Mhairi watch their newest ally with a mixture of disgust and fascination.
Oghren had the moment he arrived a month ago struck Mhairi as a drunken lout, an idiot not even close to deserving of being a warden, never mind in any army! Yet they had found him alive when others lay dead, found him fighting, killing...and enjoying it! Was I wrong about him? Could he become a good warden?
As if to answer her the dwarf stopped, shifted a little where he stood...and loudly broke wind.
Probably not. Mhairi grimaced, nose wrinkling as she tried to hold the smell at bay while still holding her weapons...then gagged as it invaded her. Dear Maker! Did he eat the darkspawn!
"Impressive." Anders dryly noted, the mage smirking as he patted the redheaded dwarf on the shoulder. "Bet I can beat that."
"Ah, if I had a copper for every time a human has said that..." Oghren grunted, reaching back with the immense axe in his hand to scratch his rear, making the still gagging Mhairi shudder. The worst of the dwarven kind...and he's the potential warden? Life is one big joke isn't it? "...I'd have more ale."
"Perhaps we should then head for the cellar instead of the top of the keep then?" Anders suggested, still smirking. Maker I hate him... "They have quite a selection down there, or so I heard."
"Later then, sounds fun." Oghren grunted. At least he's quieter now then he was when I first met him...
It had been odd actually, they had when first encountering the dwarf, seen him fight with such gusto, enjoying the fight with the many darkspawn, hacking them apart with brutal efficiency. Then he had greeted the new arrivals with a grin...that had partly faded when he looked to their leader. It had still been there, and he had given them a friendly welcome, especially their leader, who he obviously knew from before.
Of course Mhairi had heard of the heroic Oghren battling beside Lynn at the battle of Denerim, of the great dwarven berserker. But she had when first seeing him assumed the man now marching with them had been some other Oghren, for surely he couldn't be the man of the growing legend? Apparently my ideas of what a hero looks like have been completely off....
The woman had barely greeted her old comrade in arms though, a short nod, a short 'it's good to see you' that lacked any real conviction...and she had marched on, trusting him to follow...which he had.
Frustratingly enough the band was making good progress, tearing through any enemy in their path. The arrogant apostate that rubbed Mhairi wrong called down fire and ice upon their foes with fury even as he made his bad jokes, his discipline when fighting with the others surprisingly good, but perhaps a man fleeing into the unknown while hunted by templars needed that? She herself was a bulwark, as much there to deflect away the brunt of the enemy assault as to fight them...which she did well, hopefully well enough to be accepted by their silent leader. As for the smelly berserker...he did his part unfortunately, even his berserk swings couldn't match Lynn's furious killings...but it was a near echo of it, smashing aside anything surviving the Commander's charge.
Commander...Mhairi gritted her teeth, eyes moving from glaring at the obnoxious dwarf to that of the elf's back. She had questioned him! Questioned a dying man that by all right should have been given comfort! Been cared for! He had died doing his duty...and she had just left him there, the knowledge of the 'talking' darkspawn apparently move important then the life of the man that had fought for her sake!
Mhairi was a commander of soldiers, she understood the need to do one's duty, that some sacrifices were needed to be made, that the ideal conclusion was never reached...but what was a victory owed to the loss of your humanity worth? If you couldn't bring yourself to even rudimentary care...why even bother to fight? It was as frightening as it was reprehensible.
At least this nightmare is soon over. Mhairi dryly noted, knowing there was not many more places to go to anymore, everywhere they had gone there now lay dead darkspawn among the few survivors of the keep...and they had nearly gone everywhere by now, wreaking vengeance upon the creatures defiling Mhairi's home.
Ahead of her Lynn, always at the front, marched on, her feet snapping the scorched bones of the last hurlocks before the door whose deaths Anders had been responsible for. Behind the group a small horde of darkspawn lay, guts and blood covering the corridor, the creatures unable to escape the crushing press of steel and death that was the small group. Is this the power of the wardens? To change so much with so little? There's so little I know... Mhairi glanced at Lynn again. So little I want to know perhaps...
As if to punctuate her thought Lynn's foot smashed into a scorched hurlock resting against the door at the end of the hall, breaking it apart into pieces of shattered bones, broken armour and burnt flesh. Mhairi gagged again, the smell of the creature falling apart making her shudder. And I thought they smelled bad on the outside...
Mhairi didn't get to contemplate the smells permeating the castle for long though, Lynn's foot once more shooting up, this time kicking up the door the hurlock had rested against, making Mhairi wonder if the woman was even capable of opening them the normal way...
They had reached the top of the keep, the heavy rain, nearly coming in horizontally due to the howling wind, instantly making Mhairi shiver as they rushed out. Next to her she heard a whine of pain, making her shoot Anders in his robes a sympathetic look, they had gotten drenched in mere moments, becoming nothing but a wet towel, thin and clinging to him...Mhairi swallowed. Huh...
"Yeees?" Anders arched an eyebrow at her, smirking.
Dammit. Mhairi scowled at the man and opened her mouth to answer-
Only to be interrupted by a new voice. "Pathetic, you humans are surprisingly weak."
Turning Mhairi found herself blinking, her hands closing tighter around her shield and sword as she stared ahead.
The top of the keep wasn't large, barely enough for a small catapult in desperate need of repair and the battlements from behind which a thin line of archers was supposed to stand and fire down upon any advancing foes. There had been no invaders to fire down upon though, they had come from beneath...and instead the long drop down to the ground now acted to hem in the last two defenders that were the remains of a desperate last stand.
One defender...Mhairi sadly noted, the man held over the edge by the throat was already dead, he just didn't know it. Even as she watched the soldier held onto the wrist of the gnarled hand closed around his throat, as desperate to relieve the pressure as he was not to fall. His wide eyes stared at the massive hurlock holding him, clenched teeth shattering with fear.
The other defender wasn't much better off. Mhairi could recognise Seneschal Varel anywhere, the thick mane of grey hair and short beard and calm amber eyes were those of a veteran commander and Mhairi wasn't surprised to find the man still alive. But lying on his back, propped up on one elbow as his greatsword pointed out against the four other hurlocks closing in on him it was obvious he too was more or less doomed as well.
It was the one who held the soldier by the throat that drew Mhairi's attention though. Not only was it larger then the others, not only was it dressed in a far finer suit of chainmail than anything she'd ever seen a darkspawn wear, his curved and spiked sabre equally fine in quality. There was also the fact that it had spoken! And not just the odd threat an emissary was capable of, but a full sentence!
The voice was low and harsh, as if the creature's throat wasn't meant to speak the Ferelden tongue. Yet it was understandable, clear, calm...eerie...
"To think we lost against your kind..." The hurlock pulled the soldier closer, the crater where its nose was supposed to be wrinkling as it sniffed the man squirming in its grip. "...you stink of fear."
It pushed out and released its grip on the man, drawing a loud cry of fear as he fell...then a crunch loud enough to reach them despite the howling of the winds. There's a palisade down there... Mhairi grimaced, the mental image of the near torn apart solider skewered upon the sharpened wooden stakes entering her mind all too readily.
"And as for you..." The darkspawn turned towards the Seneschal...only to stop as it turned its head to look at them. "...More people for the slaughter?" Pointed teeth appeared as it grinned. "Excellent...except you..." It pointed at Lynn, who only had her head cocked to the side, studying the huge hurlock with what Mhairi could only see as a casual interest. Maker we're lead by a nut! "...I sense the taint in you...excellent..."
"You talk." Lynn's voice came out, short and clipped, nearly disinterested.
"There is much you don't know of our kind warden." The darkspawn snorted. "Surrender and I won't feed you to my men." He gestured for the four other hurlocks who by now had disarmed the obviously exhausted Seneschal and now stood behind their leader, making small lunges for the group, obviously wanting to charge...but holding...
"No."
And then the elf was moving.
Her swinging blades were instantly parried by the chuckling darkspawn...only for the chuckle to turn into a grunt as her foot connected with his abdomen, forcing him backwards even as the other hurlocks charged in.
Mhairi moved on instinct, one moment she stood there, staring at the creature that defied all she knew of the 'mindless monsters'...the next she was slamming her shield into a hurlock, forcing it away from Lynn's right flank as the woman concentrated on their huge leader. To Mhairi's right Oghren crashed forth, the handle of his axe crashing into the face of another hurlock.
To Lynn's left Anders fingers poured liquid fire over the other two hurlocks drawing howls from them and making them lose interest in Lynn and instead close in on him. "Ah!" Anders pulled back, staff held in front of him as if it was an offering instead of a weapon as he tried to avoid the weapons swung by nearly blinded hurlocks.
Mhairi moved, trusting Oghren to handle the two other hurlocks she barrelled into the two hurlocks, bowling them over.
Behind her Oghren seemed to have no trouble though, his swinging axe chopping the right leg off the hurlock he had knocked over before the other got to its feet. He easily parried its overhand swing with the shaft of his axe though...and instead of returning the attack he pushed forth, his axe pushing the blade over the hurlock's head...and then down. A groan escaped the creature as its sword was trapped between its back and Oghren's axe-shaft as he used the weapon to hug the creature tightly, too tightly...a crack and the creature went limp.
For Mhairi things weren't too hard either, the first hurlock to get to its feet getting its face caved in by a swinging shield, utterly blinding it and making it unable to parry Mhairi's swing that cleaved its head from its shoulders. The second managed a swing, that Mhairi easily parried before the creature went stiff, its flesh smouldering and armour covered with streaks of white lightning as a bolt of energy from Anders' palms struck its back.
A moment later it slumped to the ground, smoke still rising from where its flesh met its armour, revealing a grinning Anders.
To her utter frustration Mhairi grinned back.
There was no time to celebrate however, nor to recover by shooting the man a scowl, Mhairi turned, finding the duel between the two leaders still in full swing.
Holy...
While having been forced back initially the darkspawn was stronger, larger...and surprisingly swift with that heavy-looking blade of his. Lynn hadn't backed down though, the elf's axe and sword dancing left and right, parrying and attacking nearly on reflex, the warden's eyes focused on the darkspawn as she continued to advance. Her weapons were a blur, a storm hailing over the darkspawn as surely as the rain assaulting them.
The creature howled in anger as it realised its back was nearly against the edge of the long drop, sabre held in both hands it swung down upon the woman...who simply darted to the right, a backhanded swing of her axe opening a wound in the beast's shoulder. The hurlock didn't even feel the wound though, its sword instantly swinging after the woman...and slamming into her side.
Maker no!
Lynn doubled over, the heavy blade crashing through her golden armour, into her waist, making her drop her axe as she begun to list over the weapon.
The hurlock's grin went wide with victory.
Only to fade away.
Grasping the sword buried in her by the pommel with her left hand Lynn silently straightened, her eyes afire with....something that Mhairi couldn't identify.... Anger? Hatred? No...it was something she couldn't understand...didn't want to understand.
The hurlock pulled its weapon back, but Lynn held onto it tightly, and instead of freeing it the darkspawn only pulled her closer, letting her stab her sword through his upper right arm, making him howl as she twisted the blade around, snapping the muscles.
The hurlock released its grip on its weapon, its left hand reaching out to grasp the profusely bleeding wound, trying to stem the flow of blood.
In contrast Lynn simply wrenched the blade out of her side, tossing the weapon aside as the blood poured down over her hips and left leg, turning it crimson.
Then she spun, her sword a blur of silver.
And the hurlock's left arm thudded to the floor.
"Argh!" The darkspawn took a step back as it roared out, its limp right arm unable to stem the flow of blood from its left shoulder, its eyes staring at the wounds in rage.
"Anders." Lynn didn't turn, only advanced on the darkspawn. "Heal him."
What!
"What!" Anders and Oghren echoed Mhairi's shock, the knight too stunned for words. What in...are we led by a psychopath!
Lynn's gaze, hard, unwavering, despite her deep wound, shot back, making the others shiver. "Heal. Him."
"I...yes..." Anders moved his staff up, a small whisper escaping him...and the blood pouring from the creature's wounds slowed into a trickle.
"Now..." Lynn looked back at the darkspawn glaring at her. "...you will tell me everything you know." A small snort escaped the creature, making her add. "Our dungeon will convince you of that."
"Ha!" The hurlock laughed, laughed! It was a filthy sound, grating, worn, not really a laugh but a rattling that made Mhairi tense up. "You think pain will make me talk?" It shook its head, grin wide as it looked down at the still bleeding Lynn, making Mhairi jab the still staring Anders in the side. "I am pain elf! I thrive on it!" Lynn didn't even seem to care as the healing spell slowed her bleeding to something that wouldn't leave her dead in a few more moments, her eyes fixed on the creature. "You will learn nothing from me! Save that which I choose to tell you!"
Silence.
"I believe you."
And Lynn stepped forth, her right foot coming up and smashing into the chest of the darkspawn.
A howl of rage left it as it fell over the edge...the howl only ending with the loud crunch of it being skewered upon the palisade.
Silence.
Then Lynn moved again, over to the man still on his back, having stared at the exchange in as much wonder as the rest of them. "Seneschal Varel I assume, you live." Lynn stepped close enough to offer her hand, a hand her carefully took...an instant later he was pulled onto his feet, blinking in surprise as he looked down at the far smaller elf.
"I...yes...Commander." The man bowed his head slightly, pale and unsure. "I...that was something else..." He managed an uncertain smile. "Your timing is impeccable."
"If that had been the case I would have arrived before the attack." Lynn droned and turned away from the Seneschal, apparently thinking the introductions finished. Instead she looked over the edge of the keep. At first Mhairi thought she was looking for the strange darkspawn's corpse...but that was swiftly proven wrong as the elf cocked her head to the side, sounding awfully neutral as she spoke: "And now the queen arrives with my additional men..."
The queen? Mhairi swallowed and found herself sheathing her sword so she could draw her hand over her face, removing most of the blood covering it. Oh Maker...
"Sodding...always late for the party...and did it have to be her?" Oghren grunted and eyed Lynn with an uncharacteristic glint of concern in his eyes. "Could we make this quick?"
"Yes, we could." Lynn cocked her head to the side, looking down at the procession of troops coming through the castle's still open gates. "And we will."
Mhairi grimaced at the implication, making an enemy of the queen seemed extremely foolish...especially since the queen was known for both her great heroism and her ability for wreaking vengeance...neither of which Lynn apparently seemed to understand.
Does she have any idea who she's talking about!