Betrayal of The Grey: Part II
The Western Approach was one of the most dangerous regions in Southern Thedas. An inhospitibal desert with sulfur pits, infested with varghests, phoenixes, quillbacks, not to mention the Rifts, and now dragons. Everything that wasn't you, wants to kill you, be it the plants, animals, even the very sun. And smack in the middle of that blistering wasteland with all its dangerous creatures was the Abyssal Reach. A massive crevice in the earth where the darkspawn flooded out of the Deep Roads like a black sea of evil that spread to half of Thedas in the Second Blight. The only creatures strong or insane enough to tread this wasteland was the Wardens. But right now, Rajmael wasn't sure who he should be more worried about. The darkspawn who always crawl up from the Abyssal Reach, or the Wardens who were supposed to be the world's first line of defense against he tainted monstrosities.
Rajmael and his companions, followed by Warden-Commander Nathaniel, first made their way to Griffon Wing Keep, recently liberated from the Venatori when the Inquisition disrupted their activities in this region. What the Inquisition didn't account for was the possibility of the Venatori being amongst the Grey Wardens. And right now, that was probably a bigger threat than solving the Orlesian civil war. The Orlesian Empire couldn't even pacify the Fereldans when they annexed that country for eighty years, whereas the Wardens have been the only warriors capable of ending Blights for over two thousand years, and were capable of more destruction than any empire could ever do. Rajmael could not let the Wardens be used in Corypheus' schemes.
All of them made their way over to wear the ancient ritual tower, but it was no wonder why it they had never seen it before. This building was so old and so decrepit it was not even appropriate to call it a ritual tower. It was more like a ritual lobby. By the time they got there, Hawke and Stroud were already waiting for them.
"Good. You're here, and just in time, too." Hawke welcomed.
"I fear we may have come too late. The ritual has already begun." Stroud informed. "We must move now."
"Seems like bloodmagic. You can tell by the smell of corpses in this Maker-forsaken heat." Hawke informed damningly.
"Hawke, Stroud, you two come with me and my companions. Nathaniel, I want you and yours to sneak around and flank them if things get ugly." Rajmael ordered.
"I hope that won't be necessary, but we won't let you down if it is." Nathaniel promised.
Nathaniel and Sigrun scaled the ruined walls and hid their presence while Oghren snuck around the walls to make sure nobody would get the drop on them. And as they entered the tower they found that this blood ritual the Wardens were attempting had already begun.
A lone Warden stood before his brothers, he looked frightened as they stared at him like this was some kind of tribunal...or an execution, judging from the pile of dead Wardens now rotting in the sun. But what really caught Rajmael's attention was the demons just standing their like they were waiting for something. But more disturbingly, the demons were standing side-by-side with the Wardens. This was beyond bizarre.
The lone Warden looked at his fellows with frantic desperation as one of his brothers in arms held a knife to him. "No! Stop! Brothers, can't you see this is insanity!"
A tall foreigner dressed in Tevinter-styled mage armor emerged on the ruined steps behind the frightened Warden. He had a long mustache and goatee hanging from his smiling mouth, and a look of sheer arrogance in his eyes. "Warden-Commander Clarel's orders were clear."
"No. This is wrong. This is evil!" The lone Warden protested.
"What is that motto of your?" The Tevinter asked sarcastically. "In, war victory. In peace, vigilance. In death...sacrifice?"
"I'm sorry. It's for the Order." The knife-wielding Warden whispered as he stabbed his brother in arms through the back and into his heart. The instant the unfortunate man's blood touched the ground, it swirled into a crimson vortex, and from the vortex emerged a flaming Rage Demon.
"Now, bind the demon just as I showed you." The Tevinter ordered.
The Warden mage lifted his hand to the infernal spirit of rage and beam of green magical energy connected to the demon, and calmed it. It must have been some kind of binding spell utilized through blood magic, but the magical energy seemed similar to Anchor on Rajmael's own hand. Then the Tevinter mage gestured his hand toward the Warden and Demon, and some kind of sickly red aura came over them both. The Warden led the Rage Demon to the side, like well-trained pet, and the two stood with the others in rank and file.
The Tevinter mage finally noticed the Inquisitor and his entourage approaching him, and the arrogant grin on his face grew wider. "Ah! The Inquisitor! What an unexpected pleasure. Lord Livius Erimond of Vyrantium, at your service." The mage gave a mocking bow.
"You are no Warden. What are you doing here?!" Stroud demanded.
"Oh. You must be the Warden that Clarel let slip." Erimond sighed in disappointment. "And you went to the Inquisitor in the hopes of stopping me, is that it? Well, we'll see how that goes. You cannot fathom the power that the Elder One has granted me. With my aid he will raise a..."
"Please, let me stop your whole evil villain speech." Rajmael interrupted in annoyance. "Let me guess: Corypheus taught you some form of ancient magic about how to bind and summon demons, and you are using the mages within the Warden ranks to summon a demon army to attack Thedas. Right? Five Royals says I'm right." Rajmael knew he was right. This was the demon army he learned of when he was in that future in Redcliffe. It was the demon army Corypheus meant to sweep through Orlais while it was embroiled in civil war.
There was a priceless dumbfounded look on Erimond's face. "You...know about that? Well...good. Then you know what is coming for you, and how all your attempts to stop my master in vain."
"What I want to know, is how you made the Wardens kill their own brothers."
"Made them? Ha! The Wardens did it to themselves, of their own free will! Fear is a great motivator, and they were so very afraid." Erimond laughed. "The Wardens were almost too perfect to use. They were all too eager to assist, just as the Elder One said. You should have seen Clarel agonize over the decision. The pains of leadership, I suppose."
"You lie!" Blackwall growled. "The Wardens are heroes! They'd never seek to ally with the Blight!"
Erimond laughed arrogantly. "You'd like to think so, but it's amazing what people like the Wardens will do when the Blight threatens them. My master created the false Calling that now plagues these simple minded fools. The Wardens became terrified, desperate, and so I approached Warden-Commander Clarel, full of sympathy, with an offer of aid, and, together, we came up with the perfect solution. Raise a demon army with the mages within the Wardens' ranks, and with this invincible army of tireless, long living, and obedient soldiers, we can eradicate the darkspawn and Old Gods, thus preventing another Blight from ever occurring again."
"Oh, how benevolent. And how false." Hawke denounced scornfully. "Corypheus, being of the Blight, is incapable of such righteousness."
"A Fereldan dog-lord has more brains than all the Grey Wardens in Orlais, I see." Erimond chuckled. "Yes, sadly the binding ritual does come with a slight side-effect: They are now my master's slaves. And this here, merely a small test of their devotion and ability to complete the ritual. Once the rest of the Wardens complete this ritual, the Venatori will have an army to conquer all of Thedas. And when the Elder One rules from the Golden City, we Venatori will rule as god-kings here on Thedas."
"How can you possibly assist in any of this!?" Dorian demanded incredulously. "Tevinter has fallen low enough as it is, do you really want to see our country, the whole world fall to the Blight?"
"The Elder One commands the Blight, not ruled by it, like a mindless darkspawn." Erimond answered. "The Blight is not unstoppable or uncontrollable. It is merely a tool."
"Someone's certainly a tool." Varric insulted.
Erimond laughed arrogantly at the comment. "I am the tool with which The Elder One will ascend to godhood. Something no knife-eared rattus will ever be."
"Hmm. Think I'm gonna kill you now." Rajmael finally had enough and prepared to conjure a lightning bolt to incinerate the disrespectful Venatorie.
"No. You won't." Erimond raised his hand to the Inquisitor and that aura of red magic connected to the Anchor in his hand. The influx of energy was so painful it almost put Rajmael on his knees, it was as though the Anchor were being forcibly removed from his hand. "The Elder One showed me how to deal with you, in the even you were foolish enough to interfere again. That make you bear? The Anchor that allows you to pass safely through the Veil? You stole it from my master. He has been forced to seek other methods to enter the Fade. When I deliver him back the Anchor, along with your head, his gratitude will be..." Rajmael stood back up and exerted his own will and magic back at Erimond. The Magister was not expecting such an attack, and paid the price when his hand erupted in an explosion of shrapnel, red mist and wet chunks of meat. "AAAIIGH! MY HAND!" Erimond screamed in shock and agony at the exploded, bleeding stump and shredded flesh and bone where his right hand used to be.
"Aww. I guess you won't be playing the violin again any time soon." Rajmael mocked.
"KILL THEM ALL!" the maimed Magister ordered as he limped away.
"Nathaniel, now!" Rajmael ordered. Nathaniel and Sigrun jumped from behind the ruined wall and flanked their former brothers and the demons. Nathaniel's arrows went flying straight through two Warden skulls while Sigrun pounced on a Shade demon and buried her dirk into it's dome and her axe into its face. Oghren broke through one of the ruined walls with his gargantuan war hammer, screaming like a maniac, and viciously engaged two rage demons. His hammer head swiped across both their faces and gorily smashed their faces open. Oghren fought with the legendary rage of the Orzammar Berserkers, all rage and no mercy. Sigrun's style was unknown to Rajmael. She darted and moved in the fashion of a rogue, even in that heavy armor of hers, but fought with the tenacity and deathly aim of a soldier with absolutely no regard for her own life. Nathaniel was an archer in a completely different class than Sera or Varric. Unlike those two, each shot Nathaniel made had the aim and discipline of a trained knight and soldier. He was completely calm under fire, and made every shot count, even in such close quarters.
Hawke furiously charged down the Warden mage that so coldly murdered his brother, despite his pleas, and several other mages. The possessed mages merged their magic together and conjured a massive wall of flame to engulf and devour The Champion, but he rushed through their fire spell as though it were a simple mist. Garret swung threw the Celebrant like a javelin at the murderous Warden, all five feet of the black greatsword went through its target he was made of paper, and stuck him like a pig. The Champion unstrapped his family shield from his back and unsheathed the Key-Sword from his hip and engaged the other mages. Their blood-fueled spells bounced off of his shield like rain drops, and he charged them down with the force of a battering ram and broke their bodies on his family's crest. The last one he finished off by swinging the scythe-like blade of his Key-Sword up through his right ribcage and out his left shoulder, the mage's upper body slid off his severed lower torso.
Stroud reluctantly engaged his former brothers. He darted and dodged each offensive spell and demonic attack as though he saw each move before it even happened. The demons tried to claw the Senior Warden and bite his head off, but his blade found it way into their grotesque heads and slashed through their bodies as he evaded and flowed with their movements. Before the mages had time to conjure up another spell, Stroud dashed past them and sadly severed their necks and slashed through their hearts.
Rajmael and his companions finished off what remained of the corrupted Wardens and the demons they summoned. If this happened to anyone else and not an elite group of trained killers, it would have been a disaster for common soldiers, not trained to fight demons, to stand and fight. And this wasn't even a fraction of what could be summoned. This was going to be a serious issue.
"You were right, Hawke." Stroud lamented as he sheathed his sword. "Through this ritual, the Wardens have become slaves to Corypheus' will."
"A ritual they willingly partook in, Stroud." Hawke scorned angrily as he pulled the Celebrant out of his impaled victim. "They let themselves be blinded and fooled because of their own fears, and not once took a moment to consider the consequences!"
"Erimond deceived them, just like Magister Alexius deceived the mages at Redcliffe." Blackwall defended. "Made them think that what they were doing was a good thing. These bastards are masters of lying to get what they want."
"How is allying with demons and killing your own men ever a good thing, Blackwall?" Dorian questioned. "How is using demons any better than using darkspawn to fight your battles?"
"The Wardens were wrong, Hawke, but they had their reasons." Stroud tried to reason.
"That was the same excuse Loghain Mac Tir had when he abandoned King Cailan at Ostagar." Hawke growled with venom and hate in his voice. "It doesn't matter how many people you kill or sacrifice, no matter how dire the consequences, so long as you have your reasons. In the end, it's always an excuse. And unlike you, or any Warden in Orlais, Stroud, I actually know what a Blight looks like."
"I know what it's like to try and make hard decisions with the greater good in mind and many lives at risk." Nathaniel added. "But sometimes we need to ask ourselves what the cost could be."
"If Aedan Cousland saw any of this, Clarel would die in screaming agony. Maybe she still will." Oghren said with contempt.
"This...this isn't right. Wardens are supposed to stand with each other, not kill each other." Sigrun spoke sorrowfully as she looked at the bodies of the sacrificed Wardens.
"It's as I've always said, any mage outside the Circle cannot be trusted to use magic responsibly." Vivienne scoffed.
"In death, sacrifice. Blessed are those who stand against the darkness and do not falter. These were the reasons they chose to die." Cole recited as he looked at the dead forlornly. "They wanted to do something good, and their brothers killed them, even the ones who said no."
"We have a bigger worry right now than why the Wardens did this." Rajmael announced. "Right now we should be more concerned about the big fucking army of demons the Wardens are going to summon for Corypheus, and what we're going to do about. Don't you think?"
"I believe I know where the Wardens are, Inquisitor. Adamant Fortress." Stroud answered. "Erimond was headed in that direction and it's only place big enough to house all the Wardens where they can conduct their ritual in secret. Where they can raise an army without alerting any nations."
"Oh, merciful Mythal..." Rajmael groaned. "All the Wardens in Orlais set in one place, raising a demon army and putting their mages under Corypheus' control. We have no choice..."
"No choice but to what, Inquisitor?" Solas asked.
"Head back to Skyhold, and get ready to wage war on the Wardens." Rajmael'a answer was as grim as the grave.
Back at Skyhold...
The Inquisitor and the others, including Nathaniel, Sigrun and Oghren, along with Hawke and Stroud, made their way back to Skyhold to prepare an assault on Adamant Fortress. This Grey Warden stronghold was one of the oldest, most formidable military bases in all of Thedas. And if the Wardens were preparing for what they thought would be their final stand, they would fight to the very bitter end to achieve their mission. Little did the Wardens know, that they were being manipulated by the Venatori and serving the very doom they wished to fight. Everyone waited as Inquisitor Lavellan and Warden-Commander Howe conveyed with the War Council.
While The Inquisitor was preparing a battle plan with his councilor's, Varric and Hawke were hitting the tavern. This place wasn't the Hanged Man, it was way too clean for comfort, and the booze weren't nearly watered down enough, but it would do. It had been far too long since either of them hand enjoyed anything like this as friends should. The Tavern was practically empty, so the two old companions were able to drink and laugh in peace
"I have to admit I'm proud of you, Varric." Hawke confessed as he finished his drink.
"What? Come one, Hawke, knock it off. You're going embarrassing me." Varric chuckled.
"I'm serious, Varric. I know you don't see yourself as the heroic type who goes out of his way to save the world, but that's exactly what you've been doing." Hawke raised his glass to his old friend proudly. "And you were right, the Inquisitor is exactly who we needed right now."
"If I recall correctly, you've had no small part in being a hero and changing the world either, O Champion of Kirkwall." Varric laughed.
"This has definetly been one of those great adventures. I just wish everyone else could be here right now to share in it." The Champion admitted sadly.
"Well, here's to all our friends, close companions and fellow do-gooders who aren't here to partake in this great adventure." The two of them raised their glasses high.
"I'll drink to that." Said a familiar, sultry voice that could only belong to one pirate in all of Thedas.
"Isabella...?" The instant the Champion turned his head, the voluptuous pirate lips found his, and her tongue flooded into his mouth, tasting the ale he just drank.
Varric watched in contended silence and took another swig of his drink as the two humans tickled each other's tonsils. After about a minute of making out, their mouths finally separated. It had been a while since anyone kissed Isabella like that, it made her knees weak and other parts of her anatomy feel shaky.
"Isabella, what are you doing here?" Hawke was taken completely by surprise.
Isabella sat down and took a drink from Hawke's cup. "Well, Hawke, you'll be surprised to learn that I have joined up with the Inquisition, and am now serving cause greater than myself by helping to save the world. I guess you rubbed off on me in more ways than one."
"Yeah, and all the gold Ruffles is paying her certainly has no affect in her decision to be here." Varric said sarcastically.
"Hush, you. Ambassador Montilyet can ask me for anything. Anything." Isabella winked suggestively at Hawke.
"I'm glad you're here, Isabella. It's good to know you're doing well." Hawke said truthfully.
"Oh, Hawke, stop, You're going to make me blush!" That look of sincere care and affection Hawke had always made Isabella's heart flutter. "And as much as I'd love for you to actually succeed, there's someone else here more deserving of your honeyed words, I think."
"Aneth ara, Ma Vhenan." Said a sweet Dalish voice laced with love and relief. Hawke stood and his heart almost burst with joy at the sight of his beloved Merrill. Her beautiful golden eyes were filled with tears of happiness, and she rushed into her lovers arms. Hawke kissed Merrill with all the passion he had for her, and the two lovers drank deep of each other's love. They would have gladly held each other like that forever, but had to separate for the sake of breathing.
"Merrill, what are you doing here?" Hawke asked curiously.
The former First tried to catch her breath, and hold herself steady after the kiss left her knees weak. "Isabella told me about what was happening. That you were aiding this Inquisition, and I had to see you again." Merrill held Hawke close and buried her face in his chest. "I've missed you so much, Hawke. It was hard to be away from you without any word. I had to see you again."
Isabella snuck right behind Hawke and wrapped her arms around. "You know, Hawke, it's been a very long time since all of us have been together. Not since that long, intense night we shared before you left to escape the Chantry. Maybe before you go off another high-risk adventure, we should spend some time getting...reacquainted." Isabella gently, but naughtily, bit Hawke's ear between her teeth.
After spending years with Isabella, Merrill knew when the pirate queen was talking dirty, and liked it. Merrill wrapped her arms around Hawke's neck and pressed her breasts against his unarmored chest. "Hmm. Yes, Ma Vhenan. I want to know how much you've missed me."
After almost two years of not seeing either of them, and that intense look in Merrill's eyes, coupled with Isabella chewing on his earlobe, his legendary resolve was broken, he was unable to resist these two beautiful women. He wanted to be with them one more time before he went to wage war on the Grey Wardens.
"Varric, the drinks are on me." Hawke called back.
"You crazy kids go have fun! Maker knows you deserve it, or if you'll ever have a chance like this ever again." Varric encouraged. And they did deserve it, Hawke more than most.
~XoXoXo~
The three lovers found their way to one of the ruined, unmanned towers along the wall where no one would disturb them, though Isabella certainly wouldn't mind. Oh, how Hawke had longed for this after being gone for almost two years from the women he loved most. Merrill's soft, warm flesh, her naturally flexible body, and innocent adventurousness to try new things. Isabella with her voluptuous breasts, experienced techniques, and limitless imagination. The empty tower was filled with Merrill's innocent sighs of pleasure and Isabella's cries for more. Hawke gladly, hungrily obliged both his women. The three lovers writhed, and moved together as one while they rode on waves of ecstasy until they crashed against their peak of climactic bliss.
All three of them of laid together in an entangled heap of sweat and satisfaction. Isabella was the first to remove herself from their interlocking bodies, a lustful look of content was painted on her face. "You haven't lost your touch at all, O glorious Champion. You haven't lost anything." She kissed both her lovers and reluctantly decided to put her clothes back on.
Merrill cuddled into Hawke's arms like a lost kitten, worried for her love's safety. "Hawke, please don't die. There is so many bad things happening, and I couldn't bear it if I lost you."
Isabella turned her head back in surprise. "Now, Kitten, you should know better. Nothing can harm Hawke. The Arishok, Meredith and even this Corypheus bastard couldn't even put a scratch on his handsome face."
Hawke gently ran his fingers through Merrill's hair as she looked up at him with tears verging in those beautiful eyes of hers he loved so much. "Merrill, nothing is going to happen to me. I have far too much to live for to die now."
Merrill buried her face into his chest. "Promise me, ma vhenan. Promise me you'll come back."
Hawke held his Dalish lover close to him and whispered softly in her ear. "I swear, Merrill. Even if I have to cross through the darkest realm of the Fade to come back to you. Both of you."
Isabella wrapped herself around both of them. Never had she felt more at home than she did with these two. "And we'll hold you to that promise, Hawke. Even if we have to go to the darkest place in the Fade to find you."
"I love you so much, Hawke. Don't ever leave me, ma vhenan." Merrill stifled back a quiet sob, and all three were content to just stay there, and enjoy their small peace for just a while longer.
~XoXoXo~
Oghren sat by himself drinking some Coastland Whiskey from the flask hanging under his beard while he maintained his weapon. Sigrun sat nearby and did the same with her armor, showing off the intricate Casteless and Carta tattoos on her face. Two very large shadows came over both the dwarves, it was the horned guy, Iron Bull, and fellow Grey Warden, Blackwall.
"So...uh, what ya up to there, Oghren?" Iron Bull asked to pass the time.
"Oh, you know, just...polishing my big war hammer." Oghren snickered.
Iron Bull got the innuendo and played along. "Yeah, got to really stroke that thing if want get it ready for some serious swinging."
"Yeah, sometimes I like to just take my weapon out like this, and polish and scrub it all day long. It really makes a difference when it's time to get down and dirty." Oghren chortled.
"Oh, Sweet Ancestor." Sigrun groaned in disgust. "It's bad enough I gotta deal with Oghren all day, but do both of you have to do that?"
Both the dirty-mouthed warriors laughed heartily, even Blackwall joined in.
"So you're Warden Blackwall, eh? I've heard of ya." Oghren admitted. "With a beard like that and the way you killed those dusters back at that ruin, I could have sworn you were dwarf. Good to know there's other good Wardens out there."
"I...I do my best. Maker knows we Wardens need to, especially now." Blackwall answered.
"Yeah, I don't think our Order is going to be making a whole lot of friends after this." Sigrun sighed. "Stone, I don't know if the Order will ever recover from this, or what Anders did over in Kirkwall."
"Perhaps it shouldn't." Solas stated aloofly as he entered the conversation, and instantly getting everyone's attention. "Your Order is so completely obsessed over the darkspawn they care for nothing else. And now they deliberately seek out the Old Gods with demons in a foolish attempt to preempt the Blight. Such actions and their consequences can only bring about ruin, just as much the Blight itself would. Perhaps your Order simply doesn't deserve to defend this world anymore."
"For once, I must agree with our resident apostate." Vivienne added. "You Wardens lack any form of oversight and expect too much for your irrelevant Order."
Oghren silently put his war hammer down and stood tall against the elven apostate and Imperial Enchanter with a nasty scowl on his face. "And what the sod do a couple of mage lyrium-lickers like you know about the Wardens? Unlike you, who spend all your time skipping around in dreams, or sipping swill with nobles, the Warriors of Orzammar wake and sleep with the darkspawn always on their mind, and we'd give anything to defend our city, and the only ones who aid us, or know what we go through is the sodding Wardens. The Wardens live and die in pain so shaved-headed dusters like you can sleep in your fancy beds, and play with yourselves in dreamland, but you never give us the time of day unless the darkspawn are messing your day up! What have you moss-lickers ever done for your own people, or anyone for that matter, that compares to all the times the Wardens saved this sodding world!?"
Solas only stood there in silence, while Vivienne's scowl matched Oghren's. The Imperial Enchanter did not take well that this foul smelling dwarf would dare speak to her with such insolence.
"Have you ever heard the screams of a woman being dragged off to be turned into a broodmother? Or see a whole family, women and children, get eaten by darkspawn." Sigrun demanded.
"I would never be caught in such a place. Such horrors are best fit to be dealt with by the dregs of the world that only an Order such as yours would accept." Vivienne disparaged.
"Oh, that's right. I heard you're always too busy juggling Lord Fancy-Pant's withered cock in your mouth to do anything useful." Sigrun mocked.
"I sodding knew it." Oghren scoffed. "You ain't done nothing but nothin' with your life, and got no business judging the Wardens. Being a Warden is the only good thing I've done with my life, and I'll be damned before I let a bald-headed, knife-eared hobo, and a topsider noble-hunter pretending to be a lady like you two insult us to my face!" Oghren, red-faced and pissed, grabbed his hammer and held it ready if either mages said another word.
"Resorting to violence as your first resort to an honest truth?" Vivienne laughed haughtily. "You dwarves really are quite quaint."
Sigrun and Oghren exchanged a nasty look.
"Let's break her legs." Sigrun suggested cheerfully.
"Orzammar style!" Oghren agreed heartily.
Meanwhile, in the War Room...
Rajmael over looked the War Map with his advisors, Cassandra and Nathaniel, trying to come up with a feasible plan of assaulting this mighty keep and the Wardens who held it. They had spent the past hour and a half getting the orders to their forces to stand ready, and explaining the events that happened to the other Advisors.
"Adamant Fortress is one of the oldest, most defensible keeps ever built. It has stood strong since the time of the Second Blight." Leliana stated.
"Fortunately for us, that means it was built before the age of modern siege equipment." Cullen informed confidently. "A good trebuchet will do some serious damage to those walls. And thanks to our Lady Ambassador..."
"Lady Seryl of Jader was pleased to lend the Inquisition her sappers." Josephine smiled brightly. "They have already delivered the trebuchets."
"But that is only the good news." Leliana finished.
"Oh, wonderful. I was worried this would be too easy and we wouldn't break a sweat." Rajmael said sarcastically. "What's the not so good news?"
"We have been unable to account for the Wardens bolstering their numbers with an army of demons." Leliana answered.
"We can breach the gates, but if the Wardens have already summoned their demon army, then we our forces will not be able to stand against that kind of force for very long." Cullen knocked over the little army token on the map confirming the grim reality.
"Does our present Warden have any useful information to add?" Rajmael asked looking at Nathaniel.
"Every Warden-Commander is required to study every map of the possible strongholds that we might need to take command of should the time arrive." Nathaniel answered.
"My agents have acquired old maps of Adamant that we can use to find ceraint chokepoints to hold the enemy at bay." Leliana revealed.
"Good. I know exactly which points will give us the most advantage. We can get your men inside and have them hold off Clarel's forces until the Inquisitor disrupts their ritual." Nathaniel confirmed.
"You seem rather eager to help us defeat your own Order, Warden-Commander." Cassandra pointed out suspiciously.
"I'm more surprised than you are, Seeker." Nathaniel answered grimly.
"Then why do you choose to aid us against your comrades?" Cullen asked.
Nathaniel sighed deeply filling himself with more regret than air. "Ten years ago, during the Amaranthine Crisis, just after the Fifth Blight, I was conscripted into the Wardens because of I wanted to assassinate Aedan Cousland for murdering my father and bringing my family low. But over time, I realized I was wrong, and grew to respect The Hero of Ferelden."
"Hmm. Yes. Aedan did have that effect on people." Leliana agreed. "Maker knows I certainly would have feared or hated him if I hadn't gotten to know the man beneath all that brutality."
"During that time, there was some kind of...civil war between two factions of darkspawn." Nathaniel revealed as he continued his story. "They were being led by awakened darkspawn called The Architect and The Mother. Intelligent, sentient who could think, influence and command other darkspawn, and even speak."
"Sweet Maker! Talking darkspawn?" Josephine gasped, the others share her horror. "How...how can that be?!"
"I...truly do not know. The Mother was insane, and wanted to kill everything and destroy the Architect. She even created a new breed of darkspawn called the Children." Nathaniel's lips curdled like sour milk, and his hand twitched at the mere mention of those creatures. "After the Mother failed to destroy Amaranthine, Aedan, Sigrun, a Dalish Warden named Velanna and I, tracked the Mother to her lair in the Dragon Bone Wastes."
"A Dalish Warden?" Rajmael asked curiously.
"Yes. She joined us because the Architect killed members of her clan and kidnapped her sister, Seranni, and was willing to do anything to find her." Nathaniel answered with a look of sorrow on his face. "And when we went to the Dragon Bone Wastes to confront the Mother, Seranni was waiting for us, with the Architect at her side. They both tried to convince us that all The Architect wanted was to...help his people, the darkspawn. Free them of their destructive nature, and the call of the Old Gods. He wanted to ally with the Grey Wardens and spread his gift to all the darkspawn to prevent a Blight from ever happening again."
"Holy Andraste." Cassandra sighed. "What...what did you do?"
"I had just witnessed the Mother's Children almost burn Amaranthine to the ground, and I heard that they were assaulting Vigil's Keep. My family defended both those holdings for almost a thousand years, and after what I saw, I would have done anything to keep that from happening again. So like an idiot, I wanted to go along with Seranni and the Architect's plan." Nathaniel's voice was filled with shame and regret.
"And what did Aedan do?" Leliana asked eagerly.
"He spat on the Architect's offer, then fought with it. Ended up ripping the creature's head off before burning it's body to a pile of ash." Nathaniel answered as though he was telling a story that had been repeated too many times. "Seranni escaped into the darkness during the battle, and then we finished The Mother. Aedan stabbed her through the mouth with a Cousland dagger, and then had her loathsome body incinerated."
"None of this answers why you would turn on your fellow Wardens." Rajmael reminded. "If anything, it seems more like your telling us why we need your Order."
"Because I failed in my duty." Nathaniel answered bitterly. "I wanted to take the Architect's offer to try and stop Blight's from occurring, and Velanna blamed Aedan for losing her sister by not allying with the Architect. And Aedan told us both something that I will never forget: A Warden's duty is not to try and find an easy way out, a shortcut, or to try and outsmart the Blight. Our duty is to man our post, hold the line, and fight the enemy. And that is why I am helping you against the Warden's. Because they have abandoned their post to find an easy shortcut."
"I agree with Nathaniel says." Leliana spoke. "Aedan would never forgive what these Wardens are doing, and why they are doing it."
"Then our path is clear." Rajmael confirmed. "I want our forces ready to assault Adamant Keep in one hour. And call in every all the mercenary companies on our payroll. With luck, they might have more experience fighting demons than our main forces do. And if they find anything in that Keep that doesn't look like it belongs in this plane of existence, kill it."
"I'll be going with you." Leliana stated confidently.
"What?!" Cullen and Josephine asked in shock and surprise.
Rajmael was just as surprised. "You've never accompanied me on any of my previous missions because of your importance to our network of agents. Why so eager now?"
"I agree with your initial reasoning, Leliana. It's too dangerous. If something were to happen to you the Inquisition would be hobbled." Cassandra said with concern.
"I also know the choke-points and areas to hold that will best aid our forces just as well as Nathaniel does. And besides, Warden-Commander Nathaniel and I both fought at the Hero of Ferelden's side. I've seen first hand what heroes the Wardens truly are." Leliana spoke with a confidence and determination Rajmael had not seen in her before. "I must aid in this battle on Aedan's behalf. It's least I could do for an old friend, and his comrade."
"I would be honored to fight by your side, Sister Leliana." Nathaniel welcomed.
One of Josephine's scribes came rushing through the door with panic on her face. "My Lord Inquisitor! You must come to the lower courtyard quick!"
"Why? Are we under attack?!"
"Not exactly." The lady scribe said nervously. "The two dwarven Wardens are fighting with Imperial Enchanter Vivienne. And I fear it is getting worse."
"Oh, for the love of Dirthamen." Rajmael sighed. "Okay, I'll go handle it. Five royals says that this started because Vivienne couldn't keep her bitch mouth shut."
Later at the Gates of Adamant Fortress...
Rajmael along with all his forces stood before the gates of Adamant Fortress. The air was silent, but there was a certain tension that accompanied the silence, like the calm before the storm. From afar the Inquisitor and his forces could see the Wardens in their silverite armor standing ready on the ancient battlements of Adamant Fortress. The Wardens stood ready to defend their keep, to defend their cause, even if it meant their doom. Rajmael felt ashamed that such dedication was being manipulated by Corypheus in his mad scheme to become a god.
Almost an hour ago, Rajmael decided to give the Wardens one last chance to see reason, and sent an messenger to deliver terms of surrender lest the Wardens be destroyed. They should be getting a response soon.
"Inquisitor! Look there." Cullen pointed in the distance. It was there messenger returning from the fortress, alive. He handed the Inquisitor the Wardens' response, and Rajmael quirked an eyebrow in disbelief. "What does the message say, Inquisitor?" Cullen asked anxiously.
"In War, Victory. Sign, Warden-Commander Clarel." That was the Wardens' answer, and the Inquisitor's path became clear. "Commander Cullen?"
"Yes, Lord Inquisitor?"
"FUCK THEIR SHIT UP!" With that command, all the trebuchets unleashed all the fire, stone and fury the Inquisition brought to bear. Cullen was right; the ancient stone walls of Adamant Fortress were not built, nor capable of withstanding modern day siege equipment. The massive stones and a combustible jars they flung at the keep did serious damage to it, and all the Wardens could do was stand there and try not to get hit.
The initial assault went on for almost an hour, and while the Keep continued to hold, its walls were beginning to weaken.
"Nya-ha! Shove this Blight up your taint, prigs!" Sera laughed mockingly as she fulfilled a lifetime goal of throwing a trebuchet full of pissed off bees and flaming pig shit at the walls. And by some freak stroke of luck, or the gods' sick sense of humor, that last jar that Sera launched caused the front wall to crumble.
Cullen lifted his sword forward to the keep and raised it high. "Forward!"
Rajmael planted his sword into the ground and knelt in prayer. "Dirthamen, Keeper Secrets and Fortune, reveal to me the secret to victory and knowledge to win this battle Mythal, All-Mother and Patron of Justice, grant me your protection as I face this powerful enemy. Andruil, Greatest of All Hunters, give me the strength to strike down my enemy and all who aid him. And should the worst come to pass, I ask thee, Elgar'nan, All-Father, Eldest of the Sky, to grant me vengeance. Las ar enasalin, ten las ar atishan."
The Inquisition forces raised their standards high and marched forward in disciplined formation, chanting in unison. The trebuchets continued their assault as the men marched forward to the Gates of Adamant with a massive battering ram. Like an angry fist against a deserving face, the battering ram smashed against the ancient gate again and again, and again. The sheer force of the assault began to shake the whole keep. The fist of the Inquisition smashed against the gate one last time the gate and the wall surround it splintered and shattered. The legendary Adamant Fortress had been breeched.
"Warden! Pull back! They're through!" A Warden officer ordered.
Rajmael and his companions emerged through the flaming, destroyed gates ready to stop the Wardens from summoning the demons.
"All right, Inquisitor. You have your way in. Best make use of it." Cullen stated. "We'll keep the main forces occupied while you and the others make your way to Clarel."
"Oghren, Sigrun, Leliana, and I will try to hold off the Wardens and them from getting out of the keep." said Nathaniel.
"I fear the Wardens have already started the ritual and have summoned far too many demons for our men to handle for long." Leliana informed dismally. "It is imperative that you find Clarel and end this madness now before she summons a whole army to overrun us."
"I'll help clear you a path. Keep the demons and the Wardens off you as long as possible." Hawke said confidently.
Stroud came forward. "And I'll accompany you. With luck, perhaps some of my brothers will see this madness for what it is and surrender."
"Corypheus is not going to destroy us, or an army of pet demons. I swear it." Rajmael promised.
"It's an honor to fight at your side, Inquisitor." Nathaniel comented.
"No go make 'em eat dust!" Oghren bellowed.
"Kick that Magister in the pickles and eggs for us!" Sigrun bade comically.
All of them charged on their paths, ready to slay any and all that stood in their path. They could not fail here. There was for too much at stake to let victory fall into anyone else's hands. It was the Wardens or Thedas.
~XoXoXo~
Nathaniel and his group stood before a squadron of fellow Wardens accompanied by their possessed mages and bound demons. Nathaniel, Oghren, Sigrun and Leliana felt no fear, they fought and killed worse things with Aedan Cousland. But they could sure use his help right now.
"The Warden-Commander of Ferelden!? How can you turn your back against the Order?!" One of the Wardens demanded.
"You and the Warden-Commander Clarel have made a terrible mistake that threatens to destroy the world. Stand down!" Nathaniel ordered.
"We are doing this to save this ungrateful world! Our orders are clear! Attack!" Wardens and demons charged down the intruders. They would allow anyone to interfere with their sworn mission.
Nathaniel loosed two arrows that penetrated the one Warden's visor and into his eye sockets, and Sigrun's hand-axe flew through the air and was lodged into a second Warden's skull, and while they handled the Warden, Oghren and Leliana engaged the demons. Oghren feigned the two demons to get just close enough, and just as they were in range, and completely unaware of the how dangerous this dwarf was, he unleashed a powerful flourish. His hammer smashed through their grotesque physical forms, ripping their flesh and breaking their bones. Leliana disappeared like a shadow that even these wraiths couldn't find. Her blessed arrows appeared out of nowhere and stuck the demons in their hideous faces, the holy blessings upon these projectiles burned away the demons until they were nothing but a pile of black ashes.
A Warden soldier got too close to Nathaniel, swinging his sword at the former Fereldan nobleman. Nathaniel easily ducked beneath the man's swing and jammed his dagger beneath his chin and up into his brain. Nathaniel looked into the man's eyes until the life was gone from them. It hurt Nathaniel to kill his own brethren after ten years of being a Warden, but these men chose their path, and he couldn't let them summon any more demons.
"Take that nug-humpers!" Oghren bellowed.
"Don't celebrate too soon, Oghren. We still got a whole keep full of these things." Sigrun chided.
"Oh, I hope there's more, hot pants." Oghren said eagerly.
"We still have several more points to clear out for our forces to move in. Let's go!" Leliana called. All four of Aedan Cousland's former comrades ran further down the corridors of Adamant Fortress, slaying the demons and any Warden unwise enough to not surrender. They must secure these points, no demon must leave this fortress alive. If only the Hero of Ferelden were here...
~XoXoXo~
Rajmael and his companions sped their way further into the fortress. Demons and corrupted Wardens littered their path. Just how many of her own men did Clarel sacrifice to summon this many demons? With might, magic and guile, Rajmael and those who stood with him destroyed everyone who stood in their path. Iron Bull hated demons more than he hated Vints or Tal-Vashoth, and cut down everyone that got in his way with that oversized axe of his, while Solas used his Fade magic to disperse and banish the hostile spirits, and Sera just went ballistic, smashing vile, after vile of her special concoctions to make the demons stay away while she fired every arrow she had at the Wardens. Vivienne used her trademark ice magic to block the Wardens from getting to close and funnel their numbers with ice walls, then freezing them into solid blocks of shattered ice.
Cassandra used her Seeker powers to disable the corrupted Warden-Mages' powers and weaken their summoned demons. With the demons weakened and the mages disabled, Blackwall and Cole were easily able to get close enough to kill them with their mace and knives respectively. Varric was able to give ample cover fire to all of his companions with Bianca, and threw his new shrapnel grenades covered in tar. The result was an utter mess of men with burn scarps of metal and flaming tar that tore and melted their skin at the same time. Dorian used his Nevarran Styled Necromancy to wrest control of the demons from the corrupted Wardens and force them to fight on their side, before sending them back to the Fade in flames.
They made their way to one of the battlements where it looked like some of the corrupted mage Wardens wanted to continue the ritual and sacrifice more of their men. But these men refused to be used as fodder for demons.
"Stop! Brothers, can't you see that this is madness!" One of the Wardens pleaded vainly as his fellow Warden used bloodmagic to hold him against his will. Some of them men still were still apprehensive to raise their weapons against their fellow Wardens.
"It's no use! Their minds are not their own!" Stroud yelled.
"If you truly care about your brothers, then free them from their enslavement!" Hawke yelled.
The Warden-mages immediately turned their attention to the Inquisitor and his men. At the sight of Stroud, the unaffected Wardens picked up their weapons and fought at his side. Rajmael and Hawke fought in unison, their respective sword styles complimenting one another. Rajmael used incredible speed and accuracy straight from the draw, every stroke of his sword made it mark, and his Shimmering Shield of magic protected him from harm. Hawke used his shield and sword in these close-quarters with outstanding discipline. He exposed every opening his opponents made, and whenever an opponent, human, mage or otherwise, struck at him, he halted them with his shield then finished him with his Key-Sword.
The demons and corrupted Wardens were dead, but the frightened and rattled Wardens didn't trust the Inquisition.
"Stay back! I'm warning you!" The Warden-Officer warned.
"I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to." Rajmael warned. "I'm only here to stop Clarel. Fall back now, and you will not be harmed."
The Wardens lowered their weapons. "Alright. Me and my men want no part of this. Go find Clarel and deal with her as you must."
"Thank you for sparing them Inquisitor. Maker willing, perhaps the rest of them will listen as well." Stroud thanked.
"If these Wardens wanted to listen to reason, they wouldn't have declared you a traitor to the Order." Hawke reminded.
"Come one! We're almost there." Rajmael ordered. "We need to stop this before Clarel completes this ritual!"
~XoXoXo~
Clarel could hear the fighting intensifying. The Inquisition forces had broken through and she knew the Inquisitor was making his way here. How many more of her brothers and sisters were dying right now because they didn't understand. They could never understand that everything the Wardens did, they did it to keep this world safe. But the world would never honor their sacrifice. This ritual Erimond taught her was the only option they had left. And with the Calling so clear in her ears, she knew this was the only path left to them. Her men's morale was weak, and knowing their comrades were dying only weakened their resolve further.
"Wardens! We are betrayed by the very world we are sworn to protect!" Clarel called.
Erimond approached her, his maimed arm still a bleeding stump wrapped in a clothed tourniquet. "We have no time to stand on ceremony, Warden-Commander. The Inquisition is coming through your very door. Start the ritual now!"
"These men and women are giving their lives for this ritual, magister. That may mean little in Tevinter, but to the Wardens, it is a sacred duty." Clarel said spitefully.
Erimond shook his head angrily and resumed nursing his stump. Clarel turned to one of her oldest friends. They had shared times, battles and tears together. And now their journey, and duty was coming to an end. "It has been many years, my friend." Clarel spoke bitterly.
"Too many, Clarel. And now, I'm a tired old man." The Senior Warden kneeled dutifully. "If my sword arm can no longer serve the Order, then my blood will have to do."
Clarel walked behind her friend and brought sorrowfully brought it to his neck. "It will do, my friend." And Clarel gently glided her blade across his neck, spilling his blood on the ritual circle that Erimond had inscribed.
~XoXoXo~
Rajmael and his companions barged though the massive doors, splintering it to pieces. The Inquisitor watched in horror as Clarel coldly kill her own brother. How could she do this? Despite all the horror going on around them, a wide twisted grin wiped across Rajmael's face when he saw Erimond and his stubby right arm. And Erimond noticed.
"Hey, Erimond! How's the your writing arm doing?" Rajmael asked mockingly.
"Stop them! We must complete the ritual!" Erimond ordered frantically.
Rajmael motioned his people to halt, and approached the Wardens calmly, even as they drew their weapon. "Clarel, if you complete this ritual, you're playing right into Erimond's hands. All one of them."
A vicious scowl came over Erimond's face. "You speak as though I'm the enemy, when you're the one who murdered your way in here! I gave the Wardens the means necessary to stop the Blights from ever happening again! Yes, it requires blood sacrifice. Hate for that if you must, but don't hate the Wardens for doing there duty."
"The Wardens make the sacrifices no one else will. We die proudly for a world that will never thank us!" Clarel said bitterly.
"And then your Tevinter ally binds your mages to serve Corypheus!" Stroud yelled desperately.
"Corypheus? But...but he's dead." Clarel said disbelievingly.
"These people will say anything to shake your confidence, Clarel." Erimond said with all the venom of a snake. "You must do what needs to be done."
Clarel looked down at the Inquisitor, and after a moment rediscovered her resolve. "Bring it through!"
The Warden mages raised their hands above the Tevene runes and charged their magic though it. The circle blazed with life and opened a massive Rift in the middle of the courtyard. And on the other side, Rajmael could see the largest demon he'd ever seen. It glared at them hungrily with a thousand mad eyes. It was so big it couldn't even fit through the Rift. Yet.
Hawke, Stroud, and Rajmael approached the Wardens. At the sight of such the malignant creature they summoned, Rajmael could see some of the Wardens resolve falter.
"Please, don't do this! I've seen the destruction and ruin bloodmagic can bring. This will only bring about our doom, not salvation!" Hawke shouted.
"I trained half of you myself. Don't make me kill you to stop you from destroying the Order." Stroud pleaded desperately.
The was an earth-shattering roar from the other side of the Rift. The giant demon was getting closer.
"Be ready with the ritual, Clarel." Erimond whispered. "This demon is truly worthy of your strength."
Blackwall stood forward. He had try and speak sense to them. "Many of you don't know who I am, but you know me as Blackwall. Being a Warden is the only good thing I've done with my life, and I honor your sacrifice. But this does not honor us! This man seeks to use you to bring about the world's destruction for the creator of the very Blight we fight against."
Rajmael could see Blackwall's words taking hold amongst the Wardens. He needed to convince them of what was truly happening before it was too late. "Look at what you've done! The Wardens you murdered and the demons you summoned! Is this truly how the Wardens defend the world from the darkspawn?! By murdering your own and calling it honor? Are you going to let yourselves be used in an insane ritual and let demons in the world? All because Clarel is scared?!".
"The mages who did the ritual, they're not right!" One of the Wardens finally admitted. "They were my friends, but now they're like soulless puppets!"
"You cannot let fear sway your mind Warden Chernoff!" Clarel urged.
"You're being used, Clarel and you know it!" Hawke spat. "You're just too scared to open your eyes realize it. You sacrificed your own men in a ritual you don't understand because you're a coward!"
"The day may come when you're asked to give your life for the Blight." Stroud admitted. "But not today, and not like this."
The Wardens heard their words, and listened. They all looked to their commander with betrayal in their eyes. Even Clarel's resolve was beginning to falter in her eyes. And suddenly Erimond wasn't looking so confident anymore.
"Clarel, we have come so far. You're the only one who can do this." Erimond pleaded.
"Perhaps...perhaps we can learn the truth of these charges, to avoid more bloodshed." Clarel suggested.
That pleading look on the magister's face washed away and was replaced with something very pissed off. "Or maybe I should have brought a more reliable ally." Erimond stepped forward and held his staff in his remaining hand and stamped it to the ground with that same red magic. "My master thought you might come here, Inquisitor! So he sent me an old friend to welcome you!"
A shrill cry split the air and almost shook the ground, and a familiar dark figure flew through the night sky. It was that corrupted pet dragon that Corypheus commanded.
"Shit! Move!" Rajmael cried. The dragon dove down and spat it's colored fire into the courtyard. It flew back into the sky and circle around them, knocking down statues and bits of the keep to crush them.
Erimond stood over the Rift and energized it with foul magic. The Rift surged and swelled, and demons began to pour through like a maggots out of carcass. Demons of Pride, Rage and Sorrow began slaughtering the remaining Wardens. Realizing that she had been deceived, and had truly murdered her own brothers and sisters for nothing, Clarel struck at Erimond from behind with lightning.
"Clarel, wait..." Erimond pleaded pathetically. Without both his arms, the magister was unable to use all his magic. And there was no pity in Clarel's eyes. The Orlesian Warden-Commander noticed the dragon perched on one of the towers and flung another lightning spell at it, but her attack did nothing. The dragon breathed a fireball at Clarel, but missed. Erimond too this as an opportunity to run. Clarel chased after him.
Rajmael noticed Clarel chasing after Erimond. He had to catch up with them. With luck, maybe he and Clarel could close this damned Rift before it got any bigger and more demons came through. That dragon was going to be a pain in the ass though.
"Blackwall! Sera! Iron Bull! Vivienne! Stay here and help the Wardens against the demons. Everyone else, with me!" Rajmael ordered. They had to end this soon, or there would be too many demons for the Inquisition forces to withstand.
The dragon kept swooping down on them, raining its terrible fire and lashing at them with it's claws. It remembered Rajmael, and how he defeated it and its master at Haven. It would not be shamed a second time.
The Inquisitor and his team raced through the demon infested corridors with a flying High Dragon on their ass. It ripped through the walls as though they were paper and tried to burn them alive, but the corridors and balconies they chased Clarel and Erimond through were too narrow for it to catch them. The reached the top of Adamant Fortress were a crumbling ledge looked over the Abyssal Rift.
Clarel cornered Erimond at the cliff, and she looked pissed. Erimond vainly threw several fireballs at her, but they bounced off her protective barrier. She swung her staff at the magister with a force push and knocked him several feet away, right next to the end of the floor.
"YOU! Your destroyed the Wardens!" Clarel snarled.
Erimond lifted himself to his knees, laughing at Clarel. "You did that yourself, you stupid Orlesian bitch! All I did was wave a little power in front of your face, and you couldn't wait to get your hands dirty!"
Ropes of fire and lightning erupted from Clarel's staff and grabbed the mouthy magister, throwing him back towards the keep like the piece of trash he is. Erimond wheezed and coughed, his insolence gone.
"You...you could have served a new god..." Erimond said weakly.
"I will never serve the Blight!" Clarel denied.
Rajmael and the others arrived on the scene. The Inquisitor shouted something to the Warden-Commander, but she was too angry to hear his warning until it was too late. A hungry rumble growled around them. And before Clarel could finish Erimond, the dragon pounced down and caught her in his teeth. It flew back into the air and landed over the entry way, swinging her body like a piece of meat between his jaws, then flung her away like a ragdoll.
Now, they were royally screwed. Caught between a bottomless canyon and a pissed off dragon high on red lyrium. And this time no avalanche was going to save them. Rajmael held his sword ready, he would not die defenseless.
Clarel's lungs filled with her own blood, she couldn't feel her legs and her body was broken. In her sorry attempt to stop the Blight, she brought doom to the Wardens with open arms. She watched helplessly as the dragon that ended her jumped down at the Inquisitor and his comrades. Before she would meet the Maker, she would sacrifice her strength for someone actually worthy of it. She summoned all the magic she had left for one last spell.
"In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death...SACRIFICE!" Clarel screamed with her last ounce of strength, and a powerful ball of fire and lightning big enough to incinerate an ogre flew at the dragon. The Wardens would survive this day, but the dragon would not.
Just as the dragon dove at them, Clarel's final spell hit the beast from behind and injured its wings. It clumsily fell over them, and they narrowly dodged being crushed by it. The floor beneath them began to shake and crumble under the dragon's weight.
"Everybody run!" Rajmael screamed. Even as they ran the very stones they stepped on were falling into the Abyssal Rift. Cassandra step fell short and didn't make it to safety, Rajmael jumped over and grabbed her hand before she fell. The others grabbed hold of Rajmael and tried to pull them both back up. But is was for naught. The ledge they all stood on crumbled beneath them, and they all fell down, the dragon had taken them with it.
No! Rajmael did not come this far just to fall to his death in a bottomless cavern. As he was falling he pointed his head down to the pit beneath them, and activated the Anchor's magic. The Anchor crackled with life and power, and a Rift opened up right in the middle of their fall and consumed all of them. This would save or damn them. The dragon fell into the Abyssal Rift all alone.
~XoXoXo~
Nathaniel, Oghren, Sigrun and Leliana were still holding this single point. Something was wrong, and they knew it. The Wardens were no longer fighting them, but they were running aimlessly. What was happening?
"Leliana!" Cullen screamed as he fought his way to her.
"Cullen! What's happening!?" Leliana asked.
"Warden-Clarel is dead, the Wardens are leaderless!" Cullen answered.
"What about the ritual? What about the Inquisitor?"
Cullen shook his head dejectedly. "The Inquistor went after Erimond but that dragon caught up with them, and don't know what's become of him, or Hawke. Clarel succeeded in opening a Rift and the demons are pouring through. I don't know how much longer the others are going to last."
"Then what the sod are we standing here for!?" Oghren barked. "We need to get over there and stop these demons from getting out!"
The giant doorway, the only doorway that could lead them to the Rift was sealed shut, but they had to get through. Then something started pounding on the other side door with the force of a battering ram. There was a loud vicious, and hungry roar that could make an ogre pee itself erupted from the other side. Whatever it was, it wanted that door open. Badly.
"Whatever's on that side of the door is big, powerful, and could probably kill us." Sigrun said lightheartedly. "Any suggestions, Commander?"
Nathaniel spat on the ground and knocked an arrow ready. "We stand our ground, man our post, and face the enemy!"
All of them stood side by side, their weapons ready to greet whatever terrible monstrosity Clarel's ritual unleashed. Sigrun hummed a merry tune while Leliana and Cullen whispered the Canticle of Benedictions. "Blessed are those who stand before the corrupt and the wicked, and do not falter. Blessed are the peace keepers, champions of the just."
Oghren held his hammer ready, with a single dwarven word on his lips. "Valos Atraedum!
Nathaniel stood with his grandfather's bow strung tight, his arrows ready. Whatever creature was behind that door would not get past them without a fight. He truly wished Aedan was here right now, they could all use his strength. All Nathaniel could was hope the Maker was with them, and that Inquisitor Lavellan would succeed. The gate erupted into a thousand splinters. Nathaniel was ready for whatever came next. Maker help them all...
Language Codex:
Las ar enasalin, ten las ar atishan: Elven prayer, roughly translated as "Grant me victory, or grant me peace."
Valos Atraedum: Dwaven phrase, translated as "Favor of The Ancestors."