Elissa Cousland, second daughter of the teyrn ruling Highever, newly initiated Gray Warden, was disappointed. The men under her command had been assigned the task of guarding the northern entrance not for their skills in the noble art of fighting – no that was untrue, they had been assigned the task for their complete and utter lack of skills in the noble art of fighting as well as respect for authority. Despite both her and Duran's best efforts they didn't seem to take their task at all serious. They had made it very clear that the reason they had been sent all the way to the other side of the camp was to stop them from doing trouble elsewhere.
"What will you do when the darkspawn come running against you?!" she practically yelled at the nearest of them. He was a tall man visibly missing four teeth and had a lack of respect that wanted her to order him frayed.
"Little miss we have been we have been here guarding these back entrances every time those things have attacked. It won't be different, now shut up and let us play Dirty Crow or go get us some ale."
Elissa clenched her fists tightly but didn't move to strike. If these men were to work for her they needed to not be in the infirmary.
"Listen, if you don't help us at least barricade the doorway then I shall have you sent to the prison for treason!"
"Listen here miss, we won't see as much a shadow of these things, just not clever enough eh? So let us"
"No! You listen here! I shall fetch some ale and a battleaxe. If the barricade is not built and if you are all not in uniform when I return, then my friend Duran here shall have a light warm up on your hides!"
She gave the tall man a glare and turned on her heels walking at a furious pace towards the weapon stores. To her great delight and relief the men were all suddenly busy gathering wood and stone to block the passage off, someone yelling orders to get their armor from their tents.
Once she had passed the nearest corner though she took her time, she would get them their ale, though watered down a bit to keep them sober for the night. Out of curiosity she headed to the eastern part of the camp which would be past the tents. If darkspawn entered here they could torch all the supply wagons as well. A part of her disliked having the supplies so close to the walls but there was hardly any choice in the matter. A minute later she saw Lyra, still in armor, running with a crate of small metal shards from the smithy. Elissa waved at her and Lyra noticed and came towards her.
"Any luck on your side?" Elissa asked as Lyra was within earshot.
"Any luck?" she asked and slowed down to walking pace.
"With the guards you are stationed with."
Lyra seemed to consider it before tilting her head looking perhaps to indicate that she didn't understand. Maybe the girl was touched in the head.
"Duran and I had much trouble getting the soldiers to listen to us, I can imagine it is worse for you." Elves and all that.
"Ah yes, no, actually Tamlin talked to them and they started digging and I have gathered some iron." Elissa cast a doubtful glance to the metal shards but said nothing.
Had Elissa been in any doubt before then she wasn't any longer, the girl was clearly touched.
"So what are you doing that requires digging? A moat?" How funny it would be if she actually wanted to make that.
"No I doubt that would work here, though there is plenty of water. We are building a wall"
"A wall of earth?"
"Partly, but of wood too, you should see it! One among the men stationed here used to build houses and such. If the darkspawn only have a single line to enter they will be easy targets for our bows." Lyra gave a weak smile at that, almost like she had just told a secret. Perhaps at the thought of killing with bows, elves could be crazy like that.
"What is the iron for then?"
"Arrow tips and one of the men said he was very good with small traps and such. We thought we could make them a bit more frightened to take the trip around to us that way." The way she spoke of it seemed creepy but it was too late now.
As they reached the eastern gate Elissa was surprised how much they had managed in the little time. Several of the soldiers where out in the dirt digging though the ground seemed very muddy, not a good thing if you were building anything though it didn't seem to bother them overly.
Lyra put the crate down and moved over to a group of humans who were all looking over some drawings. Elissa left them to it and turned to find Tamlin in all this. He was just outside the wall digging with a few of the others though he had discarded his chest armor for a shirt, while the rest of the men had simply discarded their armor.
"It is very good progress."
Tamlin looked up and it took a moment before he found her standing by giant stone arch leading into the fortress. He placed the shovel in the dirt and climbed the small dirt pile they had dug up.
"Yes. The humans can work well,.." she didn't hear the rest as the elf mumbled the last part. It had surely been an insult. She could appreciate that she was not alone in her problem.
"The wall will be finished in an hour, the biggest problem would be if too many charge or if they got mages among them." Tamlin wiped the sweat of his forehead and fanned himself.
"Do you need anything?" He looked her directly in the eye and kept the contact.
Slightly unsettled Elissa looked away, elves really knew nothing of common decency! "No I should be going." To which the elf muttered something and got back to his shovel, which had almost been swallowed by the mud.
On her way back from the supply wagons her mind played out several scenarios of the coming battle. A mindless rabble? a group of skilled soldiers? mages, siege weaponry, ogres,... Planning was all good, but planning against what? If it was a mindless group they would keep banging on their barricade, and then what? Get through? Die of bleeding fists? She shook her head. This was not a mindless horde they were fighting. Stupid certainly, but at times they had made ambushes,..
The problem was their spellcasters, they were clever enough to guide the rest of them.
How to disable a spellcaster then, and how to stop an onslaught if it is something like ogres or whatever else the darkspawn possessed of monsters?
"My lady?" Elissa's focus snapped back to the real world, where was she anyway? She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.
"Makers breath it is you! I thought that your father was adamant that you were not to come. Did you manage to convince him to be allowed to follow?"
Elissa stared at the woman who had been talking to her, she had been a squire or maybe knight of one of the minor bann tied to her father. "I am sorry, I must have forgotten your name"
"Venera, of house Fladd, my lady" she gave a short bow.
"You rode with my brother did you not?"
"Indeed my lady, I"
Elissa interrupted. "Is he back from the scouting trip? I bring news..."
"I am sorry my lady, he should not return before later this eve. Teyrn Loghain has given him special orders to assist in the coming battle."
"The teyrn?" Elissa tried to think of everything she knew of Loghain but nothing came save that he was a hero.
"Yes my lady, we were requested to enter the eastern part of the wilds picking off as many as we could and attempt to drag the horde to fight us in daytime."
The eastern part of the wilds. What if they needed to enter the fortress? With all the traps and walls – not to mention barricades they might get slaughtered if they bring a horde.
"Thank you Venera" Elissa was about to return to her thoughts when something struck her.
"Why aren't you with brother?"
Venera did her best to hide her dismay though it still came through. "The cooks asked for some hands to aid them"
"But you..."
"I was volunteered and I cannot speak against my lord" Though the girl did look like she had a thing or two to say about the matter.
"I understand, if you wish then I could use a hand. We are to guard the northern entrance. The men there are lazy and hardly a grain of brain between them. We could use you there if you wish."
"I don't know my lady" Venera looked hesitant back the way she had come.
"Venera," the girl straitened at Elissa's tone. "Which task do you do best, and which would you prefer; Cooking till your lord returns or fighting darkspawn?"
There was no hesitation in her answer. "darkspawn, my lady. On both accounts."
"It is settled then! You go to the northern entrance and help set up a proper defense. I left them to it half an hour ago and I doubt they have managed even something half decent."
"My lady" Venera nodded and was about to turn when she was handed the keg from Elissa.
"Could you take that to them as well? I shall inform the cook that he has lost a helper."
Venera looked as though she was about to protest but then let it fall. "My lady." there was a court nod and then she turned, heading north with the keg.
Elissa marked the direction. The general positions of the camp coming back to her. The question was then which kitchen did Venera work at?
Elissa waved an elf over and gave him orders to go to each of the cooks and tell them that Venera was needed for the defense. The elf bowed deeply, something that couldn't have been easy with all the goods he was carrying, and continued on his way. Life was so much easier when everyone knew their place and did as they were told.
With a keg of ale and Venera their defense was beginning to take shape. The barricade had been made so that it could easily roll aside but it could not be pushed. And as long as the locking mechanism was in place it wouldn't move anywhere. Several holes had been made to fire from and a few men had been sent up to the ruined ramparts to keep watch and shoot anything resembling magic-using darkspawn. As the land started to grow darker the unease in camp grew as well. The nearby horses had been jumpy wanting to leave and shapes and shadows seemed to show themselves in Elissa's mind only to dissipate and vanish when she tried to focus on it.
It did not get better as the evening progressed and save for the news the servants brought they heard very little other than distant explosions and iron meeting iron. Elissa looked up noting the tower's beacon still wasn't lit. The battle had been going on and off for about an hour surely and yet the main force must be holding back if the trap was not ready to be sprung.
"Take it easy miss, it may just be such an easy victory that the beacon isn't needed." That may be true, the elves had said that the frontlines held fast with very little actual damage done. She spared the tower another glance and closed her eyes. It felt like a shadow play was playing inside her mind though the figures were vague and the meaning didn't get through. The play had started just before the darkspawn attacked and surely held a connection.
She sat there eyes closed with a crossbow near, eyes closed watching the images behind her eyes and listening to Duran pace back and forth calling for a status from the sentries once in a while but the message was always the same. 'all clear'.
At one point the players of shadow seemed to change somehow. Worried she sent a runner to the front to hear news but there was little change, a minor group had attacked the main gates but there was no breach. Elissa shook her head. It was a waste of time. She had gotten riled up for nothing. They had been under attack for almost three hours and it had been nothing but a few darkspawn little more than what she and the dwarf had killed off back in the swamps.
Her mind inevitably returned to her lost parents. So much was lost there. Now that she had become a gray warden it was even more so. She would not return to a quiet life now, could not. Duncan had explained that the taint reduces the lifespan and not just from the work hazards. She had always imagined growing old in that keep, living with Fergus in their old age. So many hopes and dreams had been shattered, all due to Howe. He and Father had even fought together back when they were young... She had even allowed his stupid child to take her dancing. It was Howe's fault, but Howe's blood would not be enough to avenge the monstrosity. She would see him suffer. She would kill him painfully and then... She would kill everyone!
Elissa's eyes were wide open. Such rage and thoughts were not her own! Her heart was beating quickly and she felt cold with sweat. The shadow dance behind her eyes had changed.
"Go, see what is happening. Something big must be underway!" She snapped at the elven runner who had been resting on a barrel. He was so surprised that he almost fell down.
"Sentries, anything?" she called, ignoring the way everyone in camp looked at her. Behind her eyes the shadow dance had changed even worse. It was no longer shadows dancing but flames, flames and blood.
"Nothing my lady"
Everything seemed to stop, and then she heard it. She might have felt it before it actually reached her though. A dragon roar. It was no simple raid anymore, it was a blight.
"W-what was that?" stuttered one of the men.
"The archdemon" supplied Duran as he hefted his axe.
The man was about to continue when the sentries reported in.
"Movement at the wall! About 20"
"Keep down! Only risk yourself if you see a spellcaster!" Elissa yelled back to him.
"Get ready everyone, you three get ready with the crossbows and you." she pointed to a lad not more than 13 years old. The war came to everyone...
"Fetch those vials and bring them near the wall, careful you don't drop any of them or they will burn off your foot!"
She took a moment to survey it all. Duran had given similar orders and things seemed to be moving as it should, she gave a passing thought to the elves hoping their idea would work before she joined her men.
The first wave of darkspawn had not been lead by a caster nor any other that could direct the group, ultimately they were all pierced by bolts as they had without luck attempted to move the wagon-blockade that stood in the doorway. The second was a much smaller group but their caster had directed their tainted archers and the sentries had died even before they could take the caster down. Had it not been for the bottles of acid that the kid had fetched he would likely have continued to hurl fire down at the barricade till nothing was left. The third group was even smaller and passed directly by their barricade before they realized they had gone too far and by then they had been cut down.
"My lady!" shouted someone in the back of the camp just as the last of the genlocks died. It was the runner.
"What news?" she demanded while reloading her crossbow.
"The worst. The King is hard pressed, the defenders on the walls surrounding the First Gate has all been killed and the beacon is not yet lit!"
How much could go wrong in a single battle?
"Duran! We move, we got to lit the beacon and open the First gate for the King before his army is destroyed."
The dwarf made his way down from the barricade bringing his axe with him.
"Delin! You are in charge here get someone to take the sentry duty and hold this place! Venera you are with us!" The dwarf yelled back as the two Wardens ran from the camp.
Delin? It took a moment before she could put a face on the name. It was the 13 year old kid. Maker have mercy on us all, but it was done.
They reached the front of the fortress, built between two hills with the First Gate placed at the bottom with a fortress surrounding either side of the mighty doors. But it looked like a battlefield, even though the real battle raged on far below them in the valley. All the mages and archers had been killed, several of the catapults had been burned, shattered by rocks, spells or fire Elissa was not sure. But so much death!
As they reached the front ramparts of the fortress they could see the true scope of the blight. Countless darkspawn were all pushing and screaming to enter the fighting that took place just before the First Gate, yet hardly any defenders were left to battle the tide, and Loghain was nowhere to be seen – he was likely still waiting for the message that had not been sent. Should she open the doors for the king and pray that it could be closed in time so as to now allow the darkspawn entry or should she signal Loghain. If she did signal Loghain the king was surely lost if he wasn't already. She didn't need to think further. If the king died then the kingdom would falter and the lands would never unite.
Truly, there was no choice in the matter.
"We got to save the king!" Elissa said as the three of them stared out at the sea of violence just beneath the fortress walls.
Most of the defenders however had been killed and she noted several darkspawn were scattered amongst the corpses. These darkspawn must have entered the keep somehow, but there was hardly time for such thoughts. The gatehouse was thankfully still standing though it seemed to have been the first target of the darkspawn that had breached.
"Duran, take Venera and remove the log barring the gate, I will find the release for the portcullis and drop it as soon as the king and his men have gone through." Both nodded and ran to the tower containing a stairway down to the First gate far below them. Elissa ran for the gatehouse. She had barely registered that the door was locked before she threw herself at it as hard and as fast as she could. But it didn't as much as creek. She tried to calm down a bit. Surely there is another way in. There was none she could see, expect...
A wide window decorated the wall facing inside the keep perhaps so they could communicate with the people of the keep. But the gatehouse was built spanning the entire breadth of the wall, meaning that she would have to climb on the wall with nothing but air for many meters below her.
Elissa wasn't afraid of highs, not as such, but she had a healthy respect for them.
It will be fine, just don't look down and don't forget to keep a firm grip. Of cause she would have to get out of her chainmail which was easier said than done. She tried the door again but it didn't move in the least. She fought a battle getting the chain tunic off but once that was done the rest almost fell off by itself. She took a peek over the side, which proved to be a bad idea though she saw Venera and the dwarf working a series of ropes to unbar the door. There was no time to be a coward now. She forced herself to take the first step onto the wall, fortunately the wall had not been constructed from flat stone so she found a foothold easy. Now came the hard part, could the foothold carry her weight? She clung on to the bare stone with her hands and lifted her left foot from the safety of the walkway. Below her was nothing and the wind seemed to be happy to remind her of that. She shook her head and the spell wore off. She had to make it.
She dug in her left foot, got a grip with the right hand, then the right foot, left hand...
Only a small meter to go. She was almost there she reached out with her right hand when the ramparts took a blow from a catapult stone, or maybe a fireball or Maker knows what. She dug her right hand against the rock but the whole thing had loosened and part of the stone that supported her fell the many meters to the ground. Her left foot dangled though the right still held. In her panic she tried to force it into the small safespot she had used but it was no longer there and in doing so her right hand came loose. It had never had a true grip on anything and she felt herself starting to fall backwards. She closed her eyes shut.
This was it, death. Her whole body was tense and it took a moment before she realized that her right foot and left arm still held. She had not fallen, though she had never felt her muscles so tired. Below her the doors had been opened and the kings soldiers poured through, fleeing for their lives though Elissa barely registered it. With what was a monumental effort she managed to find hold again and finally into the gatehouse. It felt like an age she had worked to get in but it had not been, she realized, as she looked down from the window. Several of the men was now in safety but not all, though a few darkspawn had entered the keep. The window was a bad place, it was hard to see anything that happened below. She glanced around, the room was dark but the distant fires gave just enough light to see the many chains carrying what must be a monstrous portcullis, with such a mechanism it but be a study one, which was only a good thing at current point. A wooden one would likely shatter if it hit the ground at free fall from this hight. She gave the mechanisms a quick look and then returned to the window looking out. More soldiers were still coming through though so was the darkspawn. When to close? She kept looking out hoping that the last humans would make their way in so she could drop the barrier.
Finally the waves of humans died out, and she ran to lower the great weight onto the hordes below. She pulled a lever but nothing happened. Pulled another, then both. Then a third – nothing. She traced the chains, only two of them could possibly be attached to do this. The first and third lever. Without a seconds hesitation she pulled both of them, something clicked and the sudden rush of iron chains flying by and the screams that it made threw her to the floor. The whole tower shook and the whine grew louder until something snapped at the controls where one of the handles flew off and continued with the iron chain to someplace below. She rose to her feet and looked out the window. There were no more darkspawn entering and the few inside was getting killed. They had won, won time, if nothing else.
