Chapter Text
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Seconds felt like hours as we were thrown from our mounts in their panic while we scrambled to cover our heads from the ambush we stumbled into with what could only be darkspawn.
Are these what the Wardens fight for us? Maker’s hairy eyeballs, they are vile. I righted Tempest and Bethie but couldn't see Mother right away. Carver and our new companions were already engaging in the fray with spells and blades alike….it was all I could do to launch spell after spell, hoping to keep us all alive. Meanwhile, Juniper went to charge the emissary across the rocky plateau and as it went to block her blade, she feinted to the left and eviscerated it before it could recover. Rel was like an avenging angel, launching spells from her fingers as if conducting a musical performance but laced with the most stunning rage…..COME ON, HAWKE. KILLING NOW, FLIRTING LATER.
As we continued the fight, I thought we were finally coming out on top with the amount of viscera that lay slickening the ground…..but just as Rel & Bethany killed the last hurlock and we assumed victory, the ground began to tremble beneath us. My family and I looked around with fearful glances as to what else could be out there. Rel looked back and forth at Juniper & I in a panic as one of those f*cking Ogre monsters came racing up the hill directly where I stood….at least, it was.
I hit the bloodied ground hard several feet away, wheezing and coughing from feeling like a dragon had rammed me chest first. Bethany was crying as she & Mother helped me to my feet and I heard a blood-curdling shriek followed by an intense burst of mana as I turned around to a scene of near savagery.
Rel had unleashed some sort of deeply-layered mana wave but it was overwhelming her……which would normally lead to possession.
Usually.
Juniper tried to run after her but was knocked prone as Rel made a small but angry slice on her arm with her own nails and began to scream with rage. Her entire body began to turn the color of the morning light and then blew us all back with a wave of force similar to a mind blast. The ogre screamed back and stumbled back and forth, holding its enormous and grotesque head in pain.
Maker's balls, it's vulnerable to mental damage first!
I told Carver to keep Bethany back so I could help finish this thing off and hopefully not have to bury my new companions or anyone else. Grabbing my staff, I shot Rel a rejuvenate boost and bolted straight ahead. My legs burning but feeling determined, I leapt on its shoulders and slipped my dagger free of its sheath.
As I attempted to end this ugly f*cker, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and the air got very warm. Unfortunately, my distraction was enough that I was unseated from my new mount and hit the ground hard enough to be stunned. It was when the ogre was stumbling back over that I saw Rel get thrown to the ground and Tempest took the beast down……and a dragon’s roar shook the sky.
Getting back on my feet quickly, I screamed for everyone to get down and they did. After all, living is preferable to dying. Rel though…..was yelling at the sky and then pointing to the battlefield around us while flipping off the dragon.
“What the blazes are you doing, Rel?!? GET DOWN!” She ignored me though I couldn't tell if it was because she couldn't hear me or was simply drunk on battle.
No matter. Move Hawke, move!!
I couldn’t even think, so I just moved. The next memory I have is going from next to Carver to tackling Rel just in time for her to not be incinerated by the beast's searing flames.
The dragon made another round in the sky before setting down with a genlock corpse in its claws and pieces of others raining down in a mix of ash and blackened blood. As I helped us stand again, another voice called out saying they would help us “fight the evil beast”.
When I looked around trying to get my bearings, the dragon in front of me shifted ... .into a woman who screamed dangerous with every step. The voices I heard a moment ago walked up beside us on the plateau and I saw who our heroes were. A ginger-haired woman with intense moss-green eyes and a stern face, headband keeping her loosened braid from her eyes. Covered in platemail, she was clearly a soldier of some kind. She gave her name as Aveline and his as Wesley. My anxiety & greeting both died on my tongue as soon as I glimpsed the Sword of Mercy blazed proudly on his armor.
Templar.
Of course, because DRAGONS AND OGRES WERE JUST A WARM UP.
As the couple approached, so did the strange witch. Tempest went to help them up and over to the rocky outcroppings behind us as I turned to face Her. She moved with the confidence of power mastery that only comes from years of experience. Clearly she was a mage of some renown, right?
Shapeshifting isn’t something I’ve ever even heard about, so who knows what else she means to do?
The robe she wore seemed more of an armored leather curiass but fashioned as a dress that seemed more suited for a minor ball. Her hair was white as winter but laced and worn half-up on her crown like a dragon’s mighty horns. In fact, it seemed to mimic her dragon form.
A bit self-indulgent? We won’t discuss the cloak I made Mother buy for me at 9 years old so “I could be majestic like Father.”
That’s completely different.
As we all met on the hill, I could feel this woman’s mana slam into me like a Ferelden Frostback chose me as its throne. I’ll just be sure not to piss her off then.
“Well, well; what do we have here?” Rel was staring at her with rather wide eyes, as if she couldn’t believe this creature were in front of her. Then she began with a comment I had to give her due credit for, even if I didn’t understand everything she said.
“Yeah, I’ve got a large order for you from The f*cks I Give, for Flemeth the Great? Oh, I’m SO sorry! They flew away. My mistake!” This woman could have smited her if she wished, we all knew it. Instead she began to laugh while her soldier friend Juniper looked on in what could only be described as abject horror.
Wait, did she say Flemeth? THE Flemeth?!?
“My, what a brash soul to match a fiery, foolish mage. Or are you not? Do YOU even know who you are yet, little fire sprite? Perhaps one should choose their words with the caution of confronting a dragon.” Then she looked around, her golden-yellow eyes touching each of us briefly before replying. “Or maybe not, in your case. Remember your head little one, lest you lose it simply from a slip of the tongue.”
I couldn’t help the laughter escaping my lips as Rel glared at me and Juniper smacked the back of her head and muttered a phrase that sounded like “You are SO grounded” to which Rel replied “You aren’t my real stepmom!” Juniper just grinned a grin that would have instantly made me behave as a young lad and said “I still can be!” and Rel made insulted noises.
After a minor throat clearing from the ginger-haired warrior, the mage continued but spoke to me. “It used to be that we never got visitors to the Wilds, but now it seems they arrive in hoards.” Of course she would be telling jokes when she could eliminate any of us with a mere thought. Well, two could play that game.
“Impressive! Where did you learn to turn into a dragon? Definitely the perfect party trick.”
Gulp.
She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows at me. “Perhaps I am a dragon. If so, count yourself lucky that the smell of burning darkspawn does nothing for the appetite.” She turned to walk away and what she said made my stomach drop while Juniper kept reminding Rel to be quiet and not interrupt.
“If you wish to flee the darkspawn, you should know you are heading in the wrong direction.” I ran my free hand through my hair, trying not to panic at this information. Maker’s tit*, of COURSE we have a problem.
Bethany, ever the brave one besides me, spoke up with anger and conviction. “Wait! You can’t just leave us here!!!!”
The woman paused and turned her head while quipping “Can I not?”
Everyone paid attention as she turned and closed the distance to us, speaking with the oration of a storyteller. If her eyes stay trained on me, at least we can attempt to strike back if she proves a danger to us.
I shivered involuntarily as those cat-like eyes felt the same as an amused predator hunting prey. “I spotted a most curious site. A mighty ogre, vanquished! Who could perform such a feat?” I must have been hearing things, because I’d swear to Andraste that Rel’s reply was ‘Your mom” under her breath. What do-oh maker, why is that funny? Wrong timing, Hawke. Pay attention to the powerful, terrifying mage-dragon. I could feel everyone’s tension around us at what this encounter could mean. What did this…woman want with them? Payment for saving their lives? Servitude? Dare I even consider it-being sold as slaves to Tevinter?
I doubt she’s that mad in the head.
“But now my curiosity is sated and you are safe, for the moment. Is that not enough?” I might as well ask. Smirking, I tried to sound casual so she wouldn't eat me if I accidentally insulted her. “You could show me that trick of yours. That looks useful.” Instead of anger, she threw head back and laughed vivaciously. “Such a clever twisted tongue, for a mage. Tell me, clever child; How do you intend to end the Blight when it spreads everywhere unchecked?”
Rel spoke up before I could, to my surprise. “I’m escorting them to Kirkwall, in the Free Marches to escape the Blight, ma’am.”
I looked back to this woman, who put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows. “Kirkwall? My, but that is quite the voyage you plan.” She looked at Rel & Jun with a smirk. “Your King will not miss you, hmm?”
The way she smirked made me realize she knew something. They both looked at each other, nodded and replied “I’m sure he’ll miss his life more.”
This woman lost her mind laughing before she replied “Oh you two, I like.” She gazed at the three of us, like she was measuring our worth…..or perhaps our future.
“Hurtled into the Chaos, you fight and the world will shake before you.”
She paced back and forth as the Templar with us fell to the ground in pain, his veins turning black with what had to be the blight sickness I’ve heard about.
“Is it Fate or Chance? I never decide.” Turning back to us again, she answered our hopes and prayers. “It appears fortune smiles upon us both today; I might be able to help you yet.”
I held Bethany’s hand for support, in pure disbelief. “Just like that, hmm? There must be a catch.” Rel snorted while trying to comfort the Templar, for some reason. The woman laughed again, golden eyes shining with amusem*nt. “Oh, there is always a catch. Life is a catch! I suggest you catch it while you can.”
Point taken. Tempest and I seemed to be on the same page for this, as did the rest of the group.
Except for, surprisingly, Bethany. “Maybe we shouldn’t trust her. We don’t even know what she is.” She said it with a wary tone, guarded. The woman with the Templar spoke up, her voice strong and clear.
“I know what she is; The Witch of the Wilds.”
My blood instantly ran cold.
Well, sh*t.
