Chapter 82: On the Loose pt1
Lowtown-Day
"The Knight-Commander sure is a piece of work…" Varric said.
"Unfortunately, these kinds of tactics are not above the Templars" Anders said. "If they can't get ordinary people to comply, then the Templars will threaten them, blackmail them or extort them to get what they want."
"And the Chantry just lets that happen, huh?" Ericks asked.
The mage frowned. "They look the other way, and some condone it," he said. "As long as they can say it's the Maker's will being done then they can sleep soundly at night."
"But eventually they won't be able to turn away…" The gang was heading to the Alienage to speak to an elven woman named Nyssa, she worked for a dressmaker in Lowtown and was the wife of their first target, Huon. In the past, the templars have spoken to Nyssa on the whereabouts of her husband but she always insisted that she had not seen Huon since he joined the Circle. On the way to the Alienage, the gang ran into Merrill shopping and filled her in on the situation.
"I know Nyssa, she was one of the few people in the alienage I was able to talk to when I first came to Kirkwall" Merrill said. "You should let me talk to her, Ericks." While Ericks has made great strides in getting many of the alienage elves to trust him, there were still quite a few of them that were suspicious of him…especially since he became Champion. To be Champion, meant being a friend to the law of Kirkwall and the law was never a friend to the elves living in the city. They made it to the alienage and spotted a brown-haired young elven woman in a stitched-up dress working a stall near Merrill's old home. They head to the stall, and Ericks knocks on the bar. She looked up and smiled.
"Oh! Greetings, messere!" she said. "Merrill? What are you doing here?"
"We're here about Huon, Nyssa."
"Oh" she simply said. "When the templars came, I told the truth…I hadn't seen Huon in ten years."
"But when they left, he…he came to me. He wanted me to hide him."
"Ten years…that's a long time to go without seeing your loved ones," Varric said.
"At least Huon had a beloved person to go back to, a lot of mages don't even have that" Anders said solemnly.
Nyssa sighed as she leaned against the stall. She remembered when the Templars found out Huon was a mage…they chained him and dragged him from the alienage in front of their friends and neighbors. People talked about what happened for months and even shunned her because of her relationship with her husband. She was trapped in a sham…married but with no husband and no future. "I was going to help him, I used to dream of him returning to me…but not like this" she said sadly. "He's changed and he's not the man I fell in love with. I sent him away."
"Changed? How?" Ericks asked.
"He was obsessed with showing everyone true elven power. He frightened me."
"Did you see him use any magic? Perhaps blood magic?"
"I…I don't know. I don't think he used magic on me."
"Still, he could have hurt you," Anders said.
"The only thing that hurts is my broken heart".
"Where is he, Nyssa?" Merrill asked.
"I don't know. He…disappeared" she said. "B…but Huon said he would return to take me away from this forever."
"Yeah, something tells me you shouldn't take him at his word" Varric said.
"I don't know what he means, and I am afraid of him, messere"
"Would it help if we returned? We can make sure you're safe." Anders said.
Nyssa gave a relieved sigh. "I…would be grateful," she said. "Huon said he would come to the alienage soon, at nightfall" Ericks looked at the sky, going back and forth between Hightown and the alienage would take too much time. They would have to stay somewhere close to the alienage in order to catch Huon in time. Merrill's shack was the perfect place for a stakeout since it was within the alienage and the holes in the wall could be used to watch out for the elf. Nyssa grabbed Ericks' arm and gave a concerned look.
"Are you…are you going to arrest him? I think he needs help" she said. "Maybe the Circle will be able to heal whatever troubles him."
"We'll try our best, but what happens next is up to him," Ericks said. "That's all the assurance I can give" Nyssa could only give a sad nod as she walked home.
Varric sighed. "Poor girl, she still holds a torch for her husband even though he's gone crazy" he said. "My gut says this won't end well."
The Alienage-Night.
Night soon fell on the city; the gang was holed up in Merrill's shack looking out for Huon. Nyssa was outside readying her stall for the next day. As she was preparing to go home for the night, a red-haired young man appeared. Nyssa froze in fear, Huon came to see her just like he promised. "Huon…" The elven mage closed his eyes and went limp as blood swirled around him from his cut hand. Nyssa's eyes went wide, her husband was a blood mage. She wanted to run but she couldn't…instead she started walking towards Huon. Nyssa had no control of her body; she couldn't even let out a scream, only a weak whimper as Huon embraced her. Once upon a time, she dreamed of being back in his arms but that was a lifetime ago and now she wanted nothing more than to run from this nightmare.
"Hush, love. Don't be afraid" Huon whispered in her ears. "Your blood will bring new life to our people."
The gang made their move but found the door had been magically sealed shut. Huon was watching them the whole time and prepared so they would not interfere. Anders and Merrill combined their magic to break the seal and the gang ran out to confront the blood mage, but they were too late. To their horror, they saw Huon stabbed Nyssa in the stomach with a kitchen knife and as she fell, he caught her and held her.
"She was so beautiful."
"Bastard!" Anders growled.
"How could you do this?! Your own wife!" Merrill said in angry tears.
"I am a visionary. I have seen our destiny. I know what fate holds for the elves" Huon said. "The humans keep us down because they're afraid of the magic within us" The air started to turn black and ominous as the gang stood their ground. "Look at the magic Nyssa held inside her. She was just afraid to use it." A red aura swirled around Huon as shades appeared from the ground and surrounded the elf. More demons then came and surrounded the gang.
"This is worrying…" Varric said.
"That idiot…the veil was already really weak in Kirkwall," Anders said. "Now he's gone and punched a hole into it."
"Meaning…?"
"Meaning if we don't take care of the elf; Kirkwall will be overrun with demons" the mage said. "Not even the templars will be able to take care of this."
"You heard the man, kill the blood mage" Ericks said. Merrill and Anders combined their magicks to try and reinforce the veil before more demons came through it. Varric covered the mages by littering the ground with caltrops and spike traps while Ericks headed for Huon. He ripped through the shades with his blades and knuckle dusters. The blood mage cut himself to summon a large firestorm on top of the rogue. Ericks dodged and ran for cover while the mages were shielding themselves and Varric. The dwarf fired a rapid volley of bolts at Huon and got him in the arm. Huon recoiled in pain allowing Ericks to get an opening, he jumped over cover and struck an artery in the neck. In quick succession tore into Huon's body, leaving the elf dead in his own blood.
Merrill and Anders killed the rest of the shade and used their magic to mend the veil to stop the demons from pouring in. "Oh, poor Nyssa…" Merrill said.
"We'll let Avi know of this, and maybe she can notify her next of kin" Ericks said. "Come on, let's call it a night. We still have two more mages to find tomorrow." Ericks and Varric walked out of the alienage with Anders and Merrill following.
"I just got a taste of your future from that Huon fellow" Anders said. "And it is not good, Merrill."
Merrill frowned. "I'm not a fool, Anders, I know what I'm doing."
"You saw how blood magic changed him, corrupted him so fully that not even his own wife mattered" the mage said. "How long until you decide to take Hawke's blood to fuel your obsession with that damned mirror?"
Merrill was taken aback. "I…I would never! I love Ericks!"
"You say that now, but eventually you'll have to choose…the mirror or your life with Hawke" Anders said. "You can't have both" The mage left the shaken elf alone with her thoughts.
De Launcet Mansion-Night
The next evening, the gang headed for the De Launcet mansion in Hightown to speak about their second target Emile de Launcet, fifth son of the Comte de Launcet. Comte Guillaume de Launcet was the eldest son of Comte Reynaud de Launcet, a minor Orlesian noble. As a child he was promised Ericks' mother Leandra as his bride but fate had other plans and she eloped with Ericks' Father Malcom and the rest as they say was history. Sometime after Leandra broke off their engagement, Guillaume met and married a woman named Dulci with whom he had several children. Emile was born in Kirkwall and was discovered to be a mage at age six, he was then taken to the Gallows. The comte and comtesse claimed to have not seen Emile since he was a child.
"I have to say this is a bit…weird" Ericks said.
"Weird?" Anders asked. "How so?"
"Hi, I'm the son of the man that ran off with the woman that was supposed to be your bride" he said. "Let's talk about your apostate son! Get it?"
"Ah. That is awkward"
"I wouldn't worry about it, Hawke, the thing about nobles is that they always have a backup plan for such things" Varric said. Once inside the manor, they were met with the family retainer who just stood there and stared at them for minutes. Before Ericks could say anything, the retainer turned and Dulci de Launcet met with the gang. "Wasn't she at Prosper's party?"
"Yep, Elegant told me to avoid her, I wonder why?" Ericks said. "You look lovely tonight, my lady."
"Oh, you are too kind! I heard you were at the Duke's party, but I never saw you" Dulci said. "Such a shame about what happened to Duke Prosper, they found his broken body miles away from Chateau Haine. I wonder what happened?"
"Accidents will happen even to someone as experienced as the Duke."
"So true, sadly. I am so honored to have the Champion in my home!" They entered the manor proper. "I will call for refreshments, Talia!" The Comtesse sighed. "She is so slow, this girl. Come, let us chat while we wait".
"You're extremely cheery for a woman whose son is wanted by the templars" Ericks said.
"Emile? Oh, yes! The templars were asking about our poor boy recently" she said. "I haven't seen Emile since he was taken to the Circle. He was just six."
"You tell the templars to not worry. I am sure Emile will return with haste. He's a good boy."
"Dulci!" A man with greying hair and purple clothing came out. He had a stern look on his face. "What have you done? You should have told the boy to throw himself at the mercy of the templars!"
"Guillaume, darling…"
"Don't 'darling' me, Dulci! He's been telling people he's our son, that you gave him gold!"
"Guillaume, darling…we have guests!" The Comte stopped and looked at Ericks, as the rogue gave a shit-eating grin.
"Don't stop on my account, this is fascinating."
"I didn't mean to lie to you, Champion! I…barely saw Emile, I didn't think it was worth mentioning!" Dulci said. "I gave him some money. Not too much. He said he wanted to start a new life."
Comte de Launcet scoffed. "New life? His new life is spent in Lowtown taverns, getting drunk on cheap wine. It's a wonder the templars haven't found him yet." He turned to Ericks. "Help us, please, Champion," he said. "Emile is not a blood mage, just a foolish boy. Don't let the templars kill him".
Dulci shot up out of her chair in shock. "Blood mage? Oh, Guillaume, don't say that!"
"Please, save my son's life."
"It looks like the Comtesse is in greater danger of expiring at the moment."
"Ah yes, Dulci…she's…er, high-string" The Comte said. "An acquaintance spied Emile in the Hanged Man not long ago. He should still be there."
The Comtesse gasped. "The Hanged Man? Oh, but that place is filthy!" The Comte went to his wife and placed a reassured hand on her shoulder.
"Come, Dulci. Perhaps you should lie down."
"Oh, But the Hanged Man is so filthy!" Varric said with a mocking laugh.
Merrill tilted her head. "The Hanged Man is not that bad."
Anders shook his head. "For the life of me, I will never understand Orlesians"
To the Hanged Man! Next Time! Review and Comment!