Disclaimer: Bioware owns all, except what I most humbly imagine. 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 Tethras (from DA:2). In my version of events, Varric meets "The Hero" (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: And here we come to The Mother. :)

Muse Music: Glass by The Anix.

Thanks to my readers, followers and reviewers and to my wonderful betas artemiskat and Snarkoleptic.

Happy reading!

-Frayed One

Chapter Forty-One: A Poison Wind

It took months of systematically plying people with alcohol, good deeds, or the latest friend fiction circulating the streets of Kirkwall to finally find someone willing to share any information about the final face off against The Mother and what came afterward. Even then it came from the source I least expected, and to be perfectly honest, the one from whom I least wanted it to.

Of all The Hero's companions, Oghren was never one that could be called a conversationalist. The Drunk's contributions to previous fact finding discussions had involved inappropriate sexual banter, various gas emissions, and the quickly refused offer to "let the ass gryphon grab some air" if I needed to get a look at one. When I went to him with this question, it was the last act of a man desperate not to have to take a trip directly to the source. As the duration of her time in Kirkwall increased, The Hero had become increasingly volatile, and testing her patience with such an invasive question was not a risk I wished to take unless left with no other options.

"Ye're scared of 'er, that's yer problem." Oghren chuckled into his ale, the damp whiskers of his moustache adding extra curl to his snarky smile.

"And you're not?"

The Drunk was irritating and apparently far more observant than most would give him credit for, and I tried to restrain my own temper as he stifled a snort of laughter against his sleeve and brought mug to rest against the table.

"See, what ya gotta understand 'bout the Commander is that she's always had kind of a menacin' air about 'er." Oghren smiled, taking in a long smug breath as he leaned back in his chair. "Gives those of us who've known 'er the longest an advantage when it comes to bein' scared of the shadows."

"So, you expect me to believe that there has never – in all the years you've known her – been a time when, even for a moment, you were actually afraid of her?" I settled myself down at his table, waving the barmaid over with an ale of my own. The Drunk had given me my window, and I wasn't about to let it close without taking a shot at finding the answers I needed to have the complete story of what had happened at Drake's Fall.

"I know what ye're getting' at. Ye haven't exactly been subtle-like with yer investigetin'… investicati… with yer pokin' around." He glossed over his inability to produce the word he had originally aimed for with another long swig of ale.

"Four of you were down there with her—"

"Five." It was a single word, but the look in The Drunk's glossy eyes left no doubt to whom it was he referred.

"Fine, but I'm not ready to seek out that source." I pushed past it myself, angling again for the answers I desired. "Of the four of you I am willing to talk to, three have been completely unwilling to address it at all. With Blondie, maybe that's not so strange considering their past – but the hesitation from The Assassin and The Archer? That's not normal. Something happened down there."

Oghren dodged my eyes, suddenly reluctant to share any sort of visual contact. I was getting to the root of it, but I'd have to tread carefully.

"Did she sprout horns? Start speaking in tongues? What did she do?"

"Damn near killed us all, that's what she did." Oghren sat down the now empty mug, and pulled loose his hip flask for something stronger.

"I've heard any number of stories about her threatening to kill, or attempting to kill any number of your company for one reason or another. That didn't seem to matter much until this instance. What was so different?" I watched The Drunk struggle to decide what, if anything, he intended to say – and that hesitation spoke volumes, as did the strain etched into his normally lax features.

"This weren't like those other times. This… before the Commander was gone, somethin' else was runnin' the show. This time—" He swallowed down the end of those words with several pulls from his hip flask, drawing the courage to return to that place from the burn in the alcohol. "This time, she was there alright – she was The Beast."

It was the first time I had ever heard anyone use that title to describe her, and the impact of who it was to say it, was more powerful than what was said. The story he would tell of the events in Drake's Fall would make it clear, once and for all, why there were very few people in Thedas who would dare to cross the Warden-Commander.

The descent into the old ruins brought back memories of those final tunnels beneath Kal'Hirol with a coating of virulent corruption coating the walls and floors around them so thick they seldom found themselves in contact with stone. Anders passed anxious eyes across the group, unsurprised to find no one as unsettled as he was cut off from the sun and sky and drifting ever deeper beneath the earth in search of what could easily be the end of them all. Halfway down the spiraling staircase of the first tower, Elissa waved them to a stop with a flick of her wrist and turned to speak to the group in a hurried whisper.

"There is a swarm at the base of these stairs; drones, at least one Alpha, an ogre and… something else…" She pried up the edge of one of her gauntlets and drew each of her longswords across a now open wound in her forearm, coating each blade in her now caustic blood. "The ogre is likely to be armored, and should be the primary target. Keep any casters under control or put them down for good. Are we ready?"

She waited for the muttered assurances of her companions before edging herself into the shadows and concealing her approach as best she could. Zevran slipped past her, dropping to the floor of the lower chamber undetected, and as soon as Oghren touched down with a bellow that drew all focus to him, he took out the Alpha with a few perfectly placed strikes of his poisoned blades.

Nathaniel picked off most of the drones that Oghren's low, languid axe swings didn't hew open in the first few seconds of battle, refocusing his efforts on finding any sort of weakness in the armored ogre's silverite covering when the last of them had fallen. The unknown quantity turned out to be another of The Mother's Disciples, and a powerful caster at that, so Anders rotated his healing and rejuvenation spells with anything he could offer to hold the creature in place until that threat could be addressed.

Elissa remained concealed for as long as possible, allowing The Messenger to occupy the ogre while she stalked around it looking for an opportunity to weaken its armor in a spot that would render it an easy kill. It didn't take long for the creature to pound forward against the ground, leaving its back exposed long enough for Elissa to coat the area that lay just above its heart. Anders cringed as he watched her blood eat through the metal as though it was nothing more than parchment, eventually sending the ogre into a frantic panic as it ran out of armor and began to carve into its flesh.

As Zevran finished off the lone disciple, rendered helpless by Anders' well-placed spells, Elissa capitalized on the opening she had created – shoving both of her longswords through the gaping hole in the ogre's back plate and into its heart. Two twists, and it was only a matter of retrieving the blades once the beast had dropped to the ground, an action that Elissa seemed to relish as she perched atop the creature like a huntress and pried her steel loose from muscle and bone.

"What is this place?" Anders wondered aloud, inspecting the runes on the wall in an attempt to calm his racing mind.

"The ruins are Tevinter, though I could only guess to their purpose," Elissa responded, hopping down from the ogre's corpse and strolling over to Zevran's side. "These markers in the floor are far too clearly defined to be purely decoration. Any idea what they're for?"

"This entire tower appears to be some sort of mechanism," Zevran responded, crouching down to inspect the markers with a closer eye. "I would wager these indentations are intended to hold whatever powered it, a gem or a crystal perhaps, but this is merely speculation."

"Possibly something like this?" Nathaniel tossed a large chunk of golden crystal in The Assassin's direction.

"Something exactly like this." Zevran smiled as he slid the first stone into place, listening to the grinding snap as he turned it into the appropriate position.

"Where did you find that?" Elissa asked, curious eyes inspecting Nathaniel as though she could read an answer before he supplied it.

"Took it off that Alpha. There could be others here; I hadn't checked."

The statement set the group to motion, searching for similar stones among the dead or lodged away in the muck that covered most of the ruins. Only Anders hesitated, wondering if reactivating one of the magister's old play toys was the wisest idea.

"Does no one else see the folly in activating a mechanism we know nothing about?" The Mage's words fell on deaf ears, as those finding crystals passed them over Zevran to be settled into the correct sites. "We have no idea what this thing even does. It could just as easily blow up and kill us all as it could offer any aid."

"From what I've seen of Tevinter technology, this is most likely either a weapon or a defensive node of some sort," Elissa said, passing the last of the necessary power crystals over into Zevran's hands with no hesitation.

"An' look at it this way, Sparklefingers. If she does blow, she'll probably take us an' all those critters right along with 'er. Those mad mages weren't nothin' if not fans of a big bang, if ya get ma drift." Oghren chuckled as he elbowed Anders' leg, folding his arms and settling in to watch the tower come to life.

There was a low but audible hum as the mechanism regained power, and the Wardens watched as a steady glow bled out of the crystals and lit the chamber around them, but nothing else happened.

"I feel as though we've been cheated, my Warden," Zevran said, pushing up to stand at Elissa's side.

"What do you say we go and sate that disappointment with the blood of those who stand against us?" The quip was almost jovial as it fell from her lips, and the smile that accompanied it unnerved even Zevran, who had thought such things more times than he could count, but he hid those emotions well beneath the mimicking smile that curled across his face.

"Such sweet nothings you whisper, my darling," the elf cooed, leaning in close to Elissa's ear to prevent her from seeing the look of concern he shared with The Archer before following her out to dash across the bridge that would take them into the next tower.

Waves of the childer grubs hatched forth from cocoons and set upon them as they passed across the long narrow bridge, and several groups of adult childer assailed them as they made their way down the winding steps of the second tower and cleared the chamber at the bottom. It was another Tevinter mechanism, so the group set to work locating the crystals that would power it, while Elissa pressed the edges of her senses in an attempt to get a read on the signature she'd been seeking since she detected it far above in the Dragonbone Wastes.

"You do not have to strain yourself, Grey Lady. I am here." The Architect hovered in from the shadows of a ruined ledge, sending everyone to arms, everyone save Elissa and The Messenger who stood unconcerned in his presence. "I owe you an… apology… I intended to explain myself when last we met. But Fate intervened, as she is so often wont to do."

"You experimented on me. You stripped me down, tied me to an altar, and bled me. Give me a reason, any reason, why I shouldn't end our conversation here." Elissa's voice was calm, but the threat behind her words was fully intended, and even The Architect could read it.

"If you kill me, you will never have the answers you seek. I am in a rather… unique… position to both understand your condition, and aid you in learning to master it rather than continuing your foolish attempt to suppress your natural strengths." The Architect ignored the muttered disagreement from her companions, focusing his attention on the only person in the room with which he was concerned. "I stripped you to tend to your injuries. I bled you because I needed to understand why your blood was… different… from the others before you. And I restrained you merely to prevent the misunderstanding that occurred with the rest of your order."

"Yeah… the sort of misunderstandin' that ends with a obstac… an obstic… a soddin' room full of dead bodies!" Oghren's words were jumbled, but thick with aggravation, and he made his way closer to Elissa's side with his axe at the ready. "Uh-huh… I get those sometimes."

Elissa held Oghren at bay with an outstretched palm, waiting for him to relax before she turned her attention back to The Architect, anxious to get to any information he could provide them.

"Is that what you think happened at The Keep? Some sort of misunderstanding?" Elissa's snort was derisive, and the hard lines of her body as she folded her arms over her chest did nothing to soften the weight of that emotion. "What I bore witness to was nothing short of an assault. I don't see how that could be considered any sort of misunderstanding."

"I sent The Withered to ask for the Grey Wardens' help. I should have anticipated that you might view our approach as an attack," the Architect offered, raising clawed hands in supplication as he worked to diffuse Elissa's steadily rising temper before it spiraled out of control. He was walking the delicate margin between her oath to end his kind, and her personal need to learn and master what she was becoming, and he knew this.

"I met the one you call The Withered. He was holding my Seneschal at the point of his blade on our ramparts while the rest of your forces ran rampant slaughtering anything moving without hesitation. That seems an odd way to go about requesting our aid." She tapped her foot impatiently, wondering if The Architect would ever simply be forthcoming with his answers. "Speaking of which, you've never explained what it was that brought you to us seeking help in the first place. How could Grey Wardens ever have anything but death to offer your kind?"

"My kind… yes, that is the heart of it… for you see my kind – as you call them – has ever been driven to seek out the Old Gods. This is our very nature… and when we find one, a new Blight is begun. Each time there is a Blight, the darkspawn attack the surface and your kind fights back until we are defeated." The Architect laughed low and eerie, hovering away in what Elissa could only assume to be his version of pacing, before turning back in her direction. "I seek to break this cycle, only to do so – I must free my brethren of their compulsion – and for that, I require Grey Warden blood."

"Why Wardens' blood specifically?" Nathaniel came to stand directly at Elissa's side, far too uncomfortable with the relaxed exchange to remain at any distance for longer than he already had.

"In order to become what you are, you consume the blood of my kind. You… transform. Similarly, we must transform." The Architect's explanation was simple, logical even, and his measured tone made it clear he found no flaw in his reasoning. "I have created a version of your Joining that uses the blood of Grey Wardens. You take the taint into yourselves, while we take your resistances. In that way, my brethren are freed. In the Wardens' blood lies the key to resisting the call of the Old Gods."

"I like my blood where it is." Anders moved forward now, seeing that Elissa teetered on the edge of actually listening to this monster. "In my veins."

"If this will stop the Blights, isn't a bit of blood worth it?" The Architect's temper rose as he watched her allies stand against him, refusing to see the logic in his arguments. "Isn't putting an end to the darkspawn threat the ultimate goal of your order? Ending our search for the Old Gods neutralizes any threat we pose to the surface world. Your task would be done. Your vigilance rewarded."

"Even if I agreed with your logic, I'm not certain that your serum is working. Some of these sentient darkspawn seem intelligent, like you and The Messenger, but others… others are insane, and something about your tonic has amplified the virulence of the taint within them. Surely you see I could not allow failures such as this to roam free." Elissa folded her arms behind her back and began to pace the boundaries of the room as her mind churned to process the new information she had been given.

"Once the call has been silenced, the darkspawn think for themselves. They speak; they act, and like any sentient being. Some of them react poorly to being cut off from all that they have ever known. Their evolution is flawed, and they rage against me. The Mother leads them, gathers them to stop my research as she seeks to stop your order." The Architect drifted into Elissa's path, bringing her strides to a stop and forcing her to acknowledge him once again. "I cannot defeat The Mother alone, and I cannot free those that remain enslaved to the call unless she is defeated. Our paths lead to the same end."

"My Warden, I think you should consider what it is this… Architect… is requesting of you." Zevran's eyes never left The Architect as he made his own way forward to insist that his voice be heard.

"Only I can give you want you need. I can teach you to master your talents, to harvest them and use them to aid your cause, rather than cower in fear of the changes burning their way through your blood." The Architect could sense his hold on Elissa's will running like sand through his fingers, and so he made one last effort to pull her back in, dangling the very thing he knew she desperately wanted just outside of her grasp. "All I ask for in return is tolerance of the goals I seek to achieve, and a small amount of a Warden's blood when my supplies run low – never enough to do harm, only so much as I can harvest without harming the vessel."

"And should I restrict this harvest to my personal vessel… would the terms of this alliance remain acceptable to you?" Elissa made the offer without flinching, as she had done so in the past standing toe to toe with Avernus in his tower.

"No, Elissa! Not again!" Anders darted forward, but she stopped him with a glare, and with the gleam in her eyes he knew the battle had been lost before he even started to fight.

"This would be more than acceptable. Any Warden's blood would do, but your blood, Grey Lady is… exceptional. I have never seen another of its kind in all my years of research." The Architect nodded his head low, a victorious smile curving up the side of his mouth that was not held immobile with scars.

"This is madness, Elissa. Listen to reason! You are bargaining with a darkspawn! One who kidnapped and bled you, who bled us all!" Anders made one final plea, noting that all of her other companions had fallen silent in the face of her resolute intention to put herself directly in harm's way once again regardless of the consequences.

"Darkspawn or not, there is a logic to his method that I cannot refute. As a Grey Warden I am driven by the need to prevent the Blight; to keep the darkspawn from doing harm. If a peaceful resolution can be found, countless lives will be saved in the process. I'm sorry, Anders. I have to do what is right for Thedas. In the end that is all that matters." Her decision had been made, and as she stepped forward to extend her hand in The Architect's direction, all around her could feel the world shifting and found themselves struggling to balance against it.

"It is done." The Architect released her hand slowly, reluctant to end the brief contact between them, restricted though it was. "There is one more thing I can offer you. A gift, if you will."

Elissa watched as he extended his other hand, uncurling his claw like fingers to reveal a long dark vial not so dissimilar from the one she had taken in Avernus' lab when all of this began. She reached over to take it, inspecting it for a second before removing the cork to examine it for any noticeable traces of poison.

"How do I know this won't kill me?" Elissa wanted the answers he could provide so badly she could taste it, and the very idea that she could save so many lives simply by offering up a little more of herself in exchange was one she was hard-pressed to pass up, but trust did not come easily – and The Architect had proven himself more foe than friend in the past.

"I suppose you don't, though it would be quite silly of me to stand here fighting for your hand in… alliance… only to kill you once I had it, would it not?" The Architect waited, noting that still she did not drink, before offering further explanation. "It is merely another concoction, not terribly dissimilar from the one your compatriot had you drink years before. It will unlock new potential within your blood while allowing you more reasonable control over the aspects of those changes that you would deem undesirable."

Elissa hesitated a moment more, briefly turning to meet Nathaniel's eyes when she felt a pulse of concern echo through the conduit she shared with him, before tossing it back in one thick mouthful. Just as before it burned, and just as before it brought her writhing to her knees, attempting to swallow a pained scream as the toxins wormed their way into her blood, commingling with those that had already taken root there.

When she opened her eyes after the wave had passed, Nathaniel was at her side, anchoring her arm around his broad shoulders to get her back on her feet. Anders stepped forward to heal the cuts in her palm where the glass of the vial had sliced through leather and into flesh when the muscles in her hand constricted around it. She could see that he was furious, though he said nothing.

"Thank you, Grey Lady. I realize this was a leap of faith, and the implications of that for one such as you. I hope that I can prove to you and your allies that I am worthy of your trust." If he was looking for acceptance in the eyes of her allies, he would find none, but it was early and Elissa's influence on those around her was strong.

"How far beneath us has The Mother made her nest?" Elissa asked, pulling herself free from Nathaniel as her focus returned and flexing the last bits of tension out of her muscles as the new concoction continued to wind through her blood.

"At the very bottom, I'm afraid." The Architect trailed behind her as she strode over to look across the next expanse of bridge to the third tower. "I cannot approach her physically. Her children protect her from my powers. But if you continue to activate the nexus as you proceed through the towers, when you reach her I will offer you all the support that I can. You have my promise."

"I will hold you to that," Elissa assured him, her gaze threatening as she turned to him one last time before moving out onto the bridge where he could not follow.

The impact of The Architect's gift could be seen in Elissa almost immediately, and those who trailed behind her were forced to follow at a distance rather than risk themselves to the power unleashed in her that she no longer fought to contain.

Wave after wave of drones, alphas, massive armored ogres and the most powerful of The Mother's disciples rained down upon them, all followed by the near-endless hatching of the childer from egg sacs and cocoons coating every surface the lower they descended into the bowels of the ruin.

Anders tossed back a third potion, fighting against the lyrium poisoning he could feel rising in his mind as he struggled to keep up with the pace Elissa had set for them. He could see the others tiring, though they fought against allowing it to show, but Elissa danced ahead of them – a blur of steel and leather flickering from one target to the next so quickly one could almost lose sight of her if they didn't know where to look.

A third and fourth tower activated, the company finally set their feet on the lowest level of the ruins and made ready to enter the chamber that no doubt held the mother's lair. Elissa hung back a moment, passing a large round flask into Zevran's hands. The liquid inside it flared and glowed a bright orange and warmed the glass almost to uncomfortable levels.

"Ah, one last gift, my darling? You shouldn't have." Zevran's usual flirtations came across as labored and tense in the face of her latest decision, but if Elissa noticed this, she did not acknowledge it.

"The newest project completed by Dworkin the Mad, just in time for this little vacation." She winked at him, readying her blades once more before sharing one final glance at the threshold to the final chamber. "If there is even the smallest chance we may not be able to win by conventional methods, then you are to use that to burn it all, are we clear?"

"But, my Warden—"

"No discussion. The Mother cannot live to make more of her children. This ends here, one way or another. By blade or by fire, neither she nor her progeny must leave here alive. Are we clear?" Her gaze made it clear she would accept no further argument, and so Zevran simply nodded, sliding the flask into his pack and hoping he would never need to use it.

Elissa could sense the countless number of The Mother's minions lurking in the shadows of the great room as she strode across the floor, though none of them moved forward to engage her company or to prevent them from moving closer to their matron. Low laughter bubbled up from The Mother's bloated bare chest as her face finally tilted up allowing her to gaze into the eyes of her enemy at long last.

"And now all the pieces fall into place. The Grey Lady comes, favorite of The Father, instrument of his wrath!" Elissa held The Mother's eyes without fear, noting the spread of the crimson color out from her iris across the whites of her eyes, and wondering how long it would be before her own eyes turned in that direction. "But The Father, he is just a shadow… lingering… for my children, they love me, they protect me."

As though he was called, a translucent vision of The Architect flickered to life at Elissa's side, turning its attention immediately to The Mother. "I have told you many times, Mother… I am not The Father… I am merely The Architect."

"The titles we give ourselves do not change what we are! Not for me, no… not for you, or your Grey Lady." The Mother hissed the words out venomously, her fury growing even with the perception that The Architect was nearby. "You took away the beautiful music… left us with nothing!"

"It was a mistake to free you. It has left you with only madness. I am truly sorry." Elissa could hear the sincerity in those words, and imagined were she able to see The Architect's eyes; the despair in them at having harmed one he only ever meant to free could be read there just as easily.

"What's done is done. We cannot change the past, we can only seek to protect the future." Elissa set her resolve, turning her gaze from the flickering projection of The Architect back to The Mother. "You, Mother, are an abomination. You have attacked my people and me directly. Your threat ends here."

"Yes, yes… you have wished for my death for many nights, this The Mother knows. But, before you claim your prize, The Mother would have you know the truth that The Father keeps hidden from your eyes." Elissa saw a twitch in the image at her side, but could not decipher whether it was in reaction to The Mother's words, or simply a fluctuation in transmission. "The Mother would have the Grey Lady know that it was The Father who began the Blight! You seek the source of the Archdemon, the one who brought all our kind to the surface? Well there he stands, at your side, forging an alliance when it was he who brought this war to your kind all along."

"Well, paint me green and call me a turnip." Oghren snorted, not at all prepared for that turn of events, and suddenly uncertain who it was he should be arming himself to fight against.

"Ah, there it is then… unfortunate." The Architect did not try to broach an argument against The Mother's accusations, he simply sighed and offered the story of his past with the hope it would suffice for a time. "It was me. I found the Old God, Urthemiel. But I did not wish another Blight. I tried to attempt my Joining. I hoped that my success would free all darkspawn from the chains that held them; that it would unravel the curse from its very source. But I was unlucky."

"Did you, even for a moment, consider the repercussions of your actions?" The words were out before Elissa could consider the irony of their source, but even with the acknowledgement that she would do nothing less to reach her own goals, she waited to hear his answer.

"Is it not the way of the Grey Wardens to do what must be done in the name of combating the Blight? Do not you yourself readily sacrifice body and blood in pursuit of what you call the greater good?" It was exactly the answer Elissa would have given in his position, and exactly the one he'd known he must provide in order to keep her from being swayed again from his cause. "The Blight is a menace, both for your people and mine. To end it requires sacrifice and risk. We take what we can onto our own shoulders; it is what leaders do. But there are times when a single sacrifice is not enough."

The Mother could see her words had fallen on deaf ears. For whatever reason, this Warden saw a similarity in The Architect that would not allow her to be lured from his side now that her decision had been made. "Begone, shadow! You cannot harm The Mother any more than you already have!"

With a wave of her diseased fingers The Architect's image flickered and faded away, turning Elissa's focus once again to the monster in front of her.

"Did you think to turn me with that revelation?" Elissa paced closer to The Mother, the concoction pulsing away in her blood, pushing her to end this fight one way or another. "Nothing has changed, Mother. I know what you are. I know your plans to decimate the Wardens. You will not leave here alive."

"Oh, The Mother knows your ways, Grey Lady, just as you know hers. You will not let her be, no… not after what she has done." The Mother writhed, laughter shaking through the grey flesh of her body and crackling in the air. "So it must end. It must all come crashing down."

"Then by all means, Mother, let us end it."

The Mother screamed in rage, launching a wave of tentacles up out of the ground as a large swarm of childer advanced from the shadows. After that it was chaos. When one wave of tentacles would go down, The Mother would sprout more. When a clutch of childer had been cut down, another would hatch forth from the eggs and cocoons that lined the walls in the hundreds.

The Architect offered what help he could, burning off large segments of The Mother's forces with a well-placed fireball or coating the full company in a healing wave, but the onslaught was endless and eventually even The Architect was out of tricks. Zevran had been taken down by one of the tentacles several minutes ago, and Oghren panted from the efforts of holding back the advancing masses after dragging the elf out of harm's way. Nathaniel had long run out of arrows and now kept the advancing ranks of childer from taking both he and the completely drained Anders down beneath them. The Messenger lay unconscious behind them, alive but forgotten in the face of much greater dangers.

Elissa scanned the room, knowing she was out of options, before turning to Anders one last time. "Remember your promise!" Her words echoed across the chamber as she stood, closing her eyes and giving herself over to the thing that lived within her.

"Promise? What promise?" Nathaniel's voice shook as he turned in Anders' direction.

Anders couldn't be sure whether it was anger or fear that shook The Archer's words, but he took no chances, pulling forth the last vestiges of his dwindling resources to drop the man with a sleep spell strong enough to keep him out while Anders weaved their way back out of the ruins as he'd said he would do.

"You should come now!" Anders called out to Zevran, Oghren and The Messenger who was slowly coming to at his side. "It's over. There is nothing more we can do here!"

Zevran started to argue, but Elissa's voice – or perhaps the tone running beneath it – silenced him before any words could pass his lips.

"Go. Now." Her eyes were gone to darkness as her longswords clattered to the ground, and a crimson haze began to swirl around her as the blood seeping forth from the countless wounds in her body seemed to evaporate into the air. "Run!"

Everyone sat in horrified fascination as Elissa moved slowly in The Mother's direction, watching the darkening cloud grow larger with each step she took. The childer that advanced and made contact with it, fell to the ground gasping and clawing their chests and faces as the caustic properties of her blood burned them alive inside and out, and even The Mother's tentacles flinched away from it, the gray flesh dropping away in large chunks wherever it had come in contact.

Elissa did nothing to contain it, so it flooded the nearly sealed chamber like wildfire, reaching out smoky tendrils toward her companions before they could regain their senses and clamber out of range. Zevran choked and stumbled, righting himself against Oghren's shoulder, and turning terrified eyes up to watch The Messenger aid in bearing Nathaniel's dead weight out of the room and up the first long staircase.

"Move!" Zevran yelled, tossing Dworkin's flask through the door behind him and watching the remaining eggs nearest the door dissolve in flame.