Reviews:
edboy4926:
Glad you like it. Let's just say that problem will be addressed. I won't say how, but let's just say his drill sergeant will come back into play and that you should remember some operations that occur in the Western Approach. Finally, who ever said I was going to follow the format of the game exactly?
cjboughton:
Glad you think so.
A/N: Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.
Chapter 4:
Mages, Templars, and Wolves
Upon reaching the center of the Hinterlands, Wayne and his companions came under attack from both templars and mages, forcing the group to fight their way through. After taking out what seemed like the hundredth opponent, soldier and his allies seemed to have earned a bit of respite, so they started going through the belongings of their dead enemies. In the satchel of one of the mages, Wayne found a pamphlet advertising a gathering of mages in a location nearby called the Witchwood.
"Seriously? A bunch of mages are hanging out in a place called WITCHwood?" Wayne asked rhetorically.
"No one ever accused them of being original," Varric laughed as they passed under a large metal ornament that marked the entrance to the forest.
"We shouldn't underestimate them," Cassandra said, "Even if they are unoriginal."
The group headed into the woods and finding a clearing where massive spikes of ice were jutting out of the ground and a nearby cave entrance was blocked by what looked like a wall of light.
"Well, I think we're in the right place," Wayne said sarcastically before a blast of lightning flew past his head as mages charged out of the woods and the cave to attack the group.
"Gee, ya think!?" Varric shouted as he fired Bianca at one, nailing him in the left eye.
Wayne moved behind one of the large ice spikes to start firing at the attacking mages and mercenaries. Cassandra used her shield to become a living roadblock for the mages charging out of the cave. Some mercenaries tried to get in close to attack her, but Solas used his ice magic to block their advance and take out a couple mages. Once they took out the last of the attacking mages, they turned their attention to the wall of light blocking the entrance to the cave.
Wayne gently touched it to find it solid and unmoving.
"Okay, how are we gonna get through this?" Wayne asked, "Any ideas?"
"Perhaps I can be of some assistance," Solas said, stepping forward before flaring his magic and sending a fire spell at the wall of light, making it disperse, "Such barriers can only be removed by the use of magic."
"Good to know," Wayne said as the group headed into the cave.
The end of the tunnel was guarded by the mages and glowing circles on the floor.
Wayne tried to move to group of barrels for cover, but he was stopped by Cassandra grabbing his arm.
"Careful!" she warned, "Those glyphs will explode if you touch them."
Wayne nodded his thanks and carefully moved around the glyphs to reach some boxes to use them for cover, thinking, 'Great. So there are magic landmines here too. Awesome.'
Wayne opened fire on the mages, using short controlled bursts while his allies attacked as well.
When the last mage fell, the group started going through the pockets of the dead.
"So, where to next?" Wayne asked as they came out of the cave.
"With the apostates gone, the road will be much safer. However, we still need to deal with the rouge templars as well," Cassandra said.
"Yeah, we should try to deal with them next," Wayne said, "That way the path to the horsemaster will be clear and the main road will be open for travelers."
The group made their way back to the main road. Reaching a broken bridge, Wayne spotted a couple templars carrying shields loitering near some tents at the top of a hill down a path off the main road.
"Yeah, that's not suspicious or anything," Wayne muttered before turning to his group, "I think those guys over there are the ones guarding the front of the templar camp. We should take them out quietly so we can infiltrate the camp and take them by surprise."
"Sounds like a wise plan," Cassandra said, nodding her agreement.
"Good, Pinocchio and I will head up, take them out quietly, and have a quick looksie, then we'll regroup back here," Wayne said.
"Uh, why me?" Varric asked.
"Because you have the quiet long range weapon, plus, in all honesty, your smaller size might help you go unnoticed," Wayne said, shrugging.
"What about you?" Solas asked, "Your guns are not exactly quiet."
"That's why I've got ol' reliable here," Wayne said, pulling his k-bar out of its sheath to spin it in his hand.
"Assuming you can get close enough to use it," Cassandra said, uncertain of the knife's usefulness.
"I'll get close enough," Wayne said, his tone relaying his complete certainty before turning to Varric, "When I take the first one out, use Bianca to take out the second."
Varric nodded and his shot, while Wayne quietly moved up the path using boulders and trees to keep out of sight. When his target was facing away from him, Wayne moved in and grabbed him before slitting the templar's throat with his knife. Before the other guard could make a sound in surprise, a crossbow bolt found its way through the templar's helmet's eyehole and into his eye.
The two then headed back to the meeting place where Solas and Cassandra were waiting.
"Okay, I've got an idea," Wayne said, "Pinocchio, Xena, you two will take the front gate."
"What about us?" Solas asked, curious as to his plan.
"There's a ledge around the back. We climb up to it and attack from the rear," Wayne said.
"It's a sound plan," Solas said, nodding his agreement, "Provided the Seeker and Varric can stall the ones that attack the front."
"It will not be an issue," Cassandra said seriously, "I will hold them back."
"Good, let's go, Elrond," Wayne said as the soldier and the elf quietly made their way up the stream beneath the templar camp.
Wayne started climbing up the sheer rock face with Solas climbing after him. Wayne reached the top after a few minutes and looked down to see Solas slowly making it up.
"You alright there, Elrond?" Wayne said from the top of the ledge.
"I-I'm fine. It's just that climbing is not precisely where my skills lie," Solas said, groaning, as he climbed.
"You know, I'll bet those Dalish you told me about could probably do they easily," Wayne said.
"Just give me a moment," Solas said, as he started climbing faster.
When he neared the top, Wayne helped him up and the two made their way around to the back of the templar encampment just as Cassandra and Varric started their own attack on the camp.
Wayne took down any rogue templar that came in his sights with Solas taking out the ones that managed to get by him. The two made their way through the fort before meeting up with Cassandra and Varric.
"I think that's the last of them," Wayne said, looking around to see if there weren't any more templars trying to sneak up on them.
"Yes," Cassandra said, nodding, "With the templars gone as well, the road should be safer for travelers."
"Plus the way to the horsemaster should be clear," Wayne said, "Now let's get going."
The group made their way back to the main road and headed towards the farm where the horsemaster, Dennet, resided. The group managed to make it to the borders of the farm, only to find wolves pacing along the border, snarling at the approaching group. The aspect that Wayne noticed was the glowing green eyes each of the wolves had as they charged at the group.
"Shit!" Wayne shouted as he raised his rifle to open fire on the attacking wolves.
The trio of wolves lasted only seconds against the group as Wayne took out one of them, Cassandra stabbed another in its mouth, and Varric hit the last in the eye with a shot from Bianca.
"Wolves do not normally attack with such single-mindedness," Cassandra said, grimly.
"Plus the ones I'm familiar with don't have glowing green eyes," Wayne said, "Any idea what it was that was causing them to act like that?"
"Could be that a demon has taken control of the pack," Solas suggested.
"They can do that?" Wayne asked, "Awesome," he said, sarcastically.
"Well, regardless, we need to get to Master Dennett," Cassandra said, "Perhaps he will have more information about the wolves."
"Then, let's go find him," Wayne said.
With that, the group headed into the farm and headed for the main house. Inside, Master Dennett was waiting and was surprised to have the Inquisition paying him a visit, but refused to give access to his stables until watchtowers were put in place to watch for bandits and the wolves were handled. After the group sent messages to the Inquisition troops at the crossroads to set up a camp in the farm and to Leliana so she could send builders to make the watchtowers at the locations that they marked. Then, they took the trail down the hill where Master Dennett told them that the wolves were coming from. At the bottom of the hill was a wide stream which the group needed to pass in order to reach the wolves' den. The group found the only crossing blocked by another Fade rift.
"Alright, get ready," Wayne said, "We've got to get through those demons."
The group slowly moved closer before they launched their attack. One of the demons guarding the rift was one that Wayne hadn't seen before. It looked like a person dressed in a ragged cloak, curled up, and floating in midair. The group launched their attack with Cassandra leading the charge. Terror demons that were bulkier and horned attacked by diving into the ground while the cloaked demon hurled itself through the air before firing a beam at Wayne. He ducked behind a boulder and the beam froze the parts of the rock it hit.
"Great, it shoots ice beams," Wayne muttered as he opened fire on the cloaked demon. Wayne was having a hard time getting a bead on the demon, but every time he managed to fire and hit the cloaked demon, the shots hit an invisible shield surrounding it. "And it has a forcefield. Great."
"I can handle it," Solas said, before he made a white beam come down on top of the cloaked demon, stunning it and making the forcefield disperse.
"Thanks, Elrond!" Wayne shouted before he fired a shot at the cloaked demon, hitting it in the center of its face and killing it.
Just as Wayne finished the ice-shooting demon, Varric and Cassandra finished off the other demons. Wayne then used the Mark to close the rift before turning to his companions.
"What the hell was up with Icy McJumpy?" Wayne said, gesturing to the dispersing remains of the cloaked demon.
"A despair demon," Solas explained, "They, like the emotion they represent, are chilling to the soul and are able to spring up at inopportune moments."
"Awesome," Wayne grumbled, "Can't wait to find out what else this world has in store."
The group continued down the path with the howling of the wolves getting louder with each step. They were getting close to the wolves' den when they nearly tripped over a body. It was partially eaten and torn to pieces by the wolves.
"What was this guy doing all the way out here?" Wayne asked, kneeling down to look through his pockets for a clue.
"Probably a hunter," Solas said, "Perhaps he sought to take out the wolf pack, not knowing they were controlled by a demon."
Just then, Wayne found a book in the hunter's pack before opening it up and reading it.
"Close," Wayne said, "Seems this guy fancied himself some kind of demon hunter, but I guess he got overwhelmed."
"He came alone?" Cassandra asked in shock.
"No," Wayne replied, "Looks like he came with someone else. Only refers to his partner as 'Hawk' though. We should keep an eye out. This "Hawk" could be injured and in need of help."
The group headed into the large cavern that served as the den of the wolves. The group came under attack almost the instant they stepped inside. For every wolf, they killed it seemed like four more took their place, but the group was managing to slowly make their way deeper until they found the demon, another fear demon, surrounded by more wolves.
"There it is! Take it out and the wolves will be freed from its control!" Solas shouted.
Wayne lifted his rifle to aim at the demon, but something slammed into him before he could fire. The beast that was now pinning him to the ground was no wolf, but instead a canine species that Wayne had never seen before. He kept his rifle between him and the snapping jaws of the large dog. While Wayne was struggling against the large dog, his companions were fighting off the wolves and demon. Holding the dog back with one hand, he frantically grabbed a large rock and hit the dog in the side of the head before grabbing up his assault rifle, aiming, and firing to hit the demon right between its eyes. The demon fell to the ground dead and the wolves immediately stopped attacking. They shook off the remaining influence of the demon before running off.
"It would appear the pack is free of the demon's influence," Solas said.
Wayne went over to the large dog and knelt down to see it was still breathing, but his hitting it seemed to have hurt it badly.
"What kind of dog is this?" Wayne asked before he noticed the collar around the dog's neck, "Huh, this must be Hawk."
"It's a mabari," Cassandra said, "They're well-known for being intelligent and picking their masters."
"Can we help him?" Wayne asked.
"Perhaps I can," Solas said, stepping forward before holding his glowing hands over the wounded dog for a few seconds. Once he was done, he lowered his hands and stepped back, "I have healed his injuries, but he will still need rest and care."
"But he's free from the demon's influence, right?" Wayne asked.
"Yes," Solas said, nodding.
"Then, we'll take it back to the farm. Maybe they'll take care of him," Wayne said, putting the dog on his shoulder.
The group headed back to the farm where the Inquisition's builders were already getting to work on erecting the watchtowers. Dennett's daughter offered to look after the mabari while it healed before the group went to talk to Dennett himself. Since all of his requests had been fulfilled, he promised the Inquisition access to his herds and, after some convincing from Cassandra, joined the Inquisition himself.
Now that they had the horsemaster on their side, the group headed to the nearby camp to rest and check for messages from Leliana. Sure enough, she sent a message informing them that unusual bandits had been causing the people of the crossroads problems by blocking off the east road and the southern part of the Hinterlands.
"Well, that figures," Wayne said, sarcastically, "One problem gets taken care of and another takes its place."
"Regardless, we should deal with the bandits in order to allow trade and supplies to reach the refugees," Solas said, "Though I am a tad concerned as to what the message meant by the bandits being unusual."
"Well, only one way to find out," Wayne said, before the group started their trek back to the east road, "Besides, I'm sure Pinocchio can think of some reasons for it."
"I've got a few ideas," Varric chuckled.
Cassandra groaned with annoyance.
A/N: And there's chapter 4! Please, favorite, follow, and/or review!