Amalgamation - Chapter 26, Hope

Title:  Amalgamation
Author:  Loraine95
Game:  Mass Effect, Dragon Age
Characters:  Alistair, Duncan, Wynne, Kaidan Alenko, James Vega, Morrigan, Flemeth, Samantha Treynor, EDI, Anderson
Disclaimer:  All characters are the property of Bioware.

Chapter Twenty Six - Hope

“She’s missing.”

Garrus had been looking for the specialist all morning.  “What do you mean, ‘missing’?”

Tali threw her arms in the air, worry outlining every word.  “EDI said Sam went for a walk while she ran diagnostics.  That was twelve hours ago.  No one has seen her since.”

“A walk in the middle of the night?”  Shaking his head, he looked up at the ceiling as though he were silently cursing an unknown god.  Treynor was an important part of the crew, but more than that, she was a friend.  Few worked harder or were more dedicated to their cause than she was, and the idea of her being abducted made his blood boil.  “I can’t believe this.  I’ll bet my best sniper rifle those damn elves had something to do with it.  They’ve already threatened us for mining minerals from their sacred ground.”  He began to pace the engine room as he considered their options.  “Is she close enough for an omnitool to pick up her signal?”

Tali pulled up the console’s blue display in front of her.  “I have something even better.  The ship’s biometric scanners are back online as of this morning.  If she’s anywhere within a few thousand kilometers, we’ll know about it.”

She enabled tracking for ‘Specialist S. Treynor’ and after a few seconds, let out a sigh of relief.  “She’s not far, in a cave here,” Tali noted, pointing to a blinking dot a few kilometers away.  “We could get in and out before the end of the day.  Other than a heightened pulse and elevated adrenaline levels, her vital signs are strong.”  

Garrus let out a deep breath of his own, grateful Sam wasn’t badly injured.

Tali suddenly leaned in to stare intently at the screen.  “Wait.  The scanners are picking up something else at her location.”  Sliding holographic images hanging in mid-air, she tasked the system with a more thorough examination.  After a few moments, the results appeared overhead, and she let out a giddy cry.  “Garrus, look!”

He joined her to see what had created such a reaction.  In front of his eyes, blinking in the scanner’s output, was the following line:

Element Zero Detected

“I’ll be damned,” he breathed.  A steel beam had driven a hole through the FTL drive core, preventing them from jumping through the nearest mass effect relay.  Eezo was the one key component that was missing to fix it.  Now, there was hope.  With this new discovery, they were one major step closer to going home.

“We need to tell the others what’s going on.  Patch Shepard and Alenko’s team into the convo.  I’ll lead the rescue party, and we’ll send a research team to bring back what we need for the drive core.”  He cut Tali off with raised palm before she could protest.  “To hell with their superstitions.  Let them think I’m a dragon, but I’m sick of being quarantined like a rabid dog.”

Letting out a soft sigh, Tali grabbed his hands in her own.  “I know.  Just be careful, alright?  We don’t know anything for sure yet, and you aren’t the most patient turian in the galaxy.”  Her fingers trailed up his arms, then his chest, to rest on his shoulders as she pressed herself against his armor.  His breath hitched as he cleared his throat to find his voice again.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back before dinner.”  With a glint in his eyes, he touched his forehead to hers before turning his attention to the assignment at hand.
___

Kaidan listened in silence as Garrus’ baratone streamed through Vega’s omnitool.  They had joined a three-way call for a sitrep while Theresa and Morrigan took the dog on a mission to gather berries nearby.  The turian skipped the pleasantries.  “I have good news and bad news.  Which one do you want first?”  

Shepard’s voice broke in.  “Bad news.  Hit us with it.”

“Oh Lola, do you always like it rough before dessert?” Vega joked.  Kaidan rolled his eyes in an attempt to stifle a smirk.

“Shut up, Vega,” Shepard retorted, a smile evident in her voice.  “What is it, Garrus?”

“Samantha Treynor’s gone missing.  I think the elves may have taken her as payback for how much we’ve had to mine to get the Normandy back online.  We don’t know that for sure, though.”

“Are you serious?  They took Sam?” Vega’s face contorted into a grimace of outrage.  “If they hurt her..”

“What we do know is that she’s fine,” Garrus reassured them.  “The Normandy’s scanners are back online and we picked up her signal in a cave a couple of klicks from here.”

Kaidan’s adrenaline spiked as alarm spilled into his voice.  “Garrus listen to me.  Now that the ship’s scanners are functioning again, you need to turn off all biometric trackers.  That’s an order.  We found out that the darkspawn can use them to find us.”

“Shit.”  Garrus’ response echoed Kaidan’s alarm.  “That’ll be the first thing we’ll do.”

Anderson leaned into the conversation as he chewed a bite from a stale loaf of bread.  “I take it that fixing the scanners was the good news?”

“Not only that,” Garrus replied.  “Our girl picked up eezo in those caves.”

Vega let out a long whistle.  “Finally, we caught a break.  We’ll be able to get our bird back up to FTL speeds with that.”

Kaiden offered up a silent prayer of thanks.  Now they were getting somewhere.  

Based on this new information, Shepard was quick to issue orders.  “Good work, Garrus.  Make sure to go in with containment fields and quarantine Sam until she’s detoxed.  She might have radiation poisoning if she’s been exposed for too long.  And stop mining until we can sort out what’s going on with the elves.”

“You got it, Shepard, but I don’t want to wait long.  Our top priority should be getting the drive core fixed so we can get the hell out of here,” Garrus replied.  “Speaking of which, all of you stop lollygagging and get your asses back to the ship.  Normandy out.”

Vega shook his head.  “Lollygagging?  Who says that?”  As they watched the ship’s connection fade from green to orange, Kaidan motioned for his lieutenant to hand over the omnitool.  “How are you, Shepard?”

She answered while he walked out of earshot of the others.  “I’m worried about Sam, Kaidan.  If they’re starting to take hostages...”  

He clenched his teeth in anger at the thought of the specialist being forcibly taken from them.  The sooner they could get off of this planet, the better.  “We’ll find her, don’t worry.  As far as our negotiations with the Dalish, I’m hoping Theresa will be our ace in the hole with that.”  

“I thought I was your ace in the hole,” she countered playfully.

He chuckled.  “To me, you always have and always will be.”  A pang of longing shot through him for the woman he loved more than life itself; he wasn’t nearly as good without her.  “God I miss you, Shepard.”

“I miss you, too,” she replied softly.  “I have to go.  We just finished a quick lunch, and Alistair’s anxious to hit the road.  We’ll hopefully be at Redcliffe before dark.  Then we’ll be heading your way.”

“Can you check in later?”  Kaidan turned his head to discover Theresa and Morrigan had just returned with armfuls of nature’s spoils from their walk.

“You got it.  Love you.”  Before he had a chance to tell her the same, the connection was closed.  He pushed down a flicker of apprehension.  We’ll be together again, soon, he assured himself.  She’ll be fine.  She always is.

Walking over to Vega and handing back the omnitool, Kaidan watched Theresa playfully giving the hound a belly rub and feeding him the last of her jerky.  He took a deep breath.  There was something he had to do before they could resume their march, something he should have done the night before but was too exhausted.  He approached their newest four-legged recruit with a warm smile.

“What’s his name?”

Theresa looked up from the mabari as her startled expression turned to pensiveness.  “Huh?  Oh, you mean him?”  She gave the animal a scratch behind the ears.  “I haven’t given him a name yet.”

Kaidan knelt down and extended his upturned hand toward the dog in a show of repentance.  “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry, Theresa.  He took down a darkspawn for us, and I shouldn’t have been so reactive.”  Observing Kaidan warily, the hound sniffed, then accepted his atonement with a generous lick.  “I just didn’t know…”

“Abelas,” she suddenly stated as she looked him in the eye.

Kaidan paused.  “Excuse me?”

“Abelas.  It means ‘I’m sorry’ in my people’s tongue.  I think it’s a fitting name, don’t you?”

He nodded thoughtfully.  “Yes, I guess it is.”  Giving Abelas a sincere scratch under his chin, Kaidan began to stand.  

“Wait.”  

Before he could walk away, Theresa clutched his hand with hers as she held his gaze.  “I want you to know that I understand.  You did what you had to under the circumstances, and we both accept your apology.  Right boy?”  Abelas wagged his tail in agreement.

Kaidan smiled with relief.  “Thank you.  That means a lot to me.”  Giving her hand a quick squeeze, he left her side to help his crew collect their packs before they continued their long journey to the Normandy.
___

“I’m sorry, my dear Alistair.  While I am overjoyed to see your face in such dark days, I can't spare a steed, not when our knights need them most.” Horsemaster Dennet ran his fingers through his hair with an apologetic expression as Alistair expelled a disappointed sigh.  “I can give you a place to lay your head for the night, at least.”

We had ridden hard since early morning and arrived at the farms of Redcliffe before dusk. The horsemaster and his wife, Elaina, had welcomed Alistair with open arms, but without a direct order from the arl, he was bound to restrict access of his horses to the local soldiers of Redcliffe.  

Alistair smiled wearily. “Thank you. But we'd like to make our way to the castle before the day is done.”

Elaina gasped as her hand shot out to clutch Alistair by the elbow.  “Oh no, but you can’t!” The expression on her face was filled with sorrow, her eyes downcast as she delivered the news. “The castle is filled with the undead that come out at night to attack the villagers until dawn. The arl's family is trapped inside, maybe dead.  No one has heard from them in days.”  She twisted her fingers together anxiously.  “If Bann Teagan is unsuccessful in driving the monsters out, Redcliffe will soon be overrun.”

Alistair looked as if he had been struck a blow, and my heart dropped into my stomach like a hanged man. After dealing with the pain of losing his mentor, his friends, and being betrayed by Loghain, he now risked losing even more.  A light went out of his eyes as his frame slumped forward.  The weight was too heavy to bear, the burden too great to shoulder.  He was never prepared for any of this, but then again, how could one be?  It was trial by fire of the fiercest kind, and he would either bend or break.  As far as it depended on me, I was determined to make sure it was the former.

Dennet grasped the Grey Warden by the shoulders as tears brimmed his eyes. “I'm so sorry that you return to your home to see it in such a state. Please, my boy, if there is anything you can do, help your countrymen. If you do that, you can have as many of my mounts as you wish.”

“We need to find this Bann Teagan, then,” I stated resolutely.  “But we don’t have much time before nightfall.  We need to go.”

As Alistair offered final embraces, handshakes, and ‘the Maker’s blessing’ to the family, Elaina reached out to cup his cheeks in her hands like a doting mother.  “You have grown into such a handsome man.  I regret that Seanna was not here to see you.  We have been sending her away to a place of safety every night since this madness began.  She still asks after you, you know.  Hopefully she will be here when you return, for she will be sorely disappointed to have missed you.”

Alistair rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, and I noticed his face was flushed.  “Yes, hopefully so.  Please give her my regards.”

Purposefully dodging my inquisitive look, we left swiftly, mounting our already spent mare and urging her to give us one final gallop to Redcliffe Village.

“I thought you said no one was waiting for you back home,” I voiced over the beating of hooves.

“Master Dennet was the one who taught me to ride when I was a boy.  Seanna is his daughter, and we were very close when I was younger,” Alistair replied offhandedly.  “I know their family well.  He’ll be true to his word if we survive this accursed place.”

Knowing we had more important matters ahead, I dropped the subject to focus on the task at hand.  The sky burned red with the setting sun as we rounded a hill, and farmland soon gave way to wooden huts.  A waterwheel paddled lazily in a nearby creek’s current, the only movement to be seen as we entered the center of town.

“They must be hiding from the oncoming attack.  But where?”  I stated, perplexed.

Turning around in full circle, Alistair brows knit into a frown.  He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers.  “Where would one hide from the most unholy of creatures but sacred ground?  The Chantry.  Follow me.”

Banging on the barred wooden entrance three times, we were greeted by a tiny square peep-door being opened ever so slightly, one petrified eye staring back at us.  “Who are you?”

Alistair bowed slightly.  “We’re soldiers looking for Bann Teagan.  Tell him Alistair wishes to speak with him.”

The small door shut abruptly, and we stood in silence.  Alistair paced the front steps anxiously, his hands on his hips and eyes to the ground.  After several moments, the main doors swung wide and a man that I assumed to be Bann Teagan stepped forward, clasping my companion’s shoulders warmly.  A broken smile spread over his face.  “Alistair?  Is that really you?”

Alistair returned the gesture.  “Bann Teagan.  It’s good to see you here, although I’m sorry we couldn’t meet again under happier circumstances.”  He motioned for me to step forward.  “This is Shepard, a fellow soldier at Ostegar.  Shepard, Bann Teagan is the arl’s brother.”

Bowing in a way that I had learned was a sign of respect in this land, I cast my eyes downward.  “A pleasure to meet you.  We’d like to help however we can.”

He nodded slightly as I straightened my posture, his red rimmed eyes taking a moment to linger on my features.  “Then help you shall.  Follow me.”

We entered the Chantry, refuge to the women, children, and elderly of the village.  Makeshift aid stations had been created to tend to the wounded; it brought back powerful memories of the refugees on the Citadel.

I caught a waving hand out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Leliana bounding toward us.  She was regaled in leather armor with her blades sheathed on her back, and my jaw went slack at the sight of her.  “Leliana!  How could you have possibly gotten here before us?”

“You’re here!  I’m so glad.  I was afraid you might have changed your mind.”  She smiled with excitement.  “I took a shortcut.”

“A shortcut,” Alistair repeated blandly while giving me a sideways glance.  There’s more to her than meets the eye, I thought.

Turning our attention back to Teagan, Alistair clasped the man on the shoulder in a show of support.  “Master Dennet told us about the attacks.  I’m sorry.”

The bann sighed wearily.  “Your arrival may already be too late.  Arl Eamon is gravely ill.  No one has heard from the castle in days, no guards patrol the walls, and no one has responded to my shouts.  The attacks started a few nights ago.  Evil…things, rotting corpses with a hunger for human flesh, surge from the castle…” His features took on a haunted look as he swallowed hard.  “We drove them back, but many perished in the assault.  Each night, they attack with more numbers, and we fear that tonight will be the worst yet.”  With a heavy heart, he looked to the Alistair.  “Knowing all this, are you still willing to help us?”

Alistair nodded grimly.  “Tell us where we are most needed, and we will see it done.”

A young boy came running toward us, gasping for breath.  “It’s starting!  They’re coming!”

Teagan acknowledged the boy and turned back to us with an expression betraying his fear.  “Please, get to the castle if you can.  Whatever is causing this madness has its root there.  Our men will try to clear a path.  Hurry, and Maker be with you.”  With a forced smile of appreciation mixed with regret, Teagan sent us on our way.

Moonlight cast bars of silver light through the clouds, illuminating our surroundings with an eerie glow.  Hearing the sound of steel and battle cries in the distance, I bid that Alistair and Leliana follow me toward the fray.  I commanded them as we ran.  “I have the most protective armor, so let me lead.  Flank when you can, but most importantly, don’t fight unless you have to.”  I saw Castle Redcliffe looming in the distance, a fortress of dominating strength now haven to unspeakable evil.  Ahead of us was a throng of soldiers being pushed back by what appeared to be the walking dead.  Despite what should have been fatal injuries, the zombies continued their onslaught unabated.  

As we drew nearer, bile bubbled up my throat that I forced down with a hard swallow.  “Shit.”

“What is it?” Alistair questioned as I felt a hand on my shoulder tugging me to a halt.

Turning to face my companions, I rubbed my hand across my face as I quickly tried to explain.  “Those aren’t just animated corpses.  Where I’m from, they’re called husks.”  These, however, seemed more organic in nature, lacking the cybernetics of the Collector-produced husks I encountered on Horizon.  How the hell are they operating without tech?  It was a question I didn’t have time to ponder.  “All you need to know is that they can communicate with the Reaper…archdemon,” I corrected after a confused look from Leliana.  “Once those things know we’re here, so will it.  That means that whatever we do, we need to do it fast.”

Leliana concurred as she unsheathed her daggers.  “Alright, Shepard.  We will be right behind you.”

With a practiced flick of my wrist, a razor-sharp omniblade materialized over my forearm.  At that moment, my omnitool began to vibrate with an incoming connection request from ‘James Vega’.  I swore under my breath when a notification alerted me that it was his third attempt in the past several hours.  Against my better judgment, I swiped left to disregard the call and turned back to my party.

“Aim for the neck, sever the spinal column.  That’s the fastest way to take them down.”

My omnitool vibrated again, and I bit my lip in irritation.  Giving Alistair and Leliana an apologetic look, I reluctantly answered.

“Shepard, what the hell?”

“Kaidan, I really can’t talk right now.”

“Damn it, don’t give me that.  Something went wrong, didn’t it?”

Alistair’s eyes flicked impatiently from me to the soldiers being beaten back.  We couldn’t waste another moment.  “Look, I’m fine.  I’ll explain later.”

Cutting off Kaidan’s reply, I hastily ended the connection and turned back to my companions.  “Sorry about that.  Let’s go.”  After exchanging grim looks of determination, we resumed our charge to aid the overwhelmed soldiers with the fight.

As we drew nearer to the chaos, the amulet around my neck began to vibrate through my chest.  Startled, I tried to continue my pace, but the hum intensified to resonate with every nerve in my being.  The closer I came to the undead creatures, the more discomfort turned to pain, and I suddenly fell to my knees before them with a strangled cry.

“Shepard!”  Alistair skidded to a halt beside me as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders.  Leliana shielded us, her daggers raised as the husks attacked.  I dug my fingers into my skull in desperation; the feeling jolting through me felt like I was being electrocuted from the inside out.

Flemeth’s words returned to me. You must learn to control it.

Time slowed down, the beating of my heart the only sound echoing in my ears.  Alistair was shouting something beside me, his mouth wide and nostrils flared.  He swung his sword in a wide arc as he drew me into his chest protectively.  With every fiber of my being, I bucked against the force tearing me apart atom by atom.  I wanted to push him away, to warn him that it was too strong, too dangerous to be near me, but all I could do was scream in agony with a voice I couldn’t hear.

Justice.  Tangled along the edge of my senses that were ripping to shreds, I started to feel him in a way I could never hope to explain to another living soul.  It was as though he were an alternate side of me, with me but apart from me.  The Veil remained between us, but my actions were his actions, my thoughts his thoughts.  What I bound in the world, he bound in the Fade, and what I loosed, he loosed as well.  The relentless force that had threatened to be my undoing moments before finally settled into the very depths of my soul, mind, body, will…every sense had been cleaved to its very foundation to be alighted with a new understanding.  I had been reborn.

With every new breath, I could feel Justice moving on the other side of the Veil, empowering me with his resolve.  Opening my new eyes for the first time, I broke away from Alistair’s grasp and slowly stood to my feet.

Striding forward with purpose, I stood exposed with nothing but my own raw power.  I reached out my hand and Justice snatched control from the husks with the authority that was ours to command, crushing them out of the realm of the living.  Raising my fist toward the corpses rushing toward me, I sent a shockwave like a flare down the path ahead, casting out demons, rending each spirit from its stolen body and back into the Fade.

I heard Alistair’s voice faintly, as though calling from a great distance.  Letting my arms fall limply to my sides, I jolted as if awakening from a trance, abruptly perceiving my surroundings.  

That’s how they’re functioning.  I suddenly understood.  For whatever reason, technology and cybernetics didn’t exist on this planet.  Instead, the Reapers had found a way to tap an altogether different power only the Fade could give – the power of spirits and demons.  If that was true, the Reapers could build an army of nearly unstoppable proportions.

Shouts of victory filled my ears, and the smell of burning flesh made my stomach churn.  Looking ahead of me, I saw bodies of both soldiers and those long dead intertwined.  I acutely realized what I had just done, and it came with a price.  My head throbbed like I had drunk an entire bottle of Batarian shard wine and my body felt as though it had been brutally beaten.  I slumped to the ground in a crumpled heap, my forehead hitting the dry dirt with a heavy thud.