"Left! Left! Left!" Cassandra groaned loudly, banging her fist on the dashboard as the truck all but flew passed the road she was pointing at. "You missed it!"

Cullen took his eyes off the road for only the split second he needed to shoot her a sharp glare. "I know where I'm going!"

"The map says—"

"I don't give a single shit what the map says!"

Varric sighed heavily, absently tightening his seat belt as Cullen continued to drive as fast as the truck would allow. "Mom, Dad, you're scaring the children."

Cassandra flipped around in her seat momentarily, glowering at Varric. "Shut up, dwarf!"

Varric scoffed. "Well, that's a first."

Skylar was really questioning her life choices right about now. She looked around to Varric and Dorian on either side of her to see if they shared her reaction. She couldn't be the only one in this truck who was wondering where exactly they had gone wrong to end up here.

Varric only shook his head, seemingly resigned to his fate. Dorian, on the other hand, seemed nearly unhinged. He was clinging to the door like it was his only remaining lifeline.

Skylar almost felt bad for him. He chose to side with the Inquisition only to get roped into what was beginning to look like a suicide mission, to save the bloody Templars of all things. She couldn't imagine that he'd want to stay after this, assuming they made it out at all. It was a depressing possibility; She was actually convinced that their experience had formed a unique kind of bond for a moment. They were the only ones who even knew what had happened, after all. They were the only ones to have had witnessed the horror of this 'Elder One's' victory. But she would understand if he left, at least that was what she told herself. She would be disappointed but she couldn't blame him. She wouldn't be doing any of this shit herself if she had any choice in the matter.

But that's what heroes do, right? What even is the right thing anymore?

At this point, Skylar was just feeling lucky that the scattered groups of these crazed templars were the only traffic they seemed to be encountering on this dark, desolate back road. Maker forbid if there were any civilians in the area. They seemed to be pretty deep in the Templar's compound now, making that possibility increasingly unlikely. But every time Cullen clipped one of the crazed templars with the truck, Skylar cringed. Cullen complained about the new dents being made, but all Skylar could hear was the sickening sound they made when they collided against the metal. She could practically hear their bones shattering.

Dorian shared an incredulous look with Skylar, thankfully taking her away from her morbid thoughts for the moment. "So, this is a standard Inquisition operation?"

Skylar shrugged, sinking further down in her seat. "I'm not really sure there's a standard Inquisition anything yet."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'?"

The incredulity quickly turned into outright offense. "Aren't you supposed to be directing this circus act?"

Skylar scoffed, hoping it would hide the fact that she was really trying not to laugh. She didn't even know why exactly. Maybe her mind was actually breaking apart now. "Yeah, right. I'm just the new girl."

Dorian seemed incapable of doing anything but blinking for a moment. His fellow passengers were genuinely concerned he suffered a stroke with the way his eye was twitching. "You're the bloody Herald of Andraste!"

"Riiiiight." Her voice was absolutely saturated in sarcasm.

"Now you've done it." Varric grumbled. He rested his head on the flat part of Bianca's handle as if he were praying. Probably for Andraste to deliver him from this situation, if Skylar had any kind of guess.

"A Herald of a human goddess who—"

"Hey!" Cullen slammed his hand on the dashboard, pointing at Skylar through her reflection in the rearview mirror like one would at an unruly child. "Don't you start with that!"

Skylar nearly shot out of her seat, ready to just fucking fight him. For no other reason other than he offended her. Because that was definitely not what an unruly child would have done. Her immaturity was a quickly forgotten afterthought for the moment. She still hadn't quite mentally recovered from the shit she just went through. That fight or flight mode was still lingering just barely behind the conscious thoughts in her mind. The fact that fight had seemed to win surprised even her. She was expecting herself to cower in a corner and wait for Killian to save her, just like always.

But Killian was gone. Maybe for good. She might never see her brother again. No one would be coming to save her. If she was truly alone, she was at least glad she actually had some of that infamous Tabris streak of violence when called upon.

After going through that Maker-forsaken time rift with Dorian, she was ready to sleep for the next week straight. It didn't help that the full moon was high in the sky, telling her it was late into the night without even looking at a clock. But then Cullen claimed to have suddenly gotten a message from a friend right when they climbed in the truck. The others seemed skeptical, but Skylar was inclined to believe it, given his reaction. Cullen was irritating on a few levels, but he'd never proven to be a liar. Maybe it was a trap, but Cullen certainly believed there was a genuine threat, and one they could do something about.

The templars were in trouble, he said, they wouldn't make it without their help. Skylar had half a mind to stand her ground and refuse to go with them. But it just didn't seem like a decision she would have been able to live with. Maker forbid more people died because she wanted a nap. All in the name of Andraste, of course…

She scowled at him through the rearview mirror. "Oh, now I can't even say what I want? Here I thought I wasn't a prisoner. I thought I was a 'valuable' member of the 'team'."

"Tabris! Maker help me, I swear I'll—"

"What are you gonna do? Ground me?"

A booming roar suddenly caught the attention of every disgruntled soul in that damned truck. To call this massive abomination a templar seemed equivalent to referring to an ocean as a pond. But there were, in fact, the unmistakable emblems and markings of a templar's armor hidden behind the giant red crystals protruding out of the monstrosity, just barely visible in the truck's bright headlights. There seemed to be no shred of humanity left in this thing. All the snark and rebellion left Skylar as she looked at that Maker-forsaken behemoth. It was horrifying, but she couldn't help but be saddened and somehow enraged by the sight of it. There was no question about the importance of their mission now. She knew all too well what had happened to that poor man.

It could have been Killian…

It was bad enough seeing her beloved brother like that in the…dark future at Redcliffe. But seeing this thing in the waking world was worse than any nightmare she'd had before. She was tired, aggravated, and just plain fucking done with it all. But this was more important than her discomfort, and even more so than her petty pride—however much she had left, that was.

"Hold on!" Cullen jerked the wheel, nearly sending the truck toppling over onto its side.

The cabin was suddenly filled with their cacophony of screams and expletives. Varric's hand shot out to cling onto the back of Cassandra's chair as he was pressed ominously against his door. "Curly?!"

"I got it!"

Skylar nearly hit the ceiling when the wheels finally came back down on the road. Her head knocked against Dorian's harshly. She attempted to verbalize a complaint but she was quickly drowned out by Cassandra.

"Right! Right! TO THE RIGHT!"

"I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING!"

Cassandra yanked the wheel to her side. There was a flash of red as the driver's side mirror snapped off violently. That behemoth roared angrily as it picked it's weighted arm up and began charging at them again. The fact that the thing appeared to be just as fast as it was powerful certainly did nothing to improve morale at the moment.

"Maker's fucking breath." Cullen shot a disgruntled glare at Cassandra as he regained control of the truck. "Varric, get back there and kill that thing!"

Varric shook his head in annoyance, but complied nonetheless. "Really, Curly? Get in the back? I wouldn't even fit through the damn window." The fact that he essentially had to crawl over Skylar to get in position didn't seemed to help either."Who puts a dwarf in the back of a truck anyway?"

Dorian scoffed, keeping his white-knuckled grip on the handle of his door. "That's like putting an Eluvian in the back of a Penske. Utter madness."

Once the small, back window opened, the horrendous sound of this blighted army washed over them like a flood. Their inhuman, distorted voices seemed to be shouting some kind of a chant. Whatever the words were, Skylar could only determine that they weren't Common. As she shuffled into Varric's old seat behind Cassandra, she briefly wondered if this was what the darkspawn were like, or if her mother had fought an even greater foe.

Thedas better hope I'm even half as brave as she was…or at least half the warrior Killian was…

Varric seemed undeterred, his expression making it seem as though this was just another Tuesday as he flicked on the cabin light above him. He began readying Bianca methodically, almost mechanically so.

Dorian visibly cringed, rolling his shoulder as if the action would push away whatever revelation was bothering him. "Well, that's not disturbing at all…"

"Oh, don't you worry now, Sparkler, Bianca only hurts the bad guys."

The mage rolled his eyes. "I meant the voices, you pint-sized, pencil-pusher!"

Varric grunted as he wedged his shoulders between Cullen and Cassandra's seats to steady himself. He lifted Bianca into place, giving Dorian a sideways look as he steadied his aim. "Well, it'd be a good time to plug your delicate little mage ears."

"Wait!" Skylar stopped Varric before she even knew what she was doing. The question had to be answered. She didn't know why. She couldn't even make sense of it in her head. She just knew that she needed to know. "What are they saying?"

He shot her a grave look. "You really don't want me to answer that, Herald."

Cullen jerked the truck to narrowly avoid another of the behemoth's swings. "Now, Varric!"

Varric smirked as he eyed his target. "Bianca, baby, time to introduce yourself."

The behemoth emitted an unholy whine, but seemed otherwise unaffected by the rapid bullets Varric was pelting it with. It did seem to slow it down, though. By only a few seconds, perhaps, but it was enough of a gap to give them some much needed distance from it. Their small victory was short-lived, however. The creature seemed to realize that it was losing ground and adapted quickly. It snatched a nearby tainted templar and flung the poor soul towards the truck like a tomahawk.

Varric muttered defeatedly, nothing Bianca could would slow that damned thing down. "Well, shit."

Skylar saw the roof dent in before she heard anything. After that, the next few seconds seemed to pass incredibly slow to her. The initial impact was enough force to crush the windows. Glass was sent shattering all over each of them. Suddenly the chanting was louder than ever, so much so it was nearly drowning everything else out. Her companions seemed scared or outright angry. They were all screaming. The ground seemed to shake. The wind was positively freezing as whipped past them like it too had a bone to pick with them. She tried to focus on what they were saying, only to realize that her ears were ringing too loud for that.

Varric was shooting at the behemoth again. The tainted Templar seemingly died from the event, it's smashed body was littered all over the truck bed. The behemoth raised his crystallized fist once more. Skylar was certain they wouldn't be dodging that one. Cullen was too distracted. The road was becoming far too populated with the tainted Templars to facilitate any sudden maneuvers.

Let the Maker guide your hand.

She wasn't certain where that came from. She wasn't even convinced she had actually heard that in her own head. But the voice brought with it an undeniable command. She felt compelled to do nothing but obey…but the strange thing was is that she wanted to. The voice felt helpful, it felt safe. Like it had the best of intentions and the will to make her believe it could make it happen.

Bring it down.

And somehow she knew just how to do that. Her hand stretched towards the behemoth, her palm emitting a golden glow. With an unexpectedly simple gesture the creature was thrown into the air, only to be pulled harshly back to the pavement.

There was a booming cracking sound as the behemoth's body shattered the pavement for several yards around it. The ground shook so terribly that the truck lost traction for a moment. The behemoth made no movement after that. The tainted Templars seemed to be in frenzy, but soon enough they began to sprint for a specific direction.

Now that their obstacles had begun to disperse, Skylar was able to catch a glimpse of just how close they were to this ancient keep. They were well within the shadow of it's towering walls. She absently wondered if Cullen intended to drive them right through the gate at this point, as he seemed to have no plan of stopping anytime soon.

Dorian's raspy voice just barely made it over the background sound. "It's telling them to change tactics…They're going for the cathedral!"

"There!" Cassandra pointed to what looked to be a small, barricaded side entrance. "We can cut through."

Cullen looked at her as if she had suddenly grown three extra heads. "The truck won't make it through there."

"It will get us in. It's our only chance. We won't outrun the army at this rate."

Dorian leaned forward into the space between the front seats. "You're not really suggesting we barrel through a solid door?"

Cullen shoved him back. "Buckle up and shut up, mage."

Dorian spat foreign curses at him as he sank back into his seat, seemingly reluctantly accepting his inevitable fate.

It was then that Skylar noticed Varric attempting to pick shards of glass out of his forehead. "Varric! Are you alright?"

He straightened up, now that he realized she was watching him. He gave her a weary, yet reassuring smile. "No time not to be, Snowball. Hazards of the job."

"Hold on!" Cassandra yelled to them.

The trucks engine roared louder and louder as they got closer to the side door. Skylar felt her stomach drop as the reality of what was about to happen set in. She closed her eyes tight, rolling herself into a ball and praying that they'd at least make it out of this alive.

The collision was just as harsh as she had been expecting. The airbags sprang open, much to Cullen and Cassandra's dismay. That large door splintered into pieces, along with the make shift fortifications that were posted. The truck was utterly wrecked, but it seemed that they had all survived it so far.

Cullen was the first to shove his way out of the wreckage. "Move it!"

The direction of the chants behind seem to shift towards them. Skylar didn't even bother to look before scrambling out of the truck. She was slender enough that getting around the truck's open door wasn't an issue in this hallway they'd forced themselves into. Dorian and Varric weren't quite so graceful though.

"Quickly now, they're coming!" Cassandra warned.

It was relatively distressing to hear real concern in her voice, especially directed at Varric of all people. Skylar reluctantly looked through the broken windows to see what worried the Seeker so much, and instantly wished she hadn't.

A number of the tainted Templars had evidently noticed their inspired entry. They were sprinting right toward them like they were the object of their salvation.

Dorian seemed to notice them too. He turned toward the offending enemies with a snarl. With practiced hands, he threw up a thick wall of flames behind the truck, effectively stopping the tainted Templars until they got smart enough to figure their way around it. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, staring at the flames like he was waiting for them to break through."Not on my watch."

Skylar reached for him carefully. "Dorian?"

Her fingertips just barely brushed his arm when he startled back to reality. It took only a brief moment for his typical snark to return. He pushed Skylar towards the others insistently. "I think we've worn out our welcome, wouldn't you agree, Herald?"

She brushed off his hand but walked with him. "What is going on? What are you hearing?"

Dorian shook his head, huffing a disingenuous laugh. "You'll thank me for sparing you the nightmares."

"Cullen!" Cassandra let out a loud, disgruntled grunt as she called after him. He had already taken off down the dark hallway, apparently not content to wait for the rest of them.

Varric gripped Bianca tightly and took off right after him. "Damnit, Curly, I'm not telling Hawke you died an idiot!"

Cassandra flopped her arms down to her sides defeatedly. Her weary eyes scanned over her mage charges, likely assessing their injuries as she readied her side arm. "Stay behind me."

The hallway wasn't nearly as dark as it had seemed before, just extremely dimly lit. Given the apparent age and the dust accumulated on the fixtures, it was likely not used very often, if at all. The crackling of the flames and the aggravated him of the tainted Templars bounced off the stone walls, making it always sound like they were right behind them.

At the very end appeared to be a sharp turn which Cullen had already disappeared around. Cassandra eyes their destination carefully, keeping a brisk pace and forcing her charges to follow behind her. There likely wasn't much of a danger, seeing as how Cullen must have already come through there. But the seeker didn't seem willing to take any chances.

Their caution was forced away when they heard the tainted Templars breaking through past the barricade the truck had made. Cassandra whipped around suddenly, pushing Skylar and Dorian past her. "Run! Find Cullen!"

She didn't wait for their response before she started firing. She wasn't leaving any room to argue.

We are so utterly fucked.

Have faith. Bring light to the darkness.

Skylar would have rolled her eyes if she weren't worried it would have impeded her sprinting at break neck speed. Dorian was just barely right behind her, he was already sounding winded though. She shot him a concerned look. Neither had to say anything, not that conversation would have been an easy thing now. They had to keep moving, keep running, no matter what. She found herself praying that the lovely voice in her head continued to be helpful.