Chapter 77) Return to Ostagar

Layla POV


It… smelled horrible. The poor person was bloated and filled with maggots and flies, and just smelled horrible. What was going on? Why did they look that way?

"Layla!" Mommy gathered me up in her arms and carried me away. "You didn't touch the corpse, did you?" she asked me worriedly. I continued staring after the person lying in the alley. "Layla!"

"I'm fine, Mommy," I answered. "But what's wrong with them?"

"…They're dead."

"What's dead?"

"Dead is when your spirit returns to the Maker, and your body breaks down because of the long years it spent holding your spirit within a mortal vessel."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It will in time, Layla. Now come on."

"Yes, Mommy."


There was snow. There was actually snow. I did not really know what to do with snow. Yes, it snowed at the Tower, but we were not allowed outside until the paths had already been cleared. Only then could we play.

But it felt wrong, playing here. This was Ostagar, and the snow just made everything look… It was like a painting of a battlefield in a storybook. There were some blood, some dirt, and a lot of bodies. But nothing even smelled.

"Why… are they not rotting?" I asked shakily as we all stood on the outskirts of the former camp. They should be. It had been more than long enough. The cold had not started until recently. "Why are they…?"

"It's the Taint," Alistair answered. His eyes were hard, but his hands shook. "The Taint prevents rotting. Or maybe it's just severely slows it down. I'm not sure." That was… horrific. They all looked like they were just sleeping. "The barricades…" They had held them. They had held them, buying time for the handful to escape. "Maker, I feel really old."

"Ah, so is this where I, resident expert of feeling old, should step in and give advice?" Wynne teased. Her smile was forced but the words had the intended effect of lightening the mood. "Or should Shale give that advice?"

"My advice is to pummel everything," Shale immediately deadpanned. That got us actually laughing. "You are older. Not wiser, of course, but older. Move forward."

"…That is strangely inspirational," Alistair noted with easy good humor. "You feeling all right, Shale? Do you have a fever? Wait, do golems even get sick?"

"And that is the last time I say anything." I doubted that. "Move. Forward. Now."

So we did, slowly. This was mostly because it was difficult trying to figure out a way past the barricades. Shale eventually just busted one wall down so we could continue on. But it was so eerie, walking through the camp. I remembered how lively it had been. The silence felt wrong.

We split up unconsciously, hunting for clues to… well… anything really. Though Shale and Oghren just sort of went wherever, Wynne meandered towards the mage part of the camp. Alistair went to where the center fire had been, where Commander Duncan had waited for us after we had gone to the Wilds. I met Ser Jory and Daveth there, did I not? It was… strange, thinking of them. I had not in some time, because so much had happened. If they had survived the Joining, would they have been with us? Would they have died?

"Here were Cailan and Loghain's tents," Nuada whispered after a moment. They were half-collapsed, thanks to the snow, and torn, thanks to weapons. "It's so strange seeing them."

"It is," I agreed. I saw the opened chest and vaguely remembered something Cleon and Aiden had told me. "Was not Elspeth carrying a sword from here?"

"Yes, it was Uncle Maric's blade. It's in Highever right now." Nuada's hands traced over the splintered desk, eyes sad and unfocused. "Since we needed speed to reach Redcliffe, she thought it would just be extra baggage. She should probably learn how to fight with it if she runs out of arrows. Leliana carries daggers for the purpose." For some reason, that made me giggle. "Now, what's so amusing?"

"I just…" I hesitated, trying to think of how to explain. "I think I am just amused that, even after all we have been through, we are still learning? I do not know why that amuses me so much."

"I suppose it's nice to have a remember that we haven't seen everything yet." He smiled wryly. "Well, let's explore a bit more."

"Yes…" Something about his demeanor told me he wanted to be alone for a bit, so I gave him a smile before making sure to head a different way than him.

However, it seemed like no matter how much we wandered, how much we looked, we just found the same thing. There were shredded tents. There were shattered weapons. There was crushed armor. There was snow and mud hiding dried bits of blood. There were corpses upon corpses. Soldiers, Wardens, darkspawn, mabari, mages, and workers all died in the same way: horribly and filled with terror. Even those who had chosen to stay behind, or so I guessed by how their bodies still pressed against the barricades, had looked terrified.

I suppose having a resolve to die did not remove the fear of it…

I tried to head down from the camp to the battlefield, but found the way choked with corpses. So many people died trying to escape that… I could not even finish the sentence. Instead, I turned away and went to the bridge. The bridge was where I had watched the battle start, and I could still remember how it shook from the fire and siege weapons. I could still remember the terror of almost getting hit, but being pushed out of the way. I could almost feel the rain coming down, even though there was not even snow at the moment, and the sky was clear.

On the bridge, I could see Nuada had already gotten the same idea as I had, and gone to the center. But, for some reason, he was not moved. He was frozen, eyes wide. I could see him trying to smile, but he could not even make a broken one. What happened? What was going on?

"Lass." I glanced down to see Oghren walk up, and he pointed to something in the distance. "Look up, lass," he whispered. "Blighted bastards, that's just unnecessary." Still not quite getting it, I looked up, and up, and up. Then I got it. Then I really got it.

I almost did not recognize him. In my memory, King Cailan was a strangely vibrant man, almost like an over eager puppy, though in hindsight, I could see the strain in his eyes, the force in his smile. I remembered how kindly he had spoke to me, a scared mage of the Circle, and how he had promised Aiden he would look into the crimes against the Alienage. I remembered how he had given checked on Cleon's health after we got back from the Wilds. I remembered how he had lent us his tent to rest after the Joining.

I remembered seeing him far below, charging into the fight. I remember hearing of his death and thinking of how sad it was. But this… this was just horrific.

Up above, high above our heads, a strange patchwork of boards and armor had been set up. It swayed awkwardly in the wind, but that might have been because King Cailan, naked and covered in dried patches of blood, was pinned to it by large metal spikes. He was not even pinned 'gracefully' to it. It was like someone had just thrown him up and drove them in.

I thought it was only through force of will that Nuada was not crying. It was either that or shock.

"Maker, this is…" Alistair breathed, the first one of us to find any words. He slowly walked up to it, hand outstretched as if to snatch him down. But the body was out of reach, and there was a bitter smile on his face, as if he was not surprised at all. "Ha, even now, I can only just look up to him, unable to do anything to help." His hand shook as it came down to his side. "We should… see him to the Maker…" If we could, it would be nice. It would be nice to see all of these poor people to the Maker. "…Please tell me I'm imagining that magic." I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end as some… twisted magic filtered through the air. I whirled, trying to find the source, and spotted it immediately. There, at the end of the bridge, was a magic wielding darkspawn. The black-blue light flitted about, weaving into the corpses. My eyes widened when I saw the dead slowly stand up. Oh dear. "…Isn't necromancy blood magic? Demon magic? That's what we're taught in templar school."

"It depends on what and how you do it," Wynne answered absently. She blinked slowly, startled by the skeletons shuffling towards us. "The Mortalitasi of Nevarra are not blood mages, but they do call spirits through to inhabit corpses."

"That's because they believe that when someone dies, they displace a spirit, so it's only fair that the spirit gets the left over husk," Nuada added. He looked… rather exasperated. "Well, I wish we could say this is new, but we fought the dead in Redcliffe."

"Yes, but these are darkspawn dead."

"True. So, the order of the day is to complete erase the bastard that does this."

"I can obliterate it in a spell, if it is this powerful," I noted. Nuada gave me a confused look and I smiled slowly. "Do you remember the Sloth Demon?" Nuada's face blanked for a brief moment before grinning viciously. "Shall we?"

"Shale, cover the rear," Nuada ordered. "Pretend they're birdies and smash them." I thought Shale laughed. "Oghren, take point in front." Oghren definitely laughed. "We're retaking Ostagar everyone!"


I felt numb, being back in the Tower. In here, I remembered. I remembered being younger, and more terrified. I remembered still being afraid of fire. I remembered Nuada, Alistair, and I using secret tunnels to get around the darkspawn. I remembered fighting the ogre up top. I remembered lighting the beacon. I remembered falling unconscious and waking up to nothing being the same.

In many ways, you could consider this the 'beginning' of it all. My 'origin' was at the Tower, and being recruited. I walked through the other 'origins' of my fellow recruits. But it was here in Ostagar where things began, truly. Ostagar was the end of being a simple Circle Mage, the end of being a Warden recruit. Ostagar was the beginning of being a full-fledged Warden, and… and a hero. That was the path we were walking. That is what our stories had become. This was a tale of heroes.

It is funny how going back to the beginning made you realize just how much you changed.

"Now this is a massive hole," Oghren noted. We had meandered our way toward the first staircase, and came upon the pit that Alistiar, Nuada, and I had seen on the way up. "Guess this is how they ambushed you lot."

"We can't get the door open," Wynne sighed. She was scowling at the door. "Why is it barricaded on the other side?" The only response was Nuada giving Wynne the drollest look. "To make it formidable enough that Shale can't break through?" The door was dented.

"It would only take a few more punches," Shale defended, eyes narrowed in a scowl. "But much more will bring the ceiling down on you lot. Not that I care, mind. It might be fun to see you all burst." …Some days, I was not sure if Shale was really an 'ally' or not. "Are we jumping into the hole now?"

"Well, we need to find that necromancer, and we clearly saw it come into the Tower." That was the only reason we were in here, really. I would have rather waited a bit to get my courage. "Though, how should we get down safely?"

"The darkspawn left their ropes," Oghren pointed out. He tugged at them. "Not sure how Shale is getting down, but this should hold everyone's weight."

"Shale can just jump." Wynne! "Who goes first?" No one moved. "…Well, I can't say I'm surprised."

"I'll go first," Alistair, surprisingly, volunteered. "I want that Necromancer." His eyes were hard. "Who says he can't bring back the bodies of the soldiers?" …Oh, Maker, that was… "Heading down now."

Alistair climbed down easily. Nuada followed him, and then Oghren. Shale jumped down after them, and Wynne and I brought up the rear. That was when I made a horrific realization. It was not just humans, dwarves, and elves that could be corrupted. Spiders could as well.

"Why did it have to be spiders?!" I yelped, throwing fire freely, whipping it about like a rope to coil around the spider's legs. "Spiders, spiders, spiders!" I HATED SPIDERS!

"Wow, you would have really hated the one we fought in Ortan Thaig," Oghren noted dryly. He casually smashed a spider's head with a maul he had found lying about the camp earlier. "Huge one. Great big spider queen."

"AAAAHHH!" I just decided to ignite the air, turning webs into ash. "Get the away! Get them away!"

"Lass, you faced down a High Dragon and darkspawn."

"THOSE ARE DIFFERENT!" Someone casually picked me up. "Let me down and let me-mmph!" It took a couple of blinks to realize Nuada was kissing me. I was definitely torn between enjoying the kiss and being very annoyed he was using it to shut me up.

I debated leaning more towards the latter when I saw him smiling as he pulled away. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "Wynne mentioned something about getting you to calm down quickly, and that was the first thing I thought of."

"…The first thing you thought of to calm me down was to kiss me?" I deadpanned. Yeah, I was annoyed. "Why not something else? Why not a hug?"

"Oh, it's probably because I always think a little about kissing you. I like it." …My face went red. "In retrospect, a hug or even just carrying away from the creepy crawlies would have done better."

"…Do not use that method to shut me up again, and I will forgive you this once."

"Your wish is my command, meine konigin." He bent down to whisper in my ear. "I'm scared of spiders too."

"Really?" That… seemed so surprising.

"Well, you'll be scared of a tiny little thing when you saw another kid your age get bit and die within a couple of days." He smiled wryly. "But they went scurrying when you burned the webs." That was reassuring. …However, this meant I now had to focus on the others after frankly embarrassing outburst.

"I suppose I can add spiders to my list of things that must die," Shale deadpanned as I struggled to think of something to say. "I find them a minor annoyance, much less than birds, but I suppose killing them can do some good." Shale…

"Don't do that," Wynne immediately scolded. She gave me a worried look, but relaxed when I smiled. "Spiders are very beneficial for the environment." Yes, well, they could do that away from me! "Though, I must admit to being a bit relieved." Wynne gave a soft smile. "It is a relief that you all do sometimes fall back into being young adults. I've been worried." Wynne… "Though, Layla, simply blasting them back with telekinetic spells such as Mind Blast would have sufficed."

I could only groan in reply, and it made all of us laugh. I was glad to be of service? …It was nice to hear laughter in this place, at least.


This was the battlefield. I never got to step foot on it. I was on the bridge, watching everything from above. I had watched the arrows fly, and the army charged. Cleon and Aiden fought here, though. They fought, killed, and watched others die around them. I saw all the bodies, and thought of how the original plan had been for Loghain to save them. He had not. Perhaps it was because he could not. Perhaps he was mad. But as I looked at all the bodies, I could only wonder what their last thoughts had been.

I was certain the silence screamed how little they cared that Loghain might have been justified. They had depended on him, and they died because he did not follow through. Regardless of why, he still betrayed them. That…

Magic sparked through the air, catching my attention. There, in the distance, was the Necromancer, black-blue magic rippling over the field. With that magic, the dead rose. The darkspawn, the soldiers, and the wardens all jerked awake, movements stilted like puppets. It… was awakening them all, just to fight us.

We started for the Necromancer, intent on just ending its life now. But a corpse stumbled up, blocking the path, and I could only gape. The body moved awkwardly, and there was an odd line on the neck. I was not sure if it was a slit throat or if magic was somehow holding a decapitated head on. But I knew the face. Commander Duncan… was the one blocking our path.

"…I'll take him," Nuada ordered coldly. I heard him unsheathe his sword, and looked at him with wide eyes. While his face was stoic, I saw anger blazing in his eyes. "Deal with the rest." There was a definite growl to his voice. "We'll see how these Reaver tricks mix with Champion and Templar." Nuada… "Beware the ogre." I almost asked what he meant, but then saw it. The one ogre on the field with two glittering weapons sticking out of its chest was roaring in the distance. "Oh, and don't die. I will be most vexed." He lunged forward, and Commander's Duncan's corpse blocked the strike easily, movements sharp and fluid now. "Go."

I did not hesitate, trusting him. I focused my attention solely on the necromancer, gritting my teeth as I saw it trying to run away. I would leave the others to fight the dead. This thing was mine and I would not let it play with the dead any more than it already had.

I threw ice at it, freezing the ground under its feet to make it slip and buy me the time to catch up. It threw up a barrier to stop me, but I called on the Arcane Markings and slammed my rapier straight through it. It rolled out of the way, preventing me from just killing it there, and I slid on my own ice as I tried to catch it again. It almost seemed to laugh as it brought up more of the dead to fight.

I surrounded myself in a whirlwind of flame, though, to turn the dead to cinders. I then used the flames to burn away the ambient magic in air to make Mana Clash cast all the faster. I ripped the magic from its body, turning it into nothing but a bloody mess.

Well, that worked just as I said. When did that happen?

Clanging caught my ear, and I looked over at Nuada worriedly. He was still fighting Commander Duncan. For some reason, though, Commander Duncan refused to try and attack anyone else, despite Wynne being not far away, healing Shale, Oghren, and Alistair as they fought. Why focus on Nuada? Why not go for the easier target? It was like there was a line in the snow that he could not cross, even though Nuada clearly had the advantage. It was like the battlefield was his.

It was terrifying to watch him fight. I was used to him defending and giving orders. This, though… this was raw offensive power combined with strong defenses. Each injury Commander Duncan inflicted just seemed to make him stronger, but it was not as if Commander Duncan got a lot of hits in. Those that he did seemed to be because he was just so damn mad about something, like Nuada was taunting him. Truthfully, it almost seemed that Nuada's own strength was injuring him?

I thought about prepping a healing spell, but as I reached out my magic, I had to recoil. There was power there within Nuada, the terrifying power pulsing within dragons. I could heal him, but he would just get injured again. That was… that must just be how Reavers were. His Champion skills helped him minimize the damage, but that was just keeping him alive longer.

I felt very real fear when I saw light wrap around his blade and he drove it straight through Commander Duncan's skull. Wrath of Heaven was a templar ability, and it often meant death for a mage. But he won, so that was good, right?

I still hesitated, not really sure what to do as he stood over the corpse. Slowly, he lifted his head, and my eyes widened when I noticed his left eye, which had been transformed into silver, now had a slit pupil, much like a dragon's. I held my breath as he looked at me, only relaxing when he smiled wryly. I made sure to smile back, just… relieved. His fighting style was different. Clearly, being a Reaver had effects I could never imagine. But, ultimately, he was still the same person I fell in love with. I would talk to him later about this, of course, but for now, this was enough.

So, instead, I focused on the others, and nearly screamed when I saw Alistair fighting the Risen Ogre, alone. He held his own well, mostly, but he was still alone against that thing! Though, he was only alone because the rest of the corpses were in the way. I debated burning, or even seeing if manipulation of blood would work on corpses like this, but things were too hectic for me to try the former, and experimenting with blood magic seemed like a bad idea when my mind was so shaken.

So, instead, I decided to try something else. When the ogre knocked Alistair's sword clear out of his hand, I caught it with telekinesis and wrapped it flame magic hot enough to make the sword glow. I then slung the sword, letting it fly straight and true, right into the Risen Ogre's neck.

As it screeched, Alistair was already jumping, using the dagger and sword embedded in its chest to climb to his sword. He braced himself on its shoulders as he ripped the sword out of its neck in a spray of blood. As it reeled back, he used the momentum to easily fall, letting gravity help him carve a huge gash from collarbone to abdomen. Blood gushed out as it shrieked, and I saw the magic fading away as it fell.

Alistair just stared at the fallen body, breathing heavily. Then, slowly, he lifted his head to look at me in question. I smiled wryly, pointing to the mess that remained of the Necromancer, and he slowly smiled back.

I noticed he was crying, and then I noticed I was too. So, I picked my way through the falling bodies and reached out for a hug that he gave willingly.

This… this was what we needed. We had a victory at Ostagar. It did wonders to ease the pain of that old, festering scar. It truly did.


Author's note: So, here's the first 'half' of Return to Ostagar. Duncan's body is never seen, though it was confirmed by Bioware that he actually died, so… have him here. Showcasing Nuada's new Reaver abilities (following Inquistion mostly on it and Champion abilities). Layla's mention of burning away ambient magic is based on the Inferno passive Clean Burn, and her trick with the flying, burning sword comes from this badass scene in Witcher 3.

Next Chapte – In the Keep with Aiden