Dragon Age Origins: I Am Cousland

Chapter 23: The Dead Trenches

Chapter 23: The Dead Trenches

 I rubbed eyes, I hadn't slept since the incident, Cullen's words echoed in my head. I sat up and rolled up my bedroll, snapping it onto my pack and joining the others. A tension hung in the air, Cullen continued his dark glares to Alistair, I just wanted to get through the Deep Roads. I adjusted my pack and squeezed through the crack in the wall and back into the ancient city.

"I looked at Branka's notes," I looked over to Oghren, who furrowed his brow. "They were heading to the Dead Trenches." I said slowly.

"Oh, that sounds great." Alistair laughed, smiling at me at the corner of his mouth. I giggled then remembered I was still angry at him and quickly looked away, Oghren frowned.

"It shouldn't be far then." He said gesturing to a small tunnel on the other side of the side that led even deeper into the earth; I groaned internally, I hated the Deep roads and I understood why Alistair had dreaded coming down here.

We walked for some time and I had calmed down from the night before, focusing on the path ahead of me. Alistair had come up beside me and puffed out air, bringing my awareness back to him.

"The Wardens come down here for their calling." He said quietly, "I thought you might want to know, since Duncan never got to explain all the 'pleasant' things that come along with being a Grey Warden." He said sarcastically, frowning.

"What's a calling?" I asked sincerely, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Well, you already know that we can sense the darkspawn and the archdemon." Alistair explained, I watched him carefully as he thought about his words. "We cannot stave off the corruption for long and eventually we are called to the Deep Roads, just like the Darkspawn." Alistair ran his fingers through his hair, "Grey Wardens come down here to fight to death." He said sadly, as if remembering something. "Duncan had told me that he was beginning to feel the corruption," He mumbled and sighed deeply, "He was a great man," Alistair looked up at me, sadness and worry filled his blood-shot eyes, I realized he hadn't slept either, we both knew something was coming in the end. 

"I know he was, he did everything he could to save my father," I said quietly, remembering the night at Highever, I puffed out air and decided to change the subject. "Why aren't there more darkspawn down here?" I asked, looking around, the Deep Roads were rather deserted.

"They're all above ground, ravaging towns and villages." Alistair growled, tightening his jaw. 

"Mind if I intrude on your moment?" Oghren interrupted, smiled devilishly. "It's just through here." He said, motioning to a massive door.

"Through there?" I stared at the door.

"Yup," Oghren said, popping the p. I nodded slowly, Cullen, Alistair and Oghren pushed the door open revealing an enormous cavern that was bathed in a bright yellow, in the middle of the cavern the earth split, as if the maker himself ripped apart the rock, revealing thousands of marching darkspawn, growling and barking at once another but marching in huge ranks.

A sharp pain shot from my head, whispers like shadows passed through my mind, Alistair grabbed his head too, feeling the same sensation.

"There!" Wynne called out, pointing to a monstrous dragon resting on a cliff overlooking the infantry of darkspawn marching at it''s command. The dragon stood onto it's feet, unleashing a deafening roar and breathing fire into the air; the entire room seemed to heat up suddenly, the dragon jumped into the air, flying out of the cavern through a huge opening.

"Go," I whispered to the others, gesturing down a path that led away from the darkspawn and onto the stone we had seen at the beginning of our journey into this hellish place. The paths were narrow and led into houses that seemed small on the outside but twisted and turned and led out to another area of the Trenches, we fought through a small battalion of darkspawn and instead of the house leading out into the cavern it continued to delve down.