The 'temple' they found at the top of murder mountain was less of a temple and more a smoking crater in the ground. Some of the surrounding structure remained, but not enough to give Brynn any idea of what it might have looked like aside from the size of the thing, which had been huge.
Most noticeable in the rubble were the bodies. As they approached, there was a thick cloying scent of burnt flesh that permeated the air, but she didn't feel the urge to dry-heave until she'd actually seen them.
They weren't just burned; they'd been petrified by the heat into morbid statues. Very few had time to collapse to the ground. Instead, they were frozen in different horrifying positions, some throwing their arms up to shield themselves, some trying to run. All of their faces were still fixed in a silent scream.
Closer to the epicenter, there were fewer blackened sculptures that had once been flesh. Anything that close had merely been vaporized. There was a jagged stone that hovered in the center, some fifty feet in the air. Its shape twisted and restructured itself as it spun, causing the cyclone above them to spin in a way that made Brynn queasy when she looked at it too long.
"It may need to be fully opened first," Solas spoke up, noting her attention had been transfixed on the breach while the rest of their party was patching wounds and waiting for the remainder of the soldiers to reach them. He pulled some bandages from his pack to wrap around her still bleeding arm and she flinched back as the pain reignited.
She wasn't the only one bleeding any more either. They'd run into several more 'demons' as Solas named them, on their march up the mountain. They'd also found a squadron of fighters halfway up who were trapped on the wrong side of another rift she'd had to close.
She recognized the purple cloaked figure of Leliana at a nearby pass, at the head of another batch of soldiers, all preparing for what was to come.
There was no backing out now, there were far too many people with swords who would be happy to convince Brynn otherwise. She regretted not running when she had the chance.
"This is too far back, we will need to descend into the crater," Solas continued, confirming her worst fears. Walking among the forest of the dead was not her idea of a good time. She was barely holding it together as it was.
"Oh good," she muttered, her eyes focused on the ground below. Not only were there plenty of bodies there, but there were a few straggling demons that were uninterested in ascending the steep sides of the crater to fight them.
"You should be prepared for battle," he said very seriously as he packed away his bag once more. The rest of their group of ragtag's appeared to be ready to go.
"Oh, I should prepare now?" For a figment of her imagination, he was really starting to get on her nerves.
"Additionally, it might serve you better if you use the staff as it was intended," he nodded to the now gore-covered wood stick she still held in her right hand. "Rather than a brute bludgeoning tool. I imagine it will be more effective."
"Sorry, I didn't know there was a proper way to bludgeon something," she rolled her eyes.
"You needn't bludgeon anything. It is a mage's staff; you will take on less injury if you use your gift to fight your enemies from a distance."
"My gift-" her hand crackled to life and sent a shiver of pain through her. The breach ruptured in response and a woman's voice called out from the sky, echoing around the crater. She was relieved everyone else seemed to have heard it and were equally confused. The words had an urgency to them, even if Brynn couldn't understand them, and judging from the stricken look on everyone's face, they weren't good.
"Uh, what?" that voice she did understand, and more importantly, recognized. "What are you doing-" She sounded a little drunk, but it was definitely her own voice. The fog that surrounded the rift flickered and took shape; images flashed across it like a screen. A woman held captive, soldiers around her, a dark figure looming nearby. The woman was crying out, desperate, but she could not flee.
That image faded and she abruptly recognized herself in the fog. Blood trickling from her mouth and nose and a glazed look in her eyes, her lips were moving but no words came out. And then she ceased moving completely and a bright green light flashed- erasing the images.
Cassandra grabbed her by the tunic and shook her urgently. She was clearly demanding answers, as though Brynn had any earthly idea why her face had been floating in the sky, looking even worse than she did currently.
"Cassandra," Solas stepped forward, placing a firm hand on Cassandra's arm to pry her loose. The Seeker released her, and Solas' gaze turned in her direction. "That was you, was it not?"
Brynn shook her head numbly, "I don't know- that wasn't… I looked dead. That looked like me dying. Is that a- a prophecy or something? Why was my face up there?"
"That is…unlikely," Solas' lips were pressed into a hard line. "The other woman appeared to be Divine Justinia, who is believed to have perished in the explosion. Do you remember any of the event?"
"No," her fists bunched at her sides. "I've already told you I don't know who that is. I haven't witnessed anything. I have no idea what the hell that was."
"I am sorry, I cannot give you an answer for that, as I do not know. It may be linked to your mark."
"Fat lot of good you are then," she shouldered past him and descended the stairs into the crater. Her face had appeared in the rift, and she was going to find out exactly what it meant.
She ignored the shouts behind her as she reached the bottom. A few of the demons noted her presence and she swore under her breath. It was possible she hadn't thought it through.
Scattered arrows flew down from the soldiers above, giving the demons something else to consider. Her legs pushed her into a jog toward the middle of the crater, the arrows were only going to distract them for so long.
When she reached the rift, she thrust her hand into the sky with gritted teeth. She didn't quite stifle the pained groan that ripped through her hand and into her injured shoulder. Her arm shook as the green bolt leapt from the rift and drove into her palm.
Voices boomed again, now directly above her and she could see more clearly. An elderly woman in a white shroud held aloft in the air, a handful of people keeping her wrists bound in light. A dark claw reached for the woman, but before it did, she let out a shout and tore herself free from the restraints, lashing out at the dark shadow and those who tried to contain her. Blinding light burst from where she connected, like electricity leaping between live wires.
Save them, as I have saved you. The woman's voice whispered above her. Andraste preserve us. The woman's captors flashed once more and then the rift overtook everything in a sudden burst.
Brynn was sweating now, her stomach churning in a queasy manner. Connecting to the rift for even a moment was nearly too much for her. It exhausted her, depleting whatever energy she had and pouring it directly into the hole in the sky.
Her knees turned to jelly, and she slumped halfway to the ground, desperate to hold on. This thing was killing her. She bit into her cheek hard enough to draw blood and cried out as she tried to pull back again like she had before. Her body trembled as the power from the much larger rift felt like it was burning through her.
When she pulled, she heaved with her whole body and the line broke, knocking the wind from her lungs as she fell back to the ground.
A harsh crack in the sky brought her eyes to the rift. It had not vanished, but instead expanded. A powerful gust of wind burst from the center, rolling her sideways as the rift spewed stones like a volcano.
She heard Cassandra's voice cry out behind her and she turned to see the Seeker and a band of soldiers raising their swords and then charging towards the center. Brynn shook her head slowly, trying to think of an explanation that could appease them. She couldn't have been involved in that woman's capture and death because this whole thing was insane. She was in some half-crocked middle earth bullshit, and it was not remotely related to the real world where she remembered existing.
Of course, none of that would matter to them, as they'd seen her face up there in the sky, alongside the other soldiers. It had been only a moment, but she'd seen it. And evidently so had they.
Cassandra shouted again, but it wasn't so much a battle cry as it seemed to be a warning. Brynn frowned and turned to look over her shoulder. The largest boulder that had fallen from the rift was moving.
It rose on two legs, each wider than a tree trunk as it stood to its full height. It was a good twenty feet taller than any of the soldiers who currently rushed at it.
"Oh, not good," Brynn felt like maybe she should have let the rift eat her. "That's not good at all."
A rallying cry echoed around the crater, with more soldiers flooding into the center to take on the beast. The smaller stones appeared to be more demons scattered about. What effort she had made to aid these people had only exasperated the problem.
"You will need to try again!" she heard Solas' voice above the fray as a solder jostled past her, knocking her to the ground. Men and women struck back the demons nearest her, while others pursued the enormous creature that swatted at them like pesky mosquitoes.
It suddenly leapt into the air, bringing its whole body down like a cannonball to scatter the soldiers around it. Some collapsed to the ground and did not stir from where they had fallen.
"You must close the rift!" Solas stood above her, hoisting her unwillingly back to her feet. She blinked at him owlishly.
"I tried that, and we got that thing."
"That was to open the tear, now you must close it fully. If we have any hope to succeed against this dark magic, you must close it." He spun his staff around and slammed it into the ground, vaporizing a nearby green demon that raked its claws through the air at a soldier. He gave her a firm nod and then moved on, fireballs shooting toward the behemoth that continued to fight.
She looked down at her own staff and wondered if she should have asked Solas if there was some kind of 'on' button on it somewhere that she had missed.
"Time is of the essence!" Solas launched himself at a handful of demons surrounding some battered soldiers. When he knocked them down, he climbed up onto some of the ruins of the temple- giving himself a clear view of the monster that was making quick work of the fighters. Solas swirled his hands and staff over his head and when the circle was complete fireballs shot forward- hurtling toward the massive creature. He sent a further wall of flame and then abruptly vanished.
"What in the hell…" she frowned, blinking quickly. Perhaps the heat of the flames he'd produced had somehow obscured her view, but he was definitely gone.
The roar behind her gave her something else to occupy her thoughts and she turned to face the monster; whose call trembled through her bones. The creature screamed, flailing at the flames that engulfed its arm. When the fire subsided, it looked up to face its attacker.
Unfortunately, with Solas missing, its eyes fell on the next available target, which happened to be Brynn.
"Well shit," she whispered as its enormous fist knocked aside the few soldiers who sought to strike while it was weak. It was slow to start, but its uneven steps quickly turned to a smooth gallop and the distance between them was shrinking much faster than she would have liked.
She fled, the pain in her shoulder a minor inconvenience when compared to being flattened to death. She could both hear and feel the pounding steps as it closed in on her, shaking the earth enough that her legs wobbled unsteadily.
She wanted to reach the stairs, getting some altitude might help her, but if she could get away with it, she planned on running her ass straight down the mountain. One step at a time.
There was an unnerving silence as her lungs started to burn and she risked a look back. It had launched into the air again, its fists raised high enough to blot out the sickly green light from the rift.
She threw herself sideways as it drove its arms into the ground, mere feet from where she'd just been. The ground beneath her shook hard enough that her knees buckled, and she hit the wall hard. The structure rumbled and stones cascaded down into the crater from their insecure perch high above.
She curled up tight against the wall as the creature was struck by a larger stone, howling as another fireball caught it in the back. It swung around wildly with its fists smashing into the side of the mountain before it took off at a run once more to find Solas.
The ruins above her continued to pelt the area with debris, a few hitting nearby. One struck her shoulder- her vision briefly dazzled with pain fueled stars. Something cracked loudly, possibly her skull, with the last of the rocks tumbling down.
Tasting fresh blood, she lay there dazed, more blood oozing from her forehead where she'd struck the wall. She didn't move. Partly in shock, partly to allow her brains to unscramble.
It occurred to her it might be better to just keep laying there until everything stopped. She considered it longer than might have been appropriate. But beneath the rubble, she could hear the sharp screams of terror as others fought the demons that had sprang forth from the rift. And the deep roar of the Godzilla sized beast that was likely tearing people in two.
Her eyes opened slowly to survey the damage. She'd been tucked away in a pocket and the pile of stones that had collapsed managed to mostly avoid her. Her staff was in the pile, just beyond her grasp. She pushed herself upright and reached out with a shaking hand, the pain in her whole body throbbing. The staff came free with little effort, it had snapped beneath the rocks, the piece she'd retrieved maybe two feet long.
She sputtered to clear her mouth of blood and dust, sucking in a shaking breath as she got to her knees and tried not to dissolve into tears.
"God dammit," she muttered, bringing the remains of her staff closer. She'd only found it earlier that day but given it had now saved her life on several different occasions, she'd grown more attached to it than what might be considered a normal amount for an inanimate object. "I liked this stick. Fuckin asshole Godzilla mother fucker. Now I'm gonna do this shit out of spite." she used the broken staff to slowly push herself to her feet, releasing a long-sustained groan. She stumbled back and let the broken staff fall to the ground, craning her neck so she could see the rift again and took a deep breath.
A screaming soldier sailed overhead as the supernatural Goliath tossed them aside. Their body hit the far side of the crater hard with an unpleasant crunch followed by a dull thud when they struck the ground. It was reassuring that someone was having a worse day than she was.
Brynn took a deep breath and tried to raise her hand to the rift, but she'd already burned through her reserves and the pain ripping through her body only got her arm about halfway. She hoisted it up with her right hand, trying desperately to ignore the searing pain that rippled through her. She could feel the power crackling above, like static causing her hair to stand on end. The green bolt shot down again, not a single thread, but several of them all twisting in around each other.
When it slammed into her palm it nearly flattened her as she was jerked backward. She screamed, both in pain and rage to keep upright. The force felt as though it would dislocate her shoulder, her knuckles going white as she tightened her grip. Still her arms shook as she grasped at the slippery tendrils that were far more difficult than before. Through the pain and the light, she heard a loud roar and turned her head just enough to see the demons had taken special notice of her activities. Most alarming of them was the ugly one.
"Fuck-a-doodle-do," dread filled her as she saw it lunged forward. "This was a bad idea." She took a few steps sideways, trying to keep her connection to the rift while still finding somewhere to hide.
There was a scattering of soldiers between her, and the beast and they fought valiantly to buy her time. She shuffled more quickly but didn't see the crumpled remains of a soldier on the ground and it caught the edge of her shoe, throwing her backward and she lost all sense of the rift.
"Fuck!" she screamed, rolling to her side. Unbearable exhaustion was fighting with the powerful aching in her body to see which would finally keep her pinned to the ground. She watched as the demon raised its fists in the air again, slamming them into the ground to strike at the soldiers around it. Blue electricity crackled across its skin, and it burst outward in a circle, striking down the soldiers who hadn't been hit by the physical force of the blows.
It turned its gaze to her, one of its eyes had been gouged out by a sword that still was buried hilt deep in its skull. But the remaining beady eye found her with laser like focus and it stalked forward with a slight limp.
Something snapped in her. She was terrified beyond belief and so tired she genuinely felt like weeping. But she was also livid. She wasn't going to let some bullshit emerald city voodoo sky show predict her death. And she wasn't going to lay down and die for some trumped up steroid riddled hobgoblin. She pushed herself up once more, clenching her teeth hard so as not to scream.
She raised both her hands again and reached for the rift. The power surged back to her marked hand, and the only thing that kept her from screaming was sheer stubborn spite. She could see the creature start to run toward her, just as hateful of her as she was of it.
It still felt like she was trying to stop water from a fire hydrant as she gripped the green coils. The monster roaring as it crossed the last twenty feet that spanned between them and Brynn didn't so much as gain control of the power as she clung to it with her fingernails by sheer force of will.
It roared as it came to a stop, hot slobber spraying her face as it stood on its hind legs and raised its van sized fists in the air once more. It was close enough she could smell the foul odor radiating off its sickly purple hide, and she sneered at it.
"Fuck you," she hissed, tightening her grip and yanking back hard with her whole body. The rift crackled above them, and tendrils of power ripped through the creature, its arms going slack in the air and its one baleful eye losing focus. With a low bellowing groan, it began to collapse as one leg staggered limply forward.
Even if she could have willed her limbs to move, she knew it was too late to escape being crushed by the ten-ton gorilla that tipped toward her and she let her body go slack.
She was struck hard by something that came at her sideways, the force throwing her out of the shadow of the creature and causing her to bite her tongue hard as whatever had hit her collided with her chin.
Her shoulders struck the ground, quickly followed by her head. But the pain was so pervasive now that it hardly warranted a thought. The demon slammed into the ground just out of reach, sending up a cloud of dust and debris that would have caused her to choke if she hadn't already had the air driven from her lungs so violently.
The monster fell short of landing on her, but something still crushed her. She tried to flail at silver teeth looming over her throat as she choked on empty lungs. But something stilled her hands and the last of her strength was gone. The edges of her vision were beginning to blur, and it was hard enough to stay conscious.
She watched as a hand pushed up at the silver jaw, shoving it into a larger snout. It took her a moment to register that it wasn't the violent evisceration of a skull she'd just witnessed, but a helmet. Someone had gone through the trouble to craft a helmet that resembled a lion's head.
She felt passing relief as she recognized whatever was wearing the helmet appeared to be human. A sweaty and bloodied face stared down at her, speaking slowly- but it wasn't anything she could recognize even if she had the desire to.
Consciousness fluttered dangerously away, and she blinked slowly as though that might help things, despite the fact that finally succumbing would likely be the best option.
Instead, she focused on the mirrored row of teeth that still hovered over her at the top of the helmet. She reached up with a shaking hand and touched the smooth surface, "That," she garbled, blood and saliva thickened in the back of her throat. "Looks really stupid." She managed before her head flopped back and everything went dark.