Chapter 76

Zevran suddenly cocked his head, turning it slightly towards a nearby bush. Emma watched him with curiosity; what the hell was he doing? Abruptly, he disappeared into stealth, and at the same time, Leliana tensed and lowered her head, again keeping it turned towards the bush. Emma was about to ask why everyone suddenly had such an interest in a fairly ordinary looking bush when Aedan's head snapped up and he too stared at the shrubbery as he slowly reached for his blade.

"No sudden moves! There are a lot of jumpy and armed people just waiting for a chance to kill someone." Zevran's smooth tones reached the ears of the party a moment before he stepped out from the bush with his knife held to the throat of a clearly terrified man. Emma squinted a little as she stared at the intruder, it was difficult to make out any features in the poor light.

Aedan was on his feet and striding over to the stranger as he barked questions. "Who are you, and why were you spying on us?"
The man trembled and held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "I wasn't spying exactly, I just wanted to make sure I had the right group."
Aedan snarled. "The right group for what? Were you planning to rob us while we slept?"
The man waved his hands frantically. "No, no! Nothing like that, I swear. I wanted to ask for your help. I was a friend of Duncan's and he said he'd help me, but then… well, he's no longer with us. Maker rest his soul."

Emma climbed to her feet and drew closer. The voice seemed familiar; it sounded like… "Levi Dryden's the name," he said. His eyes darted nervously around the group of people who had closed in around Aedan. After Emma had vouched for Levi's identity, he was invited to join them and tell his story, which he did, in great detail. Blimey, the man could talk for England and then some! She was dearly wishing for the dialogue wheel so she could hit the option that told Levi to skip ahead to the main part. But as that wasn't available, she just dozed against Aedan's shoulder. She knew it was a bit rude, but really, she could hardly be blamed after two rounds of vigorous sex and all the emotional stuff, it was lucky she was even sitting upright. Right then, Aedan's arm came around her shoulders to support her; all right, she was partially sitting upright.

She must have nodded off for a while, because she awoke to hear Aedan say, "I guess we could take the Imperial Highway along the coastline and visit this Warden's Keep." Shortly afterwards, the group broke up for the night and headed to their tents. Emma stood and, out of habit moved towards her own sleeping quarters. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. "Are you planning on sleeping alone tonight, Angel?"
She blinked, half asleep. "No, why do you… oh, damn it! I'm going the wrong way." She rubbed a hand over her tired eyes. "Sorry, I'm not really with it." A deep chuckle emanated from Aedan and he bent and lifted her into his arms. "Understandable, it's been quite the day." He pressed a kiss to her lips and carried her back to his tent… their tent. Once inside, he put her down and she looked around, surprised to see all her own gear in there too.
"When did you get chance to do this?" She turned towards him.
"While you were sitting over by the fire. I had a bit of help from Bodahn and Sandal, so we got everything moved over quite quickly."
She pulled him close and kissed him softly, touched by his thoughtful gesture. He lowered her to the bedroll, their lips and tongues still exploring each other, and began to undress her. "It's so good to have you back, Angel."
"Mhm, feels great to be back too, so nice and warm…"

He pressed a kiss to her sternum as he removed her top, and slowly worked his way down her body, sliding off her skirt and laying another light kiss across her pubic bone. However, instead of the moan he was expecting, he heard a light snore. Lifting his head, he noticed she was asleep. With her head turned slightly to the side, her lips parted and turned up in a small smile, she did indeed look like an angel. He stripped down and pulled her into his arms, sighing at how well she fitted against his body. He pulled the blankets around them and smiled as she burrowed deeper into its warmth; dropping a kiss on the crown of her head, he fell into a peaceful sleep for the first time in three weeks.

‑‑‑‑‑

They stopped at the entrance to the massive stone castle that towered over the landscape and gazed at it in awe. "I wonder why the Grey Wardens never used this place as one of their outposts?" Alistair questioned.
"I'm guessing the story behind the building has something to do with that," Aedan answered. "It doesn't really sound like the most shining moment in the history of the Grey Wardens."

They entered the courtyard and were immediately assailed by images of the past; Emma flinched as a ghostly soldier strode through her in order to talk to his Commander. When the vision ended, Wynne explained to Levi about the veil being thin and how it was allowing echoes of the past to seep through. He shook his head as he tried to grasp the intricacies of the Fade, and his eyes darted nervously around, especially to the corpses that littered the area at the bottom of the stairs.

Emma grabbed her staff as they moved towards the large castle, knowing that they were going to be fighting soon. Her companions followed suit and were therefore ready when a sickly green glow suddenly surrounded the desiccated corpses which then rose from the ground. "Why did it have to be undead again? These things smell horrible," Zevran grumbled.
"Well, at least you won't get blood on your clothes," Leliana replied cheerfully. The elf grinned as he sliced the head off one skeletal archer. "Ah, my little bard, always looking on the bright side."

When the fight was over, they stepped inside the Keep and were met with another vision. Aedan leaned close to Emma and asked, "Is this going to be a regular occurrence?"
She nodded. "I'm afraid so."
"Damn! Just how thin is the veil here?"
"It's practically non-existent. You'll see why as we move through the Keep."

They fought through demons and undead, watching snippets of the past unfold before their eyes, and then they reached the hall that contained the summoning circles. Emma gripped her staff a little tighter. Ah crap! She hated this fight. However, before the combat, there was another flashback which was a little longer than the previous ones, and a lot more disturbing. The sight of the demons turning against the Grey Wardens was horrific and just added to the tragedy of the story. No sooner had the ghostly screams faded then the summoning circles shimmered, and undead Wardens rose from them. Simultaneously, a Rage abomination appeared from thin air and attacked.

"Take down the undead Wardens, they're healing the abomination," Emma shouted. The team split up with Zevran, Wynne, Emma, and Leliana focusing on the healers, while Aedan, Revek and Alistair fought the abomination. As its health dropped, two Greater Rage demons pushed themselves out of the ground and joined in the fight, shooting streams of flame. Wynne and Emma turned their attention to the Rage demons, using every cold spell at their disposal. With a furious roar, one demon went down, and it was swiftly followed by the second. Focus then turned to the abomination; it fought hard, but without the healing spells from the undead it was soon nothing more than an unpleasant memory.

At last, they reached the Warden-Commander's office. Aedan pushed the door open, and then everyone just stopped and stared at the demonic figure of Sophia Dryden. Even though Emma had been expecting this, she was, nonetheless, shocked by its appearance. In the game, the demon had looked pretty bad, but it couldn't quite capture the horror in all its glory. The stench of rotting meat and sulphur combined to fill the room with a noxious odour. The skin of the former Warden-Commander was black in places, and pieces of decomposing flesh slid down its cheek to fall on the floor with a sickening plop.

The demon attempted to bargain for its freedom, but Aedan cut it short. "Oh shut up, and just die!" It sneered, and with a simple gesture more undead rose from the ground. These were easily dealt with, however, the possessed Warden-Commander was a different matter. Even with the full force of Aedan's team battling against the demon, it was still a difficult fight. Eventually, the creature fell, and so did the barrier that had previously blocked their progress.