Hey everyone, I am back with another chapter to The Cousland story. The thing that I have left off was Kenshin and his companions getting ready to face the demons that had control of the castle of Redcliffe. And he had found a person that was working with his swarn enemy because he was messagner of Howe. I will stop talking of a moment and let you all read this story okay. I don't own none of the Dragon Age characters except for my Cousland.
Enjoy :)
Battle and reach for the castle
Raven was standing on the roof of abandon house and he was looking at the castle for a moment. He was going over the battle plan in his head because he knew that he was going to lead the first wave. He noticed that his team was separated to guard the village while they waited for nightfall to come. Raven place his hand over his face but he felt the crack in his mask and he was worried for a moment. He knew that the citizens was counting on them to win the fight and he could feel the wind blowing in his face,
Nightfall was fast approaching and Raven need to get some food into him to keep up his strength. Leliana and the others was getting some of the food that the villagers had given them. Leliana was looking at Raven for a moment and she knew that she need to give him some food. She started to walked on the roof where he was standing and Raven was facing towards the mountains of the castle of Redcliffe.
"I brought you some food. Alistair believed that you didn't deserved it for the way that you've treating everyone that was around you." said Leliana
"I don't care what he thinks of me. If he has a problem with him leading this mission, then I would gladly step down and he would lead us." said Raven
Leliana just looked at him and she could that he doesn't want anyone to get near him. Morrigan was watching from another roof and she knew that this was going to be hard for her to work with Leliana because she knew that Leliana is trying to comfort him. Raven just told Leliana to get back to her post and she knew that she will never know what drives to get this way. She started to leaved and she could feel that her heart was hurting inside because of Raven and Morrigan turned into a bird and flew towards Raven.
"What are doing here, Morrigan?" said Raven
"I am merely come to give my report of the sight." said Morrigan.
"Alright." said Raven.
"I know that the bard really trying her hardest to get your attention but I see that you are turning her away." said Morrigan
Leliana looked up to see that Morrigan was talking to him and she could feel that the witch was getting close to him. Alistair noticed that Leliana was getting upset and he started to walk towards her. He looked up to see that Morrigan was sitting next to Raven and he knew that she was trying to start trouble. Alistair needed both her and leliana to be on the same side and he also needed to have Raven to stay focus on the mission.
"Why does he trust her more than me. I have been trying to come to him as a friend and he just push me away." said Leliana
"That's Raven for ya. He only look out for himself and no one wasn't going to get close to him." said Alistair
Morrigan went back to her posted to wait for nightfall and when the sun goes down, there was green smoke leaving the castle and the villagers started running towards the chantry. All the soldiers took their position to wait for the monsters to walk out of the misty fog. Raven was looking at the creatures and he knew that they were demons from the fade. He could feel the shriek coming from the veil and he knew that now is the time for the troops.
"Alright! Listening everyone because I am going to say this once! I know that some of you are scare out of her mind and I know that you all want to go home to your love ones. But you all have a role to play as soldier to defend and protect her love ones. I am not going to let these demons get pass me to get to them. I rather died before I let that happen!" said Raven
Everyone started to cheer with praise because Raven had inspired everyone to be ready for the up coming battle and they started to head towards the barrels where Raven had place at everywhere. The demons started walking towards the flesh meat that they was going to kill but one of them had trigger the wire that place before them. Leliana told one of the archer to shoot the barrels when the demons that had tripped the wire. The archer started to aim at the barrel with a fire arrow and when he release the arrow from his bow, it started flying towards the barrels which it cause it to explode.
"ATTACK!" said Raven
Everyone soldier took this as an opportunity to attack the demon and Raven jumped from the roof which landed on the battle field with others. Raven was leading the troops towards the hill side and they all started fighting the demons. It didn't took them long because of explosion from the barrels had done some affect on them. Raven and his forces had taken the first check point and he noticed that a soldier was running up to the hill side.
"I bring word. The monsters had shown up from the docks sir."
"I had some of my forces station at the docks what happened?!" said Raven
"It has appeared that they were overrun by these monster, sir."
"I am going down there and I want the rest of you to stay up here. If you see anything that more, kill it, understand." said Raven
"Sir!"
Raven started to follow the soldier down the hill for him to meet up with Alistair and the others. They all being overrun by the demons which he saw that they were giving their all against these creature. He started to charge at the demons and he was able to get some of the demons attention towards him. Morrigan saw that some of the demon was going after Raven and it gave her the opportunity to slip away from the battlefield for a moment, Raven was fighting some of the demon on his own and he was using the dual swords.
Sten was looking at his fighting style and he was impressed that Raven knew how to wield two swords. He decided to help him out and he started charging at the demons with the great sword that he had found at lothering. Leliana was shooting her arrows at some of the demons and she saw that Sten was helping Raven. She noticed that Morrigan was gone and she was looking around the battlefield to find her. Morrigan was using her spells to heal the injured soldiers which had come for a shock to leliana.
"What are you doing, Morrigan?" said Alistair
"Healing the injured soldier, you fool." said Morrigan
"Who told you to do that?" said Alistair
"The maker himself told me to do. Who else do you think that told me to heal them." said Morrigan.
Alistair looked over at Raven and he was impressed that he was caring about the safety of so many soldiers. He knew that Raven had earned his trust about all things. He went to assist both Raven and Sten with the remain demons that was still left on the battlefield. Drawn had finally arrived and every demon was burned from the sun. Everyone started to cheering for their victory over the demons and Raven looked around to see that everyone was gathering around him. Bann Teagan had came outside to see that they had yet survived another night of the attack.
They all waited to for the sun to rise and the demon started to fade when the sun rise from the horizon. Bann Teagan place his hand on Raven's shoulder and he knew that this was the great plan that he had come up with. Raven needed some time to himself and took off his mask for a moment. He was now Kenshin Cousland once again and he started to think about his old life. He knew that his family was now gone and he was alone and this was the start of his loneness.
"I miss you." said Kenshin
Leliana started to head up the hill to check up on him and she notice that he has his mask in his hand. She wanted to see who was behind the mask because she had been curious about it for a while now. She was about to walked to the side to see the face of a man that had wield the swords but she stepped on a twig which Kenshin put the mask back on his face. He turned around to see Leliana in front of him but he was no longer Kenshin Cousland. He was now Raven and he knew that Leliana wanted to talk to him for odd reason.
"What is it." said Raven
"I wanted to talk to you about something." said Leliana
"About what?" said Raven
"About me leaving Lothering and the real reason that I agree to join you to battle against the darkspawn." said Leliana
"What is it." said Raven
"Well, I was being hunted." said Leliana
"By who?" said Raven
"The royal guards. They believed that I was a traitor to the our land and they torture me and they left to rot in the dungeon." said Leliana
"Wow I never thought that Leliana would share this with me." Rave thought
"Then I know that I should have fate that I would find a way to leave Orlais and I find the man that I that have given me the strength to get there. He have been a big help in my escape." said Leliana
"Why?" said Raven
"Because he have helped me and he have been a good friend to me. I just wanted to see him again." said Leliana as she started to leave.
"Leliana, wait." said Raven as he present the flower that he found at the windmill. "I found it growing out of the ground and I thought that you should have it."
Leliana looked at the flower for a moment and she took in the scent. She recognize the scent and it was the same scent that her mother had when she was younger. She knew it and she just smiled at him for moment. Then she took the flower out of his hand and she took a good look at it. Raven just looked at the windmill but he didn't expected it. Leliana kissed him on the cheek and she started to leave while Raven was holding his cheek. Alistair was watching the whole thing and he was lean on a tree. Then Raven was standing at the windmill and he was looking at the castle because he was hoping to get to the castle. Teagan walked up to him and he was looking at the castle as well because he knew that this was time to take back the castle and save the Arl and his family.
"Alright, we don't have much time. Our major objective is to get the Arl and his family and get out." said Teagan
"Not so fast. I made a promise to find the blacksmith daughter inside of the castle." said Raven
"I know that you have made that promise to him but our major concern is the Arl and his family from the- Maker's breath." said Teagan
Raven turned around to see a woman and a knight that was heading towards the windmill. She was wearing royal outfit and she stopped to see Teagan which she was out of breath. Raven just looked at the woman and he could tell that there was something of about the woman. She was looking at Raven for a moment and she looked away because Raven was scary to her.
"Teagan! Thank the maker that I have found you."
"Isolde, what are you doing here? Where is Conner?" said Teagan
"The demon told me to find the person that can help Conner. She said that I need to find you and have you return with me to the Castle." said Isolde
"So, the demon have my nephew and she have agree that I must go back with you." said Teagan
"I don't know about that idea, Teagan. There are more story to this because I believed that she is hiding something from us." said Raven
"I've peg your parted? Who is this man, Teagan? He need to know his place." said Isolde
"He is the man that saved the village and I believed that he is entitle to his own opinion. I will have to agree to this if the demon have a hold over my nephew then I have no choice." said Teagan
"Thank you, Teagan. We must head to castle quickly to get the castle." said Isolde
"I just need a minute with my companion here." said Teagan
"Okay, but hurry." said Isolde
Then Isolde and the knight started to leave and Raven just shook his head because he knew that this was going to be a trapped. Teagan just looked at Raven and he knew that this was going to be hard to count on him and the others to find their way into the castles.
"There is a way to get to the castle because there is a secret passage way that lead to the courtyard. Here, take my ring. It will unlocked the pathway that you need." said Teagan
"Alright, but I don't like that plan because it might get you kill." said Raven
"Trust me. I will have the time to get my nephew and brother of there." said Teagan
Then he started to leave to meet up with Isolde and Raven started to assemble his team to meet him at the windmill. Leliana, Morrigan, Alistair, and Sten all appeared at the windmill and they all was confuse to see that they were looking at their leader. Raven was tossing the ring up and down because he was going to be the one to explain this to everyone.
"Today, we are going to be heading towards the castle but Teagan had given himself to the enemy because a woman had came by and took him away. Before he left, he gave me a tip on entering the courtyard." said Raven as he showed them the ring that Teagan have given him. "There is a secret passage way that we can use. So, gear up and be ready."
They all started to grabbed their stuff for their mission and they all started to meet up at the windmill once again. Raven looked at all of them and he knew that this was going to be a successful mission. Then they all started to walked into the windmill. Raven knew that this wasn't going to be good for them and he use the ring that Teagan have given him. The door to open up and Raven grabbed a torch to use as a light. They all started to follow Raven and they continue to walk down the secret passages which Raven started to have a bad feeling about something. He open the door and he saw that there was some undead demon in the prison cell while the others was heading towards where their leader had stopped. They all looked inside the prison cells and they all saw that there was undead demon was inside as well.
"What do we do now?" Alistair asked, he drew his sword which the sound had alerted the demons.
"Geez, could you make that sword even louder because I don't think that the demons heard it." said Morrigan
"Well, stealth is out of the question." Raven said, he kicked the door open and he started to charge at the demons.
Alistair and Sten was right behind him because they were going to give Raven back up with the demons while both Leliana and Morrgain started use their long range attacks. Raven use his sword to cut some of the demon down to size while Sten use the great sword to cut the other undead soldier in half while Alistair use his sword and shield techniques to take the rest down. Leliana was using her bow and arrows to take down the archers while Miorrigan use her fire spell to burn the last remaining undead soldiers. When the battle was over, they all started to walk up to the cell that the undead soldiers that was trying to get into.
"Hello, is someone out there?"
Raven walked up to the cell and he saw that there was a mage inside. Raven didn't know that there was a mage and he was getting ready to kill the mage. The mage started to back away from the cell slowly and the mage was scare. Leliana started to stand in his way because she knew that this mage might explain himself before Raven would kill him. Raven just looked at her for a moment and he knew that this mages need to be put to the sword.
"What are you doing?" Raven asked
"Stopping you because this man hasn't done anything wrong." said Leliana
"Maybe he the reason for all of this do you every think about that." said Raven
"My name is Jowan. No, I am not responsible for all of this. Lady Isolde had asked me to be her son's tutor in the art of magic." said Jowan
Raven sheathed his sword and he looked away while Leliana use her skills to unlocked the door. Jowan walked out of his cell and he was looking at Raven for a moment. He could tell that the mask was cracked from the side and he noticed that the pain was hunting Raven's soul. Leliana grabbed the Mage's staff and she just smiled at him for a moment. Alistair didn't like the idea of letting the mage out of his cell without a proper information out of him. Raven just looked at the mage because he could that there was reason for the mage to be put in that cell and was left for dead.
"So, what were you doing in that cell away." Raven questioned, he reach for his sword.
"Well, the truth is that I am a blood mage and I was sent here by Loghan to poison Eamon." said Jowan
"I see, and you are an assassin." said Raven, he unsheathed his sword and pointed at Jowan throat.
"Wait, but I can find the person that was the cause for all of this. I want to help to fix this just give me the chance." said Jowan
"Don't believed that blood mage for one second. It is obvious that this mage had commit a crime." said Alistair
"No mage deserves to be put to the sword just like that." said Morrigan
"I agree with Morrigan on this one. This man wants to make amends for his sin." said Leliana
Raven just sighed for a moment because he knew that this was going to be a challenge for them because they just stand and argue about the fate of the mage while the demon have the time to regroup. Raven sheathed his sword again which he looked at Jowan for a moment. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and he looked at him with pure anger in his eyes.
"I am going to let you work with us but if you betrayed us, I will cut your head off with my sword are we clear." said Raven
"Yes, I understand." said Jowan
They all started to head inside to find their way towards the courtyard to get their other guards. Raven noticed that there was some demon attacking a room that was head of them and he heard a scream coming from that room. He unsheathed his sword and so did Alistair and Sten. Leliana took out her bow and Morrigan use her staff to power up everyone with fire. Raven smile because he just remember that demon hate fire and he ready himself for a fight for his life. Then they all started to charge at the demons which they were giving their all against them. Raven cut a few heads off with his sword which Alistair use his sword and shield to defend himself against some of them. Sten use his great sword to cut them in half and Leliana was using her bow to hit them in the head and Morrigan use her fire magic to burn the rest of them. Raven open the door and he saw that there was woman with blonde hair that she was holding her chest with fear.
*Scream* "Please don't hurt me."
"Calm down, I am not going to hurt and I am here to take you home." said Raven
"My name is Valena and I am the Arlessa's maid. I am just scare of the monsters here and I just wanted to go home to see my father." said Valena
"Listen to me there is a secret tunnel that leads to the village's windmill. I want to gather the people and meet up at the gates of the castle because we are going to need the aid of an army." said Raven
"Okay, but wait. What is your name?" said Valena
"Raven." Raven answered, he started running towards the courtyard.
Valena started running towards the secret tunnel to tell the others villager to meet them at the gate of the Redciiffe. Raven and the others was fighting their way towards the courtyard while the demons was standing in their way. Alistair didn't like the idea of having the blood mage at their side because he used to be a Templar before he became a Grey Warden. When they arrive to the courtyard, they were surrounded by a lot of demons and sentinels but Raven looked at the sky for a moment and he saw a hawk flying by which he turn his attention at the gate. He saw the guards and village had arrive to give them aid. He started to use his sword to cut some of the demons while he was heading towards the lever. The other was providing him cover just keep the demon off his back and when Raven made it to the lever, he pulled it down which open the gate and everyone started to charge into battle attack the demon. They all started fighting to keep the demons at bay while Raven and the others started to run into the castle.
"Okay, this is it. This is were the demon spawn is hiding from it's people." said Jowan
"Alright, everyone is ready." said Raven
When the doors open, They all started to run inside of the throne room and they all saw that Teagan was doing some tricks for the boy. Raven was looking around to see that there was demon magic in the air because he knew that something wasn't right the moment that he met Isolde. The boy was looking at him for a moment and Teagan fell on his face which he looked at Raven and the others. Raven started to walk towards the boy for a moment but he stopped because the boy reminded him of his nephew. He shook the thought out of his head but the memories of the Cousland Family. Morrigan looked at Raven and she started to sense that Kenhsin wanted to take control of the Raven had won the struggle over the body because he didn't was to show weakness in front of everyone so he pushed Kenshin's thoughts back.
"Who dares to come into my castle and start ruining my fun."
"What the hell are you." said Raven.
"Mother, is this the person that save the village and the same person that defeated my guards."
"Yes, Conner." said Isode.
"What kind of person is he because I can't see anything.' said Conner
"It just a man in a mask." said Isolde.
"Why do you wear a mask?" said Conner
"I have my reason." said Raven. he started to reach for his sword because he could sense a presence of a demon. "I am here to stop the person that was causing the evil deeds."
"I see, you're here to kill me because I am the person that you seek." said Conner
"We can't do this. He is just a child under the influence of a demon." said Kenshin
"We must because the demon had taken complete control over him." Raven thought.
Kenshin knew that wasn't true about that but he knew that Raven was falling under the influence of the Demon. He started to battle for the control over his body which Raven wasn't going to let him. They both was trapped in thought war over the control over the body. Leliana was looking at Raven for a moment and she could tell that something was wrong with him. Morrigan sense them both fighting while Jowan just looked at the battle through the blood magic that he had. Raven was too strong because of the power that the demon was giving him but something was helping Kenshin and he was able to shoot Raven back deep into Kenshin's until he could deal with demon.
"Raven, are you alright?" said Leliana
"I am fine, Leliana. Now Isolde, you new that your son was mage." said Kenshin
"Yes, but I thought that I would find him a tutor to teach him to hide his powers from the Templar." said Isolde
"But you fail to realize that he was an assassin sent to kill your husband." said Raven
"Please, don't hurt my son." said Isolde
"Mother, mother, is that you." said Conner, both Raven and Jowan was shocked to hear the boy call out to Isolde.
"Conner, it's me. I am here, son." said Isode.
"GET AWAY FROM OLD WOMAN!" Conner yelled, the demon was taken control over Conner again and he grabbed Isolde by the throat. "I want a lot more fun like Action or blood like right now."
Conner told the guards to attack Raven and the others which Teagan did a flip and he kicked Kenshin in the gut and Conner started running away from the fighting. Kenshin knew that he can't use his Cousland twin swords style to fight Teagan without revealing himself to the others. He have to settle with just one handed sword style and the others was handling the guards which they all managed to beat them all. Teagan was trying to cut Kenshin's head off but Kenshin just block the attack and he started to use his free hand to punch some sense into Teagan and he follow up with a roundhouse kick which he send Teagan flying. The battle was over and Kenshin sheathed his sword and he looked at the others which they all started to tied up the guards just to prevent the demon from controlling them.
"Teagan?! Teagan? Are you alright?" said Isolde.
"Yes, what happened to Conner?" said Teagan
"He went to his room because he was scare when there was fighting." said Isolde
"You knew that your son was a mage." said Raven
"Yes, Conner has magic in his blood." said Isolde
"That mean you have betrayed me and you betrayed your husband." said Teagan
"What?! I love my husband." said Isolde
"By hiding the truth from him and from me? You know that by law that any children shown any sign of magic, they were suppose to be handed over to the circle of Magi." said Teagan.
"I know and I just wanted Conner to have a normal life." said Isolde
"Isolde, my brother is laying in his room in a coma." said Teagan
"But please, don't kill my son." Isolde pleaded.
"I am not about to kill a child." said Raven,
"If I have the power, I can send someone into the fade a battle this demon." said Jowan
Isolde turned around to see that Jowan was here. She was about to attack him but kenshin stopped her because he knew that Jowan was right about the idea of sending someone into the fade. Isolde just looked at him with pure hatred in her eyes. She had tears in her eyes because she knew that this was all his fault.
"You?! You did this to my family!" said Isolde
"I didn't do any of this. I just wanted to help." said Jowan
"Help?! You poison my husband and you summon that demon that possessed my son!" said Isolde
"That is ENOUGH!" said Raven. "Fighting among ourselves is not going to save the boy from this demon."
Isolde jumped back for a moment because she have never been yelled by someone. Kenshin was looking at her with rage in his eyes because he knew that her blaming Jowan wasn't getting them nowhere. They were going to need a plan to save the boy without trying to kill him. Teagan was pacing back and forth because he was trying to figure out a plan to save both his brother and nephew.
"Well, you says that someone need to go into the fade and battle this demon." said Teagan
"Yes, with a enough lyrium to take person into the fade and back out but I have-" said Jowan
"Blood magic." said Raven
"How did you know?" said Jowan
"I can sense a demon off you." said Raven
"I see, which it going to require a human sacrifice." said Jowan
Isolde knew that this was the only way to both her husband and her son from the demon.
"I will do it." said Isolde
"Are you mad. You want to give up your life to save Conner. You can't do this." said Teagan
"It is my decision, Teagan." said Isolde. "Mage, begin your spell."
Jowan about to leave to prepare for the for his spell which Leliana had a sad look on her face. Kenshin knew that this was just like the battle at Highever because he had left his mother and father at the hands of Howe's men which he knew that Connor was going to suffered the same fate just like did. Then Kenshin had an idea because it was simple for him to realize that there was a group of mages that would help with the battle of the up coming blight.
"Wait. I would like to go to the circle of Magi to speak with the mages to help us." said Raven
"Are you sure that you don't want Jowan to do his magic." said Isolde
"No one deserve to suffer losing their family just like I did." said Raven
Isolde walked up to Raven for moment and she place her hand on his cheek. She could tell that he cares about her son and she knew that they're from different lands but she just hugged him as tight as she could. She had tears of joy in her eyes because she knew that he was going to help her and her family. Raven started to leave while the others followed him out but he stopped.
"I am going alone because I want you all to stay here to keep the demon at bay." said Raven
"No, you're not. I am coming along as well." said Leliana
"I will be tagging along as well." said Morrigan.
"Are you sure?" said Raven.
"No one deserves to fight alone." said Leliana
Raven smiled at he started to whistle for Terra which the stallion had arrive because she was ready for the travel. Leliana noticed that there was only one horse and she knew that the stallion can't hold three people. Morrigan knew that she was going to use her shape shift into one of her flying animals. Then Kenshin got on the horse and so did Leliana which she held on to Kenshin as tight as she could. Morrigan started to summon up her magic and she turned into an eagle.
"Run as fast as you, Terra." said Raven
Then the horse started running out of the castle to head towards the road while Morrigan flew over the gate. Leliana could feel the wind blowing in her face. She looked at Raven for a moment and Kenshin could feel that Raven was back to normal. He was going to need him the most for the next fight at the Circle of Magi.
Boy oh boy. I have never thought that I got that done just like that. I am sorry for take so long with chapter because of writer block and don't worry I have that handle right now. I will have more up to date as soon as I can. If you have questions or you want request to that wanted to add into the story, shoot me a PM or Review and I will get back to you. I have to go because I have more chapters to writer so goodbye for now everyone.
Please Review :)