My Love

by Sabrina Zbasnik

  As a mass, all the squires scrabbled around the wagon to peer into the forest where a gigantic line of the creatures stood eyeing up their prize. "Oh Blessed Maker," one squire called.

  Another bleated, "What do we do? What do we do?"

  Beside him, Gavin watched Cal's jaw drop open, his eyes wide in terror. Good. Slotting the shield back in place, Gavin turned to them. "We fight. We protect this wagon to keep the darkspawn from stealing our supplies. Everyone arm yourselves. Archers, please tell me we have archers."

  A couple of hands lifted in the air, which he nodded at. It wasn't much, but you know what they said about the army you had. With a grim set, they all dove under the canvas passing every weapon they could find back to hungry fingers. By the time the squires were as armed at they could be, they began to fan out in a line, people plucking at their weapons uncertainly.

  "Ser," Lambert turned to Gavin, his eyes brimming with fear, but he held it in check. "What now?"

  He'd been operating on assumptions at this point. They needed weapons to fight, get weapons. Fan out. Form a line. Now what? Gavin glanced over at Myra who was fiddling with her stick while she eyed up the horde. It felt like every darkspawn in the deep roads stood outside there waiting to kill them.

  You can do this. You know how to do this. Screwing up his eyes and slowing his heart, Gavin turned to the archers, "You'll be the first volley, try to pick off the front of the line. Form a mass of darkspawn bodies for the others behind to trip and climb over. Everyone else..." The heads swiveled to the boy making it all up on the fly, "Listen to Snowy, he knows how to fight darkspawn."

  "Thanks," the dwarf chuckled under his breath before stepping forward a bit. "Look, they're ugly as sin up close, and smell twice as bad, but these shits can die. Can die real good. What you want to do is focus on the limbs and the spine. Get a darkspawn in the spine and they go down fast. Forget fighting fair, cause they won't. Go for the eyes, the crotch, anything that will Take. Them. Down. Ya hear me?"

  A few of the squires lifted their swords in the air, while a couple more gave a half hearted, "Yeah." The rest stood in terror.

  "Come on, I said 'Ya hear me?'"

  "Yes, Ser!" everyone shouted together, even Gavin giving his voice.

  "Right," Snowy marched down the line sending the squires to their positions. Some were to hide back closer to the horde, others saved for the last push should the inevitable happen. "But, and I can't stress this enough, if you think you're outnumbered, get yer hairy ass back here!" the dwarf paused and glanced over at the girls, "Even if you don't have a hairy ass. We fight as a united front."

  Gavin let his eyes wander over to the girl that looked as breakable as a piece of straw, her limbs willowier than reeds plucked off a lakeside. He wanted to hide her behind him, but Myra was swinging her staff around and glaring murder at the creatures. "Is there any chance you'll stay back?" he whispered in her ear.

  Myra snickered, "What do you think?"

  "Here they come!" Snowy shouted, every body hitting the dirt. They slammed their backs up against the boxes, taking turns peeking over top to watch as the darkspawn began to run full bore at their prize.

  "When?" Gavin whispered to Snowy, who kept weaving up and down to watch.

  "Not yet." The horde erupted from a divot in the hill to begin to rise up towards them. Even at a good two hundred feet distance Gavin's stomach turned as if he could smell them. They moved like deadly ants about to spread poison into all they touched, the blacks of their armor bobbing in the run.

  "Now," Snowy touched Gavin's arm.

  Reaching up with his shield, Gavin shouted in his thunderous voice, "Do it!"

  Arrows flitted through the air, a seeming multitude as squires shared in nocking duties. They didn't have many, but they were sticking hard into the horde. A genlock fell, then two hurlocks. Soon the bodies were tumbling off the hill and right into the darkspawn trying to scramble behind them.

  "Second wave!" Gavin shouted before Snowy needed to tell him.

  The second archers popped up from the other side, firing into the darkspawn struggling to rise. More bodies meant more obstacles, but some were making it over. The first hurlock to reach the grassy hill jabbered in joy and began to run for it, when a sword slid out from a box and cut off its knees. It collapsed, shrieking in pain, when the second squire bashed in its brains with a mace. Their first line tried to hack as many as they could, getting another three, but it wasn't air tight by any means.

  A shriek lopped overhead, its long limbs clambering over the grounds like a wolf's, when it paused and tipped its head back. "Cover your ears!" Gavin tried to warn them, but it was too late. The blighted thing released its agonizing scream. Right beside it hid two squires who tumbled backwards in pain and partial paralysis. Damn it, there was no one near to stop the creature!

  With another howl, the shriek stood up on its back legs. Gavin moved to rise up out of his cover just as the creature was about to dive forward and rip their throats out. A bolt of lightning zipped right over Gavin's ear, striking into the creature's chest. The energy dissipated fast, but the shriek turned away from its easy prey and began to stalk towards the mage that winged it. Myra snarled, launching two more energy blasts, but they didn't seem to be strong enough to do anything more than piss it off.

  Gavin gripped onto her shoulder, moving to hide her behind him if the creature broke through. Shifting his shield into place, he faced the creature dead on, when an arrow zipped through the air and stuck right into the back of the shriek's spine. It howled in agony this time, hands scrabbling behind to rip it free, when another squire burst out from behind the cargo to slit its throat. As the creature fell, Gavin spotted it was one of the archers that first fell from its scream who shot it. He nodded his thanks and they returned it.

  Taking a peek at their handiwork, Snowy chuckled, "Shit, we might just pull this off. Shall we clear the board?"

  Gavin didn't feel as giddy about the prospect as the dwarf did, but he nodded and rose to his feet. Already scampering up the front line, Snowy stood dead center to carve apart a few genlocks that were weeping blood. The ground sizzled from so much of the black ichor coating it. This entire area would be desolate for centuries or more.

  Reaching over to Myra, Gavin squeezed her shoulder and she smiled. Both stood up to take on the last few hurlocks, when a massive blast blew apart the first ring of cargo. He whipped his head down to find another darkspawn stepping out of the trees. It was as tall as a hurlock, with a weird head almost shaped like a toe. "Snowy!" Gavin shouted, "What is that?"

  "Oh fuck!" the dwarf lowered his war axe, "An Emissary. Everyone run!" He moved to dash away, when another blast rocketed up the line. Crates exploded and the dwarf was blown back on his feet. Snowy's body tumbled with the force of a hurricane, the dwarf crashing into a chest crammed with towels.

  "Get out of the way!" Gavin called, waving his hands to the squires left positioned ahead. They didn't need any encouragement, all of them scrambling to escape. A few stopped to lift up Snowy, who picked up his head and groaned but seemed to be alive at least.

  "What is that thing?" Gavin cursed to himself.

  "Magic." Myra whispered beside him, her eyes wide. "I can sense it. It's throwing magic around."

  "Can you...dispel it? Disarm it? Counter it?"

  She shook her head back and forth rapidly, "No. I don't know what it's doing! I've never seen anything like it."

  With a groan, he glanced back at the wagon. They'd been so close to saving it, but... "Forget it, we need to retreat," Gavin said even as his heart sank. Myra nodded, her lips thin in concentration, her face blotchy. He'd almost think she was crying except there were no tears streaking down her cheeks.

  Grabbing onto her hand, Gavin leapt to his feet shouting for everyone to retreat back to the tents. The cause was lost. In scrabbling to make it over the crates, Gavin all but tripped over Cal. The boy hadn't moved for the entire fight, his back to the wall while he gripped tight to a sh
eathed sword. "What are you doing?" Gavin shouted at him, "Get up!"

  The boy shook his head negative slowly, his throat struggling to swallow.

  "Come on," Gavin dropped to a knee and grabbed onto Cal's shoulder to shake him out of it, but the squire was like moving stone. Cal dropped back against the wooden crate, his head bouncing, but he wouldn't break from his terror. "We have to go," Gavin shouted, "If we don't, you'll die."

  "For Andraste's sake," Myra shouted, "it's coming!"

  He stared out at the Emissary that was holding back its magic now that nothing fought it. The creature seemed to hover over the ground rather than walk, its very shadow blighting the ground. Was there nothing natural about it? Closing his eyes, Gavin gripped onto his sword.

  "You can't be..." Myra tugged harder on his arm, but he wouldn't budge. "It's Cal!"

  "I know," Gavin turned to her, feeling a sting in his eyes, "I know, but..."

  "Fuck," she grabbed onto his face and pulled him to her for what felt like one part head butt to one part kiss. "You are too damn nice."

  "Go," he ordered her, but Myra dug in her feet.

  "By the void, I am."

  He feared that'd be her answer, but he was grateful to not have to die alone. Staggering up to his full stature, Gavin unsheathed his sword, slotted the shield into place and stared into the twisted visage that was the Emissary. The creature seemed amused by the sudden appearance of two humans, its jaws flapping in a laugh.

  "Yeah, real funny," Myra mumbled. Lifting her hands up, she shot fireballs at the creature. It hissed, spinning in place, but somehow dissipating each one before it could burn. "Damn it all!"

  The creature cocked its head and lashed a hand out at Gavin. Instinctively, he tipped his shield up, sending a wave of acid bounding off the polished wood and straight into whatever those dresses were. Well, if he survived this, he could count on some half naked girl murdering him. Progress.

  "Myra...?" Gavin asked, both of them trying to slide in front of Cal to shield him from any spray.

  "I can try and burn it more," she threw out. "Or maybe bounce it?"

  "Bounce?" he turned back, when Myra grabbed onto his shoulder and yanked down.

  The same force that threw Snowy flying through the air passed a hair's breadth above their heads, the power knocking both back off their feet. Gavin smashed into Myra, the poor girl gasping in a breath from both attacks. At that moment, the Emissary drifted right beside them, delighting in its downed prey.

  He stared upward into its soulless eyes, dark as an unending nightmare, the lips rotted to reveal a rictus of horrors. Sneering at the creature, Gavin hopped forward onto his knees and began to rise to his feet. The Emissary paused, its hands folding together.

  "It's casting something!" Myra gasped out behind him, "Something big!"

  With one eye upon her, and the other watching the creature no doubt about to break every bone in his body, Gavin slammed down to a knee. He prayed with everything inside of him that this would work. Dipping deep into the pools that his father revealed, things beyond the veil that even mages didn't understand, Gavin tugged upon the nothingness inside it all and then directed it out into the waking world.

  He felt the wave erupt off his body and circle fully around him. Most of it struck the Emissary, its body flailing backwards, but some must have hit Myra as she gasped in pain. Stepping forward, Gavin eyed up the creature facing a world with no mana and no spells at its disposal. With his arm, he extended his sword backwards. The Emissary shrieked, its claws scrabbling to disembowel Gavin, but he met those with the shield. Jamming his arm forward, he slammed the blade right through its rotted robes and spilled the filthy intestines upon the ground. Without a care, the Emissary flopped backwards, its final shriek of death wailing through the air.

  Struggling in a breath, Gavin turned back to Myra who was hobbling up to her knees and eyeing him up as if he was a stranger. "What...what did you do?"

  He moved to explain, when all the squires came rushing out of the woodwork shrieking their congratulations. A dozen voices cried out in shock, fingers prodding at the Emissary corpse bleeding all over the ground. Only Snowy nodded his head, hands perched upon the grounded war axe. Gavin braced himself for a "ya did good, kid" from the dwarf that was nearly the same age. Mercifully, he didn't have to suffer it as Snowy wiped off his brow and then jabbed the end of his axe into the Emissary's body.

  "Best we burn these things, then find whatever hole they crawled out of and bury that."

  Shit! Gavin whipped his head towards the east where the mayor took Rosamund and her entourage to view the great sinkhole. His lips opened, about to ask Snowy if darkspawn could attack from two sides, when Myra beat him to it.

  She leapt up, fully forgetting his anti-magic attack, and jabbed her flagpole where her sister went. "Rossie's over there!" Her great green eyes turned to Gavin and a plea sat unspoken upon her lips.

  Even with his legs weary and arm waning, he nodded his head. Of course he'd help. She bit into her lip, glancing back at the pile of people all moaning from where the darkspawn cut into them. It could have been a lot worse, they got lucky, and that party with the Princess were barely armed.

  "Snowy," Gavin reached over to plop a weary hand upon the dwarf's shoulders. "Do what you think is right, I've got to go check on the Princess."

  "I'll follow," Lambert sprung up, suddenly offering himself.

  He welcomed the assist, prepared to scoop up any armed hand willing, when Myra leapt in, "No, no, they should go follow Cailan and the rest. Keep them safe."

  "You're right," he nodded at the girl who could think more steps ahead. "She's right, the Prince and other innocents all fled towards the village. Follow them, make certain no darkspawn are on their trail."

  "Yes, Ser!" Lambert saluted. He expected it to be a laugh at the absurdity of Gavin giving so many orders, but as he watched Lambert select half the squires he realized there was no sarcasm in there. They meant it.

  Snowy kept the rest, already directing them to haul up the bodies and keep from touching anything covered in blood. The dwarf turned from his roommate and glanced down at Cal still sitting with his hands enveloping the sword. With a sigh, Snowy walked away from the spooked squire that made their lives hell. He had other problems to deal with.

  So did Gavin.

  Myra took the lead, running headlong through the flattened campsite. Even if there were any darkspawn lurking along the sides, ready to take them out, she'd have easily blown past each one before they could blink. Which would have left Gavin to deal with them all, if there'd been any. Whatever force was sent to take out the camp must have all been focused upon getting the weapons. While beating feet against the battered ground, they caught the occasional head popping out of a tent and questions of what was going on, but neither of them were going to take the time to stop.

  They had a princess to save.

  "Damn it," Myra groaned, her head lolling back as she sucked in more air. "Why did we have to camp so far away?" They made it into the first of a dozen fields circling the small village. Nearly a mile and a half away was the big hole, where hopefully Rosamund and the rest were having a good look-see down and nothing more.

  "It's..." Gavin gasped in more air, his body built as more of a sprinter than a marathoner. "It's not so bad."

  She glared to the side and then snickered, her braid bouncing in the run, "Don't you say it." Myra tried to wave her stick at him, but she needed her arms to pump her body through the ankle high plants they were doing their best to not trod upon.

  "Wh...what?"

  "That it could be raining. It's a terrible joke, and I will think much lesser of you for using it," she spat out. He expected to hear a laugh in her voice, but her eyes were hooded and she kept darting her sight to the side. It was almost as if she feared to turn her head away, then back to find Gavin transformed into a demon.

  "My..." He wanted to explain, when she skidded in her tracks and her eyes practically bugged out.
>
  "Is that...smoke? Right where Rosie is!" Doubling their heads down, Myra and Gavin dashed for the clearing. A windbreak circled the field, piles of trees cutting them off from whatever was going on beyond, but the sounds of battle were breaking through. Cries of pain, metal slapping into metal -- and even more terrifying, meat -- all of it burned the air along with the stench of smoke.

  Myra was babbling as she ran forward, "So help me, she better be fine. Dad's gonna kill me if she's not. Mom too. Maker, I don't even want to think of what Mom would do if I got my sister hurt."

  It was foolish. No one would blame Myra. She wasn't supposed to protect the Princess. The much younger sister being tossed onto the pyre for Rosie being injured seemed... Tears were burning in her eyes, trailing backwards at the speeds she was reaching to splatter against the trees.

  "She'll be okay," Gavin said so certainly Myra whipped her head over at him.

  "She damn well better be. No one wants Cailan in charge." Swiping a hand over her eyes, Myra and Gavin both dashed through the last of the trees and emerged into the war zone.

  Darkspawn littered the field, piles of corpses stuffed with arrows, but just as many were rushing through the grassy area. Gavin spotted a few of the local militia hiding behind a makeshift barricade, but the darkspawn were buckling it, their teeth gnashing over top. Smoke roiled from within the hole, as if the gates to the void itself opened up below them. Both of them watched as another arrow coated in fire arced through the air and planted right into the eye of a genlock attempting to scrabble up the hole.

  It shrieked in pain, the grip slipping until it fell onto what had to be a pile of burning corpses, their liquifying fat feeding the flames that sickened the air. Myra cupped a hand over her eyes and followed the arrow's course. "There's Rosie!" she gasped, a hand digging into Gavin's shoulder and she leapt up higher.

  Behind the male Knight stood the Princess, bow in hand. She was covered in soot and darkspawn ichorm but seemed unharmed. Beside her whirled the assassin woman, her blades dicing up genlock arms, before she kicked her feet into one, flipped over, and landed behind a hurlock. With a quick whip of her dagger, she slit its throat. Even with the impressive show, her limbs were slowing, and she was clearly favoring the right arm. Something got to her, but she wouldn't slip away from the Princess who was jabbing at a mound of darkspawn advancing on the tree line.