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ramblinganthropologist · 3 months ago

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Fictober 24 21 - We've done worse

Summary: The two newest Templars in Kirkwall had a rough night. Cullen's about to have a rougher morning as he hears the tale of their late night encounter with a supposed demon. Welcome to Kirkwall - get used to it.

---

That morning, Cullen found two of his men looking white as a sheet.

It was a grey morning in Kirkwall – more often than not they were – and it looked as though it might rain. The courtyard in front of the Chantry was mostly empty, with a few of the faithful heading in for early morning services. He suppressed a yawn as he walked across the open space, ready to get information about the night’s watch from two of the newest Templars of Kirkwall.

Instead of upright warriors, he found two men shaking in their armor.

“What’s going on?”

The one closest to him – a newly sworn in man by the name of Kurt – practically dropped his sword he was shaking so badly. He fumbled it at the last moment, but he swore under his breath as he returned it to its sheath. It should have been there all along, but for some reason he had been clutching it like it was a child’s teddy bear.

His watchmate wasn’t much better. Marcus, not much further into his service than Kurt was, gripped his spear so tightly it was a miracle the knuckles of his gauntlets weren’t bursting apart. Under his helmet, he was sweating, and his eyes darted around as if he expected the Archdemon itself to appear.

Cullen had been in Ferelden during the Blight – it would’ve needed to be a lot worse first. He had seen blood mages, but no darkspawn lately. They were safe from that.

“Sir, I…” Kurt swallowed hard. “W-we…”

Marcus finished for his fellow Templar. “We ran into two demons last night while on night duty!”

Sweat dripped down Cullen’s temple. “Demons do tend to be within our line of duty. I hope you dealt with them instead of letting them run through the city.”

Judging from how badly the pair was shaking, he doubted they had done much other than run away. Dereliction of duty had been decreasing in the last few years, but even two instances were too many for him.

Especially if a demon truly was on the loose.

“Report on what you saw. I’ll see to this after I deal with you both.”

He could already feel a vein in his temple throb as the two men in front of him turned to each other, as if they were conferring details through their shared brain. Finally, it was Kurt who turned to face him, still pale and sweaty.

“It happened after midnight…”

Kirkwall at night was downright frightening, and that was coming from someone in armor.

“How did we draw the short straw on night duty again?”

Marcus was complaining as they stood in their positions. By the duty roster, they had been charged with watching over the Chantry courtyard and the entrance to the Gallows. Until the sun rose, they were the only forces there.

Kurt shrugged his shoulders as he triple checked that he had his sword. After all, he wasn’t from Kirkwall – neither was his partner. Both had been trained in Starkhaven and shipped to the city when they had come fully into the order. Now, at the bottom of the pecking order, they got the duties no one else wanted.

So, there they were, standing in an empty courtyard as a chill wind blew.

“We have to pay our dues I suppose.” He stared around the courtyard with a blank expression – nothing but dust and shadows. “Truly, though, I don’t know why they would need the two of us to guard here.”

After all, it wasn’t like the mages were a flight risk. There were more of their number guarding the inside of the Gallows, and the threat of Tranquility kept the rest in line. Even if one risked an escape, they wouldn’t get far. The anti-magic glyphs surrounding all exists would see to that; it would only lead to the brand if they got stupid.

“Didn’t the Qunari attack here two years ago?” Marcus’ voice was high. “You don’t think some stuck around, do you?”

Due to that, Kurt rolled his eyes. “Have you seen any oxmen in the damn city? Some knife ear died killing their leader and the rest scattered like roaches.”

At least, that’s what their fellow Templars had told them when they had asked about the attack. For some reason, they were light on details – like how an elf had even managed to get a sword in the first place. Where he came from, elves weren’t allowed to carry weapons under threat of prison or death.

A rule like that would’ve benefitted Kirkwall.

“Elves with swords… Kirkwall is insane.” Marcus still had wide eyes as he glanced around. “At least he’s dead. I wouldn’t want to run into him in a dark alley if he can take down a full grown Qunari.”

“For all we know he snuck up on the oxman and gutted him like a fish before he got squished under the corpse. Knife-ears are sneaky like that.” Kurt shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re stuck here until dawn.”

Still, a chill fell into their bones as they stood there in near black darkness, their only lights coming from the torches surrounding the Chantry proper. Thanks to the clouds, there was no moon to grant additional light and some small comfort.

Something about the darkness in Kirkwall was unsettling. Maybe it was the ghosts of all the slaves who had come into the city of chains mucking about…

“I’m transferring out of here as soon as I get the chance. I hate it here. Whole city’s haunted, I swear.” Marcus was getting annoying – he often did. Man had an overactive imagination, and it did him no favors. “Anyone who willingly stays here is insane.”

Or were loyal to the order. Kurt didn’t want to stay there either, but when he had made his oath to become a Templar, he had sworn he would go where he was needed. If anyone needed Templars, it was Kirkwall.

“What was that?”

Marcus suddenly pointed his spear in the direction of a nearby alley. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated in fear. Kurt shook his head as he unsheathed his sword, moving away from his post for the moment.

“Stay there, I’ll check it out. It was probably just a stray cat or a beggar.”

It was most likely the former, given Hightown didn’t abide by beggars. The guardsmen did their part in clearing most out, but sometimes they needed a little extra encouragement. Kurt didn’t enjoy that part of the job – they were so damn pathetic.

At least he could kick a cat out of the way.

As he approached the alley, Kurt’s eyes narrowed. From the looks of things, it was all clear. The wind blew through, just as cold as any other breeze. If anything had actually been there, it was gone now.

“You’re seeing things, Marcus, nothing’s-“

But then something moved.

“What the hell?” He jumped back into a defensive position, sword and shield at the ready. Kurt glanced around the space, trying to track the movement. Just briefly, he swore he had seen something vaguely human shaped, half hidden in the darkness. “Who’s there? Come out before I come find you!”

No one answered. Instead, Marcus approached, spear pointed. They exchanged glances before entering into the small space. All the while, Kurt felt his heart beating against his armor as the sweat dripped down his brow.

Then he saw the motion again, behind him this time.

“I saw something!” Marcus whipped around, pointing his spear towards the entrance to the alley. “We’re being followed!”

Kurt briefly glanced over his shoulder but was rewarded by a clear shot back to the courtyard. His heart steadied for a second, but then he heard the rustle of cloth off in the distance. He turned back around, hand tight on his sword.

“Too slow.”

A deep voice shot out from the shadows, and briefly he made out the shape of a giant. Red eyes glinted in the darkness, high above his head. Whatever it was, it had to be over 7 feet tall. Only one thing could be that bad.

How had an oxman managed to survive in Kirkwall alone.

“Stay back!” He held out his shield to brace himself for an attack. “I’m not afraid of you!”

“Big mistake there. But Templars are stupid so no surprises.”

A new voice, rough and high pitched, sounded from behind him with an eerie chuckle that chilled his blood. Marcus let out a strangled gasp as he thrust his spear into the darkness but made no contact. Kurt had no chance to look behind him; he was too focused on the beast in front.

“What should we do with them?”

Energy crackled through the alley. Briefly, Kurt remembered that some Qunari had magic. Unlike human mages, the oxmen chained their mages and kept them under constant watch until they died or needed to be killed.

Looks like one had slipped their handlers.

“Oh, I have a few ideas. But excuse me, this one’s trying to poke me with a fucking stick.”

Marcus suddenly hit the ground hard as his spear was wrenched from his grasp. The other voice grunted and the spear went flying, landing far out of his grasp. Now they were down one weapon, with only a sword left to guard them against the enclosing darkness.

“There we go. That’s better.” Kurt could practically hear the grin in their voice. “That was rude. We’re just talking.”

The giant in the shadows took another step forward, and he swore the darkness traveled with him. “We should finish this. I’m bored already.”

The other voice sounded thoughtful. “Yeah, these guys are no fun. Must be from out of town.”

Before Kurt could even react, something hard slammed into his gut. With the wind knocked out of him, he fell to his knees, sword sliding into the darkness. Then he heard the sound of metal sliding – the giant had kicked it away.

Behind him, Marcus let out a yelp of pain and was soon sliding next to him, holding his gut. Briefly, Kurt was able to glance over his shoulder and his heart nearly stopped a second time. Somehow, the shadow had moved and was behind them, hidden by the darkness. Even worse, there was a second pair of eyes above the first, glowing bright in the night.

“Welcome to Kirkwall, assholes. Might want to stay home at night, you’re not old enough to go out.”

Then just as they had been there, the two seemingly vanished. Up above, the clouds cleared from the moon, showing the alley to be completely empty. Kurt scrambled to his feet and all but ran to his sword. Once it was in his hands again, he wheeled around for a second attack.

None came.

“What the hell was that?”

Marcus struggled to his feet, shaking like a leaf. “It had to be some kind of demon, nothing else could move that fast!”

He ran out into the courtyard to grab his spear, gripping it for dear life. Kurt joined him in the torch lit space, glancing around with wide eyes. Yet he saw nothing except the steps leading to the Chantry and the entrance to the Gallows.

It could’ve been a dream, but his gut still ached. Add in the visible dent to his and Marcus’ armor, and there was all the proof they needed. Truly, the city of chains was haunted, and they had just gotten their first taste of it.

And they still had hours to go until dawn.

---

“So you were attacked in an alley by a mountain and a gremlin?”

Cullen’s eyebrow was arched to the sky as he took in the words from his men. He could see the mentioned dents in their armor, so it was clear something had happened. However, the rest sounded too fantastical to be true.

“It had to be demons, we didn’t even see them move! Then they formed into one before they left!” Marcus’ voice was a squeak. “We checked in the morning for signs of possession, but there was nothing there!”

He waved this off. “I’ll handle this. Remain by your posts until I return.”

Then he left the two terrified Templars at the Chantry. Instead of reporting to Meredith or gathering a group to hunt down a demon, he set off on a familiar path through Hightown. All the while, his stomach churned.

It couldn’t be them. No one had seen him in years, and she had been on her deathbed last he heard.

Within minutes, he stood in front of a house in Hightown. The door held a shield painted in red, depicting a stylized hawk against the symbol of Kirkwall. It was an eyesore, but the other residents of the area could do nothing about it.

His heavy fist knocked against the door twice, then he stepped back to wait. After a few moments, he heard footsteps coming towards the entrance. Half expecting to see a dwarf or elf answer the door, he prepared his polite request.

Instead, the door swung open and he got a dirty glare.

“Cullen. Don’t you have some innocent people to terrify?”

“No, looks like he’s busy bothering us instead.”

Cullen’s heart dropped to his shoes as he took in the view in front of him. A large man stood there, hand on the door frame. He wasn’t alone, either. A small woman sat on his shoulders, glaring down at him with unmarked disdain.

“Hawke.”

Avery Hawke rolled her eyes as she leaned on Moses Hawke’s head. “Gonna need to be more specific than that, Cullen.”

Apparently, the news of her demise had been overstated. Unless she was a ghost, she was alive and well. Sure, she had lost some weight and her face was scarred, but he knew that glare anywhere.

Worst of all, Moses was back. After he had been last spotted in the city years ago, Cullen had hoped he had left Kirkwall for good. He had even put messages at the docks to let him know if a tall man of Rivaini heritage showed up, but there had been nothing.

Somehow, he had slipped back in.

“I wasn’t aware you had returned to the city.” He cleared his throat. “By any chance, were you near the Gallows last night?”

The smaller Hawke rolled her eyes as she glared down at him. “Come back with a warrant, asshole.”

Then the door slammed in his face. Cullen was left stunned, processing just what had happened. He went to knock on the door again, but without him doing anything it opened briefly. Moses’ hand appeared, sticking a piece of paper to the door, before it slammed shut once more.

“What the…” he took the paper from the door. On it was a crude doodle of the taller Hawke tossing a Templar like they were a child’s toy. Scrawled on the top in his handwriting was a clear message: Warrant or soar-it.

He couldn’t say he had expected more, but it seemed time had done nothing to soften their disdain for him and his order.

“Warrant doesn’t even rhyme with soar-it…” He grumbled to himself as he tucked the paper into his pocket for disposal later. Even though he hadn’t gotten direct answers, it was clear who had caused the disturbance last night. However, he couldn’t go on just his feelings. After all, the Hawkes were heroes now.

No doubt that would make them even more insufferable. Perhaps he should double patrols on their favorite route home.

---

“Can’t say I missed that prick.”

“Make that a double.”

Avery jumped from Moses’ shoulder, landing on the nearby couch. Her brother settled in, and the two got comfortable. Their dogs were asleep on the floor in front of them, not even disturbed by the trouble at the door.

They were used to battle.

“I mean, we’ve done worse. You’d think we busted into the Gallows or something by the way he tried to pound the door down.” She sighed, rubbing her right shoulder. Ever since losing her arm, it hurt sometimes.

Moses nodded as he reached down to scratch Dog behind the ear. “You think he would have missed us. We handled most of his demon cases.”

“I know, right? Fucker should be kissing our asses.” Then Avery made a sick face, sticking out her tongue. “You know what, never mind, I don’t want him anywhere near my ass.”

Judging from the look on Moses’ face, he was of the same mind.

Regardless, they soon settled back to what they had been doing before Cullen had interrupted their morning. Avery curled up on the couch to continue her cat nap, while Moses flipped the pages of a book. A peace fell back over the house, one that had been sorely missed in the years both had been separated.

They were going to need to break the new guards and Templars in if a light fright was all it took to scare them into reporting their superiors. How were they going to survive when the real shit hit Kirkwall?

Oh, right. They’d come begging for help again. Typical Kirkwall…

#Avery Hawke #Moses Hawke #ramblinganthropologist's writing #Fictober 2024 #Fucking with the guards is a time honored Hawke tradition #Keeps them on their toes #More probably survived during the Qunari fight because of it #It's just their form of community service

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