Note: Sorry for the mispelled words and the like. I wasn't able to read this because I was rushing.

Two Hours Later

By the time we reach the end of the werewolves' lair all of us are beaten up and exhausted. Leliana has scrapes lining her back; a deep puncture wound in her shoulder; and a tooth lodged into he meat of her arm. Morrigan has a twisted ankle; a banged up arm; and a few fingers jammed into their sockets. Duncan is heavily limping; has a deep bite mark in his hip; and is missing a tooth. My own wounds consist of a deep gouge in my neck; a blacked eye; and a broken nose. Every single one of us has been knocked out at least once and I only had a single healing pack, so it went to Leliana because she was the first to go down.

Duncan has a wrenched hind leg; Morrigan has concussion and is deafened; and I have a constantly bleeding wound, crushed arm, and torn jugular. Now all of us are resting outside the last door into the werewolves' lair. A few of them tried to parlay with us, but my sword quickly ended that. I'd attempted to open the door, but now my wounds are causing me severe pain. I gingerly bring my hand up and touch my heavily bruised neck. Morrigan chuckles while leaning against her staff.

"Looks like one of us has been going down more than the others.". I offer her a weak snarl while clinging to my swelling neck.

"One of us is a warrior who's been fighting in close combat instead of from a distance.". Morrigan glares and scoffs, then falls silent. I remove my hand from my neck and try to push myself off of the ground. I'm about halfway up when I find myself back on my ass on the unforgiving ground. I try to push myself up again, and this time Leliana grabs my hands and heaves me up. I briefly rest my wet forehead against her shoulder and whisper my thanks into her ear. The rogue pats my back and whispers sweet encouragements back to me.

"It'll be fine. One more battle, then the Dalish are saved. Just take a deep breath and keep going.". Her words don't rouse me like they once do; however, I don't say anything like that to her. Instead, I manage to heave myself off of the woman and mumble words I'm sure she can't hear. Leliana doesn't question me and allows me to get on with everything. I walk over to the door and push it open as quickly as I can. Inside is something that causes me to deeply sigh in exhaustion.

About ten werewolves are surrounding a shrine with a demon standing on it. The demon is in the form of a beautiful woman that's naked. Her flesh is green and branches are growing around her body, and a few thin twigs barely cover her indecent parts. I draw my sword, but it feels too heavy in my hands. My arms even shake as I walk towards the demon. The woman perks up and begins walking down to me.

The woman waves and offers a smile. However, Swiftrunner comes up behind her and offers me a growl. I heave my sword onto my shoulder and prepare to swing it with all of my remaining strength. The demon and Swiftrunner both stop a few feet away from me. Instantly, Swiftrunner tells me what he thinks of me by turning to the demon and speaking.

"Lady! This elf killed my brethren! We need to eliminate her!". The demon shakes her head and ignores the werewolf. Instead, she focuses on me.

"I see that the Dalish have enlisted you to do their bidding. However, there's another side to this story.". A deep, aching throbbing is settling into the back of my skull. I nee to get out of here. I need to leave and get my wounds taken care of.

"The Dalish-". I heave my sword up and bring it down onto the demon. The woman throws her head back and screams in agony. My metal weapon slices through her shoulder and lodges itself into her chest. Thick, black blood spews from the demon and covers everyone close to her. The creature reaches up and tries to remove my sword. I remove it for her, then bring it down again on the same wound. Now my sword sinks into her body further and goes all the to her opposite hip. Now a thick puddle of her own blood is surrounding the woman's feet.

I rip my sword from her a second time and watch her lifeless body fall to the ground. Automatically, the werewolves surround me. Morrigan and Leliana both scream and curse my name as they run as quickly as they can back to the entrance of the room. Duncan lets out a long, low howl that briefly stuns all of the werewolves surrounding me besides Swiftrunner. I use my sword as a blunt weapon while spinning around in a circle. Nine werewolves fall to the ground and Swiftrunner is briefly knocked back a few feet. Then, Duncan bites into the wolf's leg and begins yanking on it.

Swiftrunner screams and tries to twist around in an attempt to dislodge my dog. I take his lack of concentration and use it to my advantage. I swing my sword with all of my might and find it going deep into Swiftrunner's leg. The wolf howls and drops to the ground. Duncan releases his leg, then hops onto the werewolf's back. Now Swiftrunner has an attacking dog lodged on his back and my sword swinging for his face. Swiftrunner tries to rise, but arrows and spells are now raining down upon him. The beast dies just as his friends are no longer stunned and on the ground. I try to fight them, but my sword flies from my fingers. All ten of the werewolves sense my weakness. Then, they all attack at once.

An Unknown Amount of Time Later

The first thing I notice when I wake up is Leliana's face hanging over me. Bags are under her tired eyes and a deep scowl is etched on her face. I groan and reach out for the woman. My bruised, crushed fingers lightly touch her cheek and seem to bring the woman out of her trance. I feel two lanky arms wrap around me and the woman pulls me into a tight hug. My heart begins racing and I struggle to breathe; however, I close my eyes and try to block it out. Leliana, thankfully, quickly realize what she's done and pulls away. I try to focus my weary eyes on her face and mumble a single question.

"What happened?". The human cringes and carefully explains the situation.

"The werewolves used their mauling attacked on you, and when one of them finished the next one would use it. It ended very, very badly for you. Thankfully, they didn't seem to care about any of us besides you. Duncan, Morrigan, and I were able to take them out while they mauled you.". I groan and sigh, then ask another question.

"The damage?". Leliana runs her fingers through my hair and I feel a numb spot.

"A cracked skull. Alistair gave me a hat to put over it, so it isn't exposed to the world. Sten gave me a helm for you to wear, so it won't happen again.". My list of aches and wounds is now almost an unmanageable length.

I begin forcing myself into a sitting position and my human friend quickly helps. Her hands wrap around me and she assist me into my desired position. Finally, I'm sitting and can talk to Leliana.

"What else happened?". The woman slides down beside me and explains what occurred after I was out.

"I cut out Witherfang's heart and brought it to the elves. Morrigan transformed into a bear and carried you back. All of us talked to the elves, and they've agreed to assist us with our battle against the Darkspawn. Their healer patched you up as best as he could, but we had to bring you back to camp and continue our mission. Now everyone's just waiting for your call.". I look around and see I'm outside Leliana's tent in the middle of camp. I motion around and Leliana whistles to everyone. Sten, Duncan, Morrigan, and Alistair all gather around. I quickly get everyone together and tell them my plan.

"Yeah, this is taking forever. We're going to have to split up and take care of business.". I point at Sten and Alistair.

"You two need to go to Orzammar and get the word of the dwarves that they'll help us.". I point at Morrigan, Leliana, and Duncan.

"You three are coming with me to the Mage's Circle. All of us will meet up at Recliffe to get the Arl's support.". I point at Alistair.

"You're the Grey Warden here, so you'll be the one in charge. Trust me when I say I'll get my part done, or Morrigan and Leliana will force me. Just do your job and wait at Redcliffe. If I die, then one of the others will come to tell you. If none of us are there before the Blight takes full hold, then-". I shrug at him.

"I guess you're fucked and it won't matter to me.". Alistair seems upset at my lack of concern for the Blight, but nods and asks me a few questions.

"If we reach Redcliffe first, then do you want us to try to get the Arls's support while you're away? How should we communicate? Should we go to the Circle's Tower if we don't find you at Redcliffe? Are you going to come to Orzammar if we aren't at Recliffe?". I sigh and repeat my answers.

"Try, but don't kill yourselves. I'd like us to be together when we speak to the Arl because he's the most important. I don't think we'll be able to communicate, so just ask yourself 'what would Tabris do'.". He interrupts me.

"I have a feeling that the answers always going to be 'kill or fuck something'.". I glare and keep speaking.

"No. Don't come to the tower, but I'll hunt you down if need be. I'm the leader, and I want my team together. Besides, there's only one road to Orzammar and multiple roads to the tower. Now,". I look around at everyone.

"GO!".

Note: Denerim's Shadow will briefly be going on hiatus while I work on my other stories. I'm not abandoning it, but I won't pick it up again until I feel like it. That could be a very, very long time from now. I'm sorry, but right now this story just isn't for me. I hope you understand.