Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or its characters, Dragon Age is owned by Bioware.
This is my first EVER fan fiction so please be gentle =D I hope you enjoy!!
Dragon Age: A New Origin
Ailia ran through the Forest, not daring to look back. The wet forest floor was making her footsteps slippery and treacherous, splashing mud all up her legs and on her robe. Branches were clawing at her body, tearing at her robe and leaving scratches all over her arms and face. She did not realise though, adrenaline was pumping through her veins, making her oblivious to all pain. Her only thought was get the fuck out of there.
A man yelled from behind her, barking out orders. He sounded so close. How did they get so close? They were in heavy plate armour after all. Surely that would make chasing her very difficult, especially through a forest as thick as this one.
She reached a small clearing with a stream running through it, her foot snagged on an exposed root, sending her falling face first into the water. She hit the stream with a loud splash, which echoed through the empty clearing, making it 10 times louder than it was. Cursing to herself for being so clumsy, she stumbled onto her feet. More yelling was coming from the trees, much closer this time, the sound of her fall had given away her position and now they were coming for her.
The sound of twig snapping made her spin round and sure enough, 4 Templars were standing across the stream, swords raised.
Her legs started moving on there accord, slowly edging backwards towards the edge of clearing, begging her to start running again and disappear. Which is when she noticed it; one of the Templars had a small vial round his neck with a red liquid inside. Her phylactery.
Suddenly she didn't feel like running, if she could destroy it they wouldn't be able to find her, she would be free.
"There's no where to where to run you filthy apostate!" One of the Templars yelled from under his Helm, "Give it up!"
"I'm not going back there!" She found herself crying, as she started summoning her magic to the forces of nature, controlling them, "I'd rather die!"
"Then so be it!" He charged towards her and the rest followed but before they could even reach the other side of the stream, the ground shook making them stop in there tracks and one of the Templars screamed.
She had brought two trees next to her to life and they were advancing towards them.
"Stay vigilant men!" The Templar cried but the shakiness in his voice gave away his fear, "The Maker will watch over us!"
This only made her laugh. Oh how so very naïve.
"The "Maker" has left you, you idiotic Templar!" She laughed, "I'm in control now!" And with that she brought her arms swiftly up, magic pulsing round her hands and sending a sharp, overgrown root up under the templar and impaling him in the back. His breath caught in throat as blood seeped out his mouth and ears.
"I'm sure this forest will make use of you all" she said quietly with a slight smile playing across her lips.
The remaining Templars swore and tried to run but vines sprang from her trees, wrapping themselves around their bodies, slowly squeezing the life out of them. Ailia walked over to the Templar with her phylactery, and plucked it from his neck. She looked up and saw the vines wrapping round his skull and crushing his helmet. The sound of bones cracking rang through the forest, as blood spilled through the vines falling into the water.
She turned on her heel and walked away from the men, dropping her phylactery into the water as she went, leaving the forest to deal with the fallen Templars.
o.O.o
It had been about a year since Ailia Sumara had escaped from the circle and she had been on the run ever since, never staying in the same place for more than one night. Keeping to wooded areas and only venturing out to small villages when in need of supplies. She even sold her staff the first chance she got, it would attract too much attention and people would instantly know she's a mage and start questioning why she was outside the circle. She didn't mind too much, she could produce magic perfectly well without a staff and it was one less thing to carry. These precautions were necessary; if the Chantry ever got a hold of her she would be as good as dead.
Today was one of the days she had to go get supplies as she was running dangerously low on food. Luckily there was a village nearby where she had been camping, it was very small with not much of a Chantry and so far she had seen only 2 Templars. No one should recognise her and if they do, dispatching 2 or 3 Templars should be no trouble.
After purchasing all the supplies she needed to last her a couple of weeks, she noticed a small tavern near the edge of the village. The thought of a cool glass of Ale right now sounded like heaven. She pulled her hood up and made her way over to the tavern, keeping to the shadows as much as possible so no one would take notice to her.
After slipping into the tavern un-noticed and buying a drink, she found a small table in the corner and sat herself down. The Ale is cool and refreshing and quite strong. She better stick to just the one ale, trying to outrun Templars while drunk is harder than you think.
She looked around at her surroundings. The tavern was small and dusty; she could see the specks of dust dancing around in the small stream of light the window offered. The furniture was simple and looked like it needed a good clean. She wrinkled her nose and found she was glad she wasn't ordering anything to eat.
So far, there was only men in the tavern, excluding the waitress, who was old enough to be her grandmother. Nearly all of them were drunk, except one man by the bar that caught her interest and stuck out like a sore thumb. He was wearing a long white robe, with silver armour across his chest and a blade strapped on his belt. Both the blade and armour was of fine make and she was quite surprised he hadn't been robbed. Or he had been robbed but just didn't give them a chance to get away, who knows. He was quite good looking as well, even though he was about 20, 30 years her senior, his Black beard and hair that was tied back in a ponytail made him look quite dashing.
A fist slamming down on the table suddenly brought her out of her train of thought. She looked up and one of the drunks was staring down at her.
"We don't like your kind in here!" he growled.
She raised an eyebrow quizzically "and what kind is that?" she asked.
"A mage!"
That sent her eyebrows way up. How did he...? when she suddenly looked down at her hand and saw it. A small ball of flame she had conjured was in her hand. Fuck!
It was a habit she had when she was thinking that she had since the circle, over and over again she would conjure a small ball of flame in her hand while she poured over her books.
How could you be so fucking careless? She cursed herself. Her blood was pumping in her ears now, she had so looked forward to a quiet drink but I guess that's never going to happen.
The man was still glaring at her and all eyes were on them in the tavern now, she even glanced over to the armoured man, he was looking at her with interest as if to see what she would do. She let out a sigh and stared right back at the man; she wasn't going to be intimidated by some drunk.
"Then you're very stupid for coming over here and bothering me then aren't you?" She threatened, arching a brow up.
"I'm not scared of you mage, I'll go get the Templars and they'll deal with you scum!" he spat.
She let a laugh "Too scared of the ickle mage so you go get the big scary Templars to do your dirty work?" She kept on laughing, making it seem like the funniest thing she heard, not wanting him to see that she didn't want him getting the Templars, she'd rather avoid having to deal with them.
"I'm not scared of you mage!"
"Well you should be" she said simply. Her hands suddenly grasped the end of the table and she flipped it up towards the drunk, knocking him on his back. He let out a cry of anger and stumbled onto his feet and made a swing for her. She dodged the punch easily and retorted by grabbing his shoulders and connecting her knee with his groin. He slid to the floor on his knees, gasping in agony before she silenced him with a punch to the head.
She brushed her hair from her face and looked around the Tavern which had gone very quiet.
"Anyone else?" She asked, still smiling and arching an eyebrow.
3 men leapt to there feet, and advanced towards her, rolling up there sleeves as they went. She let out another laugh as she charged at one of the men, winding him and knocking him into a table. She saw a shadow appear next to her so she quickly rolled out the way, just in time for the man to bring a chair crashing down onto the drunk she had just rolled off, knocking him unconscious. She quickly sprang to her feet to face him, when she felt someone grab her from behind, pinning her arms to her side. The drunk in front of her licked his lips, she glanced to her side and saw the armoured man go to move between the drunk and her, but she just gave him a little wink which said I can handle this. He must of saw the hidden meaning as he gave her a nod and backed away. She turned back to her opponent and brought her legs swiftly up, connecting both her feet with his stomach, making him double over on the floor. She then brought her foot slamming down on the drunk who had grabbed hers foot, as he cried out she brought her arm back, punching him in the groin then her elbow up to his jaw and she was sure she heard something break. He let go off her and stumbled back, blood pouring out his mouth. She looked at both the men "Had enough?" She asked.
They nodded and practically ran towards the door, knocking over chairs as they went. She chuckled to herself and shook her head. Idiots. She pulled out a couple Sovereigns and placed them on the bar.
"This should cover the damage" She said. The barman just nodded, too scared to speak apparently. She chuckled to herself again and started heading towards the door.
Apparently I can never have a quiet drink with out starting a brawl, she sighed to herself.
She heard a clank of armour from behind her and saw the old man from before following her out the tavern.
"You handle yourself quite well, especially for a mage", she heard from behind her. His voice was deep and husky and quite alluring. She found herself blushing slightly. It had been a while since she had been around the opposite sex who weren't Templars or groping her arse in a drunken state.
"Not that I mean offense" he continued, "It's just that most mages I've come across stand as far away from the fight as possible and can't even throw a punch. Whilst you take out 4 men without breaking a sweat." He had appeared at her side now and was looking at her quizzically.
She found herself blushing even more. Get a hold of yourself girl! She thought to herself angrily. She tried to cover her embarrassment with a shrug. "I'm not most mages", she said in a voice that didn't sound like her own, that sounded far too sultry. Her blush turned even more crimson and she didn't dare look at him now.
He chuckled beside her as he opened the door for them to walk through. She squinted slightly, trying to adjust the light after her eyes had got used to the dark tavern. She pulled her hood up over her head again and strode out into the street.
"That I have no doubt" He said, "I also think you're not just some circle mage".
She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. He was looking down at her his eyes questioning her slightly. She then noticed just how very tall he is; he seemed to tower over her. Which wasn't very hard, she is incredibly tiny, being an elf and all. It made him look very intimidating with his fancy blade and armour but she wasn't going to let him get the better of her.
"What makes you think I'm not?" She snapped.
This just made him laugh, which annoyed her even more. "I doubt your robes are Chantry approved" he said still laughing.
She looked down at her robes and found she had to agree with him. Her dark blue robes were exposing quite allot of cleavage, with a green bodice wrapped around her tiny frame, making her breasts push up even more, the skirt only went to her knees, and it was cut along the sides, exposing her thighs and matched with the knee high leather boots she wore, she was sure the grand cleric would have a heart attack if she saw her. She snapped her head up and scowled, calling on her magic so her hands started to glow threateningly.
"What you going to do? Turn me in?" She scoffed, "I'd like to see you try! I've been running from the Chantry for over a year now and they aren't catching me now! Bar fights are not the only thing I'm good at!" She started to back away slowly from the old man, arms raised so he can see the glow on her hands, "if you're smart enough, you will turn around and pretend you never saw me!"
He just stared at her, face unchanging, "I do not wish to fight you, I wish to help."
"How can you help?!" She yelled, her heart racing, "The only way out is if I die and that is NOT happening!!"
He raised his hands palms out in front, as if to say he wasn't a threat, "Let me explain, I am a Grey Warden, I am seeking recruits in the battle against the blight." He explained.
"A Grey Warden?" she snorted in a very un-lady like fashion, "What would a grey warden be doing here?"
"I was on my way to the circle hoping to find a recruit. A mage in our order would prove very useful, I was just stopping in the village for a nights rest before heading out again, but I see now I do not need to make the journey."
She narrowed her eyes, arms still raised, as she started thinking through what he said. Why would he want me? All I did was beat up a few drunks .He might be lying. He will take me back to Chantry.
"You're lying!" She yelled "you're going to take me back to the Chantry! I won't let you!" She pushed her arms forward, sending a wave of magic outwards, knocking the man off his feet. She leaped over him and ran to the edge of village towards the woods. She must have only run about 20 feet when she felt a strong arm grab her and pull her back. Bloody hell he's fast! He pushed her up against a tree and held her shoulders in place. She struggled with all her might but he didn't budge, he was strong for an old man.
"Let go of me you old git!"
He frowned slightly "No I will not, I'm not trying to hurt you and I am a Grey Warden. How many people do you know that go around pretending to be Grey wardens?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
Relaxing slightly, she realised that he was right; she had never met a person pretending to be a Grey Warden they would have to be very stupid to do so.
Feeling that she had relaxed, the Grey Warden lessened his grip, which was good as his palms digging in had really started to hurt.
"What do you want with me?" she asked.
"I would like to recruit you into my order. It is very rare a mage is able to handle there self without using magic and if you have been on the run as long as you say have, you are no doubt very skilful. So, I hereby invoke the right of conscription. You are now a Grey Warden recruit and you will accompany me to Ostagar where we are due to battle the darkspawn" he finished, releasing his arms from her shoulders.
All she could do was stand there with her mouth hanging open, quite not knowing what to say. Yes she was skilled enough to fight off the odd Templar or two but Darkspawn? She didn't know if she could this.
"I feel I should also tell you that as a Grey Warden the Chantry can no longer chase you. You will be free from them"
Suddenly becoming a Grey Warden didn't seem so bad anymore.