To Honnleath

CONTENT:
Rating: Teen
Flavor: Drama/Humor
Language: some
Violence: yes
Nudity: none
Sex: discussed
Other: none

Author's Notes:

See the amazing Grey Wardens, who can walk and talk at the same time! Oh, I put some fighting in here, too.

Recap:

The Wardens retrieved the Sacred Ashes from Haven, letting the local dragon take care of the local crazy cultists. Eamon was cured by the holy substance and wasted no time in drawing up a plan of action against Loghain. He tried to insist that Alistair remain safe at Redcliffe, but neither Bannon nor Alistair wanted that to happen. Now the group is on their way along the southern Imperial Highway to head into the Brecilian forest, and if Lothering is clear, they may take a detour to Ostagar to find evidence of Loghain's sedition.

Meanwhile, Bannon ended up with a magical control rod for a golem that is supposedly located in a town to the south called Honnleath. He took Zevran, Leliana, and Morrigan with him on a little side trip to check it out. Later, they'll meet back up with Alistair and the others before Lothering.

To Honnleath

===#===

Morrigan walked ahead with Bannon, her long strides purposeful, while Zevran and Leliana lagged behind. Bannon was engrossed in his own thoughts, until the witch spoke to him. "Do you still fear me?"

"Uh... should I?"

"No games, Bannon. Just give me a straight answer."

He glanced at her haughty profile. "You say 'no games,' but that's the question you lead with?"

"From your reluctance to give an answer, I surmise it is indeed 'yes.'"

"Look, my answer is the same as before. I have a healthy respect for you and your power."

"And if I had no power? What then?"

He frowned to himself, wondering what kind of question that was. "Well... you'd still be a formidable woman." Usually flattery and fear placated the witch. Somehow, he sensed she wasn't satisfied with these answers. "Look, Morrigan, what do you want?"

"I'm simply curious as to the current status of our relationship."

"I don't think anything has changed," he said cautiously.

"And my plans..." She glanced about for prying ears. "Concerning my mother?"

Bannon glanced over his shoulder, to where Leliana and Zevran were leaning close and giggling. He frowned, but put it out of his mind. "Those plans are progressing, don't worry."

With a quirked brow, she followed his momentary look at the assassin. "I see." She cast her eyes forward again. "Do you find them appalling?"

"Appalling?" He shook his head, bringing his thoughts into focus. "What I find appalling is her plans towards you. You don't deserve to be treated that way."

"Oh?" A flash of surprise cleared the harshness from her face. "Is that why...?"

"Why what?"

"Why your price for this venture was so low?"

He could have gotten more? Damn. "I... didn't want to insult you. I mean..."

"You find me too proud to accept charity."

He shrugged, relieved she'd untangled that for herself.

"I like you, Bannon. I hope you realize that." She looked at him, her golden gaze open and direct.

"Oh, of course." He swallowed. "That means a great deal to me, Morrigan." His eyes tried to escape her intent scrutiny, and noticed a carved figure hanging from a leather thong on her staff. "Is that...?"

She smiled. "A very small start to my future demon army."

"I thought you didn't like it."

"I admit to being startled to receive such a gift. Made by your own hand."

"Um, you can't use it to do any strange witch magic to me, can you?"

She frowned. "What kind of question is that?"

"Hey, I'm just joking!"

"Mmm. Like that crack about me laughing at this fool mission."

"You have to admit, that was funny."

"Actually, I don't." Her straight face was impeccable.

"Well... You're here."

At that, she loosened up and actually chuckled. "So I am." She cocked her head. "You don't come to my fire any more. I rather miss our little chats."

"I do too," he agreed. "Things have been a little crazy. And... well, I know you like to keep your distance. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You may consider yourself as having an open invitation to my fireside any time you desire."

"I'm honored, Morrigan." Bannon looked off past the side of the road, feeling a bit awkward. Then he said, "You know, speaking of doomed fools' missions, I have a favor to ask. In the interest of not wasting our time."

"Hmm?

"I was thinking you could fly ahead, scout around?" He gave her a beseeching look. "See if there even is a golem? See if the place isn't overrun by darkspawn?"

She stopped and pondered this a moment. "Yes, a wise idea."

Bannon stepped back to give her room to complete the transformation. In moments, her raven form took off over the trees. Now for the part Bannon had been dreading - having to talk to the assassin. Maker only knew what he'd been telling Leliana. Innocent Chantry nun, my ass.

"Morrigan's gone to scout ahead," he called to them. He spied a wooden fence bordering part of the road and went to sit on it. The other two ambled over to join him.

"The Summer Solstice is coming up," Leliana said. "We should do something to celebrate."

Bannon rubbed his head behind his ear, then combed his hair back into place. "I'll have to see what our budget is."

"It need not be anything fancy. Perhaps a prayer and a hymn."

"Oh, that sounds exciting," Zevran said, not making the slightest effort to sound at all interested. "Do you not have a grand Summer Festival here?"

"Yes, we do," Bannon told him. "In the alienage, we have a big celebration. Mmm, and sugar candy." He smiled fondly, but Leliana, for some reason, looked alarmed. Then again, the last time he had candy, that insufferable assassin had stolen it. "What kind of festival do they have in Orlais?" he asked, before said insufferable assassin could start blabbering about the Antivan celebrations.

"In Orlais, we decorate the streets with flowers in preparation for the Solstice. By day, we have a flower parade, and then at night there is a great candlelight procession. We go to the Chantry to sing hymns of praise to the Maker." She smiled wistfully. "It is truly beautiful. I was once able to participate in the procession at the Val Royeaux cathedral. There were so many people, we did not get to go in, but circled the outside in rows nine deep. The stained glass glowed like magical jewels. And the pipe organ they have there! I thought it would shake the very stones to the foundation." She bowed her head. "Truly, it seemed our voices raised in harmony could rouse the Maker. If only people were able to muster that sort of unity all the time."

Bannon thought about the strife in Ferelden, the civil war in the face of the Blight. He shook his head. Would the elves of Denerim even be able to celebrate this year? They seemed to have precious little to be happy about. Yet that was life in the alienage. You celebrated the festival because without it, life was nothing but one long slog into a cold grave.

Shianni was always chipper - sometimes infuriatingly so. She would see to it that at least their block would have flowers. Bannon frowned slightly. If her spirit hadn't been broken completely. He'd remained silent too long, and on cue, Zevran eagerly jumped in.

"In Antiva, the highlight of the Summer Festival is the Grand Masquerade. Everyone wears a mask, and for one night, they are free of themselves. They can drink, they can dance, they can have a tryst with whomever they please!" He waved his hands in the air in mime, bouncing excitedly on the fence rail. Then he leered at Leliana and Bannon. "No sins, no remorse, no messy entanglements. 'Tis truly paradise, no? We should do that." He grinned.

"I don't think so, Zevran," Leliana said.

"Hm, well," the Antivan continued, hardly daunted. "I am a Summer Child, you know. I shall be another year older this Solstice."

"A Summer Child?" Leliana asked him. "What does that mean?"

"That is how we elves keep track of our age. Children born in the summer count their years at the Summer Festival."

Bannon said, "When the shems want to-"

Leliana interrupted him. "Bannon, that's very rude."

"What?"

"Do I go about saying 'when the knife-ears do this' and 'knife-ears do that'? No, I do not."

"Uh, sorry." Bannon ducked his head sheepishly. Right, don't call the shems 'shems.' "When the bann takes a census of the elves in the alienage, they want to know how old everyone is."

"Do you not have birthdays?"

Bannon shrugged. He recalled that there was a day in late winter when his mother would tell him the Maker had given her a gift - her baby boy. They would always do something special on that day: a trip to the market or the docks, a long story at bedtime.

After she'd been gone... He didn't even remember what day it had been. He shoved those memories aside. He didn't need to be getting maudlin right now.

He frowned to himself. Only shems were rich and privileged enough that they could have a special, personalized holiday. Vaughn was especially fond of holding big parties for his birthday. He hired a lot of elves. Bannon had tried to get hired one year, just to see inside the estate. After hearing some of the horror stories about Vaughn's humiliation of the elven servants, Bannon never tried again. The elves still went, though, each year. The pay was too good to resist.

Zevran answered the nun, with his usual cheerful carelessness. "No, we cannot be bothered having special days with children demanding presents and sweets on just any time of the year."

Leliana frowned. She seemed to change her mind about saying something, though.

Never one to let an opportunity go to waste, Zevran went on. "You know, in Antiva, it is traditional on one's birthday to bed as many people as you have years." He leered at the nun again.

To which she said, "I don't think that would be possible with our small company."

"No," Bannon quipped, "he really is five years old."

"Shut up!" Zevran tried to aim a smack at him, but couldn't reach with Leliana sitting between them. She batted his arm away.

"I can see why Antivans don't live very long." Bannon jumped up from the fence just as Zevran did so, preparing for a scuffle.

"Don't st-" Leliana started. "Oh, why do I bother?"

"They overexert themselves and keel over," Bannon continued with his teasing.

"And you Fereldans! You grow so old and cranky and very, very unfulfilled."

"Zevran, you're horrible," Leliana chided.

He turned to her. "I most certainly am not! I am very good. In fact, I think Bannon's exact word was 'incredible.'"

Bannon's face heated. "Zevran! Shut up!" That urge to punch the little weasel came back full force, and he turned away. "Look, Morrigan is back." He strode over to meet the witch.

Morrigan alighted and regained her human form in a swirl of ethereal sparks. She panted a bit, as if she'd been running.

"Is everything all right?" Bannon asked in worry.

She gestured to his pack. "Water."

Now even more worried, he dug out his waterskin. "Are they chasing you?" He peered past her down the road, but it was empty. How much trouble could one raven get into?

"No, 'tis fine," she said after taking a long drink. "'Tis quite tiring to go back and forth using but one's arms."

"I'm sorry, Morrigan; I should have been more thoughtful."

The others gathered around. "What did you see?"

"Nothing living, save a few birds."

"Any signs of darkspawn?"

"Signs, yes. They were clearly here. But I saw none now."

Curiosity prompted Leliana to press, "And the golem?"

Morrigan pursed her lips and took another drink of water while considering her answer. "I saw a stone figure in the square. Rather crude and ugly for a statue. It may be this fabled golem of yours."

This was going to be easy! No darkspawn to battle, no townspeople to stop them from taking the golem... "Let's check it out," Bannon said brightly.

"It could still be a waste of time," Morrigan said. She capped the waterskin and slung it over her shoulder. "I circled low over this statue and saw nothing indicating it could be alive."

"Well, you didn't have this." Bannon pulled the control rod from his belt and brandished it theatrically.

Morrigan quirked a brow. From behind him, Bannon heard snickering. He shot a glance back to find Leliana's cheeks reddening in a heroic effort not to laugh. Zevran was less successful.

Bannon slumped and put the rod away. "Come on."

===#===

The four of them traveled down a lane bordered by a stone wall. Or at least Bannon thought there was a stone wall, it was overgrown with honeysuckle, and the sweet scent filled the air.

At the bottom of the lane, they turned left. The town's modest gates were open. Hanging from the wooden cross post were two corpses. The stench of decay overpowered the honeysuckle. Bannon and Leliana covered their noses as they passed. Flies buzzed around the remains, and a handful of tenacious crows perched on the shoulders, pecking at any softened flesh they could find.

"Did the darkspawn do this?" Leliana asked as they skirted the grisly sight.

"We saw this in the Wilds," Bannon said. "But we couldn't tell if it was darkspawn or Chasind."

"The Chasind despise trespassers," Morrigan said, "but I've never seen them do this. Mother may know more."

"I don't think the Chasind came to town," Bannon mused. He looked around - felt around - for any other signs of darkspawn.

Zevran said to Morrigan, "Did you not stop for a snack with your crow buddies? Perhaps they could have told you."

"Raven," she corrected with tired impatience. "You're the one with the 'Crow buddies.'"

"Hah!" Bannon shot a look at the assassin, but Zevran only laughed along with the barb. He was really an insufferable twerp. "Which way to the square?" Bannon asked Morrigan.

She led them up a meandering lane. The town was eerily silent; not even a cat or dog roamed the streets. There were dried smears and brownish stains here and there on the cobblestones. Hung upon one door like a holiday wreath was a crude totem made of rib bones.

At the top of the rise, the street opened into a broad oval with shops all around. In the center was a grassy sward protected by a low wooden railing. In the center stood a crude stone figure, its back arched, its head back, and arms raised outward, as if it were screaming at the sky. Half a dozen birds perched on it. It really was too ugly for a statue, but it had some crystals embedded in it - perhaps some raw gemstones?

Bannon stepped over the knee-high rail, Zevran behind him, while the women opted to move around to the opening. Bannon pulled out the rod and waved it around his head. "Shoo!"

The birds dispersed in a flurry of flapping wings.

"You make a deliciously handsome mage," Zevran said. "Though your staff is rather... short."

"Shut up." Bannon looked at the rod and then up at the golem. Unsure what, exactly, he was supposed to do with the rod, he just gripped it firmly and said, "Dulak haigh." When that didn't work, he pointed the rod at the golem and said it again, a bit more loudly.

Still nothing happened.

Zevran said, "Perhaps you need to perform an arcane gesture. Try waving it around while you hop on one leg."

"Shut up."

"Oh, I know! Perhaps you need to insert the rod into the golem." The Antivan gestured.

"Zevran!" came Leliana's shocked cry.

He turned to her. "I only meant like a key, my dear," he protested in false innocence. "Though wherever your mind went just then, we should revisit it in my tent later." He leered.

"Shut up," Bannon growled, tempted to clobber the damned fool with the rod. Though that would probably damage the rod. He speculated on jumping the assassin, but various parts of his mind and body had different ideas on how that ought to go. He shoved those thoughts aside. "Morrigan, do you have any ideas?"

"The same as I've had since we started. Is this the part where I get to say, 'I told you s-'"

Bannon threw down the rod and pulled out his swords. "Darkspawn!"

The others dropped the snide comments and drew their own weapons.

"Where?" Zevran started, but Bannon had already leapt the rail and ran to the door of one of the buildings. He kicked it in, catching a hurlock in the face with it. A dual stab to the weak parts in its armor sent it howling to the floor. Two more crowded the doorway.

"You're in the way," Morrigan called with calm detachment.

"I can hold them, just wait!" Bannon sensed more darkspawn inside the building... below? This was a perfect choke point to keep them from flanking him and rushing out to attack everyone at once.

The only flaw in his plan: he had to face the darkspawn swords head on. He could parry well enough, but scoring a hit was another matter. Zevran waited, poised on the balls of his feet at Bannon's right, but he could not close with the enemy. The choke point worked both ways.

Something hissed over Bannon's head, and a crossbow bolt bloomed in the hurlock's face. Good thing he was so short! He jumped forward and engaged the second hurlock.

"Get ready!" he yelled.

Zevran pressed against the wall by the door, crouched down out of sight and ready to leap in behind whatever came out. Bannon waited long enough for Leliana to reload, then leapt aside. The hurlock overextended and stumbled out of the doorway. Bannon's sword caught it across the back of the neck, dropping it in a heap.

Three genlocks boiled out, snarling and gnashing their teeth. A bolt caught the middle one in the skull, hurling it onto its back. That attracted the other two's attention, and the peppering of mage bolts held it as Bannon and Zevran moved in behind to fell them.

The middle genlock on the ground still squealed and thrashed around, despite its brain being perforated. Bannon stabbed it in the throat and signaled everyone that it was clear. For now.

"Are there more?" Morrigan asked as everyone regrouped at the doorway.

"Yeah. Somewhere inside, I think. We should get the hell out of-" A faint cry of Help! Help us! We're down here! interrupted him. "Shit."

"Getting out of here is still a good plan," Morrigan said.

Bannon was tempted, but... Leliana brushed past them all to investigate. He shrugged and followed her. "Come on."

The place appeared to be a store. Several rows of raw crystal clumps sat on the counter and the shelves behind it. Perhaps it was a local product. Bannon acquired a few just in case.

Zevran checked the back room but found neither darkspawn nor victims. Leliana cocked an ear and moved to the fireplace. "Hello?" The cries were coming through the flue. "There must be another fireplace in the basement."

The group found the door to the stairs and descended. "There aren't that many," Bannon said, relieved that this pocket of darkspawn seemed as small as the first group. At the base of the stairs, they turned down a hall. Morrigan and Leliana hung back while Bannon and Zevran crept ahead to investigate the doorway.

Sounds of growling, a crash, and more screams covered the creak of the hinges as Bannon nudged the door open. Inside, a mixed group of half a dozen or so hurlocks and genlocks faced a glowing energy barrier. Beyond huddled a group of humans that held their salivating attention.

The big hurlock mage growled another incantation and hurled a fireball at point blank range. Still, the barrier held.

Bannon gestured for Leliana and Morrigan to hold back. The bard loosened her sword in its scabbard and readied the crossbow. One shot, then she'd jump into the fray. Bannon looked across at Zevran and tipped his head. The thief and assassin snuck into the room, hugging opposite walls. Whoever got in striking range of the mage would score the best points, but it was not to be. The other darkspawn crowded too close.

Bannon glanced across at Zevran, who'd also stopped as close as he could without alerting their targets. Their eyes met. Zevran grinned and leapt at the darkspawn. Bannon lunged forward with a roar to alert the others to come charging in. He swept his swords out in two arcs, catching a brace of genlocks in the neck.

He calculated which way the hurlock beyond would turn, went the opposite direction, and hamstrung the beast on his way to the mage. He didn't slow down; he kept his eyes on the prize.

A bolt in the shoulder spun the hurlock and interrupted its eerie chanting. It raised an axe just as Bannon leapt, but a blast of icy wind ripped over them, leaving the darkspawn frozen and the elf's armor frost-rimmed.

He crashed into the beast, throwing it to the floor in a tinkle of broken bits that flew off. It didn't completely shatter as he'd hoped, so he raised his swords and brought the hilts smacking down on the thing's skull. This was a lot easier with Wynne's stone fist or one swing of Sten's maul, but they could improvise. Bannon felt Zevran standing at his back, fending off the other darkspawn, so he concentrated on what he was doing.

It didn't take them long to mop up this small group. The buzzing-itching sensation in Bannon's brain died out as well. There weren't any more darkspawn nearby.

The group approached the barrier. The townspeople within looked haggard and worn, but they seemed to be surviving quite well. They clamored at the Warden's group, praising the Maker, thanking their saviors, asking question upon question about what was going on, where was their bann, have they seen this person or that in the town.

"All right, hold it!" Bannon yelled at them all. They quieted; them, a bunch of shems, shut up by an elf. He'd never get used to that. "We're Grey Wardens." He didn't bother making a distinction about his companions. "I'm sorry, but everyone else in town has either fled, or..." He glanced at Morrigan. She'd said the darkspawn ate people, dragged the corpses off. "Gone."

There was more wailing, more questions. Bannon overrode them. "The entire south has been evacuated. You must prepare to leave. Don't you have a leader?" From the confusion and milling about, he figured the answer was no. "Well, someone has to step up." He turned to the bard. "Leliana, help them organize."

She nodded. "Who knows where we can find supplies? Who knows where there is some transport?" She moved among the people, keeping her voice calm and quiet, quelling their panic.

While she worked on that, he continued on with business. "We came here seeking a golem to aid the Wardens against the Blight. Does anyone have any information on it?"

"Warden...!" A man approached him. From the look of worry on his face, Bannon knew this was going to be bad. "Please, you must help me. My daughter - she's run off further into the basement, past the other wards."

Bannon didn't know what part of the Grey Warden legends made him a finder of lost children. "Why can't you go find her?"

"I tried." He held out a bandaged arm. "I was attacked by fearsome wraiths. That was my father's laboratory; he warded it with the barriers to keep the guardians in."

Morrigan, ever helpful, said, "If you cannot get past them, your child is most likely dead."

"No, please!" His eyes went watery. "She-she could have hidden or - I don't know! Something! I can't stand the thought of her being trapped down there, huddled in a dark cupboard, afraid and crying... It will drive me mad if I don't try to do something. Please, at least find her, one way... or another. Then I'll tell you about the golem."

"You know about the golem?" Bannon asked.

"How convenient," Zevran commented.

"Look, my father was Wilhelm the mage, a hero of the revolution. That golem was his; he was constantly ordering it around with that control rod."

"You know how the control rod works?" Bannon asked, interest piqued anew.

"There's some magic word," the man said. "It might be in the notes in my father's lab."

This guy was canny, Bannon thought. He didn't like being pressured into any deal, but how hard would it be to mop up some wraiths? "All right, I left the rod outside by the golem. Meet us there."

"I won't go near it," the man insisted. "I always feel it... watching me." He shuddered.

"Well, I don't supposed anyone will bother it," Bannon conceded. "We'll go find your daughter and be back. What's her name?"

"Missy."

"All right." Bannon turned to see if Leliana was finished directing the others. They had at last started heading out of the basement. "Come on." He turned towards the first barrier.

"Well I'm not going," Morrigan sniffed.

"Why not?" Bannon looked back, letting the bard and assassin test the barrier. "There's demons. Your favorite!"

She gave him an evil look.

So much for her sense of humor. "Fine, wait here. But you can't go back to the others until you're sure we're dead, and we could linger for weeks. And you'll be stuck here, alone, bored, and unable to say 'I told you-'"

"Oh, all right!"

Morrigan stalked forward, probably just to get him to shut up. Well, it worked for Bannon.

===X===