Maker sod it.
Garrett rolled to the side as the massive axe slammed into the pillar where his head had just been, and he took a few heartbeats to truly appreciate how utterly screwed he was before skirting away from the sword that followed.
What, exactly, made him think that dueling the sodding Arishok was a good idea? He was a mage. He wasn't built for rolling and dodging and blocking and fighting a Qunari three times his size.
The good news was a lifetime of running had made him rather light on his feet, letting him fling spells at the hulking creature at his leisure.
The bad news was the man kept shrugging off everything but his strongest ice spells and the pull of his force magic. Hexes wouldn't take, fire rolled off him like water, lightning glanced off his armor, and he couldn't call the earth inside the Keep.
This was probably the most inglorious battle of his life. He sprinted from pillar to pillar, weaving around the room, gripping his staff in one hand while he flung ice blindly behind him hoping to get lucky, and kept the roaring Arishok as far away from him as humanly possible. All that talk of being basalit-an… the Arishok was probably regretting that now.
Garrett yelped as he felt the edge of the Qunari's waraxe clip his back as he turned a corner, gritting his teeth and healing it as he ran. To his credit, the Arishok never called him a coward or even spoke, just kept charging and charging and not tiring at all.
Isabela had better damn well appreciate what he's going through on her account.
As the ice spike he'd flung at the raging man clipped his leg without actually managing to slow him at all, Garrett began to doubt his ability to succeed. Nothing he knew was working!
'You know how you could defeat him, Garrett.'
Garrett grunted and shook off the voice. He'd be signing his own damn death warrant if he succumbed to blood magic now. Not only would Fenris most likely eviscerate him on the spot, Anders would probably go all glowy and bring down the Keep around them.
He whirled and ran backwards as he hurled every spell he knew at the charging Qunari, grateful beyond belief when some of them actually hit their mark and the man staggered a little before resuming his charging pace. This was getting ridiculous. At this rate he'd be out of mana long before he had a chance to fumble around for a lyrium potion.
'You don't need lyrium. Not when you can hear It singing to you.'
It was getting rather distracting. He was already bleeding, he wouldn't even have to cut himself. There weren't any Templars here yet, no one would notice…
…except for his three mage friends and his mage-hating elf.
He growled and shoved the tempting voice to the back of his mind as he pulled one of his knives from his belt. It had been years since he'd fought with a dagger, but magic obviously wasn't working and he couldn't possibly make the situation worse.
He said a quick prayer to the Maker before spinning on his heel and flipping the knife so the blade rested in his hands before sending it spinning towards his foe.
The blade sunk into the massive Qunari's chest and Garrett leapt at him as the Arishok staggered in surprise, grabbing the hilt and twisting, sending lightning coursing through the metal blade and into his opponent.
The Arishok went rigid, twitching, and then stumbled back and fell, taking Garrett with him as those massive weapons fell from nerveless fingers.
Garrett gave the blade a final twist for good measure before yanking it free, panting and staring at the dead eyes of the Arishok in disbelief.
Was that cheering for him?
He stared blankly at the crowd yelling his name and clapping, and then he heard a voice like nails on glass proclaim him Champion.
Champion? What? No!
Argh. That was worse than Bubbles.
He was never going to hear the end of this...
A/N: I did say I would write the Arishok battle, and I also said I was horrbile at fight scenes. But here's Garrett's duel with the Arishok in all its non-existent glory! If you haven't read Thedas for Dummies, the 'Bubbles' comment probably won't make any sense, but oh well!