They followed the trail the darkspawn left behind quite easily and soon found themselves in some sort of wasteland, which Nathaniel called the Dragonbone Wastes.
"So why do they call this valley the Dragonbone Wastes?" Sigrun asked. She came around the corner, and her eyes widened. "Oh." She drew her knives. "Darkspawn ahead… fighting each other."
Ragnar shook his head. "We don't have time to wait for them to kill each other off. Down the middle, cut a path through anything that gets in our way."
"Yes, Sir."
They then charged sliced through the darkspawn covering their path with ease.
After climbing over so many dead dragons, he really wasn't at all surprised when the live one landed. Surprised at how large it was, but not that it was there. The beast reared back and kicked out with its back leg, sending the Justice sprawling. A sweep of the tail did the same to Sigrun. The first of Nathaniel's arrows bounced off its scaly hide, and he switched to the enchanted ones.
Ragnar defended the beast solved with his blade. Anders began casting, and Nathaniel enhanced the strength in Nathaniel's muscles as the mage chanted. His next arrow caught the dragon in the shoulder.
Then the beast turned on them, and they barely had enough time to roll out of the way. Nathaniel helped the mage up, and he continued to chant his spell.
The dragon tried to catch hold of Sigrun in its jaws, but the dwarf danced backwards just in time. Ragnar took the opening to catch hold of the dragon's horns and pull himself onto the back of the dragon's neck. The dragon bunched its legs to take off, and Ragnar swung his sword, slicing its head clean off and then it landed hard on to the ground. He then went and then rejoined them.
"We're still alive," Sigrun said. "Funny how that keeps happening."
They'd fought their way down to the second level when he sensed the strange emissary and his ghouled Warden and looked down at them. "And so we meet again."
His Warden drew their sword as if expecting a flight. However, the Architect held a hand, forestalling the ghoul from attacking. "No, Utha. That is not how this must begin." He then looked down at them with an apologetic look on his face. "I owe you an apology, Commander. When last we met, I intended to explain myself. Fate, however, intervened."
The Architect held his hands out to his sides, then floated down to stand only a few feet from them
Ragnar's eyes narrowed. "I escaped, you mean."
"I restrained you only to prevent the misunderstanding that occurred with the rest of your order."
"'Misunderstanding?'" Anders scoffed. "Is that what you call it?"
"I sent the Withered to ask for the Grey Wardens help. I should have anticipated that you might view our approach as an attack. I am weren't able to judge how your kind will react. It was most unfortunate."
Ragnar frowned at him; this was the first time a darkspawn had asked him for help; mind you, none of them were able to talk before this mess. "You wanted our help? What for?"
"My kind has ever been driven to seek out the Old Gods. This is our nature. When we find one, a Blight is begun." His eyes were hidden behind the strange mask. Something about the creature's appearance seemed to dance at the edges of his memory. "To break the cycle, my brethren must be freed of their compulsion. For that, I need Grey Warden blood."
Ragnar narrowed his eyes. "How would you free the darkspawn?"
"In order to become what you are, you drink the blood of my kind. To transform. That is how my brethren are freed. In your blood lies the key to their immunity against the call of the Old Gods." He looked down at his hands.
"I like my blood it is. In my veins," said Anders.
"Once they are freed, the darkspawn think for themselves, they speak, they act. Some, however, have reacted poorly," the Architect continued. "They are flawed, and they rage against me. The Mother gathers them to stop me… as she seeks to stop you. I cannot defeat the Mother alone, and I cannot free the darkspawn unless she is defeated. Our goals are the same."
Justice readied his shield. "Kill this creature now, lest I make things worse than they already are. Do what is right and do not waver."
Nathaniel's voice came from behind him. "Darkspawn or no, he has a good point. Do we really want to keep killing each other forever?"
"This reeks of stupid!" Sigrun yelled furiously. "The last thing we need is more darkspawn thinking for themselves."
"Help me kill the Mother, and after it is done, I will leave to continue my work," he begged.
Part of him wanted to agree to his terms, but he knew better. "What is this 'Mother', exactly?"
"My most flawed creation. Freedom drove her mad, and she has poisoned the minds of others." He sighed. "She has influence with the ones who have not been freed, and she gathers them as an army. I do not seek to rule my brethren. I only seek to release them from their chains."
There was one thing he didn't quite grasp. "How did you become freed?"
"I was born as I am, an outsider amongst my kind. Why? I do not know. Why do some of your kind become Grey Wardens? Why do some possess magic? I have no answers."
The creature wasn't lying. And yet somehow, he knew with utter certainty that it was wrong.
Ragnar glared at the Architect. "Stealing blood from Wardens is perverse."
"I thought it a little different from your order's use of darkspawn blood. We both do what we must in response to the Blight. The first blood came from Utha, freely given." Utha then bowed. "She was a Grey Warden, as are you, and joined us… many years ago."
"Maybe you should also mention the fact that you're the one who started the Blight in the first place!" Ragnar yelled.
"What?" Nathaniel gasped.
"We found your research notes, and I sent all and the Warden friend of mine. He was able to decipher them and sent me his findings. According to your notes, you tried to perform your ritual on the archdemon, and that's what awakened it."
The Architect sighed. "Ah. There it is, then. Unfortunate. I did find the Old God, Urthemiel. But I did not wish another Blight. I attempted my Joining Ritual. My hope was that this would free all darkspawn, unravel the curse from its source. Alas, I was unlucky. I—"
"And now you've created a whole new mess!" Ragnar yelled. "Those of us who failed the Joining die, but clearly those who fail yours go insane, and I cannot allow this to continue anymore."
"How very unfortunate," said the Architect closing his eyes. "But I cannot blame you. You are bound to your nature as we are to ours." He then looked up towards Utha and said apologetically, "I am sorry, Utha. It appears that I will not be able to keep my promise after all."
Utha then ran down the steps towards them.
The Architect looked at them. "You will have to forgive me, Commander, for fighting to preserve my destiny."
"And you have to forgive me for fighting to prevent a Blight," said Ragnar as he drew Vigilance. "As Sigrun deal with the traitor, the rest of us have got this one."
"With pressure, Commander," said Sigrun and ran to confront Utha, who had just reached the bottom of the steps.
The Architect began to cast a powerful spell that sent Nathaniel and Anders backwards. He then began conjuring fireballs, launching them directly at Ragnar.
"I've never seen magic like this," said Anders clutching his chest. "It's old, very old."
"He could be hundreds of years old, for we know," said Nathaniel.
"I don't care if it's thousand; we've got to stop them," said Ragnar.
Then before the Architect could cast another spell, Justice slammed his mace into his chest and sent him backwards. He tried to cast another spell, but Nathaniel launched an arrow that embedded in his shoulder and was slammed backwards into the ancient walls by a fireball courtesy of Anders.
Ragnar then moved as quickly as he could and swung Vigilance and, with one good clean cut, severed his head from his shoulders.
"It had to be done," said Ragnar.
"It's a shame that one of our own assisted him," said Sigrun, who was slightly bloodied but not as much as Utha, who had two large gaping holes in a chest.
"Now it's time for us to destroy the Mother," said Ragnar.
They entered deep into the catacombs of the ancient ruin fighting off darkspawn until they reached the bottom and discovered the ugliest broodmother he had ever seen. There was no question that this was the Mother.
"If it isn't the hero of the hour!" he said in a mocking tone. "The sleigh of the mighty Father, come to claim a reward! Oh, what a delicious day!"
"They just get bigger and uglier, don't they?" said Anders looking at her in disgust.
"This is the Mother, surely," said Justice. "A disgusting thing of evil and hate."
"What. Is. That?" said Nathaniel, who was looking quite green.
"By the ancestors!" said Sigrun covering her nose. "Do all broodmothers smell this bad?"
Mother looked at them with a maddening look as her red eyes gazed down upon them. "Has the Grey Warden come now to slay the Mother, too? Will she join the father in oblivion?"
"You're very perceptive." Ragnar then drew out his hammer. "Now die!"
"Then the silence ends here," she shrieked. "Perhaps we will hear the song again when we die. Oh, let it come! Let it come!" Her face seemed to open up as she roared at them.
"Justice, Anders, deal with the darkspawn; everyone else, you're with me," said Ragnar.
Justice and Anders turned towards the incoming darkspawn. Anders turned, directing her fire at the invaders while Justice slammed his mace at any of them that got too close.
Nathaniel fired arrows into the Broodmother, but he was unable to get a clear shot at her head due to the waving tentacles. The arrows he put into her bloated body didn't seem to pierce deeply enough to do any real damage.
Ragnar and Sigrun did their best to knock away the tentacles to give Nathaniel a clear shot, but there was just too many.
Ragnar glanced at the Sigrun. "Get me an opening."
She saluted him with one of her long knives and charged in, bellowing a dwarven warcry. The broodmother started to direct her attention at the dwarf, and then Ragnar was airborne. He pulled out his bow and fired several shots at her chest, causing her to howl in pain as he landed on her body.
She tried to shake him off, and the tentacles attempted to grab hold. He crouched and slashed one of the tentacles with Vigilance. The broodmother suddenly tried to swipe at something in front of her, and Ragnar realised that Sigrun had taken advantage of his distraction to driving her own blades into it. A tentacle struck the dwarf, tossing her aside, and then the creature seemed to rise up before slamming herself to the ground.
He slid, catching himself on one of Sigrun's knives. He rolled to his feet, grabbed the knife, and as the creature bent to attack, he shoved the knife into her open mouth and through the back of her head.
He moved backwards as she shook, her death throes shaking the very ground. Rocks tumbled. Justice brought his shield up just in time to protect Anders from crumbling stone. Ragnar caught a blow to the shoulder as he dragged Sigrun to safety.
The Mother went still, slumping down in death. Ragnar looked at her for a moment before glancing at his companions. "Let's go. We are needed at the Vigil."
When they made their way back to Vigil's Keep, they were given a big hero's welcome, and among them was Dagur.
"Glad to see you made out all right," he said.
"And it's nice to see that you survived as well," said Ragnar shaking his hand. "And thank you for saving Trader's Bay."
"You Wardens saved Midgard; it was the least I could do. Also, there's someone here who wants to say hello."
Ragnar was rather confused, and then suddenly he saw, making her way through the crowd, was Heather.
"Heather?" Ragnar breathed.
Heather smiled. "Hello, Ragnar."
The two of them approached one another and then immediately kissed, causing everyone to cheer.
Later that night, both Ragnar and Heather were getting ready for bed, though this mostly entailed removing their clothes.
"I have to say surprised to see you here, Heather," said Ragnar as he lay down on the bed naked. "I thought the Chantry wanted you to lead an expedition to the Temple of Sacred Ashes."
"They did," Heather smiled, folding her clothes away. "But when I got word that my brother was leading an army to liberate Trader's Bay, they understood my need to leave for the sake of family."
"Neglecting to mention that your lover happened to be the Commander of the Grey," Ragnar chuckled.
"What they don't know won't hurt them or us," Heather smiled as she seductively made her way into bed.
Ragnar smiled. "So I take it that you will be leaving first thing in the morning."
"Sadly, I will, but that I can spend the entire night with you," she said, leaning in towards him.
"Then let's make the most of tonight," said Ragnar and pulled her into a kiss.
Heather wasted no time and inserted his dragon into her, then rode him. Ragnar's hands began to rub against her legs and then slowly made their way up to her hips until finally, he began to squeeze her breasts, causing her to moan deeply.
They then stopped briefly for a different position; Heather was now resting on the bed on all fours. Ragnar waited no time and began thrusting his dragon into her once more. He grasped his hands against her hips as he thrust into her at a faster pace, causing her to moan deeply.
Finally, he forced her to stand upright so that he could kiss passionately on the lips while his right hand squeezed her right breast. It was now a fight of endurance to see who would last longer, and of course, Ragnar had the advantage in that front. Heather came first, but Ragnar was nowhere near finished and continued thrusting inside of her until he finally came as well.
Both of them then fell under the bed in each other's arms, smiling at one another.
"I really did miss this," said Heather snuggling up towards him.
"As did I; I just hope that we can do this on a more regular basis."
"So do I, but you have an important mission here, and I must serve the Chantry to the best of my abilities."
Ragnar smiled. "A Freefolk Elf and a Chantry sister sounds like one of those poorly written romantic stories."
"First off, I'm a lay sister, and second there's nothing wrong about those romantic stories, especially when you're the main characters."
"Fair enough."