WHEEE!
-Bouncing around the room, so hyped up on caffeine that Morrigan appears to hit me with a Cone of Cold-
H-hah! O-on t-t-to the n-next c-ch-c-chapter!
Also! Spot the two movie references and get E-cookies!
Edits as of 07/07/2015
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Chapter Ten: You are cordially invited to...
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The first of the Maker's children watched across the Veil
And grew jealous of the life
They could not feel, could not touch.
In blackest envy were the demons born.
-Erudition 2:1
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The next morning we woke up early and quickly had breakfast which mostly consisted of the leftover stew that had been kept cold with a little bit of magic, bread and cheese. After the remains of the meal, made a bit more flavorful courtesy of Leliana, we cleaned up and I had Alistair share with the others both who and what he was to Fereldan. I wouldn't have this kind of a secret hidden from the others as I felt it unlikely that we wouldn't come across those who might know of Alistair's heritege and try to use it to their advantage. Secrets like Alistair tended to be the kind of secret that was only looked down upon until some use could be made of the person in question and I wanted my team to know and be prepared for the potential fallout that could be facing us.
Sten didn't seem to care a wit outside of making a singular comment about how 'Leaders should have a spine,' which caused Alistair to let out a noise of indignation at the apparent insult. Honestly, I felt he needed to grow a bit and resolved to help him gain a bit more inner strength. There was something about him that reminded me of a kicked puppy sometimes and that wasn't a good thing.
Morrigan snapped her fingers and let her own opinion known with a comment of 'That's why she saved the blundering Templar!,' which caused Alistair to let out yet another indignant 'Heeeeey!' noise.
However, the reaction that set Alistair off the worst was Leliana's sudden promise to 'make his life into a song as one of the last Gray Warden's' and she began right then and there to spin a tale all while pestering him for details as she went. Details such as if he had met King Cailan? Had it been a recent meeting? It was. How did the meeting go?Awkwardly. Had Cailan had called him brother, acknowleding him? He had, though not in earshot of any but Duncan and Loghain which was smart on the Kings behalf.
Thus as a result her tale began with him meeting his elder brother and reconciling before the eve of battle. The loss of a chance to get to know his brother better when his brother was felled in said battle. The loss his fellow Warden's and his 'Resolution to honor them all!'... though she admitted as she looked at him that she didn't know HOW he was going to go about honoring them, but assured him that she would 'watch him close' as she didn't want to miss 'a single life changing moment'.
He actually hid behind Sten at that point to get away from her staring and yammering and throughout the trek would continue to dart behind or to the side of the large man to stay out of Leliana's line of sight when she started towards him to ask him questions. Morrigan was amused by his actions and I reached out to touch her arm with a small smile, a bit amused myself at the situation.
"Try not to tease him too badly My lady. From what I know of him he hates being the center of attention," I said to her softly. "Though I have to wonder why."
She shrugged and reached up to fiddle idly with the gold chain I'd given her. For a moment I thought she was going to say something dismissive but then she shrugged.
"'Tis best he get used to it now, yes?" she said. "Leliana does not seem the type to let go of a story when she sees one."
"No," I turned to look over my shoulder and saw that Sten had finally had enough as he shoved Alistair INTO Leliana who in turn latched onto his arm and started chattering away in his ear. His face turned brighter shades of red the longer she talked. "No, she does not."
Morrigan and I shared a smile. I turned back to the road. I began to use my glaive as a walking stick as we were going uphill now. I wasn't worried about damaging the large sapphire in the pommel as it had protective spells surrounding it to prevent such damage. I took a moment to look over Morrigan's simplistic looking branch-like staff that showed clear signs of age and wondered if she might like a newer one eventually.
Morrigan actually fell back for a moment after Alistair had freed himself from Leliana's grip and began to talk to him. I tilted my head back toward them and slowed down a touch, ready to intervene if I needed to as I didn't want them to fight.
"There is one thing I do not understand, Alistair," Morrigan said blandly.
"Just the one thing?" Alistair asked warily.
"About you, perhaps," she said with a smirk. "Why the deception over your parentage?"
"I'd figure you'd be the sort who knows all about deception," he said with an annoyed tone though it was clear he was trying to evade the question.
"I do indeed. And what use the deception might have had, ended when King Cailan perished, did it not?" Morrigan had a calculating tone in her voice.
I realized that she was thinking along the same lines as had been I when I made him tell the group his history. Someone might very well try to push Alistair into taking the throne despite Anora still being alive and being QUEEN and well... we just might get caught in the middle of it if someone pushed for such a thing.
"Maybe. I guess I was sort of hoping that would go away," his voice became dejected.
Morrigan scoffed, "The truth does not 'go away'."
"I didn't say it was a good plan," he said softly. "It's just... I'm a Gray Warden now, that's all that should matter, right?"
"To some perhaps, but to others..." Morrigan trailed off as a man in poor fitting leathers came running down the hill toward us.
"Oh, thank the Maker! You're here!" He noticed our sudden confusion and the look of hope left his eyes. "Wait, you don't know what I'm talking about do you? You... you aren't Loghain's men, are you?"
"Slow down man," I said as he slumped to his knees. I dropped down in front of him and grabbed his shoulder. "What's going on? You sent for the General's men?"
"Yes. Oh, Maker it's horrible," he choked out. "The dead! The dead are rising every night and k-killing people!"
I looked up at the others and then pulled the man to his feet with a grim frown.
"Come on, take us to whoever is in charge right now," I ordered firmly but gently.
"R-right, that'll be the Bann... this way!"
We hurried after him and made our way down into the village and to the Chantry. It was surrounded by crude wooden spike barriers and I frowned as the men nearby pulled withered husks off of the spikes and over to the side to be tossed into a burning pile. I coughed and took out a spare cloth, as did the others, to block out the smell of burning flesh and hair. An older Chantry Sister was saying the Chant wearily as she cried, her voice stumbled over the Chant as she spoke. I flinched as I realized that these were most likely people she knew very well as the village didn't seem too terribly large in size.
All of us darted eagerly into the heavily incense filled Chantry, the strong potpourri scent a relief from the smells of cooking flesh that filled the air outside. Mongrel started to sneeze roughly in order to clear his nose and we all breathed a sigh of relief at the slightly fresher smelling air. The villager led us over to a well-dressed man who was actually in the process of pulling off his expensive over-tunic and changing into leather armor with the help of another man. Alistair stepped forward and coughed into his hand, half his face hidden by his helm.
"Hello Bann Teagan, it's been a while," Alistair said with a hint of a grin on his lips.
Bann Teagan turned around as much as he could while his man worked on buckling the last strap into place.
"Ah? Do I know you?" Teagan asked in a confused tone as he looked over his shoulder.
"Ah, right," Alistair took off his helm and flashed Teagan a bright smile. "The last time you saw me I might have been covered in mud."
I tapped at his boot with my glaive with a grin and he glanced down at his feet, shifting them and taking note of the mud that was on them and then he looked up at me with an answering grin before turning back to Teagan.
"Kind of covered in mud today, too," Alistair said.
"'Covered in mud?'" Teagan said in a disbelieving tone.
The soldier finished buckling the armor and Teagan turned around fully to look Alistair over. A moment later his eyes lit up in recognition and he let out a joyful shout.
"Alistair! You're alive!?" he yelled out happily.
He pulled Alistair into a tight hug and damn near lifted the armored man off his feet with the strength of it before he pulled back. Alistair had dropped his helm in that process and Mongrel was quick to chase after it with a loud 'Woof!' that startled a group of children nearby that had been crying.
"I thought... I thought you were dead with the others," Teagan said as he looked Alistair over.
Alistair shook his head and took back his helm from Mongrel when the Mabari brought it back. Mongrel then darted back of to the kids and rolled on his back to beg for a belly rub. We all watched the scene for a moment before Alistair turned back to Teagan with a sigh.
"No, we were lucky to have been found by.. an old herb woman," Alistair hedged. "She was able to treat what wounds we received on the battlefield and got us back on our feet."
"I'm glad to see you're alright. Have you been to see Loghain as of yet? There has been some uncomfortable rumors circulating lately," Teagan's voice was worry filled.
"What kind of rumors if I may, Bann Teagan?" I asked as I stepped forward.
"Ah, and you are?" The Bann blinked at me.
"Warden Darren Amell, ser," I glanced at Alistair for permission and he waved a hand at me almost desperatly and I had to fight back a smile. "I lead our merry little group."
"Not all of you so 'little'," Teagen said as he looked past me to look Sten over and then back to myself.
Sten was actually taller then me by a few inches, even Loghain would have had to look up at the tall Kossith. He frowned after a moment, a grim look crossing his face.
"Queen Anora has gone into mourning due to the shock of loosing King Cailan and Teyrn Loghain has stepped in as her Acting Regent until she recovers," Teagan started to explain. "Ever since then though, the Teryn has been acting oddly and there has been sudden unrest among the surviving troops from Ostagar. At this point there are three different factions making themselves known. From what I have heard at least."
"The army has split in three?" I said in shock. I blinked a bit and then frowned. "What are the different views of each group?"
"Well," Teagan shifted a bit. "One group blames the Warden's for what happened, despite it being a Warden's suggestion of a retreat signal which saved as many lives as it did. Another group lays the blame on Teryn Loghain for not charging when the signal fire was lit, despite the retreat signal, and are calling for his blood for 'allowing' the King die," Teagan shook his head then and held up his hands. "Those two are evenly matched. It is the third that is finding itself rather overwhelmed at this point yet managing to avoid being overwhelmed by the other two."
I indicated for the Bann to continue and he obliged me with a worried frown.
"The third group is comprised of those who are both loyal to the Queen and in turn accept Loghain as her Regent until she recovers. They also believe that the Warden's are not at fault for what happened at Ostagar and are trying to drum up support in the name of the Warden's."
"Dear Maker," Alistair breathed out. "What a mess!"
"It's hard to believe that things are so dire," Leliana said sorrowfully. Morrigan and Sten refrained from commenting but both looked grim.
"If I may, you said Teryn Loghain has been acting oddly? In what way?" I asked, filled with a growing sense of dread at the civil unrest.
"Well, at first he was willing to hold court normally, doing his best to quell any rumors, solve any minor issues between nobles and landholders and keep people in line. It was he who called for any Warden's to be brought in alive and unharmed to try to let the survivors tell of what happened, to confirm events. But then a few days after that he stopped holding court and refused to allow anyone to see him beyond a select few."
I narrowed my eyes and frowned. "Who are these select few?"
"The Arl of Denerim, Arl Kendells, Arl Ho- excuse me Teryn Howe and a few others."
"Wait? Teyrn Howe? What happened to Teyrn Cousland and his family?" I asked in surprise. "We're they attacked by the Darkspawn?"
"No," Teagan shook his head. "Howe came forward with documents a few days after Loghain was put forth as Regent. He claimed to have found the Couslands guilty of treason and then claimed that when he tried to confront his old friend to find out the truth of things that he was attacked and had to defend himself and his men. He states he had no choice but to kill them in self defense."
"The Couslands have been loyal to the Therin line for generations!" I said with a frown. "This..."
"It gets worse," Teagan said with a frown as he cut me off. "Barely an hour passed after Howe showed Loghain the documents before he was declared the new Teyrn of Highever."
"Wait, what?!" I shouted, appalled by what I had heard. "Only the Landsmeet can officially affirm a new Teryn, even if it is merely to affirm the eldest heir! Not even Queen Anora, nor King Cailan if he was still alive, would have been able to appoint someone like that! Offically affirming an Arl or a Bann is one thing. They aren't essentially the next in line to the throne if all things go to the Void the way a Teryn is. Are you certain he was not simply declared Teryn Regent?"
"I am sure, I was there that day," Teagan was glowering now. "Loghain Affirmed him as the new Teryn, not Teryn Regent."
"Something is wrong," I looked at Alistair and the others and shook my head slowly. "This... what is happening to Fereldan?"
"I... I don't know Darren," Alistair said softly.
"We... will worry about this later, when we do not have more pressing matters to attend to," I said as I rubbed my forehead. "Your man mentioned that the undead were attacking the village?"
"Yes," Teagan frowned. "A few nights after Eamon fell into a coma the bodies of the dead began to rise and attack the village. Anyone slain joins this army the next night if we do not burn their bodies to ash."
He waved his hand toward the doors, indicating where the pyre was burning outside.
"We fear that some kind of Demon has taken over the castle," he said tiredly. "I am trying to build up the defenses of the town before braving Redcliffe Castle. I would not wish to leave the people undefended if I fail to reclaim the castle proper."
"Noble," I tilted my head. "They only attack at night?"
"Come the beginning of dusk the first monsters arrive," he said. "We fought them off last night but the cost was high. I worry we do not have the means to survive this night as well. Would you aid us?"
"Wonderful," Morrigan quipped from behind me. "Are we to rescue kittens from trees next?"
I gave a bark of a laugh and rubbed at my nose before I turned to her with a faint smile, though there was not much in the way of true mirth in my voice.
"My Lady, the more people we help the more allies we have to combat the Blight. So if I have to rescue a few kittens and crawl through a few sewers to gain allies, I will."
"Hmm, perhaps you have a point," she said slowly. "Very well."
I turned back to Bann Teagan and indicated the crowded Chantry around us.
"What do we have in the way of defenses at this time?" I asked.
"Not much in truth," Teagan said as he shook his head. "We have my six men who came with me from Denerim, the Chantry still has the few Templars that were stationed here so that's another three men. As far as able bodied men we can count an additional ten or so men but they don't have arms or armor and barely know how to swing a blade. These people are farmers, not warriors."
"Do we have a way to get arms and armor?" I asked.
"The blacksmith has locked himself up from what I have heard, though I don't know why. It might be best for you to ask Murdock. He was outside trying to rally the men last I saw. There is also Ser Perth who should still be up on the hill watching the castle."
I shared a look with the others and then let out my breath through my nose in a huff. I turned and pointed to Alistair, Leliana and Morrigan.
"You three can stay in here for the moment. Alistair, no pissing off the Mother, just try to see if anyone needs help. Morrigan," she raised a brow at me. "You know what to say if you're bothered by any Templars. Leliana, YOU talk to the Mother and see if she needs anything but don't promise anything."
Leliana bowed her head and started off toward where the Reverend Mother was trying to organize a line for food. I called Mongrel back over to my side and scratched him behind the ear before turning to Sten.
"Sten. You'll be with Mongrel and I as we try to see what can be done to further organize these people," Mongrel whined suddenly and looked back to the children and then up at me.
"No boy, I know they need cheering up and you can play with them later. We have work to do right now," he let out a soft, dissapointed whine but stayed by my side as we headed for the doors.
We stepped outside and looked around a moment, watching the chaos as the men ran back and forth. Sten touched my shoulder lightly before heindicated a tall man with brown hair, a thick beard and mustache and brown eyes. I blinked as I noticed what Sten did, that this man was the one barking orders to the others and they were leaping to obey, the chaos was of the orginized kind only due to his words. I walked over to him and cleared my throat.
"Murdock?" I asked.
"Aye? Ah," He turned to face me and Sten and looked the two of us up and down. He then looked up at me and glared. "So you're the Gray Warden are you? Grow you lot tall they do," he glanced at Sten for a long moment and then turned his attention back to me as he crossed his arms. "I thought you all died with the King to be honest."
"You're right, they did. I'm just a ghost passing through," I rolled my eyes and leaned against my glaive. "Can't you tell?"
"Baha!" Murdock laughed and threw his head back. "Lively one aren't you?" He indicated Sten with a wave of a hand. "A damned Qunari could walk up to me and say he was a Warden and I wouldn't know the difference."
"Kossith," I muttered under my breath, why did everyone automatically have to assume that he was a follower of the Qun? I mean, he WAS but... Ah, well... I suppose it might just be me. Sten's lips twitched though and Murdock raised a brow.
"What's that?" Murdock asked
"Nothing," I cleared my throat. "Teagan said you might need help?"
"We aren't going to turn aside anyone who wants to help," Murdock said with a shrug. "Anyway, names Murdock, as you know. I'm the mayor of what's left of the village... provided we aren't all killed and hauled back to the castle tonight."
"Morale... doesn't seem all that high," I said as I looked around.
Although the men had been quick to obey Murdocks' orders they had a bedraggled and defeated look to them.
"Morale's about what you'd expect," Murdock said with a shrug. "These men... most of them aren't soldiers... they're villagers defending their homes... and they're frightened. It would help if we had some decent equipment. With Owen holed up the way he is we have no access to weapons or armor. We'll do our best but as we are now... well, I have my doubts. I just hope I'm alive come morning."
"What can we do to help?" I asked.
"We need our armor and weapons repaired, and quickly, else half of us will be fighting with naught but our fists," he shrugged again. "Owen's the only blacksmith in town, if you can get him to open up his doors and get to work that would be the best thing you could do to help us. We need that crotchety bastard's help to survive the night."
"Got you, 'kick the cranky old man in trousers,'" I grinned and Murdock gave another laugh before he pointed at one of the buildings.
"That's his place. Good luck, Warden, you're gonna need it," he said before he started in on another group of men who were in the process of lugging wood toward the Chantry.
We walked over to the door and I knocked on it lightly once. A few moments later I tried again a little louder and heard a bottle crash hardagainst the door. I shared a look with Sten and knocked once more.
"Go the f-fuck away!" An older mans voice cried tearfully.
"Owen? Look we need to tal-" I started to say.
"You go and tell Murdock that he can go to the Void! GO AWAY!"
I blinked at the door for a moment before turning to Sten, "Sorry 'bout this."
I turned back to the door and drew myself up straight, I cleared my throat and yelled out in my best mimicry of Greagoir at his worst.
"I tried to be nice about this but you've got to the count of THREE. I've got a big Qunari Warrior with me. You do know that most of them have HORNS, right?" I was fudging the truth. "Horns can do a heck of a lot of damage to a door! Now, I will warn you, you do not want to see him when he gets angry! You wont like it when he gets angry! ONE!"
There came a scrambling noise and shouted curses which was followed quickly by the sounds of metal crashing against metal.
"TWO!" I shouted.
"H-Hold on damn you! Hold on!"
There came a scrabbling noise right at the door and the turn of a key sounded right as I started shouting 'THREE'. I nodded my head once as I heard the sound and shoved my way into the Blacksmith's shop, Sten on my heels. I could have sworn I saw him flash another true almost-smile.
"Holy Maker!" Owen said as he stumbled away from Sten. He blinked drunkenly and frowned. "Hey now..."
"He's got no horns, aye, I know. I never did say specifically that he had horns. NOW..." I glared and the older man shut his mouth right fast. "Why are you not helping outside or at least trying to help arm and armor the men?"
He looked down and away from my glare. He swayed unsteadily on his feet as he fell back a few steps.
"I... it's my girl, Valena. She's one of the Arlessa's maids and... she's trapped up there in the castle! Murdock the lazy bastard isn't sending anyone to try to help her!" Owen slumped into a chair with a broken sound and covered his face with one hand. "She's been my life since my wife passed away. Now... now she's dead or soon will be... I don't care... I don't care any more what happens to me... or the village... or anyone."
He started to reach for a bottle and I gently caught his hand and stopped him.
"Your girl is a smart girl, yes?" I asked softly.
"Aye... aye she is," he said brokenly. "Smartest girl there ever was."
"So first sign of trouble she'd lock herself in a room somewhere and hide, maybe?" I asked.
"Y-yes, if she... if she had the chance to," he nodded.
"I know it seems unlikely," I said as I took the bottle gently from his nerveless fingers. "But she might be alive still if she got the chance to hide. Now me and my men, we're going to be going into the castle and I promise I'll look for her. I'll find her, alive or dead, and bring her back to you. But if she IS alive, do you really think she would want to see you as you are now, drowning in a bottle? Or would she rather come back to see that her da' fought, and fought hard, to keep the village safe? That her da' used his trade and skill to keep people safe?"
"I-I," he put his head in his hands and let out a choking sound before shaking it. "No... no she wouldn't want... wouldn't want to see me drinkin'..."
"Let's sober you up then, old boy," I turned to Sten. "I'll need your water skin for this."
He passed over the skin wordlessly and I took my own from my belt before I handed them booth to Owen.
"Drink from one skin slowly while I cast alright? We need you sober quick and the reason your head may hurt is because the drink has dehydrated you. Hopefully this is enough water to counter that."
"De-high-what now?" Owen asked with a blink.
"Just drink," I said as I rolled my eyes and cast a small healing spell on him as he started gulping down the water.
After about ten minutes he finished off the water in the skins and I stopped casting. He shifted and got a cross-eyed look on his face before he darted past us and outside. I laughed faintly at the sudden action and handed Sten back his water skin.
"Is something wrong with him?" Sten asked with a raised brow.
"Nah, just needs to purge all of the fluid he's had," I answered as I waved a hand dismissively.
Owen came back inside cursing up a storm but looking a sight livelier then he had when I first saw him. He issued me a wary glare before he moved to grab his blacksmithing apron and started to coax the dying embers of the forge back to life.
"Right, get going and tell that arse Murdock to get in here," Owen snapped.
I gave Owen a nod and left the blacksmith's house. I signaled to Murdock that the task was done and then walked back to the Chantry to check in on the others. The door damn near hit me as I reached for the handle, Alistair and Leliana rushed out with Morrigan glaring after them as she came to a halt just outside the doors. Mongrel rushed to her side with a happy woof and started to circle her. She swatted at his head but I noticed a piece of jerky falling from her fingers as she did so and he was quick to grab it before it hit the ground. It gave the illusion that he had nipped at her fingers in response to the swat. I fought back a grin and looked at the others. I frowned.
"Ah... what did I miss? Was there a fight?" Aistair and Leliana both looked so serious.
"A what? No!" Alistair suddenly looked a bit embarrassed, as if he had realized something. "I...uh..."
Leiliana spoke up then, "Oh Darren, it is such a sad tale. The young woman inside, her brother went missing shortly before we arrived and she is looking for him frantically. She thinks he may have gone home, but those who cannot fight are being kept inside. Alistair here is so sweet and offered to look for him."
"Uh-huh... and Morrigan looks pissed why?" I asked as Morrigan sauntered over to my side with an angry huff.
"Why am I upset at having to rescue some fool child set on getting himself killed?" She said in a sickly sweet tone and a fake smile.
"My Lady?" I asked with a raised brow, suddenly fighting off the urge to take a step back from her.
"Oh, that is bad enough on it's own," she said with a wave of her hand. She then planted both hands on her hips and glared at Alistair. "But the Templar Fool here promises to help find her brother and then walks off Without Asking Where She Lives."
Her tone was scalding as she finished speaking.
Alistair flinched at both the tone and the glare and rubbed at the back of his neck as he laughed nervously.
"I... got ahead of myself there," he said sheepishly.
"It's so sweet!" Leliana said with a laugh. "You have such a kind heart Alistair."
I let out a huff of breath and shrugged my shoulders. "Ah well, let's go. I planned to search the houses at any rate. We'll split up."
"Why?" Morrigan asked with a raised brow.
"To see if there is anything useful to prepare for tonight," I said as I started toward the houses. "Weapons, tools, wood to make barriers..."
"A pratical search then," Morrigan said with a nod as the group followed me.
I wouldn't call what we did then 'looting' but it was damned close. Every chest we found we opened thanks to Leliana's lock picking skills, needed to remember to ask her about that later on. Every bit of copper found was stored away and every blade was gathered together, even the paring knifes. We'd even managed to hit a solid score on barrels filled with flammable oil in one of the shops and Sten and I carefully got the barrels rolled out to Murdock. He looked at us and frowned.
"What's all this then?" He asked.
"Oil," I said with a smirk. "You said the undead come from the castle along the bridge, right? We can use this along the path to set them alight. Fire damages the undead best and it would only take a few strikes after that to bring them down. Have to be mindful not to let them barrel into you while they are lit aflame, of course. Don't want our own to be set alight."
"Right," Murdock was blinking rapidly. "Well, I'll see these get moved up the hill to Ser Perth."
Alistair had gone off with Leliana to explore another set of houses and managed to find the boy and a rather nice sword which had belonged to his father. Alistair took the boy and the sword back to his sister and while I was talking to Sten, who'd come to me about a dwarf and his group that had been hiding in one of the homes (He'd 'convinced' them to come out and help defend the town), he came back to me and begged me for a soverign.
"The Void?" I frowned at Alistair. "Why do you want a full sovereign?"
"To buy the sword from the girl," he said. "Even just fifty silver would work."
"..." I blinked at him blankly before looking at the others who had come back from their own searches and then back to Alistair. "Alistair..." I let out a sudden sigh. "Are you trying to impress her?"
"What? I'm just trying to help her," he looked at me with wide, confused eyes. "You... you're hinting at something."
Morrigan face-palmed with a soft groan while Leliana started to giggle. Sten simply let out a 'Parshaara' before before he stalked off to help some of Murdock's men lift a rather heavy log. Whether the comment was due to Alistair or due to the men having trouble with the log was up in the air as he looked equally annoyied with the men he went to help.
"Alistair, do you like the girl?" I asked. I put an emphasis on the word 'like' as I turned my attention back to my Warden Brother.
It took him a few moments to get what I meant before he started blushing the brightest red I'd seen on him so far.
"No! No, that's not... no!" He shifted and looked anywhere but at me. "I just wanted to help her is all, she needs travel money for her and her brother to get to Denerim... and besides, it's a good sword! Better then my current one. I can actually make use of it!"
I tilted my head at his reaction, the sword he'd shown me HAD been better then his current one, and then I grinned. I decided to have a little fun.
"Have you ever...?" I asked slowly.
He cut me off, his face still bright red, "Licked a lamppost during winter? Of course not!"
I shared another look with the others and then handed him seventy silver. He ran off without another word, Leliana on his heels eager for more for her story fodder. Honestly there was something about her that seemed off, forced, sometimes. I shook it off and looked at Morrigan. I smirked.
"He's a virgin~!" I said to her in a sing-song tone.
"Indeed," she had a thoughtful look on her face. "I would have thought he had been with someone by now. Fool that he is he is not bad to look at... until he opens his mouth, that is."
"Templars in training are Expected to remain chaste," I told her, trying to ignore her comment and not laugh. "They have to take actual vows upon becoming a Templar. Most take a vow of Chastity and call it good. Others add or choose different vows."
"Why in the world would the Chantry require that it's warriors' deny their bodies natural needs?" Morrigan shook her head. "I find myself understanding more of Mothers' disdain for the Chantry."
I let out a huff of laughter at that and we went back to finalizing the defenses of the village. Ser Perth had mentioned that the Reverend Mother had some silver medallions stored away and that if she would bless them it might help the Templars' morale. I went down to the Chantry and asked her if she would hand over said medallions after blessing them.
"You would have me lie to the men?" She'd asked me, affronted. "This will do nothing to help them!"
"Respected Mother," I said as I shook my head. "It is not a lie, you Would be placing a blessing on the medallions and the men would then take from that what they will. It is no different then a Knight having a maidens handkerchief her favor during a bout. Sometimes, all a man needs is a girl worth fighting for. Is not Andraste such a maiden worth fighting for?"
She'd relented then and sighed. She said a simple blessing over the silver medallions before handing them back to me. I hurried back up the hill to Sep Perth who passed them around to the men. They instantly seemed to take strength from the simple silver trinkets.
Night time was fast approaching. I hadn't even realized how quickly time had passed as I worked with the village folk to build up their defenses. Hope was begining to show on their faces that they would indeed survive the night. I had Alistair and Leliana stay with the group in front of the Chantry while I took Sten, Morrigan and Mongrel up with me to the top of the hill. I was helping the men get the oil into position when Ser Perth called out as he drew his sword from his sheath and pulled his shield from his back.
"Warden! They are coming!"
I looked up and noticed the cloud of dust and Miasma that was making it's way across the bridge at a fast clip. The last of the suns light was fading and I rushed over toward the others. I pulled my glaive free of it's harness and twirled it to point blade first toward the approaching horde.
"Do not attack until they are past the barrier! Let the flames do their work first!" I shouted to the men. I turned then to Morrigan. "My Lady?!"
"Almost!" Her hands were moving in the complicated gestures needed to prepare the Inferno spell.
Just as the shrieking horde passed the corner and started to slip in the oil and fall to the ground she threw her hands forward and a raging column of flame flared into being rapidly consuming the rotten and dried flesh of the undead. As a few began to trickle through Ser Perth brought his hand down and the few archers we had loosed their arrows. I spun my glaive, twisting it to point the sapphire at the undead and let loose an Arcane Bolt to bring it down. As one approached I spun the glaive again, cutting in a sideways slash with the blade through the things neck and sending it and its' head toppling to the ground.
Sten darted forward when he could, staying out of the way of the magic I and Morrigan sent out, and his great blade swung down and cleaved the undead in twain. He was surprisingly agile for such a large man and acted as a strong frontal force to keep those of the horde that survived the firey tornado away from us casters. Mongrel darted forward to tear at the legs of the undead that approached the archers, bringing them to the ground so that the Templars' could take their heads easier.
A womans' scream sounded suddenly and I spun to see Morrigan stumbling back, a jagged slash rending the upper part her left arm and exposing a white flash of bone. I let out a cry and sent another Arcane Bolt into the face of one of the undead before I rushed to her side. I had to dodge to the left to avoid being caught in the Cone of Cold she cast with her uninjured hand to halt the group of undead fast approaching her. Sten let out a roar and and redoubled his efforts to keep the rest at bay. Morrigan's Inferno had run it's course and was no longer hindering any new undead that came down the path.
I sent a Healing spell at her and watched for a moment as the wound healed to show exposed muscle instead of bone and then slashed out with my glaive to shatter the undead she had frozen. The others moved to better ring and defend our position as I leaned my glaive against my shoulder and focused another Healing spell on Morrigan's arm. I watched as it knit to no more then a jagged cut and then looked up into her pale face. She nodded once at me, letting me know that she was still good to fight as she flashed me a cold, lethal smile, before she grabbed up her staff in both hands and moved to cast a well placed Winter's Grasp followed by a Stonefist to shatter one of the remaining creatures that the others had yet to bring down. The men let loose a cheer that quickly turned to shouts of dismay when we realized there were still sounds of fighting. We all realized that those sounds were coming from below us. One of the men from below came running up the hill, shouting that the undead were coming up from the lake itself.
And so the night went with me running back and forth between the two groups, casting Healing spells and Rejuvenation spells to keep the two groups on their feet. I could not afford to have any of the others seperate from their respective groups. In all honesty, if it wasn't for Ser Perth and the stash of Lyrium potions that he had tucked away up by the windmill, I would never have been able to keep casting through the night. It was as if the body of everyone who had ever died within Redcliffe was being summoned forth; drowning victims, buried bodies of murder victims anyone who had not been cremated for whatever reason. Finally, a few hours after the witching hour the undead numbers trickled to a halt, only a few straggling forms stumbling forward to attack every so often.
Thankfully no one else had been as badly injured as Morrigan had been and I thanked the Maker for my innate skill with the healing arts. If I had not been here the list of injured would have been far higher and more then one person might well have joined the ranks of the dead if not for my team.
Once the horde was no more then a trickle I moved to sit near the Chantry and had Ser Perth passing me Lyrium potions as I held out my hands and worked to tend the less critical wounds that had been ignored up until now by the men. The Reverend Mother and several Sisters worked alongside me, bandaging the smaller wounds that the Mother decided needed no more then a health poultice to heal. I was grateful, even though Lyrium would not affect me as it might a non-mage I still felt slightly addled in thought from the amount I had downed during the night. Morrigan sauntered over at some point, her own wounds fully treated by now, and yanked me to my feet when I finished healing a nasty gash over Alistair's eye.
"Ack... Morrigan... My Lady," I yelped as I stumbled to my feet and placed a hand to my head. "Please, let go. I have more patients to tend to."
Morrigan glared at the Reverend Mother, who merely smiled and nodded at her. "Go, my dear. The Warden has done enough this night and needs his own rest. I will tend to the rest."
"But the other wounded!" I started, only to be cut off by Morrigan.
"Will be tended to by the Elder," she said.
She then tugged me along behind her and pulled me into the Chantry proper. She led me over to a small pile of furs and pushed me down onto them roughly. My head was spinning so badly at that point that I didn't even have the energy or the will to put up a token fight.
"You need your rest," she said firmly, "or you will be useless to us come the morning when we go to the castle and find out what has caused these fell events."
I shifted a bit, feeling the warmth of the furs and settled in against them. Mongrel came over at that point and plopped himself heavily on my stomach.
"OOF! You too, boy?" he whined at me. "Fine... fine I'll rest... you'll wake me if there is an emergency?"
"Yes, now sleep."
Morrigan sat down next to me as I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, as I drifted off I could feel her fingers begin to card through my hair and let out a soft hum of content at the light touch. Her voice, firm and ordering and yet somehow gentle at the same time, chased me into the Fade.
"Sleep, my Warden. You have done well this night."
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w00t, redcliffe village survived the night! next up, dealing with Isolde!