Chapter 3: In which, the group witnesses the power of Great Jinx
Cassandra sighed and fought not to look back behind her at her riding companion. They had been travelling at a decent speed for most of the day, only breaking for a candlemark-long midday meal, and then several shorter relief stops to snack and rest the horses. Herald refused to get on the horse until after they cleared the heavily hilled area near Haven; but as soon as they reached the mostly even ground the woman got on the horse and glued to Cassandra's back like an additional set of armor… or a built-in heat pack.
The Seeker could have understood the sentiment if the woman had to ride the horse by herself. Haven surroundings, the outskirts of the Frostback Mountains, did have steep declines that only experienced riders should ever attempt; and some that even experienced riders should not try. With exception of Cassandra and Madam Vivienne, all others had to dismount and walk all such stretches of the road on foot... Of course, all others rode by themselves.
Iron Bull and Varric were in front of the group. The tall muscular mature gelding the Qunari rode contrasted with a smaller horse of the Dwarf in the same way the riders differed from each other. The never-ending banter between the two centered currently on the benefits and pitfalls of their individual horses. Something told the Seeker that they were not only comparing the horses. For the umpteen times the Seeker thanked the Maker that her riding companion was at least not interested in the pointless chatter.
The mages rode far behind Cassandra in complete silence. After the greetings and pleasantries of the early morning breakfast and departure from Haven, neither had uttered a word.
The beautiful face of the Court Enchanted spotted a mildly bored look; but despite the mage's best efforts to stay impassive, Cassandra caught her shooting curious looks at their surroundings on a number of occasions throughout the day. The elf, on the other hand, truly looked lost in thought and oblivious to everything around all day.
Cassandra sighed again. She had trouble pinpointing the reason for her displeasure and annoyance with Herald. The Herald was silent for most of the journey. She deferred to Cassandra's judgement regarding the path they were taking, the order and timeline of engagements they planned, even the time and length of the breaks they took. She didn't make a sound, didn't complain, didn't demand to dismount, nothing.
Klara's only preference was to pursue the Grey Warden lead sooner rather than later. Cassandra couldn't help but wonder if Herald's desire to buff up their team and to find additional fighters for future excursions was due to concern that Cassandra was unable to keep her safe. Same as on other occasions, this thought left an unpleasant aftertaste in her mind. Reluctantly, the Seeker admitted that her irritation might have something to do with that idea.
She looked down at the arms hugging her armored waist tightly. At the very least Herald trusted Cassandra not to fall off the horse.
Cassandra sighed again.
The outskirts of the Inquisition controlled area were coming up. They will camp for the night soon. This should give them one night in relative peace and security. Tomorrow they will enter the Hinterlands, the majority of the area still in turmoil from rogue mages and templars, and ordinary bandits, and creatures from the many still open fade rifts. The supply caravan and the fresh unit of the Inquisition troops that followed them from Haven would separate and head toward the Crossroads.
Klara thought the Seeker sighs came more often since the sun touched the trees and began its evening descent. Carefully she changed her grip on the Seeker's waist. One hand moved close to the middle and gripped the woman's belt tighter while the other let go and lightly knocked on the plate covering the armored thigh.
"What is it?"
"Do we have a specific location for the camp that we are travelling to? If not, perhaps we could look for a camping location and settle for the night now?"
Cassandra looked at the sky. It was still the clear cornflower blue. Yet, the sun was low on the horizon, impossible to see, only glimpses of it visible through the trees framing the road. The long shadows made the previously light brown stones of the road appear almost black. Sunset was not far. She nodded and reeled the horse in. She felt more than heard the sharp inhale behind her and noticed the reinstated double-handed death grip on her waist; and the ever-present irritation of the day flared up again.
"I promise I will not drop you, Your Grace."
Klara opened her mouth to respond but the Seeker was already shouting out to the rest of their team about finding a campsite for the night.
The immediate shouted response from Varric indicated that they had found a place nearby.
Klara looked around her tent. It felt empty. During the several excursions that she went on since the start of the Inquisition, she and Cassandra had shared a tent; and she got used to the calm assured presence of the Seeker.
She looked through the gap between the tent flaps. Iron Bull, Cassandra and Varric had placed their bedrolls around the fire. The mages were nowhere to be seen, but then she noticed the faint glows seeping through the walls of the two tents across the fire from hers; so the mages decided to turn in as well.
Klara stepped away from her spying spot. Cassandra was annoyed with her for some reason; whether it was because the Seeker was remembering their latest disastrous trip or because she had to endure Klara's presence on her horse was not clear. The wolf howling broke the quiet of the night; Klara frowned shuddering at the sudden bout of goosebumps the sound brought.
Slowly she removed the light armor pieces, the boots, and her outer layer of clothing. She never rode a horse and her body was beginning to complain about the full day of exercise she subjected it to. The light cut on her side, the courtesy of the irate Spymaster was itching. Once again, she cursed the woman and her demonstrations.
That thought immediately brought a pensive smile to her face; she was almost positive Leliana was flirting with her before she left… or toying with her… Klara had to admit her life in the library didn't prepare her for many social interactions. Regardless, flirting or toying, this was probably the first bit of honest amusement she felt since this whole mess started. The howl sounded again seemingly closer and louder, and Klara groaned. She hated the outdoors!
The first day in Hinterlands was a success. The group entered the area close to the Inquisition's original camp, and headed towards the suspected location of the rebel mages found and cleared up the mage base fairly quickly. They then managed to close three rifts, and picked up several agents for the Inquisition. All in one day!
The addition of Madame Vivienne and Iron Bull significantly increased the assault capabilities of the team. The Qunary joined the Seeker in the close range fighting action; the combination of their skills made the team's attacks several times deadlier and their defenses much more effective. Madam Vivienne complimented the extensive healing and defensive skills Solas possessed with battle magic.
The new battle strategy had Herald hanging back with Varric and the mages during engagements.
The last rift they closed happened to be inside a small fortress. By the time they scouted and closed the rift, the night had fallen. They decided to stay the night within the fortress walls. The fortress inhabitants gladly arranged for the dinner and sleeping accommodations for the group.
"This trip is off to a good start isn't it?" Bull downed the mug of ale in one gulp and rose up to pour more from the barrel someone helpfully set outside in celebration of the rift closure.
"Ahhh, you just had to say that!" Varric dramatically looked around and shuddered. "Now wait for trouble!"
Everyone laughed and Bull groaned.
"Superstitions!" he roared and downed another mug.
"You just wait!" Varric theatrically shook his head but reached for his mug laughing. Even mages grinned at the duo's antics.
"Our operation is more strategic now." Solas stated. "It was good the Seeker added you two to the group."
"We are now way more effective; and for the amount of fighting we've done today, we suffered noticeably fewer injuries." Varric raised his mug to toast that with Bull and then with Madame Vivienne and Solas. "Where's the Seeker anyway?"
"Last I saw she was outside working out some stuff with the local leader… ah there she is." Iron Bull nodded in the direction of the entrance.
Moments later the Seeker joined the group.
"We are all set for tomorrow. They will replenish our supplies, rub down and feed the horses by sunrise."
"That is wonderful, my dear" Madam Vivienne loved the horses just fine but strongly disliked dealing with mundane responsibilities of feeding and cleaning them.
"Where are we going next, Seeker?"
"Unless Herald has a different plan we will… where is Herald?"
"She had a quick drink with us and turned in. I suspect she is feeling the effects of horse riding, yet she refused our help." Solas shrugged; in his mind, Herald didn't behave reasonably.
"Oh… alright... So the plan is..." Cassandra pulled her thoughts back from suspiciously missing Herald and into the question at hand. "We backtrack to the Crossing and head to the waterfall camp to look for the warden." Iron Bull rose an eyebrow, to get to know a Grey Warden was a fascinating possibility.
"We then attempt to once again enter the thaig to disrupt the Carta red lyrium channel." She smiled slightly at Varric's enthusiastic nods." Let's hope they won't chase us out laughing again!"
"Oh, I'm sure they won't be laughing when we unleash the additional power of Bull and Madame Vivienne on them!" Varric grinned at the two new members of the team.
"Carta chased you out?!" Iron Bull roared with laughter. "That story I have to hear, dwarf!"
"There wasn't much chasing involved to be fair" Solas grinned sheepishly. "They mostly threw insults and shot arrows at us. And then Herald spotted a red lyrium abomination. Or was it a dark spawn? She decided to… leave… until a better time."
"Eh, that was our first outing. We were still working out the kinks!" Varric was pleased. Herald discussed the red lyrium with him shortly after the first excursion, and said that she wanted to pursue the issue; he just didn't expect her to do so immediately.
Cassandra cleared her throat.
"If all goes well, we spend the night at the waterfall camp before heading out to clear out the rogue Templars. Leliana reports place their camp really close to that location."
The conversation turned to the recount of the day events.
Cassandra stopped at the top of the stairs, and looked at the two closed doors to the rooms given to the Inquisition. The team were also given a large room downstairs near stables, which was quickly spoken for by the three males in their group on account that it had a huge Qunary-sized pallet as if made for Iron Bull. The addition of Madame Vivienne to their group made sleeping arrangements a debatable affair when it was a simple decision before. She would normally share the room, or tent, with Herald. Now they had the two rooms, or the two tents like the day before, between the three of them. Each room had one reasonably large bed, and one small straw pallet.
The soft steps behind alerted her to the mage arrival.
"Good night, my dear Seeker." And with that the mage regally walked by her and closed the door of one of the rooms.
Cassandra rolled her eyes. It was now a fair assumption that the only sleeping place left in either room is a tiny pallet.
Resolutely she stepped in the opposite direction from the door where the mage disappeared too. She would rather share space with a known, if sometimes strange, woman than with the mage she barely knew.
She entered the room quietly, hoping not to wake Herald who turned in early in the night.
"Seeker?" The voice was wide awake, a bit confused and a lot strained, but very much alert. "Why are you sneaking in?" Some semblance of humor was also there.
"Ahhh, well, I thought you were sleeping, your Grace, and well…"
The Herald silhouette shifted and slowly moved off the bed to light the candle.
"Well what?" After several tries the candle finally lit up illuminating the tired sleepy form of Herald.
"Well I'm not sure what type of sleeper Madame Vivienne is..."
Absent-mindedly Cassandra noticed Solas was right, Herald had to be in pain. It sounded through the amusement in her voice, and it was clear in the stiff, careful, slow moves she took while retrieving and lighting the candle.
"So you decided to sneak into my room?" The light from the single candle was faint; but it was bright enough for Klara to spot the Seeker's blush.
Klara never thought she would be in a position to tease the Right Hand of the Divine; but as Klara's confidence in her place in the Inquisition grew, so did her ease around her advisors and teammates. And for such a confident put-together warrior, the Seeker was quite easy to tease.
"Tell me Seeker, what type of a sleeper am I then?" The shorter woman's eyes twinkled through the unruly dark tresses she let out of the braids for the night, and a small smile appeared on her lips, and involuntary and without any reason Cassandra flushed even darker red.
Cassandra gave another thought to bunking with the mage, and giving Herald some space. She cringed at that; Madame Vivienne seemed happy to have some privacy and will undoubtedly not be pleased with unexpected company.
"The type which is kept up at night by sore muscles." She replied gruffly sitting down on the small pallet to take off her armored boots.
Klara pursed her lips but didn't deny the point. Instead, she slowly walked back and climbed into bed, moving to the far side, clearly expecting the Seeker to move there.
"There is no need for you to sleep on that horrible pallet as there is plenty of space on the bed."
The offer was tempting. She shook her head. This was ridiculous; in all her time in service she never obsessed about sleeping arrangements, considerations like space or privacy or comfort were not the driving factors. She must be going soft.
Klara was looking questionly at her.
"Are you going to turn in, Seeker?"
"I will. At first though, we should take care of your sore muscles, Your Grace. I can see from here that you are barely walking"
Klara's mood soured a little. All of her body ached, as was customary for her during the travels, and something she learnt if not to ignore than to at least tolerate. However, the addition of horse riding sent a curious twist into her situation. Unlike the previous travels, her legs from calves to buttocks were on fire tonight; any fast or forceful movement ran through her like lightning causing her knees to buckle and pushing the involuntary tears out of her eyes.
"I am fine. Will be better by tomorrow."
Cassandra hummed while taking off the heavy leathers and boots.
"Are you better tonight than you were yesterday then?"
Klara shot a sharp look at the undressing Seeker back.
"Well, no, not really."
Cassandra just turned and stared, having made a point.
"I'm not taking the healing potion if that's what you want to suggest, they get addictive when not used for proper injuries."
Cassandra noted Herald's stubborn frown. It was obvious the woman was determined to avoid the easiest solution. She turned to pull the sleeping shirt from the travel bag.
Klara continued before Seeker had a chance to comment "and I'm not asking Solas for help with this. That's embarrassing."
Cassandra thought she heard the faint "as if I'm not enough of an embarrassment already...", but she wasn't sure with her back to bed at the time.
She pulled another item from the bag. She strongly suspected the next several minutes would be quite awkward, rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, before facing Herald.
"I rode horses and trained with blades as long as I can remember, and have always been active as a child and as an adult. Thus to say I know what it is like to go from no physical exertion to the current active state demanded by our missions would be a lie."
Klara carefully nodded, not certain where Seeker was going with that.
"Seekers train extensively and our duties take us on travels that push us to our physical limits and beyond. So in that way I do understand how you feel."
Klara suspiciously stared at Cassandra ready to object to such blatant and obvious manipulation attempts.
"Are you going to say that sometimes we must do what we must do?"
"No...Though that is a wise statement." Klara rolled her eyes. Cassandra put the vial she pulled from the bag on the bed. "Turn onto your stomach"
"What?" Klara's eyes grew as wide as the Seeker ever saw them, perhaps with the exception of the first day they met, when the Hands of Divine accused Klara of creating the hole in the sky.
"Why?" She carefully pulled the blanket higher.
Then something else occurred to her and she stared incredulously at the Seeker cheeks flaming red, and a budding laughter bubbling to spill from her lips.
"What?" Cassandra was about to step closer to the bed, but Herald was acting weird. For the second time she wondered if not staying with Madame Vivienne was a mistake.
"You are not going to" Herald flushed an even darker shade and a set of giggles rushed out of her despite her best efforts to contain them. "You are not going to spank me, are you?" She finally pushed out between peels of laughter.
Cassandra stepped to the side of the bed, and looked at Herald with a combination of amusement and dismay, her accent growing thicker as she spoke.
"I'm solely tempted, Your Grace. Unfortunately that might make your situation worse."
She opened the vial, and held it out to Klara to see.
"This is a muscle salve. Based on the healing potion but it is much weaker and is used externally to help with muscle pain. It is rarely used outside Seekers and Wardens. Most people can afford to rest their soreness away, but for us it is often a difference between surviving a battle or dying."
Klara blinked several times at the Seeker, eyes flickering between the vial and the warrior; and then the realization dawned and a strained expression crossed her face.
"So… you will what? Massage my butt?"
"Uh… I suppose you could put it this way."
"No. Thanks but no! Let's sleep. It is going to be dawn soon."
"Why not?" Cassandra sighed, she was sleepy and tired. Herald was not making much sense, and more importantly she was delaying the time Cassandra could relax and fall asleep. "I don't want to point it out, Your Grace, but your options are somewhat limited, as we won't be able to stay put and wait out your condition."
"I said no!" Klara turned away from the Seeker and groaned when her attempt to curl into a comfortable position resulted in the shooting pain from her thighs going through her body.
Cassandra's next statement froze on her lips. Whatever, the woman reasons, if Herald felt so strongly about it, she was not about to cause further distress. They'll just have to stay put for a day or two.
"I apologize, Your Grace."
Klara heard her closing the vial, felt Seeker moving away from the bed to blow out the candle, and felt the bed dip again as the woman settled for the night.
The room was dark and silent for a while. Cassandra was drifting off to sleep, when faint murmur from the other side of the bed reached her.
"I am sorry I snapped at you, Seeker… I… well I just don't like to be touched…" For a moment Cassandra was tempted to feign sleep, to save herself from what most likely was going to be a sensitive discussion. Instead she turned toward Klara with a heavy sigh.
"You need not to explain, Your Grace. It is I who overstepped."
Klara squeezed her eyes and willed the embarrassment and tears of pain and frustration out of her voice.
"And yet somehow I feel I owe you an explanation"
Cassandra heard Herald voice break but chose not to comment.
"Nothing particularly horrible happened to me to cause it. I'm just broken this way. The 'people' way." Herald was silent aside from several measured deep breaths.
"I am awkward with people till I know them well. I can pretend in social situations, but only if I have a goal for the interaction, a set of rules for me to follow, or an example I can imitate." Klara shifted slightly while speaking, and was now propped on an elbow facing Cassandra.
Herald fell silent again, but once again continued after a short while, voice bitter and angry. "The touching is a hell of its own. In my head even the thought of initiating a contact feels inappropriate and an imposition on the other's space… And vice versa, like the hugs. I appreciate some but mostly I tolerate them if I must and try to get out of the situation quickly... Your offer startled me, and I am sorry for how I reacted to it."
Klara fell silent. Her dark outline was completely motionless. Cassandra couldn't hear even the breathing from the other side of the bed. For long moments she mulled over Heralds words.
She could relate to some things Herald described, being quite awkward in social interactions herself.
"That is alright, your Grace."
The dark outline moved slightly to indicate a nod, but didn't change position otherwise.
"I wish to take you up on your offer Seeker if it is still there." The voice was barely a whisper, but something told Cassandra if the candle light was now on, Herald's eyes would be full of embarrassment and anger.
The Seeker wanted to sleep and she wanted to ask why Herald was reluctant to use Solas help, and yet she said the only thing that would give them a healthy Herald next day,
"Of course, it is, your Grace."
Klara's face was wedged between the pillows; eyes shut tight trying to keep in the tears of frustration, embarrassment and pain. She cursed her own decision to take the horses along on this trip; she cursed her reluctance to use Solas energy to make herself feel better; she cursed the Seeker and her oh so reasonable offer of help; but most of all she cursed Whoever opened the skies and started this whole mess in the first place!
She was so focused on her internal turmoil, the pain didn't register until it became unbearable and she yelped.
"Sorry, Your Grace" Seeker murmured, made her touch lighter at the painful spot but didn't stop.
Klara just wanted to disappear or faint, either way would work as long as she didn't have to keep the memory that her warrior advisor had to administer a massage to her butt among other body parts because of her own foolishness and physical inaptness.
"You have to try to relax, Your Grace."
A startled bark of half laughter half sob left Klara; she was barely keeping herself still and not running away from the castle. Relaxing was not in her vocabulary right now.
"I'll do my best Seeker."
Cassandra looked at the rigid back in front of her and the tightly clenched fist sticking out from under one pillow.
"I know you must be in pain but would you mind if I talk through the plan for tomorrow with you. Since we are both awake and in one place…"
"That would actually be a welcome distraction, Seeker."
They'd been travelling for almost two weeks now. They routed both rogue functions, closed Carta red lyrium operation, got rid of the majority of unruly elements in the country side, closed a number of rifts, and set a permanent presence throughout the area. One exception was the dragon land, but nobody except for Iron Bull was eager to try their skills against a high dragon, and the creature mostly stayed out of everyone's path. So they let it go for the time being.
The last stop was going to be at Dennim farm to check on the horse master family and take care of the last rift left open in that area.
The other two open rift left in Hinterlands were near the bandit tower. The area there was relatively remote and so the rifts didn't pose an immediate threat to the population. The creatures roaming there were too strong and the group decided to return when Inquisition procured better elemental armor and the mages trained in stronger elemental skills.
This was the first time where they addressed so many tasks in one trip successfully and without major injuries and losses. All were eager to finally sleep in their normal beds.
Klara put on the light armor, and boots. Closing the rift over the shallow part of the river near farms was the final task she wanted to complete on this trip. After it was done they would head to Haven. She could finally pet Pumpkin and sleep in her own bed.
The first week was painful and ripe with embarrassment. Her mind flashed back to the first night she asked Seeker for help, and her cheeks flamed red from the renewed embarrassment. As time progressed her body got used to additional strain, and gave her much less trouble.
She glanced at the Seeker. The warrior was putting the last pieces of her weapons and armor in place. She expected the woman to jest about her situation either in private or in the group, but she never did. Even during the next two nights when Herald's body was still adjusting to the new strain, she hasn't said a thing, she simply pulled the salve out and looked questionally at Klara to give her the option to ignore the suggestion if she so wanted.
Armor now in place, she walked out and looked at her other companions. Over the last two weeks she got to know them much better.
Iron Bull proved to be a great addition to Inquisition and to the group. He was straightforward, had a sense of humor, and was a perfect compliment to Cassandra fighting style. And right now he and Varric were exercising said sense of humor.
Her gaze fell on the mages. Klara couldn't get a sense for them. The warriors, and even Varric, sure they had their secrets but at the heart of the matter their motivation was clear. Mages ,not so much. They both were friendly enough, both were very powerful and highly skilled mage's. It took some time for them to learn to cooperate and compliment each other in battle rather than compete, but they did make progress, and were so much deadlier for it.
Madame Vivienne and Solas were deep in conversation. This was now a usual sight even if the human mage was often standoffish and distantly polite with the rest of the group. Yet, even she mellowed down given the long travelling hours and close quarters everyone shared on the road.
"Let us finish this and go home!" The Seeker was out of the tent and the team was on their way.
"I must get closer and try to disrupt the rift! The creatures are too strong for them!"
"Herald, you must stay here! They can't afford to worry about your safety right now!" Varric was the only one with her on the huge boulder away from the battle and away from the Spawn spots. Mages were closer to the battle in order to cast better targeted spells.
"But I can't reach the rift from here!" Klara shouted desperately. Once again she was completely useless, and her team was getting injured all around her.
Varric and mages took care of the weaker shades and demons but the three remaining were strong. One despair demon was weakening from ranged attacks from mages and Varric's bow but it was still porting from location to location and shooting icicles of soul sucking despair at the three attackers. The other despair demon was fighting the warriors. The rage demon was frozen by the winter magic. The group was on their last healing potion.
Klara saw her moment, jumped off the boulder and ran to the middle off the shallow river crossing. She felt the familiar surge of power coursing through her raised hand and arm. The rift let out a puff of magic energy and an unearthly groan and froze for a moment. The creatures shuddered and weakened somewhat.
"Herald, get out of there!"
One despair demon was gone, but the other one was still eluding the warriors, and the rage demon was now free and heading straight for her.
Frantically Klara backed away. She could see Solas chanting the freeze spell, and Iron Bull rushing toward the rage demon direction.
With a brutal smash the Seeker dispatched the last despair demon and headed towards the last creature.
Klara ran into something behind her and couldn't move back any further. The looming shape of the demon was almost on her, the heat burned the unprotected parts of her skin. And then the freezing spell was ready and the demon was frozen. The very next moment Varric released the full draw. The demon shattered, the released energy pushed everyone back.
Klara flew over whatever was blocking her retreat, sharp pain exploding in her side the second she landed. The sky darkened in her eyes but she was now right under the breech. She went to raise her arm toward the breech but could only master the slight shift up.
She saw others crowding around her but could not hear them through the ringing in her ears. Something was wrong.
The group saw Herald fly through the air pushed by the blast from the shattered rage demon. And for a moment everyone froze. A thick tree branch from the underwater log impaled Herald and now was sticking out from the woman's abdomen.
"No!"
"Herald!"
"Sweet Andraste!"
The next moment everyone was at Herald side.
Klara was frustrated, everybody was crowding her space not letting her to see the breech, and she needed to see to close it.
"I need to close the breach…".
She looked down and finally saw what was causing such alarm around her. She almost threw up. This was so wrong, people were not supposed to be skewered on tree branches.
"If she closes the breach she might not be strong enough to survive the energy loss" Solas frowned. They were out of all potions and he was exhausted so much so he could barely cast a protection spell.
"I need to close the breach…now..." The Herald voice was very faint but the message was clear.
"She wants to close it"
"Whatever we do we must do it fast!"
"Varric is right. The longer we debate the less likely she will survive!"
"Should we take her off this thing?"
"NO!"
"This acts as a plug. If we pull it out the blood loss would be fast. Too fast right now for either of us to stop."
"Oh…"
"I must close the breach.. move .. all ...away!"
The Herald's hand shone bright and next moment her whole body shuddered and flashed before the breach sealed. Herald lost consciousness.
"Quick! Grab the log! We'll take the whole thing to the camp and sort it out there"
Bull and Cassandra secured the limp body to the log and carefully picked up the log.
Solas followed close by casting protection spell after protection spell.
Seeker glanced at the remaining companions.
"Varric, Vivienne, grab the horses, get to the camp! Varric, bring back the healing potions and lyrium for Solas! Vivienne, prepare whatever is needed in the camp for Herald arrival."
The field surgeon and the mages were crowded around the deathly pale Herald who now rested sideways on the bed with the large tree log behind her. The thick branch still attached to Herald.
Everything was ready to try and disengage the two and immediately afterwards to fix Herald's wound.
"Give her more anti-venom potions. We need to prevent the rot setting in from anything that the branch added to her body. We will attempt to remove the branch now."
"Andraste, but this is just wrong having the branch sticking out like that!"
"Hold the Herald still!"
"Hold the log!"
"Alright the branch is off the log." The soldiers grabbed the heavy object and left the tent.
"Careful!" The branch was slowly pushed out, and the golden glow shone over the wound indicating Solas healing magic, working to slow the blood loss.
"Pour the mixture on the wound!" Herald twitched and moaned but didn't wake as the purifying concoction bubbled and sipped through her wound.
"Alright, Bull, hold her up, Cassandra, help me bandage the wound, and Varric get more healing, sleeping and anti-venom potions while we are at it."
The flurry of movement around Herald slowed. The final set of potions was carefully poured in the unconscious woman.
"What now?"
"Now we wait and pray to Andraste."
End of Chapter 3