Dragons and Thrones: An Unusual Union

Chapter 30 of my crossover story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Well, not quite, he's not quite there yet.
mr I hate znt zombies kill em: Well, if you recall his words after the Winter Palace, he did and he actually liked it, but no, he's going to Winterfell, not King's Landing, so he won't be involved in the 'Game'.
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you like him.
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
wazzup11: Yup, they are almost there, things are looking more interesting.

Varric

Varric sighed as he made his way back to the large building in Qarth which served as his office. His mind was still reeling from what he had discovered with Bianca's aid.

'Red Lyrium of all things, as if things couldn't get any stranger.' He pondered. 'But how did it get here; how is it even on the surface…It was supposed to be destroyed and nobody else knows the location of the Thaig.'

This was too much of a perplexing mystery with too many loose ends and practically no answers.

Varric felt almost as if he should have suspected something like this. 'Should have guessed, there's no way I'll be able to just…settle in, have a business, resume my writings. Always some adventure huh, but this…'

It suddenly felt to him as if nothing was as it seemed, as if something was operating behind the scenes. He had a nasty feeling that there was something behind this that was going to soon emerge and cause nothing but more chaos. He wondered just how long it would be before this happened, he just knew it wouldn't last; the peace that he had managed to find.

'So I have a personal issue in this, but more importantly…any nation in peace will find that peace destroyed, any nation at war, will find their war becoming worse. That's how it feels anyway.' He thought to himself.

Shaking his head he entered his dwelling; wanting to simply put his feet up and have a drink.

As he entered however, those wishes were soon dashed; when Bohdan came rushing up towards him.

"Master Tethras, Master Tethras!" He cried out, breathless.

Varric stopped. "Whoa, Bohdan, relax, breathe."

Bohdan nodded and fought to catch his breath.

When he finally recovered, Varric nodded. "Alright Bohdan, now, what's wrong."

"Oh it's terrible Master Tethras, one of your Lyrium shipments; it's not made it to its intended destination. It just seems to have vanished, along with those in charge of transporting it. We sent people to investigate, but they haven't returned either." Bohdan explained.

Varric tensed, instantly worried. "How long ago was this and which shipment?"

Bohdan sighed. "I believe it was the one you were sending to the Templars who have set up a fort south of here, about three days ago."

"Alright, I better look into this." He remarked. "I have a bad feeling Bohdan; I think you and Sandal should find somewhere safer. If I can just ask one favour."

Bohdan nodded; looking shocked.

"I need you to send a letter to someone, nobody is to read it but her, understand." Varric explained.

Bohdan nodded again and accepted the letter before they went their separate ways, Varric remained worried; this certainly seemed the beginning of that terrible adventure he felt before.

Varric followed the trail the shipment was supposed to take; he kept his crossbow close at hand, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. He kept his eyes narrowed as he trudged over the sands.

'Of all the trouble, this had to start, there's no way this is the Carta, or the Coterie or any sort of group of bandits or smugglers; something bigger is behind this.' He thought to himself. 'Maybe I shouldn't have got into the Lyrium game at all. After all, I've seen enough trouble with it, especially the Red kind.'

Varric recalled again how Red Lyrium had affected his life before; driving his brother Bartrand into madness, causing so much trouble in Kirkwall; driving Knight Commander Meredith insane and eventually petrifying her as a Red Lyrium Statue.

He shook his head and sighed. 'Honestly, I don't get it, how was more of this stuff found, or even make it to the surface, I made sure nobody else knew the secret and as far as I know, there was no other sources.'

He was fretting about this when he suddenly stopped; he could smell smoke and, looking around, he saw the plume of it ahead. He immediately dropped to the ground and cursed under his breath. He began to move, slowly and carefully to the edge of the dune that blocked the source of smoke from his view.

He finally reached the top of the dune and remained in cover as he looked over the ledge. He was shocked by what he saw, for it was his shipment, it had been attacked and destroyed.

The carts were on fire, those who had been transporting and those that had gone looking for them were dead, many corpses were burned. A group of men clad in armour were working around the bodies, taking crates, the crates of Lyrium, away from the wreckage.

Varric silently snarled. 'So that's it, they're behind this; they attacked the shipment, killed everyone and are now stealing the Lyrium, but why? Wait, who…?'

He had noticed another figure; standing and watching over the men in armour. The figure turned and Varric froze in disbelief.

'Impossible, he's dead.'

The figure was impossibly tall; yet his body was thin, he wore ragged brown robes with massive armoured shoulders and chest plate, his skin was stretched and warped, especially around his face, his fingers ending in claws, he had several red crystals embedded in his skin, including his strange helmet like covering, a sharp fragment jutting out from the left jaw. His eyes were black and filled with malevolence.

'It can't be…Corypheus…'

He then froze as Corypheus turned his head and their eyes locked.

End of chapter and of story, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Well, so ends the first story of my crossover series, things are looking interesting, Varric has just seen the one behind the attack on his shipment, a face from the past, that he thought dead, a deadly enemy.