The minute they got back to Vigil’s Keep, it was clear something was very wrong. Varel approached Kitranna immediately, taking her elbow and pulling her to one side.
“Warden-Commander,” Varel was quiet and grim as he took her arm. “There is someone waiting to see you.”
Kitranna frowned at his expression. “Who is it?”
Varel took a deep breath. “Seeker Lambert. He comes on behalf of the Chantry.”
Kitranna went cold. “Hang on,” she said. “I’ll see him in a minute--let me talk to the others first.” she had to clench her fists to stop them from shaking.
Varel nodded, and Kitranna returned to the group.
“Alright,” she said. “We have a problem.”
“What is it?” Sigrun asked.
“There’s a Seeker here,” she said with a heavy sigh. “A representative from the Chantry.”
“A Seeker?” Anders breathed. Nathaniel put a hand on his shoulder.
“Let me handle it,” Kitranna said. “You two--” she pointed at Velanna and Anders. “Get somewhere out of sight. You too,” she said to Justice.
“Why?” Velanna demanded. “What authority does this Seeker have?”
“Enough to be a problem,” Kitranna said. “He probably won’t like apostates running around and he definitely won’t like Justice if he sees him—look, just let me talk to him and then I’ll tell you what happened.”
Anders nodded, a grim expression on her face. Velanna looked mutinous, but Sigrun tugged her arm and they left.
Kitranna went to meet with Lambert.
“Seeker Lambert,” Kitranna said. He was an enormous man, and dressed in plate armor inscribed with the Seeker insignia.
“Warden-Commander,” Lambert inclined his head.
“Any particular reason you’re here?" she asked. “I’d heard you were in Denerim--”
“I wished to see Vigil’s Keep for myself,” he said. “Hopefully I will see these..intelligent darkspawn your reports speak of.”
“Yeah, hopefully you won’t,” Kitranna said with a grimace. “They’re pretty nasty.”
Lambert inclined his head. “As you say.” he paused. “I notice two of your Warden recruits are mages,” Lambert said.
“'S'right,” Kitranna said with a shrug. “Problem with that?”
“One is a known apostate wanted by the Chantry.”
“And now he's a Warden. I got to him first.”
“I am told that a contingent of Templars came to Amaranthine to try and retrieve him.”
Kitranna nodded. “Yeah. And that was a mistake.” she narrowed her eyes at him. “How’d you hear about that so soon?”
“The head Templar of that particular contingent informed me as soon as she left your company.”
Kitranna shrugged. “It’s a good thing you’re here,” she said. “Pretty sure those Templars were acting out of their jurisdiction.”
“How so?”
“By attacking a Warden pardoned by the Crown, that’s how.”
Lambert’s expression did not change. “The Chantry’s authority bypasses the Crown in matters of mages.”
“So why didn’t they just arrest him at Vigil’s Keep?” Kitranna demanded. “Why spring a trap when he was already conscripted by us, the Wardens?”
“Lieutenant Rylock felt that when she initially attempted to arrest him, there was too much opposition from the Wardens and the King,” he said, his voice neutral. “She felt that a quieter approach would be best.”
“But he is a Warden,” Kitranna insisted, placing her palm flat on the table. “She doesn’t have any sway over him—the Chantry doesn’t have any hold over the Wardens, unless the rules changed when I wasn’t looking.”
“This particular apostate is extremely dangerous and has escaped multiple times,” Lambert said. “Who is to say he will not turn on you?”
“Well, the fact that I haven’t tried to attack him yet is a pretty good indicator,” she said, grinding her teeth. “Listen, you can’t have come all the way up here to talk about my choice of recruits.” she leaned forward. “Why are you really here?”
“The Chantry has many concerns about the overreach of the Wardens,” he said. “You in particular.”
“...and this is your problem...how?”
“A mage who openly threatens and intimidates Templars into abandoning a dangerous apostate? Anyone would have concerns about that.”
Kitranna quirked an eyebrow. “I killed an Archdemon. Anyone would be intimidated by me. If they weren't, I'd be worried.”
“King Alistair granted you a noble title, despite that being quite plainly illegal by the laws of the Chantry,” Lambert added.
“I never asked him to do that,” Kitranna snapped. “And he revoked it when you stepped on his toes. I don’t see the problem.”
“Really? You do not see the precedent that it sets?” Lambert leaned forward. “I have spent a great deal of time in Tevinter, Commander. I know what happens when mages gain power.”
Kitranna raised an eyebrow. “Alright, Lambert, you wanna compare me—an elf—to a Tevinter magister?”
Lambert waved a hand. “It does not matter your race. What matters is your behavior. You are an...imflammatory individual, pushing laws, influencing powerful people...I have seen this pattern repeated before, and it will never end well.”
Kitranna leaned forward. “So, what do you want from me?” she hissed. “Want me to go back to the Circle? That won’t happen. It won’t ever happen.”
Lambert looked at her. “In that case, I believe we have nothing more to discuss,” he said, his tone icy. “Your choice is your own, of course.” he stood up. “And the consequences of that decision are yours as well.”
Kitranna sneered at him. She waved a hand. “I’m sure,’ she stood up as well. “Now if you don’t mind, I have darkspawn to deal with. You know, an actual problem.”
“Of course, Commander.”
He left the room, leaving Kitranna alone. Kitranna sat back down in her chair, her hands shaking.
This was not going to be good.
Sigrun and Velanna wandered the Keep, trying to remain inconspicuous.
“I hope everything goes alright with that Seeker,” Sigrun said. She shifted from foot to foot, anxious.
“There is little to be gained by speaking to him,” Velanna said. “Surana should simply throw him out.”
“I don’t think that’d be a great idea,” Sigrun said. They continued on, and Sigrun knocked into a redheaded dwarrowdam by accident.
“Oh, sorry, I--” the redhead stopped. “Why, you—lying, backstabbing duster!”
“I beg your pardon?” Velanna said in a dangerous voice, putting a protective hand on Sigrun's shoulder. “It was you who ran into her, you obnoxious--”
“That's not what she's mad about, ibine,” Sigrun told Velanna quietly.
“Name's Mischa,” the redhead told Velanna. “And your friend here ruined me,” she glowered at Sigrun.
“Well, I hardly care about what one obnoxious durghen'lan thinks,” Velanna said with a huff. “I am sure you deserved it.”
“Velanna!” Sigrun hissed.
“Maybe you should learn some manners before you start insulting Gray Wardens!” Velanna continued, jabbing Mischa in the chest.
“Velanna!” Sigrun grabbed Velanna's arm and dragged her away, ignoring Mischa's outraged words.
“The nerve of that felasil!” Velanna exclaimed. “Who does she think she is--”
“Velanna, please, can you stop before she tells the Commander?” Sigrun snapped.
“And what would she tell the Commander?” Velanna demanded. “That she accosted you in the street?”
“And that you screamed at her!”
Velanna snorted. “I think the Commander has more to worry about than her,” she sneered.
Sigrun sighed. “Look—I—I know her,” she said.
“So?”
“And...well..” Sigrun rubbed the back of her head. “She hired me for an odd job or two.”
“So?”
“Velanna...” Sigrun pinched the bridge of her nose. “Look, I...stole some things for her, for Beraht--”
“Who is Beraht?”
“Crime boss. If you wanted a job, you had to go through him.”
“And he wanted you to steal from that woman?”
“Yeah.”
Velanna frowned. “Why did you not stand up to him?”
“Stand up to him?” Sigrun laughed. “Velanna—he would have killed me!”
“In that case, you should have killed him first,” Velanna said.
“Velanna…” Sigrun sighed. “You don’t understand. I was just a—a rotten, thieving, duster,” Sigrun said. She wiped angrily at her eyes.
“You were no such thing,” Velanna snapped. “It's not your fault what your people made you do.” she sniffed. “Now I will not hear any more of this. That woman is a fool and that is that.”
Sigrun laughed. “How are you so sure of everything?”
“I am sure of things that are clear.”
“Oh, you always know how to make me feel better,” Sigrun patted her shoulder.
Kitranna got them all together as soon as Lambert left the Keep. She sat behind her desk, feeling exhausted.
Kitranna sighed. “Lambert’s headed out,” she said.
“And?” Anders said. “What happened?”
“Nothing good,” Kitranna shook her head.
Anders folded his arms. “And what exactly does that mean?”
Kitranna gritted her teeth. “I’m not sure,” she said at length. “It could be an empty threat. Or…”
“Or what?’
“Or, the Wardens might have to deal with a lot of Templars soon.”
“Oh, Maker,” Anders pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Dammit, dammit—was there nothing you could have done?”
“Short of telling him I’d go back to the Circle and take you with me when the darkspawn were done, no, nothing.”
Anders began to pace.
“What do we do now?” Nathaniel ask.
“Prepare for an attack, I guess,” Kitranna said with a shrug.
"You think the chantry would attack us?" Nathaniel asked, shocked.
"Them, the darkspawn--whatever. The point is, we need to try and deal with it."
The Wardens all glanced at each other, but no one disagreed.
Kitranna spent the next several days fortifying Vigil’s Keep against a possible attack. The darkspawn might come back, and there was an increasing anxiety in the back of her mind of Templars coming.
Lambert was long gone, of course, but they hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms. She hadn’t even given him her reports.
Then Varel came to see her with another problem.
“Commander…”
“What is it now?” Kitranna demanded.
“The local lords have gathered,” Varel said. “The darkspawn are fielding their forces--they want to know how you’ll protect them.”
“Delay them,” Kitranna snapped. “We don’t know enough yet to make a decision--”
“They will not be delayed, Commander.”
“Fine,” she waved a hand. “Bring the ungrateful bastards here.”
“I highly advise that you not call them that to their faces, Commander,” he said.
The nobles were gathered, all very angry and worried. Before any of them could speak, Kitranna stepped up.
“Tell me what the problem is,” she snapped over the rumble of the crowd. “And I’ll deal with it.”
“Commander, there’s a darkspawn army right on our doorstep,” one noble said.
Kitranna snorted. “Army, right, whatever. Go on.”
“How do you plan to protect our holdings from them?” Another noble asked.
“The same way I do everything,” Kitranna snarled. “Any real questions?”
Varel pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Take this seriously,” one of the other nobles exclaimed, but was cut off.
“Commander!” a messenger came running through the crowd. “Commander!”
“What is it?” Kitranna said.
“There’s a darkspawn army within sight of Amaranthine!”
The crowd began to murmur to itself, and someone let out a shocked cry.
“Void take them all,” Kitranna muttered.
“Our forces can’t move quickly enough,” Varel said. “But a smaller band might make it in time.”
“That’s—suicide!” another noble exclaimed.
“It wouldn’t be suicide if you people had gotten your act together before this,” Kitranna snarled. “I’m sick of this. I’m dealing with it—I’ll fix your Maker-damned problems for you, like I’ve done every single time--” she stomped forward. “You’d think your soldiers wouldn’t know the proper end of a blade,” she snapped.
“Commander…” Varel said, eyes flicking to the increasingly hostile nobility.
“Out of my way,” Kitranna snapped, pushing through the crowd. “I have darkspawn to deal with.” she turned back to the crowd. “You all, defend your lands and your people.”
She left, leaving Varel to deal with the irate nobility.
She met up with the other Wardens.
“We have to go to Amaranthine,” Kitranna said. “Before the darkspawn get there.”
Sigrun shook her head. “I can’t believe they’d move so fast,” she said. “They usually never come up to the Surface when it’s not a Blight.”
“It must have something to do with that man from the mines,” Anders postulated. “He didn’t look like a regular darkspawn…”
“These darkspawn are more intelligent than the usual ones,” Nathaniel reminded them. “Perhaps they simply learned a better strategy than ‘infest the Deep Roads.’”
“Whatever it is, we need to go and deal with them before they reach Amaranthine,” Kitranna said.
They packed up and headed out, quicker than they normally would have. Kitranna brought Sigrun, Anders and Velanna with her, leaving the others to defend Vigil’s Keep. A smaller group would travel faster, and having Justice, Oghren and Nathaniel at the Keep would help if the darkspawn were to attack it.
On their way to Amaranthine they came across a group of Dalish, accompanied by no halla and no aravels, indicating they were probably hunters.
“Ander’an atish’an, travelers,” the leader of the group approached them, his hands open. “Do not be startled—we only wish to be on our way.”
“Marren…” Velanna breathed.
“Velanna,” Marren’s mouth curled. “Isn’t this a surprise. You’re traveling with--”
“Gray Wardens,” Kitranna said. “I’m Commander Surana. You’re with Clan Limdurlahn?”
Marren raised his eyebrows. “Commander?” he looked at Velanna. “Why are you with the Warden Commander?”
“There a problem?” Kitranna asked.
“Velanna was exiled,” Marren said. “I am surprised she was able to join your group.”
“Anyone can join the Wardens, if they survive,” Kitranna pointed out. She narrowed her eyes. “Exiled? Ambassador Andoriel told me that Velanna and her friends had more of a difference of opinion than full on exile--”
“The ambassador did not need to know the details of our conflict,” Marren said. “Ilshae merely wanted the Wardens to be aware of it.”
Kitranna raised her eyebrows.
“Marren, stop,” Velanna said. “I do not wish to speak of this. We have other things to be concerned about. My friends are dead, and Seranni is gone, taken by darkspawn.”
“Ilshae warned her not to go with you,” Marren said.
“Then tell Ilshae that she was right!” Velanna snapped. Sigrun put a hand on Velanna’s shoulder and glared at Marren.
“One of your people gets taken by darkspawn, and you just want to rub it in Velanna’s face?” Sigrun snapped. “What’s the matter with you?”
Marren stared at Sigrun, shocked. Kitranna picked at her fingernails. “He probably doesn’t know what happens if you get taken by darkspawn,” she said with a shrug. “Anyway, listen,” she told Marren. “Is your Clan with Clan Leanvunlas? You might be able to help us--”
Marren sighed. “Our Clan fought with Leanvunlas and the others in the Blight, yes,” he said. “That has no bearing on what we are doing now.” he took a breath. “Ilshae has passed on. Her First—the new Keeper—does not wish for us to remain allied with the others.”
“Passed on?” Velanna breathed.
“Yes,” Marren snapped. “Not that it would matter to you—the Clan is better off without your poison.”
“Hey!” Sigrun snapped, stepping in front of Velanna. “What’s your problem? Is there some rule your Clan has about not being nice to people or something?”
Velanna put a hand on Sigrun’s shoulder. “Do not make a fuss over me,” she told her. “We should be on our way.”
“But he--”
“Leave it,” Velanna glared at Marren. “He is not worth your time.” she drew herself up and tilted her head with disdain, putting her arm around Sigrun’s shoulder. Sigrun put her arm around Velanna’s waist and pulled her close in a protective way.
Marren narrowed his eyes, blinking curiously, but didn’t press.
When they came upon Amaranthine, it was already beset with darkspawn. They fought their way to the gates of the city, the darkspawn numbering greatly, almost as many as there had been in Denerim, and far more than had been in the Deep Roads.
The captain of the local guard came to greet them.
“Warden-Commander, I am glad you arrived when you did, but there is little to be done now,” he said.
Kitranna scowled. “What happened?” she demanded.
The captain shook his head. “A couple of nights ago, a swarm of gruesome creatures emerged from beneath the city,” he explained. “They spread pestilence and destroyed everything they touched. Then, at dawn, the other darkspawn came.”
“They will have gutted the city by now,” Velanna said, looking upon Amaranthine.
“No,” Sigrun said. “We can still do something!”
“Warden-Commander, it’s too late,” the captain said. “Amaranthine is lost.”
“Yes, well, maybe you think that,” Kitranna said. “But I definitely don’t. Get a hold of yourself. There has to be something we can do.”
“After so long, there will be few survivors,” the captain said. “And the corruption is so virulent—worse than ordinary Taint. A quarter of the city succumbed to it in a day.”
“Captain,” one of the other soldiers pointed over the captain's shoulder. “A darkspawn approaches—alone!”
The archers drew their bows on the darkspawn as it shambled up the road. Strangely, it had its hands out, as if in a gesture of peace.
“Peace!” the darkspawn spat. “Do not be killing! Only talk! The Architect has a message for Gray Wardens!”
Kitranna’s lip curled. “And what’s that?” she demanded, tapping her forefinger on her blade.
“The Mother’s army, it marches to Vigil’s Keep. The Architect, he sent me to warn you!”
“And the Architect is…?
“You have been meeting him before! In the mines!”
“That big man,” Sigrun said. “That must’ve been him.”
“So I suppose the Mother is the leader of the opposition,” Velanna said.
“You must defend Vigil’s Keep, then slay the Mother in her den!” the darkspawn insisted.
“And….why would I do any of what you said?” Kitranna asked.
“The Gray Wardens are valuable to the Architect,” the darkspawn explained. “The Mother, she knows this.”
“If we leave now, we may be able to return in time to save Vigil’s Keep,” one of the soldiers said.
“What about the darkspawn here?” the captain said.
“Soon, they will go to Vigil’s Keep as well,” the darkspawn said. “The Mother, she wants it destroyed utterly!”
Kitranna narrowed her eyes.
“Why should I believe a word you say?” she asked.
“There is no reason for lying!”
“The darkspawn has a point,” the soldier said with a bitter twist to his lips. “We cannot defend the city with another army hot on our heels. The captain says the city is lost. I say we burn it, and all the darkspawn trapped within.”
“I--” Kitranna looked from Amaranthine, then the direction of Vigil's Keep and back again. “I--”
Amaranthine had done no wrong, it did not deserve to be attacked.
But if Vigil’s Keep was stormed and taken, there would be no place to be protected by the Chantry. Nathaniel, Justice and Oghren were there, and it had better defenses, but all she could think of was the first attack, when the other Wardens had all been killed.
They could not defend themselves without her, and she could not defend herself without her fortress.
She gritted her teeth and with one last look at Amaranthine, she said “We have to go back to Vigil’s Keep.”
“Commander!” Sigrun exclaimed. “We can’t—we can’t just leave them--”
Kitranna turned her back on the city. “I can save one place,” she snapped. “Just one.”
“There must be another way--” Anders said. “You can’t be considering this!”
“Do you have any suggestions?” Kitranna demanded. “I’d love to hear them!”
Everyone was silent.
“Nothing?” she looked around at her companions, a tinge of desperation to her words. “No one?”
“Destroying the city is the only real option,” Velanna said. “I stand with the Commander in this.”
“This is wrong,” Anders insisted. “If there’s even one innocent person there--”
“I’m not hearing any other solutions from you,” Kitranna snarled. “The city’s already been taken—would you let Vigil’s Keep be overrun too?”
Anders and Sigrun exchanged a look.
“You--” Sigrun was at a loss for words, and looked longingly up at the city. “There really isn’t another way, is there?”
“I don’t see one,” Kitranna said.
“Then Amaranthine will burn,” the captain said. “Maker forgive us for what we are about to do.”
Kitranna scowled.
Amaranthine burned behind them, and they made their way as fast as they could to Vigil’s Keep. The darkspawn were virulent, surging upward from hidden entrances in the Deep Roads, trying to prevent them from getting back to the Keep.
Some darkspawn fought the others, presumably agents of the Architect, but it still took them much longer than they would have liked to get back to Vigil’s Keep.
At the Keep, the walls showed the distinct sighs of fighting. Kitranna cursed and stormed her way in, the others following at her heels.
“Commander!” Varel met her at the gates. “You returned!”
“Yeah,” Kitranna said. “What’s been happening?’
“A few days after you left, we spotted darkspawn heading our way, a whole army,” he explained. “The walls have been bloodied, but the worst is yet to come.”
Kitranna gritted her teeth. “Then we better stop it—Amaranthine already burned, we don’t need more problems.”
“Amaranthine? Burned?”
“The city was already under attack,” Kitranna said. “We couldn’t save both places.”
Varel shook his head. “I--I--”
“We have to get people at the walls,” she snapped. “We need to defend as much as possible. Do we have someone watching those damned tunnels?”
“Aye, commander,” one of the dwarven representatives said. “They are sealed as best they can be.”
“Good,” Kitranna said. She gestured to the other wardens. “Come on, we can’t waste any time.”
There was a tremendous crash, and a cry arose form the archers on the walls. Kitranna swore a blue streak and dashed back down the steps, to the main gate, the other Wardens following her. The darkspawn had broken through, and they needed to fight them back.
Flaming stones were catapaulted over the walls, one smashing into the roof of the Keep proper, the others landing inside the walls.
Darkspawn swarmed through the main gate, despite the attempts to keep them back. After the darkspawn came ogres, two of them, and one of them landed a hit on Varel and knocked him back.
“Varel!” Kitranna cried, seeing him go down.
More ogres charged through the gate, and Kitranna shrieked in rage. She hurled spell after spell, accompanied by the other soldiers fighting as hard as any demon.
At long last, they pushed the darkspawn back, and the walls were clear.
As soon as the darkspawn left, she went to Varel’s side. He was horribly wounded, but would be fine. A scout came to Kitranna.
“We know where the darkspawn came from,” she said. “Their retreat left a trail even the greenest of recruits could follow.”
“I’ll follow it, then,” Kitranna growled. “I’ll follow it and kill them.”
“Commander--”
“Surana, you can’t,” Anders protested. “Not—you’re still wounded, for the love of the Maker!”
“I don’t care,” Kitranna snarled. “The longer we wait, the more time they have to build their army back up. We need to go, now.”
“What if this is a trap?” Nathaniel said. “Like the mines?”
Kitranna shook her head. “Doesn’t matter,” she hissed. “We’re going.”
“The Commander has the right of it,” one of the soldiers said. “The more we wait, the more Broodmothers can spawn more evil.”
“This is too obvious, even for them,” Sigrun said. “What if--”
Kitranna stalked away, ignoring her companions. She had hardly cleaned the blood off her face before she and the other Wardens were following the trial of the darkspawn. The trail was dark and very clear, as the messenger had said, a long path of bile and dead plants and animals.
The trail lead into a ruin filled with dragon bones and Children, deep and smelling of sulfur and magic.
“Why are there so many dragons here?” Sigrun murmured, reaching out and prodding one of the enormous bones sticking out of the earth.
“They call it the Dragonbone Wastes,” Nathaniel said quietly. “The stories say that dragons come here to die.”
“But why?”
Nathaniel shrugged. “That, I could not tell you.”
“We walk on Tevinter ruins,” Velanna said, pointing at one of the ancient stone structures that dotted the area. “Perhaps they worshiped the dragons, and drew them here on purpose.”
They went down deeper into the ruins, where the bones of dragons stopped and the ruins of temples and buildings became more frequent.
It was here that they found Seranni.
“I’m glad to see that you are well, sister,”
Seranni came striding out of the darkness.
“Seranni?” Velanna gasped. “Oh, thank Mythal that you are well!” she rushed over and pulled Seranni into an embrace. “What did the darkspawn do to you? Why are you with them?”
“The Architect is kind to me,” Seranni explained. “He has told me his plan. “The darkspawn are just like us.”
“Surana…” Anders muttered, putting a hand on Kitranna’s shoulder. Kitranna glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, and Anders stepped forward.
“The Architect has freed them, and they are searching for a place in the world, just like the Dalish!” Seranni said.
“Velanna, look at her eyes,” Anders said, taking one of Velanna’s wrists and tugging her back.
“What is the matter with you? Velanna snapped, yanking out of Anders’ hold.
“She’s Tainted,” Sigrun murmured. “Velanna, look--”
Seranni’s eyes were glassy and pale, and under her skin ran tiny black veins. Velanna stepped back. She shook her head.
“What did they do to you?” she asked.
“Everything the Architect has done, he’s done for his people,” Seranni said. “You can respect that, can’t you?” she was almost pleading.
“Seranni--they killed our friends, and so many others!” Velanna exclaimed. “Don’t you remember?”
“I do,” Seranni said. “And this is why I must help them. They come into this world with no understanding of what is just and fair, like children.”
“That isn’t your duty,” Kitranna said. “Especially not when they’ve pretty clearly given you the Taint.”
“They have poisoned you,” Velanna grabbed Seranni’s wrist.
“They have a bestial nature,” Seranni insisted. “But they can overcome it! They just need to be shown how!’
“Then come with us,” Velanna begged. “Come back, and tell people, so they might know what you have learned!”
“No,” Seranni tugged out of Velanna’s hold. “No, I have work to do.”
Kitranna shook her head. “She’s half-crazy with Blight,” she said.
“No, she isn’t!” Velanna snapped.
Kitranna waved her sword in Seranni’s direction. “Are you listening to this? They poisoned her, and now they’re trying to get her to do what they want.”
Seranni shook her head and stepped back. “The Architect is waiting for me, and for you. He will explain everything. You will see as I have seen.”
She moved away, back into the shadows.
“No—Seranni, don’t go!” Velanna cried, but Seranni was already gone. Sigrun came up to Velanna.
“I’m sorry, ibine,” Sigrun murmured. “We’ll get her back. We have to.”
“Of course we do!” Velanna exclaimed.
Further into the ruins, there was a massive spiral staircase. There was nowhere else to go, so they went down the steps, down and down and down. There seemed to be no end to them, and everything became darker the further they went. They could sense darkspawn, the feeling of the Taint crawling up around them.
After a certain depth, bloody gray meat began to grow on the rock walls, smelling like poison and Taint and something none of them could identify. Darkspawn accosted them as they went down further, trying to knock them down the steps.
At the bottom of the steps were more darkspawn. They killed them and realized that set into the floor was a faded, ancient carving that Velanna identified as Tevinter spell. They had no way to activate or deactivate the spell, so they just continued on.
There was another staircase, leading even further down into the darkness.
“Why would the Tevinters build all of these?” Justice murmured, looking around. “What is the point?”
“No idea,” Kitranna said.
The Architect made himself know when they were in the depths of the ruins. All was dark, save for some ancient crystals and fires burning sluggishly, making the ruins alive with a reddish half-light. He came to them, stepping out onto a balcony over their heads.
The man they had seen in the mines towered over them. Now that he was up close, he seemed even taller than before. His features were oddly stretched, his limbs and neck elongated and too long to look quite right.
By his side was the dwarven woman they had seen in the mines.
“And so we meet again.” his voice was soft, with a peculiar accent that was impossible to place.
The dwarf took her sword and shield off her back, but the Architect put out a long, clawed hand to stop her. “No, Utha,” he admonished. “That is not how this must begin.”
“Why not?” Kitranna demanded. “You pretty quick to attack us last time.”
The Architect stepped off of the balcony he was on, and floated down to their level, as light as a feather and easy as anything. They all moved back when he landed soundlessly on the ground.
“I owe you an apology,” the Architect said, sounding genuinely contrite. “When last we met, I attempted to explain, but fate intervened.”
“We escaped your infernal prison, you mean,” Velanna snapped.
“I restrained you only to prevent the misunderstanding that occurred with the rest of your Order,” the Architect informed them. Utha had gone the long way, down the steps, and now she came to stand behind the Architect.
“Misunderstanding?” Velanna and Sigrun looked at each other, and the other members of the group all looked mutinous. “Did you not attack them?” Velanna asked.
“I sent the Withered to ask for the Gray Wardens’ help,” the Architect explained. “I should have anticipated that you might view our approach as an attack.”
“Alright, you’re lying,” Kitranna snapped, pointing her sword at the Architect. “When I got there, all the Wardens were dead, and so were about half of the soldiers. There is no way they would have been killed if you’d just sent a messenger.”
“That’s right,” Oghren said. “Tons of those darkspawn just poured out of the tunnels. It wasn’t just one messenger.”
The Architect tilted his head to the side. “Others accompanied the Withered, of course,” he said. “And if they came through the tunnels, they were less likely to have been struck down by arrows.”
“Yeah, if you want diplomacy, sending a bunch of armed darkspawn right under someone’s fortress isn’t the best way to go about doing that,” Anders said.
“Ah,” the Architect’s brow furrowed. “I am rarely able to predict how your kind will react.”
Kitranna shook her head. “Whatever,” she snapped, turning her blade over and over in her hand. “I’m sick of listening to this.” she raised her blade, but the Architect put out a hand to stop her.
“I only ask that you hear me out,” he said. “Should you wish to slay me afterward, you may try.”
“Oh, I’m going to try either way,” she assured him, approaching him with blade in hand.
“Stop,” he held out a hand, and suddenly she and her companions were frozen. “Listen to me. My kind has ever been driven to seek out the Old Gods. This is our nature. When we find one, a Blight rises. Each time, we attack your lands, and you fight back until we are defeated.”
“You’re wrong,” Sigrun snarled. “You attack my people even when there’s no Blight.”
“There is room enough in the Deep Roads for all. It is your people who attack mine.”
“How do you justify Broodmothers?” Sigrun demanded. “You need us to make more of you!”
The Architect frowned, the expression pulling at his face. “We can break the cycle of Blights,” he insisted. “But we need Gray Warden blood.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Kitranna gritted, fighting the architect’s spell with Arcane Warrior strength. “Our blood is Tainted, just like yours.”
“To become what you are, to transform, you drink the blood of my kind,” the Architect said. “So too must we transform.”
“In that case, shouldn’t you want untainted blood?” Nathaniel demanded.
One of Kitranna’s arms burst free of the spell, and the rest of her soon followed. She hurled a paralyzing glyph at the Architect and advanced upon him and Utha, blade in hand. She shook her head.
“None of what you’re saying makes sense,” she growled.
“But, what if he is right?” Velanna burst out. “What if it stops the Blight?”
“It doesn’t matter, because he’s wrong,” Kitranna snarled. The others began to break free of their own bindings. “Lying or wrong.”
Sigrun took her warhammer in hand. “And stopping the Blights wouldn’t stop the darkspawn attacking my people,” she said.
“I suppose it wouldn’t,” Velanna said, and she slammed her staff upon the ground. “You are correct, Commander. This does not make sense.”
The Architect snapped out of the glyph, and with a sigh, he moved back, lifting his feet off the float and returning to the balcony where they had first seen him.
“A shame,” he murmured to himself. “The Mother wishes to stop me, and to stop you as well. It was she who sent her messenger to Amaranthine, not I.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we’re going to kill everything we see down here,” Kitranna snarled, and hurled a fireball at the Architect.
The Architect dodged it, and retreated.
“Get back here!” Kitranna exclaimed.
“You’re wrong,” Utha was still there, though she had retreated up the stairs. “He is right.”
“Oh yeah? How’s that?” Kitranna hummed. “Oh, wait--I don’t care.”
Utha snarled and turned and darted up the steps, to vanish into the shadows again.
“Come on,” Kitranna said. “Let’s find this Mother thing.”
The Mother’s nest could be found down a series of twisted and stinking passages, the feel of darkspawn so strong that it drowned out almost everything else.
The Mother was enormous, even for a Broodmother. She had a strangely human head and torso, and even wet, dark hair that reached her shoulders. Blood trickled from her eyes and the corners of her mouth. She raised her head when she saw them.
“Now the pieces fall into place,” she said, her voice wet and thick like something clogged her throat. “The Gray Warden comes, instrument of the Father.”
"I’m no one’s instrument,” Kitranna snarled.
“I have told you many times, ‘Mother,’” the Architect appeared behind them, flanked by Utha. “I am not the Father. I am merely the Architect.”
“The fuck--” Kitranna snarled, turning on the Architect.
“Peace,” the Architect told her. “Our enemies are one and the same.”
“That does not change what you are!” the Mother burst out, raising her bloody hands. “You took away that beautiful music—left us with nothing!”
“It was a mistake to free you,” the Architect said, sadness evident in his voice. “I have only left you with madness. For that I am sorry.”
“Look, that's enough talking,” Kitranna snapped. “Everyone? Get the darkspawn.”
The Architect attempted to speak again, but the battle was immediately joined. They focused their efforts on the Mother, instead of the Architect.
The Mother roared, her mouth unfolding in a wet red swell, human teeth caught in a gaping maw.
Kitranna gasped in revulsion, charged forward with her sword. It was a long fight, but at long last, the Mother collapsed, slumping forward, clearly dead.
“Alright,” Kitranna hissed. “Now you,” she advanced on the Architect, who merely shook his head and burst into a cloud of sparks, taking Utha with him.
“Dammit,” Kitranna cursed.
“Where did he go?” Velanna demanded. “How are we going to find Seranni now?”
“First, we need to get out of here,” Kitranna said.
Kitranna and the others crawled out of the mine, grateful to see sunlight again. They returned back to Vigil's keep, bloody and injured, but alive and victorious. Then they set about repairing the damage that had been done.