Chapter 97) Dark Secret

Layla POV


Secrets were common in the Circle. Even among your greatest friends, there were things you never said. There were things you could never say, for fear of putting yourself in danger or, worse, for fear of putting them in danger.

Still, it was a bit of a slap in the face the first time I realized Anders kept a secret from me. I knew why. If he had told me he had found a way out of the Circle, was planning his second escape attempt, I would have stopped him. He did not want to be stopped.

"You are such an idiot!" I sobbed, when the templars dragged him back, bruised and bloody. "Why did you even set off an explosion like that?!"

"That had… been an accident…" Anders mumbled. He would not look at me. "It was only supposed to be flash. A distraction. Didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"Someone could have been killed! Do not ever do something like that again!"

"Yes, yes."


Redcliffe was under assault again. I wondered if the villagers preferred that it was darkspawn instead of rotted corpses. But, I suppose it did not matter to them. They had only just been recovering when this all started.

"Is it just me, or are most of the soldiers here looking at us like we are the Maker's Gift to the world?" I asked quietly as we loitered in the throne room. It had taken some time, but we did manage to take out all the darkspawn, and get all the villagers within the castle walls, before too much damage had been done. "I did not think we did much."

"Mi amor, are you saying you did not realize we were the Maker's Gift before?" Nuada teased. His smile was slightly strained, though, and I knew why. Having Loghain around was not very good for his mental health at the moment. It was hard for him to move on when the reminder of everything was lingering in the corner, literally. "To be serious, though, they were struggling, and then we took care of things. Of course there's going to be a bit of hero worship. Aiden and I had a good laugh about that a while ago."

"That we did, Lord Nuada," Aiden replied, snickering. He looked more relaxed than he had in a long while. I wondered if the fight had done him some good, even if there had been too much 'red' about. "Cleon, will you relax?" He nudged Cleon, but Cleon simply shook his head. Something had happened back at the estate. We all knew it. It made Morrigan sad, and Cleon tense and antsy. I thought they might have broken up, but neither of them spoke of it. So, we really had no choice but to wait. "You're acting like me."

'Thank you for the compliment,' Cleon instantly signed, expression droll. 'But I am sure you three noticed too. The attack was too small.' I had no reply. After all, he was right. It was too small. 'More importantly, previously, they used the weaker ones to serve as the vanguard. These were not.' It felt more like a…

"Yes, Cleon, it was a distraction, but if we don't look all nice and calm, the soldiers are going to notice and panic," Nuada sighed. The doors of the throne room finally clicked open then, and he turned to face them. "So, scale of one to ten, how right am I on the distraction part?"

"I fear you are completely right," Riordan sighed. I tensed, barely checking the urge to scowl. I did not like him. I did not like that he just forced the choice of Loghain's Joining on us. While I was conflicted on Loghain, even now, I did not like that he dropped that on us. I would never forgive him for it. "The darkspawn do not march in this direction at all." Riordan came to stand with us, Teagan following closely. I wondered where Eamon was, but decided he must be checking on his castle's defenses. "The bulk of the horde is, in fact, marching towards Denerim."

"I am so pleased to see that I was perfectly correct in stationing some of our army up at the old Keep." Nuada and Aiden shared an exasperated look. They would not have even had that if Cleon had not shown a startling knowledge of Fereldan military law and cited some protocol that let Nuada push through over objections. "How far are they away from the capital?"

"Two days." The four of us circled up, leaving just enough room for Riordan and Teagan to join us. Loghain remained exactly where he was, in the corner, listening but not speaking. The rest of our companions were busy with their own things. There was just too much going on. "I got close enough to 'listen in'. I am certain of this knowledge."

"Word has been sent," Teagan added. He looked a lot more tired than I remembered, but then again, he had been the one taking care of Redcliffe while we were away at the Landsmeet. This had to be disheartening. "But they'll need more than word. They'll need our armies."

"How far off are we?" Aiden asked. His eyes were steady, as were his hands. I glanced at Cleon, double-checking that he was keeping up, and he nodded back. He was fine. "At a hard march, we can make it in… how long?"

"Forced march will get us there in… three days, roughly." Was there a difference between 'hard' and 'forced'? "The Keep group might be able to make it in two, but only on the tail end of that."

"There is another, greater concern," Riordan whispered. His eyes were deadly serious. "The archdemon is at the head of the horde." Maker… "The horde must be defeated, yes, but the archdemon is the true target. Otherwise, the horde will simply rebuild and come again."

"Well, let's get everyone ready, then," Nuada sighed. He looked like he was about to get a headache. "We can't sacrifice Denerim. There's too many people there." He shook his head. "Besides, I can already hear all of our friends screaming about going to help, and they're not even here yet." This was true. "Teagan?"

"I'll get everyone ready," he replied with a shrug. "Eamon's asked me to lead Redcliffe's armies in his stead. I think Connor is panicking." That would be so bad. "Besides, no matter how much he puts on a mask, he is not fully recovered from the… whatever it all was." Yes, that was true. "But I think Riordan had more information…?"

"Yes, but it is Grey Warden business," Riordan answered with an apologetic smile. It took everything I had to resist rolling my eyes. "My apologies."

"No, no. I know how organizations are." Teagan laughed, apparently in good cheer. "Nuada, let's share a drink later." Nuada smiled and nodded in reply. "I'll go find Alistair, and congratulate him on his engagement!" Teagan all but disappeared after that. An awkward silence fell as I glanced around, noticing that there was no one else in the throne room. What was going on…?

"Now then…" Riordan sighed. He looked at all of us with almost sad eyes. "Perhaps I should wait for Alistair, but given his new duties, that… might not be advisable." Well, that was… high-handed? That was the only word I could think on. "Tell me, have you ever wondered why the Wardens are needed to defeat the darkspawn?"

"We actually looked a bit into that," Aiden replied. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest as I realized what was going on. This… was where we would receive confirmation. "We know that the archdemon is immortal, unless a Warden kills them. We also know that… every Warden who has done that… has also died. But, we're not sure if…"

"Yes. They are connected." The calm words made me feel like the ground gave out under me. "The essence of the beast will pass through the taint, to the nearest darkspawn, and will be reborn anew in that body." If it 'passed through the taint', though, then the nearest… if a Warden killed the archdemon, then the 'nearest' would be that Warden. "Since the Warden is not a soulless vessel like the darkspawn, the essence of the archdemon is destroyed, as is the Warden." Two souls could not survive comfortably in the same body. Even abominations, like Wynne, would eventually show the strain as the two spirits would wear on each other, fraying them into pieces. Wynne made no secret that she was on borrowed time.

"So, basically, what we've suspected was true." In order for the Blight to end, someone was going to die. One of us was going to die. "Well, that's just…"

"In Blights past, the eldest of the Wardens would decide amongst them who would take that final blow." He placed a hand over his heart. "If possible, that blow should be mine. You are all young, and still have many years ahead of you. I am the eldest, and the taint will not spare me much longer." Yes, but since when had this adventure been convenient? Everything in this 'adventure' had been decided by us.

"And if you fail, then the blow goes to me, yes?" All of us nearly jumped out of our skin as Loghain started laughing. "I had been wondering why you, of all people, would offer to recruit," he murmured, shaking his head. "But I get it. I'm your back-up, aren't I? If you fail, send the fallen hero to kill it, no damage to them."

"As if we're letting you take the easy way out!" Aiden instantly snapped. His eyes blazed. "I also don't appreciate being dragged around by the collar. When the time comes, then we'll make a decision then, with no assumptions. But if you two think that, after all of this, after everything the four of us have been through, we'll just sit by and let you mess us up with well-intentioned meddling, you have another thing coming." That was true. This has always been our journey. We knew how this would end. "If there's nothing else, we're going to disperse and take care of things. We're marching off to war at daybreak." There was only silence. "See you all in the morning, everyone."

As we all slowly dispersed, though, I noticed something odd. Throughout Riordan's explanation, even when Loghain had spoken, Cleon had kept his arms crossed, hands pinned. He had not done that, ever.

It was like he was keeping himself from saying something. But what could he be hiding? What sort of dark secret was he keeping back? Why?


Author's Note: You know; when you think about it, the whole 'two souls destroying each other' thing is basically the same principle behind why abominations tend to go crazy eventually. Yes, Cleon is keeping quiet about the Ritual. But now, the rest of the Wardens know what's going on. Oh, and going ahead and warning: since we're reaching the endgame, chapters are going to be rather short to, well, highlight how chaotic things are.

Next Chapter – Aiden