A/N: We are coming up on the end of this journey, wonderful readers! I hope you have enjoyed it. I certainly loved your reviews every step of the way. Let us commence the final battle! Tune your radios for this final part to "Hold On" by Sara McLachlan.
Cheers!
-LCB
He planted his wooden staff into the stone floor of the fort's rooftop, leaning on it heavily. His chest was heaving. His forehead was coated in a cold sweat. His muscles were burning from the unending battle.
Still, he could not stop.
The clanging sounds of clashing swords, the acrid smell of smoke and the sights of battle all around him made his blood surge in his veins, adrenaline willing his exhausted limbs onward, no matter what their protest.
If he didn't keep going, all would be lost. All of Thedas, especially Fereldan, was relying on the Warden now.
Hold on.
Hold on to yourself.
For this is gonna hurt like hell.
As drops of sweat were flung from his face, he looked all around him. The ferocity of the battle was everywhere.
The proud dwarves of Orzammar swung their axes. Dalish elves frantically let loose arrow after arrow. The Men of Redcliffe, desperate sheens in their eyes, bashed their shields against the onslaught of darkspawn.
Even The Warden's own kind, the mages, as far from their element as they could possibly be, shot forward with their staffs, releasing every spell they knew.
As The Warden struggled for a breath, the world around him began to slow down. It felt like all of existence was locked in this one pivotal moment, the moment that would decide the fate of the world.
Hold on.
Hold on to yourself.
You know that only time will tell.
The Warden turned and saw only the same scene, the same desperate fight. As his mind raced, he felt like an outsider, watching all of this from behind a looking glass. All sound was reduced to a shrill ring in his ears.
And still, his mind struggled. Was he dazed? Stunned? Why was he feeling this way?
He had no answers.
His head darted from left to right, looking for one face. It was the one face that captivated him above all and the one he feared for the most.
But she was nowhere in sight.
My love,
You know that you're my best friend.
You know I'd do anything for you.
Where was she?
She had been with him as they charged the rooftop. She had never left his side, her twin daggers dancing through a black cascade of darkspawn blood as they fought their way here.
Was she lost in this mob of carnage and destruction? How could he get to her? He swore an oath to her and himself that he would let no harm come to her.
My love,
Let nothing come between us.
My love for you is strong and true.
What if she was already lost? What if she had been cut down?
What if she had suffered the same fate as possibly all of his friends he had left behind?
Wynne. Sten. Halleth. Zevran.
They had stayed behind. Leliana, Alistair and Oghren chose to fight by his side.
Had he….had he condemned them all to death in this borderline-suicidal march to the Archdemon?
Am I in heaven here or am I in hell?
At the crossroads, I am standing.
A sickening squelch and a black spray of blood behind him awoke The Warden from his stupor. He turned and saw a Hurlock crumpled in a heap on the stone rooftop, a small axe lodged in his spine.
Oghren ran up and yanked his weapon from the darkspawn.
"Look alive, junior! A battle ain't no place to be daydreamin'! That's one ya owe me!"
The Warden beamed at his friend, even in the midst of battle. The world came back into focus as he nodded to the dwarf.
"I do indeed owe you, Oghren!"
"You'll pay in ale when this is over!" Oghren yelled, guffawing in a dwarven bloodlust.
The growls of another approaching group of darkspawn drew Oghren's attention.
"Go get your girl, Warden," he said. "If you'll excuse me, I got more customers coming."
The dwarf spun his axes and sprinted toward the oncoming darkspawn.
"ORRRRRDERRRRRRR UP!" He screamed as he easily tore through the beasts with his weapons.
A deafening, demonic roar drew The Warden's attention to the other side of the rooftop.
There the black dragon stood, belching torrents of dark flames toward the united races as they scrambled to slay it.
The Warden squinted, trying to see up ahead.
He could see a swirling head of carrot hair, standing before the great beast.
His eyes shot open and his heart nearly stopped. He sprinted toward the dragon.
I lie awake and pray
That you'll be strong tomorrow and we'll see another day
And we will praise it.
Leliana stood poised, every muscle taut and screaming. Her daggers were raised toward the gargantuan dragon. Though her weapons looked like mere toys in the presence of this beast of old, she would not hesitate to do all she could to fight.
She fought for this world. She fought for the Maker.
She fought for her love, who was now gone from her sight, but never from her silent prayers.
Oh God, if you're out there,
Won't you hear me?
I know that we've never talked before.
The dragon reared, swiping with its massive claws, rending through a small squad of elves.
Leliana winced, knowing they would not rise again from such a blow. This creature cared nothing for the sanctity of life. It only sought to destroy.
The dragon shot a black fireball toward her companion at her side, Alistair, who threw his shield up in time to be blown on his back, winded but alive. She rushed to his side.
"I'm fine!" He yelled, tiredly getting to his feet. "Unfortunately, I can say the same for the Archdemon!"
"Nothing we're doing is working!" Leliana yelled.
"We need to fight as one!" her Grey Warden friend yelled back. "Where's Nicolae?!"
Leliana's heart sank, fear eating at her mind. That was the question she longed to be able to answer, but could not.
Oh God, the man I love is leaving.
Won't you take him when he comes to your door?
"Leliana! Run!"
Alistair's scream tore the bard from her worries. She looked up to see the Archdemon looking down on her. Her heart ceased beating as those soulless eyes rent their way into her very soul. She found herself frozen to the spot, as if compelled into fear by this great evil.
The dragon opened its mouth, black flames erupting.
That was when she fell to the ground, pushed hard from behind.
She looked up to see her love, her Grey Warden, standing in her spot as the raging river of black flames consumed him.
Am I in heaven here or am I in hell?
At the crossroads I am standing.
"NOOO!" She screamed where she lay, reaching out for him.
But there was no hand reaching back. The love of her life had disappeared in the flames.
"NICOLAE! NO!" Alistair bellowed beside her.
Leliana kept reaching out, fruitless as it was. She felt a searing pain within her body, as if a part of her was being carved out.
It was certain no one could survive that…..and he had been standing in her place…..for a blow meant for her.
The Archdemon let out an angry roar as it continuously belted its flames. Neither of them could discern why it was continuing its attack when it had clearly found its mark.
That was when they saw it.
The river of flames began to part, steadily and slowly, until it became a forked stream, its flames falling around the form of one man.
"I….I can't believe it," Alistair said, dumbfounded.
Leliana could not either, but in her heart, she knew that form to be unmistakable.
I like awake and pray
That you'll be strong tomorrow and we'll see another day
And we will praise it.
The Warden threw his arms out and the flames dispelled.
His body was shining with a golden glow. It was magic that even Alistair had never seen in all of his years as a Templar.
Still, the Archdemon refused to back down. It reared back again and belched another torrent of flames. The Warden met the flames with his own shining golden beam of magical energy.
When the two forces met, it was the last thing Leliana and Alistair saw before a great force blasted them where they stood and everything went black.
The Warden slowly cracked his eyes open. He was on his back, staring up into the sky, still blazing with the fires and smoke of battle.
He ached with a pain he had never felt before. Everything within him burned like a searing fire. He felt as if he had no energy left.
Still, he shakily got to his feet, facing the dragon down.
His once proud staff lay in a broken, smoking heap in front of him. He heard nothing but a ringing in his ears. He felt as though he may collapse at any moment.
The Archdemon lay in an exhausted heap before, him, breathing heavily. Its empty black eyes stayed locked on him.
Very clever, Warden.
The Warden cried out as a blinding pain split in his head. The Archdemon's voice! The words of an Old God rang out in his head.
Using your magic and our united taints to help yourself survive. I underestimated you, but we both know what comes now.
The Warden gritted his teeth and opened his eyes again, defiantly staring at the beast.
"What happens next is…..I kill you!" he vehemently spat.
No you will not. You know what happens to a Warden when they slay my kind.
"I know full well!" The Warden yelled. "It will not stop me!"
The Warden doubled over at the pain of the Old God's laughter in his mind.
Look behind you, Warden.
Against his better judgment, almost against his will, the Warden slowly turned and looked.
Alistair and Leliana lied behind him, slowly rolling back and forth on their sides, trying to recover from the blast of his and the Archdemon's battle.
They yet live, Warden, and that is why you will not kill me. There is too much holding you to your life. Friendship. Duty. Love. You haven't the spine to sacrifice that.
The Warden felt the Old God's influence creeping into his mind. It would be so easy not to make the final blow and escape the fate Riordan had told of. He could instruct any number of warriors from the races on this rooftop to do it.
Yes…..he could live…..all he had to do was….delegate….
Who would say no to such an honor of making the final blow?
Let someone else be the hero.
You deserve to be happy.
I'm sure Leliana would say the…..
"NO!" The Warden yelled, wrenching himself from those thoughts. They were so pervasive and so inviting.
He could live.
He could be with her.
He could have a family.
He could have the life he always wanted.
The Warden slowly turned back to face the Archdemon.
"You're wrong," The Warden said. "You're wrong about me. You would use my friends as the reason I should try to save my own life."
The Warden walked forward, pulling out a large sword that had lodged itself in the ground. He held the blade and stared right into the dragon's eyes.
"My friends are worth any sacrifice," he said.
The Warden turned back one last time and locked eyes with the woman he loved, now trying to stand and get to him.
It was then that the Warden did something that he had never done in front of a girl before.
He smirked and gave her a wink.
Hold on.
Hold on to yourself.
For this is gonna hurt like hell.