He dug his sword out of the Hurlock, kicking its twitching body aside. A squat Genlock came at him, snarling and spitting. Lance almost didn't have enough room to swing his sword.
Velanna shot it with a bolt of fire, burning it to little more than charred ash before it could bring its own weapon to bear. Lance shot her a brief look of thanks, turning to behead the next Darkspawn, kicking at the swarm.
There were dozens of them. They filled the tunnel in front of them, trying to block or stall or kill the Wardens. Lance made sure Fergus stayed behind him, well out of the way of the real danger. Whatever Darkspawn made its way past Lance and Oghren Fergus was able to handle with ease.
He knew well enough to keep his mouth shut and to watch where the blood spattered. The last thing Lance needed was to worry about his brother succumbing to the Taint.
Oghren was cursing madly, swinging his axe left and right and spitting on the Darkspawn that fell before him.
Lance held his torch out before him, keeping the Darkspawn at bay long enough to catch his breath. He didn't know how long they'd been fighting though it felt like weeks. They couldn't see the entrance from here. He suspected that they'd actually made considerable time, getting further and further into the tunnels.
Darkspawn corpses littered the Deep Roads behind them. The ground was slick with their blood.
Another Hurlock came squealing after him, and Lance sliced its throat with Starfang. It sputtered and fell to the side, bleeding out.
He skewered another Hurlock, an Alpha. It was older and stronger than any of the others and didn't drop easily. It growled, reached out to grab Lance even as he pulled himself along on his sword. Lance shouted, pushing the Hurlock Alpha away with a solid kick.
It stumbled backwards, arms waving madly. Lance swung his sword in as wide an arc as the increasingly narrow tunnel allowed, lopping off the Darkspawn's head.
The Darkspawn howled, stumbled forward. They struggled to get to grips with the Wardens, though it wasn't for lack of trying.
Lance slammed into the next Hurlock to approach, feeling the crunch of bones under his shoulder as it was smashed against the wall. He swung his sword in wider, mad arcs. With a sweep, he slammed his torch into another Darkspawn, burning it badly.
"Out of the way!" Velanna shouted, raising her staff to barrel through the Darkspawn. She pushed Lance aside as firmly as she could manage, causing him no small amount of confusion.
She raised her staff, called out a spell rather loudly.
There was a brief ripple of energy, something Lance hadn't seen before. His torch fizzled, dimmed considerably. The Darkspawn horde in front of them was thrown back, falling over itself in confusion.
Oghren shouted in frustration; he wasn't done killing.
Lance was up in an instant, descending on the faltering crowd. He slashed and stabbed, killing the Darkspawn as rapidly as he could. Oghren and Fergus joined in, with Velanna casting more spells to keep the Darkspawn stumbling.
Those few Darkspawn able to get standing again turned and ran. Velanna shot magic after them, spearing them and electrocuting them as they ran.
Soon, the Wardens were left by themselves in the growing dark of the Deep Roads.
"I think it's a safe bet that we're getting pretty close," said Fergus, whipping his sword about to clean it of Darkspawn blood.
Lance nodded, looking down and adjusting the fit of his ring on his finger. It was still faint, distant. She was there, somewhere.
He threw away his dying torch, holding his sword with both hands and depending on it to light the way. It cast a strange pale blue glow on the walls that made them seem even more alien than they already were.
A few of the runes were covered in Darkspawn blood, causing it to cast broken, staggered patterns of light on the walls. He bounded ahead, not willing to risk giving the Darkspawn the time necessary to regroup and turn back around.
He couldn't help but imagine them putting Morrigan on a spit over the fire. He would do anything to save her – absolutely anything.
He'd done it before, and he'd lost a little bit of himself in the process.
This wasn't the first time he'd been so willing to die for her, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last. He wouldn't let any harm come to her, none at all. And if he found her and she was hurt, then he would kill every living thing in his way.
It was just how it had to be. There was no changing it.
He passed a few more dead Darkspawn, those that had succumb to their wounds. He kicked them experimentally, making sure they were fully dead.
The others were behind them, struggling to keep up. They kept themselves reasonably cautious, looking all about to be sure that there were no ambushes or hidden traps.
Lance barreled ahead, unwary of any sort of trap. If they were there, then he would kill them.
He could feel that they were close, almost right on top of it. He felt his ring throbbing, pulsating now. He didn't know what it meant, if it was Morrigan trying to tell him something.
How would she warn him if there was indeed a trap? How would she tell him if she was running out of time?
He was no mage; he had no idea how the ring would work. Maybe he was just hallucinating whatever message he thought he felt. Maybe she was dead already and this was just the ring's way of telling him.
And then he saw a flicker of light ahead, a narrow shaft of light that marked the entrance to some wider chamber. That was her, it had to be.
He slowed his pace some, checking for Darkspawn or other traps. He didn't see anything, but that didn't mean they weren't there. His Warden senses told him as much.
"Lance, wait!" Velanna called after him. "There are too many of them, hold on."
He turned, raised his hand to stop them.
"She's in there," he said, indicating the chamber. "I'm going in."
"Are you mad?" asked Velanna. "They'll rip you to shreds."
"I can't go yet," said Lance with a shrug. It made his wounds hurt, and he regretted having halted his attack. The adrenaline was wearing down and he was starting to feel the pressure of battling and wandering for two days straight.
"I've still got a job to do," he offered. And he grimaced. He couldn't even convince himself.
"Either way," said Fergus. "I want to get to the bottom of this. If running headlong into a trap is what it takes, then I say we run."
"Ditto," Oghren grunted. "It's time to do some more Grey Warden-ing."
Velanna sighed, frustrated. "Fine. Let's go. Just try not to die."
Lance nodded, turned on his heel and raised his sword to enter the chamber. The light was blindingly white, likely magical. He still hadn't pieced together exactly what was happening here, but he wasn't too sure it mattered to him.
He cautiously stepped through the narrow portal, and he gasped at what he saw on the other side, rendered speechless for a long minute.