Chapter 34
Nienna
The Wilds seemed to be a massive stretch of swamp land. The smell was disgusting and everything felt damp, even for being in Ferelden. I couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy as we trekked deeper into the wilds. Araya was keeping near me, Alistair just behind us, while Daveth and Jory brought up the rear. I kept hearing quiet growls coming from the treeline as we walked, and I knew there was more than darkspawn in the wilds that would be looking to kill us. We started to walk down a more narrow path and the growls got louder and then I heard something snap.
"Wait!" I whispered to Araya, holding her back and she looked at me a bit confused. "Something's in the treeline… I'm not sure what but whatever it is it isn't friendly." I explained to her, keeping my voice down and tightening my grip on my weapons.
"Why have we stopped?" Jory called to us, loudly, and I sighed as several large wolves jumped out from the trees in front of us.
"That's why we were stopped!" I shouted at him as I jumped out of the way from one of the wolves tackling me.
Araya moved to where I had previously been standing and used her shield to knock one of the wolves away. I put one of my swords back on my belt before grabbing one of the throwing knives I had purchased earlier, and threw it into the head of one of the wolves, continuing to move away from them. Alistair didn't seem surprised by the wolves and used his shield to keep them off of him, while using his sword to kill them. Daveth used his bow to start firing arrows at them while Jory used his broadsword to force the wolves to keep a wide berth. By the time we had killed all the wolves, I glared at Jory.
"We are in a swamp, filled with various things that want to kill us, and you decide that shouting to draw everything to us is a wise decision?" I hissed at him. "Next time keep your voice down!"
I see Araya continue forward, muttering, "Bloody idiot, he'll get us all killed at this rate."
"Alright, no need to be hostile with each other. Let's keep focused on what we need to do then we can get back to camp." Alistair said and I sighed before turning and following Araya. If we don't all get killed first.
There was a soldier dragging himself along the ground. He stopped when he saw our feet and looked up, "Who... is that? Grey… Wardens…?"
"Well he isn't half as dead as he looks." Alistair said, crouching down a bit to help the man.
Araya interjects, stopping anyone else from talking. "Let's try to bandage him up at least."
"I have bandages." Alistair pulled bandages from his belt and treated the soldier's wounds
After the man was bandaged and helped to his feet he started speaking again, "We were patrolling out in the wilds when we were attacked by darkspawn! I need to get out of here!" He hobbled off as fast as he could, heading back towards Ostagar.
"Did you hear? An entire patrol of seasoned men killed by darkspawn!"Jory sounded panicked and afraid.
"Calm down, Ser Jory. We'll be fine if we're careful." Alistair said to him, obviously trying to keep him calm.
Jory, however, continues with his panic, "Those soldiers were careful, and they were still overwhelmed. How many darkspawn can the five of us slay? A dozen? A hundred? There's an entire army in these forests!"
Alistair continued trying to calm him down. "There are darkspawn about, but we're in no danger of walking into the bulk of the horde."
"How do you know? I'm not a coward, but this is foolish and reckless. We should go back." I rolled my eyes at Jory's tantrum.
"Overcoming these dangers is part of our test." Araya sounded firm as she said this.
"That's… true." Jory seemed to finally be calming down.
"Also for someone who claims not to be a coward, you are very much acting like one." I added, in a hushed whisper to Araya. She smirks and nods.
"Know this: all Grey Wardens can sense darkspawn. Whatever their cunning, I guarantee they won't take us by surprise. That's why I'm here." Alistair said to all of us, which made me curious on how he was able to do it.
"You see, ser knight? We might die, but we'll be warned about it first." Daveth joked, obviously not affected by what happened.
"That is… reassuring?"
"That doesn't mean I'm here to make this easy however. So let's get a move on."
We walked for a bit longer before coming across a small lake. I quickly checked a few of the fallen trees and found a couple flowers that matched the description of the one I was looking for. I picked them and tucked them away into an empty pouch on my belt. They might be a little disheveled by the time we get back but they should work. I quickly caught back up with the others who had stopped, I was going to question why until I saw what they were staring at and I felt bile rising in my throat.
"Makers breath…." Daveth murmured quietly.
It was three men. Scouts for the kings army judging by what was left of their armor. They were strung up by their necks from the trees. Their faces and bodies wounded beyond recognition. Their eyes however were open, glazed over with their last looks of fear and pain. The smell hit me and I hoped that what little I had for breakfast on the road wouldn't make a return. I look to Araya as she scans the bodies. I already knew what she was looking for but in a second I saw her breath a small sigh of relief.
None of them must be any of the men from Highever or her brother. I covered my nose and mouth before turning away and looking towards the plants in the forest before spotting what I wanted and quickly grabbed it.
I pulled the mint from the ground before quickly tearing the leaves apart in my hands and reaching into a pouch on the pack of my belt. Inside was just some lotion, meant for helping with keeping your skin from peeling from the elements but it would have to do. I threw the mint into the tin before closing it again and shaking it. By the time I opened it again it smelt strongly of the mint and I quickly rubbed a small amount underneath my nose. I outstretched the tin to Araya as I realized she saw what I did and copied my actions. Then I turn to the others and toss the tin to Alistair
"Put some of that under your nose, it'll help with the smell." I explained before looking back up at the bodies.
"What do we do about the bodies though?" Daveth asked, still gazing up at them as if he couldn't look away.
"Nothing. We can't climb up there to cut them down, and if we did we don't have time to bury them or carry them back to camp." He answered, smelling at the lotion in the tin before using it. "We'll just have to continue on."
"It doesn't seem right to just leave them hanging there like that." Jory protested and I rolled my eyes, feeling a bit numb to the situation.
"We can't do anything about it, right or wrong. Let's just focus on why we're here." I answered as Daveth tossed the tin back to me and I put it back in my belt. "Darkspawn blood and the treaties."
"Nienna's right. The best we can do is let someone know that they're here and retrieve them after the battle tomorrow." Araya agreed, looking at the bodies one last time. "Right, let's get a move on then."
Alistair stopped us before he seemed to focus on something else that the rest of us couldn't hear or see. "Darkspawn are ahead, a small group. We can handle it."
That wasn't creepy at all. I thought before putting a sword in my right hand and a throwing knife in my left. I watched as Araya pulled her blades from her belt.
We walked and as Alistair had said there were a group of darkspawn, seven of them. Even with how far we were I could feel my blood run cold at the sight of them. I wasn't afraid but everything about them was unnatural. Their skin was tight and grey, almost translucent enough to see the bones and muscles beneath it. Their eyes were a sickening yellow color and stared blankly ahead as they hadn't noticed us just yet. A few had dark black tongues rolling out of their mouths as they panted and bared large, yellowed teeth sharp enough to be fangs.
I'm not afraid, I was afraid in Denerim this is something else. Dread? Yeah, dread.
Despite the dread filling me, I took a deep breath through my nose, the mint seeming to help set my mind straight as I lifted the knife in my hand before throwing it. Straight into the eye of one of the darkspawn. My knife was followed by an arrow from Daveth into another, just as they started to charge. I pulled my other sword into my now empty hand and waited while Alistair and Jory charged at them. They each managed to catch one but the last two came towards me and Araya.
She and I moved, I kept low to the ground before quickly swiping out one of my legs to trip the closer one. Araya swung at the other leaving a gash, but not fully downing him. He readied a swing and she stopped his blade with her off hand, allowing her to get another hit in his torso, followed by her swinging at his neck cutting his head off in one swipe.
I focused on the one I had tripped as it struggled to get back to its feet. I brought one of my blades down through one of it's legs. And used the other to knock his blade away, before turning it into my hand and stabbing it through the head. I yanked my blades free and the creature fell dead to the ground.
"Who has the vials?" I asked, trying to focus on getting the blood and get it out of the way.
"Oh right, here." Alistair said, before handing each of us a vial and I crouched down to the one I had just killed.
I pulled the stopper from the vial and pressed it to the wound, gagging slightly at the sight of thick black blood filling the vial. "I don't even want to know what we are meant to do with this." I mumbled before closing the vial and standing.
Araya did the same and muttered back, "If they make us drink this I am done."
"Um, I believe this is yours." Alistair said to me, and I turned to see him holding out the knife I had thrown earlier. "Figured you would want it back."
"Oh, thanks." I responded before putting it back on my belt with the others.
Araya stood up, "Where to from here to get to that ruin Duncan told us about?" She asked him.
"If we keep on in this direction for a while longer then we should come across it." He told us and we nodded.
"Lead the way then. Rather not spend more time than necessary in a forest filled with giant wolves and darkspawn." I told him before stepping over the darkspawn body and looking down the path seeing that it was clear.
"I wouldn't have expected someone as small as you to be capable of that." Jory said to me and I turned to him.
"Capable of what? Fighting?" I asked him, before rolling my eyes. "Consider it part of my charm and the reason I'm here."
"Where does someone not allowed to carry arms learn to use them?" Daveth asked me. "Are you Dalish?" He asked me and I laughed.
"No. I'm from Denerim, grew up there." I answered before slipping the vial of blood into the pouch with my lockpicks. "And it doesn't matter much how I learned, just that I did."
"You're from Denerim, huh? Dangerous city, lots of cutpurses there." He told me and I laughed, getting his not so subtle hint.
"Oh yes, can't ever be too careful in the markets lest you leave without any coin without spending any." I responded before continuing to walk.
"I knew it." He grinned at me. "What spots have you found besides the market that worked well? I mean they work well enough but they started keeping more guards about."
"Try the tavern, drunkards are easy to steal from." I told him.
"It's a surprise that Duncan would look to people with your talents for recruits." Jory interjected clearly disapproving of our conversation topic.
"Oh please, not all of us can be blessed with honorable knighthood and stable living conditions instead of a slum." I spat at him, bitterness in my words. Fucking holier-then-thou fucking bullshit.
"I proved myself in the Grand Tourney in Highever to Duncan, just as much as two cutpurses could anyways." He responded and I rolled my eyes.
"Oh yes, the knight who was allowed to train openly with arms without feeling threatened to be murdered in the street just for his ears proved his prowess." I said to him, sarcasm and annoyance in my voice. "You can swing a sword, congratulations. So can I."
"Also consider yourself lucky that I was not allowed to compete in the Grand Tourney. That knight from Highever that you struggled to best, I had beaten him several times with ease." Araya had a venom to her tone, obviously angered by Jory's comments.
Daveth laughed as he pulled up a branch so that it wouldn't hit me in the face. "They are right, you know Ser Jory. You shouldn't keep the high and mighty act, it clearly isn't winning you any friends." He let the branch fall again and sighed.
"I'm just suggesting that you use that so-called resourcefulness of yours for something other than crime." He defended again and I bit my cheek, reminding myself not to hit him right then and there.
"We're all here now anyways, I was conscripted and you joined willingly. Not like there's much of a difference to the order. Our lives before don't matter right?" Daveth said to him before looking at me. "How about you? Conscripted or joined up?"
"Conscripted, and I would rather not get into that mess right now. Put simply Duncan saved me from execution and now I'm here." I told him, not wanting to talk about my murder spree inside the palace. "Though if we ever go back to Denerim, you'll definitely hear about it."
He grinned at me. "Then let's hope we get to go back soon. I'm curious to see how much trouble one small woman can get into." He joked and I laughed.
"You'd be surprised." I answered, remembering Shianni and wondering about how she was doing without me there.
"How about you? Joined or Conscripted?" He asked Araya.
Araya glared at him. "I joined, and if you ask anymore questions about that topic, you will end up like the men that got me here."
"How much farther is the ruin?" I asked Alistair, trying to change the topic of conversation. It would be bad if Jory or Daveth didn't make it because we killed them.
"It should be just a bit farther ahead." He answered, once again seeming to focus on something that wasn't there. "Along with a few darkspawn, nothing that we can't handle though."
I pulled my blades into my hands as we continued to walk, until I saw something shiny ahead of us. Araya saw and stopped with me, but Alistair and Jory didn't seem to notice it, and Daveth was watching their back, so it was our responsibility to stop them. We grabbed both by the back of their chest plates and they looked back at us confused.
"Idiots, would you mind looking down?" I whispered and they both did as I said. "No one needs to lose a foot." I walked over to the trap and quickly released the trigger, causing it to snap shut on nothing.
There were a few more along the path, not hidden very well but clearly meaning to catch something. Were the darkspawn smart enough to set traps or were these left behind by hunters brave enough to go into the wilds? I kept slightly ahead, disarming the traps as we went. Though just as one snapped shut an arrow hit the abdomen portion of my chest plate. Thankfully, it didn't go through, but the force was enough to have me winded and knocked onto my ass.
"Nienna! Are you alright?!" Araya asked as she pulled her shield from her back, using it to protect us.
"I'm fine, it didn't get through my armor, just yank it out." I told her and she yanked it out. "It's a good thing there should be new armor waiting for me back at Ostagar."
Araya chuckled, "Careful planning always works out well." She looks over her shield, "There is no way for us to get close… And Daveth can't take them all out." She looks to the hill behind us, "That hill over there will give him a good vantage."
"Alright you and Alistair lead, I'll follow behind with Jory. Just keep your shields up." I told her, jumping back onto my feet, but keeping my head behind the shield. "You two are distracting enough that they won't notice me, and hopefully target Jory. How smart are darkspawn anyways?" I asked as we motioned to the others to move up.
"They aren't the smartest on their own or in small groups, but when in larger groups or led by an archdemon they get more intelligent." Alistair answered me, as he joined us with the other two.
"Alright, Alistair, you and I are going to charge with our shields, catch as many of the arrows as possible." She said to him before turning to Daveth. "Get up that hill and get as many shots launched back at them as possible. And Nienna and Jory," She turned to me and I shrugged my shoulders.
"Stay low until I can get close enough to land a hit, and Jory just needs to get close enough to land one." I finished for her. "Speaking of, we should start moving before they decide to bring the fight to us."
The darkspawn had started shrieking, possibly their form of talking, from the top of the hill getting louder and louder. Daveth started to cover us from the top of the hill, while we charged up it. Alistair, Jory, and Araya being much larger than myself worked to keep me hidden and safe until we reached the top of the hill. I grabbed the closest darkspawn and stabbed it through the heart and its abdomen.
I kicked it off my blades and into two others that were subsequently pinned underneath the dead weight. I felt one grab the back of my hair and I turned my blade in my hand, stabbing up and back, feeling it catch on flesh and blood hitting my shoulders and the back of my head.
Damn...I really need to wash my hair. I thought, freeing my blade and letting the body hit the ground.
I turned to the two I had knocked down just before being grabbed that were starting to scramble out from underneath the body. I knelt down and slit their throats before getting back up onto my feet, only to see fire rushing towards my face. I jumped out of the way, hitting the ground on my side as heat blasted past me. I spit out some dirt that managed to get into my mouth before I felt a hand grab me and haul me to my feet. I turned in whoever's grip it was and kicked backwards with my foot, only to hear a human groan of pain.
"Maker's breath, I was just trying to help." Jory said, putting me back onto my feet as I looked towards where the fire came from. I hear Araya chuckle at what happened.
"Don't grab me like that next time then." I mumbled, before seeing the source of the magic, clearly a darkspawn but different. "No one mentioned they were able to use magic."
I shoved Jory out of the way as another wave of fire was shot towards us. I looked for Alistair, only to see him pinned by two more of the creatures and Araya helping him. Knowing that we would have to save ourselves I looked at Jory.
"You keep that thing distracted, use your sword and try to get to it. Just distract it long enough for me to get around it." I whispered before quickly moving closer to the trees and walking silently along the tree line.
I heard Jory scream, before he very loudly charged past and at the creature, keeping it's attention. I continued along the trees before finally getting an angle on it, I moved as quietly as I could behind it. Flipping my blades around I lifted them up before stabbing straight into its knees. It fell to the ground, almost pulling me with it before Jory swung his blade, it getting caught in the monster's neck and effectively spraying us both with blood.
"I really, really need to wash out my hair." I mumbled, before hearing Araya, Alistair, and Daveth rushing towards us. "Can we please get those documents and go now?" I asked before putting my blades back in my belt and trying to wipe some of the blood off my face.
"I have seen you in a better state… Though I don't think I am much better." Araya said this, while caked in blood, even on her face there was very little of her skin visible.
"I think it's pretty much the same, though your hair is probably easier to wash." I said, heading up the last trek of the hill and into the ruin.
"This is probably true…"