Chapter 2 - Becoming

Aedan Cousland opened his eyes and saw Duncan and Alistair's faces looming up before him.

He struggled to scramble to his feet but his head throbbed painfully and his hand automatically went to the back of his head and rubbed it.

Alistair helped him up, relieved to see that he had survived the Joining. He liked Aedan far better than the other two recruits. Then, he remembered that the others were both dead and grimaced.

"Welcome, Aedan. You are now a Grey Warden. How do you feel?" Duncan said warmly.

He stood shakily on his feet for a few moments, the throbbing in his head slowly diminishing.

"I'll be fine," he said between clenched teeth.

"Did you have any dreams?" Alistair asked. "I had terrible dreams when I took my Joining."

"Such things are to be expected," Duncan said calmly. "There are other things that you must know about what it means to become a Grey Warden, but they will be explained to you in the months to come."

"Before I forget, I have something for you. It's a pendant as a reminder of what you went through and of those who didn't make it," Alistair said quietly, handing out a necklace to Aedan, who took it wordlessly.

The pendant consisted of a silver medallion and in the middle he could make out a small glass vial with some blood in it. He put it around his neck .

"Tomorrow morning we have a meeting with the king. He has requested both of you to be at the meeting. Alistair, please show Aedan to our camp and make sure he eats and rests. I must go and speak to the rest of the wardens. I will see you both tomorrow morning." Duncan gave a nod and smile to both and walked away.

Alistair led him to the warden camp, where his tent and a tent for Aedan had been put up. The rest of the wardens were now surrounding Duncan who spoke quietly to them at the far end of the camp.

Alistair went to the pot next to the fire and quickly served two bowls of hot stew for Aedan and himself. They both sat and ate quietly.

When they had finished, Alistair turned to Aedan.

"Look, if you want to talk, I'm right here. I know you've been through a lot. If I can help in any way..."

Aedan smiled. He liked Alistair and knew that he was only trying to make him feel better. Duncan had probably told him about their escape from the castle.

"Well, I owe Duncan a great deal. He saved me from certain death. I'm the son of the Teyrn of Highever. Rendon Howe, a close friend of my father's, betrayed us. His soldiers attacked under the cover of night, when my brother Fergus had already left to join the king's forces here, taking almost all our soldiers with him. My nephew and his mother, Fergus's wife, were murdered. My nephew Oren was five years old." He paused, catching his breath. "Everyone I loved was murdered, actually. My mother stayed behind ignoring my protests, to give Duncan and me time to escape. My father was badly wounded, and she would not leave him. I went to look for my little sister, Azure, but her bedroom was empty. I assume that by now, she must be in Denerim, held captive by Howe for some purpose."

Alistair's eyes opened wide with shock as he finished the tale. He didn't understand why Aedan was not showing the slightest bit of grief. He knew that if this happened to him, he'd probably be crying by now, at the very least.

Aedan turned to Alistair, his eyes sad.

"I won't allow myself to cry. If I break down, then I won't be able to stand strong and fight. I hope that one day I get to see Howe face to face. I'll kill him for what he has done."

"I'm so sorry Aedan." Alistair said. "I wish I could do something for you."

"Well, you can get me another bowl of stew for starters," Aedan grinned. "Maker's blood! I'm so hungry I could eat a genlock right now!"

"Ah! That's just the famous Grey Warden appetite," Alistair smiled back, one of his eyebrows shooting up. "I'll tell you some of our secrets while we eat. It's fun being a Grey Warden," he finished sarcastically and moved to the pot again to get more stew for Aedan and himself.

"Great," he answered dryly. "What other secrets are there? Am I to become some kind of dark knight, fighting against the forces of evil while women swoon at my feet now?" He joked, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.

Alistair broke into a laugh.

"Something like that and even better," he quipped back and sat down again, handing Aedan his second bowl of stew.

...

When Azure finally woke up, she found the face of her rescuer leaning down at her, too close for comfort.

The image of the man who had tried to force himself on her came into focus and she quickly rammed her knee into the man's groin, watching with satisfaction as he bent down in pain.

"Owww! What did you do that for? I was just checking to see if you were alright and needed more healing!" His face was red and he sat on the ground, unable to speak for a few moments.

She saw that he clearly was a mage, and relaxed a bit, but still kept a wary gaze on him, just in case.

He had dark hair and bluish purple robes on. He didn't seem to be particularly dangerous, so she breathed out a sigh of relief and turned her gaze into the fire before her.

"Are you going to attack me again? I just want to examine you and see if your wounds have healed properly. I promise I won't hurt you or anything," he said when he was finally able to speak.

She gave him a brief nod and he approached carefully, holding out his hands, palms down as he scanned her using magic. She could see a soft blue glow emanating from his hands and was fascinated.

He smiled when he saw her the look of awe in her bright green eyes and finished examining her, sitting next to her on a log.

"My name is Jowan. You had some nasty bites but I healed them all, so you should be fine."

She gave him a small smile.

The girl before him was wearing leather armor that was clearly a size too big and he was curious about who she was and what she was doing out here all alone. A voice at the back of his head warned him that he should continue fleeing and tell the girl to head east to Lothering, before she slowed him down or was captured with him.

"Listen. I'm going to come clean with you. I'm a circle mage, and have escaped from the Tower. They are going to catch up with me."

"They?" She asked in a clear, even voice.

"The Templars. Mages aren't supposed to leave the tower. If they find me they'll take me away to..." he stopped himself and decided that was not relevant. He sighed and tried something else. "Look, I'm sorry you are alone but we have to part ways. If they catch you with me, there is no telling what they would do. I'm sorry," he added again miserably.

She nodded at him, understanding what he meant. "It's all right. I can look after myself," she stuck out her jaw defiantly and her eyes flashed.

He smiled at the girl and saw that she was very young, which only made him feel guiltier. But he had made up his mind.

"There is a town not far from here. Lothering. If you head east towards the Imperial Highway, you'll reach it in a few hours."

She nodded again, and fixed her gaze on the fire.

"What's your name?" He asked curiously.

The girl jerked her head up and regarded him a strange expression in her eyes. He frowned as he tried to read it.

After a while, when he had given up hope of her ever answering, she spoke.

"My name doesn't matter. You saved my life back there. Thank you."

She smiled and stood up, taking her daggers and sheathed them on her back, making a move to leave.

"Be careful, and stick to the highway," he advised.

"I'll do that, Jowan. I hope the Templars don't catch you," she smiled again and walked away.

Jowan extinguished the fire, using magic, and head off in the opposite direction. As he walked on, he hoped that the girl would be safe, and then focused on getting as far north as he could.

He prayed silently to the Maker as he walked, trying to put as much distance as he could between the Templars that he knew were on his trail and himself.

...

Morrigan bent over the young Grey Warden as she dressed his wounds. Her mother had done a good job at healing him, the wounds were already tightly shut, and beginning to scar. Her hands travelled nimbly up his muscular chest, which she found herself admiring. She shook herself and her eyes narrowed.

The young man stirred, and opened his eyes. His hazel eyes looked puzzled as he stared up into her yellow ones.

She straightened up and gave him a small smile.

"Ah! You finally wake. Mother shall be pleased!"

The young man's stare turned blank. She could tell that he was having difficulty remembering so she helped.

"You and your friend were attacked by darkspawn at the top of the Tower of Ishal. How does your memory fare?"

"I only remember being ambushed by a great number of darkspawn, and then nothing else," he struggled to sit up, and staring down at himself and his bandages, found that he was quite naked.

He blinked and tried to cover himself, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

The witch laughed and he turned his gaze up to her, and her ragtag top and knew that any attempt to cover himself would be foolish, as he spotted her cleavage and his eyes roamed over the rest of her soft flesh, because he knew that his erection would be huge by now. She was giving him an appraising look and his blush deepened.

"My name is Morrigan, if you don't recall, and my mother rescued you and your friend from the top of the tower. The man you lit your beacon for, quit the field and abandoned all to the mercy of the darkspawn. Everyone was massacred and the battle was lost."

He took in the information, and finally succeeded in sitting up, forgetting to cover himself at the shock of hearing her words.

"My friend? You mean Alistair?" He asked after a while.

"The dim-witted suspicious looking one, yes. He is out by the fire. Mother asked to see you once you had awoken. I suggest you put on your armor and do that," she said, amusement lading her voice as she stared boldly at his body.

His eyes twinkled, and she was taken aback.

"Why exactly does your mother want to see me?"

"I do not know. She rarely tells me her plans."

"How did she save us?" He asked while he busied himself, putting on his armor.

"She turned into a giant bird and plucked you both from the top of the tower, of course," Morrigan said in an amused tone.

He paused for a moment, glancing quickly at her to see if she was joking. He couldn't read her expression so he shrugged and hung his family sword and shield behind his back.

"All right then, I'll go see your mother now," he stepped closer to her, and stood, staring down into her eyes.

Morrigan felt herself growing hot and lowered her eyes for a moment.

Aedan grinned. Satisfied with her reaction, he stepped outside the hut.

...

Azure spied some men in the distance. Since she was still very wary of the opposite sex for now, she decided to avoid them if she could. She turned and spotted a huge tree and its branches leaning heavily on the massive bridge-like highway and smiled to herself.

Making sure that everything was tightly secure, she hoisted herself on the thick branch of the tree, and started to climb down.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, she set off to the town of Lothering, patting herself on the back for eluding the men she had seen on the road.