Just a short oneshot I wrote with my oc’s (mainly featuring Nico Mahariel), and @marquis1305 ‘s oc’s Kaili Tabris and Marcus Exerion ^^ enjoy!
Tw: Blood, fighting, gore, mentions of death, injuries, violence
They were in the Brecillian, going after the heart of Witherfang for the Keeper Zathrian.
Nico wouldn’t admit it, but the Brecillian was a pain to navigate, even for a Dalish like him. With all of the spirits inhabiting it’s plants and creatures, it was a terrain that was not meant to be easy. He got relatively safe passage because he was an elf, as were most of his companions, but they only ever got so far before some form of trouble popped out of nowhere.
So far they had dealt with a demon trap camp, werewolves, Sylvan, darkspawn, whatever forest creature that could be named, definitely appeared.
It was wearing on everyone’s nerves, to be rather frank.
They had been there for a few days now. Kaili had given up complaining about the woods, as had her elder brother Aya. Her brothers lover, Kellen, seemed to keep him relaxed though. Percy had ran out of Lyrium potions trying to keep everyone alive and had mostly resorted to using blood magic, much to the dismay of his human lover Marcus. They had a few companions with them, Alistair and Leliana that was. As for Nico…
Well, Nico needed a nap. Being here was exhausting both mentally and physically. For the last time he was there just a few months prior…
Well, best not to think about it.
The day had been relatively quiet, and none of them trusted it one bit. Usually by that time, they’d have been attacked by something.
When Nico voiced those thoughts aloud, he hadn’t actually wanted them to be attacked.
Just a few seconds later, almost all of the Grey wardens tensed up. Whispering beginning to sneak into their minds in a language they didn’t quite understand…
Alistair bellowed, and the party turned their attention to the dozens of darkspawn ambushing them from an overpass. In an instant the front line fighters, Kaili, Marcus, Alistair and Kellen were working to thin their number in a frontal assault. Meanwhile, the archers, Nico, Leliana, and Aya worked to keep any others off their backs. Percy was trying to keep everyone boosted, and occasionally a darkspawn would explode as Percy used blood magic to boil their own like an overheated stew.
Things were going fine, for the most part. No one was dead, though Marcus had taken a blow to the leg and was chugging down an elfroot potion, and Aya had ran out of arrows so he had taken to stabbing any that got too close with a dagger.
Kaili was as happy as ever, laughing gleefully as she sunk her blades into Darkspawn after Darkspawn. Kellen joined her, the two quipping and comparing kill scores.
Alistair and Leliana were also working as well as ever.
Nico thought they were nearly done. That they were finally managing to disperse the last of the Darkspawn so they could get moving again.
Just as Kaili finished off the last Genlock, they all heard a thundering roar. Nico’s senses were screaming at him that something big and tainted was heading right for them. No doubt it was the same for the other wardens.
A few seconds after, an ogre appeared, barrelling towards them at always freakishly high speeds. Most of them dived out the way in time, Nico included, but when he looked over…
Kaili was caught in its fist, growling in frustration and cussing it out whilst she struggled to get loose. She couldn’t get her hand free to grab a poison or a dagger otherwise she would have been able to get it to loosen its grip enough for her to slip out.
Time seemed to slow for Nico there. His lover is caught in the grasp of a very large and powerful foe, and she may die if he doesn’t do something and quick.
In one second flat, he has his bow in hand again and an arrow drawn.
Nico acted fast. He had it lined up in the direction of the ogres head, but he had to be careful. One wrong move, or sudden gust of wind, and Kaili would be as good as dead either by Nico’s hand or not.
He inhaled, and held it, grey eyes narrowed and focused intensely on where he wanted his arrow to fly. He had never shown this much concentration before when using his bow, and it led the others to have an inkling about how he hadn’t yet shown them just how good he was with a bow.
If he could line it up to shoot it through the ogres eye, he could save her.
But it wouldn’t be enough.
So, he resorted to something he hadn’t in years. Abilities he had long since forced himself to repress after his Father’s death. Abilities only a select few ever found out about, and two of those people ended up dead.
Quietly, under his breath, Nico whispered one word as he released his arrow.
With that, the tip of his arrow burst into flames. It flew through the air in a perfect line, almost magically directing itself into the ogres.
It hit its mark with a sickening thud, buried deep in the ogres eye socket. The ogre screamed and dropped Kaili in its rage, who had just enough time after hitting the ground to roll out the way, as the ogre began to pound on it and let out a deafening and enraged screeching.
A few moments later, it’s head completely exploded. Pieces of brain and blood and bone scattering all over the ground, plants and people. It was...Really disgusting. But the ogre was dead, and it’s headless body fell to its knees, before completely collapsing.
Everyone just stared at it, exhaustion taking over as the adrenaline wore off. Eventually, one by one, people seemed to be able to think again, and everyone looked to Percy.
Much to the relief of Nico.
They all thought he had cast the spell, had lit Nico’s arrow and made its head explode from the inside out. Only...Percy hadn’t. He knew that too and tried to open his mouth to say something.
But when he caught Nico shaking his head subtly out of the corner of his eye, he fell silent again.
“Hey, nice shot, Nico!!!”
Nico heard Kaili’s voice, and he gave her a weak smile as she approached, smiling as widely as ever and chugging down a potion. He was happy she was okay, he truly was, but...He couldn’t bring himself to move his feet. Or even reply to her.
He just felt...Really, really tired. Dizzy. Like he was completely drained…
He tried to force himself to take a step forward, but as soon as he did, his legs completely gave out and he collapsed to the ground.
The last thing he heard before darkness claimed him was Kaili crying out his name again.
Perhaps using such a strong spell hadn’t been the smartest idea...
