A/N: This story is Part 2 of the Grey Trilogy, if you have not read The Grey Year, it might be helpful. Plus, my story Love and Legacy takes place between this one and the Grey Year as well. Well, without further ado, I present the next chapter of this tale.

Dragon Age: The Grey Return

The Year: 9:33 Dragon Age

Chapter 1: Hello and Goodbye

"You sweating," Carver said with an amused smirk.

His companion glared at him.

"I am not," Nigel snarled, "I'm fine…just leave me alone."

The former Templar shifted nervously, He was trying hard to remain calm, to not show how excited he was.

Carver was trying very hard not to laugh, the former Templar turned Grey Warden had been both his mentor and friend for almost two years now. He had helped see Carver through his first year in the order, not to mention the fact that he had trained him in the Templar disciplines. Nigel was a fearless warrior, a great asset to the order as a whole.

Normally he was unshakeable.

That was not the case today…

And all because of a girl.

Carver could sympathize.

IOI

The Grey Wardens that made up Carver's scouting group were once again in the City of Cumberland, in the country of Nevarra. Cumberland was one of the largest seaports this side of the Waking Sea, and therefore one of the best places for the wardens to move large numbers of people.

In the past, the wardens would have used the Cities of Kirkwall or Starkhaven for such things, but political problems in both made that impossible these days. The throne of Starkhaven was currently being disputed, and the Templars of the Chantry had a death grip on the city of Kirkwall.

Grey Wardens were not welcome in either city.

The two wardens stood on the docks, waiting for the ship from Orlais, not surprisingly, their silver and blue armor drew the attention of passersby. The wardens came to these docks very rarely and usually only on matters of great import.

For Nigel this matter was.

IOI

The two warriors were both shining examples of what people expected grey wardens to be like. Both broad shouldered and well built. Nigel stood a bit taller than Carver, with long dark hair and gray eyes. He had lived in a small village in Rivain before joining the chantry, and then later the Grey Wardens, when the Blight had risen in Ferelden he had wished to go and fight; he thought it his destiny to die in glorious battle fighting the hordes of the Archdemon.

The Hero of Ferelden spoiled those plans.

Carver was Ferelden by birth. Pale skinned with short black hair, and sky blue eyes. The son of an apostate mage, and a Kirkwall noblewoman, he had never settled anywhere until he was eight. Both his brother Garrett and his sister Bethany had inherited magical talent from their father. Which meant the Templars of the Chantry pursued them doggedly; eager to see his siblings caged in the circle of magi. Carver had been born without magic himself, he could sense it, but that was it.

It always made him feel like he was the idiot in the room, the one born weaker than his siblings. He came to resent that, not to mention the constant moving.

It sometimes seemed that the Hawke family was destined to wander forever. That is when his family came to the village of Lothering; they lived there for the next ten years. They had had a good life for the most part, but then Father had died. Garrett tried to do good by them, and he was succeeding, at least until they heard reports of Blight in the Korkari Wilds…

…Until the darkspawn had come.

Carver had ended up joining the Ferelden army; he wanted to do his part, only to see his military career end at the battle of Ostagar, when Loghain MacTir, the Teyrn of Gwaren, abandoned the king and his men to die on the battlefield.

Unopposed by the traitorous Teyrn, the spawn had marched north, with Lothering right in their path.

Carver could not abandon his family; he had seeing what the spawn had done at Ostagar.

He had needed to act.

He had deserted the first chance he had. He had returned to his family. They barely escaped the darkspawn horde, and not without loss.

Bethany.

Carver still felt pain from that memory, his twin sister Bethany killed right before his eyes, and he had been unable to stop it.

It was no longer safe to stay in Ferelden, not with the Blight and the civil war. The Hawkes had fled to Kirkwall, his Mother's ancestral home. It was then they learned that their family had fallen on hard times, and had lost its wealth and prestige.

Garrett had decided it was best to reclaim their place in Kirkwall society.

He wanted to reclaim their family name and title. Carver felt that they needed to blaze their own way, but Garrett had chosen to ignore him, he still was the younger brother. It was his duty to back Rett's play.

And he had, he fought side by side with his elder brother, helped in him gather the coin he needed for the expedition.

And that was where everything had changed for Carver.

Garrett had led them on a deep roads expedition, right into the very home of the darkspawn, the treasure that they would find there would set the Hawkes up for life, and despite hardship and betrayal they had been successful. Garrett had found enough treasure to be as rich as any lord. Once they had brought the treasure back of course.

Treasure was not the only think waiting in the Deeps however, as Carver had discovered personally.

Sadly, he had brought something else back from that mission.

He had become infected with the darkspawn taint, otherwise known as the Blight sickness. He became sick, he was dying. Fortunately, Anders, one of their allies had once served in the Grey Wardens, and he had known how to find them.

Wardens were immune to the darkspawn taint, if Carver was to survive, he would need to join the order.

Anders and Garrett had turned him over to them, and the rest, as the bards say…was history.

Carver smiled slightly, for years he had struggled to step out of his apostate brother's shadow. The wardens had finally given him that opportunity. The work was dark and bloody, but it was necessary. He had even managed to become something of a minor celebrity when he slew a broodmother. In the wardens, he found that he was respected. He had even discovered a family of sorts in the order, one that did not see him as Garrett Hawke's mundane little brother.

He had even met a girl.

His beloved… Arika.

Arika, daughter of Arik and Elosia was a Reaver from the mountains of Nevarra. Athletically built with foxlike features, icy blue eyes, dirty blonde hair and a tattooed chin and she was one of the finest young wardens in the order. Her manner could be a bit cold and ruthless at times, but given their work what could one expect.

Yes, Arika could be a little bit intimidating sometimes. Both a beauty and a fearsome fighter, how could Carver not have become smitten.

She was like some deadly warrior goddess, Carver thought, as fierce in bed as she was on the battlefield.

He chuckled at the thought, few would think a Nevarran Reaver could be sexy, of course they had never seen one in the throes of passion, or even experienced that passion for themselves.

Carver had.

Even fewer could imagine that a reaver had a soft side, they were deadly warriors that took power by feasting on the blood of dragons, wound them, and they would frenzy, becoming even more dangerous. The dragon blood in their veins also allowed them to kill with a mere look.

Arika possessed all these abilities, few could imagine such a fierce warrior finding love, but with Carver she had. For him alone she was a warm and yielding maiden.

He thanked the Maker for that.

She had been his trainer when he had first joined, that was how they had first met, and the two had become close, finally in this very city, the two had become lovers.

It was rare that the two of them were not together, fighting t each other's side. They had faced many dangers together, for almost a year and a half now they had spent their time fighting and loving.

He was starting to wonder if now would be the time to take the next step.

To claim his Arika in the eyes of the chantry, he wondered…he wondered…

He wondered if it was time to ask her to marry him?

He loved her, this she knew, but he was unsure if she would commit to such a thing.

She had very little use for what she called the lowland faith.

He would speak with the one they were waiting for; Arika had always respected her opinion.

She would know what to do next.

IOI

The ship from Orlais had finally arrived.

Nigel searched the decks with his eyes, nervously searching for one certain passenger.

Carver chuckled; it was hilarious to see his friend so distracted.

"I don't see her/" Nigel said panicking slightly, "What…what if she missed the ship? What if something happened to her?"

"Calm down," Carver said, "I think she knows a thing or two about keeping herself safe."

Nigel glared at him; clearly he did not share Carver's confidence.

Carver smiled, he pointed up the gangway of the ship.

Nigel looked up, he visually relaxed.

There…there she was.

A lone grey warden disembarked from the ship. She wore a hooded black travel cloak, her staff tapped lightly on the deck as she walked. Like the two men, she wore the gambeson of the order, only with no armor over it.

As a mage she needed little.

"Hello Siobhan," Carver said bowing slightly.

The mage removed her hood revealing a head of curly orange hair, Siobhan had been the scouting group's healer when he had first joined, and she had spent the better part of the last year teaching in Orlais.

She was also Nigel's lover. The two had grown up together, but were separated when Siobhan was sent to the circle. He had joined the Templars to remain close to her, to protect her. When she had been transferred to the circle in Ferelden, he had tried to get transferred there as well.

Siobhan had fled the circle during the Blight; she had been working outside it when the civil war caused the death of her Templar watchers. She had fled Ferelden after that. Seeking out Nigel through his last letter to her, it was not surprising that she agreed to join the order to be closer to him, her best friend.

The man she had always loved.

They had only been lovers for a short time before she had gotten reassigned; the two had conversed through letters for months.

Now she was back.

"Hello Nigel," she said shyly.

He was stone-faced. For a moment, she had feared that she had angered him, what had she…

He busted out laughing; he scooped the mage into his arms and spun her.

She giggled happily, his spinning making her dizzy.

"Nigel! Maker's breath Nigel put me down! I…Mmph!"

He silenced her, pulling her into a deep and passionate kiss.

Carver looked away, trying to give his friends at least some respect.

Nigel put her down, he broke the kiss, Siobhan was left breathless, she stayed in his arms fearing that she would fall in her dizziness.

"Hello My lord," she purred.

"Milady," he replied.

'My apologies you two," Carver said, he hated reminding them that he was here, but duty still called, "But we really need to get back. Arika is…"

"Arika is here?" Siobhan brightened at the news; she had always considered the Reaver one of her best friends.

Carver nodded, he led the way.

"Why did Arika not come with you?" Siobhan asked.

"She said she had to meet someone," Carver replied, "Apparently they would meet with her and her alone."

"Sounds cryptic," Siobhan said.

"It is just Arika being Arika," Nigel said dismissively, "We should hurry back, before she drinks up all the ale."

Carver chuckled; his love was going to like seeing Siobhan again.

It…it would be just like old times!

IOI

Arika fell to the cobblestones, blood gushed from the wound in her side.

The reaver spat blood, she…she did not even have enough strength left to frenzy!

She was cold…so very cold!

She realized that she was going to bleed to death.

Her killer stood over her, his great sword gripped firmly in one hand, her blood stained it red. The same color of the cobblestones on which she lay. He was dressed in leather armor and furs, the mark of one of the reaver clans of Nevarra marked his chest…

It was the mark of her clan.

"You should have killed me," the man said thoughtfully.

She coughed; she reached across the cobbles, trying to seize her imperial edge.

He kicked the Tevinter sword out of her reach.

"You should have killed me," he repeated.

She gasped, it…it was getting hard to breathe.

"I couldn't," she groaned weakly, "I…I can't!"

The reaver shook his head; the look he gave her was one of pity.

"You have grown weak," he said.

She was shivering; she looked into his eyes, and saw the pity there.

She nodded; yes…she had grown weak.

About half a year ago, she had fallen under the sway of the darkspawn magister Corypheus, one of the original betrayers, the ones who brought the darkspawn into Thedas.

Something had changed in her after that, she…she questioned herself constantly; she no longer leapt to battle. The cry of the warrior was a sound she no longer heard.

She…she had grown weak.

She forced herself to her knees. She…she refused to cower, if her clansman was going to end her life, she would die a reaver, not some weak girl whimpering on her knees.

She pushed her hair back, offering the man her neck.

She leaned forward, letting his blade touch her throat.

She looked up into his eyes, seeing the mercy that awaited her.

All she had to do was let go.

"I am ready brother," she said bravely, "Please…send me home!"

He nodded.

"May the dragons take you to your rest," he said.

He raised his sword, raised it for a decapitating blow.

Arika smiled. She was ready.

She was going home.

A/N: Not what you expected huh? The Grey Return is just getting started good readers, and with it the return of someone who will shake Carver's world to his core!

See you next time!

DG