Chapter 80

Leliana watched the trebuchet shoot its load into the mountain. The impact caused an avalanche, burying the Red Templars in snow. Then Alistair pulled Ellana away as the trebuchet exploded into a fireball. She looked up, and caught a fleeting glance at what had caused the explosion. It was enough to drain all colour from her face.

Andraste preserve us.

"Move it, move it!" Cullen shouted beside her as Alistair and the others ran through the gates. He slammed the gate to and spun around to face them, eyes wild. "We need everyone back to the Chantry! It's the only building that'll hold against that... beast!" He shook his head. "At this point, let's just make them work for it."

Leliana went to Alistair's side as they parted to help the stragglers and villagers.

"You saw it?" she asked.

"I felt it," he replied through gritted teeth. "This is bad news."

The Chantry doors were open, with Chancellor Roderick, being held up by Cole, ushering everybody in. He was. Even from a distance, Leliana could see the old man clutching his side, an ever growing pool of red staining his robes under his fingers.

"He tried to stop a templar," Cole said as he sat the Chancellor down against a stone column while the Chantry doors were being closed and barricaded. "The blade went deep. He's going to die."

The Chancellor chuckled. "What a charming boy."

Cullen trotted up to them as Leliana knelt by the Chancellor and applied pressure to his wound. The wound was deep. He would not survive the night.

"Our positioning is not good," said Cullen to Ellana. "That dragon sold back any time you may have earned us."

"That's an archdemon, Cullen," Alistair corrected him, his breath shaky. "The false Calling was an annoyance, but that thing sang like a full tilt diva inside my head."

"Fuck," Ellana said simply.

"I don't care what it is," Cullen snapped back, brows drawn in frustration. "It cut a path for that army! They'll kill everything in Haven!"

"The Elder One doesn't care about the village," Cole said. "He only wants the Herald."

There was something mighty off about the boy, Leliana concluded. She couldn't place her finger on it, but-

"If he wants me, he can have me," Ellana said.

"No," Leliana said immediately. Cole backed her up.

"The Elder One doesn't care about the others, but he'll kill them all anyway. I don't like him."

"You don't like-" Cullen stopped himself and shook his head. He turned to Ellana. "Herald, there are no tactics to make this survivable. The only thing that slowed them was the avalanche. We could turn the remaining trebuchets, cause one last, big slide."

"And bury Haven?" Leliana asked.

"We die, but we decide how. Many don't get that choice," Cullen replied with a sigh.

"You do have a choice," Alistair said, massaging his temples, eyes squeezed shut. He was in pain. "If it's an archdemon, let me kill it."

"We don't know what it-"

"Chancellor Roderick has a solution," announced Cole, stopping all discussion. "He wants to share it before he dies."

Leliana looked at Cole closely. The Chancellor had made no motion to speak... so how did the boy know?

"There is a secret path," said the Chancellor feebly. "You would not know it unless you took the summer pilgrimage, as I have."

He then broke into a fit of coughing and Leliana looked up at Cullen.

"I know it. It is the path we took to discover the Temple ten years ago."

"Will you be able to show us?" Ellana asked. Leliana nodded.

"Well, Cullen?" asked Ellana. "Will it work?"

"Possibly." He didn't sound fully convinced. Leliana didn't blame him. "What of your escape?"

Ellana said nothing, but she didn't have to.

"Perhaps you'll surprise it?" Cullen suggested hopefully. "Find a way?"

"There is only one way. And that's to hit it until it fucking dies."

All eyes turned to Aedan as he marched up to them. He was completely unarmoured and carried his sword in his hand.

Leliana stood up. "You're not going out there?"

"Alistair has a fucker of a headache. You two are the only ones who can lead the people through the pilgrim's path. So get on it." Aedan looked at Cullen. "Commander, give your men the order. We have a course of action now." Finally, he turned to a dumbstruck Ellana. "Guess you're coming with me, soldier. Keep up."

"But who are-"

"A moment, Herald," said the Chancellor as he was pulled onto a stretcher. He took Ellana's hands. "I always doubted. But I never lost faith. If you are meant for this, if the Inquisition is meant for this, then you are something more, and I pray for you."

Ellana nodded and the soldiers took Roderick away.

"Keep the Elder One's attention until we're above the tree-line," Cullen said as the Chantry gates were opened for Ellana and Aedan. "If we are to have a chance, if you are to have a chance, let that thing hear you."

"Don't worry about it," Aedan replied as he strapped his sword belt on. "Between the two of us, we can handle it."

But before he could get going, Alistair latched onto his bicep.

"Come back," he said firmly. Aedan smiled at him and then looked at Leliana.

"He'll be delirious. Probably get a fever. Take care of him." She nodded. "Right then, let's go, little girl."

"But who are you even?"

"Earn it. Kill the dragon and I'll tell you."

Leliana watched them go for as long as she could before the gates were closed again. It was time to lead an exodus.

"Think they'll be okay?" Alistair asked her as she took him by the arm and led him down to the passage.

"They better be."