Chapter one

Ok, so this is my first attempt at writing, ever. However, I had an idea in my head that won't go away. Please be gentle, but I welcome all criticisms, they can only help improve the story. Also if anyone would like to be my beta, I would be very grateful. Here we go...

As Ava lay in bed recovering, her treacherous mind kept going back to his final moments atop fort Drakon.

As she looked at the Archdemon, she knew this was what they had worked so hard over the past year to achieve. The past months spent gathering an army and defeating Loghain to end the civil war had boiled down to this moment. But even knowing that did not stop the indescribable fear that she felt when she saw the blasted thing.

Leaving some of her companions at the gates of Denerim had been hard. They had all gone through this together, they all deserved to see it end together, but she knew it wasn't possible. Someone needed to hold the gates and she left Oghren in charge.

They had fought their way through the city of Denerim, ending the lives of all darkspawn that stood in their way. Much of the city was in ruins, fires burning randomly throughout and there seemed not to be a soul in sight. Riordan had died trying to defeat the creature, but his death was not in vain, he had damaged the beasts wing enough to prevent the creature from flying off

She had brought with her Wynne, her dog Xerxes and Alistair. Herself and Alistair were a forced to be reckoned with. They knew the art of fighting well, as if it was almost a dance between the two of them and their styles of fighting complimented each other's. Now was not the time to hesitate, she and her companions charged for the beast, leaving the dwarves that she had brought with her to fight the darkspawn that had accompanied the Archdemon. They began cutting and slicing, hacking at the monster bit by bit, leaving Wynne to heal them when needed. They were continuing like this for what seemed like ages, and they were tiring. Ava needed to think of something quickly, otherwise they would not survive the battle.

'Alistair, I need you' she shouted

He came running over to her in an instant.

'Do you remember that ogre in the deeproads that just would not go down?' she questioned.

'Of course!' he retorted, looking at her as if she'd gone mad, now was not the time to be reminiscing about such things.

'That move that we used, I think now would be a good time for a repeat performance' she said, flashing him a wide grin.

He mirrored her grin with one of his own as he finally realised what she was suggesting. Using Xerxes as a distraction, herself and Alistair ran to the back of the Archdemon. Alistair bent over whilst she took a running leap at the creature vaulting from his back in the process. Ava was launched through the air, heading for the creatures back She plunged her twin daggers into the creature to prevent herself from falling back to the floor. When she had steadied herself, Ava pulled herself atop the creature's head and plunged her daggers into the archdemon's neck, slicing deep into the scales, blood pouring onto the floor. The archdemon roared with an unholy noise, throwing her from him in the process. The monster, in a weakened state was unable to fight and fell to the floor. Alistair ran over to her.

'Are you ok my love?' Alistair asked.

'I will be fine if you help me up, I will need your sword for the final blow, I lost mine.' she said.

'I'm afraid I can't do that.' he said calmly.

'What are you talking about, help me up. We've talked about this, I am the one to take the final blow!' she cried realisation dawning on her as to what Alistair was thinking.

'Do you really think that I would let the woman I love die?' he asked, adoration marking his features

'Alistair, please think about this, Ferelden needs you, you are their king.'

'And this is the best thing that I can do as their king, save them from the blight. You are to be the commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. You must be there for your wardens, they will need a strong leader in the time to come, it's what Duncan would have wanted.' he said with determination.

'Please Alistair, this is crazy.' she cried, anguish in her voice.

'It's the most sane thing I've ever done. I love you Ava, never doubt that, I always will.' he said with a finality.

He leaned down to kiss her for one last time, tasting the saltiness of her tears as they slid down her face. He gave her one last loving smile and ran over to the beast.

As Ava pulled herself out of her thoughts, her mind was still marked with the image of Alistair's face as he plunged his sword deep into the Archdemon's skull, the look of sheer determination on his face. He was surrounded by a blinding white light that quickly engulfed them all, and that is the last time she saw him.

She had spent the best part of a week convalescing in Denerim palace. Recovering wasn't the right word, she supposed, she was just struggling to face anyone at the moment. Knowing that she will never see Alistair again, his boyish grin and bright amber eyes, weighing heavily on her heart. Ava was also struggling with feelings of guilt that he sacrificed himself to save her. Her mind, already deciding that she had not had enough torture, kept going back to the thought that, would things be different if she had accepted Morrigan's offer? Would Alistair still be here? But deep down, she knew that they had made the right decision What was the point of ridding the world of one evil when they could potentially be filling it with another. But even knowing that didn't make it any easier.

There was a gentle knock at the door.

'Come in.' she called softly, not really wanting to see anyone, but knowing that she couldn't really avoid them any longer. To her relief, it was Leliana.

'How do you fare?' she asked gently.

She was unable to stop the tears that sprang to her eyes. ' I miss him, Leliana.'

'I know, ma soeur.' she said softly 'But you need to carry on with your life, it is what Alistair would have wanted.'

And unable to stop them the tears flowed freely. Leliana held her head in her lap, gently rocking her back and forth until she finally cried herself to sleep. Leliana moved away slowly, laying her head on a pillow and left the room, gently shutting the door behind her.

When she awoke, the first light of the day was slowly creeping into her room and she knew that it was morning. She could hear the hustle and bustle of the castle staff as they went about their daily chores. Ava knew Leliana was right, she couldn't carry on in her self-pity. Alistair had sacrificed himself so that she could live. She needed to honour his memory and do her duty to the country they both so dearly loved.

She swung her legs round and placed her feet on the cold stone floor. She padded softly over to the vanity in her room and looked in the mirror. Ava grimaced, she looked terrible. She slowly removed her long nightgown and started to slowly buckle herself in her dragonscale amour. She brushed her long, auburn hair, and placed braids round her head. She smeared her lips with colour that she knew was Alistair's favourite, and smiled at the thought of him, even if it did bring a sadness to her heart. Taking a final look at herself in the mirror, she headed out of the door to face the world.