Chapter 100) Market Brawl
"Tamlen, take the right," I shouted, as I took the left. This was a larger hunt than normal. We had two great bears, and we could not let them escape. Not with this being a rather lean year. "Lyna!"
Lyna dropped down easily, right on top of one of the bears, and stabbed it in the neck. As it roared, its fellow bear was disoriented, allowing Tamlen and I to swoop down and catch get the kills.
When they fell, the three of us shared a grin and a laugh. This was our biggest hunt yet!
I had no idea what was worse: the smell of smoke and burning corpses, or the fact that I felt strangely used to it. Rotten food and scattered herbs also joined the smells, wafting about under the smoke. I was more irritated by the constant scent of burning lavender than I was of the mutilated corpses I ran by. This adventure might just have knocked some sanity from my head.
The ground trembled under my feet, and I paused to check what it was. Shale and the golems again. They formed the main attacking force, and I could see just why they were once viewed as a miracle. They fought tirelessly, continuously, obeying Shale's commands with little hesitation. They did not flinch from fire or wince from pain. They didn't grimace when they stepped on a corpse.
Yeah, that was probably the worst. Me actually finding sanity in the creation of the golems.
I ducked under a teetering market stall as a rain of arrows thudded into the enemies. While Shale broke enemy lines, I had the Dalish Hunters climb the intact buildings and fire from relative safety. It worked fairly well, though there was one big problem. Literally big. Ogres.
I ground my teeth as I saw one chuck a burning stall at the roof of a nearby house, and watched the hunters there burn alive. Nothing I could do, but it hurt anyway. There were so few of us.
When the arrows cleared, I darted from the shadows, slipping within the ogre's guard and slashing the ligaments behind the knee. As it fell, mouth open in what had to be a roar of pain, I jumped up and slammed my daggers into its eyes. When it hit the ground with a tremor that made my teeth rattle, I slit its throat for good measure, and jumped out of the way when I sensed magic blooming beneath my feet.
Wynne, Lenaya, and the Keepers and Firsts who joined our fight… they were mostly in charge of keeping us alive, but sometimes, they had enough time to fight instead. There was something glorious at seeing an ogre be devoured by plant roots. There really was.
Something glinted, and I turned to see what it was. Based on the good armor, and the way it gestured, I guessed that I had found the general of the market at last. Good, since that was the whole reason why I went ahead on my own.
I blended into the shadows, using them as cover as I got closer. I noticed that the general had set up outside of Eamon's estate, and actually seemed to be paying attention to someone behind it. Bad move. Assassins were always deadly to those who couldn't see the coming, and Zevran had just shown me a trick for finding gaps in armor before all of this.
I leapt form the shadows, and had my knife through its throat before it could even turn around. It struggled, trying to at least take me with it, but I twisted, and sliced its head clean off. I grinned as they fell, feeling vindicated. I had told Wynne that I could kill the general quickly if I went alone, and look at that, I was right.
Movement caught my attention, and I looked up to see who exactly it had been attacking. It took me a couple of blinks to realize I was looking at Anora. Her hair wasn't in its proper bun, her dress was ripped and dirtied, and she was bleeding from an injury to her arm.
She said something, based on her mouth moving. I covered an ear and shook my head, hoping she figured it out. She seemed to and, in a startling move, used the blood from her injury to quickly write what she said on the broken fountain next to us. Well damn.
'Your timing is impeccable. That thing was trying to drag me off.' Oh, great, now I was wondering how many new broodmothers were going to be born from this attack. 'So, I thank you.' She pointed to the estate, before writing again. 'I managed to evacuate the civilians into here and the Cousland Estate. So long as the big ones do not go throwing things again, we should be fine.'
I nodded, and hesitated before cutting my own palm and writing next to her words: 'Got it. I will prioritize the ogres. Can you keep the people within calm?'
'Yes, for however long you need.' She nodded once, bobbed a little curtsey that I felt was more habit than anything, and ran back inside.
I watched her go, more than a little startled. Perhaps… I never gave her enough credit. That was almost a shame. It took a lot of courage, to keep things calm in a time like this.
I turned away, glaring as I saw more ogres. Easily ten, maybe even twenty. Well, if I was going to make up for that possible mistake, then I had to make sure she stayed alive.
Time to hunt some ogres. This was going to be fun.
Next chapter – Layla in the Port
