In good times and in bad

I'd like to say that our courage has us defeat the army of darkspawn awaiting us in front of Denerim's gates - more like what is left of the gates... But it's actually deep mushrooms pickled in dwarven ale with a pinch of lyrium.



Rori is so stoned, she's fearless.



We get thrown of our horse right at the beginning of the battle - totally my fault. And while I am still busy picking myself off the ground in my heavy armour, Rori goes berserk on the darkspawn. Barkley at her side, she just charges an ogre as if she was ten feet tall herself. And as someone has to make sure she survives this madness, I am right at her heels, hitting and slicing and cutting down any darkspawn that gets in my way. And as I am the king and it's not exactly conducive for your career to twiddle your thumbs while your monarch defeats the darkspawn horde on his own, my royal guard charges with me. And so does the rest of the army.  



According to the cheering and battle cries from the soldiers, I give a rather glorious and heroic impression - when all I am trying to do is protect my uncontrolably giggling woman. She has completely lost any sense of danger.



"Blast and damnation!" Morrigan curses next to me as she beats a Genlock over the head with her staff before it can backstab Rori. "What does she think I did this ritual for? I swear if she dies I am going to use necromancy on her just to kill her again."



"Count me in," I pant, slamming my shield into a Hurlock's chest, sending him to the ground before he can chop off Rori's pretty but momentarily rather useless head. And where is her blasted helmet!? At least she is easily detected. So I just follow the mass of bouncing red curls since Rori rather aimlessly runs amok on the battlefield. One moment she's right next to me, when I turn she's gone, leaving behind a swath of destruction. She lunges at the archdemon twice when the mighty dragon swoops for the soldiers -  yeah, swooping is bad! - and clutches them in its claws, soaring to the sky again only to let them drop back to earth. Once Rori gets hold of the archdemon's tail and clings to it and I cling to her legs to pull her down and we both get lifted off the ground. Thankfully she slips and falls when the archdemon's only a few feet above the ground. She slams right into me and we both tumble down together right in time to miss being smashed by an ogre's club.



"Rori!" I cry, trying to grab her but - "Hihihihi!" - there she goes again.



I am so going to spank her - once I get hold of her... For now I rattle, clank and pant after her, accompanied by our faithful companions minus Zevran and Oghren. I have no clue where exactly they are. Though sometimes I hear them shouting numbers at each other across the battlefield.



Our insane actions electrify the soldiers, our mushroom-triggered fearlessness gives them courage. They fight as if there was no tomorrow - which unfortunately is true for far too many of them -, they fight their hearts out - which unfortunately also is true for some of them, and believe me, you do not want to know the details - and the remaining darkspawn retreat into the city, fleeing from the combined forces of all races of Thedas - and one golem.



On entering the city the darkspawn finds itself under attack by another troup. Their banner, a mabari facing a griffon, all bracketed by laurel wraths... it's what remains of our Warden's Peak reinforcement and Ser Gilmore leads them into battle. Blasts from Jowan's and Solona's staffs and Darrian with his whirling swords attack the enemy on the flank as we take the outer wall. Behind them  Levi and Mikhael Dryden try very hard not to die.



"Levi! Didn't you say you were a merchant, not a fighter?" I shout when the little group joins us.



"I am the supply officer," Levi stammers. He's a whiter shade of pale and has obviously wet his pants - several times - and still he clings to his sword and hits clumsily at any darkspawn in reach. The poor sod is close to breaking down.



"You're a hero, Levi," I say, patting his shoulder compassionately. "You restore the honour of the Dryden family." It's heart-warming, that smile of pride that breaks through the fear when Levi straightens.



"This means more to me than words can say, your Majesty," Levi snivels, tears of joy stinging his eyes. Then he falls to his knees and presents his weapon. "My sword is yours, your Majesty."



"Better keep it for now, Levi. There's more darkspawn coming."



Meanwhile Rori gives Gilmore a hug. "Gil! Nice to have you back again! Sol!" Letting go of the startled knight, she pounces the mage. "Jo!" And the second mage. "Darrian! Whoa, you've grown!"



"Tis a Hurlock, you fool!"



"Oops!" Rori lets go of the darkspawn and with a smooth motion cuts its head off.



"What is wrong with her?" Gilmore demands to know.



"Shrooms," Zevran slurs with a wide grin plastered across his face. He and the dwarf have reappeared, covered in ichor head to toe. "Only nibbled at hers. Hey, Rori! You want the rest?" He pulls a shiny blue mushroom from a satchel at his belt.



"Maker! No! I need her to be able to think or I'll have to do it!"



"Nobody wants that," Morrigan remarks.



"Alas." The elf shrugs and pops the shroom into his mouth.



"Thank the Maker you are finally here! We arrived shortly before the darkspawn. Most of our men are dead by now. The Mac Eanraigs are stuck at the harbour," Gilmore fills me in on the situation as we gather for a quick briefing. "They tried to get as many people out of the city as possible, but the archdemon burnt their ships. The pier is crowded with people, I doubt the Mac Eanraigs can defend them much longer. They need reinforcement!"



"Ser Perth here will select a group of soldiers to aid you."



"Knight-Commander Tavish and his templars fight their last stand to keep the people inside the chantry save. Avernus is there to aid them..."



"Avernus is defending the Chantry!? Maker's Breath!" Horror visions of Avernus' attempt of defending Warden's Peak pop up in my mind. I already see an invasion of demons tearing down what is left of my capital, competing against the darkspawn about who can cause more destruction.



"That's what templars are for, aren't they?" Gilmore asks as if he was reading my mind. "We thought they at least would know how to handle him should he get strange ideas."



"Your word in the Maker's ears."



"Sergeant Kylon and his men could need a hand, too," Gilmore goes on. "Better a sword. Or two. People took refuge inside the palace, the guards cannot hold the gates for much longer..."



"Best we save the whole city, right?" I sigh. The remains of the city. And whoever is still alive. Parts of the outer wall have collapsed, the reddish glow of numerous fires all over the city illuminate the sky, the thick stench of burnt flesh and blood, of smoke and decay makes my eyes water.



"Sounds like a good plan," Gilmore agrees. "Oh, and we cannot find Nan and the elven girl... Amy. There's nothing much left of Arl Eamon's estate but they were not amongst the dead... at least those we could identify."



"Nan is here, too? You brought a helpless granny into a city invaded by darkspawn!?"



"An old hag armed with a frying pan," Gilmore corrects me. "She insisted. And you do not say no when Nan insists." Agreed. She's an old battle-axe for sure.



"We're doing better than I hoped," Riordan says on approaching us. He sounds as exhausted as he looks. At the other side of the court, Teagan regroups the Redcliffe troups. After a quick conversation with Eamon Leonas Bryland marches his men off into the city. He left his daughter in Denerim when he departed for Redcliffe, believing her to be save here.



"That will change quickly," Sten growls. Always the optimist, isn't he?



"Bloody nug-runners, we're outnumbered three to one," Oghren grunts.



"The army will not last long, so we need to move quickly to reach the archdemon," Riordan insists, addressing Rori. She doesn't even listen. Every time she pokes the dying darkspawn lying on the ground with her foot, it twitches. She's enraptured by the spectacle - until I ram my sword into the darkspawn's skull and end her game. "I suggest taking Alistair and no more than two others with you into the city."



WHAT!? Four of us against the archdemon? One or two more won't hurt, will they? How much attention can we draw anyway?



"Anyone you don't bring with you can stay here to prevent more darkspawn from entering Denerim on our tails," Riordan goes on.



Indeed.



"Darkspawn?" Rori rejoices, sounding exactly like Sandal when asked to make an enchantment. She even bounces around like he does and claps her hands. Her pupils are dilated with only a narrow ring of blue surrounding them, and she grins maniacly.



"What the..." Riordan snaps, frowning at the foolishly gawking girl.



"Err... the archdemon is flying around, you know." I draw his attention away from her same time I wrap my arm around her shoulder to stop her from staggering off and fighting the archdemon on her own. "So as long as we don't all climb into catapults or intend to ride ballista missiles, I don't see how we should get him."



"We're going to need to reach a high point in the city. I'm thinking, the top of Fort Drakon might work," Riordan muses.



"The top of...? You want to draw the dragon's attention?" I gasp. Marvellous! And there I thought this day would be boring!



"We have little choice," Riordan sighs.



"I knew it! I knew there would be stairs," Irving grumbles on passing by.



"Okay, so we climb Fort Drakon and do what? Flip it the bird and shout obsceneties at the archdemon?" I don't really get why the archdemon should do us the favour and actually land on Fort Drakon instead of just ignoring us or frying us with its blue fire. I mean, its horde is doing a damn good job down here, so why endanger itself to encounter three Grey Wardens. Three! I can almost hear it laugh its corrupted ass off.



"Leave that to me," Riordan assures me. I really do hope he has an ace up his sleeve. "I warn you, though, as soon as we engage the beast it will call all its generals to help it. I can sense two generals in Denerim."



He can? Wow. I only sense a whole lot of darkspawn and you don't exactly need a Grey Warden to tell as the streets are crammed with them.



"You may wish to seek them out before going to Fort Drakon."



"Yep, top of my wish-list." Taking down the generals also means bereaving the darkspawn of their leaders. Soldiers without anybody shouting commands at them tend to run around like headless chicken.



So I choose Wynne and Shale and Rori drags Oghren and Zevran along - I somewhat doubt that's what Riordan meant, but, oh well, Zevran, Rori and Oghren are so small, they count as one. Rori says goodbye to her companions. Morrigan isn't delighted but Rori - as stoned as she is - at least has some common sense left.



"It's too dangerous in there. Stay at the gates, stay out of trouble and try to stay alive." Rori clumsily hugs Morrigan who hugs her back as clumsily. I can't get rid of the feeling Morrigan isn't done yet. She has something else to say... "Rori!" ...but Rori already turns to me - and being king I am surrounded by about a dozen people who all want something from me - and the witch hesitates. I have to snap at Eamon, Teagan, Wulff and some other nobles to at least give me some space to say goodbye to Rori. Just in case.



"So, this could be it," I mutter, wishing I had swallowed the rest of Rori's mushroom as she's beaming at me like she couldn't think of anything funnier than challenging the archdemon. I take her hands in mine and her smile grows even wider. "Soon this will be finished. One way or another. And I love you. Always."



"Love you, too," Rori whispers. "Always and forever." Then she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me Rori-like. For as long as our breath lasts the world around me fades and it's only Rori and I. One last blissful moment before we get thrown back into the perdition threatening to swallow us for good. "Now, where's that oversized lizard," Rori mutters as she turns away, marching off towards the Market District without looking back. She is accompanied by the cheers of the soldiers, telling her to kill those godless bastards.



I am about to follow her when...



"Alistair!" Morrigan calls me breathlessly. "Listen! Tis important!"



"Yeah, I know, I'm a fool," I sigh as I keep walking. Morrigan runs after me and grabs my arm.



"You are if you don't listen!"



Okay. Morrigan sounding serious. No good.



"What is it then?"



"Rori mustn't slay the archdemon," the witch blurts out. "It's a matter of life and death. Do you hear me?"



I do hear her but I do not understand. "What...?"



"Alistair?" Rori calls. "Are you coming?"



"One moment!" I call over my shoulder. But when I turn back to the witch she's gone. Blasted curses of a thousand misfortunes! Why does she always have to be so cryptic!? Why does nobody believe I deserve an explanation!?



"What did Morrigan want?" Rori asks when I join her.



"Nothing," I mumble when my mind is running wild with speculations. A matter of life and death? Does that mean Rori would die if she slayed the archdemon? But Morrigan said the ritual would solve that little problem, didn't she? So what in the name of the Maker does she want now?



Merciful Andraste!



The ritual didn't work! What else could the witch mean? Maker's Breath, Morrigan didn't become pregnant as she thought and now... if Rori killed the archdemon...



Doom!



DOOM!



So of course Morrigan would warn me. The only thing Morrigan and I ever agreed upon is that Rori mustn't die. And that means... I groan. I suddenly feel very very sick. "Err... you think Zev has one of these mushrooms left?"



Rori might be stoned but she isn't stupid. "You look as if you have seen a ghost, Alistair. What did Morrigan tell you?"



"Err... she called me a fool, same as usual," I lie. As determined as Morrigan and I are to keep Rori alive, as stubborn is she about saving me. I just know her. Rori might be scared out of her mind - or would be without deep mushrooms pickled in dwarven ale with a pinch of lyrium - but for me she would give her life. Like I would give mine for her.



"Shouldn't shock you anymore," Rori snorts. She tries to frown but with that broad stoned grin she just miserable fails.



I shrug and fail as miserably at my lopsided grin. Rori stops dead and turns to face me. Now she does frown.



Blast!



I sigh. "I... it's nothing, really. I am just worried. How can Morrigan know if... this... works?"



"Why? Did she say something about it?" Rori asks suspiciously.



Blast! Why do I always have to put my foot right in my mouth. "Noooo... she just said to wish you good luck..." I mutter, all flustered by now.



"You just claimed she called you a fool." She's sobering up far too quickly.



I should have let Zevran give her that mushroom.



What should I do? I cannot tell her! Like Morrigan wouldn't tell her... although she tried, didn't she? Why would she do that? When she wants to keep Rori save, it makes no sense. Rori would die for me and I would die for her and if the ritual didn't work one of us will have to die when slaying the archdemon. And you can be damn sure that Rori would beat me to it, sneaky little brat. So, I cannot tell her what Morrigan said, right? Because she would jump to the same conclusion as I and then...



Rori is about to interrogate me further and I am about to dig my own grave when a darkspawn attack saves me.



I've never been so thankful for an ogre swinging me like a dead cat!



We find the first general in front of the Chantry - or more likely it finds us. We just stumble around the havocked Market District aimlessly, slaying whatever darkspawn we meet. There's only few people left on the streets, chased by darkspawn. Corpses pile on the ground, terribly mutilated. Screams of pain and death cries, the snarling and grunting of the darkspawn, the clinking of metal against metal, the roaring of the fires - it's a nightmarish cacophony. And the stench is... let's just not talk about it.



When we passed by Goldanna's burning house, I couldn't help but wonder what happened to her. She might not be my sister and her children not my nieces and nephews, I still hope she is alive and still kicking - and save since being alive amongst darkspawn isn't anything a woman should wish for.



"What took you so long?" Avernus greets us when we show up in front of the Chantry. Surrounded by the last three templars and Mother Perpetua in the flesh, he sits in a wheelchair in the yard and blasts spells and curses at any darkspawn stupid enough to appear in sight - they can call themselves lucky that the old geezer's eyes aren't the best anymore. Thus the reason why he almost blasts Oghren's head off.



Can't say he's very helpful in fighting the general and his buddies. We have to dodge both darkspawn and Avernus' spells. But at least some of them hit home and in the end the archdemon has one general less. I wonder if it can feel the loss like Riordan can sense they are there.



"What in the name of the Maker are you doing here?" I demand to know, stepping past a dead templar to cut down a Hurlock before it can cut down Avernus. Knight-Commander Tavish is the only templar left and if Wynne doesn't hurry, he'll meet the Maker soon.



"Killing darkspawn. That's what Grey Wardens do. You should have learnt that much by now." Thus said Avernus falls unconscious instantly in his wheelchair, his breath comes with a rattling wheeze. It sounds like a death rattle actually. He is a very very old, very very weak and very very ill man with a gaping wound across his chest. He couldn't slay a fly, much less a corrupted dragon. That much for my plan to have Shale give him a piggyback ride to the archdemon and Avernus the chance of a heroic death and thus solve all my problems.



So I just help a very very pale Mother Perpetua roll his wheelchair into the Chantry. Seems the Blight brings people together after all, even an old blood mage and a revered mother.



Next stop the alienage.



We arrive in time to witness how a Genlock tries to drag away a screaming and kicking Amethyne. It doesn't get far because Nan takes it by the scruff of its neck and beats it over its head with her frying pan. Too bad Duncan never saw her in action. He'd have recruited her at once.  



"About time," Nan snaps once we make short work of the darkspawn. "You think an old woman like me can end the whole Blight on her own?" She clonks her pan against my breast plate. "Here, took care of the knife-eared brat."



"Can you take care of her a little longer, Nan?" Rori asks after hugging Amy tight. The poor kid is scared stiff but unhurt. Barkley is so delighted to see his little friend, he slobbers all over her. "We have no time to accompany you back to the gates. Can you hide somewhere? Amy knows the city like the back of her hand."



"What do you think I am? A babysitter? Oh, don't you look at me like that!" Nan huffs. She glowers at Rori, Rori cocks her head to one side and smiles her sweetest smile and the old hag melts like ice in the sunshine. "Come on then!" she snaps at Amy. "If you make any trouble, I'll skin you useless elf, I swear it!"



"Pipe down!" Amy retorts as she drags Nan away. "You keep screeching like that the darkspawn will mistake you for a Shriek."



Boy, what a team!



Shianni and a group of elves have gathered close to the huge tree. It's still unharmed and the sight of it somehow gives me hope. That is instantly shattered when Shianni informs us of approaching darkspawn, the second general included. So a few encouraging words later, our little group with the backup of the elven archers stomp some more darkspawn into the ground.



"Alistair! Look!" Rori cries, pointing her sword at the sky.



I look and just in time drop to the ground to avoid being knocked over by the archdemon soaring down from the dark sky. Its claws scrape the back of my armour and then it is gone again, rising high and higher as it tries to shake off the tiny figure on his back. Riordan!



I begin to wonder if he has secretly munched some shrooms, too.



Clinging to the back of the beast, he hacks at it with his sword. Rori and I watch breathlessly, craning our necks to get a better look when the archdemon thunders past us once more, crashing against a nearby tower, rocks raining down on us - and Riordan. I have a shield to cover my and Rori's head. And we have a golem to punch the boulders away as if she was training for the Fistball Thedas Cup. Riordan, however, is defenseless. Clinging to the hilt of his sword, he desperatedly tries to hold on. The blade is sharp and with his weight added it slides through flesh and bones, slipping down the archdemon's back and past its tail...



We watch the archdemon save its hide with a few last powerful flaps of its wings, just making it to the top of Fort Drakon. And we watch Riordan fall, down, down, down - until he crashes into the ground some place out of sight...



With him my last hope is shattered.



Morrigan's words ring in my ears. 'Rori mustn't slay the archdemon! It's a matter of life and death. Do you hear me?'



Briefly I am tempted to walk back to the Market District and drag Avernus out of the Chantry. Have Shale squeeze his fingers around the hilt of a sword and lead his arm as if he was the puppet and she the puppeteer... But we already tried to cheat once and where did it get us?



Blast!



I only notice I have taken hold of Rori's hand when she squeezes mine. I don't dare to look at her. I don't want her to read my thoughts displayed through my expression.



The Light shall lead me safely

Through the paths of this world, and into the next.

For I who trusts in the Maker, fire is my water.

As the moth sees light and goes toward flame,

I should see fire and go towards Light.

The Veil holds no uncertainty for me,

And I will know no fear of death, for the Maker

Shall be my beacon and my shield, my foundation and my sword.