King & Lionheart

Tower of Ishal

There was no way Tabris could've been ready for the scene laid out before her the moment she stepped outside, the smell being the first thing attacking her senses.

Darkspawn reeked of death, along with a sourness that was the Blight inside of them. With their blood killing every inch of grass it touched, Tabris gagged, holding a hand over her mouth and nose.

The fire that raged in the forest in the distance mixed with the heavy rain was conjuring enough smoke to sting her eyes, the heat beating down on her cheeks even from the miles away she stood. Already, what little hairs she didn't catch in tying her hair back were stuck to the sides of her face, rain clumping her eyelashes together.

A clap of thunder made her yelp in surprise, but the sound of the battle raging in the valley below them was somehow still louder in comparison. Darkspawn teeth thrashing into flesh, Mabari hounds barking and growling, men screaming out of victory and death. It was difficult to distinguish, impossible to tell from where Tabris stood whether things were going well or not.

"The tower is just across the bridge!" Alistair yelled over the rain and thunder, wiping at his face with the back of his sleeve. Water dripped from his lips, and his face appeared much paler under the moonlight.

Tabris took a step forward, stumbling backwards as the floor beneath her feet violently shook, Alistair stabilizing himself with his shield and managing to save her from falling over the side by catching the collar of her shirt, yanking her back to safety.

They have catapults. Of course they have catapults.

"Go! Both of you, now!"

The bottoms of August's boots faintly glowed, unaffected by the instability of their surroundings, and Tabris muttered a curse about magic under her breath.

The three of them broke out into a sprint, Tabris covering her face with her arms to keep debris from smacking her in the face as another boulder was smacked into the bridge's side. An archer's scream was immediately silenced as his head was crushed, Tabris only catching a quick glance at the blood before tearing her gaze forward.

Soon, the only thing ringing in her ears was her own heartbeat.

"Alistair!" the yell came from August, who had kept good time with her in making it across the cavern to more solid ground. "What the hell're you doing?"

Whipping her head to see, Alistair had skid to a stop, coming across a wounded archer, the catapults' ammunition having crushed his leg. Focusing his energy, he pressed his body against the giant rock, the archer screaming in pain as it slowly rolled from its original position, Alistair's face twisting with effort. With the archer's leg free, Alistair hoisted him over his shoulder, breathing heavily by the time he'd caught up.

"Sorry. Got distracted," he muttered, resting the archer against the trunk of a tall pine. "Let's get moving."

"Are you insane?" August yelled over the noise. "You could've been killed!"

"Shut up for two seconds, would you? Lovely," Alistair brushed off his hands on the cloth parts of his uniform, continuing onward without another word. August's ears were red, puffing out his cheeks like he wanted to explode, but resisted, instead straining his fingers and following.

The tower was far more foreboding in the dark with lightning raging behind it than awe inspiring as Tabris first felt. Other than the storm, however, it was quiet. Unsettlingly quiet.

"I thought Loghain's men were supposed to be on duty?" August voiced their concerns, Tabris swallowing thick with trepidation.

"Don't chicken out on me now, Auggie," Alistair smacked his chest, perhaps a little harder than intended, leaving August coughing while Alistair approached the entrance, carefully drawing his sword. "Do you feel it? ...Them?"