The Miracle Child of Andraste
No one believed it at first that the one to save the world would be an elven child, but with his magic so precariously powerful, he has the whole inner circle watching out for him, especially Seeker Cassandra.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Dragon Age Series
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Chronicle I
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Cassandra watched as they carried the child into the cabin with the 'healing' made Adan and the apostate elf, Solas, following right behind. She walked in to watch as the guards left them to take care of the little one.
"His fever is high. Too high." Adan said as he began making the necessary herbs.
Solas was looking over the glowing mark on the child's left hand. It was unstable just like the breach in the sky. He reached over taking his hand to study.
"Well?" Cassandra asked, expecting some sort of answer or explanation impatient.
"…This mark… it resembles the same magic as the rifts… What could have caused this, I'll never know but… I think this child might be our only hope in closing the rifts, and perhaps the Breach… Perhaps."
"Perhaps?"
Solas retorted with emphasis, "Perhaps, if it doesn't kill him first."
The Seeker winced at that response as she looked over the child. The child was no older than six years old–––at least from her view point. He was just so small and tiny for a young child elf.
His clothes resembled those of a servant but tattered and covered in dirt as if he was running from something, stumbling. The young boy had dark black hair, bangs falling over his face which had a deep bruise on his cheek. His fair complexion was covered in cuts and scrapes.
Cassandra wondered what the boy had encountered in the Fade but her thoughts were interrupted when she heard loud noises outside the cabin.
She walked out of the cabin and found Varric and a couple of guards protecting the cabin as a mob had already began to form. Leliana was there, trying to quell the anger.
"ENOUGH!" The Seeker shouted as she walked over to the mob. "Go back to your posts! All of you!"
"Can you not see, Seeker? That child is an abomination! He must be the one that killed the Divine! It is an ELF no less!" The bigot who started this mob shouted, raising more ire within them, and the deep rooted racism taking place.
"How dare you! You would condone murder of a child in the name of the Divine? I will not allow it! Disperse! NOW! Or I'll have to cut you down myself!" She had lost Regalyan at the Conclave, and she was in no mood to deal with idiots at this time.
She drew her blade which caused the crowd to step back in fear. She wasn't the only one however as Varric stepped up and loaded Bianca, pulling the safety trigger as he aimed for the bigot.
"I'd do what she says, Human. She's not one to be joking around," He said.
After a few more moments, the mob dispersed, returning to their posts. The Bigot glared before he too turned away, leaving.
Varric sighed. These people…
He looked up at the Seeker. "Didn't know you would be protecting the child, Seeker."
"The Child is innocent, Varric. I will not allow any injustice. We can't afford to lose ourselves in this…calamity…" She said, looking up at the sky as the breach let out another boom, expanding wider.
Varric frowned at the threatening Breach that was growing bigger and bigger.
"You and me both, Seeker. You and me both."
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The elf child soon woke from his sleep and another elven servant ran out to get either the Seeker or the Spymaster, leaving him with two guards in the room that were watching over him.
They watched him as the child cowered, moving in into the corner of his bed where his back hit the wall, trying to look small. Behind their helmets, they frowned as they remembered that mob that formed. How can this child cause this chaos? It couldn't be possible despite the mark on his left hand.
Moments later, the door opened. Leliana and Cassandra walked in with haste but slowed down as they approached him in his bed.
He curled himself even more as if trying to hide and the Spymaster couldn't help but frown.
Leliana remembered this elf child. Three months ago, he came into the Temple and stole bread. The guards caught him and Divine Justinia happened to be there. From what she remembered Justinia telling her was that the boy had no parents, so she was letting him stay.
He was the errand boy, running back and forth. Other times, when he's free, he would go to the Divine and they would chat. Leliana remembered it well.
The boy also recognized Leliana, but he only calmed down a bit.
He asked first, "Am I in trouble?"
She blinked at that and chuckled. "Should you be in trouble?"
His brows furrowed, panicking slightly as he tried to think of what he did. "…I… haven't stolen any bread at all."
Leliana smiled. The boy is innocent that's for sure.
Cassandra stepped in now and the boy flinched when she approached him. She felt sorry for him, but they needed to know. "What is your name, child?" She asked.
"…A–Alistair…"
"Alistair? Like King Alistair?"
"My brother's name is Aedan. Our parents wanted to name us after the Hero of Ferelden and me after the King…"
Cassandra pursed her lips, showing a thin smile while Leliana covered her mouth to hide the smile. That's adorable, she thought. She wondered what Alistair Theirin would think of that. And Aedan… Aedan, of course, is dead.
"Where is your brother? And your parents?"
"My parents died when I was young…and my older brother passed away a year ago," he explained then he looked at her worriedly. "…So…am I in deep trouble?"
"Depends… do you remember what happened at the Conclave?" Cassandra asked and the conversation became a little more serious.
"I… I was supposed to deliver a message to the Divine, and then… nothing."
"Nothing?" Leliana asked.
"Nothing…then I woke up in this… place. Spiders chased me! A–and I–I was running, and... Oh! A woman!" He said and the two women raised their brows on that one.
A woman. They have heard the scouts saying that the child stepped out of the rift, and glowing woman was right behind him before the rift closed. The last several days, the rumor spread and everyone was speculating the Woman to be Andraste herself.
And everyone thought of him to be the son of Andraste and Shartan.
"She… reached out to me."
"…Go to the Forward Camp, Leliana. I will take him to the rift," Cassandra said.
Leliana looked at her before back to Alistair. She reached out to pat his head. "You're going to be alright, Alistair," she said, smiling. With that, she got up and left.
When Leliana was gone, Alistair turned to Cassandra and asked, "What did happen?"
"…It's better if I show you, child."
Alistair's life changed when he stepped out of the cabin.
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Alistair cried out in pain as he fell to the snow, clutching his left hand. The mark was expanding even more and the threshold of pain was too much.
Cassandra was immediately at his side and for a moment, she felt helpless. She cannot ease the child's pain until that Breach is closed.
"Pull it together, Alistair. Just breathe," she said to him.
A few tears escaped the child's eyes before he quickly rubbed them away. He breathe in and out, trying to get use to the pain.
Once he was calmed, Cassandra asked him, "Are you well now?"
He nodded a bit before she helped him up to his feet.
They continued their journey since they wanted to test it out if he can actually close the rift–––If Solas was right about it. They were soon on the bridge, but then it collapsed after getting hit by a meteor.
Everyone on that bridge fell to the ice and Alistair stumbled. He hit something hard, but not cold like the ice. He opened his eyes to see that the Seeker had caught him and was holding him protectively.
Cassandra sat up and the child pulled away a bit. "Are you alright?"
"Mm–hmm… Ah!" He suddenly shouted, pointing and the Seeker looked over to see a demon rising out from the ground.
Maker.
The Seeker quickly got up, unsheathing her sword and picking up her shield. "Stay behind me!" she yelled as she charged over at the demon to take it down.
Al watched her, afraid but then he saw a black puddle forming on the ice. He tilted his head until he recognized a demon rising out from it. He cried out and quickly he took off running away from it. The Demon took chase.
A chill went down Cassandra's spine when she heard the child cry out, and she looked back to see another demon cornering him. Shit! How could she just leave him like that? She felt a powerful attack on her shield that caught her off–guard. She had to fight off two demons now.
She pushed them back with her shield, bashing them. She heard a scream behind him and she only hastened to hack up the demons.
"Alistair!" She yelled and when she turned around–––still using the shield to block the demons––she saw something shocking.
Ice. The demon that was after Alistair was frozen in ice completely like winter's grasp.
She was stunned a bit as Alistair had his hands up.
He cast Winter's Grasp?! The boy is a mage?!
He looked over to her, eyes wide and he ran over to her. "Watch out!"
She looked behind as the demon's claws were raised higher than her shield. It brought its claws down but then it stopped. It screeched and so did the second as the two were completely frozen as well.
Cassandra looked back again to see the child's eyes glowing white and his right hand reaching out, filled with ice. Did he do that?
She looked back at the demons and with just one swing of her blade, the frozen demons turned into broken crystals.
There was silence for a moment…
"What did you do? Are you a mage?!" Then she marched over to the cowering child. A mage. Yes, she could sense it. Magic that wasn't there before but then came out of nowhere. How did he hide it?
The sudden volume of her voice and the anger behind it frightened the child as he stumbled back on the ground, looking up at her with eyes wide of fear. Cassandra would have felt guilt instantly but she was more concerned of what this child really is. This child is so young–––too young to be able to cast such powerful spells.
She took a step toward him and he covered himself with his hands, screaming, "STOP! Please don't kill me!"
His cry did stop her, and now guilt washed over her, seeing the boy start to cry. She couldn't believe that the little boy had found her more terrifying than a demon. The Seeker held in her breath and let it out before she sheath her blade and knelt down.
"Look… I'm not going to kill your or hurt you. I just want you to tell me the truth. Why did you hide the fact that you are a mage and when did you get your powers?"
Alistair stopped crying for a moment as he tried to wipe the tears away. "I–I got my powers…a year ago after m–my brother passed a–away… a–and I–I–I hid it b–because my brother said T–Templars will kill me… p–people will kill me. N–no one likes a mage, and no one likes an elf."
Cassandra's fist tightened at that. Anger raised when she heard such reasons, and only because they are true. She's not like that, but there were people out there that were just like that. They hate mages and elves, and the combination of it would be worse… She recalled that bigot just willing to kill an Elven child.
Cassandra let out a sigh at that and her expression softened.
"…Look. Alistair. As long as I'm here, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, okay? Come… we must keep going."
She reached her hand out to him and he stared at it for a moment, before he reached out and took it. The Seeker helped him up and they continued on their journey. Alistair looked up at her with wonder and he thought… he should trust her.
On the way to the rift, they encountered more demons and Alistair helped openly, freezing the demons so quickly and instantly like they stood no chance as Cassandra cut them down. This child was powerful, she noted. She feared a bit of what he will turn into when he grows up. At the moment though, he was helping.
Soon, they made it to the top of the hill where Solas, Varric, and other soldiers were fighting off the demons that kept appearing.
"Alistair, stay back!" She said to him as she charged into the battle.
However, she didn't say not to help.
Alistair looked over to see a demon coming at the bald elf and he reached his hand out. The snow on the demon's feet than rose up immediately forming ice until it covered it whole. Solas looked back surprised and he saw the caster was the child with the mark.
Curious… Solas thought before he focused on the battle and he cast a barrier on everyone.
Alistair then saw a bolt fly, hitting a demon's face. He looked over to see a dwarf with a very strange crossbow.
Soon, there were no more demons and Solas took the child's hand, dragging him over to the rift. "Quickly, Da'len! Before more come through!"
Then he thrust the child's hand into the rift and a connection was made. Alistair was in awe as he felt the push and pull of such a strange, unstable thread. Then, all too soon, he pulled back and the rift exploded, causing him a bit to stumble.
But the rift was closed.
There was silence for a moment, waiting for it to come back, but it didn't. And an air of relief passed over them.
"Wow! What did you do?" Alistair asked, now filled with excitement and giddiness.
Solas smiled amusingly. "I did nothing. The credit is yours."
"You mean this mark?" He questioned, looking down at his glowing green hand. Maybe it's not so bad after all, despite the pain.
Alistair can help!
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"Ah. Here they come."
"Thank the Maker, you all made it. Chancellor Roderick, this is––"
"I know who he is…" He began to say, sneering down at the elven child. "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution!"
Alistair took a step back afraid and Varric then stood in front of him. The Elven child hid behind him now while the Seeker sneered angrily at the Chancellor.
"Order me? You are a glorified clerk! A Bureaucrat! …Do you actually believe that this child killed the Divine?"
"Come here, Kid," Varric coaxed the elven child away from them as they argued. He started distracting the young elven child with a story about the Champion Hawke. Alistair was immediately mesmerized as he listened with great attention.
Solas watched between the child and the argument of the humans. Execute the child? Like he would let that happen, and it seemed like the Right and the Left hands of the Divine agreed so, protecting Alistair. He glanced over at the Elven child. Alistair was a great puzzle to him. He remembered their conversation not too long ago. The child was only seven years old, and yet he did magic. He was no normal mage, but they will have to worry about the child's magic later. The breach was more important.
Right at that moment, the Breach set off another thunder.
"AHH!" Alistair cried out of pain simultaneously as the thunder before he collapsed.
His cry alerted the five that cared for him as they surrounded him immediately. Varric caught him and held him carefully; the child had passed out from the threshold of the pain. "Shit," he cursed. This prisoner was only a child––a seven–year–old child. Did no one get it?
Solas knelt down to check over him and surmised, "He is fine, but the thresholds are getting stronger. We need to take him to the Breach now, or he dies!"
Cassandra bristled at that. "We need to charge. Now."
"It's not safe, Cassandra! The boy has passed out, and it would be best to take the mountain pass."
"What? What of the lost scouts?"
"It's not any better on the front, Cassandra. Look at him!" Leliana said and the Seeker did look. The child still looked like he was in pain even unconscious. They had no time, but they were also in a disadvantage position with him passed out.
"Fine! …We'll take the Mountain Pass."
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"Kid! You got to wake up now!" Shaking. A hand was shaking him and Alistair started to wake to the sound of battle and monsters screaming. For a moment, he thought everything that had happened was just a nightmare, and that he was in his own bed in the servant quarters.
He was surely wrong.
There was a rift, and everyone was fighting against the demons.
"Sorry to wake you up, but we're in a bit of trouble. Can you do it?" Varric asked him.
Alistair shook his head for a moment before standing up. "I–I can."
"Good… Hey Seeker! Chuckles! He's up!"
Cassandra looked over to them and she went ahead to hack down the thousandth demon she killed this week. Finally the area was clear and Alistair went over to the rift, holding his hand out.
In seconds, the rift was closed once more.
"You are becoming more proficient at this, Da'len." Solas praised the child. "And so young."
Alistair looked up at him and only smiled.
"Seeker Pentaghast! Thank you for coming to our aid," the Lieutenant said, saluting.
The Seeker smiled a bit. "It was he who closed the rift."
The Lieutenant looked down to see the elven child. "Andraste's son?"
Alistair blinked at that. "My mother's name was Kallian… And my father's name was Theron."
"O–Ohh… nevertheless, thank you." The Lieutenant said as she bowed again.
The Seeker nodded. "The path on the way down is clear for you all."
"We will be going then." With that she and the scouts have gone down.
They continued on their path and Alistair struggled a bit going down the ladder since it was a bit slipper. His foot slipped off, but he managed to hold on to the wooden bar with his small hands. Solas flinched and he reached out placing the child's feet on the ladder. "Careful, Da'len."
"S–sorry!"
When they got down, Solas lifted him off the ladder. Cassandra did notice what happened, but she didn't comment. This was a lot weighing down on a child's shoulders after all.
They soon arrived at the burning place of what was once the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Embers and ash fall like snow, and the scorched bodies continued to burn in this cold winter. Alistair held the Seeker's hand tightly, mostly sick, seeing the place.
"C–Cassandra…" he weakly called.
"It is alright, child." She comforted him but it did not help.
"I didn't do this. I know I didn't do this!" He said, eyes wide with fear.
"Of course not, kid. You'll be fine." Varric said. How can anyone think that? There was no way a child can cause this much of a devastation, despite that this elven child may not be just any ordinary child. He swore this child could be at Hawke's level.
They soon made it to the first Breach.
The memory was played out for them with Alistair's voice being heard. There was the dark looming shadow over Divine Justinia about to sacrifice her for something, then the elven boy came right in with a tray of tea and cookies before dropping it onto the floor.
"Run while you can! Warn them!"
"Slay the elf!"
Cassandra's eyes widened, seeing this and she turned to Alistair. "You… you were there! What happened? Is all this true?" She asked him planting her hands on his shoulders.
"I–I don't know! I don't remember!" Alistair said as he was just as frightened.
Thankfully, Solas reminded them of their dire situation. "The Fade bleeds here, Seeker. We have to open the rift in order for the child to close it properly."
"That means Demons! Stand ready!" She shouted then she turned to the elven boy. "Stay with me, Alistair."
Alistair looked up at her in awe, before nodding profusely.
They went over to the rift and the child reached out––a connection made. Then in seconds, a blast of wind spread out and a Pride demon materialized on the field.
Well… shit.
They scrambled, getting into defensive and offensive positions. Cassandra put the child with Varric as they hide behind a boulder.
"Just stay down, kid!" Varric said as he fired bolts at the Pride demon.
Alistair watched with fear, seeing them all fight the humungous demon. He was too big and powerful for them. They couldn't… then his eyes looked up to the rift. Very quickly, he left Varric's side, ignoring his protests as he ran to the rift. He reached his hand out, pulling at it…
A blast came out, but it hurt the Pride demon successfully as it fell on its knees. The warriors took their chance to stab the beast everywhere.
The Pride demon roared as it stood up and turned to see the boy. "YOU!"
Alistair panicked and he started to run. The Pride demon summoned his whip and was about to hit the elven boy with it when Solas ran, grabbed the child, and leaped out of danger.
"Stay down!" He said as they managed to get behind a boulder before he cast a barrier on them.
Cassandra saw that and she let out a battle cry, slashing the demon's leg from behind, cutting off some sensitive nerves. The demon roared turning its attention back to the warriors on the field. Alistair looked to see that they were in trouble and he raised his hands out towards them…
A powerful green barrier coated them all. It was so powerful that when a soldier was hammered down by the behemoth's fist, he felt nothing. No pain. The barrier broke but he managed to escape unharmed.
Alistair looked up to the rift and he did it again, pulling at it…
BOOM!
The beast fell once more and Cassandra finally delivered a decisive blow on the beast, killing it instantly.
"One more time, Da'len!" Solas urged him and Alistair nodded as he reached out again.
The pull this time lasted longer than the first ones, but elven boy kept at it. He felt all his strength sapped away and when he was barely standing, the rift exploded, sending everyone backwards.
The child hit the ground, his head collided unto the cement.
Darkness took him.
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"Have you gone completely mad?!"
Cassandra held in another aggravated sigh. The Chancellor Roderick was getting on her nerves swimmingly well.
"He should be taken to Val Royeaux immediately! To be tried by whomever becomes Divine!"
Cassandra sneered at him. "You are a cretin, Chancellor! You are going to punish a young child? An innocent, young child?!"
"You all have gone mad, claiming him to be the Miracle Child of Andraste? That thing could be a demon––"
Then the door opened, and Solas let the child in. He nodded his head to the Seeker before leaving them to give them privacy.
Alistair walked over to them and he smiled at Cassandra. "Hi, Cass."
"Hello, Alistair." The Seeker couldn't but feel warmth quenching her heart. Then the Chancellor had to ruin it.
The old man pointed his finger, "Chain him! I want him prepared for travel to the Capital for trial!"
Cassandra resisted to roll her eyes. "Disregard that order and leave us."
The guards saluted and left the room.
He sneered at her. "You walk a dangerous line, Seeker."
She walked up to the Chancellor, holding her head high as she said, "The breach is stable, but it is still a threat. I will not. Ignore it."
Meanwhile, Alistair stood quietly, behaving as he watched the two and Leliana argue. This went on for a while until Cassandra suddenly slammed a book on the table.
"Do you know what this is, Chancellor Roderick?"
Alistair eyed curiously at it and he said happily, "It's a book! A big book."
Leliana smiled and Cassandra only continued, "It is a writ from the Divine, granting us the authority to act… As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn."
Then she approached him with all her dignity and glory radiating from her. "We will close the breach, we will find those responsible, and we will restore order! With. Or Without your approval."
Leliana walked over to the book. "This is the Divine's directive: Rebuild the Inquisition of the Old. Find those who will stand against the chaos… We aren't ready. We have no leader, no numbers, and now no chantry."
"Cassandra can be the leader!" Alistair said, raising his hand to nominate her. "I'll watch her and make sure she does it right."
Leliana laughed a bit at that. The thought of a young child directing Cassandra's leadership skills was amusing enough. Cassandra was smiling but she shook her head. "We'll talk about finding a leader later, Alistair."
She paused before glancing down at Alistair. "…We must act now…but we can't do it without you on our side, Alistair. We need you."
Alistair looked up at them with eyes of wonder. "I can join the Inquisition then?"
"Haha… Yes. Help us fix it before it's too late," she said and she held out his hand to the young child.
He beamed at that before reaching out to take it and shake it. "Gladly!"
The Miracle Child of Andraste was now an agent of the Inquisition.
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Chronicle I: End.
Next: Chronicle II