Chapter 109: It comes
The weather turned foul the morning they were going to leave Haven. A storm came over the Frostbacks. For three days thunder rumbled as It dumped snow and ice hard on the little village of Haven and the mountain that had hid the ashes of Andraste for so many long years.
Alim and the others remained within the caves in the mountains, waiting for the storm to pass; there was likely no better shelter anywhere in Thedas. In the valley below summer had finally come, but up here, in the higher elevations, the snow never truly left this place, at least not for long.
Yet, something…something was not right.
Alim could sense something wrong about the storm, he could not quite put his finger on it, but it was clear that this was more than just a case of bad weather.
The elf's ears lowered slightly in anger.
It reminded him a little of what he had felt back in Ostagar. The air and the wind had the same foulness he remembered. It was something he would likely never forget, even though that day seemed so long ago now, like it had happened to someone else in another life.
He had been a different person then, fresh out of the tower with so much anger and distrust in his heart. Jowan, Lily, Irving…after everything that had happened, it was amazing that he had made it this far.
Duncan had said that Irving saw something in him; he wanted to believe he had finally come into that potential.
He had become not just a good warden, but a better person as well; at least he hoped he had.
Still this was not about him; it was about the wrongness he felt in the air. He had seen evil more than once on this journey.
What he was feeling, was truly evil.
He could not say for certain if Alistair and Theron felt the same thing. They were both wardens true, but he doubted they shared his same affinity with the natural world. The memories he had gained in the werewolves' lair had only magnified those senses.
Nature itself seemed sick, he had no doubt that the darkspawn horde was moving in earnest again. During the winter they had continued to push north, but slowly, the spawn did not seem to like the cold any better than their victims did, their raiding parties still struck, but the wall of darkspawn he had seen from the bridge at Ostagar seemed like a distant memory.
The return of warm weather likely ended that lull. The Ferelden Civil War had raged all winter, the defenders of the kingdom were likely spent or at least greatly weakened by the fighting. That would make them all easy prey for the renewed darkspawn advance.
Alim had snorted as he watched the storm from the mouth of the mountain cave. As soon as the weather cleared they would leave this place and return to Redcliffe. As soon as the Arl was healed they would begin sending messages to their allies. The dwarves, the Dalish, and the mages would have to begin mobilizing for the next stage of the fight. Hopefully, Arl Eamon would be strong enough to settle matters with Loghain quickly.
Then they could all turn to the matter of dealing with the real enemies here.
There was so much to do, yet they were now forced to wait out the storm that had trapped them here.
It was not a pleasant experience.
The wait frustrated the wardens and their allies, the sooner they returned to Redcliffe the better. Arl Eamon was likely not getting any better down there. If he died before they made it back, this trip would be for nothing.
As they waited, they all searched for ways to keep themselves distracted or busy, the jubilation they had felt after first finding the ashes was gone now. Now they all sought new ways to keep their minds busy and their hands occupied. Sten stood guard, when he was not staring at the various statues and carvings anyway. The Qunari did not think for a moment that the Disciples of Andraste had been completely wiped out, and still expected one last suicidal attack from the fanatics.
Alim was just enough of a realist to acknowledge that the large warrior was right.
The group remained on alert, even during the two times that they made their way back down to Haven for supplies. The village was deserted now; there was no sign of the women and children they had seen when they first arrived. It was hard not to wonder what had become of them. Not all of the villagers could have been fighters after all. Had the survivors fled into the wilderness, perhaps taking shelter in other caves, waiting?
It was possible; still, the loss of so many of their fellows had likely weakened the cult's military strength greatly. So many reavers and blood mages had died trying to block the wardens' way to the ashes. How many more could remain. Haven had been a very small village after all…
It was definitely not a place that one would find an army.
Where ever the cultists had gone, the wardens and their allies saw no more of them. Perhaps with their leadership decimated, and their god dead, they had decided to move on. Maybe they had destroyed themselves; the object of their faith was gone. Maybe they had chosen to follow their "true" Andraste into death.
It was impossible to say, all they knew for certain was that the cultists were gone, that was a good thing.
Of course, not everyone in their party was bored.
Brother Genitivi welcomed the wait, the scholar spent the days and nights they were trapped here studying the temple, always accompanied by at least two of their little party as guards. The old man's energy was boundless as he searched the hidden places of the lower temple. He collected many sketches and rubbings of the various reliefs on the temples walls. The scholar also collected several books from an old abandoned library off the main hall, not to mention several scrolls. The believers among their group were intrigued by these, most were written in code, but a few had been written in the common tongue.
These excited Genitivi above all else. The Chant and stories of Andraste's life had changed so much in the centuries since her death. Here was a chance to discover things about her life that had been lost or discarded by the Chantry.
Whether the Divine and the clerics accepted these discoveries was another matter. Genitivi confessed that many in the chantry had seen his search for the temple as foolish at best, heresy at least. It was unlikely that the chantry would enjoy knowing that Andraste's protectors had all turned into dragon worshiping fanatics in the years since her death.
Genitivi did not seem to mind, he welcomed each new discovery with the excitement of a child on Satinalia morning, and he had no trouble finding help.
Wynne and Leliana were more than eager to aid him. Even though he was not as excited as they were about the discoveries that had been made, Alim did not even try to stop them. He understood the value of keeping one's mind occupied when cooped up like this, not that he was bored himself of course, oh no.
Leliana had ways of keeping him distracted, and it had nothing to do with her faith.
Her…other skills were more than enough to keep him satisfied.
And they were not alone.
The other couples that had formed in their little group took this time to rest. It also served as a chance to explore their feelings for each other. Alim and Leliana certainly did not let this opportunity pass them by. Zevran and Seri also took advantage of their forced stop. From the way the former dwarven princess had been smiling it was clear that she had no complaints, and neither did Zevran, whose attitude had changed greatly since he and Seri had begun there…relationship. The assassin seemed more relaxed now, at peace, he was not one to let his emotions show, but when he did it was clear that being with her made him happy, it was a curious thing considering how cavalier the assassin could be about love and sex. Alim did not pry into their relationship. Seri was a grown woman, and could take care of herself, besides, who was he to say what they had was appropriate or not. They were both fighters, and fighters deserved their diversions.
If they found comfort together, more power to them.
Alistair and Morrigan's relationship had changed much since their first visit to Orzammar. The witch seemed to be…distancing herself from her warden lover. Even though it was clear that she was bothered by this. She had all but banned him from sharing her bedroll, and rebuffed any and all offers of comfort or pleasure that he could provide. Her refusal, not to mention her coldness confused and hurt his fellow warden. Finally Alistair could take no more. He approached Alim about speaking to her, asking him to find out what had caused this change, and what could he, Alistair do to fix it.
Alim considered his friends request, but in the end chose not to speak with her.
He could help but think it would do more harm than good.
Alistair was angry at first, but Alim insisted that he hear his reasons why.
The former Templar agreed to hear him out.
Alim explained that Morrigan considered him an ally, possibly even a friend, but that did not mean that she would tolerate him meddling in her personal business. She was too private a person for that, and far too proud.
If he tried to intervene on such a…personal matter the witch would not take kindly to that. It invited trouble, and they had enough outside the group without inviting more inside.
Whatever was going on here was between her and her and Alistair. It was best that it remain that way.
He counseled Alistair to give her time. It was clear that she was trying to work through something. If he truly cared about her, he would be wise to give her the space she needed to work through…whatever it was she was trying to work through.
Alistair had sighed, no doubt finding some value in Alim's words.
He agreed to try, grudgingly…
Which left them with their newest couple, it had been a long time coming, but Alim was not surprised.
Fergus and Kally had had a connection from the very beginning, even if they had not realized it. It had taken her time to work through the fact that he was noble born, considering what she had told them about that business with the Arl of Denerim's son, but she finally saw that he was not like the man who had hurt her cousin. Alim was not sure what the two had seen during the gauntlet, but it had clearly opened both their minds and their hearts.
It was Leli who saw the first blossoming of this new romance. She had been just finishing up a turn on watch when she had heard voices in one of the side tunnels. She had moved silently, watchful for ambush or attack, what she found was none of those things.
She had not meant to eavesdrop, but she heard Fergus telling Kally about his family, what he had lost, and how…just being around her...he still hurt, but the pain did not seem so intense anymore.
Kally had tried to dismiss what he was saying. She was a city elf, and he the Teyrn of Highever. What did she have to offer him?
The nobleman had responded by kissing her, the two had still been kissing when Leliana returned to the tent she shared with Alim.
Alim had had first watch in the morning, he was surprised to see Kally emerge from her own tent and Fergus emerge from his. It seemed that their new couple preferred to take things slow.
A wise decision probably, they still had a long way to go.
First, they needed to get the ashes to Arl Eamon, and then…they would all see what came next.
IOI
On the third day the storm finally broke, allowing them to make their way back down the mountain. The group left in full armor with their weapons drawn. Brother Genitivi remained between the others; they encircled the scholar in case they were attacked. Alim had to give it to the old man; he did not seem bothered by all this. He had travelled many times into dangerous places. This journey was no different than any other.
Oghren looked to be spoiling for a fight, and Shayle was not much better. More than once he heard the dwarf growling how he just knew that at least some of the cultists were out there, watching as they passed by.
The golem had complained for days how bored she was. Had she just wanted to stand around, she said, she would have remained in Honnleath. Alim said nothing. He still sensed the same foulness in the air, though he saw nothing threatening, he could not shake the feeling that something was watching them, hidden just out of sight.
The group did not stop until they were well out of the mountains.
Shortly after they had the main road again Bodahn and Sandal showed up, the two dwarves had spent the last week in a local village, trading for supplies and information. Everyone was talking about how the war had turned against the nobles fighting Loghain; they had been decimated in several surprise attacks recently, and with the darkspawn horde pushing further north. It was unlikely that anyone was left to challenge the Teyrn.
It was not the best of news, but it wasn't all bad, hopefully Arl Eamon's recovery would be enough to inspire Loghain's enemies not to give up.
Between the Arl's men and the treaties they had gathered, they hopefully had enough strength to resist the Teyrn.
Hopefully.
The group pushed hard, travelling even after dusk; finally the darkness forced them to stop. They made camp in a small clearing about a day's ride from Redcliffe Castle.
By tomorrow evening they would be back with the ashes.
Alim and Leliana agreed to take first watch. They stood together near the edge of camp, with only the crackle of the fire and the occasional gust of wind disturbing the silence.
A strange malaise had settled over the group. Now that they had made it out of the mountains, the summer heat had returned with a vengeance. The air was muggy and stifling. It was doubtful that even Sten found it comfortable.
Alim was grateful when Oghren and Theron took their place on watch, right now all he wanted to do was crawl into his tent with the woman he loved and try to get some rest.
If they were lucky, the heat would break in the night, and they would waken to a crisp and comfortable Fereldan morning.
It would have been nice, but it was not to be.
Something else came for them in night…
…and it was not happy.
IOI
The Archdemon wheeled overhead, the yellow-green light of the fade flickered off its ebony colored wings. The beast was larger here, larger and far more terrible. The rot that covered it was darker here, more foul, the scales of the beast shone like black mirrors in the dark.
The Dragon landed on a large island, it flapped its wings several times as it settled down to rest. It pale milky eyes searched the fade like a pair of great lanterns, eagerly searching for prey.
That is when it saw Alim, or rather, his dream self.
The Archdemon growled a growl that came with such intensity that it seemed to shake the fade itself.
Only the black city in the distance remained unmoved.
The beast seemed to stare through the elf, looking deep inside him, seeing into his very soul.
He felt a wave of contempt strike him, contempt and barely restrained fury.
You cannot hide from me.
The deep voice shook the fade anew. Alim did not have to guess who was speaking.
Acidic saliva dripped from the Archdemon's hungry mouth.
I see you!
The massive dragon roared. Alim was forced to cover his ears even that was not enough.
The roar was not just sound, it burned through his tainted blood like a beacon.
Alim felt a sudden sense of terror, a sense of foreboding.
He realized then that they were not alone.
The Archdemon lowered its massive head, it pinned him with its baleful gaze.
WE see YOU!
IOI
Alim's eyes snapped open, he was covered in sweat!
Leliana was still sound asleep in his arms; she murmured softly dealing with her own dreams.
But this was not a dream, the elf realized.
"Leli?"
It was a trap!
"Leli? WAKE UP!"
He shook her arm.
Leliana groaned and blinked.
"De…dearest, what is it? What's…?"
A high pitched squeal broke through the silence! Followed by a flash of light, and the roar of a hungry ogre!
Alim felt the bile rise up in his throat.
This was no dream!
The darkspawn had found them!