The surrounding forest wasn't as thick as it first appeared. While the openness made it easier to move through the trees, and made it easier to see any danger, it also made it harder for Siara to slip around unnoticed. There weren't many times anymore that she was thankful for her Dalish upbringing, as short as it was, but this was one of those times. Even if the forest was reasonably open, she still knew how to use it to her advantage as much as she possibly could.
Demons were another matter entirely. Siara didn't have the most experience fighting demons, and the few times she had fought them she'd had help. Templars were almost always the ones called in to deal with demons. Siara and Jacen had basically never been asked to deal with demons, and they were asked even more infrequently once Mara was no longer with them. Siara would have preferred to do this with Barris' help, but she didn't want to risk being discovered earlier than necessary.
The first demon was the easiest to dispose of. It was a wraith, floating around not too far from the hill that Barris was still hiding on. Despite never really encountering demons in the past, one of Siara's blades was enchanted to be strong against demons. It had been one of the precautions put in place once they knew that Mara was practising blood magic. It was certainly coming in handy now. The wraith hardly stood a chance. A few well aimed slices with the blade enchanted against demons and it faded into nothing.
The next demons she came across had a mix of good and bad luck. The good luck was that there weren't too many demons. The bad luck was that they were more closely grouped and more difficult to dispatch than the wraith. There were three more demons. One despair demon and two shades. If they were even a bit further apart then Siara would have had a much easier time of dealing with them, but positioned as they were, she wasn't sure she'd be able to deal with them. She was also still uncertain how many demons might be lurking nearby, though she had been able to scout the area reasonably thoroughly. She had not, however, been able to check for demons just past the trio she was watching. There was a chance that she would be able to dispatch of the demons, slim as it was, but if there were more standing in the wings then the slim chance she had would go up in smoke. Reluctant as she was, she knew that perhaps using magic would help her chances. Though there was a good chance that the magic could get away from her and she could send the whole forest up in flames.
An irritated sigh escaped her as she watched the demons in front of her and braced herself for what was going to be a challenging, and possibly stupid, battle. She only hoped that her assumption about what would happen if the demons overpowered her was correct. Her best chances were if the demons were, in fact, under orders to bring anyone lurking to the mages. That was if Siara couldn't kill these three, or if there were more waiting nearby. If Siara wasn't killed immediately, then Barris would be able to help. The best Siara could do was try and kill as many demons as she could before capture. With any luck that would be enough that she and Barris would then be able to finish them off if things went badly for her.
Siara waited for one of the demons to peel off slightly from the others. There was no point in making it even easier for them to neutralise her, and if she could kill even one demon before the others overpowered her she saw that as a win. The despair demon was the one to move closest to her hiding place, and she shot out before it could see her, prepare to defend itself, or fight back. That left two shades for her to dispatch. They turned to face her, taking a moment to realise what was going on before they approached. They moved in perfect unison, and Siara couldn't see any openings in their defences. Much like when she was facing down those demons at Adamant. But this time, Cullen wasn't about to come and rescue her. On the other hand, she also wasn't being backed into a corner. If she could just use the trees to split these demons up…
She stepped back, breaking line of sight between her and the demons. This was probably her best shot. Provided, of course, that there were no other demons lurking around the place. If she could just get these two separated then she would be fine. One demon was something she could handle, as she had already proven. Fortunately for her, the demons fell for the bait. Siara just had time to finish swinging herself up into a tree when the first demon came slithering into view. Siara couldn't help but think to herself that shades seemed to move a bit like slugs, but she pushed the thought aside as she jumped down from the branches, landing on the shade, her black blade sinking into what would have been its skull.
Two down, one to go. She stood up, spinning to face the third demon, only to see that it wasn't alone. She wished that it was another demon with it, or even two. But no. Luck really was not with her at that moment.
"I'm impressed," the mage before her said. "Three demons single handed? A wraith, a despair demon, and a shade. But I'm afraid that all the talent in the world isn't going to help you now."
"You couldn't walk away and give me another five minutes, could you? That'd give me enough time to kill your remaining shade, then I can deal with you," Siara smiled, a low chuckle escaping the mage.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you," he said, stepping forward and holding out his hand. "Your weapons, please."
Siara raised her eyebrows at him, reluctant to let anyone touch her blades. She didn't even let Varric touch them. But these weren't normal circumstances, and she needed to increase her chances of survival. She only needed to play along until Barris could see she was in trouble and play the hero.
"You damage them, you'll be lucky if I give you a clean death," she said, placing her blades in his hands. He smiled again, stepping away.
"You won't get the chance," he told her.
The remaining shade moved forward, stopping beside Siara. She regarded it for a moment, then looked back at the mage. He had now turned his back on her, long red hair cascading down past his shoulders.
"You had better come," he told her. "They don't like to be kept waiting."
Siara looked around at the area she found herself in. The overhanging did, in fact, go a bit deeper than was visible from the hill Barris was possibly still hiding on. Fortunately, there were no more surprises hiding there for them. But the mage that was escorting Siara,assisted by the shade, made for blood mage number four. Siara wasn't much of a getting person, but she was inclined to put all her money on the mages. Well, if she had been sensible. But Siara was hardly a sensible person. She kept scanning the area, annoyed that the mage she had encountered in the woods was on her blind side. That would make things more difficult when she wanted to get her blades back.
"We have a visitor," the mage said. His three comrades all looked around at him with varying levels of interest and disdain written on their faces.
"Was she alone?" one of them asked, stepping towards Siara. He was taller than the mage that first found Siara, and appeared to be physically stronger. His arms were uncovered, and Siara could clearly see what could easily have been years worth of scarring covering his arms. The price of blood magic. Mara used to have a few scars similar to his, though far less noticeable. She had always put effort into healing her wounds, but this man didn't seem to care.
"There was no one else with her," redhead said, "but I don't know if that means she's alone."
"She'd have to be either stupid or overly self confident to be here by herself," the only woman in the group cut in. Siara half smirked.
"Those things aren't mutually exclusive," she said.
"Silence!" the scarred man snapped, the back of his hand connecting with Siara's cheek. "You shall not speak unless you are spoken to."
Siara pulled a face, then spat a small glob of blood on the ground. The blow had made her bite her tongue slightly, and now she was pissed. She hoped that Barris would hurry up and get here, but until then, all she could do was try to keep the mages distracted.
"What happened to the others?" the last man said, stepping forward. He was a small, almost mousey seeming man.
"It seems that our guest here disposed of them," redhead answered. Siara lowered her head slightly, smirking at the ground. Perhaps annoying these people wasn't the best idea, but it was the only idea she had. And if there was one thing she was good at, it was getting under peoples' skin.
"Seriously, Elmer! How could you let her? You know what it took to summon them!" the scarred mage seethed. Siara was beginning to think he had anger issues.
"I didn't know that someone was around until she'd already killed two, and I didn't know where she was until she'd done away with the third!" Elmer, the redhead, snapped back. "At least I stopped her from even damaging this one."
The scarred mage sighed angrily, stepping forward and looking over the shade that was holding Siara by the arm.
"Why are you here?" he asked, addressing Siara as he checked the shade, doing his best to ensure that Elmer had been telling the truth. Siara didn't say anything, her face unreadable. There was a good moment before the scarred mage turned to look Siara in the eye. She just smiled at him, doing her absolute best to annoy him.
"I asked you a question," he repeated, his voice low and menacing. Still, Siara said nothing, her smile growing ever so slightly. The mage stepped forward so he was looming over her. Siara's head stayed level, but she still watched him. She wasn't about to let him intimidate her. If she had to, she could try to burn his man-parts. That would serve him right, though she would prefer not to have to.
"We already know you are able to speak. I expect you to answer."
"We also already established she's stupid," the woman cut in. "Let's just kill her and summon some new guards, get it over with."
Siara's eyes flicked to the woman with interest. Perhaps she didn't like killing very much. Or perhaps she just didn't want to go through the effort.
"We need to know if she's alone, Alice," the scarred man replied.
"Oh, come off it!" Alice snapped back. "If there is anyone else then we can just kill them and use them, too."
"Unless there are even more waiting for her," mousey-man pointed out.
"That's what the extra demons are for," Alice spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"So I suppose I don't get a day in this?" Siara asked. She really hoped Barris wasn't too far away.
An almost sickening smirk slipped onto the scarred man's face.
"Perhaps if you answer our questions, we'll let you live another day."
Siara spotted movement near the edge of the camp, making his way towards the mousey man and Alice. She smiled, not taking her eyes off the scarred man.
"Good luck with that," she told him. She didn't give him much of a chance to be confused, wrenching her hand from the shade's grasp and promptly kicking the man, hard, between his legs.