This story was not only inspired by my favorite game but also by a song called All of Me by Matt Hammitt I do not own dragon age or any of its characters that honor goes to bioware whom we love so much for creating such and awsome place for us to get lost in :)

Chapter 10: Into the Wilds

The second we stepped into the Korcari Wilds we were ambushed by a pack of feral wolves. No sooner had we dispatched them did Ser Jory and Daveth start bickering. The two fought like children and it reminded me of home. How many times did I listen to Soris and Shianni fight over the years, the thought brought the heartbreak of their loss to the surface and I walked a head of the two to try and distance myself from their argument.

"Who… is that?" a faint voice called. I dropped into a crouch and pulled my dagger from its sheath following the voice. Dead bodies were scattered upon the ground while one severely injured man struggled to walk towards us. I stood rushing to his side.

"Are you grey... wardens…?" he asked weakly.

"Yes." Alistair answered. He told us of the large horde of darkspawn that had attacked him and his scouting party while I treated his wound with a healing salve from my pack. Jory paced nervously back and forth as I wrapped the wound listening to the soldier's story about one of the darkspawn that was larger than two men and had horns growing out of its head. I wrapped the final bandage around the soldiers arm placing them back into my pack. He thanked us and stood intent on returning to camp, I offered that we escort him back to the army camp but he insisted that he was well enough to make it back alone. I shrugged my shoulders and watched him stumble away.

Once the soldier was gone from view Ser Jory began ranting about how crazy it was to be walking in a darkspawn infested area with only us.

I tried not to snarl at him. Stating calmly instead, "overcoming these danger are a part of this test. Duncan would not send us needlessly into danger; obviously he thought the four of us could handle this together."

"All grey wardens can sense the darkspawn; we are nowhere near the bulk of the horde. What few are about I can assure you, they will not take us by surprise, however that doesn't mean that I am here to make it easy. Now let's get a move on," Alistair said.

I nodded in agreement checking the map for our destination. We traveled south through the wilds around swampland and fallen trees. Through the distance I could see old Tevinter ruins, and wished that I had been sent to this place under different circumstances. How grand it would have been to explore the ruins and discover the history of this place. My eyes widened in horror as we approached a stone archway near a wooden bridge, where two bodies of dead soldiers hung. They were horribly disfigured with several limbs missing. My face went deathly pale and I blinked rapidly trying to hold back tears as we approached them.

"You don't look so well," Alistair commented. I shook my head and stared up at the bodies, his gaze followed mine. "The poor slobs, that's just excessive if you ask me."

"That's just not right," Daveth whispered. I agreed with him whole heartedly but couldn't form the words. The smell of death coated the air and my stomach rolled.

"DARKSPAWN," Alistair shouted pulling his weapon and shield out. I pulled out my sword and dagger, watching the others arm themselves just seconds before the ground erupted before us and several darkspawn clawed their way from the earth. The sight of them was even worse than I had imagined. Some of them were short and stocky with wide mouths, short pointed teeth, and long pointed ears similar to an elf's. Alistair called them Genlocks and said they were the most common of darkspawn. Also with them were Herlocks though there were fewer of them they were stronger than the Genlocks. Hideous by nature, their gruesome features included long wide mouths with no lips and large sharp dagger like teeth. They stood as tall as a human but had the strength of five of them. Their flesh held scars and tattoos covering the skin everywhere you could see. When you cut them they bled like any other being, but it was black and tainted all it touched. They fought viciously but were no match for our blades.

I pulled my sword from the stomach of the final Herlock and surveyed the others, we were bloody, filthy and covered in Andraste knows what, but alive and mostly uninjured.

"Is everyone alright?" Alistair asked.

I nodded and removed my leather glove using the back of my hand to wipe the sweat from my brow. Daveth kicked one of the darkspawn closest to him. I knelt down and pulled my vial from my pack filling it with darkspawn blood. As I stood I noticed the other two were doing the same.

"We should move on," he said wiping his blade off before sheathing it. I looked over at him his once handsome face now covered with blood. I almost agreed with him but the bodies hanging once again caught my attention.

"Not until we cut them down," Daveth replied. Looking over at him, I could see how much the sight of them upset him, and then recalled how he had said he had been a cutpurse and that Duncan had conscripted him. Had Duncan not done that, he too would have had the same fate as these poor soldiers hanging.

"If we had the time, I would agree, but I do not think we should stay here any longer," Jory argued.

"Piss off," Daveth growled at Jory and turned toward the archway. Climbing the stones in a way only a true thief could. He pulled a dagger out and began to cut away at the rope, the weight of the body hastened the process snapping only half way through the rope. It fell with a sickening crunch, bones snapped and protruded from flesh. My stomach rolled and I barely had time to turn away before spewing the contents of my stomach onto the ground. Alistair paled at my reaction and sent Jory over to help Daveth with the remaining body. Alistair guided me to the bridge and the nearest source of water. I collapsed to my knees splashing water on my face. He knelt down next to me and pulled a small cloth from his pack, handing it to me. I wiped away the water and stared down at my reflection.

"What did they do to them? Half of their flesh is missing."

Alistair sighed and took a deep breath. "There were rumors… that the darkspawn ate some of their victims."

"For the love of the ancestors, please be joking?" I asked him raising my face to gaze at his. His features never changed and I shuddered in revulsion. "Wait you only said some of them, what do they do with the rest of them?"

He cleared his throat. "Others like the ones back where we found that wounded soldier are just left were they fell and the rest are… taken."

I stared at him dumbfounded. "Taken," I repeated. "Taken where?"

"Not sure," he said seriously, looking back at the others. "Jory and Daveth are done with the bodies. If you're going to be alright, I think we are ready to move on now."

"Thank you," I whispered my throat sore.

"It's alright; I understand my reaction the first time was similar." He smiled kindly offering me a hand up. "Now to find these scrolls and get away from these horrors."

"Agreed." I answered taking his hand. I stood, feeling that I had gained my first friend. A human none the less but a friend anyway. Life sure was funny sometimes.

I noticed that it has been 11 months since I last wrote in this story, thats along time in my opinion and I apologize to my followers for taking so long to write this chapter, truth was I was working on another project until I reached burnout and then decided it was time to go back to some previous projects. The Great news is you wont have to wait long for the next couple of chapters because they are already written. :) so sit back relax and enjoy and if you have time check out my other works or reread this one (major editing planned for previous chapters.) love you all Faynyx