01. THE CREATURE
The young commander of the Grey Wardens lifted her face up towards the dark sky that clouded over the Wending Woods. It wouldn't take too long before rain would wash down upon them, she predicted.
They strode on through the forest, surrounded by tall greenery wherever they turned. The silence that lingered there was eerie and almost ghost like. Not too long ago, she and her fellow companions were informed that a numerous amount of disappearances had occurred near and within the Wending Woods, the strange activity called for further investigation, as peace keepers of Ferelden.
"How long must we wander through these forests? We have been here for hours and have seen nothing." Nathaniel Howe complained from behind her. Even though she did not feel like she should be even slightly compelled to reply, she did.
"Because there have been nine disappearances in and around the Wending Woods over the past twelve days. That is something we simply cannot ignore."
Nathaniel kept quiet and without even glancing at him, the Commander could easily imagine what his face looked like: miffed. She being a Cousland and he being a Howe didn't put them in the most fortunate circumstances. His father had murdered her family; to avenge them she in return had ended Arl Howe's life at the will of her own blade. Even though they had agreed not to let their past affect the present, the resentment was obviously still there.
"Commander's right y'know." Oghren put in and the Commander appreciated his attempt to support her. "I'll tell ya, there's something strange goin' on 'round here."
Nathaniel let out a deep sigh, the metal of his armor rattling as his arms brushed past the metal. "Fine." He finally said, his eyes cast down upon his boots.
By now the rain had started to fall and the forest path they'd been following had turned into mud.
"Commander, wouldn't it be best if we rested for a little? 'Tis raining after all.." the young new Grey Warden recruit, Neveah asked. She was one of the Dalish elves the Commander had encountered during the Blight, when scouting for recruits within Brecillian Forest. Then she'd only made the impression of a young elf. It was hard to imagine the transition she had made since the first time the Commander and she had met.
"You may be right. We have been traveling for a long time anyway." She agreed sympathetically. "Let's set up camp."
Under the cover of some closely together placed trees, they set up their tents, building a fire which was difficult to maintain due to the rainfall.
Nathaniel poked a stick at the flickering fire, tossing some scrap pieces of dry vellum on the fire as fuel. His eyes gazed into the fire, with the most dazed expression painted on his face. Torment lingered in those eyes, perhaps he didn't want to be here after all – under the command of the woman who had murdered his father. Maybe becoming a Grey Warden was a mistake.
He shook his head furiously, setting those ridiculous thoughts out of his head. Despite being under the command of a woman he loathed, after his father's death, being a Grey Warden had made him feel like he had a purpose again. It made him feel important to others and needed.
Neveah sat farthest away from her companions, her fingers buried in the nest of her golden blond hair. She traced the markings on her face, and a little bittersweet tinted smile passed her face when hearing Oghren 'let out some gas' without shame.
The Commander sought solidarity within her tent, bundled up snugly in a blanket. She had taken off her leather gloves so she could rest her eyes upon the golden band that occupied the ring finger of her right hand.
A pain engulfed her for a moment. It had been three months since she'd seen her husband, the King of Ferelden. She'd been fighting off any possible threats, ignoring her own needs for the sake of the peace that had finally settled in within Ferelden. She missed him dearly, the days that they were together every day, fighting off darkspawn during the raging Blight. But she had no choice – the matters at hand were more important, they had to be more important.
"Commander!" Nathaniel's voice bellowed from outside, and Eleanor snapped back to reality. Grabbing her gloves, she shot out of her tent, rising to her feet.
"What's the matter?"
"I saw something, moving between the trees." Nathaniel said, his head nodding in the northeastern direction.
The Commander narrowed her eyes towards the shadows, rain droplets rolling down her face. It was almost as if the darkness was alive, as if a shadow was moving within it.
"To arms." She commanded coolly, her hand wrapping around the hilt of her blade, the others too rising to their feet. "Quiet."
And then the same eerie silence returned to the Wending Woods, the only audible sound at the moment was the breathing of the four Wardens.
Then she saw a dark figure, moving from tree to tree at an unimaginably high speed. The Commander withdrew her blade and retrieved the Elven bow made of White Wood from her back, taking one arrow and pulling back the string of the bow.
Unfortunately, trying to aim the arrow at the creature was as close to impossible as it got. It moved too fast, and even worse: it was closing in on them.
"What's it doing?" Nathaniel hissed in a whisper, his eyes only briefly meeting the eyes of the Commander who was focusing all her energy on the creature.
"Taunting us, perhaps."
Like a predator it was circling around them, moving a fraction too fast for them to have a clear shot at it. The wardens had subconsciously moved into a battle formation, their backs pressed against each others, trying to track the creature. But it was no use; it seemed to be playing the waiting game. Waiting to attack them, without the Wardens even standing a chance.
Finally the creature emerged from the shadows, and to their surprise it was not a creature at all like they thought: it was a human. But the way it moved said otherwise as well as the wicked look it had in its eyes.
" 'Tis an abomination, it must be." Neveah claimed, her green eyes widening at the sight of it.
The Commander reluctantly nodded her head while studying the creature as it watched them. Its eyes spat uttermost fury, jaw hanging open and back arched as if ready to pounce them.
It was only then when the Commander recognized the face, it was the drunk Blacksmith from Redcliffe whom she had ran into during the Blight when searching for Arl Eamon.
The Commander's eyes widened with horror, her focus weakening as her mind started spinning into the wrong direction. What had they done to him? She questioned herself. It was obvious some kind of demon was simply using the blcksmith's body as a host, but why him?
From the corner of her eye she could see the flash in Oghren's eyes, he was ready to assault the abomination. She could not let that happen – of course it would take care of the problem, the abomination would again be condemned to the Fade but they would have taken an innocent life for it. Above all, it would not prove to be any help with their current investigation. Killing the abomination for now was not an option.
Oghren, of course, was not a telepathic and could not read the Commander's mind at the moment. The dwarf was now mindlessly thinking of how to run his blade through the heart of the abomination is the most effective way.
With a deep growl Oghren stepped out, lunging his blade right for the heart of the abomination. He should have known that the abomination was simply waiting for someone to attack, he should have calculated that the abomination was too fast for any kind of blade to pierce through its skin.
"No, Oghren!" Eleanor's voice cried as the abomination got a hold of the tiny yet brute dwarf.
Before anyone could do anything, a thick mist surrounded them. All reaching blindly into the unknown, they could hear Oghren's growls fade away. The foggy mist lifted slowly, but it was too late. There was no sign of the abomination nor of Oghren.