In League With The Wolf - The Elves of Fen'Harel Book 2 (Dragon Age)

Prison Break

Tilda was uninterested in their cause, but resigned herself to being swept down into the Pit, where the fighting was already fierce it seemed. Dead Templars lay on the ground as she and the other two stepped over their bodies, their throats slit.

Not magic, Tilda noted.

A young man with hair the colour of straw was limping away from the battle, pulling at painful speed an injured mage. He wore battered leathers, filthy and stained, and had a thin haunted face. Claudette and Jorwyn ran right by them, almost as if they didn't see them. Tilda frowned. "Enchanter Rhys!" She called out, recognising the injured mage.

"You can see me?" The blond man gaped at her, his expression that of a lost child.

"Yes." She frowned. "Can I help?"

The blond said yes as Rhys said no. "No." Rhys said again. He was a good man, everyone said it, locked up for daring to speak out. "The others need help. Cole will get me out. There's a way down into the sewers beneath the city. An escape." He coughed and blood splattered from his mouth.

Nodding, she turned away to the dark of the Pit and glanced back as she took cautious steps down, staff in hand.

Templars had descended upon the cells when the explosion had happened, rightly predicting a jailbreak was underway. Fire crackled past her and she threw herself to the floor in the dark confined space, watching as injured mages blasted their armed overseers.

"This way!" A pretty red headed lady that Tilda didn't recognise called out. She wasn't a mage, moving with lithe, sure limbs through the carnage, armed with daggers. A Bard, perhaps?

One of the remaining Templars threw out his hand, channelling power into his sword. The flames Claudette was wielding dissipated and she staggered back, barely avoiding the blade. Tilda detested Templar abilities, removing their born ability to reshape reality, and making the world immutable and plain.

Behind him, another mage burned him alive.

Reinforcements were arriving. The Lord Seeker and the Templars were returning from wherever they had gone. "Hurry!" She heard herself shout.

"There's a passage." The red haired woman said, "We're all leaving, together."

"But the phylacteries?" One of the Senior Enchanters croaked.

"They're gone." Tilda said, "Wynne destroyed them all. We're free."

They ran as a group. "We're too late. The red haired woman paused, blood on her face and blades. "They're back." Another group of Templar's was stomping towards them. "If you're injured, keep moving. We'll hold them off."

Tilda sighed, raising her staff at the woman's side. It would be so much easier just to run, but felt a pang for the injured Enchanters. Claudette joined her, alongside an elf she recognised as Grand Enchanter Fiona herself. "We will hold." The Grand Enchanter said fiercely.

They fired a barrage of flame and ice and lightning at the oncoming men and women, pushing them back as the others escaped down the passage. From upstairs, they could hear the other mages, and perhaps the Golem, pushing their way down.

"Backup!" Claudette sighed in relief.

The fighting was close, the Templar's powers making their magic tenuous at best. Tilda's flames were quenched more than once, leaving her dizzy and ducking to avoid the swords. The other mages were pushing towards them, and the stench of death, and burning flesh filled the air, along with the screams of the dying.

There were children in the tower, Tilda suddenly thought, and Tranquil too. Where were they? Would the Templars hurt them? Would they escape? It's not your problem, she told herself. You're just a kid yourself. You've only been here three years, and spent the whole time being called 'Apostate' and 'Hedge Mage' by the others, excluded by those who should have looked for you.

"Where are the children and Tranquil?" She heard herself ask the red haired woman.

"Following, I hope." She answered, though her eyes flashed with concern.

"We need to get to them, clear a path." Tilda said.

"You're a child yourself." Red head shook her head. "Why are you still here?"

"Because I can help." The Grand Enchanter was convinced to go as the tide of adult mages swept towards them, led by Wynne and a golem.

"Where's Rhys, Leliana?" Wynne asked

"Gone." Red head nodded. "We're going back for the children, since this mission has turned into liberating everyone." She raised an eyebrow.

"I'll lead these lot down the passage and out." Wynne nodded, "Hopefully it will draw the fighting away from you."

"Maker guide you, old friend." Leliana murmured and then she and Tilda and Claudette fought their way back down the hall.

The tower was deserted, eerie in its silence. Bodies, both mage and Templar littered the halls, dark stains splashed up the walls. The fighting had been keen up there. The trio ran up the spiral staircases for the floor of the mages quarters, pausing only once when further reinforcements marched past to chase those fleeing through the passageway.

"I don't even know your names." Leliana said into the hush. "I am Leliana. I serve the Chantry." Tilda frowned. The only priests she'd ever seen was the plump sister at her local chapel, very different to this agile, worldly woman with her twin blades.

"Claudette Jarvain. I'm a healer." Claudette smiled. She was a warm, maternal woman in her late thirties, her dark hair dangling down her back in her two customary braids. "I've been in the Spire most of my life." A nervous expression crossed her face.

Tilda understood. How strange it must be for her to contemplate running and leaving, when this tower was her entire world. She had only been confined there for three years, and the idea of the outside world had become strange.

"I'm Tilda." She answered. "Apostate extraordinaire." A smirk creased her mouth. Leliana frowned, but there was no time for discussion as they entered the children's dormitory. There were seventeen of them, aged from six to almost eighteen.

"Enchanter Claudette!" One of the older boy's ran forwards, "What's happening? We've heard the most dreadful sounds!"

"I'm afraid we have to leave." Claudette began to explain. Tilda offered to find the Tranquil while she did so and ran off.