Prologue Part One: The Morning After
Author: KittyRayne
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age. That honor goes to Bioware, and despite they're recent travesty of Mass Effect 3, they're work on DA was impressive and it is one of my favorite games in my currently library.
Maryna Amell jerked as she felt a hand touch her shoulder. "No!" she screamed. "Away, demon!" she began to lash out, one fist catching the assailant in the cheek. A yelp was her reward, coming from the throat of someone she realized she knew quite well.
"Ow! Hey, wait!" Her long-time friend, Jowan, said, flinching away from her. "I'm not a demon!"
Maryna opened her eyes, scowling at her friend. The both of them had watched over others in the past who had gone through their Harrowing. He should have known better than to shake her awake while she was trapped in that space between the Fade and the waking world. Those who were awakened forcefully tended to react violently.
"What do you want?" she asked sharply, pushing a strand of honey-colored hair out of her face. As she did so, she pushed a small amount of healing magic into her body, staving off the headache that was beginning to form. Belatedly she realized that Jowan was talking, asking her about the Harrowing. "You know that I can't tell you. Don't. Ask."
"Hmph, so much for friendship." Jowan pouted, crossing his arms across his chest. "And meanwhile you get to move into the nice mages quarters while I'm stuck here. And I don't know when they'll send me to my Harrowing."
"They'll send for you when they feel you're ready," Maryna growled as she pulled on her boots. "Maybe if you actually practiced your spells instead of sneaking off to the chapel you'd be ready. Besides, everyone goes through the Harrowing."
"Not everyon. You either go through the Harrowing, the Rite of Tranquility, or you die."
Maryna frowned and looked at her friend. He looked... uneasy. "They aren't going to kill you, Jowan."
"Well the Rite of Tranquility is even worse, isn't it? I mean, haven't you seen Owain? He's so cold. And his eyes are so blank, like he has no soul."
She rolled her jade green eyes while she was turned away from him. It wouldn't do to have Jowan angry at her so early in the day.
"Oh, before I go to my lessons, Irving wanted to see you once you woke up." He left quickly.
*Lessons,* Maryna thought sourly. *More likely that he's going to the chapel to moon over that new initiate.*
Jowan seemed to think that he was being smooth, sneaking around during lessons. The Templars were fairly oblivious to the fact, otherwise it wouldn't have gone on for this long, but the affair was well known among the apprentices.
Most apprentices thought that Jowan was being very foolish, dallying with a Chantry initiate. Others thought that he was using her as a cover for something else, and there was a rumor that Jowan was using his time away from lessons to practice blood magic. Such rumors, especially if they reached the ears of the Templars, were dangerous. It would mean stricter curfews, escorts to and from lessons, and Templars inside the dorms instead of in the halls.
Reaching into the chest at the end of her bunk, Maryna quickly ran her brush through her waist-length locks, then with practiced ease began to plait it. Once she was finished she tied it off with a leather thong that had been dyed a rich blue. She returned her brush to her chest and quickly left the apprentices quarters. Walking as quickly as she could, she traversed the halls, pausing briefly as she traveled through the library to look for Jowan. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't there. Sighing softly, Maryna alighted the stairs, going to the second story of the Tower.
She waved to Owain as he stood in front of the stockroom, and he nodded in response. Maryna honestly didn't know what Jowan was talking about. The Tranquil, while even-spoken and generally un-opinionated, still had emotion. You could see it in the subtle twitch at the corner of a mouth, or a minute crease beween the brows.
Continuing through the halls, Maryna stopped and smiled up at Cullen, one of the few Templars who was kind to the mages. She had always known that Cullen had a crush on her, and she had very gently told him, one day while she was studying, that while she was flattered that he thought her desireable, nothing could come of it. He was a Templar, who had forsaken women, while she was a mage. They were friends, and nothing more, though the gossips of the Tower thought the label to merely be a front.
"Good morning, Cullen," Maryna said.
"Good morning, Miss Amell. I am glad to see that you have awakened."
"Myself as well. I'm thankful that the Knight-Commander allowed you to stand at my Harrowing."
"And I, though I dreaded what would happen if you hadn't passed."
"Well then its a good thing that I did," Maryna quipped, grinning. "But I have to go. Irving wanted to speak with me."
"Of course," Cullen smiled. "Time to make you a full mage, officially."
She laughed as she continued down the hall, poking her head into the chapel as she went. A frown appeared on her face when she realized that Jowan wasn't there either. As she continued towards Irving's office, she couldn't help but wonder where he was, and that led her to wonder if the rumors were true. Was Jowan using the Chantry initiate as a cover in order to practice blood magic? Such a thing would be a betrayel, not just to her - or the initiate - but to every other mage in the Circle.
Maryna stepped through the door of the First Enchanters office, freezing in place when she saw the Knight-Commander there, as well as and unknown, dark-skinned man. The three men were arguing, something about the mages who had journeyed south to aid the Kings army.
"Gentlemen, please," the stranger said, his voice having a strange lilt to it. "Irving, I believe someone is here to see you." He gestured towards her, causing the First Enchanger and Knight-Commander to turn their attention on her.
"Ah," Irving said genially. "If it isn't our newest sister in the Circle." He moved over to his desk, and brought back her staff, along with a bundle of gold and blue fabric that could only be her new mages robes. "Here is your staff, and your new robes," he told her. He then pulled a ring from his pocket. "And a ring signifying that you have passed your Harrowing."
"Your phylactery has been sent to Denerim for safe-keeping as well," Gregoir said, crossing his arms over his chest in a scrape of metal.
"Of course," she responded, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.
"I'm sorry, but, what is a phylactery?" the stranger interjected, looking genuinely confused.
"When an apprentice first comes to the Tower, a small vial of blood is taken and preserved," Irving explained evenly.
"So that they can be hunted if they turn apostate," the stranger added matter-of-factly.
"It is necessary, as proven by our constant flight-risk," Gregoir growled. "I need to go take care of some paper-work. Irving, I will return to speak to you later." With that said, the Knight-Commander left.
Irving sighed once Gregoir had left. "Now, my dear, allow me to introduce Duncan, of the Grey Wardens. You've heard about the war brewing int he south, no doubt."
"Just rumors," Maryna replied. "I heard that the King was mustering an army, and that most of the senior mages went south."
"Yes," Duncan said. "A horde of darkspawn is forming in the Kocari Wilds. I journeyed here hoping to gain a larger commitment from the mages." He glanced at Irving, who gave a resigned sigh.
"Unfortunately, that decision is up to the Knight-Commander, not myself," Irving said, shrugging helplessly. "But we should discuss such things later. Maryna, why don't you show Duncan to the guest quarters? They should be ready by now."
Maryna knew a dismissal when she heard one. She gestured for Duncan to follow her. He did so, in a screech of armor that made her cringe.
They were silent as they walked through the halls, Duncan's armor grating irritatingly. She brought him to the guest room and bowed slgihtly. "Your quarters, ser," she said.
"Thank you for escorting me, Miss Amell. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again later."
Maryna nodded and quickly left, going to the mages quarters.
Afterword:
Thus is the first chapter of Tales of the Grey. It's going to be a long one, and the first three chapters are actually just the prologue. Maryna Amell's story will go through the events of the first game. As this is a fanfiction, it will not be an exact retelling. Events will be altered in small ways to compensate for where I'm wanting this story to go. So please bear with me and I hope that you enjoy Maryna's story.