Chapter Eighty-Two: Lesser Evils
Over the course of the entire night, we managed to extract our army from its camps and fortifications to new ones around the large hill where our primary forward operating base was.
We must've closed damn hellgates twenty times during the whole operation, often the same ones over and over again. The one closest to the FOB we had to close four times, as Aurelia's predictions of the rifts re-opening within hours were dead right.
It was a feat that tested all of our endurance severely, but as the sun rose in the east, all our troops were either in safety behind the defences of FOB Mars or back home in Troy. Most of the supplies and all of the secondary eluvians were also recovered, courtesy of the massive numbers of troops we had.
Whenever there were quiet moments, lulls in the combat on our side of no-man's-land, we could hear the sounds of the fighting in the camps and forts on the other side. Vael's forces had rallied, that much was obvious. Given the number of Templars in their ranks, they had the tools to repel demons, certainly. It remained to be seen if the Templars had the ability to close hellgates.
With our army rescued and the allied cavalry contingents running home with their tails between their legs, we returned with something like a victory, with seemingly tiny casualties even courtesy of our weapons. Yet it didn't feel like one.
All the energy and purpose we had built up to use in our final assault against Starkhaven seemed to be gone.
The reason why was pretty simple; there would be no final peace now. Not until this situation was resolved. We had no idea if it even could be resolved, and if it could, no one was under any illusions that it would be a quick fix.
The anti-demon squad made up of my companions and I staggered back to the FOB, all of us breathing heavily, our eyes and throats stinging from the gunsmoke. I sent most of them them back through the eluvians to home, and they were too tired to realise that I wasn't going with.
The troops that were forced to remain to guard the FOB were clearly unhappy, and for the first time, there was general and open unrest in the ranks of the Army.
Most of them had seen my companions and I waltz through the demons like they were nothing, and our reputation as heaven-sent heroes grew. But that was a double-edged sword. The dragoons scheduled to replace the utterly fatigued Rangers in their position on the hill were refusing to follow the order unless at least one of us with the Outlander blood remained.
Mike couldn't get them to comply, even under threat of firing squads, but I put an end to that sort of talk the moment I heard about it. Everyone was fucking terrified, not mutinously lazy or cowardly for the wrong reasons. Besides which, it's a waste of good soldiers to flog or shoot them when simple actions can buy their loyalty back.
I agreed to remain. Aurelia opted to do so too, as she had tagged along when I went to get my final status report . I didn't even ask the others.
Morale in the ranks was restored at once. What they didn't know was that I was going to be dead asleep the entire time.
As soon as everything was under control, I picked a corner in the prefabricated log cabin we used as a headquarters, sat my ass on the floor leaning against the wall, and went to sleep at once, using a blanket as a pillow. Going around to find an actual bunk would've taken too long. I needed to sleep right that damn minute.
I awoke nine hours later to the sound of someone calling my name, and the feeling of pressure on my side.
Cracking my eyes open, I saw McNulty standing over me. He must've relieved Mike at some point, I realised. I attempted to move, but found the weight against my side threatening to topple if I did so.
Aurelia was laying against me, head slumped against my arm, just as asleep as I had been. Her hands were tucked under the baby bump, as if to hold it in place, and the furs were gathered around her tightly. The hood was tucked behind her head, so that she was supported against the wall as well.
It was not some snuggle, in case that's what you were picturing. She was using me to prop herself up just as I was using the wall.
This surprised me. It showed a side of her that I hadn't seen before.
"Well, this is unexpected," I groaned, aiming the words at McNulty.
"Didn't think you had this sort of relationship," McNulty agreed, with an eyebrow raised, "She seems dug in like a tick there."
"We don't," I replied, "Just didn't think a Tevinter magister would be caught dead sleeping in a place like this. I guess she wasn't kidding about her military service on Seheron."
In the military, you eat and catch sleep whenever you can, because you might not get either otherwise. Being picky about either could lead to your death.
McNulty tilted his head slightly, like he had forgotten about her history. "What are you going to do?" he asked.
"Like I said, we don't have that sort of relationship," I stated.
I shook Aurelia's shoulder slightly. Her eyes shot open at once, and her head detached itself from my arm. She blinked rapidly a few times, before she realised we were staring at her.
"Sorry," she said.
"Comfortable?" I asked.
"No," Aurelia said, sounding offended, "You sat down here. I sat down with you, assuming you wanted a quiet talk, or that something was wrong. Then you fell asleep immediately. I was so tired I couldn't get up. So I thought 'Maker damn it all' and went to sleep too."
Sounded plausible. Funny, even. But another thing was on my mind.
"How's the kid?" I asked, "Not in any danger from the exertion last night?"
Well, not that Aurelia was doing any running around, but she didn't have to. She could Fade step and levitate herself at will, so it was mainly magical and psychological exertions I was concerned about. I had no idea if the former could have physiological effects, but the latter certainly could.
"He's fine," Aurelia winced, patting the top of her baby bump like it was a puppy, "He just started moving again."
McNulty gave an amused snort, before I could ask how she could possibly be aware of that. It's not like we had ultrasound machines around the place. "Don't tell me you know it's a boy?" he said, "You got magic for that?"
My Tevinter bride shifted her weight to the side, biting the side of her cheek while she did it.
"My family does, but I have not used it," Aurelia replied, "No, I think it's a boy because the little shit keeps jumping and kicking into my bladder like he enjoys it. If you'll excuse me..."
She offered her hand to McNulty, who helped her up, and proceeded out of the doorway of the headquarters cabin. A sonic boom loud enough to wake the dead announced she had used a Fade step as soon as she was outside, presumably to transport her to the latrines ASAP.
I on the other hand was perfectly content to remain on the floor, still feeling like an elephant was sitting on my legs. I pat the ground next to me where Aurelia had been, inviting my subordinate to sit.
"Did you wake us for your own amusement, General?" I asked McNulty, inflecting so he knew I wasn't reprimanding him, "Or was there a reason for it?"
"There was indeed, Commanding-General," McNulty replied in good humour, sitting down beside me, "It seems the area the demons can move in around each hellgate is expanding."
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "You seem remarkably calm about this," I said.
"It only seems to be happening elsewhere," McNulty said, "Reports came in from Gibraltar and up north. Also, the expansion is pretty small, less than a metre."
I didn't like the sound of that, at all. It had been half a day at most since the big event in question. If the hellgates' reach increased by a metre a day, it would mean more and more land being essentially unuseable as time went on. And we couldn't assume the expansion of the zones would not accelerate.
The implications on logistics, politics and economics were god damn horrifying.
"Looks like the time for sleeping is over," I said, climbing up the side of the wall, log-by-log, "Get me more ammunition and a runner in here."
"Yes, sir," McNulty said, before adding, "What for?"
"I'm out of ammo, and I gave up supreme power," I replied, finally getting to my throbbing feet, "Which means I need more bullets and permission from the Chancellor for what I'm going to do next."
While I waited for word from Troy, Aurelia and I cleaned ourselves up a bit, ate as much food as we could stuff into our mouths, all while I filled her in on my plan. Aurelia loved it immediately, probably because it was as arrogant as any a Tevinter leader could've come up with.
More ammunition and fresh clothes arrived before permission to act did, and the both of us prepared ourselves for battle again, albeit with more finery than the night before.
I dressed in my own Earth uniform for the first time in a while, complete with my UN beret retrieved from Soprano and tucked under my shoulder strap. Aurelia's black and yellow ensemble had made a reappearance, though there were more suitable boots to go along with it rather than courtly shoes.
As I was loading up my empty magazines with bullets and Aurelia was honing the edge of her naginata, McNulty and his runner approached us in the tent we were using.
"The High Chancellor has approved your plan," McNulty said, with a frown on his face, "But there are conditions."
The runner stepped over and handed me a note. Scanning it, I realised I could've predicted the contents easily. I read it aloud for Aurelia's benefit, as she saw no sign of moving from her task of preparing for battle.
"Take a platoon as escort. No concessions on ground taken, except for that which is directly his. End to anti-Libertarian purges. Permanent peace negotiations. Velarana."
Aurelia stopped working her blade and laughed. "Did you not tell her that I am coming with you?" she said, "A platoon, ha!"
"Orders are orders, she must think some troops will dissuade them from trying anything," I shrugged, before turning to McNulty, "You good to provide a platoon?"
"Yes, though I'd prefer to send my whole division," he growled back, "Don't suppose you'd wait for me to organise that?"
"Afraid not," I said, "That might be misinterpreted."
"On the contrary, it would send exactly the message I want them to hear," McNulty said, lip curled, "You're fucked, aristo bastards has a nice ring to it."
"I'll be sure to pass that along without using a firelance to bark it at them," I chuckled, "No need to worry about that."
"Good," the Grenadier said, "I'll give you one of the stormtrooper platoons. They'll take ten Maker-forsaken Templars for every one of them that falls."
"Hopefully it won't come to that," I said, "Besides, I doubt they'll get the chance before my dear wife here turns the Templars into a new exciting artform known as Ash in Plate Armour."
Aurelia smiled warmly, and standing up on her toes, kissed me on the cheek. "Keep this up," she said, "And I'll really begin to enjoy you."
Yikes.
Aurelia, myself and twenty five of the largest fighting men in Troy began our mission soon afterwards.
If you haven't figured it out by now, the objective was a simple one; cross no-man's-land to the nearest 'havener fort and attempt to negotiate a ceasefire.
No doubt you are wondering why on Earth I would go myself. After all, the Starkhaveners hated my guts, hated my very existence. Hated Aurelia and democracy and mages and uppity elves too. Surely, murdering me or taking me hostage would've been on the cards for such a plan, not a successful ceasefire.
I was betting on a couple of things to make sure that wouldn't happen.
Our obvious military advantages had not disappeared, first of all. Any harm that came to me under a flag of parley would essentially earn the coalition of cities against us a retribution the likes of which they knew we were perfectly capable of.
My destruction of Ansburg was for the purpose of making sure they knew, after all.
Second, I intended to demonstrate both my own anti-magical capabilities first-hand for them, and Aurelia's ability to temporarily close the hellgates. That ought to convince anyone who saw it of the necessity of cooperation.
Lastly, I was offering them an out on the current predicament they had put themselves into. That was what Velarana had meant by 'permanent peace negotiations' in her note. Our High-Chancellor remained generally against wars, the fact she had used the gathering coalition as a means to force me to take power notwithstanding.
Rather than ending up as Trojan vassal states, Starkhaven and her shitty allies might be able to survive this with something approaching independence. Not that they'd use that offer wisely, no doubt that as soon as the demons were dealt with, they'd be plotting the next war. By which point, Velarana would no likely longer be High Chancellor.
The gloves would be off, replaced with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.
We set off northwards, along the bank of the river, towards the only fort within easy reach. It was the only one that did not seem surrounded by hellgates, though there was one directly upon its ramparts, we could see from our FOB that it was the only one. There were also Starkhaven forces beyond, and the Prince's banner was to be seen. Perfect for our purposes.
There were no hellgates directly on the way, though we came into the interaction zones of a few. Aurelia and I didn't so much as have to lift a finger, the stormtrooper grenadiers dispatched them with accurate fire from their firelances. Their numbers weren't anything like those we had seen the night before.
"Are demons afraid of sunlight?" I asked Aurelia as we moved out of the last zone before the ramparts, "There don't seem to be as many."
"Noticed that myself," Aurelia replied, head turned off to our right where the demons had come from last, "They're not afraid of many things, and sunlight isn't one of them. Demons and spirits are more fickle than humans and elves are. Perhaps our world is boring to them now they have had a taste of it."
Trusting her word, I shut up and kept moving. As we went, I spotted sentries on the next fort over staring at us. Vael would know we were coming, at least.
It only took a few minutes more to enter the zone of the hellgate we were targeting.
The demons didn't appear at once, which was strange. I had expected them to be waiting on the very edge of the area they could exist in, screeching and writhing with impatience to get at us. We couldn't see any on our side of the ramparts at all, when we arrived.
I aimed up along the top of the fortifications, waiting for something to pop up. Nothing did, for the moment. Yet our way was still barred, by a forest of sharpened wood.
"Lieutenant, clear the way of the stakes," I ordered, "We need to get closer to the hellgate itself."
"We'll set a charge," the lieutenant said, "Should do the job."
"We'll cover you," I agreed, patting Aurelia on the shoulder to spread out and watch for the demons that were almost certainly around. She got the idea and Fade-stepped away from me about thirty or forty paces, before pulling out her gladius to augment her naginata as it swirled with fire.
The stormtrooper grenadiers produced a keg of gunpowder from one of their packs, unsealed it and stuck a thin glass tube of lyrium into its centre, before resealing it. This was a cheaper alternative to the high explosives we used in our rockets and artillery shells, but when separated, they were safer to move on foot too.
The platoon advanced on the defences carefully, firelances aimed up at them, the man with the lyrium-enhanced charge escorted closely by three others. Aurelia and myself stayed back, able to support them from where we were pretty easily.
I spotted movement on the parapet, among the wooden crenellations designed to let archers take cover. It looked reasonably humanoid, which was surprising, but I only saw it for a split second.
"Contact front!" I shouted, "1 o'clock."
The barrels of twenty or so firelances aimed to the right a little, as the stormtroopers attempted to get a bead on the target. I'm not even sure most of them had seen a clock, but they knew what o'clock meant in the context of direction, at least.
The enemy had gone to ground, or into cover, and did not reveal itself.
The lieutenant ordered the team with the explosive charge forward and a squad to move right, parallel to the defences, to see if they could find the enemy. A competent move, I thought.
I started to move up to join them, when something hit my left shoulder blade with the force of a weak punch. I hadn't been expecting it, so I took a tumble to the ground, thrown off balance mid-step. As I fell, my ears filled with a low, droning moan that I had never heard before.
My heart pumping like I had run a couple of miles all of a sudden, I half rolled to get up on one knee, and aimed my firelance in the direction of the sound.
What I found in front of me was unforgettable.
Floating a few inches off the ground directly where I had been standing a second before, was a horrifying chimera of a demon.
It seemed to be a corpse of a man, with an squid or a facehugger from the Alien movies as a skull from the nose up. It had huge spider's legs sprouting from its back, tipped with spear-like blades, yet still had the arms and hands of a human. Its nails were lengthened into talons.
In one of the hands was something approximating a Kalashnikov, a firelance from Earth. The clothes too were from Earth, looking pseudo-military but all in black.
One of its spider's legs was injured, the blade-tip gone. Its human jaws dropped open between the squid-tentacles hanging down its cheeks, and another ghastly moan came out of it, like the thing didn't have enough air in its lungs to scream.
The very moment I got over my shock at what the hell I was seeing, I fired my firelance off the hip straight into the thing. At the same time, a pinpoint of light hit it, and the world exploded into fire all around me. The flames were bright orange and blue, completely engulfing everything.
I could feel the heat vaguely on my face and I struggled to breath. So much for magical immunity, I thought, as the oxygen was sucked out of the air. But that only lasted a second or two, and I was able to breath again despite the flames. It was a strange sensation, to be in the middle of an intense fire yet but almost unaffected by it. I understood what had happened.
A short blizzard blew through next, choking off the flames and exposing a burnt circle of grass all around my feet, where the demon also lay twitching, still not dead but very nearly. Aurelia appeared at my side, the source of both the fiery explosion and the ice that quelled its aftermath.
I thanked her breathlessly, getting my heart rate under control at last. No point complaining about the magical attack. If anything, using me as bait for Aurelia to dump magic on suddenly occurred to me as a great tactic.
The demon gurgled and twitched on the ground, regaining my attention, its strange flesh cooked to a char, particularly at the extremities. The spider legs and taloned-hands were completely carbonised. The bullet holes in its gut oozed black blood, and the edges of all of its wounds glowed green like the rifts.
"What the actual fuck is that thing?" I asked Aurelia, pointing with my firelance at it.
"Fear demon," she said, "A powerful one too, it is either very old or very clever in its choice who it feeds on."
"Why the hell has it got a firelance?" I asked, kicking the half-melted Kalashnikov out of its hands. The weapon immediately burst like a fruit into green-glowing slime, the remains being sucked into the air in a tiny water-spout like movement.
"Fear demons feed on fear, deep set fears," Aurelia said, "It attempted to read yours and mimic one of them, though it was not able to read you very well. Perhaps you fear coming up against another Outlander as well armed as you are, one day?"
That didn't sound right.
"That isn't it," I said, "Judging by the clothing and weapon, any Outlander equipped like that wouldn't be a serious threat, unless I didn't see him coming."
"Then the fear the demon was exploiting was 'the unseen enemy'," Aurelia shrugged, "Either way, it failed to read you properly and couldn't know that touching you would injure it far more than you."
She span her naginata around and plunged the blade straight into the demon's chest. Its charred skin and the thing's equivalent of a breastbone crunched, forcing a grimace out of me, before the thing melted back into the Fade like the rest of its kind had when killed.
Something bothered me though; this thing couldn't possibly have been the same enemy I had seen on the top of the parapet. It was too big, for a start, and I would've noticed the extra limbs the first time. I mentioned this to my demon expert.
"A Fear demon of that strength would've scared most other demons away," Aurelia mused, "We should be clear to hit the hellgate itself." She really shouldn't tempt fate by saying shit like this.
The firelances of the stormtroopers sounded off, crackling at random. I turned around, finding them shooting at something in among the wooden stakes. It seems the charge team had set down the device and withdrawn, because I couldn't see it... at first.
"Contact!" the lieutenant of the stormtroopers shouted, "It's stealing the charge!"
Sure enough, the keg seemed to be moving through the stakes, held by two arms up over something's head. The stormtroopers were moving forward, attempting to get a shot off at it... ignoring the obvious danger in doing that.
There were too many stakes in the way to see who or what it was. I brought up my firelance, its scope having some magnification, and to my disgust, the keg wasn't in fact being held by hands... but by something closer to feet, but with an opposable thumb attached. Nasty.
"Another fucking demon," I spat, before raising my voice, "Lieutenant, back away!"
"Want me to hit it?" Aurelia asked, "I can burn down the whole area."
"Wait until it tries to clear the ramparts and hit it with lightning instead," I said, "I want a good look at it, and I'd prefer to not set fire to the entire fort."
"Oh, you'll regret that," Aurelia sighed, "But your wish is my command."
We waited for a bit, as the stormtroopers withdrew to a safe distance. The keg wobbled as the thing carrying it moved through the stakes, before finally coming into view.
It was indeed humanoid in shape... except for the second pair of arms coming out from its sides, both of which had the weird feet-with-thumbs too. Instead of walking upright, it was crawling on its front two arms while its 'legs' carried the explosive charge over its body. It was buck ass naked, but luckily had no genitalia, and seemed to have pulsing red veins all around its limbs.
I couldn't see its face, but I was pretty sure I didn't want to.
I waited until it began to climb the short walls of the fort, wedging its hands in the gap between the vertical logs to haul itself up.
"Alrighty then," I said, "It's all yours."
"My pleasure," Aurelia said, levelling her naginata crystal-first at the thing.
A single lightning bolt erupted from the end. It wasn't a particularly impressive one by Aurelia's standards, but it didn't need to be; she wasn't aiming for the demon itself. By now, it had carried the lyrium-enhanced explosive charge half-way up the fort's front. The lightning hit it dead on, which was indeed more to Aurelia's standards; we were a good two hundred yards away.
The demon didn't know what hit it. The charge exploded, obliterating it in a flash of bright blue light, as the blackpowder within sent the lyrium into a critical state. Hitting lyrium with a hammer the wrong way is enough to cause an explosion, hitting it with the force of an explosive device produces a far larger one.
The fort wasn't designed for such a thing, something we knew and had been counting on. The stakes pointing outwards were flattened or pulled clean out of their holes. The ramparts and parapet had a hole gouged in them twenty metres across, the soil and logs that had made them up torn up and sent spinning into the air. Wooden crenellations, no longer attached to anything, span like frisbees in every direction.
My satisfaction at the result was interrupted by having to dodge such debris coming straight at me. It was a close thing too, flying wood is far more deadly to me than a demon.
"Well, that worked," I grumbled, brushing myself off after having flung myself to the ground, "What sort of demon was that? A spirit of Theft perhaps?"
"Not quite," Aurelia said, "It was an Envy demon. I'd recognise that form anywhere; it was the demon that attempted to take my soul during my Harrowing."
I was well aware of the ritual of the Harrowing courtesy of Armen, where young mages are sent into the Fade consciously to test them against the demons that would use them as entry points into reality. The difference is that in Tevinter, mages are told what to expect...
"Envy?" I said, "Why did it want the charge?"
"Same reason that Fear was here," Aurelia said, "The soldiers stationed here were afraid and envious of Trojan weapons, probably. I think the demons here are not thinking rationally, but acting on their instincts without thought. Neither demon should've revealed themselves, but they did."
"Is that good news?" I asked, "Makes it easier to beat them?"
"Only for so long," Aurelia warned, "After a certain point, the zones will begin to be more familiar to them, and presumably the demons will not be driven mad by the presence of reality any more."
"Presuming that the big hellgate down in Ferelden doesn't swallow the world first," I said, looking off to the south briefly. The sky there, even in the daytime, was tinged an unnatural green.
"Seems we have an audience," Aurelia said, nudging me.
She was right. At the parapet of the other fort within sight of us, an entire crowd of soldiers were watching with great interest. Which was both good and bad.
Good, word of our power and ability to fight demons would spread.
Bad, the Starkhaven forces clearly were not broken and clearly had competent soldiers in numbers remaining.
Ah well, I thought.
"Let's give them the finale," I said, "And close the hellgate."
We climbed the remains of the fort, finding the burned and ripped remains of both tents and men scattered behind it everywhere on a field that sloped slightly towards the nearby river.
The stormtrooper-grenadiers surrounded Aurelia as she worked her magic. A few more demons were around, but these were shades; the least dangerous of demons to our troops due to their lack of ranged capability. The firelances of the stormtroopers put them down with ease.
I spent the time watching our watchers.
Our audience had greatly expanded; a Starkhaven camp was directly behind the fort, and they had set up more stakes about where the edge of the hellgate's zone was. An entire battle line's worth of men and women were gawking at us, fully armed and armoured, as we stood directly underneath the rift itself.
Nobles, templars, knights, men-at-arms, mercenaries, peasant archers... Many took off their helmets to get a better look. Some even had their breakfasts to hand. Not quite dinner and a show.
Thankfully, there was no cloud of arrows unleashed upon us, even when Aurelia completed her task and the hellgate was closed.
A defensive circle was no longer the best option.
"Lieutenant, form a skirmish line facing the Starkhaveners," I commanded, "And bring out the colours."
"Yes, sir!" the lieutenant responded, before snapping off the orders.
The stormtroopers spread out into a battle line of our own to either side, keeping a space of about three paces between each man. Two men remained with the lieutenant, to begin uncovering and unfurling the colours; the tricolour of Troy and my personal standard, the banner of the United Nations.
While that went on, I pulled my helmet off my head, and clipped it to my belt. In its place, I put on the turquoise beret, making sure the false-gold coat of arms on the front was straight. Helmets were for battle, and I didn't plan to do much more battle that day.
"What now?" Aurelia asked, "They don't seem to want a fight, but the second we move..."
"They might change their minds," I agreed, "Only one way to find out."
I walked straight out across the field towards the Starkhaven camp, stepping over and around the corpses. Aurelia came along, though she levitated herself just off the ground most of the way, which I noticed when I glanced to see if anyone was following me. Thankfully, the stormtroopers were too, the lieutenant and the two standard-bearers directly behind me, and the rest staying in their skirmish line as they moved up.
It got a reaction out of the Starkhaven forces at last.
I could hear the commands of 'spears ready' and 'archers, nock!' from some distance off, though no command to loose anything at us was forthcoming just yet.
When we were at about a hundred yards from them, I held up my fist to the side; the signal for the stormtroopers to stop. It was a range that every single one of my soldiers could fight effectively from, and about the longest effective range of the grenade launchers converted from crossbows that they had.
In the mean time, I kept walking forwards with Aurelia, for another fifty yards. Some bows were drawn and aimed at us. Aurelia's barriers immediately went up as she drew level with me, still hovering in the air, ready to move in front of me with a quick Fade step if it looked like the bows would let loose.
Far enough, I decided.
I stopped dead, and gestured for Aurelia to land, which she did without complaint, as we had cleared the corpses by now.
I couldn't see any fear or hesitation in our erstwhile opponents, they had donned their helmets again and many had face protection of some sort, like a padding scarf. The higher ranked ones had also disappeared behind their subordinates, because no one looked particularly well equipped all of a sudden. Hopefully, they'd be able to hear me behind eight ranks of soldiers.
I cleared my throat, as the smell of dead people was never good for the sinuses, before addressing the crowd.
"I am Samuel Hunt!" I declared in Common, "On behalf of the Trojan Republic, I want to speak with Prince Vael about an end to hostilities!"
The men and women in front of us lowered their weapons and looked at each other, clearly not believing what they were hearing. I suppose it might be a bit like Osama bin Laden or Ianto walking up to our battle line and asking for negotiations. It had the natural result.
Two or three arrows came straight at me, before I could do anything about it.
But Aurelia certainly could, and she was between me and the shooters in the blink of an eye.
The arrows were deflected harmlessly off of her barriers, spinning off into the grass. Thankfully, she also knew not to retaliate. I wasn't sure if she could take on literally a thousand people on her own, but we knew that testing that out would be against our general objectives here.
"Enough!" came a gruff voice, "It is not for us to decide what happens to him!" The archers lowered their bows at once.
A elf moved through the battle line, the soldiers actually parting for him. The humans didn't even seem pissed off by this guy seemingly waltzing forward, giving them orders. That wasn't the only surprising thing about him.
His hair was pure white, yet I placed his age around the same as my own; early 30s.
He had tattoos all over his bodies, but instead of ink, they were made with glowing white-blue lyrium.
His armour was extremely impressive too, a mix of leather and silverite plate, clearly designed to give him maximum mobility with good protection. A combination which he used to sink the massive greatsword on his back into people, no doubt.
"I am Fenris, Master of Horse for his Highness, Prince Vael of Starkhaven," the elf introduced himself, "I will bring you to the Prince, though I cannot guarantee he will keep you alive when you are delivered to him."
"It is the Prince who ought to be worried about survival when we meet," Aurelia countered, "You are Danarius' former plaything, are you not? He bragged about you enough to annoy my father."
Fenris' eyes narrowed, locking onto Aurelia briefly, before doing the same to me.
"It would be wise if the mage did not speak again," he said, "I am a patient man, but I have my limits. Her present condition will not stop me or the Prince from dealing with her as appropriate for a Tevene criminal." His accent was hard to place, being sort-of English. It had a deep timbre though, and I was sure he could've talked his way into many a set of beds if he wanted.
"Not the way you should speak to someone who could treat your coalition of cities as appropriate for tyrants and mass murderers," I countered, "We came to speak peace. Take us to your Prince, stow the threats."
That outcome was almost a certainty if Tam discovered I had gone off to negotiate and been killed, captured or otherwise harmed. To say nothing if I survived while Aurelia and the kid did not.
Fenris' grinned nastily, granting me a single nod like I was exactly how he expected. Plotting my death in his head too, probably. "Very well," he said, "If you and your soldiers would follow me..."
It turned out that the Prince of Starkhaven was in the next camp over, the one behind the fort which provided such a fine view of our fight with the Fear and Envy demons.
It was clearly not originally the location of his headquarters; its fortifications were not strong enough, the tents were not those of nobles attached to the sovereign of an entire realm, and the organisation of the layout was pretty shoddy. I recall thinking that the defence would've fallen to pieces here, the second the first artillery shells began landing.
Despite this, there was an air of matters being taken in hand. Noble officers were ordering about commoner labourers, with new earthworks being dug and tents being repositioned. Everywhere we went, the stares followed us.
I half-expected shouting, spitting, expressions of anger... but none came. Instead, there were hollow gazes of fear, not of us but of the future. No wonder such a powerful demon had been attracted.
Fenris brought us to the only large tent worthy of royal station in the entire camp, where Prince Vael and his most important supporters waited in leather and wood camp chairs.
A few things struck me about Vael. His eyes were a sort of baby blue, framed by red-brown hair which was neck length but combed back. He had the sort of chiseled jaw that would've seen him in action roles if he somehow made it to Los Angeles. Despite this, he was dressed in clean but simple robes of a Chantry brother, a red and white shirt and dark pants. Very modest.
He had been injured in his side, as there were some small spots of blood soaking through the shirt. I wasn't sure if they were trying to cover this fact up or not, but they made no mention of it later. He wore no weapons, jewellery, or crown at all.
His supporters were exactly who you would expect; a Grand-Cleric from the Chantry and two senior Templars.
The priestess was undoubtedly Francesca. We had intelligence on her as someone who was whipping up anti-libertarian hatred. She had reportedly refused to attend the Divine's Conclave as the war against Troy required spirital guidance. The Divine later ordered her to attend, because the letter was still on the desk of the Left Hand when the Breach opened.
Unfortunately, given how many Grand-Clerics were now likely dead, she would be a pretty strong contender for the new Divine. She likely didn't know it yet, or she would've been far more of a problem. I certainly wasn't going to tell her.
Both Templars kept their helmets on, in case things got ugly. Not that it would save them.
More camp chairs were offered to Aurelia and I, facing the Prince, which we graciously accepted. As we sat, Fenris moved over and stood beside Vael, whispering something in his Prince's ear and getting a dismissive wave over the shoulder in reply.
"I am Sebastian Vael," he said, in a mellifluous Scottish accent, "Prince of Starkhaven and leader of the Holy Coalition for the defence of the Marches."
Another guy who could do radio. Perhaps a duo; Seb & Fen's Morning Show on FM104.
"Samuel Hunt, Marquis de la Fayette," I said, "And this is Aurelia Tiberia Valentina, propraetor of the Tevinter Imperium."
"And Governor-Militant of Valhalla," Aurelia added, keeping to the Tiberian insistence on referring to everything about Troy in the context of Tevinter law in formal situations.
The Grand-Cleric looked at her as if a dog had just done its business, which Aurelia ignored with the contempt that only a scion of a millennia old dynasty can muster.
"We have come to end hostilities between the Trojan Republic and the..." I started, trying to recall the full name, "Holy Coalition for the defence of the Marches."
The Prince stared for a moment.
"But not the Imperium?" Vael asked, directing the question at Aurelia, "Last we heard, the Archon himself was at the gates of Nevarra City."
"I am not empowered to negotiate on behalf of the Imperium," Aurelia replied, "Not when the field armies have become involved. I can only negotiate on behalf of the forces of the Far-Southern Provinces, of whom the Marquis is the legatus legionis."
"Yes, we're well aware of this polygamous rapscallion," the Grand-Cleric said, "One wonders if it is the Maker who has made him a bane to magic, or if he has contracted with some dark and old powers. Perhaps a demon of pride has attached itself to him somehow."
If only she knew how close to the truth she was there... but even I did not know at the time, so I ignored her, as did Aurelia.
"What peace could you possibly offer us?" Vael frowned, "Not only would we still have to fight Tevinter, but we could not trust your own word as you are betraying your own allies. We need all our forces to deal with the demons."
This argument was childish in light of the catastrophe that had just occurred. Our common interest in not being eaten by fucking demons would keep everyone honest, for a good while at least.
"What applies to you also applies to us, including the Tevinter force outside Nevarra City," I said, "The demons are too dangerous. I'm told that if something is not done about the openings to the Fade quickly, we are all in very serious danger. If that's not a reason to try for peace, I don't know what is."
Vael brought his hands together in a steeple, looking over them at me. "You shake the very foundations of the Chantry, invade Ferelden under false pretences, seize territory in the Marches that is not yours, shelter apostates..." he said, "You destroy Ansburg, and now you want peace? You must understand you have a credibility problem. You sow disorder and dissolution wherever you go."
The classic issue when any two fighting sides come together to talk peace... 'What about all the blood that has already been spilled?'
Compromise agreements rarely satisfy as answers to such questions, yet they are often the most successful where two opponents have no desire or capability to eliminate the other.
"We have done none of those things," I replied, "Except to destroy Ansburg. They refused to surrender, in a war you started to annihilate us and our way of life. No doubt you will say that our way of life is evil, but you allied yourselves to the Qunari and purged Libertarians, so talking about each other's atrocities like you have no blood on your own hands is meaningless."
"Ansburg chose death over humiliation," Aurelia added, "You should not dishonour that noble act by pretending it never was a choice."
"Your Highness..." one of the Templars said, also in a Scottish accent, "Please allow me to smite and chain this mage. Her presence offends, and I fear for your safety."
"Can I help?" Fenris added with amusement, "She most definitely requires a lesson."
The Prince brought his hand up to his face, rubbing his eyes.
"No, you may not," he said to both of them, "Marquis, I do not mention your actions simply to castigate you for your many sins. Questions will be asked by the nobles about why I am making peace with you, particularly the ones exiled from their homes by your armies."
Then hang them like you let your friends do to the elves of Tantervale... is what I wanted to say.
"Answer them with the consequences of refusing the offer of peace," I replied, "Our military forces are needed to fight the demons, wasting them on fighting each other would be unforgivable stupidity while people are attacked in their homes and farms. It would aid whoever is responsible for this atrocity."
"How do we know you are not responsible for it?" the Grand-Cleric asked, seriously, "You seemed to be able to close the portals the demons use to enter our world."
A reasonable question, I thought, but one we had an answer for.
"We cannot be responsible because we are on the wrong side of the Waking Sea," I replied, "The centre of whatever is happening is in Ferelden somewhere, you can see it plainly in the sky even now." I thumbed over my shoulder, southwards.
The Grand-Cleric's eyes did track that way briefly, before she gave a harumph, like she wasn't sure that meant anything, but I pressed on regardless.
"We both have forces that can deal with demons," I said, "You saw how we dealt with them. You have Templars, they are effective too. With peace, we can work together to make sure the second harvest isn't left to rot in the fields. It's not each other we have to worry about so much as high grain prices and hunger."
No one challenged that particular point. Everyone on Thedas was acutely aware of the disorder and chaos a food shortage can cause.
"And there's one more thing, which I should not have to mention. The war didn't go well for you. You were pushed all the way back to your last line of defence by us, and your allies were pushed all the way back to theirs by the Imperium. If hostilities continue, the war will go even worse for you."
"You were not certain of victory," Fenris said, "We have moves to make you could not even dream of."
At the time I thought he was talking shit, but he wasn't kidding.
"Maybe you did, but those options are off the table now," I said, "We can operate despite the demons, you cannot."
"There are also the political ramifications," Aurelia chipped in, "Continue the fight and you'll simply convince the League of Ansburg that they're better off with us. They're being informed right now that we're trying to make peace so we can concentrate on this new situation."
I was beginning to enjoy the looks of anguish on their faces at that last point. Clearly, much of their plan involved holding out against us long enough for our client states to see we weren't invincible and rebel.
"They'll be told you refused peace and let demons roam free along the entire length of the Minanter," I agreed, "The fence-sitters will flock to our banners to assure your quick defeat, so our armies can be redeployed as soon as possible."
Our good friends the Telmessos would have been very pleased to deliver that news to the League representatives too. Starkhaven making a mistake like refusing peace boded well for their dreams of a united Marcher realm, because then the city and its prince could be humbled completely without backlash. Starkhaven could be made entirely reliant on Marcher unity for its defence and sovereignty.
Vael nodded, actually seeming pleased. "You surprise me, Marquis," he said, "You made the practical argument before threatening us with annihilation and isolation. Your reputation didn't merit you that among the ranks of the faithful."
"Vae victis," I said, peeking at Aurelia as I did so. The corners of her lips curled up ever so slightly, recognising the reference and understanding the term exactly.
Vael and his supporters looked blankly at me, awaiting an explanation. But it was Fenris who provided it, a somewhat direct translation from the Ancient Tevene.
"The woe of the vanquished," he provided.
"Woe to the vanquished," I corrected, not even sure I was really correct, "Not surprised my reputation with you guys is bad, but you have to understand... Hercinia, Wycome, Ansburg, Antiva, all of them thought that we were weak enough to destroy. That they could exploit this for their own gain. They had to be taught otherwise."
There was a wave of angry murmuring among the assembled nobles, though no outright denunciations.
"We are not vanquished," Fenris insisted, speaking for many, "Attack us even now, and you will be the one taught a lesson."
That was bullshit, and he was smart enough to know it.
"Well, we agree on one thing," I agreed, crossing my arms, "You are not vanquished."
"Yet," Aurelia sneered.
The Templar that had suggested chaining her got up out of his seat, very quickly, into a fighting stance with his hand on the handle of a battleaxe at his hip.
Aurelia followed suit, using her naginata to help. Her magical barriers burst to life around her, flipping over the chair behind her.
Here we go. I moved my firelance onto my lap, discreetly, and flipped the safety off.
No one else moved, as the two stared each other down. I have no idea why the Templar didn't attack, but Aurelia later revealed to me that she wanted to test her newfound power as an Outlander against a hostile Templar. Could her magic be dampened?
We wouldn't find out that day.
"Knight-Commander," Vael said, without sternness or rebuke, "I take it this is your first time negotiating with a Tevinter?"
The Templar took his hand away from the axe, and looked to the Prince. "The first time I have negotiated with any mage, your Highness," he grumbled, "Magic serves man. Man does not negotiate with it."
He must've been from Hasmal or Tantervale then, places with particularly harsh conditions within their Circles of Magi... Though not quite as corrupt as the one in Kirkwall had been.
The Prince grinned knowingly.
"The officers of the Imperium, or the clerics of the Black Chantry, are all like this," Vael said, pointing at Aurelia, "Arrogant. Projecting their own supposed superiority. Insulting anyone they do not consider an equal, which is everyone in the South. It's cover for their faults, nothing more. You should not be offended by it."
Aurelia made a small movement of her head to the side, as if conceding the Prince's point.
The Templar hesitated, until the Prince gestured to him to sit. It was an outright command now, and it was obeyed at once.
Aurelia remained standing, though her magic was dismissed. I leaned over the arm of my camp chair to pick hers back up, so we could get on with business. This was of great interest to the Prince and Fenris, for some reason. Aurelia thanked me as I straightened back up in my seat.
"You have come to us for peace, one we did not ask for," Vael said, "You've spoken about the consequences of not accepting the peace, but what do we get if we do? Presumably you have terms to offer. Let's hear them."
"We freeze the conflict," I said, "Both our forces will maintain a token presence facing each other, but we'll redeploy most of our troops to fight the demons in the territory we both control."
This was better for us than Velarana's red lines, but I figured they wouldn't like it. And I was right. No point leading with what we actually wanted.
"Unacceptable," Vael said, "Peace means peace. Occupation by a foreign power is not peaceful. All the territories you have invaded must be liberated and returned to their own nobles to rule. Perhaps we can make an exception for Hercinia, it had no legitimate ruler when you took it. We can also recognise your claim over Val Halla, as a concession to you."
I'm sure the Teryn of Ostwick and the Trevelyans would've been pissed to hear that... if they weren't trapped on the opposite end of the Starkhaven defence line. Valhalla, or most of it, was supposedly their territory.
"Liberation, as you call it, doesn't mean peace either," I shot back, "You've been purging Libertarians and elves wherever your forces are in control."
"I have not purged elves!" Vael snapped back, "And I have commanded that behaviour to stop when I was made aware of it."
Fenris' head turned, away from the proceedings. Clearly, there had been an argument between them on this. I didn't doubt the Prince's sincerity, but I did doubt his capability to stop his allies. The Templars and the fanatics would not have listened to him outside of his own jurisdiction. Bingo.
"You didn't stop it in time, clearly," I shrugged, "We're certainly not going to rely on you to defend the innocent after what has happened. We're not going to hand territory from states that thought they would engage in a little recreational genocide, and we're certainly not going to allow any of the coastline to be used as a Qunari base in future."
"Then we are at an impasse," Vael said, "And our business is concluded."
He gave the nod to someone off to my side. A positive forest of spears descended, their points aimed at us. I don't know where they all came from, but in retrospect, it was probably Fenris' doing. He must've ordered his subordinates to move the soldiers in around us a few at a time.
The weapons weren't exactly in our faces, as the stormtroopers had formed a semi-circle behind and around us, but there were a couple of hundred against our twenty-five.
"We will take you here and trade you for a more equitable peace," Vael said, "Violence will not accomplish your goal here. You are outnumbered. Think of the lives of your men. Lay down your weapons."
Half of me was tempted to comply, given how messy this could get... but the other half wanted to howl with laughter. If only they knew what was sitting beside me. Even I did not truly know, at the time.
Aurelia stood up, drawing all scrutiny among the Prince's commanders to her. The two Templars stood up slowly too. She slowly drew her gladius from its sheath and showed it to them, and very carefully, pointed it right at the Grand-Cleric Francesca.
The message was clear; she dies first.
A small wave of a naginata later, and magical barriers surrounded the entire Trojan contingent, protecting all but myself from harm. The smell of sulphur returned, indicating that the stormtroopers had lit their slow-matches. Not for nothing were they part of the Grenadiers; they were preparing to ignite the fuses.
The Templars went still, and looked suddenly... constipated. The prelude to a Holy Smite.
Time to intervene before Aurelia turned the whole campsite into an abatoir. With the Grand-Cleric and Templars acting in the role of first cattle for the slaughter.
"So quick to play the obvious hand," I countered, levelling my firelance at Fenris, "Like your Master of Horse here has pointed out, you are not vanquished. That is, Starkhaven isn't. Your allies have failed to impress at every turn, but you have not. That is worth a concession or two, if you'll let me offer them."
"Of what sort?" the Prince asked, "I am told you are the lynchpin of your entire realm. Your people may have a new monarch, but you are the true Emperor even without a title."
"You need to learn more about the Empress," Aurelia said, "She is Qunari by birth. She will react to hostage-taking with slaughter, not terms."
Aurelia was right. Tam had not abandoned many of the tenets of her previous faith, only her loyalty to the state it proposed to create. There would be no mercy for those who broke the sacred trust a battlefield truce.
"We could withdraw from the territory of Starkhaven itself," I said, "Maybe you don't trust us to fight the demons nearby. We keep the lands we have conquered from more stupid men. Ultimately, leaving us with more territory helps you; perhaps the demons will whittle down our numbers."
More likely, it would end up tying up far more of Vael's forces fighting the demons than ours. More land meant more hellgates to guard, and Vael didn't have cannons to do it with from a safe distance.
"What's the catch?" Fenris demanded, "You would not do this out of the goodness of your heart."
"Of course not," I said, "You would make sure that no more purges of Libertarians and elves would happen on your territory or that of your allies. If anyone is absolutely unacceptable to you, or if you catch any non-loyalist mages, you will hand them over to us at the border with Markham. Unharmed."
"Sounds like you want us to give you reinforcements," Fenris growled, but Vael again shut him up by raising his hand.
"What about your own allies?" Vael asked, "My rebel vassals. I have stripped them of their lands and titles. They will not be happy that you are endorsing that decision, even temporarily."
"They'll be compensated from the lands we have already taken," I shrugged, "And if the exiles under your wing complain, you can do the same. We certainly won't complain."
Until the next war, anyway. The Starkhaveners were not born yesterday though.
"No doubt you'll take the first opportunity to invade us," Fenris said, "Sebastian, you cannot accept this. If these gates are here permanently, all we are doing is handing them a repose. If not, they gain time to incorporate the resources we're giving away into their war machine."
"If that is what you are worried about," I said, "Then we can try for a more permanent peace. The High Chancellor certainly would prefer it, and my role as leader of the entire realm came to an end recently, in case you hadn't heard. A negotiation team can be in Starkhaven within the week, or the Prince can meet the Chancellor directly at a neutral location. Dairsmund maybe."
"Your Highness..." the Grand-Cleric began.
Vael stood up from his seat, interrupting her. As he did so, his face contorted slightly, confirming my suspicions that he was injured more badly than he wanted us to know.
"My instinct, lord Marquis, is to have you taken from this place and held to secure the peace," he said, calmly, "And your friend to be detained until she can give birth, then burned as the apostate she is, the child to be taken into care of those few loyalist mages that remain."
Neither Aurelia or I moved, despite the threat. His tone was disarming, and the fact he was speaking these thoughts aloud told us he had already dismissed it as an option. It was like he was discussing an academic subject.
"But these demons... they are too great a threat," the Prince continued, becoming far more grave, "This morning, riders and messenger birds came from every part of my realm within reach, begging for aid against the demons. And here you are, a man who can walk through magic like it was nothing but a light breeze, with an army the likes of which the world has never seen."
He looked up at the blue sky.
"Maker forgive me," Vael concluded, "Your terms disgust me, but they are moderate for the times. Perhaps it is the end of the world. Maybe the world ends if we do not cooperate to stop it. Either way, the Holy Coalition accepts your terms."
"Your Highness!" the Grand-Cleric said, shooting up to her feet, "You cannot..."
"You were not here last night," Vael interrupted her, firmly, "You did not see my men being torn to pieces by demons in front of your eyes. And you did see this man survive a demon attack and the largest fire spell I have ever heard of, just as I saw it. If he wants to keep fighting this war, of all the people in this world, he can."
"Our holy cause must..." the Grand-Cleric continued.
"Must react to circumstance," Vael completed for her, more softly now, "If we keep fighting, there will be no more believers in my realm to protect. No one to sing the Chant. I am convinced of it."
"As am I," said the other Templar, in support of the Prince, "And as Knight-Divine, it is clear to me that the larger magical threat comes from these Fade rifts." The other Templar threw him a venomous look, but remained quiet.
Clearly the new speaker was the superior officer, though I couldn't see much difference in their armour to indicate it as such. Since the Templars didn't exist to do the bidding of secular realms, he was calling the shots for them.
I found it odd to meet Templars that had not abandoned the cause of the Chantry completely, but the reality is that when they rebelled, there was a great deal of divergence in what the regional orders thought should happen next. It was even more odd to have the Templars agree to peace.
"As I said, we accept, Marquis," Vael said, "Until this crisis is resolved, we shall have peace."
Or rather, we would both decide to fight other, more murky enemies.