Chapter Forty

Demon Peak

We left the very next morning before dawn – since we knew Goldanna would be spreading news that I was in the city.

It was pretty quiet for the following two weeks as we traveled to Soldiers Peak; mostly, we just… trained. We trained and we walked and we talked shit.

And on the day before we would arrive at the meet-up point with Levi Dryden, Morrigan confirmed that I was pregnant. I cursed – yes, I was happy, excited, and in awe that it happened so swiftly – but now was not the time.

I was, however, glad for my choice to go to Morrigan to confirm this rather than Wynne. Wynne would have hovered and made it exceedingly obvious that I was carrying to the point that I wouldn't be able to hide it. Morrigan didn't give two shits so long as I could do my job.

I did feel really bad – I couldn't tell my mates yet that I was carrying a child – they'd take me out of the Blight Effort and I was firmly entrenched and needed now. I had done too much – caused too big of a ripple.

I had to make sure not to get injured – at all. Wynne would know at once – as would any self-respecting healer from Azeroth; Inas would smell it after I hit 4 months so I would need to be really fucking careful to wear body spray anytime that I would see him. It wouldn't be suspicious if I did – I had a habit of wearing body spray when I was in a relationship – not like animals would sit still if I went hunting anyway considering my natural scent was much more dangerous than body spray.

And by now, Alistair was my familiar – and he rather enjoyed his somewhat weekly bite. I would take from either of my three mates once a week – only once unless I expend too much energy. I had discussed this with them the night after leaving Denerim when Anduin spent his weekly night with me so we only had to call Cullen.

So, Alistair would get bitten every third week and the others got in between. Cullen had flipped out when he'd popped up with 4 magic powers; I'd forgotten to warn him of that – and as expected due to their compatibility, all three mates got four powers. Thankfully, all four were Skyrim combat magics. He got Bound Sword, Bound Bow, Fast Healing, and an altered version of Banish Daedra – it banished fucking demons back to the Fade. Learning what that one would do, he actually calmed more than a little.

Alistair got 2 from Skyrim and 2 from Azeroth. From Skyrim, he got Sun Fire (summon a ball of sunlight that could do damage to undead or Darkspawn) and Grand Healing (Heal everyone around you to a certain extent; in his case, heal them for a lot). From Azeroth, he got Feline Swiftness (as though he needed the passive that made him not only move 15% faster but also more lightly on his feet) and Slow Fall (the name said it all).

As for Anduin, he got nothing but Azeroth Abilities. Mirror Image (he could summon up to three copies of any one person; but only one person at a time – unlike Jaina, who could summon up to 50 copies of 50 different people; or me – limited to 10 copies of various people. It depended on ability), Arcane Barrage (six arcane missiles), Yseras' Gift (a passive that healed him over time; if he wasn't injured at all then a nearby person that he viewed as an ally would receive the healing), and Summon Elemental – to be specific, Anduin had somehow gained the ability to summon a Light Elemental when it should have been a Water Elemental – fire at worst.

Anduin had laughed at my fish-gaping and kissed me. He hadn't cared what his abilities were – in his eyes, they were just another thing he could do. Alistair had lightly freaked out, but hadn't shown it around the others – he had an amazing poker face about things that made him uncomfortable; not sex things, but anything else.

I think all three of my mates were catching on the something was up with me – because I wasn't complaining about the whole 'feeding often' thing. I had worked to make both Cullen and Alistair my familiars over the past three weeks before telling them that I would feed from each mate once every third week.

Anduin had instantly been suspicious – he wasn't stupid; he knew I would generally fight the need to feed even if they were my familiars. I had brushed it off; telling him that I would need to get into the habit for when I got pregnant. Thankfully, I'd had that discussion when I was simply suspecting that I was with child and it was still too early for any healer to find… because he had checked.

I couldn't fault him – especially when he was right about the reason that I was doing it in the first place. I had just spoken to him soon enough that he thought I was taking precautions.

Sten spoke that night – the night before reaching the Peak, "I have a question."

"I might have an answer," I quipped; causing Alistair and a few others to snigger.

"Feeding on your mates often had given them magics – are they susceptible to demonic influences now?" he asked. Oh… shit.

"No. In theory, the magic they hold comes directly from me; each ability that they have is an ability I have, even if it is altered for them. For example, I can summon Water, Fire and Arcane Elementals as a Mage – and as I'm also a Druid, I can also summon Earth Elementals even though that is typically a Shaman ability. My connection to the goddess Elune also allows me to summon a Dark Light Elemental – which is a Light Elemental made entirely of moonbeams; something not seen in Azeroth before. But I can't summon a regular Light Elemental like Anduin can. Cullen got my Banish Daedra ability, but for him, it works on only demons, and not Daedra – we checked. Think of the implications of that for a minute."

Sten – viewing my words as an order – looked thoughtful before understanding lit his face, "He can reverse possession."

I was pleasantly surprised that he understood where I was going with that, "Exactly – this is an ability I don't have. He can teach that – because Skyrim Magic isn't actually considered Magic by Azeroth or Thedas standards. He doesn't know that he can teach it yet; because he can't yet. I would have to train him to be a trainer for him to do it. And only those without Magic can learn that specific ability; I looked at the future to learn that. Bound Weapons of any sort should only be usable by mages, however – but Cullen can use two; Sword and Bow. My point here – I am going to have to train Cullen to be a trainer, but I can't do that for years because he's not ready for that. To answer your original question more thoroughly – they are actually more resistant to possession because their magics come from me – and I am immune to Thedas Demons."

"An interesting thing – thank you, Kadan, for indulging me." He nodded and walked off.

"Cullen can reverse possessions now?" Alistair asked.

"Well – we don't have any demons on hand to test that, so I had to kidnap Jowan for a day and make him… do that… I felt bad, but we needed to know, you know? Cullen was able to successfully banish the Shade that possessed Jowan."

"Maker – if the Chantry learns of this…"

"Oh, Meredith already sent a note off last week since she was there for that demo. Cullen doesn't know how to train, but I made sure to mention that becoming a trainer for it was possible so Meredith is under the distinct impression that Cullen will be able to train every templar in this art in the future. However, even the Divine won't move Cullen from where he is since I also mentioned – with a frown – that it appeared Kirkwall would be a future hub of demonic influences without Cullen."

"You're manipulative." Leliana giggled.

I shrugged, "Immortal – what else am I supposed to do to get my kicks, Leli; Knit sweaters?"

Sereda snorted, "I can't see you knitting."

"I will have you know that I am an accomplished Tailor and that knitted sweaters were the first thing that I learned how to make – woolen ones, to be specific… back on earth. If you can wear it, I can make it; leather, metal or cloth. But I mastered tailoring about 9,000 years ago; so it's not exactly fun. Unless I'm making something scandalous… like lingerie. Then I like to make the items in full view of everyone and see who blushes."

Daylen nodded, "I remember that you made a whole outfit back at the tower because you were dropped at the door naked."

"Yup – and both Greagoir and Irving acted like it was the most natural thing in the world to question a naked woman; there was no fun in it except in pretending that I had no idea where I was and demanding answers like the Queen I am. I mean really – if you can't impress them with intelligence, confuse them with bullshit. Works every time."

Zev laughed, "That it does!"

"Alistair has that down pat," I smirked.

The man in question just flushed and looked at me with a grin, "Did I confuse you?"

"You pulled a tulip on me – I was expecting the rose back then; instead you saved it for our wedding. So yes – that threw me off. Oh – and let's not forget the way you looked and acted completely uninterested in me to the point that I bought it and had resigned myself to losing you – consider me lost," I quipped.

Carver shook his head, "I think you were the only one to not see his real intentions – it was really obvious to me at least."

A chorus of 'me too' went up through all of the people that had been there for it. I went red, "I'd never… you know. Most of my relationships didn't involve love so I didn't… shit – I didn't even see the signs with Ness!"

"As bad as this is going to sound – I am glad that you and Kayn divorced," Alistair pulled me closer to him, "Don't get me wrong – I'd gladly duel him for not taking care of you as he should have, but I think you have enough mates to make up that difference. We love you. And it sounds like you two weren't in love."

I chuckled, "Not really – he and I were pretty much just a 'friends that bonk exclusively' situation; which is why we got married. Neither of us were sleeping with anyone else, so it made sense. Mostly, we were just… really good friends."

Rulen snorted, "But friends don't know the way you taste, la-la-la." He sang the line from 'Señorita'. I laughed , "Ooh, when your lips undress me; hooked on your tongue; ooh, love, your kiss is deadly – don't stop!"

He laughed, "Darn – I thought you might get embarrassed by that one."

"Honey – I'm the reason you even know that song; it was native to Earth, not Azeroth."

"Yeah – you always put various names to different songs; only coming out and telling us that those were the original artists from a different world recently." Rulen sighed.

"No-no – can you sing that whole song? It was… really pretty," Leliana pleaded. I glanced at Rulen, "I don't see a problem with it if you're game. Just expect Alistair to get jealous about you singing the guy parts."

"Wait, what?" Alistair asked.

"It's a duet – about friends that sleep together." I explained.

Alistair frowned but said he didn't mind – it was just a song, after all.

So Rulen and I sang the song together – with me starting, of course.

I love it when you call me Señorita

I wish I could pretend I didn't need ya

But every touch is ooh la, la, la

It's true, la, la, la

Ooh, I should be running

Ooh, you keep me coming for you

Lyna sighed, "You do have a nice voice, Lethallan."

"It's a change from my human life, I assure you – my voice was gravelly when I was human and coarse as a Nord. Only when I became an elf did it change to a more lyrical voice – and it was what prompted me to 'import' the songs from Earth. I didn't do that back in Skyrim."

I would have been laughed out of the Bards' Collage with the voice I'd had in Skyrim – I hadn't even tried.

"Well – I like it." Alistair muttered.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek – he was very sweet – before saying, "Alright, whelps – bed time. Lyna, Zev, you two are on first watch; be sure to wake Alistair and I for second watch."

The two nodded to me and we headed to bed.

"Good morning, Levi! Ready to head up the peak?" I asked. He smiled at me and nodded eagerly. Sten growled, "I do not fully understand why this stop is necessary."

I leveled him a look, "I'm sorry Sten – I thought you hated the idea of demons running free." He stiffened and gave a curt nod before saying, "That would be troublesome if they got out… lead on."

It took us 6 hours of navigating the tunnel system with me using my Dark Light elemental as a light source the whole way. The elemental was 3 feet tall – the base of it looking like a genies tail pulled from the lamp and looking similar to a Light Elemental but purple and blue rather than gold. The bracers on its arms were silver rather than bronze and the inlaid gem was an Arcane Crystal. The face of the elemental only had glowing blue eyes – but that didn't mean that it couldn't speak. If an elemental was powerful enough, they could – like the Lightspawn (Light Elementals) – could almost always speak.

People had once thought that this elemental was Shadow or Void – I guess that fueled the fire about the Old God rumors – until it called down moon-beams and the Priestesses of Elune flocked to speak with it. Moon Elementals were not seen in the wild until recently – I called them Dark Light – but the Kaldorei called them Moon. But they were 'genetically' similar to Lightspawn; they had all the same powers even if they were slightly altered – for example, Dark Light could heal, Lightspawn could heal; they were just weaker than Lightspawn due to only being able to call on the light from the reflection on the moon rather than calling directly from the sun.

At my request, Sten nailed signs I had made into the tunnel walls – my excuse being that we would need them to find our way back out.

"And… here it is; Soldiers' Peak." Levi announced as we exited the last of the tunnels. I stretched. "That's bigger than I expected. 6 floors for the main building – not counting the basement where storage, the dungeon and Deep Roads entrance are held – and each of those three towers are 9 floors. We'll need to clear our way through the main keep to the Commanders office – from there we will need to find the entrance to a tower that is warded against entry… that will actually change when we kill the… head demon, so to speak. From there, we will be able to seal the hole in the veil. Any questions?"

"How do you know all this?" Levi asked. I smirked, "I'm special, kid."

"So it seems," he muttered before flushing, "I believe I'm older than you, though."

"Are you more than 10,000 years old?"

"Er… no?"

"Children these days, no respect for their elders." I tsk-ed. Wynne laughed.

"What is the grouping plan?" Sten asked. He assumed we were splitting up… not a bad idea, actually.

"Sten, you take Wynne, Aedan, Leliana, Silverite and Hero; Daylen, Rulen, Zevran, Sereda and Shana; Morrigan, Carver, Lyna, Alistair and I will take Fiona. Sten, your job is the west tower. Sereda, your group moves to the east tower. Mine will take out the main building. Levi, you are to come with my group if you wish for answers. Thank the stars that the Deep Roads entrance is sealed against Darkspawn."

We got to the top of the hill and the vision began. "Fall back; Fall back, already!" a man in full armor shouted. He was ghostly – it was obvious these were the memories in the fade that bled into this place… just like in Inquisition.

"Taking the peak will not be easy, milord." A scout replied. The soldier looked at him – I could sense the mocking disdain in his voice when he sneered, "I gave the Wardens one chance to die with Honor. Instead they hole up like cowards. We follow the kings' advice, then – starve them out."

"But… the Peak has months of supplies!" the scout cried.

"Then we wait. When they are too weak to lift their weapons, we will send them to their final judgement." The vision faded.

Everyone looked at me; Levi looked sick as he asked, "Wh-what was that? I felt a bit woozy there…"

"Kadan… have you suddenly gained the ability to share your visions?" Sten asked. I snorted, "No… I've always had the ability. This wasn't me, however. The veil is thin here – the fade bleeds into this place, showing us memories of what happened. What we saw was only a memory, preserved in the fade – it will not be the only one we see."

Leliana spoke softly, "I've heard an Orlesian Ballad about something like this. A beauty trapped in a dream…" she didn't say the last part since I had already said my piece.

I saw the skeletons begin to stir and shot each one with Moonfire. I guess I was way over-leveled, because Moonfire killed each one instantly.

"How did… milady…?" Levi asked. Aedan snorted. I grinned, "It's a druidic ability from my homeland. Don't worry about that."

Leliana let out a giggle and we were all pulled into a second vision – just inside the door.

The first one to speak was the specter of Avernus, a very young Avernus. He was actually… kinda boyish, compared to the game. Avernus stood around 5'10 with blonde hair that reached his shoulders; he didn't keep it tied back either. His eyes were a determined blue and his skin was sickly pale. "The mens' morale is low – my spells are of no use in this matter, Commander."

Sophia had black hair, though hers was tied back in a military bun. Her eyes were green and her skin darker than the mages'. She wore the armor that denoted her rank as a warrior commander and spoke just as softly as Avernus but with a firm edge to it.

"There is more to leading men than sorcery, Avernus. I will remind them that we're Wardens." She walked a small ways and addressed a group of 20 men and women, "Men, I won't lie to you – the situation is grim. Our forces are outnumbered, our bellies are empty and our hearts are sagging… but we are Wardens – Darkspawn flee when they hear our horns; Archdemons die when they taste our blades – so are we to bend knee to a mere human despot? No! I, for one, will never give up – I, for one, will never surrender just to dance on Arlands' Gallows. So I propose here and now, in these hallowed halls where generations of our brethren stood vigil against Darkspawn and Evil, that we send a message to that fat bastard! In this sacred place, proud men – strong men – stood defiant and would rather die than submit to tyranny!" a cheer rose up.

Everyone looked at Levi as he stepped forward and said, "So brave…even when starving. And my great-great-grandmother stood with them."

Aedan asked me, "King Arland was… a tyrant?"

I snorted and looked at Alistair, "Did you know that Arlessa Sophia Dryden was Arland Theirins cousin? They both had a strong claim to the throne, actually. Arland was only chosen because he was young and thought by the Arls and Teyrns to be easily manipulated… at least, according to my knowledge. He was swift to become ruthless and immoral – he imprisoned Sophia for contesting his succession. The only reason he didn't kill her outright was because of pressure from her supporters – so he banished her to the Wardens in return for her life. Eventually, some of the Banns approached Sophia for help against Arlands tyranny… as we will later discover the journal of Sophia Dryden… well, the minute Arland learned Sophia was using the Wardens to oppose him, he besieged the peak. Arland killed many Couslands who had almost joined the rebellion – the only reason none of this is public knowledge is because of the War that lasted a decade after he died wiped away almost all the records of it."

"Wait… that means Levi is part of my family, then?" he asked brightly. I giggled, "That's what you got from all that?"

"It's why you said it first, isn't it?" that cheeky grin appeared. Levi looked confused, "Family?"

"Oh, where are my manners? Levi Dryden, May I formally introduce King Marics son, Alistair Theirin; Heir to the throne of Ferelden?" I smirked as Levi fell over himself to bow. "Oh, don't do that; we're cousins!" Alistair cried.

And then Alistair took revenge, "Besides – Iris here is the High Queen of Azeroth, Queen of demon hunting elves, a duchess of Azeroth, and my wife by order of Cailan so she's also heir to the Ferelden throne. If you're going to bow to anyone…"

I lightly slapped Alistairs' arm, "I'm more of a general than a Queen."

Levi looked awed. Aedan sighed, "Arland killed my family?"

"Almost wiped you off the map like he did to Arl Ruahn and his family… honestly, I stand by Sophia in that – Arland was a tyrant. Most think the Wardens are supposed to cut all political ties but the First Warden is actually the voice behind the throne of the Anderfels so it isn't such a stretch that Wardens could have titles and such."

"So… whatever we see that could be seen as bad… you agree with it?"

I snorted at Aedans words, "Fuck no! There is no excuse for allowing that blood mage to use people as test subjects for his discoveries… though when we find him, I will spare his life so long as he agrees to use ethical research from now on…"

"Find… isn't he dead?" Leliana asked. I shook my head and motioned to Morrigan, who thought for a moment, "In theory, blood magic could keep someone alive for a longer period of time… but 200 years?"

"The taint. Blood Magic comes from Demons first and foremost – but Avernus mastered his taint, discovered untapped powers that could stem from it – including, but not limited to, longer life, mana regeneration, speed boosts, attack speed increases and immunity to mundane blood magic. In fact, there are many reasons to keep that dumbass alive – so I will."

Sten growled lightly, "Immunity to regular blood magic?"

"Not sure how when Darkspawn are actually week to blood magic, but… yeah. Avernus' corrupted magic would work wonders, as strange as it sounds. You would think darkspawn would be immune to the taint magics, but they're not immune to it at all."

"I will… not prevent this mage living, then." Sten nodded. Just before they each took their groups to begin his task of clearing the towers, I handed each one a crystal earing like the one I gave Greagoir – meaning we could contact each other… it was going to be a long 12 hours. We started in the basement.

When my group came upon the library, the third vision started. "The door won't hold, Archivist." A young woman cried. The man she addressed was old and wizened as he bent over a book, writing hurriedly. "Just… almost… done… the truth must be told." He stammered.

"What does it matter? We're dead!" the woman wailed.

"Our grand rebellion, so close… and to die here, a stillbirth."

"We never should have done it; Wardens' aren't supposed to oppose Kings and Princes."

"Should we stand idle while…" before he could finish, the sound of a door bursting ended the vision.

Levi looked the book over, "If only it weren't burned…"

Alistair sighed in frustration, "Will there be any proof?"

"No, love – there won't. Arlands men burned anything incriminating 2 centuries ago."

Levi looked crushed.

It had already been 4 hours – and we still had approximately 8 more of fighting before we could even close the veil – I was a bit annoyed.

I decided to use sunfire for the A.O.E damage. When we reached the Commanders office – on the fucking 6th floor – it was near the Veil Tear. The vision began and Sophia – looking harried and starving but determined – shouted, "Make them pay for every inch, men!"

She rushed an enemy and engaged him in combat. Once he was dead, she called out, "Hold the Flank! Avernus – we need you!"

The mage in question, standing off to the side, nodded and began casting a spell after slitting his hand open. A rage demon came from a portal on the floor. One of Arlands soldiers shouted, "Andrastes blood! Wh-what?"

Sophia seized the soldiers' distraction and cut him down. She snarled, "More, Avernus – whatever it takes!"

He summoned a shade next causing Sophia to shout, "Press them! Press them, now!"

The rage demon turned on its master and attacked a warden mage as the shade went after a warden warrior.

Avernus shouted, "No! I command you here! Fight the kings' men!"

What startled everyone else was that the shade turned to the mage and spoke, "Fool; so much death, suffering and… oh yes, blood. The veil is torn now – your soul is mine."

"Acolytes – retreat! The battle is lost!" Avernus shouted and all the remaining mage wardens rushed toward the north tower door. The specter of Sophia shouted for him before her face twisted in rage and she returned to fighting vigorously.

That was when the vision ended and we had to fight a massive rage demon… it looked at me and froze, "I cannot sense you… what… are… you?"

"Death." I grinned and shot the damn thing with ice lance.

Levi looked at me, "They… summoned demons. Sophia… she knew. I thought we were better than that…"

"The Wardens don't actually forbid that, you know – and she was fighting for her life. She was almost dead of starvation anyway. She'd been giving her rations to the men."

He looked stunned, but it was Alistair who sighed and spoke up, "Personally, I don't agree with blood magic, and I know you don't either Iris – so why are you defending Sophia?"

"Because, my love – I understand her position here. She was dying – she knew she would never get the chance to avenge herself and wanted to take as many of the bad guys down with her as she could. You remember my story – while I didn't use blood magic to escape that compound, I did something almost as bad to escape. When Inas rescued me from that… I did horrible things on the way out to my captors. The blood elf who fathered my sons was left mutilated – but left alive at the time. Do you think worse of me?"

"No – it's not the same! He… he did things to you and…"

"Arland had Sophia tortured and raped while she was in his prison. How is her situation different from mine?"

Vision really sucked, sometimes. Alistair flinched, "He… he did that?"

"Yes." I said shortly. Levi looked horrified, but Alistair sighed and relented, "I… I guess you're right." I nodded.

I shrugged and checked on the others using my earring. "Sereda; status report?" I asked.

"The towers are tall, but they have small floor area – with our number we've managed to get more than half way through the tower."

"Leliana; report."

"Our tower is mostly bedrooms and bathing areas. As Sereda said, the floor areas are small, so we too are also half done."

I smiled, "Thanks for that – back to work."

We entered the office and the dog and Cinder began growling and barking at the possessed ghoul of Sophia Dryden.

The ghoul turned and glared at the dog, saying, "Get this annoyance away from me; this one would speak with you."

"Oh, really?" I asked, amused. "Speak if you must, Demon – the words will be your last."

"Fool!" the ghoul shouted and attacked, summoning 4 skeletons and 2 shades to the fight.

She… fell rather quickly and I decided to search around the office. There was chest in the corner with better Warden Commander Armor – a set not tainted by the ghoul. I squealed in glee and collected it along with the leather and cloth versions. There was also a sword, shield, dagger and mage staff so I grabbed them – they could be useful later.

Alistair looked amused, "Find something good, my love?"

"The 3 versions of the Warden Commander Armor – like what that ghoul is wearing – but they're in perfect condition. Also an amazing sword, dagger and mage staff as well as a shield – I'd offer it to you… but you have better."

We moved out of the room and toward the tower door. There were 8 skeletons on the 6th floor of the tower, but they died with a single arrow. And killing the demons on the towers' 7th was easy enough. From the 8th floor up, there were no enemies, since the entrance to that floor had once held a barrier. It was time to talk with Avernus.