Fen'Tarasyl

Chapter Fourteen

"Are you sure about this Talyn? Shouldn't we go back to Haven and wait for Alexius' invitation?" Cassandra asked her as Talyn headed to the entrance that Felix had instructed her to go to.

"Yeah, Boss, we shouldn't trust these strangers." Iron Bull agreed vehemently with Cassandra.

Solas, as usual, had nothing to say except for, "I will follow you, Talyn."

Talyn nodded in thanks to Solas, and said to the others, "couldn't you feel his darkness? Couldn't you feel the malice rolling off of him? I don't want to wait. I want to catch him when he's off guard. Especially since he very well could be the one that made the Breach."

"That's a serious accusation." Cassandra warned Talyn. "Especially against a magister of Tevinter."

"A mage skilled enough to play with time is powerful enough to rip a hole in the Veil." Talyn reasoned with her. "We have to grab him now."

"Well, in that case..." Iron Bull reach for his sword. "Let's kick some Tevinter ass!"

The secret entrance that Felix described was a small door on the outside of the wall that surrounded Redcliffe. He had warned Talyn that there would be more Venatori waiting inside. So Talyn held her bow in her hand and kept her eyes peeled for mages as she led them down the dark, damp tunnel.

It was eerily silent. Not even Talyn or her companions made a sound as they walked down the ancient, forgotten tunnel. Solas had summoned Fade light, and the blue light flickered dimly, casting shadows on the stone walls. It seemed they were alone.

Until there was a shadow on the wall, so fleeting Talyn wouldn't have believed it was there if Cassandra hadn't shouted out a warning. A figure dropped in front of Talyn, as if he had been crawling on the ceiling. With deadly speed the masked man lashed out with a dagger. Talyn jumped backward, the dagger barely brushing her nose. She felt the sting of a cut.

Talyn quickly replaced her bow with her sword, and grabbed her dagger that was strapped to her thigh. She felt Solas put a barrier around her.

The Venatori agent was unlike any foe Talyn had fought before. For once, Talyn actually had to work to save her own life. Two more Venatori dropped from the ceiling and attacked Bull and Cassandra, so Talyn was on her own.

The Venatori was quick and lashed out at Talyn like a viper. It took most of Talyn's energy to block the Venatori's blows. He knocked Talyn's dagger out of her hand and pinned her against the wall, one of his blades on Talyn's throat.

Talyn felt her body start to burn as her markings glowed. The world started to move in slow motion. Talyn looked down at her right hand and curled it into a fist. She looked back up at her attacker and shoved her fist through his chest.

He cried out, and his blades fell from his hands. She felt his heart beating erratically, and she wrapped her hand around it. His scream was cut off and turned into a gurgle as she crushed his heart.

He dropped to the ground. Talyn pick up her sword and dagger and helped the others finish off the other two. By the end of the battle, they were covered in blood and breathing heavily. Even Solas looked worn out.

"You should have asked Felix more about the Venatori." Cassandra scolded Talyn breathlessly. "They were almost as hard to kill as a pride demon."

"Their mages. What did you expect?"

They pushed onward. Any other Venatori they saw, Talyn was able to get an arrow in their throat before they noticed them. Felix had said that this tunnel was supposed to lead to the throne room. From there, they would have to hunt for Alexius. It was a good thing Solas was with them.