As they approached Denerim, the army saw the city under siege. Alistair ran up ahead and shouted words of encouragement, "Before us stands the might of the darkspawn horde! Gaze upon them now, but fear them not." He gestured to Arianne, at his side, "This woman beside me is a native of Ferelden, risen to the ranks of the Grey Wardens! She is proof that glory is within reach of us all! She has survived despite the odds, and without her, none of us would be here!" He walked toward the city and turned back, "Today, we save Denerim. Today, we avenge the death of my brother, King Cailan. But most of all, today we show the Grey Wardens that we remember and honor their sacrifice! For Ferelden! For the Grey Wardens!"
The two Wardens and their companions led the charge into the city, carving their way through the droves of darkspawn mulling about by the gate. Reaching the inner part of the city they cleared the area and grouped together to strategize.
"We've managed to fight our way through the gates; we're doing better than I hoped." Riordan said.
"That will change quickly." Sten grunted.
"Bloody nug runners, we're outnumbered three to one!" Oghren exclaimed.
"What are we to do now, Riordan? You have a plan, I assume?" Wynne asked.
The man nodded, "The army will not last long so we'll need to move quickly to reach the archdemon. I suggest taking Alistair and no more than four others with you into the city. Anyone you don't bring with you can remain here to prevent more darkspawn from entering Denerim on our tails."
"What's your plan for the archdemon itself?" Arianne asked.
"We're going to need to reach a high point in the city... I'm thinking the top of Fort Drakon might work."
"The top of...? You want to draw the dragon's attention?" Alistair's eyebrows shot up.
"We have little choice. Now, who are you going to take?" Riordan pressed.
Arianne debated for a bit, and finally came up with an assortment she thought would be effective, "Alistair, Wynne, Morrigan, Ser Gilmore and Dathor, you're with me. Sten, you would be a good lead for the others here."
"Very likely." the kossith grunted.
Riordan bowed slightly and went to organize the other troops while Arianne prepared. Wynne approached her, "So this is it then, all that we've been through has led up to this. Whatever happens now, to either of us, know that I am proud- infinitely proud- to have called you friend."
"Wynne, when this is all over... would you be Duncan's godmother?" Ari asked, having thought of it just then.
The old mage was slightly surprised, "I... would be honored."
"I'll hold you to that, then." the queen smiled. Wynne bowed slightly and moved away, allowing Ser Gilmore by.
"If you had told me a year ago, that we would be standing here, about to go fight a dragon, you betrothed to the next King, both of you Grey Wardens... I probably would have been very worried about your mental state. But here we are." he chuckled.
"Rory... I-" Ari started. Roderick held up a hand to silence her.
"Don't. I know. I love you, Arianne. But I know you love Alistair... so I pledge myself to your service and yours alone as the next Queen of Ferelden, if you will have me." He knelt before her, bowing his head.
Arianne opened her mouth to say something but stopped and thought for a moment, "I accept, Ser Gilmore. Stand." He stood and she looked him in the eye, "Thank you, Rory, it is always good to have people I trust by my side." He bowed again and let Oghren come up next.
"So. This is it." the dwarf sighed.
"Thank you, for staying with me until the end, Oghren."
"You took in a drunken disgrace of an Orzammar warrior. You gave me a reason to fight and the will to keep going." he said, "You helped me find the one woman in the sodding world who might put up with me, and you helped me get past Branka so I could have someone new. I owe you a lot, Warden. I consider it a fine honor to die for you and your cause."
"Oh, come on. If you die now, you'll miss all the ale we humans will break out in the celebration!" Arianne laughed.
"That I would... You sodding humans better have good ale. Let the stone turn red from the blood of heroes. Today, I will be the warrior you taught me to be." Ari smiled after him as he went to join Riordan.
"So the archdemon is next, is it?" the deep voice of Shale called her attention to her left, "Part of me is glad that it has decided to leave me here at the gate, but the other part is... apprehensive? I would almost say that I feel concern for something other than myself, even maybe for a soft, squishy companion... but that would be silly, wouldn't it?"
Giggling, Arianne replied, "Oh, that would be sooo scandalous!"
"I know! Please do not tell anyone. I doubt I could blush, but it would be so awkward." the golem continued, completely serious, "And... do try not to get swallowed whole. If the beast were to fly about afterwards and poop it out, irony would dictate that it would land on me. I couldn't take it. Well, then, I suppose this is it? Have fun storming the castle." She lumbered off quickly.
Next came Sten, "Are you ready?" he asked immediately, "We have reached the battlefield at last."
"Thank you for your help, Sten." Ari bowed her head slightly.
"I have done nothing. You have carried us this far. Do not doubt that." With that he turned and walked away. Arianne got a few moments to finish shoving healing herbs and bandages into her pack, when she looked up to see Leliana standing in front of her.
"So this is it, this is the end. We've come so far. It's strange knowing that all our fates will be decided in a matter of hours. We stand on the precipice, before the greatest battle of our age... I wonder if the heroes of old ever felt like this?" the redhead mused.
"I bet they did." Ari laughed.
"I am not afraid." Leliana said confidently, "We go to fight for a good cause and there is nowhere I'd rather be. You are a dear, dear friend and I will stand with you to whatever end. This day, we will forge a legend of our own." She smiled and went to join the others by Riordan.
"Heading off to slay dragons without me, hmm?"
"Zev-" the queen started.
The assassin chuckled, appearing out of nowhere behind her, "Fine, fine. Say hello to the archdemon for me. He never writes anymore, it's rather distressing. And... do watch your back. No getting eaten. Unless you think it's really important, of course." He waved and winked. Of course then Morrigan came up, and Zevran booked it.
"You are not to be out of my sight during the battles to come." she said.
"Yes, mother." Ari snarked, "We're all going to stay within each other's sights out there. As much as we can, Morrigan." She huffed and moved out of Alistair's way when he tapped her on the shoulder.
"So, this could be it. Soon, this will be finished, one way or another." He took Ari's hands.
"I love you, Alistair."
"I love you too. Always." He leaned down and kissed her softly.
"Watch out!"
It seemed like every time Arianne turned around someone screamed that. She still looked over to where Alistair had shouted. There, cutting through the smoke, high above Denerim's streets was the archdemon and it was heading straight towards them. She tripped the hurlock in front of her and impaled it quickly. Morrigan had joined her by the time she stood and the two of them ran to the center of the roof, calling the rest of the team. Arl Eamon's men had finally blocked off the stairs so no more darkspawn were getting through. That was a blessing as they needed their full strength to fight the dragon.
It roared. The sound was deafening even though the beast had not yet reached the roof. Something was off about it and soon, Arianne noticed what. One of its wings was almost completely torn in two and it could not balance itself. The thin membrane flapped uselessly and the dragon practically crashed onto the Fort, causing a mini-earthquake.
"Morrigan, stay back and cast from as far away as you can. Wynne, stick with Rory and focus your energy on healing spells. Rory, guard Wynne; don't move in to strike unless it attacks you, which it shouldn't. Alistair... let kill this thing." Arianne ordered, taking a deep breath.
The beast roared again and began to barrel towards them, "Move!" Alistair shouted. Rory pushed Wynne out of the way and Morrigan disappeared. Ari rolled to her right and helped the old mage up from where she had fallen and quickly turned her attention back to the archdemon.
Her head was splitting with pain from the roar of the taint. With the archdemon there, it was a hundred times worse than any dream. She noticed Alistair struggling as well.
The archdemon roared again and swiveled its head around to snap at Arianne. She leapt back, its teeth just inches away from her head. Pulling its head up, it opened its mouth slightly. There was a weird hrrring noise and Morrigan shouted, "It's going to breath fire!"
None of them needed to be told twice. Arianne ducked, making sure not to be clipped by the wing, and moved to its hind leg. She plunged her blade as far into the thigh as she could, intending to carve down it. The severed muscles contracted and the blade would not budge. With a screech, the dragon let out a belch of flame in an arc in front of it. Causing the temperature to flare around the team. Arianne's eyes were momentarily blinded by smoke, but suddenly cleared. She noticed a glyph on the ground beneath her feet and glanced over at Wynne. The mage smiled slightly and turned back to fire bolts of spirit energy at the dragon's weak spots.
It lashed out with the hind leg that Ari had stabbed and caught her across the chest, sending her flying back. She hit the ground hard and rolled onto her side. The young Cousland clutched her chest, which was bleeding heavily, and grimly stood. She screamed a war cry, causing the dragon to look away from Alistair and face her. It snorted angrily and swept its tail at her. The rogue jumped over it and dashed as fast as she could down its length. Reaching the base, she placed a shallow slice on the back of the archdemon's left calf, having learned her lesson from the first stab. She was also ready for it to lash out with the injured leg so she ran underneath the strike, leaving a bloody trail along the bottom of its foot. The relentless attacks from Morrigan, Wynne and Alistair were beginning to wear the beast down. So when it slowly swung its head around to try to keep Arianne away from its soft underbelly, she raised her blade.
The girl had just enough force behind her blow that the dagger went through the roof of the dragon's mouth and lodged into the bottom, pinning its mouth shut. It reared its head back, swinging Arianne high up in the air and snapped its mouth open with such a force that the blade slid out. The rogue was held in free-fall for a split second as her momentum switched and gravity met up with her. Falling straight down, she was directly above the archdemon's head. She screamed again when she landed with a crunch that blasted through the dragon's skull.