So yeah, I'm aware I haven't worked on my Assassin's Creed 2 fic in quite some time... Writer's block is REALLY starting to tick me off when it comes to that story. -_-;; So I apologize to anyone who is waiting for me to finish that story. I may finish it, and I may not. Only time will tell, lol. Anyway, I've been wanting to write a Dragon Age Origins fanfic for quite some time now, so I decided to give it a shot. This story will be rated M for sexual content (a.k.a. yaoi goodness) in later chapters, so be forewarned: If you do not want to read smut, this story isn't for you. This story is written from Zevran's POV. Enjoy! ^o^
Chapter warnings: None.
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My entire life, I believed that being an assassin was a rewarding job. I was given a family, a place to stay, and a different whore every night to use as I saw fit. I was paid well for my services, and life couldn't get any better, or worse, as the case may have been. I believed that nothing could change the risqué and exciting life I had been thrust into…
…and I couldn't have been more wrong.
It all began when an armor-clad human man approached me one night at a tavern I was enjoying myself in. I was surrounded by liquor as well as beautiful women, so I was as content as the cat who caught the canary. Then, the man approached me.
"You are Zevran, the Antivan Crow," he said, more of a statement than an actual question. I remember wondering who the man was and how he knew me, but then I realized that he may be a possible client. And so, I gave him my most charming smile and answered, "That I am. How may I be of assistance, good man?"
"My lord, Arl Howe, requires the assistance of a skilled assassin such as yourself," the armored man explained calmly to me. I remember thinking to myself, An arl? With a man in his position, I could make quite a large sum of gold! I jumped on the opportunity immediately, grinning at the man.
"An arl needs my assistance, eh? Well then, who am I to refuse such an offer? Please, take me to this Arl Howe of yours."
And just like that, I had been drawn into what was, quite possibly, the most important mission I had ever been sent on during my entire career with the infamous Antivan Crows. I was told by Arl Howe that there were some Grey Wardens who had survived the battle at Ostagar I had heard so much about since arriving in Ferelden, and they were on the run after killing the king of Ferelden. The general public was divided in their thinking, some believing that the Grey Wardens were innocent, and others believing that they were guilty and deserved to die. I, myself, had no opinion on the matter. To me, they were just another job, and it was my duty to execute them as efficiently as possible.
As a part of my plan to capture the Wardens, I paid some travelers a few sovereigns for their services. When the Wardens passed through the area, it was their job to act as victims, pleading for help because some bandits had ambushed their caravan. If the Wardens really were "heroes," then they would take the bait without question.
They did.
Upon seeing my targets, I realized that they made a very interesting group. There were two very attractive, muscular men—the Grey Wardens, I presumed—a very pretty witch, a large dog, and a pretty redheaded woman who seemed to be the archer of the group. So, these are the ones I must kill? Ah, very well.
It was a shame, though, that such beautiful and handsome warriors needed to do. Nonetheless, it needed to be done. I smirked and raised my right hand, gesturing toward my targets and alerting the archers with me to attack. Two of my men proceeded to push over a large boulder, completely cutting off my quarry's exit from the clearing. They were as good as mine. Already, I could taste victory… and it tasted so sweet. The group's leader (or at least I thought he was the leader, due to how he had held before, with dignity)—the tall, human male with piercing blue eyes and neatly-combed blond hair—got to his feet and stared me down, drawing his weapon and signalling his allies to do the same. Realizing that they weren't about to go down without a fight, as I'd expected, I drew my two daggers and got into a threatening stance.
"The Warden dies here!" I yelled, grinning. Oh, this was going to be fun…
The two Wardens and the others fighting alongside them fought ruthlessly, effortlessly ridding themselves of the archers' threat. The Warden leader, however, focused his attacks on me, and only me. I actually felt flattered that he believed me to be the biggest threat. Unfortunately for him, his strength lay in brute force, whereas my strength was my speed and agility. Whenever I saw an opening, I took it and lashed out with one, or both, of my daggers without hesitation. I laughed when I heard him hiss in pain, realizing I had hit my mark when I saw blood beginning to flow from a fresh gash at his hip.
I was overcome by a sense of victory too soon, however. I yelped in agony when one of the redheaded woman's arrows embedded itself in my abdomen, and during my painful moments of distraction, I had been foolish enough to allow the man to slip behind me. There was a sharp pain when the pommel of his sword met with the back of my skull, then everything went black.
I know not how long I was unconscious for. All I know for sure is that when I awoke, I was tied-up. My wrists and ankles were bound by rope, and the dull, throbbing pain still remained at the back of my head. I noted, also, that someone had removed the arrow from my abdomen. How generous… though it was still bleeding and causing me pain. I winced and rolled over onto my side, eyes shut tight in pain.
"Ah… Ow…" When I next opened my eyes, the Warden and his allies were standing over me. It was then that I remembered how I ended up in such a state: the Warden had defeated me. One question still remained, however…
"Why am I still alive?" I wondered aloud to myself, instinctively struggling against my bonds. Ropes really were quite uncomfortable. "I assumed that if I did lose to you, you would not hesitate to kill me… yet here we are."
The blond Warden narrowed his eyes at me and said coldly, "I figured I would torture you first, then get some answers."
"Ahaha, I see. An effective way to get even the strongest man to talk. However, what say you I jump straight to the answer-giving, and we skip the torture?"
"Very well. Start talking. Oh, and to make sure that nothing you say is a lie…" The Warden snapped his fingers and immediately, his large canine companion leaped toward me and growled, curling back its upper lip and baring its sharp teeth at me in a threatening manner.
"So, I must be truthful or be torn to shreds by your dog? Very well. Ask away."
"First thing's first: Who hired you?"
"I believe the fellow's name was Teyrn Loghain. Ah yes, and Arl Howe."
"I should have guessed as much," said the other Grey Warden. "Loghain seems almost desperate to get rid of us."
"Enough, Alistair. What is your name, assassin?"
"Zevran Arainai, of the Antivan Crows," I answered a bit smugly, "or Zev, to my friends."
The Warden looked confused, clearly not recognizing something in what I said.
"The Antivan Crows?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at me. He then turned his attention toward the redheaded woman, who had begun to speak.
"The Antivan Crows is an infamous group of assassins from Antiva," she said. "They are quite notorious in Antiva, from what I understand."
"Where did you hear this, Leliana?" the Warden asked her curiously.
"I am a bard, remember? I have heard many stories about the Antivan Crows, about famous assassinations being carried out under the cover of darkness without so much as a single witness."
"That is correct," I stated, casually looking the young woman over. "I, myself, only just arrived in Ferelden a little over a week ago. I was in Antivan up until then. I must say, I was not expecting to be hired for such an imporant mission so soon after my arrival."
"And now that you have failed your mission?"
"Let's put it this way. I was hired to assassinate the Grey Wardens and anyone traveling with them. Now that I have failed, my contact with the client is void."
"Meaning…?"
"The Antivan Crows have never tolerated failure. They will be after me once they get word of my failure in killing you. In that respect, perhaps there is a way we can help each other."
"I'm listening."
"I will pledge my loyalty to you, Warden. Since I have failed the Crows, my allegiance with them is forfeit. Perhaps I can be of use to you, and in return for my services, I get protection from those who wish me dead."
"I don't believe you," the Warden said with blatant distrust evident on his handsome features. "You have tried killing us once already. If I let you come with us, there will be no stopping you from trying to finish the job you started."
"I am true to my word. And if I should die on our travels, well… you will be saved the trouble of killing me yourself if you still distrust me at that time, and the Crows will get what they want, as well. You see? Everyone wins."
The Warden seemed to be thinking about my offer very carefully, trying to find as many reasons as possible to refuse. He could obviously find none. He sighed heavily.
"How do I know for sure you won't try, say, putting poison in our food? What's stopping you?"
"My dear Warden!" I exclaimed, eyes going wide with mock hurt. "What reason could I possibly have for doing such a thing? It is as I said: my contract with Loghain is void, since I failed to kill you. I have no personal vendetta against you, so you and your friends are safe. Going after you was merely business."
"I see." The Warden considered my words for a few minutes longer before nodding and smiling at me faintly. "Alright, Zevran. You can come with us, if you promise to behave yourself."
"What?!" exclaimed Alistair, crossing his arms and looking at his fellow Warden in disbelief. "We're taking the assassin with us now?"
"Yes, Alistair, he is coming with us. His skills could prove to be useful in the future."
"I think that is a splendid idea," Leliana stated, smiling kindly at me.
"Well," I began, "I will certainly enjoy traveling with someone as young and beautiful as yourself." I grinned, winking at her suggestively. It was against my nature to not make an advance on such a pretty girl, after all. To not do so would be nothing short of criminal.
Much to my amusement, my words made her cringe somewhat. "On second thought… nevermind."
"Our party is becoming more and more interesting by the day," said the dark-haired witch with unnerving, yellow eyes. "It seems we'll have to be checking our food and drink much more closely from now on." I realized then that I was still tied-up and bleeding, and I turned my gaze toward the Warden with a smile.
"If you could untie me, it would be greatly appreciated. For you see, this arrow wound needs to be taken care of, and these ropes are chafing my wrists terribly…"
"Morrigan," said the Warden, nodding at the dark-haired witch. The woman clearly wanted nothing to do with me, but she reluctantly obeyed the Warden and wielded her staff. She made it a point to say she was not helping me for my sake, but because it was what the Warden wished of her. After "setting me straight," so to speak, she cast a healing spell on me and I instantly felt a pleasant tingling sensation through my entire body. I experimentally wiggled my torso a bit to see if I felt pain after doing so and sure enough, there was none. My wound had been healed from the inside, out. The absence of the stabbing pain was certainly welcome, but my hands were still tied. Literally.
As if in response to my thoughts, the handsome Warden knelt by my side and untied me, freeing my wrists and ankles from their bindings. I sat up and rubbed at my wrists uncomfortably, smiling at the man.
"Thank you. This is much more comfortable. Ah! I just realized that I don't know your name. If I'm going to be accompanying you, I need to know all of your names."
"It's Lanacai," he introduced himself, crossing his arms over his chest. "Lanacai Cousland."
"A very distinguished name," I noted, getting to my feet and looking up at the tall man. He was a head higher than me, being a human, so naturally I felt no taller than a woman when standing next to him. "Now, let's see if I can remember all of your names. Let's see… This attractive gentleman here is Alistair; the bard is Leliana; the witch is Morrigan—"
" 'Witch'? After that insult, I wish Lanacai hadn't spared your life," Morrigan said coolly, glaring at me icily.
"My apologies," I stated apologetically, grinning. I glanced down at Lanacai's dog, seeing that it was no longer snarling at me and actually looked quite content.
"And your dog's name is…?" I saw a little smirk cross Lanacai's handsome features.
"Ripper," he answered with some amusement at the name he had chosen for his canine companion. "He's a mabari. Tough as steel, smart as a whip."
"A war dog?" I guessed.
"Correct."
"Hm, impressive. He is clearly very attached to you." I stretched my arms up over my head and relished in the pleasant cracking sensation in my back that relieved the soreness there. "Now then, shall we get going? There is no point in idling around here much longer, right?"
"Right. Let's move, everyone. We don't have anymore time to waste," Lanacai said firmly in that strong, distinguished voice. And just like that, the most exciting journey of my life had begun.
And that's it for chapter one! Please leave a review if you like it so far, and if you DON'T like it, I will accept constructive criticism. =3
See you in chapter 2!!! 3333