A/N: Yay, I finaly finished chapter two! Thank you all for viewing my fanfiction for DAO. Disclaimer: I do not own any character in Dragon Age Origen or DA 2. I do own my OC however.
Chapter Two.
We were up before dawn, myself and a handful of other elves. We each carried small cloth sacks filled with our belongings. Some had food, given to them by their families, others had bracelets carved from bone and painted with bright dyes.
The three women huddled together, chatting brightly to one another. I stood by the two other men, both laborers with sinewy muscle and herd faces. I looked around to see if any other messenger elves were joining us.
It was just the six of us.
"Oi, you lot!" The sound of my mentor's voice sickened me. Around me, my fellow elves stopped talking and gave him their attention. He motioned for us to follow him.
I followed behind the group as we were led from the castle to the middle of the Market District. One poorly made carrage pulled by two paliminos awaited us.
"This is yer ride to Ostagar," said my mentor, waving grandly, " Yer coach'll be here soon to take you bloody knife ea...Oi what the hell do you want?"
I turned to see who he was speaking too. An older shem aproached us. He was tall with dark skin, black hair and a hooked nose. He was armed to the teeth. And next to him...
It was her. Lyra Tabris, Sorin's cousen. A beauty with pale skin, blond hair and wicked blue eyes. She was the talk of the Alienage when her father begain looking for someone for her to marry, that many men lined up to offer her father a dowery. Some were even single.
I heard she hated the idea of an aranged marrage, but she always had an indipendant spirit. And a rumor that she played with knives.
She was looking right at me, her blue eyes held my gaze. She smiled at me.
The older man spoke in a soft, but comanding tone, "Forgive the intrusion, sir. My name is Duncan, of the Grey Wardens."
"You a Warden, you say? Whad'ya need?" my mentor spoke to Duncan with a respect he only reserved for the nobles.
"Safe passage to Ostagar. I heard this carrage was heading there." said Duncen.
My mentor thought it over and gave Lyra a leering, letcherous look. Her eyes seemed to spark with irratiation. Finaly, he said "Yeah, I'll let you and your servant aboard."
"Servent?" said Lyra, her tone outraged. "Listen here you disgusting Shem-"
"She's not my servent, sir." Duncan spoke over Lyra, he placed a calming hand on her shoulder, "I recruted her to join the order of the Grey Wardens."
"You must be desperate for numbers," my mentor muttered, "Why'd you pick up an elf?"
Duncan gave Lyra a look of warning when she opened her mouth. She returned the look with a glare of her own, "She has shown great promise in the face of danger, so lets leave it at that."
The expression on Duncan's face automaticly ended the discussion.
Our escort came shortly after. He was an old man, lean with a perminant frown. We all filed in the carrage, and I found myself sitting next to Lyra.
She fumbled with somthing gold and circular. It was a ring, a simple gold band with a few words written on the side, too small for me to read. "Is there a reason why you're stairing at me?"
I flushed and looked away, my face burning. I mumbled an apology. She sighed and put the ring back on her hand, where a wedding band usualy goes, "I didn't mean to snap, I'm just a little on edge."
"I guess being a Grey Warden would do that to you," I replied.
She smiled a little, "Actualy, this is a shot of a lifetime. Duncan recruted me after we escaped Arl's estate."
"How did you end up there?" I asked, but somthing told me I already knew the answer.
" Vaughen enterupted my wedding. He took the women in the wedding to the estate just to have his way with us. Sorin's bride, my cousin Shianni... I never felt so helpless. The guards left me alone. They said that Vaughen liked my look, and was...going to save me for last."
"Thats when Sorin appeared, armed with a few weapons. He said my husband to be, Nelaros, went berzerk on those who wanted to 'hope for the best' They planned a rescue mission."
"If they rescued you, why did Duncan pick you to be a Warden?" I asked. She glared at me.
"I said they planned the rescue, I didn't say it worked. Sorin and I fought our way through the guards. Soris said that Nelaros went right to Vaughen's room because he though I would be there...
"He didn't make it," She continued, her eyes wet with tears, "When Soris and I turned a corner we witnessed a guard cut him down. I killed the guards, but it was too late for Nelaros. He gave me his wedding band and died in my arms."
She took a deep breath, "I hunted Vaughen down and killed him. We brought the others to safety but we wern't exactly stealthy. As soon as we reentered the Alienage, the guards were apon us. I took the blame for everything, to spare Soris. They would of had me killed if Duncan hadn't preformed the Rite of Conscription. And here I am."
She grew quiet after that, lost in thought.
The rest of the trip flew by quickly. I watched the countryside fly by as the horses pulled us along on the face of Ferelden. Most of us kept quiet, but Duncan engaged a few of the girls in conversation and the other two elves flirted with Lyra, who laughed along to there stupid jokes and blushed at their lamest compliments.
I was quite relieved when we came in sight of the Ostagar ruins. Old crumbling stone overrun by tangled vines surrounded by a vast, dark forest. Colorful tents could be seen in the distance and the air was filled with the chatter of humans and the clang of steel.
A pair of guards greeted us and told us of our stations: The two strong elven men were to help the forge master. The three elven woman were told to go to the quartermaster and I was givin my first assignment, to diliver a message to Teran Logain.
Lyra followed Duncan to the crumbling bridge, leaving me to my boring work.
I wish I could say my life continued on its boring path, but everything changed at nightfall.
End Chapter Two.