Chapter Twenty-One: Trying to Justify Breaking the Curse

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age.

They had just repelled yet another wave of the walking dead (where were they all coming from?) when Wynne fell over. As she was fond of reminding people how old she was even if she didn't look it, that was not, perhaps, as surprising as it might have been. The fact that she had lost consciousness, however, was. Admittedly, once they had crossed the barrier they had come across shortly after leaving Aneirin – and which Aunn credited the Grand Oak's tree branch for otherwise that whole thing was an even bigger waste of time than she'd thought – it had been nearly non-stop fighting. If it wasn't the undead it was werewolves accusing them of hostile intentions while they launched unprovoked attack after unprovoked attack and ignored her requests to actually find out what was going on. There were also some wolf ghouls, bears, insane trees and even one revenant which was always fun. Since entering the ruins where the werewolves had claimed, though, it had been mostly the undead and werewolves.

Alistair was by Wynne's side in an instant. "Are you okay?" he asked earnestly.

Wynne moaned lightly as she stirred. "I…what?"

"You just collapsed," Alistair helpfully reminded her as he stuck out his hand. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

"I…might have some idea, yes," Wynne allowed as she let Alistair help her to her feet. She glanced over his shoulder. "Although we really don't have time for this now. I will tell you all about it once we're done here, one way or another."

Aunn followed Wynne's gaze and saw yet more werewolves stalking towards them. She pulled out her sword and held it out in front of her.

"Put down your weapons," the leader of the group ordered. "Why the Lady wishes to meet with such violent strangers is beyond me…"

Aunn blinked. "Excuse me? We keep asking to talk to somebody about all of this and everyone keeps accusing us of being here to kill you all!"

"Your blades are coated in the blood of my brethren," the werewolf said dismissively. "Even when I first encountered you you had already slaughtered several of them." Ah, so this was Swiftrunner then. He was notable in that, while he still ended up attacking her, he at least was willing to talk – and accuse her of lying – before he did so. He seemed to suspect that they had come to kill Witherfang as he kept vowing to not let them near her.

"The ones we killed before running into you for the second time all seemed to be mindless," Aunn protested. "In fact, they really seemed to fit Zathrian's description of you guys."

"If you're going to listen to his lies then I don't see why I should even let you meet with the Lady," Swiftrunner sniffed.

"What Lady?" Aunn asked him.

"What Lady? Only the Lady of the Forest who has saved us all," Swiftrunner replied. "Your ignorance is insulting."

"And your refusal to explain isn't helping matters," Aunn pointed out. "You said that she wanted to meet with me? If she's willing to talk then I'm in favor of this meeting."

"You would agree to parlay, then?" Swiftrunner asked dubiously.

Aunn nodded. "Of course."

Swiftrunner sighed. "Then follow me."

The room that Swiftrunner led them to contained a green-tinted grey humanesque woman with long dark hair covering her breasts and vines snaking up her legs to cover her arms and all her genitalia. For all that she wasn't wearing any clothing, she – like the desire demons Aunn had encountered – seemed to fall just short of actually showing anything. That was actually a little strange. If demons and forest spirits didn't actually care to adhere to the human/elf/dwarven/qunari customs of wearing clothing then why did they feel the need to cover up? Men and certain women weren't paying enough attention to what they were actually saying with such a view? Oh well, she supposed it really didn't matter. Given that this woman was surrounding by very protective-looking werewolves, it was a probably safe to assume that this was the so-called 'Lady of the Forest.'

"I bid you welcome, mortal. I am the Lady of the Forest," the Lady confirmed, inclining her head slightly.

Aunn had rarely been addressed by the fact that she would one day die but she already couldn't stand it. It just sounded so presumptuous and if the fact that Swiftrunner and the others didn't want her meeting with their Lady was any indication, this spirit could die as well meaning she wasn't quite as immortal as all of that regardless of whether she happened to age. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me," Aunn said diplomatically. She had to be careful here. One wrong word and the werewolves could snap and decide to attack he and while she was reasonably sure that her group could take theirs, that would rather defeat the purpose of this parlay.

"Do not listen to her, Lady! She will betray you! We must attack her now!" Swiftrunner insisted.

"Didn't we already do that?" Aunn asked rhetorically. "And even if I were to betray you at some point in the future, that's hardly a guarantee and you attacking me means that there is no way this is going to end well."

"Hush, Swiftrunner," the Lady said gently. "The mortal is right-"

"My name is Aunn," Aunn interrupted.

The Lady nodded at her. "Aunn is right. You have been the one to attack before and what has it led to? Just the deaths of those you were trying to protect. Would you like to see more of your people slaughtered at the hands of her and her friends?"

"No, my lady, anything but that," Swiftrunner said apologetically.

"You will have to forgive Swiftrunner," the Lady said, turning back towards Aunn. "He has made great progress but he still struggles with his nature."

"As do we all," Sten said quietly. Aunn wondered if he was thinking about the incident with the farmers and his lost sword or something else entirely. A society that was as against personal liberties as the one Sten belonged to seemed to be would have a lot of issues with people struggling against their very nature, she would imagine. Aunn herself was no stranger to going against her nature and, in fact, was doing so right now. She did not appreciate being insulted or attacked and she had been both but she was still listening to this Lady of the Forest and acting as though she weren't tempted to just fulfill Swiftrunner's prophecy.

"Truer words were never spoken," the Lady said approvingly. "But few could claim the same as these creatures: that their very nature is a curse forced upon them."

"A curse?" Morrigan asked with great interest. "Was Zathrian the one who placed it? Is that why your kind seems to hate him so and why he would not even concede that your people weren't mindless?"

"You are perceptive," the Lady said by way of answering the question. "As you are probably aware, Zathrian has walked this world for many centuries. When all of our woe began, he was a much younger man and a much happier one. He had a son and a daughter whom he loved very much. The Dalish were new to this land then and there was a human tribe that lived close to the forest. They resented the presence of the Dalish. They thought that they were savages and would use up all of their resources and come after them and so…they struck first."

"Zathrian's children," Leliana realized, undoubtedly recognizing the significance of their mention from her own experience with story-telling. "They went after Zathrian's children."

"He was the Keeper even then," the Lady confirmed. "And the humans decided that the easiest way to get the Dalish to leave would be to target the children of the Dalish leader. The humans ambushed the children while they were out with a hunting party."

Swiftrunner stepped forward then. "The boy was severely tortured before the humans finally let him die and the girl was raped by each of the ambushers and left in such a horrible condition that they assumed she would simply die from her wounds. That wasn't the case, though; the Dalish found her and brought her back to Zathrian. Physically, she recovered but once she learned that she was with child she took her own life."

"That is horrible!" Wynne cried, outraged. "This is where Zathrian cursed them? I can't say that I pity them."

"Neither do I," the Lady concurred sadly. "The day his daughter died, Zathrian came to these very ruins. Had she survived then he may not have been driven to so great a hatred as to seek vengeance in such a matter. He summoned a terrible spirit and bound it to the body of a great wolf. Witherfang. She hunted the humans of the tribe. Many were killed, but others were cursed by her blood, becoming just as twisted and savage as Witherfang is."

Alistair frowned. "Her blood tainted the men and made them like her? I don't like the sound of that. It sounds far too much like what the darkspawn do."

"Our blood may infect others like the darkspawn do," Swiftrunner admitted, "but our very presence does not taint the land. Until one of us begins to bleed – which won't happen unless a fight breaks out – you are all safe from the curse."

"Are you Witherfang?" Aunn inquired. "Or is there some other not-quite-werewolf who all of the werewolves are remarkably devoted to?" For all she knew there was, but Zathrian had spoken of Witherfang's importance, the werewolves had spoken of protecting her, and now they acted the same way about this 'Lady of the Forest' who had the power to get the werewolves to stand down and actually agree to talk to her. It seemed a little unlikely that this hitherto unknown creature had so much power over the werewolves.

"Would it change anything if I were?" the Lady challenged. "The men that Zathrian sent me after may have deserved it but as time passed they had descendents who were innocent of any wrongdoing and did not deserve this fate. I found Swiftrunner and I showed him that there was another side to his bestial nature. I soothed his rage, and his humanity emerged. And he brought others to me."

"That's all well and good but how will knowing your history help solve this conflict one way or another?" Aunn asked.

"We seek to end this curse," the Lady revealed. "Those responsible for the acts that prompted the curse have long since perished. Do not think that we resorted to attacking the Dalish right away. Every single time that Zathrian has passed through this area we have sent word to him asking him to meet with us. Every single time he has ignored us. We have waited long enough. We had hoped that by tying the fate of his clan to ours that he would change his mind but he still hasn't come. Please, Aunn, you must go to him and bring him here. Surely if he sees that these poor creatures are not the ones who destroyed his children so long ago he will relent."

"And if not then we will destroy him!" Swiftrunner declared. "I want to be cured but if I cannot have that then I will have to settle for vengeance."

"I can't hold them back forever," the Lady said sadly. "Part of me doesn't even want to."

"Do you know why I'm even involved in any of this?" Aunn asked rhetorically. "There is a Blight coming and I have a treaty that calls upon the Dalish to aid me. Unfortunately, I don't know very much about the Dalish much less contacting them and so I'm lucky that I found this clan. Zathrian claims that he can't afford to send his warriors off to fight darkspawn with the attacks and so, one way or another, I need the attacks to end. Bringing Zathrian here doesn't seem like a particularly unreasonable request but I am going to need him and so no matter how this goes I can't allow you to kill him."

"I understand," the Lady said. "Do what you have to. Just bring him here and we can try to make Zathrian see reason. He can't possible still have so much rage that he would doom his clan just to make us suffer."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Shale remarked wryly. "Squishy creatures can be so frighteningly impractical."

"The door behind me leads right to the entrance to the ruins," Swiftrunner revealed. "We had it blocked earlier to stop you from reaching the Lady but there is no reason not to use such a short-cut now."

Aunn nodded her gratitude – she really hated this labyrinth-like ruin – and headed out the door that he had suggested. To her surprise, she found Zathrian standing near the entrance, eyeing the surroundings with distaste.

"Ah, and here you are," Zathrian greeted.

"Somehow I'm not surprised to see you here," Zevran remarked. "I am a little curious as to how you managed to get in, though."

"I am a keeper, with access to powers your kind has long forgotten," Zathrian said curtly. "I was never barred from this place."

"Then why did you make us take the long way?"Alistair demanded.

"My path would have been far longer had you not dealt with the forest's obstacles on your own," Zathrian explained.

"I don't like this one," Shale complained. "Can we not simply crush its head?"

Trian growled in agreement.

"I sense that you do not have the heart," Zathrian continued, ignoring them. "May I ask why you were leaving the ruins?"

"We were looking for you," Aunn replied. "The Lady of the Forest wants to meet with you."

"I'm well aware of that, I assure you," Zathrian said dryly. "If I were okay with that plan then I wouldn't have needed you."

"She wants you to end the curse," Aunn told him. "She thinks that you'll be convinced to do so once you see them and it didn't seem an unreasonable request. If we do end up killing them then you might as well be there for it."

"You do understand that this 'Lady of the Forest' of theirs actually is Witherfang, I hope," Zathrian said in a tone of voice that made it clear that he expected them to have no idea of this.

"I do, actually," Aunn replied pleasantly. "So are you going to come along with me willingly or are we just going to have to stand here arguing?"

Zathrian pinched the bridge of his nose. "She may claim that the werewolves have regained their minds but I find that difficult to believe. They attacked my clan not too long ago, after all, and proved themselves the same savages they've always been."

"To be fair, you did refuse to meet with them and it sounds like they tried to settle this nonviolently for quite some time," Leliana pointed out.

"Was I really supposed to allow myself to be lured away from my clan so that they could try to kill me and then take the rest of my people?" Zathrian scoffed. "It's clear that nothing will be settled from just standing here so I will accompany you to Witherfang."

"And you'll speak with them instead of attacking straightaway?" Alistair pressed.

"What for?" Zathrian demanded. "They want one of two things: revenge or release. I will not stand back and let them annihilate my people and they don't deserve release."

"Do your people deserve to share the fate of the werewolves?" Aunn asked shrewdly. "Some already have and you know that more will follow. That's why you sent me here, after all."

"And look what good that did," Zathrian grumbled. "Only one of you is even elven and the rest cannot possibly hope to understand the struggle we've had to be safe. I could not let that injustice go unpunished! Tell me, if you held your own daughter's lifeless body in your arms would you not also have sworn an eternity of pain on those who did such to her?"

The anguish in his voice was hard to hear. Aunn had really not given much thought to the subject of children other than the fact that she didn't want them as they would ruin her life but she tried to do this now. What would she do to anyone who had killed them, never mind tortured or violated them first. "I…might have," she conceded softly. "But that was centuries ago, Zathrian, and now your people are paying the price."

"Very well," Zathrian said coldly. "You wish me to go and talk? I will do so. But what if it is only more revenge they wish? Will you safeguard me from harm?"

"I will," Aunn vowed.

"Unless you attack first, of course," Alistair added.

"Then, pointless though this exercise may be, let us go see what those beasts have to say," Zathrian said, looking disgusted at the thought of having to face them. He pushed past them and stalked towards the door leading to the Lady and all of the werewolves.

"Well, spirit, you've finally gotten what you want," Zathrian declared as he strode into the room, the others following closely behind him. The Lady and the werewolves turned around to face them. "What now?"

"Now you will address her as the Lady of the Forest as she deserves!" Swiftrunner insisted.

Zathrian laughed mockingly. " 'The Lady of the Forest'? Ah, yes, I had heard that particular appellation. It seems a little pretentious to me but then compared to your little pets I suppose you would be. I wonder what misleadingly charming names you've come up with for these savages or whether you didn't even bother."

"They are not my pets," the Lady said firmly. "And they are not completely savage. I did not name them nor did I name myself, the labels came from them. They only follow me because I helped them discover who they are."

"You wouldn't think it would be that difficult for them to realize that they were wild savages and worthless dogs," Zathrian said contemptuously.

Aunn sighed. This was not going very well at all. She knew that Zathrian didn't want to be there but did he really have to be so antagonistic?

Swiftrunner had had enough of the insults. "He will not help us, Lady! It is as I warned you! He is not here to talk!"

Zathrian shook his head, still looking disgusted that he was even in this situation to begin with. "No, I actually am here to talk but I still don't see the point and it's going nowhere." Maybe it was going nowhere because he wouldn't stop insulting them and refusing to see what was right in front of his eyes?

"We can resolve this peacefully, Zathrian," the Lady said earnestly. "There is room in your heart for compassion. Surely your revenge is complete by now."

"My retribution is eternal," Zathrian said flatly. "This is justice and nothing more."

"Oh, no?" the Lady asked, raising an eyebrow. "This is all about justice and not at all about the details of the curses' creation?"

"What details?" Alistair asked. "All we know is that he bound a spirit to a wolf."

"That is true," the Lady acknowledged. "Witherfang and I are one being. Such powerful magic could not be done without the use of Zathrian's own blood. His peo-"

"Blood magic!" Wynne spat, looking disgusted herself now.

Zathrian spared her an annoyed look. "I will not be judged by one who so eagerly enslaves herself because of her gift."

"I think the fact that he used blood magic is kind of the least of bad things he's done," Aunn spoke up.

"Well, you would," Wynne said dismissively. Aunn found herself wishing that they had left Wynne back with Aneirin. On the other hand, then he'd have to endure more naïve talk of sending him back to be enslaved by his would-be executioners.

The Lady waited until they were finished. "Your people believe that you have rediscovered the secrets to immortality but that is not the case. The curse and your life are intertwined. As long as the curse survives, so do you."

Zathrian's eyes flashed. "How dare you accuse me of using my son and daughter, my very people for something as self-serving as that! This is about justice! The longevity is merely a side-effect and not one that I had expected."

"But it's one you're willing to live with," Aunn said quietly. "Just like how the fact that some of the humans weren't killed but rather transformed was just a side-effect, I'll bet, and look what's happening because of it. Just how far are you going to go for your revenge, Zathrian?"

It was actually a little disconcerting to watch him. Sure Aunn had a few detours she could make on the way to Orzammar but sooner or later she was going to go back home and face whatever it had become in the months since she'd left. She didn't know if it would be harder to see everything changed in her absence or things staying the same and life going on without her. She certainly didn't know whether or not she'd have an opportunity for revenge or if she'd take it if it were offered to her. She hoped that she'd have enough sense not to let any steps she took to get back at her brother get even remotely as out of control as Zathrian's little revenge-quest had gotten.

"There is nothing I wouldn't do for justice and to protect my people!" Zathrian declared.

"Zathrian's death will not end the curse," the Lady cautioned, "and yet I believe that it plays a part in its ending."

"Then let's rip him apart!" Swiftrunner cried out. Honestly, it was like he wasn't even listening. She had just said that that wouldn't work. From the sound of it, he'd need to undo the curse voluntarily but the act would kill him, either from age finally catching up with him or from the power it took to end the curse. If it were possible to just kill him and the curse would be broken that way then one would think that the Lady would have already tried it before seeking outside help.

"I knew it," Zathrian said bitterly. "For all your newfound power of speech, you're still just beasts." It was remarkable how he could sound for all the world like their bestial status wasn't entirely his own damn fault. "Try and wrap your puny little minds around this: I am the only one who knows how to end the curse. I will never do it but killing me will kill any futile hopes you may have."

"See!" Swiftrunner exclaimed, turning to his fellow wolves. "I told you, didn't I? We have to kill them all for their treachery!"

"They'll turn on you just as quickly as they'd come after me," Zathrian called out to Aunn and the others.

"Actually, this is the fourteenth time he's suggested killing us since we've met," Morrigan told him idly. "He has yet to actually act on this, though."

"I could really use your help but if you won't do so then I will be content if you just stay out of my way," Zathrian told them before turning back to the wolves.

Aunn hesitated. She had two choices here. She could stand with Zathrian and kill the Lady Witherfang as was agreed upon or she could side with the werewolves and hope that Zathrian would see the error of his ways and not die on them. On the one hand, Zathrian was being completely unreasonable. No matter how bad what had happened was – and it was terrible – it had also taken place centuries ago and the current generation of werewolves appeared to be just as big of victims in this as anybody. It had only come to a fight (or at least so quickly) because Zathrian flat-out refused to ever break the curse. It seemed like an easy choice.

On the other, though…On the other hand there was the treaty to consider. Attacking Zathrian seemed like a very poor way of getting him to follow through with his promise to honor it. Not to mention that by attacking him the only way that the elves would get cured and thus be able to fight was if Zathrian broke the curse. If he just died then the curse wouldn't be broken and the elves would only be able to be cured by killing the Lady after all and if she were going to do that then there seemed little point in going after Zathrian first as it just made things needlessly complicated.

Zathrian had proven himself less-than-honest about the werewolves but did that make him a dishonest person on the whole? Could they trust him to honor his word about helping against the Blight? The whole clan knew about Zathrian's promise and while Zathrian could feel free to back out of it anyway, that would make him look bad in the eyes of his people and there could be repercussions because of that. She supposed that, technically, it was possible that the Dalish could all enthusiastically support tricking the group of mostly 'shems' and not want to go to war (because really, who did?) but that seemed highly unlikely. The Dalish seemed to like to pride themselves as being more honorable than humans and to have the moral high ground and if they were willing to lie about helping during a Blight and flee while humans kept their promise and stayed and fight it would look really bad for them. Not to mention, of course, that a Blight was serious business and if left unchecked it would destroy everything. Letting it really build as it conquered Ferelden would make it that much harder to stop no matter where the clan chose to run.

If she sided with the werewolves and Zathrian ended up dying before he agreed to break the curse then they would have no Dalish allies and, besides making all of this a huge waste of time, that was not something they could really afford. There were always the werewolves who were capable fighters themselves, if lacking in self control which could be a problem even during the Blight, much less after it was over. On the other hand, if she messed up their plans to get cured then why would they fight with her? They might agree but they didn't even have a treaty to compel them like Zathrian did and none of them had promised her anything (and it would be very unlikely for them to do so after she'd dashed their hopes). Despite the fact that Zathrian was clearly in the wrong, it looked like she was going to have to go with him and hope his treaties and his gratitude was enough to get him to keep his promise.

Alistair, who had been watching Aunn and waiting for to tell them what they were doing, eventually decided that the silence had stretched on long enough. "I'm sorry, Zathrian, but we're standing for what's right here no matter what."

Aunn blinked. Wait, what? Maybe she could stand to come to decisions a little quicker if people felt that she was taking so long that they were going to actually make one themselves. She really hated acting impulsively, though…

"Then you die with them!" Zathrian shouted, enraged. "All of you will suffer as you deserve!"

It appeared that it was too late to switch sides and she was hardly about to attack her own companions so Aunn reluctantly took out her sword and pointed it in Zathrian's direction.

Zathrian responded by snapping his fingers and freezing the Lady and all of the werewolves as well as summoning several of the insane trees Aunn had come across earlier but still wasn't sure what they were called.

Zathrian…he could incapacitate all of their would-be allies while simultaneously summoning his own? Why, exactly, had he needed their help again?

Aunn had thought she hadn't liked trees before but now, after hacking and slashing through dozens of moving trees in the last few hours, she knew that she absolutely despised them and was grateful that she had grown up in a world that was blessedly treeless. Apparently most trees didn't try to kill you and these trees were possessed or something – and the thought of a possessed tree was rather weird – but that didn't make her any fonder of them. As she cut the last tree near her down, heard Zathrian cry out.

"No!" he said, sounding exhausted. Aunn turned to see him slumping to the ground. "No more. I…cannot defeat you."

"Finish it now!" Swiftrunner shouted. "Kill him!"

"Let's just kill somebody more interesting than a sylvan," Shale said, sounding utterly bored. Is that what the trees were called? Sylvans? She'd have to remember that. "This is extremely dull."

"Don't do it!" Leliana cried out, horrified at the thought of killing someone who had surrendered. There were times when Aunn really had to wonder how different she was now from when she was a bard which was, from what she could tell, a subtle singing assassin.

"No, Swiftrunner," the Lady told him firmly. "We cannot simply strike him down. How can we possible expect him to show mercy if we refuse to do the same?" Not to mention, of course, that once he was dead the curse stood no chance of ever being broken.

Zathrian looked down. "I cannot do as you ask, spirit. I am too old to learn mercy. Every time I close my eyes, all I can see are the faces of my children, my people. I cannot do it." Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "I almost wish I could."

"Zathrian…" Zevran spoke up slowly. "Zathrian, you have lost here and the werewolves are still strong. If you don't end the curse and they simply kill you then who will protect your people? They'll die for this, you know. Regardless of what the werewolves plan on doing, they'll be able to do a lot more damage to your clan as they are now than as inexperienced and unarmed humans."

"That's a good point. And an obvious one," Zathrian said, sighing heavily. "And yet I didn't see it. I should have but I just couldn't…maybe I've lived too long and allowed my hatred to fester to freely. It's been consuming me for awhile, I should say." He glanced up at the Lady suddenly. "And what about you, spirit? Do you not fear your end?"

The Lady was quiet for a moment, contemplating the question. "You are my maker, Zathrian," she said finally. "And I owe you a great deal. You have given me form and consciousness. You have allowed me to know pain and love, joy and sorrow…you have given me life. An inevitable part of life is death, however, and I cannot be so selfish as to put my life above the salvation of my people." She got down on her knees. "Please, Zathrian, I'm begging you…end it. Show mercy."

"We beg you," Swiftrunner added, sounding highly uncomfortable at the admission and yet still sincere. The other werewolves nodded their agreement.

Zathrian looked up at the Lady and her followers and it was like he was seeing them for the first time. His mouth moved but no words came out. He swallowed and tried again. "You shame me, spirit. I am an old man and I've lived long past my time. You're right. I can't be that selfish no matter how much easier it would be."

"Then…you'll do it?" the Lady asked, sounding almost painfully hopeful. It occurred to Aunn that for all that the Lady had been preaching about finding the peaceful solution that she really hadn't believed that they'd really managed it – not that Aunn blamed her given Zathrian's willful blindness.

Zathrian nodded and struggled to his feet. "Yes. It is long past time. My children have been avenged and my people will be in good hands with Lanaya. It is…it is time to end this." He raised his staff above his head and hesitated for a moment. It made sense; Zathrian was essentially committing suicide here. He brought it down to the floor and a burst of light shot from it. Zathrian's eyes rolled back into his head and he sank limply to the floor, already dead or almost there.

The Lady lingered and there werewolves crowded around her to have one last moment with their savior before she, too, departed in order to free them. She was slowly bathed in a golden light that eventually consumed her. As it dissipated, they could see that she had completely vanished and, almost immediately afterwards, the werewolves themselves began to glow white. When the light faded, the werewolves were gone and in their place stood various human beings, eyeing each other in shock and amazement. Many of them clasped hands or embraced to celebrate their unlikely freedom. Aunn was a little surprised that they were all clothed in current commoner garb but it wasn't like she was an expert on magic or blood rituals so perhaps that was just how these things worked.

Finally, they seemed to remember Aunn and company and formed a huddle in front of them.

"It's over," the one in front said, sounding close to tears. If Aunn had to guess, she'd say that this was Swiftrunner. "She's gone and we're human!"

"At least it's better than being a werewolf," Aunn mock-consoled him with a grin.

Swiftrunner smiled back at her. "Compared to the beast inside that we had to fight every moment, this is just fine."

"So what are you going to do now?" Leliana wondered.

Swiftrunner exchanged glances with the man standing next to him and then shrugged. "Leave the forest, probably. We've been here our whole lives and the Dalish might…still hold a grudge over everything that's happened. It's best to just move on. There are other humans to find and a whole new world open to us now."

"Good luck to you," Alistair told them warmly.

"Thank you," Swiftrunner said gratefully. "And thank you for choosing to save us. We owe you everything and we'll never forget you."

By the time that they returned to the Dalish camp, the wounded were already beginning to recover and the new Keeper, Lanaya, was ecstatic. Alistair and Wynne quickly broke away from the group, presumably to talk about Wynne's earlier collapse, and the rest also began to wander off as Lanaya began to ask Aunn for details.

"Where's Zathrian?" she asked, looking around as if she were hiding the recently deceased Keeper behind her.

"He heroically gave his life to end the curse," Aunn told her, figuring that she was either aware of the details or else happier not knowing and it wasn't as if what had actually happened was all that important for she or the rest of the clan to know, anyway. "It was very touching and he made it clear that he was glad to give his life for the Dalish and that the clan would be in good hands with you."

"I see," Lanaya said, sounding more subdued now that she had heard Zathrian's fate. Well, one version of it at any rate. "For all that I was proud to be Zathrian's apprentice, there have been others over the centuries who died long before the one they were learning from did. I guess I never really thought this day would come. I will miss him dearly and I hope I'm ready for this but at least he was able to save us all."

"Will you honor the Dalish treaty with the Grey Wardens?" Aunn asked her. "Zathrian promised that he would if we found some way to cure the hunters but it's your decision now."

"What Zathrian actually requested was bringing him the heart of Witherfang so we could cure our hunters which clearly has not happened," Lanaya said pointedly. "And now Zathrian's dead as well. Still, no one could force him to end the curse and you have cured my people."

"You knew about that?" Aunn asked, not really surprised.

"I only suspected," Lanaya corrected. "Zathrian was quite insistent on maintaining a certain image of the werewolves despite what evidence we had to contradict that and I was his apprentice for several years. If Zathrian chose to end the curse them I'm just going to have to trust his reasoning. My clan will honor the treaty and, what's more, we will send word to the other clans. They're far more likely to send aid if the request comes from one of their own and the Blight does threaten all of us."

"Thank you, Keeper Lanaya," Aunn said formally. "May this clan prosper under your leadership."

The two spoke for a little while longer about the details of the treaty and where to send any available hunters – Redcliffe seemed like a safe place to meet up as Eamon and his brother were virtually their only firm human allies with any land to speak of – before parting ways.

Practically the minute she had turned away from Lanaya, Zevran came up to her looking excited. "I was looking through the supplies the Dalish had and you'll never guess what I found."

"I probably could eventually," Aunn reasoned, "but it would certainly save time if we go with that and you just tell me."

Triumphantly, Zevran held out a pair of gloves.

Aunn inspected them closely. "Oh, these are very nice. The Dalish made them, I take it?"

Zevran nodded. "They did, at that. They were quite eager to give them to one of their saviors so now they are mine." He laughed lightly. "I can see that you have no idea why this is such good news. I told you about my mother, yes?"

"She was a Dalish herself before moving to Antiva City," Aunn recalled. She had been chasing a man and while Aunn didn't hold with people who were stupid enough to throw their lives away because they couldn't control themselves and ignore their hormones, it really wasn't nice to say about Zevran's mother and possibly father and he never would have been born had she acted more sensibly.

"Yes, she was," Zevran confirmed, pleased that she had remembered. "She died the day I was born and left me nothing but a pair of Dalish gloves just like these. It was silly, I know, but I was just a child bound to be sentimental at times."

"What happened to them?" Aunn inquired. "You clearly don't have them now. Were you forced to leave them behind in Antiva?"

Zevran frowned. "They may be in Antiva, I really don't know. Perhaps they were even destroyed although I think it is likely that they were just sold. My fellow recruit saw me taking them out one day and, as Crows were not allowed personal possessions, they were confiscated."

"That sounds horrible," Aunn said sympathetically. She was still not pleased about having everything she had owned taken away from her (including the most amazing dagger that she'd ever seen and had only received the day before) and the idea of never be able to have personal possessions was frankly inconceivable.

Zevran merely shrugged. "It was quite some time ago and at least now I have these."

"That is true," Aunn agreed.

"Okay, this time I've got witnesses!" Mithra said, marching up to them with four other Dalish trailing behind her. "These people all remember that you were a part of our clan for awhile. I'm not just imagining things!"

"I should probably take care of this," Zevran said, semi-apologetically.

"Take your time," Aunn said, amused. She was actually kind of curious exactly what had happened to prompt Zevran's return to the Crows and why he was so adamant about denying his past with the clan. She looked around the camp. They'd need to leave soon but everyone might as well get the chance to finish up whatever unfinished business they potentially had here and Zevran really seemed like he'd be awhile. She spotted Alistair who had apparently finished his talk with Wynne as he was standing by himself, watching her. When her eyes met his, he wasted no time in waving her over.

As Aunn made her way to her fellow Warden, she passed by Leliana speaking to a Dalish man who was standing over the cot of a deathly ill-looking elven woman.

"She just stumbled into the camp not long after our hunters began to get better," the man was saying sadly. "But she's in pretty bad condition. We don't know whether she'll make it or not."

"At least you'll be with your wife for whatever happens," Leliana consoled him.

"So did Wynne explain why she collapsed in the middle of a fight?" Aunn asked without preamble once she had reached Alistair's side.

"Hello to you, too, Aunn," Alistair replied, rolling his eyes.

Aunn sighed impatiently. "Yes, yes, hello, Alistair. Now did she tell you?"

"I'm not entirely sure that she would want you to know," Alistair said slowly. "You guys did have a falling out a few weeks ago, after all."

That was certainly one way of putting it. "I'm not asking this so I can use it against her or to be nosy," Aunn insisted. "I just need to know what happened and if I need to worry about it happening in the future."

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that," Alistair told her. "Although it's always a possibility…look, without going into the specifics, Wynne overexerted herself. She used an advanced form of magic because she was trying to help us and it took more out of her than she thought. She may not have much time left but I don't think it's so bad that she'd slow us down."

"Well, if you're sure," Aunn said reluctantly. "There was actually something else that I wanted to ask you about."

"Oh?" Alistair prompted.

"You were the one to decide that we were going to help the werewolves and try to force Zathrian to end the curse," Aunn began.

Alistair raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem? As your fellow Warden, am I just supposed to mindlessly go along with everything you do?"

Aunn shook her head. "Of course not. You have let me decide virtually everything else, however, since you decided you didn't feel qualified to lead and it appeared that you were going to let me decide this as well before changing your mind."

"You were taking forever," Alistair replied.

Aunn stared at him. "…So you ended up deciding on a course of action because I was actually taking the time to try and make the best choice?"

"It wasn't that I was getting impatient or anything," Alistair assured her. "Well…actually, I kind of was but that wasn't why I was doing it. You were going to support Zathrian, weren't you?"

"How did you know?" Aunn asked, surprised.

"If you were going to do the right thing morally then you would have done so straight away," Alistair explained. "The fact that it was taking so long for you to come to a decision meant that I could safely assume that you were, for whatever reason, going to talk yourself into picking the immoral option."

"What you did was a huge risk," Aunn told him. "Zathrian didn't have to end the curse and what would you have done had he died without curing the werewolves?"

"But he did," Alistair pointed out.

"We didn't know that then," Aunn countered. "If things had gone the way they likely would have, Zathrian would be dead, the elves would still be dying, and we'd have no troops. Even the werewolves would have had no reason to help us. I couldn't take that risk."

"I did," Alistair reminded her. "And it paid off."

"I know that," Aunn acknowledged. "But that was very, very unlikely. I didn't want to kill the werewolves but I was worried about what would have happened had Zathrian been too stubborn to change his mind."

" 'A Grey Warden does whatever is necessary to stop the Blight'," Alistair quoted. "I'm just glad that committing genocide on a race of innocent victims who had spent their whole lives being tortured by their bestial nature and held responsible for the crimes their ancestors created wasn't."

"I'm glad, too," Aunn confessed. "If I had to do the whole thing again I still would have favored siding with Zathrian but I always would have wondered. This just further convinced me that there's no way you're going to come into Orzammar with me, though."

"I can live with that," Alistair said easily. "Does Orzammar not like happy endings or something?"

"They don't really believe in them, no," Aunn deadpanned.

"They sound like your kind of people. Fortunately," Alistair said with a grin, "we're supposed to be the rescuing orphaned kittens from burning trees Wardens, remember? We voted on it and everything."

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