The large room led to another narrow tunnel with a low ceiling. Vash had to stoop, and grimaced as he was forced to carry Alistair like a sleeping child. Elissa walked quickly at the lead with Fenris at the rear. The little hallway was dangerous. There was no room to maneuver or escape.
Finally, the narrow, dwarf sized tunnel opened up once more to reveal a narrow stone bridge spanning a deep chasm. On the opposite side of the bridge there was a tall circular structure, a huge stalactite the size of a castle spire, hanging from the ceiling and disappearing into the canyon below. The structure was dotted with small windows and ornate carvings, and the bridge led to a small door carved into the face of it.
Paien stood at the bridge, gripping a pillar and staring straight ahead.
Lindise broke into a run towards him, and the golem she'd been controlling collapsed. "Paien!" she called in a loud whisper.
The elder Warden turned slightly, and took hold of Lindise's hand once she was close enough. "They've been letting me through," he said, voice a low rumble. He sounded almost lost and confused. "The darkspawn. They've been letting me through. Opening a path to me."
Lindise blinked at him and squeezed his hand tightly. "Paien, we need to leave, you know that."
He shook his head. "She's there." He pointed to the opposite side of the bridge. "I... regained enough of myself to know not to go in alone. That's what she wants."
"We have injured, Paien," Elissa stepped forward and motioned to Alistair, slumped once more over Vash's shoulder. "We are leaving."
Paien looked at her, and his gaze regained some clarity as he pulled himself up a bit taller. "We can win this fight with what we have."
Nathaniel's teeth gritted, "I don't know what's gotten into you, Commander." He gave the word a hard tone to remind Paien of himself. "But I think we've gotten ourselves far enough into this mess. We need to escape while we still can."
"Leave him, if he won't listen to reason," Fenris spoke up, squinting across the bridge. "The three of us should be enough to kill the ogre that keeps us here."
"And the four of us should be enough to take her on!" Paien insisted. "Please. Please!"
A low, long howl rose goosebumps on Elissa's flesh. A woman's voice, moaning out across the chasm. Elissa stepped back towards the tunnel, her eyes locked on the little doorway on the other side.
The door had opened.
"Paien," Elissa murmured, "you must know this is a trap."
No sooner had she spoken than the squeals of darkspawn and the heavy fall of hammers could be heard. They spun to see two darkspawn at the far end of the narrow tunnel, hammering away at a wall. The stone began to crumble, and glowing hot liquid trickled out of the cracks.
Nathaniel's eyes widened, and he backed away onto the bridge, "What in the Void…?"
One final blow of the hammer, and the wall gave way. Lava oozed out, and the darkspawn in its path burst into flames, their giggles turning into screams.
There was no further hesitation. The party ran across the bridge as the lava seeped down the tunnel towards them. The dwarves kept molten rock in various foundries; there must have been an old reservoir on the other side of the tunnel. Elissa watched Paien sprint across the bridge, and duck through the little doorway.
She glanced over her shoulder to see the lava pouring out over the edge of the opposite platform and into the chasm. Even from her safe distance, the heat was intense. She shielded her face from the heat with her arm, gaze sliding to Alistair, still slumped over Vash's shoulder. Beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead.
There was nowhere else to go. There was no point in fighting the inevitability of the encounter with the blood mage. Elissa took another few steps away from the bridge, exchanged looks with the others, then turned and followed Paien through the door.