Dragon Age: Origins
Levyn
Chapter Seventeen - Creatures of the Fade
The Pride Demon, the most powerful and intelligent demon who ever existed in Thedas, was renown to anyone who was familiar with the Fade. Their hides were the best armor anyone had ever seen. Their ability to to defeat a contingent of templars single-handed was feared by mages and templars alike. One was enough to cause mayhem within or without the Fade; Uldred's uprising several months ago was a fine example.
Now there were two of them.
"All right, I take it these two aren't going to be our friends." Athras's grip on his ironbark bow tightened and eyes remained locked at the two giant Fade creatures.
"Oh, look, brother of mine." One of the beasts pointed at the Dalish elf and mused, bearing its jarred teeth: "Cha-cha, a painted elf!"
"Tsk-tsk, he certainly looks yummy, brother of mine." The other one laughed wickedly. A purple aura shimmered through its body
Levyn glared at the demons with his narrowed eyes. Up close, they were even more terrifying then what he had been told, or read from the books he came across. How could the Maker allowed something like this to exist?
"They are spawned of the Fade," the First Enchanter once told him. "They feed on the dark thoughts we have."
"Dark thoughts?" Jowan arched his eyebrow and looked at his tutor quizzically.
"Rage, desire, sloth," Irving folded his fingers as he counted the dark psyches that typically exist within mortals, "and pride."
"Pride?" Neph, sitting next to Jowan, frowned and put down her quill. "Shouldn't that be a good thing?"
"Not necessarily." The senior mage shook his head: "When exaggerated, pride could make a person lose respect for what other people do. They became self-absorbed, overconfident, and arrogant. It is a dangerous, thin line between the positive pride and negative ones. Be humble; keep your feet on the ground. Don't let those demons seize the chance to feast upon you."
"Never thought I'd live to see one of those things," Wolf murmured as he leaned toward the apostate slightly. "Makers breath. How do we get past them?"
"Honestly, I don't have a clue," Levyn answered with a shake of his head.
"Talk is cheap, brother of mine." The Pride Demon's thundering voice broke off their quiet whispers. "Let the feast begin!"
The other demon snarled. It raised its head, beat its chest rapidly and roared. The rumble nearly tore their eardrums and forced their hearts out of their chests. A surge of energy burst out of its body. The beast stomped the ground, sending out a shockwave so forceful it buffeted the small party, threatening to topple them to the ground.
Athras dug his heels into the ground, unsheathed his daggers, and launched himself toward one of the Demons. The Dalish elf waved his weapon, trying to stab the Pride Demon's chest. The Fade creature simply waved his hand and cast the elf away with a Frost bolt. The hunter's frozen body made a loud clang as it landed on the cobblestone. Daraga snarled, took a roll on the ground and slid directly beneath the beast. Her great sword thrust directly upward. This time, it went all the way through.
The beast growled. Its hands reached down and grabbed the dwarf. The giant fist grasped Daraga so tightly; it nearly cracked her rib into bits. The poor dwarf was screaming in pain. The Fade demon sniggered and shook even harder. The other Pride Demon muttered something under its breath. A cloud of heated air gushed out of its body and twirled around the purple skinned creature. Almost instantly, the area was engulfed in flame. Levyn's robe was nearly torched and turned into a pile of ash. Athras' ice prison melted, and dribbling with water, he shook his head and stumbled back to his feet.
"We will need to get her down." The Dalish hunter pointed at Daraga, still gasping in the hands of the Pride Demon.
The ground quaked once again. The blood mage steadied himself and raised his staff. He closed his eyes for a moment and chanted the familiar syllables. A giant stone fist materialized out of nowhere and smashed directly at the Pride Demon who was holding the dwarven warrior. Caught off guard, the Fade beast dropped the Gwarenian guard. Wolf and Athras rushed forward and dragged her back to safety.
"I don't think she's breathing!" The templar yelled, while the Dalish elf nocked several fire arrows and fired them toward the other Demon. Daraga's body was limp. Her face was wax-like, and her eyes rolled over to the back of her head.
"You two will need to cover me!" said Levyn tensely. The mage gingerly approached the unconscious dwarf, casting a quick glance over his shoulder to see his two companions as they went off to distract the giant Pride Demons, before turning his attention back to the warrior. He inhaled deeply, gathering all his mana, before he cast Revival on the Gwarenian guard. A surged of shimmering light rose from his body and passed onto to Daraga. Her limp body began to tremble. By the time Wolf cast a Cleanse Area, temporarily dispelling all magic cast by the Fade creatures, the dwarf had already snapped open her eyes and sat up.
"What… just happened?" She frowned.
"You were…arh…." The blood mage coughed.
"Dead?"
Levyn nodded.
"And you cast something to bring me back, I presume?" Daraga arched an eyebrow, half-mindedly watching Wolf leap away from the Pride Demon's fist bash.
"Yes." The apostate shrugged.
"Lucky to have you around in the time like this." She managed to smile and pull herself back to her feet. "I think we'd better help the lads before they turn them into mashed mince."
Daraga picked up her shield and ran toward the Pride Demon. "Has no one told you no dwarf shaking is allow, Fade or mortal plane?" She drew out her battleaxe and sneered. "Nug-snuggler, you are going to pay for what you just did. Oh, yes!"
One of the Fade beasts raised its hand in the air, sparks crackled. Soon the entire area was blowing in snow, nearly freezing all of them into ice poles.
The maleficar tabbed his fingers at his temple and thought feverishly. A revival spell was mana draining; he did not have enough of them left to cast any other powerful ones to knock them down. The Lyrium potions in his pack were running low.
Time was running out fast.
"This is when being with another mage would come in handy," he muttered under his breath and paced around in circle, before raising his stave again. "Humph… let's reduce the damage inflicted upon you guys first."
He carefully chanted the spell. An enormous light bubble burst from the tip of his ironbark staff and immediately shielded them, began bouncing off minor spells from the Pride Demon. However, it could not stop the Fade creatures from physically attacking them. One of the dark creatures bent its head and rushed toward Daraga, sending the dwarf staggering back and nearly tripping over. The Gwarenian guard cursed. She steadied herself, waved her axe and pommel struck the beast.
"Like that?" she snorted, sprung from her heel and turned. Her sword arched and attacked again. The Fade demon roared in rage.
Nearby, using a turned over carriage, Athras ran up and leaped toward the Pride Demons, which still struggled to stand up. His hand caught and grasped one of the spikes on the dark being's hide. Using the momentum, the elf swung onto its back. His dagger swung and stabbed. The blade sank deep into the soft skin on the back of the beast's neck. Screeching in pain, the creature kneeled down, sending another wave of tremors within the radius.
"Blood and damnation!" Wolf bit his lower lip and cast another Cleanse Area spell. A burst of wings gushed through the field. The purple cloud surrounding the Pride Demon evaporated slightly. The templar held his greatsword and quickly began hitting the creature vigorously.
Levyn watched his three companions battle the two giant beasts helplessly. His mana was still recovering. He just tipped one of the remaining bottles down, but it barely helped.
"Andraste's blood!" he cursed: "If only I have more powerful lyrium potions….wait…"
He suddenly remembered reading it somewhere a while back when he was in the Tower, that there were raw lyrium veins in the Fade, and they were completely harmless towards whomever it was that touched it. The blood mage jerked his head and looked around. It didn't take him long before finding a small cluster of lyrium just outside of the Fade Chantry.
The apostate made a quick dive and slid toward the raw material. As soon as his fingertips touched the crystal-like mineral, a surge of energy rippled over his body. Levyn immediately felt his mana recharge. He staggered back to his feet, raised his stave, and aimed its tips toward the Pride Demon.
"Now let's see…" He smirked and watched in satisfaction as his staff crackled with silver sparks. "This shall do."
Blinding light beamed out of the staff and rushed to the misty sky above. It then broke into thousands of tiny sparks and washed down at them. Athras, Wolf, and Daraga did not seem to be affected by it much. The Pride Demons, however, looked like they were standing in some kind of acid rain. Blood sputtered out of the beasts' mouth and their bodies appeared to be more transparent. Seizing this chance, Athras nocked four more fire arrows and fired them toward one of the Fade creatures at once. It did not take the hit as well as it the one a few seconds before. The dark being staggered and fell backward, landing spectacularly on the cobblestone ground beneath their feet. Its huge body shook uncontrollably and turned into a cluster of purple cloud before anybody could catch their breath.
The remaining Pride Demon roared with anger. Blood still dribbling out of the corner of its mouth, the Fade beast's head bucked toward Wolf and Levyn. The templar dived sideways, while the blood mage cast another Stone fist, plus Cone of Ice, knocking it backward slightly. Daraga rushed forward, with her battleaxe raised over her shoulders. The beast's right arms were chopped off cleanly as the machete fell. The Fade demon's howl almost broke their eardrums.
"Curse you! Curse you all!" it hissed as it lost its balance and nearly tripped. Its body was covered in blood splatters. The creature sprung and elbowed whomever it was behind. Wolf could not avoid it in time, the spike on its elbow piercing though his armor like clippers cracking the lobster's shell. The templar cried out in pain. His knees buckled and he collapsed onto the ground. The Pride Demon raised its feet and was about to squash him when Levyn cast Haste on Daraga and himself, quickly rushed over and pulled him to safety.
Under the cover of Daraga and Athras, the blood mage removed Wolf's chestplate and pressed his hands firmly against the gashes in his chest. A few more inches, and he would have had to cast another Revival spell … this time on the templar.
The apostate murmured the spell; blue lights shimmered through his body and transferred toward the Gwarenian templar's. His ragged breathing soon calmed and he was able to drag himself to sitting position.
"Oh, nice to see you coming around, Wolf." The corner of the dwarf's mouth twisted upward as she saw the templar had regained his strength. "We've slaughtered one nasty snugger, and now we have this one left. And it's already down one arm. Usually I wouldn't mind taking all the time we need to play with our new friend, but the Scholar is somewhere trying to kill our Chasind girl as we fight. A nice spell or strategy will do the trick."
"Huh?" Levyn blinked at the dwarven guard with a frown.
"Use one of your palm slashing tricks," the dwarf barked as she dodged the frustrated demon's attack. On the other side, Athras climbed onto a wooden platform and fired two more fire arrows.
"Palm….you meant the blood magic?" The apostate arched his eyebrow.
"Whatever you called that nug-snogging thing!" yelled Daraga through her gritted teeth. She drew out her greatsword and round shield and started another round of attack.
"But most of the Blood Magic won't work in the Fade!" Levyn pulled his hair frustratingly: "Arh…I must think of something that actually works! Mana Clash is still too slow!"
Loud sounds of crumbling stone came not very far from him. The mage sprung his head around, saw the Pride Demon toss a large piece of bolder toward Athras and miss the Dalish elf by inches.
"Well, try something!" Wolf urged.
"What? You? " The blood mage nearly lost his balance. "Of all people? Want me to do Blood Magic?"
"Why not, it's not like we have some kind of choice." The templar shrugged. "I was under the impression we need to get past this and save Gladys quickly?"
Levyn chew his lip thoughtfully and turned his head around to look at the Pride Demon again. Daraga and Athras were now circling around the being, tried to distract it enough so it wouldn't just attack one person. The Fade creature growled as it sprung, leaving trails of blood.
"It doesn't have to be epic." Wolf stood up and grasped his sword tightly. "Just a simple one will do."
"Simple?" The mage grimaced. "Since when did Blood Magic become simple? But I got your idea."
He inhaled deeply and drew out his dagger. The cold blade sent shivers down his spine as he drew it across the palm of his hand. The blood gushed out in an amazing amount. Chanting the old Tevinter syllables, Levyn began to draw runes on the cobble stone floors with the blood.
Clouds of crimson mist formed almost as soon as the droplets touched the surface. Out of nowhere, everyone suddenly heard the laughter of small children. The Pride Demon's face was immediately drained of color.
"You did not…you…NO!" Fear was written on its face.
The laughter soon appeared to be from the blood mist itself. It drifted around the wounded demon, quickly cloaking the beast within. The mirth's pitch suddenly went higher. Before anyone saw anything, they heard the Pride Demon let out a blood curdling scream.
"And this is not epic?" Wolf lowered his sword and looked at the mage quizzically.
"Believe it or not, no." The blood mage stretched out his hand and cast another spell. A burst of blood whooshed out of the red cloud and shot straight into his body. His hand was immediately healed. "The Tevinter magister who taught me this promised me it was their 'basic knowledge.'"
"When did you meet this magister?" The templar still stared at the apostate.
"Huh? Oh, when I was on the run, of course." Levyn smirked slightly: "Or do you think the Tower would be kind enough to invite them over to give us some lovely seminar?"
The blood cloud remained clustered around the Fade Demon. The sinister being now thrashing around the ground, its shriek now went even higher and clearly sounded like it was in great pain.
"We should get going." The blood mage brushed the dust off his robe. "We can leave the demon here."
"Wha—how do you know if it died or not?" Daraga cast the screeching creature another curious glance.
"The spell won't stop until the Pride Demon dies." Levyn shrugged as he began to walk toward the other side of the town square.
Athras looked at the blood mage differently. "You really don't look like a blood mage to me."
"I get that a lot." The apostate chuckled.
They reached to the other side of the square. Before the group entered the small alleyway where Jethro's wooden hut was, Levyn noticed there was someone standing by the gate toward the docks. It appeared to be a woman, staring at a dead Desire Demon, with her back toward them. Dress in standard Chasind cloth, her long hair flew wildly against the wind. Holding a blood-drenched dagger and a long bow on her back, she seemed utterly familiar.
"Wait, there's someone there." Levyn stopped and pointed out the woman to the others. "Hello? What's your name? What are you doing over there? Are you all right?" he called out. As far as he knew, she might be some dreamer trapped in the Fade, as he was told when he was inside the Tower. She might be able to assist them. Or she might be another Fade Demon in disguise….
Well, they would never know unless they talked to her.
The woman's back went stiff. She slowly turned her head around. Her voice was filled with surprise and relief. "Levyn?"
The blood mage's body froze. He recognised the voice. And from the reaction of the others, they seemed to recognise her, too.
The woman slowly turned her head around. Among the blurry mist, her delicate porcelain face was enhanced ten times over. Her eyes, for the first time ever, appeared to be emerald. Tears streaks flowed down her face. Her rosy lips trembled slightly as soon as their eyes met.
"Levyn?" she cried out.
Levyn could not believe what he saw. "Gladys?"