Chapter 79: Welcome to the Graves
"So…You're the Inquisitor?"
Ana smiled. She did not blame the man for his reaction. Most of the time when people saw her these days it was in full battle armor, with her helmet hiding much of her features, those same people were…surprised when she finally took her helmet off.
She had learned to use that to her advantage.
They did not expect such a young woman to be Inquisitor, or perhaps they expected that she was some mannish zealot, an ugly fanatical battle ax who cared for nothing but the cause, and the wishes of the Maker and his prophet.
It was a useful fiction, especially when dealing with Orlesian nobility.
It was all about expectations. To some the Inquisition was a hammer, bashing its way through its enemies and making Thedas a safer place. To others, it was a scalpel, cutting away the pieces of the world that no longer worked.
She had learned to play on those expectations, to put her enemies off guard, and prevent potential allies from thinking they could take advantage of the Inquisition. It was like Varric had said once.
Trust me Kiddo, keeping your allies off balance is sometimes just as valuable as doing the same to your enemies. There was wisdom in that idea, and she did her best to use it to her advantage.
Plus, she hated to admit it, but…part of her loved proving those expectations wrong. Most of the people she had encounter in Orlais, mostly nobles or imperial officers, had not thought much of the young girl wearing the armor of the Inquisitor, at least not until they saw her fight.
That is when everything changed…when they saw that, they found that they had no complaints or concerns about her position, by then they all understood why she was here and what she could do.
In time, Fairbanks would see that to…
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she…evaluated the man. Clearly he was more than a simple farmer or laborer, despite the state of his clothing. It had taken a lot of courage to seek out the Inquisition to inform them of what was happening here in the Emerald Graves.
Ana respected that courage. She could see that the man had the support of the refugees here. These people were facing dire threats, and yet Fairbanks managed to hold them together, to keep hope alive despite of the odds against him.
She recognized the value in that; if more people in Orlais protected their own like this Fairbanks did, well…Orlais would have been a much better place, a much saner place.
She realized that she wanted that, and she wanted the man's respect, it would not be easy to win it, she knew. The man was too careful for that, but still…she was confident, she could do this.
She would win his respect.
Through deed and word she would do it…eventually.
Behind her, Iron Bull chuckled.
"I know right," he said, his voice booming with mirth, "Just looking at the Boss, you would not think much of her, I mean…just look at her, tiny little thing that she is, but just wait to you see her take down a knight on horseback, or some demon spitting fire, or…if you are really lucky, seeing her kill a high dragon."
The Qunari grinned.
"Now there is a sight to see."
Next to Bull Sera giggled.
"Yeah," she said with a manic grin, "It's all good isn't it? Dragons come in, and they are all like…RARRRAR, and we're all like AHHHH! Then the Inquisitor comes in and she is all like GRRRR!"
The archer flashed a wide grin.
"That is totally bad ass that is!"
The Qunari chuckled and gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze.
"You got that right little one," Bull smirked, "Most amazing thing I've ever seen."
He looked down at the Inquisitor.
"Isn't that right Boss?"
Ana rolled her eyes. She had not asked Bull to lay it on so thick, but once again, there was value in what he was saying.
Still…she did not like being called: "A little thing" she would talk to Bull later about this, but for now…
She smiled sheepishly.
"Thanks Bull," she murmured.
"Anytime Boss."
She tried to guide things back to where they needed to go, namely focusing on Fairbank's problems, namely the Freemen of the Dales.
The Inquisitor's eyes narrowed.
They were the real issue here.
"I understand you have been having Freemen troubles, good ser?"
Fairbanks snorted.
"You are familiar with them then? Vicious bastards, Non?"
Ana nodded.
"We have had our dealings, yes."
Fairbanks shook his head.
"They have been preying on my people for months now. Most of those that have fled here, all they wanted was to escape the fighting, the Royals' Civil War. Things were hard, people were cold, hungry, or both, but now…"
The man sighed.
"The Freemen attack my people on sight, killing some, but capturing others."
Ana's brow furrowed.
"Capturing for what," she asked.
"I don't know," he sighed, "All I know is that when our people are taken, they are never heard from again."
Behind Ana, Solas snorted.
"Slavers then? How surprising."
Fairbanks ignored his remark.
"One of my people did manage to survive one of the Freemen raids, he made it back to us, half dead, but still coherent, he told of the Freemen meeting up with monsters, creatures in chantry armor, but misshapen, with red crystals growing out of their skin."
Ana pursed her lips.
"Red Templars," she murmured.
"Indeed," Fairbanks said, "They are your enemies too, Non? If they are working with the Freemen…"
His face turned grim.
"Well…enemy of my enemy…is my friend, would you not agree, Inquisitor?"
Ana nodded.
She did indeed.
It was not surprising to hear that the Red Templars and the Freemen were working together. That fake Orlesian mage in the Exalted Plains was proof enough that the Freemen of the Dales were simply pawns of the Venatori. Corypheus continued to expand the number of his pawns. The Freemen may have had a legitimate claim once, but this preying on their own people, helping the Red Templars with…whatever it was they were doing…
It was something she could simply not abide.
"Have no fear, serah," she said, "Good will overcome, trust in that."
She sighed.
It was time to get to work.
She gave Fairbanks an even look. He knew the land better than the Inquisition did.
Whatever happened next, it would start with him.
"Tell me Serah," she said, "Where should we begin?"
IOI
"BULL LOOK OUT!"
The Qunari whirled spinning his massive battle axe. Sister Costeau, the Freemen leader here back pedaled, but not before her weapon caught the Qunari in the side.
It did not have the effect the Orlesian might have hoped for.
The Iron Bull roared in fury, he lunged forward, his weapon becoming a force of nature, cutting through any who were so foolish to get in its way. Sera peppered the Freemen guards with arrows while Solas battered their enemies with boulders summoned from the fade, and icy blasts of cold.
Ana brought up her shield and charged several archers trying to form up and concentrate their fire. She bowled one over and beheaded the second. The fallen archer tried to recover only to catch one of Sera's arrows in the mouth. He fell without a sound.
All around them, the Freemen tried to retreat, but unfortunately for them, there was nowhere for them to flee to…
The Veridium mine that they had been using as a base had only one exit and the Inquisition now held that.
Costeau and her men were trapped, they had to know it, and yet they still fought on.
Ana shook her head.
The waste of it sickened her.
Over the din of battle she could hear the Freemen's prisoners crying out for aid. By the light of several torches she could make out at least twenty people in Orlesian peasant garb. That and several carts, one held a cage, the other…a great shard of Red Lyrium.
The Inquisitor's eyes narrowed.
Neither would be leaving this cave, she swore it.
According to Fairbanks, Sister Costeau was the peacemaker of the Freemen cells here in the Graves. As well as the one trusted to handle their prisoners. Whether she had had anything to do with the chantry before all this was a matter debate, but what could not be debated was her skill with a weapon. Ana had come to recognize a skilled warrior when she saw one.
Costeau had had training that much was clear. She was possibly of noble birth, perhaps even sought to become a Templar in her youth. Such a woman might see value in working with the Red Templars now, no matter how far they had fallen.
Whatever her reason, it did not matter.
Ana would be damned before she let the woman hurt anyone else.
"In the name of the Inquisition," she shouted, "Surrender now, or be destroyed!"
An arrow whizzed past her ear.
The Inquisitor snarled.
So much for being merciful, she thought.
They want this to get messy, fine!
Let's get messy!
"Back!" Sera shouted.
Ana rolled back, out of the archer's range. Bull despite his fury also dropped back, the times that he and Sera had worked together warning him what was coming.
Solas gestured, bringing up an arcane shield between the Freemen and his companions.
Ana worried for a moment that Sera might hurt the prisoners in her zeal to attack her enemies. Had the prisoners been noble born, that might have been a legitimate problem, but, fortunately for them, it was not.
These were what Sera liked to call People people.
She would no more hurt them then she would her friends in the Inquisition.
A bottle sailed from her hand. It impacted in the middle of the Freemen ranks, right where Sister Costeau had been trying to rally her surviving fighters for a counter attack.
They never got the chance.
The bottle broke open, spewing a swarm of angry bees and wasps. Bees and wasps too to the air, they identified the Freemen as a threat.
They attacked the Orlesians ruthlessly.
The cavern filled with the sound of screams.
Chaos ensued.
Panicked warriors raced forward, being caught up in Solas' icy spells, several turned to ice statues and were shattered by their allies behind them. Sera fired arrow after arrow into the confusion, further breaking up their ranks.
"That's it you Tits," she crowed, "That is what you get for picking on helpless refugees, an arrow in the face! That's what you shite's deserve!"
The few that did make it to Solas' shield were quickly cut down by Ana and Bull. Qunari and Inquisitor fought as one, months of fighting together had made the pair a well-oiled machine.
The Qunari roared, giving himself over to the savagery around them. He lashed out ruthlessly at his enemies yet never even came close to touching his allies.
It was that level of control that impressed Ana the most.
The Qunari had trained Bull as a reaver, a discipline that usually did not contribute well to self-control. Yet, Bull never lost his senses; he always knew where his allies were.
The Inquisitor tried to imagine what a full company of Qunari reavers could do? If they all had the same degree of control that Bull did…?
She frowned slightly.
Iron Bull was her friend, she did not doubt that, but that did not mean that she was not watching him. Being from Ostwick, she had always been taught to be leery of the Qunari, seeing the skill of one of their warriors first hand, not to mention Varric's tale of the attack on Kirkwall, but the late Arishok.
No, Ana was always watching Bull. One day his duty might conflict with the Inquisitions.
On that day…well…
She shook her head.
That would not be a very good day.
Before them Sister Costeau shrieked madly, she batted ineffectually at the swarm with her weapons, her resistance drawing even more and more of the insects upon her.
The Freeman woman wailed and tried to flee, maddened by pain and countless stings.
She did not get far.
She staggered and fell, she tried to rise, but by that point it was clear that there was little hope of escape. Her screams became pained gurgling, she tried to crawl, but soon even that was denied her.
Finally the woman fell, her body twitching and spasming, lost in the effect of the insects' venom.
She did not last long after that. The Inquisition watched as breathed her last labored breath, and then…nothing.
Then she was still.
Solas used his cold magic to deal with any surviving wasps and bees. The two surviving Freemen lay whimpering on the ground, all the fight taken out of them.
The quiet was soon interrupted again, by the cries of the Freemen's prisoners. They had escaped mostly unscathed by Sera's little gift to their captors. Those that hadn't been so lucky would be tended to quickly. Sera knew her weapons very well.
She had plenty of salve for those that needed it, medicine to leech out the pain and prevent any stings from swelling.
It was the least that she could do.
Ana sighed and removed her helmet. She inspected the Freemen operation here. She was pleased that it had been shut down, but recognized that this was just the beginning.
The Fight for the Emerald Graves was just beginning.
Ana's eyes narrowed.
It was a fight she intended to win.