Chapter 9: A Dark Choice
"Ah, Morrigan." Adrian approached her slowly, somewhat surprised she had decided to come to his room. "Finally decided to admit your undying love for me? What? You want my body? Now? But with my innocent sensibilities and all..."
"Don't bother with jokes, Adrian." Morrigan still didn't face him. Her voice lacked the usual biting edge, though. What was her purpose here? "There is something we need to discuss."
"About?"
"I know of the sacrifice you Wardens have to make, the death that comes to whomever strikes that final blow." Mildly surprised, Adrian listened intently. Morrigan pivoted slowly, walking close to Adrian. Something about her demeanor was...off. "I can offer a way out. A loop in your hole. An escape."
"What?" A way out? A way out of death? Sure, that was appealing, but knowing Morrigan, there had to be a catch.
"It requires a... ritual. One performed in the dead of night, on the eve of the final battle." Adrian narrowed his eyes. Morrigan's rituals didn't exactly seem appealing to him, considering what he had found out about Flemeth. "Consider it a thanks for killing Flemeth for me. I can save your life in return, just as you had saved mine."
"But what is the ritual? What do we do? Slaughter children? Drink goat blood? Go on killing rampages? Deals with demons?" Most of his responses were sarcastic, but Adrian couldn't help but feel that Morrigan wasn't above any of those. A fear suddenly gripping his chest, he hoped Morrigan wouldn't actually ask him to do any of those. She wouldn't. Would she?
"You have to...lay with me tonight." Lay with her? Did she mean sex? Well, it had been awhile since he last... and Morrigan was fairly attractive, though he didn't feel any sort of emotional attachment to her.
"Is that all?" Sleeping with her was easy enough to save a life, it seemed. Of course, Adrian knew there had to be some other detail she hadn't yet told him.
"Our bonding will create a child. When you strike the final blow, the Archdemon's soul will not pass through you, but to your offspring. It would be young enough that its soul had not yet been entirely formed. It will absorb Urthemiel's soul, capturing the power of the Old Gods within itself."
"So...I'll have a darkspawn kid?" Adrian couldn't admit he liked the idea much. "Will I ever see it? You know, raise the little Blighter, except...literally? Oh! Can I make lil' Hurlock call me Daddy and whatnot? Oh! I'll be so proud when he tattoos his face to mark his first kill!"
"Can you please stop joking? This is serious." Morrigan sighed, trying to calm down. "No. You will never see it, but neither will it be a darkspawn. It will be... something else entirely. I am not certain what. As soon as the Archdemon lies dead, I will leave. Forever. You will never see or be bothered with by the child. I shall deal with it."
"Something else? What do you mean? And how do I even know if the ritual will work or not?"
"You'd have to trust me." Trust Morrigan? Hah! That's a good one. "Either way, if I'm wrong then someone will die anyway. This is your only option to have a chance at keeping everyone alive."
A convincing argument for Adrian. He wanted nothing more than to stay alive and to keep those around him from dying. But still...could he do this? Would it even work?
"I don't know..."
"Then think of the advancement in magic it would bring. It's something that had never been done before, something that can change the shape of Thedas." Morrigan sat on the bed, almost invitingly. "You're barely human yourself anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"You're a mage."
"No shit."
"You're a Grey Warden."
"Just here to state the obvious, Morrigan?"
"The last reaver."
"You were there when I drank the dragon's blood. And I guess I am the last, considering I killed Kolgrim right after. Still, what about it?"
"You carry the souls of elves within you."
"Oh, right. Caladrius' ritual. Such a wonderful thing to bring up. Yes! Go right ahead and depres me with gruesome images of my past! That'll convince me!"
"You took the soul of an Arcane Warrior within you, as well."
"Hey! The orb thingie wanted me to!"
"You're a blood mage."
"Now that is surprising. When did you figure it out?" Adrian knew Morrigan wouldn't care about him being a blood mage. If she knew, she had known for awhile.
"'Twas obvious. You fight like one. You control their blood, you feed off their life. I'm still surprised none of your other companions noticed. Especially Wynne."
"I'm still human, despite all those things."
"Not by much, considering you're also an abomination."
The words hit Adrian hard. How the hell did she know? Would she try and blackmail him into doing the ritual with her? What was she trying to pull? Being an abomination was much worse than being a blood mage, he knew.
"What are you talking..."
"Don't try to lie, Adrian. I know the truth. You think me a fool?" Morrigan stood, close to his face. "I lived with Flemeth my entire life. I know the stench of demons, especially one of Pride. You're different, though. You aren't like my mother, heart eaten away by darkness. You have your humanity still, and that makes you...interesting."
"I'm interesting, am I?"
"You being an abomination, combined with all the other forces within you, the blood you've choked on, the souls you've absorbed, makes you less human than even me. Possibly even Flemeth, though I know not for certain." Morrigan smiled slyly. "And that's why you're the perfect candidate for this ritual. Just think, Adrian, of the possibilities. An old god's soul mixed with an abomination's son."
"How appealing."
"But enough of that. You perform the ritual now, and when you strike down the Archdemon, you will be saved. Nobody needs to die. Do you accept?"
It was sudden, Adrian knew. What would she do with the child? Why would he never see the child? Too many questions, but he felt he did not want to know the answers.
"I...do." Morrigan smiled. Possibly the most genuine one she'd ever given him.
"Very well then." Morrigan slyly sauntered to the door, closing and locking it. "I assure you that it will not be unpleasant."
"Forgive me if I close my eyes in horror."
ooo
"Tell me, Rayne. What did Arl Howe do to you in those dungeons of his?" Loghain leaned against a bookshelf, alone with her in the library. She hadn't planned on being here like this, but Rayne couldn't track Adrian down. It was almost as if something was...preventing her from finding him. She had stumbled upon Loghain in here after searching for an hour, and decided to stay. The shem had impressed her at the Landsmeet, and if she was to be shedding blood with him, she might as well know him a bit better.
"His men tortured me, starved me, tried to rape me..."
"Tried?"
"I snapped one guards neck with my feet. They didn't try too hard after that."
"An interesting technique." Loghain paused, his face tilted upwards slightly, staring at the ceiling, yet Rayne had the uneasy feeling he was still looking at her. "I met a woman like you once, long ago."
"A woman like me?" Rayne scoffed. "Not possible."
"Her name was Nirzemma, a former Dalish. I had recruited her in the Night Elves that I led back during the rebellion. She had your spirit, your fire. I knew she would go places."
"Did she?" Rayne knew little of the rebellion, but she had heard of the Night Elves, skilled archers Loghain had recruited personally from within the rebel army.
"She was captured, raped and killed by members Orlesians." Loghain stared at her. In a way the man unnerved her. His presence was powerful, the type of man who'd walk into a crowded room and have it fall silent. The type to inspire armies, to lead them to victory.
"Pleasant. You remind me of someone as well." Loghain cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "Except he's still alive."
"Who? If you would bother to tell me."
"Adrian. You two are very...similar. Intelligent, commanding and willing to make hard choices." Rayne held no love for Loghain, but bore him no ill will either. He wasn't like Alistair, who would throw away a good opportunity for the sake of emotion. "Of course, you're old. Much older than he is."
"Yes. I am, despite my experience he defeated me at the Landsmeet. I'm also much older than you, girl." Loghain smiled, a kind of half-smirk that Rayne found intriguing. Why would he only smile halfway? "Pity how youth is wasted on the young."
Loghain left after that, retiring to his quarters to sleep, somehow, before the march and battle ahead. Rayne couldn't help but feel that Loghain was much more complex a man than Alistair believed. He wasn't evil, he bore no malice towards Adrian or Alistair, even being beaten by them. Loghain was no simple villain.
Rayne trudged up to her room sometime later, letting sleep overwhelming her, thoughts focused on the battle ahead.
ooo
When Morrigan was finished, she simply pulled her clothes back on and left the room.
"Not even a breakfast, or an awkward conversation, or...or...or nothing." Adrian sighed as he struggled to pull his trousers back on. "Like a prostitute, except I did it to save my own life."Adrian laughed at that. Morrigan definitely would not like to be compared to a brothel girl.
He somehow felt weird about things now. Adrian sighed, lying back down on his bed after relighting his candle. So now all that he had to do was kill the Archdemon, a giant half-darkspawn, half-dragon thing that controlled an entire horde of monsters with its own mind. Simple enough.
Oh wait.
He had to admit there was something...strange about how Morrigan figured him out. She described him as not even being human anymore. Was he? Could Morrigan be right? Did being an abomination mean that he no longer could be called a person? Why? He felt normal, acted normal, he didn't go on insane killing rampages like Uldred did...
Adrian stretched his hand out, examining it in the candlelight. It certainly looked human, but then again, Uldred looked completely normal before he transformed into a demon. Wait! Could that mean he could transform as well?
The mage sat up, delving into his mind, touching the Fade. He could feel the familiarity of the spells he knew, but nothing of transformation. Dissatisfied, he broke the connection and laid back down on the bed.
Maybe it was simple shapeshifting that allowed Uldred to transform? Alas, only Morrigan knew how to do that, and Adrian never bothered to ask about it.
Might as well give up any hope of turning into animals and whatnot, then. Pity. It would have been useful to turn into a High Dragon like Flemeth could.
Adrian let his mind wander, like he did in Ostagar on the night before that fateful battle with the darkspawn. He thought of his journey, and not for the first time, either. Memories of Jowan, of Irving, and his time at the Circle of Magi, clawing at the back of his head, beckoning him to recall his journey.
He thought of Alistair, Daveth, Ser Jory, and the deaths of the latter two, of Lothering, wondering how the various inhabitants acted in their final hours, a twinge of regret enveloping him when he thought of how he could have stayed to fight. He though of Lanaya, in the Brecilian forest, completely oblivious to how Adrian had killed both Witherfang and Zathrian in the ruins. He thought of Caridin, pushed into the river of magma by Sten during the fight with him. Adrian thought of Lord Pyral Harrowmont, his blood pooling on the Assembly Hall floor, of the Urn of Sacred Ashes, defiled and corrupted by his own hand, for no reason whatsoever, of the High Dragon he slew, of Brother Genitivi, foolishly believing he had discovered a holy urn. He thought of Uldred, the man Adrian once respected, slain by his own hand, of Isolde and Conner, two people he had managed to save, with the help of the Circle Mages.
He thought of the Crows, of the Collective of Mages, of the dead Raelnor and his Blackstone Irregulars, of all the experiences that him to this point.
He thought of Rayne, Sten, Oghren, and all of his companions that helped him get to this point.
Adrian fell asleep soon after, candle still blazing, basking in his memories, hoping that all he had ever known would not simply be destroyed in the final battle.
ooo
"Before us stands the might of the darkspawn horde! They are mighty and large in number, but fear them not! This man, this mage and Grey Warden, has sacrificed more than any of us could dream to get here, to get us here, to bring Ferelden back to its feet to stop the Blight!" Anora's speech roused thunderous applause from the gathered soldiers. Adrian noted with some satisfaction that Ser Cauthrien stood at the front line, appearing eager to fight. "These monstrosities threaten our lives, our homes and our country, but we shall drive them out, once and for all!" Another round of cheers. "We will fight to our deaths defending this land! For the Grey Wardens!" Cheers, banging of weapons, restless feet pawing the earth. Anora lifted her hands to her mouth. "For Ferelden!"
And they charged.
ooo
Rayne led the attack alongside Adrian and Riordan. She realized with no small amount of nervousness that the entire army was at her back. If she so much as tripped, she'd be trampled, flattened under the feet of her own allies.
Not a pleasant thought.
Of course, worrying in the face of danger rarely made things better. She drew Blightblood as she ran, pointing it towards the heart of the nearest darkspawn she saw.
Their lines collided, Rayne was crushed between the first darkspawn shield and the man behind her, each side trying to push the other back. Swords flailing, there was hardly any killing down with all the compression.
She closed her eyes, blackness clawing on her vision. If she opened them, she'd only staring into an ugly Hurlock face.
Before its head got taken off.
Riordan's sword twirled expertly, killing another Alpha that crossed in front of him. Rayne, now free of her prison, ran forward still, hoping to find more enemies to kill.
The gates, the main entrance into Denerim, was in chaos. Darkspawn defenders lined some walls, firing arrows down upon the army. Rayne watched in horror as two soldiers, each to her sides, were cut down by bolts from some darkspawn crossbow. Ferelden men were run through, crushed, stampeded, bones broken, bodies flailing. Darkspawn suffered no less, their corpses lining the ground, tainted blood spilling across everything.
So this was war.
It wasn't all grandeur and honor like the tales she heard from Valendrian as a child. This was real, brutal, visceral combat. It was kill or be killed. Move fast enough to hope you aren't struck down by an arrow, and most often you weren't.
And Rayne had no intention of dying. The darkspawn she fought found that out soon enough, as one by one they were beheaded, chopped in two, limbs flying detached from bodies. It was terrifying, it was bloody, dangerous.
She loved it.
ooo
The first thing Adrian did as he charged the darkspawn lines was enact a shield around himself. No arrows needed to find his heart, after all.
They could do that to other, less fortunate soldiers.
Adrian couldn't help but laugh as he cut down the nearest hurlock. He was finally here, finally at the final battle.
The darkspawn defenders were driven out under the army, chased into the city by the Ferelden's. The first attack was successful, now they had to take the inside of the gates courtyard.
Adrian realized after taking his first step into Denerim that it would all end soon, for better or for worse. It was either him or the Archdemon.
And Adrian wasn't planning on dying.
