Malicefent walked over to the mage, and the man she had been directed to as the Grey Warden Alistair. Neither of them paid her any mind as they continued their argument. It appeared the Chantry was hounding the mages again – no surprise there, and this Grey Warden, for some odd reason, was the chosen messenger. Malicefent could empathize with the mage's frustration. Alistair goading him certainly didn't help.
She examined Alistair as he argued with the mage, he was strikingly familiar…and also gorgeous. If the men she had seen so far were an example of the Wardens, she would be very happy indeed. She watched him more, why was he familiar? She was sure this time it wasn't because she'd seen him creeping out of Greagoir's chambers in the middle of the night.
The mage, whose name she didn't catch, finally had enough and said he would go speak to the revered mother. He cursed Alistair a fool and stormed off.
"You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together," Alistair said to her.
"Yes, probably more so than your people skills," Malicefent responded, flirtingly sarcastic.
"Hmm…funny, I don't recall meeting you before, and yet you know me so well. I don't suppose you would happen to be another mage, would you?"
Oh, he's so good looking, please don't let him be one of those, she thought. "Would that make your day better or worse?"
"Worse, much worse."
Damn. "In that case not only am I a mage, I'm the head of the Circle."
"Really? You don't look like a mage. Uh…that is…I mean…how interesting."
"What, exactly, is a mage supposed to look like?"
"You know…old…or…or not as attractive as you," Alistair tried to sound sly as he said this.
"Mm-hmm."
"Wait, I do know who you are. You're Duncan's new recruit, from the Circle of Magi. I should have recognized you right away. I apologize."
"Why should you have recognized me?"
"Young, mage, female, "Alistair drew out female as he said, "you see how many there are here that fit that description. I am Alistair."
"I assumed as much."
"Did Duncan mention me? Nothing bad, I hope."
"On the contrary, Duncan didn't tell me near enough," Malicefent maintained the same tone she'd had since they started speaking.
"Oh, well let me fill you in. As a junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying uhh…you, when you prepare for the Joining."
"My name is Malicefent."
"Yes, that was the name. Out of curiosity, have you ever actually encountered a darkspawn before?"
"I saw the dead one on display. It was prettier than the abomination I encountered in the Fade, during my Harrowing."
"You faced an abomination? You're not possessed or anything are you?"
"Yes, and now I'm going to eat your face and suck your soul from your bones," Malicefent put extra sarcasm and an arched eyebrow into that comment to make sure her point got across.
"Oh, you are very funny. When I fought my first darkspawn, I wasn't prepared for how monstrous it was. I can't say I'm looking forward to encountering another, but I haven't faced an abomination. It probably won't be a big deal for you. Anyhow, whenever you're ready let's head back to Duncan. I imagine he's eager to get things started."
"One thing I need to know before we do anything else, do you have a problem with my magic? If you do, say so now."
"No problem. It's just my background makes mages nervous. And nervous mages make me nervous. I don't want to be a toad; I like the way I am."
"So the answer is yes then?"
"No, not yes…just nervous…like I said."
"Just what is your background?"
Alistair fidgeted nervously for a second, then started hurrying the direction they would need to go to get to Duncan. As he walked he said, "Come on, Duncan is waiting and there are things to do – secret ritual and all."
"You are a very strange man," Malicefent told him as she followed.
"You're not the first woman to tell me that," he said and gave her a little smile.
Duncan was standing near a huge fire in the center of the camp when Malicefent and Alistair found him. He was standing with Jory and Daveth.
"I see you found Alistair. Have you met Ser Jory and Daveth yet?" Duncan asked.
"Yes, I spoke with them earlier."
"Good. Then I'll assume you are ready to begin the preparations," he said to Malicefent before looking at Alistair, "Assuming of course, that you're quite finished riling up the mages, Alistair."
"What can I say? The revered mother ambushed me. The way she wields guilt they should stick her in the army," Alistair replied.
Duncan sounded like a stern father when he spoke to Alistair again, "She forced you to sass the mage, did she? We cannot afford to antagonize anyone Alistair. We don't need anymore ammunition against us."
"You're right, Duncan. I apologize."
"Now then, since you are all here, we can begin," Duncan said to the group. He explained that they were to go into the Korcari Wilds to obtain three vials of darkspawn blood, one for each recruit, and seek out an abandoned Grey Warden outpost. Duncan wanted Alistair to retrieve a cache of scrolls there. The scrolls were treaties promising support to the Grey Wardens; support they would desperately need in a Blight. "Watch over your charges, Alistair. Return quickly, and safely."
"We will," Alistair reassured him.
"Then may the Maker watch over your path. I will see you when you return."
They weren't long in the Wilds when they came across a soldier's corpse, there was another a few feet away, another few feet away lay another fallen soldier. They were almost in a line – they had been cut down as they fled. Some distance away a lone soldier was trying to move. He was the only survivor.
After the group identified themselves as Grey Wardens, the wounded soldier told of how he and his men had been attacked by darkspawn that came out of the ground. They were on the lookout for darkspawn coming at them, but not from under them.
"Can you cast a healing spell on him?" Alistair asked Malicefent.
"I don't know any, that was the only area of study that didn't interest me," she replied.
"Right, of course, you just like zapping things," he said to Malicefent. As attractive as she found him, he seemed to be as equally annoying. Speaking to the soldier, he said, "Here – I have some bandages in my pack. We'll just get these on and you should be able to make it back to the camp. We've just come through so the path should still be clear."
The soldier got up, with Alistair's help. He gave a hasty but genuine thank you and made for the camp as fast as he could with the injuries he had.
"Did you hear? An entire patrol of seasoned men killed by darkspawn!" Panic was edging into Jory's voice. Alistair tried to calm him down, but Ser Jory seemed determined to work his way to a full panic.
"Coward," Malicefent called Jory.
"I…am simply trying to stay alive. You do not see me fleeing, do you?" Being called a coward appeared to snap Jory out of his building panic, or at least slow it.
"He's not a coward. A bit of fear isn't unnatural, you know. Few relish meeting darkspawn up close. I know I don't. Know this: All Grey Wardens can sense darkspawn. Whatever their cunning, I guarantee they won't take us by surprise. That's why I'm here," Alistair said, continuing to reassure the group.
Daveth quipped, "You see, ser knight? We might die, but we'll be warned about it first," and Malicefent a little wink. Jory didn't appreciate the remark, and said so.
"Let's just get this over with," Malicefent said.
Alistair added, "She's right, it will be dark soon and we don't have much time, so let's get a move on."
As they continued the direction they had been heading, Daveth fell into step, just ahead of Malicefent. She took this opportunity to give him a quick, playful swat on his butt. The look he gave her over his shoulder said they would continue this later – alone. Her returning smile said she was looking forward to it. Their silent flirting was soon interrupted by a group of darkspawn.
The darkspawn were even more hideous alive. The group of monsters outnumbered the Grey Wardens two to one, and came at them all at once. The fight wasn't too difficult, nor had it been easy, but the Grey Warden party won out in the end. Malicefent could see now that she had underestimated Ser Jory. She couldn't really understand why he had such a fear of what they were facing, when his battle skills were so proficient.
They encountered several more groups of darkspawn. Alistair and Jory always at the front with their swords, and Daveth with his bow, in back with Malicefent as she casted her spells. Malicefent quickly learned that the smaller darkspawn, called genlocks, could cloak themselves and you may not know they were there until it was too late – that is until she realized the taunting growl they couldn't seem resist making just before an attack. As long as you heard the growl they couldn't catch you completely off guard. With the number of darkspawn they encountered it didn't take long to gather the vials of blood they needed. That just left the scrolls in the abandoned tower to find.
They were headed uphill when they passed a pile of rocks. "Hold on a minute," Malicefent said and threw a pinch of ashes on the rocks.
A hulking creature rose in a swirl of ash from the rocks. "Who summons Gazarath from slumber?" It demanded as it attacked.
It was the most difficult battle that had faced so far, and they won, as Malicefent had been confident they would.
Alistair rounded on her, furious, "Why did you do that? How did you do that? And who or what is a Gazarth?"
"Gazarath," Malicefent corrected. "And I was curious. I picked up a bag of ashes from the corpse of a hurlock caster, earlier. I suspected then, and I just wanted to see…"
"Curious? Suspected what! Wanted to see what! It's also called an emissary!"
"What is?"
"The caster – you're not answering my questions! Why did you do that?"
"If you stop screaming at me for a minute, I'll tell you," Malicefent said calmly. "Have you ever heard the tale of tale of Astia and Nebbunar?"
"No! And you still haven't answered my questions!"
"I'm trying too! One legend of the Korcari Wilds says that girl named Astia grew up in the company of Gazarath, a spirit of the earth. When Astia met Nebbunar, the two fell in love, and Astia hoped to bring her lover to see her spirit friend. But the spirit, angered and jealous, bade her begone. Gazarath told her that she would never see it again until she brought her lover's ashes and sprinkled them over the spot she where used to meet Gazarath. On the day Nebbunar asked her to marry him, she cut her beloved's throat, burned him, and brought his ashes to Gazarath. I always thought that was just a story, then I found the ashes and was reminded of it…then there was the pile of rocks…so I wanted see if it was true," she explained.
"You could have gotten us all killed!"
"I was confident we could handle it," she responded, haughtily.
"But what if we hadn't?" Jory asked in a shaky voice.
"We did – there is no what if."
"Never, do something like that again," Alistair was calming down but his voice held the clear threat of consequences if she did.
For the first time since she was a child, Malicefent actually felt guilt when she was chastised, "You're right. I'm sorry."
Daveth leaned close to her, "It's all right, you can make it up to me later," and gave her another wink.
Alistair rolled his eyes, "Let's go."
They continued working their way upward, soon they saw the ruins of the tower in the distance. A large group of darkspawn surrounded it. They had run into groups of darkspawn just about everywhere they had gone out here. If these were just the small bands and stragglers they were encountering, it was easy to understand why an army may not be enough for the coming horde. Malicefent now understood why Duncan was so concerned.
After they had finally dispatched the group they searched the ruins carefully for any darkspawn that might be hiding. Finding nothing, they felt it safe to search for the documents. Other than rubble the only thing they found was a shattered chest. The bits of chest left were quite detailed and ornate, it had been beautiful at one time.
"Malicefent, can you tell if there are any wards still on the chest?" Alistair asked. "I really don't want to search for them only to get zapped."
She shook her head at his fear of magic and began to examine the remnants of the chest. "I can feel there was magic here, but it's significantly weakened." As she continued to sift through the pieces she caught a movement, out of the corner of her eye. It was a woman with barely a thing covering her top half.
