AN: Sorry about how long this took to get out, things have been hectic since my family put our house on the market (so I had to help prepare for that) and it sold in less than a week so we've since been working on moving out. Added to that I've been handling moving into a new place, dealing with a lot of situations with work, my brother in law being in a motorcycle accident, working on a major project, and a bunch of other things. Hopefully things go back to normal soon.

Herald of Destruction

Chapter 4

-Percy-

The wind howled across the stones as the regiment they picked up from the valley reached the mountain top. Fires burned, and emerald meteors fell from the breach, shards of stone flying like shrapnel, occasionally striking one of the wounded soldiers they saw being treated near the ruins of what looked like it had once been a temple. Just ahead of the temple entrance he could hear the sounds of battle, the ring of steel and roar of demons as man and monster fought.

Away from this several soldiers were fleeing, eyes wide with terror as tears began to glisten in the eyes of the blubbering men. "Halt!" Cassandra tried to order them, but it seemed that they feared the demons more than her.

Face silent and hard as stone Percy reached out and grabbed the lead deserter, stopping the man from running with ease as the others froze in their tracks "Know this coward," he hissed coldly "if you flee today then you will always be branded by that shame. It doesn't matter if the rest of the world forgets your face and nobody else knows of what you do today, because you always will. So flee and always have to know that you are a coward or stay and fight."

"What do you care, you caused this!" the hysterical man blubbered only to shoved back towards his fellows. More and more wounded soldiers were starting to rise up as were the ones treating them, likely curious as to what he had to say, even Cassandra seemed to be intrigued.

"I don't give a damn about your chantry!" he declared loudly, cold eyes reflecting the light of the mark upon his hand "I have seen nothing from it yet to make me wish to fight for it. Instead I will fight for those I know nothing of, of the innocents bellow this mountain. The people who lack the strength and blades to fend for themselves. Would you, one who has both of those things, abandon those people to death? I didn't cause this mess, but it seem like I'll be the one to damn well finish it." Not even bothering to see if any of them believed him, and honestly not caring, Percy shoved past the group that had tried deserting and climbed the steps towards what had once been the front door to a temple. At his sides he saw Varric looking torn between amusement and trepidation along with Cassandra who seemed contemplative. Solas, he assumed, was at his back as the feeling of some sort of spell washed over him, a wave of light dancing across his skin from whatever the mage had done.

Drawing his weapons, he passed through the archway and saw a group of soldiers fighting for their lives against the small horde. Back on Earth Percy had always had to fight hard to keep control over his anger, to not let loose with his fury as he had always been afraid he couldn't reign it back in if he did. After everything he had suffered since the quest ended though he found he couldn't be bothered to hold back anymore, giving in and following the words his father told him, 'the sea doesn't like to be restrained'. Leaping from the raised ledge he body checked a thin green demon, sending its frail looking body slamming into a boulder. Ignoring the gaping shock of the soldier he just saved Percy cut off the demons outraged shriek with a sword through the mouth, it's corpse dissolving into motes of green light that flew ever skyward.

"Cullen!" Cassandra shouted in relief as they carved a path towards a man in finer armor than the rest of the soldiers, wielding a sword with a truly masterful level of skill.

"Cassandra!" the man, likely an officer, sighed in relief, finishing the last of the demons from the current wave off with a slash "I hope you have good news."

"The pris-…Perseus, is able to seal the rifts with the mark. We think it might also be capable of sealing the Breach itself." Cassandra explained, surprising him with the use of his name.

"Thank the Maker for small mercies," Cullen turned and stared him in the eye, evaluating him with a look "I hope they're right about you, we've lost a lot of people trying to hold off the demons for you to get here."

The nearby rift flares up as a new wave of demons prepares to force their way into this world "You can see for yourself." he growls, readying his weapons as the demons appear with maddened roars. Charging along with Cassandra and Cullen they began to hack at the demons, pushing the group back further and further as more soldiers joined their effort, others providing ranged support. Unprepared for the rallied offensive the demons quickly fall, weakening the rift. Reaching out he felt the connection the rift had to the mark upon his palm, felt the tethers that bound the mark to the rift and even faintly the rift to the breach. Through force of will alone he thickened those bonds, turning them from threads of gossamer thin spider's silk to thick chains of wrought iron, the links of energy growing and glowing, undulating like serpents as they bound the two glowing green points. When the strength of the bond had been enhanced as much as he could Percy grabbed the links and, with a yell, ripped back, tearing the rift apart as empty sky was left in its place.

"Sealed, as before." Solas grinned, the mage sounding slightly out of breath "You are becoming quite proficient at this."

"Let's just hope it works on the big one." Varric grunted, ripping a crossbow bolt out of the dirt before tossing it away with a dissatisfied grunt.

"Cassandra," Cullen turned to the woman "take your regiment and press onward, the way to the temple is clear and Liliana should meet you there. My men and I will hold the line back here and make sure more demons don't flank you."

"Maker watch over you my friend." Cassandra said, her voice turning somewhat horse as she clasped arms with the man who could very well die this day.

"I'd rather he kept his gaze on you today," Cullen chuckled, the sound dry and humorless "you're the one who we need to succeed here. Men!" the officer turned to the soldiers that were finally catching their breath with the halt of demons "Fall back to the mountain path!"

Pretending to not notice Casandra wiping away a few tears of frustration he continued, jumping down from a ledge to what looked like it had once been a courtyard, burning and mummified corpses spread throughout the area. Some on their knees as if in horror, others thrown aside against walls and jutting rocks. Throughout the air hung a lazy red miasma that put every fiber of his being on edge. "Something feels wrong here." He muttered under his breath as they approached the structure which must have looked magnificent before its destruction. Going down the ruins of a corridor they got a look at the largest rift yet, housed in the heart of what had used to be a temple. It sat suspended in the air, shimmering and shifting crystals growing and shrinking from its heart as the very air seemed to hum with power, an aurora connecting it to the breach in the sky.

"The breach is a long way up." Varric muttered, the crossbowman looking about nervously.

"Thank you for that observation Varric," Percy snarked "I never would have established that otherwise." Ignoring the look Varric shot him he turned to Cassandra "I assume you have some sort of plan to get me up there besides a catapult?"

"As tempting as Cassandra would likely find that, it is unnecessary," Solas spoke up with a glance at the crystalline rift "this rift was the first, and it is the key. Seal it, and we may very well seal the breach itself."

"Then you should find a way down," a familiar voice spoke up in relief as Liliana and a group of archers joined them "and be careful." Nodding along with Cassandra the led Solas, Varric, and the rest of their regiment who used melee weapons along the path to find a way down.

"Now is the hour of our victory." Came a chilling voice from nowhere "Bring forth the sacrifice."

"What are we hearing?" Cassandra asked, hand on her hilt as she looked around.

"Probably the bastard who made this mess in the first place." Percy answered, looking around as he drew his weapons, the wooden shield still secure on his back. Picking up the pace they rounded the corner of the pathway, finding spires of glowing red crystals coming out of the walls, each of them giving off a feeling of unparalleled wrong.

"You know this stuff is red lyrium seeker." Varric almost hissed glaring hatefully at the crystals.

"I see it Varric." Was the terse reply from the armored woman.

"But what's it doing here?" their archer pressed, clearly not liking the presence of the red crystals.

"I don't care what it's doing here, I just want to get away from these things." He shuddered, "They feel wrong."

"Magic could have drawn upon lyrium beneath the temple and corrupted it." Solas mused thoughtfully as they carefully avoided touching the spires "Avoiding contact with them seems to be the most prudent action in the current situation."

Before anyone else could respond, the voice from nowhere spoke up again "Keep the sacrifice still."

"Someone, help me!" a new voice joined the haunting one from the crystal rift, this one old and female yet strangely familiar.

"What's going on here?" the rage of the demand was clear as was the voice.

"That was Divine Justinia's voice…and yours." Cassandra breathed out in shock "Most holy called out to you but-" she was cut off as they got closer to the rift, vision of what had happened appearing in the green hazy air reflected by the crystals. In it they saw an old woman in robes being restrained by some sort of magic, a shadowy figure with blood red eyes looking onward at her.

"What's going on here?" once more they heard his voice only this time they could see him, apparently slamming someone aside given the way he moved and that he picked up a sword.

"Percy!" the woman, Divine Justinia cried out in fear "Run while you can! Warn them!"

"I'm not leaving you!" the past version of him refused, eyes alight with fury as he dropped into a fighting stance.

"We have an intruder." The shadowy figure pointed at the direction of his past self "Kill him, now." With that the vision of the past shattered, the gems growth breaking the image.

"You were there!" Cassandra exclaimed before a look of realization flashed across her features "You were trying to protect the Divine, not to kill her. And you remember nothing?"

"Not a damn thing!" he snarled, his anger growing more given that he had apparently cared about the old woman who had died here.

"Sounds like Fenris." He heard Varric mutter under his breath and planned to ask about that later.

"This Rift is closed, albeit temporarily." Solas called out, the mage leaning against his staff "You will need to use the mark to open the rift so that way it can be closed properly. This will draw attention from the other side however."

"More demons then, yaay." Varric groaned out, readying Bianca as a bolt was primed to be loosed. Not bothering to respond he reached up and grasped at the energies of the rift, tugging at the knotted ropes of power as they began to come loose, the sound of swords being drawn from scabbards and the strings of bows being pulled back filling the pit. Finally, with a boom like thunder, the knotted energies untie themselves and the rift sprung open, a giant purple demon appearing with a crash upon the ground.

"Attack!" Cassandra yelled as they charged the demon, archers and mages staying back to fire upon it's hide.

"Aim for the eyes!" he ordered the ones providing cover fire, hoping they could hear him over the echoing roars of the giant demon. Reaching its legs along with Cassandra and their other soldiers they began to hack away, black ichor coating their blades as they cut into the creatures armored hide, arrows lodged upon its torso and spells bounced off or staggered it back as the demon was besieged on all sides. Sensing its growing anger, he just had time to grab Cassandra and another soldier, pulling them back before the demon slammed its fists against the ground, the rift tying energy into the demon as some sort of armor that their attacks just bounced off of.

"Buy me some time!" he ordered Cassandra, forcing himself not to look at the smoking corpses of those who hadn't been able to dodge the demon's lightning. Reaching out to the connection between the demon and the rift he grabbed it, seeing Cassandra and the other soldiers fighting off smaller demons that tried to stop him while the big one had to shield its eyes from a never-ending volley of spells and arrows. With a yell he yanked back and stripped the demon of its armor, dropping the beast to its knees as the loss of energy left it temporarily vulnerable. Running back into the fray he grabbed a broadsword from a fallen soldier and rammed it into the Achilles tendon of the demon, hoping the anatomy of the purple monster was similar to that of a human. Even if it wasn't, judging by the agonized roar from their adversary the attack still hurt a good bit.

Snarling, the demon staggered up, the leg with a sword imbedded in the ankle not moving as easily as the other but the demon still had devastating strength and power over lightning. "Move!" he yelled, tackling Cassandra out of the way of a sphere of lightning the demon hurled their way, the ball exploding upon impact with the ground. Using their momentary distraction to its advantage the demon summoned more minions while rebuilding its rift armor.

"Oh no you don't you big bastard," Percy snarled, crushing the head of a shade with his flail "you aren't getting that back again." Reaching out with the mark it became a tug of war to keep the big demon from getting armor back, the battle of wills turning in Percy's favor as his allies picked off the smaller demons and resumed hacking away at the big one. Getting a firm enough grip, he once more ripped apart the demon's connection to the rift, leaving the badly wounded demon on its last legs.

"Open wide big guy!" Varric called out, happily firing a bolt into the open mouth of the roaring demon and up into its brain as its roar sputtered out, it's massive body dissolving as it fell.

"Quick, seal it now!" Cassandra yelled as Percy wasted no time in complying, forcing his way into the aurora of the rift as he tried to grab onto the insane amount of power. Screaming out in both anger and frustration he grabbed as much as he could and pulled. With a bang he was sent flying, his vision going white before slowly fading to black.