The Last of the Couslands | By : MistressofMagic Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 4401 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
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Chapter 15
Uldred Upon reaching the next floor, two baby dragons attacked the group. Since they were babies, they were not difficult to rid of as they had no wings yet. After disposing of them, Bridget ran up another flight of stairs to find a room with a templar standing behind a sort of barrier. Bridget heard crying and screaming coming from the door up a few more steps not far from them. The trapped templar narrowed his eyes. "More of them I see…well I'm not falling for it! You may have gotten the others, but you will not break me you filthy maleficar!" Bridget looked at him and shook her head. "I am not a mage, and Wynne here would not hurt you." Wynne inspected the barrier. "I have never seen anything like this…it must be blood magic." The templar looked at her. "Go away demons, you will not break me!" He shut his eyes tightly for a few seconds and re-opened them. The templar looked confused. "You're still here? But that's always worked before!" Bridget shook her head. "We're not demons or a mirage of any sort. We're here to help the mages…who are you any way?" "My name is Cullen. The remaining mages are in the Harrowing Chamber up those steps…but I think you will find them all dead. If not then they should be…they could possibly turn into abominations!" Bridget shook her head. "I'm not going to kill them if they are not already abominations." Cullen gaped at her. "Are you mad? If you let them live, whose to say some other crazed mage won't start up Uldred's work again!" he shouted. Wynne closed her eyes and sighed. "Uldred was far too powerful for his own good. He was blinded by his own hubris…that is why he has caused all this. I am sure if there are survivors in there, they can be saved with the Litany." Bridget nodded. "We will save them, Wynne. I'm sure of it." Wynne nodded. Cullen threw his arms up in the air. "Nobody ever listens to me. Fine, have it your way. Go get yourself killed or worse…I don't really care anymore." Bridget ignored him and ascended the steps to the Harrowing Chamber. She entered as a man who Bridget guessed was Uldred was torturing a mage held up by two abominations. The mage screamed and grimaced as Uldred was performing some type of magic to cause him pain. "Now…do you accept what I offer you?" he asked slowly. The mage nodded his head. The abominations dropped him and his body immediately transformed. He screamed as his body morphed into that of an abomination's. Bridget ran forward. "Your reign of terror stops here, Uldred." Uldred raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you are the one who has been killing my creatures. Perhaps we can come to an agreement of some sort?" Bridget narrowed her eyes and gripped the handle of her sword. "I want nothing you offer, maleficar." Uldred threw his head back and laughed loudly. "Oh? Too bad. You die here then." "Let us deal with Uldred…if you see one of the mage's glow as the one we saw when we first entered, use the Litany. It is our only hope." Wynne whispered. Bridget nodded. Uldred transformed himself into his true form…a Pride Demon. He greatly resembled an ogre. Bridget fought along with her companions, but constantly looked around in case Uldred began to turn one of the mages. One began to glow and she ran to her quickly and used the Litany. Uldred attempted many times to turn an old, bearded man who Bridget guessed was the First Enchanter himself. She rushed to his aid several times during the battle. Finally, Uldred fell and Alistair finished him off with a powerful blow. Wynne rushed over to the bearded man. "Irving, are you alright?" she asked as she and Bridget helped him to his feet. Irving nodded. "Yes…you found the Litany. Thank the Maker you came to our aid." Bridget smiled. "No need to thank me, I was happy to help." She replied. Irving gave her a small smile in return. "You are a very kind and generous person, a rare find these days." Bridget thanked him and said, "Can you make it downstairs? Greagoir stated he will not believe that the Tower is back to normal unless you say it is true." Irving nodded. "Yes, if you will assist me down the stairs…" Bridget, Irving, and the others climbed down the many stairs of the tower and returned to Greagoir. Greagoir was shocked to see Irving standing before him…but glad that peace had been restored to the Circle none the less. Cullen however thought that all of the mages should be killed but was quickly (and thankfully) shut down by Greagoir the moment his ideas were heard. Irving turned to Bridget and smiled. "In return for your help the mages will gladly assist you in the Blight. I cannot thank you enough." Bridget smiled. "Thank you for your allegiance, Irving…but may I ask something else of you as well?" Irving chuckled. "After everything you have done for us the least I can do is return the favor. What is it that you need, Warden?" Bridget sighed sadly. "The Arl of Redcliffe's son, Connor…he is possessed by a demon. I was asked to seek the magi's help to bring him back." Irving nodded. "I see. I will aid the child at once, I will gather a few mages and meet you in Redcliffe." Bridget nodded. "Thank you, Irving." He smiled. "Of course." "Irving?" Wynne asked. He acknowledged her. "I would like permission to go with the Warden. She is a formidable woman and I believe I can help her in her cause." Irving drew his brows together and sighed. "I can already tell your mind is made up, Wynne. You never really were destined to stay within the Circle." Bridget smiled and turned to Wynne. "I'd be honored to have you with us." Wynne smiled. Irving nodded. "Well I can't say no then, can I? I wish you luck on your journey then and will see you in Redcliffe." "Thank you, Irving." Bridget led the group out of the tower and they traveled back to the docks. Night had fallen to no surprise and Bridget was looking forward to sleeping at the inn again…she secretly hoped that she and Alistair would share a room again, that way they could talk about that kiss…when they reached the docks though…Morrigan looked infuriated and Leliana looked ashamed of something. Bridget barely had time to get off of the ferry before Morrigan went into her rage. "You will not believe what your little friend here did!" Leliana bit her lip nervously. "I did not mean too!" she squeaked. Morrigan narrowed her eyes and looked over her shoulder at her. "Quiet or I will turn you into the very thing you wanted so badly!" Morrigan hissed. Leliana whimpered and didn't say anything. Alistair sighed. "What happened, exactly?" he asked. Morrigan turned and looked at Bridget again. "A nug seller happened to come into the inn with his wares. Leliana here wanted to buy one but realized that she did not have enough coin to purchase the filthy little creature. So what does she do? She tries to steal the nug right there in front of all those witnesses! Needless to say she was caught and the inn owner has thrown us out of the inn and will not let us back in, any of us. He said that he does not serve thieves." Bridget frowned. "Goodbye nice comfy bed…nice clean sheets…how you will be missed!" Alistair fake sobbed. Bridget sighed. "I am so sorry, Bridget. I just really wanted one! I-I do not know what else to say except that I am truly sorry that I had us kicked out." Morrigan glared at her and did not stop her staring. Bridget shook her head, extremely irritated with Leliana…but she didn't want that to show. "Let's just move on. We'll travel a bit and we'll set up camp, alright?" Leliana brightened. "Thank you for not being angry with me. I see we have a new member, I'm glad I bought that extra tent while I had the chance!" Morrigan rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I am surrounded by nothing but idiots." She grumbled. Bridget led the others out of Lake Calenhad and back towards Redcliffe. They would not reach the village that night, as Bridget was too tired to even press on. They found a small clearing and set up camp for the evening. Leliana made beef stew and everyone ate happily. Morrigan and Wynne talked over magic whilst Leliana ate alone…a bit ashamed. Bridget finished her stew and stood. She wanted to go for a walk and was able to sneak away with out the others noticing. Bridget stuck her hands in her pockets as she walked on the small forest path. She had removed her armor and now wore a simple tunic and pants. She came to a small clearing where a tiny river lay. Bridget bent down near the river and washed her face. The cool liquid felt good and relaxed her a bit. Bridget wiped her arm against her forehead and stared up into the sky. The stars twinkled like diamonds and Bridget thought back to what Fergus used to say about the stars winking at those who gazed up at them. Bridget lay back against the ground and smiled as she remembered some of her misadventures with Fergus. "Mind if I join you?" Bridget turned her head to see Alistair walking towards her. He too had removed his bulky armor and wore a simple shirt with brown breeches. Bridget shook her head and Alistair walked over and sat down next to her. They were quiet for a while before Bridget could no longer stand the silence and broke it. "When I was younger…I used to sneak up to the roof of my castle and look at the stars. I always felt that they watched over me, guarded me against the dark and bad things in the world." Alistair looked at her. A small, yet sad smile spread across her face as she said, "Fergus used to tell me if I didn't have anything else…I would have the stars…and they would guide me to my safety." Alistair smiled. "Were you close with him?" he asked softly. Bridget turned her head and looked at him she chuckled softly. "Yes, though we had our moments where we got on each others nerves. I would always tease him about Oriana when he was older, and he was scared to death that mother would find out about there…late night escapades if you will. Sadly for Fergus, mother already knew without me having to tell her. She just played the fool and pretended to be none the wiser for Fergus's sake, and to spare him from the embarrassment I suppose." Alistair laughed, as did Bridget. Silence consumed them again for a while before Alistair decided to break it. "I'm glad that the mages will help Connor. It will mean everything to Arl Eamon when he wakes up and sees that his family is alright." Bridget nodded. "Me too…I am glad that they were able to help. If they weren't…I wouldn't have stopped until I found a way that could spare both Connor and Isolde." Alistair smiled at her. "I know…that's just who you are." Bridget nodded and turned her head back to look at the stars again. Alistair bit his lip nervously as he reached into his pack that was beside him. He removed a beautiful rose, one that he had picked some time ago and looked over at Bridget. He quickly placed it on her stomach. Bridget looked down and furrowed her brow. She sat up and took the rose in her hand to examine it. "Do you know what that is?" Alistair asked in a cracked voice. Bridget looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Is that a trick question?" Alistair chuckled. "Why yes it is haha. I picked it when we were in Lothering. I remember thinking that there was this beautiful rose against all the darkness surrounding it…and I knew that when the Darkspawn came…their taint would just destroy it." Bridget nodded. "That's true…" Alistair blushed and broke their eye contact. "I um…I was hoping to give it to you, actually. I just wanted to tell you what a rare and wonderful thing you are amidst all this…darkness." Bridget smiled. "Thank you, Alistair…it's lovely." Alistair smiled. "I just thought…here I am doing all this complaining and you haven't really been having a good time yourself, have you? Oh I don't know…it was probably a really stupid impulse…I dunno…was it the wrong one?" Bridget shook her head, moved towards him and lightly kissed him on his cheek. "Not at all. It's nice to know someone appreciates me." Bridget pulled back and smiled at Alistair's quite visible blush. He cleared his throat nervously and avoided her eyes. "Right well if you don't mind moving past this awkward phase and getting right to the steamy bits…" Bridget chuckled. "Alright then, all your clothes, take them off, now!" Alistair laughed nervously. "Haha…bluff! Guess you saw right through me, huh?" Bridget raised an eyebrow. "Why must it be a bluff?" She grinned at the look of horror across Alistair's face and playfully hit him in the arm. "You must learn that if you insist on making jokes to get some thrown back at you, Alistair." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Haha…right…" Bridget giggled. "You're kind of cute when you're bashful." She stated. Alistair gave a nervous chuckle and stood. "Well I guess I'll just go and um…stand in a corner then until the blushing stops." Bridget grinned and stood as well. "In all seriousness Alistair, it was a wonderful gesture, thank you." He smiled warmly at her. "I'm glad you like it." Bridget yawned and began walking back towards the camp. "I guess we should go back before we're missed." Alistair nodded and walked next to her. Bridget took her walk slow that way she could spend as much time as she possibly could talking to Alistair. They chatted over various things and laughed at each other's jokes. Bridget bid a good night to everyone else and to Alistair upon returning to camp and climbed in her tent. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, thinking of how wonderful it was to have Wynne join their party. Bridget didn't realize that come morning they would gain a new member…a very interesting one at that.While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
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