amellsinferno | In Another World | locked to apostate

Nellie nods quietly.

"That's why there were all the refugees coming in from the south...it really is a Blight, Cullen..."

Anders, back at the cottage, swears to himself, nodding and gathering up everything he could. This includes Ser Pounce-a-lot and their 2 other cats, Wiggums the Second and Isadora, who are unceremoniously scooped up and placed in a bag filled with clothes and sheets.

"If it really is a Blight, then we have to get out of Lothering quickly," he growls, entering the cottage only to be greeted by Solona carrying a few packs in her hands.

"You're here!" she exclaims, handing the bags to Cullen. "Anders is gathering the clothes. I'll go help him. Cullen, I suggest you get some weapons." Solona turns to Nellie. "Nel, get your important things and the books. The important ones only." With that, she disappears into her bedroom."

"Right." Nellie rushes up to her room, packing up her bag. She's got her book of fairy takes, another book of short stories, a diary, and her book of herbalist recipes. Those all go in her bag, along with the letters from her mother, the doll Solona gave her years ago, and anything else important she can find. She rejoins them at the front of the cottage as soon as she's packed.

Anders has the clothes and the cats all secured, and is doing a last minute check when Nellie returns.

"Has Cullen filled you and Solona in yet...?"

"Yes, he has," Solona says in a rushed tone. She secures her pack over her shoulder and looks to Cullen for directions. "Where do we go now? Is there anywhere near here you might know?" She then turns to Anders. "Anywhere?"

Cullen scowls. It'll be hard to evade the Blight but maybe-- "We travel around the horde," he says simply.

"Maker, you have to be kidding me," Solona groans.

"We don't have much of a choice, Solona."

Anders sighs, shaking his head.

"Nothing large enough to withstand the horde. And it's spreading, so we need to move fast, and as far as possible...possibly out of Ferelden altogether."

"That would mean we'd have to head for the docks," Cullen looks at Anders incredulously. Was the man actually thinking straight for once?

"This all sounds like a grand idea," Solona starts, "but shouldn't we be focusing on getting our asses out of Lothering first?"

Anders nods at Cullen, a grim look on his face.

"If the docks aren't already full of people, that is. If they are, we'll need to find our way to another port and take ship out of here. I think the closest is Gwaren...and if it's not the closest, it's certainly the largest."

Nellie nods and tugs at Solona's sleeve quietly.

"We really, really should move, now. There are more people trying to get out of here, and if we just keep arguing, we won't make it..."

"You're right, Nel," Solona replies sullenly.

Their attention though is slightly caught by a large explosion in the distance.

Cullen turns to the rest of them. "We better run, now!" he says with utmost urgency.

Anders swears and nods, grabbing Solona's hand without a second thought.

"Let's move."

And without looking back, they're on the run, once again.

Cullen leads them towards the forest, unsheathing his sword and carrying his shield protectively before him. He'd given each one of them a dagger as well, hoping the rest would know how to at least wield it-- if not distract the darkspawn before it gets to them.

"As much as possible, limit the use of magic," he says as he pushes into the trees, taking the lead.

Nellie nodded, and while Anders had a nasty scowl on his face, he also agreed.

"If worse comes to worse, though, I'm setting them all on fire, and you can't stop me."

Any other time, Nellie would've laughed and rolled her eyes at that...but now...

"Lightning would be a safer bet," Solona squeezes Anders' hand. "Don't want the forest catching fire around us."

"Right, right, that would be bad too." He gives her a small smile. It's not much, but it's all he can give her right now, as they keep running.

"Quiet!" Cullen hisses, holding his hand out to stop them from moving. They've finally reached a clearing. He wanted to make sure it was safe. He listens carefully to his surroundings.

Was that a slight crackle of leaves or the wind?

Anders swears quietly again, moving to grab his dagger tight, wishing he had use of his staff. He moves in front to protect Solona. He knows she can take care of herself, but...with her extra passenger, she could use extra support...

"Anders, I can take care of my--!"

An arrow shoots right at Cullen which is easily deflected by his shield. "Be on your guard!" Cullen roars as a dozen-- no, maybe even more, darkspawn emerge from the shadows behind the trees.

"Fuck!"

Anders immediately resorts to the lightning, because they're outnumbered and in trouble, and he won't stand a chance with just a dagger.

And Anders isn't the only one moving to attack with magic. Nellie panics slightly, moving to put up a barrier to block as many of the hoard as possible, before she attacks a few of them with an unexpected Entropic spell, stunning a few of the Darkspawn.

"Maker's breath! They're hideous!" Solona cries out in disgust, gathering her mana to produce a fireball.

"No magic!" Cullen roars, charging into the throng with his shield, slashing away at the fuckers with as much rage as he could muster.

"Fine!" Solona spits out. "Well, at least let me use a bit so we can actually gain the upper hand!" She releases a burst of energy and suddenly their weapons are coated with flames.

Cullen jumps at the sight of the fire, licking away at his blade. However, it didn't grow hot. He would scold Solona but there were more pressing matters at hand. He slices his way through another genlock right before it could attack him from behind.

"Guys, we need to MOVE. These won't be the only ones...I can block them off with a barrier, and Solona can enchant it to be on fire, and that should buy us time to get away..."

Nellie grabs for her dagger and slashes at the stunned Darkspawn, taking off their heads.

"Nellie!" Solona looks over at her sister impressed. "I didn't think you'd have it in you--!"

"Enough talking, please!" Cullen cries out, struggling with a genlock swinging away at his shield.

"Right," Solona nods. "Nellie, cast your barrier. Anders, shield her. I'll help out Cullen until the barrier's set?" She rushes over to Cullen's side, swinging her dagger down the back of the genlock. It falls to the ground, gurgling. Solona scowls, looking at her shirt. "I've go some blood on me!" she growls, readying herself for any other incoming attack.

Anders whips around to look at the blood on Solona.

"DO NOT TOUCH THE BLOOD. We'll need to burn these clothes, the blood is toxic, it carries the taint..."

Nellie nods and casts the barrier, with Anders protecting her from behind.

Cullen manages to catch a glimpse of Nellie casting the barrier. He groans. He said no magic. But there was nothing more he could do, especially with his back against Solona's back and them trapped between at least six of the blighters.

"Any ideas, fearless leader?" Solona calls out to Cullen. Honestly, he doesn't But what the hell. He charges at the nearest darkspawn he can reach and bashes it with his shield, swinging around and recovering quickly, slicing the body of another in half. Solona follows suit, only ducking from the swings the hurlock she was against tried to hurl. She slides on the ground and manages to slice at his feet. The demon cries out in pain. Solona scrambles up before lodging her dagger into the bastard.

"I'm going to need a bath after this," she groans.

Nellie's erected the barrier, and Anders has enchanted it to be on fire.

"The barrier's up...! Sorry about the magic, Cullen, but this should slow down the other Darkspawn...we need to move, though!"

"Cullen, let's go!" Solona calls out to him, breaking out into a jog, back into the throng of trees. Cullen looks back, aghast at the tower of flames and the damage it was causing the trees surrounding it. But the darkspawn were being held back. That was all that mattered. He runs towards Nellie and takes her hand, following after Solona into the woods.

While the barrier lasts a long time, the flames eventually die out, and the trees survive for now.

They're running for what seems like ages, and they do lose the darkspawn, and get away from Lothering...but they've still got a long journey ahead of them, as they get to the docks to take ship. Most of the ships have left, and it looks like the darkspawn already managed to attack once, before being driven back...

In Another World | locked to apostate_amell

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