And here is the final chapter (aside from the Epilogue, which I am about the start writing.) I have every intention of continuing this story, by the way, I just need some time to decide what direction the sequel is going to take. I have a lot to work with, after all. My next story may or may not center on Awakening. I haven't decided yet. Anyway, enjoy the final battle with the Archdemon! I hope you like it as much as I liked writing it! Especially the latter half.
Chapter 11: The Archdemon
"This is Fort Drakon, but... Where are all the darkspawn?" Adrian pulled a sword out of a nearby Dragon Thrall, examining the empty room. The charge into the fort was hard enough, considering how little strength he had left, now he couldn't even use his magic. At least there were no enemies, but that didn't seem right.
Where were they?
They wandered through the halls, checking every room. None of the four of them knew how to navigate through the maze of rooms to get to the roof, where the Archdemon lay waiting.
"There is probably an ambush." The Qunari shrugged gruffly as he spoke, holding Asala ready.
"I agree with Sten." Morrigan examined a nearby broken statue of Andraste while she spoke. "Judging by the difficulty simply to get in here, the Archdemon is either conserving its forces or trying to trap us."
"It matters not. We have to kill it." Alistair, ever the one-track mind. "If we have to fight through an ambush, so be it."
"You'd like to die, then?" Adrian smirked, but his fake mirth felt like an ineffective mask indeed. "We have to be careful."
Adrian was tired, so tired. He had overexerted himself getting here, even while using Mouse's power. Maybe Mouse was trying to trick him, to lure him into resorting to the demon's power? Whatever it was, he had to stay alive...
He had to do it. For Rayne.
"Enchantment!" The voice sounded out, followed swiftly by a large explosion, the very foundations of Fort Drakon shaking.
"Maker!" Adrian started running forward. There was fighting ahead.
He forced open a door, only to be confronted by a mountain of corpses. Sandal stood amidst them, unmoving, smiling stupidly, as per usual. "What happened?"
"Enchantment!"
Well... that explained why they didn't find any darkspawn.
ooo
"I said stay still, child!" It was Wynne's voice again. "Maker, how could you have possibly sustained such wounds and stayed alive?"
Rayne opened her mouth in a silent scream. Having someone probe her open wounds with their fingers was not pleasant. She could barely think with such pain. All she wanted was for the pain to end...
But she kept seeing Adrian.
She didn't know why, but she wanted him to be there, comforting her. But no, he was off saving Ferelden.
Fuck Ferelden! Why wasn't he here!
"Stay still!" Wynne's magic was still flowing into her, but healing was just as painful as taking the wounds themselves, if not more.
"How...How is the battle?" She barely managed to blurt it out with all the trashing, incoherent in all the pain. Yet, she felt lucid. She found regularity in the pain as she tried to push it to the back of her mind, focusing on the world around her.
"It is stable, for now. I had to move you behind a building in the Market District away from the fighting, in case Loghain fails. The line holds, but no word yet on the fate of the Archdemon." Wynne stilled worked her fingers over Rayne's wounds, pain still coursing through her.
"Where...FUCK!" Her shoulder twitched violently as Wynne popped in back into place.
"Maker, how did you do that to yourself? Your knee, too." Another pop, another horrifying wave of pain. "What did you do in that battle? Your wounds are...ridiculous in number."
"I let...my body..control me." Rayne gasped, breathing hard. All she wanted was for Adrian to come and hold her, comfort her. "I didn't think, I just acted. It's easier... to kill that way." She wanted the pain to go away.
Wynne shook her head. "Intelligent fighting would save you quite a bit of hazardous actions. You aren't an Oghren, you know?"
Rayne almost laughed. She had seen the dwarf fight. Insane, destructive. Was that how she did it? It didn't matter.
But maybe next time, if only to spare her from this pain, she should be more cautious.
ooo
And there it was, purple and black splendor and all, blue flames spouting from its mouth, incinerating its enemies. Soldiers fell by the tens, their arrows and swords simply bounding off its armored skin.
Adrian sighed. There it was. Terrifying and powerful as he expected. Wonderful.
Sten charged first, sword swinging wildly while the Archdemon was focused on some other soldiers. His strike took a finger off, the dragon rearing up in pain, batting Sten away easily. The qunari flew several feet before slamming into a wall, head hanging.
"Morrigan! Get the ballistae! Use it against the Archdemon!" Morrigan didn't question, she just acted. Adrian ran to the Archdemon's far right while Alistair approached Sten, who just barely avoided a strike from a nearby Hurlock Alpha as he recovered from the Archdemon's blow.
Adrian ran to a ballistae, loading it quickly as yhe could with his trembling fingers. There were only a few other darkspawn on the roof, and none seemed to notice four new foes fighting their leader. The soldiers saw, though. Inspired as they were by the Warden's presence, they charged foolishly at the dragon, dying as it swiped, clawed and bit.
"No! Stay back! Don't use yourselves as bait!" Adrians screams were pointless. The soldiers took no note of his orders, as fervent as they were to see the end of the Blight.
Soldiers still threw themselves at the giant dragon, despite Adrian's protests for them to retreat. Some waved at him, knowing they were about to die, but not caring, faces giddy as they were torn apart.
It was a terrible sight, dozens of soldiers surrounding the Archdemon, each one willing to die for Adrian and his companions, just to distract it while they tried to get a good strike in.
Was it worth it?
Adrian knew it didn't matter. The goal was the Archdemon, but it wouldn't be easy.
He fired the first ballista bolt in synch with Morrigan. Both bolts collided on separate sides of the giant beasts body, cracks sounding in the air from the fire. The dragon roared in pain, before jumping into the air, landing on a few soldiers, its eyes focused on Adrian.
It charged.
ooo
"Rayne! Where are you going? You're still hurt!" Wynne tugged on her shirt, struggling to get her to sit down. Rayne didn't listen. She had to fight. She had to help Adrian, even if all she could do is hold the line at the city gates. She had made it as far as the Alienage gate before realizing she needed weapons to kill darkspawn with.
"Where's Blightblood and Fang?" Wynne stared at her, puzzled. "My blades!"
"I'm not telling."
"I need them!"
"No. You're not going out there while you're still injured, child. I won't let you."
"Just try and stop me. Adrian needs my help." Rayne's vision was blurry, her legs weak...but she had to do something!
"Will you help him if you die?" Rayne stopped. "You think he'll be happy to find out you perished because you were too foolish to receive treatment?"
"I...can't just sit here..."
Wynne sighed. "I did not want to do this." Rayne realized Wynne was casting a spell a second too late, a crushing force pressed upon her, holding her down. "I apologize, child, but I cannot let you go out there to die."
And that was it. Rayne was out of the battle. The elf girl sighed.
She could do nothing but wait.
ooo
The small tower shuddered as the bulk of the Archdemon slammed into it. The stone below Adrian's feet crumbled as the tower rocked from the blow. The mage barely managed to jump out of the way as a giant dark claw scraped the inside of the tower, looking for Adrian's heart.
"Shit!" Adrian ran out from the tower just as the Archdemon slammed into it again, narrowly avoiding another claw. The thing was near invulnerable, its scales blocking most attacks before they had a chance to hurt it.
A trumpet sounded. Dwarfs charged from the entrance to the tower, a few steel golems in the midst of the crowd. Reinforcements to help with the fight. Kardol lead the charge, his greatsword, Ageless, pointed forward as the Legion Commander shouted his war cry along with his soldiers.
Most dwarfs were simply pushed back by the giant dragon's bulk, but a few got some strikes in. Adrian looked on in morbid amusement as Kardol's sword got stuck, so the dwarf grabbed a shriek, broke its arm-blade off and started poking away with that.
Dwarves. Gotta love their determination.
Morrigan fired off another ballista bolt, then an ice spell. The Archdemon stepped back, bombarded by rocks thrown by golems, swords poking from dwarves, spells, ballistae bolts. It shrieked, a roaring, unearthly sound, shaking a dwarf off its tail, the man screaming as he fell off the side of the roof.
"Phalanx! Assemble!" Kardol's command was loud, even amidst the sounds of the battle.
Adrian had to applaud the dwarves for their effort, the golems for their strength...but... it wasn't enough. The Archdemon was hurting, but it wasn't dying.
They needed more.
Adrian knew what he had to do, but he couldn't.
He heard the whispers in his ears, the touch. Mouse wanted out, and it knew Adrian needed him. He dipped into Mouse's power again. He'd make no deals, but he could try to use the demon's power.
The cage containing the demon loosened again. There wasn't much time.
Feeling his energy returning, Adrian stared at the Archdemon. The insanity crawled through his skin, the bloodlust from the demon flowing through him. He relished it, the hubris, the abilities, the strength.
Who would be able to predict the end result of such an epic fight? An Archdemon with an army of darkspawn crawling out of the Fort to defend it versus an army of dwarves headed by...
An abomination of Pride.
He drew too much from Mouse, he knew, the demon was crawling into him slowly, taking away his sanity. If he lasted just long enough to kill the Archdemon...
Adrian jumped, propelling himself magically through the air, strengthening the impact as he slammed into the Archdemon's back, cracks running across its scales. The dragon roared, clawing at its back, jumping to another spot. Adrian dug his hands into the cracked scales, fortifying himself.
A rock from a golem slammed into the dragon just below where Adrian's leg held itself, shards flying across Adrian's face. The dragon still showed no signs of weakening.
Adrian slammed the Archdemon's scales with his staff, beating it until the wood broke, but the force behind the wood cracked scales, black blood pouring from the open wound. The mage stuck his hand straight inside, releasing his dark magic within.
He laughed, riding the crazed Archdemon as it bucked, weaved and jumped at Adrian's magic painfully spiking inside it. What an image this would form!
Maleficarum...Abomination... Insanity. Adrian knew Mouse was overcoming him, but he didn't care, as long as the Archdemon fell.
For that was all that mattered. The death of this monstrosity. The end of the Blight. If he had to lose himself in the process...
So be it.
The dragon charged towards some other soldiers, Sten heading them, but jumped up into the air at the last moment, propelling itself as high as possible with its torn wing. Adrian kept his hand inside the dragon's blood stream, blood magic struggling to overcome the beast as it spiraled upwards and then... downwards.
The Archdemon was diving now, unnatural roar bellowing, screeches echoing the cries of the dead and dying, filled with the power of the Old Gods and of darkspawn.
It crashed into the stone roof of Fort Drakon, tearing Adrian from his perch and breaking through the stone floor, crashing and flailing about as it struggled to climb out of the hole it put itself in.
A golem, seeing an opportunity, broke a piece of hewn stone from a broken tower and heaved it at the Archdemon's face, tainted blood splattering everywhere. The dragon grabbed at the construct, claws tearing the steel thing apart.
Adrian landed near Morrigan, who had cradled him from the impact with the ground somewhat with a magical shield. Expecting no thanks and receiving the same, Morrigan quickly moved off to Adrian's right, firing electrical bolts at the Archdemon from her staff.
"Why won't you die!" Alistair was slashing away at the struggling Archdemon as it tried to pry itself from the stone it had trapped itself in. The dragon snapped at Alistair, but he was either too nimble or too lucky, each strike from the Archdemon barely missing their mark as Alistair dug his blade into the Old God's side.
Adrian, still slightly dazed from his fall, pulled more power from Mouse, fueling his numerous spells launched at Urthemiel. It was screaming, now, thrashing in pain as it was bombarded from all sides.
Its claws finally found a hold to anchor itself on and it pulled itself out, struggling against the attacks from all sides. Adrian had to admire its strength, its unknowing resilience. Yes, it was a monster, but it was, by far, the most powerful one Adrian had ever fought.
The Qunari was batted aside easily, his strikes, normally capable of tearing a man asunder, simply bounced off its scales, only rarely finding a soft spot and causing the dragon harm. Morrigan, though a powerful Witch of the Wilds, lacked the power to quell the beasts' ferocity. Even Alistair, the Warden King, could not cause any worthwhile harm.
Adrian had to find the wound he had caused again. If he could pump more magic into the wound, it would hurt the dragon greatly.
He charged forward, jumping onto the dragon's leg, propelling himself up magically just fast enough to avoid a bite from the Archdemon. He landed just above its tail, which was violently swishing and breaking bones easily as it slammed into the various soldiers trying to get a blow in.
Adrian climbed up the dragon's back slowly, avoiding its fervent bites and clawing as he searched for the hole in its scaly armor.
He saw it, but the distraction caused by that discovery allowed the Archdemon to bat him off its back, throwing him onto the ground in front of it.
Adrian rolled to his left as the Archdemon's head came down, barely missing, teeth gnashing as it struggled to end the pesky mage's life. It roared in frustration, claws raking the ground as Adrian darted out of the way.
It bit at him again, head extending further than it usually allowed itself to. Sten took the chance, greatsword slamming into the creature's neck. Adrian could hear snaps as scales cracked under the weight of Asala.
Drawing his knife, Adrian closed in on the Archdemon again as its head turned towards Sten, hissing. It swung its neck back towards the mage just as Adrian raised the blade, imbedding the dagger up to its hilt in the dragon's eye.
Roaring in pain, the dragon reared on its back legs again, wings batting the air and some unfortunate dwarves as Urthemiel shrieked. Morrigan had found another ballista and fired a bolt straight at the dragon's underbelly, knocking it back, blood oozing from the large wound.
Finally, it was weakening. Cheers went up from the soldiers as they charged with renewed vigor at the sight of the major wound. The dragon was finally slowing, its attacks having less weight. Alistair chopped into the dragon's right shoulder when it fell into a bait by Sten, scoring another wound as the already weakened scales cracked under the force of the attack.
Adrian fired spell after spell, drawing upon Mouse's power further and further.
He was almost there, the dragon was almost defeated. Sten's blade found the Archdemon's neck again, striking in a spot near where his first attack went. The blade went home, gouging a deep gash along the dragon's neck. The Archdemon roared, but its strength was fading, its will weakening.
Now was the chance.
It was an unthinking move, pure instinct as Adrian charged at the dragon, picking up a fallen soldier's sword as he passed. Alistair had moved in for the strike as well, but Adrian cast a spell, throwing the Templar back.
"Adrian! No!" Alistair's cries were in vain, for Adrian heard him not. The mage swung the blade at where Sten had struck, widening the gash even further, slicing the dragon's neck open wide. Roaring one final time, the Archdemon fell, blood splashing as it pooled on the ground.
Adrian approached the head, blade held high.
It was time.
Alistair was shouting as he struggled to run towards the mage, Morrigan only smiled. Sten was near collapsing from all the wounds he sustained while fighting. Adrian glanced at the Qunari, and a nod from Sten told him all he needed to know.
Adrian plunged the blade downwards, entering into Urthemiel's skull, offering little resistance to the blade. Bright light shone up through the wound, shooting into the sky and dispelling the dark clouds that had gathered above Denerim.
He heard voices, some violent, others encouraging. He didn't know which were real and which false, Alistair was shouting, the soldiers were looking on in shock, Morrigan was walking away. The voices overpowered him, plunging into the deepest level of his consciousness.
Mouse was screaming now, thrashing inside of Adrian as the Archdemon's soul transferred itself into Adrian. The shouts were incoherent, mad ramblings from a demon in extreme pain.
Fear gripped Adrian then. Why was the Archdemon's soul flowing into him? It tore at his consciousness, ripping every fibre of his being.
Did Morrigan lie? Was the ritual false, a bait to lure Adrian into taking the final blow and kill himself?
His vision was blackening, even the white light erupting from the corpse of the dragon could not dispel it. He was hearing another voice, a stronger one now, was it Urthemiel? Or... something else. It was singing, rising above the din in his mind, a great calming sound, filling Adrian more. It was... almost pleasant to listen to the voice.
A song of pure beauty. It was undoubtedly female, a image of a face and a body came to Adrian then. He was drawn to the sound, attracted deeply to it. He felt bound by it, a great happiness filling him as he listened to the music.
Hair, white as snow, eyes a vibrant, deep blue. Her face was kind, young and serene, her gesturing pure. Her voice filled everything Adrian knew, his memories, his thoughts, even the demon inside it.
Mouse was silent, listening along with Adrian as the woman sang. It was only then that he realized he was gazing at the Old God herself, Urthemiel. This was a thing of purity and grace, the god of beauty, or whatever she was.
There were people standing behind her, listening intently to the song, eyes closed and heads raised as they took pleasure from the sound. Adrian knew, somehow, they were the other Old Gods killed in the Blights in the past.
An older, wizened man with a stitched mouth and simple garb. An old woman with frayed and chaotic hair, wearing clothes of all different shapes, sizes and color. Another man, dressed in all red and seeming as if he was on fire. The final onlooker was a younger man in black, his body bound by giant chains.
There were two more, standing away from those four, their eyes closed and ears not hearing the beauteous song. Adrian couldn't see the face of one, and the other was encased in shadow. The sleeping Old Gods, as of yet alive, slumbering within their prisons deep beneath the ground
The four dead Old Gods all stood, listening the song as Adrian was. This was their afterlife, Adrian knew, their one moment that came every couple hundred of years to once again be with their brothers and sisters that had been slain by the Wardens, as well as the ones still alive.
And then it was gone. The light disappeared for a second, the image of the woman faltering as Adrian felt himself be thrown back. Why was the song stopping? Why couldn't he move? Why did he want to go back, to hear the song again?
Fear overwhelmed the mage again, but Mouse was still silent. Adrian's consciousness slipped away, falling into blackness.
Disappearing, along with Urthemiel.
ooo
"They retreat! We have won!" It was Bann Teagan, Rayne recognized the voice from where she lay, still bound by Wynne's magic. The old woman was beside her, magic coursing from her fingertips, still mending the various wounds the elf girl had maintained. A true healer, Wynne didn't even look up as she heard the shouts, focusing her attention on Rayne completely.
From where Rayne lay she could see the top of Fort Drakon, and she saw the light when it had shot up into the sky, clearing the red-brown clouds from the air.
When the explosion shot out, Rayne felt a great pressing on her heart, as if something truly meaningful had somehow disappeared from the world. It was sad, and Rayne couldn't help but feel melancholy, despite the victory.
Why did it feel like she had lost something, something beautiful? Whatever it was, Rayne knew somehow she would never see it again, never touch it, never hold it to her chest.
Rayne cried as the soldiers cheered around her. Their celebrations meant nothing to her.
For she had lost everything.
