Blaine was sure they were going to die by the hands of these outlaws. There were just too many. The glyphs they had cast upon the ground in front of them weren’t being activated, as the outlaws were smart enough to flank the apostate to gain the upper hand. Each desperate wave and turn of their staff left Blaine’s arms screaming with fatigue, but the elf knew that stopping now would mean certain death.
A few meters away, Blaine’s companion, Nespri, was dealing with the other half of the bandit group, steel clashing against steel as her shield was raised to deflect hits on her left side. The former templar was doing better than Blaine at taking care of the ruthless savages who failed to stop at nothing to kill these elves.
Her lungs burned and her body ached, but Nespri continued to stand and fight to protect herself. If she fell, Blaine would follow. The thought of letting someone hurt them… It reignited her, giving the warrior the edge to bash her shield against her attacker and knock him over, allowing her the chance to claim the small victory.
Crimson blood splattered onto her armor, shining in the sunlight as her blade dug into the man’s torso and she felt his body convulse with her blade still in it, death throes taking over before he fell still. Removing her blade caused more blood to paint itself on her shield and armor, and the elf forced herself not to look down at it, instead bringing her gaze to see how her partner was holding up. The instant Nespri realized Blaine’s condition, her heart fell into her stomach.
She could see them grow tired of fighting, each movement beginning to slow down and give more openings to attacks. Dread squeezed her innards as she watched Blaine struggle against the enemy in front of them, becoming unaware of the one who snuck behind them with the intent to kill.
“Blaine!!” Before her mind could process it, Nespri was already running over the body of the man she had killed just moments beforehand, charging over to get between the mage and their attackers. Her only goal being to protect her partner, Nespri failed to bring up her shield as she threw herself between Blaine and the assailant who attempted to flank them.
The sound of armor shattering was bone-chilling to Blaine and it was only after they realized Nespri was the only one with armor made of metal did they react. The elf brought an ice shard through their attacker’s chest before turning around to find out what happened.
A scream fell out of Blaine’s mouth as they saw the sword running through Nespri’s abdomen and without thinking, they immediately brought their staff up to slam it at the man now in front of Nespri. “Get away from her!” The mage screamed, shoving the outlaw back and onto the ground before turning their staff upside down and thrusting it down to impale him. Blaine watched as he died at their feet though as soon as the light faded from his eyes and he fell limp, they turned around only to catch Nespri, whose knees had buckled.
“Nespri! Oh, Creators, no, please, no…” She was still alive, thank Mythal… “What were you thinking?!” Blaine scolded as they lowered her gently to the ground, turning her over and trying to look at the wound. There was so much blood… Her armor had been pierced by the blade, allowing it to go straight through her. That… that meant… No, no. She couldn’t-- she won’t-- she can’t.
Looking up at her face, Blaine saw the terrified look on Nespri’s face and they felt their heart shatter. Tears were rimming her eyes as she stared at them, her blue eyes reflecting the agony she felt. Taking her hands, Blaine bit their lip, trying to hold back their own tears for the sake of not worrying her.
“Nespri, why-- why did you..?”Their voice cracked upon asking her and Blaine could feel their throat tighten.
The former templar forced a pained smile as she gave their hands a weak squeeze. “I-- I couldn’t let anyone h-hurt you, Blaine. I’ve devoted myself to you, and I’m going to protect you--” she coughed, and drops of blood left her lips, a trail beginning to trickle from the corner of her mouth. “--and I’m going to protect you… no matter what. Even i-if it kills me...” Blaine didn’t want to hear those words. No, no, she wasn’t going die - she can’t die, she just can’t.
Tears burned their eyes as they held her hands tighter. Her grip was beginning to loosen. “You’re not allowed to sacrifice yourself to save me!” Blaine choked out, the tears beginning to run down their cheeks.
Nespri chuckled weakly, wincing afterwards, at their words. “I th-think it’s a little too late for that…”
“Shut up! Don’t say things like that!!”
“Blaine, i-if I wasn’t going to die, you would be t-trying to do something to stop the bleeding,” she pointed out, glancing down at the site of the injury. The elf’s blood was everywhere, wetting the grass with a crimson coat and staining the fabric of Blaine’s robes. Blaine’s gaze followed hers, but was quickly retracted, not being able to handle the sight. “I’m… really tired, Blaine…” The words ripped their heart out.
Letting go of her hands, Blaine took the dying girl into their arms, holding onto her tightly. Tears cascaded down their cheeks, soaking into her hair. “I love you, Nespri…” whispered the mage, pressing a kiss to her head.
“I… love you, too…”
Giving her one final kiss goodbye, Blaine sat for what felt like ages, holding Nespri in their arms until she drew her last breath and grew still.
In a Dragon Age AU, there’s no way she’d be Inquisitor. She’d be a templar who wants to help fix the world (managing to escape the clutches of Red Lyrium), and after seeing what’s happened to those Red Lyrium Templars and becoming aware of the addiction she has to lyrium, she works to try and break her addiction with Cullen’s support.
She’s totally gonna specialize as a Champion, this girl will literally die if she has to if it means saving someone.
Literally the most majestic screenshot I have from Dragon Age right now.
Story for it:
Tfw you hear a really distant "aaaaaa....!" and before you can finish saying "What the hell", an assassin pops up and strikes at you on your mount and all I can do is jump on instinct and accidentally pause the game at the perfect moment.
THERE ARE TWO
THERE ARE TWO ASSASSINS AND I HAVE BEEN KNOCKEDO FF MY NUG
