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Chapter 6

The sounds were awful, deep and guttural. The creatures were even worse, ugly, armored and waving all manner of weapons. The air was filled with blood thirsty roars and growls. It was dark, but even in this darkness the dragon stood out. A huge fierce beast with blood dripping from its fangs. It stood overlooking the mass of monsters beneath it and let out a tremendous roar.

I sat up, shaking from the nightmare. The camp was quiet and everyone but Alistair was asleep. He looked at me with compassion, "Bad dream?"

"Yeah," I said, trying to get the lingering sounds out of my head.

"You were thrashing about pretty good," he said watching me.

I got up and moved over next to him. "I saw a dragon and darkspawn." I looked at him. "Was that the archdemon?"

"I don't know if the archdemon is really a dragon, but that's how I see him in my dreams as well," he replied. "The wardens say the dreams are the archdemon communicating with the darkspawn and lucky us, we get to listen in. Some of the older wardens claimed they could make out what it said. It's all just growls and roars to me. The bad dreams are just another wonderful side effect of the taint."

"Oh great, as if I needed more fuel for bad dreams," I said sarcastically and looked around the camp. "Well, I'm up now, I might as well take my turn at watch, you should rest."

He nodded, grabbed a blanket and settled down to sleep.

...

In the morning, we cleaned up our campsite and ventured into Lothering to get a few supplies from a merchant that was set up close to the edge of town. We only had a small amount of coin and would not be able to buy much. On our way, we passed some large standing cages that comprised the town's makeshift jail. They were all empty except for one. That one held a very large intimidating man. His skin had a gold hue and his white hair was bound in large tight braids against his head. He wore a simple vest and trousers outfit that looked a size too small. There was no guessing his age. He didn't look old, but he didn't look young either. His gray eyes stared down at me. "If you are through gawking at me, you may leave," he said in a very deep menacing voice.

"I'm sorry, I was wondering, why are you caged?" I asked unable to contain my curiosity.

The giant didn't answer, but continued to watch me warily. Leliana said, "I heard that his name is Sten and he is charged with the murder of an innocent family."

"What happened, if I may ask?" I looked the giant over.

"The incident was a mistake. It is the will of the Qun, that I atone for my crime," he stated flatly.

I remembered my lessons with Aldous about the Qun. This must be a Qunari, warrior giants from a faraway land to the north across the Boeric Ocean. They had come southward and invaded lands north of the Free Marches but they were rarely seen south of Orlais. They follow a strange religious teaching called the Qun. Their deadly skill at combat was legendary and they were feared wherever they went. Perhaps we could enlist this giant to aid us against the Blight. I turned to Leliana, "Do you think the Reverend Mother would release him into our custody?"

"Why would you free me?" He asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"We are fighting the Blight and can use able bodied warriors, such as yourself," I had made up my mind. "Let's go see the Reverend Mother."

"If you are going on this fool's errand, I will attend to our supplies," Morrigan said with disgust.

"Alright," I sighed. Traveling with her was going to be challenging.

Alistair looked at me and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

I nodded, "we need all the help we can get," I responded as I turned away from the cage and began walking toward the Chantry with Alistair and Leliana behind me. When we entered the Chantry, I saw the Reverend Mother near the back, praying with some refugees. We approached but kept a respectful distance until she was done.

"Leliana. Have you not left yet?" she asked, then she noticed Alistair and I, "Who are your new friends?"

Leliana said, "Maker be with you, Reverend Mother. This is Felicia and Alistair." We both bowed.

I said, "We are Grey Wardens fighting the Blight. I would like the Qunari, Sten, to be released into my custody to aid us."

She looked at me alarmed. "Grey Wardens? Why do you want the Qunari? He is too dangerous to be released."

Leliana said, "Unusual times require unusual actions. Perhaps, with us, he may do some good."

"I will not release him. I will not be responsible for his murderous ways," she said resolutely.

"Reverend Mother, my vision led me to these Wardens and I trust the Maker to guide us. This may be the solution you prayed for," Leliana said.

The Reverend Mother stood, looked at the floor and began pacing. After a moment, she stopped and looked at us. "Were things not so desperate, or if Leliana not with you, my answer would be different." She handed me a key from her pocket. "This will unlock his cage. Maker forgive me."

"Your trust is not misplaced," Leliana said. "Maker be with you."

We bowed to the Reverend Mother, turned to leave and Alistair exclaimed, "Ser Donnell, is that you?"

"Who are...Alistair? Is that you?" An older man, dressed in full knight armor, approached us and grasped Alistair's shoulders. "It is you!" he exclaimed. "Are the rumors true? Have you become a Grey Warden? Were you there at Ostagar?"

Alistair nodded grimly. "Yes, and don't believe all the rumors. We did not betray the king," he looked at the knight and asked, "what brings you here?"

"Arl Eamon is gravely ill and Arlessa Isolde has all the knights looking for the Urn of Sacred Ashes to cure him," Donnell said sadly.

"What happened to the Arl?" Alistair asked, concerned.

"I don't know, some kind of poison in his system that doesn't respond to antidotes or healing spells. But I can find no clues to where that blasted urn could be," he said with frustration in his voice.

Alistair looked at me and I could see the question in his eyes. "We will head immediately to Redcliffe, " I said. "We should find out what's going on and see if we can help." Alistair nodded at me, grateful for our change of plans.

"I would go with you, but I'm meeting another knight here before heading back," Donnell said.

"Maker be with you, Ser Donnell," Alistair said, grasping the knight's hand.

We lefft the Chantry and walked back to the caged Qunari. As we approached Sten's cage, we could hear growling. There was Dagger, standing in front of the cage growling and wagging his tail at the same time. I was surprised when Sten growled back at Dagger, but the dog only wagged his tail harder and growled again. I shook my head watching these two exchange growls. Dagger noticed me and bounded to my side, obviously pleased with himself. I unlocked the cage and said, "The Reverend Mother released you into my custody."

"I must admit I did not think you would succeed," he said and looked at me closely. His soul piercing gaze was quite intimidating, but I didn't look away. "I will follow you against the Blight. In doing so, I shall find my atonement." He paused and looked at Dagger. "Is this your dog?" he asked.

"Yes. His name is Dagger," I said wondering what was next.

"He is a noble beast," he said approvingly, then he looked at me, "lead, I will follow."

Morrigan joined us and shook her head, "Another stray?" she said sarcastically.

"We need to build an army, remember?" I responded and she just shook her head.

We headed west on the Imperial Highway toward Lake Calenhad and Redcliffe. I kept alert to any other travelers, watching especially for any mercenaries who were bounty hunting, but with Sten walking behind us so stoically, anyone we passed gave us a wide berth. Morrigan seemed to delight in making comments that would get Alistair into an argument with her. Leliana seemed lost in her own thoughts and Dagger was having his own fun by chasing any squirrel or rabbit that dared to be in the open. The day passed slowly, and we were lucky to not encounter anything hostile. As it became dark, I chose the shelter of a copse of trees off the road to camp. Leliana sang softly as she worked helping me set up the fire. I was tired from being on alert, the arguing that Morrigan and Alistair had engaged in had given me a headache and I just wanted some quiet to myself. I found a peaceful stream off from the camp and decided I needed to wash up and clean my armor. As I rinsed my face in the cool water, Dagger splashed about happily, cooling his feet in the gently lapping stream. Morrigan had purchased an inexpensive shirt and trousers set so I could have something to wear when I cleaned my armor. I rolled up the pant legs and put my tired feet into the sparkling water of the stream. I let myself relax listening to the water babbling and the crickets chirping. I felt the soft breezes against my skin and was so lost in thought that I didn't hear Sten approach. I jumped when he crouched to the stream.

"I disturbed you. I will leave," and he stood to go.

"No. No." I said quickly, "It's alright, the water is wonderfully cool to wash in. Please, join me."

I watched as he crouched again to scoop water over his face. I handed him one of my towels to dry with. "Why is a Qunari in Ferelden?" I asked.

He looked at me and said curtly, "I was ordered by my Arishok to find out about the Blight."

"How did you end up in Lothering?" I asked.

"A battle with darkspawn did not end well," he stated and dried his face.

I could tell I was not going to get anything else out of him. He handed back my towel and walked away. My father had felt that both of his children needed to be prepared to handle the responsibilities of leadership, so my brother and I were trained in all aspects of diplomacy, but I was clueless how to pull this giant clam out of his shell. I stood up and went back to the fire to start cleaning my leather armor. As I sat down on a log next to Alistair, I noticed he was looking at me strangely, I smirked and said, "What? Something on my face?"

"Um...no...I just haven't seen you out of your armor," he said and a pink tint blossomed on his face as he looked away quickly.

"Oh, is that all." I said and proceeded to polish my boots, ignoring his sideways glances at me.

...

I wasn't sure how long it would take to get to Redcliffe village, so I had kept a pretty brisk pace. It was fairly easy travel, as there were not a lot of darkspawn in the area. However, it seemed as though the farther west from Lothering we got, the more we ran into small groups of bandits. They usually stayed away from us, Sten and Dagger were pretty good deterents. But, when I saw several bandits attacking a merchant cart, I couldn't just ignore it. I called to my comrades and we charged in to help the victims. The bandits had no chance against our group and were quickly disposed of.

"That was a timely arrival my friends," a dwarf said to us, his brown eyes twinkling. He had reddish hair and a full face braided beard. "The roads are mighty dangerous these days. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Bodahn Feddic and this here's my boy, Sandal. Say hello boy."

"Hello." Sandal was a younger dwarf and although he was not a child, he acted as one. He had sandy brown hair and no beard.

"My name is Felicia and I'm glad we could be of service," I said politely.

"You have quite a formidable group here. Would you mind if me and my boy tag along with you for awhile? You can store some of your luggage in our cart to make the walkin' a bit easier," he said.

I looked at our group then back at him, "Our situation is complicated, but you are certainly welcome to come. We are headed to Redcliffe village currently."

He smiled at me and said, "Somehow I imagine 'complicated' only says half of whatever you're into. But I would feel a whole lot safer traveling with you."

I laughed and we began organizing our packs onto Bodahn's cart.

Morrigan muttered something about "more strays" but added her pack to the cart as well.

We started walking again and Alistair positioned himself next to me. "You know...when I was in the chantry, there was this girl who was always bringing in lost or wounded animals. You kind of remind me of her."

"Oh?" I said, happy to see him acting more relaxed.

"Yeah. She was a lost cause," he smirked.

"Really?" I grinned. There are lot worse things than being a lost cause, I thought.

...

We were able to travel faster, now that our packs were loaded onto a cart. Before long we were on a road into the hills toward Redcliffe village. I noticed that the closer to Redcliffe, the more Alistair began acting all nervous and twitchy. I didn't sense any darkspawn, so I asked, curious, "What's the matter?"

He pulled me aside so that we could talk privately. "I, ah, need to tell you something before we go into Redcliffe village."

I looked at him. He was so nervous, he kept shifting his weight back and forth. "Let's see, how do I tell you this. Did I tell you how I know Arl Eamon?" he asked.

"No." I said, wondering where this was going.

"Well, he sort of raised me," he said nervously. "I'm a bastard," he blurted. "My mother was a serving girl at Redcliffe castle and died when I was born. Eamon took me in..." He paused and I looked at him encouragingly. "Arl Eamon did that because, well, um," he hesitated and then said in a rush, "my father was King Meric."

I stared at him in surprise and suddenly realized how much he looked like his half brother Cailen, except for the darker hair. I smiled at him and teased, "So, you're not only a bastard, but a royal bastard."

Alistair let out the breath he was holding, "Yeah, I guess you're right," he chuckled, "I should use that line myself." He paused and a concerned look came over his face. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but the circumstances were never right, but I felt you should know. Now can we go back to me as just plain old Alistair and forget the whole royal thingy?" He looked at me hopefully.

I had my own lineage still in hiding and felt guilty, so I wasn't going to press for details, "Don't worry about a thing, Alistair. I understand totally." I said.

"Good," he sighed with relief, "Now, let's catch up with the others."