Chapter 2: Exodus pt2
The Blightlands-9:30 Dragon
Ericks and Carver cut down the hurlocks in the way while Bethany skewered the darkspawn trying to attack her and their mother. Not too far from the siblings were a man and a woman fighting off the darkspawn themselves. The woman, a red-haired, green eyed amazon of a woman in loose brown and white clothing manhandled one of the darkspawn and then cut it down. The man, a black haired man clad in Templar armor blocked one of the hurlocks blows and then cut its head off. The man then felt a sharp pain up his back; he had been cut from behind and dropped his shield. He held his side while turning around to guard against the next attack, and quickly dropped to his knees. From the side, the woman tackled the hurlock to the ground and punches it in the head several times.
"You will not have him!" She grabs her sword and slices the darkspawn's neck. The woman quickly got up and grabbed the templar's shield and helped the man up. She gave the man a concerned look. "They will not have you" she said. "Not while I breathe" The darkspawn regrouped and had the man and woman surrounded…they backed up slowly only to find cliffs behind them. Suddenly a large fireball came and blew away the darkspawn much to the couple's surprise. Ericks and Carver came running into the darkspawn's back line giving the man and woman some breathing room. The siblings killed the darkspawn and walked toward the couple, the woman was treating the Templar's wounds.
"Stop your squirming, Wesley. You'll make it worse" she said sternly. Aveline Vallen was an officer in the Ferelden army. Many people that knew of her consider her an honorable person who will fight to the death for her fellow man but also a stern person who did not suffer fools lightly. She and her company were at Ostagar as part of the first charge against the darkspawn. However when General Loghain's reinforcements never came they were force to flee the darkspawn horde. It was a scattered retreat and she has no idea if the rest of company made out safely. While in the army, she had met her husband Wesley in Denerim…because his duty was mostly protecting the city's Chantry he was more jovial than most Templars which served as a good balance to his more serious wife. When he heard of the events at Ostagar, he had left his post without permission to search for his wife.
"I can't help it, Aveline…I'm tender, you know that" He joked.
"Humph, the Templars need better trainers if that's the case" She tied the bandage and helped Wesley up. "Perhaps I should ask them to let me lead the training"
Wesley paled a little. "I doubt the order wants their Templars broken in body and spirit" the Templar then frowned and got in front of Aveline. "Apostate, keep your distance"
Bethany sighed. "Well, the Maker has a sense of humor. First darkspawn and now a Templar" she said. "I thought they all abandoned Lothering"
"The 'spawn are clear in their intent, but a mage is always unknown. The Order dictates…"
Aveline shook her head. "Wesley…I don't think this is the time"
"That woman is an apostate, the Order dictates…" Ericks quickly got in front of Bethany and in Wesley's face. Because his father and sister were mages, Ericks had always had a deep dislike of Templars; of course he understood the Templars were needed to handle threats from magic. The problem was that Templars tended see all mages as threats, even apostates that wanted to live in peace.
Ericks gave a calm smile that held a hint of malice. "You should listen to your friend, I would hate for her hard work to be for naught"
"Dear, they saved us. The Maker understands"
Wesley sighed and went back to her side. However he never took his eyes off Bethany. "Of course"
"I am Aveline Vallen. This is my husband, Ser Wesley. We can hate each other when we're safe from the horde"
"Ericks Hawke, my brother Carver, my sister Bethany and my ma, Leandra" Ericks said. He looked at Aveline. "You seem to be the pants in this outfit, keep your Templar away from my sister"
"Understood" She said. "For now, we move with you. The North is cut off; we barely escaped the main body of the horde" Leandra clasped her hands together and started praying as Carver angrily punched his hand.
"We're trapped then! The wilds are to the south, there's no way out!"
Ericks crossed his arms. "To the wilds or die, some choice…" The group headed towards the south where the darkspawn was blocking their way forward and backwards. Ericks reached for a flask on his belt and signaled Bethany to be ready. He tosses the flask at the darkspawn behind them, it shattered on the ground and the Hurlock became focused on the liquid on the ground. Bethany then used a fire spell to blow up the concoction up along with the darkspawn. Aveline and Carver cut down the hurlocks in front of them and the group made their passage.
"Maker's breath what was that?" Wesley asked. "The darkspawn were almost enthralled"
"A little something I cooked up before, deep mushrooms combined with ichor from a corpse apparently attracts darkspawn" Ericks said. "I combined it with powered blood lotus and a little heat and Boom!"
Leandra sighs. "My son makes poisons and grenades as a hobby, our neighbors often complain to us about the sounds….and the smells" she said. "This is why you can't find a nice girl to settle down with, Ericks"
"Strange as it is, it's helping us right now" Aveline said. The group made it to a large clearing where they soon felt ground shake beneath their feet. Aveline look in the distance to see an ogre charging in the distance. "Everyone, scatter!" Everyone ran away as the ogre plowed through and roared, it then turned towards Carver and Leandra. Carver held his ground while trying to protect his mother.
"You soulless bastards!" Carver slashed at the ogre, his sword bounced of it and then the large darkspawn grabbed him.
"Carver!" Leandra said in horror. The ogre slammed the man against the ground several times and then tossed his ragged body away. The ogre then walked away to fight the others and Leandra ran to her son, broken and bruised. The darkspawn attacked from all sides and the group tried to hold their ground. Ericks threw an acid flask into the eyes of the ogre and flanked the darkspawn with Aveline. Bethany cast a cone of cold to keep the hurlocks away; when more darkspawn came she sent a large fireball to blow them away. After a few moments, the ogre fell and the darkspawn retreated at least for now. The battle had been won but something terrible had happened, they ran to Leandra…Ericks eyes went wide and Bethany gasped in horror. Their mother sat there holding and cradling Carver's battered body, sobbing for her son to wake up.
"Carver, please wake up…the battle is over" Leandra said pleaded. "No, no, no…my boy, my dear sweet boy" Bethany dropped to her knees and embraced her mother as she sobbed for her brother. Ericks just stood there silent and in shock like he couldn't believe what he was seeing…another one of his family had fallen to the darkspawn and he was trying to process it all.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Mistress" Aveline said.
"He was a brave man, to the end" Wesley said
"I don't want a hero! I want my son!" Leandra said in grief. Ericks walked forward and Leandra frowned. "How could you let him charge off like that? Your little brother! My little boy!" His mother's words struck Ericks like a dagger, but he just stood there and took…he understood that Leandra needed an outlet for her pain, it might as well be him.
"Mother no, don't put this on brother. Ericks did his best, we all did" Bethany said sadly. "We can't stay here. Carver wouldn't want his sacrifice to be meaningless"
Wesley came forward. "Allow me to commend your son's soul to the Maker, Mistress" he said. "Ashes we were, and ashes we become. Maker, give this young man a place at your side, let us take comfort in the peace he has found in eternity"
"I'll never forget you, Carver" Leandra said. Aveline and Wesley led her away as Ericks and Bethany stayed behind. The mage hugged her brother, Ericks put on a strong face but she could tell that he was hurting.
"Mother didn't mean what she said" Ericks was silent. "And it's not your fault"
"At least da will have company"
"Flames! We're too late" Ericks and Bethany ran to the others as more darkspawn appeared. Aveline and Wesley fought off the hurlocks while Leandra went to safety, Bethany sent out a fireball to deal with the archers in the distance. Ericks tore through multiple darkspawn with fierce precision…the quiet anger he felt replaced his feelings of guilt and sorrow. The more they cut down the darkspawn, the more came to replace them. The group huddled together to prevent the darkspawn from dividing them.
"There's no end to them…" The ground shook again this time from behind them. A large red dragon appeared on the ledge; with a roar the darkspawn scattered…even they were not foolish enough to take on a high dragon. It took to the ground and started covering the land in fire. The group took cover as they watched in awe as the dragon laid waste to the darkspawn. When the dragon was done it landed in front of them and started to glow. The dragon was no longer there but a woman with white hair dressed as dragon horns, she wore a form-fitting dark purple robe clad in armor and adorned with black raven feathers. But the one thing that stood out was her piercing golden eyes that seemed to glow reflecting her power. She moved towards the group with an air of grace and strength, everyone felt their hair standing on end….whoever this woman was, she was dangerous.
"Well, well, what have we here?" she asked. "It used to be we never got visitors to the Wilds, but it seems they arrive in hordes" Ericks and Bethany came forward cautiously.
"Impressive, that trick must be riot at parties"
The woman gave a dangerous grin. "Indeed, it's simply to die for" she said. "I must say if you are trying to flee the darkspawn, you should probably know you're in the wrong direction" The woman began to turn and walk away.
"Wait, you can't just walk away" Bethany said.
She turned her head. "Oh, can I not?" the witch asked. She walked towards the group and gazed at Ericks. "I spotted a most curious sight: a mighty ogre, vanquish! Who could have performed such a feat, I wonder?"
"But alas my curiosity is sated and you are safe…for now. Is that not enough?"
"You could show me that trick of yours, always wanted to be a dragon" Ericks said dryly. The witch just gave a hearty laugh.
"If only a clever tongue was all one needed" she said. "Tell me, clever child: how do you intend to outrun the Blight?"
"We need to get to Kirkwall…in the Free Marches" Bethany said.
"Kirkwall? My, my…that's quite the voyage" the witch said. "Your king will not miss you, I take it?"
"Not as much as his life, that's for sure"
The witch chuckled. "Oh, you I like!" she said. "Hurtled into the chaos, you fight…and the world will shake before you" Ericks raised a brow as the witch turned her back. "Hmm, fate or chance? I can never decide"
She then turned to the siblings. "Fortune smile on us both it seems, I may be able to help you yet"
Salvation has been found! Or is it ruin? Next Time! As always Review and Comment!
