When Fate Summons (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Lights

Anawyn brought up the rear as they moved deeper and deeper into the dark passages. Since she'd taken that potion, Cybele spent less time clinging to Anawyn's hand and more time forward with Granny, as if Granny's determination had infected Cybele. Anawyn felt as though she and the other girl had switched roles—now it was she who crept timidly through the passages, worrying about what lay ahead, and Cybele who looked around each corner eagerly to see what was coming.

She had lost track of time long ago. It seemed they'd been in the Deep Roads for ages. For an endless time now they'd been walking upward at a steady but gentle incline. When she'd first noticed it, Anawyn had been excited, thinking it meant they'd be out of here soon, but the upward slope went on and on until it was all she could do just to keep putting one foot in front of the other, the rhythm of her steps almost hypnotic.

Suddenly Anawyn heard some small sounds behind her. Stopping, she glanced over her shoulder, hoping the noises were reminders of the presence of the Legion of the Dead watching over her. The thought gave her heart. She peered into the dark, hoping to glimpse a dwarven figure. Nothing appeared, and slowly Anawyn began to notice a crawling sensation on her skin, like the presence of a Grey Warden but at the same time disturbing and unpleasant. Darkspawn!

She raced after the light that shone above Granny's head, hoping with every step that the darkspawn weren't right behind her, and that she wouldn't trip on something in the blackness and fall, only to be overtaken.

"Granny!" she called breathlessly. "Stop, please, Granny!"

At the speed she was going, she nearly barrelled into Cybele. "Hey, ow!" the other girl protested. "Weren't you watching where you were going?"

"Darkspawn!" Anawyn said, panting. "I can't tell ... I think they're getting closer," she said, her eyes widening as she realized the sensations in her skin were getting stronger.

Calmly, Granny turned. "Is that all?" she asked. "Can you tell how many?"

Anawyn shook her head miserably. "I think they'll catch up with us soon."

"Stand behind me, then, girls, and try not to hit me with a fireball." Granny said matter-of-factly. Her light blazed up, spreading through the passage. A deep-throated laugh suddenly came from the dark depths of the corridor, echoing around them. Anawyn trembled. She'd heard about darkspawn all her life, of course, but usually in the context of the Blight, or the unpleasantness in Amaranthine with the Architect and the Mother, where they'd been mostly defeated. She'd never expected to be fighting one herself, at least, not for a long time yet, and certainly not in the Deep Roads without any of the Grey Wardens at her side.

Abruptly the passage was filled with movement, as the darkspawn poured forward out of the blackness. Granny barked a few words and a billow of frosty air caught several of the creatures, encasing them in ice. Next to Anawyn, Cybele had her eyes closed tightly. At first, Anawyn thought it was in fear, but then she saw that the other girl was sprouting extra legs. She saw Cybele's lips moving, chanting something, and suddenly where her friend had been stood a sizeable spider. It skittered forward, spitting venom at the nearest darkspawn. Granny looked at the spider in surprise as it went past her, and her hand reached out to pull the spider back, but as a genlock fell, writhing in agony while the spider's venom ate away its face, Granny smiled, drawing her hand back and using it instead to shoot a bolt of lightning at a hurlock.

Anawyn collected herself with an effort, forming a ball of fire in her fingers. Hesitantly, she cast it forward, watching as it caught one of the shorter darkspawn—a genlock? She thought that was right—and singed it. But it wasn't strong enough to do too much damage, merely enraging the creature, who ran forward screaming at her. She saw that its weapons were sheathed, and its hands reached out to grasp her, to hold her instead of fighting her. Terror shot through Anawyn's insides. She'd listened in on enough adult conversations to know the worst thing that could happen to a woman was to be taken alive by the darkspawn, even if she'd never understood exactly why. (Usually when the adults caught her listening to those chats, she was summarily hurried out of the room by a grown-up with a very troubled face.) She took a couple of stumbling steps backward, throwing up her hands, and a burst of flame shot forward, frying the genlock to a crisp. Anawyn stared at her hands in wonder. She felt a surge of power rush through her body, and with a wild grin reminiscent of how her father often looked in battle, if someone had been there to see the resemblance, she set her feet and formed another burst of flame, catching some kind of darkspawn mage in the middle of casting a complicated spell.

As the last of the darkspawn fell, Granny looked with pride on Cybele, who was returning bit by bit to her human form. The old woman cast an inscrutable look on Anawyn—the little girl couldn't tell if Granny was pleased, angry, or disappointed with her.

As soon as Cybele had regained her full human form, Granny nodded briskly at the two girls, who stood surrounded by darkspawn corpses. "Well done," she said. "Shall we?" She moved on down the corridor, leaving the girls to follow, as if what had just happened was no more notable than sitting down for a snack.

Anawyn and Cybele stared at each other for a moment, their eyes wide, then hurried after Granny and her light.

They had walked long enough that even the excitement of the darkspawn battle had receded in the constant rhythm of step after step when Granny halted. The girls stopped, as well, in response to terse instructions to stay back.

Peering over Cybele's shoulder, Anawyn noticed that the light above Granny's head was dimmer than usual. "What's going on?"

"I can't tell. Dead end, maybe?"

Both girls squinted into the darkness, trying to see what Granny was up to.

Suddenly the light winked out. Anawyn reached out, taking Cybele's arm, straining to see in the dark.

They heard Granny chanting in a strange language. A huge wind whistled over their heads in Granny's direction, and a loud boom thundered through the Deep Roads. Light and air rushed in, the fresh scent of trees and grass, and both girls breathed in the welcome scents.

Their eyes blinked and watered in the sudden light, and Anawyn squinted at Granny, whose eyes appeared to be glittering feverishly.

"What are you waiting for?" Granny said. "We're here." She reached out, grasping Cybele's shoulder, and pulled the little girl along with her as she exited, climbing over the twisted metal of the giant doors, which had been blasted out of place by the force of the wind.

Anawyn hesitated before following, glancing behind her, reluctant to leave even the perception of assistance behind. But nothing was discernible in the blackness behind her, no sound scraping over the stones, and the fresh air was enticing. She shrugged, turning back toward the light and climbing over the wrecked doors.

She emerged onto a mountain path, and for a few moments simply stood there, feeling the sunlight and the breeze blowing strength back into her. It seemed to her as though the oppressive darkness of the Deep Roads had sapped her strength and courage, and now the light and the fresh air were feeding her, renewing her determination. She thought of Urthemiel's trust, her parents' pride, Gorim's reluctant accession to her rights as an Aeducan, and felt the weight of the responsibility on her shoulders now as an honorable duty, not an overwhelming stone chained to her feet. She almost skipped up the path behind Granny and Cybele.

In the distance, far down the mountain, Anawyn could see a human settlement. Smoke rose from the chimney of one of the largest buildings. Not the Chantry—that was the biggest one, Anawyn could tell, sitting at the top of the village, farthest up the mountain. The chimney must belong to the inn, she surmised. The rest of the village was quiet. No bustle, no one out working, no sounds of children playing. From the distance Anawyn could hear a tapping sound, like metal on rock, but that and the smoking chimney were the only signs that the village was currently occupied.

Granny and Cybele were going up the path, away from the settlement, toward what Anawyn couldn't tell. She could see what looked like a cave opening ahead, and guessed that was Granny's destination. This must be where Granny intended to complete the spell that would bind Urthemiel. In some ways, it was a relief to get here, to know it would be over soon, but in others... Anawyn shivered, hoping she would be able to handle whatever would be asked of her.

As Anawyn followed the other two up the path, behind her a shadow detached itself from the rock, and a red-headed woman in supple leathers scurried down the path toward the settlement, a look of shock and horror on her face.