I wished that I could share in the Alienage's relief, I really did.
But I couldn't.
Not when I could feel the magic in the air, even through Merrill's barriers. When I could hear the clamor of distant spells. Not when ma vhenan could tell me how much pressure the lyrium in the air was putting on her protection. When the growing fires across the city made it impossible to tell what was going on. Who was fighting whom, where they were fighting, why they were fighting.
The Qunari themselves weren't any help. Our deal concluded, they'd pulled virtually everyone out from the area. Only a scant few of the Antaam remained as observers, rigidly watching the walls no matter what they heard behind them.
We spent an hour or so getting the line back into order, cleaning up supplies that had been dropped in the chaos. As soon as that was done I forced the Watch to get what sleep they could, and started rotating the militia as they focused on keeping the line under control.
Caelia had, in the end, been forced through the Eluvian, which was a relief to hear. It also made my next victim Shina.
She wasn't any happier to go on ahead of everyone else, but I was going to get all of my old friends out of the hellhole that Kirkwall was becoming. Her family had suffered enough without losing her as well, and it had been that argument that made her duck her head, and accept the command.
We'd hugged, we'd called a brief hold to the line, and she'd gone through along with four of our wounded.
They wouldn't get any decent treatment here; we were out of potions. Merrill did just enough to stabilize them with her limited healing, but hopefully enough red vials had already gone through to treat them at Skyhold.
Leaving Zatris in command, Merrill and I had gone to make a final check on the sewer entrance, confirming that we didn't feel any magic coming up from underneath. Still, considering the sizes of the explosions we'd been seeing, we were both pretty sure that the mages wouldn't be subtle if, or when, they came through.
I pulled those few people still standing guard there back to the courtyard, then Merrill and I had gone back to Elowen's home. The walls seemed to keep the lyrium's effect at bay, letting us finally relax, if only for a little while. Fiolya was already there, and had found enough warm food to put a small dinner together. It wasn't much. Eggs, bread, and a small bowl of stew. Still wonderful on a starving belly, and I devoured everything on my plate.
We didn't talk much, over the meal. Just ate as quickly as we could, then I very firmly told my squire to stay in the guest bedroom. The teenager had both blushed and rolled her eyes, muttering something about covering her ears.
Merrill had been blushing as well, reddening further when I practically dragged her down the hallway.
Our lovemaking was... different that time. We didn't undress, we barely took our armor off. It was quick, and desperate. Done with the knowledge that we could be interrupted at any moment. That the Qunari might break their word, that the Mages might decide to attack, that the city's fires would grow ever closer to the walls.
Our lips rarely parted as our hands moved, both of us clutching at the other. Filling some primal need to be closest to the person we loved with so much uncertainty ahead of us. In the aftermath we just held each other, saying nothing. Trading softer, gentler kisses until it came time to sleep.
There, in her arms, my body still warm from what she'd done to me, I felt... like I could handle everything that was coming. That I could get us through this night. Get us all out of this ruined city.
I fell asleep with my face pressed into her neck, feeling her own breathing slow and steady below me.
To my immense regret we slept for a mere few hours before Fiolya opened the door, sticking her head in.
"It's first bell." She reported quietly, "Time to let Ser Zatris sleep. I made tea for you both."
Mumbling a thanks, I parted with Merrill reluctantly. She didn't seem any happier, covering a yawn as we labored through getting our armor and clothing fixed up. My squire vanished somewhere around there, bustling about in the home, leaving us to our chores.
"Any news from Longing?" Merrill asked as she finally stood, stretching her arms out in a way that was utterly adorable. Even in chain-mail.
I shook my head with a yawn of my own, "No, she's stuck sitting around my Dream-Catcher still. Says the Nightmare showed up, he's lurking around again. Right now he's gorging himself on everyone else, but she's got to stand guard all the same. We're both pretty sure he could still break through if she's not there to constantly keep it reinforced."
She hummed, taking up her staff, rolling it between her hands to loosen her fingers up. "What about Fen'harel? Is he still trying to find you?"
"No, she thinks he left when the Nightmare arrived." I cracked my own fingers with a small groan, then twisted back and forth to loosen my back up. "Too many spirits are crowding, too many demons looking for easy meals. Making it hard for even him to keep track of where the Catcher is in the Fade."
"Good." She sighed, heading for the door, leaving me to follow behind her. "I... do kind of want to meet him, but I also don't."
"Same." I agreed. "We can think about that when we're in Ferelden. For now let's get some tea in us, and see what's going on outside."
Making our way to the small dining table, Fiolya was already sipping her own tea and nibbling on bread, we sat down to try and finish waking up.
Even then, with all of the shit going on, no one came to knock on the door. No one brought up what was happening outside. We just at our food, sipped our tea, and took those few precious minutes to relax. Only when our cups were empty, and we'd taken turns relieving ourselves in Elowen's bucket room, did we head outside.
One of my messenger boys was sitting down near the door, scrambling to his feet when it opened.
"Lady!" He fell into their usual clumsy salute, but proved to have learned from past snapping. He didn't wait for me to respond, just launched into his report. "The line is moving along very well, there hasn't been any other issues. Ser Zatris thinks all of the civilians will be through by dawn."
"Good." I told him, crossing my arms. "The Qunari? The Mages?"
"Still fighting all over the city." He admitted, "Um, we're not really sure what's going on though. We can't even see much from the Chantry Tower anymore, there's too much smoke. It's strange though. I mean, there's smoke, but we're not seeing much fire. It's mostly spreading west and south with the wind though. And there's... kind of a red glow in places."
While the red glow was ominous, and I was pretty sure I knew what it was, at least the fires weren't an immediate danger. Not yet at least. If stayed too longer that would probably change, unless the Qunari and citizens outside our walls managed to get them under control.
"All right." I told him, "Is Zatris on the Wall?"
"He is."
"Good. I'll join him there, I want you to get into line with everyone else now." My chin jerked toward it, "At the back. Soon as you're through, tell the Baroness that you're the first of the soldiers to be coming out."
His despondence at being told to wait in line was countered by me calling him a soldier. The teen puffed up, saluted, and darted off. While he left, I turned to Fiolya, "Head to the Chantry, and see what you can see from the tower. Tell the kids up there to get in line as well. We'll be on the Wall when you're done."
She nodded, trotting off, following the line, leaving Merrill and I to take a moment to ourselves. While she wanted to handle it, I asked her to hold off putting a barrier on me. Let me try mine instead, to see if it could hold off the red lyrium's effect at a distance. Biting her lip, she'd agreed, watching as I cast the spell over myself.
It wasn't it went up that I realized that I'd been feeling a bit of the effect as it was. I felt lighter, more awake, shaking myself a little in relief. Merrill quickly cast her own barrier over herself to check, though she admitted she didn't really feel any different.
"It still wants you, ma vhenan." She murmured. "I'll be ready in case your barrier falls."
I kissed her cheek, threaded an arm through hers, and then we made to slip through the long line winding through the yard.
The citizens looked exhausted, shuffling forward one step at a time, but they seemed to be in good spirits all the same. On the far side most of the Watch and militia were asleep on the ground, using whatever they could grab from empty homes for pillows or blankets.
Taking care to let them rest, I stayed closer to the line, which drew the attention of those with nothing to do besides slowly walk forward.
"Your trick of the Qunari will be story for the kids." One of them said as we went past, "You saved us all, lady!"
I waved off the words, "Merrill saved us, and so did the Watch."
"You all did." A woman said, "You're the saviors of the People!"
Merrill had colored at my words, but I felt a bit of a blush at that as well. A second wave and bit more speed got us past them, taking the short walk down the side-street to get to the wall's nearest stairwell.
Climbing up it let me see that the kid had been pretty spot on in his description of the city.
I could barely see the stars overhead there was so much damned smoke in the air. The only clear air was to the northeast, where I could see the moon glittering between a few clouds, shining down on that part of Hightown. The Qunari must have made that section their new headquarters; I could see their banners on the towering walls, and plenty movement up and down the grand stairs over there.
But the rest of the city... was a wreck. A wreck with an ominous red glow in too many places for comfort. Places where the mages' explosions had dug up the red lyrium deep beneath the city, letting it rise to the surface.
Zatris was leaning on his bow at the north-western corner, a dozen or so men and women pacing the rest of the wall, looking as tired as everyone else when we approached.
"The glow started just after sunset." He said, voice quiet. "Sometimes you can see flashes near them. Mages fighting the Qunari, we think."
I nodded, leaning on the wall beside him. "No sign of them though?"
A shake of his head. "Nothing. The Qunari even pulled back their sentries. We haven't seen anyone living in at least three hours now."
Something about that struck me as ominous, and I said as much.
"Agreed." He replied, "But I wasn't about to risk sending anyone else out there."
"Nor am I." I nudged him, "Go and wake up the next watch for up here, then get some sleep yourself. I'll have Fiolya get you up just before dawn."
He gave me a tired nod, moving off. Telling the others to be ready to sleep once their replacements came up.
The pair of us supervised the changeover, and Merrill stood watch while I made sure Zatris actually did go to get some sleep. After that, we mostly stood around, trying to look calm and collected until my squire returned from her observations.
It took her longer than I'd figured it would. The Chantry bell clanged to tell us it was three in the morning before she finally arrived.
"Took your time." I noted when she came jogging down the wall.
"Sorry, Maeve." She said, "I was trying to figure out where everything is through the smoke. It's really hard to see much of anything, even from up there. But..."
Her hesitation told me it wasn't good news even before she stepped closer, dropping her voice to a murmur. "I think we should start to wake everyone up. Make sure they're ready for a fight."
I exhaled, giving her a sharp look. "What did you see?"
"I can't be sure," Fiolya hedged a little, "But, um, I think the Qunari are retreating toward Hightown, and I'm sure I saw at least one ship trying to leave the harbor. I could see the sails moving through the smoke more than once, and it was definitely moving away from the docks."
Merrill frowned, having picked up as much as I had about sailing thanks to Isabella. "They raised their sails? In the harbor, at this time of night?"
The teen nodded, "I swear that's what I saw."
Ma vhanen gave me an alarmed look, "We should wake them up."
"Yeah." I agreed, not liking the sounds of that at all. "Fiolya, go. Wake up the entire Watch, and the militia. Don't scream about it, tell them I want them to be ready just in case. We've nearly got the citizens away, and I want to get out right after them."
Fiolya was off, clearly forcing herself to jog instead of sprint. Leaving her to rouse the the Alienage's defenders, I bit my lip, chewing on what she'd told us. My limbs practically shook with the need to pace, to burn off nervous energy. Something I couldn't do if I wanted everyone else to think I was totally in control of what was going on.
I compromised by stepping closer to Merrill, sliding an arm around her waist. And if my fingers started drumming a beat on her mail, no one needed to see that.
"...I don't like this. How the hell would a bunch of mages who've never seen combat make a Qunari invasion retreat?" I muttered into her ear. "Make their dreadnoughts pull out of the harbor?"
"I don't know, ma vhenan." She whispered back, her own arm snaking around me. "But... I'm afraid the red glow has something to do with it."
"Me too. You think that..."
My voice trailed off as I spotted one of those glowing bits of red in the dark, except it wasn't stationary like the others. It was moving, slowly, almost drunkenly, down the street. Headed right for the wall we were standing on.
I was just about to reach for my bow when I saw a second bit of red behind it. Then a third. That was more than enough to see me give up on the quiet, subtle thing I'd been going for. Turning around, I leaned down, shouting, "Up! Everyone up! Now!"
Fiolya had already roused those nearest, but my shouting had them turn sleepy rising into a far more panicked scramble. My squire took off like a bolt down the street, shouting in turn, "Arms! Wake up! To arms!"
Spinning around, I got my bow off of my shoulder, pulling an arrow out as well. "Ma vhenan?"
Merrill twirled her staff, humming, then played with what she'd come up while I'd been working on my flash-bang. Her flare of light wasn't nearly as obnoxious as mine, but her filter was also far better, shielding everyone behind her from the flare.
It gave me an excellent view of rolling walls of greasy fog and black smoke, and a wave of terrified people sprinting through it. Most were running north, heading for Hightown's stairs, but more than a few were actually running in our direction. Out of their mind with fear, and racing toward the first bit of light and safety that they could see.
And we could see the reason for their plight.
Red Lyrium Abominations, unarmored versions of the monstrous Templars I only vaguely remembered, were chasing the civilians. Even as I watched a portly man was caught by one. I expected him to be torn limb from limb, but what happened instead was worse.
The thing yanked something out of its own chest, rammed it into the man's wide belly, then casually tossed him aside.
I couldn't see what happened to him after that, but I was pretty sure I didn't want to. Instead I got my arms up, exhaled, and loosed my first arrow of the morning. It flew with the fading light of Merrill's spell, smacking into the monstrosity. I must have gotten it in the head, because the thing collapsed, going still, even if the glow from its body didn't fade.
"Another?" Merrill asked.
"No, save your mana, you'll need it." I told her, already drawing another arrow. "Tell the others to aim for the glow!"
She nodded, shouting that order as the Watch began to come up, as I loosed another arrow into the dark. Soon enough other bows were sending projectiles flying, trying to kill the things before they got anywhere near us.
The civilians arrived first, and it was... it was rough.
Some tried to climb the smooth stone of our wall, and didn't make it very far. A couple tried for the gate, screaming for us to open it. Which we couldn't; we'd disabled the chains, and dropped the massive iron slab to lock it in place. It would have taken a dozen of us, with ropes and levers, to get the bar up enough to open it again. That wasn't happening.
"Hightown!" I did my best to cut through the terrified screaming, "Go to Hightown! Northeast! Go northeast!"
A few seemed to hear me, bolting around the north-side, running for their lives. Too many were just... mad with fear. Howling for us to open the gates. To throw down ropes. Here and there a few of the Watch tried, but those results weren't any prettier. Fights broke out at once, men shoving women and children away, trying to climb, only to be hauled down by others desperate to try.
The Abominations were into the crowd before any could make it more than halfway up, adding thin, screeching howls to the cacophony. I felt the invisible pressure of the lyrium crank up several degrees a few moments later. A constant push that made me all too aware of it, making it harder to aim as my concentration wavered.
We kept pouring arrows into them as quickly as we could, but the games had been right about one thing; the bastards were tough. Several resembled pincushions before they went down, and only direct hits to their skulls seemed to kill them quickly.
Fortunately for us, it not for the city's citizens, the creatures proved to be rather fixated on their goal. While a few reacted to the bolts and arrows by trying to break through our walls with their bare fists, the vast majority simply continued their pursuit of the civilians.
They left plenty of those poor bastards dead on the ground.
They left plenty far worse.
I saw a young woman thrashing, screaming as one of them force-fed her a gleaming red lyrium crystal. Saw her trying to heave it up after it dropped her, only for nothing to come out. Saw her convulsing on the ground, clearly in unbelievable agony until I shot an arrow into her throat.
"Kill anyone on the ground!" I ordered, finishing off a second one. "Let's not see what that's going to do to them!"
No one argued with me, and by the time the last of the chaos was past, there was a dark stillness on the roads all around. Bodies laying limp, yet too many still had an ominous red glow emerging from their lips or open wounds.
"Keep watching, ma vhenan." I told Merrill, moving off of the archery step I'd been on. "Fiolya! How many made it up?"
"Three!" Came the quick reply, "Two men and a woman!"
While Merrill kept watch, I followed her down the wall to find three Humans huddled up. All of them were young, and fairly fit, which explained how they'd been able to fend off the others long enough to make the climb.
From their expressions they were just as terrified to be rescued by us, the woman of the group actually huddling up in pure terror when I approached.
"What the fuck is going on out there?" I demanded, not about to waste time being gentle.
While the girl couldn't seem to speak, and one of the men was shaking nearly as badly, the third found his voice. He had the look of a sailor, and his accent had a trace of Antivan when he spoke.
"No one knows." He told me, and the Watch standing guard over them. "Those things just... came out of the ground when the Mages burned the Chantries. Ox-men held them off for a while, but then the Mages came out too. Last I saw the big bastards were going up into Hightown. Sealing it off again, trying to get anyone whose not already glowing up there with them."
I crossed my arms. "What happens to the people they catch? The ones they feed that crap to?"
He shuddered, "Don't know. Don't want to know."
"...fair enough" I exhaled, then jerked my chin toward the stairwell. "Find a house to barricade yourselves in if you want to hide, or you can try to climb down the east wall if you want to run for Hightown or the nearest gate out of the city."
The other man managed to stutter, "Y-you... y-you're not g-going to k-kill us?"
"Contrary to the crap people say, I'm only a part-time monster." I motioned for them to shoo, "Hide or run, make your choice."
Taking that as their cue, several of the Watch grabbed them by the arms, getting them up. None of them fought back as they were led down into the Alienage proper, the soldiers steering them away from the long line, not about to let them see it. Or ask what was going on.
"Orders?" Fiolya asked in the expectant silence that followed.
I inhaled, counted to five, then let it out. A second time helped me calm down a little more, enough to tell her. "Find five other people as light as you. Get onto the southern wall, and stand watch as best you can. Don't risk it if the footing is bad. If you fall down out there, we can't get you back in."
"Watching for more of those things?" She asked.
"Yeah. If they come for the Gate, we need to be warned. Now go."
She went, picking out other women nearly as young as she was, and all of them nearly as short as the both of us. Leaving her to that, I started to head back to Merrill when someone else called out.
"More of them!"
"Aim carefully!" I shouted, picking up the pace, "Don't waste your arrows!"
That next wave was clearly aimed at us instead of pursuing the fleeing mobs. That was bad enough, but what was worse was that the people who came forward were recognizably people, instead of horribly mutated creatures. Their eyes glowed crimson, more of that foul light coming out of their mouths when they opened them to shriek. There was more than a hundred of them, all shuffling down the street.
As if they were a single creature they shifted from a ragged walk into a furious charge, swarming right for our home.
Our people didn't need an order to start shooting. Crossbows clanked and bows sang as everyone who could fit onto the western wall cut loose. Despite the horror of what we were looking at, most of them stayed true to my orders; they aimed carefully each time, making sure they weren't wasting arrows on the buildings, or letting them fall short.
"Ma vhanen!" Merrill was clutching her staff when I arrived, "It's blood magic!"
I glanced at her, "You're sure?"
She nodded, "I felt it. It's a puppet spell, but they're using it on all of them at once somehow. Maybe the lyrium is letting them channel it."
It would certainly explain why the big bastards were forcing everyone to eat the crap, or shoving it into their bodies some other way. It was letting the mages control them like necromancers manipulating the dead... but that meant the horde had a brain.
And a weakness.
"Watch for them." I told her, "Hit them as soon as you spot them."
The words had hardly come out of my lips before her attention focused on something to the right. Her staff snapped down a the same time as my eyes tried to find what she'd seen.
Her bolt of lightning rather helped with that, revealing a tall figure in heavy robes who'd just clambered atop a building in the near distance. His own barrier held off her first spell, but her second blew it to pieces. I already had an arrow set to the string, and released it the moment I saw the flare of shattering magic.
He pitched backwards, and nearly half of the mob below abruptly slowed. Several dropped, clutching their heads, their throats. Plenty seemed to remember that they should be agony and began to thrash and scream.
The rest of them kept trying to climb the walls however they could, which wasn't very well.
It was Merrill's turn to shout orders, leaving me to follow when she began to race down the wall, towards the part of the mob that was still organized. "Find the other mage! There has to be one left!"
Our fire slackened as our soldiers took that in, eyes going up from where they'd been focused down.
"There!" A man shouted, firing a bolt from his crossbow at whatever he'd seen. "On that balcony!"
A dozen more bolts instantly followed, leaving the mage to flee back inside before their own barriers could collapse. His concentration must have broken, because the rest of the Red Lyrium Zombies started to collapse as well.
It didn't last. He got settled again, getting his spell going once more, but he must have ordered them to retreat instead of continuing to shatter their hands against the stone. That still left several dozen of them milling around, or convulsing in pain, and we took the time to finish them off.
Partly because they could probably be taken under control again if we hadn't, but mostly because it was just that nightmarish to see them still living.
When a second horde didn't show up within a few minutes, I decided on another gamble and left Merrill in command again. Heading down to the yard, I found Zatris buckling the last of his armor on, chugging tea.
"No, you're not staying." I told him, pointing to the Chantry. "I need you in there, start directing everyone to pick up the pace. There's at least a dozen platforms between here and the castle. Tell people to start packing in on them, every third person or so so that the line can keep moving."
The first real member of the Night Watch, my first second in command, froze with his cups to his lips. He forced himself to swallow, tossing it aside.
"You're sure?" He asked. "People might fall. Will fall."
"The mages are coming." I told him simply. "They're messing with crap they can't understand and can't control, and it's only going to get worse from here. You need to get them moving faster. We've got to get everyone out in the next hour or two or we'll be glowing just like them. Not get going, I'll be the last one through."
Zatris closed his eyes for a bare moment, then turned to look around the Alienage. Clearly taking a last look at his home, his gaze lingering on the Vhenadal. Then he turned back to me, and simply held a hand out.
We shook once, and said nothing else as we parted company.
