Leta. Milo.
The names sounded vaguley familiar to Estella. She'd heard them before, from Cyrus. Of this she was certain. But it was so long ago—if it had really been that much time since he'd seen Leta, she could understand not recognizing her. She looked not so far in age from them, so if Cyrus had been very young, the elven woman must have been, too.
Her brother's admission—and the word he'd used for it—struck her. Murdered. Not killed. It suggested different intentions, something darker and more insidious. She wasn't sure what to make of it, exactly, but she wasn't about to just take the words at face-value, either. Eventually, she'd ask him to explain it to her, so she could understand, but for now all she could do was believe in him and support him through this. He still felt weak against her; she could feel a faint trembling in his body where it was pressed against hers. Estella's hand around his waist tightened, almost a hug.
“What should we expect on the other side?" she asked softly, glancing up at his profile.
“I don't know." That sounded nearly as painful to admit as the revelation before. “This one doesn't look like it's protected by a password, so I can only suppose it must be guarded. But I've no idea where it will take us. We could end up in the middle of Corypheus's army encampment for all I know." His face tightened; he turned to meet her eyes.
“This isn't a good idea, Stellulam. You're too important. I should... I should go in alone. One person is less likely to be noticed than four."
She scowled at him. If he weren't so injured, she might have done more than that. “Don't be ridiculous," she said firmly. “You can barely walk on your own. No, no I refuse to let you do this." She moved her eyes to the mirror, brow descending. Still, there might be some value in at least getting an idea of what was beyond the mirror before all of them walked right into it.
“I'll go." There was no question of any of the rest of them managing any decent amount of stealth for any reasonable period of time. Vesryn wore heavy armor, and Asala... wasn't either the most unobtrusive or graceful of people. Estella didn't think she was especially elegant of movement, either, but she could move quietly. “I'm trained for this. The rest of you aren't."
Vesryn didn't seem to care for that idea at all, judging by his initial reaction of opening his mouth to speak. But no words came, and he exhaled, perhaps frustrated by the whole situation. "She has a point, Cyrus. A few, actually. Scouting what we're up against wouldn't hurt, if it can be done safely." He set the butt of his axe down on the street underneath him, leaning against it for a moment and observing the active eluvian before them. His eyes then fell back to Estella. "But how are we supposed to know if you get into trouble? It could be a trap, I'd much rather you didn't..." He stopped himself before he could get much farther than that, tugging uncomfortably at his breastplate. It was obvious he didn't like any of the options here.
Asala appeared equally uncomfortable with the idea. "You... should not go in alone," she said, shaking her head.
Estella figured she was probably right, but she also didn't see what other choice they really had. They couldn't stumble blindly inside, not knowing where the eluvian even led to, nor did anyone else stand as much of a chance of nondetection as she did. “If it's trouble right away, I'll duck back in," she said, pursing her lips. “As for how to know what's happening... what if you give me five minutes? If I'm not back by then, you can assume something happened." She wanted to tell them to go back to Skyhold for reinforcements if that turned out to be the case, but she knew they weren't really the types of people to do that.
Deciding her brother was likely to be the hardest to convince, Estella directed the final bit at him. “Cy, you were right. We need to get those notes back. This is dangerous, but anything we do here is dangerous. I trusted you. I still do. I need you to trust me, too." She set her expression to the firmest one she could muster even despite her own fear.
She might as well have struck him, for the look that passed across his own features. Surprise first, followed by hurt, and then it closed off to something more resembling what she wore. He took a deep breath, glancing once at the mirror, then at the other two, then back down to her. It was clear he'd drawn all the same conclusions she had.
“Five minutes." He shifted, stepping away from her to grip both her shoulders in his hands. “Not a moment more."
Estella nodded firmly. “I understand." Swallowing and then clearing her throat, she gently removed herself from his grip, reassured that he didn't stagger or lean, and turned to Vesryn. “Ves, you carry some kind of short sidearm, right? A knife or something? Cy has mine, and I'd rather not draw the sword if I don't have to. The enchantment's a bit... bright. If I could borrow yours, I'd appreciate it."
He looked none too thrilled, but it was a safe bet that giving up his knife had little to do with it. He drew it from a sheath at his waist, flipping the blade over into his hand and holding the hilt out to her. "I'd like it back undamaged, thank you," he said, managing a thin bit of cheer, though his expression was very soft. "Same goes for you. Be careful."
She smiled at him, close-lipped and tentative, but when she gripped the handle of the knife, she nodded again. “I'll do my best. On both counts, even." With a steadying breath and a last look at all of them, Estella turned and stepped towards the eluvian.
Having left her cloak back at Skyhold, thinking it unnecessary for the summer, she had no hood, but she stepped out into gloom anyway, and her hair was dark enough to do a similar job in any case. Immediately, she realized the eluvian was guarded, by what looked like a pair of Venatori mages. They had their backs to it, perhaps not expecting that anyone would be able to exit the mirror. It was atop a worn stone dais of some sort, and they on the ground several steps below. She had moments before they noticed her, in all likelihood.
Deciding to risk it, Estella drew her sword as quietly as she could, shifting Ves's knife to her right. Quickly, she darted down the stairs, lunging left first and driving the enchanted saber into the first man's side, just under his ribs. He gurgled and fell forward, the other turning towards him immediately. She abandoned the saber, letting go and shifting her weight to jump at the other, driving the knife up into his windpipe and cutting off the noise of his alarmed cry before it was more than half a second long.
Not ideal. Moving back to the other, she crouched over him and drew the knife across his neck to ensure he died quickly and quietly. Gripping her sword on the way back up, she pulled it free, shaking as much blood as she could off of it before sliding it back home in its sheath.
She was in what might once have been a chamber in some castle or other important building. Now, though, one of the walls was missing entirely, and the ceiling was half-open to the world above. Dark green canopy, which explained the dim lighting. A forest somewhere, then. Putting her back to the wall, Estella listened for a few moments, unsure if the guard's noise had alerted anyone. There were no approaching footsteps, so it seemed not. But these were Venatori—they might well mean that Corypheus was nearby. She sincerely hoped not, but it was up to her to find out. Pulling in a deep breath, she let herself relax back into the stone for a second, the coolness seeping into her skin through the less-armored parts of her body.
Collected, as much as she was going to be anyway, Estella risked a glance around the wall. There was a path there, strewn with leaves, tree needles, and other forest debris, a natural carpet over more flagstones half-reclaimed by earth. Far ahead, she could see a cluster of people, most of them garbed in some combination of red and white. They seemed relaxed, but she couldn't make out what they were doing or speaking about. That would require getting a closer look.
The eye was drawn to motion, Rilien had taught her. So she needed to be careful and economical with her motion, stick close to cover, and watch their eyes. The path was too open for much, but there was a great deal of underbrush around, and she could use that, at least. Squinting at the figures, she determined that none of them was looking her way and darted out from behind the wall, running in a low crouch to the first substantive bush she could find. From there, it was a matter of constantly double-checking what the Venatori were doing and staying as low as she could get. Estella focused on her breathing, trying to keep it as even and soft and steady as possible, and slowly crept towards the Venatori. She couldn't take too long, or her five minutes would be gone before she could get back. But she could see Livia—Leta, which meant she was definitely in the right place.
Inching forward on her belly, she held her breath and strained to hear the conversation going on in the clearing. It looked like a small encampment, perhaps ten people, excluding the guards she'd killed. But it was only one clearing; she couldn't make out what, if anything, lay in the further reaches of the forest beyond.
"—fucking Pike got captured by the Inquisition. What a fucking nutter that one was." She couldn't identify the speaker, only that he was male and sounded condescending. "Not the faintest bloody idea why Corypheus would trust him with the Wardens, and not us."
"Yeah, well... poor crazy bastard's probably dead by now. Hear one's of 'em's a right bloodthirsty fucker. Say they can make you explode just by looking at you." The speaker that time was a little closer, a short woman with close-cropped hair.
Someone else snorted. "You can't mean the Avenarius girl."
"No you lackwit, I mean the Blood of Andraste, the man. Say he took off the head of his own cult leader, that one."
"He's not actually the blood of Andraste." That was clearly Livia's voice, though she sounded distracted, like she was only half-listening. "And no one can blow anyone up by just looking at them, you fool. Certainly not him. He did cut the cult leader's head off, but that was because she lied about the whole thing."
"Oh yeah? Well then what about the other ones we've 'eard about then? The rabid elf, or that right scary commander what rips dragons apart with his bare hands, like? I saw the dragon after Adamant; you can't tell me that one's not true. Someone had cracked the blighter's teeth."
Someone made a vague noise of agreement. "You sure that wasn't the other elf though? The fancy one? One of the boys who made it out of Haven said no one could even cut him!"
"Don't they have a pet Qunari mage or something? One o' them saarebas buggers?"
The short, frustrated sigh could only have belonged to Livia. "Oh, for—no. They're just flesh-and-blood people. Like anyone else. I can assure you they bleed and die like anyone."
"We're never going to hear the end of how you killed the somniari, are we?"
"No. You're not." She sounded... it was hard to read her tone, but there wasn't anything particularly smug or triumphant about it. "Because I actually did something useful instead of getting myself captured and shipped off to a prison cell in Kirkwall. Our master only cares about results. Don't forget it."
"When's he getting here anyway? Bloody tired of watching his fancy mirror for him while he's off doing who-knows-what in these blasted ruins."
"Soon. Now stop complaining or it'll be your turn to actually guard it."
"Right, fine. As long as we don't run into that woman and her Dalish friend again. Might bloody quit if we do."
Estella was running out of time, and she knew it. Still, at least she had something to show for the effort. As quietly as she'd come, she slipped back towards the room with the eluvian. Pushing her hand through first, she followed it, trying to go slowly enough not to alarm any of the others on the other side. She was sure her concern showed on her face when she emerged, but she wasn't panicking, and hopefully that was enough.
“About ten Venatori, including Livia," she said, flipping Ves's knife back around and holding it out to him. “Sorry about the blood. There were guards." She grimaced. “The problem is, they're expecting someone soon. Livia called him 'master.' It might be Corypheus, it might not, but either way... it's bound to be more people than we can handle."
Ves took the knife and sheathed it, looking relieved despite the news. "Thought they referred to Corypheus as 'The Elder One.' Might be someone else. Still, if we're going to do something, sounds like it needs to be soon." He looked to Cyrus. "Your thoughts?"
He grimaced, clearly uncomfortable with the information. “Even if it's not... it's still his army. Our best chance is to take the notes back while there's still only ten." Cyrus squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. “Not that I'll be much help, in this state. Can we ambush them, Stellulam?"
“Not easily," she admitted. “They won't see us emerge from the eluvian, but they'll most likely spot us after that." She described the approach as minimalistically as she could for the sake of time. “I don't think we have a choice. Corypheus can't open another Breach, and by the time we got back here with reinforcements, who knows how many there would be? It's now or not at all."
“Very well then." Cy looked like he'd swallowed something very bitter, but he conceded her point. This time, they went through the eluvian together, Ves in the lead and the rest of them close behind.
It seemed no one had yet made it back to check on the guards; their bodies lay where Estella had left them. When it came time to advance towards the actual encampment, however, they were spotted within seconds.
"What the—intruders!"
Ves, his face mostly hidden behind the mask of his winged tallhelm, was the first to charge into the fray, doing so almost recklessly to make an attack on the Venatori before they were prepared. He rushed into the first man, one hand on his axe, both arms outstretched, and scooped him up entirely, carrying him backwards several paces before tossing him into the fire they'd built. His robes lit up, and he rolled around, sending up a plume of thick black smoke from the nearly smothered flames. Ves didn't so much as slow down, turning left and smashing the butt of his axe right into the face of the next man before he could get his sword in the way. A splotch of blood spurted out from the Venatori's eye, and he was too stunned to see the heavy axe blow coming in from his left. The blade cleaved into his ribcage until it struck his spine.
The weapon lodged into the man's body, Vesryn pulled and hurled him bodily into the one approaching from behind him. The weight was enough to knock the woman stumbling backwards towards Estella, the cleaved man finally slipping off the blade of the axe and falling lifelessly to the ground. Vesryn didn't wait to see what became of the staggered woman, instead turning again and bringing his axe down hard, to put the flaming Venatori out of his misery.
Asala was next in line, a full bodied shield materialized in front of her. She did not personally charge into the fray like Ves, but she needn't have to, the barrier was enough to accomplish it for her. She shoved it forward, and the first Venatori it struck was thrown harshly to the ground before shattering against the next. By now, the mages among the Venatori had enough to begin casting their spells, but a wave of dispelling magic interrupted anything they were attempting the cast, and caused the ones that they did to sputter harmlessly out. Another barrier shot out, this one striking the first Venatori she'd hit again, but this time the barrier remained, and pinned him to the ground where he struggled against it.
Estella cut down the one Ves had staggered quickly, skirting the edges of the fight where her allies were drawing the attention to make a beeline for Livia. The elven woman was gathering magic to her hands; a heavy cloud of something joined the smoke from the collision with the fire, enveloping Venatori and Inquisition alike. Entropic Cloud—she wouldn't be able to cast something that powerful in a hundred years, but she recognized it when she saw it.
Estella's first blow met the shaft of a staff, turned aside by a deft application for force, leaving barely a scratch in the pale ironbark. Livia followed up by jabbing the bladed end for her midsection. Estella jumped back, feeling it scrape over her leathers, but she'd moved well enough that it didn't pierce her skin.
Trying to stay clear of the cloud, she strafed to the left, keeping her sword in a defensive position.
She didn't know how much time they had left. This had to end quickly.
The names sounded vaguley familiar to Estella. She'd heard them before, from Cyrus. Of this she was certain. But it was so long ago—if it had really been that much time since he'd seen Leta, she could understand not recognizing her. She looked not so far in age from them, so if Cyrus had been very young, the elven woman must have been, too.
Her brother's admission—and the word he'd used for it—struck her. Murdered. Not killed. It suggested different intentions, something darker and more insidious. She wasn't sure what to make of it, exactly, but she wasn't about to just take the words at face-value, either. Eventually, she'd ask him to explain it to her, so she could understand, but for now all she could do was believe in him and support him through this. He still felt weak against her; she could feel a faint trembling in his body where it was pressed against hers. Estella's hand around his waist tightened, almost a hug.
“What should we expect on the other side?" she asked softly, glancing up at his profile.
“I don't know." That sounded nearly as painful to admit as the revelation before. “This one doesn't look like it's protected by a password, so I can only suppose it must be guarded. But I've no idea where it will take us. We could end up in the middle of Corypheus's army encampment for all I know." His face tightened; he turned to meet her eyes.
“This isn't a good idea, Stellulam. You're too important. I should... I should go in alone. One person is less likely to be noticed than four."
She scowled at him. If he weren't so injured, she might have done more than that. “Don't be ridiculous," she said firmly. “You can barely walk on your own. No, no I refuse to let you do this." She moved her eyes to the mirror, brow descending. Still, there might be some value in at least getting an idea of what was beyond the mirror before all of them walked right into it.
“I'll go." There was no question of any of the rest of them managing any decent amount of stealth for any reasonable period of time. Vesryn wore heavy armor, and Asala... wasn't either the most unobtrusive or graceful of people. Estella didn't think she was especially elegant of movement, either, but she could move quietly. “I'm trained for this. The rest of you aren't."
Vesryn didn't seem to care for that idea at all, judging by his initial reaction of opening his mouth to speak. But no words came, and he exhaled, perhaps frustrated by the whole situation. "She has a point, Cyrus. A few, actually. Scouting what we're up against wouldn't hurt, if it can be done safely." He set the butt of his axe down on the street underneath him, leaning against it for a moment and observing the active eluvian before them. His eyes then fell back to Estella. "But how are we supposed to know if you get into trouble? It could be a trap, I'd much rather you didn't..." He stopped himself before he could get much farther than that, tugging uncomfortably at his breastplate. It was obvious he didn't like any of the options here.
Asala appeared equally uncomfortable with the idea. "You... should not go in alone," she said, shaking her head.
Estella figured she was probably right, but she also didn't see what other choice they really had. They couldn't stumble blindly inside, not knowing where the eluvian even led to, nor did anyone else stand as much of a chance of nondetection as she did. “If it's trouble right away, I'll duck back in," she said, pursing her lips. “As for how to know what's happening... what if you give me five minutes? If I'm not back by then, you can assume something happened." She wanted to tell them to go back to Skyhold for reinforcements if that turned out to be the case, but she knew they weren't really the types of people to do that.
Deciding her brother was likely to be the hardest to convince, Estella directed the final bit at him. “Cy, you were right. We need to get those notes back. This is dangerous, but anything we do here is dangerous. I trusted you. I still do. I need you to trust me, too." She set her expression to the firmest one she could muster even despite her own fear.
She might as well have struck him, for the look that passed across his own features. Surprise first, followed by hurt, and then it closed off to something more resembling what she wore. He took a deep breath, glancing once at the mirror, then at the other two, then back down to her. It was clear he'd drawn all the same conclusions she had.
“Five minutes." He shifted, stepping away from her to grip both her shoulders in his hands. “Not a moment more."
Estella nodded firmly. “I understand." Swallowing and then clearing her throat, she gently removed herself from his grip, reassured that he didn't stagger or lean, and turned to Vesryn. “Ves, you carry some kind of short sidearm, right? A knife or something? Cy has mine, and I'd rather not draw the sword if I don't have to. The enchantment's a bit... bright. If I could borrow yours, I'd appreciate it."
He looked none too thrilled, but it was a safe bet that giving up his knife had little to do with it. He drew it from a sheath at his waist, flipping the blade over into his hand and holding the hilt out to her. "I'd like it back undamaged, thank you," he said, managing a thin bit of cheer, though his expression was very soft. "Same goes for you. Be careful."
She smiled at him, close-lipped and tentative, but when she gripped the handle of the knife, she nodded again. “I'll do my best. On both counts, even." With a steadying breath and a last look at all of them, Estella turned and stepped towards the eluvian.
Having left her cloak back at Skyhold, thinking it unnecessary for the summer, she had no hood, but she stepped out into gloom anyway, and her hair was dark enough to do a similar job in any case. Immediately, she realized the eluvian was guarded, by what looked like a pair of Venatori mages. They had their backs to it, perhaps not expecting that anyone would be able to exit the mirror. It was atop a worn stone dais of some sort, and they on the ground several steps below. She had moments before they noticed her, in all likelihood.
Deciding to risk it, Estella drew her sword as quietly as she could, shifting Ves's knife to her right. Quickly, she darted down the stairs, lunging left first and driving the enchanted saber into the first man's side, just under his ribs. He gurgled and fell forward, the other turning towards him immediately. She abandoned the saber, letting go and shifting her weight to jump at the other, driving the knife up into his windpipe and cutting off the noise of his alarmed cry before it was more than half a second long.
Not ideal. Moving back to the other, she crouched over him and drew the knife across his neck to ensure he died quickly and quietly. Gripping her sword on the way back up, she pulled it free, shaking as much blood as she could off of it before sliding it back home in its sheath.
She was in what might once have been a chamber in some castle or other important building. Now, though, one of the walls was missing entirely, and the ceiling was half-open to the world above. Dark green canopy, which explained the dim lighting. A forest somewhere, then. Putting her back to the wall, Estella listened for a few moments, unsure if the guard's noise had alerted anyone. There were no approaching footsteps, so it seemed not. But these were Venatori—they might well mean that Corypheus was nearby. She sincerely hoped not, but it was up to her to find out. Pulling in a deep breath, she let herself relax back into the stone for a second, the coolness seeping into her skin through the less-armored parts of her body.
Collected, as much as she was going to be anyway, Estella risked a glance around the wall. There was a path there, strewn with leaves, tree needles, and other forest debris, a natural carpet over more flagstones half-reclaimed by earth. Far ahead, she could see a cluster of people, most of them garbed in some combination of red and white. They seemed relaxed, but she couldn't make out what they were doing or speaking about. That would require getting a closer look.
The eye was drawn to motion, Rilien had taught her. So she needed to be careful and economical with her motion, stick close to cover, and watch their eyes. The path was too open for much, but there was a great deal of underbrush around, and she could use that, at least. Squinting at the figures, she determined that none of them was looking her way and darted out from behind the wall, running in a low crouch to the first substantive bush she could find. From there, it was a matter of constantly double-checking what the Venatori were doing and staying as low as she could get. Estella focused on her breathing, trying to keep it as even and soft and steady as possible, and slowly crept towards the Venatori. She couldn't take too long, or her five minutes would be gone before she could get back. But she could see Livia—Leta, which meant she was definitely in the right place.
Inching forward on her belly, she held her breath and strained to hear the conversation going on in the clearing. It looked like a small encampment, perhaps ten people, excluding the guards she'd killed. But it was only one clearing; she couldn't make out what, if anything, lay in the further reaches of the forest beyond.
"—fucking Pike got captured by the Inquisition. What a fucking nutter that one was." She couldn't identify the speaker, only that he was male and sounded condescending. "Not the faintest bloody idea why Corypheus would trust him with the Wardens, and not us."
"Yeah, well... poor crazy bastard's probably dead by now. Hear one's of 'em's a right bloodthirsty fucker. Say they can make you explode just by looking at you." The speaker that time was a little closer, a short woman with close-cropped hair.
Someone else snorted. "You can't mean the Avenarius girl."
"No you lackwit, I mean the Blood of Andraste, the man. Say he took off the head of his own cult leader, that one."
"He's not actually the blood of Andraste." That was clearly Livia's voice, though she sounded distracted, like she was only half-listening. "And no one can blow anyone up by just looking at them, you fool. Certainly not him. He did cut the cult leader's head off, but that was because she lied about the whole thing."
"Oh yeah? Well then what about the other ones we've 'eard about then? The rabid elf, or that right scary commander what rips dragons apart with his bare hands, like? I saw the dragon after Adamant; you can't tell me that one's not true. Someone had cracked the blighter's teeth."
Someone made a vague noise of agreement. "You sure that wasn't the other elf though? The fancy one? One of the boys who made it out of Haven said no one could even cut him!"
"Don't they have a pet Qunari mage or something? One o' them saarebas buggers?"
The short, frustrated sigh could only have belonged to Livia. "Oh, for—no. They're just flesh-and-blood people. Like anyone else. I can assure you they bleed and die like anyone."
"We're never going to hear the end of how you killed the somniari, are we?"
"No. You're not." She sounded... it was hard to read her tone, but there wasn't anything particularly smug or triumphant about it. "Because I actually did something useful instead of getting myself captured and shipped off to a prison cell in Kirkwall. Our master only cares about results. Don't forget it."
"When's he getting here anyway? Bloody tired of watching his fancy mirror for him while he's off doing who-knows-what in these blasted ruins."
"Soon. Now stop complaining or it'll be your turn to actually guard it."
"Right, fine. As long as we don't run into that woman and her Dalish friend again. Might bloody quit if we do."
Estella was running out of time, and she knew it. Still, at least she had something to show for the effort. As quietly as she'd come, she slipped back towards the room with the eluvian. Pushing her hand through first, she followed it, trying to go slowly enough not to alarm any of the others on the other side. She was sure her concern showed on her face when she emerged, but she wasn't panicking, and hopefully that was enough.
“About ten Venatori, including Livia," she said, flipping Ves's knife back around and holding it out to him. “Sorry about the blood. There were guards." She grimaced. “The problem is, they're expecting someone soon. Livia called him 'master.' It might be Corypheus, it might not, but either way... it's bound to be more people than we can handle."
Ves took the knife and sheathed it, looking relieved despite the news. "Thought they referred to Corypheus as 'The Elder One.' Might be someone else. Still, if we're going to do something, sounds like it needs to be soon." He looked to Cyrus. "Your thoughts?"
He grimaced, clearly uncomfortable with the information. “Even if it's not... it's still his army. Our best chance is to take the notes back while there's still only ten." Cyrus squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. “Not that I'll be much help, in this state. Can we ambush them, Stellulam?"
“Not easily," she admitted. “They won't see us emerge from the eluvian, but they'll most likely spot us after that." She described the approach as minimalistically as she could for the sake of time. “I don't think we have a choice. Corypheus can't open another Breach, and by the time we got back here with reinforcements, who knows how many there would be? It's now or not at all."
“Very well then." Cy looked like he'd swallowed something very bitter, but he conceded her point. This time, they went through the eluvian together, Ves in the lead and the rest of them close behind.
It seemed no one had yet made it back to check on the guards; their bodies lay where Estella had left them. When it came time to advance towards the actual encampment, however, they were spotted within seconds.
"What the—intruders!"
Ves, his face mostly hidden behind the mask of his winged tallhelm, was the first to charge into the fray, doing so almost recklessly to make an attack on the Venatori before they were prepared. He rushed into the first man, one hand on his axe, both arms outstretched, and scooped him up entirely, carrying him backwards several paces before tossing him into the fire they'd built. His robes lit up, and he rolled around, sending up a plume of thick black smoke from the nearly smothered flames. Ves didn't so much as slow down, turning left and smashing the butt of his axe right into the face of the next man before he could get his sword in the way. A splotch of blood spurted out from the Venatori's eye, and he was too stunned to see the heavy axe blow coming in from his left. The blade cleaved into his ribcage until it struck his spine.
The weapon lodged into the man's body, Vesryn pulled and hurled him bodily into the one approaching from behind him. The weight was enough to knock the woman stumbling backwards towards Estella, the cleaved man finally slipping off the blade of the axe and falling lifelessly to the ground. Vesryn didn't wait to see what became of the staggered woman, instead turning again and bringing his axe down hard, to put the flaming Venatori out of his misery.
Asala was next in line, a full bodied shield materialized in front of her. She did not personally charge into the fray like Ves, but she needn't have to, the barrier was enough to accomplish it for her. She shoved it forward, and the first Venatori it struck was thrown harshly to the ground before shattering against the next. By now, the mages among the Venatori had enough to begin casting their spells, but a wave of dispelling magic interrupted anything they were attempting the cast, and caused the ones that they did to sputter harmlessly out. Another barrier shot out, this one striking the first Venatori she'd hit again, but this time the barrier remained, and pinned him to the ground where he struggled against it.
Estella cut down the one Ves had staggered quickly, skirting the edges of the fight where her allies were drawing the attention to make a beeline for Livia. The elven woman was gathering magic to her hands; a heavy cloud of something joined the smoke from the collision with the fire, enveloping Venatori and Inquisition alike. Entropic Cloud—she wouldn't be able to cast something that powerful in a hundred years, but she recognized it when she saw it.
Estella's first blow met the shaft of a staff, turned aside by a deft application for force, leaving barely a scratch in the pale ironbark. Livia followed up by jabbing the bladed end for her midsection. Estella jumped back, feeling it scrape over her leathers, but she'd moved well enough that it didn't pierce her skin.
Trying to stay clear of the cloud, she strafed to the left, keeping her sword in a defensive position.
She didn't know how much time they had left. This had to end quickly.