Author's Note: A SUPER huge chapter, because Orzammar is enormous. Thanks to everyone for the kind reviews and for the favorites! Hope you all enjoy this crazy huge update!
Chapter 64 - Somewhere Beyond
It was more frightening than the archdemon, in its way.
Easily the most horrid thing Serena had ever seen, the broodmother was... enormous. Vile and repulsive, it towered over them all, easily twenty feet tall and apparently stuck to the floor by its own massive bulk.
Grayish pink skin covered its chest, mottled from the taint, with two fat stumpy arms, constantly grabbing for anything within reach. Twisting and squirming, the thick bald head moved with the sway of the body, where four large flat breasts hung disgustingly, like an oversized pregnant sow.
Tentacles erupted out of the sides of it, constantly undulating, swiping, ready to seize them as soon as they got close. The headache she felt upon entering the Deep Trenches was nothing compared to the pounding her mind was fighting now. Looking over at Alistair, Serena knew she was not alone. Down here, their Grey Warden senses were as much a blessing as a curse.
"That's must be... Laryn," Alistair murmured, wincing slightly at the headache she knew he was fighting. Like the rest, he was apparently unable to look away from the horror before them. "I imagine those tentacles aren't for giving hugs..." His mouth clamped shut then, pulling his shield from its place on his back.
"Mind it's tentacles..." Serena called, pulling her bow. "Wynne, stay out of it, I want you healing. Leliana, cover her. I want everyone on guard, this thing can't move but-"
"Serena..." Alistair's eyes were still locked on the giant creature and he cursed loudly.
The creature was shaking now. Its mouth, so tiny for a body so immense, was open in a roaring belch that spewed black ichor out over the ground before it and down its slimy belly. With the cry came an answering howl as the rumble of metal echoed back to them.
"It's calling them," he said simply. He didn't need to say what was coming. They all knew.
Darkspawn were rushing down the tunnels on either side of the fat creature, coming to protect their... whatever it was to them. Mother? Sire? Prisoner? Serena had no idea, but she felt her stomach sink as the first darkspawn crashed into the chamber, weapons and teeth bared. With them, a few Blighted animals followed obediently.
Serena nocked an arrow into her bow and let it fly as she heard the others shouting, readying weapons and spells. In reply, Peanut let out a dread howl, stunning the first two darkspawn to their knees, allowing an opening for the rest.
Morrigan was instantly in front of her, a bright spark of lightning pushing out of her hand to smack into the first darkspawn. It struck hard, then arced back, crashing into its fellows as four of the monsters dropped dead on their feet, their bodies little more than burned out husks.
"Consider that a warning, fiends!" the witch shouted fearlessly, swinging her staff in a wide arc. Another lightning bolt struck out from the blackened tip, heading straight for the next group. "We are deadly on a good day, and today has been decidedly unkind to us!"
A wolf ran forward next, slipping low to get past the darkspawn. It headed straight for Serena and she automatically pushed her own hand out, stopping the creature in its tracks. "You will obey me!" she shrieked. "These creatures are not your pack! I am your pack!"
The wolf slowed, two of its fellows backing up from both the darkspawn and Serena's group, now unsure what to do. Their thoughts were a confused muddle as they tried to swallow their anger that the taint drove them to. She didn't have the heart to shoot the animals, corrupted as they were.
Zevran moved past her then, his daggers slicing through one of the tentacles that drove up through the ground, even as it tried to grab at him. He hopped quickly, almost dancing out of the way as he slid the sharp blades around, the beasts fat tendrils were slowly hacked to pieces.
"There's the music!" Oghren bellowed from nearby, swinging his great sword straight through a hurlock twice his size. "Time to dance!" The dwarf was a whirlwind then, slashing through anything in his way. Darkspawn fell before him, cut down in droves, the stocky man roaring with bloodlust.
Beside her, Alistair seemed wary to leave Serena's side, hesitant to move further than a few yards from her. She supposed it was for fear she would be taken captive, and turned into one of those... things. "You'll never have her! You'll never have another!" he yelled, confirming her suspicions as he struck the nearest darkspawn. "For the Grey Wardens!"
Any darkspawn that got past her arrows or Oghren's sword, he cut down mercilessly, his blade shining blue in the gloom. His shield dropped them just as easily, the edges sharpened by the elven assassin to make it just as deadly as his sword. He was a spinning torrent of death, destroying anything that was stupid enough to come close.
Sten, however, only had eyes for the broodmother. Serena followed after the huge qunari, her arrows spent on the darkspawn. She heard Alistair shout but gave him no mind as she pulled her daggers, sprinting after Sten as he strode purposefully forward.
Ignoring the flailing tentacles, he sunk his sword deep into the stomach of the creature, ripping it across as the guts of the thing spilled, rushing out over him and the tainted floor. He turned then, setting his feet down firmly as she reached him.
"Vinek kathas!" he urged, lifting her up in his massive arms. Before she even knew what was happening, she was standing on top of the black abdomen that protruded out of the broodmother's back, like a giant pulsing sac. Despite the mortal wound, the fat little arms still thrashed about wildly, trying to grab her off its back, the tentacles reaching where the arms could not. She felt herself lifted off its back and she screamed, letting loose all the magic within her.
She felt the Blighted animals respond to her call, her fury and fear was pulsing through them, channeling their rage back at the darkspawn that had originally corrupted them. The pack surged past Sten, barking and growling like mad. "K-kill her-" Serena gasped, her mind pressing them into her service, hopeful she could override the taint that followed in their veins with her passion.
With an almost mindless vengeance, the wolves ripped into the broodmother, pulling at the tentacles that held her captive, biting into her slimy pale flesh. The bloated thing screeched as a dire wolf launched itself at its throat, black ichor spraying in a geyser from the wound. The tentacle released her just enough that she was able to swing herself back onto the broodmother, one dagger still at her disposal.
Cutting deep, she stabbed at the bald little head, more of the thick dark blood spurting from the wound in every direction. It dripped slowly down her front as the broodmother slumped forward, finally lifeless. Below, her companions were finishing off the last of the darkspawn, blades and spells clashing in bright flashes across the battlefield.
Releasing the remaining wolves with her magic, she commanded them to run, to disappear back down into the ruins. She did not want them killed after they had already served her, risking their very lives. Below, she saw the lifeless form of one wolf that had been crushed under the broodmother's massive tentacle and Serena sent up a quick prayer to the Maker for it, though she knew not where animals went after death, especially a Blighted one.
"It's dead!" she called out needlessly. Answering shouts came back out of the darkness, as slowly the mages lit their staffs, light blossoming again, although they only made pinpricks in the gloaming that now threatened to devour them all.
"That's where they come from." Hespith had returned, apparently, with the death of the creature. Standing on a ledge above the dead broodmother, her halting, staggered speech drifted down from above and Serena resisted the urge to hurl something heavy at the ghoulish woman.
"That's why they hate us... that's why they need us. That's why they take us... that's why they feed us. But the true abomination... it was not that it occured, but that it was allowed. Branka, my love... I am dying of something worse than death..."
"Betrayal..." With a glance to the ceiling, Hespith put out her arms, looking much like a martyr, ready to burn for their beliefs. Serena reached out to the ledge that held the woman, intent to help but she simply shook her head... and jumped.
"So she's dead?"
"I... I don't know. I couldn't find anything." Serena bit her lip, wishing she had a better explanation for Alistair, for all of them. "Her footprints were in the dust, and... it looked like she jumped into the... the lava."
"It is for the best," Sten said, his voice surprisingly sensitive. "She was beyond redemption."
Morrigan huffed, her thin arms crossed over her chest. "Good riddance, I say. Those singsong poems of hers were... indelible."
Serena looked to Oghren, who had been quiet since the end of the battle. They had patched their wounds; the dwarf had taken a deep cut to one arm that had taken Wynne a few moments to heal properly, her face scrunched in concentration. Morrigan had doled out health poultices to the others, some of her last, in an effort to conserve her and Alim's leftover mana. All three mages looked tired, drained, and Serena bit her lip, not sure what to do. They were nearly out of lyrium.
"There's a door over here," Zevran called then.
It led beyond, always beyond, it seemed, Serena thought ruthlessly. It was evening, it had to be by now, after all that, and as tired as she was, as she was sure they all were, she simply wanted an end to this, and felt it was near. She was not alone in that thought, either.
"If Branka is anywhere, this has to be it," Oghren said, nodding to their new surroundings. "She will... not be unprepared." Moving into the cavern, Serena found herself relieved. Lights, no, torches glowed just beyond. Someone was living here, and she prayed it was Branka. As they stepped further in, a trap sprung, dropping a thick metal door in place behind them.
"Dwarves and their bloody traps," Serena muttered, scowling at the door. "You would think there would be better things to do down here, but no..." She sighed heavily. There would be no leaving out that way. Turning back, she noticed a glint above the rocks beyond, and a few of the others were gazing up as well. A dwarven woman with short brown hair stepped forward, her shield flashing again.
"Let me be blunt with you. After all this time, my tolerance for social graces if fairly limited." She glared at Serena, as if daring her to object. "That doesn't bother you, I hope."
"Shave my back and call me an elf! Branka?" Oghren goggled at the woman. "By the Stone, I barely recognized you!"
"Oghren. It figures you'd eventually find your way here." An eyebrow raised delicately. "Hopefully, you can find your way back more easily."
"That'll be rather difficult with your little door trap back there set up," grumbled Serena, already taking a dislike to the tone of this woman's voice.
"And how shall I address you?" Branka continued, turning her intense gaze on Serena now. "Hired sword of the latest lordling to come looking for me? Or just the only one who didn't mind Oghren's ale-breath?"
"Be respectful, woman!" Oghren shouted, readily sticking up for his new companions. "You're talking to a Grey Warden!"
"Ah, so an important errand boy, then," the dwarven woman mocked. "I suppose something serious has happened. Is Endrin dead? That seems most likely. He was on the old and wheezy side."
"Errand girl, thank you very much," Serena corrected haughtily. She didn't like this woman one bit. She was rude and churlish, and Serena longed to throw something at her. "We came seeking your aid in helping the Assembly. It is hopelessly deadlocked, and we were told a Paragon could override that. Our treaties to end the Blight can only be honored by the King of Orzammar."
"A king won't defeat a Blight," Branka said, shaking her head. "We've had forty generations of kings and lost everything. I don't care if the Assembly puts a drunken monkey on the throne!"
Serena rolled her eyes. It was interesting this woman cared for the kingdom and its lost cities, yet cared not a bit whether its people murdered each other in the streets over the crowning of a new king. Did she do this for glory, then? She was already a Paragon, what was above that in dwarven society?
"Our protector, our greatest invention, the thing that once made our armies the envy of the world, is lost to the very darkspawn it should be fighting. The Anvil of the Void," Branka clarified, as if they needed clarification for why she was here. "The means by which the ancients forged their army of golems, and held off the first archdemon ever to rise. It's here. So close I can taste it."
"And yet you still stand here," Morrigan drawled. "'Tis a bit more difficult to taste than you thought, is it, dwarf?"
"The Anvil lies on the other side of a gauntlet of traps designed by Caridin himself," Branka sneered. "My people and I have given body and soul to unlocking its secrets. This is what's important. This has lasting meaning. If I succeed, the dwarven people benefit. Kings, politics... all that is transitory." She frowned. "I've given up everything and would sacrifice anything to get the Anvil of the Void."
"Including sacrificing Hespith to the darkspawn?" Serena challenged. "And Laryn? She is dead now, dead by my hand. And what of the rest of your house? I see you are alone in your pursuit." She narrowed her eyes at the woman. "Did they abandon you, or did you have them killed?"
Branka frowned, her eyes gazing beyond them, to where the broodmother now lay dead. Shaking her head, she focused on Serena again. "If you wish me to get involved with this imbecilic election, I must first have the Anvil." She threw an armored hand to the metal door behind them. "There is only one way out, Warden. Forward. Through Caridin's maze and out to where the Anvil waits."
"What has this place done to you?" Oghren burst out suddenly. "I remember marrying a girl you could talk to for one minute and see her brilliance... have you lost your sodding mind?"
"I am your Paragon," Branka ground out angrily. "The choice is yours, Warden." She nodded once and headed down the only tunnel out.
Tents and snares littered the chamber as they made their way in. It appeared as if Branka's house, or most of it, had made it here at least, and pitched a rather large camp. Then she saw the bodies.
Most of them were charred from some sort of fire, and the rest were only in pieces, pulled apart by metal claws and spring traps. An arm here, a leg there... it was disturbing, to see the dwarf walk past it all as if she hadn't brought it upon them.
Serena could hear Branka's voice ahead, her words echoing back to them much like Hespith's had. Perhaps it was a trait of dwarven women, Serena thought. Or perhaps just crazy women in general.
"I needed people to test Caridin's traps. There is no way to break through except by trial and error. I sent them in... They were all mine, pledged to be my house, and they didn't want to help."
Beside her, Alistair was rolling his finger next to his head, pulling a ghastly face. He leaned down, whispering in Serena's ear so Oghren couldn't hear. "She honestly thinks people would just lay down their lives for some... lost invention? I'm surprised they didn't mutiny against her."
"They tried to leave me, even my Hespith... But even she couldn't understand that when you reach for greatness, there are sacrifices. As many sacrifices as are needed."
Zevran put out an arm to stop Serena and leaned down, disabling a rusting, though no less sophisticated, leghold trap. A few more laid about the floor, and she and Leliana split off, all three rogues working together to clear the way for the others.
Alim suddenly gasped, pulling Morrigan after him. "You, too, Wynne," he called over his shoulder. "You can't be much better off than us." Setting the dark haired witch on a glowing green vein, they watched as the raw lyrium soaked into her skin and she sighed appreciatively. Alim smiled, heading for another vein as Wynne stepped near a third.
"That's... lyrium, isn't it? Raw lyrium?" Alistair exchanged dark looks with Serena. "Let's you and I stay, uh, well over here, eh? Don't need to get back on that dark horse." She nodded, taking his hand as they moved away. She remembered her brief stint in the Fade only so well... Seeing Niall had been... unexpected, to say the least.
"Feels like being doused in pure energy," Alim whispered when he'd returned. "I haven't felt this good since we came down here."
"Aye, good thing, too, since here comes trouble." Oghren pulled his sword, his wife forgotten for the moment as the rage of battle overtook him. Rushing out, Oghren ran forward to meet the darkspawn, releasing his own savage roar.
Out of arrows, Serena moved forward with her daggers, slashing across the first genlock stupid enough to come her way. She felt Alistair at her side, his sword backing her up. She could hear the others, spells and blades cutting a swath through the darkspawn until it the cavern was silent again save for their breathing and the occasional curse.
"She shouldn't have gone. She was pledged to me. She swore she'd do whatever it took to find the Anvil." Branka was speaking again, perched atop a ledge where the darkspawn couldn't reach her should Serena and her companions fall. "There was no other choice. Most of them were dying of the taint already, but some... some of the women were... transforming."
Another wave of darkspawn ran out of a side tunnel, an ogre with them this time. Sten met the thing head-on, his sword digging deep into the waist of the thing, knocking it to the ground.
"I knew what they would become. There would be an endless supply, fresh darkspawn to test the traps. They could still serve me, let me find the Anvil. It was the only way..."
More traps. More darkspawn. It was a cycle here. Serena wondered when they'd be through with all of them. She seethed with fury, listening to Branka recite the horrid things she had done to the people left in her care. She took it all out on the darkspawn, unable to reach the woman she really wanted to kill.
"You have no idea how they carried on, holding my hand and begging to die. They had pledged me their loyalty. They have no right to fight me. They say your order is renowned for its wits as well as its brawn. Perhaps you'll do better than my poor clansmen."
"There's something about this place...It makes people despair."
"Gee. I can't imagine why!" Serena grabbed the darkspawn's head from behind, snapping its neck in a rush of adrenaline. Kicking it back, she ran her dagger in another. "And here I just thought it made people crazy!"
Finally the last of the darkspawn fell, and when Serena looked up, Branka had disappeared, too. Oghren was staring at the place where she'd stood, his eyes hooded.
"Heh. Good ol' Branka. She's a bit, uh, abrasive, isn't she? Guess I forgot that part about her screeching in my ear every sodding day." The dwarf wiped the blood from his sword, frowning slightly. "Ah, well. We'll help her get the Anvil, and then she'll come home and everything will be better."
As they headed for the tunnel, Serena caught Alistair shooting her a look over the dwarf's head, shaking his head miserably. A look that clearly said this would not end as happily as Oghren thought. Serena felt it in the pit of her stomach that he was right.
Cardin's traps ended up being quite advanced, for traps set hundreds of years ago. A room full of gas, in which when the levers were pulled to both activate the golem sentries left in the chamber and turn off the gas. Even Alistair could note the simple genius of the set-up... if one didn't succumb to the gas, they certainly would be weakened and unable to fight off the crazed golems.
Alim had used a force field spell to stop the oncoming golems in order allow Zevran time to pull a few of the levers. Once the gas had dissipated, they group had descended on the enraged golems, Sten, Oghren and Alistair taking the hardest hits from their massive stone fists.
All three mages had descended on them, healing Alistair's busted ribs, Oghren's cracked skull and Sten's broken collarbone and wrist. The rest used health poultices to heal their cuts and other wounds, the group looking much worse for the wear afterwards. Alim had pointed out another lyrium vein that the drained mages had practically pounced on, soaking up the vapors greedily.
Watching the mages, Alistair found himself wishing he could restore his lost stamina as easily as simply rubbing up against some glowing rocks, but he knew all too well what lyrium, even small doses, did to non-mages. He'd seen one such templar, an older man named Rulf, who after nearly a lifetime of using lyrium to supplement his templar abilities had now nearly succumbed to madness.
Lyrium addiction was also one of the ways the Chantry kept such a tight fist on both the mages and its templars. It was almost poetic in a way, since both sides depended on the blueish substance. Alistair had only gotten a taste of it in his own training, but the few days after his conscription had been agonizing enough for him to forego the stuff forever, even at the loss of being able to use his abilities more frequently.
Glancing at Serena, he wondered how her body withstood the feel of it, constantly touching her arms, tingling at her very spirit. He made a note to himself to ask Alim if he had any theories about her abilities. The elf seemed very knowledgeable about magic in general, if not outright thrilled by anything academic.
Glancing around the cavern, Alistair frowned at the fallen golems, still annoyed at having been bested by them.
"Okay, I... regret my words about the golems looking puny," Alistair muttered, rubbing his hand across his armored chest. Despite being healed, the ribs still felt bruised.
"You were mistaken in thinking something made of stone would not be capable of punching you through the wall," Sten said, one of his eyes darkening from a bruise. "They also do not tire, which is... admirable... in a warrior"
"Only you could find comfort in an enemy that tried to kill me," Alistair replied, incredulous.
The giant let out what could only be considered a snort. "They also do not whine."
More golems, more traps, and more bruised ribs followed after that. The group was aching from multiple contusions by the time they reached the final cavern. Beyond, the cavern ended sharply as the glow of lava rose up to meet them. Rock golems stood like sentries leading up to an enormous metal golem, right in front of what had to be the Anvil of the Void.
"Oh, sweet Maker, not more of those damn things," Serena moaned. "I give up, okay? I... I have no more bones you insufferable piles of stone can possibly break..." Alistair had to agree as he put his arm around her, an arm recently healed from a break, that he also did not care for these golems.
"We can do this, Serena, it's right there." They stood in front of the giant metal golem, peering around anxiously. "Do you think we just go get Branka or..."
"Hello. My name is Caridin." Alistair looked up. It was the metal golem. And it was talking. It was talking words to them. He could feel Serena shake next to him, backing up from the giant metal construct. "Once, longer ago than I care to think-"
Serena shrieked. "Sweet Maker, it's talking! It's a talking... it's talking!"
"Are you alright?" the golem asked. Alistair could have sworn the thing sounded... concerned, despite its rather imperious sounding voice.
"I... yes. Yes." Serena put a hand over her chest, breathing hard. "I apologize, I was simply... I mean, you're... you're a..."
"A golem, yes." The giant metal man nodded. "My name is Caridin, and I was once a Paragon to the dwarves of Orzammar." His voice sounded like it echoed deep in the tiny metal head, like there was a squat little man inside a giant suit of armor, shouting out at them. "If you seek the Anvil, then you must care about my story, or be doomed to relive it."
"Wait, wait, you said Caridin, right? As in.. as in the Caridin of Caridin's Cross? You made the Anvil." Alistair turned to Oghren, goggling at the golem. "He made the Anvil!"
The dwarf rolled his eyes. "Aye, Warden, so I heard."
"Though I made many things in my time, I rose to fame and earned my status based on a single item, the Anvil of the Void." There was a long substantial pause before the golem spoke again, and Alistair found himself appreciating the Paragon's sense of drama. "It allowed me to forge a man of steel or stone, as flexible and clever as any soldier. As an army, they were invincible. But I told no one the cost."
"No mere smith, however skilled, has the power to create life. To make my golems live, I had to take their lives from elsewhere."
Serena's voice was tiny. "Oh, dear. I'm not sure I like where this is heading..."
"It sounds like... blood magic," Alim whispered.
"The darkspawn were pressing in," Caridin continued. "Originally, I only took volunteers, the bravest of souls willing to trade their very lives for the chance to defend their homeland. But King Valtor became greedy. He began to force me... casteless and criminals... his political enemies... all of them were to be given to the anvil."
"It took feeling the hammer's blow myself to realize the height of my crimes."
"So... what now? Is this... are you seeking revenge?" Serena put a hand on her dagger, preparing for the worst it seemed.
"Not revenge," replied the golem. "The blow of the hammer opened my eyes. My apprentices knew enough to make me as I am, but not enough to fashion a control rod. I retained my mind. We have remained entombed here ever since..." He threw out a large hand to the expanse around him. "And I have sought a way to destroy the Anvil. Alas, I cannot do it myself. No golem can touch it."
"Then I'll help you," Serena said. "I don't think..." She glanced around, looking at the others, her eyes landing on Oghren. "After what h- happened with Laryn... I don't think we should-"
"No! The Anvil is mine!" Branka's scratchy voice rang out across the cavern as she rushed in past the golem sentries. "No one will take it from me!"
"You!" Caridin's voice boomed out of the golem, his hand pointing accusingly at Branka. "You have sent countless dwarves through my gauntlet to their deaths! You shall never harm another in pursuit of the Anvil!" He turned to Serena, and Alistair could has sworn if the metal face could emote, it would have. "Please... help me destroy it! Do not let the Anvil enslave more souls that it already has!"
"I... I... I need a Paragon's help, Caridin! If I help you, can you support a new king for the throne?"
"Don't listen!" Branka yelled. She pulled her blade and shield from her back, waving them frantically. "He's been trapped here for a thousand years, stewing in his own madness! Help me claim the Anvil, and you will have an army like you've never seen!"
"Two years, a thousand years... everybody is deranged down here," Zevran muttered. "I had thought the darkspawn bad..."
"branka, you mad, bleeding nug-tail! Does this thing mean so much to you that you can't even see what you've lost to get it?" Oghren stepped towards his wife, his face drawn in angry lines. "Our whole house, gone to the darkspawn!"
"Look around, Oghren! Is this what our empire should look like? A crumbling tunnel filled with darkspawn spume? The Anvil will let us take back our glory!"
"At the cost of how many more lives, Branka?" Serena shouted. "Hundreds, maybe thousands have been lost to it! It... it enslaves living souls, you crazy woman! No more! No army is worth this!" She turned back to Caridin. "It must be destroyed. If you'll help me, I will do it."
"Thank you, stranger. Your compassion shames me."
"No! You will not take it!" Branka ran towards them then from the back of the cavern, her eyes wild. "Not while I still live!"
"Branka! Don't throw your life away for this!" Oghren pulled his sword, bringing it up to ward off her frenzied swing. "Just give her the blasted thing! She's confused..." He parried another blow, protecting Serena. Alistair pulled his sword, discontent to allow anyone to take crazy swings at his betrothed. "Maybe once she calms down..."
"She's obsessed, Oghren! Look in her eyes!" Serena pulled her daggers. "She could have taken our heads off!"
"She has been driven mad by her quest for the Anvil, like so many others," added the giant golem.
"Bah! You're not the only master smith here, Caridin!" Branka cried. "Golems! Obey me! Attack!"
Around the cavern the stone golems came to life, stretching wide before they pounded their fists on the ground in unison. Alistair and the others were shaken about as all but Caridin and the golems
were thrown to the ground.
"A control rod! But... my friends, you must help me! I cannot stop her alone!"
"Everyone's completely insane!" Serena shrieked, pulling herself to her feet despite the shaking of the ground. "Paralyze whatever you can!" She pointed to the golems as she pulled one of Zevran's bombs from her belt pouch. "We have to get that control rod!"
Alistair dug his boots in, trying to gather his legs under him to follow her towards the mad Branka. Shouting orders at the stone golems, she pulled her shield, blocking herself from Serena as she barreled into the dwarven woman at full speed.
Serena knocked Branka to the ground, using her sheer size as an advantage over the smaller woman. As the two women scrambled across the floor, Alistair was nearly knocked out by a golem, his focus on Serena. Raising his shield just in time, the golem pounded into him and he felt his feet leave the ground as he flew across the cavern, landing in a heap near Zevran.
"Good day to you, my friend," the assassin said conversationally, as if they weren't being attacked by a dozen enormous stone monsters. Putting out one hand to help Alistair up, he grinned, flinging a firebomb at one of the fiends with his other hand to keep it at bay. "More rock slides, hmm?"
Alistair shook his head, fighting the disorientation he felt. "I hate these bloody... things."
All across the battlefield their companions were fighting hard. The mages casting spells to freeze or paralyze the golems in place, Sten and Oghren beating hard at the stone creatures. Serena was still wrestling with the dwarven women, both brunette's screaming and scraping. Alistair saw Branka land a solid hit to Serena's face as she scrambled up and away from their leader, the control rod held up defiantly in her hand.
"Golems, attack... HER!" Branka threw out an arm to indicate Serena as she clambered to her feet, shaking off the punch drowsily.
Bellowing, one of the golems picked up an enormous boulder in his fist, heaving it across the cavern at Serena at the dwarf's command. Alistair felt his heart jump in his chest as the metal golem, Caridin, threw himself in front of the massive stone as a makeshift shield as Serena screamed and dove to the ground again, the golem and rocks flying over her head.
That was it. Something snapped then, and Alistair's feet were moving, Zevran right at his heels, both men intent on reaching the dwarf now. He wanted nothing more than to rip her apart with his bare hands.
Before he knew it, they had reached her, his shield pushing her to the ground roughly from behind. He could hear yelling behind them, a man's voice and a higher pitched one, Serena maybe? He couldn't stop though, they both had their hands on her now, and Branka was shouting, ordering the golems to protect her.
Catching Branka between them, Alistair ripped the control rod from her hands as Zevran slid his long dagger in her back, effectively skewering her on it. Blood burst from her mouth then, her face immortalized in astonishment at being beaten at last.
The golems immediately stopped, one dropping Sten to the ground with a heavy thud. The giant metal golem then wandered over to the companions, his eyes on Branka's lifeless form.
"Another life lost because of my invention," Caridin lamented. "I wish no mention of it had made it into history."
Oghren snorted, his face set in a heavy frown as he wiped a hand across his eyes. "Yeah, you ain't kidding. Stupid woman! Always knew the Anvil would kill her..."
"But at least it ends here," Caridin contined. "I thank you for standing with me, strangers. The Anvil waits there for you to shatter it."
"It was good to meet you, Paragon," Wynne murmured, bowing her head to the giant construct. Alistair rolled his eyes. Wynne was nice and all, but meeting Caridin was anything but good. Puppies were good. Rainbows were good. Giant twelve foot walking metal monsters were not good. They were outright terrifying. "I intend to ensure that your warnings about the golems are heard by the Circle of Magi."
"While that's all well and good, but it would be nice to have an end to this succession problem," Zevran said keenly. "It is what we came down here for, afterall."
"Indeed," Serena agreed. Although Alistair saw her quickly turn to Oghren, her blue eyes intense as she telegraphed something to the smaller man with a look.
As if he hadn't heard the assassin at all, Caridin began speaking again. "Is there any boon I can grant you for your aid? A final favor before I am freed from my burden?"
Serena stared up at the giant metal golem, looking tiny in comparison. "Paragon Caridin, while we require a Paragon's aid in the election... Oghren lost his wife to this madness. I shall be content with whatever he decides."
Oghren frowned, looking to Serena for confirmation. "Aye, you sure about this, Legs?"
"It's up to you, Ginger," Serena said with a sad smile. "I'm sorry for what happened." The dwarf nodded, his beard twitching slightly as he turned back to Caridin.
"Huh. Don't suppose you can bring Branka back? Maybe make her a golem, like you?"
Slowly, the metal Caridin turned his head back and forth. "I would not do such a thing to her, even if I could."
"Somehow, I didn't think so." The dwarf glanced at his blood splattered boots for a moment. "Then I don't want anything that would remind me of... this. Best it's just done. Though, there is still the matter of the election. I mean, we still need a Paragon to get the Assembly's support and all... Maybe you could help with that, aye?"
"For the aid you've given me, I shall put hammer to steel one last time," Caridin boomed. "I shall give you a crown for the king of your choice." The giant metal man stomped off towards the Anvil, the banging and thudding echoing through the cavern immediately.
"Oh, dear, thank the Maker he's making us something. Could you imagine us traipsing up to the surface with this thing?" Serena's voice wasn't exactly quiet as she spoke to Alistair. "Oh, yes, Branka was completely unhinged, so we brought you... a thousand year old metal statue that talks."
"And is thankfully rather deaf," Alistair added, smiling crookedly as he slipped his arm around her quickly.
Caridin returned rather soon, holding a large golden crown in his hand. Handing it to Serena, she buckled slightly under its unexpected weight. "There. It is done. Give it to whom you will. I do not wish to hear their names, nor anything more of them. I have already lived far beyond my time. I have no place here."
"And I shall destroy your creation, as we agreed," Serena replied with a curt nod. Walking past them all to the giant Anvil, she hefted Caridin's giant hammer above her head and slammed it down hard, shattering the Anvil of the Void in a bright flash.
Caridin stomped forward then to stand next to Serena at the edge of the cavern, a stream of air releasing from his metal helmet in what they could only assume was a golem's sigh. "You have my eternal thanks, stranger. Atrast nal tunsha... may you always find your way in the dark."
Without another word, he put out his hands and jumped into the bright orange lava below.