He told the Wardens that he would go with them, of course. There was no turning back now, any more than there had been after slaying the dragon. They were past the point of no return. Whether or not he believed in the witch’s warning, he was committed to this path.
So they descended. Fiona led the way with her staff shining brilliantly in the greenish shadows, and they moved as swiftly as they could. The looks on the Wardens’ faces told him everything he needed to know: The darkspawn had returned. Even he could hear the faint sounds of their approach, the distant droning hum getting louder by the minute.
“How long do we have?” he asked Kell.
The hunter stared intently off into the shadows, his pale eyes glinting dangerously. He unslung his bow from his shoulders and drew an arrow. Hafter growled angrily at his feet, hackles raised. Duncan drew his silverite daggers, grimacing as he, too, watched for an unseen enemy.
“It won’t be long now,” the lad murmured to him.
“So quickly? Where did they all come from?”
“I don’t know. They’re ahead and behind us.”
“Is there a way to get around them?”
Duncan said nothing. Instead the group began to run. Fiona raised her staff and cast a spell of protection, a blue glow settling over each of them. Their urgent pace quickened as they reached an intersection of passages. Three directions availed themselves, each of them leading into more shadows and greenish haze.
Kell waved to them to stop, and keenly peered down each passage in turn. Maric’s hand tensed on his sword, his heart thrilled with fear. The others formed a defensive position almost immediately, turning their backs to Kell and facing outward, weapons at the ready. The alien hum of the darkspawn seemed to surround them.
“They are down every passage.” The hunter frowned ponderously. Hafter growled at the shadows, baring his fangs, and Kell absently reached down to soothe the hound with a gentle pat.
“So where do we go? Which way?” Duncan demanded.
Utha pointed directly ahead, and Kell nodded. “Yes. We cannot stay here. We need to find a more defensible position, for they are coming to us no matter which way we go.”
“How did Genevieve get past them?” Fiona asked, frustration mounting in her voice.
The hunter ran ahead, not answering the question, and the rest of them followed quickly on his heels. It was possible that Genevieve hadn’t gotten by them at all, Maric thought. She could be dead already, and they would never know. What he really wondered was how the darkspawn seemed to suddenly zero in on them so effectively when the Wardens were supposedly hidden by the onyx brooches they wore. Something was not right.
They raced ahead down the new passage, evidence of rubble appearing amid the darkspawn filth. Ancient statues lined the rocky walls here, most of them so crumbled and covered in blackness that they could barely be recognized as such. Had the dwarves existed even here beneath the Deep Roads? There was no time to stop and admire the scenery, however. They ran, breathing hard from exertion and panic. Maric stumbled on a patch of uneven rock and Utha darted in to steady him before he fell. He nodded his thanks to her and kept going.
The passage opened up into a cavern, and they immediately slowed. A structure fully filled half the chamber, a wide set of stairs flanked by tall statues leading up to a massive dais lined with tall pillars. The rocky wall behind the dais had been carved into a great, vaulted arch. Once this had been an impressive sight, perhaps a temple honoring some ancient dwarven deity, but now it was blackened with decay and corruption. So much of it lined the floor leading up to the stairs that it had gathered into black clusters, twisted sacs as large as a man. The clusters hung from the ceiling as well, slowly oozing filth down to the ground, where it collected in stagnant green pools.
Kell pointed to the dais. “We make our stand there.” They didn’t argue and began running up the flight of stairs. The filth was deep enough here that it enveloped Maric’s boots and made a wet, sucking sound each time he pulled them free. The rancid stench stirred up by their movements was overpowering.
There was some kind of altar at the top of the dais, simple and flat and only as high as Maric’s waist. At least he assumed it had been an altar. Now it was so covered by a bubbling, festering mass that he didn’t even want to get close to it.
The group spun on their heels immediately, forming a defensive line at the top of the stairs and looking down on the cavern below them. All Maric could hear was their ragged breathing and the droning hum of the approaching horde. There was a hunger to it, the sound rising and falling almost rhythmically. Fiona raised her staff up high and it began to glow with such a dazzling brilliance, the entire cavern was lit up. Maric almost thought he could detect the horrified cringing of the corrupted foulness down there. Indeed, a faint hissing noise erupted from the chamber, and some of the tainted clusters exploded in a display of dark green goo.
Hafter began to bark furiously, but quieted at a gesture from Kell. Utha exchanged a dubious glance with the hunter and he nodded to her with a hint of a sardonic smile. He reached out and stroked her cheek fondly, the hound looking up at the action and blinking in surprise. Utha clutched his hand and held it to her cheek for a moment, her eyes moist, and then she let it drop.
Fiona glanced at the pair and then turned back to face the cavern, her expression resolute. “We’re not done yet,” she vowed.
“Sure looks that way,” Duncan muttered.
Kell turned to him, studying the lad thoughtfully. “You need to leave us here, Duncan. Let us battle these creatures while you slip away.”
“Slip away?”
“You are adept at moving through the shadows. Alone, you could possibly evade the coming horde. You could find Genevieve, if she lives, or even her brother.”
“I think you overestimate my sneaking abilities,” he snorted.
“You should try,” Fiona said. “We don’t know how many of these creatures are coming. Someone has to finish our mission, if it can even be done.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” he insisted stubbornly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“And if I ordered you?” Kell asked.
“Then I guess I would have to disobey.”
The hunter grinned. “Then I suppose I won’t do that.”
They turned back toward the cavern and waited. The humming of the darkspawn grew louder and louder, and then the first ones spilled into the chamber. Several short genlocks bounded in, followed by a hurlock in massive black armor and carry ing a deadly looking spiked sword. It hissed up at the dais, and the genlocks joined in, stopping and hissing with dis plea sure upon sighting their quarry.
An arrow sped across the air and struck the hurlock between its eyes. It collapsed without a sound. The genlocks roared and charged. More arrows flew and the darkspawn stumbled to the ground, dead before they even reached the stairs.
“I am running out of arrows,” the hunter announced, drawing his bow again.
“I’m running out of clean smallclothes,” Duncan responded.
More darkspawn surged into the cavern now, coming from both entrances. It was a wave of them, their humming filling the entire chamber and drowning out every other sound. Kell carefully fired arrows into the mass, and though each strike sent a creature squealing to the ground, it was clearly not going to be enough.
Fiona pointed her staff at them, her brow furrowing in concentration as a fireball issued forth and hurtled to the bottom of the stairs beneath them. The flaming sphere detonated at the front of the darkspawn ranks, sending the creatures flying and filling the cavern with a flash of magical flame. The creatures let out ear-splitting squeals of anguish, many of them engulfed completely and flailing as they fell to the ground on fire. The flames spread to the oozing filth that covered the cavern floor, and suddenly the ground itself was burning, smoke rapidly filling the air.