I couldn't see a goddamned thing of what was going on ahead of me, and it was driving me insane.
What I did know was that Nethon and Shina had arranged our people into an Elven version of a Greek Phalanx, and they'd slammed into a group of Qunari who'd apparently been put into place as a rear-guard. After that? I thought we were advancing, slowly, but I didn't know.
Twice Merrill had to stop me from trying to move onto a side-street, to cut ahead, get a better idea as to what was going on. She couldn't argue when I decided to break into a three story tavern that had a balcony on its top floor. A group of Humans hiding behind the bar nearly attacked us clubs, then they realized we were Elves rather than Qunari, and then they nearly attacked us again anyway.
I honestly tuned out their screaming about how we were there to loot the place, how this was all our fault. Instead I barked for the back-most rank of the phalanx to peel off and follow us. Leaving their long spears outside, their short swords were enough to intimidate the innkeepers into shutting the hell up.
That left me free to climb several flights of stairs, using my shoulder to ram the balcony door open.
"Holy fuck." I hissed when I finally had a good view as to what was going on.
Our attack had driven the Qunari back most of a block, but I could see the massive shapes of Kossith holding in place just outside of the landing courtyard. It was hard to see the details, but I thought they had massive shields of some kind, using them to create a wall of metal that our spears couldn't get through.
The good news was that they didn't seem able to fight back all that well either. I saw one try to push ahead, batting aside a few spears only to be skewered by several more. His comrades yanked him back, the shield-wall rippling as someone else replaced him. Here and there I could see our own formation doing the same, wounded being pulled back, replaced by those behind.
If I'd waited on the ground another minute I'd have seen the first of them being brought back up close.
"They haven't gotten into Hightown." Merrill pointed at the stairs, "I think they're retreating!"
My attention snapped that way, eyes following her finger to see that she was right. The bulk of the Qunari were definitely pulling back. Most were moving quickly, loping down the stairwell, while another rear-guard was retreating more slowly.
I got my confirmation that they did have Saarabas with them when the first magical blast screamed out, orange sparks rolled into a ball of force that was heaved up and over their men's heads to slam into the stairwell. A second and third followed, shattering the stone, and making a total mess of the stairs.
"Clever bastards." I growled. "Whoever is leading the Antaam has a serious hard-on for making barriers out of things. That's going to really screw up Meredith's ability to follow them."
I think the Qunari tried to make the damage even worse, but their sparks abruptly began vanishing as metallic figures began coming down the stairwell after them. Templars cutting off the spells, smiting the Saarabas before they could call up more power.
Not that it really helped; the damage was done. Their pursuit ended at the ruined bit of the stairs, men and women clearly struggling with their balance. Eventually they pulled back just above the craters and wrecked stone, unsure of how to cross it in the face of the enemy.
All the while the main Qunari force began regrouping in the courtyard. At a rough guess I'd have said there had to be at least three hundred of the Kossith still alive, probably more.
"Fuck!" I swore again. "Merrill! Go tell one of those soldiers to get up front to Nethon! We have to retreat before they realize they can take those side-streets to attack us. Tell him to pull back to this inn for now!"
She nodded, darting off, and I realized I should have taken the messenger kids with us instead of leaving them behind. A real military person wouldn't have made that damned mistake.
Clenching my fists, I swung my attention around, trying to remember the map of the city. I'd have pulled everyone back to the Western Plaza, but that had been completely changed as part of Dumar's upgrade project. I didn't think we could fit there with how small it was now.
The Qunari's own barricades would probably work, but that would leave us way out of position. They'd probably just ignore us, retreat right back to their fortified compound. We couldn't let that happen, not when they had to have reinforcements coming by sea. Not when whoever was leading this lot seemed to be too damned competent for my peace of mind.
Merrill rejoined me while I was still desperately trying to think of a new plan, one of the soldiers we'd conscripted racing down the street below.
In the end the Qunari solved my problem for me; they didn't just charge into us like I thought, even when our phalanx began to move backwards. Instead I saw them start to move west, leaving two rear-guards to defend both of the other exits to the courtyard, plus a knot of soldiers in the middle. A reserve or their mages maybe, ready to hit either us or the Hightown forces when we tried to breach the landing.
Just around then one of Zatris's archers came pounding up the stairwell, the poor man gasping for breath.
I yanked my canteen off, handing it to him when he slumped against a wall. "What is it?"
"Thank you, lady." He panted, taking a quick gulp before saying, "More Qunari skirmishers keep getting around us. One of them is the Tallis that Ser Emeric said attacked you. She killed both of those shem knights."
Fuck! Again!
"Ser Thrask ordered a retreat." He went on, oblivious to my mental swearing. "He's heading this way, but wants to know where to make a stand."
Fighting the urge to scream in frustration, or just to relieve some of stress that made my chest feel too tight for my heart, I made a snap decision and prayed it was the right one.
"Pull all the way back here." I ordered. "We'll hold this intersection, and then a line of retreat back to the Alienage. Wait!" He stopped just before he could try to run off, "Not you. Tell one of the soldiers downstairs to go, they're fresh and you need to rest."
"Thank you, lady." He handed the canteen back before staggering off to relay that order.
As the sun moved closer to the horizon, the sky darkening ever so slowly, my mood did not improve. Nethon divided the spear carriers into their three component groups, using the two that were still mostly intact to hold the northern road to the courtyard, then the western road the Qunari tried to come down to hit us from. The last unit moved south, letting Thrask and Zatris's people finally pull back and rest, and held the three-way intersection there.
Tallis and her people tried to snipe out a few of them until Merrill and I went out. I picked off two of them with my bow, and Merrill cut down three with a single chain-lightning. They pulled back after that, vanishing into the mess of Lowtown's winding streets.
I was worried they were trying to come around us again, get between us and the Alienage, but that never came. They must have been trying to get into contact with the Antaam instead, to get clearer orders on what to do.
End result? Both sides spent another hour or so lightly skirmishing in the narrow streets. I sent out scouts to try and find the Qunari's real position, and Tallis sent her people to try and stop them from reporting back. That led to me sending Zatris and his archers back out in force, with only Shina and Merrill physically grabbing me stopping me from going with.
They returned to confirm that the Qunari had thrown up rudimentary barricades to our north and west, and that they'd seemed to have set up their own headquarters in the Chantry that lay about five blocks in that direction.
It was information I'd needed, and it was information that left a dozen men and women dead or badly wounded to get. One of those wounded was Zatris himself, who'd been hauled back to the Alienage with a bolt sticking out of his shoulder, and another in his calf.
I'd pulled back the rest of the scouts and archers after that, keeping them near me. They were wolfing down what food and drink we could give them, resting exhausted arms and legs while I talked with my remaining officers.
"They're divided into three groups." I was kneeling in the dirt of the street, crude lines depicting the rough streets around us. Shina and Nethon were both kneeling nearby, watching as Merrill carefully drew circles with her staff to indicate where the Qunari were set up.
"One group holding the Courtyard, they haven't budged. Their main force is at the Chantry to the northwest, probably holding their own council of war to decide what to do." I used my sword to point at each group in turn, "And then a rough line of archers, skirmishers, and their Viddathari converts stretching south. Probably to make sure we can't flank them, or don't try to cut them off from the Compound."
Shina hummed. "Could we?"
I shook my head, "No. Well, yes, but what would that get us? They'd just rush into the Alienage instead and fort up there. There's no way the militia could hold them back, and they could take enough food from our people to hold out for quite a while."
She grimaced, nodding. "Right, sorry. That's kind of obvious."
"It's fine, we're all tired." I said, pursing my lips in thought. "As much as I hate to say it, I think we're stuck in place until Meredith figures out how to get down here. We don't have the numbers to attack them head on, and they'd attack us from both sides if we even tried."
Nethon reached out with his own sword, pointing to the courtyard. "I think we could break through there, kill or drive off the men they have holding the base of the stairs. If you and Lady Merrill could break up their formation, a rush could get us onto them before they could recover."
I was still totally tapped out of mana, and I wasn't about to drink lyrium to get any back. Not when I both knew what it was, and did not at all like what the raw stuff of either color did to me. With my luck my heart would explode the second I tried to drink it.
But it wasn't the worst idea. There was just one small problem.
"But could we do it with just the thirty spears you've got facing them?" I asked, "Plus the fifteen or so archers we've got left? I don't want to weaken any of the other lines. Not when the Antaam's main group could be ready to charge us at any moment."
It was his turn to grimace. "Best count of the Qunari over there is what, forty?"
"About." I said.
"...maybe." He stressed. "It would all come down to how many Lady Merrill could bring down."
We call glanced at her, making Merrill flush slightly. "I don't know. I'm getting tired, and they might have that paint that protects them from my spells."
She could have just used blood magic, but that would have been a step too far even for our friends. None of them begrudged her for being a former mage of the Dalish, but if she started cutting herself for power...
A lot of people in this city pretended she didn't exist so that they didn't have to haul her to the Gallows as it was. Many of them would have second thoughts if they found out she could boil a man alive from the inside out, and not use a drop of mana to do so.
Chewing on my lip for a moment, I exhaled. "All right. For now, we're going to hold in place. I'm going to help Merrill get some sleep to try and recover her mana, and make sure the archers try and nap as well. Nethon? Rotate your people in groups of ten or whatever you think you can spare. Let them rest."
"For how long?" He asked.
"Sunset." I said, waving to where that ball of fire was descending toward the horizon. It wouldn't be long, an hour tops, but it was an hour of rest we needed. Plus the dark would give us a small advantage, and I was all for taking any edge we could get. "If the situation hasn't changed come nightfall, we attack the courtyard in the dark."
No one protested the plan. Shina and Nethon saluted, then moved off to start picking out those people who needed to rest rather than continue standing at attention, tensely watching for the enemy. While they did that, I pulled Merrill back to the street we were using to carry our wounded to the Alienage.
Our archers were mostly sitting or laying down, save for a few keeping watch on the alleyways in case the Qunari found a way to sneak in behind us.
"No, stay down." I waved when several began to rise. "We're resting until sunset. If nothing changes, that's when we'll make a move on the courtyard."
Murmurs of relief came from the tired collection, most of them slumping right back down. For her part, Merrill let me sit her down against the side of a building, blushing a little when I knelt right beside her, my lips almost touching hers.
"I don't think I can sleep." She whispered. "Are you going to try using your trick on me?"
"Mmhmm." I hummed, bringing a hand up to lightly cup her cheek. "Relax, ma vhenan. Close your eyes."
Her cheeks pinked. "Only... only if you kiss me first."
I obeyed, leaning in to gently press our lips together. Her mouth moved, deepening it, tongue shyly slipping between mine. I let her keep control, taking a page from Longing's book, using the emotion as a fuel for whatever scraps of mana I could find in my soul.
It wasn't much, and my head began to throb with pain, but I got enough power together to start washing my sparks up and around Merrill's body as if I was pulling a blanket over her. Wrapping her gently in it, then trailing the power over her eyes.
Sleep.
The kiss slowed, then slowed, then her tongue retreated, breathing deepening.
I pulled my mouth away from hers rather reluctantly, a little bit of pride peeking through that I'd managed it on the first try.
"Longing?" I asked my tether, "I didn't just put her into a coma or something, did I?"
"You did not." She assured me, "She sleeps soundly, and is already dreaming. I would share the sordid details, but we have another problem to discuss."
Blushing a little more, and well able to guess the kind of dream I must have just sent Merrill into, I rose and walked a few paces away from everyone else, standing in the quieting streets.
"Hit me." I told her.
"There was some kind of unnatural magic nearby, not long ago. It was... foul in the way only the corruption can be."
My momentary embarrassment faded into tired anger, a harsh whisper coming out. "There's red lyrium in the city?"
"Or Darkspawn, but I do not think that likely." She replied.
I had to agree. Anders would have been running around, screaming his head off if there was Darkspawn in the city.
Anders... fuck. He had to still be down in Darktown. Probably trying to keep any patients he had safe. Or maybe he'd come up to the Alienage, and was helping treat people there. Either way he was as in danger as any of us. At least Varric and Fenris would be relatively safe, up in Hightown, thought I didn't doubt that both of them would be joining Meredith's make-shift army if they hadn't already.
I shook my head, I was distracting myself.
"What kind of magic?" I asked.
"The powerful kind. It left a scar on the Veil, and sent ripples through the Fade. Several Spirits of Hunger were drawn to the caster, as was Vengeance. They lurk about the mage you were near before all of this began."
...fuck. Orsino. What had he done? And how the fuck would he have gotten red lyrium, or used it? Especially when I'd been right next to him for most of the day. My reaction to that crap wasn't subtle. If he'd had it on his person I'd have known thanks to the uncontrolled screaming that would have resulted, and then Meredith would have chopped off his head right then and there.
"Yes." Longing agreed when I told her that. "I cannot be sure that it was him, or if he truly had red lyrium. He may have simply cast a powerful spell that revealed the corruption's presence nearby."
That felt more likely. If I remembered right, Kirkwall was supposed to be sitting on top of a ton of that blighted stuff. Nothing that we needed to worry about, so long as Anders didn't plant an enormous bomb under the Grand Chantry, but it was definitely down there.
If Orsino had cut loose on the Qunari in the way an old, powerful mage could... then maybe the after-shocks of his spell had made some of that lryium wake up. Just like how me touching the Idol in the Thaig had activated it years early. A problem, yeah, but if it was still buried well underground then it wasn't an immediate one. I could deal with that after the night's chaos was handled.
"Consider that a distant problem." I said firmly, reaching down to find where my Dream-Catcher was attached to my belt. "I'm leaving the Catcher with Merrill to protect her against however many spirits and demons are out there. I'll need you to do the same for me."
"Of course."
Returning to Merrill's slumped, sleeping form, I gently tied the hoop and its feathers to her staff before laying the weapon across her lap. A faint smile at how adorable she was when sleeping later, and I was forcing myself to walk back to the intersection that had become the heart of our defense.
I checked on the various men and women who were being allowed to sit down, to eat and drink. They seemed to appreciate the visit, every one of them assuring me that they were ready to keep fighting if it came to that. Patting a few on the shoulder, I moved down the street to find Thrask, making sure that his Templars and Guards were resting and recovering as well.
They were, and were just as quick to tell me that they were all ready to continue the fight. Among them was Lanamaya, who'd apparently dueled Tallis and come away from the engagement alive.
The young woman flushed at my attention. "It wasn't a great duel, my lady. A few exchanges at most before Ser Thrask arrived to drive her off."
Thrask had chuckled, "She is modest. She cut one of the woman's ears half off, and would have taken her head had she not retreated."
I arched an eyebrow, honestly impressed, and the one-time traitor had blushed further.
Leaving her to her meal of apples and water, Thrask had guided me away, confining. "The girl isn't defending herself at all. She'd be long dead without her armor. I think that threw Tallis off; she didn't expect to be fighting someone who doesn't care if they live or die."
"You want me to pull her back?" I asked quietly.
"If you could." He nodded, speaking softly. "I trust that she is ashamed of her brush with heresy, and that she fully intends to die tonight if she can arrange to die killing the enemies of her people. I... would rather not see that happen. Let her live and learn instead. More than that, a death seeker is not good for the morale of others. It would aid us all to see her put to other duties."
Exhaling, I waved to tell him I would, then moved on to finish inspecting the lines. When I finished I returned to Lanamaya, giving her a light kick on the shin to rouse her from the light doze she'd fallen into after eating.
"Up." I ordered. "You're with me."
Rapid blinking. "My lady?"
"My squire's not in the city yet, and I need one." I told her. "You're my new bodyguard and message runner. Come on."
"I... but... I'm not-"
"Up!" I barked before she could finish stammering. "Now, Lanamaya!"
Her armor clattered as she leaped to her feet, a hasty salute banging her fist on her chest. "Yes, Dame!"
I heard the muffled chuckles from the others as the young woman followed me away, Thrask and another old veteran giving me grateful nods when I took the death-seeker away. Returning to my old position, I promptly sent my new gopher running back to the Alienage with a message about our plans for Elowen, and I also told her to grab the messengers I'd left behind.
After that there was little to do besides walk over to where Merrill was sleeping, to lean against the building, standing protectively over her.
To nibble on some jerky, and try to relax while we all waited for the battle to resume.
It would be right before sunset that things began to happen again.
First was Lanamaya's return with my messenger boys, along with a group of recovered wounded. They confirmed that Anders had indeed come through Darktown, and nearly gotten himself stabbed by the nervous militia in the process. He'd helped Caelia get them settled, then gone to help our half-trained medics with their work.
I promptly sent one of the kids back with my thanks for his arrival, and a question if he'd seen any signs of the Qunari in Darktown.
After that I helped the five returned spearmen find their units again, and got the recovered archers to settle in with the others. I was beginning to debate waking up Merrill when a runner from Thrask arrived to tell me that the Qunari were starting to move again. Arrows and bolts were keeping his mixed group pinned down, and the darkening shadows made it hard for him to tell if the Antaam were trying to move around him.
I'd just begun to call for the archers to get up, fully intending on leading them on another scouting attack myself, when true relief finally arrived.
Cullen Rutherford appeared behind us, leading what looked like thirty odd Templars and twice that many Guardsmen. While the Templars' helmets hid their expressions, the Guards were all puffing for breath, clearly exhausted. Not that their tiredness stopped the Elves around from cheering their arrival, something that made the new arrivals all puff up a bit, clearly appreciating being appreciated.
I strode over at once, saluting when he pulled his ornate helm off. "Cullen!"
"Maeve!" He smiled, but he was breathing hard as well. "What's the situation here?"
Leading him back to Main Street, I brought him to our crude map. Everyone had been careful to step around it, letting me explain where we thought the Qunari were.
"They're moving right now, south and west is our best guess." I said. "But we don't have firm information. I was about to take my archers that way to find out just what they're up to."
Cullen nodded once. "Move your entire formation that way instead. My people will fall in here. The Guard-Captain has brought down a hundred of her Guards along Cliff Street, and the Knight-Commander will be leading a direct push down the stairs as soon as the sun finishes setting. At her signal we are to attack wherever we can to drive the Qunari into the western quarter."
I grunted, seeing Meredith's plan. "There's no gates out of the city in that section. We pin them in, corner them, kill them."
"Exactly." He waved at everyone around us. "Your position will be on our left, blocking any attempt by the Qunari to retreat toward the harbor and their compound."
"Got it." I glanced over my shoulder. "Lanamaya! Take those two boys and tell Nethon, Shina, and Thrask that we're rolling everyone one block south, and that I'm coming personally to back up Thrask at the end of the line."
She saluted, grabbing the other messengers, and running off.
Cullen had turned as well, a pair of other Templar squires racing away with his own own orders. Then he motioned for a third to approach, "Squire Trevelyan, see to your orders, and inform the lady of the rest."
Her full helm had stopped me from recognizing Eveyln, though I did when she spoke up. "Yes, messere!"
Then Cullen was organizing his troops, getting them ready to move up, and Meredith's squire was following me when I walked over to wake a Merrill who'd managed to sleep through all of the noise so far.
"Orders?" I asked on the way.
"The Knight-Commander knows your squire is absent." She replied, "I am to be your bodyguard."
I grumbled at that, even if it was what I'd expected. "You should be with Meredith."
"I obey my knight, who has many more capable guards than myself." A pause. "And besides, I know you, my lady. You need all of the bodyguards you can get."
Scowling, I reached down to gently shake Merrill awake. She stirred slowly, a perfectly cute yawn and stretch of her arms coming before she truly blinked her eyes open. The sight of so many Templars milling around woke her up quickly.
"We got reinforcements." I said, helping her up. "Come on, let's not linger too long."
Merrill didn't need the encouragement, the three of us quickly moving down the street. The archers didn't need my wave to form up into two lines, jogging along behind us. All around Elves were quickly forming up, moving in the same direction, but for once everyone seemed to actually keep things organized.
It was an almost seamless transition from one position to another, everyone flowing into the right spots without too much confusion.
We definitely threw whoever was running the Qunari's own scouting off; a group of them tried to come in, probably hoping to attack Thrask's mixed unit, and instead ran into a wall of spears and shields.
They retreated quickly, and I started a mental timer in my head when Lanamaya told me what had happened. They would relay what they'd just seen, and the Antaam's leader would know we were moving to cut them off. To corral them, and that a full attack had to be coming soon.
I wasn't really sure what his own move would be. Use more black-powder and magic to blow a hole in the western wall, and withdraw from the city? Try and break through our lines to get back to the docks? Breach Darktown, and vanish into those tunnels? Grab all of the food he could from the locals, then pull back into the western quarter for a siege?
I didn't know what he'd choose, or what the best option would be.
Reforming my little headquarters at Thrask's new position, I was getting ready to lead out the archers in a push when yet another Templar came running over. He pulled Trevelyan aside, whispering something to her, the girl nodding once before he ran back north.
"Boats were sighted in the harbor." She reported, "The Gallows has finally gotten the battle mages ready with an escort, and they're on their way."
"About fucking time." I said. "If they can hit the Qunari compound it'll be empty, or damn near that. They could take it easily and hold it. Then we could let the Qunari past us, thinking they've won, and hammer them from every side when they run into those mages raining fire from the Qunari's own walls."
Evelyn shrugged helplessly. "It will be up to whichever Knight-Lieutenant commands them. I don't believe the Knight-Commander gave any explicit orders for this situation, that was what the meeting today was supposed to decide."
I grimaced, shaking my head. "What's the situation up in Hightown?"
She hesitated, then stepped closer to whisper to just me. "Not good, lady. The Viscount went missing just after the attack began, and a Qunari assassin nearly reached the Grand Cleric. She survived, but it's the reason for the long delay in the counter-attack. Neither she nor the nobles wanted any attack at all until dawn."
Dumar was missing? Shit. He was presumed dead, from her tone. Tallis must have sent her better agents on those runs, while she tried to get rid of me herself.
Fuck! I'd liked Dumar. Even if he was a bit spineless, his heart had always been in the right place, and he'd been getting more competent lately. Without him, it would be a still-alive Saemus as Viscount, and that would be a god-damned disaster start to finish.
"Who has the book?" I asked.
"The Guard-Captain sent it to the Grand Chantry's vaults, under Templar guard." Evelyn reported. "Scribes are making copies as we speak."
Good. Good. We still had that, at least.
"All right." I exhaled, "We'll worry about the city's leadership later. For now we have to survive the night. Go tell Thrask that we're going to move one block south, then cut west and make sure the Qunari can't get around him. I think there's another Chantry there, we'll use that as our mark for where our line will end. I'll send runners back with reports once we figure out what they're up to."
Trevelyan nodded, going to tell him just that while I turned to my little collection of troops. Twenty-ish Elves armed with bows and daggers, three unarmed kids who looked scared yet excited, a death-seeking Templar squire, and then Merrill.
"Ready, ma vhenan?" I asked.
She nodded, thumping her staff once, my Dream-catcher swaying where it was still tied off. "Ready, ma vhenan."
"Let's go."