48. It'll Be a Breeze

It's almost a whole day's walk out to the McClaren farm, a walk that passes uneventfully. Declan is very obviously happy to be doing something outside the the Vigil's walls, Jowan and I joke about the similarities, superficial as they might be, between this and the trip to Honnleath, and Nathaniel is his usual quiet self, keeping an eye out for trouble as we make our way down the road.

Ewan is waiting on the front porch of the farmhouse when we arrive, and his shoulders visibly sag in relief when he sees us. "Oh, good, you made it. My parents went into the city for the day, and I was hopin' you'd be here by the time they got back. Just t' set their minds at ease, y'know?"

I nod. "Makes sense. And hopefully since we already have a good idea of what's causing this, we can track it back to the source and put the animals out of their misery fairly quickly."

"You seem awfully optimistic," Ewan comments, looking a tad surprised.

I shrug and nod toward Nate. "He's a really good tracker, and we're a very good team. I've also come across tainted bear and wolves before, so I know how to fight them and win. We should be okay."

Jowan elbows me in the ribs and mutters, "Don't sound so cocky."

I just roll my eyes. "It's not cockiness if it's true. Gabriel and I handled a bereskarn just the two of us-" okay, plus one summoned wolf- "so I think with four of us this'll be a breeze."

"Well, the sheep pens are around back, if you want to start there," Ewan shrugs, gesturing toward the side of the house to sort of point us in the right direction. "I need to start workin' on dinner. I promised I'd have it ready by the time they got home."

"Alright," I nod. "We'll know where to find you if we have questions."

Ewan goes inside, and the four of us head in the direction he indicated. We haven't even made it all the way to the pens when Jowan winces and shakes his head as if trying to be rid of a nasty headache.

"You alright?" I frown.

He nods, rubbing his forehead. "I... I can already hear it."

My eyebrows arch upward. "It's still that strong? There must've been a lot of them..."

"There were," Nathaniel confirms grimly, kneeling to examine the tracks dug into the mud. "I'd say anywhere from six to ten wolves, plus the bereskarn."

"Well, that's just lovely," Declan mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm gonna be wishin' I'd worn the heavy armor, aren't I?"

"Quite possibly." I follow the line of tracks with my eyes. "D'ya think we should just follow these, or look to see if hte bereskarn's seem to head to the same place? So we know what we're walking into?"

Nathaniel shakes his head. "Tainted creatures always seek out their own. Whether they be darkspawn, or ghouls, or animals. I'm quite sure that when we find the wolves, the bereskarn will be close by."

oOo

He's right. The wolf tracks lead us on a long, meandering route through the woods that border the McClaren property, but they eventually vanish into a cave.

Jowan rubs at another headache. "There... Rahna, there's a lot of them in there."

I toss him a concerned look and rest my hand on his arm. "Are you gonna be okay? I haven't seen it get to you like this in years."

"It's... more concentrated. There being more of them makes it stronger. I'll push through. You need me." He covers my and with his, squeezes gently, before we follow Nate and Declan into the cave. Toward the buzzing at the back my skull.

"Do we have a plan?" Declan whispers. "Kill ev'rythin' is all well an' good, but close quarters like this, if we aren't careful we could wind up hurting each other as much as our quarry."

"I did have an idea," Nat murmurs, pausing to look back at me in the dim light. "It's... slightly crazy, but it could make this a good deal easier if we can pull it off."

"I'm game," I shrug. "I like easier, and crazy has never bothered me."

He gives a tight smile. "Do you remember that... ability you taught me? Calling animals?"

"Yeah, but Nate, if we do that, we just run the risk of them getting tainted and turning on us, too."

He shakes his head. "That's not what I was thinking. Do you think it would work on tainted creatures?"

"What, like, get the wolves to help us take down the bereskarn, and then deal with them?" I mull it over. "It's possible, I guess. It would make this easier. And the Blight would make them more susceptible to a Warden's influence... We can try. How many d'ya think you can control and still be able to concentrate on the fighting?"

"Two or three? Depending on how easily influenced they are, maybe four?"

"Alright, so that's the plan; kill the berskarn and any wolves Nate and I can't control first, then worry about the rest."

"Sounds good," Declan nods, and we resume our way into the cave.

Any hopes that the animals would be asleep are dashed as we step into the wider cavern and a low growl dances along the wall. The downside of the Blight connection is they're more aware of us, too.

So much for that. I sigh. "Light it up!"

Jowan obliges, stepping to the side so he doesn't hit us before sending a fireball splashing against the far end of the cavern. The bereskarn and a couple of the blight wolves are inside the impact zone, and they-along with the dried grass of the the bereskarn's bed-catch and blaze. The smell makes my eyes water, but at least there's more light. Even if I don't like what it's showing me. There's at least ten wolves in addition to the berskarn. No way Nate and I can control that many, but we can still try for our best. Which we do, in the initial chaos following the fireball. Declan's sword rasps free of the sheath, Nate fires off an arrow-which pierces the throat of one crouching wolf, Jowan starts summoning something big, and I pull out my blades as I focus on snagging as many of the wolves as I can. I feel two of them bend and fight briefly before they turn and leap at the bereskarn's throat. I stretch a little further, simultaneously skewering a wolf that makes it too close, and gain sway over another one.

The next few minutes are pure chaos of roars and battle cries and blood, all underscored by the sick stench of burning fur anf flesh. The bereskarn is huge, even for its kind, amd several of the wolves serve as little more than distraction so Declan can get in close enough to do some real damage. Slowly but surely, between us and the bereskarn, the wolves are whittled down until there's only four left-two each for me and Nate. I'm grateful I was right about the Blight connection making this easier, because I'm more than a little rusty.

"Rahna, look out!" A flash of magic flares in tandem with Jowan's warning, but his spell isn't enough to slow the bereskarn as it charges me. They're a terrifying sight, and I fight down a wave of panic as it gets way too close for comfort.

Fortunately, Declan isn't far behind it, and I don't have to dodge for long before he interposes himself between it and me. It got in one good hit, raking its claws down my arm, but I'll survive.

The real problem proves to be the few seconds of distraction caused by the pain. The few seconds that are all it takes for my control to slip from one of the wolves. Confused and riled an cornered, it lunges for the first thing it identifies as a threat.

Nathaniel.

Even as I wheel and charge toward the wolf, all else about the fight forgotten, I know I'm going to be too slow.

"Are you trying to get me killed before my wedding, or merely maimed?" echoes in my head-alongside my own cry of panic-as I watch the wolf's claws rake down the side of Nate's head with enough force to spin him partway around before he drops.

For the space of a couple heartbeats, I can't breathe. The air won't go into my lungs, and the sickening thought I'll have to tell Vi I got someone else she loves killed lodges in my mind.

But only for the pair of heartbeats before Nate gets back up.

I sigh in relief, breathe a prayer of thanks even as I reach the wolf and drive my sword down through it's back, pinning it to the ground while I cut its throat.

It whimpers and flails briefly before going still, upon which I pull my sword free and turn to Nate. "You okay?"

He nods, despite the blood streaming down the side of his face. "Well enough to fight." He gestures at my arm. "I could ask you the same."

"And I would answer the same," I riposte, returning my attention to the fight when I hear Declan grunt in pain as the bereskarn slaps him away. "Let's end this."

"Couldn't agree more." He underscores the words with a pair of arrows fired at the bereskarn's haunch, both of which hit, distracting it from Declan.

The opening is just what he needs, and as the tainted bear rears and roars in pain, Declan cuts it open from belly to throat.

And I thought burning fur smelled bad. I gag as the corpse folds in a heap, swallowing bile and focusing on the three remaining wolves. With four of us and them still muddled by me and Nate, it's not hard. Once they're dead, we drag all the wolf corpses to pile around the bereskarn and Jowan sets the whole thing on fire. We move almost as one away from the acrid sting and out to the clear, twilight air.

I shoot Jowan a sheepish grin. "Told you it'd be a breeze."

A/N: So, yeah. That got interesting. :D And long. But I wanted to get the whole fight in one chapter so there was no evilness this time around.