Part 2: Fear
Chapter 14: Death
For a second, Eleanor thought that Aedan was his father. The young man was hunched over the desk, muttering about lumber contracts. His rumpled hair covered his eyes and face, masking his concentrated expression.
Eleanor kissed her son on the forehead. "I thought someone didn't want to be a politician?"
"I don't. I'm just helping Father out until the kingdom stops rolling around like an overturned nug."
"Despite what you say, you're not terrible at it. For once your Father got some shut-eye last night, and we even received a little care package from that Bann you helped last week." Eleanor hoisted a package of meats and cheeses onto the table. Gregory wagged his tail and barked with drool dripping from his mouth.
"He just wants more money. I'll not let him make me fat and complacent."
"What for?"
"He wants more guards for his fort. He keeps complaining about ghosts and demons on his borders. I'm going to be taking a look in a couple of weeks, but I think he's lying so he can get a chunk of the royal treasury to indulge in."
"And what makes you think he's lying?"
"The fact that he barely pays his guards anything for one, and just spends all that money on himself...or gift baskets." He scowled at the food arrangement. "The bastard didn't have the common courtesy to put in some smoked venison. If you're going to bribe someone, figure out what they like for goodness sakes." Aedan grumbled as he thought of smoked venison, his stomach churning at the thought.
"Maker, you're just mad because he didn't include your favorites in there- still such a child," laughed Eleanor, "Don't burn bridges over a little meat. Even if the man is lying, try and be courteous.
Aedan was still a little steamed during his sparring session with Teharel. He blocked a fist from the elf with his fist and delivered a hook to the elf's stomach. The elf reeled back and chuckled.
"Well, you've gotten plenty good at hand to hand, I'll give you that. Care to try some weapons?"
When his parent had first found out Teharel had been teaching him to fight, they had been somewhat apprehensive, especially when they found Aedan bloody all over the face. After a few sessions however, once Teharel agreed to tone down the bodily harm (much to his displeasure), they could now train openly in the courtyard.
Teharel tossed him a sword and shield. The sword Aedan nimbly caught but the shield he let fall to the ground.
"Yeah...I don't do shields." The young man kicked the shield back. "Too much of a hassle."
"Too bad," said Teharel, "It'd suit you."
Aedan raised an eyebrow. This being one of the only positive things Teharel would ever say about him, and he would turn it down? Madness. "Why do you say that?"
"You tend to like to get in close and fight. You often times leave yourself vulnerable to attacks. You try to roll away and dodge, but your body structure and training make you more of an explosive strength type of warrior then a quick dodgy type. Granted, you're still quicker than the average person, but it's certainly not your best trait. So the best way for you to defend yourself is with a shield."
Teharel kicked the shield back, and this time Aedan caught it with his foot. "Today I'm going to start teaching you how to take a hit."
"You mean you weren't hitting me beforehand?" chuckled Aedan.
"Oh, is the little shemlen going to cry because I punched him a few times?"
"Honestly, the diarrhea your herbs gave me was much worse than your little punches. Who knew that your fighting had gotten so bad that now your gardening is more deadly?"
"Hohoho," grinned Teharel, "the shemlen bites! I'm going to have to repay you for that one. Now, come and let's beat the shit out of you."
"Do you hear the things you say?"
Teharel laughed. "Unfortunately, I won't be the one hitting you today. I'm getting a bit old you see-"
"I can certainly see that."
The elf glared at Aedan. "So my bones are a little weaker than before. Luckily, my time among my Dalish brethren has not left me with a lack of ideas for makeshift traps and materials." circum
"So you are Dalish? I've kind of seen your tattoos, but they've faded a bit."
"I was a born a Dalish, yes. But circumstances forced me to move to the Alienage." He paused, his eyes gazing off softly into the distance. The elf seemed older at that moment, his limbs weak against the blow of the wind. His face wrinkled into a indecipherable expression. Aedan couldn't tell if it was regret or fondness.
"Sorry. don't mean to pry into old business. Done is done." Whatever it was, Teharel no longer resided with the Dalish, and didn't need to
"Ah, it's alright." Teharel waved it off and leaned against the tree. "I've moved on from it anyway."
"Our clans, you see, are always on the move. The shemlens have never given us land of our own, so we had to sustain ourselves on the forests and the wild. Although, I would say we lived better than you humans in your city. The cool breeze of the forest, the rustle of the wind, the sounds of the animals beckoning to you- sublime."
His eyes shone as he continued on about the the lifestyle of the Dalish. Aedan could see it in his eyes that he truly missed it there. Perhaps his love of gardening arose from that.
"We stopped nearby Denerim for awhile, to restock and visit relatives in the Alienage. My sister fell in love with an elf from the city. Eventually, she got pregnant, and decided to leave the clan. We tried to convince her to stay, but she rather enjoyed city life, with its hustle and bustle. It was a few years afterwards that I heard about her. She had died."
"I'm sorry." Aedan wasn't sure what to say, so he said the only thing he felt he could.
"You don't have to be. You didn't know her." Teharel sighed. If he was torn up over his sister's death, he didn't show it.
"What can I say? Both parents, killed in a race riot. My sister had thought to petition the city for more rights for the Alienage. The whole bunch of geniuses thought it would be a great idea to storm the Landsmeet hall. Didn't even stand a chance against the guards. I don't blame them. I'd be scared shitless if a whole bunch of humans came knocking at our doorstep yelling and screaming."
"But she left behind a little 2 year old. Sickly little thing. Couldn't even talk her outside for a walk before she got tired. I couldn't bring her back to the Dalish who were always on the move, no this girl needed to stay in the city, with someone who would take care of her."
Aedan remembered Teharel's smiling daughter who had cooked him breakfast and convinced him to give her father a job.
"So your daughter I met at the Alienage is actually your niece?"
"Technically. For all intents and purposes, she's my daughter. I raised her, clothed her, kept her safe. I kept insisting her to call me uncle but she always called me "Papa"."
Teharel smiled warmly at the memory. "Now she doesn't have the same constitution problems, and she's even got a man to take care of now. The little brats grow up so fast. I still remember when she used to hang onto my pants leg everywhere." Teharel pushed himself off the tree and walked further into the forest. He sighed wistfully before turning back to Aedan and grinning that devilish grin of his. "Look at you. I bet you used to be small and innocent. And now I'm going to to hit you with a tree."
Aedan did a double take as Teharel disappeared into the forest. "I'm dead serious! Do you even listen to yourself and the shit you say?" he shouted through cupped hands. His mentor didn't reply, and Aedan followed after him, his head shaking.
"Is that him," came a whisper in the trees after the two had left.
"It is."
"What luck. At first I thought this plan of yours wouldn't succeed, with that mess at Bann Abelard's. Then Maric dies in a shipwreck within the week. The Maker smiles upon us. And then we find our little friend here by accident. You're absolutely sure?"
"Of course."
"It's a pity. He doesn't seem like such a bad fellow."
"He's not." A dark shadow took a deep breath in. "Come, we have much to do, Victor. We'll deal with him in time."
The leaves barely crackled as the shadowy man turned around towards the jutting mountains in the distance.
The foulest liquid bled from the heart of the abomination. Aedan heaved his sword out and crinkled his nose at the smell- musky and dark, like some rotted corpse that had lingered far too long. It bleed like no other creature he had seen- the blood oozed out thick and dark like molasses.
"It's horrible, isn't it? Knowing that these abominations used to be people," croaked Wynne. She tried to stay strong, but in her eyes turned away from the faces of the abominations when they had battled them. The twisted visages they faced were all once people she knew. It was a different horror then the darkspawn, one that struck a chord within Aedan.
"They were your family, weren't they?"
"All of them." Wynne gave a heavy sigh. It was almost too much for her to bear; her old frame trembled as she looked around at her once glorious home. Aedan clasped his hand on her shoulder. "We'll save them. I swear to you."
"Thank you," smiled Wynne, "Your hope warms these old bones."
Aeadn tiptoed through the corridor along the wall- every room they had encountered so far had some sort of demon in it, and it would be best not to let them see him. His back against the wall, Aedan's eyes peered at the ripped tapestries and disheveled rooms of the tower. Parts of it reminded of his home in Castle Cousland- the bookshelves with upside down books and hastily stuffed spaces, the wooden tables with bowls and spoons left unfinished. Curiously enough, there were few mage corpses. Most had been turned into abominations, but that certainly didn't account for all the mages. If they had all been turned, then the templars would have been overrun by the time they got there. Were there still mages putting up a fight somewhere in tower?
He rounded the corner, holding out his hand to signal his companions to wait. The air felt warmer in the next room, like a stifling steam. Something hid there. He held his shield out in front of him as he lunged into the room. Two rage demons rose from the walls and spat molten fire at him. It sizzled against the cold steel of Aedan's shield. Their molten assault could not stop him: Aedan trudged forward, taking the brunt of the attack. A flurry of ice hit the demons from the side, courtesy of Wynne. Aedan watched as their bodies turned snow white and their very skin crystallized. The demons relented and disintegrated to the floor.
The side doors burst open and a horde of abominations attempted to flank Aedan. Alistair cut off their approach and met them with a flurry of sword strikes. The abominations circled him, growling and hissing.
"A little help here?" Alistair grunted as he drove his sword into an abomination. Aedan barreled into the two behind him, knocking them to the ground in front of Sten.
"Try not to miss Sten," smirked Aedan. Sten ignored Aedan's jest and drove his sword into the abomination's head without replying. The skull exploded in a bloody mess of guts and bone. Morrigan blazed the other one, which lay writhing on the ground as it burned to death. Despite the ferocity of their attacks, the abominations lacked intelligence. They were simply driven by rage.
The question lingered in Aedan's mind- what the hell had happened here?
After several floors of abominations and stairs, the group tired. Aedan slouched up against the wall next to the Great Hall and turned to Wynne.
"Generally, I assume the Circle of Magi is not like this. What happened?"
"If only Uldred had not turned to blood magic, none of this wouldn't have happened."
"Uldred? I remember him...the bald mage at the war conference with Loghain."
"Yes, he tried to convince the Circle to back Loghain, but then I returned from Ostagar and told them all of Loghain's betrayal. After that, they tried to seize Uldred when he attempted to flee. He summoned a demon to defend himself and his fellow blood mages, but...it overwhelmed him."
Loghain again. Aedan's fist clenched at the thought of the man. "Why would he back Loghain? He saw what Loghain did, how he betrayed his own king? How could he think that Loghain could be trusted?"
"People are willing to believe anything to get what they want. Uldred believed that Loghain would grant the Circle more freedom from the Chantry."
His mind wandered to what sort of hardships would have led Uldred to commit such desperate acts. "It must be hard...being locked up here since childhood."
"It is," Wynne said. Aedan wasn't sure whether she was accepting or bitter. Perhaps both. "But sometimes circumstances necessitate such hardships- it protects the world from rogue magic, and protects us from a world that fears and hates us."
Aedan reached for the doorknob, but the door creaked open before he could touch it. Bodies surrounded a lone abomination in the middle of the room. Unlike the rest of the tower, these bodies were not bloodied and broken- they instead lay limp, their eyes blank and their face expressionless.
"Well well. Visitors? why not come and take a rest?" came the demon's whisper. It grated against Aedan's ear, yet oddly soothed him at the same time. Alistair eyed the demon suspiciously and circled around to the side, his shield out. The fact that the demon hadn't attacked them yet set Alistair on edge.
"Shut up," barked Aedan who held his sword out. A twisted smile fell across the abomination's face, and the world began to ever so blur around Aedan. The tapestries seemed to flow like rivers, twisting in his field of vision like swirled ribbons.
"Maker, I'm tired," yawned Leliana, who crumpled to the ground abruptly.
"Leliana," Aedan tried to yell, but his voice came out only as a soft whimper.
"Demon, I shall not fall victim to-". The floor shook as Sten collided with the tower floor. It woke Aedan up a little, enough for him to muster up some willpower. He struggled against his own body and took a step forward.
"Resistant are we? Stop, you are so tired. Just sleep."
Aedan looked at another limp body on the ground. A black haired mage lay there, his cheeks gaunt and his skin pale. He seemed dead, but at the same time, his lungs ever so softly breathed in air. Contrary to his limp body, the man's hand clenched around a bloodied scroll.
Alistair kneeled on the ground, chanting something to keep his concentration, but he too soon fell. Now only Morrigan, Wynne, and Aedan barely stood. Morrigan clawed up against a nearby pillar and spurted at the demon, "Do you think your magic can hold us demon?" Her hands glowed with her fury, and Aedan could feel the heat from where he stood.
The demon smiled and twiddled his fingers. Morrigan slumped up against the pillar and closed her eyes.
Wynne held her hand out at Aedan. Her staff dropped to the ground. "Stop...him..." She leaned forward and pushed Aedan ahead by several steps before she too succumbed.
Aedan took another step closer to the smiling abomination. Everything was a blur now, safe for the demon's smug face. He reached the demon and raised his sword, but his arm went numb. Move, he willed his arm, move! But it trembled in the air and his sword felt as heavy as bricks. The demon took one step towards Aedan and stared into his eyes. "You're so tired, aren't you? Just sleep." He flicked Aedan's sword and it clattered to the ground. The world spun around Aedan in a dizzying blur of blood, red and purple. His knees buckled and his head struck the ground.
"Crap," he muttered as everything went black. In that black oblivion, right before he fell asleep, he could hear the footsteps of the demon as it walked up to him. It could have simply shouted at the top of it's lungs, or stayed silent, but it chose to to kneel next to him and whisper in his ear words that sent a chill down his spine:
"Welcome to the nightmare."
Author's Notes:
Just wanted to thank those who have reviewed so far, it really makes my day. Expect the next chapter in about a week!