The Iron Dragon

Chapter 29. Red Templars

"That Samson is involved in all this must be bad news for everyone for your commander, after all it is known that he worked with him at that time in the Templars". Since they knew each other personally, I could imagine that this news was anything but pleasant for the commander.

"Whoever Samson was then, he definitely isn't now. If you dedicate yourself to a monster like Corypheus, you have to expect to have the Inquisition as your enemy, no matter if there were old acquaintances or not. He'll be held accountable for what he's done, I won't let him get away with it all. No matter where he hides, I will find him".

"Now that's a plan to follow but you should be very careful with a man like Samson. He didn't get this close to Corypheus for nothing. He is strong and so obsessed with red lyrium that he may not even be able to distinguish illusion from reality. He is a thoroughly mentally ill man but unfortunately also one with a lot of power. Caution is needed". Just as Freya opened her mouth to answer, I heard some noises from afar that suggested amplification. I stopped them with a hand movement and pointed with a nod in the direction from which I heard the heavy footsteps. At first the inquisitor seemed confused, as she didn't seem to hear anything yet, but after a while I could tell that she too was turning in the direction of the noises.

What worried me a little was that not only were the steps I heard different, but especially some of them made the earth tremble beneath our feet. The noise we heard sounded like thunder in the distance and that was mostly of signs that something was coming, which probably wanted to get us in trouble. I didn't think that our opponent was another dragon. I heard an unconditional growl but I couldn't attribute this to a dragon. Because Freya's sign on her hand didn't react in any way, I couldn't imagine that a new crack could have opened in such a short time. But if it wasn't a crack and it wasn't a dragon, then what was that horrible sound we all heard?

I looked through a crack that had opened up in the wooden fence to see who had come to visit us so loudly.

"You gotta be kidding me." A little bit incredulous I tried to comprehend the image that appeared to me as best I could. I sighed and turned back to the group that was looking at me expectantly.

"Now as it looks, we are about to get a visit from some red Templars, shadows, horrors and a colossus". I could see how the faces of my comrades-in-arms were distorted. Some annoyed and some unbelieving.

While Cassandra as well as Freya drew their weapons with a monotonous face and without saying a word, probably because we couldn't change anything about the whole situation anyway, I saw that the Dwarf and the Qunari had different reactions, but they were quite different. While the bull lifted his big and heavy axe from his back full of verve, I could see how the dwarf tightened his bolt with a not so enthusiastic expression.

"I will celebrate the day when someone doesn't want to kill us in a cruel way". Even before Varric could speak any further, Freya playfully gave him a slap on the shoulder and walked past him at a brisk pace to get a better view of our coming enemies.

"Cheer up Varric and stop wishing. You know that such a day has never happened before and most probably never will". Varric sighed heavily and tightened his bow with a short last movement.

"One can still hope." His words, which had now taken on a defeated tone, made me wonder how this group managed to get into a life-threatening situation every day, but after what I had seen for myself, it really didn't seem that difficult. Anyway, you could say that it never got boring in their presence, but I couldn't say if it was good or bad. Well, those who liked a constant thrill were definitely in good hands in the Inquisition.

Our opponents were definitely not to be joked with and we all knew that we had to be very careful. I hated red templars. These creatures no longer had a rational mind and were not only possessed and dependent on lyrium, but also completely eaten away by it. What we were about to fight were three different levels that could be found among the ranks of the Red Templars. Some horrors, shadows and a colossus which was probably the biggest concern.