Fae hadn't yet seen the destroyed Temple of Sacred Ashes up close until today. Even now, the stench of acrid smoke still hung in the air, and a few molten remnants of the explosions' victims still stuck to the ground, twisted in agony. Inquisition scouts had worked dutifully the last few months to gather what remains they could, of course, but these hardened shells of ash had proved too fragile to move.
They had to climb over a fallen wall to reach collapsed hallways which were once indoors, and while Fae and Cassandra followed the Herald all the way down to the main court directly below the bulk of the Breach, Solas and Fiona directed the mages. They positioned the most senior mages in a perimeter around the main court, those with some experience around the hallways' banisters, and further back, those who would still have been considered apprentices while the Circles stood. Some of the mages stood unflinchingly in the sight of the Breach, hard-eyed and battle-weary, while others twisted their hands nervously around their staves and wiped anxious sweat off on their robes. Cullen's former templars held position between the lines of mages, warier than ever for signs of abominations forming.
When all were in position, Cassandra looked to Ellethir, who gave her a short nod.
"Mages!" Cassandra called, and the mages stood to attention, staves clacking on the stone in unison.
"Focus past the Herald!" Solas shouted. "Let her will draw from you!"
The mages in the main court held their staves in front of them, and knelt as they smashed the ends into the ground, yellow-white energy surging from each one towards the Herald. The next lines of mages followed suit, each copying the one in front. Ellethir had begun creeping forward towards the Breach's centre until she was standing directly below it, its strange green light casting bizarre shadows. She flung her marked hand out towards it, and the flow of energy from her palm continued to expand as more and more of the mages' power reached and amplified it. The Breach glowed angrily in response, popping and hissing, expanding and shrinking. It grew brighter and louder with each passing second, and Fae closed her eyes, holding onto her own staff for dear life as she knelt. A single shock-wave emanated from the Breach, sending the closest to it flying and knocking down everyone farther back.
The sudden silence in the absence of the Breach was so unexpected that for a moment Fae thought she'd lost her hearing, or lost consciousness altogether. But as she stood, coughing from the cloud of dust and smoke in the air, she realised they'd succeeded.
"You did it," she heard Cassandra's awestruck voice through the smoke. A cheer went up through the crowd, along with cries of praise for the Herald of Andraste.
The subsequent victory celebrations in Haven village went on for hours. Every cask and keg was opened, campfires were built up for everyone to cook far more food than their usual rationing allowed, and every soul who'd ever considered the life of a bard sang until their throats ached. Now that the heavy air of fear and uncertainty had lifted, the joy was intoxicating. There was laughter, and music, and dancing. When people passed out from exhaustion or drunkenness, others would simply giggle and roll them out of the way so that the dancing could continue. Varric had nagged Fae into a jig or two, but for the most part she was happy to sit on a ledge and watch the festivities unfold. She noticed the Herald a short distance away doing the same as she spoke with Cassandra. Fae waved, and Ellethir inclined her head with a small smile.
Then, the watchtower bells began tolling. For the first few moments, no one seemed to think much of them, assuming that some scouts had managed to climb up half-inebriated just to make more celebratory noise. It wasn't until Cullen raced into the vicinity, shouting "Forces approaching! To arms!" that the crowd began to panic and dissipate. Fae hopped down and headed straight for the Herald and Cassandra. Solas and the Iron Bull obviously had the same idea, as their paths converged half-way to the main gates. From her standpoint on the stairs, Fae could now see a distant line of torchlights zigzagging through the mountains in the distance.
They followed Ellethir down to the main doors which had hurriedly been closed on Cullen's orders.
"One watchguard reporting," he yelled over the crowd, pushing his way towards them. "It's a massive force, the bulk over the mountain!"
"Under what banner?" Josephine asked, shuffling in behind him.
"None."
"None?"
"I need to come in!" Fae heard a muffled voice on the other side of the doors.
"There's someone stuck on the other side!" she shouted, running towards them, but Cassandra caught her by the arm.
"Wait! We don't know if they're one of ours," she warned. The person on the other side pushed desperately at the doors.
"I can't come in unless you open!" the voice pleaded again.
"Open the gate," Ellethir commanded. One of the soldiers opened the doors, revealing an enormous armoured soldier with a broadaxe hanging limply in one hand as he fell. Behind him, with a bloodied dagger in each hand, was a young man dressed in shabby leathers, his face mostly obscured by a large-brimmed hat.
"I'm Cole," he said. "I came to warn you. To help. People are coming to hurt you. You probably already know—"
"What is this? What's going on?" Ellethir demanded.
"The templars come to kill you," Cole said gravely.
"Templars?!" Cullen snapped, advancing on the man as he flinched back. "Is this the Order's response to our talks with the mages? Attacking blindly?"
"The red templars went to the Elder One," Cole explained hurriedly. "You know him? He knows you. You took his mages. There," he pointed to the mountains behind them. A man in heavy templar armour climbed up to the edge of a nearby cliff to sneer at them, and beside him loomed a stick-thin, impossibly tall man. From this distance, she couldn't tell where his armour ended and his skin began, it was contorted somehow.
"Is that armour made of red lyrium?" she wondered aloud.
"Hard to say…" Cullen squinted. "I know that man, the one on the left, the other must be this 'Elder One.'"
The force of templars were rapidly gaining on them.
"He's very angry that you took his mages," Cole said nervously.
Ellethir turned to Cullen. "Cullen! Give me a plan. Anything!"
"Haven is no fortress," Cullen answered grimly. "If we are to withstand this monster, we must control the battle. Get out there and hit that force. Use everything you can. Mages! Soldiers! You—you have sanction to engage them! That is Samson, he will not make it easy! Inquisition, with the Herald! For your lives, for all of us!"
"Soldiers! Prepare the trebuchets, we will keep the attackers at bay while you do!" Cassandra shouted over the crowd of soldiers and mages surging through the doors.
The first templars went down quickly, outnumbered a hundred to one, but more followed right behind them. Swords swung and spells flew in every direction. "Keep them back! We're ready to fire!" called a voice nearby. Fae was too busy fighting to notice the first trebuchet firing off, or the satisfied shouts that echoed as a result. "The other trebuchet, let's go!" Ellethir pulled on her arm, and she followed the group, stumbling as fast as they could through the snow to the next trebuchet which was still unmanned. A few red templars had already slipped past their defences and were trying to sabotage the trebuchet when they arrived, but engaged them immediately when they saw the group coming.
The Iron Bull loaded the trebuchet with a huge oil-infused stone while Cassandra yanked fiercely on the wheel to draw it back. "Now!" she yelled, and Fae carefully aimed a pebble-sized ball of flame at the loaded stone. As soon as it made contact, Cassandra let go, and the flaming rock soared through the air towards the mountain range. It had the desired effect; on impact, the mountains rumbled ominously as massive sheets of ice and snow roared towards the marching templars. A large majority of the torchlights disappeared under the clouds of snow, and a cheer erupted along the front lines.
Fae felt it before she heard it; a sickly grumbling in the air above them. "Get back!" she screamed, casting a barrier as wide as she could as a ball of flames landed directly on the trebuchet they had been manning only a minute ago. The barrier wasn't wide enough to shield everyone; two of the soldiers who'd joined them lay unmoving on the ground. An enormous shadow soared over them with a screech. "A dragon?" Cassandra exclaimed. "An archdemon?" Fae said weakly.
"That is not possible…" Solas stared after it as the beast sailed through the air.
"Everyone to the gates!" Ellethir cried.
On their way, they found Harritt desperately trying to bash in the door to the smithy. "Herald!" he called out. "Help me with this door!" The door gave way with a single swift kick from The Iron Bull's boot. "Thank you—Just grabbing essentials—won't die for a forge," he muttered. They continued on to the main doors, where Cullen was ushering everyone back in.
"Move it, move it!" They were the last to arrive, and the doors shut with a loud clunk as they were shoved closed. "We need everyone back to the chantry!" Cullen continued, his voice roaring over the din of panic. "It's the only building that might hold against…that beast!"
"We can grab people along the way, let's go!" The Iron Bull shouted.
First, they found Lysette, who was outnumbered on all sides. Fae heard muffled voices from the tavern nearby, which stopped abruptly when a ball of fire descended on the building a few seconds later. A shrill cry pierced the air. "Herald, the tavern!" Fae yelled.
"You go on ahead!"
Fae raced into the remaining half of the tavern, where Flissa was lying on her side. "I can't get up…it hurts," she whimpered, her hand hovering over a deep wound on her hip. Fae formed a weak healing magic and pushed it towards the wound. She hoped nothing was broken; if she had more time she could do proper healing, but all this spell could do was force Flissa's body to ignore the pain, hopefully long enough for her to get to the chantry on her own. She helped Flissa up and escorted her out of the burning building.
"Chantry, fast as you can!" she said quickly before running off. She saw Ellethir and the others a few buildings away, tending to several people on the ground or carrying them towards the chantry in their arms. She made to join her, but another voice called out.
"My lady!" Lia screamed. She was sobbing, tears streaking her face as she struggled to sit up. "Help me…I can't feel my leg…" There was a dark patch of blood pooling on the snow where the girl's leg should have been.
"Shit! It's ok, I'm here," Fae reassured her as she knelt down beside her, unable to keep the trembling out of her voice. She couldn't remember the incantation that would stop the bleeding, so she held her hand out and hoped for the best. Healing magic surrounded the area, hopefully whatever it was doing would be enough. Lia's head slumped back as she passed out. "Shit shit shit," Fae muttered, standing up.
She couldn't carry the girl on her own, and there was no one close by enough to help. But she'd had to move a fallen horse off its rider, once. She stepped back, and prepared another spell. The girl lifted into the air, hovering around the height of Fae's shoulders. Fae took a few steps towards the chantry, and then another few, waiting for the floating girl to catch up. Once she got close enough, soldiers were waiting by the chantry doors, and one of them ran over to help. "Take her take her take her," Fae said rapidly, dropping the spell as soon as the soldier had a hold on Lia.
Fae heard Solas' voice shouting behind her, and ran over to help. A young man called out to the Herald, and Fae turned to locate him. She'd barely taken a step when yet another ball of fire streamed towards the man, and he was gone within a blink, leaving behind a charred skeleton. Fae screamed in shock, and then Ellethir's hand was on her arm, pulling her away. "We've saved all we can, we have to go, now!"
Chancellor Roderick appeared in the doorway with Cole by his side as they ran through. "Move! Keep going! The chantry is your shelter!" Once they were all inside, Fae turned back in time to see Roderick collapse in Cole's arms, the boy wrapping one arm around his shoulders and hoisting him up as best he could. "He tried to stop a templar," Cole said. "The blade went deep. He's going to die."
"What a…charming boy…" Roderick wheezed.
"Herald," Cullen rushed forward to meet them. "Our position is not good. That dragon, or whatever it is, stole back any time you might have earned us."
Cole eased Roderick into a nearby chair, and stood back up. "I've seen an archdemon. I was in the Fade, but it looked like that."
"I don't care what it looks like," Cullen snapped. "It's cut a path for that army. They'll kill everyone in Haven!"
"The Elder One doesn't care about the village. He only wants the Herald."
"I don't care what he wants. How do I stop him?" Ellethir huffed.
"It won't be easy. He has a dragon…" Cole mused.
"We know that he—!" Cullen paused. "Herald, there are no tactics to make this survivable. The only thing that slowed them was that avalanche. We could turn the remaining trebuchets, cause one last slide."
Ellethir rubbed the back of her head frustratedly. "We're overrun. To hit the enemy, we'd bury Haven."
Cullen's face set into hard lines. "We're dying, but we can decide how. Many don't get that chance."
"Yes, that," Cole said softly. "Chancellor Roderick can help. He wants to say it before he dies."
"There is a path," Roderick rasped. "It goes through a tunnel, and back out again. You wouldn't know it unless you'd made the summer pilgrimage. As I have."
"A tunnel? You mean one of the tunnels that led to the inner temple?" Fae asked.
"You knew about this?" Cullen rounded on her.
"I was told the entire temple was destroyed," Fae retorted. "Including the tunnels. And even if I did know they were still there, I wouldn't know how to reach them now."
Chancellor Roderick coughed. "Most of them were…caved in deliberately, years ago. Replaced with walking paths. It was by chance that I came across this one. Now, with so many in the conclave dead, to be the only one that remembers… This could be more than mere accident, Herald. You could be more. She must have shown me. Andraste must have shown me so I could…tell you. The people can escape."
"What about it, Cullen? Will it work?" Ellethir asked seriously.
"Possibly. If he shows us the path. But what of your escape?"
Ellethir set her jaw, and said nothing.
Cullen understood. "Perhaps you will surprise it, find a way…" He turned away. "Inquisition! Follow Chancellor Roderick through the chantry! Move!"
"Herald," Roderick gasped. "If you are meant for this, if the Inquisition is meant for this, I pray for you."
A handful of soldiers huddled around Cullen, listening to his orders and nodding solemnly. "They'll load the trebuchets," he told the Herald. "Keep the Elder One's attention until we're above the tree line. If we are to have a chance- if you are to have a chance- let that thing hear you."
Ellethir nodded and gestured to the soldiers to follow. Fae and the others moved to join them as well, but the Herald stopped them. "We have enough volunteers to load the trebuchets. Go with Chancellor Roderick," she said firmly.
"Herald—"
"He only wants me. He only gets me," she insisted. Dorian stepped forward and embraced her in a tight hug. "Don't go dying on us yet, Herald," he joked in his usual blasé manner. Fae caught a glint of something near Ellethir's jacket. When Dorian let go, the Herald walked out with the soldiers, and everyone else followed Chancellor Roderick, who had been placed on a makeshift stretcher and was already giving directions.
Fae's hand latched onto Dorian's arm. "What did you put in the Herald's pocket?" she asked quietly.
Dorian chuckled. "Your title is not for nothing after all, you really do see everything." He pulled a crystal on a chain from his pocket. "I activated the other one before I gave it to her. It's a sending crystal. While the Herald is making that creature hear her, we'll hear her too."