The worst part wasn't the waiting.

No, the worst part was the three kids standing at attention, doing their best not to stare at Merrill and I. They were failing miserably at that, just as they were failing to hide the fact that they were expecting me to deliver some great wisdom. Some great battle plan that would see us slaughter the Qunari without losses. A plan that would see us come to the city's rescue, a plan that would see us finally accepted.

...all right, I was guessing at most of that, but their awe-filled stares gave my imagination plenty to work with.

Another less than pleasant factor were the sounds of distant explosions; the music of buildings collapsing. The Qunari were definitely up to something out there, but I had no idea what, and the lack of information was rapidly adding to my stress levels.

I bought myself time by sketching out the positions of the Watch with one of the charcoal pencils, asking Merrill to go out and check my numbers. She did, returning quickly to confirm them.

We had forty soldiers in total at the top of the gates, including the Templars and Guard, not including the archers above. A full hundred of the Watch were waiting near the Vhenadal for my battle orders, and the remaining thirty or so were with Zatris on the walls and roofs.

The militia I marked as well. There'd be another hundred or so of them, but their only real job would be to guard the whole of the Alienage once we left, rather than just the Darktown entrance.

"Hundred and forty or so foot soldiers." I muttered, finally giving into pace around the table. "Thirty or so archers. A fifth of the Qunari force, at best. And we're Elves trying to attack Kossith in close combat."

Merrill hummed, looking down at the map. "Most of them won't be looking at us though. Will they?"

I shrugged. "From the fact that none of the messengers or archers have burst in here screaming about an impending assault? That implies they're focused on Hightown like we thought."

"So we just attack them from behind then, don't we?" She reached out with a finger, tracing a straight line to where the nearby Hightown stairs were. "Can't we trap them on that long stair?"

"Ideally." I shook my head. "But the Qunari definitely know we're here. Probably know exactly how many of us there are even. There's no way they'd make it that easy for us."

"True." Merrill absently stepped in my way when I tried to pace around her, forcing me to stop. "What are you thinking, ma vhenan?"

I took a deep breath, counted to three, then let it out.

I had no goddamned idea what I was thinking. The extent of my military knowledge was helping Isabella plan raids, and our single defense of the Alieange against the Mages and their mercenaries. In both cases I'd mostly relied on the knowledge of the people around me to actually do the real planning, and either played the figurehead or the second-in-command.

I was content in both roles. The former left me able to rely on everyone else, and the latter had me simply executing Isabella's plans. Unfortunately, here and now, everyone else was busy preparing our troops, leading them, or getting ready to care for the inevitable wounded.

All I had to rely on was Merrill, and her knowledge wasn't any better than mine.

Sure, she had some experiences from her time with the Dalish. Defending the Clan from bandits and such. And I had scraps of memories from school, shows, video games, and movies. The problem was that none of what I could remember really applied to a battle like this.

But that didn't change the fact that I needed to make a decision of some kind. I had a little bit of time; medieval battles seemed to take longer to unfold than the modern ones I was used to watching on television. Plus there was the fact that it was a city, and a cramped, confused mess of one at that.

It would take the Qunari a while to get their main troops from their compound to the gates of Hightown, then longer to fight their way up those stairs. Then there'd be the gates, which should be able to hold for a bit, even if only small numbers of guards were in place to slow them down.

I had time to think... if only a little time.

"You," I picked out the middle of the messenger boys. "There's an hourglass in Thrask's room. Get it, bring it here, and get the sand falling for me."

The kid hastened off, Merrill humming into my ear. "Is that how long we have?"

"We have to have started moving before it runs out." I confirmed just as quietly. "That's probably longer than we actually have, but I just don't... I don't know."

Warm lips pressed against my cheek. "Breathe, ma vhenan. You can do this. You're good at this."

I focused on my breathing, on the warmth her kiss had left on my skin.

"Good." Another kiss, "Now, ma vhenan, what are you thinking?"

"I think... that I want to pin them in the stairwell like you said." I reached out, tapping the courtyard attached to that stairwell. "If we can fill that street with spearmen, we can cut them off from getting back to their Compound. Then we use the Templars and archers to guard the side streets and alleyways as best we can. Plus us."

Merrill leaned into me a little, seeing the problem from what I'd already said. "But how do we do that if they know we're coming?"

"Yeah." My lips pursed as I considered that.

I was still considering it when the first messenger arrived; the young man who'd been sent to find Zatris.

"Lady." He saluted, fist to heart in the Templar way. "Ser Zatris's report for you!"

My hand waved at once, "Just tell me."

"The Qunari are all west of us, moving up Main and Blessed streets." He reported. "They have many of their mages who they've used to destroy several attempts by the Guard to slow them down, and they've definitely reached the main stairwell to Hightown. He thinks they've also used magic to bring buildings down into the street between us and their main group, maybe to try and slow us down."

I scowled. "Where?"

He gave me the locations, and I marked them down at once. All three of the roads that would take us to the Qunari's flank the fastest. Damn. So that was what they'd been doing.

The young man swallowed, going on, "Most of the shems have fled, or are hiding in their homes. So far none are causing problems, and his people saved a few wounded guards that they're trying to get here."

"Good." I said, trying to think as quickly as I could. "Go back and tell him to consolidate his people here, and to report to me directly."

He nodded, saluted, and then bolted back outside. For my part I was already raising a hand, pointing at the nearest of the messengers I'd been given.

"You," I said as authoritatively as I could. "Go to Elowen and tell her to find any of the militia who have bows. They're to take the place of anyone already on the walls so that they can join us out here. Repeat that back to me."

The boy did, and at my second wave, ran off to deliver the message.

On his way out he nearly ran into one of the scouts that Nethon had sent, the sole woman of the group.

She saluted, and won a mental point by launching into her report without any extra crap.

"I couldn't get far down Third Chantry Street." She told us. "The ox-men brought down the baker at the corner of that intersection, plus the clothing merchant across the street. The rubble's hip deep, and they've got at least a few crossbows waiting behind it. They shot at me before I came back."

"Kossith or other?" I asked.

"I didn't see horns." She replied, "But I think they were trying to pile the rubble up even higher."

I nodded at the news, despite the fact that it was wasn't anything like good news. "Well done. Get some water, rejoin Zatris."

Another salute and she was gone, leaving me mulling over the first parts of a plan. It wasn't anything genius, so much as it was an acceptance of the obvious. The Qunari were clearly prepared for us to try and attack them directly, so that was the last thing we could do. That being said, they might also expect us to try and go around, and going around could take a while.

Could take time that Meredith didn't have, so we'd have to draw their attention right away. That meant going right at them.

Chewing on my lip for a few silent minutes, I eventually waved Merrill closer. She slid in beside once more, letting me murmur my thoughts into her ear, pointing at the various streets I was thinking about. She listened intently, then suggested a different option.

"...that's more likely to be clear." I admitted, kissing her cheek. "Let's see what the other scouts say."

Two more scouts came back over the next twenty minutes or so, relaying much the same news as the first. The Qunari were throwing up as many roadblocks as they could using Saarabas and gaatlok, and also leaving plenty of medieval snipers to keep us honest on their flank. One of the men swore that he'd seen the main Qunari force already moving up the stairs, bulldozing their way through what few Guardsmen had been trying to hold it.

Muttering a silent prayer for Aveline's husband, I thanked them, sent them off, then sent the runners to gather the other knights. Maybe I should have waited for the other scouts to come back, but the report that the Qunari were already breaking into Hightown meant we were out of time. And besides, it had been more than a half hour according to the hourglass at the corner of the table.

It was likely the last two scouts were never going to come back at this point.

Soon enough I had Thrask, Zatris, Shina, and Nethon all crowded in, watching as I outlined what I wanted to happen.

"The Qunari know we're here, and that we'll try to attack their flank." I said. "They clearly expect us to, so that's what we're going to do."

Nethon arched a graying eyebrow, looking amused. "Walking into a trap?"

"I will be." I said firmly. "Along with Zatris and all of the archers. We're going to go out and start playing games with their own archers and crossbows, try and work our way past the rubble. I want the Qunari leader to think we're trying to be careful, methodical. Make him think his plan to buy time is working."

Reaching out to my left, I traced a different route. "While we're doing that, Ser Nethon will take the rest of the Watch down Gull Street, and crossover at the Boulevard. Hopefully that road will be open, and you'll be able to swing right up onto Main, and come at the Qunari from behind."

When he nodded, I glanced to the other two. "Shina is your second in command, if anything should happen to you. Thrask will command the Templars and anyone else you can find along the way, use him as your reserves. I'll retake command once we all link up, hopefully at the Landing Courtyard. Everyone agree with that?"

They did, and I went on. "Nethon, Thrask. Whatever you do, don't let the Qunari get behind or around you. Keep at least some people back to watch for anyone else coming up from the docks or Compound."

More nods, Nethon speaking up, "Do I get Lady Merrill? If the Qunari try and come at us in formation, a Mage would be just what we need to break them up."

I hesitated, but had to shake my head. Both because I wasn't going to let Merrill and I be separated, but also because I thought we honestly would need a mage.

"No. I need her with me to draw more attention our way, given how few of us there will be. With luck our little skirmish will draw some Qunari back, and you can hit them in the side as you come up. Everything clear?"

"A good plan, my lady." Thrask said, clearly trying to reassure me. "We will see it done."

Swallowing, I looked over my friends, saying simply. "Don't any of you dare get yourselves killed tonight. Let's go and get this shit over with."

Faint smiles came and went. None of them saluted, instead shaking my hand, clapping me on the shoulder, or else simply nodding as we all headed outside. A final order to a messenger boy had the kid run off, then come back with a bow and quiver for me, the weapon feeling too-comfortable in my hands as always.

Leaving Nethon to relay the plan to his subordinates, Shina was already running down to start marching the rest of the Watch up, I went to where Zatris and his archers were gathering in a loose circle.

"We split up in groups of ten or so." I announced after confirming there was just a few more than thirty of us. "Everyone on my left? You're with me, we're heading right up the middle. Ione? You move north one street. Zatris will take everyone else south a block. Remember, your goal is to harass and draw attention, not to drive off their whole damned army!"

"You heard her!" Zatris barked, "No one try to be a hero! Kill the ox-men and their supporters, but don't risk yourselves! My team, with me!"

He held up his bow, leading them off, Ione doing the same. My own group quickly followed me when I started down Third Chantry Street, Merrill's green magic swirling around both of us into protective barriers.

Not needing me to order them, the archers quickly split up. Four went to either side, scaling the buildings, prowling along their flat roofs, while the last three followed close behind, clearly escorting Merrill and I.

"Stay a bit further back." I murmured, drawing my first arrow of the evening. "We've got barriers, so let us draw the first bolts."

A quiet murmur of assent saw two men and a woman slow down further, staying a few yards behind us. Once I was sure they were good, I went on, "Loud and noisy, ma vhenan. Just mind your mana."

Merrill's nod was quick, her eyes focused down the street. "As you say, ma vhenan."

We continued our slow prowl forward, slowly separating until we were moving along the sides of the road.

Ahead I could see what the scouts had reported; rubble filled the street, and the ruined buildings to either side showed where it had come from. Unfortunately the Qunari hadn't been idle; they'd begun adding to their barricades. Furniture had been tossed haphazardly on top of the heaps of stone, raising its height.

I had the vaguest memory of the French doing crap like that during their revolution, but a crossbow bolt slamming into my barriers focused me on the moment.

My arms snapped up, my own arrow whistling away without any conscious input from my brain. That was still incredibly wrong to me, but it ended up with a figure pitching backwards, a shaft of wood driven into their skull.

A second bolt skipped off Merrill's barriers, forcing her to take shelter in a doorway, just as another forced me into an alley before I could identify where they were shooting from. Behind us the other archers began sending arrows down the street, taking what cover they could.

I saw a bit of motion that I sent an arrow at, but they ducked a heartbeat before it would have struck them. My swearing was covered up by a crack of thunder, Merrill's staff pointed out as she let loose with the lightening.

At least one of the Qunari screamed in agony for a few seconds before going silent, shouting in their language quickly following; the only word I caught was 'saarabas'.

"Grabbed their attention." I muttered, leaning out to loose another arrow, cursing when I saw it skip off an armored helmet. They ducked before I could make a second attempt, blind-firing their weapon my way.

The bolt shattered on stone somewhere above my head, leaving me free to try and count how many we were up against.

Two were dead-three, I amended, seeing a body topple from a window when someone behind me got an arrow into them. The shouting, movement, and return fire made me think that at least five or six remained.

A sudden scream made me step back, head snapping around to see one of our own down, a bolt in his guts. His companion grabbed him by the arm, yanking him into cover before anyone could finish him off.

"Get him back to the Alieange!" I shouted, "Go!"

"Lady!" The muffled shout was the last I heard from them as they retreated.

It was a shout that was echoed a moment later by a woman above me, apparently laying down on the roof to stick her head over the edge. "Lady!"

I snapped my gaze up, "What is it?"

"Only two up here, both dead." She reported, "We lost one, but I think we can move up on this side!"

"Do it!" I ordered, "But stay well back, we can't lose anyone else!"

She waved her acknowledgment, vanishing. A moment later three shadows leaped over my head, moving toward the enemy. A quick look to the far side showed the group who'd climbed up over there were having a harder time, mostly because the buildings weren't as ideal to move across.

Trusting that they knew what they were doing, I leaned out and loosed another arrow at the first bit of motion I saw. I was sure I hit them, unnatural aim for the win, but from the yowling I hadn't killed them.

Merrill cut loose with another bolt of lightning right after, half-deafening everyone, and I think wounding another of the crossbowmen.

The skirmish continued, almost surreal in how slow it was compared to what I was used to. Everyone was trying to stay in cover, trying to stay alive, and our weapons were anything but rapid fire. I mean, I supposed our bows had an advantage there, but trying to spam-fire-arrows was a great way to exhaust yourself.

And we had a long day ahead of us.

Maybe five minutes later the Qunari decided enough was enough; they pulled back quickly, using more of the same smoke bombs Tallis liked to carry to cover their retreat. It was a modern enough maneuver to feel surreal, like something I could have seen in a movie about Afghanistan or something.

We followed cautiously, and it was well enough that we did.

"...fucking hell." I groaned upon climbing the top of the barricade, looking past it. "There's another one. And a lot of fucking smoke to either side."

Merrill hummed, looking around a broken table. "I think that one's taller."

I was pretty sure it was. Worse, as we drew closer, I could hear the distant screaming of a real battle. A quick bite of my lip, and a glance around confirmed that Merrill and I only had one archer on the ground left with us.

Looking over the barricade again, I guessed it was a half block or so to the next one. A glance down let me see one of the bodies nearby, one with an arrow driven through his cheek and into his brain. He'd been Human, and hadn't been wearing armor besides a rough helmet.

"Dressed like a dockworker." I muttered. "Let's hope he was a recruit, and not someone they gave a weapon too and told him to have fun killing elves."

A quick shake of my head later, I waved for everyone to start moving forward again. We picked our way down the back side of the barricade, the archers on the nearby roofs cautiously keeping up on either side. That time there was no arrogant walking down the street, trying to draw their attention.

We already had that, so we moved in quick little runs, from doorways to alleyways, then back to doorways as we tried to stay sheltered.

The first bits of motion at the top of the barricade had me wave for everyone to stop, expecting a flurry of bolts. When it didn't come, I hesitated for a while longer, trying to figure out the right way to go about this.

This barricade had to be at least ten feet tall, a far cry from the much smaller one we'd gotten past behind us. No way we'd be able to get up it, and trying to attack from the street like this would leave us easy targets from up there.

No. Staying low was stupid at this point.

"Hey." I called to the pair of them across the street, "We're done on the ground. Up!"

The woman nodded quickly, looking around before sliding her bow over her shoulders. She began a quick climb of a nearby house. I expected Merrill to follow, but instead I saw her focus on reinforcing her barriers. I got her plan a second later, nodding once, putting another arrow to string.

She bolted into the open, sprinting across the street, and what seemed like a firing line of Qunari abruptly rose up to cut loose with the crossbows.

I leaned out, killing one with a precise head-shot, counting at least nine more who'd just tried to kill my girlfriend. For her part Merrill took at least three bolts to her barriers, but managed to throw herself into my little alleyway before her shields could collapse.

Giving her a moment to catch her breath, I picked out the best way to climb up the side of the building we were hiding behind. It was a task made easier when one of the Elves above us proved to have had the good sense to bring rope with them. They tied it off to something, throwing it down, letting us rapidly climb up.

There I found myself on the back-side of a sloping roof, the rope tied around a nearby chimney.

"Good news," The man who'd helped pull me up the last few feet said, "They can't hit us. Bad news, there's no more buildings to move along."

"...fuck." I swore, "Show me."

He did, the pair of us carefully walking past the others, the woman I'd spoken to earlier lingering to help Merrill up.

I saw what the man meant rather quickly; the Qunari had brought down an entire line of buildings, leaving a veritable wall of smoldering rubble. Their own fortified wall protecting their flank. The smoke was coming up from the ruins, and from what looked like several burning buildings just on the other side of the 'line'.

Considering how much mana it would have taken to accomplish that with magic, there was no way they'd exhausted their saarabas doing that. The scouts and Zatris must have been wrong; they'd used blackpowder, and a good bit of it. Bastards must have been smuggling it into the city for months, stockpiling it for a situation like this. Maybe even seeding bombs through Darktown... that would explain how they managed this crap so quickly. We must have missed an exit from their Compound down there.

Even as I poked my head over the crest of the roof I saw another rippling explosion off to our left; a Chantry's tower abruptly fell sideways, a massive cloud of dust belching up against the late-afternoon sunlight.

"Fuck." I snarled. "That had to be the one near Nethon. They're trying to delay him."

The man on my left tugged me back, "Lady, don't expose yourself for too long!"

I let him pull me down, the five of us all laying on our side of the roof.

All of them, even Merrill, were looking at me. Clearly expecting me to have some kind of plan. I swallowed at the attention, trying to work through an adjustment. Nethon wouldn't stop, he knew we had to move, had to threaten the Qunari badly enough that they at least retreated, but it might delay him.

Or maybe that blast would have killed who knew how many of people. I had no idea, and no easy way to learn!

My fucking kingdom for a goddamned cell phone!

"We have to keep pressing." I said. "They've made their great wall of rubble, but they can't have enough people to defend the whole thing. Merrill and I will stay here, keep their attention. I want you three to go back down, use the back alleys to find a way around. Slip through, get high again, then start sniping."

The man I'd been speaking with nodded, "Should we tell Ser Zatris if we see his people?"

A good idea, "Yes, but don't waste time searching for him. Go."

They went, vanishing back down the rope. I covered for their absence by scooting up, rising to a knee with my bow ready once more. I didn't really aim at anyone when I loosed the arrow, just slammed it into a fancy looking chair someone was hiding behind.

A return bolt skipped off a nearby tile, ricocheting past me, and I promptly sent another arrow at the man who'd loosed it. It hit him in the arm, making him scream and flail, and two more snapped down from our allies on the far side of the street when he exposed himself.

I waved for them to keep it up, a gesture they seemed to understand from the steady volume of arrows they cut loose with after that. I did my part, shooting off one a minute or so, with Merrill sending more bits of chain-lightning down every so often. My feel of her magic told me she was keeping the spell very weak; more flash and thunder than fury, but it was enough to scorch two of our enemies and keep their attention firmly on us.

Our little battle went on for a while. I honestly couldn't say for how long, but ten or fifteen minutes seemed about right. We killed at least two or three, but things didn't go entirely our way. At least one of the archers on the far side pitched backwards, dead or wounded, I couldn't tell. Merrill and I exposed ourselves for longer, drawing more of the fire, and we took enough hits that her barriers eventually gave up. That forced her to recast them, draining more of her mana away.

Then the Qunari were shouting at one another in a mix of Trade and Qunlat, a dozen or so figures abruptly becoming visible as they scrambled down their side of the barricade, running down the street.

All of us attacked them at once, arrows and magic cutting down at least half of them before they drew out of range.

The reason for the flight became clear when a man with dark hair cautiously climbed the barricade, bow held up above his head. He waved frantically, and I fully stood up, waving back. Another wave saw the other team start to retreat down to ground level, something Merrill and I got started on as well.

It took us a few minutes to get down, to jog over to the base of the rubble, Zatris already having another rope ready to help us up.

"Nethon should have gone past already." He said as soon as I was up beside him, "Did you see that Chantry collapse?"

"I did." I replied, "He'll be here, we just have to keep up the pressure."

A sweep of my eyes said I still had six archers left, and Zatris had brought five with him. I wanted to ask how many we'd lost, but more shouting from just ahead forestalled that.

The Qunari hadn't had the time to make a third level of defense, thank God. Instead they seemed to be pulling back their rear guard; men and women went running left to right, joining those we'd driven back.

Waving for everyone to pursue, we set off at a quick jog, following them down the wide street the remaining distance to Main Street. There wasn't any resistance save for a few badly aimed shots from crossbows, to which we responded with entire volleys of arrows. Reaching the corner, Zatris stopped me from being the first one to poke my head around, waving for one of his people to do it instead.

"Ione is already through!" The man called, "I can see her people fighting just ahead!"

Everyone started to move up at once, and I only barely grabbed the two men nearest. "Not you two! You two go south, and find Nethon! There's got to be Qunari between us and him. If there are we have to attack them first."

The nearest was just beginning to nod when the lookout turned the other way, letting out a joyous sound. "I see them now!"

Not letting Zatris stop me a second time, I took a quick step forward so that I could see around the corner. Sure enough a wall of Elves armed with long spears and kite-shields were rushing up the street in a tight formation, Nethon visible at their lead. He clearly saw us, barking for his men to keep moving while he sprinted ahead of them.

Merrill was already pulling her canteen out, offering it to him when he skidded to a stop nearby, panting for breath.

"My thanks." He gasped, taking a quick gulp, "They nearly dropped a Chantry on us. We had to divert south, then come around while Thrask's people attacked the group that moved to block us. We got through, but his people are being harassed in the rear now."

I grimaced, "Dammit. Zatris? Get some water in your people, then take all of these archers and go back him up!"

My old second in command nodded, his people following him, desperately drinking from their water skins and flasks, waiting for the main body of the Watch to come up.

"Lady Merrill," Nethon handed her water back, which she took as he said, "Keep her off the front lines if you can."

"I'll try." Merrill said, "But you know how she is."

I glowered, "I will hit you both in front of the entire army if I have to."

Both smiled, Nethon quickly moving to rejoin the leading section of the shield-wall. For my part, I let Merrill hold me back until the entire formation had gone past. Then we fell in at the rear, collecting Ione and her remaining people the next street over.

The horrible music of war grew louder when the first ranks of the Night Watch slammed into the Qunari's rear guard, the First Battle of Kirkwall beginning to spiral out of anyone's control.