Chapter 10; In War, Defeat
Ostagar Valley
Just like the Asylum, the skies above the valley had turned pitch black and roiled with thunder and lightning. No one was looking at the sky though, every pair of eyes was focused on the forest that hid the horde of darkspawn from their view. Countless points of light made it pretty clear where they were though. The roars and growls from the creatures before them were hard to miss, even with the sound of thunder above almost drowning them out completely. Conner was the unfortunate one that could see more than the rest of the men around him put together. His blue eyes narrowed when his gaze settled on one darkspawn, just as the genlock slit a soldier's throat on their side of the valley, blood spraying the ground before him before the genlock pushed the man down at his feet. Conner clenched his hands into bloodless fists, his revulsion and building rage felt through the telepathic link.
Some soldiers began to shuffle nervously at the sounds that were carried to them. Even now, at the eve of battle, Chantry priests and priestesses walked through the lines of soldiers. Dinah noticed and wondered why, but she didn't ask her question aloud. Perhaps it was some sort of sermon, or it was merely to boost their morale. It seemed to work for some as they calmed down a little at the sight of the priests. At a glance though, it was still clear that many of the men and women present were afraid of the creatures they were about to face, and rightly so. Dinah had seen enough of the darkspawn on Earth to understand all too clearly what they were in for. "Stand firm, fear will defeat you well before they do. Push past it, and focus on what you're fighting for." She called out to those around her. Duncan nodded his approval as more than a few of the soldiers heard the woman's comment and seemed to take strength from her steely determination.
M'gann remained invisible, having flown into the forest on the edge of the valley. She had a pretty good view of both armies from her hiding place, and had already picked out several targets. When the fighting starts, I'll do what I can to disrupt them from here. She sent to her allies as her red brown eyes honed in on the closest of the Emissaries she could spot from her vantage point. As much as the thought disgusted her, she knew she couldn't hold back. Using her full telekinetic ability would be the only way against these things. She wasn't foolish enough to try to stop them with her telepathy, the thing in command of the horde would immediately notice her and if Zatanna were to be believed, she would be destroyed before she got a chance to fight back. Besides, her own confrontation with the Archdemon through her last attempt to learn more about the darkspawn had ended badly, and she was in no hurry to sense the dragon a second time, to feel that all consuming rage and twisted will in her mind. No, she'd have to mentally shred any monster between herself and her targets. M'gann shivered at the thought, already dreading what she was going to end up doing before the night was over.
Easy M'gann. Conner said to her calmly. Don't drive yourself crazy. Just do what you have to to survive.
Megan nodded to herself, she had forgotten that they all would be forced to do things they would regret before the night was over. If she needed any evidence of that, all she had to do was look towards the bridge that spanned the valley floor, where Artemis was doing her best to disguise her true feelings regarding the whole situation. Out of all of them, she had fought most of her life to be something more than her father and sister had wanted her to be. He had wanted another Crock family criminal, she had made it a point to disappoint him time and again. That didn't make this any easier, even if their opponents tonight were bestial monsters intent on only death and destruction. Killing was killing in her mind, regardless of the enemy before her.
As if picking up on the team's concern for her, Artemis mentally scoffed. What?! She hissed, earning her a curious look from Camdor at her side.
Nightwing was clearly disturbed by the thought of having to kill. Despite his numerous years fighting crime, he had prevented himself from becoming so jaded that he could justify, what was in his mind, murder. Forgetting the fact Bruce would have been disappointed in him, Richard would have been infuriated at himself if he ever did become such a person. Though M'gann still could feel the resignation echo within his mind, because he knew that it was necessary. He didn't like it, but he understood it.
Despite his apparent calm, M'gann could feel Conner's fear. Not of the darkspawn, he was afraid that once he started killing, he would become the very weapon Lex Luthor had always intended him to be, that the Light had created him to be. While he had had five years to get past the worst of that fear, it was still in the back of his mind, and it was more pronounced than ever. You will never be like that man. She sent him, her mental voice full of warmth and trust in him.
Thanks. He sent back and she could all but feel his smile. With that taken care of, she turned her sights on Dinah. The woman had the same concerns as Nightwing, but with her it was intermixed with worry for each and every one of them. Not only if they would survive, but also how they would deal with the blood on their hands after it was over.
Zatanna at least seemed relatively calm and collected over what they were about to engage in. Although, being a sorcerer of her caliber didn't come easily. I might not like this anymore than you do guys, but I understand what we're up against. Her ironclad determination and drive to see the darkspawn fall was a relief and comfort in its own right, but something, at least in M'gann's opinion, didn't feel….right to her given their long standing friendship. Whatever she had seen while in her astral projection, it had made Zatanna hardened against these monsters. To the point that she wasn't sure if she'd show any mercy whatsoever, even if one of them decided to try and make peace with the magician.
Thea's mind was far calmer than those of her teammates. Perhaps it were the effects of the Lazarus Pit, or something else altogether, but the thought of killing darkspawn didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as it did the rest of the team. M'gann wasn't sure if she found that worrying or reassuring, and decided on a mixture of both. Given her...complicated history though, the red clad archer probably would have just shrugged off whatever probings M'gann might have sent her way.
She was shaken out of her musings when she spotted movement at the verge of the forest. It didn't take long for the first darkspawn to step through the line of trees. More and more of the hideous creatures appeared from the forest. There were darkspawn of all kinds, hurlocks, genlocks, emissaries, a few shrieks if she recalled their names correctly and even some ogres. Besides a few, bigger, stronger variants, most of the darkspawn seemed to be of the same size as their kin, making it painfully obvious there was some form of basic hierarchy even among the different races of 'spawn. That would make her job more difficult, spotting targets of opportunity if she couldn't get to them herself, but she was determined to see them defeated one way or the other.
Despite this new problem, it didn't take her long to identify her first target of opportunity. It was a hurlock who stood more than a head taller than the rest of its kin, its armor more ornate as it seemed to glint menacingly in the light of the nearby torches. Others made way for the taller darkspawn as it stood upon a rock and glared at the defenders with unbridled hatred. As if spurred on by some unseen signal, the darkspawn began to growl and scream at the mostly human army before them. Pounding their shields and armored chests with armored fists, the beasts' roars and shrill cries rent the night air. They were trying to intimidate the Fereldens, and judging from what she saw, it seemed to work, at least to a certain degree. Multiple soldiers took a few steps back, or looked around for signs of panic in their brothers in arms.
M'gann had to reevaluate her opinion of these creatures, they were smarter than she had first given them credit for. Or perhaps it's the creature that commands them to act this way. She thought to herself. From my brief encounter, it's becoming clear that it's far more intelligent than the creatures it commands. That thought was somehow more terrifying than the dragon itself. If that was the case, then it was little wonder it hadn't shown itself on the field. Confirming its own presence at the head of this horde would likely unite the country against it if half of what she had learned about the darkspawn since this mess began was to be believed. As it stood now, without seeing the Archdemon, everyone believed this was just an unusually large raiding party, and were treating it as such. The only way she could see the Archdemon appearing now, is if they did enough damage to its army, but given the size and scale of its forces, she didn't think they'd be able to accomplish that, even with Loghain and the rest of the reinforcements, who were waiting for the signal to charge. There was little point worrying about it now though, and M'gann forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand. They either won here or they didn't.
King Cailan, predictably, was smiling grimly, sword held aloft at his side. "Hounds!" He called out, making himself heard over the growls and barks of the warhounds he had brought along for this occasion. Dozens of mabari were let loose on the darkspawn army just as they started to charge forward. They were the first casualties as their unearthly opponents cut down the dogs where they could, while the mabari ripped apart any darkspawn that were too slow on the uptake to defend themselves. Wolf remained at Conner's side, although the great white beast growled menacingly low in his throat, eager to join in with his fellows no doubt. Cailan smirked briefly at the sight before giving the second order. "Archers!"
"We're up Cammy." Artemis said and nudged the Dalish man in the side just as the sky filled with flaming bolts and arrows from the army. More than three hundred yards away from the front, few people could pick off enemies at such a distance, but few people had been so extensively trained in the art of the bow as she had. Having forgone her small hand crossbow for this, at least for the moment, Artemis made a mental note to thank Morwen for the longbow she had gotten back in Lothering as she knocked her first arrow alongside Camdor. As one, they fired, and watched their arrows fly up and over the army and into the front lines of the horde where they detonated, showering a dozen of the beasts in flaming embers and oil. Pandemonium soon ensued, but it didn't last long. Artemis watched the growing conflagration, the flames' light dancing across her bronze tiger mask. She hated what she had just wrought among the darkspawn, but she knew there was little choice but to utterly destroy the enemy in front of her.
The horde still charged forward, its guttural cries never stopping, not even when more and more darkspawn fell to the flaming arrows that fell upon them from the night sky or the pitiless jaws of the mabari hounds. But the darkspawn kept coming, charging right over their dead or dying without remorse or hesitation. Seeing little choice, Cailan held his sword aloft and gave the order to charge. "For Ferelden!"
"For Ferelden!" The army echoed and charged forward to meet the darkspawn head on. Their fear forgotten, at least for the moment as they ran towards the monsters that would destroy them all if given the chance. However, the darkspawn numbers couldn't come to full effect on this battlefield. The narrow valley made sure that only so many darkspawn could face them at once. Without the reinforcements though, the royal army would stand no chance, but at least it evened the playing field a little.
Their chances improved though when the ground inexplicably cracked open farther back in the darkspawn lines, swallowing up a great number of the beasts. Just as quickly, the rock and soil closed on them like the jaws of a giant trap. Only one person the team knew could pull off such a magical feat, and still have juice for a lot more of her hat tricks. As if to prove that point, a wall of fire twenty feet high suddenly sprung up, deep in enemy territory. Zatanna was in rare form tonight, although the fact she and Alex were currently flying through the right side of the forest on a magically created platform, it made sense they had gotten so far so easily into their ranks. While unable to perform on such a grand scale, Alex held her own as she froze or lit up more than her share of the darkspawn as Zatanna continued to fly just out of reach of the enemy's spells and arrows, causing chaos and disorder among their ranks.
"That's our cue." Richard said as he and Morwen, on the far side of the bridge, watched the army charge into the darkspawn lines before they stood to their feet and started for the Tower of Ishal with Alistair two steps behind them. The firewall spell had been their agreed upon signal, telling himself and Morwen to run for the Tower with all speed.
By now the darkspawn had begun to fire their siege machines at the ancient fortress. A lot of their shots went wide, though a few of them hit, but thankfully they were only unoccupied buildings. The defenders wouldn't simply let such an attack stand unpunished. At some unseen signal their own ballistas opened fire and rained death upon the enemy siege weapons, they were soon joined by mages who did their best to send their spells far enough to hit their targets. Even those that didn't managed to hit their intended target managed to impact the horde and simply killed other darkspawn. Then there were Conner and Wolf.
While not quite as strong or mobile as the super clone, Wolf was and had always been a wild animal at heart. Even before he had been experimented on by the aptly named Brain, injected with a variant of Kobra-Venom to enhance his muscle mass to unnatural levels, Wolf had been a pack leader, an alpha, and he hadn't gotten there on brute strength alone. He displayed that intelligence as he engaged one of the enemy mages, goading it to throw a spell at the ballista behind him before nimbly jumping over the fireball and ripping the mage's throat out on his way by. Both mage and siege engine were decimated in similar fashion, but Wolf had long since moved on, teeth and claws eager for more.
Conner engaged the darkspawn in a similar fashion, clad in the heavy armor Morwen had picked out for him. He shrugged of most off their attacks and retaliated with overwhelming force. A shield bash sent a hurlock flying for several dozen meters, his right hand swung a great sword that should have been impossible to lift with just one hand, but words like "should" and "impossible" were meant for people far weaker than Conner. "You want to see how a real monster fights?! Let's go!" He roared, before lashing out with his right foot, kicking an Alpha genlock with enough force that its chest caved in long before it was sent flying into its brethren, but he hardly paid it a second glance as he elbow checked a Hurlock. It was clotheslined, and fell to the ground in an undignified heap before Conner stomped on its head.
Though for all his heroism, he was hardly alone. On both sides were the men and women of the king's army. Spurred on by his actions, they fought with greater vigor and strength. It might not have been enough to win the day, but at that moment, they didn't care. They were inspired to keep up with the impossibly strong man among them, and Conner was hardly the only one. Dinah was also present, using her natural grace and combat experience to grand effect. She nimbly dodged sword blows, causing the darkspawn to wound and kill their own long before they had a chance against her. She was hardly idle however as she lashed out with a pair of daggers, turning blows aside before returning the favor. While they weren't her first weapon, Dinah proved more than proficient with the blades as she continued to dance and weave among the darkspawn.
Though the heroes were hardly the only inspiration on the battlefield. The Grey Wardens fought with a ferocity that surprised even Conner. Every single one of them dealt horrendous losses to the darkspawn, but it was Duncan that truly dominated the field. Where the old Warden went, death was sure to follow. Any creatures that were foolish enough to go near him were dispatched with staggering lethality.
Dinah could hardly believe her eyes when Duncan jumped at an Ogre and used his daggers to climb up the creature's chest before stabbing his sword through its throat. The moment the large creature fell down, he was once again in the midst of battle, side by side with the king. Even over the din of battle however, Duncan heard Dinah's call of alarm and rolled to the side, just as an axe wielding Hurlock almost took his head from his shoulders.
Before he could retaliate, something unexpected happen. Dinah opened her mouth, threw her arms out behind her, and screamed. Everything in front of her shuddered and cracked as wave after wave of sound escaped her, and the darkspawn that had almost killed him fell, clutching at its ears as blood poured out of its mouth, eyes, nose, and ears before it and dozens behind it fell dead. "By the Maker. You are truly full of surprises Lady Lance." Duncan said, astounded by what he had just witnessed.
"I could say the same about you." Dinah said, breathing heavily after using her Canary Cry. She could do it again in a few minutes, but it always took a lot out of her lungs, and made her throat a little sore, to do it too often too fast. The reprieve she had bought herself, Duncan, and the King was brief as more darkspawn swarmed them, but it had been enough to get her breath back at least as she charged alongside the Grey Warden Commander.
Amidst the chaos, no one noticed what M'gann was doing, which was kind of the point. She circled above the armies, and searched for a target that demanded her attention. As soon as she spotted one, she swooped down like a bird of prey, and dealt with it. The first she simply crushed inside its armor, another time she lifted her target high up into the air before letting it fall down again. Regardless of how she did it, each target she selected died one way or another. The ones she couldn't get herself, she sent a mental image of the darkspawn in question to whoever was closest, and let them handle the enemy when they could. Needless to say, she was quite busy. And despite the chaos and disorder she caused to their rudimentary chain of command, the darkspawn didn't back down, they simply gave way to their bestial natures instead of attacking in organized groups.
Artemis and Camdor had problems. Their first few shots had been decimating, but the darkspawn were clever, and had popped out of the ground on either side of the bridge before swarming them from both ends. That was the darkspawn's mistake. While Camdor was a long range expert, Artemis more than made up the difference as they danced around each other, slaying darkspawn with every shot or sword stroke. Though of course it couldn't be that easy for Artemis. The enemies mages and remaining siege weapons had apparently decided that the bridge was a tempting target and unleashed barrage after barrage on it.
"And I thought tonight was going to be boring!" Artemis grunted as she cut down a barrage of arrows with her katana before they could find their mark. Blocking arrows with nothing but her sword was an old habit for her. As much fun as it might have been to impress her elven partner by actually catching a couple, showing off at this point in time would only get her killed.
"Wish for the Dread Wolf, and he'll appear!" Camdor shouted back as he fired over her shoulder just as she ducked, rolled forward, and lunged with her blade all in one motion. The Dalish followed up with another arrow that pierced the first darkspawn on Artemis's blade and hit a second immediately behind it, stopping it dead in its tracks.
"Funny, we have a similar saying!" Artemis replied and ducked as a fireball impacted the bridge near their position. The hungry flames consumed both soldiers and darkspawn alike. Artemis grimaced at the sight, it was not a death she would wish on anyone. Not even her own father, as much as she might have wanted him dead on more than one occasion.
Camdor used the little breathing room the explosion had provided to once again shift his aim at the darkspawn in the valley beneath them. He sent one arrow after another into the darkness beneath them while Artemis made sure that no darkspawn got near him. Pulling her hand crossbow, she twirled her katana in one hand and leveled her secondary weapon before her and nodded towards Camdor. The elf returned the gesture, making it clear he wasn't going anywhere without her. The Tigress and the Hunter were not going to go down quietly.
Thea Queen had somehow found herself fighting alongside Mirian Hawke and her brother, Carver. Her opinion of the redhead's fighting ability had shot up in the first few minutes of engaging the enemy forces. Her brother was no slouch either, but she, like Richard and Morwen, still considered the giant sword he carried rather….brutish. That was a distant thought though as she kept pace with the rogue, her curved sword flashing before her as one darkspawn after another fell to her graceful spins and counter strikes. As much as she hated Malcolm Merlyn for what he'd put her through, she had to thank him for giving her the skills to defend herself. "And I thought that sword was just for show!" Hawke called out, a grim, cheerful smirk on her face as she and Thea fought back to back.
"You'd be surprised Hawke!" Thea called back and spun, her foot lashing out like a whip, cracking the genlock in front of her across the face before she finished her spin and brought her sword down on its back. She deflected another blow when she heard the unmistakable noise of an arrow fly by her ear before hitting a hurlock that had tried to sneak up on her in the throat. Convinced that it was Artemis, she turned around to look for a split second and was surprised that it had been Camdor who had taken that shot. Even from the bridge, the Dalish elf was just visible amongst the rest of the soldiers milling about far above them. "Thanks Legolas!" While she didn't see it, having long since turned to another enemy, Camdor's ears twitched and a frown pulled at his lips.
"Do I dare ask?" Hawke chuckled as she ducked, and seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke before reappearing behind another Hurlock. The top of his head disappeared just as blood ran down the front of his armored chest, his throat having been slit about the same time the top of his head had been severed. Just as she started to turn to engage a second, Thea was in front of her, sword flashing in front of her as she blocked three arrows with her blade. Hawke took only a split second to marvel at the woman's timely arrival, along with her saving her life, probably not for the last time that night, before they ran forward together into the midst of the horde.
Sometimes they would see a sign of their friends. Like darkspawn suddenly thrown to the ground by supersonic screams, or killed by arrows that were shot with an accuracy that many would deem impossible. While more were inexplicably frozen, set aflame, or buried alive. They even ran into Conner, he had teamed up with a mountain of a man that was clad in heavy armor and batted the darkspawn to the side with his mace as if they were merely flies to him.
That was how they met. The mysterious stranger in the armor had smashed an emissary to bits when it tried to attack Conner from behind. The two behemoths had since then decided that it was more fun to smash the darkspawn together. Wolf was never far behind, tearing into darkspawn with almost equal glee beside his long time friend and companion.
But no matter how many darkspawn fell, there always seemed to be more to replace their fallen brethren. For every monster destroyed, ten more were ready to charge into the fray in a seemingly endless stream of dark, corrupted flesh. The defenders were slowly but surely being pushed back, and if that wasn't bad enough, they were all beginning to feel the effects of fatigue.
"When is this damn beacon supposed to be lit?!" Conner cried, frustrated as he carved another group of genlocks apart with his sword. Receiving a telepathic message from M'gann, Conner charged deeper into the horde and spotted his latest target, an ogre, bigger than the rest he'd seen so far. "He's mine." His companion only nodded, having found his own enemy by that point anyway.
Together they charged forward, Wolf by their side and teared through any enemy unfortunate enough to stand between them and their chosen targets. Conner was dimly aware that some soldiers followed their charge, thus causing further chaos within the darkspawn ranks. Any such thoughts left his head as he jumped the last five meters towards the ogre and impacted into the creature's chest with the force of a large boulder. The creature came crashing down, but was still alive, barely. Conner rectified that with a swing of his sword.
"Look out!" The voice of his armored companion shouted. Conner turned his head in time to see an emissary shoot a stream of fire at him from his hands. Before he could even think of reacting, a shadow fell over him as the form of his companion stepped between him and the flames. His armor was tough, and had easily deflected the blows the darkspawn had dealt against it. However, magic was an entirely different matter.
The agonized screams of the man were clearly audible even through the sounds of battle all around them. The man inside was literally roasted alive. After what seemed like an eternity, the fire stopped, and the man who had shielded him fell on his back, utterly silent.
Conner glanced down at the burned armor in shame. The blackened helmet hiding the man's features, even in death. They had fought together, the man had given his life for him, and he didn't even know his name. Conner didn't know anything about him, and that filled him with disgust at himself. Though his disgust soon gave way to anger, and he channeled it all towards the creature who caused it. The emissary hit a tree with enough force to break every single bone in its body. A quick look at the armored behemoth who had given his life for him told him there was nothing he could do for him, so Conner moved on, his grip on the hilt of his greatsword tight enough to leave finger sized dents in its metal handle.
He could see that he was not the only one driven into a frenzy over the behemoth's death. The soldiers who had accompanied them fought with greater ferocity than ever before, determined to make sure that their comrade hadn't died in vain. Conner could understand that, vengeance could be an excellent motivator.
Nightwing? Where the hell are you? He growled over the mindlink. We are taking heavy casualties down here!
Sorry, we got a bit held up! Nightwing shouted back, and gave the super clone an image of himself, Alistair, Morwen, and Shadow fighting darkspawn in the Tower of Ishal. We're nearly to the top! Two minutes!
We don't have two minutes! Conner growled back as he shield charged another group of darkspawn just as another flame wall erupted several feet in front of him. Not long after Zatanna's spell went off, spikes of ice appeared, impaling more darkspawn and impeding others from charging him and the men down right before he spotted the magical duo's summoned platform fly overhead. No sooner had the two mages flew past did several more creatures decided the ground wasn't to their liking and were lifted off it before they were dropped down a lot harder than they took off. Very little was left after M'gann telekinetically slammed them down.
Elsewhere, Hawke had a problem of her own, and it wasn't darkspawn related. At some point, Thea had disappeared on her. Despite their brief time together, Hawke had grown rather fond of the lithe, slender and rather short archer, and worried the darkspawn had either taken her down or had dragged her underground to do Maker knew what. What she found when she saw close to two dozen darkspawn, dead, was somehow more frightening. She had seen the murderous gleam in Thea's eyes once already, but it had disappeared before and hadn't gone beyond her green orbs. Now however was a different story as she viciously struck at anyone that dared to approach her, her face contorted into a bestial snarl that would have been right at home among the darkspawn at her feet.
Covered in dark blood from the slain around her, Hawke briefly wondered if Thea had been possessed by a rage demon, and had forgotten to tell her. Even so, she doubted it, and not for the obvious reason that she was no mage. Whatever the case, Hawke fought her way to the enraged Thea Queen, more to protect her from herself at this point. That was a mistake because as soon as Hawke got close, Thea spun on her next, sword raised to strike her down. She reacted first and disappeared in a puff of smoke before appearing behind her, her arm wrapped tightly around the woman's throat. "Thea! Snap out of it, and help us survive this night!"
Thea at first struggled against her hold before she slumped in Hawke's arms. Shaking her head and putting a dark gloved hand against her forehead, she groaned and almost collapsed to her knees at Hawke's feet. When she recovered, it was just in time as a Hurlock closed in, flaming sword held above its head. She struck first when she pulled one of Hawke's daggers from her belt and threw it underhand at the monster, the throwing knife finding its mark in the creature's neck. Looking up at Hawke, Thea's green eyes held a silent thanks which Hawke returned with a nod of her head. It would have to be enough for now.
"I hope we get those reinforcements soon or we're done for." Thea grunted and stood up and nodded at Hawke in thanks once more.
"If not, at least we gave the rest of the country a chance." Hawke said as she put her back against Thea's, the pair determined to die among a pile of their enemies if this was their time.
The Tower of Ishal
Ten minutes earlier…
"Would you stop complaining already?!" Morwen grumbled towards Alistair as she dispatched a darkspawn who had been stupid enough to come near her as they charged the Tower of ishal after being informed it had been attacked. "First you complain because you don't get to fight, now you complain because you have to fight! Just make up you mind already!"
"Hey! I'm only complaining because they weren't supposed to be here in the Tower!" Alistair shot back as he shield bashed a genlock before driving his sword into its chest.
"Maybe we can tell them that they're in the wrong place? Think they'll go for it?" Richard asked as he backflipped and threw one of the dozens of batarangs from his personalized holster. The device unfolded mid flight, and found its mark in the lead monster's chest before exploding, destroying the target and seriously injuring its fellows in the process about the same time he landed on his feet.
"Right, we can laugh about it later!" Alistair replied, just as Shadow ran ahead and ripped off one of the wounded monster's arms on his way by. "That was seriously disgusting." His complaint went unheard by his companions though as he moved in to finish off the rest of the creatures before him.
"Good boy!" Morwen cooed at the mabari. In response, the war hound barked once before returning to the skirmish. She had to agree with Alistair however, the darkspawn weren't supposed to be this far into the fortress. Still, there was no point in complaining about it as she and Richard led the charge with Alistair doing his best to keep up with the speedy rogues. Nodding to the stairs and the locked door between them and the second floor, Nightwing beat her to the punch as he threw another batarang ahead of them, blasting the passageway open. Time was not on their side, so stealth went out the window.
"Wanna bet how many darkspawn are in the next room, just waiting to kill us?" Morwen asked Richard dryly. "If our current luck holds, probably around thirty, at least."
"Nah, we'll go into the next room and we'll find it completely deserted. The only thing left by the darkspawn will be an apology note that says how terribly sorry they are for ruining our night." Dick replied with a small smile. He knew that that wouldn't be the case, but humor had always been his way of coping with things.
"I wish." Alistair chuckled dryly, and wasn't disappointed when he felt that all too familiar itch in the back of his mind grow noticeably more pronounced when they came upon yet more darkspawn. "Well, no note." He mused aloud as he and the rest of his companions prepared to charge the enemies in front of them. He was held back though by Richard with a hand on his chest. When Nightwing pointed at the tripwire in front of them before gesturing towards the barrels scattered about the central room, understanding dawned in his eyes. "Ah, right, of course there'd be traps. Why wouldn't they make it easy on us?"
"Who exactly claimed that darkspawn are little more than animals?" Morwen asked rhetorically. "Because last I checked, animals didn't build traps."
"Yeah, that's actually a good question." Dick admitted, if he ever found that person he would probably punch them in the face. Such claims caused soldiers to underestimate the darkspawn, and underestimating an enemy never ended well. Wasting no time, Morwen disarmed the trap, but Dick had since jumped over the tripwire and led the charge, daggers in hand. As much as he hated the things, he had yet to pull his escrima sticks since they had gotten to Thedas. He had to reluctantly admit they were far more effective against these creatures, and proved it yet again as he dodged around the first attack while attacking in the same moment. One dagger slipped into the first darkspawn's back while the second found an opening between another's chest plate, finding a vital organ. A third fell just as quickly as he jumped back, threw his right hand dagger, and the blade found a new home in the monster's left eye. The monster had only just started to fall back before he ripped it free on his way by, a geyser of blood following in his wake.
Morwen was just as ruthlessly efficient. Each stroke of her sword and dagger hit a vital area. The way she moved reminded Richard more of a dance of death than something that could be considered a traditional fight. Something which he greatly approved of since she never remained in one place long enough to be surrounded or make herself a target. She kept her opponents off balance in a way he was eerily familiar with.
Alistair fought a lot more grounded than either Morwen or himself. And his heavy armor also meant that he could take a lot more punishment than they could. He fought less gracefully, but was still not to be underestimated. He used both shield and sword with no small amount of skill, and while he had a lot to learn yet, Alistair was just able to keep up with his two companions.
Nightwing was just dispatching another darkspawn when he was suddenly contacted by Conner. Nightwing? Where the hell are you? We are taking heavy casualties down here!
Richard winced at the news, though it couldn't be changed. If the tower had been clear as they had been led to believe, they would have already lit the beacon, as it was however he could do nothing else but answer his teammate truthfully. Sorry, we got a bit held up! He sent to Conner and emphasized that point by sending various pictures of them fighting the darkspawn inside the tower. We're nearly to the top! Two minutes!
We don't have two minutes! Came the angry retort, though thankfully his teammates didn't say anything else. Right now, Richard couldn't allow himself to be distracted by anything. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind did he, Morwen, Shadow, and Alistair climb the last flight of stairs only to stop dead in their tracks. "And now we know why the beacon was never lit." Nightwing deadpanned and sighed as the giant ogre started to stand to its impressive height.
Blood dripped from its jaws, having been feasting on one of the guards that lay scattered and broken around the top floor of the tower. When it saw them, the ogre roared and threw the dead body at the Wardens. Nightwing dodged to the right while Morwen broke left. Alistair raised his shield and did his best to bat aside the corpse. It was enough of a distraction to allow the ogre to start a blind charge right to the junior Warden, but that was a bad idea on the darkspawn's part as Nightwing threw a bola batarang at its tree trunk sized legs. The ogre was tripped up, entangled by the carbon steel wire, and slid to a stop just short of Alistar's blade. "Well, you wanted easy." Nightwing said with a shrug.
"I did say that didn't I?" Alistair said with a shrug before stabbing the ogre in the eye. He drove the blade into skull until the huge monstrosity fell silent. "Why can't it always be like that?"
Morwen had meanwhile run to one of the nearby torches and used it to light the beacon. The bright light felt liberating after all the obstacles they had to overcome before reaching it. "We did it." She said, relief palpable in her voice. No sooner had they lit the beacon however, did Morwen sense a fresh wave of darkspawn rush up the stairs.
"We're not out of this yet!" Richard shouted as he activated the curved spikes on his gauntlets, having decided he had had enough playing with the kids' gloves, as it were. The first darkspawn to engage him up close got its sword stuck between the spikes on his right gauntlet before he turned the blade aside, slamming his forehead into the monster's face before backflip kicking off of its chest. While it staggered back, Nightwing used his backward momentum to throw several batarangs into the fresh wave before he landed in a crouch between Alistair and Morwen. Several explosions later had cleared most of the room, but it was too little too late as he turned and saw the arrows sticking out of Morwen's chest.
The woman looked down at her chest in surprise as if she couldn't believe that she had been hit. For what seemed like an eternity she remained upright, but Nightwing knew that it had only been a few seconds at best, before she fell down. Her whole body unmoving save for worryingly shallow breathing, her luminescent blue eyes slowly glazing over as unconsciousness claimed her. He didn't get to worry about it for long as he soon joined her, a lightning blast hitting him square in the chest. The only thing that saved him from being killed was his Wayne tech armor, insulated against most forms of energy based projectiles to some extent. It was just enough to save his life, but not to keep him in the fight.
Now that he lay on the cold floor, close to unconsciousness, he saw the archers that had hit Morwen. The way they stood… she had put herself between them and him and had shielded him without his knowing. In his mind, he scolded himself for being so sloppy, though the mental voice sounded suspiciously like Bruce. Before his vision went dark, he saw Alistair charge forward, a rage filled scream on his lips as he did his best to stem the tide on his own. It wouldn't be enough, but Richard was beyond caring at that point in time. His head rolled to the other side as his vision grew dark and he saw the burning beacon, despite his probable death he smiled. They had succeeded in their mission. His friends would survive.
M'gann was the first to notice Richard's absence in the telepathic link and immediately jerked her gaze towards the beacon. While the sight of the fire burning in the night told her they'd made it, the fact she couldn't feel his presence just in the back of her mind took whatever joy she had felt right out of her metaphorical sails. Something's wrong, I think Richard's down!
M'gann watch out! Time slowed down to a crawl as the martian turned towards Conner, only to stop and look down at her right shoulder. She never saw where the dagger had come from, only that her active camouflage failed as pain started to radiate through her body, disrupting her mental control on her powers. Falling from the sky, she became visible to everyone around her, but she didn't notice. Though she certainly noticed when her body hit the ground. Pain exploded all over her back, and all she could do was to bite back her screams. In front of her prone form stood a genlock in ornate armor, in one hand it still held a dagger that looked suspiciously like the one in her shoulder. Though what worried her were his eyes, she could practically feel the hateful entity looking at her through them. "You die now outsider." It growled, and stalked forward, dagger poised to slice into her neck.
It didn't get the chance before an enraged Conner picked up the genlock and promptly smashed its head between his hands, his greatsword and shield forgotten on the ground at his side. Blood and gore showered the ground and the heavily armored kryptonian clone, but he hardly noticed as he spun on his heel and gingerly picked M'gann up in his arms. "Hey, stay with me M'gann. You're gonna be fine."
"Conner…" She whimpered weakly, and grimaced as the blade in her shoulder shifted, scraping against bone. "I...don't think I can remove it myself. I can't phase shift it out either….too much pain."
As she spoke, she was dimly aware of Wolf, who ripped any darkspawn that dared to approach them to shreds. Despite the pain however, something else penetrated her thoughts. "Where are our reinforcements? They should be here by now." She managed to get out through gritted teeth, though her vision darkened at the edges while she spoke.
"They're not coming…" Conner whispered, just as curious as she was when he looked towards the hill where Loghain and the rest of the army had been waiting. "They're leaving!" He shouted, shocked as he realized what was going on. The army had turned on their heel and started away.
"What?! Urgh...why?!" M'gann cried out, just as alarmed by the news, adrenaline or at least the martian equivalent flooded her system and kept her awake despite the pain. "We have to...get them to run."
The way she said it clued the clone into what she had in mind, and given the situation at hand, he wasn't about to argue the point. "Do it." Conner said, and braced himself for the mental equivalent of a Canary Cry. This was going to hurt.
She took a deep breath and prepared herself for what she was about to do before she let loose with all her mental might. Retreat! The telepathic shout was so powerful that it sent Conner to his knees, even the darkspawn seemed to pause for a moment. She hadn't given it any particular direction, so they had heard it as well, as did their master. But the soldiers that were left heeded her call to run, and did their best to form an organized retreat despite their dire situation. It hadn't taken them long to see the battle was lost when no help came, but having a direction to go, that helped give them a reason to fight for their lives as they ran. They didn't care where the call came from, only that someone seemed to still be looking out for them.
By then, Zatanna and Alex had settled on the bridge just as Artemis and Camdor ran out of arrows and crossbow bolts. "Need a lift?" The sorceress asked, and didn't wait for a response as she and Alex helped the two archers on her platform. "We need to find Richard and the others."
"Then what are you waiting for?! You heard M'gann! They're in trouble down there!" Artemis shouted and pointed to the valley floor below.
As if to emphasize her point, the darkspawn ran forward with renewed vigor. The filthy gleam of their armors ever present in the valley below, it was far harder to spot something that wasn't a darkspawn. Thankfully, Wolf's white fur stood out like a beacon of its own as Zatanna directed her platform towards the beast and his companions. Fire and lightning rained down around the martian and kryptonian clone, giving them some much needed breathing room.
"Get her out of here! Go!" Conner yelled the moment Zatanna set down and passed the unconscious martian over. Before she could protest, the super clone bent his legs and launched himself away from the group. "I'm gonna bring the whole damn fortress down in this valley if I have to!" Wolf took off after his master, not about to leave Conner behind if he could help it. The darkspawn however had no intentions of simply letting Conner go. They charged at him the moment he landed, futile as it was as he batted them aside on his way to the bridge. Once the survivors had retreated, he would bring the whole thing down to give them more time to escape.
As he looked over his shoulder he saw Zatanna maneuver her magic disc out of the valles and away from the darkspawn horde. Conner, Zatanna will take us into the wilds where we will wait for you. Find us, soon. M`gann told him via the mindlink before he could literally feel her drift into unconsciousness.
It was time to speed things up, he decided. Conner bent his legs and jumped up again, determined not to let any darkspawn get in his way. Though it was not to be, the moment he had reached the apex of his flight he was hit by a fireball. It wasn't enough to stop him, but it slowed his improvised flight, made him miss his landing. And when he did land, he fell flat on his face with a groan, leaving a large impact crater in his wake. "Who threw that?" He growled, and jerked his head over his shoulder, his vision zeroing in on the offending mage as he started to gather power for another spell. "Found you."
He dashed at the emissary with blinding speed, but just before he reached his intended target, he was blasted to the side by a wave of cold. It slowed him down, long enough for the first emissary to get his spell off. A glyph appeared at his feet, and a rectangular prism appeared around Conner, rooting him to the spot. He roared and tried to shake off the magically induced paralysis, but it was too late as close to a dozen darkspawn swarmed him, blades poised to cut into him.
He scowled at them, the moment he got free of this spell he would kill them all, and this time no mage would stop him. Even when the first rust covered blade came down, shattering against his thick skin despite finding a weak point between his armor, Conner continued to struggle with all of his might. It wasn't until an enchanted blade spitting bolts of lightning hit him did Conner scream in agony, more from the electricity surging through him than the sword itself that had pierced his body.
The blade was twisted inside his body and another scream forced itself past his lips. The darkspawn laughed and yanked his sword free from Conner's stomach just as the paralysis spell wore off on its own. "Outsider….you die here." It growled, a malicious smile on its face.
"Not….yet!" Conner growled back and grabbed the hurlock's sword arm before slamming his knee into the creature's chest. The armored, humanoid brute felt more than the air in his lungs blast out of his body as most of his ribs gave way, but Conner was far from done as he threw the hurlock with everything he had into the bridge's supports. His improvised missile finished the job the bombardment from the darkspawn's siege weapons had started, sundering the right side of the support structure beneath the bridge. The rest was simple physics and gravity taking up the slack as the immense structure crumbled and fell apart, filling the valley with debris and broken bodies, ensuring that nothing could pass that way for a long time. He only had a few seconds to enjoy his success before a flaming dagger buried itself in his back.
Conner was confused, he knew from experience that such a wound should hurt more. He looked down and saw the tip of the dagger exiting his chest roughly at the same position where his heart was. The super clone felt his strength leave him, and he fell to his knees. A moment later, he slumped forward, and stopped moving altogether. Underneath his armor, his black shirt, bearing the red S shield of his alien father's House emblem, turned red from his blood. The embodiment of Hope had finally been brought down.
Though he wouldn't be the last casualty of that night. Near the collapsed bridge were Dinah, Duncan and King Cailan. They had tried to retreat in an orderly fashion with as many soldiers as they could gather, but a sudden impact at the bridge had prevented that from happening. "No…" Cailan cried out softly, whatever hope he had left crumbling as surely as the bridge.
"We aren't dead yet your Majesty!" Dinah called out as she charged ahead, determined to climb over the rubble if she had to. No sooner had she started to do just that, did Wolf rush up to her side and pushed his head under her butt, forcing her onto his back. "Good boy." She said, and patted the great wolf's back as he nimbly clambered over the remains of the bridge, bearing her to the other side. The moment she hopped down, Wolf jumped over the debris, leaving Dinah to stand alone, already in the process of preparing one last Canary Cry to cover their retreat. Before long, more darkspawn heard her scream, and knew no more shortly afterwards.
Wolf came back carrying the two wounded men over his back. While she helped him, she could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the other side. She hoped that they get as many of these soldiers out of here as possible when she heard the angry cry of an Ogre. A moment later it was followed by the sound of metal impacting stone and she could see a golden glove sticking over the rubble that had once been the bridge.
"Cailan." She whispered sadly, knowing that the king had just been their latest casualty of the night.
The sounds of fighting intensified before they receded for the moment. For a few heartbeats, there was nothing but silence on the other side, and both she and Wolf wondered if all the others had perished in their absence.
Both recoiled when suddenly, a strong voice rang out from the other side clearly audible throughout the valley. "To me soldiers of Ferelden! To me!" Duncan's said, with the voice of a man who was used to commanding men in battle. Thus it was not surprising to hear the shuffling of armored boots on the ground a moment later.
"We will hold this line for as long as possible and get as many of you as possible out of here. Those that stay with me know what that means." He said grimly, his gaze lingered at the bodies of his fallen brothers and sisters. He was the last of the Wardens here, and he knew that his wounds were too serious to make it out of here alive, but he would be dammed if he would die in vain.
"Dinah? Are you still there?" He asked over the rumble.
"I am." Dinah called from the bridge. She didn't bother to try and convince him to change his mind. She had been around men like Duncan most of her life. When the chips were down, they all did the same thing. They sacrificed themselves so the rest could live.
"Good, send Wolf here. We will hold the line as long as we can." He told her before sighing tiredly. "I will tell you when you have to go. When that time comes, don't hesitate."
"As you wish." She said softly, knowing better than to deny his request. For the next few minutes Wolf ran over the destroyed bridge and brought as many men with him as he could. The sound of fighting first grew louder and noticeably closer, before it slowly receded. Dinah knew what that meant, there were fewer men holding the line now than before. Just as she was about to send Wolf one more time Duncan's voice rang out.
"Dinah go! We won't hold out much longer! Remember, your charges need you. Your fate is not to die on this corpse strewn field. Remember your promise!" Duncan shouted, his voice growing heavy. "And I have one more thing to ask of you. Make sure that we did not die in vain. Make sure that this Blight is stopped."
Dinah said nothing, and instead chose to walk away with Wolf at her side. Nothing else needed to be said. Her departing steps were accompanied by the dying screams of the men on the other side. As she fled as fast as her legs could carry her, a single tear made its way down her cheek. Their deaths would not go forgotten. She'd make sure they hadn't died for nothing. She looked towards the sky, towards the Tower of Ishal, and thought she saw something large fly away from the tower. But when she blinked, it was gone. She pushed it to the back of her mind, her heart heavy and her body exhausted from the fight. If the rest of the team was alive, they'd rendezvous in Lothering as planned. She didn't want to consider the alternative.
For the first time since she had been a child, Dinah prayed to whatever gods were out there that they'd all make it to the village.
End notes: Nomad-117: I hope you didn't expect something more cheerful when you began to read this chapter? After all, we had little reason to make it lighthearted. If I'm being completely honest, we had to make sure that we didn't make it too dark. But now it is done, and I am curious what you think about it.
Vergil1989: Considering we just killed Superman's unofficial son, from a cloned, biological standpoint, I think we might have strayed into the grim dark personally lol. Joking aside, this sucked to write, knowing what we had planned, but in my mind, Conner made it too easy for them. He was too strong, too resilient, and he'd have torn apart the Archdemon on his own if given the chance. So, he had to go, but we gave him a hero's ending before he finally fell. But if I'm being completely honest as well, consider the size of the Dragon Age group you pick up, and then include the Young Justice team we sent to Thedas on top of it. Needless to say, we didn't want to overload ourselves with too many characters lol. At any rate, as painful as it was to write Conner's death, it opens up a lot of future plot ideas we have in mind for later, so look forward to those as the rest of this unfolds. Adios, and may the Maker watch over us all.
As a quick side note, we might be bumping up the rating to M soon. It's only going to get worse from here.