The Wrath of Heaven 2: To the First Rift
The bridge is a mess. There are huge pits in the masonry, and rubble and crates litter the ground. Two guards stand fast at the gate. Their gaze lingers on Andras as he and Cassandra pass.
On the bridge, people throng and come and go in swells. Wounded soldiers loiter near crates and the more solid-looking railing. A member of the Chantry, Andras presumes, is preaching the Holy Word to soldiers and civilians alike. Another Chantry member is praying the last rites for six canvas-wrapped corpses. A soldier sits rocking himself in fetal position. He's no more than a boy, really, Andras thinks to himself as he glances the face below the helm.
And on and on, Andras sees more of the dead and the Chantry recording the events. Men and women praying, beseeching the Maker to take this trial from them. And each who recognized Andras did not hide their scorn. It was something he would just need to live with.
As the reach the other side of the bridge, Cassandra speaks:
"Open the gate! We are headed into the valley!"
Wordlessly, the soldiers turn and heave the heavy wooden doors open. The hinges protest as the weight moves in its arc to open the portal. Together, Andras and Cassandra fully exit the town.
The continue in silence, Andras not exactly caring to make small-talk with his captor. Never mind that the hill they're ascending does have something of a steep grade to it. Still, watching his step gives him something to do, rather than talk to her.
Suddenly, he hears a noise up the road ahead, though he can't see anything amid the barricades and rubble. He casts a quick look to Cassandra. She looks unconcerned, and he's not entirely sure if she hears the hurried clink of metal on metal drawing closer, or if she truly is unconcerned.
Then they turn a corner and three men rush by, one shouting "Maker, it's the end of the world!" Nothing of concern after all.
As they continue their steady ascent, they pass more dead. Andras wonders for a brief moment what killed them before remembering that Cassandra had mentioned something of a world of demons being opened because of the Breach.
Searing pain courses through him again, the mark on his hand sparking brightly. Every muscle contracts and he wants to be sick, but then the pain subsides. His heartrate slows, and he accepts Cassandra proffered hand. She looks somewhat concerned before masking it behind an impassive scowl.
"The pulses are coming faster now. The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face," she tells him.
"How did I survive the blast?"
"You didn't," Cassandra replied, before his confused expression prompted her to explain further. "They said you… stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you'll see soon enough."
They continue on, descending down the path. There's a bridge ahead, soldiers and a wagon crossing it, likely troops trying to establish some forward camp somewhere. When Andras and Cassandra themselves begin crossing, one of the soldiers turns, hearing their approach. She opens her mouth to say something, but whatever it is turns to a shrieks and cries of alarm as a flaming stone crashes and destroys the bridge.
And Andras is falling.
Down, reaching, grabbing. Trying to find any purchase. And then he grunts as the wind is knocked from his lungs. It's cold and wet. The river is frozen solid, so at least he's not drowning, but there're still puddles of ice-cold water that's soaked his grey robes.
As he rises back onto his feet, another flaming rock hits the frozen water. And then it happens. The fabric of reality seems to shift, and a puddle of green light pools on the surface of the river.
Then, a monster rises.
Cassandra splays her hand out, placing herself protectively between Andras and the creature.
"Stay behind me!" she shouts as she rushes to the creature. It is a horrifying thing, looking like some spirit of the diseased. It is a material thing, but its body is the brown of rot and decay, and rags hang from its weathered form.
Cassandra dives into battle with the fiend, batting aside its wicked claws with her shield before going in for a cut.
While she's occupied, Andras notices another pool of green rift forming.
"Uh, Cassandra…?" Andras attempts to call as he backs up. If one shade came from the first rift, what could come from this? He backs up, attempting to place some distance between himself and whatever monster comes. At least, until something metallic flashes in the light.
Daggers.
He had daggers once, he remembered. He could use these. Not the same as what he once knew, but a blade was a blade.
He scrambled to the weapons, deftly picking them up, one in each hand. Standing and turning, he faced his enemy just in time: the monster had finished crossing the rift between, and, indeed, it was another shade.
Andras cast a quick glance at Cassandra. She was holding her own, if not doing some serious damage to her shade.
Right.
Let the Hunt begin.
Gripping the blades, he paused, studying the shade, looking for an opening. It wound up its arm, way overextending the limb behind it as readied itself for a swing.
Too slow.
Andras breathed. The movement felt natural. He flowed under the arm, jabbing first into where the creature's armpit would be. If it had any organs, the lung should be punctured. But this was a monster of the unknown. Instead, he utilized the blade to redirect his momentum. Instead of dodging below the beast and flying far out the back, he swung, flinging his body immediately behind the shade and plunging his other blade deep into the back. He liberated the first blade and ducked, none too soon as the shade's other clawed hand came to swipe at his head, reaching desperately behind its back.
It twisted, turning to face him. Still, that one arm was beginning to look favored. He'd done some damage, after all. He darted behind again, slipping below the other arm. He sliced a blade underneath, rather than stab, sliding past. While the creature roared in agony, he took the opportunity to leap at the shade's back. Both daggers sunk into the shade's back, and the shade seemed to melt back into the earth.
He looked over. Cassandra was nearly finished with her own. Still fueled by the adrenaline of the fight, Andras took off with a running leap, again sinking the daggers into the shade's back. It, too, melts back into the earth.
Deftly, Andras wipes the blood from his blades. It's a familiar motion. He can almost trace the memory of doing this a hundred times, wiping off the blood of the beasts from the hunt.
But then Cassandra turns her blade on him.
"Drop you weapons. Now," she orders.
Andras holds his weapons in plain sight before him. "One of those demons attacked me. What was I supposed to do? Let it kill me?"
"You don't need to fight."
"So this won't happen again? We won't be attack by… well, this anything again?"
Cassandra ponders Andras' statement before sighing. "You're right. I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenseless. I should remember you did not attempt to run."
Andras nods. "And I won't. Not if I can fight." He chuckles a little. "And if I can't, I'll probably be knocked out somewhere."
Cassandra eyes him, her face indiscernible. "Take these potions. Maker knows what we will face."
Andras stashes the potions into one of the pouches on his belt before turning back to Cassandra. "Where are all your soldiers?"
"At the forward camp, or fighting. We are on our own, for now."
Andras and Cassandra continue making their way, following the snaking frozen river. There are more demons that spawn, and Andras and Cassandra dispatch them together. Twice Andras thinks Cassandra wants to say something, but both times she swallows her words before they can leave her mouth.
Instead, they both content themselves with following the path and killing the demons that stand in their way.
Soon, the path snakes into a steep, snowy staircase. With slices and bashes, they send the demons at the base back to the rift before ascending the stairs. Andras can hear the sound of fighting even at the base, though he cannot see anyone.
At the crest, Cassandra comments on the noises. "We're getting close to the rift. You can hear the fighting."
"Who's fighting?"
"You'll see soon. We must help them."
"Fine. Keep your secrets."
"Says the man who walked out of an explosion."
Andras choses to ignore that statement. He still is not entirely sure what happened – how he got there, where he came from – any of it, really.
They follow the sounds of fighting until they can see soldiers engaged with demons. They don't even spare a glance with each other before they both dive into the fray.