Flint and Steel

“Hey, Tumbles, I don't think he meant to call you a halla rider like it was a bad thing. These folks living out here in the ass end of nowhere, they don't do so well with common courtesy you know?”

Nethra spared Varric a quick glance and a nod, but didn't stop her agitated tromp through the farm. “Right,” she said, not agreeing in the least. If Master Dennet hadn't meant to make a slur on her elven ancestry than he wouldn't have. It was as simple as that.

She couldn't let it bother her too much, though. Josephine and the others made it clear that they needed the man's help, or at the very least his horses. Their growing army needed mounts and he was the best horse master in Fereldan, if local chatter was true. She would have to let the insult go and keep a smile on her face. It was something she was getting rather good it.

The small company said little else as they made their way back to their temporary base in Haven. The hills and peaks of the Hinterlands spread around them, encasing them in what felt like a safe and sheltered valley, though that was far from the truth. Mild skirmishes to full out battles raged throughout the area, the sounds of which kept Nethra on edge and ready to act at a moments notice.          

They were just about to cross a treacherous looking bridge, its railings clearly burnt and broken, when movement in the trees nearby caused Nethra to pause and look over. In that instant a group of heavily armored figures burst from the treeline and rushed the small Inquisition group.

Nethra acted quicker than she thought she was capable – she dodged the oncoming charge of one of what she now saw were Templars, narrowly missing the deadly swing of his sword. She ducked and rolled across the rocky ground, flinching as her shoulder struck a jagged stone.

When she was again on her feet she saw Varric winding his crossbow and taking aim, as well as the two other soldiers with them fighting the templars. Why had they been attacked? Was is possible rumors of Nethra and the Inquisition had already spread enough that they were being targeted by more than just the demons of the sky?

Whatever the reason, now was not the time to think over it. Nethra reached to her back and drew both her daggers just as the templar that had charged her regained his footing. She slashed out, dragging one of the blades across the shining metal of his armor, resulting in nothing but unbalancing him yet again. With his stance swaying, Nethra pressed her advantage and thrusted forward with her other dagger. It's razor sharp edge found its mark in the templar's neck, cutting through his flesh like silk. He dropped to the ground at her feet, the life already gone from his body.

Breathing hard, Nethra spun towards the next templar she saw. There were so many, now. Already one of her soldiers lay on the ground, dead or unconscious Nethra didn't know. She wasn't cut out for this – she had only killed her first man mere weeks ago. If the templars kept coming she didn't know how much the three of them still standing could take before they, too, fell.

Ashli scoffed in disgust, as she watched her fellow mages rooting through the fallen Templars on the battlefield. They were a mere scouting party, and her comrades decided that this would be a good use of their time. "Oh come on, Ashli, it's not like they'll be needing this stuff anymore." They would tell her. From hurting innocent commoners in the crossfire, to looting dead templars, every day there seemed to be a new incident that made it harder for Ashli to feel any loyalty towards the other rebel mages. But what could she do? There weren't many places left that supported runaway mages these days.

"Hey look! There's a fight goin' on over there!" One of the other scouts called the group over, and through the cover of some trees, Ash could see a group of templars fighting it out with Inquisition forces. The latter were not faring well, however, they appeared to be a small outfit. Over her shoulder, another mage spoke up, "Let's get in on the fun! Who knows what those Inquisition soldiers are carrying around."

"Wait, we're not-" Ash tried to stop them, but before she could say another word, her comrades were charging in with their ridiculous battle cries. She had no choice but to join them, less she be named a coward. Their group charged straight into the battle, firing blasts of magic at both parties and forcing the templars to redistribute their focus as they were now fighting on both sides.

Ash began to hesitate as she saw the weakened Inquisition force, and as they began taking down templars, she made a split second decision, and fired at her fellow mages from behind. The first never saw it coming, and the second one she fired at turned to dodge her attack, "Ash, what're you doing?" This however left him open to a templar's attack, and after he was dealt a killing blow, she shot a fireball straight at the templar, and nothing could stop him from panicking as he was set on fire. There was now one other mage, and two other templars to deal with.

Nethra's head snapped to the right as she heard new shouts coming from the grassy hills nearby. No sooner had she spotted the small group of newcomers then they joined into the battle, causing nothing but more confusion. Bolts of lightening and flashes of flame sped through the air and hit both templar and Inquisition forces alike, the mages showing no preference to who got caught in their crossfire.

There was a moment of panic as Nethra felt the hot lick of fire rush across her skin – one of the mage's inferno's had landed at her feet. She scrambled backward, falling to her knees in her haste. Fighting against soldiers was one thing, but fighting mages was another. She had little experience with magic, other than the spells that Taevan would cast to help the clan. His magic was helpful and gentle, nothing like the destruction that was now raging over the battlefield.

As she struggled to get back to her feet Nethra spotted one of the mages moving towards Varric, his staff rasied and ready to fire. There was no way she could make it to him in time. She shouted out a warning to the dwarf, but he only looked over at her in confusion. Where the mage had been standing was now a body smoldering on the ground, consumed in flame. Nethra followed the attack's path with her eyes and saw a young girl, hair as red as the fire, already busy with another target.

The girl was either a terrible aim or she was betraying the other mages. Shemlan can't even resist backstabbing their own people. Nethra had time only to shake her head in disbelief before she was forced to defend herself again.

The templars that were left were easily taken down by a hail of bolts from Varric's crossbow, every one of them finding a soft and exposed part of the men's bodies. Nethra dealt with one of the two mages left – a graceful leap from her crouched position onto their back pushed them to the ground where she thrust downward with both daggers until the body was bloody and still.

She remained where she was, hands still gripping the hilts of her daggers as blood slipped down into her palms. The last mage was an unknown – it was equally possible she would turn on them now as she had turned on her fellows. Nethra did not like unknowns, and she was hesitant to sheath her weapons until sense was made of this girl.

“Thank you for the help,” she started, realizing that she was the one who had to take the lead. It was still difficult to get used to everyone waiting on her to act. She stood up and walked clear of the corpse. “But who are these people, and why did you turn on them?”

There wasn't time to play thankful diplomat and beat around the bush to get information. If this group of templars and mages had found them so quickly  then others might not be far behind. Nethra wanted answers and the best way to get them was to ask right out.