She stared out over the crowd of people who were jubilantly celebrating their victory. She, for once, had gotten her nap, although it had only spanned a few hours before the celebrations woke her. All of the townspeople were drinking and dancing joyously. A few had tried to convince her to join them, but she declined. She didn't trust them. How could she, when not long ago they had hated her and blamed her for what happened at the Conclave? People who were too trusting got a knife in the ribs. Not that she really thought any of them would kill her, especially after sealing the Breach, but you couldn't be too careful.
"Solas confirms the heavens are scarred but calm. The Breach is sealed." Cassandra said as she approached. "We've reports of lingering rifts, and many questions remain, but this was a victory. Word of your heroism will spread." Ellana snorted as she turned to the Seeker. Cassandra was growing on her. She was a bit too entangled in her religion, but she wasn't as dense as she had originally thought.
"You know how many people were involved. Luck...or lack of it... put me at the center." she answered sarcastically.
"A strange kind of luck. I'm not sure if we need more or less of it. But you're right. This was a victory of alliance. One of the few in recent memory. With the Breach closed, this alliance will need a new focus." Cassandra said just as loud, clanging bells began to sound. Ellana jumped, startled. The loud, abrasive sound was unexpected. She looked at Cassandra, whose eyes seemed worried.
"Is that an alarm?" she asked. Cassandra nodded and began to run toward the main gates. Ellana followed suit, stopping by her cabin to grab her staff. She had not taken off her armor, which she found herself thanking Mythal for. She saw Cullen issuing orders at the gates.
"Forces approaching, to arms!" he bellowed.
"Cullen!" she exclaimed as she reached him. He turned to her, anger on his face.
"One watchguard reporting. It's a massive force, the bulk over the mountain." he reported.
"Under what banner?" Josephine asked as she ran over to them.
"None." he answered grimly. Ellana scowled at the gates. Who wanted them dead? An explosion sounded just outside the gates, followed by shouting.
"If someone could open this, I'd appreciate it." a familiar voice yelled.
"Dorian?" she asked, shoving the gates open. The Tevinter mage was standing from a crouch, a group of strange mages dead on the ground around him.
"Ah! I'm here to warn you! Fashionably late, I'm afraid." Dorian quipped. As he stood, he stumbled into Cullen. "A mite exhausted, don't mind me." he said wearily. His gray-green eyes fell on her and he grinned. "There you are! I came to tell you what happened in Redcliffe. You aren't going to like it, I'm afraid." he revealed. Ellana glanced at Cullen, who shrugged. Bad news wasn't really surprising any longer. "They are under the command of the Venatori, in service to something called the Elder One." he turned to point at a cliff in the distance. Ellana could see the form of a woman standing beside something that was far too large to be human. It stood head and shoulders over the woman and then some. "The woman is Calpernia. She commands the Venatori. For that...the Elder One. They were already marching on Haven. I risked my life to get here first." he said, as if he was worried that she would throw him out. She might not fully trust the man, but she was not going to leave him to those abominations.
"Cullen. Give me a plan. Anything, please." she requested as she stared at the Elder One. The former Templar shook his head in frustration.
"Haven is no fortress. If we are to withstand this monster, we must control the battle." he admitted. "Get out there and hit that force with everything you can." he suggested, gesturing to the trebuchets scattered around the border of Haven. "Soldiers, gather the villagers. Fortify and watch for advance forces. Inquistion! With the Herald! For your lives! For all of us!" he ordered. Everyone immediately began scattering around, trying to take care of everything at once. Ellana did not hesitate to leap onto a trebuchet and aim it toward the mountainside.
"You're going to miss!" Cassandra cried.
"No I won't." she grunted before firing. The ammunition landed against the mountain with a distant, satisfying boom. Snow began to cascade upon the enemy army. Inquisition soldiers cheered at her intuition, and she ushered them back to the village. Suddenly, a ball of fire exploded before her, killing the small squadron of soldiers who had accompanied her. She gaped up to see a massive, ancient dragon.
"Is that...an archdemon?" Cass breathed. Without hesitation, she sprinted back to the gates, hoping that her people were all right. She could not see him, but she could hear Cullen shouting at people to get into the chantry, and Solas had made his way to her side when she hadn't been paying attention. When she arrived at the old building, a weary Dorian was aiding a wounded Roderick as they ushered people inside. Dorian realized she was studying them.
"A brave man. He stood alone against a Venatori." he explained. Ellana felt a sudden shame. She had spent so much time hating this man, and yet he had sacrificed himself for the people. Such sacrifice was the sign of a true warrior, and a strong leader.
"Briefly, I am no Templar." Roderick coughed.
"Ellana! Our position is not good." Cullen said as he approached her. She heard Solas shift behind her in a seemingly irritated manner. "That dragon stole back any time you might have earned us. There has been no communication, no demands. Only advance after advance." Dorian snorted.
"There was no bargaining with the mages, either. This Elder One takes what he wants." he scoffed. "From what I gathered, it marched all the way from Redcliffe to take your Herald." Ellana snarled.
"If you have any idea why he's after me, I'm all ears." she snapped. Dorian shrugged.
"Besides taking his Templars, I've no idea what would incur this much wrath. And such a promising start with the landslide." he laughed. "A shame trebuchets do not remain an option." Cullen nodded thoughtfully, and she wondered where his mind was wandering.
"They are, if we turn the last of them to the mountainside above us." he suggested. Ellana's eyes widened at him. That was suicide.
"We're overrun. To hit the enemy, we'd bury Haven." she repeated as though to reveal what he was actually saying. He nodded.
"This is not survivable now. The only chance left is how spitefully we end this." he agreed. Dorian charged over to them.
"Well, that's not acceptable. I did not race here only to have you drop rocks on my head." he argued.
"Should we submit? Let him kill us?" Cullen retorted. Thoughts began forming in Ellana's head. This Elder One didn't want everyone, only her.
"Dying is typically a last resort, not a first. For a Templar, you think like a blood mage." Dorian growled.
"There is a path." Roderick croaked. "You wouldn't know it was there unless you made the pilgrimmage, as I have. The people can escape. She must have shown me. Andraste must have shown me so I could tell you." he rambled. Her gaze shifted so she was locking eyes with Cullen. Strange that not long ago she would have done anything to avoid looking into the eyes of a shem, unless it was in defiance, but this one had weaseled his way into her trust. Ellana stared at him for a long time, knowing her final decision long before she spoke it. He seemed to know what she would suggest before she opened her mouth. A look of resignation crossed his face.
"Will it work, Cullen?" she whispered. He closed his eyes, looking as though he were in pain from her whispered words.
"Possibly. If he shows us the path." he answered slowly.
"But what of your escape?" Solas asked, barging forward looking more distressed than she had ever seen him. She gave him a level look, trying to convey through her gaze the words her mouth couldn't form. She would not be escaping. She would die here. She would be with Mahanon again, and she wouldn't need to worry about the conflict in her heart anymore.
"Perhaps you'll surprise it." Cullen suggested, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. She looked at the two men. Hopefully her death wouldn't hurt them too much. She smiled gratefully at Cullen before he turned to rouse the people. "Inquisition! Follow Chancellor Roderick through the Chantry! Move!" he ordered.
"Herald, if you are meant for this...if the Inquisition is meant for this, I pray for you." the old man said as Dorian lead him away. Solas stalked off after the people without a word, fury painted on his usually serene face. She stopped Varric before he left.
"Keep an eye on Solas for me. He seems...distraught." she murmured. Her friend nodded and gave her a sad smile.
"I'll take care of Chuckles, don't you worry about it. Just come back to us, Peaches." he commented. Soon only she and Cullen remained.
"I sent some men ahead to load the trebuchets. Keep the Elder One's attention until we're above the tree line." he said, trying to keep his tone businesslike. Suddenly he was crushing her against his chest. She returned his fierce embrace, the terror of what she was about to do catching up with her. Part of her was surprised at how accepting she was of his touch. She hadn't let anyone touch her, much less hold her, since Mahanon's death. Anyone who tried got shocked with lightning. "If we are to have a chance...if you are to have a chance-let that thing hear you." he murmured. She felt his warm lips press against her forehead before he released her.
"I'll try." she said before turning away. She couldn't look at him. She wanted her last memory of him to be of that embrace. When thinking of Solas, she tried to remember the day prior, when he had told her that he cared for her. She did not want to think of the pain he had shown as he left the chantry. She made her way down to the trebuchets, and Haven was surprisingly quiet. The men had already loaded them and left by the time she reached them, and all she had to do was wait. They pointed at the mountain, and she strained her eyes for the signal. She heard a screeching cry, and the dragon suddenly appeared above her, letting loose a stream of lightning and fire. She dove out of the way, rolling in the dirt to avoid the attack. An explosion sounded nearby, and she raised her head to see that horrendous creature, the Elder One, walking out of the fire.
He was massive, at least double her small height of five feet, and three times wider than she. His face and body were both covered in a rotting corruption that made her gag and feel the urge to vomit. He looked as if a single touch would cause a piece of him to fall off, and at the same time as if he had survived for centuries. By the looks of it, he probably had. The dragon suddenly landed behind her and began screeching with rage.
"Enough!" the creature barked, his voice low and commanding. It was a deep boom that made the earth shake. His beady eyes fell upon her. "Pretender. You toy with forces beyond your ken. No more." She straightened, trying to appear much taller than she actually was.
"What are you? Why are you doing this?" she called, genuinely curious. The beast snorted in what might have been a laugh.
"Mortals beg for truth they cannot have. It is beyond what you are, what I was. Know me. Know what you have pretended to be. Exalt the Elder One. The will that is Corypheus. You will kneel." he reached out a long, clawed hand to point at her. She raised her chin stubbornly.
"You're forcing this fight for no reason." she spat. The beast wrinkled its features.
"You will resist. You will always resist. It matters not." he grumbled. He pulled a strange orb from his tattered robes. She was certain that she had never seen it before, but it was somehow familiar. "I am here for the Anchor. The process of removing it begins now." his claws thrust forth, and sudden agony erupted in her palm. An anguished scream ripped from her body, so loud she was certain all of Thedas could hear it, or at least the people running up the mountain. Corypheus did not falter. "It is your fault, 'Herald.' You interrupted a ritual years in the planning, and instead of dying, you stole its purpose. I do not know how you survived, but what marks you as 'touched', what you flail at rifts, I crafted to assault the very heavens. And you used the Anchor to undo my work. The gall!" he roared. She gasped for breath as she stared down at her hand. The edges around the mark were bleeding heavily, but nothing else seemed to be happening. Her body was becoming numb to the constant stream of pain, and she raised her head.
"What is this thing meant to do?" she stammered.
"It is meant to bring certainty where there is none. For you, the certainty that I would always come for it." he answered. Suddenly, the tearing sensation stopped, and she felt herself being lifted into the air by the wrist. Up close, she could smell his fetid breath. Her stomach roiled as she tried not to vomit over the odor. His entire head was the size of her torso, and she had never felt smaller in her entire life. "I once breached the Fade in the name of another, to serve the Old Gods of the empire in person." her eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. He was one of the seven magisters who had broken into the Beyond and brought the Blight upon this world, according to Chantry legend. But if he was saying this...was the legend true? "I found only chaos and corruption. Dead whispers. For a thousand years, I was confused. No more. I have gathered the will to return under no name but my own, to champion withered Tevinter and correct this Blighted world. Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the Gods, and it was empty." he whispered before forcibly hurling her against the trebuchet. She lost all of her breath as her body struck the wooden machine, and her vision went black for a moment as she felt something snap inside her. She grunted and woozily stood, grabbing a nearby sword in a half-hearted attempt to defend herself. "The Anchor is permanent. You have spoiled it with your stumbling. So be it. I will begin again, find another way to give this world the nation-the god- it requires." she stopped listening to his words as a ball of flame rocketed above the treeline. Her eyes filled with tears, and she wasn't sure if they were of relief or pain. They had made it. She looked down with a sad smile. "And you. I will not suffer even an unknowing rival. You must die." he added in a bored tone. She saw the trigger for the trebuchet beside her and she straightened as best she could.
"You expect us to surrender and kneel. We will not." she answered coldly. "You'll face us all when we choose!" she said before hurling the sword at him and kicking the trigger. It released and, as she sprinted away, she heard it crash into the mountainside. She could feel the entire mountain shift as an avalanche cascaded down. She leaped over a fence, noticing the dragon flying off into the night, presumably with Corypheus in tow. Her eyes widened as she fell into a cellar and hit her head on a stone. Her people were safe. She could go in peace.
