Never laugh at live dragons.
~J.R.R. Tolkien

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Melori turned. Her blade slid from the sheath with a metallic rasp as she faced the massive, lumbering pride demon, taking in the way it moved and the massive shoulders on the thing, and she took a deep breath. Lifting the blade before her in both hands and pushing the last of her magic into her wards, she thought longingly of healing potions and naps. Her shoulder hurt, the pain burning and running down her back every time she moved, and this was undoubtedly going to hurt even more.

The demon roared, spittle flying from its mouth, and then it laughed, the long glowing whip in its fist sparking with deadly promise. Behind her she could hear the soldiers regrouping, Greer shouting out commands as the men and women moved, the sound of several metal blades leaving their sheaths. But without a strong shield to bear the brunt of the attack, they were none of them able to withstand the force of a Pride Demon attack, not with her magic so low and her wards falling.

The whip the demon carried cracked and snapped as it snaked across the ground, and Melori dodged, running to get out of the way. It followed her movement and she heard the cry as the others took advantage and flanked it. Melori stumbled and careened to the ground, rolling as the whip snapped, the heat of it sparking against her skin. It threw off the soldier's attacking it as though they were nothing more than gnats and strode forward, each step shaking the ground. Fear, blunt and angular, shot through her chest and she crawled away, unable to summon anything but the weakest of wards between herself and the demon.

It lifted its arm and she cringed away, watching as it began to descend with a sickened feeling. And then she heard a shout from somewhere to the right and twenty arrows thudded against its head in rapid succession, a few of them sticking into the thick purple and black hide. The creature turned away from Melori and gave an awful roar, charging toward the scouts who had appeared along the top of the boulders edging the roadway. Greer shot past the demon as it moved and grabbed Melori around the waist, dragging her back toward the barrier.

"The Scouts," She squeaked, too relieved to care how she sounded.

"Thank Andraste," he answered, dropping her into the waiting hands of the waiting soldiers before heading back into the attack.

Melori found herself deposited onto a broken piece of stonework and a healing potion thrust into her hand. She drank it down and asked if they'd found any lyrium potions and then drank that, too. The rush of energy was almost too much and her head swam sickeningly for a moment - which was new. She waited a moment before pushing to her feet and found Harding sliding down the side of a boulder, bow in hand, as the demon fell dead several yards away.

"Looks like we got here just in time," the dwarf scout grinned.

"I've never been happier to see anyone in my life," Melori laughed. "We've been at this all day."

"I thought you were at the Archive?"

"Yes, we were, and we've got people hiding in the vault now. They've got food and water, but someone will have to get them when it's safe," Melori answered as Greer walked up and saluted Harding. "Lieutenant Greer and his unit were the ones who secured the area."

"Glad someone did," Harding answered. "We weren't sure what to expect with the Breach reopening like that. But we're not done yet. Ready to go take a look at the Temple?"

"It'll be Corypheus," Melori answered. "Whoever goes after him will find themselves in serious danger. Is the Inquisitor far?"

"They're coming up the trail now," the scout leader confirmed. "With any luck, this will all be over by breakfast tomorrow."


They left the soldiers from the Archive at the choke point with several archers, scouts, and supplies. Melori and Lieutenant Greer walked along behind Harding toward the Temple further up the road. Melori's magic was recovering, which helped, and she recast her wards, one by one. According to the dwarf, they were going to get as close as they dared and then send in some of the scouts to check the boundaries of the Temple itself.

"You sure you don't want to stay back with the others?" Greer asked, watching her with narrowed eyes. "You look worn out and you're injured."

"It's not that bad and I want to see this through to the end," Melori answered, rotating her left arm slowly. The wound burned and stung, but the bleeding was done and she could move it again.

"If you say so," he sighed as they came up to the first gate, the final staging area where Inquisition forces had held back the demons the first time the Breach had opened. The closer they came to the Temple, the more magic Melori could feel in the air; the twisting energy of the Breach and the strange, metallic scent of red lyrium - like blood and lightning.

From the temple came the sound of a voice, deep and carrying, though she couldn't make out what it said, and Melori turned, the hair on the back of her neck lifting. Towers and masonry were beginning to lift off the ground, floating in midair and she broke into a run, only to skid to a halt at the sight of the twisted darkspawn magister standing in the midst of the ruined slag. Scarlet light flooded from the orb hovering over his hand, spitting and surged with contaminated energy.

Terror at the sight of his scarred and ravaged face freezing her where she stood. He looked part demon, part red templar, and the power that rolled off of him was sickening.

" Call down his wrath upon me. You cannot, for he does not exist." He spoke in growling tones to the scouts on her left who were climbing unsteadily to their feet in front of him. "I am Corypheus. I shall deliver you from this lie in which you linger." He lifted his arms and the sphere rose above his head, and Melori felt herself backing away. "Bow before your new god and be spared." **

"Never!" One of the scouts cried out in defiance and the darkspawn magister tilted his head with an expression on his face that chilled her to the bone. She knew what power the creature wielded with the orb he held, she could feel it pulsing off of him in waves, and there was nothing she could do to warn them. No ward she cast would be enough against that kind of power.

"As you wish," he muttered and brought his hands down.

Energy rolled forward in a red-tinged wave and threw them backward against the stones. Melori rolled backward across the broken, blackened rocks, coming to a halt some distance away. Her ears were ringing and it took her a moment to orient herself, vaguely aware of a familiar voice shouting nearby. The ground began to shake beneath her feet as she tried to rise, and the world beyond dropped suddenly away as tons of rock and the remnants of the Temple of Sacred Ashes rose slowly into the sky.


Disoriented and off-balance, Melori climbed to her feet, hands spread to either side as everything seemed to sway. She could see the Inquisitor and the others standing before Corypheus some distance away. A shadow, huge and dark moved behind Corypheus to her right, and Melori pivoted, opening her mouth to scream a warning. The thing hissed and leaned forward, leaping at the Inquisitor and something just as large hit it hard in the side, sending both tumbling and sliding across the broken landscape toward her.

Melori leapt to the side and found herself caught by a wing, pushed down and over the ledge of rock and masonry. Her shoulder protested as she hung there, feet kicking for purchase as she tried to lever herself back up. She could hear the dragons screaming as they rolled through the sky and swallowed hard.

She screamed as her gloved hand slipped, and she dangled for what seemed an eternity over the snow and ice covered rock far below. It took all her strength to swing herself to the side grabbing tight with her other hand, her foot finally finding a foothold in the rocky ledge. For several agonizing minutes she made her way along, grip by grip, until she was able to find a place wide enough to climb upward.

Gasping with effort, sweat sliding down her forehead, she pulled herself along the rock face, crying out in fear and exhaustion as she managed to lift herself up and over the ledge. For a several long minutes, she lay on the ground, gasping for breath and her entire body trembling in reaction. Her entire body felt numb and limp, but she forced herself to focus, to pull her nerves together, bit by bit.

"I do not like heights," she muttered to herself when she finally had the strength to waver to her feet.

Running was out of the question. Her body was still shaking too hard, but Melori pushed herself forward, heading across the inhospitable terrain to where she'd last seen the Inquisitor. When she found no one there, she began to climb upward, following the sound of battle and the feeling of magic. Solas was nearby, she knew, feeling the power of his spells on the air, twined with Dorian's and Vivienne's somewhere up above her. She followed the sensations she felt, climbing across stones that were breaking apart even as she climbed over the, her heart in her throat.

"Too slow, too slow," she gasped, then jerked herself against a stone wall as the dragons tumbled past.

Heart pounding in her chest, Melori climbed another stairway and saw Bull's horns across a broad expanse of rock and cobblestones. The others were near him, all of them staring upward. Corypheus was nowhere in sight, though she could sense him somewhere above them on a higher platform. A part of her wanted to just sit down for a moment, take a breath of air, but she found herself looking upward, too, despite herself.

The second dragon, a purple scaled creature with thick horns folded against the back of its head was flying toward the Breach, broad wings flaring as it pushed itself higher and higher. The red lyrium dragon flew not far behind it, shrieking as it rose into the air. For a brief moment, the second dragon paused at the apex of its flight, and then it fell, grappling the other with vicious, suicidal intent. Melori pressed her hand against her mouth, eyes going wide as the creatures plummeted end over end until they crashed and slid across the cobbles not a hundred yards away.

The one who fell nearest her shuddered on the ground for a brief moment and then dissolved in a flash of light that resolved itself into a familiar shape. Morrigan struggled to rise, coughing up blood before falling once more. Melori ran forward, dropping to one knee beside her and fumbling to lift her up with shaking hands as the other dragon shifted, injured but doubly dangerous when in pain.

"Leave me be," the witch complained, trying to push the helping hands away.

"You'll be crushed if you don't move," Melori exclaimed, tugging Morrigan to her feet and slinging the other mage's arm over her shoulders. She heard Dorian shout as the others closed on the dragon, and half-carried Morrigan a safe distance away before she propped the human against a wall and leaned over her. Summoning the small healing magics she knew, Melori held her shaking hands over Morrigan's body. After a moment, the witch opened her eyes and brushed the elf's hands away.

"I thank you," the witch said softly. "But I daresay you should be aiding the Inquisitor right now."

"Once I get you somewhere safe, I'll try," Melori promised, but Morrigan shook her head, smiling crookedly.

"That is quite kind of you, but I will be quite well enough in short order. Go. Make sure they get it done this time."


The dragon died as Melori crept up the stairs toward the place w here Corypheus stood. Hiding behind the broken stone wall, Melori held her breath as the dragon's dying energy swarmed around him. She had a clear view of the magister, his fury evident even as he sent the orb flying above him to shed its light across the ruins and arcing up to the Breach above them. Melori stared with horror as the green expanse grew, boiling green bolts of light smashing down around them.

"Let it end here. Let the skies boil. Let the world be rent asunder." **

A huge mass of Fade energy crashed into the tower nearest her and she ducked flying rock and debris, gasping as another sparking green explosion crashed into the stair behind her, sending the remnants of the structure into the mountains far below. The entire ruin rocked and she found herself holding tight to the stone, her breath coming in sharp gasps as her feet swung out over the empty space.

"Mythal help me," she prayed reflexively, then laughed, half-hysterical when she remembered just who that meant. The tower sagged further to one side and she felt herself slipping, sliding down the tilting expanse. It came to an abrupt halt when it cracked into the tower opposite, and carefully, slowly, she climbed across the broken stone until she could leap from that to a half-ruined tower that had not yet fallen, trying to resist the urge to shut her eyes.

The Inquisitor came up another stair case opposite the one Melori had taken, leaping across a crevasse in the ruined pavement, the others hot on her heels. It was difficult to hear them with the Breach roaring overhead, spitting out green energy that seemed intent on ripping everything to pieces, bit by bit. Another flash to her right sent the tower she was on falling forward, and Melori saw her chance, throwing herself forward and onto the stairs, nearly landing on Bull before rolling inelegantly down the steps with a groan.

"Ribbons?" Large hands set her on her feet, and she swayed, blinking at him owlishly. "You okay?"

"I meant to do that," she told him, forcing her back straight. It hurt, but ... everything hurt at this point. "I thought I should at least show up for the last party."

"Right," he answered, his brow lifting. "Come on."

Pulling her sword free of its sheath, Melori followed him into the mass of magic and blades, using her own to summon her wards, casting every protection she could manage onto the Inquisitor and anyone close to Corypheus. It was all she could do at this point, as tired as she was, but it freed Vivienne to focus on damage and that was something to see.

To the side, red and green fire flared and Melori saw the Inquisitor steal the orb from the Corypheus, summoning it to her mark as though it belonged there, pressed tightly to her palm. The entire thing bled green light now, and the ancient magister gave an agonized, defeated groan, falling to his knees. The woman before him lifted her hand toward the Breach and energy shot upward in a thick line that made Melori's head hurt. The Breach pulled closed with a mighty crack!

Melori looked upward as boulders began to fall from the sky, dodging backward as one struck too close. She heard Solas cry out and saw his outstretched hand, but the ground beneath her cracked and then dissolved. Melori felt herself falling for a space, and thought, No. Not yet. There came an impact and the world went utterly dark.


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** Game dialog

NOTE: Whatever you think I did, please note, the story is not yet over.