Chapter 94

So much blood and screaming! That was the first thought that Emma had when she stepped out onto the rooftop. The second was that she hadn't been prepared for the size of the Archdemon. She got a first-hand view of its teeth when it opened its jaw wide and roared, and calculated that she was probably the same height as one of its vicious-looking fangs. Arrows bounced harmlessly off its thick skin, and all around there was chaos. She cast paralysis in the hope of stopping the annoying hopping around that it tended to do in the game and was successful, but only for a brief moment.

When darkspawn poured out in great numbers, Emma pointed Eamon to the ballista nearby, hoping that he could thin down the horde so that Aedan and his party weren't distracted from the task of taking down the Archdemon. Emma kept a close eye on the group, healing wounds, boosting their stamina, and throwing around offensive spells in between. Morrigan threw everything she had at the great beast - hexes, primal magic, death magic - whatever it took. Sten and Alistair flanked the dragon, moving with it in an attempt to avoid its massive tail and sharp teeth. Aedan seemed to be everywhere at once, flitting in and out of the shadows, his poisoned blades flashing as they sliced deep.

After a while, the creature decided it was time to recuperate and flew off in a lopsided fashion to rest on a roof where the melee fighters couldn't reach it. However, Emma knew that some spells were still in range, so she grabbed Morrigan and dragged her over to a wall that overlooked the fissure separating them from the Archdemon.
"Erect a shield, and use your area-of-effect spells on the Archdemon."
She'd just finished issuing that instruction when a purple bolt of Spirit Breath struck her own shield; she felt a momentary pain, but thankfully the magic barrier had absorbed the majority of the damage. However, more swirling purple bolts were being tossed about, some of them landing amongst the soldiers, killing a significant number of their men and women. Morrigan gave a nod that she'd heard, and soon a death cloud hovered over the blighted creature. Emma remembered that it had a particular weakness to nature damage, and cast Stinging Swarm.

When she saw a hail of arrows hit the Archdemon she glanced over to the area by the door and noticed some of the Dalish had made their way to the rooftop. The combined effect of the spells from Morrigan and Emma, and the constant bombardment of arrows managed to weaken the Archdemon, and it flew off. Emma took the moment to survey the scene; broken and bloodied bodies lay scattered around the rooftop, and First Enchanter Irving was fighting alongside Arl Eamon and Alistair who were battling a mixture of darkspawn. "Morrigan, can you go and cover this side? I need to be over there." Emma shouted above the clamouring sounds of the battle.
"Go! I've got this."

Emma moved quickly to the area where she knew the Archdemon would land and spotted Aedan and Sten knee-deep in darkspawn. She jumped into the fray, but all the time, she was listening for the sound of the tainted dragon's landing. Thankfully, when it did descend, a large number of the darkspawn had been killed, so that once more the Grey Wardens could concentrate on the main threat. It spread out its massive wings and buffeted everyone back a few feet; one soldier was unfortunate enough to fall within range of the Archdemon's mouth and was immediately gripped with sharp teeth and bitten in half. Emma cast another Stinging Swarm before spending a few minutes healing and rejuvenating everyone. Morrigan had once again joined them, and cast Petrify which Sten took advantage of, bringing down his sword in a Mighty Blow. Another wave of darkspawn emerged from a nearby door, and everyone but the Grey Wardens turned their attention to taking them down as quickly as possible.

Another buffet from its powerful wings knocked the Wardens down a slope, but as Emma scrambled back to her feet, she noticed the Archdemon was near its end. Gulping back the tears that stung her eyes, she turned to say goodbye to the man she loved. She saw him drinking a health potion, and then he strode towards her. "I'm sorry, Aedan. I can't keep-"
His hand shot out and he gripped the back of her head, pulling her close to him. "Wha-" As soon she opened her mouth to speak, his own lips quickly descended onto hers. Immediately, she felt a steady trickle of liquid slide down her throat and instinctively she swallowed. It took a moment for his actions to sink in, and then panic raced through her body. She struggled and fought to get free, but it was too late, the potion was already in her bloodstream. He let go of her, and she staggered back, staring at him in horror. "What have you done?" she whispered.
"I gave you Flemeth's potion."
"No! Damn it, no! One of you will die now."
Aedan pulled out the blade he'd sheathed earlier in order to give Emma the potion. "That's not going to happen. You were lied to, Angel. I'll tell you everything later, but right now, we have an Archdemon to kill." He handed her one of his daggers. Somewhat dazed, she wrapped her hand around the warm, leather grip, and took a deep breath. Alistair stepped up, his sword dripping with blood. "Are we ready to end this?"
With a nod, the three Grey Wardens sprinted towards the old god.

Everything seemed to slow down around her; she could feel the thumping of her heart in her chest, she could hear the muted sounds of battle, and see the Archdemon's face in perfect clarity as it turned towards her, its mouth yawning wide. "Please let me time this right," she whispered. As she got close enough to smell the stink of rotten flesh on its breath, she dropped to her knees, raised her dagger and the sharp blade sliced through the soft underside of its throat. Warm splashes of dark blood coated her skin before she managed to crawl out from under the creature.

She stood up and saw Aedan with his blade poised ready to plunge into the Archdemon's head. Standing at the side of him was Alistair, his own weapon raised in a similar style; she took her place next to Aedan, the dagger held firmly in both hands.
"Now!" Aedan shouted.
The three blades punctured the Archdemon's skull with a sickening crunch, Emma using Fist of the Maker to help her pierce the bone. For a split second time seemed to stop... then a beam of light shot into the sky, its brightness causing everyone in the vicinity to cover their eyes and look away. Morrigan had a glimpse of the three Wardens straining to release the hilts of their weapons before she too turned away from the painful light.

Emma's eyes clenched automatically, and a slideshow of memories raced across the back of her eyelids; being tucked into bed by her mum, being spun around by her dad – she tried to hold onto their smiling faces but the images were swiftly replaced – her first fireball, becoming a Grey Warden, the faces of all the friends she'd made in Thedas, her first kiss with Aedan. The pictures spun rapidly around, and she realised sadly that her life was flashing before her eyes, which meant that the potion hadn't worked. A tear trickled down her face, and then everything exploded.

The three Wardens were flung through the air, hitting the ground hard and skidding a few metres before they came to a halt. The resulting shockwave travelled faster than the eye could follow, knocking down all who stood in its path. Morrigan struggled to her feet, dazed and bleeding, then, leaning heavily on her staff she stumbled over to Emma. Through the ringing in her ears, she could make out someone shouting Alistair's name; she wiped grit from her eyes and spotted Eamon kneeling at the side of his nephew, his hands hovering nervously over the unmoving body. Aedan lay between the two Wardens, and he'd fallen in such a manner that it appeared as if his hand was reaching for Emma.

Morrigan shook her head; such fanciful notions were not for her. The sound of footsteps made her glance over her shoulder to see that Sten was on his feet and moving towards them. She looked down at Emma, a sad smile on her lips. "Goodbye, my friend." In a flash, she shifted into a crow and took flight.

An eerie silence settled over the rooftop as people gathered around the bodies of the Grey Wardens who'd ended the Fifth Blight.