Chapter 11: Rage Against the Dying of the Light

The group followed Teagan to the top of the hill facing the haunting castle. There was an old looking windmill. Gwen wasn't sure when the last time it had been used, maybe over a decade. Or perhaps the recent undead attacks aged the building into disarray.

Gwen had been gazing at the windmill for some time, not caring to pay attention to the boring conversation.

The shrill sound of a woman's voice barraged Gwen's ears. Gwen looked behind her for the first time, glaring at whoever the awful voice was coming from.

It was a skinny blonde woman, a lady of stature, Gwen assumed, by the way the woman held herself. Gwen had to stifle a laugh when she looked at her clothes. They were tattered and torn, with blood stains at the base. It was ironic the way she tried to seem powerful and collected, but her loose hair strands said otherwise.

And her voice...Gwen grimaced...she was Orlesian that much was true.

Gwen noticed a brief exchange of words between the shrew and Alistair, an unfortunate surprise to them both it seemed.

Isolde was the woman's name, and she was demanding that Teagan go up to the tower with her alone. Gwen scoffed, and Isolde gave her a dirty look. Gwen gladly returned one. Which, to Gwen's pleasure, shocked the awful woman.

This woman was in no place to be ordering us around, thought Gwen, how did she even get out of the castle in the first place? And why does she want to go back?

Gwen had her suspicions, but Teagan took the Grey Wardens aside and revealed his plan. He would leave with Isolde and they would sneak into the castle through the windmill through a secret passage.

"Oh I do love secret passages...:"Gwen said sarcastically to no one in particular.

Gwen looked at Teagan fully, he didn't look like a man who was ready to possibly lose his life, "You know that if you go with her you could die. Just look at her! How did she leave the castle? It's a trap, we both know that."

Teagan looked irritated at Gwen's comment, "Then I'll act as a distraction, in any case I have to go with her, I doubt whoever let her go will accept her coming back empty handed."

So Teagan walked with Isolde hurriedly back to the castle and the group went through the secret passage.

IXI

"Yuhck!" Leliana had stepped into Maker-knows what. She shook her foot hoping to remove the residue, "When will this tunnel end?" She said exasperatedly.

"Not much farther, I think I recognize this place ahead," Alistar commented pointing the way forward, "There should be some cells, then the exit."

They were in the dungeons, that much was clear, but the rotting smell of flesh wasn't just a coincidence.

The undead rose around them, surrounding them.

"Looks like another fight with Serah Bones," Leith called out as a skeleton leaped at him.

"Serah Bones?" Gwen questioned Leith immediately but didn't have time to listen to a response, she had her own Serah Bones to deal with.

Gwen dashed forward delivering a quick blow to its chest, her dagger slide across the boney chest, making a deep grove. It fell in between the skeleton's ribs, the pommel of the dagger was stuck behind the skeleton's chest.

"Maker-forsaken piece of shit." Gwen grimaced and looked up at the skeleton. If it had been a human fighting her she could imagine its smirking face, but it wasn't. It was an emotionless dead monster, animated by some evil magic. It doesn't feel pain or hesitation. And it would not hesitate in taking Gwen's life.

The skeleton took no time in capitalizing on Gwen's mistake. The skeleton's sharp claws, daggers in their own right, found their way into Gwen's side.

Gwen screamed, the pain was sharp and sudden causing Gwen to lose her breath.

Crimson blood seeped through her clothing and stained the skeleton's claws red.

"Gwen!" Leith yelled, the skeleton had stabbed her again in the side, and again and again, "GWEN!" He screamed, watching her die before his eyes.

No, this isn't right, Gwen thought to herself through the blood and pain, I can't die to a mere skeleton! I'm the Maker's chosen! I have a destiny! I've survived greater pain, this is nothing compared to the Initiation. Nothing, nothing...nothing…

Her vision went pure white, then black. She returned to a familiar place, her abyss. Echos of the outside world bounced back and forth, all of it was indistinguishable except for the screams.

It felt like she was under water, unable to speak or hear clearly. I broke free once, I can do it again. She searched for that pain, that sharp awakening, but it was gone. She realized her body was numb but her mind was untouched. She could think!

Gwen became scared, how can I escape from this place without pain? Where is my party? Why are they not saving me?

"Do not fear Gwendolyn," a deep fiery voice overtook the echos, "You will live. I will save you. You will save yourself. Unlike these pathetic excuses for humans, powerless, they need to remember their place. You are the chosen one, they are not. You should be the party's leader, not Solona. You have so much power. All you need to do is unleash it."

Gwen's soul was thrust back into her body, a wave of fire burst from within her, her inner rage boiled and turned the ground into molten rock.

The skeleton had long been vaporized, completely gone from existence, but the anger lingered. A storm of fire blanketed her, then...it died down like the wind.

Gwen had stopped bleeding, the fire and heat had closed her fleshly wounds and replaced it with with a molten material that had its veins glow.

Her sight came back to her; she saw all of her party staring incredulously at her, some in fear some in awe.

Her once boring brown eyes were the color of the Maker's Sun, of orange and yellow, of red.

Then that too, slowly faded back into the brown.

"Who are you?!" Solona yelled. It was a mixture of anger, fear, and confusion.

"What are you, would be the better question," Morrigan's voice was calm but her facial expression was estranged.

By that point Gwen had gone completely back to normal, she looked herself, even the molten material had disappeared and left normal skin and flesh in its place.

The rage and power lust that had consumed her was gone, and the insecure mean woman came back, "I don't know what happened! But I'm alive, that's all that matters. We still have a Blight to fight so stop looking at me like I'm a monster!"

"I saw the Maker's eyes in you," Leliana spoke, she looked deeply into Gwen's eyes, studying her.

"The Maker?" Morrigan scoffed, "I saw a demon," she narrowed her eyes, "a dangerous demon".

"All we know is that that was… immense power," Solona raised an eyebrow, "All of your life force had depleted, you were dead, I felt it. But a spark happened in you, that… power burst out, it exploded. That magic, I- I've never seen anything like it."

Alistair gave Gwen a look of sympathy, he didn't blame her but she could see past that sympathy and see fear, fear of magic, fear of demons. A templar. "I see a Grey Warden, with a power she didn't know. You died at the Initiation but lived, you died here but lived. I think you have an incredible power, and I don't care who or what you are as long as you're on our side."

Gwen was shocked at Alistair's support, the fear she had sensed in him was gone and what remained was...friendship? Gwen rejected that idea, they only needed her for her power now.

They believed she couldn't die, whatever that would bring, she didn't know.

Every being's eventual fate is death. But destiny changes everything, it breaks all the rules, it has the potential to destroy the world as we know it. But the world has a funny, sometimes cruel, way of balancing the forces of life and death.

A/N: All reviews/comments are appreciated! Thank you for letting me know what you think of the story and where you think it might go ;)