We fought our way through the city for hours. Late in the day, the sky burned pink, the smoke blocking out most of the sunlight. My companions and I were covered in blood as we finally reached the fort.
I remembered my first battle. The Battle of Ostagar. Fighting at Alastair's side against the single ogre in the tower. I remembered thinking that the ogre would never be defeated. Oh how far we'd come. We'd defeated at least a half-dozen ogres today if we'd defeated one. I'd lost count. Still we pressed on.
Morrigan and I had shared a glance earlier when a messenger reached our party with the news that Riordan was dead. He'd fallen from the flying dragon while attempting to slay it, though he had severely wounded it, forcing it to land on Fort Drakon. It was as I'd feared. Morrigan had been right, that it would come down to this. Now the only thing standing between Alastair and I and death was the hope that I carried a child. And that the ritual had worked.
Reaching the door to the roof of the Fort, I looked at my companions, "Are you ready for this? One way or another this ends here."
I read the determination in their faces and I kicked the door open.
«¤»«¤»«¤»«¤»«¤»«¤»
The battle on the roof raged for nearly an hour. The dragon had moved a few times, but could not leave the roof due to the injury that Riordan had inflicted in his final moments. The soldiers on the roof relentlessly shot arrows at it. I was exhausted, having drained my own mana reserves firing spell after spell at the dragon. Still, it seemed to have worked. The dragon, weakened by its earlier injuries, those we had inflicted, and the constant battering with the ballista, had finally landed on the other side of the battlements. Arrows pierced its neck and sides as Alastair slashed at it from below. Morrigan and I flanked the dragon, working in tandem to alternately injure the dragon, position it so that the soldiers could do the most damage, and keep our party alive. Finally, finally, it weakened enough that it slumped down on its legs. The moment had finally arrived.
I saw Alastair eyeing the archdemon as I approached.
"Wait. Let me…" He began.
"No. You promised." I interrupted before he could finish.
"If this goes wrong..."
"Alastair, Fereldan needs you. I need you to survive. I love you."
And before he could say another word, I ran forward, grabbing a sword from the chest of a dead hurlock as I went. The archdemon hissed, coiling it's neck up to strike. Dodging its clumsy attack, I slid underneath it, slicing it open from neck to belly and ducking out from behind its foreleg as it collapsed to the ground. From the corner of my eye I saw Alastair running towards me. I raised the sword above my head and plunged it deep into the archdemon's skull. As I did so, a blinding light emerged from the dragon stretching into the sky for a moment before it turned into a shockwave blast, throwing me to the ground. When I could see again, I slowly sat up and looked around. Every last one of the darkspawn on the roof was dead. Anyone standing had been thrown to the ground. I saw my friends slowly standing up, looking around slightly stunned to check that the battle might finally be over.
Alastair came running over, armor clanking before he skidded to a stop, dropping to his knees next to me.
"Are you alright?" He asked, frantically grabbing at my limbs checking for injuries. "It worked? It truly worked?" He said in disbelief before clasping the back of my head and kissing me.
"It worked." I said faintly when he released me.
"Thank the Maker." He breathed.
Both of us glanced down towards my belly. We had a child, it seemed. One with the soul of our former enemy. Maker only knew what was to happen next, but for the moment, it appeared, the Blight was over, and the kingdom and our family were safe.
We walked over to stand by our friends and the other surviving soldiers at the edge of the battlements. I touched Morrigan's elbow with a faint smile. "Thank you." I murmured. She nodded back, the corner of her lips twitching up. The sounds of fighting grew weaker and faint cheers of soldiers echoed across different parts of the city as the remnants of the darkspawn horde retreated in the wake of their leader's death.
«¤»«¤»«¤»«¤»«¤»«¤»
The days after the battle were anything but quiet. True to her word, in the busy aftermath of the battle, Morrigan had slipped away without a word, though I hoped we would meet again. The following day, I had been presented to the court as the "Hero of Ferelden." I had gained more popularity than I expected with the people, who demanded my presence at the gates of the castle.
Over the next week, my companions drifted one by one out of the castle. Some remained in Denerim to aid after the battle, and I saw them frequently in meetings with the various leadership of Fereldan, or afterwards, laughing together at meals or sharing drinks and reminiscing in the firelight. Still, others began to set off on their own journeys, and I bid them each a fond farewell.
Alastair had spent the past few days settling the nobles in court, as everyone grew accustomed to the change in leadership. Arl Eamon remained for now as his advisor and they both spent several late nights in his office discussing what needed to be done in different parts of the country to recover from the Blight. My own sets of meetings with various leaders kept me just as busy. Truthfully, between dealing with the Wardens, the nobles, the people, and the general aftermath of the Blight, I spent very little time alone with Alastair. He had, however, summoned the court to announce our engagement, and I'd been presented to the large crowd that had gathered outside immediately after.
To my surprise, there hadn't been as much backlash as I'd expected. I'd expected to be immensely unpopular, but perhaps in light of the two wars the country had just faced, there was little overt outrage amongst the nobles when Alastair announced me as his betrothed. To my even greater surprise, I maintained a great level of popularity among the people, who, it appeared, saw me as one of their own. I suppose in crossing the country, I'd met and been remembered by rather more people than I thought.
A few days after the battle, Alastair had drawn me aside when we were alone.
"I know we've already done this, but I wanted to do this properly." He began, taking my hand. "Joining the Wardens, the last thing I expected was to find someone like you. Someone every bit as brave, and smart, and resourceful as you are beautiful. I've been proud to stand at your side every day through all the war and the fighting, and I'm glad to have you at my side as king. My life has changed in so many ways since I met you, but every day I'm grateful that you're here with me. I can't imagine my life without you."
Kneeling down, he pulled out a ring. A diamond on a gold band sparkled in the candlelight with a drop of red at its center.
"I had the mages craft it for me. I saw the rose I gave you so long ago in your room, and asked them to embed a petal inside the diamond. I was touched you kept it. You're still the light and beauty in my darkness, the best thing to ever happen to me. You have my heart."
He cleared his throat and fidgeted, glancing away from me nervously before looking into my eyes. I felt a smile crack across my lips.
"Will you marry me?"
"Of course I will." I responded, beaming.
He stood, placing the ring on my finger as he went, before placing both hands on the sides of my face and pulling me in for a kiss.
As we broke apart, I basked in the warmth of the moment. With the Blight over and the start of a family I'd never had before, I was eager for the new chapter for my life and for Fereldan to begin.
Hope you enjoyed the final part! Please consider leaving a review if you enjoyed it or if you have any commentary!