In a shorter time than I expected, Morrigan left the hut once more, Flemeth at her back. Whatever had been said in there was carefully hidden behind the blank mask of Morrigan's face as she spoke.

"I am at your disposal, Grey Wardens. I suggest a village north of the Wilds as our first destination. 'Tis not far, and you will find much you need there. Or, if you prefer, I shall simply be your silent guide." That last bit was definitely a poke at Alistair, who was clearly still not on board with her accompanying us. "The choice is yours."

"If you're going to be part of this you're more than welcome to speak up whenever you want," I told her, subtly tilting my head back in Alistair's direction.

She caught it and her lips curled slightly.

Flemeth laughed, "you will regret saying that."

Her daughter sighed, mouth falling back into an expression neutral displeasure. "Dear, sweet mother, you are so kind to cast me out like this. How fondly I shall remember this moment." She grumbled with heavy sarcasm and a bit of venom.

"Well, I always said if you want something done, do it yourself or hear about it for a decade or two afterwards."

Just how old was she, to count decades in such a careless tone?

"I just..." Alistair huffed. "Do you really want to take her along because her mother says so?"

Mahariel's eyes flickered to me as he answered vaguely, "we need all the help we can get."

Alistair followed his gaze, and that was enough to quiet him.

I guess there was nothing scarier than an untrained mage. I did kill someone and freeze an entire ogre just because I broke down. No more freak outs, I resolved yet again. Alistair and Mahariel had likely only survived due to Alistair's templar training.

"I'm so pleased to have your approval," Morrigan said dryly.

"Can we just go now? Or are we going to stay the night?" I snapped at the men.

"We should be underway." Mahariel agreed, as if I hadn't included him in my shortness.

"Farewell, mother," Morrigan said, trying her hardest to be casual about her good-bye. "Don't forget the stew on the fire. I would hate to return to a burned down hut."

"Bah. 'Tis far more likely you're return to find this entire area, along with my hut, swallowed by the Blight."

"I..." Morrigan wavered, the thought giving her pause and throwing her off. "All I meant was..." Despite the resentment she held for the mission Flemeth had detailed to her in the hut, the witch was still her mother.

Flemeth smiled gently and patted Morrigan's cheek. I had a suspicion she enjoyed upsetting her daughter's attempts at being aloof. "Yes, I know. Do try to have fun, dear."

Morrigan was silent, looking into her mother's eyes searchingly. Whether she found what she was looking for, I don't know. I turned away, shuffling over to Mahariel. "So, are we going to... To that village?" I muttered, crossing my arms against a breeze. I was careful to not say Lothering, but I very nearly did.

The elf shrugged and passed me the leather he had been working on. "We need supplies," he said simply, "and you need new armor. I couldn't remove the blood."

I took the leather cuirass and looked over the stains and holes. The armor was too stiff in places where there had clearly been blood. My blood... The evidence of my first wounds on Thedas.

"Thanks for trying. Should I...?" I motioned putting it back on, but he shook his head.

"No. Just be careful if anything happens."

He was expecting trouble, but who wouldn't be? We were surrounded by darkspawn and even if not them, bandits, animals, or just plain danger in general. They must think I was a trouble magnet. Hah, they'd learn it wasn't just me.

"Come, we must leave before the light sets. Unless you wish to travel by night?" Morrigan interjected.

"We have been resting enough. It would be wise to travel for as long as we can, regardless of the state of the day, or night as it may be."

I made a face, but Mahariel was right. We needed to get moving. I hoped they wouldn't mind me clinging to their arms at night, though. My night vision is dismal at best.

oooooooooo

I. Hate. Walking.

Walking to Ostagar had already been a tedious ordeal, but there had been plenty of stops to rest on account of Mahariel's and my illness. There were no such stops for resting now, not with the urgency to get out of the area. My legs were masses of over-used muscle, and I could tell I would be treated to terrible cramps when we finally laid down to sleep.

Alistair had long since stopped asking me if I was all right and everything was quiet save the sound of our moving and breathing. We had stopped a few hours ago, just before dawn, to rest and nap. I wasn't usually one to fall asleep easily, but that had been one of the few cases I was dead the moment I hit the ground.

Waking up, however, was just as hard as always. Mahariel had discovered in our earlier traveling that I was a husk of a human when I woke up. Alistair and Morrigan would learn the same soon.

There wasn't much chatter as we got on the road again. The recent events weren't exactly conducive to conversational topics. It didn't matter, I wasn't exactly in a talking mood either. The cold, which I liked under normal circumstances, wasn't any help.

I shivered in my meager clothing, silently willing the sun to get to its highest peak faster.

Faint barking reached my ears, and I knew I wasn't the only one who heard it when the rest of the party stopped.

"Did you-? A mabari!" Alistair exclaimed.

The big dog came galloping up to us, skidding to a stop before me. The warrior dog then turned on his heel and growled viciously, ears pinned to his head.

Shit! I forgot the dog had darkspawn on his tail when he joined up!

"Darkspawn!" Mahariel spat, readying his bow.

Our skins had been itching with the feeling of darkspawn since we had left, we couldn't have known the beasts were on us unless they were dropped on our faces. Like they were now.

An alpha hurlock roared behind his horned helm, and the group with him rushed forward.

Alistair shouted back, rushing into the fray. Behind him, Mahariel picked off any hurlocks unfortunate enough to get in his view.

Quick and silent, Morrigan conjured spikes of ice, and sent them whistling at the darkspawn. One stray bolt hit the alpha in the gut and Alistair took advantage of its stunned stumbling to behead it.

Next to him, the mabari was shaking the neck of a hurlock until it snapped. The battle was so quick, I hadn't even had the chance to duck behind a rock.

Proud of his accomplishment, the mabari trotted up to me covered in gore and plopped on his butt with a happy bark.

"Good puppy," I praised weakly. He barked again and rolled on his belly in the universal dog sign for belly rubs.

I sighed, but I never could deny dog bellies. I knelt and rubbed vigorously, scratching until I found the spot that made his leg kick.

"Good 'puppy'?" Alistair echoed, and Morrigan snorted behind him. "Is that what you call him?"

"What? No, I mean, he did kill a darkspawn. He did a good job, is all."

Mahariel cocked his head, eyes looking at the faint markings on the mabari's back. "He's the one you wanted the flowers for," he noted quietly.

I answered casually, "yeah. He looks better now. Yes, you're all better, big boy," I cooed. I knew this dog was just as smart as a regular human, they were made to be so, but he was still a dog. Sue me, so I baby coo at dogs.

"I guess he was looking for you, then, if you helped him," Alistair said. "He's... chosen you. Mabari are like that. They call it imprinting."

Morrigan scowled in absolute disgust. "Does that mean we're going to have this mangy beast following us about now? Wonderful."

"He's not mangy!" Alistair denied, taking on a hint of baby coo. Ha! I'm not the only one.

"Well..." I drawled. The mabari whined, looking up at me with betrayed eyes.

"No, I don't mean you're mangy! You're just kind of... Stinky. You could use a bath."

He gave a big doggy sigh of resignation.

"Enough. We should continue. If the dog wishes to remain, he may come with us," Mahariel said with an air of finality.

The mabari barked loudly, panting and grinning. I stood, and he hopped to his feet beside me. Looks like all had gone well. There was a mabari in the party, and he was mine.

The world wasn't suddenly great and bright, full of hope and goodness, but I felt like I could handle it- just a little better. I had a war hound at my side. This big boy was up to my waist and loyal unto death, whether I died or he did. Whatever happened, he and I, we were partners now. You can't tell me having that kind of partner wouldn't lift your spirits too.

oooooooooo

Mahariel was warming up to the mabari, who I couldn't come up with a name for. He flushed out a few birds, just bounding around, two of which Mahariel shot down, and came trotting back with them in his mouth, proud as you please.

He found a rabbit too, but that one ended up being his meal. Alistair was put out, but I couldn't bring myself to scold the hound. He killed it, so it was only fair he got to choose what to do with it.

It was only a few days to Lothering, but I learned several things. I learned to start a fire without magic, I learned how to pluck birds and skin rabbits (hooray for life skills I never wanted to have), and I learned that Mahariel is impervious to begging, pleading, or wheedling of any sort.

We barely took breaks, save to sleep, and my feet ached with blisters. Each night Morrigan silently handed me salve that smelled faintly of herbs. She had told me it was for soothing irritations before hiding away in her tent. I took it gratefully and used it nightly on my feet. It was no cure, but my blisters were slowly easing.

Nights were warmer with my new friend. My hound curled around me, sometimes even let me use him as a pillow if I was still enough. I wasn't used to such a big animal sleeping so close, but he was more than welcome. Truthfully, I thought of him as mine, but I think it was more that I was his.

I would have been worried about Morrigan's lack of teaching, but the prickling reminder of the darkspawn was more important. Once we were free of the Wilds I'm sure my lessons would begin.

As we moved closer to Lothering and further from the horde, the prickling faded and stopped. That afternoon we came across the bridge to the quaint village by the river, guarded by "toll collectors."

They were looting dead bodies of those less fortunate that had tried to oppose them. A guy on watch spotted us and elbowed another man in leather armor that looked a little big for him.

I made a face, backing behind Alistair with the mabari. The dog sensed my apprehension and began growling as the head honcho of the operation approached.

"Wake up, gentlemen!" He said, grinning like a salesman, "More travelers to attend to. Led by an elf, of all things." He sneered nastily in Mahariel's direction, but Mahariel didn't react. With stoic boredom, he stared back at the man.

A bigger bandit, possibly smarter too, was a little less confident than his leader. "Err... They don't look much like them others, you know," he whispered, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Uh... Maybe we should just let these ones pass..."

The leader laughed. "Nonsense! Greetings, travelers!"

He leered at Morrigan in particular, but I wasn't sure if she even cared.

"Highwaymen," Alistair murmured to me, as if I needed explaining, "preying on those fleeing the darkspawn, I suppose."

"They are fools," Morrigan responded, crossing her arms loftily. "I say teach them a lesson."

The leader clearly didn't take her seriously. She was a slender waif of a woman, what could she do to him?

"Now, is that any way to treat someone?" He clicked his tongue in mock disapproval. "A simple ten silvers, and you're free to move on."

"How about you fuck off?" I suggested. Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to say. Alistair thought so too as he quickly grabbed me, pressing a gloved hand over my mouth.

"We don't have that kind of coin, ser, sorry." Alistair smiled anxiously, oblivious to my attempts to bite his palm.

"Ah! And if I don't believe you?" The bandit said, eyeing Alistair's armor. It was much nicer than anything they had probably seen. Most Ostagar soldiers had already passed through and any others were likely dead or deserters who certainly wouldn't have the Grey Warden standard armor that Alistair wore or the exotic Dalish leathers Mahariel had on.

Mahariel had heard enough. "I kill you," he stated. "Problem solved."

The leader sighed, rolling his eyes as he withdrew his sword. "Well, this is going nowhere. Let's finish this, gents!"

Alistair was quick to push me behind him, pulling his sword out just in time to block a nimble bandit. The mabari helped by going for the man's leg with a snarl.

An arrow whizzed pass, ricocheting off a stone column. I yelped, rushing behind a large box. "Puppy, go for the guy with the arrows!"

I heard a whoosh of Morrigan's fire and desperately wished I could do that too. Maybe I started out wanting this power gone, but I had no other way to defend myself. Once we were done in Lothering I was demanding lessons.

"All right, we surrender!" The leader shouted. I peered from behind the box. More than half his men were dead or severely wounded. He had definitely not accounted for Morrigan's magic. Puppy trotted up to me where I hid, a quiver of arrows and the belt it had been attached to in his mouth.

"That's not what I meant, but thanks," I whispered shakily, taking them. Maybe Mahariel would have use for them.

"We-we-we're just trying to get by, before the darkspawn get us all!"

"Like hell you are!" I snapped, pushing myself from my hiding spot. "These people are dead! You didn't need to kill them, you're just a greedy, piece-of-shit criminal! Now your men are dead too!"

Exasperated that things weren't going his way, the bandit heaved a sigh. "Yes, I'm a criminal; I admit it. I apologize," he said, trying placate me with his oily salesman tone.

"You're not sorry for anything, you shit bag," I hissed, Puppy barking fierce agreement beside me. My voice thickened, almost breaking. "You should die before you kill anyone else."

I had never wished death on anyone before. I had never even hurt another person with the intention to cause harm. I was not sadistic. All the darkspawn I had seen killed in front of me were not human enough for me to care about their deaths. All the men who had been killed were, as gruesome as it sounds, not whole enough for me to register them as human.

But here, all around me, there were people. Clear as day, people who had been alive in the last twenty-four hours and now were not. I was just a normal woman, and, as a normal woman, I felt the intense urge to kill this man before me for being the prime cause of death to all these people.

Mahariel killed him for me.

As the bandit gathered himself, face twisting with anger and desperation, Mahariel put an end to him with a single quick arrow. As he fell the rest of the bandits looked at us and dropped their weapons.

As they dispersed, we made our way down to Lothering.

Then there were seven.