Chapter 138: Slavers
She had been ready.
Leliana had not been looking for a fight, but that did not mean that she had not sensed that one was coming. The Tevinters being here, the battle in the orphanage, and the disappearing elves had all contributed to her growing sense of unease. When Alim and Kally had volunteered to sneak into the quarantine, she had suspected that when the two elves emerged whatever foulness the Tevinters had been hatching here would finally be brought to light.
Alim did not disappoint her.
She had seen the clouds darkening overhead. She had only partially been listening to Carver and Alistair talking. If there was nothing amiss, Alim would emerge and tell them what he had found, but if he found something wrong…?
Well, Leliana knew what to expect when her dearest one was angry. The angrier he became the more the storm clouds gathered.
She glanced up overhead as the sky darkened.
The bard frowned slightly and drew and arrow from her quiver.
The storm would be quite strong, she realized.
Her Alim must have been furious.
He flung open the front door of the quarantine just as the Tevinters noticed the change in the weather; they whirled around just as the wind started to pick up.
Leliana could not hear her love's voice over the crowd and the slowly growing wind, but it was clear by the look on his face that he was in no mood to talk…
…and apparently…neither were the Tevinters.
There guards drew weapons, one of the mages motioned, and from what had likely been an abandoned store or apartment…more guards emerged. The air rippled around the Tevinter mages, elves in the crowd outside the quarantine began to panic.
Thunder rolled over head, and a bolt of lightning struck so near that it blinded nearly everyone.
Everyone…but Leliana, she had closed her eyes even as she stepped out of her hiding place.
She did not wait, and she did not hesitate.
Her love needed her.
She brought up her bow, targeting the elder of the two mages. The air around him was already beginning to shimmer, heralding the creation of a magical shield.
She did not have time to think.
She shot.
The mage's shield blocked her attack, the arrow began to slow as it flew towards its target, and on a normal day it likely would have fallen to the ground and done nothing but be stepped on and broken.
Alim had other ideas.
The wind caught her arrow, spinning it around and using its remaining momentum to accelerate. A Tevinter swordsman stood in its path, protecting an archer just setting his sights on putting a bolt of his own through Alim.
The wind and Leliana's arrow changed that idea.
Leliana had seen many things in her travels, once, while travelling through Antiva she had seen a whirlwind for the first time. After the storm had passed, she had remembered going out and seeing the devastation for herself. She remembered one sight above all from that journey, a piece of straw, blown so hard that it managed to penetrate deep into a strong and healthy oak tree.
She had told that story to Alim, one night as they lay cuddling in her tent. After hearing of that, the elf reasoned that the two of them might find a way to combine their talents to produce even greater results when the time came to face the darkspawn horde. It might sound odd to most, discussing new means of dealing death while lying in the arms of a lover, but for the warden and her, it was just part of their relationship, their acknowledgement of what they had to face.
Neither of them could be called simple people. They had seen too much and faced too much to ever just be ordinary. The Blight had to be opposed.
Any weapon that they had available to them…had to be at least discussed, if not used outright.
The arrow, greatly accelerated by the gust of wind, pieced the swordsman's throat and kept going; it caught the archer in the eye, ending any threat of the man harming Alim or any of the elven crowd.
Leliana smiled fiercely.
It might have seemed cruel, but considering the Tevinter's reaction to the warden breaching their quarantine, it was warranted. Had they been simple healers they would have went up to the elf and seen what exactly was going on, instead they, as her old friend Tug had liked to say, brought out the blades.
Well, they were committed now. The square in front of the quarantine had become chaos.
Leliana readied another arrow.
It was time to deal with this.
IOI
"KEEP BACK!"
Kally had to shout to be heard over the roaring winds, all around them the buildings of the Alienage shook as the warden battered the Tevinters with his attack. For a brief moment she feared that Alim might inadvertently cause destruction. That his winds would bring down the entire Alienage in an attempt to harm the Tevinters. Surprisingly the warden seemed to have his powers under control, the winds seemed to whirl and focus only around the area with the Tevinter mages and their guards were most focused, forcing the mages and their allies to defend as much against the weather as they were against the warden and his allies.
Good, she thought grimly.
The bastards deserve nothing less.
Behind her huddles the elves they had found in the quarantine. They were clearly frightened by what was going on outside, but had made no attempt to flee or panic. Alim had warned them as they freed them from their cages, the Tevinters would not let any of them go without a fight. It was best that they stay back and wait for the warden to clear the way for them.
Kally dared a glance back at the poor people, dirty and malnourished, they huddled together for safety. The very sight of it made her blood boil.
Healers…that is what the Tevinters called themselves, well that was a lie. The elves in those cages weren't sick. In fact that found little evidence that the sick had been here for very long, likely killed when the Tevinters realized that they would not recover. Healthy elves came here expecting protection from the plague, what they found instead were collars and chains.
Her ears lowered in anger.
These men were not healers.
They were slavers.
Her companions sprang from cover, assisting them as best they could. Kally stayed back, to guard the newly liberated slaves. The younger of the two mages tried to rally a few guards to secure their property while his master tried to deal with Alim.
Two of the guards tried to rush the elf, but met her blades instead. Kally expertly sidestepped the first attack and caught the Tevinter before he could recover from his lunge, her blade severing his head. The death of his companion made the man's fellow more careful. The mage slit his hand, and began gesturing, drawing circles in the air. The blood from his wounds expanded like tendrils or perhaps spider's webs.
They ensnared several elves that had been in the crowd outside, those poor souls eyes glowed red.
They flung themselves at Kally.
The elf's good eye widened.
Blood magic, she thought.
The mage was using her people as weapons!
She tried to hold the doorway. It kept her from being overwhelmed by her mind controlled kin, but at the same time she could not press the advantage.
These people were not the enemy. They were all victims.
She had no desire to harm them.
She would have gestured for either Alistair or Wynne to try and help, but the two of them had their own problems. The elder Tevinter had taken up his ally's idea; he also slit his hand, and began drawing the panicking elves to him. She saw him touch the baker's forehead, and gesture towards Theron. The elf snarled and tried to seize the Dalish. On reflex, Theron dodged and kicked the man away, he struck with the hilt of his ax at the man's head, which should have rendered the baker unconscious, but the Tevinter's spell had done more than simply make him attack. The poor elf staggered and fell into a nearby alley.
He exploded like one of Morrigan's fireballs, the force of the blast knocking Theron down. The Dalish only just managed to dodge the attack of a Tevinter trying to take advantage of the Dalish warden's misfortune.
Kally felt the bile rise in her throat. She was horrified.
The Tevinters were monsters!
They were using her people like…like…some kind of explosives.
Once again she found herself under attack. The remaining swordsman lunged at her, even as the younger Tevinter started gesturing towards her, lightning beginning to crackle in his hands.
Kally's good eye narrowed. She was no Templar and had little defense against magical attack, she tried to get the attention of one her own mage allies, but Alim and Wynne were both tied up trying to deal with the senior Tevinter, and Jowan was nowhere to be seen.
Kally dealt with the Tevinter swordsman and prepared to leap into the square, if she could reach the mage before he cast…
She would not make it, she knew that, but if she fell, at least she would hopefully take the smirking Tevinter bastard with her.
That would be worth it, her people would be safe.
She…she was shocked to discover that she was willing to die for that. She never considered herself a hero, or noble.
Kally shook her head.
She had been living around the wardens for too long.
She hoped the freed slaves would stay back; she had no desire to add their bodies to the Tevinters' assault.
She bolted.
The younger mage took a step back, but did not stop casting, lightning wreathed his hands. He began to point towards her, preparing to send his spell hurtling into her chest. She let out a battle cry and increased her speed.
The mage pointed towards her and…
A giant spider leapt on him from behind, the magical burst jolted past her and left a black burn scar across the front of the "quarantine." The creature's chittering jaws closed over the mage's neck, silencing his surprised screams as quickly as they had begun.
Kally paused, shocked.
Where had such a beast come from?
There was a flash of light, Morrigan stood where the spider had been. The witch gave her a look that was both haughty and more than a little miffed.
"Focus on the fight, girl," the witch chided drawing her staff. "These fools have called for reinforcements."
Kally looked, from the alley behind the Quarantine more Tevinter soldiers were emerging, and from the robes he wore their commander was likely another mage.
Kally whirled to meet them, fearing that her group would be overwhelmed, the Tevinters now had reinforcements…
…But apparently…so did they.
"For Ferelden!"
She saw Fergus charging into the fray, Seri and Shayle at his back. Sten let out a powerful roar as he drew his great sword and made for the Tevinter reinforcements. Arrows began to rain down on the enemy mages. Zevran was atop Alarith's store, with a bow, trying to pick off the Tevinter's magical commanders.
"SQUISH!" Shayle laughed as she brought one of her massive fists down on a Tevinter Archer. Oghren joined Alim in trying to take down the senior Tevinter mage, the dwarf howled with rage as he swung his ax trying to breach the slaver's magical shields.
Kally shook her head.
She did not know where her friends had come from…
…but she was grateful that they were here.
IOI
Alim's sword clanged against the Tevinter mage's staff. The slaver twirled it defensively and fell back. He tried to stun Alim and Oghren with a spell, but the elf's arcane defenses held and Oghren's resistance to magic prevented the spell from doing more than causing him to belch.
The ginger haired berserker cursed under his breath.
"WAS THAT SUPPOSE TO HURT?!" he shouted.
The dwarf flung himself against the mage again, forcing the man further back.
Alim once again tried to bring his sword down on his opponent, only to find it once again blocked by the other mage's shield.
The elf cursed under his breath.
Spellbinder would have breached that shield by now, he thought angrily.
He really missed spellbinder.
Bandit stayed close to his master, the Mabari dealt with any who dared get too close. The elves of the alienage had finally managed to get clear, those not ensorcelled by the Tevinter bastards in the early moments of the attack.
The warden shook his head.
Slavers, he thought, part of him still could not believe it.
How in Andraste's name had slavers gotten into the Alienage with this many men and not been noticed? He had a suspicion of course, but so far chose not to give voice to it, it would only bring more rage, and that is not what he needed right now, he was no berserker after all.
Right now he needed to keep his anger cool, and try to focus.
A mage worked best while focused.
An elven girl made her way slowly towards him; she had tears running down her face even as she tried to reach for the warden. Strange smoke was already rising from her hair, no doubt preceding her explosion.
He barely noticed her, but when he did his eyes narrowed.
Alim began to gesture, a gust of wind would send the girl flying back, and she would detonate in one of the back alleys, hopefully harming no one.
I'm sorry, he thought.
I'm so sorry.
Before he could finish calling on the wind, the girl collapsed, a cloud of magic settled over her, she writhed in pain, clutching at her no doubt burning body.
The cloud dissipated, but not before it drew the blood magic from the she-elf, she lay on the ground gasping for breath.
The senior Tevinter, who had no doubt enchanted the girl in the first place saw this to, it had distracted him, not for long, only a second really.
It was all that Oghren needed.
The dwarf roared in triumph as the mage's shield finally gave way. The Tevinter tried to back-pedal, but he was too slow to avoid the strike of the dwarven berserker's ax.
The weapon caught the mage in shoulder, digging deep into him, so deep that even the most powerful of blood spells would not have saved him.
The senior Tevinter sank to the ground. His elven thralls collapsed no longer swayed and no longer detonating like bombs as they flung themselves against the wardens and their allies.
The death of their leader sent the remaining Tevinters fleeing back the way they came, back down the alley behind the Quarantine.
The warden's eyes narrowed.
They could not let the bastards get away.
He briefly turned to girl who had first been freed from the Tevinter's magic. He would go and offer healing first, make sure that she suffered no ill-effects.
Jowan beat him to it. His old friend kneeled beside the girl, offering her both soft words and a healing touch.
Alim saw the fresh binding on Jowan's hand, the warden now knew what had caused the Tevinter's blood magic to fail. It was not the choice he would have used, but…
His elven ears twitched.
Fight fire with fire, he thought. Jowan had harmed no one, and had likely saved this poor girl's life.
He would not fault his friend for that.
"We've secured the square Alim," Fergus approached him like a military commander reporting to his superior.
"The last of those bastards have fled, but…"
Alim gave the warrior a feral smile.
"But we can't let them go," he said, "If that is what you were trying to say; then I agree."
Fergus nodded. He quickly glanced around the battlefield, not relaxing until he saw Kally tending to one of the elves that had been freed from the Tevinter enchantment.
The warrior sighed with relief.
Alim however remained cold and grim.
He could not give himself time to feel relief, not until this was truly over.
The warden looked in the direction the Tevinters had fled. According to Shianni, the Tevinters had taken dozens of elves over the last few weeks, if they weren't in the quarantine then…?
The warden's eyes narrowed.
If those people were still in Denerim, they needed to know.
Alim leaned down, and cleaned off his sword on the robes of the dead senior Tevinter, when that was done, he began to follow the fleeing slavers.
Some of allies would have to stay behind should the Tevinters have left any surprises, the rest…
They would come with him. They would follow the bastards, and they would end this.
Alim's fists tightened around his weapons.
This fight…was far from over.