked up at him and her eye was caught by a small cubbyhole in the side of the stump itself. Inside she could make out three objects, a book of some sort with words that Lyla didn't recognise on the front, an ancient elven helm that Lyla recognised from the tales of her people, and finally, a single large acorn.
"Thief! That's what you are." The man screamed. He waved his hands about in a way that Lyla recognised instantly. He was summoning his arcane abilities. "They sent you didn't they? I'll show you. I'll show them!" He roared as his spell was completed. Seemingly, out of thin air a staff had appeared in his hands and as quickly as it appeared, he vanished, before appearing once again at the far edge of his camp.
A group of rage demons appeared in the centre of the camp, surrounding Lyla. She could feel the heat emanating off the magma that made up the creatures body and she had to quickly bring her weapons up to block the attacks from the monsters.
Shale was there in an instant, moving quicker than a construct of its side should, the magic on its fists creating frost and ice where it hit. At the same time, Wynne weaved a spell with her hands, chanting the ancient words as she commanded her mana to shield Lyla from the elements. It would prevent much of the damage the rage demons would do, and in turn lessen the amount of healing Wynne would have to do.
Neria enchanted their weapons with frost as Alistair and Sten charged the nearest demon. Using his shield, Alistair charged through the group, leaving the demons for the rest of the group as he continued on his path towards the mad mage. As a Templar, he was uniquely skilled in killing mages.
Sten didn't follow him. He protected his leader, as a good Sten should. The elf constantly surprised Sten, whilst she was too emotional and wild to be one of the Qunari, even a re-education from a Ben'hassrath wouldn't cure that, and when his people invaded this land she would die. However, she was a better leader than he first imagined, and it occurred to him that one day he would be proud to call her his Kadan, even if he didn't understand her.
As such, he would protect her with his life for now, and right now that meant taking out the demons surrounding her. His heavy plate armour protected him from being burnt alive as he barrelled through them, though he did feel somewhat like a meal being cooked in his own armour as the flames from the demons licked at his armour.
Lyla was happy to see him, she was barely able to parry each attack, and if it hadn't been for the quick spell work of Wynne, she would have been seriously injured quite quickly. Together, Sten and Lyla attacked the nearest demons, as frost spells and arrows hit them from behind.
Shale was taking on a pair of demons on its own and was doing quite well, its frost enchantment made short work of the lava creature, and it was able to pull one apart by its arms. The second looked scared, or at least as scared as a mountain of lava could, as Shale bore down upon it. A couple of heavy hits later and the demon was no more.
Alistair rose his sword and called upon the Maker to bestow him his power as he approached the mad man. The mage shot bolt after bolt of lightning at him, but fortunately Alistair was able to dodge each one with ease. Using his righteous fury, he swung the sword down at the mage, crashing through the arcane shield the man was wielding. The sword hit bone and the mad man howled in pain for a very short time before being silenced as Revas jumped at his throat, ripping it out in one swift motion.
The rage demons fell quickly after that. The combination of Sten, Lyla, Shale, and a multitude of different missiles flying at them proved too much.
Sten and Shale had gotten away without a scratch, the strong armour that both of them had protecting them, whether that was the plate metal or Shale's own skin. Lyla though, had multiple minor burns over her arms. Ironbark was strong, as strong as steel but wasn't particularly thick, and as such didn't protect against the heat.
Leliana and Wynne both ran to the Warden as she groaned in pain, Leliana arriving just before the mage. She placed her arm around her lover and helped hold her, the concern clear in her eyes as she stared into the elf's. Wynne looked her over and, once again, expertly weaved her magic through the elf's body, healing the burns on her arms as if they were never there.
"Ma serannas, Wynne." The warden looked from Leliana to the mage, then to her group. Most of them were searching around the camp, looking for anything useful to take, but Mithra, Mithra was staring long and hard at the warden in disgust.
Somehow, Mithra knew, Lyla was sure of it, Mithra had guessed at the relationship between Leliana and herself. She just hoped that the hunter would not hate her too much, as futile as that may be.
"We need to talk." Mithra stormed over to Lyla, practically dragging her away as she spoke. Leliana shot Lyla a panicked look but the warden didn't react.
"One moment, Mithra." The sun was beginning to set and Lyla figured it was as good a place as any to make camp, they had been travelling and fighting all day, and it had taken a toll on the group. "Everyone, set up for camp, we will be back to help in a moment."
Mithra dragged her out of the camp, back towards where they had fought the sylvan, before turning and looking Lyla dead in the eye.
"Tell me I misread that look, Lyla." Mithra's hand's grasped at her hips as she stared down the smaller elf. "Tell me you aren't betraying our people."
Lyla looked down at the ground, avoiding the gaze of her fellow hunter. "I… I can't." She admitted in a quiet voice.
"Harellan." Mithra spat on the ground. "How could you betray us for that shemlen, that alas'lin? Wha-"
"Shut up." Lyla growled and grabbed at the hunters arm, twisting it just enough to cause pain before throwing her to the ground. "You can insult me all you want, I am a harellan, and I have betrayed our people. However, you will never insult ma vhenan. I was abandoned by my clan, Mithra. My keeper kicked me out into the arms of shemlen warriors, and I was alone. You know what happened to me with the seth'lin shemlen who kidnapped me. The clan never cared about that, my keeper didn't care about how they violated me, only cared that I was able to be a weapon for her again, my family cared, but that was all. Leliana is the first person to understand what I went through, and she is the only person to care about how I felt about it. I love her, lethallan, and I don't care what you call me for that."
"It's disgusting." Mithra hissed, as she rose to her feet. "Our people are dying out, and you give yourself to this woman, this human." The hunter sighed and looked at her friend. "You are an old friend, Lyla, and we have known each other practically our whole lives, so for the sake of that, I won't tell my clan. What you are doing is wrong but I won't tell anyone."
"You don't have to like it, Mithra. I love Leliana and that's all there is to it. Now, you can either continue with us or go back to the clan, right now I don't care which." Lyla released the hunter and turned, feeling saddened at her friend's disapproval. Obviously, she hadn't expected anything less, and honestly, this was the best-case scenario, hiding it from the keeper, but it still hurt. All she wanted now was to finish this werewolf off and get away from her people. Perhaps she could find somewhere where she could be with Leliana and no one would hate them for it. It was a nice dream, and one that would have to wait until after the blight.
Mithra stood still for a moment. She needed to clear her head, it boggled her mind how her friend could even contemplate doing what she was. However, contrary to what Lyla may believe, people did care about her and her happiness. She remembered when Lyla had been taken. Mithra's clan had been nearby the Sabrae clan and a runner had been sent between them, asking for help to find her.
Mithra had spent most of a fortnight on her own searching for her; any sign of her, and it nearly drove her crazy. She loved that elf like a sister, her happiness meant a lot to her, and it wasn't until Lyla was found that she was able to rest easy.
Yes, Mithra cared about Lyla, but that didn't mean she would approve of her throwing her life away for this shemlen, it made her sick to the stomach. Her friend had abandoned their Creators, abandoned their people and all for this human. It was heart breaking.
She screamed, and cursed the Creators for causing this, but eventually followed the warden back to the group.
Author's note
God, the 'Poet Tree' is very hard to write lines for! However, plot actually happened this chapter! That makes a change. Hope you enjoyed.
Translations
Ar tu na'din – I will kill you
Ma serannas – Thank you
Harellan – Traitor to one's kin
Seth'lin – thin blood
Ma vhenan – my heart