My apologies for this taking so long, as you know sometimes life happens. I try to make my chapters longer but Bronwynn tells me this is what needed to be said. I'm still so excited that y'all are reading it! (No, I'm not a tween. I am just easily amused.) Please keep reading!
Chapter 10
Alistair had left Bronwynn in the Kings camp to return to the Warden camp. He had decided to try and convince Duncan not to send her to Weisshaupt just yet. He wasn't sure why he cared so much for the mage; but he did and he wanted her to be happy, even if it wasn't with him. He had hated seeing her in tears yesterday and this morning she was so down it made him feel down.
"Why are you so sure it won't work, Ferres?" Alistair could hear Blackwall's rumbling voice as he neared the main campfire.
"I'm not, actually, I just don't want it to," the Warden Mage admitted. Both Duncan and Blackwall barked laughter at this admission. The mage merely grunted in response. The three men turned to look at Alistair as he approached and Alistair once again felt the warmth of knowing these men were his brothers; not just his brothers in arms but the brothers in spirit as well. The bond they shared was deeper than blood and even more unbreakable.
"Alistair, just who we needed," Duncan said jovially and Alistair stopped walking to narrow his brown eyes at the older man suspiciously.
"Don't dawdle, little brother, come take your medicine!" Blackwall nigh shouted with the same humor Duncan was showing. This made the younger man even more nervous.
"The last time the three of you gave me 'medicine' I passed out for two hours," Alistair quipped, causing all three men to laugh heartily.
"Aye, and if your lady love is correct, you'll pass out again," Ferres replied around his laughter. He picked up a goblet and poured in a deep red liquid; it wasn't blood but it had that color. He then heated the liquid with magical fire for a few seconds before filling the goblet with wine from a very full skein. He then gave the liquid a quick chill before handing it to the young Warden.
"She's not my lady love," Alistair said with a bit more bite than he meant to put into it. The others sobered quickly when they heard the bitterness. They had, of course, known she hadn't felt the same, but they had hoped he'd take it better when he realized it.
"Well, boy, at least this won't kill you," Ferres said, motioning for Alistair to drink up. Alistair sighed and did as instructed.
"It tastes better than the Darkspawn blood," Alistair said after swallowing the contents in one large gulp. The others laughed again, but at his face.
"It can't taste too much better, youngun," Blackwall laughed. "You look like your face has turned inside out!" Alistair opened his mouth to answer but no sound emerged. Instead a dark, viscous substance exploded from his mouth, coating Blackwall. Ferres shouted for someone to get the Senior Enchanter when Alistair then began to make a keening sound that was high pitched enough those around him wondered how he was able to make such a sound.
Alistair's vision had gone red and he heard a single warped tone throughout his whole being. He felt his muscles lock and he could feel something flowing out of his mouth for a brief second before his entire body exploded in pain. He could feel every single pore on his body open and then it felt as if there were maggots crawling out of every inch of his skin, boring out of his pupils, causing the skin of his lips to wrinkle and peel off his face.
He felt himself crumple forward, but did not feel strong arms grabbing him to keep him from landing in the fire. Alistair felt his lungs catch fire from the lack of air; the red in his vision began to sparkle with sharp pinpricks of light before all went black.
Alistair was able to think, through it all; and he prayed to the maker for unconsciousness. His limbs began to shake and he could feel the moisture from tears slipping down his fevered cheeks, scalding him more with the iciness of them. He tried to scream but couldn't draw a breath. He wanted someone to end him, and when his heart stopped beating he thought it was over.
"Bronwynn!" She turned her head at the urgent calling of her name. She saw one of the Wardens running towards her, he seemed to be covered in something tar like. There was a look of such terror on his face it took her a moment to recognize him.
"Warden Blackwall, what's wrong?" she called, running towards him.
"It's Alistair!" he said and was shocked to see her face fall as if her heart had stopped beating. She asked no more questions, simply lengthened her stride to run past him. He Turned and caught up to her, although he didn't have to slow down to keep up with her. The young woman waved her hand in front of them and there were shouts of outrage and shock as well as fear when people were shoved out of their way but she did not stop. He could hear her whispering with every step they took.
When they reached the campfire she slid to her friends side and planted her hands on either side of his head; a green light encased both of them. Ferras; who had been kneeling beside Alistair, was thrown two feet back; to be followed by Bronwynn seconds after. Her brows flew up and her mouth fell open in shock.
"What in the Abyss happened to him?" she demanded of the shocked men standing around their now convulsing brother. Bronwynn scrambled back to Alistair's side, frantically running her long fingers down his arms, then chest and waist. She began unlacing the Warden's armor; Ferres and Blackwall began to help, making short work of the process. The three of them were horrified to see the pool of dark fluid pooling under him once his armor was removed.
"Ferres!" she shouted at the stunned mage; when the scent hit them all. It was the blight and they all knew that smell.
"I gave him the potion!" Ferres shouted back at her while Duncan began barking orders for the spectators to return to their duties.
"How much?" Bronwynn asked in concern, Ferres looked at her askance before answering
"The whole bottle," he said as if it were obvious and she groaned aloud.
"The instructions say four ounces, not the whole bottle!" she nearly shrieked at the older man. "Are you trying to kill him?" Ferres' eyes widened in alarm as Bronwynn began barking orders to the remaining Wardens. Alistair was lifted bodily from the ground and moved to a nearby table. Bronwynn moved to Ferres' potion supplies and began hastily mixing a liquid, her lips moving as she seemed to be talking to herself quietly.
"Open his mouth!" she shouted as she ran to the table; Duncan pinched Alistair's jaw to open and she poured a purple liquid into his mouth. Duncan held his mouth closed while Bronwynn held his nose closed, forcing him to swallow the potion. Bronwynn counted to ten before she removed her hand and allowed him to breathe. She placed her right hand over the center of his sternum, concentrating on what she could feel. When his body relaxed and the fluid stopped pouring from his pores she sighed in relief.
Bronwynn raised her eyes and caught Duncan's gray eyes with her green one's . She could see the question in his eyes.
"He'll live," she said with relief clear in her voice and on her face. "We'll need to make sure he gets lots of water and sleep, but he'll live," she said. Both Duncan and Blackwall closed their eyes in relief, Ferres seemed to still be stunned by the reaction.
Duncan began to pace and his stride was full of anger as well as concern. He rounded on Ferres and began firing questions at him, giving the mage no time to answer. The mage stood and faced the angry Warden-Commander with fury of his own. They began arguing while Blackwall watched the redhead; who kept her eyes on her friend. She raised her green eyes to his brown ones.
"Can you feel it?" she whispered, almost too softly for him to hear. He didn't understand what she meant and gave her a questioning look. She repeated the question, holding her left hand over her middle, understanding her this time he concentrated of sensing the taint. His eyes widened in shock; it was there. Different than the Darkspawn, different even than the other Wardens; but it was there. Blackwall smiled, feeling himself relax even more knowing that Alistair would still be recognized as a Warden.
"Duncan, quit berating the poor mage and use your senses!" Blackwall ground out at the Commander. Duncan turned and faced the Free Marcher to begin 'berating' him as well when the statement registered. Both he and Ferres turned their senses inward and found their brother still with them; different but with them. When they looked up at the young Enchanter she was smiling triumphantly.
"He won't die!" she laughingly shouted. "He won't! The Calling can't reach him!" The others looked at her with varying degrees of concern.
"What do you mean?" Blackwall asked her suspiciously. "I can still feel him through the taint," he told her.
"But it's different than Duncan and Ferres, right?" she asked gleefully. He nodded uncertainly. "You can't feel me, but I can feel all of you! He's not tainted any longer, the blight is out of his system," she was almost jumping with joy.
"Then why can we still feel him?" Ferres asked her.
"Because he didn't lose his connection to it! That was the whole point!" she informed the stunned mage. "I wanted a way to let people still be connected to the Blight, to be able to sense the Darkspawn but be separate from it!" she had begun to dance around now.
"He won't feel the Calling, he won't be sensed by the Darkspawn themselves - he's too different for that; but he will be able to find them, and be able to use that to the Warden's advantage!" her excitement was contagious, although the Wardens who were near were more cautionary than she was.
"Can you do that to the rest of us?" Blackwall asked her, diminishing her joy. She stopped dancing and faced the Wardens who were gathered around their brother and sighed sadly.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "It can only work on someone who has been tainted less than a year, or who has no taint at all," she said. Duncan caught Ferres nodding his head in agreement.
"That is why it had to be Alistair you gave it to," The Warden-Commander said to the Warden mage. Ferres nodded his head.
"We had already determined that it wouldn't work on those of us who were senior Wardens," The mage had gray hair, a fully wrinkled face and gnarled hands. He looked far older than he actually was, and Duncan knew it was because of the taint. It made them all older than they were, it sapped their vitality; and the longer they were tainted the easier it was for the Blight to affect them. Duncan turned to look at the other wardens he had brought with him to Ferelden to fight this blight.
"This is what I have been trying to tell you I can offer," Bronwynn said, much subdued. "I can't prevent you dying from killing the Archdemon, or from bad luck; but I can allow you to stay yourselves longer!" her vehemence touched all the Wardens present.
"Weisshaupt may not like the idea, but I say let me take her and her research. The more Wardens who survive the Joining, the better for all of us," Blackwall said somberly. The other Wardens nodded their agreement.
"In Peace, Vigilance; In War, Victory; In Death, Sacrifice," the collected Wardens recited as one.
"This will give us an edge, give us victory," Ferres said; and as he was normally opposed to anything that broke tradition that decided the Ferelden Warden-Commander as nothing else could have.
"Senior Enchanter Bronwynn," Duncan said as he turned to face the young woman. "I hereby conscript you to the Wardens, to use your knowledge for the safety of all Thedas," Bronwynn almost chuckled at the intonation if Duncan hadn't been so serious.
"I won't force the Joining on you, but from this day forward you are a Warden," Bronwynn's eyes widened in surprise, she hadn't expected that. "Warden Bronwynn, you will accompany Warden Blackwall to Weisshaupt where you will work with the Warden mages to perfect this potion. From there I'm sure the First Warden will send you out recruiting," he said with some sarcasm, allowing her to smile at his wit.
"We'll leave in the morning, first light," Blackwell informed her, she nodded in understanding.
"I'll go as far as Lothering with you," Duncan said. "I'm going to see if I can find a few more recruits," Blackwall nodded his understanding. Bronwynn asked the Wardens to help her get Alistair to his tent. She found several healers who were willing to keep an eye on the unconscious Warden. Two of them were a little more interested in his welfare than she thought was warranted; but as long as he got good care she wouldn't worry about it. As she was leaving Alistair's tent she caught sight of Duncan and Blackwall standing near the main fire conversing. She marveled at how similar their coloring was. Each had black hair, although Blackwall's was longer; to the bottom of his neck compared to Duncan's which was short. Both men were in their forties and clearly seasoned warriors, although Duncan wielded two weapons to Blackwall's great-sword. Their physiques were different due to their weapon choices, Duncan being slight while Blackwall was broad, both men had well defined muscles. They were clearly old enough to be her father, but fine looking men none-the-less.
Bronwynn made her way over to them, knowing she was going to have to convince Blackwall to stop at the Tower before they left Ferelden. She couldn't leave without seeing Cullen once more. Her heart constricted at the thought of not seeing him for even longer.