ACT II: To Seek Those Unfound
Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the delay again. This chapter is un-beta'ed, so any mistakes are solely my own! Thanks for sticking it out with me.
We both stopped short, startled at each other's presence. Skinner's honey-eyes danced around my head and shoulders, attempting to locate my missing mage. I stepped away from the door with a wave of my hand and she followed silently, unconcerned that my companion was missing. She swirled around to my side furthest from the public eye.
"Chief needs you to come, and quickly, blood-stained her, and her face was clear with a steady expression of annoyance. This eliminated quite a bit, I doubted she would have left Bull if the situation had been fatally serious.
"Lead on, Skinner." I waved her forward, trusting that Dorian would connect the dots and return to The Crossroads after his talk with his father. Skinner nodded and broke into a steady run, intent on getting us to her destination with little fan-fair. At her heels, I followed and kept pace with her as we weaved through the town. People parted out of Skinner's way as the elf dodged around smaller bodies.
"Can you give me a run-down of what the situation is?" I asked her once we were out of the town. I pulled up my speed to be closer to her side and avoid shouting as we ran. Skinner spared me a glance and slowed her running to level us out into a jog.
"We left The Crossroads after setting up camp. Chief wanted to take a look at the fortress the shems had taken over." She answered roughly, her gaze focused on the road before us. I waited, knowing Skinner best worked at her own pace unless Bull was around with a direct order.
She gave me a cat's slow blink, "The Seeker went with us. At the fortress, we found it fortified, but not beyond the Charger's capabilities to tear them down."
"I take it that went well, all things considered," I answered with a small cough, my lungs slowly beginning to burn as we reached the edge of Redcliff and crossed into the boundaries of The Crossroads.
"Yes, for the most part." Skinner replied conversationally, a hint of amusement at the end of her words. "That is until the Seeker lost her mind." My feet tripped on each other briefly and I caught Skinner by the shoulder. Strangely, she didn't yank her shoulder out of my grip and instead reached for my elbow to keep me steady. She waited, clearly annoyed, but patient.
"What do you mean, what happened?" I fired off, catching my breath.
"We have taken a prisoner." Skinner elaborated with a shrug. "It is a former Seeker."
Well, fuck.
-0-
Ser Rebenger Torn was many things. A menace, a thug, a former Templar, but most importantly; he was a former Seeker. As former as they could be, according to Cassandra's knowledge. Skinner had delivered me to the fortress, the Chargers had made quick work of clearing out and securing the place. As I made my way to the upper level, I tossed Bull a brief stink-eye with a look of 'I thought this was a tomorrow thing?'
The bastard could only grin at me.
In the middle of the second level, surrounded by crafted stone pillars and a statue at its center stood Cassandra, Solas to one side of her, and Varric at the other. At their feet laid a man with dark hair and pale skin, his hands, and feet hog-tied with a fraying rope. He glared up at us, the gag wrapped around his head soaked with saliva at his attempt to chew through it.
"Anyone going to explain what their next step was after this?" I asked, reaching for the man's shoulder to lift him into a prayer's position on his knees against the statue's base. Laughably, the man growled at me in warning. Reasonably sure that I wasn't about to be bitten despite the threat, I heaved him up and settled him against the stone with a pointed finger in his face.
Don't bite, I wiggled it at him.
"Interrogation." Cassandra answered, a wave of hungry anger between her teeth. "He will know where the other Seekers are."
"A bold assumption." Solas sighed, his arms folded behind his back. The elf shared his gaze with me. "He may be like Warden Blackwall; there is no guarantee that he will know what has become of them."
"Doesn't hurt to try." Varric added. Bianca gleamed in his arms, loose and resting without a bolt in her maw. The prisoner still eyed the crossbow with suspicion. A heavy sigh escaped my lips. With a turn of my head, I rested my hand on the man's shoulder and knelt before him.
"Let's cut a deal." I began, my fingers gently gripping his shoulder. A swallow went down his throat as his eyes focused away from the crossbow to my face. I smiled. "You will tell me where the Seekers are. Period. You'll get to keep your life and I don't have clean up duty. Sounds fair, right?"
Ser Rebenger Torn glared at me.
"Cool beans," I replied to his glare cheerfully, and reached for his gag around his head, "PS, don't head butt me, I've already had a very stressful day and I will maim someone." Varric coughed behind me, either to hide his laugh or his surprise. Cassandra snorted and took a step toward me to stand at my back, creating a very terrifying visage for the poor man. Once the gag was released, he spared a glance at Cassandra before he looked back at me and spat in my face.
I sighed, wiping at the spit near my eye. "All right, sure. Hey, Skinner?"
With barely a whisper of movement, she was around the statue and at the man's back with a knife pressed just under his ear. Ser Torn's eyes doubled in size and his breath caught in his throat as I dropped the rag to his feet. I waited. Seconds passed by; Cassandra and Varric shifted uneasily. Solas had wandered off toward the edge of one corner and peered out at the view.
Skinner remained, her sharpened, gleaming knife pressed into the man's cheek.
"All right," he finally wheezed, his eyes crossed to peer at the knife against his face, "all right, I'll speak."
"Wonderful." I wiggled on my bent knee happily, pleased that I didn't have to shed any more blood. I was slowly turning into a madwoman because threatening someone's life shouldn't have come so easily. I waved a hand and in a blink, Skinner disappeared, ignorant of my inner turmoil. Ser Torn slumped against the statue and took a gulping breath, his shoulders trembled with the effort.
"I don't know what is happening to the Seekers." Ser Torn grumbled, wincing when Cassandra growled quietly over our heads. He swallowed again, shaking his head. "We ‒ there was an ambush."
My eyes narrowed when he didn't continue, "Where, Ser Torn?"
"O-out by Caer Oswin." He said, startled by his name. He avoided lifting his gaze to Cassandra. "Some of the Order had been lured out by Lord Lucius."
"You were not captured." Cassandra accused heatedly. "Tell us why."
"We were told. There was… he wasn't of my sect, but a brother. A Templar." Ser Torn closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and strained against the rope around his wrists. "He was bleeding out on a path and told us that they were being captured and taken away. I… ran."
"Like a coward." Cassandra accused. The man winced and bowed his head, eyes screwed shut with the muscles in his jaw jumping in the effort. A frown settled across my mouth; this wasn't a man who turned to banditry for sport, this was someone cornered in a desperate time. Needing his attention on me, I rapped my knuckles against the ground next to his knee.
Once he looked up at me, I said; "I'm not gonna lie, Ser Torn, that's a shit situation to be in. You've already lost countless brothers and sisters to this madness. Tell me how I can fix it this mess we've made." The man took several deep breaths, his thighs trembled from holding himself up and his hands wiggled behind him as he pondered his answer.
"You will get them out?" He asked weakly, his head bowed.
"They deserve a chance, don't they? Just like you." I answered quietly.
"I didn't mean ‒ we had already been chased out from the Order, and this new one had taken up arms against the monster, but we hadn't ‒" He was rambling, information spurting from an open wound that I needed to control immediately. Solas had reappeared by my side, his expression stern with the mention of the monster.
"Ser Torn," I commanded, my hand on his shoulder to shake him. His voice broke mid-ramble and I cut through as quickly as I could, "Ser Torn, what new order?"
"I don't know." He lamented painfully, shaking his head against the memories. "We only heard part of what our brother was trying to warn us against before we were ambushed."
"You must have heard something before then, learned of this order from your brethren. Speak." Solas demanded coldly. Even I flinched at the tone of his voice, but Solas paid me no mind as he knelt next to me and his gaze bore into the man's head, intending to rip the answers from his thoughts personally.
Ser Torn shook his head again, "It was when the Temple went up in ablaze. Lord Lucius demanded we follow him, away from the fighting, that it wasn't our place, that we would wait out the storm ‒ I hadn't thought…"
"Cassandra?" I asked, standing up and moving to face her. Cassandra's scarred face tumbled through a storm of emotion. Anger flashed through her eyes and crinkled the corners of her mouth with a rage that she breathed like fire through her nose. She stomped away and I knew her well enough to allow her the moment to think; she needed to gather her thoughts through the fury.
"What are we going to do with him, Boss?" Bull called from his lean against a pillar behind us, watching the scene unfold into madness. Slowly, my attention swam between Bull, Solas, and the man at my feet. Varric had moved away into the shadows of a tree beyond the ramada and spent the time cleaning Bianca. I sighed, running a hand over my head with the other on my hip.
"Take him to Skyhold. Get him a medic. Take anyone else alive." My gaze searched, but I could see no other movement around us. "Someone run to Corporal Vale. Have a party set up here in the fortress and man it as a sanctuary."
Bull nodded, "Can do, Boss. I'll get Krem on it. We'll take Ser Torn to the Inquisition." With my own nod, I stepped aside and allowed Bull to pull the man up gently by his elbow. With a quick whistle, Skinner appeared to sheer the rope from around Torn's ankles. The former Templar flinched at the touch but didn't bolt once his limbs were free.
Before he was pulled away, Torn tugged himself toward me, his eyes wide. "What will happen to me, Inquisitor?"
"That's for you to decide, Ser Torn." I answered firmly. "I empathize with your situation, caught in this mess, but instead of turning to legitimate means, you turned to banditry. You'll have to answer for your crimes."
He winced, "I don't want to die, Inquisitor."
"Then you'll do better by living to learn from your mistakes, Ser Torn." I replied readily. "I'll remember that you asked when your trial comes."
"Thank you, Inquisitor." Ser Torn bowed his head and finally walked as Bull gently nudged him away. My companions and I waited until they were out of earshot before turning to each other. Skinner remained in the shadows, her eyes on me. A terribly overjoyed spark of happiness went through my bones; does this mean she likes me?
"He is a coward, Inquisitor." Cassandra spat once we had gathered together again. "He abandoned his Order."
"He ran for his life, Seeker." Varric interrupted from her hip, looking up at her. "Not everyone is you, or Jaime. Not everyone is ready to just say 'fuck it' and run in headfirst."
"His moral standing isn't a pressing matter here, I would like to remind everyone." Solas' ears twitched with annoyance. "The information he's given us is far more interesting."
"I'll have to agree with Solas on this one, Cass." I said with a small shrug, my hands resting on my hips, bracing my back against her fiery glare. "We're going to need to get this information to Leliana and find out what he was talking about, what this new Order is."
"He could be lying to distract us." Cassandra retorted.
"True," I answered with a swift nod, "but you asked me to look for your Seekers, Cassandra. This means I need to exhaust every piece of information that comes to me, regardless of how it came to me." My words stopped her cold and just like an ice bath over her head, her muscles slackened slightly and her mouth dropped from a snarl into a frown.
"Very well." Cassandra agreed, surprising the three of us with her. She sighed. "I will send word to Leliana."
"Well." Varric stared at her. "That's… quick."
"I have learned to trust Jaime's intuition." Cassandra huffed, turning away from Varric and breaking into a small stride to lead us. Solas and Varric peered at me for insight, but as I have done more than once today alone; I shrugged. She had already gotten far enough ahead of us that I needed to jog to catch up, leaving Solas and Varric behind to man the rear.
"Cass," I ignored the urge to reach for her arm and instead settled up beside her, our arms brushing as we walked, "gonna let me in on what's going on up there?"
"I don't know what's happening anymore." Cassandra immediately replied, as if waiting for my offer. She raised a hand to her face and rubbed her fingers over her mouth, her brow heavy with swirling thoughts and heated emotions. I waited, watching her face and prompting her with a head wiggle when she glanced my way.
"This madness; why would Lord Lucius turn away from the Order? From the Seekers?" Cassandra tossed her thoughts out with a wave of her hand. "I cannot believe that the Envy demon had taken over so quickly. Something is missing."
A thoughtful sigh escaped me as I pondered her line of thinking. Corypheus had done his best to cripple the Templar Order, but that had only been after the Temple had been bombed out, and then only after it had been made known that I was going to appear in Val Royeaux. Before that, as far as anyone had been concerned, they were just as scattered to the wind as the mages.
"Cass, give me some insight here. What were the Seekers like, before all this happened?" I asked quietly.
"Just." Cassandra began, a tremble in her voice. "It is as our name dictates. We were the Seekers of Truth. We worked directly under the hand of the Divine, as a… secret enforcement for the Templar Order."
I blinked, surprised. "What, like Ben-Hassrath?"
"Yes," Cassandra growled, shame tilting her chin away from me, "We were not necessarily on friendly terms with the Templars, as we usually arrived at a situation when they failed."
"I guess this is why they wouldn't use lyrium, right? To keep Templars subservient?" I commented with confusion. "If they work with the Divine, then wouldn't they be in the Temple of Sacred Ashes during the explosion?"
"I had thought so, as well." Cassandra's frown deepened. She led us through the fortress easily, down the stairs, and out into the dirt path that would take us back to The Crossroads. "But, to my knowledge, Divine Justinia had not recalled all of her Seekers. Lord Lucius had not come."
"Which would be why the Corpypheus and the Envy demon targeted him. All right, one puzzle piece down." I sighed, patting my face with both of my hands thoughtfully. This meant that some of the Seekers had survived, but like the Wardens, they had disappeared. We at least knew that the Wardens were most likely at the Western Approach, given what Strauss had told us. Perhaps there would be some Seekers among their ranks?
"So. It sounds like we won't be going home yet." I murmured into the silence. Cassandra was pulled from her thoughts and she turned to me, curious. I continued, "We'll send a missive to Leliana to get a report on Caer Oswin. We'll stay here and set up the quarry and this fortress with the help of the Chargers and Corporal Vale."
"And once we receive confirmation from Leliana, we head to Caer Oswin." Cassandra confirmed with a nod. "Yes, I like this plan. I'll give Leliana all that we've learned. It will be days, if not weeks before we learn anything more."
"Better settle in for the long haul here, then." I answered with a deep sigh.
-0-
True to the plan, Cassandra had sent a missive out to Skyhold and we planted ourselves in the Hinterlands to wait. The Chargers had been set up as runners for supplies, or protection for any merchants or caravans that came to the Hinterlands for trade. Any that had been displaced in Redcliff had been given the option to move into the camps by the quarry for work, or to the fortress to maintain it. With the Hinterlands relatively secured against the raging war and Corypheus' influence, many more citizens of Ferelden had taken sanctuary with the Inquisition.
Many of my companions had gone back to Skyhold to assist with the daily routine, like Varric, Solas, and Vivienne, but the rest remained with me. Dorian had sent his own letters to me by a runner, taking the time to spend with his father, though he hadn't left the safety of Redcliff. Professionally, I replied to give him leave while we waited for information from Skyhold. It had been nearly a month before we heard back from Leliana.
"We need to get to Caer Oswin immediately." Cassandra greeted me the morning of Leliana's missive. I sat next to Bull and on my other side was Krem. Krem and I were bleary-eyed and mouths half-stuffed with pieces of flatbread. Bull acted as our book-end and kept his posture straight as we both leaned against each other and him for support. I was happily squished between the warm bodies in the early morning chill.
"What's going on, Seeker?" Bull replied, far more awake at the early hours of sunrise than the rest of us. My shoulder was pressed into his arm as I tiredly munched on my breakfast, body, and mind numb and tired from the strenuous work of the last month.
"Leliana has sent word of the state of Caer Oswin. Normally, it is under the protection and command of Bann Loren." Cassandra held out the missive to me and with a tired groan, I sat up properly and took the letter. Once it was in my hand, though, I immediately passed it off to Krem. The lieutenant snorted and punched me gently in the thigh, but took the missive.
"The spymaster reports that her agents were sent to investigate and make contact with Bann Loren, but…" Krem frowned at the letter in his hand. "... they've gone missing?" I perked up at those words and turned my attention to Cassandra, flatbread forgotten in my numb fingers.
"Who, all of them? Agents and the Bann?" Bull glanced between Cassandra and Krem. Krem nodded, his narrowed eyes reading over the letter carefully.
"Correct. This is why it has taken so long to have an answer, none of them have returned, and the birds were found dead when the last group went to investigate." Cassandra crossed her arms with a cocked hip, her mouth tilted in an annoyed frown.
"Fucking. Uh, Christ." I rubbed at my eyes angrily. "All right. And the Bann is just one-hundred percent absent?"
"According to the citizenry, Bann Loren has not been sighted in months. He's not well received due to his fickle nature and changing alliances, but the people have noticed his absence." Cassandra explained with an angry tick in her words.
"Does the Bann normally disappear for months on end?" I clarified through a yawn.
"Bann Loren does not often talk to outside forces beyond King Alistair, but he is known to ignore missives." Cassandra shrugged.
"Awesome, sounds like a swell guy." I reached around my head and pulled my loose hair over my shoulder to begin my braid. "Get the group together, Cass. Bull, have the Chargers ready to head out in an hour."
"Sure thing, Boss." Bull affirmed and reached behind me to pat Krem on the shoulder. The lieutenant gave a nod and shoved the last of his flatbread into his mouth, patted me on the head, and left. I stuck my tongue out at his back as he walked away. Honestly, I was damn near thirty, who did he think he was?
"I believe Dorian is still in Redcliff, shall we bring him along as well?" Cassandra asked quietly. My mouth twisted slightly as the thought rolled through my head. There was no guarantee that there wouldn't be Templars in the ranks of whatever we found at Caer Oswin, and I didn't want a repeat of Therinfal Redoubt and Vivienne.
I shook my head, "No. Have him go back to Skyhold and prepare for any information we may find at Caer Oswin with Josephine and Leliana. Solas left for Skyhold, didn't he?"
"Yeah, he did. We've got Blackwall with us, as well as Sera." Bull recounted the heads on his hand with missing fingers. With a roll of my eyes, I smacked his hand, but gripped his palm so I could stand from the log we rested on. Bull held his hand and arm steady so I could steady myself on my feet and chuckled while I stretched before he also stood up next to me.
"That should be a good team, Blackwall and Sera have been getting along surprisingly well. Cassandra, head out and find them, we'll back up and get ready to leave. See you in an hour." I commanded with a salute from my forehead. She nodded and strode from the camp clearing, determination in her eyes.
"What do you think we'll find there, Boss?" Bull asked, his body heat near my shoulder. Nervously, I tugged on my braid and glanced up at him, worry dipping the edges of my mouth. He watched, head and horns tilted curiously as he waited.
"Probably a lot of bodies. A dead Bann Loren, maybe. And, hopefully, the real Lord Lucius." I murmured with concern. My fingers rubbed at the top of my brow as it frowned in thought. Bull sighed deeply and with a gentle hand, rubbed at my back before stepping away.
"We'll work it out, Boss. I'll get the boys saddled up." Bull's hand drifted away from my back and left a shiver in its wake. I was slowly growing accustomed to the small, affectionate touches and though I wasn't sure what they meant, I appreciated the contact. A brief nod was all he got, and it was enough to send him away with a smirk.
Damn that bastard Qunari.
-0-
"That's a big fort." I muttered my hand over my brow to shield my eyes from the sun. Before us stood Caer Oswin. It had taken a good part of two weeks to get our mercenary company and companions to the base of the fort. The people under Bann Loren had been gracious enough to allow us passage without too much of a fuss, despite the number of people coming through their town.
"From what we could find, there's an entrance here at the base, unless we want to go all the way around toward the front entrance." Krem listed off from under his helmet. The fort speared skyward from a narrow hilltop and spiraled around defensively to hide its entrances and windows.
"Depending on the number of people in that fort, we might need to." I replied. The Chargers numbered at least 50 bodies strong. I had Sera and Blackwall with me, as well as Cassandra and Bull. It would be a good team to storm the fort. I glanced over to Blackwall, prompting him for an opinion.
"Sera and I can take the front." He advised with a nod to Krem. "We can provide a distraction to have the smaller team go through the dungeon entrance that's here at the base."
"Makes for a good row, doesn't it?" Sera grinned. "Baddies want surprises, we got 'em!"
"That would leave me, Iron Bull, and Jaime to take the dungeon and make our way upward." Cassandra stared thoughtfully at her feet for a moment, her mouth bent in a frown.
"Got something, Cassandra?" I asked after a few moments of silence.
"A concern. If we do find Lord Lucius or any of the Seekers…" She started, unsure of how she wanted to voice her concern.
Instead, I turned to Krem and Blackwall, "Reason with them, if you can. Give them the option to surrender." Cassandra relaxed briefly with their affirmation that they would. A wave of my hand dismissed them and we split. Cassandra, Bull, and I watched as the rest of the group made a march down the hill and back around toward the front entrance to start their distraction.
"We'll make good time once we're through the dungeon." Bull led the way toward the rear entrance.
"Bann Loren is a pious, unassuming man. I can't imagine why he's involved himself in this." Cassandra murmured behind us.
"He might be a victim in this." Bull glanced back at Cassandra over his shoulder. "I suppose we'll see once we get through this mess."
"We'll do the best we can to help them, Cassandra, I promise." My hand rested on her shoulder for a moment before we got to the dungeon entrance. The quiet hum of nature settled over our heads. Bull rested his shoulder against the wall, a mental count going off in his head for Krem's party and their intrusion. Before long, Bull nodded and waved me over. Side by side we stood and in unison, slammed through the door with our shoulders.
Alarmingly, a blade was already swinging for my neck.
"Don't think so!" Bull growled, yanking at my shoulder and pulling me out of range of the blade. Cassandra swarmed in with her shield at the ready and bashed face-first into the templar. Startled as I was, I lost my footing for a second and crashed next to Bull and into the wall. Both of my companions honed on the attacker and with two or three swift swings, the armed guard was down.
"Fucking hell," I swore quietly, peeling myself off the wall. "He was ready for us."
"He was." Bull muttered, rolling out a shoulder. "I don't think that distraction is gonna do much now."
"No, it's not. We must hurry. They must have been expecting us after Leliana's people had arrived." Cassandra deduced. We didn't get more than a couple of feet through the doorway and into the hall before an arrow shot past my face and sliced through Bull's arm. The three of us thundered through into the next room, Cassandra's shield our only barrier as Bull and I charged around her to harass the templar. One maul to the head and the other to the knees and he went ass-over-teakettle and slammed into the ground with a wet slap.
Cassandra stood over the body, but her eyes went wide with a hissing gasp and she went for his throat. She pulled up at the man's neck and a medallion was shining in her palm. With a vicious pull, she snapped it from his body and stood, swearing under her breath. Bull and I shared a look before I rounded the body and came to her side.
"Cassandra, what is it?" I asked as I tried to spy the medallion in her hand.
"Promisers." She spat, turning to me and holding out the medallion. "I should have known."
"The who-what?" My hands barely caught the medallion as it dropped from Cassandra's fingers. There was nothing terribly unique on it, a sun-blazing symbol at its center, much like the one that could be found on a Mother's robe or headdress.
"The Order of Fiery Promise is a cult… with strange beliefs about the Seekers. They've hounded us for centuries." Cassandra answered, a flash of anger laced her words. I pocketed the medallion to give to Leliana later and looked back to the body on the floor. Their robes were red and embroidered with the same eye symbol that was hammered into Cassandra's armor.
"What kinda weird beliefs are we talking about? Like sacrificing babies, or…?" I prompted for more information. Cassandra's mouth and nose twisted in disgust and she grunted at me, but exhaled to calm herself with a brief shake of her head to refute me.
"No, they believe they are the Seekers ‒ the only rightful ones." Cassandra explained hastily, her hands gripped tightly on her sword and shield. "They say we robbed their powers long ago, preventing them from ending the world."
"Uh, yes, thank you." I uttered, mystified. "End the world? The fuck ‒ do they realize we all live here?"
Cassandra sighed, "The only way to truly eradicate evil, in their eyes. The world will be reborn a paradise, they say."
"Is there a reason why the Seekers haven't been able to deal with them until now?" I prodded. It felt like a lot of pieces had suddenly fallen into my lap, but none of them were for the same puzzle or question. Curious, I returned to the body on the ground and began to rummage through his robes, searching for anything that would help with sorting out this mess.
"We have," Cassandra replied, "but they simply reappear after a time, like weeds. Nobody knows how." I found a key, but what it led to would be anyone's guess. I pocketed the item along with the medallion and turned my gaze back to Cassandra. What to do about cultists? They might be in league with Corypheus now.
"Can they be reasoned with, do you think?" I asked.
Cassandra shook her head, "They're fanatics, drunk on whatever forbidden magic they can find to make themselves true Seekers."
"Well, sounds like we're in for a hurtin', then. We got Seekers and these chucks to deal with, don't we?" I grumbled. Bull took up along my right side as I walked toward the next door, finding it suspicious that no other soldiers had come through to attack us. Cassandra followed, mouth tight as she thought.
"This explains why the Seekers might be here, but not the connection to Corypheus." She muttered.
"We'll pick that apart once we get more information. Come on." I led on.
The rest of the dungeon area had been cleared of any other Promisers. It would be odd to have one or two down under the fort, but if it was a regular security patrol, then the buddy system had failed them. As we went higher into the fort, the sounds of fighting could be heard echoing down from outside. Bull took point and led us through the doors toward the courtyard.
As we burst through the door, the world exploded into light and chaos. Before us, the Chargers had managed to corner some of the Promisers in the courtyard. The three of us jumped into the fray, surprising a few of the soldiers as we dashed into them. Cassandra and I took a corner while Bull lumbered his way through toward Krem and Blackwall. Sera had managed to squirrel her way up onto a roof and was raining small jars and arrows down on us.
It took us a few minutes to bring down the last of them before silence flooded the area. The Chargers had secured the entryway and the rest of the yard leading up toward the higher towers and levels. Skinner poked and prodded around several bodies to confirm their deaths and Grim kept watch. Blackwall wandered over to us and hesitated with a crumpled paper in his hand.
"What is it, Blackwall?" I asked, holding out my hand for the paper.
"It's… better if Cassandra reads it." Blackwall murmured apologetically. Surprised, I waved at Cassandra to draw her over and nodded to Blackwall. He relaxed under my gaze as Cassandra tensed and snatched the letter from his fingers. With a swallow, Blackwall took a few steps and settled beside me. Cassandra's eyes sped over the writing as we waited.
"As the Seekers of Truth have proven resistant to the effects of red lyrium, The Elder One has seen fit to place them in your care." She snarled, her fingers digging into the crumbled edges. "Reclaim your destiny, and know that The Elder One expects your devotion as repayment."
"Oh no," I sighed, defeated.
"Signed by Lord Samson, Commander of the Red Templars." Cassandra nearly ripped the letter into pieces between her fingers. She glared at the ground under her feet and then turned that glare up to me as I approached her. "Does Corypheus not realize the Promisers want the world to end? What use are they to him?"
"So hold up for a hot second, we're saying Corypheus sold the Seekers to these cultists?" I wanted to clarify, but the story was getting wilder by the second. Bull and Blackwall had taken up space behind me, with Sera flickering around to stand behind Cassandra, a frown deep across her face.
"And they leapt at the chance, of course." Cassandra hissed. "But this doesn't explain how he captured the Seekers in the first place, or what's been down with them. We must keep looking." I frowned at the wrinkled paper in her hand. It didn't make sense. What did Corypheus expect to gain from having one faction of Seekers control the other? Did he suspect that the Promisers would be better suited to handle their skills and powers?
"The letter said Seekers were resistant to red lyrium," I murmured, my thoughts whirling.
"Our abilities grant us many gifts, but a resistance to red lyrium's corruption? That seems… strange." Cassandra picked up on my line of thought, her gaze falling back to the paper in her grip. She turned it up with her wrist and stared at it.
"It would explain why none have numbered among the red templars." Bull added softly from behind me. Cassandra and I turned to him and he offered us a soft shrug. "There's no need for a tool he can't control. There's no addiction, no leash."
"Cassandra?" I prompted, watching as her expression twisted with worry and anger, both warring for a place on her brow. "Are you worried?"
"I am." She answered softly, turning her dark eyes to me in worry. "The Seekers are my family." She left it at that and stormed away from us. A sigh heaved through my shoulders and with a tired brush of my hand over my head, I turned to my companions.
"Krem, keep the Chargers here, clear the area out of supplies and weapons. Caer Oswin is under the command of the Inquisition until such time that my investigation is over. Get a standard up." I ordered rapidly. Krem nodded with a salute and hurried away with Grim at his heels. Next, my attention focused on Blackwall and Sera.
"I need evidence of this madness." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the key that I had sniffed off one of the Promisers and the medallion Cassandra had first given me. "This key probably goes to an office, find it. I want their medallions and any other paraphernalia."
"Para-what?" Sera snatched the key from my hand, eyeing the grooves.
"Paraphernalia. Items or equipment needed for a specific event or activity." Blackwall muttered thoughtfully, studying the medallion once it was in his hand. He ran a thumb over the eye and shook his head with a grim frown over his mouth. "Maker, this has turned into a mess."
"When wasn't it?" I quietly huffed, arms akimbo through the air for a brief moment. Finally, my gaze floated to Bull. "Let's catch back up with her before she decides to burn this place down with us in it."
"Probably a bit late for that, but I agree." Bull joked and hurried with me as we followed in Cassandra's wake, up the long stairs to the next level above the courtyard. She was nowhere in sight when we reached the landing and before us stood a shut, wooden door braced for invasion. Bull and I shoved together and forced them open, their hinges fighting us with each step.
Once inside, the sounds of a fight echoed toward us through the stone hall lit with braisers on each pillar at even intervals. Bull ran ahead of me, quicker on the take to get to our friend than my feet were able to run. Shooting down the hall, we came to an arch that broke into a large court with a mural of a woman at the end, glaring over the empty, cavernous space.
Cassandra stood under the woman's gaze, surrounded by Seekers and their shields. Bull and I charged forward. My maul was swung low from my hip and crashed into the first Promiser closest to me, slamming him into a pillar beside us. With a grunt, I shoved the head of the weapon into his chest and winded him as his back collided against the pillar a second time. Pinned, he tried to reach for the handle of my maul, but I snagged his hand instead and rushed him forward. We headbutted and his eyes fluttered as consciousness left him.
Cassandra had already slain three or four of them at her feet with wild savagery I hadn't seen in her before. With a rampaging cry, she sliced her sword into the gullet of another knight and threw him to the ground, stomping on his windpipe as he attempted to get back up. Bull had dealt with his pair of Promisers in the shadow of the pillars, swirling and dodging around the stone like a fish avoiding capture. Finally, the last of them had been silenced and an unnerving amount of blood pooled at our feet.
Cassandra shot up the stairs onto the throne's landing and off to the right onto the next level. Growling, I followed her, calling out her name as I did. Bull's steps thundered behind me, the shadow of his hulking form the only reassurance that this hadn't completely gone to absolute shit. Where is she going? The woman ignored my calls and raced forward, hot on someone's scent. It was only once we had gotten into the next level that I spied what she was after; another body, pressed up against the pillar that framed the next set of stairs.
"Daniel!" Cassandra cried as she skidded to a halt next to his fallen form. She reached for his shoulders and held him up, supporting his shaking body. Bull and I caught our breath behind her, watching the scene unfold. The young man was pale as death, his lips blue, but stained red from the blood that dripped from his nose. His eyes were hollow and the skin around his temple and forehead was beginning to darken from bruising. Head trauma, my thoughts supplied.
"Daniel, can you hear me?" Cassandra murmured, her hands held the young man's face. The poor creature took a few weak blinks, his eyes unfocused as he peered through the haze of his scattered thoughts. A few moments later, his gaze finally landed on Cassandra before him.
"Cassandra?" He croaked, voice strangled within his bruised neck. "It is you. You're alive."
"As are you," Cassandra breathed, relief flooding her shoulders as she slumped next to him. "I'm so glad I found you." Bull and I shared a wary look, a thought flashing between us; he's not going to make it. Christ, I wasn't prepared for Cassandra losing a loved one right before her very eyes again. Waving my hand to Bull, I gestured with my index finger twirling in a circle to have him walk the perimeter in case of any surprises. He gave me a short nod and wandered off into the shadows while I stayed within earshot of Cassandra and her companion, Daniel.
"No, they…" Daniel pushed Cassandra's shoulder, but in his weakened state, it only shifted her briefly, "Put a demon inside me. It's tearing me up." A wet cough followed and more blood dripped down his nose and face. Concern drew my eyebrows together and I took a small step forward to better sense him with the Mark. Nothing about him sparked an interest with the pocket Fade in my palm, it hummed and simmered in its neutral state.
"What?" Cassandra asked desperately, her gaze searching his torn body for evidence. "You can't be possessed ‒ that's impossible!"
"I'm not possessed." He corrected, his body slumping with his effort to right himself against the stone banister. "They… fed me things. I can feel it growing." Bull had made his slow way back toward us and the light from the sconce, but his eye was focused on the dying young man at our feet. He paused once he was at my side, his heat a small comfort in the grief unfolding in front of me.
"Cassandra, the Promisers will pay for what they've done." I murmured from behind her, I didn't want to be completely insensitive to the moment, but Daniel was dying and we were losing time. Cassandra's gloved hands rolled into fists and the muscles along her jaw jumped as she clenched her teeth together.
"No," Daniel moaned, shaking his head. "The Lord Seeker."
"Of course we'll find him." Cassandra attempted to soothe her companion, her voice tight. "If he lives, we'll ‒" Daniel shook his head harder, snagging her arm in his grip, his gaze begging that she listen to him. Cassandra fell quiet, her mouth softening into a pained frown.
"He sent us here, one by one." Daniel explained quietly, and then his voice rose with a trembling growl. "An important mission, he said. Lies. He was here with them all along. He's still working with them." Bull hummed thoughtfully next to me. Right, I wondered quietly, the man can't be in two places at once.
"Daniel," I called to the young man, moving toward him and kneeling before his exhausted frame, "We met Lord Seeker Lucius in Val Royeaux. He couldn't have been here."
"That wasn't him." Daniel spat blood into his lap, shaking as he did so. "It was a demon, masquerading."
"What? How could that be?" Cassandra demanded.
"The Lord Seeker allowed it." Daniel groaned, his words slowly starting to slur together. "He let the demon take command, while he…"
"Came here." Bull and I finished together. A sharp exhale shot through my lungs and my hand rose to pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. Fucking shit. It was planned. That whole chaos was planned, or at least accounted for. The losses, the men, the damage. Fuck him.
"Could he really be working with these cultists?" My hand dropped from my face and I leveled my gaze with Cassandra's. Within her eyes, I could see the pain swim against her thoughts, clouding her memories of the Lord Seeker. My Mark, for the briefest moment, pulsed with her grief. Seconds after, a flood of ferocity secured itself on her face.
"I intend to find out." Cassandra vowed darkly.
"Wait!" Daniel gave a weak cry, latching onto her closest arm. "Don't leave me like this. Please…"
"You should have come with me." Cassandra lamented. "You didn't believe in the war any more than I did." She placed a gentle hand over the one that held her in place. She peered across his pained expression, the blood drying under his nose and on his lips.
He gave her a dry laugh, "You know me. I wanted that promotion." My gut twisted violently under my ribs, tears springing to my eyes. Very nearly did I rocket up from my haunches next to them, the urge to turn away from the private moment had me sick up to my throat. Instead, with great care, I stood from my kneel and took a few steps away, my back colliding with Bull's chest. The Qunari's arm came around my waist and held me in place in case my knees gave out.
"Go to the Maker's side, Daniel. You will be welcome." Gently, Cassandra smiled. The young man did his best to return the gesture, coughing as he blessed her with his broken prayer. Cassandra stood and unsheathed her sword. Pinned to the spot by my breaking heart for Cassandra, I watched mutely as she raised the blade and swiftly sliced through Daniel's neck.
Time paused for a handful of precious seconds, and then his head tipped and rolled from his shoulders. A hard swallow fought its way down my throat and my gaze flashed to Cassandra. She stood before his body, watching with guarded eyes as his body slumped against the banister and silence rang in our ears.
"He was my apprentice. I have never known a finer young man." She murmured to us, her gaze never leaving his body. She steadied herself with a deep inhale and squared her shoulders. "Now, we find Lord Seeker Lucius." Bull released his arm from around my waist and we followed Cassandra's lead through the rest of the fort. It was quiet as we walked, our weapons at the ready. No further ambushes, no other knights to contest us. Cassandra, somehow, seemed to know where she was leading us and followed an invisible path through the fortress to a distant courtyard of ruined stone pillars and buildings.
We could hear conversation floating in the air as we neared a particular building, one that hadn't completely crumbled to dust. Cassandra raised a fist to slow down and we did so as quietly as possible. Soon, we were at the main door closest to the voices and Cassandra waved Bull through. With a hard jerk, the Qunari forced the door off its hinges and tossed it to one side with a step back to allow us through. Cassandra bolted in first and I came at her heels, but we weren't greeted with an ambush.
Instead, the familiar face of Lord Seeker Lucius greeted us, his arms folded behind his back and his shoulders straight and level from end to end. There were knights on either side of him with a few others that stood behind him, but none of them reached for their weapons. Suspicious, but unwilling to be the first one to start the fight, I stowed my maul away and waited. Cassandra did the same with her sword, her mouth twisted in a murderous snarl.
"Cassandra." Lucius began, his gaze roaming from her to me. "... With a woman I can only assume is the new Inquisitor."
"A pleasure," I growled from beside Cassandra. The Lord Seeker had the audacity to smile at us.
"I presume you know we Seekers of Truth were once the original Inquisition." His smile grew into a smirk when I refused to answer him. "Oh, yes. We fought to restore order in a time of madness long ago, as you do now."
"Funny, I don't recall selling my people to a cult." I retorted with a narrow gaze. Cassandra shook in her armor next to me and I could see her lips work over her teeth, words at the tip of her tongue but either fury or fright kept her from voicing her opinions.
"No, but such things happen. We became proud, too. We sought to remake the world ‒ to make it better." His arms fell to his sides and he took a few steps toward us. Cassandra and I tensed like rabbits ready to bolt, but Bull filled in the space at Cassandra's back and exhaled, keeping her steady. Like magic, I watched as she relaxed with her chin tipped down, her eyes focused intently on the Lord Seeker. She wasn't going to run from him, and Bull wasn't about to let her, either.
"But what did we create? The Chantry. The Circles of Magi. A war that will see no end." He dipped his voice, lamenting the state of the world and the war with a soft frown.
I snorted, "Right, and aiding Corypheus is supposed to help with that?"
"Corypheus is a monster with limited ambition." The Lord Seeker shook his head.
"And your ambition is so much greater." Cassandra spat.
Lucius sighed, "We Seekers are abominations, Cassandra. We created a decaying world and fought to preserve it even as it crumbled. We had to be stopped." With measured steps, the Lord Seeker approached closer and reached into a satchel at his side. Cassandra made no move even as Bull and I reached for the handles of our mauls. She waited, and so did we.
"You don't believe me. See for yourself." The Lord Seeker brought out an old and withered tome from his satchel. The corners of the leather-bound scripture were frayed and graying, but the pages were still sharp and showed little sign of aging. Curiously, though, I spied that the cover was emblazoned with the same symbol as the writ Cassandra and Leliana had secured from the late Divine.
"These are the secrets of our Order, passed to me after the former Lord Seeker was slain." Lucius held it aloft for Cassandra to take. She glared between the book and him before reaching for it and gripping it tightly within her fingers.
He watched her, smug. "The war with the mages had already begun, but it was not too late for me to do the right thing."
"And this was the right thing?" I replied, my attention on his pale face.
"Lord Seeker, what you've done…" Cassandra warned him.
"I know." Lucius replied with a small shrug. "What Corypheus did with the Templars does not matter. I have seen the future."
"Horseshit." I swore under my breath.
"I have created a new order to replace the old. The world will end so we can start anew‒a pure beginning." He ignored me, his gaze set solely on Cassandra. Under his eyes, Cassandra's body shuddered with a wave of tension that rolled up from her legs to her back.
"Join us, Cassandra. It is the Maker's will." Lucius held his hand out for her acceptance. Much to my alarmed surprise, Cassandra reached for his hand. He smirked and flashed it my way in a show of victory. It was his last mistake, as Cassandra took the momentary lapse in focus and drew him forward, her second hand dropping the book to reach for her small knife at her belt.
Bull and I jumped in surprise as Cassandra shoved the knife into his gut to the hilt. The knights who had been waiting behind their lord roared at the betrayal and charged us. Flat-footed, I had no time to fumble for my maul and resorted to a fist-fight with the first knight that came my way. Bull was quicker on the draw and had his weapon out, sweeping it over Cassandra's head as she ducked and rolled to give him leeway for his charge.
I managed to duck down and away as a knight swung his sword toward my neck. My feet cantered backward until I could create enough distance between us to pull my maul from its holster. It had gotten halfway forward in a cocked swing that was only at a fraction of power. The underside of the maul's head hooked onto the upper edge of the knight's shield and he forced his weight behind it to pin me to the stone wall. With a rush, the breath was knocked from my lungs.
"You'll pay for your folly, usurper." The knight growled in my face.
"Not likely," Bull growled darkly from behind the knight, startling both of us. The Mark flared in my palm with a boiling heat, a spear of possessive anger that threaded through my arm like a snake. The man turned to face the Qunari, but it was already too late as the maul's head replaced his on his armored shoulders. Blood splattered across my face and I leapt away from the dropping body of wiggling limbs. Bull grinned at me.
"You good, Boss?"
"Y-yeah, man." I answered, rattled. I shook out my hand, willing away the burning sensation that had exploded within it. Was that me? No, it couldn't have been. Bull? The Qunari had already stalked away from me, hunting down the last of the knights that had managed to escape Cassandra's killing sweep of the area. With a shaky hand, I rubbed at my wrist with the last sparks of the fire fading away.
What was that?
My heart was thundering in my chest, screaming about something, but the fighting was over and my attention was needed elsewhere. Clearing my throat and picking up my forgotten maul, I made my way over to Cassandra, who stood in the center of the massacre with a bloody sword and dented shield.
"He was insane." Cassandra reasoned with herself quietly, her sword trembled in her grip. "He had to be."
"Hey, sis…" I tried to catch her attention, but her gaze was glazed over as she stared at the ground.
"The influence of Corypheus, perhaps?" She continued, my voice lost in her ears. "Was he trying to disable the Seekers?" I glanced around at the fallen knights, the gutted body of Lord Seeker Lucius, and the book that was nestled in the weeds and grass. I walked for it, reaching for it with a numb hand.
"All these wasted lives…" I murmured. And for what? What end result did the Lord Seeker think this madness would produce? What world would exist or survive after its destruction? He wasn't God or the Maker, so what powers did they believed in that could allow them to recreate a world all their own?
"He could not have destroyed all of us. I won't accept it." Cassandra reassured herself behind me.
"Let's get back to Skyhold, Cass." I took her pause as an opportunity to break through to her.
She sighed, defeated. "Yes. I wish to see what's in this book of secrets."
"We'll figure this out, Cassandra." I promised.
In before I turn out to be a liar.
