A/N: So my apologies for this being about a week later than I had meant it to be, things got busy on me again, but here is the final battle at last! Hope you all enjoy, there will be at least two, possibly three, more chapters after this and then we will finally be at the end of this one - but there will be sequels to come after :). Anyway, I hope to have the next two chapters up by the end of September, so keep an eye out!
Thanks as always to all those who have favorited, followed, and read the story so far - I'm glad you're all enjoying it and hope to hear from you!
Extra special thanks to all the reviewers of the last chapter, especially my awesome faithful reviewers: BlackIce1457, Akakoken, Lethal Dragon, WolFang1011, Asilyessam, eriaaile, Candle in the Night and XZanayu. And congratulations to WolFang1011 for being the winner of the gift fic for the 200th reviewer!
PLEASE REVIEW EVERYBODY, I'D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK! IF THIS DOES SOMEHOW GET TO 250 REVIEWS IN THE LAST FEW CHAPTERS, I WILL AWARD ANOTHER GIFT FIC!
Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Bioware's characters or original dialogue, just my characters and the rest of the story.
Lyric inspiration for the title:
Dreams of war, dreams of liars
Dreams of dragon's fire
And of things that will bite
Chapter 54: War and Dragon's Fire
The darkspawn hadn't been expecting them, too focused on the desperately battling citizens of Denerim outside of the city gates, so that when the wave of fresh troops hit them, the darkspawn crumbled quickly under the onslaught. Aedan led the charge along with Alistair and Riordan, the three Wardens cutting their way through their assembled foes rapidly, leaving the others to follow. As they got closer to the gates of the city, the resistance of the horde built, slowing them down, but they still pressed steadily onward, their companions and the members of their ragtag army following closely behind. Their presence seemed to renew the determination of those few soldiers of Denerim left alive, so that they rallied against their opponents and helped clear a path to the gates.
The gates hung open, damaged, clearly battled down by the darkspawn when they first arrived, and it was therefore a relatively simple matter for Aedan and the others to press their way through once they'd defeated the darkspawn gathered there. It was fortunate, Aedan mused once they were inside the walls, that there appeared to be no ogres or particularly strong darkspawn gathered here at the moment, mostly the weaker genlocks and hurlocks. It didn't take as long as he'd expected for them to clear out the resistance of the darkspawn inside the first section of the city gates, leaving them with some precious time to stop and regroup while they caught their breath, setting soldiers to guard the gate behind them.
Riordan came up to him when the last darkspawn in their area had fallen, and Alistair and the others quickly made their way over from where they'd finished felling their opponents to hear what the older Warden had to say. "We've managed to fight our way to the gate. We're doing better than I hoped."
Sten snorted. "That will change quickly."
Aedan rolled his eyes at the qunari's words. Though he didn't disagree, he wouldn't have expressed his opinion out loud; it was a sure-fire way to dampen morale. Not that the constant sound of distant screaming, swords clashing, and crackling fires helped either. Or the eerie red glow that surrounded the city from the many fires burning, making it surprisingly easy to see everything although it was already night. "Yes, thank you Sten, that was helpful," he said dryly.
"Bloody nug runners!" Oghren exclaimed as he finally reached them, slinging his axe over one shoulder. "We're outnumbered three to one!"
"What are we to do now, Riordan?" Wynne asked calmly, her attention on the senior Warden. "You have a plan, I assume?"
Riordan nodded briefly in response, and Aedan let out a quiet sigh of relief. It was nice not to be the one to have to make the plan for once, especially as he had no idea where to begin with fighting an archdemon. "The army will not last long, so we'll need to move quickly to reach the archdemon," Riordan said briskly. "Slaying the archdemon will cause the remaining darkspawn to lose their purpose and flee; it's the easiest way to ensure victory." He met Aedan's eyes, continuing, "I suggest taking Alistair and a few others with you into the city. Anyone you don't bring with you can remain here to prevent more darkspawn from entering Denerim on our tails."
Aedan frowned, noticing Riordan's omission of himself in the plan. He'd thought that all three of them would face the archdemon together. "You are not coming with us?"
Riordan shook his head. "I need to go in separately. If we're together, the archdemon will sense us before we're ready. I am hoping that he will focus on me as the senior Warden for the moment, leaving the two of you free to move around. We're going to need to reach a high point in the city . . . I'm thinking the top of Fort Drakon might work."
"The top of . . .? You want to draw the dragon's attention?" Alistair demanded incredulously, staring at the older man in shock.
Riordan shrugged, explaining, "We have little choice, though I warn you that as soon as we engage the beast it will call all its generals to help it. I can sense two generals in Denerim – you should be able to feel them too, Alistair." Aedan turned to Alistair in surprise; after a moment of concentration, his brother nodded. Aedan tried to concentrate himself, but couldn't feel anything beyond the oppressing pressure down his spine that indicated the presence of the horde, the same feeling he'd felt in the Deep Roads. And, of course, there was the overwhelming blackness that passed through him like ice every now and again, the indication that the archdemon was here. It appeared he'd not yet fully mastered sensing the darkspawn. "You may wish to seek them out before going to Fort Drakon," Riordan finished, meeting Aedan's eyes significantly when he finally turned his attention back to the other Warden.
"I am sure that if we did slay those generals, it would stop the darkspawn in the city from doing a lot of harm!" Leliana exclaimed from behind Aedan.
"Not to mention, we'll have enough to deal with when fighting the archdemon," Ayla offered from her spot close to Alistair's side. "We don't need its most powerful allies showing up and attacking us from behind."
Aedan nodded thoughtfully, weighing her words. She was likely right; he didn't relish the thought of having to face the archdemon period, but he especially didn't want his focus split between fighting it and trying to watch his back for powerful darkspawn at the same time. Even as he was considering it, Riordan went on, "It may also waste resources trying to find them. The decision is up to you."
"I think we'd best go after the generals, if we can reach them fairly easily," Aedan said at last, exchanging a glance with Alistair, who nodded in response. "I don't want the fight with the archdemon to be any more difficult than it has to be."
"Very well," Riordan replied, neither his expression nor his tone revealing what he thought of Aedan's decision, before he continued, "There are already several units of our allies within the city by now. They may be able to come to your assistance if you call them, but their strength will be limited. Now, who do you wish to take with you into the city?"
This was the toughest decision, Aedan knew. He couldn't take everybody, as some of them would need to remain behind and direct the soldiers watching the gate, ensuring that no darkspawn followed them in. Not to mention, anyone he took with him would be in greater danger than those left behind, yet he would need as much help as he could get. "Well, Alistair, of course," he began, since he wouldn't be able to find the generals without him, and it made no sense to leave the only other Warden behind. Ayla was glaring fiercely and pointedly at him, and knowing he'd be facing her wrath if he tried to leave her behind, he added, "Ayla, Morrigan," because she'd never forgive him if he went without her either, "Zevran," because the elf would be useful both at close and long range, "and . . ." he hesitated. "Wynne, if you don't mind, I think we could use all the healing and magical shields we can get when facing the archdemon, though I am reluctant to leave the rest of you without a healer."
"Bah, we'll be fine," Oghren snorted dismissively, waving his hand. "Besides, there's a bunch of them other mages running around, ain't there? We'll get one of them to help out if we need it."
"I will come along, of course," Wynne agreed. "I think it would be wise to have an extra healer along, as you say, and I would not wish to remain behind, in any case." The older mage smiled at him, and Aedan sighed in relief, glad everyone had agreed. It would be a bloody business before it was all through with, he knew, and there was no better healer around than Wynne.
"Fair enough," Riordan said, turning to the others and continuing, "Anyone else will need to remain here and assist in keeping more darkspawn from coming in the gates behind us. Who will lead them?"
The only ones left behind, Aedan realized, would be Sten, Oghren, Leliana, and Striker, whom he'd brought along with them against his better judgment, rather than leaving the mabari behind at Redcliffe where he would have been safer. It had made him feel better to have the dog there with him, the only thing left of his home, however selfish it might have been. Of the choices left, he decided, "Sten would be the most suitable, I think." He knew the qunari had led men into battle before, and that he was eager to get a taste of that leadership again, as well as more likely than Oghren to keep a clear head. Leliana's talents, though many, didn't extend to leadership in battle, in his opinion.
"Very likely," Sten said, his tone never changing, though he nodded at Aedan in cool approval.
"Good. That should be sufficient." Riordan met each of their eyes in turn, his gaze finally landing on Aedan, piercing and serious. "Nothing you have done has prepared you for what you face now. May the Maker watch over you." Without another word, the older Warden turned and left, heading deeper into the city, leaving the rest of them there.
Aedan turned to face his companions, who'd followed him faithfully throughout this whole endeavour, and smiled wearily at them. "I suppose we should get going ourselves. Take a few minutes before we leave, make sure you have everything you need; this will be it. Let me know when you're ready."
The others all drifted away, checking their packs and weapons, looking nearby to see if there was anything that might be useful, while Aedan checked his own supplies, making sure he had as many health potions in his pouch as he could conceivably carry, as well as a full waterskin and a bit of food. He'd just finished checking his sword and armor, satisfied that he was ready to go, when Oghren approached him.
"Well, this is it, boss." The dwarf nodded at him formally, and Aedan realized with surprise that he'd come to say his goodbyes. "'When from the blood of battle the Stone has fed, let the heroes prevail and the blighters lie dead.' As one of the blighters, I sodding salute you. Let's show them our hearts and then show them theirs."
Aedan couldn't help but smile; the brief speech was so like the dwarf and yet at the same time, surprisingly uplifting. "Thank you, Oghren. I truly appreciate all you've done to help."
"Eh, I haven't done much," the dwarf muttered, flushing. "Anyway, I'll see you when you get back, boss." Oghren wandered off before Aedan could say anymore, and when he passed Alistair and Ayla, Aedan could distantly hear him say, "Hey, boy, since I won't be going with you, make sure you keep an eye on that woman of yours, ya hear?" Alistair nodded soberly in response, and Ayla said something Aedan couldn't hear, shaking her head at the dwarf.
With his attention focused on them, Aedan had failed to notice Sten approaching him along with Striker; the mabari lay down at his feet, whining, ears down, the very picture of canine unhappiness. Aedan crouched down, rubbing the dog's head fondly. "Don't worry, boy. I'll be back, I promise."
Striker leapt to his feet when Aedan stood up, barking and dancing happily in response. Aedan grinned before he turned to Sten. "Will you keep an eye on him for me?"
"Of course, Warden," the qunari replied gravely before asking, "Are you ready? We have reached the battlefield at last."
"Ready as I will ever be, I suppose. Thank you for your help, Sten," he finished seriously. Though he and the qunari had not always seen eye-to-eye, and had experienced some rough patches, Sten had fought hard for them, and lately, Aedan had felt they were finally coming to a mutual respect of one another.
"I have done nothing. You have carried us this far. Do not doubt that." Sten's response left Aedan momentarily speechless; he had not thought the qunari would ever say something like that, even if their respect had grown. Sten left before he could say anything else, Striker bounding after him with one last look back.
Leliana was there almost immediately, as though she'd been waiting her turn to say her own farewell. "So this is it . . . this is the end," she said softly. "We've come so far. It's strange knowing that all our fates will be decided in a matter of hours. I wish I could go with you."
"Yes, we've come a very long way since Lothering," Aedan agreed quietly. "Thank you for your help, Leliana, with all of it. But, I cannot bring everyone. In any case, it's less dangerous here, and I need someone with sharp eyes to look after Sten, Oghren, and Striker."
Leliana smiled warmly at him. "That is true. I will do whatever I can to help here. Be safe, Aedan, and may the Maker smile fortune on you." She turned to leave, spotting Ayla and Alistair as they came up to Aedan, obviously ready to leave as well. She paused, meeting Ayla's eyes as she said, "Please, be careful, my friend. Do not be too reckless, I do not want this to be the last time we see one another."
Ayla moved forward to hug the other woman. "It won't be, I promise," she vowed as they pulled apart again. "We'll all come back safely, so we can celebrate together."
"I will hold you to that," the bard answered as she moved away, nodding at Alistair. "I wish you both luck."
"You too, Leliana," Alistair replied.
Zevran came up to join them, saying something to Leliana as he passed that earned him a swat, before stopping in front of Aedan, declaring cheerfully, "So now we head into the city together to face the archdemon, hmm?"
"That is the plan, Zev," Aedan said dryly, though the elf's unshakable enthusiasm was certainly welcome at the moment.
"Good. I was nearly afraid you were about to march inside without me. We cannot have that! Who would watch your backs, after all?" Zevran exchanged a sudden and significant glance with Alistair, making Aedan frown thoughtfully, curious as to the meaning behind it. "Let us go and teach this dragon a lesson, yes?" Zevran continued. "It should have stayed in whatever hole it crawled out of."
"That would have been nice if it had," Aedan sighed, and Alistair snorted in obvious agreement. "But since it didn't, I suppose we'd better go make it regret coming out."
Alistair came up to Aedan, pulling him a little aside as Zevran and Ayla discussed something, saying in a low voice, "Before we head after the archdemon, I want to say something. I know Morrigan's . . . what she did is supposed to save us, but who knows if she can be trusted? Or if we'll even survive long enough to take that final blow. So I just want you to know that it's been . . . an honor fighting by your side."
"I know you have trouble trusting Morrigan, so you'll just have to trust me, okay? I believe her when she says it will work. And I believe – I have to believe – that we will strike the final blow." He clapped Alistair on the shoulder, adding, "I feel the same, though. You've been a good friend to me, and there was no one I would rather have faced the Blight with, brother. But nobody's dying today, so enough with the speeches, all right?"
Alistair grinned, punching him lightly on the shoulder in turn. "Nobody's dying? Is that wishful thinking?" He looked over at Ayla, his expression growing wistful. "I suppose we could always hope for a miracle, right?"
"Yeah, we can," Aedan agreed softly. "We're all going to make it through this, Alistair, and I want an invitation to your wedding when we do, okay?"
"Of course. You'll be the first one to know. But first, we have to find this archdemon and kick its ass. So let's go." Alistair turned and headed past Ayla and Zevran, Wynne joining them as they headed towards the next gate that led into the main part of the city.
Aedan hurried after them, glancing back for Morrigan, who suddenly appeared at his side. She looked up at him as they walked together after the others. "So we head into the city together. As it should be." She hesitated for a moment before going on, "Once this is done, no matter how it turns out, I will have to leave immediately. You are aware of this, yes?"
Aedan nodded slowly. As much as he wished it could be otherwise, he'd come to terms with it, as much as he could, at least. "I know. As long as you let me know later where you are. But I was hoping you would stay for the celebrations, at least." A few more days with her was not too much to ask, surely?
His pretty witch shook her head, looking regretful. "I do not think that would be wise. My mother may discover me, if I remain too long after the battle. Allow me to say one thing before we go. I . . . do not regret anything that was between us, not a single moment." She smiled softly at him, as he felt a rush of warmth and love run through him from her words. "I will look forward to seeing you again when the time is right, my love."
"And I you. I will keep my promise to you, I swear it," he told her firmly, hand over his heart.
"I know you will," she said simply. "Now let us see this finally done. The archdemon awaits."
"That it does." Aedan followed after the others, making their way through the soldiers lined up on either side who cheered and shouted words of encouragement at their party as they went by. He nodded at them all, sincerely hoping that what he'd told Alistair was true. They had to make it to the archdemon, and strike the final blow. He couldn't let these people down. He wouldn't.
They went to the Market district first, as Alistair had said he sensed the presence of one of the generals there. They went quietly through the deserted, damaged streets, Alistair in the lead now, Ayla sticking close by his side, the others ranged behind them. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather go back?" Alistair asked her quietly.
"No," she snapped back at him, though she made sure her voice was still low. They'd had this argument already, after Aedan had named her as one of the group to go on and they'd been gathering their supplies. Alistair had wanted her to remain with the others, where it would be safer, and she had flatly refused. She sighed, seeing the stark worry in his eyes, and softened. "Thank you, for trying to protect me, but no. I won't be left behind while you go into danger, I told you before, and you'd better get used to that if we're going to be married."
"I know. I just thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot, and you'd better get used to me asking." He gave her a wry, unrepentant grin. "I'm always going to try to keep you safe, if I can, even when you don't want me to." His head jerked up suddenly, and he shivered, looking ahead. "We're almost there."
She smelled it, almost as soon as he said it; the rotting stench of corruption and blood, growing ever stronger, almost worse than what she'd smelled just outside the city, if that was even possible. She quietly drew her swords, and the others all followed suit, Aedan picking up speed to pull ahead of her so that he and Alistair would be there to take the brunt of the attack.
They rounded the corner, and there it was; the remains of the Market district, several buildings collapsed and burning, the booths all destroyed and trampled, goods scattered everywhere among the bodies of those who hadn't made it out. Ogres came stomping forwards almost immediately, and their party launched into action, both mages firing long range spells while Aedan and Alistair worked to keep the ogres focused on them, allowing herself and Zevran to slip around behind, stabbing and slicing at their legs. The combination worked fairly effectively on the first three ogres; she and Zevran were able to damage their legs enough to force the ogres to stumble and bring them down to a level where Aedan and Alistair could deal more decisive blows.
Two more ogres appeared soon after the first three; this time, there was enough time for her and Alistair to perform the move to launch her up in the air at the one's chest, while Zevran and Aedan worked on the other. She'd dealt the finishing blow and was leaping clear of the falling body when something slammed into her, knocking her into the side of a building. She fell to the ground hard, crying out in pain, seeing that it was another ogre that had suddenly joined the fight. "Ayla!" she heard Alistair's shout as the ogre lumbered towards her while she struggled to her feet. The blow had hurt, but she'd definitely had worse; she could still fight.
Alistair must have moved fast, for he was in front of her before the ogre reached her, blocking the next swing of its fist with his shield. The force of the blow caused him to skid backwards a few feet, so that he almost ran into her, but he stood firm. The ogre stumbled suddenly as a blast of lightning struck its back, and Ayla used the opportunity to dash around Alistair, slicing her swords across the back of the ogre's knee. She rolled out of the way as the ogre roared and fell down to its knees, and Alistair leaped up, slamming his sword hard into its chest, knocking the ogre backwards. Ayla delivered one more blow to its neck while Alistair twisted his sword hard, and the ogre was finished.
"Are you all right?!" Alistair demanded frantically, gripping her arm and pulling her to face him as he looked her over.
"I'm okay," she promised him, laying a soothing hand on his arm. She was bruised and sore, but hadn't suffered any significant damage. "Really, I am. Now let's go."
He nodded jerkily, looking shaken, but he let her arm go and they followed Aedan deeper into the marketplace. Alistair whispered a warning to Aedan before they skirted around another cluster of buildings that several more ogres were just ahead, and Aedan blew the horn that Arl Eamon had given him a few days ago in order to summon some help to them. The ogres came storming around the building as soon as the horn was blown, and the next few minutes were a bit touch and go as their party fell steadily backwards, dodging and leaping and trying to cause damage to the large group of ogres they'd stumbled across without taking damage themselves.
Some of the Redcliffe knights finally arrived just as the general they'd been looking for made its appearance, stalking towards them from behind the ogres, twirling its greataxe in the air. Two genlock emissaries were with him, and Alistair, Wynne and Morrigan were forced to focus their attention on the emissaries while Aedan, Ayla and Zevran tried to deal with the general and the remaining ogres along with the knights. It was Zevran who finally took the general down with a lethal backstab while Aedan fought it from the front; Ayla had been helping the knights keep another ogre away so that they could finish the general off without interference. The general stumbled forward, bleeding heavily from the blow to its back, and Aedan took the opportunity for one more stroke to make sure it fell, its head rolling away across the blood-soaked ground.
Alistair and the others had defeated the emissaries in the meantime, and the knights had taken down the last two ogres remaining, finally giving their party a brief respite. They all stopped for a breather, sheathing their weapons for the moment, while Morrigan and Wynne moved around, healing cuts and other injuries. "Are we all right for the moment?" Ayla asked, and Alistair nodded.
"I don't sense any other darkspawn nearby right now," he answered. "We should be okay for now."
"That was . . . a bit harder than I expected," Aedan said after a moment. "I've never seen so many ogres all in one place, and that general was definitely powerful. Do you know where the other one is?"
Alistair tilted his head, concentrating, before finally nodding. "It feels like it should be in the direction of the alienage."
"Then we'd better get moving," Aedan replied. "Everybody ready?"
Ayla nodded in response, as did the others, and their party moved on towards the gate in the corner of the marketplace that led to the alienage, this time with roughly twenty of Arl Eamon's knights behind them.
Ayla was surprised to discover when they entered the alienage that there were still some elves there, along with Shianni, the elf woman who had helped them earlier with the slavers. She stared at them with wide-eyed surprise when they came around the massive tree in the center, nearly stumbling right into her and the group of elves with her. "You! It's you! The Maker sure gave you all the gift of good timing, didn't he?" She glanced behind her at the road that led deeper into the alienage, the same way Alistair and Aedan were looking, frowns on their faces. "There is a large group of darkspawn approaching and the gates won't hold! We need your help!"
"We can handle this," Aedan told her. "Get these people to safety."
"A-all right!" Shianni answered shakily, nodding. "I only hope there is time to –"
She was interrupted by a loud thud, followed by a roar, and Ayla felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise up in protest. She drew her swords as Shianni whipped around to stare at the noise, screaming, "They're breaking through!"
"Run, all of you!" a male elf next to Shianni cried. "Run for your lives!"
The alienage elves turned and fled, while Aedan and Alistair drew their weapons and headed towards the continuous thumping noise, gesturing for the others to follow. Ayla came along behind warily, swords at the ready, Zevran at her side and Wynne and Morrigan behind, while the knights grouped themselves loosely around their party. They reached the other end of the alienage just in time to see an ogre break down the gate and run forward, darkspawn spilling through the gap behind. Aedan blew the horn again, loud and long, before they all raced forward to meet the darkspawn head-on.
The battle was long and harsh; more and more darkspawn seemed to keep arriving behind the original wave, and eventually, the next general appeared as well. This one was an emissary, wielding magic more powerful than they'd ever seen before from the darkspawn. Alistair faced off against it, using his Templar abilities to try and dampen the general's magic while the rest of them fought against the never-ending stream of darkspawn.
This time Ayla was the one to finally deal the finishing blow to the general; she'd been fighting hard against another darkspawn when she'd heard Alistair cry out. Fortunately for her, the Hurlock she'd been battling against had suddenly fallen to an arrow fired by the group of Dalish elves that had finally made it to join the fight. She was able to race over to Alistair immediately; seeing that he was down on his knees, a hole blasted in his armor, she'd shifted on the run and leapt on the general, seizing him by the neck and raking him open with her claws. A few more enraged swipes from her paws and one twist of her jaws later, and the general, already weakened from its fight with Alistair, was dead.
She shifted back quickly, wanting to save some of her strength for the archdemon, and hurried the rest of the way over to Alistair, calling out for Wynne or Morrigan. There wasn't as much blood coming from the hole in his armor as she'd feared there would be, but it was still enough to worry her. She gave him one of her potions, demanding that he drink it, and she and Aedan stood guard by him, fighting off the few darkspawn that came near, until Wynne made it over and was able to heal the wound fully. The remaining darkspawn fell fairly quickly now that the Dalish elves had arrived, firing accurately and lethally into their ranks.
"You scared me," Ayla whispered to Alistair when the fight was done, taking his face in her hands while Aedan told everyone to take a few brief moments to rest before they moved on, directing Wynne and Morrigan to heal the others that had been wounded.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, taking her hands in his as he stood up and leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her lips. "Thank you for saving me."
"Of course," she told him. "Always." She pulled him back down for another, more thorough kiss, before leaning back and saying, "Now please tell me that's the last of those generals."
He nodded after he'd taken a moment to sense everything again. "That's all I can feel. That means it's just the archdemon left."
"Then we should get going," she said softly, reluctantly. She didn't really want them to have to confront the archdemon, especially when they'd had such close calls with its generals already, but she knew they had to. And she knew they were running out of time; the army wouldn't be able to hold against the darkspawn for much longer. He nodded, pulling her with him as they went to rejoin Aedan and the others, and once they'd reached him, Aedan called for everyone to move on, making their way across the bridge that was just beyond the now-broken gate, which led back to the rest of the city.
Aedan had decided it was best for them to head straight to Fort Drakon next and get up to the roof in hopes that they could attract the archdemon's attention, so he led them through the ruined and burning streets towards the palace district, beyond which lay Fort Drakon. They were nearly there when they heard a roar overhead, and they all looked up to see the archdemon flying low over the city. Just as it went past one of the other towers in the city, a figure leapt off, landing square on its back. The shriek the archdemon gave seemed to indicate the person had struck with a weapon while landing.
"That has to be Riordan," Aedan muttered as they all froze below, watching the archdemon wheel towards another tower, just clipping its side as it went by, which caused the person on its back to fly up in the air.
"It looks like he's going to fall." Ayla watched closely, straining her eyes to glimpse what was going on so high above them as Riordan sailed off the archdemon's back, looking like he might indeed crash to the ground. At the last moment, however, he managed to catch himself with his sword on the dragon's wing; Ayla could see the long tear open up in the wing as he landed, sliding backwards.
The archdemon roared again, spiralling through the air now, looking as though it was struggling to remain aloft as it flew towards Fort Drakon. The constant spiralling and unbalanced flying finally knocked Riordan loose, and he went crashing down to the ground hundreds of feet below, with nothing to stop or break his fall this time. Meanwhile, the archdemon had managed to land on the roof of Fort Drakon, but it didn't fly back off. The damage to its wing must have been bad enough that it could no longer fly properly, Ayla realized, which was a stroke of luck for them.
"He's – he's dead." Alistair was staring at the spot where Riordan had fallen, wide-eyed with shock. "I thought maybe . . . there might really be a chance we would all get through this."
"I'm sorry, Alistair," Ayla said softly, looping her arm through his and squeezing it gently. "We'll just have to make sure that we use the opportunity he gave us. It looks like the archdemon can't get off the roof anymore."
"Yes," Aedan said firmly. "Let's get up there as fast as we can and get this done with."
"You're right," Alistair agreed. "We won't let his sacrifice – any of their sacrifices – be in vain." He strode towards Fort Drakon with a determined look stamped on his face, and Ayla and the others fell in behind.
"It looks like it's a good thing that we didn't rely on Riordan to be the one to deal the finishing blow," Aedan murmured to Ayla as she came up beside him, Alistair now several feet ahead of them.
Ayla nodded wordlessly, unable to fathom how she'd be feeling right now if Morrigan hadn't had a spell to keep both Aedan and Alistair from dying. She'd likely be a complete wreck at this point, especially given the fact that she still had nightmares where Morrigan's spell didn't work and Alistair died after the archdemon's defeat. She'd had that same nightmare nearly every night on the way here, and it never got any easier to handle.
She turned to see where Morrigan was; spotting the witch just behind her, she smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you, Morrigan. I owe you so much more than I can ever repay."
Morrigan shook her head, looking embarrassed. "Do not be ridiculous, Ayla. You owe me nothing; it was merely something I . . . wanted to do for you because I could. At any rate," she glanced quickly at Aedan and then away, "I did it for myself as much as for you."
Ayla grinned, amused at how uncomfortable Morrigan still was about publicly expressing her feelings for Aedan. She could see the fond smile on Aedan's face that indicated he felt the same way. "That's true enough, I suppose, but still, thank you. I don't know what I would have done had you not had that spell, or what I'll do if –"
"It will work, do not worry," Morrigan interrupted her, obviously knowing what she'd been about to say. "I am positive of that, I assure you."
"Okay." Ayla nodded, taking a breath to try to calm herself down. He'll be fine. "Then let's go fight a dragon. Speaking of that, Aedan, during the fight, I want to shift and try to get a grip on its neck, so somebody's going to have to keep it occupied until I can do that."
Aedan frowned at her, glancing forward at Alistair's back and then back to her, shaking his head. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."
"It worked for the high dragon," she pointed out. "If I can get a good grip behind its head again and injure it from up there, it should keep it busy enough that you and the others can finish it off from below. Or do you have a better idea?"
Aedan looked to Morrigan, and when she merely shrugged at him, threw up his hands, clearly unhappy. "Fine! Just – only do it if you're sure you have a clear shot at making it onto its back. And don't push yourself too much once you're up there, all right?"
"I won't," she promised. Before they could discuss any more strategy for fighting the archdemon, however, Alistair called back a warning that more darkspawn were approaching, and they hurried forward to help him.
Getting to Fort Drakon took longer than Ayla had expected; the palace district was full of darkspawn, and they had to battle hard just to make it through to the fort itself. Fortunately, it appeared that the palace itself had yet to be breached, for its gates were still closed when they went by, and they were able to eliminate the darkspawn that had been about to lay siege to it with the help of the knights and Dalish archers that were still accompanying them.
Aedan had left what remained of the group of the knights to guard the gates to the palace, while sending a messenger from the Dalish back to the rest of the army to bring as many dwarves, mages, and knights as could be spared to help them assault the fort. Their party had pressed on with the remaining Dalish warriors, however, rather than wait for the reinforcements; they couldn't risk wasting too much time.
Ayla and the others finally reached Fort Drakon itself, only to find that the darkspawn were guarding it closely; a large group of them had entrenched themselves in front of the doors that led within, and had even erected barricades. There were several emissaries among the group as well, along with a small dragon.
The battle to get themselves inside turned out to be the toughest so far; there were just so many darkspawn in such a small area that their party was nearly overwhelmed more than once. Ayla had not intended to shift again, wanting to save all her energy for the archdemon, but she hadn't been able to avoid it. She'd been forced to shift twice more, once to save Zevran from an unexpected blow from a hurlock, and another time to keep Aedan safe when he'd gone down beneath the onslaught of the dragon. As a result, she was feeling more exhausted now than she wanted to admit to; she wasn't sure how much strength she would have left to fight the archdemon with, but she didn't see what choice she had, not if she wanted to keep as many people as possible alive, so she said nothing to the others, doing her best to hide her weariness.
Once the courtyard was finally clear, they made their way through the doors and into the fort itself. The first few rooms were deserted; there was nothing there but the corpses of both darkspawn and the soldiers that had tried to stop them from entering. In fact, the front hall was so littered with bodies that they had to pick their way through carefully, or risk tripping over one.
It was much the same through the next few rooms as well, as they went deeper into the fort, trying to find the stairs that would lead up to the roof. They didn't find a single soldier alive in any of the rooms, and only a few darkspawn in most of the lower area. Ayla didn't want to admit it to the others, and especially not to Alistair, but there was a part of her that was savagely pleased to see the fate that had befallen Fort Drakon. She had to admit, if she'd had the chance to come back, she would have left the fort in much the same condition for their involvement in Alistair's torture, so she couldn't find it in her heart to feel any sadness for the fallen.
They eventually found their way to the upper level of the fort, an area that none of them had seen the last time they were here. Unlike the lower area, which was mainly offices, cells and the torture chambers, this upper area appeared to be mainly a barracks, with rooms for the soldiers, kitchens, and a training centre. They found several more isolated groups of darkspawn up here, though none as difficult as the battle they'd faced in the courtyard below, especially as the rest of the troops that could be spared had finally caught up to them, following them through the fort.
At long last, they entered a room that had a long set of stairs in the corner leading up to a closed door. Ayla could tell that this had to be the door to the roof; both Aedan and Alistair looked pale and uncomfortable as soon as they'd entered the room, and they kept looking up at the roof. "Will you be okay to face it?" Ayla asked Alistair softly as they briefly halted in front of the stairs while Aedan gave instructions to the other warriors with them.
"I think I should be fine, this time," Alistair answered, taking a deep breath. "It's not as . . . overwhelming as it was down in the Deep Roads. Maybe because it's injured, I don't know."
Ayla nodded, relieved, though the pained way he looked still worried her a bit. "That's good. Try to focus on something else, anything else, but that sensation, okay?"
He nodded, squeezing her hand briefly before Aedan strode past them towards the door. "Everybody ready?" he asked, and they nodded, in spite of the fact that Ayla was sure they were all anything but ready.
Aedan opened the door and hurried through, drawing his sword, and they all raced through after him. The first thing Ayla noticed as the door opened were the screams; there must have still been soldiers up on the roof fighting, for they were just in time to see a man tossed past the opening of the entrance onto the roof. Ayla rounded the corner, coming out past the wall into the open area of the roof, just as the archdemon swung its tail through the air, scattering several men every which way, one of them flying right off the roof over the low wall that ringed it with a startled cry.
Before they'd even had time to advance on the archdemon, it was already attacking another soldier, biting down on him and flinging him aside, before breathing a strange purple fire at another group of men, setting them aflame as they ran, screaming. The archdemon whirled in a circle in the center of the roof, dealing damage every which way it turned, a horrifying, skeletal-looking dragon, two long horns on its head, spikes protruding from everywhere along its body, along with several dozen arrows that had apparently had little effect, other than to stick into it like a pincushion.
"How are we supposed to fight that?" one of the knights behind Ayla cried desperately.
Aedan was looking frantically around, and he must have spotted the same thing Ayla did, for he called out, "The ballistae! Man the ballistae, and fire everything you've got at the archdemon! Everybody else, just keep it busy!"
With that, Aedan charged straight towards the archdemon, Alistair at his side, and the rest of the warriors behind them scattered. Some followed the Wardens towards the archdemon, while others went to the half-dozen ballistae set up on raised sections of the roof, likely meant to be fired out onto the streets below, and not back towards the center of the roof. Ayla, meanwhile, began to look for a way to get herself onto the archdemon's back, trying to ignore the desperate screams of the wounded and dying around her as the archdemon continued to wreak havoc.
She finally found a suitable section of the roof, one of the raised areas where a ballista rested, close enough to the archdemon that she should be able to leap to its back. Not giving herself any more time to think about it, she charged forward, shifting as she leapt, and just barely managed to land on the center of the archdemon's back.
The archdemon let out an unholy shriek, shaking itself and trying to dislodge her, but she'd hooked her claws in as soon as she'd landed, and refused to let go. She quickly and grimly crawled her way forwards, hooking her claws in with every step, moving as fast as she could, not wanting to give the archdemon a chance to reach around and grab her. She just barely got out of the way of its snaking neck in time, as it tried to bite at the spot where she'd been. Fortunately, at that moment, one of the projectiles from the ballistae struck the archdemon in the side, causing it to roar and turn its attention away from her. In the next moment, it had lifted up into the air, trying to fly away from the continued projectiles, but due to the wing damage caused by Riordan earlier, it was only able to fly a short distance before it had to land on another area of the roof.
In the meantime, Ayla had finally managed to crawl her way up to its neck, thanking the Goddess more than once for hooked claws that had kept her from falling during the archdemon's flight. Seeing her target, she clamped her teeth down hard around the dragon's neck, just behind its head, locking her jaws together as tightly as she could. The archdemon roared again, beginning to buck and thrash in earnest, but she held on stubbornly, trying to rake its neck with her hind paws as much as she could.
She heard shouting below, and was able to glance down briefly as the archdemon shook its head from side to side to see that Aedan and Alistair had caught up with it again, swinging at the dragon's legs. Zevran was attempting to fire arrows at the dragon's eyes along with a group of Dalish archers, though a few narrowly missed her as its head moved around continuously. She was determined to hold on as long as she could, keeping her front paws hooked in and her jaw clamped tightly in place, but she could feel her strength starting to wane.
She'd shifted too much and fought too much earlier; she didn't have enough stamina and strength left to keep this up for much longer, she knew. She could feel the weariness in her body, the aches and pains starting to shoot through her as a warning sign that she should shift back as soon as she could. She knew she should let go, knew she should shift back, but the ballistae weren't firing yet; they still needed time to redirect. She could hold on for just a bit longer, to give them as much time as they could, she decided.
She'd heard the first twang of the redirected ballistae and was just about to see if she could get down safely when the archdemon suddenly changed its tactics. It whipped its head straight back and then forward as hard as it could, and she went flying as her weary body suddenly gave out on her. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing to stop her, and she didn't know which way was up or down as she tumbled end over end through the air. Before she'd had time to think or gather herself, her body too numb and exhausted to try a proper landing, she crashed hard into something, and with a burst of blinding pain, her world went black.
Darkspawn had started appearing on the roof not long after Ayla had landed on the archdemon's back. Alistair suspected that it had called for reinforcements after realizing that it was in trouble. He'd been trying hard to focus on anything but the sound of its voice trying to weave through his head, however, so he couldn't be sure what it was saying. Still, whether it had called for them or not, dozens of darkspawn began to arrive on the roof, attacking anyone they could find.
He and Aedan barked out orders for some of the soldiers to cover the men manning the ballistae, to make sure they had time to aim and launch at the archdemon, and directed others to keep the archdemon off of the two of them, the mages, and the archers, who were all firing at the archdemon with everything they had.
When it lifted off and flew a few feet away, he and Aedan raced after it along with some of the others, and renewed their attack. Alistair didn't know if he was imagining it, but he thought the feel of it and the sound of its voice were growing weaker, where they lingered in the back of his mind. He'd been trying to attack its legs, but feeling the sensation of a few darkspawn coming up from behind, he turned his attention to them, trying to keep them off of Aedan, Zevran, and the other archers that were focused on the archdemon.
He'd just turned back around from defeating the three hurlocks that had tried to attack from behind when he saw what he'd most feared; Ayla had been thrown loose from the archdemon's neck. He watched with baited breath, terrified that she would go right off the roof, and was momentarily relieved when he realized she'd fall short, until she crashed full-force into the low wall that ringed the roof, falling down limply onto the ground below, unmoving.
He desperately wanted to race right to her side, to make sure she was alive, but he could see a couple more darkspawn coming towards them, and knew he wouldn't have time. He had to keep them off Aedan; the archdemon had just been struck in either side by two more ballistae bolts, and it was weaving back and forth as it roared, bleeding badly, its neck a shredded mess where it had thrown Ayla off. Aedan was racing forward, greatsword out, to take advantage of its wounded state, and he had to make sure that his brother had enough time to finish this.
So in spite of his misgivings and the abject terror gripping his heart, Alistair moved to defend Aedan's back, fighting off the two genlocks moving to intercept his fellow Warden. He stopped their advance while Aedan ran forward, sliding in just under the archdemon's mouth, and raked the tip of his greatsword all the way along the underside of its neck. One more projectile struck the middle of its back at the same time, and the archdemon shrieked again, rearing up before it collapsed back to the ground. Aedan had rolled out of the way of its neck before it fell, and leapt up as soon as the archdemon's head struck the ground, shoving the point of his sword down into the shredded mess Ayla had left at the base of its head, twisting hard as he pushed down.
In the next second just after Aedan struck, a blinding beam of white-hot light shot up from where Aedan's sword was buried in the archdemon's neck, streaking up into the sky as Aedan held grimly on, before it suddenly exploded outwards in a burst of massive energy. Alistair felt the shockwave hit him seconds later, knocking him flat to his back along with the one genlock that had still been alive, as the force of the explosion rolled outwards from the roof.
Dazed, his head ringing and buzzing from the wave of energy, it took Alistair a moment to gather himself enough to sit up. It took another few seconds for him to gain his feet, and as soon as he did, he dealt the finishing blow to the genlock next to him that had also been struggling to get up. It took him another few seconds to realize that he no longer felt the presence of the archdemon, or heard the sound of its voice.
He looked around him, noting that the archdemon lay unmoving on the ground, Aedan's sword still stuck in its neck. Aedan lay flat on the ground next to it, and all around them on the roof, soldiers and darkspawn were struggling to their feet; apparently the blast of energy had knocked everyone down. The few darkspawn still alive, however, were running as soon as they gained their feet, though most of them were struck down as they went. Satisfied that it was over and he was finally free to do as he liked, Alistair ran first to Aedan's side, just to make sure he was still alive and that Morrigan's spell had worked.
A quick check of his fallen brother revealed that although Aedan hadn't gotten back up like the others, he was still alive, merely unconscious. He was breathing evenly, and didn't appear to have any grievous wounds, so Alistair left him there for the moment, scrambling frantically over to the wall where Ayla had fallen.
He prayed desperately and fervently as he ran over there, faster than he'd ever moved in his plate armor before, for her to be fine and merely unconscious as Aedan was. He dropped to his knees as soon as he reached her, breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his chest as he carefully checked her. She'd obviously shifted back after hitting the wall, for it was her own body laying there on the stone of the roof, not that of the panther. One of her arms was twisted at a sick angle, and there was blood on her abdomen and matting the hair on her forehead. He checked her frantically, looking her over for any signs of life, but he couldn't see any indication that she was breathing, no sign that her chest was rising and falling as Aedan's had been, and at the realization, his heart shattered.