Chapter Nine
As promised, the next chapter!
See ya at the bottom!
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The three were running across the bridge leading into Ostagar, the sounds of war all around them. The clang of metal on metal, the dying screech of a soldier as a hurlock smashed his head into the ground.
Two storms raged around them, one of rain and lightning, and one of chaos and turmoil. Leliana could smell the blood in the air, mixed with the taint of something not quite human.
A large boulder engulfed in flames smashed into the bridge, knocking Leliana off of her feet. She flew over the edge of the bride, grabbing it at the last second and dangling precariously over the edge.
She looked down. Below her, history was being made. This battle would determine whether the darkspawn would be pushed back into whatever depth they crawled out of, or if they began to overrun all of Fereldan.
I hope the history books don't include the Grey Warden that fell off the bridge! Leliana lamented. Her grip was slipping, and the rain making the ledge wet wasn't exactly helping.
Just when her hand slipped off entirely, a strong one grabbed her wrist, and she looked up.
Alistair looked back, concern etching into his features. He grabbed on with his other hand, and hauled her back onto the bridge.
"Try not to die again, okay? I know this tower job sounds boring, but really. No need to go and off yourself." He covered with humor.
Leliana smiled at him, and located Xavier, repelling some of the incoming projectiles with a magic barrier.
"Xavier!" Leliana shouted for him.
He looked over to acknowledge her, then caught some of the boulders in his barrier, hurling them back from where they came.
"Let's go!" He shouted, running past them.
The three continued their mission, helping those along the way as quickly and efficiently as possible.
When they got to the tower, a guard rushed out at them.
"You! You're Grey Wardens, right? The tower! It's been taken!" He let out frantically.
Alistair grabbed him by the shoulders.
"What are you talking about, man? Taken how?" He asked the panicking guard.
The man took a deep breath.
"The darkspawn came up through the lower chambers! They're everywhere! Most of our men are dead!" It clearly didn't work.
"Then we have to get to the beacon and light it ourselves!" Alistair let go of the man.
The group of four went through the archway, immediately greeted with darkspawn. Leliana and Xavier stayed back, the rogue firing shot after shot from her bow, while the mage shot fire at the darkspawn, and casted temporary barriers around Alistair and the guard when they looked to be in danger.
"This isn't good. We need to get to that beacon as soon as possible. I have a feeling Duncan's going to give that signal any minute now." Alistair worried.
"Then let's go. The sooner we kill these bastards, the sooner we get to celebrate our heroic victory!" Leliana tried to lift his spirits.
He smiled and nodded, and they went on.
It was only a short distance later that they encountered more darkspawn.
"Look! There's more soldiers! We need to save them, they're outnumbered!" Alistair said worriedly.
The same strategy was used, Leliana and Xavier stayed back, shooting cover fire, while the tower guard and Alistair fought close quarters. Occasionally, Leliana would have to switch to her daggers, gutting any darkspawn who got too close to her and the mage.
When the fight was over, Alistair quickly sent the men back to the bridge, telling them to aid the archers set up there.
The four of them took a moment to catch their breath, then stormed the Tower of Ishal.
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The doors burst open, and the four of them took a moment to survey the scene dead bodies were strewn all around the entrance, and a few of the soldiers' heads were already mounted on wooden stakes.
As the group came into the main chamber of the first floor, the darkspawn began to attack.
Leliana quickly took notice of a trap, a thin tripwire leading to a large bucket of grease. Thinking quickly, she grabbed the bucket and threw it at the darkspawn, coating many of them in the thick liquid.
She turned to Xavier, who saw her do this, and he shot a ball of fire into the horde.
They immediately went up in flames, trying in vain to beat the flames out, edits dropping dead seconds later.
There was no time to celebrate this small victory, everyone knew, and the group quickly made their way to the hallway the darkspawn were guarding, stepping over the bodies of more dead soldiers.
May the Maker have mercy on your souls, Leliana prayed internally.
The hallway had only two doors to choose from, and Leliana took charge, bursting through, her bow put away in favor of her twin daggers.
Darkspawn were waiting for them behind the door, and the rogue had to immediately duck to avoid a wide swing from a hurlock. While ducking, she lunged forward, slashing a glenlock to the right of her expertly across the throat before tucking into a barrel roll.
She got to one knee, and immediately felt heat above the hilt of her blades. A quick inspection showed that Xavier had given the daggers a temporary fire enchantment. Leliana got to her feet, and used the fire to her advantage, making short work of the remaining darkspawn.
They continued on, past a massive hold in the stone floor, to the staircase.
The Grey Wardens lead the way up the stairs, eyes out for any more enemies. When they got to the next floor, Alistair sighed exasperatedly.
"Maker's breath! What are these darkspawn doing ahead of the horde? There wasn't supposed to be any resistance here!" He lamented.
"There's no point moaning about it. We have fighting to do!" Xavier shot back.
Alistair nodded. "You're right. I need to kill first, ask questions later. At any rate, we need to hurry! We need to get up to the top of this tower and light the signal flare in time! Teyrn Loghain will be waiting for the signal!"
They headed on, trying to block out all of the dead men around them. Leliana once again said a silent prayer for them all, asking the Maker to accept these children into his embrace, and vowing to herself to wipe out the monsters that did this.
The assassin in her smiled at the thought of more bloodshed, even if it was just darkspawn. During battle was the only time Leliana allowed her to take semi-control, and she relished those moments.
Speaking of bloodshed, more darkspawn awaited them, and the four were quickly thrown into the heat of battle, Leliana cutting tendons and taking cheap shots, while Alistair and the guard took advantage of the stunned state she left them in. Meanwhile, Xavier stayed back, sending out supporting fire, both literally and metaphorically.
The tower guard accompanying them noticed the ballistas set up facing the darkspawn, and began firing them, being careful not to hit the Grey Wardens. These two factors combined made short work of the darkspawn that dared to attack them.
They quickly made their way to the other end of the massive hallway, practically sprinting up the stairs to the third floor.
"Loghain better be ready to charge as soon as we light the signal. The king is depending on us!" Alistair said, more to himself than anyone else.
As Leliana passed more dead bodies of soldiers, she made more prayers for them, not neglecting her chantry duties at all.
They made short work of the darkspawn waiting for them, making there way to another massive room.
Inside were a group of darkspawn, and Mabari war hounds locked in cages.
Alistair drew Leliana's attention to a lever.
"That's the cage release! Pull that and it'll open all of the cages at once!" He told her because she seemed to be the most adept at avoiding attacks.
She nodded, weaving through various darkspawn to the lever and pulling it. After a second of nothing happening, the cage doors shot up, the Mabari immediately running out to take chunks out of the darkspawn, biting into them and spitting whatever got into their mouths onto the stone floor.
Along with the Mabari aid, the darkspawn were slaughtered, and the group moved on, Alistair commanding the Mabari to stay there should any more darkspawn come behind them.
More came out of the doors from the hallway that the room fed into, and the four of them made short work of the things, carving a path straight to the next staircase.
"This should be the last floor." Alistair started, looking around at the other three of his companions.
"Is everyone ready?" He asked. Three heads nodded, and they made their way up for the last time.
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They ran though, heading straight for the signal point before realizing their surroundings.
More dead soldiers lay around, mutilated in a way only the darkspawn could do, whom Leliana said a prayer for. But the thing that made them stop was a massive ogre right next to where they were supposed to be.
It was hunched over, chewing on what looked like a human leg. It looked up from its meal, noticing it had more potential food, and threw the limb to the side, wiping its mouth on the back of its hand before letting loose a massive roar.
Leliana switched back to her bow, pulling out her special fire arrows and letting loose. Alistair and the tower guard hacked and slashed at the ogre's legs, trying to cripple it. Xavier shot ice into its eye, blinding it and preventing it from trying to stomp the two warriors closest to it.
Leliana landed a shot right into its mouth, and sent it reeling, fire burning a path down its throat. Alistair took advantage of this, slashing its knee to bring it down closer to him while he jumped, plunging his sword deep into the ogre's chest. He twisted the handle, pulling it left and right to ensure that he hit the beast's heart.
After a few moments, it fell onto its back, and Alistair pulled his sword out, jumping down off of the beast and rushing to the window.
"Duncan's given the signal. Light the beacon now!" He yelled, looking to the tower guard. He nodded, using the flames from a nearby fire to light the fireplace.
They looked out the window and watched Loghain's men...retreat?
"What? What in the Maker's name are they doing!?" Alistair screamed.
Suddenly, the door to the top floor was blown open, and more darkspawn poured through. Before Leliana could draw any weapon, an arrow pierced her heart.
As she lay there, slipping out of consciousness, all she could think about were a pair of yellow eyes.
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Well. There it is! Another chapter down. I know the bits about Leliana praying for the dead soldiers seemed a bit random, but I put it in there because I felt like that's something she'd do. Also, I'm not that good at writing combat scenes, so I hope this was acceptable.
I'll see you all next chapter!
