Chapter Fifteen

Fight or Flight

The warmth radiating from the guard room was a beacon. Valina and Cullen entered the quiet chamber, breaking apart only so they could search for their clothes and weapons.

'If we really have been missing for days, D'or may have sent for reinforcements.'

'As much as the thought is comforting,' Valina said as she rifled through a woven basket of assorted clothes, 'I'm not sitting here and waiting for rescue. Whoever Mireille is expecting could arrive at any moment.'

Cullen heaved the lid off a heavy chest, his eyes falling upon familiar fur.

'Here,' he called, reaching in. He pulled out their clothes, hanging them over his arm. They dressed in front of the fire, warmth seeping through their chilled bones, easing some of the aches from lying in the cobblestone cells. They found a half-full jug of water and drank deeply to relieve the dryness in their throats. Food would have to wait.

Valina returned to the chest, retrieving their weapons. 'It looks like they didn't find your shield.'

'A sword will do fine,' he said, accepting the heavy weapon.

Valina strapped her daggers to her back then dug in the base. She threw the remaining contents aside – random shoes, an ornate Orlesian hat, a ragged robe – cursing freely when she emptied out the final items.

'What's wrong?'

'Someone has your token and the pin mother gave me,' she said, slamming the lid closed. The sound echoed in the room and Valina forced herself into a state of calm, taking a deep breath, her face emptying. 'We still have a mission. As you said, we have the advantage now. Let's not squander it. We need to find Mireille. I want to know who she's allied with that's so powerful.'

'Why do I have a feeling we already know the answer to that?'

Valina pulled her hood and mask on, drawing her daggers. Cullen's sword sang as it left the sheath, his footsteps echoing behind hers. They moved carefully through the old estate, Valina leading.

'It's quiet,' she whispered as they left the guardroom. She glanced around a corner, seeing only shadows cast by the soft light of lanterns.

'Everyone is probably asleep.'

Valina glanced into an open room. She moved further along, carefully nudging another door open.

Empty.

She stopped by a window, leaning against the frame to look out. A faint light glowed along the horizon. Sunrise was creeping closer.

As they moved further into the estate, they heard faint voices drifting along the stone walls. Their eyes met for a moment, a nod passing between them. They made their way towards the sound of laughter and the clatter of food preparation, carefully rounding a corner.

Down the hall on the left was an open door. They heard the distant crackle of a fire. Delicious aromas curled in Valina's nose, her stomach growling, gnawing at itself in desperation. She steeled herself, fighting off a wave of dizziness as they neared the large kitchen. She leant against the wall, pressing herself into the stone as she listened.

'…Damn cultists, taking their bloody time. I'll have to mix up more of that knock-out juice.'

'You'd think we could just tie 'em up, ya know? Can't be much good them being drugged up so long.'

A third voice chimed in. 'I reckon boss lady's scared of that rogue. I ain't never seen her shy away from a fight before.'

'Didn't you see how fast she dropped Merrick?' said the second, 'Merrick was fast too, faster than us lugs, and she stabbed 'im so hard that she had 't kick 'im off her blades!'

'Well, I still would've loved to see her and the boss lady fight.'

'In your dreams,' said a fourth.

'You heard them the other day.' A mug slammed down on the table. 'They got a history, sounds like a sexy one. Plus, they're both smokin'. You can't tell me you wouldn't love to get them naked and throw them in a little mud…'

Valina glanced to Cullen, placing a finger over her lips. She disappeared before his eyes, a ripple in the air the only indication of where she had been. Cullen snatched at her but she was already gone. He had to clench his teeth to keep from calling her name as she slipped into the room, the bandits carrying on unaware.

'Course I would, doesn't mean it'll happen!' said the fourth, his accent more pronounced in his excitement, 'I also value my life. If they were fighting, everyone around them would be fair game.'

'Like David,' said the second thoughtfully, 'boss shot 'im straight through the neck an' just shrugged like nothin' happened.'

While they argued Valina looked around the kitchen. Steam curled above a kettle over the fire, the scent of strong tea wafting towards her. The four bandits sat at a heavy wooden table, two either side on sturdy benches, their focus on their conversation but for the occasional sip of a beverage or the scrape of porridge off near-empty bowls. She crept up slowly behind two of the men, waiting, listening, but their conversation was trailing off. She clutched her daggers tight.

'Well that's the boss lady, isn't it?' the third said, turning on his seat to better face his Orlesian friend, 'at least she pays us well.'

'She's still not like any other boss I've ever had,' grumbled the fourth, neither him nor his crass comrade feeling the dagger resting on their backs, 'you know she would kill us if she knew we were talking about her.'

The men uttered choked breaths as the blades slid home, their mugs clattering as they fell forward. Their comrades stared blankly as Valina appeared before them. She saw the moment they registered their reality, a deep panic seeping into their eyes.

Valina retrieved her daggers slowly, deliberately, her gaze searing them. For a moment, the three figures did not move, locked in a silent battle of the wills until the threat registered in the bandits' faces. They jumped to action too late: before they could draw a weapon from their belts Valina was upon them. She easily leapt onto the table, crouching. Blood flowed freely from their necks, coating her blades as she slashed deeply.

They slumped forward, and as their heads hit the table heavily Cullen raced into the room.

'Four bandits we now don't have to fight,' she said as she hopped down from the table. She wiped her blades absently on the bandits' backs, 'let's keep moving.'

Cullen followed her from the room. They moved further along the corridor, finding another door. It opened into a large courtyard with unkempt shrubs and weeds that wound between the flowers, fighting for the sunlight that set the sky aglow above their heads, the thick darkness of night lifting. Valina and Cullen eased through the garden, staying under the cover of an overgrown pergola.

Valina paused, scanning the windows that faced the courtyard. They were dark but for one in the far corner, a warm light glowing within.

'We're out of the servant quarters now. That's our best bet.'

'Shall we knock?'

Valina smirked. 'You're better at knocking, Commander.'

Cullen moved forward, Valina at his side. He stopped beside the door. He reached for the handle but Valina caught his surcoat, dragging him down beside her behind a shrub. She put her fingers over her lips as a rustle sounded nearby.

'A guard?' he mouthed.

She glanced around, knowing they would make too much noise if they tried to move from their cover. She racked her mind for options but saw no avenue of escape. Resolved, she gripped her daggers tight, preparing to be found.

Cullen startled beside her at the rapid flutter of wings. An owl landed on the shrub in front of them, its dusky feathers flecked with white. It stared at them with wide ochre eyes, its head tiling curiously.

Cullen breathed a sigh of relief. 'Maker's breath,' he whispered, almost embarrassed by his reaction, but knowing his exhaustion was to blame. He raised his hand, intent on shooing the creature away, but Valina grasped his wrist, holding him in place, her gaze locked on the bird.

'Don't. Move,' she whispered, her lips barely moving. The owl's head tilted further, its wide eyes watching. It uttered a soft hoot, the sound gently drifting through the courtyard, and Cullen was surprised by how intently Valina watched it the bird.

'It's just a bird, what can it–'

The owl opened its beak wide, a high pitched screech drowning out Cullen's quiet words.

Valina tightened her grip on Cullen's wrist, dragging him to the door. There was no point being quiet now; the screech would wake the entire contingent of bandits on such a still morning. Valina all but threw Cullen at the door and he kicked hard at the lock with his heavy boot. Wood splintered and hinges creaked their complaint as the door flung wide. Valina darted through the opening, hurling a dagger at the first sign of movement.

A piercing scream filled the room accompanied by the dull thunk of metal meeting wood. Mireille writhed, her hand pinned to the carved bedhead. She scowled at Valina, reaching for the dagger that pinned her hand, but Valina moved like lightning, sharp and violent. She hurled her other blade, pinning Mireille's other arm at her wrist, earning another satisfying shriek.

Valina stalked closer. Mireille's chest heaved, her onyx eyes darting wildly as Valina stepped onto the ornate bed. Mireille drew her legs up to her chest, her eyes glancing at the daggers that pierced her hands.

'Where are your friends, Mireille?' Valina asked, stepping onto the bed, standing over the trembling figure. 'You seem so lonely in this big bed. Did the cultists have second thoughts?'

Valina crouched before Mireille, holding down the leg that tried to strike her. She stared intently at the archer, catching the twitch in her lip, the faintest hint of movement that would elude even the keenest watchers, but Valina knew that twitch well. She trailed her fingers over Mireille's cheek, touch menacingly soft.

'You never could quite mask your tell,' Valina said, voice dripping with mock disappointment, 'in bed with cultists. And here I thought you couldn't sink any lower.' She tilted her head, gaze cold and calculating. 'How depressing.'

Mireille's eyes widened. 'Valina,' she pleaded, 'Lina please–'

Valina did not mask the malicious glint in her eyes as anger surged inside her. After everything, after all the horrid things this woman had done to Valina in her youth, things she had never even told her parents – after manipulations, blackmail, torture, and imprisonment – this woman still dared address her like a lover, still dared caress her name with a vile tongue.

Valina dragged her mask down. She leant closer, her voice so low that the screeching owl almost drowned her out as she said, 'you should never have come back to Orlais.'

Cullen glanced at the door. The owl still screeched in a way that he could only describe as unholy. Between the shrill squawks, he could hear shouting, the call to arms of a mob. Mireille's bandits would be upon them at any moment.

'Valina, we must go!' he urged. He saw her shoulders tense and felt the room grow heavy with her rage.

Mireille sneered. 'You are with the Inquisition.'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'Because they asked me to join,' Valina said absently as she reached the bedside table, taking the serpentstone and dragon bone pin from its resting place. She attached it to her coat, as before, her eyes scanning for Cullen's token. 'It's amazing, the kind of help you can get when you ask nicely.'

'You picked the wrong side, Valina.' Mireille snapped, hunching her shoulders, a pained gasp falling from her lips as the daggers ripped at her hands with the movement. She held Valina's gaze. 'You still have time, my sweet. You can still join me and Corypheus will spare you.'

'Corypheus will spare no one.'

Mireille shook her head. 'He'll spare those who are loyal, and we will rise above the rest,' she said, a sickening smile on her lips, 'think of what we can do with the power of a god behind us. A knife-ear stands no chance against his power.'

Valina caught a flash of silver, her gloved hand covering Mireille's mouth, squeezing until Mireille fell silent and tears lined her onyx eyes. She tilted Mireille's head, revealing her lithe neck and the soft cord that looped around it. Valina grasped the token, ripping it from Mireille's neck. She tucked the token safely into her pocket.

Valina leant closer, holding tight when Mireille tried to turn away from her. 'I'll take my chance with the elf.'

Valina dragged her daggers from Mireille's hands. As she sank her blades into Mireille's dark heart she expected to feel a pang of regret, a silent whisper of morality that would assault her as she took the life of a woman she had once touched so tenderly, but her mind was silent. As she watched Mireille's onyx eyes glaze over in death, Valina felt a righteous serenity bloom in her soul.

'Valina!' Cullen shouted. As sword clashed behind her she dragged her eyes away, leaping from the bed as bandits charged into the room. Cullen parried, his eyes glancing to the desk at his side. He grasped the back of the chair, hurling it at the next bandit to enter the room. It knocked the bandit off his feet, continuing into the doorframe where it splintered on impact.

'Duck!'

Cullen dropped low and Valina sailed over him, planting her feet on the chest of a warrior. He fell backwards, head slamming onto the cobblestone floor. Valina ripped his shield from his arm, throwing it to Cullen.

'Remember the wall?' she shouted as she dodged a lunge for her throat. She crossed her blades, slicing the bandit's wrist clean off. As he stumbled back, screaming and clutching at his severed limb, she swept up the short sword he had been carrying.

'What does that have to do with–'

Cullen's tawny eyes shot wide as Valina threw the sword. It sailed as if in slow motion, the blade slicing through the fur on his mantle as it glided past his ear. The blade vibrated as the point struck home, and Cullen's eyes followed it to the boarded-up window, her idea sparking in his mind. Cullen did not wait: he turned sharply on his heel, knowing Valina would cover him. He sheathed his sword, quickly strapping the shield to his arm. He dropped into a run, bracing, his feet leaving the floor as he threw his full weight at the boards.

The impact vibrated through him, jarring his bones and making his teeth chatter. For a precarious moment, he thought the heavy boards would hold but the sound of cracking wood filled his ears. The boards exploded around him, splinters flying as he sailed through the window.

He tucked his body in, landing hard but easily rolling out of the fall. As he stood to his full height he turned back, unable to stop the smile that spread over his lips as Valina sprinted towards the window at full speed, somehow managing to sheathe her weapons. She vaulted over the window ledge, landing in a run, her hand grasping Cullen's surcoat as she sailed past.

They sprinted straight toward the main gate, the bandits still scrambling out the window. His lungs burned with the effort, his exhausted and deprived body protesting more with every step, but still, he ran, his eyes locked on Valina.

Valina glanced back, seeing a hoard of bandits emerging from the estate in various states of dress. 'Not as many as I expected,' she said, a hint of a smile on her lips as she glanced at him.

Cullen glanced back as long as he dared, though he did not see any reason to smile considering the mob that would soon be nipping at their heels. 'That's still more than I'd like to see.'

Valina skidded to a halt at the wall. The heavy iron gates were colossal, almost as heavy as the gates at Skyhold, but far more ornate. The bars were woven too close together for even her to slip through.

'No time to pick the lock,' she said, grasping the crossbar.

Cullen dropped his stolen shield, following her lead. They dragged themselves up and over, the bandits closing in. As soon as they were close enough they dropped to the ground, turning to the forest. They took off at a sprint, hearing the bandits' cries for a key, the scrape of some beginning to climb the fence. They did not look back, their focus on the tree line just ahead. They leapt over a fallen tree at the edge, moving deeper between the sparse trunks.

'If we can get deep into the forest, we can hi–'

Valina heard a bowstring pull tight behind her too late. Cullen cried out as the arrow pierced his calf, searing pain shooting up his leg. Valina skidded to a halt and he stumbled, his face contorted. She raced to him, ducking under his arm. She heaved him to his feet but his knee buckled. She dragged him to the nearest tree, setting him down against the sturdy trunk.

'Go, Valina. Run.' He shoved at her when she tried to kneel beside him, but Valina slapped him hard across the face, the action shocking him so much that his mind went blank, the pain in his leg almost forgotten.

'Never tell me to leave you again,' she snapped, dropping down beside him. She glanced around the tree; some of the bandits were attempting to climb the gates, others congregating behind it, waiting for a key.

Cullen groaned as she grasped his leg, turning it enough to look. Blood was already soaking the area around the arrow shaft. She ripped at his pants leg, splitting the fabric to examine the wound.

'Kaffas,' Valina snarled. The arrowhead was buried deep in the flesh of his calf. She'd only do more damage if she took it out, especially if barbs had been carved in the head. She grasped his hands, forcing him to apply pressure to the wound.

'Valina, please–'

'Don't even try it,' she said, standing to draw her blades.

'There's no point in both of us dying.'

'Who said anything about dying?' she asked, managing a vicious smile as she watched the first bandits approach. Cullen screamed her name as she disappeared.

Valina emptied her mind. Cullen's scream barely registered as she gripped her blades tighter, her eyes locked on the mob as it broke through the gate, seething like a flooded river. Their steps faltered as they scanned the trees with wide eyes, prepared to pounce on any movement. She felt the uncertainty radiate from them, tasted their fear as she breathed deeply of the cool morning air. Their leader was dead, slaughtered in her bed by the prisoners they believed were locked tight in the cells and drugged into unconsciousness: how had they managed to escape and walk through the estate unnoticed?

'Find them!'

Valina slowed her breathing, watching, waiting, a spider spinning a web for her prey as a few bandits signalled to each other their intent to disperse and cover more ground. The first to pass too close was quickly dispatched, the body dropping in a heap, any final words silenced by Valina's blades.

The nearest bandit turned at the sound, a terrified scream cut short as Valina appeared before his eyes, almost severing his head with the sweep of her daggers before slipping back into the shadows of the trees.

'What was that?'

'Show your–'

Valina slammed the daggers into their back, blood gurgling from their lips. She kicked the body off her blades. Eyes met hers, panic overwhelming the bandit for a moment before they managed to shout, 'here! She's here!'

Although she preferred stealth in a fight, she knew that more eyes on her meant less on Cullen.

Valina rushed forward. The bandit threw a heavy strike with his great sword, the clang of metal sounding in the forest as Valina crossed her daggers to catch the strike. She heaved the blade back, the bandit stumbling awkwardly, but a tree caught him before he could fall.

He ducked, barely avoiding Valina's blades. She slammed her elbow into his nose, the sickening crunch of broken bones sounding in tandem with his cry of pain, but as Valina raised her dagger to finish him she heard a bowstring pull tight once again. She looked to her side, the bandit taking aim. Valina arched her back, the feathered shaft soaring over her stomach.

Valina straightened with a sneer. She slammed her elbow into the warrior's nose again to keep him disoriented, her action absent as she focused on the archer. The archer reached into her quiver too late; Valina threw her dagger up and caught it by the blade, then hurled it into the woman's neck, earning a gurgled scream.

With the gates open, more bandits were drawn to the noise of battle, rushing through the trees. Valina sprinted for her second dagger, snatching it up. The bloodied bandit was right on her heels as she sprinted, his shattered nose causing his breaths to come in grunts. She veered off, running up a tree. Leaves rained down as the bandit slammed headlong into the truck, knocking himself unconscious as Valina launched off the bark, flipping mid-air to face the next assault.

Her lungs burned with effort, her exhausted body beginning to fail. Only adrenaline drove her, her blood pumping hard and fast through her veins, but even the chemical rush was beginning to fade.

Valina dodged the sword of her next opponent, the blade singing as it arched over her head. As she dodged, she caught movement behind the bandit, uttering a curse. She had known it was only a matter of time before she fought at a disadvantage, but when she dared take another look, she caught the distinctive colour of Cullen's surcoat.

Cullen leant back against the tree, his breath heaving from his lungs. Although he was finally standing he cursed bitterly at his leg as it throbbed with pain. He tentatively placed his foot on the ground, leaning, leaning, until his leg buckled beneath him, agony shooting up his calf.

Cullen grit his teeth, fighting the haze that wavered over his vision. His exhausted body could not take much more, but instinct clamoured within him as the clash of weapons hit his ears. His eyes darted, searching for an opponent, but no bandits had found him yet. By the sound of the fighting, Valina was doing all she could to draw attention.

Anger boiled within him as he glanced down at his leg, his pants soaked with blood from the wound. He ripped the fabric further until it came free, then hastily tied it around his leg to stem the blood flow. He wiped his slippery palms on his pants then grasped his sword tighter, easily breaking the arrow shaft until only an inch protruded from the wound.

Cullen glanced up again as the bandits' shouts filled the forest, urging their comrades on. Screams punctuated the air.

Valina.

He limped as far as he dared from the supportive tree. He did not know if it was adrenaline or sheer desperation that drove him, but when he planted his foot, his knee trembled under the weight but did not buckle. White-hot pain seared his leg, but he limped again, and again, the voices louder as he approached the main fight.

He saw a bandit run straight into a tree, Valina gracefully flipping over the carnage to land on steady feet and face the next assault. His eyes fixed on her as she fought a hulking warrior. He cut down every bandit that happened to be in his path, ignoring the pain in his calf as each step jostled the arrowhead, panic rising in him as she barely dodged the hard sweep of a bandit's sword.

For a moment, he found her serpentstone gaze, her eyes wild. Valina could not help but stare as he limped forward, his bloodied sword clutched tight in his hand.

'Cullen!'

The panic in her voice made him pause, breaking his focus. He heard movement on his side and twisted as a rogue rushed at him, sharp blades almost slicing his surcoat. Cullen raised his sword and struck with all his might, cutting deep into the bandit's shoulder. The rogue screamed in pain but Cullen did not take even a moment to dispatch them, his focus returning to Valina as she crossed her blades, preparing to parry against heavy blows.

Too far.

A massive shape loomed in Cullen's peripheral vision. He dragged his gaze from Valina, watching as a mammoth Qunari charged. Even at a distance, Cullen heard the sickening crunch of bones breaking at the impact, more bones breaking as the Iron Bull flung the warrior into the nearest tree. Relief slammed into him as he heard more footsteps racing through the trees, Malakar, Dorian, and Cassandra bursting into the fray.

The Iron Bull straightened for his charge, stretching to his full height. He seized his massive axe from his back. 'One down!' he shouted, a smile breaking over his lips as the bandit that had been charging towards him dropped their sword with a shriek at the sight of the hulking warrior. He glanced at Valina, still grinning as he said, 'we heard you could use a hand.'

'Focus, Bull!' Cassandra snapped.

'I am!' he yelled with a laugh as he sundered the bandit that tentatively approached, a final swing of his axe rending the man in two, 'what do you say, Seeker, think we can break a few?'

'I think we can, Bull,' she said, hiding her smile. She turned to Cullen, passing him his shield, though this time she did not hide her smile as she said, 'you dropped this, Commander.'

Cassandra retrieved her shield from her back, strapping it to her arm, charging ahead with Bull. Panicked shrieks filled the forest as lightning rained down upon the bandits, caging them, Dorian laughing as they tried to scatter, 'ha! I could do this all day!'

'Let's not,' Malakar chided as he called a blizzard down upon the forest, though the handsome elf could not hide a smile when he glanced at his lover.

The four companions took control of the battle, decimating any bandit in their path. Relief flooded Cullen; the rush was dizzying, his knees crumpling beneath him as the anger that drove him waned. He dropped his sword and shield, catching his fall with shaking hands. He clutched at his leg, teeth clenching tight, pain searing him as the adrenaline surge subsided.

Cullen heard her scuff to a halt at his side, felt her hands before he could open his eyes. He dragged them open as she grasped his face roughly, turning his head from side to side to examine him before she ripped her mask down.

'You idiot!'

Before he could protest her lips covered his own, her teeth grazing his bottom lip, the hurried flick of her tongue consuming him, but she pulled back just as quickly as she had claimed him, slapping him across his cheek.

He rubbed at his jaw. 'What was that one for?'

She clutched at him desperately and he saw panic light her serpentstone gaze. 'Fasta vass, you could have died!'

He grasped her chin. 'So could you!'

'I don't have an arrow in my leg!'

Cullen opened his mouth to argue the point, but she squeezed his calf pointedly, raising her eyebrow at him when he flinched.

'Okay, that might be true–'

'It certainly is.'

He sighed his frustration. 'I couldn't sit there, Valina, not when you were in danger.'

'You don't always have to protect me, Cullen.' She cupped his face again. 'You can let someone protect you, even if it just comes down to practicality.'

'It's not about…'

Valina's eyes narrowed. 'Remember what I said about chivalry?'

Cullen's mind flashed back to the battlements at Skyhold, to their heated argument, to the feel of her hand on him. He gulped, her eyes blazing as brightly as they had on that night when she had called him for his cowardice, when he had finally allowed himself to see the truth of her affection.

'Vividly,' he said, his heart kicking in his chest, 'but you'll also notice that I'm unhurt–' he grimaced as she squeezed his calf again. 'Technically, that happened before the battle.'

'You are in so much trouble when we get back to Skyhold.'

The hardness in her stare belied any flirtation. It was the same hard stare that Amira had given him when they had left for Sarhnia days before, an unspoken plea: stay safe. At that moment, he had given Amira a silent promise to keep Valina safe and to allow her to keep him safe in return. Icy blue eyes flashed in his memory, and his stomach sank. She nodded at the realisation that dawned in his tawny eyes.

'If you two are quite done…'

Valina and Cullen glanced up. Their companions had regrouped, the forest silent once again.

It's over.

Valina allowed herself to sigh with relief. 'I can't tell you how happy I am to see you all.'

'You both have some explaining to do,' Cassandra said, 'but I am glad to see that you're safe.'

Malakar crouched beside them. 'Are you hurt?'

'I'm fine. Cullen took an arrow to the leg,' Valina said, 'below his knee.'

Iron Bull and Dorian muffled a snigger, but Malakar did not seem to notice. He carefully unwrapped the makeshift bandage from Cullen's calf and bent to examine the wound. He frowned at the splintered shaft of the arrow. 'I can heal it, but that arrow has to come out.'

'Maybe we should do that somewhere–'

Cullen growled as fresh pain seared him: Valina wrenched the arrow straight back out of the wound. She held it up, glaring at him pointedly. He almost preferred the arrow to the daggers in her serpentstone gaze.

'You ran with this inside your leg,' she said.

He grimaced at her severe tone. 'Desperate measures.' He glanced to Cassandra, hoping that the Seeker would support him.

Cassandra shrugged. 'Do not give me that look, Commander. Valina is right; you were reckless and stupid. Brave, but still stupid.'

Cullen sighed. 'Inquisitor, please…'

Malakar raised his hands above the wound and Cullen felt his skin tingle as it began to knit back together. He clenched his teeth as the wound grew hot but just as quickly as the pain had spiked it subsided, replaced by a strange numbness. His leg still ached, but so did the rest of his body. Exhaustion was rapidly catching up.

Malakar rifled in the pouch on his belt. 'You're going to want to drink this. It will help with the pain and healing in your muscles.'

Cullen took the phial from the mage, ripping the cork out with his teeth. The potion wasn't pleasant to drink but it worked quickly, soothing the worst of the pain in his leg and throughout his body.

Iron Bull offered his hand to Cullen. Cullen accepted, allowing Bull and Valina to help him to his feet. He bent to collect his weapons, sheathing his sword and hanging his shield over his back. He was relieved to feel steady again. Valina remained at his side, wrapping her arm tight around his waist. He clutched her closer.

Her gaze was weary. She had escaped injury, but the physical toll of the fight after days of imprisonment had tested the limits of her strength. He felt the warmth of pride bloom in his chest as he stared down at his fierce rogue because, despite it all, she smiled up at him as she said, 'let's get out of here.'

Cullen glanced back to the old estate, catching a glimpse of the carnage left behind. 'That's the best idea we've had all day.'