The Dragon Age world, plot, and their characters aren't mine but belong to Bioware. Some characters may be my creations. I get no money for writing this sequel.
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Grey Warden Prison, Riannon's Floor Hawke:
I wondered how long Jeneka had been inside this prison. She wasn't as obviously tainted as Larius, but she wasn't far off in crazy.
Then I wondered what they'd been eating. Deepstalkers were the only untainted creatures I'd seen. That made the big spiders I'd seen before in the Deep Roads sound tasty. The stale biscuits might have been sent in somehow, maybe those brontos carried in food before becoming dinner, but there still wasn't enough to feed everyone we'd fought in here.
I kept a closer eye on Anders than normal, and aside from holding me whenever we paused to study something, he seemed himself, even if he smiled less.
His demand that Jeneka should die was a little surprising, but he met my eyes and flicked his gaze at Larius for a second as he spoke. I nodded shallowly and he almost smiled. This was too like the Architect's offer in tales told in a smoky Orzammar drinking session with Sigrun.
Varric held up another paper for me to read. "This other one is interesting too, Hawke. Could be about that Warden armor we've been finding."
I read the very faded writing aloud, at least what there was, with Anders looking over my shoulder.
...igh Constable Colthan, Weissh...
16 Nubulis,
The laby...as claimed Warden-Commander As... Ulrich tampered... of the magical se... in this place and unwittingly...eased a demon on us. Commander Astor... us to run—he would hold the creature... activated the prison's defenses, trapping...both. The barriers came up, and they ...ll stay up. This was Co... Astor's last instruction and we wi... ...low it to the le...r
We... unable to retrieve the Warden-Commander's prized hel... and the other trappings of his office. They will …t be returned to...upt and will remain with...er, wherever he may...
This explained the extra bound demons, and maybe that abomination was Astor himself or Ulrich. "Do Warden Commanders have special armor, Bethany? Sigrun wears Legion armor."
My sister shook her head. "Commander Njáll's armor is standard issue."
Anders looked at his armor and snorted. Pulling bandages out, he tied them to his arm and legs like his own armor once had.
"I don't think anyone seeing your cat will mistake you for someone else, Blondie," Varric chuckled.
Anders stiffened and looked at where Ser Mew lay on his shoulders. Raising his hand to pet the cat, Anders aborted the motion.
The cat's eyes showed he was skittish too, but I was much more worried about the lost look in Anders' eyes. He wasn't wearing that black death armor now he'd chosen for himself. My Champion armor was black, but the red parts were cheerier.
As long as they weren't soaked in my blood.
"That was written before the prison was cut off," Fenris said with an angry tone. "If this urn is the prison defenses, what was that barrier that trapped us inside?"
Bethany shrugged. "We don't know what magics are intact and what have been corrupted."
I looked at Varric. "Anything else helpful?"
He waved at the travel desk that sat on the crate now. "Color for the story for me. The mage protecting his wife and child is the most gripping story so far. Escape, hiding, getting a stake for a refugee life, making illegal political deals for a wife and child makes for a much more popular story, makes survival sound more like a good drama instead of a conspiracy. That's the kind of plotting that readers will snap right up. Was he any good with a dagger, too?"
"Father taught me the basics at the start. I spotted the crowd for him later when I was older, in case it got too rough." I remembered getting sick in my stomach when a disagreement with Ser Maron, when thatTemplar was off duty, became a fight. But Papa took his lumps and the Templar felt bad enough to do it in front of a child that he helped me get Papa back to the farm.
"Blondie is as subtle as a bronto, and I haven't seen any better from mages aside from Orsino's secrets. Your father sounds alright." Varric caressed the curve of Bianca's wood stock.
That meant he'd found everything he thought was useful, and I moved to the urn.
Anders stopped me. "Love, I don't trust it. Let me." He closed his eyes as he touched the urn, and a blue light shone from the holes just below the rim. "A netting, sticky across the Veil but already long broken and reduced on this side and tattered..."
Justice opened his eyes. "Only a few things here still echo of the Fade here. The net will bring the creature across like the Baroness. His reign ends here."
"Hurry! She will fight for him, make him stronger. We must get there first." Larius insisted, but he didn't sound as urgent after so many times ignored.
"Commander!" I raised my voice at the ghoul. "Feel free to lead the way to Jeneka or straight to Corypheus if you could give us useful help. You want them stopped, and you could start by telling us about Alec and his combat abilities..."
As I expected, Larius said nothing.
We continued exploring, and while it wasn't what I'd consider a maze, it seemed like a lot of small rooms carved out of rock for no purpose. There wasn't the mix of room types I'd seen in Kirkwall, Lothering, or even Orzammar. We were still finding piles of bones and other rubble, even trinkets like an amulet, but I'd seen a lot of underground places from smuggling tunnels to warehouses, so why weren't there any living spaces, archives, or storage? Wardens had been in and out for ages, so why didn't it resemble Orzammar at least?
Crossing though yet another hallway with huge banners showing the Joining cup, Varric paused to look at one. "Why did these Wardens have a hundred or more of these banners made for a secret prison? Were they trying to impress Corypheus?"
Anders managed a chuckle. "I saw some of that at the Vigil. When the Commander was called to Weisshaupt, we got a shipment of uniforms. Picture that, we'd been spending the last month wading through broodmothers and darkspawn and then trying to make repairs while fighting stragglers. Uniforms were the last thing we needed, we had better armor already. We would have started cutting these down for bandages or clothing for refugees from Amaranthine."
Fenris was looking at a skeleton and pulled up something that he threw against the wall, with a snarl of, "Venhedis! "
"Anything we should know, Broody?"
"A... simple blessing, a plea for protection from the Masters, they called on the old gods' symbol. No pleas ever worked." Tooth grinding could almost be heard a few steps away
Bethany barely touched his arm. "Andraste cared for them all, perhaps the Maker granted them mercy."
Fenris laid his hand over hers with a smile.
The last room had turned back towards the crevice and open air again. Except for the different angle for viewing the tower, it was a case of déjà vu. On the far side was another glowing urn high on the wall.
"Weeks down here, working together. He never liked me. Too much bad blood..." Larius spoke, sounding more normal, though he still swayed on the balls of his feet like a skittish and wild animal.
I met Bethany's eyes for a moment. To Larius I said, "I can't imagine why."
The irony sailed right over him.
A skeleton, still with shreds of armor, was under some debris, but I spotted an almost hidden courier pouch. Fenris and I managed to lever the rock off while Beth and Paws watched for interruptions or fresh odd things from Larius.
Courier pouches always held valuables.
A pouch of gem dust made that hope futile. Some papers were requests for supplies, Warden gossip, and reports of darkspawn incursions to a Warden-Commander. There was a heavily-sealed message, a report marked for the First Warden in Weisshaupt.
The name was not familiar.
Weisshaupt
First Commander Deniel
7 Pluitanis 1014 TE
Ser, I regret to report that I was wrong. We cannot control the creature, Corypheus. Even our most powerful mages hold no influence with him, to the limits of lyrium and blood. In truth, it is they who have been most vulnerable to the creature's influence.
A dozen times, those assigned to guard or study the creature have sought the key to free him. When they are removed to a safe distance, they remember little of what they did or why they acted. They speak of a voice in their minds, a calling like that of the Old Gods, but it wanes outside Corypheus's presence.
Darkspawn have attacked as well, seeking him. I can only assume they are summoned the same way. Somehow, his magic lets him speak through the blight itself, affecting any who bear its taint.
This same power stays the hand of any Warden who approaches to kill him. I must recommend that we seal this prison over and conceal its very existence. Corypheus must not be allowed to go free.
Warden-Commander Daneken
"That makes us feel better," Anders said with a little hug. "We just have to hold on."
Bethany was shaking her head. "Nothing is ever permanently sealed from darkspawn. They aren't that bright but they don't stop."
"My line's namesake got in, and how many Legionnaires came looking for him? This sealing didn't work very well." Varric brought Bianca out again and looked at both the ghoul and the tower grimly.
I didn't know what would happen with Anders, Bethany, and myself. But no one commented that we Wardens were a majority of the group now. That worried me deeply, even if I had no urge to help Corypheus with anything but dying in tiny little pieces. "This report never made it to Weisshaupt. Hope he's wrong about all Wardens being affected, or Varric and Fenris are in big trouble."
Fenris gestured to see the letter. After a moment he said, "Fools, secrets so important they would not see the simple answer. Bring the best non-Wardens and end the Magister than way. Even bring Templars if they can."
"We are the best, though I wouldn't turn down the help of more people if we had them." Varric said.
I said, "If Wardens lose control, smack us down. We may recover, but don't waste time taking us down, because Corypheus must die."
"Are you telling us something, Hawke? I thought you were protected a little, like Sunshine." Varric's frown was unusual.
"No, I don't think it's a problem yet," I shook my head hard enough I thought it might rattle. "I'd rather risk dying, being rescued by a potion, or recovering my senses like Anders than become part of this waste of lives and futures. 'In war, victory, In death, sacrifice...' isn't that big a jump for us, is it?"
Fenris placed his hand up, palm to palm, against Bethany's. "Let us hope it does not become necessary."
"The Maker must surely bless the defeat of this madness," Bethany said. "The Maker smiles sadly on his Grey Wardens, so the Chantry says."
I crouched over to count and rearrange the various potions and grenades. I only had a few left that Lady Elegant had made for me, but I gave some to Fenris and Varric. I would have to replenish after this was over, and corpses didn't need any. "Varric, I may want some contacts for these in other places after this. We made enough but finding a craftsman had been difficult for some."
Anders brought out the glowing ring and brooch he'd gotten from the Ashes shrine, placing the brooch in his armor. "Bethany Hawke, take these potions. Victory, whether we see it or not."
Okay, that was Justice's decision. Varric only asked for some of the protection and healing.
Anders sighed. "By the age of Jeneka's notes, she has been here much longer than a few days. The Carta close by and in the outer parts much longer, too. Serianni had been under the sway of the Architect for weeks or months and not much more in thrall than the Carta here. I believe I am the only one at risk."
Larius had ignored us, gazing at the tower outside when Anders activated the urn. It glowed with a red light brighter than fresh blood, causing our faces to look bad.
Doubling back we checked a doorway we'd passed before and moved into a new area. This area was deep in the rock, without even looking out into the crevice. A couple of turns and we found another doorway blocked by some kind of field.
Larius was inattentive, so I demanded, "What is this?"
Simple questions seemed the best.
"So long since I've been this deep, but I remember. I remember every step taken with the other Hawke." This was matter of fact, despite the decades since then.
Bethany spoke next, with more patience than he deserved. "The other Hawke? Do you mean Malcolm Hawke?"
"You were here with our father?" I wanted to question him more violently, but I doubted it would work.
"The seals are weakening, they said. Malcolm Hawke was chosen. A good man, but an apostate. Yes... I was here with him."
I could hear the old contempt, though it was weak now.
Anders gripped his staff. "As if being an apostate means we can't be good, eh, Bethany? If the Wardens are this tolerant of blood magic, why the contempt for an apostate?"
His agitation made me rub Anders' back a little.
"Some of us are better than good. He's the ghoul." Bethany glared at Larius. "You were lucky, Anders. Few apostates are offered the chance or given as much freedom. Most die and some don't have enough training to fight."
Fenris attempted to pass through the field, to no effect.
Varric caught me trying to peek through the field. "Those streams turned white and this is like that other field..."
Curiosity or greed, he and I thought the same way sometimes, so we returned the way we came. Now in the room with the pile of Carta corpses, there were now two new streams of light, one in blue and the other red.
Anders' hand reached up toward the light with a bit of longing.
I squeezed his other hand. "Does it feel different now, like the seal bindings?"
"Not exactly," my sister said. "There is so much energy bound here. I wish I knew what this meant."
Paws butted her so her gaze dropped, and she shook her head.
One set of pillar rings still had no colored light, but now we had white, red, and blue. I moved one, and again the whole column rotated. When we connected the blue one, it became white and the original orange one was incomplete again. Playing around for a while, we got all three streams to meet in white.
The fourth level had no light, so we missed an urn somewhere.
Larius just watched us.
I had to wonder what he would do if we could just leave the prison and the seal wasn't already failing. Wander in circles and argue with Jeneka, maybe. Meredith and Orsino, the second time around.
Too bad Corypheus was the real danger, or I'd be glad to let them fight.
We returned to the barrier, and Bethany and Anders said it was weaker. So we started down the last hallway into the mountain. At the end, were a couple of closed doors, one leading toward the sealed area.
Bypassing the barrier would be nice, too.
Inside we found the last urn, which produced an unexpectedly cheerful green light.
Returning to the white light tower room, the green light was where I expected it to be. The really pleasant part was that it was almost complete. Moving two pillars, they all shone a pure white light, and both Anders and my sister sighed in satisfaction.
Sister said quietly, "It feel cleaner, somehow. Thank the Maker."
"Now let's just see what could possibly be worth this kind of puzzle," Varric said with a clap of his hands.
Preparing a poison for my blades, I said, "Corypheus... but we will have to watch for Warden Daftney."
Despite my words, there were enough times we found a chest with a difficult lock and only a pair of pants inside. Pants that well protected should have been made of gold.
The barrier was gone, but nothing came out to attack us. A turn through the passage and we found six cells. Two chests greeted us and not another seal.
"No stairs to the top." Fenris sounded disgusted too.
It didn't take long to search; only one chest had a functioning mechanism. Gold was always welcome, even if I wasn't sure how old these coins were. Another crude carving almost looked like a mage in strange and bulky robes. The most interesting thing in the first chest was a pen with a reservoir, one that had not stained like ink, so I saved it for later study.
The other chest had another piece of Grey Warden armor.
"You'd look good in that hood, love." Anders was mocking me a little.
"It really doesn't go with my Champion armor." I could hear the desperation as I almost never made choices because of looks. My one dagger looked fragile, but I really wished I could have found a second as I preferred the way it looked and felt over this Key.
The Key was really ugly.
My bluff didn't work as I heard some chuckles. "If we find the rest, maybe."
"Two Wardens went into a bar..." Varric's laughter wasn't hidden in his voice.
I made a face at him, but we moved back to that last unopened door. Beyond that was a larger room, and leaning casually against the corner of the cell was Jeneka.
"Did you really think those old wards would stop me?" The humor in her voice gave a hint of the earlier Warden in the notes.
"No, I didn't think that. Larius did, but most Warden-Commanders are a little crazy," I said.
"Look at him, barely able to string two thoughts together, he's only made it this far because of you, Hawke." She looked at me with surprise. "But you are a Warden, too? I am your senior and you must..."
I had to laugh, how could she hope to fight anything if she couldn't tell that?
Anders slammed his staff against the stone floor. "I'm Senior Warden too, as is her sister. If you want to countermand our orders from Warden-Commander, the Hero of the Fifth Blight, you have no grounds."
"Are you Anders, the Scourge?" For an instant, her eyes were horrified before the superiority started to return.
Varric had Bianca at the ready when he laughed. "At last she realizes the Champion's lover just might be with her? Hawke, I thought my books were more popular than that. This one should be great."
"These are Grey Warden secrets" Jeneka looked at Varric in horror now.
"This was just some Carta kidnapping operation, why not bring an experienced businessman and warrior? You are the one to put these non-Wardens in the place to learn about the Wardens' big screw-up." I was thinking her mind was at least half as bad as Larius.
Bethany was snide this time. "Or did you think an experienced mage who managed to stay free would be easy to kidnap? Our family would be a full Deep Roads squad."
"You can still turn away, Jeneka. Do not listen to his voice." Larius sounded coherent this time.
"We found your own notes commenting on Corypheus' influence on Wardens stationed here? When did you fail too?" Bethany asked.
"He only wants to be free. Like all mage, like the Scourge, here." Jeneka sounded almost harried.
"He is a darkspawn and there is NO compromise with them. In battle, victory. Not stuff darkspawn in a closet to keep for a rainy day to kill more." Anders and Justice were speaking, spoiling to attack.
"You're fools! Larius should have died here years ago." As those words ended, she cast a spell.
I had to guess it was a summoning by the forming of five shapes around us in the middle of the room. Smothered curses followed me as I closed to stab Jeneka.
But her repulsion knocked me into one of her summonings and she ducked through a doorway.
Anders shouted, "Revenant!"
I could not pursue her when four darkspawn emissaries were summoned too.
"My sword isn't damaging him," Fenris called.
Varric grunted and said, "Bianca hurts the others."
The emissaries weren't attacking us, though the revenant was swinging at Paws.
I picked the nearest even as Anders said, "They protect him, kill them first."
We killed the emissaries quickly as Fenris harried the revenant. I knew when the last emissary had stopped protecting it when Fenris made a satisfied cry.
Larius had been attacking the revenant, fruitlessly.
"I believe you are correct this time about compromise, mage." The elf sounded a little surprised.
Anders scooped his arms around me for a kiss. "I'm still here, love."
"You must hurry!" Larius tried to interrupt us.
"We must rest a few minutes." Anders said angrily to the ghoul. He whispered in my ear. "She might have a spell to bind him... but what bound him before was blood magic. We don't know how to strengthen the seal."
"He's been so wrong about many things, but not all. They both want him freed."
Anders held me closer. "We can't stop that... You should not rely on my advice, love. I hear him too much and he wants to be free. That need for freedom is hard for me to deny."
I looked him in the eyes. "You don't want freedom to own slaves. He wants only his own freedom to be an arse. Both you and Justice believe in freedom far more than this demand for one cruel creature's madness."
He sighed with a relaxation that could be felt through his body. "Yes. Thank you, love."
Whispering in his ear again, I wanted to hurry. "I don't trust either farther than I can throw them. Just be ready to take both down," I licked his ear, just a little, as I ran my hands down his armor.
"Who's teasing with the innuen...?" Anders didn't finish his thought, but braced my head for a possessive kiss.
Fenris coughed from right beside us. "We must keep moving." He moved back to Bethany and Paws.
"Anders, you tell Varric and I'll speak to my sister."
He nodded and I passed on the plan to Bethany as Anders bandaged Varric. I saw Beth speak with Fenris as we found and climbed another set of wide stairs. This must take us to that chamber we saw when we were outside the crevice.
Corypheus, Jeneka, and Larius had harmed too many from their actions. Maybe they were better once, but I had assassinated many who were less callous. This place was a boil on the face of Thedas.
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A/N: Some dialog is taken from or adapted from canon. Thanks to my beta reader who has been kind enough to read this and point out stupid flubs. Any typos that remain are not intentional... Reviews or a PM to let me know what you think would be very appreciated.
