There and Back Again Ch. 109-110

I wended my way back towards our forces when I couldn't find any more emissaries to kill. My daggers were dripping with darkspawn blood, and I was sure I had splashes across my armour, but I was unharmed. I left the woods and paused, awestruck, as I watched the battle unfold.

The soldiers, illuminated by harsh torchlight, fought like their lives depended on it – which they did, if we were being honest – and they each cut down multiple darkspawn for every man we lost. The nobles, identifiable in their flashier, though still functional armour, were a sight to behold, cleaving and slashing at darkspawn.

Even knowing Aedan, despite playing the game as often as I had, I had entirely underestimated the military prowess of the Fereldan and dwarven nobility as a whole.They may be foolish nobles, but that's not all they are.I watched Cailan decapitate a hurlock alpha with his massive great sword, while some nobleman at his back slid his longsword into a vulnerable point in a genlock's armour and kicked the corpse away to keep fighting. They were all impressive, the dwarves favouring axes, 0the humans mainly carrying swords, and they fought almost as well as the Grey Wardens I was used to fighting beside. But it still wasn't going to be enough – despite their obvious skill, the greater numbers of the darkspawn were wearing them down.

That battalion better get here soon.

I spotted Irving and the other mages, conserving mana and concentrating on healing, no longer able to avoid friendly fire if they threw more offensive spells. A group of templars defended them from darkspawn that managed to break through to where they were standing.

I briefly looked for my three-templar group, unsurprised not to find them where I'd left them. I sighed and dove back into the fray, taking out a couple of genlocks and a shriek as I made my way towards Cailan.

The two of us fought side-by-side, protecting each other, as an endless stream of darkspawn came pouring out of the woods. Not being able to see me protecting Cailan's back, the 'spawn must have assumed he was a terrible fighter, leaving his back so exposed; it made it easy for me to find gaps in their armour or slit throats when they got cocky. The worst part was periodically getting coated in the spray off Cailan's blade; I hoped I wouldn't have to dispose of my new armour, if I survived, because I was pretty sure that there wasn't enough money in Thedas to convince Paider to make me another set.

My arms were getting tired, the fight dragging on longer than any battle I'd been in before, when suddenly I froze, almost getting Cailan killed as I stared off into the woods, unseeing. He spun, decapitated the hurlock I'd completely missed, and dragged me back a few steps into relative safety.

"Sierra?"

I shook myself and focused on him. "Emissary. Or something. There's magic, like I've never felt before. I..." I trailed off, thinking desperately. Nothing I'd encountered before had an aura this large, that...malignant. I shuddered.It's so much larger...do ogres have emissaries? Is that a thing?

Something about that thought triggered a half-formed idea in my mind. Ogres...emissaries...when had I seen ogres and emissaries?And then it occurred to me.

"Son of a bitch! It's the general."

"What?"

"One of the Archdemon's generals, the ones who help keep the horde organised...one of them is a mage. A really, really, nasty mage. And he's almost here."

Cailan blanched. "Can you...do your templar thing?"

"I don't know. He's much more powerful than the others. And I can't transfer mana in the middle of taking it even if I had someone to share it with."

Cailan looked confused, and I shook my head in frustration. "Never mind. I'll see what I can do."

I stepped towards the woods, needing to be slightly closer to the source of all of that magic. Cailan ended up back-to-back with one of the dwarves, being swarmed as soon as I stepped away, but the darkspawn just went around me, as usual.

And then I saw the general step into our clearing. He was a hurlock, that much was clear, but he was a good foot taller than the largest alpha I'd ever seen, and he wore a set of impressive, matching armour – a far cry from the scavenged garbage most of the darkspawn wore. He was carrying an enormous axe, instead of a staff, but he gestured with it and a bolt of lightning shot out towards our forces. I used the last of the mana I held to shield Cailan; the lightning arced around him and struck the dwarf beside him, who fell to the ground, twitching but alive. I turned back to see a huge wave of darkspawn move forward, seemingly at the general's command. There were several emissaries scattered between the other darkspawn, and one at a time, they began casting.

I needed to interrupt the general, but I couldn't leave so many other emissaries to attack Cailan's position either. I'd never seen so many emissaries together; regardless of the size of the feint, there were far more than we should have expected. I snuck through the oncoming darkspawn, stealing mana and slitting the throat of the first emissary I encountered. It screamed and fell, and I ducked just in time to miss being decapitated by a nearby alpha. The alpha's axe became buried in the skull of a genlock, to my amusement; I dodged away as three more darkspawn attacked the spot I'd just been standing in, and I paused, gaping.

I finally understood: this was a darkspawn hunting party – and they were hunting me.

I changed my tactics, stealing the mana of an emissary farther away, and stabbing a nearby one with my daggers before dropping to the ground and rolling away from the resulting attacks. More darkspawn died accidentally as they all tried to find me, but while I enjoyed their bad luck, I knew it wouldn't last. I wasn't going to be able to keep it up forever. I was fast, but my main advantage had always been surprise, and I'd lost it.

Instead, I crept to one side and grabbed the mana of the first emissary I saw, too far away for any of the darkspawn to guess my location and attack me. I could feel the pressure in my head – I was holding the entire mana pools of two emissaries, and I was close to my limit. I ignored it, closing my eyes and reaching out again for the third.

I felt like my head would explode; it was too much. But as I opened my eyes and glanced around, I saw two more emissaries start casting. Cailan's shield had long worn off, and even if I replaced it, it wasn't going to be enough to save him from two mages and a general trying to kill him. He was fighting desperately now, so many of those surrounding him having died to protect him.

I took a deep breath and reached out once more.