The small group of Grey wardens spent the night at the royal palace before they were once again on the road to where the rest of the Grey Wardens are, they were stationed at an abandoned castle in the West hills that was once owned by Arl Marcus Wulff before his serious illness overtook him, his brother Gallagher Wulff had to become the Arl of West Hills and built a stronger castle in which he could protect and care for his older brother until Marcus would be strong enough to be the Arl once more.

"You are gonna love the Warden base it's beautiful! And all the other Wardens will love you"

"I'm happy to be accepted into this new family" Alistair was surprised that he was doing such a good job at hiding his excitement, he already felt wanted and loved by Duncan, Azcadelia and the few Grey Wardens that came with them to Denerim, he couldn't wait until he met all the others. He finally had a family

"We are all a warm and friendly bunch, we're like a huge family" she nudged his shoulder "And you're a part of it now" she gave him her huge wolfish smile he loved to stare at

"That makes me all warm and tingly inside" Alistair chuckled at her small giggle

"We have arrived" Duncan used his serious voice to calm the two young adults as they entered the gates of the base "Welcome to the Grey Wardens, recruit Alistair" the ex-Templar in trainings eyes widened the size of dinner plates as they looked around the inside of the castle. Grey Wardens were everywhere, some were training with various weapons, others were spell casting at dummies or healing wounds most likely inflicted from training, other Grey wardens were sitting at tables chatting amongst themselves "If you would follow me Alistair I will introduce you to a few Wardens who will be training you and preparing you"

"When will I become a Grey Warden officially?" Alistair tried to hide his eagerness but judging by the deep chuckle from Duncan he must have failed miserably

"We will be doing the joining ceremony tonight after you rest and regain strength, I want you in top shape before we begin" Alistair nodded and Duncan then turned to Azcadelia "I have decided that tomorrow night you shall be officially joining the wardens" the ravenette gasped

"You mean-"

"Yes Azcadelia you are finally ready to join the wardens, you will be doing the joining tomorrow, I want you to have my undivided attention" a huge smile crossed her face followed by a loud squeal

"YES YES YES! THANK YOU FATHER!" she jumped around and hugged her father and Alistair then went off to hug every single Grey Warden that wasn't busy

"She seems very happy about joining" Alistair watched Azcadelia fondly

"Yes" Duncan nodded "she has been waiting for this moment since she was ten and was told of the importance of Grey Wardens" he shook his head when he saw Azcadelia dancing with a few of the younger wardens "come with me so I can show you to your room so you can unpack before meeting with the other Wardens"

"Of course"

The night had covered the castle sky with a blue glow, the stars twinkled as if they were waiting in anticipation for what was to happen tonight, Alistair watched as Azcadelia paced nervously, her slender fingers playing with the wrist guards she had on. He was nervous too but her pacing back and forth distracted him, two other recruits were watching Az pace to distract themselves as well "the joining will finally commence" the quarto stilled all movements and faced the Warden Commander "tonight we begin the joining, from this chalice we drink of Darkspawn blood and master its taint" only three of the recruits gasped in shock

"We have to drink their filthy blood!?" one man shouted angrily, the other nodding in agreement "why where we not told of this"

"Would you really have joined if they did so" Azcadelia growled out angrily "you either drink the damn blood or you get a sword in your chest, your choice"

"L-let's just get this done ok?" Alistair stammered out, feeling nervous about drinking Darkspawn blood but wasn't going to back out

"Ser McCallum, you shall go first" the man that shouted stepped forward nervously and grabbed the chalice with shaky hands "from this day forth you will be a Grey warden" the man took a few small sips and gagged at the disgusting taste, the group stepped away to watch

"No proble-" McCallum chocked on whatever bile came up his throat, he coughed trying to get the bile but it did nothing, his collapsed to the floor when the taint touched his heart and killed him

"Maker's breath" Alistair said with horror lacing his voice, he hoped he would not suffer the same fate

"Step forth Sir Bracken" the man who nodded stepped forward and grabbed the chalice, thank the maker he did not suffer the same fate as McCallum, he merely fainted and fell to the floor

"And lastly you, Alistair" the sun kissed man gulped and grabbed the chalice, he wanted this over and done with so with a confidence he never thought he would have once he had seen what the taint would do to him if he was not worthy, he took a large gulp and passed the chalice back to Duncan

"Oh please maker make sure he lives" he heard Azcadelia whisper in the background, he closed his eyes as he felt his head explode with pain, his chest tightened and his vision became blurry as flashes of a large horned dragon crashed into his mind without his consent, he shivered with fear when the dragon roared. He gasped and his vision went black "oh no!" Azcadelia rushed to his side and checked his pulse, she sighed in relief when she felt it beating weakly "Thank goodness, I thought he lost the fight"

"I knew he would master the taint, he has a strong will that I saw within him the moment I gazed at him"

"He's amazing…" Azcadelia sighed and stroked Alistair's cheek, his hot skin contrasting against her cold fingers

"Yes he is" Duncan chuckled to himself, it seemed his daughter had a crush on the new warden "would you mind staying with him until he wakes, he is too heavy to move to a room so it is best to keep him there"

"Of course I'll stay with him, would you mind getting some food? I think he will be starving when he wakes"

"I shall get meals for the both of you" Azcadelia said her thanks and watched her father leave the room

Alistair was praising the maker when the nightmares stopped, he was forced to watch a high dragon roar and hundred possibly thousands of Darkspawn screeching and he couldn't look away, he never thought he would be so terrified by a dragon in his life. "Alistair you're safe now" a soft voice broke through the darkness, it sounded so familiar "wake up Al" he only knew one person who called him such a name

"A-azzzz" he tried to speak her name but his throat felt drier than an Antivan desert

"Shh don't speak, just try to open your eyes" he sighed and forced his eyes open one at a time "there you go" he saw the blurry vision of an angel with thick black hair hovering over him, when his vision cleared he saw that the angel was actually Azcadelia

Though I still view her as one" he thought to himself

"Come on let me help you up, I don't think you want to stay on the floor forever" he nodded silently and let her drape his arm over her shoulder, with surprising strength she forced him to stand "Duncan brought you some dinner, well more like a an entire banquet, I know you are starving" a loud growl from Alistair's stomach conformed it, he blushed at her giggle. He slumped into a chair and drooled at the pile of food on his plate "Wardens have an increase of appetite or so im told" she watched silently as he shoved as much food as he could into his mouth

"Where is Sir Bracken?" he asked after he swallowed, once he finished speaking he went back to eating

"He was light enough for Duncan and another Warden to carry him to a room, you however are far too well-built to be carried"

"Notice that did you?" he smiled at her blush

"N-no…w-well yes can you stop looking at me like that" she looked down at her food so she could stop her cheeks from getting redder

"Sorry if I embarrassed you"

"I'll get you back eventually" Azcadelia took a sip of wine "So how are you feeling, I heard the joining is not pleasant"

"I had the most terrible dream, there was a high dragon and is looked like it was talking to thousands of Darkspawn"

"That would be an Archdemon, its created when the soul of an old god is forced into a body of a dragon, its why we think that there might be a Blight on our hands, sure all recruits have dreams of an Archdemon when they undergo the joining but the eldest of Wardens are getting these dreams aswell, we are waiting on the reply of Warden Commander Louie to confirm that they too are having these dreams before preparing"

"Let's hope it's not a Blight than"

"Yes I don't think I want to be in a war any time soon"

"Speaking of Wardens, are you nervous about your joining tomorrow night" Alistair noticed Azcadelia's expression drop and fear cross her face

"I'm excited that I'm finally being allowed to join, I've wanted this since I was ten, even when I found out everything that you have to do to become one I wanted to be one it's just…" she trailed off and looked at the floor, almost trying to find the right words "there are complications to this joining that might make this more dangerous for me than any other who joins"

"Complications?"

"I have a…condition that might make this more dangerous, father wanted to make sure I am the strongest I can be so I won't, you know, die or worse"

"What type of condition is this, if you don't mind me asking?" Alistair noticed Az's awkwardness but he was too curious to stop

"It's a disease of some sort in my blood, many mages and alchemists have tried to cure it but nothing has worked" she fiddled with her fingers and bit her lip "when I do the joining…promise me that no matter what happens you will always see me as Azcadelia" Alistair look at her in confusion

"Why would I look at you any different, I think the only thing I will be doing is praying that you survive" Az smiled

"That makes my heart warm" they spent the rest of the night talking about any questions Alistair had about Grey Wardens or just life in general