9:30 Drakonis ?
We walked into a large hall when we saw the archers come out on the ledges surrounding the main hall. A mage and two reavers by his side came toward the stair case. We were surrounded.
"Run!" Eren shouted and none too soon. The archers shot at our group but Eren and Alistair used their shields to divert the arrows away. Talen and Wynne concentrated on a barrier around us while Morrigan transformed into her wasp form and headed toward the Reavers and mage. The mage couldn't concentrate on his spell while the reavers ran down to meet us. Derek swooshed his hammer and knocked one right in the gut while Sten stabbed one right through in a weak point in his armor. I ran past Morrigan dealing with the mage and killed the first archer by putting my momentum into my knuckles.
There were two more archers right after him. I stabbed my daggers into the other's chest and threw his body at the other archer, distracting him. Zevran had already reached me and slashed the archer several times before stabbing him in the stomach and dropping him over the ledge. I saw that the other archers were done in by Wynne and Talen's spells. The enemy mage was killed by Alistair too late. The mage, in his death, had summoned Ash wraiths. Their bodies twisted with an enormous mouth with spindly arms. I have to admit, the demons of the future weren't so ugly.
I guess you can say Ash Wraiths have the same burning ability of the rage demons but they can't overheat your weapons. Alistair and Eren were able to kill them quickly. We pushed further and saw a few archers across a long hallway. Talen and Morrigan put out fire and lightning spells respectfully while I took care of a trap I saw underfoot. We followed the corridor to where we saw a statue of Andraste looking over us and ash wraiths came up from the ground.
A timely barrier surrounding us, some arrows from Leliana, and a pummeling from Sten and Derek together, gave us liquid demons. Then we saw that there were two paths diverging from each other.
"So door number one or door number two?" I asked.
"We can always split up as usual." Talen said.
"Derek." Eren nodded to the door on the right. Derek took Wynne, Morrigan, Leliana, and Alistair. The rest of us took the other door. We walked the hallway before opening a door to the next room. A mage was at the end of the room and she summoned two more wraiths. Zevran and I tried to rush into the demons before accidentally setting off traps. I grabbed him and stumbled back, letting the demons get impaled on the blades coming toward us. Talen set up a barrier while Eren rushed over and shielded us from a flame attack. Sten came and impaled her on his sword before swinging her lifeless body against the wall.
"Brutal." I said, dusting myself off.
"I must thank you! You saved me from impalement myself." Zevran chuckled as we walked past the trap.
"No big deal." I shrugged.
"Focus." Eren said before continuing on. We followed him into another room with a statue of Maferath.
"At least they haven't taken down all the Andrastrian statues." Talen said, looking up at the carved art.
"I think it's because they still worship her." I said, knowing that they really do but a dragon that they think is Andraste.
"They did have a sermon on our way here." Eren nodded. We walked again until we met the other group where they connected to one door.
"Not much of anything around other than we figured out that chests can be enchanted." Derek guffawed.
"Not much on our end either. That means that this door must head further in." Eren said.
"From what I gathered, they seem to work primarily in the old mining tunnels further in. We need to be cautious." Wynne said.
"I'm sure they'll have plenty of reavers and mages and other dangerous animals at their disposal." Alistair gave a good natured chuckle.
"Let's go." Eren said. We opened the door and went out. It was more temple but it looked as though it was being carved into the mountain further in. The tile turned into stone and the architecture was stalagmites hanging from the ceiling. The torches were flickering with the sun bathing the room from above. The cold settled in me slowly as we walked across the icy stone. I could tell that there was a lot of foot traffic as the floor was molded by it.
I heard running from across the room and we were met with a company of five men, all with heavy armor and one with no helmet. He barked his orders, something along the lines of 'kill them all' as usual. Oddly enough the cold helped deter the fear they were emanating. Probably because you get cold when you're afraid but that's just me thinking. The mages and Leliana went for cover behind the stones while the rest of us went ahead to fight. I managed to jump up the stones and jumped down with a stab to the one with no helmet. Helmets save lives people otherwise you get a dagger in your brain. Another reaver tried to swipe at me but only ended up shaving off a few chunks of rock next to him. I got up and stabbed upward into his chin. Two down and the other three were fighting with Derek, Sten, Alistair, and Eren.
I saw Zevran sneak up to one before stabbing him behind the gut. Weak point hit, he staggered but rose up and roared. In between roars, Sten cleaved the head off its body. We had to go for the head on these guys. We can't risk more time in fights since Eamon is waiting for us. After a timely cold spell from Wynne, we shattered the last two and moved ahead.
The carved stone gave way to regular stone walls of a cavern. Light filtered in from the opening above us with a well-worn walkway so we didn't have to worry about ice.
"Did they carve this themselves or was this originally part of the temple?" Leliana wondered as she ran her hand on the walls.
"We can't be sure. I'm surprised that it's been hidden for so long." Alistair said.
"These people wanted to hide it away from the others. Maybe they had altruistic motives at first." Eren theorized.
"And then they became a dragon cult." I chuckled.
"We haven't seen any dragons at all missy." Derek said. Speak of the devil and he shall come. In the middle of the stone hallway, dragonlings came from both in front of us and behind us. These weren't like the frail ones in the mage tower either. The cultists have definitely been feeding them. They were bigger and their scales jutted out more. I wasn't sure if this meant they were older than usual dragonlings or had a different dragon mother. In any case, we were surrounded.
They gave out little blasts of fire that would cause serious burns but the barrier around us kept it from harming us. It did singe my chestplate slightly. We had three in front and four in the back. Morrigan turned into her bear form to fight with three of them. Sten and Derek were trying to keep some away but the dragonlings were bigger than Alfred and were probably longer than I was tall.
One fought off Sten only for Alistair to go up and take a good slice on its neck. Zevran and I were keeping two in line while Wynne was planting ice glyphs on the floor, slicing open two that dared go near them. Leliana had put away her bow in order to fight with a pair of small daggers on her side. I had the worst job of distracting them while Zevran looked for an opening. Meaning my face came too damn close to their teeth and dank breath. Seriously, it smelled like rotten meat.
Leliana was able to get a good stabbing below the ribs on the meaty part and Zevran sliced the neck. I was about to let out a victory grin before one dragon tackled my side. I couldn't overpower it, it was a freaking baby dragon! It slammed me against the wall where it started to crush me. When it saw that its power wasn't squishing me like it was supposed to, it reared its head back to snap at me. I plunged my hand into its mouth, dagger straight into the throat. It choked as I stabbed something and reared back. Derek came over and slammed his hammer across its head.
I looked back at the battlefield as Eren and Morrigan took down the last dragonling. I looked at the armor that I wore and, thankfully, I got away with a few scrapes and no dents.
"Well, I can add dragon babies to my growing list of things I've killed." Derek guffawed. I rolled my eyes and shook my head but gave him a grin. I would have to thank Mikhael one of these days.
We gathered our bearings and headed deeper into the temple. The stone hallway gave way to a large, wide room. Four more dragonlings with reavers behind them came into view. Leliana got a head shot while Eren, Alistair, Sten, and Derek were up front with the dragons. Morrigan shifted again while Talen kept a barrier up and let Wynne use her proficiency in ice spells to cover the ground in ice glyphs. When a dragon managed to evade both sword and spells, Wynne lashed out with a fist made of earth. Zevran and I took down the one that got through with quick slashes on its underbelly and neck.
So long as we were able to focus on their weak spots, you just need a quick pair of feet to go against dragonlings. Unlike their more mature stages, these were babies even if they were bigger than the ones we saw in the tower. Their scales were tough sure but Derek's hammer can still plow through them with a well-timed attack. Morrigan's teeth sank into a dragonlings neck while Sten decapitated another reaver. Eren and Alistair tagged teamed one dragon while another came toward the mages. I ran past the dragonling as I saw Derek struggling with the last reaver. I slid on the ice, put my foot in between the legs, and tripped the reaver. Derek wasted no time in letting his hammer fall directly on the guys face. Ugh, that sickening crunch will stay with me.
We brought down all the enemies and moved on. I noticed a ledge that held a man that seemed to be caring for the eggs surrounding him. When he spotted us, he began to focus on his staff only to be done in by a timely arrow to the throat. He gurgled as he held onto an egg for sheer life and died with it in his arms. Kinda sad if I thought about it.
"So this is where those little dragons come from." Alistair awed at the large eggs.
"Dragonlings." Morrigan scoffed.
"So these guys take care of the little ones huh?" Derek knocked on an egg.
"Makes you wonder though, where are they getting the eggs?" I asked. I got a few scared and curious looks.
"A mother dragon?" Talen wondered.
"A High dragon." Wynne crossed her arms. "If that is really what we are assuming here then things will only get harder for us."
"Many thought the dragons were extinct until only a few decades ago. Only High Dragons breed as well. The assumption is not far off." Eren reasoned.
"A High Dragon can't be killed by just a small group like us! Do you even know how huge those things are? If the cultists are taking care of the babies, then they probably are sustaining the High Dragon too. What if they use it against us?" Alistair asked.
"Let us pray it doesn't come to that." Leliana hoped.
"Or we could all get eaten by a dragon, our bones never to see the sun again until we pass through the dragon's ass." Zevran chuckled.
"Yeah, way to go with the imagery there." I laughed.
"There is no point in stopping here, dragon or no." Sten gruffily said. We agreed and continued. We walked through another hallway, this time with our weapons out. We couldn't be sure if we could be flanked again by dragonlings. We crossed it and in came another cavern. More dragonlings, more reavers, and they had a mage this time. This mage was different though as it came with the reavers at us with armor and a sword.
"Is that mage wielding a sword?" Talen wondered in awe.
"Less awing more spells." I said, running into battle with the others. I evaded a bite from a dragon and slashed the neck three times. I had to backpedal as a reaver came for me before he was knocked on the ground by Derek's hammer. I wasted no time in going down to slash his throat. I stabbed it too so he would bleed out quicker.
I heard a large commotion behind me as Morrigan let out lightning spells along with fire spells from Talen. The only one left standing was the mage who had a barrier around him. He was focusing all of his power on it though so as soon as he couldn't handle it anymore, he was done for. Once the barrier was down, he flung his sword toward Wynne. It nearly connected if it wasn't for Alistair putting his shield right in front, catching it. Eren dug his sword through the mage's chest and we were done.
"Are you ok Wynne?" Alistair asked.
"I'm fine, thank you." Wynne breathed. Alistair inspected the sword and it went in deep into his shield, touching his breastplate.
"That was a good shot, I have to admit." Alistair grunted as he pulled out the sword from his shield. We walked further in the cavern and found two different paths. A foul smell was coming from both and intermingled with each other.
"Ugh, why is it so smelly?" I held my nose.
"Considering we have carcasses of animals rotting in a corner there, that could be it." Zevran chuckled.
"One of these leads out, it has to." Eren rubbed his chin and combed through his beard. "We'll split up again. Derek, take a group with you and the rest will follow me."
"As you say boss." Derek grinned. "Prince, witch, red, and senior, follow me." Derek said, lifting his hammer with a face of glee.
"What does he expect to be in the other path, more dragons?" Alistair muttered, following him.
"This will be surprising but these are dragon cultists. The presence of more dragons would definitely be a surprise!" Morrigan said sarcastically.
"Now, now children. We don't need infighting now." Wynne tsked. They all left while we went the other way. The path started to incline upward as a bad smell started to waft as we walked.
"Ugh, what is that smell?" I held my nose and breathed through my mouth. It didn't make things better.
"Sulfur. The earth stirs beneath us." Sten answered.
"Does that mean we're on a literal volcano and it might blow?" I gaped. Zevran laughed.
"No, it only means that the mountain is active but will not erupt." Zevran explained.
"I am not so sure." Sten said. Zevran and I looked at each other with nervousness.
"Stop scaring them Sten." Eren chuckled. Sten wore one of his rare smirks before going back to frowning.
"Is it me or did he actually make a joke?" Talen came up next to me.
"I think he just did! We are slowly rubbing off on you my big grey friend." Zevran patted Sten's arm which he glared at him.
"I do not want any sort of rubbing from you." Sten said before we saw an opening from the cavern to more temple.
"A wide opening with no guards? This smells like a trap." I mentioned.
"Be on your guard." Eren said, taking out his weapons as we did the same. As soon as we crossed, there were two mages opposite our team. If it wasn't for Talen's timely barrier, we would have been scorched and impaled with ice. I took my dagger and cut the trap that was meant for us before Zevran rushed past and did quick slices against the mages chest before slicing her throat. Right behind, I heard the painful shouts of the elder mage. I looked back and he was dead.
"This won't be the last of them, I'm sure." Talen sighed, rubbing his head.
"You ok?" I asked.
"My mana is on the low side and Wynne has the lyrium potions. I'll have to wait for us to regroup to get some." Talen said.
"Let's go." Eren ordered. We kept on following the upwards caverns and made a turn. We found the largest room that we've seen, to the point where the ceiling had some fog and I couldn't really see it. We weren't able to enjoy it though as, of course, we were met with Kolgrim.
"Stop! You and your companions will go no further!" Kolgrim demanded. He had two guards at the side of him with two more mages in a distance behind him.
"And why is that?" Eren glared.
"You have corrupted our sacred temple! The blood of our most faithful runs like rivers and you have slaughtered our young! I will let you do no more! Tell me intruders, why have you done all of this? Why did you come here?" Kolgrim swung his sword around before putting it down on the stone.
"We came to search for the Urn of Sacred Ashes." Talen replied.
"You forced your way into our lands, slaughtered my people and the young we cared for, for an ancient urn?" Kolgrim looked down at Talen before brandishing his sword and swinging it wildly with emotion. "The prophet Andraste has conquered death itself and has been reborn! Returned to Her most faithful! Her form is more powerful and more beautiful than you can ever imagine! The Tevinter Imperium can only hope to slay Her now. What hope do you have coming here?" Kolgrim stalked our group.
"You're insane." I said and Kolgrim whipped his head to me. Talen and Zevran were both shaking their heads but I didn't stop. "You're about as bad as the Tevinter Imperium since you're worshipping a dragon too, just like they did. Andraste is gone and the urn that's most likely here is proof of that."
"You know nothing!" Kolgrim raged. "Andraste has resurrected and has shown herself to my people, the most faithful! To arms my brothers! For Andraste! For our victory!" The enemies took out their weapons and we got ready as well.
It seemed that Kolgrim has picked me out of everyone with the way I spoke about their 'Andraste.' Note to self: Don't antagonize the big buff reaver.
He swung at the group, almost slicing Talen as everyone had to jump back. I was separated and Kolgrim began his assault. I narrowly avoided his wide swings as he made sure to keep me away from everyone. Whenever someone tried to follow us, the mages would use their spells to keep them occupied. I cried out as I stepped away from another attack only to have my back against the stone wall. I sidestepped a stabbing but Kolgrim managed to grab my collar and forced me to the ground. The cold wasn't helping against his fear aura that he had. I was slowly starting to panic as my mind seemed to make him seem more demonic. I could only compare to the fear gas that Scarecrow uses against Batman.
I got up with my knuckles turning white from how hard I was holding my daggers. Kolgrim's attack became fiercer, slowly starting to clip me. I was afraid that he might finally get a shot in and as my fear grew, the adrenaline started to rush into me. Run or fight and for once I chose to fight. It was like that one battle in the snow, the first time I killed a man. His sword clipped my rib and it hurt like hell before I did a twirling sidestep like Zevran and managed to stand behind him. It was slow motion as I was able to see the opening in between his arm on his lower back. I stabbed with one dagger on his back with the other one around his neck. I wasted no time in slicing that and pulling out my dagger. The metallic smell of blood flooded my nostrils as I jumped back.
Kolgrim gurgled but still raised his sword against me. A person can bleed out quickly when their artery has been slashed, especially when their heart rate was elevated. It didn't matter to him though as he slashed his sword in quick bursts, trying desperately to get me. I gained some sort of courage or maybe I was just reckless but instead of dodging, I went into his bubble of range. It clipped my shoulder and I cried out, stabbing my daggers into his face. He started to fall and I fell on top of him, stabbing and stabbing before his hand finally settled and he stopped moving.
I breathed heavily as I looked at his eviscerated face, not even recognizable from where I was sitting. I got off as if I was sitting on fire and felt my stomach lurch painfully. I took deep breaths and looked away from the body of Kolgrim, and focused on the icy stone floor. Then I noticed that my hands, weapons, and my entire body was sprayed with blood. Kolgrim's blood.
"Oh God, what's wrong with me?" I harshly whispered to myself as I couldn't even handle my weapons in front of me. There were so many emotions rushing through me and it was too much at that point to even try to discern them. Tears fell from my eyes as I let out an odd laugh. It didn't even sound like me.
"Nia?" I heard Talen's voice behind me and felt his hand on my shoulder before I slapped it away.
"Don't touch me!" I shouted before starting to laugh hysterically. Well, so this is what a true mental breakdown felt like. "Look at what I did! What have I become!? Jesus Christ, I went at it like an animal." I sobbed, holding myself. I felt like I was about to break.
"It was you or them." Talen said softly as he sat next to me. I looked at him and sniffled.
"That doesn't make it better." I whispered, trying in futility to wipe off the blood. "I hate this."
"No one enjoys this except probably Derek." Talen sighed. "Stay still, your shoulder is bleeding."
"Talen…does this makes me less of a person? Does this make me evil?" I whimpered.
"No it doesn't. These guys were going to kill us and they twist our minds with their techniques. You were just on the front end of it. Don't worry. They're gone now." He said, his hands glowed green and touching my shoulder, healing the clip that Kolgrim got in. I didn't even notice the pain until I felt the dull thud of it after he healed it.
"I hate this." I softly said, my emotional high started to fade.
"Yeah it's not my favorite either." Talen said, keeping his hand on my shoulder. "But you're not evil and I think you're one of the best people I've met so far." I looked at him with disbelief before scoffing and shaking my head. "I'm serious. You helped me in the tower so let me help you too." Talen stared at me, his honey colored eyes brimming with determination.
"You're a good kid Talen." I smiled and Talen smiled too before I heard the hard footsteps of Sten and the smile quickly went away.
"I faltered Sten." I sighed.
"I can see that." I heard him say behind me. I got up and avoided Kolgrim's corpse while putting away my dagger. I heard a whistle as I saw Derek's group coming toward Eren and Zevran who were also surrounded by the reavers and mages.
"We found drakes! What did you find?" Derek asked.
"The leader it seems like. Anyway, the path continues." Eren said looking at me with understanding before going over to the light shining at the end of the cavern. Leliana gave me a worried glance but I shook my head. Talen kept close to me as our group fell silent when we came out of the temple. It led out to a bridge of the temple out to the mountain. As we walked, the roaring of the High Dragon pierced our ears. It flew above us, circling the temple before landing on a huge clearing on top of the mountain, letting out another roar before curling in on itself.
"Who's up for fighting a dragon!?" Derek took out his hammer.
"No!" Everyone shouted. Well, at least that broke the tension.
Beta'd by Syutaku
Sometimes I wonder if I overdo it with the guilt of killing someone but considering this is me, I would feel incredibly guilty nearly every single time even if I was forced to due to self-defense. Everyone is different and everyone copes differently as well. Anyway the baby should be coming in 1-2 weeks and this time I actually get some real time off! Hopefully that will help with my writing, now that Bioware has announced that they're working on the next dragon age, I gotta kick myself into gear! Of course some extra reviews would help with that :3
Thank you Earless93, chris . yellowcard . biddle6, Kiukun-Nadralexe, and NBR2332 for favoriting/following! Thank you Chimera Spyke for your review!
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