The glare of the Western Approach's sun was intense, but it scarcely bothered Morrigan. Her elemental magic shielded her effectively from the heat, but unfortunately, it couldn't deflect other irritations so easily. Behind her, Sera was yammering on about some inane matter, apparently having to do with a cake she once stole. With her inappropriate jokes, boundless enthusiasm, and taste for sweets, she was rather like a cross between Zevran and the Warden's insufferable hound, neither of whom Morrigan missed.
Nor was Sera the only person wearing on her nerves. Cassandra was a capable warrior, and she didn't prattle on endlessly about nonsense. Compared to most of the members of the Inquisition, she should have been a most agreeable traveling companion. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
"Must you keep staring at me?" she demanded when she noticed Cassandra's hazel eyes drifting back over to her once more. "'Tis not as if I am about to make off with the good silver."
In response, she got an annoyed snort. "Petty theft is the least of my concerns."
Morrigan lifted an eyebrow, fixing Cassandra with a suspicious gaze. "And what, precisely, is it that you think I am going to do?"
"If I knew, it would be simpler," Cassandra replied. "As you are so fond of reminding us, arcane mysteries are your specialty, not mine. For now, I will just have to remain observant."
"Then I suggest you observe me more quietly. This trip has been more than long enough already."
"You were the one who spoke first," Cassandra pointed out.
Herah's horse wheeled around, leaving the two of them staring at a countenance tight with irritation. "Cut it out, both of you," she barked. "I thought you promised to behave if I brought you along."
"Ha!" Sera skipped up ahead of Morrigan, and stopping next to Herah. "I think they just need to kiss and get it over with. Sometimes, stupid people fight when they should do that instead."
Cassandra couldn't have sounded more indignant if it had been suggested she might be in league with Corypheus. "Don't be ridiculous," she snapped at Sera. "I'm merely exercising sensible caution. The fact that you cannot distinguish that from sexual attraction says more about your own perverted mind than anything I might have done."
"Protesting a little much there?" Sera laughed at her own remark, with Herah joining in and Cassandra giving both of them a sullen glare. Morrigan, by contrast, said nothing. She had no trouble admitting to herself when she found someone attractive. And Cassandra was certainly an attractive woman. The hard line of her jaw and sharp, brown eyes gave her face a striking quality that Morrigan appreciated, while her body was powerful without being excessively muscle-bound. Still, other people rarely made sex as simple a matter as acting on attraction, no matter how obvious that might seem to her, and so she remained silent.
Cassandra, however, spoke up, clearly eager to change the subject. "I believe we are getting closer, Inquisitor," she pointed out. "That ridge line seems quite similar to the one our scouts described."
Herah shielded her eyes with her hand, trying to get a better look at where Cassandra was gesturing. "I think you're right. It shouldn't take us too much longer. There seems to be a path winding up along the cliff's face."
Sera let out a long, aggrieved sigh that made Morrigan's eye twitch. The only thing more annoying than the excitable elf's perverted comments was her constant complaining. "Cliffs. Ugh. Why does it always have to be cliffs? Cliffs and bogs and freezing mountains. Why don't we ever go on missions in nice flowery meadows? You'd think Coryphespit would try and ruin all the pretty places like that."
"You were the one who insisted on coming with us," Cassandra reminded Sera."I'm not sure you have the right to complain about a mission you volunteered for."
For one brief moment, Morrigan felt a stab of kinship with Cassandra. Although the Seeker's mistrust continued to wear on her nerves, and the stares were making her more and more uncomfortable, at least they were in agreement on one thing. Sera had to be the most irritating person either of them had ever encountered. She hadn't thought it was possible for anyone to be worse company than Alistair, but Sera was swiftly proving her wrong.
"Me? Complain? Pfft. The only one who's been doing any complaining today is you. 'Morrigan' this, 'Morrigan' that. You say you hate her, but that broody glare of yours tells me: I want to throw her down and rip off her breeches. Wait." Her brow furrowed, and Morrigan had the distinct displeasure of becoming the focus of Sera's attention for several moments. "Are you even wearing breeches under that skirt?"
"Please, desist," Morrigan snapped as they started up along the path. "We might encounter Venatori on our way up to the ruins. T'would be most unwise to alert them to our presence."
Sera grumbled for a while, but eventually fell into silence as they climbed. Unfortunately, Morrigan soon discovered that Sera's annoying chatter had been the only thing distracting her from Cassandra's suspicious looks. Even though they were far from friendly, they made her spine tingle. She had no idea why Cassandra's attention affected her so. The Seeker had made her dislike more than clear, and the feeling was mutual. Cassandra was admittedly pleasant to look at, but her personality could be intolerable. She had no appreciation for ancient magic, and even less for anyone who wished to make good use of it.
At last, the unhappy party reached the top of the ridge. Herah pulled her horse to a stop, and Morrigan followed her lead, halting beside Cassandra. Beneath them stood an old, crumbling fortress, but even from a distance, it was obvious that the place was far from ordinary. The smoke streaming above the battlements seemed to hover in the air instead of dissipating, and the banners flying from the ramparts did not flutter in the breeze. The entire place was completely, eerily still, almost like a painting.
Sera spoke up first, voicing the discomfort they all felt. "I don't like this," she muttered, narrowing her eyes at the fortress. "It feels all wrong."
"That may be true," Herah agreed, "But it's not our most pressing problem at the moment. Look over there."
The Inquisitor gestured with her staff and Morrigan's gaze was drawn to an encampment slightly outside of the fortress. Several small tents were pitched there, and above the central one, a banner could be seen. It was too far away for her to be certain, but it looked as if it bore the red and white dual serpent design of the Venatori. "It appears we arrived just in time," she observed.
"Indeed." Cassandra drew her longsword and began to pick her way down the uneven terrain on the other side of the ridge and towards the camp.
Herah took her staff off of her back. "Should we have a plan?"
Serah's high-pitched laugh came from Morrigan's other side. "Heh. Why bother? There's not too many of them. It'll be great fun, yeah?"
The elf bounded off after Cassandra, and Morrigan rolled her eyes at the childish behavior. Still, if there was a battle to be fought, it would hardly do to be left out of it. With a flick of her staff, she shifted form, taking on a raven's shape to better close the distance.
From the air, she had an excellent view as the first of Sera's arrows pierced the chest of a robed Venatori sorcerer who hadn't yet taken note of their presence. His choked cries as his blood spilled out on the desert sand certainly got everyone else's attention, though. The camp came to life at once, the remaining two mages and the soldiers accompanying them scrambling for their weapons.
Morrigan shifted back to her regular shape a short distance from the enemy, close enough to strike with her magic, but far enough to avoid those crude blades. Three of the soldiers rushed out to meet Cassandra, and Morrigan caught the first of them with a powerful bolt of lightning that left him spasming on the ground. The second struck with a heavy, overhand slash, but Cassandra caught it on her shield, knocking aside his blade and exposing him to her counter-thrust. The Seeker's longsword ripped through the man's light armor, sending a fountain of red pouring out of his chest.
He crashed to the ground and the final soldier took his place, lunging forward with a thrust that Cassandra turned aside with a strong parry. She raised her sword faster than her target could recover, slashing a crimson trail across his arm. He grunted in pain, his weapon dropping from his hand, and Cassandra brought her sword down on his collar-bone, splitting the man open and leaving his body crumbled in the sand.
Watching the display, Morrigan couldn't avoid feeling a sudden admiration. Cassandra had more power than a knife-fighter like Zevran, while avoiding the clumsy brutishness of a Shale. It was an impressive combination, one which only made the Seeker's insistence on regarding her with hostility all the more of a waste.
Still, there wasn't time to stand around gawking. Morrigan raised her staff, directing a cone of frost at the remaining three Venatori soldiers as they charged out of the encampment towards her. Two of them were frozen solid in seconds, falling easy prey to Sera's arrows while they stood still, but the third rolled away from the magical energy and aimed his crossbow at Morrigan. He didn't fire quickly enough though. Cassandra whirled, positioning herself in-between the two of them and raising her shield, letting the quarrel imbed itself harmlessly in the metal.
While she was distracted, one of the Venatori mages struck. With a howl of "For the Elder One," he launched a cone of crimson flame that engulfed the Seeker. She raised her shield to deflect as much of the attack as she could, but the heat drove her backwards, reaching her even inside of her armor.
Morrigan reacted quickly, shifting into her avian form once more and flitting across the battlefield to a position behind the Venatori. The mage was too busy cackling as he kept pouring flame out at Cassandra to notice, and when Morrigan reverted to her human form, he couldn't react quickly enough. She plunged her staff blade into his back, the tip ripping out the front of his chest as he crashed to the ground.
When she pulled the blade loose, the battle was already wrapping up. Sera had shot the soldier with the crossbow dead and Herah stood over the charred corpse of the other Venatori mage.
"Everybody all right?" the Inquisitor asked as made her way towards the rest of them.
"Shiny," Sera said brightly as she started rifling through the pockets of the dead Venatori soldiers, looking for valuables. "Lady Tight Pants got a little singed, but she'll be all right."
"I should thank you for that," Cassandra told Morrigan, quietly enough that the others couldn't hear her. "It was… skillfully done."
Morrigan could tell Cassandra was uncomfortable being in her debt, and for some reason, she decided to gave her a graceful exit. "T'was the least I could do. You were attacked while defending me, after all."
"Well, I appreciated it regardless."
The two of them turned, falling quiet as they looked up at the strange, still fortress. There was little need for words. The Seeker's tendency toward silence was another point in her favor, as far as Morrigan was concerned. Still, she could not help glancing over at Cassandra one last time before Sera and the Inquisitor joined them. Something about the woman was impressive despite her other irksome qualities, and she resolved to use the rest of their mission to figure out what, exactly, had so captured her interest.