Author's Note: I think Dragon Age has a terrible lack of Elvish words. So I decided to make some up. From now on, on the bottom of every chapter there will be a Elvish-English translator. So you guys can understand what I mean xD.
*Update: Oi, I'm writing fast today! Wrote the update for the first and second chapter in one night. Alright as for the changes...I already added the dictionary in the previous chapter in the last update, but now I've updated this one too! Other changes: Minor. Nothing that affects the story greatly. I've added, deleted and changed a few elvish words and phrases so that they would be more accurate. Also, Selyna only uses her bow as a weapon and no daggers or something likewise.

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from my own fantasy and keyboard.

Welcome to the Wardens

The Grey Wardens, a world full of sighing and headaches

"It is finished." The voice above her said. "Welcome."

'Haven't I done this before?' Selyna wondered as her eyes opened and found the two shems hovering over her. One of them - Alistair - held out his hand, probably to help her up. Though the she-elf almost automatically ignored this hand and pulled herself up. A feeling of dizziness possessed her when she finally stood with both feet on the ground, only hearing half of what was said to her. 'Two massive headaches in five days time. This must be a personal record.'

"Two more deaths." Alistair's voice announced sadly. Apparently she wasn't the only one with bad memories regarding her Joining, and soon the shemlen's next words confirmed her thoughts. "In my Joining only one of us died, but it was...horrible. I'm glad that at least one of you made it through."

While listening to his words she blew the air out of her mouth, attempting to find her balance back at the same time. Once this was accomplished Selyna tilted her head, obviously trying to pick up a noise or something...

But there was nothing.

Not a single sound in her head apart from her own thoughts. No voices. No whispers. No songs. She had finally found one of the things she had desired most these last few days; silence. Complete and utter silence. "How do you feel?" Apart from Duncan's voice then, who was apparently trying to start a conversation with her.

The she-elf shook her head - instantly finding that this wasn't a very wise thing to do with a possible concussion – before blinking a few times and responding to Duncan. "I've always wondered if there were things that would even hurt more than vallaslin." She said, rolling her head over her shoulders in an attempt to ease the nagging pain. "At least I have found one now, seran ar."

Her response made Duncan chuckle, Alistair on the other hand only looked confused at hearing the elvish words. Though, Alistair being Alistair, him not knowing exactly what she had said did not stop him from commenting on her words. "That are probably more words than I've ever hear you say."

"Probably because you only know me for two vuninen- days." Selyna responded bitterly. "And most of that time I was either asleep, passed out or busy trying not to attack you shemlen on sight." Not that she ever had a problem with attacking (and even killing) shems before, but being surrounded by hundreds of trained shemlen warriors made it pretty much impossible for her to fight her way out without anyone to back her up. Not even mentioning the fact that Duncan probably wouldn't have appreciated it.

Duncan came between both before Alistair could even reply to this, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop the witty remarks that he knew were coming before focusing back on Selyna. "I'll recommend you to eat something. I've noticed that you haven't done this since we've left your clan and there is no use in starving yourself." He nodded at her. "When you are ready, I'll like you to accompany me to a meeting with the king."

"Ma nuvenim, Duncan."

"Very well." The older Grey Warden said as he gestured to his left. "The meeting is down the stairs to the west. Join me as soon as you are able." Once he was done speaking Duncan took off, leaving her and Alistair alone at the Joining place. Alistair - who didn't seemed to be very comfortable being alone with her - nervously gesturing for her to follow him before walking in the opposite direction as where Duncan had went.

At some point the two of them passed the kennel, at where Selyna suddenly stopped. The other Warden didn't seemed to notice this as he just kept walking, though the elf did not bothered paying too much attention to this. Alistair was clumsy and heavy on his feet. Tracking him down would be easier than tracking down a bear through snow. "Abelas, kennel master, I couldn't find your herb."

When the man heard her voice he looked up at her, though surprisingly there was a smile on his face. "It does not matter. Another elf brought me the flower you couldn't find. Though I want to thank you for muzzling the hound, I could have never done that myself."

Another elf? The only elves she had seen in camp were the flat-ears that brought the messages an luggage around here. Did any of those elves even had free time? Would their masters allow them to go on a search for a flower while there was still so much work to do? Or had it been another Grey Warden? But she hadn't seen any elves in camp... "Who was this elf?"

The Kennel Master shrugged carelessly, he was long glad that his hound was going to survive. To him it didn't matter which 'knife-ear' had brought him the flower as long as he had one. "I don't remember seeing him before." He replied, looking at her one more time over his shoulder. "He looked a bit like you though."

He..? He looked a bit like her..? How exactly? Was the human trying to offend her by saying that she looked like a man? If so then he was obviously lying. She was way to...developed in some places to be mistaken for a man. Or was he speaking about something else? Was there another Dalish in the camp? "He looked...like me?"

"Yes!" The man said, seeming utterly convinced of his own words. "He he tattoos that look a bit like yours on his face, and his armor looked somewhat the same too."

Eh? But the only one with the- "Selyna!" Before she could finish this thought she felt someone pulling her arm and half-dragging over the camping place. "Better not wonder off on your own, you'll be late for your meeting with the king!" The owner of the arm that dragged her around said, Alistair. "...that will probably upset him, maybe he start crying. You'll feel bad..." He smiled, flinging a piece of bread over his shoulder - which she caught easily - before continuing. "and well, it won't be a pretty sight."

oOo

"What?" Alistair almost yelled after he had heard Duncan's announcement. Selyna did not doubt the fact that the people – even if they were human – on the other side of camp would have been able to hear the ex-templar's outburst too. "I won't be in the battle?"

Duncan's voice however was calm and contained, nothing like the voice of the younger Warden. "This is by the king's personal request, Alistair." He repeated once more. "If the beacon is not lit, Teyrn Loghain's men won't know when to charge."

"So he needs two Grey Wardens standing up there holding the torch? Just in case, right?"

Selyna in her had long decided not to get herself involved in this discussion, instead munching on the last piece of bread Alistair had given her. Her thoughts were focused on other things... Mainly on what the kennel master had said to her. Duncan had assured her that there was no other Dalish Grey Wardens anywhere in Fereldan, yet no city elf wore marks that were anywhere like the marks of her vallaslin. If the marks where the kennel master had been talking about were indeed somewhat like hers then the bearer would honor Andruil, the goddess of the hunt with their vallaslin. The only elves she knew who wore this vallaslin were she herself, Keeper Zathrian and...

Once again, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a heavy sigh coming from Alistair's direction. "I get it. I get it." He said, suddenly sounding overly tired. "But just so you know, if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no."

Shrugging absently, Selyna turned to look at the strange human, half wondering whether or not he was being serious. "I don't know...it could be a great distraction."

"Me shimmying down the darkspawn line?"Alistair chuckled "Sure. We could kill them while they fall down laughing."

Now it was Duncan's time to let out a desperate sigh as he watched the two junior wardens. "The tower is on the other side of the gorge from the king's camp, the way we came when we arrived. You'll need to cross the gorge and up to the tower entrance. From the top, you'll overlook the entire valley." His gaze turned to Alistair. "We will signal you when the time is right, I trust you to recognize the signal when you see it."

Feeling that Duncan was done speaking, Selyna nodded. This was all she needed to know. She didn't felt much for fighting a human war, the fact that she wouldn't be the one fighting did not meant much to her. If Alistair hadn't spoken up then, she would already have left. "Can we join the battle afterwards?" The ex-templar asked, extinguishing Selyna's hopes for a quick start.

"Stay with the teyrn's men and guard the tower. If you are needed, we will send word." Duncan replied before his voice darkened. "But watch out, even the best-laid plans go awry, so do what you must. I trust you both."

"Just not enough to actually let us fight with the rest of you."

Alistair's words caused Duncan to chuckle once again, before he took the task on him of shushing down the battle-eager Warden. "There will be plenty of battles, Alistair. Be patient." Just as he had finished this sentence a horn sounded from the east side of the camp, alerting all army members and Wardens to take their positions. "Now I must join the others. From here, you two are on your own." He said, giving them both a reassuring smile. "Remember, you are both Grey Wardens. I expect you to be worthy of this title."

Nodding once again, Selyna was about to walk away (once again) when Alistair spoke up (once again)... "Duncan," He said, making the elder Grey Warden (who too had already began making his way to wherever he needed to be) to stop and look over his shoulder so that Alistair could continue. "May the maker watch over you."

'What? This 'maker' thing again?' The dalish could only just suppress a sigh as she waited for Duncan to respond to this useless time drawing. "May he watch over us all."

Both of them were now looking at her, like they were waiting for her to say something too. And it seemed like they truly were planning to wait until she would. Therefore Selyna took a brief moment to cast her eyes at the starry night sky above them, making a short prayer of her own. "Mythal,enansal se in reth."

oOo

'Apparently that so called 'maker' is deaf.' Selyna thought frustrated as she ducked away from the rusty blade of another hurlock. They hadn't even been inside the tower before the darkspawn already had surrounded them. Thanks to the help of a circle mage (flat-ear) and a tower guard (shem) they had managed to deal with all the darkspawn outside before hearing that even more of the foul creatures had made their way up in the tower. Together the four of them had already managed to clear off most floors, but when they were about to climb the last staircase up to the roof they had found themselves flanked by a small troop of hurlocks.

Again a pair of blades neared her, and if it hadn't been because of her flexibility the she-elf would be another head smaller than she already was. Smacking the hurlock's legs out from underneath him with a swing of her longbow, Selyna quickly nocked an arrow ready and sent it off in the direction of the creature's head. From out her eyecorner she saw Alistair beheading the last of the troop, before exchanging a questioning look with her. Nodding confirmable, the elf placed a new arrow on her bow before they both rushed upstairs. The mage followed shortly behind them, suffering from a few light wounds. But he still was better off than the tower guard, who they had lost somewhere in the last attack.

The door upstairs was locked, though even before Selyna could think about getting her lockpicks out Alistair had already dealt with the lock - by using his sword. "Quickly!" Alistair yelled over the sounds of the ongoing battle outside as they moved to the center of the tower. "We have to light the beacon before-" He suddenly felt silent when a deafening roar sounded not far behind them, directing their gazes to a gigantic ogre. The creature was feasting upon the corpse of a human soldier, coloring the ground with dark red stains.

Not long after they had noticed it the ogre also noticed them and threw the headless corpse away like it was nothing before charging in their direction. 'This better work.' Selyna thought just before lifting her bow and aiming for one of the creature's eyes...

oOo

"Ow..." When Selyna opened her eyes she found them staring at a foreign wooden ceiling, just like she found herself in an oddly soft mattress. In is the right word, the fabric was so soft that it seemed to be trying to suck her up whole. How could shemlen sleep on this? Why couldn't they just sleep on the ground, or bedrolls like every normal being? Wanting to get away from the strange and scary feeling of the mattress, the she-elf sat up. Though it took her quite the effort to do this without rolling over to the side and puke like her stomach wanted to do so badly. Like almost every day since she had met the Grey Warden called Duncan, she had woken up with a brand new headache which was trying it's hardest to kill her. 'And this headache is even worse than the two before...I just love my life.' Oh look, even her thoughts were filled with sarcasm.

"Ah, your eyes finally open." A feminine voice sounded from somewhere on her left. "Mother shall be pleased." It was relatively easy to recognize the voice as the one of the girl of the wilds, Morrigan. After Selyna, Alistair, Ser Jory and Daveth had gone into the wilds to prepare for their Joining by collecting darkspawn blood, Morrigan had helped them by leading the foursome to her mother who possessed the treaties they also had been searching for. Daveth had told them that Morrigan was a so called 'witch of the wilds' and...and there was also something about them turning into frogs...or did the so called witch turn into a frog? "You were injured. Mother rescued you." Morrigan said, regaining her attention as well as a questioning look. "What? Do you not remember?"

It was very obvious that Selyna did not have a clue where Morrigan was talking about, the shake of her head only added to this, therefore the witch decided to expandher explanation a bit. "The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. Those he abandoned were massacred." The woman let out an annoyed sigh as she looked at something through the window of the small hut. "Your friend...he's not talking it well."

A frown appeared on her face as the she-elf followed Morrigan's gaze, finding Alistair on the end of it. "...My friend?" She questioned as she turned her eyes away from the strawberry-blond male and focused them back on Morrigan. "You mean the shemlen?"

"The suspicious, dim-witted one who was with you before, yes." The woman noted, not showing any emotions as she said this, though to Selyna the description was detailed enough. No doubt it was Alistair. "As you can see, he is outside by the fire with mother. She asked to see you when you awoke." Morrigan gestured towards s large wooden crate at the foot of the bed. "You will find you armor and weapons in there."

"Ma serannas, Morrigan."

The woman looked uncomfortable with her thanks, but at least this was a sign that she understood her words. "Well, I'm no healer mother did all the work." Morrigan replied after a few moments of uncomfortable silence wherein Selyna putted on the green colored dalish armor.

A relieved -but very, very - small smile appeared on Selyna's face once she was fully dressed in the soft fabric armor. Maybe it did not offer her much protection, but it was enough for a hunter and markswoman. "I will go then." The she elf announced after strapping her hunter's knife to her thigh, throwing her quiver over her shoulder and picking up her dalish longbow.

As the door moved shut behind her, Selyna was just able to hear the few last words that were spoken by Morrigan. "Alright. Then I will stay and make something to eat." Though she wasn't entirely sure if the shemlen was being sarcastic or not.

"See?" A worn and cracking voice - though at the same time somehow also filled with an unfamiliar darkness and power - asked when she had taken no more than three steps outside. "Here is your fellow Grey Warden. You worry too much, young man."

It took Alistair about half a second to spin around, relief showing on his face. "You..." He said, his voice sounding grim. "You're alive! I thought you were dead for sure." Selyna figured that he was chuckling, but it was strange. Like he was happy, relieved, sad and angry at the same time. Shemlen emotions were so hard to read... "This doesn't seem real." Alistair continued, his voice once again dark and grim. "If it weren't for Morrigan's mother, we'd be dead on top of that tower."

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not present, lad." The crackling voice sounded again. This time, Selyna's eyes followed the sound and ended up staring at an old looking woman, a shemlen. But even with this old appearance her words and charisma were those of a person who knows great power...She had to be careful with this human.

"I-I didn't mean..." Alistair stuttered nervously. "...b-b-but what do we call you? You never told us your n-name."

"Names are pretty, but useless. The Chasind folk call me Flemeth, I suppose it will do."

Selyna's head tilted almost automatically as she heard this name. "Asha'belannar..." At least she now had a very good reason not to annoy the old woman nor Morrigan, if this really was the Asha'belannar from the stories then she possessed great powers. On the background she heard Alistair saying something about the Witch of the Wilds, apparently Daveth wasn't that stupid after all. As soon as she noticed a pause in the conversation between Alistair and the witch, Selyna jumped in. "We need to stop this Blight."

Though Alistair immediately changed subject. "We need to bring Loghain to judgment! Why would he do this?"

"Now that is a good question." Flemeth noticed "Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature. Perhaps he believed the Blight is an army he can outmaneuver. Perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat."

"The Archdemon."

Selyna's lips parted to let out a sigh as a frown appeared on her forehead. If they needed to slay the Archdemon they couldn't possibly do this on their own. In all the stories that keeper Marethari had told about the Grey Wardens, they had needed the command over a whole army only in order to get even close enough to the Archdemon to fight it. "We cannot possibly do this on our own…How about the ancient treaties? Grey Wardens can demand aid from dwarves, mages and elves during a Blight, right?"

As soon as he had heard her plan, a smile appeared on Alistair's lips. "Of course! And I'm sure Arl Eamon would help us too! He's a good man and he wasn't at Ostagar so he still has all his armies."

"I may be old, but dwarves, elves, mages, this Arl Eamon, and who knows what else, this sounds like an army to me."

"So can we do this?" The other Warden looked at her, "Go to Redcliffe and these other places and... build an army?"

"Why not? Isn't that what Grey Wardens do?" The elf could have sworn she saw Flemeth smile at her tone-less words, but the gesture was over almost as soon as it had appeared. Instead, the old witch asked them if they were ready, truly ready, to be Grey Wardens. "Yes." Selyna replied, knowing that hesitating would not do any good. Especially not if hesitating would only bring the anger of an extremely dangerous witch over you. For now, she just wanted to get out of this place. As soon as she could. "Ma serannas, Asha'belanna"

"Good." The human replied, for some reason sounding oddly satisfied, before continuing. "Now, before you go there are yet two things more I can offer you."

It was exactly that moment when Morrigan walked out of the hut and addressed her mother. Speak of the devil... "The stew is bubbling, Mother dear. Shall we have two guests for the eve..." She let her voice trail for a short moment wherein she directed her cold stare at the two Wardens "...or none?"

"The Grey Wardens are leaving shortly, girl. And you will be joining them."

"Such a shame-" Yes... these words were what Morrigan had been planning to say. But as soon as she truly realized the meaning of the words her mother had just spoken, her eyes suddenly widened till they seemed to be twice the original size. This big-eyed stare was directed at her mother, as she asked the woman that same question as Selyna had asked Duncan and her Keeper only a few days ago. "WHAT?"

"You heard me girl. The last time I looked, you had ears." Flemeth noticed, her words flowing over into a dry and shallow laugh as soon as they were spoken.

"Have I no say in this?"

"You have been itching to get out of the Wilds for years. Here is your chance. As for you, Wardens, consider this repayment for your lives."

It was best to stay out of an argument between family, or at least that was what Selyna had been taught ever since birth. This time however, there seemed to be someone asking for her opinion. Or at least... a 'concerned mother' was asking her to protect her 'beloved daughter'. Ahh; yes, the dalish was very well aware of the fact that neither Morrigan nor her mother could be described as being either of these things. But somewhere she suspected that, when she would refuse to take Morrigan with her, she would be forced to deal with one hell of an angry Flemmeth. Not good. "Very well, Asha'belanna we will take her with us."

"Mother... this is not how I wanted this. I am not even ready-"

"You must be ready." Flemeth interrupted her daughter's complains. "Alone, the three of them must unite Ferelden against the darkspawn." Selyna frowned, allowing herself to repeat Flemeth's words over in her head. 'Three?' Could humans not count? Only Alistair and she herself were left. Unless... "They need you, Morrigan." Flemeth continued "Without you, they will surely fail, and all will perish under the Blight. Even I."

"I..." At that point Flemeth knew that she had won, and Morrigan knew it as well. "...understand."

"And you, Wardens? Do you understand?" The old woman asked as she directed herself once again in their direction. "I give you that which I value above all in this world. I do this because you must succeed."

"We understand."

Morrigan let out a heavy sigh, "Allow me to get my things, if you please." When Morrigan had once again disappeared inside the wooden hut Flemeth addressed Selyna. "I've managed to save another Warden, you need to take him with you. He's useful for getting firewood, but apart from that I have no use for him here." Flemeth turned around while Alistair and Selyna curiously looked around her to see their fellow Grey Warden.

A short few minutes passed before a sandy-blond elf came around the corner of the wooden hut, carrying a large pile of firewood. "I've brought the wood you'd asked for, Asha'belanna" the elf muttered, but froze abruptly when he saw the two Wardens looking at him. "...Selyna?"

"T-Tamlen?"

Dictionaries

Elvish-English:
Sa (SAH) - One
Vallaslin (vahl-ahs-LEEN) - Blood writing. The art of tattooing adopted by some elves to more prominently display their worship of the traditional elven pantheon.
Seran ar (SEHR-ahn AHR) - Lucky me
Vuninen (VOO-nihn-ehn) - Days
Ma nuvenim (mah noo-VEY-nihn) - As you wish/I will do as you say
Shemlen/Shem (SHEHM-lehn) - Literally "quick children", the original name of the elves for the human race
Ma serannas (ma SEHR-ahn-ahs) - Essentially means "thank you"
Abelas (ah-BEY-lahs) - Sorry
Enansal se in reth (En-AHN-sahl seh een REHTH) - bless us with safety, Mythal is the Dalish goddess of protection
Asha'belannar (AH-shah BELL-ahn-ahr) - The Woman of Many Years, how the Dalish refer to Flemeth

End Note: Well I hope you guys like this chapter. Reviews are always welcome ;)