Disclaimer: Bioware owns all, except what I most humbly create. While, at times, I will take verbatim from the game, I mostly use the events of the Dragon Age games, expansions and universe as a loose structure around which to construct my re-imagined tale. If you are looking for a strict canon piece, I have no desire to offend, and so I warn you upfront!
When reading this tale, I hope you can easily imagine it being told by the very best of storytellers in Varric (from DA:2). In my version of events, Varric meets "The Hero" (my Elissa Cousland) in Kirkwall during the time period of DA:2. I mention this only so that readers can understand his connection along the way, and so I don't have to mention and rehash it again and again as I make my way through the tale.
A/N: Some NSFW material scattered about once again - mostly near the beginning and the end! Just a warning!
Muse Music: Before the Dawn by Evanescense
Thanks to my readers, followers and reviewers and to my epic Lady Beta artemiskat! If you're an angsty Nate fan you should definitely read her stuff :)
Happy Reading!
-Frayed One
Chapter Nine: Letting Go
The days following the disaster were filled with alternating periods of complete silence and the equally unsettling racket of Elissa's powerful rage filled tantrums. The noise would make its way through the thick door of her room and echo down the long halls of The Keep, sending servants, guards and even her fellow Wardens scurrying away fearfully. She refused to open the door or leave her room for anyone or any reason, and wouldn't even acknowledge Nathaniel whenever he would try to speak to her – though she did toss heavy objects at the door several times until he went away.
Varel threatened to contact the First Warden if she didn't pull herself together and resurface, but she called him on it – telling him that he probably should as she'd gone mad and should likely be locked away in the furthest depths of Weisshaupt Fortress.
If the man had believed for a moment that she'd was actually a threat, he absolutely would have reached out to the Wardens to make an official request for aid – but, the truth was he'd only been bluffing and the truly mad rarely ever admitted to it.
When Anders finally decided to make his attempt it was during one of her lengthier periods of calm. He leaned his head against the door and tried to sound as unphased by her episodes as possible.
"So, I've been sent to draw you a bath." Anders said, clearing his throat when she didn't respond in any way and then continuing. "There are reports of flies beginning to gather outside your door and an assault with buckets and soap bombs through your window is beginning to be spoken of within the guard. It's mutiny, I tell you."
"This is your plan, Anders. To stand outside my door and toss insults." Elissa snorted from inside, and he could hear her fumbling around on the bed – finally padding across the floor in his direction. "If you've decided to go that route, you really should have sent Oghren. The dwarf is unsurpassed in that particular area."
"Ah, that may be so… but it would seem that the foul little man has a soft spot when it comes to his Commander." Anders replied, genuine in the sentiment – Oghren had been drinking even more than usual since Elissa had locked herself away.
He heard movement on the other side of the door, a key pushing into then turning in a lock, and then the soft pad of her feet as she shuffled away. He couldn't believe he'd actually managed to get her to allow him access, but pressed the advantage – darting inside before she changed her mind.
"Lock it, please." Elissa said, flopping back down on her rumpled bed and snatching up one of the many bottles, then another when she found that one to be empty. "I've no desire to have anyone else weaseling their way inside."
"You know, I was originally kidding about the whole stinky thing… but truthfully, it is a bit rank in here." Anders wrinkled his nose, taking in the disheveled appearance of the woman in front of him who had clearly done nothing but drink for the past three days.
The state of her hair and clothing would make an outsider believe her a common vagrant, and there was a truly astonishing array of empty bottles strewn about the bed and floor nearby.
"I could kill you, you know." Elissa said, emptying the last remnants of one bottle and tossing it aside to find another with some left inside. "I'm off balance. Mad. And you really think it's a good idea to stand there and tell me I smell? Really?"
"Well, you do." Anders insisted, sitting down on the edge of the bed and refusing to be threatened. "If I were stinky-mad I'd want a friend to have the balls to tell me."
She actually laughed at that. It was by no means a belly roll, but it was a genuine laugh – the burst of it curving up her lips just a little as she looked him over.
"Fine. Draw me a bath then. Mage baths are good. Always the perfect temperature." Elissa said, flopping back on the bed and waiting for him to oblige her request.
"So you've been bathed by a mage before?" Anders asked with a wink, strolling over to her stone tub and filling it with ice, then setting to melting and warming it. "Lucky chap that one."
"Morrigan wouldn't be happy to hear you call her a chap." Elissa snorted, pushing up onto her elbows as she thought with both fondness and sorrow on the memory of her old friend.
"Oh! A lady mage! You saucy minx!" Anders laughed, turning back to her and flicking the water from his fingers when he'd tested the temperature on his arm.
"Not all that saucy actually… at least not when it comes to Morrigan." Elissa shrugged, pulling herself up to her feet and starting to work at the laces on the front of her pants. "She only actually bathed me the once that I know of, and I was pretty much comatose then so it probably wasn't all that sexy."
"You'd be surprised." Anders chuckled, standing and moving back toward the door as she continued to undress. "Well, bath drawn, mission accomplished. I'll leave you to it then."
"Stay." Elissa said, drawing a very surprised mage's eyes swinging back to her.
"You want me to stay and watch you while you bathe?" Anders asked, punctuating the thought with a short bark of laughter.
"Watch me? No. But you can sit on the bed opposite the screen and keep me company." Elissa replied, letting her pants slide down her legs to pool on the floor before flipping her tunic up over her head and walking over to the tub in her underthings. "I'd appreciate it."
"A-Alright…" Anders replied, knowing it was probably a very bad idea but going to sit on the bed and try very hard to pretend he hadn't been affected by the sight of her nearly naked, or the thought of her completely naked when he heard her sinking into the water.
"Mmm…" Elissa hummed, and he listened to the splashing as she started to work the filth of the last few days out of her hair and off of her skin. "I don't care what anyone says about mages. As long as you keep drawing me baths you're fine by me!"
"Glad to be of service." Anders laughed, hearing the deep chuckle of her response from behind the screen and trying again to refocus his thoughts. "You're not bad yourself, you know, for a stinky-mad non-mage."
"Be still my heart!" Elissa cried out, continuing to laugh afterward. "How do the ladies resist you?"
"You are also remarkably lovely… if I might say so." Anders said, swallowing when he heard the water still for a moment as she absorbed that. "But, really… when the Templars came for me after all that mess with the phylactery… you could have decided I wasn't worth the trouble." He stood then, pacing a bit closer to the screen and leaning against the wall just opposite it. "Apparently, I am worth the trouble. Considering I am usually a lot of trouble, I should be exceptionally grateful for what you've done."
"You're not nearly as much trouble as you think." Elissa chuckled, and he could hear the light splashing as she settled down comfortably in the stone tub. "And I've got a pretty good gauge on it, being quite a bit of trouble myself."
"That you are." Anders laughed, shaking his head and rubbing at his temples. "You know, when you conscripted me and started to rattle off that brutal list of side effects – I honestly believed I'd jumped from the frying pan into the fire." He looked up then, turning his face to the screen where he could see brief flashes of movement through the gap between panels. "But being a Warden is becoming almost tolerable! It's like a pleasant stroll through the park – with darkspawn!"
"I am truly pleased I could make this dream a reality for you." Elissa responded, causing the water to move around as her body shook with laughter.
"You're a giver. I sense that about you." Anders replied, laughing himself. "At any rate… I thought it was worth mentioning. Thank you, Commander. For everything."
"Anders…" Elissa said, turning him back toward her as he'd started to walk away.
"Yes?" Anders answered, feeling something in the air between them shift and uncertain how he felt about it.
"Call me, Elissa." she replied, settling back into the water once again.
Anders had convinced Elissa to actually leave her room a few hours later, taking her out for a walk around the courtyard in the sun once he'd established that Nathaniel was busy down in the archery range and had been for hours. She had some ore and a golem fragment to deliver to a delighted Wade and Herren, and some lyrium dust to hand off to Dworkin so that the mad-dwarf could begin to manufacture more high-grade explosives similar to what they'd used to destroy the pit of Broodmothers.
"Look at that!" Anders whistled, turning Elissa's eyes to his where he looked up at the statue of Andraste planted in the middle of the courtyard.
"What is your fascination with statues?" Elissa laughed, rolling her eyes. "Have you got some sort of stone fetish? I have a golem friend if you do… perhaps you'd fancy each other, if she didn't squish you."
"Wow… hmm… I'm not even sure how that would work, and I've thought about a lot of things… a lot…." Anders replied, trailing off in thought before Elissa cleared her throat and refocused him. "It's not just a statue anyway. Andraste was a real person once, before she up and married the Maker." He looked far away in thought then. "I wonder what she would have thought of the Circle of Magi – all of us forced to fight demons or be made tranquil?"
"She'd probably be confused by it." Elissa replied, looking up at the statue and thinking back on the countless conversations she'd had with Sten on similar subjects, suddenly missing the qunari more than ever.
"No doubt you're right." Anders shrugged, folding his arms over his chest. "From what I remember of the Chant, Andraste counseled men to seek their own paths to the Maker. But now the Chantry uses her words to collar us simply for being born as we are."
"They certainly seem content to twist things to their own end, I'll give you that." Elissa replied, sighing as she thought about her many issues with the Chantry and their treatment of the world in general.
"And now I'm all a-tingle." Anders quipped, smirking at her when her eyes flipped back down to him before she moved further out into the courtyard. "I mean she's quite the looker… but you've got more spirit."
"Yes, well she is far more likely to let you grope her boobs." Elissa laughed, pausing for a moment. "Do I need to wait while you cop a feel on the Maker's bride?"
"No, no… I'm all groped out when it comes to the stone variety." Anders laughed, ushering her back into motion. "Though I'd be happy to give yours a go if that's what you'd fancy."
"Oghren is right! You are a naughty, naughty mage!" Elissa barked, trying to keep herself from toppling over in laughter.
"Oh you love it! I'm on to you!" Anders replied with a wink, coming around the corner behind her and stopping when he saw a tiny little kitten licking at its paw near the back fence. "Oh, look at the cute little kitty!"
"Aw. Hello little one!" Elissa said, getting down on her knees and creeping forward with a hand outstretched – attempting to draw it closer without startling it.
The position gave Anders a good look at her curvy bottom, and he tilted his head appreciatively content to simply sit back and watch while she retrieved the cat. When she turned around again, cat in arms – he tried to pretend he hadn't been looking.
"There was a mouser in the tower named Mr. Wiggums." Anders said, reaching his hand out to scratch the kitten's head where it sat purring against Elissa's chest. "He was the only company I had when the Templars would lock me up."
"We can keep him inside, if you like." Elissa offered, passing the kitten over into his arms and watching him smile as he pet it.
"I'll call you Ser-Pounce-A lot, and you can stay in my pack when we travel!" Anders explained, pitching his voice low as he spoke to the furry little thing.
"Ser-Pounce-A lot?" Elissa laughed, moving back up the hill toward the gate with him.
"What? No good?" Anders asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"No, it's perfect." Elissa replied, beaming at him and reaching over to scratch its head.
Elissa and Anders had run into Sergeant Maverlies on their way inside, the woman relaying the discovery of an entrance into the Deep Roads beneath the rubble in Rendon Howe's old dungeon. She'd sent him off to gather Nathaniel, having no desire to speak to him herself – while she rounded up the others and gathered in the throne room.
Oghren sought her out directly as soon as he arrived, motioning her over to the side for a private conversation.
"Hey, Commander." Oghren said, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "We need to talk."
"Talk? Am I in trouble now?" Elissa asked, getting the distinct impression that Oghren was about to talk about feelings, which was never a good thing. "If this is about the whole locking myself in the room thing… I'm out now, and I'm fine."
"No. No this isn't about that. Though, do you need to talk about that? We can talk about it if you like? That is… I mean there's more wine in the cellar." Oghren stuttered, clearly needing a great deal more alcohol if Elissa were to take him up on the offer to vent.
"Oh, thank the Maker!" Elissa gasped, leaning forward and squeezing his shoulder. "No, Oghren. I'm fine with us doing what we do – tossing the occasional insult and sharing massive amounts of grain alcohol. There's no need to go changing that now."
"Good. Very good." Oghren replied, looking distinctly less like he wanted to run away. "This is about dreams. Are you having them?"
"Wait? You've been having them too?" Elissa said, completely dumbfounded that of all the people to share her vision of The Mother it would be Oghren, especially when Alistair hadn't so much as flinched.
"Aye. This one put me right off my breakfast." Oghren replied, grimacing as he remembered it. "I saw one of those vomit-smeared Broodmothers… only it had Hespith's face…"
"Hespith?" Elissa asked, realizing that it was some other kind of nightmare the dwarf was having and she was still alone in her visions of the coming storm.
"Yeah, you remember Hespith." Oghren replied, reaching for his flask and drinking heavily – passing it over to Elissa so she could do the same. "Branka was there, and she whispered it's time and then hundreds of darkspawn burst out of Hespith's body…" He cringed, watching Elissa do the same. "Then the spawn surrounded me, started asking if I'd like lemon in my tea… if I'd teach them to read and write. One of them kept asking where's the baby? That's when I woke up."
"I have dreams of darkspawn, but they aren't like that." Elissa answered, trying very hard to be supportive and not laugh at the idea of the darkspawn demanding to be parented by Oghren.
"Huh. Well I do get other dreams about darkspawn, but they're nowhere near as scary as that one!" Oghren replied, taking back his flask and moving off to join the others.
When Nathaniel made it into the room, the others were already milling about waiting for Elissa to issue her directive for the day. She stood at the back of the room behind the dais chair, arguing once again with Swiftrunner.
"I don't care what Alistair told you this time, Dastan. I need for you to go back to Denerim. He's going to need you more than I am right now." Elissa insisted, clearly frustrated that the man was refusing to listen to her once again.
"You locked yourself in your room for three days. I find it hard to believe the King has resorted to such childish extremes." Swiftrunner replied, easily meeting her glare with one of his own.
"Just go to Alistair. He was very upset when he left, and that tends to make him careless. I can't focus here if I'm worried about whether or not he's okay." Elissa insisted, reaching out to squeeze his arm.
"You can't focus here regardless. It is dangerous for you to be doing anything in this condition and you know it. You need me here to make sure you don't do anything foolish." Swiftrunner insisted, planting himself resolutely in place and refusing to budge.
"You've brought this on yourself. Remember that. I tried to ask nicely." Elissa said, crossing her arms and glaring at him. "I no longer require your services. You are free to go."
"What?" Swiftrunner hissed, taking a step forward and leaning down into her face.
"You heard me. You stood there on the floor of the Landsmeet chamber with Zevran and pledged yourself to my service, until such time when I no longer had need of you. Well, congratulations – that day has come." Elissa hissed, holding his golden eyes with her green and refusing to back down.
"You are twisting those words to mean something which I never intended!" Swiftrunner growled, reaching out to grip her shoulders in his powerful hands.
"And you are going back on your solemn vow." Elissa replied, watching it settle into him – watching him realize that he could not deny her without betraying the essence of who he was.
He stormed off a few moments later, pausing as he passed Nathaniel near the door.
"If you actually care for her as you claim to, then watch her. Watch her closely." Swiftrunner insisted, watching the exceptionally subtle nod of the archer's head as he held his eyes. "She is letting go. I can see it in her eyes. I cannot save her from this. Perhaps you will succeed where I have failed."
Nathaniel turned his eyes up to Elissa, noting that she watched them cautiously from the other end of the hall. He dropped anything he'd been thinking back behind his own walls after that, setting himself to the task of keeping her safe regardless of how she might feel about that.
Sergeant Maverlies met up with them just inside the main dungeon door, leading them down to the newly opened chasm at the very end of the winding hallways.
"Here we are. Just look at 'er." Maverlies said, peering with Elissa and the rest of her group over the edge of the drop down into the stone floor of the Deep Roads.
"I knew it led to the Deep Roads." Voldrick said, the stonemason folding his arms in pride and winking up at her. "I could smell it."
"Ah, the stink of darkspawn. What a great way to start the morning!" Anders said, patting his chest and trying to look as though he wasn't hating the very thought of going back down beneath the earth after they'd only just managed to get out the last time.
"It looks safe enough to climb down." Maverlies said, gesturing to the ropes they'd anchored off for the descent down to the cavern floor. "If you can explore those tunnels and clear them out, we'll head down there with Voldrick's masons and try to find a way to seal it so the darkspawn can't get back in."
"Alright! Down we go!" Elissa said, moving to one of the ropes and sliding over the edge.
"Good luck!" Maverlies called down to her as she started to descend.
Nathaniel could barely contain his temper as they made the long climb down, listening to the constant flirting being tossed back and forth between Elissa and the mage. The man had been almost intolerable before, but from the moment he'd been the one to retrieve her from her self-imposed quarantine – something had changed between them, and it was obvious to anyone who looked.
"How do the Templars always find you, Anders?" Nathaniel said, untying his own tether and watching the smile fall away from the mage's face as he worked on his own while Elissa and Sigrun scouted ahead.
"Incredibly angry, that's how they find me." Anders replied, tension evident in his normally relaxed posture as he realized that the archer was attempting to provoke him.
"Incredibly stupid, perhaps." Nathaniel sneered, flicking his rope to the ground when he was done. "There must be some trick to it, surely. I mean – you've managed to get out seven times but can't seem to stay hidden?"
"They began recruiting women. Pretty ones, like Elissa." Anders tossed out, watching the archer flinch when he used her name and not her title.
"She's been through a lot. It would probably be smart to back off and give her some time to recover before you attempt to use her body to warm your bed." Nathaniel hissed, leaning in to glare at him as he tossed his own rope to the side.
"Wow. You sound distinctly jealous, Nathaniel." Anders chuckled, folding his arms over his chest in glee. "What's wrong? Afraid of a little competition for our lovely Commander's affections?"
"From you? Hardly!" Nathaniel snorted, folding his own arms. "I sent The King of Ferelden packing, I can certainly handle you."
"Sent The King packing did you?" Anders replied, shaking his head. "You really don't see it do you? She's damaged. She was damaged even before you decided to go stomping around on the fragile support system she'd constructed – but now she's just grasping at straws and trying to find purchase on something that isn't going to let her down."
"And she's to count on you? A mage who runs away the very instant he's given a chance?" Nathaniel laughed rolling his eyes.
"From what I've heard, you did a good bit of running away yourself once upon a time." Anders retorted, watching the archers eyes take on a dangerous gleam as his temper reached a new level.
"You know nothing about me, mage." Nathaniel spat, fully furious.
"And you know nothing about me, Howe." Anders replied, starting to walk away but turning back with an afterthought. "You know, comparing us was the most ridiculous thing I have ever done because we honestly couldn't be more different – and here's why. You see her as an end, as a goal to accomplish, as a victory. You want to stand there and think you've won – while I'm content to keep trying, even if it never amounts to anything. She's worth it. Every second of it, every day – and if you can't see that, you don't deserve to have her – and you never will."
He turned after that, jogging off to catch up with Elissa and Sigrun and leaving Nathaniel to fume alone in the darkness while he waited for Oghren to reach the floor.
The passage fanned out in two separate directions, one looking distinctly more likely to end than the other – and so Elissa turned the group to explore that one first.
At the end they found two dead golems and the remains of a shrine to the Avaar God, Korth.
"Hey, Korth… wasn't that the name on one of those keyholes in the crypt?" Anders asked, rifling about through some nearby boxes and retrieving anything that looked like it might still be useful.
"I've got a key that says Korth!" Sigrun cried, her head popping up from a vase in the corner as she held the trinket triumphantly in the air.
"Good job!" Elissa said, winking at Anders as she moved over to retrieve the key from Sigrun. "Two more to find and we get to unlock the special door in the dungeon!" she smirked hatefully at Nathaniel as she moved beyond him and back toward the other curve of the tunnel. "See… and you thought looting couldn't be fun."
Nathaniel sighed, realizing it was going to be a very long day full of insults tossed in his general direction and scrambling to get his temper back under control. Only the dwarves didn't seem to mind him – Oghren because he was too drunk to care and Sigrun because, as Elissa had said, she fancied him.
At the other end of the tunnel, the fallen rock walls opened into the distinctive stone flooring of the Deep Roads.
"Tell me there aren't going to be more Broodmothers down there…" Anders said, trying to appear as though he wasn't ready to crawl out of his own skin at the idea.
"Probably not. There'd be a lot more yuck on the walls and floors if there were." Elissa said, reaching over to pat his back encouragingly as she moved further into the hall.
Once she hit the middle, darkspawn started to appear out of what seemed like thin air – pouring in from side chambers like vermin. They were all drones, so the number wasn't too much of a problem – it was more the unsettling knowledge that now they were sentient enough to plan and execute a concealed attack.
Elissa set the group searching the side rooms, where they recovered another of the keys required to open the odd door in the Howe Family Crypt. She headed into a long side tunnel, laughing when she came to a stop in a dead end full of glittering diamonds.
"Well, Nathaniel, it appears as though I've found your family fortune!" Elissa quipped, smirking at him when he came strolling around the corner behind her and listening from the gasps from the others as Sigrun and Anders rushed forward to pry a few out of the wall.
"It's hardly mine at this point." Nathaniel retorted, glaring at her. "This is your Keep now, remember."
"It's not mine either, it belongs to the Wardens… though, after your latest need to act out, Alistair is likely to reclaim it and then neither of us will have them." Elissa snorted, rolling her eyes "Oi. Grab whatever is loose. I'll send Voldrick back down here to excavate the rest later."
She turned then, pulling her own flask loose from her hip and drinking quite a bit out of it before proceeding up the side passage and back to the main hall. She didn't make it far before another group of darkspawn popped out of the shadows – this one complete with an Alpha Emissary.
"Bollocks!" Elissa hissed, attempting to reach for her blades before she found herself in the painful throws of a paralysis spell – screaming out loud enough to draw the attention of the others at the end of the tunnel.
"Get the caster down!" Nathaniel yelled, setting loose a spray of arrows into the massive swarm of drones as Sigrun and Oghren shot past him on their way to the Emissary.
Elissa twitched helplessly in the air between where he and Anders stood, and he shook his head at her carelessness. The Wolf had been right, she was off her game and if she wasn't careful it was going to cost her dearly.
When the last of the darkspawn had fallen, Elissa crumpled to the ground – coughing and flexing her aching muscles while Anders looked her over for any sign of permanent damage.
"What were you thinking barreling off like that?" Nathaniel yelled, doing a piss poor job of holding down his temper but not caring if it meant she'd pay more attention as a result.
"I was thinking I really needed a drink and a minute to rest." Elissa snorted, rolling her eyes and flexing her arms nonchalantly. "Thankfully that Emissary was more than happy to give me that breather while you lot took care of his friends. Thoughtful little bugger he was."
"This isn't funny, Elissa. That could have killed you! These things are smart – and I don't know about you, but I can't track them." Nathaniel continued, ranting as he tried to reason with her while she took another drink from her flask and stared blankly in his direction. "Pull yourself together and focus. You're the Warden-Commander and you're better than this."
"Oh, but you see, that's where you're wrong! This is as good as it gets. I am exactly as together as I'm ever likely to get thanks to you." Elissa chuckled, drinking some more and wandering ahead. "If you fancy leading, then lead. You've already taken everything else from me. Might as well take that and finish me off."
When Nathaniel made it around the corner and back to the long main hall, Elissa was sitting on a nearby chunk of stone with her legs crossed – obviously waiting for someone else to make a decision about how to proceed.
"Where to, Commander?" Elissa asked, lounging back against the wall and smirking bitterly up at him.
"Fine. If this is how you want it to be, I'll play." Nathaniel replied, inspecting the three paths and finding that only one wasn't blocked by too much debris to be useable. "Through here." He called, motioning to the door but seeing that no one followed – still waiting to see what Elissa was going to do.
"Sir, yes sir!" Elissa said, standing up and saluting him before she stepped through the door setting the others into motion behind her.
She waited by the wall for Nathaniel to open the portcullis that lead down to the metal doors at the end – then fell in with Oghren at the back of the group when he moved them ahead.
Nathaniel led them through the long empty hallways, passing through a small room full of Avaar sculptures that spawned several skeletons when touched and then down another long series of hallways, across a questionable looking bridge made of what appeared to be dragon bones, to a large central chamber far beneath The Keep.
"This room is old. Very old." Nathaniel noted, watching Sigrun inspecting it cautiously from the doorway at his side.
"The architecture inside isn't just dwarven. What are those big creepy things?" Sigrun asked, pointing to the huge Avaar statuary that lined the walls.
"They're part of the lovely barbarian décor that Rendon was so fond of." Elissa sneered, sauntering between them into the room to inspect the rotating metal device at the center of the chamber.
"I'm not sure that touching that is a very good idea." Anders warned, pressing through himself and trying to stop her before she did what she was aiming to do and laid her fingers against the metal.
He didn't reach her in time, and he could have sworn she winked at him as she tapped her fingers against it – sending a great rumble through the room and releasing a demon that had previously been imprisoned there.
"Oh, Rendon. You naughty, naughty man. Trapping demons in the basement. Tsk, tsk." Elissa chuckled, pulling out her sword and taking a swing at it.
Nathaniel tried to manage his temper and focus, seeing that Elissa seemed more intent on pissing him off than actually fighting anything. She swiped at the thing with her swords, but she didn't seem all that concerned about actually connecting or about moving aside when it swung back in her direction. She didn't even seem phased when it called forth a whole army of skeletons in its defense.
Swiftrunner had been exactly right to set him watching her. She wasn't just unfocused, she absolutely didn't care. Not about her directives, not about them, and certainly not about herself.
Eventually the rest of them made enough of a dent in the demon to send it retreating down another side hall, dropping the skeletons back into bone piles in its wake. Nathaniel glared at Elissa as he shouldered his bow and ushered the group into the hall behind it but she only shrugged and went back to her drinking.
They passed through several more tunnels of nothing, Anders finding an old staff and some poultices that would be of use and Elissa recovering the last key to the Crypt door in an ancient chest. It wasn't until they popped back out at the other end of the long central corridor that they encountered anything else living.
Nathaniel swallowed, seeing the large party of darkspawn waiting for them – among the mass of bodies an Alpha Emissary and a huge lumbering Ogre Commander stuck out as the primary threat.
Elissa ignored her own advice, and darted through the crowd – bypassing the caster and heading directly for the ogre in the back. She pressed down on it, twisting and darting around – luring it into one of the side chambers and cutting herself off from the rest of her companions.
Nathaniel had caught her eyes just before she ducked inside the doorway, seeing something there that chilled him to the core. She knew what she was doing. She'd separated herself intentionally from the rest of them.
Inside the room Elissa poked and prodded at the beast, working it into a frenzy as it swiped for purchase against her. When she was certain it was good and angry and capable of ripping her apart or crushing the life from her as others of his kind had attempted in the past, she dropped her blades to the floor and closed her eyes – waiting for it to act – waiting for everything to end, finally, releasing her from this unending nightmare.
Seconds passed, then minutes – and Elissa opened her eyes slowly to find the thing simply staring back at her, its head tipped quizzically to the side as it leaned in and sniffed – stretching its long clawed fingers out toward her face with a gesture that was disturbingly tender.
It was at that moment that Nathaniel came barreling through the door at the side, calling out to her and turning the attention of the very angry beast in his direction. It took the efforts of the entire group to bring the thing down – though Elissa simply leaned against the back wall until it was done and everyone started to filter back out of the room.
"What was that?" Nathaniel asked, holding her eyes as he shouldered his bow and walked over to pick up her swords from the floor.
"Nothing." Elissa answered, snatching them out of his hands and sheathing them on her back before dashing to catch up with the others as they made their way back up to The Keep.
Elissa had spoken at length with Sergeant Maverlies and Voldrick about finding a way to repair the mechanism of the old dwarven doors and seal off the tunnels against any future darkspawn invasion.
She then headed back into the basement, and worked herself down into the Crypt, anxious to try out her keys and see what Rendon Howe had kept behind his secret door.
"Do you really think it's a good idea to open these alone?" Nathaniel asked, finding her exactly where he'd thought she'd be and glad he'd made it before she managed to get the door open and release whatever it was his father had trapped in the room below.
"Aw, you're no fun, Nathaniel!" Elissa snorted, pressing the first key in and listening to the locking mechanism pop as another piece fell into place. "Don't you want to see what Daddy's got waiting behind the pretty black door?"
"This attitude isn't helping anything." Nathaniel replied, holding her eyes as she sauntered past him and down the other curve to the next keyhole.
"Who says I'm trying to help?" Elissa laughed, turning the next key and listening to more popping within the walls – brushing past him again and down the steps to the door at the end and the final keyhole.
"Is this how you're going to be now? Drunk or angry? Locking yourself in your room for days or threatening to leave me to lead without you?" Nathaniel asked, trailing behind her and stepping in front of the last keyhole so she couldn't use it without addressing him first.
"Yes, Nathaniel. This is exactly how I'm going to be. I'm going to drink, and curse, and be generally unpleasant. You have yourself to thank for that." Elissa replied, hands on her hips as she rolled her eyes at him. "Now, step aside. I want to see what the Archdemon keeps locked in his cellar!"
"My father was not the Archdemon." Nathaniel hissed, glaring at her but refusing to move.
"Temper, temper." Elissa warned, waggling her finger at him. "Are you mad because I've insulted your father again, or because that would make you demon spawn? That's fairly accurate isn't it? Demon spawn. I think it's a good fit."
"Damn it, Elissa! Are you trying to goad me? What do you want me to do here?" Nathaniel asked, shoving his fingers into his hair and falling back against the wall in frustration. "Just tell me what to do to make this better and I'll do it."
"Go. Get out. Go away." Elissa said, tilting her head at him and holding his eyes. "Well, I'm waiting."
"You don't mean that, and we both know it." Nathaniel replied, folding his arms over his chest.
"Yes I do. I meant it the first time when I let you out of that cell up above us, I meant it again after you ruined my life by sending Alistair away, and I mean it now." Elissa insisted, folding her arms in response.
"Well, I'm not going." Nathaniel said, hearing her speak but seeing how little she actually believed that request communicated in her eyes.
"Fine. I'll go. Perhaps I'll disappear into the Deep Roads never to be seen again." Elissa said, trying to shove him aside forcefully.
"I'd just follow you. Avoiding this isn't going to make things better, Elissa." Nathaniel insisted, resisting the urge to chuckle as she tried to move his bulky body out of her way but failed miserably. "If it's over, then fine – but we aren't going to know unless you actually admit you still have feelings for me."
"I've got feelings for you, alright." Elissa huffed, shoving at him and stalking away in frustration. "They're all distinctly unpleasant and involve poking you, many times with very sharp objects."
"I'm sure quite a few of them do, but not all of them. You can't lie anymore. You kissed me back up on the ramparts. You wanted me every bit as much as I wanted you. You can keep telling yourself it isn't true but that doesn't change anything." Nathaniel insisted, striding over to her, not seeing the smile on her face when he did exactly what she wanted and revealed the keyhole until she'd darted past him and slammed the last key into place.
"You crafty little bitch." Nathaniel spat, smirking at her in irritation but respecting how well she played him all the same. "Don't you dare turn that! I'm not done talking and we don't know what's down there."
"Keep talking if you want." Elissa shrugged, turning the key and smiling when the door popped open. "I'm going in."
She popped down the stairs after that, forcing him to chase behind her – goosebumps covering his arms when something brushed past them both and shot into the room below.
"This is a bad idea." Nathaniel insisted, trying to reason with her though he knew it was pointless.
"Bringing you here was a bad idea, but I did that anyway." Elissa replied, listening to him sigh behind her and chuckling at it. "May as well keep at it now."
"What is that?" Nathaniel asked as they reached the bottom, a thick smoky haze covering the entire floor of the room – making it difficult to make anything out but a few sarcophagi and a couple of Avaar statues in the haze.
"Rendon, you crafty bastard… what are you up to now?" Elissa asked, stretching her foot out onto the floor and moving into the center of the room with Nathaniel at her side. "You really don't have to try too hard you know. Your son is doing a bang up job of breaking me without your help."
"Elissa, is that really necessary?" Nathaniel sighed, suddenly realizing he'd left his bow up in the Crypt and feeling really freaked out about it.
"What? I'm just talking. I thought you wanted to talk." Elissa laughed, moving over to open one of the sarcophagi and get a look at what was inside.
"No, don't touch…" Nathaniel started, hearing the door at the top of the stairs slam shut and pressing his eyes closed when he realized they were now sealed inside. "…anything."
"Oops!" Elissa shrugged, tucking her arms behind her back and waiting for whatever was going to happen to happen.
A few moments later several skeletons started to piece themselves together from the shadows on the floor – assembling three heavily armored Avaar warriors.
Nathaniel pressed himself against her back, drawing his daggers and feeling Elissa pull loose her swords when her back settled against his own.
"This is not good." Nathaniel asserted, rotating with her to try and get a read on the approaching enemies.
"Yes, well demonic entities in the basement rarely are." Elissa snipped, distinctly more unsettled by the predicament than she might have been willing to admit.
"I asked you to wait. Why couldn't you just wait?" Nathaniel hissed, swatting out his blade to test the reaction of one of the warriors and dodging when it swiped back and continued to lumber forward.
"Because I was in a mood and I wanted to see what was in here." Elissa replied, swatting at the one in front of her then dodging it as well. "And you goaded me."
"I goaded you!" Nathaniel snorted, and she could feel the irritation in his reaction. "You've done nothing but prod at my temper since I found you this morning – you're acting like a petulant child!"
"Oh, I'm the child here! That's rich, Nathaniel. Considering you started a pissing contest with Alistair like I'm some sort of prize to be won. You should hardly be the one pointing fingers here." Elissa retorted, cringing back against him when the warrior in front of her took a particularly brutal swipe.
"Perhaps now isn't the best time to be arguing." Nathaniel insisted, trying to shift them into a position that would put all three monsters on one side – pressing against her hip as he settled them against the wall opposite the door. "I can table this until we get out, can you?"
"If we get out." Elissa snorted, watching Nathaniel glare at her. "What? Even you have to admit the odds aren't looking very good at the moment."
"And whose fault is that?" Nathaniel hissed, blocking a sword.
"I thought we weren't going to argue!" Elissa replied, blocking her own.
"You're right. We need a plan." Nathaniel said, eying them carefully. "I assume these are like any of the others – we just need to get at the head… only they're in full plate suits."
"We could treat them like golems." Elissa suggested, her breasts pressing into Nathaniel's arm as she dodged one sword and swiped out against another.
"What do you mean? We can't shoot electricity at them unless there's something you haven't been telling me?" Nathaniel replied, trying not to be aroused by the pressure of her against him when she moved in front and settled her hips back against his own to press back two swords from the warriors attack.
"I could have sworn I just heard you calling me a liar a few moments ago. Wouldn't that mean there were a great many things I haven't been telling you?" Elissa retorted, fighting down a groan when he wrapped one of his arms around her waist and held her against him so that she could keep her balance well enough to kick out at the encroaching skeletons.
"Not helping!" Nathaniel hissed, losing the battle and giving himself over to the smell of her, to her warm body wiggling against him.
It was absurd to feel like this – trapped in a basement and fighting for their lives – but it was also intoxicating and darkly seductive the way they were forced to move together simply to survive.
"You're right… I've got to focus…" Elissa said, shrinking back against him again with another sword strike and feeling his breath puff out against her neck. "Oh, Maker… don't breathe on my neck like that again or I'm just going to fall over and that won't save us at all."
"Where do you want me to breathe?" Nathaniel asked, feeling her body start to shake and knowing she was just as turned on as he was in spite of the situation. "I don't have a lot of options here."
"I'm going to try something. I need you to go with it, alright?" Elissa said, turning to face him after kicking the lumbering bodies far enough away to give them a moment.
"Whatever you want." Nathaniel replied, the waves of desire pulsing through him making it distinctly hard to focus on anything other than how close her mouth was and how much he wanted to kiss her again even though that would likely be the last thing either of them ever did.
"Give me your foot as an anchor. When I say three flip me up and I'm going to try to come down behind them and give us an advantage." Elissa said, waiting for him to do as she asked – and sliding her boot into his hand when he did. "One, two, three…"
He popped her up after that, watching her tumble up and come down behind the skeletons – catching his eyes with a smile as she got her footing and jumped on the closest one – shoving her dagger into the gap between its helm and its chest plate until she pried it loose and popped off the head sending the body crumbling to the floor.
"Your turn!" Elissa cried out, keeping one busy while Nathaniel charged one against a wall and pinned it – popping another helm loose with a grin.
"Clever girl." Nathaniel quipped, heading over to help her finish off the third by prying its head loose as she held its body stable with her sword.
He tossed the head to the ground with his daggers, reaching over to grab her and tug her into his arms – pressing her against his body and leaning in to claim her mouth again. She dipped her head to the side – preventing him from completing the journey.
"No. I can't do this. I need… I need to…" Elissa said, her voice weak and her body shaking as she took in a long shuddering breath and tried to fight away her desire for the man pressing against her.
"Stop fighting it, Elissa. Just give in. I know you want me as badly as I want you… I can hear it, I can feel it…" Nathaniel insisted, tracing his hands over her armor covered body and running his lips against the shell of her ear and down onto the bare skin of her neck. "I can see it in your eyes. We're meant to be. I love you."
"But I love Alistair." Elissa said, feeling it break them both – watching as Nathaniel pulled away and searched her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I do."
"I believe that you do. I believe that you care for him very much, and I don't question that. But you aren't in love with him, and you can't tell me that some part of you isn't still in love with me." He whispered, tracing the edges of her mouth with his thumbs.
"I loved you for so long. It killed me when you left, and I thought I'd never recover. That I'd die like that - broken and alone and craving nothing but you. And then I met Alistair and everything changed. He was so good, and kind, and he loved me so much it hurt. He put me back together when I thought it wasn't possible and he showed me what it was to really be loved. You only showed me what it was like to lose."Elissa replied, watching him break with every word she said.
"I want you, Nathaniel. I can't deny that... my body reaches out for you even when my mind fights against it. Maybe that's the punishment for my many sins, to always wonder what it would be like to take you to my bed... to give in to the sensation of your hands on my skin... to feel you moving inside of me... but desire changes nothing." he groaned and leaned into her, grazing her jaw and neck with his teeth before she pushed him back again. "You are poison. You are the bitter pill I will never swallow. I can't let you in again, I wouldn't survive it. So I am telling you again, this - whatever this is between us - it can never happen."
He let her go then, backing against the wall and watching her run up the stairs away from him once again.