The Last Warden

Epilogue

It came in fits and starts, the softness of the pillows beneath him, the echo of voices moving forward and away. There was a smell now, more than ash, a taste that brought moisture to his tongue. He could feel it now, feel it as he had never felt it before. Alistair was thirsty.

He sat with a gasp, the sudden rush setting his head to reeling. He couldn't see for the light, that blinding whiteness. But slowly, shakingly, Alistair opened his eyes.

There was a shout somewhere beside him, the sound of running footsteps. It was a long moment before he could comprehend the words.

"He's awake! The king is awake!"

That, at last, sparked memory. Alistair groaned.

There was weight not on the bed beside him, a familiar, smiling face.

"W-Wynne?"

She sniffed, her eyes growing moist.

"Are-are we dead?"

Laughing, she threw her arms around him, pulling him into a surprisingly painful hug.

"Ow. Okay, ow."

She pulled away but her eyes drifted sideways, unfocused.

"Wynne?" He cupped her cheek, turning her face to his.

"Ah." She chuckled. "You caused quite the light show."

"You... you're blind?"

"Whatever you're implying, Alistair Theirin, don't think that you can take advantage of—"

"You stupid, soddin' bastard." Oghren stood in the doorway, arms folded beneath a spreading grin.

"Oghren!"

He approached the bed with tottering steps, swallowing a belch as he stroked his beard. "Droppin' an ogre on me. I outta show you the bottom of my boot for that one."

Alistair smiled.

"Hmm. It seems It is not quite so easy to crush as I expected." Shale filled the doorway entirely, barely leaving space for Sten to squeeze through at her side.

"It seems you owe me a gem."

The golem snorted.

"Wait, you bet on my... my survival?"

Sten smirked.

"Right. Great. Why am I even surprised?"

But the room had grown silent, even Wynne turning her eyes away.

Alistair blinked. "Wait..." He swallowed hard. "Where's... where's the mabari?"

Oghren chuckled, the sound too forced, too relieved. "Oh, he's been around. Seen 'im skulking in the gardens. He's given quite a few of the guards a fright, but they've never been able to catch him."

"And... Morrigan?"

"Morrigan?" Wynne glanced up.

"She... she was there. In the end. On the roof. She... she was an eagle... I think I..."

The old mage sighed. "We found no sign of her. All of the..." She winced. "Everything has been cleared away."

"Everything." Alistair hung his head.

He felt the hand on his knee, but suddenly the image wavered, blurring.

"I am sorry. She... she did what she felt she must."

Gone. Leliana was gone and he lived. He should ask why, how that was even possible. It was supposed to take him, only him, not anyone else. Alistair found himself reaching then, past the slithering veil of the taint, reaching for something... anything...

Raising his eyes, he gasped. "They-they're gone."

"Alistair?"

Again he reached, waiting for that sense, that certainty. Nothing. There was nothing. His head whipped round, taking in every corner of the room as if expecting to find them there. Aedan, Kallian, Natia, Theron, Duran, Neria, Daylen... They had been there, hadn't they? They had been with him always, with him at the end.

"Alistair?"

Finally... at last... he understood.

"They're gone."





When Wynne at last deemed him well enough to leave
his bed, Alistair returned to the top of Fort Drakon.
There, beneath the crumbled ruins of a fallen wall, he
found a single, golden feather. He entrusted it to the
strange hound, fastening it (with some difficulty and a
great deal of cajoling) to the mabari's collar. Leaning
low, he whispered in its ear, watching as it turned and
fled the city.

A woman matching Morrigan's description was seen
from time to time, moving north through the frozen wilds.
Some reports mention a great beast, ever at her heels.

During the rebuilding of Denerim, a number of corpses
were discovered in a back alley well. Their armor and
weapons marked them as Antivan Crows, but the bodies
were never identified.

After some weeks in the king's court, Sten deemed him
'not entirely incapable' and made arrangements to return
home. The journey was delayed by a number of days,
however, when Sten took it upon himself to show Alistair
how the Qunari honor their heroes. The palace spent quite
a bit of gold making amends to local merchants and
barkeeps.

Shale accompanied Sten when he returned to Par Vollen.
She promised to crush Alistair's head when the Qunari
returned to conquer Ferelden.

Oghren was given charge of Amaranthine, overseeing the
rebuilding of the Grey Wardens at Vigil's Keep. The king
kept a close eye on him at first, warning recruits that there
were worse things one could drink than a little blood.

Wynne became a fixture at court, turning down the position
of First Enchanter to continue what she winkingly called
'the quiet life.' She seemed to adjust quickly to her blindness,
making a game of leaving candies in her belt pouches and
daring the children of the palace servants to sneak near
enough to take them.

Arl Eamon remained in Denerim, leaving Bann Teagan in
charge of Redcliff. After less than a year under his tutelage,
Alistair became suspicious of his influence and sought
advice from the only other person he knew. His frequent
trips to the prison tower did not go unnoticed and few were
surprised when he announced his engagement to Anora Mac
Tir some months later.

Yet not a morning passed that the king could not be seen
making the long journey to the top of the tower at the city's
center. There he would stand, surveying him kingdom – though
others guessed that there was more vigil there than pride. He
planted roses at the tower's base, the trellis growing taller every
year. It was said that they never withered, that one day they
would grow to reach the sky.

When Alistair's son Duncan was born he commissioned seven
figurines, leaving the carver with very specific instructions.
Ever did they rest beside the boy's head: three elves, two dwarves
and two men.