Hello. I am such a loser. Sorry this took so long to all of my readers. Class was a pain and then I had to drown all my sorrows in copious amounts of chocolate and ice cream. And of course in multiple video games. (DA2, Portal 2, and some more ME2 - gotta love them). Hopefully I won't be so busy with my new class. Yes, I'm taking classes over summer. One actually. Ornithology!

I have read through this a couple of times, so maybe my grammar/spelling isn't too bad. Something about this bothers me, but I figured I made you all wait long enough, so I'll just try to do better on chapter eight.

Thank you for reading loyal readers! I have a question/explanation at the end that I wouldn't mind help with.

Invictus

Come armed,
Or prepared to die
There is no other end to this road

- The Two Towers (Ash and Smoke)

After Mat had returned her glaive and after Wynne had healed the broken bone in her wing – "The bone has already begun healing quite well and I can fix it enough to be useable, but I suggest you be careful" – and Nal had had a good stretching – "Maker's breath Nali, that's like a ten foot wing span you've got there." "Is that representative of anything else you have, my dear?" "Shut the hell up," – the group had moved off and on their way to Orzammar once more.

It took a few more days to arrive, but the dwarven city proved as dreadful as Nal had anticipated. They had gotten into not one, but two fights on the doorsteps of the city. One was with a group of bounty hunting fools (how everyone knew with a single look they were Grey Wardens was beyond her), and the second with some of Loghain's fools.

'King' Loghain's fools. Nal didn't know which irritated her more. The fact that these idiots called Loghain king or that Loghain was calling himself king.

She killed them happily.

Inside they learned that no one would help them until the dwarves had a king. So they performed a few tasks, killed the local Carta leader, and even after all that, they were then told to go find a paragon to pick the king. It was at this moment; before they entered the Deep Roads that Mat, frustrated and obviously irritated, decided to call it a 'day.'

The group returned to their rooms at the Tapster's Tavern. Where, for the first time, the group had a good hearty meal with a nice loaf of bread, or at least the dwarven equivalent.

The stew, consisted of a meat Nal didn't want to think about – probably Nug – and a liquid she wished she didn't have to put in her mouth – probably Nug piss. The bread was flat, round, and hard. And since Nal had come late for the food she received a hard, crusty, and burnt end piece. Nal scowled at the hunk of not-really-bread bread, even looking on the bright side, she hated end pieces.

"Sorry," Alistair shrugged when she had asked if he wanted to trade. "I don't like them any more than you." He cringed as the hunk of meat he put into his mouth crunched.

Nal sighed, she had asked around and been denied, the only person that liked the heel of bread was Leliana and she had already gotten the other end – which looked a fair bit nicer than her own.

She debated not eating it for about two seconds before she threw out the idea. She had gone hungry too many nights in her life to leave food uneaten with a clear conscience. Even Duncan had encouraged the completion of a meal unless left with no other choice.

She looked over to the only person she hadn't asked.

With a sigh, she stood from the short table and, taking her hunk of bread, moved to where Zevran was now sitting with Mat and Morrigan. Alistair watched her go.

"Hey Zevran" she said approaching the elf. "I'll trade you my bread for yours." He looked at her hand, spotted the piece in question and shook his head.

"I'll have to pass," he said. Nal sighed and went to leave, resigning herself to eating bread that would shred the roof of her mouth. "However," pausing, she turned back to the elf, "I will give you mine if you give me a kiss." Nal clenched her jaw and narrowed her eye.

"I don't want your sloppy, wet kisses on my face," she said.

Zevran put his hand to his heart and mocked hurt. "My dear, you wound me. I can assure you, with the testimony of many others, that my kisses are anything but–" Nal interrupted him by shoving her hunk of bread into his open mouth.

"Shut up and eat your food," Nal growled. She looked down to where Zevran's piece was resting and grabbed it. She smiled and turned to return to her seat by Alistair.

As she left she head Mat laugh and say, "I guess you two have something in common after all."

"T'would seem she and the oaf have grown close after their little tumble off the cliff," Morrigan replied.

"Perhaps when we leave this dismal place, you and I could have a little stay at the cave of wonders," Zevran purred. If Morrigan had replied to what the elf said Nal was too far to hear.

After the meal, Nal was walking down the hallway to the room she shared with Morrigan when Rook bounded up to her. Pressing himself against Nal, he whined.

"Yes, I agree dog," she said, dropping her hand to his head. "Despite lava being everywhere, this inn does seem colder than outside. Maybe I should sleep next to a lava flow tonight."

Rook whined again.

"Perhaps," Nal agreed again. "There has got to be a warm place somewhere."

The dog barked and jumped in front of her, bouncing around.

"You know somewhere warm?"

Rook barked his assent and trotted off, Nal followed close behind. The dog stopped in front of a small door – perhaps that was needless to say, it was made for dwarves. Rook barked and sat proudly.

"We can't just go into someone else's room," Nal said.

Rook huffed in disagreement.

"This isn't a room?" Nal looked at the door and shrugged, throwing off all reservations she grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. With it came a rush of warm air and Nal sighed contently. Without further regard, she entered the small, surprisingly close-to-empty closet with Rook right behind her. Once he had entered after her, she shut the door.

"A little dark," she muttered and moved a few brooms to sit on the ground. Rook settled himself down beside her, his head in her lap.

The door opened, letting in light and framing a lithe silhouette. "I don't recall this being your room." Zevran said. "It's warm in here," he added.

"Get in or get out," Nal murmured, closing her eyes. Surprisingly, Zevran chose out. He closed the door, plunging her and the dog into darkness. She sighed and Rook did the same. She was about to doze off when the door was pulled open once again and jumped when something was dumped on her.

"We can at least make ourselves comfortable," Zevran said. "I refuse to sleep on bare stone." The door closed. "It's a little dark in here, no?"

"You're ruining the mood," Nal grumbled, but reached into a pocket sewn into the hem of her pants and pulled out a small stone. She rubbed it between her hands, cupped it to her mouth and blew. The stone, reacting to the friction and air, glowed. It created a small light in the dark room. "There, so the wittle elf can sleep."

"Thank you," Zevran said and began spreading out the armload of blankets he had brought across the floor, actually forcing her to get up and move so he could lay some of the cloth where she was sitting.

Nal sighed as she resettled herself and tossed the mage-stone to lie on the blankets in the middle of the room. "This is much better than that chilly room they gave us," the elf muttered, getting comfortable. The rooms weren't really 'chilly,' or even cold for that matter, but Nal – and Zevran it seemed – enjoyed much higher temperatures than the Tapster's Tavern offered.

"Yes, this does feel nice," Nal quietly agreed. "It must be above a lava flow."

"If I don't think too hard, I almost feel like I'm in a sauna back in Antiva City."

"Don't remind me of better times," Nal said, shifting to press her stomach against the warm blankets while supporting her head with her arms. Rook rolled over, putting his back against her side.

"You… have been to Antiva?" Zevran asked, surprise lacing his voice.

"Once," Nal replied, "I spent about two years there. I went up with a friend, he was visiting family."

"Introducing you to the parents, eh?" Zevran said slyly.

"Hardly," Nal scoffed, "he was a friend and a Warden. I should mention that I use the word family loosely. They were relatives that had cheated him out of something. He held the grudge for many years and kept his ears open for word. He eventually heard that they were in Antiva City, I said I would like to come with him and off we went."

"And you stayed for two years; did you have trouble finding these people?"

"Not really, they had a crow-shaped shadow that followed them. We stayed because it was a nice break. Warm, sunny, and a little monster slaying on the side. What more could I ask for? I enjoy travel, I was never meant for a stationary life."

"You travelled frequently then?" Zevran asked.

"As often as possible. I have been in almost every land of Thedas and enjoyed every moment of it," Nal said. Rook yawned and stretched, pressing himself more against Nali. She lifted her wing and rubbed it gently against him.

"When we first met, the way you acted, I truly thought you did not know what, who, the Crows were." Nal shrugged the best she could on the floor, it was an awkward motion. "Have you had many experiences with the Crows then?" Zevran asked.

"Not really and only while I was in Antiva. They did ask the Wardens to aid them with one contract though. We got this information second hand, but I guess some landowner sent in for aid, said a monster was hunting on his lands. That it was nothing he had ever seen before. The Crows sent out a group. Only one came back and severely wounded."

"Yes," Zevran interrupted, "I remember hearing about this, I had been on another contract at the time, but I had heard a rumor when I got back that the Crows had enlisted outside aid with a group that knew much more about the situation. The Crow that had been hurt couldn't talk about what had happened. He was long dead before I got back, but I heard the only thing they got out of him was that it was some unnatural monster."

"And right he was," Nal said. "It was a dragonspawn. One far warped beyond me and very… angry." Nal sighed heavily. She could recall with perfect clarity the fight. What had happened during the battle was one of the few things that haunted her.

"It was quite the awakening into reality of what I was capable of becoming should I allow myself. He – it – was very hard to bring down. Luckily no Wardens were severely injured.

"Let me give you a few words of advice. If you are ever to face one of my kin, each one has an interesting trick. Strength, poisoned claws or teeth, near impenetrable flesh, or even strangely keen reflexes. When, if, you fight, find what theirs is quickly, then stay out of range or formulate a plan to best it. They can easily overpower an opponent with their trick."

"Fine advice," Zevran said, "but now I must ask. What is yours?" Nal decided to answer the question in a different way.

"If you think I'm stupid enough to tell you my greatest asset," she started, "you need to get your head checked. But I will tell you this, the one I fought had so much strength in his kicks that it could break rocks five feet thick, but he always had to wind up for it first. Keep in mind, it's not always physical.

"Ah, it's also best to fight in numbers, if you come across one and you are alone, I would suggest you run and quickly. Better yet, don't be seen… or smelled… or heard. In fact, you'd be better off if you just stayed away from my kind in general. Maybe you should leave." Zevran only smiled at her attempt.

The two fell silent and in that silence Nal closed her eye, getting comfortable. The light of the mage-stone, which she could see through her eyelid, shifted.

"Where did you get this?" Zevran asked. Nal didn't bother to open her eye and look at the elf.

"A mage made it for me," she answered, "when I visited the tower for the first time. He expressed an interest in joining the Wardens, probably more for the sake of getting away from the tower."

"And did he?"

"No, the Knight-Commander shot that idea down faster than lightning strikes." Nal paused to think as the memory of that day came to her. "If I recall correctly, he ran away that night. It was quite interesting to watch. The templars acted like they were used to it and the other mages were making bets on how long it'd take before he was dragged back. I found the reaction peculiar."

"You know," Zevran said, "I believe this is the first civil conversation we've had."

"Shut your whore mouth, you knife-eared back-stabber," Nal threw in a rude hand gesture for good measure.

"Ah, there's the woman I know," Zevran laughed. It was at this point they both fell quiet for the rest of the 'night.' The 'morning' brought a rude awakening delivered by Mat himself.

The door was yanked open so hard it bounced against the wall with a bang and rebounded only to be stopped by the Warden's hand with a smack.

"What in the Maker's burning, torturous hell, that you're soon going to find yourselves in, are you three doing in here?" Mat shouted at the trio. Nal hadn't seen him look so angry before, and she also noted with a keen eye, that Mat had darkening bags under his eyes. "I've been looking for three hours trying to find you, that's an hour each. Get out!" He stepped aside to let the three out of the closet. "I'm putting you all on dinner duty for a week."

Rook whined, cocking his head to the side. Mat's face hardened at the dog's back talk.

"You don't get dinner for a week," he pointed at the dog as he spoke.

Rook whined and dropped his head in submission.

"Go get your stuff and meet us outside the inn," Mat ordered, his blue eyes icy. The two went to move down the hall, but Mat reached out and grabbed Nal's arm, she looked back at him, but he waited to speak until Zevran was gone. "Alistair already got your pack," he said and moved down the hall the opposite way of the elf.

Nal followed him tracing the edge of her eye patch. She was surprised at Alistair's action, Nal knew they had settled their differences – for the most part – but she didn't think the templar would have gone out of his way, especially into a room Morrigan occupied, to help.

When the two warriors got outside the inn said templar handed Nal her pack and glaive. "Thanks," she murmured, hooking the pack to her belt and the glaive to her back. When the elf finally joined them the group headed to the deep roads only to be stopped by a dwarf right before the entrance.

They were waylaid almost immediately.

Oghren, as the dwarf called itself demanded to accompany the Grey Wardens into the Deep Roads to search for its 'wife,' Branka. Mat didn't seem to like the idea, but since they were looking for her as well and the 'Oghren' had a map of some part of the Deep Roads, Mat agreed to let the dwarf join them.

"I suppose was could use another blade in the Deep Roads," Mat acquiesced.

"Great," Nal wrinkled her nose at the dwarf's smell, "a fuc–"

"Nali!" Mat snapped, cutting off her swear.

"What? I was going to say a fu…" Nal stretched the word as she tried to think of something that would match what she had been about to say, "a fun… a funky dwarf."

"Uh-huh, sure," Mat nodded his head and led them into the Deep Roads.

.

.

.

Surprisingly, the road part of the Deep Roads were in decent condition and the group managed to stay on them for most of the way to Caridin's Cross, only having to veer off when they found places the ceiling had fallen.

"You know," Alistair said from beside her, "pretending I don't know the darkspawn made these, I might would think giant worms had." Nal wrinkled her nose at that thought.

"That's disgusting," she replied. "Just imagine it." Alistair's brow furrowed. "Giant gaping mouths, fifty feet long, slimy, and you are currently walking in worm crap." He looked down at the ground when she said that.

"You know what, I think you're right. Giant worms are disgusting."

"I'm glad we can agree on that," Nal smiled. Alistair's grin turned to a frown as he looked past her. Nal spared a glance to her other side and sighed. Zevran stepped up beside her, tossing the mage-stone from hand-to-hand. It was glowing softly.

"You know, this is quiet the unique item. I find it very interesting." Zevran sent the stone spinning into the air. It glowed brighter. He caught it and held it out to her. "But alas, I have come to return it."

"Keep it," Nal shrugged, "I have more."

"Truly?" Nal just shrugged again. "Grazie." The still glowing stone vanished into some hidden pocket. "I should give you something in return."

"No thank you."

"You know, you are very unapproachable from this side. I think it is that bulky patch you wear so often. Do you wish to trade sides, Alistair?" Nal sighed again and Alistair out-right ignored the elf. Zevran didn't seem to mind, he was nothing if not persistent. "You have your eye, no? I hear it is a beautiful shade of gold." Zevran's voice dropped to a purr. "My favorite color is gold."

"Watch your knee," Zevran's face showed a flash of confusion before his shin and knee connected with a jutting rock. The elf fell back cussing in Antivan, Alistair bust out laughing and Nali chuckled lightly. Zevran said a few pointed, and very rude, words to them.

"That's not very nice," Nal said over her shoulder.

Zevran limped a couple times before he seemed to shake off the impact. He didn't, much to Nali's delight, reclaim his place beside her. "You speak Antivan?" His tone was gruff, revealing that he was still in pain.

"Quiet well," she confessed. "It was probably my first language, actually."

"Dove vai bella ragazza?" Zevran said saucily. Nal sent him a rude hand gesture over her shoulder in response. "An appropriate reply I suppose," he laughed.

Zevran was cut off from saying anything more as Oghren spoke from the front. "Ortan Thaig," the party stopped and took in the sight the light of their torches allowed. Buildings were crumbling and crumbled. Large stones rested haphazardly across the ground and nearly everything sported spider webs.

"What. A. Dump," Nal said her words echoing across the cavern.

"Hey," the dwarf rounded on her, shouting loudly. Nal's ears picked up the sound of skittering spider legs from above and she glanced briefly to the shadowed ceiling. "This is our history! Don't speak ill of it!"

Nal held up her hands. "Of course. How could I be so," she let her eyes rove over the desolate scene before of her, "rude," she concluded. Oghren gave a sharp nod, seemingly pleased with himself for setting her straight and turned to walk into the long abandoned Thaig.

A spider promptly landed on top of him.

This one spider's action apparently inspired the others to descend from the ceiling and attack. They came down chittering and attacking with surprising speed.

"You have got to be kidding me," Alistair groaned beside Nal, dropping his torch and hefting his shield and sword.

"What's wrong Alistair," Nal joked stabbing the first spider that charged her in the eyes. It went down, legs and pedipalp twitching. "Is there something here you don't like?"

"Oh aren't you funny," Alistair blocked another spider with his shield and took off two of its legs with a swing of his sword. It chittered angrily as Alistair shoved it away with his shield. The spider toppled over, unable to support its weight. Alistair finished it off, severing its thorax nearly in half. He looked back at Nal after the kill. "Maybe I should drop you in a lake, see how well you swim."

"Hardy-har har," Nal huffed, tossing another spider off the blade of her weapon. It tumbled away, landing on its back, feet in the air.

A screeching spider caught Nal's attention and she turned in time to see it charge Alistair, who barely managed to get his shield up, putting it between him and the spider. The weight of the creature forced him to the ground, where the spider tried to sink its fangs into Alistair's face, currently without luck. However, with the way the spider was slamming its body onto the shield that wouldn't be the case for much longer.

"Watch out," Nal called in warning to Alistair, shoving the blade of her glaive between two legs and into the thorax of the spider. Sinking the weapon up to the wing guard Nal pushed forward, stepping over Alistair as she dislodged the spider and pinned it to the ground. The spider screeched and writhed as Nal viciously twisted the blade around. White fluids flowed freely from the wound.

Pulling the blade out and the weapon back, Nal stepped away and took a defensive position near Alistair, ready to protect him as he got unsteadily back to his feet.

"I think I'm going to be sick," he moaned hefting his shield and sword back into position.

"Don't forget the nightmares." A short burst of flame sent a couple spiders skittering away, while one not startled got a blade pinning its head to the ground. A sharp twist severed something important and the arachnid went limp.

"For the rest of my life!" Alistair gave a hard swing at an oncoming spider, splitting its head and most of its thorax in half and then threw it away with his shield.

It took couple more minutes of fighting and a few more waves of spiders before any resemblance silence finally claimed the old Thaig once more.

"Is anyone hurt? Did anyone get bitten?" Wynne called to everyone. The responses consisted of shaken heads and murmured negatives, but Wynne still traveled between them checking for and healing wounds.

"Here," Nali moving to Alistair, who was sitting on a rock looking sick, and held out a couple of leaves and a skin of water. "Chew on the leaves and slowly sip the water." He looked at the green items in her hand dubiously. "It's mint," Nal clarified, "it'll help you feel better."

Alistair took the leaves and stuck them in his mouth chewing slowly before replacing his elbows on his legs and putting his head back between his arms. Nal took a seat on a nearby stone, shifting her wings away as she pinched them uncomfortably. They sat in silence and Nal swung the water skin idly.

"I hate spiders," Alistair moaned, his words slightly garbled by the wad of leaves in his mouth. He stretched out his hand towards her.

"I understand, I hate water," Nal said, handing the water skin over. "Don't swallow the leaves, they won't hurt you, but it won't help either." The blond warrior tilted his head back long enough to take a small sip of water.

"Yeah, but at least water doesn't swoop in from behind and attack."

"Perhaps, but water still leaves me nauseous and breathless." Alistair looked up at her.

"You really are afraid of water," he seemed surprised that she had told him the truth.

"Oh yes, I'm quite horrified by it. When it comes to the idea of drowning, it becomes quiet hard to breath, and I do not intend the pun."

"You just seem so… I don't know. You talk about your fear as near crippling, but you don't sound like you're afraid."

"Throw me in a lake and you'll see just how unafraid I can be. It will consist of many shouted swears, a screamed curse upon your lineage, and my death. I don't mean to turn this to me; I just wanted you to know that we all have completely irrational fears."

"Yeah, I know" the blond knight smiled before taking another sip of water. The two warriors remained in companionable silence for a little while. "Didn't Duncan or the other Wardens try to cure you of your fear?"

"Did they try to help you?" she returned.

"I didn't know Duncan, or the others, my whole life." Alistair countered and Nali grinned.

"Sure, they tried to help, fruitlessly. Well, Duncan never did – he was content to leave me alone in both my beliefs and fears, – but Tarimel was insistent in trying to teach me to swim. He threw me into a pond once, when I refused to get in and dunk my head. I nearly drowned. I was so angry, Duncan too. He chewed Tarimel out for hours and Gregor had to hold me back from beating the elf up, so instead I didn't talk to him for a week."

Alistair shook his head at her words. "I've noticed something," he said. "All your stories you've told me of your time with the Wardens involve them somehow being mean to you." Nal laughed loudly at that. The sound echoed and bounced across the thaig, causing the others to look at the two. She didn't notice the flush that stained Alistair's check in the dim light.

"I'm sure you haven't noticed, but I have a bit of a temper." She said when she calmed down. "They enjoyed seeing what could 'rouse the sleeping dragon,' as they put it." Nal allowed herself to briefly filter through the memories of time she spent with her friends.

"They were never cruel, not intentionally. We'd do whatever we could to torment each other and try Duncan's legendary patience. Duncan used to say that he may not have children of his blood, but he had a pack of them following him around every day." You're adults. Perhaps you should consider acting like one sometime. Duncan's voice ran through her head. "And we were. We were children and the world was our playground."

"I know what you mean," Alistair smiled, obviously thinking about the time he himself had spent with the Wardens. He looked like he was about to say something more when a shout echoed across the thaig.

"No! It's mine! There's nothing here for you! Stay away!" A short, hunched figure briefly appeared in the light the torches cast before darting down a branching tunnel and vanishing in the darkness. A chill swept over Nali as she watched him run past. It was a nasty, dirty, slimy feeling and in no way pleasant. Ghoul, the word hissed through her mind.

"That was weird," Alistair said slowly, staring where the dwarf had vanished.

"Come on ladies and gents," Mat said, "we're going after him."

"No," Nal said.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no," Nal repeated. "I'm not going after him. You can, but I'll find the path we'll need to continue forward." Mat's lips pursed and his eyes narrowed as he studied her for a few seconds, staring her in the eye.

"Fine," he conceded his voice hard. He turned to head the way the ghoul dwarf had gone. "Alistair, go with her."

"What?" He balked.

"I don't want her going alone. We shouldn't be long. Try to keep Nali out of trouble." Mat didn't wait for a response he simply turned and moved away. Nal was able to catch the echo of a few muttered words consisting of: "hate," "eye patch," and, "impossible to stare down." She smirked and moved off, not watching the rest of the party move away with Mat. Alistair fell into step beside her, shield and sword still out and ready.

"Thanks for that vote of confidence back there." Nal rapped the butt of her glaive twice on the ground. The blade ignited, illuminating the immediate area.

Alistair at least had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry," he said. "It's not that I don't want to go with you, but… well are you sure this is safe? There's only two of us, and I can sense darkspawn everywhere. And do you even know the path we need to take? What if it's back there?" He nodded his head back the way they came.

"Don't worry about the darkspawn, we'll be fine."

"You say that with such confidence."

"That's because I am. To answer your question however, Mat and the others are going to a dead end; the way forward is to not follow the other insane dwarf."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"'It's mine. There's nothing for you here. Stay away.' Sounds like he doesn't want us near something. I'd say he was heading to his stash and even an insane dwarf would know to put his back against a wall. One way in, one way out, and one way to attack. Plus, I got a glimpse of the maps a few sleepless campsites ago."

"Couldn't you have just said that in the beginning?"

"Too easy. And it's not like I know the correct way. But the map said it should be in this direction. It shouldn't be too hard to spot though."

"You talk big, but you don't have a clue what you're doing."

Nal laughed. "Even if that was the case I'm a far sight better than you."

"Oh, ouch. Has anyone ever told you, you're a horrible, mean person?"

"More times than you can count."

"I rest my case."

Nal paused as a chill swept over her, crawling down her spine and through her bones. They had entered into a narrow passage between two cobweb-covered buildings, their tall walls, and the blackness around them, blocked off most of her sight. It was a little too late to realize the poor positioning they were in. She started when Alistair bumped into her, his attention focused elsewhere.

"Sorry," he murmured quietly then asked, "Do you feel that?"

"I do," Nal confirmed. Staring into the dark, trying futilely to see through.

"What is it? It doesn't feel like darkspawn, but…" he trailed off.

"It does," Nal finished her hand tightening around the wood of her glaive. "The only time I've felt something like this was when–" she was cut off by loud screeching. The two of them jumped, hefting their weapons. The sound of skittering legs echoed through the dark.

"Oh Maker," Alistair moaned. "It's spiders." He turned to face opposite way, pressing his back to hers. They waited; the only sound in the darkness was the arachnid's chittering. "Why aren't they attacking?"

"You'll get yourself killed in that position, Alistair."

"Wha…?"

"Back to back is not a good set up for me."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you're right." He stepped away giving her room.

"It's very kind of you to forget though," she flashed him a smile.

"Sure, I do my best. But I still want to know why they aren't attacking."

"I'll be sure to ask before I kill them." Nal squinted, shifting her glaive to get a better look at something shimmering strangely before her. She swore. "Move forward, we need to go forward."

"What? Why don't we go back?"

"Because the spiders have removed that option." He turned around at her words. The flickering fire of her glaive was softly reflecting off a netting of web being lowered before them, filling the narrow space between buildings. Alistair swore, using the same word she had earlier.

"Can't you burn it?" Alistair asked, panic pitching his voice higher.

"I'd light the whole thaig on fire! We wouldn't make it out of this passage alive."

"But they're herding us…"

"Yes, they are apparently used to hunting things that…" She gave him a nudge in the directing the spiders were pushing them, "think." Alistair turned forward and stood right behind her once again. This time Nal thought it would probably be a fine position to stand. "It seems it's either move forward into their trap – with a slight chance of living – or be caught in the web and be killed now."

"We should probably pick the one where we might live, huh?"

"Yeah, I'd say that's our best option." Nal backed away from the web as Alistair moved forward, her wings pressing into him. They moved slowly enough that they weren't rushing, but quick enough to stay ahead of the net.

The buildings gave away into an open area. In the thaig's prime perhaps it had been a forum, but from what Nal could now see, it looked like a lair.

The net dropped, cutting off the way they came. If someone asked Nal to give an emotion to the spider's chittering, she would have picked excited.

"Nali," Alistair's voice was barely a whisper. "You might want to see this."

She turned around, facing into the ex-forum, to stand beside Alistair. In front of them was the largest spider she had ever seen. Its black chitin skin was split open in places oozing a white ichor. Sharp protrusions, glistening with what was probably venom, jutted from its legs like blades. The eight eyes of the spider were focused solely on its prey and they shone maliciously in the flickering fire light.

The spider was obviously corrupted with the taint.

"Oh shi…" Nali's swear was drowned out by the spider screeching as it charged the two warriors.

Cliff-hanger!

So I was doing more research with a friend about what kind of weapon Nali wields. He said it was not a glaive (which I agreed to, but countered with I couldn't find anything closer), but after a thorough searching (he was the one that found it and he was very proud of that I might add) we came across a Yari. Which is a Japanese spear, however they made a 'straight yari' which was basically a double-bladed dagger stuck on a pole. This is now the closest thing to what Nali wields.

So I have a question for all of you and I would appreciate the feedback. Should I go back and change every mention of the word 'glaive' to 'yari' or should I stick with glaive. I personally would prefer to stay with glaive since I don't see a lot of Japanese people in Dragon Age and it maintains the slight feel of European/English in the game. However, I'm willing to change if you all think it would be better to maintain more accuracy to weapon stylization. No feedback will result in my choice of sticking to 'glaive.' Thank you all for your time and your responses (maybe).