A/N: Hello again to you, dear readers! For this next chapter, tune your radios to "If You're Not the One" sung by Daniel Bedingfield.

I don't own the song nor Dragon Age: Origins. I don't own anything. Sad face.

Cheers!

-LCB

"So….what you're telling us is….the Grey Warden who kills the archdemon….dies?" Alistair tentatively asked.

Riordan pressed his lips thin as he stood before his two fellow Wardens, who before now had been ignorant to this one all-important revelation.

Regret over bearing this news hung heavy on him.

"Yes," he answered. "Without the archdemon, the Blight ends. It is the only way."

The Warden squeezed the hard bark of his staff, feeling a pit in his stomach forming.

After all this time….all these steps taken on this journey….the final step was to figuratively but also all too literally fall on a blade?

The Warden felt a coward for asking the question that was now burning inside him.

"And….who is to decide who deals the final blow?" He asked.

Riordan gave only a tired, but understanding nod.

"That remains to be seen."

He walked away from the two and placed an armored hand on the dark wood of the door to their chamber.

"With myself being the eldest, the duty would fall to me," he continued, turning to the others. "But should I fall, one of you must do it. It is a decision not made by choice, but by necessity. Remember that."

The Warden looked to Alistair, who offered only a withered smile in return.

"But enough of that for tonight. We all have much to think on," Riordan said, opening the door. "For now, what we need more than anything is a good night's rest. You can return to your rooms."

"Thank you, Riordan," Alistair said as he and friend began walking out. "I guess one way or another, this ends tomorrow."

"Indeed it does, my friend," Riordan solemnly agreed.

Outside in the gray stone hall, The Warden shook his head, leaning on his staff. In order to end the Blight, if the final blow fell to him, he would lose everything. In order to save Ferelden, everything had to be sacrificed.

That included Leliana.

The Warden had never once fooled himself. He knew what this battle entailed and the risks it brought.

Still, he had always thought of a life together with her, should they both survive this. Now even that was becoming a distant dream.

"You alright, mate?" Alistair asked as they walked. "Besides the obvious?"

"We've been mere inches from death's door since Ostagar, Alistair," The Warden said. "Why does this time feel so much different?"

"I would say it's probably the fact that death comes with a guarantee this time," Alistair sullenly admitted.

"I can't imagine what I would do without you, the others…..or Leliana," The Warden said.

If you're not the one, then why does my soul feel glad today?

If you're not the one, then why does my hand fit yours this way?

"We don't know what will happen," Alistair said, trying to alleviate his friend. "For all we know, Riordan will be there to do it…..but if he isn't…..well, we'll just see what happens. It's all we can do."

"You're right, you're right," The Warden replied, shaking his head again, growing indignant at his own cowardice. "I….I need some rest, old friend. I think I'll head for my room. I'll see you in the morning."

Alistair laid an armored hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Of course. To the morning, then. Whatever happens," he said.

The Warden stewed in his thoughts, gazing into the crackling hearth in his room. The dancing flames both captivated and terrified him. They were reminding him of the fires that were coming.

If you are not mine, then why does your heart return my call?

If you are not mine, would I have the strength to stand at all?

Suddenly, a hand laid itself on his shoulder and he jumped.

"Do not be alarmed, 'tis only I." A voice said from behind him.

The Warden turned and sighed. He didn't know how Morrigan did that sometimes, just appearing like that as if from nothing.

"No offense intended, Morrigan, but right now I'm not in the mood to talk," he said.

"I am in no need of consoling, Nicolae," the Witch of Wilds said, her piercing yellow eyes gazing up at him. "I am well. 'Tis you who are in danger."

The Warden crossed his robed arms.

"We're all in danger, Morrigan. It's been that way since the beginning."

"Do not insult my intelligence, Nicolae," the Witch calmly chided. "You know as well as I that you are in more danger than any of us."

With that, she turned and began slowly walking around the room.

"I have a plan, you see. A way out. The loop in your hole," she said, almost surreptitiously.

"I know what happens when the archdemon dies. I know a Grey Warden must be sacrificed, and that sacrifice could be you. I have come to tell you that this does not need to be."

The Warden arched an eyebrow. Of course she would know. If was anything dark or mysterious, Morrigan was sure to know of it.

"What do you mean?" The Warden asked.

Morrigan's eyes now seemed to bore into his, in both an alluring and imploring manner.

"I have a way out," she said. "A way out for all the Grey Wardens, so that there need be no sacrifice."

She pointed at the stone floor of the Warden's room.

"A ritual, performed on the eve of battle, in the dark of night," she explained.

The Warden regarded her carefully, tightening his grip on his staff.

"What sort of ritual?" He asked with the faintest hint of distrust.

"It is old magic, magic that predates the Circle of Magi," she told him, continuing her pacing around him. "Some might even call it blood magic, but it is not to be feared. Rather, it could be your salvation."

The Warden's stare grew more intense. What was she proposing? She was acting very strangely. Over the last few weeks, the two of them had grown the closest they'd ever been which, admittedly, amounted to the lightest of friendships.

This attitude of hers disturbed him all the more.

Sensing no rejection in his silence, Morrigan sat on the end of his bed.

"What I propose is this: Lay with me, here, tonight. From our joining, a child will be conceived," she said.

That made the Warden pay attention.

"Excuse me?!" He nearly spluttered.

Morrigan continued undaunted. "The child will bear the taint. Once the archdemon is slain, its essence will seek the child like a beacon. The child will be able to absorb the essence and not perish. No Grey Warden need be sacrificed."

The Warden's mouth nearly hung agape. What she was telling him was ludicrous! How could this ever be a conceivably good idea?

"You can't possibly think I would actually do that!" The Warden uttered.

Morrigan stood up from the bed, her temper beginning to burn.

"Why? It will work and it will save your life!"

"The answer is no." The Warden stated finally.

"Is this because of Leliana?" Morrigan indignantly asked, placing her hands on her hips.

The Warden could not deny that, besides the blatant uncertainties surrounding this idea, his love for Leliana played a major role in his refusal.

I'll never know what he future brings,

But I know you're here with me now.

We'll make it through and I hope you are the one I share my life with.

"Nicolae," Morrigan stated, calmly this time. "Do you truly believe that she would condemn you or any other Grey Warden to death when it could be avoided?"

The Warden shut his eyes and turned, heading for his door.

"The answer remains no," he told her.

Morrigan briskly chased him down.

"Consider the possibility that Riordan may not be there to make the final blow as he plans. What then? Do you run away?" She challenged, her voice rising.

"Of course not," the Warden shrugged her off, continuing for the door.

"And then do you let Alistair, the future King of Ferelden, take the blow instead? And what if he does not make it to the archdemon, either?" She berated.

"I will do what must be done!" the Warden spat.

Morrigan grabbed his shoulder and twirled him around to face her.

"Would you truly choose death rather than lay with me for one night?!" She almost yelled. "Would you deny yourself the tomorrows and all of its rewards? Your future with Leliana?"

"SHUT! UP! MORRIGAN!"

The Warden's bellowing seemed to silence the entire room, but not her glare. The Warden stabbed his finger at her.

"You are asking me to shirk the duty that has fallen on me!" he declared. "Not only that, you're asking me to perform an act that goes against my nature and my choice. For the final time, I will not do it!"

"So you'll throw away everything," Morrigan accused. "Who you are, who you could be, all out of stubbornness."

"Out of duty and love, Morrigan," the Warden asserted. "Notions I know you could never understand."

He didn't give her a chance for rebuttal. He wrenched the door open and stormed back down the hall, wanting to be anywhere but in his room right now.

How could she think him a man who would betray his responsibilities, betray his beloved?

If he was to die tomorrow, then he would spend his final night true to himself and true to those he loved.

I don't want to run away, but I can't take it, I don't understand.

If I'm not made for you, then why does my heart tell me that I am?

Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?

"There you are," came the soft voice that he knew and loved.

The Warden looked over to see Leliana leaning in her doorway, her radiant red hair shining in the golden candlelight within. Her silken nightgown beautifully framed her curvy, tempting body.

"I was wondering when you would join me tonight," Leliana said, smiling at the man she chose to pledge herself to.

The Warden smiled at her, tiredly but lovingly.

If I don't need you, then why am I crying on my bed?

If I don't need you, then why does your name resound in my head?

"Nothing would make me happier," he said as he walked into her room, closing the door behind him.

"Leliana, I need you to know something." The Warden told his lover as he laid his staff against the wall.

She wrapped her arms around him, pulling his face within inches of hers.

"It is the eve of battle, my love," she whispered lovingly. "Whatever you want to say, I will hear you."

If you're not for me, then why does this distance maim my life?

If you're not for me, then why do I dream of you as my wife?

He smiled down at her, sliding his hands down her back, cupping her waist.

"Growing up in the tower, I could fix so many problems with magic," he explained softly to her. "I could wriggle out of any hole, talk my way out of any trouble, with rarely a worry in the world."

"Tomorrow, though," he slowly continued. "I fear magic won't help me to do what I most desire to do."

Leliana smiled up at the Warden, her Warden, and lightly kissed his lips.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, my love, I will not regret a single day, not one moment," she promised once they parted. "You are mine and I am yours. That is something no archdemon could ever take away."

She began undoing the laces of her gown, fabric beginning to part with only smooth, beautiful skin laying bare.

"Tomorrow is unknown, but tonight…..we have each other." She said.

The Warden finished her work for her, taking her lips with his, letting their love speak where words would always fall short.

I don't know why you're so far away.

But I know that this much is true.

We'll make it through.

And I hope you are the one I share my life with.

And I wish that you could be the one I die with.

And I pray that you're the one I build my home with.

I hope I love you all my life.

Outside in the hall, Alistair had heard the shouts of Morrigan and his friend. He had been deftly hiding behind the door as it swung open and The Warden stormed out. What the Warden never saw was Alistair looking determinedly as his friend's back as he passed, then slowly turning and walking into the room with Morrigan, closing the door behind him.