Chapter 62: All That Remains pt2

The walking dead are not, as superstition would lead you to believe, the living come back for revenge. They are, rather, corpses possessed by demons. The shambling corpse, controlled by a demon of sloth, causes its enemies to become weak and fatigued. Corpses possessed by rage demons go berserk and simply wade into their opponents mindlessly. Devouring corpses are held by hunger demons and feed upon the living. The more powerful demons rarely deign to possess a dead host.

To anyone who doubts the wickedness of blood magic, I say: With your own hands, strike down the corpses of your own brothers who have fallen in battle to a maleficar, then we may discuss morality.-Knight-Commander Benedictus, in a letter to the Divine, 5:46 Exalted.

Dark Foundry

The gang entered the foundry on guard for any demon that might attack them. "This place…we've been here before, haven't we?" Varric asked.

"This is where we found the human remains all those years ago. We should've known there was something else here" Aveline said.

"Ma must be here somewhere, we need to look around" The gang started their search, and wasn't long before they found their first clue.

"Hmm…bloodstains on the floor. My spell indicates that Alessa is close by" DuPuis said. "We're in the right place. Let's look around" They followed the trail of blood up the stairs until it stopped at a hidden trapdoor.

"Looks like someone forgot to conceal the door to his hideout"

Ericks frowned. "This wasn't here before" he said. "Ma's down there…with that bastard" He opened the hatched and dropped down to the ground with others following close behind. It did not take long before they were attacked by demons. Ericks jumped right in, much to the surprise of the gang. There was no joke, no witty banter…he was far too angry for that. Aveline went in to back him up and make sure the rogue didn't do anything reckless. DuPuis, Varric, and Merrill gave cover from a distance. When the battle was finished, they found a woman on a rack wearing fine clothes. Ericks ran over to her. "Ma!" When he turned the woman over, he found it was not Leandra but another woman who was freshly killed. "Alessa"

Merrill came over to her lover and places a hand on his shoulder. "Ma vhenan, be strong…we will find her"

"I hope so, Merrill…Maker I hope so" Aveline turned over a tarp and saw the grisly remains of the other missing women. Even more disturbing was that parts of their bodies were missing…eyes, feet, etc. She found a scribbled note on one of the barrels, it was mostly chicken scratched but she was able to make out something.

Aveline read the note with a grim look on her face, the killer wasn't just taking the bodies…he was preserving them. "We're dealing with a monster here…"

"I shudder to think what this bastard is using the body parts for" Varric said. "This guy needs a good arrow to the face" They continued on their way following the blood trail, as they went in deeper, a sickening smell assaulted their nose. The bodies that were here for the longest time was well into the decomposition process. Another note was on the ground, this time the killer was talking about a woman named Mharen…it was surprisingly full of warmth from someone so dark. Whoever she was, it was obvious the woman had an effect on him and that she had been dead for a long time.

"No, no, no!" Ericks picked up a locket. "Ma's locket…Da gave it to her on the anniversary of their marriage" he said. "She would never take it off…this is not a good sign" A little bit further, they went down the stairs to what looked like…living quarters. The killer had fully stocked pantry, a library and even a full bedroom down here. "Does he…live here?"

"No wonder the Templars and guards couldn't find him…everything in Kirkwall is connected by the sewer systems" Varric said. "Lots of good places to hide"

"Everyone look alive!" Aveline said. Demons and corpses appeared before them and attacked. Merrill cast a large lightning spell that stunned the enemy then DuPuis cast a fireball spell that blew them away. Ericks, Aveline, and Varric dealt with the stragglers and the battle soon ended. Ericks looked at an old portrait in the center of the room and his eye grew wide.

"What…is this?" he asked disturbed. "The woman in the portrait, she looks like…"

"Leandra…that is creepy" Varric said. "Oh, we're dealing with a real crazy one"

"He's dead man, if he lays a hand on her" Ericks growled. "Let's go"

"He had a lot of books on necromancy. The Templars will want to confiscate those when this is all over" Aveline said. "The pieces are all starting to fall into place in the worst way…" The gang headed down a long hallway, at the end of it was a pale gangly man in a circle robe. He had light grey eyes that were dead to the world. Put it all together, he looked like the very corpses that he made. He looked down at the chair and then looked at the gang.

"Ericks, I was wondering when you'd show up. Leandra was so sure you'd come for her" the man said. "She spoke so fondly of you. What a lovely, gentle woman" Ericks' eyes narrowed, his silver-blue eyes almost seemed to glow in the darkness making his malice towards the man all the frightening. As he was about to draw his blade, DuPuis spoke up.

"Quentin!"

"Gascard? So you've reached me after all these years. I figured you gave up"

"You knew who this man was? This whole time?" Aveline asked.

"I had other things on my mind" DuPuis said walking forward. "You promised you'd teach me, Quentin! You're going to deliver on that promise!"

"I promised to teach you. I didn't promise to teach you everything" Ericks had his blade at DuPuis throat, his eyes full of cold fury.

"Fucking with me is a very costly mistake, DuPuis"

"So tell us, was there ever a sister or were you just bullshitting us?" Varric asked.

"Well…no but I didn't deceive you totally" DuPuis said. "The plan was always to kill Quentin and we can still work together!"

"Once he's dead, you'll have your mother back and his research and writing will be mine"

"I'm sorry, Gascard. When my wife died, I lost all hope. I wasn't able to be the mentor you deserved" Quentin said. "But now my work finished, and I can teach you as I always meant to. Come back to me, Gascard"

"You'll let me be part of this? You'll teach me the secrets of necromancy?" DuPuis asked. "I…" The nobleman gave a grunt as arrow tore through his neck. He dropped to the ground and Varric came to retrieve his arrow.

"He told you DuPuis, fucking with us is not good for your health" the dwarf said. "Should have listened"

Quentin looked back; not shedding one tear for his fallen apprentice…something told the gang that DuPuis being killed by their hands was merciful on their part. It was more than he deserved. "You will never understand my purpose, Ericks. Your mother was chosen because she was special, and now she is part of something…greater"

"Spare me the demented bullshit! Where is she?!"

Quentin turned and gave a sick twisted grin. "She's here…she's waiting for you" he said. "I have done the impossible. I have touched the face of the Maker and lived"

"Do you know what the strongest force in the universe is?" He turned around. "Love. I pieced her together from memory. I found her eyes, her skin, her delicate fingers…and at last, her face…oh, this beautiful face" The body in the chair started to rise and the gang's eyes went wide.

"I've searched far and wide to find you again, beloved and no force on this earth will part us" Leandra was in white wedding dress but she was no longer of this world. She was a shambling corpse of mismatched parts all stitched together. This was no person; this was a mockery of life. The gang took out their weapons and attacked Quentin without warning…they were out for blood, more so Ericks.

"QUENTIN!" Ericks said enraged. The rogue charged at the blood mage with no plan and only the feeling of hatred in his heart. He knocked aside by a magical barrier. "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! NOTHING ON THIS EARTH WILL STOP ME FROM MAKING YOU PAY!" Quentin summoned corpses and shades to attack the gang, but Ericks ignored them to focus on the blood mage leaving the gang to deal with his minions. Merrill cracked the ground with an earthquake knocking the down while Varric fired a rain of arrows upon them. Aveline dodged the shade's attacks and swung around with a furious slash. The corpses and demons kept coming and threatened to overwhelm them, Merrill created space by ensnaring the enemy in tendrils of raw nature magic she then turned one of the corpses into a walking bomb that when killed took the other corpse with it. Varric pulled a lever on Bianca and fired a rapid volley of arrows on the demons, mowing them down. Aveline slammed her sword on the ground and knocked by the corpse; she then went lopped their heads off one by one.

Quentin was starting to strain, maintaining his barrier while summoning the demon after demon was tiring him. At the same time, Ericks was hitting his barrier with blow after rage-filled blow, even as his hand was bleeding from the attempt. The rogue care little for his injury, the only thing he cared about was killing the mage. With one more roar Ericks gave a blow that really made the mage's knees buckle. That one second of imbalance was all the rogue needed to tear through the barrier and tackle him to the ground. He plunged his dagger into Quentin's shoulder; he then grabbed his throat and beat him down with all of his might. With each terrible blow, Ericks could hear the mage gasping for air and choking for blood…he wasn't going to kill him just yet; he wanted to make the man suffer like his mother suffered when the mage butchered her.

"Ericks! Ericks, it's done now!" Merrill said pleading. She came over and grabbed his arm, Ericks looked at her and the elf gave him a tearful look. It hurt her to see him like this. "You stop now ma vhenan, don't let him change you into something you're not" Ericks' arm shook and all the energy just emptied out of him. He took his dagger out of Quentin shoulder and plunged it into his neck killing the blood mage.

"Hawke! Daisy!" Varric yelled. "Behind you!" The shambling corpse that wore Leandra's face stumbled forward over to them. Her eyes were never off of Ericks the whole time even while they were fighting. With Quentin dead, the magic he used to reanimate the corpse would dissipate soon.

"My…son…"

"Ma…" Ericks ran over and caught her before she fell and held her in his arms. Tears flowed from the rogue's eyes…it had been a long time since he cried like this, he always had to be in control. He always had to be strong for his family in case the Templars came took away his father and sister.

"I knew you would come"

"You know me. I always save the day…" Ericks said. He was trying to keep a strong face, but was fooling no one…not even himself.

"Shh. Don't fret, darling" Leandra said. "That man would have kept me trapped in here. But now…I'm free"

"I get to see Carver again…and your father. But you'll be here alone"

Merrill walked over and placed a hand on hers. It was so cold to the touch, Leandra would have long now. "He won't be alone…" she said softly. "We'll be here…always" The corpse gave a serene smile.

"Thank you…" Leandra said. "My brave little soldier has become so strong; you've made me so proud"

"I…love you…always" And she was gone, Ericks lowered his head and sobbed as Merrill hugged her lover tightly. Sorrow was all that remained in such horror.

A devastating loss…will Ericks recover or give into despair? Next Time! As always Review and Comment!