As they stepped through the door the sounds of tortured screams reached their ears, Uldred stood with two creatures blasting the mage with magic, lightening snaked and shot through his body as it jerked and twisted in the creatures grasp.
"Hey ugly!" Neria called out, causing the creature to drop the mage in shock, and Uldred to turn and face them. His skin had an angry red tint to it making the skin stretched over his bald head look inflamed, his eyes looked black and flashed wickedly as he smiled at them.
"Ah dear Neria, you always did have a way with words, so nice of you to join us, and you dear Wynne, have you come to join our… revels?"
"You've destroyed my home, killed my friends and tortured the rest; I think I'm just going to kill you." Neria said as she readied her staff.
"Fight, if you must. It will just make my victory all the sweeter." Uldred boasted as he began to change and morph into a pride demon.
"Wynne, take the Litany, keeps the mages safe." Neria instructed, "Try and take out the abominations first so we can concentrate on Uldred."
They each split up, Wynne keeping the remaining mages safe while Lyna shot arrow after arrow at one abomination while her wolf jumped it from behind, ripping it apart with its teeth and claws, Kallian managed to appear behind the second stabbing it multiple times before it could turn to defend itself.
Hati was joined by the wolf as it clawed and bit at the back of the demons heels, Kallian quick pulled her throwing knives, throwing them in quick succession, hitting at the creature joints, slowing down its attacks, while Neria shot bolts of lightning and ice.
"Rauri!" Lyna shouted "shield." As she ran towards him, quickly catching her meaning he dropped down and held up his shield allowing her to jump on the demons back digging her daggers in to its skin.
The creature roared, and twisted and turned and it stumbled around stomping and crushing the few remaining bits of furniture in the room. The hilts of the dagger where beginning to become too hard to hang on to as the demons blood begins to soak the hilts; Uldred jerked suddenly to the left making her lose her grip and she went crashing painfully into the wall of the chamber. She sat, leaning against the wall in a daze as the fight continued, the images blurred as her head swam, while the voices and sounds seemed far away.
She squeezed her eyes shut trying to bring the world back in to focus, her hand reach across the ground for something to hold on to as everything seemed to spin. She felt the familiar feeling of cured wood under her hand; she opened to eyes to find her bow lying, still remarkable intact. She lifted it, breathing deeply through the nausea caused by the movement, and reached back in to her quiver, finding the last unbroken arrow. She notched it, pulling the string back as she tried to clear her vision to aim, she could feel her head pounding and the sound her own rushing blood filled her ears, she aimed and let go, and watched as the arrow sailed through the air and pieced through the front of Uldred neck embedding its self in his wind pipe.
He gasped and choked for air before he collapsed with a breathless groan. The others turned to see the Dalish Elf smile before she passed out, they ran towards her. "Wynne, is she alright?" Kallian asked.
"She appears to have cracked her skull," Wynne answered as she began to let her magic heal her. "How she managed to take that shot is beyond me."
"Maker, I'm too old for this." Came the groan from behind them, they turned to see the First Enchanter being helped up from the floor by the other surviving mages.
"Irving, are you alright?" Wynne called over her shoulder as she continued to heal Lyna.
"I've been better, but I am alive, I suppose I have you all to thank for that. The Circle owes you a debt we will never be able to repay, your friend, will she be alright?"
"She will be fine Irving," Wynne said as she finished the healing spell, "She just needs to rest now."
"Good, the Templars await, we need to let them know that the tower is ours once again."
Ruari carried Lyna down as they made their way back down the tower in silence, the templar Cullen finally free from his prison after Uldred's death, the only sound was the quite complaint of Irving about stairs. When they reached the bottom floor they were greeted by the children and mages they had meet before. The shouted for joy when they saw they had returned successfully with the First Enchanted and the other mages.
Neria felt a sense of panic swell up in her as she saw the door to the dungeons, "First Enchanter, I need you to open this door." She said as she directed him over to it.
"What?" he asked confused by the request.
"Dylan, Dylan was locked in here wasn't he, before the attack, you need to open it, he's been lock in there with no food or water for days!" she pleaded.
"Maker!" Irving exclaimed as he quickly released the seal on the door which unlocked easily.
Not waiting for the others she quickly barrelled down the staircase into the damp dungeons. "Dylan!" she called out as she franticly looked in each cell. She gasped as she saw the figure of her friend lying in the corner of the cell. His long hair was matted and stuck to his pale washed out face, his cheeks where sullen from lack of food, while his lips where dry and cracked, the chains and shackles on his wrist had cut into his skin where he had pulled against his restrains.
She quickly opened the door and ran to collapse beside him, checking his breathing and pulse before she let the puple light of her healing magic engulf him.
"Dylan, Dylan, can you hear me? It's me Neria, please wake up please?" she begged, his skin was hot and clammy, feverous to the touch. She looked around the cell noticing the small cup collecting the water dripping down through the stones.
"Oh no, no, no, no, NO! Dylan please, come on, wake up." she pleased again tapping his face lightly.
"S'too early Neria… 'no I don't lik mornin'." Dylan muttered as his eye lid flickered.
"Ha," Neria laughed with tears of relief in her eyes, "I know I'm sorry Dill but we're getting out of here.
"M'kay…" Neria quickly unlocked the shackles with the same key she had found for the door, and slowly helped her friend to his feet, Dylan was easily a foot taller than her, cause him to lean heavily on her shoulder as they stumbled out of the dungeons, where they had found the Greagoir had opened the door for Irving and the other mages.
"Enough!" she heard the Templar shouting, "I am the Knight-Commander here, and I have made my decision, we have won back the tower, and I will accept Irving assurance that all is well."
"Thank you Greagoir," Irving said with a nod which Greagoir returned.
"Maker! He's alive?" Wynne exclaimed as she noticed Lyna carrying the half conscious man, a few mages quickly came to help settle him on the floor and began to treat him.
"Barely, he survived by drink the lake water the slipped through the stones, it's made him ill along with everything else."
"What are you doing with him!" Greagoir shouted over. "He is a suspected blood mage!"
"You know and I know that he was never a blood mage Greagoir, he was only imprisoned to keep him in isolation for a short time, the fact that he did not escape before nearly dying of dehydration and starvation, and the fact that he was not involved with anything that has happened in the tower over the last week prove that he is innocent." Irving reasoned.
"That may be the case but he is still a Circle mage that needs to be kept under supervision…" Greagoir began, but Neria quickly cut him off.
"He is no longer a Circle mage, I am herby invoking the right of conscription, and he will be a Grey Warden."
"On your head be it." Greagoir said before leaving.
They watched the Knight-Commander go before Neria turned towards Irving, "Irving we came here because we have two things to ask of you, we have a Grey Warden treaty that states the mages will come to the aid of the Wardens in time of a blight, we we're hoping you would honour that treaty."
"Of course, though we are few, we will do everything we can to help, I would hate to have survived this, only to fall to the blight." Irving said looking around at the destruction of the tower, "What is the second thing you wished to ask me?"
"There is a boy in Redcliffe, the Arl's son, he has become possessed. We came here to collect mages and lyrium in the hope that we could confront the demon in the fade." Neria quickly explained.
"Ah yes, I can see no reason why we shouldn't be able to help, I will speak with Greagoir and we will gather our supplies straight away."