Obligatory Chapter Heading:

Chapter 14:

"Commander." I closed my eyes for a moment. I hadn't gotten a respite since arriving. Sure, it was nice that everything was go, go, go, but… It would be nice to have five minutes go by without needing to do something for someone. "The men cleared the rubble."

"Oh, that was… quick." I looked up at her curiously. "What was on the other side?"

Hesitation. "You'll have to see what they found for yourself."

That didn't sound ominous.

I motioned for a soldier nearby. "Find Oghren, probably drinking somewhere, and send him to the basement. Have him meet up with us."

A look of unease.

"Is there a problem?" A raised eyebrow.

"Uh… Commander..." he opened his mouth repeatedly, but was at a loss.

"Yes?"

"If he's drunk… How effective can he be?" he looked like he expected me to scream at him.

I laughed, shaking my head. "He's a dwarf. They're masters of drinking and fighting. There was one time where he was actually drinking while fighting. Didn't spill a drop. Which is astounding, since he wields a two-hand greataxe."

Relief was clear on the soldier's face, even going so far as to crack a smile in return.

"Please go get him for me."

And off he went.

That left us to follow the one who'd flagged me down.

"Here we are. Look at her." the dwarf spread his arms wide, gesturing for us to take in the deep hole in front of us. The ladder that would take us in to the depths of the earth.

"I knew it led to the Deep Roads." I leaned over the edge, peering down. "It seems safe. Sturdy enough to hold our weight. The fact that they can climb ladders in an orderly fashion is kind of intimidating, actually." Glancing around at everyone, I saw their weird looks. "What? Oh, it's fine to be weirded out by talking darkspawn, but not about ones that follow social norms? Whatever. Let's go."

"Good luck." the soldier called out as I descended.

Other than the altar surrounded by golems off to our right, which we ignored since we didn't know anything about it, there wasn't much in the way of sights to see. Just a long stretch of tunnel, a few scattering groups of darkspawn here and there. Although, it did set the others off when we found diamonds and other gems. Like a patient parent, I'd stood at the entrance to the offshoot tunnel and waited for them, really it was mostly Anders, to pick up as many as he could fit in to his pack. He even went so far as to commandeer the others' bags. I put my foot down when he all but demanded mine, too. I wasn't about to let him accidentally set off any of the traps I was carrying.

And then we came to a stop just in front of a large portcullis gate. Beyond it, there was a set of dwarven double doors.

"And how do we get past that?" Anders frowned, waving a hand at the gate.

"This reminds me of the ones in Orzammar's Deep Roads." I mused, eyeing it.

Oghren nodded, having caught up with us along the way. "Bleedin' nugs, they were so stupid!"

The others looked at us with raised brows.

"They're really easy to open. You just…" I touched my hand to the cool metal, and a loud grinding noise starting. "And there we go. I don't understand how they're supposed to be protective at all."

The doors weren't even locked.

"Large, looming statues…" Anders observed aloud. "That's never a good sign."

Things began flying around the room. Bones. As they came together, forming skeletons, I threw a glare his way.

"One more time, and you don't get to talk for a while." I held up a finger as my other hand found one of my daggers, "Everyone gets one."

There were only six of them, and easily dispatched, but that wasn't the point.

A little farther, and we came upon a pristine… new… wooden bridge.

"That's…" Nathaniel shook his head. "The darkspawn built that. Had to have."

"And you all looked at me like I was crazy for being put off about the ladder." I muttered, casually strolling across.

It opened out in to a large chamber, ceiling beyond where the light could shine. In the center, a cloud of smoke appeared, surrounding a spinning… thing. I didn't know what to call it. A demon emerged, gliding toward us, screaming. The only thing I understood was that it was called the Dark Theurge. And it was summoning undead to its defense.

It… evolved, like a Pokemon, and a golden line of light linked it to the spinning thing as it fled from us.

"We have to-" Velanna started after it, but I held up a hand.

"Hold. It's not going to get very far. It's probably hoping we'll just run off without a thought."

"Right in to a trap."

"Mhm." I nodded, looking around. Stepped up to the centerpiece and searched it for any clues as to what we were dealing with. "Wraith. It's a shade."

"In dwarven ruins..?" Anders shook his head.

Oghren just looked bored. He wasn't one for waiting, and this was definitely not fun for him.

Spreading out my senses, I felt the darkspawn lying in wait.

Confused, I tilted my head. "Do demons work with darkspawn now? There's nine in the corridor after this one, including an ogre."

"Either it slipped past or…"

"Or they let it go by."

My companions all shifted uneasily.

"I don't feel good about this." I stated, walking toward the exit of the room anyway.

The ogre rose, or rather its spirit rose, to its feet. Shouted at us, spit flying everywhere. The demon had brought it back in order to get past us, disappearing back in to the room we'd found it in originally.

"This damn thing." I shook my shoulders out, ignoring the soreness from being hurled against the stone wall. Twice. The darkspawn had had help from Wrath, and I was feeling it.

Launching myself at the creature, I grabbed one of its ethereal horns and planted my hands on its forehead. I landed gracefully on my feet as it dissipated beneath me. These things were making it harder and harder to not just use magic out of frustration. Luckily, no one minded.

"Commander, are you alright?" Nate was at my side, looking me over.

"I'm fine, but I don't sense the demon anymore. It's too far away. I think… I think it left the Deep Roads." I sighed, kicking the ogre's body. "Stupid thing. Just have to add that to the list of things to do."

"What do darkspawn need with keys?" Anders sounded so frustrated, it would have been funny if I wasn't so annoyed. He was holding yet another key. That made four now. I wasn't even going to question it, at this point.

"This tunnel, though." Our resident dwarf eyed the walls around us with interest.

Nodding, I motioned for them to go. "I'll stay here. You guys go as a team. Get Voldrik down here and let's see what he says."

Anders gave me the keys before they departed.

"The ancestors favor us indeed!" I imagined him darting around like a cartoon character. It was hard to keep a straight face. "This is a dwarven barrier door."

I'd just thought it was decoration. Dwarves were weird with their walls.

"Before old Kal'Hirol fell, she nearly had it complete. Only the mechanism needs work."

Must have been a Paragon, not many other dwarves important enough for even surfacers to remember their names.

"If they'd only had a bit more time to finish, Orzammar wouldn't be all alone."

Oh. It was a Thaig. Founded by a Paragon, of course. Named after said Paragon.

"Could you finish it?" I prodded, wanting to get out of the Roads.

"Won't take me long to fix up the mechanism. Poor sods were nearly done." He shook his head in dismay.

Me and mine stood guard as he repaired it, adding more until it was complete. Hours passed. I was starting to get a headache, and feeling more than a little claustrophobic. I didn't know how dwarves did it.

"This is proper dwarven engineering. You stand back now." He shooed us out of the tunnel beyond the doors, ushering us to an area almost fifteen feet away.

All three sets of doors, I'd thought there was only the one honestly, swung shut. Basements sealed, check.

"Should buy us a few years, a decade if we're lucky."

If we were lucky.

I rubbed my temples, the ache only growing stronger.

"That'll give us time to devise a more permanent solution." The soldier beside me tried, optimistic.

"Let's just go back to the Keep." A sigh.

But the closer to the surface we got, the more substantial the thread of demonic energy got. Until we arrived at the branching hallways. One led to the exit, the other toward the Howe crypt.

"You guys go on ahead." Waving them onward, I wandered down the offshoot.

"You know… I now understand Alistair's frustrations at my not listening when he said to do something." I tossed over my shoulder.

"Pay back can be harsh." Nathaniel said from just behind me.

I rolled my eyes. "Wraith is here. Beyond that door."

The two of us went about thoroughly inspecting the walls, finding four keyholes. Two above and one on either side.

"I don't understand!" I threw my hands up after we discovered they all fit. "Why would they have keys to this? What's wrong with this place?"

He just shook his head, at a loss himself.

I stumbled, almost falling over, as something pushed me out of the way of the door. Pushed it open and darted inside.

"Oh, no yoU DON'T!" I chased after Wraith, not pausing as it split in to three and dove in to the sarcophagi in the room.

I slipped one of my daggers through the eye-hole of one, feeling it sink deep. It did not get back up. Nate had already taken care of the second one, an arrow sticking out of its helmet. The third was no match with the two of us as its opponent.

He whistled, eyeing the contents of the stone coffins. Picking up this and that.

"There's got to be ten vials here."

"And two recipes." I held them up. "They're very crude, but I think we can use them."

Together, we went back to the Keep, putting our findings in one of the chests in the main hall. By Cera, the Tower mage. Though I did give her the recipes I'd been holding on to. She gave me a bright smile and assured me she could make them, if I found the right ingredients.

Like I was struck by lightning, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Anders." I went over to him, crossing my arms.

"Yeah?" he looked at me like he was guilty of something.

"You said you overheard people talking all shady-like. But then, during court, you made it seem like Ser Tamra had told you. That's the whole reason why I passed the judgment I did."

"Ah. I can explain that one!" he perked up. "She started talking to me and told me to pretend like she was saying clever things. Kept tipping her head toward where they all were until I got the hint. And that's what happened."

"Huh. Okay." I nodded. "That actually makes sense."

The elf was nearby, glaring at everyone, no matter what they were doing.

"Velanna, could I ask you a question?" I waved to her, getting her attention.

She briskly made her way to my side. "Yes?"

"Are there any deposits in the Wood, aside from the one ore?"

"There is a cluster of granite. It's within sight of the ore."

"You're a gem!" I clapped my hands. "Thank you!"

Without another word, I darted out to Voldrik, where he was standing across from Herren's post.

"There's a granite deposit near the ore one that Herren already has men guarding. I'm not sure where exactly, but you'll get your own retinue to boss around to find and protect it."

He laughed, resembling Santa. Only, you know, short. And without a white beard. "You come with all the answers, Commander! You'll have your walls fortified in no time!"

I passed by Dworkin, halting to talk to him. "And how's our resident bomber?"

"I've been conducting experiments on lyrium sand and other volatile ingredients."

"Is there any way I can help?" I didn't want him to accidentally blow another passage to the Deep Roads open. Better to do it on purpose, when we were prepared.

"If you've a mind to, aye. We used up all the explosives on those darkspawn. I can make more, but I'm out of lyrium sand. Lyrium dust is all over the place, but that's too fine. Dust's good for fuses, but not the 'boom' I'm looking for. With real lyrium sand, I can set the lads to work."

Lyrium sand? Like- "This?" I pulled a pouch out from a side pocket of my pack, holding it out to him.

We'd found it, among everything else, on our quest to close said tunnels.

"Yes! Wonderful. We can start making more explosives."

Voldrik came over, no doubt hearing the shouting. "Warden, before you let my brother blow himself to little bitsies, tell him to be careful."

"Don't listen to Voldrik, I know what I'm about."

"And how many apprentices have you lost? Three? No, four?"

My eyebrows shot up. Four? I pursed my lips.

"We all know the risks. If we succeed, our names will go down in history."

He was right. And he'd only lost four. I was expecting it to be in the double digits.

"Push yourselves hard. We'll need those explosives." I handed him some coin, even though he hadn't asked.

"Thanks for your help. Please, take these." He casually held out a pouch full of tiny, round… bombs. Oh, boy. "Use them to give those beasties a what-for. Ha!"

"How volatile are these? Say… If I jumped from a window with them on me, would they prematurely explode?"

"No!" he assured me cheerfully. "They're not so fragile as that. You could hurl it from the top of Fort Drakon, and it wouldn't explode! Unless it landed in fire. Don't land in fire."

"Noted." I stashed them in my bag. "Thanks. I'll come back with any other lyrium sand I find."