"All my talk of how terribly wrong things are back home, but what do I do about it? Nothing." Dorian shook his head.
"Short of razing the place to the ground and starting over, I'm not sure there is much that can be done about the Imperium." Rowland tossed his bet into the pot.
"I would not go that far. It appears the templar order is managing to redeem itself." Cullen added his own bet. "As are the Wardens."
"It is intriguing the difference a few good examples can make." Solas raised the bet, earning himself some suspicious looks.
"Solas, complimenting Tevinter, Wardens and templars?" Brehan stared. "Are you feeling alright, hahren? Did the Inquisitor hit you in the head again?"
"Bet or fold, da'len."
"I fold."
"As do I." Cassandra put her own cards down.
Threnn stared at her hand, and then peered again at Solas before throwing in some coins. "He can't win every hand."
"Where would you start, Dorian?" Rowland asked.
"I have absolutely no idea. And I intend to finish this out first." Dorian frowned thoughtfully before calling the bet.
"It feels as though that will not be much longer."
#
Kas paced the ramparts. The waiting was making her itch. She considered seeking out Sera, but the elven girl had gone down to the camps to talk to some of her agents. Kas descended the stairs, eventually finding herself by the stables. She shrugged, and entered. Blackwall or whoever was putting the finishing touches on a griffin rocking horse. It was actually... well, kind of cute. He noticed her standing there, and nodded. "The kids in the camps don't have much. I thought this might cheer them up."
"Sera mentioned something about that. I told Josephine to see about finding the kids something, but all she came up with was a load of Chantry children books. Not quite what I had in mind." Kas shrugged. "You ready?"
"You know I am. I welcome the battle and what comes after." He set his tools down. "I will end up in Warden custody. It was what Blackwall wanted, more or less."
"Corypheus is our priority. Keep your attention on him." She nodded.
"I won't be distracted from our enemy."
She started to walk away, and then stopped. For a moment, she just stood there, and then she turned back to him. "If you go to the Wardens, it should be by your choice." He stared at her, and she shook her head. "I won't force it on you. Maybe you fucked up, but..." She rubbed a hand at one of her horns. "Who here hasn't? You tried to make it right. That's a hell of a lot more than most ever do."
"I..." He nodded. "Thank you, Inquisitor. Redemption doesn't come easy, but perhaps killing Corypheus will be a start. I am honored to fight by your side."
#
"Did you..." Leliana hesitated. "Find what you need, Morrigan?"
"I can match the dragon, yes. As for matching Corypheus..." The swamp witch turned towards her. "That is up to you, Inquisitor."
And match him she would. "I'm eager to try." The man responsible for the death of her brother among so many others was going to face justice.
"Then all that remains is to find Corypheus before he comes to us." Cullen bent his head to examine the map spread out on the war table.
Leliana sighed in frustration. "We've been looking for his base since all this began, with no success."
Cullen rested his hands on the hilt of his sword. "His dragon must come and go from somewhere."
Josephine waved her pen. "What about the Deep Roads? We could send word to Orzammar, hire envoys to -"
Green light flooded the room, bright enough to make them all shield their eyes. It faded a moment later, save for a swirl of green energy visible through the windows.
"It seems Corypheus is not content to wait." The swamp witch folded her arms.
"He's in the Valley of Sacred Ashes?" Kas narrowed her eyes.
"You either close the Breach once more, or it swallows the world."
"But that's madness!" There was fear in Josephine's eyes. "Wouldn't it kill him as well?"
Cullen leaned on the table. "Inquisitor, we have no forces to send with you - we must wait for them to return from the Arbor Wilds."
Perhaps that was for the best. It was time to finish this. "Then I face him alone."
#
"Commander."
Cullen turned at the sound of the runner's voice. "Yes, Kels?"
"Scouts reporting in." He pointed. "Darkspawn, in the valley."
He felt his blood go cold. "Get Brehan, now."
#
She saw them standing defiantly before the beast. Her soldiers. She drew her axe, and headed in as Corypheus began summoning demons.
"I knew you would come." Corypheus's voice rumbled.
"It ends here, Corypheus." She lowered her head, preparing to charge.
"And so it shall." His fingers glowed with red energy that began to spread over his hands and arms. "You have been most successful in foiling my plans, but let us not forget what you are. A thief, in the wrong place at the wrong time. An interloper. A gnat. We shall prove here, once and for all, which of us is worthy of godhood."
For the love of... Did mages never just shut up? "You're not proving anything by talking."
"You dare." He lifted his hands, and the ground began to shake.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harding and Dorian go tumbling as the area they were standing began to rise into the air.
#
Brehan cast his senses out, and shook his head. "Maker's breath."
"How many?" Cullen was staring at him.
"Hundreds, and still more incoming." Brehan took a deep breath. "An army."
"We have only a token force present." Cullen gestured at the walls. "And exactly one Warden." He turned. "Get what mages and archers we have on the walls, and ready the catapults." He swallowed, and turned back to Brehan. "I'm going to need you on the heights, calling targets. We'll need to make every shot count. Maker willing, we'll hold them long enough for help to arrive."
"Yes, Commander." He followed Cullen up the stairs. He caught Rowland's eye as he passed, and the other Warden nodded to him.
#
Sera fired arrows ahead as Kas and Iron Bull charged towards where Corypheus stood. Kas could feel Madam de Fer's barrier against her skin, tingling slightly. Corypheus was still talking. "What do they call you? A 'Qunari'? Your blood is engorged with decay. Your 'race' is not a race - it is a mistake."
Blah blah blah. She swung her axe at an outcropping of stone, sending a spray of rocks into Corypheus's face. Whatever spell he'd been gathering disrupted, and Iron Bull was able to close for the flank. She called upon the lyrium in her blood, and Corypheus's next spell also fizzled out of existence. He leaped backwards, and actually began to flee. She laughed, and heard Iron Bull echo her.
#
"I count a dozen emissaries." Brehan half closed his eyes as he let his senses survey the forces coming at them.
"A dozen?" Cullen shook his head. "We've barely that in half-trained apprentices." He growled in frustration. "Mages we left back from the previous battle for a reason."
"It's the ogres that concern me." Brehan paced a few steps back and forth. "Skyhold is solid, but those things can fling boulders with the force of a..." Something else pinged his senses, coming from Skyhold's garden. He shook his head, and then shook it again.
"Brehan?" Cullen raised an eyebrow.
"Actually, Commander, I think we're going to be fine."
#
She saw Corypheus raise his hand, and the dragon came into view. It crouched, and leapt.
A second dragon hit it from the side. Kas blinked, and heard Sera and Iron Bull both gasp. Madam de Fer's mouth was actually hanging open. "Okay." Iron Bull's voice reached her ears. "Now that's badass."
Part of her wished she could just stay put and watch the two dragons do battle. But, there was still a loud-mouthed mage that needed an axe in his skull. "Come on."
#
Cullen followed Brehan down to the garden. He looked around at the men and women in griffin armor, and his eyes widened when he recognized Carver Hawke among them. "How?"
"Good question." Brehan shrugged, and gestured to the dwarven woman. "Warden Commander Saitada, Commander Cullen of the Inquisition."
"But..." Cullen looked from Saitada to where Loghain stood. "How?"
"The eluvian." Saitada shrugged. "Not my favorite way to travel, but it got us here. Heard you've got a bit of a darkspawn issue." She clenched her fist over her heart. "The Grey Wardens are at your service."
He nodded. "Right." He counted. "Is this all of you?"
"The mages are in position, and awaiting our signal." Saitada gestured. "Once we get the darkspawn drawn in, they'll play the hammer."
"Alright." He glanced over his shoulder at the wide-eyed Inquisition soldiers, and then back at the Wardens. "Here is what we are going to do..."
#
She saw the violet dragon dive, catching the red lyrium dragon and forcing it down. For a moment, Kas thought it was over. And then a blast of red light came from where Corypheus stood on the heights, slamming into their dragon. The mighty wings faltered, and the lyrium dragon shifted positions. When they hit, it was their dragon that took the brunt of the collision. It rolled, fell, and turned into Morrigan as it landed on the ground below.
Kas hefted her axe, and stared at where the red lyrium dragon was climbing back to its feet. Time to kill a dragon.
#
Cullen smiled as he saw the Wardens go to work. Arrows rained from the heights, and below the warriors held the bridge. He walked over to the single mage among the arrived Wardens. "Lenore."
"Cullen." She grinned. "What do you think? We got their attention?"
He looked down at the darkspawn below, and turned towards Brehan. The Dalish man nodded. "That's all of them, Commander."
"Alright, Lenore, whatever you've got in your back pocket, now is the time."
Lenore nodded. "Hold your breath, Commander. You've seen nothing yet." She lifted her staff and sent a shower of green sparks into the air.
Lightning answered as griffins spiraled out of the sky.
#
Jerath felt her hit, and reached out. Alive. His Morrigan remained among the living. He turned towards Anders. "It's time."
Anders eyes changed to a glowing blue as he fed his magic into the rune in his hand. The ground beneath the darkspawn forces began to churn from the resulting explosions.
#
Kas stood on the opposite side of the dragon. When it turned to face her, Iron Bull moved in. Madam de Fer's spells provided additional defense, and the woman didn't hesitate to summon her glowing sword and wade in with them. Sera's arrows peppered the thing's hide, hitting the weak points where the swamp witch's claws had knocked scales loose.
The dragon faltered. Kas raised her axe, and for the first time in her life, called a prayer to Andraste. The axe fell. So did the dragon.
#
Griffins. Griffins on the heights. Brehan just stared. Then he turned to the dwarven woman next to him. "Griffins."
"Yes." Saitada nodded.
"How the hell do you have griffins?"
"You know, I asked the same question." Saitada rubbed the bridge of her nose and waved one hand. "You know what he said?"
"What?"
"Magic."
"I hate him so very, very much." Brehan straightened as he saw Cullen walk over to him.
"Griffins." Cullen pointed. "You have griffins."
"Yep." Brehan nodded.
"How?" Cullen stared.
Brehan exchanged a look with Saitada. She shrugged. They both turned back to Cullen. "Magic."
#
"Let it end here. Let the skies boil. Let the world be rent asunder." She saw Corypheus get back to his feet, the orb glowing red in his hand.
Kas looked back at her companions, saw their determined faces. She wrenched her axe free of the dragon's neck, and headed up the stairs.
Corypheus threw spell after spell. She drew upon the lyrium in her blood, focusing herself against his magic. "No." He shouted the word. "I will not allow you this victory."
She didn't give a shit what he 'allowed'. She was taking this victory anyway. Sera fought beside her, and she saw a fierce expression on her beloved's face. Kas drew deeper on the lyrium. His spell fizzled, blasting back into him and making him stagger. One of Sera's arrows caught him in the leg. He faltered, and then raised the orb once more.
Her eyes went to it, and she focused, drawing deeper upon the lyrium until her blood felt like it was burning. She could hear him shouting. "Not like this. I have walked the halls of the Golden City, crossed the ages..." He held the orb to the sky. "Dumat. Ancient Ones. I beseech you. If you exist - if you ever truly existed - aid me now."
#
"No."
Anders turned at the sound of Jerath's voice, and raised an eyebrow. "Commander?"
"It's almost done." He smiled. "Send the signal, get our riders home. The spawn are done for."
He nodded, and sent a shower of red sparks into the air before following Jerath back to the gateway.
#
She let the lyrium loose. The orb glowed green, and then it came to her, flying into her hand. Kas lifted it to the sky, and focused her will through the mark. Above her, the sky rolled and thundered. And the breach closed once more.
Kas let the orb fall from her hand. She walked to where Corypheus knelt, trying in vain to get back to his feet. "You wanted into the Fade?" She held out the marked hand. The faces of the dead swam before her eyes. The people of Haven. Her soldiers. The families torn apart by the chaos. And her baby brother. Power flowed from the mark, and tore him asunder.
And the city began to fall from the sky.
#
He saw red sparks fly up from somewhere behind the darkspawn. Next to him, Saitada nodded, and looked up at the sky. The griffins began to soar upwards once more, vanishing into the clouds. Below, he could see only a few spawn moving among the piles of corpses. "Looks like our work is done here, Commander." Saitada turned towards him.
"One day, I'm going to want an explanation for this." Cullen stared down at her.
"One day, we both might just get it." Saitada shrugged. "Brehan, you coming?"
Brehan sighed, and then shook his head. "There might be stragglers. Someone should remain to help with the cleanup."
"Right." Saitada looked back up at Cullen. "Take care of him, Commander. If we have to come get him, we're not going to be nice about it."
"Understood." Cullen inclined his head towards her. They'd walked out of an eluvian, and called griffins down from the sky. Just when he thought there was a chance the world was going to make since again.
He felt Lenore's hand on his shoulder, and turned to see the woman smiling at him. "You get tired of the Inquisition thing, look me up." She nodded. "House Brosca would love to have you." She waved as she followed Saitada back towards Skyhold's garden.
#
Kas picked herself back up off the ground. She rubbed her head, and her fingers came away with a bit of red on them. "Ow." Not far from her, she saw the elven mage bend down to pick up one of the shattered pieces of the orb. "Mage?"
"The orb."
Oh for... "Corypheus is dead. That's the important thing." She looked around for the others.
"Yet so much has been lost."
She started to say something, and heard a voice shout from below. "Inquisitor? Are you alive?"
A smile came to her lips. Cassandra had made it. She walked to the stares, and saw them. Varric. Iron Bull. Cassandra. Madam de Fer. Blackwall. The Tevinter mage. And there, Sera. Her Sera. The swamp witch had also survived. "Victorious, I see. What a novel result."
Sera's smile was a thing of beauty. "And you managed not to kill yourself. That's something." She'd kill a thousand dragons to see that look in Sera's eyes.
"And it seems the Breach is finally closed."
Kas found herself smiling. "Looks that way." She looked back behind her, and saw no sign of the elf mage.
"What do we do now?"
"We go back to Skyhold." Kas held out her hand, and Sera took it.