Cousland Chronicles: The Awakening
Chapter 1: The New Era
The Fated Day-Fort Drakon
It was now or never…Jenra jumped off its neck and landed blade first into the head of the Archdemon. The dark dragon roared as it violently thrashed about trying to shake the warden off of it. Jenra used all of his strength to plunge his sword deeper into its head, the Archdemon fell to the ground and Jenra fell with it. As the dragon tries to get up, Jenra and Alistair stabs its head repeatedly until the Archdemon threw them away. The Archdemon got up weakened and full of rage; in one desperate attempt to stay alive it opened its mouth for another blast of fire. Jenra got up and ran toward his sword; he grabs it and heads straights for the Archdemon. As the flames were released, Morrigan started to cast her spell on Jenra…the ring the young lord had on his finger glowed and a barrier enveloped Jenra, protecting him from the flames. He slides under the dragon while gutting its underside, dropping the Archdemon to the floor. With a mighty yell Jenra plunged his sword into the Archdemon's skull….releasing a blinding golden light from the dragon's corpse.
The light could be seen from every corner of Denerim, the fighting stopped cold as the soldiers and the darkspawn gazed at Fort Drakon. For the soldiers, it meant their victory and for the darkspawn their destruction. Back at the fort, Jenra was struggling to stay on his feet…the power of the Old God was immense and was starting pour into him due to his tainted blood.
"Jenra!"
"Stay back! Ah! Its too much!" Morrigan ran towards Jenra and grasped at the sword. While holding on to Night-fang…she chanted incantations to draw the Old God's soul to her and the new life starting inside of her. Jenra found his strength and pulled Night-fang out of the dragon causing a wave of light to explode. The Archdemon was dead, the song was broken and with it dragons control of the hordes. The darkspawn turned and ran; leaving the soldiers to cheer…the Blight was over.
Two Days Later-The Royal Palace
Days after the final battle, the recovery efforts were beginning throughout Ferelden…no place needed it more than Denerim. While the others were resting, Alistair was tying up some loose ends before the coronation tomorrow. He was in the tower with to speak with the former queen Anora…Alistair wanted to make peace with her, after killing her father at the Landsmeet there was no doubt she was plotting his downfall. He wanted to nip this in the bud before tomorrow when he claims the throne. At his side was his advisor, Eamon…Alistair was still greem to politics and Anora was a master of manipulation having Eamon with him would prevent any tricks she had in store for him. He opens the tower doors to reveal the former queen sitting in a chair overlooking the city.
"Anora…"
"Alistair" she said frigidly. "My mistake…King Alistair" Anora looked back at them with an eerily calm look on her face which unnerved the both of them. "So come to finish it? Am I to join my father?"
"Is that what you think? That I'm here to kill you?"
"It makes sense doesn't it? With me alive, I am a threat to your rule...there are many that are still loyal to me" she said. "Kill me and that threat ceases…"
Eamon shook his head. "You overestimate yourself; Anora…Alistair has already proven himself to be a capable king by leading Ferelden out of the Blight"
Anora then frowned. "Then what? To mock me?"
Alistair sighed. "Enough Anora, I have no intention to do any of that" he said. "I'm here to make peace that's all" Anora said nothing but kept her cold gaze fixed on Alistair. "I'm still new at…all of this, but I'm hoping we can look pass difference and work together in the future for Ferelden's sake"
"Why would I work with you?" She asked with spite.
"Because you don't really have a choice…thanks to Loghain's actions the Mac Tir family's name has been tarnished" Eamon said. "A lot of the nobles are angry, very angry for what Loghain did to them…they wanted to strip your family of its titles and land"
"Alistair rejected all proposals to punish your family for the sake of unity" he said. "In the front of the castle, we have prepared a cart to send you back to Gwaren…I would take it"
"The people of Ferelden still think of you fondly, Anora which means your father hasn't completely tarnished the Mac Tir name" Alistair said. "You can fix you father's mistakes and I would not have you as an enemy"
"You would allow me to return to Gwaren, despite knowing my hatred for you?" Anora asked.
"We are not fools, Anora…we very much know how you feel about Alistair" Eamon said. "While Alistair may want unity among the nobles, make no mistake while I am here I will make sure you are never a threat to his rule"
"So…this is the true face of Eamon Guerrin, my father was right about you all along" Later Alistair and Eamon was outside of the palace watching the cart holding Anora moving away as it went on its journey to Gwaren. Alistair had a bit of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach, Eamon had assured him that Anora would never become a threat to his rule but he wasn't so sure about that…Anora was crafty and with how vengeful she was, the former queen could strike in ways that not even Eamon could foresee. Alistair placed it at the back of his mind, whatever happens in the future he would be ready…for now at least the former warden would focus on helping his homeland rebuild.
Alistair's Coronation-few moments ago
Back on the balcony, Jenra was heading back to hall everyone was probably wondering where he was. As he took the stairs back to the Landsmeet chambers, he found the halls quiet. "What is this?" The crowd dispersed to reveal a dark skinned man in brown-gold armor, long brown hair with a big shaggy beard. Jenra eyes went wide as he took a step back…it couldn't be, it shouldn't be, he had lost all hope of seeing him again. The man came up to the stunned Jenra and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hello, Jenra…"
Tears flowed from his eyes. "F…Fergus" he said. "You're alive…Maker you're alive!" The two brothers embraced as the audience all applauded and cheered at the reunion of family thought lost.
Now
Jenra and Fergus were given the study to talk to one another privately. The young lord could hardly believe it…his older brother alive when he had given up hope of him being alive. There were so many questions he had and Jenra was sure that Fergus had a bunch of questions himself also. Fergus chuckled as he rubbed his head. "I have to say when I heard that my little brother was not only a Grey Warden but also leading Ferelden into battle? I was surprised, to put it mildly" he said. Fergus' smile then dropped a little. "Father…he would have been so proud of you. I know I am, you've done good"
Jenra lowered his head….he was afraid of this. "So…you know…" he said sadly. "I'm sorry…I was supposed to look after our home…our family" Fergus placed his hand on his younger brother's shoulder…this whole time Jenra was carrying the burden of their family's death at the while trying to save Ferelden. Stress like that would have broken a lesser man and yet his brother endured, Fergus could now see that Jenra was no long that sickly boy he once was.
"Shh, Jenra…I don't blame you, you couldn't have known of Howe's betrayal" Fergus said. "No one could…"
"Fergus, where were you? My friends and I must have been through all of Ferelden and back and we weren't able to find a clue of where you were" Fergus sat down in the chair and placed his arms on his knees while trying to clear his thoughts. His story was quite lengthy but Jenra wasn't the only one that had quite the journey. Fergus and his men arrived in Ostagar at the same time as Howe's men, at the time he was completely unaware of the Arl's treachery back in Highever. Soon afterwards he was sent to lead a scouting mission into the Korcari Wilds.
"I was ambushed and surrounded by darkspawn, my men were slaughtered one by one" Fergus said. "I thought I would be next but I was saved by the Chasind…never thought I would owe my life to the people of the wilds"
"They saved my life but my injuries were great…the recovery was long enough that had missed the battle entirely"
"You were most fortunate, brother…Ostagar was a slaughter ground" Jenra said. "I barely made it out myself"
Fergus frowned. "I saw the aftermath, it was horrible beyond words…I made the journey back to Highever soon afterwards" he said. "Father needed to know what happened" When Fergus made it back to Highever, he saw the Howe banner over his home and the soldiers patrolling the town's streets. It was from the servants that survived the attack that Fergus learned about what happened.
Fergus placed head in the palm of his hand. "Oh Maker…what those bastards did to my son and wife…" he said trying to hold it together. "They threw Oriana and Oren's bodies to their mabari to be used as chew toys and then what they did to Mother and Father"
"What…did they do?" Jenra asked afraid of the answer.
"They displayed their bodies in the middle of town for all to see" Jenra could only shed tears, even though Howe killed his family his cruelty continued through death. When Fergus didn't see Jenra's body, he had hope that maybe his younger brother somehow escaped. When travelers and merchants to Highever told stories of a white-haired warden…that was when Fergus knew Jenra was alive. "They wanted to break our people's spirit but they made the people wish for was vengeance" The people of Highever joined together to create a resistance group, they were full of heart and bravery but they were also unorganized and undisciplined. When they had found out that Fergus was alive, the resistance quickly made him leader. For months they fought with Howe's soldiers to kick them out of Highever but found that they were in need of their assistance when the darkspawn reached them. It was an uneasy alliance and very much short-lived, as soon as the danger passed Howe's men turned on them and the resistance continued.
"We were successful in driving Howe's men out of Highever, but the damage to our home was great" Fergus said sadly. "I had to bury too many of our people" When Highever began its recovery, there was news about the end of the Blight and the coronation of the new king of Ferelden. Fergus knew Jenra would be there and so he went to Denerim to reunite with his only family. "Tell me what happened to that snake Howe?"
"He's dead, I killed him" Jenra said
"Death is too good for him" he said intensely. "Forgive my bitterness, brother but I think about Oren… it barely seems like it's enough" The brothers heard a knock from the study's door and Alistair and Eamon came in. Fergus bowed. "My lord"
Alistair raised his hand. "Please Alistair is just fine…forgive me but I couldn't help but overhear your story" he said. "I knew Howe was bad, but what you described was monstrous and something I can't ignore"
"I talked it over with the nobles and they all agreed"
"Alistair?" Jenra asked.
"I know your original plan was to restore Soldier's Peak to its former glory for the Grey Wardens" Eamon said. "But that would take years, so Alistair came up with the next best thing"
Alistair cleared his throat and straightens his posture. "Jenra Cousland, in addition to restoring your family's land and titles" he said. "I also hereby strip the Howes of their titles and fortune, from here on out the city of Ameranthine now belongs to the Grey Warden Order"
King Alistair brings down the Hammer! Welcome to the Cousland Chronicles: The Awakening. As always Review and Comment!
