Potestas Configatur

Elisa looked back at Celestine as she roamed out ahead of the group. The mage's demeanour had shifted from how it had been. While she had always been serious when the situation demanded it, their party leader had also had a sly sense of humour that snuck out to tease at the most subtle opportunities. But whatever had happened in the dungeon with the blood mage had rattled her, and instead of showing this by being reluctant, or hesitant, it manifested in the firm set of her jaw, the controlled ferocity of her spells. The Cousland was sure she could draw perfectly straight lines along the edges of the areas where the Amell's spells were funnelled.

It was in stark contrast to Morrigan's casting, which instead of a focused expression had a wild nature. She had to hide a grin at the observation, how the mages' magics betrayed their character far more than anything else, something the rogue was glad to discover, given her role. Where Celestine was focused release, trying to hold back something far too great, allowing it to only take the routes she channelled it through, Morrigan's was wild and beautiful, teasing the edges of what it was and was not allowed to do.

The black clouds of the witch's spells coiled around their victims in a fashion that was almost sexual: come hither, give us your all, you won't regret it. We can end your poor existence; make you part of something glorious. Part of Elisa wondered if Morrigan had command over a desire demon somewhere, whose influence she could wield as a weapon – even her casting was reminiscent of some sensual dance, exotic to those not of the Wilds.

They finally made it outside into the castle courtyard after what seemed ages of working through the underground passages of the keep. It was a relief to see the sun again after all the claustrophobic corridors. The entire journey had been far too depressing, with Celestine's issue manifesting in addition to all the dead. They had been travelling through the castle for some time and of all the staff they had only encountered one living soul? Elisa prayed to the Maker that at least some of the men-at-arms would still be holed up somewhere, since she knew most of Redcliffe's knights were spread far and wide across the country. It would be foolishness to stand against Loghain without any men at their side.

A cursory scan of the courtyard revealed it to be empty of obvious threats. The walking dead were not known for their subtlety, so she turned around to give the rest of the party the all clear. She had just waved at Alistair that they could follow her up the stairwell out of the cellar they had cleared, when what felt like a giant hand gripped her, invisible fingers curling around her shoulders and ribs.

Then all she felt was an odd weightlessness as her feet left the ground and wind whistled by her ears, pushing loose strands of hair into her face. Reflex had her gripping her daggers immediately, readying for when she hit the ground so she could bounce up and counter whatever had assaulted her. But her feet never touched the ground, instead there was a sharp pain in her back. Elisa blinked, confusion written on her features as she looked at the blackened runed blade growing out of the centre of her torso.

~o~

Erik was wandering along where Lake Calenhad met Redcliffe village, the water gently lapping against the red clay of the shore. It was almost too serene, considering that out of these same waters the night before, there had risen the possessed bodies of men, women, and children, weeks dead, yet still moving, algae and other underwater growths clinging to them. The memory sent a shudder down Erik's spine, it was all too reminiscent of a prior experience.

He had been so far adrift in memories that when a gentle hand came to rest on his shoulder his entire body stiffened, ready to leap into action. This seemed to elicit a coy giggle from whoever was behind him.

"So the Champion can indeed be caught unawares, what an honour for me to have made that discovery."

Erik let forth a breathy chuckle. "It is one my sister made all too long ago."

"So I can imagine; she seems surprisingly wily for one of her heritage."

"My mother's to blame for that; she fought to end the Orlesian oppression, but I suppose considering who my sister is, she would have found a way to learn the arts of subtlety even without our mother's guidance." Erik's voice deepened with emotion at the mention of his mother. He cleared his throat awkwardly in an attempt to disguise it.

The Chantry sister somehow managed to pick up on his discomfort and diverted the topic to another direction. "So, any particular reason I find you out here, all alone? We cannot be sure that the undead are all gone, no?"

Erik's face turned grim. "No, but I find myself recalling another battle. One far too similar to this than would have been to my liking."

"Oh? Would you be willing to share this tale?"

Erik sighed as he moved towards the village's dock and sat down at the end of a quay. "I suppose we've been silent about it for long enough." He breathed in deeply, readying himself. "The Battle of Red Tide, a day that many a Highever soldier wishes to forget, if they are still alive, I suppose." He looked out over Lake Calenhad and its gentle wavelets as Leliana moved to sit down beside him, sincere interest written across her beautiful features.

~

The battle had been going well; Highever's troops had had the advantage from their position on the cliffs of the Storm Coast. Fortunately they had been blessed with clear weather that day fighting in the rain was a nightmare and the threat of lightning would have been too high for them to be able to use archers as support from the high ground.

Nobody was entirely sure where the raiders had come from, though, and they had been harassing the coast of Ferelden for the better part of a year. Fortune had smiled on the Couslands when there was a tipoff as to where the raiders would land next.

Erik was watching as his father's troops engaged the enemy, Fergus' archers attacking from the high ground as the rogues wove between the more bulky soldiers, hamstringing here, stabbing a kidney there or running a blade across a throat elsewhere.

It seemed the raiders weren't as organised as the Ferelden troops, but they had surprisingly large numbers – at least a dozen longships had beached and offloaded men into the ankle-deep water.

It looked as though the battle had already been won without the involvement of the auxiliaries, the Teyrn's soldiers slowly pushing the foe into the waters from where they had emerged. Erik thought that he and his sister might not even have been needed when a horn sounded from the raider's ranks. It was an ominous noise that had Alfonse jumping up from where he lay against a tree, whining.

"That…doesn't sound like a call to retreat," Gilmore said from where he was standing next to Erik.

"No, it does not," Erik agreed.

Elisa had a forced smirk on her lips. "As ominous as a notification that Aunt Lucinda is coming for a visit?"

"No, never that ominous," Erik fired back, even as the hair on the back of his neck stood on edge. "Hold on, what are those five there doing?"

The other two looked to where the blond man had pointed; breaking off from the rest of the raiders, five dark figures clambered onto one of the landing ships within their lines. The air seemed to distort around them momentarily, before a violet wave ripped forth from their position. It seemed not to discriminate who it hit, throwing both raiders and Fereldens away. The force must have been tremendous as the two Couslands and the squire saw men flung several meters into the air as if they were toys.

"Maker, they have mages, and I doubt these are the nice type," Gilmore stated.

Elisa scanned the coast. "Father's standard bearers are still a good distance from that spell's area of effect, but those will now make him a target."

"Yes," Erik agreed, "seems we'll still be needed today."

Turning around he bellowed, "Alright men form up – looks like we've a tide to turn."

~

"Of course it would have been too easy, had it only been simple mages. No, they had been blood mages," Erik continued, a humourless laugh interrupting his story.

"Maleficar? Maker preserve us, how did you endure?" Leliana asked, eyes wide. She'd had dealings with Circle mages and apostates alike, but never had she encountered a blood mage.

"We persevered, but not easily. The spell that they first used came with the addition of demon possession for any of the dead on the field. What raiders survived the spell promptly took their life summoning demons. The struggle to keep the terrified auxiliaries in line rather than dropping their weapons and running was probably harder than killing the Fade-trash. We managed, won, in spite of all of that. The leader of their mages let himself be possessed by a pride demon - we only managed to get it down because Elisa scaled up its back and drove both of her daggers into its eyes."

"I suppose I should be grateful then, that we have her with us in the event that a pride demon ever confronts us, no?" Leliana joked, the subtle mirth of her tone bringing a weak smile to Erik's lips after his morose tale.

"I'm not sure how I would be able to manage had she not made it out of Highever, or through the Joining." Just as the words left his lips a terrible feeling passed through him, an ache in his chest the like of which he had never known.

Erik scrambled to his feet, surprising Leliana into doing the same. "What? What is it? Darkspawn?" she asked, tense.

"No, I think…I think something's happened to my sister." The look he gave her almost brought tears to the former Chantry sister's eyes, the fear and worry made her want to wrap her arms around him and tell him everything would be alright. But no, that was not what he needed. "Let's get Sten and the dogs, pick up the knights and head to the castle. We may be able to find out what's happening." Her Orlesian accent became stronger as her emotions buffeted against the defence of her façade.

Erik nodded sharply, marching off to fetch Redcliffe's knights from their post at the windmill while Leliana ran to fetch their Qunari and canine companions.