The Blood that Binds

The Battle of Fort Drakon

The Fort was overrun with Darkspawn on every floor. In the storage room, amazingly, they found Bodhan's son standing by himself looking off into the distance. "Sandal? How did you get here? Where's Bodhan?" Solona asked as she noted the entire room full of Darkspawn corpses around him.

He turned his glassy look on her and smiled. "Enchantment?" he asked.

She patted him on the head, realizing he was safe for the time being. "No thank you. I'm all set."

Barkspawn barked and licked his cheek before following her up the stairs to the next floor. "Enchantment," Sandal said with a giggle.

Six floors and a long winding spiral staircase later, they were emerging on the roof. Soldiers who had been on the roof working the Ballistas were now pointlessly shooting tiny arrows at the raging Archdemon as it flailed it's limbs, kicking and swiping its tail all around, breathing fire every chance it got. The soldiers were all dying quickly. The Archdemon reached down and chomped a man between its jaws before shaking him like a dog with a rat and then flung him over the side of the tower. Another man was trampled under its feet as it swiped it's tail, knocking four men from their feet. Solona blew her horn, calling anyone in the vicinity to the roof. They needed more soldiers.

The horn drew the Archdemon's attention as well and it spun it's head to look directly at her. Seconds later, it was lifting it's head to draw in a breath so it could blast her with fire. "Don't move!" she shouted, throwing her hands out before her and casting a wide barrier around them. The fire hit the barrier and she dropped to her knees under the heat, sweat beading on her face. Morrigan's hand touched her shoulder and added her power to the barrier, strengthening it under the blast of fire. It was so hot that the flames burned blue as they streamed over the dome of protection. Solona gritted her teeth and then cried out under the pressure. As soon as the fire ceased, hands grabbed her and dragged her to her feet and they all scattered.

Both Darkspawn and humans were now swarming the roof for a chance at the fight. She scrambled to her feet and ran for cover behind a small lip on the edge of one of the rises in the construction. The roof itself was not a flat surface. The center where they had spilled out was surrounded by raised areas that were accessible from several points around the roof that ramped up to different levels. The Archdemon lost track of her in the chaos and she took deep inhalations to catch her breath. She dug a Lyrium potion from her belt pack as Alistair skidded to a halt after chasing down a hurlock and stabbing it in the back. He dropped down beside her and asked. "Are you all right."

She tipped the potion and grinned. "Better now." She glanced around the roof, looking over the lip they were crouched behind. The Archdemon certainly didn't discriminate as it flailed around, batting at it's own troops as well as her army. "We need to find a way to wear it down," she mumbled.

"At least it's semi-grounded," he said as it attempted to fly away only to drop back down after only getting a few feet off the ground.

Solona scanned the rooftop, looking for an advantage. Then she grabbed Alistair's arm and squeezed in excitement. "The ballistas! Can we turn them inwards?"

He reached out and grabbed her to kiss her. "You're brilliant! Yes!"

With the Archdemon distracted, they darted across the roof, climbing up to the nearest corner. A few Darkspawn stood in their way and Solona dragged her staff along the ground to raise spikes of ice into their midst. One got around the wall and ran for her with it's sword raised high, hissing and spitting. She lifted her staff to block the hurlock, but it swiped wide and sliced a gash in her arm before Alistair could thrust his sword through it's gut. "It's just a flesh wound," she hissed, dropping her arm to examine the stinging cut. They ran for the ballista and Alistair began to crank the man sized crossbow around to face the Archdemon. It seemed to take forever as Solona fended off the Darkspawn that tried to rush them. She suffered several more surface wounds as she protected him. When she heard him stop cranking, she hastily erected a wall of fire to keep the monsters at bay while she helped him heft the heavy bolt into place. When it dropped into place, she cranked the mechanism and took aim The Archdemon lifted into the air again, complaining noisily as it's slit wing refused to get it airborne, and she pulled the lever to release the five foot long arrow. It shot through the air and slammed into the dragon's scaly hide. The beast dropped to the ground, the bolt sticking from it's chest as it raged. A deafening bellow erupted from it's throat. "Again!" she said, moving to grab another bolt. As they loaded the ammo, she was forced to drop it from her hands too early so she could throw up a barrier to protect them from the inferno that rose around them. "Shit! Get closer!" she shouted as the tornado of flames wreathed around them. Alistair moved as close as he could get to her as she shielded them from the torrent. The wooden ballista charred and cracked, the thick tension rope snapped and lashed toward them, weakening her barrier as it acted as a deadly whip, the impact absorbed by her barrier. She gritted her teeth as the fire slowed, the Archdemon's magic dwindling.