Chapter 64) Terror of the Taint

Cleon POV


"The dwarves once had an empire too," Hahren Paivel told us da'len. We were sitting for lessons, though more than half of us had already been distracted by the butterflies. 'A sprawling empire deep underground. But, like Arlathan and the Dales, it fell. In their case, though, it fell to darkspawn."

"But Hahren, aren't the darkspawn the fault of the shem'len?" Tamlen asked. For once, he was paying attention. Barely. "So, doesn't that mean the shem'len took their home too?"

"Well, I suppose that is one way to look at it." And it was easy to tell that was exactly how Tamlen took it. "But it might be more accurate to say everyone took the empire away from the dwarves." Everyone? "Ah, but that is too advance for you. Hush, now, and let me continue the lesson."

"Yes, Hahren…"


The Dead Trenches. That's what Oghren called it. Said it had a different name, once, but it was known as this since the darkspawn took control of it almost twenty-years ago. My heart keened at the thought. There were so many problems in the world, and Orzammar was infamously isolationist, but… but to have their troubles so ignored… The surface believed all the darkspawn were dead, but here were the dwarves, knowing how stupid of a lie that was. Why did no one help?

Were we all really so caught up in our own troubles? The dwarves were losing their home piece by piece, like the elves lost the Dales, and yet no one heard them. Not even the elves, who knew the pain of fighting a losing fight. How narrow minded were we?

Slowly but surely, we left the tunnels and entered the open space that was the 'thaig'. Aiden and I drifted a bit ahead, our attention held by just how huge this place was. This was built by dwarves? But dwarves were tiny. Why would they build something so huge? Did they built it? Or did something else, something that everyone forgot and assigned to the dwarves because there was no better answer?

My thoughts froze and my head screamed as something suddenly barraged it as we got closer to the cliffs. Whispers upon whispers, squirming into my mind like burrowing insects. It hurt. It hurt so damn much.

I glanced at Aiden, wondering if he 'heard' it too. He nodded slowly, eyes narrowed in pain like mine, and slowly we crept to the edge, looking down. And I felt like I had been punched in the gut when I realized that I was not looking at that 'lava' stuff. I was looking at a sea of torches. Darkspawn. This was the darkspawn army. And for every torch we saw, there had to be ten or even twenty more.

Creators, preserve and watch over us mad fools. This was what we were fighting. It was even larger than the army we fought at Ostagar…

The ground trembled under my hand and I jerked up, dragging Aiden with me as I twisted and turned, eyes scanning the shadows for movement. Something big. Whatever was moving was something big, enough to scare even the earth. So, it shouldn't be able to hide, yet it was so hard to think with the song in my head. Breathtakingly beautiful, made my heart ache with longing even as my spirit warmed and… wait. Wait, no, this was…!

I hit my knee hard, using the pain as an anchor to drag my head out of the song. Glancing at Aiden, I saw he was leaning over the edge, far too far to stay balanced for long. Why wasn't he…? He'd been unconscious. He didn't know!

Deciding desperation was quite needed, I snagged Aiden by the collar, sweeping his feet out from under him so that he hit the ground hard. I saw him gasp, saw him cough almost violently, shaking as the color drained from his face. He blinked slowly, glancing at me in confusion. But before I could say anything, a shadow fell over us, wind blasting us back.

I glared up at the Archdemon when I saw it flying overhead, landing hard on a bridge. Oh, I remembered it well. This was what we would have to kill. If it's stupid song didn't make us kill ourselves first!

Purple flames erupted from its mouth, and the ground trembled under me as it roared as swayed. The sea of torches in the crevice below started to move, slow but sure. Marching. They were marching.

We didn't have a lot of time, did we?

Movement caught my eye as the archdemon flew off, and I turned towards the others. It didn't surprise me to see them shaking. Even Shale looked unnerved.

'That was the Archdemon, wasn't it?' Oghren said. Wynne signed for him, since he was still learning our 'language'. Her signs were as shaky as she, so she had to repeat quite a few just so I could read them properly. 'You two heard the song.' Aiden glanced at me, and I nodded. In this case, I was the only one who knew in this group. 'Bleeding nugs, that thing is bigger than I thought.'

'So, that is the thing we must kill in order to save the world?' Zevran asked. His signs were sharp and clear, but I saw how strained his smile was. And he kept glancing at the sky, awaiting the returning. 'Well, let it never be said life with you lot is boring!'

'No wonder most Blights last for over a decade,' Leliana sighed. Her soft and worried eyes, and soft signing, made it seem like a murmur, or a sigh. 'Maker, help us.' Yeah, Creators, we could use a little aid too. Mythal, your protection would be quite nice?

'Over there.' Sten, ever practical, was not looking at the sky, but ahead, to… wait, who were those crazy dwarves fighting the darkspawn? I'd say Wardens, but… well… they didn't 'feel' like Wardens, if that made sense? 'They are being over run,' he signed, one hand already grabbing his greatsword. 'Shall we?'

Oghren's reply was a war cry and a charge straight into the fight. I swore Wynne groaned, and I definitely knew she sighed, before following to make sure Oghren didn't split his skull. The rest of us exchanged looks and shrugged before chasing after them, jumping into the fight easily. It was so nice to be the ones springing an ambush for a change.

And between our ambush at the surprisingly competent people fighting, the darkspawn were annihilated before long and that left Aiden and I talking to the dwarf in charge while the others helped and chatted with the other dwarves. Well, Aiden talked. I stood there and looked pretty.

The dwarf in charge greeted us first. I watched Aiden's hands, noting there was a delay before he signed, 'Hello, Grey Warden. I've not seen one of your kind in the Deep Roads.' The dwarf scowled a little at the signing, though, and said something I thought might be a curse even if Aiden didn't sign the words for me. I waved to catch his attention, and covered my ears when I had it. He seemed to get it after a moment, nodding slightly. He didn't change how spoke, or the speed, but he did wait until Aiden finished signing before continuing, and he didn't seem quite as annoyed. 'Still, not much of a surprise. The coming Blight is obvious to the Legion of the Dead.' The…?

'My pardon, but what is the Legion of the Dead?' Aiden asked. He kept his smile sheepish and even shy. 'My friend and I are new to being Wardens, and while Oghren…' He pointed to Oghren to make it clear who he was talking about. 'He tried to explain it to me, but I was a little confused by it.'

'Those of the Warrior Caste know us best, but even they can get things wrong.' The dwarf shrugged. 'The Legion of the Dead is the Legion of the Dead. We abandon our lives to be free of fear and hopeful blindness. Our funerals have already been held. It's just a matter of making our deaths more permanent. Redemption in exchange for the greatest sacrifice. Many come here to help save their families.' Really? 'The only difference between us and Wardens is that we can't sense them like Wardens, and we lack some other skills.' What other skills? Aiden and I barely knew how to sense darkspawn. 'Still, why so small of number?' Uh… 'And there are only two Wardens in this small group?'

'There are only five of us in all of Fereldan.' Aiden's signs shook slightly. 'The rest died. Now, we're trying to win allies.'

'Recruiting from the front lines? Now that it s a new tactic.' One look at the dwarf screamed how skeptical, and amused, he was. 'There's not a dwarven reason to look topside, you know. Your nightmare is my everyday.' Yes, it was.

'…Yes, we do,' I signed. Aiden dropped his hands to verbally translate for me. The dwarf focused on me. 'Yet, still, we ask for aid anyway. We have treaties that we are calling upon. So, we are here to break the deadlock on the throne.'

'So, you're sweeping the vents for Paragons because what else is going to do that?' Aiden brought his hands up again to sign for me as the dwarf shrugged. 'Well, can't envy you. Our job is to hold a line to buy the assembly time to put an ass on the throne, not fill it up with dead legends.'

'I don't suppose we could ask you for help?' Aiden asked, signing slowly. He looked thoughtful. 'Your experience would be valued.'

'Did you not hear me before? Your nightmare is my everyday.' One look at the dwarf screamed how 'done' he was. Old pain, old frustration, so old it just made him tired. 'Dwarves get a break when the darkspawn walk into the light, and it's not like the surface does anything until then.' I could not deny that. I wish I could, but I couldn't. I, who learned the histories of the Dalish almost as well as a storyteller, had barely known of the darkspawn as anything but a thing of the past. 'You want to hunt for legends, be my guest. My men hold this line until the throne is filled, and we don't intend on doing more.'

'...I understand.' Aiden nodded, and glanced over. The others were returning, ready to move. 'Then we will be on our way.'

'Sure.' The dwarf might have said more, but Aiden dropped his hands and turned away. I could tell, by the stiffness in his posture, that he was a bit frustrated. Everything about Orzammar had been trying, and failing, to get aid. I had a sneaking suspicion that if we didn't have the treaties, we wouldn't have even been allowed to come in to plead our case.

Vibrations caught my attention and I turned back, noting the dwarf had clacked his weapon against the ground to catch our attention. Morrigan slinked to my side, hands up to translate for me. 'Be careful,' he warned. 'Drunks make poor allies.' Okay. You know what? I wasn't going to let the jab on Oghren slide without some sort of comment.

'Better allies than those on the surface,' I signed sharply. My eyes narrowed into a glare. Morrigan stood next to me, translating. 'Surely even a dead dwarf can agree with that.' I was tempted to sign a barb his way, but that wouldn't be anything but petty. Really, there was every reason for him to roll his eyes at helping us. What did the surface ever do for him? For the dwarves? Even if this was just a frustrating series of trying to find help, and not getting it, perhaps it was exactly what he had gone through, time and time again.

So, instead, I turned away, following the others, Morrigan staying at my side and tentatively taking my hand reassuringly. We had fighting to do.


Our basic way of getting through the darkspawn? Shale charged, Oghren and Aiden and Sten followed, Zevran and I took the flanks, Morrigan and Leliana covered, and Wynne made sure we didn't get ourselves killed. It was a surprisingly effective strategy. Now, it didn't work so well on the ogres we encountered, but that was probably because they were armored. For some reason. Those required Zevran and I taking advantage of the gaping holes in the guard. Which also involved lots of flips and precarious landings, partly to show off and partly to avoid being thrown off the bridge into the chasm below.

I was just glad the archdemon was gone. Where to, no clue, but it was gone, meaning we weren't going to fight it yet. The first stroke of luck we'd had in a long, long time, or so it felt. Though, if we could have ogres stop ambushing us, that would be freaking fantastic.

'We are just crossing a bridge…' Though Oghren was the one growling, Sten was the one signing for me. I gathered it was because he actually felt the same. 'A freaking bridge. We haven't hit a sodding door yet.' It was easy to see why the Legion simply held the line instead of breaking through. But, of course, we were the reckless idiots who had to get through the thaig because, supposedly, the Anvil of the Void was beyond its borders. 'Break time.' Though that was more because there were darkspawn approaching instead of already being here. I could already see the ogres.

Of course, a thought occurred to me as my tired mine realized something. 'Has anyone explained what the Anvil of the Void is?' I signed. Sten helpfully translated for me and Oghren turned to face me. 'Our whole reason for coming down here is to find Branka, but I honestly can't remember if we ever got it clarified why this Anvil thing is so important.'

'…Makes golems.' Oghren nodded to Shale for emphasis. So, Shale was 'born' there? 'I'm sure you noticed, but Orzammar is dying. We're alone, and everyone has their heads stuck in the mud.' He sighed, a deep one that made his whole body move. 'Used to think like them. Too proud of being a warrior to accept casetless help. Then I was the reject and it got me thinking. Well, when I wasn't in the bottle, which wasn't often.' I was honestly surprised he hadn't run out of alcohol on this trip. His flask always seemed full despite his guzzling. 'Golems defended the thaigs during the First Blight. But the Anvil, and Paragon Caridin who created it, vanished abruptly, so the golems slowly faded away, as did our defenses. Now there are only two thaigs left, and we didn't even know about Kal-Sharok somehow surviving until twenty-years ago, give or take.' Wow. 'That's why Branka went to find it.' And that's why we were here. 'Ogres.' Ugh…

'Why is it that the only darkspawn with horns are these things?' Sten signs, disapproving scowl showing how much it irritated him. 'It is like the qunari among your people.' …Qunari typically had horns? 'Take the left.'

I nodded and went to work. Fighting darkspawn was becoming second nature, which was probably a good thing.

Our little strategy meant that the ogres were downed fairly quickly, and bloodily, and we all stopped to stretch and check the path ahead. When I went to help, though, I noticed the dwarf-leader from before was… suddenly behind us. Staring and waiting. He continued to stare as I approached him.

He also continued to wait until someone else, Leliana, joined me before talking. 'Well, Warden, I will give you and your lot credit for backbone,' he noted. He looked some cross of thoughtful and exasperated. 'You've dug a line through the spawn.' I think we did a little more than 'dug a line', but I smiled in silent acknowledgement of the compliment anyway. 'Not sure if there's much sense in your heads, but you've got the skills to make up for it. Maybe.' Yeah, I doubted any of us were sane. 'Well, good luck. We're moving the line up, so you don't have to worry about darkspawn nipping your backside. Makes an interesting story for scars.' Yeah, no, I liked my ass exactly as it was. 'My name is…' Leliana took my hand and traced out the spelling for me. K-a-r-d-o-l. Kardol. 'You are?'

'Cleon Mahariel,' I signed. Leliana spoke for me. 'Aiden Tabris is over there.' I pointed to Aiden before pointing to Leliana. 'This is Leliana. No last name she's claiming.' Leliana covered a grin with her hand, a hidden laugh. 'Zevran Arainai is the elf with facial tattoos, Sten is the giant, Morrigan is the girl with dark hair, Wynne is the elderly lady, Shale is the golem.'

'Yeah, the shapers are going to have a field day figuring out how you lot found a golem of all things.' Kardol seemed to find that amusing. 'And I already know Oghren. Infamous, him. Seems he has his head better on his shoulders than I'd been led to believe.' I was going to assume that was the closest thing to an 'apology' he would ever give for his earlier comment. 'On with you.'

'One question.' Kardol gave me a look, but I simply smiled as Leliana continued to translate for me. 'How were some of the ogres armored? We fought some. It was confusing.'

'Crude patchworks of breastplates and shields scavenged up and tied together with rope and thread.' Leliana signed for me, making them quick to show how easily he rattled the information off. 'Lots of vulnerable gaps, but I suppose it's better than nothing.' Kardol shrugged. 'Thank the ancestors that darkspawn and ghouls never seem to take anyone from the smithing caste.'

'Yeah, but a metal fist hurts a lot.'

'Well, you're not exactly supposed to get hit. Be a proper elf and dodge.' I grinned, hiding it behind my hand, and he grinned back. 'Well, luck to you. Maybe you lot can pull off a miracle. If you do, we'll talk later.' Oh? 'I don't give a damn about the surface. But, well…' He shrugged. 'It's easier to give a damn about someone who knows the fight.' Oh… 'On with you. There's still a lot to go.'

Yeah, on indeed. Yay. I hated the Deep Roads so damn much. I'd be glad to never come here again.


There were a lot of graves here. And darkspawn. Lots and lots of darkspawn. It was actually unnerving when we suddenly found ourselves in an area without darkspawn. Just a worn hall with eerie red light filtering through from somewhere.

Eyes narrowing, I took the chance opportunity for a break and narrowed my eyes, focused on trying to find where that glimmer of red was coming from. While the others tried to decide the path forward, I ran my hands along the walls, feeling for the cracks that let the light in. Finally, though, in the middle of a rock formation, I thought I found the source. A red crystal, pulsing with a twisted red light. It felt like the Taint, but how could Taint be crystallized? I almost grabbed the crystal, but my instincts shrieked. No, don't touch. Run away. Get away from it and never speak of it again. This red… whatever it is… should not be here. It was taint and corruption beyond that which is acceptable. That was what my instincts screamed.

So, I stumbled back, glancing at the others to see if they noticed the red light that shimmered so invitingly, like flytrap ready to devour. But, to my surprise, they weren't even paying attention to me. They were all frozen. Eyes wide, graying skin. Even Sten looked unnerved. But I couldn't see what was the problem. They weren't looking at the red light, but something down the path, which seemed fairly normal, all things considered.

I waved, to catch someone's attention. Finally, Wynne turned to me. Her hands shook a little as she signed, 'first day, they come, and catch everyone.' Um… 'Someone just whispered that.' Okay… why…?

Hesitantly, they all crept forward. Postures tense and twitchy at, I assumed, every noise. I just made sure they didn't trip on anything, my own unease fading as we left the red light again. But then, they all froze again, so quickly that I almost ran into Zevran. I could only wait as one of them recovered enough to sign.

This time, it was Sten. 'Second day, they beat us, and eat some for meat.' Oh, lovely, people being eaten alive! Were we going to find skeletons scattered about? That would really set the mood.

Moving forward. We were out of the hallways now, into the caves of smooth and irregular stone. There, they paused again and I tried to decide if I was thankful or frustrated I could not hear what unnerved them so.

Morrigan caught my attention and signed, 'third day, the men are all gnawed on again.' If the 'they' were darkspawn, then did that mean they eat? Why? And why just the men? Were they just meatier or something?

And we kept moving, with them becoming twitchier and twitcher and me become more and more exasperated. And I really did run into someone the next time they froze. And it was painful, because the 'someone' had been Shale, and I could over give it a dirty look when it gave me an annoyed one.

Zevran signed for me, 'Fourth day, we wait and fear our fate.' We? Fate? Wait for getting eaten again? Did they get eaten in pieces? First the arms, then the legs? But how did they prevent blood? Spider webs?

And so we continued, down through the caves. I shifted to avoid crashing into someone when they sudden froze. And, to be fair, I didn't 'crash'. I tripped over Oghren. Okay, this was ridiculous.

Leliana signed this time. 'Fifth day, they return and it's another girl's turn.' Why a girl? Did darkspawn even know how to differentiate physical differences between sexes? Or was it just because they gnawed on the men too much on the third day?

And we continued on and on. It felt longer than it probably was, due to how slow everyone was moving. They didn't want to meet the speaker. I did. I wanted to prod them for too morbid poems and for freaking everyone out.

They froze. This time I didn't trip or crash into anyone. Leliana had her hands up anyway to check her bow, so she went ahead and signed, 'Six day, her screams we hear in our dreams.' Screams? Did they torture her to death or something? Sliced off the limbs one by one to eat?

On we went. How long was this tunnel? How large was this thaig? Why were there no darkspawn? Had the Archdemon taken then all?

Morrigan signed the next lines. 'Seventh day, she grew as in her mouth they spew.' Spew? …Okay, I was thinking that they didn't torture the 'girl' to death, but did something… very different. Now, there was the vomit imagery, but I was thinking it was much worse.

The scenery finally changed. There were strange fleshy blobs all over the place. What was this? I tilted my head and studied them as I waited for the others. Smelled horrible, and the blob pulses like it had a heart.

This time, it was Aiden. 'Eighth day, we hated as she is violated.' Oh, great. I was right. Darkspawn not only killed and ate people, but they raped women. Clearly, they had distinct similarities with every other culture in the world. Why? Well, I suppose that question could go for 'everyone', but it was dominance. But darkspawn were mindless, so was that really the reason?

More fleshy blobs, enough to make the ground squish and cave under my feet. Wet and moist. Like we were walking into the mouth of some great beast, who was deciding if we were worth eating or not.

Zevran this time. 'Ninth day, she grins and devours her kin.' What. What. That made no sense! By the phrasing, and context, I was going to assume that cannibalism wasn't a 'normal' thing for the 'she'. And the grins part… well, maybe she broke and the grin is psychotic, broken, and mad. Or something. Why was I analyzing the poem so much? I guessed it was because I couldn't actually hear it.

More walking. They kept twitching. I scanned the area, watching the shadows for movement. But there was nothing. Just us. And whoever was reciting the poem, of course. Where were they? Surely, they couldn't be far, logically. They could hear them. So… Where?

Sten signed the next lines. 'Now she does feast, as she's become the beast.' Become the… what? The beast? This made no sense. Oh, unless maybe 'beast' meant 'killer' and 'gone mad'. Rabid. 'Now you lay in wait, for their screams will haunt you in your dreams.' So, from 'we' to 'you'. What a way to end a poem. A very… strange and creepy poem. It… was just a poem, right? Right?

We entered another hallway, still no darkspawn in sight. Everyone's eyes darted around, looking up for whatever threat might come, but I felt some small bits of shaking and brought my eyes down to the ground. And I found a dwarf, digging at the fleshy sacks. I waved to the others, pointing to her, and could only tilt my head at their wide-eyed stares.

Aiden was the one who signed, 'that is the person who was whispering the poem.' Oh, so this was our poetess. A strange… blotchy… feverish… drawf woman who burned with the Taint. Um… oh dear. How was she alive?

I wasn't sure, and my instincts screamed, so I lingered back even as Aiden approached her. Wynne was at his side, healing magic at the ready. Still, I was certain everyone winced as the woman stood up slowly, twitchy yet stiff. She moved like a puppet with half-broken strings. I saw Sten grab his greatsword, and Zevran his knives. Leliana stopped them both, and I knew it was because she still hoped for a way to save the woman. But I doubted. I could tell Oghren and Shale did too, even as they lingered back with me.

'What is this?' the woman asked, not quite looking at Aiden even though it was obvious she was addressing him. Morrigan signed for me, pressing into my side as the woman's head all but lolled on her neck. 'Human? Elf? Bland and unlikely.' I caught no emotion from the woman. She really was like a puppet. Twitch, twitch, and a mouth that moved, but eyes that were already dead. Was… this going to be my fate, if I hadn't gone through the Joining? Or would I have simply died, been spared this? "Feeding time only brings kin and clan. I am cruel to myself. You are only a dream of strange faces and open doors.'

'I promise you, we are no dream,' Aiden whispered. He glanced at me, but I caught the silent question and pointed to Morrigan. He nodded and did not bring his hands up to sign. He worried the movement might freak her out. I couldn't blame him. 'We would like to help you, if we can.' Could we, though? If this was Taint, and if this was like what I had gone through… no, it was even worse.

'No, you can't.' Her hands dropped to her sides. I kept my eyes on her face, watching her. The blotches on her face looked like bruises. Her lips were cracked. 'There is nothing left.' Her eyes were dead, and yet I could see something flicker in there, the more I looked. Fear. Pain. Guilt. More pain. Desolation. 'There is body and there is hope, and both are turning.' Trauma. That was the word I wanted. There was trauma in her eyes, deep enough to crack her spirit. 'They come. They… they vomit, they violate, and they chant.' It was difficult to say, looking at her eyes, whether her body or spirit was more broken. Perhaps it didn't matter. 'They scream… oh, how they scream… and then the change comes." Screaming… I remembered screams when I was Tainted. Oh, Tamlen… how glad I was you had died when you did. The thought of you suffering like this… made my heart ache. 'All I could do was wish…' Morrigan signed out 'name' and I knew it would be something I would get another time. 'I wished to upon her so that I would be spared.' Ah… it was hard to fault her for something like that.

'The poor woman…' I glanced over and saw Leliana signing the words multiple times. She whispered other things, and I thought it might have been a prayer, but I saw the dark pain in her eyes. I wouldn't ask. I could take a guess at just why Leliana was so sympathetic, and if I was right, it was most definitely not my business.

I caught tension in everyone's posture and glanced down Morrigan. Her signs were sharp and fast, 'she just mentioned Branka.' What. 'She also mentioned being her lover.' I unconsciously glanced at Oghren at that. He looked… only half-surprised. Still, awkward. 'Oh, she is…' I glanced at the woman and started when I saw signs of anger. Anguish. Rage. Her body still moved like a puppet, but for this brief second, her mind was not yet dead.

'I will not speak of her.' Morrigan made the signs crisp. No fluctuations in tone, I guessed, but the effect was still there. This was clear. She wasn't mumbling. 'Of what she dead, of what we have become. I will not turn!' Her head finally jerked up. She didn't focus on Aiden, but Oghren. And I saw Oghren pale. 'I will not become what I have seen!'

Aaand she ran. She ran really fast, all things considered. And we could only stare for a brief moment. Um…

'That… was a distant cousin of mine,' Oghren murmured. He waited until he saw Morrigan sign for me before continuing. 'Kind if stubborn. What in sodding ancestors…?'

'Forget that!' Aiden signed, movements sharp. 'After her! She needs help!' Well, I couldn't deny that, buut…

Shaking my head, I followed after the others. Zevran and I quickly outpaced the others, and I followed the tracks in the dirt to find the dwarf woman's movements. It really wouldn't do to get lost in the middle of a thaig.

As we ran, though, Zevran suddenly started signing. 'She became obsessed. That is the word, but it is not strong enough. Blessed Stone, there was nothing left to her but the Anvil.' Was that her? Okay, clearly, she was close enough for the others to hear. So, why couldn't I see her?

Slid around a corner, kept on running. I glanced back to make sure the others were following. Thankfully, they were. Though, it looked like Shale was carrying Oghren so he could keep up.

'We tried to escape, but they found us. They took us all, turned us…' Okay, the 'they' had to be darkspawn. But why? Okay, next chance I got, I was going to look into darkspawn things. Because surely, most of this would make far more sense if we knew anything about what was going on. If Duncan had lived long enough to tell us. Creators, Alistair should be here. Surely, in the six extra months he had on us, he learned some things!

Slipped on some loose gravel. Righted myself quickly and barely lost a step on Zevran. I signed back to the others to tell them to be careful. Unsheathed my daggers, just in case we ran into something that intended to bite back. I would not be unarmed in this place.

'The men, they kill… they're merciful. But they women, they want. They want to touch, to mold, to change until you are filled with them.' Okay, was this how darkspawn reproduced or something? Steal those with wombs and rape them until their minds broke or something? It's like every cliché horror story you told about enemies to twist them into monsters in your head to make them easier to kill.

Zevran started flagging. I wondered why, but realized it quickly. He had been tense before, overly vigilant. That took energy. I knew that all too well. I had to be, to keep track of everything now that I could no longer hear. But I was used to it, or getting used to it. He wasn't. His stamina had run out, but mine kept going.

'They took her. They made her eat the others, our friends. She tore off her husband's face and drank his blood.' Okay, but why? Why do that? Why make her do that? Was it so that she had enough food to carry children to term? But it seemed excessive? Also, where would she have gotten the strength? It took a lot of power to rip skin. Sure, someone like Shale might be able to, but Shale was a golem, not a dwarf lady.

Took a slight lead, just enough so that Zevran didn't have to focus so much, but I could still see his hands if I glanced over. Burst through some gates, passed through some ghosts. Never stopping. I just kept following the tracks. Where was she going? Where were we? There was no answer. Not until we found her.

'And while she ate, she grew. She swelled and turned gray and she smelled like them. They remade her in their image. Then she made more of them.' …Wait. What…? 'Brood mother…' What. WHAT. Hold up, what did that even-?

I stepped around the corner and froze, Zevran crashing into my back. I could… only describe the blob of flesh as a 'monster'. A round head, with no neck. Far too many breasts. Short, fat arms. A huge girth that anchored it to one place. Tentacles bursting from the bottom, swaying in random movements. No legs.

This… was once a dwarf? This… was once a dwarven woman. This was someone Oghren once knew. And here we were, in an area that stank of slime and rotting meat, with no place to hide, and tentacles erupting from the ground. Was… was this whole area her?!

It didn't matter. Because it was ready for a fight!

Zevran and I rolled out of the way as tentacles tried to snare us by the ankles. Unfortunately, though, we ended up separated, and the tentacles just made it so that we continued to be separated. I grit my teeth as I realized it was luring us somewhere. I could see the others be drawn in too. I felt magic wash over me, cast by Wynne. I saw Leliana's arrows fly. I saw ice and lightning cascade the area, trying to take out the tentacles, trying to make a path. I saw flashes of metal as Oghren, Sten, and Aiden tried to cut through. Felt the vibrations of Shale's punches. But it didn't matter. It was like there was no end to them, and your only choice, really, was to dodge because the second you focused on something else, one would whack you into the walls.

I felt my blood run cold when I saw Aiden hit the freaking ceiling. I thought I saw Shale catch him. But it was barraged on all sides, and I saw Shale curl on the ground. Invincible, likely, but even stone could be chipped away. One need only look to the mountains ground down by the wind to know that… where were the others? I couldn't see them. And ugh, what was the stench barraging my nose? Sweat, urine, feces, blood, rot… it was enough to make my stomach roll and churn, and I actually stumbled as I tried to keep from throwing up. Why was it so strong? It hadn't been before? What was I… near…?

Fen'harel, you loved your tricks. You really did.

Not even a heartbeat after I realized just why the smell was so strong, a tentacle slipped behind me, wrapped me up and held me high up in the air. Crushing and shaking… I wasn't sure if it was trying to rattle me like a child's toy or just squeeze me until I burst. Maybe both? How rude for it to play with its food. And it did intend to eat me. I could see that in the sick light of its eyes. The psychotic grin filled with sharp-sharp teeth, stained red and black. The wolf grinning at the rabbit.

Except… I wasn't a rabbit. And I wasn't so rattled yet that I couldn't keep my wits. Well, at least a little of my wits. The ones that screamed one of Zaphikel's key lessons, 'Never drop your weapon in a fight', and the ones that reminded me that, at this angle and this range… well, switch the grip, slice the tentacle, and hope and pray I'm not thrown into the ceiling like Aiden.

An explosion of light dazzled the area, and I suddenly felt… incredible. Stronger, better… and the broodmother seemed disoriented, weakened.

I sliced the tentacle, dropping down right onto its shoulder. From there, it was a simple matter to stab its head, twisting until the neck snapped. I felt it shudder and writhe under me, trying to resist, but it was pointless. Too small of arms, and no tentacles near meant I had free reign.

It died with a gasp. I wondered if it said anything. But maybe not. Maybe, until the end, it didn't realize what had been done to it. I wondered why, but thought of the song of the archdemon. If… yeah, that had to be it. Everything seemed fine, when that song was in your head.

Carefully, I jumped down, wincing as the landing jolt sparked the fade of the battle-fever. My torso ached, and I wouldn't be surprised if my ribs were bruised. But a quick check of the area proved that everyone was alive, so yay?

'Beautiful workmanship.' It took me a bit to register the signs. It took me even longer to realize it was Zevran signing to me. He had a bleeding gash on his head, but a grin on his face. Despite the fact that Oghren had to help him limp over. 'Everyone all good, despite Aiden saying hello most rudely to the ceiling,' he continued. I bit back a grin. 'Shale came to the rescue with a powerful aura that washed through the area.' Oh, so that's what happened. 'We are teasing, of course, about it defending a squishy.' Right, Shale had done that. 'Shale claims it was an accident as it was preparing to use whatever aura trick that was.' Whatever. It still happened. 'Wynne is healing us up all nicely, though, and Leliana is recovering her arrows, so if you can come over and reassure Morrigan you have not had your stomach squished up to your head before we all pull her hair?' Amusing as the mental image was, it was probably a good idea to get checked and…

Movement caught my eye, and I jerked my head up, terrified that we would have to deal with darkspawn now of all times. But Oghren caught my arm before I could bring up my daggers, and it took me a couple of blinks to realize why. The movement was caused by that dwarf woman appearing, high overhead. How had she gotten up there? Had she climbed after turning the corner, knowing the broodmother was here? Why had she run here, though? Had it been… had it been to kill it? Could she be that coherent?

Impossible to say. Especially with her swaying way up there, mouth moving to speak.

'That's where they come from.' Zevran helpfully held his hands up so that I could see his signs while also looking at her. 'That's why they hate us. That's why they need us.' I glanced at the corpse. If this were a tale, she would have returned to her original form in death. But no, she was still that monster. This was no simple tale. 'That's why they take us, why they feed us.' Because it was still, technically, a dwarf. And dwarves required food to survive. So did it… she… Oh, Creators… 'But the true abomination is not that it occurred.' Her gaze was on Oghren again. Did she know it was him? 'It was that it was allowed.' Zevran signed it twice to emphasize the word. 'Branka… my love…'

Branka… let this happen? Branka, the person we were suppose to be finding, let this happen? Yeah, okay, I might be cutting her damn head off as soon as we got what we needed from her. Creators damn her spirit to the coldest part of the realms!

'The stone has punished me, dream-friends.' Her gaze turned to all of us, and I thought she smiled. It was broken. Just like her. 'I am dying of something worse than death… I am dying from betrayal.' Creators…

She said something else, but my focus left Zevran's hands. Her legs were tense, braced, though the rest of her wasn't. And she was close to the edge.

I lunged forward automatically, even though I knew, at that height, I doubted I would be able to do anything. And, perhaps this was the better fate for her, but it was still an automatic response to try and intervene…

But, as I thought, there was nothing to be done as she jumped and fell. She hit the ground with a splat. Blood erupted and splattered through the area, her bones shattered and pierced through her like a bizarre porcupine. I refused to look at her head. Or what had been her head. I refused. I liked having the contents of my stomach exactly where they were.

Of course, the sour smell of bile told me at least one of the others had lost that battle.

A hand fell on my shoulder and I looked up to see it was Sten. He looked almost sympathetic as he signed, 'I will gather what I can.' He would? 'Layla said burials were good for morale.' …I was sure Oghren would appreciate it. 'I think it folly still, but we can take the time to make you all feel better.'

'Ma serranas,' I signed back, ducking my head and turning away, leaving Sten to the grisly duty. Of course, turning had only brought the broodmother corpse in my full view. There was… I would ask Oghren about how dwarves buried their dead. If we could do it for her, we would.

Creators, I know she is of the Stone, but if you could help her rest, won't you please? She… deserve it. Everyone in that expedition… deserved it.

Except maybe Branka. Oh, I was getting answers from her if it was the last thing I did!


Author's note: I hated this section. I hated this section so much. I mean; I loved it, but I hated it, because it was creepy as all hell my first playthrough. As my friends can attest, I screamed the first time I saw the broodmother. Like, screamed and threw the controller going "nope! Nope, I'm done!". It was great. Anyway, technically speaking, Armored Ogres only appear in Awakening, but the codex entry for it is written by Kardol, so I threw them in. Shale's 'aura' here is Stone Aura. Want to say it's the 'fourth' line of her talents? It's a very supportive talent, giving boosts to party strength, defense, health/mana/stamina regeneration, etc, etc.
I don't think I ever had her name stated here, but this is Hespith, The World of Thedas Volume 2 revealed her to be a distant cousin of Oghren. The toolset confirms she commits suicide, but it is not on-screen like it is here.
I couldn't find much on Oghren's feelings on casteless, so I'm going with 'he used to hate them, and then he was the reject' sort of thing.

Next Chapter – the temple with Layla