Chapter Thirty-Four

To Kill a God

The Battle of Denerim… this was a battle that would have songs written about it. The gates had of course been breached by the time we arrived, but the Darkspawn there were weak and easily dispatched.

Riordan told Aedan who he suggested taking; Natia, Alistair and no more than 3 others. I snorted, catching everyone's attention. Sten nodded to me and Aedan looked questioning.

"You have a better plan?" Eamon asked.

I nodded, "I do, actually. Aedan, Alistair, Wynne, Leliana, Loghain and me will all make our way to Fort Drakon. Riordan, In War, Victory, In Peace, Vigilance, In Death, Sacrifice – find a way to ground him, damn it. Sten, I entrust Fen, Ash and Morrigan to your group – you are my umber one here on the Gate front; if anything flanks me, I'll take it out of your hide. Oghren, Natia and Zevran; you are all short enough or skilled enough to move through a group and hardly be seen and still take down enough people to make a difference so use it. Eadrek, as the second of House Ara, you are to aid Sten in any way you can."

I paused for a moment. Riordan understood exactly what I meant and nodded, "In Death, Sacrifice. I'll do what I can." He turned and headed off.

I nodded, "King Alistair, our group will first head through the Market District before moving past the Alienage to kill the two generals that were sensed in those locations – since they're on the way anyway. We need to kill the two generals or they will attack us when we get to the Archdemon."

Alistair nodded seriously, "I agree – fight them now so they can't help after."

I raised my voice as I turned to the gathered troops, "Humans and Mages! I want you to move to secure the Market District. Dalish and Dwarves; I want you in the Alienages – this gives a group of ranged and Melee for each group! I want half our Golems with each group, Captain Shale. As soon as your areas are deemed clear, I want ¾ of each force to make their way to the Fort – that is where the Archdemon should come down for us to fight as it is the highest point in Denerim! If anyone gets tainted and makes it to the end, I want them to be 'quarantined' in a safe place until we can perform a joining! You are all here to fight the Blight and beat back these monsters – and Maker, Goddess, Creators and Ancestors' willing we will end this here today. Do I make myself clear?"

A cheer rose up from all around us. I added, "You were all given an amulet with your preferred religion on it – If you fall, it will not be in vain. If you fall, I will personally see to it that you are all given the rights you deserve. It is the least I can do for those willing to fight today."

Another cheer rose out – I had been told after having those things handed out that it was a popular move. Eamon himself had seemed surprised at just how popular.

Apparently, knowing they wouldn't be left to rot if they fell had boosted morale more than a little.

Our group started out and Aedan was smirking at me. "What?" I asked.

"I thought you took orders. In fact I believe you said you didn't give orders either," he looked so damn amused.

"Aedan, every rule that has ever existed has had at least one exception. This is likely why we have a Bastard King, a displaced Noble, a Golem, a Qunari, an Enchanter, an Apostate, an Assassin, a Bard, a Dwarven General, a former General, a casteless, a Fae Seer and two Mabari war hounds as the front runners to end the fifth blight…"

Loghain, however, had flushed at Aedans' words, "That was more information than I needed to know, commander."

I chuckled, "Maric was worse, Loghain – you're more than used to it. Did you find anything in that blasted book?"

He nodded, "I found only one thing – if you were to introduce something to the race as a whole that could be seen as beneficial enough, then you could circumvent one old law for your reign – but only one for each 'beneficial' thing. You don't have to invent the thing yourself – just introduce it to the race. The law was quite clear on that part. However it has to be very beneficial – because the law you wish to circumvent is so old – more than 6,000 years as you're aware."

I grumbled, "I guess I should contact Magma and find out if there's anything the race needs that I might be able to help with. Thank you, Loghain."

He nodded and passed me back the book.

The Market District was as bad as I feared; 10 fucking Ogres.

"I thought you said a general!" Aedan shouted as we fought our way to the main event.

"I never once said it would be easy to get to said general, Aedan. What did you assume it was only a general?"

The silence from him said it all. I managed to take dawn one Ogre before being turned into a ragdoll again… this time the Chantry wall broke my fall, though I caught a glimpse of Shale killing the damn Ogre.

Alistair was by my side in a flash to heal me and frowned, "Was it too much to ask for you to stay back at the gates?"

"I need to be there, Alistair – I need to…" he sighed and nodded, "Alright, but if you get hurt to badly, I will be quite cross… I can feel that… protective state attempting to break through each time I see you injured. Maker only knows what might happen then."

By the time I was allowed to re-join the Melee, the only thing our group had left was the General itself. This General was a Hurlock Sword and Shield type, and was stronger than I thought possible; flinging Aedan back with his shield…

I pulled out 3 shurikens and took aim, waiting for just the right moment before flinging them at the ugly bastard. One pierced the Hurlocks left eye, another digging into its neck, and the third in its shield arm. I wasn't sure how those first two didn't outright kill it, but Aedan was swift enough with his Daggers as soon as the Hurlock dropped its shield.

We swiftly moved on – rushing toward the Alienage. Alistair was beginning to glow as we fought – and I could hear people whispering about the golden Aura that had enveloped the King.

Aedan nudged me about it, "Your mate…"

"I know – each time I take a hit, his control slips more. At this rate, we may not have to worry about the Archdemon because Alistair will unleash the wrath of a god upon it…"

Aedan grimaced, "I'm sure people will have something to say about that…"

I nodded, "You don't have to tell me – I'm worried about it too."

The Alienage was worse, if you can believe it… this General wasn't like the Emissary in game. No, it was an Ogre Emissary. I let out a string of southern U.S curses from earth, earning an amused glance from Lelianna, a snort from Alistair, and the attention of said Ogre.

"You wanna dance, Goliath? Let's dance!" Alistairs face paled as I charged the Ogre with no holds barred – and since I didn't have my magic, I was pretty much just a moving target at this point. I had removed my shoe before charging to wave it like a weapon.

I knew I looked fucking crazy… even the Darkspawn around us stopped to stare as I ran half bare-foot headlong at an Ogre Emissary.

It gave enough of a distraction, that most of the Darkspawn were killed by Dalish who had not once moved their attentions away from their fights. This also meant that no one was expecting me to veer left at the last moment so the Ogre got a chest full of arrows.

Using my control of Water, I was able to use what was in my water skin to clean my foot before replacing my shoe.

I will admit to crying as I watched Riordan plummet from the sky just as we reached the fort entrance, causing Alistair, Loghain and Aedan each to wince and Aedan said, "In death…"

"Sacrifice; let's go kill this bitch," I growled, feeling my back skin ripple as I suppressed the urge to fly right to the roof. Alistair had healed me from my… Ogre assisted flight, but it was still rather sore.

Alistair raised an eyebrow when he saw my skin ripple, but didn't comment.

The Fort was much larger than I had anticipated – I thought maybe 20 floors… but no. Counting the roof and the basement, Fort Drakon had 32 floors. Why it was that big, the world may never know – I certainly didn't have a clue myself.

Unlike most times we fought in multi-level buildings, the enemies didn't thin as we ascended – they grew. The higher we went, the more there were and in greater variety too.

I was getting tired by the time we hit floor 20, but I knew we couldn't slow our pace. When we reached the last floor, just before the doors to the roof, I yanked a six-pack of mountain dew from my bag, handing one to each person.

"Don't bitch, just drink. We need the caffeine and energy, and this will help." Aedan shut his mouth as everyone began drinking. I smirked at the chorus of burps. Loghain looked stunned, "This is the same can art as what you gave to Lady Alfstanna…"

"Yes – it is. It's called Mountain Dew and it's my second favorite drink that is more sugar than liquid."

The roof was covered in Darkspawn; I merely nodded Wynne, Leliana and Aedan to Trebuchets while Alistair, Loghain and I charged to the Archdemon. I saw our forces spill onto the roof behind us.

I was really glad we had Golems, because they attracted the Darkspawn like moths to flame, giving other forces a chance to kill them without risking too much.

I had given Loghain my shiny black sword to use today and he looked a little gleeful chasing down Darkspawn – it was actually rather adorable in the older man.

I couldn't do what I had to the High Dragon at the Temple, because I wasn't about to expose my wings to potential long-term foes. Instead, I used my throwing stars, kunai blades, and daggers to slice the dragons' flanks and rip its 'good' wing. I rolled to the left as I saw his leg rear up and his tail come rushing to me.

I wasn't quite fast enough and got hit in my right leg with the spiky part of Urthemiels tail. "Fuck! Look, you overgrown lizard! I plan to plant this shiny piece in your fucking eye!" I shouted as I got up pulling out a rainbow dagger.

As expected, my shouting caught the Demons attention. I gave a maniacal laugh as I rushed forward fast enough to climb Urthemiels leg. I pulled a second dagger to match the first and used them to scale the dragon. I knew I couldn't have the killing blow, but stabbing the eyes wouldn't kill it…

I saw horror in the faces of Alistair, Loghain and Aedan as I reared back and impaled the beast in each eye.

In hindsight, blinding the large angry dragon was… maybe not my best plan. I was thrown off, landing on top of Alistair and heard my left arm snap beneath me. I cried out in pain and heard Aedan shout, "Shit – Everyone steer clear of the Archdemon!"

I wasn't sure why until I heard a snarl from beneath me. My arm was healed and I was moved off my mate and pressed into Loghains' arms. The General moved me behind him as a glowing golden Alistair roared at the Archdemon in the Fae language.

"Demon – you dare…"

I translated softly for Aedan and Loghain when they asked. Aedan flinched, "The Archdemon never had a chance, did it?"

"Not after breaking her arm, no," Lelianas' voice whispered as we watched Alistair fight the large dragon. The Golems and our forces still battled the lesser Darkspawn around us with vigor – their morale increased as it appeared the King was chosen by the Maker to end this Blight here today.

But all of a sudden Alistair flickered out of existence and time froze – I seemed to be the only one unaffected as I looked around in horror for my now missing mate. Where was he and… what had happened. It felt like an hour when he reappeared – no longer in God Mode, carrying a new sword with a golden glow – and time resumed.

Alistair made his moves following that – grabbing the horn of the dragon as it snapped at him and doing the finishing move from the game. I saw Loghain and Aedan drop their jaws.

I rushed toward Alistair and threw my arms around his neck, "Where did you go when the world froze?"

He blinked, "You noticed that? Well, I met one of your guards – a woman with blue hair and pale blue skin. Her name is Galaxia, apparently. I underwent some sort of test; I uh… did you know that there have been exactly 17 instances – including me – of humans gaining special weapons from the Fae? When I entered the 'Protective State' – as I am a human – it triggered my trial of worth. I yelled at her – telling her I had to save you because there was an Archdemon and well… long story short, I'm half sure your guards will find you much sooner than planned when they figure out what I was telling them in full. I earned this – they have a whole stash of weapons they deem mythical for the rare person who passes those trials."

He showed me the sword – it was made of a red and white metal. It was red at the tip and faded to white by the time it got to the Hilt. The hilt was inlaid with rubies and diamonds. It had Fae runes etched into the blade and emitted a golden aura. The scabbard was a fiery red to crimson fade with streaks of orange and yellow.

He translated the runes, "It will repel the undead – like your own sword. It also does what the Fae call light damage but what I would call holy damage. Also, I learned how to remove these braces and destroy them once and for all. Apparently I need to remove the one on you before I can remove the one on me… then you just need to toss both into different fires at the same time. That's it… it was so simple all this time."

As he spoke, he removed my brace and then his own – I summoned two fires and he tossed one into each. I gasped a breath as I felt the powers return to me in force.

I then turned to the dragon while standing beside Wynne and began draining the Archdemons' blood.

Where a human body had a gallon and half of blood, apparently an old god dragon had 9 gallons of blood. I saved only a cup into my bag… and I wasn't quite sure why.

"Why… why is there a bunch of large flasks of blood?" I heard Greagoir ask.

I whirled around. "The Grey Wardens need it, Knight-Commander. I can guarantee that the First Warden will be sending someone to pick up these jars. Can I have someone help me move it to the Castle?" I asked looking at the 18 half-gallon jars of red-black blood.

Greagoir let out a loud whistle and several Templars cam marching over.

"Want to tell me what the Wardens do with the blood?" Greagoir asked me as the blood was carted off.

"I… don't exactly know how they do what they do with it… but I could be assassinated for revealing what it's for. Please don't ask again," I knew my face showed just how tired I was.

The Knight-commander looked alarmed, "They keep it that secret?"

"Only the higher officials really know what it's for. I know, because I have some… unusual circumstances. If the First Warden finds out that I know… I would be conscripted. And when something happens, they will lock me away. Just… let's drop the conversation?"

He nodded and turned to Alistair, "That Sword is not the one you entered battle with…"

Alistair told the tale with a flare – and I could tell people didn't believe it at all. All the leaders we had recruited were here with us… Greagoir, Irving, Lanaya, Kardol, Vartag Gavorn as Bhelens' second, Eamon, Teagan and even Caridin were all here.

Alistair nodded, "A gift… I named it Apotheosis. It can repel undead and Darkspawn as well as deal out holy energy."

A few people murmured around us. I heard some people muttering about the Makers' Blessing…I think it was best not to disabuse them of that notion.

I shuddered in exhaustion – Alistair had used a lot of my power before returning it. I looked around, "Attention! All these flasks need to be hauled to the Palace for the Grey Wardens."

Several volunteers came forward and I looked to Alistair, "Get someone to gather up bodies of the Fallen Heros – I'll give them a burial when I wake up…"

"Wake up?" he asked in alarm. I swayed, "So… tired… I'm about to pass out, my love…"

He lurched forward and caught me just as I lost consciousness.

I woke after two days – and it wasn't too big of a deal because it took that long until all the bodies had been gathered from throughout Denerim. They were dragged to just outside the city gates and separated out by religious amulet per Alistairs' orders.

Unbeknownst to me, there were people who had converted to my religion without knowing much about it – but that was fine; the Goddess welcomed all her children, after all. But this meant that there were not 4 piles like I was expecting – but five.

One for the dwarves who would all be carted back to Orzammar to be given back to the stone; one for the elves who worshiped the Creators; One for the Andrastians; One for the new Wiccans and one for the people who held no religious views at all.

I directed all elves to be buried at the forest line before I began to recite In Uthenera:

Hahren Na melana sahlin

Emma ir abelas

Souver'inan isala hamin

Vhenan him dor'felas

In uthenera Na revas

Vir sulahn'nehn

Vir dirthera

Vir samahl la numin

Vir lath sa'vunin

I saw every Dalish gathered bow their heads.

Next, I headed over to the funeral pyre for the Andrastians and gave them their rights before heading over to the group with both the Atheists and Wiccans… seriously, how were there so many wiccans? When had word of my religion spread enough to have converts? I recognized a few of them from Redcliffe, but not many.

I saw people gathering around – this one seemed to interest many people… including all those group leaders who had been on top of Fort Drakon with us.

I raised my voice so that everyone could hear, "Mother of us all, gather us in your arms. You, who know the grief of losing a loved one, send us comfort. Father and protector stand by our side. You, who know life and death, send us guidance. Journey on now, brothers; we will follow when we can. May you be born again at the same time and in the same place as those you knew and loved in this life; may you know them again and love them again."

I took a deep breath and lit a purple candle, holding it up as I continued when I saw several people I knew and had come to care for in this pile… including Riordan. A tear escaped me as I attempted to keep my voice steady, "Mother Goddess, Father God – I release myself from those who have left this plane and let them walk the blessed gardens of Summerland. As they enter a dream from which rebirth will arise, I give thanks for the time spent together and invoke their protective light to guide me. I light a candle to bless this day, with the splendor of fire, the freedom of wind, the stability of earth and the depth of the sea. Sun and Moon, grant us birth, give us life, death and rest; for we shall meet again once our souls leave this world. Guide me through the night, and through the sun-lit days. Merry part and merry meet; in soul and heart… Blessed be."

I hadn't noticed until I had stopped talking – but the elements had responded to my invocations. Fire had warmed the air around us, wind had given us a refreshing breeze, earth had opened and gently claimed the bodies and the air smelled of the sea. I could see wonder on many faces.

Had this been the Goddess responding to my heart-felt call or was it the Elements responding to a Fairy Princess? I didn't know for sure, but I liked to think it was a sign that my faith was rewarded.

I wasn't to bury or say rites for the dwarves – that would be done in Orzammar when they were entombed within the stone. I sighed heavily before I softly blew out the candle.

Alistair wrapped his arm around me, "The Landsmeet wants to meet tomorrow – this… this took all day, or they would have called together today."

I blinked and glanced at the sky – it was darkening already? Had it really been a whole day of nothing more than funeral rights? I nodded, "Am I expected to attend?"

"You're only the Teyrna of Gwaren – why would anyone expect you to attend?" Loghain asked sarcastically. I groaned, "I forgot – it's been a long day and I really expected Gwaren to go to Aedan for the longest time. I have perfect memory, but even I have things slip my mind on occation, Warden."

Loghain blinked at that, "Fair enough…"

We all headed back into the palace. I had woken up this morning in the Kings' Bedchambers… and not one person was bold enough to comment on it. I had heard the rumors spreading around – the Archdemon had supposedly looked at me funny and Alistair called the Wrath of Heaven down upon it and gained a blessed sword in the process. Alistair hated the rumor and loved it too – hated it because it wasn't true but he loved it because it protected me.

Alistair led me down to the Treasury and showed me to an empty room. I gave him a funny look when I saw that the door had the sigil of wings surrounded by the Cousland Crest of Laurels.

He said, "This room is for your personal treasury… you are the Queen – not that anyone knows that, yet. But your bag can pull things from anywhere right? Well, if you keep your money here, then you won't have to worry if something happens to your bag… I just…"

I kissed him, "You're very sweet. It's a good idea; I still don't know all there is to know about the bag so for all I know it isn't indestructible. But the sigil on the door…"

He grinned and held up a ring with the same sigil – wings surrounded by the Cousland Crest, "You're personal signet. You're an official Cousland after all – you needed something to mark you as different from your brothers. Even Teyrna Eleanor had her family crest – the crest of Mac Eanraig – in the same fashion of being surrounded by the Laurels. Fergus will have the regular Laurels and Aedan – as your Regent – will simply use the Crest of Gwaren rather than the Cousland Family Crest. I wanted you to have something unique… I commissioned Wade from Wades' Emporium to make it. He was thrilled when I gave him star metal as the material to work with… he was originally going to turn down the commission on the basis of being an armorer not a jeweler."

I giggled, "Wade would do that – he'd do just about anything if he got to work with a unique material to do it with. He specializes in Armor and Weapons – but he's a genius with materials."

I used my magic to pull the 7,000 coins from my bag to stack neatly in the room – stacks of 500 coins each made 14 stacks. I took the extra 300 – give or take – golden coins from my bag and put them in an actual coin-purse that I could keep at my waist or something.

I then turned to one corner of the room and stocked it with Templars' Rose and Fairy Song soap so that the castle wouldn't run out any time soon. I had already updated the Royal Wing of the castle to have showers rather than just tubs for baths. Don't get me wrong – they still had tubs, but they were also showers now. The water pulled from a reservoir that would collect and clean the spent water so it was self-replenishing! When the servants heard that, they were ecstatic that they wouldn't have to fill Alistairs' bath daily. It was uncommon for someone to want daily baths, but everyone in my group had gotten into the habit of it. I would update Gwaren at some point, I supposed.

Alistair gave me a softer smile, "You were right…"

"What about?" I asked.

"The Dragon traits have all lingered – my eyes are permanently slitted and golden like Morrigans, I'm still overly sensitive and my strength hasn't waned at all."

I chuckled, "I noticed that, actually – I still don't see why you seem to like carrying me…"

He smirked, "If only to prove you aren't 'fat' like you insist you are."

I shook my head and dragged him out of the room after spelling it to stay clean – call me crazy, but I liked my areas clean and organized!

I shoved him playfully as we left the room – I didn't bother putting up any enchantments. "You know I love you, right?"

He kissed my cheek, "It never hurts to hear it again. I do have to say… having held your power for as long as I did… I find I have a new respect for you. Makers' Breath, I have no idea how you keep it all contained. Galaxia explained to me during that trial thing… you have to keep a constant reign on it – like holding a sword in battle, you can't let it go; you simply wield it as best you can, but you never let it go. Ara… how do you keep it contained all the time?"

I blinked, "I don't think about it, actually… I just sort of… do it. I mean, thinking on it now reminds me a little bit of the constant pain I was in back on Earth – I had to power through that because I couldn't get the meds, right? Holding in my power is like when I was holding back my pain."

"Makers' Breath – you must have been in a lot of pain, my love – I had trouble always keeping it back. I love you too, by the way…"

I chuckled, "I like hearing you say that… let's get some sleep – we have the Landsmeet, the Coronation and the celebration ball over the next week… so much to do!"

He groaned, "I'm going to hate being King. Dealing with nobility isn't exactly my idea of fun you know."

I stopped just before we left the treasury and pulled him closer to me, "I'm sorry… I'm also sorry I put you in the position of sleeping with Morrigan when Loghain or Aedan could have done it… I'm so sorry I put you through… so much this last almost year…"

He backed me against the wall and kissed me roughly. When he pulled away he growled softly, "Look at me."

I did and he continued, "I love you, Ara Theirin – you are my wife. I don't regret a single second of this last year. If Ostagar hadn't happened, I may never have met you; if I didn't meet you… Maker, I wouldn't trade you being my wife for anything. And as you said – Kieran is our son as much as hers. He won't ever take the throne, no – but he is our son… a son who will grow up loved, you said. Loghain – by your own admission – has been through enough and if he had fathered Kieran he would have spent too long worrying about it. Aedan would have followed her and you know it – he'd never let his child get away and honestly, the only reason I allowed that was because you swore I'd see him again."

I nodded, "We will see him – promise. But I still put you in that position when you didn't really want to…"

He shrugged, "It does bother me – but not in the way you think. It bothers me because I wanted my first child to be with you. To be honest, I only wanted children with you but if that one time with Morrigan makes that possible then damn it I don't regret it at all. Hopefully the Landsmeet will see reason and allow the 'alliance' so that I can publicly marry you when you announce your true position."

I snorted, "They like me well enough, but I don't think they'll allow it… our current marriage may have to suffice for the time being."

He sighed, "I want the world to know you're mine – and of course, belong to your other mates but mine too. I want you shown the respect you deserve as a Queen."

I chuckled, "Alistair – you know how people are treating me now… they won't get much more respectful after your protective display with the Archdemon. I think I saw someone looking at me like I was a goddess on our way here…"

He grinned, "Good – you deserve some recognition!"

I shoved him, "Cheeky bastard."

"You know it… come on… I want to snuggle with you as much as I can. Do you have any idea how nerve-wracking it was while you were unconscious?"

I shrugged, "I have some idea… but snuggling sounds like a downright divine idea."