Urthemiel, the Tevinter god of beauty. Erin could not think of anything apart from how twisted that was now. Indeed, there was a beauty in the dragon's form, but the spikes and blackened scales had twisted it into something deformed that made her stomach churn.
Some of the tower guards were still alive, and were attacking the archdemon with desperate, frantic vigour. They were firing arrows at its great bulk, only a fraction of which penetrated in past the scales. The rest bounced off harmlessly, doing no more than aggravating the dragon, enraging it further.
Urthemiel whipped around, his tail sending soldiers sprawling. He beat down with his wings before raising them, sending some men, screaming, over the tower edge and down towards the ground. He lunged his head around, trapping a man in his jaws and he bit down, his tainted teeth tearing through armour, flesh and bone alike. He tossed the carcass over the precipice as well, finished with it. After crushing a man underfoot, he spat out fire at the remaining soldiers, burning them to a crisp and leaving those who hadn't died to be swallowed by his unnatural flame.
Erin watched silently, taking in every movement, looking for any weakness. But all she could see was the great tear down the dragon's right wing, where Riordan had sliced through the membrane with his sword before falling to his death. But, from the high dragon that she had fought in the mountain by Andraste's ashes, and Flemeth in the Korcari Wilds, she had learnt that there was a weak spot between the fore and hind leg.
Beside her Loghain gasped in shock, and she felt it too. It was a sudden instinct, something brought on from the taint. She could feel an almost unbreakable desire to protect the hideous creature before her, the craving singing in her blood and mind. This is what it meant to be a Grey Warden, to feel the urge to protect the archdemon and to rebel against what the taint was trying to make her do.
Her chest ached as she breathed in, steeling herself against its influence. As it faced her, she could feel its essence, its evil, its rage. As it roared in anger for her defiance, she bolstered her spirit and took out her longswords.
"ATTACK!!!" she screamed, running towards the dragon and her death.
The war cries of Sten and Loghain soon followed and Wynne's casting soon reached her ears as they charged at the dragon.
Erin ducked under a wing, and began attacking the scales. For the moment, she wasn't trying to hurt the archdemon, just making a hole big enough for Sten to send his sword through. She made a few upper swipes, taking off a few scales, and made a small cut on the archdemon's newly exposed skin.
Sten, knowing this technique, had been at the archdemon's head, drawing its attention to him so Erin could weaken it without its knowing. He had swung Asala at the archdemon's forefoot as it tried to grab him. He ignored the feeling of its blood on him, and its pain and anger filled screech. He was surprised, however, when the archdemon looked to its side, glaring murderously at the little human.
"Kadan!" Sten yelled.
Erin looked over to Sten and, realising that he wasn't actually looking at her, raised her head to follow his gaze. The archdemon looked more than a little angry to her, and she was finding its attention unfavourable.
It swept round to face her, extending its wing to knock Sten down. It drew up its head before lunging at her, jaws open and teeth sharp. It was about to snap at her, when its snout hit a shield, veering it to a side. The archdemon reared up and roared in frustration.
"Hurry Erin!" Loghain shouted.
Obediently, Erin scampered to its other side. She saw from the corner of her eye that Sten was returning to his feet, a pale blue mist swirling around him as Wynne healed however many bones the archdemon's wing had broken. Loghain was using his shield to beat the archdemon's head aside while using his sword to try and catch something vital in its neck.
She sliced at the scales again, this time more deftly, and with greater speed. She had soon cut away a sizable amount of scales, and without harming the skin below. Now, she just needed Sten to take advantage of her work.
"Erin, look out!" Wynne's slightly panicked voice reached the noblewoman's ears.
Urthemiel had brought his head around to focus on her, glaring furiously at how close she was to him. He raised his hind foot and shifted it forward, trying to kick her out from beneath him. However, with her light armour, his talons were more likely to spear her.
Erin dived over the claws and fell into a roll. When she stood, she realised that she was under the dragon entirely. She'd never seen the underbelly of a dragon before, and she suddenly appreciated the fact that all Urthemiel had to do was lie down and he would squash her. Feeling more than slightly frightened at the situation, Erin swung her longswords in a flurry, hoping that she could inflict enough injuries for him to give her a chance to escape.
She was surprised to find that the scales covering the underbelly were incredibly soft. She was almost inclined to think that she could break through them with her fingernails, not that she cared to test that theory. This meant that she had made much deeper wounds than she was expecting, and blood poured from the gashes. She focused on her movements, adjusting slightly as the blood, warm and slick, made it difficult for her to grip her blades.
Above her, the archdemon screeched in pain at Erin's attacks. It jumped up, flapping its wings, hoping to catch her, hoping to kill her.
Erin raced about as she valiantly tried to avoid the archdemon's claws. She darted about beneath the great hulk, slashing at scaled flesh whenever chance came. She was sure that she was slowly getting out from under the beast, but for every step she took out, she had to scurry back to miss being skewered by fierce talons.
Although she was focused on the four limbs that were trying to catch her, she could hear Loghain, Sten and Wynne a short distance away. They'd might as well have been a mile away for all the help they could offer, only able to shout and use other futile attempts to regain the archdemon's attention.
Suddenly, a wing came out of nowhere and caught Erin in the midriff, knocking all the air out of her. With nothing else to do, she stabbed both her blades into either side of the wing membrane and held on for dear life. She could hear the archdemon roaring and felt herself being jerked from where was standing. She scrunched her eyes shut in terror, but was distinctively aware that she was no longer on the floor.
She couldn't find any way to describe the force that she felt as the archdemon obviously flapped its wing, trying to dislodge her. She was acutely aware that, while she was being shaken around like a child's ragdoll, she wasn't moving from her position on the dragon's wing.
"ERIN!!!" came a cry from somewhere below her.
Erin hazarded opening one eye and found herself staring down at her friends, who were below the hissing face of the archdemon. She was very high up. She was dangling from her two swords, and her shoulders and arms were starting to ache from the strain.
She then noticed the smoke that was coming out of the archdemon's nostrils and through its teeth. Fearfully, she used a burst of strength to pull herself up, curling herself around and bringing her legs above her head and squeezing against the dragon's wing, suddenly finding herself face down.
She pulled her swords out of the wing and pushed out with her legs. She flipped back round so she would land on her feet. She was suddenly engulfed in flames from the archdemon, and she fell to the rooftop like a stone, only just managing to not break any bones in her legs and feet as she landed.
She patted her flames on her back out quickly and limped hurriedly over to where her companions were. They all had looks of astonishment, probably due to the fact that she was still alive. She saw Wynne suddenly move her hands and murmur a healing incantation and felt her legs return to a semi-solid state. She nodded thanks and returned her gaze to the archdemon, which had taken flight and was circling above them.
"Come on you bastard!" Erin yelled angrily.
The archdemon, however, did not return to the main platform. Instead, it landed on a platform that was too far away for any of them to jump to, and too small for them to land on safely. Once secure in its safety, the archdemon raised its head and roared. Once finished, it lowered its gaze to observe them, a sense of smugness eradiated off it.
A war cry from behind them made Erin's blood turn cold as she sensed the approaching darkspawn. Being flanked was one of things from Erin's nightmares. She'd done it plenty of times herself, and knew how deadly efficient a tactic it was. She spun around quickly, futilely hoping for a miracle, before clapping sight of a curious piece of equipment that made her lips curve into a slight smile.
"Wynne, get off the field!" she ordered. "Find higher ground. Sten, Loghain! Keep the darkspawn back."
"What of you?" Loghain shouted as Wynne and Sten ran off to obey their leader.
"Don't worry about me, just keep them back," Erin replied before turning to run off to a nearby battlement.
Loghain didn't question her any further and joined Sten as the front line defence. He sliced at the surging darkspawn, cutting them down effortlessly. However, it wasn't the difficulty of the task that had caused Erin to order both warriors to deal with it; it was simply the sheer magnitude. Alone, one would have been overwhelmed.
Erin ignored the struggling duo, and raced up the steps of the battlement. Once at the top, she sheathed her swords and took control of a much larger weapon: a ballista. She was in luck that one was directed perfectly at the archdemon's side. She grabbed the release lever with both hands and pushed.
The bolt flew with deadly speed and precision, burying itself deep into the archdemon's side. If Erin had to guess, she thought the bolt was not high enough to go through its ribs. Whether it did or not, she knew one thing, it had hurt.
Urthemiel instantly turned, snarling furiously, at her. She knew what was coming next, and she drove herself to the floor. She caught sight of a dead soldier's shield, and she reached for it. She tore the shield off the man's arm and raised it over her head. The fire passed over and surrounded her.
She suddenly felt very glad that she had decided to keep wearing Wade's superior armour. It was protecting her beautifully from the scorching heat, though she could feel her hands crying in protest as the inner part of the gloves began to give. She was holding the shield rim, and it was turning red hot against the flames, burning her soft, fleshy palms. But she gritted her teeth forced herself to endure. Finally, the flames abated and Erin was still alive amongst the scorched rocks.
A cry from her right made her turn to see a hurlock get past Sten and Loghain and make its way to her. She painfully shifted her grip to hook her arm through the shield supports and unsheathed one sword. She charged at the rogue hurlock, bowling it over in surprise. She lunged her sword at it, nicking its jugular. She left it die and returned to the ballista.
She shook the shield off her arm, and sheathed her sword again. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as she hauled the drawstring back with a pair of winches. She forced herself not to fumble with the next bolt as she struggled to lift it into its nest.
She whirled round at the sound of a hiss and a cry of pain. A hurlock fell to the ground, dead, before her, an arrow stuck in her back of its neck. She looked up to see two Dalish elves approaching her position, one of which was Cammen, the young elf that she had helped into marriage. Behind them, several more elves were appearing on the rooftop, drawing their bows and firing at the darkspawn.
"Fear not, Warden, "Cammen called to Erin. "We won't let any past."
"How's it going with your first hunt?" Erin yelled in return.
"I don't think Gheyna would accept a hurlock, do you?" he laughed.
"Probably not," Erin agreed, smiling.
With the pleasantries over, they returned to their respective tasks. The elves shot at any darkspawn that passed Sten and Loghain, while Erin loaded the ballista. She grabbed the release lever again and pushed, but couldn't move it.
She frantically checked the device, ensuring that nothing had melted or jammed. She turned around and tugged at the lever, using her bodyweight to add to the force. Still, nothing moved. She backed off slightly and glared angrily at it.
"Oh, come on!" she yelled, kicking the lever with all her strength.
The ballista sprung into action and fired the bolt. It penetrated deep into the archdemon's side, causing it scream in pain and surprise. It turned round to face her again, and she was about to shout a warning to her protectors when it screamed again. Looking past it, she saw more elves on another ballista on the other side of the archdemon.
Clearly affronted at being attacked on both sides, Urthemiel took flight once again. He passed over the fray and landed on a platform that Erin could get to. She stood up and touched both elves on the shoulder.
"Keep the darkspawn back as best you can," she ordered, drawing her blades. "Wynne! Sten! Loghain! To me!"
Her companions untangled themselves from the battle and joined her as she ran to face the archdemon again. It certainly looked worse than she thought. The three bolts in its side were black with oozing blood. The gashes on its belly, legs, wings and neck were bleeding profusely. The archdemon was shaking slightly, and Erin guessed it was from blood loss.
She'd hoped this meant it was weak enough for them, but it still put up a great deal of a fight. Despite its attacks being massively uncoordinated, the dragon was still capable of keeping them back. Everyone knew that it only took one mistake, one move that was one second too slow, and the battle was over. Everyone was exhausted beyond belief, Erin could see in their movements that were beginning to become sluggish, even she didn't have the energy to yell orders and direct their strikes.
Then, she saw it: her opening. She ran forward and jumped up onto one of the dragon's forelegs before bounding onto its shoulder. From there, she leapt over to land on the nape of its neck and grabbed one of the horns with her left hand. She drove her sword down into the skull, but her sword wasn't heavy enough, she wasn't strong enough, to pierce straight through to the brain. She stabbed the archdemon again and again, not once lessening her grip on it horn as it writhed around, trying to dislodge her.
The archdemon threw one last burst of fire out to Erin's companions before its head hit the ground, throwing Erin off. There it struggled to summon the strength to raise itself.
Erin grabbed Sten's outstretched arm and stood up. The look on everyone's face was terrible. They all knew that this was the last moment, that this was where Erin's future died, where time stopped.
"Farewell Sten," Erin nodded her head to the qunari.
"Farewell Kadan," Sten replied, his calm face seemed a little forced.
Erin turned to Wynne. She couldn't find any words for the mage and suddenly found herself in a tight embrace, which she readily returned. She could tell Wynne didn't want to let her go, and had to grip the older woman's elbows before she was released. She didn't look at Wynne's face, afraid to see tears, and turned to Loghain.
"You know, you never did tell my why you wanted to do this," he mused.
"I think I did," Erin replied, not willing to repeat it, especially in front of Wynne.
"Then let me rephrase," Loghain asked, tilting his head slightly. "Who are you doing this for?"
Erin smiled knowingly. She walked up to him and, standing on her toes, whispered into his ear. He looked at her with the same knowing look and nodded his head, satisfied.
She turned away from her companions and faced the archdemon. She breathed in once... twice... and on the third she burst into a sprint. She grabbed the greatsword from a nearby corpse. She kept running as she strained to lift the sword, fast approaching the archdemon. She managed to raise it above her head as the dragon finally brought up its head, and she sliced its throat open before stumbling to a halt.
The archdemon screamed through its ripped throat before crashing to the floor once again. It was fighting to maintain consciousness as Erin approached it. She lifted the sword above Urthemiel, positioning it carefully before sending it crashing down between his eyes.
A bright light erupted from the dragon's skull, breaking into the sky like a beacon.
Erin could feel the Old God's soul wrap itself around her. She could feel it touching her own, and the pain was immense. She could hardly think to scream for the agony was so great, but she managed to lift her head and let one word leave her lips.
His name.
And then, it was over. The pain was gone, and the light had drawn back into the sword that she clung to. A shockwave swept through her, sending her flying away from the archdemon's cooling corpse. The sword was ripped from her weakened grip and went clattering away.
She felt her back land on the cold stone and her head hit the ground a second later. She could see the gathering clouds above her. Blood red, rain grey and other sunset colours were all mixed and swirled together in her unfocused sight. The light of the waning sun shone weakly on one eye.
Considering the pain, this was a peaceful way to die.
A shadow leaned over her. She could just make out the armour, the longsword and shield. But, she realised dimly that this person had short hair. She turned her head slightly and forced her eyes to focus, one last time.
"Alistair..." she smiled weakly.
She tried to raise her hand to touch his face, though she knew this was probably a dream. But, it is a good dream to die with. The look in his eyes was soft, if not slightly unsure, like he used to look at her, before the Landsmeet, before she betrayed him.
And finally, she fell into darkness.
Author's end note: This is not the end, so keep looking for an update.