Up to the first break is Aedan's POV. The rest is in Leliana's. Thanks for reviewing, Zacharti! Cliffhangers are my speciality. But for now, we're going back to a time during the Blight, so you'll just have to be patient and wait and see what happens after that.

We've been in these tunnels for nearly a month now, and haven't seen anything having to do with Branka since coming down here. That's not even the worst part of being in this hole. It's the never-ending darkness, the feeling that the roof might collapse on you every minute of everyday. I have no problems with enclosed spaces. I have problems with being underground and gigantic spiders trying to eat me and my companions. I hate spiders. Maker, they're disgusting. If Elissa were here...

I pull my cloak tighter around myself and push thoughts of my sister out of my head. She's dead. Gone. Vanished at the Temple of Sacred Ashes. It's been three months. I need to get over it and focus on ending the Blight.

My skin tingles, but I swat at my arm to stop it. Yes, I get it. Darkspawn are down here. Thanks. I definitely didn't know that already. Alistair warned it might be overwhelming for us in the Deep Roads, but I laughed it off, saying that all the darkspawn were on the surface. I was wrong. The moment I set foot in Orzammar, I could sense the damn creatures. They weren't nearby, but I could tell they were there.

I manage to doze off for the last hour of our break. Then I get to my feet, stuff my cloak in my pack, and rouse the others alongside Alistair. He had the last half of the watch and I had the first. Sleeping in the Deep Roads without a Warden on guard is stupid. Everybody else gets to sleep all night (or what I'd think was night) while we only sleep for three or four hours. The rest of the time Alistair and I are supposed to be asleep we're tossing and turning in feeble attempts to find sleep. Sometimes, I feel as if I can sense the horde itself, and my body aches.

I'm tightening the straps of my shield to my forearm when I see a very familiar pair of blue eyes catch mine. Leli peeks down at me, an eyebrow raised and smiling.

"Hello," I say, looking up from my arm. "Sleep well?"

"As well as I could have," she replies, handing me a waterskin. "Careful with that, Aedan. We're running low on water."

I didn't even realize how thirsty I was until she offered. I accept the water gratefully and take a swallow from it before handing it back. "Thanks."

She nods as she slings it back around her waist. "I hope we find some water soon or this Maker-forsaken hellhole will be the death of us."

I snort and pick up my sword, following her to the rest of our party. Alistair's standing at the base of a small bridge, watching the opposite end with narrowed eyes. Leli stops to help Wynne with her bag of potions while I walk up to my fellow Warden. "There's something waiting for us back there."

"There's always something to kill down here, Alistair," I say. "It's not that big of a shock."

"I suppose," he agrees, shrugging his shield onto his arm. "Whatever it is, I've been listening to it move around for the past three hours. I think there are more spiders."

I groan inwardly. I've had enough of spiders. "Fantastic. Let's get started." I wait for the rest of the party to finish getting up and moving before Alistair and I lead them across the bridge. The spider-infested tunnel we camped in opens put into a small cavern. I scan the walls and stones quickly. Yep. Spiders. "That tunnel back there looks to be devoid of webs and bones." I point to the left with my sword, all the way back. Alistair follows my eyes and nods.

"Unfortunately, I think we found their nest," he grumbles. Two spiders rush across the bridge to meet us. Alistair and I have them dealt with quickly enough, but there will be more. Undoubtedly. There are always more spiders. "There are darkspawn up ahead."

I nod. "I know."

"So...left or straight?" Alistair asks as we hit the base of the bridge.

"Let's try left," I say.

I take a step forward when I hear the familiar sound of webs splitting. I look up at the ceiling, but it's too late. Fear grips me in an instant as the spider drops. Its...fangs clack off each other as it snaps at me. Andraste's ass, I'm going to-

"Move!"

The word spurs me into action and I roll out of the way, getting to my feet just in time to see an arrow slam into the spider's face. Leliana's at my side the next instant, launching another arrow off at the pack of spiders creeping out of crevices and dropping from the ceiling.

"I'm good," I say, waving her off before she can fuss. "Just...caught me off-guard is all."

Her eyebrows knit together in concern, but before she can say anything, I run into the fighting, cutting off a spider lunging for Wynne. The monster slams into me with enough force to knock me to my knees. Its legs wrap around my body as it bites at my shield. I shove my sword into its abdomen, push it off my shield, and kick another into Wynne's fireball. It fries right then and there, much to my disgust. That reeks.

"Spider for supper anyone?" I say, grimacing as I bash my shield down onto one.

"Aedan, that's disgusting!" Leliana says.

"Hey, easy food!" I reply.

She sighs and an arrow whizzes past my face. "Sadly, I see your point. Still, I'm not eating a giant spider."

I laugh. "How do you think I feel?"

"On your left!" Alistair says.

I whip and drive my sword into its side. The creature squeals, twitches, and dies while I pull my sword free. Oghren, the newest addition to the party of lunatics I pal around with, raises his axe overhead and drops it into the spider approaching from my right. Gore sprays over our boots. The dwarf grins drunkenly at me before moving on to the last of the spiders fighting Alistair. I start forward to help them, but I hear a distinctly feminine yelp come from behind. My chest seizes as I turn.

"Leliana!"

A spider has her pinned to the ground. She's lost her bow. She could reach for an arrow, but the spider is trying to get its fangs around her throat and she has to hold it back. Even from this distance, I can see it is a losing battle for her.

She yelps again and I steel my resolve. I am not losing her too.

I run to her side and shove my sword through the spider's midsection faster than I've ever moved in my entire life. It twitches and jerks, making little squeaking noises. It's still struggling against Leliana, but it's weakening, so I twist my sword. It jerks again, spilling blood all over the ground and my companion. It still keeps snapping, so I yank my sword out and drive it back into the spider, pushing the blade through so far that the crossguard is touching.

Finally, it squeals and crumples on top of her. I pull my sword out of its flesh and toss it aside, crouching to roll the repulsive monster away. Leliana starts, eyes wild, hyperventilating, and terrified. Her eyes lock on me and she pulls me against her so quickly I don't have the chance to react. She's shaking so horribly that I am too. I can feel her breathing heavily through her armor and my own. She's so horrified, far more than I am. After coming to my senses, I hold her to my chest until she calms down.

"Everybody all right?" Alistair asks. When Wynne and Oghren sound their affirmatives, he walks over to us. "How about you two? You okay?" I just nod, refusing to let go of the bard in my arms. Alistair seems to accept that as an answer and rejoins the other two, sitting down to check his equipment. Oghren follows suit while Wynne just stands watch, scanning the rest of the cavern so Leliana has the chance to recover.

"You're not hurt?" I whisper. She shakes her head, hugging me tighter.

"Thank you," Leliana says softly. "I...I thought it...that I would-"

I kiss the top of her head to silence her. "It's okay. You're safe now, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you." She shudders, scooting closer, and I let her. I thought that thing would get her, and all I did for thirty seconds was stare in disbelief. It's my fault she's like this. I feel horrible. I almost lost her to my own stupidity. Nothing will make me feel better until the five of us are out of here and back where there's fresh air, but holding her against me, knowing she's alive right now, is a start.

After fighting spiders, spiders, and even more spiders, we finally exit the cavern, forced into stopping to kill some darkspawn on the way out. I found Branka's journal near the nastiest spider we've fought yet. Aedan said something to Oghren while the three of us cleaned and patched ourselves up. He told the rest of us about heading into the Dead Trenches, and off we went, through the newest tunnel. I don't see any webs or debris like earlier, so I risk hoping that means we're clear of the spiders now. I almost start to feel safe when we see a group of dwarves, but then I see something I never want to see again.

A massive dragon swoops through the canyon-like cavern we are now in, landing atop the bridge. I do a quick scan and find that's our only way forward. The dwarves duck behind the railing to the platform, smart enough to hide from the beast. We sneak forward as a group, crouching behind an outcropping of stone. Aedan climbs up it and looks over the edge.

The dragon roars and both of our Wardens go rigid. Alistair's face scrunches up as if in pain and he squeezes his sword hilt tightly enough he shakes. I look at Aedan to see if it's having a similar effect on him only for that suspicion to be proven correct. He's stiff all over. I cannot see his face, so I risk climbing up beside him. He's gripping the lip of the stone and staring down in horror. I follow his gaze and I almost stop breathing.

Thousands, if not millions, of torches glisten below as the darkspawn march onwards. The vibrations of their footfalls can be felt from up here.

I place my hand on Aedan's, and he instantly turns his over to squeeze my own.

"Leli...it's...talking to me," he whispers, turning to look at me. "It's telling me to follow it."

I put on a brave face even though I'm terrified. I squeeze his hand back and he closes his eyes, swallowing deeply. "Focus on our hands, Aedan. Ignore it. You're stronger than that thing. You can make it." He nods. In a matter of moments, his grip on my hand is so strong I fear he might crush my fingers. I don't wince or tell him to let go. He needs this. Instead of thinking about the pain, I look back at Alistair, but he's moved a little back into the tunnel. He's sitting with his head between his knees and his arms wrapped around them.

I look to the dragon, what I can only assume to be the Archdemon, as it roars again. Aedan groans as if in pain. The darkspawn shriek at their leader, and then it takes off, flying deeper into the unknown. Aedan slowly relaxes, lessening the pressure on my hand, and I roll my wrist and flex my fingers to return feeling to them. He's trembling, but not as badly as I was earlier. His breathing is heavy.

"Thanks," he whispers, opening his eyes and fixing me with an intense stare. "Really, Leli. You...you don't know how much that helped."

I smile at him. "I don't want to see you suffer, Aedan."

A smile of his own forms on his face. "I love you, you know that right?"

"I love you, too."

His smile grows larger as he turns and slides back down to the others. I follow him, grabbing my bow from where I set it. Then I turn to see where Alistair went, noticing he is still in the tunnel, but much more relaxed now. I glance at Aedan before walking to the other Warden and crouching beside him.

"Are you okay?"

Alistair shakes his head. "Thanks for asking, but no. I'm not."

"Was it telling you to go with it?"

Alistair hesitates. "Not...not exactly," he says. He looks away, embarrassed, when he adds, "It told me it could bring back Elissa if I helped it."

I don't expect the sting that hits me in the chest. If that's what it was doing to get to Alistair...I don't want to know what it was promising Aedan. I reach out and put my hand on his knee, smiling in the most reassuring way I can think of. "I am sorry, Alistair. Truly. I can't imagine what you and Aedan are going through." He just shrugs. "But for now, we need to get up and keep moving. The faster we are back at the surface, the better."

"Yeah." He blinks, and then nods, meeting my gaze. He inhales deeply. "Yeah," he repeats forcefully. "You're right."

We both get to our feet and rejoin the others. Once Aedan is satisfied that Alistair's okay, we continue forward to the dwarves. Oghren mutters something about 'sodding Legion of the Dead' as we approach them, and just as Aedan goes to speak with the leader, I see a faint flash. An arrow. I barely have the chance to push the Warden out of the way, let alone duck. It sails overhead harmlessly, bouncing off the wall behind us.

The leader grins maliciously. "Send them to the stone, brothers!" The dwarves shout their agreement and excitement.

"Well, it's not spiders," Alistair admits with a shrug.

Aedan snorts. "Darkspawn aren't much better."

"They don't try to eat you though," Wynne points out.

"But that's not fun!" Oghren replies, pulling out his axe.

"Neither is getting eaten by a gigantic spider!" I retort, drawing an arrow. I aim it at the first hurlock as the group of darkspawn pass around the break in the bridge. Within seconds, I've fired and killed it. I can see the black blood gurgle from its throat and spill on the stone. Several others trip over the dead, but the dwarves and my companions don't give them the chance to recover. They run forward and push several over into the abyss.

From back here, I can't see any opportunities to fire without risking an ally leaning into the arrow. Wynne seems content to just cast supportive spells from here, so I run off on my own. I skirt the fighting and hop onto the railing. A quick glance down and left says I'm going to die if I even lean that direction. Praise Andraste that I'm not afraid of heights.

It feels like hours until we finally stop. Aedan decided we would stay in the creepy room that had ghosts in it earlier. We divide up the food and water the Legion soldiers gave us. They said something about going nug-hunting once we ran out (because they know we will) and went back to find their outpost to get supplies.

Alistair and Oghren are smashing old crates they found in the back for firewood. Aedan is getting a wound on his shoulder tended to by Wynne, and I'm just sitting in the middle of the floor, watching the doors we came through. They're closed and barred so we can all get some much-needed sleep tonight. The light comes from strange sconces higher up the walls. I was tempted to find a way up to check it out, but I decided against it in favor of watching the doors. My bow is sitting at my feet and my daggers beside me. If anything tries to get through those doors, I'll know.

"Leliana, you got the flint?" Alistair asks.

I reach into my pack and toss it over my shoulder wordlessly. He doesn't say anything, but the flash of light behind me says the fire is lit. I don't move to sit by it. I almost died today. I see those fangs snapping at my face every second. I remember the fear that consumed me entirely, and the way Aedan held me while I'm shook. It's not something I want to happen again. He was shaking too, but only because I was. I was so terrified that I couldn't think straight. I still am. I don't want to see any spiders again. I've never been this afraid of anything. Never. Not even Marjolaine. She was nothing to me after I fled to Lothering. And now she really is nothing. Nothing but a pile of bones in a shack in Denerim.

I catch myself staring at the floor with a blank look, so I force my eyes into blinking and look up at the ceiling with a sigh. Everyday I question my decision to leave Lothering. Everyday I'm with the Wardens, I wonder if perhaps I'm insane for thinking the Maker sent me a vision. Each day with them, I wonder if it could be my last. Each day, new challenges are thrown at us without a moment's hesitation or warning. Between Elissa disappearing and the task facing us now, Aedan and Alistair both have little humor left in them. I feel it having a similar effect on myself, being the only one here to have come with the Wardens through all the treaties. Morrigan might have been with them the longest, but she doesn't like the Wardens the way I do. She sees them as a means to an end (one I have yet to figure out) whereas I look at them like a family. The one Warden Morrigan took a liking to was Elissa, but now that she's gone, I'm starting to question why Morrigan stays. She has no reason to help with the Blight anymore, and she's not exactly the most morally-upstanding person I know, but there she is, waiting with the others for us back in Orzammar. I stay because Alistair is my friend and the love I'm slowly coming to terms with for Aedan. Part of me wants to believe she stays because it is the right thing to do, protecting people and Ferelden itself, but I know she wants something.

"You hungry?" Aedan asks, crouching beside me. I just continue to stare forward, not trusting myself to speak. I'll either burst out in tears or snap about Morrigan still being around, neither of which seem very appealing at the moment. "Leliana?"

I shake my head.

He hesitates, glancing back at the others, before deciding to sit with me. He scoots close enough for me to lean on him, but I refrain from doing so despite the urge to let him take everything bothering me away. Aedan is good at it, making me feel better. He knows what to say, what to do, and how to weasel his way into making every conversation end in a kiss. Sometimes I hate him for it. Other times I think it's silly.

Now I just want to be left alone to mope.

Aedan nudges me with his elbow, leaning forward to look in my eyes. "Leli?" Well, now I've successfully gone and made him worried. He never calls me that unless we're alone, or when he's upset about something. "Hey. What's wrong?"

I squeeze my eyes shut and swallow, shaking my head again. "Nothing," I say. My voice shakes, but I ignore it. "I'm fine."

"You're a bad liar," he says. "I can tell something is bothering you. What is it?"

I snort and look away. Did he really just say I'm a bad liar? How many times did I dance around the truth when I would've had to explain Marjolaine to him? Several. How many times did he catch it? Not once. He can be thick, but it is rare.

"It's nothing, Aedan. Go eat; I can hear your stomach rumbling."

Aedan huffs before getting to his feet. I hear him return to the others, so I resume my blank stares at the door. The silence doesn't last long, though. Not a moment later, he comes back with two bowls of stew (the best food we've had in weeks). He sets one in front of me before he starts eating his own.

"It's been a fortnight. You aren't going to last long with that food in front of you. Especially when it's not deepstalker or nug," Aedan says past a mouthful of food.

"You are seriously underestimating how much I want to be left alone."

Aedan just shrugs and resumes eating his food. I look back to the door, hands clasped firmly in my lap, when I realize just how hungry I am. After a few minutes of gnawing pain in my abdomen, I give in and take the bowl, scowling when I hear Aedan chuckle.

Ass.