Disclaimer: Dragon Age and all of its characters belong to BioWare. I do not claim to own any, nor want to get sued. The only thing that is mine is Sura, and a couple characters who will be introduced in the future. If anyone actually reads this, I hope you enjoy! This is my first fanfict, so might be rusty. All constructive criticism is welcome. Hopefully I can slowly improve going into future chapters.

Chapter 1. A Hero is Born

Approximately 9:10 Dragon

Her name, or what it would come to be, was Sura Amell. Sura meaning "she who has power in dreams" as The People said. She was but a baby at this time. Her mother had been a human named Revka Amell and her father a Dalish elf. They had supposedly had an affair while the Dalish were out trading. Her mother, being unable to care for a child, left her in the night within the forest, where she knew the Dalish would find her and take her in.
But all would not be easy for this child, especially among the Dalish as the half-blood she is.

9:28 Dragon - 18 years later [Sura]

Duty. That was something she'd learned to be valued and important among those that surrounded her. It'd been hard, being only half elf and not having family here. Her features were sharp and striking like the elven, but it was her ears she was ashamed of. They were like those of a human. Her hair was a caramel brown. She'd decided early on to have her hair long enough to cover her ears, but short enough to her liking. Her hair was layered to varying lengths with the longest portion being only chin length. She'd always despised long hair. It got in the way on hunts. She could wear it tied up of course, but neither did she like that much. Her eyes were a striking emerald green. Her vallaslin, face tattoos the Dalish get when of age, stretched from her forehead to chin in intricate designs favoring a tree.

She was no stranger to unkind words. She had to prove that she belonged here. She worked hard and did her best to prove herself and be a great hunter for her clan. She'd become quite skilled with a bow, as well as daggers. She was probably one of the stealthiest and best hunters among her peers, rightfully so too.

She had her bow, which she'd made herself once learning how to properly forge ironbark, strapped to her back. Daggers in sheath on both side in her belt. She'd just gotten back from a successful hunt, now making her way to meet her one and only friend among the camp. Their camp was set deep in the Brecilian Forest, for the time being at least. A chill was in the air as winter was soon approaching.

Merrill was the First to the Keeper, but she'd also stood apart from the rest of the clan and never had the luck of making many friends. The only person to be her friend had been Sura. She had short black hair and vallaslin like Sura, though differing design. They were around the same age, with Sura just being slightly taller than Merrill. Between these two friends, a great secret was held.

A couple years back they'd both been walking through the woods. Suddenly to their surprise a wolf had jumped out and had tried to charge Merrill. Sura had screamed, lashing out with her hand by instinct, and by magical force the wolf had been knocked back and injured, limping away. That's when they both discovered Sura had magic and was therefore a mage. They were both, however, scared to tell the clan. Scared of what would happen to Sura and not wanting to be separated. Only a few trained mages were usually allowed in a clan. More than that were considered dangerous. Any other mages found are sent away to another clan in need of a First, or exiled. In the case of Sura being only half elf, she'd likely be exiled.

Since then Merrill had taught Sura magic in secret. They'd grown incredibly close over the years, even to developing feelings and being each other's first kiss. Though they had to keep their feelings for each other as closely guarded as Sura's magic. Among the Dalish you were expected to bond with the opposite sex and bear children. It was part of all of their duties to the clan.

"Aneth ara, Merrill!"

"Why, hello Sura!" Merrill replied with a smile upon seeing Sura come up. That smile was taken away as someone shoved pass, purposely bumping into her.

"Call her by what she really is, Sura, an abomination." This came from Fenarel. A skilled hunter of the same age as Sura and Merrill. This seemed to be a constant theme as of late. The belittling of Merrill by Fenarel and several others. Sura was getting tired of it.

"Shove off, Fenarel. Merrill has done nothing to you or anyone else."

"She's a blood mage! She puts us all at risk!"

"She's not a blood mage!" Sura could fill the rage filling her.

"Oh, yeah? Just like you're not some bloody shem? Neither of you belong here."

A glowing aura surrounded Sura and her eyes began to glow. All of a sudden Fenarel was sent flying back crashing into a near aravel. He lie there unconscious. People rushed over to help while some stopped to gape at Sura.

"I-I'm sorry." Sura gasped out. She knew what would come next. Not only was she a mage half blood, but also injured one of her clan. She took off running for the woods, tears streaming down her face. She could hear Merrill scream out her name behind her, she could hear the tears and hurt behind her scream. But she kept running. She couldn't go back.

9:30 Dragon - 2 years later [Sura]

A scar adorned her right eyebrow. She had been lucky. The knife that put it there had almost killed her. The past two years hadn't been kind at all to Sura. She'd done things she never thought she would in order to survive: lie, steal, murder. She'd become emotionless. At least her magic had become easier to control and hide.

Upon arriving in Denerim, she'd had to result to thieving in order to survive. One night she chose both the wrong.. and right target. The person who she had tried to steal from had been the leader of a guild of assassins. They had no name for themselves as an organization. They saw potential in Sura and took her in, in exchange for her life. Duty ran through Sura's veins. She put her all into everything she did, even this. She quickly rose through the ranks to be considered a master assassin among them.

She wore a hood on her head at all times now, along with a mask. Sura's mask was silver, decorated with fancy and elaborate designs, and covered just half of her face from forehead to her nose. It was the only thing she wore that wasn't black. She dressed in all black leathers so she could blend in at night, down to black fingerless gloves. She had knives stashed in several places among her person. She was always prepared for anything.

Their hideout was is the sewers under the city. Candles were in several places around the room, for the purpose of both light and scent. Sura approached a desk now, where her mentor and leader lean over looking at papers.

"Elise." Sura said with a nod. Sura had never seen the woman's face. They'd all worn masks under their hoods. Her accent was Orlesian.

"Sura, thank you for coming. This is a very important mission and must be seen to immediately. Your target is a Grey Warden named Duncan, he is of middle age, slightly dark skin, with black hair and beard. He should be easily distinguishable by the insignia of the Grey Wardens on his armor, a griffon. Our client is paying a lot of coin for this and you will also be rewarded greatly. Intercept him before he reaches the city tonight."

Sura gave a nod of understanding and turned to leave. That was all she needed, a name. This is what she had become. This is what she had been forced to become.

Nightfall [Sura]

10 miles from Denerim, Sura crouched by the road in wait. She had been so for over an hour now. A horse now approach with a lantern hanging from the side. But something was off. She'd felt this eerie feeling. Suddenly she was tackled behind and knocked out into the road. The person.. no, creature that did so now loom above her. It was a horrifying sight, Sura had never seen anything like it. Before she could kick it off from atop her it bit down into her arm, causing her to scream out. She scrambled away, pulling her daggers out.

"Darkspawn!" The man on the horse behind her shouted. He came to a stop and jumped down. She could hear him unsheathe his weapons and running toward her. She could just make out the symbol of a griffon on his breastplate.

This must be Duncan.

The creature and more of its kind surged forward toward her. She lashed out with her daggers, slitting the throat of one and taking another in the chest. She could hear Duncan to the side of her engaged in combat. She'd never fought this many of anything at once, but that didn't make her any less capable. She weaved through with such fluidity in her step, laying waste to these creatures that were called darkspawn.

She pulled her dagger from the gut of the final creature and turned to face the man that was now walking toward her. Before she could say something, blackness was encroaching on her vision, and she collapsed.

The Next Morning [Sura]

She awoke, head throbbing. She was in a tent. She didn't remember getting here, and only remembered very little of the night before. Was that real? If so, what were those creatures? Her mind, despite the pain, raced with so many thoughts and questions.

"Ah, you're awake." The man named Duncan sat by her side at the bed. He spoke with a slightly Orlesian accent, though it wasn't as thick as others she'd heard.

"I'm sure you have many questions," he continued.

"What happened? What were those creatures? You know what I am, I assume. Why am I here and not dead or arrested?" Sura looked at him with a dubious expression, filled with curiousness. She couldn't fathom why the man saved her. He had to know what she was.

"You were going to kill me, yes, I know. And those creatures are what we Grey Wardens call darkspawn. They're surfacing now because there is a Blight. Grey Wardens are tasked with defending the people from those creatures in time of a Blight. Which leads to why you're here.. you were bitten by one and now have the taint within you. You will die within days, but I can save you."

"Wait, what? How? And why would you do that?"

"By saving you, you would need to go through what we call the Joining and become a Grey Warden. You would not be the first to join under questionable circumstances. I, myself, was recruited after murdering a Grey Warden," he finished with a sad smile. He continued on to further explain the Grey Warden order and some of what would be expected of her.

She thought on this for a minute. She'd been missing for too long, they likely already had sent people after her to finish the job and kill her too. It didn't seem like she had much choice at all. If he was correct, she would die no matter what. Unless she became a Grey Warden, of course.

"Okay.. I'll join."