Chapter 14
They had a brief rest over night at the vigil, Ava making the most of her bed, she knew she would not be seeing it for a few weeks, they would be on the road to Amaranthine shortly. Ava also decided to have a hearty breakfast, deciding to take full advantage of the creature comforts of the keep before they were roughing it.
She made her way to the dining hall to find it was full of the other wardens, all of them seeming to have the same idea. Oghren was biting into a chunk of meat on the bone, juices from the meat dribbling onto his beard, much to the disgust of Anders who was sat opposite from the dwarf, but unable to tear his eyes away from the mess. He was also swigging ale from a pewter jug, allowing the contents to slosh on the table. Breakfast wouldn't be breakfast without ale according to the dwarf. Nathaniel was a noble man through and through, his manners instilled in him from a young age, eating politely.
Ava helped herself to a bowl of porridge oats and placed some berries on the top. Ava noticed Justice with the group even though he was not eating. Kristoff's body was already dead and therefore did not need the substance, and the spirit of justice had no need for food. But the spirits insatiable curiosity was back.
'I wish to know what food tastes like.' he said suddenly, watching Anders spooning food in his mouth.
'I know your already creepy, but it's even creepier when you watch me eat.' Anders said, frowning and turning away.
'All food tastes different.' Ava said, motioning to different foods with her hands.
'Then I wish to try what Oghren is having.' he said, eyeing the meat clasped in the dwarf's hands.
Ava shrugged, it was a reasonable request. She placed her spoon back in the bowl and plated some of the meat, boar leg, on a plate and handed it to the spirit. He picked it up, eyeing the meat suspiciously, turning it over and inspecting every inch. He then brought the leg up to his nose, sniffing in short bursts. He cautiously placed the leg to his lips, daintily nibbling the edge.
'Not like that, you're eating like a girl.' Oghren said, his mouth still full of food, spitting particles across the table. Ava was glad that neither Anders or Nathaniel noticed. 'You need to get your teeth into it.' he said demonstrating, sinking his teeth firmly into the tender flesh.
Justice opened his mouth wide and shoved the leg into his mouth, biting deep into the meat. He chewed with a thoughtful expression on his face. Ava smiled warmly at the spirit. She noticed Anders watching her intensely, blushing at the depth of his stare. He grinned at her blush. Ava dragged her attention back on Justice. He was contemplating something.
'That was...' he said, finding it difficult to express what he was feeling.
'Nice?' she asked, helping him find his words 'Sometimes people eat for pleasure.'
'I know something else people do for pleasure.' Anders said, looking at Ava.
'Your world is full of many wonderful things.' Justice said, heartily finishing his boar leg, copying Oghren when he licked the juices from his fingers. Ava chuckled at the sight of the two men.
They quietly finished eating their breakfast when Varel entered the dining hall, motioning for Ava to come and join him.
'Commander, I believe we have a problem.' he said, hurriedly.
'What is it Varel?' she said, becoming agitated with the seneschal, wanting him to get to the point.
'Kristoff's wife, Aura is in the courtyard.' he almost hissed out.
Ava felt her heart quicken at the news, she was going to have to break the bad news to his wife. They hadn't had chance to discuss what they were going to say to her. She wanted to run away from the situation, but she would have to go and face the problem head on. Ava didn't notice she was followed by the other wardens, Justice with them.
'Kristoff, it is good to see you.' Aura said, running to Justice, but slowing down as she got nearer. Ava turned round, shocked to see Justice there. She hadn't wanted Aura to find out like this. 'Kristoff?' she said, frowning at his appearance. 'What has happened to you.' her hand covering her mouth in shock.
'I have some news for you...' Ava started before she was interrupted by Justice.
'Your husband is gone.' he said bluntly. Aura's eyes widened in surprise at the voice that was not her husband's. 'I am a spirit of justice from the fade. I have inhabited his body, and I will avenge his death.'
'Death!' Aura screamed.
'Kristoff was killed when fighting darkspawn.' Ava said softly, trying to break the news gently.
'You have desecrated his body, how dare you.' Aura shouted, tears rolling down her face.
'It was not intentional...' he began, attempting to explain himself, nearing Aura.
'Get away from me.' Aura screamed before running away through the gate of the vigil. Ava and Justice stared after her retreating form.
'This body has memories of this woman, I had no idea she would come.' Justice said, his voice betraying an emotion that the spirit could not explain. 'I must make amends somehow as I have caused this woman great pain. This body's memories tell me her home is in Amaranthine. I would like to seek her out to make amends.'
'That is very noble of you Justice, I will help you look for her.' Ava said, knowing they could spare the time to help the woman. She moved to head inside gesturing for the others to follow her.
Ava was in her room packing when there was an urgent knocking on the door. Ava sighed heavily before opening the door surprised to find a female soldier, who could only be described as looking petrified.
Ava was not a patient woman and seeing the soldier there could only mean one thing, some matter which needed addressing, preventing her from getting on the road to Amaranthine. However, she was not a barbarian and she could clearly see the woman was scared witless. So instead of being short tempered, she reined in her impatience and smiled encouragingly at the woman.
'W...w...warden commander, I have urgent correspondence for y..you.' she stuttered nervously, not managing to look Ava in the eye.
'It's ok, I don't bite.' Ava said. 'Despite what you may have heard about me.' Ava joked, attempting to put the woman at ease. 'Come in whilst I read the correspondence.'
The soldier gingerly stepped past Ava in to the room, handing Ava the letters on the way past. Ava ripped quickly into the first letter, eager to be heading to Amaranthine. As Ava's eyes skimmed across each line, her hopes of leaving for Amaranthine were becoming less and less likely. She finished the letter and sighed wearily. She tore open the other letter and upon finishing it, let out an audible groan. She put the letters down and rubbed both her hands across the face, before letting them settle on either side of her face, resting her fingertips at her temples, rubbing her fingertips in small circles. She had made a decision before finishing the last letter, one that would throw her previous plans out of the window. The first letter was from a farmer living at Turnoble estate, claiming her family were under constant threat from darkspawn. The second letter was from a Lord Bensley, whose daughter had been kidnapped, and the kidnappers were demanding money for her safe return.
She was quiet for some time, gathering her thoughts. 'Would you be able to gather Varel and the wardens for me in the throne room? And tell the wardens to armour up.'
'Yes commander' the soldier said, practically dragging the door off the hinges in her haste to leave the room.
Ava continued packing away supplies that she knew she would need for the journey ahead. She began strapping herself into her dragonscale armour, her fingers working quickly on the buckles. She ran her fingers over the links in her armour. She always admired the handiwork of the armour each time she put it on, smiling as her mind filled with memories of the crafter and his partner. She stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder, catching a glance of herself in the mirror as she did so. She looked like crap. She looked one last time, longingly at her bed and shut the door.
The wardens and Varel gave her a curious look when she entered the throne room, unsure of the sudden meeting.
'We have a problem.' she simply stated. 'Whilst my first duty is to the wardens, my second duty is to the arling. Some of my vassals are in trouble and I have to attend to them.' She handed the letters round to the wardens, letting them read them themselves, not mustering the energy to explain the sudden change of plans. She was bracing herself for an argument, but was pleasantly surprised.
'Wherever you go I will follow.' Oghren shrugged nonchalantly.
'You're the commander, who am I to doubt you' Anders said, grinning widely her.
'Another chance for me to see more of your world.' Justice added, contemplating something.
Ava looked at Nathaniel expecting him to disagree with her. 'If we are to succeed as grey wardens in Amaranthine, then we will need support from the vassals.' was all he simply offered her. She blinked blankly at him, and he scowled back at her, annoyed that she think that he could not see reason.
'We will stop briefly at Amaranthine to stock up our supplies, stay at the inn for the evening and then head to Turnoble estate to assess the situation there, before heading to the Forlorn cove to rescue Eileen, Lord Bensley's daughter.' Ava said, before speaking to Varel, leaving the wardens to talk amongst themselves.
They were on the road by mid morning. The keep had horses, but Ava had never really taken to riding and found it much easier to get around on foot. She had promised Varel she would be back with in the month, unsure of how long it would take to sort out the problems. Ava was lucky to have Varel, she knew she would not be able to manage the arling without him.
They travelled for several days, the wardens enjoying each other's company, only Ava's attitude towards Nathaniel spoiling the mood. They were almost at Amaranthine, stopping to set up camp for the night. They had eaten their meal and were sat round the fire telling each other tales.
'Commander, you must have tales of the blight?' Anders asked. 'I never heard much about what happened, I was in solitary confinement at the time.'
'It is a long story, but I do have some tales if you are interested.' Ava said, smiling fondly of the memories. Even though the circumstances of the blight were bleak, they provided Ava with some of her best times.
'I am definitely interested.' said Anders, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
'I am also curious about your tales.' Justice said, adjusting himself into a comfier position.
Nathaniel said nothing, but leaned forward to hear her better, secretly interested in her story.
'Well, one time, we had to kill a high dragon...' she started.
'You are having me on.' Anders snorted, but was completely hooked to her words.
Ava laughed heartily. 'I'm not, and it becomes more unbelievable. We had to find allies to aid us against the threat of the blight. One such ally we needed was Arl Eamon. Unfortunately, he had been poisoned, due to his involvement in politics and the civil war.' Ava continued. Anders shuffled closer, eager to hear more of her tale. Nathaniel and Justice also seemed to be enthralled by her story. Oghren was not so interested as he had been there, but he was listening all the same. 'He had been visited by some of the best mages Ferelden had to offer, but nothing would cure the man. It seemed as though there were nothing more we could for him. Until someone mentioned the healing powers of the ashes of Andraste.'
'As in the prophetess Andraste?' Anders scoffed, becoming more and more doubtful of her words.
'As difficult as it may seem to believe, I am telling the truth.' she said, chuckling at the mage. Oghren simply nodded at her words, agreeing with her. 'However on our way to the temple we encountered a extremist cult who believed that Andraste had returned to us in dragon form. As we neared the final resting place of Andraste we were attacked by a high dragon.' Ava was enjoying telling the story, allowing her mind to travel back to the memory
Ava had brought with her Alistair, the strength of her team, Morrigan, the powerful witch and Zevran, the deadly assassin. She had left the others behind as they had no way of telling if there were anymore cultists in the strange village of Haven.
They had exited the ruined temple, allowing their eyes to adjust to the brightness of outside and breathing in the fresh air. Ava scanned the horizon, finding a doorway a few hundred yards from where they were stood. She pointed to the door and motioned for her companions to follow her.
They had taken but a few steps before hearing a loud swooshing noise above them. Ava looked up, shielding her eyes from the blinding sun and almost fell over from the shock. There was a huge dragon circling over their heads, its scales glistening in the sun. It's eyes focused on the group and swooped down. Ava shouted for the group to drop to the floor, Alistair barely making it down in time, his heavy armour cumbersome, not made for easy movements. The dragons claw scrapped across his left pauldron. As the dragon circled round to swoop again, the group scrambled to their feet, drawing their weapons. The dragon again barrelled down upon the group, but they were much more prepared.
Ava and Zevran elegantly rolled out of the way of the dragons claws, Alistair and Morrigan falling to the floor. However this time, before the dragon had time to rise up again, Zevran had returned to his feet and expertly spun through the air, leaping towards the dragons right wing, his dagger snagging on the delicate skin, splitting the wing in two. The dragon emitted a shrill cry of pain and was unable to fly, falling awkwardly to the floor.
The group set upon the beast immediately. Morrigan sending powerful blasts of magic to the dragon, flitting between ice and lighting, and standing far enough away from the creature to receive no damage. Alistair spent most of the battle taunting the dragon, keeping its attention away from the others, protecting himself from its fire breath with his shield. Ava and Zevran nimbly danced between the dragons legs, gaining crucial hits to the dragons underbelly.
Alistair was becoming tired, his concentration waning. He misjudged the dragons movements, allowing it to swipe at him with its open mouth. Its jaws clamped down, crunching the metal of his armour and throwing him to the floor in a crumpled heap. Ava resisted the urge to run to his side and allowed the rage to flow through her. She roared before dropping a dagger and holding one between both hands. She ran under the dragon, her dagger raised above her head. The dagger bounced off a hard scale, but she was determined to kill the thing and continued running until the tip broke through the scales and penetrated the muscles beneath, severing vital arteries and organs. She darted out of the way, blood flowing over her, before the dragon fell and ran to the side of Alistair.
'Alistair!' she shouted, shaking him hard. He stirred slowly and groaned, holding his hand to his head. 'Oh thank the Maker!' she said, breathing a sigh of relief, when he began sitting up.
Morrigan and Zevran stood behind Ava, looking at Alistair. Morrigan had her arms firmly crossed across her chest, scowling whilst Zevran was standing in his usual graceful way, his eyebrows raised at the pair.
Alistair opened his eyes to look at Ava and smiled a lob sided smile. 'You look like you have been in the wars my love.' he said, eyeing the blood splattered on her.
Ava scoffed at the statement. 'You are one to talk.' motioning for him to look at his own armour.
'Well, about that. I was thinking about starting a new fashion trend, screwed up armour will be all the rage in Denerim by the time I'm finished.' he said, grinning at her boyishly. Ava laughed at his humour, he always had a way of lightening even the darkest situation.
Ava finished her story, looking at the other wardens who were staring at her intently. Ava felt a aching throb in her heart. She had not spoke about Alistair since coming to vigils keep, mentioning him had opened old wounds.
'Is Alistair the hero king of the blight?' asked Anders, eager for more details. 'I heard the templars talking of his bravery.'
Ava could only nod, a lump forming in her throat, preventing words from escaping her mouth. She stood up to leave, not wishing the others to see her tears, especially Nathaniel, and walked to a clearing not far from the camp, finally allowing her tears to fall, sobs racking her body.
Oghren saw the confused expressions on their faces. 'The commander and Alistair had fallen in love during the blight.' he explained. 'They used to make me sick sometimes, they were so loved up. But then the pike twirler went and died slaying the archdemon, and she blamed herself. She believed it was her that was meant to die.' he finished gruffly.
The conversation died down after that, an invisible darkness descended over the camp. Ava finally stumbled back to camp a few hours later to find Oghren still up, apparently having taken the first watch. He nodded over at Ava, acknowledging her presence. He looked at her face, still red and puffy from her tears.
'I'm sorry about before Oghren, it was foolish of me.' her voice hoarse from crying.
He simply shook his head, dismissing her apology. 'There is nothing to apologise for. It shows a strong person to be able to carry on doing what you are doing commander, and you are doing a fine job.'
'Thank you.' she whispered.
'And I miss the lad too.' he said quietly in response.