//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Field And Forest Shall Burn // Story: Dragon Age: Equestria // by OkemosBrony //------------------------------// “Inquisitor!” Mahanon heard a voice say as he got poked on the shoulder. Forcing his eyes open, he was met with the glare of the early morning sun off the polished gold of the Inquisition’s chariot, blinding him and forcing his eyes shut again. “Are we close?” he asked groggily, sitting up and covering his eyes with his hand to shield some of the sunlight from assaulting him again. “Griffonstone isn’t very far,” Twilight said, peering over the edge of the chariot. Moving next to her, he looked down at the rocky coastline soaring beneath them. Pillars of smoke arose all across the landscape, some in small fires and others in huge infernos. “Those are from the war, I take it?” he asked, pointing at one as they went by it. Twilight nodded slowly. “The Rebels are losing. Their soldiers were eager, but they weren’t trained well. They started out winning, but as it went on, they got tired and have started losing.” “Anything else you can tell me about the Rebels?” “Nothing” she replied, slightly distraught. “They’re not formal; they have no official organization or central authority, so it’s just a lot of local groups fighting sporadically.” “How will recruiting the Rebels from Griffonstone help, then? Are they larger or stronger than any of the others?” “They are. Their leader also apparently is the figurehead of them, so she’ll be able to organize them and get their support.” “Why hasn’t she yet?” Twilight shrugged. “Probably too busy fighting a war of her own to go around recruiting others for a different one.” When their chariot began its descent down to the ground, Mahanon grabbed his staff and looked over to the other chariot carrying their companions, which soon followed them down. As his chariot landed, he jumped out onto the dusty, gravel-covered earth as Twilight gently flew down next to him. “Greetings, Inquisition!” a rough voice proclaimed from behind them. When they turned around, they saw a Griffon standing at attention in rusty, poorly-fitting armor. “We have been tracking you since you first entered the Griffon Empire. What brings you to our great nation?” “Are you with the Rebels?” Mahanon asked, ready for a fight. “Or are you fighting them?” “Rebel until I die!” he said powerfully. “We’re here to talk to the Rebel leader of Griffonstone,” Twilight said to him. “Yes, Princess!” he saluted, then turned around. “Follow me!” As the Inquisition’s companions landed and caught up to Mahanon and Twilight, they all started walking towards the city in the distance. “He’s...a little much,” Dorian said quietly to the group. Sera giggled. “Can practically see the stick up his arse from here.” “I think he’s just enthusiastic,” Twilight said with a small smile. “Hey, birdbrain!” Sera called out. “What’s your big plan for killing all these stuck-up Griffons you’re fighting?” “That is why I am taking you to the Leader,” he replied, annoyed. “She will tell you what the Rebel plans are.” When they got to a makeshift fence surrounding a crumbling town, the Griffon leading them gave a nod to the guards as they walked through. When they started walking through the run-down main avenue of town, many of the Griffons stopped in their tracks to marvel at the Inquisition. “And just what is the meaning of this?” another rough voice called out to their right. When they turned, they saw an old, balding Griffon wearing an old and worn fez walking up to them. “They claim they are the Inquisition, Leader Gruff!” the Griffon replied, snapping to attention. “They have come to speak with Leader Gilda!” “The ‘Inquisition’, eh?” he asked suspiciously, surveying them as he walked in a circle around them. “Never heard of you before.” “The came from across the sea,” Twilight said, trying to plead with him. “They’ve tried to close the Breach, but they need more allies to take down the Crystal Ponies who guard it.” “Coming all the way across the ocean, just to solve our problems?” he asked, studying Mahanon. “Seems too altruistic.” “The Breach threatens us all,” Cassandra said. “It doesn’t matter where it opens; if it’s open, the entire world is at risk.” “Give us a chance to prove ourselves to the Rebel cause,” Mahanon pleaded. “There’s a Katharos camp not far from here,” he said. “Go burn it to the ground. Maybe then we can discuss an alliance.” “Katharos?” Mahanon asked. “The establishment,” Twilight spoke up. “They want to control us like tyrants,” Gruff scoffed. “Tell us how to live our lives, but Griffons should be free!” “We’ll take out their camp if it proves the Inquisition’s intentions,” Dorian stated. “I’ll be watching you,” Gruff said, taking a few steps back. “Rebel, take them to Gaston. He knows where it is.” “Yes sir!” the Griffon barked. When Gruff walked away, the other Griffon turned towards the town. “Follow me,” he ordered. “How come we aren’t meeting with the Leader?” Cassandra asked. “Leader Gilda is very busy right now,” he replied, growing increasingly impatient at their questions. “We need to prove your loyalty to us before we are willing to begin talks of an alliance. We can’t risk any Katharos spies infiltrating our ranks.” “Just run the silly little errand and we’ll get new allies?” Dorian asked. “Easier than some of our previous adventures, I suppose. How hard could it be?” “Scout Gaston!” the Griffon called out when they reached a small circle of tents around a poorly-crafted wooden table. The Griffon at the table looked up, then took flight and landed right in front of the Inquisition. “Who are they?” he asked, less angry and suspicious of the Inquisition than the others. “We’re the Inquisition,” Twilight explained. “And these three came across the ocean to seal the Breach in the sky, and we need allies to help with that.” “Leader Gruff has tasked them with destroying the Katharos camp outside of Griffonstone,” the Griffon said, glaring at Twilight for interrupting him. “Perhaps you could show them the way so they could prove themselves to us?” “I shall take it from here then, thank you very much,” he said with a wave of one of his talons. “You may go.” The other Griffon saluted, then started walking away. “He didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?” Gaston asked. “Not really,” Mahanon replied. “Why?” “He can be a bit of a jerk,” he replied with a slightly bitter tone. “We’re fighting to get more involved in the outside world and make ties with everyone else in this world, but I think some of them only like it in theory.” Turning to Twilight, he bowed slightly. “And forgive me, Princess; you may not remember me, but I participated in the Equestria Games. I apologize for not properly introducing myself.” “It’s fine,” she blushed. “Come with me,” he ordered, beckoning them in the direction he started walking. “I can’t take you all the way there, but I can show you the start.” “So what exactly is all this fighting about?” Sera asked. “The Katharos want Griffons to remain ‘pure’ and remain isolated from the rest of the world,” he said with slight disgust. “The Rebels fight against the idea of Griffon supremacy. We are citizens of this world; we cannot sit around and believe we are the greatest simply of what we look like.” “Always nice to see those racist asshats take a beating,” Sera said happily. “Well, you’ll be able to give one soon enough,” he laughed. “By the way, is it true? The stories of the Inquisition?” “You’ll have to be a little more specific,” Mahanon said. “They say you can command the skies and even demons themselves,” he said in awe. “They say you not only defeated Queen Chrysalis, but then showed her mercy and forced her to fight for you.” “That’s a little distorted,” he replied. “I let the Changelings join of their own free will; they wanted to. And I can’t control the skies or demons, just the Rifts. Do you have any of them up here?” “Not yet,” he said, shaking his head. “But when word of their appearance got out, fighting just got worse. Now we not only have to worry about our war, but what might happen if one of them opens up right in the middle of us.” “In Thedas, we say ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’,” Dorian added. “Perhaps you’d put aside your little scuffle and both work with us?” “I don’t see that happening,” he said bluntly. “The war’s been going on for a while, and both sides hate each other a lot. It would take a lot to get both of them to work together.” “Because the freaking sky ripping open isn’t enough for you?” Sera questioned angrily. “Not important enough to stop stabbing each other for a few minutes?” “I never said I agreed with it,” Gaston defended. He sighed. “It’s just what the rest of the Griffons are like. Unfortunately, the Katharos wouldn’t side with you if we were as well. And if Princess Twilight is with you, they’d have another reason to.” “Why me?” Twilight asked, almost offended by his statement. “They’re fighting to keep Griffons out of the rest of the world. That includes Equestria.” “They’re so pig-headed they won’t even side with someone because of some magical pony princess they travel with?” Sera asked. “It’s just a mess,” he groaned. “Even some of the Rebels aren’t totally on board. But if any of us want to guarantee living to see the sunrise, we have to change our ways of thinking.” He looked back to Twilight. “It was your friends coming here that first started this. Gilda started saying we needed to stop being so distrustful and work together. The Katharos are the ones that are fighting against the progress she's advocating for.” “I started this war?” Twilight asked weakly. “It had to happen,” he said confidently. “You saw Griffonstone; that’s not even from the war. It looked like that before.” “If a couple bad guys need to get what’s coming to them, I’ll join in on that,” Sera proclaimed. “You helped the Griffons change their ways, Princess,” Cassandra comforted. Twilight emitted a painful sigh. “It’s just hard knowing you can’t save everypony.” “Don’t beat yourself up, Princess,” Gaston said happily. “You’ll save lots more Griffons by making us change than will be lost to this war.” When the got to the top of the hill they were climbing, they looked over the vast, empty valley ahead of them, with more hills far in the distance. “It’s just over those hills there,” Gaston said, pointing to the hills ahead of them. “That’ll take ages!” Sera moaned. “Why can’t we just get back in those chariots and fly over there?” “They’d see you coming from miles away,” Gaston laughed. “I’ll be waiting back in Griffonstone,” he said as he took flight. “Come find me when it’s done, and I’ll bring you to Gilda.” He flew back towards Griffonstone. “So…” Dorian said, looking at the valley ahead of them. “Who knows any good games to pass the time?” When Twilight landed, the rest of the Inqiusition was sitting on the rocky ground in a circle, trying to keep from falling asleep. “Ugh, tell us something good,” Sera moaned. “I didn’t come here to sit around and not shoot some baddies in the face.” “I think I saw something over there,” Twilight replied, pointing in a direction over the hill. “It looks empty everywhere else, so I think that’s the Katharos camp.” “Finally!” Sera exclaimed, shooting up. “Let’s go do something, yeah? Quit sitting around?” “Just follow me,” Twilight said tiredly, leading them down the hill. “I’ll be glad when we can get back.” “It’s cold out here,” Dorian grumbled, rubbing his hands together. “Tell me they’ve got fire there.” “It looks like they put it out for the night.” Twilight shivered. “I’m cold, too.” “I’ll keep ya warm, Princess,” Sera said suggestively. “How?” Twilight asked innocently. Sera laughed. “You’re a riot, Princess!” “Why?” Twilight asked. “What is it?” She looked up at Mahanon, who was smiling lightly. “What does she mean?” “I’ll tell you later,” he said, holding back some laughter. “Anyways...it was near here,” Twilight said to change the conversation. “Maybe we should’ve waited until morning…” “There’s not enough time,” Cassandra asserted. “And they won’t see us coming this way.” When they got to a small ridge, they all looked over the edge to see small pile of embers in the center of what looked like a makeshift camp. “What’s our plan?” Dorian asked. “You kidding?” Sera asked excitedly. “Burn ‘em in their sleep, of course!” “Be quiet,” Cassandra hissed. “But yes, that is the best plan of attack.” “Burn them in their sleep?” Twilight asked, horrified. “That’s awful!” “That’s war,” Dorian said dismissively. “We need to light the ones closer to us and run,” Cassandra said, pointing at the tents up against the ridge. “The wind will carry the flames to the others.” “I don’t like this,” Twilight said uneasily. “We should plan while we’re up here so we can be silent in the camp,” Mahanon continued, ignoring Twilight’s uncomfortableness. “I could get the fire started,” Dorian volunteered. “They might notice the light, so we need to be quick.” “The rest of us could light them on fire,” Mahanon suggested. “They’re bound to have logs lying around for the fire; we’ll find some before you light the fire so we can burn and go.” “I’ll get that one,” Cassandra said, pointing to the furthest left of the tents. “The rest of you get those three.” “Me?” Twilight asked, pointing a hoof at herself. “Someone’s got to,” Dorian said. “Four tents, four of you. And I’ve got to be starting the fire. No time wasted.” “Okay,” Twilight said shakily. “I think I’m ready.” “No talking once we get down there, alright?” Mahanon confirmed. His companions nodded in understanding. Standing up, Cassandra beckoned them towards her as she started walking down a narrow and steep path towards the camp. Twilight flew next to them as they all struggled to keep their balance moving downwards. “Aw, shite!” Sera cursed as quietly as she could as her footing slipped. “Comin’ in, Tevinter!” Before he could react, Dorian was knocked down by Sera, and their fall knocked into Mahanon, who continued the chain down to Cassandra. “Ssh!” Twilight hissed, putting a hoof over her mouth. “Try to...fall quietly, I guess?” The Inquisition’s members all moaned, quietly getting out of the dogpile they landed in. “Anybody who’s hurt, speak up,” Mahanon whispered. When nobody answered, he gave a quick nod. “Right. Silence starts now.” Dorian pulled out his staff and used it to hobble over to the fire pit, where he stood and waited for the signal to go. Mahanon pointed to different corners of the camp, signifying where the others should look. They nodded in agreement, then walked away to their designated location. Going to the one part he hadn’t assigned someone to, Mahanon began looking around the tents for firewood. He moved slowly, with his hands stretched out to avoid running into anything in the darkness. When he felt he sufficiently searched his area, he returned to the firepit, where Twilight was standing with Dorian. When they locked eyes, she shook her head. After a few moments, Cassandra came out, carrying a few pieces of wood and handed one to Mahanon and Twilight. When Sera came back empty-handed, she handed one to her. They all looked to Dorian, who took a few steps back and raised his staff. He quickly cast Flashfire on the embers, starting a small fire. He turned, looking around to watch for Griffons while the rest of them tried to get their torches lit. When all four of them had their logs on fire, they walked to their respective tents and looked to Mahanon for guidance. When he nodded, they all lit the tents on fire, dropped their logs, and ran away. After they ran for a few minutes, they all turned back and looked at the camp, which now was fully ablaze. “I’d say that works,” Mahanon panted. “We should go tell the Griffons we burnt the camp,” Cassandra suggested. “Right, because we didn’t just spend nearly a whole day walking here to burn that camp, and walk probably a whole day back,” Dorian butted in. “I suppose nobody said ending a war would be easy.” “Ugh,” Sera moaned. “How much longer?” “I think it’s close,” Twilight panted, using her wings to cool herself off. “Or not. I thought we were close a long time ago.” “I regret complaining about the cold,” Dorian grumbled. “It’s summer in Qarinus all over again. Only now I can’t snap my fingers and have some serving boy bring me a drink while enjoying the breeze through my hair.” “We’re almost there,” Cassandra grunted, trying to power through her pain. “The hills are approaching quickly.” Suddenly, three Griffons in shining, overly-polished armor landed in front of them, chins held up high. “Who are you?” Mahanon managed to ask through his exhaustion. “We are the Katharos,” the Griffon in the center proclaimed, putting a talon over his chest proudly. “True leaders of the Griffon Empire. You are the Inquisition, are you not?” “Yes, we are,” he replied, suspicious of their sudden appearance. “Why?” “We have a little proposition for you,” the Griffon replied slyly, looking at Twilight. “And we would like to discuss it with you…alone.” “How come?” he asked as the others discreetly reached for their weapons. “I promise you will not regret it,” he said with an unconvincing smile. Looking back at his companions, Mahanon held up a hand, to which they responded by slowly inching their own hands away from their weapons. “Lead on.” “If you will follow me,” the Griffon said, breaking away from the other two. They walked for a few minutes, then reached a large boulder, which Mahanon sat down on. “Why do you only want to speak to me?” he asked. “We’re not entirely trusting of your company,” he replied, looking back at the Inquisition. “Princess Twilight is up to no good; I can tell.” “She’s proven herself to us before,” he defended. “Regardless, we have heard of your exploits,” the Griffon said, dismissing the defense of Twilight. “And you have caught the attention of the Katharos. We are willing to ally with you and support you, should you accept us.” “I take it this alliance isn’t free?” “Smart,” the Griffon smiled. “As you may know, we are fighting Rebels who wish to undermine the Griffon Empire and plunge us into a state of anarchy. Their leader is nearby, in the town of Griffonstone; we were going to take her out, but those damned Rebels burned our camp last night, ruining any chances we have of destroying them.” “You don’t say,” Mahanon replied suspiciously. “We still have a considerable force in the area,” he explained. “Near the back of Griffonstone is an old tunnel that leads to the base of the gorge, but it’s closed off from inside. If you can get there and open it up for us, we will launch a surprise attack on them, stamping them out and killing their leader. The rest of them will lose all hope, and once we wipe them out of the Empire, we will pledge ourselves to the Inquisition.” “You don’t have a problem with us traveling with Princess Twilight?” He growled. “There are...sacrifices we must make. But if our two armies allied together, we could do great things, Inquisitor. What do you say?” Putting his hands together, Mahanon pondered the question in front of him on who to ally with. After a few moments, he looked up at the Griffon. “We’ll open the tunnel for you.” “An hour after sundown we’ll be there,” the Griffon said. “Meet us there.” Mahanon got up from his rock and walked back to his companions with the Griffon. “I thank you for your time, revered Inquisition,” the Griffon said with a bow, then took off with the other two. “Well?” Twilight asked eagerly. “What did he say?” “He wants us to let his troops into a secret back tunnel into Griffonstone so they can launch a surprise attack,” he explained. “And you said no, right?” Twilight asked. “Hear me out,” he said, putting a hand up. “I said yes, and that’s how we’ll destroy them.” “I...wait, what?” Twilight asked, initially with rage but then changing to confusion as she processed what he said. “We’ll tell the Rebels their plan,” he explained. “They don’t think the Rebels will know, so that will be a perfect time to let them launch a counterattack.” “It’s dirty. I like it,” Dorian proclaimed. “Me too,” Sera added. “Those guys seem like a buncha pissants, anyways.” She giggled. “Gonna love their faces when we turn coat on them. They’ll be all ‘On no!’ and ‘You traitor!’ and shit, gonna be great!” “I guess we just need to tell the Rebels the plan,” Cassandra said. “Come on; we’ll need all the time we can get to set up traps, so we can’t lose any more time.” When the Inquisition made their way back to Griffonstone, the whole town fell into a hushed silence as they walked to where Gaston had been the previous day. As they got up to the Rebels’ scouting camp, a grizzly-looking Griffon was with Gaston, studying the Inquisition intently while they walked up to them. “Gaston said his scouts have reported the Katharos camp burned to the ground sometime last night,” she said. She gave them a small smile. “Well done.” “You must be Leader Gilda, then,” Mahanon assumed. “Yup.” She looked at Twilight. “Hey, Twilight. Was told you were here, too.” “Hey Gilda,” Twilight said, seemingly trying to avoid something. “You two know each other, too?” Mahanon asked. “I’ll fill you in later,” Gilda said dismissively. “Anyways, now that their camp burned down, they should be all clear from the area. We can start reaching out to the Rebels in other places, and once we stop the Katharos, we’ll send whatever we can your way.” “Wait,” Mahanon said, trying to get her attention back. “The Katharos found us while we were walking back; they want us to open some secret back tunnel into the gorge. I told them I would, so they think they’re going to have the element of surprise on you. You can strike them as they’re making their way there.” Gilda rubbed her chin for a few seconds. “Open the tunnel anyways,” she declared. “What?” Twilight exclaimed. “Didn’t you hear what he said?” “They’ll be on guard marching to the tunnels,” she explained. “They’ll be in the open, so they’ll be expecting a fight. Once they get in, they’ll think they’re in the clear. That’s when we’ll strike.” “A smart plan,” Cassandra noted. “We’ll get our troops in position,” Gilda said confidently. “You just make sure that you open the tunnel when you need to.” Mahanon looked at the hourglass right beside him; it was almost empty, meaning the time that the Katharos told him was approaching quickly. He looked once again at the doors in front of him which he was to open; they were massive, made completely of iron. He figured they were incredibly thick, so they could not be forced open. A bar had been slid over them, preventing any entrance from the outside. When the last few grains dropped to the bottom, he put his torch back in its holder and grabbed the bar. He struggled to move it, and once he did, he grabbed onto one of the handles and pulled with all his might to drag the heavy door across the ground. Once the door was open, he stepped outside to see a force of Griffons, all in formation, waiting on the other side. “I am glad to see you,” the head Griffon said, walking up to Mahanon and putting a talon on his shoulder. “What of your companions?” “They don’t know the plan,” he lied. “They want to side with the Rebels.” “Typical,” the Griffon spat. “I am glad someone in the Inquisition can see reason. Now, come; we will assault these Rebels together, and remove them from our mighty Empire.” As Mahanon walked into the tunnel, he looked to a small hole cut into the side of the rock, where Gilda was hiding in the shadows. He gave a small nod, which she returned. “Hey, featherbrain!” Gilda yelled, emerging from the hole. “Rebel scum!” the Griffon yelled back. Changing from anger to smugness, he laughed. “I am glad you are here. You will get to see your betrayal in person!” “Damn!” Gilda laughed. “I was just about to say that to you!” When she finished her sentence, the sound of sudden explosions came from outside. While the Griffon turned around to see his forces being attacked from above, Mahanon took the opportunity to start running further into the tunnels. “What?” the Griffon cried. “Kill him! Kill the traitor! Kill them all!” “Just keep running!” Gilda called down to Mahanon from the air as she flew away. “I’ll meet up with you later! Good luck!” Coming to a rocky slope, Mahanon scrambled up it as fast as he could. When he looked down, more Griffons began funneling in through the doors. He turned to the wooden structure next to him holding a few large boulders and kicked away the piece of wood keeping them secure, sending them rolling down and straight into the Griffon offensive. When he saw more soldiers begin funneling in to replace their lost comrades, Mahanon again turned and ran further into the tunnels. After making his way up another slope and into a large cavern, he looked ahead to the cavern’s exit to see Sera, bow out and ready for attack. “Go now, Sera!” he called to her as he got close. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I can see the baddies, you know.” She drew her bow and launched an Explosive Shot at one of the stalactites hanging over the cavern, which fell down and crushed some of the Griffons pouring through. Mahanon and Sera started running once the dust had cleared and they could see more soldiers coming after them. After a few minutes, they came to a downward hill, where they slid down and met Twilight on the bottom. Once they landed next to her, Twilight cast a spell on the narrow passageway the slope was in while Mahanon and Sera grabbed a fence with spears sticking out from it, designed to impale anyone trying to get through and placed it at the bottom of the slope. Shortly, a few Griffons flew down the passageway but hit an invisible wall partway down, blocking their progress. More Griffons soon followed, only to meet the same fate and cause a backup on the other end of Twilight’s invisible wall. “Let’s go!” Mahanon called, and they started running as Twilight removed her spell, sending the pileup of Griffons straight into the spears and impaling many of them. They soon emerged in a large cavern, where the rest of the Griffons were all waiting for the Katharos to emerge. “Good work out there,” Gilda said proudly as she walked up to Mahanon. “Between the ambush outside and all those traps inside, their numbers should be very small,” Mahanon said. “Just be ready for everything,” she said as she walked away. “Who’s ready to make our own destiny?” she cried to the Griffons gathered there. They all cheered in response. When the first Griffon made his way through into the cavern, he nearly stopped in his tracks in shock. Dorian launched a Walking Bomb as Mahanon cast Static Cage over him, trapping him in the narrow archway. Within seconds of the combined fire of all the Inquisition and all the Rebels, he died and exploded. “Rebels, after them!” Gilda rallied, sending the rest of the Griffons back down the tunnels. She walked over to Mahanon, then bowed. “Thank you, Inquisition. We can take it from here.” “You sure you don’t need any more help?” he asked. “You know we can provide it.” “You’re right; most of them are probably dead already. And besides, the ones that aren’t dead weren’t expecting to fight here. This is our home, Inquisitor. Nobody can fight better here than we can.” “I’m just glad we could help.” Gilda extended a talon, which Mahanon took and shook. “We’ll stand with you, Inquisitor,” she said triumphantly. “Whatever you need, we’ll stand with you.”