Midnight Terrors
"The battle will happen tonight," King Cailin stated looking over the map of the area, "the darkspawn horde is expected to be here by nightfall and we need to be prepared for them this time. I will not senselessly loose my men to savage beasts."
"Sir, I highly advise that we withdraw what troops we have and wait until these blasted darkspawn are a bigger threat. There is no need to fight them at the moment," Loghain, Cailin trusted war advisor steps in voicing his opinion.
"Nonsense. The Grey Wardens need our help, and if we shut this down now then we won't have to deal with this later when the problem gets out of hand and we can no longer be in control of the situation."
"As you say, my king."
"I will need two volunteers to go up into the tower to signal Loghain's men to join in the battle once our front line enters."
"We shall send Alistair and Riley. One senior Grey Warden along with a new one. That should do just fine," Duncan suggested.
"Excellent. Now all we need to do is wait for nightfall and then the battle can begin."
The people surrounding the table disbursed to make their preparations for the oncoming battle that was closer than they thought. Riley was terrified. She had never been in a situation where it was a life or death matter. Jaegan was here, in the middle of a battle. She couldn't believe that she had brought him here to experience war first hand. He was just a child.
Riley immediately made way for the tent that she knew Jaegan was going to be in. She sprinted the whole way there without a care for what others may have thought of her. Her only concern in that moment was ensuring that Jaegan was going to be okay when nightfall comes and that he would be able to escape in the case of the mission failing.
She ripped open the front flap on the tent to reveal Jaegan sitting on the cot next to an elderly woman who Riley recognized but was unable to put a name to it. She sighed in relief seeing his beaming grin from behind a book. He was going to be the death of her.
"Jaegan, I'm going to tell you something very important and I really need all of your attention, understand?" Riley spoke as the crouched down next to his cot.
"If you're going to tell me how to take care of myself in case something happens in the battle tonight, then you're too late. Wynne here has already helped me out with that," Jaegan smiled from ear to ear making his ears point out of his hair.
"Is that so?" Riley smiled at the elderly woman with relief written on her face.
"It was not trouble at all. I saw you enter with him and I wanted to make sure that he knew how to get out of her safely and quietly in case the battle goes south tonight. I have faith that you will be alright seeing as how you are a mage from the tower."
"How did you?"
"I've seen many things in my lifetime dear, and I find it very easy to determine who is mage and who is not. It's one of my many talents that I have been able to hone over my many years of living."
"I really appreciate all of you help in this. I was worried that if something were to happen to me that Jaegan would not be able to make it out of here on his own. I know that he's very skilled at maneuvering through the forests but in one as lifeless as this on I feel that it might be a little difficult. Wynne, was it?"
"Yes. I don't believe that I caught your name."
"Riley, Riley Amell."
"Lovely name that is. It has a nice ring to it."
"Thank you."
Riley nodded her head and made her way out of the tent but not before tousling Jaegans hair. That earned a grumble from the little elven boy who was smiling all the same. She stroked Yevvan's ears who was lying on the ground fast asleep. Not even a horde of darkspawn would wake that dog up once he found a comfortable spot to lay in. Riley waved goodbye to Wynne who went back to listening to the little boy read his book.
Once Riley was out of the tent she could see the sun beginning to set in the distance. She knew that she was going to have to get ready for this battle whether she wanted to fight in it or not. She sighed making her way over in the direction of the quartermaster who she knew she could trade some of her items with for more suitable armor for the upcoming battle.
As she was making her way over there she could feel eyes on her. She turned on her heels and instantly raised her guard only to find a familiar face standing behind her. Alistair the ex-templar was following closely behind her and somehow she was able to sense that he was behind her.
"I know," Alistair grinned with his hands up in defense, "it's strange the first day being able to sense when people are around you, Grey Wardens specifically."
"What are you…?"
"We're tainted now, and that means that we are able to sense when others who are tainted nearby. Hence why I was unable to sneak up on you and give you a good scaring!"
"I would highly advise against that seeing as how I almost threw a fireball in your general direction."
"Point taken. Won't happen again. What exactly is it that you're doing?"
"I don't think that mage robes are really considered 'battle attire.'"
"What do you mean? Maybe you can fight off the darkspawn with the hideous colors and patterns of your robes!"
"You're hilarious you know that?"
"Thank you. I actually have been told that quite often."
"Now if you'd excuse me."
"Hold on. We've got some better armor that won't match that which the quartermaster would sell you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just follow me."
Riley did as she was told and followed the ex-templar through the camp to a secluded area that was sealed off by a massive stone door. She raised her eyebrows in awe at the magnificent sculptures of griffons standing guard. The statues had to be at least three times her height. Alistair pulled the door open to reveal an armory chalk full of armor and weapons. She wandered through the small room and grazed her fingers over every piece of fabric and metal in complete awe.
"What did—"
"This is where we've stored all of our Grey Warden armor and weapons for the new recruits that Duncan sent out to get. He had expected to recruit more but I'm afraid that the three of you were the only ones that he was able to get. Pretty much take your pick."
"This is awesome. I never once in my life thought that I'd get to see this kind of weaponry and armor. It's almost like a dream come true!"
Riley looked around the different armor types trying to determine the armor that would be the most suitable for her skills. Her eyes gazed over the heavier armor and the slightly lighter armor and finally came to a decision.
She pulled the armor off of it's stand and held it up to her chest. The shirt was made of a tufted woolier fabric that resembled to blue color of the deepest part of the ocean. The garment stretched well below the buttocks and was covered in metal scaled armor that offered some protection against ranged attacks. The trousers were a solid black color that were paired with a sturdy looking pair of brown leather boots. The gloves and belts matched the color of the boots and were lain across a chest in front of the stand that the armor was on.
Riley looked over to Alistair with a large smile on her face, "I think this is perfect."
"Alrighty, I'll leave you to change. I will be out here if you need anything," Alistair smiled as he closed the door just enough to let some light in so that Riley could still see properly.
Riley wasn't slow about changing into her new garments and she was sure to not forget a single piece of the armor behind. She grinned all the while putting the armor on and was satisfied when she had it all on. She called out to Alistair who slowly opened the door in case she hadn't fully changed yet. She put her hands on her hips and looked to Alistair to confirm whether or not it looked good on her.
Alistair felt his cheeks begin to heat up when he looked at the childish grin that was on Riley's face. He quickly cleared his throat before saying, "I think it looks great. You look like a true Grey Warden now."
"You think so?" Riley beamed spinning in place, "it feels great to be apart of something that I could possibly call family one day."
Alistair cocked his head confused about what she had just said, but simply shrugged it off not wanting to kill her mood. She smiled as she grabbed the clothes she had on before and made her way out of the small room. Alistair was quick to shut the door behind her and followed her to her tent where Jaegan and Yevvan were located. This time would be the last time she would get to see the two before the battle began. The war horns were sounding and Alistair could sense the bloodlust coming in the distance. This would be a battle that would determine the fate of the nation if it goes their way.
"What do you mean they're not responding? We lit the fire, they should be able to see it," Riley shouted looking out the window of the tower, "oh dear maker, there's a horde. There's no way they'll make it out of this. Or that we'll make it out of this."
"Just calm down. Maybe they're just trying to clear the area before continuing," Alistair attempted to come up with some way that he could justify them not responding to their signal.
"What about Jaegan? Oh man, he's got to be terrified. I need to get to him right now."
Riley began charging for the door when it got slammed open by a horde of darkspawn that came spilling in. There was no way that they were going to be able to get out of this mess. Alistair began swinging his sword at the bowmen in order to rid them of the distance fighters. Riley not paying attention after throwing fireballs had two arrows shot into her right shoulder. She fell back after the impact and the whole world started to grow fuzzy. She could hear Alistair yelling at her from a distance but to no avail she was unable to keep herself awake.
