All he knows is the blade in his hand and the ground rotting beneath his feet. His heartbeat sounds in his ears like the drums of war, calling all the earth to battle. The Archdemon's voice is in him, surrounding him, irresistable as a siren's song.

Crimson and black flow in mingled streams on the ground; blood coats him like a second skin. He only watches, faintly amazed, as his blade cleaves through the frail human defenders, slicing through skin and armour alike as if passing through water.

2. We Are Golden - Mika

Some days she sits in the great vhenadahl's branches just to be off the ground, so that she can close her eyes and pretend she's back in the forest. Well, not back exactly. She's never been outside of Denerim, but she likes to pretend. It must be so peaceful there; birdsong and the sound of wind through leaves instead of the city's constant background murmur of so many voices.

She's seen the way the humans look at her, like she were just another starving dog or beggar. But she knows that some day she'll show them what a "knife-ears" can do. They'll see. They'll all see. Some day she's going to get out of here, and...

3. My Spirit Will Go On - DragonForce

Though she would never admit it, afterwards, she was afraid.

They can never strip my title or my birthright. I am the princess of House Aeducan, heir to this city, and I will not know fear so long as there is stone beneath my feet and a blade in my hands.

And as the door shut behind her, and as she walked on through the endless dark, if she trembled a bit then surely it was only the cold of the Deep Roads. Nothing more.

She'd given so much to Orzammar, and now she was exiled. Condemned to walk the darkness until she had the strength to walk no longer. Now justice decreed that she owed a death to her people, and the Darkspawn would not collect it easily. She would carve a bloody swathe through their ranks first.

And if she shed tears as well as blood, surely it was just water dripping through some crack in the ceiling and flowing onto her face. Nothing more.

4. EPM - DragonForce

Alistair never thought he'd see another sunrise, and this one dawned red as blood.

Isolde had haunted his dreams; when he closed his eyes he still saw her face streaked with tears as she agreed to the sacrifice. Kallian had signed away a woman's life to save her son. And Alistair had only stood and watched, silently.

"He'll see there were larger things at stake," the Warden said, her face impassive, her voice steady. So dedicated to duty, she was. But it was almost painful to see those beautiful blue eyes so clear and calm when they should have been blurred with tears. Shouldn't they?

Maybe that was why he let Kallian make all the hard decisions. The ones he couldn't bear to think about. He had faith in her. She'd pull all of them through this and stop the Blight.

5. Burn the Witches - Maladaptive

Humans could be such silly creatures, mused Morrigan. The wind ruffled her feathers slightly as she sat on the rooftop, watching the proceedings.

This wasn't justice. The poor girl had only been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She loved animals and she'd been caught sneaking treats to her neighbour's prized mare. They'd yelled at her, and nothing more came of the incident until the mare's child was stillborn and someone whispered "magic".

Oh, it would be easy enough to stop the fire, save the girl. But then what? It would only reinforce their ignorance. Flemeth wouldn't care for the little brat and she'd likely die of starvation or worse on her own. Trying to change or stop this would only make things worse.

So Morrigan sat, and she watched, and she smelled the scent of burning flesh carried on the night wind.

6. Her Ghost in the Fog - Cradle of Filth

When she felt merciful, she only warned them to stay away. Sometimes it only took a simple thing; a sound, an image, a howl calculated to raise goosebumps and chill the spine. Bloody pawprints.

And when the whim took her she tore them apart, froze them solid, anything to keep the prying eyes away.

Sometimes they spoke of her, but they only remembered her as a presence, a voice, a figure seen from far away and even then only through shadows or fog.

Once (and only once) she let one watch as she danced in the moonlight, graceful as the wind.

He'd died with such a smile on his face.

7. Everything - Buckcherry

At first it was strange to realize that all those smiles weren't concealing anything, that she never had to be on guard for the sound of a blade being unsheathed. That she would likely never seen Marjolaine again.

No one here expected Leliana to serve anyone except the Maker.

All of that was like a dream, the secrets and sorrow. Sometimes, if she listened closely, she thought she could hear Marjolaine's voice. Sometimes, soft whispers. Other times, mocking.

A Chantry robe could hide so many scars.

8. Babylon - Deathstars

Templars were the most fun to break; they held themselves as such shining examples of the Maker's might, as His sword to strike down evil. And they were as corruptible as any man, if you could get them to listen long enough.

And she could see the dream inside this one's head, and though he whispered it into her ear he might as well have shouted. She was desire, she was sin, she could have given him anything men dream of and all he asked for was...

She almost laughed.

A home. A family. Such simple things, worth everything to a man who could never have them.

"Why darling," she said, cupping his head in her hands as he looked up and saw his doting wife, "I'm already here..."

9. Silence - Delerium

Kneeling by the water, she held her hand over it and froze it, frost spreading across the surface like spiderwebs She let the ice slowly melt in the humid summer air. And she did it again. And again.

Strange how something so tough and solid could melt away to nothing. She'd thought her heart was like that, untouchable and indestructible.

She could hear that damnable man snoring from inside his tent. The sound grated on her nerves, truly. How she could tolerate his touch, she didn't know, how dare he presume to...

A tear dropped onto the ice, its warmth melting a small circle into its surface.

10. Blitzkrieg - Deathstars

It was so easy.

The demon whispered the secret in his ear, and when she leaned back and smiled, gently, the power was his. He felt like he could level cities, burn the Blight out from under them, lay the entire world to waste. Maybe he would, just to watch it happen.

It burned in his blood, this power. It ached (no, screamed) to be used. He felt like a god, like the Maker Himself.