Bioware owns Dragon Age and all the characters, I own Jaya, though...
The King's Rose
Chapter 26: Conflicts!
Anders had a feeling Jaya wasn't fully healed completely, despite him healing her a few times. She still favored the left side, while the right was recovering. Perhaps the Baroness did more internal injury than he thought. That aside, he realized his commander was very stubborn and wouldn't take a rest if there was a fight or something to do. "I need to do a quick heal to take care of any outstanding injuries... Hold still a moment..." He said, casting a stronger healing spell and seeing how she began to return to her pre-Baroness form.
"Thanks... Are the catapults ready?" She shouted.
"Just about ready, Commander! A few more moments and we'll blow them beasties sky-high!" Dworkin said, glee in his voice.
"Remind me why we need an explosion-happy dwarf again?" Nathaniel asked.
"Bombs are really handy against the spawn... I would know... I used a few Frost Bombs on the Archdemon. It didn't like that..." Jaya stated right as the horn was sounded. However, she wasn't expecting a number similar to what visions of Ostagar shown her and she took a few steps back. "Get the archers! NOW!" She said.
"We're ready, Commander!" The lead archer shouted.
"On my own mark!" She drew her arrow back, aiming slightly high, Nathaniel following suit. Waiting a few seconds, she fired and there were hails of arrows, impaling those that were in the range, others rushing past those that fell. "DWORKIN! NOW!" She ordered.
"Say goodnight, beasties!" He said, firing a large bomb at them.
Jaya switched over her weapons. "Anders, keep attacking and, when need be, healing those who need it! Nathaniel, keep your distance as much as possible. Velanna, you do the same... Oghren, Sigrun and Justice, keep on my tail and hit them with everything you got. We cannot lose the Keep." She gave out the orders, shouting similar ones to the other soldiers and rushed forward, shouting the infamous battle cry her own husband had called. "For Ferelden! For the Grey WARDENS!" She skated past a hurlock, her new sword making a clean slice across the torso while her dagger dug itself into a genlock's neck. Seeing how her soldiers and recruits obeyed her orders, she swore that she would be done fighting after this.
Sigrun almost was stabbed when Justice sliced the offending genlock in half. "Thanks, pal!" She called, rushing to aid Oghren while feeling a buff from Anders, allowing her to reach him faster. "Duck, Oghren!" She ordered.
Oghren obeyed and watched as she lept high enough, almost reaching Jaya's full height with the leap, and sunk her weapons into a hurlock in his blind side. "Thanks! Let's send them crying back to their 'Mother'! She'll soon learn not to mess with the Grey Wardens!"
Anders managed to freeze a few darkspawn who had snuck behind Jaya, grinning when she kicked them and shattered them. He and Velanna both shared a nod, deciding to combine their efforts and hurl a huge thunderbolt at a number of spawn. It made him think that two mages were definitely better than one.
Watching her on the field, Nathaniel made a mental note to never get Jaya mad. He wondered if his father even felt fear and figured that it was a good thing he was dead, lest he take his own father down. Jaya had told him the story of what happened while he was in the Free Marches and Nathaniel realized that Jaya had every right to slay his father. Drawing on his bow, he was glad to have reacquainted himself with her.
Velanna used her magic that she had once used to kill humans to support them now. Glancing at the silver-eyed leader, she had a feeling that it was because of her that she was rethinking her opinions on humans. Jaya was one strange human in Velanna's eyes, but she found herself grateful to have known her as she sent a spawn flying with a Stonefist.
Justice obeyed the words given while also wanting to help Kristoff by saying a final farewell to his widow, whom had shown up a few weeks back to see her 'husband'. He tried to figure out how he'd be able to keep it up without a host and saw that the living world needed him more than the Fade did. He sliced a few spawn down while staring at Jaya. She was truly a force to be reckoned with.
Jaya managed to take out a few spawn when a dagger found the side of her armor, slicing deep enough to make her drop down to a knee as an arrow embedded itself in her shoulder and she had flashbacks of Ishal. Standing, she charged forward, a few more arrows embedding themselves in her thighs and forearms, and took down the one that injured her before another 'Disciple' walked up. "Fuck..." She panted.
"The Mother sends a warning to the Grey Warden... The city will fall.." It said, looking down at Jaya before Oghren sliced it's legs off, allowing Jaya to embed her dagger in its jugular.
She saw the remaining spawn retreat, except the armored ogre alpha, which was ironic that she would still have to deal with ogres. Standing up again, she dashed and, despite her injuries, slid past it's punch, scaled its arm and drove an extra dagger into its throat before slicing it open. When it fell, she grumbled a little before taking the arrows out and seeing that Wade's craftsmanship is still amazing, not showing where said arrows entered.
"You alright, Jaya?" Nathaniel asked.
"Yeah, just another day in my Warden life." She said as Anders and Velanna combined their healing abilities to at least close the wounds. "Oghren... Let's add these to the 'ogre' category of wounds."
"Gotcha." He said.
"You have categories of your wounds?" Anders asked, in disbelief.
"Of course I do. Reminds me of how many damned spawn I've killed for it." She rubbed her head and shook away the sleep, seeing how the battle had lasted a good six hours. "We have to head to Amaranthine as soon as possible... No time to waste..." She nearly passed out from exhaustion, but Anders and Nathaniel caught her.
"You need a little rest, Commander..." Garevel said.
"But.." Jaya whined slightly before she passed out, snoozing while Anders and Nathaniel supported her.
"Stubborn, isn't she?" Velanna commented.
Oghren chuckled. "Very. Even her husband has difficulty moving her position on certain things."
"Husband? I heard Grey Wardens never marry." Sigrun stated.
"Not true... Normally they are married before their joining. However, Jaya and her husband have a special case." Oghren said, belching in-between the sentences before turning his head. "In fact, here he comes. No wonder she was so calm when he showed up months ago."
Anders nodded before seeing Nathaniel tense when Alistair showed up. "Ahh. You missed a great battle, Your Majesty." He said.
"That so? What's wrong with Jaya?" He questioned.
Garevel spoke next. "Just exhausted herself during the battle. We were trying to get her to rest, but..."
"Let me guess: she refused?" Alistair finished, seeing them nod before walking over. "Alright. I'll take it from here." Without another word, he easily lifted her up into his arms.
"Let's get back into the Keep. There she can rest up." Garevel said, leading them to the Keep.
Nearly seven hours later, Jaya bolted awake and, making sure she was clothed, rushed out to see not only her recruits, but her own husband standing around chatting. "What in Maker's name happened? Last thing I knew, I was fighting a blighted ogre." Jaya said, blinking.
"Ahh, love. You just passed out. Luckily enough, I was just on my way here to check in on things when I bumped into one of the scouts." Alistair said.
"Gave me time to look over your wounds, too." Anders commented, petting the kitten Jaya had given to him not long after he joined. He named the kitten Ser Pounce-a-lot and enjoyed the kitten as much as the kitten seemed to enjoy him. "Amaranthine just sent a scout and they said that, as soon as you woke up, you were needed."
"Well, I'm up. Let's go." Jaya said, picking her sword up and digging in the storage crate for the dagger, finding Duncan's dagger and smirking. "This'll do. Now we're off to save the day yet again. I hope you'll behave yourself, dear husband, and... come a long for the ride."
"Thought you wanted to deal with this yourself?" He asked.
"I didn't say anything... You did." She reminded before thinking. "Let's see... I have a feeling... That 'Disciple' might want us gone so The Mother can attack here... But if it's not a trap... Amaranthine might fall..." Her mind focused on the Keep and figured it had sturdy enough defenses. "If only I could split myself in two... Then I can save both... Well, the keep has strong walls and great defenses... Let's get going to Amaranthine... While there is still an 'Amaranthine' to go to." While they walked, Jaya could tell they were being followed, but refused to acknowledge it until they had arrived to see the 'Children' running rampant in Amaranthine.
"What are those things?" Alistair asked.
"They're called 'Children'. The Mother made them and they don't play well with other darkspawn." Anders informed. "Looks like Amaranthine is overrun, just like you were probably thinking."
"We have to save those in there!" The general that was in charge there said.
Jaya shook her head. "I can tell it's too late for them... They're lost to the taint... The Children are taking over the city while we stand here." She knew that Wynne had left a few months back, heading to a meeting in Cumberland.
"There has to be survivors!" He reasoned.
"If there are... They are beyond our reach... I can only sense the spawn growing in there." Jaya replied. "That means this was a trap... We have to head back to the Keep if we are to win this." She stated. "Burn Amaranthine. There's no saving it." She ordered those at the catapults. "Maker forgive..." She said quietly as the giant fireballs were catapulted into the city and screams were heard, turning and not wanting to see the destruction while giving orders to the others. "Return to the Keep as quickly as possible. I will not lose two things in one day."
By the time they returned to Vigil's Keep, Jaya was amazed it survived and those inside only suffered a few deaths, most were explainable. Later at night, she sat underneath a tree nearby, her mind wandering and her heart yelling at her that they could've saved those in Amaranthine. It kept saying 'what if Fergus were in there? Or what if our close friends were?' and similar questions. Her mind, on the other hand, knew there was no saving the city the instant she sensed all the taint within the walls. She sensed Alistair approach and looked at him with a half-smile. "I can't help but feel that I could've saved Amaranthine."
"You, as well as I, know that wasn't really an option with how much taint was in there." He said, sitting by her. As long as he's known Jaya, this was something she always had: a inner war no matter what outcome something had. It happened in the Deep Roads, the Circle and even Warden's Peak. There were 'better' options in her mind that she went against and later those options actually were the worst. "You can take this frustration out on this 'Mother' for making you choose. I know I couldn't've chosen without someone yelling at me."
Jaya chuckled softly. "That, my love, is why you're King. They know better than to yell at the King, lest they get hung." She shut her eyes as she spoke again. "If burning Amaranthine comes back to bite me in the arse, I'll have to try and explain what happened. That'll go over well." She rested her head on the bark of the tree. "I really hope nothing bad comes from this... Then again... There is always something bad happening after one of my choices. I have to live with it and see it through."
"There's my wife. Just acknowledge it and take it head on, that's one of the reasons I love you." Alistair stated and stood up, putting a hand down to her. "You better head back into the Keep, love. They were worried you jumped to your death.. Or at least Sigrun was."
"Silly dwarf... She knows that I'd never leave this size task to new recruits." She teased, taking the hand and giggling when he pulled her into a tight hug. "Or was it you that was more worried, husband?"
"You know me too well.. Just try to return in one piece. Me and the twins will be waiting for ya." He kissed her softly before he headed off to return to Denerim, lest Eamon and her brother send a rescue team out for him.
She smiled and felt peace enter her for the first time at his words. 'That's right... Him and my kids are waiting for me... I nearly forgot with all the fighting that I had a reason to live... Thank you, my love... You truly are my hero.'
Been kinda busy lately, but here's another chapter! I'm editing the other 'sequels' at the moment to make them fit slightly into the timeline.
~~Skittles~~