Dragon Knight-Commander (A Cullen Rutherford Shapeshifter Romance)

Chapter 30

I ran after Cassandra. 'How did it go with the troops? Are they okay about Cullen being a dragon?' I asked.

'He didn't tell you?' she said.

'No, we - no.'

'How do you think? Well, slightly better than expected. Maybe. The troops will follow his orders tonight, he is still their Commander. They don't want to fight Samson if he will do it for them. But there were many objections. There are few that want to be led into battle by the enemy of the Maker. I'd say we'll lose at least a third or possibly half of the army after tonight. Maxwell's position hasn't changed either.'

My stomach sank and my chest hurt. For Cullen.

The war horn sounded. We both looked around and froze when we saw Samson's army at the north of the camp.

Maxwell ran up to us, his stave held high, his expression twisted into his war-rage face. 'Cat, up front. There's hundreds of demons.'

My first thought was about Cullen. I didn't know where he was. If he'd been in dragon form I'd be able to hear him in my mind but he was still human. Why was he still human? Was he in trouble? The pain in my chest increased and almost suffocated me. I couldn't breathe. I clutched by my heart. 'Cassandra,'I said hanging onto her armour with my other hand. 'What's happened to Cullen?'

'What's happened to you?' She looked at me as if I'd turned slightly mad. 'What's wrong with you?' She looked around and pointed towards the tents. 'Cullen's fine. He's there.'

He was there. His sword was out, he was talking to his troops. My heart stopped squeezing out of my chest. I'd thought I was about to keel over from a heart attack but as soon as I saw he was alright, the pain had completely disappeared.

Maxwell dragged me behind him. 'Samson's toying with us. He's just standing there. Right Hand, he has troops of Red Templars. They're stuffed with red lyrium. They're not exactly demons, but they're no longer human. Can you stop them?'

'Hope so,' I said and ran after him through the camp, past soldiers freaking out. Maxwell reached behind and took my hand. He held his stave out in the other. He'd never grabbed my hand before. It wasn't friendship. It was fear.

We reached the north by the frontline. I held up my palm. It glowed but only faintly. It was strange. My hand had been slightly pulsing since we'd arrived at the camp. It wasn't painful, so I'd decided not to worry about it. They didn't have GPs here and if they did, they'd probably prescribe a permanent trip back to Inger Land.

I heard Cullen's deep voice behind us, ordering the troops to stand down unless Varric shot a double flare arrow up in the air.

Cassandra ran up to me. 'The Commander wants the companions to concentrate on taking out, or preferably capturing Samson. We have to draw Samson away from his army so Cullen can get a clear shot at killing all the templars with his fire. Right Hand, stay with the Inquisitor while you use your light to tranquil the demons.'

'Okay,' I replied, tightening my dagger belt around my waist. I glanced over at Cullen.

One of his soldiers rushed up to him and spoke in his ear. Cullen started looking around him wildly, clutching his heart.

Busted. I ducked down behind Maxwell. 'Er, Cullen doesn't want me fighting so we need to keep a low profile.'

'I'll follow your lead. Find your position and I'll have your back,' said Maxwell.

'Good, good,' I said, swallowed and legged it towards the side of the field where there was a slight rise and I could get my hand up. Apart from when they'd attacked Skyhold, the maximum amount of demons I'd been up against at the same time with my companions was about two dozen. It wasn't difficult to get the attention of that many darkspawn, but a whole field, in the dark was a different ball game altogether.