Chapter 1

Margaret stood a moment, waiting for her soft blue eyes to adjust after she entered the dark tavern in Redcliffe. She looked around carefully. It was early in the evening and the tavern was sparsely populated. No one in the room matched the description of the person she was looking for. 'What a strange place to find the Warden-Commander.' she thought. She went to the bar and watched as a rotund balding man approached her, wiping his hands on his dirty apron.

"Whatcha want, sweetie?" he leered.

She glared at him, "Information."

He looked at her distrustfully, "Ah, now, what sorta information were ya lookin' for?"

"I'm looking for someone who was last seen in your fine establishment." She said, wondering how this man could look at her so leeringly when she was dressed in full armor, all hot and sweaty from her long trek.

"Well, depends on how much coin you're willin' ta spend." He leaned against the bar, bringing his bearded face close enough for her to smell his foul breath.

Margaret rolled her eyes and put a few silver coins on the bar. "A woman, about my height, blue eyes, short dark brown hair and traveling with a Mabari Warhound."

"Ah...I'm sorry ta say, ya missed her," he said, warily.

Margaret looked at him intensely. "You aren't lying to me are you? I am under the Queen's orders to find this woman."

The bartender looked at her, surprised. "Now, why would the Queen want her, I wonder? Revenge maybe?"

Margaret looked at him in surprise, "Revenge? No. I'm to accompany her to Amaranthine."

"I thought she said she turned down that post." An elderly man from a nearby table put in.

The bartender nodded, "Yes, that's one of the few things she did say while she was here."

"I'm glad she left." Another man added. "Her dog gave me the creeps!"

"Do you know where I can find her?" Margaret asked, her frustration mounting.

The bartender nodded, "She only just left this morning. She was headed north."

Margaret left the tavern and walked briskly to the north-south highway. " If I hurry, maybe I can catch her on the road."

...

Beth leaned back against the tree watching as Bear, her very large, overly enthusiastic Mabari Warhound, chase a squirrel high into the treetops. "At least he's having fun," she thought.

Bear suddenly lost interest in the squirrel and stood at attention, staring intently out of the woods towards the road. Beth drew her dual daggers, and twirled them. She hid in the shadows of the trees watching as a lone soldier, a woman, was hurrying on the road. Beth recognized the insignia on her armor. It was that Royal Guard who had been following her. Gritting her teeth, she waited for the guard to pass, then leapt at her from behind. She knocked the guard down, rolled her over and put a dagger to her throat. Bear stood nearby growling fiercely.

"Why are you following me?" Beth hissed.

"Warden-Commander! I am Margaret, Queen Anora has sent me. You are requested to report to your post at Vigil's Keep." Margaret said quickly.

Beth let Margaret up and the two women stood, appraising each other.

"I told the Queen, I do not want that post." Beth said angrily. "Too many memories at Vigil's Keep," she thought.

Margaret said, "Yes, so I've heard. The Orlais Grey Wardens have arrived and you are needed to re-establish the Ferelden Wardens."

Beth looked down at Bear, who had stationed himself at her left side. She absently scratched his head, thinking. "I will go with you, but only until we have enough Wardens, then the Queen will have to appoint a new commander," she said firmly.

"We need to hurry. It has taken me longer than expected to find you. A message was sent to the Senaschal alerting him of our arrival." Margaret said.

Beth looked at Bear and muttered, "Fine. Do we ever do anything slowly?"

...

They walked briskly, long after nightfall. Finally, as Margaret was about to collapse in exhaustion, Beth left the main road. She set up camp in a small circle of trees. Beth watched as Margaret took off her shield, sword, and backpack then unrolled her bedroll. She smiled at the extravagance the woman went through to ensure there were no rocks underneath the material. Beth sat leaning against a tree with Bear at her side, the dog already snoring. She had been traveling too long to worry about comfort.

Drifting on the edge of sleep, Beth rested. She only allowed herself to sleep soundly when she was alone. It wasn't that she didn't trust Margaret, staying alert was the only way to hold off the nightmares. If she wasn't focusing her mind on a task, it took her to places and times she would rather forget.

Bear twitched in his sleep, rousing her. She listened carefully to the sounds around her. Crickets chirped, frogs croaked and leaves rustled in the slight breeze. Convinced it was just a dog dream that caused him to stir, she closed her eyes again. She had been remembering another camp during the frantic year of the 5th Blight and it brought tears to her eyes. She had made many good friends,and all but two had returned to their homes and lives. The two that didn't had died. One by her own hand, the other sacrificing himself for her. She wiped the grief away with the tears and opened her eyes. The pink hues of sunrise were in the sky and she stood and stretched. Pulling her canteen from her small pack, she took a drink, noting that she needed to refill soon.

Margaret was still asleep, so she looked at Bear and said, "Wake her up, boy."

Bear was more than happy to oblige. A Mabari Warhound is no casual pet. They have been bred to be killing machines. They are smart, big, brutish dogs, weighing a least a hundred fifty pounds with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Bear was a fierce fighter, but he was a lovable brute too. Now he jumped on Margaret, giving her big slobbery dog kisses.

"Eww, yuck!" She yelled, "Get off me, you dumb dog!"

Bear backed up, laughing, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Beth smiled and patted the dog. "Good boy." To Margaret she said gruffly, "No time to sleep in. Let's get moving."

Margaret looked at Beth angrily, but she got up and packed her stuff.

Beth stood waiting impatiently. If she had to do this, she wanted to get going.

...

They walked briskly again that day. Margaret tried unsuccessfully to start a conversation, but the warden ignored every attempt. She was starting to worry about having to serve under such a difficult woman. The stories she had heard from soldiers who fought with her, told of a totally different person. Someone who was caring and compassionate. Someone you would willingly give your life to protect. This woman seemed to only care about that blasted dog.

Again they walked long after darkness fell before Beth finally headed off the road to make camp. Margaret watched as the warden set up camp. Her version of a camp was to build a small fire, eat dried jerky, nuts and berries, then lean against a tree to sleep. The dog would run off to kill some poor defenseless creature for his dinner, then curl up at her side. Margaret rooted in her pack for her food supplies. She had purchased a small amount of dried beef and fresh vegetables in Redcliffe and she was going to make herself a hot meal.

Beth watched in amusement as Margaret went to great lengths to get a small pot and some foodstuffs out of her pack. She shook her head, chewing on her jerky. This woman was part of the Queen's royal guard alright: pampered and soft. Beth noticed a small stream sparkling in the moonlight. She refilled her canteen and washed some of the grime from her hands and face.

Margaret sat on her bedroll, enjoying her homemade soup. She had been lucky. The trip to Redcliffe from Denerim hadn't been difficult and there had been a lot of people on the road. Some were refugees, heading to Redcliffe and further west to resettle. She had been able to travel with someone almost every step of the way and share stories to make the time pass. Her only consolation for this trip was that at the pace this warden set, they would reach Vigil's peak by the next nightfall.

Beth settled herself against a tree by the small fire and closed her eyes. Margaret was annoying. Her constant attempts at chatter were grating on Beth's nerves. She closed her eyes and began the meditation techniques that her friend Leliana had shown her to calm her mind. A smile shadowed across her face as she remembered her friend.

Margaret settled into her bedroll after cleaning up from her meal. She glanced at the warden and saw a slight smile pass over her lips. 'I wonder what she's thinking about?' Margaret thought, rolled over, and putting her back to the Warden-Commander, went to sleep.

...

Beth stood and stretched in the pre-dawn morning. Bear had run off to hunt and she spotted a bush full of ripe berries. Her mind wandered as she picked the ripest to eat now and put others into her pack for later. She thought about the guard who was curled up in her bedroll, still sleeping. "I'll be glad when she goes back to the queen," she thought.

Margaret huddled in her bedroll, it was chilly this morning and she was delaying getting up. "At least I'll be in a bed tonight," she thought happily. The dog was trotting into camp from butchering another innocent creature when she stood up. "No slobbering on me today, dog," she said.

"His name is Bear," Beth said.

Margaret started. She hadn't heard the warden approach. "Bear." The dog wagged his stump of a tail happily when she said his name. "Maybe he isn't such a bad dog after all," and she reached out to pet him. He promptly snapped and growled at her.

"Don't try to pet him." Beth stated nonchalantly.

Margaret glared at her. "Well, you could have said that first." She examined her hand to make sure all her fingers were still there. When she looked up, the warden and the dog were already walking towards the road. She had to run to catch up.

The north-south highway diverged at a little town called Farmington. The northwest road led to Highever and Orzammar, the northeast road lead to the Bannorn and Amaranthine. Vigil's Keep was an old fort on the way to the port city of Amaranthine. The road up to Farmington had wound through wooded areas. Once they turned onto the northeast road, forests were slowly replaced by farmlands and pastures.

Margaret would have given anything to have stopped in Farmington, but the warden didn't even pause. In fact, if she didn't know any better, it was as if the warden was avoiding the little town. Margaret longed for a real meal, a bath and a nice bed. Looking at the sky, she got even more depressed. Big dark clouds were rolling in. "Just great. Now I get to be wet too," she grimaced at the sky.

The rain began later in the day. Big fat drops bouncing on the dry road. As they approached the keep, the smaller the drops became and the harder they fell. Margaret looked at the dog and was dismayed to see him jumping through the puddles and muddy rivers on the road. Suddenly, the dog stopped and was standing very still, growling low. The warden had stopped too and had a strange look on her face.

As they approached the keep, Beth suddenly felt something she hadn't felt in six months, the sixth sense that came with being a warden; there were darkspawn ahead. Beth looked at Bear, he had picked them up too, with either his excellent nose or his acute hearing.

A soldier came running towards them. "Don't go that way!" he shouted, "Darkspawn have overrun the keep."

Beth looked at the man, "I thought there were Grey Wardens here."

"There are...were...I don't know anymore. The darkspawn surprised us and there is one among them that can speak, " he said, constantly looking behind him.

"Grey Wardens do not get surprised by darkspawn and darkspawn don't speak." Beth said firmly.

Margaret watched the exchange with interest. This was the most the warden had talked in three days, but as she watched her, she could see the warden was suspicious of the news the soldier brought. Suddenly, Beth drew her daggers, twirling them, Bear barked and growled furiously and they charged towards the keep. Margaret and the soldier followed with swords drawn. Margaret was stunned at the sight of Beth slashing at a hideous creature. It stood on two legs and was a head taller than the warden. It had a huge battle axe and was swinging it wildly at her. Beth easily dodged the attack, jumped and thrust both daggers into the beast's chest, killing it. As it went down, Beth pulled out her daggers and leapt to join Bear who was attacking a creature that looked like an animated skeleton. This creature was unable to fire arrows from its bow due to Bear's assault, then Beth reached it and slashed its hands off. Twirling as if in a dance, Beth slashed both daggers across the creatures neck, beheading it.

Beth stood a moment and looked at the darkspawn. Shaking her head, she picked up the bow and quiver of arrows, then walked over to the other corpse and picked up the double bladed axe. She looked at the guard and the soldier who were watching her. She shrugged at them, "Let's go see what kind of mess this is." Then she started walking towards the keep.

Margaret looked at the soldier, "My name is Margaret Treange of the Royal Guard, I'm escorting the Warden-Commander. You are?"

"Fenton. Fenton Warshing of the Amaranthine Guard. That's the Warden-Commander?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes and we better catch up with her," she said.