Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Hoping One Day We'll Make A Dream Last	By : kruemel Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 3679 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Dragon Age and the characters of the game do not belong to me. This is a no profit fanfiction

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
The icy wind whipped my face as soon as I stepped onto the bridge leading to Avernus' tower, partly cast in shadows, partly bathed in the pink glow of the rising sun.
"It's too early!" I complained, wrapping my cloak tighter around me. "Why in the name of the Maker do we have to meet that old nutcase in the middle of the night?"
"The early bird catches the worm!" Usually not a morning person Rori was very awake for that early. A few days ago I would have suspected she hadn't slept at all. Now with that magical spider web Lanaya had given her, Rori had learnt to deal with her nightmares and for four days in a row she had slept like a log. Sure, she still had terrible nightmares but she wasn't afraid of sleep anymore. The effect was miraculous. Less exhausted and stressed, she had managed to adjust to the increased darkspawn noises. She had regained her spitfire attitude and much more looked like herself again. The mischieveous gleam had returned to her eyes, her cheeks were rosy, an impish grin adorned her lips. With the chaotic mass of tousled red curls surrounding her head, she reminded me of a naughty pixie.
"Remind me to burn these blasted motto calendars once we return to the palace."
"We have a tight schedule. Eamon expects you back in time for your coronation. We have to leave this afternoon or we won't make it," Rori lectured me as we entered the lab. "He said he would give the crown to Anora should you be late."
"Don't tempt me!"
Avernus' lab had changed since the first time we walked in. The old skeletons, cobwebs and thick layer of dust were gone. The formerly empty cages were filled with several darkspawn. One wall was lined with smaller cages, occupied by rats showing different states of darkspawn corruption. The pits were inhabited by more darkspawn. Shelves had been set up next to the stairs leading to the dais. Next to books and notes there was a collection of jars with dubious content. Three desks, one tidy, all files neatly piled, the two others an image of chaos stood left to the stairs, on the right a dissecting table was located, momentarily occupied by the stinking remains of a Genlock. On the dais in the middle of the room the long table was lined with bottles and test lubes sitting atop of small flames, liquids in different colours bubbled and hissed inside of them, glass pipes connected them like transparent tunnels. It smelled of ichor, sulphur and lyrium, the crackling of magic filled the room, alerting my templar senses. Above all the skeletonized skull of the archdemon dangled from the ceiling, grinning toothily at us as if it knew something we didn't..
"You redecorated. Charming!" I pulled a face. Suddenly returning to Denerim and my coronation didn't sound that terrible anymore. "Eww... Is this an eyeball swimming in this jar?"
"Don't touch this! Best don't touch anything!" Avernus barked, hobbling towards us. "Let's not waste any time! I am getting weaker each day. You, too, don't have any time to waste." He poked his boney finger at Rori. "The test results of your blood show a far worse corruption than we have thought. You got ten years at a max before your Calling."
"Ten?" Rori stammered. All colour had drained from her face. "But... I was told it would be thirty, more or less..."
"Less for you," Avernus snapped. "The more contact you have with darkspawn, the stronger the taint inside of you, the shorter your life."
"You make your point as delicately as ever," I remarked dryly..
"The Calling, that's when the dreams become real bad," Rori gasped.
"That's what they told you, didn't they?" Avernus sneered.
"That's not the whole truth then?" I hardly dared to ask. Ten years for Rori. How many for me? As shocked as I was by Avernus' revelation, I was king and that meant I had a whole lot more to worry and care about than my love and myself.
Avernus beckoned us towards his desk. He pushed aside some notes and files until a single huge tome came into view. It was bound in some kind of parchment or leather... Maker, was that... skin? Human skin? "See for yourself!"
Inhaling deeply Rori stretched out her hand to open the book. With trembling fingers she turned the first few pages. I couldn't decipher the writing on the left pages. The notes there were written in a language unknown to me. The right page, however, was covered with the whole-body image of a naked man. It was the very same man on every page and his change happened in front of our eyes as we turned page after page.
First there were only small blackish marks on his right arm. We hardly noticed. But with every new drawing, the mark grew bigger and new ones appeared in other places, on his chest, the thighs. First his skin was only blotched like that of those infected with the darkspawn corruption. Then the blotches became darker, thicker. The flesh was black and rotten like the darkspawn's.
"Maker!" Rori gasped next to me, tears streaming down her cheeks. "His eyes! His eyes, they are like Hespith's!"
We had skimmed through half of the tome and the eyes staring back at us had lost any trace of humanity. They had become bleary before the glow of insanity had taken hold of them. They were bloodhshot and the iris lost its original colour, it became translucent, then turned red.
His lips shrank and shrivelled until he wore a constant snarl, exposing an unnaturally sharp and pointy set of teeth. He had lost his hair, corrupted skin stretching across his bald skull.
Faster and faster we turned the pages, watching the man turn into the monster until at the very last page, there was nothing left of the man anymore. He had turned into a ghoul.
Rori cried out in horror. I just gaped. I doubt my brain really made the connection that moment. When it finally did, Rori's had already started making plans. For now Rori's legs didn't support her anymore and as mine were as wobbly as pudding as well, we sank to the floor together, sitting in a trembling huddle.
"No wonder they go to the Deep Roads when they change becomes obvious," I muttered tonelessly. Duncan had been close to his Calling... I had always wished he wouldn't have died in the Battle of Ostagar. But compared to the fate that would have awaited him had he survived, Ostagar was an act of mercy.
"Well I for sure won't go anywhere close the Deep Roads in case..." Rori snapped. "I'd rather jump off a cliff... Anything but not the Deep Roads!" She angrily gritted her teeth. "Bloody blast it!" Rori breathed, wiping her nose at her sleeve. "No! This is not going to happen!"
"It happened for the last eight hundred years. What do you want to do about it?" I croaked. I was so shocked I couldn't think straight.
"Find a cure of course!" Rori snapped stubbornly.
"They've known this for centuries and didn't find one! You only got ten years!" I felt like a dying duck in a thunderstorm.
"We ended a Blight within a year with only two Grey Warden recruits," Rori hissed, lifting herself off the ground. "We survived slaying the archdemon. We certainly won't sit down now and twiddle thumbs until we turn into monsters!"
"The ghoul king and queen of Ferelden." I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. Imagining Rori and me all blotched and corrupted with shiny crowns on our bald heads, snarling at the assembled Fereldan nobility. Priceless!
While I was rolling around on the ground in hysterics, Rori turned towards the three mages that had gathered around us. "There has to be something we can do! We bloody blast it have to give it a try at least!" Her voice was shaking and husky. She furiously wiped her tears away and stomped her foot. "There's still the ashes of Andraste...," she added hopefully. "That would be awesomely easy, wouldn't it?" She sighed, raking her fingers through her short hair. "But when has it ever been easy for us? Plan B? Sol?"
"We've had time to experiment with the potion from Flemeth's grimoire, the one Morrigan used to protect your companions from the taint when you searched for Branka." The darkhaired mage walked over to the rat cages. "These rats here were infected with the taint four months ago. We feed them the potion every day. As you can see they are all alive and still kicking. All those that did not receive the potion died within a week. We believe we can slow down your decay with this potion. Unfortunately we don't yet know the long-term-effects."
"Who cares," Rori shrugged. "Cannot be worse than becoming a ghoul."
She had a point there, you know.
"How much longer can we survive with this?" I asked when Solona handed both Rori and me our first potion.
"We don't know. It depends on many things. Your own constitution. How much darkspawn contact you've already had, how much you will still have in the future."
"I suppose we shouldn't dwadle then finding that cure," I observed.
"We could do so much more if only we had test object other than rats...," Avernus began.
"No!" I snapped before Rori as much as opened her mouth.
"You would sacrifice your love for your morals?" Avernus croaked malignantly. It was like a slap in the face. The mere thought of Rori's fate - and mine, but really, I didn't care that much about myself that moment... Maker! She mustn't die! Ten years seemed so far away and yet so close...
"I... I... no... yes," I stammered, looking from Rori to Avernus. Maker have mercy! Condemn several dozen poor sods to be picked apart by a ruthless bloodmage for the sake of hundreds of Grey Wardens, myself and my love or put our lives at stake and in the end face a terrible fate... How does someone make this kind of choice?
"Alistair's just trying to do the right thing," Rori defended me. I have to admit, she surprised me. It must have shown on my face as she took my hand and squeezed it lightly. She even managed one of her sweet smiles for me. The fear was still there in her eyes but she set her jaws firmly and stubbornly.
"But bloodmagic is not altogether evil," Jowan pointed out shyly. "The Grey Wardens use it for their Joining, the Chantry controls mages through philacteries. The Joining actually killed a whole lot of good men and women for a greater cause and not all of them joined willingly. If we found a cure that way, how many Grey Wardens could we save?"
"Bloodmagic is what brought you here," I retorted sharply.
"Yes," he answered abashedly, his eyes cast down. "I... I cannot undo my deeds, the death I have caused. I... somehow, I have to make it right..."
"The archives of the Circle could give us more information," Solona said quickly. "Someone has to travel to Weisshaupt. They must have at least tried to solve that problem. We cannot be the only ones who ever tried in eight hundred years! Lanaya might allow us to study the magic of the Dalish. We also should talk to Brother Genitivi. He's like a walking talking encyclopedia... And we do need more staff. Petra and Kinnon are suitable candidates. Oh, and Anders! He has a very creative mind - although he mostly uses it on planning his escape."
"Greagoir will be delighted to hear we want to recruit even more mages," I remarked dryly. "Especially some more trouble makers."
"Where else to find mages... Oh! Wait! Didn't you say you're in contact with the Mages' Collective?" Solona thought out loud.
"How did you survive, Avernus?" Rori blurted out. "You are two hundred years old. The taint should have killed you ten times by now."
"I have to admit, Idon't know for sure," the old mage croaked. "I have a theory of course. When the veil was torn, Warden's Peak got caught in between the dimensions of our world and the Fade. It was neither here nor there. I suspect that this also changed the flow of time. It might also have had an effect on the taint itself."
"So it got nothing to do with blood magic?" I dug deeper.
"I doubt it. It is possible for a blood mage to steal life from a victim. Also it is known that abominations have a longer life span. Neither die I drain my precious test objects for my own sake nor was or am I possessed. Now the veil is closed once more, I can feel myself age with every day passing. My body will stop functioning long before the taint can destroy it." The old mage paused for a moment. "My body will make for an interesting study subject."
"Err... gross." I shudered.
"I guess we rather find a real cure," Rori sighed. "I don't want to spend centuries in a demon infested betwixt dimension."
"It's not that bad," Avernus remarked. "So much time for my researches. I'd never achieved that much knowledge with the short lifespan of a Grey Warden."
"Next to the Calling, we got that heir problem," Rori moved to the next item on her agenda.
"Darling, you will turn into a ghoul in about ten years," Solona pointed out. "Alistair probably has a few more years. A baby is nothing you should be worried about."
"A king needs an heir," Rori insisted. "And yesssss," she added defiantly. "He could marry someone else and increase his chances. That would be wise and reasonable and the right thing to do... Especially with that new revelation... Sucks as much as the last one I got to hear..." Her voice faded. She looked so very small as she stood there, hugging herself and talking to her feet. "These ten years... I don't want to spend them alone, bereft of any happiness. Alistair's all I got. And I don't want to end like Anora... but I will without an heir." Gloomily she added: "Cailan loved Anora. You've read the letters Empress Celene sent him. Anora's time was over."
"Ha, well, I very much doubt Celene will want to marry a Fereldan king now. Loghain made sure of that." By the sour look on Rori's face I was about to get my shin kicked. Smiling I embraced her, kissing the top of her head. "I wouldn't want anybody but you. I love you."
Solona went "Awwwwww!" Jowan unsuccessfully tried to hide his emotion. Only Avernus pulled a face. "Waste of time, that's what it is," he grumbled. "Are you done with your mawkishness?" He shoved an empty glass at me. "Here!"
"Err... what's this for?" Suspiciously I gazed into the glass.
Avernus meanwhile had given another one to Jowan who immediately blushed bright crimson. "Get me that Gilmore lad here. And two objects of comparison that are no Wardens. Preferably some that won't talk. We can't have any morons running around and spilling the news."
Gilmore arrived with Zevran and Oghren and they, too, received an empty glass. They looked equally puzzled.
"We gonna get drunk?" Oghren grunted. "Gal, whatcha want with these tiny glasses? Just gimme the bottle and I'll be fine."
"We need a semen sample from each of you," Solona explained.
I shrieked "WHAT!?" and almost dropped my receptable same time Zevran dead serious went: "The glass is too small."
"Is it?" I wondered, turning it round in my hands. Zevran wiggled his eyebrows at me and smirked.
"We need to run some tests," Solona said. "The comparison samples will help us finding the problem and - hopefully - a solution. So if you please filled those containers..."
"Ya want all my baby batter?" Oghren boomed. "In a glass? All that time in that tower is no healthy for yer mages. Ya get the strangest ideas. Oghren can show ya the real thing. Ooh, come to Oghren, ya long-limbed goddess. The pride of Orzammar is in the house!" Stretching out his arms for an embrace and leering at the mage, the dwarf bucked his hips.
The mage just beat him over the head with her staff. "Your sperm goes into this glass and nowhere else," Solona said coolly.
"Err... sure... but... uhm... how?" Everybody turned to me as if I had asked something real stupid. My face was burning with embarrassement. Even my ears glowed.
"I'm pretty sure Rori will give you a hand, your Highness," Solona patted my shoulder as she shooed both Rori and me towards the screen Jowan and Gilmore had set up at one side of the room.
"A hand?" I asked, puzzled by Oghren and Zevran pumping their fists on their outstretched thumbs. Huh? HUH?
"Return the sample as soon as you have it."
"What!? But... I... I don't think... Maker! You can't want us to do THAT here!?" I squeaked once it occured to me what I was supposed to do. My beloved fellow Warden's face was as red as mine.
"Alas, Alistair, my royal friend, it wouldn't be the first time we overheard your exertions with this beautiful Fereldan rose," Zevran pointed out merrily. "I remember that one time in the mountains when you obviously did not waste any thought on the echo..."
"Whoa! Whoa! Awkward! We're not talking about this, are we? Did I hit my head somewhere?" I groaned, turning my head from side to side to find any escape route. Just there was none.
"Well, if you don't like the screen, there's still the library," Solona said.
"The library is hardly..."
"Alas, Alistair, my royal friend..."
"Whatever you want to say, don't!" I snapped, glowering at the elf.
"... I do recall it was this very library, Morrigan mentioned. Said she walked in on your and your darling Warden, catching you red handed." Zevran grinned at me from ear to ear.
"Aye, hehe, with the boss, hehe," Oghren chortled, rubbing his hands. "She's gonna roll yer oats. Lucky bastard!"
"Alas," Zevran said cheerfully as he hooked arms with Solona. "I gladly accept your offer to assist me..."
"I didn't offer anything," Solona hissed indignantly as she shook Zevran off.
"You Fereldans are so finicky!" the elf huffed. "Not much of a patriot, are you, my darling Solona? It's for a higher cause after all, the continued existence of the Theirin bloodline lies in our hands! Hey Rori, my sweet Fereldan rose, you're a patriot heart and soul what about you..." He didn't get to finish that sentence as I hurried out of the room with my betrothed and slammed the door shut in his face. Deviant bastard!
Leaning my back against the door, I stood there with my eyes closed, clutching the blasted glass in my hands. I could think of a whole lot of reasons why I shouldn't do this and it wasn't all about the audience waiting behind that door or the smirks I would get or the stupid jokes I would have to listen to for eternity. Not that eternity would be very long for Rori and me. Did we really want to have a child when certain death was awaiting us within ten years? Who would care for this child when we were gone? I had grown up without my parents and I didn't want this fate for my own child. In addition our baby would one day be king or queen... There would have to be a regent...
"Okay, pants down!" Rori ordered, rolling up her sleeves. "Let's get this done."
"How utterly romantic," I pouted.
"What? You want me to light some candles first?" Rori retorted. Her expression softened as soon as the words had left her mouth. "I'm sorry, Alistair," she murmured compunctiously, her eyes cast down. She shifted her weight uneasily and rubbed her hands at her thighs as she gave me an upwards glance, her large blue eyes dark with love and sorrow. She bit her lips, wavering in her incertitude. At least I wasn't the only one having second thoughts. We were both lost but at least we were lost together.
"Bloody blast it," she muttered under her breath and, crossing the distance between us, she lifted her hand to gently caress my face.
Hesitantly first, she grew more confident as she repeated the caress and gestures we so often had shared. When everything else fails, go lick a lamppost! That way you at least have some fun before everything comes crushing down on you again.
Rori's fingertips whispered across my cheeks, brushed against my lips, followed my jawline across my chin and down my throat. Running her hands over my shoulders, she tilted her head back to flick her tongue against the hollow of my throat.
Maker's Breath!
A whole lot of reasons why I shouldn't do this, one why I would.
Her hot breath tickled my skin as she moved downwards, unbuttoning my shirt slowly, kissing every inch of skin she revealed. She teasingly circled her tongue around my nipples, nipping them with her teeth before she moved on, sliding her tongue down the vertical gap between my abs,
"That tickles," I giggled when she dipped her tongue into my belly button. I was rewarded with an upwards glance, her eyes sparkling, and an impish grin. "Maker's Breath, but you're beautiful. Je t'aime, mon coeur."
"You have the cutest accent," Rori smiled.
"Cute!" I sulked.
"And sexy."
"Yessssss?" Ah, music to my ears! "Could you repeat this? I think I didn't hear you..."
"Very sexy," Rori assured me, already pulling at the breeches of my pants. "Sexy and manly and strong and... oh hello there!" She kissed the tip of my manhood lightly as soon as it came into view.
"Hm, maybe it's not that bad a day at all," I mused. "You remember it all has to go in this glass, yesssssssssssssssss...? MAKER'S BREATH!"
She swirled her tongue around my glans as her small hand circled around my shaft. Tugging at my waistband she had me sit down with her kneeling beside me. Next I was kissing her fiercely, my hands tearing at the ties of her blouse to free her large bosom. It heaved magnificently indeed. The light in her eyes was anything but pure, though.
Rori nipped my lower lip teasingly, trailed open mouthed kisses down my neck while I thoroughly enjoyed fondling her breasts. Meanwhile Rori slid her hand up and down my manhood, slowly first, then adding more pressure to her grip, her pace increased.
I moaned into her mouth when she kissed me, hissed in pleasure when she bit my neck and nibbled my earlobe. It was blissful oblivion and I had totally forgotten about our surroundings or the reason of our little encounter - until I gasped: "Maker! I'm cumming!" - and Rori hurriedly shoved that damn glass into my hands.
Disillusionment at its best!
"Do you think this is the right thing to do?"I wondered, suspiciously regarding the slimy content of the glass. Err... ewww... looking at it that closely it looked somewhat... gross.
"I don't know." Resting her head against my chest, Rori lazily ruffled my chest hair. Not that there was much there to ruffle. Oghren used to say he knew women with more chest hair.
Err... eww... let's pretend I didn't say anything about that....
"If they could fix our... uhm... issues... do you really want a baby right now?"
"I don't know."
"Should we actually have a baby at all with the Calling and such?"
"I don't know." Rori frowned, stopping her caress she sat up and to my utter disappointment began to close her blouse. "Most of the time I don't even know which way is up and which is down." She paused, buttoning my shirt now as I was still clutching that stupid glass. "I guess, I am just doing things for the sake of doing things." She bit her lips thoughtfully as she tugged everything that belonged there back in my pants. "It gives me the illusion I can actually carry this through." She wrinkled her nose. "Whatever this is." Straightening she punched her fist at her palm. "We just bloody blast it give it a try and see what happens."
Running around aimlessly without any clue where we were heading. Ha! We had reached expert levels of cluelessness during the Blight.
"Ah, okay, then we are agreed. Just wanted to make sure." I winked at her, held up the glass as if toasting and intoned solemnly: "We have no clue what we are doing, let's get it done together!"
"Cheers!" Rori grinned.
- 5
- 6
- 7
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Hoping One Day We'll Make A Dream Last