Author's Note: That took a bit longer than expected, but I wanted to work out a few details. Several liberties were taken with this chapter compared to what's in the game. For example, I use potions instead of the poultices used in the game, because a potion (that you would drink) seems to work better in the story than a poultice (that you would rub in). Also, a few changes were made to accommodate the number of Wardens I have.

In addition, there are several instances in this chapter that were inspired by the original Star Wars trilogy and the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring—I'll let you see if you can spot those without me pointing them out for you.

Finally, I didn't use one of Alistair's classic lines earlier in the story, but I've included it here.

I hope you enjoy!

Things were not going well in Alistair's opinion. At every turn, there seemed to be some new kind of impediment blocking them from their objective. They found that the Tower was filled with darkspawn, and each floor they progressed to seemed worse than the last.

Despite this, though, they had managed to recruit the help of an archer named Gisborne and a mage named Mykol. Well, Bryon and Bena had managed to recruit them. Alistair had only managed to follow orders. After their return trip from the Wilds and the last hour that they had spent trying to reach the beacon, Alistair came to realize that the few months of experience that he had on the twins in being a Warden couldn't compare to the years of experience that they had on him in leading and persuading others.

And so, once again, Alistair was content to follow, and somehow their party was making it through the grim obstacles in their path.

Or at least they were until Bena returned from scouting ahead.

"We're near the beacon," she said, "but we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Bryon asked.

"The big, mean, ogre variety."

"The five of us can take down an ogre, especially if it's the only thing standing in our way."

"I would agree, but three ogres and at least ten more darkspawn surrounding them seem like a problem."

Alistair had to agree. They had done seemingly impossible things in making it this far without any serious injuries. He knew charging into a room filled with ogres and darkspawn would be pushing their luck.

Bryon paused for a moment in thought and then laid out a plan. "We need to lure them out into the hallway to even out the odds. They won't be able to overwhelm us if we do that. They'll be limited to how many of them can fit through the doorframe."

"Unless the ogres knock down the doorframe," Gisborne replied.

"It's a good plan," Bena replied sternly, and Alistair could see that when she and her brother were in agreement on something, they were likely unstoppable. He didn't know who could stand for long in a fight against the pair of them—verbal or physical. From the determination in their eyes, he thought they might even be able to take down the ogres themselves if they put their minds to it.

But they were apparently going to use every resource available to them in this fight. So Bena continued—more persuasively this time, "Besides, you and Mykol can attack from the safety of the far side of the hallway. You won't be forced into the midst of the fighting like we will."

The archer appeared more agreeable to the plan after that, and Bryon began speaking once more, "You all know where you have to be and what we to do. No matter what happens, we need the beacon lit. If you see an opportunity—"

Suddenly Bena's hand shot up in front of her brother's mouth, temporarily silencing him.

"What is it?" he whispered after a moment.

"I heard something, coming from that direction," she replied, also in a hushed tone. She was pointing towards the staircase that they had just taken up to this floor.

Bena, Bryon, and Alistair made ready their weapons and headed toward the staircase. It twisted around in a long, walled spiral, preventing them from seeing what approached.

The sound grew closer, and soon Alistair could hear it as well, although he couldn't make out what it was exactly. He tightened his grip around his sword, prepared for the worst, but then Bena raised her hand again. From the sigh of relief that she breathed and the slight smile that appeared on her face, Alistair realized that whatever was making that noise wasn't a threat.

After another moment passed, the indistinct noise became somewhat clearer, and Alistair recognized it as several grumbling voices. He could only hear brief bits of what was being said, but he soon realized who had to be saying it.

"…insolent nughumper…" came from a deep, yet feminine voice.

"…ruttin', stuck-up outcast…" was part of a reply made by a louder, gruff male.

And finally, "Will you two be quiet!" was said by the familiar voice of an elf-mage, just as the newcomers reached the final curve of the spiral staircase.

Bena stood at the top of the stairs, looking down on the four Wardens and two mabari that had just appeared. "You do realize that, given the amount of noise you all were making, you would have run into serious trouble up here if darkspawn had been waiting for you," she noted, in a somewhat amused tone.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing you lot aren't soddin' darkspawn then," Torval replied. "And the noise wasn't my fault," he added.

"Are you sure?" Alistair asked teasingly. "Because you did seem to be the loudest of an already loud bunch."

Alistair couldn't help but be a bit more positive at that moment, knowing that having the other new Wardens with them increased their chances for success. And that thought was suddenly making him more optimistic, which, in turn, brought out his joking tendencies.

"I may have been loud," Torval replied, obviously not sharing Alistair's good mood. "But her worshipfulness is the reason for it," he continued, motioning toward Hildra.

"You said something about darkspawn," the female dwarf said, ignoring Torval's comment. "Did you leave any of them alive for us to kill or did we waste our time coming here?"

"There's plenty for everyone between us and the beacon," Bryon replied. "And now that there's more of us, we should change our tactics." Bryon then explained that with so many of them, a bottleneck would also limit their own effectiveness, and not just their enemies'. If, however, they attacked the ogres in small groups in the top room of the Tower and had the ranged fighters take out the surrounding darkspawn, then they would stand a better chance of defeating the creatures.

"Whatever ya say, kid," Torval said, agreeing to the plan Bryon had just presented.

"Casteless son-of-a-moss-licker," Hildra murmured, loud enough so that only Bena, Alistair, and Ellana could hear her.

"What was that all about, Hil?" Bena asked.

"Nothing," Hildra replied and hesitated before continuing. "It was just that he put a dent in my armor with the hilt of his dagger!"

"Why did he do that?" Bena asked, with concern in her voice.

"Because I punched him."

"What? Why?" Bena asked, surprised.

"Because he insulted my armor. He said I shouldn't wear noble, fanciful armor, but that I should wear the more practical kind instead, because it would draw the attention of fewer darkspawn. I told him I could face a bronto in this armor, and then that degenerate had the nerve to say that I looked like a bronto in this armor. So, naturally, after that comment, I punched him. And apparently that duster doesn't know his place, because he got back up and took a cheap swing at my armor. But enough chatting about this, let's go do what we came here to do and kill darkspawn."

Hildra walked down the hall where the others were heading, but Bena took a moment to shake her head in disbelief at their dwarven companions' interaction.

"'Tis true," Ellana said to Bena and Alistair. "Amee and I had to forcibly separate them lest they tear each other apart before we reached you."

Alistair knew that now would be a good time to be serious, given the dangers they were facing, but he couldn't help himself. After hearing the story about Hildra and Torval, he said, "You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together."

Ellana just looked at him quizzically and then turned to follow the others. But Bena—she was laughing, and that sound made Alistair grin like an idiot, no matter what dangers lay ahead.

The grin faded, though, as soon as they reached the door to the top floor and divided up their forces. The mages and archers would stay near the entrance, taking whatever cover they could find. Once they'd taken out the darkspawn, they were told to help the others take down the ogres. Alistair and Hildra would take on the ogre on the right, Torval and the dogs would handle the one on the left, and Bryon and Bena would face the one in the center.

When they opened the door, the ranged fighters unleashed a barrage of fire, lightning, and arrows. The commotion distracted the ogres so that the creatures didn't notice the others approach until they were already poised to attack.

With his first swing, Bryon had stunned the center ogre. Then, he knelt down on one knee and lifted his shield above his head. Alistair could see this from the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help but turn his attention away from his own opponent to see what Bryon could possibly be doing. In the next instant, he understood. Bena ran straight towards her brother, jumped on his shield, and landed on the ogre's shoulder, supporting herself by grabbing one of the horns jutting from its head.

The center ogre was apparently awakened by the impact, and began swinging his arms violently at the nuisance on his shoulder. But Bena was too fast. She swung downward and drove her dagger into its neck before slicing open its throat. The ogre swayed and then toppled to the ground. Bena managed to roll down gracefully, and her brother helped her up.

Alistair released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding once he saw that Bena was safe. But suddenly, all of the air rushed out of him, as a giant hand gripped him and threw him against a wall. In the next second, he was on the ground, and a wooden table was being hurled towards him. It landed atop his legs with a sickening crack.

His vision was blurry for a while after that, but when it finally cleared, he could see Bena and Hildra taking down the ogre that had injured him, and it looked as if Bryon, Torval, and the dogs had already felled the third. He then saw Amee running across the room toward the beacon, which she lit ablaze with an arcane bolt.

Amee went to the window after that, and Alistair hoped for a favorable report—that Loghain's men were moving in to support the rest of the army and the Wardens. All Alistair heard, though, was the elf-mage say, "Something's wrong."

Bryon joined her at the window. Alistair could hear curses coming from the young man.

"What is it?" Hildra asked, after the final ogre lay crumpled upon the floor.

"It's that bastard Loghain," Bryon began angrily, "He's retreating."

Alistair was in a state of disbelief that quickly changed into a state of fury. He wanted to shove the table off of himself, find Loghain, and make him pay for not doing his part in the king's plan. Without Loghain's reinforcements, Alistair knew that the Wardens would stand little chance against the horde. By retreating, Loghain was condemning Duncan and the others to death.

Alistair pushed against the table, but every movement sent a fiery pain shooting through his left leg. He looked up and saw Bena surveying the room. She finally seemed to spot him amongst the debris in the ruined tower and began to move toward him.

In the middle of the room, though, she suddenly froze. "Do you feel that?" she asked everyone in the room, with a worried look entering her eyes. All of the Wardens seemed to be reacting similarly, and, in the pit of his stomach, Alistair knew why. A large group of darkspawn was close now—probably at the top of the spiral staircase where Alistair had just been making jokes only minutes before.

It was too large a force, from what Alistair could sense. He doubted that they would survive it. The archer and mage that had joined them also seemed to dislike their odds for survival upon hearing that more darkspawn approached, but the other Wardens apparently weren't interested in sharing this hopelessness. Ellana and Torval moved to barricade the door, while Amee, Hildra, and Bryon came up behind them, readying themselves for whatever might burst through.

And it all happened so quickly.

The doors eventually caved in to the pressure from the darkspawn forces. For a time, the Wardens and the dogs managed to keep their opponents near the doorway, but some of the darkspawn managed to break away. An archer was among them, who appeared to be aiming for ranged fighters. Since Ellana and Amee were fighting in close combat at that moment, the darkspawn archer went for Gisborne and Mykol, who were soon both struck down with arrows.

The darkspawn archer then went for whomever it could find. It tried to aim for the dogs, but it soon spotted Alistair, who was a much easier target. Alistair again tried to wriggle free, but it was no use. The darkspawn was taking aim, and part of Alistair wanted to be hit. This nightmare would end that way, and Alistair wouldn't have to live with the guilt of failing Duncan.

The darkspawn let its arrow fly, and Alistair closed his eyes, waiting to be impaled—but nothing happened. After a few moments, he opened his eyes to see Bena above him. She was breathing heavily, as if she'd just run across the room, and she held an arrow in her hand, barely a foot from Alistair's face.

"Don't scare me like that, Alistair, by just waiting to die," she said to him, sounding almost frustrated, and oddly enough, in that instant, Alistair felt like a new man.

Duncan might be lost to him in the battle below, but there was still someone who cared whether he lived or died. He felt renewed, as an unfamiliar, yet pleasant, warmth crept into his soul. He looked and saw that one of the dogs had taken down the archer that had shot at him, and the others were keeping the rest of the darkspawn at bay, using a bit of Bryon's earlier bottleneck plan.

Alistair once again tried to lift the table from his legs, and Bena tossed aside the arrow and moved in to help him. With her added strength, they managed to free him.

"That wasn't so difficult," she said. "Now, take this potion for your leg."

He looked up at her, took the potion, kept her hand, and smiled at her in spite of the attack still going on and in spite of the unbearable pain in his leg. She smiled back, and the heat returned, stronger and lower in his body this time. He wondered for a moment if it would be foolish to pull her down to him and kiss her, if only just briefly. He wondered if he would be any good at kissing. He wondered if she would kiss him back.

But suddenly he stopped wondering these thoughts, as his world was shattered once more. An arrow had pierced through Bena's chest, just below her right collarbone, and she fell to her knees from the force of it.

"No!" Alistair screamed, just before Amee fired an arcane bolt at the second darkspawn archer that had managed to slip by them.

Alistair crawled to Bena and caught her before she fell backwards, careful to avoid moving the arrow and hurting her further. She was going in and out of consciousness in his arms, when he realized that the potion was still in his hand. For it to have any effect on her wound, the arrow needed to be removed. Knowing this, Alistair broke off the tail end of the arrow's shaft, so he could pull it out without widening the injury. He winced every time she inhaled sharply, indicating that she was in pain. Once he had the arrow out, Alistair quickly uncorked the bottle and poured its contents into her mouth, somehow encouraging her to drink.

It didn't seem to be working, though, and it was suddenly becoming difficult for Alistair to move. Everything was slowing down, and it was an incredible challenge for Alistair to keep his eyes open. He looked up at the others, and everyone appeared to be stumbling to the ground—Wardens and darkspawn alike. Despite his best efforts to stay awake—to stay with Bena—everything he tried proved useless. Alistair quickly succumbed to the darkness of sleep, with Bena still in his arms.

Amee was awakened from what felt like a month-long sleep by something cool and damp being pressed against her forehead and cheek. She opened her eyes to see the vast sky above her, lined with the first hints of an approaching dawn. She also saw someone familiar kneeling over her, bringing a refreshing cloth to her face.

"Bryon," she whispered, as she more fully regained consciousness.

A strained smile came upon his face as soon as she spoke. "Thank the Maker you're awake," Bryon said, setting down the cloth. Closing his eyes, he took one of her hands in his and kissed it firmly.

Amee could see in his face that something was wrong. He looked almost heartbroken. "What is it? What's happened?" she asked, sitting up but letting Bryon keep hold of her hand.

He opened his eyes and looked at her solemnly before saying, "It appears we were right about what Loghain was doing—he retreated from the field, leaving the king, the Wardens, and countless soldiers of Ferelden to the mercy of the darkspawn. The same mercy we would have been left to had Morrigan and her mother Flemeth not arrived when they did."

"Flemeth? That's Morrigan's mother?" Amee asked, recognizing the name from a tale about an infamous apostate that she had heard at the Circle. "Is she the Flemeth—the Flemeth of legend?"

"I don't know," Bryon replied. "All I know is that she and Morrigan arrived at the top of the Tower, put everyone to sleep—including the darkspawn, and then used their telekinetic abilities to bring us here. Since then, they've been working to heal us, and they've also had some of us get additional rest to recover from our injuries. But…" Bryon's voice then trailed off, and he looked away from Amee.

"But what, Bryon?"

"But they haven't been able to heal all of us entirely. The other mage and the Tower guard that joined us—both of them were struck with arrows coated in a deadly poison. The poison isn't something that the witches can heal. They've tried herbal remedies too, but…but it doesn't look good. And Bena—she was…she was struck by one of the arrows as well."

"Oh, Bryon," Amee replied sorrowfully, placing her free hand upon his cheek. She then hesitated for a moment, caught between wanting to help and fearing what would happen if she did so. She shuddered at the thought of feeling someone die while she was trying to heal that person, but seeing the pain in Bryon's face, she couldn't help but offer, "Can I do something, Bryon? Take me to them—I can try to heal them."

"No, Amee," he said firmly. "I'm not asking you to go through that."

"But, Bryon, if it could help—"

"I don't think it would, Amee. Flemeth has shown how powerful her healing abilities are. She's managed to heal all of our party's other injuries, no matter how severe, but her magic is useless in this case. She says all we can do is wait and see. If they're meant to survive this, they will."

Both Bryon and Amee then turned as they heard the door to the hut open behind them. Looking up, Amee could see that Torval, Hildra, and Ellana were nearby at her left, all facing the door from where they sat. Torval too appeared as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep, the grogginess still apparent in his eyes. Amee then spotted a patch of short, blonde hair hidden behind the high marsh grass off to her far right that indicated Alistair's location. His head was turned away and hung low, unaffected by the opening door.

The dogs were close to Amee and Bryon, and while they seemed depressed, their heads perked up as Morrigan exited the hut with her arm extended out in front of her. Underneath her hand, she telekinetically carried the body of the other mage. At that sight, the dogs once more rested their heads upon their forelegs, looking dejected.

Morrigan was making her way around to the other side of the hut when she noticed the others watching her. In response to their expectant stares, she said, "This one did not survive. I was going to dispose of the body."

"We'll do that," Hildra said. "He fought alongside us. We owe him a proper sendoff."

"Very well," Morrigan replied. "So long as you take care in this matter. Mother would not appreciate it if his remains were dealt with poorly and suddenly were to begin drawing all manner of creatures to her doorstep."

"We'll be careful," Hildra replied, standing. She then looked to the sluggish Torval and kicked him. "Get moving, oaf. It's time to make yourself useful."

"Yes, your worshipfulness," Torval replied sardonically, although he became more somber as he approached Mykol's body.

Once the dwarves and Ellana had taken charge of the lifeless figure, Morrigan turned to go back into the hut. Bryon stood up and grabbed her arm, though, stopping her.

"What of the others?" he demanded.

Morrigan looked offended by Bryon's boldness. In response to his question, she glared at him and then replied ominously, "'Tis too soon to tell."

"May we see them?"

Jerking her arm free from his grip, Morrigan replied with a harshness to her tone, "As mother and I have said before, they stand the best chance of survival with as few disturbances as possible."

Bryon cast his gaze downward. Amee could clearly see the anger and sorrow lining his features.

The witch seemed to notice his state as well. She then asked more civilly, "The girl is your sister, is she not?"

Bryon looked up and simply nodded at her.

"Very well," Morrigan stated. "If the end is approaching, we will permit you to see her, but not before."

"Thank you," Bryon replied sincerely, and Morrigan looked taken aback by those two words. With her brow furrowed, she turned around and retreated into the hut, closing the door swiftly behind her.

Amee stood as Bryon turned back toward her. She put her hand once again upon his cheek and said, "She'll make it through this, Bryon. She's a fighter. She won't give up."

He brought his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace, seeming to take greater comfort the closer he held her. He nuzzled his face against her hair for a few moments until he whispered, his voice filled with desperation, "I hope you're right."

Amee didn't know how long he continued to hold her like that, nor did she care. She wanted to be there for him as long as he needed her and not a moment less.

A/N: As always, thanks for reading!