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Vhenan'ara	By : Arcanis_Born Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 6576 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from this.

Chapter List
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Dragon Age: Origins is owned by Bioware, as with all its characters, the story as it deviates from canon is mine, however, as with the personalities of characters as they deviate from those in the game.
Thank you all so much for your continued readership! It means so much! And a BIG thank you to everyone who leaves a review!
Translations:
Mi amiga bella: Antivan. "My beautiful friend."

"We are close now. The webbing is thicker down that tunnel than in any place that I have seen so far," Oghren stated as he pointed down the dark tunnel before them.
"Those are fire crystals that Riel found for you, aren't they Shale?" Leliana asked the golem next to her.
"Indeed. I shall be able to burn the nasty things with them as I squish their little bodies," it replied with obvious relish.
"Leliana, Wynne, stay back and ready yourselves. Shale, if you would be so kind as to take point? Their venoms and fangs do nothing against your formidal rock surface."
"You sound like the Warden, elf," it grunted. "Be careful or I might start to respect it a little bit."
"That would indeed be a travesty, my powerful and unique friend," Zevran added with a shallow laugh.
The five of them had been following the trail of webbing that Shale had found earlier when it had scouted for water. The long and twisting tunnels that were dug by both dwarf and Darkspawn over the years were not on the maps that Riel had been using to lead them for the past few days. Thankfully whatever 'stone sense' that Oghren had innate to him from years of being underground proved to be useful beyond just the telling of time. The dwarf had a keen sense of direction even this far beneath the surface and lacking any landmarks to guide them.
Now though, as Zevran looked down the dark and thickly webbed tunnel before him, he began to feel true trepidation since leaving the camp where his Riel lay sleeping. Their battles against the eight legged monsters hadn't been overly difficult, but neither had they been easy. And the numbers of the creatures had always been manageable. Five or six spiders wasn't something Zevran would worry about not walking away from. Who knows how many would be hiding in amongst their nest, however?
"Wynne, you know how to cast a fireball, no?" he asked the mage behind him.
"Of course dear! I may be a healer by nature, but all mages trained in the Circle know a little of elemental magic."
"Good. When I tell you, I wish for you launch as strong of a blast as you can past Shale and into the nest. Oghren and I shall stay behind Shale for protection."
"I am to be your shield then? I take back my comment about respect. The idea is foolish."
"And I suppose you have better plan?" Zevran snapped.
"Yes. We go back to the camp and forget about this foolishness!" Shale bit back, its glowing eyes narrowing on Zevran.
"The Warden needs this! And I would gladly risk my life for hers, you overgrown skipping stone!"
"Well, that's one I haven't heard before," Shale chuckled. "Very well elf. I suppose a foolish plan is better than letting that squishy knight be the last hope for you mortals against the Blight."
Zevran sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I think I am beginning to understand why Riel gets headaches…" he mumbled to himself.
"Off we go then. I will lead, and I will signal the mage when to cast its spell. The crystals in my rock should act as amplifier to the spell if I release the burst at the same time." Shale looked over to Wynne, its eyes almost pleading. "And do try to aim past me properly. I would hate for the Grey Warden to lose its favorite toy."
Zevran nearly bit his own tongue off trying to keep himself from replying to the golem's snide remark. Funny, he never before noticed how much Shale would question and talk back when given orders when Riel was around. Perhaps it just respected her more, although Zevran doubted it. The only thing the rock giant seemed to respect was Sten, as they were often seen speaking when they shared a turn at keeping watch.
Shale turned from them and began to walk down the tunnel, its crystals lighting up with each step it took. Their glow alone seemed enough to light the tunnel around them, the darkness seeping away as the various noises of skittering claws and fangs along rock got louder. At the end of the tunnel, the light from Shale's crystals illuminated a room larger than some of the thaigs they have seen. And along the walls and the floor, things of all sizes moved and vibrated when the light touched them.
"By the Ancestors! Look at the size of it!" Oghren gasped as he looked around.
All around, the walls shimmered in the light, reflecting the multitude of gems and stones the spiders had gathered over the centuries. Trapped within webbing and globs of unknown dark ooze, they reminded Zevran of the night sky - twinkling brightly against a dark blanket. However, that gems were not the only thing that shimmered and moved along the webs.
The very room seemed to come alive as the walls, ceiling, and even floor began to move in response to their intrusion. And deep in the back of the large expanse of crawling and skittering bodies, a faint blue glow emitted the tell tale sign of lyrium. A large vein of the precious metal had been exposed by gods only know what, flooding the area with it's light and power.
"Now would be a good time, mage!" Shale cursed out just as the floor started to move like a wave towards them. Shale's crystals glowed even brighter, nearly blinding those behind it with their brilliance.
"Take cover!" Wynne yelled before gathering as much energy she could and funneling it into her spell. Then with an outreach of her staff, a huge ball of fire rushed past both Zevran and Oghren, barely missing them.
The screeching of dying vermin was only outdone by the horrid smell of their burning flesh. An echo of screams reverberated off the web coated walls, bouncing back their nightmarish sounds to the companions in deafening amplification. Still the creatures persisted, however. Their flaming bodies clawing and snipping at Shale and those behind it.
"They are coming! Brace yourselves!" Zevran shouted behind him as dark bodies rushed past him to the women beyond.
"I have them!" Leliana could be heard, the sound of her arrows silencing the spider's screams.
"How I hate squishy, vile, disgusting-" Shale paused in her tirade to step on a spider's head. "Crawling, slithering-" another spider's dead as its mandibles were ripped free from its mouth by the cursing golem. "Their blood and ooze are getting everywhere! How disgusting!" it continued on as it stomped and smushed the creatures that tried crawling over or past it.
"Aghh!" Zevran cursed foully as he pulled his dagger free from the now dead spider in front of him. With a quick turn, he stabbed out to his left, slicing off the clawed appendage that now protruded from his leg. "Not today!" he hissed before slashing out, removing the front half of the spider's face, killing it.
Pain assaulted his senses immediately as the poison rushed through his system. His eyesight waived, however Zevran refused to bow to it. Gritting his teeth he cut out with his blades again, taking down several of the beasts in his heated anger.
"Zevran!" Leliana called out.
Raising his head to look up at the female rogue, Zevran's breath froze as he watched the woman being backed against the wall as several spiders encircled her. Unknown to her, another spider stealthily crawled down the wall above her, poised to strike.
"I'll get the mage, you get the redhead!" Oghren could be heard somewhere off to the side. Zevran barely heard him before he sprang forward, ignoring the blazing pain in leg as he launched himself onto the hairy back of the closest spider.
"Above you!" He cursed out before stabbing the one below him with dagger, then removing several of the legs of spider next to him.
Leliana had just managed to cock an arrow and move her bow straight up before the black spider attacked. Zevran heard the woman scream as the thing fell on her, blocking the woman from his sight. Damn it all! he cursed, spinning his blade at a fanged mouth that was aiming for his bleeding leg.
Riel will never forgive me if she dies… It was no small secret that the women were close. Even closer than Riel was to the witch Morrigan. And if Leliana died because of his mission to attain a stone - whether it would help Riel or not - Zevran knew that it would crush his lovely Riel more than his own lies would have done.
Fear and anger shooting through him, Zevran leaped and sank his blade into the spider's hind quarters, hearing it scream in agony a sweet reward to his ears. The spider then went motionless and limp, however, so was the tiny female that could barely be seen under the creature. With a great heave, Zevran pushed the spider off of Leliana, surprised to see the woman's back up dagger sticking out from the creature's chest.
"Leliana, do you live?" he asked hurriedly, bending down to check on her. She was unresponsive, her eyes closed and her head off to the side. There was a deep gash in her shoulder, just a few inches above where her heart would be. "Wynne!" Zevran called out before again trying to rouse the woman. "You cannot leave us yet, mi amiga bella. You know our Warden would be incredibly cross with both of us if you did. And you have seen her when she gets angry…" Zevran's voice broke as he spoke. "Wynne!" he called out again over his shoulder.
"Out of the way!" the old woman hissed, nearly pushing Zevran down as she hurried to the fallen archer. "She is just unconscious, but there is venom in her blood." Zevran would have smiled in relief at hearing that she was still alive, if he didn't feel as if the world beneath him was just ripped free. "Oh shit…" Wynne cursed as she watched Zevran fall over and land in a crumpled heap on the ground. His open eyes looked vacant and unseeing as his head rolled to the side. "Oghren! Shale! I need cover!" she hollered out to the others. Wynne then closed her eyes, summoning not just her own magic, but the secret spirit that rested within her. Please, I need your aid… she mentally whispered to it.
"Ancestor's flaming arse, what happened?"
"Just keep the bastards off me while I heal them!" Wynne shouted above the screaming of the spiders.
Closing her eyes once more, Wynne delved deep into her pool of magic, pulling forth every ounce of healing she could find and then poured it into the two unconscious people next to her. Maker preserve us…. Wynne prayed over and over as she worked her magic. Don't take them from her. Not now.
"Hey golem! You heard the lady! Get your arse over here and help, you blightbitten rock sludge!" Oghren called out just as he brought his hammer down on the top half of an attacking spider, squishing it under the blow. However, the glow of Shale's crystals was gone, the only light to be seen being the glow of healing that Wynne created with her magic.
Where was that golem now? There are too many of them! Oghren mentally cursed as he swung out his hammer once more.

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She was running again. The burning cuts of the branches and bushes a reminder of the flames she had called forth. However even the pain they caused as they tore at her flesh wasn't enough to make her stop. She couldn't stop. She had to get away. Far, far away from them. From anyone. Away from pain and anger and hatred so deep it burned like the fire that consumed her.
You can't escape them
It was that voice again. That deep, hypnotic voice that she both recognized yet couldn't place.
They will find you
No! She will keep running! She will run so far that no one would be able to find her again!
They will always find you
She tripped then, falling down to the hard ground below. The bright light in sky was still so blindingly bright, but slowly the world around her started to come into focus. There was a wetness under her. Something warm and wet… and red…
You cannot escape them
She saw the bodies then. Screaming, she skittered away, yet there was blood everywhere. Blood and bodies of elves and humans. Of a dwarf and a giant with grey skin. Their bodies ripped apart and laid open as if they were some grotesque offering.
They will find you
The faces of the bodies were gone, but she knew them. She knew them! They were the ones she travelled with. The ones that depended on her. Her companions. Her friends. Her….
You will feed from him
No! It can't be! She reached forward a shaking hand and touched the male elf that laid before her. His chest was ripped open, and his face was chewed off by some animal. His body was disfigured, an arm in pieces and gone from where it should have been.
You hear it, don't you?
She was trembling so bad, it felt as if the whole world shook under her. Yet there was a sound she could hear above her labored breathing and the roaring in her ears. A slow and measured rhythmic beating coming from the body beside her. Carefully she leaned forward, tears running down her face and mixing with the blood that covered her.
His heart. It still beat. It was shallow, and labored. Yet there it was.
You know what to do
"I can't," she cried desperately.
You know what to do!
The voice screamed out to her. The words wrapped themselves around her throat and choking her with invisible fingers. Her hand reached out on its own even as she cried for it to stop. Inside the chest of the elf it reached, his warm blood covering her fingers as she clasped the beating organ and ripped it free.
You will do it!
Revulsion and pain lashed at her so deep that it almost broke her in half. She didn't want this. She didn't want to do this. However her body was no longer her own. With a feral cry of anger mixed with grief, she shoved the beating organ into her mouth and tore the flesh to pieces. WIth greedy bites she consumed it all, feeling the flesh slide down her throat and into her belly.
You shall never escape us
The trembling got worse all of a sudden as her skin broke out in a painful itch and fiery burn. It wasn't the soothing burn from before when she had called forth her fire, however. This time the burning was wicked and foul, biting and tearing at her even as she screamed out in agony. She tore at the flesh of her arms, desperate to make the pain to go away. The flesh pulled away easily, revealing an ugly and puckered grey flesh underneath. It was the flesh of her enemy, yet it lived under her own skin. Rotted and foul, the grey flesh tingled as it was released and breathed in the around it.
A mirror suddenly appeared in front of her. A mirror from her memories. It's wooden frame decorated with jewels and carvings of autumn leaves. The misty glass then cleared, slowly revealing the face of her enemy. Only, it wasn't her enemy looking back at her. Was it?
You are us!
She screamed at the vision, her diseased hands reaching up to her face. Horrified, she watched as the Hurlock in the mirror mimicked her actions exactly. It wasn't her enemy in the mirror looking back at her! It was HER!
YOU ARE US!
"ZEVRAN!" she wailed out in misery. Darkness began to sweep in, its dark tendrils reaching out to consume not just the horrific scene before her, but her own cursed body even as she continued to scream out in horror and despair.

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Out of the darkness of writhing spiders, a large figure appeared, its glowing limbs swinging out and smashing the creatures around it. A chorus of thundering blows mixed with the hearty laugh of the golem could be heard echoing towards the others as the golem slowly got closer.
"The numbers are decreasing, but there are still many more!" Shale replied as he joined Oghren's side. "Shall we see about giving the mage room to breathe then, short one?"
"Who you callin' short, ya nug's arsehole!" Oghren laughed back in time with one of his swings. Together they beat back the creatures, squishing and knocking the vile things back in a gruesome tandem of swings and blows.
"We must get back to the camp! I have them stable, but I need Morrigan to remove the venom from their blood!" Wynne cried out, her body shaking from the release of magic she just expelled to keep them alive.
"Ya heard the lady! Use that big body of yers for somethin' useful fer once! Pick up those two and haul that stone arse out of here! You too, old woman! I'll cover yer arses!" Oghren shouted, swinging his hammer in a large arch around him that knocked back several advancing spiders.
"Retreat it is then," Shale muttered as it roughly picked up both Zevran and Leliana, draping them over a shoulder each.
"Once we are away from the nest, they should stop coming in such numbers!"
"Yea, that's what I hope too… Now move it before that golem has to carry all four of our bleedin' bodies back!"
Quickly they rushed through the tunnels away from the nest of spiders, Shale moving with surprising speed despite its size and being made out of thick stone. When they turned into the first open area, their eight legged pursuers flowed forth from the tunnel as if they were liquid upon the ground. Their specially designed legs and claws gripping to the stone walls as they spread out, crawling up and around the tunnel opening.
"What in the name of the Ancestors!" an unknown dwarf called out from ahead of Shale. "Men! Light those arrows and fire on my command!"
"Well, it seems we're in a bit of a situation…" Shale grumbled as it slowed down as they got closer to the small cluster of dwarves in heavy armor.
"FIRE!" the lead dwarf called out, signally a huge barrage of flaming arrows that arched over the heads of the three of them.
"I don't think we need to worry about these ones, Shale," Wynne assured as she watched the arrows soar over them and into the swarm of spiders that chased them.
"The Ancestors looked favorably on us tonight!" Oghren laughed as he ran up to the lead dwarf. "Kardol, you old nug licker!" he exclaimed to the lead dwarf.
"Another volley, then take to arms, men!" Kardol called out, ignoring Oghren greeting.
Another wave of fire arrows shot over them, taking out more of the creatures as they spewed forth from the tunnel. Just when it looked as if all of them would be overrun with the spiders, they suddenly pulled back and retreated up the walls. In unison they disappeared up the walls and back into the tunnel they came from, leaving Riel's companions and the new group of dwarves standing in the middle of the open area without an enemy to fight.
"What in the name of the Paragons are you doing down here, Oghren? I thought you were stripped from carrying a weapon?!" Kardol hollered out as he stormed up to Oghren, his features cast in anger and disbelief.
"I'm here with the Grey Wardens, you sodding blighter!" Oghren laughed, either not noticing or choosing to ignore the other dwarf's obvious anger.
Kardol looked over to Wynne and Shale, his eyes narrowing on the bodies draped over the golem's shoulders. "The mage?" he asked, his eyes returning to Wynne.
"No, our Warden is uh… recovering…" Oghren stated, unsure of how to explain what was happening.
"And the golem? Where did you ever find that?"
"It didn't find me, dwarf. The Warden did, long before we came to this grisly place," Shale replied in its usual snide manner.
"It talks too!" Kardol exclaimed, surprised.
"Excuse me, Kardol is it?" Wynne interrupted, stepping close to the dwarf. "We need to return to our camp quickly to help our companions. Once there, we can explain everything, but we must see to our injured. I hope you understand."
"Right! Sorry ma'am," Kardol said with a bow. "Tell me where you camped and my men and I will help guide you back. We're hunting a band of Darkspawn that our scouts said was in this area, so it's best if we make sure you get back to your companions in one piece. Don't need you ending up as food for the crawlers. Especially not if your friends of the Wardens."
Together they travelled through the tunnels, following more Oghren's keen sense than anything either Wynne or Shale recognized. Everything looked the same down there. From the collapsed and blocked roads, to the twisting and dark tunnels that spun off from the main roads themselves. All the while Oghren would speak with Kardol, explaining what he and others were doing in the Deep Roads to begin with. However, whether it was his own sense or that he just hadn't reached that part in his over embellished story yet, Oghren kept from mentioning the exact whys of the reason they were without their Warden or what they were doing so close to a spider's nest.
Instead, Oghren introduced Wynne, Shale, and the two still unconscious bodies that Shale carried. He then went on about how Kardol and his men were not apart of Orzammar itself. They were something entirely different, in fact. A whole caste of males and females who spent their lives travelling the Deep Roads, fighting the never ending menace of the Darkspawn.
The Legion of the Dead were what they called themselves. Casteless or disgraced warriors who joined them instead of rot in Dust Town or simply lie down and die. When they joined the Legion, a funeral was held for each new member, as they were now considered dead to anyone who knew them. Their sole job to fight and die in the Deep Roads, trying to find honor again against the horde that threatened both surfacer and dwarf alike.
Kardol was their current leader and someone Oghren had known from years ago back in Orzammar, even though he avoided saying exactly how. Alone, he and his men spent their lives in the dark tunnels and abandoned thaigs, spending their deaths in protection of those they left behind back in Orzammar.
"You chose to camp with that flea infested blighter of a stone bastard Ruck?" Kardol asked as they drew close to the room where the others wait.
"He was quite nice to let us camp there, yes. He keeps mostly to himself, and other than to our leader Riel, hasn't spoken much of anything," answered Wynne with her typical patience and reserve. However Kardol was no fool, and he saw the worried way she looked upon the unconscious people draped over the golem.
"The blighter is shifty. Sometimes my men have traded with him, and reported that while seemingly harmless, there was something about him that they didn't like. However, I doubt that he will be your main cause of concern for the next little while."
"How so?" Wynne asked.
"Those two there." Kardol motioned to Zevran and Leliana. "They've been poisoned by nest warriors."
"How can ya tell?" this time Oghren asked.
"The look of their skin. It's why we don't just charge their nests, even if had the men. The queens in each nest have a bunch of warriors that are specially made with stronger venom than the others. Unlike the venom from the other crawlers, theirs is a nasty version that turns the skin of its victims grey, before turning red as the poison progresses."
"Is there a cure?"
"Only rumored…" he sighed, shaking his head. "Once the skin goes red, they are basically dead. The very blood in their veins explode, turning the skin red before they start massively bleeding out of every hole they have."
"Well, that is unpleasant…" Shale stated in disgust.
"The only cure that might help lies back with the very bastards who nearly killed you."
"What?!" exclaimed Oghren.
"Their eggs," Kardol continued, the sadness on his face evident. "There is an old warrior's tale of how if you mixed the slimy bastard's eggs with some deep mushrooms, it acts as a neutralizer to the venom. Because both venom's can't exist together in the same host, it attacks each other. Ground and dried deep mushrooms act to turn the slime into a paste which has to applied to the wounds. Before whoever was unlucky enough to be stung turns red. Once the blood goes like that, there is no rescuing them."
"By the sodding Paragon's flaming arsehole!" cursed Oghren violently as he pulled at his beard and hair.
"How long do they have?" Wynne asked far too calmly.
"That's it, I don't know! No one I know has lost the stone sense enough to go after a flaming nest in centuries! Any fool with a skull thicker than a bronto that thought they could go after the treasure rumored to be found in the nests was never heard from again!"
"By the Maker…" Wynne sighed, closing her eyes against the wash of emotions that assailed her. "Thank you Kardol," she finally said after several heartbeats, breaking the silence that hung.
"Yeah, well… Listen, my men and I are going to check the area for signs of Darkspawn. When we're done, I'll call a camp not too far from here. If you-" Kardol stopped, unsure of what to offer.
"Thank you," Wynne said again, her eyes glistening.
Kardol nodded his head once then passed a look to the three of them before turning to his men and continuing their patrol.
"Come, let's get these two inside. Perhaps Morrigan can…"
"Do what, woman? Ya saw what we faced back there! All for a stupid stone that we didn't even manage to get!" cursed Oghren.
"About that…" Shale stated before holding out its large hand. In it was a tiny red stone, the soft light from distant braziers reflecting on its surface.
"Is that a drakestone?" gasped Wynne, getting closer to examine it.
"It matched what the witch described. Red, but not translucent. Lighter than a ruby in color, yet clouded. And while not as hard as diamond, it weighs almost the same."
"Ya sure do know yer gems!" Oghren replied, impressed.
"Call it a hobby," Shale replied, shrugging off the praise. "Now, shall we get these two to the witch so we can decide what is the next course of action? I tire of carrying the squishy elf and human woman."

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Riel laid motionless on the grass. She knew she was dreaming. She didn't know how exactly, but she knew that this was the Fade - what her people called 'The Beyond'. The place where spirits dwelled and people dreamed. Although, if she was dreaming, why was she so damn tired?
"I can help you…" the feminine voice called out to her. Riel didn't bother moving even as the voice drew closer. She was just so tired…. "My poor dear…" the voice purred darkly. "I know what ails you, Riel…"
The sound of her name on the lips of the creature caught hold of Riel's attention, pulling her eyes over to the one who spoke. The thing had purple toned skin - smooth and gorgeous as it slightly glowed under the light from above. Bare breasts were decorated in gold chains that led up to the glistening necklaces around its neck. And further up the slender neck was a beautiful face, full of longing and desire. The only thing besides the purple skin that marked the creature as it truly was were the black horns that spun out of its temple and behind its head.
"I can make it all go away, dear Riel…" it whispered to her, the smile it gave somehow a mixture of something out of both heaven and hell. "The memories… the pain… With my help, you can be with Zevran forever…."
"Demon…" Riel hissed, yet still did not move.
"What does it matter what I am, if I make the taint that slowly poisons you go away forever?" The Desire Demon sat down next to Riel, its hand coming up to push a clump of stray hair away from Riel's face. "No more death. No more Darkspawn. The others can handle it, you know. Besides," it continued to purr as it looked down into Riel's eyes. "Aren't you tired of it all?"
"Yes… I'm… so… tired…" Riel cried desperately, tears flooding her face.
"Shh… Let me help you… All you have to do, is... Let… Me… In…."
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Vhenan'ara