My Love

by Sabrina Zbasnik

  When she pulled her hands back, the fire sputtered out, both of them staring down at the three dead darkspawn in total confusion.

  "Have you ever...?"

  "No."

  "What are they doing...?"

  "I don't know."

  Gavin kicked a foot into a charred genlock, but the skin poofed to ash and drifted on the breeze. Okay. So there are darkspawn attacking the camp. What should they do? What would anyone do? "We need to...to get to the other knights. They'll have a plan." It was all Gavin could think of but Myra nodded with it.

  "Grab people along the way too," she added, pointing to the tents the darkspawn shredded without thought.

  "Right, good point." He kept tossing his sword from one hand to the other, trying to dredge up everything his mother told him about fighting darkspawn. They're inhuman. They never stop, never tire, never need to eat. Your only hope is killing as many as possible.

  "Don't!" Gavin suddenly shouted, turning back to the girl who was standing back from the corpses, "Don't drink the blood."

  Myra pursed her lips and glared at the stupidity of that statement. His cheeks burned from telling her something probably everyone knew, but Gavin could already hear his parents shrieking at him if he caused Myra to catch the blight. Never mind what her father would do. Gavin wasn't creative enough to dream that punishment up.

  Wandering to the side, Myra wrapped her hands around one of the flag poles embedded into the ground. Above them whipped the emblem of Ferelden through the blood stained sky. "Here," she called, sliding both her hands together and dropping them to around five feet off the ground. "Cut this," she ordered.

  "Why?" Gavin asked even while doing as she asked. He was in such a state, it took two swings before the bifurcated flagpole tipped over. The flag tumbled to the ground. Was that her plan? To create a rallying banner and raise the troops to fight for their side.

  Myra didn't even glance over at her family's crest laying in the dirt. She grabbed onto the pole and with gritted teeth yanked the shorter stick out of the ground. Rolling it off her arms a moment, the flagpole-turned-into-a-staff whipped through the air. "That ought to work," she nodded.

  Another scream broke above the rising din of fear, causing both of them to rush towards it. Feet trampled down the grass, people running for their lives. Maker, please let them make it to safety. Out of the corner of his eye, Gavin watched the girl he was supposed to be protecting. "You know you can't cast any magic down that," he explained.

  "No shit," Myra snorted. Her braid practically extended back off her head as she ran.

  "Then what's it for?"

  She lifted her head, her entire form locking into place. Snarling, Myra planted a foot and spun faster than any twirling he'd ever seen on a dance floor. The staff in her arms whacked into the hurlock's skull. It tried to counter with its sword but it was both at too great a reach and too slow. Myra smashed into the creature's skull twice more, then used all her upper body strength to crack into a knee. When the hurlock struck the ground, she huffed, "That."

  Stepping quickly forward, Gavin finished the creature off with his sword. "Don't you want a blade or...?"

  "Shit with blades," Myra said, rotating the staff back to a fighting stance across her shoulders. Suddenly, the girl whipped over at Gavin and gasped, "But don't tell my mom, she thinks it means I hate her."

  They made it closer to where the servant tents were supposed to be but the entire clearing erupted with broken cargo and stark white bodies. A mass of darkspawn were converging upon a pile of crates. The sounds of terrified people whimpering in fear as they cowered behind the cargo broke over the creature's snarling. "Oh fuck, Bryn!" Myra tried to hop onto her toes, but she couldn't see anyone. The darkspawn were surging through like a mass of wasps attacking a single creature, but something ahead of them was providing resistance.

  So focused on their target, the monsters didn't notice fire bursting from their backs, or a man's sword chopping through spines until Myra and Gavin took down half of the horde. There were no tactics the darkspawn were using, no one leading their fight, just a mass of bodies trying to kill anything in their way. They were more animal than any animal Gavin ever knew.

  One turned around, its chittering noise drawing a few others as they moved towards Myra. While casting spells she was unprotected, her fingers raised out to spout fire. And one of them was going to sneak up to the side and flank her while she was so exposed. Gavin screamed, extending his sword above his head as if he went mad, and ran full out towards the flanking darkspawn. Myra whipped her head over at the boy, her hands still feeding the flames that were incinerating most of the horde.

  Dropping to a knee, Gavin slid across the blood soaked ground so he could glide right under Myra's arms. He had to tip his head back, the fire burning bright right against his eyes, his cheeks flushed from the power of the flames leaping off her skin. Reaching the end of the slide, he stuck a leg out for balance and swung his sword right into the darkspawn's knees. His move buckled the sneaky one; the monster screaming in rage from the attack, before Gavin silenced it permanently.

  Myra's fingers dropped, her body waffling from so much magic spent so quickly. He scrabbled to catch her, the slick ground making it nearly impossible for him to rise, when her eyes lit up. The staff swung through the air and a great crack erupted from behind him.

  Gavin turned to find her flagpole embedded into the skull of a genlock that was trying to sneak up on him. Black blood oozed out of the hole she made in the paper thin skull, but what nearly caused him to wretch were the brains the color of a sickly fog clinging to the sawed off end. Blessed be the Maker... Gavin prayed to himself while he finally managed to get to his feet.

  She wrapped a comforting arm around his waist, then ripped her staff free from the genlock's cranium. "You okay?" Myra whispered and all he could do was nod dumbly. "Didn't drink any blood on mistake or purpose?" At that he pursed his lips and sneered which caused her to laugh.

  Both of them looked at the mass of bodies left dead upon the field. A single hurlock remained, taller than most. It easily met Gavin's height as it stared at the pair of them. With a snigger, it turned on its toes, lifted a giant war hammer, and turned to smash apart the terrified people of the caravan huddling behind their weak barricade.

  "No!" Myra screamed, about to unleash her firepower, when a great blade swiped across the hurlock's midsection. Even with armor in the way, the creature was practically bifurcated. Gavin watched in horror as the hurlock's torso tipped to the side following the blade's swing. Intestines tumbled free, all the organs dangling off the front like royal bunting. The great war axe swung back and finished the job.

  As the dead darkspawn collapsed to the ground in a pile of exposed viscera, a dwarf with white blonde hair stood as the only bastion against the sea of death. "Snowy!" Gavin cried to his roommate.

  The dwarf wiped his hand against his forehead and looked up, "Well, I see you skipped your nap after all." Snowy was forcing on a smile, but he seemed no worse for the wear.

  Gavin grabbed onto Myra's hand, trying to help her over the piles of bodies festooned upon the ground, but she had other ideas. Barely caring where or what internal organ her feet struck, Myra dashed towards the pile of terrified servants who were beginning to rise to their feet. "Bryn?!" she shouted, her eyes hunting through them all.

  "Here," a trembling hand rose from the mass.

  Leaping over the barricade without a thought, Myra moved to wrap her hands around her sort-of sister but the elf balked at all the darkspawn blood. "Sorry," Myra mumbled, "been a little busy getting to you. Are you okay?"

  While the two girls caught up, Gavin leaned over to his roommate, "How in the name of the Maker did you manage to kill so many?"

  Snowy snickered, "Hardly the Maker's doing. I'm a dwarf. We fight darkspawn."

  "But..." he waved a hand out at the easily dozen Snowy had to cut down without anyone watching his back or flank.

  "We fight a lot of da
rkspawn, abbey." He kicked a boot into the top hurlock in the pile and groaned. Turning back to the pile of terrified people, he shouted, "Anyone got a shield?"

  A few grumbled uncertainly, their eyes wide and skin paler than moonlight. How many survived because the dwarf grabbed each and herded them? Looking towards the back, Gavin spotted the Prince with his head between his legs. Some of the cooks snatched up kitchen knives and sat around him like a troop of guards to protect their Majesty. Thank the Maker they didn't have to try and use them.

  "Here," a voice shouted from the back and a simple wooden shield with the slats barely hammered together slid from trembling hand to trembling hand. When Snowy plucked it up, he turned to Gavin and passed it over.

  At the boy's confused look, the dwarf said, "You're gonna need it." He spat upon his hands and yanked up his dropped war axe, "Cause right now all those bastards are swarming upon the weapons cache. And if they get it, well..."

  "What about these people?" Gavin pointed at the horde all staring in terror as their only savior was about to abandon them.

  Snowy looked over at the ones he just protected and shrugged, "Dunno. Look, this is a raiding party. They burst out of the ground, smash apart a campsite, and loot everything they need. You think they have smith darkspawn? How else do they get all that ordnance they carry about? We don't stop 'em now, they could kill countless others with the shit they swipe."

  He made sense, and more than likely the other squires were there as well fighting to protect their stash of arms and armor. Nodding his head, Gavin agreed, "Right. Myra?" Her head whipped away from her friend but her wide eyes narrowed. "Remain with the group, protect them."

  "Uh, no," she said, already stepping away from Bryn and sliding over the barricade.

  "What do you mean no? I gave you an..." Gavin began before paling at her glare.

  Rolling the flagpole in her arms, she stared right at him, "You need me."

  For the love of the Maker. Gavin groaned, trying to rub away the years of discipline that formed his very soul. "But the Prince is..."

  "Hey, Cailan," Myra shouted out of the side of her mouth.

  "Ye...yes?" the man stumbled to his feet, wiping away all the mud as best he could.

  "Think you can lead all these people down the forest path and towards the village...where they'll be safer than staying here?" She finished the thought by glaring right at Gavin.

  "Um," the man swiped a hand through his hair before shrugging, "probably."

  "Good, because I'm going to keep our 'protector' from dying."

  "Okay then..." Cailan answered, uncertain if this had anything to do with him. He turned to the pile of noncombatants surrounding him and gently clapped his hands. "So, I guess we're off to find this village." A few heads bobbed in agreement, people staggering to their feet.

  Myra suddenly whipped over to focus on her brother, "And you better keep Bryn safe too."

  Her friend was obviously peeved with being singled out, but Cailan bowed his head and swore, "On my life."

  Which was what it could cost him, cost them all if they were found. Blessed Andraste, this was a stupid plan. While the survivors all fanned out, Myra waved her stick in the general direction of the armory, "Well.."

  With a shrug, Snowy bounced into his jog to stay ahead, the war axe balanced across his shoulders. Myra followed suit, Gavin taking up beside her. "It's not that I didn't think you capable of this..." he began.

  "Save it," she glared around the mass of destroyed tents. At this point they'd all have to huddle under the princess' canvas to escape any rain.

  "I only feared for the others, and what they could face--"

  "I said, save it," Myra sneered. "I'd rather be at fault for one life than a few dozen, if it's all the same." For a breath, her eyes darted over to his and a storm rolled under them. Far too often he forgot just how much experience Myra had in these matters. Nodding his head slowly, Gavin tried to slide the borrowed shield higher up his arm to reach over and skirt his fingers over hers. She didn't release the grip to her makeshift staff, but she smiled a bit.

  "Hey, lovebirds, while we're young and not perforated," Snowy shouted, jerking his head in the direction of the oncoming horde.

  It didn't take long to reach the first circle of the encampment, a vast wasteland surrounding their lone wagon loaded down with all the weapons at their disposal. "Huh," Snowy paused in his running and came to a stop, "I was expecting something. This is...eerie."

  "Where is everyone?" Gavin glanced around. There should be a pile of squires rushing to defend this place, or the Knights. Where was Ser Daryan?

  Snowy shrugged, jammed the end of his war axe into the ground so it stood straight up, then dashed off to one of the wagons on the side. "Hey, abbey, help me with this..." he jerked his head to the side to get Gavin's attention while climbing up and grabbing onto cargo. The first box he shoved off the side, leaving Gavin to stare at it.

  "Set up a perimeter," the dwarf circled his fingers around the obvious target and Gavin nodded. Right. He should have known that. Abandoning his weapons, Gavin hauled up the first crate and pulled it into place. Snowy worked fast, shoving more boxes down for Gavin to drag into place.

  When the dwarf paused a moment to wipe his brow off, he smiled, "Good, you got it. Make a maze, make it hard for them to get through. You, girly..." he jabbed at Myra who'd been keeping lookout.

  She glared at the name, but turned to listen.

  "Can you do any magic barrier stuff to protect us?" the dwarf waved his fingers through the air as if it should sparkle, but both Myra and Gavin glared at him. "Or...should I not know she's a mage? Cause ya nearly set Cal on fire and it was damn funny."

  "You...?" Gavin whipped back to her and she grimaced.

  "Not the time, and no, I can't make a barrier. I never learned."

  "Welp, just means more work for you, abbey, and more boxes for me to scrounge up. Anyone need... 'Antique literature from the reign of King Lister'? Didn't think so," Snowy ended with as he hurled the crate off the wagon.

  By the time Gavin had three rings with staggered passes circling the main wagon, he finally thought to wonder, "What if the darkspawn aren't coming for our arms?"

  "Then we just wasted a lot of time and energy," Snowy chuckled, but Gavin sneered. Somewhere out there people could be in danger and they were here messing around with freight.

  "Gavin!" Myra called, extending her staff into the distance. Both dwarf and human leapt off the last wagon of goods to stare where she pointed. Something was moving through the trees. Where did it come from, the forest itself? Was there a hole to the deep roads out there as well?

  "I suggest we get behind our crates and fill up on arrows," Snowy said, yanking upon his war axe and slotting it into his arms. Gavin acknowledged it, arming himself as best he could while watching the shadows through the trees. Beside him, Myra took a deep breath, her fingers clenched so tightly to the flagpole the knuckles were nearly paper white. He fumbled to reach over and comfort her.

  "What in the hell are you doing?" a voice shouted from behind. All three armed and amped people twisted on their toes, about to cleave the head off of whoever threatened them. Cal raised his blonde eyebrow in nonchalance and glanced at them. "Chucking cargo around. If Ol' Twelve Bottles finds out she'll eat us all alive."

  Gavin lowered his weapon, and Snowy did the same, only Myra kept her staff in striking range even as Gavin tried to get her to stop. "Where is Ser Daryan?" he asked, spotting a rash of squires trailing behind Cal. Two of the girls came armed, but another was empty handed, as were the other boys.

  "Why should I know?" Cal laughed. "Probably knees up by now. It's nearing nightfall after all." He continued to chortle at his joke and glanced at the others, but they were all too spooked by the obvious signs of battle covering the three who tried to wall themselves off behind a barricade.

  "Gavin," one of the female squires asked, "what's going on?"

  He took a breath to steady himself, and i
n an imposing voice answered, "Darkspawn."

  Every squire freaked, hands flew to mouths, eyes widened in fear. They were facing darkspawn without a knight, without anyone to give them orders, and without most of them having fought a thing save a few terrible bandits in trees. Cal was the only one unmoved, glancing at his fellow squires with disdain.

  "Come on, he's full of shit. Darkspawn? Now. Here? He probably saw his own shadow and leapt to the first conclusion to fool all you idiots."

  "But," Lambert jabbed a finger at Gavin's chest coated in ichor, "they're covered in blood. Black blood. Only darkspawn bleed black."

  "Ink," Cal kept assuring them. "Dumbass farm boy spilled ink all over himself trying to figure out how to write."

  "What is your problem?" Gavin thundered, striding right up into Cal's face.

  "You are," the shit responded, attempting to puff himself out to try and match Gavin's stature. It wasn't working.

  "There are people in danger, people who could be dying right now."

  "Gavin..." Myra tried to reach over to snag him back before he clocked Cal out, but he shook her off. He didn't care if it was beyond the pale for a squire to punch out another one. Cal deserved it.

  "Or you're so hung up on being the next big hero, you're making shit up and dragging us along."

  Gavin sneered, his hands trembling as his fingers sunk so deep into a fist it felt like they'd pop out the other side. He wanted to rearrange Cal's face until he was as ugly on the outside as he was inside. It wouldn't take much.

  "You're a fool," he spat.

  "That's rich coming from a shit farmer," Cal fell back to his usual, but it didn't get the same response from the others. They didn't all rush to his side to defend him. For once, Cal was on his own and Gavin intended to take advantage of it.

  "For fuck's sake, Gavin!" Myra cursed, causing both boys to break away and glare at her. She didn't back down at the look, but crossed her arms.

  "What?"

  Snowy spoke up in a plain voice, "The darkspawn have reached the tree line."