Chapter 39; Perils and foes;
Characters of the chapter
Flavius Commander in the 5th expeditionary legion of Tevinter
Iustinius Soldier of the Tevinter Imperium
Tiraen Tasvius Venatori Agent, Magister of the Tevinter Imperium, ambassador to Meereen, commander of the 5th expeditionary legion of Tevinter, formerly apprentice to Magister Cato Argos
"Damnable thing. It feels like this is never going to end." Tiraen thought as she continued putting one foot before another, the other members of her team trailing just behind her. For a long time they had been trudging through this empty grey wasteland. She found herself missing the sights of grass and living trees and blue skies. Missing the sounds of singing birds. If not for the occasional fade crystal they encountered she felt as if she might forget the look of color green altogether.
"When we get back I'll spend some time in the garden I have in Meereen." She promised herself. "Maybe I'll have my bed moved there so I can sleep under the open skies while enjoying the comforts of a real bed. And good food, maybe a nice book to read."
"When you get home. *If* you get home." Some part of her said, though she dismissed that portion of herself almost immediately. Pessimism was perhaps about the last thing she needed right now.
By her estimates they had been here for two or three weeks now, but she could not be entirely sure of that, as the days had a nasty way on blending into one another here. The sun continued to hide its face behind a veil of smoke, and their environment only ever alternated between utter darkness and a pale dusk, making it that much harder to tell what time of day it was. At night there were no stars or moon, just darkness, an impenetrable shadow.
They had also discovered there was very little water here, which was both depressing and a practical concern for the team. It hadn't even rained in all the time they had been here. Evidently this had once been different based on the many dried rivers they had come across. The only source of water they had found were small ground pools here and there that were little more than puddles. Even then she wasn't certain that it the water they found would be safe to drink. For now their own supply was holding up, but sooner or later they might have to risk it.
"This is what the end of the world looks like." She thought bitterly. "This grey nothingness, drained of all color, drained of life, where the silence is deafening. If our world is ever to die then this is the appearance it will take. It seems this corner of the world simply jumpstarted itself to that end."
At this point she would have welcomed even battle to interrupt the drudgery of traversing this wasteland. But nothing had challenged them in the entire time they had been here. The further they progressed the more evidence they encountered of spirits, but it seemed her amulets had been a complete success. Not a single fade entity had challenged them in battle thus far. And if anything else lived here, they had yet to come across it.
Then again it had to be admitted this place was not completely devoid of happenings. But they were not the kind to lift a person's spirits.
Visions similar to the one they had come across when they had first entered these lands continued to appear as they traveled. Each of them told a tale similar to the first. Frightened people fleeing and hiding from the destruction that had destroyed their homes and upended their lives. They had their final moments and then death managed to claim them as well. The details changed from vision to vision, the end came in myriad different ways, but the final outcome never seemed to vary.
She was not one to truly care of people other than her own. After all, the Valyrians, if their people and their Empire still existed, would have doubtless been enemies of her Imperium, competitors for influence in this world. If they hadn't had the decency to destroy themselves the people of Tevinter would have inevitably had to attend to the downfall of the Valyrians. But even so she could not help but feel a little bit of sadness that this emptiness was their only legacy, aside from the few scattered fragments that existed in the wider world. If nothing else it was a massive waste. Who knows how many wonders had been destroyed utterly, or cast into darkness and forgotten by the great ignorance of the world? Truly she would be doing the Valyrians a great honor in salvaging a piece of their world for her use. She would save a piece of their legacy in the service of a living Empire, and in return that legacy would aid her people in overcoming their enemies. She did not yet know how exactly it might do so, but with the amount power she sensed she was certain that it could.
Maybe it was the environment, or maybe that was just one factor of many, but this place was starting to get to all of them. Ever so slowly it was seeping into their souls, filling them with melancholy, sapping their spirits. The team rarely spoke these days, travelling in brooding silence, only seeming to exchange the words to give or acknowledge orders, and to argue when they had too much time on their hands (which was most of the time) and the nature of this place got on their nerves.
For her the only thing that kept her moving forward was her goal. Every day that passed they drew nearer to their objective, the power she sensed acting as a beacon to draw them in, growing stronger the closer they got. The sooner they could reach it the better. Even as there was no danger here as of yet, a swift and successful resolution to their mission would be preferable.
As much as this place bothered her, she was aware that her people were more affected. They were loyal people, but they did not have her drive. They could not sense magic like she could, so they could not feel the closeness of their goal, how worth their efforts it would truly be when they go to it. They could only see the mountain which it she had told them was their objective. It was not the same thing. They could not even delight themselves by sensing the closeness of the fade, which was one of the few perks this place had going for it.
Now and then a few of her people had given voice to the idea of letting go of this mission and turning back. She had managed to quash the notion every time they had brought it up. So far the respect her soldiers had for her had been sufficient to make them continue to follow her orders despite their reservations. So far none had deserted either. But morale was slowly dwindling among the group, and if they all decided to quit the mission she would have no choice but to accept the will of the majority and turn back. Hopefully she would be able to keep that from happening. She was not willing to give up, not when they were so close, not when they stood to gain so much more.
They were exploring the edges of a ruined town, looking for a place to spend the night, when she happened upon a side building next to a larger structure. Glancing inside she saw that the room was bare save for the shackles attached to the walls.
"A slave pen." Tiraen guessed from the placement and size of the shackles. She had heard that the Valyrians kept slaves, much like her people. Most of the shackles had nothing attached to them but against one wall a skeleton sat, still held together by dry bits of flesh, a chain around its neck. To Tiraen's surprise the skeleton was armored in armor of red and gold decorated with lion motifs. Even more surprising was the longsword impaled through the skeleton's chest, and the tattered book on its lap.
She was about to call upon the others to take a look as well when a familiar flash of white light blinded her. This time when the light faded the buildings unexpectedly remained in ruins, although the ethereal appearance of the surroundings was there as before. Looking around herself she saw a ghostly figure approaching form the left, dressed in the same armor Tiraen had seen on the skeleton. The figure advanced slowly, one arm holding on to his side, as if he was wounded, while another held a sword in a loose grip. Just next to her the figure stopped, looking first inside the building, then turning his head to glance behind him. He sighed and entered the building, walking straight through her. He advanced to the far wall from the door and knelt, lowering his sword to the ground. He reached into a bag he had at his side, pulling out the book as well as a quill and a bottle of ink. The figure proceeded to scribble something into his book for a time. When he was finished he closed the book and sat down, leaning against the wall, reaching out and moving his sword closer to him. He continued to sit there for a while longer, sobbing to himself. Then slowly, reluctantly, the man reached out to one of the chains, placing it around his neck. He took hold of his sword, angling it in his hands until the tip of it was pressed against his chest. He sighed one final time, then plunged the blade into himself with all his strength. The figure's chin fell against his chest and his hands fell on the book on his lap.
The vision faded away, and Tiraen turned her eyes to the book. Curious to see what it could tell her, she walked closer, kneeling before the corpse. She reached for the book, brushing aside the dead man's hands as she did.
The moment she touched those dead hands they suddenly sprang into action, grabbing her wrists. The skeleton lunged forward, only stopped by the chain around its neck, screaming at her in a strange, distorted voice. Caught completely by surprise, she gave a startled scream of her own and moved back. She tried to tear herself free, but the skeleton's grip was as hard as steel. They wrestled for a time, both of them screaming, then the skeleton suddenly yanked her forward and shifted its grip, wrapping it hands around her throat, beginning to squeeze the life out of her. She tried to remove the bony hands from her throat, but once again the creature's strength was unnaturally great. She made to reach for the sword impaled through the chest of the skeleton, but the creature pulled her even closer, so she only had enough room to pull the sword partway out of its body. Her magic would not work as long as the amulet was still around her neck, but her staff was bladed and still strapped to her back and in a last ditch effort she reached for it. After a moment of panicked fumbling fingers she managed to free it. The length of it and her awkward position made it difficult to move, but she eventually managed to align the bladed end of it to position to strike, driving it into the skeleton with both hands. Her first attack lacked strength, bouncing harmlessly off the armor. She put more strength into the second attempt, and this time the blade managed to get through, but apparently to no avail. The skeleton simply ignored the damage and continued crushing her windpipe. As her vision began to darken she realized she didn't have the strength for another attempt.
Just then the rest of her team entered the room, drawn in by the noise. Flavius, seeing her distress, drew his sword and slashed at the arms of the skeleton, severing them. Without the rest of the skeleton attached to them, Tiraen was able to pull the hands off her throat and crawl to the far corner of the room, coughing and gasping for breath. The skeleton was still moving, screaming and flailing around with the stumps that remained of its arms, straining against the chain. Flavius swung again, taking the skeleton's head off, and finally the thing stilled. Flavius turned his eyes toward the ground and saw the severed hands still twitching on the floor. He stomped on them until they were broken and unmoving.
"Well that was scary. Your intervention was timely. Thank you." Tiraen said once she had managed to still her breath, rubbing her now bruised throat.
"So I see. Undead… I guess we should have expected to run across something like this at some point." Flavius said, eyeing the dismembered corpse. "I'm actually rather surprised it didn't happen sooner, considering the nature of this place. I mean, we encountered a lot of corpses when we first came here. And others since. Why didn't anything like this happen before this?"
"Could be any number of reasons. Perhaps we got lucky with the one's we found first and they weren't possessed, or the spirits inhabiting them weren't hostile. And we've kept our distance from other corpses we've seen around here. The amulets are obviously doing a great deal as well. This one didn't react until I touched it trying to take that book. Maybe that was a step too far. Perhaps touching the skeleton somehow allowed it to sense me despite the fade amulets."
"So you are saying we will be fine so long as we avoid doing that in the future?" Flavius said.
"That's what would make the most sense to me based on what we've seen so far. We've seen signs of spirits, and yet until this very moment we have not been attacked even once. So the amulets must be working to a degree." Tiraen replied.
Flavius and the others seemed to accept her explanation to her relief.
"This one looks different than the other corpses we've seen around here. A bit less decayed. Different gear." The commander then commented on the skeleton.
"That caught my attention as well. The book in particular looks unusually intact, so I was hoping it would be in a language I could understand, so I could get some answers." She said.
"Well, nothing stopping you now, My Lady." He said.
Nodding, Tiraen nodded and walked to the corpse, moving cautiously despite the fact the creature was in pieces now. But nothing happened and she took the book to her hands. Opening it she saw immediately that what looked like dried blood had smudged several pages, but what bits of text she could make out were written in what appeared to be the common tongue. Skimming through the tome, the text that was legible gave her the sense this was a journal of some sort. She came to the final entry, fortunately intact, and began to read aloud:
"This is the final entry in the personal journal of Gerion Lannister, head of the Valyrian expedition of house Lannister. It appears this is where my story comes to its end. Brightroar, the ancient sword of House Lannister that Tommen the second carried here, has been uncovered, but this place seems intent to keep it at any cost, including the lives of my expedition. Much have we learned from the visions this place has visited upon us, but I think those secrets will not be passed on. Of the nearly hundred people that came on this expedition, I am the last one remaining. Every attempt to get back to our ship has been stopped. The unspeakable, unnatural monsters that assailed us from the moment we set foot here have continued to hound our every step, accompanied by the dead. Our own fallen have bolstered their ranks, hunting their former comrades as eagerly as all the other horrors here. We had to… we did what we had to do to keep them from turning. Only fire, dismemberment and Valyrian steel seem to do anything to stop them. Jeremy and Timothy were the last to fall, a few days ago. Their fate was particularly gruesome, succumbing to the voices that have been tormenting us. It chills my blood to even describe the results, but I feel I must try so here. Their bodies warped and twisted, rendering them unrecognizable from their former selves. It was as if something else was wearing them like a person wears clothes. I managed to slay what they became, but now I'm wounded. I cannot go on. I hear the voices as well, and fear I won't be able to resist. I won't become what I have seen, and so I will end things before that can happen. This place will ensure my corpse will hunt no one else, even should it rise again. To my family, and my crew, I am so sorry. Coming to Valyria was madness. One that has cost us everything."
"Should someone be so mad as to come here and read these words, the sword that ended me is the Valyrian blade we came to recover. I implore you, return Brightroar to House Lannister. It is part of the legacy of our great family, and the reason so many sacrificed so greatly. Anyone that returns the sword to its rightful owners will be richly rewarded, that I assure the reader of these words, for we Lannisters are renowned for always paying our debt." She then read the postscript, and closed the book.
"So that is what happened with you." Tiraen said, looking at the skeleton.
"House Lannister? Isn't that one of the Westerosi houses?" One of her soldiers asked.
"It is. One of the more prominent ones in fact. I had no idea the Westerosi had sent expeditions here. I'll have to examine their histories more closely." She replied.
Then she smirked, wrapped her hand around the handle of the valyrian sword angpulled it out.
"This is the legacy of House Lannister? " She said, admiring the weapon.
"Alas, I think your final request must go unfulfilled." Tiraen addressed the corpse. "I have a better use for the weapon in mind. And so it belongs to your house no longer. The Imperium has needs, and this sword can help accomplish them. I'm sure Pet could use a new sword anyway…"
She turned to Flavius and handed the weapon to him. "Here. This is for you, for safe keeping. Use it as you will while we are here, then return it to me once we return to our ship."
"Thank you My Lady, but I hope that it will not be needed anytime soon." He said, accepting the sword.
"You never know." She said.
With that they went back to the task of finding a place to camp for the night. In the wake of the incident the prospect of sleeping inside buildings that could hide even more surprises was no longer appealing. So instead they chose a barren hilltop on the outskirts of the town next to some dead woodlands, with a commanding view of the area. Tents and bedrolls were set up, fire built, and watches for the night set up. As a Magister she was excluded from the duty of standing guard, and right now she was grateful that it was so. She retreated to her tent and thought to examine Gerion's journal a bit more. Very soon she discovered she was far too tired for that.
She set the book down and lay down on her bedroll fully dressed, soon drifting off to sleep.
She stirred when someone shook by the shoulder. She raised her head, seeing Flavius knelt beside her. "My Lady, wake up. We may have a problem."
"What is it?" She asked groggily.
"Spirits. Loads of them." He said.
"We have seen spirit's all the time here. Why is that a reason to wake me?" She asked, mildly irritated.
"Apologies My Lady. But there are quite a lot of them. More than usual." He said.
Tiraen suppressed a groan. "Commoners. So easily spooked." She thought. With the amulets no amount of spirits posed a threat to them.
"Alright, let's have a look." She said aloud, thinking it wisest to show up long enough to reassure her people. She followed Flavius outside the tent, and there stopped to stare in amazement at the sight before her eyes:
The plains beyond their hill were littered tiny dots of light. There were more in the city, and turning her head more lights could be seen in the forest. It was as if the stars had rained down and been sprinkled on the ground like snow. Most were of green color, but a few orange, blue and red lights could be seen as well. And the dots were moving, seeming to mill around pointlessly. In the illumination of those countless spots of light, she could occasionally see the outlines of other creatures, some humanoid, others far less so. Those she guessed were demons of another kind, perhaps creatures they had possessed as well.
"Wow, you weren't kidding. That's quite a lot of spirits." She said in awe.
"Still doesn't make a difference though. These will protect us from them." She said confidently, tapping the amulet on her neck. "They won't be able to sense us, not even if they are right in front of us. Just don't touch them."
At that moment there was a rustle in the woodlands behind them, making each Tevinter turn to the source of the noise.
It was a bear, a massive dead bear with thick brown fur. From the way the body of the bear was misshapen and bulging from strange places she guessed the poor animal was possessed. How else could it be explained that a live bear could be here in this lifeless land?
The bear walked through the camp and stopped in front of one of her soldiers. Trembling, the soldier drew his sword, about to attack.
"Wait! It can't see you! It's possessed, so it's a spirit like the others. It can't detect you if you don't touch it!" She shouted in warning.
The soldier continued to tremble, but obeyed, remaining put. The bear stood there, moving its head around, appearing hesitant. It moved its snout closer and sniffed.
"My Lady…" The soldier said in alarm.
"Stay put and you'll be fine." She said insistently.
The bear continued to sniff him, then bared its teeth.
"A-are you sure?" The soldier asked as the bear began to growl.
"I… I think so." She stuttered, suddenly less certain. Why was the thing acting like that?
"Watch out!" She shouted as the bear suddenly lunged forward. But it was already too late. The beast latched its jaws into the soldier's middle, tossing him from side to side like a dog killing a rat. Then he threw his dead body to the ground.
Briefly there was a shocked silence. "Kill it!" Flavius shouted then. Blades were drawn and the Tevinters charged. The bear's response to their approach was sluggish, as if it was uncertain what to make of what it saw. It was only when the first soldier came up to it and slashed it across the face that it reacted, roaring and trying to swipe the soldier with its paw. The soldier managed to retreat out of range just in time, and then Flavius moved in from the other side and traced a long red line across the beast's flank. The beast roared, turned and raised itself to its hind legs. Another soldier came close and plunged a sword into its belly. The bear raised a paw again, but just then Flavius struck one of its back legs, the Valyrian steel blade cutting it clean off. As the bear stumbled and fell Tiraen moved over and put the blade of her staff through its eye. That was finally enough to put the creature down. But their victory was short lived, for they came to realize that their actions had done something to attract the other beings all around them. A large number of lights were now converging on their position. In the woodlands a cacophony of rustling steps could be heard.
"Oh crap…" Tiraen breathed.
"Defensive circle! Protect the Magister!" Flavius bellowed, and the other Tevinters gathered around her, facing outward from the circle, their weapons at the ready, some preparing their bows while others switched straight to their swords and shields. There was a brief moment of waiting as the lights and sound drew closer. Then a transparent green humanoid figure missing the lower half of its body drifted out of the woods.
"A wraith" She concluded. One of the lesser spirits of the Fade, ones too weak to embody an aspect. Lesser, but still quite dangerous.
It hovered around, looking around itself, moving from place to place rather than heading straight for the Tevinters. Others drifted in after it, accompanied by other types of demons, looking just as lost. One of her soldiers fired, hitting the first wraith. Even as it was a transparent thing of green light, the arrow nonetheless managed to do harm to the wraith. With a screech the demon shuddered, flickered and vanished. In the moment it died the other demons briefly became more animated, moving closer before seeming to become aimless again. One wraith came too close to another one of her soldiers. As it drew closer it briefly recoiled, as if spooked by something before it got a sword through the middle. And the same scene repeated again, the death only seeming to attract more of them.
The Tevinter's continued to hold on to their positions, while more and more things were getting attracted to them. Possessed people and animals, undead and every kind of spirit and demon one could imagine. The Tevinters fired arrows at them until they ran out or until enemies pressed too close, then hacked with their swords at anything that came within reach. Because of their experience with the possessed bear they dared not refrain from attacking the creatures that approached, but to Tiraen it seemed it was only compounding the problem. The Fade creature were behaving very strangely. Their movements were uncoordinated, often not reacting to the presence of the humans in their midst until they happened to draw very close. This happened even with demons that were known to prefer ranged attacks. The possessed creatures were more aggressive in their behavior, but even they seemed somehow confused, often missing their blows or failing to counter the attacks the Tevinters made in return. It was as if they couldn't see the Tevinters properly. That odd behavior on behalf of the spirits allowed the imperials to hold on against numbers that would've otherwise crushed them in a matter of moments. But each time one of the spirits was destroyed it seemed to gain the attention of the others, attracting more of them from further and further away. Slowly the pressure on the Tevinters was increasing, their situation growing more desperate by the minute.
"Damn. We're just digging us deeper into our hole here." Tiraen thought with alarm, observing the situation unfolding from the relatively safe position within the defensive ring of soldiers. Even as she thought this an abomination reached the edge of the circle. One of her soldiers tried to strike at it, only for the abomination to reach out and catch his wrist. Its other hand grasped him by the throat, hoisting the soldier to the air and tossing him behind itself. The soldiers that had been next to him reacted quickly, closing their ranks again to patch up the gap, the circle of defenders slightly smaller than moments ago. The tossed soldier survived his fall, raising up his head from the ground. With horror he and Tiraen realized at the same time that he had lost his amulet when he was tossed. It lay now in the dirt inside the circle of soldiers, well beyond his reach.
"NOO!" The soldier had time to reach before a dozen spirits descended on him like a school of sharks and tore him apart.
"Fuck… fuck." Tirane cursed at the sight. From the corner of her eye she saw even more demonic creatures approaching, including at least two towering pride demons. This would not do. Something would have to change, and quickly, before this horde of demons overran her small group. She would not permit that. Not after all this, not when they were so close. But searching her mind she could not come up with any ideas how to do that.
Save one.
She planted her staff on the ground, driving the blade deep into the soil so it would remain upright. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and bracing her mind. Then she slowly raised her arm and wrapped her fingers around the amulet on her neck. She hesitated for a moment longer… then pulled the amulet off.
Instantly she screamed, doubling over form the pain, holding on to her head with both hands. The voices! She could hear them, hundreds of them, thousands, all pushing against the barriers of her mind, trying to get inside her head and claim her power for their own.
Hastily she pulled off the glove on her left hand and grabbed her wrist with the right. Red light glowed between her fingers and she felt an icy coldness spreading on her left arm from where she had laid her hand. At that same instant she felt a surge of magical energy inside her. She turned that energy inwards to reinforce the barriers of her mind. Shortly the voices assaulting her quieted somewhat. It was still a strain on her, every moment of exposure to the voices painful, but at least she could concentrate now. Looking at her exposed wrist she saw that the place where she had laid her hand was milky white and wrinkled, although it returned to its normal appearance quickly. As she had expected to happen. She hadn't taken too much of her own blood after all. Just enough to bolster her defenses.
At the removal of her amulet the spirits around them had gone wild, swarming against the soldiers that were keeping her safe, trying frantically to reach her now that they could sense her. Little by little her soldiers began to lose ground. She would have to work quickly now. Her people would not last long against an assault like this. She would just have to hope they could keep her protected long enough.
Standing before her staff she placed her palms against each other, fingers pointed forwards. She closed her eyes again and began to concentrate, taking deep breaths, in and out, in and out, driving away the din of battle from her mind. For all that this place was hurting her unprepared mind without the buffering effect the amulet had afforded her, she could also feel how it did not impede her spellcasting in any way. She had free access to the Fade and the ample sources of power it offered.
This would be a big spell. Far stronger than was typical even for her. Perhaps the biggest she had ever cast. Hopefully it would be enough.
Blue light began glowing between her palms.
"Take cover!" She said aloud as she began to move her arms apart, electricity dancing between her hands.
"What!?" Flavius shouted back, not hearing her over the noises of the fight.
"TAKE...COVER!" She roared as her hands moved further and further apart.
"Oh crap!" Flavius breathed as he turned to her and saw what she was up to. "Cover, cover!" He bellowed, and the Tevinter soldiers threw themselves to the ground. The spirits ignored the soldiers altogether and dove for the more tempting target at the center, converging upon her. Just before they reached her she thrust her arms fully outwards. Streams of electricity erupted from her palms, converging upon her staff. From there lighting exploded in all directions, jumping from creature to creature but missing her soldiers. So potent was her spell and so closely packed were their enemies that dozens, if not hundreds of spirits and possessed creatures were annihilated. The rest fled, frightened of the power that was unleashed against them.
When her spell finally abated, Tiraen lowered her arms slowly, her brow coated with sweat. Her legs gave out underneath her and she collapsed to her hands and knees. She had poured all her strength into that single all out spell. Now she had nothing more left. Seeing her fall Flavius moved over to help, as dutiful as ever.
"Th…the amulet… put…it…back on. Hurry. Hurry!" She said, between pained gasps for breath, straining to keep out the spirits still trying to get inside her mind despite the considerable numbers she had destroyed.
Flavius moved quickly, picking up the amulet and slipping it back around her neck. She gave out a gasp of relief as the pressure was taken off her buckling mental defenses. The sensation of being cut off from the fade again was still as unpleasant, but right now no felling was more welcome. It was several more minutes before she had managed to amass enough strength to speak up again:
"Thank… thank you commander. That was a very dangerous thing for me to do. Had there been another choice I would not have risked it."
"I'm glad you did My Lady. It saved our lives." Flavius said, still in awe of the display of magical power. He had known her to be an unusually potent mage, but this demonstration had caught even him off his guard.
"Not all our lives…" She said with some sadness. Cassian… Sejanus… their first casualties.
"How did this happen?" One of her soldiers, a man named Iustinius asked.
"I mean, shouldn't the amulets have kept us safe? Do they not work?" He explained, clearly made uneasy by the notion of the amulets not providing them protection after all. She recognized him as the one who had suggested aborting the mission the most often. She could already guess he was going to take the conversation there again.
"We should turn back. If the amulets don't do their job…" He said moment later, confirming her suspicions.
"They work. I just got a firsthand experience of how well they work." She said dryly, mildly irked that Iustinius doubted her.
"But…" Iustinius tried to continue arguing before Tiraen cut him off:
"You heard the words I read in the Westerosi journal, about what happened to them when they came here without the protection we have. You saw that happened to Cassian when he lost his. If these amulets didn't work we would all be dead by now."
"Then… what happened to Sejanus? How was that possessed bear able to sense him? And why were the spirits able to attack us at all?" Flavius asked.
Tiraen had to concede that was a fair question. She thought about it for a moment.
"The amulets work. That much is clear to me. But there may be things I overlooked. Possessed creatures… they can make use of the senses of their host in addition to their own. They do not function as well as they would have on the original entity, and because of the amulets those senses would be in direct conflict with the spirits own ability to perceive life. They may see us, hear us and smell us, but they can't sense our minds. So the spirits are still easily confused, easily misled, but there is a slim chance they are able to detect us." She said.
"As for the other creatures… I can still sense the Fade to a decree. And I suppose some kind of link must be maintained, otherwise we would be rendered Tranquil while wearing these. It is possible that the spirits might still be able to find that connection, although based on their behavior I'd say the must be at very close ranges to do so, within one or two meters. Additionally it is possible that the fact that there is no Veil here somehow reduces the efficiency of the amulets from what it was in Meereen, but that still leaves them operating within expected parameters." She added after a pause.
"So the new rules are don't touch spirits and don't get too close to them? But what attracted them to us in the first place?" Flavius asked.
Tiraen took another moment to contemplate what she had seen during the battle. "Every time we killed something the spirits briefly became more active. Death seemed to attract them. Either the act of killing briefly disrupts the function of the amulets or the spirits were merely curious as to how something could die without a cause they could detect and came to investigate."
"So in summary there were a few unexpected factors in the function of the amulets, but for the most part they work as expected. So we are still safe, provided we take some additional precautions." She said, trying to reassure her people.
"So what now?" He asked.
"The spirits have been frightened away by my assault. But they may return. We ought to find another campsite just in case. In the morning we will continue to press forward to our primary target." She said.
"My Lady, I still think we should not go any further." Iustinius said.
"Iustinius, enough. You're out of line." Flavius warned.
"I just explained why it is safe for us to continue." Tiraen said for her part.
"With respect ser, I don't think I am." Iustinius countered. "And with respect to you My Lady, as you just said your assessments have been incorrect before. There is every chance they will be wrong again. If so staying here is extremely dangerous for us. And if we die here this whole expedition has been pointless. We have the Valyrian weaponry. Those are tribute enough for our people. If we want to deliver them we need to survive long enough to do so." He said to her.
"Those weapons are trinkets compared to the real thing that we will stand to gain here. Even so long after the fall of the Valyrian Empire there are hundreds of examples of such weapons in the world. The ones we would bring back may be of some value, but it will not change the fortunes of the Imperium. This thing I have sensed has the potential to do so. I know you can't sense it. If only you could. Then you would not doubt the worth of this endeavor." She countered.
"Even if you are right and there is some power out there, you do not know if you will be able to harness it. You do not know if it will be worth the trouble." He argued.
"And I never will unless I go and verify matters. If I did not sense this power then I might agree that we have enough prizes to return home. But it is there, and it is real. And so long as there is a chance for that power to be put into the service of the Imperium, I will not give up on it." She said.
"That is your decision. But we are all in this together. I don't think it's your place to make that decision for the rest of us." He said.
There was a stunned silence. "Well, now he's definitely out of line." Tiraen thought.
"Have you forgotten me, soldier? I am Tiraen, of House Tasvius, commander of the fifth expeditionary legion of Tevinter. The legion you belong to. Also I am your superior in the order of the Venatori, to which you also belong. Make no mistake. Here, in this place I am the highest authority of our people. This decision belongs to me, and me alone, no matter what the underlying circumstances are." She said coolly.
"I know what you're afraid of. You don't want to die. Who of us would? And it is true, you could die here. I could die here. We could all die here. I asked all you here, because I believed you were willing to risk greatly, to put your lives in danger for the good of our people and our Imperium, just as I have done and will do. Iustinius… soldier of Tevinter. Was I mistaken to ask you here? Are you unwilling to perform this duty to the Imperium? Even though I and the others are willing to do it?" She said.
Iustinius looked at the ground, embarrassed.
"Now, I intend to continue this mission to completion, which will be to reach that mountain and the power within. I find I can do no less for my homeland. If you wish to turn back, you may do so. But understand this: If you leave, you leave as deserters. As ones who turned aside their duty to their Imperium in her hour of need. And you will do so without my protection. You have seen the difference that it makes. If Iustinius is right I imagine my talents will be needed to keep you safe." She said.
"I want this camp moved to a new location. Tomorrow we will resume our journey. Let all true Tevinters follow me." She said, then moved to gather her belongings and pack up her tent. Most of the other Tevinters followed her. Iustinius and a few others hesitated, but soon joined the rest.