"So what do you do exactly besides, y'know, making people feel miserable about their lives," I said, making sure to add a biting point to the end of my words. She shot a murderous, calculating glance over her shoulder before crouching lower and walking down the hallway.
"If you won't shut up about it before we get caught, I am a mage. In case you have forgotten since the last time you asked," she snapped back. Such a clever witch, wasn't she? I wasn't entirely impressed. Why would Duncan think she was even worth the trouble with her attitude, anyway? Sure, mages were sneaky and vile and sometimes really grumpy, but this was just ridiculous. I hadn't even sai - well maybe a few things, but still!
"What crawled up your knickers and died?" I muttered under my breath while falling further behind her, hoping she wouldn't hear. She did.
She spun around in an instant, planting her feet apart and glaring me down with that same, viperous look I'd had to recoil under at least twice since we'd entered the tower.
"LOOK -" she paused, catching herself as her voice reverberated off the walls and lowered it to a snarling hiss instead. "Look, you insufferable, whining little ass of a an excuse for a templar-"
"Half-templar," I corrected a bit angrily.
"Half-templar, whatever!" she snapped back, leaning in closer so the other two soldiers wouldn't hear her. Her eyes narrowed. "I'm getting quite close to testing out my powers on you instead of some mangy darkspawn who probably deserve it less than your sorry scrap of a hide!" I opened my mouth indignantly to respond, but found it stuttered short when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.
"LOOK OUT!" I shouted, shoving her hard to the ground just as a lightning spell cracked over her shoulder. I heard her shriek in surprise as she hit the floor, and was spitting and angry on her feet a second later, ready to kill me when I pointed at the horde of darkspawn streaming from a nearby doorway.
"Oh damn it all," she seethed under her breath, her shoulders shrugging. I took a petrified step away as the horde grew, nearly crowding the hallway to the brim. My eyes widened.
"M-Mage-" I stuttered out as they began to rush at us in a massive collection of snarls and roars. "M-Mage - d-do something!" I had my hand on her shoulder now, shaking her. Why wasn't she doing anything, why was she just standing there and Maker's blood that was more darkspawn than I could handle in one sitting.
"ISTHALLA!" one of the men behind me shouted. Almost instantly she reacted to the call, her arms moving mechanically as she raised her staff above her head and I felt a cold, tightening sensation begin to pull towards her like an energy. It took the very wind from me as I stumbled back, my sword brandished dumbly in my hand as I froze in my shock - along with the other two - and watched her entire body lift slightly off the ground with her spell.
The horde was less than ten feet away when, in one fluid, flashing moment, she threw her arms forward and released what looked like a giant, spiraling flash of light from the end of her staff. The pulling sensation that had begun to make my chest grow tight and uncomfortable was pulled in the opposite direction as I felt a sensation akin to water rushing out of my lungs and the pressure leaving me. I buckled over onto my knees, as did the other two, and took a shuddering breath in. My vision was spotting.
"Maker's blood, what was that?" one of the soldiers whispered. My eyes, which had been staring at the floor, jerked up the moment I remembered that - hey - there was a charging horde in front of us a moment ago. My jaw fell open in utter shock to find them still there, still charging - yet they were not moving. One was still running mid-air, his feet disconnected from the ground.
"W-What-" I tried to stutter out, but the words formed dumb and confused on my lips. She turned around and faced us all then, a rather unimpressed frown on her lips.
"That was the Fade, Phillip," she spoke to the other soldier. The other-soldier-that-wasn't-me. I stared at her, shocked and too afraid to try and ask again as my eyes continued to stare down the frozen horde and wonder if I was dreaming.
"The F-Fade? I thought that was only a mage-thing," he breathed out while straightening back to his feet.
"It is," I heard her say from somewhere behind me. I couldn't look away from their faces. What kind of magic was this? The hairs were beginning to prickle on my neck in fear.
"I employ a very difficult but specialized type of magic that disables, entrances, or petrifies any foe in my way, however you wish to see it," she continued on, leisurely strolling around my right as if it wasn't a Big Deal. "I gain complete control of their minds and do what I wish," she shrugged. I turned to her, mouth agape, and found a smug gleam in her eye as she stepped back around front.
"I apologize for such a brief explanation, but I suppose it is only appropriate. What you felt was my power tearing the Fade, but no more time to explain-" she paused, picking back up her staff in her hands and planting her feet apart.
"Why?" I asked, not entirely sure if I wanted to know why. I began to take slow steps away from her, sudden mistrust creeping under my skin from the look she'd just given me. My eyes narrowed.
"Why," she echoed airily, looking over her shoulder, "because you have about five seconds longer to take your pick of them, templar."
I had no time to argue, and instead found myself turning to face a re-animated crowd of darkspawn rushing at us. My first instincts screamed at me to Run! For the love of Andraste, RUN! but after a few feet of sprinting I turned to find Isthalla still planted directly in the middle of the large hallway, her staff raised and body at the ready.
What was she, barking MAD?!
"ISTHALLA!" I rushed forward, but seconds before I could reach her found my entire body slammed with a pounding force that sent me flying back a good ten feet. The darkspawn that had rushed her front also went toppling over their brethren, creating a mass pile of confused, shrieking, squalling horde. It would have been amusing if our lives weren't on the line and she hadn't, y'know, thrown me a good ten damn yards away.
The other two didn't seem to care that I could have been knocked unconscious, and rushed forward once her spell was complete, brushing past her and directly into the still-upturned pile of darkspawn trying to scramble to their feet. I was halfway between deciding to scold her or kill her myself when I stopped dead in my tracks, my sword clanking heavily against the stone floor at the sound of her laughing.
She began to effortlessly shoot hexes at any darkspawn trying to - again - blindly rush her, easily knocking them down or paralyzing them as if they were blocks of wood. Her malicious laughter sent every hair on my body standing on end - it wasn't laughter, it sounded more like evil cackling to me. Suddenly I had the sensation that this woman was absolutely stark, raving mad.
The last of the horde were cut down by Phillip's sword before they realized they were losing. She had stopped laughing by that point, thank the Maker (honestly I wasn't sure if I could keep fighting with that noise in the background like some demented child) and was busy wiping off blood from the sleeve of her arm when I stormed up to her.
"What was that?" I barked, gesturing wildly with my hands to the fallen corpses on the ground. She raised a lazy brow in my direction, that same smug frown on her lips, before turning back to look at the bodies herself and decide.
"Darkspawn, by the looks of it," she commented off-handedly while stepping over one towards the next exit. I felt my blood beginning to boil again.
"Oh haha very clever for a witch, we're all laughing," I snapped back while following after her. Before I could get a second remark in, I felt a very rough and intentional hand on my shoulder, pulling me back. I shot a glare at Phillip, who gave me a don't-test-the-witch look before stepping ahead of me. I let out a disgusted sigh and followed after them at the back of the line.
"Did I anger you, Aleander?" she tittered back to me harmlessly. I frowned harder while muttering curses irritably under my breath.
"It's Alistair," I added in a shout to the front of the line.
"Alexander, whatever," she waved a flippant hand. "And you failed to answer my question." Chastising as well, I could see. Maker, she reminded me of the Revered Mother the more and more I was forced to listen to her grating, superior tone.
"I'm not angry, I'm-" I started, huffing and cursing as I nearly tripped over another stray body, "I'm furious!" I tried kicking off a scrap of garment that decided to catch my boot and nearly tripped.
"Maker's blood did you have to knock them over so inconveniently in every damn walkway?" I spat, feeling my blood rise as I hopped over another one. She was glancing over her shoulder now, and I could have sworn I saw a grin flicker on her mouth.
"Do my powers inconvenience you, then? I'd be more than happy to just let you soft-footed turtle doves sit this one out, if it so suits you?" she mocked in an even airer, arrogant tone. I felt the third soldier shove brutally past me, giving me that look as well before stalking up front, one hand on the hilt of his sword.
"We're fine, mage," he grumbled, stepping in front of her to lead the group. "Let's just get this over with." She seemed absolutely tickled by his bravery, and gasped while putting a hand to her chest.
"And here I had assumed we had all forgotten that little fact," she remarked flatly while still retaining that rather creepy, delighted look on her face. I was beginning to feel more and more unnerved by the woman. Did Duncan honestly expect me to stop a blight with this mage? She would sooner kill me and have tea with the Archdemon then continue playing target practice, as that was what I assumed she felt this mission had become. I was a bit disgusted by the whole thing, really.
"This isn't exactly a laughing matter," I complained after the silence had grown too strained and irritating for me to handle. By now she had fallen back behind the other two soldiers - perhaps to decide which she wanted to turn into a frog first - and shot a glance over her shoulder at me.
"I certainly found you flying through the air and then cowering like a little child rather funny," she nodded back to me. I felt my ears burning red, and dared myself to try and hold my tongue.
"Please try.." Duncan had begged me when I refused to accompany her to the tower of Ishal. It seems I wasn't the only one who was less-than-happy about the grouping arrangements. Honestly I would have rather been stuck with Daveth than this lot…
"Shut it," a new voice entered the conversation. Phillip was up front, rigid in posture and holding up a warning hand over his shoulder. I fell silent and still as I drew my eyes ahead and felt my senses go on alert. She came to a dead stop beside me, her eyes narrowing.
"What is it?" I murmured under my breath to her, knowing those giant elf ears sitting on her head were used for more than just looks. She flicked me a knowing gaze that made me truly wonder if she could read thoughts, then looked back up front.
"Darkspawn," she spoke the words bitingly, a sneer on her red lips. I creased my brow, feeling the tension rise on my skin. I could sense it, too.
"More than one, you think?" I asked, wondering if she had a better affinity for this "sensing" thing than I did. Honestly, it was really hard to tell other than the unnerving crawling that took over my skin whenever they were nearby. I don't know if I could get use to it. Ever.
She shook her head.
"No, just one," she said, but the words were deliberate and serious. I frowned as her hand began to slowly reach for her staff slung over her back, and her hand raise.
"A really big one-" she whispered before stepping ahead of the other two on the staircase and raising her staff at the ready. I felt a knot forming in my throat.
"Right, so just one really big one we have to worry about," I said mutedly, the nervousness entering my voice as I brandished my sword tightly in my palm and felt Phillip's shoulder brush my armor as he took a step back, letting Isthalla take the lead again. Bad sign.
"I'm sure this will be simple."