The trek to Suledin Keep went reasonably smoothly, with only a couple of skirmishes with red templars. Jacquelyn thanked the Maker for small mercies, and she eyed the walls of the keep as they approached. Vivienne, Cassandra, and Cole were all walking close to her. Vivienne and Cole seemed perfectly happy in the snow, but Cassandra looked like she was wanting to grumble about the cold. At least the fight ahead would help to keep them warm.
"Are we all ready?" Jacquelyn asked, looking at her companions with a small, determined frown as they passed under a broken bridge. Vivienne and Cassandra shared a look while Cole simply drew his daggers, muttering something incomprehensible to himself as he looked into the distance.
"It hurts," he muttered, sounding almost bewildered. "Singing, breaking, falling… the stone, it's hurting. It creeps into your thoughts, humming."
Jacquelyn was still not used to the strange boy, despite how long he had been with the Inquisition. Despite everything that he had done for her when they first met, she felt uneasy around him. She found herself wanting to trust him, but she also just found it difficult. He was a spirit. He could become a demon at any moment. And yet, so long ago now, he had risked everything to save her from a demon. His mutterings, however, reminded her of how different from regular people he was.
"Kindly keep your inane ramblings to yourself, demon," Vivienne scolded, barely containing a glare levelled at Cole. Cassandra frowned slightly. The Seeker seemed apprehensive of Cole, but had begun to seem less like she disliked him. Simply that she found him odd and unsettling.
"We should press on," Cassandra said, "before a patrol finds us."
Jacquelyn nodded, shrugging her shield off her back and adjusting it on her arm before once more turning and heading towards the Keep. It didn't take too long for them to realise what Cole had been on about.
Red lyrium jutted from the stone and ground around their chosen entrance, huge crystals that seemed to reach for the sky. They erupted between the massive, stone carved owls that appeared to stand watch over the entrance to Suledin Keep. Jacquelyn almost hesitated to look on in awe, but she didn't. Her attention was captured by the people fighting just before the entrance. There, fighting off three red templar knights, was Michel. How he had gotten there ahead of them, Jacquleyn was uncertain, but he had. And he wasn't about to win this fight, not against three of the large, lyrium encrusted templars.
Without having to give any orders, Vivienne was already throwing spells at their enemies, ice exploding upon impact. Cassandra and Jacquelyn threw themselves into the fray, Cole seeming to vanish before reappearing as he stabbed and slashed, then vanished again, over and over again. Ever the spirit, ever the assassin. With all of them working together, and with the help of Michel, it didn't take long to dispose of the red templars. Jacquelyn turned to face Michel when the last red templar fell.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, wiping her sword in the snow to clean it before returning it to its sheath at her side.
"I will be all right," Michel answered, inclining his head to her, "thanks to you and your friends," a small frown appeared on his face as he sheathed his own weapon. "I'm afraid I have bad news, Herald. Your efforts to drive off the red templars have not gone unnoticed. Imshael knows we're here. He's sent red templars after me, and a pack of Shades descends now upon Sahrnia. The people are defenceless - I must return without delay! It's up to you to destroy Imshael."
"You had better move quickly if you are to reach Sahrnia in time," Jacquelyn stepped aside for him. "We shall meet you there once we have disposed of the demon."
"Thank you."
With that, Michel hurried off towards Sahrnia. Jacquelyn watched him for a moment before turning her attention back to the doors in front of them, stepping towards them and trying to push them open. Of course, they were barricaded from the other side. She turned to face Vivienne, looking at her expectantly.
"Are you able to open it? I do not think Cassandra or I are capable of bashing it."
"Stand back, darling," Vivienne raised her staff once more, power dancing at the top of it, readying to burst free.
Jacquelyn stepped away, moving her way to stand behind Vivienne with Cole and Cassandra, watching as shards of ice flew towards the door, exploding on impact. It didn't take long for the door to succumb to the attack, collapsing in a pile on the stone and snow. Vivienne looked around at them with quiet pride and Jacquelyn smiled at her in thanks before taking the first steps through the hole where the door once was.
They walked through a short tunnel with a cobbled floor, carts with cages on them lining the halls. Some of the carts were covered, but the majority of them were empty and open to the world. Jacquelyn didn't like what the carts implied, but she didn't stop to think about who might have been in them in the past. They were empty now, and that was what mattered. She glanced at her companions, seeing if they gave any reaction to the carts, but their faces were all as determinedly blank as hers was. Their minds were all set on the mission at hand, and Jacquelyn was silently appreciative of the fact. Distraction and speculation never helped to get the job done when you already knew what the task at hand was. Killing a demon. A desire demon. Jacquelyn wasn't entirely sure what to expect when she reached Imshael, but she wasn't entirely looking forward to it.
It wasn't long before they found themselves battling another small group of red templars. Arrows flew, magic exploded, swords clashed. Jacquelyn and Cassandra fought side by side, keeping the red templars away from Vivienne as best they could while Cole darted in and out, stabbing and slashing, incapacitating where he could. It was quick, it was messy, but Jacquelyn and her companions made it through the skirmish with only scrapes and bruises. And then they turned their attention to something more disturbing than just the red templars. They stood for a moment, looking at the giant's body in the cage. Dread filled Jacquelyn, a deep pit in her stomach. She didn't like what she was seeing. None of the scouts had managed to discover this, none of them had told her that the red templars, and by extension most likely Corypheus, were experimenting with red lyrium and giants. Giants were already fearsome enough as it was, the Inquisition did not need them to be infected with red lyrium.
"This is madness," Vivienne snapped. "Giants are horribly uncontrollable at the best of times. To infect them with red lyrium is simply ludicrous."
"The red templars already lack in the mental department," Jacquelyn replied, her eyes fixed on the corpse of an infected giant. "Many of them have already lost their sanity. Any order they are given, they will follow. If they have been ordered to capture giants and infect them, then they shall do so, regardless of what it may cost them."
"You mean regardless of if they'll get killed in the process."
"Yes, Cassandra," Jacquelyn agreed, "and that does not bode well for us. Neither here, nor in the long run. If they are running these experiments here, who is to say they are not planning on using these giants in other places?" she shook her head. "We shall have to inform Leliana when we can. For now, we should press on. We must deal with Imshael."
She turned and started walking away, Cole not far behind her. Vivienne and Cassandra stayed for a moment longer, regarding the giant, before they silently followed after them.