9:30 Wintermarch ?
Everyone was quiet as we saw the small tendrils of flesh coming from the walls…and in the corner of the circular entrance were bodies upon bodies, charred beyond identification. I saw Talen grit his teeth and fire encased his fists automatically. While he reacted in anger, Wynne reacted in despair. She put her face in her hands before looking up with a steely look.
"We must stop this." Wynne said softly.
"I will." Talen said through clenched teeth before he shut off his fire. We followed the only opening we could as the other was barred. We entered a wide room. There were plenty of benches and tables strewn about as well as that small hint of rotten food.
"This was the mess hall. The name sounds appropriate now." Talen said dryly. There were corpses everywhere here as well. Alfred growled at one body as we got closer toward the middle. Then several of them started to get up and growl. Talen wasted no time in conjuring a flaming circle around us and burning the corpses. They still sauntered toward us though.
"Rend the head from their bodies! That is how you kill the undead." Morrigan advised us. We each did one to one corpse. Leliana was able to shatter a skull with her bow alone. Talen dispersed the fire while rubbing his head.
"You should be careful not to use so much mana Talen." Wynne said.
"Give me some food and second to rest and it'll come back to me." Talen shrugged. As we left the pile of burning undead, the other door opened. In came a levitating figure with claws, covered in robes.
"Andraste's flames! Arcane horror! Get back!" Talen shouted too late. All of our group was thrown back by a powerful force spell. The arcane horror released a black miasma that allowed the undead to rise back and added a blizzard to the entire mess hall to boot. Alfred evaded everything and bit at the robes. We all struggle to get up as the cold spell slowed us down.
Morrigan turned into a swarm of wasps and headed toward the Arcane horror. The cold burned at my face and hands. The undead were swarming toward us. Talen blasted fire at them but more kept on coming. The blizzard stopped as I saw the Arcane horror sway from the damage of Morrigan and Alfred.
"Fight!" Derek shouted. We all picked an undead and slashed, smashed, and rend the heads from the body. One scratched at my armor as its legs were slashed from it and I stomped on the head. I heard a whine as Alfred was forced back. The arcane horror pulsed and the swarm were centered in its hands until the shapeshift ended and it was holding Morrigan by the neck. She focused on the ground before a tall icicle pierced the arcane horror. It let out a horrible screech before throwing Morrigan away.
"Don't let it revive those undead!" Derek and Sten ran forward. The arcane horror did a cone of lightning, paralyzing them.
"Shit! It must have taken over a Senior Enchanter's body." Talen gritted his teeth. I looked around, trying to figure out what to do while Leliana kept on hitting it with her arrows. The arcane horror did another powerful force spell before Alistair and Eren could get closer to it. As the horror came closer to our group, I saw an opportunity.
"Someone keep it distracted!" I yelled, putting away my daggers and running to the edge of the room. I heard a fireball go off and another screech. I jumped onto the table right behind the horror. It didn't' notice me. I took out my daggers and took a deep breath. I jumped from the table and deeply embedded my daggers into its back. It screeched loudly. It penetrated my skull but I pushed myself and grabbed it around its head. It bucked while I detached one of my daggers and stabbed it into its neck.
It started to panic and sway wildly. I was losing my grip but I used the momentum from his bucking to decapitate it. I landed on top of its body. The horror's severed head flying into a large pot. I was shaky getting up and everyone was getting up from their own injuries.
"Oh man, I think I suffered some hearing damage from that last screech." I said, rubbing the inside of my ear.
"Are you mad!?" Eren yelled at me. "Do you realize what could have happened if things did not work in your favor?" He stomped over to me.
"If you didn't notice Eren we were all getting our asses whupped by the Arcane Horror, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing!" I shouted back.
"The missy is right boss." Derek grunted and cracked his back. "We were in a pickle and she did some quick thinking to get rid of it. Might have been not the best option but it did the deed." Derek said, putting away his hammer.
"You should have told me beforehand. What if I accidentally hurled a fireball at it while you were strangling it?" Talen wondered.
"Exactly." Eren huffed.
"I trust you." I looked straight at Talen. His face grew red.
"Still!" He retorted before Derek slapped my back.
"Straight forward missy I like it!" Derek laughed.
"Can we move on? I'd rather not stay here any longer." Sten mumbled.
"Don't worry, we won't tell the other Qunaris that you were nearly beaten." Leliana giggled. Sten rolled his eyes. We came into another spacious room with magical artifacts around. I found them interesting until a rage demon appeared right in front of us. A quick cold spell from Morrigan and Derek shattered it. The noise alerted a gang of hunger abominations from the next door. Five of them swarmed around us.
Sten and Alistair teamed up on one, Alfred and Derek with the other. Alfred was protecting Morrigan while Leliana stayed by Talen's side. I was next to Wynne and fought my own. A shining light wrapped around me and I felt rejuvenated. I attacked harder and faster, avoiding the abomination's sharp claws. I uppercut it but it grabbed my arm. I didn't stop and stabbed it where the heart would be. It recoiled before I kicked it and did a hammer kick on its skull. It twisted and I heard a crack. The others were done with their own enemies.
We continued from the room to the circular hallway. We checked on the first room where the hunger abominations came from. The room was unrecognizable.
"These are the Templar quarters. We might be seeing more of them later on." Wynne stated.
"I would suggest all of you to stay on the rear then. We can't have rogue Templars nullifying your magic." Alistair said. We came out of the room and continued on. We opened the next door and two Templars were in there.
"Don't kill them!" Talen ordered.
"No pressure!" Alistair shouted as he and Eren pushed back the other two. Since these men were trained in the plate armor for years, it makes sense that they weren't able to push them off their feet. Of course Morrigan transformed into a bear and rushed them. They both stumbled onto the floor. Wynne worked quickly and did a small lighting arc spell in between both of them. They grunted in pain before they stayed down. Talen went over and took off their helmets. He checked both of them and nodded.
"They're both still alive. Whether or not they'll still be controlled after they wake up is something that we can worry about later." Talen rose up. I gave a silent prayer for the two before we went on to the next room.
We were met with five controlled Templars and a desire demon controlling them. The desire demon was tall as she was beautiful in a deadly way. Her horns rose up and were carved. The flames rising up in a purple color where the hair would have been. Claws instead of hands and a perfectly sculpted body with scales and off color skin. The big hitters went up first but the desire demon cackled as she controlled two toward the back.
They were aiming for the mages. Morrigan transformed into a bear. Alfred and I focused on another one. Leliana was trying to aim but she couldn't find a non-fatal point. One Templar came through and went toward Talen and Wynne. I evaded a sword slash. I couldn't focus on them until I got rid of this one.
"Alfred, get the legs from behind!" I shouted. Alfred did as I ordered and clamped down on one knee. The Templar cried out and I pushed him over Alfred's back. He hit the stone floor with a clang until I punched my knuckles in where his ear was. He gave another muffle shout. That would keep him there for a good minute. I went back, Wynne and Talen were forced into the hallway. I looked back for a second. Everyone was getting pushed back.
"Alfred go help them!" I shouted before running toward Talen and Wynne. I went out and Leliana was using her bow as well as a small dagger to keep the Templar's attention. There were a few rips along her leather armor and a long cut on her cheek. I ran toward the Templar and jumped on his back. I wrestled to get his helmet off while he walked backwards and shoved me back into the wall. I grunted in pain before getting the helmet off.
As soon as I was able to do that, I immediately put him in a choke hold. My legs were straining to hold me against him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He gasped but he bucked and kept on forcing me into the wall over and over again. My back was being painfully grounded into the stone until his grip weakened and we both fell to the floor. I kept holding on until his grip fell limp. I let go and got from underneath him. Wynne came to him.
"Go help the others!" Wynne said. Talen, Leliana, and I ran back into the room. Two Templars and the desire demon were left. The desire demon was battling between Sten, Alfred, and Morrigan. Alistair, Eren, and Derek were still trying to fight against the Templars and not injure them.
"Keep them occupied!" Talen shouted. "Leliana aim at the head! Get that desire demon on the ground!"
As Leliana steadied her aim, I sneaked toward the desire demon to flank her. A few arrows went past me as Morrigan grabbed onto the desire demon's leg to pull her down from her levitating act. She did a cone of cold, freezing Alfred and Sten into place. I got into position and stabbed downward, trying to pull her down. She cried out in pain before painfully grabbing onto my wrist and hoisting me up. I was a ragdoll in her hands.
"The irregularity…" She purred/growled. She hurled me away right into the two Templars but that distracted her enough and gave Morrigan the time to stand on her hind legs…and drag the desire demon to the ground. I dragged myself away from the Templars as I saw a bright fire released from Talen's staff.
"Get away Morrigan!" Talen shouted as he let loose a massive fireball right at the Desire demon. She screamed as the fire engulfed her. As soon as she died, the Templars both fell down. Wynne came dashing in and quickly doused the fires to stop them from spreading. I grunted as I laid on the ground for a second.
"Is it me or are you always getting yourself thrown?" Alistair chuckled over my head.
"Don't remind me. My back is killing me." I groaned as he helped me up. Sten shook off the last of the icy bits and gave me my daggers back with extra burn spots. I kicked off a flake of purple skin as everyone took a breather.
"Andraste's flaming breeches, how long have we been fighting for?" Talen sat down.
"Long enough to see everyone getting winded." Derek said, taking a sip of water. I sat down on a turned over bookshelf. Eren sat next to me. The constant adrenaline rushes from every battle was causing extreme fatigue.
"We will not be able to stay much longer." Morrigan rested on her staff.
"She's right. The longer we wait, the less chance we'll have to find Uldred." Wynne rubbed her eyes.
"Let's go everyone." Eren sighed, patting my shoulder and getting up. I got up and tapped on Sten's shoulder.
"I'm going to need your help for a quick second." I asked.
"What is it?" Sten wondered.
"I'm going to cross my arms like this and you pick me up and crack my back. After being flung too many times, it's getting painful." I said. "I won't be able to fight in my proper form." I explained. Sten huffed but nodded. I crossed my arms and turned so my back was facing him. He grabbed me from behind and lifted me. He shook me until I felt most of my back crack. I gave out a relieved moan as he put me back down. "Thank you." He nodded and we went out. Wynne grabbed at the door and went in.
There was a larger abomination with two shades behind it. In front of them were three tranquil who kept close together. Leliana fired off a series of shots at all of them, getting their attention. Wynne arced lighting between all of them, paralyzing them while Derek and Sten got first hit. After them, Alistair and Eren squeezed them in between their shields. I stabbed a shade in the eye, the other one got three arrows in its face. The hunger abomination threw off Alistair and Eren only to get its leg bitten through and Derek's hammer in its sack on the back.
The abomination knelt on one knee getting pelted by fire, lighting, and cold spells. It struggled to get up before Sten swung his sword high and stabbed right through its gut. It slithered down from his sword as the rest of us got away. It made a decent explosion.
"Are all of you alright?" Wynne asked.
"Yes. That was a haunting experience." A female tranquil said. "We could not save the others since our abilities have been nulled."
"Others?" Talen wondered. All three went toward a corner where fresh corpses laid. There was a hint of melancholy between all three of them.
"We saw Niall go upstairs. It would be prudent if you joined him." Another male tranquil said.
"Then let's go." Talen nodded. Alistair stepped in something squishy and it squelched against his boot.
"Ugh. This is making me sick. Why are these things growing out of the walls?" Alistair wondered as we went up.
"Perhaps the blood magic is somehow causing a reaction to make these tendrils appear." Morrigan explained.
"Whatever it is, try not to step in it." Derek chuckled. We went up the stairs. I rubbed my eyes. I felt exhausted but I also wondered what was going to happen once I meet the Sloth demon. Later on, there would also be despair demons. But this wasn't the idea as much as they say they declassified it. Just like the Chantry doesn't know there are wisdom and purpose spirits, they can't write off demons as well.
We reached the top and there were tendrils coming out of the wall. It reminded me of the Broodmother's lair later in the game. We heard a few voices coming from a room and Eren led the way. We found a Desire demon as well as a Templar that was in its complete control. Talen's eyes grew dark.
"Kill it." He stated. Leliana was first to ready her bow and struck out two arrows on the desire demon's arm before it retaliated. The Templar, given strength by the false vision, fought against Eren, Alistair, Sten, and Derek in even footing. Every single time I tried to get near the desire demon, it would attempt to freeze me or the ground I was walking on. I couldn't get a clean hit.
Then Talen came over and swatted the demon with his staff, fire burning on the end of it. He let out a fireball that nearly consumed it but it got back up. It arced in pain as Wynne's lighting hit it. Another two arrows on its chest. Talen punted it with his staff again. The desire demon levitation was weakening. Alfred charged and dragged her down. Since I was on the ground, I rolled over quickly and stabbed into the demon's eye. She melted into essence.
The Templar's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped on the ground. Wynne went over to see if he was breathing. He wasn't. She said a small prayer. Alistair and Eren helped him lay fully on the ground.
"The demon's presence in his mind was too great. I'm sorry." Wynne explained.
"The sooner we find Uldred, the sooner I can explode a fireball in his face." Talen gritted his teeth. Leliana and I looked at each other with worry. We came out and decided to head toward the next room.
Where we met the Sloth demon.
"Ah visitors." It drawled. "I would entertain you but that is so tiring. Why don't you take a rest?" Something about its voice made my eyes heavy.
"You cannot expect me to lay on the…blood covered ground…" Morrigan struggled.
"Can't keep eyes open…Someone pinch me…" Alistair yawned, kneeling.
"No…you can't do this…" Talen was the first to go under. All of us started to kneel, the ground suddenly looking comfortable.
"You can't…control me…demon…" Leliana laid her head down.
"My resistance….will…" Derek slumped over.
"Stay…awake…" Eren shook his head.
"You will not…control…me…" Sten was heaving himself up before he fell. Alfred whined before falling next to me.
"Resist…or else…we're all lost." Wynne struggled on her staff.
"Why must you fight? You deserve a rest." The sloth demon said with finality. Everyone fell…but I got a jolt from the back of my head. I cried out and held it painfully. Everyone was sleeping next to me.
"What? Why am I…?" I wondered before I heard a hum of curiosity.
"What is this? Ah the irregularity. I was wondering when I would find you. Others have searched but that was too troublesome." It walked over to me. My body still felt heavy though as I tried to crawl away. "Don't worry beacon. I'm sure what you have will benefit me greatly." I leaned against the wall as I saw the body of Niall on the ground. He was so close.
"Get away from me and leave my friends alone!" I croaked out.
"Don't fight it. Just give me what I-"
The whole world turned bright. Too bright. It felt familiar but it tingled as well. Before I could figure out what was happening, I opened my eyes again. The odd green sky with the floating islands greeted me as well as Halo who was floating overhead. I got up and noticed I was in my armor not my usual clothes. I blinked a few times, expecting for those weird circles that you get when staring at something really bright. Nothing.
"What was that?" I wondered.
'Protected you. Used body as point.' Halo said as he lazily got on my head. 'Have time. Must wake others or demon will win.'
"Alright then." I got up and took a deep breath to look at my surroundings. I was on top of a hill and I looked down. It looked like ruins to me but there were two things that I knew I couldn't have dreamt up.
One was the pedestal that I found in all the dreams from playing and the second was Niall pacing around.
"There's no time like the present."
Yay! We're almost there! Oh man, I found a good song to write to and I'm on fire! Not literally of course!
Shout out to TwinsMadness and Graywolf144 for following! Thank you Chimera Spyke and WindBeard47 (I'm glad you're liking the change!) For Reviewing! Please Review! :D