A/N: This is the third chapter in my Grey Trilogy. If you have not read The Grey Year and The Grey Return, I suggest you do before you begin reading this. It will make more sense that way. I want to thank all you readers who have reviewed and enjoyed Carver's adventures. Well, without further delay, I present to you The Grey Avatar!
Dragon Age: Grey Avatar
Chapter 1: Nightmares
"Carver."
The voice echoed through the misty landscape. He looked around; trying to find its source, sadly this…mist…this fog was too thick to see the hand in front of his face.
Carver Hawke began to grow frustrated; it felt like he had been wandering here for hours!
Still…he did not lose hope; he had faced many strange things since joining the Grey Wardens. Whatever was going on…he did not doubt that he had the strength to deal with it.
In many ways he was a poster child for what a grey warden was supposed to be, his short black hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and broad shoulders were all clear examples what the order wanted its recruits to be. Handsome enough to be viewed positively by the people of Thedas and tough enough to do the hard jobs the order demanded of him. He had been a skilled warrior before joining the order, but the training he had gained since had only made him better. As the mundane son of an Apostate mage, Carver possessed no magic himself, but he could sense magic, and though the power in his blood was too weak to use, he could focus his Templar training, another gift from the order, with it, without needed to resort the lyrium that they used.
Those abilities had saved his life many times over the last three years, and they made him valuable to his companions and fellow wardens.
"Carver?"
Again the voice, he searched for the source, still finding nothing. His temper was starting to flare.
He took a deep cleansing breath, and tried to focus, anger would not see him through what he faced, Carver's training was not the way of the Berserker, but the cold calculating demands of a seasoned soldier, and…after more than three years of fighting the darkspawn, he considered himself extremely seasoned.
"I grow weary of this game," he shouted into the mists, "Come out and face me, enough of this."
Two figures emerged from the shadows, he reached out with his magical senses, but they were of no use here.
It…it was strange, he felt the low hum of magic everywhere.
He drew his great sword readying himself for trouble.
"You won't attack us, will you love?" a familiar voice said.
"He might dearest," a second voice added, "He has always been too high-strung for his own good."
Carver froze, he…he knew those voices!
The figures emerged from the mist, a man and a woman, middle aged, and both dressed in the clothes of Ferelden farmers. The man carried a bladed staff, and kept the woman behind him.
Carver's eyes widened in shock, it…no…it could not be!
"Mother?" he gasped, "Father?"
Malcolm and Leandra Hawke nodded to their youngest son.
Carver almost threw down his weapon and embraced the pair; this…this was impossible, yet wonderful at the same time. His parents…they…they were both dead now, Father when he was fifteen, Mother only a few short months ago. They were…
Carver stopped; the hardness in their eyes brought him up short.
They…they were angry with him.
"Carver," his Father said giving him a stern look, "Son…what have you done?"
"I don't understand Father?" he replied.
"Bethany," Leandra added, tears flowed down the old woman's face, "My sweetheart, my dearest little girl, what have you done to her?"
Carver gasped, he…he had not expected this.
"I saved her Mother," he said quickly, "I…I was able to bring her back, to give her a second chance at life!"
"Magic cannot revive the dead son," his Father said coldly, "Your sister was gone, she was with us, at the Maker's side."
"And you ripped her from us?" Mother sobbed, "You put her soul into a monster!"
"No," Carver shouted, "that…that is now what happened! The Avatar…it…it was going to destroy the world! It needed a soul to give it a conscience…a chance to make its own choices…to live a true life."
"That…thing is an Abomination!" Malcolm Hawke growled, "It is a profanity of everything your sister was! When it dies, her soul will be cast into the void, you…you have damned her son with your cruel selfishness!"
Carver stepped back, his heart was racing in his chest, he felt like he was eight years old again.
Had he done wrong?
Had he condemned his sister's soul to the void?
"Father, Mother…please," he begged, "I…I meant Beth no harm, I was only trying to…"
"To cheat the Maker," Leandra said coldly, "To cheat death itself!"
"Your sister will pay for what you have done," Malcolm continued, "She will be corrupted by the power of that thing; she will die a monster's death."
"You were always a disappointment," Leandra sneered, "Never worthy of being our son, you will never be as skilled as your brother, and you were so jealous of your sister you brought her back as this…this horror!"
"No," Carver sputtered, "I didn't mean…"
"You are a disgrace son," Malcolm said coldly, "a disgrace!"
Carver fell to his knees; this…this wasn't some kind of miracle seeing his parents again…
It was a nightmare.
He sank to the ground unable to defend himself, lost in guilt and regret.
Leandra smiled wickedly.
"It is time, husband," she purred, "Time to feed."
Malcolm Hawke nodded, his eyes glowing with an unholy light.
Both advanced on the emotionally drained young man.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
A large black shape slammed into Malcolm Hawke…or rather the thing pretending to be Malcolm Hawke, the creature squealed, trying to escape.
Powerful jaws tore out the creature's throat.
Malcolm Hawke vanished; in his place laid a demon…a creature of sloth. It had been one of the most powerful creatures in the fade, but against its opponent…it was nothing.
Carver looked up; the death of the Malcolm thing had freed him from its glamour. He…he had been saved.
He could only stare in shock.
It…it was a wolf, a long, black, sleek she-wolf. Its eyes glowed green with magic, power that rumbled like thunder in his ears.
The Leandra demon backed away slowly, the wolf rose and began to stalk her prey. The demon tried to invade the creature's mind, but it was no use.
A simple demon was no match for the Avatar of Fen'Harel.
"No," the Leandra demon sobbed, "It…it wasn't my fault…we…"
"You dare," the wolf growled angrily, her green eyes flaring with magic, "You dare invade my brother's dreams and tried to harm him?"
Carver gasped.
"Bethany?"
"Forgive my intrusion brother," the wolf said, "I…I sensed your fear…your pain. I…I'm not sure how I found my way to you, but the fade is always a mystery…even to a mage such as myself."
Carver could not believe it; Bethany was somehow here with him. Since her…rebirth…resurrection by the dread wolf Fen'Harel, she had changed much. She had powers now that even she did not understand. She was still his sister though, she still loved him as a brother, which he was grateful for. Even though He recognized that she was more than just his sister now.
She was more than a simple mage.
She was the Avatar…a demigod.
And she was now very…very angry.
"Please…We…we only did as we were summoned," the Leandra demon sobbed, she backed away, crying…trying to draw sympathy from the wolf.
The Avatar did not fall for the creature's glamour. She was stronger than that now.
The wolf's eyes flared.
The demon returned to its natural hideous state.
"You profane our Mother's memory by taking that form," the wolf growled, "Now…you shall pay for trying to hurt my brother!"
The demon squealed, a door formed behind it, it tried to flee through it.
The wolf lunged; it ended the demon with a quick snap of its jaws.
Just like that…it was over.
Carver approached the wolf, she spat out what she had torn from the demon, sputtering and gasping from the foulness of it.
"Horrible taste," she whimpered, "Horrible!"
Carver could not help but laugh.
The wolf looked at him.
"What?" Bethany asked defensively.
He smiled.
"You reminded me of the time that Rabbit ate Mother's spiced ham…he was spitting and sputtering for an hour."
Bethany's eyes widened, Rabbit was their brother Garrett's Mabari war hound.
Her wolf's eyes narrowed. She growled, even though her mouth curled into what might have been an amused smile.
"Very funny Carver," she snorted, "Perhaps I should have let those creatures eat you, then they would be sputtering right now."
He couldn't stop grinning.
"You can enter people's dreams," he said thoughtfully.
"So it seems," she replied.
"I hope you haven't tried that when I have been dreaming about Arika," he said, "Those dreams…well…they are a little more intimate than what I would like to share."
The wolf's eyes turned embarrassed.
Arika was Carver's fiancé, a fellow warden and a reaver from the mountains of Nevarra. She had trained Carver during his first year in the order. Over the months the two had become close.
They had been lovers now for almost two years.
Bethany had only met her a few times, she had to admit, the girl was exotic to say the least. Blonde hair, blue eyed, with foxlike features and a tattooed chin.
When she had still been just plain Bethany…back before she had…had…left. She would have been terrified of the girl, but she was slowly beginning to realize that reavers were not so different from anyone else in Thedas.
Arin had taught her that.
The wolf smiled, she felt her tail starting to curl.
"Sister?" Carver said.
The wolf bowed her head, right…she…she needed to apologize.
"I…I did not mean to invade your privacy," the wolf said, "But…I…I felt that you were under attack, I could not let them hurt you. I'm sorry brother."
Carver chuckled, considering Bethany could annihilate him with barely a thought, her apology struck him as amusing.
Besides, given the circumstances, he could not be angry with her. As a boy he would have been furious with her, would have insisted that he could have escaped those demons on his own.
He was maturing in his old age.
"Thanks," he replied, "You could have gotten one to talk first, find out who summoned them here."
Bethany considered what he said.
"Oops," she whispered.
Maybe it was his imagination, but Carver could swear that he heard the sound of distant laughter at her admission.
He sensed nothing, but he had the feeling that they were still being watched.
He suspected that the dread wolf was watching Bethany…keeping an eye on his young pup.
Yes, she was still his sister, he accepted that, but she was now Fen'Harel's daughter as well.
He needed to remember that.
"You are a wolf when you dream?" he had to admit, he was surprised, most people looked as they did in the real world in their dreams.
Father had told him that.
"I…I am many things," she confessed, "Sometimes myself, sometimes a wolf, I…I cannot control what form I take here. I'm…I'm still not sure what I truly am brother. Commander Cesare has allowed me to try to find answers in the warden library, but I'm afraid there is not much to study about the elven gods."
Carver frowned. Since Bethany's return, she had been confined to the Warden Fortress at Ansburg by Warden Commander Cesare, a prince and former crow assassin turned warden. He had placed her in protective custody, shielding her from both the Chantry and the Dalish elves who might try to harm her. So far, he seemed to be living up to that promise. The man claimed to have his sister's best interests at heart, but…
But…
Carver was not so sure.
"It is strange Carver," Bethany said thoughtfully, "On one hand I feel stronger than ever, but at the same time…my spells…they seem no different than when we lived in Lothering. I have spoken with some of your fellows, those that were there when I…came back. The spells that the Avatar uses, I do not know them…why is that?
He had no answer, he was no mage.
"I…I'm scaring you, am I?" she asked, "I…I mean you…and your friends no harm. I'm in full control of my powers. You…you can trust me."
He nodded, he did not understand magic, but in this he did not need to.
He trusted Bethany.
"Will you be back in Ansburg tomorrow?" she asked.
Carver nodded, his scouting group had been called to deal with a group of darkspawn raiders, but now they were on their way back to base.
The wolf seemed to smile.
"Come and visit me when you return," she said, "I…I have missed your company brother."
"Of course sister," he promised.
The wolf turned away, she made her way back slowly through the mists.
She began to disappear.
"Bethany…wait."
"Good night brother," she said as she faded away, "Sweet dreams."