Hello! Here's the next chapter.
Yuki-sama12: Yay! I'm funny! :D
CHAPTER THREE
The next few days had been fairly quiet around Ostagar so there wasn't much for the Grey Wardens to do. It was the perfect opportunity for Olyvia to get in her practice, and she most certainly needed it.
"Olyvia, running isn't going to help," Alistair sighed, stopping his pursuit after her as she scurried away once again.
"I think running is a rather good defensive move," Olyvia said, peeking around the tree she was currently using as a shield, "It kept me alive in the Wilds."
"But you're not going to learn anything if you keep this up," Alistair said, moving closer when Olyvia hid behind the tree again.
"I know, but you get a little…violent," Olyvia said lamely. It was the only way she could describe it, "And I get nervous and panic and run."
"Fighting is violent," Alistair said, "But you know this is just sparring. I won't hurt you."
"I know, I know," Olyvia sighed, "I still panic though."
She let out a little squeak when she found a blade at her neck.
"Just so you know, you'd be dead," Alistair said, looking down at her disapprovingly.
"I'm never going to get the hang of this am I?" Olyvia sighed.
"Maybe if you stay with it and stop with the running, you might," Alistair said, pulling his sword away from her throat and sheathing it, "Are you ready to try again, or do you want to call it a day?"
Olyvia shook her head, "No. Like you said, I'm not going to get anywhere if I quit. So another round it is."
Olyvia swung around the tree and was heading back to the clearing she and Alistair were sparring in when Daveth came up behind Olyvia. She didn't notice him until he grabbed her by the shoulder, startling her.
"I need to talk to you," Daveth managed to get out before receiving an elbow to the face.
Alistair cringed as he watched Olyvia whirl around and deliver another punch to Daveth's gut, causing him to double over, and then she grabbed him by the back of his collar, and then flipped him over where he landed hard on his back.
"Don't people know how to announce their presence instead of sneaking up on people?" Olyvia exclaimed.
"Now why can't you have that sort of reflex with the blade?" Alistair asked.
"Ow…doesn't anyone care that I'm hurting down here?" Daveth groaned.
"No, now what did you want?" Olyvia growled.
"I think I've changed my mind," Daveth said, pushing himself back onto his feet, "I've learned my lesson. You are not one to mess with. Goodbye."
He hobbled away, hand clutching at his gut. Olyvia turned back to Alistair.
"I almost would think you'd be better off without a weapon," Alistair said.
"Almost?" Olyvia asked with a hopeful grin.
"But only just," Alistair said, drawing his sword, "Now. Let's try again."
It had been a week since Olyvia first arrived, and she was starting to get worried about whether she would be able to find a way to return home. Being stuck here for long didn't sound all that pleasant to her. Knowing all that would be going on, she didn't look forward to being caught in the middle of it all. If she was stuck though, she would just have to go with the flow. She was already discovering a little problem forming though of her willingness to go. She would admit she had a bit of a crush on Alistair when she first arrived from all the times she played through the games, but now she was starting to form a friendship with him, developing some stronger, deeper feelings for him. She knew she couldn't allow it to grow into anything more because this place wasn't where she belonged. She belonged back in her own world, with her family that she knew had to be going crazy wondering where she was now.
She and Alistair were sitting in the ruins in the Grey Warden side of camp after another training session, and Olyvia wasted no time in staring out into space as her thoughts came back to the forefront of her mind.
"What are you thinking about now?" Alistair asked, snapping her out of her reverie.
"Huh? What? What makes you think I'm thinking about anything?" she asked.
"You always get that…look on your face when you're thinking," Alistair replied.
"Oh," Olyvia muttered, "I-I was just thinking about…home."
"I guess it should have been obvious," Alistair said, "Anything in particular?"
Olyvia sighed, "Just how I'm going to get back home. It's where I belong, and I really need to go back. With how long I've been gone already, I know my family is so worried about me. I can't stay here."
Alistair's face fell as he glanced away, "Oh…right. I guess that should be obvious too."
They sat in silence for a few moments before Olyvia spoke up again.
"Alistair…would it be…too much to ask for your help of finding a way for me to get back home?" Olyvia asked, "I know you probably wouldn't really know, and it'll probably near impossible, but it would make me feel better to have someone helping me."
Alistair thought for a few moments before replying, "Sure. I'll…do my best."
Olyvia smiled, "Thanks. It will be so great to get back home. I can take a shower, and I won't have to worry about darkspawn or fighting."
"Do you…really hate it here that much?" Alistair asked quietly.
"Well…I wouldn't say I hate it," Olyvia replied, "It's not what I'm used to though, and I'm treated like an outcast by everyone. Not the friendliest of welcomes. I'm not thrilled to be here. You have made it tolerable though."
Alistair blushed, "Oh, well…you're welcome?"
Before Olyvia could say anything else, Edwin rushed up to Alistair.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem approaching," Edwin said.
"Darkspawn?" Alistair asked.
Edwin nodded, "Another group is heading our way. And it looks to be bigger than the last."
Alistair stood looked down to Olyvia, "You stay put."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Olyvia said, "I have no desire to go to battle. My fighting skills are still sorely lacking."
"You are getting better though so don't be too hard on yourself," Alistair said, "Just stay safe while we're gone."
"You are the one who needs to stay safe," Olyvia said, "But you need to be on your way, so you better go. "
Alistair nodded and followed after Edwin, disappearing into the masses as they scurried around as they hastily tried to get everything together and moved down into the gorge. Olyvia watched worriedly as they all left. Though she knew Alistair would be fine…at least he should, the others she was not so sure of. She noticed Daveth and Ser Jory were being left behind as well. They couldn't risk the lives of the recruits.
It took almost two hours to get everyone in their positions, and it was dusk before Olyvia heard the din of battle. She cautiously approached the edge of the cliff over the gorge, and peered down. The darkspawn army was massive, but it was still nothing compared to what was to come. Shuddering, she moved away from the cliff's edge and made her way back into the Grey Warden's camp. It was completely void of any activity, and there were only a few soldiers remaining up top. Sitting down with a sigh, she tried not to think about how many men were dying down there.
The battle had been going on for at least an hour, and the night had grown dark, and Olyvia was still sitting alone. She had hugged her legs to her chest to keep in some of her body heat, as well as trying to give herself some comfort. It was as she was sitting there when her hearing caught the faint sound of leaves rustling and twigs snapping. Then she heard an almost purr-like watery growl. She froze. She knew that sound. Turning around, she saw a good amount of darkspawn making their way through the trees towards her.
"Oh not again," she complained before shooting to her feet and taking off, "DARKSPAWN!"
Bolting down into the main part of camp, her shout drew the attention of the remaining soldiers stationed there. Not far behind her were the darkspawn, having given chase once she ran. The soldiers let out cries of alarm, and drew their weapons. Olyvia felt something pierce into her lower back, causing her to stumble. Moving her hand to feel her injury, she found that the object in her was buried quite deep and assumed it was a crossbow bolt.
From her stumble a Hurlock had managed to catch up to her. Drawing her borrowed blade, she brought it up and the blades clashed, sending out a ringing noise from the both of them. Even with all her sparring, it was nothing compared to the real thing, fighting for your life. The Hurlock stumbled back as its blade ricocheted off hers, and with a powerful thrust of her arm, she stabbed the Hurlock in the chest. It wasn't enough to kill it, at least not right away, but with it still stumbling around from her attack, she had enough time to move out of there.
"Where did they come from?" Daveth asked in horror.
"The woods over there," Olyvia said, "Somehow they found another way up."
They didn't have much time for chatter though as the darkspawn surged forward upon them. As Olyvia clashed blades with another Hurlock, three more crossbow bolts embedded into her left leg, one in her calf and two in her thigh. She cried out in pain as she buckled under her own weight. She managed to stay up, and block the Hurlock's incoming blow with her shield before swinging her blade and beheading the thing.
"Alright archers, it's time to die," Olyvia growled as she limped toward the first one she laid her eyes on.
The archer was busy reloading its crossbow so it was easy to dispose of, while Olyvia had to dodge the bolt from the next one she came across. The group that had infiltrated their camp only had a few archers, so once they were dealt with, they still had over three dozen to finish. Olyvia knew she couldn't do much more on the ground, and one of the crossbows caught her eye. She had done a bit of archery, and the aiming with a crossbow was similar to a gun right? So perhaps she could use that from a higher vantage point. Grabbing the crossbow and the quiver full of bolts, she hurried as fast as she could to the nearest tree and began climbing.
"Olyvia, what are you doing?" Ser Jory asked.
"She's hiding," Daveth said snidely, "It's what she's good at."
Olyvia scowled, "I'm trying to help stupid."
Finding herself a good branch to sit on, she loaded a bolt, took aim at the Hurlock Alpha, and squeezed the crossbow's trigger. A feeling of satisfaction came over her when the bolt hit it right in the eye socket, and the Hurlock dropped to the ground. She was so glad for all her shooting practice, it really was helpful in this situation.
She continued her strategy, until the darkspawn were whittled down to smaller numbers and Cailan's and Loghain's armies were making their way back to the camp. The Grey Wardens were the first to know something was wrong and raced into the camp to find darkspawn bodies strewn about the ground, along with a few of Cailan's soldiers, and a handful of darkspawn still fighting. Alistair and Edwin were among the first to charge into the fray, cleaving through the darkspawn left and right. Alistair went to behead one when a crossbow bolt came out of nowhere, hitting it right between the eyes, and it faltered in its step before falling to the ground. He didn't have time to look to see where it came from before another darkspawn was upon him. Within minutes though, the remainder of the darkspawn had been dealt with, and Alistair looked around, and began to panic when he saw someone missing.
"Where's Olyvia?" he asked.
Daveth went to reply when he heard a voice coming from above, "I'm up here."
Looking up, he saw Olyvia perched up on a branch, swinging down to dangle from it. Alistair quickly moved beneath her before she let go, and caught her in his arms. Olyvia hissed in pain and clambered out of his grasp.
"I hate darkspawn," she seethed, a hand pressed against her back.
"What happened here?" Edwin asked, walking over to her.
"A group of darkspawn came up from the forest over there," she said, pointing toward the Warden's camp, "I heard them before I saw them. Thank goodness they lack in stealth."
"If she hadn't warned us, they would've been upon us with little warning and we wouldn't have been ready for them," one soldier said.
Edwin raised an eyebrow, "Warned you how?"
"I screamed 'darkspawn'," Olyvia replied, "How else do you think I would have done it? Send them a note? There were no mind tricks involved here. They took me by surprise as well."
Edwin leaned in closer so no one else could here, "I thought you said you knew everything."
"No, I said I know more than you think," Olyvia replied, "Stop putting words in my mouth. Anyway, can we be done now? I'm kind of bleeding here."
Edwin rolled his eyes and turned back to face his men, "Get the wounded to the healers, and those who find themselves with nothing to do can get this mess out of here."
Wardens and soldiers alike all nodded and started moving about. Alistair turned to Olyvia, and noticed the crossbow in her hand.
"So was that you who took out the darkspawn I was about to kill?" Alistair asked.
"Uh…if it got hit by a bolt in the face, then yeah, that was me," Olyvia replied, "Why?"
"I thought you said you only knew a little bit of archery," Alistair said, "Or were you just lucky with that shot?"
"My aim is very good, thank you very much," Olyvia said.
"Hmm, maybe you should stick with a crossbow then," Alistair mused.
"Hey, I killed a few darkspawn with the sword," Olyvia said, "Thank you very much."
She turned to head back into the Warden's camp when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist.
"Shouldn't you be going to see a mage?" Alistair asked.
"My wounds are nothing, really," Olyvia said, "Nothing a bit of bandaging can't fix. I'm sure there are others who need more attention than I do."
"Will you be able to do it yourself?" Alistair asked, his face turning slightly pink, "I-I mean…if you need an extra hand…"
"I could probably use a little help mummifying myself again," Olyvia said.
Now Alistair looked confused, "Mummifying?"
"Uh…forget I said that," Olyvia said, "It's really nothing like bandaging up a wound. Maybe I'll explain it to you later if you're really that curious."
"Maybe," Alistair said.
The two headed into the Warden's camp, where a few of their comrades already were, moving things around or just sitting by the campfire for some warmth. Olyvia hobbled over to her to her tent, since being tended to right out in the open was very uncomfortable to her, and Alistair was there a few seconds later, a lantern in hand.
"Make sure you don't knock that over," Alistair said as he set it down.
"Or else we'll both go up in flames," Olyvia said, "Yeah, I know how oil lamps work. I'll do my best not to live up to my nickname of klutz and knock it over."
"That's…comforting," Alistair said, "Now which one first."
Olyvia blushed, "I guess the back injury. I sort of…ripped out the bolt earlier and I don't think that helped much."
So swiveling around, she pulled off her tunic, holding it against her chest to cover herself.
"Yeah, you sort of made it worse," Alistair said.
"Sorry," Olyvia muttered.
She hissed in pain as Alistair cleaned the wound, and again when he applied the poultice to it. The poultice burned so badly that she had to bite her lip to keep herself from whimpering in pain. When Alistair began to bandage the wound, she felt him get closer, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up as his breath brushed across her skin. Then suddenly his face was next to hers, his hot breath against her cheek as he leaned forward over her shoulder, his chest almost pressed up against her back
"We probably shouldn't make a habit of this," Alistair said, trying to look her in the eye.
"I-I don't want to," Olyvia said her face turning a bright red, "Because that involves me getting hurt, and me no like hurting. Hurting hurts and it's not fun."
Alistair smiled slightly and pulled back so he could see what he was doing. Olyvia helped along with the bandaging, pulling it across the front of her body and passing it back to Alistair, and that continued until he finished, and Olyvia pulled her tunic back on.
"I'm going to need new clothes, aren't I?" Olyvia asked.
"Unless you like having bloodstains, you don't need to," Alistair said.
"Then new clothes it is," Olyvia said, "Now…to take care of these."
Swiveling back around, she cringed as she set her left leg down, the bolts still embedded in her leg. At least there was enough to grab for a good hold to pull them out.
"Are you sure you don't want a mage?" Alistair asked.
She nodded, "I'll be fine. Just…get it over with."
Alistair hesitated before grabbing the bolt in her calf, holding her leg down with the other hand and pulled, the bolt sliding out of her calf. Olyvia let out a muffled scream, since her jaw was clenched shut. Her eyes squeezed closed, and her hands balled into fists, gripping on tightly to her blanket. She took in a deep breath, and opened her eyes.
"Have I mentioned I hate darkspawn?" Olyvia asked.
"At least once today," Alistair said, "You ready?"
Olyvia nodded, closing her eyes and bracing herself for the next one. A louder cry escaped from her lips as Alistair removed the second bolt.
"Oh God this hurts," she whimpered.
"If you want me to stop—,"
"No, I want the last one out," Olyvia interrupted, "Like I said, just get it over with."
He hardly gave her any warning before ripping out the last one, and Olyvia let out a loud cry.
"Oh dear God," she whimpered, clutching at her leg.
"How are you holding up?" Alistair asked.
"I'll be fine," Olyvia said, tossing her blanket over her before untying the drawstring to her breeches.
Once undone, she pulled them down, wincing as the fabric pulled away from her sore, aching wounds, and placed them aside before flipping over one side of the blanket so Alistair could tend to her injuries. The entire outside of her leg was covered in her blood, and the bleeding didn't look to be stopping anytime soon. Alistair didn't hesitate to get to work, wiping away at the wounds until they were cleaned to his satisfaction. Olyvia felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable having Alistair right there and her leg completely exposed. She didn't even have the extra bit of coverage from her tunic this time because it was bunched up around her waist. Having his hand on her too helped add to the awkwardness.
Alistair found that he was having no easier time dressing her wounds this time than before. Once again he found his mind wandering to places it shouldn't, as were his eyes. They roved over the curves of her leg, up the gentle slope of her thigh, over every inch of skin that was exposed. He mentally slapped himself over a dozen times for it, but it did nothing to abate his arousal. At least his armor would conceal it. He knew he shouldn't be having these sort of feelings either. She was going to be leaving, she was adamant on doing so, once she found a way, and she would be gone. He shouldn't allow these sort of feelings for her to grow.
"There, that should do it," Alistair said as he tied off the last bandage.
"Thanks," Olyvia said quietly, tossing the blanket back over, "I…I should probably get some sleep now."
"That would be a good idea," Alistair agreed.
"So…goodnight, and thank you again," Olyvia said as Alistair grabbed the lantern and made his way out of the tent.
"Goodnight," he replied before letting the flap drop down closed.
Carefully moving around, Olyvia tied the flaps shut, and then moved back around to lay her head down on the pillow. Pulling her blanket up to her chin, she closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep.
Alistair woke with a start early the next morning, his mind reeling over the dream he just woke from. Where in the name of Andraste did that come from? He would admit, it was marginally better than his darkspawn nightmares, but he shouldn't have had that sort of dream. Not only was it completely in the opposite direction of what he knew he shouldn't be thinking about Olyvia, he had made a complete mess of himself because of it. Maker, why? Why couldn't he think of her as any other woman he came across?
She wasn't like the other women he had met though. She intrigued him, and the more time he spent with her, the more things there were that he liked about her. He violently shook his head to clear his thoughts. No, no, no and no. He couldn't allow himself to fall for her. He would only end up getting hurt in the end.
After cleaning what he could of his mess, he grabbed his frigid armor, pulled it on, shuddering as the chill touched his skin and shot headlong out of his tent, welcoming the cold. He felt jumping into a river would be absolutely splendid right now so it would clear his thoughts.
"You're up early," someone said, causing Alistair to jump.
He whirled around to face the direction he heard the voice to find it was Marcus, sitting up on top of a broken pillar so he had a good view of the whole camp for his watch.
"Uh yeah," Alistair muttered, "I-it's early."
"Couldn't sleep?"
"Y-yeah," Alistair stammered, his cheeks flushing red in embarrassment, "Had a…crazy dream."
Marcus raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued, "Not one of our normal ones I take it?"
Alistair shook his head, "No…no, it was…way different."
"Do tell," Marcus urged.
Alistair shook his head again, this time more violently, "I-I don't think so. I can hardly remember it anyway."
That was the furthest from the truth though. He remembered every second of the dream, and he couldn't stop it from replaying in his head. He needed it to stop though.
Marcus shrugged, "Ah, well that's too bad. I could use something interesting to talk about."
"Yeah…it's too bad," Alistair muttered.
"So how are things going with the new girl?" Marcus asked.
Alistair felt his face grow even warmer, "W-what do you mean?"
"Well, I'm assuming she's doing fairly well with her swordsmanship lessons, judging by what happened last night," Marcus said, "I was curious to see what you'd rate her skill as."
"Her skill? Um…well, she certainly has learned quickly, I'd say she's decent at it," Alistair replied.
"On a scale of one to ten, what would you rate her?" Marcus rephrased.
"Um…a seven?" Alistair replied uncertainly.
"That's not bad for only practicing a week," Marcus said.
Alistair nodded, and went to leave when Marcus spoke up again.
"So…how easy is she?"
Alistair froze, and slowly turned to look back at him, eyes narrowed, "I don't even want to know what you mean by that."
"Oh, but I think you already know what I mean," Marcus said with a smirk, "What I can't tell though is from your reaction whether you know the answer or not. You've had more than enough opportunity."
"Maker, I can't believe you brought this up," Alistair groaned.
Marcus laughed, "You've always been so uncomfortable with this sort of talk. Alright, I'll make it easy for you. On a scale of one to ten, how good in bed is she?"
Marcus hardly had time to blink before he received a large chunk of wood meant for the campfire in his face, knocking him off the pillar. He let out loud groans of pain, shouting curses at Alistair as he stormed away. Alistair couldn't believe Marcus just asked that, let alone intending to try to do it himself. He knew he didn't have to worry about Marcus actually getting anywhere with Olyvia. She would give him the beating of a lifetime if he touched her in any way Olyvia did not like, and she didn't even like it when people came up and placed a hand on her shoulder.
From all of Marcus's shouting, he roused a few other Wardens from their sleep, each of them scolding him for waking them and telling him to shut it for a few more hours. Edwin was the only one to come out and investigate though.
"What's the problem Marcus?" he asked sleepily.
"Alistair chucked a piece of wood at my face," Marcus complained.
Edwin's brow furrowed in confusion, "Why would he do that? What did you do?"
"Oh, so it's my fault?" Marcus snapped.
"Alistair is relatively laid back Marcus," Edwin said, "I know he'd only lash out when provoked. So spill. What did you do?"
Marcus grumbled under his breath as he stood before replying, "I merely asked him what it was like to bed the witch. That was all."
Edwin's eyes grew wide, "He—whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. Are you saying he slept with her?"
"I know I would, given the chance," Marcus muttered.
"Alistair isn't you though," Edwin said.
Marcus rolled his eyes, "Whatever, he's a guy and has spent the whole week with her. Besides, if she really is a witch, despite her protests, who knows what sort of spell she could have put him under."
Edwin paused, thinking for a moment. Marcus did have a point there. They still hardly knew anything about her, she could still be hiding her true identity from them.
"I'm going to speak with Alistair," Edwin said, "You stay here and get back on watch."
Marcus groaned in distaste as he turned to climb back up the pillar, and Edwin went off in the direction he believed he saw Alistair going. Once he grew more distant from the others in camp, he could sense another Grey Warden due to the taint in their blood further out in the woods. Following a faint trail from his footsteps, he came across Alistair kneeling down at a stream.
"Alistair, can I talk to you for a moment?" Edwin asked, kneeling down beside him.
Alistair took another handful of water and splashed it into his face, "I'm not apologizing to Marcus."
"Well…I wasn't really thinking about asking for that, but I did want to talk about what happened," Edwin said, "Marcus…he said something rather troubling."
"That he was thinking lewd thoughts about Olyvia?" Alistair growled.
Edwin pursed his lips, "He said he believed you had…laid with her."
Alistair blanched, "And you believed him? Edwin, you know me. I—I didn't. I am still very much a virgin. You all can still tease me about it."
Edwin sighed in relief, "I'm glad to hear that. I just…I'm worried she may not be telling us everything, hiding some things from us."
"You still think she's a witch and will turn you or someone else into a toad," Alistair stated.
He sighed again, "Maybe not that exactly."
"She's just a normal person," Alistair said, "And whether you believe it or not, she's on our side."
"You sound…awfully defensive Alistair," Edwin said, "You haven't…developed feelings for her have you?"
"You've had me watch her for the past week Edwin," Alistair replied, "I've only gotten to know her a little better than the rest of you because you're all scared of her. She's only a friend. That's all."
There was no way Alistair was going to admit that maybe there were some feelings, because it didn't matter. Olyvia was planning on leaving as soon as she found a way home. Edwin opened his mouth to say something else when a feral scream pierced the air. The two were instantly to their feet, running back to camp. Alistair recognized that scream as Olyvia's, and all he could wonder was what had happened now.
Olyvia had always been a heavy sleeper, it took a lot to wake her. This morning, she started waking up feeling rather cold. Still half asleep, she thought in the back of her mind that perhaps she had kicked off her blanket sometime during the night. As she began to float to the surface of her consciousness though, she felt something was wrong. A creepy crawly feeling was coming over her as she felt something warm, and a little rough, sliding up along her leg and beneath her tunic. Her eyes shot open as she was jolted awake as she realized someone was in the tent with her, their hands on her, and they were beginning to pull down her underwear. Shooting upright, she found it was Marcus. She opened her mouth to yell at him but he shot a hand out and clapped it over her mouth.
"If you're quiet, I'll be gentle," he said, his other hand still pulling down on her underclothes.
Olyvia slapped his hand away, and grabbed at his hand through her tunic, "Get off me you pervert!"
His hand went over her mouth again and pushed her down onto her back, "Now that's not being quiet, now is it?"
With a violent tug, he pulled her underwear down to her ankles and then forced her legs apart when she tried to clamp them together, pressing his hard erection against her. She clawed at his hands as tears of terror fell from her eyes, but he was pressing so hard against her mouth she couldn't push him away. So she opened her mouth, a few of his fingers falling in, and bit down hard. He screamed in agony as he tried to pull back, but she didn't let go until after the third tug. He withdrew his other hand from untying his breeches to grab his injured hand.
"You bitch!" he seethed.
Bringing her knees up to her chest, she let out a feral shout as she kicked Marcus hard in the chest with both feet, pain shooting up her left leg as she jarred her injuries. He went flying backward and out of the tent. Olyvia quickly pulled up her underwear, got to her hands and knees and grabbed her combat boots before climbing out of her tent after Marcus. She was going to teach him a lesson. He was lying on his back, hand clutched to his chest as he coughed.
"I'll teach you to touch me you lecher!" she shouted.
She threw one boot at him, hitting him square in the face, and he yelped in pain, rolling over onto his stomach and pushed himself up to his feet. Looking down at the ground, she saw the logs for the fire, and dropping her boot, she grabbed one of those. Marcus drew his sword.
"You should have just cooperated," he growled.
Her face contorted in disgust as she glowered at him, "Never!"
She began to charge when she was stopped abruptly as arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
"Olyvia, what are you doing?" Alistair asked.
"He tried raping me!" Olyvia shouted, throwing the log at Marcus and hitting him in the groin.
Marcus let out a small squeak as he dropped to the ground, hands clutching at his injury. Edwin looked at her in horror before looking to Marcus.
"Is that true Marcus?" Edwin asked venomously.
"She bewitched me! Put me under some sort of spell!" Marcus exclaimed, "I did no such thing! Not intentionally. She's just trying to set me up."
Olyvia threw herself against Alistair's arms, trying to break free so she could get her hands around Marcus's neck, "Liar! You forced yourself onto me!"
"She's the one who's lying," Marcus said, looking up to Edwin.
Edwin looked troubled as he glanced back and forth between Olyvia and Marcus. He really wasn't sure who to believe. Yes, Marcus said that he would bed her given the chance, but if the witch accusations really were true, that could've been part of some sort of bewitchment. Olyvia seemed traumatized enough by the whole incident though.
From the ruckus caused by the two, the other Wardens were awake now, and Erik had come out and came to stand by Edwin's side.
"Marcus, if the witch was to bewitch anyone for that reason, she would choose someone else other than you," Erik said, "You're not the brightest gem in the bunch."
"I am not a witch, but he does make an excellent point," Olyvia said.
Edwin looked down to Marcus, "Get back to your tent. Now. I'll deal with you later."
Marcus glowered at him before turning his gaze to Olyvia, "Who have you put under your spell now witch?"
She snarled as she tried to rip out from Alistair's grip, but his arms remained solid as iron around her waist.
"Olyvia, you need to stop," Alistair said.
Reluctantly, she stopped fighting against him, glaring daggers at Marcus as he got up and left. Once he was gone, Alistair cautiously released his hold on her. He was glad to see she didn't chase after Marcus immediately after.
"What you have accused Marcus of is serious Olyvia," Edwin said, approaching her, "So you better not be lying about this or setting him up, as he put it. We're going to need all the Grey Wardens we can get for the final battle here."
"I am not lying about it," Olyvia seethed, "Just keep him away from me and you can keep your precious Grey Warden. I will not guarantee he will survive if he touches me again."
Turning on her heel, she stormed back to her tent.
"Olyvia," Alistair called out to her.
She didn't even bother looking back, and ducked back into her tent. Alistair looked back over to Edwin, waiting to see what he was going to do with Marcus.
"Erik, come with me to talk to Marcus," Edwin said, turning to his fellow Warden.
Erik nodded, and Edwin then turned to Alistair, "You are going to return to your tent."
"What? Why can't I go with you?" Alistair asked.
"You are far too protective over Olyvia," Edwin said, "Don't think I didn't see the murderous glare on your face when she said what he tried. You'll only make things worse Alistair, and I can't have you fighting a fellow Grey Warden. So return to your tent."
He clenched his jaw and stiffly turned and returned to his tent as he was told. Sitting down on his bedroll, he stewed over what had just happened. He couldn't believe that Marcus really tried to bed Olyvia, he was steaming over the fact that he had forced himself onto her. He took in a deep breath and pressed his fists to his forehead. Edwin was right though, Alistair really wanted to beat Marcus to a bloody pulp for it. He just hoped he would be able to control his anger around him after this.
Olyvia stayed rather quiet through the morning and into the afternoon. She wasn't even in the mood to train, shaking her head when Alistair asked if she wanted to do that. It was in the afternoon when Edwin had Alistair, Erik, and two other Grey Wardens scout the wooded area next to their camp to see if they could find where the darkspawn had made their way up, so they could try to prevent that from happening in the future. Olyvia went with Alistair of course, he was still to look after her, and Edwin was sure they wouldn't encounter much of anything dangerous in the woods except perhaps some wolves.
"You've been awfully quiet," Alistair said to Olyvia as he held aside a branch so she could pass by easily, "What's on your mind?"
"How desperately I want to be home," Olyvia muttered darkly.
Alistair's heart deflated slightly hearing that. Despite knowing she wanted to go, and that it was there she belonged, he couldn't help but wish that she would stay. He pushed it aside, fighting the feelings inside him, and continued down the path they were following.
"I'm sorry about what Marcus did," Alistair said.
"I don't want to talk about it," Olyvia said, "He's just a lecher, end of story."
"I just feel like I wasn't doing my job of looking out for you though," Alistair said.
"We were all sleeping, you were in your own tent," Olyvia said, "What do you think you could have done? Slept in my tent with me?"
Alistair blushed, "N-no…I guess you have a point there."
"Alistair," Erik called, waving him over to where he was, "Think this might have been the place?"
The two made their way over and peered down over the edge where Erik was looking. It had to be a fifty foot drop at least. The cliff side did have more rocks jutting out to climb, but the ground where they were standing wasn't very durable, eroding away beneath their feet if they stepped to close to the edge.
"There doesn't look like there was much movement through up here though," another Grey Warden pointed out, motioning to all the dense foliage around them.
"Well, if only a few could come up at a time, only a few would be moving through here, and they could just follow the other's path," Erik said.
"Wouldn't that mean they would have to have some smarts at least?" Olyvia asked.
Erik frowned, before shrugging, "Maybe. We don't quite understand how darkspawn think, or if they can even do that. We've been told their mindless creatures. Or do you know something we don't?"
Olyvia shook her head, "I just thought they're mindless creatures as well, which was why your explanation didn't make much sense to me."
Alistair turned to Erik, "We'll go a little further, see what else we can find. I wouldn't suggest traveling more than an hour, we want to get back before dark."
As they turned to go, the Wardens froze as that all too familiar feeling came over them. Olyvia paused, seeing the expression on their faces.
"What is it?" she asked.
"There's a darkspawn nearby," Erik said.
"Just one?" Olyvia asked in confusion.
"Odd as it is, yes," Erik replied.
Olyvia gulped. Did that mean it was…an Ogre perhaps? They didn't care much to work in a pack, right? Or would it be something else?
"There! It's an emissary!" the other Grey Warden shouted, pointing through the trees.
Olyvia's stomach twisted. An emissary, great. They were as much of a pain in the butt as archers. The Wardens surged forward, drawing their weapons, and Olyvia went to follow when she felt a cold feeling envelope her, freezing her in spot. She couldn't breathe, and she felt like her energy was just being drained from her body. She felt it release slightly on her, and she gasped for air, but then she was suddenly hurtled backward.
Alistair was working on disrupting the emissary's spell with one of his Templar tricks when a blood curdling scream sounded through the air, growing distant quickly. His stomach dropped as his whole body went cold, and he turned around, searching desperately for Olyvia. But she was gone.
