King Cailan, accompanied by a couple of his guards, was arguing with Teryn Loghain, leaning over a map of Ostagar's grounds on the table in front of him. Zalandri could only catch a few words of the argument - "Orlesians", and "fool notion" from Loghain- but could understand that the King was growing frustrated with the Teryn. Duncan caught sight of Alistair and Zalandri, with Feren, just returned from his dinner hunt, perched on her shoulder. Zalandri was walking strongly now, no longer needing support from Alistair. Duncan nodded to the both of them and cleared his throat to politely interrupt King Cailan. The king looked up from his map and looked at the two approaching Wardens with an enthusiastic grin. Teryn Loghain, however, seemed not as pleased to see them, and kept a stiff, straight face, narrowing his eyes in distrust.
"So this is the new recruit! One of the Voshai, no less!" King Cailan practically bounced forward in excitement. Alistair gave a curt little bow to the king, and Zalandri bent down to her knee. The king waved his hands at her at laughed. "Please, please, there is no need! I believe congratulations are in order! It really is an honor. Every Grey Warden is needed now, and Duncan has told me much about you-"
"Excuse me, your majesty," Teryn Loghain called, annoyed at the meeting being interrupted. "If we may get back to my plan…"
"Yes, yes, of course, of course," Cailan rolled his eyes with a wink at Zalandri. He stepped back to the table and bent over the blueprints again. "So speak your strategy. The Grey Wardens and I draw the Darkspawn into charging our lines, and then…?"
"You will alert your men to light the beacon in the tower" Loghain shot a quick, dark look at the three Wardens in front of him, "and my men will charge from the shadows-"
"To flank the darkspawn, yes, I remember," the king interrupted. "This is the Tower of Ishal, in the ruins, yes? Who shall light the beacon?"
Loghain drew himself up. "I have a few men stationed there. It's not a dangerous task, but it is vital."
"Then we should send our best," Cailan looked up at Alistair and Zalandri. "Send Alistair and the new recruit to make sure it's done."
Alistair opened his mouth in protest, but Duncan silenced him with a stern look. Zalandri gave a small bow. "It will be done, your majesty."
Loghain looked at her with unease, up and down, taking in every detail of her. Feren rustled his feathers in annoyance at being scrutinized. "You rely on these Wardens too much, Cailan. Is this truly wise?"
Cailan rolled his eyes at him. "Enough of your conspiracies, Loghain," he said, cheery voice now sounding impatient. "The Grey Wardens fight the Blight, no matter where they are from."
He turned to the Grey Wardens. "I cannot wait for this glorious moment," his usual smile returned, "The Grey Wardens battle beside the king of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil!" He looked like a child who had been given a brand new toy.
"Yes, Cailan," Zalandri was the only one who heard Teryn Loghain speak to himself and he turned and walked away from the table. "A glorious moment for us all."
Zalandri and Alistair followed Duncan back to the fire pit once King Cailan had left.
"You heard the plan," he said. "You will go to the Tower of Ishal and light the beacon once we give the signal."
Alistair could not help himself any longer. "Why won't I be in the battle?" he blurted indignantly.
Alistair looked at him sternly, but Zalandri thought she she could see pity in his eyes. "This is by the King's personal request, Alistair. If the beacon is not lit, then Teryn Loghain's men will not know when to charge."
Alistair was skeptical. "So he needs two Grey Wardens up there to light the beacon. Just in case, right?"
Zalandri spoke up, though she was hesitant. She felt uneasy about Teryn Loghain, but she wasn't sure exactly why. "Ser Duncan," she said cautiously, "I have… I feel… Unsure, about Ser Loghain and his involvement in the plan…" But Duncan held up a hand.
"Teryn Loghain may not be the most likable of men, Zalandri, but he has been a loyal and important man for Ferelden's well being. If King Cailan trusts his plan, then so be it."
Zalandri was not convinced, but she bit her lip and nodded.
"We must do whatever it takes to destroy the darkspawn," he said, addressing Alistair's protest. "Whether it is exciting or not."
Alistair sighed. "I get it, I get it." But not to be completely defeated, he added, "But just so you know, if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the remigold, I draw the line. Darkspawn or no."
Zalandri chortled and smirked at him. "I think I'd like to see that."
Alistair smiled mischievously at her and winked. "For you, maybe… but it has to be a pretty dress."
Duncan rubbed his forehead with his fingers and sighed, wondering how he got to be acquainted with the ridiculous young Wardens. He forced the conversation along.
"You'll need to cross the gorge over the bridge to get to the tower. At the top you'll be able to see the entire valley."
"How much time do we have?" Zalandri straightened her face and became serious once more.
"The battle is about to begin. You'll need to move quickly. You have under an hour." He took a deep breath, looking at the two of them. "Remember you are both Grey Wardens. I expect you to be worthy of that title."
"Duncan," Alistair looked at the older Warden with respect… and worry. "May the Maker watch over you." He sincerely meant it, and was in fact quite nervous about leaving the man's side in battle.
Duncan nodded. "May the Maker watch over us all," he said gravely, and turned to join the ranks of battle.
Alistair was reluctant to go at once to the tower, and he watched his senior walk away until he was out of sight. Zalandri quickly coated her weapons in a fresh layer of poision, then took his hand gently, which finally made him turn around, and gave him an encouraging smile.
"We will see him again." In life or in death, she added to herself. Alistair seemed grateful for the words of comfort, though he was not sure of the truth in them, and squeezed her hand. He looked back at where Duncan had disappeared once more, and they set off at a run toward the tower.
Feren flew high over them, keeping watch. Zalandri, in lighter armor and already faster than Alistair, sprinted ahead, leaping over rubble and reaching half way over the bridge as he stepped onto it. Just when she was almost at the end, the entire bridge shook, so hard that she was thrown off of her feet and slammed into the cold brick. Dazed, she shakily stood up and looked back. A catapult had been launched at the bridge and had knocked everyone down. Large boulders of stone and rubble littered the damaged bridge, and she spotted Alistair in the middle, standing up after receiving a similar blow. She heard a screech from Feren and she looked up in time to see a second catapult launching a massive boulder towards them, barely missing the bridge. She flew back to a coughing Alistair's side and grabbed his arm, leading him through the rubble so quickly that he almost stumbled a few times before they reached the other side. Under the cover of some trees, Alistair wiped his eyes clear of dust and they continued.
Yelling could be heard now from the direction of the tower. An archer and a mage came running out of the ruins, coughing from the smoke in the air. They took sight of the two Wardens and ran up to them.
"You two- you're Grey Wardens, aren't you? The tower's been taken!"
"What are you talking about, man, taken how?" Alistair asked.
"The darkspawn, they came up through the lower chambers. They're everywhere. Most of our men are dead!" the mage exclaimed. He looked terrified.
"Then we have to get to the beacon and light it ourselves," Zalandri gazed up at the tower and started running again.
Alistair commanded the two men to follow, and they all ran after Zalandri. They passed under the arch and Zalandri and Alistair dug their heels into the ground, charging into the throng of fighting men and darkspawn. While the archer and mage launched attacks from afar, Zalandri wound around the darkspawn, dealing fatal blows from their shadows. Moving swiftly from one to the next, she had cut down many in just a few minutes. She heard a struggling yell from Alistair and she whipped around, drawing a poison dart from her pouch and throwing it deep into the uncovered throat of a darkspawn hurlock that was close to overpowering Alistair in strength. The hurlock stepped back and dropped to its knees, and Alistair swung hard, decapitating it. He nodded in thanks to Zalandri, but saw something over her shoulder that sent a surge of desperation through him. A large alpha was charging at Zalandri from behind, getting ready to swing his large mace.
"ZAL, MOVE TO YOUR LEFT, NOW!" Alistair roared, and used as much strength he could muster into charging towards them. Zalandri, without question, dove into a roll to move out of the way, sweeping in front of her with her two blades as she came up to gut another charging hurlock. Alistair charged through the Alpha with a roar, his blade slicing through its knees, turned, and thrust his sword into its back, shoving it back off with his foot.
Zalandri leapt towards him, blocking the blade of a grunt with one of her own, and slicing the abdomen with the other. She gave a strong kick and sent the grunt back flying, and it did not get up. At the same time, Alistair blocked an incoming attack by another grunt, knocking it back, and stepped forward quickly to swipe its head clean off.
Breathing hard, Zalandri and Alistair looked at their surroundings, finding no darkspawn left alive, and turned back to each other. Unable to speak yet, they simply gave the other a relieved smile and turned to hurry up the steps, the mage and archer still in tail.
They ran through the entrance of the tower, and fought their way up, Zalandri expertly disarming traps, and the two Wardens continued to fight in harmony, being able to predict each other's movements and trust sudden instruction without question from all of their fights together on their way to Ostagar. Near the top floor they were given pause, and fought with their bodies to catch their breath. Between heaves, Alistair spoke.
"Maker's… breath!" he gasped, wiping his brow with his glove. "What are the darkspawn doing here, ahead of the horde? There wasn't supposed to be any resistance here!"
Despite their grim situation, Zalandri managed to smile at him playfully. "Weren't you complaining that you didn't get to fight?"
He grinned, laughing through his deep breaths. "Heh- You're right. I guess there is a silver lining here, if you think about it."
The mage and archer were staring at them, heaving, incredulous at how the two could be so light hearted at a time like this.
Alistair straightened up from the wall he was leaning against. "At any rate, we need to hurry," he said. His breathing had slowed to an almost normal pace now. Zalandri nodded and they opened the door to the next floor. They fought their way through two more flights before opening the door to the top.
They rushed in, and skidded to a halt. The floor beneath them shook, and the mage whispered a prayer as they looked forward, facing a massive, heavily armored ogre, standing at least twice as tall as Zalandri. It turned toward them and roared, spit flying, and they were all almost dazed by the stench. Zalandri gave a warning shout, and they all dodged just in time as it suddenly charged, with greater speed and force than any of them could have imagined, directly through them, destroying the door they had come through. It grunted and shook its head, slowly turning around again, and Zalandri took that chance to throw her remaining poison darts into its thick skin. The poison wouldn't work immediately as it did on humans, but eventually it would sink in giving them an upper hand.
If we're still alive by then, she thought grimly. The archer and mage took up positions in the far corners are the room and began launching steady attacks on the monster. Alistair, not as fast as Zalandri but faster yet than the ogre, danced around it, keeping its attention as Zalandri whipped around it, attacking every opening she could find. The ogre roared in frustration and pain with each attack, and suddenly brought its feet down against the brick, slamming Alistair to the ground and causing Zalandri's knees to buckle underneath her. It swung at the fallen Alistair, and he was thrown across the room into a fallen pillar where he lay dazed, unable to move.
"NO!" Zalandri cried, and ran to his side in a panic. Blood trickled down from his head and he was having trouble focusing his eyes on her, and she sat him upright against the pillar. She choked back a desperate noise threatening to escape, and turned to the ogre in a rage. It was turning, getting ready to charge at them once more, but she was faster. As the ogre started its charge, she ran towards it, and using a large fallen wall as a stepping platform, she leapt into the air, blades bared, and crashed into the monster, blades sinking deep into its chest and the momentum of her attack sending it back and down. They landed with a crash, and she stabbed at its chest desperately as it roared, and finally sunk her blade deep into its heart and twisted it, stopping the ogre's movements with a violent twitch.
She drew out her blades from the beast and jumped off of it, turning as she hit the ground and running to Alistair. He was coming to, and realized he was staring into her extremely anxious face.
"Zal…" he groaned, tongue heavy, vision still slightly blurry.
"Alistair, thank the gods," she breathed, taking his face into her hands and inspecting him.
"Ogre…" his mouth felt like it was stuffed with dirt.
"It's done, it's dead," she reassured him, wiping away blood that was trickling down his face.
"Mmh…" Suddenly his eyes focused and he looked at her urgently. "The beacon," he told her, "Light the beacon, quickly!"
She had almost forgotten what they were here for. She clambered up and ran to the beacon, pushing aside the rubble, and threw the torch into the wood. It flamed up, and was soon blazing brightly to be seen all around.
She went back and she and the mage and archer all helped Alistair to his feet, and he walked unsteadily to the ogre to inspect it.
Suddenly the rubble in the doorway burst apart, and a volley of arrows invaded the room. Zalandri barely turned around when she was hit with one, two, three arrows. She stumbled back, tripping over a fallen soldier, and hit the ground, where everything faded to black.