A chain Unsee, a victory undone
Syrus frowned to herself as she and the rest of the Venatori retinue for Magister Gerion Alexius entered Redcliffe, her spiked helm giving off a gladiator look that seemed to intimidate the residents of Redcliffe who gave the group a wide berth, or perhaps it was the fact that they were Tevinters that caused the unease. Maybe even both if half the stories about the South were to be believed. As they moved towards the gates of Redcliffe Castle she felt her nerves growing a bit, she supported the Elder One's idea for a brand new world, a world where the divisions imposed by the Chantry were cast down and the Qunari finally defeated and all the world united under a renewed Tevinter Imperium. Yet even with her faith in the Ancient Magister she couldn't help but feel something was amiss, she had heard of Venatori Mages using blood magic and sacrifices to gain more power to serve the Elder One yet she rationalised that once the Elder One achieved his goals he would punish those errant Magisters for besmirching the name of Venatori.
"Wait here, i need to go and make my case to the Arl so we may use Redcliffe as a base for now." Alexius said as the retinue of Venatori came to a stop and the Magister headed inside with a few of the higher ranked members as bodyguards.
"Alright, stay sharp people." one of the commanders said glaring at the Venatori soldiers with ill-disguised disdain towards the former slaves who put their lives on the line to fight for the Elder One's Vision.
"Excuse me, Miss..." a voice asked from behind Syrus that almost made her jump, as she turned her head she saw a young boy looking up at her with a mop of dark red hair and vibrant green eyes looking up at her curiously.
"Can i help you, My lord?" Syrus asked warily glancing at the boy's finery to confirm her suspicions that this child was indeed a child of the local nobility and not some beardless, slim dwarf.
"Are you from Tevinter?" the boy asked excitedly as Syrus blinked under her helmet in confusion.
"I am... Are you really from Ferelden?" she asked before she could stop herself as the boy laughed a bit.
"I'm Maric, what's your name?" he asked as Syrus casted a wary glance towards her superior officer who appeared to be distracted dealing with a local.
"I'm Syrus..." she began unused to a member of the nobility even a child being so friendly and curious about her, the boy tilting his head before seeming to notice the crossbow upon her back.
"Is that a Crossbow?" he asked excitedly as Syrus glanced behind her at the large contraption on her back before nodding and bringing it round so the bow could see it, Dark wood with slivery dragons adorning it glinted in the sunlight with the bolts strapped to the side of the stock to make reloading in combat much easier.
"It is, I'm training to be a marksman if he higher ups are willing." Syrus said with a small smile under her helmet "for now? they give me this until i can prove to be a decent shot." she added as Maric frowned a bit before excitement filled his eyes.
"Maybe when my Uncle Nate comes to visit he could teach us both how to use a bow?" he suggested as Syrus blinked before laughing softly. "I'd like that very much, young lord." Syrus said before hearing a voice call for Maric and with a small wave she bid her new friend good bye.
One Year Later
Itching, constant itching, and cold couldn't forget the cold, Syrus' senses felt like they were in overdrive as she stalked through the dungeons under Redcliffe, she couldn't bear to go above and see the sky, not that the sky was the same beautiful thing she remembered. her teeth gritted as she walked past the row of cells containing members of the Inquisition that had tried to stop them a year ago, she paused in front of one cell containing a red haired elf hanging in the middle of the room, Red Lyrium growing out of her body. Syrus wasn't even sure if the woman was even still alive or not anymore, but knew that she had put up one hell of a fight when the Venatori began their victorious march.
"I almost envy you, not sure if there's anyone still in there though." Syrus said as she looked at the elven woman before shaking her head and walking on past the rows of cells. Red Hair seemed to be a near constant thing among people in the south who were either kind to her or gave her something to be envious about. The Moment the Herald of Andraste had been taken out by Alexius everything had gone so wrong, the destruction of Orlais, the demon army hunting every last hold out of resistance, she couldn't believe that this was what the Elder One Desired, all this chaos and death. With a sigh she shook her head to clear it, she could feel the seedlings of Red Lyrium in her veins, she had only proven herself to be marginally more useful than the feeders who were being used to grow the blood red crystals, but had been forced to ingest some as a warning to stay useful, tiny shards coursing though her that meant she never got a moment's rest. Even then she doubted she could rest as the faces of the people she had killed in the Elder One's name haunted her nightmares, the demons prowling the halls more than happily reminding her of her failures. More often than not she had considered trying to right the wrongs by going for Alexius, yet the Magister had locked himself away in the Throne room and there was no way she could get her hands on the shards needed to get in there and put a bolt in the Magister's head.
Hearing a scuffle up ahead she raced out onto the main platform of the dungeons seeing a young elven man and a Altus standing in the doorway on the other side of the platform and with a growl she quickly levelled her crossbow aimed right at the Altus' chest but before she could fire she felt an arrow pierce her chest causing her to stumble slightly before falling off of the platform she stood on and plummeting into the cold waters below.
In another Time
The Trap to capture the Herald had failed rather spectacularly and Alexius' trump card had been somehow counteracted. The Altus and Herald had vanished in a cloud of smoke only to reappear a moment later looking dirtier but still in one piece. Within moments the entire Venatori contingent in Redcliffe had been disarmed, rounded up and arrested by both the Royal Ferelden forces, and the fledgling Inquisition forces and Syrus found herself in the familiar position of being on her knees with shackles holding her in place as Soldiers talked over what awaited her.
"Excuse me guards, release the prisoner there." a voice said as Syrus looked up seeing a blonde woman approaching wearing silver and grey armour.
"Arlessa, these prisoners are being held for crimes against Ferelden..." one of the soldiers said looking at the Venatori.
"Maybe so, but this one is a friend of my Son's i asked to keep an eye on things while my husband and i spoke to the king." Catherine explained with a straight face as she gestured to Syrus.
"... Arlessa we will need to..." The guard said as Catherine glanced at him with a smirk.
"You know i COULD use the right of Conscription you know." she said in a conversational yet undeniably threatening tone as the Guard grumbled.
"Son of a tied down... i hate it when the wardens do this." the man grumbled before gesturing to Syrus. "Free that 'Vint, the rest stay." the guard said as the soldiers unlocked Syrus' chains and Catherine helped her up.
"Come along now, Syrus let's get you all sorted out." Catherine said as she helped the woman to her feet and guided her away from the other prisoners out of view and smiling a bit.
"Why did you do that?" Syrus asked looking at the Arlessa who shrugged a bit.
"Honestly? My son spotted you and he said you looked out of place, so doing my good deed for the day." Catherine explained as she placed a sack of coins in Syrus' hand. "Now go find something non cultisty you're good at and have a good life." she added as Syrus blinked in surprise.
"Why?" Syrus asked in genuine confusion as Catherine looked at her with a small smile. "My son likes you, now get going while everyone is distracted.." Catherine said with a light and friendly push as Syrus stumbled before nodding and racing out of Redcliffe as fast as she could go.