And it was over just as quickly.
I threw my hands forward and willed him to stop. To cooperate with the spirit. He collapsed to the ground. Unconscious. I wasn't sure what I had done, but I knew, somehow, that he would wake up with a different mindset.
"That was... underwhelming." Zevran tsked.
"He'll be fine." I assured everyone, including myself, "Maybe he'll change his mind when he wakes up."
We didn't have to wait long; he came around a handful of minutes later, after Witherfang reverted back to the Lady.
"I cannot... cannot defeat you."
"Finish it! Kill him now!"
We all looked at the were, and he fell silent.
"No, Swiftrunner. We will not kill him. If there is no room in our hearts for mercy, how may we expect there to be room in his?" the Lady chastised softly.
"I cannot do as you ask, spirit. I am too old... to know mercy. All I see are the faces of my children, my people. I... I cannot do it."
"Would you really let your people die? For this?" I pleaded. Surely he wanted to help his people, not let them die. Wasn't that the whole reason we were helping them? Aside from the treaty thing.
"Perhaps I have... lived too long. This hatred in me is like an ancient, gnarled root... It has consumed my soul." Zathrian looked to the Lady, "What of you, spirit? You are bound to the curse just as I am. Do you not fear your end?"
"You are my maker, Zathrian. You gave me form and consciousness where none existed. I have known pain and love, hope and fear, all the joy that is life. Yet of all things, I desire nothing more than an end. I beg you, maker... put an end to me. We beg you... show mercy."
The werewolves gathered close to comfort their Lady.
"You shame me, spirit. I am... an old man, alive long past his time."
"Then you will do it? You will end the curse?"
The elf struggled to his feet, "Yes, I think it is time. Let us... let us put an end to it all."
The beasts shifted uneasily, and the Lady of the Forest smiled at them, calming them. The creator and the cursed faced each other for one final time. Keeping eye contact, Zathrian hit is staff against the ground. He fell forward as the spell came to life on his lips. His last breath left him as the Lady began to fade from sight and an orange light engulfed her. She was finally free. The curse had ended.
The effect was almost instantaneous; the werewolves began reverting back in to their original forms. Humans and elves now surrounded us. They looked at each other and hugged. Laughed. Cried. The only thing that separated them from other people, visually at least, was their eyes. They were gold. Every single one of them. Golden eyed. They were just as beautiful as the Lady of the Forest had been.
"It's... over. She's gone, and... we're ourselves. I can scarcely believe it." the man closest to us spoke.
"What are you going to do now?" My eyes roamed the room, now teeming with people. Potential.
"We'll leave the forest, I suppose. Find others, see what's out there for us. It should be quite interesting, don't you think? Thank you." he bowed his head to us, "We... we'll never forget you."
As one, they turned and ran, fleeing the ruins that had once been all they'd known. I felt a little sad, but I knew they were going to be happier now. Everyone was so overjoyed.
"You guys go on ahead. I need to be alone for a little while." I closed my eyes and cleared my mind.
No one said a word. The only indication they were doing as I'd asked, was their footsteps. Moving away from me.
I let out a gust of air. This could have ended differently. So very differently. It occurred to me that I had no idea what they had been about to do, when I'd shown up with Zathrian in tow. Shaking myself, I looked up at the ceiling, for it didn't matter. The what-ifs hadn't happened, and I needed to not question it.
Leaving, I retraced my steps and happened upon Danyla.
She looked up at my approach, "You... you did it. I am me again."
"Let's go back to your clan. To your husband. I know he's been worried about you." I looped my arm through hers, and that's how we walked in to the Dalish camp.
...
"You have returned. Is there..." the man trailed off, his eyes on the woman beside me.
"I do." I grabbed his hand and moved her arm so they were standing as she and I had been, "She's alive and well."
They simply stared in to each other's eyes.
Smiling a little, I left them to their reunion.
"Wait! I must thank you!" he called out in desperation.
I tilted my head, "For what? All I did was go on a walk through the forest this morning. I just happened to find a friend along the way." Walking backwards, away from them, I pointed at the pair, "Just don't lose each other again. That'll be repayment enough, in my opinion."
"Ah, there you are!" Leliana skipped over to me and put a hand on my shoulder, steering me in a different direction, "The keeper wishes to speak with you."
The... Of course. They had a new one, now that Zathrian was dead. It would have to be-
"The essence of the wolf's heart has banished all traces of cursed blood from the hunters." Lanaya wasted no time, getting to the heart of the situation, "It is too bad that Zathrian had to die. I... I felt it, when he departed. I think he was ready to go."
"I'm sure he was." I realized they had all been waiting on me, to talk about what had happened in the ruins. I suddenly felt very tired.
"It will be difficult to fill Zathrian's shoes. He was our keeper for many centuries, and he will be sorely missed. But I am keeper now. Let me say it officially, then: I hereby swear to uphold the terms of the ancient contract our people formed with the Grey Wardens." She smiled softly, "Call and we shall come, with great speed and purpose, and we shall strike at your foes. This, I swear."
"Thank you, Lanaya." Alistair said when I stayed quiet.
"It has been a long time since the Dalish marched to war... but I trust that, in the end, we shall make a difference for you."
We said our goodbyes to the Dalish and made for our main camp, where the others were. I was going to pet Seraphine until she was sick of me. After I got some sleep, probably.
When we arrived, Wynne checked all of us, even Morrigan, for any injuries at all. She grilled me on my sleep, whether I'd gotten enough of it or if I'd traveled at all. I told her I'd slept, but not that it hadn't been well. I told her if I had traveled, I had no recollection of it. It seemed to satisfy her, and she moved on to her next victim, er, patient.
Zevran was tending to the fire when she finally let me go, so I went over and sat on the ground. Holding my hands out to the heat and tried to stay awake. Which reminded me...
"Hey, Zev?"
He quirked an eyebrow in acknowledgement.
"I found these and thought of you." I pulled the gloves from my pack, holding them out to him.
His eyebrows drew together as he looked at them.
"Take them. As a gift."
I grabbed his hands and placed the gloves in his possession.
"Gloves? You're giving me gloves? What for?"
"They're Dalish gloves. Like your mother's."
His eyes widened, "I… Maker's breath, you're right. They are like my mother's." he took them in his hands, inspecting them closely, "The leather was less thick, but it had more embroidery… but these are very close. And quite handsome."
I raised an eyebrow, "You're welcome."
"Do I seem surprised?" he glanced up at me, "Perhaps I am. Still, I appreciate the fact that you even thought of me. No one has simply… given me a gift before. Thank you." He held the gloves tightly.
I smiled sadly, "I can relate to that. When I think back on my lives, I just remember being treated as the weapon I was groomed to be. Actually, I think," I tapped my chin, "this group is the closest I've had to friends. I can't say we are, because I don't want to presume, but... It's almost nice. Having someone care about you, not just because you can do something for them."
He grinned and reached out to ruffle my hair, "That is something we have in common."
I made a face at him, covering my head with my arms defensively, "Hey! Knock it off!"
He rolled his eyes at me, turning to poke the fire, "Relax, Warden. By chance, have you thought about what you're going to use as an anchor now?"
"Tis something I am most curious about, as well." The witch glared down at the ground and chose to sit on one of the logs instead.
"I was entertaining the idea of using the amulet the craftsman made for me, but..."
"But, what?" the elf cocked an eyebrow, "What is stopping you?"
"I don't really know. Something's stopping me," I patted my diaphragm, "in here. It's like my instincts are screaming 'don't do it', and it makes me hesitate."
"In my line of business, when your gut tells you to wait, you should wait."
Yawning, I nodded, "I know. I've always tried to listen it, but this is important. I don't want to fall asleep and end up somewhere over the rainbow."
The two of them gave me confused looks, and I waved my hand.
"It's a reference to something from-" I stood and dusted myself off, "You know, it's not important. I'm going to bed."
Neither of them stopped me as I fled to my tent. Flopping down on my bedroll, I pulled out my diary and noted down everything that had happened since the my birthday. The day of the Joining. It felt like so long ago. Years, even. I couldn't believe it had only been a few months. My eyes started to drift shut when I was only half way finished with the list of things we'd done, and it wasn't long before I succumbed and fell asleep.
The dragon flew up over a sea of writhing bodies. Darkspawn. Even though they were underground, in a cavern somewhere, the winged beast had plenty of room to maneuver. Its roars filled the large space, echoing around me. Knocking around in my head, offering no release any time soon.
Then, it looked directly at me.
I jolted awake, a scream on my lips. It didn't help that Alistair was crouched in front of me. I clamped my mouth shut and covered it with both hands. He sat on his heels and offered a small smile. I nodded at him, to let him know I was okay, if a little jumpy.
"Did you... did you feel it, too?" He watched as I calmed myself, "It was like the archdemon saw us! What does that mean? I think-" he froze for a second, "wait! Did you hear that?"
I scrambled from the small enclosure, the warrior already on his feet. Our weapons in hand, we shouted for the others to wake up.
"Darkspawn!" Our voices were raised together.
We were surrounded on all sides. The creatures poured forth from the forest, almost as if it had been-
"It's an ambush!" I screamed, unable to believe it. We had underestimated them, thinking they didn't have the intelligence to pull off such a feat.
Taller, leaner... beings... came with them. One of them reached out, quick as lightning, and grabbed my arm. Pulled me toward it and clawed at my throat. Something barreled in to us, ripping me from the monster's grip, and sent me to the ground. Struggling to get up, I pressed a hand to my neck.
"What... what are they?" Leliana called out, sounding a little frightened at the voracity with which they fought. They were like mindless animals, no concept of dying in their heads.
"Shrieks! I've never fought one before, but I know they're fast and vicious! Be careful, everyone!" was Alistair's answer.
Finally making it to my feet, I searched the earth for power. I found it with little effort and cloaked my companions heavily with healing magicks. I stumbled toward the fire, staying out of the way; I knew I would only be in the way, in the condition I was in.
With the added protection, the fight was tipped in our favor, and the darkspawn went down quickly. The shrieks took a while longer, but eventually, they, too, fell.
Alistair shook his head, wiping the tainted blood from his blade, "I guess they sensed us. We'd best be more careful from now on. This camp isn't safe any longer."
It was a sobering thought. We'd been so sure nothing could surprise us, not when we were grouped together. We had two Wardens, for Christ's sake! For the Maker's sake? Andraste's sake.
"What will they send next? Darkspawn tax collectors?" Morrigan sounded absolutely disgusted.
Sten, in his usual tone, "Fortifications should be built around the camp."
"How unnerving!" the bard was picking up the arrows that hadn't broken.
"It will be most difficult to sleep here, now." the elder mage stared out in to the darkness, like she was waiting for another attack.
"What? No trap? Some assassins." Zevran snorted derisively.
"Wynne?" my voice came out quiet. Soft. Small. Slightly garbled.
I sat unceremoniously close enough to the fire to feel a burn starting.
"Anastasia?" A hand pressed against my forehead, "Are you injured?"
I nodded, even though it hurt. I knew I couldn't speak, not with the fire burning in my throat.
"Why didn't you protect yourself?" Alistair was way beyond distressed. He'd resorted to pacing and messing up his hair.
"Let me look. I need to see the extent."
"We need to keep moving." I slowly mouthed to her.
She hesitated, "You need time to heal, child."
"I know." I couldn't have forced sound to come out if my life depended on it, "But we can't lose time. We can buy horses or something. We have to keep moving. We just have to."
I used my free hand to point at my ribs, hoping one of them would understand.
"We've trusted your instincts so far, and you haven't been wrong." the warrior shook himself and looked at the others while Wynne asked me to move my hand from my wounds.
I was afraid. I didn't want to bleed out.
Zevran, suddenly behind me, put his assassin training to good use: He gently but firmly grabbed my wrists and pinned my arms behind my back, giving the mage a nod. She turned her gaze to my neck and instantly paled. That was it. This was how I was going to die. That thought sent me over the edge, and a wave of dizziness swept over me. I didn't remember anything after that point.
In the end, I was told it took both Wynne and Morrigan to staunch the blood and heal me enough that bandages could be safely wrapped around the wounds. It was going to take a while, they said, and in the meantime, I wasn't to so much as lift a finger.