Magic and the Inquistion

by Battleship Vytalia

Finding himself in a fucked up fantasy word, a wizard has to find a way to get back to his own universe. All that stands in his way, are demons, a mage-templar war, a great big fucking hole in the sky, a civil war in knockoff France, a female elf mage who finds him fascinating, and an ancient human mage who is in severe need of a makeover

33. Chapter 33 Legends in the Dark

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Dragonage or anything else I may reference

Magic and the Inquisition

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Notes at the bottom

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Chapter 33 Legends in the Dark

Storm Coast

"You still look like shit"

"Thank you for that compliment Blackwall, I shall remember to care more for my appearance when I'm getting my ass handed to me in a fight, after all, I'm sure that should I face an enemy with a blade they will cease to strike me down because I have bruises and scratches on my face" The dry snarky response echoed through the landscape as the retinue of the Inquisitor continued to move as quickly as they could through the rocky terrain that made up the Storm coast. They had managed to make decent progress due to the efforts of the car but with them now entering areas where the path would force a car upwards rather than on a more flat plain, the group had been forced to abandon the vehicle and were instead now carting their supplies from the car towards their objective.

Everyone took what they could carry however Blackwall being the strongest of the group was given the largest share of the weight, something which made him look somewhat funny as he attempted to drag as many beds, spare weapons and other equipment that was going to be needed on this mission that they were on. With nearly every part of his body seemingly taken up as he carried the equipment, it became difficult to see his face as he often moved the equipment in the hope of getting a better view. The strain on the man was made all the more apparent however when one noticed who the other companions in the group were.

Varrick was the next strongest amongst the group but given his lack of size, he was carrying far less, especially when he was concerned about damaging Bianca but still on his back he carried what he could including food and other essential supplies. The next strongest of the group though that could be debated given how the company was made up of three mages was Solas. He as expected was carrying his fair share of equipment but again with the extra baggage even he was finding it difficult to navigate the tight confines of the area that they now found themselves in and was often scratching the back of his neck due to the itches of the material that were wrapped around there.

After the wise old elf came the far younger elf who like her counterpart was leaning on her staff as she trudged through the passageway doing her best to ignore the constant sounds of metal clanging as pots, pans and other things that could be used for cooking constantly rattled around swinging her left to right. What made the situation worse for the group though was with the ever-constant rain that was practically a feature of this land, none of them had managed to get so much as a hood over their head forcing them to feel and shiver as rain splashed on their heads and was then struck by a gust of wind that made their skin crawl.

Last to come up and the one carrying the lightest load was the youngest of the group. Despite his complaints that he could carry more than he was given, Nat had been rejected by the others entirely with them all stating that with him having only just recovered to a position where he could do minor spells and nothing to strenuous with magic meant he should spend more time on recovering this journey than anything else. In fact, Valeyna much to Nat's chagrin has actually banned him carrying anything at all especially with his body undergoing constant damage as he had upped his training in physical combat with a sword since he had awoken.

With his hours of training now doubled and being placed against Cassandra who was a harsh trainer often sending Nat flat to the floor repeatedly as he got more used to fighting in close combat, the teenager had gained no small amount of cuts, bruises, headaches, stings, and other paints. Even now as he moved past the others climbing above them with unencumbered like the others, he carried a strange the of rucksack while his saber hung from one side of his belt and he kept his rifle in his hands stopping occasionally to look around and gaze at the local area in case anything was coming, could Valeyna see the scratches and cuts across his face some of which were only recent and still red, yet he didn't let them hinder his movement.

In fact, as she continued to look at him as he moved from another position, climbing and clambering over the rocks with a sense of practiced ease that indicated this was nowhere near the first time he had scaled such areas. What caught her eye and the uncomfortable eyes of the other men in the group however was the strange equipment wrapped around his leg. It reminded her of a belt, but it was black and wrapped very tightly, strange metal hoops were connected and large amounts of strong brightly coloured rope were also attached to the equipment indicating that Nat had brought it to climb the mountains with, just why he had thought such a thing was needed when the letter had announced clearly that a lift would be built by the time they arrived was unknown, of course, what made it stranger was the weird hat Nat also carried amongst other equipment.

"You know this is just meant to be an investigation kid, no need for such, stuff" Varrick called down from below watching as Nat again hurried along the path keeping and checking the area above. It was doubtful anything dangerous was nearby, they had long since cleared the Stormcoast of dangerous enemies but all the same, it was comforting to have a guardian.

"I've been to the Deep roads before Varrick, now way am I going back down there without the proper equipment" Nat replied gesturing towards the equipment he had permanently conjured, it might not have been the best idea to use such little magic as he had available to him to create such things, but he was in no position to fight properly and would not be for at least 2 weeks. With no time to delay before he was summoned by the Inquisitor to accompany her given his experience in the Deep Roads he figures it would be best to have more modern and reliable equipment then what was provided by these more Medieval devices.

"So have I, you don't bring climbing rope, they are called the Deep Roads for a reason" Nat shook his head thankful that unlike the others his hood had been pulled up before he had gotten out of the car. The wind did not bother him but he was more concerned about his rifle, muzzle-loaded weapons did not act all that well in wet weather, powder got wet and refused to fire and even when it did, worse things could happen. All the same, however, he was on guard which was something he had elected less he feels his contempt at the others treating him as fragile continued.

He was recovering from having his entire body being ripped molecule by molecule in an incredibly painful process, he wasn't dead.

"Trust me, kid, if you've been in the Deep Roads the last thing you want to be carrying is excess weight, the stuff we're carrying we'll drop off at camp, but if you intend to go exploring with all that on" Varrick ended with a doubtful look, he would have said more but there was a strange sense of enjoyment to Nat as he carried on moving. It was hard to detect given that there was no smile of any other normal means by which people would detect happiness, but the swifter almost nimble like speed as he seemingly raced ahead of them taking his responsibility more serious made him realize that the kid was seemingly excited to be out of Haven again and no longer cooped up as he had mage after mage come up to him and check to make sure he wasn't dead and could still fully operate.

"Do you even know how to use that" Blackwall muttered as he eyed the rope and other complicated gadgets the kid wore. Nat eyed the man and gave a challenging smirk.

"Of course, to become a dueling champion one has to be good at more than just flinging spells around, they have to be in good athletic condition, apart from running and swimming, my teacher regularly took me rock climbing and abseiling to improve those skills."

"Abseiling" Valeyna muttered as she eyed Varrick.

"What you looking at me for" The dwarf responded causing Valeyna instantly to blush as she remembered what Varric had said before in earlier conversations. He may have been a dwarf but that did not mean he knew all there was about mining and the like, so it also meant he would not know the terms used that Nat used. She was about to continue when her heart seemingly leaped out of her chest as she watched Nat suddenly rush forwards his black boots striking over the wet ground picking up speed before with a jump Nat leaped over a large visible crack that even down here with walls on either side Valeyna could see. There was no point in her worry as Nat effortlessly despite the weight landed effortlessly on the other side and carried on.

"Worried about our commander huh Inquisitor" Varric teased.

"You're not, he was only out of a coma 2 weeks ago and he's running around as nothing happened"

"If you're that concerned perhaps you shouldn't have decided to bring him along" Blackwall interrupted.

"It's just an investigation, our last report said that the entire area was safe, besides have you seen him, if we didn't let him leave soon he would have snuck off" Valeyna defender doing her best to hide the growing dusting of red on her cheeks, she followed him a bit and then sighed loudly to herself as he vanished from sight as they continued to go in deeper and the incline Nat was on became greater, soon after only a few minutes she could no longer hear his feet as they trampled on the grass. Just as she was about to call to make sure that he was safe however, she noticed the chuckling look of Varric and Blackwall.

"Careful now Inquisitor, keep acting like that and he'll think you're trying to act like his mother"

"No, I fucking won't" Came the sudden sharp reply as seemingly out of nowhere he appeared over them his face glaring at Varric. "Anyway a couple of meters and then we'll come to the clearing, Scout Harding there's and so is the lift" At the mention of the word lift Valeyna grew concerned as she detected the slightest hint of concern.

"We'll meet you there" Nat nodded and rushed ahead leaving the group alone and the Inquisitor to the mirthful chuckles of the group. "Come on, let's get out of this blasted rain while we can" There was no complaint, and soon after navigating a few more corners, the group emerged into the small clearing.

As told the clearing was small and not really impressive, supplies had been placed on their side likely waiting to go down in the large but barrier-less lift, occasionally as she watched the two dwarves, she noticed how the thing shook and wobbled through the dwarves seemed not to notice, though when she looked at the wizard as he leaped down a few rocks using them as a set of stairs, she noticed his doubtful look.

"Inquisitor" Harding greeted them with her usual happy demeanor.

"Harding, it's nice to see you" Valeyna greeted the woman with a warm hug.

"And you as well, though it is good to see the kid up and about when I heard he was asleep I feared the worst" Nat rolled his eyes from behind but approached the same.

"It'll take more than some eldritch abomination to kill me, however, thank you for your concern Harding, it is appreciated" Harding nodded and eyes up the boy as he walked in front of her ending only in a curious look at the equipment he was carrying but she said nothing instead opting to report the current situation with the Inquisitor.

"Inquisitor the workers are almost done building a lift to the deep roads, no Darkspawn trouble yet, but the earthquakes have been brutal ."

"I was told to meet a Shaper Valta," Valeyna said confused at the lack of their contact

"She's waiting below" Harding gestured towards the deep vast chasm behind her. "You won't catch an Orzammar dwarf on the surface, they have rules about that" Valeyna nodded

"Let's get all this sorted, it's hardly the time for a Lyrium shortage "And there lay the true cause for them having come here Nat thought idly. True they desired to investigate less they discover something dangerous, but as the earthquakes had increased in temp, Lyrium production had been affected which meant it could affect the war effort and hence the rapid deployment of the Inquisitions upper echelons to deal with any problem that could be caused.

"You say Darkspawn hasn't been a problem yet, are there any reports of them," Nat asked curiously as he again made a careful glance of the structure that was the lift, it did not look anywhere near as stable as he would like and with the complete lack of railings, one strong wind would be all it required to send them plummeting to their deaths into a deep canyon far below.

"There have been reports, but nothing that couldn't have been handled"

"They've attacked," Valeyna said concerned.

"No, Valta claims they ran into them"

"That's fortunate I'd be more concerned if they were being led," Nat said quietly before then stepping towards the edge of the chasm in order to take a peak. Peering down, he was able to see as a giant ravine split the local landscape in two, downwards it went of sheer rock cliff delving deeper and deeper, as it went down what became visible became unclear and only the use of his sunglasses enchanted as they were to ignore the lack of light enabled him to see the bottom where the occasional flicker of what appeared to be torches and the tiny almost ant-like size of people below moved. He stepped back cautiously his skin pricking as his mind began to conceive of such vicious betrayals as somebody pushing him in.

"Then we best be on our guard," He said pulling back to join the others, particularly Blackwall who didn't seem overly fond of the height. "Have they mentioned in what direction they believe the earthquakes to be, should we take too long it would be best if rescue parties could make their way quickly "

"Well if that isn't morbid" Varric muttered also pulling back from the edge. Back into the Deep roads again, after all this time. The man shuddered at the thought and once again his mind was returned to his expedition all those years ago with Hawke, it had made them rich but at a steep cost, one which even now he was long since regretting. If only they hadn't found that blasted idol.

"I don't like this, going underground for days at a time, it isn't natural," Blackwall said ignoring the raised eyebrow of Harding.

"Come off it," Valeyna said. "I'm sure everything will be fine, if Harding's scouts report that the Darkspawn hasn't been much trouble then with any luck we won't have any encounters with Darkspawn" It was a joke of course but the cheery tone of the Inqustitor did not help relieve the mood and in fact, it only seemed to darken it as her thoughts said out loud in an effort to calm herself down only seemed to concrete the fact to the others that they were going to be fighting a lot of the creatures down there the moment they stepped into those old forsaken tunnels.

"We're all going to die"

"Come on then, the faster we go the faster we can set up camp and get this equipment off us" None of the others complained and without any further complaint but rather concerned glances at the quality of the lift they would be using, they climbed aboard and then with a troubling noise watched as they descended down into the mine to meet their new companions.

Slowly they descended, so slowly in fact that it made them all question their decisions for it felt that as they saw the rock get ever taller around them, that they were some kind of animal being lowered into the cage of a predator unknowing waiting for them.

"You know this reminds me of a story" Varric started

"Shocking" Valeyna responded though she was grateful for the distraction.

"It's about an impossibly handsome dwarf and his friend who got crowned king of the nugs"

"A nug king, Really" Varric shook his head

"It's not as good as it sounds. Nugs mainly just shit on the floor and roll in it. Welcome to the Deep Roads"

"Great, should I get my loyalty card stamped on the way in or out. Just asking because last time I missed the ticket both, was kind of attached to a flying gecko. Made for poor company, but at least it was fast" Valeyna quirked an eyebrow, the more she heard about Nat's escapades into the Deeproads the more she found herself confused and oddly interested.

"Just, try not to bring the place around our heads please" Solas commented dryly

"I promise nothing"

"Good, if the earthquakes don't kill us then the last thing we need you to do is open some old pit to an Old God" Nat glared at the man as his past failure was brought up again.

"That was a mistake; I don't intend to repeat it again. Not... not after last time" He then added with a bare whisper. The others didn't say anything instead with the mood somewhat ruined they instead remained silent as the lift continued to descend downward though it was not entirely stale as with nothing but time to pass Nat rechecked his gear, opening his pouches and making sure that the spells that had been placed upon them were continuing to work as efficiently as they should do, the last thing he needed was a shortage of anything while he was in this Magic forsaken place. It was a relatively short process but one that brought some small amount of clam to his nerves, for as he saw the occasional gap in the rock face he could not help but feel as somewhere there were the ever prying ever starting eyes of those monsters that lurked down here, watching carefully before then moving silently in order to ambush them the moment got down.

Finally, after another fifteen minutes of decent, the group was able to see the bottom of this rift, lit by the warm orange glow of flame, the group was once again able to see the path ahead. Split in two half's by the earthquake the damage done to the place was easy to see as nearby old Dwarven buildings had seemingly been ripped in half, old columns had tumbled to the groundbreaking and crashing sending rubble all over the place, trees and flowers had also made root in the areas though just why they had already started to flower could not be said. Still, it was a beautiful sight to behold for as the torch lights flickered in the distance sending the shadows they cast into an almost rhythmic dance, the group was able to see again the old halls of the dwarves before they fell.

Or it would have been a beautiful site to stare upon and paint pretty pictures, had those in the group not already showed their discontent. Varrick simply stared outwards with a face full of concern his eyes flashing occasionally to one of the distant shadows where he paid close attention before moving it off somewhere else. Blackwall for his part fingered the hilt of his sword keenly not allowing it to linger far away, Solas could have been stated to be the calmest of the group for he alone moved with his usual grace and lack of care, moving at a swift unhindered pace that Valeyna tried to follow before allowing the shiver that ran down her spine to warn her of what lay ahead and act with more caution.

Nat was by far the most affected, as he was the first to dismount the lift, not even waiting for the lif to stop like the others but instead leaping off the first moment he had wherewith his rifle clutched tightly in his hand he began to clear the area before taking point ahead of the group to try and provide some cover should anything be nearby. Only when the others dismounted and approached did Valeyna think he would let up, but it was not to be as instead he continued moving, his head and rifle moving in seemingly every direction as he checked rangers booth short and long as well as elevation with a keen and investigatory eye.

With a sigh, Valyna walked past him ignoring the stern looks her friend gave her so she could approach the lone dwarf and the row of corpses that lay in front of that dwarf. When she approached the dwarf she was able to hear the woman talking.

"Korut, Magari, Norvic. Your names will not be forgotten "Valeyna halted and did her best to put on while not a mournful face for she did not know any of those who's faces and bodies were now laying under a light brown cloth, she could hear the sadness in the woman's tone. When the woman was finished and turned around the Inquisitor then spoke.

"You must be Valta," She said clearly.

"Atrast Vala Inquisitor" The dwarf responded kindly bowing heading before locking eyes one by one to the group though out of all of them she only seemed to recognize Nat, most assumedly because of the actions he had taken to assist Orzammar already Valeyna expected. "The Shaperate welcomes you to the Deep Roads"

"Are there others around" Valeyna mentioned as she noticed the lack of any other persons.

"There is nothing to be done here other than account for the dead. The rest are Deeper into the Roads. Our situation has worsened since we contacted Skyhold" At the very mention of the name, the ground shook slightly, as a deep echo mixed with that of falling small rocks that one might hear moments before an avalanche or something of another such magnitude. Nat even with his magical training was unprepared and in response glanced up instinctively towards the ceiling as he did his best to look for anything that could constitute a flaw, whether that be a crack or something else. "The quakes shattered this mine and broke the seal keeping the Darkspawn at bay. The legion of the Dead hasn't been able to mend the broken seal, and we can't afford to lose any more Lyrium

"The Inquisition stands ready to help Orzammar, without a steady Lyrium supply, things on the surface will get even worse" Another quake suddenly shook the ground, stronger then the last one it sent those on sides tumbling as they tried to regain their balance.

"Move" The sudden cry of Nat fell out moments before Valta who being closer to the Inquisitor reacted instinctively. Leaping forward the small but heavily armored dwarf wrapped her arms around the Inquisitor and threw them both down to the floor, narrowly dodging as a giant piece of stone at least the size of a house smashed into that had just been their previous position.

Coughing, Valeyna pushed herself off her back and stood up slowly, once she was back on her feet she glanced up prepared to leap and throw herself again if there was another boulder. Thankfully there wasn't.

"Sorry for pushing you" Valta apologized suddenly before then turning her attention momentarily behind the rock making sure that Nat hadn't been crushed.

"I'm fine" Nat responded from behind, "just give me a second to clamber over"

"I fear the damage that tremor caused. Follow me to the legion camp" Valeyna nodded accepting the suggestion when Nat had climbed up and over the rock rejoining the group.

"Well that was a new experience" Nat muttered as he dropped with a rather loud thud and sound of metal jangling as they clashed against one another. Valta blinked.

"Do you not get earthquakes where you're from?" Nat shook his head.

"Technically yes, but they're minor and really rare, at worst it might cause an empty bin to tip over or a photograph to come loose, nothing like this"

"No Earthquakes, "Valta said surprised. "Are there any volcanoes where you're from?"

"Yes and no" Nat answered enjoying the look of confusion on the dwarves' face before he started to explain. "There are volcanoes, but they're ancient and entirely extinct, if you mean active volcanoes with the whole lava and ash cloud thing, then no, we don't have any active volcanoes that I'm aware of. The United Kingdom is one of the most tectonically stable countries there are to my knowledge"

"Tectonically?" The dwarf said now looking entirely confused as the strange term. Again Nat was sent into thought, he did not know how this world was created, things were different and it could have been born out of magic but then again perhaps it was like his which was a mix of magic and science, where the world operated under the same conditions, but even on that point, he was sure at some time he had heard somebody mention that it was possible for a planet to not even have plate tectonics if that was the case here how could he describe such a thing. He wondered for a moment, but then with another look to the Inquisitor silently showing his concerns, he got a curious nod agreeing with the dwarf that she too would like to know more even if only to take her mind off the topic of Darkspawn and falling rocks.

"It's hard to explain without images, but in short, tectonics explain how mountains, trenches and more pertinent to our situation appear" Gaining some very curious looks especially from Valta who not only as a Shaperate and therefore would like to learn more knowledge but also because she was a dwarf from Orzammar and therefore was very curious to see new explanations for such things, she listened the most aptly as Nat began to describe what a tectonic plate was and how by moving in random patterns that they created mountains when they were pushed together and how when pulled apart it was two pieces of land moving away from one another causing an earthquake. It answered many questions including where magma came from and a new understanding of a crust and the apparent super temperature that could be learned. It was only a quick lesson for there was not much time to spend on the subject not when they were in a rush to meet with the Legion of the dammed, but all the same, Valta made a note that the next time the two of them had free, to inquire with more interest, such a thing could explain things she had read about at other times, and even if it was all wrong it was a most entertaining theory.

They didn't make it far throughout these underground paths before they found their trouble, unfortunately for Nat however even with his far more cautious nature in light of still mid recovery, he was unable to sense the monster before with a sudden loud cry and thunderous bellow an ogre crawled up the side of the ravine they were on and emerged behind the group blocking off their escape with its incredible bulk.

"An Ogre" Valta yelled loudly as she tightened the grip on her weapon before then joining with Blackwall rushing the monster with shields bared in front of her and it was a good thing too for a moment later the meaty fists of the creature hammered hard with a tremendous force that even though the dwarf was able to keep her footing, the impact was enough to loosen some of the dirt to one side and send a small skittering of stones flailing downwards.

"Nat" Valeyna cried unleashing a powerful fireball at the creature, she expected the thing to be forced to take a step back perhaps even retreat but to hers and some of the others horror, the ogre was somewhat hurt given how the blast hard tore one of the creatures large curved horns off its body, the beast appeared unaffected and rounded on Blackwall unleashing a powerful backward kick just as the warrior tried to round on its flank sending him hurtling towards the air where he crashed into a large stone. The hard impact, however, disturbed the stone above them forcing more smaller ones to tumble down, only by the grace of the man wearing a helmet was he able to escape with minor injuries, but it was enough to take the man out of the fight as he lay there dazed his sword and shield lying next to him.

"Can't" Nat bit back as he aimed his rifle at the creatures moving head. "Shit" He muttered darkly as he tried to keep the gun kept at where the creatures head was, even with the monster being so close his lack of experience shooting anything that was not a stationary target was proving itself as every time he was able to level the rifle where it needed to be, the next the giants head had moved as it unleashed another attack on Valta hammering down on the small but sturdy dwarven frame.

"Nat" Cried Valeyna again. Seeing the desperate situation Nat grunted harshly as he realized he would not be able to deliver a more accurate and devastating shot, instead he lowered his rifle downwards to the broader subject of the creature's chest and fired. With a loud bang the bullet roared forth from the barrel as it raced towards the ogre, smashing into the thick skin, where, with the benefit of far more force behind it, the shot was able to penetrate the creatures skin and embedded itself inside. Blood splattered from the wound but it was not enough for with a roar the ogre's attention that was once fixed on the dwarf instead turned onto the source of its sudden pain where, with a powerful sweep it tossed aside the little dwarf, bared it's lone horn down like a bull charged.

A moment that was all he had, the others had already acted, Valeyna and Solas had tossed themselves to the ground, as they were in a larger area able to, Varrick had managed to press himself against the side, but him, all Nat could see as he stood his rifle unloaded in his arm was the monstrous form of the ogre charge his narrow elevated position. There was nowhere to toss himself and now to use magic unless of the absolute most vitality, his heart was racing and time itself seemed to slow down. Despite this, he did not dawdle instead he acted at once, for with his left hand clutching the rifle he threw it towards Varrick, striking him hard in the chest as a good weight struck him causing him to grunt, and with his right, he drew his sword the enchanted metal blade glinting for a brief second as the spells to keep it in his hand took effect and the blade began a powerful hum of raw ancient magic. It was a good job too because that was when the ogre ceased it's charge suddenly and with one arm snatched him up and roared.

Wincing at the rank breath as spit and other horrid things splattered over his face, he was only able to feel as the large monster's grip around his body tightened like a vice, powerful and pinning he felt his clothes trying to compensate using the protection designed to take the impact of a small object like a bullet or arrow and transfer it all across not only his clothing but also into the ground fail as pressure was applied all around. Already he could feel his chest contract as the pressure forced the breath from him leaving him desperate for air.

He didn't panic however instead simply acting, with his right hand still free and clutching his sword he brought down with a sudden slash at the monster's wrist. Sensing this the ogre went to intercept the blade but to its horror, it's large beefy fingers that could take multiple blows were sliced cleanly as the enchantments ade quick word, refining the edge to an incredibly thin bade allowing for the pressure that was exerted to easily break through even the ogre's tough skin slicing them off in a fell swoop before then carrying on into the ogre's wrist were like with its other hand the blade dug through the sin then tore through the bone as if it were not there and then out the other side.

A loud and terrible roar rung out through the halls as the ogre dropped its captured target in an instant causing Nat to fall on his back to the floor as the instead stopped to look in terror at it's now decapitated hand and four fingers leaving only a thumb. This distraction was its death however as not wasting any time Nat slashed his blade in a wide arc, slashing effortlessly through the ogre's thighs, sending the beast to the ground on its stumps. Now knowing only pain the creature had no chance to react as Nat stood up and there in front of the rest of then swung his sword again and sliced the head of the creature before then with a hard kick sent it tumbling ungracefully down to the bottom of the ravine.

With the beast now dead Nat drew a small cloth from one of his pouches and cleaned the blade off before with a quick twirl he sheathed the weapon and walked towards Varrick picking up his rifle.

"By the stone, I need to get me one of those" Valta swore as her eyes fixed upon the weapon that had somehow just dispatched the dangerous opponent. "Are there more of them?" She asked out of interest. "The swords, I'm not the greatest warrior, but you are of less quality yet you so easily dealt a devastating blow like it was nothing"

"It's dragon bone," Nat said as he dusted himself off. "The material is actually oddly susceptible to magic and enchantment, in fact, it's the best resource I've ever come across for enchanting, it holds a spell rather like I've never seen before, enhances it in fact, amplifies it to incredible degrees even with the creature being dead it almost seems to amplify it. Trust me when I say that this is the first time I've used the blade against anything that dangerous, even I didn't think it would work this well" Valeyna raised an eye

"You didn't?" She said surprised

"It's a sword, one that's been enchanted true, but I'm no master enchanter and it's no lightsabre as cool as that would be. No the material itself is rather powerful, so much so it makes me wonder how dangerous other weapons would be made out of it" At the mention of weapons Nat turned his attention to Solas hoping to catch a reaction from him, however for once the man seemed entirely unconcerned, had the man heard of such a thing before or did he think it was so doubtful that there was nothing to worry about, then again perhaps the man had seen him watching him earlier and was nod wooing his best to make sure that it didn't happen again so his secrets could be ruined.

"Still, such a weapon must be of great value, I'm sure the nobility back in orzammar would pay a handsome price to get hold of such a weapon"

"True, but it's not for sale," Nat said ending the conversation as he noted the keen eye of the Shaper as her eyes followed the blade as it was sheathed inside.

"Have you considered making more" Valeyna interrupted, "I mean I can only imagine just how much easier it would be if as many of our soldiers had access to such weaponry"

"No, powerful as it is when I said there is magic at work in the blades I was not lying, I will explain later but for now I believe it best if we find the Legion of the Dead if they are here perhaps they can provide assistance" Valta nodded suddenly as if she had only just remembered something.

"Of course, if an Ogre has managed to make it this far there is no way of knowing what else might have snuck past" And with those words spoken and a new sense of agency amongst the member of the Inquisition, the group quickly hurried through the Deep Roads. As they made their way deeper however occasionally battling the few odd Darkspawn that had made themselves known, the group could physically feel as the ground shook beneath their very feet unleashing hails of stone from above.

It was only via experience and well-placed magic by Solas and Valeyna did many of the tumbling rocks as they fell expanding the ravine above them so more and more daylight filtered through giving life to the normally dark area did the other dwarf start to look uncomfortable. Though she didn't mention it her occasional glances upwards as she planted her feet with more weight then usual gave way to her feelings.

"You won't fall into it," Nat said hiding his slight amusement of the women's reaction, Valta looked unsure.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Gravity" Was the simple answer however when he saw the Dwarf still looking concerned he shook his head and explained in more detail. "The amount of force required to enter not only the sky but to then physically leave the planet and get into space is truly immense, it is possible but I assure you that you don't have anywhere near the technological level to even get to there"

"Leave the planet?" Varric muttered before turning slowly.

"Kid, are you saying you've left your planet, before coming here I mean?" Nat shook his head and laughed.

"Oh sweet Merlin no, Space travel is ridiculously expensive, the materials and science required not to mention the training that would be needed just to qualify as an Astronaut. No, it would be entirely impossible that somebody my age would have entered space via the muggle methods"

"Muggle, so you're saying that it could be achieved via magical means instead," Solas said suddenly curious"

"I don't know to be honest with you. The magical community hasn't been interested in space past Astrology or how the moon or Sun affects potions or rituals, but given how our magic works… I would say in theory that it would be possible to explore space via magic. Only a short area mind you, our solar system at most, the distances between planets are immense, but I suppose that it would actually be a relatively easy thing to explore space for a witch or Wizzard. So long as they had the right amount of magical training, the right spells and was powerful enough to cast whatever might be needed. All that might be required to go to somewhere like Mars would be to enchant a chest to a high enough degree, get into orbit, find where Mars would be at the end of the journey, give your chest the force it needs and then jump inside, wait however long it takes and at the end of things, you should have hit the planet and then you can get out and explore"

"Space?" Valta asked incredibly confused.

"Imagine the dwarven concept of sky, but black, no air and light and Infinite and continuing to expand. Those lights you may have read about in the night sky"

"Stars yes" Valta butted in

"Those are millions upon millions of miles away and the light you see isn't like the light you might see from a torch where it takes an inconsequential amount of time, instead the light you see from those stars could be billions of years old. Hell my own planet Earth is 4.54 billion years old if you can even comprehend what I'm telling you, but that's enough of concepts that make you feel really uncomfortable, I hear fighting ahead"

Valeyna was most certainly thankful for the sound of the sighting, for as interesting as she found the idea of learning more about Nat's homeland he had a tendency to mention the strangest things and would change from one subject to another at the most peculiar of times even when she would ask him not to. In the meantime, as their pace quickened over the crumbling and unsafe ground of the old dwarven homes, they could make out the sound of battle more and more as what sounded like a mix of steel clashing against one another mixed in with that of angry throaty yell echoed onto them. A moment later after turning another corner, they were able to notice a brief flicker of movement in the distance as the steel armor of what was likely a dwarf briefly glinted off in the growing sunlight above.

With no time to be lost the group quickened their pace even father, running up some steps and then pushing themselves into some old dwarf building. Entering it they immediately jumped into battle as they made note of the Legion of the Dammed as they attempted to hold back the forces of the Darkspawn as best they could. Throwing themselves into the middle of the battle, Blackwall with his sword piercing through the skull of one suspecting Hurlock and Valta with her own weapon caving in the chest of another and then slashing it onto another did the group able to kill enough enemies quickly for some of the darkspawn to change targets and rush towards them with that almost terrifying cry of theirs.

Seeing the new change in targets the dwarves when they had a spare moment in their middle of combat briefly looked over to their new targets hoping to recognize them before continuing. The arrival of Valeyna and the group, however, proved rather fortuitous for now with the back up of two mages both of who were flinging a dealy mix up of elemental and more primal forces shattering, freezing and burning the enemy as well as hurling larger targets that would advance leaving them open for a bolt off Bianca or a bullet from Nat's rifle did the onrushing horde of Darkspawn in the room get halted but it was enough that with distraction Nat with his smaller and lither frame was able to quickly dash around to the entry point that the Darkspawn had used and via a match set alight the dwarven Lyrium bombs.

Hurling himself over a makeshift barricade Nat was able to land with a thump before then covering the back of his head a moment later the two dwarven bombs detonated with tremendous fury. The ground shook fiercely, darkspawn and stone alike exploded with a cacophony of such force that it caused the area above to become unsteady and then with a sound of thunder the ceiling caved in with a terrible noise, squishing any who were under it including too poor dwarves who were unable to get themselves free of their fight before being crushed by the ensuing rubble.

With the enemy forces now stopped from reinforcing them, what few darkspawn which had remained were soon quickly ganged up on and then brutally executed until finally with the swing of the axe the leader of the Legion od the dammed separated a shriek and ended the battle.

"Explosives underground, that's a brilliant idea" Nat muttered dusting the nonexistent dust from his shoulders as he stood up, glancing around he was able to finally take note of the casualties, three more not including those who were trapped beneath the rubble were dead, another two were badly injured and were being seen by what he assumed to be the equivalent of a Dwarven doctor and the rest were all seemingly nursing small injuries, but given how the Blight worked they were rapidly stripping themselves of their armour to search for anything that could have been infected with the blight.

Quietly he approached those who seemed to have minor injuries, at first when they saw him there were surprised looks on their now revealed faces, but when he stopped in front of them and dragged out the first aid pack he had brought with him, opening the contents where they could see a mix of bandages and other things, they ceased and instead spoke.

"A little young to be down here kid, you their medic?" The first one an older man that Nat assumed had to be in his forties looked at him carefully as he drew out a bottle of sterilizing solution and some cotton wool that he would help apply it with.

"No," The second dwarf said analyzing the rifle that Nat had now laid against the wall, though he didn't pick it up Nat could see the dwarf smelling the gunpowder as best he could. "You some kind of explosives expert, where did you get hold of blasting powder anyway?"

"I made it" Nat answered, the older man was hurt worse and so after applying a small amount of the liquid to the cotton wool, he moved the dwarves hand away from the scratch on his chest and got ready to apply pressure. "This is going to sting" He warned making sure that the Dwarf wouldn't hit the moment he applied it.

"Oh please I've taken-Shit" Pushing back against the wall, the older dwarf hissed in pain as the liquid suddenly touched his open wound.

"Good now keep it there, this will clean the wound and hopefully prevent infection" Nat carried on as he applied another set of cotton wool and sterilising liquid and then began to stroke it on some other minor cuts the dwarf had. Behind him, Nat sensed but ignored as Valta and another dwarf approached soon stopping as they watched him do his best to deal with the injuries, yet they didn't speak instead just leaving him be.

"Created" The other dwarf mentioned. "That's a lie the only surface walkers who have access to any sort of blasting powders is the Qunari and the Inqui-" The dwarf stopped then without warning he rubbed his eyes and had a better look at the kid. "By the stone, you have to be joking. Long blonde hair, foreign black clothes, strange weapons using blasting powder and a sword on his side, the dwarf gave a dark chuckle and leaned back, accepting with a lesser hiss as Nat then applied the same treatment to him. "Shit you're him aren't you"

"I'm sorry," Nat said as he began to give the dwarves a full lookdown, without much training there wasn't anything much he could do aside from potions, something which he would prefer not to do given the situation they were in, thankfully however apart from the scratches on his body the man did not loo majorly hurt as there were a few bruises from other battles but nothing else.

"The King Slayer," The man said. "You're the one who ended the civil war in a day aren't you. The second in command of the Inquisition" The man laughed even deeper as he took another hard look at Nat. "By the Stone, I didn't expect this"

"Expect what?" Nat asked curiously as he packed away his first aid kit away and then attached it to his side.

"That this would be what you looked like, you don't look old enough to be off your mum's tit lad let alone down here fighting darkspawn" Nat's eyes darkened at the mention of that biological individual but instead he grabbed his rifle and slid opposite them on a pillar as he then dragged out another bag though this one for his rifle.

Though there was no need to clean the weapon given the fact that magic ensured it always remained c clean, Nat felt his curiosity peak at the interest the two dwarves showed towards him, for even the older one groaned but all the same sat up to better get a look at him. It would be useful to see how the dwarves viewed him and the Inquisition, did they have a poor relationship or a good one, could they be trusted to assist them if things on the surface were to occur. The Architect may have been captured and Coryphaeus was accounted for, but there were the others.

"Do you have a problem with me being down here?" He said flatly to the two dwarves. The second one laughed as though that was a joke.

"Please, if half the stories they say about you are true then I feel sorry for the Darkspawn"

"Oh," Nat said curiously "And what stories would they be?"

"That you butchered your way through four armies and killed each dwarf king within a single day, that you went into the Deep Roads alone, you a child and came back alive after killing thousands of darkspawn single handily, that you're immune to the blight, that you fought an Archdemon and…" Nat sighed, slowly he lowered his rifle back to his lap before taking in a long deep breath, he turned back to the younger dwarf. The man for he was older then Nat must have been in his early twenties, most likely a rookie some of some kind given to the older man to watch over so he could become a better fighter. Still despite the death of his comrades or perhaps because of it and seeking a distraction the man latched onto him his eyes seemingly sparkling to meet some kind of hero.

"Those rumours are exaggerated, I never fought a thousand dwarves, I was involved in the short war and I did help shorten in, but that was mainly because practically all the armies just decided to fight each other at the same time making it relatively easy to kill off the leaders all at the same time." The older dwarf scowled and looked at his rifle.

"You killed them at range, did you at least give them a warning" Nat raised an eyebrow.

"No why would I let my targets know that I was shooting them"

"Coward, you refused to fight them properly and thus refused to honour great warriors"

"I've seen dwarves using bows before, loads of times, both on the surface and in the civil war, hell don't a few of you have bows right now" The dwarf nodded.

"Of course, but Darkspawn have no honour and thus it is perfectly acceptable to use such weapons against them and as for the other dwarves they are not true dwarves either they are outcast or lowborn, unfitting and discarding any sense of honour for the stone by such methods."

"Right, it's because I shot a noble isn't it" The older dwarf didn't speak but Nat guessed he was correct. "Anyway yes I shot the, I was more concerned with ending the war and restoring peace then I was about if a dwarf was to die an honourable death"

"You mock our way's" The dwarf seethed. Nat chuckled and leaned back.

"I don't intend to, but where I'm from the days of honour in combat and war are entirely dead. Honour, after all, is a fools Prize and Glory is of no use to the dead, besides I'd rather take the honourless artillery and shoot them from miles away then the regular infantry"

"Then how do others remember the actions you took, how do you know you died a noble end" Nat shrugged his shoulders

"Guess it depends on a persons spirituality or religion, I have neither, so for me when I die that's it, nothing is left, my corpse will rot away, my life is over, I enter the black and know nothing else"

"And that's comforting to you" Nat turned around as Blackwall walked in from behind his deep voice breaking up the conversation in confusing, patting the ground next to him Nat invited the man to sit down next to him. Accepting it Blackwall slid down and sighed as he felt the strain of all the equipment he had been carrying get released back into the ground. As the man closed his eyes and prepared to maybe get a few minutes of sleep he was interrupted by a sudden feeling of steam hitting his beard. Forcing his eyes open he saw that out of somewhere Nat was offering him a cup of tea. Accepting it, Blackwall took a sip and then asked the same question again.

"It's funny you should ask that, but as for your answer, yes and no, I never really think about my own death, it doesn't hang over me like it might do Cassandra or the more religious who look forward to some kind of great next life where everything is great, even when people have spoken about it I just can't imagine it in the slightest. I mean there's some type of great powerful being who when I die and everything is over is going to take me into his embrace and look after me forever and I get to reunite with everyone in my family and all that, it's rather ridiculous to mean where's the physical hard proof. "

"But after everything that's happened, haven't you once considered what will happen, surely after what happened in the Fade-" The woman argued but was cut off by a blank look by Nat.

"And do what, spend my time, praying to some being that I have no idea if it exists, get on my hands and knees living by some moral code dictated by others so when I die I can enter their idea of some kind of promised land? Such action would have me do nothing, instead, wait upon the end, why should I do such a thing, why should I wait for a possible lie for something that likely will not happen. Would you ask me to behave in the same manner as the mages, living under a cruel and harsh regime, believing that because I did good in this life that I might be rewarded for it, why should I do such a thing when I know for certain that should I take action now something will be achieved, those who are oppressed but instead do nothing because they feel they may be rewarded in some vague idea of an afterlife. No, I have read what happens to my people when we allow others to dictate the world by their idea of religion. I will not abide by such a thing, not when I have the power to change that. When I die that is it, no afterlife, no heaven or hell there is nothing on the other side only what is here and now"

Cassandra stayed silent thinking of an appropriate response, long and hard she thought but there was nothing she could find to say, normal points she had heard from the doubtful could not be used for she had tried them before and there was not a single hint of doubt in his words, not faith like she may have said but there was no doubt that she may discuss. Finally, however, words did come but Nat seemingly noticing the arrival of the Inquisitor and the two dwarves by her side.

Just as the two arrived, however, the ground shook and another deep rumble from down below echoed through the chambers, shaking the ground. Valeyna lunged towards the pillar grabbing It and holding it tightly clinging for dear life meanwhile Blackwall looked up expectantly as though another boulder would fall down, Nat seemingly unconcerned stared into his cup of tea watching the liquid ripple with a small amount of interest ignoring the jeering of the dwarves as they saw just how uncomfortable the surface dwellers were.

"Shoddy construction" Nat muttered suddenly however he stopped. Eyes widening over for a second his head swivelled quickly to far below his violet eyes seemingly locking onto something as his skin seemed to bristle. "Did you hear that?" He asked of the others.

"Hear what?" Cassandra asked.

"I don't know, it was too vague to tell" Valta froze.

"You heard that cry?" Nat shook his head his eyes still focusing on where he thought he had heard the sound.

"Not specifically, it was more like I managed to catch the tailwind of something. I felt something but it was so fast and so weak it was like hearing the faintest whisper in an utterly silent room"

"Did you hear it?" Valta asked Valeyna her eyes brimming with curiosity.

"If you mean the Earthquake yes"

"No not the earthquake, it's difficult to explain but there's some kind of tune, like a message"

"Message, no I didn't hear anything, Solas?

"Nothing" The bald man admitted before then turning to Nat. "You said you detected something"

"Barely, whatever it was had to be either bloody dam powerful though or rather close, with me in my current condition I'm not actively sensing magic as much as I did sot for me to detect that is…. concerning, to say the least," Valeyna's eyebrows rose and turned into a dark look.

"Archdemon concerning?"

"No, the Blight has a certain… taste shall we call it, nothing can be done to mask that and even in my weakened state I would be able to detect something like an archdemon. It could be a demon or a spirit I don't know frankly at least not until we either get much closer or I fully recover" There was a collective sigh of relief from that especially from the dwarves something which was made rather poignant by the leader whose face went pale at the very mention of the Arch Demon, noticing this Nat changed his attention to the strong dwarf and nodded his head in greeting.

"You've seen an Archdemon?"

"Once" The dwarf admitted. "Years ago during the fifth blight at the Battle of Denerim,"

"A veteran?" Nat said in respect before looking around the faces of the other dwarves. "I would say well met, but given my reputation, I would understand if you would rather not have me down here" The Dwarf chuckled.

"You have nothing to be concerned about from either me or my men, we are members of the Legion and we are dead already, the politics of Orzammar hold no place here"

"Well that's a relief, at the moment it seems everyone wants me dead at the moment"

"Bah you'll get used to it kid, life isn't fun if you don't have routine assassination attempts on your life," Varric said earning a small chuckle off the wizard.

"Well it's up to the Inquisitor to decide what we're going to do next, well do we have a plan?" Nat asked looking at the elf noticing how the harsh light of the torches seemed to make the vallaslin on her face dance and flicker wildly as though it were alive.

"Yes, Valta here will lead us deeper into the roads once we have a base set up, she believes that something called Titans might be responsible"

"Titans" Nat said his mind racing, unknown to the others he thought back to the last time he had been in the Deep Roads before he had ridden that dragon into the sky. That was what it had called it was it not. His face darkened at the memory and as though a long hairy spider had landed on the back of his neck and started to crawl up and down rubbing its horrid legs all over him, did he feel an uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

"You recognise the word" Valeyna inquired. Nat nodded.

"In Greek myth, they were the parents of the Zeus and the others, if I remember correctly they killed their father Ouranos and took over the earth splitting it into different direction such as the North, South, East and West. Kronos their leader eventually had kids with his sister Rhea producing kids however a prophecy said that the gods would overthrow them so he ate his kids all but Zeus. Rhea took Zeus, hid him in a cave and fed Kronos a rock instead, eventually, Zeus got older where he would then later free his siblings where together they would then wage war on the Titans eventually winning before then imprisoning them down into Tartarus. Or most of them did, Atlas instead was given the responsibility of holding up the sky for the rest of his life. Of course, that's the simplified version if you want a more in-depth thing talk to me later"

"So they're gods," Valta said amazed. Before Nat knew what had happened the dwarven woman was now standing above him with a set of quill and parchment writing things down as quickly as they could.

"No they were Titans, they came before the god but again that's simplified and Greek Mythology. There's also the more modern interpretation of Titan's which are somewhat large rock and stone monsters of great strength"

"How big we talking about a kid, like the size of a giant," Varric asked suddenly feeling very small.

"Depends on the story, but traditionally we're talking at least several hundred metres tall, they're the type of thing that can't be missed, at all. Some times they've even been described as the size of entire mountains but that's all speculation, to my knowledge nobody back home has ever found a Titan and if they did, well they certainly aren't around to let people know"

"So you're saying they don't exist," Blackwall asked with a slight amount pleading in his tone, Nat couldn't blame the man, the idea of a Titan existing was a rather worrisome one, what would happen if it was awake and angry, how could it be defeated? For all the explosives he had would that even touch it, the thing could be made of solid rock, unbeatable and entirely bombproof and even if not it's size would prevent a head-on fight.

"Dear Merlin I hope not, though it is possible that the international magical community has not managed to find evidence of such a thing yet, the amount of drilling, mining and other activities the muggles do back home, likely would have garnered attention by such a thing, and trust me when I say that if Titans are how they are imagined to be, it will be somewhat hard not to notice, not to mention it would be a nightmare for the oblivators to handle"

"She fed a rock to him, how did the Titan not notice" Nat turned slowly to the bald elf, of all the questions the ancient man could have asked it was on that? He was about to reply when he noticed the man seemed to have gained some type of happy smile, as though he knew the answer but was finding the idea entertaining all the same. Nat shook his head but answered the question anyway.

"It's a myth, lots of bizarre stuff happens in myth especially when it involves Gods"

"It sounds fascinating, perhaps a tale could be told later" Valta suggested pointing towards the middle of the room where some of the dwarves were starting to get a fire going.

"Perhaps, the Greeks have interesting tales, and some of the gods even hold some similarity to the Elven Pantheon"

"Perhaps they're related?" Solas jested.

"Sweet Merlin I hope not" Nat muttered.

"Oh, any reason why?" Nat raised an eyebrow as memories of reading books on the Greek myths of what had happened regarding anything to do with heroes and gods came up, legends of Hercules, Jason, Medea, Achilles and others all came front and centre but there were also the stories more focused on the gods themselves often when they were up to their shenanigans such as Hades kidnapping Persephone or Poseidon raping Medusa, or Athena turning Arachne into a spider.

"These are ancient Greek stories Solas, by modern standards they are…. Disturbing shall we put it"

"Well, you should tell them," The leader of the Legion said proudly his interest seemingly piqued. "And in return perhaps I shall tell you stories of the Legions long and honourable past" Nat sighed.

"Great storytime over a campfire all we need now is marshmallows and chocolate"

"No, if what you said has any merit of truth, then these Titans could be incredibly dangerous if none of you has any objections we should probably head out now and try to find out the source of these Volcanoes before it gets too bad. Besides I don't want to spend any more time down here then needed, no offence" She ended apologising to the two dwarves she had just spoken to.

"You won't hear too much complaint here, and I doubt Orzzammar would argue that either if things are getting bad enough that you send, things must be even worse in the Capital"

"Shouldn't we rest or make sure our position is safe first?" Blackwall said not at all desiring to delve deeper into the Roads so early after just arriving. Valeyna turned to the man in charge.

"Can one of your men deliver a message topside for us"

"That depends, are you asking them to go up into your sky?" The man was serious Valeyna realised. She blinked for a second, she had always thought the stories of Dwarves truly being afraid of the sky were always fake, after all, how could one have a fear of falling up into it, yet there was genuine concern in the man's mouth as though despite his own experience in fighting the Darkspawn on the surface over ten years ago, that there was still the definite risk of being sucked up. It was ridiculous but seeing the fearful glances on some of the worried faces on the other dwarves at the idea, she sighed and shook her head.

"No, if you have to just put a letter on the lift, just let Scout Harding know that the area is secure and when the rest of the Inquisition forces arrive that they can start to unload"

"In that case, I can do so, but I ask you to simply give me some time to rest and then I shall accompany you"

"That won't be-"

"Have you spent time in the Deep Roads before?" The man asked strictly of the woman before then moving it to the others inspecting them all closely as though he was searching for fleas or as Nat guessed weakness.

"He led an expedition into the Deep Roads alongside the Champion of Kirkwall, and yes I have been here before, in fact, I have a map" Without waiting a moment Nat slipped his hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a piece of what appeared like plain paper and placed it on the floor before anyone else had a chance to ask anything Nat then drew the dagger on his hand and then ever so carefully he made the tiniest little pinprick on his finger where after a second he then applied the bloody finger to the paper.

At that moment there was a spark of life as the ink of all colours rushed onto the page out of nowhere, quickly they began to move around and to the amazement of all the page soon had shapes resembling corridors, large chams, rooms, hall's, cave-ins and everything and not simply in a black and white frame but instead it was in colour. Though initially small however and showing only an empty corridor where Nat had last left the map, when Nat then placed his fingers on the map and pushed apart the group watched as the view seemingly went up and more and more of the area could be seen showcasing a larger amount of corridors though they were smaller.

"Incredible, what is this" Valta breathed in amazement at the sheer complexity of the map, most of her life she had studied maps and had guessed at where old Thaigs were, she had used records from the Legion to update some places and had only guessed were other places were, but this map was beyond anything she had ever seen, in-depth, with notes on gradient and length and what halls were where. It was like nothing ever seen before. "Where did you find such a relic" She then demanded more forcefully.

"I made it using magic"

"How?"

"Before I left I created some golems, not anything offensive based mind you, they were designed simply to walk, but I designed them and linked them to this piece of paper, as such whatever they saw would be recorded, this then turned into the map I'm looking at now. See look here you can see where the golems are now as they investigate a new area" True to his word As Nat zoomed out of the edge of the map and then moved where they were looking with a flick of his finger the group could watch as bit by bit the now white area of the map was slowly filled with a series of colourful lines showcasing walls on either side as it moved forward, this went on for five minutes as Valta amazed by the magic allowed herself to think of the possibilities of such a thing.

"Could more of these be made?" She asked/

"Possibly but it would have to be after the war with Corypheus, I have no spare time and when I created this map it was on its own I didn't have much intention of using it, to be honest"

"Couldn't you just make a new one then?"

"That would require 2 things, the first would be to get next to the golems and they're now so far in having travelled for months that it would time to reach one individually and second I don't have the strength at this current moment in time to re-charm them, trust me when I say they're complex and even if I did I would have to tell them to circle back and explore everything again. Then again I could always use my map, and take pictures and send them to you to draw from, they'd be static, and wouldn't expand or update but they shouldn't work"

"That would be brilliant I'm certain you would gain the favour of the Shaperate were you to do such a thing" Nat shared a glance with Valeyna thinking of something snarky to say however with the dark and oppressing atmosphere of the Deep Roads above them mixed in with another rumble of an earthquake he decided not to, he was not superstitious but if an Old God was saying Titans existed and the thing that was shaking and splitting the ground upside was this possible thing, he did not want to piss off the people who lived underground and knew how to deal with the foes.

"Once this is all over I'll see what I can do, I will admit I am surprised that they've lasted so long, to be honest though, the golems I mean"

"How so?"

"I didn't design them for combat, they're not the type that you're thinking of tall war machines, they're no bigger than a child, designed only to scout. I did enchant them to be resistant to attack though but I'm sure by now any magic darkspawn would have dealt with them."

"But you could make more?" There was a strange gleam in the woman's eye and one met by the other dwarfs that Nat noted one that spoke to past actions and past glories of a time long ago of a desire to retake what was theirs before the fall of the old Dwarven kingdoms.

"Not in the manner that you're thinking off, true I could create one or two but if you expect me to somehow reproduce the magic that allowed your people to create their golems, that is far out of my experience or range"

"You've heard of that" Valta exclaimed surprised.

"Leliana told us, she mentioned that when she travelled with the Hero of Ferelden that the man uncovered some sort of forge that had created the old Golems, but due to an attack by Darkspawn it was lost forever"

"A dark day that was, we had a chance at reclaiming much more territory then we did under King Bhelen. I had hoped with your ability to create Golems that it may prove a boon in the future" Nat shook his head at the sad dwarf, he should have expected this, even though what he could do was small scale, to these people who had lost so much and tried to find the slightest thing to hunker down on or reclaim, even the fact that one person can do something if only an imitation of that thing must have brought hope.

"I'm afraid I cannot help you there" And so the conversation turned silent for a while as the group instead took the time required to rest allowing themselves time to set up their base camp in the area consisting of a fire, tents and a small trickle of crates that they had dumped earlier but were now filled with food and the like. As this happened Nat stood guard over where the charges had detonated blocking the straight forward passageway of the Darkspawn.

"Concerned?" Valeyna called out from behind him cheerily. Nat turned for a moment his gaze lingering on all areas of the old dwarf settlement, at the same time he kept his ears as sharp as possible listening for anything that may resemble the sound of Darkspawn digging. Only when Valeyna had approached and stood next to him did he deign to speak.

"The cave-in won't last, they'll look for another route at first but the moment they discover there isn't one they'll start digging. It will start with genlocks, they will try to scout out before returning and then informing the others of what they face, that's when they'll burst through and attack, when people are distracted"

"Not that," Valeyna said sighing as she watched as Nat continued to move from area to rea carefully inspecting the stone to his limited ability and then putting his ear on some places where there seemed to be more cracks then normal. "I mean the Titan?"

"What about it" Nat's voice turned dark at the mention of the possible source of Earthquakes.

"You sounded like we were in a lot of trouble"

"Well it's a Titan if it's anything close to resembling the common idea of what they are, we are in trouble. How are we supposed to battle such a thing, I doubt I would have the strength to injure the thing if I was at full strength, let alone what I'm at now." Nat said standing still ignoring as Valeynas eyes focused on him deeply, taking a breath the woman took a quick step forward, catching his hands in hers. They were cold she noticed, not deathly as she had felt all that time ago when he had been at death's door about to fade in, his body paler then snow itself and his body motionless, but he was freezing all the same.

"Why do you have to fight it, is there not another way" Nat rolled his eyes.

"Trust me I would very much prefer not to have to fight something like that, but I have to be irresponsible, if I didn't think about what would be needed to fight such a thing then I wouldn't be good at my job now"

"Oh come off it Nat, you've done fine" Valeyna pleaded. Nat whipped around his face awash with the red and orange glow of torchlight highlighted the emphasis on his face and darkened the shadows to such a degree that it appeared his face had curled up in anger.

"Fine" He spat the words in a dark tone as he stared into the fire some distance away. "Fine, you think the loss of three hundred and fifty-nine people is fine. And that's only the ones we know off, how many more do you think will die if these earthquakes carry on, hundreds, thousands and what about the economical impact and the deaths caused by that. If this is a Titan that's causing this, we need to have a plan, we need to know why it's awake now of all things, we need to know more what's happening in the world"

Valeyna blinked.

"Going on in the world, what do you mean" Nat turned and carried o forcing the elven woman to catch up.

"Think about this Century Inquisitor everything that has happened since it began: The Fifth Blight, the Architect, Kirkwall, Red Lyrium, Corypheus, Mage Rebellion and the following war, Murder of the Divine, the Inquisition, the Rifts, Ancient demons from legend, Old Tevinter Gods, Fenharel and now Titans. Something is going on, I have no idea what, I don't think there's any era in my worlds history that magically speaking resembles this many major events and it isn't even halfway through yet"

"What's your point," Valeyna said sternly her arms crossed trying to hide her shiver as a draft came and rustled her.

"How many of those things have been friendly?" Nat asked seriously.

"This Dragon age as Cassandra and her Chantry has so eloquently put it seems to be one full of chaos, I'm concerned because after everything that's happened so far that we what we're going to find is only going to add to our troubles"

"And you so you need to kill it," She shook her head. "Have you ever considered that the reason you have so many problems is because of the way you deal with things, perhaps instead of seeing everything as a threat you should see it as an opportunity"

"Opportunity?" Nat spat. "I'm stuck in a backwards world far away from home, away from the only person I actually care about, the world is in turmoil as it tears itself to pieces through war, dark lords and ancient entities nearly killing me multiple times in the process and you expect me to see this as an opportunity. I never wanted this"

Without warning Valaynas hand move, aiming for Nat's cheek she was swiftly stopped as her arm was caught mid-air, turning her shocked face she saw him glaring at her. Unabated she tried her other hand only for that to also be caught, she pulled back desperate to escape but his grip was too tight. Still not giving up she gripped his wrists and tried to push him as hard as she might allow

"You think any of us did?, you think I wanted to be sent away from my Clan to the Conclave to be elected as Inquisitor, I hate it, all those people expecting me to know what to do at every turn and make the best decisions, I have no clue what I'm doing but I at least have you and the other's to help."

"Irrelevant" Nat argued. "Tell me out of everything problem we have encountered where have we never had to use force, We plan for scenario after scenario and in the end, none of it matters because for all the diplomacy or spying we try in the end we still have to bust down the front door and deal with things personally. More than likely that's the scenario we have here to deal with, except we don't have the tools needed, there's no easy victory, there's only going to be another failure and more people will die"

Valeyna halted, at that moment as she tried to push she saw something she had never seen before on Nat's face, it was flickering barely visible and doing it's best to remain undetected behind that seemingly ever stoic appearance Nat hid but it was there. She felt her arms go lax and unexpecting this the forward pressure Nat had exerted forced him forwards sending him crashing into her forcing them both to the ground with a loud thump as their bodies struck against one another. Nat as ever tried to get up but acting quick Valeyna grasped hold of one of his arms and dragged him back down again.

"You're afraid" She whispered in his ears noticing how it seemed to twitch uncomfortably.

"Of course not" Nat answered rather quickly. Valeyna refused to take that as an answer and so using their isolation and the opportunity she griped his legs with her own, she needed to do this now when she had power over him, otherwise, he would never respond.

"You're lying"

"Let go, we have to move"

"No, we need to talk, if you're afraid?"

"You'll do what exactly, give me a pep talk, say everything's going to be perfectly fine or instead try and have sex to keep your mind off it? Because you're so afraid that you will forever be left alone, unloved and uncared for as you shrivel in old age with not a soul caring, only take momentary release as you continue to throw yourself deeper and deeper into your fear" Lunging forward Nat used one of his free hands and gripped it around the Inquisitor's neck and gripped as tight as he could, not expecting the violent action Valeyna went to rush away, doing exactly as he wanted Nat escaped the grip of the choking woman and stood up and then walked away leaving the woman in the dust as she coughed up her eyes lingering on his swift retreating form.

"Nat" She called out.

"Unless it has anything to do with the mission I don't want to hear it" And with that Nat moved into the next hall, glaring at anyone who dared approach with such poison that a few of the dwarves back down leaving him alone as he moved towards a separate corner where he slunk down and took out a book only to then be distracted by Blackwall.

"So had a bit of fun with the Inquisitor" The man teased.

"None of your concern"

"That bad huh, don't mind what she said kid, it's now about how t it is it's about how you use it"

"Blackwall," Nat said his gaze never even leaving his book, all he wanted to be some peace and now he had the Inquisitor asking if he was afraid and now Blackwall asking pathetic questions like this.

"Yes," The man said ignoring the dark tone.

"Leave before I shoot you" And to emphasise the point the wizard drew one of his pistols and aimed it at the kneecap of Blackwall. The man nodded and left leaving Nat alone where he went back to Varric where more cheerful conversation could be heard all the same it did not stop the man sending concerned glances back in his direction something that was done more subtly when Valeyna joined them, her own face full of anger as her throat was marked by a bright red handprint mark.

The next few days of travel were relatively peaceful, from time to time they would encounter and then swiftly defeat a group of darkspawn, the group working swiftly to kill any stragglers before they could run off further and alert any others that might have been nearby of their position. Other then those rare few moments of excitement, the group made a decent process only ever stopping when Valta had found something that she desired to investigate briefly or for lunch or dinner.

It was during this time however that Valeyna would carefully watch the mage. Not once had the two spoken since she had confronted him, instead he preferred to spend his time alone, either in a book he carried or instead on that map of his. Neither did he speak to the others instead of keeping a far distance, either when he was in front scouting or at the back guarding the rear.

"You going to speak to him soon," Varric asked his eyes leading onto the dark expression that the Kid had worn for days now, Valeyna looked down as the small supper she had, it was nothing special, just a soup made out of some salted pork and other stuff, but after days of constant walking it was always a nice thing when she could just stop and eat.

"I don't know, he sounded angry" Varric rose an eyebrow but said nothing, Nat was not his usual self down here he noticed, he was far more subdued and his weapon was never out of his hand, not even when he ate die he allow for both of his hands to stray away from the grip of his sword and even when he did eat alone as always did away from the fire they kept did he keep his sight long on them. "Yeah well the Kid doesn't seem to be getting better and according to Valta he hasn't slept, at all ever since he got down here"

"A rather dangerous scenario to set oneself in given out location" Solas commented though it was not out of arrogance rather the man seemed to keep a close eye on Nat, closer then herself it seemed.

"You know what's wrong with him Solas?"

"This is the Deep Roads, nobody feels comfortable down here, but remember this is where he lost his two subordinates, not to mention his ability to feel magic, no doubt he feels surrounded by something vile, perhaps even drowning in it"

"Could you talk to him Solas for me please"

"Why do you doubt your abilities to get him to talk, you have not attempted to do so once" Valeyna blanched.

"Well, you see he has this look, and this aura of do not disturb" She laughed slightly as she pressed her fingers together

"And you allow that to stop you" Valeyna sighed.

"I should have brought Dorian, he would have known what to do"

"Oh come on it can't be that hard to go and ask now. Just don't ask if he's afraid again"

"But if he is he needs some help" Blackwall shook his head, gently he put down his finished soup and focused on the lonely figure of Nat as he sat down on a rock his rifle in his hands and his head moving constantly from left to right as he scanned the area for any dangers.

"Don't you'd just insult him even more" Valeyna scrunched her eyes.

"How have I insulted him, I only asked him if he was afraid, I didn't call him a coward" Varrick chuckled but it was in dark amusement.

"Girl, you asked him to come with you, he said he still hasn't recovered and yet you asked him to come to the Deep Roads, yet He came and didn't complain that you wanted to bring him to the place where his friends were brutally murdered and he had to find a way out or do you not remember what he did to the Templars after he last escaped this place" Valeyna had remembered, it was hard not to when wherever she heard Nat's name whispered it was not in glory or praise like she sometimes had hero's said by the men but instead it was in growing fear and she dared to say hatred.

Servants apparently tried to avoid the entrance to his room and nobles would agree to meetings only to back down when Nat was present. It was funny at first when the name butcher had been used to describe Nat, but even how she could remember the utter loathing the mayor had when Nat had tried to save his life, this was a man who had wanted his life spared, yet when he had been given it he had refused it all because it came from him.

"You don't just ask a man to come to guard you in a place like this and then ask if he's afraid, even if he is you don't have them admit it, makes them look and feel weak"

"But he isn't weak, I mean he killed a Tevinter God and that Dragon as if it was nothing, and then there was that Archdemon and the Nightmare, it's just…" Blackwall shook his head understanding perfectly as Valeyna gave another glance in his direction.

"That you keep mentioning his mistakes" Blackwall interjected harshly. "You can call them all the successes you want, how he took the castle with minimal casualties, how he captured the Architect and stopped the civil war in Orzammar before it did much damage, but all he cares about are the people he lost doing it" Blackwall gave a remorseful smile. "Strange never thought they existed"

"Thought what existed?"

"Nobles who actually fucking care about anyone other than themselves. If there's one good thing about him, it's that as much as he tries to hide it behind that stupid stoic look, he does whatever he can to actually protect those who he's responsible for. I mean look he's doing it now" Valeyna blinked.

"How"

"Think about it, all you see is that he's on his own, but from a military standpoint, he's keeping guard, away from distractions so he can keep a careful look. That angry expression he has that stops you from talking to him means he can better concentrate on what else he can hear and what else he can see. You're not wrong in saying he''s acting strange, but there's a method in what he's doing if you know where to look." True to the man's words, when Valeyna looked at her friend and his current actions as he glanced from side to side his rifle held firmly in his grip only ever occasionally moving as he looked down the barrel as though he was making sure it still worked did she see he was still awake.

As all this happened and the others in the group crowded around their small fire, hoping to some kind of god that Darkspawn would not find them, Nat sat in silence doing his best to ignore the weight that pressed down on him. He despised this place, the dark dwarven corridors lit up only by the fire or by still running pools of lava that the dwarfs had put in place long ago or instead by the fire in the distance. Everywhere he went he could taste the foul putrid air mixed with rot and death, it was made all the worse as the rare few places he could tell should have been for ventilation seemed closed off and tight. Then there were the sounds as the crackling fire and talking of his companions were mixed in with an eery silence that was only disrupted occasionally by the tapping of water. At times he swore he heard other things, light footprints though whether they were human or something fouler as could often be found in the places of the world like this he had no idea, only that they started and then stopped and kept a similar distance throughout.

Then there was the feeling of magic, though not absent it was annoyingly short as though he was in a shallow pond, something that made him all the more concerned, and without his own to compensate he could not take comfort in being able to sense things before they arrived leaving him practically blind.

Worst of all, however, was the constant pressure, the blight, it was everywhere, staining the floors and walls they walked across, the statues of old dwarven ruins, it may not be visible for there was no dark moss or bacteria like substance that might have entangled everything, but it was still there, invisible and hiding waiting for a perfect opportunity to lash out and infect everything it could touch, subsuming them until they lost their minds as their bodies deteriorated. His fist clenched tightly as another sound of feet echoed down the halls from far beyond his eyes instantly narrowing down on what he believed to be the location and his rifle aimed as best as he could.

With the seemingly never-ending length of these tunnels, he guessed he could get off about maybe ten shots of at the maximum range, though more likely it would be half of that. A dark looked appeared on his face, already some of his men were better with the weapon then he was, he was proud of course if that made sense, but it was concerning, how could he still be fit to be in his position if his underlings were better then him.

He stroked his thumb against the wood and stared down the barrel expecting an attack or even the slightest showcase of an enemy such as a Genlock. Five shots were all he could accurately give before the enemy would approach their lines, five shots and then he might be forced to fight for his life relying on the enchantments on his clothes to keep him alive and make up for his lack of training.

In silence he moved a stray strand of hair, there was no need to alert the others just yet at what he had heard, he had sought to do so beforehand, but previous experience in the Roads informed him that what he might thought be close could be far away as sounds echoed and what could be far away could be close, not to mention the others were exhausted from the constant walking. Then again, perhaps it was better to be safe.

"Are you afraid" He stopped his heart breathing quicker as the concerned tone of Valeynas voice came rushing down to him. Anger started to well up in him at the comment, he wasn't afraid how could he, he had clothing protected by enchantment, a sword made out of the bones of a dead god and his combat skills in magic had seen him sweep through hordes of darkspawn, but that was before this.

A Titan

His heart raced at the thought, as much as he wanted to deny the idea of such an entity, he could not for it was a great dread that had clutched him tightly and would never let go, only in the rare times of combat was he given a brief reprieve as every thought was locked onto such a creature. How would he fight it? He was in no position as of currently and even as his strength recovered day by day to the point where he would be able to fight comfortably again, that was still predicated upon mortal enemies, bandits, Templars, Darkspawn, but a Titan.

His entire body screamed in pain, his memories throwing themselves back to that creature as that face, that dreaded demonic face of eight eyes and slimy body hovered over him its large pincer easily able to swallow him whole seemed moments from his face ready to snap him in two as it's deep voice echoed in his mind like a horrifying lover, the Nightmare, for a little while he felt the pain increase and then all at once his body spasmed for a moment sending him down to the floor as the shock and pain carried on, too far away from the others however they didn't notice, until after a minute when the pain ended and he was able to sit up again his breath heaving.

His face red and his body now streaming in sweat, he took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall clutching his rifle close to his chest. What was the point of all this, he had ample opportunity to leave, he could have refused to attend the Inquisitor, refused to come to this place where every step all he could think of was the cold depressing filthy dank air or the last few thoughts of Elyria and Gerald in their dying breaths.

He had left them down here, alone guarded only by Grey Wardens who sought nothing else but to carry on their quest and kill the archdemons. Was this what they felt, lost, alone, abandoned as the dark seemingly closed in for every angle, sleep impossible for the ambience was too terrifying and so feeling day by day as all life and energy were sucked away from them until finally, it reached a point where all a person wanted to do was simply curl up and just beg to leave.

He glanced over to the others, how Varric and the other dwarves must cope was likely something in their blood, if dwarves for most of history did live underground then perhaps their biology had them comfortable on a subconscious level, as for the Inquisitor and Blackwall, this was their first foray into the Deep roads and they were yet to face the feeling of panic as it crawled up your veins seizing you with panic and doubt or maybe they were simply stronger then he was.

He tapped his rifle his eyes growing dim as he felt his strength drain from three days of marching with no sleep, he grimaced he was going to have to sleep tonight if he wanted to carry on with the journey, sleep or slow down the party too much. Sighing he returned to his watch later and only when he felt his body get ready to fall asleep again did he re-join the group, choosing a distant location but nearby enough where he then allowed his eyes to slip and allowed the nightmares to claim him.

"No, no, please no, I hate you,"

"Will someone please shut him up for the love of stone" The Dwarf Lieutenant grumbled for what appeared to be the 80th time in the past few hours.

"We've tried that" Blackwall yawned his eyes like all the others falling onto the still sleeping form of the Commander as he tossed and turned violently, not once from when had he fallen asleep had been quiet instead the body moved left to right as words fluttered about constantly, most of the time it was the same thing, a kind of pleasing but in a terrified tone one that sounded far more like that of a small child, pleading and desperate.

"Elyria, Gerald, ah"

"Try again" The dwarf mumbled pulling over his small blanked over his ears in a vain attempt to cut out the noise.

"Solas" Valeyna asked

"With no connection to the Fade, I am unable to see what he is feeling"

"What about magic, do you know anything that could help" Solas shook his head though he did send a remorseful look at the elf, it was hard to try and fall asleep and enter the Fade so one could explore when you had a person who was tossing and turning. This was not the first time they had tried to wake him up, either by words or by other means but it was all in vain and it appeared that only more physical action would wake him up.

"Varric"

"Not with the way he's holding that gun of his," Valeyna glanced down and frowned as she saw what Varric meant, despite the tossing, turning, pleading, begging and even the occasional hair raising scream as though he was being tortured the kid kept a close hand on his weapon at all times, clenching it so tightly that his knuckles had gone white and were bound to hurt like hell in the morning

"He won't show you"

"I'll Kill you" Came another wrathful scream, though it did not take her by surprise Valeyna couldn't help but wonder just who he meant.

"Any idea on what's he's on about?" Varric shook his head.

"Elyria and Gerald were the names of his friends, the last time he came down here, but the way he talks, the way his tone is mixed in with something else, terror maybe… I don't know but you better wake him"

"Me?" Valeyna said. "Are you sure that's a good idea, last time he tried to kill me"

"Either you wake him up or I do, and If I do I'm giving him a kick to the head" The dwarf guard growled as he gave up on any idea of sleep"

"Fine" Valeyna muttered, with a loud sigh and without the support of her also tired companions she walked towards Nat stopping for a moment to admire him. It was strange, not even when he was asleep did he ever appear calm or peaceful, in fact, the constant twitching of his eyes, mouth and nose as he shook back indicated differently. "What's wrong with you, you don't behave like this after the Fade"

That was enough before anyone knew what had happened the nearby voice of the Inquisitor startled Nat, who acting on pure instinct threw himself into sitting up position, dagger in hand and his face curled into a snarl as though he was about to thrust the blade into another creature.

"Welcome to the land of the living, now get up you've kept us from getting much sleep" Nat glanced towards the dwarf his breath still heaving, soon though his breath began to stabilise and soon enough he was on his feet again, where after having his own small breakfast that he carried he helped the others pack up before then carrying on with them down the Deep Roads, not saying a single word.

It was only a few hours when they reached their next destination, the old dwarven ruin of what had once been a proud and noble city of the old Dwarven empire called a Thaig. However, locked behind a series of intricate doorways guarded by ancient gears and other strange mechanisms it took the better part of the day to pass into certain areas and then to slay the darkspawn that were kept within.

Ogres, Hurlocks, Genlocks, Shrieks and Emissaries, all of them laid within and as the battle was joined the interlopers were destroyed and their corpses soon gathered and then set alight to prevent their filthy rotting bodies from corrupting any further territory leaving group to bask at the remains of an old dwarven stronghold.

"This must be the remains of an old Thaig" Varric spoke calmly his eyes fixating upon the large cavernous halls that they could now see in all directions, houses were built in this place they saw, made of sold pieces of stone. Like Orzammar the capital some they could see were built into the very rock face itself and others were instead small houses that had visible sides everywhere as they were made up of geometric designs.

"Sort of like home," Nat said as he looked at the well-organised pattern that the Thaig was in, for even though several houses were destroyed with rocks crumbling, some of which might have been down to earthquakes and others due to dark spawn, the more ergonomic design that was more common in places where cities were designed after wide use of cars such as in America and their infamous block system.

"How so?" Valeyna asked

"The square designs remind me of a lot of flats, ugly buildings"

"Are you insulting the architecture" Valta warned.

"Not at all, at least the dwarves cared about the architecture, where I'm from it's about practicality and economics. Too much steel and glass, not enough beauty"

"I thought you said they were designed to allow as much natural light as possible" Valeyna argued.

"They are it doesn't mean they look nice, even the prettier ones are mostly just a solid block's of glass until you hit the top and stuff changes" Valeyna smiled.

"Feeling better?, You're more cheery now" Varric rose an eyebrow but decided not to say anything. Nat was not more cheery he was just seemingly less predisposed to kill people at the moment with a glare, but he would take that over the seemingly angry one they had brought in originally.

"The faster we get to whatever's causing the problems, the faster we leave, I can't afford to slow us down."

"Right and who's Atris?" Nat froze his blood turning to ice in his veins. He couldn't off, no he swore never to mention that name in person.

"Nobody you need to be aware of you"

"Really, you sounded really angry with her, in fact, I would say you wanted to kill her even. Was she your girlfriend or something, you called her a whore a lot?"

"None of your concern" With a growl Nat thrust himself away from the ledge and followed the other dwarves down the steps to the side and followed the path eventually coming to a large chasm that blocked their way.

"No good we're going to have to come back with some men and build a bridge across"

"You have two mages with you, why not ask one of them" The dwarf lieutenant who's name Nat could not bother to remember chuckled but all the same he nodded and then peered downwards. "All the same we'll need to send men to garrison this area, the worst thing to do would be to leave our flank exposed for the Darkspawn to cut us off"

"I'll deal with it"

"Nat Are you"

"I'm fine" Nat almost yelled sending the elf woman reeling back as she tried to check on the situation.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean"

"Can you just make a bridge please, this place gives me the same feelings as the ocean"

"You're afraid of the ocean kid" Varric chuckled at the idea.

"I'm not afraid of the ocean, I don't like what's in it. Water is not man's natural environment, I mean the fact that we know more about other planets then we do about our ocean just shows how hostile it is. But that's not the point, we can't afford to linger, Darkspawn have a tendency to keep moving"

"And you became an expert when," The lieutenant said crossly. "How old are you anyway, I don't even get why they took a child that's going to have nightmares"

"Just make the bridge and let's move on"

"Yes, sir" Not desiring to be kept in a rather boring and dull conversation, Valeyna stepped forwards to the new ledge they had been standing down and peered down. Despite the height, she could still see the remains of what had been the bridge, just what had managed to tear it down she didn't want to imagine, but given the number of corpses of long-dead dwarves they had discovered on their way here she could only imagine that at one point they may have destroyed their old bridge in some hope of keeping the Darkspawn off them. Turning her attention back in front of her though her face turned into a grimace as she felt the fade flow her.

Using her will she commanded the old pieces of stone to rise once more, floating gently in the air when she had gathered a large enough collection that it would be comfortable for them to walk abreast, she then changed her spell turning it to one which would fuse the rocks together into one solid piece. It was all done within a matter of moments but by the end of it, the group had their bridge and was able to carry on further into the depths of this place and keep searching for the source of the Earthquakes.

When the group managed to cross the bridge onto the other side they were made quite aware after only a short time that instead of carrying their route in a more horizontal method that would perhaps include more walking through deep roads and possibly moving to another Thaig, they instead only found a single stone platform that was raised.

"Great, another lift that descends into the deep darkness of the underground, because this isn't ominous enough" Nat eyes the area below, like the initial lift that had taken down into the deep roads, this lift he could tell would be a rather long one, so much so that were it not for the fact that he could see the bottom he would have been tempted to drop something and wait for the sound to return.

Instead, however, he alongside the other reluctantly stepped onto the platform where after a pull on the level the sound of old cogs and wheels began to scrape and turn while the sound of stone slid against the side of the surface before descending deep into the darkness. As they descended further, the lift seeming to take it's time Valta turned her attention the young mage as her eyes wondered curiously.

"These titans you said they were part of your Greek mythology, what were they like?"

"Tyrants, to put it blankly. Cruel, ruthless tyrants. Mind you the gods are only marginally better if they existed but the Titans were still powerful. They were divided into sperate types, there was a Titan of the North, a Titan of the East, a Titan of the West, and a Titan of the South. After Zeus and his siblings defeated them, he threw them into Tartarus imprisoning them there"

"Tartarus", is that some form of afterlife," Solas said with a small hint of concern.

"Worse, far worse. Tartarus in Mythology was supposedly where evil lurked, the darkest most corrupt being that had ever existed, it was impossible to escape where no light touched and vileness lurked within. It's worse than hell, far grimmer and more disturbing. The closest thing I can describe it to would be the Void in Dalish culture"

"The Void" Valeyna's voice was a whisper of fear. "They imprisoned the Titans in such a place" Nat nodded.

"It's only legend and very likely it's entirely made up, not to mention that my peoples take on Titans are very likely different to yours. Or at least I hope so anyway"

"How so," Valta asked not at all concerned by the huge amount of concern that the mages in the group seemed to hold when they talked about what was essentially a giant prison to hold dark and evil powers at bay for eternity.

"Because if there is a similarity, then we might just be heading for Tartarus and that is not a place I want to be"

"How did your gods die?" Nat blinked at the question and turned his attention to Solas, despite him talking about mythology, he couldn't help but have a cold feeling that Solas, wanted something to do with the gods, perhaps he knew them under a different name back from his time, perhaps he and his master wanted to release them. It was doubtful though, it was legend and rumor, all the same, he replied.

"They didn't. They were not imprisoned or thrown away, instead, their religion was slowly superseded with Christianity, over time people just stopped believing in them and the faith died out. I have heard there are a few people in the modern world who still worship them as they do the Nordic Gods and even Egyptian gods, but their number is insignificant, tiny, next to nothing."

"How can such a thing happen, for an entire religion to vanish?" Valta shook her head.

"People change, as the generations go on, morals change, society changes. It was not a sudden thing, it took place over centuries with the Christians slowly replacing the older religion and it is not a one-time thing. In my home country religion as a whole is dying"

"How can that be?"

"Simple we don't believe." Seeing Valta's confused face Nat decided to elaborate. "Religion often requires it to be passed on through families for it to be kept strong, as morals changed the need to do so has lessened, combined with technological advancements, world wars, a far stronger trust in science and logic, allowing only that which can be physically proved and tested to have trust place in it leave religion under strain. Its' quite funny, there's a concern that religion may be all but near dead by the end of this century, not entirely gone, but a small snippet that those who believe will be considered strange. In fact, it's already happened, people are starting to look at those who are religious as mentally ill, dangerous even"

"An entire faithful population gone in a century" Was that awe Nat sensed in Solas's tone. It was hard to tell but he could almost feel as though the man was admiring such a thing. "Have there not been action by others to prevent such a thing"

"They shout and scream, kick their feet about and throw a tantrum, some even say that our culture is heading for ruin and that the end times are coming unless we return from our path. Never works, if anything it's just comical, the last desperate cries from a group who's losing their grip on the world as they become powerless. I do worry about the churches though, I do not care for the faithful and despise their faith especially after what they have done to my people, but the architecture they have left behind is beautiful and the faith was a huge part of our history. I would hate to see that destroyed."

"You would keep intact the relics of those who would oppress you, to remind you of such a time?" Nat nodded.

"I despise the faith, not the people Blackwall. As for relics, they indeed symbolize over a thousand years of bloodshed of oppression for my people, yet humans are a short-lived species, we need reminders of time ago. Most may look at them vaguely or ignore them altogether, but there are those who will learn the history, who will ensure that for those who are interested that they can tell them of the past. And as I said churches are beautiful buildings especially when compared to modern architecture, the likelihood of such buildings ever being built again is slim and therefore we must protect them. Even if I never see my home again, I hope that those buildings last into the next millennia, to remind us of who we are. Though with what is coming that is all I can do… hope"

"What is coming," Valeyna said suspiciously, what do you mean what is coming?" They were nearing the bottom now Nat could tell, the dusty grey floor was approaching and soon they would once again be in a position where the hordes of darkspawn that he could feel nearby would attack them in hopes of killing them and possibly eating them.

"War Inquisitor, war between the magical and muggle worlds is coming. When or how or even where t will happen I do not know, but I would say that if we have eight more years of peace then we have been lucky, in truth however I suspect that the peace that has existed will end within three" Valeyna looked at Nat there as a certainty in his voice a dark certainty of a person who seemingly knew what was to come yet there was nothing that could be done about it in the slightest as though they were resigned to their fate and could only watch with horror as time passed on and the great time came.

"Is there nothing you can do, prevent it" Nat shook his head.

"No. That duty rests upon those else who have also seen and drawn upon the same conclusion, upon those who can read the politics, look at history and even if only roughly calculate it's projection. Even then, those who are capable of such a prediction may instead desire to stay out of it, either they believe they are not competent or disagree with what is happening or anything else. After which, those who do agree to fight must be strong enough to do so"

"That's why you need to return isn't it, you need to fight this war" Nat nodded, steeling herself Valeyna grasped Nat's hand firmly in her own, then holding it up to her chest she looked him in the eyes and spoke clearly. "When this fight is over when Corypheus is beaten, I'll join you, I'll fight this war you're so afraid of"

A small chuckle resounded off the wizard, it was cute really but not of any help.

"With respect Inquisitor, there is nothing you could offer me, your magic would be cut off you would be a normal woman, your perception of technology is slim and non-existent not to mention the responsibilities you have here."

"Isn't that enough for you, can I not just be there to support you" Nat shook his head.

"I appreciate the thought, but our wars will be brutal and I hope to at least prevent the war in my own country, I would like t think that at least those countries that make up the continent of Europe will be able to avoid the conflict between its own people, thankfully they have more liberal attitudes to things meaning the war will be fought elsewhere".

"What do you mean" It was at that moment when the lift finally touched on the floor and the group was once again on the floor of the Deep Roads ready to go and explore the area that they found themselves in. Using this as an excuse Nat quickly made to move ahead of the others doing his best to look out for any darkspawn that might be milling about ready to attack them.

It was rather odd he thought as he gazed upwards, despite how far they were underground, hidden under so much rock, stone, and dirt that they were still able to see so well underground. Streams of light from somewhere continued to light the area enough so they could see where they were going through it was dim and quiet foreboding.

"You know the more I'm down here the more I can't help but feel that I've walked inside Moria, I just hope we don't run into any Balrogs" Nat joked as the others joined him.

"Moria?" Valta asked strangely.

"Balrog is that some form of Darkspawn," The lieutenant asked sternly his fingers holding the grip of his axe.

"It's from a fantasy book, Moria was once the great hope of the Dwarves their mightiest city, the heart of their people, It was rich powerful, however eventually it fell. The miners delved too deep and uncovered an ancient evil, that evil was the Balrog, it killed the dwarves running them from their home as it took it for their own. Over time goblins which once could describe also as Darkspawn took over. The height of dwarven culture, the once greatest bastion of their race now in the hands of the enemy"

"And you say this is fantasy, as in made up by a person who had never seen Orzammar or heard of our people before" Nat shook his head forcing the Lieutenant to sigh, after a few moments though he looked up curious. "These dwarves, they take back this Thaig this Moria"

"Yes they did, during the story a powerful wizard entered Moria and battled with Balrog, he killed it but he was slain in the process and the others were forced to escape. Only after the end of the book when the Dark Lord was slain and the goblins were in disarray either retreating or other things were the Dwarves able to launch efforts to retake Moria and their other former homes" The lieutenant nodded and for one of the first times a small smile sat upon his face.

"I would like to read this story one day, even if only in the story, it provides hope. One day the Legion shall be needed no longer" Nat nodded his head and offered a small smile.

"Perhaps but I think you would be more interested in the store that precedes it. A story of thirteen dwarves and a Hobbit who manage to take back another one of their lost homes from a Dragon called Smaug"

"I am surprised a human would be so interested in writing a story about dwarves, is it common where you are from" Nat hid a grin.

"There are one or two stories in the fantasy fictional universe back home"

"Have you thought about lending this story to Orzammar, though it may be just fiction such a tale could sell well with the dwarves there" Nat considered it for a moment.

"Maybe, but the book is more focused on the halfling that accompanies them"

"Halfling" Varrick questioned as the group journey father. It was a good thing they had this conversation, as odd as it was talking about strange fiction books that only one of them had read, the talk in such a dark and lost place gave the group a sense of comfort as though they were more at peace and were not about to be attacked at any moment.

"Imagine a human, only smaller than a dwarf on average, and hairy feet, not to keen on combat most of the time and quite often rather fat. I have a copy of the Hobbit on me actually, next time we stop I shall lend it to you, or perhaps even speak it if you are interested."

"I am not interested" Nat raised an eyebrow at the Ancient elf.

"Are you so sure, it also features elves"

"Is that meant to impress me"

"Maybe, but I think you will like these elves Solas at least for as little as they appear in the book, they are neither Dalish nor city in origin, in fact, the closest that one could say would perhaps be more akin to the elves who lived the Dales before everything else that happens"

"And that would interest me why?" The man said in a bored tone.

"Oh come Solas, the books take place in the third age, long since the glory days from when the Eldar first arrived and thousands of years since the fall of Gondolin"

"You imply a civilization like Arlathan," The man said slowly his interest piqued.

"I have those books as well if you want to read them, besides it makes it easier to stay up for a while"

"Speaking of which, we should clear the local Darkspawn from the area, we cannot afford to let ourselves get too far ahead otherwise the rest of the legion will not be able to properly prepare and we could be ambushed" Looking around the area, the group was happy that they had yet to encounter any darkspawn, the place they were in was wide and rocky if one peered t the left and down they would see as the cracks continued to go down ever deeper into the earth.

"Agreed, we are down quite far as it is, soon we shall be approaching evening but I sense darkspawn nearby"

"You a warden now," The lieutenant asked curiously.

"No, just a person who is far more used to sensing things, and I sense darkspawn up ahead"

"Are they aware of us?"

I can sense them, not detect their emotions of thoughts, but given that they are yet to approach I would suggest we are in the clear for now, how long that will last when we get closer, however"

"Right, okay everyone prepares yourselves, we're going to deal with the darkspawn here and once that's over we'll set up a base camp before we advance any father" Advancing through the ruins of this old Thaig, the group was once again forced to solver another gear problem, just why these things were left nearby nobody was able to work out, however, there were no complaints from the group, it was better to have the remaining pieces then be stopped moving forwards forever because somebody had dropped one down a hole somewhere. If that had happened their only ways forward was abseiling, explosives, and magic, two of which weren't subtle and the other wasn't such a good idea given a possible threat and exhaustion.

It would take several more days of fighting their way through the Deep roads, battling against hordes of darkspawn sometimes in what felt like endless droves as their dark evil chuckles bellowed down the old dwarven holds. The sounds of the blade striking against flesh mixed with that of magic being cast and arrows whizzing by. As Nat ducked beneath a Hurlock's blade, he was forced to move to the side as an arrow aimed by his head narrowly missed his head and struck against the stone wall. Not waiting a moment though he brought his blade up and slashing at the Hurlock abdomen he sliced clean through the creature's blade and armor as though it were nothing before then ripping into the flesh with a fine clean cut. To his flanks the others were able to clear off the others Blackwall had taken the front alongside Rem, the dwarven Lieutenant. Nat on the other hand like always was at the back protecting the others, however, due to the vastness of the deep roads and the lack of assistance that would come, the use of his rifle had been prohibited. It was a wise decision, once when he had fired it the whole group had heard as the sound echoed endlessly down the halls louder than anything else the hairs on their necks quivering as the darkness that lurked round them on all sides seemed to close in at any moment.

Only the sounds of darkspawn had stopped that feeling but it had been a nasty battle one that Blackwall had nearly taken injury in. Despite this lack of obvious power as he hacked and slashed through the weaker darkspawn that made it through the defensive line, he couldn't help but feel as though the darkspawn were drawn to ho. Often in the midst of combat, their eyes would linger on him their cruel eyes glaring daggers and jagged teeth smiling in a bloody way.

It was revolting.

"Good kill, I got to get me a sword like that" Rem said admiringly as he looked at the blade" Though it was not as fancy as one perhaps might have thought given what materials the blade was made off making it a rare weapon there was still a power to it.

"You'll have to kill a dragon to get hold of the bones"

"A dragon" Rem sounded impressed. "What's it like fighting one, I've heard they're powerful creatures?"

"Windy, really windy" In truth that was the only comparison, he could say about the three dragons he had slain. The Old God had been the most fearsome fight but that was more a case of holding on for all dear life as he tried to hack and slash, the other dragon that he had blown up via sheep had made a flap of its wings sending air around and even the Archdemon that Corypheus used had tried to blow him off structures as though he was a leaf.

"Hmm, you seem a little young to have killed a dragon" Rem answered. Nat rolled his eyes.

"Oh, my people have a history, over thirty years ago another lad my age killed a dragon with a broom,"

"How did he manage that" Varric inquired.

"He outflew it"

"How?" Valeyna interrupted her mind whizzing about the idea.

"On a broom, of course, the thing to remember is that he was supposedly a remarkable flyer, essentially he could do with flying what I can with dueling. Never went pro though, instead simply played at school and when he left he went down a different career path. Still, if Potter can kill a dragon with a broom I can kill one with exploding sheep"

"I still can't believe you did that. I was looking forward to fighting a Dragon, so was Bull" Nat rolled his eyes and instead looked towards the front of the group as they again continued to head further and further into the deep roads. Though he was not in fighting shape yet, as they got closer Nat was made far more aware of the magic that surrounded him as they descended.

What had once been the quietest whisper was now a small constant sound, like a small ringing, constant pitch and never changing it became annoying as all hell like listening to static that you couldn't turn off, only after hours was he finally able to start getting used to it and when the next day came and the group woke up he was able to ignore it entirely.

"Do you often see Wardens down here Rem?" Where they were the group didn't know, all they did was that after walking into a place where the entire room seemed to be in fire making the battle harder, Valeyna noticed the tattered remains of a Wardens cloth as it held a sword in its hands as the skeleton left bare of any flesh lay limp it's empty eye sockets staring upwards into the ceiling.

"Occasionally, they're a good lot, strong determined, good to have at your back and a good set of people to fight with. I haven't seen any in several months, we met up said they had some sort of mission they had to do. We asked if they wanted any help but they said they were fine. Don't know what happened to them"

"Their leader, was it a man, about in his thirties, darker skin carried a great axe" Rem nodded.

"They're dead, got ambushed by Darkspawn" Rem sighed in sorrow.

"That is a shame, It would have been good to have them at our side, they could have helped us with our problems here"

"Speaking of which, I heard you've managed to deal with the Chaos, beat it back and implement order," Valta said with enthusiasm as she looked at the group who came from the surface.

"That's what we're told, but it doesn't feel like it. Every time we fix a problem it just feels like another one takes its place. We beat Corypheus when he tried to take the wardens and stopped him from getting the mages and the Templars are well…"

"Shattered, out young commander here did a pretty brutal job of shattering them. Yet the point still stands no matter what damage we do to Corypheus the bastard seems able to keep taking another swing"

"Have you considered a proper battle, pin him in one place and stop the war there" Nat chuckled at the lieutenant's comment.

"That's the thing, we don't think we can. Bastard might have immortality, even if we did kill him he'll only come right back, it's why the Wardens imprisoned him in the first place as he couldn't be killed. As for a pitched battle, we've had a skirmish or too but he seems to be keeping his forces out of the way, refusing to take action, though for how long that lasts is unknown"

"Our current plan should be able to force him out" Valeyna commented. "If we can stop his plan that we saw at Redcliffe then it should cripple him enough that he is forced to more desperate actions, force him more into the open so we can confront him"

"Again though, how do we deal with a bastard who doesn't have the common decency to stay dead. We would have to defeat him, utterly and completely yet not kill him. Put him on the verge of death. It's a shame I don't have access to the necessary ingredients here otherwise I may have had an idea"

"You think a poison will kill him" Blackwall sounded shocked at the suggestion. "We've thought of every other way to kill him and you want to give him a little drink in hopes he'll just collapse drunk and hand us the war?"

"Not kill, immobilize. The Draught of the living dead is a potion that puts anyone who drinks it into a coma that they will never awake from, not without the antidote. Had I the ingredients I would have the skill to brew it given how it's a year 6 potion and mandatory to pass one's NEWTS in potions, but again it's the ingredients and shoving it down his gob"

"So it won't work" Nat shook his head. "Perhaps we might find clues on how to beat him with this Titan. If such things are as ancient as they feel, then even if they cannot speak, there may be something that we can draw inspiration from, text, tales, pictures."

"And if not?"

"Then we are in no worse position than before, come the faster we deal with this Titan the faster we can all return back home" And with that, the party continued on throughout the deep roads until eventually after a brutal fight with another set of darkspawn this time led by an emissary they were then finally met with yet another lift.

"That's the last of those Darkspawn. The legions in your debt inquisitor" Rem grunted as he took a moment to catch his breath from the fighting. Ahead of them Valta accompanied by Nat and Solas peered down into the are beneath them. Unlike last time, however, there was no bottom that could be seen, no light that peered out of the darkness just a pitch-black void and what appeared to be a thousand-year-old lift that went into it.

"Varric, no offense but if I find your ancestors I'm going to murder them"

"No complaint here, where do you suppose it goes?"

"Somewhere very dark and I'm going to guess very old and has a lot of things that will not want us there"

"Kid that just describes the Deep Roads in general" Nat nodded/

"Exactly, this place would make one hell of a setting for a scary movie series I can give you that"

"Think you'll be able to fight in there if you have too?"

"As an absolute last resort I may be able to get us out but the damage that could do will not be pleasant"

"What about fighting?" Nat shook his head.

"Too many spells and down here it could cave in the place.

"This Titan thing" Blackwall spoke up coming from behind as he left the others to stand on what may be the last set of natural light they had for a while. "If we wake it up, how do we deal with it. You can fight it right?"

"Get eaten, blow it up from the inside, hope we survive, get out"

"Anything else" Nat shook his head.

"This is the first time to my knowledge that any wizard or witch might encounter something like a Titan, there aren't any records or tales I can call on. We have no idea how it might react, but there might and I do mean might be some good news"

"And what in the Maker could that be?"

"I think it might be asleep"

"Asleep" Blackwall said doubtfully. "We've been suffering tremendous earthquakes and you think it might be asleep"

"Perhaps. The earthquakes have been bad but they could have been a hell of a lot worse, in fact, considering that we haven't lost any city to these things and the magic I' mm sensing is rather dulled and hazy, I'm going to assume it might be in the process of waking up."

"A sleepy Titan?"

"Better then an awake one don't you think. But yes and I really do hope we're dealing with a sleepy titan, if we were forced to fight one and by some chance managed to kill the dam thing, my concern is what would happen next."

"I don't like what you're implying here?"

"Neither do I Blackwall, but I talked to Leliana about her journeys with the Hero of Ferelden, not only about the Deep Roads but also about the Bracillian forest. When I combine that with my own experiences down here with the Tevinter God, with the daemon in the Fade and Corypheus, I get the strangest feeling that old powers that once held up the structure of the world are being gradually diminished, it's why I have started to fear what might happen when the Wardens kill the last Arch Demon"

"What are you talking about, when the Archdemons are all dead, Thedas will be safe there will be no more Blights, as far as I'm concerned the faster they kill off those dam dragons the better" Nat shook his head.

"You don't see do you Blackwall. I made a mistake, one of the worst possible things I could have done" As the realization struck him like a knife in the heart it was not towards Valeyna he turned but instead towards Solas his gaze meeting his. "I get why Solas hates the methods that the Wardens used, it all makes sense now."

"What are you on about this time kid" Rem interrupted as he dragged the others with him.

"It's just a theory Rem, one that would be best said when I have concrete evidence, it's the type of thing that could cause major panic were it to spread"

"Oh for crying out loud we're not going to learn anything by staying up here we're going to have to go down and seen for ourselves what the problem is, If your theories are correct, great now you can start to find out a solution to our problem instead of just finding them and if not then you can use what you learn to better knowledge" Rem glared at the wizard, truly it was annoying for the man to listen to a kid as he prattled on about strange things that they had never seen or heard of acting as though he had come from the shaperate itself.

"He has a point, we came here to learn about the cause of the Earthquakes and my stone sense is telling me to go down here, not to mention this isn't the first time this has supposedly happened" Nat glanced at the dwarf, seemingly out of nowhere she pulled out a book. It was old and he could not read the language, yet the way she held it delicately and the manner that even Rem looked at it with concern made him think it was old

"Right, well if we're ready to descent into the abyss we might as well go now before any future darkspawn come," Nat said. With that said the group stepped onto the lift platform where with a pull on the lever, the stone piece descended downwards. Nothing was said on the way down instead the group could only do their best to keep the shivers at bay as the light that they were so accustomed to vanished entirely until eventually it vanished entirely leaving the group in pitch darkness.

"I can't see anything," Blackwall said fearfully as he stumbled in the darkness his hands clutching tightly to the rock stone on all sides using it as a form of lifeline to keep him awake and alive.

"Nat, can you cast that spell?"

"No, there are things ahead"

"Things" Varrics voice croaked. "What things"

"I don't know exactly, it's ancient really ancient it feels like lyrium but as though it's been mixed with something combining something so much so that the lyrium seems to have taken over mostly" Valeyna shivered at that, memories of her time in Redcliffe castle or Fiona trapped within a crystal of ice was terrifying, to come across it again however was not something she liked the sound off.

"Then we need light" The elf hissed as they moved each one grasping hold of another's clothing as Nat led the way, once again his enchanted set of sunglasses were able to prove very useful as the screen in front of him turned a dark green enabling shapes to be seen in front of him, for the most part, there were rocks but as they continued forward cautiously he noticed strange shapes moving about.

Soon these shapes were made known to the others for as they looked great pair of shining blue could be seen in the darkness peering at them.

"Be careful, they're armed do not provoke them" Nat warned as his eyes turned to look at one of the shapes, it was a crossbow of some sort but not one he had ever seen before, it was of unknown make and model like the one that Varric carried but more advanced and glowing. "Their weapons are tipped with Lyrium, if they attack move to cover, quickly"

"Cover, are they, archers," Rem asked.

"Crossbows of some sort, they're also wearing armor but they way they move, it's hard to get a front shape of them but were I to guess, I would say they were dwarves"

"We've gone past the deep Roads" Valta added

"You can tell?" Rem said.

"It feels different" The shaper responded her eyes fixed onto the path ahead.

"Be careful, they're surrounding us for an ambush, Valeyna, Solas prepare a barrier, Varric take the ones behind us first, Blackwall be prepared to take a bolt or two on your shield, Rem Valta, take the flanks on our east and west, ill protect out mages"

"Can we try to talk to them first?" Valeyna asked hopefully as her eyes focused on the dwarves, she was very tempted at that moment to cast a fire spell and give her some better light, unlike humans elves naturally had better see sight in the dark though not as much as the dwarves did and though it was pitch black she was still able to make out trace shapes.

"If you happen to speak the language, I would give it a go, otherwise I have a feeling we are not going to be seen as friendly tourists" Taking their positions the group slowly so as not to set off an attack straight away moved in a manner that would allow them to take positions for a fight. Despite this, all of them were aware as the starling blue eyes crept out the darkness in all directions locking onto them. Despite this though the group kept walking as calmly as possible hoping to showcase that they meant no harm to those who were now aiming their weapons as them

"Kid, any ideas?"

"No Varric and language won't work, now that I'm closer, these dwarves they're ancient really ancient"

"How ancient we talking about, three-four hundred years" Rem clutched his axe tightly, there was not much room to hide in this place, just a vast room without much cover and a larger pale blue light similar to Lyrium that was coming up ahead.

"I don't know exactly but over a thousand at the least"

"Thousand, but how dwarves don't live that long"

"There's lyrium in there blood, far more then is normal, as though they've been infused"

"How do you know that?"

"Because of the sheer quantity, normally I can't detect it in a person's bloodstream, but the sheer amount, it's less likely it's been drunk and more as though the very blood has been replaced with Lyrium, it's worrying"

"Immortality" Valeyna breathed. "Solas do you think"

"Take cover" Nat roared as he flung himself towards the female elf grabbing her by the waist before pushing her down. Narrowly a bolt missed his head by an inch instead smashing straight into the wall with a bright blue blast of light. "Get that spell up" Valeyna acted instantly, with a throw of her hand the familiar sight of a barrier spell rose around the group as a clear golden light suddenly lit up the area revealing the forms of those dwarves that had attacked them.

They were certainly an archaic lot Valeyna noticed, their armor was unlike anything they had ever seen, it was a dark blue but intertwined with lyrium that gave the device a beautiful yet mystical air to it. None of their flesh apart from their eyes could be seen for it was wrapped in grey cloth, she would have stared more but as the sounds of arrows smashing against her barrier with the sound of thunder began to make itself prevalent she soon joined in with the fighting with the rest.

Loudly the fighting began but trapped in the middle of a cave it became quite clear that Blackwall who was meant to be their main defensive fighter was far from home where all he could do to fight was rely on the shimmering lights of the dwarves crossbows and on the flashing multitude of different spells as the two mages dealt with the main host of the enemies.

"They're resistant to magic"

"They're dwarves" Nat yelled back as he dodged a swipe from the dwarf. The small person was trying to hack at his legs with a hammer, not desiring such an outcome he drew his blade but as he did so at that moment it felt as though there was a cold silence from the dwarves before then with a seeming battle lust they leaped into the fray again only this time with far more vengeance.

Onwards they rushed on ignoring the others of the party as they aimed for the wizard in the center, arrows kept bouncing off the charm as did wild swings, yet despite this, the dwarves were undeterred their eyes fixed onto the blade that was in their hand.

"I don't think they like the sword" Valta yelled as she hacked one of the dwarves down.

"Why. It's just a sword" Valeyna shouted as once again she was forced to jump out of the way of a swing as another dwarf mover her to get to the wizard who was now having to fight desperately in the centre as he fended off blows. He was not doing too well she noticed, most attacks were only dealt with because of the ward spell and despite her power that would not last for much longer/

"A sword made out of the bones of a Tevinter God." Solas Pointed out as he froze a set of dwarves in their tracks before impaling another.

"So are they jealous, angry," Varric asked as he too killed another before turning his crossbow onto the archers taking his advantage of not being attacked to deal with the crossbowmen before one of them managed to pick off their wizard before the spell fell.

"Well, I'm going to assume that given the fact they want me dead, that they don't like the vestige of some other being near their beloved Titan. Maybe the creatures fought in some war or something" Pushing the blade through the skull of another dwarf, Nat was more than aware how the magic of the old god still trapped within its very bones that had now been turned into a tool fo war gave to him a great power easily enabling him to deal with the dwarves. It was strange one would have thought that given the quality of the armor that these dwarves had and the sheer abundance of lyrium that protected them that it would require more power to deal with them, yet his blade simply danced through the dwarfs hacking and slashing as easily as though it were the air. Each time the blade sang and killed another dwarf he could feel the pressure mounting.

It was as though that his sword had alerted a whole host of these dwarves that were attacking because while in moments he was able to break free of the dwarves with a single massive sweep with his blade. The dwarves still trying to best the magical protection in place could only die as the sword decapitated them all their bodies falling to the ground with a thump and a strange blue mist that rose from them.

Still, as time went on and more dwarves arrived and more dwarves had to be mercilessly cut down his eyes could not help but drift to the weapon. On its own the blade had a sense of power then again that was natural in this world, apparently the Hero of Ferleden had also carried a blade made out of the bones of a high dragon and his own wand was made out of a dragons heartstring so he used to that power yet with his magic intertwined, the runes he had inscribed on it seemed to glow with an ethereal light combining the two types of magic into one single weapon.

Yet despite how easy the blade cut through things, he could slowly feel a drain on himself magically, it was small and minor and had he been at full power he might not have even noticed it, however with his current state he could himself tiring rather quickly with it and soon after cutting down another dwarf his breath was quite laborious and required special effort in order to breathe again.

"Put down the sword Nat" Slowly for he could once again feel the strength of his body begin to evaporate from him, the wizard resheathed the sword and in a moment found himself once more able to breathe more easily.

"What is magic's name was that. It didn't feel like that earlier, but here it was almost as like"

"It must be this place, if the dwarves were reacting to the magic then perhaps the sword was reacting to the Titan" Nat glanced at the blade with worry, this was just brilliant, first he was magically exhausted because of an ancient demon, then he couldn't use gunpowder because that would awaken an ancient evil in the form of darkspawn and alert them to their presence, and now he could not use his sword because that seemed to alert an ancient set of dwarves.

"Merlin I hope not because otherwise, I'm useless at this point" Valeyna smiled at him.

"Oh it can't be that bad you've got the rest of us to protect you" Nat went to laugh but before he could he watched as one of the dwarves once thought dead quickly picked up its bow and shot straight at the lieutenant. The blue bolt tipped with lyrium shot straight through the steel armor the dwarf wore and through his heart. Without a moment to say anything else the group could only watch as the once-proud dwarf of the legion fell to his knees and died, Valta cradling his face as tears streamed down.

"This was a terrible idea, coming down here, the earthquakes Rem, whatever the hell woke this Titan up I wish it had a good reason too" Roaring Valeyna missed as Nat looked at the dead dwarf the way he shut his eyes slowly and bowed his head and marked down as yet another who was dead because of him.

"I'm sorry Rem, you were a good man. You didn't deserve this"

"Rem never wanted this life. He joined the legion to pay his father's debts. It kept his mother and Brother from losing their caste. The poor and the Desperate often sacrifice their lives for their families future"

"We will make sure we give his family something to remember him by" It wasn't much Nat thought, was he stronger he would have frozen the man and taken his body with him back to Orzammar, hunt down his family and allow them to have the burial he deserved no matter what the cost was. Yet he couldn't and as he looked at the man's eyes he could only feel his hatred bluster.

How many more did he have to kill, they came down here to prevent the Earthquakes, and it had only gotten him killed. If he had been more careful months ago if he hadn't of woken up the Tevinter God, Rem would still be alive as would all the others, the miners those who had died in the villages. It was him who had woken up the Titan with his reckless actions and yet again it was others who had to pay the cost for his responsibilities.

How did he deal with this one though, the demon had had him at its mercy and only by chance had he managed to survive, the Arch Demon was dead but again he had nearly lost as something came to his aid, he had survived his first round with that dammed ancient demon but in order to do so, he had been forced to kill in cold blood. He could see no easy way to end this fight, no last salvation that would come rushing in at the last moment to save him from his own incompetence and fear by extension the rest of Thedas, no instead they had already lost a member and he was now put in a position of not being able to fight.

He turned towards the Inquisitor, could she actually solve this crisis, he went to speak but found that before he could Valta took the lead.

"The armor on these warriors, there's lyrium woven directly into the metal and it's bonded to their skin. Impossible to remove, but I know what we would find underneath, these were dwarves. Rem was killed bout our own kind"

"All it took was a single strike, Rem never stood a chance," Valeyna commented ass she knelt next to the corpse of the Legions former member.

"The bolt was glowing. Their weapons could have been tipped with Lyrium. I won't leave Renn like this, we must return him to the stone" With that said the group could only watch as Valta laid her hands on the man and began what could only be described as some sort of prayer, it was gentle but as time continued it soon became aware that they had to carry, further down the roads.

It wasn't long before they found their next mystery. In their way was a side of the cave however unlike another side of the caves that they had grown used to, dark, wet, and horrid this wall instead glue with the ethereal hum of Lyyrium when they approached they could see the etched out markings of words glowing in the darkness.

"This is like the wall of Memories in Orzzamar but ancient, very ancient. The words seem based in Dwarven, but I barely recognize this language"

"Can you translate any of it?" Valeyna asked.

"Only fragments. The language is very different from what we speak today. This word keeps appearing, "Sha Brytol". I believe it means revered defenders"

"That's quite a long stewardship," Valeyna said.

"They attacked us because they're protecting the Titan. Cut our tongues, entomb our bodies, watch over the Titan until it stirs. So the warriors who attacked us must be the Sha Brytol and they're defending the titan"

"The question is, defend the Titan from what?" Nat spoke his mind once again reeling from the idea of a corrupted Titan.

"You on about that theory again?" Blackwall sighed, the kid meant no harm he knew but the way he thought that there was something always worse over the next step was disconcerting as though he could never enjoy the peace and was instead always thinking about the next battle, the next threat that had to be destroyed.

"But if the Magisters created the Blight and that book says the last time the Titan stirred was before even the Tevinter, then what could have been around"

"Well they don't seem too fond of my sword Inquisitor, but you're right which only makes things more concerning"

"Please not another theory kid give it a break" Varric groaned not at all looking forward to having his mind filled with dark and depressing images.

"Thought" Nat hissed. "Anyway, for all we know it could be possible that the Darkspawn and taint preexist Tevinter, could have existed during Arlathan or some other period. Such a thing might explain how Lyrium would have had the time to be corrupted and why Red Lyrium was so hard to find until Hawke stumbled upon it"

"Always with the bad news. Anyway, can we move on now please" With that said the group continued into the cave, interestingly they noticed that for some reason that as they approached the once pitch black caves seemed to get brighter, not as bright as day, but the light was surprisingly natural? Still, they stopped soon after they found another set of carvings on the wall.

"It shapes the Stone, It is the Stone. It sculpts the world within and without"

"If Titans can reshape the world, The Earthquakes could be the way they shape the stone" Valeyna glanced to Nat hoping that he would have the same conclusion that they had, it was true that he had the idea of a Titan seemingly ironed out, but he had yet to mention how they made the trouble whether through magic or by physical means.

"Oh great so creatures that are so large that their moving can cause earthquakes, or they have the power to start moving entire landmasses around. Oh, brilliant" Nat sighed as he breathed in, the drain from that sword was even more taxing, they must be getting close he realized, closer to where the Titan was, all around him he could feel that magic, it was thumping now, that once bare whistle now seeming to act like a drum in the distance.

"But the quakes are destructive, the Titans would mold the world, not smash it to pieces"

"You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs"

"But if this was true, how can it be missing from the Memories of Orzammar. Why would someone erase such as an integral part of our history"

"Politics, religion, war, disease, famine are rather obvious answers, as could the idea that whoever did such a thing was protecting the Titan" Nat answered gripping the side as yet another earthquake shook the ground around them.

"But why?"

"Does it look like I know time travel magic? Whatever happened must have been big to cause such a thing, Perhaps something threatened the Titans, maybe darkspawn maybe something else, and perhaps the Titans were hidden away to guard them"

"But how do you hide a thing that big?"

"Dig a really big hole" Nat replied as they pressed forwards, Blackwall only grunted.

As the group moved on they were finally stopped as after entering a large cavern their eyes could only stare upwards. All around them as far as the eyes could see were large snaking coils of lyrium, bright blue in their hue and slowing and glistening as Lyrium did, it was like staring up at the night sky except instead of giant balls of burning gas it was instead magic, it was beautiful and elegant and unable to help himself Nat quickly drew his phone and captures a picture, if they ever had to explain things to orzammar, this could be useful.

"All these Lyrium veins and they're completely untapped," Valta said.

"The Sha Brytol must mine their lyrium somewhere their arms and armor are laced with it"

"Unless they've found another way to harness it" Without any more words the group descended into this new area where they quickly fought off ambush after ambush making their way deeper and deeper until the vast lyrium cavern presented itself another warning encased in stone. As they did so one thing did confuse Nat as he looked around and that was the complete lack of Corruption from the taint.

"Strange, the Blight should have tainted this place, I mean the Thaig was swarming with darkspawn yet this place is clear. The only thing I can think of is that the Sha Bytrol are managing to deal with any incursions, not impossible given their state of technology and with the archdemons calling them in, it might only be a few straggles. Yet still, we should have seen a corpse or too."

"Perhaps when this is over we should alert the Wardens of this place, they might be able to send an expedition and-"

"No" Nat nearly shouted as he turned to the fake warden his eyes seemingly glancing around the cave that they had found themself in. "The Wardens have already caused enough trouble as it is with their dammed Demon summoning, besides sending an individual in here that could be infected with the blight might cause a worse reaction then my sword does. Besides Wardens like to think without acting, if they found this place they would mine this Lyrium without thought and slaughter the Sha Brytol leaving it open for the Darkspawn to invade. Besides this could be the very homeland of the dwarves their ancient history, best leave it to those who have a vested interest and history in this place to work it out. Otherwise, we just invite trouble. Anyway, Valta what does the last message say?"

"Only the Pure may pass, All others will be punished. Assuming the Sha Brytol are the pure?"

"We're the others who aren't allowed to pass"

"Could the earthquakes be the punishment?" Valta asked.

"I, have a bad feeling"

"What is it Nat" Valeyna gazed at her friend hoping that he had managed to work out something out again.

"The way the Sha Brytol are defending, the way it references the pure, it almost sounds like its describing the body's immune system. In short, we must be a virus trying to infect the Titan and the Sha Brytol are the Defense Mechanism, trying to keep us out. The Earthquakes, as a result, could be a reaction, like some sort of cold"

"A cold? You think the Titan's sneezing" Valeyna looked incredulous, still, if the Titan was sneezing then something so large could have something like an Earthquake as a reaction.

"Well if we are acting like a virus we need to move quickly, the body does a lot of things to try and fight viruses off, heating the body, vomiting, anything it can attempt to expunge us it will use"

"Titan's, Sha Brytol, who knew we would discover so much down here. Wait a second Nat you mentioned a Titan when you found the Architect"

"I said that the Gecko mentioned a Titan, I didn't really look into it given that I had a few other problems on my hands and dealing with ancient entities is now how I like to fulfill my afternoons. Besides jumping down the hole that took me up with the demon, there's nothing that I could have done to investigate, not if Orzammar itself doesn't hold record"

"Still you could have made us investigate earlier, had us pay more attention to it" Nat blinked.

"Right because we weren't having to deal with an ancient demon as it was alongside Corypheus trying to corrupt the Wardens and a new archdemon"

"You could have mentioned it after the battle, at least when the earthquakes"

"I was in a coma Inquisitor, a coma that I have yet to recover from and as for the reason I didn't mention it, my first reaction to an earthquake is not "Oh shit it must be some type of creature deep below the surface" instead of, oh it's just an earthquake perhaps Ferelden gets them every now and again as we do back home"

"You seemed to be able to work out a lot of information about it and rather quickly" Solas interjected with a hint of suspicion. Nat glared.

"I made theories based on what I saw compiling it with other information available to make an informed guess, theories, nothing concrete need I remind you. Besides, we need to get moving"

"Right. Anyway, this feels like a final warning, we must be nearing the source"

"Merlin give me strength" Nat whispered as the group pressed on, he could feel it, soon he may be forced to battle with a creature of ancient lore, fight a creature that was only talked about as myth and legend even among the magical community, except he didn't have much at his disposal, only a rifle, some explosives and a sword made out of the bones of an ancient dragon of legend. He sighed in relation, of course, he was going to fight it, they had to fight everything they had come across, except this time there was no retreat.

Well, he guessed he could run backward somehow hope he managed to sneak past untold hordes of darkspawn and make it to the surface but there would be no point, he had already retreated from the deep roads once, left his people to the mercy of the horrors below, he wouldn't do it again, he could not fail again down here. And so he stepped forward his heart pounding rapidly like a drum seeming to match that of the rhythm of magic as it became ever stronger.

"Well, at least it's airy" Those were the famous first words of the rediscovery of this place.

"Of all the words you could have used kid, Airy"

"Well I mean it is, just look at it" Nat's point rang true as they stared out into the distance they found something that none of them could have ever guessed they would have encountered. Before them, was well nobody knew how to describe it, at first the word cavern might have been used but the sheer scale of this place made that impossible. There were no walls that could be seen on the far end, no great ceiling above them nor any floor below them as they peered down, instead, there was just a vast wide space as far as the eye could see. For the most part, the area that they had found themselves was covered in a thick fog, yeat above that natural light similar to that of midday shone giving a beautiful and wonderous look. In places that could only be described as large pillars of stones, either the tops of mountains or something else jutted open peaked with grass and moss, they were in all directions. There were no birds, or song though, yet despite this, there was a warm feeling like a sun was nearby proving life to those living things inside.

Perring downwards to the thick fog Nat commented.

"I think I've worked out why Dwarves are so terrified of falling into the sky"

"But that would imply that Dwarves lived here, ages ago for us to still hold terror of the sky simply because of this place is"

"Valta there are houses over there" Gesturing towards the right the group looked and saw that to Nat's credit there were in fact structures that had been built inside this place.

"This is"

"Beautiful yes, but can we move now, that rhythm is starting to get irritating" Clutching his head Nat tried to ignore the sensation of the rhythm it was loud now unstoppable as though all of a sudden somebody has decided to take a drummer from a rock band and shove them side his brain and started to play the most drum-heavy music they knew over and over. It was annoying and as hs clutched the sword he could feel the pace suddenly increase as though in fear.

"we've found the source but not the Titan"

"Ow," Nat hissed. "Will someone turns off those bloody drums, it's like listening to a person's heartbe-. Oh, you have got to be joking" Nat looked up for once his emotionless mask was gone replaced by sheer terror as he finally realized where he was. "We're in the Titan, we're inside the actual titan. Ha, which means that heartbeat" The others followed his gaze, to the right was a platform where a large lyrium rock sat pulsating, attached to the top of that rock were a set of large lyrium veins, incredibly large lyrium veins.

"That must be its heart," Valeyna said knowingly as she stared transfixed at the faint glowing.

"Great, one problem does anybody know heart surgery because I don't"

"Why don't we have a look first, maybe we can communicate with it, tell it we mean no harm" Valeyna argued.

"And how are we supposed to do that, throw rocks at it, speak in ancient dwarfish?

"It could work?"

"Or it could get us killed. Need I remind you that if we are standing inside something this big, that the sheer amount of magic inside this creature is on a scale unheard off. If we are a virus the Sha Brytol will give it everything they have to stop us from approaching the heart not to mention that there's bound to be defense mechanisms."

"Does the challenge bother you?" Solas asked curiously.

"We are talking about the heart of a Titan Solas, the reason I likely can't sense all that much power is that I'm rather weak at the moment and that it's likely being circulated through its entire body, but if you were to concentrate that in the heart, or even if the heart has enough power in of itself that you could combine with your own magic make some sort of wand or foci to harness that power then you would have enough power to-"

"Enough power to what" Stunned Valeyna could only watch as Nat gulped both in fear and trepidation as his eyes locked squarely at the heart.

"You could have enough power to possibly break through the laws of this realm to make it possible to travel to another world. Nat turned slowly his eyes for the first time since coming to this world shimmered with unnatural joy. "I could return home, the heart could give me enough power to get home"

"What are you talking about?"

"The magic that connected our worlds Vleyna, that must have been exceptionally powerful, now on my own, I could never hope to achieve such a thing and neither could Corypheus, but think about it Solas used an orb, that orb activated the distant portals dragged me here. Now that orb would have to be powerful, absorbing magic for a long time, but most things would break absorbing that much magic, not unless it was something that could contain it, not unless it was the heart of a Titan"

"Kid you're not saying what I think you're saying" Varric turned quickly his attention focused purely on the mage as he stared darkly at the stone.

"I could go home Varric"

"No, you can't kill it, not after" Valta interjected as worry spiked in her chest

"I'm not a fool," Nat said his once smile fading into one of sadness. "I am tempted yes, but I can't do this, I'm better then this, everything I read about this type of thing if I just went to take it, only disaster would ensue"

"You would give up power so easily," Solas said slowly almost disbelievingly. "But this is your chance if your speculation is true this could be the way to return to your home, your people, yet you're saying you would give it up so easily?"

"Have I ever told you the story of the Deathly Hallows?" The group shook their heads. "It's a bedtime story or it was supposed to be. In short, a long time ago three wizards had an encounter with Death, not as in dying but think of it as a living aspect of a god. The three thought they had outwitted death and asked for powerful boons because of it, in truth Death merely played a game with them and gifted them these trinkets, a wand which was supposed to be the most powerful one in existence unbeatable and would win a wizard or witch any fight, a stone that could bring back the dead and a cloak that could hide one from the gaze of anything even Death itself. In the end, the first two wizards fell for Death's plans and they quickly met gruesome deaths and were claimed by Death, the last however was wise enough to see that Death was angry and chose the cloak so that he could live his days in peace until he died of old age where he joined Death freely as equals if such a thing can be believed"

"Believed to be a story, what do you mean believed" Balcwkall pushed despite this he could sense a horrid feeling in his stomach-churning.

"There were three in the main group who during the last war played a crucial part in defeating Voldemort, while two of them were great at secrets, one of them not so much as time has gone on he has supposedly let slip of certain things when he was drunk, things best left not said. Those things were heard in the presence of my father and those things just so happened, in turn, to be slipped to me"

"And the purpose of this story" Blackwall insisted not at all liking this strange cavern.

"The pursuit of power can lead to disaster. But that is enough, stories are not cut and dry things and morality is a complex one, let's go and get thing sorted before we wake this thing up" With no complaints from the others in the party, they quickly headed down the long set of stairs, hallways, and bridges that crossed over this deep cavern, occasionally they would be forced to fight more of the Sha Brytol but despite the battles, it was clear that there was not that many in this area, far less then Nat would have expected given that the dwarves seemed to be defending what appeared to be the heart of a Titan.

With the last of the Sha Brytol dead and nothing else in sight, the group slowed down their eyes focusing onto the giant pulsating Lyrium crystal that made up its heart.

"Fascinating" Nat said his eyes sparkling with genuine interest. "Magical biology is not a subject that interests me, but this place, it's amazing, were I back home I would have loved to study"

"You study? For some reason, the idea of you having something that interests you is strange" Valeyna commented. Nat rolled his eyes.

"Of course I have things that interest me, Inquisitor, the difference is I don't have time to pursue them. Was it not for war and the Inquisition was instead a school you may have seen me how I was more naturally, believe it or not when I stayed up it was to learn and research, not how to plan out enemies tactical maneuvers" Valeyna quirked an eye, the very idea of a seemingly happy Nat was a rather strange one, she was so used to seeing him so serious and determined, unbothered by what went on, so focused on his work to the detriment of others that she couldn't think of him actually just spending time reading a book for leisure?

"Have you ever had fun?"

"I did for a short while. You're not wrong in that I'm serious, while my skills are exceptional they are not from raw talent, to get to that extent requires work, lots of it and often that requires sacrifice. It is often best if one can combine something they enjoy with that work, were it not for my dueling, and a general interest in magic as well as other… circumstances I may not have finished as early as I did and I would not be here now"

"Still the idea of you being a student is hilarious, did you wear a cloak or something, could I see?"

"I'm not cosplaying for you. Anyway back to the task, we need to be careful, the raw magic coming from that thing is immense, I can feel that it's detected us, but just what it's doing, I can't say" In truth, it was both hard and easy to describe what was going on in the Titans body.

Like a human body, the lyrium that flowed around was like blood, likely giving the Titans enormous size the strength to do things, so much lyrium was flowing through that now that he was right next to it instead of sensing a lighthouse in a storm which was how mages felt it was instead as though he had been swallowed up by the sun itself. Yet despite this raw amount of power he did not feel overwhelmed, it was powerful but spread out enabling him to get a better grip on the scenario.

Idly as he looked at the heart-shaped crystal he wondered what would happen if he were to cut one of those tubes, would the titan react like a human body would and likely die if not repaired right away, would something else happen. Despite this place obviously being the heart of a Titan he could not help but feel, unimpressed. The size of this area alone, this cavern, no doubt it could have fit in a major metropolitan city in like London or New York in scale and the amount of room upwards meant that you could have then put that same city in again on top, yet despite this, the heart he saw was tiny in comparison.

The heart was the size of a double-decker bus, large true, but inconsequential. He looked around in confusion, was there another heart somewhere, with something so large he wanted to doubt that this was the lone thing that kept this creature alive, it made no sense, if it was the case then that would leave the heart… fragile.

Were his magic at full strength he would almost say that he might have been able to destroy the heart in one shot with a spell, the very thought gave him a sudden rush of adrenaline and a sense of power. To kill a Titan, that would be something of recognition something that would scare others, if he could kill this thing as it was, perhaps he might be powerful enough to fight Corypheus. For a moment he almost thought he heard the Sorting Hat talking in his head all those years ago when he had first entered, the way that thing had spoken in his min had rooted through his memories had seen who he was like what he was on track to become yet also had seen what he had valued.

There was power to be gained here, it would be easy, he could use it for his goals, not only to save Thedas but to get home and deal with the coming war. Lives would be saved if he slew this thing here and now and was able to harness it's power yet despite this his gut screamed caution his mind running through myths and legends both magical and muggle in terms of what happened when this thing had.

He did not care for the Titan in the slightest old creatures had a tendency of being stuck in their ways and outdated, it was why he so often hated media which only ever depicted nature as good and industry was evil. Mankind had plotted their own path, they had forged their destiny through, magic, blood, and steel they had risen to become their own masters to not be controlled by anyone bar themselves, yet others would have them bow to nature.

He was a wizard one who could warp the very fabric of the universe itself to his whims, he ignored the rules of physics, things that should not be possible he did without a second thought, magic would drive science mad when muggles discovered it.

Yet nature was not so easily beaten back and he could not allow hubris to hand him defeat now, were he to rush ahead to not understand. He shook his head and continued to stare at the heart feel it as it pulsed around aware of them and yet seemingly not reacting. What to do?

"Valta can you try to talk to it, say we mean no harm" Valta looked at the wizard as if he was crazy but given how they had no other plan she acquired and walked forwards.

It was a mistake

Without warning there was a surge of power, surging forth it struck Valta in the chest sending her flying backward onto the bridge before then suddenly there was another surge summoning forth large pillars of lyrium infused stone where the bridge ended trapping the group by the heart. There was a rumbling and with two more surges, the group watched as stones began to role in front of them and lyrium unnaturally poured from the heart forming what appeared to be veins.

"Kill it quickly" Nat roared as he raced forward recognizing what was about to happen, drawing his sword lest they are trapped in a small enclosure with a golem he once again felt as his energy was drained by the weapon. Still, his quick thinking and action enabled him to close the distance where with a single slash the blade humming with arcane energy he made a slash across the still forming knee joints.

There was a crack and then a sound of lightning echoes through the sky as the blade sliced through cutting the creature that was forming, before it could recover however the others in the group joined in unleashing a torrent of magic, crossbow bolts, and a sword all aimed directly at the chest. Despite this, the blade that Nat held did the most damage as enhanced by some strange power it tore through the body ripping in what might have been a form of the golem in half cutting it down to size before a final thrust in its head forced the lyrium to explode with a great force throwing them back several feet.

Before they could count their victory however the huge that had once lit the room turned from the once more pale blue to that of a dark and cruel blue. Flashing darkly as though a warning to all the power that had once flowed through the body once again coalesced but this time it did so with far quicker speed taking advantage of the downed fighters as another defensive body took shape.

Gazing downwards the creature looked at each of those who had dared attacked it before finally with a vengeful look it stopped at the one that carried the blade of dragons. Sensing it' s stare Nat looked up and met the creature's wrathful glare.

"We come in peace" He quipped, however before anything else happened he felt as the golem's hand surged forward and grasped him around the chest and dragged it close so they were now facing to face. The Titan bellowed. "Look, I don't want to be here either, but considering how you've been" Once again the Titan bellowed it's angry roar though this time it went to throw him before it could however once again the Titan felt the angry sting of the Dragonbone blade as with a sweep Nat was able to cut off what he believed was a hand dropping him to the floor. Before the Titan could swoop at him again, ignoring the blasts of magic from the others who at this point had recovered though, Nat instead directed his blade at the creature the weapon cackling with a harsh glow. The Titan stopped moving its hands around in a manner to try and get a batter angle, yet Nat was quicker and detecting the seeming concern about the blade he used to keep it directed at whatever Titan's hand was looking to grasp him next.

"Look," He said as he brushed his hair backward. "We mean no harm if you can communicate without turning us into mince that would be appreciated, if not"

"Nat stop fucking talking and kill the dam thing, it hates your sword"

"Yes but the question is why"

"You want to talk when it's trying to kill us" Blackwall yelled as hs attempted to hack and slash at the stone that made up the creatures.

"Yes, Merlin knows what would happen if I killed the dam thing or seriously hut it. We're talking something the size of a mountain here need I remind you not a bloody house. For all, we know we could be underneath somewhere important right now and I don't particularly want to tell the local lord why his entire holdings have just got up and become Howls moving castle"

"Nat"

"Fine" He didn't know why, but as he stared at the Titan he instead loosened his grip on the sword where then without warning he let it slip onto the ground and stood still. The Titan stopped for a moment and then without warning brought it's hand to smash the wizard against the floor. Nat rolled grabbing his sword as he did so before then slashing at the next hand cutting it off completely the magic seems to cauterize the wound.

Nat stared at the Titan for a moment, this was a discovery and a half, a Titan of all things, There was so much he could learn from this thing so many questions left unanswered. It would be wrong to destroy it, they had invaded it's home and had essentially attacked it, yet as he looked at his companions the way they were barely able to hold back his mind turned to months previous. He couldn't allow more people to die, not again.

"Well, if Diplomacy doesn't work. Solas give me a boost" With a flick of his staff and a burst of telekinetic energy Nat was lifted high into the air and then thrown with some force forwards. He aimed the sword forwards the blade directed at the core of this being, two meters, one meter. With speed and the mages pinning the titan's arms in a place he was able in a single swift movement to pierce the creature with the blade.

As the energy of the blade bypassed the hard outer layer of the titan's heart, magical energy speed through between the two injecting the heart of the creature with both the natural energy of the sword as well as the magic of the one carrying it. Like a fast-acting poison, it reacted quickly, a build-up of magic was detected, and only with quick-acting was Valeyna able to fling her companion backward and towards her into the protection of her ward spell before with a blast of energy, the heart exploded.

At that moment the once beautiful lyrium veins that had once sparkled, darkened and light itself seems to flicker and die.

Nat stared upwards his face one of horror.

He had killed the Titan.

---

First I want to say that i'm sorry it has taken so long to get this chapter out. Due to what's happening in the world i found myself with far less time then i normally did and so no time to write, only with things starting to come under control have i been able to start writing again which i'm sorry about. Despite this I can't say there will be an increase in releases as i'm still time limited and even with the break i have been getting tired of Dragonage and as such my attention have been lingering on other universes. (I kinda wrote a near 20k chapter 1 for a crossover between Harry Potter and Fire Emblem 3 Houses with Nat as he always is the MC in my stories. Whether I'll publish it I don't know).

But yeah, I'm sorry for not publishing earlier and i'm also sorry if the quality of this one was lower then normal i wrote half before i found myself busy and the other half only recently which may be a major problem. Hopefully though moving onwards there will be more releases in future.

Thanks for reading and your patience.

Battleship Vytalia