8

The end of the Wardens

Now we knew why everyone in the tower was dead. A huge thing stood before us, its purple skin thick and dull with dirt. Long pointed horns, huge jaws, all of sixteen feet tall, fangs sharpened ready to kill. An ogre.

It roared at us, its spittle red with the blood of the dead, we stepped back as it advanced. It swung a purple studded fist at me and I stabbed my dagger into its fist but it seemed to have no effect I slashed its leg and ran, behind me I heard Alistair charging at it and stabbing it in the stomach. The ogre just tossed him aside and ran after me seizing the opportunity I ripped my dagger out of its fist and kicked it in its injured leg, it roared in pain but just chased after me. Alistair was back on his feet and stabbed it in the backside, the mage sent a bolt of fire and the tower guard shot it in one of its horns but nothing was working. I thought to myself where has someone got to hit it to kill it, where would you hit anything else to kill it? And the idea came to me, the back of the head! The brainstem! If this thing even had a brain, hitting the brainstem would be an instant kill. Alistair landed next to me.

"Alistair!" I yelled over yet another roar from the ogre.

"Yeah!" he yelled back.

"I need you to get up off you arse and distract it! I have a plan!"

"You do? Ok I'll do that."

He did distract it. I watched as it attacked the mage, waiting for my moment. Then I saw it put its leg back to charge and I seized my chance, I ran at it jumping onto its back.

Don't turn around, don't turn around. I prayed.

It realised I was there one second too late, I raised my sword and stabbed deep into its neck.

"Timber!" I yelled and everyone scattered, heaving with laughter. The ogre fell to its knees then flat on its face with a satisfying smack, I yanked my sword out and jumped off.

"Nice," Alistair said. "Good idea."

"Thanks." I replied. "Let's light this beacon then."

The mage lit the wood in the fireplace and the flames shot up instantly, we watched in the fire light of the beacon gave us a faint view of where Loghain was hiding. The forces were moving and not toward the battle field. We heard something behind us, the breathing of a darkspawn, we spun around to find darkspawn standing behind us their grey-brown flesh glistening in the fire-light. Alistair gripped me in his arms, was he going to take the arrows himself to save me? But I couldn't let that happen.

"Let me go," I said softly.

"No, we come out together or not at all." He hugged me tighter.

"You have things to live for, I don't. Let me take the arrows, let me die, get out of here."

"No."

We had no more time, the archers fired. I felt Alistair jerk on the arrow's impacts then my own do the same the pain got worse and worse until I could take it no more. I was unconscious before I hit the floor.

I woke on something soft, somewhere warm. Was this the fade?

"Ah, your eyes finally open, mother shall be pleased." I heard someone's voice, mischievous.

I opened my eyes, I was in some kind of hut there was a woman standing in the corner she was familiar. The dark hair, the pale skin, the feathered clothing, the golden eyes.

"I remember you." I said, still groggy. "The girl from the wilds."

"I am Morrigan, 'lest you have forgotten and we are in the wilds where I am bandaging your wounds." The girl said. "You are welcome, by the way. How does your memory fair? Do you remember mother's rescue?"

"All I remember is… wait a minuet, what happened to Duncan? To the king?

"All dead. You were lucky mother reached you."

"Why did your mother save us?" I asked.

"She tells me nothing, maybe you were the only ones she could reach."

"I would've rescued the king, he'd be worth a much, much higher ransom than I would be."

"What a sensible attitude, mother is seldom sensible however." She said.

"Were my injuries severe?" I asked.

"Yes but I expect you shall be fine, the darkspawn did nothing mother could not heal."

"And Alistair?"

"He is outside by the fire, he has shifted between grief and denial since mother told him the news. Mother asked to see you when you awoke."

"The news? You mean about the Grey Wardens?" I asked.

"Exactly."

"Why does your mother want to see me?"

"I have no idea, I have mended your armour and underclothes, your weapons are here. It is time you see her then be on your way."

I pulled on my armour and left the hut

The wilds stank worse than I remembered Alistair was standing outside, he turned slightly and our gazes met. We just stood there for a moment then I ran at him. I threw my arms around his shoulders.

"I thought I'd lost you too." I sobbed into his splintmail breastplate.

"See here is your fellow Grey Warden, you worry too much young man." Morrigan's mother said.

"You haven't, thanks to Morrigan's mother." Alistair said.

"Do not talk about me as if I am not present lad." Morrigan's mother snapped.

"I… well what do we call you? You never told us your name." I asked

"Names are pretty but useless, the Chasind folk call me Flemeth I suppose it will do." 'Flemeth' said.

"The Flemeth? From the legend?" Alistair looked shocked. "Daveth was right, you're the Witch of the Wilds."

"And what is that supposed to mean? I know a bit of magic and it has served you both well has it not?" Flemeth said.

"Why did you save us, Flemeth?" I asked her.

"Well, we cannot have all the Grey Wardens can we? Someone needs to deal with these darkspawn." Flemeth said. "It has always been the Grey Warden's duty to unite the lands against the Blight, or did that change when I wasn't looking?"

"Yeah and the land is really united thanks to Loghain." I said sarcastically.

"It makes no sense why would he do that?" Alistair was as bewildered as I was.

"Good question, maybe he thinks he can outwit the darkspawn." I said.

"Or perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat." Flemeth added.

"The Archdemon!" Alistair said.

"What is this Archdemon exactly?" I asked.

"It is said that when one of the old gods of the ancient Tevinter Imperium is found by darkspawn, it is awakened and tainted by their sin." Flemeth told us, or rather me since Alistair already knew.

"Well then we need to defeat it." Alistair said.

"The two of us?" I asked incredulous. "Are you mad?"

"We can't allow Loghain to go free can we? If Arl Eamon knew what he did at Ostergar he would be the first to call for his execution!" Alistair replied.

"Well maybe we should tell him then."

"We could, Arl Eamon wasn't at Ostergar he still has all his men. And he was Cailan's uncle. Of course! We could go to Redcliff and appeal to him for help!" he said.

"Surly there are other people we could call on?" I said back.

"Of course the treaties! We have treaties for dwarves, elves and mages they're obligated to help us during a blight." Alistair grinned.

"I may be old but dwarves, elves, mages this Arl Eamon and who knows what else, this sounds like an army to me." Flemeth said to us.

"So can we do this? Can we go to Redcliff and these other places and build an army?" Alistair asked.

"Do we have any other choice?"

"So you are set then? Ready to be Grey Wardens?" Flemeth asked.

"Yes thank you for everything Flemeth."

"No, no thank you. You are the Grey Wardens here not I. Now before you go there is

one more thing I can offer you."

"The stew is bubbling, mother dear. Shall we have two guests for the eve or none?" Morrigan appeared behind us.

"The Grey Wardens are leaving shortly girl, and you are going with them." Flemeth said.

"Such a shame… what!" she yelled.

"You heard me girl, the last time I looked you had ears." Flemeth laughed.

"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth but, won't this add to our problems?" Alistair said. "Outside of the wilds she's an apostate."

"Oh get over yourself Alistair!" I said. "If you do not want help from illegal mages maybe Flemeth should have left you on top of the tower."

"Mother this is not how I wanted this I'm not even ready." Morrigan pleaded.

"You must be ready, alone these two must unit the land against the blight. They need you Morrigan, without you they will surely fail." Flemeth said.

"I… understand." Morrigan said slowly.

"And you Wardens do you understand? I give you that which I value above all else, I do this because you must secede." Flemeth turned to us.

"I understand." I said, something had been bugging me since I cam out of the hut and only now did I realise what it was. "Where Ebony?" I asked Alistair, he didn't reply. He didn't have to, we had no idea what had become of her. All we knew was she was with us on top of the tower and she wasn't with us now.

"Let us go." Morrigan said. "I recommend a village just to the north as our first point of call."

I nodded dumbly, she was gone. My Ebony, I thought of her as a puppy when father gave me but she was gone now, I barely noticed when Flemeth handed each of us a pack containing cloaks, small purses, injury kits, health potions, bandages, and various other things we would need.

We heard barking behind us, maybe some hounds had escaped the darkspawn, I thought of Ebony yet again. I was so wrapped up in my thought I didn't come back to the real world, even though nothing seemed real anymore, until a huge black mass collided with my stomach. I screamed and tried to push it off.

Hey, hey, hey! It's only me! The black thing raised its head.

"Ebony!" I cried hugging her. "You're alive!"

Of course I'm alive, where did you think I was!

I couldn't reply we heard the breathing too late darkspawn raced around the bend. Ebony raced at them, I got up off my backside and followed her. A strike of blue-white light shot past me and hit the nearest genlock turning it to smouldering ashes, Alistair cut another Hurlock's head off.

I twisted to avoid a Hurlock's blade and stabbed it through the chest, then kicked another genlock in the stomach. The rest of the darkspawn fell quickly, I hugged Ebony again stroking her silky ears and kissing her.

Then we left walking along the road, Morrigan scowling at Ebony. We were silent until the village came into view, and that wasn't the only thing that came into view.

A\N - This was pretty an awkward chapter, the fight with the ogre is one of my favorite fights in the game though. The next chapter might be long in the coming since the chapter I'm writing at the moment is a long one. But next up is Lothering where we meet a stoic Qunari and a pretty Orlesian girl with a deadly sting in her tail. The 'satisfying smack' is typical of me, and Brodie-May. Blood-thirsty by nature.