Chapter Eighteen: Templar Twister
"Sierra, I can see that you're a very useful person to have around, with your impressive knowledge of what is about to happen – however it is that you come by it." Wynne shot me a look that was part suspicious disbelief and part frustration. "However, I suspect that you'd be less than helpful if you ended up dead before we finished this. As the person who's going to have to save you if you get yourself injured, can I respectfully request that you stay out of the fighting when possible?"
I appreciated that she didn't use my less than epic fighting skills as the excuse, though the condescension was still galling. On impulse I stuck my tongue out at her in lieu of a response, and she actually choked as a laugh tried to escape while she still wore that sour expression. Feeling terribly immature, and quite self-satisfied at the same time, I turned away and walked to the next door I knew we had to open if we wanted to move on.
Eventually everyone else joined me, and Alistair pushed open the door. We fought our way through the rest of the fourth floor, none of us enjoying the dragonlings that seemed to have taken over. Sten largely took to stomping on them, which was both gross and funny, and wouldn't have worked for anyone shorter than the giant. I stayed back as requested, though we got jumped from behind somehow a couple of times so it didn't help as much as Wynne had hoped.
"Andraste's flaming sword, who keeps dragonlings in a sodding place of residence?" I couldn't agree with Alistair's sentiment more, even if the curses still made me giggle.
We finally found Cullen, and it was even worse than the game had lead me to believe. The poor kid's mind was broken, and I truly wondered if anyone would ever be able to put him back together. Wynne and Aedan both tried to reassure him as much as possible, but none of us were willing to slaughter all the mages out of hand - it would have ruined any chance at keeping Arl Eamon's family intact, in addition to just being very, very wrong - and we had to leave him, sobbing and praying.
Aedan had convinced Wynne to take and use the Litany, so after a brief reminder, and a warning to everyone to protect the mages who'd not yet been forcibly turned, especially Irving, we finally headed up the stairs into the Harrowing chamber.
As in the game, Uldred was surrounded by Abomination lackeys. A couple dozen bound, exhausted, injured mages were on the floor around the room, and Uldred's abominations were in the process of performing some sort of ritual which turned a poor young mage, screaming defiance, into yet another abomination.
Aedan again tried to talk Uldred down; I admired his diligence, but
come on, the guy's an abomination!
Finally realising that a fight was inevitable, Aedan slipped around to his side as Alistair bashed him in the face with his shield. It left Uldred with a bloody nose, and a rather nasal pitch to his voice.
Note to self: hug Alistair later.
Then he turned into the form of a pride demon.
As requested, I stayed back. Not that it was difficult to do so – I was terrified, and felt sick. The abominations were hideous, misshapen things that were much worse than I'd imagined in game. The smell of the corruption in the rest of the tower had inured me somewhat, but it was stronger in the Harrowing Chamber. Instead of getting involved, I watched for signs that Uldred was about to turn another mage and reminded Wynne to use the Litany.
It's a good thing Wynne has the book – I'd probably freeze up and forget how to read.
Sten, Prince, and Leliana took on the three other abominations.
The strategy seemed to be working until somehow the demon that had been Uldred managed to kick Aedan back and push Alistair over, then drain Wynne's mana - the elderly woman slumped, and I worried she'd actually fall over. Quickly, before anyone could recover, he caught both Alistair and Aedan with spells. Aedan actually froze into a man-shaped popsicle, and Alistair appeared to be paralysed. Uldred started chanting again, and I was suddenly terrified that he'd manage to shatter Aedan like we'd done to some of the demons earlier.
I took a few steps forward, planning to charge him with my dagger, but my fear was almost overwhelming. I heard Wynne reading from the Litany again, and Sten roaring at an abomination as he cut it down. I screamed in fear, and suddenly the hair on my arms rose like it had when I'd seen darkspawn Emissaries in past. A blast sounded, I could feel a rumble across the ground, and several of the bound mages appeared to faint. At the same time, both Uldred and the one remaining lackey started leaking blood out of every orifice. Uldred screamed, the word 'no' echoing across the harrowing chamber, as both he and the other abomination slowly crumpled to the ground.
Suddenly there was near silence. I could hear Alistair panting, still paralysed, as well as Wynne and Sten. Leliana lowered her bow, and there was the tinkling sound of falling glass as the ice broke away from Aedan and shattered on the floor. We all looked around at each other, trying to determine what had happened.
A few of the bound mages groaned, stirring, and Wynne rushed over to one, a grey-haired man I recognised as Irving. The rest of us spent a few minutes untying mages, rubbing bound hands to get the circulation going, offering sips of water and what reassurances we could. They all claimed to have been drained of mana, like Wynne, though they weren't quite sure how, but it slowly started recovering as they were able to rest and relax.
Finally Wynne approached with Irving in tow, introducing him to our little group. When she got to me, he stepped forward and shook my hand before she could finish.
"Thank you, templar, for your assistance. I don't know that many could have managed both Uldred and the other abomination like that. I shall tell Greagoir that he has trained his people well."
As a group, we all stared at him in open-mouthed shock. I was the first to react, stepping to the side so Irving and I both faced Alistair.
"He's the templar, First Enchanter, not me. You must have been confused."
