"Maia! No!" Alistair screamed. Without missing a heartbeat, he leaped to his feet, took a few steps back and went into a sprint.
Leliana knew he was going to jump in after Maia and she had to stop him. Her natural reflex was to stick her foot out to trip him. A simple but very effective method. He fell forward, face kissing the dirt.
"Why did you do that for?!" He thumped his fist on the ground in frustration.
Leliana squatted beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I cannot let you do something that risky. We cannot be split up more than we already are. Don't you think I want to save her? She is my little Mai."
"Jowan cannot possibly protect her! Just look at what happened to them! He shouldn't have taken off back there. We could have avoided this mess. She could still be in my arms," his voice trailed off as guilt and regret filled his heart.
"Everything happened so fast. No one actually knew what was going on. Sarine needs to be informed of this. Stay here with Drako. I will bring the rest here. I hope they have managed to activate to golem. It would certainly help Drako," Leliana looked on at the worn out drake pinned underneath the tree. His eyes listless, breathing ragged with arrows impaled everywhere and a hole in his wing. "Don't die Drako. We need you to find Maia. I will bring help. Hang in there." She patted his head to reassure him.
Without any further delay, Leliana mounted her horse and galloped to the village.
Alistair dragged himself over to Drako and slumped beside him. "I guess it's just me and you now. Hey, do you think she is gone?" Alistair looked around at the dead and dismembered darkspawn bodies strewn everywhere.
Drako snorted to his question but that seemed to have aggravated his injuries. His face distorted from the pain.
"I'm sorry. The tree is too big for me to move it by myself." He slapped the tree beside him, which made Drako groan in distress.
"Oh my apologies. I keep making things worse." Alistair hung his head between his knees.
"Alistair! Move! We need to remove that tree!" Sarine's voice was heard in the distance.
Sten, Cullen and Shale worked together to push the tree off of Drako and he breathed a sigh of relief. Wynne and Arianna rushed to his side amd began casting healing spells on him. Leliana, Sarine and Zevran carefully removed the countless numbers of arrows stuck to his body. Alistair looked on not knowing what he could contribute. His legs brought him to the edge of the cliff once more. The raging river below looked menacing. There was no chance of anyone surviving the fall into it, he thought.
"She is not dead. I know it." A hand rested on his shoulder.
"How can you be sure?" He asked meekly.
"Because she is a fighter." Sarine replied and took a seat next to him.
"This would not have happened if you hadn't insist on getting that Golem." Alistair balled his hands into a fist. "Is it worth it?"
Not knowing the correct answer to appease his anger, Sarine kept silent.
"Well? Is it?" Alistair raised his voice.
"If it wasn't this battle, a different battle with the darkspawn would have ended up the same way. It was her reaction to them that threw us off course. I would say this is for the best. We can now concentrate on getting this treaty fulfilled and defeating the Archdemon," Sten calmly explained but it just angered Alistair even more.
Alistair stood up and pushed the tall Qunari backwards. "What do you mean by that, you poor excuse of a warrior?!"
"I merely state the obvious. Ever since we found her at the tower, our progress had been slow. The Archdemon never rests to increase his army but here we are, arguing." Sten was emotionless.
"Enough! Stop it! My brother is missing as well if you haven't notice. I know he is alive. He had worked so hard to escape being turned into a tranquil. I know he would not die just like that!" Arianna who had been quietly healing Drako burst out in anger.
"The question is; what are we going to do now?" Leliana chimed in.
"What I think is the best for everyone. We are going to head to Orzammar. Maia knows that is our next destination. I am sure that she will make her way there as well." Sarine said with conviction.
"But-" Alistair and Arianna began to protest.
"There will be no protesting. We are heading to Orzammar and that is final. We will set off in the morning." Sarine commanded.
