The russet head of the sick mabari seemed to stir a bit as Eriana approached the kennels, medicinal flower in head. The dog seemed to recognize her, but was too sick to do little more than watch her as she talked with the kennel master.

"How's he doing," Eriana asked motioning toward the dog.

"He's calmed down a bit; this flower should help a lot, though. He already seems to respond to you," the man added. "Once he starts feeling better, we may be able to get him to impress on you."

"Is that possible? I thought mabari impressed for life on one master."

"If you have the right touch with him, I see no reason he couldn't re-impress. He may have already done it, judging by how he's acting right now."

Erinana glanced over at the dog who had his eyes fixed on her, head down, ears back in a submissive position. "I'll swing by after the battle tomorrow, then, and we can see if he still likes me."

Silently, Eriana offered up a prayer to the Maker for the dog's sake. She had always wanted a dog, and a battle-hardened mabari would be a fine asset in fighting darkspawn. She started to head back toward the Warden encampment when she remembered the other herbs that she picked up while they were in the wilds. With the right supplies, she could mix together some poisons to coat her blades before the battle tomorrow. Perhaps that pig of a quarter master would have some of the supplies she would need; assuming, of course, that he didn't mistake her for a servant again. Sorting through her pack, she made a mental list of what she could sell and what she would need to make and store the poisons.

After a quick trip across camp, Eriana found herself working quietly in the wooded area near the camp's entrance. There she had found some extra deathroot growing by the gates and got to work, grinding down the plant to a fine liquid using her mortar and pestle. She was so intently focused on the poison coating that she didn't notice Daveth sneaking up behind her until it was too late.

Alistair stepped out of his tent, happy to be out of the hot, heavy armor he had been in all day. He was tired after trekking through the wilds and was desperate for a meal. "Dang Warden metabolism," he muttered to himself. He wondered if any of the new recruits had eaten yet, and walked over to the cluster of tents where they were staying. He was surprised to find only Jory there, sitting by the fire, trying very hard not to smudge the ink on the letter he was trying to write in the dim light of the fire.

"Hey, I was just getting ready to grab something to eat, care to join me?"

"Nah, after fighting those monsters, I doubt I'll be hungry again for a while. I feel like I can still smell them, ugh. How on earth can you stand to eat after that?"

Alistair shrugged. "Unfortunately, you kind of get used to it." Alistair glanced toward the other tents, "how about the others, have they eaten yet?"

"Dunno," Jory muttered, "haven't seen the elf since she took off toward the kennels. Girls and their animals," he mumbled. "Daveth disappeared not too long ago, muttering about taking care of business."

"Maker!" Alistair cursed to himself, "which way did he go, did you see?"

Jory gestured vaguely toward to camp's gate, and Alistair took off without waiting for any explanation. He was furious with himself. How could he have been so stupid? He had left Eriana alone, knowing full well how angry Daveth was with her. Maker help him, he hoped that he found he before it was too late.

"Don't panic, don't panic," Eriana told herself as she tried to scramble to her feet, but Daveth was too quick and had the advantage of surprising her. He pushed her back to the ground, his foot on her shoulder, and looked down at her with a sly grin on his face. She knew that look; she had seen it far too many times before on far too many men. Images of nobles and guards flashed through her head. "Don't panic, calm down, you've been through this before," she tried to tell herself, but she knew deep down that this time was different. This time, it was personal.

"So, little elf, what am I going to do with you?" He purred as he kicked the mortar way from her. "You just don't seem to know your place, elf, and you seem to think that you are stronger than me. Now, let's see if I remember where you keep your 'hidden' daggers. One in the boot," he said as he pulled the dagger out of the hidden sheath, "one on your hip, and my personal favorite," he said as he ran his hand up her leg, "the last one strapped to your thigh."

Andraste's mercy, he had been watching her very closely, she realized. Quickly she began to run through her options. She was unarmed, he was not, so fighting him was out of the question. She could scream, but he would probably just kill her and sneak off into the wilds before they could catch him. Looking up at him, she realized that, like so many other times in her life, she was helpless; it was then that she started to panic, struggling beneath his strong grip. Above her, the thief just laughed.

"Now, I bet you regret chasing me down. You should have just let the guards take care of me, elf," he practically spat at her. So that's what this was about. She had embarrassed him in the market place, and he was getting his revenge. "Silly little girl, you think you are so strong and tough, but you're not. You are just an elf, not deserving of the title of Grey Warden, and it's about time someone put you back in your place," he said as he lowered himself on top of her.

Eriana began to struggle, trying to jerk away, out of his reach, so he punched her, slamming her head into the ground behind her. She cried out in pain as her vision began to grow fuzzy, and she slowly lost consciousness.

Alistar was beginning to grow frantic as he scanned the area near the gate. Surely she wouldn't have gone out of the camp alone at this time of night. He was about to take off to search near the army encampment when he heard a cry off to his left in the woods. "Eriana," he thought. Desperately, he took off toward the sound of the cry, hoping to reach her before anything happened. Luckily he made it to them just in time to pull Daveth off the unconscious elf. Daveth was so stunned at the templar's sudden appearance that he didn't react quickly enough to dodge Alistair's fist as it made contact with his cheek. The thief stumbled back into a tree and fell clumsily to the ground. He quickly scrambled to his feet and disappeared back toward the camp, but for the time, Alistair couldn't care less. He quickly turned to help the unconscious girl behind him, cursing himself for not taking better care of her.

Eriana came around, confused to find someone helping her sit up and holding a flask of some strong-smelling liquid to her mouth.

"Shhh, don't try to move too much, just drink this," a gentle but familiar voice said to her. "It's a health potion; it will make you feel better."

The drink had a strange minty taste, but it definitely did the job. The fog in her head was clearing up, and the sharp pain at the back of her skull seemed to dull for a moment. Gaining her bearings, she looked up to see who was helping her. "Alistair," she said with a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes for a moment before the memory of what happened came rushing back. "Oh, no, Daveth."

"He took off, but don't worry, I made it in time. You're going to be okay. Do you think you can sit all the way up?" asked Alistair, gently helping her as she tried to sit upright on her own.

"Yeah, Maker, my head hurts," she said, reaching to touch the back of her head. "That health potion is working, I think."

"Good. Now, I want you to sit here, I will be right back. I'm going get Duncan and track down Daveth," said Alistair, standing to move away.

"No!" she almost shouted, standing up far too quickly. Alistair rushed back to her side as she stumbled and almost fell again. Eriana looked up at him with panicked eyes.

"You will be fine; no one else is going to hurt you."

"No," She replied, shaking her head. "That's not it." Alistair lowered her back to the ground as she tried to clarify her thoughts for a moment. "No, you can't tell Duncan, please don't tell Duncan."

"Why in Andraste's name not? He attacked you; he tried to rape you. The man deserves to be in a cage, not fighting darkspawn."

"Alistair, please, this is my fault. He was trying to get back at me for embarrassing him," she stammered, turning away from Alistair.

Alistair reached out to touch her shoulder, but pulled his hand back when he felt her flinch at his touch. "Eriana, you didn't ask to be attacked; don't act like this is your fault."

"No, in a way it was. I provoked him back in Denerim and in the Wilds with you." Alistair started to protest, but she held up her hand. "I don't think Daveth is normally like this; I think I may have just pushed him a bit too far, and he was getting revenge the only way he knows how. He wanted to embarrass me like I embarrassed him, I think. Just please wait to tell Duncan," she looked down at her hands, "I don't want him thinking that I'm weak and can't take care of myself."

"You aren't weak."

"Well, Duncan will think I am if he knows you had to come and rescue me. I just want a chance to prove myself. Please?"

She shook her head and turned around so she could look Alistair in the face. "Look, we have the joining to go through tomorrow, right." Alistair nodded, saying nothing. "From what I've gathered," she continued, "the ritual in and of itself might be fatal. If we both survive, then you can tell Duncan. If not, no harm."

"No harm! How can you say that? Where is the justice in him becoming a Grey Warden?"

"Please try to understand. I don't want anyone else to know about this!" she said sharply. "It's bad enough that you know, but… Look, coming to the Wardens was supposed to be a fresh start for me; a place where no one knew about my past. I don't want everyone seeing me as a victim. I don't think I could bear those looks again."

"Okay," Alistair finally relented; he wasn't going to force her to do anything. Helping Eriana to her feet, he handed her a small vial, "here, this is a health poultice. Rub some on that bruise above your cheek before you go to sleep tonight, and it will be gone by morning. "Let me get those for you," he said collecting her daggers and poison-making supplies, "then we can head back to camp so you can get some sleep."

"Thank you, Alistair," she said, taking her things back from him, and together they walked back to the Warden encampment.