"Harry Potter," he admitted, grudgingly. She only nodded an acknowledgement. He realized that his name meant nothing here. It was rather... liberating.
"All right then," said Lesley, glancing about her for any more attackers. "That's Wynne... Morrigan...Zevran...my good old Dash. This is Wanda. A pity her helmet is covering up her red hair. Trust me, it's really red."
"Oh, you!" laughed the archer.
"And you've already been officially yelled at by Loghain. Loghain Mac Tir." Lesley looked at them questioningly, obviously expecting a response. Then she shrugged. "You really must be from a long way off. You have the smallest staffs I've ever seen."
"Wands," Hermione corrected her.
The two witches also found them interesting. The beautiful dark-haired witch obviously longed to examine them.
"I suspect there is more to them than a simple stick of wood. I am right, am I not?"
"Yes," said Harry. "Mine has—"
"Hurlock!" bellowed Loghain.
There was a quick, efficient shift into battle order. A single armored warrior was running at them. As he grew closer, Harry saw that he could be nothing human.
Wanda, the archer, whispered, "Take your positions back here with me. Do not hit our friends with your spells, and do not get the creature's blood on you!"
More ogres emerged to support the "hurlock," but the party was strong, and Harry and Hermione's stunners and petrifying spells did much to render their attackers helpless. Loghain and Lesley engaged the powerful hurlock with Morrigan's support, and killed it gruesomely to the accompaniment of cheers and astonishingly rude oaths. When silence fell once more, everyone looked about in satisfaction, until one of the ogres groaned and began getting up again.
"Maker's breath, boy!" Loghain swore, driving his blade into the creature's putrid heart. "Don't put the darkspawn to sleep! You put them down for good, or they'll do it to you!"
"Sorry," Hermione squeaked. "That was me. Sorry. I've never... killed anything before."
Loghain snorted, yanking his blade out of the ogre. Blood spattered, but the man avoided getting any on the children. "You'd better get used to it, girl."
The white-haired witch leaned close and tried to be encouraging. "Respect for life is very creditable, but it can't apply to darkspawn."
Morrigan rolled her eyes. Lesley was grim. "It's true. Haven't you seen darkspawn before? Heard of them? Really? No? Lucky you."
Astonished at their shaking heads, she said. "Well, believe me when I say that they aren't people. All they want is to kill you and everything else on the surface of Thedas. And they'd do worse than kill you, Hermione, if they captured you. We're fighting for our lives here."
Wanda whispered, "They are Tainted, too. Do you see the foulness on that wall there? Do not touch it. It carries disease."
It was all very frightening. Hermione whispered, "Let's try to apparate away!"
"I dunno, Hermione," Harry said, worried. "How far can we apparate? If we're in some other world, we might not make it all the way back."
That was even more frightening. "All right," she said. "We'll stay with these people for now. They seem all right, except for being so bloodthirsty."
Harry muttered, "And except for that bloke who looks like a muscle-bound Snape."
Denerim, they learned was a city: the capital of a country called Ferelden, and Ferelden was in Thedas, by which these people seemed to mean the world. It was a little harder to figure out who was in charge. Loghain looked like he was, because he was the sort of person who always looked like he was in charge. The others seemed to look to Lesley, though, and even Loghain liArvided to her when she spoke up.
"We're going to the Alienage first," she said. "I know you don't think it's defensible, Loghain, but I'm not going to leave them to their fate. It should bloody well have been made defensible. Besides, I don't want the darkspawn moving back and forth over the Alienage bridge. They're already on the other side, so I think the thing to do is to cut them off and wipe them out. That's a job for the Legion of the Dead, though. Our mission is the Archdemon."
"The dragon," Wanda whispered to the two young mages, her hand gesturing at the looming menace in the skies. "It commands the darkspawn. Without it, they are mindless beasts."
Hermione found that fascinating. "Like a hive mentality?"
Lesley overheard her. "Yes. Very like that. Without the Archdemon, the darkspawn are dangerous, but totally without purpose or direction. Nothing else can command and unify them. One of our allies has gone to Fort Drakon to try to attract it. Dragons like high places."
Harry pointed to the immensely tall tower some distance away. "And that's Fort Drakon?"
"That it is. First, though, we have to get there, and we need to go through the Alienage and cross the river by the bridge on the other side."
There were terrified people in the place they called an "Alienage," and it seemed they were elves.
"Elves!" Hermione whispered in amazement. "They certainly are different than the ones at home!"
They were shorter than the humans, but very human-like aside from their pointed ears. It was not until there was more talk that they found out that their companion Zevran was an elf himself, since a helmet had concealed his ears. The Alienage, it appeared, was a district in the city. It seemed rather run down, but none of the city looked very good at the moment.
"It's you!" cried a red-haired elf girl, running to Lesley. "I can't believe it! I thought they'd all left us to die!"
"No, we're here to help," Lesley assured her, "but we expect you to help yourselves, too."
A young male rushed up, wailing, "They're upon us!"
"Let's go!" shouted Lesley.
They ran down an alley, and saw an ogre battering at a heavy wooden gate.
"Come on, all of you!" Lesley shouted. "Everybody can do their part! You elves with bows, get up in those windows up there. You can shoot down on the darkspawn. Harry! Hermione! Climb up on that scaffolding there and try to stay out of sight! Cast when you can, but don't be stupid! Some of the darkspawn are mages. Wynne, go with them. You can cast healing spells from there!"
Besides the ogre, there was another of the powerful hurlocks, and a number of lesser creatures of the same type. There were others, too: squat, ugly little monsters with leering faces. From up on the scaffolding by the gate, Harry and Hermione could see the river and the big stone bridge over it. More darkspawn were streaming their way, squawking and chuckling.
"In a way," Harry said softly, "it's better than Death Eaters. These things don't know any better. They're sort of like inferi. It's not personal."
Hermione could not speak, but took several deep breaths, and began casting, first on the ogre, and then on the bandy-legged little archers. Harry gathered his strength, and shot "Sectumsempra!" down on the hurlock leader. The armor protected the creature's torso, but not its neck or face. It shrieked horribly, squirting unnatural blood. Wanda's arrows buzzed like angry wasps, bringing down more of the lesser darkspawn.
The ogre, stunned and dying, sagged against the gate, but it still held. Loghain snatched a bow from a frightened elf and was shooting through the bars of the gate, to considerable effect. Harry was unaccountably annoyed that the man seemed to be good at that, too. Darkspawn clambered over the ogre, pressing forward, arms reaching through the bars. Morrigan cursed them, and Lesley and Zevran hacked and stabbed at them. The gates groaned in protest, and began splintering.
On impulse, thinking of all he had loved and left behind, Harry flung out his wand arm and shouted, "Expecto patronum!"
The enormous white stag burst forth, swooping down on the milling monsters. tossing its head, distracting the darkspawn into swarming confusion. Even their emissaries could do nothing to harm it, and they were oblivious to the fact that it could do nothing physically to them.
Hermione was delighted at Harry's success. In a few seconds, a silvery-white otter was gamboling below, luring da
rkspawn after it, darting back and forth.
Even after the collapse of the Alienage gate, it proved just the distraction they needed. While the darkspawn chased the patroni, the humans and elves fell upon the creatures from behind. In moments the hurlock leader was finished off, along with the two creatures that had used a crude kind of magic. Hermione and Harry shot spells down on the darkspawn coming over the bridge.
"Reducto!"
"Diffindo!"
Morrigan used her freezing curse again and again. It not only froze the the darkspawn, but injured and even killed some of them.
"I've got to learn that one!" Harry gasped, in between spells.
The patroni danced to the end of the bridge, luring the darkspawn to their doom. The creatures seemed unable to focus on anything else. Harry heard Loghain's grim laugh as he beheaded a confused darkspawn, and then kicked the headless corpse into the river. Over a hundred darkspawn perished, and the two youngsters were trembling with fatigue when the last of the creatures lay dead.
Wynne took Harry by the arm and pulled him close for a look. "That was absolutely splendid, Harry," she praised him. "You, too, Hermione dear. Don't wear yourselves out. We still have a long way to go. Here... this might help."
A dazzling blue glow slipped out from her hands, and Harry was instantly refreshed and reinvigorated. In fact, he hadn't felt this healthy in... ever.
"Thanks!"
"Oh, my!" Hermione breathed. "That's marvelous! I wish I knew more Healing."
"If we live through this," Wynne said, with a wry but gentle smile, "I would be happy to teach you."
"Well done!" Lesley shouted up at them. "Get down here! We've got to move on."
They came down, overhearing Lesley telling the elves to take the weapons and armor for themselves, but to clean it all carefully to avoid infection. Even Loghain had a half-smile for them. Harry almost looked over his shoulder, surprised at so much open approval from anyone who so resembled Snape.
"That was a clever trick, lad!" approved the big warrior. "Think you'll be able to do it again?"
"I'm sure we can, sir."
"Good. We can distract the darkspawn and flush out any ambushes with those illusions of yours."
Morrigan cocked her head. "They are not simply illusions, I believe." She asked Harry. "Is the white stag... your spirit animal? Can you take its form?"
Harry shook his head. "That was my dad. He could turn into a stag. I'd like to learn it someday, but we've been fairly busy."
"Why do you ask?" Hermione sensed something behind the question. "Are you an animagus?" Seeing the blank look, she translated, "A shape-changer?"
Lesley laughed. "Is she ever!"
Morrigan shrugged, but still look pleased. "It is a useful skill for scouting and evasion, but not always optimal for combat. Your spirit creatures are impressive."
Harry wondered if she was going to offer to teach them to be animagi in exchange for the patronus charm, but she said nothing more, and turned away.
The dragon came roaring down at them, flaming, as they crossed the bridge. Harry wished for a broom—any broom. How were they going to fight the dragon on foot? They hurried to the other side of the river, and took shelter in the shadows of burned out buildings, moving cautiously down the street. Now and then they came across darkspawn, but they were more than a match for the small bands. Things seemed to be going well for them.
Not so for others in the city. Far above, the dragon screamed as if wounded. A tiny figure fell from the sky, growing larger as it plummeted. It vanished behind some buildings. Lesley bit back a cry.
Loghain only snorted. "So much for Riordan."
No one explained, but it was clear they had known whoever had just died. The dragon screeched, flapping off clumsily, and settled on the top of Fort Drakon.
"Well, the Orlesian did part of the job," grudged Loghain. "The Archdemon won't be flying away any time soon. It's cornered, if we can fight our way there."
While the two young people were kept back in a sheltered position, they were asked again and again to cast the patronus charm: in the palace courtyard, in the square at Fort Drakon's gates, at several times inside Fort Drakon itself. Each time it worked brilliantly. Darkspawn lying in wait rushed out of cover, unable to resist trying to attack the silvery, invulnerable animals. Even when the creatures attempted to remain in concealment, the patroni always found them out. A pair of young dragons proved no exception. Everyone either used spells or ranged weapons to pick off the darkspawn and their thralls, and the party's injuries were minimal.
As they moved up into Fort Drakon, they paused briefly to rest in a well-furnished hall that appeared to be used for dining. Loghain seemed to know every foot of the place, and broke into some storerooms where they found food and drink in plenty. Hermione almost wept at the sight of it, and after she satisfied the worst of her hunger, she slipped a bottle of mead and a wax-coated cheese into the little beaded bag that hung from her neck. Lesley blinked at the sight.
"Er... "
"It's larger on the inside than the outside," Hermione explained. "When we escaped from the Dark Lord's followers, I remembered to pack all sorts of things, but not food. Silly of me, I know," she babbled. "Food can't be conjured out of nothing. We've been pretty hungry sometimes."
Harry grunted, awash in the bliss of enough to eat for the first time in months. "Hungry all the time!"
Morrigan drew near, full of curiosity. "And what did you pack in your little bag?"
"Oh..." Hermione began pawing through it, her arm disappearing bizarrely as she searched. All the group drew closer, astonished at the sight. "Let's see. Clothes, of course, jeans and jumpers, though they're frightfully worn now. A bottle of dittany. Does it grow here? It's good for wounds. A tent—"
"A tent?" Loghain asked, disbelieving. "In that little bag? Is it made of spider silk?"
"No, it's a regular tent," she assured him. "I can fit all sorts of things in here. Books, too... Spellman's Syllabary, Beedle the Bard, The Monster Bood of Monsters, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Hogwarts, a History, An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe..."
Lesley took Spellman's Syllabary from her and opened it. She took a grave look at the unfamiliar characters, and then showed it to Loghain, who frowned—not in anger, but in thought.
Harry gently curbed his friend's enthusiasm. "Hermione, I don't think we have time to read right now."
"And we couldn't read this anyway," Lesley said gently. "I don't know these symbols."
Hermione stared at her, horrified. "Oh, no..." It was true though. She understood instantly that in this world, she would have to learn to read all over again.
Wynne patted her hand encouragingly. "Just put them away for now. I'm sure we'll have very interesting discussion about comparative magic someday."
Morrigan stared hungrily at the little beaded bag. Zevran noticed, and leaned close, whispering in Hermione's ear.
"If I may advise you, my pretty one, perhaps you should take care for your treasures. Such a bag as yours is not known in these lands, and some would kill for it. Be cautious."
That was plain good sense. Harry nodded his thanks. Hermione put her books away, and then found some breadrolls that were only moderately stale and stuffed them into the bag, too. Then she discreetly cast an anti-theft jinx on it.
Up they went, up and up, ascending the tower, the freshly cast patroni leading the way. Once, in a darkened corridor, Morrigan moved in close to them, uttered a faint shriek, and then dropped back, muttering.
"Anti-theft jinx," Hermione told Harry.
He smirked.
Everywhere they found darkspawn, but their party was strong enough to defeat them all, even some ferocious little "genlock" assassins. After a last fight, this time against a darkspawn wizard and pair of ogres, Loghain and Lesley went off to confer by themselves by the foot of the staircase leading up to the roof. Harry could only hear snatches of the conversatio
n, but the two warriors seemed to be arguing about who was going to get to do something horribly dangerous first. Overhead, there was a thunderous racket as the dragon trampled back and forth on the rooftop, roaring.
"So who are they?" Harry asked, gesturing at Lesley and Loghain. "Are they soldiers or knights or what?"
"They are Grey Wardens," said Wanda. "It is their duty to fight the darkspawn. Riordan, who perished, was another." More cheerfully, she added, "We are helping them."
"Why are there only two of them," protested Hermione," when there are so many darkspawn? That doesn't make sense!"
Some deep breaths were drawn. Wynne seemed ready to say something quite angry. Zevran made a gesture for calm. "My young friends, that is a long, long story. Too long for now. Suffice it to say that Lesley Cousland is the daughter of a great nobleman and Loghain Mac Tir was Regent of all Ferelden. They are now Grey Wardens, sworn to defeat the darkspawn, and going into the whys and wherefores is of no great use at the moment."
"That is very well said, Zevran," approved Wanda. "All of us are here for different reasons, but we are united in our mission. The Maker has guided us to this time and place."
Morrigan rolled her eyes and yawned elaborately. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. There was some history here, and it was really none of their business. And who was this Maker?"
"Come on, you lot!" called Lesley. Apparently her conference with Loghain was over. He was very displeased, but she seemed uncommonly cheerful. "Harry! Hermione! You, too!"
It seemed very serious, so Harry and Hermione came forward. Loghain had something to say to them.
"I don't want you children out there fighting the Archdemon," growled Loghain. "But there's no doubt that those magic creatures of yours might make all the difference."
"What we'd like you to do is this," said Lesley, more gently. "When we open that door, we're going to charge the Archdemon. There have to be other darkspawn out there as well. Cast that spell of yours, and then duck back down in here. Bolt the door after you, and don't open unless one of us tells you to, or unless a band of humans, elves, dwarves —or anything other than darkspawn, comes running up from below to reinforce us."
Dragon's Era- No Man's Land Page 24
