The Final Battle

by Tonks32

"This was it. Not turning back. No retreating. Corypheus and his forces were knocking on Skyhold's door and the Inquisition was going to answer it with everything they had." Part of the Adventures of Gideon Trevelyan Series.

Here's hoping you guys aren't tired of reading my stories! Enjoy! All mistakes are mine, but I tried to catch as many as I could!

---

This was it. Not turning back. No retreating. Corypheus and his forces were knocking on Skyhold's door and the Inquisition was going to answer it with everything they had. With much of their army still making their way back from the wilds, they didn't have much. But that wasn't going to stop them. They were going to fight until there was nothing left. Fight to their last breath. Everyone in Skyhold, down to those that prepped the food and tended the gardens, vowed it when Gideon stood on the steps explaining to them what was about to happen.

After the destruction of Haven their vows didn't surprise him. That still didn't mean it didn't weigh heavily on him. He wasn't the Inquisitor at Heaven. He wasn't the one leading. Wasn't the one asking them to fight. To die. This time was different. This time he had stood holing up the sword gifted to upon him by the very same people he asked to fight. To ask those that couldn't not to flee, but to stay to help prepare in any way they could. With the enemy closing in on them there was no time to get the children and other out of harm's way. All they could do was hide themselves in the space beneath the keep and pray to the Maker they'd see the end of all this.

Sighing, Gideon picked up what he came for from the blacksmith table and moved out across the courtyard. People were rushing to about in preparation. Gathering water in case of fire. Stocking linens and bandage for the wounded. Sharpening weapons, making armor, filling oil drums, and wedeling arrow shafts. They were frightened. They tried not to show it, but Gideon could see it beneath the brave masks they wore. As he passed, he gave them a confident nod and the best reassuring smile he could muster. He didn't stop for words of encouragement because there were none to give. They were either ready or not.

Gideon found the person he was seeking in the ready room. Cassandra was already in her armor and inspecting her shield that seen better days. To him, every scratch and dent reminded him the many battles the faced in the two years. Always emerging victorious with just a scratches. He wondered when their luck would run out. Bound to happen sooner rather than later. Gideon just hoped this wasn't the time.

"Just the person I wanted to see."

The Seeker's spine stiffened as she put down her shield face up. She rested a gloved hand over the heart of the Inquisition symbol. "Are we ready to move out?"

"Almost." Gideon closed the door to give them what little privacy they could get. At any moment it would be shattered and they will be marching to their final battle. Walking up beside her, he ran the tips of his fingers over one of the deep gauges in the metal. "Think it will hold up?"

"Maker willing. I meant to talk to see the smithy about making me a new one, but time got away from me." She glanced over at him still not use to his new appearance. After their return from the wilds he had cut his hair to a thin layer and the thick beard he worked so hard on growing was now just stumbles from overnight.

"Well then I guess this is the perfect time for this. I wanted to wait until after, but…." He finished his sentence by placing a shield and a sheathed sword on the table in front of her. An engagement offering. More practical than a ring, though he did have every intention of presenting her with one. "It would bring me great comfort for you to use these in battle today."

Her eyes fell on the weapons. They were beautiful. The hilt of the sword was expertly crafted in silver, reinforced with dragon bone, with a gem reminded Cassandra of Gideon's eyes, and the handle stitched with Dufflo leather and golden thread. After testing the weight and balance, Cassandra placed the sword down with great care as if she held a babe. The shield was crafter just as beautiful and expertly. The middle, caste in blood stone, was a beautiful combination of the Trevelyan and Prendergast family crest.

"May they protect you in battle." Gideon ached to touch her, but was too afraid the moment he did he would beg her to stay in Skyhold and out of harm's way. That would be the biggest betrayal. Cassandra was the most capable warrior he had ever known. Just because he loved her wasn't a valid enough reason to remove her from battle.

"Gideon." Cassandra broke, reaching out desperately, taking his face in her gloved hands. Tears filled her eyes and leaked into her voice, "Please."

He gently cupped the back of her head dropping his brow to hers. "This ends tonight. I vow to you, Lady Cassandra, that one way or another, the breech will be closed. I will die to make this so."

Come back to me. The words nearly slipped past her guard. Cassandra refused to add any more orders or stress. Maker knew that his shoulder must ache from the weight he already carried. "Please take care, Inquisitor. You are precious to more than just the Inquisition."

"If something is to happen to me."

"Don't." A sob caught in her throat, "Please don't say such a thing."

"If it does," Gideon started again, "promise me that you won't abandoned the Inquisition. You must take my place and lead."

She shook her head trying to pull away from the thought and him only Gideon held on tight. "I can't."

"Ye,s you can." Emotions flooded his voice, "This is your cause. There would be no Inquisition without you, Cassandra. You were the one who did something when no others would. So promise me, Cassie. Swear you will continue to do what you can to bring peace to Thedas. Swear it."

A single tear rolled down her scarred cheek, "I swear it."

"Good girl." He stroked her cheek with his thumb and drew away, "Do you have the coin?

"Yes." To prove it, the Seeker pulled on the cord that hung around her neck to pull the small piece of silver from beneath her armor. "Gideon I-I…. Just fight, okay? Fight to come back to me."

His lips curved into a smile, lighting up his face, "I'll fight until I have nothing left. This I swear to you, my lady."

Her nose wrinkled, "I hate when you call me that."

"No you don't." Gideon called her on her bluff. The enjoyment was swirling in her dark eyes behind her tears. "I love you, Cassandra. Whatever happens I'm glad that I fell out of the fade. Glad I've gotten to know you. To love you."

"I thank the Maker for you every day." Cassandra lifted her mouth to his. Nice and short. Any longer and their resolve would break and they would mostly likely end up in a heap on the floor. They needed all their strength if they wanted to have any hope to defeat Corypheus. No matter how much they wanted. There would be no desperate attempt to seek solace in each other.

Gideon lips lingered for a moment longer before he withdrew from her completely. One of the hardest things he ever had to do in his life. "I need to check in with Cullen on the progress of Skyhold's preparations. Ready the party to move out."

"Right away." Once he disappeared from view, the Seeker closed her eyes to trap the tears threatening to fall. Be strong. They couldn't afford for her to be emotional. Everyone needed a clear head.

"You didn't tell him."

Cassandra's eyes snapped open finding the dwarf lingering in the doorway. Unlike before, there was no smugness in his voice. "He doesn't need to be distracted."

Varric shook his head in disagreement, "He needs to know. Maybe it will-."

"Varric please." Cassandra cut him off, "If you are truly my friend, than you won't press this. He needs a clear head."

Varric nodded. He wasn't happy about it though. "Hope you're right, Seeker." With that, the storyteller left her alone.

Cassandra clasped the metal that hung around her neck and said a soft prayer to the Maker before tucking it back safely behind her armor. Ready for battle, the warrior strapped her newly acquired sword to her side giving her reassurance that she was doing the right thing. Once they survived this- If they survived this, than she would tell him. For now they would both just focus on the task ahead.

"You ready, my dear Cassandra?" Dorian popped his head into the room.

"Yes." She picked up the shield, finding it very light and well balanced before tossing it carefully onto her back. Stepping into the court yard behind the mage, Cassandra's mind was clear but for one thing. Defeating Corypheus and closing the breech. Nothing else mattered.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo

"Gideon!" Coughing, Cassandra struggled to free herself from the rubble trapping her to the scorched earth. She must have lost consciousness sometime after separating from Varric because she sure in the hell didn't remember being hit by a shit tone of rocks. For the love of Andraste everything hurt.

"CASSANDRA!"

The Seeker turned her head in hopes to find a small hole of light through the darkness. Was that Vivienne's voice?

"Cassandra?" This time it was Varric's calling out for it. The rouge's rough gruff was unmistakable.

"Varric." She could barely speak above a whisper. Damn it! She needed to get free. She needed to find Gideon.

"Come on Seeker." The voice grew closer. "You never ere the bashful type. Use that booming voice of yours."

"Ugh." Since her voice was no help, Cassandra put all her concentration in getting their attention another way. Her right arm, though it hurt like hell, was the only part of her body free, so the Seeker started to feel around for any lose rock being careful not to touch any big ones. Thankfully, the debris wasn't completely crushing her. If disturbed it would.

"Over here!" Heavy footsteps came from somewhere above her head. "Bull come help! Careful not to crush her."

Cassandra closed her eyes in attempt to keep the dust out as the rocks began to shift around her. The voice started to mix together, all assuring her they would get her out. None of them mentioned the state of the breech or more importantly the Inquisitor.

"Maker's breath." A light blinded her, "Gideon."

Varric dropped down at her side, "Cassandra."

So much worry flooded the dwarf's voice. She tried to open her eyes again. Varric sported a nice gash long his brow and his usually primed hair now loose and wild. "I'm okay." She softly assured.

"Dorian."

"I said-."

"You wouldn't tell me if you weren't. So shut up, Seeker."

"Bastard."

"Stay still, Cass." Iron Bull softly commanded moving the debris with the help of the mage's magic.

Once she was free, Dorian was at the warrior's side before she could even think about moving. His armor was tarnished with a few chunks of the fabric missing where there were gashes in his skin. Dorian's perfect hair, just like Varrics, was disheveled. "A few possible bruised or broken bones." He reported moving his hand from head to toe. "Nothing to serious." Hard to tell with his mana drained.

Cassandra wasted no time pushing the man's hand away in order to sit up. Finding her shield was easy and thankfully no worse for the wear. Now she just needed to find her weapon. "Where is my sword?"

"Cassandra you-."

The Seeker's gaze shot to Varric, "I'm fine."

Varric caught her when her leg gave out on her, "Want to say that again, Seeker?"

Cassandra fought through the pain, "Just give me a Maker forsaken potion" After finding her word half buried, she downed the health potion in one big gulp. Next step, find Gideon. She prayed to the Maker that he was still alive. Her attention shifted to a large strike of green light. It was almost too easily to mistake for lightning. Cassandra knew better. "Try and stop me Varric and I'll chop your head off."

"I know better than to cross you, Seeker." Varric muttered pushing to his feet cross bow at the ready. The rouge watched the warrior dart towards the light and dutifully followed after, Iron Bull and Dorian close behind. Now if the bloody woman would just listen to him before she got herself killed.

Dorian barley caught up with Cassandra in time to stop her from getting any closer to the battle. The Inquisitor had the orb in his outstretched hand, manipulating the fade rift making it flicker around him and Corypheus. An ear piercing howl filled the air. It was impossible to tell if it came from man or darkspwan.

"Gideon!" Cassandra didn't dare move any closer. This was it. This was the final moment and only one of them was going to walk away. Whatever her lover was doing drained him of both stamina and life. Anguish filled his bloody face as he manipulated the rift and the core with his marked hand.

And just like that it was over. The rift was gone, the orb shattered, and no more Corypheus. An eerie silence replaced the chaos. The Inquisitor wavered, his hand falling limply back to his side, the mark just a dim glow. Over the last year, almost two, of fighting, pain, and misery was over. Gideon crumbled to the ground.

"No!" Roaring, Cassandra charged up the stairs taking two at a time. Her weapons were already discarded on the ground so she could grasp the edge of the Inquisitor's breast plate. Gideon laid face first on the concreate unmoving. "GIDEON!"

No movement. No sound. Gideon just laid there, his eyes, his beautiful gray eyes, a void of nothingness.

"Maker no!" She tried to lift the limp man and failed. The healing potion helped, but her body was still weak from the battle and injuries. Frantic, Cassandra bent over Gideon to touch his pale face, "GIDEON!"

"Cassandra." Dorian carefully approached.

"No! Help him!" This wasn't happening. The Maker wouldn't let him come this far only to claim him at the end. She couldn't lose him. Not now. Cassandra pulled helplessly at Gideon's armor. "Gideon! No please! Wake up!"

Iron Bull found himself rooted to the spot in stun silence. He felt completely helpless watching Cassandra break down. Screaming with tears of suffering rolling down her dirty face. The Inquisitor didn't move. The fearless warrior pleased and begged as she shook and pulled at the man. Still, Gideon stared a head unchanged.

"Somebody help me!" Her sobs echoed down the stars with others gathered having heard her cries of distress. Why weren't they doing something? How could they just stand there and watch? She screamed for help to anyone who would listen and something n her tone seemed to snap Dorian out of his trance spurring him forward.

The mage knelt down beside the pair, "Cassandra." The Seeker still clutched the unresponsive man so tightly her knuckles were white.

"Help him, Dorian." Cassandra begged, "Please."

"I don't know if I can." The confession felt like there was sand in his mouth. Though the Inquisitor was most important to Cassandra, the rest of their dysfunctional family held Gideon Trevelyan, their Herald of Andraste and Inquisitor, close to their hearts. Losing him would destroy them all. It would destroy the very foundation of the Inquisition and undo all the work they done.

Cheering off in the distance reached the small party having been carried by the wind. Word of Corypheus's defeat must have reached the rest of the party and Skyhold. Cassandra began to grow angry. The Inquisitor, the man she loved and respect, was gone. Gideon may still have breath in his body, but his mind was gone. There was nothing in his eyes. No light. No emotions. Nothing but a shell. He had given all because it had been asked of him and they cheered. To Cassandra the sound was like a Terror Demons screech. High pitched and ear piercing.

"Cassandra."

Someone was trying to pull her away from Gideon. "No!" cheering forgotten, the Seeker anchored herself to her lover refusing to move. "Don't touch him."

Bull's large hands settled on her shoulder, his voice penetrating her haze of grief. "We need to get him back to Skyhold."

Dorian lifted his soft gaze to hers, "I'll take care of him, Cassandra."

Varric knelt down beside her, "You're hurt, Seeker. You need to see a healer while sparkles takes care of him."

"I don't want to leave him." Where was that battle harden Seeker? It seemed that person had been shattered into a million little pieces. "I can't."

'You know when Scruffy is back on his feet, he'll tease you about all your fussing after he yells at you for not going to a healer." Varric witnessed her resolve start to weaken. He helped pry her fingers from Gideon's breast plate. "Come on, Cassandra."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Cassandra looked up hopeful as Dorian and the healer stepped back from the bed. Gideon still lay motionless starring all but lifeless upwards. Judging by the look on the Mage's face, Cassandra's heart sank straight into her stomach. "What is it?"

Dorian ran a hand through his disheveled hair, "Aside from the obvious minor physical injuries, our Inquisitor is fine."

That snapped the Seeker to her feet, "Don't tell me he's fine, Dorian!" She gestured to the deathly still man. "Look at him! Look!"

"I think it was the orb." Only if Solas was still around. There hadn't been site of the elf since the dust settle from the final battle. To Dorian, Solas's where about was the last of their concerns at the moment. "It carried a magic that none of understand. Maybe using the mark to destroy it took everything out of him. I don't know… Maybe all of it caused another rift to the fade to open."

Cassandra rubbed her throbbing temples, "What are trying to tell me?"

"His mind is gone." Dorian summarized thought it was just a shot in the dark. There was still blood and air glowing through his body, but his brain was completely dormant. No signal to his brain for him to even blink. In his time with the Inquisition, Dorian learned that the magic the Inquisitor wielded was not meant for a mortal man. He could tell, thought Gideon hid it very well, that every time the warrior used the mark it drew a little bit of life out of him. And Maker knew what drinking out of the well did to him. "And I don't know if I can do anything to get it back."

Not the answer Cassandra wanted to hear. Bolting from the room, Cassandra battled her own body not to give out on her. The effects of the healing potion she forced the healer to give her upon returning to Skyhold was weaning. Sweet Andraste, she couldn't lose him. Something she wouldn't recover from not matter what people said. The Seeker reached the landing of the stairs of before her knees gave out. She lost the battle with her stomach too and threw up what little she had in there. Even when that was gone, she kept dry heaving.

"Shit. Cassandra." Cullen charged up the stairs still dressed in his battle tarnished armor. "Cole, Get a healer."

"But I can help." The sprit argued following.

"She needs a healer."

"Leave that to me." Vivienne called up from the base of the wooden steps. The mage stopped for a second to issue an order to someone in the hall before continuing. "Get her to the nearest room as quickly as possible."

Easier said than done in Cullen's mind. The woman's body shook violently as she continued to dry heave. "Cassandra." To see her in such a state was unbearable. He reached with every intention to help, but ended up staggering back after an elbow to the nose. Blow flowed instantly. "Fuck!"

"Don't touch me." She growled struggling to find breath.

Clod held up a hand to stop the commander from trying again. "Let me." Cautiously, Cole knelt down making sure he kept a safe distance from the distraught woman. "Not all is lost, Cassandra. There is hope."

She shook her head, "There is none. The maker has abandoned us. There is no golden city. There is nothing but destruction and misery."

"There is more than that. You have experienced it. Warm smiles. Loving hands. Laughter. Friendship. Family. He showed you that. The pain blinds you. Makes you believe." The Seeker's head drop, her tears dripping off her face. Cole took this as a sign it was safe to approach and placed a gentle hand on her shaking shoulder. His voice was hypnotic and light, "You have the proof inside you. Hold on to that. To him. Focus on that. Focus."

Cullen had to act quickly to catch Cassandra before she face planted on the ground. "What in Andraste's sake did you do, Cole!"

"She's fine." The spirit reassured. "I made her sleep. To forget."

"Forget?" Cullen his hold on the Seeker.

"Only for a little while, I promise."

Swiping his sleeve under his nose one last time, Cullen carefully lifted Cassandra up into his arms. He hoped Cole was right. He knew better than to be anywhere near the woman when she woke if Cole knew what was best for him, he wouldn't either.

0o0o0o0o

Cassandra felt extremely hazing the moment she was pulled from the fade. Almost felt like a heavy cloud had wrapped itself around her brain. She opened her eyes to find herself in unfamiliar surroundings. What was going on? Where was she? And more importantly, why did she ache all over?

"Cassie?"

The Seeker blinked her vision clear, "Leliana? Where am I?"

"You don't know?" Concern filled the spy master's voice.

"I-I." The cloud begrudgingly started to part as Cassandra struggled to push herself into a sitting position. First thing she noticed was she no longer wore her armor. Just a simple tunic covered her frame. No Gideon's tunic. Her lover's sent filled her senses. "Where is the little bastard?"

Leliana held her friend down, "Be thankful for, Cole. You were in need of a healer, Cassandra. You risked permanently hurting yourself and the baby."

Cassandra froze. Somehow another person besides the two that knew verbalizing her pregnancy drove it home for her. Dorian had been the one to confirm the fact she was carrying Gideon's child. They'd been traveling back from a small rift not far from Skyhold when they engaged in a small scuffle with some bandits. During a round of healing, Dorian just blurted it out. Thankfully, Gideon's attention had been elsewhere, but Varric's wasn't. It took a lot of threatening to slice over the dwarf's balls to acquire his silence.

"You knew?" Leliana withdrew, "You knew you were with child and you still went into battle?"

"I couldn't abandon him, Leliana." The reasoning felt foolish now. "He needed all the strength he could get. We are always stronger together. I know it was stupid, but I just couldn't let him stand alone."

"And you didn't tell him because you thought it would be a distraction." Not the best line of thinking, but one that Leliana could understand.

"Is it-I mean-the baby." Cassandra's heart shuttered, "Okay?"

The rouge smiled a little, "The heart beat is strong. Dorian said that none of your injuries sustained in battle harmed the baby. "Cole heard-."

"He heard the baby?"

"Yes."

Cassandra placed a hand on her flat stomach. Beneath her palm, a life created out of the love she share with Gideon thrived. She was with child. Tears blurred her vision. The Maker blessed her with something Cassandra never thought possible. A child. "What in Andraste have I done? He will never know. I should've told him."

"Tell him now." Cole appeared beside the bed, his sudden appearance causing the two women to jolt.

"What's the point?" She swiped at her cheek, "his mind is gone."

"Not gone. Just lost."

What do you mean?"

"He can't find his way back. He wonders. So tired and defeated. The voices. The well they overwhelm him. A part of him feels like giving up."

Hearing that was enough o break Cassandra into sobs, "Can we get him back, Cole? Is he to far gone?"

Cole began to shift around the room almost like he was chasing the Inquisitor's thoughts. "It's difficult to tell."

"Take me too him." Cassandra demanded, "Now."

The inquisitor hadn't moved. Cassandra didn't know why a part of her expected differently. She hated seeing him so still. He was forever moving or fiddling with some damn thing every time she saw him. "Cole." She looked to the sport to afraid to go in alone."

"Tired." Cole moved to Gideon's bedside, "So tired."

"What can I do?"

"Sit with him. He always liked when you were near. Always felt stronger."

She could do that. Cassandra sat on the edge of the bed, taking his tattered hand in his. The mark on his palm seemed so faint.

Cole leaned in closer, his brow knitted together. "It's hard to hear him. The mark it drains. The voices try to claim his soul."

"No!" Desperate, Cassandra groped to take his face in her hands. Clammy skin and so cold. So lifeless. Maybe she was already too late. The fight seemed to be lost. "They can't have him. Do you hear me, Gideon? They can't have you. You're mine. You're mine and I won't let you go. The Maker nor Andraste or anyone cane have you."

"Nothing."

Tears burned down her cheek. No this wouldn't be the end. If she lost him that she would lose herself. "You can't leave me, Gideon. I can't live without you." Cassandra pressed her brow to his trying to till the life into him. "Not after all we've been through. Being together is the only thing that makes sense. That makes all this pain worth it. Please come back to me."

Again nothing.

Maker, how she could battle this with her sword and shield. She would fight to her very last breath. "Listen to me." Desperate, Cassandra picked up his limp hand and pressed it against her stomach. He swore she felt his finger's twitch. "We've got a child to raise. I can't do that without you."

Gideon blinked and took a shallow breath as if waking from a light slumber. It took a moment for his eyes to focus, "Cassandra?"

"Yes." She pressed her free hand to her mouth to muffle her sobs. "It's me."

"Heard you." Gideon struggled to string two coherent thoughts together. There was an ache both mental and physically that made it hard to breathe let alone think. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Fighting for me."

"I'll always fight for you." Cassandra vowed stroking a hand down his clammy cheek, the life flared back into him.

---

So what did you think?