Hey evryody! I'm back! Here's another chapter for you.


Chapter 13

Walking through the stone carved halls of the former Legion of the Dead Headquarters really put into perspective how much the dwarves struggled to just keep the Darkspawn back from Orzammar. The city being one of the great beacons of hope for the dwarven people that they can hold back the onrushing tide of the Darkspawn. The city was said to have been taken and lost so many times that it was impossible for anyone, even the Shaperate, to keep track.

But they pressed on anyway. The Legion of the Dead, sworn to protect Orzammar and its people from the Darkspawn in hopes of regaining their lost honour.

Looking at the ancient hallways that used to house hundreds if not thousands of the Legion, who were now numbering in only less than fifty, showed just how incredible Caradin's skill in craftsmanship he was. As they moved through the ancient hallways, Harry did not see much of corruption that was in these walls, only the layers of dust and the bones of the long dead. Moving carefully through the ancient hallways, making sure to let their presence go unnoticed for as long as possible, Harry, Luna, Alistair, Sten, Zevran and Oghren along with the rest of the Legion of the Dead crept quietly through the vast hallways.

Turning a corner, the group quickly found themselves face to face with a legion of Darkspawn and two ogres staring back at them. The one in front, a Hurlock Commander by the looks of his armour gave a cry and charged at the group, drawing his sword as he did so.

Slamming the butt of his staff on the ground, Harry released a powerful Telekinetic Blast to the charging Darkspawn, causing some of them to fly back into the ogres or further away past said ogres, who were not fazed by the blast whatsoever. Continuing their charge at the group, Harry swept his staff in a wide arc in front of him and let his magic do the work for him. The group watched as the arc sailed through the air and slam into the ogres with full force, causing them to be send crashing through several walls before falling down into the abyss.

Nodding to himself, Harry continued forward following the path, keeping his senses sharp and occasionally sending out a scan with his magic to get a sense of hostiles that could be waiting for them or were just around the corner.


As their journey through the vast hallways of Bownammer continued on, the amount of Darkspawn they encountered only seemed to increase as more and more the group faced off not just the typical Hurlocks and Genlocks but also an increase in Emissaries and commanders. The group finally made their way to a long bridge that led to a large opening towards a cavern. As the group continued onwards, they were suddenly set upon by a large force of Darkspawn consisting of Shrieks, Hurlocks, Genlocks and two ogres on either side of the bridge.

Standing back to back, the Legion of the Dead facing the way they came from and Harry and the others facing their exit. Neither side of Darkspawn made any movements, only standing at the entrance of the bridge as if waiting for a signal. Sure enough a signal came in the form of the sound of arrows being fired from either ends of the bridge. Slamming the butt of his staff on the bridge quickly, Harry cast a Shield Dome large enough to cover everyone within and causing the arrows to simply bounce off upon impact. When the last arrow fell to the floor, Harry dispelled the shield and that was when the groups of Darkspawn rushed to their position, hoping to overwhelm the group.

Using Shadow Strike to cross the distance between himself and the closest charging Darkspawn, Harry didn't even draw his sword and simply started swinging his staff around, knocking the Darkspawn down onto the bridge and sometimes over when he jumped and slammed his open palm against the ogre's chest and sending a small blast of magic from it and sending the ogre to its death.

Hearing the running footsteps of an attacking Hurlock who had its sword raised high, Harry simply slammed his elbow hard against the abdomen of the Darkspawn and grabbed the hilt of the raised sword and threw it with precise accuracy at the top of charging ogre's head, causing the blade to pierce the head and through the skull and into its brain. Meanwhile, Harry used his staff to sweep the legs of the Hurlock and sending it sprawled on the floor before stomping on the Darkspawn's neck, killing it.

Once the last Darkspawn was dead, Harry and the others made their way to the caverns but stopped when they noticed that the Legion of the Dead was not following behind them. Confused, Harry walked towards Kardol and what the hold-up was.

"Kardol, is something wrong?" he asked.

Kardol shook his head and answered. "No my friend. But this is where my Legion and I will stay, should any Darkspawn try to get in. And with this bridge here, it helps keep those blighted monsters from surrounding us."

Harry nodded at his reason. "Very well Kardol, good luck and may the Stone watch over you until we return."

"To you as well, friend." Kardol replied.

Turning around, Harry made his way back to the group and led the way through the long hallways of Bownammer. As they walked through the vast hallways of the dwarven city, Harry could not help but feel as if there was something watching them move. As they continued onward they soon came across a large bridge that was broken and on the other side lay a large open door. With no way to get on the other side they decided to go around and hopefully cross to the other side. Turning his head Harry saw an open doorway off to the side. Motioning for the others to follow him, it did not take long for them to suddenly find themselves under attack.

A pack of five shrieks came charging at them while ten Hurlocks and four archers began attacking them. Harry immediately cast a wall of fire in front of the group causing the shrieks to run into the fire and burning them. Once they were taken care of, Oghren, Alistair and Sten charged and kept the Hurlocks attention while Zevran sneaked around and took care of the archers. Suddenly a loud crash was heard from behind them. Turning quickly Harry saw two ogres and five more Hurlocks come charging at them.

"You deal with the Hurlocks, I'll deal with the ogres." Harry told Luna.

Running forward, Harry ducked under one of the ogres hand as it tried to swipe at him. Bringing his staff up, he sent a Telekinetic Blast from his staff causing the ogre to tumble back onto the other. Bringing his staff back Harry then thrust his staff forward hard sending a powerful Telekinetic Shockwave to the ogres, causing them to fly and fall into the abyss below.

Once the fighting was over they continued onward and soon found small pockets of Darkspawn moving around, nothing they could not deal with. As they made their way through, the walls around of them began to have some sort of sacs and decaying bodies lying in the hallways. Most of them had begun to decompose, while some had chunks of their flesh eaten off.

Slamming his staff on the ground, Harry sent a powerful pulse throughout the area getting rid of the horrid stench. As the smell cleared, the group continued on their way through the hallways and the feeling he had about being watched grew in intensity. That was when a female voice began to echo throughout the hallways.

"First day they come, and catch everyone." The voice echoed.

"Ok. That's not creepy at all." Alistair remarked.

"Doesn't matter. We keep moving." Harry replied, moving forward.

As they continued forward, the voice suddenly returned. "Second day, they beat us and eat some for meat." It said.

As they continued forward, Harry strained his ears to find if where the words were originating from. As they passed through another hallway, the group heard the voice once again, this time a little more clearly than the last two.

"Third day, the men are all gnawed on again." The voice, a female said.

Something in the way she said each sentence sounded much like how a Chantry priest would spout parts of the Chant of Light. Clearly whoever this person was, was chanting something of importance. A message perhaps? Or an account of what happened to Branka and her entire house. Passing through a large empty hall, the group hear the voice again.

"Fourth day, we wait and fear for our fate." The female voice chanted.

They continued onwards as the chant grew darker and more foreboding as they heard rest of the chant.

"Fifth day they return and it's another girl's turn."

"Sixth day, her screams we hear in our dreams."

"Seventh day, she grew, as in her mouth they spew."

"Eighth day, we hated….as she is violated."

"Ninth day, she grins and devours her kin."

"Now she does feast as SHE becomes the beast."

By the end of the verse, the group had found themselves standing in front of the person. She was a blonde haired dwarf and was standing in front of them with her head bowed and shoulders slumped forward. As she raised her head, Harry was horrified to find that her pale face was littered with scabs and dark shadows under her eyes. Her eyes seemed vacant as if her mind was elsewhere. She actually looked much like Ruck was, but seemed to be not as crazy.

Oghren sucked in a deep breath as he looked upon her. "Hespith! Is that you!? What happened?" he exclaimed.

"Do you know her Oghren?" Alistair asked.

"Aye that I do. Hespith is my cousin and was a Captain in our House's forces." Oghren explained.

"What is this? A human? Bland and unlikely." Hespith said. "Feeding time brings only kin and clan. I am cruel to myself. You are a dream of strangers' faces and open doors."

"That chant you spoke earlier. What was it?" Harry asked.

"It's what I've seen. What I will become. I force it into verse so it is fantasy, unreal. That is the only place I can hide, because they make me….make me eat. And then.." Here she paused before continuing. "All I could do was wish Laryn went first. I wished it upon her so that I may be spared. But I had to watch. I had to see the change. How do you endure that?' She asked. "How did Branka endure?"

"What change? What are they doing?" Harry asked.

"What they are allowed to do. What they think they want. And Branka… her lover and I could not turn her. Forgive her. But no, she cannot be forgiven. Not for what she has become." Hespith explained.

"What did she do Hespith? What did Branka do?" Harry asked, hoping to understand what it was she was saying.

"I will not speak of her!" She said forcefully. "Of what she did, of what we have become! I will not turn! I will not become what I have seen! Not Laryn! Not Branka!"

And with that she took off before any of them could stop her. Chasing after her, Harry and the others ran through the door and found themselves on the other side of the bridge that they were on earlier. Moving forward, the group once again heard Hespith's voice.

"She became obsessed, but it is not strong enough." She said. "Blessed stone, there was nothing left in her but the Anvil." Continuing onward they listened as Hespith told her tale. "We tried to escape, but they found us. They took us all, turned us." Hespith said.

Suddenly a roar was heard and the thudding of loud footsteps could be heard. Turning, the group found two ogres charging at them. Not wanting to waste time Harry simply sent out a Telekinetic Shockwave sending the ogres flying into the abyss. Turning around Harry and the others continued through the door in front of them and listened.

"The men they kill, they're merciful. But the women they want. They want to touch, to mold, and to change until you are filled with them." She told. Harry began to have a dark and foreboding feeling as he felt as if he knew where this story was going. "They took Laryn. They made her eat the other, our friends. She tore off her husband's face and drank his blood. And while she ate, she grew. She swelled and turned grey and smelled like them. They remade her in their image and then she made more of them."

By the end of the tale the group had found themselves in a long cavern, and as they moved forward, a smell so horrible entered his nostrils that it took all of his will power not to throw up. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the rest, especially for Luna and Zevran as they vomited all over the ground and fell to their knees holding their stomachs. Sten and Oghren were holding their stomachs and leaning forwards just a little as they heaved in as much as possible. Alistair too looked like he wanted to vomit but held back by simply punched the cavern wall hard, hoping the pain would override the horrible smell.

Tapping his staff on the ground, Harry got rid of the stench and cleared the vomit from the ground before kneeling next to his wife and rubbing her back as she shook from her sudden vomiting.

"Broodmother." Hespith's voice echoed out.

Once Luna and Zevran were fine after five minutes of rest, Harry led the group forward as they came upon an ungodly sight. It was a huge blob of flesh with tentacles sprouting from the ground around her with her small chubby arms wobbling about as she smacked her three sets of breasts. Upon seeing them she gave a loud screech and flung her tentacles at them.

Bring his staff up quickly, Harry held up a Shield Dome as the Broodmother that was once Laryn tried to smash through the shield.

"Alistair, Sten Oghren! Go after the Tentacles, those are her only forms of attacking. Luna, I need you to fire your arrows at any Darkspawn you see coming, where there is a Broodmother, there are bound to be other Darkspawn nearby. Zevran, you keep her safe." Harry ordered as he unsheathed his sword and charged forward. Cutting down tentacles as they sprout from the ground.

The last time that he had to fight a Broodmother was when he stumbled upon one when he was searching for Voldemort in the Deep Roads years ago. The fight that ensued was long and hard as he not only had to deal with the tentacles that sprouted out to attack him but also the Darkspawn that came to stop him from harming the Broodmother. One thing that the Broodmother was weak against was fire.

Cutting down tentacles as fast as he could, Harry ran forward and activated a rune of his own creation called the unyielding flame. His blade suddenly was engulfed in flames and as he swung his blade around, the flames left trails from its swing. Jumping up into the air, he shoved his sword in the Broodmother head before jumping away and landing on his feet. He then quickly sent a torrent of fire from his staff, burning the Broodmother as it gave a shriek of pain and flailing around before slumping forward as it died.

Looking around, Harry saw as Luna and Zevran took care of the last of the Darkspawn while Oghren, Sten and Alistair cut down what was left of the tentacles. Sheathing his blade, Harry was about to join the others when Hespith's voice spoke out once again but this time he could pinpoint where her voice was coming from. Looking up he saw her standing on top of a large boulder looking down at them.

"That's where they come from. That's why they hate us. That's why they need us…that's why they take us. That's why they feed us" She said. "But the true abomination…is not that it occurred, but that it was allowed. Branka…my love." She whispered, not loud enough for the others to hear, but due to Ignotus he could hear her. "The Stone has punished me dream friend. I am dying of something worse than death. Betrayal." And with those parting words, she turned and walked back into the abyss.

Harry looked at where Hespith once stood and bowed his head in understanding. He knew what it was like to be betrayed, but what Hespith went through is something that he hoped he would never have to go through. For to be betrayed by the ones you loved, is more heart-breaking than to see your loved ones die. Shaking his head, Harry regrouped with the others and made their wat to the exit, silence following them.


I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Please leave a review and tell me what you thinkof it. Next chapter will be the Anvil of the Void and the desicion on what to do with it.