Cullen continued to watch her as she slept on the cot, her breathing light, but at least there was a flush on her cheeks from the warmth of the fire. Mother Giselle stood near him, watching over the Herald as he did, a silent but comforting protector. She often prayed over Alex while she recuperated, bathing her cold skin with a warm cloth. It seems that even the Chantry mother was enamored with her.
"Commander, we need to speak."
He looked up to find Leliana, Josephine and Cassandra by the fire beyond the tent where Alex was resting, and he sighed as he looked up at the Mother, "Mother Giselle, please look after the Herald."
The lady nodded, "Of course, Commander Cullen."
He nodded and stood up, heading to the three women, and he crossed his arms. "Ladies?"
Josephine looked at him with worry, "Commander, Cassandra says that we need to find a place for our people. If we do not find a place, I'm afraid that we would all face our death from the cold. We need to move… and fast."
Cullen scowled, "You want to move? Now?!" He pointed at Alex, still laying on a make-shift bed in the tent, as the Chantry mother wiped her face with a warm cloth, "The Herald was almost killed! We have many injured, and yet you want to move?!"
Cassandra spoke up, her eyebrows furrowed as his in her own scowl, "The enemy could be following our tracks. We must go… before they catch up to us."
But Leliana shook her head, "The only direction we can go is North, towards Jader, but it would take us days… weeks to get there. By then our people and the Herald would be dead from the cold."
"And I will not risk our people's lives after the Herald nearly gave hers." Cullen said, "We will rest here, for now, until we can find a new settlement. Send out Leliana's scouts if you have to."
The Seeker scoffed, "Be reasonable, Commander. We are out of supplies…"
"And our people are wounded!" Cullen shouted out, his anger getting the best of him, causing Josephine to blink in shock and Cassandra to frown visibly. Leliana seemed sympathetic to his cause. "Nearly half of our troops are injured, our women and children still shaken with fear, and our mounts too few to carry our burdens. What do you suggest? Hmm? That we travel to Jader while our dying slowly succumbs to the cold and their wounds, leaving a trail of corpses in the snow?"
"Better to leave a trail of corpses than to have the enemy catch up on us!" Cassandra retorted back. Cullen could see that she was starting to get angry as well, her face flushing red as Leliana's hair, "If we head to Jader, we could still recruit new soldiers and scouts… replenish them."
"Our PEOPLE are not nugs to be thrown for slaughter to this Elder One!" He shouted again, "Do you think our soldiers would agree to this? Leave their comrades to die in the snow? What would you have me tell them? This isn't what we asked them to do!"
"We cannot simply ignore this! We must find a way!" Cassandra spoke back at him. He could feel himself practically getting wound up, the anger clutching at him at he rounded on the Seeker. "And who put you in charge? We need a consensus or we have nothing!"
He and Cassandra turned to Josephine and Leliana, with the Ambassador practically putting herself in between them, "Please! We must use reason! Without the infrastructure of the Inquisition, we're hobbled!"
"That can't come from nowhere!" He almost shouted at the Josephine, making her flinch a little in fear, and causing Leliana to move in his way to protect her friend, "She didn't say it could!"
"ENOUGH!" Cassandra finally shouted, throwing her hands in anger, "This is getting us nowhere!"
Cullen grit his teeth, his hand clenching into fists, as he glared at the women, "Well, we're agreed on that much." He said scathingly, before he walked off towards the edge of the campfire, leaving the women. He looked towards the tent, only to see Alex sitting up from the cot, speaking with Mother Giselle. For a moment, he felt ashamed, mainly because he could tell that the woman had heard his outburst, judging from the worried look in her eyes.
He couldn't help but be angry. The Seeker's suggestion was ridiculous, after what they and the Herald… Alex, had been through… practically giving up her life to save the people. He seethed again, blaming himself for the lack of Haven's defenses.
Although he had to admit, he didn't expect that the Elder One was some strange darkspawn hybrid, or that he even had a dragon. The dragon itself looked like a Blighted creature, and for a moment, it reminded him of the Blight… of the stories people had spread about Solona facing off against the dragon in Denerim.
Maker, Solona… did you fight something like that? He couldn't help but think, closing his eyes as he imagined her… his former ward and Circle mage. Although the stories had said that she had fought it off beside Leliana, Alistair and a Qunari named Sten, he thought of her face and how she must've looked in front of the dragon, clutching a sword in her hand to kill it off even though she's a mage.
But as he thought of it, Solona's face morphed to that of Alex's, clutching the sword against that Blighted dragon they just saw, and beside it, the Elder One. Even though it was just in his imagination, Cullen felt a tingle of fear and dread run down his spine, and he felt something constricting in his throat.
Shadows fall
And hope has fled
Steel your heart
The dawn will come.
The night is long,
And the path is dark
Look to the sky
For one day soon,
The dawn will come.
He opened his eyes, looking to where the singing voice was coming from, only to see Mother Giselle by Alex's tent, singing a hymn of the Faithful. Alex stood beside her, looking forlorn and defeated as she listened to the Chantry mother. Her voice was deep, but gentle, and he felt the waves of relief and comfort roll through him, making him sigh. Even his soldiers and the people of Haven drew close to her, listening to her, and their pain and fatigue seemed to wash away from their features.
The sheperd's lost
And his home is far
Keep to the stars
The dawn will come
Cullen looked down at Leliana, whose high, light voice started singing along with the Mother. The soldiers started singing along, some of them coming forward, before bowing down… at Alex. He breathed in deeply, and soon started singing along as they comforted each other with the strength and comfort of their voices.
The night is long
And the path is dark
Look to the sky
For one day soon
The dawn will come.
Bare your blade
And raise it high
Stand your ground
The dawn will come
The night is long
And the path is dark
Look to the sky
For one day soon
The dawn will come.
He sighed, much more relaxed, as their song ended, and already he could hear the people cheering for the Herald, thankful that she saved them. His soldiers became determined again as they hooted for the Herald, and he couldn't help but smile at her. She turned to look at him, and at the sight of his… rather serene smile, she smiled back at him. She winked again, and he chuckled as he nodded back at her, seeing that she was better now, and just as determined to fight the Elder One.
And as Solas approached her, making her turn her attention to the elf, he became much more determined to make sure that she would blast the blighted villain with her magic back into the Fade.