The Last Warden (PDF)

The Last Warden
bamftastik
http://storymaster.the-code-monkey.com/ (2015)
Tags: StoryMaster, FanFiction.Net

What if the Warden had died during their origin story? What if
Alistair found himself alone, facing the task of uniting Ferelden
against the Blight? How would things differ? What would
happen to the others?

The Last Warden
by

bamftastik

Produced By: http://storymaster.the-code-monkey.com
On: 6/10/2015
Retrieved For: thisseatiscold@ymail.com
Story URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5771978/

Table of Contents
1. Prologue
2. Lothering
3. Redcliff
4. Redcliff Castle
5. Ambushed
6. Lake Calenhad
7. The Circle Tower
8. The Fade
9. The Harrowing Chamber
10. To Denerim
11. The Pearl
12. Haven
13. The Ruined Temple
14. The Gauntlet

15. Return to Redcliff
16. Honnleath
17. The Wilds
18. Flemeth's Hut
19. Through the Woods
20. The Brecilian Forest
21. The Brecilian Ruins
22. The West Road
23. Orzammar
24. Dust Town
25. Into the Deeps
26. The Deep Roads
27. Return to Denerim
28. The Arl's Estate
29. Fort Drakon
30. The Alienage
31. Behind Closed Doors

32. The Landsmeet
33. To War
34. Into the City
35. The Final Battle
36. Epilogue

1. Prologue
Aedan Cousland felt the sword slip from his fingers as he fell
to his knees. Above him the man grunted, pulling his own
blade free. Beneath Aedan's arm it had slipped, striking deep
and true where the armor was weakest. And still the man was
hidden beneath his helm, a nameless, faceless servant of Arl
Howe. Vengeance… there should be… vengeance. As he
sank beside the already still figure of his father, Aedan could
only hope that Fergus was still alive to take it.
Lunging aside, Duran Aeducan narrowly escaped the ogre's
charge. But he turned quick, leaping, blade digging into the
creature's thigh. Up he forced himself, stabbing again and
again, taking it in gut and chest and throat. It fell beneath him,
sending him stumbling as it crashed to the ground. Behlen.
Even as he bent to catch his breath, the thought quickened
him. There was no escape from the Deep Roads but perhaps
he could still see justice done. He did not hear it as it slipped
behind him, its shriek piercing. Pain then, the claws taking him
cross the belly, his wondering fingers touching there, blinking
at the blood as he collapsed.
Theron Mahariel stared up at the canvas above him. Strange,
this place, the aravel not his own. How he had come to be
here, how long it had been, he could not say. But he could
remember the look on Keeper Marethari's face; the sickness

was unlike anything they had ever seen. And so he had slept.
But soon enough they would come again and he would ask
them to bear him from this place. He would tell them that he
wished to die beneath the trees.
This had been a fool's errand. Struggling onto an elbow,
Daylen Amnell stared into the mists. Where they had come
from he could not say, what may be lurking there unseen he
almost feared to. She stirred beside him, the elf, Neria
Surana. Her jaw hung slack, broken, but still she held his
gaze, slowly shaking her head. He had not even caught a
glimpse of whatever had attacked them, but Jowan had fled
quick enough. Jowan. As the mists thickened round them, he
took Surana's hand.
So. It had come to this. The tunnels had seemed unending,
Beraht's underlings swarming out of every crack, from
beneath every stone. But Natia Brosca had cut them down.
She paused now, the chamber opening bright and cool, the
dwarf at its center smirking to see her there. Still there were
so many, so many left between her and him. Again she took
up the dance, caring nothing for the weight of them against
her blades, for the sting of their blood in her eyes. But more
and more they came, always more. As the gash opened
behind her knee she stumbled, blinking up at that still-smiling
face as Beraht drove his own blade home.
Kallian Tabris let her eyes fall shut, listening to the deep and
sucking sounds of her own breath. Already it was straining,
thin and wheezing. But still she could feel their hands. She had
killed many humans this day, but Vaughan's guards… they

had been too many, too strong… And that smiling human lord
was on her now, driving deeper even as his hands closed
round her throat. Dizziness now… light breaking behind her
eyes… She could no longer feel his touch.
Alistair stood beside the waving reeds, staring out at the
darkening swamp. Something was… wrong. Loghain had
betrayed his king, left hundreds of men to die. The Grey
Wardens were dead to a man and he – he! – had been the
only one unfortunate enough to survive. And Duncan… Duncan
had remained at the king's side, just as he had been these
many months. Duncan had… Duncan had died. And yet there
was something else, something that rankled still…
"This… this isn't right."
Behind him Morrigan snorted. He had not expected… when he
and Jory and Daveth had met the woman in the woods that
day… But she had saved him, she and her mother. He, the
last Warden.
The old woman stood beside him, narrowing her eyes as she
gazed across the waters. "And what will you do now?"