Ritual

How quickly the tides turn.

The future king initially wishes to kill a man out of jealousy. Then, barely a week later, that king is reduced to picking through rubble in order to obtain the means to save the same man. What is even more shocking is that I have been nominated to help said king, once my rival, to achieve this task to save the fallen party, also my rival. In the midst of this, I feel no animosity toward either party and am earnestly driven to meet our goal with a sense of urgency that I have not experienced, except in the occupation of trying to save myself.

If Taliesin still drew breath, he would be using it to laugh heartily at how far I have fallen from my previous grace.

"Camarada, I will need your help to move the beam. I cannot lift it alone," I called through gritted teeth and Alistair moved quickly to comply.

"Damned Grey Warden Vault," groaned Alistair, "It would be located in the hardest hit portion of the market."

I struggled with the weight of the beam, "There is no help for it. If we had needed something from the Alienage, that large tree would have fallen across it and our target would be wedged beneath. It would never be easy. Some people claim that the Maker has turned away from us, but I am beginning to suspect that the Maker throws obstacles at us so He can watch what we do as a form of entertainment. Why else would we meet conflicts and obstacles at every turn? What is it that we are trying to retrieve again?"

"After the Landsmeet, Riordan restored the manuscript that contained the formula necessary for the Joining. The other Grey Wardens are not due to join us from Orlais for quite some time. To save Sten we have to perform the Joining as soon as possible," Alistair grunted the explanation as we managed to clear the largest beam blocking our progress in clearing the door into the vault.

"What does the formula involve?" I continued to probe, but Alistair shook his head.

"If I knew the exact measurements I would not waste time digging out the vault. I know it involves darkspawn blood and some blood from an Archdemon," He huffed this while trying to dislodge a large boulder.

"At least we have plenty of that," I allowed, "what else is necessary for this Joining ritual?"

"I cannot tell you, Zevran. The Order requires that we maintain the secrecy of our practices," He said this soberly.

I paused a moment before asking, "Why is the golem not helping us?"

"She is carrying Sten to more comfortable quarters in the palace. It was the only way we could move him. Having us focus on this enables us to save time." Alistair grimaced as he finally managed to move the boulder, "I think we have cleared enough that we can try to pry the door open."

Both of us pushed against the door, grunting with the strain until we managed to get the door open wide enough for me to slip through, but not Alistair. We could get it no wider and we had no time to waste.

"Do not worry, Camarada," I comforted him as I wriggled past the barrier, "I shall find the manuscript. I am very adept at creeping in confined spaces."

I worked quickly, checking every corner and cubby of the room for the manuscript. The vault itself had suffered partial collapse. The air was dusty and I choked on it every time I breathed. Alistair called to me anxiously, "Are you finding anything?"

"Not as yet?"

"Hurry, there is not much time," he urged through the thin crevice and peered into the darkness, trying to discern what I did, "and no scavenging. The weapons and armor belong to the Grey Wardens. I would prefer that it remain untouched."

"Too late, much of it was touched by falling debris through the roof. You need not be concerned that I will help myself. The Grey Wardens can have it."

"That is comforting," he replied with chagrin.

I continued the conversation as I rifled through some papers scattered in a corner, "Why are you helping to save the Qunari anyway? Not so long ago you would have killed him yourself. If he were to die then Elissa would be free once again and you would not be to blame."

"I cannot just let him die, not when I can help him. You saw her face…"

"Si, I saw. It feels like we saved her only to lose her in a way."

"That is why I have to do this," Alistair confessed, "she was so close to being dead in my arms. Wynne saved her while I could do nothing. When she saw Sten and how badly he was hurt, the life died in her eyes. The last time she looked like that was when I saw her shortly after she lost her parents. It was months before I saw any light in her eyes. How could I stand by when I can do something for her, when I can protect her from that level of loss again?"

I perused a promising journal, flipping through the pages and assured him, "I understand," before adding under my breath, "more than you even realize."

"Have you found anything yet?" he demanded impatiently.

"Yes, here," I slipped the book into his hand through the space before I squeezed back through the doorway, "that may be it. I did not look at it closely, since I had no wish to compromise your Wardening secrets."

Leafing through the pages, he seemed to find what satisfied him and turned wordlessly toward the street, starting to run. Having no other alternative, I chased after him as he headed for the palace. In the streets soldiers searched through the rubble for hiding survivors and salvageable materials. The wind was wafting away the last vestiges of the smoke that had hung to the air, but it could not remove the blood. It would take months before the stains would fade and the streets would be clean.

We managed to locate the others in a room in the royal suites in the palace. The palace itself had sustained damage as well; the main hall had large cracks in the floor. The suites had fared better than most of the rest of the city. The others had made Sten comfortable and Wynne was trying to slow the progression of the Taint in his blood.

"We have the formula," Alistair announced, holding the manuscript aloft a moment, "we can perform the Joining. Leliana, go get the vials of darkspawn blood and the Archdemon blood I asked you to collect. Wynne, I need some of your lyrium."

Leliana scrambled to comply and Elissa nodded, turning to Sten, "We have what we need. The Joining will save your life."

"You are sure of this, Kadan?" The Qunari croaked, his breathing was labored.

"It is the only way. There is no cure for the Taint," she explained, gently taking his hand.

"Now that we have what we need, everyone needs to get out of the room so that we can conduct the ceremony," Alistair instructed everyone, taking the vials that Leliana produced from her pack and the lyrium from Wynne.

"That is not necessary," Elissa stated.

"But the Wardens are very specific…" Alistair began to argue, pouring the ingredients into a chalice that he had carried among his things. His hands trembled slightly as he mixed the concoction and his eyes reflected uncertainty.

"So am I," Elissa cut him off, "Unless of course you wish to be the one to catch him if he falls over."

Alistair looked cowed a moment and glanced around at the rest of us gathered around our ill friend, "The Wardens insist that the Joining must be kept secret."

"I swear by the Maker and his Bride that I shall never speak of the Joining to another soul," Leliana vowed, placing a reverent hand over her heart.

"I am too old to worry about sharing the secrets of your Order," Wynne reassured Alistair, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Shale glared at Alistair, "I will leave if the Grey Warden is prepared to physically remove me."

Alistair looked among the insistent women facing him before turning to me. I shrugged, "Who am I going to tell? I already have the Crows ready to kill me to keep their secrets. I am not about to earn the Grey Wardens' enmity if I can help it."

Alistair sighed, "At least the dwarf is elsewhere…he will not speak of it in an unguarded, inebriated moment."

"Get on with it, Alistair," Elissa growled, propping Sten up with her shoulder as he stood and I took his other side in order to further steady him.

Alistair took a breath, regaining his composure before intoning solemnly, "Since the first, these words have been spoken at the ceremony: Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn." He raised his eyes, and I was unsure whether he looked at Sten, Elissa or the two of them together before finishing, "And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you." He handed the chalice to Sten and Elissa helped to bring it to the man's lips.

Sten sputtered slightly, coughed and his eyes went white. He began to pass out and Elissa tried to lower him to the ground, but she lost her grip on him and he reeled toward me, all twenty stone of him. Sten's weight and unwieldy shape made it difficult for me to do anything but collapse under him, hitting the floor with a groan.

"Normally I might welcome being trapped under a handsome man, but this is more than I can withstand," I squeaked.

Shale gently pulled Sten off me and arranged him on the floor. Elissa examined him while Leliana helped me up.

"He has survived," Elissa reassured us, gently placing a hand upon his forehead.

Alistair nodded and turned to the others, "All we can do is wait until he regains consciousness to see if it helped."

Elissa looked up at him, alarmed, "You think it may not make a difference? He survived the Joining."

He shook his head, "It is not a cure Elissa. Some who are tainted, even if they withstand the Joining, do not last long. The Taint was strong in him, worse than I have ever seen it. Even now he is like a beacon and I can sense it pulsing in him. I have not had as much experience as some of the elder wardens. I cannot say what is normal. There are also not many Kossith that become Wardens, that is far rarer and I have no clue how they respond to the taint. Also, he was tainted by an Archdemon, something that has probably not occurred in over five hundred years. It was very potent. He could just become…"

"No!" she waved her hand at him to stop speaking and she closed her eyes, leaning over to place her own forehead against Sten's, whispering silently, "You will not be defeated by this, if any can withstand this it is you.

"I hope you are right," I muttered for my ears alone.