Chapter 25: Respite Ⅱ

Between Lake Calenhad and Redcliffe

The party set up camp, they needed to rest after the incident at Kinloch Hold. They left Calenhad at the same time as the mages would meet them in Redcliffe. Jenra was with Alistair to discuss their next move…defeating the demon possessing Connor would save both the boy and Redcliffe but Arl Eamon was still in danger. They thought of everything but nothing came to them except one, the Urn of Sacred Ashes. It was nothing but a legend but maybe there was something to it if the soldiers of Redcliffe were searching for it. It was all speculation until they went back to Redcliffe. Alistair went to make his tent and so did Jenra until he saw Morrigan. She had her nose in Flemeth's grimoire since they stopped and made camp. Maybe it was nothing but he decided to see her, maybe there was something in the grimoire that could help the Arl.

"Is there any reason you're bothering me?" She asked not looking up from the book once.

"I have questions" Jenra said. "Could there be any spell or ritual in Flemeth's grimoire that could help Arl Eamon?"

"No, Flemeth mostly dealt with curses and the occasional demon ritual" Morrigan said. "You've might have noticed she's not the healing type" Jenra sighed and rubbed his head, back to square one…looks like he would be asking around about the Urn. Morrigan put down the book and looked at Jenra. "You were quite impressive back at the Circle, Jenra"

Jenra looked at Morrigan. "Did…did I just hear a compliment? From you?"

Morrigan crossed her arms and huffed. "Don't act too surprised…"

"Apologies, it's just that I never thought I would hear anything other than spite and ridicule from you" he said. "It's quite the miracle, actually" Morrigan narrowed her eyes at him, and Jenra looked away nervously. "Uh, moving on…"

"Very wise of you...I was speaking of your abilities" Morrigan said. "I never thought I would see a Spirit Warrior, the stories of old do not do it justice"

"What do you know of it?"

"The spirit warriors dated back from the time of the Alamarri clans; they were fierce warriors that were dreaded on the battlefield" Morrigan explained. "They were created by communing with spirits of the Fade…the Veil becomes their armor, the Fade their sword and they became stronger the more connected to the Fade they were"

"Courage came to me when I was a sickly child" Jenra said.

Morrigan looked at him. "Courage? That's an incredibly rare spirit, they're not known for showing themselves" she said. "You communed with the spirit without knowing it"

"If the spirit warriors were so feared, why did they disappear?"

"The ritual started dying off when the Alamarri tribes united to become Ferelden" Morrigan said. "It disappeared entirely once the Chantry was established" She sighed sadly, another wonder taken from this world and replaced by mediocrity and mundanity of the world. "Tis funny I wonder what Thedas would be like now if the Chantry hadn't established itself?"

Jenra tilted his head. "Morrigan?"

"Ignore me…just some pointless thoughts" She picked back up the book. "I should decipher this before it gets dark…we'll talk later"

Alistair finished building his tent; he looked around to see what else he could do and saw the news member of their party, Wynne sitting on the ground breathing hard. Next to her was a half-finished tent, Alistair walked over.

"Wynne are you ok?" Alistair asked.

"Oh, it's been a long day. Rest…rest would be welcome" Wynne despite her prowess with her magic was the oldest member of their group. Alistair had…concerns about her being with them, where they were going was dangerous and with her age she could be placed much danger. Wynne looked up and smiled a little. "I'm fine Alistair, I am just a little…weary" she said. "As you might have noticed, I'm no spring chicken"

Alistair stiffened. "I…really? I haven't noticed…"

Wynne chuckled; the elder mage was not fooled by his answer. "Thank you, you're very kind to say so" she said. "But in all honestly, I do not know how many years I have left in me. I have lived for such a long time"

She got up and Alistair quickly went to her side, Wynne put her hand up to stop him. "But there's always something else to do, and I have to keep going in order to do it. I think I will be glad when I am…done" Alistair frowned at that, her tone…her demeanor sounded so….final. Maybe it was because he was still young, but seeing someone so resigned and at peace with death made him uncomfortable.

"Hey, don't say such things…we still need you"

"Oh, no…"I'm not the sort of person that leaves things unfinished. I'll see this through, I promise"

"Good, I'm holding you to that"

Sten was on the edge of the campsite looking for food to hunt along with Fenrir but mostly to get away from the rest of the party. Out of everyone in the party, the mabari hound was the only one he could relate to. Fenrir had a role which he performs admirably, and never questions or seems to desire any other. If Fenrir was not a beast, he would be the most upstanding member of the Qun. While out in the forest, he heard singing…past the trees was Leliana gathering water for the camp. Sten stepped on a twig and alerted Leliana.

"Oh, Sten I didn't know you were there"

"You sing a great deal"

"Yes, I do. Music lifts my spirit" Leliana said. "Did I bother you? Would you like me to stop?"

"I didn't say that…was that part of your chant?"

Leliana chuckled. "No, it was a ballad about a highwayman and the tavern girl who loved him. Could you not tell?"

Sten snorted. "All your language sounds the same to me. I thought you were singing of vegetables, actually" Leliana giggled as she continued to gather water Sten continued on his way for food. The forest was quiet with nary a creature moving; even the birds were not chirping…this was unusual. Moved more and more out of the forest until down the hill, he spotted a village charred black with flames. The qunari frowned and went to investigate, unknown to him he was being followed by Leliana. Fenrir whined as he and Sten looked over the village, complete devastation…the villagers were all slaughtered and displayed like demented trophies. Nothing was left standing not even the beasts…what did this was soulless and depraved even the most feral of beast had their limits.

"This is your first time seeing the devastation the Blight brings isn't it?" Sten looked back and saw Leliana jumping off the roof. The qunari was surprised; Leliana did not make one sound until she wanted to…if she was part of the Qun she would be Hissrad, spy within the Be-Hassrath and yet she was a priest. He shook his head, Sten rather not deal with contradictions right now.

"Yes" Sten said. "Jenra once asked me why I was here. It is because the arishok asked, 'what is the Blight?' By his curiosity, I am now here"

"Arishok?" Leliana asked.

"The one who commands the antaam…body of the qunari"

"So the qunari never faced the Blight?" Leliana asked. "You don't know how fortunate your people are…but wait if the qunari don't face the Blight, then why do they care?"

Sten crossed his arms. "Why do you?"

"The Blight is a threat to all of the Maker's children"

Sten scoffed. "Such nonsense…we have no need for delusions" he said. "I don't understand why we are making all these detours; we should kill the archdemon as quickly as we can to end this threat"

Leliana sighed. "I would love nothing more than for the Blight to end but we can't do this alone" she said. "You see it as pointless, but it will take an army to slay the archdemon"

"And as we waste time more of your people are killed"

Leliana lowered her head. "Sadly…that cannot be avoided but what we are doing will save lives in the short-term"

"So you are saying there is a method in the Warden's madness?" Sten asked. "I do not understand, but I will continue to observe"

"Thank you" Leliana looked at the dead. "You should probably go back to camp, I will meet you there"

"There is nothing here…what is the point?"

"People suffered here, Sten…they deserve to be put to rest" Sten and Fenrir went back to the camp as Leliana started a fire and started to put the dead to rest. Later in the day, the party finished cooking and started to eat. Jenra looked and saw that Leliana was not there with them…he wonder where she was until there was rustling in bushes. Out came Leliana heading for the campfire. Jenra came over to her.

"Leliana, you're back…we was getting worried" Jenra looked in her eyes, it was dark and stained like she had done a lot of crying. "Leliana, are you …?"

Before he could finished, without warning Leliana hugged Jenra and cried into his chest. Jenra was confused what was wrong but he embraced her as she continued to cry. The next day, the party packed up their camp and Jenra came over to Leliana. The sister blushed and looked away bashfully. "Oh Jenra! I'm sorry about my outburst yesterday" she said. "I can explain…"

Jenra shook his head. "No need to explain, I'm just happy that you're feeling better"

"Thank you, I promise you I won't trouble you"

"I don't mind, you are my friend after all" Leliana smiled and blushed; she went back to packing her things to keep her mind off of…stuff. From a distance, Morrigan looked on and narrowed her eyes at Leliana and walked away in a spiteful scoff. Once the party was finished, they headed for Redcliffe.

Redcliffe

The party made it back to Redcliffe castle, according to the patrols there have been no report of undead in the village which was good news as the village had been through enough. Parts of the castle however had to be sealed off to keep Isolde and Bann Teagan safe from the demons and undead still roaming the castle. Arlessa Isolde was waiting for them; she looked exhausted like she hadn't had sleep in days. "The mages wait to perform the ritual. I do hop this is worth the time it has taken to assemble them"

They went into the family quarters and saw the circle mages waiting for them. Jowan was in back away from the other mages, understandable since he was an apostate and a maleficar. "Ah there you are" Irving said. "We have brought lyrium and begun preparation for the ritual, we can start anytime"

"Anything I should know?" Jenra asked.

"Yes, we haven't sufficient lyrium at present to send more than one person into the Fade" he said. "Once in the Fade, the demon will most likely engage you in a dialog and tempt you with an offer. Avoid it, making deals with demons never turn out well"

"Understood"

Alistair sighed and nodded. "I'm glad we decided to take this route, this is really the best option"

Irving nodded. "Very well, who will go into the Fade?"

"I will" Jenra said.

"Are you sure, my friend? The Fade is difficult enough with a mage…I couldn't imagine with a non-mage" Irving said.

"I have a friend within the Fade to help me, I'll be just fine" Irving was taken back by that comment but nevertheless signaled his fellow mages to prepare the ritual. Jenra stepped inside a circle that the mages drew on the floor. Flasks of lyrium were passed around to the mages and one by one they consumed the lyrium and started to glow with magical energy. The marking glowed and everything went white.

The Fade

Jenra was back in the Fade, it looked different but similar. "Courage…Courage are you there?" Jenra asked.

"Welcome back, Jenra…what do you need?"

"Help me find the demon controlling this child…time is of the essence"

"Of course" Jenra and Courage began their search for the demon.

Next Time! Review and Comment!