They came upon the ruins of the Warden keep as the sun was sinking low behind the trees. The tall decaying spires of the towers slumped towards one another across the weed-choked moat. The hair on the back of Flynn's neck prickled up anxiously as she stared up at the black holes of the arrows slits above her. She had an uneasy feeling that someone, or something, was watching them. She drew her bow and stepped cautiously through the splintered gates. Her eyes scanned the rubble for any sign of movement.

"Everything alright, Flynn?" Alistair asked quietly.

She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. "Yes, of course. I'm just being paranoid, I suppose."

"Let's find those treaties and get out of here. This place gives me the creeps," Ser Jory muttered. For once Flynn agreed with him.

They spent the remaining daylight sifting through the ruins for the treaties. The stars had begun to shine dimly before Flynn finally discovered a rotten chest nestled under an awning near the gatehouse. Alistair rapped the base of his sword against the rusted lock and it crumbled apart easily. He knelt down and pushed the heavy top open. It was empty. "Damn. They were supposed to be here," Alistair he huffed angrily.

"They're gone," Ser Jory said.

"Brilliant deduction, Jory," Flynn said flatly. She looked up as a small cascade of pebbles rained down from one of the gatehouse walls sending a murder of crows into the air, cawing indignantly. Flynn caught the vague outline of a wolf slinking back into the shadows behind the wall. She knocked an arrow and crept towards the gatehouse door. The hinges screamed shrilly as she tentatively pushed it open. A pair of sinister yellow eyes glared at her from the darkness. Flynn pulled her bowstring back and lined up her shot.

"Well, well, what have we here?" A voice like honey and venom demurred as the owner of the yellow eyes materialized from the shadows. Flynn lowered her bow and retreated a few steps. She watched uneasily as a young woman with pallid skin and raven hair glided towards her. The woman carried a gnarled wooden staff at her side; the sun-bleached skull of some unfamiliar animal was bound to its tip with leather strips.

"Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst a corpse whose bones have been long since cleaned. Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn filled wilds of mine in search of... easy prey?"

Alistair pulled Flynn from the doorway to his side. His hand hovered cautiously over his sword.

"Be careful Flynn, she looks chastened," he muttered under his breath. "I think she's a mage."

"She's a witch, she is!" Jory clumsily unsheathed his broadsword and pointed it at her menacingly.

The woman looked at him evenly and turned back to face Flynn, "What of you? Do you frighten as easily as these scared boys do? Come, tell me your name and I shall tell you mine."

"My name is Flynn. These are my companions Alistair and Daveth...That fool cowering behind his sword is Ser Jory. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"My, what manners. You may call me Morrigan," the woman replied with an air of amusement.

"We are here only to retrieve a cache of documents that belong to the Grey Wardens. Once we reclaim them we will be on our way, you have my word."

"You seek the treaties?"

"Wait, what do you know of the treaties?" Alistair asked suspiciously. "Those documents are the property of the Wardens. If you stole them..."

"How can one steal something that has been long abandoned? I did not take your treaties, Warden. Therefore, you may point your baseless accusations and idle threats elsewhere. My mother has them. If you wish I can take you to her and you may ask for them."

"We can't follow her! She's luring us to her hut to turn us into toads or grind our bones to dust for her potions," Jory cried.

Flynn pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Ser Jory, if you are so frightened you can remain here. Maybe the darkspawn will carry you away so we won't have to listen to your drivel anymore..."

Alistair leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "We should get the treaties, but I dislike this. Her appearance here is certainly convenient isn't it?"

"I know, but what choice do we have?" She turned back to Morrigan, "Lead the way."

Morrigan led them through the dense woods to a small hut covered in a thick blanket of brambles and vines. Flynn was sure they would never have noticed it at all had there not been an old woman collecting herbs from the overgrown garden.

"Mother, these people wish to..." Morrigan began.

"I know why they are here, girl," the woman interrupted. She stood and wiped her hands on her apron. "Welcome Wardens, I am Flemeth." The unsettling smile she gave them turned Flynn's blood to ice.

"Flemeth? As in Flemeth the witch of the wilds?! My mum used to tell me stories about her when I misbehaved. She turns into a dragon and snatches bad children from their beds to eat their souls." Ser Jory began to swoon, "Oh Maker help us, we're doomed!"

"If she really is the witch of the wilds do you want to go about making her mad you dolt?" Daveth hissed and smacked him across the back of his head.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that we're supposed to believe that you are an ancient legendary witch, and that you somehow knew we were coming?" Alistair asked incredulously.

"Believe what you will, boy. Open one's eyes or shut them tight, either way one is a fool," She cackled. "I know that you are here seeking the Grey Warden treaties."

The woman withdrew into the hut and returned with a small ancient-looking chest.

"Here, I have kept them safe for you."

"But why?" Flynn asked.

"The darkspawn threat is growing and the Grey Wardens are the only ones who can stop it. We can only remain hidden here for so long before even we are overtaken." She handed the chest to Flynn. "Now Morrigan, escort your guests back to their camp. The night is coming."

Morrigan silently guided them back through the woods until they could see the flickering light of countless campfires. Flynn turned to thank her, but she had disappeared back into the forest.

"Well...That was certainly interesting," Alistair mumbled. "Come on, let's find Duncan and prepare you for your joining ceremony."