basic-x-witch - Tumblr blog

basic-x-witch · 8 days ago

Text

The Twin's Gambit

Chapter Eighteen: The Blighted Winter From Tevinter

Warning: graphic imagery, talk of death, ptsd, and overall trauma

The team carefully makes its way deeper into the city, working together to kill any darkspawn in their path, as Lucanis was making the final blow on a reiver that had appeared with the help of Emmrich. Rook checked that the perimeter was clear when she noticed more of that blight that had encased Neve earlier through the window of one of the buildings. She looked for a way in, but the main door had been buried in a thick layer of blight.

“Over here, I think I found something!” she calls over.

Nyx waved a hand to dismiss her orb and jogged over to the doorway, stopping next to Rook with her hands on her hips. “We could try to bust through it. Or send Lucanis through a window or something,” she suggested, looking around at the options.

“From what I can tell, the window might be the only way in… that blight is too thick to break through.” Rook huffed, crossing her arms in frustration.

Nyx shrugged, “Window it is, then. Who wants to go first?”

Rook looked at the window, which wasn’t particularly big. She knew for a fact she would not fit through it as it stood now. Taking her axe off her back, she taps it against the building, checking the integrity of the structure. “We may not be able to break through the blight, but I never said we couldn’t break through the wall.”

“That definitely sounds like a job for a strong, powerful, reaper type,” Nyx joked, taking a big step back.

Rook smirked slightly as she walked over to one of their now deceased enemies, picking up their shield and inspecting it before giving a hum of approval. “This should work.”

Nyx gave Rook a double thumbs up from where she had gone to stand with Lucanis and Emmrich. “Get that wall, Rook! Show it who’s the boss!”

Emmrich gave a soft chuckle as he watched her; he had always found her tenacity to solve problems in unconventional ways to be rather endearing.

Rook shakes out the tension in her body, cracks her neck to the side, and readies the shield in front of herself. She took a deep breath and allowed her body to once again fill with adrenaline, as a hazy green glow enveloped the shield, a determination spirit connecting itself to her momentarily, sharing its power with her. Rook let out a yell and charged at the wall, bracing herself against the shield. The sheer force of the impact shatters the wall, leaving behind a huge opening. Rook falls to the floor, the shield clattering to the floor beside her.

“Perfect!” Nyx cheers, walking over to help Rook up. “No damage?”

Rook didn’t answer right away; she was still disoriented as the spirit slowly released her from their fleeting link. She held her head, a small gash having formed on her temple and a small trickle of blood slowly making its way down her face, though due to the adrenaline, she didn’t feel any pain.

“Rook?” Bishop held up her hand, blue magic shining, but not reaching out to give Rook a second to reorient herself.

Emmrich came running over to the girls, noticing the lingering blue in Nym’s eyes. he subconsciously readied his left hand should he need to intervene. “Is she alright?”

“Give the woman a minute, you two,” Lucanis scolded them, “spirits are very disorienting.”

Rook shakes her head as though she is fighting her own thoughts. The lyrium blue in her eyes grew stronger. “Get back….” she warns, as she struggles for control of herself.

Nyx, who had already learned this particular lesson, did not need to be told twice. She lowered her hand and retreated to Lucanis’s side. “Careful, Emmrich,” she cautioned.

Emmrich stills himself but does not retreat from his current position; he watches Rook carefully, with a gentle hope that she can defeat this enemy without him getting involved. He’d never had to actually use the powers their blood bond gave him, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit nervous about the side effects they would have on her. “Rook…listen to my voice, my dear.”

Rook’s ears twitch slightly at the sound of his voice. Their eyes met for a moment, hazel-green and Lyrium blue. And for that fleeting moment, Rook’s mind was clear. “Emmr-” Rook's words were interrupted by a loud scream. But not like in the study, this wasn’t a scream generated by rage; it was something much more dangerous and unpredictable.

Fear.

“Mierda,” Lucanis muttered, pulling Nyx back another half step. “Emmrich, this might be your time.”

Rook backs away like a scared caged animal, her vision having been tainted by the fear demon that managed to take determination’s place. The demon was leeching off the fear produced by the grotesque hallucination it forced upon her. There, in front of her, where her family once stood, ready to help finish the fight, were now the mangled remains of their lifeless, blighted bodies.

“Fear. Deep and burning. Latching on to even the most heroic.”

“Not the time, Spite,” Nyx admonished. “Rook, it’s okay.” She called over to her sister, not thinking that it would help, but being compelled to do something.

“No, Nyxahlia, I’m afraid Spite may be correct…” Emmrich stated softly, not wanting to set Rook off.

“Sure, but narrating vaguely isn’t particularly helpful,” Nyx said quietly.

Rook cradles her head against her knees, choking out fearful sobs as she mutters to herself. “No, no, no no…they can’t be dead….they can’t be…it should have been me…”

“Rook, it’s okay. Everyone is fine,” Nyx called softly. “I doubt she can hear us if the past has shown us anything,” she then said to Emmrich.

“Yes, but we need to get through to her somehow. I would prefer not to use the blood magic unless absolutely necessary. We still don’t know how it will affect her…”

“Then let’s do something. It’s not safe to have her in this condition out here,” Lucanis added, looking around them.

“Agreed,” Emmrich said with a nod.

Nyx moved, walking slowly around to stand near Emmrich. “I could try to Spirit Call the demon, but I’ve never tried it when the spirit is already in someone.”

“It is certainly worth a shot,” Emmrich said softly.

Nyx crouched slowly and spoke to both her sister and the demon that had overtaken her, “Hey, I know, whatever you’re seeing is terrifying, but it’s not real. You’re safe here; we’ve got you. And you, Fear, I’m assuming, I can assure you that what we have going on this side of the veil is a lot scarier than where you’re from, so you’d be better off there.” In retrospect, it was almost funny. Even when she had been an active Watcher, half her job was talking her way out of situations, and the other half was killing her problems.

Rook’s ears twitched again as if to signal that she could hear Bishop’s voice, but she remained unresponsive. Tears spilled from her eyes as her whole body shook and shivered. It was clear that the demon was not interested in realizing its meal ticket anytime soon. Rook continued to mutter to herself, “No, please…please don’t leave me…I can’t lose them…Nyxahlia…Lucanis.…Emmrich…please, you can’t be dead…”

“We’re all okay, Rook. We’re right here waiting for you. I know you're scared. But you’re very good at overcoming things anyway, even when you're terrified to go on. You can do it, we’re all right here. Kick that tag-along out of here.” Nyx said, keeping her voice soft.

Emmrich and Lucanis watched as Nyx continued her slow and steady advance toward Rooks's shaking form. The necromancer prayed to the marker, whom he didn’t even believe in, that both women would be safe. Lucanis’ eyes never left Bishop as his hand instinctively hovered over his rapier.

Nyx reached out to Rook, very slowly, “See, I’m right here. I’m fine. We’re all fine.”

Rook's head shoots up to look at Bishop as she gets closer, her pupils glowing with raging blue energy as tears stream down her cheeks. Her hand caught Bishop by the wrist before she could touch her. As Nyx looked into her sister's eyes, it was almost as if, rather than looking at Nym as she knew her now, she was looking into the eyes of a scared child. A child who desperately needed someone to protect them from the monster lurking in the dark at night.

Nyx threw her other hand out behind her, stopping Lucanis’ approach when Rook grabbed her. “Just give me a second. Hey, Nym, I won’t let anything happen to you. You have to trust me, though. Can you do that?”

It was subtle, but Rook nodded her head. Her eyes refuse to break eye contact with Bishop, as her hold on her wrist tightens slightly.

“I’m going to try something, okay? Try not to fight it, I promise it won’t hurt,” Nyx told her sister before beginning to quietly mutter an incantation. A banishing spell she’d used before, but only on cursed or haunted objects. Though there was no reason this shouldn’t work similarly, as long as Rook maintained the physical contact between them.

Rook flinches slightly as Bishop starts her spell, but she does not fight; the demon is a different story. A small trickle of blood starts to fall from her nose as her head starts to throb due to the demon's resistance. Nyx paused, “I’m sorry, Nym. Let go of my wrist if it gets too bad. Emmrich, it might not work,” she called over her shoulder before refocusing and continuing.

“Give up, the girl is mine,” Rook says, but her voice is distorted, as though it had an echo. The demon was fighting back. Nyx’s voice didn’t falter as she continued without responding.

“She plays Wicked Grace with a Spite demon; she’s not intimidated by Fear.” Spite mocked from where Lucanis and Emmrich stood.

Nyx looked down as she felt Rooks's grip on her wrist loosen. The demon was trying to force her to cut the physical link. Without fully thinking it through, Bishop reaches out with both hands and cups her sister’s face. Forcing the link to stay intact. “I said, give up, girl. You will not separate us. Poor little Nymphadora has so much fear and regret. She is nothing more than a pitiful child, cowering and pretending to be strong so the people she thinks care about her won’t abandon her again.” Fear speaks through Rook once more.

Nyx looked into her sister’s eyes and spoke directly to the demon, “I am a more powerful spirit than you are, and she is stronger than me.” Nyx launched into the second half of her incantation, this time in an ancient language.

A look of pain shoots across Rook’s face, and she lets out a haunting scream. Her voice is still distorted as the demon continues to struggle. But a familiar lilac color started peaking through the lyrium blue. Rook started clawing at Nyx’s arms in a vain attempt to remove her hands from her face, but Bishop held strong. Nyx’s face had paled, and a tear of blood made its way down her face, but she began the last line of her spell with a solid voice. Rook's nose continued to bleed, now from both nostrils, the blue glow in her eyes fading as the demon forcibly lost its hold on her.

“Get the fuck out of my sister,” Nyx told the demon, pushing one last burst of magic through Rook to finish her spell. Unable to remain upright to check that it had worked, Nyx collapsed onto the ground.

Lucanis immediately rushes to Nyx’s side, Emmrich doing the same with Rook, who had collapsed shortly after her sister. Nyx pushed herself up to a seated position with Lucanis’ support and wiped her face, smearing the drops of blood from her eyes.

“I think we should just skip straight to blood magic next time,” Nyx joked, her voice cracking at the words. “Did it work?”

Emmrich held Rook, her head resting upon his lap as he checked her pulse. Her heartbeat was weaker than normal, but it was there. “I believe so, but it's hard to tell with her out cold…”

“Sometimes it’s okay to lie and just say yes, Emmrich,” Nyx told him while Lucanis tried to wipe the blood off her face with his sleeve.

Emmrich allowed a small smile to sneak through his worried demeanor, but decided not to respond. Instead, he chose to focus on his bride-to-be, brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face and using a handkerchief to clean the blood from her face.

Nyx went to stand, despite Lucanis protesting. “I’m fine. I eat despair and spite for dinner. Fear is nothing,” she argued as she moved to Emmrich’s side.

Rook's body was colder than normal, too, the exorcism of the fear demon having taken a harsh toll on her mind and body. “I fear she may be out of commission for a little while…” Emmrich says softly.

“We can press ahead, maybe see if we can get Neve out of that blight,” Nyx suggested.

Emmrich nodded slightly as he adjusted Rook into his arms and moved over a bit closer to the wall. As he settles down with her in his lap, he begins to dress her wounds slowly with healing magic.

Nyx turned to approach the large mass of blight. “Neve, can you hear me?” she called up as one of the masses lowered to her level. The tangled mess revealed only Neve’s face. “We’re going to get you out of there.”

“Neve is gone. There is only the will of Elgar’nan,” Neve's voice echoed slightly, not entirely her own, similar to how Rook was only moments ago. Nyx approached Neve as tendrils of blight moved to connect with a deactivated golem.

“Giver of life…and death,” the voice echoed.

“Nyx.” Lucanis pulled Nyx back as the blight tendrils activated the golem, piecing it together.

Emmrich watched from the short distance he and Rook were from harm's way, halting his healing magic in favor of readying his staff should he need to fight.

Nyx summoned her orb, and removed her blade from her belt with a flourish, “This is going to suck.”

Lucanis armed himself and rolled his shoulders. “Do you have enough room to do your blast and dash?”

“Should be right if I can get on the other side so it turns away from Nym,” Nyx confirmed as the golem turned toward them.

“Bishop, I am prepared to be on the defensive should it not follow you and Lucanis as its main targets,” Emmrich calls to her.

“Victoria aut mors, Lucanis,” Nyx joked before taking several quick steps forward toward the golem, before vanishing and reappearing behind it. She sent an arch of green magic into its back, blasting off many of the armored plates. It whirled, turning its attention to her. She backed up several steps before again blinking out of existence and reappearing several feet away, “Come on, come get the squishable mage,” she taunted it.

The large golem lumbered towards her, swinging its arms wildly in her direction. Lucanis launched into action, taking advantage of the golem turning away to attack its less protected back. Nyx’s orb pulsed with energy, sending out another blast of magic that staggered it mid-charge. She rolled into its blindside again, attacking several times with her knife before retreating again. Lucanis distracted the golem while Nyx focused on sending smaller blasts of magic at it. Its movements were becoming jerky and erratic. The golem then outstretched its arms and began to spin, like a toy top. Lucanis and Bishop avoided the attack easily, but when the golem stopped, it was facing in Emmrich and Rooks' direction. Locking on to them as its next targets.

Bishop threw out her hand, and the ground below the golem bubbled with eerie green light, and spectral hands reached up to grasp at its legs, preventing it from advancing. Lucanis moved to try to place himself between the golem and the two of them. Emmrich clutched Rook a bit closer to his chest. So focused on the battle happening in front of them, he failed to notice that Rook’s eyes had slowly started to flutter open.

“Lucanis, keep it distracted a bit longer,” Nyx called as she switched out her blade for her staff.

“Don’t keep me waiting too long,” Lucanis joked as he stepped up to the creature.

Nyx spread her arms, and a bright green energy began to coalesce in front of her. The temperature in the air drops several degrees. She slammed the magic into the ground, and it traveled in waves through the stone. When it reached them, the arms grew more solid, reaching up to rip to golem apart, piece by piece, until it deactivated with a hum, the parts scattered at Lucanis’ feet.

Emmrich releases a breath he had not realised he was holding, his shoulders sagging slightly as he sets his staff down. The necromancer was startled by the cold touch of a hand against his jaw. Looking down, he is met with weary lilac eyes and a weak smile. Nym was awake. More importantly, she was herself again.

“You’re….alive..” Her voice is strained and breathy.

“Yes, dearest, I am alive and well. You have nothing to fear.” Emmrich said softly, leaning down to rest his forehead against her own.

“I didn’t scramble your brain too much, did I?” Nyx asked sincerely as she paused a few steps away from them, Lucanis standing behind her.

Rook looks over at her sister instinctively when she hears her voice. “Nyx…oh thank the gods…”

“Sorry for not hovering until you woke up. We had to go kill a golem,” Nyx told her, moving to kneel on the ground with her.

“I’m so sorry…I don’t know why I blacked out…but it was awful…you were all dead…and it was my fault…” She recalls the hallucination sadly.

“We sorted it out alright, though,” Nyx said reassuringly.

“Yeah, thanks for that..” she says as Emmrich helps her sit up.

“No problem,” Nyx jested. “If you’re alright, I’m going to go try to get Neve out of there.”

Rook nodded as Emmrich chose to finish up the last bit of healing he had before being interrupted by the golem. “Stay still, dearest, you are injured.”

Nyx stood and approached the blight again, stabbing at several tendrils that moved for her and shoving them away. After one particularly good slice, the tendrils unraveled to let Neve go. She fell, and Nyx supported her for a few seconds before Neve righted herself.

“Get out of my head! And out of my city!” She yelled to the sky, looking around, disoriented. The blight pillar she’d been trapped in slowly went dormant. Neve took a few steps before her gaze locked on Bishop, and her eyes cleared a little.

“Bishop? He had me. I was controlling the blight for him. It was all I could think about!” Neve told her, a slight hysteria in her voice.

“It’s okay. You’re free now. You’re safe.” Nyx assured her.

“We’re not safe yet,” Neve corrected, determination settling on her face.

“Once Elgar’nan is dead-” Nyx started

“No!” Neve protested, reaching for Nyx. “We can’t kill Elgar’nan yet! If we do-”

The sound of the Archdemons' roars of pain shakes the walls of the building just before one of its back legs crashes through the stone wall. Causing that entire section of the building to collapse and crumble. Blight tendrils began to emerge from the ground, blocking many of the pathways leading away from their location.

Emmrich was quick to help Rook to her feet, both sensing the inherent and inevitable need to retreat from their current position.

“Come on, we need to move,” Bishop called, waving Emmrich and Rook over while Lucanis made sure Neve was steady enough to go.

As the Dread Wolf and the Archdemon continued their battle above them, the team carefully maneuvered their way toward the only door that was not blocked by anything.

Suddenly, a small black raven landed among them, in a puff of navy smoke, transformed into Morrigan, the witch. With agile precision, she used her magic to blast open the sealed door and managed to catch a large chunk of debris before it landed on everyone. “Quickly now, destiny is a heavy burden to bear. And growing heavier by the moment.”

Everyone hurries through the opening. Once they are all clear, Morrigan becomes a raven once more and flies after them as the room they had just escaped collapses in on itself.

They all stop in the next room, attempting to catch their breath from their mad dash up the stairs. As they do, a persistent banging begins to sound from the other door in the room. The group rallies, preparing to fight again, but it isn’t an enemy that bursts through the door. Instead, Taash leads a gathering of several allies through the door. The Inquisitor herself, Evka, Dorian, and several others.

Rook holds onto Emmrich weakly, still dazed from her earlier black out. She looked up, and her eyes met Taash’s. A faint look of worry crosses their face, but is stilled when Rook speaks up. “You made it.”

“Yeah, well, not my first giant monster,” the Qunari says with a slight smirk.

“Apologies for missing the war council,” the Inquisitor says. “We got inside the city with the Veil Jumpers.”

“It gave us the chance to finally strike back at the Venatori.” Dorian chimes slyly as he surveys the room.

“Whatever you did unblocked entrances to the Divine’s manor. It also destroyed some of the blight.” Maevaris stepped forward as she spoke.

“It’ll come back. I can still feel it. I don’t think I’m the only mage he used like this,” Neve told them, hand to her head.

“Neve! You’re alive.”

“Bishop got me out. But I learned things in the blight eruption. We need to talk.” Neve warned as she turned to look at Bishop, her gaze shifting over to Rook as well.

“We will. But first, we need to get you to a healer. Someone who can do more than me,” Bishop injected.

“We’ll take care of her,” Maevaris interjected, reaching out for Neve to take her hands.

“Thanks, I’ll join you in a bit. I just want to check on everyone else coming in while we still have time, anyway.” Rook says slowly as she pushes off of Emmrich, though he was a bit hesitant to let her go. She gives him a reassuring smile and a small peck on his cheek. “Go with others. I’ll find you in a moment, Vhenan.”

“I’ll wait with you, Rook,” Bishop offered. The distant sounds of the battle between the Dread Wolf and the Archdemon raged on as Rook walked over to her sister.

“Feeling alright? Do you need to see a healer?” Bishop asked when her sister reached her.

“Always such a worrier, I swear you’re worse than Emmrich sometimes,” she laughs dryly.

“Lucanis is contagious. I’ve caught anxiety,” Nyx joked back.

Nym smiled as she placed a hand on her sister's cheek, bringing her forward slightly so their foreheads touched. “It’s almost over…” she says softly in elvish.

“Yeah, it is, isn’t it? I don’t know who I am without this anymore. Without these people,” Nyx replied softly.

“You are still you, Nyxahlia; you are just stronger, more capable. You are not the same weak, sickly child the world used to know you as. You are a woman, a strong, fearsome, and powerful woman. And together we are going to make the gods of our people pay for what they have done. We will kill Elgar’nan. And we will make Solas regret ever fucking with us.” Rook’s elvish became a bit more erratic as she spoke, her heart filled with strong, determined emotions and love for her sister.

“I just don’t want any more of us to die,” Nyx said in common, struggling to speak elvish as well as she used to, due to her disuse. “But if I get to watch you beat down that piece of shit, I’ll consider it the highlight of my life.”

Rook laughs as the two of them separate, looking over in the direction the rest of the team went. “We shouldn’t keep them waiting…” She looks back at Bishop and outstretched her hand.

Bishop gave her a smile, taking her hand. “Careful, that’s my bad hand,” she said, keeping her voice light. “Let’s go then before your man comes to get us.”

The twins walk together, hand in hand, down the crowded hallway of the ruined building where they were huddled. Passing by the faces of the few remaining survivors of the siege. Nodding at faction leaders and making quick conversation until they made it to the makeshift hall of the dead, one of their fellow Watches had cobbled together.

“Shall we do our duty and pay our respects?” Rook asks her sister softly.

“Yes, we should,” Nyx agreed and stepped up to open the door.

The girls entered the temporary crypt to see just how many losses they had taken during the siege. On one of the covered-up bodies rested Viper’s brown leather hat. Rook bowed her head in respect, giving them all a silent thank you for their sacrifice.

“We’ll have to make sure those who wish to be cremated aren’t left too long,” Nyx said softly.

“As much as I agree with Emmrich that cremation is a waste….you’re right, we must respect the wishes of the deceased,” Rook says with a small smile.

“We’ll win this, for them,” Bishop said softly, tightening her hold on her sister’s hand briefly.

“Agreed.” Rook leans over and rests her head against Bishop’s as they stand together a few moments longer. “Okay, let's go…we’ve got a war to win.”

#the twins gambit au #dragon age #dragon age veilguard #emmrich volkarin #dragon age au #emmrich x rook #dragon age rook #rook and bishop #emmrook #dragon age emmrich #dragon age lucanis #lucanis x bishop #dragon age fanfiction

2 notes · View notes