A Tale of Two Wardens
Chapter 7 – The Wilds, The Witch, and The Darkspawn
Theron was staring directly at a hurlock, the blackened eyes of the Darkspawn meeting his. His grip tightened around the sword in his right hand and he took a step forward before shifting and diving down to the dirt as the Hurlock swung out with its axe. Theron rolled, shifting to the side as the axe slammed into the dirt where he had been standing but just as he turned to see where Hurlock was, he saw the Hurlock get run through with a large greatsword piercing its belly with Jory behind, holding the blade.
Theron breathed a sigh of relief as he stood up and wiped some of the dirt off of his arms, "Thanks," he said to Jory before sheathing his weapons at his side.
"No worries, friend," Jory said in response and slid his sword out of the Hurlock before leaning down to fill the small vial Duncan had given him with blood.
"How many more do we need?" Theron asked
"We need one for each of us, so let's see what Daveth has gotten," Jory replied quietly before slipping the corked vial into his pack.
"They weren't kidding about the stuff…it is like sludge," Daveth said as he came over a few moments later, two vials in his left hand and his bow in the other.
"Seriously…no wonder people go mad after ingesting this stuff," Theron commented before glancing off into the distance. After they got into the wilds and fought some Darkspawn, Lara offered that the team split up. Alistair was initially hesitant, but it turned out that Theron had a good mind for tactics and soon was beginning to take the lead in fighting.
"Lara behind you!" Alistair yelled while knocking back a genlock with a kick of his heavy boot, sending the small creature stumbling back.
"You're not my mother!" Lara snapped back and with a quick spin on her heel, she thrust forward with her shimmering silver blade, directly into the gut of the hurlock charging up to her. The flesh around the wound hissed and bubbled, the enchantment burning away at the corruption of darkspawn. The beast hissed, trying to claw at her as the enchantment burned the flesh of the darkspawn. Lara pulled herself back and slammed forward with her shield, causing the hurlock to fall to the ground, only for Lara to quickly bring her sword down into the beast's chest, ending its life with a sickening gurgle.
"Maker these are disgusting," she spat and set her shield down to drink from a waterskin. When she looked down, blood was spread out over the laurels on her shield, the sight brought a lump to her throat.
"Fergus…please be alive…" Lara muttered under her breath.
As a favor, Duncan inquired into her brother to find out where he was, but the Highever soldiers had been sent out on a scouting mission and wouldn't be back for at least a few days. They were sent out to investigate just how far the growing hoard of Darkspawn extended and if it threatened any of the Ferelden villages to the north, and to try and meet with any of the Avvar peoples to the south.
"Fergus?" Alistair asked her from behind as he walked over and took a seat next to her on a stone.
"My brother, he is here….on a scouting mission, I haven't seen him yet," Lara explained quietly and Alistair nodded, taking the waterskin she had offered him.
"We should get going…but I have to ask, who trained you? You are an incredible fighter…certainly puts my Templar training to the test," Alistair asked, and Lara looked over at him, the curiosity in his eyes reminded her of Reilly when he was a puppy, curious about everything and everyone. Like before, her thoughts of what she lost faded away slightly at seeing him, but then came roaring back when she thought back to her training with Fergus and Pa.
"My father, he trained my brother and I…I was better than Fergus, it was kind of embarrassing when my nephew watched," she chuckled weakly, a tear sliding down her cheek. She shook her head, forcing the memories aside and stood up.
"We should get going, those treaties won't find themselves, we can't let the others beat us," Lara pointed out and put her helmet back on before walking away, not wanting to show her pain to Alistair.
"The other two were here…" Theron commented as they followed the track of dead Darkspawn, the black blood pooling out of the bodies and destroying the grass of the wilds where it touched it.
"I hope we didn't miss any fun," Daveth snickered when Jory set down his sword,
"Before we keep going…do you two know who Lara is? I don't understand…what is the Teyrn's daughter doing here?" he asked and Theron went cold, he knew that Lara wanted to keep it quiet about who she was, they weren't sure if the word had gotten out about what happened with her family.
"Wait, do you mean Lara…is Lara Cousland? I've seen the Couslands when I was living in Denerim," Daveth asked.
"Ok, I have something to tell you two," Theron sighed and gave the short version of what happened in Highever, it was better off that the details were left unsaid.
"Now I understand why Jory looked like a scared puppy whenever he was near Lara," Theron thought to himself.
"I was a soldier of Highever for a short time before being recruited…this…my Helena wasn't near the castle but do you know if they attacked the town?" Jory snapped at Theron, stepping forward with panic growing in his eyes
"I don't know Jory, I'm sorry," Theron apologized as Daveth stood back, flashing Theron a look of understanding, Jory was suddenly getting volatile.
"I need to get back there, I need to find out. She...she is with child! Maker protect her…" Jory mumbled, his voice rising and lowering in volume as the panic clearly began to overwhelm him.
"Jory! Snap out of it!" Theron barked suddenly, bringing Jory back to focus. "We have to continue the mission, you knew what you signed up for!"
"Think about it man," Daveth added on when he saw Theron flash him a nod of approval, "What we are doing here is the Maker's work and if we don't stop the Darkspawn, who will protect them from your pretty little wife?"
Jory gripped his greatsword and nodded, "Yes…yes you're right…let us keep moving," he said and started muttering a prayer under his breath, "Blessed are they who stand before the corrupted and wicked and do not falter. Blessed are the peacekeepers, the champions of the just."
"Damn it Alistair! You were a Templar…by the Maker do something about that…that mage!" Lara barked, huddled behind a rock with Alistair. After passing some ruins, they were ambushed by a group of Darkspawn, led by an Emissary. They were able to dispatch most of the others, but the emissary had them pinned down.
"I only have limited powers, I was a recruit, remember?" Alistair pointed out before reaching into his pouch. He pulled out a small blue vial and suddenly slammed it down into the ground after muttering a few words. A loud burst filled the air around them and one of the darkspawn in the distance began to scream with agony.
"Go!" Alistair snapped and when Lara jumped out, she saw the Emissary writhing in pain, struggling to cast a spell. The Emissary didn't have a chance. With its magic powers limited, Lara ran forward, barreling it down with her shield. The Emissary cried out, trying to cast a spell but it was quickly silenced by her blade stabbing through it's rib cage and into its chest, splashing the noxious blood up towards her.
"Maker I think I swallowed some," Lara spat as Alistair made his way over, watching her rinse out her mouth with the water from her waterskin.
"You'll be alright," Alistair assured, placing his hand on her back, "You won't have anything to worry about,."
"Won't have anything to worry about? What do you mean, Maker…did you see those men in the hospital?" She asked before going quiet, his eyes were both encouraging and sad at the same time, instantly making her go quiet.
"The Joining…?" Lara asked and he nodded, "I can't say anymore." Without a word, he reached down and offered a hand, helping her up.
Theron was concerned and he could tell that Daveth felt the same way, Jory's reaction, while understandable, was unnerving. A Warden had to handle themself under pressure, under the worst of assaults, a Grey Warden had to remain calm. He couldn't admit to knowing too much about Wardens, but that much was clear from Duncan's lessons and talks along the walk to Ostagar. While walking past the body of a dead Emissary, Daveth picked up an empty waterskin and Theron immediately recognized it as Lara's.
"She must've dropped it…give it here," Theron asked and Daveth chucked it over. Suddenly Jory interrupted them and gestured down the opposite hill to a group of soldiers being attacked by Darkspawn.
"We have to help them!" He yelled and Theron paused, running his fingers through his red hair.
"We shouldn't but….Daveth, why don't you run to Lara and Alistair, tell them what happened!" Theron ordered, drawing his sword and dagger while Jory readied his greatsword.
A moment later, the group separated as Daveth ran up the hill, following the trail of dead Darkspawn while Theron and Jory charged into battle.
"Gaaaah!" Jory screamed, rushing forward with his blade pointing forward, impaling two Hurlocks and sending them flying forward. While Jory ran up the hill directly to the Darkspawn, Theron ran as quietly as he could up the other side of the hill where a soldier was struggling against another Darkspawn's assault. Theron hid behind a tree and as soon as he heard Jory's yell, distracting the Darkspawn, he moved out from behind the tree and threw a throwing knife into the Darkspawn's back. It drew the attention of the hurlock but Theron was quicker, running forward and sweeping his sword along the hurlock's leg, causing it to fall to the ground, but before it could hit the dirt he moved with one quick fluid motion and buried his dagger into the darkspawn's throat.
"Are you alright?" Theron asked the wounded soldier who was on the ground, resting back against the tree.
"Ye—yessir, Warden," the young man said.
"He can't be more than 17, what is a child doing here…?" Theron wondered to himself. Even though he was only 24, being an Alienage elf…you grew up fast, to deal with everything. Distracted by his thoughts, Theron was knocked back by the ragged shield of a Hurlock, sending him rolling back. He saw his life flash before his eyes, the spiked mace swinging down, but when he closed his eyes, he saw Shianni lying on the ground in the Arl's house…beaten and bloody by Vaughan. Energy flowed back into his limbs, giving him the strength to roll out of the way and kick out at the Hurlock's leg, sending the creature down. Immediately he grabbed his dagger and with another roll, forced himself on top of the Hurlock, both of them grappling for the other but Theron had the upper hand. When he saw his moment, he took it, shoving his mother's knife that had been hidden in his sleeve right into the beast's eye. A squirt of blood shot up and spread across his face. When Theron turned to make sure the young soldier was ok, he just stared up at him terrified. It was the same look the women from the alienage gave him after he killed Vaughan.
"Theron! Theron!" Jory demanded, pulling Theron back with a tug of his shoulder.
"We have to get these injured men out of here, come on."
"Right...let's help them," Theron mumbled as he got up, grabbing his blades before going to help bandage a soldier.
Alistair and Lara were back to back, their armor pressing together as they pushed off one another, blades swinging.
"Maker what is that?" Lara said aloud while pulling her sword out of a dead Genlock's corpse. She looked up at the heavily armored Hurlock in the distance, barking orders in their garbled tongue. The Alpha wore thick yet crude rusted armor, covering most of its body unlike the other Darkspawn who wore more piecemeal sets of armor.
"Be careful, he is smarter than the average Darkspawn!" Alistair said back as they stood side by side, ready for the next wave of darkspawn fighters to come at them.
"Not for long he won't be," Lara spat coldly and pushed her visor down; she charged forward towards the alpha with her shield raised. Unlike most darkspawn she fought, this one saw her coming, twisting and dodging out of the way, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.
"Lara!" Alistair called it but it was too late, the jagged sword came down on the back of her armor, knocking the wind out of her.
Lara cried out in pain and tried to crawl forward, but her entire body was aching at how hard the hit had been.
"Maker…" she groaned, trying to push herself up as the alpha raised its blade, ready to strike again.
Alistair watched with wide open eyes while running, but he couldn't get there in time. Before the blade could swing down however, an arrow flew out, piercing the Alpha's hand and causing the blade to fall to the ground next to Lara.
"Told you I would be back gorgeous," a confident voice proclaimed and when Lara turned her head she saw Daveth standing at the base of the hill they were on. Immediately she wondered why he was without Theron and Jory, but Lara didn't have time to think too hard on it, the Alpha was still alive and ready to kick her, but she couldn't roll out of the way fast enough with her heavy armor.
"Hey!" Alistair barked, drawing the attention of the Alpha as Daveth let loose another arrow, smacking right into the helm of the Alpha.
"Now I got you," Lara spat as the alpha turned to face Alistair and Daveth. She shifted to the side and slammed her foot into the alpha's leg, causing it to stumble back. She took the opportunity to push herself up and grip her blade in two hands. With the extra grip behind her blade she thrust forward, piercing through a gap in the Darkspawn's armor causing the alpha to scream as the enchantment burned its corrupted flesh. Suddenly she heard a voice yell out from behind her.
"Duck!" Alistair yelled as his sword swung out, taking off the head of the alpha. Lara pulled her sword out of the Darkspawn's corpse, causing the body to slump to the ground as its head rolled down the hill they were on before stopping against a rock. Lara sheathed her blade and sat down, trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her by the alpha.
"Lara are you alright?" Alistair asked, walking over to her to make sure she wasn't injured.
"Just...just had the wind knocked out of me, I'll be ok in a minute," Lara responded, her voice raspy. "I'm going to be feeling that in the morning," she added on as Daveth walked up to the two of them.
"Daveth, where are the others?" Alistair asked
"A group of soldiers were getting attacked, they went off to help them," Daveth explained before smirking in Lara's direction. "I guess it's a good thing I got here when I did," Daveth asked and Lara rolled her eyes in response; she didn't like his type.
"Why was this one so much stronger?" Lara asked as she pushed herself up and picked up her shield off of the floor.
"That was an alpha," Alistair replied, "Duncan or one of the other Wardens could give you a better answer, but they are born with more intelligence and they vary a lot more than the bulk of the hoard."
While Alistair explained the difference between regular Darkspawn and the Alphas, the group of three made their way up to the fortified hill they had cleared towards the ruins of the watch tower that ought to hold the treaties that Duncan sent them after.
"Thank…thank you," one of the soldier's said to Theron while leaning against him with an arm draped over Theron's soldier. "My father…he always said elves would never save a human….but you, you saved me."
"Obviously the son of nobility," Theron thought to himself before responding, "No need to thank me…we're all in this together."
With a quick glance to the left, Theron saw Jory holding two other men while the ones who could walk followed behind. With the sound of rattling armor, the guards at the entrance to Ostagar came rushing over.
"Wardens! Let us help," they said, helping take some of the weaker men and bringing them up to the gate. A few minutes later as the unit of soldiers were brought into Ostagar, Theron stood back with Jory at his side.
"We need to catch up with Alistair and Lara," Theron pointed out.
"Yeah," Jory said simply, even more shaken up from how wounded the soldiers were.
"You can go back to camp with the others.," Theron offered, placing his hand on Jory's shoulder but that only elicited a grunt of disapproval and the two of them began walking again.
"Anything?" Lara called out while searching through the remains of a few chests. The marsh had completely overtaken the tower, leaving only half of the western facing wall up, the rest laid on the ground in piles. Hundreds of years of pilfering had left the tower with naught but ash and dust
"I thought Duncan said they were here?" Lara asked as Alistair walked up, a confused look on his face.
"The chest should've been shielded…warded, it should still stand," Alistair explained when suddenly a voice came from behind them.
"Well well…what have we here?" the female voice said, instantly drawing the attention of the three.
Lara ran her eyes along the woman, she was beautiful, strikingly so, it almost made her jealous. Lara had always been a tomboy, she didn't have the curves that most men desired instead she had muscle and scars from her years of sparring. In addition to that, the woman was dressed in cut up fabric, stitched that barely covered her chest. As soon as Lara pulled her eyes away from the woman, she noticed something else: the staff at her side but unlike the Circle Mages she met at Ostagar, her staff wasn't nearly as ornate, it was vicious, sticks and metal twisting in a wild pattern.
"Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst a corpse whose bones were long since cleaned? Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn-filled Wilds of mine in search of easy prey?" The mysterious woman asked, every movement she took and words she spoke were filled with equal amounts of confidence and power, she knew she was in control. Both Daveth and Alistair were quiet beside Lara, intimidated not by the legion of Darkspawn they had fought, but by this woman in front of them.
"How exactly are these your wilds?" Lara asked back, her pride and stubbornness taking over.
"Who else here has lived amongst them my entire life? Who here was raised and molded in them, hmm?" she responded back, placing one hand on her hip, teasing one of the strings of her leather skirt which had its strips waving in the breeze.
"This was a Grey Warden tower, we have a right to be here," Alistair commanded, but the lack of confidence was clear in his voice. "Don't say any more, she looks Chasind, and that means others may be nearby," he added to Lara as Daveth just stood there, frozen in place.
"Ah Chasind…you think me one of them, respectable people as they are, but not very sophisticated. Why? Do you fear that the barbarians will swoop down upon you?" She responded, her full lips turning into a smirk. Her eyes were a bright amber, almost yellow like a cats, and just as piercing. She ran them over the two men before landing firmly on Lara.
"Yes, swooping is bad…" Alistair muttered in response, irritation clear on his face.
"Who are you?" Lara demanded, losing her patience quickly with these games.
"You are such a strong woman, leading these weak men, why you have your knight at one side and a shivering rogue to your other," she commented, but she wasn't wrong, Daveth was shaking.
"She's a witch of the wilds, she is!" Daveth stammered out suddenly, pointing at her. "Her and her sisters, they're going to turn us all into toads!"
This comment only made the woman's smirk intensify, knowing just how terrified of her they were. "Ah…a Witch of The Wilds, what lovely stories…but now, let me introduce myself and guess your purpose here, my name is Morrigan and judging by the armor of this cowardly knight, you are Wardens come searching for what used to be stored here, mhm?" Morrigan asked, her gaze moving from Alistair to Lara. "You, what is your name? These lot seem ready to run away but you appear to be made of stiffer stuff."
"My name is Lara, and yes. We are here for the Grey Warden treaties that were stored here," Lara said, trying to keep her voice as confident as possible but after the fight with the Emissary, she was anxious to avoid another fight with a Mage. "Judging by the fact that you know of them, I suspect you stole them."
"Sneaky witch thief…" Alistair muttered under his breath.
"Yes I know these treaties that you speak of. But are they stolen? I wonder, can you steal from dead men...dead men who had long since abandoned this old tower?" Morrigan commented, resting against one of the weathered piles of bricks that used to make up a wall of the tower.
"You can, and you stole them. So I would recommend you return them to us, now. They are Grey Warden property, and since you seem to care so much for these Wilds, then you would understand why the Grey Wardens require them," Alistair explained to Morrigan who just stared back at him incredulously.
"Your orders mean nothing to me, and I cannot return something because it twas not I that I took them," Morrigan responded back dismissively.
"Who took them then?" Lara demanded, resting her hand on the handle of her blade, her patience waning.
"T'was my mother in fact," Morrigan responded.
"Your mother? You expect us to believe that?" Alistair responded.
"Believe or not to believe, that is your choice. I care not for it or your little problems," Morrigan responded and opened her mouth to say something, but Lara quickly cut in.
"Well can you take us to your mother then?" Lara demanded, staring Morrigan right into her catlike eyes.
"That is a sensible request….yes, I will take you to her. Come with me, but be quick. These are not well trodden paths," Morrigan explained before turning around and stepping away from the tower.
"What about Theron and Jory?" Daveth hissed, his face still pale out of fear.
"We will just have to be fast and return to them. We have to go, and you have to come with us Daveth, we will need your bow," Lara responded before glancing back over her shoulder at Alistair. She had a tendency to jump into a leadership position, ever since she was a child.
"Oh yes...yes I agree with Lara. Let's go," Alistair responded sheepishly before turning to follow Morrigan.
Some time later, Jory and Theron arrived at the tower, only to find it empty. Empty of any sign of life, empty of the other wardens, and empty of any treaties.