Let the blade pass through the flesh,
Let my blood touch the ground,
Let my cries touch their hearts. Let mine be the last sacrifice.
-Andraste 7:12
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As Avyanna and her companions went down through the rubble, they came across another corpse in which she stopped to kneel by them. "Falon'Din enasal enaste." She whispered to them while seeing if they had anything of use on them, then she stood up once more.
"Ma serannas." Then she turned to her companions. "Let us continue." They nodded and she followed them down the slope til she heard Solas and Varric call out.
"Demons ahead!"
"Glad that you brought me now, Seeker?" Varric asked Cassandra while they readied their weapons. Avyanna shook her head and jumped down into the river bed, landing in a crouch as she swung her staff at one of the Shades while simultaneously shooting a lightning bolt at the other. By that time, her companions had joined her, and together they took down the demons quickly. Breathing hard, she looked around. The demons had already faded in a greenish light, leaving behind some essence. Once she had gathered what she deemed important from the burning cabin, her and her companions walked up some stone stairs.
It was then that Solas spoke up, "You are Dalish, but clearly away from the rest of your clan. Did they send you here?"
At his inquiring words, Avyanna's head snapped back to look at him and her eyes narrowed suspiciously at him. "What do you know of the Dalish?"
"I have wandered many roads in many roads in my time, and have crossed paths with your people on more than one occasion."
Avyanna shook her head at him. "You know, Solas, we are of the same people."
"The Dalish I met felt...differently on the subject."
Before she could respond to him, Varric spoke up. "Can't you elves just play nice for once?"
Avyanna snorted and kept going, her mark flaring up causing her to breath sharply.
"I know its difficult, but we must keep moving." Cassandra said gently, walking up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "We are almost there, I promise." Avyanna glanced up at her, breathing through her nose trying to suppress the pain.
"O...kay." She responded with a slight smile. They continued their way, climbing up stairs to reach another gate.
"So....are you innocent?" Varric asked, looking over at her with a raised brow.
She looked at him before casting her eyes back to the path ahead of them. "I don't remember what happened." She said with no emotion.
"That'll get you every time. Should have spun a story."
"That is what you would have done." Cassandra told him with a glare.
Varric held up his hands in defeat. "It's more believable, and less prone to result in premature execution."
Avyanna laughed a bit at Varric and Cassandra, rolling her eyes at their banter. "I suppose you're right, Varric." She said with a chuckle. "A story would've been better."
They reached the top of the stairs and faced off, once again, with demons. It became easier for Avyanna to ignore the pain while fighting as she twirled her staff and moved it from one hand to the other in a series of complicated movements. It was almost like a dance, movements that she had to repeat over and over in her head.
'One foot forward, the other back. Legs spread, knees and shoulders parallel to each other. Twirl once, left hand over right.' Repeated over and over in her mind. Then it was over and the Seeker spoke up.
"I hope Leliana made it through all this."
"She's resourceful, Seeker." Varric said, following them along the path up hill.
This time Solas chimed in not agreeing with either of them. "We will see for ourselves at the forward camp. We're almost there." They reached the final gate, only for another rift to be there, demons coming out of it and fighting the soldiers that were guarding it. One of the soldiers spotted them and called out.
"They keep coming, help us!"
Solas turned to Avyanna. "We must close the rift and quickly." She nodded and got into position. Using the mark she was able to stun the demons while they fought them off. Unfortunately, it only helped for a short time, as more demons came through the rift. Sweat beaded down her forehead as her and Solas shot spell after spell while Varric shot at them and Cassandra swung her sword and blocked with her shield. Eventually, with a combination of fighting, and weakening the rift, they were able to defeat the demons and she closed the rift.
"The rift is gone! Open the gate!" Cassandra commanded the soldiers.
"Right away, Lady Cassandra!"
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A short time later, the team made it to the forward camp, and there, they leaned against the bridge wall for a quick breath while Avyanna gathered more supplies for them. Ahead, they could hear the arguing of a woman in a hood and armor, and a Chantry Brother. Avyanna could only get the gist of it as she and her group made their way over to the two. The Chantry Brother looked up as they approached, scowling.
"Ah, here they come." He sneered just as the woman spoke up.
"You made it." Relief was present in her voice. 'Chancellor Roderick, this is-"
"I know who she is." He cut her off and sent a glare at her before turning to Cassandra. "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution."
Avyanna rolled her eyes at him, opening her mouth to tell him off, but was cut off by Cassandra.
"Order me? You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!"
"And you are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry!"
This time, it was Leliana who spoke up. "We serve the Most Holt, Chancellor, as you well know."
Roderick: "And you are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry!"
Roderick slammed his hand on the table, spittle flying from his mouth as he told the group off. "Justinia is dead! We must elect her replacement and obey her orders on the matter."
Finally fed up with being ignored, Avyanna moved to stand next to Cassandra, her eyes narrowed at Roderick. 'Don't talk about me like I'm not here." She said with a slight hiss in her voice.
"You shouldn't even be here!" He told her, glaring at her once more.
"Well, I guess that it is too damn bad, now isn't it?" She shot back with a scowl, which at that point he just turned back to Cassandra, hoping to make her understand or listen to reason.
"Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless." He sounded tired and older beyond his years. However, Cassandra shook her head and leaned against the table.
