Disclaimer: I own none of the recognized characters. I am merely borrowing them to satisfy my muse

Chapter 10

"Hey, Inquisitalon, what's the game plan?"

Talon shot CJ an annoyed look. She just grinned at him, swinging on the tree branch she had climbed up onto when Sera had bet she couldn't in her armor.

"I'm not liking the nickname." He said tersely.

"That's the thing about nicknames, Inquisitalon." She answered. "You don't get to pick 'em."

"Not all of us can have an awesome one like 'fighter', huh?" Varric asked.

"If you're awesome, you can." She retorted, and then yelped, dropping to the ground in order to dodge the rock Talon had just thrown at her.

"CJ, you, Cole, Varric, Solas, and the Chargers head west. There's a group of refugees heading towards us. I'm sure they'd appreciate an escort. There's reports of venatori in the area." Talon exclaimed.

CJ raised an eyebrow. "That means I'm in charge of Bull?" She turned to look at the qunari. "You hear that Bull? I'm in charge!"

"If she gets to be too annoying, tie her up and leave her somewhere." Talon muttered, giving up.

"That might be enjoyable." Cole spoke so softly only Iron Bull and CJ heard him.

Her face flared red.

"Cole," Iron Bull said lowly. "What have I said about peeking into my head?"

"It wasn't only in your head." CJ didn't wait around after that.

"All right, group!" She called, running. "Follow me!"

She pulled a ways in front of them, her face a deep red. The thought had been in her mind for less than a second, and of course Cole picked it up. As much as she cared about the kid, sometimes, she wanted to gag him.

They'd been scouting for three hours when they came upon the refugees. They'd been pinned down by a group of darkspawn, barely keeping them at bay.

"Defend the refugees!" She yelled, unsheathing her knives.

The darkspawn were quickly taken care of, and CJ's team thanked graciously by the refugees.

"Bull, You, Varric, Grim, and Stitches keep pace with the group. Skinner, Solas, you branch out to the west, keeping an eye out for any threats. Cole, Dalish, Rocky, and Krem, you're with me to the east. We all head back towards Talon, agreed?"

"Agreed." Her team answered, Iron Bull snapping off a short salute. She rolled her eyes.

"You've got your orders. Head out!"

She led her small team to the east, spread out covering a fair distance.

A loud roar filled the air and CJ froze, a sense of dread coming over her. That sounded a lot like . . . .

"Was . . . . that a dragon?" Krem's voice was tight.

"Yes Krem, I do believe it was." CJ couldn't quite stop the sarcasm in her tone. "Who's the fastest? Cole? Run as fast as you can. Get back to the main group. Send those who can fight and tell everyone else to book it towards Talon." Cole nodded and took off.

"And what are we going to do?"

"We, Rocky," CJ looked over her group as the dragon headed towards them. "We're going to take down a dragon."

"I was afraid you were going to say that." He muttered.

"Rocky, Dalish, you stay back as far as you can while still being in range. Dalish, do anything you can to blind, disorient, hell, deafen the dragon. Keep it distracted. Rocky, time to prove how good your aim is. Yes, dragons are tough, but throwing a grenade down its' throat will kill it just as easy as it would anything else. Krem, you and I will work on taking it down, close range. If we can hamstring it, it won't be able to move nearly as easy."

"You do realize dragon skin is incredibly tough, right?" Krem commented, the shake in his voice belying the sarcasm he tried to convey.

"Well then, let's be tougher. Get ready!"

The dragon landed with a loud thump, causing the ground to shake beneath them. "Attack!"

CJ knew it was foolish, running at the dragon like she was, but if they didn't stop it, it would easily catch up to the refugees. They had to stop it here.

"Front left leg first!" She yelled to Krem, dodging away from a ball of fire. "Get in close! Under the belly! She can't get at us with her tail there!"

"But she can just drop on us!" Krem retorted.

"You're a charger! If that happens, keep your horns and sword pointing up!"

"If we survive this, you owe me big time!"

"If we survive this, I'll buy you a new sword!" She retorted. "Now shut up and focus on hamstringing this monster!" A pattern soon became apparent to CJ. Before the dragon jumped, it would hunch down lower. When it was going to lift one of its claws, it would shift all weight away from that leg. Calling out to Krem, they started coordinating their attacks better. When the dragon would crouch down, they'd focus on attacking her underbelly. When she shifted her weight, they'd focus on the load-bearing leg.

Slowly, ever so slowly, they began making progress against the monster.

As it turned out, Rocky's aim was terrible. Grenades dropped around them, making a more dangerous terrain for them.

The dragon let out a loud roar as Krem's sword bit through the muscles on her left leg and CJ's knives sliced through the muscles on her right leg. The dragon was partially hobbled, her front legs now useless for supporting weight.

She and Krem fell back slightly, to re-group. Too late did CJ see the dragon tense.

"Move!" She tried pushing Krem out of the way, but the tail caught them, sending them both flying. CJ slammed into a rock, crying out as the air was forced from her lungs.

Pain. Pain was everywhere, but CJ forced herself to her feet. Krem was done, knocked out from his landing. She was tired. Very tired. Dalish and Rocky were getting tired as well. She could see it in their stances. They needed to end this now.

"Rocky, how many grenades do you have left?"

"Three!" He answered. CJ ran to him, and grabbed one of them. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm going to make her eat it!"

"How?!" Dalish called but then swore a second later. "That is suicide!"

CJ didn't answer, just ran straight for the dragon, dodging the fire shot at her. Yes, it probably was suicide. But the dragon would kill them all before going for the refugees. She couldn't let that happen. This was necessary.

"Come and get me you scaly bastard!" She screamed, now only feet from the dragon's huge mouth. It opened with a loud roar, nearly deafening her. Heat surrounded her as the dragon inhaled, about to unleash CJ's sure death. She cocked her arm back and threw the grenade as hard as she could, so close now, her armor actually caught on the dragon's tooth. As the grenade flew down the dragon's throat, it automatically gagged, its jaw closing on instinct. CJ screamed as pain lanced through her arm from a tooth piercing it. She only had ten more seconds, tops, before the grenade exploded. Stuck in the dragon's mouth was not where she wanted to be.

"I'm not dying like this!" She screamed, and with strength she didn't know she possessed, yanked her arm out, taking the tooth with her.

Not stopping to think, CJ whipped around, beginning to run. She only made it four steps before the grenade detonated. A shockwave of pressure knocked her to the ground, the following noise and heat sweeping over her in a torrent. Something heavy collided with her, pinning her to the ground. Her last thought was of Tommy. The poor boy would be devastated. CJ knew no more.