Chapter Fifty-Six: Templars and Dragons

The next morning dawns overcast and dull gray and I can tell that the sunny weather from yesterday is a thing of the past. Rain will hit soon, but I guess it's good we're going to be underground for a short while.

I go first into the darkened interior of the red templar stronghold. A little light filters in from the doorway, but it will be hard to see in here. I summon a wisp to help with my spellcasting and provide light, and I see Lucis doing the same. Light spreads from both of us, illuminating a small circle. I walk forward, and it doesn't take long before I spot another glow ahead. A red glow.

"Right, red lyrium," I grumble. "I hate that stuff. Lucis, you'd better prepare yourself. And whatever you do, don't touch it." I remember what had happened in Emprise du Lion, and that it had taken Varric to pull me away from the corrupted body of the giant. "Stuff gets in your head, makes you want to, but don't listen."

Alistair flashes a look of concern in my direction, but I gave him a small smile. "It'll be okay. We'll have to see how bad it is down there."

I take the tunnel ahead, and see that it leads in two directions: down a set of stairs, or around an upper walkway. Thankfully I have Declan's report about where to go, and we avoid wrong turns. Traveling through the storeroom at the end of the upper walkway, we enter a tunnel, and then another larger chamber. This room is much brighter due to the cursed crystal formations growing out of the floor and sides of the tunnel in several spots.

"This stuff grows like weeds," I comment, quickening my steps to force the march past the singing red monoliths. That is, until I see one move.

"Maker's Breath," Alistair breathes. "That thing is alive!"

He and Sera scramble to ready their weapons, and I feel a sense of relief when I feel the familiar casting of Lucis's glyphs. Protection underneath, paralysis ahead. Good work, Brother. I spare a second to grin at him before turning back to the red crystal behemoth. I can only assume it was once human, like the twisted figures with the crystals coming out through their skin that I'd seen in the courtyard of Suledin Keep. This must be what happens when the red lyrium finally takes over.

It still has a mostly humanoid shape, but now appears to be make entirely of the red crystal with one hand grotesquely distorted into a pointed claw. It swings it like a mace, hitting the ground not far from where I'm standing, and the stone beneath our feet shakes with a tremor. Freeze it. I swing my staff into position and try Winter's Grasp, but like the red templars Tenebris and I had fought in the Hissing Wastes, it only slows it instead of stopping it.

I curse under my breath and take a few steps backward, but just then the huge claw arcs forward again and a wall of red lyrium erupts out of the ground behind me, trapping me in with the creature and separating me from the others.

"Ferox!" Lucis shouts.

I feel the earth tremble and I know my brother is casting something again. I hear the sound of steel hitting stone, telling me that Alistair and Sera are trying to bring down the barrier closing me in with the hulking behemoth. But how long till then? It steps forward hitting the glyph in front of me, and thankfully this one stuns it for a second. I drive a bolt of lightning through its massive body and I see it spasm in pain, but I can't tell how much damage it's doing. I hit it with another, just as wooden spikes rise up through the stone floor, skewering the behemoth, pinning it in place.

The crystal behind me shatters, creating an opening, and I see Alistair standing behind it.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

I nod, and step back through, allowing Alistair to rush in, sword in one hand, shield in the other. With a massive hit, the creature loses a limb. Sera has created a smaller opening where she was working, enough to be able to aim her bow through the space.

Lucis's glyph fades, and I realize it's only a matter of time until the wooden weapon piercing the beast retracts back into the earth as well. An idea hits me. Wood...water. I grin in anticipation. Most mages assume the storm is all about the lightning, but it's not. The water is equally as important, although that skill hasn't been taught in a long time. It's just as well as it's hard to control. I drop my staff. I won't need it here.

"Alistair step back," I command. He hesitates, but does so, holding his shield in front of him as he retreats.

Starting low, slowly raising my left hand, I connect my magic with the water inside the roots my brother created, following it all the way upward into the branches still inside the behemoth. It feels a little like using the water of the Well, only harder to keep the connection, as though I'm lifting the weight of the water with my magic. Finally, I call the lightning with my right hand, and slam my fists together. The bolt strikes the water-soaked wood. Bark catches fire, and the wood splinters and cracks from the impact. For a second, the cavernous space is as bright as day, lit from the magical lightning, a burst of air blowing against us, stirring my hair. The behemoth's body can't withstand the force of the impact, and shatters outward in tiny fragments, the bulk sliding to the ground with an audible thump.

Breathing heavily, I grip my staff and bring the wisp back. Lucis grabs me and hugs me close. "You scared me there."

"I'm alright, thanks for helping. That thing...lyrium did that?"

"How could this have happened?" Lucis asks, sighing, looking at the shards of crystal lying all over the cavern. "You said the lyrium was corrupted, but this is far worse than I imagined. It was so hard to call the nature magic. That wouldn't have happened with regular lyrium. It's as though this red stuff is choking the very life out of the world itself."

"Yeah, that's the way I felt when I went to Suledin Keep. We shouldn't stay here around this stuff; we need to move. Hopefully we don't run into any more of those things."

He nods. Sera retrieves a couple of usable arrows and we head back down the tunnel. The tunnel is clear through the next section, and we don't encounter any more enemies. Being underground makes me wonder how Varric's doing. Whatever happens, just come back.

The path widens again, and I can smell the sea again. The ground here is littered with the bodies of dead templars, partially decomposed now. Wrinkling my nose in disgust, thankful for the strong breeze that flows through this chamber, carrying the scent of the dead away, I step around the bodies.

A set of wooden stairs takes us down to a dock, and a boat. This is it, off to see the Vinsomer! I catch something in my peripheral vision, and turn to get a better view. Cages. And inside...oh stars, no.

My eyes meet my brother's, and his expression reads the same discouragement that mine does.

Alistair looks back and forth between the two of us. "Okay you two, not of all of us speak twin. What is it?"

I point to the cages, and realization dawns on him. "Maker...they were catching them."

I nod. "Those are dead newborn dragonlings...covered in red lyrium. Shit, that's what the templars were doing out on the island. Mama is not going to like that."

I sit down on the edge of the dock, and drop my head into my hands. "Maybe I should just use my ring, pop in there, and not try to deal with the dragonlings at all."

"We could bypass the boat, if you wish," Lucis says, nodding, "but I doubt we'd find suitable transport back. We'd be stuck burning another charge."

"You're still thinking about going?" Sera asks.

"Of course. That's a high dragon out there," I respond as though the answer were obvious. Turning back to my brother, I tell him, "If we're all traveling by using the rings anyway, we could just return to Skyhold after if that's the case, skip the walk back."

"No, no," Sera says, shaking her head. "You're not taking me with your magic whatsit."

"It doesn't hurt, and we'll be there immediately," I tell her.

Alistair nods. "It's a good strategy. Less chances of her babies swarming us before we can get to her. But she'll call them in, right? How do we deal with all of them at once?"

"Crowd control. We use the same method, only instead of targeting them one at a time, we'll target the exits. Freeze them, walls of ice to block the exits, paralyze them. Haste to keep us out of harm's way while I talk to her."

"Alright, let's do it."

"You guys know the plan. Lucis, you and I will immediately move to block the exits. Sera, you and Alistair will intercept any dragonlings that get through, but don't kill them if you can help it. That high dragon is already going to be angry enough. Sera, I've seen those amazing flasks you use. Now is the time." Sera grins, and I know I have engaged her attention. "Alistair, use your shield to push them back and let Lucis build another barrier." He nods.

"Everyone ready?" I ask, and they nod. I hold my hand out for Alistair's, and Lucis does the same for Sera. I twist my ring, and the world blurs. When it settles, I'm in front of a dragon. It's a Vinsomer, alright. So sleek and beautiful. Her body is long and lean, with large curved horns. Stripes of purple magic show underneath her skin. Breathtaking. She notices us immediately, and emits a high-pitched wailing screech.

"She's calling her babies, we have to block them!" I command as Lucis and Sera appear next to us. Lucis and I set to work casting spells furiously. I create massive walls of ice in an instant, and Lucis manages a thick set of brambles in each of the entryways. There are a few dragonlings inside, but not many. Good, so far. "Lucis, glyphs, now. Hold 'em tight for me, I'm going in." I see Alistair brandishing his shield, and Sera has three flasks already out, one in each hand, and a third held in her mouth.

I pull down the lightning curtain faster than I ever have before, clothing myself in storm magic. The dragon stares at me, fury in her eyes.

I call out in Draconic. "We are not the ones who took your children!" I tell her.

"Lies!" she snarls back. "I don't know how you got in here, but you won't disturb my nest any further!" She begins beating her wings, creating a powerful suction, drawing me nearer. I decide it's better to allow it than to fight against it. I need her to listen, but she's set on hurting me right now. I'll try another tactic.

"Could they talk to you like I am? If you'd listen, you'd know I'm different!" I shout back.

The wings continue flapping until I'm right next to her. She turns, her head only a few feet from me. "I won't fall for your tricks, tiny human!" She swipes a claw at my head and I duck, just out of reach. "You'll watch your friends die first," she says, and I realize her intention. She sends a blast of lightning energy over my head, crashing into the ground near Lucis and Alistair, knocking them both to the ground.

"You bitch!" I scream. "Never hurt my family…" Backing away from her, I let the curtain drop, and sling my staff on my back. My hands raise, reaching for sky again, summoning the lightning. I grab the end of a bolt in each hand, holding it like a hilt. Damn, it feels good. How long since I've done this?

I pull, creating two long whips made of lightning. The crackling sound resonating from it causes her to stop, her attention once again on me. I look her in the eye, the storm raging inside and command her again, "I SAID STOP, you foolish dragon. You know not whom you face! I am Ferox the Destroyer, the Stormbringer, goddess of the elements, and you will listen or I will end you, along with all of your brood!" I crack the whip and she hops backwards, snarling at me. Another snap, another...and she backs further away, her timid motions showing her fear now.

Letting the whips settle to the ground, I stop my movement and allow my voice to soften. "I'm trying to help you. Send your children away if you don't believe me. Don't make me hurt them."

Understanding dawns on her, and she raises her head. She gives a few short roars, lower-pitched, but no less intimidating than the previous sounds, and the dragonlings disperse, scattering up over the hillsides and down the embankments on the far side of the clearing.

The dragon tilts her head downward, looking at me through her lowered eyes, showing she's still afraid. I allow the lightning magic to fade. "I'm sorry I scared you, but you weren't listening to reason, child of lightning."

She tilts her head. "You know of the others, the ones who took them while I was away hunting. What happened to my children?"

I sigh. This isn't going to go over well. "I'm sorry, they are gone. But they have already been avenged. The ones responsible are dead, some by our hand."

"Good," she says. "I hope those humans died a painful death. But why are you here?"

"Not all humans are the same. We came seeking information on what the bad ones were doing here. That's how we discovered your younglings. Our other friends could not get closer because you were so defensive of your island."

"My clan is large now, and I would protect it."

"A trait I admire, and share. What is your name?"

"Nimbus," she answers.

I smile. "I like it. Hello, Nimbus, I'm Ferox. Is it alright if the others approach?" I ask.

She looks over, and says, "Yes. You did not hurt my younglings, even though you could have. It is as you say."

Lucis walks over, having understood everything Nimbus has said so far. "Greetings, I am Lucis, god of light and creation."

Nimbus looks at me. "That one is...family?" she asked, stumbling over the word.

He nods. "Yes, I am. But where are you drakes? Should they not be protecting the nest as well?"

Her head sinks. "There were three. One angered me, and I slaughtered him. The other two turned on each other, fighting over me. Neither survived."

I try to keep my expression neutral. Drakes and dragons only pair to produce and raise offspring; they don't usually have much of an emotional connection. Killing one isn't that uncommon for them. It makes me wonder about Miracle and her suitor, however. I should check on her when I get a chance. "That is most unfortunate, Nimbus. I am sorry you lost all of your drakes."

Her head moves in a nod. "There will be more. There always are."

I finish the introductions. "This is Alistair, and Sera."

"If there is anything you want me to say, I'll translate," I tell my companions, but they shake their heads.

I turn back to Nimbus. "There may be more of my people that visit in the future. I will instruct them to post a flag with this symbol," I tell her, pulling out a cloth flag with the flaming eye and sword of the Inquisition. "You will know they are my people by this symbol, and know that they will not harm you, but you should pull your dragonlings back if they arrive; at least until they mature enough to leave on their own."

"I will," she responds. "How do you speak my language?" she questions.

Lucis answers, "We've known dragons our whole life, and that is a very long time indeed. We have learned a lot from our dragon friends."

"Friends," she says, considering the word. "Thank you for calming me, Ferox Stormbringer. I will remember what you have said."

Alistair has a million questions when Lucis and I return to them.

"How did you? What did you say? And that lightning thing? Wow…" he rambles.

I laugh. "Dragon Girl, remember? Since we have to use the ring anyway, I'd like to get back to Skyhold and report right away."

"Sure," Sera states, eyeing me again. "Ferox, remind me not to piss you off."

"Come here, you," I say, trying to get an arm around her neck, but she's taller than me and I can't quite reach. But, it has the desired effect, and we're both chuckling by the end of it. "May I escort you home?" I ask, offering my hand to her.

"Took you long enough," she jokes, and we are off.