Chapter Twenty-Two: Uninvited Guests
The Templars did not wait long to try and overturn our great victory at the Wolf's Lair. Nearly two months later, a month after I had discovered Julie's secret, they struck with unrelenting force.
It was my fault, at least partially. The stunt with the mages had not only spread word of my own secrets, namely my immunity to the Fade and my extra-Thedosian origins. Over the course of December, Cassus or Haring to you, word trickled back that the Templars were telling people further north that only a Fade creature could be immune to the Fade. The mages' presence was not only open but very well known. Word reached Val Royeaux at the start of December, and I got a rather displeased letter from Sister Leliana on the subject.
I thought little of it. The snows had become too heavy for any army large enough to move without taking huge casualties from attrition, or so I thought.
Exacerbating this was Julie's own efforts, very much a case of the mouse playing while the cats were away. Her publication, Le Sens Commun, became as spectacularly popular as the one it was named for. I had greatly underestimated the level of discontent in the Dales, not least from the 'city' elves, whom took to it almost like it was a sacred text. It certainly didn't help when Leha got a whiff of the profit margins, and began shipping crates of the damned thing with the alcohol we moved downriver. It seems that radical political literature can breed coins as well as finely distilled liquor. Orlesians do like to be titillated.
I was never involved with the process, but if I had to guess from the money we saw, at least a hundred thousand copies had been sold in the first month. Not all of them printed by us. Even the Carta seemed to get in on the act. Illiterate peasants were whipped up, hearing it read out in taverns and village halls at night, merchants squabbled over its message on taxation, Revered Mothers would either condemn or support its principles from the pulpit, while nobles in Halamshiral and at the University of Orlais discussed its principles on liberty. All four would come to me at various points in future to ask what my input had been. Julie had referred directly to Earth at one point in it, after all. I was very glad to tell them my part in its creation was nil.
Whether it was my popular status as a living anomaly or Julie's heresy for using Andraste's example against the political and religious status quo, powerful forces began to take note. Two would be visiting us within the day. A third bided its time.
And so it came to the night of Christmas Eve, the Thirty-Eighth year of the Dragon Age.
Everyone had been given the day and the one after for family. I had decorated perhaps the first Christmas tree ever to see Thedas, although far from the last. I explained to gathered crowds the purpose behind the vacation, as best I could without a Bible or a Dickens novel. With some modification of course, to account for local sensibilities on the subject of the gender of the saviour. It was quite amusing to retell the stories to an audience that had never heard them before.
Sunlight turned to darkness, and the night began.
I was still not on good speaking terms with Julie, our original group having been split in two by our fight. Tam and Leha both agreed with me, Armen and Ciara sided with Julie. I had even slept elsewhere for the whole month, something made tolerable only by the occasional presence of Tam. She suggested to both Julie and I to resolve our differences, but both of us were too stubborn to listen. That was Tam's way though. She loved us, and knew we loved her. It was painful for her to watch us separated, so she tried daily to mend things. And I loved her all the more for it.
I still felt like utter crap the whole four weeks or so. Christmas Eve felt like the right time to change that, but I couldn't bring myself to do it that day. I promised myself I would do something the day after.
So, with nothing to do due to my dismissal of almost all of my subordinates, I decided to join the night watch.
It was something I did only very occasionally until that month, when it became a welcome distraction. In retrospect, I would have done it sooner, considering how well I got to know some of my soldiers as a result. Another two of my heavy hitters had the same thought, and I ended up on top of the château with Soprano and Mike. We had converted the corner of the attic nearest the gate and the parade ground into a watchtower, complete with the night scope we had taken from the Templars. There was also a series of rope pulleys, allowing us to get to the ground in seconds, without having to go through the staircases inside.
We sat there for the first few hours of darkness, drinking hot herbal tea in our furs and scanning the surroundings. That probably saved a whole bunch of lives, but for hours, we did nothing else. We sat in silence, rubbing our hands together. As usual. The patrols sent out by Hearth's garrison caught most of the wild beasts or the rare Avvar raiding party. The watch was just to satisfy my own paranoia, but then again, it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.
My presence seemed to cause Mike's curiosity to peak, and eventually she couldn't help herself. The opportunity was too juicy to leave be, apparently.
"Marquis, can I ask you a question?" she said, "A personal one."
Unsure what had caused her reaction, I decided there was no harm in talking. Though I wasn't sure where she was going with it, either.
"Is there any other kind, Sergeant?" I sighed, "Shoot."
"The dwarf says you're from another world. Not here, not the Fade, not the Void," Mike said, listing them off like they were the only possibilities, "The mistress seems to know a lot about it, but is it really true?"
'The' dwarf meaning Leha. Although she undoubtedly would not have enjoyed that title, I found it amusing enough. Tam was the mistress of course, her position in our ranks still extremely cloudy beyond that designation. Referring to her as 'the teacher' was probably accurate too, but less descriptive of what she did overall. I couldn't help but smirk. Mike took it that I was smirking at her, like what she had heard was ridiculous.
"I mean, you're immune to the Fade! No one's supposed to be!" Mike continued quickly, trying to explain herself, "And you haven't denied what Mother Brandon has been saying. I was just wondering..."
"Sergeant, you shouldn't bother the Marquis with such questions," Soprano stated, not taking her eyes away from the nightscope, "He has enough troubles as it is without your pestering." My falling out with Julie had been noticed, though the reason remained a secret. I almost wanted to declare why, as the mortifying rumour that it had to do with infidelity on my part had briefly circulated. I appreciated Soprano's consideration however.
"It's okay, no harm done," I said, "Yes Sergeant, I am from another world." Both of them stopped what they were doing to look at me, in the same incredulous way that Ciara had when she found out.
"There are some who say you are a demon," Soprano said speculatively.
"If I was a demon, would I be sitting out here freezing my ass off?" I laughed, "No, I'm human." Mostly.
I thought about their questions for a moment. Soprano and Mike were two of my most trusted soldiers, and I wanted to get to know them better. Perhaps an ironic position to take, given that I didn't use their real names, but they didn't seem to mind at all. Regardless, I wanted them to know I trusted them, and this was a good time to do so.
"Since you're both interested and can't hide it, I'll let you both ask me a question," I said, standing up and leaning against the edge, "But you'll have to keep watch while you ask. Captain, you can ask first. Privilege of rank." Both seemed to agree, and Soprano hummed deeply to herself. She swung the nightscope about while she thought about her inquiry.
"I heard your world has no elves," the Captain asked, "Did your people kill them?" The pair of them looked at me for an immediate answer, and I felt the weight of their unspoken doubts. If I was a human from another world, were humans from my world like my fellows in Thedas?
"No, they didn't," I replied, "Elves never existed there, except in stories. Stories we know aren't true, because they aren't that old. We know who wrote them and why." Tolkien strikes again.
Thedosian elves weren't exactly comparable to old tales about fairies either, considering that the latter were tiny in Earth mythology. Earth humans had destroyed other sentient species however, through a mixture of warfare and interbreeding. However, that was something like fifteen thousand to thirty thousand years ago, before we even had agriculture. The only reason we ever knew about it was the study of our own genetics and the evidence left over in buried bones.
"There are no Qunari or dwarves either," I added, "We humans get by killing each other just fine without them." A trait shared between worlds, if the brewing wars were any evidence.
Soprano seemed satisfied with my answer, returning her eye to the nightscope without further comment. That was as much talk as you ever got out of her. She was the mirror image of McNulty in that regard. I breathed a little easier, knowing that I had dodged any ill feelings she could have developed had my answer been less encouraging.
"I have a question that no one seems to have the answer to," Mike said, leaning across her knees, "How did you get here? Surely another world is very far away, far further than the moons." In truth, I wasn't sure if Earth was even in the same universe as this planet. I'm much more sure it isn't now, partially because of who I would meet very soon. The sergeant's question was a valid one. Tam had probably held out on answering that for fear of exposing the crash site of my helicopter, or to reduce the possibility that no one would believe the truth. Still, I couldn't help myself testing whether or not Mike would believe.
"I was in a flying machine over a battlefield, when it fell into the Fade somehow," I said, with not an ounce of sarcasm or jest, "We crashed south of Halamshiral."
Mike's eyes opened wide at that, and I could not tell if she thought I was crazy. Soprano was far more easy to read; she was very sceptical, even before she opened her mouth.
"Marquis, I don't mean to be rude, but that's a load of halla shit," the Captain chuckled, "How can there be flying machines? You're just entertaining us now." I simply smiled politely, not taking her criticism to heart. After all, there was physical proof of it, if I ever really wanted to show someone.
"Believe what you want," I said with a shrug, "But think about this. I have weapons that can kill dozens of men at a time from hundreds of yards away. I have tools that let me see in the dark and see the heat of a person's body. I can talk with someone a half a mile away with even raising my voice, even while whispering. Is it really so hard to believe that my people can build machines that can fly, when they have already built machines that can do all of that?"
"He has a point, Captain," Mike admitted, "You were there at the prison. You saw what he did to the gatehouse." Soprano grumbled to herself, swayed by the comparison. It would have convinced me, I thought.
"Just because you can do those things doesn't mean you can fly," the Captain said, "So unless you show me the machine, I won't believe you entirely." Reserving judgment until the evidence came in was a respectable position, so I simply let her have it.
We settled into silence again for a moment, and my mind wandered back to the men I had arrived with. I wondered what life would have been like had they survived. Would I have met Julie and Tam in prison? Would we have even been captured? What would we have done if we weren't? Would it have been my doom? These questions had come into my consciousness before, and I wanted to share their cause with more people.
"When I arrived, I was not alone," I said quietly, "There were another half-dozen soldiers with me. Good people, willing to do their duty. We were in the desert before we were sucked up into the sky, and arrived into a forest in a matter of seconds. They fell in all the same... The first to find us wasn't a group of soldiers, or Templars, it was a dragon and its young. They fought it without a moment's hesitation. The dragon killed most of them, and the little ones got the last man. All of them died, except me." I took a deep gulp of my tea, as I stared off into the night, reliving the moment in my head. I snapped out of it when a particularly cold breeze slapped me on the cheek, and I turned to find both of the elves looking at me with pity.
Pleased to see they liked me enough for that, I smiled at them and slapped Soprano on the shoulder.
"I have new brothers in arms now though," I said, injecting a little more cheer into my tone, "Or should I say, sisters in arms?" Admirable self-deception on my part. Incidentally, I never was a great fan of gender integrated units before, but I would never split them up by sex now. Those issues seem to be better addressed here than in my home. Thank Andraste.
"Glad to be here, sir," Mike replied, before offering her hand. I shook it gently, feeling myself powerfully reinforced by the gesture. Even Soprano looked on with approval, before returning to the watch.
"Don't say that yet," I replied in jest, "You may live to regret it." Not sure she ever did, despite all that happened. I sat down again, only for Soprano to let out an alarmed gasp, stirring me to my feet once more.
"What's wrong?" Mike asked.
"Marquis, can you see that?" Soprano said, pointing in the direction the nightscope was, "I can make out movement, and it looks like humans, but it's too dark with the cloud cover."
My heart sank. That night of all nights was when we would be most vulnerable. Almost everyone having the night off meant most would not be readily armed and armoured. Crossbows were kept in homes, nothing else. I pulled the heat-vision equipment out of its pouch on my waist, attached it to my helmet and lowered to my eye.
There, in a line of angry white shapes against a deep black background, was the advancing enemy. The armour gathering the cold around them could only mean one thing. The Templars had arrived.
"It's the Templars," I said immediately, "Sound the alarm."
Soprano rang the bell, pulling at the clapper hard. Mike went to the edge and added her own voice to the cacophony. The diminutive elf, barely taller than Leha to my eye, was well able to speak above the clanging of the metal.
"AUX ARMES!" the sergeant roared, "LES TEMPLIERS SONT EN APPROCHE!"
To arms, the Templars are approaching. The race to defend ourselves had begun.
I couldn't get to the other side of L'Ambassade quickly enough.
Soprano, Mike and I had scrambled down the rope, across the parade ground and into the mass of residential buildings. The cold bit my throat and chest hard as I breathed deeply, but all thought of that disappeared once the first fire started.
The falling snow in front of me glowed an angry orange-yellow as it fell, almost like sparks were falling from the heavens rather than ice. It was beautiful, in a strange sort of way, but it didn't move my attention for too long.
The weather would stop the flames spreading naturally, but the intention was clearly not to destroy the settlement in that way. For one, the place was designed to prevent that, but I could see no Templars advancing up the newly paved streets either. They had something else in mind, and whatever it was, I didn't like it. I spat a globule into the snow as we stopped about two thirds of the way down.
Already, people were gathering on the streets. Families peeked from doorways to see what was going on. My soldiers stepped outside, crossbows at the ready. Mages gathered with grim faces, prepared to fight together to the death. All three mixed with each other, plugging up the wide avenues that I had insisted upon for hygiene. No one seemed to be organised any sort of coherent line across the main street, nor any advance towards blocking the Templars from advancing. I saw the danger immediately, and feared the stampede that would inevitably come if the enemy simply showed themselves.
"Marquis, your orders?" Mike asked, crossbow in hand, "Should I rally them and move to attack?" Her confidence had grown, as had that of many in the past few months, but this wasn't the time for rash actions. I would have been willing to bet a tidy sum that rushing forwards was what the Templars were after, and that they knew our numbers. Indeed they did, as we discovered later. However, the first order of business for me was absolutely certain, born of the twofold concerns of protecting the civilians and not giving the Templars the opportunity to take hostages.
"Mike, we need all the civvies to the château, now!" I shouted, "Anyone not willing to fight needs to get the hell out of the way."
"What about you, sir?" the sergeant asked, "Shouldn't you withdraw too? We don't have the numbers to stop the Templars should they try to assassinate you." Displeased by the notion that they'd have the gall to try, I blew a fart out my lips. I had already measured the calibre of the Templars as soldiers, and found them wanting. One of mine was worth any three of theirs, even without firelances.
"Let them try. The Captain and I will take anyone on the street here forwards to delay things while you get everyone to safety," I growled, "One more thing, shove McNulty out of whatever drunken hole he's in and tell him to get as many to the armoury as he can. We can only stop these bastards for so long." I remember thinking that a counterattack would catch them off balance, and relishing the opportunity.
"Good luck, sir," Mike said, before running off down the street shouting commands. Fighters to the Marquis, everyone else to the château, bougez or crevez, things along those lines. Much to my satisfaction, a collection of people willing to fight began forming a circle around me and Soprano. Not all of them were part of my little army either, which did much to strengthen my nerves. That the ordinary worker was willing to volunteer said much for our accomplishments, though I suspect it was out of religious zeal now that I've had more than a few years to think about it.
"We need to buy time for your families and friends to make it to the château, and for the rest of our people to mobilise," I explained, "I think everyone further ahead is gone, so we'll hold this section here. Anyone with a crossbow or magic, get up on the roofs cover all the ways in and out of this block. Everyone else, start dragging out tables, chairs, anything we can use for barricades. There's going to be a lot of them, and we won't make it if they can get a clear run at us." I left fears about cavalry or artillery unsaid, as the Templars were rich enough to bring plenty of both if they wanted to. Though I discounted the latter's presence on the basis of the snow.
"You heard the Marquis, archers and mages get to climbing," Soprano said taking control, "What the hell are you doing, standing around?"
The gathering dispersed. Soprano's ad hoc platoon started hoisting themselves on top of the bungalows. One would hand their crossbow to the other, climb up, take their crossbow back along with another, then pull the other up. Through this or sheer exertion, most of the mages and crossbowmen were in position in no time, though they began taking time to position themselves to avoid getting shot themselves. Meanwhile, Mike pushed the startled non-combatants, telling them to keep to the left of the street as they moved and to walk rather than run. She almost certainly prevented a rush as a result.
With nothing to do but wait, I checked my own weapons. As usual for the watch, I had the heavy firelance and my handcannon, but no mace or shield and no particular abundance of ammunition. With no clue how many Templars were coming. That was far from ideal. I had no indication of enemy numbers save what I had seen from the lookout tower, and that hadn't been much. The snow got in the way. Realising this, I groaned to myself. What if I was overreacting? Or worse, what if they had brought overwhelming force to bear? I had already ordered the Hearth garrison to stay out of any fighting that might occur at L'Ambassade to keep the townspeople out of it, so no help would be coming. Simply put, I had to know.
The last civilians filed past me, and through the growing pile of wood starting to resemble a barricade capable of stopping a charge. Nothing was going to get around me and the defence would hold long enough without me, I reassured myself. I inhaled deeply, before marching forwards through the snow, drawing my fur cloak around my shoulders and putting the hood down again so I could use my visual equipment.
For several minutes, I saw no movement ahead. The flurry of snow was still reflecting the fires. It was very good cover. I heard no great thudding of a large number of troops advancing, only the chomp of my own boots across the cobbles and the crackle of burning wood. I stopped beside the nearest burning house, the closest of about seven to the château. I began to hope it was only a raiding party. That would have been consistent with what I had seen from above. I moved forwards again, firelance barrel raised.
I passed the next set of houses turned bonfires, and the next, but still nothing. The woods beyond were becoming more visible. I strained my eyes trying to see into them, to discover what lay in the snow, waiting to strike. If anything.
Suddenly, the sound of splintering wood erupted to my left. I swung in an instant to shoot, sure it was some Templar assassin trying to stick daggers into my back. Instead, Julie and Leha stumbled out of the doorway. I almost had to pull my finger off the trigger with my other hand, they had come so close to being riddled with shot. They were both soot covered and gasping, huddled on their knees in their indoor clothes, but alive. It occurred to me that Leha's dormitory was down this end of our estate, and that the burning house they had just exited must have been it. I went over, weapon lowered.
"Are you okay?" I asked. The question startled them, as they finally noticed my presence, but their surprise turned to gladness very quickly.
"Sam, thank the Maker," said Julie, "What's happening?" Somehow, they weren't aware of how much shit we were in. That didn't bode well for asking them if they had seen how many were setting the fires in the first place, so I didn't bother.
"The Templars are here," I told them, keeping to the essential information, "Are you armed?" The pair looked around in fear for a moment, but found no plate-toting maniacs in sight. Leha shook her head at my question, her weapons going up in smoke with her house.
Julie grimaced, before finally standing up straight and pulling her handcannon off of her hip.
"We were in the basement, talking," Julie explained, holding up the weapon, "Didn't think we'd be fighting anyone, so I only have what's in this." So fifteen shots. Not exactly great news. I cursed loudly, and helped Leha up.
"Okay, here's the deal," I said, "Julie, shoot only when I'm reloading. Leha, find something to swing from all the dead fucks that are going to be around soon." The dwarf must have been a lot less perturbed on the whole 'Templars coming to kill us' thing, because she actually managed to look confused by the wording I had used. Julie was in her fight mindset at least. She wore the same face that she had when I had first stepped into her cell months earlier. Months that felt like years, as so much had happened. I thought to retreat again, now that I had seen this end and found nothing.
The clip-clop of horses hooves on stone got our attention, announcing the arrival of the Templars. They appeared from behind trees and out of the gloom at the end of the street, like ghosts wandering out of hidden crypts. Plate-armoured swordsmen and chain-mailed archers walked like ducks through the heavy snow and onto the cleared ground of our settlement. Leading them was a familiar bastard, showing up on horseback with an immense shit-eating grin on his face. I was very pleased to see him, because I didn't get to kill him the first time we had met. With that in mind, I raised my firelance to send him to the afterlife. Until he spoke.
"Parlay," said Knight-Captain Denam, grin undiminished.
"Shit," I said, lowering my weapon. Flags of truce were to be respected under Earth's international law, and I believed in that particular piece of it. Besides, it bought me time to figure out how many Templars there were. I highly doubted that splitting forces when assaulting a fixed position was part of the tactical thinking of the order. Or anyone else, for that matter.
Julie was less restrained, and raised her handcannon to shoot.
"Wait, he called a truce," I said, putting my hand on her arm, "Let him speak." Julie ground her teeth, but complied. The Templars stopped moving and formed a shieldwall about fifty yards away, which let her calm down a little.
"Well then, Marquis," Denam said, "When we met last, I was not aware of who you are and what your allegiances are. But now I am." The rumour mill had done its job. I really wish I could burn down the rumour mill and piss on the ashes.
"Well, that's not fair," I said sarcastically, "I don't know much about you, because I thought you were dead. How did you survive? Cowardice, no doubt." That touched a nerve, and the Knight-Captain's face screwed up with anger.
"I was forced to throw off my Templar colours and pretended to be a Tranquil, yes," he said, "But the day of reckoning has come."
"Doesn't it always," muttered Leha loudly, crossing her arms, "Reckoning is all your type are good for. Why don't you go home out of the snow and leave us be?" Denam shook his head, finding her suggestion absurd and offensive in equal measure. I thought it was rather good myself.
"Samuel Hunt, the so-called Peacekeeper and Marquis de la Fayette. Word has reached us of your true nature. Your powers could only come from one source," the Templar declared, "You are possessed, a demon made flesh. There is no other explanation. Whose body you inhabit, we do not know, but we shall free his soul from your grasp." By killing me, of course.
Julie scoffed, putting her palm on her head for a second. I was tempted to join her in the action. It wouldn't be the last time I would be called a demon, and Denam was far from the person of highest authority on the subject to say so, but as conclusions go, it's crap.
"He is no demon," she said, "I know."
Denam laughed loudly. "What, because you are sleeping with him? A whore's insight into the realm of the Fade isn't worth a copper," the Templar declared, "Besides, madamoiselle Marteau, you are in as much trouble as he is. Using Andraste's holy name to raise rebellion against the Chantry, not to mention the Empire of Orlais? You will hang."
Julie raised her handcannon again, keeping him centred. She held back her fire, for the moment. The hatred boiled off of her. I thought she was waiting for his next insult, so I cut in.
"What did you want to talk about, Denam?" I asked, "Or did you just come to threaten us with doom?"
The Knight-Captain sighed wearily, like we were simply a burden.
"You and the Qunari must die, and the mages must be returned to our … care," he said, "But there are many innocents that can be saved. Peasants who don't know any better. Surrender, you will be given trials rather than being killed here and now. The peasants will be spared and left to their own devices."
I considered the offer for only the briefest of moments. Escape from the Templars might have been possible, and there were many people who should not have been involved in this. On the other hand, Denam was a zealot, which was one of the few things I did know about him. He was far more likely to burn and pillage our entire community, kill the mages and 'peasants' alike, and then haul Julie, Tam and I off to Val Royeaux for some recreational torture before hanging.
"It's attractive, but I can't trust you as far as I can throw you," I replied, "Go fuck yourself."
Denam spread his lips wide, showing all his teeth in a snarling smile that I couldn't regard as fully human. I remember thinking the man had strange teeth, which is a strange thought to have at such a moment, but it was what it was. He turned his horse about and began to trot away.
"I was hoping you would say that," he said over his shoulder, "I was looking forward to gutting you."
Once again, I was too slow to kill him. The Knight-Captain raised his arm and dropped it again, signalling the attack. The line of Templar swordsmen advanced again, but that wasn't what put the fear of God into me. The hiss of arrows would soon join them, and I could just make out the figures behind, drawing their bows.
"Oh shit," I shouted, "Cover!"
Julie, Leha and I scrambled to find something, anything to hide behind, but there was practically nothing around except burning buildings. The heat prevented me from entering one I thought had been just safe enough. Leha ducked behind a barrel only large enough to cover her and no one else, certainly not a human or two. Julie tried to outpace the coming volley, sprinting away to avoid the area the arrows were to land in. The sound of shields being pounded, wood falling into the flames, all gave way to the sailing sound of the shots coming at us.
Our attempts to get away were unsuccessful. The arrows made their mark.
If it hadn't been for my armour, I would have been a pincushion. I was struck by no less than seven of the damned things. One struck me in the helmet to no great effect. Four hit me square in the chest, leaving nasty dents in the material under my fur coat but doing no other harm. I guess the Templars were used to fighting unarmoured opponents. Two more gouged nasty wounds on my right shoulder and left thigh, but they were glancing hits only, the arrows flashing past and bouncing off the ground behind me. Hurt like hell though. Wincing through the pain, and managed to steady my weapon.
I sent a burst or two at the coming Templars, stopping them cold. To my utter disgust and horror, they dispersed, hiding in the side streets or spreading out. Denam had me pegged from the beginning. Displeased by this discovery, I checked my wounds for a second and determined to use the time I had just bought.
I turned to the others, and found them in a very bad way.
Leha had an arrow in her arm, and was tugging it out when I saw her. She broke off the tip, and pulled the shaft out the way it had come. Not a pleasant thing, I imagined. I turned to find Julie, and found her on the ground a couple of yards back. She had two white-feathered arrows in her back below her ribs, and she wasn't moving.
My throat felt like someone had punched me. I struggled to breath, but used every remaining bit of air in my lungs to run over to Julie as fast as I could. I fell to my knees beside her, slung my firelance and grasped at her neck for a pulse. She coughed, rendering my action pointless. I sucked in the air greedily, as I fell to my ass with the relief.
"Can you get up?" I asked, "We really need to get out of here."
"It hurts!" Julie said, "Andraste help me!"
As if to illustrate my point, a couple of Templar archers appeared from various nooks and loosed some speculative shots at us. The arrows thudded off the ground and away, still encouraging us to get moving. I sent another burst chasing after the offending shooters, the muzzle flashes strobing light into the dark corners not lit up by the fires. There were more Templars moving around behind the intact buildings on either side of the street, along the edge of the parade ground and in the woods on the opposite side. Looking to surround us. I wasn't about to let them, and urged the others to hurry.
"We need to pull them out first," Leha said, gripping the first with her fist, "Get ready."
She pulled away each in quick order, Julie letting out shouts of pain. The sort I was very familiar with. Neither of the arrowheads got stuck inside her, thank God, but the bleeding was bad. I quickly gathered the bottom of her work shirt around the wound and retied her belt around the area. That would hold until we got back to the barricades, at least. I grabbed her hand to reassure her, but found it limp. She had passed out from the pain. I cursed.
"Leha, you know how to use this?" I asked, picking up Julie's handcannon, "If you do, shoot it at the bastards if they show their faces." I gave the dwarf the weapon, and as soon as she had it, she cracked off two rounds at a Templar I hadn't seen. It was one of the archers, a young one, and she fell dying and screaming. That would keep them away just long enough, and I had to give it to Leha, her accuracy was impressive. Beginner's luck, as it turned out.
I pulled the unconscious Julie up onto my back, slinging my weapon to the front of me and wrapping her arms around my shoulders. Grunting and heaving, I began walking back the way I had come as fast as I could, glad to be moving again. More arrows sailed by, alarmingly close, but their numbers were small enough to ignore. I picked up the pace as best I could regardless.
Leha punctuated the quiet of the night with shots from Julie's Beretta, but that didn't seem to be reducing the number of attacks that were coming.
"Are you hitting anything with that fucking thing?!" I shouted, "You're almost dry!" I had been counting her shots.
"Would you like to give it a try?!" Leha complained back, shooting her second-to-last round.
"Only if you want to carry her," I replied, knowing full well the dwarf was too small to pull it off, "It doesn't matter, we're here."
The sight of Soprano standing on the corner of a roof, her bow drawn and eyes sharp, was like the damned Second Coming to me. I knew we were saved. The Captain sent her first arrow the Templars way with cool precision, followed by the crossbow bolts and spells of another thirty or so. The barricade was nearly complete too. I rushed for it, feeling my strength boosted by the prospect of some temporary safety.
I moved through a gap in the middle, and Leha followed me through. Soprano barked the order to shoot the second volley, taking her own words to heart by loosing another arrow. I put Julie down on her stomach, and snatched a look. The Templar shield wall was reforming, now that I was out of sight and mind. It was moving slowly and carefully forwards. Satisfied we had a few minutes, I turned around to check on Julie, and found someone entirely unexpected kneeling over her, checking her wound.
"Back away, now," I said, raising my firelance from my hip at Delrin Barris, "Those are your buddies out there, they did this to her." The Templar was in full plate, sword at his waist, but had no indication of hostility. That drew some of my own away.
"I know. I came as soon as I heard. Your footman captain let me come here," he replied, following my command, "She needs a healer. I'll go get one." I felt like going back and shooting McNulty, but there was some method to his madness. At least now I had a ready source of information. Barris got up and called one of the mages on a roof. I checked on Julie again, as Leha took the Templar's place in making sure the wound had pressure on it. She was waking.
"Where are we?" she asked, "Is it over?" I shook my head, rubbing her hand with mine.
"We're in the residencies," I replied, "It's only been a few minutes." She tried to stand up, but failed, falling onto her stomach again. She cried in agony for a moment.
"Stay put, a healer's coming now," I said, as Barris led an older man over. The mage looked over the wounds, and began pouring magic into her without so much as a word. Julie seemed to relax as it happened, which was a good sign I thought, but the lack of prognosis was killing me.
"How bad is it?" I asked.
"Not your business," the mage replied impolitely, trying to concentrate, "Stop distracting me. Go fight, or none of us will survive." The backhand slap he was close to receiving would have stopped the healing process. I stopped myself, moved away. Barris and Leha joined me, waiting for my move. I sighed, and brought my radio mouthpiece to my mouth.
"This is La Fayette to McNulty," I said, "Report."
"We're almost ready to come relieve you, sir," McNulty said wearily in return, the sound of metal moving in the background of the transmission, "We need another five minutes."
Lightning flashes grabbed my eyes, the combat mages on the roofs above letting some of their more powerful tricks loose. Fireballs and ice spikes joined in. The Templars weren't close enough to use their abilities yet, though they were still pretty resistant to such attacks even at this distance. They were at about eighty yards and closing. Which was far too close for my liking, or Soprano's for that matter.
"We don't have five minutes," the captain of skirmishers said, both over the radio and to us from above, "There are hundreds of Templars, moving in from all sides now." That was better news than I had feared, because it meant we could still potentially win, but it was far worse than I had hoped.
"McNulty, secure the château," I said, "We'll come to you."
"Do you see any Orlesian banners up there?" Barris asked Soprano. The Captain shook her head.
"Seems to be just Templars, as far as I can tell," she said, "Besides, the Empress would send far more than this." Barris nodded, a smile on his face.
"That means that the Divine hasn't called for help," the Templar said, "Someone has launched this attack without Chantry authority." Which was a sliver of hope.
"Denam," I said, "He must have gone back and talked the survivors from Halamshiral into this."
"Or got independent leave from the Lord Seeker to act," Barris said, as if everyone knew what he was talking about, "But this still shouldn't be happening."
"Does that mean you're with us?" I asked, "Or do I have to throw you over that barricade as a hostage?" Barris found that amusing, smiling widely and drawing his sword.
"I'll fight for the honour of the Templars," he said, "The men and women out there are misguided, but they fight against it." Good enough for me. I readied my weapon again.
"Leha, move Julie to the château. Take the healer with you," I commanded, "Soprano, hold. Let the Templars get close, and prepare to loose a volley when you can smell them."
"Yes, Marquis," Soprano replied in clipped tone, before shouting the order herself to stop the pulling of triggers and the swinging of magical staffs. Leha and the healer tipped a cart that had been added to the barricade back onto its wheels, and manoeuvred Julie onto it carefully. I went over to her. I needed to say something to her. I wasn't sure if either of us would live through the next few hours. I had too many regrets to say silent.
I crouched down, so I could speak to her face to face. Tired green eyes looked at me, and my urge to get what I had off my chest increased tenfold.
"Listen, I'm sorry," I said, brushing her cheek, "You should fight for whatever you feel is right for your people, and I shouldn't tell you whether or not you should risk your life for something better." At that moment, I felt like I had taken away her right to do just that. She smiled warmly.
"You are forgiven," she replied, kissing my palm, "Thank you for everything." I had a dark feeling that she was saying that as her last words, but I was far too afraid to respond. She had been the first decent person I had met in Thedas, a wonderful woman with wit, charm and intelligence. Leaving her like this seemed like a crime, yet it had to be done.
"Marquis, they're here!" Soprano shouted.
I jumped up and looked, grabbing the grip of my firelance. The sound of wood being shoved onto the ground knocked around, followed by the sight of Templar swordsmen forcing their way through and over the barricade. Their shields were raised over their heads.
"Soprano, now!" I shouted, "Leha, get Julie to the château!"
Leha grabbed the handles of the cart at the front, the healer doing the same. Together, they took off through the snow, getting Julie out of the way. I could only spare a glance at this however, as the situation in front of me required far more attention.
The mages and soldiers above attacked the Templars below in a volley, spells and bolts impacting armour to little effect for the most part but finding their place against some unfortunates. The Templars fired arrows back from afar, or tried to climb up onto the roofs unsuccessfully. Barris grabbed one, surprising the man entirely and taking his life with a perfect stab under the breastplate. My fears about him switching sides in the face of the enemy were lifted, at least.
I could see that all the delaying that could be done was done. Time to withdraw.
"Retreat!" I ordered, "Barris, you too! To the château!"
The mages, the crossbowmen, Soprano and Barris all fled their posts, in that order. Those on the roofs clambered down with little difficulty onto piles of snow, and then away towards safety. However, without the constant shooting to slow them down, the Templars were emboldened. A great battlecry rose up from behind the barricade, and it was shattered seconds later in a great wave of human flesh and plate armour. A wave that came straight at me. It was terrifying.
However, mastering your fear is pretty much the first thing a soldier in combat has to do, and I had had plenty of practice.
I unleashed my heavy-firelance on the mass, shooting lines of tracers into the nearest before switching to the next. My barrel swept across the street at the troops coming at me. The plate armour didn't save any of them, and they lacked the magical barriers that had saved so many of White Mask's troops. Bullets pierced and ripped without mercy, tearing into guts and slicing open necks, with wet thuds. Bodies fell over each other, broken. Not something you forget. The tale of the slaughter I could personally unleash would get around in the years afterwards.
By the time I ran out of ammunition, the Templars had stopped coming, hovering at the corners of the buildings and stealing glances at me, waiting to see if the carnage was over. The barricade was a moving, moaning gallery of death. I feel immensely guilty about it today, and the reason for that is simple. At the time, I felt elation. A high of victory. I had conquered them. Those whom had done harm to one of my loved ones. I guess there was a certain masculine pride to it that is embarrassing to me today. Though I would do it again.
Knowing that the act of reloading would draw them in, I sprinted off towards the château. No arrows chased me this time, only the howling of the wind and the dying.
The château was well-prepared when I arrived, so much so that it almost killed me.
I was running at full tilt towards the entrance, finally breaking out of the street of residencies and back out onto the parade ground near the château. As the ground stretched almost as far as the street itself, I peered back to see if the Templars were following. They were, in large numbers and drawn up in formation. Deciding I needed to run faster, I spun back around to continue. A crossbow bolt whizzed by my ear, and I ducked. It had come from our own people. It was the last damned thing I needed.
"Stop shooting!" I shouted, making sure my radio was transmitting as well. I looked up at the château itself. The many windows on the second floor were full of wary looking men and women, crossbows ready to shoot. The same was true of the attic windows, though they had longbows instead. I picked myself off the ground, realising that I wasn't a target anymore, and ran as hard as I could to the archway.
Mike and McNulty appeared at the gate. They both appeared dishevelled from running about, probably from getting dressed too quick in the latter case, the Captain's hair was more messy than it usually was. They helped me in, before twenty or so of my soldiers closed them and began bracing the heavy wooden doors we had replaced the old ones with. I doubted it would be enough.
"Everyone is inside," McNulty reported, as we strode down the archway, "I've posted all our troops to either the windows or the garden. Lydia is in the attic with our best shots. The mages are going to stop any fires started and attend to the wounded, though the Knight-Enchanter insisted on having her people in the garden." I wondered who Lydia was, before recalling that he meant Soprano. Pleased he had done the best job I could have expected, I gave him a nod and a pat on the shoulder.
We entered the garden. McNulty's heavies and Velarana's battlemages were both around the edges, with the militia looking on with swords and shields. I recognised the standard of Duval on some of the shields, the Templar flaming-sword on others. Civilians mobbed around the square with nothing to do. The elderly and children, for the most part, as everyone else had picked up a weapon of some kind and was very much counted among the soldiery. There were now nearly two thousand people in the château, and there was still plenty of room to move about. A testament to its size, to say the least.
I realised that if the Templars got through anywhere, the garden would be the first place. The gates were just too vulnerable to hold. I ordered McNulty to move the non-combatants to the attic, the fear of fire a non-issue with so many mages around to put out anything the Templars tried to set ablaze. He saluted and ran off to talk with Velarana about getting it done.
I waited until he was gone, before turning to Leha.
"Where are they?" I asked, knowing she'd understand who I was talking about.
"Your room," she replied, "Armen and Ciara are up there too."
The dwarf brought me, via the courtyard stairs and through the inner corridor overlooking. Some of the doors to the rooms were open, showing the I stopped her before she opened the door, not sure whether or not I'd been saying goodbye. Clenching my jaw with nerves, I went in anyway.
The first people I noticed were Ciara and Armen at the left window, looking out at the advancing Templars, whom had lit torches. The light from outside reflected off them, revealing grim faces. They didn't turn from their watch, bow and staff in hand. They weren't who I was looking for, so my eyes searched elsewhere.
The bed had been moved further into the room, away from the windows, the headboard facing outwards almost so as to act as a shield from further mischief from outside. Tam stood, leaning over, her bow out so she could join the defence at a moment's notice. Julie lay splayed out on her stomach, clothing removed from her top half, backwards on the bed with her arms out wide, her head where her feet usually would lay and vice versa. She was sweating and wasn't moving, the bloody stain from the wounds made a mess far up her back and all over the bedsheets. The healer was beside her, hands glowing.
Julie wasn't awake and I expected the worst. I simply had to know how bad it was. I stepped ahead, coming to a wobbly stop beside the bed. Tam came around the bed and gave me a warm but short hug, before sitting down. That calmed me down a bit.
"How is she doing?" I asked quietly, the words sticking in my mouth a little. Which was a fair indication of how screwed up I was.
"She'd be doing a lot better if I wasn't interrupted every five minutes," the healer complained loudly, as he sealed the wound, "Shut up and sit down somewhere out of the way." Piece of shit had a lot of work to do on his bedside manner, though he was clearly skilled at the technical aspect of his trade. As much as anyone in Thedas was, which wasn't saying much.
His complete dismissal set me off like I was the god damned Guns of the Navarone. With a sort of cold callous disregard for his opinion, I pulled my handcannon from its holster, cocked it and flicked the safety off. I levelled the barrel at the man's face. He looked up at the weapon blankly, almost without interest, his hands' glow dying out. I had his attention and intended to keep it.
"That wasn't a request," I said venomously, "There are six hundred other mages in this building, including one in this very room, so I suggest you answer the fucking question!"
"Sam..." Leha said, trying to calm me down. That just made things worse.
"Shut up," I snapped at her. Tam moved closer to me again, putting her arms around me to try and soothe my rage. Violet eyes pierced me, telling me to restrain myself. A Qunari Tamassran trick I would learn later, and one she pulled on other occasions. One she only ever did for Julie and I. The Qunari take leave of their senses far more easily than we humans, or so everyone keeps telling me. She didn't touch my outstretched arms or get in my way, and what she did worked. My blood settled a little.
"Fine," the healer said, "Since you're so determined to risk her life for a report, you can have one. I had to put her into a deep sleep. The damage to her tissues can be healed easily, but the wounds were so deep that the fevers may kill her anyway. Satisfied?" His demeanor still made me want to riddle him with bullets, but he had given way. He returned to his work, hands glowing again.
A huge pang of guilt for what I had just done washed over me, but I gulped it down quickly. I wasn't the time for this. I holstered my weapon quickly, detached myself from Tam and walked around the bed to a startled Ciara and a concerned Armen.
The Templars had stopped, and were preparing a makeshift battering ram, balancing large shields on the sides of a cart and adding a prow made of a felled tree to it. The torches swayed in the wind menacingly, and I could tell none of our opponents were happy to be caught outside by their huddling together. My mind raced to decide what I could do to stop them. How I could break up their plans and send them running for their lives. Aside from wasting all my ammunition, I was coming up a little short. Which pissed me off.
Luckily, Armen was on hand to remind me of something. "What happened out there?" the mage asked, moving aside for Leha carrying a chair and her crossbow.
"Templars tried to talk to us," the dwarf said, "It didn't go well." A succinct and accurate answer if ever there was one.
My mind moved to thoughts of Knight-Captain Denam, and what a colossal turd he was. And yet, I couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to rally so many to fight. Evidently, he had pull with someone. I sensed an opportunity.
"What matters now is fending them off," I said, "We need to cut the head off the snake."
I knelt by the bed again, reaching underneath and unclasped the metal box strapped to the underside, before dragging it out. Inside were the tools I thought I might need at a moment's notice. My last remaining Claymore mines, six of them. A standard firelance with a couple of magazines for it. A bandolier of grenades. A bayonet. Other bits and pieces. Leha and the healer had a peek, probably wondering just what the hell most of it was. They were about to get a small demonstration.
I removed the precision firelance, with its telescopic sight, and a flaregun.
With no small amount of anger-induced gusto, I grabbed another chair, dragged it to the window beside Leha and Ciara, and sat down. I set down my heavy firelance, throwing its strap over my head, lay the sniper weapon across my lap and popped open the flaregun. I began whistling Yankee Doodle as I shoved the illumination flare into its place.
"Right, let's get this party started," I said to no one in particular, "Armen, I think you'll enjoy this most of all." The mage cocked his head to the side.
I aimed the flaregun from my chair up into the sky, and pulled the trigger. The effect was immediate and spectacular. A bright white star hissed from the barrel, and flew up into the overcast sky, spilling brilliant light over the entirety of our settlement, parade ground included. The Templars' full numbers were easily visible now, and there had to be at least a thousand. Perfect, I thought.
I tossed the now empty flaregun to the side, and picked the precision firelance off of my lap. I rested it on the windowsill, its bipod up, and reloaded it as utter chaos broke out below me. Our archers must have taken the flare as a signal to begin shooting, as a volley thumped into the Templars. It was with no small degree of grim satisfaction that I watched a gratifying number go down screaming, as I sighted my weapon.
The flare would only keep its light for a few moments, so I quickly searched the rear of the Templar formation for who I was looking for. A mounted man, with neck length hair, a pocked-face and a dirty sneer. It wasn't very hard to find him. As I expected, Denam was in the back with about twenty other mounted Templars, watching the carnage. He was shouting something as I put my crosshairs onto him. He was at about four hundred yards, almost halfway down the parade ground.
I took the shot, the firelance roaring a bright flame as it sent the bullet away.
Denam got caught on the left side of the upper torso, the bullet passing through his armoured breastplate with ease. I doubt it would have been so had I used any of my other weapons, barring the missile I had stowed in the basement. Alas, his body slumped over the front of the saddle, and he fell off of his horse to the ground. I smiled widely.
"Goodbye forever, you bastard!" I shouted out into the night. Step one complete.
The others looked on in shocked fascination. Not even the most skilled archer could have accomplished the feat, so not exactly surprising there. Tam even looked a bit jealous as I put the weapon back in its box, and recovered its heavy, rapid-fire cousin. The Templars were far from as complimentary.
As I took up my position again, a hail of arrows came through both windows. Two stuck in the floor next to the bed, three bounced off the wall nearest me, a few more hit the bookcase. Travels in Ferelden Volume II took the brunt of the latter's damage, to Julie's dismay when she discovered it. Not one to let an insult go unpunished, I aimed my weapon again.
"Start shooting," I ordered.
"Didn't need to ask," Ciara replied from the other window.
So we proceeded.
The flarelight died, so I flicked down the heat-vision device over my eye to see what was going on. Templars were beginning to roll their battering ram forwards at an impressive speed, steered precariously but more or less towards the archway connecting directly with the open space they were on. Their own archers were attempting to provide cover, keeping up a steady barrage of volleys, no matter how many casualties it cost them. My own people were shooting back at them, rather than at the battering ram, and I saw the danger immediately.
I shifted my weight on my chair, and sent hot lead down at them.
Tracers ripped into the metal-covered wooden shields like it was paper, and six bodies appeared in the wake of the wagon. They rolled over, close enough for me to see that they had caught bullets and splinters in places ranging from the thigh to the face. Which I should have been pleased to see, except that the damned thing kept on rolling towards the archway almost entirely on its own. There couldn't have been more than two people left pushing it, but the momentum it had built up was going to be enough.
The ram slammed to a stop against the archway gate, and the Templars gave a raucous cheer in triumph, before rushing forward with their torches and what I can only presume were buckets of tar. Considering that I couldn't just drop explosives onto them, my gut turned as I realised they were certain to get inside. The close quarters fight wasn't in my favour, and I was just as likely to shoot my own people if things got mixed up. I stood up and against the wall between the windows for a moment, thinking on what to do.
"Close the shutters," I said, not wanting more arrows to come through. Good thing too, as they came just as Tam and Ciara finished doing as I had commanded. I knew I wasn't going to be much good in my bedroom, but I was reluctant to leave Julie. I glanced over at her, and my eyes fell upon my remaining mines. A plan formed.
I rushed over, slinging my firelance as I did so, and picked the mines up.
"Tam, Ciara, Leha, with me," I said quickly, "Armen, stay here and protect Julie. At all costs." The last few words meaning I didn't care if he had to summon fifty demons to accomplish it, no one was to harm her. He got the picture, and gave me a solemn nod.
We left the room and into the corridor, which was a little more crowded now. There were wounded sitting about on stools, with arrows in their shoulder or arms. As we passed towards the stairs, the sight of a dead girl with an arrow in her eye greeted us. I paused, very briefly, before cursing under my breath. I had gotten her killed, after all.
I made a beeline for McNulty and Velarana as soon as we were in the garden, waving them towards me. Their people were in good order now, formed up on each of the archways to attack the Templars in the bottlenecks. Swords and shields at the ready, mages with their magical blades formed. They came over with confidence on their faces, even as the battering ram banged at the north gate. I was glad to see their nerves were intact, but then, they couldn't see the mass of Templars trying to get in.
"Change of plan," I said, "We're going to let the Templars in."
The two looked at me like I was insane.
"Marquis, I do not think that is wise," said McNulty diplomatically, "If we hold them at the gate, we'll be able to maximise the cost to them before they even get to here." Which was entirely the correct strategy if we only had primitive weapons at our disposal. However, our arsenal was considerably more advanced than that of our opponents, and they could not anticipate all of the variables as a result.
"Pull your people back behind the small enclosure walls," I continued, "When the time comes, you charge."
"Charge into what?" Velarana asked, "A solid wall of Templar swords?"
"You'll see," I said flatly, "Now clear that archway." I pointed to the north gate, having made it clear that I meant immediately. The Knight-Enchanter and the Captain walked away to do just that. It's nice to be understood perfectly.
While the soldiers filed out of the archway, I began setting up. Tam recognised what I was doing, and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Sam, are you sure?" she asked, "Would those not bring down the building?" I was preparing the mines, high explosives, after all. I thought about it for a moment. The château looked like a well-made stone structure, but I wasn't an engineer. I supposed that the explosions could weaken things, but it might not. There wasn't much choice any way. I could see that the gate was beginning to buckle from where I was standing.
"It'll be okay," I said. Tam accepted that, though I should have added 'hopefully' to qualify it.
In a minute, I had set up the mines at intervals on both sides of the archway, facing outwards. McNulty's men were crouched behind the little walls that surrounded the garden's flowerbeds. Velarana and her mages had erected magical shields around themselves. We were ready. So were the Templars.
The gate began to smoke, set ablaze to weaken it as the ram struck again and again. The wooden began to come apart, splintering along its length, the intersection between beams widening with each strike of the ram. I ran to join Tam and Ciara behind one of the little garden walls, and took the detonators in both hands.
The Templars finally succeeding in bisecting the wooden bar that kept the whole gate intact, and the fiery pieces swung on their hinges aside. The Templars gathered to rush the archway.
"Soprano, try not to shoot us as we leave the gate," I said over the radio, "Anyone near a window might want to back off."
The enemy charged. Shield-bearers led the way, defences up and barely able to see. Behind them, I could make out the regular swordsmen. Step by step, they moved through the archway towards me. Past the little green boxes, tucked in behind the supporting arches. One almost felt sorry for them. Almost.
"Fire in the hole!" I shouted. Ducking down, I depressed the triggers as the Templars were just about to exit into the garden.
The explosion threw hot air and dust over me, its boom amplified by the acoustics of the archway. The glass panes of the inner windows rattled violently, and the ones directly opposite smashed, sending glass spinning away from them. The mages' shields flickered with blue sparks. The smell of blood and burning flesh hit my nostrils, overwhelming my senses for a second. It was not a pleasant sensation.
I stood up, firelance aimed off the hip.
The Templars were a smoking heap of flesh and metal, some of its still moving but not likely to stay that way. They had been wall-to-wall when they had reached the end, and they fell exactly as they had stood; in ranks. The effects of the shrapnel, the tearing and rending of flesh, had been joined by an exaggerated blast effect courtesy of the enclosed space. The result was the least pretty sight I had seen thus far. I looked on in unexpected horror, as did those beyond in the parade ground.
I looked at the Templars and the Templars looked at me. Their faces turned from horror to vengeful, and I remembered that I had reason to be so as well.
"Velarana," I said.
"Yes, Marquis," she said.
The Knight-Enchanter powered up her spirit blade, and waved her fellows forward. The group ran to the archway, spotted the Templars, and charged. The whole group Fade-stepped over the piles of corpses, no hesitation evident from their backs, and began fighting the Templars in close with staff-magic and magical sword.
"Shall we follow, Marquis?" McNulty asked, not enthused by the idea. Probably because doing so would mean half-wading through dead people. However, the mages would be overwhelmed if we didn't do so.
"With me!" I shouted, "Keep together!"
I broke into a run. Through the archway. Over the two hundred and thirteen bodies. We counted later.
My boots were inundated with blood, but despite several instances where I nearly slipped or tripped over, I made it to the exit. Tam and Ciara managed to follow with me, though Leha hadn't. McNulty and his big guys were close behind, practically kicking the corpses out of their way as they came through. I examined the scene before me.
Velarana's charge had made a nice mess of the Templar arrangements. Mages and Templars fought almost individual battles, the hundred or so mages taking on only a single opponent at a time, blocking off others with delaying attacks or erecting walls of ice and fire to stop them from coming. Why the Templars simply did not dispel the magic, I didn't know at the time. I thought about it aloud, not expecting I would get a response.
"Their discipline is broken," said Barris, approaching from behind with McNulty, "Without a calm mind, the process to dispel magic is impossible."
"I can hardly blame them for lacking a calm mind after that display," McNulty added, indicating back to the archway with his head, "Let's get at them." Tam gave the signal to enter the fray by drawing her longsword and dagger, and led the general advance. I followed, trying to keep to the edge of the melee, where I could best use my tools and talents.
I don't remember much about what happened after that.
It was a large blur, possibly the result of what happened afterwards, but what I can recall is a complete lack of any sensible battle line. I shot dozens of men, but had to be careful, as bullets do tend to travel through and through. Dozens of ours were cut down. Sixty, to be exact, mostly the less experienced mages that we couldn't get to in time. Most of the Templar heavies were dead in the archway, so McNulty's troops were at a great advantage against the more lightly armoured survivors. The Templar continued to shoot up at the château, unable to shoot at us for fear of missing and hitting their comrades, until we closed in and they fled.
The archers fleeing started the general rout. About five hundred Templars had remained standing, the rest dead, wounded or surrendered, and they took to their heels. I called for our people to hold back, to let them flee. The survivors would have had only one conclusion to draw; that we had let them live. I hoped that would send a powerful message to their masters. We stood by and watched their backs, letting them go.
It was not to be.
The sound of a horn announced the presence of someone else in the woods. The Templars stopped dead near the end of the parade ground, looking to each other and gathering together. That told me they had no idea who was there, and it scared the living shit out of me when I began to hear horse hooves in no small numbers. Shapes began moving in the forest.
"McNulty, close formation!" I barked, "Prepare to repel cavalry!"
"CLOSE FORMATION!" he roared. The heavies moved forwards and fell in, kneeling down with their shields together. Those behind unslung crossbows, cocked them and loaded bolts before aiming them. Those in front kept their blades and spears out, pointing them forwards. They'd wait until whatever was coming came very close. Tam approached me, trying to say something about the horn calls, but she was cut off.
A dragon made of fire burst from the treetops.
Soundlessly, it flew above the canopy and glided towards the Templars. I recoiled in fear, my mind dragged back to the crash-site and Fraser's men.
In fairness to our foes, they scattered at the sight of the thing like it had been an order rather than a fear reflex, but it didn't matter. The result was as if they had been napalmed. The dragon crashed right into them, but rather than the fire disappearing or simply igniting as I had seen fire spells do before, the flames stuck to them like they had been dunked in pitch and set alight.
Hundreds of human candles ran about, screaming their lungs out until their lungs gave out. Those that weren't caught ran off in different directions, and the thumping of cavalry moving to intercept them rumbled from all around us. The smell of cooking flesh blew towards us, like bacon mixed with burning clothes. It was disgusting. I didn't know what to do, other than wait for the next fight.
"Mages, barriers," Velarana growled, "If that spell hits us without them, we're all dead."
I was briefly covered in blue, but the effect shattered like glass in an instant. It was quite noticeable too, as many eyes tracked to me as a result. I sighed wearily, and turned to the Knight-Enchanter with a shrug.
"This immunity isn't all good news," I said to her, "I'll stand in front."
"I'm going with you," Tam said immediately. I knew there was no point arguing. I pointed for Ciara to remain behind however. Armen would never forgive me if I got her killed. She obeyed, though with a pout.
I stepped forward a dozen yards in front of our formation, Tam beside me. She switched quickly to her bow, as more shapes began moving. I admit to flinching as well. Not as much as I did when I saw what came out into the open.
Lights began flicking on, revealing those hiding. They were mages, which was obvious because the lights were definitely not torches. They had a blueish-green hue. There were banners too, though I couldn't make out what was on them. The wind had died down. The newcomers were all mounted, but not in a way I had ever seen before. They were mounted on dracolisks, which is exotic to someone from Thedas but utterly disturbing to someone from Earth. It looked to me like they were riding four-legged velociraptors. I took a step back, the urge to run the fuck away beating down on me like a ton of bricks. Once again, Tam stopped me.
"Tevinter," she said, hardly believing her own eyes.
Not sure if I had heard her correctly, I stepped forward again.
"What, you mean the slavers?" I asked, "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Tam replied, not moving her eyes from the approaching thirty or so mages.
"What do we do?" I asked, "Are they here to kill us?" Tam was the resident expert on the subject of the Imperium after all, having helped to fight Tevinter for years. The Qunari simply shook her head however.
"I don't even know why they're here," she said, "How are they this far south!"
The 'Vints approached at a swift but casual pace, displaying no sign of hostility. Almost none of them seemed to be armed with any physical weapons, only staffs. That made me more confident, given that they couldn't hurt me, though what they were riding probably could. The one person who was armed with a sword was an old man, dressed in what would pass for a jester costume on Earth, in dark colours. He was clearly in charge too, as some of those around him kept looking to him as if waiting to be instructed.
The old man said something, and the group stopped dead. The lizard-mounts hissed a little, but complied. He approached us on his own, until he was close enough to talk without shouting. The wind died down suddenly, which was a little disturbing.
"That's close enough," I said to him, holding my hand up for him to halt. He rode forward a few more steps, until I got a hold of my firelance's grip. That got him stopping very fast, which intrigued me. He had some idea that it was a weapon, evidently.
"Are you the Marquis de la Fayette?" he asked with a warm smile on his face, illuminated by the tip of his staff, "The Peacekeeper?"
I wondered if my reputation could have possibly spread as far as Tevinter in a month. In fact, it didn't need to. Still, my curiosity did get the better of me.
"I am," I replied, "What is it to you?"
The man's smile got bigger, like he had found an old friend. That was very strange to me. I frowned back at him, which didn't stop him in the slightest.
"I am Titus Tiberius Pansa, military attaché with the Tevinter ambassador to Orlais. I've been looking for you," he said, "Or rather, someone like you."
"Someone like me?" I asked, "What, a peacekeeper?" The way he had said it made me think he wanted something from me. I sincerely hoped he didn't plan to ask me to try and fight the Qunari on behalf of the Imperium.
"A person of unique talents," the old man replied, "We have much to discuss, you and I." That set off all the warnings in my head. I raised my firelance by reflex. He chuckled.
"I don't intend to be your stooge, or your experiment," I growled. He held his hands up, still laughing to himself a little.
"I don't intend to make you one or the other," he replied, "I have something entirely else in mind. May we talk inside? The South really is cold in winter." He rubbed his gloved hands together, as if to illustrate the issue. I tilted my head, leaning towards telling him to go eat a boot somewhere. Yet again, Tam intervened.
"Why should we trust you?" she said, "You're Tevinter."
The old man's smile died, probably because he recognised what Tam was. She did have a helmet on, after all, so the only way she was going to be recognised was if someone looked a little more closely. That pissed me off a little, even though it was a fair presumption.
"I see the Qunari have already gotten to you," he said, his smile returning, "But I doubt you will be running off to Par Vollen any time soon, or you would have done so already."
"I am no longer a follower of the Qun," Tam replied, before I could say anything, "Now answer the question. Why should we trust you?"
The old man nodded, conceding the point. "Perhaps I have something that can convince you," he said, before he began rummaging around in a large saddlebag strapped to the rump of his dracolisk. The mount stared at me with glowing orange eyes, inspecting me as a piece of meat. I took another step back, coming level with Tam. It didn't seem at all bothered by the cold, which seemed strange to me. Of course, they're related to dragons, only the worst cold would bother them.
A minute later, and the old man had a cloth in his hands.
"Perhaps this will convince you," he said, beginning to unfurl it. I was barely paying attention at first, his mount's dead-eyed stare distracting me, but when I returned my full gaze to what he was doing, my jaw almost fell off my head. He held out the cloth in front of him, like it was a prize. I suppose to him, it was.
It was a large flag, and one immediately familiar to me. A red sun centred on a white field, with red sunbeams streaming out of it in all directions. The war flag of the Imperial Japanese Army. A flag from seventy-five years in the past, from Earth. I knew then that I had to speak to him.
"Okay, Titus Tiberius Pansa," I said, lowering my firelance, "You have my attention."
The old man smiled again.
"Please, call me Tiberius," he said to me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: We're really getting moving now! Another faction steps out of the shadows.
Special shout out to Drgyen for continuing to update the TV Tropes page he made for this.
Drgyen: Julie is essentially a Da Vinci-Einstein level genius, which does tend to help.
Tactus501st: Amazingness flows.
5 Coloured Walker: Cannons aren't that hard. I'm sure even Orlais can make them. It's the formula for gunpowder that's really holding them back.
IComeAnonymously: Thanks for reading, I'm glad you enjoy it.
Minor spoiler alert for Trespasser DLC beyond this point...
Regarding Qunari blackpowder, Trespasser has the formula as part ataashi venom, part deathroot, part powdered silverite ore. Real formulae are a mix of sulphur, charcoal and saltpetre. The ataashi is a dragon that spits yellow-green venom. We can assume what the Qunari collect from it is a highly concentrated sulphuric compound, because the other two ingredients fit other parts of the real formula. In reality, the best charcoal for gunpowder comes from small bush-like plants. I assume that deathroot is what the Qunari use to make the charcoal. The silverite ore is probably where the saltpetre comes from, possibly as a by-product. I find it interesting that the Qunari do use a dragon as a source of sulphur, because it suggests they don't have an independent supply. The largest source would be the pits in the far-south, funnily enough.
So, there's no need for retcons on the blackpowder issue.
When I was referring to technology limits in the last chapter, I was referring not to the chemistry of explosives but the weapons they'd be used in. You can't really make weapons beyond rifled, Minié-ball firing flintlocks without more modern industrial tools. Sam is very much aware of the explosives you've mentioned, that's not really the problem. Julie can't make modern bullets, or even percussion-caps, without industrial processes that are as yet unavailable to her.
WP is illegal for use in civilian areas and against civilians, and is of highly dubious legality against enemy combatants due to its chemical effect. At present, it is classed only as an incendiary weapon like napalm. Remember that Sam is from the near-future as well. I doubt a UN peacekeeping force would be allowed to use WP against enemy combatants. Tracers don't count in this regard, because they're for illumination. Same goes for smoke grenades, they're for cover.