Chapter One: Bleeder
"Let the blade pass through the flesh,
Let my blood touch the ground,
Let my cries touch their hearts.
Let mine be the last sacrifice."
- Andraste 7:12
The sound of swords and yelling awoke her, her Mabari hound growling at her door. She threw off her sheets, quickly getting dressed. As she grabbed her boots the door flew open, and a servant ran in, breathing rapidly as though he had been running for his life. He had been. He yelled that the castle was under attack, and disappeared back out the door. Adalia followed, sword in hand. Two men rushed at her, and she met their blows, besting them both. Her mother ran in, armed to the teeth. All Adalia could hear was screaming and the sound of metal against metal. Her mother was speaking to her, pulling on her arm, but everything seemed so distant. The men's armour wore the crest of Arl Rendon Howe, a close friend of her fathers. A traitor. Her mother was pulling harder now, and Adalia moved with her.
They passed her brothers room, the body of his wife Oriana, and their young son lay in a pool of blood.
"Oren..." Adalia whispered as her mother dragged her past. Her thoughts drifted, thinking of Howe, and seeing him earlier in the day. He had commented on what a lovely young woman she had become, and an uneasy feeling had passed over her. Her father had introduced another man, Duncan, and Howe had seemed uncomfortable, even going as far as commenting on the Grey Wardens surprise arrival. The heroes of legend who saved them all, her father had always referred to the Wardens as, here to choose his youngest child as a candidate for their order.
Parts of the castle were on fire, thick smoke filling the air as Arl Howes men continued to attack. A sword skimmed her arm, drawing blood. Pérsēs, her Mabari, had himself attached to a soldiers leg. They were at the front gates, Ser Gilmore and his men trying to prevent more of Howes men from entering. He was yelling at them to get out, to leave it to them. Ser Gilmore and his men were as good as dead.
They were running to the larder now, Adalia not having remembered moving from the front entrance. Smoke was filling her lungs and burning her eyes. Servants and knights lay dead at her feet. Friends. Her father was laying on the floor, blood staining his tunic. Adalia rushed to his side, convinced she could help.
"Find Fergus, and seek revenge." Bryce Cousland almost begged, holding his daughters small hand within his own. She had forgotten that Fergus had left, and wasn't dead with his wife and child. Her parents were speaking, but she was trying to stop her father from bleeding. She didn't even realize that she was crying. Duncan was there now, Adalia's father begging him to get his wife and daughter out of there.
"I won't leave you. I'll kill every bastard that comes through that door to buy them time, but I wont abandon you." Her mother was saying, her face and silver locks smeared with blood. Now Duncan was pulling on her, heading towards the servants exit. Adalia was screaming, crying like a child, trying to pull away and help protect her parents. Her mother was firing arrows as Howes men ran at her. The last thing she heard was her fathers voice.
"Do us proud, pup."
"Adalia... Adalia." She awoke with a start, Duncan kneeling beside her, shaking her softly. "Time to wake up. We should be at Ostagar by mid-day." Adalia sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her face felt damp, as though she had been crying.
"Nightmares about your parents, again?" Duncan asked, his deep brown eyes showing genuine concern.
"Yes. They're getting rather vivid." Adalia responded, rolling up her bedding. Perses was still laying next to the smoldering coals of the fire, snoring peacefully. "I wish I slept as well as he does." She commented, and Duncan laughed softly. They had been traveling for days, Adalia physically exhausted. Finished packing, she woke Perses with a nudge of her foot, and the trio set out on their way, the ruins visible in the distance.