A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed and followed and favorited! This is my first attempt at a real multi-chaptered fic, and knowing that people are following certainly motivates me to keep it going!
Disclaimer: I'm running out of witty ways to say I don't own Dragon Age...
...
Alistair's first thought was that he was in pain, and a lot of it. Without even moving any part of his body, he could tell that everything hurt. His second thought that he must not, could not be dead, because if he was, he would not possibly be in this much pain.
He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar setting. He was in a hard bed stuffed with straw with a ragged blanket thrown over him, the scratchy wool rough against his bare skin. He tried to sit up, but an intense pain shot across his stomach and hip, causing him to groan in cease all efforts of moving.
"Please, keep still."
A soft voice and light footsteps came from the side of his bed. He tried to turn his head to look at the speaker, but a hand gently came to rest on his forehead, stopping his moments. For a moment, he didn't recognize her, but he knew those eyes. Those blue-green, piercing eyes which now held a look of concern.
"Alistair, isn't it? You were badly injured during the fight. You barely made it out alive. It was all that we could do to save you..." she muttered, her voice trailing off. He ran her hand down his cheek. "Your fever broke, thank the Maker. We didn't know if you'd..." She paused again, leaning back and away from him.
"Elissa?" He successfully turned his head towards her, finding her sitting on a wooden stool she had drawn up close to the bed. "What happened...?"
Her eyes filled with tears as she placed her hand on his head again. "I'm so sorry..." she trailed off, a single tear dropping down her cheek. Alistair wished he had the strength to wipe it away, but he couldn't move his arms from his side. Besides, he barely knew her, and why was she trying to comfort him? What had happened...?
Alistair suddenly remembered. He had been on top of the tower with Aedan, her twin, trying to light the beacon. But there had been darkspawn, so many darkspawn, and that ogre - how'd that get up to the top of the tower? - and the mage and tower guard... but they did it. They lit the beacon. Hadn't they?
"Loghain left. He abandoned everyone. He left everyone to die," she said, sobbing out the last word.
No, he thought, no, she was wrong. They lit the beacon. Aedan lit the beacon... "But... the beacon?"
"All I know is that Loghain saw the signal and pulled his men anyway," she muttered, collecting herself. Elissa was a woman who did not typically flash her emotions in such away, but the past few days had been so difficult, so overwhelming, she could hardly help it. "He abandoned everyone... the king, the Grey Wardens, in their time of need."
No, there is no conceivable way that everyone is.... "Duncan?" was all he could mutter. But the expression on her lovely face told him everything he needed to know before he answered her.
"I'm so sorry," she repeated, her eyes downcast. "The tower was overrun by darkspawn. If it hadn't been for Morrigan and her mother..."
"How?"
She bit her lip, hesitant on how to explain. "They're shapeshifters," she uttered quietly. "They turned into these giant birds and flew off. I thought I was hallucinating when I saw them, but then they came back holding you and Aedan." She glanced to the other side of the room. Alistair could barely make out what seemed to be another bed with a figure laying in it. "He hasn't woken up yet," she explained, answering his unasked question. She didn't take her eyes off of her brother. "Morrigan's mother knows some healing magic. If it hadn't been for her... well, I would be truly alone."
Yet it was Alistair who was truly feeling alone, even though Elissa was sitting right beside him. But she was watching her brother, anxiously waiting for him to awaken, and Alistair doubt she held the same concern for him. She had no reason to. Nobody did, not anymore, and that thought left Alistair in true anguish.
...
It was another two days before Aedan awoke.
Shortly after Alistair woke up, Flemeth, came bustling in to check on his wounds, throwing the blanket off of him, leaving him exposed in nothing but his smalls. Elissa turned away hastily in an effort to give him some semblance of privacy, and sat next to her still unconscious brother. By the next day, Alistair was able to walk, though he leaned heavily on Elissa's tiny frame. She hoped that the fresh air would help him clear his head and ease his suffering. But the cool air outside smelt like smoke and decay, and only reminded Alistair of what he lost.
Elissa tried to keep herself busy, aiding Flemeth when she could, mending Alistair and Aedan's torn clothes, collecting some basic herbs that she recognized that grew close to the hut. Alistair sat by the fire, unmoving, sometimes watching her move around, but mostly he lost himself in his own thoughts and memories. At night, Elissa slept on the ground between the two beds. Under normal circumstances, Alistair would have offered her the bed, refusing to let her say no. But he never offered, and she never asked. Where the pair of witches slept, neither of them knew.
It was quiet in the late morning. The weather was overcast and dull, with the occasional raindrop here and there. Elissa sat by Alistair next to the fire, attempting to converse with him. But he was lost in his own anguish, and Elissa continued to look to the door of the hut.
Morrigan had appeared again this morning and had ventured inside the hut to prepare lunch for the crowd. After what seemed like hours of awkward silence between Alistair and Elissa, the door to the hut burst open, revealing Aedan being supported by Morrigan.
Elissa jumped up and tackled her brother into a bear hug. Aedan nearly lost his balance but he caught himself on the door jam. Alistair stood, feeling a tad bit of hope stirring in his chest, above all of his grief and sadness. At least he wasn't the only Grey Warden in Ferelden, even if the only other one was the greenest one they had.
Of course, he wasn't that much more experienced.
Elissa fell back as Aedan approached Alistair and embraced him as one would a brother. It was almost more than Alistair could handle after such a devastating loss, and he gripped on to Aedan tightly. When he pulled back, he could see the devastation mirrored in Aedan's eyes. "Morrigan told me," he muttered. "I... I don't... I'm so sorry, Alistair."
Alistair only nodded, forgetting that Aedan knew none of the other Grey Wardens. He was merely giving his condolences, not mourning by his side. Loneliness hit Alistair all over again.
