Chapter Text
The tension in the air in Haven was palpable when the guard at the gate spotted the returning party. Everyone was already understandably on edge after the explosion that leveled the Temple of Sacred Ashes, but the news one of forward scouts brought back was already spreading through the village. People were gathered around the front gates, kept back just enough by some of the soldiers to leave room for the party to move through. There was a faint murmuring and nervous shuffling among the crowd. Humans, mostly, but there were a few elves peeking through the crowd or making up the edges of the group. All were stared expectantly at the doors when the order was called to open them.
Varric had been standing further down the path, watching the doors finally open. He saw the green-clad soldiers and scouts file in, and immediately they started pushing back the crowd for more room. Instead of moving back, many of the people shuffle further down the path, where he and a few others already stood. The guard who the Seeker had ordered to watch Varric stopped straining her neck and started working crowd control with the others.
The returning party had filed in, and the whispers and murmuring got louder around him.
"I thought the bloody scout was lyin'," an older woman beside him whispered.
The procession was getting closer. They were moving slowly, with four soldiers trying to navigate up the hill while carrying a stretcher.
"Can't be right, can it?" a young man whispered back to the old lady. "Must've just been further down the mountain or somethin' and got caught in the blast."
"No," the guard standing close by answered instead. He didn't whisper, but his voice was low. "Corporal Arledge saw it himself. Fell right out of a rift, right in the middle of everything. I was there when they came to the forward camp."
There were a few soft gasps of astonishment before everyone around him when unnervingly quiet again. The group was about to pass by and Varric was glad he didn't have to worry about the humans around him trying to push him aside to see like they were doing to each other.
He could see the Seeker leading the four soldiers carrying the stretcher. Now that they were closer, Varric could see signs of battle on them, but none more so than the Seeker. She was walking with her hand on the pommel of her sword, jaw set and eyes flitting through the crowd for signs of danger. They paused briefly on Varric, but thankfully she'd just chosen to ignore him as she marched past him.
When the stretcher finally came by, he was at perfect eye level to see it, and he understood why four men were needed. A fully grown qunari man was spilling over the sides of the stretcher. He wasn't nearly as big as the Arishok, or even some of the Arishok's men, but he was easily a head taller than any human. His head hung over the top a bit, horns making it impossible to lay otherwise. His legs were hanging off the other end. Varric only really got to look long enough to note these things, the battered armor, and, for some reason, a small blanket thrown only over his arms and chest. The Seeker had picked up pace and the soldiers were struggling to follow.
"Maker." An elven girl had squeezed her way beside Varric in the front. "But even a qunari--how could anyone survive that anyway?"
"Magic. Got to be," someone answered.
"But the Temple was crawling with mages and they all died like the rest of 'em."
"Seeker Pentaghast will find out. She'll find answers."
"A rift just opened and they fell out?"
The guard from the forward camp turned to his attention away from the first group to look at the next one. "That's what Arledge said. He and the others said there was a woman in the Fade behind them before they came through."
"A woman?" The young man asked incredulously.
"Someone else trapped in there?" The elf wondered.
"I don't know. That's just what they said. Anyhow, they've been out cold since," he said even lower. Two more soldiers carrying the other stretcher were finally coming through. The Nightingale was with this group, following instead of leading, keeping a watchful eye. Her bow was at her back and the quiver nearly empty.
This stretcher held a much smaller occupant. A small, thin woman, curled up as best she could. Human, he guessed, but he couldn't see much of her face or ears through the waves of light blonde hair. Someone took pity on her and threw a ratty blanket over her, but the pitiful thing was still visibly shivering. The little he could see of her clothes looked old and somewhat tattered. That's all he managed to gleam before this group rushed past. Leliana at least gave Varric a small nod before shadowing them.
A few more soldiers followed. Some were injured, a few needing the support of others, but none of them looked too dire. The other injured that couldn't walk themselves were probably left in valley. Dying or dead. Still, more soldiers were gearing up to go up the mountain. The ones filing in now would probably be heading right back after they rested and got patched up. There'd been initial reports of demons, and it seemed like even more were pouring out by the hour.
The crowd started to disperse as soon the chantry doors closed behind Leliana.