If you're one of the people who reviewed the last chapter and gave me your opinion on the Eebon/Kylae/Leliana thing, then THANK YOU SO MUCH! I suppose I should have expected the results for Kylae and Leliana to be about even, but what's important is that thanks to everyone who contributed, I now have an idea of where I'm going to take that particular issue... and no, I'm not going to tell you!

Also, as a side not in regards to the last chapter, the only reason I could think of as to why Marjolaine was even in Denerim in the first place was that so that you could go there and kill her for the sake of the game. So I decided to change that up for my story. I have another story in mind, that I will hopefully get around to writing someday after I finish this one, where Leliana goes to Orlais to deal with her, she also reunites with Silas and Sketch.

This chapter was one that I had really been looking forward to writing, and is probably one of the most emotionally charged chapters that I've written so far. So without further ado, here's chapter 21, Brother. Enjoy!

Tylis paced back and forth a few doors down the street from Kaitlyn's house. He couldn't help the fact that he was nervous around her, it had been like that since the moment they had first spoken. Tylis ran his hands through his blond hair, which was starting to get rather long and shaggy, he made a mental note to see a barber the first chance he got, and as he did so, his palm rubbed up against his cheek and he realized that his jaw now had a sandpapery texture. 'Oh, now my beard decides to make an appearance!' Tylis thought to himself in annoyance. He made another mental note to buy a razor. Looking down at himself Tylis came to the realization that he was still wearing the ancient elven armor, Tylis swore, he should have went to the inn with Eebon and Leliana and at least changed his clothes. The armor itself was a bit on the dirty side, but not too badly, he'd need to clean it when he got a chance. Thankfully there were no blood stains on the armor, being a mage usually kept him out of the direct fighting.

'Why can't I think of these things beforehand?' Tylis wondered, 'Oh, right… because Kaitlyn is very pretty and I like her.' Tylis sighed and walked to Kaitlyn's front door, finally bringing himself to knock. A few moments later the door was answered by a dark-haired woman who looked have been in the middle of cleaning the house when she answered the door. The woman looked skeptically at Tylis' armor, then at his scruffy looking face before asking, "Can I help you?"

"Good afternoon, mam." Tylis said, "Is Kaitlyn here? Can I talk to her?"

"About what?"

"Erm, nothing in particular, we're friends." He could tell that the woman didn't believe him. "My name is Tylis, she might have mentioned me before."

The woman's face instantly changed, "Oh, yes! She talks about you all the time… I'm sorry, I just always thought you would look different." She opened the door wider, "Come-in."

Tylis stepped through the door, surprised at how often Kaitlyn seemed to talk about him. Just as the door closed behind him, Kaitlyn came in from another room, she was wearing an apron, had her hair pulled back in a kerchief, and had dirt smudged on her hands and face, when she saw Tylis the surprise immediately registered on her face, and her hands flew up and covered her mouth, her face reddening. Tylis couldn't help but blush himself.

"Tylis!" Kaitlyn said as she started to lower her hands, "Well, this is a surprise! What are you doing here?"

Tylis grinned and shrugged, "I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd drop by and say hi."

An hour later both Tylis and Kaitlyn were on the docks, sitting on top of a pile of crates left unattended, watching the ships come and go from the harbor, and the dockworkers loading and unloading crates and smaller boxes of goods from the docked ships. It took a while, but eventually Tylis had relayed his entire adventure from the time he arrived at Ostagar to dealing with Leliana's 'problem' in Denerim. Kaitlyn listened to the whole tale with wide eyes, more than once her jaw had dropped at the more unbelievable parts, such as the battle against the pride demon at the Circle of Magi, and Tylis becoming an arcane warrior.

"And now here I am sitting on the dock with a pretty girl named Kaitlyn." Tylis finished with a grin.

Kaitlyn looked away for a few seconds as she blushed again. "You sure have had an eventful six months!" She commented, "So much more than me. Most days I help to look after Bevin and my younger cousins, and help Aunty look after the household. Sometimes I would go out into the countryside, but from what the guards are saying, it's getting more and more dangerous to do that, what with the darkspawn becoming more frequent, and the bandits and highwaymen are taking advantage of the chaos, so I don't think I'll be doing that anymore."

"Good idea."

"And there's a tanner's apprentice who has come calling two or three times." Kaitlyn watched Tylis' face for a reaction, and she got one.

Tylis eyes widened, a muscle in his jaw twitched, and his entire face flushed several shades redder. "And…" Tylis said, managing to keep his voice even, "How did that work out?" 'Oh yeah… real smooth job there Captain Awkward!'

Kaitlyn giggled. "He seems a nice enough person, but there's someone else I'm waiting for, and I told him as much."

Tylis was so happy at hearing that, that he wanted to laugh out loud, and shout it to everyone within shouting distance, but he managed not to do either of those. Instead he just looked deep into Kaitlyn's eyes. He could see that she felt the same way for him that he did for her. Tylis didn't ask for a kiss this time as he leaned towards Kaitlyn, and she leaned towards him. The kiss lasted longer than their first kiss at Redcliffe did, and there was now much more passion behind it.

"Kaitlyn…" Tylis said, after moving away again. "You know that I can't stay long… in fact I'm pretty sure that I'll be leaving again first thing in the morning. And I don't know when this whole crazy adventure is going to be over, but if you can wait…"

He didn't need to finish. Kaitlyn nodded, "I'll wait for you." She answered. "It won't be easy, now that I know you feel the same way for me. But I'll be here."

Tylis held Kaitlyn's cheek in one hand, caressing her with his thumb. They kissed again, only stopping when the cheers of nearby crowd of dockworkers reached their ears. Both Kaitlyn and Tylis blushed deeply, then Kaitlyn giggled again. "I feel like a princess in one of the stories… rescued by monsters and then swept off her feet by her knight in shining armor!"

Alistair sat on the edge of the firelight and stared out into the darkness. He could still feel the darkspawn out there in the night, but they still weren't making any move to attack, and were staying far enough away so that he could only barely feel them. It seemed that he and Dharr proved to be a bit more sensitive to darkspawn than the others, as only the two of them could sense them. From what he could tell, the darkspawn weren't even moving, they were staying completely still, just waiting for… something, and what that something was, none of them could guess. Darkspawn just didn't act this way.

It didn't take long before thoughts of Endrin pushed the darkspawn out of Alistair's mind. To say that Alistair was amazed by Endrin wouldn't do her justice. It seemed to Alistair that he was the only person Endrin truly confided in, there were things that Endrin had told him about herself that she had not revealed to anyone else, namely the anger for her former Keeper and clan that she still carried. Alistair could easily understand why, he had felt much the same when he was a still a small boy and Arl Eamon had sent him away to a monastery, more or less donating him to chantry. He'd hated that decision, and resented it for years.

There were other things about Endrin that weighed heavily on his mind as well. Such as his feelings for her, feelings that she seemed to return. Alistair remembered when he'd first met Endrin at Ostagar, the young elf seemingly appeared out of nowhere and caught him in the middle of a daydream, Alistair chuckled at the memory. He'd thought her to be beautiful right from that very moment, albeit in a foreign, and almost feral kind of way. He remembered their first quest together in the Korcari Wilds, how Endrin had saved his life twice with her quick reflexes and superb archery skills. She had quickly earned his respect that day.

That respect had grown into other feelings as well. He remembered feeling admiration for her when they had found her standing between the mages and templars, only one arrow left, and still shouting threats and insults at the army of templars, even though she barely knew what a mage was, or templars for that matter. Admiration had grown into caring. Endrin had been the only one who expressed any interest in his personal thoughts and struggles beyond a passing word or two. She had done so much for him. 'Do I love her?' Alistair wondered. He wasn't sure, he'd never been in love before. There were times that he thought he did, such as the time in the Brecilian Forest when Endrin had taken him away from the camp for the most touching sunrise he'd ever seen. Or only a couple days ago when Endrin had been overcome with loss and sorrow and had thrown herself into his arms, he'd found out later that her outburst had come from the crushing reality that she had lost everything that had once defined her. Her clan, her adopted family, her 'home', even her language and culture in some ways. Endrin was more alone than any of them, and Alistair felt that she had also lost more than any of them. But still she bravely pressed on, directing them and leading them every day, and usually with a smile and ready joke to lighten the mood.

Alistair thought of her distinctively mischievous smile, and the way she would arch a single eyebrow. It made him laugh quietly. He'd seen Endrin transform from a gentle, soft-spoken woman into a fierce, death-dealing warrior in the space of a few seconds. But despite all of this, there always seemed to be an underlying innocence, not like she had never been exposed to the hardships of life, but more like she truly strived to live a good life, and put a lot of thought into everything she said and did.

The sound of footsteps approaching their camp jerked him away from his thoughts of Endrin, and he snatched up his sword from where it lay on the ground next to him. He knew it wasn't darkspawn, but he had no idea who it would be… Not until Dune bounded out of the darkness, barking happily. Dune came to Alistair and nuzzled his hand, then turned and sped into the camp.

"Dune!" Endrin yelled happily, and Alistair turned just in time to see Dune launch himself into the air, crashing into Endrin and driving them both to the ground, Dune quickly began licking her face, and barking happily, Endrin was yelling something in elvish but she too sounded happy to see the massive dog again. Alistair found it too funny to stay silent, and was soon laughing hard himself, the others joined in, even Sten and Dharr chuckling quietly.

Eebon emerged next from the darkness, looking almost ghostly in his bone white and blood red armor. "Well, someone's happy to be back!" Eebon chuckled, "Hello Alistair. No catastrophes happen while I was gone?"

Alistair shrugged and grinned. "Well, Morrigan is still with us, and is still being herself, but other than that, no. How did it go in Denerim?"

Leliana came up from behind Eebon, as she passed them on her way into the camp she said, "Marjolaine wasn't there, she sent her pawns to do her work, as usual!"

"What's got into her?" Alistair asked, not used to seeing Leliana so irritable.

Eebon shrugged, "She's really struggling with some things right now." Having said that, Eebon began to make his own way into the camp, but Alistair called for him to wait.

"Hang on a second there." Alistair said, "There is something else."

"Yeah?" Eebon asked.

"We've been followed by a group of darkspawn ever since you left, but they're staying a good distance away. Only me and Dharr can sense them, and when we tried to circle around and ambush them, they only ran further back, but they keep following us?"

Now Alistair had Eebon's full attention. Eebon said, "But they don't come any closer or try to attack?"

"No."

"That's weird. I've never heard of anything like that. Have you?"

"No." Alistair said again, "And it's unnerving."

Eebon grunted and thought for moment. "I'll bring up to Endrin that we have two people pull guard duty tonight rather than just one. It wouldn't do any of us any good to be caught with our trousers down."

Alistair chuckled, "Hey… I'm the one to make corny one-liners like that!"

Kylae lay awake in her tent, she ran the grass next to her bedroll through her fingers, listening to Eebon's nightmare in the next tent. She could imagine him turning and thrashing in his bedroll, and she could hear him muttering indistinctly, and judging from the more distant sounds around the camp, Eebon wasn't the only one having a Grey Warden dream that night, it almost sounded like they all were. 'Well that's one reason not to go to sleep tonight!' Kylae thought.

She remembered how when she and Endrin had come back from Denerim that one night not so long ago, she had entered Eebon's tent to find him in the throes of a nightmare, and how it had instantly ceased when she lay next to him and kissed his cheek. Part of her screamed to do the same thing now. 'Go to him! Lay with him! Kiss him! Love him! Just be with him!' Then Kylae forced that side of herself into silence.

While Eebon had never lied to her, like Duncan had lied to Endrin, Eebon had still been less than truthful, and kept the secret of the Grey Wardens from her for so long, even after she had opened her heart to him and given him all that she was. 'Not to mention that noble bastard flat out admitted to putting his duty before me! I loved him, and I thought he loved me! But you don't do that to someone you love, you just don't!' Kylae snarled in the darkness. 'I hate humans, so much! Especially nobles!... Well… I guess Tylis is alright, but he is a mage, and from what I've seen so far, all mages are… different.'

In the next tent, Eebon was indeed having a Grey Warden dream. But this one was different from all the others he'd had so far. While his dreams would normally be flashes of darkspawn corruption, and seeing their vast horde pillaging and destroying as they went, and sometimes a brief glimpse of the Archdemon itself, this dream was far more vivid, and far more terrifying. Eebon found himself standing in the ruins of a great city, it looked like Denerim, and surrounded thousands of corpses, elves, humans, dwarves, and darkspawn of all kinds, sometimes in piles ten bodies deep or more. Their faces frozen in their last moments of life, eyes bulging open, jaws dropped in a final and unending scream, weapons still clenched in their dead hands. Everywhere he looked there was only death and destruction, and everything was on fire.

The flapping of wings drew Eebon's attention and he looked up to see the Archdemon descending rapidly. In only a few more seconds, the massive and corrupted dragon landed hard directly in front of Eebon, and fixed him with its black eyes. Eebon heard its voice in his head.

"Little Warden… I know you. I know your quest. It is futile. You, and the other six Wardens with you cannot stand against the power of a god! Hear my name and tremble, for I am Urthemiel! There is no chance to save yourselves, your kingdom, or your world. Wherever you run, my minions will chase you, wherever you hide, they will find you. Once I have destroyed Ferelden, my horde will be powerful enough to march on all of Thedas. Your land will burn, little Warden! There is nothing you can do! All will see me and behold my power! This wretched world will pay for forgetting me and sealing me away to sleep for ages untold! Come and face me if you wish, it would give me great pleasure to see the desperation in your eyes before I devour your soul!"

Eebon woke up covered in cold sweat and gasping for air. Unlike his other Warden dreams, he could not shake this one off and tell himself that it was simply another nightmare, he knew it was more. Some of the older Grey Wardens he had previously met had said that they could understand the Archdemon in their dreams a bit, but he had understood it plain as day, it had spoken to him!

He started to push himself up. There would be no more sleep for him that night. Might as well go and relieve whoever was standing guard. Just as Eebon tugged on his boots he heard Alistair scream, "Darkspawn! Coming in fast! Wake up everyone!"

Eebon seized Yusaris without another thought and summersaulted out of his tent, rising to his feet in the same motion and lowering himself into a defensive stance. Several earsplitting shrieks tore through the air, and it was all Eebon could do to keep from dropping his sword to cover his ears, then the shrieks themselves loped into the camp, Eebon singled one out and ran to meet it.

The shriek slashed at him with its oversized claws, Eebon swung his greatsword around to block them, then pivoted his feet, and twisted his body to block the claws on the other hand that came at his face. As soon as the shriek brought its arms back for another swipe, Eebon smashed the pommel of his sword into the shriek's chest, then kicked it on the side of the knee, forcing it into a kneeling position. "YUSARIS!" Eebon yelled, and brought the legendary blade across, cleanly taking off the darkspawn's head. He sensed another shriek coming in fast and silent to his left, Eebon gave no indication he knew it was there until the last second when the shriek brought a clawed arm back for a stab aimed at his chest, then Eebon brought his left foot back and spun to face it, driving Yusaris into its stomach with such force that the blade came out its back. The shriek howled in pain, and Eebon twisted the massive sword, forever silencing the monster. Eebon spat on the corpse, then turned to look or another enemy.

Shrieks presented more of a challenge for Endrin than any genlock or hurlock could hope for, while most darkspawn were clumsy, and almost awkward in their movements, shrieks on the other hand were fast, fluidic, and agile, but still Endrin was more so. Endrin only had time to fire one arrow before dropping her bow and unsheathing her sword. As a shriek swung its claws at her she crossed her right leg in front of her left and dropped to the ground, landing lightly on her side and rolling to the right, she used the momentum to come back to her feet without even needing her hands. The shriek swung at her again, and Endrin brought her dar'misaan around, cutting off the shriek's hand, then slashing in the opposite direction across its face, without any hesitation she swung her body around until her back was facing the shriek and stabbed backwards in the its chest. 'I still got it!' She thought, and couldn't keep the smile from spreading across her face. Endrin had never exactly enjoyed killing, it was the chase of the hunt she enjoyed, not necessarily the kill, but these darkspawn were different. Endrin could now see why Eebon almost took a kind of twisted enjoyment out of slaughtering the spawn.

Endrin ducked under another clawed swipe, then rolled backwards to avoid the opposite arm. The shriek lunged forward just as Endrin came back to her feet with open jaws, Endrin slashed it across the face, then reversed the direction of her blade, moving it in an "S" pattern, slashing it across the chest, then reversing direction again and slashing it across the legs. The shriek landed hard, hissing and screaming in pain, and Endrin moved in closer for the killing blow, however when she did, the shriek lashed out and took hold of her ankle, effectively holding her in place. Quick as a flash, Endrin swung her dar'misaan downwards, taking off its hand, but at the same time the shriek slashed with its remaining hand, and the claws raked Endrin from her right hip up to the left side of her chest. Endrin screamed in agony, but without hesitating she stepped in and drove her dar'misaan down into the shrieks open mouth, then grabbing the dull side the blade, she jerked it up through the shriek's head, splitting it open from the mouth on up.

Another earsplitting scream sounded from behind Endrin, and she turned to face the oncoming shriek, only to see that it had already brought one of its clawed hands back, not even giving Endrin time to react or prepare a strategy. The only thing Endrin could do was to raise her blade and hope for the best.

Fate smiled that night on Endrin however, and before the shriek could swing, Kylae appeared out of nowhere and landed on the shriek's back, locking one of her own arms around the shriek's, and holding it in place, with her other arm Kylae reached around the monster and plunged her already black blood stained dagger into its chest. The darkspawn collapsed in a lifeless heap, and Kylae quickly jumped off. Kylae's excited grin instantly vanished when she saw the two long gashes that ran across Endrin's body.

"Are you alright?" Kylae asked.

Endrin nodded, "It's not too deep… I can still fight."

Kylae nodded in return and answered. "Come-on lethallan! Let's show them how elves fight!"

Despite being in the middle of a battle and being in immense pain, Endrin couldn't help a chuckle. "You just called me lethallan!"

Kylae shrugged. "Maybe you're starting to rub off on me."

Only a few seconds later, Roaran stood triumphantly over the last shriek. He'd broken its back with well-placed swing of his massive axe, but the darkspawn had continued to claw its way towards him on the ground. Roaran spat in disgust on the wretched creature, then stepped on its back and heaved his weapon down into its head

"Is anyone hurt… besides me?" Endrin called

Eebon groaned, shaking his head as the rage cleared. "I didn't have time to get my armor on, one of them got to my back and did a number back there.

"Just some minor scrapes." Roaran answered, "Nothing a bottle of ale can't fix!"

Morrigan was holding a hand over an injured arm. "Nothing serious." She muttered, "But it hurts pretty bad."

"I don't believe it…" Dharr said. "The darkspawn actually laid a trap for us! The blighted bastards waited until they had all of us in one place, and then waited until we fell asleep, and then attacked!"

Eebon growled, "It's the Archdemon! It knows that we're onto it, and it knows that we're going to kill it! It's afraid, and it's trying to assassinate us before we can face off against it in battle."

Dharr grunted. "Well, that explains how we've been ambushed twice now buy darkspawn raiding parties comprised almost completely of alphas, but they've figured out that won't work, so now they tried their hand with shrieks."

Endrin looked down at her injured torso and grimaced against the pain. She called, "Wynne, if you could, heal Morrigan first, as she's not a Warden she's susceptible to the taint! Let's not take any chances. Tylis, see what you can do for-" Endrin stopped and looked to the edge of the camp. There was someone, or something standing just outside the circle of firelight. Endrin could feel the tingle in her forehead, but it didn't feel the same as it did with darkspawn, this was something else.

"Lethallan!"

That single word caught Endrin's attention. The voice sounded vastly different from the last time she'd heard it, but she would know the voice of her brother anywhere. "Tamlen!" She yelled, moving quickly towards him, "It's you! You're alive!"

"No!" Tamlen's voice rasped, "Not alive… but not dead." He saw that Endrin was drawing steadily closer. "No Endrin, don't come near me! Stay away… please!"

Endrin stopped dead in her tracks, more out of surprise at the strange command than for any other reason. Endrin studied her friend of old, she was surprised and horrified at what she saw. Tamlen's blond hair had all fallen out, and his eyes had grown to twice their normal size, it almost looked like the color in his eyes was slowly fading away and leaving only the white behind. His lips had shriveled and began to curl back, leaving his teeth partially visible at all times. Tamlen's skin had darkened to the point it was almost black, and was covered in sores. His fingers now ended in short but sharp claws. "Tamlen…" Endrin said, trying to keep her voice quiet. "What happened to you?"

"Don't know…" He rasped, "Woke up in a strange cave. Tried to find you and the clan. And then… the song! Horrible… beautiful song! It calls to me!"

Her feet seemed to act on their own, taking Endrin closer to her long lost friend. Endrin knew what Tamlen was talking about, he'd been tainted, the same as she had been, and it had transformed him into a ghoul, her mind however refused to accept it. She held her arms open to him. "Tamlen, come here! It's not too late! The Grey Wardens helped me, we can help you too, we can find a way."

The others all gasped in horror as Tamlen took a step closer and true lengths of his corruption became clear to them all. Dharr's voice was sad when he said. "He's too far gone already, Endrin. There's nothing anyone can do for him, except to give him a quick-"

"No!" Endrin yelled, taking the last few steps towards Tamlen and wrapping him up in her arms. "Don't listen to them Tamlen." She whispered, her mouth only inches away from his ear. "We can help you, I swear I won't let you die like this!"

Tamlen's heavily tainted arms embraced Endrin, but they held her in almost a limp fashion. "No help for me, lethallan." His scratchy voice said quietly. "Must die. The song… he wants me to kill you! I cannot hold it back much longer! Must kill me, lethallan! I don't want to… hurt you!"

"Tamlen don't ask me to do that, you know I can't do it! You're strong, fight against it! I know you, you're my brother, you can do this!"

"Can't fight it anymore… kill me. Please Endrin, if you feel anything for me, kill me now!"

"No!"

"Do it! Let me find peace!"

"No!"

"Sister, it hurts! It hurts me so much! Be kind to me one last time and kill me. Please, I beg you, kill me… before I try to kill you!"

"It must be done, Endrin." Dharr said, now standing at her side. "I will do it if you cannot."

Endrin snarled, "Watroo gelvan im, durgen'len!" Get away from me, dwarf! Endrin released her hold on Tamlen, and looked into his eyes, tears pouring from her own. "Ma abelas… ma abelas!" I'm sorry… I'm sorry! Endrin drew her dar'misaan and held it out, although she could not bring herself to do the deed. Tamlen reached out and laid his hands over her own.

"Send me home…" He whispered.

Endrin would never know if she pushed the blade forward, or if Tamlen pulled it into his own chest. He didn't scream, didn't moan, or even gasp as his body sank to his knees. Endrin went down with him, pulling the sword free and dropping it to the ground. She held him tightly in her arms. "Tamlen…" She said, her voice cracking, and tears streaming freely down her face. "I found you only to lose you again… Please Tamlen…" She gently laid his body on his back, and knelt by his side, holding one of his hands in both of hers. "Please Tamlen, forgive me. I am so, so sorry that we didn't find you."

"Nothing…" Tamlen's fading voice whispered. "Nothing to forgive. Always… loved you… little sister… Goodbye."

"I love you too!" Endrin whispered back, her tears falling onto Tamlen's face. "Goodbye my brother, I will see you again!"

Tamlen's voice could barely be heard as he whispered, "I will tell the elders… and the… Creators… about… you." And his last breath slowly exhaled. Endrin reached down and closed his eyes, then she wrapped his dead body in her arms and held him in a final embrace. Endrin screamed. She screamed until there was no air left in her lungs, and then she took another breath and screamed again, and again.

No one moved for several minutes. Endrin continued to hold Tamlen, slowly rocking back and forth, the tears still fell freely down her face and she did nothing to wipe them away. Endrin's companions all stood rooted the ground. They had all seen and heard everything, and the thought of being forced to kill one's close friend or brother as a means of "saving" them was almost beyond comprehension.

Kylae looked around at the others, Morrigan and Eebon still bled from their wounds, as did Endrin. The arrival of Tamlen and Endrin's subsequent reaction had surprised them all so much that Wynne and Tylis had forgotten about the healing. Kylae felt something warm running down her face and brushed her fingers against her cheek. Tears. She hadn't even realized that she'd been began crying for Endrin, but as she looked around at the others again, she saw that tears streamed down all their faces. Even Morrigan, who up to till this point had seemed only cold-hearted.

"I need…" Endrin started, then had to stop and let a heavy sob come out. "I need to bury him. Someone bring me the spade."

Leliana walked back to the fire and returned with the short handled shovel. Up till then the only thing they'd used it for was digging fire pits on windy nights. "Do you need some help?" Leliana offered and she handed the spade to Endrin.

"No… This is something that I need to do on my own. But I do need someone to go and find a small tree, or the seed of a tree."

Roaran and Dharr both nodded and set off into the darkness to find one.

Endrin didn't know how long it took to dig the grave. She'd more or less lost track of time. But eventually the grave was dug however, and with Alistair's help, Tamlen's body was lowered into it. Filling in the grave took significantly less time. Endrin scooped out several handfuls of dirt before planting the small maple sapling that Dharr and Roaran had found and dug up. Endrin didn't rise when the burial was completed, she stayed on her knees by the grave, letting the tears once more roll down her cheeks unhindered.

"Sten?" Endrin called softly, she didn't see Sten approach, but she heard the soft crunch of grass underfoot as the giant came to a halt behind her.

"Yes, Kadan?"

"I understand how you feel now. I understand now, why you killed the farmers and their families in Lothering." Endrin placed her hands on either side of the small tree and leaned forward until her forehead touched the loose dirt. "I feel… as if my heart has been pulled from my body. I feel the same as you… soulless."

Behind her, Sten dropped to one knee and placed on hand on the shoulder of his leader and friend. Endrin was so small compared to him that Sten's hand enveloped her entire shoulder.

"Everything I love…" Endrin sobbed again, "Everything I love passes away. And in time… there will only be me left."

Sten grasped Endrin by both her shoulders and gently pulled her to her feet, turning her to face him. Sten remained on his knees so he could meet Endrin at eye level. "Endrin," He said, calling her by her name for the first time, "We are all but mortals. We all die. It is inevitable. What is important now is that you live, and what you will do with the life you still have left in you. I will die as well someday, but today I live and breathe, and I will stand and fight by your side. I will not abandon you."

This was the closest any of them had ever seen Sten to displaying true emotions. Endrin's green eyes looked deep into Sten's violet eyes. There were no words passed between them, only a silent understanding. Endrin took a step forward and threw her arms around Sten's neck, hugging him fiercely and burying her face in Sten's firm chest. Sten appeared surprised at first, as if he was unsure how to react then slowly, and almost hesitantly, he wrapped his own arms around her tiny frame.

"Don't leave me!" Endrin said into Sten's chest. "Any of you, don't leave me! I need you, you're all I have now. You are my clan, you are my family!" She finally admitted to them.

"I am here Kadan." Sten said in his soft, but firm voice.

Endrin felt Alistair gently place a hand on her shoulder. "We're all here Endrin, and we're not going anywhere. You've been a friend to all of us. And now it's our turn to repay you."

As if on cue, Leliana took up her lute again and began to play. Endrin instantly recognized the tune, and pulled free of both Sten and Alistair and knelt once more Tamlen's grave. She'd heard the song many times before when she'd lived with her clan. It had been written countless millennia ago, long before the first meeting of human and elf, when the elves were all but immortal. It was a sad song that was sung when one of their elders chose to enter the long sleep. Now that the elves were every bit as mortal as humans, the song was sung at funerals. Endrin slowly swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the song, her voice blending with Leliana's as the song began.

"Hahren na melana sahlin

Emma ir abelas

Souver'inan isala hamin

Vhenan him dor'felas

In Uthenera na revas

Vir sulahn'nehn

Vir dirthera

Vir samahl la numin

Vir lath sa'vunin

Vir sulahn'nehn

Vir dirthera

Vir samahl la numin

Vir lath sa'vunin"

As the last words left Leliana's lips, and the last chords faded into the darkness, Tamlen appeared again, but it was not the same Tamlen that they had just buried. He was surrounded by a pale blue glow, just like the Arcane Warrior in the temple ruins, although Tamlen's features were far more distinctive. He looked exactly as Endrin had remember him in life. His lean, muscular arms were crossed over his chest, his leather armor once more looked new, as if fresh from the craftsman's table. Longbow over his back, sword at his side. As the ghost of Tamlen looked at Endrin, and his face broke into a wide smile. He nodded once, then looked up into the star-studded sky and began to ascend, his ethereal body quickly becoming transparent, and fading away to nothing.

"He's with Falon'Din and Dirthamen now." Endrin whispered reverently. "Rest well my brother."

Alistair looked at Endrin again. She still knelt by Tamlen's grave, her back was to him, but he knew that her eyes were locked onto the infant maple tree. She hadn't moved for hours, and very soon now the sun would start to rise. Alistair got to his feet and walked to where Endrin knelt. Endrin did not acknowledge his presence, but Alistair had half expected that, he sat next to her in silence.

"It should have been Tamlen." Endrin said quietly. Her voice was steady now and her tears and dried, although her eyes were still red and swollen.

"What do you mean?" Alistair asked.

"I mean that Tamlen should have been the one to become a Grey Warden."

Alistair was silent and waited for Endrin to continue.

"He remained tainted for these long months, and he still retained his mind. Just think of what a Warden he would have made!"

"I'm sure that he would been a magnificent warrior." Alistair agreed, "But I'm happy that it's you who's with us. Although I never knew him, I'm certain that he could not lead and inspire us the way you have."

Endrin finally moved, turning her head to look at Alistair. "I miss him. But… I think it's better now than it was before. Now I know that despite the pain he endured, he is at peace, and he is happy again." Endrin moved closer to Alistair and rested her head on his shoulder. "I still miss him though. I always will."

"I know how you feel." Alistair said, putting his arm her across the shoulders. "I feel the same way for Duncan. But… I just wish that I could have some closure, that I could say goodbye, and tell him that he was the closest person I had to a father."

Endrin nuzzled closer. "You might just get your chance." She said quietly.

Alistair looked down at her but didn't say anything. He didn't know if Endrin was being serious, or if she was only saying that to make him feel better.

"Come-on," Endrin said, rising to her feet and offering a hand to Alistair. "You've been standing sentry all night. You need to get some sleep before we head out."

"I'll be fine."

"I insist." Endrin said, and pulled Alistair to his feet, then led him back to her own tent. Alistair stopped and looked questioningly at Endrin as she started to pull her boots off. Endrin's mischievous smile was tinged with sadness as she said, "Don't get all worked up over this Alistair… it's not what you think. I just really don't want to be alone."

Alistair nodded and began pulling off his own boots and armor. Endrin fell asleep that night wrapped up protectively in Alistair's arms. She had cried again for a short time, and Alistair had comforted her, holding her and talking to her softly until her tears stopped and she found sleep. Feeling her petit form against his own body, and hearing her quiet and steady breathing was all that Alistair needed to soon be lulled to sleep as well.

I think we can all agree that the Tamlen's death scene in DA:O was really not very well done, and Mahariel got over it way to fast. I hope that I have done a good job on portraying the whole Tamlen/Endrin thing. Also I thought Sten and his input on the situation was a nice touch as well. What do you all think?

Towards the end there, Endrin dropped a not so subtle hint as to where the next chapter will take place... That's right! They're going back to Ostagar, in what is so far the longest, and most action packed chapter yet! Tune in (probably) about this same time next week to find out how that all works out. As always, your support, reviews, suggestions, and criticisms are greatly appreciated, and thank you so much for sticking with me and reading. And as always, have a good weekend ya'll!