"Hawke!" Merrill cried out, trying to rush forward as a single back fist from the Arishok sent Cameron flying across the room. Aveline held her back, turning the elven mage away; neither needed to see the final blow.
Cameron groaned, struggling to get up. It wasn't going to end like this. It couldn't end like this. She was finally on her knees when suddenly she was in the air. The breath she had finally gotten back was stolen again as a large grey hand wrapped around her throat.
"You fought well, Basalit-an," the Arishok began, respectfully, bringing Cameron up to eye level. Her staff was left behind on the ground, her fingers digging into the vice-like grip around her throat. She continued to struggle as her vision darkened, her legs kicking out, trying to connect to anything. The Arishok stared at Cameron, still defiant in the face of her death. A small smile touched his lips as he brought his sword back to thrust into the mage in his grip.
The sudden growl and significant weight on his arm was a shock, as the Arishok's blade twisted in his grip. The wicked sword slid across the chainmail apron of Cameron's robe, slicing it to fall to the ground.
Bean, broken and bloody, chomped down on the giant's thick wrist. The Arishok growled, trying to shake the dead weight of the limp dog from his arm. Bean's weak and angry growls the only indication he was still alive.
His moment of victory stolen from him, the Arishok slammed Cameron to the ground, his attention turned to the locked jaws of the mabari war hound.
Cameron rolled away from the giant. Adrenalin coursed through her as she stood on shaky legs.
"Don't. Touch. My. Dog," she growled through clenched teeth. Her vision tunneled as she stared at the horned giant. Deep inside her, Cameron channeled her mana, fueled by the lyrium in her veins. As if sensing the change in his mistress, Bean released his bite, falling to the floor with a whimpered huff. The Arishok turned his attention to the threatening mage. He watched as a blue mist began rising from the small woman; along her arms, veins of lyrium rose up to run across her skin.
The Arishok rushed her, hoping to end this spectacle before her spell could be cast. With a scream, Cameron's first spell erupted around the charging giant. Gravity suddenly turned upside down, lifting the Arishok up in a sphere of golden light, only to slam him back down. The force behind his fall shattered two of his gilded horns. Her second spell pulled his sword and her staff from the floor, spinning the weapons in a vortex around the fallen giant. Cameron raised her arms, the weapons moving higher, and with one final scream, she dropped her hands, and the weapons fell.
When the dust settled, and the golden glow faded, the Arishok was pinned to the ground, his own sword thrust through his heart.