The group moved on to the last seal, Kora having regained some of her strength and Cullen keeping a watchful eye on her. He had no idea what to do about her admission, the pain he knew she was enduring every moment, but he knew how to watch for erratic behavior. One of the perks of being a Templar.
After restoring some old wards in an attempt to stall the wardens they came upon a room filled with strange urns hanging from multiple brackets on the walls as well as the columns all around the room. As Cullen tried to sense what type of magic they were dealing with more Carta showed up, threatening to kill them all AGAIN. He sighed, wondering how many more of the dwarves there really were considering how many they'd already killed outside.
Once the dwarves were defeated they had to solve the puzzle of the urns to open the door to the next room. Kora was no help, having not remembered anything from so long ago and still being cloudy. Hawke and Varric worked it out and the group was on its way again.
Fight more darkspawn, light more power nexus things, repeat. Cullen was losing track of time down in the depths with no sun. Wandering down darkened hallways looking for the key to open the path forward… It was wearing on them all.
Kora appeared to be in a trance, only once her attention was brought to something would she respond. Larius even noticed, attempting to comfort her with soft words and a hand on her shoulder. She would listen and nod but her expression was static.
As the group walked through yet another door Janecka appeared, leaning on the far wall with a smirk.
"Did you really think those old wards would stop me?" she demanded, walking toward Larius who stood at Kora's side. "Look at you, barely able to string two thoughts together," she stopped a dozen or so feet from them. "You've only made it this far because of Hawke and his companions."
"You can still turn away," Larius pleaded, "Do not listen to his voice!" Janecka shook her head.
"You're a fool Larius, and you should have died here years ago," she spat as she pulled at her mana, spawning a Revenant and some shades in their path. Cullen looked over at Kora to see her eyes harden and her lips turn up slightly. He wasn't sure if he was relieved at her reaction or a little frightened.
Everyone dove into battle, Kora shouting out orders for everyone to take out the shades as she, Cullen, Hawke and Varrick focused on the Revenant. Blocking and slashing, dodging and stabbing, the two warriors kept the giant knight busy as Varrick and Hawke bombarded it with what they could.
Then the creature stabbed his sword into the ground and reached out toward Cullen, dragging him into his attack radius. Laughing, it slashed at the Knight Captain with its sword as if in a frenzy, Cullen pulling up his shield to block as best he could.
Knowing what was about to happen when the sword was pushed into the ground, Kora dashed behind the Revenant and waited. As it bombarded Cullen, Kora let out a War Cry, startling it. It looked right and left for the source of the sound, confused. Smirking, she then lunged at the creature, jabbing it through the gut and yanking the sword grip to the right and left, essentially sawing it in half.
As the last shade fell so did the Revenant, falling to its knees then to the ground. Everyone whooped in victory and Hawke sauntered over to the body, pulling the belt from it with a smile. Kora, still breathing heavily, laughed.
"Well there you are," Cullen smiled as he approached his friend. She looked over at him, still smiling, and nodded. He put a hand on her shoulder and nuzzled her ear. "Glad to have you back." She giggled, pushing him away.
"Glad to be back," she smiled then turned to face everyone else. "She thinks she's stopped us, she has no idea who she is dealing with. Right now we have the element of surprise and I want to use that to our advantage. Let's get some water and healing potions then get moving." She moved to stand near Cullen, smiling devilishly.
"Next stop, the Prison Tower."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When they reached the chasm, Kora couldn't help but be in awe.
"So much effort to keep one person imprisoned," she shook her head as she felt Cullen come up alongside her. "I hate to admit it but I'm becoming a bit scared." She could feel Cullen's eyes on her so she turned to face him. His eyes amused but his lips a thin line, he nodded.
"Agreed, but let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?" he asked with a wink as he moved away to address the others. "Remember, we are dealing with something unknown so keep scattered so as not to make groups targets and focus mainly on defense until we figure out what it is capable of. Do not strike blindly or wildly, every move must be calculated. Caution, focus and we will get out of here alive and in one piece. Let's move." Cullen joined Kora at the front and they began crossing the chasm.
"You're too late, Larius," Janecka's voice carried from the other side. She walked into view with two other Wardens at her back. "Hand over Hawke and I'll give you a quick death." Hawke snickered from behind Kora.
"Apparently she has trouble with mathematics," he whispered, "can't see she's outnumbered." Kora flashed a smirk and returned her attention to the conversation now going on between Janecka and Larius, the elder Warden becoming agitated.
"It is the past. It doesn't matter," he insisted. Kora knew Janecka was referring to the Wardens threatening Hawke's mother and motioned for Hawke to step in. The mage stepped in front of her then to Larius' side.
"Janecka, darling, I'm already aware of the Wardens forcing my father into reinforcing the bindings so if you planned to use that little tidbit to throw us off I'm afraid you are out of ammo. SO, that being said…" Hawke closed the distance between them, pulling out his staff and giving it a twirl before leveling a heated glare at the Warden. "Get the FUCK out of my way." Janecka shrugged, apparently unaffected by the imminent threat the group posed.
"You can come willingly or not, Hawke." The Wardens pulled out their weapons. "I just need your blood."
At the word blood Merrill shrieked, sending out tendrils of death siphon toward the Wardens. Hawke laid out an explosive glyph at each of their feet and leapt back, clearing the way for the warriors and Templars.
"Cullen!" Kora cried, motioning to Janecka. He gave her a quick nod and called to the other Templars, pointing to the Warden mage. They all hit her with everything they had. Silence, smite, cleanses, whatever their strengths were they directed every last bit of mana to taking her down.
The rest tackled the other two Wardens who were not the easiest of marks either. A few minutes later the battle was over and Larius took Hawke's arm, pulling him toward the final seal.
"He stirs," he said urgently, "Slay him now, before he wakes. Before his strength comes." As they approached the seal Larius scoffed. "The key, it's not strong enough. Use your blood. Free him and slay him!" Hawke looked back at Kora, obviously unconvinced that it was the correct path. She gave him a nod and turned to face the others.
"Everyone, this is what we prepared for, why we came all this way, ready yourselves! This will not be easy, focus, defense, analyze then attack. Is everyone ready?" Shouts confirmed and Kora looked back at Hawke. "Let's do this."
Hawke nodded and stepped up to the seal. Examining it, he saw the tendrils of magic flowing into it from the four corners of the tower. Following them, he saw there were golden statues of griffons that seemed to be feeding the seal's magic. He nodded, heading for one and waving Kora over.
"We need to disrupt this magic," he said. Looking it over, he saw a small rune toward the bottom of the statue. Pursing his lips, he pulled out a dagger from his robes and made a small cut on his palm, pressing it to the rune. There was a bright flash and a loud noise as the pillar released and the magic stopped flowing into the seal.
"Just three more to go," he said as he moved to the next pillar. Disrupting that one as well, he moved to the next.
"I'm starting to question whether this was a good idea or not," Cullen mumbled, watching closely as Hawke disrupted the third pillar. The air shifted and it felt as if the room was moving. Kora stopped in her tracks, looking at Cullen with worry in her eyes. "You felt that too?" She nodded but followed Hawke anyway to the last pillar.
"Last one," Kora whispered, silently praying to Andraste to watch over them as Hawke smeared his hand across the last rune. The flash and sound were followed by a flash at the seal itself, then the four urns began to glow a dull blue. Hawke moved to Kora's side, staring at the seal.
"So," he said, motioning to the seal then looking at Kora. "This is it, wish me luck." As Hawke walked toward the seal Kora readied her sword and shield, signaling to the others to follow suit and spread out. Hawke looked around before he approached the step, his eyes settling on Cullen. Cullen gave him a nod and Hawke nodded back, stepping up to the center.
His blade still out, he drew it across his palm quickly to maximize the amount of blood drawn. He held out his hand and tightened his fist, the blood dripping into the well at the center of the seal.
A bright flash then the seal came alive, the well shooting magic up to the ceiling in a bright, golden tube as the rest lit up and hummed with the magic within. The Key moved of its own accord toward the tube so Hawke removed it from his back and allowed it to rise. As it entered the well's light it flashed, absorbing what magic it could then suddenly…
A blast of magic sent both Hawke and his staff flying from the seal. He jumped up from the ground, turning to see what was going on as the seal's light intensified and something rose from the base.
Corypheus.