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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 bella: Antivan. "My beauty." Endearment Zevran uses for Riel.
Atrast nal tunsha: Dwarven. A formal farewell. "May you always find your way in the dark."
Da'len: Elvhen. "Little child, or little one."

"She is alive, but just barely," Wynne stated grimly.
Kneeling on either side of Riel was both Zevran and Wynne, with Leliana cradling Riel's head in her lap. Wynne had stopped the bleeding and healed the wound, yet Riel had lost so much blood already. Her skin was pale and cold, and even with the mage's healing, she still didn't open her eyes.
With tears in his eyes, Zevran held onto her blood coated hand, his mind screaming silently as he looked down at her. Even when Wynne had done her magic, Zevran had refused to leave her side, instead just holding her hand to his chest as he desperately prayed for her live.
Multiple times he had tried to get to her during the fight. To weave around the rampaging golems that swung out their massive arms and pounded into the ground with their boulder like fists. However no matter how many times he had tried to get past the stone monsters, something always prevented him from advancing further. Either because of the earth shaking attacks throwing him off balance, or their deadly blows knocking him back, it seemed as though fate decreed that Riel would face the mad dwarven woman alone without his aid.
Zevran now cursed that same fate, his chest a swirl of emotions as he looked down at his Riel, unmoving and unconscious. Too many times since entering these damn underground roads has he almost lost her. Too many times had he feared never seeing her look at him with her ethereal silver eyes again. Why? Why must it always be her? he raged silently. No longer caring if others saw the tears that fell freely from his eyes, Zevran lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed each one of her fingers. Each lingering kiss a silent prayer to please keep her alive.
"Aww, sod it…. Branka…" Oghren moaned several feet away as he looked down at the corpse of his former wife.
"Do not dare mourn that woman in my presence, dwarf!" Zevran spat out angrily, his eyes spearing Oghren with lethal intent.
"Zevran,..." Leliana whispered, her own tears falling down her cheeks.
"No! If not for that madwoman's obsession, Riel would… She would-" Zevran couldn't bring himself to say the words.
"I see now that it was foolish to think that I could hide away here with the anvil. I had hoped that maybe someday, our people would grow beyond its greed and single minded obsessions. I see now that is unlikely to ever happen." The giant metal golem sighed as he looked down at the destruction his invention had wrought.
"We need to get her back to Orzammar. I dare say even beyond that, away from this place that haunts her," Wynne stated as she again checked Riel's pulse. "Her heart is weak, and the continued stress of this place will kill her as surely as any Darkspawn."
"Before you go, I would ask a single boon."
"Riel is dying and would ask more of us, creature?" Zevran hissed.
"Many more will die if the anvil remains as a temptation for my people. However, I cannot destroy it myself. The magics that have bound me to this metal form also prevent me from taking action against it. So I would ask that before you go, will you do what I cannot? Will you put an end to this curse that I put upon my people?"
"Whatta 'bout why we came 'ere the first place? Orzammar still needs a king!" Oghren exclaimed, eliciting a string of Antivan curses from Zevran.
If Riel were to awaken to find that all this had been for nothing, it would devastate her…. Zevran thought to himself. Still keeping hold of Riel's hand, Zevran lifted his eyes to the metal golem. "The tales say you were a Paragon, just as Branka was."
"Aye. To my shame, my cursed invention lifted my name and my house. However, my thaig now lost as countless others, taken over and destroyed by the Darkspawn and other foul beasts that live along these tunnels and old roads."
"Then you will give us proof of your status, and we will return with it to Orzammar," Zevran replied before looking over at the dead body of Branka several feet away. "We came looking for Branka, for her aid in ending a stalemate in the Assembly which was preventing us from gaining the dwarven people's support against the Blight that now rages above ground."
"Say no more," Caridin said, lifting his giant metal hand in protest. "I do not wish to know their names or how many years I have wasted in my futile hope." Caridin sighed as he looked down at Riel. "For your valiant sacrifices and the honor you shown to me, I will take hammer to anvil one last time, and fasten you a crown worthy of the next king. On it I shall place my seal, so that all may know that the Paragon Caridin has given you his favor."
"If the anvil is to be destroyed, what will happen of you?" Shale asked to Caridin.
"My dear friend Shayle, I have lived too long as it is. My one purpose has been to see that the anvil was never again used to corrupt the souls of our people, and when it is destroyed, that purpose shall be complete. I will allow what should have happened countless years ago, and return to the stone that birthed me."
"I have so many questions still! My memory is so filled with holes, how will I find the answers I seek if you are gone?"
Caridin sighed as he regarded Shale sadly. "Before you became as you are now, you were Shayle of house Cad'halash, known later as simply Cadash. The thaig of your birth lies not far from these ruins, and if you would so like, I will mark on your map where I remember it to be. However, I do not know what answers you will find there, my old friend. Long years have passed since I last walked the Deep Roads and saw the destruction of our once glorious empire."
"I shall go there then."
"Very well. Yet take one last heeding from an old friend and listen well to my words. The past can only tell us who we once were. It cannot tell us who we are now, or who we will be in the future. I was once so blinded by the glory of the past, that I let the gifts of my present slip right through my fingers. Do not let the same happen to you, old friend."
"What is this over here?" Oghren called out, bringing everyone's attention to an immense statue of dwarf holding up a long carving of names.
"Those are the names of each dwarf who was sacrificed under the hammer of the anvil. Each name, a monument to the person who was either lost in battle or gone mad from the transfer of consciousness. Every dwarf, born of a caste or not, is remembered there."
"That should go back to Orzammar! The Shaperate will mess his knickers to find this! Casteless, honored as warriors!" Oghren laughed to himself as he looked over the carvings.
"Take what you will, for I will have no use of it. All I ask is that you use the information you gather to the benefit of our people. Perhaps by learning the mistakes of our past, they will finally be able to move on and create a future that I had always hoped they would." Caridin then turned his glowing gaze back to Zevran and the woman who had nearly given her life to fight for his cause. "Give me but a moment and you will have your crown. When it is finished, I ask that you in turn destroy the anvil, and prevent any future souls from having to suffer such a fate as I."
Zevran looked down at Riel, looking so peaceful even as she clinged to life. What would she do? In truth, Zevran knew exactly what his Riel would decide. After having suffered so long as a slave, she wouldn't want any others to suffer as she did. And imprisoning unwilling souls into the husks of stone or metal to serve whatever master held their control rods…. Riel would do anything in her power to prevent such a thing from ever happening.
"I agree, my metal friend. Once the crown is completed, I will see to it that the anvil is never again used."
Caridin bowed slightly to Zevran before turning and climbing the stone peak that led up to the anvil. There he took hold of a hammer, and started to work on his last creation. As the time passed slowly, Zevran stayed by Riel's side, holding her hand in his. He wanted her away from this place; away from the Darkspawn and golems and madness this place infected people with. He wanted the next time that she opened her eyes, she could look up at the sky above and know that whatever nightmares plagued her were now over with.
How can I leave you? his mind whispered to itself as Zevran looked down on her.
"She will live, Zevran," Leliana stated reassuringly.
Yes, but will I? How can one live without their heart?
"It is finished," Caridin's voice echoed as he approached Zevran. Taking the offered crown in his free hand, Zevran looked upon it and could have cursed for the irony of it all. Orzammar would gain its king, while doing so has cost him his queen. The bitterness of it stung worse than any blade, almost making him toss the golden crown back at the golem in his misery.
Yet that is not what his Riel would have wanted. She would take the crown, and fulfill her end of the bargain made. Placing the crown down beside him, Zevran then leaned in close to Riel's face.
"I will not be far, mi bella. Soon, you will be free of this place. I promise you," he whispered before placing a light kiss against her forehead. He then looked up to Leliana who still cradled Riel's head in her lap. "Watch her while I am gone, my friend? She doesn't…" he paused, a lump forming in his throat. "She doesn't like to be alone."
"Of course," Leliana smiled despite the tears that rained down her cheeks.
Zevran took a last mournful look at Riel before standing and approaching the giant anvil. Easily three times times the size of a normal anvil, lyrium veins could be seen spiraling along it's base and up to the flat surface. The blue glow of the magical substance gave the ancient and magical anvil an almost ethereal look. Zevran took hold of the large hammer that laid by its side and hefted it in his hands.
Looking down at it, Zevran felt his anger boil within him. This anvil was the source of all of his and Riel's current troubles. It's existence sending the madwoman Branka off into the Deep Roads in search of it, leading to Riel and the others having to follow her footsteps. Miles deep underground, through dark passages taking far too close to very enemies that plagued and ravaged her beautiful mind…. All of her nightmares and headaches and all the close calls they had endured since entering this place - all of it was linked back to this one object. Something that enslaved and took away the wills of those who fell victim to it.
The irony was not lost on Zevran. A former slave suffering to prevent other slaves from being made. Sacrificing herself so that others could be free. The bitterness of it all driving Zevran's fury higher. With the anger boiling in his veins, Zevran lifted the hammer high above his head and brought it down heavily upon the anvil. A great shockwave of power was released, the shattering boom echoing off all the walls and ceiling of the grand expanse of the cavern that they were in.
Taking a step back, Zevran looked down at the now ruined anvil and he couldn't help but feel a deep satisfaction. As if this small act eased the well of vengeance that bred in Zevran's soul against all the pain his Riel has suffered because of the cursed taint in her veins. Perhaps he couldn't save her, but he could make this one thing right.
"Thank you, friend. Now, I may finally rest in peace. Atrast nal tunsha," Caridin warmly stated with a short bow before walking to edge of the peak and letting himself fall down into the lava below.
After witnessing Caridin's death, Zevran turned towards his companions and made his way back to Riel. Once by her side again, he kneeled down and looked at both Wynne and Leliana's face. "Anything?" he asked softly.
"She has not stirred. But she is still stable. For now," Wynne answered, her voice heavy with sadness.
"Then let us be done with this place," Zevran stated firmly before gathering Riel into his arms and standing.
It still would take several days of travel to return to Orzammar. However, there would be no detours or unnecessary stops. Even if he had to carry her the whole time, Zevran was determined to get her away from these dark tunnels as quickly as he could. And if his desires came to pass, she would never again have to step foot in this place again. He will find a way to end her Calling. Even if she had rejected him. Even if she hated him.
He still loved her. And he would keep his promises to her. No matter what.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was finally peaceful. No voices. No whispers. No screaming or crying. Just…. Quiet.
She laid upon the soft grass and looked up at the night sky. It was beautiful the way the stars shined down. How some were brighter than others, yet they were all important. For they all made up the whole of the sky and the beauty that wasn't just a small part, but an entire picture of wonder and amazement.
"You always did enjoy the stars."
She didn't turn her head at the feminine voice, even though she cringed at the intrusion. Couldn't they leave her alone? Just for a little while?
"I come not to bother you, child."
She kept her eyes on the stars above her, hoping that this one would eventually get bored and leave her alone. Some did. Some raged and screamed. Some bartered. Some even tried fighting her. Each time she would either wait them out or fight them until she stood heaving and breathless above their defeated form.
"Do you know why they cannot take you?" the voice said, its tone soft. Almost…. motherly. "You have spent years open to their senses, yet still you evade them. They cannot take you as they have taken countless others. Have you not wondered why this is so?"
She kept still, eyes trained on the view above her. The voice came closer, the footsteps light on the soft grass as it approached. A slight shuffle, the sound of clothing rustling, then it was beside her. Sitting upright while she laid motionless on her back.
"It has pained me to witness your troubles and yet not be able to help you, da'len. My gifts to you the only aid I could offer." More silence, her eyes locked on the view above her. "It is alright if you do not wish to speak," the female voice said. "Sometimes the most powerful things we ever say are never said with words."
She wanted to tell it to leave her be. To either hurry up and get bored or fight her. Either way, to make up its mind so she could go back to the peaceful quiet. It's been so long since it had been quiet, that to have it disturbed now was almost a crime worthy of tears.
"You have cried enough I think, da'len. However, that does not mean that I do not understand. That I have not seen every tear you have shed. That I have not longed to take away your pain and remove you from your troubles. However, there are some things even I cannot control."
The voice was silent then for a little while. If it wasn't for the way that she could still feel its presence next to her, she might have thought that it had finally left.
"I will never leave you, da'len. I may not be able to help you. Or protect you. However I will never leave you." The voice sighed heavily before speaking again. "I know you fear that they will take you. One moment of weakness. One moment too tired to fight back. In fact, it has already happened, has it not?"
She remained silent, even as her mind pulled at the memories for things long ago. Another female voice that had come to her. Promising relief. Promising happiness. Promising everything that she had always wanted.
"They will promise anything to get you to agree. Yet their promises are as empty as their hearts. However, no matter their promises, they will never be able to claim you. Which is why some of them grow frustrated and fight you. Or even torment you. However, their efforts will mean nothing, for you are one of mine. And I protect my own."
She turned her head then. Towards the voice that spoke to her. The sweet and lovely voice that spoke as a mother would to a dearly loved child. Yet when she tried to see the face of the one who spoke to her, the features were too bright to make out clearly. As if the very sun shone from inside the thing speaking, blocking her from making out anything that would help her define what it was.
Except for the eyes. Kind, loving eyes looking down at her with irises of silver.
"Who-?" she asked, speaking for the first time.
"Just an old woman, da'len," the voice smiled. But how did she know that? No features could be seen through the light of its face. "One who has grown tired of watching the way you struggle with what fate has delivered at your feet." The voice then sighed, lifting a hand up to brush away the hair on her face. "However, there is still much more awaiting you." The voice was sad now, the silver eyes shining as if tears glistened in their depths. "I did not set this fate upon you, however I will make sure that you do not walk it alone."
"I am alone…" she said, her own tears forming.
"Never, da'len. While I endanger the rules of our world by appearing to you like this, I have never truly left your side. I have also done what I could in placing others in your path. Those whose ties to you goes beyond what can be physically seen or felt."
Her mind reached backward into itself, pulling on memories that seemed to slip from her fingers just as she were about to grasp them. Laughing honeyed eyes. Cherry red hair that always smiled. Piercing yellow eyes that seared into her soul and left all of her secrets bare.
"They are but one half of the gifts that I have given to you. The other…." the voice paused at it reached for her hand. Taking it gently in its glowing limb, she was surprised to find a fire spring forth from her fingers and take over entire hand. Yet it didn't burn her. It actually felt… nice. Safe. "This is not tied to magic in your blood, da'len. While you may hide that which defines you, this…" it paused again as the fire climbed up her arm to her shoulder. The fire continued to spread, taking over her upper body, then moving down to her legs and her feet. Within a heartbeat, her entire body as aflame. Yet it didn't hurt. This was her fire. The one that had always come when she needed it to. The one that protected her and those that she cared about. "This is something beyond the magic that you hide. Beyond whatever abilities you attain. This, as does your eyes, marks you as mine."
The fire that consumed her suddenly died out, returning back into her skin. Yet unlike the previous times that her inner fire had come forth, she was not left exhausted. Like a breath exhaled, it was simply gone back from where it had come, leaving her just as she was before.
She continued to stare at her hand, a mixture of amazement and curiosity filling her.
"It is a muscle, as any other, da'len. The same as any magic, only from a source much, much older."
She then narrowed her eyes on the bright face, questions racing through her mind.
"I already risk much by coming to you now, da'len. Rules set into place by things far older than I."
"Why did you come then?" she asked.
"Even the hardest rocks can be broken. The stoutest trees knocked down. The highest mountain worn down to nothing."
"I don't understand."
"You have been through much, da'len. However, your trials are far from over. Things harder than anything you have yet faced still await in the shadows, looking for a weakness to destroy you."
"Why? Why me?" she cried, tears again pricking her eyes. "I'm nobody!"
"As I said, I would never have laid this fate upon your feet. However, events sometimes have a life of their own, taking people places that they were never to be. And now that they find themselves there, the only thing that they can do is continue on. To move forward."
Move forward. That is what she had been doing for so long.
"I am so tired…" she sighed sadly, closing her eyes.
"When one carries a load meant for several, the weight always seems too heavy to continue on."
"I am alone," she replied bitterly.
"No, da'len. You only lack the knowledge."
"What knowledge?"
"Despite the cruelties in your past, you are not cruel. Despite the hurt you have lived through, you do not seek to hurt others unworthy of it. And despite the pain you have endured, you do not wish to see those you care about in pain. These things come natural to you despite your past. And yet because of them, you have not learned the most important lesson of all."
"And what is that?"
"A person can live in pain and not wish to cause pain to others because of it. However, a person who has lived without love may wish to love others, but simply just doesn't know how to love."
Again her memories called out to her. Sitting by a fire. Red hair and arrows. A deep pain crushing her chest as she cried.
"Remember da'len, sometimes the most powerful things we ever say are never said with words. Sometimes the actions we take - or didn't know that we are taking - speak far louder than the words that we did not say."
"You like speaking in riddles, don't you?" she quipped.
The voice smiled. "Call it a purview of the very old."
"Will I see you again?" she asked after a small stretch of silence.
"Some day. However, many trials still await you between now and then. Things that will hurt you, cause you pain both physically and mentally, and threaten to destroy you."
"I like the riddles better than the blunt spelling out of my doom," she groaned.
A soft sound was heard, almost as if the voice was laughing. "So do I, da'len. Just remember that no matter how lost you feel, you are never alone. And that sometimes, the hardest words are the first."
The voice then left her. As quickly as it had come, it was gone, leaving behind an almost ache within her chest. Even rubbing at the pain didn't ease her, and instead only seemed to make it worse. In the quiet solitude of the forest, she cried as the pain in her chest began to beat in time with her own heart. Each beat echoing in her mind louder and louder, until it almost sounded as if a name were being repeated over and over again.
...Zev...ran...
...Zev...ran...
...Zev...ran...
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she cried out, the pain in her chest getting worse.
"I am sorry!" she cried into the silence surrounded her. "Please forgive me! I'm so very sorry!"
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Vhenan'ara