Chapter 101) Naval Force
Layla POV
"The water is so blue…" I whispered, peeking over the railing. The boat rocked with each crash of a wave, but the jounery from Kirkwall seemed so smooth. "It is pretty." I was not sure why I was talking, though. The templars escorting me did not say a single word to me as we crossed the sea. "I wonder what Fereldan is like."
"Brown." The voice startled me, and I glanced up tentatively at one of the templars. They were wearing a wry grin. "Fereldan is very brown, little mage."
"Is it?" I tilted my head curiously. "Why?"
"Dirt and muck gives the place character."
"Why?"
"Oh, dear, Maker."
The docks were slick with blood. Corpses bobbed up and down in the water, almost like apples. Darkspawn crawled about the port like maggots. The smell was horrifying and nauseating.
"Avoid thunder and fire spells!" I snapped out orders without a care, though. I led from the front lines, standing with the soldiers Elspeth commanded as I coordinated the mages. "Keep up the healing! Block the emissaries!" It felt odd, shouting orders like this. Normally, it was Aiden or Nuada who yelled, while I focused on the infirmary. But it seemed like this group of soldiers would not listen to anyone but me. "Neria, need a shield!"
The shield came up just in time to intercept a barrage of magic. I grit my teeth and looked around the area, hunting for something, anything that could give us an advantage. We made a mistake, backing them into a corner. They fought hard for a chance to break through, and we could not get behind.
"Assist the front lines! They're being massacred!" Screams held my attention, and I tried not to focus on the people who fell. If I did, I would know their names. I would know their likes, dislikes, dreams. I could not focus on them now. I could not apologize to them now. I had a mission, a goal, and I had to see it through.
It was easier to watch the Fereldan soldiers die. I did not know them. But the very thought made me ill. I wondered if this was why Commander Duncan had always kept a certain distance. I wondered if this was why you always heard of 'war kings' being aloof and skilled.
"Layla." Elspeth appeared next to me, blood splattered and missing half of the arrows in her quiver. Her bow was slung on her back, and she held a bloody sword. The darkspawn must have broken through the front to catch the archers off guard. I wondered how many died. "There are ships," she informed me. My mind blanked for a second. "There are ships and they are perfectly intact." Was she suggesting what I thought she was suggesting? "I do not know if they are armed. But they are there, and the darkspawn are not near." She was. She was, and I remembered how she did this when we retook Highever.
"Neria! You and your group follow Elspeth!" I shouted. Elspeth smiled slightly, pleased. "Try not to take too long." I did not think we could hold on much longer like this.
"It shouldn't. Darkspawn don't seem to like water much." She disappeared into the chaos, leading some soldiers to the docks and ships. I was glad she did not mention how they could be massacred before even reaching the docks. It was enough of a worry without someone else acknowledging it.
"Form up and hold the line!" Without Neria, we had to change our defenses. "Prioritize barriers and healing!"
Thudding steps make me pause, and fear pooled in my stomach as I saw an ogre roar, and throw a boulder straight at me. But I recovered my wits and called on the Arcane Markings, focusing all my strength into my arms, and what magic I had left on telepathy. With that combination, I caught the boulder, even as my arms screamed, and the stone crunched underneath my feet. Glaring, I threw it back, and launched nearby fallen weapons into the air, holding them steady with telepathy before wrapping them in magic and launching them like arrows into the darkspawn horde.
They screeched and tried to run, and in that chaos, I found my target. The darkspawn general here was a genlock emissary, and the darkspawn instinctively looked to it for guidance.
I drew my rapier and charged forward, manipulating my own blood to keep from falling on my face as I slipped in the muck. When the general tried to attack, I seized its blood, boiling it to hold it steady as I came in close and slammed my rapier through its eye, and straight out of the back of its skull.
As it fell, I heard explosions. At first, I thought it was just my own head imagining the sound for drama, but when I turned, I saw that was not the case. Elspeth had seized control of the ships, and they had been armed, meaning that both cannon fire and magic bombarded the darkspawn from behind.
So, we had the future queen of Fereldan utilizing a naval force under the orders of a Circle Mage turned magic-warrior Warden, who just caught a boulder, launching a bunch of weapons, utilized blood magic, and drove a rapier through an enemy's skull.
I wonder how the bards will sing of this.
Next Chapter – Alienage with Aiden
