Teacher's Pet
Something Like A Hero
The apprentice had lasted the longest so far, making it almost a whole month before being unceremoniously pushed down a flight of stairs by his master.
Considering the nature of the Tower, it was a long fall. Fortunately, centuries of use had taken the edges off the stairs which saved the unfortunate student from being outright killed from his ordeal.
All the same, when the boy landed in a boneless heap at the bottom of the staircase most could only stare in mute horror at the bleeding, broken body as he groaned piteously. The Tranquil quickly flitted to his side, each one coolly and calmly attending to the boy's hurts in any way they could, limited as they were by their lack of magic.
And then, as if nothing was out of the ordinary, the boy's master descended and pointedly stepped over the boy's broken body before continuing on his way. His dog followed dutifully at his side, likewise unaffected by the groaning wreck of a young man. The by-now thoroughly horrified crowd of spectators parted quietly before him, many of the younger of their number quietly glad that they hadn't been the one assigned to the terrifying elf.
Hard, pale green eyes snapped to the side, locking onto a young apprentice, who startled when they realized that the mage's attention was on them, and then he spoke.
"Tell the First Enchantress that I have taught the boy everything he will ever need to know from me." Alim Surana commanded, and left them.
Another apprentice to the Warden had failed to impress.
The day he returned marked the final day of the old Circle. After that, everything changed.
After Uldred's insurrection the tower had stood silent, with only a scattering of mages that had been fortunate enough to be outside when he struck safe from the Rite of Annulment. The few who did return quickly found reasons to leave once again, as the templar presence seemed particularly menacing.
Things had been tense before the Rite, as each and every one of those who had lived there knew in a distant way what might happen if they should succumb. But now that menace was a reality, what with the thin ranks of Enchanters to instruct a slowly increasing number of new apprentices. The Chantry had even had to send away to other Circles in order to fully fill out their ranks. It would take decades before things could fully return to the way they had been.
And so it was that the few mages who did remain in the tower remembered well the day the Grey Warden returned, flanked by a pair of templar and wearing an expression like murder waiting to happen. The two templar followed him like a pair of very loud shadows, dogging his steps wherever he went, but they did so at a distance. There was terrible promise in that expression that made even seasoned warriors trained to resist magecraft wary.
He was escorted up to his new rooms on the third floor, where he reportedly collapsed onto his bed and slept for a day before regaining consciousness and groggily demanding breakfast of the four templar that now watched his door and threatening death by lightning should his demands not be met.
Considering how the tale of the epic battle against the Arch-demon had spread through the land, starting from the mouths of those who had witnessed it personally and then changing with each retelling, his request was quickly taken care of.
It was the first time that anyone could remember that the balance of power had in any way shifted between mage and templar. Whether it was out of respect or fear, the tower now housed someone who could make demands of the templar and expect to see them obeyed. Even if they were as simple as 'get me food'.
Which was why many of the other mages were hugely disappointed when Alim Surana, the Hero of Ferelden, promptly refused the offer to become the First Enchanter.
"I've had enough of leading people." He had told Knight-Commander Greagoir. "Find some other fool to lead these sheep."
Very few people had heard the last part of the conversation, but those who did felt like they'd been slapped. There was still quite a bit of hero-worshipping going on, and to be so rebuked and insulted ensured that few would ever be quick to welcome him ever again.
Not that he'd seemed to mind.
From that day on, as new mages slowly trickled in and enchanters were raised, there seemed to emerge a new balance of power: the Circle and the Templar, who continued much as they had before, and the Warden, who stood apart from both. Certainly he was a member of the Circle and obeyed their laws and protocol, but nobody dared to command or coerce him. They were too worried of what they might have to do if he refused to obey.
There were of course attempts to bring him back into the fold: he was invited to instruct classes, or give seminars. He was offered a wide selection of apprentices who were at first eager to learn but shortly after quietly terrified of the elf that seemed to take a special pleasure in demonstrating just how ill-prepared they were to deal with him.
None of them had been outright maimed before, though. The latest apprentice, an insufferably clever boy named Joff Allsthorne, had apparently learned the hard way that sometimes it is better to simply give up a losing battle.
But what was perhaps the most horrifying part of it all was the knowledge that nobody would stop sending him impressionable and hopeful youths eager to learn from what was quite possible the most powerful mage in Ferelden. Ambitious Enchanters hoping to glean secrets through their students would send him their protégés, eager young apprentices would line up at his door for the chance to gain his attention and even some of the more amorous members of the Circle would briefly entertain the notion of getting closer to the man before they all came up against the same obstacle: Alim Surana was terrifying.
From his dark robes lined with goldthread and dark feathers, his scarred body and the menacing staff with him at all times, Alim Surana was every bit of him the image of what everyone considered to be an evil mage. The hound that was ever at his side, large and fearsome enough to make the relatively frail mages uncomfortably aware of how easy it would be for the creature to kill and devour them, certainly did not help matters. That the man seemed to be incapable of saying anything without putting pure acid into every word, or never once bothered to even look at those he so casually insulted did nothing to encourage others to persist.
But those he did take the time to glare at were instantly reminded that they were standing before a man who had killed thousands in order to save Ferelden, and not all of them had directly opposed him. A lot of them had simply been in his way.
Yes, it was safe to say that the Grey Warden was a faction all of his own in the tower. Nobody would dare to stand with or against him.
After what happened with Joff there were precious few that dared to try to take his place. For a time, the reclusive mage had peace.
And then one morning he was confronted by another young apprentice, who wore a nervous but keen smile.
Alim Surana sighed, and then pointedly turned away from her as he went about his business. His dog followed closely at his side, panting happily to be moving once more.
Undeterred by this the young woman follow just behind.
"Hello!" She greeted cheerfully, hoping that if she showed enough eagerness that she would somehow cause the elf to suddenly change his ways. She was painfully unaware that this tactic had already failed spectacularly several times before "My name is-
"Irrelevant." Alim Surana interrupted bluntly.
That seemed to take a bit of the wind out of the girl's sails, but she kept on trying.
"Senior Enchanter Hareld asked me to-"
"Risk life and limb to try and find out how I can do the things he only fantasizes about," The elf broke in once again without missing a beat, snorting derisively after having done so. "Do yourself a favour, girl, and find someone else's ass to kiss. The one you're currently servicing is likely to get you killed. Gared hasn't sent me anyone yet: he probably cares what happens to his sycophants. You might want to consider becoming one of them."
"But I want to learn from you!" the young woman said desperately, as if that would fix everything.
The elf paused midstride for a moment before whirling on the unfortunate apprentice so quickly that she recoiled in sudden fear.
"Then I will teach you the most important lesson of all: do not interfere in my affairs, or I will destroy you." The elf instructed coldly, and from below a low growl erupted from the hound at his side. "If you continue to bother me, I will demonstrate my willingness to do so. Do you understand?"
"But-"
This seemed to be exactly the wrong thing to say, because the moment it left the young woman's mouth the elf cuffed her soundly across the face, instantly silencing any further protest before it could be voiced. The hallway they were moving through was empty save for a few templar, but they knew better than to interfere. Even if things did get more heated than they already were, the Warden was more than capable of ending it. That it might also end the apprentice didn't seem to bother them overly much.
"Do you understand?" The elf demanded, harsher this time.
The young mage glared rebelliously at the elf even as she tenderly clutched her cheek. But she said nothing, staying mutinously quiet in the face of the question.
Alim Surana struck her harder this time, sending the girl staggering into the stone wall.
The apprentice recovered quickly, and the air around her rippled as she opened a connection to the Fade to draw upon magic.
But almost as soon as she did her connection was snuffed out by a storm of power from the elf. It was only then that the girl realized the man she had hoped to learn from was so much more than a legend: he was a terrifying reality. If the elf took it into his head that this annoyance of an apprentice was better off dead, then there was nothing she could hope to do to stop it from happening.
And the Templar were doing nothing to help her.
Without any noticeable effort, lightning danced into life around his hand. The arcing lances of scintillating death chirping merrily as the mage slowly brought it to bear in front of the apprentice's face. She stared hard at it, a look of pure terror on her face.
"Do not test me, girl." The elf hissed. "I'll ask you one last time: do you understand?"
The apprentice's eyes widened with sudden fear before she nodded hastily, scrabbling away.
Alim Surana smiled that twisted grin of his, and then returned to his studies.
He knew it would only be a matter of time before they sent someone new, but until that time he could enjoy the silence of solitude.
AN: Hello.
Not a whole lot to say 'bout the story so far. Pretty much we have a case of a villain-protagonist Grey Warden after the Blight coming back home and showing everyone what a great big asshole they helped raise.
Because it takes a village. (Or a tower, as the case may be.)
Why is our hero so angry and cruel, you ask? More on that later!
Next chapter will start the story proper with the introduction of the newest apprentice. As you could probably guess from the title of the story, they'll probably be met with success of a kind.
And then I will spend the rest of the story twisting them.
An important thing to remember is that, unless I specifically tell you otherwise, this story ignores DA2. Why? Because while I enjoyed it, (I realize that might be an unpopular opinion, but I have my reasons. Also, screw other people's opinions.) I liked DAO much better. Also, I wanted Cullen in the story. For reasons.
Lastly: I do not own the DA franchise nor am I receiving any pay for this. Really. If I did, the world would crack down the middle because clearly that cannot be true.