Any body else having trouble with doc editer? No? Just me? Double Update! I know, calm yourselves will you.

Bioware Owns Everything. Not Abby though.

Fighting Through The Darkness

"What? I won't be in the battle?" Alistair's voice cut through my pondering.

I felt like I was in a dream. Most likely because I was taking a ton of unnecessary deep breaths.

"The king has asked for this personally," Duncan told him.

I tried to pay attention, but I couldn't. My mind kept running through all of the worst case scenarios that could happen while we were in the tower. You can do this. It will get easier, won't it?

"Duncan." I snapped back at Alistair's change of tone. "Maker watch over you."

"May he watch over us all," the commander answered, then he left us to go join the other Wardens and the king's army.

I don't remember when the battle started below, but I do remember running across the chasm. The darkspawn were catapulting huge fire balls at the army beneath us. They obviously had aiming problems because a few of them hit the bridge.

As one hit right behind us as we ran, the shock wave alone made all of the people near it fly through the air. As I landed on my chest-hard-I saw a man fall of the bridge down to the ground below.

I laid there on the stone bridge for ten, agonizingly long seconds, trying to breath. The impact had pushed all of the air out of my lungs, making me gape like a fish out of water. When I did breath again, my lungs burned in protest.

"-Alright?" Alistair yelled into my ear.

I rolled into a ball, shaking my head no. He waited while I wasted precious time recuperating. "Come on," I croaked while uncurling myself. "We have a beacon to light."

Relief spread across his face as he helped me up. We ran to the tower together. Well he did, I sort of jogged.

With the taint running through my veins, I felt the entire horde pulsating on the ground below us, calling to me. I shivered in distaste.

We're off the bridge. Why isn't it going away a bit.

I was about to find out. A guard and a mage had just come running out of the tower court yard at full tilt as if the entire horde was behind them.

"It's been taken!" the mage yelled.

"What's taken?" Alistair demanded. "What do you mean man?"

"The tower. It's been taken. Darkspawn are pouring from the tunnels."

"Tunnels? Loghain didn't say anything about tunnels!" Alistair cried above the din.

I wasted no time, pulling out my bow. "Come on," I ordered the men. I ran into the courtyard, finding it covered with darkspawn. I fired my arrows as quickly as I dared, The mage casting spells beside me to make sure the darkspawn didn't gang up on Alistair or the guard. My head buzzed pleasantly as the magic flew through the air.

Alistair didn't need the back up. He moved through the fight with precision and ease. It was like he was ready to take on all the darkspawn in the courtyard himself.

I noticed something different about my skills as well. I felt as if my eyesight was sharper. I never missed a target, and it only usually took one arrow before they fell. My arm wasn't feeling the burn that I usually felt after a few pulls either.

Is this because of the taint? I barely had time to wonder this before the fight was won, but we were far from done.

Not bothering to recover any arrows out of reach, we sprinted to the tower entrance. I really did sprint this time.

It was incredibly quiet compared to the noise level outside, but I still felt the darkspawn, whether they were above or below. Alistair and the guard slowly walked into the main room when the guard tripped, the whole room exploding in flames. Darkspawn ran through the flames at us, unaware they were being burned.

The mage didn't get a chance to help us. He got blasted with a ball of dark green light. My head reeled at the sickening feel of it. The stout emissary was about to lob another one at me when the guard removed his head.

"Are you okay?" I asked the mage. He groaned a "sort of" at me while rubbing his chest.

The tower of Ishal had a large main room, with other rooms circling around it. Each one with darkspawn in it. When we finally hit the last two rooms, we were tired, and angry at the fact that there was a gaping hole connecting the two of them.

"That's how they got in," I said obviously. I hadn't thought of this scenario.

"We weren't supposed to meet any resistance," Alistair fumed. "Something is wrong ."

"Not if we can still get to that beacon."

The next two floors of the building were the same; the four of us fought our way through the darkspawn, and we took breaks at the stairs of each floor to heal minor wounds. I don't think we would have made it without the mage. Some of it couldn't be helped however. The guard complained of chest pain and I had a swollen wrist from punching a genlock in the face because I hadn't switched to a sword fast enough.

On the last floor we ran into the room, the beacon in my line of sight. We almost made it except for the large object standing in our way.

"Maker's Breath! An ogre!" The guard whispered in fear.

It had to be at least fifteen feet tall, all pure muscle, broad shouldered, and completely grey. Two sets of great horns, one set larger than the other, curved back like an antelopes. A very angry antelope. It seemed to be eating…a person. I resisted the urge to vomit.

It gave a great roar, giving me to take the opportunity to break the men's frozen states. I loosed an arrow at its chest, to which it just roared again. It also gave me the unpleasant information as it reared back that it was, in fact, a male.

Alistair and the guard ran at the beast straight on, the mage setting its upper body on fire while I tried to find its weak points. It roared in response to the onslaught.

As I switched to my sword, it pounded at the stone floor, creating cracks that snaked through the entire room. We all dropped to the floor, try not to impale ourselves with our weapons. The mage managed to stay upright somehow and the fire that had covered the monster instantly turned to ice. It roared in agony, and through an immense show of incredible power, broke through the ice covering it. It ran towards the poor man and smashed its fist into him. He hit the wall with a sickening crunch, and did not get up.

The rest of us, up again, hacked and dodged at the ogre. A dangerous game were the only outcome would be death if any party made a mistake. Unknowingly, the ogre made that mistake.

He flung a kick at me, and I made a split second decision that ended up saving my life. I thrust my sword forward into his foot. It made contact with a sickening quick and fluid motion, my sword slicing into it flesh.

The ogre fell, ripping my sword from my hands. The guard started to run but never managed to get away from the falling beast. It crushed him, making the entire floor shake with the impact of ogre on man on floor. Alistair wasted no time, he jumped onto its chest as it attempted to right itself, and shoved his sword into its throat. The ogre died with a loud gurgle.

I limped over to the beacon and, with some struggling with the tinder, lit it. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. The madness was almost over.

Alistair took my sword from the ogre's foot, walked over, and sat down beside me gingerly. He was super pale.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He grimaced. "I thing I broke a rib, but I'll be okay once the battle is over."

I couldn't complain. Compared to him, my injuries felt like a walk in the park. My wrist was still swollen, and my legs burned. I figured that my whole left side was bruised and that my arms were wrenched from when the ogre had taken my sword from me. But he looked like hell, his face bruised an bleeding.

We sat like that for a while, our labored breathing turning normal as we waited for the sounds of battle to be turned into the horns signaling victory.

"Loghain's men should have destroyed the darkspawn by now," Alistair said worriedly.

"Alistair," I said. The feeling of the taint had left slightly when we had killed the ogre, but now it was coming back with a greater feeling.

We had no time to prepare. The door burst open and darkspawn flooded the room. I jumped up first and literally slaughtered the first few. Alistair didn't get the chance to get up, shoot down by arrows instantly.

I wasn't given the chance to scream. I saw rather than felt the arrow hit my chest, before the other three hit me. Before I met the floor and blacked out, I heard the ceiling rumble as a terrifying sound rang through my ears.