Author's Note: Sorry about the long delay for this chapter. It was a pain to write and I had to do more editing and re-writing than usual. Hope you enjoy!
The smell was the first thing she noticed, long before the darkspawn were actually within sight.
"We must be getting close now," Morrigan said, getting out her yew wand and casting a bubblehead charm as they sped through the air on Harry's Firebolt. "That foul stench is unmistakable. The Blight is most repugnant, on several levels."
"I agree," Harry replied as he turned his head slightly before slowing the broom down.
"Those don't look like normal storm clouds, either," she added as she saw the dark violet skies that stretched across most of the eastern horizon. "Perhaps 'tis the Archdemon at work. We should be extra careful."
"This is bad."
"How close are we to Denerim?" Morrigan wondered. "I cannot see any of the major roadways from here."
"Hard to tell for sure, but I think we're most of the way to the capital," he answered.
"What do you think we should do now?"
"Hmm," he murmured as they were now merely floating in air, and she watched him looking down, where darkspawn were visible on the ground, probably two or three hundred feet below them. Thankfully, they were still invisible to the monsters. There were hundreds of the vile creatures tromping over the fields that might have been farmlands in better days.
"I wonder if the Archdemon needs to stay very close to the horde."
"Why do you ask?" she wondered.
"How high do you think it can fly?" he added.
"Are you suggesting that we should go even higher?" Morrigan replied.
Harry cast a bubblehead charm over himself and nodded. "We'll be able to breathe fine now, even when the air gets thin at elevation."
Morrigan exhaled and held on a bit tighter. "Very well. But our vision will be an issue if we go too high."
"I just want to try to spot that damn dragon."
She could understand his goal, even though it could be potentially very dangerous. "Be careful, Harry. You may be immortal, but I would prefer not to be eaten by an Archdemon."
He snickered. "Didn't I tell you that I've out flown a dragon before?"
The Firebolt soared up and away, and she had to raise her voice to be heard. "That doesn't mean I want to see you reenact it!"
Sure enough, they eventually spotted the Archdemon a few minutes later. It was flying overhead the thousands of hurlocks and genlocks that were pretty clearly marching to Denerim, swooping back and forth to keep the horde moving in the correct direction.
Thankfully, it seemed not to notice them. The fact that neither of them carried the Taint that the Grey Wardens had in their blood likely saved them.
Once they flew further on, out of sight of all the creatures as the stars lit up the night sky, Harry eventually slowed to a halt and turned back to her. "I'm going to apparate us straight to the capital now. This may feel a little odd, so hold on extra tight."
Morrigan would later remember that it actually felt slightly better than most of the apparation that she'd done. Her ears did pop, but when she looked down on the building that she recognized as Arl Eamon's estate, there was none of the nausea and the pressure overall was less as well.
"I'll take us down to the courtyard," Harry said. "We'll need to warn everyone about how close it is."
"From the map we already had, I believe Riordan should have taken care of that," she pointed out.
"True," he admitted.
"Let us check with others once we land," Morrigan suggested. "They likely already know that a battle is close at hand."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I still want to make sure they know that it's definitely headed this way."
"Very well."
A moment later they spooked a couple of guards as they flew down to the ground. Morrigan stepped off the broomstick and stretched. "I'm going to head directly for our quarters. A warm bath sounds appealing, especially if we may not get a chance for another too soon."
Harry grinned at her. "Maybe if I'm lucky I'll be able to join you."
"Then you had best hurry," she answered with a wink.
Harry was pleased by his luck- Riordan, Eamon, the queen, and various others had already put things in motion to prepare for a siege and ramping up the defenses were well under way. With the distance still remaining, they should have one night of calm before the coming battle.
For that reason, he was returning to his quarters to hopefully relax with Morrigan while he still could. He spotted her sitting on the edge of the bed, clad in that soft, emerald green bathrobe that had once been Daphne's many years before. One leg was on display due to the way she leaned, and as his eyes made his way up, Harry found an eyebrow raised and a hint of a smirk on her lips.
"See something you like?"
"You know that I do," he grinned.
"Then don't keep me waiting," she answered as he almost tore off his clothes on the way to their bed. Morrigan laughed in response. "Are you in that much of a hurry?"
"After the day we've had, I'm glad to finally get to enjoy our night together."
He had stripped out of his pants and she smirked while grasping him. "I know just where I want you. Lay down on the bed."
Harry chuckled to himself and then kissed her as he climbed onto the bed. "I guess you want to be on top?"
She straddled him and nodded. "I'm going to have my wicked way with you."
"As you wish."
They had dozed off together after making love, and Harry found himself sleeping on a couch- a familiar couch from a home he'd lost decades before- when musical laughter drew his attention.
"I like her, Harry."
He sat up at the voice and saw Daphne standing on the other side of the room, wearing his old quidditch jersey and, judging from the gorgeous legs on display, nothing else. For a moment, he was confused about where he was, then the green haze in the distance reminded him of the Fade and the spirits that lurked there.
"I'm glad you approve," he replied as she smiled at him.
Daphne slid onto the end of the couch and then patted her lap. Harry sighed as he lay his head down. "Though I do wish I could speak to her here. I could give her a few hints about how to handle you."
"Why can't you?"
"Most of the spirits you'll find here are the natives," she answered. "It's only you that draws those of us from our world to you. I don't even know if Sirius could experience the same thing."
"So, it's likely due to the whole Master of Death thing," he said.
"I believe so," Daphne agreed. "But I wanted to talk to you for a reason."
"You need a specific reason?"
"Don't pout," she teased. "If I spend too much time with you, you'll get lazy and try to nap all day long. Besides, you've got important things to do quite soon."
"I suppose I do," Harry replied.
"Yes, and with a little luck, maybe you and the swamp witch can have some peace and quiet once it's all over."
"That would be nice," he agreed. "I'd like to try teaching the mages too. See if I can't get more of our world's magic spread into Thedas."
"Good luck with that," Daphne said. "You may have complications that you'll have to get around."
"Really?" He sat up and frowned. "Everything has worked with Morrigan."
"Morrigan is hardly an average witch. But I don't want to spoil the surprise, and you'll need to find the answers on your own. I came here to warn you that the Archdemon's soul is every bit as dangerous as you might have guessed. If your trap works, you'll need to make sure that nothing can set it free again."
"I was assuming that would be true," Harry said.
Daphne nodded. "The Taint that runs through all the darkspawn effectively gives it a practically limitless amount of horcruxes. Or something similar enough to a horcrux, anyway. Normally, it is only the presence of Grey Wardens that disrupts that connection- they become a sort of anti-horcrux that destroys the Archdemon soul when it comes into contact with one of them instead."
"Then I'll need to be very careful with wherever I store the trapped soul," he added.
"Precisely."
Harry put his head in his hands and thought about it. There was nowhere particularly safe that he could think of. He could theoretically use the Fidelius charm to hide it somewhere, but he wasn't sure how well that would work on darkspawn because of the connection- and in this world, he didn't have any sort of base that was completely safe either.
The Circle Tower was probably the closest thing... but it wasn't nearly as secure as he would like.
"I guess I'll just have to keep it on me for a little while."
"It's something to think about," Daphne said. "I just wanted you to start thinking about it now. Better to be warned than to have some accident that causes a victory to be cut short."
"Thank you." He smiled and leaned in to kiss her.
Daphne laughed again. "You'll need to wake up soon. Be careful out there, Harry."
He bolted up and Morrigan grumbled as she too awoke.
"It cannot possibly be dawn yet," she yawned.
"Sorry," Harry muttered.
"It's alright." Morrigan stretched her arms and then sat up beside him. "I wanted to ask you about your plan."
"You mean, the soul trap for the Archdemon?"
"Yes." She swept aside her hair and turned to look at him. "What will you do with the soul once it is trapped?"
"Try to figure out some place where I can hide it," he shrugged. "With as many protective enchantments as I can think of wrapping it up tight."
"That's all?" Morrigan asked.
Harry frowned at her. "Why do you ask?"
"We could study it," she replied. "All that power- if there was a chance to tap into it, to use it for something-"
"It's too dangerous," he interjected.
"You say that as if I were a fool who wouldn't take precautions," Morrigan grumbled.
"Soul magic is very dangerous, just for normal human beings," Harry countered. "With a blighted, ancient, practically immortal dragon that is apparently also one of Tevinter's Old Gods? That's way too many variables that make the risk go off the charts."
"Hrmph," she scoffed. "It would be such a waste to just cast it aside."
"You're still thinking of Flemeth's plan," he stated. "Why don't you see how it could have backfired on you? Even if a child could have absorbed the soul of an Archdemon, and even if you could safely carry that child and give birth to it- what's to say the child would be human at that point? What if the Taint corrupted it? What if the dragon's soul overwhelmed its host? What if all that power meant that it was uncontrollable? What if it was anywhere near as violent as the Archdemon? You could give birth and have it attack you while you're still recovering."
"That plan was thrown out when all the Grey Wardens were killed," Morrigan replied with a negligent wave of her hand.
Harry sighed. "After everything you've learned about Flemeth- about what she wanted to use you for- why do you still trust her about the chance to use the Archdemon soul?"
She sat still and silent, and no answer came.
In frustration, Harry raised his left hand and conjured a ball of flame in it. "You know that fire is dangerous. That it can burn you. Would you stick your hand in the flames?"
"I've learned the flame freezing charm," Morrigan countered.
Harry sighed and let the spell end. "Please trust me on this, Morrigan."
She laid back down and rolled onto her side, away from him. Harry spooned behind her and hoped that he wouldn't be having this argument again too soon.
The next day, after a midday meal, Harry joined Shale and Oghren at the main gates to the city. Thankfully, no scouts had arrived yet to announce the coming darkspawn, but at this rate, he knew it was only a matter of time. If they came at night, visibility could become a major problem for the mostly human defenders of Denerim.
He also noted the worried troops gathered there and Harry had a feeling he might need to bring Wynne along to help support them. Luckily, there was a bit of a raised area on a platform just inside the gate where she could stay out of a lot of the melee while having decent visibility to cast healing spells.
And maybe she could launch an attack now and then, if the opportunity came up. But he knew that Wynne's strength was in keeping her allies strong and hale for as long as possible.
Keeping the few mages they had going could also be an issue. Leliana had led Morrigan to the shopping district to find as many lyrium potions as they could. Leaving most of them with Wynne was what Harry was currently planning- he hadn't needed to use lyrium yet and was more than a little concerned that it could have unintended consequences when it interacted with his magic.
Sirius could have issues as well, since they were both foreign to Thedas.
While remembering the magic he'd seen Wynne use, Harry came up with another idea as he barely paid attention to the bickering between Oghren and Shale.
"Excuse me, Shale, but how far can you throw boulders?"
The golem shrugged. "Far enough, I suppose. What does the little mage have in mind?"
Harry conjured up a rock that was roughly the size of a quaffle. "I'd like to see how far you can toss that."
"Bah, this is nothing," Shale answered as she launched it through the air.
Harry could tell that it had cleared probably three or four hundred feet without straining his golem friend, and that fact brought a smile to his face. Quickly, he began conjuring dozens of similar sized stones. "How would you like to become the most destructive artillery the world has ever seen?"
"Artillery?"
"Oh, yes," he grinned as his wand kept in motion. "You weren't with us yet when I demonstrated a way to empower explosive magic via a combination of runework and blood magic, but it can pack quite a punch. And if you can hurl these stones fast enough, you'll likely be able to decimate the darkspawn as they approach."
Shale chuckled. "I like it."
"What'll I be doing in the meanwhile?" Oghren asked with a grumbly pout.
"You can hand me the stones," the golem answered.
"What, like some kind of sodding squire?"
"If the shoe fits," Shale snickered.
Harry realized it might be easier to set things up in a line, so he conjured up shelves and levitated the stones onto them. Soon enough, he'd need to begin scribing runes, and bending over to reach the ground didn't sound appetizing to him either. Also, he had a thought about how he might be able to hasten things along.
"I do have an important task that you could be in charge of, actually," he said as he nodded to the dwarf. "As I mentioned, to really make this work, it will need a bit of blood to activate the magic. If I left you with a blood replenishing potion, could you cut yourself and swipe each of the stones?"
"Er," Oghren looked at the dozens of stones that Harry had created. "How much blood exactly will these things need?"
"Just a few drops, right on the runes that I'll carve."
"And that does what?"
"It primes them to explode," Harry answered as he got to work on the first carving spell. "Shale actually can't do that part, being inorganic, and while I could do it, the process works much better if the blood is freshly applied."
"What are you going to be doing?" Oghren asked.
"I was planning on staying in the air as much as possible," he replied. "Either I'll rain spells down upon our enemies, or head to wherever the Archdemon is, assuming it appears."
"Are you gonna take the sexy witch up there with you?" the dwarf teased.
Harry agreed with a grin. "Magic can deal damage from a distance, so it seems like the best option."
"That does sound like a tactical plan," Wynne said as she walked up behind them, the soldiers at the gates letting her through. "What of Leliana and Sirius?"
"I was hoping they'd do the same," he answered. "His spells and her bow could perform similarly."
"What would you have me do?" she asked.
Harry pointed to the raised platform just inside the main gate. "That would be a good spot for you to watch over this area. I don't know exactly how far you can reach with your healing magic, but-"
"I could manage anyone that doesn't stray too far from here," Wynne said as she turned to Oghren. "That means don't charge off into the fray of things, or I won't be able to put you back together when this is all over."
"Yes, ma'am," the dwarf mumbled.
"I hope the siege won't last too long," Wynne sighed and lowered her voice. "If we have to battle all through the night, morale may sag, not to mention our troops' abilities. And I'm not as young as I once was, either."
"You may want to speak with the troop commanders," Harry suggested. "Until the enemy is sighted, people could be rotated in and out to have everyone eat, drink, or-"
"Or find somewhere to piss," Oghren added with a laugh. "Wouldn't want their footing to get too wet if they soak their trousers in the middle of the fighting."
"True," Wynne admitted.
A raven's cry drew Harry's attention up and the bird sped down towards them, shifting into Morrigan's form as she landed. She patted the bag she'd enchanted to be bottomless and spoke, "I have as many lyrium potions as I could find."
"Excellent," Harry replied. "I'd like you to leave most of them with Wynne."
She glanced over to the older Circle Mage. "I suppose she may need them, if she's casting a lot."
"Spreading healing magic as much as I can," Wynne answered with a wry grin. "Targeting a group of our soldiers all at once will sap my energy faster than it has when it's just been a few of us on our journey to get here."
"Be careful too," Harry cautioned. "You'll be the main magical support they'll have here, so-"
"I know the harsh mathematics of war," Wynne interrupted. "I almost certainly will have to let some of these young men die in order to save more of their brethren."
Harry exhaled and nodded.
"Where will you be?" Morrigan asked.
Wynne led her away from the open space in front of the gate.
"So, where's Sirius at right now?" Oghren asked.
Harry went back to work at carving the stones he'd created. "He was going to circle the city as much as he could and then deliver some suggestions about where the defenses might need reinforcements."
Oghren took his helmet off and laid it next to the shelf where Harry was carving. "I hope they get here before too long. The worst part of a battle like this is waiting for it to start."
Harry snorted. "Don't jinx us. I need time to set these up, and, if possible, to create even more."
"I am not going to be happy if Shale steals all the glory."
Having finished yet another stone, Harry paused and winked at his dwarven friend. "I don't care about who gets the glory, as long as we survive the night."
"I guess I could drink to that," Oghren allowed. "And we will be drinking when this is all over- with some of that good stuff that you've got in the tent."
"Fair enough." One more stone with the rune set down, fifty nine more to go.
"You know, I'm really starting to love flying," Leliana said over Sirius' shoulder as they left Riordan to his work on the top of Fort Dracon, where a couple of very large ballistae were mounted on swiveling platforms. The Grey Warden was hoping to disable the Archdemon's flight if possible from there, and as it was the highest point in the city, it did seem like a decent idea.
Well, other than those who could ride a broom through the sky.
"If we win this battle, maybe you and I could go on a victory flight afterwards," Sirius suggested, chuckling as she squeezed him.
"I like the sound of that."
He slowed their speed and turned to kiss Leliana. They didn't have enough time for much else, but he didn't want to go into battle without a bit of good luck. "You know, when I was young, it was sort of the thing to do for a wizard to take his witch up on a romantic broom flight back at our school. James, Harry's dad, he was an amazing flyer. The best at Hogwarts, and I used to joke with him that as soon as he could get Lily to go for a ride with him, then she'd be as in love with him as he was with her. I don't know for sure if it worked, but I do know that by seventh year once they were together, they'd take off together on his broom flying over the lake and I wouldn't see him again for the rest of the night."
Leliana shared in his laughter. "I can see how that could be romantic."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I still miss them. It's been fifteen years, and I swear that I still see their faces most nights in my dreams."
"It is said that spirits can take many forms in the Fade," Leliana suggested. "Perhaps spirits of compassion visit you to try to soothe your regrets."
"Hmm," Sirius murmured. "Is that what your Chantry teaches?"
"Some parts of it." Leliana quickly added, "The better parts, in my view at least. Spirits can be a danger, true, but I just have to look at Wynne, how caring she is, and I know that there are benevolent spirits watching over us."
"What about those who have passed on?"
"I am not certain what I believe about such things," she admitted. "I'd like to think that they still watch over us, and that they will await us with love whenever we join them when our lives are over. Did your people have very different beliefs?"
"I was never religious," Sirius shrugged. "It does sound nice, though. But let's not be in any hurry to join them just yet. We'll make it through this battle."
"You do owe me another flight," Leliana teased.
"That I do," he agreed with a chuckle. "Let's go find Harry and finalize our plans."
It started with a rumble.
"That's a lot of darkspawn," Oghren grumbled as the horde of monsters appeared on the horizon to the southwest, not long before sunset would arrive.
"I'm surprised it's this loud from that far away," Sirius added.
"Hmm," Harry murmured, thinking there was something a little off. Not that he was sure what exactly was bothering him at the moment.
A piercing shriek from miles away heralded the appearance of the Archdemon, and worried mutters broke out among the soldiers gathered near the main gate to the city.
"We should get airborne," Morrigan suggested.
"Good idea," Leliana agreed as she stepped towards Sirius.
Shale clapped her large stone hands and started to smile. "It's going to be a good night. So very many things to squish."
"Just save some for me," Oghren said as he watched Harry give the artillery stones one last looking over. The dwarf laid his maul against the end of the shelves that had been conjured and took a swig of the blood replenishing potion. "You sure this will work, Harry?"
"Positive," he answered. With a quick wave of his wand, he gently cut open the back of Oghren's left hand. "Just rub a few drops on the runes before Shale hurls each stone into them."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Oghren nodded. "You better get up there soon. I won't be able to kill that dragon unless it comes down here to land. But I don't think that stinkin' lizard wants a good fight like that."
Harry snorted in agreement and summoned his Firebolt. Morrigan moved to join him as they prepared to take off.
"Good luck to us all," Wynne said.
"May the Maker protect us and let us see another dawn," Leliana added.
Nearby, one of the soldiers on top of the outer wall shouted out, "Archers at the ready!"
The two couples soared up into the sky on the brooms, while Shale took the first stone from Oghren's hand, measured the weight briefly, and waited a few more seconds for the first charging genlocks and hurlocks to come into range.
The Battle of Denerim had arrived...
