The Dragon and the Griffon

A/N: Draco Cousland is a Warrior whom Duncan recruited from Highever. Irasabeth Tabris is a rouge Duncan found in the Elven Alienage. This is going to be the story about how these two very different people become close friends and took on the Blight with their small band of misfit allies.

A big old thanks to my beta Lisa! You are a life saver!

Chapter 1: The Dragon of Highever

Draco Cousland surveyed the land as he rode up next to Duncan. "So this is Ostagar? It's more put together than you made it out to be, Duncan," he commented.

Duncan chuckled. "Well I suppose it is, it is just very old," he said as he pulled his horse to a stop and got down. "Now then, we must make haste to the Joi-your Majesty?"

"About time you showed up. I was beginning to think you'd miss all the fun," King Calian laughed as he walked up to greet them.

"I am sorry, my trip to Highever took longer than I anticipated," Duncan replied.

"So this is the new recruit?" the King asked Draco. "You are Bryce's youngest right? Your brother talks about you to the men all the time, says you're quite the spitfire and a fine warrior."

"I am Draco Cousland, your Majesty" he replied. "Please can you tell me where I can find my brother? I have urgent news."

Worry crossed the young King's face. "What has happened? Fergus said that you were to watch over your father's lands. We were expecting him days ago."

"We were betrayed by Arl Howe," Draco replied. "He sent his men in to kill my family. They killed my parents and Fergus's wife and son."

"What?" the King asked, surprised. "He will not get away with this, I can tell you that. After this battle he will be brought to justice. Your brother is out scouting and we can not reach him."

"I don't relish the idea of telling him, your Majesty," Draco replied.

"Of that I have no doubt," the King agreed. "Now if you will excuse me, Loghain is waiting to talk my ear off." The King smiled as he walked off and Duncan pinched the bridge of his nose.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "The young ones giving you a headache?" he smirked.

Duncan chuckled. "Such is the pain of growing old, now I believe Alistair is in the old temple with our other recruits. Would you be kind enough to go find him and bring them to me so that we can get started?" he asked.

Draco gave an respectful salute as Duncan walked off.

As he reached the old temple he spotted three people, one an elven woman, who was rolling around on the floor laughing at the scene before her. A human male wearing splintmail armour stood having a clearly heated conversation with a mage from the Circle Tower. The mage's face was purple with fury from the effort of not incinerating the man where he stood.

The woman propped herself up on her elbows and cocked her head to the side. "Who are you?" She asked as she examined the new arrival. He was tall, incredibly built, and devilishly handsome. His long black hair was pulled back by a black ribbon his eyes were of two different colors, the left one a dark sapphire blue and the right one a bright emerald green. His skin was tanned and he had the build of a man who had trained his whole life in the battle field.

"My name is Draco Cousland. Would you happen to be Alistair?" He asked, addressing the other human, as he scrutinized them both. He would consider the female to be cute, if he swung that way. She had long red hair that was wavy and wild. Her eyes were a bright green and her skin was pale. She had a dark blue tattoo that ran over one side of her face(,) and a brilliant smile.

The other man really caught his attention, though. He was tall and well built but still slim. His hair was the color of sand; his eyes were a warm golden brown color, and his skin was lightly tanned.

"Yes, I'm Alistair," the handsome man confirmed. "If you know who I am then that makes you Duncan's newest recruit."

"Wait wait…did you just say Draco Cousland? As in the Dragon of Highever?" The elf asked

Draco flushed and coughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Erm…yeah, you must have talked to my brother," he replied.

The woman laughed. "Yes, Fergus was quite the story teller around here. He regaled us with tales of his young brother who fought like a dragon," she giggled.

Alistair nudged her. "Be nice Irasabeth," he laughed. " You'll give the poor man a complex."

"Not to worry, my brother and father have already taken care of that," Draco quipped.

Alistair laughed. "Where is your father? We were told he was coming with Arl Howe's men."

Pain flashed across Draco's face and Irasabeth caught it. "I know that look, he's not coming is he?" she asked gently.

"No…he's dead," Draco replied. "Because of Arl Howe."

Alistair gaped at him. "That can't be right, I thought that they were friends."

"So did I. Apparently my father wronged Howe by becoming a Teyrn instead of him." He shook his head. "Can we just go, the wound is still to fresh to talk about."

"Right, we should get going, we have a lot of things to do. Lead on."

Draco turned around and started walking away. Irasabeth looked at Alistair. "He's cute, Ali," she said, nudging him in the ribs.

Alistair blushed. "Irasy, please! You can't possibly know that he would be interested."

"He was totally screaming 'hot male loving'" she giggled. "Besides, you won't know until you try, right? And you need to get rid of your virginity so that you can join us in the real world!" She laughed.

Alistair pushed her shoulder and rolled his eyes. "I'll give it up when I'm ready Irasabeth."

"Sure Alistair," she said rolling her eyes as she began to hum and walked after Draco. "So Draco, you are a Cousland? Do you have any Elven servants?"

"Huh?" he mumbled. "Oh well, yeah but they're all treated with respect and kindness. There's this one, his name was Arlen. He was such a sweetheart. Are you from an Alienage?"

Irasabeth nodded. "Yes I am, I am from the one in Denerim."

"You have my sincerest condolences, I know the Arl of Denerim, he's a jackass and his son is no better."

"You can say that again," she said bitterly as she twisted the ring on her finger.

"You're married?"

"No, I was about to be, but then the Arl's son showed up. He took my cousin Shianni and I, my bridesmaids, and my other cousin's fiancée as 'party guests'. Right in the middle of mine and my cousin's wedding. It was horrible. I was knocked out and when I came to my cousin, the other groom, Soris was standing over me. He helped me get out of there. My fiancée was killed and my Shianni was raped." She shook her head. "Then I did something horrible. I left Shianni with him and my cousin Soris and I were able to get away. Don't think badly of me Draco, I did what I thought was best for my people."

"I don't. I understand what you had to do," he replied.

She offered him a smile. "Thank you for understanding. Now then, are you ready to join the Grey Wardens?"

"I have been, I tried to convince my father to let me join when he was alive, but now I must, so I can bring my family the justice that they deserve. I want to slam it into Rendon Howe's face."

"Good idea…but how about we deal with the Blight first?" she laughed.

Draco smiled and nodded. They reached Duncan who was talking to two other men. Draco inclined his head to Duncan, who nodded in return. "Good, you have found Alistair and Irasabeth, Duncan said. "Now we can get started, as long as Alistair is through riling up the mages?"

Alistair held up his hands. "It's not my fault, the Revered Mother ambushed me with a message for the mages."

"Did she also ambush you into sassing the mages?"

Irasabeth stifled a snort.

"And you are not helping, Irasabeth, from what I heard you were practically encouraging Alistair's behavior." Duncan said

"Oh c'mon Duncan, it can't be doom and gloom all the time. And those mages need to lighten up," she said with a shrug.

Duncan rolled his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Anyway, you five are going into the Wilds to gather four vials of Darkspawn blood for the Joining ritual. I cannot tell you more than that for now. Also there is an old Grey Warden outpost in the Wilds. There you will find ancient treaties that may help us in the time to come."

"Gather blood and vials. You got it," Irasabeth said as she motioned for all of them to follow her to the gate.

Draco stopped by his faithful dog and patted him. "Be good Ares," he said.

The dog barked happily and wagged his tail.

Draco nodded and followed the small group out into the Wilds, wondering what they were going to find there.

End Chapter 1

A/N: Alright, not a bad start. Thank you to my wonderful Beta Lisa (AKA lisakodysam) You are a miracle worker! I could not have made this story go more smoothly without your help.