“Do not leave the nearby dragon out of your calculations”
-- Haven, Cultist's Hatchery Anders: Hours had passed while we explored the closed off sections and no dragon cultists remained, unless you wanted to count the mountain goats. We were divided on whether we would go out onto the mountainside and cross to the Gauntlet, if we would return inside and warn the Templars. Vael, and to my surprise, Hawke, wanted to go back.
See? She is like all the others to support the Templars against us! We can destroy them and travel to the nearest Circle to aide them! No! Hawke has not turned against us. He was getting harder to restrain again and I was afraid at how close he was to seizing control lately. The lyrium's calming didn't last long enough this last time.
I could not like the unhappiness on her face. “Why, Hawke? Why now, when... I don't know how long I can...” I could not finish the sentence.
Sebastian would be happy to kill me, but Aldera would not allow that until it was too late. Justice had always seen her as a threat to our plans; with her gone, he could have as much destruction as he wanted.
“This won't take that long, Anders. I just want to warn them so they cannot be ambushed by cultists. I want us rested before we might gave to fight a larger dragon, so the delay won't hurt.” She was looking at me with worry.
Some rumbling came from within me, but I did not want to force her to always do my wishes or I'd be no better than Vael thought.
Gritting my teeth I told them, “Fine, let us finish this quickly.”
The walk back to the main part of the pilgrim hostel took maybe half an hour now that the way was clear.
Once we were back at the doors that had been locked, Hawke gave a ghost of a laugh, “Too bad I can't just change the locks, that'd keep any remaining cultists in and out. They must have a copy of this key.”
“You can only warn him, Hawke. He must decide his own future as he does every day.” Merrill's voice sounded much like after Sundermount when Marethari died.
“This is not a matter of choosing to be faithful,” Sebastian objected. “This is a matter of hidden dangers, like a poisonous snake in your bedding. These cultists are only betrayers of their fellows! They break the trust of their bothers and sisters
every day.”
I controlled a wince, even if he wasn't yelling at me this time.
With almost a glare, Hawke stared at us, her eyes unblinking. “He's been decent to us, and I simply return that when I can.” She turned to unlock the door before fading out of sight. “Stay here, I won't be long.”
I wasn't happy that she was going among Chantry and cultists, even if Sebastian was fuming a little too.
It wasn't long when I could hear the long familiar sounds of an approaching Templar who was trying to be quiet.
Once the door was locked again behind him, he seemed surprised at the evidence of the dragons and hatchery on our armor. “What did you find? What required that only I know about this? There were dragons, correct?”
Sebastian clapped his shoulder and said with sorrow. “The dragons were brought here by dragon cultists...”
“Under your watch. Or at least they are being bred and fed by them,” I had little patience for breaking it to him as gently as Vael wanted.
“Some members of the Chantry here are secret cultists and a danger to you. We fought some of the cultists and their pets, but we can't figure out how many remain hidden.” Hawke took my hand as she spoke.
I concentrated on the grip of her hand.
“How would you know we have traitors?” Ormonde asked.
“We can show you, Ser,” Vael said with a little anger.
The trip into the caverns to the first cultists and their smaller dragons dismayed him, but when he saw Sister Marjorie, still wearing her Chantry robes, he looked shocked.
Hawke added to this evidence. “There is a bunk room with different robes too, maybe for ceremonies, even if she didn't change into them.”
“I think that she did not believe that we could have fought dragons before, or even that many,” Merrill said with a small smile. “But we have fought one much larger, once.”
The Templar looked ill and then angry on seeing the Sister's corpse. “I wasn't sure what to do about your visit. With the current unrest caused by some mad mages in the Marches, I wanted to summon help for the dragons. Now I must, even if for a different reason. They will take a week at best to relieve us and you would be long gone if you mean ill. I will summon them now for this, and pray they have troops they can send, or better yet, a Seeker to determine who has been tainted by this blasphemy.”
He looked directly at Merrill and I. “You have done a great service, and you are welcome to stay here; it is a place of peace for pilgrims, but if they send a Seeker, I will have no authority over them.”
Hawke sent a small smile at me after his words.
Giving a blessing, Sebastian said, “Maker, bless this servant's search for Your truth...”
I didn't pay attention after that, as I had heard too many years of that that I could have written out the words for him. He wasn't very original. Suddenly, Hawke's idea for disguise seemed almost possible. I knew the kinds of platitudes and enough bits of the Canticles to sound like Vael. I could avoid saying the things I hated, but I could probably dribble blessings better than this.
Hawke smiled at my rolling my eyes. I'd have to tell her later when I was sure we were alone.
When Vael was done, Hawke said quickly, “We will continue on, there might be more cultists or dragons. I thought you should know before we do.”
Ser Ormonde rubbed his chin. “Yes, if you return from the Gauntlet publicly, things will become more lively, ripe for trouble or attacks. Over half of our Sisters grew up here, only a few were trained at larger Chantries in Denerim or Amaranthine like I was.”
At the mention of Amaranthine, I looked more closely at him. He didn't look familiar, but I had gotten careless gradually while I was with the Warden. Templars were no threat to my goals then, of enjoying my freedom and charming my way into others' beds.
You have a responsibility to your fellow mages. You told me that too many times at the Vigil. I can't forget it now. Strike a blow against your oppressors! See to it that they can harm no one else! This one has no mages here to harm. We should find the oppressors to help the most mages. I felt only rumbling after that while Hawke gathered us to return to the stockyard. She and Merrill even checked the food and water for the goats before we went outside.
There were the remains of a fine roadway, leading steeply down the mountainside. Once, some kind of earthquake or great magic shook the land that made even the remains of arches and pillars lean like this around us. The roadway just ended, like it was cut off with a knife and then eroded, slightly above a shallow bowl of dirt between ridges of stone.
Across on the other side of this open area was a building that looked like a very old Chantry carved out of the rock with a path between pillars at the entrance. Not like the dragon worshiping cult made it, it was just old.
I almost expected to see a Sister or even one of the antique robed Divines from the Circle lesson books, marching in a procession to visit the relic, like I heard they did for finger-bones or moldering robes every year.
But no, this was just a small flat valley between our group and the old shrine. We were still high enough on the slope that we could duck back inside. Dirt and scree had been kept clear of growth by the passage of people and dragons so much that there were no winter-dead plants or even blown leaves. But something seemed so familiar...
We walked down the steep tiled path, reaching the slight shelter of the pillars near the bottom.
Hawke stirred, and started to dig in her pouches. “I almost forgot. Do you have poison, Sebastian? We can use the spider venom this time, since it's not that Varterral. Flame grenades won't help as far as I could ever tell.”
They applied the poison, and I regretted I never learned how cold grenades had been made at the Vigil, since the opposite element seemed to help against fire users.
After working with the damned drake-stone for so many hours, I knew the scent reaching me, even if it was faint; there was still a dragon left.
Hawke looked wary and back at her mabari. “Paws, guard Merril.”
This bowl of dirt and platform looked so familiar, even if I wasn't looking down on it this time. It was different than the Bone Pit in almost every way, but I knew the dragon would land in the dirt bowl to block the shrine.
“What do you see, Warden?” Hawke was on edge, as she rarely ever had called me that.
I knew I didn't want her to be standing out in the middle for the dragon to simply land on. “I hadn't expected the campfire sketch done in the dirt with sticks to match this. They stayed out of the bowl... I mean their warriors didn't stay back.”
It almost felt like I stuttered the last, as Hawke was the closest of us here, who fought like that. The Warden had the Templar.
“But we don't have any like that with us. We will have to cross the valley at some time, won't we?” Merrill wondered.
“Let's just get this over with,” Hawke muttered, moving forward into the bowl. “If the Maker smiles, we already killed the dragons I smell.”
--- x ---
Hawke: We stepped carefully down the still colorful tile on the slope, with my waving them back when I got to the bottom. I had to hope my armor had enough enchantments. High dragons were somehow scarier than spider constructs, no matter how tough those were.
“Do I hear something?” Sebastian asked us doubtfully.
I hadn't heard it, but the hood of my armor reduced my hearing by the slightest bit. That was why I preferred to have it down when I didn't need the protection. I never understood why Vael never wore anything.
“Yes,” Anders said absently while scanning the limited horizon. Then, he pointed down along the valley where a dry stream bed ran along one side. “That way.”
I stepped forward, even if my palms were trying to sweat inside my fancy gloves. Looking in the right direction, I saw what looked like some odd bird at the distance. I wanted to go for cover, but then it would target Anders and Merrill. Paws barked, edging forward.
“Paws! Guard!” I ordered him back, praying he'd obey. He had no armor or protection, and I bitterly regretted that I hadn't made that a priority when times were quiet.
In my moment of distraction, the bird became something more dangerous, circling toward me. The pillars, even leaning, provided the others a little cover. I watched its approach, hoping to spot the beginnings of a dive enough to avoid it. Its roars now carried clearly, and I gripped a grenade in one hand; smoke cover was my friend. It was so big, even a grenade couldn't hide its position, but it could not see me as easily.
Seconds passed so slowly as I waited for it to move in, seconds where spell chants and a prayer sounded far away.
It began a dive and I leapt further from the others. Maker, it dropped so fast I had no time to think, and I threw the grenade as soon as the ground shook from its landing. The roar filled my mind.
Or maybe it was my screaming at her.
I couldn't reach high enough to hit anything vital, not yet. When she was slower or injured I could try for a death blow on her spine or head.
Dashing inward to slash at her with my daggers, I tried to find a softer place on her belly, but her armor was tough, even for my blades. I then concentrated on drawing blood, and hoped the poison would hurt her. The joints of the legs were also tempting. They were spined and armored, but like my armor, it had to be thinner to allow flexibility and had to be a weak point.
I wished Aveline was here.
I could feel the edges of spells that were cast, but didn't pay much attention. Arrows appeared in the dragon's hide, and I paid even less. My second smoke grenade was blown aside by a flap of her wings and a small burst of fire engulfed me for a moment.
Screaming as I tried to roll away from her claws and her maw, I felt some healing but couldn't hear anything over the dragon's roar. My next attack wasn't the most noble or deadly, but I severed one of her claws.
This roar made my head ring and the faintest of shouts reminded me to keep moving.
The dragon launched herself up and away from me to a cave ledge, maybe the one where we fought Marjorie. She barely fit in the arch, but then she was out of range of every attack but maybe bow.
She roared again and I wasn't happy to hear others in reply. I frantically added more poison and felt some healing. Tossing a smile at Anders, I scanned the sky and saw more birds coming this way from different directions.
What bothered me was that I heard deeper roars that echoed from a greater distance.
The new dragons were fresh, but less dangerous than the larger one that was resting, as we could not.
Paws' whine and bark made me notice that she wasn't on the ledge anymore. I couldn't look for her in the sky while the last of the younger ones was still trying to kill me, but when it was weaving and about to fall, a mountain fell on me.
Her roar gave me the slightest of warnings, or I got lucky as I was caught under the joints of a couple of her claws. My armor held, enough that I could still breathe a little, but I couldn't move, Then I was dragged across the ground and rocks and I could feel the decorations that were merged with the armor catch on embedded rock. Would the shoulder spikes tear off, or would my arm, I wondered as I was ground into the mountain.
She stopped moving and roaring; everything got cold but for the claws holding me down. I was feeling dizzy from pressure and lack of air, when she lurched towards the raised area where the others were.
That was not the plan! All I could do was roll over and try to get enough air in.
The dragonette had died while I was pinned and the greater dragon was breathing fire at the others. I lurched after her, their defenses didn't all last long and I
had to get her attention again.
Her tail was swaying slightly as she moved away from me and attacked; she must have thought I was dead.
I eyed the tail and brought my enchanted blades down, severing a good length raggedly off. A sword would have been a cleaner cut, but I really didn't care.
The bleeding, still-long stump got her attention on me again, but I didn't even have the time to peek at the others as I tried to move back. I had trouble breathing despite feeling a bit of healing while I was pinned.
She didn't seem much slower and I watched her carefully. I remembered how an earlier bite nearly cut Fenris in half another time. I didn't think my armor was up to my being shaken like a rag doll. I managed to dodge one bite that was close enough to drip burning saliva too close to my skin.
I slashed and stabbed at her, hoping to hit a tendon or artery, and I got clawed and near misses of flame. Tumbled aside when she launched up again, this time the other, deeper roars were too close. Two more were circling in the air.
These were big, too, even if not as big as her, and I frantically nearly inhaled a healing potion and was just pouring more poison as the first dove.
But he didn't land by me, he swept his wings and knocked Anders and Sebastian off their feet. Merrill was gripped by her magical vines and remained upright.
I couldn't watch or do anything more as the second landed by me, drawing breath for fire. I ran away and toward his back, pulling a grenade. I didn't have time to choose, but just threw it.
Anything would help. Well, almost anything except fire. What exploded wasn't something to give me safe cover or stun it, it was just one that tarred him. My grenade wasn't big enough to slow the whole dragon, but it did explode near his head. The thick stuff slowed him only a little, but having crap on his face really confused him.
That gave me time to back away and pull smoke grenades, enough that I'd be very hard to target as long as I kept moving. When his still-tarry head finally found me in the thick smoke, I stabbed the larger blade of my Bassrath-Kata into its eye.
The dragon wasn't dead, but his roar made my head ring as I rolled away. One eyed, he couldn't target me as well, and soon I noticed spells and arrows hitting him as well until he fell.
The bodies of several dragons of differing sizes now cluttered the valley. Some of the smaller ones had been swept a little to the sides of the bowl by the larger ones. I didn't really want to have to fight among them. They might provide a bit of cover, but they would also limit where I could move and might still trip me.
Now that it was again just our group in the bowl, the biggest dragon seemed almost reluctant to come down to us. I'd moved back, so we could talk, and I saw that one of the arches behind us was now fallen.
“We can't leave this here,” I panted, holding my still sore ribs.
Anders drank a potion and looked better, and Merrill was putting a vial away. Paws looked a little singed, but okay.
Sebastian drank a potion too and asked reluctantly, “Do you have more poison, Hawke?”
This wasn't the time to laugh, but he had not approved of any of my darker skills. I gave him some and I applied more to my blades too, trying to keep watching the dragon.
“How can we convince her to come back down? She could just fly away for a few days or weeks,” I asked after I was done preparing.
“We could bring down some of the goats. She's used to being fed by those idiots,” Anders offered.
Merrill didn't look happy, but Sebastian suggested, “Whatever way those heretics managed to train a dragon while it was young, they would not want strangers reaching the Ashes. A predator may not feed if it is not hungry, but a challenge to its territory will always be acted on.”
Grinning, Anders joked, “I don't suppose the goats are trained to cross over to the shrine on their own?”
“No, they are quite stubborn and if afraid will not be easily herded.” Merrill watched the dragon and looked up the steep sloping path again.
Well, that narrowed our options. I didn't want her to have time to recover. “I'll move toward the shrine. If that won't lure it, we can go back inside to the hatchery and attack from there.”
I dashed over to give an unhappy mage a quick kiss, whispering, “Love you, always.” Then I loped ahead of them as I heard the chanting begin again.
About three-quarters across the dirt bowl to the shrine and into a clearer space, shouts told me she'd launched into the sky again. She didn't circle as long, and I moved slightly back towards the others. The wind from her landing would dissipate any concealing smoke, so grenades had to be after I avoided getting crushed again.
But she landed between me and the shrine, with all of us in her field of attack for her fire breath.
“Spread out!” I shouted, throwing my grenade, hoping the haze might choke the dragon along with hiding us. Running along the dragon's side, I scanned again looking for something vital to hit while it was briefly paralyzed by a spell.
Then buffet from the wings sent a strong wind that pushed me against the dragon's side and the rear claws nearly dragged me back to the ground. I heard lightning and wind but was actually sheltered slightly by the bulk above me.
Standing, I slashed at the belly, not drawing as much blood as I wanted. Another roar and the dragon twisted, trying to turn to face me, when some kind of ice storm surrounded us. I used the cover to move away from the head, but the bulk of the huge tail swept, blindly, through me, knocking me off my feet.
The tail spikes and force made it hard to breathe again as I struggled to my feet. I had to get further from the tail.
The storm thinned as it breathed fire above us, trying to stop the magical storm. That cleared my own vision enough that I saw its foreleg at a different angle as it braced to attack the sky where lightning crackled and a near blizzard fell. I stabbed into the center of its joint with my longer dagger, in the back where armor had to be thinner, and put all my strength into moving it side to side.
Another roar, and the leg actually slid and the weight of that and maybe even its body started pressing on me. With a snap, the last of the joint gave way and the sky blackened suddenly.
Under dragon: BAD.
--- x ---
A/N: The chapter title, maybe a little too long for posting, was inspired by a quote from Tolkein
