Eventually, they reached a deep chasm, and when they looked over the edge, they saw legions of darkspawn marching inside of it. They could see orcs, goblins, gremlins and trolls all standing side-by-side holding torches.
Then if things weren't bad enough suddenly they saw flying for the chasm was none other than the archdemon. It certainly looked like a high dragon except it was mutilated, and Hiccup could sense a deep evil in it. It roared loudly enough to shake the walls as it began leading the darkspawn through the cavern and to the surface.
"There goes any doubt whether this was a Blight or not," said Ragnar gravely.
"That was the archdemon?" Fishlegs gulped. "It even more monstrous than I pictured."
"Should we chase after it?" Sten asked.
Hiccup shook his head. "We don't have the equipment or the manpower to fight it in such enclosed spaces."
"He's right," said Duran. "Attacking the creature now would be suicide, I'm afraid and have to wait a bit longer."
"Let's just hope we survive to encounter it again," said Astrid.
"I hope that we never meet again," said Snotlout.
"You do realise that if we don't meet again, that means the Blight will continue," Heather pointed out.
"Let's just get moving," said Hiccup.
Astrid then noticed something on the bridge that spanned across the gorge. "I think that might be a little hard to do."
They all turned and saw that a big battle was raging on the bridge between dwarven warriors and darkspawn.
"That must be the Legion of the Dead," said Ragnar.
"It looks like they could do with some help," said Astrid.
"Then let's back them up," said Hiccup as he drew his blade.
All of them immediately charged towards the bridge and started to engage the darkspawn alongside the dwarven warriors. Hiccup noted that the Legion of the Dead certainly knew how to engage darkspawn, though that wasn't much a surprise given the fact that they fight them every day.
They were mostly gauging goblins with a few orcs supporting them, but they were no match for their skill and numbers. Eventually, all of them was slain, though a few members Legion of the Dead been killed in the battle.
Their commanding officer then approached Hiccup. "Atrast vala, Grey Warden. I am Kardol, and I leave this unit." He then looked at him curiously. "I've never seen one of your kind in the Deep Roads."
"And you don't sound surprised?" Hiccup noted.
"In the Legion of the Dead, we abandon our lives to be free of fear, free of the hopeful blindness. The coming Blight is obvious to us. The surprise is not that you're here, but that you come in so small a number. What you want here, Warden?"
"My name is Hiccup, and I'm looking for allies."
Kardol frowned. "It's an odd tactic, recruiting from the frontlines. The darkspawn pitch their camps in tunnels between your 'Blights', you know. Give me a dwarven reason to look topside."
"You misunderstand, I'm not here to recruit any of your legionnaires," said Hiccup. "I'm looking for Paragon Branka."
"Who put this dull idea in your head? We've got other things to worry about in Orzammar…" Then his eyes open with realisation. "…ah, now I see. The deep lords in the Assembly can't make up their minds, so the pretenders need added influence. I get that, right?"
"That about sums it up," said Astrid.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Hiccup asked.
"It's not my job to shore up the Assembly chasing dead legends. The Legion holds a line long enough, so those fools have time to put an ass on the throne. After that, we will be the first into the Dead Trenches. Might even tackle your Blight, though that a surfacer's problem. If you want to go digging blind, you go right ahead."
"You aren't at all little concerned about the Blight?" said Astrid narrowing her eyes.
"Why? The other kingdoms only care when darkspawn march in the light. But they are always here, always pushing. Your nightmare is mine everyday. Our resolve gives you a rest between Blights. A scourge on the surface would give us a break. When the time comes, I'll care for a good dwarven reason. Sod the rest."
"We better get going," said Hiccup.
"Good luck, Warden Hiccup," said Kardol.
"What that guy's attitude?" said Snotlout as they crossed the bridge. "We just saved him and his men from a band of darkspawn."
"They didn't need us, they could survive well enough without us," said Wartihog.
"And he wasn't wrong," said Duran. "The Assembly doesn't like to admit it but were losing ground to the darkspawn. Our warriors are stretched thin trying to secure what little we have left, but it's not enough. The only surfacers whoever help us in our battles are the Grey Wardens and their few in number as it is."
Hiccup can help but agree with Duran, he had only been in the Deep Roads for a short amount of time, and already things looked bleak. Perhaps if he became king maybe, he'd be able to do something about it, but that was a big maybe.
They soon reached the gates of Bowammar and were immediately attacked by all different kinds of darkspawn. They were busy engaging with a few goblins when suddenly appearing out of thin air were gremlins. The gremlins will look like mutilated elves with razor-sharp claws and fangs, and there was certainly faster than orcs.
Fortunately, Ragnar, Heather and Eret proved to be just as fast and were able to keep up with them. Shale was proving to be a one-man army as it was smashing goblins beneath its feet and crushing them in its hands.
Valka and Speedfist were providing aid by unleashing a powerful magics unleashing fire and lightning to confuse the darkspawn and matching their might with an emissary. This allowed openings for Snotlout, Wartihog, Sten and Duran began cutting their way through the orcs, and Toothless was charging into their ranks.
Then as if the situation wasn't bad enough, they were immediately attacked by two trolls, and with anyone else, busy Hiccup and the others had to engaged them. One of them quickly tried to grab them, but Hiccup, Astrid and the twins were able to avoid its grip. Sadly Fishlegs wasn't as lucky and got caught, but as the troll lifted him up, he immediately swung his hammer right into it I causing it to roar in pain releasing him.
The twins took advantage of this and quickly plunge their spears right into its chest and began pushing as hard as they could enter with fell over. The second troll moved in towards them, but Hiccup swung Inferno and sliced right through its hand, and Astrid then jumped into the air and slammed her battleaxe right in between its eyes. It predicted for a few seconds before it collapsed squashing a few goblins.
"That was fun," said Astrid as she retrieved her axe.
"More will be on their way we have to keep moving," said Ragnar.
Hiccup looked at Wartihog. "Can you tell where Branka went from here?"
Wartihog bent down and look to the ground. "Too many sodding tracks here. Some must belong to those thick-boot Legionnaires, but we'll probably run into more darkspawn soon. Still, you seem to be holding your up."
Hiccup shrugged. "Not much of a challenge, yet."
Wartihog smiled. "Just don't expect me to kill everything and cover your ass, too, when the real fighting starts. I can't believe she led the whole house through here. It's impossible to defend a group that size. Stupid idea, but she must have had a reason."
"Was Branka really that smart?" Snotlout asked sceptically.
Wartihog narrowed his eyes at him. "Sometimes it frightens me just listening to her think out loud. Made me feel like a child trying to understand an adult conversation."
"Have you seen any sign of her yet?" Hiccup asked.
"Aye," Wartihog nodded as he examined the walls. "We're definitely on the right track. I can see she marked some of the walls—had a lodestone she always used when she was in the deeps. Like to mark the walls every few hours sure she was on the right path. Little hard to see against all the other marks here, but they're hers, sure enough."
"You really respect, don't you?" Astrid noted.
"You'll see when you meet her, it's impossible not to. Best mind Orzammar's seen in centuries. She's the best thing that ever happened to me."
"Now let's go and kill some more darkspawn," said Hiccup.
"My thought exactly," Wartihog smiled.
They began to proceed deeper into Bowammar, encountering more darkspawn along the way. As they got deeper, they notice that the walls were starting to get more what looks like oil and filth.
"We're getting deep into darkspawn territorial," said Ragnar.
"How can you tell?" Snotlout asked.
"The walls," said Hiccup. "They're covered in the taint aren't they?"
"Yeah, that often means that a large number of darkspawn in the area. Just try not to touch anything."
Astrid covered her nose as there was a foul-smelling the air. "What's that, odour?"
"Probably best that you don't find out, believe me," said Wartihog.
As they got deeper, they saw more than what the corruption and then they saw a dwarven woman in the middle of the filth wearing nothing but rags. As they got closer, they saw that her eyes were unfocused and that she had some kind of dark rash over her face.
"Hespith," Wartihog stared.
"You know her?" said Fishlegs.
Wartihog nodded. "Aye, she's a distant cousin."
"What is this?" she said as they approached her. "A human? Bland and unlikely. Feeding time only brings only kin and clan. I am cruel to myself. You are a dream of strangers' faces and open doors."
Hiccup examined her closely, she had a high fever, was completely pale, and that rash was covered in black blotches.
"The first day they come and caught everyone," she said. "Second day, they beat us and eat some for meat. Third day, the men are all gnawed on again. Fourth day, we wait and fear for our fate. This day they return, and it's another girl's turn. Sixth day, her screams we hear in our dreams. Seveth day, she grew as in her mouth they spew. Eighth day, we hated as she is violated. Ninth day, she grins and devours her kin. Now she does feast, as she's become the beast."
"Okay, she's creeping me out," said Snotlout.
"What was that?" Hiccup asked.
"It's what I've seen. What I will become. I forced it into verse so it is fantasy, unreal. That's the only place I can hide, because they make me eat. And then… All I could do was wish Laryn went first. I wished upon her so that I would be spared. But I had to watch. I had to see the change. How do you endure that? How did Branka endure?"
"Your from Branka's house?" said Duran.
"D-do not talk of Branka, of what she did," she hissed angrily. "Ancestors preserve us, forgive me. I was her captain and I didn't stop her. Her lover, and I could not turn her. Forgive her… but no, she cannot be forgiven. Not for what she did. Not for what she become."
"A lover in the dark. No wonder she left Wartihog," said Heather.
"This explains a lot," said Wartihog. "Of course, if I knew she had those interests, I could've made some adjustments!"
"There is too much darkness here," she said. "The Anvil, it is the darkness, surrounded by it, pulling Branka in. No… I swore not to speak of it, not think of it. La-la-la-la-la-la. I will not hear any more about Branka."
"I can end this," said Hiccup gently. "Tell me what I need to know."
"End this? I am full of them, only a step from Larya! I dream I am away, but real safety… that means accepting, and I will not! I will not become what I've seen! Not Laryn! Not Branka!"
She then ran off deeper into the tunnels.
"After her!" Hiccup yelled.
They all then began running after her.
"So any idea what she was talking about?" Astrid asked.
"I have one," said Ragnar.
"Care to share?" Snotlout asked.
"Well darkspawn don't just slaughter and kill everyone they see they sometimes capture people," said Ragnar. "Sometimes they use them in order to craft their weapons and armour, but other times they just eat them."
"You say may cannibalise their captors?" Heather stared in discussed.
"Not for dietary reasons and that's what they do with the men. Women are not as lucky."
Astrid slowly looked at him. "What did they do to the women?"
When they turn round the corner staring at them was a monstrous creature. It was fat and shabby and had female characteristics, but the most notable thing about it was the fact that it had tentacles which shot out of the ground.
"They turn them into that," said Ragnar.
"And what in Maker's breath is that thing?" Snotlout asked.
"We call it a broodmother," said Ragnar. "Darkspawn force-feed their female captives with darkspawn flesh which then slowly mutates them to what you see before you. Once fully transformed and start breeding a litter of about 20 or 50 of them."
Wartihog nodded as he drew his battleaxe. "Aye, they come out as toddlers, but in a few weeks they're fully grown."
"And I thought these things couldn't get any more disgusting," said Snotlout looking as if he was about to be sick.
"We have to take that thing down we want to proceed," said Hiccup.
Ragnar turned towards several nearby tunnels. "We've got goblins coming down those tunnels."
"Astrid you take heavy hitters and seal up those tunnels," Hiccup instructed. "The rest of us will take care of this monstrosity."
Astrid nodded. "Be careful."
With that, she soon led Snotlout, Fishlegs, Wartihog, Sten and Shale towards the nearby tunnels in order to engage the goblins.
Hiccup looked at the others, and they charged towards the broodmother, who immediately began swinging had tentacles towards them. Ragnar, Heather and Eret drew their weapons and began slicing through the tentacles giving them an opening and they quickly crushed through.
Then tentacles erupted right in front of them, but Valka and Speedfist quickly froze them in place with some ice magic. Suddenly two tentacles erupted behind them, and they would have been crushed if Duran and Toothless had jumped at the tentacles and pulled them away.
Hiccup and the twins were practically in front of the broodmother when she shot out some kind of vomit towards them. Fortunately, they were able to get out the way just in time, but several goblins had managed to get past Astrid the others were advancing towards them. The twins quickly engage these goblins allowing Hiccup and opportunity to reach the broodmother.
However, one of her tentacles managed to wrap itself around him and looked him right off his feet. Hiccup could feel himself getting crushed in its grip as he was pulled towards the creature's face. Her breath smelt like rotting meat, but it kept him conscious, and Hiccup managed to slice through the tentacle with his sword. He then grabbed hold of the stunt tentacle and ignited Inferno and plunged it into the face of the broodmother.
She shrieked in pain and tentacles failed around, but eventually, they went limp, and Hiccup fell to the ground. It would seem that her call that was drawing the goblins in, because after he took care of the remaining ones, there was no sign of anymore of them.
"That's where they come from," said a voice and they looked up and saw Hespith looking down at them from a ledge. "That's why they hate us… that's why they need us. That's why they take us… that's why they feed us. But the true abomination… is not that it occurred, but that it was allowed. Branka… my love… The Stone has punished me, dream-friend. I am dying something worse than death. Betrayal."
Then she left without uttering another word.
"Should we go after her?" Astrid asked.
"No point, she knows these tunnels better besides that's not our mission," said Hiccup.
"As the closer we get to Branka, the more concerned I become," said Ragnar.
Hiccup couldn't help but agree, but we had no choice but to press on.
They carried on through the tunnels and is as if they have finally exited from Bowammar.
"If Branka is anywhere, this has to be it," said Wartihog. "She will not be unprepared."
"The Anvil of the Void is near," said Shale. "I can feel it."
They then entered the chamber and then suddenly the entrance behind them closed shut by some sort of metal gate.
"What was that?" said Wartihog.
"I don't know, but we're trapped," said Ragnar.
Then a dwarven woman with short black hair appeared from over a ledge. "Let me be blunt with you. After all this time, my tolerance for social graces is fairly limited. That doesn't bother you, I hope."
Wartihog eyes lit up upon seeing her. "Shave my back and call me an elf! Branka? By the Stone, I barely recognised you."
"Wartihog," said Branka, not sharing his enthusiasm. "It figures you'd eventually find your way here. Hopefully, you can find your way back more easily." She then turned her eyes upon Hiccup. "And how shall I address you? Hired sword of the latest lording to come looking for me? Or just the only one who didn't mind Wartihog's ale-breath."
"Be respectful, woman," Wartihog glared. "You're talking to a Grey Warden."
"Ah, so an important errand boy, then," said Branka. "I suppose something serious had happened. Is Endrin dead? That seems likely. He was on the old and wheezy side."
Hiccup wasn't too impressed with her attitude. "How do you know I'm not just here to help Wartihog."
"Because nobody helps Wartihog. At best, Wartihog's needs to find me happens to coincide with the needs of someone more important."
Wartihog growled angrily at her. "You are impossible! This Grey Warden's came all the way from the surface to ask your help picking Endrin's successor."
"I don't care the Assembly puts a drunken monkey on the throne," said Branka dismissively. "Because our protector, our greatest invention, the thing that once made our armies the envy of the world, is lost in the very darkspawn it should be fighting. The Anvil of the Void. The means by which the ancients forged their army of golems and held off the first archdemon ever to rise. It's here. So close, I can taste it."
"But there's a catch," Hiccup assumed.
"The Anvil lies on the other side of the gauntlet of traps designed by Caridin himself. My people and I had given blood and soul to unlocking its secrets. This is what is important. This has lasting meaning. If I succeed, the dwarven people benefit. Kings, politics… all that is a transitory. I have given up everything and would sacrifice anything to get the Anvil of the Void."
"Does that include Hespith and the others of your house?" Hiccup yelled angrily.
"Enough questions!" she said dismissively. "If you wish to get me involved with this imbecilic election. I must first have the Anvil. There's only one way out, Warden. Forward. Through Caridin's maze and out to where the Anvil waits."
"What is this place done to you?" Wartihog yelled. "I remember marrying a girl who you could talk to for one minute and see how brilliance."
"I am your Paragon," she said and then walked off.
"She's not what I expected," said Fishlegs.
"So we're supposed to run another gauntlet of traps?" Snotlout asked.
"We don't have any choice," said Hiccup.
All of them reluctantly pressed on, and they came across the corpses of several dwarves.
"I needed people to test Caridin's traps," said Branka's voice. "There is no way to break through except by trial and error. I sent them in… They were all mine, pledged to be my house, and they didn't want to help. They tried to leave me, even my Hespith… But even she could not understand that when you reach for greatness, there are sacrifices. As many sacrifices as are needed."
"She sacrificed her entire house just to get through some traps?" said Duran looking disgusted. "Clearly the Assembly was too quick in its judgement to make her Paragon."
Wartihog shook his head in disbelief. "No, she wouldn't… she would never…"
Certainly, they were attacked by a small band of goblins, but there wasn't a great number they quickly dispatched them.
"She shouldn't have gone," said Branka. "She was pledged to me. She swore she'd whatever it took to find the Anvil. There was no other choice. Most of them were dying from the taint, but some… some of the women were… transforming. I knew what they would become. There would be an endless supply, fresh darkspawn to test the traps. They could still serve me, let me find the Anvil. It was the only way…"
Hiccup couldn't believe what he was hearing. "She allowed them to become broodmother just so they could create more darkspawn to test these traps?"
Astrid shook her head. "I know sacrifices are sometimes needed, but this is just too much."
"This just proves that one does not need magic to be evil," said Valka.
"She is not evil!" Wartihog yelled. "She is a Paragon, she supposed to be the best of the dwarven people, to inspire them."
"I don't see anything inspirational here," said Valka.
"You have no idea how they carry on, holding my hand and begging to die," Branka continued. "They had pledged their loyalty! They had no right to fight me. They say your order is renowned for its wits as well as its brawn. Perhaps you'll do better than my clansman. There's something about this place… It makes people despair."
"She has clearly lost her mind," said Snotlout.
Hiccup grimaced. "I do not like the prospect of her having her hands on the Anvil. And there's no telling what she might do with an army of golems."
Duran nodded. "She might use them in order to take over Orzammar, we cannot allow that to happen."
"We have to find it first, and that means going through these traps," Ragnar pointed out.
They made their way down the tunnel and found themselves in a chamber filled with poison gas, on the floor they could see several dead dwarves and goblins next to some destroyed statues. Suddenly they realised that these weren't statues, but rather golems and the entire room was filled with them.
These golems were bigger than Shale but just as tough, and every time they defeated one another would awaken and attack them. Plus the poison gas was eating away at them, blur they found some levers that shut off the valves in the air began to clear.
They then started to make their way down a hallway where they would be attacked by golems, but also avoid the blade traps. Fortunately, Eret was able to disarm these traps of the need not to worry about them, and they had a little practise when dealing with golems.
Then they entered another chamber which held some strange stone sculpture, it was only when they got closer they discovered that it was another one of the traps. It was some kind of machine and, as hard as it was to believe, it created spirits which then started to attack them. Attacking the machine proved to be ineffective, it was only when they touched one of the four anvils circling them that they were actually able to do some kind of damage. Every time he touched on the anvil then sent a magical pulse that damaged the machine, and it took several tries before they could find they destroy it.
"Please tell me that's it?" Snotlout panted.
"I wish I could, but I have absolutely no idea," said Hiccup.
"Then onwards," said Ragnar.
Apparently, that had been the final trap as they made their way into another chamber which housed several steel and rock golems. That's when they saw it resting on the edge of a cliff that overlooked a stream of lava was the anvil. The anvil was glowing an old blue light, but other than that it looked like an ordinary anvil.
When they got closer, they saw steel golem standing guard over it and upon seeing them, it activated.
"My name is Caridin," it said. "Once, longer ago than I care to think, I was the Paragon to the dwarves of Orzammar."
Shale stared at him in shock. "Caridin! The Paragon smith? Alive?"
"Ah, there is a voice I recognise," said Caridin sounding joyous. "Shayle of the House of Cadash, step forward."
Shale then stepped forward, shocked. "You… know my name? Is it you that forged me, then? Is it you that gave me my name?"
"Have you forgotten, then?" said Caridin shot and sighed deeply. "It has been so long. I need you to the golem you are now, Shayle, but before that, you were a dwarf… just as I was. The finest warrior to serve King Valtor and the only woman to volunteer."
Shale's eyes widened. "The only… woman? A dwarf?"
"I laid you on the Anvil of the Void, here in this very room, and puts you into the form you now possess," said Caridin gesturing to all around him.
"The Anvil the Void… that is what we seek," said Shale.
"If you see the Anvil, then you must care about my story, or be doomed to relive it," said Caridin.
"All I know is that you made the Anvil," said Hiccup.
"Though I made many things in my time, I rose to fame and on my status to based on a single item: the Anvil of the Void," said Caridin as he rested his hands on the anvil. "It allowed me to forge a man of steel or stone, as flexible and clever as any soldier. As an army, they were invincible. But I don't know one of the cost. No mere smith, however skilled, has the power to create life. To make my golems live, I had to take their lives from elsewhere."
"You're saying that every single golem was once a dwarf?" said Hiccup shocked as he looked to the other golems.
"That dangerously sounds like blood magic to me," said Speedfist.
"The darkspawn were pressing in," said Caridin defensively. "Originally, I only took volunteers, the bravest of souls willing to trade their very lives for the chance to defend their homeland. But King Valtor became greedy. He began to force men… casteless and criminals… his political enemies… all of them were to be given to the anvil. It took feeling the hammer's blow myself to realise the height of my crimes."
"Then what? Do you want revenge?" Heather asked.
Caridin shook his head. "Not revenge. The blow of the hammer opened my eyes. My apprentices knew enough to make me as I am, but not enough to fashion a control rod. I retained my mind." He then turned to Shale. "You were amongst the most loyal, Shayle. You are made by my side throughout, and at the end, I sent you away out of mercy."
"I… do not remember," said Shale.
"We have remained entombed here ever since, and I have sought a way to destroy the Anvil. Alas, I cannot do it myself. No golem can touch it."
"No!" a voice roared, and they turned and saw Branka rushing into the forge. "The Anvil is mine! No one will take it from me!"
Caridin looked at Shale pleadingly. "Shayle… you fought to destroy the Anvil once! Do not allow it to fall into unthinking hands again!"
"You speak of things I do not remember," said Shale. "You say we fought… did you use our control rods to command us to do so?"
"I destroy those rods! Perhaps my apprentices eventually learn to replace the rods, I do not know, but if so, then all they need is the Anvil to make the slaves they need!" He then turned to Hiccup. "You! Please… help me destroy the Anvil! Do not let it enslave more souls than it already has!"
Everyone looked at Hiccup, waiting for his decision, and no one envied him. Hiccup had to think hard, the Anvil would be useful into fighting the darkspawn, but he wasn't comfortable about it enslaving people. Also, Branka had proven herself to be unstable, but they needed her to appoint a new king.
Hiccup eyes widened and looked at Caridin. "You were Paragon. I'll help you if you support a new king."
"Don't listen!" Branka roared. "He's been trapped here for 1000 years, stewing in his own madness. Help me claim the Anvil, and you will have an army like you've never seen!"
"Branka, you're mad, bleeding nug-tail," said Wartihog. "Does this mean so much to you that you can't evensee what you've lost to get it?"
"Look around," said Branka gesturing all around them. "Is this what our empire should look like? A crumbling tunnel filled with darkspawn spume? The Anvil will let us take back our glory!"
"In exchange for your honour," said Hiccup. "The Anvil enslave living souls. It must be destroyed."
"So it fights with Caridin?" said Shale smiling. "Good. That seems right."
"Thank you, stranger," said Caridin gratefully. "Your compassion shames me."
"No!" Branka roared. "You will not take it! Not what I still live!"
"Branka! Don't throw your life away for this!" Wartihog pleaded.
"She's not the Branka you once knew, not any more," said Ragnar.
Wartihog looked at Hiccup pleadingly. "Just give her the blasted thing! She's confused… maybe once she calms down, we can talk to her?"
"She is obsessed, Wartihog," said Speedfist. "Giving her the Anvil could make her worse."
"Bah! You are not the only master smith here, Caridin," said Branka. and then pulled out a control rod. "Golems, obey me! Attack!"
Suddenly four of the golems around them began to activate and advance towards them. Cairdin also seemed to be affected as he was unable to move.
"A control rod!" Caridin panicked. "But… my friend, you must help me! I cannot stop her alone!"
Fortunately, Branka did not seem to have been for over the other two golems in the immediately engaged the other four. Shale quickly moved in to assist them as did the others. Hiccup, however, went straight to the root of the problem and charged at Branka.
She drew out her sword and shield, and soon the two of them clashed, but while she may be a Paragon, she was no warrior. Hiccup managed to disarm quickly sliced off her head with his blade the moment she was laying the other golems immediately stopped fighting.
Caridin then approached and looked down at Branka's sadly. "Another life lost because of my invention. I wish no mention of it had made it into history."
"Yeah, you ain't kidding," Wartihog grumbled. "Stupid woman! I always knew the Anvil would kill her."
"How is it that the woman was not able to disable me as she did you, Caridin?" Shale asked.
"I do not know," said Caridin curiously. "Have you been altered?"
"I once had a pathetic little mage for a master," said Shale. "He… did something to me. Experimented on me. And then I killed him, and it rendered me paralysed."
Caridin looked intrigued. "Hmm. Perhaps he was bringing forth old memories? And cause you to remember the time when… you fought by my side. The paralysis you speak of always resulted when the master perished. As for your free will… you were always a strong woman, Shayle. I am pleased that he remained such."
"I don't know what to say. Thank you."
Caridin sighed. "Do not thank me. All of this… this is my doing, my legacy. But at this then is here. I thank you all were standing beside me. The Anvil waits to be shattered. Is there any boon I can grant you for your aid? A final favour before I am freed from my burden?"
Hiccup looked at Wartihog. "Wartihog? You're the one that lost Branka, I think the boon should belong to you."
Wartihog looked at Caridin. "Huh. Don't suppose you can bring Branka back? Maybe make her a golem, like you?"
Caridin shook his head. "I would not do such a thing to her if I could."
Wartihog don't look surprised. "Somehow I didn't think so. Then I don't want anything that would remind me of… this. Best, it's just done. There… is still the matter of the election. I mean… we still need a Paragon to get the Assembly's support, right?"
"For the aid, you have given me, I shall put hammer to steel one last time, and give you a crown for the king of your choice."
He then made his way to the Anvil and picked up his hand, and they all watched as he began hammering away. It only took him about a minute to make a golden crown with glittering jewels, he even placed the emblem of his house upon it.
Once it was done, he presented it to Hiccup. "There. It is done. Give it to whom you will. I do not wish to hear their names, nor anything more of them. I have already lived far beyond my time. I have no place here."
"It is unfortunate that the Anvil cannot be salvaged," said Fishlegs.
"Aye. That was my pride, and soon enough, my shame."
"But… where will you go?" Shale asked, and then her eyes widened. "You don't mean to…?"
"I do. I live to ensure that the Anvil was never used again. Now it never shall be. We all must have an end, Shayle. May yours be one of your own choosing."
Hiccup was about to make his way to the Anvil, but Duran stopped him.
"If anyone destroyed it should be me," he said.
Hiccup nodded, and they all watched as Duran approached the Anvil. He then grabbed the hammer, and with one powerful swing, he slammed it down on top of the Anvil. Upon making contact with it, the Anvil shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Once the Anvil was destroyed, Caridin made his way towards the ledge that overlooks the river of lava.
"You have my eternal thanks, strangers," he said, looking at them one last time. "Atrasl nal tunsha… may you always find your way in the dark."
He then fell headfirst down into the lava watch as he made impact.
"There goes once troubled soul," said Ragnar.
"Let us hope that he finally finds peace with his ancestors," said Hiccup.