Delilah's heart clenched with dread as the beast slowly emerged from its ancient prison. It sluggishly dragged its massive weight out of the cage and dust rained from its limbs, revealing glimmering scarlet scales underneath the grime. Razikale shook its heavy, massively horned head as if to shake cobwebs out of its head. It sucked in a breath, a deep growl rumbling at the edges of its breath. It loomed far above them, swaying slightly, bigger by far than even the dragon Hakkon Wintersbreath.
"Now, before it gets its bearings!" Castielle shouted. She sheathed her sword and unshouldered her crossbow, firing off shots in rapid succession.
The old god's head jerked in the senior Warden's direction, drawn by her shout. The archdemon had barely opened its mouth to deliver a snarl when Castielle's bolts slammed into its neck and chest. It bellowed in agony as the steel pierced its less-protected flesh, the sound echoing deafeningly off the stone walls.
Delilah leapt into action, as did everybody else. She, Varric, Dorian, and Finn clung to the edges of the room, firing off spells and bolts whenever an opportunity presented itself. Cassandra and Sigrun charged in, hacking and slicing at the creatures legs. Soon the stone floor was slick with the dragon's hot blood, making the footing treacherous.
Castielle paced around it, firing rapid shots at the beast. The high dragon buffeted them all with its wings, screeching and bellowing, and Delilah shielded her eyes against the swirling dust.
"Get under the belly, where the armor is weak!" Cassandra shouted above the din. Dorian shot a fireball at the beast's face, and it roared in fury, waving around a massive clawed foot. Sigrun and Cassandra darted through the opening in its defenses and began hacking at its softer underbelly.
Razikale bellowed and lashed its tail. It whipped by Delilah and Varric, who barely dodged the massive spines in the nick of time. A chunk of ice slammed into its shoulder, knocking it to the side; Delilah glanced over to see Finn weaving complicated magic, somehow attacking and healing simultaneously.
Delilah backed up against a wall, firing off spell after spell. The dragon swiped a claw at Cassandra; Delilah cast a hasty shield spell over her. The claw didn't deflect entirely, but it slowed just enough to allow the warrior time to dart out of immediate danger. Castielle switched from her crossbow to her sword and darted underneath the beast's belly, slicing at its more vulnerable spots. It screeched in agony and stamped its feet, narrowly missing squashing the Warden beneath.
The dragon reared back its head, and Delilah heard the guttural rattling that heralded a burst of flames. "Get back!" she shouted, readying a shield spell. Finn seemed to have the same idea, because they both cast shields over Cassandra, Sigrun, and Castielle at the same time. White hot flames billowed over the shield, but by some miracle it held. Dimly, Delilah could see them gasping and grimacing at the heat that undoubtedly still made its way through, but when the flames cleared and the shield dropped, they appeared only mildly worse for wear.
"Go!" Cassandra bellowed. Everyone darted around, confusing the beast. A blast of Dorian's fire roared over the archdemon's flank; at the same time, a thick layer of ice sprouted over Razikale's head, blinding it. It let out a piercing shriek that caused everyone to grimace and cover their ears.
The dragon reared back on its hind legs to claw at the ice on its face. It swayed, then dropped one clawed foot for balance. Cassandra leapt out of the way, but not before a single claw ripped the fabric of her sleeve and tore open her arm.
"Cassandra!" Delilah shouted. Without a thought, she darted forward; Dorian moved behind her to cover her approach. As she ran she pulled a short sword hilt from her belt, and with a flick of her wrist a gleaming purple blade sprang forth, glowing brightly as if ablaze and humming with electricity that arced along its length.
Razikale was still trying to get the ice off its face when she stepped underneath its body. Dimly, she spotted Castielle turning to stare in surprise, and far behind her Finn, his eyes wide with delight. With a yell, Delilah swung the magical sword with all her might at the one front leg that still held the dragon upright.
The blade sizzled as it made contact with the scaly flesh. Hot blood sprayed forth, and Razikale's agonized scream was their only warning before the beast's entire weight came crashing down.
Castielle, Sigrun, Delilah, and Cassandra all barely managed to leap to safety before being crushed. Over the din, Finn whooped in victory.
"That's amazing!" he shouted, jogging forward. "How did you do th-"
Razikale jerked its head blindly in the direction of Finn's shout; before anybody could move, its front leg darted out and slapped down on top of the mage, silencing him.
Sigrun shrieked in dismay, and even Castielle's face had gone white with shock. Delilah ran over as the high dragon lifted its bloody claws and turned away, drawn by Varric and Dorian's renewed attacks.
Finn lay on his back, gasping weakly. His left arm and at least one of his legs was visibly broken, and he wept blood from deep gashes across his torso and belly. Delilah lifted shaking hands and started pumping healing magic into the man, but he was shaking his head before she even started.
"Don't waste your mana," he wheezed. "Too much damage."
"Hush," the Inquisitor shushed. She tore a swath from Finn's robe and pressed it against the gashes, trying to staunch the blood. Behind her, Razikale let out another earsplitting shriek, but this time it was the desperate sound of a wounded and cornered animal, instead of a predator whose territory is threatened.
Despite herself, Delilah flinched at the sound and turned to see the high dragon fall to its belly once again. It roared as Castielle charged at a flat run, sword held aloft; but the beast's bellow was cut off as the Warden sank her blade deep into its throat.
Everyone leapt back as it thrashed silently. After a moment, its death throes slowed, and then the archdemon was finally, mercifully, still.
Delilah turned her attention back to the dying mage, and pushed a new wave of healing magic into the man. Despite her ministrations, she could tell he was right; there was just too much damage done. Across from her, Castielle and Sigrun fell to their knees beside the mage; Varric, Dorian, and the bleeding Cassandra waited a few steps behind.
"Finn, I've told you to stay back out of the main fight!" Castielle exclaimed forcefully. "This is the kind of thing that happens when you disobey orders." Despite the Warden's harsh words, Delilah could see a faint tremble in her hands as she helped try and staunch the flow of blood.
Finn gave a painful, rattling cough, and flecks of blood stained his lips. His hand fell on top of Castielle's and squeezed weakly. "You know me, Cas. Never could stay – cough – out of trouble if I could help it. Cough. Especially when it came to you."
"Oh Finn," Sigrun whispered. Tears had already begun to fall down her tattooed face, leaving streaks in the dirt and soot. She gingerly lifted his head and laid it on her lap, brushing his dirty reddish hair from his forehead.
"You can save him, right?" Castielle shot the words at Delilah.
The Inquisitor was shaking her head before the senior Warden even finished speaking. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "Finn's right, the dragon just did too much damage; he's bleeding internally and has a broken spine. I'm surprised he's still alive, let alone awake."
Finn coughed again, more blood bubbling past his lips. "C-Cas," he gasped. "P-please…if you find my p-parents…tell them I'm s-sorry I never v-visited them," he stuttered out. His face had gone deathly pale, and his eyes lolled back in his head. Castielle gripped his hand tighter, and nodded.
"You have my word," she swore.
"Thank you," Finn whispered. "T-thank you, thank…" He trailed off, eyes fluttering shut.
Sigrun cried out, but Delilah raised a hand. "He's not gone yet," she said somberly. She laid her fingers on the side of his neck, where his heartbeat fluttered faintly. "He's nearly there, though. Commander Cousland, are there any Gray Warden death rites that you do?"
For the first time since meeting her, Castielle looked completely lost. "When a Warden leaves for their calling, we hold a feast before a night of contemplation and prayer," she said at length. Her eyes remained fixed on Finn's deathly pale face. "The only thing I can think of is…" Castielle reached into the collar of her armor to pull out a silver chain necklace. On it hung a round silver pendant which rattled softly against two golden wedding rings. The Warden opened the pendant, but instead of a portrait there was a blotch of cracked, dried blood. On top of this, Castielle dabbed a smear of Finn's blood, snapped the pendant shut, and shoved it back down her collar.
Delilah and Cassandra's eyes met, and the warrior gave a slight shrug. The Inquisitor's eyes dropped as Castielle took Finn's hand again. "It was an honor serving with you," she said softly. Sigrun nodded in agreement, and all three women sat there for another minute or two, until finally, Finn's breathing stilled and his heartbeat stuttered to a stop.
"He's gone," Delilah said softly. Castielle nodded, then stood abruptly and stalked over to Razikale's corpse. While she busied herself taking samples of the beast's blood and scales, Sigrun extricated herself from under Finn's head and gently laid him down. After a moment's hesitation, Dorian knelt beside the dwarf and laid a hand on her shaking shoulder.
"Should we bury the fellow?" he asked softly. Sigrun sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve.
"No," she sighed. "The Gray Wardens are a lot like the Legion of the Dead when it comes to funerals; we know at the beginning that we'll likely end up dead in the Deep Roads, just like this. The best we can do is just report it to Warden Command."
"Why did she put some of his blood in that locket?" Delilah wondered aloud, nodding in Castielle's direction.
Sigrun glanced at her commanding officer, who was now jerking her sword free of the dragon's corpse. "It's in memory of those who don't make it this far. Just the nature of being a Warden is dangerous, and not everybody makes it to this point; even fewer make it past twenty or thirty years. I think she did it to keep his memory with her," the dwarf explained softly. She sniffed once more before meeting Delilah's eyes. "I heard you and him talking earlier about spirit healing and such; I think he'd be alright with you having his grimoire, he's bound to have extensive notes about it."
Delilah's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What, me?"
"Sigrun's right." Delilah turned to see that Castielle had returned, her freshly-cleaned sword re-sheathed on her hip. "It's what he devoted most of his spare time to. If anybody can make use of his research, it's the Inquisition. From what I hear is going on with this Corypheus, you're going to need it."
"I…" For a moment, Delilah was at a loss for words. Then, she nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Alright, thank you," she said softly. She glanced back down at Finn's body, and after a moment's thought leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. "Goodbye, Finn," she whispered. "In another lifetime, I think we'd have been good friends."
Sigrun picked up Finn's pack and rifled through it before handing Delilah a small, leather-bound book, which she tucked next to the green notebook that Cullen had given her. Longing welled up in the elf's throat, and she coughed a bit before turning to Castielle. "So, this is the part where you lead us to the nearest Deep Roads surface exit, yes?" she prompted
The senior Warden nodded. "I gave you my word, and I'll stick to it," she replied. "Come on, the nearest exit is just a day or so walk from here."
One by one they left the giant chamber, much more solemn than when they had arrived.
The day's walk to the surface exit was devoid of chatter for the most part. When they stopped for a brief rest, Varric took the time to write down everything they knew concerning lyrium being processed Titan blood, and about red lyrium being blighted lyrium. It wasn't very extensive, admittedly, but Castielle confided in them that Warden command would be very interested in any information that they could share.
Cassandra's wound ended up being mostly superficial, but Finn's grimoire was still a huge help. Delilah couldn't help but find herself reading miscellaneous little passages scrawled on the pages; Finn had used the book as a combination of research notes and a personal journal.
"You've done well," Cassandra commented as she stretched her arm, testing the newly healed flesh.
"I've healed you dozens of times before, I've always done it like that," Delilah replied distantly.
"That is not what I meant." The two women's eyes met, light green to smoky brown. "Anybody else would've likely panicked after being trapped down here like we have."
"You haven't," the elf pointed out. "Neither has Dorian or Varric, or either of the Wardens."
"We're not the ones who are the only people capable of defeating Corypheus," the warrior reminded her. "You've had so much responsibility thrust upon you in the past year, I simply wanted to take a moment to congratulate you."
Delilah smiled softly and laid a hand on the older woman's arm. "Thank you."