Chapter 1

The path was narrow. The limbs of the trees reached over it, entwining around each other like lovers. The rays of the sun barely reached through, but a few shined brightly onto a dozen little birds, pecking at the path for any food. The birds were unaware, or perhaps they did not care, that a cloaked and hooded figure stood sentinel at arm's length from them, a sword planted firmly in the dry ground in front of it. The birds continued to peck, at nothing but dust. It hadn't rained for a while now.

In the distance, through a blur of heat, three creatures thumped swiftly onto the narrow path, straying away from the hot sun and into the shade of the tree covered path. Dust flew up into the air. The birds craned their necks and heads towards this intrusion, their beady little eyes blinking once before they raised their wings and took flight all at once, disappearing into the trees. The figure finally moved, his head looked toward the beasts pounding the ground, running straight for him.

His heart pounded to the same rhythm of the hoofs beating the ground of the narrow path. Before, the beasts had ridden abreast of one another, but were now forced into single file. They galloped crazily toward him, emitting strange and unfamiliar sounds. The lead beast bared its teeth, its eyes wary at the figure standing in its way. Two of the beasts carried men. The horse thieves had run straight into their trap.

Ronan stood his ground, praying to Mythal and to Andruil for the beasts to stop. He had never seen a horse before. They were so rare and valuable that they were often the targets of thieves. The lead horse was larger than a halla, but had no horns. How were the shems controlling it? The horse was black as night, a dreadful sight running toward him, spit running down its mouth. Ronan gripped the hilt of his sword for reassurance. The horse was closer now, still galloping straight for him. He closed his eyes for a second. He would not budge from his spot like a coward. It was only an animal, a beastly animal, but not a monster.

The thumping of the hooves finally stopped, the horse made a sound, much like an annoyed halla would make and the shem atop it cursed loudly. Ronan opened his eyes to see the second horse rearing backwards, the shem sitting on that one trying not to fall as the front hooves rose high in the air before finally coming down with a final thud and loud snort from the horse. Dust found its way into his hood.

"Get out the way, stranger," the lead horse thief said. His face was an angry scowl as he tried to control the horse with ropes.

Ronan slowly drew his sword from the ground and shaking his head free of his hood, placed the blade casually atop his shoulder, the way a farmer would hold a pitchfork at rest. With a slight grin, Ronan shook his head. He was not going to get out of the way.

Glancing at Ronan with disdain, the thief spit to the side. "You're making a mistake, Onehand."

Once again, somebody was underestimating him. Ronan laughed. "This is a mighty fine spot, a narrow path, with a thick canopy of shade." Ronan looked up into the trees. "All the better to hide a couple of hunters."

The horse thieves looked nervously around them. The one in the back chuckled nervously, holding tightly onto the rope that fastened the third horse to the horse he sat atop, a chestnut colored skittish creature which refused to remain still.

"Hunters? A better spot? For what?" the lead horse thief asked.

"Why, bounty hunters of course." Ronan replied. "As for the what…"

"Most like we'll be running you down," the horse thief interrupted. He was about to kick his horse forward but instead he let his feet hit harmlessly against the sides of the horse. He looked nervously about him as a large potbellied man appeared beside Ronan, carrying a heavy maul over his shoulder as if it were a thin stick. He wore a rusty horned helmet and grunted menacingly at the horse thief. Chug, Ronan thought as he nodded to the man, it's about time you show up. He was beginning to think he was going to have to do this on his own. He noticed Vance and Fritz appear behind the horses at the same time the thieves noticed.

"Bloody Andraste," the thief cursed loudly. The large black horse he was seated on snorted loudly. Its hooves kicked at the ground in impatience as the thief looked for a way out. His companion had gone pale and shook in his saddle. "These horses are worth more than your bounty for us. Let us go and you can have them."

"We have no need for horses." Vance said.

The lead thief looked back at his companion with fury and disgust. "Bugger this, coward, I'm running them down. They won't hurt their precious horses or they won't see any coin." With those words said he kicked at his horse furiously, but the beast wouldn't move forward. Instead, it reared up angrily and let out a whining sound. Instinctively, Ronan backed away, fearing the hooves coming down onto him, crushing him horribly into a messy, unrecognizable pulp. In one instant he heard the faint rustle of leaves, the buzzing sound of an arrow cutting through air, and in the next he saw the spatter of blood as the horse's legs came crashing onto the ground. The horse thief had caught an arrow right through his thick neck. He fell from the horse with a great thud. His companion, wide-eyed and fearful, slid from the chestnut horse and fled into the woods.

"Fritz," Vance said calmly, tilting his head in the direction of the fleeing thief. Fritz gave a quick nod and disappeared into the woods, giving chase to the horse thief.

"That was too easy," Chug complained, leaning casually over the handle of his maul, no longer held over his shoulder. "We need to get better jobs."

The black horse pranced to the side of the narrow path, nervously pawing at the ground.

"We still have to return these beasts to its owner." Vance said, glancing toward the trio of rare and valuable animals.

Ronan walked carefully toward the black horse. It was a majestic and graceful creature. It was stubborn, itching to be free. Ronan reached out for it, but the horse backed away, neighing. You are nothing like the halla, Ronan thought as he placed his hand on the creature's neck. The horse seemed to calm under his touch.

"He's got the magic touch." Vance said with a chuckle.

Ronan narrowed his eyes in annoyance. There is nothing magic about me. He stroked the horse's neck. The horses belonged to a rich magistrate's country estate. They were his pride and joy and he was offering a lot of coin for their safe return and for the death of the thieves who dared steal them.

Ronan turned as he heard boots hit the ground. Anwen and Ty had come down from their hiding spots in the trees, bows slung over their backs.

"Nice shot, Anwen." Vance said, looking at the dead thief and the pool of blood around him.

Ty frowned. "How do you know it wasn't my shot?"

"Little brother, I know you too well." Vance whacked Ty playfully on the back. "You can't even aim your piss straight."

Chug laughed loudly with Vance as Ty shook his head and burned red with embarrassment. Ronan turned his attention back to the horse as Fritz emerged from the woods, nodding to Vance with bloodied hands.

Two months with these misfits and Ronan still didn't know what he was doing in the Free Marches. They weren't as bad as he first thought, but there was something missing. He was reminded of this empty feeling every once and a while when his chest would tighten and an ache where there should be no ache, for his hand was no longer there, would send shooting pain through his arm. Then he would wonder what he was doing so far away from his clan. He felt this way now, but somehow, the horse calmed him.

Over the long mane of the horse, he caught Anwen watching him with her strange violet eyes. The flat ear woman unsettled him. He knew she was a mage, but she pretended not to be one. And she barely ever said a word to anyone. Ronan looked away. Who knew what else the witch could do. If she could turn into a wolf, then perhaps she could read his mind. His mind was his own; he would never let anyone see into it.

"How we going to get these things back?" Ty's voice cut through Ronan's thoughts.

"I sure as hell can't ride them. We'll just herd them back. They've got four legs, rope around their necks, how hard can it be?" Vance replied.

"I'll ride them back." Ronan said. The others looked at him with surprise. Ronan had proved to them how skilled he was, but somehow they doubted he could do what he said. Well, he would show them. He had to admit, though, he was getting awfully tired of having to constantly prove himself. What exactly did they see in him? He was Dalish, one-handed, and not as big as a shem, but he was no pitifully small and pathetic city elf either.

After a moment of consideration, Vance nodded. "Just don't run off with the horses or the bounty. I don't want to be ambushing you anytime soon."

Ronan grinned, remembering how he had made Vance yield to him in a duel. "I won't, but how soon your memory fails you."

"Just go my Dalish friend. Show us how you can ride." Vance replied with a grin of his own.

Ronan looked at the horse standing before him. It couldn't be that hard to ride a horse, could it? The thieves, after all, had no trouble. He wondered, however, how he was supposed to climb atop the beast. Grabbing a hold of the mane with his only hand, he pulled himself up onto the horse. It took a nervous step backward. It felt odd to be on top of an animal. He had climbed onto hallas as a child, but they were always skittish and never let him stay on for long. He glanced at the other horses, surprised to see that Anwen had already climbed onto the chestnut horse.

"Looks like Anwen will be going too." Vance said. "Meet us at the usual place."

Irritated now that Anwen was showing him up, he tried to get the horse to move, but nothing happened. The shems had the nerve to laugh.

"By the looks of it, might be a few days before we see you again." Chug said with a laugh.

"Shut your mouth, Chug. Your fat ass would cripple the horse if you tried to sit on it." Ronan spat back.

"Lucky for us I didn't volunteer then." Chug said, still laughing.

Ronan tugged at the horse's reins, stroked its neck, and silently prayed for it to move forward. Suddenly, it did. He wondered if he did have the magic touch. But, of course, he didn't. He looked back to see Anwen wearing the slightest of smiles. She had smacked the beast in the haunches. She trotted forward with her horse, leading the third one forward, with Ronan's horse trotting behind them all.

This is going to be a long ride…

…

Ronan was deeply annoyed that Anwen was having no trouble at all sitting atop the horse, directing its every move. She looked like some sort of ancient horse goddess, sitting with her back straight, her long blonde hair streaming behind her like a magical golden cape, and effortlessly riding the horse like she was a part of it.

For his part, Ronan was uncomfortable. The horse was calm enough, but it kept straying off the path to eat dried up grass. It seemed to have a will of its own. And the way it trotted was giving him a sore everything. Muscles he didn't even know he had strained in his thighs as he did everything he could to stay atop the beast. The third horse followed quietly behind Anwen's, the dust from both of them getting into Ronan's face and into his mouth, stuck in between the crevices of his teeth. Riding a horse was not as fun as it had looked.

"How do you know how to ride a horse?" Ronan asked, tired of the silence. "And so gracefully, too."

Anwen only shrugged, keeping her attention focused on the path ahead.

Ronan rolled his eyes and angrily brushed his hair free of dust. Not that it would do any good anyway as it would just get dirty again. The black horse was slowly turning a shade lighter with all the dust being blown onto them. "Why do you hardly say anything?"

Anwen shrugged again.

Frustrated, Ronan tried to maneuver the horse to ride abreast of Anwen. Stunningly, it did as it was told, but Ronan was nearly jolted off, unprepared as he was for the sudden bolt. He was able to pull it back from running completely ahead of Anwen. "You have something to hide then."

Anwen turned to him. "If I have something to say, you will hear it."

"Bah, suit yourself then."

Ronan couldn't wait to collect the bounty for these horses. He couldn't wait to rejoin the others. Though he wondered how in the world he would be able to walk after riding the beast for so far a distance. If Anwen would be able to walk with no problems and not he, then Fen'Harel was surely playing a cruel joke on him yet again.