Disclaimer! I, of course, do not own Dragon Age in any way. I simply admire their art and write about it. Open to feedback and criticism. Enjoy ;)
(I apologize for Morrigan's absence so far in my story, but I assure you that she is not far behind)
Unwanted
The keeper…Why would she send me away? Just because I was ill? She can cure it. Duncan…The shemlen is wrong. He knows nothing of us! But the Keeper told me to and I obeyed. I should have stayed with them until the Creators came for me. I shook my head, trying to escape my thoughts of regret and anger. It couldn't be helped. Duncan looked at me with some emotion in his hairy face. He was a tall human wearing white, light armour, a single earing hung from his ear that was clearly visible due to his tied black hair. Black beard hung from his chin. I hadn't seen one before because elves do not grow beards. But the interest that sparked when I met him was replaced by hatred and fuelled by anger. He would not allow me to look for Tamlen because he blatantly believed that he was gone. Maybe Duncan took him. It wouldn't have surprised me. I narrowed my blue eyes at him, making it known how much I despise him. He sighed and looked away. We kept walking until we neared a grey, stone fortress.
"Where are we?" I asked, my teeth clenched. Duncan looked back at me, surprise clear on his face.
"Ostagar." He replied with his usual lecture tone. I instantly regretted saying anything as Duncan took a deep breath to begin explaining about Ostagar.
"Ho, Duncan!" A male voice yelled. I looked ahead to see a shemlen in golden armor and blonde hair, a big blade settled on his back. I thanked the Gods for this distraction.
"King Cailan. I didn't expect a…" Duncan began, caught clearly off guard and I detected a bit of disappointment in his voice. Figures.
"A royal welcome?" King Cailan asked, in a jubilant and cheerful tone. Is that ignorance, I asked myself because how could anyone be pleased about fighting darkspawn?
"I was beginning to worry you might miss out on all the fun." He said, a warm smile played on his lips.
"Not if I could help it, your Majesty." Duncan said, his deep voice sounding strained. I stifled a laugh.
"Then I'll have the mighty Duncan at my side in battle after all. Glorious!" He stood on his side, obliging Duncan to stand next to him. "The other wardens told me you found a promising recruit. I take it this is she?" He asks, his happy tone replaced by curiosity.
"Allow me to introduce you, your Majesty." Duncan replied, gesturing to me with his hand. Cailan walked over to stand in front of me.
"There's no need to be so formal, Duncan. We'll be shedding blood together after all."
"Ho there, friend. Might I know your name?" He asked, smiling. I stifled a sigh. His enthusiasm was exhausting and it wasn't helping that he was a shem. But I felt that I had to be nice. This was his fortified position. Provoking him could harm my Clan. Or me.
"Lona, your Majesty." I replied, looking up to meet his eyes. My voice was dripping with venom but my words were kind. Duncan shot me a warning look, but the king looked oblivious as he broadly smiled at me. Duncan sighed in relief and I heard a whisper in my mind. Ignorance is bliss, I thought as I felt a smirk pulling at my mouth.
"You are one of the dalish, are you not? I've heard that your people possess remarkable skill and honor." He gazed at me, interest sparked in his eyes. I snorted.
"I thought all shems considered us dangerous vagrants." I rolled my eyes.
"Well, to be fair your people aren't very... forth-coming." He was obviously trying to avoid the words 'evil' and 'knife-ears' together in the same sentence. I took a deep breath to begin my rebuttle when he spoke.
"Not that I blame them, of course." He continued, wryly. I exhaled. Duncan cleared his throat.
"Your uncle sends his greetings and reminds you that Redcliffe forces could be here within a week." He explains.
"Ha! Dear uncle only wants in on the glory. We've won several battles already against these monsters and tomorrow should be no different." He said in complete confidence. I snorted again. He a fortune teller or something? Duncan ignored me.
"Your Majesty, I fear the Blight may not be ended quite as...quickly as you might wish it to be." Duncan said, respectfully.
"I'm not even sure this is a true Blight." He said as he turned away from us, staring at the long, slender bridge. "There are plenty of darkspawn on the field but, alas, we see no sign of an Archdemon." He replied, sadly shaking his head. Archdemon? What in all that's holy is an Archdemon? I was unsure of what an Archdemon was, but the name itself scared me. Yet this king did not, obviously, share this fear.
"Disappointed, your Majesty?" Duncan asked. The king sighed, sadly as he hung his head.
"I had hoped for a war, as in the tales. The fabled Grey Wardens, riding with the king to battle a tainted god." His enthusiasm was seeped into every word. I thought I had misheard him. He must be mad, I thought, crossing my arms.
"But I suppose this will have to do." Cailan said disappointingly. I felt the urge to snicker at his pathetic need for bloodshed, especially when darkspawn were DEFINITELY a threat. He was like a child, dreaming about glory and fortune. That it would be easy and without sacrifice. Da'len. Yes. I repeated the elvhen word in my mind.
"At any rate, I must go. Before Loghain sends out a search party." He said with an irritated groan, rolling his eyes. I narrowed my own at him. He ignored it and waved goodbye.
"Farewell, Grey Wardens." He said with a wink and shoved duncan playfully, making his armour rattle. Duncan made some sort of an oof sound. I let out a short laugh, and ended up laughing more when Duncan shot me a miserable look.
"What the King said is true. They've won plenty of battles against the darkspawn here." He said, a solemn tone held in his voice.
"Yet, you doubt." I acknowledged. He gestured me to walk alongside him. I sighed and did so.
"Despite the victory so far, the horde grows larger with each passing day. By now, they seem to outnumber us." He said, shaking his head.
"I know there is an archdemon behind this, but I cannot ask the King to act soley on my feeling." He looked me in the eyes, a look of earnest crossed his face.
"Well, you could. Were he not such a fool." I said, rolling my eyes at him. Rage replaced his earnest face.
"The King may be...excitebale at times, but he is still YOUR King." Duncan replied, his voice was at neutral level, but there was power in it. I shook my head, rage boiling inside me.
"No, he is not MY King. He is a shemlen, thus a shemlen ruler. Not mine. Not my Clan's. Only yours." I glared at him. Duncan narrowed his eyes at me, and I could tell he was not happy.
"I have some business to attend to." Duncan said, through gritted teeth. "And you are free to explore the camp as you wish, but do not leave it for the time being."
I shrugged. He took deep breaths, probably to keep himself from killing me outright.
"There is a Grey Warden by the name of Alistair. Find him when you are ready." And with that, he stormed off, across the narrow bridge. He kept a fast pace and did not look back at his charge. I huffed and turned around, hoping the gate to be open. I'd rather die than become a warden. I thought, but then...I would have. But it woluld have been preferable over this. Staying with my Clan until the creators came for me. I shook my head. It couldn't be helped now. I walked over to one of the guards. He leaned lazily on the gate. He shifted to attention as I approached.
"Sorry, miss, but I'm afraid you cannot leave the camp. Duncan, of the Grey Wardens, orders." He stood straight and tall, his voice strong.
I shouted in frustration. "Let me pass. I have permission from him." The guard looked at me quizzically but shook his head.
"No. I apologize, but I must have some proof." He said, voice strong and certain. I balled my fists and felt like punching him. I stormed away without another word. I heard the guard's armour shift as he settled back into his lazier and more comfortable position. I crossed the bridge, acknowledging the beauty of the wild. It resembled a marshy forest, a weak sun hovering over it. I couldn't see much but...I knew someone was there. The only creatures I noticed were birds, mainly. But I felt a very human-like gaze set upon me.
"Hail!" A voice shouted from behind me. I jumped with surprise and glared at the guard. He chuckled and rubbed his neck, embarrassed. "Er...you must be the warden recruit Duncan brought."
I nodded, slowly as I held my stare. He extended his hand in greeting. I glared at it.
"What do you want?" I asked impatiently. He took in a deep breath.
"I, uh, do you need to know where the warden camp is?" He asked, quietly. I thought for a moment. Find the warden, Alistair, Duncan had said.
"Can you escort me to where the Grey Warden, Alistair, is?" I asked him, my voice firm. He nodded quickly and gestured me to follow him. We passed through the stone archways at a brisk pace. Mages, templars, priests, warriors...I saw them all. They were prepared for something. Maybe the darkspawn Duncan mentioned?
"Excuse me, Ser Guard. But can you tell me what a darkspawn is?" I asked him, trying to keep a firm tone but ended up being curious. The guard stopped and turned to look at me. Surprise was clear as day on his face but he, nonetheless, answered.
"Darkspawn are the blight of the land, destroyers who rose from the underground Deep Roads. They taint the land, turn it black and sick." His voice was full of disgust for these creatures. Are they truly as bad as they seem?
"But surely you know of this?" He asked, surprise on his face again. I remained silent and walked followed him, continuing our brisk pace. We ended up in an ancient ruin, chunks of rock surrounded us but it was mostly intact. The guard gestured up the stone slope.
"That is where you'll find Alistair, my lady." He said with a nod and he turned back to his post. Arguing voices came from up the slope. I climbed it carefully, the voices growing louder.
"What is it now? Haven't Grey Wardens asked for enough from the Circle?" A tanned man in robes asked, obviously annoyed.
"I just came to deliver a message from the Revered Mother, Ser Mage. She desires your presence." A man in splintmail armour and blonde hair replied on the defensive. The mage sighed in frustration.
"What her reverance desires is of no concern to me. I am helping the Grey Wardens, by the King's order, I might add." I rolled my eyes at him, acting like a child.
"Should I have asked her to write a note?" The blonde asked, a small smile played on his lips.
"Tell her, I will not be harassed in this manner!"
"Right." He drew the word out. "I was harassing you by delivering a message."
"Your glibness does you no credit." The mage was obviously angry and was about to cast some sort of spell on the man. Not that he seemed to care.
"And here I thought we were getting along so well! I was even gonna name one of my children after you." He pouted. "The grumpy one." His tone had turned dangerously low and his eyes had narrowed.
"Enough.I will speak to the woman, if I must." The mage sighed with his loss and turned, his eyes narrowed at me. I glared at him back. "Get out of my way, fool."
I felt like punching him in the face when the blonde approached me. He sighed.
"Good thing about the blight is how it brings people together." He smiled. I didn't know how to respond to that.
"You are a very strange human." I said, looking at him curiously. He rubbed his neck.
"You're not the first person to have said that." He was smiling but his tone indicated he was a little annoyed with her observation.
"Wait, you're the recruit Duncan mentioned. Lona, right? I should have recognised you right away, I apologise." He smiled apologetically. I shrugged but a question burned in my mind.
"How could you recognise me?" I asked him, especially when he hadn't seen me.
"Duncan sent word that he'd found a Dalish recruit, in the Brecillian Forest." He replied.
"Anyway, we should get back to Duncan. I imagine he's eager to get tings started." I nodded and turned to walk towards the camp. Alistair babbled on about the Grey Wardens and their history. I was half listening, but I felt eyes on me again. I glanced around the camp. No one was particularly watching me, they were busy preparing for the battle tonight. Alistair was the only one watching me with a quizzical expression on his face. I noticed I stopped and resumed, ignoring the eyes that bore into me.
"Good, you're finally here." Duncan said his back to us. I rolled my eyes. Alistair noticed and elbowed me. Dunacn turned around to face us.
"Now we can proceed. Assuming, of course, that you're quite finished riling up mages, Alistair?" His tone was scolding but his eyes showed worry and compassion.
"What can I say? The revered mother ambushed me. The way she weilds guilt, they should stick her in the army." Alistair mocked gently.
"She forced you to sass the mage did she? We cannot afford to antagonize anyone, Alistair. We don't need to give anyone more ammunition against us."
"You're right, Duncan. I apologize. I'll go collect who we're missing." Alistair turned off in the opposite direction. Once he was out of sight and I was sure Duncan and I were alone, I whispered,
"Do you feel watched?" I asked, my tone hushed. Duncan looked surprised at me and shook his head slowly.
"No. However, these are the Kocari Wilds which witches would have believed to be theirs. The Chasind also inhabited these Wilds. Darkspawn must have chased them out by now, though." He stared into the dancing flames, a stern expression on his face. He appeared to be deep in thought, but I didn't know what of. Heavy footsteps approached us.
"Lona!" Alistair's voice called. I turned around to see two men; one in chainmail armour, a large greatsword rested on his shoulder while the other was in light armour, a long bow strung to his back.
"This is Ser Jory, a knight from Redcliffe." Alistair patted Jory on the back. This man had pale skin and orange-brown hair with a beard forming under his chin. He held his hand out.
"How do you do?" He asked. I shrugged but nonetheless shook it.
"This is Daveth from Denerim." Alistair said to me gesturing towards Daveth. The man in light armour did a slight bow.
"Charmed, my Lady." He said, a broad smile spread upon his lips. I didn't return his smile and merely nodded. Alistair stood next to me.
"And this, of course, is the Grey Warden recruit Duncan said he was bringing, Lona." All men looked at me expectantly. I just nodded.
"Pleased to meet you." I said, teeth clenched and my eyes daren't meet theirs. I felt so awkward, embarrassed and I wanted it to end. I felt every stare burn into me. My eyes narrowed at everyone around me. Duncan cleared his throat. I spun around to glare.
"Good, you're finally here. We need to discuss our plans regarding the Joining." He said.