Chapter 86: The Return
The ruins of Ostagar sat buried under a mountain of snow and taint.
Alim stared grimly at the scene, spring had already come north of here, and summer would no doubt not be far away, but here…here winter still held strong onto the once great fortress, hiding what had been lost last fall…
…not to mention the many bodies buried beneath the cold white drifts.
Alistair and Wynne stood at his side, with Bandit growling at his feet. Unlike the others, these had been with the army that one dark night. Fergus had been at Ostagar before the battle, but he had been lost in the wilds before the battle had happened…
He…he could not understand what was going through their minds right now.
Alim's ears twitched with something between irritation and anger.
Ostagar, it seemed like it had happened in another lifetime, he had been just a raw recruit the first time he had stood inside this place, still recovering from Jowan's betrayal, and still trying to make sense of the world outside the tower.
Theron the only one of their brothers who had not been here shivered at the sight. He walked up behind his fellow elf and leader.
"What do you need us to do Lethallan?" he asked.
The warden mage sighed. He pushed the past to the back of his mind, what was done here was done.
Of course, that did not mean that they had to like it.
"Stay together," he ordered, "There are still darkspawn hiding in these ruins, don't let them separate you. Alistair, Wynne and I will track down the key and find this royal arms chest. We get those documents and we get out…"
He turned to the others with a vicious smile on his face.
"The spawn may have won the last battle here, but that does not make them invincible. Send as many as you can back to the void from which they came. Let them all see that this war is far from over."
Above them thunder rumbled.
Alim smiled.
"Make them bleed."
"Ha," Oghren barked, "I knew there was a reason I got out of the tent this morning, "Lets show these nug-humpers our guts, then we show them theirs."
Alim grinned savagely at his dwarven companion.
He could not have said it better himself.
He turned to Ostagar, glancing up at the gray clouds over head; he could feel the same sick sensation in the air he had felt the first time he stepped into Ostagar, only now it had expanded. All around him felt sick, sick or transformed into something darker.
He raised his hands reaching out to the clouds with his magic, he touched the air the wind and the rain. He communed with the elements as the ancient stormbreaker back in the Brecilian forest had shown him.
Then, as he had in Honnleath, he unleased the natural world's power against Ostagar. Lightning stabbed the sky as wind and blowing sleet hammered the fortress.
It was strange, the first time he attempted this it had left him so exhausted, the storms he had called down on Honnleath had not been anywhere near as large, but now…he manipulated it with such ease.
Had he grown stronger? It was possible he supposed, of course, it did not hurt that nature had endured so much here; the taint leeched the very life out of the ground and turned it into something twisted and horrible.
The natural world had suffered greatly at darkspawn hands…now…it had a thirst for revenge.
The wind, the rain, and very ground despised the darkspawn, and through him they had a conduit to funnel their anger, their desire for revenge.
He drank that power in and released it.
Over Ostagar the storm raged.
The first of the darkspawn finally noticed the wardens, a group of genlocks being led by a single hurlock alpha.
Leliana, Zevran, and Theron sent arrows at the monsters, Alim called on the wind to aid their strikes.
The arrows easily pierced darkspawn armor. Morrigan took up the call next, sending a fireball racing at the spawn, it exploded in their midst sending the monsters squealing to their deaths.
Alim released his grip on the storm, letting it drift out over the hinterlands to the north, hopefully to send rain to wash away the darkspawns' foulness from the ruins and Lothering and the rest of the fallen lands.
He knew it would not be enough to cleanse everything, but it was a start. As for the darkspawn here, well…they required a more…personal cleansing.
The elf drew spellbinder and ordered the others forward.
The purging of Ostagar had begun.
IOI
Fergus led a small group against the spawn and ghouls holding what had been the King's central camp. It was from here that he had received his orders to scout the wilds from King Cailan and Teyrn Loghain.
The nobleman felt fury building in his breast. Had Loghain known even then what that snake Howe was planning, probably?
If he had, when the time came…
Fergus would see that justice was done.
"Down Gus!"
He ducked as a large hurlock swung its battle ax splintering an old tent pole behind him.
He brought up his shield to deal with the creature but it was not necessary.
Kally was already on it.
The elf danced around her much larger enemy, her sword and dagger, picking away at the Hurlock's defenses, each attack sought to annoy and confuse the darkspawn warrior.
Finally, in its fury it threw down its weapon and lunged at her trying to bite.
Her dagger found its throat easily, sliding easily through the weak armor there.
The hurlock slumped to the ground twitching in death.
Fergus stood there in disbelief.
The elf still continued to impress him.
She drew her dagger from the creature's throat cleaning it quickly on its armor.
She glared at Fergus.
"Stay sharp, Milord," she said coldly, "You can't expect a lowborn girl like me to protect you all the time."
Fergus frowned. Kally had been cold to him since Redcliffe; he had tried to speak with her but had been rebuffed each time. It was more than frustrating, it…
From out of the ruins crawled at least twenty ghouls. The sight was ghastly beyond belief. Most had likely be servants in the King's army once, they had no doubt tried to hide when the darkspawn overran the camp, now…now they were something worse.
The skin hung tight to their tainted bodies with their weeping sores, hollow cheeks and cracked lips were covered in blood from feasting on carrion and the dead.
Fergus stood before Kally. He clanked his sword on the face of his shield getting their attention.
If they wanted a meal, let them try with him.
They would find him…a bit tough.
An arrow sang into the neck of the lead ghoul causing it to stagger and fall. Theron leapt into the fray with a terrifying elven war cry. At his side were Seri, Zevran, Shayle, and Oghren, the ghouls were driven back by the fury of the charge.
Shayle laughed as she crushed the ghouls. Oghren whirled with a cry of fury, giving himself to the power of the berserkers. Lady Seri was poetry in motion; a skill honed from centuries of dwarven war against the spawn, and as always Zevran was at her side. The dwarf and the elf made a surprisingly good team with their separate styles, Theron's hand ax both chopped and bashed at the creatures keeping them off balance while the others delivered killing strikes.
The Dalish warden was ruthless on the field of battle; few could doubt the skill and strength of the Dalish if this elf was common among his people.
A group of shrieks attempted to come to the aid of the ghouls, their high pitched cries enough to give even the bravest men shivers.
Fergus and Kally formed up with the others. Months of fighting together had made the collection of rogues, warriors, and mages into a strong fighting unit, they knew how to maximize each other's strengths and minimize their weaknesses.
Against that…the loose collection of spawn and starving ghouls were no match.
Alim and the others continued their own advance, clearing out the old temple and making their way to where the King's tent had once stood.
Fergus nodded, so far things were going well.
…So far so good.
IOI
Leliana continued to send arrow after arrow into the ranks of the charging darkspawn, keeping the monsters off not only Alim, but the rest of their party as well. As Theron's group raged through the camp, Alim and Alistair sought out the royal arms chest. The wardens were savage in dealing with the darkspawn who stood in their way. Quickly they purged the old temple of any spawn and fought their way towards the northern edge of the camp.
As they advanced more and more darkspawn began to emerge from their holes. It fell to Morrigan to keep these at bay, and prevent the rest of the group from being overwhelmed, and it was her job to keep the witch safe so that she could do that.
Leliana's brow furrowed, it was not the most pleasant of duties, but it was necessary.
She did not like the witch, and felt no shame in feeling that way. She did not like the way Morrigan had wormed her way into Alistair's heart, seducing him while Alim had been gone in the deep roads.
She shot the sorceress a quick glance, and received a cruel smirk in return, gesturing that bard keep her mind on the job in hand, keeping the darkspawn from overwhelming them.
Leliana's brow furrowed. She did not need Morrigan reminding her of her duties. She was loyal to Alim, her dearest friend and love…
She would not disappoint him.
Again lightning shook the ground, Alim blasted away at several darkspawn trying to bring around a ballista to target them, the war machine blew apart like so much kindling. The surviving spawn proved no match for the elf after that, his staff and spellbinder making quick work of any stragglers, and any that were missed fell quickly under the blade of Alistair's sword.
She heard Morrigan chuckle behind her.
"They are impressive are they not?" the witch purred, "Our dear wardens."
The bard sniffed. She did not need Morrigan to tell her that.
"It is why they lead us," she said sending another arrow flying at an advancing hurlock.
"And they are so useful as well," the witch purred, "Perfect for removing threats to one's person.
She felt her temper beginning to rise; she was not sure why they were having this conversation now.
Removing threats?
"You would know more about that than I would Morrigan," the bard said before loosing another arrow.
Even though she was occupied, she could almost feel the witch's sneer upon her.
"Truly?" the other woman said, "And I suppose that Alim eliminating your old master is just some public service?"
Leliana's eyes narrowed.
"You think I'm manipulating Alim to get rid of Marjolaine? She has already attacked us once, Morrigan. You don't think she would try again if left to her own devices?"
Morrigan clicked her tongue and shook her head.
"I mean no offense; in fact I admire your ability to get what you want. Alim will destroy your enemy for you, and you get to be a simple damsel in distress in his eyes."
Morrigan gave her a slight bow.
"Tis truly a brilliant move, I commend you for maneuvering yourself into such a position. Clearly, I have misjudged you."
Leliana said nothing.
She…she wanted to deny it, that she was not playing some game for the sole purpose of ridding herself of Marjolaine forever. She did not like that the witch thought such things about her, that she actually sounded impressed…
We're the same.
It was preposterous. Her only concern was stopping the Blight.
We're the same.
She was not some master manipulator, she was good. She…she was trying so hard to be good.
We're. The. Same.
She wanted to deny it, to say that Morrigan was wrong and that she had not…not…
Another hurlock managed to break through the others. She put an arrow down its throat.
She focused on her targets; they were something that she could deal with.
We're the same.
Killing darkspawn was easy.
Trying to see into her own heart…
…not so much.