The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Helene Dakesh]

"Unlikely. You were behind this one -- I will send them toward you, past your locaiton, and instruct them to seek open-air tunnels. Surely some portion of tunnel is open still?"

And if it is not? What if your apprentice also followed? What if they are all dead? Because of your panic?

[Varric]

"..logic... sound," he admits, hating how useless he is right now. "Should be... be..." Dammit, focus. Average speed... (zero) four hundred yards per (trapped!) minute. Ran... roughly... roughly... (can't think, can't breath!) fifteen seconds. So. So... hundred yards. (Please) Gods. "About... hundred yards... back to... roots. One twist, not big." He swallows roughly.

[Helene Dakesh]

"Understood. The circles, please?" 

[Varric]

Circles? "Wh- oh. Right. S-summoning c-c-circles. Right. Okay." Taking a ragged breath, he begins to list them out, in ascending order based on their stability.

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene does nir best to tune him out, to focus. I have to get us help. And then I can focus on keeping him calm. If there's anything I can do... this is my fault, and I will make it better.

If I can.

[Marian Hawke]

The road Jass finds is harder to navigate than they road they came down; it's clear why they were sent this way, why Jass hasn't followed this seam up to the surface. They climb over obstacles, slip between narrow cracks, and once Marian gets stuck for a full forty-five minutes before they manage to wriggle her loose. They lose track of time; they can't be sure how far they are from the surface in any respect, so what does it matter? They keep pressing on, aware of the urgency of their errand. 

And things come out of the dark after them. 

The first few things are expected: cave-dwelling creatures, slimes and crustaceans and blind things, unhappy at having their rest disturbed. But as the day wears on, the monsters get stranger, more alien, more sinister. When they finally defeat a small colony of plant figures, two feet tall, that even Jassinth can't identify, Marian shakes her head, leaning against the cave wall. 

"We're lost," she admits. "Are you sure we're even heading for the surface? These aren't surface creatures. They're not even cave creatures."

[Haliel Lightsong]

Lightsong pauses, not displeased to have a moment to rest. She's their only real combatant, given Jassinth is ill suited for close, cramped quarters and Marian's inexperience, and so has been doing more than half of the work in each combat. "I... I certainly have no idea," she admits.

[Jassinth]

Taking series of small mouthfuls of water- less risk of cramping, good rationing and tricks the body into being happier- Jassinth wracks his brains. "I... I am afraid you are correct. I have been trying to follow the paths of upwards and air currents but... If we have delved too deeply, then many of the rules I know are no longer valid."

[Marian Hawke]

Marian winces. "Okay. I might be able to cobble together a ritual from memory--"

She pauses, then, hearing a noise. She turns for a brief instant before the monster is upon them -- a dragon made of shadows, one that breathes death and makes them bleed by looking at them. 

They fight; Marian runs out of bombs before the thing falls, backing up against the rock as she considers her options. My crossbow doesn't seem to hurt it much. I don't have much brewed already -- well, my experimental formula, but..

She winces as the dragon unleashes another torrent of negative energy right into Haliel's face. But I don't have a lot of options. Alright. Here goes. I hope it's brewed correctly. 

She knocks back the brew, hunching over as it hits her stomach. Oh. Oh no. That-- my stomach hurts, it-- did I fuck it up? Are we all going to die here? My head is pounding-- 

Oh! I can-- (what is) [my thoughts are moving so fast i can use this what can I do] (going on) Haliel, is she (alive) okay I need to focus, I need to concoct a rite (summoning?) [demons, devils, angels, boars? no use] (healing?) [Paladin of Bastion, has that on lock] (Escape?) [Teleportation risky, takes too long] (Evocation?) [are you fucking kidding me?] (It'll have to be summoning then) It worked it really worked I did it! (live now, celebrate later)

Marian glances up just as the creature whips out its serpentine neck, grips Lightsong in its maw, and shakes her. Jassinth fires another volley of arrows into the creature's flank, but it ignores him, slamming her against the floor, the ceiling, before throwing her at the wall. 

Marian screams, seeing Haliel lie still. no no no no no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO NO 

Her scream only grows in intensity as she runs short of breath, somehow seeming to come from the walls around her, the air she's not currently breathing, reverberating in the sudden chill -- it was warm a moment ago, why can Jass see his breath?

[Jassinth]

"Reverse heat burst?" Jassinth asks curiously, jarred out of both combat and panic by the sudden strange weather event. Sudden extreme cold, sucking all the air towards us. Shes not screaming anymore, the air is screaming. That is... 

[Marian Hawke]

The air begins to sound like howling, wind through trees -- and somehow, of ice and snow. Then Marian's scream kicks back in as her eyes roll back, an anguished sound, and her body is shaking. The monster rushes her, but stops suddenly, rearing up in alarm as the cold seems to coalesce in front of her, streaming out of her ears and eyes and mouth and nose until it condenses in the form of snow itself, ice in the shape of a great lumbering beast.

The beast forms a fist, and smacks the dragon. The creature is thrown back down the tunnels, and the ice-monster lumbers after it, leaving Marian in plain view. She is pale, unmoving; there's no sign of condensed air above her face, no sign of her chest rising and falling. Near her cheek, a pool of warm blood is freezing slowly, fueled by trickles from her eyes, a stream from her nose. 

[Jassinth]

Jassinth does credit to his training at that moment- instead of freezing or rushing to Marian, he goes to Lightsong, With nothing more than a grunted 'Marian' as explanation, he hauls the paladin to her feet and pushes her towards the downed combatant. 

[Haliel Lightsong]

Lightsong on the other hand, does not credit her training. Instead, she proves her heart and her faith. Casting aside her sword, she falls to her knees next to Marian and shoves everything she his into her love. All that I am, all that I can provide. Please. Please rise and learn hope and family.

Please don't leave me alone again.

[GamesMaster]

As Haliel is distantly aware of her body falling atop Marian, her mind is elsewhere; she finds herself kneeling beside a pond in the woods, a single ray of light streaming through the treetops onto the water's surface. Her gaze is fixated on the waters, hands clasped in a silent plea, but it is behind her where she sees motion, feels the warmth of sunlight on her back.

"Have you a moment?" asks a pleasant, kind, feminine voice. 

[Haliel Lightsong]

"Yes, of c-" The polite, automatic reply catches in her throat. Where... where am... how did I..? I was... doing something. Something important. Vital. What... "No... I... I have to... Someone..."