The information was staggering, one of them might die…Alistair sagged against the wall outside of Serena's room. He couldn't lose her, but the thought of Aiden her brother dead…Alistair knew the woman had lost too much already and he no longer knew if they could be together once he became King. The reality of it all had settled on his shoulders a long time ago. Maker, he'd actually grown up. The task of being Ferelden's next monarch was still a daunting one, but one that he would meet with the same quite firmness he had always faced a challenge with. But this…the need for a death in their ranks…it was beyond him. What would he do without her?

Alistair opened the door to the room without knocking and found Serena sitting before the fireplace, staring at the dancing reds and yellows before her with eyes like glass. She was so deeply enrapt in her thoughts that she did not notice him there, giving him a moment to simply look at her. This woman he loved, how complex she really was: a noble by birth, a Warden by Circumstance, a leader by trait, and kinder than any member of the Chantry Alistair had ever seen boasting about having a heart of gold. Serena Cousland was the perfect woman in his opinion. She drove him mad sometimes with her logic and her acute ability to run into the middle of dangerous situations, but Maker he'd never have her any other way.

She sat now with her legs tucked carefully under her, brushing her hair out of her shoulder length braid while she thought. The firelight caught in her copper locks, setting them ablaze with a glow that made her seem almost ethereal with her blue and silver gaze. He knew then as he looked at her, that she was deciding just how she was going to go about not telling him about what Riordan had told her and Aiden. The former Templar knelt down behind his rogue and looped an arm around her waist pulling her back up against his broad chest. Serena started then quickly relaxed as she realized who was holding her. She snuggled back against her man and muttered, "You scared me."

"Liar, you don't get scared," he teased as he kissed her cheek. She frowned and turned her gaze to look directly up at him.

"I'm scared about tomorrow," she confessed, her eyes holding a great sadness that he now understood.

"Don't be," he said even as a lump welled up into his own throat, "we're going to be alright."

We, Serena thought sadly, would never come to be…As Grey Wardens they would never grow old together, have children, any of those wonderful things…but now with the Blight, they wouldn't even have any more time together. Serena tried to convince herself it would be better this way. Alistair would rule, he would be a great king with an undoubtedly lovely and well-mannered wife. She would give him fine children, and he would have a legitimate heir to take over once the Taint finally consumed him. And no other child would be harmed, not by Morrigan's terrible Ritual, or by their own mixed bad blood.

"Alistair…" she said in a voice no louder than a whisper, "I love you…you know that right?"

"Of course I do, I happen to love you back you know," he said.

"Even if…even if," she took a sharp breath, "even if your becoming King separates us, I will always love you."

"I'd sort of rather have you up there all fancy and uncomfortable with me," he hedged and she sighed a laugh. Maker, here she was facing down the darkest decision of her life and he could still make her smile. It was sickening how happy he made her she thought with a small shake of her head, which sent still wavy locks of her hair swaying around her shoulders. He reached up and ran his fingers through them, while looking into her worried eyes.

"We are going to get through this. And I will always love you, no matter what." Serena leaned up to kiss the man she loved. The man who would be King, the man she would die for…Aiden would take care of him, bolster him up, and care for him alongside Zevran who she knew would watch both of their backs. She was the weak link, her relationship with Alistair could threaten the balance of a fragile kingdom, besides as their leader it was her duty to shoulder this burden. In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death…sacrifice. She had taken an oath, and she had meant every word. She had a duty to Ferelden, as a Warden and as a Cousland.

Alistair watched the steel of determination work its way through Serena's eyes and wondered just what was going on in that head of hers? She suddenly leaned up to kiss him, her lips both gentle and frantic. She didn't know how to tell him goodbye. To tell him it would be alright, and that she loved him…oh how she truly loved him. She could never allow him to fulfill the Ritual, no matter how scared she was. Scared of losing him, of losing any of her friends, her brother, and she was afraid to die. If she had had the chance to slay the Archdemon right after the siege on Highever, she would have done it and gladly. But now she realized she could build a new life from the ashes of what once was. She could have a life…she had thought she could.

It had been a nice dream; it had carried her through many things. Given her strength when she otherwise had none, but it nearly seemed like fate that this newfound happiness of hers would eventually be ripped from her. What a petty thought it was, she should have been more grateful, Serena thought scolding herself. And no matter what, she knew she had Alistair's heart, even if only briefly. To be loved so completely, to find herself and have someone accept both her past and who she had grown to be over the last year…she couldn't have asked for more. Her fingers laced together behind Alistair's head and held him close as she deepened the kiss.

While Serena's forefathers might have preferred a battle that warranted their call of arms, audaces juvant! Fortune favors the bold, it seemed the days of black and white war had ended for her. She found herself more akin to Aiden's personal oath as a knight, "Duty before desire, death before dishonor". She had a duty to the Wardens, a duty to Zevran as her friend, Aiden as her vassal, and Alistair as her King. She would do whatever it took come morning, for now she would settle for the dream one last night.

"Tegan, look out!" The brunette Bann was saved from having his head taken off by a timely dagger placed by Serena Cousland. Tegan nodded at the fierce woman and the two watched each other's back during the duration of the skirmish. Once it was over the members of Serena's little group converged at the center of the battle field to strategize their next move. The copper haired rogue looked at her companions and nodded firmly, her gaze flickering over each of them. "We will not all engage the Darkspawn in the fort," she said calmly though her companions all looked unhappy about this decision of hers. "Sten, you will lead Leliana, Zevran, Oghren, Shale, and Orion. It will be your job to keep the rest of the Horde from entering the city, alright? The rest of you, aside from Alistair, are with me," she ended her commands and turned to start towards Fort Drakkon when a large hand settled on her wrist. She turned back to find Alistair standing beside her shaking his helmed head.

"The decisions of a King outweigh even the Warden Commander, I'm coming with you and Aiden." Just as Serena was about to start in arguing a loud screech sounded from overhead. They all looked up horrified to find that they could see Riordan clinging tightly to a sword he had driven into the Archdemon's back. The monster flew up, barreling through a guard tower as if it were made of straw and not stone, in an attempt to shake its attacker free.

It worked.

The Senior Warden leapt off of the demon's back, to avoid being crushed, and stabbed a second sword down through the beast's wing. The thin flesh of the wing fold simply couldn't hold up against sharp steel, and the man's weight dragged him down the wing, rending it nearly in two, before he fell.

Serena grit her teeth, Riordan was dead, her worst fears were about to become her reality. She turned to Alistair and shoved him towards Tegan, "You will stay here Your Majesty, or I shall see to it that you cannot walk well enough to follow!"

"Your threats don't scare me little woman," Alistair growled at her, but she held firm. His more dominant side was one she knew well, and besides she had always been meaner than he could ever dream to be.

"You Chantry pampered twit," she snarled back, gripping the grate of his helm and yanking him down to her eye level, "you'll only get in our way. This is an Archdemon, not some genlock you can keep at bay with your shield. Leave this to us." There was a time when such words would have frozen Alistair in place, left to stammer silently in his head as this beautiful woman walked away from him. Now he knew how to put his foot down.

"Unless you actually plan on slicing my tendons to the point where I'll never walk again, then you can't stop me from coming with you," he returned in a tone that left little room for argument. Serena frowned at him in a way that made him wonder if she wasn't about to tell Aiden to incapacitate him for her.

"Alistair, we can't risk the future King of Ferelden dying," she said sharply, and loudly enough that Teagan and the others heard it as well.

"And what better way to make sure I'm alive than by having me with you hmm? We're wasting time by the way," he said turning to lead the way into the fort. Serena was certain she had gone insane, where had the man with the pushover attitude and arguing skills of a mountain flower gone?

War, she suddenly realized watching him go, the others already following out of instinct, he had gone to war and become the King she had known was beneath. Quickly she jogged after Alistair, Aiden, and the others. As the warrior walked past Zevran he paused to look at his lover and send the elf a half-hearted smile as he reached down and pulled the smaller man close. "Stay safe Zev, wherever you go after this…you can always run back here and Serena and Alistair will make certain you are safe…" They kissed for a split second, just enough contact to know that the other was really there, and then Aiden was gone.

The fighting to reach Fort Drakkon was just as bad as the fighting they encountered once inside. Both were equally as bloody as the fighting taking place at the city gates. The group fought cohesively under Sten's command, just as they had been forced to in the absence of Serena and Aiden in the past, but the air where the missing companions should have been felt heavy all the same to the others. The Darkspawn fought with particular ferocity as they tried to make it to their leader, whose screams echoed from the top of the not too distant fort. Zevran worried about the battle, about Aiden…he did not want it to end in such a way, but he also knew that this was no fairytale. He didn't get to pick the fact that Aiden was a Grey Warden and that he would do anything to protect his sister and his King, as was his duty. Duty before desire…truer words couldn't have been attributed to that man.

Another particularly loud screak sounded from the rooftop, drawing Zevran's gaze even in the midst of another skirmish. He narrowly avoided being run through by a Hurlock when Sten got in the way and sliced the thing in two.

"Thank you…" the elf began to say but he was cut off as the Qunari grumbled, "You are distracted and it does not sit well with me to have an unfocused bah under my care." Zevran initially bristled at Sten's words, taking them for an insult until the big man added, "You should go find them," in a low tone. Surprised, but never one to let an opportunity pass him by, the elf dispatched a Genlock then turned and sprinted after the direction Aiden and the others had gone not so long ago.

Even though Aiden and the others had pretty well decimated every Darkspawn they encountered, the problem was that where one corpse lay it always seemed another creature would come to take its place. It was probably through sheer luck and no small bit of skill that Zevran made it to the tower on his own.

Once inside the tower the elf had little trouble as the winding hallways and dark corners of Drakkon allowed him to use his assassin skills to move past any enemy. Loud roars and thunderous booms now shook the structure of the fort's main tower, indicating triumph or defeat Zevran could not tell. All he knew was that his lover and friends battled a terrible creature just a few floors overhead.

"Morrigan," Serena shouted as she directed the witches' attacks with the same precision as she always had. The copper haired rogue was currently dancing a deadly duel with a Shriek as it tried to prevent her from getting any closer to the Archdemon. "Blizzard, now!" The rogue slashed through the Shriek's throat and rolled forward. As she came back onto her feet she hurled a sleeve of throwing knives at the Archdemon, a few digging deeply into the vulnerable flesh of the beast's face. She had its attention and now it was up to the witch. "Wynne," Serena called out and she continued to dance and taunt the dragon-like abomination. "Heroic Aura," she shouted just as the Archdemon exhaled a pillar of fire straight down onto the rogue.

The Warden felt Wynne's magic hit her and turned to cover her head, it was all she could do besides pray Morrigan's spell also covered her to help negate the damage of the Arch Demon's fire. A loud thud and a familiar weight pressing down against her made Serena's eyes shoot open. Alistair braced against the impact of the monster's attack, holding his lover close to protect her as all around them dark purple flames rained down.

"Alistair what are you doing," she started to yell just as a gust of icy wind rushed over them, freezing part of Serena's loosening braid.

"Saving your arse it would appear my lady," the blonde said with a grin. He dared a peek over his shield and noted that the Archedemon had gone down. The beast now writhed on the ground, its vulnerable neck exposed.

In an instant Alistair was up and racing towards the creature, Aiden had also seen the opening and charged forward his long legs allowing him to gain on the slightly shorter blonde man. His blood pumping hard in his veins the raven haired arcane warrior's hands lit with magic that imbued his sword with the power of ice in anticipation of the killing blow. He was so concentrated on his goal that Aiden never saw Alistair's shield coming.

The future King slammed the hunk of metal on his arm hard into the big warrior's side, sending him tumbling to the ground as Alistair raced past. The bastard prince kept his focus forward, hurling his shield to the ground to take a better hold on his blade with both hands as he ran. Over the sound of his own labored breathing Alistair thought he heard the shrill whistling whirl of metal through the air an instant before a sharp prick sent pain coursing through his right leg. It was a familiar wound, the same wound Zevran had given him when they had first met and fought on some forsaken Ferelden back road. But this time the blade's razor edge had hampered his right leg, and the one who had thrown it was not the Assassin. Serena hurtled past Alistair as he struggled to try and overcome the pain and force his leg to work. Wynne's healing aura settled on him, urging him to remain still until she was done, but he kept trying.

Zevran burst onto the scene just in time to see Serena rip a sword from one of the fallen on the battle field and Aiden hurl his own blade at the Archdemon at the same instance. The copper haired rogue leapt toward the beast, slicing it along its throat as it desperately tried to defend itself. She then jumped back onto her feet and slammed the sword down through the skull of the monster before her. At the same moment Aiden's blade rammed into the Archdemon's eye embedding itself deeply in the beast's brain.

Serena's hands felt as though they were on fire as suddenly energy rushed all around her. It burned her lungs and the pain drove her from the world. Her mind hurtled through time and space, seeing things that she did not understand, and things she had seen herself. Her heart felt as though it may explode and her head rolled with sickness born of pain. There was a sudden jolt and then a blinding light…

The Archdemon exploded, the shockwave of the blast knocking everyone off of their feet. Zevran saw his friend vanish in the hiss of the light and cried out at the loss he felt even as he was thrown back onto the stone.

A silence rang out over the battlefield that had been the fort's tower. Wynne staggered onto her feet, her magic seeking out familiar friendly energies and bolstering them with her magic. Zevran rolled onto his knees, his sensitive ears ringing from the blast. He forced himself up and looked around the rooftop for his friends. His eyes almost instantly settled on the form of his lover. The elf sprinted towards the warrior, who lay face down on the stone, skidding to a stop and the big man's side. He tugged on a heavily armored shoulder, "Aiden…Aiden Amell! Braska, get up!" There had been so much death for them already…Maker please…