Shoot first, Questions later
The wind howled as Feathers began twisting. I felt Hawke's grip on my waist tighten, but I knew that we couldn't afford to dawdle. The grounded templars quickly formed a line and nocked their first flight of arrows. One of the templars gave a shout and I heard the whistling sound of a dozen shafts hurtling through the air.
I threw myself to the left, pressing hard as I dared on the left saddlehorn I used to command the griffon beneath me. The mighty beastie lurched to the left and gave a muffled squawk of surprise as he saw the arrows hurtle through the space we had just recently occupied. Feathers circled, trying to spot the source of the missiles and spotted the armored men and women just as they loosed another flight of shafts in our direction. I quickly pushed forward on both saddlehorns and Feathers dove, trying to get under the volley. I muttered a curse under my breath and flattened myself against the griffon's body, hoping that Hawke would follow suit. Warm relief washed over me as I felt her press against my back.
Feathers, however, was not quite so lucky. He gave a roar of pain as one of the arrows managed to find purchase in his shoulder, just above the wing. He faltered, but he was strong and managed to keep going. I paused for a moment, wondering how he would react. He had always been an inquisitive and enthusiastic creature during our training sessions, but I'd never seen him hurt before.
The mighty animal roared in rage, tucked in his wings, and dove towards the massed archers like a ballista bolt.
I hadn't expected that. I grit my teeth as I watched the archers draw to loose a third volley, and I feared he would fly headfirst into the oncoming barrage.
"I hope this works," I muttered to myself, but the words were lost in the rush of wind. I pressed down hard on the left saddlehorn while simultaneously pulling up on the right. I half-expected Feathers to completely ignore me and, for a brief moment, he did. Then he extended his wings and spun, rolling through the air and using the extra gust of wind to buffet the arrows as they approached. The light missiles scattered, and most of the archers fled in panic as he reached them. The furious griffon raked at the remaining archers that were frozen in fear with his mighty claws as he flew by, completely tearing the arm off of one and ripping into the belly of another. The templar captain shouted orders, trying to reform the line as we ascended.
Feathers was about to take a second run at the templars, but I pulled back on the saddlehorns to continue our ascent. There were more archers coming to join the initial group, and my steed's injured wing was taking its toll - I could feel him struggle. He managed to evade the subsequent arrow volleys as we climbed, searching for their maximum range, but they quickly moved to cut off our return path back to the citadel. Feathers tried to go, but the archers fired another volley to cut us off, forcing us back out of their range.
I could see the warm blood leaking from the wound and staining his glossy grey plumage, but the archers had too good a position to let us through. We were trapped.
Suddenly, I heard a rumble, then another, and a third. I looked and saw that some of the hastily-erected buildings in the encampment had collapsed, while several of the templars were milling about in confusion. I watched one of the clumps of templars scatter as the very earth beneath them cracked open. I quickly tapped the woman behind me and pointed.
An enormous grey ogre, flanked by a pair of armored hurlocks, slowly emerged from the newly opened cavern entrance.
Several of the red templars pointed and drew their swords, hastily forming a line. The deep rumbling sounds continued as more darkspawn began surfacing from the cracks in the ground... enormous genlock alphas with their massive spiked iron shields led the advance while their smaller cousins huddled behind the barriers, ready to attack with their small iron blades. The archer line began loosing their arrows at the appearing darkspawn, felling several of the genlocks, but the ogre was not to be denied. It lifted an enormous jagged boulder, jogged loose by the opening in the rock, and hurled it over the shield-bearing genlocks and into the hastily-formed templar line. The enormous missile crushing several of the gathering armored men and women beneath it like ants under a heavy boot. The genlocks charged and the battle was joined.
Our way back to Weisshaupt was clear, and I needed no further encouragement. With a quick yank on the saddlehorns, we took advantage of the darkspawn distraction and winged our way back to the stables. Feathers managed to land, though somewhat shakily, and Hawke quickly called for Valya and the remaining mages to apply healing magic to the griffon's wound.
"Well, that was certainly bracing," I said as I cradled the griffon's head while the healers did their work. "At least we came out of it in one piece, more or less. Did you get the information you needed, sweet thing?"
Hawke flushed and looked to the ground.
"What's wrong, commander?" asked Valya while holding a glowing green hand over the griffon's injury.
"I... don't think I was able to open my eyes that entire trip," admitted the Champion sheepishly.
"I guess that means I need to take you for more than one type of ride in the immediate future," I said with a shrug.
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