Dragon Age: The Silences Song

Chapter 9

La'el took a step back and opened herself up to the Fade, her focus sharpening as the air shimmered before her. A long, glowing sword materialized in her grasp. She closed her eyes, centering herself, recalling the templars' teachings from years ago.

Back when she was just a mage in the Circle, La'el had grown bored of the conventional lessons—healing spells, fire bolts. It was the templars' combat training that fascinated her. Their disciplined strikes and flawless coordination had captivated her so much that, in secret, she began watching them train. Eventually, she learned to manifest her own Fade-touched sword and shield, mimicking their movements in her spare moments.

It was Johan, a young, newly recruited templar, who caught her one day. Instead of reporting her, he had taken pity on her, perhaps seeing the same spark in her that he had once possessed. He had guided her, honing her form and technique.

Now, she held the sword as if she'd been wielding it her entire life.

Cullen glanced at her, eyes widening in disbelief. "Why couldn't you have done that with the wolves?" he shouted, his voice echoing slightly in the cavern.

La'el gave him a playful grin, the sword glinting in her hand. "When I get nervous, I go back to basics."

Cullen just shook his head, exasperated but impressed. "Try to be less nervous next time. We could use all the help we can get."

Oghren let out a low, approving grunt, clearly amused. "That's more like it, pointy ears! Just remember, don't let that glowing stick blind you in battle."

Ahead, the deepstalker hissed, its attention shifting toward the glow of La'el's sword.

La'el's eyes remained fixed on the creature, her body tense as she circled it, studying its unsettling features. The deepstalker's reptilian skin glistened in the dim light of the tunnels, its long neck weaving slowly, and those glowing eyes locked onto her. But the worst was its mouth—circular, with jagged rows of sharp teeth, designed to rip anything it caught to shreds.
She swallowed hard, feeling bile rise in her throat. The darkspawn are worse, she reminded herself, trying to suppress her revulsion.

Without warning, Oghren seized the moment. With a roar, he swung his axe down, cleaving the creature clean in two with a sickening crunch. Blood splattered across the stone floor as the deepstalker's body fell into pieces.

"Well, that was easy enough," Oghren said, a smug grin spreading across his face as he looked down at the twitching remains.

La'el's stomach churned at the sight, but before she could even relax, Elizabeth's voice cut through the tension. "Don't be so sure."

From the shadows, the soft shuffle of feet echoed. A hiss sounded to La'el's right. Then to her left. More deepstalkers emerged, their eyes glowing eerily in the darkness, and their numbers multiplying.

Cullen drew his sword again, grimacing. "Here we go."

La'el steadied her grip on her Fade-touched sword, the glow of it casting light on the advancing creatures. There were too many now to count.

"Stick together!" Cullen ordered. "Don't let them surround you!"

The deepstalkers lunged.

La'el's sword flashed in the dim light, slicing cleanly through the air. The head of the deepstalker dropped to the ground with a sickening thud, but there was no time to feel any triumph. Another creature, faster than the first, lunged at her with a vicious snarl.

She barely had a moment to react, raising her glowing shield in the nick of time. The deepstalker's claws scraped against the barrier, sending sparks of magic into the air. La'el pushed back with a grunt, forcing the creature off balance. It hissed, recoiling, but its glowing eyes never left her.

Beside her, Cullen swung his sword in broad, powerful arcs, keeping the pack at bay, while Elizabeth danced between the creatures with her twin daggers, her movements swift and lethal. Oghren, meanwhile, laughed like a madman as he cleaved through another deepstalker, his axe dripping with blood.

La'el pivoted, her sword slashing through another creature's side, but more kept coming, their numbers seeming endless. The tunnels echoed with the sound of steel meeting flesh, the creatures' screeches blending with the clang of weapons and the grunts of the battle.

"We're getting swarmed!" Cullen shouted, blocking another deepstalker that tried to jump onto him.

La'el knew they couldn't keep this up forever. She took a deep breath, gathering her strength and magic, her sword flaring brighter as she prepared to strike again.

"Step back!" Elizabeth's voice rang out sharply, and everyone immediately obeyed. With swift precision, she pulled a small device from her leather satchel and hurled it at the ceiling above the advancing deepstalkers. A deafening explosion followed, the cave trembling as rocks tumbled down, burying the creatures beneath a wave of rubble.

The force of the blast knocked everyone off their feet. Cullen groaned as he pushed himself up, his head pounding, the sound of ringing still in his ears. He glanced toward the collapsed entrance, now sealed by the cave-in. "Well, that's just great," he muttered, letting his head fall back to the ground. "The entrance is blocked. What now?"

La'el pointed toward a dark opening in the far wall. "Over there! There's another way."

Oghren squinted at the ominous hole, the edges jagged and unnatural. He grumbled under his breath, already recognizing what it was. "That's a darkspawn-induced tunnel, pointy ears. It's no proper road—Who knows what's crawling through there."

"It's the only choice we have," La'el insisted.

Cullen let out a heavy sigh as he finally stood, brushing dirt from his armor. "We go through," he declared, his tone final. He glanced at Elizabeth and La'el before fixing his gaze on Oghren. "Stay sharp, everyone."

Oghren spat on the ground. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. This hole smells worse than a nug's arse."