The Dalish Commander (The Daughters of Thedas Book 2)

21: Return to the Deep

Soundtrack:

Glory to the Brave ~ Sprint Music (The Deep Roads)

"Commander." The sergeant who'd informed me about the cave-in, Maverlies, approached me in the mess hall and gave me the Warden salute. "The men cleared the rubble. You'll have to see what they found for yourself."

Justice was the first to his feet. Anders and Nathaniel immediately abandoned what was left of their breakfast. Oghren realized we were leaving by the time we were halfway to the door.

Maverlies led us to where the men had been clearing out the cave-in in the cellars. Voldrik was waiting for us. "Here we are. Look at her." Below us was an entrance to the Deep Roads.

"I knew it led to the Deep Roads," Voldrik said. "I could smell it."

"It looks safe enough to climb down and find a way to stop the Darkspawn from coming back this way."

"You stay here, Maverlies," I said. "If any sneak past us, it'll be up to you to keep them from getting into the Keep."

"Yes, Commander. Good luck."

My Wardens and I stole into the Deep Roads. After fighting various Darkspawn, Wraiths, and walking corpses, we found a door that led to the main venue of the Deep Roads.

"I think it's safe to say they're coming from here," Oghren said. "This leads to the main thoroughfare of the Deep Roads and I will venture to say this goes deeper into Darkspawn territory than we would like to be."

I nodded. "If we seal off here, I'm hoping this will keep the Darkspawn from surprising us again."

"We can only try."

I turned to the others. "Anders, Justice, go back to Maverlies and bring Voldrik and his men down here. See if they can seal this."

"Yes, Commander."

~~~

Maverlies, Voldrik, and several of the Dwarf's men arrived. I noticed Anders looking a bit on the chastised side for some reason. He was avoiding looking at Justice. I wondered what the spirit had said to the Mage.

"Commander, the Ancestors favor us indeed," Voldrik said the moment he laid eyes on the door. "This is a Dwarven barrier door." I actually liked the sound of that. "Before old Kal'Hirol fell, she nearly had it complete." He examined a piece of machinery on the wall several paces away. "Only the mechanism needs work. If only they'd had a bit more time to finish, Orzammar wouldn't be all alone." I heard the sad tone to his voice. The rise of the Darkspawn cost the Dwarves the most in both lives and territory.

"Can you finish what Kal'Hirol began?" I asked.

"Won't take me long to fix up the mechanism. Poor sods were nearly done." He immediately set to work sealing off the Deep Roads entrance while I updated Maverlies. Voldrik approached us again. "This is proper Dwarven engineering. Stand back now." We watched as several doors down the tunnel slammed shut with loud clicks. The final door we were standing in front of slowly closed and with a final loud click that echoed through the tunnels, the entrance into the Deep Roads was sealed. "That should buy us a few years, a decade if we're lucky."

"That will give us time to devise a more permanent solution," Maverlies added.

We returned to the cellars and my Wardens and I left them, thanking Maverlies and Voldrik for their help in the matter.