2
A New Beginning
I awoke with no pain whatsoever. The smell of oak and honeysuckle filled the air around me with the feel of soft, velvety grass underneath my hands and against my cheek. A forest? I opened my eyes to see that familiar meadow nestled in the crook between three mountains not far from the camp. Was all that a dream? Duncan, King Cailan, Wynne, the Templars, Tamlen's death? Tamlen. I looked around to find that familiar blond headed idiot with his back to me. My heart swelled with so much joy. I rose to my feet and started to jog towards my childhood friend and love.
"Tamlen!" I called. But he didn't move. My pace slowed when I seen he was doubled over crouched to the ground whispering something barely audible. "Tamlen?" I asked with concern. "Tamlen what's wrong?" He didn't move. "Please Tamlen…your scaring me." Suddenly the morning light that was filtering down in between the treetops was covered. As I looked up I saw blood red stain the sky. I returned my gaze to the ground where everything died in a matter of seconds before my eyes. The trees and bushes had lost all their leaves in one blow from the wind and become black and gnarled. The grass was brown as if the earth had not seen rain in months. The flowers were dried up like someone was readying them for incense but stuck them back in the ground. The scent around me quickly turned from the sweet smell of oak and honeysuckle to burning sulfur and rotting flesh. My hand covered my nose and mouth at the disgusting stench. I began to back to the opening in the trees I knew were directly behind me. Readying myself to sprint the few miles back to camp before I remembered Tamlen was here too.
My heart almost stopped at the sound of his voice, "Lethallan? Is that you?" His voice was so weak and I could tell by the sound of it he was in a great deal of pain. Out of nowhere hundreds of blood red eyes stood on the verge of the darkness surrounding the clearing. "Lethallan," his voice turned from confusion and pain to a serious, hoarse and more stable tone.
Suddenly those that bore the red eyes came into view. Hundreds of different darkspawn surrounded us. "Tamlen it's me. Dahlia," I replied trying and failing horribly to keep the panic from rising in my voice, "Lethallin come on we have to get out of here," when I turned back to Tamlen he was standing.
"You did this," he finally turned to look at me. His eyes were not the same as they used to be. Where they had been soft, childlike and light brown they were cold and bloodshot. His smooth, bright blonde hair turned a dirty colored, matted mess. His once pale, fair skin started to turn the color of the clouds which loomed over head. "You did this to me!" he exclaimed as he leaped at me. My legs were numb with fear as he threw me to the ground and pinned me easily. "You left me to die! All alone in those underground ruins tainted with those creatures!" He started to choke me. His face was contorted with rage but his eyes were spilling tears.
The darkspawn behind him laughed. Then so fast to where all I could see was a silver blur he took out his Dar'Misu and plunged it into my heart and everything went black.
I sat up trying to catch my breath with one hand at my neck and the other at my heart. I looked up and sighed as I realized I was back in Ostagar sitting in my red tent(the gods must love irony) all sense of panic and fear slowly draining from my body. But self-loathing and a breaking heart quickly replaced them as I laid my head on my knees and wrapped my arms around my. My heart was breaking and not from the Dar'Misu he had plunged into it, no that was a dream, but the fact that I let him down hurt worse than any injury anyone could have ever inflicted upon me.
I stayed like that for what seemed like hours. But I know better for if it had been, Duncan would have come looking for me. Or….what was his name? Alistair? Yeah that was it. Oh crap. I almost forgot about the Joining. I needed to distract myself so I started to wash my face off with clean water I found in a bowl next to the cot I had thrown my weapons onto instead of sleeping on last night. The cool water felt good against my skin. I stood up taking note of my body before going any further. The burning sensation in my blood had grown over night from the taint inside me even though my muscles were no longer tired and weak from constant traveling. My head doesn't feel the least bit dizzy. That must be a blessing since today I will need all my concentration for whatever may come.
I looked over my tools hesitantly. I want to see how these humans would treat me if I were unarmed. I can take these humans. A hunter not cautious is a dead one, Lethallan. Tamlen's words rang in my ears as I remembered the day he took me out to my first hunt as a hunter and not an apprentice. I had left my dagger back in my tent and was about to leave without it when Tamlen had caught me before we left the campsite. Those were his words to me on my first real hunt. But it was also our last. It seemed terribly ironic that his own incautious nature was what made him want to go into that cave instead of going to the Keeper. For that day was six days ago when Tamlen and I had found three humans getting a little too close to the camp and so we chased them off, but not before they had spiked our interests with news of underground ruins in which we had no idea were there. Of course at first we didn't believe them until they had showed us the elven artifact they had found in it. In a rush to find out what might have lain in the ruins, we had gotten careless and when we found that accursed mirror it let out something evil that had tainted us. But only I was found, by Duncan, too. And when I woke up two days later I was inside the boundaries of the clan. When the Keeper organized a search party of her apprentice, Merrill, another friend Fenarel, and myself leading the way we found nothing. I was still very weak even though I wouldn't admit it to the others, so when Duncan insisted he was gone for the third time I gave in.
I tried to mentally shake the thought of him out of my mind for today at least. I needed to survive this. Wanted to survive but needed to at least try and help destroy the evil that took Tamlen and my clan from me. I grabbed my dagger and sheathed it in the thin leather holster on the right of my hunter's belt. I did the same with my medicine bag but on the left side. I had always been more coordinated with my right hand than my left. When I had gotten done pulling my straight black hair back with an elastic band and leaving my bangs hanging on each side of my face I walked out of my tent only to see Ostagar crawling with Mages and Templars, Women in golden dresses resembling the sun, and men wearing armor shaped like the king's but silver. Where was all this last night?
"Oh great another Elf." sighed a man not too far from my tent. A flat ear had just hurried off most likely running the man's errands. I slowly approached him taking in everything about him. He was tall, of course, had a sword and shield on his back, and had his body painted from head to toe like the already naturally spotted hound next to him. Presumably quite strong and by his age quite seasoned. However, his bulkiness also means slower. His armor, although quite heavy for being made of predominately leather had some chinks. So long as his friends, furry included, didn't intervene an adept hunter should be able to slip through and hit those weak points without too much of a fight.
I could take him. Probably, "You got a problem with elves, human?"
He just stared at me nonchalantly as he replied his features unmoving, "Not besides the fact they're too thin boned for my tastes. Anyway I'm very busy so unless you're delivering something I have work to do."
Deciding to humor myself I asked away, "You don't look like the other warriors around with that paint on you. What's the point in it?" His massive hound pawed at his boot and the man started searching his pouch and pulled out a small baked biscuit and fed it to his companion before answering.
"We are called Ash Warriors. When out in battle the smell of blood can confuse the Mabari," he said gesturing to the hound beside him, "So we paint them and us with Khaddis. Khaddis is a special mixture that overpowers the scent of blood and shows them that we are the same." I guess it made sense.
"Oh before I leave, do you know where a man named Alistair is? Warden Duncan told me to find him,"
He looked up at me from petting the Mabari, "I'm sorry I don't know an Alistair. If he is a Grey Warden like the Commander then you might want to check in with one of the king's men. They keep tabs of all the men here in the camp."
"Thanks anyway." He nodded before I turned on my heel to leave.
Now I just have to find one man who I have never seen before in an encampment of hundreds. "Damn all these humans being so tall," I hissed under my breath. Then I spotted a staircase that led up to a platform. I may not know what to look for but I could spot one of the king's men from up there easier than I could where I am now. When I reach the top the sight before me was horrific. So many men were laying on cots and being given medicine for their injuries. I might not be too fond of the humans but being a hunter and following the teachings of the Dalish goddess of the hunt, Andruil, I couldn't help but feel sorrow for those who were suffering. It's no wonder hardly anybody came up here, save the few that were standing around a young girl in one of those golden dresses farther away next to another set of stairs heading back down to the crowd.
I started to wander over to the spot were the group was when one of the men called out to me, "You! Can you not sense them?" The man shrieked. He was clearly insane. "It's no use to fight. They'll come and kill us all!" I could feel the eyes of those gathered in the group not too far from me boring into my back.
Suddenly a small woman next to me spoke with a low and smooth voice. "I am sorry about this." The woman was about my height if not shorter with a small rounded face with shoulder length hair that was just turning grey as it seemed to look even more lighter against her dark complexion which also showed she had gotten very little sleep in the past few days made evident by the even darker shadows under her eyes. From this man no doubt. "He has been this way since the other troops found him alone in the Korcari Wilds. We do not know what is wrong with him. His blood is not tainted. He's just…terrified," I looked back at the man lying on the cot struggling it seemed to concentrate on one fear or the next that was undoubtedly flooding his mind.
"Can you not hear them? Everyone will die," he whispered.
"That's enough out of you. Now quit yelling at people while I go and get your medicine." she demanded before leaving. I have had enough of his ranting as well and just continued across to the staircase on the other side from where I was. The place was amazing. Stone columns, looking that they had once reached up to the clouds were now crumbling. Looking down I noticed one of the king's men posted at the bottom of the staircase looking rather bored.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Alistair. Do you know where he is?" The human just laughed as if I
had just said I was looking for my pet dragon.
"You're looking for Alistair huh? He's up those stairs and to the right. Believe me you can't miss him."
Confused and willing to leave it at that before my temper caught up with me I replied, "Thanks. I guess," and walked away in the direction he had pointed me. Ugh. More stairs. And what did he mean?
Then I got my answer. When I got to the top and turned to my right I was able to hear two men arguing. This should be fun to watch. I started to creep slowly up the other flight of stairs and behind a pillar.
When I looked, standing there was another one of those mages. His hair was jet black and his skin tone dark with a look on his face that made him look constipated. I had to suppress a slight giggle on that thought. Looking at the other I momentarily wondered why King Cailan was there. But it was just a fleeting moment. This one obviously had the dark brown eyes, yeah but his hair and armor are not golden like the king's. This man had hair that was more of a golden red and he wore simple splintmail that may even be a bit too old by the discolorations. Not to mention his skin was tan most likely from traveling outside most of the time instead of roaming the halls of a castle.
"What is it now? Haven't Grey Wardens asked more than enough of the circle?" It was the mage who spoke.
"I simply came here to deliver a message from the Revered Mother that she… desires your presence." The knight didn't seem affected by the glares he was getting out of the mage.
"What her Reverence desires, is of no concern to me. I am busy helping the Grey Wardens by the King'sorders I might add." If looks could kill that knight would have dropped dead by now.
"Should I have asked her to write a note?" Now the knight is going to get himself killed.
"Tell her I will not be harassed in this manner!" And Keeper thought I had a temper.
"Yes, I was harassing you by delivering a message." He is either really strong or really stupid.
"Your glibness does you no credit." The knight just smiled.
"And here I thought we were getting along so well too. I was even going to name one of my children after you…the grumpy one." Neither. He has a death wish.
"Enough I will speak to the woman if I must. Get out of my way, fool." The mage scowled as he walked passed the knight. I started my way out from behind the stone pillar and towards the Grey Warden.
He then turned to me and stated, "You know one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together." Now I know why that guard laughed at me.
"You are a strange human." The Grey Warden let out a laugh.
"You know your not the first to tell me that. Have we met before? You're not another mage are you?" he asked his voice still sounding amused.
"No we haven't and don't worry I'm no mage. I'm Dalish." His face seemed to brighten at the realization of who I was.
"Oh your the new recruit! Dahlia. That's the name right?"
I smirked. "You must be Alistair. Duncan sent me to find you."
Alistair motioned me to follow as he walked in the direction of the staircase I had come from.
"There are two more recruits of Duncan's like you. Have you met them yet?" I shook my head, which only lead to a slight headache. "Their names are Ser Jory and Daveth. Ser Jory was a knight of Redcliffe who later resigned and won a tournament when Duncan found him in Highever. As for Daveth he was trying to steal from Duncan in Denerim. I think you can guess how that turned out?"
According to what I remembered from Duncan's map, Highever was the name of one of the smaller towns on the northern seacoast and Denerim was towards the northeast edge. "With a Blight why was Duncan so far from here?" He gave me a confused look,
"You know what that's a good question. I'd like to know that too. Hey you know what. I just realized there haven't been many women in the Grey Wardens." He stopped walking. At this point we were down the second flight of stairs.
"I can handle myself better than most," Alistair hasn't said anything about me being an elf…yet.
"I'm starting to get that impression," he replied with an amused tone, "So tell me I'm curious. Have you ever actually seen a darkspawn." He lead me to the right where there were weapons displayed in the corner between the stair case we had just come from and the one leading back up to the infirmary, if you could call it that, which made a closed off little space with the only opening coming from the space between the two stairs.
"Yes just recently actually." He turned his gaze to some swords to his left with a grim expression.
"Good. You'll be at an advantage then. Most new recruits have never seen a darkspawn. Did you find them as horrific as I did?" he asked with disgust plastered all over his face.
"Hideous, disgusting, but killable," I stated remembering those creatures whose taint you could smell off their bodies. Although I had only killed Genlocks, the weakest of the darkspawn, you could still not risk letting down your guard. The Genlocks are the shortest and probably stand four feet tall. Their faces are twisted and red with razor sharp fangs. The others Duncan had told me about were the Hurlocks that stand a good six feet tall, Emissaries were darkspawn that could use magic, they came as both Genlocks and Hurlocks, the Alphas were the ones that lead the smaller groups, then there were the generals that were over a huge section of the horde, Duncan had said that there are not but four or five per Blight by records of the last ones, Shrieks, which he had not mentioned much of other than that you would know because they had the body structure of a regular human just more twisted with lethal speeds, Ogres, and others I can't remember.
"Hey you, elf," A man hollered from across the area from where we stood. He was standing in front of a display shelf with a couple pouches full of gold, silver, and, bits. He was staring at me with annoyance plain as day. I walked over leaving Alistair to browse daring this human to say something that'll tick me off. "Where is my delivery and why are you wearing those ridiculous clothes?" he asked angered.
I could feel my temper flaring as he looked down at me with disdain. "I'm not one of your slaves shemlen," I spat at him with a threatening tone. Just what had happened with Alistair, realization seemed to slap him across the face and quickly turned to fear as his eyes flickered behind me to the sound of a pair of approaching boots.
"I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were the new Grey Warden recruit." I hadn't realized my hand was on my dagger until my temper began to die down and I released my hold on the pommel, "P-please excuse me for my rudeness. I am just a simple quartermaster nothing more," he staggered over his words.
"Then maybe you should treat elves better," I threatened.
"Yes, of course," I decided to let it go before my temper gets the better of me, not to mention I probably wasn't giving myself a real good first impression with Alistair since I had already forgotten he was there.
"Anyway, um, may I see what you got?"
Shock spread across his face as I said this as if that was the last thing I would ask him, "Oh, of course. The wares are for the king's army b-but you Grey Wardens are welcome to whatever you like at a decent price though." I started to look around the small enclosure wandering silently to myself why I would think anything here could be of use. Yeah the stuff looked pretty strong and durable but the quartermaster didn't have anything stronger than my iron wood weapons made by Master Ilen back in the clan so I ended up buying all the herbs, health poultices, and injury kits I could without totally running out of the small sum of money Duncan had given me at the first village we came to.
When we had left the area I looked to Alistair. His thoughts seemed distant, "Hey, um,…" he simply turned to look at me expectantly. I needed to make sure he didn't think I was some hot tempered sadist, "So my friends back home were always telling me I have a temper and…" he quickly waved me off before cracking a smirk.
"Don't worry about it. He sounded like he deserved it," he replied with humor in his voice.
"Thanks," we continued silently, me pondering my strange new guide.
"Hey you, Warden!" Alistair and I both turned in unison to see a different Ash Warrior than before beckoning me over next to a kennel on the corner of the small path. What in the world had everyone looking for a fight? "Thank goodness I caught you in time," the expression on his face showed concern, "Would you mind helping me with something right quick?"
Not knowing what to say I looked to Alistair wondering how much time we had till the Joining started, "Go ahead, Duncan can wait a couple more minutes," he said with a nod towards the Ash Warrior.
"Sure. What do you need?" The Ash Warrior ran his fingers through his short, auburn hair.
"Well it's the Mabari you see. I would hate to have to put down a promising member of the breed. Besides the fact that he lost his master in the last battle while taking down darkspawn he had taken in too much of the blood and it's taking my best medicine to help with the pain, but I cannot put the medicine into his wounds without him being muzzled so I was wandering if you could do it," he explained as he lead us back to the picket fence making up the kennel.
I looked over at the light brown Mabari on the other side of the fence. He was backed up into a corner staring at us with a low, barely audible growl telling us he definitely didn't want to be bothered. But it was his eyes that compelled me to help. They were full of pain and desperation.
Knowing all too well how the pain of the burning from the taint felt, without turning my head, I told the Ash Warrior, "Give me the muzzle."
I heard Alistair come up from behind me and lower his voice to ask, "Are you sure about this? The thing looks rabid."
I only answered with a short "Yep," grabbed the muzzle from the Ash Warrior's hand, and easily scaled the fence not caring to wait for the Kennel Master to open the gate. As I landed on the dry straw that covered the bottom of the kennel I could see the Mabari tense as his growl got louder. Crouching down I reach out my hand out palm up in a non-threatening stance. He took a step back bristling. I could hear Alistair talking quickly with the Warrior. Balancing myself on my free hand and slightly lowering myself I continued to hold his gaze and reach out a bit further whispering a prayer to Andruil. He stretched his neck further to meet my hand, still growling. Upon catching my scent he almost instantly backed down from his aggressive stance and walked up to lay down in front of me whining as he laid his head in my lap making me sit on my hind legs and looked up at me. "I know, I know it hurts," I whispered as I stroked the massive boxed head and slipped the muzzle on him.
The Kennel Master slipped through the gate and started to administer the elixir into his half-open gash running from the top of the front left shoulder down to a couple inches in front of the back leg.
"He will not eat it so this is the only other way I could think of to get the medicine into his system. It will help with the pain and keep infection away" he spoke quietly trying not to disturb the Mabari, "He seems to like you. If you want we could get him imprinted on you?" I became confused at the context then he explained, "It means that he will be loyal to you and people you are close to. You don't ever have to worry about feeding them. They are about as smart as your average tax collector and can hunt for themselves," I looked down at the Mabari staring back at me with pain in his eyes, "After he gets better of course."
I heard Alistair grunt in amusement and say, "I think it may already be too late."
When the Kennel Master and I stepped back out to let the Mabari rest he asked inquiringly, "Will you be going into the Korcari Wilds soon?"
I had no idea for sure, "I might but I can't promise you I will. Why?"
Looking a small bit relieved before he asked, "You'll be getting closer than I will at most, but I was wandering if you could find a Wilds Flower. It is rumored to have healing properties for Mabari like this one with darkspawn taint. Of course it has been tried on people but has no visible effect besides an upset stomach."
Looking back at the Mabari lying on top of a pile of straw with labored breathing I thought one trip out won't hurt. "I will try but like I said I can't promise I'll have the opportunity." The
Kennel Master now seemed confident that the poor beast would live, "Good enough for me. The flower is white with a blood red center. You can't miss it. It will most likely be growing on dead, damp trees, wet rocks, you know anywhere moss would be able to grow." With that done we said goodbye and me and Alistair were back to heading towards the giant pyre between what Alistair had commented being the King's tent to the left and Teryn Loghain's to the right.
Duncan and two other men, a bald one with the great sword, a couple inches higher than my guide, with a broad heavy set and a black haired man with the bow and arrows just a good head taller than me. "Ah there you two are. Done annoying the mages are you, Alistair?"
Alistair's face slightly blushed. "What can I say the Revered Mother ambushed me. The way she wields guilt they should stick her in the army."
Duncan tried unsuccessfully to hold back his smile, "We are supposed to keep everybody on our good side Alistair. Not give them more reason to drive us back out of Ferelden."
Alistair's head slumped forward a bit with a look on his face that made him look like a da'len caught in the act. "Of course Duncan."
Duncan's face grew grave and serious once more, "Now that you are all here it is time to get started. First off, Dahlia, this is Daveth and Ser Jory," he proclaimed first gesturing to the black haired man who, even though was short for a shemlen(human), held himself with pride and replied, "M'lady." Then gesturing to the bald one, who seemed to tower over all of us even Duncan, only nodded. "Now that that is out of the way it is time to start the preparations for the Joining. With Alistair as Junior Warden to the order and six months of experience he will be leading your expedition into the Korcari Wilds."
I could see the man,…Ser Jory, nervously shift his weight from one foot to the other, "It is required for the four of you to kill darkspawn stragglers without any danger of going into the horde and collect three vials of darkspawn blood," my heart started to beat faster at the awaited opportunity, "There is one other task you need to complete though that is of great importance. You must retrieve old Grey Warden scrolls that were left in a cache at an old outpost that had been abandoned a while back." I looked at the other recruits standing to my left.
Ser Jory looked considerably worried and Daveth was good at hiding his emotions but not good enough for I could see the nervousness in his body language by the way he was picking at his nails.
"Finally some action. But if I may ask Duncan what use are these scrolls to us anyhow and if we were to have found them wouldn't age and weather have destroyed them?" I asked and from the corner of my eye could see Alistair was interested in the answer just as I was.
"They are Grey Warden treaties. The cache however had a protective spell cast on it long ago. They should still be intact."
I glanced around to look at the men. Alistair and Daveth looked about my age if not a year or two older. As for Ser Jory he look like he was closing in on his third decade. "Collect three vials of darkspawn blood and retrieve the treaties, everyone got that?" Alistair finalized which was responded by nods from me and the others.
"You three will have ten minutes to finish getting ready if you're not already," Duncan looked towards me teasingly.
While leaving the pyre we had went our separate ways for the time being while Duncan talked to Alistair. Most likely about the mission at hand. Upon entering my tent a wave of pain from the burning taint running through my veins hit me like a ton of bricks and everything started to spin. I held onto the edge of the cot to just barely keep myself standing upright. While taking deep breaths I stayed like that for a couple of minutes until the dizzy spell passed.
Damn. The taint wasn't going to give me much longer. I hate to admit it but the quicker we get these preparations done the better chance I got. I quickly started to fasten my two Dar'Misu to either side of my Dalish Hunter's Belt just in front of my medicine bag and my longbow to my back, threw my arrows over my neck, and moved my dagger into a hiding place on the inside of my boot.
I could already feel that it was going to be a long day.
Lethallan-friend(fem)
Lethallin-friend(male)