I was beginning to wonder if we would ever find Branka. We had gone through more tunnels and I was starting to lose track of time. How long had we been down here? Weeks? Months? Maybe it was the stifling air of the underground. I would be glad to taste fresh air again. We exited the tunnel and into a larger room. Once we passed through the entrance and were several paces in, a loud slam sounded behind us. We spun around to see a large metal door had slammed shut, blocking our exit.

A woman suddenly appeared on a ledge above us. "Let me be blunt with you," she said. "After all this time, my tolerance for social graces is fairly limited. That doesn't bother you, I hope."

"Shave my back and call me an Elf!" I gave him a look. Really? "Branka? By the Stone, I barely recognized you!"

She didn't seem as happy to see him as he was to see her. "Oghren. It figures you'd eventually find your way here. Hopefully, you can find your way back more easily." She turned her attention to me. "And how shall I address you? Hired sword of the latest lordling to come looking for me? Or just the only one who didn't mind Oghren's ale-breath?"

"Be respectful, woman! You're talking to a Grey Warden!"

That didn't impress Branka. "Ah, so an important errand girl, then. I suppose something serious happened. Is Endrin dead? That seems most likely. He was on the old and wheezy side."

This was supposed to be a great Paragon? I wasn't impressed at all. "His heir, Bhelen, seeks your support to become king."

"Hmm. Bhelen, is it? Twisted cretin, the last I heard. Not surprising he's done so well for himself. I don't care if the Assembly puts a drunken monkey on the throne. Because our protector, our great invention, the thing that once made our armies the envy of the world, is lost to the very Darkspawn it should be fighting. The Anvil of the Void. The means by which the Ancients forged their army of golems and held off the first Archdemon ever to rise. It's here. So close I can taste it."

"Bhelen would change things. Move Orzammar forward." I hoped he would, at least.

"A thousand Bhelens could die and history wouldn't notice. I'm looking for the one thing that will return our days of glory. The Anvil lays on the other side of a gauntlet of traps designed by Caridin himself. My people and I have given body and soul to unlocking its secrets." That was an understatement. "This is what's important. This has lasting meaning. If I succeed, the Dwarves people benefit. Kings, politics... all that is transitory. I've given up everything and would sacrifice anything to get to the Anvil of the Void."

"Obviously," Leliana muttered.

"Does that include Hespith and the others of your house?" Hespith had been right. She was obsessed.

"Enough questions! If you wish me to get involved in this imbecilic election, I must first have the Anvil. There is only one way out, Warden. Forward. Through Caridin's maze and out to where the Anvil awaits."

"What has this place done to you!?" Oghren cried. "I remember marrying a girl you could talk to for one minute and see her brilliance."

"I am your Paragon." She turned away and disappeared.

With the way back blocked, we had no choice but to move forward. We followed the path to a room filled with a green gas and a few golems. I peeked in the room and saw, from the angle I was standing at, two levers on either side of the room. My guess was they were for the gas valves.

"Cover me."

I took a deep breath and darted into the room towards one lever. One of the golems came to life and turned towards me as I reached the lever. I heard steel against stone and knew someone had followed me in. I shut off the valve and turned to see a second one. I ran over and closed the second valve. Now only half the room was filled with the gas. I ran across to the other two levers. I pulled the first lever. My lungs were burning by the time I reached the last lever. Trust me, running while holding your breath, not the best tactic in the world. After the gas cleared, I exhaled and gasped for breath. But only for a moment before I ran headlong into the battle. We defeated the golems. We left the room and continued down a hall to the next room. I disengaged a blade trap, which awoke two golems. After they fell, I disengaged a second blade trap and we were set upon by two more. We defeated them just as easily. Down another hall and to another trap where we had to fight spirits. Which wasn't as easy, but we discovered hitting the nearby anvils dispersed them.

We went down yet another hall and found ourselves in a massive room with several golems lined in a row. Lava flowed down like a waterfall on the far wall. We looked around us, expecting the golems to attack us.

The biggest golem, which looked to be made of metal and not stone like the others, suddenly spoke, causing every one of us to jump. "My name is Caridin. Once, longer ago than I care to think, I was a Paragon to the Dwarves of Orzammar. If you seek the Anvil, then you must care about my story or be doomed to relive it."

I all but gaped. "Caridin? As in the Caridin? Of Caridin's Cross?" I was genuinely surprised.

"Though I made many things in my time, I rose to fame and earned my status based on a single item: the Anvil of the Void. It allowed me to forge a man of steel or stone as flexible and clever as any soldier. As an army, they were invincible. But I told no one the cost. No mere smith, however skilled, has the power to create life. To make my golems live, I had to take their lives from elsewhere."

"Sounds like blood magic. A dangerous road."

"The Darkspawn were pressing in. Originally, I took only volunteers, the bravest of souls willing to trade their very lives for the chance to defend their homeland. But King Valtor became greedy. He began to force men... casteless and criminals... his political enemies... all of them were to be given to the Anvil. It took feeling the hammer's blow myself to realize the height of my crimes."

"So you sealed it away?"

"I entombed myself here to find a way to destroy the Anvil. It must not be used again!"

Branka raced in, having followed us once we had done what she couldn't. "No! The Anvil is mine! No one will take it from me!"

"You! Please, help me destroy the Anvil! Do not let it enslave more souls than it already has!"

"You were a Paragon," I said. "I'll help if you will support a new king." I needed the word of a Paragon. It didn't necessarily have to be Branka.

"Don't listen!" Branka cried. "He's been trapped here for a thousand years, stewing in his own madness. Help me claim the Anvil and you will have an army like you've never seen!"

"Branka, you mad, bleeding, nug-tail!" Oghren exclaimed. "Does this thing mean so much to you that you can't see what you've lost to get it?"

"Look around. Is this what our empire should look like? A crumbling tunnel filled with Darkspawn spume? The Anvil will let us take back our glory!"

"The Anvil enslaves living souls!" I said. "It must be destroyed." Standing for what was right was something the Grey Wardens did. Now that we knew how the Anvil worked, I couldn't allow it to be used again. Who would lose their lives? How many innocent souls would be enslaved in the form of a golem?

"Thank you, stranger. Your compassion shames me," Caridin said.

"No!" Branka cried. "You will not take it! Not while I still live!"

"Branka! Don't throw your life away for this!" Oghren was still trying to get through to his wife. But I feared it was a battle he would not win.

"We have to destroy it, Branka," I said.

"Just give her the blessed thing! She's confused... maybe once she calms down we can talk to her."

"She's obsessed beyond redemption."

"Bah!" Branka snorted. "You are not the only master smith here, Caridin! Golems, obey me! Attack!" She held up a rod of some kind.

"Fuck!" I heard Zevran cry as the golems around us came to life. It described the situation perfectly.

"A control rod! But... My friend, you must help me! I cannot stop her alone!"

We had already drawn our weapons. While the others had their attention on the golems, Alistair and I went after Branka. For a smith, she had skill with the blade. She slammed her shield into me, sending me backward a few paces. I rolled out of the way of a golem's fist. I regained my footing and went back to Branka. She and Alistair were pushing each other with their shields. Alistair saw me running up behind her and gave a massive push. She staggered backward and I crossed my arms. I quickly swung my arms back, catching Branka's neck between my blades. Her head landed before her body realized it was no longer there.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Are you?"

He nodded. Caridin walked up to us. "Another life lost because of my invention. I wish no mention of it had made it into history."

"Yeah, you ain't kidding," Oghren said, bitterly. "Stupid woman. Always knew the Anvil would kill her."

"But at least it ends here. I thank you for standing with me, stranger. The Anvil waits there for you to shatter it."

"It was good to meet you, Paragon," Wynne said. I smiled. Always so polite and full of manners. "I intend to ensure that your warnings about the golems are heard by the Circle of Magi."

"Is there any boon I can grant you for your aid?" Caridin asked. "A final favor before I am freed from my burden."

"I need a Paragon's support to settle an election," I said.

"For the aid you've given me, I shall put hammer to steel one last time and give you a crown for the king of your choice." He turned and walked over to the Anvil.

For a couple hours, the steady rhythm of the hammer banging against steel filled the massive room. We all sat and waited. Leliana and Zevran spoke softly to one another. Even with my hearing, I couldn't understand what they were saying over the hammer's banging. I leaned against Alistair, stealing a small moment with him, our fingers entwined. We both treasured any moment together we could steal. Finally, everything became quiet and Caridin walked towards us with the crown he'd made. We all stood as he approached.

"There." He handed the crown to me. "It is done. Give it to whom you will. I do not wish to hear their names, nor anything more of them. I have already lived far beyond my time. I have no place here."

"I will destroy the Anvil, as agreed."

Caridin and I walked up to the Anvil while the others watched. I picked up the hammer, which wasn't as heavy as it looked. I raised the hammer up and brought it down with all my might. I felt the shock of the impact go through my arms. With a loud crash, it fell to pieces. I looked down at my arms, amazed. There was no way I could have destroyed it with one blow. Maybe a thousand years of disuse and a massive swing did the trick? Caridin looked over my handiwork. He then turned and walked over to the edge. The fall looked like it would take a few minutes.

"You have my eternal thanks, stranger. Farewell. May you always find your way in the dark." He let himself fall over the edge. I could only watch as he fell.

"Creators guide you to your final rest," I whispered.

The others were waiting at the base of the stairs.

"Well," Oghren said, sorrow in his voice. "That pretty much beat the sod out of how I imagined it. You ready to head back and share the news."

"To the Assembly, then."