Lords of Assassins is a tale that takes place after the second blight and is about a young man named Dran who was taken in after his adoptive father found him at the battle's end. 19 years later, an assassin killed Dran's lord, and Dran accused of his murder, must evade bounty hunters and other loyal nobles to the Vael house in his quest to find the real killer.
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Raral’s sword sliced through the air, when it met with
the Darkspawn Hurlock’s head, tainted blood and bone spewed forth. The
grotesque body crumpled to the floor and Raral stood over it breathing heavily.
The sword in his hand was in an iron grip, even if he wanted to he couldn’t let
go of it. His right arm ached every time he swung the blade or stabbed at the
creatures. His other arm was covered in bruises from blocking with his shield.
Free of any engagements for the moment, he took a quick survey of the field through
the eye holes in his helmet.
Comrades and other men at arms were falling around him in
a bloody mess. This battle wasn’t going the way that they had hoped. The men
believed that this would be an easy victory, but Raral Kurick knew better. All of
these battles had been hard, first the battle of Nordbotten, then Cumberland,
and now this one, the battle of Starkhaven. Lord of the Vael house was beside
him, still fighting. Raral couldn’t stop fighting, not in the presence of his
lord. A Hurlock raised its bow and was aiming for the young lord, Raral darted
over and raised his metal shield, and the arrow pierced it and penetrated
through his arm. He let out a silent scream but gritted his teeth.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sawasi came up next to
Raral and fired a swan feathered arrow in the hurlock’s throat. Sure, Sawasi
may have been an elf, but he had seen no better archer in all his life. The
elven grey warden looked to him, “You can’t stop now!” She shouted over the
clanging of steel and roars of both man and beast.
Raral didn’t trust his voice so all he did was nod. He
was a young knight only a few years older than prince Vael. Quickly, Raral
broke the tip off of the arrow protruding from the inside of his forearm.
Stabbing his sword into the ground, he gripped the arrow as tight as he could
and ripped it from his arm and shield. His arm ached and blood oozed down. It
would be to exhausting to raise his shield anymore so he undid the buckle strap
and let it fall to the ground at his feet.
“What’s the matter Raral? You gonna let that knife-ear
show you up are you?” Vael said, the prince knocked a genlock to the ground and
rammed his thin sword through its throat.
“Not to worry, my lord, she just got luckily.” He said feigning
a smile though no one could see it. Another Hurlock entered his field of vision
and he went back into the fray.
Hours had to have passed by and the night sky was already
out. Smoke filled the air from fires and Raral was still fighting alongside his
lord. He was utterly exhausted and had almost died a few times, if it wasn’t
for Sawasi that is. She had saved his hide more times than he could recount.
Who knows, maybe he had an admirer. She had somehow managed to get to the
rooftops of an estate and was raining down arrows in support.
Grey wardens had an unbelievable stamina. All of a sudden
the ground shook violently and a light erupted off in the distance. All of the
darkspawn that where fighting began to run away. Some still tried to fight, but
it wasn’t like before. It was as if they were swinging their swords like clubs.
The other men and women were cheering at the joyous sight.
Sawasi jumped down gracefully from the top of the estate
and walked over to him, her light blonde hair and sharp ears were very visible
in the dark of night.
“It’s over…” She stated flatly.
“What…the battle?” Vael asked her as he wiped the sweat,
blood, and gore from his face.
“Not just the battle…but the second blight, Zazikel is
dead…it’s finally done.” She replied.
Vael smiled and let out a battle cry worthy of victory,
but Raral looked at Sawasi, she didn’t seem to be all that happy.
“What’s the matter, isn’t this a good thing?”
She looked at him and gave a small smirk. “Yes. It is a
good thing that the archdemon is dead, but also, one of my comrades…” She
stopped as if she was going to say something she shouldn’t. “Never you mind,”
She added shaking her head…
Afterwards, Raral learned that Corin was the one who slew
Zazikel, but had died in the process. Raral remembered Corin, mainly because at
the battle of Cumberland he had fought alongside the man and they had watched
each other’s backs, until Raral found Vael again. After that night, they sat around
a campfire together and shared stories of their lives before the blight, or
before Corin became a Grey warden. Raral was going to miss those conversations,
but he knew that Corin would rather die defeating the archdemon than not doing
anything back home.
Raral was sent out on patrols to find any darkspawn left
in the city that would need to be dealt with. While he and his patrol were
walking through the streets he heard a clatter, as if something knocked over a
bunch of creates filled with various metallic objects. He ran forward, with his
sword drawn. Instead of a darkspawn, he saw something he wasn’t expecting. A
woman who looked to be in her mid thirties staggered to get up from the ground,
she was bleeding profusely from her stomach and she was holding something in
her arms, though Raral couldn’t guess as to what.
Raral sheathed his sword and ran over to the woman, the
other men in his patrol stood behind him. She couldn’t get back up no matter
how hard she tried, she was pale and weak, no doubt from the blood loss.
“Sir knight…I am not long for this world…” She said with
labored breaths. Raral was speechless. “Please…” She continued. “My dying wish…is
for you to take…care of…my baby…”
That was when Raral realized that the blood wasn’t coming
from her stomach, nor was it made by any steel. She must have given birth
during the battle. She offered up the cloth and Raral gingerly placed it in the
cradle of his arm. He removed the top of it and a baby’s face poked through. “I…I
will.” Raral said.
She smiled as tears of joy streamed down her face. “Protect
him...” Then her eyes slid closed.
“Wait! Hey, stay awake!” One of the soldiers behind him
yelled.
A small word escaped her lips, Raral leaned in closer, “What
did you say?” He asked her softly.
She whispered again, and Raral strained his, even though
it was fain, he heard it. It was a name.
“What did she say?” One of the men asked.
“Dran…she said the baby’s name is Dran…”
Modifié par totalledcody, 20 août 2011 - 06:38 .
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