A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I had a lot of trouble with writer's block and irl issues. Quite a bit's been going on for me, so I've been sort of distracted lately. I'll try to update more often, though.
Anyway, enjoy!
Duran had to admit, all of this walking was getting tedious. Maybe it was because he was a dwarf, maybe it was because of his armor's weight, maybe it was because of the shear openness of the surface. It could've also been all three. At the very least, they were making progress.
They had passed Lothering a couple hours ago, meaning that they were only around three to four days of travelling from Honnleath according to Aedan. Aedan had told him that Honnleath was a village that was a bit bigger than Lothering and that the bann wasn't particularly caring towards his people. Hearing that automatically reminded him of Trian, but he doubted that the man was that bad.
He had noticed that Aedan seemed to have been trying to get close to Morrigan. He had no idea if he had managed to make any progress, but then, it's not like he truly cared about it, anyway. It was Aedan's business and he wasn't going to pry into it unless it was important.
That's one of the things Duran hated about being a noble. There was no real sense of privacy. It was probably even worse for him because he was a prince, but Aedan had been the youngest son of one the highest ranking nobles in the country, so it might've been just as hard for him. But then, he didn't know the culture of the nobility in Ferelden, so maybe he was making too many assumptions.
At least now, they were both anonymous. They could both make a name for themselves how they chose to. In fact, they all could. It felt…. good to have that amount of freedom. In a way, they had all lived a caged life before Duncan recruited them. Now that they were Wardens, they had more options than they would've had in their previous lives.
It was like being given a fresh start at life. They all still had their past, but it was just that; theirs. They could remember it, forget it, use it, or ignore it as they wished. The only price of that seemed to be the taint, but considering everything else… it was worth it in his eyes.
That did beg the question, though. If given the option to return to their old life, would any of them take it? Everyone had lost something, someone before being recruited. If they could turn back time and return to that, would they?
He wasn't sure if he would. On one hand, he missed Orzammar and his father. On the other, Trian was always an ass, he knew what Bhelen was capable of, and returning meant that he'd have to return to dealing with all the pussyfooting and jumping through political and social hoops. Besides, he wouldn't have been able to do much for Orzammar while stuck in the palace. As a Warden, he could fight the Blight itself.
As for everyone else… he wasn't sure. Considering the circumstances of Aedan's recruitment, it was likely that he would want to go back to his old life if it meant bringing his family back. Theron likely missed his clan, but he didn't know him well enough to know if he would go back. Neria didn't seem like she was all that fond of the Circle, but he wasn't sure about Solona.
As for Natia and Darrian, he wasn't sure. They both had hard lives, but they had to leave behind their friends and family. He was somewhat surprised that Darrian hadn't tried to storm into the alienage again before they left Denerim when he heard what was going on there. Maybe getting him out of the city to calm down let him think more clearly about everything that was going on.
"The Blight. How will you end it?" Duran looked up and to his right to see Sten looking him over with a critical gaze.
He groaned inwardly and said, "We need to kill the archdemon."
"Is that all? It is surrounded by an ocean of darkspawn. How will reach it? If you reach it, how will you slay it?" He looked Duran up and down as if to judge him. "You say you are a Grey Warden. I have heard many stories of this order."
Duran raised an eyebrow in response. "What have you heard about the Wardens?"
"Great strategists and peerless warriors. That is what we hear of the Wardens. So far I am not impressed."
"Strategy is about more than winning battles. You need to prepare beforehand and gather your forces, whether by gaining allies or training your own soldiers. Considering how we have nowhere to build up our own military, not to mention that doing so would only make us an even bigger target and take time we don't have, we have to resort to gathering allies. I would think that you of all people would know that."
For once, Sten didn't seem to be giving him a critical gaze. He seemed... satisfied? It was hard to tell what he was thinking at the best of times.
Instead of replying, he slowed his pace and fell behind, seeming to isolate himself from everyone else. Duran shrugged it off and kept walking. Qunari are a really strange people if Sten's any indication…
They had learned from Keeper Zathrian that the clan had been attacked by werewolves several days ago and that many of the hunters had been infected as a result. After agreeing to find and kill a wolf called Witherfang and gathering supplies, they had headed into the forest. They'd been sure to learn as much about the werewolves as they could, but even then, it wasn't much beyond the obvious 'avoid being bitten'.
They'd killed a mixed group of werewolves and regular wolves, one or two of which managed to escape further into the forest. They had also killed a rather large bear that almost caught them by surprise. After the fight, Darrian thought he had seen Theron pick a flower, but it was so quick that he figured that he was just seeing things.
They approached a small waterfall and saw a trio of werewolves approaching, headed by one with auburn-colored fur and had scarring on its snout. Instinctively, everyone grabbed their weapons and got ready for a fight, only to see the werewolves stop far enough away to be out of the reach of their weapons, but close enough to lunge at a moment's notice, standing on their hind legs.
The lead werewolf looked over the group and said, "The watch wolves have spoken truly, my brothers and sisters." Wait… they can talk? Darrian furrowed his brow and looked toward Theron, who looked back at him and shrugged. Then he looked toward Neria, who shrugged as well. "The Dalish only send one of their own, as well as humans. How desperate they must be."
Darrian looked toward Theron through the corner of his eye, waiting to see what his approach would be so he could coordinate their attack, only for Theron to sheathe his blades.
Then Theron furrowed his brow, saying, "How is it that you can speak?"
"What are you doing?" Darrian immediately butted in, making sure to keep an eye on the werewolves.
Theron just looked at him. "They haven't attacked us on sight like the other werewolves. If they wanted us dead, they would've tried it already."
Darrian just grunted in response. He didn't want to admit it, but Theron was right, though he still kept a tight grip on his sword just in case.
Theron looked back at the werewolves as the auburn-furred one growled and said, "I would prefer to rip your hearts out myself, but the Lady would not wish unnecessary death." Again, Darrian and Theron looked at each other. What is going on here? "You speak to Swiftrunner. I lead my cursed brothers and sisters." Another growl. "Turn back now, go back to the Dalish and tell them that you have failed." Yet another growl. "Tell them we will gladly watch them suffer the same curse we have suffered for too long. We will watch them pay!"
Darrian just scoffed. "Funny, considering how we outnumber you." The werewolves snarled in response.
Theron took a few steps forward, placing himself between Darrian and the trio of werewolves, before saying, "I'd prefer to talk, Swiftrunner."
"Was it not Zathrian who sent you?" Swiftrunner responded, following with yet another growl. "He wishes only our destruction, never to talk!"
"Well… yes, he did send us, but it seems fairly obvious that we don't know the whole story. Perhaps we could find a peaceful solution if—"
"The time for peace is long past. There will be no peace between the elves and we who are cursed."
"Why do you hate the Dalish so much?" Neria asked.
"You know nothing, do you? Nothing of us and even less of those you serve. You are fools, and we are done talking." The werewolves got ready to attack and Theron instinctively reached for his blades. "Run from the forest while you can. Run to the Dalish and tell them that they are doomed."
"I don't want to fight, but we can't simply retreat," Theron said, seeming to lighten his grip on his weapons.
Darrian noticed that Swiftrunner's eyes were scanning over them before he took a step back. "I do not wish to fight you either, but we cannot trust you." All three werewolves seemed to relax, backing down. "Come, brothers and sisters, let us retreat. The forest has eyes of its own, and it will deal with intruders as it always has." They soon backed up and turned around before heading deeper into the forest.
Everyone sheathed their weapons before looking at each other with varying looks of confusion before Alistair said, "Well… that was unexpected. Suppose there's more that Zathrian didn't tell us?"
"Probably," Theron replied, looking thoughtful. "It seems like Zathrian and these werewolves have a history."
"So, do we go back and ask him about it?" Neria asked.
Theron just shook his head without looking at her. "No. Zathrian's not the kind of man you can force to tell you something he doesn't want you to know. We'll only get answers if we continue searching for Witherfang."
"And what about this 'Lady' that Swiftrunner mentioned?" Darrian asked, crossing his arms. "Seems like these werewolves listen to her."
"Hmm… yes, it does seem like that. We need to figure out what exactly is going on. And quickly." Everyone nodded in response and followed Theron deeper into the forest, keeping an eye on their surroundings as they did.
As they crossed a set of wooden planks that covered a small stream, Darrian saw five werewolves rushing towards them, two of which seemed to be charging in earnest while the other three looked like they were merely trying to keep up. Everyone immediately drew their weapons, Darrian and Alistair instinctively moving to the front, drawing the attention of the lead werewolves.
"Watch the first two!" Theron shouted from behind. "They look rabid!"
"Good to know!" Alistair replied, raising his shield.
One of the rabid werewolves leapt and Darrian quickly side-stepped and sliced downward, catching the beast in the back of the neck and sending it slamming into the ground, snout first. Darrian noted that it had foam around its mouth before retracting his blade, seeing that Alistair had taken down the other rabid werewolf nearly as easily. He looked toward the rest of the werewolves, seeing only one still standing before Theron cut it down. One of the werewolves had multiple arrows embedding in its hide while the other had been burnt to a crisp.
Darrian was about to sheathe his greatsword before he felt several presences nearby, and they definitely weren't Theron, Alistair, and Neria. Alistair must have sensed it too, because he soon said, "I wouldn't get relaxed just yet. There are darkspawn nearby."
"How many?" Leliana asked.
"Enough to give us a fight," Darrian immediately replied. Without waiting for Theron's instruction, he motioned for everyone to follow him, heading deeper into the forest, Alistair soon appearing next to him.
"You certainly know how to use that greatsword," Alistair started. "Who taught you how to fight?"
"My mother, if you must know." Darrian glanced toward Alistair out of the corner of his eye, noticing that he held his shield angling downward slightly. "Did the Templars teach you to angle your shield like that?"
"You mean angling it downward?" Darrian nodded. "Actually, yes, they did. Helps keep flames or acid from spraying in my face when I block."
Darrian grunted in response, noticing that a group of hurlocks headed by an ogre were charging.
"Leliana, take care of the archer," Theron ordered. "Darrian and Alistair, keep the ogre on you. Neria and I will handle the rest."
Darrian charged at the ogre while Alistair started clanging his sword and shield together, drawing its attention. It swiped its massive fist at Darrian as if it was simply getting him out of the way, only for him to dodge the swing. He quickly swung at the back of the ogre's leg, attempting to cripple it. He managed to embed the blade in its hide, barely retracting it before the ogre swung at him again, this time seeming more focused on him than Alistair.
He cursed under his breath before dodging another swing, barely managing to recover before having to leap out of the way of another swing, landing on his stomach. He quickly pushed himself to his feet before charging forward, towards the ogre's legs, narrowly avoiding yet another swing as he rolled underneath the beast. He turned around and swung at its wounded leg, this time managing to embed it deep enough that when it tried to turn to face him, in collapsed onto its side. Alistair immediately charged in and thrust his sword into the ogre's skull, the beast falling completely limp as he retracted the blade. Darrian turned to see that there were two hurlocks left, one of which was charging towards him, so he charged as well, quickly swinging high and decapitating it.
He looked around to see that all the darkspawn were dead, so he sheathed his sword and walked over to Theron and the others, who had also sheathed their weapons.
Neria looked around at the corpses before saying, "If the horde is this far north, it won't be long before Ferelden is overrun."
Alistair just shook his head. "The main body of the horde is still to the south. This was just a small splinter group."
"Maybe, but the fact that there are darkspawn here at all doesn't bode well," Theron said, bringing a hand to his chin.
"True… I suppose that means we should hurry."
After fighting their way through several sylvans and talking to the only one that didn't attack, Theron decided that they should make camp nearby. His reasoning was that since the tree wasn't hostile and was actually fairly friendly, it would be safer to camp near it than in the middle of the forest. He also said that backtracking to the clan wasn't much of an option either, since they would likely return well after sunset.
They camped at the base of a very large tree which was located on a hill that provided a good view of the forest around them for a fairly decent distance. Neria was talking with Leliana about Orlais, Alistair was keeping an eye on the surrounding area, and Theron was stoking the fire. Darrian was checking on his armor and sword, making sure that it was all still in good enough condition to fight in. His greatsword was getting a bit dull and his armor had more than a few dents in it, but neither would be much of an issue for a while yet.
He decided ask Theron about Zathrian, so he left his equipment next to his bedroll and walked over to Theron, getting his attention as he approached.
"Yes, Darrian?" Theron asked, looking up at him.
Darrian sat down next to him before saying, "How well do you know Zathrian?"
He raised an eyebrow in response. "You don't trust him?"
Darrian just shrugged. "He's obviously not telling us what exactly is going on. You said so yourself."
"I suppose I did." Theron looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I met him at the last Arlathvhen about… seven years ago, I think."
"That's when all the Dalish clans gather to share whatever lore they've gathered, right?"
"Well, that's not all that happens, but yes. Only talked to Zathrian for a while. Lanaya wasn't his First at the time, but she was definitely well on her way."
"Was he always so distrustful of non-Dalish?"
Theron nodded. "Yes, but he's actually one of the more tolerant Keepers. Some clans just kill any humans they encounter. Some go out of their way to do so. Honestly, I think that it just makes things worse for all clans, but it's not like I could do anything to stop them." Theron seemed to look him over. "A lot of the Dalish in those clans think a lot like you do, and there are many others who would think less of you just for being city-born."
Darrian gave a slight frown. "What about Zathrian himself?"
"Well… you heard about what happened to his son and daughter, right?"
Darrian nodded. "Yeah, and I would've done the same thing in his shoes."
"I don't doubt it. However, that was actually centuries ago."
He furrowed his brow. "I thought that was an exaggeration."
Theron shook his head. "No, it's true, as hard as it is to believe. A lot of Dalish think he's rediscovered the immortality of the ancient elvhen, but I'm not so sure."
"It does seem a bit… odd." Darrian brought his hand to his chin. "Considering he obviously has a history with the werewolves, do you think it's related?"
Theron furrowed his brow in response. "Why would it be?"
"Well, the timing is a bit… convenient."
"Hmm… maybe. The only way to know for sure is to get to the bottom of this curse, Witherfang, and whoever this 'Lady' is."
"Agreed."