Chapter 9 – Treacherous Shemlen.
Lyla was walking through the camp towards Ashalle, the woman who had taken her in as her own after Lyla's mother died. She carried in her hands three bowls of stew, she knew Ashalle very well and knew that she would have forgotten to eat today as she always did when she was teaching the children with Merrill. Merrill was barely more than a child herself but she was smarter than Lyla and Ashalle combined. She was the keepers first and had been a part of the Sabrae clan since she was a very small child, Merrill's parents were from the Alerion clan and had chosen to give their child to the Sabrae clan as they knew there were no magical children born there. Merrill was too young to remember her parents but like Lyla she saw Ashalle as her mother, the woman had raised her along with Lyla.
"Andaran Atish'an Lethallan" Merrill smiled at her friend as she approached them. "Is that for me? Ma serannas Lyla, you are too good to me as always. Can I at least get you a drink? We have…" she paused and looked around trying to see what was around her. "Water?" she smiled weakly and took a bowl off Lyla.
"Merrill, you're my sister you don't need to get me anything and I know you both too well, you haven't eaten since breakfast have you?" she looked up at Ashalle with a stern look in her eyes. "Mamae you know how Merrill gets when she talks about history, you should have kept an eye on her." She smiled after this to let her parent know that she wasn't really cross.
"Lyla you know as well as I that no one but you could stop Merrill once she gets interested in something." Ashalle laughed.
"Though I must admit I didn't expect to see you again." As she spoke Lyla noticed the world shifting in colour, the beautiful vibrant green trees of the Brecillian forest quickly changed to the brown leafed trees of the Korcari wilds.
"Mamae? What's going on? Where am I?" Lyla was scared, the panic apparent in her voice.
"Da'len it's time for you to wake up. You are a warden now, not Elvhen. Stop fooling yourself and go back to your shemlen friend." Ashalle spoke with such venom in her voice that Lyla felt her heart break.
"No, Mamae don't leave me. I don't want to be alone, please Mamae." Lyla was crying as she fell to her knees begging. She turned to Merrill who wore an equally hate filled face as her parent. Lyla's tears fell harder as she watched Merrill transform.
A mighty black dragon had formed from the body of Merrill and darkspawn where forming from the friends she had once saw. The dragon noticed her and roared. To Lyla it sounded like a thousand halla stampeded through her mind, bringing the dread wolf himself to find her. She screamed and closed her eyes. Wishing for the nightmare to end.
-FTDTD-
Lyla woke with a start, she held in the scream before it escaped her lips but couldn't help the tears flowing down her cheek. She noticed she was lying in a bedroll set up in a tent but for the life of her she couldn't remember putting it up, in fact she couldn't remember much right now. The last thing she remembered was a sharp pain in her stomach and the cold hard floor of the tower rushing to meet her.
Hearing the flap of the tent move she turned her head to look, amazed that she was in no pain. In the entrance stood a lone, grey wolf, panting as it stood there watching her. "Andaran Atish'an Morrigan, how did I get here?"
The wolf barked then as a white light consumed it a woman appeared crouched. As Morrigan stood she spoke. "Ah, you remember me, how nice. T'was my mother who saved you dalish. After seeing how the fight was going she saw you fall and turned into a giant bird and swooped you up in her arms." Morrigan's face told Lyla that the story may not be true but Lyla was sure she had seen a bird.
"So, I wasn't hallucinating. So it was she that healed me? Where are we Asha?" Lyla turned her body to look at the woman more easily, she didn't want to remove the cover of the bedroll as she noticed she was naked.
"No. T'was I that healed you dalish. You are at our home in the wilds, surely you remember such a place? T'is about time you woke up, your friend has been terribly annoying with his constant questions of your health." Lyla's face shone at that statement, Alistair was alive! She didn't care right now about her dream or the fact he was a Shem, the only person she knew was still alive!
"Morrigan, what happened to the shem army? The darkspawn?" Lyla was almost scared to ask, she didn't care for the Shem but knew better than anyone the danger the blight was on Thedas.
"It seems your king was betrayed. His man did not bring his troops to battle as promised." Morrigan spoke in a sing-song voice to show she really didn't care about what happened.
"He's not my king, I couldn't stand the man but if the battle was lost, what of Duncan or the grey wardens?" Lyla didn't care if she was asking too many questions anymore, Duncan was the first Shem to ever show her kindness and her order was the closest thing to a clan that she had now.
"You and that bumbling idiot are the only survivors dalish." Morrigan did seem to be sad as she spoke perhaps she wasn't completely evil then. "But enough talk, Mother wishes to speak to you, you will find some armour in that chest, I'm afraid the stuff you were wearing was completely destroyed."
"Ma serannas Morrigan." Lyla said as she watched the woman leave the tent, crawling out of the bedroll she opened the chest and gasped. Pure elven ironwood armour, it even had the craftwork signature of Master Ilen under the breast plate. The armour was lighter and stronger than any leather armour she had worn before and had the silvery blue bark of the ironwood tree masterfully crafted into the shapes of leaves as the scales. She looked down and saw the leggings were made up of the same material but also had a green silk skirt on top, this was designed to look like the leaves of the tree of the Ironwood tree. Lyla had never seen craftwork so beautiful in all her life. She looked upon the armour once more and noticed that next to master Ilen's signature was another, Keeper Mahariel. Another gasp with tears forming in her eyes she realised this was the armour of her father, the one he must have died in. Lyla had no idea how Asha'balannar had retrieved it but she didn't care, she finally had something of her fathers to keep.
After getting dressing in the armour she was amazed to find it was so light it made her feel as though she was naked. She was amazed that it fit her so well but assumed that the witch must have somehow refitted it to her size. She walked out of the tent towards the lake that Morrigan's house was next to, not even noticing Alistair and Asha'balannar talking to her left, she walked to the water's edge and gasped at her reflection, she looked beautiful, and it was the first time she had ever thought that about herself in armour.
"Lyla? Thank the maker you're ok, I was so scared you would leave me!" Alistair finally noticed her and ran to her.
"Alistair, I don't think the maker had much to do with it." She turned away from Alistair and looked at the witch. "Mas serannas Asha'balannar, I am forever in your debt for the gift you have given me. Did you know it was my fathers?"
Alistair was confused, was what her fathers? And where did she get that armour from, he knew better than to question his friend though, he had been on the receiving end of her anger and didn't want to be ever again.
"I found him twenty four years ago, near death, he was beyond even my magic at the time. I have always like your people. He told me that he and his bonded where attacked by humans and he fought back to allow her to escape. He told me how she was with child and asked if I knew of any way to change that armour to fit you when you came of age. I did so not expecting ever to find you but I kept my promise regardless." The witch was uncharacteristically serious as she spoke and Lyla struggled to keep the tears out of her eyes, this was such a sad time losing all the human armies to the dark spawn but she couldn't help but be happy.
"Ma serannas Asha'balannar" was all she could manage to say.
"Well now that's out of the way, Lyla did you know this was The Flemeth. From the legends?" Alistair sounded amazed as he spoke.
"Of course I did Felas, that's what I've been calling her since we met her." Lyla was still struggling to speak.
"Do not speak about me as if I am not here children." Flemeth's stern voice rose above Lyla's. "Now that I have saved you I must ask, what will you do now?"
"I don't know, we are the only two wardens left in ferelden aren't we?" Alistair asked and saw Flemeth nod her head. "How are we supposed to end a blight with just the two of us?" all hope had left Alistair now and he bowed his head in fear of what he supposed would happen to the country now.
"Wait, Felas, what about the wardens from Orlais?" Lyla found her voice again at last, letting the confidence she was good at faking shine through.
"We could find them but I honestly wouldn't know how and could we really leave ferelden like this?" he didn't even look up as he spoke.
"Well what about the treaties? We went to find them, perhaps they are still at camp?" Lyla tried to sound hopeful but she was struggling.
"No. Wait. They aren't at the camp. Flemeth please tell me you managed to grab my pack as you saved us?" Alistair looked up hopefully at the witch.
"of course I did fool, I'm not as stupid as you wardens seem to be, sending the treaties off with some bumbling fool to attack darkspawn, they should have been kept safe somewhere not in your bag."
"Felas, we have them here?" Lyla felt the hope return to her body. "Then we do have a chance don't we? If we get the dwarves, mages and Elvhen with us we can stop this!"
"We could go to Redcliffe as well, I told you I grew up there, Arl Eamon was not at the fight perhaps he still has his men and with King Cailen dead he will be the best person to have on our side to rally the nobles to our cause." Alistair was practically bubbling with excitement as he spoke now. "Could we really do this? Raise an army and stop the blight?"
"You can't if you just stand in my yard all day! You should go now. Dalish you say you owe me? Repay me by doing me this favour. Take Morrigan with you, she could use the experience away from home." Flemeth spoke directly at Lyla now, it was still a little scary for Lyla to meet her eyes but she did so anyway.
"Ma nuvenin Asha'balannar I will do as you wish." Lyla bowed her head at the woman.
"Mother do we have two guest for dinner or none?" Morrigan called from inside the hut.
"They are leaving Girl and you are going with them." Flemeth's reply left little doubt that this was nothing but an order.
"Oh such a shame… wait. What?" Morrigan stepped out from the hut. "Do I get no say in this?"
"No" Flemeth gave a look to her daughter that seemed to dare her to defy her.
"Very well mother. Dalish if you would give me a moment to gather my things." Alistair couldn't believe his ears, he had just gotten his head around the fact he had been saved by an apostate, granted an extremely powerful apostate from legends, and now he was to be joined by one. How could Lyla just accept that? Perhaps apostates were seen differently by the dalish.
"Are we really letting this apostate come with us Lyla? The Templars and chantry will be after us in every town we visit." Alistair spoke quietly to Lyla hoping not to be heard by the intimidating woman before him.
Lyla's face changed from the happy look she had on to one of great anger at Alistair's words, causing him to jump. "Do you not think they would be after us anyway? The chantry is evil Shem, if it wasn't for them my people would still be in the dales. This chantry you are so afraid of pissing off has declared my people a pest and an enemy to their church. I couldn't care less what they think of me." Lyla was practically growling at Alistair when she stopped but before he could speak again she started. "And don't forget Felaslen it was an apostate that saved our lives." She spat the word apostate out with such venom Alistair could feel his face pale in fear.
"I'm sorry Lyla I didn't realise. It's just I was trained as a Templar and it's hard for that thought process to change." He muttered whilst looking down and avoiding the woman's eyes.
"You were a mage hunter?" Lyla's voice dropped below freezing as she spoke. "You were a Chantry bitch? How could I have been so wrong about you Shem, you're just as evil as the rest of your kind if that's who you are." She walked away from Alistair at this, she was too angry at the man for hiding this from her and didn't want to attack the only other grey warden for miles around.
"T'is a funny sight indeed." Morrigan laughed as she approached Lyla. "To see a human so afraid of an elf, I never thought I'd see the day." When Lyla gave her a threatening look warning her to be quiet Morrigan just laughed. "Shall we be off then? We do have a world to save."
-FTDTD-
Lyla was struggling to follow the path that Morrigan was making them take, she was used to tracking animals and remembering her way in unknown places but the wilds Morrigan grew up in where indecipherable to her. She looked in awe at the brown, grey colours of the trees and underbrush which when compared to the vibrant emerald green trees of her home, the brecillian forest, added to the depression weighing in her heart. 'How could I have fooled myself into thinking I could trust this Shemlen? I should have realised he was like all the others, greedy and out for himself. No doubt he's just waiting for a free moment so he can slit my throat for the glory of his seth'lin maker.' she all but screamed internally at herself.
"Lyla? Are you ok? 'Stupid question, of course she's not, look at her idiot.' Alistair regretted the question instantly, he felt even worse when he saw how she looked at him, all the friendly familiarity gone, replaced by a Stoney ice cold expression.
"Ar'din nuvenin na'din Harellan." I don't wish to kill you trickster. Lyla's voice had lost all the joy he had heard back at Flemeth's house and was instead dripping with venom. "Don't talk to me."
Laughter in front of him shook Alistair from his thoughts and he looked up to see the raven haired witch standing by a tree shaking with laughter.
"T'is so funny." She exclaimed whilst looking at the pair. "You expect this fool to not speak? And you blame him for being a Templar yet never asked why?" she laughed again and continued leading them through the path.
"Fine" the words oozed from the elf's mouth with such anger Alistair could feel the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. "Why didn't you tell me you were a mage hunter?"
"I had no choice. I told you I was a servant for Arl Eamon, well his wife sent me away when I was ten. I was raised by the chantry. They convinced me that being a Templar was the right thing, that mages and heathens needed to be stopped and my blade should do it." He dared to look up at Lyla's face as he spoke and saw her eyes still filled with hate but her face had relaxed. "I hated every minute of the training but they force you to take lyrium to enhance the powers we train against magic. Lyrium is addictive Lyla, once you join the Templars it's almost impossible to stop, to quit lyrium addiction outright kills more times than not." He could have sworn he saw a flash of sympathy in her eyes before the hate took over again. "The chantry controls the lyrium supply, to leave the Templar order is to leave the lyrium and to leave lyrium is suicide."
"Why aren't you dead then?" Lyla's words sounded harsh but her eyes betrayed the truth, she was confused, whether about the chantry or her friendship with Alistair was anyone's guess.
"There was a tournament held to honour the grey wardens at the grounds I was training in. Duncan was there overseeing it, he claimed that the winner of the group would be asked to join his order. So I jumped at the chance of leaving, I hated what the order did to mages." A brief smile crossed his lips intended to bring Lyla onto his side. "Armed with my sword and shield I felt unbeatable as I walked into the arena for my first fight. That feeling lasted all of twenty seconds with I tried to dodge a direct stab and fell to the ground instead. To say I was embarrassed would be an understatement. I managed to get up and finish the fight but well the damage was done. I fought against other stronger fighters but lost to nearly all of them. But I suppose Duncan saw something in me, instead of recruiting the winner of the tourney he recruited me instead. I'll never forget the grand cleric's face as he told her. 'You want to do what?'" he spoke the last line in a high pitched squeaky voice that succeeded in making Lyla laugh. "Duncan just told her he invoke the rite of conscription and took me off to join the wardens. Turns out the joining rid me of all my dependency on lyrium which is lucky as I didn't really fancy asking the chantry for one more hit."
"So the Templars are slaves? This chantry of yours gets worse and worse every time someone tells me about it. I hope the dread wolf found Andraste for what she did. Felas, I understand why you may not have wanted to tell me about this but please no more secrets, you are the only friend I have left, I need to be able to trust you." Lyla looked up at Alistair hoping he understood how lonely she was.
"Lyla, I promise I have no more big secrets to hide." 'Well except one'
"Ma serannas Falon. Come I can see the edge of the wilds, we must be near the road now."
-FTDTD-
Morrigan walked behind her companions now that they had reached the road, she hadn't been this far from the wilds since she was a small girl, the road itself seemed to be the same as the one she remembered but this one was surrounded by farmland, looking ahead she could just about make out the ruined remains of the imperial highway ahead. She remarked to herself how nice the quiet was now that that idiotic male warden had finally shut up and then looked upon the wardens in front of her finding herself smiling in amusement at them. She found it hilarious that this big man would follow the words of a little elf woman who was at least a head and a half smaller than him. Elves were usually smaller than men but this one was small even for them. 'How can this woman expect to fight darkspawn so much bigger than her?' she thought to herself.
"There's something in the distance. I think it's a group of darkspawn and they're chasing something, an animal of some kind. Alistair get ready to charge them as they approach, Morrigan I don't know what your abilities are yet but would you prefer to shift into an animal and fight close up or stay behind and use your staff?" Lyla's spoke matter-of-factly leaving no doubt that she was born to lead the group.
"Let me shift Dalish, let the darkspawn fear my forms." As she finished speaking a great light shone from her and her body shifted to that of a giant spider.
"Andruil guide us" Lyla muttered to herself as she drew her bow, knowing that the group needed ranged support. She nocked an arrow and drew back the bow string, drawing in a breath and closing one eye she aimed at the nearest darkspawn still some 20 paces away. "Dread wolf take you monster." She growled as she let loose the arrow.
The Hurlock looked up from the animal it was chasing in time to see a group approaching them, it barely had time to react when it saw the arrow flying straight at it. The last thing it saw was the arrow fly into its eye before it died. Alistair charged as soon as he saw it fall, stopping briefly as the giant spider jumped over him and ran straight into a Hurlock alpha, taking it in her mandibles and crunching the life out of it. Alistair ran in to the next genlock smashing his shield into its face and looked in disgust as the creatures face was destroyed, before driving his sword through his throat, he felt pain in his shoulder as another darkspawn slashed at him. Luckily the blow lacked any real power as the creature fell almost instantly after hitting him, an arrow sticking out of the back of its head. Morrigan ate the last darkspawn before changing back into her human form.
"Urgh, that was disgusting, did you have to eat them?" Alistair stared at her in disgust.
"no, but I was hungry." Came Morrigan's reply as she looked up the animal she had saved.
"Is that the same dog you helped Lyla?" Alistair asked as he saw the hound charge towards the elf, stopping just before her and licking her outstretched hand.
"I think it is, these mabari imprint on a master right?" she looked at the dog as she spoke, surprised to see it nod its head. "Am I your new master?" she asked not realising she had slipped into speaking elven. See another nod she spoke again "well you need a name then don't you, I'll call you Revas." Freedom, she spoke again but in her elvish tongue. "Freedom, for that is what you are to me friend, you are my freedom from the world that hates me, freedom from the clan that disowned me. I am honoured you chose me my friend."
"Does this mean we are going to have this mangy beast follow us around? Wonderful." Morrigan's voice full of sarcasm as she shook her head.
"Oh he's not mangy." Alistair spoke with the voice of a mother who had just seen her baby for the first time. "How did he understand you when you spoke elvish though?" he asked no one in particular.
"We get this dog and you're still the stupidest in our group Alistair." Morrigan laughed as she spoke, and Revas barked happily at her comment.
Author's note.
You'll notice a lot of a change from the game in this chapter, I didn't like the idea of Lyla waking up in Morrigan's bed and thought the scene would be better if she was outside the hut in a tent. The armour she gets in the chest is loosely based upon the armour from the improved atmospheres mod, you get this armour instead of the dalish hunter armour in the origin story.
Translations
Andaran Atish'an – formal greeting
Ma serannas – thank you
Mamae - mother
Asha - woman
Asha'balannar – woman of many years, Flemeth's elvish name
Felas – slow, Alistair's nickname
Ma nuvenin – as you wish
Felaslen – slow child.
