Chapter 4: Dark Child

"Who is she, mother?"

"Hmm?" Morrigan looked up from the large pot simmering over the fire. Behind her sat a young man robed in tattered furs, blond hair shimmering softly in the firelight. His features somehow remained soft and boyish, even in the harsh conditions that surrounded them. It was exactly those features that had provided no end of annoyance to her. If the Maker was real, he certainly had a strange sense of humor.

"The girl," the young man repeated, absently whittling away at a stick as he spoke.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Lucian," Morrigan replied, pulling a spoon out of the brew and tasting it. It tasted like the stew she used to make in the Korcari Wilds, because that is what she wanted it to taste like. She could think of no better substance to warm her bones in their dreadfully cold surroundings. That was the one thing she could not change. It is really no wonder that darkspawn want so badly to travel to the surface, she thought. It's warmer there.

Lucian narrowed his eyes, golden like his mother's. "Don't lie to me. I saw you take her away."

Morrigan glanced his way with a slight smile. "My, my, aren't we the observant one." She waved her hand dismissingly. "She is of little consequence. A lost wanderer, no doubt. But she is gone now, one way or another."

"I thought you said no one could ever find us here."

"It is still true, is it not?" Morrigan asked. "She did not come to find us. How she got here at all is a mystery."

"She's been here before, you know," Lucian remarked without emotion. In his hands, the stick was beginning to take shape into an almost human, but strangely gnarled figure.

Morrigan looked back with alarm. "What do you mean?" she asked harshly.

"She has been coming here as long as I can remember. Not so often, but I have seen her in the forest many times. I like to watch her. She is so strange…like she does not belong here at all."

Morrigan's mind whirled with things she had not thought possible. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Lucian shrugged. "I thought it must be some sort of vision, or just some creature from the Fade. There are stranger things around than a girl. Besides, she was a mystery. Deep down, I think she is like me. But she does not even seem to know it." He looked up in thought. "How can she not know?"

"Most likely she has been raised by a bumbling idiot," Morrigan replied sourly. "Be glad I am here to teach you, my boy." Pouring him a bowl of the broth, she carried it over to him and laid it gingerly in his hands. Stroking his hair, she leaned in to smell the scent of him – dark and wild. It was a shame that he was a boy really, but that was only a minor inconvenience. She could get used to it with time. What mattered was his power – a seemingly infinite pool lying just under the surface of his boyish exterior. He had easily surpassed her abilities by the time he was barely a teen, and it was clear that even those…things…now took heed when he spoke.

It will be time soon enough, she mused. Perhaps then she would even go back and visit Alistair, to tell him all about his bastard child. That would be amusing. But first, there was a far greater task she still had to see if Lucian could accomplish. She had no doubt it could be done in time. After all, they had already come this far. All she desired was so close she could taste it in the frosty air.

Lucian tipped his bowl up and drank. He curled his nose. "Rather bland," he criticized. Bowing his head, he closed his eyes, as if in deep meditation. When he opened them, they were deep red for a moment, before fading back to gold. At the end of the hallway behind them, the pattering of feet began to make its way up the ruined cobblestone floor. A single genlock scampered towards them, its stumpy legs resulting in an awkward run that Lucian found mildly amusing.

As the genlock approached, almost as if unsure of itself, Lucian motioned it forward. He swiftly reached out and grabbed the genlock's gnarled hand, using his knife to slowly cut a deep gash in the creature's arm. The genlock shrieked and bared its pointed teeth, but did not move. Lucian cocked his head in fascination as the dark red blood ran down the creature's arm until it dripped steadily from its wrist. Moving the bowl to catch the liquid, Lucian watched as the blood swirled within the broth until it seemed to overtake the bowl's original contents. He released the genlock's hand, and the creature scurried back down into the dark cavern from which it came.

Putting the bowl back to his mouth, Lucian drank deeply. The salty taste washed over his tastebuds and pulsed hotly through his veins. Lucian wiped a blood droplet from the corner of his mouth as he turned to his mother and smiled.

"Better."

Morrigan poured her own bowl of soup and tried her best to keep her nose from upturning in disgust. It seemed he was doing that more often lately, though she could only assume it was necessary. Thus far the darkspawn seemed more confused by him than anything, as if they were not sure why they listened to anything he said. But his powers had served them well enough. At least it had let her avoid the annoying task of killing hordes of the disgusting creatures. And they were close now…so very close.

A thought suddenly came to her, and she looked up from her bowl. "My dear, you said you had seen that girl before?"

Lucian shrugged. "Yes."

"Do you know where she is?"

"She is not always here," Lucian replied. "She comes and goes, like the wind. When she is here, I know it immediately. I can feel her presence. But when she is not…," he shrugged, "nothing."

Morrigan pondered this information for a moment. "What if I told you I was quite interested in meeting this girl? Could you tell the darkspawn to…fetch her?"

Lucian cocked his head, as if thinking about the prospect. He was quiet a long time, eyes glazed over in meditation. Finally, he blinked hard several times and turned to his mother. "They say I have to tell them where she is. Perhaps next time she comes here then."

"Oh, I have an idea where she might be," Morrigan smiled.

"And how is that…?" Lucian asked curiously.

"A story for another day, my dear. For now, pay close attention. I am quite curious if you have the power to do as I ask."

Lucian's face darkened and he scowled. "I have the power to do whatever I want. Don't ever doubt that, Mother."

"Well, we shall see, won't we?" Morrigan replied mildly, folding her arms in discontent.