A/N: Okay, I really didn't mean for it to take two months to get a new chapter up instead of one! I will try my hardest to have another one up by the end of the month to make up for how busy things got the last little while. Anyway, this chapter's a bit shorter than the rest, but it seemed like such a good place to end it that I decided to cut it short. The remainder of the Legacy DLC and the big fight will be in the next chapter. This one's fairly plot-heavy for obvious reasons, but I hope I've added enough original stuff in there to keep everyone entertained. The next chapter for sure will be adding a fair bit of original stuff to it, which is why I did bring such a big party along, as I have plot bunnies for all. Well, except for Fenris, but I couldn't think of a good reason to leave him behind either. So I hope everyone enjoys!
Thanks to everyone who's favorited, followed, and read so far - I'm happy you're enjoying it!
Extra special thanks as always to my awesome reviewers of last chapter: Alkeni, Wolvesfang (glad to have a new follower!), Lethal Dragon, and Ioialoha. And internet cookies (chocolate chip of course) to reviewer Mal Reynolds, who spotted the Easter Egg I slipped into the dialogue. I should have known with a name like that you'd know where it was from: the wacky crew of the ship Serenity!
PLEASE REVIEW EVERYONE! A GIFT FIC WILL BE AWARDED TO THE 150TH REVIEW!
Disclaimer: And of course, I don't own any parts you recognize from DA2, Bioware does. Everything else is mine!
Chapter 17: The Blood of the Hawke
They had been travelling for about a week and a half now, and had stopped to rest for the night before they would finally arrive at the spot in the mountains where the dwarves were hiding out. According to Varric, they should find it sometime the next day, which Brianna was relieved to hear. It had been a long week and a half, due both to the hard pace of their travel and the fact that Fenris and Anders seemed to find something to argue about every single day, causing her to have to play peacemaker each time. It was never enjoyable, especially since they tried to draw her into the middle each time and get her to agree with one of them, which she refused to do. Fortunately, Mardin always tried to help as well, usually by dragging Fenris off for a sparring match. And other than that, everyone else seemed to get along quite well; Mardin's sister Ayla and her husband Alistair fit into the group with surprising ease, particularly as Alistair seemed to have no interest in disturbing her command of the group, other than to offer the occasional bit of advice, which was usually quite helpful.
And, of course, Brianna thought wryly, Varric had been overjoyed that the two of them were coming along, which gave him endless opportunities to pester Alistair for tales of the Blight. Eventually, Alistair had given in and promised to give him the whole story, which had led to the two of them sitting together for a couple of hours each night after they made camp, while Varric scribbled down everything Alistair told him in one of his ever-present notebooks, only interrupting on occasion to ask a question or two. Ayla would eventually join them after she'd spent time with either Mardin or Anders, whom Alistair had studiously been avoiding, and would occasionally chime in with some detail or another. Half the time, these details would cause her husband to turn a bright red and Varric to roar with laughter; Brianna had never been close enough to catch just what those details were, however, as Varric insisted on conducting his business far enough away that "no one could interrupt his process". She could guess, though, given that it hadn't taken her long after meeting Ayla to understand that even if she didn't look much like Mardin, besides the matching red hair, the two certainly acted a lot alike.
It wasn't just that they shared a forward nature when it came to sex, although that was certainly true; it was also that they were both, at least on the surface, possessed of an easygoing nature and a teasing sense of humour, as well as a fierce loyalty and protective instinct to those they cared about. And they also seemed to move with a predatory grace and utter confidence that led Brianna to wonder if all shifters were like that, or just the two of them. She knew that they'd essentially been raised on the battlefield, as Mardin had told her, and she wondered if that had something to do with the way they moved and the way they fought. Either way, she couldn't help but be amused sometimes at how alike they were, especially when she and Carver were so different in personality, nor could she help being a little jealous of how well they got along compared to her and Carver. Although, her relationship with Carver had been improving of late, and though she'd had little time to spend with him on this trip so far, as he always seemed to be with Merrill or one of the others, he had not been at all resentful of her in the little time she had spent with him, the way he used to be before Mardin had begun training him and before the expedition.
"Hey Bree, shouldn't you be asleep?" Carver asked, suddenly appearing at her side as she sat on a log, staring into the low-burning flames. "You're not on watch, are you?"
Brianna shook her head. "No, I'm not." Currently Fenris and Varric were the ones on watch, and it was late enough at night that everyone else was sleeping. They'd decided with how many people were in their camp that it would be best to have two on watch at all times, just to be on the safe side, and had tried to divide it up so that those with heightened senses, such as Ayla or Mardin, who could both see in the dark, weren't on watch at the same time, and so far it had been working out quite well. "I'm not on watch tonight at all, actually. I just couldn't sleep. I was trying to think of what reason those dwarves could possibly have to want our blood, and what we'd be finding tomorrow. Why aren't you sleeping?"
Carver shrugged as he sank down on the log next to her. "Couldn't sleep either." Brianna turned to look at him, raising her eyebrows, and he finally elaborated, "Had a bad dream. No big deal."
Brianna frowned. She'd noticed Carver wandering around a few times at night during her watches. Was it always due to bad dreams? "Are the bad dreams because of being tainted? Because of what happened down in the Deep Roads?"
Carver looked into the fire, refusing to meet her eyes as he replied, "I suppose that has a little bit to do with it. I'd really rather not talk about it, though."
She nodded, appreciating his need for privacy. "You can, though. Talk to me about it sometime, that is. And . . . I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" He looked at her in surprise. "For what?"
"For what?" she repeated, dumbfounded. "For everything! The expedition, being down in the Deep Roads, you getting tainted and becoming a Grey Warden – it's all my fault!"
"No, it's not," he insisted, this time meeting her eyes squarely, and she could tell that he really believed that as he went on, "I made the choice to come on the expedition. Maker, Bree, I begged to come on the expedition, and unlike Mother, you let me make that choice for myself. And it's not your responsibility to look after me anymore. I'm old enough to look after myself, and I'm the one that got tainted, that wasn't fast enough. And you let me decide for myself if I wanted to become a Grey Warden or not. All of that was my own decision, and none of it was your fault."
"You really think so?" Because Mother doesn't. She didn't bother to say that out loud, though. Mother had apologized for what she'd said, after all, but somehow Brianna couldn't shake the feeling that deep down, her mother still completely believed she was at fault for what had happened to both Carver and Bethany. But if Carver, at least, didn't blame her for what happened, maybe she could stop blaming herself.
Carver nodded firmly. "I really do. Besides, it's not all bad. I've always wanted to do something for myself, something where I could be recognized on my own merit, not just as Hawke's little brother or Junior. I just didn't know what I was going to do, but I think being a Warden can give me that chance that I was hoping for, to earn something for myself. And like Anders says, all the Wardens I've met so far seem to be really good people. I like the Commander, and Mardin's sister."
She'd known that Carver felt stifled by being her younger brother, but she hadn't realized just how much. Maybe it would be good for him to get away and figure out who he was on his own merit. And she had to admit, from what time she'd managed to spend with Alistair and Ayla so far, they did seem like the type of people she could trust to do their best to look after her little brother. She smiled at Carver. "I like them too. But . . . what about Merrill?"
Carver sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I asked her if she might be able to come with me eventually," he confessed after a moment. "Back to Ferelden, that is. She said she couldn't, at least not yet. She has something she has to do for her clan, but she wouldn't tell me what it is. So . . . I'll just have to visit her, and you and Mother, whenever I get the chance, and write letters. The Commander says he tries to give us leave whenever he can manage it, so I'll come back to visit as much as I can. And maybe one day, if things work out, Merrill will come to join me. Do you think you can keep an eye on her until then, maybe find out what it is she's doing and help her with it?"
"I'll do my best," Brianna promised. She wasn't entirely sure that whatever Merrill was working on might be safe, but if it wasn't, maybe she could talk her out of it. Besides, if there was something she could do for Carver, however minimal, to make him happy, she still wanted to do it, particularly if it meant she could help out one of her friends along the way. She bumped Carver's shoulder with hers, giving him a teasing look. "Does that mean things are getting pretty serious with you two?"
Carver rubbed at his nose as his face slowly turned red. "I guess they are, maybe. Serious enough that I want to see her as much as I can, anyway. What about you and Mardin?"
"What about us?" Brianna asked innocently, even as she could feel herself starting to turn red. She knew that everyone had to know she and Mardin were sleeping together by this point, especially after she'd told the story of how the dwarves had attacked them, and she'd tried to tell herself she didn't care about what everyone thought. Still, it was one thing to have her friends know and another to have them see what was going on, especially when her brother and Mardin's sister were travelling with them, so she'd insisted Mardin keep his distance while they were travelling to the mountains. It had been harder than she'd expected to keep her own rules, however, particularly when she was enjoying herself with Mardin more than she'd ever thought she would, but she still thought they'd managed to be pretty discreet on the trip so far.
Carver rolled his eyes, bumping her shoulder in turn. "Come on, Bree, we all heard the story about how you two were in bed together when the dwarves attacked you. And I can see the way he looks at you, and the way you look at him. I don't know why you're trying to hide it; it's pretty obvious. I'm just asking if it's serious."
"Honestly?" Brianna said with a shrug. "I don't know yet. I'm still figuring it out." Which was true enough; she had no idea yet if she even wanted anything serious with him. She had just decided she wanted to do something for herself for once, and damn the consequences. She'd also come to understand Mardin well enough recently, particularly after he'd told her about his parents, to realize that whether he would admit it or not, he was terrified of serious relationships, and so there was no point in her pushing him on that score until she knew what she wanted. For now, it was enough just to enjoy herself with him; if there ever came a time when she decided that she wanted more, she would press the issue then. "When I do, I'll let you know. Or does my little brother not approve?" she teased him.
He made a face at her. "I'm not little anymore."
"Younger, then. You'll always be that." She poked him, and he rolled his eyes. "But you still didn't answer my question."
"What, if I approve?" Carver asked in surprise, and she nodded. "Well, sure. I like Mardin. He's a good guy, and I know he'll be able to protect you now that I'm not around to do it. Do you approve of Merrill?"
It took Brianna a second to register his question, as she was still shocked at the realization that Carver felt he had to protect her. She'd never realized he felt an equal responsibility towards her as she did him. As soon as she realized what he'd asked, though, she nodded. "Merrill's a sweetheart, and she's been good for you." I just hope her being a blood mage doesn't lead her somewhere that no one can follow. "I really hope it works out for the two of you. But you should get some sleep. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."
"If I'm going to sleep, you should too," Carver pointed out, though he was already standing up from the log.
"You're right," Brianna agreed, standing up herself. "I'll give it another try." Somehow, she thought she might be more successful now; talking to Carver had made her feel surprisingly better, especially since she realized that he seemed to be doing okay and was relatively happy with how things had turned out. After wishing each other good night and heading to bed, she found out she was right when she drifted off to sleep with little issue, sleeping the best she had on their trip so far.
"There it is at last," Varric announced.
They were standing on top of a ridge in the desolate, rocky countryside of the Vimmark Mountains, which only seemed to be populated by sand, scraggly plants, and more rocks and hills than one could possibly count. The ridge they were standing on allowed them to see a few miles into the distance, though Brianna had to shield her eyes against the blazing hot sun that was beating down on them out of a cloudless blue sky in order to see what looked like a stone fortress with numerous pillars built into the side of one of the mountains.
Carver frowned, squinting down at the fortress too. "It doesn't look all that dwarven."
Varric shrugged. "These are Carta dwarves, so they're more criminals and smugglers than anything else. They're not usually stupid, though. I don't know why they'd attack someone with Hawke's reputation, or charge at someone like Red. Or attack a bunch of Wardens, for that matter. All three are pretty fast ways to die, if you ask me."
Mardin was frowning, as he always did when the attack was brought up, Brianna had noticed, but he shook his head. "They weren't thinking at all, as far as I can tell. They seemed pretty crazed."
Carver nodded. "They seemed like they were really only interested in my blood. They didn't seem to care how many of them got taken down by the other Wardens on their way to get to me."
Brianna shrugged. "I'm just glad they failed, and I want to make sure it stays that way."
"You have a plan, then?" Varric asked. "I found their hideout, but my sources couldn't tell me anything else. Not why they were attacking you and Junior, or why so many Carta members up and disappeared. It's all very . . . strange."
"Why do you say that?" Brianna demanded, though she couldn't help feeling an uncomfortable twinge down her spine. "It's just the Carta, isn't it?"
Varric shook his head. "As far as my contacts in the Carta know, they shouldn't be here. There shouldn't even be a here. This place is invisible. A big blind spot on the map. Bianca's never been this suspicious, and she's twitchy to start with."
"You say this place isn't even on the map?" Alistair turned from where he'd been surveying the fortress in the distance, and when Varric nodded, he sighed. "I was afraid of that."
"You think this is that Warden base you've heard rumours of?" Ayla supplied, and Alistair nodded.
"It would be just like the Wardens to ensure it was a blind spot on the map. They've always liked their secrets," Alistair admitted.
Anders shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense, though. Why would the Carta help the Wardens? Or vice versa?"
"We will not find the answers to any of those questions here," Fenris said. "We must simply go there and find out why they are attacking Hawke and her brother."
"Broody's got a point. So what's the plan?" Varric asked.
"I guess we just start by going down there and seeing if there's anyone not crazy we can talk to," Brianna replied with a shrug. "So let's go."
She led everyone down the ridge, towards the fortress in the distance, and eventually they reached an old stone bridge, covered with debris and damaged, burning wagons, among which were piled the bodies of recently dead merchants.
"The Carta doesn't kill guild members, either," Varric muttered as they picked their way around the destruction. "This is all very unusual."
They followed the bridge to a footpath that wound between the rocks on either side, and they hadn't gone very far before Brianna picked up the sound of someone shouting. She couldn't make out the words, but she could tell from the way that Ayla lifted her head that she could. She cast a questioning glance in her direction, but Ayla merely shook her head in response. "Let's just put it this way – I don't think you're going to find anyone not crazy to talk to."
"Is it the Carta?" Carver asked, looking around at the rocks as they went.
"I think so," Ayla replied.
Anders looked up at the rocks above them too, as though expecting the dwarves to suddenly appear around them. "Do you think they were expecting us?"
"Hard to say," Varric answered. "If it was the normal Carta, I'd say yes, but these guys?" He shrugged.
The path eventually brought them to a set of stairs leading up to what appeared to be a long hallway, with stone pillars on either side. A dwarf with dark hair and a beard stood at the other end, wearing studded leather armor. Like the other dwarves that had attacked her, Brianna noticed that this one had wild eyes that lit up when he spotted their group. "You! The brother and sister both! You're here together! You've come!"
"Is . . . he referring to you and me?" Carver whispered to Brianna as he came up next to her.
"I imagine so," she murmured back. "We're not the only brother and sister here, but we are the only Hawkes."
"Everyone!" the dwarf cried before the others could even comment. "It's the children of Malcolm Hawke! They've come to us!"
Two more dwarves came to join him as Brianna frowned. "What does our father have to do with this?"
"It began with him and ends with you!" the dwarf shouted, his eyes gleaming. "Blood for blood, that's what we were told!"
"Oh, that can't be good," Alistair muttered behind them.
"I didn't think dwarves knew how to do blood magic," Merrill added. "Who do you suppose taught them?"
"Dwarves can't do magic at all, Daisy," Varric said, his eyes narrowed as he watched the other dwarves. "So this continues to make no sense."
"You can't?" Merrill exclaimed. "Oh, that's so sad!"
Carver, meanwhile, was looking at Brianna with an expression of confusion equal to her own. "Did . . . Father cross the Carta, somehow?"
"I don't know," she said helplessly. "I didn't even know he knew any Carta dwarves."
"You've come to us now, and that's the only thing that matters!" the lead dwarf cried.
"Look," Brianna said in exasperation, although she was coming to suspect that asking questions was completely futile, "we only came here to find out why the Carta has attacked us."
"For the blood!" The dwarf threw up his hands. "We must have it!"
"Well, you're not getting any of my blood," Brianna retorted, "or Carver's, for that matter."
Mardin was suddenly there at her side, drawing his sword and shield. "Stay behind me," he muttered to her, his eyes already starting to blaze with anger, and she realized why as she noticed that more dwarves were joining the first three, drawing weapons and readying bows.
"We will take it!" the lead dwarf shouted again, hefting a sword as Brianna began to ready a spell. "Corypheus will walk in the sun once more!"
Well over a dozen dwarves streamed towards them, swords and axes out as other dwarves fired arrows at them. Mardin raced forward to meet the dwarves, along with Fenris, Carver, and Alistair. Ayla, though she looked less than pleased about it, limited herself to staying farther back, throwing daggers and only engaging the dwarves if they got past the other four. Varric stayed with her, firing bolts and flinging smoke bombs at the dwarves, while Brianna stayed back with Anders and Merrill, alternating between support spells for the fighters and offensive spells aimed at the dwarves. It didn't take long before they'd defeated the crazed Carta dwarves, fortunately with only minimal injuries to their party, nothing that she or Anders couldn't take care of.
"Who is Corypheus?" Brianna demanded when the fight was done, but the others shook their heads, seeming to be as confused by the name invoked as she was.
"There is a gate here," Fenris said from up ahead, gesturing to a poorly constructed wooden gate strung between two old pillars. "I would suggest we venture further in and find out."
Brianna nodded, and followed Fenris, Mardin and the others through the gate into a type of courtyard with several wooden walkways around, where they were attacked by more Carta members clamouring for Hawke blood and even a bronto, which Mardin met head on in bear form while the others attacked from a distance. Though Mardin was a good deal more injured this time, it still wasn't beyond Anders' ability to heal, fortunately, and Ayla scolded him enough that Brianna decided she didn't need to – not right now, anyway.
"Did you hear them?" Carver exclaimed once everyone had been healed. "They're definitely after us for our blood . . . but why?!"
"That's an excellent question," Brianna said, "but I don't know the answer, other than it has something to do with someone named Corypheus. Maybe there are answers around this place somewhere. What do you guys think?"
She glanced at Ayla and Mardin, remembering that they were both possessed of instincts that she and the others were not. Mardin sighed. "Well, we didn't really want to say anything, but . . ." He glanced at his sister.
"You've been down in the Deep Roads now, right?" she asked him in turn, and Mardin nodded. "And this is . . ."
"Worse," Mardin finished for her. "It feels twice as dangerous here as it did in the Deep Roads, and the further we go in, the more it feels like the worst kind of trap. But, we do need to find out what's going on, and I don't know why it feels this way. I can't really . . ."
"Pinpoint anything," Ayla supplied for him. "It's just the whole place, and every dwarf we meet feels . . . wrong somehow. It's making me feel pretty twitchy."
"Worse?" Anders echoed in disbelief. "How can any place be worse than the Deep Roads?"
"Maybe it has something to do with this Corypheus guy?" Carver suggested.
"Maybe he's the one doing the blood magic!" Merrill added. "I mean, if dwarves can't do magic, somebody must be able to if they want your blood, right?"
"Mardin's right," Alistair said, which caused Mardin – and really everybody else – to look at him in shock. "Even if whatever's going on here is more dangerous than the Deep Roads, we need to find out what it is, and why the dwarves are acting like this. Especially if it's got anything to do with this possibly being a Warden base."
Brianna nodded, agreeing with him fully. "I'm not about to leave without finding out why these dwarves want my blood, and my brother's. Otherwise they'll just keep coming after us. But if anyone wants to back out, and wait for me to come back, I wouldn't blame you."
She couldn't deny being relieved when everyone refused her offer, however, and pledged to continue on to find out what was happening. She took the lead again, though Mardin stuck close to her side, and the others ranged themselves in a line behind her as they headed through another gate into a long tunnel built out of wooden walls. This eventually led them to an even older section of stone fortress built into a chasm, where they had to fight their way through several more Carta members and brontos. They came out onto another opening on the side of the mountain, able to see another immense fortress in the distance, similar to a tower with carved statues along the side that stretched both far above them into the sky and far down into the chasm below them. They searched through rooms along the flagged road leading to the fortress, fighting off more Carta members, all of whom acted in the same insane fashion and seemed to have no information to offer beyond Corypheus and the fact that they wanted blood.
Eventually, they found their way to a door that led into the side of the tower-like fortress, which opened into an interior made of wood and stone, covered in dirt. Boxes and barrels were piled everywhere, along with several scattered bits of paper. All they could glean from the papers, however, was that the dwarves had instructions to kill everyone but Brianna and Carver when they found them, and keep their blood "pure for Corypheus", whatever that meant. Brianna was starting to believe, however, that Merrill's theory about Corypheus being a blood mage wasn't far off the mark.
Finally, in one of the rooms, a brown-haired dwarf came running up to them, seeming to be more coherent than the last batch they'd run across as he cried, "The Hawke's blood! The Master will rise! He will be free!"
"Gerav?" Varric said in shock as he came up next to Brianna, clutching Bianca like she was a lifeline.
The dwarf, Gerav, blinked in surprise, comprehension slowly breaking through the madness in his eyes. "Varric? N-no one told me you would be part of this. We were just going after the Hawke."
Brianna glanced briefly at Varric, worried, but she did need answers, and this dwarf seemed more capable of providing them than the others. "Why are you coming after me and my brother?" she demanded.
Gerav shook his head frantically. "I c-can't say. The Master must be free . . ."
"Really, Gerav? I thought better of you than this," Varric said, his voice heavy with disappointment. "I mean, gutting the occasional competitor for fun and profit, that's the game. But what are you all even doing here? Worshipping demons?"
"We drink the darkspawn blood," Gerav whispered, his eyes glowing with a fresh madness as he seemed to look up at something no one could see. "He calls us . . ."
"You're drinking the darkspawn blood?" Alistair exclaimed from behind Brianna. "Maker . . . that's why they're all so . . ."
"They're like Ruck, aren't they?" Ayla asked, her voice tinged with shock.
Brianna frowned, turning to look at Alistair. "Wouldn't they just die if they drank darkspawn blood?"
He shook his head, frowning. "Not necessarily. Some survive . . . well, if you can call that surviving." He nodded at Gerav. "But it will taint you, twist you into something similar to a darkspawn."
"It's the only way . . . to hear the music," Gerav said dreamily, his head wobbling back and forth.
"Maker," Alistair said softly, blanching.
"Commander, does he mean what I think he does?" Anders hissed.
Before Brianna could demand to know what they were talking about, Varric cried, "Oh come on, you nug-licker! Snap out of it. There's no gold in hallucinating."
Worry about the despair in Varric's voice temporarily distracted Brianna from any other questions she might have as she looked down at her friend in concern. "I take it he's a friend of yours, Varric?"
Varric nodded, never taking his eyes off the other dwarf, or his hands off Bianca. "Hawke, this is Gerav. He's a greedy, brilliant, bastard son-of-a-nug from the Carta. Gerav, this is Hawke, the one whose blood you want to drink or bathe in or whatever. But I got to warn you, you catch diseases that way."
"The Master is calling. He needs the blood," Gerav replied simply, and whatever temporary sanity had been in his eyes seemed to be long gone now.
"Gerav . . . buddy . . ." Varric pleaded, and Brianna squeezed his shoulder, not knowing what else to do as her friend continued, "This isn't like you. Look. I've still got Bianca, never misfired a day in her life. You don't want her to see her papa like this, do you?"
"Your friend is gone," Alistair said quietly, echoing Brianna's earlier thoughts. "I'm sorry."
"That's not him anymore," Ayla added softly.
"Varric?" Brianna squeezed his shoulder again, not knowing what to do other than offer her friend an out. "You want to spare his life?"
Varric shook his head slowly, still not looking up at her. "Not if he's after you, Hawke." He lifted Bianca up, carefully aiming at Gerav. "Bianca, I think it's time to say goodbye."
Brianna readied her staff, but before either of them could do anything, Gerav disappeared in a sudden puff of smoke, re-appearing a moment later several feet back, as several more Carta dwarves rushed to his aid from a door located behind him. Gerav pulled out two daggers, twirling them in his hands, his eyes gleaming once more with frantic madness as he advanced towards Varric.
"Reinforcements! You bastard!" Varric growled, firing Bianca anyway, but one of the other dwarves intervened, bringing a shield up between Gerav and the bolt.
Brianna dropped an explosive fire spell in the midst of the clustered dwarves, blasting them apart. Mardin, Carver, and the others raced forward following her spell, moving to take down any dwarves that were left behind, while she worked with Ayla, Varric, and the other mages to try to take down the few archers that had appeared. In the end, it was Carver that dealt the finishing blow to Gerav, just as the battle with the other Carta members was finishing up. Brianna stowed her staff away on her back, coming to join Varric as he moved to his former friend's body.
"You poor stupid bastard . . ." Varric muttered, slinging Bianca onto his back as he knelt down. "I used to do business with the Carta, back in the day. Gerav was a nutcase then, too, but in a good way. He was trying to design a new type of repeating crossbow." He tapped the crossbow on his back. "Bianca was the only one that ever worked. I can't believe he ended up like that."
"I'm so sorry, Varric." Brianna squeezed his shoulder again, feeling that the words were terribly inadequate, but not having the slightest idea what else to say to him.
Merrill rushed forward, too, leaning down to hug Varric. "I'm very sorry about your friend, Varric. Is there anything I can do?"
Varric only very briefly returned the hug before pulling away, clearing his throat. "No, Daisy, don't you worry about it. Come on, we've got some crazy Master to find, don't we?" He walked away, heading towards the door that Gerav's reinforcements had come out of, Merrill trailing along at a discreet distance behind him.
"Speaking of that, perhaps there is some knowledge that you Wardens might wish to share with the rest of us?" Fenris asked evenly, looking at Alistair and Anders. "You seemed to understand some of that dwarf's ramblings."
Alistair sighed, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, exchanging a glance first with Ayla, then with Anders. Carver, Brianna noted, just looked confused, so she assumed it was something he was not yet privy to as a brand-new Warden. "Well, yes and no," Alistair hedged. "Some of what he was saying shouldn't be possible right now, but I can't really say anything about it. They're Warden secrets, and it's a whole 'pain of death' sort of thing. But telling you wouldn't help you understand anything anyway, because none of it really makes sense. All it means is that Corypheus might be really dangerous, and we already knew that. And that they're taking their cues from him, through the darkspawn blood they're drinking."
"So does that mean he's some kind of darkspawn?" Mardin demanded.
Alistair shrugged helplessly. "Honestly? I don't know. As I said, it shouldn't be possible. Well, I suppose this much I can tell you – archdemons can control darkspawn, and those that drink darkspawn blood – some call them ghouls. It's how they organize in times of Blight, and why they're more difficult to fight then. But the archdemons are supposedly the souls of the Old Gods, and of the ones that are left, that the Wardens haven't fought against, none are named Corypheus. So it shouldn't be possible for anyone or anything other than an archdemon to control these people."
"There aren't other types of darkspawn that can do it?" Brianna asked. "Or say a blood mage, like Merrill suggested?"
Alistair shook his head. "Not that I've ever heard of. Other darkspawn, generals and such, might issue orders, but they come from the archdemon, and it's not through the blood like that. As for a blood mage? Maker, I hope not. Again, it's not something I've ever heard of, but maybe it's possible, if any mage is crazy enough to try it with darkspawn blood."
"I have heard a few of them say things about setting Corypheus free," Ayla offered, coming to stand next to Alistair, slipping her arm through his. "Maybe he's some kind of ancient darkspawn type that's locked up down here, and that's why you've never heard of him?"
"That would make sense," Anders agreed. "But really, did no one at Weisshaupt ever tell you about this place or what it was for?"
"Never," Alistair replied. "Like I said, they don't give me a lot of the more classified information, or at least they haven't yet. Duncan might have known – he was the previous Commander," he explained to Brianna, who nodded, "but he never got around to telling me everything he knew before he was killed during the Blight. I was only with him six months before he died, and I found out there were a lot of things he didn't get around to telling me. Some of them pretty important." His face darkened at this, and he pulled Ayla a bit closer to his side, making Brianna wonder just what his former Commander had never told him, though she suspected he wouldn't tell her if she asked.
"Well, thank you for telling us what you could," Brianna said instead, nodding formally to him. She appreciated the fact that sometimes secrets had to be kept. "But you're right, we don't know a lot more than we did before. The only way to find out who or what Corypheus is and how he's controlling these dwarves is to keep going. I don't think they'll stop coming after Carver and I until Corypheus is gone, by the sounds of it, so let's go find him, wherever he is."
The others nodded in agreement, and followed Brianna as she hurried to catch up to Varric and Merrill, who'd both gone through the door on the opposite side of the room. The door led to more passageways through the stone fortress, that eventually led them to an iron gate that opened into a large, cavernous room with walkways around the walls above. Another dark-haired dwarf was waiting for them inside the room, standing by a large bronto, as they trooped their way through the door. This one wore heavy, plated armor, and had a large and unusual axe strapped to his back.
"Hawke," the dwarf said as Brianna stopped across the room from him, giving her a mocking bow. "I am Rhatigan. They told me you might be trouble, but at least you were generous enough to bring your brother with you. It doesn't matter which one of you it is, I swore to Corypheus we'd bring him Malcolm Hawke's blood. One way or the other . . ."
"What does this have to do with our father?" Brianna snapped, getting exasperated that none of these dwarves were able to tell her just why her father's blood was important. What in the Maker's name could her father and his blood have to do with this Corypheus character, especially if he was some type of ancient darkspawn?
Rhatigan shrugged carelessly. "The Master wants you. I don't ask why."
"But your Master is Corypheus, right? He's the one who's after us?" Brianna demanded.
Rhatigan nodded. "What Corypheus wants, Corypheus gets. From us, or from someone."
Brianna pulled her staff off her back, completely done with the lack of answers. "Well, he's not getting my blood, or my brother's."
"Not if we have anything to say about it," Mardin agreed as he and Carver came in front of her, drawing their swords.
"Corypheus, we have done as you commanded!" Rhatigan shouted, holding up his arms and ignoring them as the other members of their party armed themselves. "Your sacrifice is here. You will see the surface once more!" He pulled out the huge, double-bladed axe as the bronto reared, and several more dwarves appeared up on the walkways and through the door behind him as the bronto charged forward.
Merrill shot a spike of stone up in front of the bronto, halting its charge, as Brianna and Anders took aim at the dwarven archers on the walkway above with chain lightning spells, Varric picking off any that they didn't get. Carver was fighting with Rhatigan, while Alistair and Fenris had taken on the other armed dwarves beyond him, with Ayla providing back-up. Brianna darted a quick glance around for Mardin, but heard a sudden roar that rattled the ground around them, before she spotted the large bear running towards the bronto.
"Merrill, help him!" she shouted as she aimed another blast of lightning at the walkway above to finish the archers left up there. "He can't take on that huge bronto himself! I'll help Carver!"
"Of course, Hawke!" Merrill called back, and soon spikes of rock and tree roots were attacking the bronto along with the bear. Fortunately, Merrill had become much better at fighting with a group recently, and so far appeared able to avoid Mardin as she struck the bronto.
Brianna switched her attention to Carver, using support spells and healing spells to keep him up and fighting Rhatigan, who appeared to be very skilled, while Anders used his healing magic on the other fighters. Carver, however, was faster – and stronger – than Brianna remembered him being, and a few moments later, was able to slip past Rhatigan's guard and run him through with his greatsword.
As soon as she knew Carver was safe, as most of the dwarves had been taken care of by now, Brianna whirled around to see if Mardin was okay. She found the bronto lying in a bloody heap on the ground several yards away, covered in bite wounds, slash marks, and other wounds, although the finishing touch seemed to be a combination of a stone spike through its chest and a shredded neck. Mardin was kneeling on the ground a few feet away, back to his human form, panting and clearly exhausted, with one hand clutched to his stomach.
Brianna raced over, fear bubbling through her, and knelt next to Mardin, noting how pale he looked and how much blood was dripping between his fingers. She cursed herself for not having learned rejuvenation magic from Anders yet as panic swirled through her. She laid a hand over the wound, starting a regular healing spell, even as she shouted for Anders. "How bad is it. Mardin? What happened?!"
"I'll be fine, don't worry," he managed, though he sounded rather breathless. "It just . . . ah, gored me a little towards the end with one of its horns. Everybody else okay?"
"Gored you?!" Brianna shrieked, resisting the urge to whack him with her other hand as anger joined the other emotions rushing through her. "A little?! Are you insane?!"
"Probably," Mardin allowed, smiling down at her, though his face was still drawn and pale. "Honestly, it's no big deal. It's not the first time something like this has happened."
"And to answer both of your questions," Ayla said, standing over Mardin with her hands on her hips, "yes, he is insane, and everybody else is fine. And you know, I could have helped you with that if you'd just let me –"
"Absolutely not," Mardin and Alistair interrupted her in unison, the latter having just joined them along with Anders, who gently nudged Brianna out of the way, starting a combination of rejuvenation and healing magic on Mardin.
"You are not fighting any brontos right now, or we're leaving," Alistair added, scowling down at his wife, who sighed and rolled her eyes, muttering, "Fine," under her breath.
"And you shouldn't be shifting at all right now," Mardin told Ayla, glaring at her in turn. "You know how painful it is even when you're at full strength, let alone when you're not."
"Yes, yes, I get the point." Ayla threw up her hands in exasperation. "I just don't like seeing you get hurt when I could have prevented it."
"Or you could have gotten hurt," Mardin pointed out. "And I will be fine, right, Anders?"
"Right," Anders agreed, though he cast a curious glance at Ayla. Brianna, too, couldn't help but wonder if her earlier theory as to why Mardin and Alistair were demanding the other woman hang back was correct. She certainly didn't look sick. "This is a wound I can fix. In fact, I'm almost done."
Brianna studied Mardin closely, noting that he did, indeed, look a lot better, his color vastly improved. She let out a small breath of relief before getting to her feet, deciding not to examine the tangle of emotions Mardin's wound had evoked in her as she did so. "Well, in that case, I'll go check this Rhatigan to see if he has any useful information on him while you finish up here."
Anders and Mardin nodded as she got up and headed back over to Rhatigan, noticing that Carver, Fenris, Varric and Merrill were already following their usual habit of checking through the room and various bodies for anything useful. They had left Rhatigan alone for the moment, though, and Brianna kicked over the dwarf's body as she reached it, frowning as she noticed the axe still clutched in one hand glowing with a blue light.
Whatever the light was, it seemed to call to her. Her whole body was burning with curiosity as she looked down at the weapon, and her hand was aching with the need to pick it up. Feeling almost as though she were in a dream, her head fuzzy, Brianna crouched down and pulled the axe out of the dwarf's hand.
The instant she did so, the light covering the weapon flared blindingly bright, seizing her whole body and flooding through it with unnatural warmth, making her go rigid. She could hear alarmed shouts and running footsteps, but no one seemed to be able to get near her as she felt power washing through her body, felt the weapon in her hand changing shape. "What is this?" she gasped. "I can feel it . . . inside me."
Even as she said it, the light and the flowing power abruptly stopped, leaving her holding a long staff rather than an axe. Though the staff was a bit longer than the one she normally wielded, it was surprisingly light, and ended in a shape rather like the forking of a branch, with an unusual red crystal in the center. She turned it over in her hands, studying it curiously, wondering why she wasn't more alarmed by it.
"Bree!" Carver exclaimed, and she glanced up at him where he stood a few feet away, staring at the staff in alarm. "What kind of enchantment could do that? Did . . . did Father make that?"
"Maybe . . . you should put that down," Mardin said slowly, and Brianna noticed that he was standing next to Carver, apparently fully healed now, along with all the others, who seemed to have gathered around when the weapon had lit up.
"But it's going to take me to Corypheus," Brianna argued, though she was uncertain exactly why she was so positive the staff was the key. She just knew it was.
"No, I think Mardin's right," Anders said, looking concerned. "You really should put it down. That kind of enchantment . . . it's not normal."
Brianna looked at everyone, frowning, but they were all nodding in agreement with Anders, looking very concerned, so she tried to open her hand, to let go of the staff, but she couldn't seem to do it. Her hand refused to open and release the staff. "Um . . . I don't mean to alarm anyone . . . but I can't put it down."
"What?" Mardin started forward. "I'll just take it away from you then –"
"No!" Anders interrupted, stepping between him and Brianna. "I don't think that's a good idea, actually. If the enchantment won't let her put it down, who knows what it'll do if you try to take it by force?"
"Well then, what do I do with it?" Brianna asked, though she still did not feel nearly as alarmed as she knew she should be.
"Well . . . you said it would take you to Corypheus, right?" Anders turned back to look at her, studying the staff again with a frown on his face. She nodded. "Then, I suppose we let it take us to Corypheus. Perhaps it's a key of some sort, and once it . . . opens the lock, so to speak, you'll be able to put it down."
"Yes, it's definitely a key," Brianna agreed, nodding emphatically, and the staff seemed to hum in agreement as well. "Let's do that."
"I don't know if I like this," Varric muttered. "Haven't we had our fill of creepy objects that glow?"
"It doesn't seem as though we have a choice, though," Carver said, frowning.
"Hawke!" Fenris called, and she turned to look, noticing he'd moved around a bit behind her and was pointing down the passageway beyond that they had yet to explore. "There are more dwarves down there, running ahead! Perhaps they have some answers!"
"Okay, let's go." Brianna moved to follow him, still carrying the staff in one hand, and she felt strangely sure that it was pleased, and that she was going in the right direction as she hurried forward into the passageway, following Fenris as he raced after the group of dwarves far ahead. She could hear the others following closely behind her as the dwarves disappeared around a corner far ahead of them. Brianna and Fenris had just about reached the corner themselves when Brianna heard an alarmed shout behind her.
She whirled around just in time to see a shimmering orange barrier appear across the passageway behind them, dropping into place just as Mardin and Ayla reached it. Mardin reached out a hand to touch it, and yanked his hand back with a cry as a zap of orange lightning shot across it.
"Those sons of bitches!" Varric snapped. "The whole blasted thing's sealed over."
"Not again!" Anders exclaimed, throwing his hands up.
"I'm sure there's another way out," Brianna reassured everyone, even as the staff was already pulling at her to keep moving. "There always is with dwarves, right?"
"There better be. We're not staying down here," Mardin growled, though he moved up to join Brianna as though realizing there was nothing else he could do right now.
"Don't worry, we won't have to," Brianna told him as he reached her, looking at all of the others to reassure them as well. "We just have to go find Corypheus, that's all. Let's keep moving, come on." And she kept going around the corner, far more concerned with the sudden drive to move forward to find Corypheus, than about the barrier blocking their way home.