Chapter 10
~Uldred~

Morriana

My eyes open and my head began to throb as I sit up. When I look to the others Sten is already standing and Orrick comes over and licks my face. I push him off and stand. Alistair stands and helps Wynne up. I wait a moment until my head stops throbbing and walk to Niall's body. The body of the demon now lies dead and I can't explain how glad I am of that. I take the papers form Niall's body and Wynne took them, saying she knew how to use them and would use them when the time came. I nodded and rubbed my arm. When the demon had tossed me in the Fade it had hurt my arm, but I refused to tell Wynne this. She had enough to worry about than me.

As we went on we were stopped by a loud snarl. A large drake came around the corner, followed by a few dragolnlings. How these mages managed to get these things in here was beyond me. Sten and I took the drake while the others attacked the dragonlings. The drake breathed fire at me and I ducked. I singed a bit of my armor but I was untouched. I drove my daggers up its throat and Sten swung his blade to its stomach. It gave a loud, painful cry and it left me dazed for a moment. It tried to claw me but I jumped back, but in doing so I tripped over a toppled chair.

When I fell the drake had pushed back Sten and decided I was now available to be its snack. So it stomped over to be, flames licking its mouth and it got ready to singe me. However, just as it was about to burn me, a shield came out in front of me, blocking the flames and backfiring some. Alistair bashed his shield into its mouth and I took my sword and dagger, jumped up, and drove them both into its chest. It shrieked and fell to its side. Alistair looked at me after we made sure it was dead.

"You alright?" he asked. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are we always saving each other?" he shrugged.

"I think it's starting to be a habit." He gave me a lopsided smile and we left it at that. As we went on we found only a few more abominations and about one or two demons. One of them possessed a few Templars so, once again, we had to fight them merely because they weren't in their right mind. I felt a bit guilty about it, but then decided that I would rather die than have a demon possess me.

We made it to the last room that lead to the Harrowing chamber and found another Templar in a magical cage. Curiously I went up to him. He scoffed at us as we came to him.

"This trick again? I know what you are. It won't work. I will. . . stay strong." He said, kneeling down, and chanting some prayer.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"The boy is exhausted," Wynne commented. "And this cage. . . I've never seen anything like it." Wynne shook her head and looked down at the Templar. "Rest easy, Cullen, help is here."

"Enough visions!" he snapped. "If any of you is human. . . kill me now and stop this game." What about an elf?

"He's delirious; he's been tortured and probably been denied food and water." Wynne noted.

"Filthy blood mages! Getting in my head. . . I will not break! I'd rather die."

"Calm down, Cullen," using the name Wynn used. "You're safe."

"Silence!" he shouted and shot up. "I will not listen to anything you say! Now be gone." I stood up and Cullen shut his eyes then reopened them. "Still here? But that's always worked before. I close my eyes but you are still here when I open them." His voice is strangely near panic.

"I'm real," I say. "And I'm here to help you. All of you."

"Don't blame me for being cautious." He seems to have finally calmed, so I suppose that's good. "The voices. . . the images. . . so real." He stayed quiet a moment, than shook his head. "Did Gregior send you? How. . . how did you get here?"

"We slew everything in our path." I tell him.

"Good. Kill Uldred! Kill them all for what they've done! They caged us like animals and tried to find ways to break us. I'm the only one left. They turned some into monsters and. . . there was nothing I could do." Obviously. You're in a cage. Not much you can do.

"Where are Irving and the other mages?" Wynne asks

"What others? What are you talking about?"

"The others who fought Uldred. Where are they?"

"They are in the Harrowing Chamber. The sounds coming out from there. . . oh Maker. . ." he covered his mouth, looking ready to vomit.

"We must hurry. They are in grave danger, I'm sure of it." I nod.

"You can't save them! You don't know what they've become!" I shake my head.

"We can't just kill them all."

"They've been surrounded by-by blood mages who's wicked fingers snake through your mind and corrupt your thoughts."

"His hatred of mages is so intense." Alistair says. "The deaths of his friends must still be fresh in his mind."

"You have to end it now, before it's too late!"

"I want to save everyone who can possibly be saved." I tell him, my voice rising a bit as he will not listen to me.

"Are you really saving anyone by taking this risk? To ensure this horror is ended, to guarantee that no demons or abominations live, you must kill everyone up there!" I lift my chin and narrow my eyes.

"I'd rather spare a maleficarum than risk harming an innocent."

"Thank you. I knew you would make a rational decision." Wynne says with a smile.

"'Rational'?" Cullen repeats. "How is this 'rational'? Do you understand the danger?" If Cullen was not angry before, he surely was now.

"I know full well of the dangers of magic, but killing innocents because they might be maleficarum is not justice. I know you are angry-"

"You know nothing!" Cullen snapped. "I am thinking of the future of the Circle! Of Ferelden!"

"I do not want the blood of innocents on my hands!" This time I am the one who shouts.

"I am just willing to see the painful truth which you are content to ignore!"

"Then stop me." I tell him, calmly. "Try and stop me from saving them." His eyes narrow.

"Is that a joke? This cage keeps me from going anywhere or doing anything."

"Good. Then you can do anything. So we are going up there to kill Uldred and end this, save whoever is left and you are going to shut up about this and relax. This is going to be over, and I am not changing my mind." He opens his mouth to say something but closes it when he sees there is no use in saying anything. As I turn to head up Wynne smiles brightly at me and mouths a "thank you." I nod and we go up to the top floor.

When we find Uldred he has captured some of the mages, like Cullen said, and even Irving. We gave Uldred no time of day, nor did he us. He suddenly transformed into a large creature with plates skin. His head was a few feet from the ceiling, which would make things difficult now. I sighed and we drew our weapons. I ordered Orrick to protect Wynne, so Sten and them battled the abominations Uldred had.

Alistair and I charged at Uldred. He threw a fireball at us, but we both jumped out of the way. I slid under his legs to be behind him and dug my blades into the backs of his knees. He groaned in pain and tried to kick back at me, which he succeeded at. I felt a small crack in one of my ribs and I got the wind knocked out of me. I saw as Uldred tried to grab Alistair, but he bashed his hand with his shield and stabbed his wrists. I took this chance and snuck around to drive my weapons into his arm, then pulled down. He screeched and a light suddenly appeared around him, and also around a mage.

"Wynne!" I shouted. "He's turning the mages!" she nodded and used the Litany, and the spell stopped. Since I was distracted, Uldred got a free swipe at me. I landed harshly on the ground and made the mistake of trying to use my right arm as a landing shield. I fell on my arm and pain shot through it all the way up to my shoulder. I cried out in pain and my breathing became difficult. I looked to see Alistair blocking Uldred's blows with his shield and I knew he couldn't last long alone. I called out to Sten, who came rushing over to help.

I gathered myself up and picked up my sword. No way was he taking me out this easily. Silently thanking my mother for forcing me to always practice with my left hand, I swung at Uldred. He reached to pick up Sten but I roughly brought my sword down onto his other arm. Uldred decided he'd had enough of me and this time he used both hands to grab me. I couldn't swing at him. I was lifted high into the air and brought close to his face. Panting I lifted the sword and drove in into his face as deep as I could. He screamed so loud my ears popped and I was swung down and dropped. I landed on my left side. Foot first. Now, not only was my arm broken, but my leg was to, as was a rib… or most of them. Maybe all of them.

My breathing was uneven as I struggled for air. Uldred stumbled and whatever magic he had used was fading. Then he came to his knees and slammed down. I looked around the room with eyes foggy from tears that threatened to fall. I moaned in pain and cried out. Wynne came rushing to me but I shook my head.

"Go. . . to Irving." I told, weakly. She stood there for a moment, trying to decide what to do, then ran to Irving. Sten walked off to Uldred's body and Orrick came rushing at me. He stopped just inches from me, then gently licked my face, as if he was afraid I would break. Well, the way I felt I probably would. I jumped when Alistair came next to me, which caused me to hurt. This time a tear fell and I did nothing to stop it. I didn't care who saw me cry. Maker, I'm in too much pain to care! Alistair removed his gauntlets and attempted to wipe the tear away, but I flinched away.

"Hey, look at me," he said softly. At first I refused, but after he whispered a "please" I complied. For the first time since we'd met I looked into his hazel eyes. I saw they were filled with compassion that I'd never noticed before. Did all humans have this look? "Everything will be okay," he whispered. He looked behind me to Wynne then back at me. "Can you walk?" I shook my head and another tear fell. "Come on, I'll help you." I violently shook my head.

"Unless you don't want to be stabbed, don't touch me." I growled at him. He didn't move.

"Morriana, please. You're hurt. Wynne and the other mages are drained. I know you don't want to be touched, but please let me help you. Your leg is broken. You'll need help walking." I thought on it for a moment. What made me mad was that I knew he was right. But the thought of being touched . . . I groaned at the thought, but then nodded, reluctantly. "It's going to be tough."He informed me. He didn't have to tell me twice. He then pulled out a healing potion and handed it to me with my good hand.

"This will have to do for now." He helped me attempt to stand and I whimpered, for both accidentally put weight on my broken leg and Alistair's touch. Alistair supported me and I saw Wynne doing the same to Irving. Sten came back with my sword and dagger and put them in his belt. I nodded my thanks, knowing if I spoke then I could start crying.

Alistair

Simply going down these few stairs was challenging. Wynne and the others went first because Morriana was hurt the most and would be slow. Moving slow or not at least we were moving. Morriana put most of her weight on me and I half carried her down. When we finally got to where we left Cullen he was now angry we did not kill everyone. He even started to rant about that the mages couldn't be trusted but at the notice that some of us were hurt he shut up. I allowed him to help support Morriana, but I think it was hurting her ribs. On our way through the floor I found a lyrium potion and gave it to Wynne asking her to heal Morriana's ribs. She agreed, but could only fix them so much. She numbed Morriana's pain, which made me glad.

We were at the third floor when Morriana began to slow more than she was. Her breathing was still uneven, but heavier and wheezy now and she was a lot more pale than before. I stopped and let her sit on the floor.

"What do we do about her now?" Cullen asked me. Besides the obvious? The others stopped when they notice we weren't following.

"Gone on," I told them. "We'll catch up." They seemed hesitant, but went on. I looked up at Cullen then back at Morriana. She was shaking as if she were covered in the freezing cold with no coat. "She's exhausted, Cullen. She just needs a break. You can go on, I'll stay with her." He nodded and walked off. "Hey, we're almost there," I told her. She shook her head.

"I'm so tired." She whispered her voice cracked as she held back tears. I bit my lip.

"I know this is hard. But we have to keep moving." She shook her head again.

"I. . . I can't. Hurts. . . too weak. . ." More tears fell and I whipped them away. When she didn't bother to swipe my hand away I rested it on her cheek.

"I know you're in pain. I know you're tired and weak. And I know you want to cry because of all this." She looked away. I thought for a moment then moved to her side and slid one arm around her back and the other under her knees. Her head rested on my shoulder and she cradled her broken arm to her chest. I walked on and eventually came back to the others.

By the time we neared the first floor Morriana had passed out in my arms. It was. . . comforting, to look at her sleeping face. It had softened and she looked at peace. Wynne helped me find a few surviving mages that were healers to help me with Morriana. And since she was a woman I simply put her in a room and left her there with the healers. Another mage came up to me and brought me to a room for myself. Templars had moved in to deal with any stragglers we might have missed or any that were created as we went on.

I was glad to get out of my armor. I didn't care about anything else but sleep. Well. . . almost anything. I sat on the bed and I began thinking of Morriana. I thought about when we were in the Fade and how she badly wanted to be back with her family. And then she made a joke, smiled, and laughed. I smiled as I thought about that, and how bright her smile had been. I soon fell asleep with the image of her smile still on my mind.

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I always found it funny with the part with Cullen 'cause he's all berating the character about killing them all and yelled at me when I didn't want to. So then I was all "Come and stop me bro". Sad how that's not one of the options.