"Ugh...." Alistair let out a groan. He couldn't even remember how or why he was lying face down on a dirt road. He lifted his head and looked from side to side. To his right was Mira, and to his left Wynne. Both women were out cold, and lying in very undignified positions. The templar had a flicker of a memory. Had one of Wynne's spells gone off incorrectly?
"It's possible," the templar muttered as he stood up slowly. He then helped Mira and Wynne to their feet. "So, any idea where we are?" he asked.
Mira gave her patented shrug. "No clue, Alistair my dear," she said, looking around. "Though we seem to be on a road, so that's a start."
Wynne smiled at the two young wardens. "We may want to ask the approaching patrol," the mage said, pointing up the road.
Both Mira and Alistair looked to where the spirit healer had pointed, and sure enough, a patrol of what looked to be six soldiers could be seen coming towards them. It wasn't until the patrol was much closer that they saw the seventh member of the group.
"Is that... is she.... are we in the Fade, Wynne?" Alistair stammered, unsure of what his eyes were seeing. Because unless he'd had far too much to drink, he could see a desire demon walking up to them, or at least she looked like one, with the horns and tail. There were things that seemed off to the templar, not least of which was the woman's reddish brown hair.
"I do not believe so, Alistair," the mage replied. "As to whether the young woman is a desire demon or not, I am uncertain. She does seem to appear to be one, but..."
"But when did you see a demon of any kind wearing full armour and carrying a weapon?" Mira asked. They all could see that the woman wore armour that resembled light chain mail, and nestled against her right hip was the hilt of a sword. Her six companions all wore what seemed to be plate armour of some kind.
"Are you three alright?" asked one of the soldiers. "You looked to have taken quite a spill."
"Yes, we're fine, thank you," Mira replied, happy they could understand these people. Well, they don't seem to be charmed, which is strange, she thought. Mira had encountered enough desire demons to know what they were capable of.
"Is that a desire demon?" Alistair suddenly blurted.
Mira wished she could bury her head in her hands. Of all the dumb things to say, Alistair... she thought.
The red haired woman blinked then looked around her with a slight frown. "I don't see any demons, do you, Sergeant Dobbson?" she asked the man next to her.
The sergeant shook his head. "No, Neeshka," he replied. "Though I think he may have been meaning you."
At this, Neeshka's face screwed up in confusion. "Huh? That's new," she said. "I've been called lots of things, but never that before."
"Oh, Maker..." Alistair muttered.
Dobbson smiled slightly. "Well, it could be said that you're the Captain's desire demon." The man was smirking.
Neeshka gave the sergeant a long suffering glance. "Oh, ha-ha, very funny," she said, rolling her eyes. "And might I remind you that I'm baatezu, and NOT descended from some tanar'ri hindlicker, thank you very much!" She was doing her best to scold the man and failing utterly, if the grin on Dobbson's face was anything to go by.
Wynne couldn't help but be intrigued by the young woman's outburst. Baatezu, tanar'ri? I wonder what they could refer to? the spirit healer thought. Could it be that tanar'ri is their word for demon? If so what does baatezu refer to? Then a very unpleasant thought occurred to the mage. I don't think we're in Thedas.
Mira shook her head in mild disbelief. Just how lucky can one man be? she thought. "Alistair, my dear, I thought Templars were taught, among other things, tact?" she asked. "Or is that lesson reserved for full Templars?"
"That's low, Mira," Alistair replied, sulking. "You're mean. I don't like you anymore."
Mira smiled seductively. "You don't mean that, Alistair..." she said, moving closer to the ex-templar. "Maybe I need to lick your lamppost. It might help you stop seeing desire demons everywhere." Her voice had become husky with desire. For his part, Alistair looked and felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden.
Neeshka broke the awkward moment by bursting into laughter. "His lamppost, huh? I'll have to remember that," she said, snickering.
Neeshka suddenly turned towards the tree line, sniffing the air. "Oh Torm's teeth! Trolls!" she yelled, just as two of the ugly green skinned monsters came busting through the trees.
Dobbson and his men reacted without thinking, drawing their swords and splitting into two groups of three. Meanwhile Neeshka quickly cast fire enchantments on their drawn weapons, and mentally prepared herself to hurl a fire orb at both trolls once the beasts were put down.
Mira, Wynne, and Alistair all reacted on instinct as well. Mira and Alistair joined the melee with the ugliest monsters they'd ever seen, and Maker, did they smell! Wynne hung back, casting her healing and support spells as needed, and adding in an arcane bolt every now and then. The spirit healer cast a glance at the woman whom they'd mistaken for a desire demon to see she now had her hands glowing with fire. The woman is a mage? Wynne thought, puzzled. What in Thedas is going on? As soon as the beasts were down, Neeshka let the balls of fire fly, slamming into the monsters and killing them.
"What were those things?" Mira asked, panting. "I've never seen monsters regenerate like that. Darkspawn don't even do that, thank the Maker."
"Those were trolls and the fact that they can regenerate so quickly makes them hard to kill. Oh, and unless you hit them with fire or acid when they go down, the buggers will just get right back up," Neeshka explained, making a face. "I hate trolls."
"I saw you cast the fire balls that killed those monsters. I take you're a mage?" Wynne asked.
Neeshka nodded. "Sorceress actually," then she grinned, "And a very talented thief, too."
"Huh, you're not an apostate then? I was beginning to think the soldiers with you were Templars," Alistair said, wondering just how she could be a mage and a rogue.
"Apostate, what?" Neeshka asked in confusion, narrowing her eyes. "You three aren't from around here, are you?"
"No, I don't think we are," Mira admitted. "For I've never heard of someone who was a mage and rogue both."
Neeshka looked skywards for a few moments. "Right, might be an idea to head back to Crossroad Keep. We can talk more there, figure out where you're from and get a decent meal too. That's if you want to come, can't force you."
"A decent meal sounds wonderful. Anything has to be better than Oghren or Alistair's cooking," Wynne said.
"Hey!" the ex-Templar cried. "My cooking's not as bad as it was."
"That's not saying much, my dear," Mira observed playfully.
"Anyway, if you're not a desire demon, what are you?" Alistair asked, pouting.
Neeshka giggled as she was really starting to like Mira. "I'm a tiefling, which, put simply, means I'm part human and part devil. I'll give you the long explanation later."
Dobbson let out a sigh. "You know, milady, the Captain and Sand are just going to love you when we get back," he said as they set off with their three new friends.
Modifié par OfficerDonNZ, 20 septembre 2010 - 04:17 .
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