My deepest thanks to PheonRen, LadyCallia, Warrose, and my sista Jinx1983 for your excellent reviews! Yay! :D
This chapter starts with some sexual content, so RATED M FOR MATURE, you have been warned! ;)
Bioware, you still own...*sobs*
Chapter 18 - A Hunting we will go
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet
Bonnie Tyler - Holding out for a Hero
.
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He had no idea what time it was, but when he woke up, the fire was burning low and the room was bathed in a golden half-light.
He bent over to look at her as she lay sleeping next to him. All soft and golden, as if made of molten fire, and he smiled, taking in her beauty, wishing to stop time at this very moment, if only to remain with her like this forever.
Her golden hair lay sprawled over the pillow and the tip of one of her adorable elven ears peaked through shyly as if assessing its surroundings. Alistair bent and kissed it adoringly. She stirred in her sleep, stretching, the sheet falling away from her naked body and his lips parted, the wind knocked out of him for a brief millisecond.
Maker's breath! She is so beautiful!
She opened her eyes, which looked dark and golden in the light and smiled sleepily up at him.
"Good morning, my love," he murmured, bending down to kiss her.
She returned the kiss with passion and he melted. Somewhere in a dark corner of his mind, he remembered that they had to be somewhere important, but it was pushed further inside, as he lost himself in her softness, his lips hungrily devouring her, his erection begging for entrance.
She was eager for his touch, the sounds coming from her mouth doing nothing but excite him more, and he felt himself grow weaker.
He was determined, however, that she should enjoy this first, before he even dreamt of completion, so he focused on her breasts, the rest of her body and finally focused on her clitoris. He did not stop until she had had her release.
Only then did he seek entrance and was rewarded by her nudging him and flipping him over on his back in a quick movement, straddling him.
This new position drove him crazy. He grasped her hips and thrust forward, his release pulling him to the brink of insanity, the moans and mewling sounds that burst forth from her lips did nothing but spur him on, and he felt that he would surely die from the pleasure.
Her walls tightened around him and he cried out, releasing his seed into her with a frenzy, and she fell on top of his chest, covered in sweat and panting, murmuring his name over and over like a chant.
"I love you," he said huskily and his arms tightened around her, not wanting to let her go.
There was a loud knocking on their door.
"Hey, you two!" Anders's voice, which sounded highly amused, reached their ears. "It's nearly time for breakfast and you have a pair of dwarves waiting to fill your tub with hot water. Get a move on! Fiona won't like to be kept waiting!"
"All right, all right," Alistair sighed, standing up. He reached for a pair of loose trousers and making sure that she was covered with a sheet first, got up and strode over to the door, opening it.
The two dwarven girls quickly filled the tub and left smiling.
He locked the door and held a hand out to her.
"Milady, your bath is ready," he said bowing, his hand still outstretched. She grinned and took it, getting out of bed, while his eyes roamed over her naked body, memorizing it, and adoring every inch of it.
"Now, don't get any ideas. We have to hurry, Alistair! Maybe we should bathe together this time, so we can leave quickly?"
"Your wish is my command," he replied, giving her his lopsided grin. He took his trousers off, he could not help it, he already had a huge erection. He grinned bashfully as she eyed it.
"So soon? We really have to hurry," she whispered as he took her in his arms again and this time their joining was quick but sweet.
"And hurry we shall, let's get into the tub," he finally said. And they did.
They bathed quickly, and dried themselves, slipping into their armor. Chantalle helped with a couple of his hard-to-reach buckles and they left the room after sharing another kiss and grabbing their packs.
...
They were checking out Alistair's old map and Anders was thinking there was a more direct path to the Dead Trenches, and was not listening to what they were saying.
"The best way to the Deep Trenches is follow the path here, through Caridin's Cross," Alistair argued with Anders for the third time and Duran readily agreed. Oghren took a swig from his brew. The rest looked over their shoulders at the map while Fiona let them speak. She barely remembered how she had gotten to the Deep Roads so many years ago when she had been travelling with Duncan, so she relied completely on Alistair and Duran's memory, as their visit had been recent.
"Are we ready then?" Fiona asked quietly.
They nodded in unison and walked slowly forward, the darkness enveloping them as they advanced.
...
At first glance, Caridin's Cross seemed to be empty and long abandoned. Alistair could feel this was not true. He stepped warily towards the source of light in the middle of the four junctions, a great pillar with a fire burning from its center.
The rest stood still, listening, and feeling for darkspawn. The faint tingling was there, but far, and they hurried on, hoping to by pass them as they walked into the various tunnel entrances that crisscrossed the area.
"This is strange," Fiona's voice interrupted his thoughts, soft and pensive. "When I was here a long time ago, there was a darkness, a black fungus that covered the walls, as if the taint was affixed to the very stone itself."
"Yes, that's Ortan Thaig," Alistair said quietly as he advanced slowly into a darker part of the tunnel.
"Ugh, is that lichen? I feel like I can't breathe!" Anders complained.
"Shh!" Alistair raised a hand, signaling them to be quiet.
The tingling was stronger, and he felt them before he saw them.
At least fifty of the creatures stood at the end of the darkened passageway, where the road got wider and seemed bathed in light, due to the torches they carried. They let out a noise, half-growl, half-yell and lunged at them, attacking blindly.
The group immediately started to fight, and reverted to their old tactics, surprised that the creatures did not anticipate their moves this time.
They hacked into them, killing so many, the corpses began to pile around them, giving them little space to maneuver. Both Fiona and Anders were using their magic so fast, they were quickly reaching into their packs to consume lyrium potions as they did, to replenish their mana anew. The rings that the Orlesian Circle of Magi had given them, seemed to be serving their purpose and they did not tire.
Alistair knew they were hardly out of danger, however. The darkspawn they were battling had probably been connecting to other darkspawn through the Taint and as soon as the last one of them fell, he ordered everyone to regroup and get out of there fast.
So they ran, following Alistair and Duran, through crudely dug out tunnels and irregular paths, out to more elaborate and wider roads, once dwarven marvels. They continued to run, till the tingling grew fainter and they were finally out of immediate danger. There was an underground stream up ahead, and they stopped to wash the blood off, and Duran warned the others not to drink from it.
They sat on the ground, catching their breath, resting for a moment and shared a quick meal finishing it off with water from their water skins.
Chantalle rested her head on Alistair's shoulder, and he held her close, his head bent over her, as he absent-mindedly kissed the crown of her head.
"You realize they have pushed us a bit off the route. They are making us go through Ortan Thaig."
Alistair nodded in reply to Duran's comment.
Nobody said anything, but they could sense a certain fear in both Alistair and Duran, while Oghren belched noisily, and this caused them to be wary.
Fiona let out a sigh.
"Ortan Thaig," she murmured, but the rest heard her. "I never would have thought after all these years that I would set foot on it again."
"What is so special about Ortan Thaig?" Anders asked curiously.
"It has spiders," Alistair replied.
"I'm not afraid of a couple of spiders," Anders chided, but his humor vanished when Alistair faced him, the look on his face stopping him from making any further comment.
"Trust me, mage. Those spiders are spiders you will never forget," Duran muttered under his breath.
"Aye. As big as a mabari hound, they are," Oghren chimed in, taking a swig from his brew.
Chantalle turned to Alistair, and he saw the fear in her eyes, which were as round as saucers.
"I hate spiders!" She exclaimed.
"Don't worry, my love. I won't let them touch you, I promise," he said, giving her a hug.
"Well, we might as well get going," Fiona urged. "We still have some ground to cover, don't we?"
They all stood up, and followed Alistair and Duran again as they walked into the darkness.
...
"Ortan Thaig," Alistair whispered. In front of him stood the remains of a huge spider and Anders suddenly wished he was back on the surface.
There were no spider webs around, yet the whole place seemed full of dark shadows.
Alistair pointed to a tunnel on his right, indicating the way.
"Don't touch the walls," he said quietly. Chantalle then looked and the walls were covered in some kind of black fungus.
Alistair drew his sword, and the fungus seemed to scurry away for a moment. Behind him Fiona's breath hitched and he spun around to look at her.
"What is it? What did you see?"
"No. Nothing." She shook her head.
Then as he was about to continue his march, her voice stopped him.
"That was King Maric's sword. I recognize it. I saw him use it here."
He stiffened and turned to face her.
"You traveled with Duncan, didn't you?" He refused to believe that his father, a king, had been in the Deep Roads. When she had mentioned travelling with him, he thought it had been to Ferelden.
"I did," she took a deep breath. "I traveled with Duncan, and other wardens. We came here. On a mission."
He turned back to the tunnel and froze at her next words.
"And King Maric led us here. He was the only one who knew where Ortan Thaig was."
...
Fiona's words echoed in his head as they pushed forward, into a nearly black tunnel. He pushed her words out of his mind. He would think about them later.
Their eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, but there was light coming in from above further ahead. It bounced off the dark rock and shone through-
Maker's blood, are those cobwebs?
They were. And what was worse, they were newly spun. He remembered this chamber, and he also remembered that the cobwebs had been in a different area altogether, not here.
He heard a clicking noise in the distance and looked up quickly. There they were, multiple eyes gazing down at him.
"Fiona," he said, "Put them to sleep, till we can run into the chamber ahead."
Fiona immediately fired a sleeping spell, and they rushed forward into the chamber, as far as they could from the webs.
They gasped trying to catch their breath and suddenly three spiders dropped from the ceiling above, hissing. Three more dropped behind them, as they moved to surround them, their feet clicking on the stone ground.
Alistair whipped out his sword and shield and the rest followed suit, facing the arachnids. Chantalle was sweating, frozen, as she stared at them.
"Chantalle, love, get behind me!" Alistair urged. "Damn it!" He cursed, as one of the spiders charged directly at her. His shield flashed forward as he overpowered it, and the rest burst into action, attacking and yelling at the arachnids.
The spells worked more effectively against the beasts, and they were relieved to win the battle in a very short time. Their victory was short-lived however. At least a dozen more suddenly dropped all around them, possibly the very ones that Fiona had put to sleep moments before.
Chantalle screamed and Alistair pushed her behind him this time and the others waited for the spiders to close in. Anders shot a blizzard spell over them and they crushed them as they froze, shattering them into hundreds of pieces.
They got no respite. As soon as these were killed, a dozen more took their place. Alistair grimaced as they parried and struck at the creatures, killing them. Fernan got bitten, and Fiona sent a healing spell out to him, soothing him and stopping the poison before it advanced any further. Chantalle stared transfixed at the two gaping holes on his arm, but Fernan continued to fight.
Leliana was firing her arrows accurately never missing a mark. The only thing she repeatedly said was, "The Maker will guide my hand, and I will strike down our enemies."
Chantalle shut her eyes, willing herself to fight. She had to get over this irrational fear and help the rest. Forcing her eyes open, she saw one of the creatures make its way towards an unsuspected Fiona, who was too busy assisting the rest to notice its approach. Chantalle came to life.
She ran towards it, daggers raised, and struck. The spider hissed. Behind her, Alistair swore as he tried to get to her, but a bigger one was attacking him at the moment.
"Dance, Chantalle! Dance for me!" He yelled.
And she danced, and finally killed it, a green substance spurting from its wounds as it lay twitching and finally curled up dead.
And as she stood grinning at him, another spider quickly took its place.
Alistair's proud look quickly turned to one of horror.
"Chantalle, behind you!" He yelled, thrusting his sword deeply into the spider which he had been fighting.
But she turned too slowly and it sank its enormous fangs directly into her back. She smiled sweetly at him as she slumped to the ground, her eyes shut, pale and breathless.
"NO!" Alistair yelled, a catch in his throat. "Fiona!"
Fiona had already turned to Chantalle, and stunned the spider, then sent out an arcane bolt that killed it instantly. She quickly knelt beside her, and as Alistair ran to her, he saw the blue glow emanating from her fingertips as she worked against the spider's venom.
"Chantalle!" He sobbed, kneeling beside her, the tears streaming down his face. The rest finished off the spiders and stood by quietly watching the scene. He turned her gently, her face on his lap.
"Oh, Maker!" He cried out in anguish at the two gaping holes in her back. But as he cried, Fiona worked, and the flesh began to knit itself miraculously. Anders soon joined her, and they worked together. Within minutes the wounds were completely healed and the color returned to her cheeks.
"She will live, Alistair." Fiona announced.
"Thank you, Maker!" Alistair's voice said hoarsely. as he took her hand in his, taking off his gauntlet first.
Her eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she saw was his face, looking down at her, tears still glistening on his cheeks.
"Alistair," she murmured, and her hand went up to his cheek, caressing it softly.
"Don't you ever do that to me again!" He scolded, as he lifted her in his arms and held her gently.
From behind them came Anders's voice.
"When we come back here for our Calling, remind me never to pass this way again..."
Chantalle let out a shaky laugh and Alistair joined her.
And soon all of them were laughing hysterically, the sound reverberating off the walls and echoing into the darkness beyond.
...