When I Look at You (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Archdemon

"Will do," she said, with more energy and bravado than she really possessed. Alistair had taken the lead now, and she had to hurry to keep up with him. There was an energy in him that she had never seen before, and she was in awe of him; he was a true king now, at the forefront of his people. Leading with intelligence and confidence and experience. This was what Cailan could have been, given time and support.

They made it to the roof at last. They could hear the Archdemon screaming through the heavy doors, and they stopped and looked at one another.

"So it comes," Morrigan said. "I will be both pleased and ..." She searched for the right word, finally settling on, "wistful when this is all past and behind us."

Leliana looked surprised at Morrigan's sentiment, but she nodded, as well, agreeing. "Wistful, indeed. And more."

Alistair reached for Una's hand. There were no words that hadn't already been said, so they squeezed each other's hand and expressed all their hopes and their longings and their love in one final glance before Alistair withdrew his hand and turned to the doors, throwing them open in one powerful movement.

A blast of corruption struck the stones directly in front of his feet as the dragon roared its defiance. It was injured; crippled—but it was by no means defeated, or defenseless. Leliana nocked an arrow, Morrigan drew her staff, and Alistair and Una looked at each other and nodded. Their friends would cover them, but the task was theirs to do. It was what the Joining was meant for; what Duncan had recruited them for; what Cailan had kept them off the main battlefield at Ostagar to accomplish; what the armies they had gathered trusted them to do; what their people needed.

Together they turned toward the dragon. Una could feel Morrigan's magic in the air; Leliana's arrows sped past her shoulder. Most of them bounced off the dragon, but a few found more vulnerable targets and stuck. The magic was having slightly better luck; Morrigan appeared to be focusing on the wings, making certain the dragon couldn't take to the skies, ever again.

Alistair dropped his shield. It wouldn't be much use against the dragon and would only slow him down. Together, they attacked. Una focused her blows at the legs, trying to use the giant hammer to injure the dragon's knees and tendons. The legs were an important part of its weaponry; if she could cripple those, they would be that much closer to being able to kill it.

Of course, the dragon was hardly standing still and waiting to be killed. Blasts of corrupted fluid issued forth from its mouth, and its great teeth and claws snapped and slashed wherever they could. The tail and legs were capable of sending a strong man flying.

But they were not alone; from behind them, more magic flew as the mages from the Circle joined Morrigan and Leliana. A glance over her shoulder told Una that her friends were keeping the mages back, hoping to avoid losing any of them to the taint.

After all the fighting they had done these past months—the werewolves in the Brecilian Forest, the walking dead at Redcliffe, the abominations in the Circle Tower, the endless waves of enemies in the Deep Roads—one dragon, Archdemon though it might be, hardly seemed to be enough to end it all. With the armies at the base of the fort keeping back the darkspawn horde and the mages in support behind them, Una and Alistair took out all the frustrations and anger of the last months on the Archdemon, pounding and slashing at it mercilessly, ducking blows of tooth and claw and tail, as well as the occasional misplaced spell.

At last, the dragon seemed to be flagging, its head drooping toward the stones of the rooftop. Una hefted her hammer, ready to bring it down on the Archdemon's head, to smash in its brains once and for all, but a gauntleted hand caught the weapon's shaft before it could descend.

"No," Alistair said. "I will not let you risk this."

"You're the King. I have a duty—"

Alistair interrupted her, speaking rapidly and intensely. "I have a duty as well. I am the senior Grey Warden of Ferelden; I am your husband; if there is the faintest possibility that I might be the father of your child right now ..." He shook his head. "And I am the King of Ferelden, however improbable that is, and I will not have my subjects think there is a single thing I would not dare for their sake."

Tears filled Una's eyes as she stepped back. The mages had ceased their work at the doors of the tower as the dragon lay panting at the feet of the Grey Wardens. Everything seemed to still and come to a halt as Alistair lifted her hand, kissing the blood-spattered fingers of her gauntlet. "I love you, you know that."

She nodded. "I love you, too."

He let go of her hand, lifting his sword. Una stepped back further, and, putting all his weight behind the blow, Alistair rammed the sword through the Archdemon's skull into its brain.

A massive column of white light exploded from the Archdemon's head, shooting into the air. Alistair held on to the sword, crying out as he did so. Una wanted to go to him, but something held her back, kept her out of that column of light.

And then it was gone. The Archdemon lay dead on the roof, and Alistair lay beside it, his eyes closed. Una couldn't see if his chest was moving. Calling his name, she fell to her knees next to him.

She took his hand and stripped the gauntlet from it, bringing it to her lips. It was still warm. She took off her own gauntlets and felt his wrist with her fingertips, nearly weeping with joy when she felt the telltale pulse of his heart beneath the skin. "Thank you, thank you," she whispered. Possibly she should have meant the Maker, but the faces in her mind, beaming with shared joy, were those of her parents.

Leliana came to her, putting a gentle hand on Una's shoulder, kneeling next to her. "Morrigan said you would know everything you needed to know. And that you are most welcome."

"He lives," Una said. "He's alive."

"She said that, too."

With a great sigh, Una got to her feet. "Keep everyone back. The blood is still tainted; I don't want to take any chances. I need buckets, both empty and full of water, and once I get him cleaned up, I'll need someone to carry Alistair to where he can recover safely. And Wynne should look him over as soon as possible."

"As you say." Leliana gave her a quick smile before turning.

Left alone on the rooftop, Una surveyed the city spread around her. It had suffered a blow, but it would recover. She and Alistair would see to that.

At her feet, he stirred, putting a hand to his head and groaning. She stooped, laying her hand over his, and his eyes opened. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Is this the Fade?"

"Not unless the whole city went there at once." She smiled.

"So ... it's over?"

Una shook her head. "No, my darling. It's just beginning. We have our whole lives ahead of us; together."

Alistair smiled, too, squeezing her hand. Then his eyes closed again and he rested his head against her shoulder, sighing as he slipped into sleep.

From far below, Una could dimly hear the cheers of the armies. The Blight was over.