Chapter 53 – Draconis Interruptus

They arrived at the Dragonbone Wastes just as the sun was setting, painting brilliant shades of orange and fuchsia across the sky over a scene that would otherwise be described as forbidding at best.

A literal graveyard, mounds of ancient dragon bones littered the ground as far as the eye could see. From their vantage point overlooking the landscape there was no evidence of ruins, no evidence of anything to suggest this place had ever been inhabited by the Imperium or any other civilization. What was present was the all-too-familiar aura of corruption, twisting and blackening everything it touched. If that was not a sign they were in the right place the creeping sensation under the skin was certainly proof positive of an entrenched darkspawn presence.

Internally Alyx shook herself as she stared grimly down at the wasteland. The dragon bones alone would have been bad enough but the level of corruption in this place was unsettling on a level she had not experienced in years. Whatever was to come would not be easy or pleasant to say the least.

"Officially the creepiest place we've been so far; don't you agree?" Anders asked no one in particular.

"It's certainly up there in the ranks," Alyx mumbled distractedly.

"You mean to tell me there's somewhere worse than this?" Anders scoffed.

"Deep Roads," Alyx and Sigrun replied in unison. The two women shared a glance and Alyx knew Sigrun of all people understood.

"Creepy yes, but not nearly as bad as all this," the mage argued.

"Did you forget about the ghosts…and the killer gollums…and HELLO...broodmothers?" Sigrun asked, nonplussed.

"You just barely had a taste of the Roads, Anders. Trust me when I say there are things that lurk in the deep dark you could never imagine. Or forget," Alyx said.

"They do make a fair point," Nate added in agreement.

"You would side with them," Anders groused.

"When you start making logical arguments I'll side with you," Nat rebutted.

"Really not the time or place, guys," Sigrun interjected. "Unless I'm reading things wrong there's a whole shit-ton of darkspawn down there waiting to be killed. You remember right? Warden…darkspawn…warden…"

"Leave it to you to want to dive headlong into certain death and destruction."

"Really Anders? Already—"

"—Dead. Yes, I do remember some of what you say," Anders muttered.

"Only some, huh? I suppose I should feel privileged you remembered that much."

"He-ey!"

"Alright, enough all of you and prepare yourself," Alyx commanded but she could not help but smile a little to herself as they secured their mounts and headed onward on foot.

It took some maneuvering for the group to find a safe route into the wastes. Whether this was by design or disuse was questionable but given the evidence of other unsuccessful adventurers scattered about in grim warning it was clear the difference hardly mattered. Alyx had to wonder how many had made the attempt over the years only to fail. Either the darkspawn had been here far longer than recent events suggested or there was something else protecting this place.

"Do you feel that?" Nate asked beside her.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and Alyx nodded gravely.

"Be ready," she replied in a low voice as they all drew their weapons.

Suddenly a low, distant roar pierced the air, stopping all of them in their tracks. Alyx's pulse began to pound wildly. She knew that sound.

"What in all that is holy is that? Ogre?" Anders asked.

"Much, much worse," Alyx replied disquietly.

"What worse? How worse?"

"That worse," she said, pointing to the horizon.

A shadow darted through the clouds, affording them only teasing glances of a large form black against the retreating light, but it was enough.

"Shit."

Things were about to get a lot more complicated.


"Fucking disgusting bloody grubs," Anders muttered as he wiped a glob of what he could only consider 'goo' from his sleeve after they dispatched the last of a pack of childer grubs that had popped up seemingly from nowhere, attacking the wardens with surprising voraciousness.

Silently Alyx agreed but didn't have the chance to reply. Another wave of darkspawn were on their way and for a time she let her own momentum carry her through one step at a time as they battled everything from gunlocks to ogres. The constant influx made their forward march into the depths of the wastes a struggle at first but the wardens soon fell into a well-practiced rhythm punctuated by the constant reminder of the dragon circling ever closer. By the time it swooped in directly above their heads Alyx was practically sprinting, barking out orders over the din of battle. Nate nearly ran into her full force when she abruptly stopped and ducked behind a massive dragon skull.

"Look there," she pointed to the clearing below them.

"Drake's Fall," Nate guessed at the appearance of ruins poking out of the ground like an old, worn bone. Most appropriate for its surroundings yet somehow jarring in comparison to what landscape they had seen up to this point. Time had turned what was once a majestic building into near rubble, only made worse by the signs of darkspawn corruption. It felt somehow inappropriate, these ruins being here, but with what they'd learned of the ancient Tevinter Magisters he supposed he shouldn't really be surprised. He was not looking forward to going into its depths, nor did any of the others by the look on their faces.

"This has to be it," Alyx said.

"Maybe if we make a run for it we can get inside without he dragon noticing?" Anders suggested.

"I think it's nested here…unless the sharp increase of bones of the non-dragon variety is just a coincidence," Sigrun replied matter-of-factly.

"It's already hunting us,"Alyx murmured, eyes scanning the skies.

"How do you know?" Nate asked curiously.

"Trust me, I know," she replied grimly.

"You're the only one here that's faced one of these things, Falcon…how on Thedas are we supposed to kill it?" Anders asked.

"Very carefully."

"Ha-ha, very funny."

"There's a reason why armorers value dragon scales and bones above any other source material…because its damn near impenetrable. Killing a high dragon is a long game, Anders, but it's possible. They have weaknesses just like any other creature."

"Such as?" Nate asked

"Magic for one. They are elemental creatures, find something that counter its attacks and it will weaken it," Alyx replied.

"And then what?"

"We need to wear it down first, then pray to the Maker you kill it before it kills you."

"This is really not a good idea," Anders grumbled.

"But just think about how easy the Mother will be after this?" Sigrun interjected playfully.

"So…we're doing this?"

"Sigrun and I will draw it out. Nate and Anders, keep at a distance and to high ground if you can."

"Great. Any other last words boss? You know, just in case this all goes sideways…"

"Don't die!" Alyx called over her shoulder as she and Sigrun already started jogging down the path towards the ruins.

"Come on," Nate said, clapping Anders on the shoulder and gesturing to their right with a quick tilt of his head. Anders followed the rogue, still amazed after all this time at how silent he moved. It didn't seem natural for such a large man, but then being quiet had never been Anders strongpoint.

They reached an outcrop overlooking the ruins, each taking up a flanking position from where Alyx and Sigrun had taken point. The two women stood back to back, weapons drawn as they watched the sky. The wastes suddenly seemed unnaturally quiet as the group waited breathlessly for the dragon to make its move. Sweat trickled down Anders' neck as he shifted his weight in the uncomfortable crouch he found himself in. Fear and anticipation warred for prevalence as he listened for any sign of approaching danger.

He didn't have to wait long.

The sound of monstrous flapping wings above his head was quickly followed by a flash of a movement and an ear-piercing roar. With a loud boom the dragon landed; the ground trembled beneath its feet as it took a couple of galloping steps before coming to an abrupt halt in front of the two women. Anders heart nearly stopped as it lunged at Alyx in a lightning-strike attack, its powerful jaws snapping shut just as she gracefully leapt back and out of the way of the razor-sharp teeth. Again it tried to snatch her up and when that failed, took a swipe at her with one of its massive claws. By then Sigrun had managed to circle behind it and took a swift, fierce jab to the dragon's hind leg. It roared and turned so suddenly it knocked both women off balance.

Alyx could barely hear Sigrun's declaration of "Oh, shit!" over the beast's snarling advances.

"Watch out for the tail,' she called and then, "A little help here!" in a louder voice to Ander and Nate as she attacked the dragon from the other side.

Anders shook himself and without thinking conjured a fireball that hit the dragon with an impressive force. It reeled back in surprise, looking almost comically affronted as it turned its attention in his direction instead. He barely had time to duck before a stream of fire emitted from the dragon's mouth shooting directly over his head. When it was over he patted himself down to make sure he wasn't smoldering and breathed a sigh of relief to find himself unsinged. Okay, so fire is evidently out of the question, he told himself as he calculated his next move. At a glance he noticed that Nathaniel had already caught on to the same and had switched his ammo to adapt.

Meanwhile Alyx tried to pace herself as she and Sigrun circled their prey. She was drenched in sweat and her muscles began to ache but the adrenaline kept her going as it always did.

She could not help but notice that something was different about this dragon in comparison to the other high dragons she had fought during the blight. Such creatures were ancient and intelligent in ways she could not even begin to understand. Yet by the way this one flailed about it almost put her in mind of an adolescent made angry by its own ignorance. Perhaps it was younger than the others, or perhaps it simply had no exposure to prey smart enough to fight strategically. It did not change the fact that every hit made the dragon angrier and more carless in its attempts to fight back.

Either by luck or sheer skill Nate managed to pull off a direct shot to one of the dragon's eyes and it writhed with pain and fury ate being suddenly blinded on one side. That was the turning point in the battle. Alyx and Sigrun took immediate advantage of the dragon's distraction as it clawed at the offending arrow, peppering it with wounding strikes that further impeded its movements. In the end it was Anders that delivered the coup de grace. With all of the remaining strength he had left the mage conjured a deadly ice-shard roughly the size of a spear that he sent arching through the air to pierce the dragon through the heart. It screamed and thrashed in its death throes for a time, and then just as suddenly lay motionless.

Breathing hard from their exertions Alyx and Sigrun glanced at each other and laughed with shaky relief. By then Anders and Nate made their way to the clearing with matching expressions of exhausted triumph. Nate immediately pulled Alyx into a tight embrace, dropping a kiss on top of her head in silent gratitude.

Normally Anders would've found such public display of affection annoying but he was too giddy with relief to care. They had faced a high dragon. He had faced it! Faced it and not only survived, they had conquered. He was tired, sweaty and somewhere between throwing up or falling over but none of that seemed to matter in the face of that single fact.

We can do this, Anders thought fiercely as he was filled with sudden determination. Whatever came next, he was ready.


*Author's Note: I know, I know, I lied! I'm sorry! I totally intended this chapter to be the "Mother" of all battles (bwahaha, I crack myself up) but then ideas do tend to run wild…and seriously this is DRAGON's Age. Then I realized I had thus far skipped out on pretty much all of the other dragon bits so it felt almost necessary to elaborate. That being said…next chapter (I swear!) we will finally get to the big bad. After that I only have a couple of more chapters planned and that's it! Who wants to leave a review to keep me motivated? Love you guys. Xoxo ~Prose

Muse Tunes: "Assault on the Colony" by Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galatica OST); "You Shall Not Enter Valhalla" (Vikings OST); "The Story of Mordred" by Daniel Pemberton (King Arthur OST); "Brooklyn Bridge" by Rupert Gregson Williams (The Alienist OST); "Lionel Polanski" by Clinton Shorter (The Expanse OST); "Dance of Dragons" by Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones OST); "I'll Keep Coming" by Low Roar