9:30 Wintermarch ?
Eren stumbled at his feet as all the people in his dream stood up. This was bad. Eren didn't have any sort of weapons and I didn't see Wynne or Alistair anywhere. I did my whistle and Alfred came toward me. His tongue lagged out and I smooshed his face.
"You were smart enough to figure this out huh? To protect your master." I chuckled. Alfred barked before turning toward the crowds of people that were nearing us. He growled as they came forward.
"Come don't let the food go to waste!"
"Such a happy couple!"
"Let's go Eren!"
"Yes, stay!"
"What is going on? Why is this happening?" Eren groaned, holding his head.
"Now!" I heard Alistair yell and a glyph appeared underneath us and a barrier surrounded us. The people hit at the barrier, their hands turning into claws, their faces becoming demonic. Eren collapsed to his knees as his dream shattered. Alfred and I stepped out of the barrier. I punched, kicked, and slash at all the bodies. When it was becoming too much for me, Alistair came in and bashed them with his shield.
Alfred was a beast in the literal sense as he let his mabari instincts take over. Wynne was at a safe distance throwing lighting and ice spells at the demons. Little by little they began to wane until Wynne got rid of the last one. I looked back to see Eren still collapsed on his knees with bodies of demons all over him.
The illusion ended and the bodies dispersed. I felt my heart shatter again as Highever castle was gone. I walked over to Eren as Alfred whined softly next to him. I knelt down to him and then hugged him. Tears prickled at my eyes.
"I hope you can forgive me." I whispered. Wynne and Alistair walked toward us as the land we were on dissolved and we were back with Niall.
"It's about time!" Derek yelled. Everyone was at the pedestal now. Talen, Morrigan, Sten, Leliana, and Derek were all gathered around it. They were all armored except Leliana who had on Chantry robes. Eren was in the same situation with his wedding clothes.
"Good, it seems you were all able to escape." Niall held his head and rubbed it.
"Niall was telling us that he found a way to the Sloth demon's island." Talen explained. I nodded and helped Eren on his feet. There was a dead look in his eyes. It wasn't every day you were forced to watch the death of your home twice in a lifetime.
"How?" Wynne asked.
"It would please me if this never happened again." Sten grumbled.
"I believe once all the runes have flickered off…" Niall went to the pedestal but all the runes up top were off and it wasn't rotating anymore. Niall touch the sides of the pedestal and removed the top. In the bottom was the last rune.
"Alright! Now let's go kick that sucker in the nuts!" Derek laughed. Niall had a forced smile on his face. I gulped.
"We must be cautious. The demon is extremely powerful even without our dreams to feed on. It will change its form to suit its needs. We must all work together if we are to defeat it." Wynne said.
"What about Eren and Leliana? They don't have weapons." I mentioned.
"They will have to remain far from the battle. I don't even want to think how your bodies will be if you lose your life in the fade." Wynne scrunched up her face.
"Then what are we waiting for? The sooner we are relieved of this demon, the better." Morrigan huffed. Wynne nodded.
"We won't need to hold to a part of each other here. Once I touch this rune, where we're standing will disappear." Niall mentioned. He looked pale as he touched the rune. There was a more violent vibration as we fell. We 'fell' on an island with blue spikes all around that I recognized as lyrium. We all looked around and made sure that we were all here. Niall stumbled as he saw the demon in front of us.
"What is this? Rebellious mice?" It purred.
"You will no longer trap anyone here!" Niall shouted.
"We found each other in our dreams, you cannot separate us any longer!" Leliana shouted.
"I promise to make it better this time." The demon laughed.
"How about I just light you on fire!" Talen growled.
"I'm hurt so very-"
"Let's just kill it!" Derek shouted as he ran toward him. Leliana, Eren, and I were far away from the fighting. Eren wasn't responding and Niall stumbled toward us.
"There is something…" Niall gulped. "I must tell you."
"What is it?" Leliana said.
"The Sloth demon has been using my life to power his dreams. As you can see, I do not have much time left. When you are back in the real world, take the litany from my…my body. You will be able to fight against blood magic as well as demonic possession. Wynne or Talen would be able to use it or a Templar that is skilled enough." Niall explained.
"Maybe there's something we can do to save you!" I said. "Wynne is a great healer, she can-" Niall shook his head.
"No, I've been in here too long. For you, this would have been an afternoon nap. The demon has been feeding off my energy and I am so tired. Don't forget the litany." Niall said. I heard the fighting as the Sloth demon turned into an Ogre.
"You will be known as a hero." Leliana mentioned.
"Greater danger, greater acts of heroism? Perhaps. I hope…I hope I didn't let my mother down." Niall exhaled before his fists churned with lightning. He ran into the fighting.
"Niall!" I shouted but it was futile. He ran toward the demon and the field shone with light. "Halo, is there something we can do?" I whispered.
'No. Unfortunately there is no healing for one's soul. His life will extinguish. He has made his choice.' I heard Halo say. I gritted my teeth. Then I opened my eyes. My cheek hurt from resting on the stone floor for too long and I shivered from the cold. I groaned as I pushed myself up. I heard something fall. Next to Niall was the remnants of the Sloth demon. I crawled over to him and checked his heart rate. There was none and I remembered what Halo said. We couldn't heal his soul.
I heard the others shifting behind me as I gripped Niall's robes. I wiped my eyes. I was here to change things right? Wasn't I supposed to be able to fight against fate? Wasn't I supposed to be able to save the people that couldn't be saved originally? And if I wasn't…then why was I here? I saw the book that he held. I got it and wiped my eyes.
I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. It was Wynne. She also had a defeated look on her face. I bit my lip as I gave her the litany. I put Niall's hands together and shut his eyes. I put my hands together and prayed.
But there was a rage inside me. A rage of my uselessness. There was the fact that I wasn't able to do anything. I couldn't do anything! Niall died because I wasn't strong. There could have been a way right? There had to be! If we can find a solution for Tranquil's to find their mage powers again, couldn't there have been a way?
But Halo said no. We couldn't. I got up and my anger was at the forefront. I wanted to hurt something, anything. Frustrated tears came out of my eyes and I wiped them so hard that my eyes hurt.
"Is everyone alright?" Derek asked, breaking the silence.
"That is something…I am not going to forget." Leliana said softly.
"Truly? My so called 'nightmare' was a pitiful attempt of my mother. Such a jest." Morrigan laughed.
"There wasn't anything good in my dream." Talen mumbled.
"How about we all stop talking and get to Uldred huh?" I snapped at them.
"Slow down there missy. We need to make sure everyone is whole." Derek frowned.
"Of course everyone is fine! The Sloth demon was only using Niall's life force! And in the end Niall sacrificed his life so that it wouldn't put us through the same thing!" More frustrated tears came out as I exhaled harshly. "It…we were only down for an afternoon nap while…while the Sloth wouldn't stop feeding off Niall." I gasped for air. My chest contracted painfully. It hurt. It hurt. I clenched my fist in front of my chest.
"Then fight for him." Talen said as he came toward me and put his hands on my shoulders. His honey colored eyes burned. "He's on the list of all the ones we've lost. That's another punch for Uldred from you." I exhaled sharply.
"Then we need to get going soon because if we don't, I swear I'm going to start punching the walls." I forced my voice out. It still cracked. Talen nodded. After a few whispers of reassurement, I followed the others out while looking at Niall for one final time. "You didn't fail her Niall." I whispered. We opened the next door and followed the hallway where a drake was waiting for us.
"What's a drake doing here!?" Alistair shouted, using his shield to block the flame that came toward us.
"This is not the time for answers!" Derek ran toward the drake with Sten following him. I followed soon after, waiting for the others to gain the drake's attention. I evaded its tail before jumping and landing on its back. It reared its head back but couldn't reach me. I stabbed into its back as it bucked onto its hind legs. Big mistake. That exposed its weak underbelly. Sten, Eren, and Alistair wasted no time in stabbing into it.
The drake let out a final wail before falling over and bleeding all over the place. I got off its back and slipped on the blood. Luckily, Eren grabbed my arm to stop me from completely falling. I remember the dream that he had of me and became self-conscious. I felt my face heat up as I took my arm back.
"Thanks." I muttered while walking with the rest of the group.
"Imagine armor built with drake scales!" Derek said with awe.
"We can collect the scales later. Right now we have more pressing matters." Eren said, going to the front of the group. He gave me a look back before opening the next door.
"That dream with him…" Alistair whispered to me. I shook my head.
"Now's not the time." I said. The next room had dragonlings. They were the size of Alfred but all of them can spit fire and had sharp teeth. The thing with dragonlings though is that their scales weren't as tough as its older brethren. Because of that, a simple swipe to its neck can kill it. Wynne paralyzed all of them while each one of us took our pick. I slashed a neck of one while kicking another one away. Leliana shot at it and the others finished with their dragonlings.
I rubbed my eyes. There was a window outside and night was turning into day. We've been fighting all night and I was starting to feel it. We followed the hallway but two doors were brought down and a small horde of abominations came out. I was tackled by one to the ground who was then tackled by Alfred. One grabbed my arm and lifted me high. I grabbed my dagger and cut it off. The demon roared before being bashed by Eren's shield. He grabbed me and forced me against the wall as they exploded.
"Eren!" I harshly said. Eren gave a groan of pain before another abomination came toward us. Eren bashed it while I went behind and dug my daggers into its backside. Eren stabbed through it and left it on the ground. Another abomination blew up near me and singed my leg. I hissed in pain at the sudden heat before Eren grabbed me and forced me into a room before I heard more explosions go off in the hallway.
"That should have been all of them." Eren breathed out. I pushed myself off him. I couldn't look at him. "From what you witnessed…"
"This isn't the time Eren." I scoffed trying to regroup but Eren stopped me.
"I need to tell you how I feel." Eren said.
"For what? So I can reject you again?" I snapped. Eren looked hurt. It twisted my stomach as I turned away. "Let's go. We can't keep everyone else waiting." I joined the others who were being healed by both Wynne and Talen. Talen groaned and held his head.
"You must be careful Talen. We had a small resting period. It won't be enough to restore all your mana." Wynne said.
"I know." Talen shook his head. "Are you guys hurt?" Talen asked as Eren and I came back.
"I got singed on my leg. I'm sure Eren has the worst of it though." I mentioned. Eren came forward and Wynne healed him.
"That should be all of us then. Let us continue." Sten grunted forward.
"Wait, the apothecary was situated up here. They should have a few potions around. We can't go in unprepared." Wynne mentioned.
"Ever the thoughtful one." Morrigan chuckled.
"I don't see you trying to help witch." Derek grunted as he followed Wynne. Morrigan scowled. I leaned against the wall and Leliana stood next to me.
"…I was at peace in the Chantry. That was my dream." She said softly. I bit my lip.
"I had my family." I lied. Leliana nodded. Derek found a stash of potions as well as a rare stamina potion. We each took a sip of them and I felt my energy come back to me.
"This door should lead us to the Harrowing chamber. Since we didn't find Irving or his body in any of the other rooms, he has to be there." Wynne said. We opened the door and we all saw the purple barrier. The stench was nauseating as there were Templar bodies everywhere. Most of the bodies were in the purple barrier with one Templar who was still alive.
Cullen. His cheeks were sunken in and the bags under his eyes were huge. His face was unshaven and his eyes were bloodshot. He laughed madly for a second before he got it under control.
"This trick again? No, I will stay strong." Cullen knelt as I heard a few prayers to Andraste.
"Maker…Cullen! Cullen it's me Talen!" Talen dropped down to his knees and put his palms against the barrier. "What is with his barrier? Do you remember me? You were the Templar that was assigned to my Harrowing!"
"Don't come near me!" Cullen roared. "Ugh, if any of you is human then kill me now. They broke the others but they won't break me." Cullen's voice broke with a sob.
"Oh this is so wrong." I shook my head.
"Lyrium withdrawal. He's showing signs of it. Who knows how long he's been in there." Alistair mentioned.
"The poor thing. Here I have dried bread and jerky." Leliana tried to offer it to him.
"Don't even dare demon!" Cullen shouted. Leliana recoiled.
"Don't even try. He won't listen to us." I sighed.
"Cullen is there anyone left alive?" Talen asked.
"Left alive? What are you talking about?" Cullen glared at him.
"Irving and the other mages." Wynne said. Cullen sucked in a breath.
"They are in the harrowing chambers but the sounds coming from there…" Cullen stood up and rubbed his eyes.
"Then Uldred must be up there. Let's go." Talen got up.
"Wait! In order for this all to end you must kill everyone in there. You don't know who has changed or what they have become!" Cullen pounded on the barrier. He was little more than an animal in a cage. My heart wept for him.
"The Templar speaks the truth. Could we really trust the saarebas after the torture they've endured?" Sten said.
"Big guy has a point." Derek grumbled.
"No! We've went through too much than to kill them all!" Talen shouted. "And if you have a problem with saving the mages, there's the door." Talen pointed out. Sten huffed and Derek chuckled darkly.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Derek got his hammer ready.
"Maker turn his gaze on you. I hope your mercy hasn't doomed us all." Cullen said with so much hate. I took one look at him before following the others. We opened the door to the Harrowing chamber and we saw Uldred in the middle. He was using some sort of blood magic on one of the mages who was being held by demons.
"Do you accept my gift?" Uldred drawled out. The mage looked to be in massive pain before he nodded. He screamed as his body twisted and contorted until an abomination was before us. I saw Talen's fist glow in fire.
"Uldred!" Talen screamed.
"Ah so you are the ones that have infiltrated in my Circle." Uldred drawled with three abominations flanking him.
"You are going to pay for what you did here!" Talen shouted.
"Wait, wait! Let's not resort to violence so hastily. After all, if you accept the gift I offer you can become more than what you are! I remember you Talen, such a promising young mage. So powerful, so talented! Why if you accept what I offer, you can bring nations to their knees. Isn't that right Irving?" Uldred chuckled.
"Don't listen to him. Defeat Uldred and free us from this nightmare." Irving weakly cried out.
"And here I thought I turned you Irving. Such a shame." Uldred tsked.
"Uldred!" Talen screamed as he let out a massive fireball aimed at him. It didn't matter though as Uldred shed his human skin. Instead, we had a hulking pride demon in front of us.
"For she who trusts in the maker, fire is her water!" Leliana recited as she unleashed arrows. Wynne was right next to her, chanting the litany next to her.
"Alfred, Nia, stay with them. Protect Wynne!" Eren shouted. Alfred and I took our places next to Wynne.
"As the moth sees light and goes toward flame, She should see fire and go towards Light." Leliana chanted.
"Could you please stop with the Chantry drivel!" Morrigan rushed forward, turning into her wasp form. The pride demon unleashed whips of lightning. The melee fighters were saved by a barrier from Talen at the last minute. Then the pride demon looked at us.
"Run now!" I shoved them. The pride demon held in his hand an orb of pure electricity. It howled in pain as Derek pounded his hammer on its foot. Everyone tried to nick its hard scaly body. Talen summoned another massive fireball and it pushed back the pride demon.
"The Veil holds no uncertainty for her." Leliana shouted. The other abominations came toward us. I tackled one to the ground and beat its face in while Alfred took the other one into its jaws. Leliana took out her small dagger and beat the demon with her bow and then slashed with her dagger. Running away from the demon that I killed, I jumped and stabbed deeply into the demon's back. We all ran back from the explosion.
I saw the Pride demon kneel as everyone got their shot in. I looked at Wynne and she nodded as she chanted. I looked at Alfred and we both charged toward the Pride demon.
"And she will know no fear of death, for the Maker, Shall be her beacon and her shield, her foundation and her sword!" Leliana shouted. I did a battle cry as I stabbed into its side. It roared in pain before charging into the rest. They all took it by the horns but the Pride demon swatted them away. I still held on and climbed its back with my daggers. It unleashed another whip of energy until I reached its neck. I plunged my dagger deep into it before it grabbed me off its back.
It held me in front of it. Its three eyes boring into me. Panic made its way into me as I struggled against its grasp. I heard Eren shout before the Pride demon smirked.
"Irregularity. Yes, you should turn as well." The Pride demon cackled. 'Do you hear me!' I screamed as I heard its voice inside of my head. 'Bow to me for I am greater than you!' I held my head in pain. It felt like needles piercing inside.
'Halo…help me…' I thought before I saw light again. There was something controlling me. I felt my body break out of its grasp before falling hard onto the floor. The light left and I tasted blood inside of my mouth. The others were still fighting while I felt myself being dragged off. The pride demon's blood was making the floor sticky. Eren took my head in his hands before I coughed out. Some of my blood spattered on his face.
"Thank the Maker you're alive." Eren's voice broke.
"Potion." I coughed out. Eren quickly gave it to me and I felt better. I got up again. The Pride demon was kneeling on the ground again.
When in doubt, go for the eyes! We ran toward it with Eren bashing the Pride demon with his shield, Alistair stabbing in succession. Derek swinging his maul on its hard skin, Sten twisting his greatsword inside its flesh, and Morrigan biting at anything she could. The pride demon stared at me so I let my rage out. With a loud battle cry, I stabbed my dagger inside its eye. Talen summoned a firestorm and small fireballs began raining down on the demon. I sank my dagger more and it reared back in pain.
'A demon is that wish gone wrong.' I remembered his words. I felt pity for a second but that wouldn't stop my dagger from going in deeper past my forearm. The pride demon roared before I finally took out my arm and jumped away. I landed in a heap on the ground before the pride demon fell dead on the ground.
I sat back as the demon turned back into essence. I laid back on the stone floor. Eren stood over me before I gave him a weak smile.
"We did it." I chuckled before I erupted into full laughter and then into sobs. I covered my eyes. It was over.
Beta'd by FearaNightmare!
And there we have it! I updated the pride demon's attack pattern from Inquisition. Also Baldur's Gate shout out!
Shout out to ChesireTwilight, Iskandar06, and UndeadHero143 (WELCOME BACK!) for favoriting/following! Thank you Chimera Spyke and Syutaku for reviewing! I'm glad you like the emotional chapters! PLEASE REVIEW!