I could hear the fighting as I approached the temple.
I focused on my hands, summoning the bow I had used before. "It is good to be prepared," Solas commented to me, "but have you thought of trying a different weapon?"
"Not until I can train more with said weapons," I replied, "I've had lessons on using a bow, and even though I'm not overly confident… it's better than using a weapon I have no experience with."
"An understandable sentiment," Solas nodded.
"Here we go!" Cassandra said as she jumped off the ledge into the battle a few feet below us. I raised my bow and pulled the shining arrow back, concentrating on my aim. Take a deep breath... I thought as I lined up my shot, let it go as you release.
I let my shot fly, hitting a wraith that had been waiting to attack one of the soldiers.
"Nice shot," Varric complimented me, "maybe you're better than you think."
"I doubt it," I replied, "but thank you for the compliment." A green light from another wraith hit me in the leg while I wasn't paying attention, making me stumble and trip, falling face-first into the dirt below the ledge.
"You okay?" Varric asked me. I stood up slowly, rubbing my throbbing cheek. "I'll be fine," I replied, as I limped toward Cassandra and Solas, who were fighting under another rift.
A shade charged at me right away. Before I could react, the bow in my hand changed to a war hammer. I could feel my arms moving of their own accord, swinging the hammer to hit the shade under the chin and send it flying.
"Woah!" Varric yelled behind me. The movement didn't stop, it seemed to be led by the magic flowing inside me. The hammer spun in my hand, changing back to a bow, which I pulled as an arrow formed, taking aim.
I shot the arrow at the shade, hitting it in midair and making it disappear. "Holy shit!" Varric exclaimed, "how the hell did you do that?"
"I have no clue," I replied, staring at the bow in shock.
"More demons!" Cassandra warned. I looked up to see a mass of green energy forming on the ground around the rift.
"Come on!" I yelled at Varric as I ran closer to the rift. Solas was waiting a ways away. "I saw what you did," Solas mentioned as he charged a spell, "well done."
"Thank you," I replied, pulling back another arrow to prepare. Too bad I couldn't do this on Earth, I thought grimly.
A bright green demon with skinny limbs and a terrifyingly large mouth jumped out of the mass of magic.
"A terror!" Solas yelled, unleashing a whirl of ice magic. I released my arrow, and watched in shock as the terror caught the arrow in its claw and snapped it in two.
I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my stomach and I crumpled with a shriek. "Kristine!" Solas called my name in surprise. "I'm… fine," I hissed, wincing. That really hurt
The terror opened a portal under it and disappeared into it. "Be careful!" Solas yelled, "it can reappear anywhere!"
Just as he said that, I saw a light appear under me. "Shit!" I yelled, and tried to scramble away, but my legs wouldn't cooperate. The shock from the pain in my stomach made my legs freeze.
The terror jumped out of the ground, grabbing my leg as it surfaced, picking me up. "SON OF A BITCH!" I screeched as pain ripped through my limb. I could smell blood and I didn't dare look. I knew I was injured. The terror threw me at a soldier nearby, who caught me.
"Are you alright?" he asked, setting me down. "My leg," I replied in a strained whisper. "Stay behing me," the soldier commanded, stepping in front of me and raising his shield. That's when I noticed his feathered pauldrons. Huh. Is that supposed to be a fashion statement, or is it actually armor? I wondered to myself.
The soldier blocked a blow from the terror as Solas froze it with magic. Seeing the frozen demon jerked me out of my thoughts. I stepped out from behind the soldier and pulled another arrow back and let it go, hitting the demon in the chest. It exploded in a torrent of ice chunks and blood.
I raised my hand over my head, aiming the mark at the rift. A light streamed from my hand to the rift, making the pain return to my arm.
After the rift closed, I fell to my knees, my entire left side feeling like it was on fire. Solas ran over to me and knelt, turning his attention to my bleeding leg. "The rift is sealed, as before," he commented, "you are becoming quite proficient at this."
"Let's hope it works on the big one," Varric added, walking up on my right, "you sure you're alright?"
"No," I confessed, shaking. I was feeling a BIG panic attack starting to grab a hold of me. I carefully rolled so I was sitting, and covered my face with my hands. "Why the hell am I here?" I wondered out loud in a shaky voice, "How did I get thrown into this… this bullshit?" I could feel tears coming up into my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
The soldier from earlier approached with Cassandra. "This is the prisoner," Cassandra said to him, "she is the one able to seal rifts."
"As I've seen," he nodded, "I hope you're able to seal the Breach as well."
I nodded, trying to force my panic attack to the side to deal with later. There were more important things at stake right now. "Well I'd better get to it," I said shakily, "how's my leg?"
"Almost done," Solas replied, focused on closing the wound.
"You're not in this alone," Varric said to me comfortingly, "you've got us to help you." I smiled a little at him. "…thank you," I replied, "that makes me feel a little better." While that was true, I still felt nervous and jittery.
"All done," Solas said, leaning away from my leg. I saw the blood-soaked denim, but my leg looked like it hadn't even injured. "Holy crap," was all I could say, which made Solas and Varric laugh.
Solas helped me to my feet, and patted me on the shoulder in a small attempt to comfort me. He obviously knew I wasn't dealing with my panic attack very well.
"Are you ready?" Cassandra asked. "I am," I nodded, "let's get to it."
Yeah. I might be far from home, but I'm starting to feel not as alone with my new friends by my side. I can do this… well… maybe.
Chapter 5 already? Thanks to people who have favorited this story and left reviews :) If you have certain banter or extra scenes you want to see me write, leave a review and let me know! (though I won't do extra scenes until after the first time I get to Val Royeux)