Legend (Dragon Age Origins)

Chapter 9: Glorious

The waxing moon settled high above the ruins of Ostagar, illuminating the hundreds of soldiers stationed in the gorge below. Dru scanned the army as she and Alistair made their way across the bridge connecting the east and west sides of the ruins. Each soldier wore the colours of their hold, but Dru couldn't pick out the blue and silver armour of the Grey Wardens from the mass.

A handful of soldiers were stationed in the army camp in case stragglers from the horde made their way up there. A line of catapults had been arranged across the bridge and archers hid between the crenellations across the ramparts. Two men hefting a barrell between them shouted at Dru and Alistair to get out of their way as they rushed past them. The top of the barrell was open, and a black liquid sloshed over the edges.

"Oil," Alistair explained. "They boil it up and then tip it onto any darkspawn that might try to climb up the battlements."

The Tower of Ishaal sat waiting at the end of the bridge, the only structure in Ostagar that had not been taken by time and nature. As they approached, Dru peered toward the beacon located at its summit, a gnawing feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

They were informed that a group of mages would greet them at the base of the tower, but when they entered they were only met by slow-burning torches and empty darkness. There was blood smeared on the ground leading towards one of the chamber doors as if someone had been dragged through. Dru and Alistair exchanged a grim look before heading toward the stone staircase, their mission too important to be swallowed by fear now.

As they headed up the tower, two young mages in matching crimson robes jogged past them. Dru rushed on ahead, but one of them grabbed Alistair by the arm. 

"Are you Grey Wardens?" the mage asked, his eyes flicking to the symbol on Alistair's chest plate. "You're supposed to light the beacon for the army." He spoke his words quickly, through shaken breath. "We just came from up there. The darkspawn have it overrun. We barely made it out alive. They killed the templars."

"What are you talking about?" Alistair demanded. "How could the darkspawn have reached the tower already?"

The other mage wrung her hands. "The templars said there was a tunnel beneath the tower. They blocked it off a few days ago, but I think the darkspawn broke through from there."

Alistair glanced up at Dru, his expression haunting. After a moment, they continued up the staircase. 

As they jogged away, the mage called out to them, "You're still going up there? Didn't you just hear what I said? They killed the templars!"

They hurried up the remaining floors, taking two steps at a time. Dru counted the steps as they went, focusing her mind on that instead of questioning why she was here, and why she wasn't running in the opposite direction. She should have known everything would go wrong. When did it not?

When they reached the top floor the chaos that the mages had described revealed itself. Dru could hear the shrieking cries of darkspawn, along with the faint screams of its victims. The beacon was located on the observatory deck, past the central chamber ahead... and the source of the screams.

Dru and Alistair positioned themselves on either side of the chamber's door. Alistair held up three fingers and pointed at himself, then one finger and pointed at Dru. She nodded to communicate her understanding.

Hefting his shield in front of him, Alistair charged into the room. Dru peered around the corner to see four darkspawn screech before attacking him. Alistair blocked a blow from a darkspawn wielding a greatsword and then bashed his shield into them, sending them stumbling away from him.

Dru counted fives seconds and then entered. The chamber's torches had long been extinguished, and she was able to easily slip into the shadows. The carnage from the room made her stomach churn. Ahead of her, a female mage lay in a pool of her own blood. She was whimpering, begging for the Maker to grant her death.