:D I got a chapter done early. Anyways, please review. Please criticize. Tell me what you think, seriously. What do you think is going to happen? What you want to happen? What you think about what has happened so far? You know, the whole shebang. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: False Imprisonment
Fatigue glued him to the ground, yet Nathaniel found it wasn't simply tiredness that kept him from moving. There was a lack of will. He didn't want to move. Hopelessness tore at him. Why bother moving? Wasn't he dead anyway? It didn't matter where he was or what his chances of survival were, he just didn't want to move.
So he sat in the darkness, eyes closed. Hours seemed to pass by until he heard another sound, that of slow movement near him. The sound grew steadily closer until Nathaniel he could hear low, soft breathing. What did it matter? He was only-
"Wake up, Nathaniel!" Nathaniel felt a finger pry at his right eye, opening it. A low light greeted his eyes first, then a fuzzy, blonde form. "Imbecilic human, can't you see that the hopelessness is a spell?"
The fuzzy form started to come into being. It was... Velanna. He slowly opened his second eye, and suddenly the feelings of despair filtered away, replaced by curiosity.
"That was... odd." Nathaniel said, looking up at the elf mage. "Where are we, my lady?"
"In a cell, I think. Underground." Velanna said slowly, looking up. For a moment Nathaniel thought he saw worry in her eyes. "And don't call me 'my lady'. It's too human a term."
"My apologies, my lady." Nathaniel smirked, sitting up. He and Velanna were alone in the cell with a single candle mounted on the wall opposite the door. "Where are Darius and Oghren? Are they still alive?"
"I don't know..." Velanna shook her head. "When I woke up, I was here. That spell kept me pinned to the ground, unable to move or think. Whoever cast it was incredibly powerful..."
Nathaniel stood, scanning the surroundings. Velanna stood as well, though now she seemed to be considerably more at ease. Nathaniel smirked, finding it funny how the elf was trying to appear strong, even now.
"What are you smiling about, human?" Velanna snapped at him, suddenly angry. "This isn't the time to be thinking of something useless, which I know you humans love to do. Keep focused."
"Of course, my lady, but aren't you thinking unnecessarily?" Nathaniel mused, leaning against the bars as he struggled to see past the radius of the lone candle's light. Alas, it was to no avail. Blackness stretched out around him like a thick curtain, hindering any chance of examining the rest of the room.
"You think I'm scared, shem?" Velanna grabbed Nathaniel's shirt, turning him around. A shirt? The darkspawn changed him out of his armor? Nathaniel shuddered at the thought. At least he was immune to the taint.
"I said nothing of the sort, my lady." Nathaniel smirked again, satisfied by her reaction – ears flattened like an annoyed cat.
"Stop calling me that!" Velanna's eyes seemed to dilate, again like a cat. For a fearsome, magical, Dalish murdering elf she seemed awfully normal (if not short-tempered).
"Eventually, my lady." Nathaniel turned around again. He could hear Velanna huff behind him, apparently giving up. "We need to get out of here. Do you think your magic can help?
"No. It wouldn't." A new voice rang out in the darkness. Both Nathaniel and Velanna turned towards the source. A feminine, elven form slipped from the darkness, slender frame outfitted in darkened chainmail. She stopped mere feet from the door, wild blond hair falling over slim shoulders. She seemed normal except for her eyes, which were an odd, silvery white. Nathaniel stared at her in shock, enthralled by their unearthly appearance.
"Seranni!" Velanna gripped the bars. She seemed excited, though nervous. "What has happened to you? Where are we? Why are you here?"
"I'm sorry. I can't answer questions now. You need to escape." Seranni fumbled with a pouch hanging from her waist before pulling out a dark key. "The guards are coming soon and I can't be here when they arrive. If The Seeker or The Withered finds me here..."
Seranni handed the key to Velanna, who stared at her in shock. Velanna's sister backed away slowly, melting into the darkness. As soon as she disappeared, Velanna fumbled with the key, kicking the door open as soon as she had it open. She ran out of the cell, raising one arm, magically creating a large ball of light in her hand, illuminating the entire chamber.
But Seranni was gone.
"Velanna..." Nathaniel walked up behind her, unsure what to say. Seranni had looked like she had come into contact with the Blight sickness. There was no surviving once tainted, though. If she was infect, she would die.
Nathaniel felt himself shiver, a deep cold enveloping him. He turned immediately towards a door on the other side of the dungeon. It was open just a crack, though there was a glint of light between it.
"Get down!" Nathaniel shouted, diving at Velanna. She looked at him annoyed for a split second before he barreled into her, dragging her to the ground just as an arrow whisked by overhead. Nathaniel landed on top of Velanna, barely looking at her before he got up, dragging her to her feet and behind a cell wall. They were safe from arrows... for now.
"Get off me!" Velanna squirmed away from Nathaniel's grasp, backing away. Her expression was angry, threatened. "Don't assume that you can touch me simply because you want to, shem."
"Do you fail to understand that I just saved your life?" Nathaniel breathed out, exasperated. "It doesn't matter. There's darkspawn heading this way."
"Saved my life? I could have handled myself easily." Nathaniel ignored her, focusing instead on the sounds coming from around the corner. "Are you listening to me? Don't ever do that again!"
"Of course, my lady." Nathaniel responded absently, stepping out from the hiding spot at just the right moment, his forearm slamming into the face of a genlock as it ran past. The thing's feet went up into the air, its longsword and dagger clambering to the ground as Nathaniel's other elbow swung forward, slamming into the genlock's diaphragm. Stunned and on the ground, it squirmed as Nathaniel gathered its weapons before retreating back around the corner.
"Nathaniel!" Velanna shouted at him, though the man still ignored her, driving the sword into the fallen creature's heart. "Listen to me, shem!"
"I would if we weren't in mortal danger right now, my lady." Nathaniel tossed Velanna the dagger, peering around the corner. "Use that. There are more of them around the corner. Be careful."
"Nathaniel!" He didn't respond, dashing around the corner and rushing forward, sword leading. Just ahead a hurlock appeared through the door, flanked by a genlock. Luckily neither had a bow. Though where did the arrow come from...?
Nathaniel swung his blade, the strength behind it knocking the genlock's dagger low. Nathaniel kicked, forcing the thing to stagger backwards. The hurlock closed in, though Nathaniel saw Velanna throw the dagger at it from the corner of its eye. It arced through the air, flashing past Nathaniel and imbedding itself into the hurlock's throat. Tainted blood squirted onto Nathaniel as the darkspawn fell backwards. The genlock, surprised, let down its guard, allowing Nathaniel's to get through its defense. He buried his sword in its neck.
"That was easy." Nathaniel smiled as Velanna stalked towards him, annoyed. "I'll bet my father's memory that future fights will be quite a bit more difficult, though. Let's go, my lady."
Velanna sighed, but followed after Nathaniel anyway as he rushed up the stairs behind the door. They emerged into a large room where books, notes and strange mechanical contraptions filled the area. Nathaniel turned as he heard a bark. A cage lay at the other side of the library-like room, in which Tez clung to the bars, wagging his tail happily.
"The Grey One is here?" Velanna muttered as Nathaniel walked towards the cage. Once there he swung his sword, smashing open the lock. Tez jumped out of the now open cage, rubbing Nathaniel's leg once in thanks before bounding over to a chest.
"What is it, boy?" Nathaniel walked over to him as the Tez bit at the wood, his teeth shattering a chain that bound the thing closed. The chest swung open, revealing a set of leather armor and a small sheet of paper. Nathaniel took the leather armor, putting it on over his clothes slowly, satisfied that it seemed to fit. He looked over Velanna, unarmed and unarmored as she was, though she said nothing. She bent over, picking the paper up from the bottom.
"'What happens if the Old Gods perish? Does the song die with them?'" Velanna read shakily. "This was written... by a darkspawn? Just how intelligent have they become?"
Nathaniel said nothing as he finished strapping up the leather armor. Velanna kept looking over the paper, shocked by what she was reading.
"'The blood is the key. The blood is always the key.'" Velanna read, eyes skirting side to side. "'The female elf is accommodating, allowing me to take her blood for my work. Perhaps she thinks I'll release her if she cooperates.' Is it referring to Seranni?"
"Maybe you shouldn't read that, Velanna." Nathaniel cautioned, stretching one arm to fit the armor more comfortably. He sheathed the darkspawn sword in a scabbard he found lying nearby. The color of the armor was odd, as if the leather was tainted. Whatever it was, it felt stronger than normal leather.
"'My disciples report that another elf is rampaging through the woods, killing humans. Revenge for what we did to her kind, only she hasn't seen through the Seeker's ruse.'" Velanna gulped as she read. "'We'll keep this from Seranni. If she is upset, she may stop cooperating.'"
"Velanna!" Nathaniel turned to her, snatching the paper out of her hand. "If a darkspawn did write this, it can't be anything more than insane rambling. Forget about it. We need to find a way out of here."
"Yeah... perhaps." Nathaniel started back down the stairs, dropping the paper as he led Velanna along. Tez bounded along behind them. As the paper alighted upon the ground, the last sentence on the page showed itself, unfurling from a crease in the paper. The inked letters showed themselves to no one and their warning would go unrecognized.
"Perhaps I should have killed it while it slept."
ooo
"This way, Velanna!" Nathaniel called. The elf appeared around the corner, gripping the darkspawn staff hard enough her knuckles had turned white.
Nathaniel shouldered the bow that he had found on a genlock, drawing his sword as he walked into the next room. Tez ran ahead, sniffing the air. It backed away once it reached halfway across the room, however. Tez growled as a shape appeared in the darkness, a staff gripped in its hands. Its head was hung low and it kicked at loose stones on the ground.
"Oh. Wonderful. MORE VISITORS!" The shape yelled, slamming the staff into the ground. Nathaniel nocked an arrow, aiming directly at the figure's head. Elf ears could just barely be seen under the mess of ratty hair on his head. "The Architect keeps telling me to prepare, prepare, WELL? PREPARE FOR WHAT! Why do I have to do all the work...?"
"Who are you?" Nathaniel shouted, releasing one arrow. It impacted the wall inches to the right of the man's head. He looked up, revealing a face marked with blight plague.
"I'm Experimental Subject Number 2. Why wouldn't you know that? Everyone knows that. Even The Seeker knows that." The elf ghoul ground his staff into the ground, staring at Nathaniel. "And you? Oh. You're here to kill me, aren't you? You're always here to kill me. But I'll get you this time. I've been practicing, see? Last time I got you, the time before I got you, so I'll get you this time too!"
The ghoul jumped forward, impossibly fast. Nathaniel reacted just in time to launch an arrow. It impacted the ghoul in the middle of the head, flipping it as the thing instantly died, killing its momentum at the same moment. The body flopped to the ground mere feet from Nathaniel, staff sliding out of its fingers.
"What in the Creators?" Velanna gasped, examining the corpse. "What is this thing? Why was it mumbling such insane things?"
"A ghoul." Nathaniel said simply, stepping around the growing pool of blood. "It's best to kill them first and ask questions later, though I've never seen one talk."
Velanna shuddered but said nothing as she stepped around the blood. Before Nathaniel could speak again though, a shout rang out in the room. Nathaniel immediately ran towards it, followed quickly by Tez and Velanna.
He headed through the opposite side's tunnel, eventually emerging into another large room, though this one was more even in shape. A man Nathaniel had never seen before shouted again, driving a sword into a Hurlock Alpha. Blood spurted out of the wound as the Alpha toppled over, its maul slipping from its grip.
"That's right, beastie. Die like you're supposed to." The man stood, drawing his blade from the corpse of the Alpha. He backed away before turning. He pivoted on his dominant leg inches from Nathaniel, and as he stopped, he faced the young Howe directly. "Oh damn! You don't look infected. Where'd you come from?"
The man seemed a bit older than Nathaniel, likely in his late thirties or early forties. His head was covered in a neat, black flat top, though that stood in start contrast to the rest of him. He was dressed in leather armor stained in blood, though the lack of lacerations made Nathaniel think that it wasn't the main's injuries that created the blood.
"I could ask you the same thing." Nathaniel cocked an eyebrow as the man backed away, extending his hand. "I am Nathaniel Howe, a Grey Warden who was conscripted by Darius Caron. I currently serve him without having a choice otherwise."
"Darius Caron?" The man looked thoughtful as Nathaniel shook his hand. "I remember that name from a long time ago. He was at my joining, the bastard. Quite the ladies man, if I remember correctly. I'm Keenan, by the way. I was stationed at Vigil's Keep before I was captured and taken here. Just now I managed to escape, though that Alpha gave me quite the run for my money."
"A ladies man? Darius seems anything but." Nathaniel thought it was impossible for him to cock his eyebrow even more so, but he did. "He's incredibly serious and stalwart, far from flirtatious."
"Doesn't sound like the Darius I know." Keenan grinned. "Before we argue about the demeanor of an absentee friend, we've best get out of here. Grab the lass and hurry up. I think I know a way out, considering how I got in."
Nathaniel followed after Keenan as the man ran off, sword drawn. Velanna wordless trailed him, Tez at her heels. They ran through a hole in a wall on the other side of the cavern, again following a tunnel. After a few moments of running, they emerged into yet another cavern, though Keenan stopped suddenly, Nathaniel narrowing his eyes and cursing as he stopped as well.
"What have we here? Escaped prisoners?" A ghoul of something that used to be a human female stood in front of them, flanked by a Hurlock Alpha and an Emissary. The ghoul's head was cocked at an odd angle, a thin smile on its lips. "I was told what I could do to escaped prisoners. Oh yes. Number 1 knows her duties well. I'm gonna cut you. I'm gonna eat you. I'm gonna burn you. I'm gonna do ALL SORTS OF THINGS TO YOU!"
The ghoul crouched, mouth opening impossibly wide as it shrieked. Nathaniel clamped his hands over his ears in pain, though Keenan barely flinched. Tez was unharmed, immediately charging at the creature. As it flung itself on the ghoul's throat, the screaming cut off suddenly, allowing Nathaniel to regain his bearings. After a moment's struggle, the ghoul flung the deepstalker away.
The Emissary was charging straight for him, but Nathaniel released his arrow, striking the darkspawn in the arm. It hissed, raising one arm to cast a spell, but a second arrow caught in its throat, felling the creature. Nathaniel turned just as Keenan decapitated the Alpha, now setting his sights on Number 1.
"I'll cut you... I'll cut ALL OF YOU!" Number 1 yelled, waving a longsword in front of her. Keenan charged, sidestepping as Number 1 stabbed forward. He swung downwards at the blade, forcing it out of Number 1's hands. Keenan followed through with an elbow to Number 1's face, which knocked the ghoul back, rotten teeth sent flying.
Nathaniel recoiled in shock as roots sprung from the ground, skewering Number 1 in multiple areas. The ghoul shuddered for a few moments, whispering torturous and sadistic fantasies before finally dying.
"Maker's breath..." Keenan bent over, picking up a small glass vial that had fallen from Number 4. "I never thought I'd ever see a ghoul talk. My trip here's been nothing but strange. Talking darkspawn galore, insane ghouls. All the stuff of nightmares, it seems."
"More reason to escape quickly." Velanna said, pointing down to the opening at the end of the hall. "I feel movement from down that way. Perhaps we should avoid it?"
"No, elf." Keenan smiled, placing his sword in front of him. "That's the beauty about being a Warden. We got this urge, see? An urge to end the lives of these blighted bastards. I'm gonna kill as many of them as possible before escaping this place."
And Keenan ran off. Nathaniel followed, with Tez running at his heels. He had to admit he felt that urge too, despite everything. There was a certain joy in slaughtering these creatures, even if they weren't entirely mindless. But still, he felt as if he was killing a part of himself every time he struck down a darkspawn.
But likely that was just the taint within him. Hopefully, in time, it would fade.
Nathaniel found himself growing tired, weary of the events in the mine. Why was he even here? He should have been halfway to the Free Marches again with his family's artifacts safe and intact. Now that he was a Warden, he should have just taken advantage of that and slain Oghren, then fled.
Yet here he was, some undisclosed distance underground with a dangerous and unpredictable elf, and Keenan, who seemed fairly eager for battle. Tez, the silent deepstalker, was probably the best companion he had at the moment.
But where was Darius? Nathaniel wondered as he kept running down the tunnels, bow held at ready. Where was Oghren? Why would the Architect separate the two senior Wardens but leave Nathaniel and Velanna together? And why did he put Tez in a cage far from either group?
His thoughts were cut short as they emerged into a small chamber, where a large egg was held on a pedestal. A female dwarf knelt in front of it, praying. As Keenan neared the dwarf, it stood, turning slowly. The dark markings on its face revealed it to be a ghoul, likely just as insane as the rest.
"The Egg likes talking, that it does. I like listening when the Egg talks. It's so soothing and calm..." The ghoul looked up at them. Although it was outfitted with dark, Legion of the Dead armor and a greataxe, it didn't seem threatening. "It tells me lots of things. Stories of sunshine of beauty. Of happiness and joy. Of a song I can't hear anymore. I miss that song... I wish... it was still here."
"Tell that damned fool dwarf to let me outta this blighted cage!" Nathaniel turned towards the wall, where a familiar shape was rattling the cage angrily, fiery hair and eyes displaying a easily recognized bloodlust. "She touched my sodding junk! Nobody that ugly is allowed to touch my junk!"
"The Egg wants you to be quiet, fool!" The ghoul snapped. "The Egg has visitors... Number 4 must tend to them."
Nathaniel's arrow caught Number 4 in the shoulder, spinning it around. It fell backwards, knocking into the stand holding the egg. The egg fell off the stand but, surprisingly, didn't shatter when it hit the ground.
"You've... hurt the Egg." The ghoul looked at the fallen egg with genuine sadness on its face. "I... my purpose is no more. The Egg no longer speaks. Why does it no longer speak...? I feel so empty now... So cold..."
Keenan walked up behind Number 4, swiftly decapitating the ghoul as it wept on the ground. For whatever reason, Nathaniel found the action oddly heartless, though he had killed ghouls before.
Immediately, as if killing the ghoul had no effect on him, Keenan knelt over the egg, poking a hole in the side and letting the clear liquid from inside run inside the vial he had picked up from Number 1's corpse.
"It's a dragon egg." Keenan explained as the vial filled. A soon as it reached the top, he placed a stopper on the end, then pocketed it. "The contents can be quite useful, if applied in the right circumstances."
"How dare you!" Velanna shouted, stepped towards Keenan. He merely looked at curiously, not even shocked at her outburst. "Such blatant disregard for nature! That dragon egg could still be alive, yet you'd kill it because you think the liquid inside might be useful? You damned poacher!"
"Don't judge me for murder of a dragon, elf." Keenan narrowed his eyes threateningly. "I wasn't the one who killed dozens of innocent men to satiate a foolish revenge."
"How do you..." Velanna stared at him shocked. If Nathaniel wasn't mistaken, this was a conflicted Velanna. She says she didn't care about the deaths of the humans, but that didn't seem to be the case, judging by her reaction.
"Sodding let me down, you damned fools!" Nathaniel sighed, turning towards the redhead dwarf. He approached Oghren, his hands deftly unlocking the cage after a few moments of tinkering with the lock. Oghren kicked the door out, jumping from the cage towards Number 4's body, where he got to work stripping it of its armor and axe.
"Hehe. It's naked underneath." Oghren muttered, strapping on his armor.
"Heaven forbid, Oghren, that you can ever resist making a sexual comment." Nathaniel rolled his eyes. After Oghren was done, Keenan extended a hand towards the dwarf, a smile on his face. How the man could meet such a revolting man and still smile was beyond Nathaniel.
"I am Keenan Jader of Orlais. I've heard of you, Oghren." Keenan smiled as Oghren took his hand, belching as he shook it. "Tales of your prowess in both battle and bed have bled through even to distant Orlais, and if my senses are right, I can tell you've even survived the Joining and become a Warden! I'm honored to fight at your side."
"I like you already." Oghren smiled, placing his axe on his back as he unclenched Keenan's hand. "A nice sodding change to be appreciated for my efforts for once, considering all the bleeding work I do in the order. I can kill a thousand darkspawn a day if I can put my ass in it."
"A thousand? Really?" Keenan smiled. "Well, why don't we have a competition? Count the darkspawn we kill, you know? I'll bet you a barrel of fine ale I can win."
"Bet taken, human!" Oghren laughed, or belched. It sounded similar. "You're gonna regret it, human!"
"Maker's breath..." Nathaniel sighed, turning away. "Just what we need."
ooo
"21!" Nathaniel heard Keenan shout, as the other Warden ran an emissary through. Oghren growled, jumping onto a genlock, burying his axe deep in the darkspawn's head.
"24!" Oghren shouted gleefully. "You're falling behind!"
But now there were none left, Nathaniel realized as he lowered his bow. They had cornered these darkspawn at the end of the corridor, but the dead end wasn't the first they had come across.
Over the course of the last hour they had encountered numerous darkspawn, though no more talking ghouls, and many, many dead ends. Nathaniel felt weariness in his bones. He just wanted out, but it seemed every turn was just another hopeless wall.
"Sod it all." Oghren kicked the wall, shouldering his axe. Above him on the wall a two-headed skeleton was mounted on a steel cross. The heads sticking out unevenly from a single neck, each one with a grotesque smile. "As pleasant as this blighted place is, I'm getting sodding tired of it."
"Well, maybe we missed something." Nathaniel suggested, looking down the tunnel. "If we double back and keep searching..."
"How many times have we done that already, Nathaniel?" Velanna snapped, leaning on her staff. "We might just be trapped down here."
"Blighted..." Oghren mumbled, before roaring. He raised his axe, crashing it down on the wall, where it split one of the two heads in half. As he withdrew the axe, the two halves of the skull fell dangled for a moment before falling to the ground. The unharmed skull suddenly snapped into place and screeching started echoing around the hallway. Dust started falling, setting off alarm bells in Nathaniel's head.
"Cave-in!" Nathaniel shouted. Keenan flattened himself against the ground, dragging Oghren down with him. Nathaniel dived for Velanna, forcing her underneath him with the intent of using his body to protect her from harm. He put his hands over his head as the shaking grew more violent and more dust kept falling.
Velanna squirmed in protest under him, but Nathaniel held her firmly. Eventually the shaking stopped and the dust started to clear. Oddly enough, Nathaniel could feel a breeze.
He looked up slowly, only to find that there was no cave in. The wall had parted, revealing a passageway. If there was wind, then that meant there was an exit!
"Get off me, shem!" Velanna pushed him off her, forcing Nathaniel to stand. He brushed off his armor and coughed as he breathed in dust. Velanna stood as well, eying him evilly.
"I only did what I thought was necessary to protect you, my lady." Nathaniel said, walking towards the parted wall as Keenan and Oghren started to stand.
"Stop calling me that!" Velanna protested, but Nathaniel remained silent.
The group walked for a few minutes, surprised by the linearity of the hallway. They moved silently, constantly on the lookout for darkspawn, and Nathaniel noticed himself holding his breath on multiple occasions.
"Wait!" Keenan stopped holding up a hand. A corner was up ahead and the Warden inched towards it slowly, his ear pressed near the wall. "I can hear speaking."
"Really?" Nathaniel ran towards him, stopping suddenly as he recognized the voice.
"– evil is subjective, Architect. You can't expect me to believe you." It was Darius' voice. Nathaniel rushed around the corner, followed by Keenan, Oghren, Velanna and Tez. A large arena like room greeted him. Darius stood in the center, talking to a robed form standing atop a balcony on the other side. Tez barked happily, running up to Darius' side.
"It seems we must cut this conversation short, Commander." The purple form said, its voice just above a rasp. Nathaniel ran up to Darius, who was outfitted in a set of pitch-black leather, two darkspawn scimitars in his hands.
"Warden-Commander!" Keenan ran to Darius, who cocked an eyebrow at him. "It's a pleasure seeing you again! I had feared the worst!"
"Keenan? You look well." Darius said simply, before turning back to the robed form. "Let us go, Architect. If you fight us, you will die. I'm certain you are aware of this. Wardens do not fall to darkspawn easily."
"Seranni!" Velanna shouted, noticing the elven form by the purple robed figure. "Seranni! Are you hurt? Why are you with him?"
The elf didn't respond, simply looking away. Nathaniel felt his heart clench as Velanna shouted again up at her sister, not yet realizing that Seranni had sided against her.
"Come down from there, Seranni!" Velanna shouted. Nathaniel lay a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.
"Goodbye, Grey Wardens. I will leave The Withered with you. Perhaps we'll meet again." The Architect turned away, leading Seranni and a short dwarven figure through a tunnel before he rose into the air, magic escaping from his fingertips. The white bolts arced into the walls as rocks tumbled down, blocking the passageway.
"Seranni!" Velanna shouted again, tears rimming her eyes. Nathaniel again placed his hand on her shoulder. This time she didn't flinch away.
"The Withered grows tired of elven wailing and talking." Darius snapped his head in the direction the new voice came from. The Withered emerged from the darkness, purple and grey armor shining in the candlelight of the camber. Two large, black creatures crawled after him, red eyes shining. They looked just like deepstalkers except much bigger and... tainted.
"The Withered..." Darius spit, drawing his swords. "I'm eager to finally kill you for what happened at the Vigil."
"The Warden-Commander may try," The Withered laughed, deep and guttural as he drew his own sword and shield. "But you will fail."
Note: Keenan is not a character I made up. He's actually the guy that your Warden meets when in the Silverite Mines. In the game, however, his legs are crushed and he dies after you talk to him. I decided to change history just a little bit to avoid that. ;P Basically, the Alpha with the maul that Keenan kills right when he's first seen in this story is the Hurlock Dragon-Tamer that you have to kill in-game to get Keenan's wedding ring. Just thought that might be interesting.