Breaking the Divide (remastered) - Cullen Rutherford

Chapter 4: The Sweeter Things

Cullen awoke to the sound of screams. He panted in his bed, hand darting under his pillow where he kept a knife. Heart beating wildly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room by slow degrees, revealing a sleeping Josephine and Leliana safe in their beds. He swallowed hard and forced his fingers to let go of the comforting metal in his palm as the screams inside his head dimmed to a whimper. Shaking the nightmares free as best he could, he slid from his bed and dressed and groomed himself in the darkness. He didn't bother with the armor. With the demons cleared from the valley, there was no need to wear the heavy pieces, and he doubted he could bear the weight so early in the morning.

With a strip of dried meat and slice of stale bread, he walked out into the camp. It wasn't yet dawn and, with the exception of a dozing guard, the land was utterly still. The crunch of snow under his feet was thunderous in the silence. Even chewing the bread between his teeth felt like an intrusion as he made his way down towards the main gate. They were already open and even from his position, he glimpsed the training dummies set near the shore of the frozen lake.

"Fuck!"

Cullen froze on the steps then scurried to the half-opened door where he could spy while remaining out of sight.

The Herald stood in front of the wooden men, her breath leaving her in ragged puffs that crystalized around her. Her hair was disheveled around her face; it stuck to her skin here and there where sweat held it in place. She was shaking her right hand, pacing back and forth and cursing under her breath. On the ground beside her was a bow, a quiver filled with arrows, and her staff.

Chuckling under his breath, Cullen eased his head farther out. The arrow she'd released had missed her target by at least a dozen yards to land harmlessly in a snow bank. Kaitlyn continued to shake her hand for another moment before kicking the bow away like a child might kick away a toy that had fallen out of favor. Snatching up her staff, she twirled it effortlessly in her hands before holding it a few inches from her chest. A few deep breaths. She slammed the end of her staff into the ground; ice burst around the dummy, encasing it. She jerked her staff to the side with a low snarl and the dummy shattered, dispersing into thousands of slivers of ice that scattered on the faint breeze.

Kaitlyn's knees bent and she stumbled to the side, slumping against her staff. She seemed one gust of wind away from falling into the snow. Cullen stepped forward, hardly believing what he'd seen.

"Who's there?"

Cullen stiffened at the muffled voice. Kaitlyn's head snapped to the side in the direction the voice had come from before she disappeared in a bending wave of blue light, reappearing over fifteen paces away where she continued her escape at a dead run.

"Hello?" the voice called again. It was the guard who'd been dozing. She came around the main gates, eyes still blinking away sleep.

"It's only me," Cullen said. He walked to where Kaitlyn had been a moment before and picked up her bow and quiver. Running his fingers along the length of wood, he smiled, remembering how horrible his own first attempt at the weapon had been.

"Ser?"

"Just came out for some fresh air," he said. "Nothing to worry about."

She leaned slightly to one side, looking over his shoulder to the obliterated dummy. He managed a smile and, after an awkward moment of narrowed eyes, she started back towards her post. Cullen watched her, waiting until she was out of view, before following after Kaitlyn's footsteps. It's not as though she had anywhere to go. The nearest town was several hours' ride away. Except for the occasional bit of shrubbery and skittering creature, the place was barren of life.