"Climb a tower, light a fire, that sounds easy enough," Eriana thought to herself. "Duncan knows I've never been in a real battle before, so this should be an easy way to break me in, a good rookie assignment." She was trying desperately to convince herself that she belonged here, but, deep down, she didn't really believe it. Looking down at the battle that was raging in the fields beneath Ostagar, Eriana was suddenly, for the first time, doubting whether she truly belonged with the Grey Wardens. True, a small group of darkspawn didn't frighten her, but this was a horde, a massive army. What did she know of fighting anyway? Her mother had taught her how to defend herself with daggers, and Duncan had tutored her on using a sword and dagger combo, but no one had ever trained her to fight in an army. She was no warrior, and by the laws of Denerim, she wasn't even allowed to carry a weapon. By the Black City, what was she doing here?
Well it was too late now; she and Alistair had a job to do, and a critical one at that, though Alistair didn't seem to think so. In fact, Alistair seemed to resent the fact that he was given this easy errand-boy job and kept out of the battle, but Eriana was secretly grateful that the King had requested that they light the beacon. It would give her a chance to adjust to warfare before being thrust head-long into it. She was also glad it was Alistair with her because he and Duncan were the only two that she trusted so far.
"We need to get across that bridge to get to the tower," Alistair shouted over the sounds of battle.
She nodded, and together, they made their way toward the Tower of Ishal, making their way past the catapults and archers stationed on the bridge. As she was making her way through the mayhem, she felt Alitair grab her arm and pull her back toward him, spinning them both around pulling her into his body. A second later an explosion shook the bridge around them, and Eriana could feel the heat of a fire radiating past Alistair.
"Are you okay?" Alistair asked, as she looked up at him.
"Yeah, what on earth was that?"
"I'm not sure, but the darkspawn are bombarding the bridge with them from below. We need to keep an eye out as we cross the bridge."
Eriana glanced past Alistair looking at the soldiers lying where she had been standing only moments earlier. She realized suddenly that had Alistair not pulled her back, she would have probably been lying there, too. She also realized that she was still very much in Alistair's arms. Glancing up at him, grinning slyly, Eriana gently cleared her throat, "Um, the beacon, Alistair."
"Oh, right," he said blushing slightly. "So, just keep an eye out as we, well, cross the bridge."
Carefully, but quickly, the pair made their way across the bridge, dodging explosions and fallen archers as they progressed. Once across, Eriana heard a slight gasp from Alistair. "Darkspawn," he whispered, "and close." He glanced toward the tower, and Eriana suddenly realized that their task may not be as easy as she had hoped. As quickly as they could, they fought their way to the tower. Every moment was critical, and she was starting to fear that they would be too late. Luckily, however, they received some help from a mage named Jackob, and a guard who never gave his name. Together, the four made their way to the tower's entrance.
Eriana glanced over at Alistair, "Do you sense anything?"
Alistair glanced over at her, his face looking grim, "This tower is buzzing with darkspawn."
"Well, we better take care of them, then."
After battling through two floors of darkspawn, Eriana was covered in blood and grime; she realized that she should be exhausted, but it seemed the new taint in her blood had given her added strength and vitality, even if she couldn't sense the darkspawn yet. Standing at the entrance of the third floor, Alistair seemed to take a moment to catch his breath.
"This doesn't make sense. There shouldn't be this many darkspawn this far ahead of the horde."
"Well, maybe you could tell them that they were early, I'm sure they'd understand," Eriana replied with a grin.
"Riiight, maybe they'll just pick up and leave."
"Hey, I thought you were the one who wanted to be in the battle."
Alistair laughed for a moment, "True, true, this is just want I wanted," he said elbowing her a bit too hard in the side and sending her stumbling into a barricade.
"Um, elf, Alistair. Remember I'm an elf," she teased, as Alistair pulled her out of the rubble.
"Yeah, sorry; I keep forgetting that. But we need to hurry or we'll miss Duncan's signal." Eriana nodded in agreement, and they made their way through the room. She was surprised by how well the two of them worked together during a battle. Alistair seemed to always position himself between her and the darkspawn but in such a way that she could take open shots without endangering him. She also enjoyed fighting with Jackob; the mage's spells were as deadly as Alistair's sword. Still, despite the efficiency with which they fought, Eriana was still afraid that they were taking too long. They had to light that beacon or the King and the Wardens could be in serious trouble. She was almost desperate when they finally reached to top floor of the tower.
"Maker's breath! What is that?" Eriana gasped when they stepped out the door.
"An ogre. Watch out when you attack up close," he motioned to the guard. "And you two stay back and hit him with all you've got," he said, taking out his sword and running toward the giant darkspawn.
Eriana took a defensive position infront of the mage and began to fire arrow after arrow, being always mindful of Alistair and the guard. Alistair moved around the beast's feet, trying desperately to injure it in a critical place, but every time he seemed to get into position, the ogre would sweep him aside or slam the floor driving him back several feet. Eriana could see that Alistair was beginning to tire when the ogre charged the guard who was standing directly in front of her. The guard's body flew past her as the darkspawn came to a halt at her side.
Before she could react, the ogre's arm slammed into her, sending her flying across the room. Spinning and tucking her body in mid-air, she managed to roll across the floor rather than slam into it. She was her feet just in time to see the ogre towering over a fallen Alistair. Without thinking, she drew two short daggers and spun them in her hands so they pointed toward the ground. Rolling up on the balls of her feet, she charged to ogre, leaping gracefully onto his back an plunging her daggers into his deep hide just as he was raising his club to crush Alistair, who was still lying beneath them. The ogre roared in pain and spun around, trying to grab the elf on his back, but Eriana held on tight. She pulled out her first dagger and plunged it higher on the ogre's back, and, using it as leverage, began to climb up the beast until she was kneeling on its shoulders, just behind its neck. Holding tightly to her dagger, she pulled out her sword and plunged the weapon deep into the monster's neck, using all of her weight to drive it in. Then she flung her body back, pulling the sword with her so that it ripped a huge gash in its neck. The beast let out a deafening scream as she pulled her dagger across its exposed throat. The ogre stumbled around for a moment before tumbling forward with the small elf still poised on its back.
Eriana quickly pulled the weapons out of the ogre and began to run to Alistair's side; he frantically waved her off. "The beacon, light the beacon; I'm sure we've already missed the signal."
"Right! Jackob, heal him," Eriana shouted as she ran across the room; Maker, she hoped that they weren't too late. Throwing the torch in the fireplace, she felt Alistair step up behind her. Turning to him she asked if he was alright.
"Yeah, I am, thanks to you. Andraste's Blood, that was amazing. Where did you learn to do that?"
Eriana shrugged, "That thing was about to kill you; I had to do something. I guess we're even now. Do you think they need us down on the battle field?"
Alistair shrugged, "I'll go check," he said, moving toward one of the windows. Half way there, he stopped suddenly. "Eriana!"
But it was too late. Before he even screamed her name, Eriana felt the arrow pierce her shoulder. She turned to defend herself only to be shot again before a giant hurlock slammed into her. The last thing that she saw before the world went black as Alistair trying desperately to get to her.