Nethra sat in the dark of the cupboard for what felt like days, the only thing to accompany her being the screams and sounds of her Circle killing each other. She whimpered as the screaming went on. She was sent to the Circle to escape danger and to become less of a hazard to others, yet here she was, hiding as her fellow mages and their Templar friends killed each other. Even she was no longer innocent. Whatever she did to those three Templars had either killed them or knocked them out for an incredibly long time. As much as she hoped it would be the latter, the more probable situation was that she killed them.
Suddenly, the noise finally began to die down. Leather footsteps echoed through the stone walls.
"Hello?" A male voice called, "If anyone is in here, I'm not here to hurt you. We are Grey Wardens. We're here to help."
The footsteps drew closer.
"What happened here?" Another voice sounded.
"Looks like a summoning gone wrong."
Nethra quietly turned the knob of the door. She peeked through the door to see four people, two of which were wearing Grey Warden armor, staring at the dead mage and the dark ooze that the demon left behind. One of the group members, a red-headed woman, stepped out of view. The Grey Warden men were looking around the room. One had reddish-blond hair and a strong jaw, while the other had dark hair and pale features. Nethra assumed the dark-haired man was the leader.
"Look, there's an open book over here" The first male explained as he walked over to a table by the window, "It's a book on blood magic."
"Honestly, why do Circles have books like these and NOT expect anyone to try it out?" The reddish-blond man stated, a hint of humor in his voice.
"Hello, there." A voice sounded from only an inch away from Nethra, causing her to jump and knock a broom over. The door opened, revealing the red-headed woman. "Don't be frightened. We're here to help. Can you tell us what happened here?" Her voice was soft and kind. There was a hint of an Orlesian tongue mixed into her Ferelden accent.
"I-I…" Nethra stuttered, slowly rising to stand as she opened the door fully. "There was yelling coming from the halls, and Miss Wynne told me to hide…and then…"
"And then what?" The leader asked.
"The Templars tried to attack me…but somehow I…I knocked them back – but I swear I didn't mean to!"
"Shhh…It's okay. We met Wynne on the way in here. Would you like us to take you to her?" The woman asked.
"I…yes." Nethra whispered. She hung her head, teary-eyed and afraid. What happened to her teachers? Her supervisors? What happened to Cullen? "Cullen…" She whispered again.
"I'm sorry?" The woman asked as she grabbed Nethra's hand gently and began leading her back to the library's entrance.
"Cullen," Nethra said louder, "Have you seen Ser Cullen? Is he okay?"
The group looked at each other with worried glances.
"We have not seen him yet, but we will tell him you were looking for him if we do, okay? My Nethra is Leliana, by the way. This is Alistair," she pointed to the strawberry-blond man, "Gregor," the leader nodded his head, "and Sten," Sten just kept walking forward.
"He doesn't talk much." Alistair said with a nervous grin.
"My name is Nethra. It would have been nice to meet you all under better circumstances."
"Agreed. Say, before this all started, did you ever hear anyone talking about an uprising?"
"I…no. It was tense between us and our Templar companions, but I can't say I ever heard anyone talking about rebelling."
They escorted Nethra around the corner toward the Circle Tower's entrance. She caught a glimpse of grey hair.
"Miss Wynne!" Nethra cried, immediately running toward her Enchanter.
"Nethra," she smiled, her eyes wrinkling upward, "I'm so glad you're safe." She pulled Nethra into her arms and hugged her softly.
"Let's head back in," Gregor stated, turning back toward the main hall, "We need to figure out who caused this."
"Agreed." The foursome disappeared back into the heart of the castle.
"My child, I apologize, but I have some disheartening news." Wynne pulled away from Nethra, keeping her hands on the small elf's shoulders. "Our Grey Warden friends have told us that darkspawn have been spotted in the south. You know what that means."
"The Blight must be coming soon." Nethra whispered. "What are we going to do?"
"I must stay here," Wynne spoke softly, "but you, my child, must set off with the rest of the survivors to the north. Try to get as far as you possibly can. I have told Eowyn to aim for Kirkwall."
"But what about you?"
"I will be joining the Grey Warden and his colleagues. They are heading for Denerim to receive help from the King's army."
"But what will happen to our Circle?"
"Only time will tell, my child. We must pray that there were as few people engaging in the blood magic as possible."
Nethra waited in the entrance of the Circle along with the other survivors for many hours. Rations were being handed out while they waited for the Grey Wardens and their friends to return. Nethra could only wonder what had become of her only Templar friend.
Finally, tired-looking Templars and mages began appearing from the halls one by one. The last to emerge was Cullen.
His eyes were sunken in, his face pale, and his had to be too weak to walk on because it required one person at each side of him to walk him through the fortress.
"Cullen!" Nethra ran through the crowd to him, eyes tearing up from happiness, "I'm so happy you're okay! Wynne says we-"
"Be gone." He whispered, his tired eyes staring at the ground.
"I…I'm sorry?" She asked.
"You started this…you and the rest of the foul beasts you call mages."
"Cullen…" Nethra couldn't understand. The Cullen she knew would never say such words.
"I SAID BE GONE!" He shouted lifting his arm and pointing it toward Nethra. Blue light shone from his hand and all of a sudden Nethra dropped to her knees, the wind and magic within her being knocked out of her.
Nethra gasped for air as the surviving Templars ran to Cullen's aid, helping him through the crowd and out the Circle's doors. . Wynne ran over to her, whispering for her to calm down and breathe slowly.
"I don't understand…" Nethra whispered, her eyes stinging.
"He was held captive by a desire demon." Nethra heard a Templar whisper to another.
"He was the only one in his squadron that survived it. I don't think that man will ever be the same."
Hello again! Thank you for reading! Shout out to TheDoctorsTimeLady for writing the first review! It's greatly appreciated! :) Feel free to leave reviews and suggestions for it is greatly appreciated!