Chapter 32

Unleashing the Beast

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Kallian

I think I was numb, I dunno. I was supposed to be in panic again, or been desperate from the other two explosions that rocked the Chantry, where I knew our people were. But, strangely, I felt nothing.

Only a great void inside my chest, which left me speechless.

"I still feel their presence." Noah approached me, speaking softly so only I could hear. "That's a good sign, right?"

I just nodded.

Seeing that I didn't say anything, he continued, "I suppose the plan is still the same?"

"The Chantry exploded!" A Templar said.

"Maker, my family is still in town!" Another guard said, desperate. All the other comments were along the same lines, or worse. The panic grew exponentially between them, and it seems that they were competing against each other to see who was more screwed.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, losing my patience again.

"What we're gonna do, Wardens?" The older man asked. "Will you really go in there?"

Noah was silent, waiting for my answer.

"My comp..." I stopped, thinking better of my words. "My friends are still there. And I will bring them back, whatever the cost."

Noah just nodded, pulling his sword from his back.

"This is suicide ..." One of the guards said.

"You can run if you want." I stared at the guard. "The order no longer exists, which means that you have no obligation to obey anyone anymore. Run for your lives if you wish, but I'll go there, even if I need to do it alone. Even if I accomplish nothing, I will fight until my arms fall off, if necessary. But I will try. " I turned my back to him. "How can I expect to protect my people, if I'm not even able to protect my traveling companions?"I thought aloud. "And you all can do the same, and try to save them well. The choice is yours." I looked at the Qunari, and a stupid idea crossed my mind. "And you could help us..."

"Wait ... help?" Noah exclaimed indignantly. "Elf, he is a murderer! Do you realize the work it took to capture him?" He frowned, deeply annoyed.

"You saw what he did to them?" I pointed to the group behind us.

"And that's why we should keep him bound!" Noah growled through gritted teeth.

"We have no choice." I approached the giant. "Look, I have a proposal."

"I'm not interested." The Qunari said, and it was like being punched in the nose.

Noah coughed really weird, but I knew this was the result of a very strong, but barely, contained laughter.

Damn him.

"There, you have your answer." Noah grunted, coming close to us. He was still holding himself, but he gazed at the Qunari as sharply as ever.

"I'll try again." I said, breathing twice before continuing. "I will free you, then you will fight with us, and we all escape alive."

"I have no interest in escaping." He answered. His voice was deep and hoarse, too calm for the brutality I'd witnessed before. "I have a debt to pay. If this is my fate, so be it. I'll pay for my crime with my remaining honor."

I really hated the fact that everything is harder for us.

"Oh, don't pretend to play the repentant, please." Noah grumbled. "You killed a family with your own hands, no one will believe your foolish excuses."

"And so, I must pay." The Qunari answered.

"Okay, proposal number two," I said, crossing my arms. "Instead of running cowardly into the arms of death, you can help us to save people instead. You're a really skilled warrior, and if you use that power for good, then it would be a great way to restore your honor." A small smile appeared on my lips when I realized that I had finally gotten his attention. "Look, if you really want to try to redeem yourself, help us to win this war. Please."

The Qunari looked thoughtful for a while, glanced at the city and then at me, before nodding.

"Maker, you are going get us killed," Noah muttered to me, holding his sword with one hand and pulling a blade from his waist with the other. In one swift movement, he cut off the ties that bound the giant's hands, and handed him the blade. "But be warned - if you try to betray us, I'll kill you. Are we clear?" he threatened, looking deep into the Qunari's violet eyes.

"Fair enough," the was his reply, before accepting the blade.

"Right. So, let's go!" I said, starting to run to where Noah had suggested, but one of the Templars stopped us.

"Wait," he said, at the head of the smaller group, while the other, larger group, followed the opposite path. "We will go with you."

Noah

I regretted having agreed to this idea shortly after I took my first step into the city. It wasn't because of the Darkspawn, because I knew from the start that there were a lot of them, but because once again the plan was awry.

Besides me, the elf and the Qunari, nine other people had decided to help us, but only if we helped three of them with their own houses first, before going to the Chantry. A fair exchange, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that, again, discretion was swallowed by the Void.

Unfortunately, only one story had a happy ending - the senior Templar managed to save his sister, who only survived because she could brandish a sword really well.

We were a little further away from the Chantry, but I was still calm - the presence of the two Wardens was still very strong, so I knew they were alright, as far as was possible.

But don't think that it was easy to get there. It would have been worse without the defensive circle we were in, but even so, it was complicated.

Heh, defensive formation my ass. The Qunari was a killing machine, and I came to pity those he laid his hands on. He put hate in every blow, as if each one was the sole focus of his anger.

Maybe that was true. His outbreak of fury was serving us well, and as long as he didn't turn it against us, it was a good thing.

We'd had no casualties so far, but the pace was pretty intense. Luckily for us, the enemy group was not even a quarter of the presence that I'd felt before. For some reason, perhaps overconfidence, they'd left behind a smaller group while the rest went on, heading off in different directions. Divide and conquer, as they say. I just hoped that all this confidence was only a nine-day wonder , otherwise we would be off the map even before we could escape from Lothering.

The few warriors who managed to resist the first assault had joined us along the way, so our numbers soon rose to over thirty.

Thirty against an army. There was no reason to be proud, but I gave myself the luxury of being happy. We were few but at least we were still something.

My brief happiness, however, ended the minute the elf suddenly stopped and turned to me with an expression that announced she was about to say something I wouldn't like.

"Morrigan was in the Inn," she said breathlessly.

"She was, and now she is probably somewhere safe like Antiva." I replied dryly, pulling the elf by the arm to move on. Obviously, she didn't listen.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked, pulling away from my hand.

"She's a shapeshifter!" I exclaimed, throwing up my arms. "And a good one, considering the mother she has." I suddenly remembered a small detail. "Tell me, since when have mages fallen into your good graces?"

"They haven't," she said, leading us to the inn. "But Morrigan is part of our group. Nobody should be left behind."

"Our agreement was clear," I growled at her side, finally able to follow her pace. "You would make the decisions and play the leader, as long as you didn't start to bossing me around." She glared at me, but showed no interest in changing her mind. "You're being bossy again, and you know I hate it."

"Noah, am I pulling you by some rope tied around your neck, by any chance?" she asked me, with no patience at all. Tension, stress, attention ... Everything was plastered on her face.

"What?" I asked, and was sightly disappointed when I realized that she was running even faster.

"You're coming of your own accord, so stop pretending you're not worried."

"I'm not worried," was all I said, but she was out of my reach.

- x -

And with that, we headed to the Inn. I didn't think the witch needed help, being so powerful and self-sufficient as she claimed to be. Probably, she was far away, ready to laugh in our faces when this all went wrong, and we got sucked into the Void.

Sadly, I was wrong. Before we arrived, we found the shapeshifter on the road, surrounded by Darkspawn. On the ground there was a trail of empty mana potion bottles, Darkspawn bodies, and a trail of blood that flowed freely from her arm. Fire and ice flew from her fingertips as she ran, but I could clearly tell that she was not in the best shape.

Shaw-Shaw was with her. Biting and growling, but also limping. There was a lot of dirt in his pelage, so I couldn't tell if all the blood was his or theirs. Even so, the little ball of fur showed no hesitation, and fought bravely against their attackers. It was like he was trying to protect the witch, although the reason is unknown to me, since she hates him.

The elf and I ran towards them, but the half-pint got there first, giving the witch the support and the distraction she needed to be able to freeze six of the thirteen that were chasing her. Perhaps because of her effort, or the excessive loss of blood, or both, she fell soon after. I didn't think twice and threw my sword, which took down three genlocks with ease.

My hand flew to my waist, but found nothing. I had completely forgot that I had gave my one-handed sword to the Qunari.

I mentally cursed a few times before trying to run to get my weapon back.

Throwing away my only weapon ... A blunder worthy of that stupid Templar.

Luckily, the Qunari was making a better use of my sword that I could. He was insane, even more than I was - he lifted up the heaviest of the Hurlocks with one hand, and flung it as if it was something insignificant, like the elf for example. It didn't take long before the rest of the group arrived, and set up a small circle around the witch and the dog.

The elf ran to the witch, who was lying on the ground in the same position she was in when she had fallen. While the little redhead helped her back to her feet, we made sure to keep away any Darkspawn that tried to approach. Well, not exactly we, but the Qunari. I meant it when I said that he was insane.

"Morrigan, are you okay?" The elf asked, and I almost answered that it was obvious that she was not, but I said nothing. I had the task of keeping the enemies away, and that's what I would do.

Kallian

I tried to give her a potion to drink as soon as I could, and as she drank it, I picked up a second vial and poured into the wound on her arm. It didn't take much to know that it was broken, especially because of the horrible state that it was in ... I'd rather not go into details. It was enough to know that it was visibly broken and that's enough.

Shaw-Shaw, my brave boy, limped up to me and dropped to the ground beside me. His soft crying was killing me, but I had to take care of Morrigan first. She was getting pale, which was a bad sign, then I immediately tried to find gauze and bandages inside my backpack to stop the bleeding.

"Morrigan, can you heal your arm?" I asked, helping her to take a mana potion, this time.

"T'is not possible, I'm afraid," she replied, and somehow, I had expected this response. If she really could do it, it would be already done. I remembered the time Noah had been impaled with a wooden stake, back in the wilds - she'd healed Grumpy, but had become visibly weak later, even if she hadn't wanted to admit it. What she said next made me wonder if she had no knowledge how to heal broken bones at all, or if it was really as exhausting as it seemed. "I'm no healer."

"And I am a dwarf," Noah replied sarcastically, probably remembering all the times when Morrigan's magic had saved our skin.

"To restore the meat and mend the skin are relatively simple tasks," Morrigan said. We knew it wasn't that simple, but she had her pride, and I wouldn't be the person who would argue against her. "Regenerating organs and rebuilding bones are completely different things, so I suggest that you best choose your bruises hereafter."

It made sense. The complexity of the magic required different expertise.

"Why you didn't escape?" Noah asked, looking at us over his shoulder.

"Don't you think that I haven't tried, Warden?" she asked, sitting up. I was almost done bandaging her arm, using the sheaths of my daggers as a makeshift splint. I knew that the potion couldn't make miracles, but at least the blood had returned to her cheeks. "I was surrounded, and the fire was spreading fast. Flying would be the safest way to escape, but then they got me."

As soon as she'd attempted to fly, arrows had struck her, felling her from the sky. I saw her clothes were ragged at various points, which led me to believe that she'd broken her arm in the fall. She couldn't run or get rid of her pursuers, because of pain and blood loss.

She would have died if we hadn't come.

"The flea bag found me after I fell," Morrigan said, and to my surprise, she threw golden rays of energy in the direction of Shaw, and soon he stopped whining and stood up. Needless to say, I started to breathe again at that moment, relieved. "He was trained well and... Shoo! Shoo!" She said, shaking her good hand to ward off the little white ox from her, who was wagging his tail, happy and contented. "If you get closer, I will reverse the process!" She fought with Shaw, but as expected my of brave boy, he gave her a very wet lick on her face.

I just smiled, finishing her bandages.

"We can only hope that it does not fester." I used the rest of the bandage to make a sling. "Can you get up?"

She nodded.

"Great," I continued, and Noah helped her to stand. "For the Chantry, then!" Everyone nodded, and then we ran.

Call me silly, stupid, or anything like that, but for a brief moment, before getting up, I hugged Shaw with all my strength. We had only been together for a little while, but for me, he was part of the family. The bond we had was unexplainable, but I know that if he had died, I would have lost a great part of my motivation to keep fighting against the impossible.

Noah

Everything was going well so far. There was ice here, ice there, some arrows and the Qunari ... We were in a sort of competition to see who killed more enemies, even though neither of us had said anything. Every time he killed one, his gaze met mine. He was checking on me. So, after every kill, he increased his rhythm and I did the same. Don't ask me the reason - it was stupid, but fuck it. I don't care.

I wasn't going to lose to him.

I had to show him who was the real boss. The elf could give orders to him, but it would me who was responsible for imposing the respect necessary to keep him in line. It would be me who he would look at when he dared to lift his hand against us. I will be the reason for him to be afraid of even thinking about doing it again.

The Qunari was my problem from now on, so while I was alive, I would guarantee that he would not hurt anyone else.

On our way out, I heard the witch talking to the elf. It was only a few dozen words, but for me, it would explain a lot of things in the future.

"Why did you come back?" The witch said quietly, but I was close enough to hear. "You know very well that I wouldn't do the same for you." Right then, I was regreting every inch of gauze spent on that bitch's arm. "Then, why?"

"I know very well that you would not," the elf replied, not seeming bothered by such honesty. "But you're part of the team. I don't care if you would do the same or not."

If you ask me, I'd say it was in that exact moment when the witch began to respect the elf.

A/N: Thanks so much for the faves and follows on the last chapter! Woah, it was amazing, thank you!

So, they had just saved Morrigan, and the Qunari is fighting for them. What you're thinking about this new Lothering? Chaotic, normal, calm? Let me know your thoughts! ;)

Credits to wintryone for the fastest beta ever! ;)