Chapter 16: Propositum
Ancient stonework erupted into flames beside Alistair. He cried out as the impact of the darkspawn siege weapon flung him backwards. World spinning around him, he blindly reached out, hoping to catch himself before he went over the edge of the marble-paved bridge.
His gauntleted hands skidded across the weathered stonework before finding purchase; the sudden halt jarred his arms and he groaned. Erik appeared before him with Elisa and Celestine close behind. "Quick, grab onto his other arm," the Cousland shouted to the women. Without waiting for a response, he took Alistair's right hand in his own and heaved. Elisa had taken his other arm with Celestine hanging onto her belt, to hold her back and add her own weight.
Alistair flew back onto the bridge despite the bulk of his armour, his companions tumbling over themselves. Another burning missile flew close overhead and they flinched instinctively. They were on their feet again in a moment, the sounds of the battle below conveying the severity of the situation.
Both Erik and Elisa had been on battlefields before, but none compared to this when it came to the sounds that were echoing up from the valley; the screams and war-cries of men mingling with the bellows and cries of the darkspawn, the clash of weapons and armour mixing with the roars of ogres and the barking of war-hounds. Occasionally, magic would lance across places, decimating swathes or warding them. Over it all, the crawling sensation in the back of the new Warden's minds was now a haunting song that spurned them onwards.
"Come on, we don't have time to spare!" Elisa's shrill voice pierced through the clamour from below.
The group rushed across the bridge, dodging explosions, archers and ballista crews. They slowed down as they neared the other side, trying to catch their breath from the mad dash. Finally they stopped, Alistair leaning on his knees as he addressed Erik, "Thanks…that would have been…a terribly boring death."
The other man chuckled as he straightened up. "Well, I didn't want to have to deal with these two all on my own."
Elisa smacked him upside the head as she walked past. "Oh really?"
"Ow! Only proving my point!"
"The only point I am proving is that you should put your helmet back on," she shot back.
"Yes Mom."
The quip had come out without a thought, but as he said it his look hardened, as did Elisa's.
Before anyone else could say anything more, a soldier came running up to them, as out of breath as they had been a moment ago. "Grey Wardens! Thank…the Maker," he gasped in between gulps of air, "Tower overrun…darkspawn…tunnels."
"Darkspawn are attacking the tower?" Celestine tried to clarify. The man nodded.
"Well Alistair, there's the battle you wanted," Elisa said, grinning as she drew her blades.
"Damn it, we can't afford to get slowed down too much," Erik growled, "or we'll miss the signal."
Alistair nodded, looking to Celestine to see if she had anything to add. She shrugged. "Fireballs prepped and ready."
Each of them drew their weapon and they hurried to the tower, using a brisk jog so that they would have energy to spare for the coming battle.
Passing through the defensive palisade that had been erected around the tower, they met their first resistance. A trio of darkspawn was standing over the corpses of some humans, hissing at each other in their guttural language.
The newly minted Wardens fell upon them swiftly; one's head was separated from its shoulders before it even realised it was under attack. As Elisa moved in, Erik used his shield to bat the blade of the one out of the way and impaled it through its chest using the Cousland family sword. Alistair rammed into the remaining spawn using his shield, and was surprised as he stumbled forward – his target having shattered under the impact, littering the floor with iced giblets.
"Oh gross," he muttered as he saw how the darkspawn's blood had frosted in tiny black crystals in the shape of a nova burst across his shield.
Elisa giggled. "Get used to it, Blondie, mages offer the messiest – if quickest - solutions during combat."
Any further banter was cut short as more darkspawn attacked, alerted to their presence.
"I suppose this is why the expression 'uphill struggle' exists," Erik said as they pushed the darkspawn back up the stairs and beyond the defensive emplacements that had been put up – but rendered useless.
"It's not fun if it's easy," Elisa responded, wearing a feral grin as she wiped darkspawn blood from her cheek, the black substance smudging.
"And this isn't?" Celestine teased, swinging her staff around to connect with the head of an unfortunate Hurlock, the solid wood staggering it. She let go of the weapon with her right hand and gestured at it. Lightning forked from her extended fingers and sizzled across the body of the beast. Finally it collapsed to the ground, smoking.
"Is that a challenge I hear?" a haughty voice called from an alcove above in the tower.
Alistair looked to where the voice had come from, then to Celestine, "Hang on - doesn't that sound like…"
He was interrupted by the doors of the tower bursting open and four darkspawn charging out bellowing their war-cries. Before the Wardens could react, a dark form shot out from where the voice had originated, a shining streak blurring through the air after it. The figure landed on the ground behind the charging darkspawn, who started to turn to see what had appeared. The shining object sliced through the lead one, using the momentum of the fall to bisect it. The creature dropped in two. The edge did not remain still; it flowed through the air and cut up into the ribs of the one adjacent to the first. Then the butt of the spear slammed into another as the blade was pulled from the second. The weapon was twirled about as the blade cut deeply into the neck of the one that had been hit. The final darkspawn had finally gathered enough of its wits to retaliate, but the blade was blocked by the spear's shaft. The wielder kicked the darkspawn in the gut, sending it reeling back. Then using the opportunity to pull the blade from the darkspawn it had been stuck in, it was twirled around once more and thrust into the chest of the one that had been kicked. Five seconds elapsed throughout the entire process.
"…your cousin."
Standing before them was Sorana, spear held perpendicular to her arm behind her, her feet spread and left hand held out in front of her as if balancing. Seeing that that had been all the darkspawn she straightened up, smirking. "Accepted."
"Do you have to do everything like there's something to prove? Maybe it's just my insignificance," a young man was saying as he walked out of the door the darkspawn had just come running out of, the sword he was resting on his shoulder large enough to rival what Ser Jory had wielded.
"Oh how is that a way to make an impression, Carver? Look, we have an audience."
"Your audience, maybe. I'll just continue living under the yoke of being compared to you."
Sorana shook her head in exasperation, but when looked up at the now somewhat puzzled Grey Wardens. She was smiling brightly. "Celestine !" The Hawke jumped forward, wrapping her arms around the surprised mage.
"Sorana? …Uhm, nice to see you too?"
"Yes!" Sorana exclaimed, "It's always nice to see me." Hawke detached herself from her cousin and stepped back to take in who it was that was actually assembled before her.
"Cheese-guy! You'd better have been keeping my Tina safe," Rana said sternly, wagging a gauntleted finger at Alistair who struggled to find a response.
"Uh, yeah? I think."
"Brilliant, and look, it's the Nobs!" Rana bowed emphatically before Erik and Elisa.
Erik was just watching the Hawke woman's antics with a raised brow. Elisa on the other hand was grinning, and as soon as Sorana had completed her mocking gesture she returned it, curtsying. "A pleasure to meet you Sirrah. But perhaps introductions can be made én route to the top of the tower? We have yet to light the signal there."
"Of course, my lady; the Captain is holding back the darkspawn at the entrance to their tunnel with what men are still left."
The group, with its two new additions moved into the tower, carefully stepping over the corpses that the older Hawke had created.
"So I take it you know each other?" Erik asked the raven-haired woman leading them through the shattered barricades and bodies that littered the floor of the tower.
"Yep, met two days ago," she responded. "Saw you too when you 'n the Commander passed by the roadside barricade, but I didn't come out from my shady spot back then." Sorana shrugged, "And well, everyone in our battalion heard about Blondie's cheese-stand suggestion. Men were still crying with laughter two days later."
"Ah! You're that voice that told the soldiers to let us pass," Elisa stated, recalling the encounter.
"Maker, I'll never live that down," Alistair groaned, "– but it was a good idea!"
Sorana nodded, "Yes, to both accounts, but I'd have preferred chocolate."
They made their way through several more chambers, each of them littered with debris and corpses – both of darkspawn and men – until they reached a room that had a stairwell leading to the next floor. Opposite to the stairwell, a hole gaped. Part of the wall and floor of the tower had collapsed into it. A line of men was standing across the gap, shields locked as a wave of darkspawn surged from beneath.
"Hold the line men!" a commanding voice called from the midst of the shield-wall.
The darkspawn charge broke against the shields, not finding a gap in the defence as a pair of archers fired into the mass from atop tables that had hastily been pushed into strategic positions. The Blighted creatures were soon all cut down as the new Wardens aided the defence.
"Sergeant, I thought I told you and your brother to guard the main entrance," a woman with fiery orange hair addressed Hawke as she approached.
"Don't worry Captain; these Wardens here killed everything out there. They're the ones sent to light the signal fire."
"Ah, finally – the waves are getting increasingly larger and I'm not sure how much longer the ones we barricaded upstairs will remain quiet."
At the confused glances she was getting from the Wardens, she elaborated. "The bulk of our force was outside the tower when the first darkspawn broke through. They managed to infest the entire building before we were able to lead a decent response." A deep sadness seemed to grip the captain for a moment, but it was quickly hidden again behind a steely resolve. "I lost a lot of good men here; I hope it's not in vain."
Alistair nodded solemnly, "We shall honour their sacrifice, Captain."
"I'll have my men remove the barricade. Maker watch over you," the captain said, nodding to Alistair.
The Wardens checked their equipment as the Hawkes returned to the door and the Captain to her men, knowing that it would likely be a while before they would have the opportunity to do so again.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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