/*A/N: This story needs battle music in the background. I wrote it to "Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria, but by all means, choose your favourite! (I am a total sucker for electric guitars and men's choirs.) Posted with thanks to Bioware for the awesomesauce, and to Dana Duchy for uploading the complete battle sounds on Youtube. */
Hawke stared at the monstrosity that had once been Orsino. He had trusted the First Enchanter would have his back in this fight, but he was too weak. Too weak to hope when the odds were down, too isolated to trust in a friend. Like Anders, he had succumbed to his despair, and like Anders, he would die. It was only a matter of time.
Bethany took up her stance on his right, and Aveline joined him wordlessly on his left. Together, they had survived a Blight, and together, they would survive this.
The Not-Orsino lurched forward, limbs flailing in a desperate attempt to draw blood. Hawke disappeard in a cloud of smoke, and Aveline stepped forward to lure the creature to its death.
"Face me, I stand for all of us!"
Aveline wasn't quite sure how she'd ended up here. She was sure that laws were in place for a reason. The circle may be a prison, but it was there to prevent, well, massacres. Like the one Anders had just accomplished. Like the one this monstrosity wanted to commit.
She was also sure that Bethany was as innocent as a lamb. To think, she'd spent years locked in a prison, at the mercy of Meredith (who had none), with only this coward of an enchanter for protection. Cleaning house never felt so good.
She ducked her head behind her shield, deflecting the brunt of the blows thrown her way. Maker, this thing stinks! This must have been what Merril was talking about with the smell of Sergeant Kylon's blood. She considered holding her breath, but it was going to be a long fight and her shield was already soaked. On her right she saw the ghosted shadow of Isabela slip by to flank the monster.
There had been a time when Aveline wasn't sure about the rogue. She didn't have the luxury of doubt now. And truthfully, Isabela had proven herself. Not that Aveline would ever admit it.
"If we kill them we get their stuff!"
The pirate sunk her blades deep into Orsino's flesh, only to nearly choke on the stench that oozed from the wound. Note to self: Isabela mused, twenty smelly corpses equals one very smelly undead thing. She hoped she never, ever needed to remember that.
If someone had told her she'd stick around for this particular pile of disgusting man-flesh, she'd have laughed in their face. Yet here she was, years later, still in Kirkwall. Still paid up at the Blooming Rose, still following Hawke. The man had a nose for trouble like a bear for a bee's nest. Sure, the honey was sweet, but it stung like nobody's business.
She dodged a blow, only to be sideswiped by another one. This thing has way too many limbs! Her breathing was ragged, and she struggled to ghost herself before her wounds left a trail of blood wherever she ran. Her vision became a white blur to her left. The blur snarled an insult in Arcanum and raised a sword high. Isabela smiled to herself.
There was no way she was going to die when she could still have I-thought-you-were-dead sex with the lanky elf.
"Vanhedas!"
Fenris snarled at the vile creature as he carved his blade deep into the rotten flesh. Hawke might have been surprised at Orsino's betrayal, but Fenris had his back. For now.
Hawke wasn't anything close to what Fenris would consider a friend. The idiot had a soft spot for slaves and the downtrodden, for the caged mages waiting to turn into monsters and the cowardly elves who didn't have the guts to free themselves. Someday, Hawke's generosity would backfire, and he would finally greet the death he flirted with so often.
Not here, though. Not today, not while Fenris could help it. Hawke's generosity had extended to him, and if not for Hawke, he was uncertain where he would be right now.
An arrow whizzed over his shoulder, pinning one of the creature's limbs just before it swiped off Fenris' head. The rogue prince's shot was impeccable as always, even if his gold-fletched arrows were more gaudy than was strictly necessary.
Fenris didn't know if what Sebastian said were true - all that nonesense about him having a place in Starkhaven. Still, he had never been invited anywhere, and that felt pretty good. Maybe when this was over he would take him up on that offer.
"Fly straight and true!"
Sebastian knocked another arrow with a prayer. Maker, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The bowstring snapped forward, and the prince had another arrow in his hand before the first one landed. Killing himself was one thing, but did Orsino need to kill those who would help him? Andraste guide and protect you, in this life and the next. Another arrow lodged itself in the mass of death that overshadowed them. Was it really necessary for him to defile the remains of those he had once counted as friends? Orsino's desperation only served to underscore what Anders had been saying all along: the tyranny of the templars must come to an end.
And deliver us from evil, for Thine is- Sebastian's shot was ruined by a blow to his back. Turning, he saw a corpse come to life and ducked to avoid another hit. He put his arrow back to the string, praying for a lucky shot. He hadn't fully stretched the bow when the corpse collapsed into a pile of bones and rock.
He turned and nodded his thanks to the small elf who'd save his life. If she saw it, she didn't acknowledge it; her eyes were closing to summon a tempest from the sky. He whispered a quick prayer of thanks as he turned back to the main opponent.
Perhaps Merril believed in the same Maker by a different name. Or maybe she truly was a pagan, and there was no hope for her soul. Whatever the case, he didn't plan on letting her die today and find out.
"You'll get more than you bargained for!"
Merril felt the sky itself answer to her call as she pulled in a lightning storm from the Beyond. The sheer power coursing through her body was exhilerating, leaving her panting with exhaustion when the spell was complete. The wheezing gasps that wracked her ribs reminded her that this was real, not a dream. How could this happen?
Keeper Marithari had wanted to protect her. Anders wanted to protect a spirit. Orsino wanted to protect himself from Meredith. All good people, with good hearts. Now they were all dead or dying, some of them by her hand. Merril often wondered if she never really woke up from her dreams in the Beyond. How else could she explain the the web of death around them, the twisted knots of good intentions that tangled them all?
Varric's cheerful battle cry snapped her from her reverie. She could mope about it all she liked, it wouldn't do any good. Varric hadn't had an easy time of it, and he was still telling stories like always. Let's start over, Varric, she thought to herself, somewhere the stories have happy endings.
"Bianca, you minx! That was beautiful!"
Varric grinned at the sight of his hail of arrows falling in tandem with Daisy's lightning storm. Ususally the pair of them could bring an entire corps of Qunari to their knees with that trick; today there was only one giant monster to get caught in the crossfire. One giant monster who trudged on, ignorant of the spectacle he wasn't making.
No stories he'd ever heard included any monsters like this. A body so fat no legs should ever be able to hold it, crazy limbs at improbably angles, and a head that detached...
Wait. The head DETACHED?
Varric didn't have time to think, let alone defend himself from the... whatever it was that flew his way. The creepy tadpole sent Bianca veering across the stonework, knocked Varric off his feet and buried its teeth in his shoulder. Varric heard a scream; it might have been his.
A massive fireball knocked the creature off him, singeing his chest hair. Small hands dragged him to his feet and out of harm's way. Small, familiar hands that glowed green with healing energy. Varric smiled gratefully at his saviour, and picked up Bianca.
Shit might be bad, but he wasn't going to die today. Not with Lady Sunshine herself looking out for him.
"Fire and ice, obey me!"
With Varric safely out of the way, Bethany could breathe easy again. This was the first time she had seen him in years; she didn't want it to be the last.
She knew she was lucky to have a brother, to have known her family. Not many mages could say that. At first they had welcomed her to their tables to tell stories of life outside the prison. She had been happy to talk, hoping to make a friend. Unfortunately it wasn't that easy. Most of the Circle mages had been raised together since childhood. It didn't matter how many stories she told, she would always be an outsider. She was happy to see her brother and his friends again, she just wished it was under better circumstances.
She didn't like the Gallows much, but she really didn't like to see it like this. The mages she had eaten breakfast with that morning were now part of an abomination that was trying to kill her. The blood on the floor reminded her of another time, another fight, when another home of theirs had been destroyed and her family had been sent running.
We've left our home before. We can do it again, if we have to. As long as we have each other. Let's do this, brother.
"You want to fight? Try me!"
Hawke paused to catch his breath. So much had gone wrong since their arrival in Kirkwall. The Qunari had nearly slaughtered an entire city for want of a relic. Orsino and Meredith weren't much better. His sister was finally caught by the templars the one time he left her alone. His mother was dead, the house he bought for her empty. So much blood, he thought. Would it ever end?
He spared a quick glance at his friends. Merril was guarding Varric on the battlefield, an odd inversion of their relationship off it. Sebastian's arrows followed Fenris as he dashed from one enemy to another, picking off any skeleton corpses that happened to threaten the mages. Aveline and Isabela attacked the monster with a singleminded dedication that would soon drive it to its knees. And then there was Bethany.
The sister whose braids had been nailed to the bed. The sister who had fought with him over naming the dog. The sister who had accidentally lit his favourite shirt on fire. The sister he had thought lost forever, now fighting at his side. They had survived a Blight together, they would survive this.