Marked with Shame
Chapter 2
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Duncan could tell his newest recruit had some kind of wound on her chest, the bloody mess was pretty obvious. He could tell she did not want to discuss it with him as well, much less show it to him. He also knew she had a deep seated distrust for all humans, with good reason. All he could do is treat her with respect and wait till she came around. It didn't help that all her fellow recruits were human. He would have to keep a close eye on the others once they reached Ostagar.
He was still astounded about her escape from the palace. If even half the rumors were true she was an absolute fiend with that huge sword of hers. Duncan was amazed that she could wield it, the thing was almost as tall as she was. She was obviously very strong for her size.
Having lived in a city all her life, she didn't have any hunting skills to speak of, so collecting food for meals fell to him. This also allowed him to search for poultice ingredients. Every morning he left a new bandage for her. The first day she seemed shocked, but every day since she had nodded to him, then walked to her tent to change her bandage. She was even helping him cook after a few days. She would name a spice and he would tell her if it was available in the area, and what the plant looked like. It was encouraging. By the time they reached Ostagar she was fairly civil with him.
When the King decided to meet them at the gate Duncan was shocked, and worried. Mirra had bad experiences with human lords, and here was The Lord of them all introducing himself. He was mildly pleased when she showed the king some deference, though he could tell "Your Majesty" was coming out a little sarcastically. Duncan was a little worried when the king asked her about the Alienage, but fortunately she deflected the question. She could easily have ruined the civil atmosphere. Duncan was happy that Cailan didn't try to invite her to his tent, that would not have gone well.
After they finished talking to the King, he noticed her shaking her head, but decided not to engage her about it.
Mirra was not impressed with the peacock the humans had chosen as king, but she decided to be nice for Duncan's sake. He was strutting around in his golden armor and huge sword,(which she wouldn't have minded a few swings with) convinced with his own competence. At least he was going to participate in the battle, though she assumed he would be surrounded by a complement of bodyguards. It was obvious to her that Duncan was a much better fighter. She could tell by the way he moved.
She saw Duncan stiffen when the king inquired about the Alienage, so she deflected the question back at the king. It wasn't as diplomatic as she could have been, but diplomacy didn't seem all that important at the moment. Maybe he would actually look into the matter once he returned to Denerim, but she doubted it.
On the way to the main camp Duncan let her know that he didn't think the Blight would be as easily solved as the king was assuming. Without the death of the archdemon, it would not end. It also wouldn't end without a Grey Warden, though he didn't elaborate.
When they reached the camp he told her to seek out another Grey Warden by the name of Alistair, and not to leave the camp. He then headed off to the Grey Warden tent. On the way to meet Alistair she met an elder Mage. All mages in the Alienage were taken away to the Circle as soon as they were discovered, usually at a very young age. The mages in the marketplace all treated her like she was trying to rob them. Mirra hadn't met any that treated her like a person before. The mage's name was Wynne, and they discussed the fade and the Black city for a time. She tired of the preachy nature of the discussion eventually, and headed off to find Alistair.
Mirra found Alistair arguing with a Mage. He got somewhat cheeky with the Mage, so it didn't end well.
"You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together." He said to her after the Mage left.
"You are a very strange human." Mirra told him.
"You're not the first to tell me that. Wait, we haven't met, have we? I don't suppose you happen to be another Mage?"
Mirra looked down at her armor, then checked to make sure her sword was still on her back. Still there. Strange human indeed. "No, I'm not a Mage, and we haven't met. You must be Alistair."
"And that makes you Duncan's new recruit, I suppose. Glad to meet you. As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the Joining."
"I'm Mirra. Shall we move on?" She said, not wanting to spend too much time alone with him.
"Right, that was the name." Alistair said before they set off to see Duncan.
As they headed to Duncan a rugged looking human stopped her. She was immediately on guard, since he was human, but he was polite, so Mirra decided to listen. He was the kennel master in charge of the wardogs. He needed some assistance with a Mabari that was not well. This particular one was larger than her, but seemed docile enough. Mirra didn't have much trouble with the mutts back in the Alienage, so she stepped right into the cage and approached the dog. Alistair was mortified. The new recruit was going to be killed by a Mabari before she had even seen a darkspawn.
The dog was momentarily confused by the small stature of the person approaching it, but the person's posture and lack of fear showed the dog its dominance. It sat back on its haunches and let it apply the muzzle.
The kennel master was pleased. Alistair just stared at her with wide eyes. Mirra shook her head at him. The kennel master asked her to look for a specific flower if she was out in the Wilds around camp; it would help cure the Mabari. She promised she would. They headed to the fire where Duncan was waiting.
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Mirra, Alistair, and the other two recruits were slashing their way through another group of darkspawn in the wilderness. Mirra and the other recruits were supposed to collect some darkspawn blood and some scrolls from an ancient Warden tower. Daveth was actually quite good with his bow and arrows, and his attitude wasn't bad either. He was kind of a lecher, but he wasn't trying to force himself upon her, so she didn't mind too much. Ser Jory was a wuss. He complained a lot, and seemed to be in the Grey Wardens for glory alone. It didn't help that he used the same kind of weapon she did. She hoped they didn't find any nice two-handers or they might come to blows.
Mirra found the darkspawn to be very ugly, and she was surprised at their skill in battle. She thought they would be mindless creatures, barely able to swing a weapon effectively, but they had some of the same skills as her little group. Some of the smaller ones could go invisible. Some of the larger ones would knock you over with their shield. They even had spell casters with a range of painful spells. Because of their magic ability, she was sorely tempted to discuss Templar training with Alistair, though that would mean an actual conversation with the shem. She hadn't been around him long enough to trust him quite yet. They had long since collected the darkspawn blood Duncan requested, now they were trying to reach the warden tower to retrieve the scrolls. Mirra could tell from a distance the tower no longer stood, so she was worried about the scrolls.
She finished up the last Hurlock with a great swing of her sword, chopping it in half. "That tower is not looking good, Alistair. What happens if we don't find any scrolls?"
"I'm not sure. Let's not give up hope yet." Alistair answered. Just then Mirra stepped on a trap. It clamped down on her foot, but didn't break through her armored boots.
"This would be quite unpleasant if we were in the middle of fighting." She said while trying to pull apart the offending metal. Three warriors and one archer is not an ideal party. We need someone who can see these things, some kind of rogue or thief. It would be nice to have a Mage too. Alistair helped her pry it apart. She flexed her foot to make sure all was well.
"Looks like one more group of darkspawn before we reach the tower." Alistair said.
Mirra nodded and headed towards the group, staying behind cover to draw out the archers. The first one that reached her was split in two. Then Ser Jory insisted on running around the cover and took a few arrows for his stupidity, luckily they didn't penetrate deeply.
"Alistair, help that fool. I'll take out the archers." Mirra saw a pair of archers close together. She split the gap between them, then swung her sword in a mighty circle, hitting both of them in the thigh. Both lowered their guard enough that she was able to remove their heads. She turned to check on the rest of the group, only to narrowly avoid a huge axe swung by a well armored foe. This darkspawn was definitely a step above the rest. She attempted to block the second swing of the axe with her sword, only to feel the vibrations deep into her shoulder. She wasn't going to try that again. She had to rely on her agility rather than strength for this one. She hopped back for another horizontal axe swing, waiting for the perfect angle. Finally he threw both hands over his head for a mighty two handed attack. Mirra dodged to the side and threw her sword around herself, coming back around to sever its arms as it buried its axe into the ground. The darkspawn howled in rage for a brief moment, then she chopped off its head.
She looked around to find Alistair finishing off the last Hurlock. Jory was out cold on the ground, and Daveth was looking for a shot on Alistair's beast. The Hurlock finally went down with an arrow to the chest. Jory came to after a few seconds and they headed to the tower.
It was clear the scrolls were no longer in the chest. The tower was a ruin, and the chest was smashed. Mirra was looking it over when a new voice entered their midst.
"Well, well. What have we here?" Mirra turned quickly to see a pretty human woman with brown hair and strange clothing. "Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst a corpse whose bones were long since cleaned. Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn-filled Wilds of mine in search of easy prey?" The woman paused. "What say you, hmm? Scavenger or intruder?" She demanded with her arms crossed. Her wine colored top was revealing enough to be distracting to Mirra, and most likely the fellows with her.
"I am neither. The Grey Wardens once owned this tower." Mirra answered.
"'Tis a tower no longer. The Wilds have obviously claimed this desiccated corpse. I have watched your progress for some time. 'Where do they go,' I wondered, 'why are they here? And now you disturb ashes none have touched for so long. Why is that?" The lady said, walking past them to gaze out over the forest.
"Don't answer her, she looks Chasind, and that means others may be nearby." Alistair said. Mirra gave him a look. The lady didn't seem threatening to her, though she had lived most of her life in the city. Maybe people in the wilds had different vocal inflections when displaying aggression.
"You fear barbarians will swoop down upon you?" The lady said with an exaggerated gesture.
"Yes, swooping is bad." Alistair said. Mirra smirked at him. Daveth and Jory started rambling on about witches and toads. Mirra barely had the patience to listen to them. It was pathetic. If this 'witch' were trying to set them up for an ambush she wouldn't have started talking to them in the first place. They would have attacked while all four of them were picking through the pieces of the chest, or even better while they were in the midst of a darkspawn battle. If she wanted to turn them into toads she could have done so from a comfortable distance. Only Alistair had spell resistance of any kind. They would be easy pickings.
"Witch of the Wilds? Such idle fancies, those legends. Have you no minds of your own? Girls are not frightened like these little boys. Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine." She said the last part directly to Mirra.
"I am Mirra. Pleased to meet you." Alistair was in shock. Other than Duncan, Mirra had treated all the men with barely contained contempt. And here she was talking to an apostate witch as if she was meeting the reverend mother, falling short of a curtsy.
"That is a proper greeting, even out here in the Wilds. And you may call me Morrigan, if you wish." Morrigan smiled at Mirra. Soon after Morrigan revealed that her mother had taken the scrolls, and she would take them to her. During the trek Alistair hung back a ways, just in case the witch decided to pull something. But Mirra was walking next to the witch, asking about the areas they passed through, as if walking through a new friend's house for the first time. Alistair was baffled. Did the girl have no idea how dangerous this human could be?
Morrigan introduced them to her mother, who seemed a little odd, but nothing worse than the crazies who hung out in the Denerim market. She spoke in riddles and was hard to follow, but nothing too complex.
"And what of you? Does your elven mind give you a different viewpoint? What do you believe?" Morrigan's mother asked Mirra after rambling for a while. Once again Alistair waited to see how she would react.
"I'm not sure what to believe." Mirra answered.
"A statement which contains more wisdom than it seems. So much about you is uncertain... And yet I believe. Do I? Why, it seems I do!" She said.
"They did not come to listen to your wild tales, mother." Morrigan said.
"True, they came for their treaties, yes? And before you begin barking, your precious seal wore off long ago. I have protected these." She said, handing them over.
"Thank you for returning them." Mirra said. Alistair's jaw dropped. She was treating the elder witch with the same respect she treated Morrigan. It was a complete reversal from all the other recruits.
"Such manners! It's always in the last place you look, like stockings!" The witch said with a laugh. "Oh, don't mind me. You have what you came for!"
"Time for you to go, then." Morrigan added.
"Do not be ridiculous, girl. These are your guests." The witch said.
"Oh, very well. I will show you out of the woods. Follow me." Morrigan said before leading them into the woods. After the short journey she left them in view if the camp. Mirra was disappointed when she left. Morrigan had been very polite to her for a shem, and it was nice to have another female around.
Duncan was pleased when they returned successfully. The Joining was to begin immediately. They gathered in a sheltered area of the camp surrounded by huge pillars of stone. Once they had gathered for the ceremony Duncan let them know exactly what the Joining involved. Mirra was a little disgusted to find she would be drinking the blood of the darkspawn, but she was committed.
Daveth took his drink, then collapsed. Mirra was shocked, but with a look to Duncan she realized this could happen. He looked disappointed and sad, not shocked. Mirra steeled herself.
Jory didn't take Daveth's failure well. He started sputtering about glory and his child. What did he think this was about? Then he pulled his sword out and threatened Duncan. Mirra knew that was a mistake. In seconds it was all over, and Jory was lying in a pool of his own blood.
Mirra didn't hesitate when Duncan handed her the cup. Might as well get it over with. She took a drink. Maker, that is awful. Then she lost her footing and a mental image clouded her vision. What the hell is that? Is that a dragon? Is it speaking to me?
She woke to Duncan and Alistair looking down at her. She pulled herself up. "Is that thing the archdemon?" She asked them.
"The dreams are part of our ability to sense the darkspawn." Duncan told her.
Duncan told her to take some time to collect herself, then join him in a meeting with the king.
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The meeting was well underway by the time she arrived. The king was arguing with one of his advisors. The king insisted that he was to be on the front line with the Grey Wardens, and the advisor in a grey suit of armor was attempting to change his mind. The king got his way in the end, and declared that Mirra and Alistair light a beacon in the Tower of Ishal to alert the bulk of the army to attack.
Back at the Grey Warden camp, Alistair was unhappy. "We're not going to fight in the battle?"
"This is by the King's personal request. We have little choice." Duncan told him.
"I am ready." Mirra added.
Alistair sighed. "So am I."
"Good. Light the beacon once the signal is given. Alistair will know the signal. Maker watch over you." Duncan said.
"You too, Duncan." Alistair said.
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Mirra and Alister were fighting their way through the tower, which had been overrun with darkspawn from somewhere. A Mage and warrior had joined them at the base of the tower, and were helping quite a bit. Mirra had been astounded when the mage ignited her sword. The extra damage was very nice. Maybe she could convince the Mage to join them on their journey. They battled through several floors of darkspawn on their way to the top of the tower. Now they were on the third floor with only one more to reach the beacon.
"Do you hear that, Alistair?" Mirra asked him, listening to a noise coming from the floor above.
"Hear what?" He asked in return, standing still so he could hear.
"The deep rhythmic thuds coming from above us. It is making me nervous."
Alistair listened for a minute or so. "Well, it is definitely not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling. But we have to go up there, so we'll find out what it is soon enough."
One more room full of genlocks and they were looking at stairs. "Well, no time like the present." Mirra said, then rushed through the door.
The four of them quickly stopped in shock. The beast they faced had to be ten feet tall, and its arms were thicker than Alistair. It had huge horns on its head and its skin looked like stone. It was chewing on something that looked remotely like a studded leather chestpiece. Got to get your fiber, I guess.
Mirra didn't even know where to start. Well, the ankles look like the weakest location. Let's try the tendon back there. She yelled at Alistair, "Keep it busy!" and ran around one side.
"Sure, no problem." He answered. He started yelling insults at it, though he really didn't know whether the thing knew his language. It did the trick. The thing tossed the bit of leather aside and approached him. The Mage started shooting bolts at it. Alistair wasn't sure how much it would do, but the help was appreciated. He was wondering what Mirra was up to when the beast suddenly howled in pain. Then whipped one of its feet back in a swift kick that sent Mirra flying across the room.
"Ouch." Mirra said out loud. It felt like one of her ribs had cracked. No time to check the damage, got to get up. She pulled herself to her feet, only to notice the beast heading in her direction. "Alistair, please?" She hobbled away from the creature as quickly as she could manage. She saw Alistair and the other warrior trying to snag its attention with shouts and blows. Just before it grabbed her the other warrior got its attention with a lucky shot to the leg she'd wounded. The warrior tried to back away from the beast, but it moved quickly enough to grab him. It picked him up and started pounding into its chest with its fist.
Mirra could tell he wasn't going to last long. She heaved her sword over her head and brought it down on the beast's leg with all her strength. She finally managed to sever the tendon and the beast toppled, throwing the warrior across the room. She ran over to check on him, but he was out cold. She wasn't sure if he would make it.
When she looked back to the horned thing it was still laid out on the ground, unable to pick itself up. It was swinging its arms, wildly trying to grab Alistair. She caught his eye and nodded at him, then aimed a swing intended to pull its attention in a hurry, right between the horns on its head. With a solid thunk she got its attention, and tried to back away quickly. When it reached back to grab her she almost dodged, but didn't. Her ribs screamed with the pressure. It brought her around to start beating her when Alistair leaped onto its chest and buried his sword in its neck, severing the artery there. It dropped Mirra to the ground right before Alistair brought his sword through to the other side of its neck. It stopped moving.
Mirra ran to the other warrior to check on him. He was still out cold. Alistair lit the beacon just as a flood of darkspawn ran into the room. Mirra felt several arrows pierce her chest and the room went dark.
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Mirra awoke in a strange room. She was in her underclothes in bed. She pulled herself up and looked around to see Morrigan, the witch she had met earlier in the wilds.
"Ah, your eyes finally open. Mother shall be pleased." Morrigan said.
"I remember you, the girl from the wilds." Mirra told her.
"I am Morrigan, lest you have forgotten. And we are in the Wilds, where I am bandaging you wounds. Though I was unable to do anything about the scars you already had." Mirra instantly pulled the sheet up to cover the horrible word, looking away in shame. "Twas quite a shock to Mother and I. I do hope the man responsible was brought to justice." Mirra gave a quick nod, still trying not to look at her. "How does your memory fare. Do you remember Mother's rescue?" Morrigan asked. Mirra was surprised she didn't dwell on the scars.
After a pause to glance at Morrigan, "I remember being overwhelmed by darkspawn..."
"Mother managed to save both you and your friend, though 'twas a close call. The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The darkspawn won your battle. Those he abandoned were massacred. Your friend... He is not taking it well." Morrigan said.
"My friend? You mean Alistair?" Mirra asked, still not looking directly at her.
"The suspicious, dim-witted one who was with you before, yes. He is outside by the fire. Mother asked to see you when you awoke." She said.
"Thank you for helping me, Morrigan." Mirra said.
"I... You are welcome. Though mother did most of the work. I am no healer." Morrigan said.
"I will go, then." Mirra told her, then tried to reach her shirt without letting go of the covers.
"I will stay, and make something to eat." Morrigan said while handing Mirra her clothes.
Morrigan's mother turned out to be Flemeth, a witch of some renown. She apparently saved Mirra and Alistair because she was worried about the Blight, which was more threatening than it appeared. Once Mirra and Alistair convinced her that they were indeed going to follow the Grey Warden creed and defeat the Blight, Flemeth dropped a tiny request on them. They had to take Morrigan with them. Mirra was strangely not upset.