AN: Sorry about how long it's been since I've posted anything everyone, I've had a lot going on with school and work recently. Anyway, here's chapter two for 'Herald of Destruction'. I'm currently working on a dragon age keep video for what occurred in this story's timeline for DA:O and DA2 but I'm having a hard time getting the website to allow me to make one with nothing in the Inquisition slots or at least allow me to edit the video to cut them out.

AN2: Nobody will be reacting to Percy's age in this story just yet because they don't realize how young he is. The reasons why will be explained later but there is a reason they're treating him like an adult.

AN3: I'm weakening how strong Percy's elemental powers are to the point where they aren't all that useful in combat. I have other plans and don't want him too overpowered.

Herald of Destruction

Chapter 2

-Percy-

Slowly, painfully, his eyes cracked open, a sore groan escaping his lips as he found himself on his knees, chains holding him in place. Frowning at the strange feeling of his left-hand Percy looked down at the plain skin of his palm before a flash of emerald light seared across his palm, crackling with energy as he recoiled with a pained gasp. Hearing the door slam open he looked up to see the silhouettes of two women in the doorway, one of them carrying a sword.

As the two women entered the four guardsmen, who in his daze Percy hadn't noticed, sheathed their swords. The woman without the sword, dressed in a leather and chainmail cloak, took a stance as if ready to move quickly as she faced him while the second woman, this one in armor with a sword paced around him.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now." The sword carrying woman demanded, an echo of grief in her voice, "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Everyone who attended is dead…" she turned and pointed a finger at him "except for you."

"And in your infinite wisdom you decided I must be the culprit." Percy snapped back, his cheek showing itself from the pain he found his body in mixed with the anger caused by the accusation. Ignoring his snark the woman with the sword grabbed his left wrist, holding it up in the air as waves like ripples of green light flowed across his skin.

"Explain this." The woman ordered with a hiss, throwing his wrist down before resting her hand on her hilt.

"I can't." he hissed back, having no patience after being tortured, having his mother murdered, being flung into a new world, and waking up in a cell "I don't know what that damn thing is or how it got there."

"You're lying!" the woman growled, reaching for him as his instincts and training kicked in. Shooting his arms out he caught the woman in the gut with the bar that shackled his wrists, catching her off guard as she let out an 'oof' of air being driven from her lungs. Not giving her a moment's pause he reared his head back slammed it into hers, breaking her nose as she reared back. Shooting to his feet, Percy put his bar over her neck and pulled back, using her as a shield as he backed against the cell walls, keeping the other five people in the room in view. All of this had happened within seconds and he send a silent thank you to Chiron for all the training.

Ignoring the woman who was trying, and failing, to push his arms away he kept his gaze on the other woman. The four guards, who had drawn their blades once more, weren't a concern, they clearly obeyed the orders of these two women and unless one of them ordered an attack they would stand down. "I don't know who you people are." He hissed "But I'm not about to become your scapegoat for whatever mess you're in."

The woman he wasn't restraining narrowed her eyes in scrutiny, "Let Cassandra go and we can talk. You have my word she won't attack without a cause."

"I worry about what she might feel is a cause." Percy growled, not trusting the woman he restrained not to attack him. Still, after another few moments of tense silence, he raised his arms up and shoved the first woman, Cassandra, away as the guards caught her.

When Cassandra looked ready to charge him the more level headed one grabbed her arm, "Easy Cassandra! We need him!" once the enraged Cassandra had taken a few breaths and no longer looked ready to commit murder the red-haired woman turned back to him. "You said you think you're a scapegoat…what's the last thing you remember?"

Frowning, Percy looked down at himself. The clothes he wore were unfamiliar to him, the fabric was different than what he was used to and it was clearly designed to be armor, especially with the strange wing like metal protrusion on his shoulder. Scowling, his eyebrows furrowed together, Percy tried to piece together what had landed him in this mess after Moros had left. The god of Doom had said he would land near someone who would help him and his lightning wounds felt a few days old. "I…I remember running." He said softly, putting his fingers to his temple as flashes of memory danced before his eyes, of himself scrambling up a rocky hill, fleeing giant spiders "things were chasing me and…a woman?"

"A woman?" the redhead asked in surprise.

"Yes!" the image of a woman who seemed formed of glowing green light, rather like his mark, appeared in his mind for a moment "She reached out to me but then…but then…" giving up he looked down with a sigh, unable to remember what happened after that.

"Go to the forward camp Leliana, I will take him to the rift." The woman who's nose he had broken, Cassandra, ordered the red-head, putting him on guard. The red-head he could work with, this woman he wasn't sure about.

"What did happen." He questioned before Leliana could leave, wanting a straight forward answer from the good cop before he was left with the bad one.

"It will be easier to show you." The redhead said before turning and walking off while Casandra undid his shackles. She didn't attack him but it was clear she held no trust towards him. The four swordsmen followed them as they exited what looked like a church, after leaving the dungeon at any rate. Once outside the church he looked around, throwing his arms up to shield from the sunlight as something green caught his eye. Turning he froze as he saw it. A spiraling mass of energy going into a hole in the sky, boulders floating in its grip.

"That's…that's the same color as my mark." He breathed, looking down at the mark that rested upon his palm.

"Yes." Cassandra wasn't looking at him, instead looking at the emerald hole in the sky "We call it the breach. It is a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour." She turned back towards him as she spoke "It's not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave." The accusation in her voice was clear but he chose to ignore it.

"An explosion can do that?" he asked, confused at how that was possible while one of the swordsmen gave a derisive snort.

"This one did." Cassandra gives him a firm gaze "If it isn't stopped it will continue to grow until it swallows all of Thaedus." As she spoke there was sound like thunder, the massive column of light flashing like lightning as his mark flared in agony, feeling pulled towards the breach as it brought him to his knees.

Screaming in pain he clutched his glowing hand to his stomach, trying to force down the pain and the energy of the mark as he panted with agony. Hearing Cassandra kneel in front of him he looked up, tears of pain dotting his eyes at the feeling of his every nerve ablaze "Each time the breach expands your mark spreads…and it is killing you." She sounded almost pitying at that. "It may be the key to stopping this but there isn't much time." The desperation in her voice, Leliana saying they needed him, it all clicked into place. He was just an asset to these people, just like he had been with Zeus.

"You still think I did this." He hissed, flexing his fingers to drive away the spikes of pain "To myself!"

"Not…intentionally." Cassandra said cautiously "But the point still stands that you are the only one with a chance to fix what has been done."

"It's not like I have much of a choice here, do I?" he asked, scowling as Cassandra hoisted him to his feet roughly.

"None of us have a choice anymore." The woman snapped at him as she drug him along through a small village, soldiers and civilians pointing and glaring at him as they passed. "They have decided your guilt, they need it. The people of-"

"And who's idea was it to tell them the lie that I caused this mess?" he snarled angrily, cutting off Cassandra as she looked at him in slight surprise "These people don't 'need' someone to place guilt on. They want a scapegoat and you're only too happy to provide one, aren't you? Damn the truth, and damn who might suffer, you just have to have someone to blame."

The venom in his words silenced Cassandra as they finished walking through the town and out, walking over a bridge before she spoke again. "We lash out like the sky, but we must think beyond ourselves…as she did. Until the breach is sealed." Once the gates to the bridge closed behind them Cassandra turned around and pulled out a knife. Before he had the chance to bolt she grabbed his wrists and cut the ropes "There will be a trial…I can promise no more than that."

Hearing the world 'trial' made his hackles raise, and an angry shiver to run down his spine as he forced his body not to lash out from the recent memories, "Very well." His voice was cold "Let's close the bloody breach and then we can get onto that little 'farce'." Turning before a confused Cassandra could say anything he started a steady jog along the path towards the breach, the sound of the armored woman following him. Partway up the hill another pulse caused him to stumble, falling on his face as he bounced and rolled several feet, crying out at the pain in his hand.

Reaching him, Cassandra hoisted him to his feet, "The pulses are coming faster now." She said softly, a contemplative look on her face. Clenching his fist to the point he heard his knuckles crack they set off again, heading over another bridge. He was halfway across when a blast of something shot from the breach and struck the bridge before them, collapsing it as he and Cassandra tumbled down and onto the frozen river. More blasts rained down from the breach, one impacting a short way away as a twisted looking being rose out from within the emerald light, it's skin grey and sallow as a corpse.

"Stay behind me!" Cassandra ordered, drawing her sword and shield as she charged the monster. Noticing another one forming between Cassandra and himself he looked around and found a simple round wooden shield and a sword. Grabbing them he dropped into a fighting stance as another of the monsters clawed its way out, giving off a blood chilling screech.

Yelling in challenge he struck, swinging his blade at the beast as it recoiled, stopping a clawed strike with the shield. Giving a yell Percy shoved the beast back before delivering a powerful blow with the shield, knocking the monster back and giving him an opening to stab it as the creature dissolved into smoke.

Panting he straightened as Cassandra stormed back over "Drop your weapon. Now!" she ordered him angrily, her blade leveled at his face.

Giving her a cold glower he gritted out "Fine, have it your way." And held his hands out to either side to let the armaments drop to the frozen ground. Stalking past the woman he paused when he heard her sigh.

"Wait." He turned to see her offering him the sword and shield "Keep these. I cannot protect you and I cannot expect you to be defenseless. As he attached the scabbard to his belt she looked back at him over his shoulder "I should remember you did not try to run." With that they continued onward, fighting several other small pockets of monsters as they found a steady rhythm to work off of. Despite their less than stellar first introduction Percy noted that she was indeed a skilled warrior. Occasionally one of the monsters would leave behind a small glowing core or a rag or some other item that seemed to be imbued with their energy.

Finishing off another undead looking creature along with a few glowing green spirits he heard the sound of combat up over the next hill. "We're getting close to the rift!" Cassandra called out as they ran up the carved stone steps "You can hear the fighting!"

"Who's fighting?" he demanded, having not seen anyone besides monsters and corpses since crossing the bridge.

"You'll see soon enough." Was the woman's only answer. Cresting the hill, he saw a smaller rift with several of the grey skinned monsters around it and several people fighting them. Raising his sword, he charged with a cry, catching one surprised monster, a Shade if Cassandra was right, across the face and stabbed another in the back. With him and Cassandra there the battle tipped in the favor of those who weren't monsters and they were quickly reduced to smoke.

"Quickly! Before more come through!" a bald man said, grabbing his arm and thrusting it at the rift as tendrils of emerald light connected the rift with the glowing mark on his palm before, as he jerked his hand back, the rift exploded shut as if it never were.

"What did you do?" he asked the bald man who…were those pointe ears?

"I did nothing, the credit is yours." The man said with a calm smile.

"You mean this?" he asked, flexing his fingers as the mark glowed innocently.

"Yes. Whatever magic created the breach also placed that mark upon your hand. I theorized that the mark might be able to close the rifts that have spread in the breach's wake and it seems I was correct."

"At least the damn thing's good for something." He snorted as Cassandra walked forward, wide eyed, with a different thought in mind.

"That means it could also close the breach itself." The woman said, hope entering her voice.

"Possibly." The man nodded before giving him a smile "It would seem, that you hold the key to our salvation."

"Wonderful." Another, very short man grinned, "And here I thought we'd be ass deep in demons forever." Walking forward the short man gave him a grin "Varric Tethras. Rogue, story teller, and occasionally, unwelcome tag along." Varric punctuated that last statement with a wink at Cassandra who gave a disgusted snort.

Deciding that he liked Varric the most of the group he was now stuck with, he nodded in greeting "Nice Crossbow you've got there."

"Isn't she?" the short man sent a fond look over his shoulder at the crossbow, "Bianca and I have been through a lot together." The friendly expression slipped off his face at the name.

"You named your crossbow…Bianca." It wasn't a question, just a flat statement.

"I did." Varric's eyes narrowed in scrutiny at his change in mood "She'll be great company in the valley."

"Absolutely not." Cassandra got between them and glowered down at the short man "Your help is appreciated Varric. But…"

"Have you been in the valley lately Seeker?" the short man asked with a smug grin "Your soldiers aren't in control anymore, you need me." The two held a stare off until Cassandra broke it off with another disgusted sigh.

"My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions." The bald man with the pointed ears greeted "I am pleased to see you still live."

"He means, 'I kept that mark from killing you while you slept'." Varric said without looking over, the short man tugging at his sleeves.

"I owe you my thanks then," he nodded to the man even as he wondered what mess up world Zeus had banished him to "even if it will likely be undone soon."

"What are you talking about?" Varric asked, frowning in confusion.

"I'm a tool here," he said coldly "as soon as my task in closing the breach is done I'm going to be 'tried'. A scapegoat is needed and it looks like I'm the lucky bastard who gets to be chosen."

"Do you think so little of the chantry?" Cassandra asked him affronted.

"The first words you said to me were 'Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now'." He deadpanned at the woman who winced slightly at that.

"Cassandra." Solas spoke up before she could respond "You should know, the magic involved here is unlike any I have seen. Your prisoner is no mage. Indeed, I find it difficult to imagine any mage having such power."

"Understood." Cassandra said, her voice sounding tired, like the wind had been taken out of her sails "We must get to the forward camp quickly."

"Well…" Varric stood next to him "Bianca's excited."