Chapter 20

Beth stood at the front of the Main Hall as she addressed the concerns of the nobles. There had been quiet at the farms in the north since they killed the broodmothers over a week ago. The city seemed to be doing well. Crime was down and trade was up.

Beth couldn't help but feel this was the quiet before the storm. She hadn't learned any more about the Architect or the Mother but she knew that Amaranthine was going to be caught in the middle of it.

Varel noticed Beth's unease and pulled her aside. "Since things are under control, why don't I dismiss the nobles and you go get some rest."

"That's all I've been doing, Senaschel. I need to take care of the Arling," Beth said stubbornly.

The doors to the great hall burst open and a harried soldier rushed to the front. He bowed then said in a rush, "Please hurry! Amaranthine is under attack by Darkspawn!"

Beth looked at Garrett in alarm. "Captain. Ensure that the nobles are housed here in safety. I will take the Wardens and we will defend Amaranthine."

"Yes, serah!" Garrett said. He bowed and hurried to get his guards organized.

Veral watched in concern as Beth rushed to the kitchen, which had become a gathering place for the Wardens. She found only Ohgren, "Ohgren! Amaranthine is under attack by darkspawn. Gather the rest of the Wardens by the stable while I go change!"

"Yes, Warden!" Ohgren said, getting to his feet so fast that he knocked over his chair. In the short time it took to right it, Beth had already left the room.

...

They rode fast and hard to get to Amaranthine quickly. Reaching the outskirts of town, Beth could already sense the darkspawn presence and they left the horses in a pasture. The group hurried and encountered darkspawn in outskirts of the city. These were darkspawn grubs like the ones they had fought in Ki'hirol and were easily defeated, but as they proceeded through the gates and into the city, they fought various stages of the children and the more advanced ones were difficult to beat.

As Beth stood looking around at the dead darkspawn, she spotted three city guards hurrying to them, one was the Constable in charge of the city's defenses.

"Thank the Maker!" the Constable said, "you don't know how glad I am to see you."

"We arrived as soon as we could, Constable. What is the status of the city?" Beth asked.

"I'm sorry to say, the city is overrun. There is no hope to save it," he responded, grimly.

"What do you suggest then?" Beth asked, looking toward the city center.

"We should put the city to the flame. That would destroy all of the darkspawn," he answered gravely.

"But...aren't there people still in the city?" Margaret asked.

"Maybe. We got as many as possible into the Chantry as soon as the attack began." The Constable shifted on his feet. "We did the best we could."

"I will not abandon any possible survivors. We will clear the darkspawn out of the city." Beth said, resolutely.

"But..." The Constable was interrupted by one of his men.

"There's a darkspawn approaching!" the guard cried and raised his bow.

"Wait! No kill! I seek Grey Warden!" The darkspawn yelled to them.

Beth stepped forward, "I am the Commander. Why shouldn't we kill you?"

"I bring message from Architect. The Mother is mad at Warden and will kill all." The darkspawn messenger replied. "She attack at Keep!"

"This is bad..." Anders muttered.

"Yes, all the Grey Wardens are here." Nate said looking at the group.

"Why should I believe you?" Beth asked the messenger.

"Architect say 'enemy make us friend'," the messenger replied.

Beth looked at the messenger thoughfully, it stood patiently, waiting for her. "Go back to your Architect and tell him I said 'Thank you'."

"You're letting it go?" Ohgren seethed. "Warden, be careful who you trust."

"Ohgren, this is my decision." Beth turned to the messenger. "We will not harm you. Go."

The messenger quickly hurried out of the city. The Constable stood shaking his head. "Now what will you do?"

"We need to split our forces. Margaret take Ohgren and Sigrun back to the Keep. Tell Garrett about the impending attack and defend the Keep," Beth said.

Margaret nodded and with Ohgren and Sigrun following, they left the city.

Beth watched them go, "Maker, watch over them," she muttered under her breath.

"The rest of you, let's go. We have survivors to find and darkspawn to kill." She twirled her blades and looked at the Constable. "Take your guards to the Chantry and guard it. We will send any survivors to you."

The Constable bowed and left with his guards for the Chantry.

...

Margaret, Ohgren and Sigrun got to the Keep just as the attack started. Sigrun and Ohgren joined Justice and took up first line defenses as Margaret raced to find Garrett and Varel. Garret was organizing the Keep's soldiers and Varel was sending the servants and smiths to join the nobles in the safety of the Keep. Archers lined the battlements, soldiers took up position just outside the gate and there were enough mage recruits to occupy the towers.

The darkspawn swarmed the Keep's gate. Arrows rained down, lightning bolts and fireballs were hurled from the towers and the soldiers began attacking the incoming army.

"Great Maker! What are these?" Garrett swore, as his sword severed another of the grublike children.

"Darkspawn." Margaret breathed as she skewered one in front of her and protected herself with her shield from another. Garrett quickly thrust his sword into the head of her attacker and swerved to avoid the attack of another.

Wave after wave of these darkspawn attacked. Few got through the first lines of defense, but the sheer numbers began to take a toll on the combatants.

"Here comes a new group!" Someone shouted and the next form of darkspawn was mixing in with the first. These were larger and standing on four footlike limbs with four armlike limbs grabbing to hold while pincers ripped.

Ohgren swung his axe and fell two at once. "Now that's how it's done!" he shouted to Sigrun.

"Oh yeah?" Sigrun shouted back as she whirled with her twin daggers stretched out and cleared a circle around her. "How's that?"

"Not bad." Ohgren said and brought his axe down on the head of an attacker.

Margaret was just close enough to hear their banter over the other sounds of fighting. She was too busy hacking through darkspawn to comment.

Again just as the invaders were thinning out, a shout went up, "A new wave approaching!" This time, the darkspawn had stronger limbs and an outer shell that made it tough to cut through.

"We aren't going to be able to keep this up much longer." Garrett said, breathing heavily.

"We must protect the Keep!" Margaret shouted and attacked with a vigor she didn't truly feel.

"Oh sod!" Ohgren shouted, "Ogres!"

Margaret turned to look, her heart heavy, as she saw three huge ogres heading for them. 'I tried, Commander...I really tried,' she thought sadly.

...

Beth and Velanna worked their way through the marketplace, going through every building to ensure that all the survivors were found. Beth held her breath when they got to Delilah's. The door to the stable hung askew on one hinge and when they entered, Beth gasped.

A darkspawn grub lifted its head from the dead donkey and attacked. Beth sliced easily through the fat body of the creature and it lay in two pieces at her feet. Beth quickly hurried into the shop and finding nothing, raced for the house. The door was securely latched, so Beth had to pick the lock. The house was quiet, with no signs of fighting. Beth breathed a sigh of relief and prayed she would find her friends at the Chantry.

Velanna motioned to Beth and they moved on to the next building and cleared it out.

Meanwhile, Nate and Anders were on the other side of town, clearing the buildings from Chantry to the main gate. They had found a few people hiding in the tavern, but had not seen any darkspawn. They were almost to the main gate.

"I know there's some around here. I can feel 'em," Anders said.

Nate just shrugged and moved on to the last building on the street. This was the city guard barracks and they quickly verified that no one was there. Leaving that building they headed for the gate to the inner city. Beth and Velanna joined them as they opened the gate and went through.

They were attacked immediately upon entering. Velanna began slowing the darkspawn down with her entanglement spells while Beth sliced and hacked her way through them. Anders shot fireballs at the larger creatures and Nate switched from his bow to a short sword for close combat.

They cleared the gate area and headed for the town square. Standing in the middle was a huge ogre, towering over the various stages of 'children' surrounding it.

Beth yelled, "Take the ogre first!" and disappeared into the thick of the darkspawn. Velanna sent spells toward the big beast that shook it off its feet. With a roar, the ogre homed in on the mage and charged directly at her. Anders fired fireballs at it but they seemed to have no effect, bouncing off and setting whatever they landed on, on fire. Nate was busy trying to keep the darkspawn off the mages and couldn't switch back to his bow. Velanna nimbly leaped out of the way of the beast's charge at the last moment and when it smashed into a house instead, she quickly entangled it as Beth leaped on top to strike the killing blow.

Beth whirled her blades and raced to help Nate and Anders, who were being swarmed by darkspawn. Nate was frantically swinging his short sword trying to hit as many of his attackers as possible. Anders was casting ice spells trying to slow down the onslaught. Beth leapt into the middle and with a whirlwind of motion effectively cleared a circle around them. Nate stood a moment panting and Anders nodded at her as she raced off to help Velanna.

Beth was exhausted, but pushed herself to keep going. There seemed to be no end to the number of darkspawn and the situation was starting to look hopeless.

...

Margaret knew she wasn't going to last much longer. She was having trouble focusing. Suddenly a loud boom resounded over the battlefield. Everything seemed to stop to see what it was.

"Take that! You soddin' darkspawn!" Dworkin yelled over the battlements.

Margaret looked up and watched as a catapult slung another boulder into the field. It exploded on impact, sending darkspawn everywhere.

A cheer went up from the tired soldiers as they renewed their battle. The darkspawn numbers were being rapidly decreased by Dworkin's explosives and the tide of battle turned in favor of the Keep.

...

Nate watched as Beth did her whirlwind move around Velanna, clearing the darkspawn around her. Nate knew Beth couldn't have much reserve energy left. He notched his last arrow into his bow and fired at a large darkspawn. Switching back to his short sword, he again took up a defensive position next to Anders.

Anders looked at Nate, "Well, at least I'm not stuck in the Circle Tower when I die."

Nate took a deep breath and stabbed the darkspawn charging at him. "Let's see how many of these bastards we can take with us."

"Charge!" sounded and a group of city guards rushed into the square, slashing and hacking their way through the darkspawn.

Beth took a deep breath and with renewed energy, began circling the square. The guards' timely arrival made the difference and the square soon was littered with darkspawn bodies.

A cheer went up and the group began searching all the buildings from the square to the wharf to look for survivors and kill any remaining darkspawn.

...

Margaret looked around the infirmary, there were so many wounded and not enough healers. Ohgren came up to her and said, "Someone needs to go check on the Warden."

"She told us to stay here and wait for her." Margaret put her hand on Ohgren's shoulder, "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"I ain't worried," Ohgren shrugged her hand off, "I just want to tell her how great we did," and he stalked off.

Margaret shook her head and left the infirmary. She entered the main hall to find Varel besieged by nobles.

"We want to go back to the city!"

"How much longer must we stay here?"

"Please!" Varel said, raising his hands. "Wait for the Warden-Commander to give the all clear. Then you can return to your homes. Until then, a meal is being prepared in the dining hall."

The nobles slowly made their way from the main hall to the dining hall, grumbling and talking amongst themselves. Margaret approached Varel. "Problems?"

"I can't wait until the Commander gets back. I'd forgotten how many problems there were dealing with the nobles. " He ran a hand through his hair and sat down on a bench. "What do you need, Margaret?"

"Nothing, really. I'm just antsy waiting for news from Amaranthine." Margaret shifted her weight and looked around the room.

"Go rest." Varel said. "I'll send someone for you, when she arrives."