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Tevinter: Blight	By : BJMichaels Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 738 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: BioWare owns Dragon Age, not me and I make no money for writing fanfiction.

Chapter List
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The journey southwest along the Imperial Highway should have taken three days. Instead, refugees choked the road, causing delays. It took them five days to near Emerius. The refugees all had similar stories: none had seen the horde of undead, but neither would they take any chances.
"I hope this isn't some big misunderstanding," Valoria said as they camped in the shadow of the Vimmark Mountains. Emerius was a fledgling port city for the Imperium on the Waking Sea. Slaves, taken from the colonies south, across the sea, would be processed there. It's giant sea walls, chains extending into the waters, had to be an ominous sight to newly arriving slaves.
They camped, that last night, with the walls visible. Very few legion soldiers had passed them on the roads. There didn't seem to be many around.
"I don't hear any signs of battle," Valoria said as the campfire crackled and popped. The sun was just dipping below the horizon.
"Pardon me if I don't shed a tear," Larius said. "I could live quite happily never meeting one of the Spawn."
Jack, still mostly mute, but picking up a word here and there, pointed westward.
"That's Emerius," Larius said to the giant.
The big man shook his head, pointed more vehemently.
Darkness replacing the glow of sunset, Valoria looked in the direction his finger pointed. A bright reddish hue lingered, yet it wasn't in the precise direction of the setting sun.
"Oh," Valoria said. "There may be a fire in Emerius, Larius. That could certainly indicate fighting."
"Yeah, but not necessarily," Larius said airily as he gazed that way.
For more than an hour, they engaged in conversation on mundane matters. Valoria had some small clothes that needed mending and Larius wondered how much Jack could understand and how much he'd ever be able to speak. The giant continued to watch the lights to the west.
Soon, the pale moon rose over the mountains. It was full, and cast enough light that Valoria could see the fringes of wood they camped beside, even with the campfire blazing. Insects chirped happily and the travelers ate meat scorched over the fire.
Before rolling herself in her blanket to try and sleep, Valoria patted Jack on the back, pointing toward the bed rolls. The giant shook his head, then pointed toward the sky. Storm clouds rushed toward them from the west. It was commonly known that the fiercest undead attacks were accompanied by storms. The greater the storm, the more terrible the attack.
"Maybe we should head into the city now, Larius," Valoria said. A stiff, chill wind swept over them in the next moment. All the insects and other wildlife immediately went silent. Faint metallic dings and distant shouts whispered out beyond the walls of Emerius.
"Uh, are you sure, Valoria?" her friend asked tentatively. Lightning crackled in the distance and Larius jumped. "Maybe we should wait to see if the army responds, first."
"You said it yourself: the legions are probably heading back to Minrathous," Valoria said, her mind made up. "Let's go; there might be something we can do to help."
They doused the campfire and headed west. The heavy smell of blood began to waft from Emerius. Screams pierced the ever increasing reddish glow. Valoria had mended her sword, shield and armor on the first night they'd camped away from Ostwick. Now, she unsheathed her copper sword. Larius absently fingered his Ash bow as they walked their horses forward.
"There," Larius said, pointing. He took a big gulp. Civilians, or the remains of civilians, were scattered along the road. Their pack animals were in a similar state of dismemberment.
"What monsters could do such things to citizens trying to flee?" Valoria spat the words out, as if they were what caused the bad taste in her mouth. Until that moment, she'd thought of the undead as just another martial force: evil, perhaps, but preying on its enemy in a military way.
Great gates into the city were closed tightly. No soldiers patrolled the area. Despite the sounds of commotion coming from inside, the immediate area had a ghostly feel.
"Hello," Valoria called up. "We're here to help; open the gate." Silence dropped on her from the gatehouse. They were close enough at last to hear the crackling of fires and spot thick, black clouds of smoke rising in plumes.
"I think we're going to have to find another way in," Larius said. He didn't sound too displeased at the prospect. "Maybe come back in the morning."
Up until this point, Jack had seemed content to follow Valoria. The screams from inside Emerius seemed to animate him. His eyes kept darting this way, then that. He gazed up toward the top of the walls, perhaps hoping to see something or someone.
"We can't just leave, Larius," Valoria said, tying her horse to a tree, far enough away from the walls so the animal would be safe. "There's definitely something going on in there." She approached the gate. It didn't appear locked. However, as she pushed on it, it barely budged. "Come help, Larius; I think there's something blocking the gate."
While Larius hesitated, Jack didn't. He similarly tied up his horse – he didn't ride the poor animal as much as the others, due to his size and weight – and hurried to the gate. It swung slightly inward and Valoria could see a wagon turned on its side leaning against it.
Jack touched her shoulder, made motions of pushing her back. Reluctantly, Valoria heeded and stepped away. The giant bent at the knees and lunged forward, ramming his shoulder into the gate. Valoria heard wood splintering behind it. After a second attempt, the gate swung open. The large, heavy wagon had flipped from its side onto its wheels and no longer blocked the road.
"Well done," Valoria said, before drawing her sword again and slinging her shield from her back to slide over her left wrist. A citizen ran for the gate, shrieking. Jack reached out to him, but he quickly dropped to the ground, a flaming arrow in his back.
"Undead!" Valoria shouted as she turned to meet the threat. Then, she stared, her jaw going slack. The little undead creature's skin was rotten and one of its eyes hung from its socket. It wore tattered rags and little hair, while its teeth were permanently bared because its lips had rotted away. She wasn't as prepared as she thought she'd been to see something so grotesque. Rumors had seemed wild and ridiculous. Now, she realized they were understated, told by people who probably hadn't seen one of the monsters up close.
It howled ferociously at her before nocking another arrow in its bow. Her feet were frozen in place; her fingers felt like icicles as they gripped her sword tightly. The creature was about as large as she'd imagined a dwarf would be. Dwarves were another people she'd only heard about, rather than met. Ostwick contained a few, but she'd never encountered one.
Other useless ideas surged through her mind as the undead took aim at her. Is this what they mean by your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die? she thought in a split second. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't will her feet to move.
Before the undead loosed its arrow, however, Jack cleaved it in half with the two handed sword he swung in his right. The giant hurried back to her, wrapped his big hand around her left, gave it a mild squeeze. His searching green orbs pierced down into her.
Another undead, this one taller and not as stocky as the archer, appeared around a corner. It snarled and raised its sword. Three more, one of which was short and stocky, hurried to its side. They all hissed and raised weapons.
"I think we got more company," Larius said.
Finally, Valoria took a step back on her left foot. Her hand slipped out of Jack's, and she touched him on the hip. "I'm all right now, Jack," she said slowly.
Larius unleashed an arrow at the leader of the troop. The arrow grazed its arm and it let out a feral howl. A moment later, it crumpled to the ground as Jack's mighty fist – nearly as large as the creature's skull – slammed into it. The giant stuck the sword into its belly as it lay, scrabbling in the dirt.
Valoria screamed and charged one of the other creatures. It swung its sword at her, but her shield was there to block the blow. She jabbed forward with her weapon, piercing the undead's leg. Quickly, she withdrew the blade and crossed swords with the fiend. Her blade slid down the length of the other, knocked it away and buried itself in the undead's midsection. It groaned as it dropped to the ground, no longer undead, just dead.
"At least they die like any ordinary foe," Valoria said as she glanced back to Larius. An arrow of his whizzed by, sunk into the cheekbone of another undead creature. It fell backward, clutching at the shaft of the arrow.
"Wonderful," Larius said.
"Oh, please help!" A girl of about thirteen ran toward them. "Them darkspawn, they're trying to take my family!"
"Show us," Valoria said. She'd never heard that name for the undead before, though variations on the theme were common.
Fire leaped from the tops of buildings as they raced down an alley. Screaming civilians ran here and there in a dazed panic, plodding undead in their wakes. Bodies were everywhere, many were soldiers. Valoria tried to focus on what she was doing – she'd never seen so much death before. She began to question if she'd made the right decisions in her life, if this was where those decisions led.
When the girl they followed skidded to a halt, she pointed a quivering finger. A ramshackle home stood at the end of the alley. Fire licked the wooden walls, sending waves of heat at Valoria. An undead, then another, moved back and forth inside. Muffled shouts came from the home.
"I'm not going in there," Larius said, shaking his head. "No way."
Jack was already halfway there, when Valoria turned back toward it. "Wait," she called, tightening her grip on the sword. She pounded after him.
The giant had to nearly bend in half to get inside. A screech pulled Valoria's attention to the right. One of the undead had a young girl slung over its shoulder. It was trying to carry her away, to gods only knew what horrible fate.
"Hey!" Valoria screamed, drawing the creature's attention. The girl, perhaps ten, wriggled and kicked, trying to escape its grasp. Valoria surged forward, slamming her shield into the fiend. It dropped the girl and she ran, screaming toward the girl who had led them here. Valoria dodged a knife strike by the undead, then rammed her right shoulder into its chest, staggering the undead backward. Her blade rose and skewered the monster and it fell, hissing its dying curses into the sky.
"Look out!" the older girl shouted.
Valoria looked up, then leaped to her right. Burning roof fell, striking her leg but doing little damage. "Thanks," she said. "Where's Jack?" she asked Larius as she dusted herself off.
"Still in there," her friend said, pointing at the house. The fire had nearly consumed it.
"Jack!" Valoria yelled and ran to the house. More of the burning roof crumpled, taking some scorched wall with it.
The side of the house seemed to explode outward. Valoria leaped backward, sword and shield at the ready. Then, she relaxed. Jack, carrying a man and woman over each shoulder, had knocked down the wall to escape the inferno. Coughs rumbled from his heaving chest as he set the two adults – a man and a woman – down on their feet.
"Gods," the man said, coughing as well. He stepped forward, hugged the older girl. The younger one grabbed both of them, hugged them tightly. "Thank you," he said to Valoria. "My name is Gavorius, and this is Miri." The woman Jack rescued was perhaps thirty, dark blonde and curtsied to them. "I'm in charge of the slaves quartered in the city," Gavorius continued. "Will you help me get to them?"
"Sure," Valoria said. "Did you have any warning this attack was coming?" she asked as they ran blindly down more streets. Buildings burned and crumbled; citizens tried to escape and undead rampaged.
"None," Gavorius said. "We thought we were safe behind our walls here."
"What are you going to do with the slaves?" Larius asked as they found the main road. It led down toward the docks and a fortified space between the dock and city proper.
"Try to save them, if we can," Gavorius said. Just when Valoria thought he might have altruistic motives, he added, "They're worth a lot of money."
"Let me have a weapon," Miri said as they hurried forward. When Valoria didn't have one to spare, she turned to Jack, pointed at his sword. Taking it in his meaty hand, by the blade, he held it out to her. "Thank you," Miri said. The two handed sword seemed almost too heavy for her, but she was determined.
"Blast," Gavorius said. "The gates are already open. The darkspawn are attacking the slaves in their cages."
Dozens of undead prowled the slave holding area. Valoria saw individual cages open, some hauntingly empty. The undead swarmed toward them, hissing and snarling.
"Take your children and run," Valoria told Gavorius.
"If you can get to it, there's a lever that opens all the cages at once," the slave tender said, gathering up his daughters by hand. He pointed to a platform above the cages.
Valoria nodded, then turned to her enemy. Larius fired an arrow at the lead undead, knocking the creature backward. A sword struck hers, nearly knocking it from her grasp. She got her shield up in time to block the knife of a second enemy. She spun away from the thickest danger, then parried another blade, before lunging.
Missing, she retracted her sword, brought the shield up to protect herself. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the older woman swinging the two handed sword above her head in an arc that lopped the head clean off an undead. Jack hurled another one across the battlefield at its companions, knocking down several.
"Help!" Larius shouted. Two undead lashed out at him with knives.
Valoria tried to come to her friend's aid, but one of the fiends struck at her, slicing into her leather mail. Spinning to her left, her shield hand batted away the blade, and momentum took her around, the point of her sword jabbing into the creature's leg. It howled and tried to parry. Valoria beat away the strike and buried her blade in its chest.
When she turned back to Larius, Jack was there, holding both undead by their necks. The giant slammed the two creatures together and they dropped to the ground.
"Help us!" Elven and human slaves screamed and clawed at the bars of their cages. "Don't leave us here." The elves had a language of their own. Some of them gabbled in it – Valoria had never understood it – but others spoke Tevene – the Tevinter Imperium's language – fairly well.
"Let's get up there and open the cages," she shouted to her companions. They hurried up the ramp leading to the platform. Only a few of the undead followed, the others scattered.
For a moment, Valoria looked into the sky. The storm clouds were passing over Emerius. They were headed in the direction of... "Home," she said quietly. Hopefully, they were ordinary storm clouds. Rumor was often wrong, but sometimes not. Emphatic rumor said that the archdemon – the old god the undead had corrupted into their leader – rode the storm clouds. The fact that the archdemon was a dragon god of Tevinter worship made the rumor seem all the more plausible.
"We're going to need help," Miri said when they reached the top of the platform. The large wheel that controlled the cage doors had thick chains wrapped around it. "Normally, five men work this," she said. "I'm surprised Gavorius didn't mention that."
"Maybe you didn't get properly introduced to your savior," Valoria said. "You've met Jack, though."
Miri gazed up, up. "Oh, yes," she said, blushing slightly. Her gaze dropped to her boots and she ran her fingers through her matted hair. "We've met," she added quietly.
As if sensing what was going on, Jack looked at the wheel, took in a deep breath. He grabbed one of the thick copper handles, set his feet out in front of him, and began to strain. The metal squealed, then slowly began to turn.
"Let's help," Valoria said, then set her hand on Larius's shoulder. "You keep your bow ready and we'll handle this."
Miri grabbed one of the spokes in front of Jack, facing the giant and pushed while he pulled. Valoria took up a position behind them both and pulled. Once the wheel began turning in earnest, it sped up a bit and became easier to manage.
Soon, all the cage doors were sliding open. Slaves exploded from them, running here and there. Panic overtook the slaves and citizens as they met each other in the streets. The few soldiers remaining were trampled by the fleeing slaves. More pandemonium ensued.
"We should leave," Valoria said. More undead stalked the streets. "Back to Ostwick."
"Are you happy now?" Larius whispered to Valoria as they hurried toward the gate they'd come in through. "We killed some Spawn, but started a riot."
"We saved some people," Valoria said, glancing toward Gavorius and his family. "And we met the Darkspawn."
"I could have done without the introduction," Larius said.
Valoria grinned at her friend, then turned to Gavorius. "Will you and your wife and daughters come with us?" she asked.
Gavorius turned to Miri and they exchanged a smile. "She's my sister," he said. He still had his daughters by the hands. "And yes, we'll be happy to come with you. I sure don't think it's a good idea to stay here."
Something had to be done against the Darkspawn. Valoria didn't know what, though. No one else had come up with an idea, either. They seemed to spring up from the ground at times. Organized armies fell regularly to them and always their numbers grew. It seemed hopeless, but Valoria wasn't ready to give up. Not after they'd whet her appetite for a fight. Her earlier trepidation vanished as the rush of saving people and elves sank into her heart. This was indeed what she'd trained so hard and long for.
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Tevinter: Blight