The story continues! hereby another update. My thanks for my beta, Missawesome 1213 and of couse for my readers!
I had enough strength to stay on my knees, but I didn't dare to look at the wound. I could barely hear that was going on around me. Only that they seemed to have found the wound and assessed how bad it was. Morrigan came over to me and pushed everyone aside. In the meantime I could see Teagan waking up and sitting down. He turned to look at what happened and saw me sitting on the floor, his eyes widening. Isolde came running up to Teagan asking if he was all right. I saw him nodding and talking to Isolde. Finally I saw a flash of white/yellow-ish light and immidiately felt better. After a minute I realized Morrigan was talking to me.
"Aveline? Aveline! Sit still for a little longer. You shall be fine, though 'twas a nasty wound. I need to put an extra poulice on it and it's done." I nodded to Morrigan.
"Thank you Morrigan.." I said. She looked at me, but stayed silent while putting the bandage on. Alistair came back sitting next to me.
"Dear Maker, Aveline! Do not scare me like that ever again will you!" he whispered. His hand stroke my cheek before he helped me up. I stared down and only saw the blood I lost, but not the wound. There was a puddle underneath my feet, and I felt dizzy a bit when I stood up. I looked at my hands and saw they were drenched. I was still shaking a bit. I closed my eyes for a second before I collected my daggers and walked over to Isolde and Teagan.
"We must free Connor from this demon." I started.
"Oh do not kill my boy please, I beg you! It was the mage. He summoned this demon! I just want to protect my son. Please!" Isolde begged.
"Is you trying to protect Connor not the reason for all of this Isolde? Aveline risked her life just now." Teagan said while looking at me.
"I normally do not suggest this, but the boy stands little chance against the demon unless being killed." Alistair said. I thought Isolde turned crazy.
"WHAT? No! Please, do not kill my Connor! Not my son, please I beg you! There must be another way!" she said. I shook my head. I was not about to kill a boy and Leliana had the same thoughts which she said out loud in response to Alistair.
"I am not going to kill Connor. There must be something else we can do. We can go to the tower for mages to go into the Fade can we not?" I said. Morrigan confirmed this. Maybe we were lucky and she would want to go and confront the demon. I regretted not being a mage myself. I would have used everything in my power to kill that demon. It was decided. We were to go to the tower and get the mages. We had to go there anyway as one of the treaties was for them. I motioned for the others to leave the building and to set foot to camp. I looked forward to some rest. I was just about to go when I heard Teagan.
"Aveline? Might we have a word please?" I didn't turn around straight away and noticed Alistair looking at me, almost saying if I was all right with being alone with him. I nodded to him and turned to Teagan.
"Of course, Teagan. How can I help you?" Teagan dismissed everyone else who was in the room. When they all had left he turned to face me again.
"I am sorry about what I just done. I would not have forgiven myself if a kind and beautiful woman such as yourself would have died by my hand."
"There is nothing to be sorry about Teagan." I said with a frown "You weren't yourself. It was that demon and whoever goes into the Fade when we get the mages, I will ask that person to seriously pain the demon before killing it. Trust me when I say I wish I could go into the Fade myself." I saw him nodding.
"My apologies for going on about this, but I also need to say that you really do seem familiar. We have met before, I am certain of this." I just stared at Teagan.
"Bann Teagan, I assure you there is no way we could have met before. I am not from around here." I said.
"Not from Redcliffe no." Teagan started to pace, his eyes focussed on the ceiling. "I got it! You're their youngest! You're the daughter of Teyrn Cousland! Maker, how could I not see that." he said as he quickly turned around to face me.
"Eh..."
"I am so sorry for not recognizing you Lady Cousland. I should have known that their girl would grow up to such a fine young woman. I'm also very sorry for your loss." He carressed my cheek and put his hands were on my shoulders. I stepped back, causing his hands to fall down. There is no way I could be the daughter of Teyrn Cousland.
"I think there has been some mistake, Bann Teagan. I am not ..."
"No no, definately not a mistake. I know for sure now. Their daughter was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and you match that little girl perfectly. Besides the fact that you've grown older now of course. I am ashamed I did not recognize you to begin with!" I shook my head. This was getting really weird. - I don't remember being the Cousland daughter. I only remember being chased. -
"I am glad you got out in time my Lady."
"I... I need to go now Bann Teagan. We need to go to the Tower and get the mages for your nephew." I said while I turned around. He stayed silent and I moved to the door. The others were waiting for me outside and we travelled to our camp, about an hour away from Redcliffe. All that time I was silent. Bann Teagan got me confused. Maybe some rest would do me well.
~o~
The next morning we left early. We were at Lake Calenhad faster than I expected. We already could see the huge Tower from here. At our left was an inn and I could see a few Templars walking around. Moving to the docks one Templar stopped us. He had received the request not to let anybody in. He didn't even believe we were Grey Wardens, but he decided to take us there after all, afraid his boss would be upset if he wouldn't. Once inside, we only saw chaos. People were running around, and we saw a few wounded Templars.
"Are they keeping people out, or in?" I heard Alistair say. In the middle was one Templar giving orders to the rest. He was probably the one we needed so I stepped up to him. He noticed us and stopped us.
"Please, do not come further. I told him not to let anyone pass." he signed. "My name is Gregoir. The Tower is not in a state to receive guests, I'm afraid I must ask you to return."
"My name is Aveline, and we're Grey Wardens. We require the help of the mages." I told Gregoir.
"I am weary of the Grey Wardens ceaseless need for mages. The Tower is lost, as are the mages within it. Demons have taken control."
"Surely there must be survivors in there! We will go and clear the Tower, you cannot let the mages down like this."
"It is too painful to search for survivors and find none. We already asked for Reinforcements and the Right of Annullment so you needn't bother."
"What good will that do? Killing all the mages is not an option is it? As I said, we will go in."
"Fine, do as you please. However, I will only believe the Tower is save if First Enchanter Irving is standing before me." I nodded to Gregoir's request and our group moved in. This part of the Tower wasn't stalked as much as Gregoir said and soon we came in a room where I saw a barrier of some sort. - Magic. - There were a few mages here, trying to defend themselves. One with grey hair turned around and we recognized each other.
"Wynne!" I said. I was glad she survived.
"It's you! Grey Warden or no, do not come further. Why are you here?"
"We came asking for the help of the mages for the Blight, and for Bann Teagan's nephew, but Gregoir told us that the Tower was taken. He's asked for the Right of Annullement." I told Wynne. She shook her head. "If we want to stop him, we need to find First Enchanter Irving. Only then will Gregoir believe the Tower is safe again."
"Then we need to move fast. I can remove the barrier once you're ready to go. I will go with you!" she said. I nodded and looked back to my party. We couldn't take everyone as people would just walk in each others way in the small hallways. I selected Alistair and Leliana to go with me and Wynne. Sten, Feonar and Morrigan stayed behind with the mages. I turned back to Wynne.
"All right, we're ready." Wynne let down the barrier and we moved in. Clearing the Tower went quite quickly and I even found something remarkable. It looked like a book. It was black and contained different kind of things for mages. It probably was a Grimoire. - I'll give this to Morrigan when I get the chance. - We were nearly at the upper floor when we barged in a room where a large demon was standing over a body. It turned around when we barged in, and not soon after we were all asleep.
~o~
"Aveline?" I felt someone shaking me.
"Aveline? Sweetheart!" I slowly opened my eyes. I looked around and noticed my cat was sitting on the bed. I obviously was back in my room. Dan was sitting next to me.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You fell asleep on the sofa, so I brought you up to our room. You were in a really deep sleep. It took me a while to awake you." he said with a smile on his face.
"I did? Oh. I had the weirdest dream ever Dan!" He placed a kiss on my forehead and took my hand.
"Come, let's eat now shall we? We are getting married tomorrow so we have a lot left to do today." - Married? - I looked around and saw my dress covered in a black bag, so Dan wouldn't see it just yet.
"When are my parents going to be here?" I said. Dan turned around, looking surprised.
"Your parents? What are you talking about, Ave? You know your parents died two years ago." - Died? No, this cannot be. - I shook my head. I felt a headache coming up. Things didn't feel right. We never decided to get married in the first place. Not that I did not want to, but Dan didn't. -How come we're getting married now. How come he agreed? -
"Dan? What made you change your mind about getting married?" He took my hands into his and looked me in the eye.
"You did, love! How can I resist marrying such a beautiful woman such as yourself. From the moment I saw you I wanted to be your husband." he said while he brushed some hair out of my face.
- No. - "No!"
"No?"
"This is not real. You tricked me. You tricked me in the forest and now you're tricking me here. I will not fall for your lies!" I slapped him in his face.
"You will not get out of here Aveline. You are not meant to get out of here. You can lead the life you always wanted if you stay." it said, trying to seduce me.
"I most certainly will not. Where are my friends!"
"Your friends are beyond rescue. You will not get past me!" With this he started casting a spell. I noticed my daggers were still on me, so I grabbed them and quickly killed the demon. In the distance I saw a pedestal appear and I used it to kill the demons in the other realms, and get my friends out. When we killed the Sloth demon, Niall told us to get the Littany of his body so we could fight Uldred. He didn't come with us as his body had decayed too much for him to survive. Around me I saw Wynne, Alistair and Leliana disappear and I guessed they went back to the real world, and they would wake up now. I looked around, but I was still in the Fade. Niall, who was still standing next to me, was as surprised as I was.
"Why am I not going back? What is wrong? I saved everyone!" I felt a slight touch of panic going through my body. Suddenly everything went white, and it was so bright I couldn't see anymore. Slowly it faded into a Castle. A Castle which felt familiar. It was like I was a ghost and everything was happening in front of me. I saw an image of myself in leather armor going to Bryce Cousland, who was standing with Arl Howe. After some talking, Duncan was invited into the conversation. Next thing I knew, I was going to get my dog with Ser Gilmore and I was talking to Eleanor Cousland. Her friend was still trying to hook me up with her son. A flash later, I was standing with Fergus. He was saying goodbye to his wife and son and our parents came walking in. The whole family was now together. My brother. My mother. My father. My dog. My nephew and his mother. Not long after I was in my room, sleeping, when a guard came in. He came to inform that the Castle was under attack. I got up quickly and got dressed, but the guard was already being killed by Howe's soldiers. I saw I was getting my mother and together we went into the treasure room to try and get the Cousland sword. After succeeding in this, we went into the main hall and helped Ser Gilmore fighting of the soldiers. They went back to barging the door and we continued towards the Servants Exit. When we arrived there, after killing all of Howe's soldiers who were in the way, I saw Bryce Cousland laying on the floor. He had a large puddle of blood around him. Eleanor stayed with Bryce and I saw my image escape. I ran through the forest, and I saw two knights running after me. They had seen me escape and wanted to kill me before I got away for sure. The moment I didn't see the knights anymore I stopped, thinking I was safe. Then I heard a SNAP and my eyes widened. I slowly turned my head and I noticed a figure standing close to me. That was enough to start running again. I felt the adrenaline pomp through my body. Finally I reached a darker part in the forest and I was stopped by a steep hill. When I turned around, I saw the two knights were closing in fast and I stepped back automatically. My foot had no ground to land on though and I fell down. On my way down I hit a log with my legs which caused me body to turn and eventually I hit it with my head before falling down more. Next thing I saw were the two men watching over my body. They had removed their helmets. - I recognize them! Dan! and Dan's friend! - They obviously thought I was dead as there was blood flowing from my head, as they decided to leave. - They're just leaving me for the wolves! - Suddenly I heard a high and loud noise, which made me cover my ears. White flashes interfered what I saw and I passed out. In the end I could swear I heard a whisper saying: "You... will... remember... and ... forget."
I woke up in the Tower again. My mind had filled with memories about what happened to my family. The Couslands. Now it seemed real, I really was there when Howe betrayed father. Now I understood Bann Teagan. He recognized me, because he really did meet me. It all came back now. Duncan never got the chance to recruit me while being in Highever, as I was gone before he was at my parents in the larder. It all made sense. I sat down and pinched the bridge of my nose. I saw the rest of my party standing over me.
"Well Aveline, you certainly took your time!" Leliana said. "What happened?"
"Ugh. I don't know Leli. I was stuck when you all left the Fade. I saw... my parents."
"Your parents?" Alistair said "So you do have parents here? I thought your parents were not from around here?"
"My parents died when Howe took over the castle. They were murdered by his hand."
"Why would Howe murder your family?" Wynne asked.
"I don't know. He had always been a friend of the Couslands"
"YOU are the last one of the Couslands? I'm so sorry... my lady!" she gasped.
"Don't. I'm a Grey Warden now. Howe will pay for what he has done." I saw Wynne nodding and Alistair now held his hand out for me to stand up.
"You must have hit your head really hard. I'm glad you remember this now." he said while placing a kiss on my forehead. "Though that story you told me still is quite weird." he chuckled.
"Yes I know. Maybe I'll get some answers for that as well though the rest makes more sense now. Let's take the Littany shall we? We still have to rescue the First Enchanter." I said and with this our party moved up to the top floor. Defeating Uldred turned out quite well, and the Littany did it's job perfectly. No other mages were getting under Uldred's control and the First Enchanter was rescued soon after the fight.
