Chapter 78: Operation Rescue

I followed Alistair and Zev through the warren of tunnels in the hideout. Unsurprisingly, everyone was equally annoyed at the height of the ceilings through most of the hallways, and we all shuffled along in a half-crouch, much to Faren's amusement. We fought through a couple of groups of guards as we searched for Jarvia, but fortunately most of the rooms had higher ceilings, so we weren't hampered when fighting. During the first fight, Alistair tried to keep me out of it; I gave him a dirty look, and he shrugged apologetically.

I wasn't enjoying fighting and killing the dwarves – most of whom, I knew, were there out of necessity, because there was no other way to survive as a casteless, not out of personal loyalty to Jarvia – but I'd come to a couple of hard truths while I sat in that dungeon cell, and I wasn't going to stand back anymore and let the group make the hard sacrifices. I killed my first person – a balding, middle-aged dwarf who smelled strongly of ginger, of all things – and while I felt like throwing up, I didn't let it slow me down.

With seven of us, it didn't take long to work our way through the hideout. More and more of the dwarves we came across started surrendering when we walked through the doors, covered in their friends' blood and armed to the teeth; Alistair had Zev tying them up with scavenged ropes and torn strips of linen from their own tunics, promising to come back for them once we were done. We couldn't risk them coming behind us as we fought Jarvia.

We finally came to a door that was by far more ornate than any other we'd seen; with some quick charades with Leske, we confirmed that this was the likely place Jarvia would be. It wasn't the door to the office I'd met her in before.

"Look, if the game's anything to go by, there's probably ten or so dwarves in there, including Jarvia. There's going to be a lot of traps." Faren gave me a funny look, and I just waved him off. Not the time.

"It's a good thing you brought me, then, yes?" Zev smirked, and I grinned. "I'll go in right behind Alistair and deal with the traps. Just don't move much until I tell you it's safe."

Alistair nodded. "Faren? Leske? Could you two focus on keeping attention off Zevran? Morrigan, Leliana, take out any archers. Sierra, rear guard in case we missed any reinforcements, okay?"

We all nodded our agreement and braced ourselves for a nasty fight. We weren't disappointed. Alistair opened the door with the expedient of a booted foot; the splintering pieces flew into the room and knocked over a nearby dwarf, who screamed as he fell. Zev entered right on Alistair's heels and ducked down, scooting over to disarm a tripwire so obvious even I noticed it. Alistair didn't wait to talk before taking a swing at the nearest dwarf, and several more came charging towards us when it became apparent we weren't coming further in.

Leliana began picking off targets, while Morrigan had half of the dwarves we could see screaming, dropping their weapons, and scratching at their own eyes. I wondered if she'd been working with Solona, because I hadn't seen quite that level of creepiness from her before. Faren and Leske were fighting side-by-side with a couple of dwarves, and after a few moments, Zevran joined them when he was convinced we had some room to move, but still shouted a warning against venturing further in.

I felt quite useless; we had very little space, and all around me were people fighting, but I couldn't even reach the front lines, never mind fight. There weren't any mages, except Morrigan, and I didn't think she'd thank me if I started using her mana for shields, so all I could do was wait.

I'd heard Jarvia's gravelly voice when we initially entered, but hadn't managed to lay eyes on her; I knew she was supposed to be good at stealth, and it made me nervous. I saw some movement off to my left and realised a bald male dwarf was trying to creep towards Leliana, who was distracted raining arrows down on the other side of the room. I pushed past her and met the dwarf's swing with my crossed blades, deflecting the sword back towards himself. Unbalanced, he tried to recover, but I was faster. Mentally thanking Sten and Duncan for their training, I angled one dagger into the armpit of his chain armour, while the other ostentatiously went for his neck. He blocked at the neck, but the other dagger bit in deep. I twisted it, as Zevran had taught me, and then pushed him away, certain that he was dying. He stumbled a few steps, dropped his sword, and collapsed, a pool of red forming underneath him.

I swallowed thickly, still not used to such things, but fortunately the nausea I knew would come hadn't hit me yet. Leliana and Morrigan had disabled or killed the archers we could see, and Alistair and Faren finished off the last of Jarvia's henchmen. I turned around just in time to see Jarvia appear behind Faren, sword at the ready. There was no time, and I knew it, but still I tried to shout out a warning. Faren turned – slowly, so slowly – his expression one of surprise and horror, and tried to bring up his shield. Jarvia sneered and raised the sword, and I cried out again, only to see Faren go flying before Jarvia's swing could land. Suddenly Leske was between the two dwarves, and I saw Jarvia's sword find a target.

The borrowed armour Leske had stolen hadn't fit well, and her blade struck deep into his shoulder. I heard a mangled scream come out of his damaged mouth, and he fell. Before she could even withdraw her blade from his flesh, Alistair and Zevran were on Jarvia. She was fast, I had to admit, and dropped a smoke bomb at her feet. She disappeared from view, leaving the sword behind, and Alistair and Zev turned back to back, trying to find her in the hazy smoke. I felt Morrigan's magic as a wind whipped up in the small room, clearing it, and then with a clang, the Carta leader had re-engaged with Alistair and Zevran.

Faren climbed to his feet, only to drop to his knees at Leske's side. I rushed over, knowing there wasn't much I could do. Morrigan knew a little bit of healing, but it was obvious it wouldn't be enough. I wasn't even sure Wynne or Anders could have done anything. The sword had cleaved through his collarbone, and his head fell to the side at an awkward angle. His breathing was shallow, and blood was trickling out of one corner of his ruined mouth and sheeting down his chest. His eyes were open and roving, and I wasn't sure whether he was really seeing anything.

Faren pulled his upper body awkwardly onto his lap, cradling Leske's head. Tears were streaming down Faren's face, dropping down onto Leske's braided cornrows. I took Leske's hand, and when his eyes seemed to focus on me, I whispered to him.

"You did good, Leske. You saved him. Saved them both. Rica would be so proud of you."

His lips quirked up in a small smile, and then he slumped, muscles going slack, one last shuddering breath leaving him. I reached up to close his eyes gently, and then put my hand on Faren's shoulder. He pushed me away, suddenly surging to his feet, Leske's body dropping to the floor with a wet thud. Faren must have lost his sword and shield when Leske knocked him over, so he grabbed Leske's sword.

I looked up to see Alistair and Zevran flanking Jarvia. She appeared to be an even match for either man alone, but with both of them attacking her, she could barely keep up a good defense, and she was tiring. When she dropped another smoke bomb, Faren was ready; he charged towards where he thought she'd be, catching a tripwire and setting off a small explosion of grease. Somehow, despite the slippery coating, Faren kept to his feet and tackled Jarvia. She dropped her last sword as she fell, and Faren landed squarely on top, his sword across her neck.

He leaned down to say something – I couldn't hear what – but her eyes widened just before he slowly, deeply, cut her throat.

He stood up, dropping the borrowed sword, and strode from the room. The rest of us, exchanging sad glances, surveyed the wreckage. Zev and Alistair were coated in yet more gore and a good helping of grease; it was fortunate that none of the fire traps had gone off, and that Morrigan hadn't been throwing fireballs. The room was covered in blood, and there were bodies everywhere. I turned away from the corpse of the dwarf I'd killed. I swallowed thickly; the nausea had caught up, and I struggled not to vomit.

Morrigan, Leli, and Zev began efficiently stripping the bodies of valuables, while Alistair and I explored the room. We found some papers, many of which were written in a language I couldn't read and assumed it was dwarven. We took them, and continued looking, finding a small chest that was locked, and an armoire full of healing potions, runes, equipment, and raw Lyrium. We gathered all of it, stuffing it into the backpack Alistair had carried my armour in, as well as a fancy sword that had belonged to Jarvia. The rest of the dwarves had precious little coin, and no equipment of worth.

When we left the room, we found Faren standing outside, his face an expressionless mask. The only sign of his previous grief were twin tear tracks in the dirt on his face. He must have picked up his sword and shield and re-equipped them; he seemed to be waiting patiently. I approached him sympathetically, planning to hug him. He held up one hand, and I took the hint – not now.

"What should we do with ... with," I gulped, looking around for inspiration, "the body?" I finished in a whisper.

Faren's face flickered through a few emotions I couldn't place, before settling back to his mask. "Doesn't matter. The stone won't take us Dusters anyway. Leave it there for the guard to deal with."

He turned and headed down the hall we hadn't come from. I exchanged looks with Alistair, and we turned to follow him, everyone else falling in behind. We came across a couple more rooms, all of which appeared to have been hastily abandoned. Apparently word of our victory had spread. When we reached a door I guessed would bring us out into a merchant's shop in the Orzammar Commons, Zev and Leliana split to go back the way we'd come, releasing the tied-up dwarves who'd surrendered earlier. Morrigan, Alistair, Faren, and I pushed into the shop, surprising a middle-aged dwarf who immediately began cursing us out.

We ignored him and left the shop; Faren's glare shut him up nicely. We hadn't made it far across the commons when we were approached by some of the guard.

"You there!" We stopped and waited. "What are you doing, breaking into Janar's, covered in gore? And you," the guard gave Faren a dirty look. "You're that brand who dishonoured the Proving! You were supposed to have been executed!"

Wordlessly, Alistair and I flanked the dwarf, and I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him before he could respond. "Good sers, you should be thanking this man, not arresting him. He was only in the Proving because the old Carta leader, Beraht, threatened his family. And you have him to thank for the deaths both of Beraht himself, but also Jarvia, his second who's been leading the Carta since Beraht's untimely demise. The Carta is no more, thanks to Faren Brosca." I pitched my voice loud enough to carry, and several of the passing dwarves stopped to listen. "It will be you who dishonours your ancestors if you arrest this man who accomplished what the entire guard failed to do."

There was muttering from the crowd, and the guards looked a little nervous. Despite that, the leader gestured to Faren, and one of his men stepped up to grab Faren's arm. I caught Alistair's eye, and distinctly nodded. He gave me a look, as if to say 'are you serious?' I nodded again, and he sighed and turned back.

"I am Alistair, second in command to Duncan, the Grey Warden Commander, and on his authority, I invoke the Right of Conscription on Faren Brosca."

There was much sputtering from the guard, but there was nothing they could do. They reluctantly stepped back, and walked away. I turned to Faren, whose shoulder my hand was still resting on.

"Sorry, Faren. I didn't want to force this on you, but it was the only way to keep you from the noose. Or headsman's axe. Or however they brutally murder those they consider criminals..."

His expression was more severe than before, no longer emotionless, but seething with repressed anger. "You have some explaining to do, I believe."

I winced, and Alistair came around to jut one shoulder in between Faren and me. I put my hand on my warrior's back reassuringly. "I know I do, but this isn't the place, alright? Come back to the Grey Warden compound and I promise to tell you everything. After a meal and a bath, that is. For each of us."

Reluctantly he agreed; just as we turned to head to the Diamond Quarter, Zev and Leli caught up to us. Zev gave me a nod, and I knew they'd safely released the casteless dwarves back to Dust Town. I hoped that we could find Sereda, and that when we did, she'd be kind – there were a lot of casteless suddenly without the means to support themselves.

We passed by the long bridge leading to the Proving grounds, and I looked over to see Solona slipping out of the great doors leading inside. We paused to wait for her, and she walked up beside Alistair with a nod.