Running On Empty: Hell Hath No Fury


The next pillar was much the same as the others. Tall, imposing, and it glowed with a gentle, green veilfire. Lady Vivienne cast me a worried furrow of her brow and I waved a hand at her. Get on with it. The demon issue was not going to solve itself. The pain in my left shoulder pulsed with my Mark as the veilfire was lit and the demons appeared from under us. A deep seeded, twisted knot of heated rage boiled in my bowels.

I was ready.

Methodically I gripped my maul in both hands, my shoulder tense and screaming much like the demons did. Pain raced through my limb and oddly it seemed to help fight off the numbness that the Mark now produced whenever used. I used it to my advantage and once Blackwall and Bull had the demons cornered, I brought them low with the palm of my hand. The undead were unmercifully scorched in the wave of fire that Lady Vivienne blanketed over them.

A handful of minutes and the fight was over.

My whole left side was twitching and stitched with pain. Each breath labored to draw fully into my lungs and it wasn't the rain that made my eyes water. My teeth clenched tight behind my cheeks and the muscles along my jaw jumped as I leaned heavily against my maul at the end of the short fight. Six or so demons, in less than eight hours. Do I have a limit? It seems the Mark does.

Maybe it's just my body.

I wasn't a mage and I certainly wasn't from this world. It wasn't far from the realm of possibility that energy, both benign and hostile, could affect the body. The plague couldn't work that fast, could it? No, that was improbable. Most water-borne diseases needed to incubate. I had at least a day or two, at the shortest, before I showed symptoms. That can be a good or bad thing. Christ almighty.

"Herald?" Blackwall drew my attention and I blinked up at him. He cleared his throat. "My lady... we can turn back."

"We c-could." I croaked, my gaze flashing to Bull for a brief second. "But we won't."

"My dear, we don't even know if these men are alive." Lady Vivienne reasoned. I shook my head and swung my maul onto my back, I for all the world a vision of Atlas with a planet now resting on my shoulders. A wince escaped me, but I marked my steps in front of me with tired eyes and led them forward. My party trailed behind me like strays.

"True." I wasn't in the mood to argue with them. Not really, as I couldn't focus past the haze of pain. "But th-this is the same s-situation I had in the Storm C-coast. I had other priorities to attend to, a-and left my men to death."

"You may not be able to rescue these soldiers in your condition." Blackwall attempted to parlay, coming up to my side. I ignored him and continued to walk forward, one step, then two, then three. It was almost mindless, had it not been for an answering pulse that ricocheted from the Mark to my shoulder and back again.

"It's one cauterized arrow wound." I answered with minced words. "I ask my m-men to do much more, in greater pain."

"No one is asking you to prove anything." Blackwall hissed in a low tone. He stepped in front and the movement forced me to look up. His face was streaked with mud and splatters of black muck, his eyes dark with controlled anger or frustration and his mouth twitched under the cover of his beard. I vaguely recall saying something to myself once, trying to get through the West Road to Redcliffe Farms.

This was different.

"I do the things that I do, not because I want to, but because I must." My voice was strangely level, numbness having flooded now to my lungs and stomach. My gaze held his and he flinched at my softened tone. I didn't want to argue, so I wasn't, but I wasn't going to stop, not now. "For if I do not, then no one will."

"What are you quoting?" He asked, blindsided. The answer nearly tipped off my lips; my father. But that was for another time, in a safer place. There was an echo, a distant howl of pain and a lingering sob that touched my thoughts. The Mark pulsed, but this time it was warm and with warning. A rift. My eyes closed and I reached up and placed my hand on his shoulder, the Mark flared and lit up his face in the faint mist.

"Nothing." I answered instead. "If you want to come, then follow. If not, then stay. I won't judge you for what you choose, but I have a rift to deal with, okay?" I patted his shoulder affectionately and with a tired turn of my heel, I followed the pull of my Mark. Before me a giant mouth of an archway towered and from within, I could see the faint lines of a snared rift.

"There you are." I said, almost lovingly. I had disconnected again, that's where the numbness had originated. Pressing on through the pain was all I knew how to do. It might not be the safest, most effective thing in the world, but it was all I had. I wasn't going to turn tail and leave my patrol, not when I was so close. I wasn't going to let the Avvar think they could just hunt my people like game and leave them to dangle.

Bull's shadow appeared next to me through the arch and soon Vivienne's clicking boots followed my steps. When I glanced back, I could see Blackwall at the very rear, guarding our march. You guys have no right to call me stubborn when you do shit like this. The screams were faint and echoed, they wavered through the barrier of the Veil and my heart ached again.

I'm so sorry.

The agony exploded from the rift as I raised my hand and tore it open with a yank. From it the demons poured out and spires of Fade energy breached from the ground with surprising ferocity. Lady Vivienne placed a weak barrier over us, nothing like the strength of Solas' magic, but it would suffice.

The first wave of spirits, the wraiths, were dispatched easily and we were allowed a breather for a moment before I raised my hand to tear the rift open one last time to seal it properly. Nothing prepared me for the sudden burst of heat and pulling, clawed greed that gripped my lungs and yanked me forward.

My body was slammed front first into a shield as tall as I was and in one swift movement, I was smacked down off my feet and onto my back, the shield pinned me to the ground. A gasp was all I could manage and once my eyes refocused, I stared up into the hollow eyes of a new demonic power.

This creature stood like a siege tower, its helmet winged on either side and sharp, broad shoulders lined with sparking metal and a blackened, sinister blade raised above its head. Teeth gleamed at me from its mouth and the blade came down. Trapped under the shield, I struggled to push it off, but a push of unseen power rocketed through my bones from the shield, numbing my attempts.

The blade was inches from my head before the horned head of the Qunari dashed into him like a battering ram. Whatever the fuck it was howled as it bent over Bull's back, a claw scoring heavy marks down the commander's back in retaliation. Bull roared and both his arms gripped the creature around the middle before heaving it up and hammering it onto the ground as it had done to me.

I rose to my feet with an earthquake in my knees. The handle of my maul fumbled between my palms before I tried to make my way over to Bull, the adrenaline fading out all my other pains as panic set in anew. What in tomfuckery is that fucking thing! It was new to my eyes, I hadn't encountered a demon of its like before. Blackwall had made it to Bull's side before I did, but only because Lady Vivienne had screamed in pain behind me.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

We were losing control of the battle, something else had appeared and I couldn't abandoned Vivienne to fight it alone. I tossed a look toward the men, but my feet turned me toward Vivienne and I made a mad dash toward her. The scream intensified and in this, I realized once I was closer, it was Vivienne's voice that screamed, but not the woman who stood before me.

What the fuck? I turned to the new demon and this one had its rodent like mouth and teeth open wide and hands gripped tight over its chest. The robes around it were tattered, a hood up over its wrinkled head. It flew over our heads and again I could hear Vivienne's voice scream through my ears, but now a memory flashed along as well and desperation struck me deep. It was Vivienne and she sat next to a bed, holding someone's hand, smiling.

I could still feel the sadness echo in my limbs. It's a memory? Or a taunt?

Lady Vivienne seemed to pay it no mind, or took no notice of the vision. Her staff whirled over her head as fast as a whip and struck a line of fire down on the creature's head. It snarled and in its hand drew a ball of shattered ice and chucked it at us. We dodged and the ice ball exploded against the ground, catching half my right leg and trapping me.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" I snarled, pissed that for the second time (forgetting the fucking arrow) some half-dead, damp-ass creature had gotten the upper hand on me. Feral and desperate at being cornered, I brought my maul up and dropped it on the ice. Particles flew and I yanked the rest of my leg out, my armor starting to shred in places.

Harritt would Not Be Pleased.

The icy creature flew over Vivienne's head back toward my side, trying to escape her rain of fire and rage. I abandoned my maul and watched as the creature soared back along the edge of our field of battle. It was going to come around the other side of the statue were the rift sat atop of, spewing this fucking nonsense. My legs faltered but I forced my knees to lock and I sprinted toward the statue just as the demon disappeared behind it.

What the fuck am I doing?!

With skills I did not fucking possess on a good day, fueled by sheer indignation and radiating pain, I scaled the small loomed hill of the statue, my leg raised higher to catch my heel on the stonework and with that, I launched myself into the air, my Marked hand outstretched and for the second time this day, I caught a demon around their ankle. My anger flared through the Mark and the demon reached down to unhook me, but my weight dragged it down to the ground and we crashed in a heap.

I twisted my hand and the brittle limb snapped, the skin disintegrated between my fingers and I looked up to see soulless eyes glare at me as the rest of the spirit was banished back into the Fade. My chest was on fire, my muscles were in a fit of complete protest at the sudden parkour. I stood on wobbly legs and raised my hand toward the rift.

The tendril snarled out to meet my hand, and I gripped it tight, my fingers strengthened by my rage. I yanked it back viciously and the rift whirled in on itself, the screams dying out as the last of it faded away. The rift sparked in the mist of the mire and sputtered to an end. The marsh around us fell silent and my heart rushed into my ears.

Suddenly the memory of Bull rushing the new demon slammed beneath my skull and I tittered on a heel before jogging toward him and Blackwall. My pace picked up when my gaze fell on both fallen forms, arms and legs akimbo and weapons dug into the ground. A hasty, weakened barrier dropped over me from Vivienne but she made no hastened move to keep up with me.

I skidded to a halt near my men and bent at the knees, the soggy ground the only cushion for me as my weight collapsed. Blackwall was already attempting to sit up and used his sword as a counter to draw his spine into alignment. Bull was still on his stomach, vicious, angry scored marks ran down his back. Claw marks.

"Bull?" I placed a hand on his shoulder but didn't shake him. I waited for a moment, and when nothing came, I tried again. "C'mon, buddy."

"I'm fine." Bull growled with his face in the ground. His pointed ears twitched with a tilt of his horns. "Damn demons... I'm fine, boss. Back up." My hand snapped back and I scurried from my place as his muscles rolled and more blood pooled along the scratches. He sat up and shook out his head, his eye darkened and narrowed, his mouth hard pressed over his teeth.

"One down." I joked weakly. His eye swiveled to me but I got no other reaction. I cleared my throat and turned to Blackwall. Vivienne had arrived and with a firm hand had helped up the Warden. In turn, Blackwall offered his shaking hand to me and I clasped it to haul myself up onto my weak ankles. Silence settled over us, our labored breaths calming as the adrenaline of the fight wore off.

"The mage is probably around here." I murmured, my Mark gripped behind my fingers. "I don't want to go looking for them, not like this."

"I would have to agree." Lady Vivienne nodded. "We test our luck even now. We cannot face the Avvar like this." She wasn't wrong. We were out of potions, outnumbered, and the whole of my team was struggling to stay on their feet. Guilt weighted the depths of my stomach. I couldn't go this alone, I would die for fucking sure, but I couldn't drag them with me.

Blackwall eyed my expression and raised his chin. "Herald... I stand with you."

"What?" I blinked over at him, confused. Bull and Vivienne eyed the Warden with mixed expressions of confusion and exasperation. Bull shifted to sit upright and rolled his shoulder with a sigh. Vivienne refused to lean on her staff, but she raised her chin and looked heavenward.

"I stand with you." Blackwall repeated firmly, his head dipped but his gaze on me. "Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you stand, I stand. If you still want to find your men, then I'll follow you." My throat tightened under my tongue and I gave him as good of a smile as I could muster. Warmth burst behind my lungs and with a ragged inhale, I stood up. He followed, and not long after, so did Bull. I glanced at Vivienne and her brow pinched for a brief moment.

"I will not have anyone say that I stood back to watch." Lady Vivienne murmured, her staff twirled onto the holster on her back. "Shall we, then?" I nodded and with a final glance back at the cove where the mage was most likely hiding, I led them back through the arched entrance and past the pillar. Our path went over a ladder and some more rickety boards and funneled down toward a cabin.

We startled the Avvar that stood by their fire pit. Let the record show that I opened my mouth to parley; perhaps they were much like the shaman beforehand? Maybe they wanted nothing to do with the whims of a chieftain's brat? Unfortunately, as soon as my form was spotted, the Avvar women turned on me, bows and arrows raised. Lady Vivienne struck one from its flight toward me with a bolt of lightning and Blackwall rushed forward, shield raised.

I noticed Bull was slower to move, but he stayed at my side as we came around to the second woman, her sword raised for battle. She hesitated at the sight of our mauls and turned her eyes toward Bull, the bigger, louder threat. Given the opportunity (and too tired to raise my maul again) I dove toward her with my little dagger from my belt and caught her in the stomach.

It was something else entirely watching someone die in your arms, up close and personal. Her sword slipped from her hands in surprise and she growled to turn toward me, but it twisted the knife and dragged it across her belly. She snarled again, but Bull caught her around the throat and with a swiftness that startled me (with only one hand) he snapped her neck right before my eyes.

Alarmed at the display, I jerked back with my knife and the body collapsed like a bag of wet noodles. Bile rose to my throat, less over the sight of death and more over the vision of a once solid body just lumping together as all motor function disappeared. Shaking, I wiped the blade on my leather pant-leg and looked to the Qunari. He eyed me with a heavy gaze and I raised a hand and patted his stomach in a weak thank you.

The other woman's body was in ashes. I don't remember hearing another spell go off, but I did not question it. We peeked into the cabin they were camped in front of and found a few supplies. Greedily we stole their healing medicines and devoured them. They weren't as potent has the ones the Inquisition was capable of making, but it was better than feeling like twice-baked shit-pies.

The men walked ahead of us as Lady Vivienne and I applied a few herbs to my cauterized wound and bandaged it as we walked. Nervously I glanced at her, wondering if she was ignoring the vision I had seen when we fought at the alcove. She caught my gaze twice, but kept her mouth shut until my leather shoulder piece was back on and everything securely strapped (or as strapped as it could be, I was missing some belts).

"What is on your mind, my dear?" She asked gently, her pace equal with mine.

I swallowed, keeping my voice low. "Did you... see that? When we were fighting that demon that could fly?"

"It's called Despair, my dear." She informed me with a tilt of her head, a sideways glance to follow. "I saw the demon, yes, but your tone suggests there was more to be seen. What happened?" Oh no. Would she be the type of person to keep that shit hidden? She was a mage, could it be a sign of possession if you got visions from a demon? Fuck, how was I supposed to word this? For a long moment I struggled, my hand scratched hard at the back of my head under my braid.

"I just... got a vision, I think." To completely ignore what it was because from the short amount of time that I knew her, Vivienne was not the type to display any weaknesses. "It... I dunno if it was a memory or something the demon was using to taunt us." Her eyes grew dark and hard, her gaze pierced mine and for all the world I felt like a dead fish on display.

Her hand came out to grip my arm and we stopped, the men unaware of the sudden tension between us.

"Listen to me carefully, my dear." Despite the endearment, her voice was cold. I swallowed and did my best not to fidget as sweat collected at the base of my neck and clavicle. "Demons will do all that they can to torment you and break you. You are no mage, but that does not mean possession cannot happen. Never bend, never break, and never given in. Do you understand?"

I shivered and nodded with haste. "Y-yes, ma'am."

"Good." She grew a fraction warmer and her hand rubbed my arm. "I do not know how the Mark connects you to the Fade, but it is a power we must not rely on, as we cannot control it. You who have no experience of a Harrowing, cannot allow such weaknesses, especially with a Qunari in your mists." I resisted the urge to glance over at the men. They had stopped a ways from us once they realized we weren't following anymore.

I nodded again and we continued, silent. It doesn't answer my question if she saw the vision or not, though. It was an answer that left much to be desired and made me painfully aware of where I stood with Lady Vivienne at the moment. I was, much like in the eyes of Bull, an unknown weapon with an unknown trigger. I could not be wholly caged (for humanitarian reasons, hopefully), but I couldn't fully be trusted, either.

My palm glowed as I stared at it, it pulsed lightly in a pace just behind that of my heart. With a sigh, we came upon another pillar and I groaned. Blackwall chuckled and readied his shield as Bull took up another corner of the clearing. I stood with my maul hooked onto my shoulder and nodded to Vivienne once we were all in place. The veilfire sprung to life and more shambling bodies crawled from the water. Two more green-bean demons sprouted from the ground and I had no patience for them.

Meaning I got extremely lucky that one burst near my feet. It was comical that I managed to catch its head as it came up, its back bowing from the sudden capture, snarling and howling, its long and gangly arms swinging to sweep my feet out. My arm nearly snapped from its socket at how violently the demon had sprouted. It didn't matter, as my sheer dumb luck allowed my fingers to dig into its empty eye sockets and send a flare of energy through my arm.

My fingers tingled again with numbness as the demon disappeared from my grip. The second one down to its last leg as all three of my companions rounded on it. A weird, instinctive chuckle escaped me at the sight. I suppose I was in no need of help as the unfortunate bastard had spawned right under me. With a swing my maul was thrown onto my back and hooked into its holster, the last of the corpses dropped as dead flies to Vivienne's fire flares and Blackwall's shield bashing.

Bull was breathing hard, his nose flared and his shoulders tense. I tilted my head at him, are you alright? He waved me off with his hand and shouldered his maul, his back straightening with a strain. The demon must have taken more out of him than he let on. I'll have to have someone check those cuts. Maybe it's the plague? Would it hit him harder than me? Fuck.

So many questions.

More and more doubt began to gnaw at my insides. Was this the right thing? Is my vendetta gonna end up killing us? What could would we be to the soldiers, then? I couldn't back down now, though, as Blackwall was determined to see this through and so I drew my courage from that. If all else failed, then at least I had Blackwall to reinforce my back.

The medicinal herbs and half-cocked potions we had scavenged were helping. We trudged on from the pillar and down the muddy path. Before us, the world opened up. Towering spires of stone and crumbling forts stood before us. Giant, impossible chains swung from tattered stone fences and I was dumbstruck by the sheer magnitude of it all. I've seen skyscrapers, but fucking stone? If we hadn't been in a hurry, I would have driven my companions mad with my curiosity and exploration.

As it was, the road was soon overrun with more corpse. They stood silent and still at the farthest end, flooding the gate that led into another fortress. My companions and I waited, watching, but none of them moved toward us.

"There's too many of them." Bull rumbled and took a shrug to heft his maul higher. "We'll have to blow through them. At the rear, boss." Before I could protest the party formation, Bull took the lead and Blackwall soon behind him. Lady Vivienne took a graceful step and was before me, leaving me at the far end of the train wreck.

A loud, harsh snort escaped the Qunari and that was our only warning before he charged. Blackwall and Vivienne flared out to his flanks, Vivienne dropped bombs of ice to allow Bull a near effortless run through frozen corpses, but more and more tumbled out from the stone and water. Blackwall cleared my path with his shield, shoving as many of them back as he could.

It was a struggle, but we had managed to get inside. Vivienne was promptly shot at the hip with an arrow from above. Her expression hardened, her eyes narrowed and with a twirl of her staff, she fired a lightning bolt at the rafters above us, nailing the assailant. Without a word, she snapped the shaft of the arrow and left the head in her hip. She was stiff, but she met the charging Avvar with a cold fury.

Holy shit, I popped around her as quick as I could. Bull and Blackwall stayed at the gate, but I realized there was no lever to lower the iron gate from its open position. Of course there wouldn't be, Wyatt. Who in fuck's name builds the lever where the enemy can reach it? I dodged a small volley of arrows with a growl and rolled toward cover, crates and wooden slats that wouldn't do for long.

Think, think, think. My gaze shot around the inside of the fort for any indication as to where the lever would be. I finally spotted a lit area directly above the gate and followed the path back over the makeshift ramp and stairs that the Avvar held steady against Vivienne's vicious tide of spells. My nose flared with a snort and my knees buckled as I made my dash.

"Vivienne, clear the ramp!" I shouted. Immediately a fireball came barreling toward a shield-wielding Avvar and struck him down. I spared no time on him, he was too armored up and held a mace bigger than my chest. A mad leap sent me over his body and scrambling up the stairs. The archers waited for me, but another hissing fireball collided with them and sent them crashing over the railings.

My lungs ached as my legs shot me up the ramp and over the stairs. With a skid, I crashed into the stone wall and pushed off from it to keep going. I could see the lever from where I was, the sounds of Bull and Blackwall fighting from below echoed up to me, quickening my feet. A trip later and my hand snagged the lever and with a yank, brought it down.

The gates howled from disuse as I looked over the edge. "Look out!"

Blackwall and Bull tumbled out of the way as the weight of the gate brought it down with a flourish, the crunch of corpses bounced through the fort and I winced. Exhaling, I dropped to my knees and rested my forehead against the cold, wet stone. A minute or so passed, the moaning corpses recollected on the other side of the gate, but they were a problem for later.

My companions came up to the second level and suddenly a red healing potion was shoved into my hands. Startled, I glanced up to find Bull staring down at me. Dumbly, I raised it to him, remembering the claw marks along his back. He huffed, shaking his head, his hand coming down on top of mine.

"No, I gave it to you for a reason." He almost sounded amused and pushed it back toward my chest. "You're not leaving until you drink it, c'mon."

"Where did you find this?" I uncorked it and held my breath. Shit smelled like jet-fuel on a good day. I shot it down and gagged, licking the taste off my teeth. Bull pointed off toward the roofed part of the second level. Vivienne and Blackwall sat under the cover of the ceiling from the light rain that started up, empty potion bottles in their hands.

"The Avvar had another stash nearby, but this isn't like what we found before." He pointed to a crate near Blackwall's feet and I squinted at it.

"It's the Inquisition's." I murmured once I saw the symbol emblazed on one side. "Bastards."

"Mhmm." Bull nodded and glanced at me again. "It wasn't open. Not sure if they were avoiding using it out of distrust or something. Here." He held his hand out for me and with a sigh of utter gratitude, I took it and stood awkwardly to my feet. I leaned my weight in his hand a second and he steadied me, unmoving until I had secured my balance. I released his hand and walked toward my companions.

"Lady Vivienne, how are you doing?" I asked, my eyes shooting down to her hip where old blood had stained her clothes. Blackwall's gaze flickered between us and then followed my line of sight to her hip, paling slightly as he spotted the tarnish on her person.

Vivienne raised her chin. "Whatever are you talking about, darling?"

"So I did see it." Blackwall murmured roughly. "You took a blow. My apologies, if I'd been there quicker -" Vivienne blinked, surprised by Blackwall's words and she turned to him, a laugh bubbled up from her chest and she waved a gentle hand at him.

"Oh, aren't you precious?" She chuckled, inordinately pleased at the conversation.

Blackwall flailed for words. "I... I appear to have offended."

"Oh, no, dear." Lady Vivienne stood and flicked the metal head of the arrow that had struck her toward Blackwall. He caught it, eyes wide like the rest of us. She smirked. "You couldn't possibly offend me. Come, come. We have work to do." My heart jumped to my throat as her hips swayed with no pain down the ramp we had used to come up to the second level. I shared a look with the men.

"Hot damn." I laughed, and followed, spirited by the little exchange. Bull's laugh followed us and Blackwall sheepishly took up the rear.