And so it ends. Don't leave just yet - I'll post once more, as I know we'll want an epilogue, a happily-ever-after. But this is the end of Elisebeth Hawke's version of Dragon Age II. I hope you've enjoyed the ride and I hope no one minds the AU twists. The next chapter, however, will be pure fluff, so don't say I didn't warn you! :)
Ch. 36 - a last stand, and freedom - a farewell to Kirkwall.
They had just left the central room when Varric stepped up beside Hawke and Orsino. "I've been thinking, Beautiful."
She gave a strained smile. "That's usually a dangerous statement, Varric."
"Ha ha, very funny. But really. While I think it would be a great story for us all to go down as martyrs, I wouldn't be able to tell it so I'm kind of advocating a swift win outside." There were a few murmurs of nervous laughter. "And while we'll all more than likely be unwelcome guests at most high-society parties for the next two or twelve years, the only person that has a particular beef against you-" he pointed at Lise "-is Meredith. Unless there's more crazy lingering somewhere that we haven't caught." He looked back to where Grace had been.
Lise shrugged. "And we plan on dealing with Meredith."
"Right. Which will leave you all fine and dandy. But the he-" the dwarf tapped Orsino on the arm "-is going to still be a problem for any templars out there. They may not feel the same way about it all that our dear idol-worshipper does, but it's still their job to keep him under lock and key, isn't it? Especially since he's a bit more... high profile... than your average mage."
She shook her head. "There's no way around it. Even if we put him in a jester costume, people would recognize-"
Orsino, who'd been looking thoughtful, put a hand on her shoulder. "That's not necessarily true. With all of the commotion, it's easier to 'hide in plain sight' than you may think. Especially if I'm not in 'First Enchanter' robes with my staff. We've got another mage with us; I might be able to fit in." He smiled faintly. "I'm both an elf and a mage. Most templars never see past either, because they've never been taught to."
Lise looked back at Cullen, who was talking in low tones to Fenris. She shrugged, then sighed. "I don't see how it'll work, but it's worth a try. I'll just have to trust that Cullen will let it pass."
They stopped at Orsino's office and left Varric to explain the pause while Lise and Orsino slipped inside. He went to his rooms while she leaned against the door, eyes closed. She felt so tired, and the brief lull was keying her already-highly-strung nerves up even higher. Not moving, not doing just made her more aware of the odds they actually faced. An entire city's worth of templars – there is no way we can win at this.
She started when she felt a touch on her cheek; opening her eyes she saw that Orsino was standing in front of her. He had changed into a tunic and trousers; he held a hood but had not yet donned it. Hand still on her cheek, he gave her a soft smile. "Don't despair, love. Whether we win or lose today, we will live or die together – and to me, that is worth a hundred years of this uncertain half-freedom that we've had." She nodded, and he slid his hand up to the back of her neck. "There's so much I should tell you, should thank you for, but we don't have the time and I don't have the words. This is all I can do, for now." He leaned forward and kissed her.
She was smiling, weakly, when he pulled away. "We'll have to win, then, so that you can find the time and the words." He nodded, putting on his hood, and the two of them rejoined the others outside.
The group stepped into the courtyard to find that Meredith had her back to them and was giving orders to a group of perhaps fifty templars. Lise blinked; she knew that the barracks held twice that many, at least – there were more templars than there were guards in the city because the Knight-Commander had been desperately building her forces since the qunari attacks.
Cullen stepped up beside her. "Not all of the templars agreed with Meredith's new rules. There's a good chance that these are all she could get to follow her."
Hawke gave him a faint smile. "Fifty against seven is still a pretty heavy set of odds."
He shook his head. "I have an idea." He walked forward and the templar Meredith was speaking to nodded over her shoulder. She whirled around, but before she could speak, Cullen raised his voice.
"Templars – I do not know what you have been told, but the attack today upon the Chantry was the work of a Ferelden apostate, a man who has never once set foot inside the Kirkwall Circle of Magi. That man has been judged and sentenced, and even now he stands before Andraste and the Maker to receive his punishment. I know that many of you have wondered at the atmosphere in the Gallows lately, and many of you have spoken to me, in private, about your discomfort over the stance we have been ordered to take. The mages inside are blameless of the crime they have been accused of, and we cannot abuse our position in this way!" At these words, many of the assembled templars murmured to one another, looking uncomfortable.
Meredith gasped. "You dare!" She whirled to the ranks, lifting her sword, which was pulsing with a blood-red glow. "Do not listen to the poisoned words of blood mages and their thralls! We do the Maker's work today, and we will never be safe until we have cleansed this city – you will stand with me, or die against me!" The murmuring grew louder, but the assembled group looked more uncomfortable than reassured. Only the closest five or ten – Meredith's cronies – jeered at Cullen and Hawke. The Knight-Commander turned back to the rebels, sneering at Lise. "I see that Orsino no longer stands with you – did he already fall to blood magic?"
Lise gritted her teeth but refused to let Meredith bait her. She instead turned her attention to the uncertain templars. "'And we shall stand together, forswearing the tools and trappings of magic. Our defenses shall be first and last against those who deny the Maker, and in everything we will do his bidding and that of his bride, Andraste.' You swore this when you entered the ranks, Meredith. Do you try to say that your status allows you to break such an oath, given to the Grand Cleric herself, and carry such a weapon? Especially one that you've allowed to control your mind!" There was a collective gasp, and Meredith's face turned scarlet, but Lise continued before she could speak. "My oath is to Kirkwall, to save the citizens from any danger, within or without her walls, and I cannot let you continue. I have no complaints with those who follow you, for I know they do so out of loyalty, but I say to them now – stand away. I will not ask you to aid us against her, but I cannot let you keep me from my sworn duty. You deny the Maker when you threaten his children, Meredith, and so you shall answer to him."
By this time the ranks had broken and more than half of the crowd was backing away. The Knight-Commander, enraged, thrust her sword towards the sky and crimson light poured over her. This was the last straw for most of her templars, who fell back, forming a circle around the courtyard. Lise could hear the words, "possession" and "enthralled" in their murmurs. When the light cleared, Meredith's eyes were glowing red. "Craven fools! You have all been tainted, and you shall all die!"
The few who still followed her – now just those who were sick or twisted enough to revel in the oppression of late – charged Hawke and her companions. Lise, clashing with Ser Karras, found herself glad that none of the other templars had joined her side. It would make things harder for her group, but she did not want to force them to make that choice. She saw Isabela run behind Karras, out of the corner of her eye, and she redoubled her efforts to distract him, though she was having enough difficulty fending his longsword off with her hunting dagger. He forced her back; she stumbled against one of the pillars and he raised his sword with a look of savage glee; the blow never fell, however, as he gasped, then collapsed, the pirate's dagger sticking out from the neck of his full-plate.
Isabela grinned at Lise, then gave her a hand to help pull her to her feet. "I haven't had this much fun in years!"
Lise shook her head, smiling faintly. "You're incorrigible, Izzy." She scanned the courtyard; Fenris was leaping over a downed templar to charge at one that had Merrill cornered, and Varric and Cullen seemed to be fairing well against their respective foes. As her eyes sought Orsino, she saw him fell a group of three with a fireball. She turned, looking for their real enemy, and found that Meredith had fallen back to the stairs, where she knelt, praying. She held her sword out, blade down, grasping the handle as if offering it in fealty, though Lise doubted the Maker was the one who was granting her petitions. Hawke took off at a run, at the same time that Orsino began to approach from the opposite direction; Meredith stood just as they both reached the stairs.
The woman was barely recognizable any longer as the Knight-Commander. Her entire body had filled with the brilliant crimson light, and Hawke could feel the corruption and the sense of wrong as soon as she approached. Orsino ran up beside her, and she saw Meredith smile in unholy glee. "So you survived after all, Orsino. I will be glad to kill you and the Champion myself!"
She raised her sword towards the sky and Orsino managed to throw up an arcane circle around himself and Lise just in time to deflect the pulse of crimson energy that exploded from the Knight-Commander, though the shield dissolved soon after. Orsino paled. "It's corrupted her templar abilities, Lise. Be careful!" Hawke's dagger met the sword as it arced towards them, but the respite was cut short as it shattered beneath the lyrium blade.
Lise swore, shoving Orsino to the side as she dove out of the way. Meredith laughed – a shrill, mad laugh – and raised her sword again. Lise saw that what she first assumed was the movement of fog out of the corner of her eye was actually the slow, metallic stirring of the aurum sculptures of the courtyard as the crimson energy brought them to life. She gasped, looking at Orsino, who paled even further. One of the large, winged statues stepped down from the balcony above their heads and they barely managed to roll out of the way. Hawke staggered to her feet and reached for her throwing dagger; she knew that her bow was of no use in such close quarters. She could not damage the statues, but perhaps she could catch Meredith.
Instead, her hand brushed the lyrium shard that Sandal had given her earlier. It was warm to the touch, and she brought it out, a wild idea forming in her mind. She kicked the leg of the statue so that it turned to face her, although as it had three faces she could only hope that she had its attention. It raised one of its weapons and she braced herself; waiting until the very last second she pulled back and the massive blade embedded itself in the steps. As the statue haltingly jerked at the weapon, trying to free itself, Lise leapt onto its arms, using the motion to propel herself up until she had climbed the metal wings.
She heard Orsino shouting, but forced herself to ignore him; as the statue broke free she used the momentum to launch herself towards Meredith, bringing the shard up. When she could be sure of the range she threw it, as hard as she could; it flew true and as it hit the Knight-Commander there was a explosion of light nearly as strong as the one that had destroyed the Chantry earlier that day. It was accompanied by an agonizing shriek that was an exact echo of the one they'd heard the day Sandal had purged the shard, though this one was a thousand times louder.
The blast threw Hawke down the steps and into the courtyard; she landed hard on her back and the force of the impact was such that she could only lay, gasping for breath, for several minutes while her eyes and ears recovered. When she could finally sit up, she saw her friends picking themselves up as well; all of the enemy templars were dead. With a start of relief she saw Orsino stand up, slowly; he'd been thrown back as well, but did not seem to be hurt.
When her eyes sought Meredith, however, she gasped. The Knight-Commander was no longer present; there was, instead, a roughly human-shaped statute on the steps where she'd stood. It looked as if templar armour had been fused to a statue of pure lyrium, which stood in battle stance, raising a sword to the sky. Cullen slowly walked up to examine it; Lise joined Orsino at the base of the stairs, and he turned to them, shaking his head. "She is gone – let it end, here." He turned away, facing some of the other templars who had slowly come up to join him. "The rebellion has been quelled and the battle is over. Ser Keran?"
The templar stepped forward. "Knight-Captain?"
"Take a group of templars who are not wounded and go into the tower. See to the safety of the mages within and tell them that while the rules have been lifted, they will still need to remain in their quarters until the perimeters have been secured and we have cleaned the courtyard and lower levels of the tower." Keran saluted and moved off.
Hawke and the rest of her group had drawn back, taking the opportunity in the confusion to move into the shadows. The fewer templars who noticed them now, the better. She still waited, however, to see if Cullen would seek them out, and he did. His face was heavily lined, and he looked weary.
"I am relieved to see that Keran accepted my orders; I was afraid that after Meredith's words they would no longer follow me. They may not follow for long, but I hope this will last at least until we have received reinforcements. I must send word to the Divine of the goings-on today; I would almost wish that you could stay and help us rebuild, Hawke – you're the only person I can see who could take the Viscount's seat and enforce order on this city, but I know it's impossible."
Lise shook her head. "It would never work – not after I helped destroy the Knight-Commander. Meet with the Guard-Captain. Aveline is brilliant and for too long the guards and templars have been at odds with one another. There are enough in both groups to keep order in the city temporarily; Starkhaven will send aid, I think, and you can put the nobles to a vote for Viscount soon. They've been ready for years, and the only reason it hasn't been done is because of Meredith."
He nodded, and then gave her and Orsino a long look. "If you will excuse me, I have a report to write which needs to be sent to Orlais without delay."
She raised an eyebrow. "And what, exactly, is the report going to say?"
He shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. "That the Knight-Commander, First Enchanter, and Champion fell in battle, protecting the Circle and city from demonic forces. Rumours of Meredith's excesses have already reached far, and the templars here only know barest facts of what happened; I doubt any of them will be able to agree on what they saw." He frowned, but Lise nodded, relieved.
"Thank you, Cullen. You are more generous than I would ask."
He nodded, smiling faintly. "Maker watch over you, Hawke."
Hawke and Orsino turned away, and their companions followed. As the group rounded the front of the Gallows, she saw a dark outline in the fog ahead; as they came closer the shape resolved itself into a fair-sized ship with figures standing at the bow. One of them gave a glad cry and Lise recognized Orana's voice; there was a splash as a gangplank was lowered to the shore and Fenris ran past Hawke and up it to meet his wife.
The rest of the group climbed wearily aboard; Izzy ran immediately off to explore, but Sebastian came to meet Lise and Orsino.
"Thank the Maker you made it, Hawke! We could hear the battle and shouting; ever since we heard some sort of explosion followed by silence, we've been worried to death."
Lise shook her head. "Meredith is gone, and the templars have begun to regain control of the Gallows. It's a long story, though." She raised a hand to push her hair from her face and Flora came forward, giving Sebastian a look of reproach.
"Let them rest, dear. We can get the details later; you need to make sure we get on our way now, quickly – or else that pirate woman will have taken charge of your ship!"
There were weak laughs, as Sebastian swore and walked away quickly; Flora put a hand on Lise's shoulder and turned to lead her below. "We can at the least give you all baths, food, and clean clothes. In fact-"
She was interrupted by a cry of "Mistress 'Awke!" Lise's head shot up in time to see Wolf barrelling towards her; he wrapped his arms around her waist and she hugged him back, laughing in delighted surprise.
"Wolf? Thank the Maker – but what happened? The last thing I heard, you'd gone to speak with the Grand Cleric, and I thought you'd gotten caught in the Chantry blast!"
"Naw, you couldn't catch me like that! I took Master Orsino's note, sure, but everyone seemed so worried that I didn't figure it'd be best for me t'stick around. I went by Lirene's t'see Jemmy, and by the time I left I was feelin' 'ungry so I went back 'ome. I didn't know nothin'd 'appened until I walked inside an' saw that guard friend o' yours, Mistress Aveline, runnin' around all worried-like." Lise hugged him again, and he grinned up at her. "Rufus is 'ere, an' Aveline pulled some stuff out she thought you'd want."
By the time everyone had a chance to clean up, sit down, and eat, the ship was a good distance from Kirkwall, heading into open waters. Lise and Orsino had just finished telling Sebastian about everything that had happened, over dinner, when Varric spoke up.
"So, what's our plan?"
Sebastian looked at the group. "You're all welcome in Starkhaven, you know, though you'll have to lay low. I've got a small estate – more of a hunting lodge, really – out in the forests north of the city, but it might be too secluded for you..."
Lise shook her head. "I'd welcome seclusion after this. But I can't put you in danger, Sebastian. No matter what Cullen tells the Divine, there are too many holes in his story."
Varric scoffed. "My dear Hawke, you underestimate my powers." She blinked at him. "I've been working on this story since we stepped into the Chantry courtyard today. Why do you think I suggested you disguise Orsino? If we tell enough people that he's the one who went crazy in the tower, and that he's dead, the rumour will spread and they'll believe it. Give it enough time and no one will think to look for him."
Lise frowned. "There's no way I'm going to let you tell people that Orsino was a blood mage."
Orsino put a hand on hers, shaking his head. "I hate the idea, too, but Varric's got a point. It's scandalous enough that people will repeat it, and unfortunately, believe it. Trying to make me into a martyr would take too much time, but I'm willing to swallow my pride and become a villain if it gives us our freedom."
She shook her head again. "I hate it, but I can't think of anything else. If you're sure, then... I guess... thank you, Varric. You're a lifesaver, again."
The meal passed and shortly after, Hawke excused herself, going up to be alone on the deck with her thoughts. After a while, Orsino joined her, leaning on the railing beside her as she watched the remnants of the fog drift away along the distant shore. It was cold, and there was a faint dusting of snow on the deck already and more in the air. He watched her quietly; a few minutes later, he slid an arm around her waist.
"Remembering Anders?"
She shook her head, looking up at him. "Yes and no. I'm just thinking about everything – the whole mess. Anders is part of it, yes. I'll mourn him for the rest of my life, as I will mother and Carver... but I said my goodbyes when he left, months ago." She blinked, and in the moonlight he could see the tears in her eyes. "I know he wanted to go, and that his death was the kindest thing I could have given him, but... that so many people had to die..."
Orsino pulled her close, wrapping his cloak around her. "Hush, love. I know that nothing I can say will make you feel any less to blame, but you have to let him have his share."
She nodded, resting her head on his chest. "In the end, something was going to give. It was just a bad situation that caused this to be the outcome, I know that. Too many things were wrong that could not be healed. I will bear my guilt, but I cannot let it crush me." She pulled back, looking up at him. "But... the worst part is how many lives this has ruined. I mean, you're an exile now, because of this."
He gave her an odd look. "Love... behind the ache and pain of tragedy, I'm happier than I've ever been. I'm free, Lise. I've never been free in my life, not since the day I entered the Starkhaven Circle when I was six." He pulled her back to him. "Just standing here, in the winter night, feeling the snow on my face – that's an experience I never thought I'd have. And that you're here, with me – no, don't feel any guilt on my part. This is more than I ever hoped and all I've ever wanted, though I wish the gaining had been in a different way."
She nodded, slowly. "Is it really as easy as that?"
"I wouldn't say it's easy, no. But I think, if you talked to those who followed you today, that not one of us would have done anything differently. We've fought our battles and made our sacrifices; now it's time for us to take our reward, such as it is."
He kissed her, gently, and she turned; together they watched the shoreline fade from view until all they could see was the moonlit trail reflected on the open ocean.
The characters belong to Bioware, I just borrow them.