Chapter 1.4
Thomas managed to find me some local clothes, whilst Dresden was out on business. They were truly odd, though not uncomfortable and substantially better than what someone of equal financial status would have been able to afford, even in Orlais. I thanked him, and returned to focusing on the book in front of me. The text was large, and simple, but I struggled with the unfamiliar lettering.
I had made some small amount of progress by the time Dresden returned, however, and I greeted him as he reset the wards. This was an impressive facet of his magic - these static defences were substantially more sophisticated than what most mages could pull off back home, at least without employing tranquil runecrafters. I could feel their power coiling around the building, a comforting, warm feeling. This place was well defined, even disregarding its occupants.
I'd known there was something off about Thomas for a while now, though I didn't know what. Whatever it was, I was sure he could hold his own in a fight, and Dresden was a more than respectable battlemage. He was also doing something I wasn't sure I wanted to know about in the subbasement, I thought as I felt the temperature suddenly drop and return. There was a powerful spirit down there, one that seemed to almost flicker between demon and spirit. Whatever it was, it settled down and Dresden emerged.
If the man wanted to keep his spiritual informant private, then I would not push the matter. He seemed to have it under control, and the man was no Maleficar. But something was up, and I would not be left out of it. I owed Dresden a debt, and would have intervened anyway.
"Something is going on, Dresden." I said quietly as he exited the basement. He looked at me, sadly.
"Yeah, it is. Some seriously bad wizards are in town, looking for the last teachings of their former master. And, please, call me Harry." He said, looking uncharacteristically serious.
"How powerful was this master, Harry?" I asked, using his first name.
"It took the entire White Council to defeat him. I do-" He begun, but I interrupted.
"White Council?" I asked, confused.
"Sorry, I forgot you were,uh, not from around here. They're the governing body of wizards, and enforce the laws of magic. Their usual enforcement arm are the Wardens, but to defeat this guy - Kremmler - it took the entire council. All the Wardens, the entire Senior Council and just about every other wizard they could get their hands on." Harry explained.
"So his teachings getting out would be bad, then?" I said, and Harry nodded.
"Very."
"Then I shall assist you, Harry." I said grabbing the bag Thomas had lent to hide my staff in - it was made out of some odd fabric, and also contained my dragonhide robes. Given what it took to make those, I wasn't letting them out of my sight.
"Are you sure? I mean, these guys aren't as bad as Kremmler but they're still pretty bad."
"I am sure. I have seen too many suffer at the hand of would-be gods, seen to much death and devastation caused by the misuse of magic to stand by and simply watch. Let me tell you about Corypheus some time, when maleficarum are not descending on your city like flies." I said, full of conviction.
"Then it's time for your first trip in a car!" Harry said, and began to leave. i followed, confusedly, and got my first taste of this world's technology. Riding in a car was a bracing experience, at a first, although the metal contraption grew on me as we drove. We soon reached the morgue, which Harry explained was the place where dead bodies were taken to be inspected and identified. It seemed odd to me, but if it was of use then it was of use. We were there to see if any oddly injured people had shown up - or rather, I was there to hit any necromancer who showed up, and Harry was here to investigate.
The magical disguise was... odd. My physical form hadn't changed, but it was certainly enlightening to see myself as a human. I moved my hands to my horns, and felt reassuringly that they were both still there. Harry bribed the guard with some sort of bottled beverage, which I took to be some kind of ale, and we were let through.
"I'll wait outside and keep watch, Harry." I said, as he went in to talk to the examiner of the dead. Call me paranoid, but every time I've been in a building filled with dead people they've inevitably got back up and started trying to kill me. These people may not have a fear of possession, but there was a good reason almost every culture in Thedas quickly burnt their dead. I took a moment to simply rest, leaning against the corridor's stark walls. This new land, new world really, was a strange place. I was stranded here, but I could not remain here.
Yet if I could find a reliable means of travel between Thedas and this world, I could give my homeland so much. Yet, also, that could be it's doom. I was almost too absorbed in my own thoughts to notice the group of men walking down the corridor. My hand went into the long bag, clutching my staff. Then I noticed that one of the men was the guard who Harry had bribed - only, his throat had been slit from ear to ear. The disgusting magical stench of the animated dead wafted over to me.
"Kill the woman, but bring me the coroner!" The leading man said, wearing some kind of black hat and a khaki coat. I drew my staff and grinned.
"Harry, we've got company!" I shouted, then whipped my staff up. A circle forged from fire, inscribed with dozens of runes, blazed into life in mid air. I focused my power, and thrust out with my staff. Dozens of bolts of white-orange fire rushed forwards, bouncing off walls and floors until they slammed into what had once been Phil - that was his name - and sent the corpse flying backwards, alight with cleansing flame. Brilliant light shone from the wingtips of my staff, and Harry burst out of the corpse-viewing room, a small man in tow.
Then the three men in gray coats rushed at us, far faster than any man had a right to go. Dead Phil got back up, his skin sloughing off as he burned. Clearly these were not your ordinary, everyday zombies then. I thrust my staff forward, creating a blue-green barrier that blocked off the entire hallway. The zombies smashed straight into it, slamming against the barrier with tremendous force.
"Gentlemen, now would be the time to leave!" I said, not wanting to fight four super-zombies in a confined space with a non-combatant to look after. The zombies started to smash against the barrier again.
"The exit's on the other side of the zombies!" The small man shouted, and I frowned as my disguise faltered and died out. In a ripple of failing magic, the tall human woman who had been holding up a dragon-tipped staff was replaced by a gray-skinned, horned, giant of a woman holding said staff.
"Then we make an exit!" Dresden shouted, whirling his own staff at the back wall, where out of it's windows we could see a space to store cars - a parking lot, they're called. "Forzare!" He shouted, and the whole wall seemed to explode outwards in a shower of dust and cheap brick. We ran, and as I moved the barrier finally broke and the zombies rushed through. The second Harry and his contact were outside the hallway, I turned straight around.
Phil came at me first, his burning flesh smelling truly repugnant. A blade of blazing mana appeared in my hand, and I sliced forward. The spiritual blade met burning flesh and muscle and bone, and sliced through it with contemptuous ease. Phil's upper half slid backwards, his lower half forwards, and I advanced. The man in the black hat took a step back at that, but the other zombies simply kept on coming. I attacked once more, slicing one in half vertically, before erecting another barrier.
"Herah, we need to move!" Harry shouted, and there was a tremendous roar like a Qunari cannon. I couldn't agree more with the sentiment, and I leaned into the fade ever so slightly. I rushed backwards, cloaked in grey mist and moving at tremendous speed. A man stood next to a large, ostentatious car, and lifted some kind of hand-cannon, simmilar to Varric's crossbow or those of the Sha-Brytol in design. He fired it at me, and there was a tremendous noise, but the blast was deflected by my barrier. Harry took out a hand cannon of his own, and fired it at the man. He didn't hit, but the man ducked behind his car and we were running for Harry's car.
