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The Last of the Couslands	By : MistressofMagic Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 4401 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Bioware and EA own everything associated with the Dragon Age universe. I am making no money off of this fan fiction.

Chapter List
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Chapter 40
The Deep Roads
The next morning, Bridget wasted no time at all waking up and getting ready. Alistair didn't even try to keep her to himself, surprisingly. Bridget guessed that he really wanted to get out of Orzammar since he hadn't tried anything. After washing up and dressing back into her scale armor, Bridget strapped the Highever shield onto her back and walked out of the room and to the dining hall where everyone else already sat, eating breakfast. Bridget took Alistair's advice and ate a hearty, filling breakfast that way she'd have as much energy as possible. After all, there was no telling how many Darkspawn they would run into while venturing the Deep Roads. While the others decided on who would accompany her, Harrowmont entered the room and gave Bridget a map of the Deep Roads, explaining where he thought Branka may have gone. She thanked him, knowing that the map would be very useful and turned back to the others. Zevran and Alistair were the only two who opted to go. Everyone else gave their reasons for not going, Bridget guessed to try to ease her uneasy feeling about having an incomplete party. Taking all of their excuses into consideration, Bridget nodded to all of them and just decided that she, Alistair, and Zevran could most likely get the job done. They left the Diamond Quarter immediately and were soon in the Commons again. As Bridget led the others down the slight slope towards some guards who were blocking the entrance to the Deep Roads, Bridget heard hurried footsteps in the distance and turned around.
"Hey, wait!" a voice called out.
Bridget turned her head in the direction of the voice and recognized the redheaded dwarf who was hurrying towards her as the one from Tapster's. Upon reaching her, he stopped and hunched over a bit, trying to catch his breath.
"By the Ancestors, do you know how fast you walk?" he asked in a gruff voice.
Bridget raised her eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were following me. Can I help you?"
The dwarf closed one eye and looked up at her. He licked his lips and replied,
"You're the Warden from the Proving, right?"
Bridget nodded. The dwarf straightened up a bit and looked up at her.
"The name's Oghren. Look, I know Harrowmont needs a Paragon to back him up in the Assembly. The only living one we've got is my wife, Branka. I can help you find her, I know where she went."
Bridget blinked.
"Is that what you wanted to ask me back in Tapster's? I saw you look over at me, but you never said anything."
Oghren grumbled something under his breath and replied,
"She's been down there for two years and nobody around this sodding hole has tried to find her! Now that somebody's got reason to go and look for her, I sure as hell want in on it."
Bridget smiled.
"Well I could always use some help, plus this map doesn't look very resourceful now that I look at it. Let's get a move on."
Oghren brightened.
"I've been waiting two sodding years for somebody to say that!"
Alistair and Zevran looked at each other, not quite sure what to make of the dwarf, but kept their thoughts to themselves. Upon reaching the guards at the entrance, Bridget explained the situation, along with Oghren's help and they were allowed to enter the Deep Roads. Upon entering there were some bandits waiting for them, but they were easy to take care of. Once they were finished, Bridget had a thought hit her.
"I never introduced myself Oghren, I apologize! I'm Bridget, and this is Alistair and Zevran." She stated.
Oghren turned towards her after shoving a flask back in his pack and nodded.
"Uh-huh. Now are we gonna stand around here all day talking nice to each other or are we gonna move on?"
Bridget blinked at frowned.
"Alright then, I just thought you may have wanted to know who you were traveling with."
Oghren didn't reply and led the way into a tunnel, grumbling to himself. Bridget drew her brows together. She didn't know what to make of the man, to be honest, but she did admire the way he fought. He carried so much raw rage with every swing of his axe, it was really something to be admired.
"Well he's a bit of a grump…" Alistair whispered.
Zevran nodded.
"Reminds me of an old tale where there was a grumpy little dwarf with some others…and a princess or something." He replied.
Bridget tried to strike up a conversation with Oghren again, but apparently he wasn't much of a talker. He either brushed everything off with a 'Uh-Huh' or a nod of his head, and would leave it at that. She eventually gave up and remained quiet. To no surprise Darkspawn attacked them at nearly every turn. Hurlocks, Genlocks, Emissaries of both ranks and ogres kept coming at them with an unrelenting force. Bridget eventually lost count of exactly how many Darkspawn they had killed. If it wasn't Darkspawn that were attacking them, it was giant spiders and another horrible creature that Oghren identified as a Thaig Crawler. If it were possible to get any worse than a giant spider, the thaig crawler certainly did it. Bridget shuddered as she killed the horrible creature, thrusting her blade into it's back and then ripping through it's body. After dealing with them, she noticed a shadow dance in the corner of her eye and saw something scurry into a nearby cave. She led the others on cautiously, careful of where she placed her feet to sneak as quietly as she could in her armor. Upon entering the cave, Bridget dropped her guard just a little when she saw the back of another dwarf. Oghren nudged her and shook his head.
"Keep you're guard up. He's been down here a while, that means,"
Oghren didn't finish his sentence as the other dwarf turned around, causing Bridget to suck in her breath. His body jerked and twitched at certain moments, and his eyes were completely bloodshot and carried deep, dark bags underneath them. His skin looked clammy and he rubbed his hands together nervously.
"K-Keep back! S-Stay away!"
Alistair swallowed.
"He's been infected with the Blight…" he whispered.
Oghren nodded.
"Yep. You stuck down here long enough you run outta food. The only thing in readily supply down here is Darkspawn."
Bridget narrowed her brows and replied,
"Darkspawn blood is poisonous…how is it that he is still alive?"
Oghren shrugged.
"Who knows…"
Bridget turned back to the other dwarf and sheathed her blade. She slowly took a step forward, only to have him flinch away in fear.
"I said g-get b-back!" he shouted.
Bridget nodded and retook her step.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." She said softly.
The dwarf said nothing in reply, just continued to stare at her with wide, fearful eyes. Bridget smiled sweetly at him.
"I want to talk to you, will you talk with me?" she asked.
The dwarf shook his head.
"No! No talking! This is Ruck's cave, go away! My territory!"
Before Bridget could reply, Oghren stated,
"By the Ancestors, I think this is Branka's campsite!"
The gruff sound of his voice made Ruck shudder again. Bridget said in a soothing calm voice,
"I'm not here to steal anything from you, Ruck. I promise."
Ruck was quiet for a moment before he tipped his head to the side and started rubbing his hands together again.
"Y-You're a pretty lady…nice pretty hair…pretty eyes as blue as that that stems from the deepest rock…"
Bridget smiled back at him.
"Thank you for the compliments, Ruck." She replied.
Ruck looked up at her and asked,
"S-So you won't take anything from Ruck…none of my worms or shiny rocks?"
Bridget nodded.
"I promise I won't take anything from you. I just want to talk, that's all."
Ruck nodded his head.
"Ruck not mind that so much…"
Bridget smiled at him. She cleared her throat and asked,
"How have you survived down here for so long?" she asked.
Ruck twitched a bit before replying,
"I hide in the shadows where the dark ones don't look…and then I eat the dark ones…then they not see me no more."
Bridget grimaced at the thought. From her experience she knew the blood was absolutely horrible. She couldn't even begin to imagine eating their flesh.
"Can you tell me where the 'dark ones' went?" she asked softly.
Ruck nodded.
"Far to the south I thinks pretty lady, very far…the dark master calls with his pretty voice and calls them…there was so much joy when he awoke!"
Bridget's eyes widened as she swallowed. She looked up at Alistair to find his eyes slightly wide as well.
"The Arch Demon." He whispered softly.
Bridget turned back to Ruck and asked,
"Do you know where the 'dark master' is now?"
Ruck twitched as he shook his head.
"He stopped calling…Ruck wanted to go, to gaze on his beauty…but no, Ruck is a coward…"
Bridget felt so much sympathy for Ruck, she just wanted to give him a hug, but thought against it. After a moment she asked,
"Did you find anything unusual in this campsite?"
Oghren grumbled,
"Bout time you're getting to the point."
Bridget darted her eyes to him and then looked back to Ruck, patiently waiting his answer.
"Bits of things, the crawlers took most of everything, shiny things, steel things, paper things…they takes the shines and the words…
Oghren crossed his arms.
"Paper things? That sounds like someone was taking notes…this had to be Branka's camp for sure!" he exclaimed.
Ruck continued on saying,
"They tooks it to the great nest and settles it there…"
Bridget nodded, dreading where this was heading and thanked Ruck by giving him a 'shiny coin'. As she and the others walked around the cave, Zevran pointed out to her the scorch marks on the ground, stating that somebody had to have camped here before. As they exited the cave, Bridget shuddered at what she knew would be coming next.
"We're going to have to find that nest…" she whispered, dreading the very thought of it. Her mind was already producing images of crawlers and spiders everywhere, snapping their pinchers and venom dripping from their fangs. They continued to carefully walk down the passageways, sometimes coming across a Darkspawn or two…but overall it was very quiet…too quiet for Bridget's taste. After walking for a bit and finally coming to a turn, she quickly drew her blade as she saw a venomous spider in the distance, but when she charged at him he shot a web up towards the ceiling and climbed it, disappearing from view. Along the way, many others did this as well. Bridget knew immediately that something was wrong if all of the spiders were fleeing…
Entering the next room, she knew why. A Genlock Emissary stood in the distance, already shooting magic at Bridget and the others. As Zevran ran off to deal with him, the familiar hissing that queued the spiders' approach rang through Bridget's ears. Five of them descended from the ceiling and wasted no time in their attacks. Bridget bashed one of them with her shield that had snapped it's pinchers at her and nearly had a pair of fangs dip into her arm if it wasn't for Alistair. She turned and rushed to Oghren's aid as one of them had thrown him down and was about to rip into him. She knocked it to the side with her shield and ran her blade through the horrible thing, killing it on the spot.
Oghren thanked her, but by the look on his face, Bridget could tell that there was something behind her…something she wasn't going to like. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down and out of the way of another spider, but this one was different. This spider had a white back with intricate designs in it's body. Noticing that it was different, Bridget guessed that it was the queen. Eight pairs of blood red eyes landed on Bridget just then and she and Oghren both ran out of the way to avoid an attack. Zevran was able to stab the spider queen from behind since she was busy with Bridget and Oghren, and as he did that, Alistair flanked her on her side. They caught her attention long enough for Bridget and Oghren to regroup and grab their weapons again (as they had been knocked out of their hands) and soon all four of them were trying their hardest to get in hits. Unfortunately though the queen spider was rather cunning and whenever she had taken so many hits, would scurry up to the ceiling once more and call her children to fight for her. This process went on for just a little while longer and then finally, Oghren slammed his axe down on her body, slicing her in half. They all stood around her, panting madly as about a hundred or so carcasses decorated the floor. Oghren wiped his arm against his forehead and growled,
"I hate sodding spiders."
Bridget chuckled.
"I couldn't have put it better myself."
After taking a short break, Bridget and the others began to search the area for the things the spiders had taken, clues on Branka's whereabouts before Bridget noticed a large book sitting on a stone slab not too far from them. She called the others over to it, and once Oghren's eyes laid on it, he lit up like a flame on a candle and grinned.
"This is Branka's handwriting!" he exclaimed.
He quickly scanned over the contents of the journal and beamed.
"Branka was thinking about me! Old softy…says here she was looking for the Anvil of the Void. She's gone on to say that…"
He was quiet for a moment before sighing.
"The next stop'll be the Dead Trenches."
Bridget crinkled her nose.
"Well that sounds…pleasant." She remarked.
Alistair nodded.
"I was just about to say the same thing." Sarcasm rang in both of their voices.
Zevran sighed.
"I just want to get out of here."
Bridget placed Branka's journal in her pack and nodded towards the others, turning to face the entrance to the Dead Trenches, and already smelling the stench of the Darkspawn filling her nostrils. She withdrew her sword and led them in, hoping that things would go smoothly.
But of course, things never went smoothly. Not for Bridget and her friends.
A/N: Whew! Glad this chapter's finished, I hope you all enjoyed it. Next up we meet Helspith and Bridget and the others will endure a oh so lovely meeting with the Broodmother. And of course we catch a peak at the Arch Demon!
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The Last of the Couslands