There wasn’t exactly a pattern and nothing happened like clockwork, but something weird always happened at some point every month. It was like they had been given a reprieve after the horribleness that was the snowglobe misadventure, but Sabrina had known it was only a matter of time before some sort of insanity happened. She’d been thinking it would be some sort of love thing with Valentine’s day right around the corner. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. Those were never fun to try and counter.
Murderous turkeys heaven-bent on causing destruction and killing as many as they could manage seemed to be on the menu instead. Which didn’t surprise her--even normal turkeys looked like they had a murderous gleam in their eyes. Most birds did. Especially the ones who didn’t seem to do all that much flying.
So when Dorian had suggested they get some hands-on practice in the forest and help deal with the turkeys, Sabrina wasn’t about to say no. Maybe, if they didn’t char them too badly, she could even bring one home to cook for dinner!
Maybe that would be a little too fresh for the others though.
“We’ve done ice and fire. Do you think air would be good now?” Or should they fall back on their usuals?
Dorian liked the forest. It was where he lived, and he breathed it in everyday, lungs expanding, the woodland air in heart and soul - he supposed he didn’t have as much of a kinship with the flora and fauna as Atreus did, or Sabrina, but it was peaceful and he could appreciate the flow of serenity like cool river waters.
Unless the woods were currently being stalked by murder turkeys and, honestly, if he hadn’t been living in Vallo for months (and if he hadn’t already battled his lion’s share of deceptively murderous creatures that didn’t look like much but would go for the jugular) he would be more surprised than he actually was. But no, this was relatively ‘normal’ and he knew he just had to jump right in.
He too thought about cooking one up to make for a nice Valentine’s dinner for Atreus, but would go with something else most likely. “We call those Spirit spells - because while we may call on spirits, we also call upon the essence of the Fade itself. Or whatever’s in the air here, since the Fade is quite tiny,” he said, retrieving his staff from where it was slung across his back; he wore his light armor, something he definitely thought he looked dashing in.
“This one’s called Walking Bomb - it curses an enemy, in this case a turkey, so that when it explodes it takes out other enemies nearby. But it must cross the glyph first, so let me show you how to cast and set that up.”
She liked learning the different kinds of magic that people used in Vallo, from the more symbols to the incantations and everything in between that the magic users seemed to do. There were spells back in her own world too, some she knew by heart and others she’d only begun learning once the academy and her father’s journals had shown up. Plus there was the magic she could do that didn’t require any sort of spell, but Sabrina wasn’t exactly sure where that began or ended.
“I don’t know about the Fade but I always think the magic here is...very potent.” She felt it everywhere in Vallo, like a constant hum in the back of her mind. At least it was more pleasant than the thrum of Pandemonium.
“But I am eager to learn this glyph.” And try it out before she tried something of her own.
It was only going to be a little bit of a reprieve - in a moment, they’d be swarmed by murder-loving foul, and Dorian planned to have a trap set up ahead of time. He selected a clearing, giving themselves plenty of space to work in - and so he grasped his staff (no comments from the peanut gallery), which was best for cold, wintry spells but ultimately he could use it to cast essentially anything.
Using the staff, he twisted and twirled it (such a flashy sort of weapon, which he could appreciate), the ripple and shimmer of magic in the air like it was dusted with tiny diamonds - that magic illuminated on the ground a moment later, the glyph lighting up before sinking back into the earth. “Let’s set a few traps for these infernal birds, shall we?” Dorian suggested.
“And if you have any questions feel free to ask - but I’m certain you’ll pick up on it easily,” he added, since Sabrina was correct. The magic was potent here. Which was good, because he didn’t have to rely on a miniscule fade and only be able to draw on it in minimal amounts. That wasn’t useful.
Sabrina mimicked the pattern he’d done with the staff using just her hands. She could be theatrical when she wanted but she’d never been one to use wands or staffs--that was much more her cousin’s forte. The same shimmer of magic swirled in the air in another spot, a glyph settling into the earth near his, before she worked to do another and another. More was usually better.
Especially when it came to murderous animals in Vallo. She remembered the rabbits and how bitter those battles had been. Just because something looked cute and cuddly didn’t mean it was. Not that turkeys were ever cute or cuddly.
“Is the Fade in your world...disappearing or was it always so limited?” she asked as she surveyed her handiwork, still keeping a look out for the turkeys that would no doubt be on them sooner rather than later.
“Oh, no, it’s the main source of power for spells for those of us who are mages,” Dorian said, observing their handiwork. The glyphs looked good - he was glad he got to teach Sabrina a new spell, and hopefully explosions would at the very least be entertaining. About as entertaining as the wintry spells had been - he did enjoy ice magic, and the songs that she apparently liked to sing while casting. “It’s - sort of like the afterlife, which may be why it doesn’t exist here since there’s a different sort of theology. In Thedas it’s the realm where demons reside, restless spirits, and mages are drawn to the Fade every night when they dream.”
He smiled wryly, taking a breath of cool, fresh forest air. “One of the reasons I vastly prefer this place is because I don’t have to battle demons in my dreams. Vallo makes for much more restful sleep, I will say.”
Then, he sensed it. A gobble, gobble, an approach of waddling birds - they were fast and strong, however, and he knew they’d caused some damage already to the farms scattered about, and it seemed like those who lived off the land here couldn’t seem to get much of a break from that sort of thing. “Alright, battle stations,” and he readied himself, stormy grey eyes darting between each of the glyphs that surrounded them to see which would be crossed first.
Sabrina wished it was easy as leaving her world behind meant she didn’t need to fight off demons. But well...different worlds, different roles, different horrors. Everyone had their own demons to fight--physical and metaphorical--no one’s was lesser or greater than anyone else’s. But right. Turkeys. Focus needed to turn toward the murderous fowl.
The explosions were almost pretty, sending feathers and pieces she didn’t really want to think about too closely flying into the air and this way and that. It startled the birds for a moment, but they didn’t stop advancing forward, sending off more explosions with a few making their way through unharmed. Sabrina set those she could see on hellfire, making the turkeys go up in bright blue flames, before pulling at the air to try and manipulate it to tossing the creatures backwards once they were lit on fire.
There were no fun songs sung this time around. She’d need to catch up on her Disney movies to think up some new tunes to sing.
“Well done, Sabrina,” Dorian complimented, as the feathers went flying - figuratively and literally. It was explosion after explosion of turkeys - one of the aspects of this spell was that the first exploding turkey made for a domino effect, a burst (a shower, to the windows! The walls! The light fixtures!) of gore, blood and turkey guts splattering every which way.
They came from the earth, they would return to the earth. Seemed fitting, in a sense.
He blinked, to clear spots of color dancing in front of his eyes (and tried valiantly to ignore the smell), and since there were still more coming in droves, aimed for a pocket at the left far side near the trees. No glyphs were set up there, but he went for chain lightning - a flash and twirl of the Earnest Reprisal staff, and lightning shocked the first turkey, and illuminated arc catching the others in its group up in the sizzling, scorching bolts.
“There are so many of them,” he groaned, because honestly.
“At least they probably didn’t multiply as quickly like the bunnies did.” Not that she knew much about turkey reproductive habits. These ones probably weren’t even from Vallo but weirdly brought here by Vallo for its monthly bout of insanity.
Sabrina sent a stream of ice toward another group advancing on them, causing the creatures to scatter and flail across the ice before they were sucked into a portal that would send them into Pandemonium. The hounds would enjoy some fresh turkey that evening and she wouldn’t need to worry about feeding them. Win-win.
“Hopefully there’s not a boss turkey this time around that we have to kill.” One that was larger than all of the others and incredibly strong. That had happened with one of the other creatures. It had sucked.
Considering this was an onslaught of turkeys, Dorian did get pecked up a bit in the shitstorm, but it was nothing particularly bad and nothing he couldn’t handle - there were some scratches too, from ugly and creepy bird feet however he kept on.
“A boss turkey,” he snorted, and that idea didn’t seem as far fetched as one might think. “I imagine if we did take it down, it would provide meat for weeks.” Yet he’d hope that wasn’t the case.
Ice came next, and a wall formed to block in the turkey brigade - it was hard ice, cracking into place and cold enough to feel tiny pinpricks of a chill if you were standing near it, but it was his goal to herd them into that one spot (to build the wall around them, actually) and then get rid of another pocket in one fell swoop. “Can you - what’s the word? Yeet those?” he asked. Teamwork. Such a beautiful thing.
“I don’t think they can swim.” Or well, even if they could, she doubted they could swim from the middle of the ocean that surrounded Vallo.
Sabrina opened up another portal underneath the turkeys he’d managed to corral and dropped them into the ocean, far enough from land that they had little hope of surviving. She’d considered the dinosaur island, but that would probably backfire somehow. They would probably end up with murderous turkey-dinosaur hybrids as the next potential threat.
She pulled a ring of hellfire up around her, keeping any of them from getting too near to her. They seemed intent on their murderous rampage but not entirely stupid. Fire still equaled bad to them. The smell was less than pleasant though.
“I feel like this is going to turn me off of chicken for weeks to come.”
“Maker - “ Dorian shuddered, because yes, the idea of eating chicken now (or a nice turkey dinner) seemed particularly abhorrent. “It will certainly take awhile to get back to wanting poultry, I agree. I think I’ll just have a salad for supper tonight.”
Another winter blast, this time a spell that created turkey icicles - they were encased in it, until they shattered into a million powdery cold pieces, and it finally appeared as if they were making some headway. The clearing was covered in debris (and by ‘debris’ he meant bits of bone, blood, feathers, and various things like gizzards), and no other turkeys were emerging from the wreckage.
Their gobbling war cries had faded. Maybe it was the eye of the hurricane.
Dorian remained battle-ready in his stance, but slung the staff across his back and flexed his fingers. “Was that all of them?”
Salad seemed like a very good idea for dinner. For at least the next few days. At least Dan would be happy she’d be eating her vegetables. Sabrina opened up the earth beneath another group of turkeys, letting it swallow them whole before she closed it before scrunching her nose. She glanced through the smoke, debris, ice and guts as best she could, wondering if they had managed to get all of the ones that had surrounded them or if they were simply being watched, the turkeys waiting for them to drop their guard.
A new chorus of gobbles echoed from behind them and Sabrina turned, ready to unleash ice at the creatures when a line of hellfire whizzed by her, shooting along the ground and catching it ablaze as it moved towards the turkeys and then worked to circle them in flames.
“...is that you?” Sabrina asked, glancing over at her teacher. Because it definitely wasn’t her.
Dorian had just been about to engage with some fire spells of his own - inferno was always useful - when he saw the sizzle of another stream of flames, flames that definitely didn’t belong to him. “It’s not me,” he confirmed, turning, with the staff still in his hand and ready.
He didn’t really see anything though, was the issue. Those timberwolf eyes squinted and - he may have heard a rustling in the brush; mostly he was concerned that whatever it was, it would try to set him and Sabrina on fire next. Even if it appeared like it was on their side, you never really could tell.
“Shall we investigate?”
She nodded, letting hellfire circle her hands, before stepping forward. At least it seemed like the turkeys were dealt with. Sabrina didn’t have the added benefit of any special eyesight and wrinkled her nose as she moved toward the bushes where whatever it was seemed to have headed. Whatever she’d been expecting to find, it definitely wasn’t a little black salamander surrounded by blue flames looking ready to attack before it shifted to a more curious expression as it tilted its head back and forth, looking at the two of them.
“Thanks for the assist.” She held out a hand toward the creature, much like she had to the hellhounds when they’d all found her. “Are you from around here or…?” She definitely hadn’t seen anything like him during her wanderings in the forest before.
It backed up for a second before shifting forward to cautiously sniff at her hand and then bump its head against it much like Salem liked to. Sabrina looked over at Dorian. “Well, it seems to be friendly.”
It was so adorable, and Dorian didn’t really consider himself much of an animal person - he’d gotten better about it though, ever since he started dating Atreus and especially since they had adopted Blackwall together. This little thing was - well, he didn’t know what it was. A tiny dragon, perhaps? But it definitely appeared to be friendly. A lot friendlier than any dragons from his homeworld.
“And it was meant for you, I would assume?” he mused, sounding entertained. The staff was definitely slung across his back now, put away for the time being since he wouldn't need it - instead, he knelt to offer his hand to the creature too, for an investigatory sniff. “I doubt I can take it to the Sanctuary for keeping.”
Kratos would just grumble more. Maybe Skyhold, however - there weren’t nearly enough animals there yet.
The little salamander crawled up into her hand and then made its way up her arm to settle onto her shoulder. Salem was not going to like this at all. “I think its meant for me.” Sort of like the hellhounds had been meant for her. “He can always visit you at the Sanctuary though.” That was probably all Mr. Kratos would be able to handle.
She gave the salamander a little head scratch before looking around at the mess behind them. “Are we on clean up duty or do we just leave this for scavengers to eat up?” Because Sabrina really didn’t want to have to clean up the guts and feathers that were littered all about.
“Scavengers,” was Dorian’s immediate proposal. “And they can be one with the earth.” Yes, that - because cleaning up this Maker-forsaken mess seemed like the absolute last thing he would want to do. The forest was so tricky anyway, he wouldn’t be surprised if an otherworldly flash just did away with the innards, maybe about when the forest shifted and changed anyway - it was prone to doing that, he’d noticed. Luckily Skyhold and its waypoint always stayed where it was meant to be.
But now Sabrina had a new friend, wasn’t that exciting? “Atreus will want to meet him, at least. Have a chat,” Dorian chuckled, glancing at the tiny creature perching on her shoulder. “You’re welcome to bring him by Skyhold anytime too. We’ll make sure he doesn’t get lost in the corridors. But alright - shall we head back, then?”
He needed a bath. And a break in general, before facing off more murderous foul.
Thank Hecate. Letting the fowl be one with the earth seemed like the perfect solution. “I’ll stop by with him soon so they can formally meet one another.” Because Dorian was probably right, Atreus would want to meet her new little friend and if anyone could talk to him it would be Atreus. Hopefully Sabrina would know the little salamander’s name before then though.
“Heading back sounds good because I really want to get a bath and eat a salad.” And hopefully Dan would still be at the clinic and Nick would be out of the house so she’d have time to heal any cuts or bruises she might have gotten before either of them could see them. Fingers crossed.
A bath and a salad - what a perfect plan for the evening. Dorian felt as if he’d accomplished quite a bit with Sabrina during this debacle, so a luxurious soak and tending to any cuts and bruises of his own ought to be a pleasant reward. He wouldn’t go so far as to eat a salad in the bathtub, but if he brought a bag of candied dates in there to munch on while reading the latest in trashy smut novels - who would judge him?
“Wonderful - and if we see any more turkeys on the way, at least we know we have another ally to assist with them.” Nameless salamander was officially part of the family, and surely he’d have a chance to show off his brush-burning skills at a later date. There were always opportunities, here in Vallo.