Chapter 4: Nothing Makes Sense Anymore
Jane woke up to her head throbbing in pain, as if someone inside her skull was banging on the walls with a hammer. She realized she was on the ground and groaned, attempting to sit up. It was then that she also realized her hands were tied behind her back. She slowly sat up, which was much more difficult without the use of your hands, and opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings.
She was in the same room before she was attacked, the main room of the research center. The Darkspawn weren't attempting to hide anymore, and she was amazed by the number of them; they were everywhere, standing against walls, sitting in the chairs, even sitting on the floor, grunting and making noises at each other. They were still acting different; Darkspawn didn't really take prisoners. But they weren't just standing there, staring at her, and she was thankful for that.
She looked to her right and saw Clint next to her, in the same situation she was. He smiled at her; he didn't look worse for wear, so she was guessing that he was too tired to resist and came along without a fight. "I'm sorry Clint." She said, looking down at the ground. "This is my fault. If we hadn't come here, we wouldn't be in this weird situation."
To her surprise, he chuckled. "Not necessarily." Instead of explaining to her, he nodded is head across the room to her left. She followed him with her confused gaze and saw two more people, hands tied behind their backs just like hers was.
The girl was tiny, with medium length blond hair and bright blue eyes. She looked scared, and Jane couldn't blame her. The man next to her, on the other hand, was a different story. He was tall and built, with a military style haircut. He had brown hair and brown eyes to match. Unlike the girl next to him, he looked pissed, and his head was split above his left eye, indicating that he put up a struggle.
"Who are they?" Jane asked, looking back at Clint. The man looked familiar somehow, but she didn't recognize the girl at all.
He shrugged. "No idea. They came in about 20 minutes after I was taken here. Then the creepy little girl, who came with them, told them they had to give up their guns. The big guy didn't agree, and took down 4 Darkspawn before the creepy girl knocked him clean out. He woke up just a few minutes before you did, and man did he look pissed."
Jane was impressed; surrounded by Darkspawn and he managed to take four down before that girl got him. She looked around until she found the girl, who was wearing armor now, and even had a cruel looking sword at her hip. She looked at the man and sure enough, it was the creepy girl he was glaring at. He does not like her
She was even more impressed; even the brief time she saw the girl before, she was filled with nothing but fear. Even now, the presence of the girl made her feel like things were even more hopeless than before. Yet this man showed no fear, only blunt rage. But anger wouldn't get them out of this. She was curious as to why they were brought here; Clint and she came on their own will, but these two seemed to be brought here against their wills.
Or did I come here of my own will? Now that she thought about it, it did seem odd that there happened to be one boat, in plain view, with minimal damage to it. There wasn't a single boat before, and she bet her gun that they wouldn't find a boat anywhere else.
But why? It was a good question. What did the creepy girl and even creepier skinny guy want with them? She was just trying to find her dad…
Then it hit her; the research she was looking for. She came here looking for research on a weapon that the scientists were trying to make to combat the Darkspawn. But how would they know about that? It wasn't exactly common knowledge, and not many people would sell out their race to the Darkspawn.
That one guy did. The guy that the Darkspawn listened to; was he a scientist? Did he not only join their side somehow, but give them humanities last hope against the blight?
As if he knew what she thinking, the man appearing, coming out of one of the back rooms. He was smiling, so he must have found what he was looking for. He snapped his fingers, and she felt rough hands grab her shoulders, forcing her up. They pushed her in front of the scientist and forced her down. She heard Clint be pushed down next to her, as well as the angry man and small woman. The angry man focused his glare from the creepy girl to the creepy guy now.
"Who the fuck are you? Are you working with these creatures?" He said, the fire in his eyes never leaving. She just gawked at him; tied up, surrounded by Darkspawn, and this man just didn't seem worried at all. He was either very brave, or very stupid.
"Let's not be hasty! All in due time Hawke." The man said, grinning. Jane looked at him again, and it finally clicked who he was; He was Steven Hawke. His ancestor was the legendary Garret Hawke, and he was a big thing in the military. Her dad even mentioned him a few times to her, even joked about trying to hook them up.
"How the hell do you know who I am? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!" Steven roared, trying to stand up, but he received a solid smack with the flat of a sword against his back for it, forcing him back on his knees; it just made him look more pissed. Then, to her surprise, he closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and reopened them, his anger completely gone. I'll have to have him teach me that.
"First, I should get introductions out of the way." The creepy man said, not fazed by any of this. He pointed to himself. "My name is Marlin Jerin. I am-"
"I know who you are." Steven spoke up, making everyone look at him; she did notice that Marlins grin flickered for a second, as if he didn't like being interrupted.
"You were a scientist for the military. Supposedly a smart guy, they dropped your ass when they found out you were combining human and Darkspawn DNA, trying to create monsters."
Marlin bowed. "Not very eloquent, but correct. The Ferelden military told me to find a way to make their soldiers better, but when I did, they spit on my efforts and pulled my funding. So, I went over to some people who…appreciated my service a bit more."
"Impossible." Jane said, speaking up and making all eyes turn on her. Normally she would have been embarrassed, but her curiosity over rode her embarrassment. "Darkspawn don't work with humans. We are enemies, always have been."
Marlin smiled. "Yes, you were studying the blight, so you would know these things, right Jane MCcarthy. Normally you would be correct."
"MCcarthy?" She heard Steven say, grabbing her attention. "As in the daughter of Greg MCcarthy?"
"Yes." She answered, surprised. "You knew my father?"
"Hard not to know Greg if your in the Ferelden military. The mans a damn good leader, and a hard bastard at that. I can see how you survived this long; you didn't join the military, so he must have taught you himself."
She nodded. "Aww, it's nice that humans actually remember people that have nothing to with them." Marlin said, still smiling. He turned around. "Now, Jane, let me show you how it is possible that a mere human like me could work with the Darkspawn."
Marlin moved aside, and one of the biggest Darkspawn she had ever seen walked forward, He towered over her, having to be at least seven feet or taller. He was massive, nothing but muscle and armor. Unlike the other Darkspawn, his armor looked newer, and much thicker, as if it could even block bullets. He slowly slid off his helmet, which was made to go around the huge horns on his head. Once off, she could see his face; like most Darkspawn, dead grey skin, with black eyes and long sharp teeth. None of this surprised her; it was what happened next that surprised her.
"Hello little human." The creature said. Its voice sounded horrible, like sandpaper being scraped against sandpaper, but it actually spoke to her, said actual words.
I was wrong. Her least likely theory, that they gained intelligence, was just proven false. No Darkspawn had ever spoken before, or shown that they had the intelligence to even understand their language, yet this one has, and even knows what humans call themselves.
"Tell her your name." Marlin said, his grin so wide it looked fake. The creature smiled as well, looking like it was going to bite her face off.
"My name is Hak." Hak said, leaning down and getting right in her face, grossing her out in every way possible. His breath smelled like road kill, and he was drooling. "It was my plan to flank your pathetic army and crush them; my idea to strike after the last poser fell. My idea to take in this human and let him do tests on other humans. I am Hak, and I am going to crush your race like the insects they are." He laughed, one of the most horrible sounds she has ever heard, and stood up, facing Marlin. She couldn't believe what just happened; a Darkspawn had just spoken clearly. It was the worst thing she could think of, a Darkspawn with intelligence matching humans. As long as he was in charge, humans would lose.
"I do not care what you do to them, Mar, as long as they do not leave this place alive. I do not want them interfering." She heard Hak say, and her blood ran cold once again. They were going to kill them.
Marlin nodded. "Don't worry; I have a great experiment for them. They will not survive, I assure you. Move your forces to Denerim. Once it falls, the rest of humanity will shortly follow."
Hak grunted in response, and headed towards the door. She jumped as all of the Darkspawn moved at once, following Hak out the door. Two minutes later it was just them, Marlin, and the creepy girl.
"Ferelda, would you kindly go and retrieve our final guest for the night." Marlin said. Ferelda, the creepy girl, didn't say a word, only moved and opened the door. She put her fingers to her lips and blew a long whistle.
It was at this moment that Steven made his move.
.
.
The entire time Marlin and Hak were chatting with the girl named Jane, Steven had been slowly and carefully cutting the rope around his hands. They took his gun, but they didn't bother to search him, and he had three knives hidden on his person; a small one in his boot, a pocket knife in his pocket, and a combat knife hidden in his jacket. When he was sure all eyes were on Jane, he pulled the small one out of his boot and started slowly cutting the rope. He thought he would be caught when Hak walked past him, and didn't even realize he was holding his breath until Hak passed him.
When the door closed behind the last Darkspawn, he cut through all of it, but didn't move; Ferelda had been sure to stand in front of him, knowing he was the biggest threat. When Marlin sent her to open the door, he bided his time a little longer, waiting for the perfect moment.
When he heard the whistle, he roared, shooting forward and hitting Marlin hard with his shoulder, knocking him completely off his feet and hearing the skinny man hit the ground hard. He then swung around, swinging the knife to throw at Ferelda, but he was a second too late; just before the knife left his hands, a huge purple hand of pure magic shot out of her hand, grabbing him as if he was a toy, stopping him. He struggled, but it was useless; he couldn't break the magic.
"Nice try, Hawke." She said, grinning. "But I have better hearing than you. The instant you moved, I-"
She never got to finish. Marlin had gotten up, and he walked over to her and slapped her hard, across the face. She looked at him, stunned.
"If your hearing is so good, why did you wait so long? What if, instead of throwing the knife at you, he decided to stab me instead? You were useless."
Ferelda didn't respond, but Steven could see her face; it was filled with anger. "I should have thought of that." He said, spitting.
Fereldas eyes whipped to him, and she closed the hand that was glowing. He felt the hand around him squeeze hard, crushing the air out of him so he couldn't even yell, only grunt. The pain was everywhere. Just as he thought his head would pop off, the pressure stopped, releasing him. He fell and hit the ground hard, coughing and trying to suck as much air as possible.
He felt weak, but he heard another whistle. He looked up just in time to see an ogre break through the doors, going through the wall as if it was made of paper. It roared, looking at them as if they were its next meal.
"Well, I'd love to stay and watch you get torn apart, but I have a lot of things to do, and not much time. Have fun!" With that he left, Ferelda following him.
This isn't good. Steven reacted fast, finding the knife he dropped and picking it up. He cut through Jane's rope just as the ogre roared and started walking towards them.
"Cut through their ropes and find our weapons!" Steven said, putting the knife in her hands. "What are you going to do?" She asked.
He looked back and grinned. "Always wanted to fight an ogre." And charged at it, pulling the combat knife out of his jacket. He had no chance of winning by himself with a knife; Ogres are known for their thick skin and great strength. But if he could hold it off until they get their guns, they stood a chance.
It saw him running at it, took it as a challenge, and roared, lowering its head and charging faster. Steven yelled too, running straight at it. Just as it was about four feet away, he dived to the side, rolling when he hit the ground, evading it completely. It stopped faster than he thought it would though, turning and facing him within seconds.
Well, this sucks. He stood up, not really knowing what to do. The only weak point he could find was its eyes, but not only was the damn thing over ten feet tall, but it also had huge horns and arms of pure muscle to keep him away. He debated throwing the knife, but if he missed then he would be completely defenseless, and that would only get him killed faster.
"Going faster would be nice!" He yelled, not knowing where they were or caring. The ogre ran at him, swinging its huge arm like a weapon. He jumped back, avoiding one arm, and jumped to the side, barely avoiding his second arm. He took a chance at that moment; he jumped onto its arm and ran up it, going straight for its eyes.
He got close too, but just as he was about to stab, he got hit by its free arm. It felt like getting hit by a car, sending him flying ten feet to hit the ground hard, feeling his nose break when he hit. He rolled over, attempting to get up; he had two broken ribs and the rest of his body hurt like hell. It didn't help that his nose was broken as well, making it hard to breath.
"Steven, catch!" He heard. He turned just in time to catch his shotgun, nodding at Kasey, who threw it.
This is more like it. He felt much more confident taking an ogre on with his shotgun than with a knife. He heard gunshots and saw Jane firing at it with an automatic rifle. The bullets hit it, sinking into its flesh, making it roar in pain and rush at her.
Then he saw a fire ball hit it, exploding on impact and setting it on fire. Steven turned to see the guy that was next to Jane with his hand glowing. A mage huh. He didn't really care for mages either way, but he was sure glad to have one on his side right now.
The ogre stopped, the flames not seeming to faze him, and tried to decide which one to go after first. Steven saw this as a perfect opportunity, cocking his shotgun and firing at it, yelling, "Over here ya big bastard!"
It felt his shot and roared, confused. It most likely had never seen guns before, much less been shot by them. They all started firing at once, Kasey standing next to Jane and joining her, the mage shooting fireballs left and right, and Steven firing his shotgun. The ogre was being smart, covering its face and chest with its massive arms, but they were winning.
He had fired four shots when he pulled the trigger and only heard a clicking sound. "Shit." He said, checking and realizing he had no ammo left; he had loaded his gun with the rest of the ammo after Kasey and he took on those Darkspawn. As if the ogre sensed weakness, it suddenly charged at him, ignoring the others completely.
"Shit shit shit shit!" Steven said to himself, turning around to run. Without his gun, the ogre would easily kill him; he didn't even know if he could outrun it. And to think, people used to kill these things with swords and spears.
He ran as fast as he could, but his ribs were screaming in pain, and he still felt weak from the blow he already took. He could hear it getting closer, and even felt the ground start to shake with each of its steps. He decided he couldn't outrun it and turned around, flipping the weapon to use it as a bat. It might be pathetic, but he was going to go down fighting, not running.
It was right in front of him. He yelled, raising the gun to swing, when he felt something hit him from the side, tackling him to the ground and making the ogre miss completely. He felt pain shoot from his ribs when he landed, but pain meant that he was still alive. He looked at who tackled him and was surprised to see it was Kasey.
"How did you catch up?" He said, hearing gunshots and the ogre roar behind them. She smiled. "Well, you couldn't see it, but you weren't running that fast. Luckily for you, I ran track in high school, and I'm pretty fast."
He chuckled, and then grimaced as his ribs hurt in response. He looked over and saw that the ogre was losing; It was almost completely on fire, and Jane had managed to hit one of it's' eyes. It swung at the mage, who easily evaded it, and Jane saw an opening; she fired the rest of her clip into its head. It staggered, somehow still alive, but the mage used both hands and sent the biggest fireball yet. It hit the ogre dead in the chest, knocking it to the ground, where it lay still.
He got up, with the help of Kasey, and saw that everyone was panting just as heavily as he was. The mage was panting a little heavier than the rest, but he still walked over to them. "How badly are you hurt?" He asked looking at Stevens's nose.
"A couple broken ribs and a broken nose, no big deal." Steven replied, trying not to look like he was in pain. The mage shook his head and stepped right up to Steven, placing his hand on Steven's ribs.
"What are you-"He started, but stopped as the mage's hand started glowing. His eyes grew wide as he the pain in his ribs slowly went away. Then the mage placed his hand on Steven's nose and repeated the process. The mage was pale and sweating by the time it was done, but all of Steven's bones were fixed.
"I fixed the bones. Your muscles will still be bruised, but that's the best I can do at the moment." The mage said, his voice sounding weak. Steven nodded and stepped forward, glad he didn't need help doing it. "I thank you. My name is Steven Hawke, though you probably already knew that." Steven held out his hand.
The mage hesitated for a second, and then took his hand, shaking it. "Mine's Clint. And you should probably know by now that I am a mage."
"Ya, I kind of noticed." Steven replied, grinning. "Good thing you are too. Our bullets didn't seem to be doing much against that ogre."
Clint didn't reply. Jane stepped forward and shook hands with Kasey, exchanging introductions. Then she turned to him. "I can't tell whether you are extremely brave, or just foolish. But your distraction probably saved our asses back there, so thank you."
She looked shaken up by the experience, but still managed to keep her cool and talk clearly. She was definitely Greg's daughter. "No need for thanks. I don't know how that man knew our names, or why they wanted us dead so badly, but what matters is that we are alive, and now know the secret behind why the Darkspawn are stomping us."
She nodded. "Hak. I've never seen anything like him." She stopped and look lost in thought for a few seconds, then her eyes grew wide. "The research!" And went running off into the building.
Steven looked at Clint, who said, "We came here because the people here apparently were working on a device that could kill Darkspawn."
Well that would be helpful. Steven shrugged. "Well, whatever the case, we should follow. I can't imagine she has much ammo left, and we don't need anymore surprises today." He followed her, Kasey and Clint following behind. He kept his pace slow, because he knew how tired Clint was, and his whole body hurt, though he would never admit it.
They find her in one of the rooms in the back, frantically searching through everything. Steven stopped and looked around; for a room that could hold research into destroying humanities worst and oldest enemy, it looked very plain. Whether that was on purpose or not, he didn't notice any enemies, which was good. They badly needed some good luck.
"I'd help you look, if I knew what to look for." He said. She didn't even blink, just kept looking. Steven looked around again and noticed that there was a room with a door that was different than any door he had seen here so far.
"What's in that room?" He said, pointing towards the door. Jane looked up, followed his finger, and shrugged, going back to her search. He walked towards the door, trying the doorknob and finding it locked.
"Dammit!" He heard Jane yell, followed by the sound of her kicking a desk. "It's not here!"
"Maybe not, but this door is locked." He said, grabbing her attention. She looked at it, and then pulled out a key ring with about twenty keys on it.
"Maybe one of them works?" She said, looking hopeful. He looked at the keys, then back at the door. Without answering her, he stepped back and kicked the door, knocking it off of its hinges and walking into the room. "That works too I guess." He heard her say behind him.
Inside the room was something that made Steven grin; guns. The room was a small armory, filled with pistols, rifles, shotguns, anything you would need to defend this place. He heard a whistle as the others followed him inside.
"Your scientists were a smart lot." He said, going to a locker and opening it, almost cheering when he saw it was filled with ammo. He looked through it until he found what he was looking for; shotgun shells. They weren't buckshot like he usually used; they were the lead balls. Didn't matter to him; would still kill stuff easy enough. He looked around the room until he found a bag and started loading it up with the ammo.
"This makes no sense." He heard Jane said, but he wasn't paying much attention; what he saw was a chance at survival, and he jumped on it. He looked through the guns, and his smiled only grew wider; he found a semi-auto shotgun, instead of the pump-action he had. All you had to do was press the trigger. He dropped his and picked this new one up, loading it with as many shells as it would hold.
"What makes you say that Jane?" He heard Clint respond. Steven kept up with his search, finding a small submachine gun for Kasey and putting it in the bag as well, along with ammo for it. He was still looking around when he saw a small safe at the end. His curiosity at full throttle, he went towards it.
"If they had all of these weapons, why didn't they use them? I saw no sign of any real struggle so far, only evidence that they left in a hurry. Did they leave once everything went down, taking the research with them?" He pulled on the handle and the safe opened right away, showing that whoever used it last didn't lock it. He was almost shaking with anticipation, and it was replaced with disappointment when he saw only two things inside; a piece of paper and what looked like a key.
"This looks like something for you Jane." He said, leaving it there. If it wasn't a gun, or something that could kill Darkspawn, then he wasn't interested in it. Looking confused, Jane went passed him, picking up the paper and key. She looked at it while Steven finished by putting pistol ammo in the bag and zipping it up, more than happy to have found this. He heard Jane gasp, making him turn around.
"We are still in luck!" She said, looking at them and smiling. "When the last Grey Warden died, they moved the research to the station in Denerim, and this is one of the few keys that can unlock the safe there. Humanity still might have a chance!"
"That's amazing." Steven said, the only one not smiling like an idiot. "But Denerim is a good two month walk from here. If Hak and his army get there first, it won't matter if the research is there or not." He looked at Jane. "How do you know these scientists aren't already making this machine, if the research was even completed before shit hit the fan?"
She looked at the ground. "I don't. But this is our only chance that I know of, and I have to make sure they are at least trying to make it."
Steven nodded, understanding. If this was legit, then it was one of the only options humans had left. His plan was to flee to Orlais, and hopefully form another army either there or further on to combat the Darkspawn. But there was a reason this Marlin guy tried to kill Jane and him. If she was somehow important enough that they wanted to remove her from play, then it was the only reason he needed.
"Alright, I'll go with you." He said, making everyone look at him. "You will?" Jane said, looking surprised. Kasey looked just as surprised.
"Yes. If you think this is our last chance, it would be real stupid of me to let you go and die along the way. I'll help you get there; safest place in Ferelden at the moment anyway. And, since I have ties in the military, you'll have more of a chance of getting in. After they closed up their doors, they are real picky about who they open them up to."
She listened to what he had to say, and slowly nodded. "Well, it couldn't hurt to have you and Kasey along. Alright, you can come. Safety in numbers."
He nodded, but was surprised when Clint spoke up. "Are you sure Jane? We just met them…"
Jane gave him a questioning look. "Yes, but not only did they help us survive fighting that ogre, but Marlin also knew Steven. He knew both of us, and wanted both of us dead. I don't know why, but they consider us a threat, and I don't plan on letting them down."
Clint nodded, not looking happy about it but giving up. Steven didn't bother with the details about why he didn't want Steven along; most likely Clint liked Jane, and didn't want any competition. It didn't matter to Steven; he would have followed whether they liked it or not.
"Alright, stock up on whatever you can. We leave when you are finished Jane." Steven said. She nodded, and he left the room, Kasey following him.
"How are you feeling?" She asked surprising him. He chuckled. "A little sore is all. I'll be fine. And you?"
"I'm perfectly fine. Just heard a Darkspawn talk, saw a human working with them, and fought an ogre to the death. Besides that, I'm just fine."
He grinned. "And you're alive. That's all that matters."
She nodded, smiling back. He started towards the main room. Only one thing still bugged him; the safe. Who leaves a safe with the location of our last hope unlocked? But he let it go; it couldn't be too important.
He could not have been more wrong.