So, this is a fairly long chapter that contains quite a bit of action, lol. Enjoy chapter 3, everyone!

Chapter warnings: None.

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Why were we going to a place like Haven Village? It wasn't until I inquired into the matter with Lanacai that I learned what and who we were looking for in this place. A certain Brother Genitivi had gone missing on his search for something called the Urn of Sacred Ashes, which was rumored to contain the ashes of Andraste herself. Apparently, the arl of Redcliffe was seriously ill and the only way to cure his malady was with those ashes.

"So," I said to no one in particular as we ascended the mountain to Haven Village, "this Arl Eamon will be able to assist us in the battle against the Archdemon?"

"Yes," Alistair answered, turning his head to look at me. "Arl Eamon is an influential man here in Ferelden. His army will be able to provide a great amount of help to us. I'm sure of it." I sensed a great amount of fondness in his voice while he spoke of the arl and I crossed my arms, eying him with a knowing smirk.

"I take it you are very close with the arl?" I questioned presumptuously.

"I hear that tone in your voice, elf, and all I can say is 'ew,' " Alistair gritted out with an icy glare sent in my direction. "Arl Eamon is like a father to me, and I owe him a great deal."

In spite of myself, I laughed. I couldn't help it; the look on Alistair's face was priceless. I couldn't believe Alistair had taken the bait so easily.

"A father figure, you say? Well, I am sure he will be delighted to see you again, if it has indeed been a long time since you last met."

"Right… Delighted…" Alistair was quiet after that mumbled comment, and I tilted my head to the side curiously as I watched him. I was snapped out of my reverie, though, when I heard Lanacai speaking to me.

"Don't mind him," he said to me, though his gaze was fixed on Alistair's back. "He's not certain about how Arl Eamon will react to him because… because of what I had to do."

"And what is it that you had to do, exactly?" How could I not be curious when Lanacai's voice held such a dire tone?

"I had to kill his son, Connor." There was such regret in the man's eyes that I couldn't stop my heart from reaching out to him. "He was… he was just a boy."

"Why did you have to kill him?" I had to ask. After all, Lanacai didn't seem like the sort of person who would kill an innocent child for no reason.

"He was possessed by a demon and became an abomination. I had no choice," he explained, though he obviously still felt quite terrible for what he had done.

"If he was an abomination, what choice did you have? You shouldn't blame yourself, Warden; You did the right thing," I said as reassuringly as I could muster. "It is better to be dead than under the control of a demon, anyway. You did the boy a kindness."

"I suppose you're right." I returned his smile as he agreed with me. He had a very nice smile, one that could make any woman swoon over him, I imagined. It captivated me, too. I had lusted after men before, but somehow, it seemed different this time. I couldn't put my finger on it. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn't realize when we arrived at the village entrance. When Lanacai alerted me to this fact, though, I stood at attention and watched with interest as he approached the soldier guarding the village.

"Who are you, and what is your business here?" the guard asked suspiciously. "Outsiders are not welcome here."

"We are merely passing through," Lanacai responded calmly, looking the guard right in the eye. "We were hoping to look at your wares in town, if possible. We're in need of supplies…" I cleared my throat discreetly to hide a tiny laugh, forcing myself not to grin. Lanacai was as good of a liar as myself, apparently, and just as sneaky.

The guard still didn't seem convinced, but with a reluctant sigh, he stepped aside.

"Purchase what you need at the general store, then be on your way. The faster you move on, the better," he stated gruffly.

Lanacai politely bowed his head to the man and thanked him before motioning for the rest of us to follow him into the village. Haven was unnaturally quiet, and it was rather unnerving for everyone in our little party. Lanacai's mabari Ripper, in particular, seemed very on-edge. I could hear him whimpering quietly beside me, and when I glanced down at him, his ears were back and his hackles were raised. In turn, that made me feel more uneasy, since animals were more alert to when things were wrong than normal people were.

"Something about this place makes my skin crawl," admitted Morrigan with an odd air of calmness about her. "I know it's only a little village, but even then… there aren't even any children playing outside."

"That is very strange," Leliana agreed warily, glancing about her almost nervously. "The atmosphere is just so… so…"

"Thick, oppressive to a point where it's nauseating… Yeah, I know the feeling," muttered Alistair bluntly.

"Come on, let's look around," suggested Lanacai, whispering to us so any potential passersby wouldn't hear him. "This place is giving me a bad vibe, and Brother Genitivi has to be here somewhere. The sooner we find him, the sooner we will find the Urn, and the sooner we can get the hell out of here."

"We should watch ourselves while we're here," Alistair added. "Something tells me we're going to run into trouble in this place."

"Agreed. We must search every single building from top to bottom as quickly as possible. Brother Genitivi could be anywhere."

And that was exactly what we did. I was surprised that no door was locked, despite the fact that the villagers were all clearly very paranoid people. So far, the homes appeared to be normal enough… until we entered the next one. As soon as we opened the door, the strong smell of blood hit us like a cartful of bricks. Ripper started to growl but was soon silenced by some reassuring words from Lanacai and a pat on the head.

"This odor is one I know quite well," I mumbled, crossing my arms. "The smell of blood and death."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" inquired Alistair so calmly that there was no way it couldn't be sarcastic. I merely chuckled. Oh, how obvious his distaste in me was.

"That's enough, you two," scolded Lanacai with a disapproving frown.

"Hey, guys?" came Leliana's voice from the other side of the room. "I think I found out where the smell is coming from." Once we all approached her, we saw exactly what she was looking at with such horror on her face: and altar that was absolutely covered in blood, perhaps the result of a ritual of some sort. The blood was fresh, since it was still dripping from the sides of the altar and onto the wooden floor. Alistair, too, was staring at the blood in horror.

"I could be wrong, but… meat doesn't bleed that much when it's being prepared for a meal," he said, turning up his nose in disgust at the smell that wasn't affecting me much at all.

"In that case, there is only one explanation… and it appears we arrived at just the right time," I realized, speaking to no one in particular and running my finger through the blood before rubbing the crimson liquid between my thumb and forefinger thoughtfully.

"Come on, we should get out of here before someone finds us in here. This just proves there is something very wrong with the people in this village," mumbled Lanacai with a sickened expression on his masculine features. We followed him out of the house, but unfortunately, we were seen… and the man seemed none too pleased to see us.

"What are you doing snooping around here, outsider?" he demanded angrily, grabbing the hilt of the sword at his waist and pulling it out of its sheath. It was quite a pathetic-looking blade, I admit. In my opinion, it was nothing more than a toy. I grinned and drew my long, twin daggers, getting into a battle-ready stance and staring the man down. The others also drew their weapons. No words were spoken by any of us as we launched into battle. Other villagers began joining in on the fight as well, but all of them were incredibly weak. It was only a matter of minutes before they had all been cut down and we emerged victorious, our armor and faces spattered with their blood. It didn't bother any of us, as we were all obviously accustomed to the feeling of another's person's blood mingling with our own sweat. I used the back of my hand to wipe the blood and sweat from my forehead before using a patch of nearby grass to clean my blades.

"Just what I needed," I said casually, stretching and sighing pleasantly as my muscles popped back into place.

"Of course the assassin would take pleasure in killing," grumbled Alistair disapprovingly, glaring at me.

"If I am paid for doing so, then yes. Are you saying you would have rather let them kill you?" I questioned, not taking his harsh words to heart in the very least. I was pretty desensitized to what others thought of me, anyway.

"When did I ever say that? I never said that!"

"Then why are we still having this conversation?" Alistair fell silent then with a grudging glare and I smirked, sauntering away. "Now then, perhaps we should resume our search of the village." I decided to spare Lanacai the trouble of having to remind us again, since I had a feeling he might appreciate it. Judging from the smile he sent my way, I had assumed correctly. The next building we investigated was the general store… which I found somewhat humorous because the reason Lanacai had given to the guard at the village entrance upon arriving had been that we needed supplies, which had been a lie. Luckily for us, the shopkeeper didn't make every attempt to attack us when we walked in because he had not heard the fighting going on outside. However, we were all covered in blood, and he was being wary and suspicious because of it. Without missing a beat, Lanacai spoke very calmly to him.

"We ran into bandits on the way here," he explained. "They gave us no choice. I assure you, you have nothing to fear. We were merely defending ourselves."

"Right… Well, what do you want?" the man questioned, nervously flicking his gaze to each of us in turn.

"I was hoping I could look around at your wares. I see you have weapons here, and I have been looking to buy a new sword for quite some time." I idly wondered how Lanacai had learned to lie so convincingly and if he had had a lot of practice and made a mental note to ask him later.

"Very well," mumbled the shopkeeper gruffly, crossing his arms. "Get your things, then get out. Outsiders aren't welcome here."

"Yes, we have heard," I stated indifferently, meandering around the shop and eying some of the weapons on the weapon racks. They were nice, but… not nearly as nice as our weapons. It was at that moment that I noticed a locked door on the other side of the room. Of course, it was probably nothing more than the shopkeeper's sleeping quarters, but I had noticed the man stiffen and become more nervous when he saw me look at the door. I knew a guilty man when I saw one, and he seemed exactly that to me. I glanced over at Lanacai, who was watching me quite closely, and nodded my head slightly in the direction of the locked door. He glanced over there and seemed to understand immediately that something must be in that locked room that the shopkeeper didn't want us "outsiders" to see. Why else would he look like he had just killed a man?

"If you would, Zevran," invited Lanacai, motioning toward the door with his hand. I smirked and walked over to the door, reaching into a pouch at my waist and removing several different-sized lockpicks from it.

"With pleasure."

"What are you doing?!" demanded the shopkeeper, his voice raising a slight octave higher in panic. From behind the counter, he drew a longsword and rushed out from behind the counter defensively. "Y-You can't go in there!" I took note of his stutter. If he wasn't guilty of something more than a petty little crime, I would have been surprised.

"Ah, it seems you do have something to hide," realized Morrigan slyly, firmly gripping her staff with both hands. "You should know better than to hide anything from us."

Her words seemed to completely break the anxious man and he lunged violently at whoever was closest: myself. I managed to avoid his blade, though just barely, by swiftly ducking down and kicking his legs out from under him. He was really very clumsy, and within seconds of him hitting the ground, I was on top of him with the edge of my dagger pressed firmly against his throat.

"Leliana, you are a rogue, are you not?" I asked, not removing my deadly gaze from the stunned-silent shopkeeper for even a moment. "Use my lockpicks to open that door."

"I may not have to. Perhaps he has a key on him," she said thoughtfully. "Search him. It has to be on his person somewhere."

I did just as Leliana suggested, using my free hand to search the man's pockets and pat him down to make sure he wasn't hiding any concealed weapons. Sure enough, the key to the locked door was in one of his pants pockets, and I dangled it in front of his face with a sly grin.

"Not a very creative hiding place, my friend. Warden!" I tossed the key over to Lanacai before turning my attention back toward the angry shopkeeper under me. "Now, you be a good boy and toss your weapon aside."

"And if I refuse?" he challenged, taunting. What a stupid man… The cool metal of my dagger was in a position where I could easily kill him, yet he dared assume such a tone with me? He was bold, I had to give him that much.

"If you refuse," I began coolly, "I will slit your throat from ear to ear and use your esophagus as a new belt." I was aware of how sadistic I must have sounded, but I didn't care because my scare tactics seemed to be working. He had finally decided that his head was more precious than whatever he was keeping hidden in that room, and he reluctantly obeyed my request to throw away his sword. I nodded approvingly as he tossed the weapon aside, the sword clattering loudly where it landed several feet away from us. "What should I do with him, Lanacai? Personally, I don't think he deserves any mercy after exhibiting such violence, but I will leave it up to you to decide his fate."

"Keep him alive… for now," Lanacai ordered after a minute or so of thought. "If there is anything incriminating behind this door, anything at all that proves he is a dangerous man, then you may kill him. But until then, just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." It sounded like a reasonable enough compromise to me, so I did as I was told and kept a close watch on the shopkeeper while Lanacai unlocked the door and made his way into the room. A few minutes later, I heard Lanacai's voice call out to me.

"There is a dead man back here," he called, sounding quite disgusted. "It is a soldier, and it looks like he is wearing armor from Redcliffe."

"What should I do?" I asked, smirking sadistically at the shopkeeper just so I could see the horrified expression on his face.

"Kill him. He deserves it more than the soldier back here deserved to lay in a puddle of his own blood. However, I am not without mercy, so kill him quickly."

Slitting his throat as I had originally intended to do wasn't exactly a quick method of killing, so I sighed with some disappointment and sheathed my dagger. I grabbed the man's head between my hands and the poor man barely had time to scream in protest before his head was twisted sharply to the side and his neck was broken. Quick and painless. I got off of the now limp body under me and got to my feet, entering the back room to see the soldier's body for myself. He was barely recognizable, having been bludgeoned to death with some sort of blunt object, which I soon discovered was laying near where the body was found. Leliana looked as though she wanted to vomit, and who could blame her?

"So, Lanacai," Morrigan began, "can we take the liberty of stocking up on supplies while we are here? It isn't as though we need to pay for them now, since he most certainly doesn't need the money now and won't be missing his wares."

"Fine. We need to be quick about it, though," said Lanacai, leaving the room. For the next several minutes, we all looked around the store for supplies we might need, gathering them up as we saw fit. I was in the process of examining some rather nice gauntlets when Lanacai called me over to him. I sauntered over curiously, wondering what he could want with me.

"Yes?" I inquired expectantly, wondering what was in the chest that Lanacai was rummaging through.

"Nothing really. I just found these, and I thought you might like to have them." He got to his feet and held out a pair of boots to me, smiling a little bit. My eyes widened as I took the boots from him, staring at them in near disbelief.

"Are these…? Yes, they are! The smell, the texture… There's no mistaking it; these boots are made of Antivan leather!" I laughed, as happy as a child with a shiny, new toy. "This means a lot to me. Thank you, Lanacai. I am flattered that you were thinking about me." I winked coyly at him, and he chuckled lightly in response.

"You're welcome. I remembered you telling me the other night that you were fond of Antivan leather, so I thought these boots would be a nice apology gift."

"Apology? My dear Warden, what could you possibly feel the need to apologize to me for? You have done nothing wrong."

"The other night, when we were talking and you commented on me being squeamish… I was rude. I acted very childishly by speaking to you so coldly when you know nothing of my past to begin with, so… I am sorry." My expression softened at Lanacai's genuine apology, and I smiled reassuringly at him with a shake of my head.

"You needn't apologize for that, my friend. I understand perfectly well why you acted that way; no harm done. Let's just forget it ever happened, shall we?" With that, I sat down on top of the chest that Lanacai had found the boots in and I put them on. They were so comfortable, and I grinned happily at Lanacai before going back to what I was doing prior to his calling me over. For whatever reason, I had a strange feeling of warmth inside of me at the thought of Lanacai having given me a gift. No one ever gave me gifts, so it actually made me feel pretty happy. Perhaps I could return the favor sometime, I thought, glancing over my shoulder at the Warden.

"Alright, everyone," Lanacai said after a while, causing us all to give him our undivided attention. "It's time for us to get going and resume our search." Once he had gotten an agreement out of each of us, we left the store and continued our search of Haven. We were ascending a large hill to what appeared to be a Chantry when the sound of Lanacai grunting sharply in pain caught our attention. I was shocked to see a long, feather-tipped arrow protruding from his shoulder. I whipped out both of my daggers and ran ahead, using my acute senses to attempt locating the hidden assailant. As soon as I reached the top of the hill, I heard a branch snap in the bushes nearby. I flipped one of my daggers skillfully in my hand before throwing it forcefully into the brush. Instantly, I heard a choked scream of agony, and I knew I had hit the target dead-on. A man toppled out from behind the bushes moments later, my dagger sticking right out of his chest. I went over and wrenched my dagger free, and the sounds of angry yells entered my ears.

"We have company!" I shouted, hoping the others could hear me. It wasn't long before the others ascended the slope and yet another battle had commenced. This group of villagers was considerably stronger than the first, but unfortunately for them, they were still no match for our combined power. Once the enemies had been dealt with, I turned toward Lanacai with a frown.

"How badly are you hurt?" I asked, wondering if Morrigan had already taken the liberty of healing his wound. He smiled slightly and waved his hand in a dismissive manner.

"It isn't serious, Zev. It isn't even worth Morrigan's healing magic. Come on… the Chantry is the only place we have yet to look." Even as Lanacai and the others started toward the entrance to the Chantry, I was completely floored. Lanacai had called me by my nickname, something no one but my close friends had ever called me. I was in shock. Lanacai thought of me as a friend? He trusted me enough to think of me as such? I couldn't keep the grin off of my face at the thought and I strode after the others as they entered the Chantry, feeling almost giddy with the knowledge that Lanacai no longer thought of me as an untrustworthy ally who needed to be watched at all times.

Upon entering the Chantry, we encountered what we would come to learn was Andraste's cult. It was only a small group of followers present, as well as their leader, who wasn't pleased at all to see us, but they were all clearly mages and would be more difficult to bring down than the other villagers.

"Where is Brother Genitivi?" Lanacai demanded, glaring at the cult leader but not drawing his weapon just yet. "We know he's here, now tell us where you have hidden him!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the bearded man growled defiantly, obviously being less than truthful. "Get them!" Within minutes, the mages were at arms and we were launched into yet another battle with the Haven inhabitants. Spells were flying through the air from each side of the battle as those with weapons—Alistair, Lanacai, Leliana, and myself—used our own physical prowess to fight. Ripper was actually faring quite well, though I supposed that was to be expected of a Ferelden war dog. He snapped and snarled at any mage who dared get close enough to him, lunging at any attacker with two powerful rows of very sharp teeth. It was a frustrating battle, but the final blow was soon delivered and we emerged victorious yet again.

"Search for anything suspicious: trap doors, hidden rooms, anything of that sort, and tell me if you find anything," Lanacai instructed, wincing a little because the fight had irritated the arrow injury from before. We obediently split up, not leaving a single stone unturned in our search. After a while, Leliana called us over to the wall to the right of the Chantry altar.

"Did you find something, Leliana?" Lanacai asked her curiously.

"I think so," she answered, both hands resting on the stone wall. "Look, right here… There's a bit of a gap here between this section of wall and that section, and it's just big enough to peek through. I can't see too much because of how small the gap is, but it looks like there's another room through here."

"Alistair," hinted Lanacai, receiving a nod from the Templar in return. Both Wardens positioned themselves near the wall, gripping whatever sort of handhold they could find before pulling firmly in an attempt to open the secret room. Several minutes passed, but there was no success.

"Damn it," Lanacai cursed under his breath. "Keep looking. There must be some way to open this door, and I'm willing to bet it's hidden somewhere in this room."

We did another search of the Chantry, checking any area that we may have previously overlooked. I focused on the altar in particular, since it was the one object that no one had checked very closely. I ran my hands over the altar, checking to see if there was any kind of switch. Sure enough, on the opposite side of the altar was a small, slightly raised stone. I pressed down on that stone and felt it go down amidst the other stones with a soft clicking noise. As a result, the hidden door slid open, revealing a room of bookcases.

"I don't know what you just did, Zev, but it worked," praised Lanacai with a smile. I took a small bow to humor him, smirking, before following the others into the hidden room.

"Finally, someone has come for me!" exclaimed an unfamiliar voice. We soon discovered that the voice had come from an older man on the opposite side of the hidden room. One of his legs appeared to be badly hurt, preventing him from leaving the spot on the floor where he currently lay. We all approached him, and Lanacai began to speak.

"Are you Brother Genitivi?" he asked, kneeling by the man's side.

"Yes, that is my name. And you are?"

"Lanacai Cousland. And this is Zevran, Alistair, Leliana, and Morrigan," he stated, introducing us and gesturing to each of us respectively as he did so. "How long have you been here?"

"Days. Weeks. I've lost track…"

"Was it the villagers who did that to your leg?"

"Oh, yes… Did it so I couldn't escape… so I wouldn't escape with their secret."

"Secret? Do you mean the Urn?"

"Ah, so you know of it. Yes, the Urn. At the top of this mountain is a ruin, and I'm sure that the Urn is inside somewhere. The old man… he has an medallion around his neck that is the key to the ruins. I was able to see him use it before I was captured. It's when they discovered me spying on them that they captured me."

"Zev, go see if that medallion is still on his body," Lanacai said to me. "In the meantime, Leliana, help me take care of Brother Genitivi's leg. He needs medical attention right away."

I left the hidden room and walked over to where the cult leader lay dead and facedown on the floor. I turned him over onto his back and immediately saw the medallion around his neck, attached to a thin, metal chain and resting on his unmoving chest. I grabbed the medallion and yanked on it roughly enough to break the chain, eying the strange pattern on the object that fit comfortably in the palm of my hand. It didn't look like any kind of key to me… but if Brother Genitivi said he saw it used as one, I figured that it must be so. I brought the medallion into the hidden room and showed it to Brother Genitivi while Lanacai and Leliana were bandaging his injured leg.

"I am assuming this is what you spoke of?" I inquired hopefully. The injured man smiled at me and nodded, affirming my suspicions. He winced when Lanacai firmly tied the last bandage in place, but other than that, he seemed completely fine.

"I will lead you to the ruins," offered Brother Genitivi, gingerly rubbing his bandaged leg in an attempt to ease the pain. "I will not be able to continue my search for the Urn on my own in this condition, but all of you are strong and able."

"I am sorry, Brother Genitivi, but I think it would be safer if you remained here while we look for the Urn. Just tell us how to use the medallion, and we'll come back for you once we have gotten what we need," Lanacai proposed, frowning at him. I knew Lanacai was right. In his state, Brother Genitivi would only slow us down… and we couldn't afford to waste anymore time.

Brother Genitivi, though, wasn't having any of that.

"Absolutely not. I'm coming with you. I have come too far to just turn back now. I only require that you help me walk up the mountain to the ruins, since I don't believe I will get very far on my own right now with this injured leg… That is the only foreseeable issue for me." It was clear that the man's mind was made up and that nothing would change it, so finally, Lanacai had no choice but to comply with his wishes.

"Very well. Please, show us where the ruins are. We don't have anymore time to waste here."

"It will be my pleasure. If you don't mind, though, would you let me lean on you as we walk? I can still do no more than limp…"

"Of course."


Hope you enjoyed chapter 3! :) Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck around for the first three chapters. Your feedback has been very appreciated. I will put up chapter 4 as soon as possible, though I have no idea when it will be finished, lol. Stay tuned!