A/N: I want to say this now; this story has nothing to do with Dawn of the Seeker whatsoever. I know it definitely could, considering the blood mage cult thing they share, but I've never watched Dawn of the Seeker, nor do I plan to anytime soon. As it goes on, however, I might change that if I get enough information on the movie itself, but as it stands now, I've no plans to tie this into it. This is a standalone AU that has nothing to do with the canon universe whatsoever. That being said, if you would rather read something canon, I really don't recommend you read anything I've written and ever will write. And for those of you who prefer AUs or don't care, welcome to the story and I hope you stick around! Thanks for reading!
Aedan crossed his arms and frowned as his friend, Marcus, rolled the leather-clad man onto his back. He had a hole in his chest, distinctly left by the mage's lightning bolt. The clearing smelled distinctly of burned and rotting flesh, so Aedan never rightly expected to find this poor man alive, but it only cemented his decision to become a templar further. He might've had everything when he was in Highever, but he couldn't stand to sit around and do nothing when he could be protecting others. Aedan was always been the idiot to stand up and fight when it would be safer to turn and run, and joining the templars seemed far more fitting for his particular brand of stupidity than becoming a guard. He was far too good with a sword anyway.
So that was how Aedan Cousland ended up a knight in the Templar order. Boredom. Far too bored on many days of his life, watching mages or guarding some Chantry somewhere in Ferelden. But he'd be lucky enough to get action like this every few months or so. More than he'd get as a guard or soldier. And he had to work for his rank. That's what he liked the most about it. He wasn't treated any differently than another fool willing to hunt down blood mages. If he'd tried to become a soldier, he would've been given the rank of captain and dropped on a bunch of men far more experienced than he was, and been told to lead. With the templars, he was forced to learn and train and become a fighter before he was congratulated on becoming a member of the Order.
And that was all Aedan ever wanted. To be one of the guys, not someone coming from a wealthy background. So the day after he turned sixteen, off to Mother Mallol he went, asking about how he'd go about joining the Order, and then he was off again, this time to Denerim.
Which would eventually land him here in pursuit of a mage recently escaped from the Circle. Nearly ten years after that fateful decision. He hadn't regretted a day of it.
"On the bright side, we know we're on his trail," Marcus quipped.
"We have his phylactery," Aedan retorted. "Of course we know where he's going. And speaking of that, why don't you pull it out so we know where we're following him to?"
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary." Aedan whipped around, reaching for his sword, found himself face to face with a woman, and his heart practically stopped. A Seeker of Truth. And she was in Ferelden. Shit. Shit times ten! "I've caught your mage for you. He's at my camp."
"Could you hand him over?" Marcus asked.
She looked between the two of them, two templar knights, and decided she couldn't pass up on the chance to make their lives a little more difficult. Besides, she rarely got to have fun anymore, and pestering the templars could be fun.
"No," she said.
Marcus sputtered while Aedan did a double take. "You're joking," he said. "You have to be."
"No," she repeated.
"Why not?" Aedan demanded. He turned to face her, standing against a tree like she was completely unfazed by the two larger men standing before her. All she had was a bow, but Aedan was more than sure she could shoot them as quickly as he could draw his sword. He marched right up to her though, expression set in that of a determined one. He refused to go back to the tower without the mage, and he refused to be shown up by the Seeker.
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Because I might decide to have you...reprimanded for interfering with my investigation. Or I could just save you that trouble, and burn the lyrium in your veins. Both are rather tempting ideas."
Aedan's brows furrowed. Neither of those sounded very appealing to him, but by the glint in her eye, he was pretty sure she wasn't bluffing. "Your investigation? Into what?"
The Seeker laughed, patting his shoulder, and he cringed. Aedan was never one for touching, especially around strangers. "Now why would that be any of your business, templar?"
"Because you've gone and stolen my mage," he growled.
"And you've interfered by chasing the man," she retorted, suddenly hostile instead of amused. "He's important to my investigation."
"I wasn't told of anyone else needing him alive," Aedan bit.
"Who said I needed him alive? I just needed him."
Aedan's eyes narrowed. "You killed him?!"
"He was a known blood mage," she said. "I saved countless lives putting him down, and saved you the trouble of tracking him to the coast. I would think you'd thank me for doing your job for you."
Aedan didn't know what to say. Marcus had been silent through their exchange, but he spoke up at that, saying, "Maybe you shouldn't be talking to a Seeker like that, Aedan..."
"You should listen to your friend," she said. "I could make your whole life fall apart in a matter of days."
"In case you haven't noticed, my life is devoted to the Maker," he said. "I don't have much going for me otherwise."
She stood up straighter, arms folded over her chest, and said, "I don't have time to deal with two templar blockheads. You want proof your mage is dead, my camp is back that way on the road. Goodbye." Then she turned on her heel and marched back into the trees, completely vanishing within the span of ten seconds. Aedan scowled after her, bristling, and whipped around to return to Marcus.
"What does the phylactery say?" he demanded. His fellow knight checked, and sure enough, it pointed after the Seeker. Aedan grumbled to himself in annoyance before he started walking back the way they came. It would've been nice to know a Seeker was going to show up and take this entire run away from them. Then they wouldn't have had to waste their time walking this far out from Lothering.
"S-shouldn't we go check that the mage is dead?" Marcus asked.
"If the Seeker has him, he's hers, dead or alive," Aedan replied. "You said it yourself. We shouldn't get involved with a Seeker's troubles."
Several wasted hours of long, dull walking, and they finally made it back to the sleepy little village. It was well past midnight and Aedan was plenty hungry, but he and Marcus needed to report to Ser Bryant. Although both Aedan and Marcus were stationed in the Circle, they were sent to aid the local Templars in tracking down the now-dead blood mage. The leader of the Templars here would probably appreciate knowing that the mage was dead thanks to the Orlesian Seeker they just met.
It had been several hours since they ran into her and her pointed jabs at templar stupidity, but now that his initial swagger had worn off, Aedan was concerned she'd make good on her threats to ruin him for messing up her job. Not that it would exactly be fair, per se, because he was only following orders, but she was a Seeker, and he was a simple templar. Knight or not, to the Seekers, he was just fodder.
"I'll go report if you find us some food," Aedan volunteered.
"Fine with me," Marcus said.
"Be ready to head out when we're done though. I don't want to waste any time on the way back," Aedan added. Marcus waved at him as he separated to head to the local tavern while Aedan walked up to the Chantry. A few templars were standing watch in the small courtyard and they saluted him as he jogged up the steps of the building, armor clanking along as he bounced. The only other templar of any rank other than himself or Ser Bryant, a man by the name of Maron, nodded in greeting. If Aedan wasn't busy, they'd salute each other and go on their merry ways, but he was. He was just about to enter the Chantry when a gloved hand captured his forearm.
"You'd best be careful," Ser Maron said.
Aedan frowned in confusion. "Why's that?"
"Seekers are showing up all over Ferelden," he said. "Haven't you heard? They think there's some plot against the Chantry going on here. Blood mages and everything."
Aedan laughed in disbelief. "That's not possible."
Maron's brows furrowed. "Either way, a Seeker is here. She's requested to have an escort to the Circle."
"Meaning Marcus and I will have to deal with her," Aedan surmised. His thoughts drifted back to the red-haired ass of a woman he met a few hours ago, and he sincerely hoped it wasn't her. Although, who else could it be? All he had to do is wonder how she beat them back. "Thank you for the warning, Ser Maron."
"Just be careful," he repeated as he released Aedan.
He nodded as he entered the building, inhaling the familiar scent of incense and lavender, the typical scent of a Chantry. The one in the tower smelled only faintly of it, as quite a few mages will spend the rest of the day coughing and sneezing if it's too strong. Aedan didn't exactly understand why they couldn't just find a way to fix a simple reaction such as sneezing. Mages are mages. They have magic, and they're generally smarter than the average templar (Aedan knows that's true, whether or not he likes to admit it). It should be simple for them to cure the sniffles.
Little light is afforded at this time of the night. Most, if not all, of the brothers and sisters have retired for the day, and few people come in for help. But the back room is always kept open, and is constantly monitored by a templar and a priest. Aedan walked back to it, where he was sure Ser Bryant was waiting for him and Marcus.
He was not at all surprised by the sound of voices drifting to him. They're hushed and speaking quickly, probably trying to finish their discussion before he made it back there. The sound of the doors banging shut behind him would've been enough to alert anyone inside of his presence, but his robes and armor were loud enough to tell them exactly where he was. And he was trying to avoid intruding; if that Seeker was here, he'd do well not to piss her off further. He just wished his rational mind had taken over sooner and kept him from getting snappy in the first place.
"Ser Bryant?" he called.
Both whispers stopped abruptly. The silence dragged for a moment, but the templar spoke up. "This way, Cousland." Aedan scowled at the lack of being given the proper respect. Just because hewas in charge of the templars stationed there didn't mean he was any better than Aedan. Besides, Aedan actually got up and hunted the mages who escape when he was told to. Not to mention they were both the same rank.
Aedan trudged to the back room regardless to find the Revered Mother, Ser Bryant, and (unsurprisingly) the red-haired Seeker from before. The way they stared at him made him uncomfortable, but he said nothing and did nothing to betray the feeling.
"I was coming to tell you the mage was apprehended," Aedan said. The woman raised a brow as he finished with, "We tracked him into the Brecilian Forest where the Seeker informed us of her intervention."
"It wasn't much of an intervention if it was my job to retrieve the mage before he escaped," she replied. "It was more like you interfered."
"Yes, we interfered with you."
"So you want to take me up on my previous offer?" The woman crossed her arms, both brows raised, and Aedan scowled as his sign of backing down. She seemed rather pleased with his decision and looked back to Ser Bryant. "Allow me to thank you for your help, templar. And for volunteering my new friends for my trip to the Circle."
"What?!" Aedan demanded. "No, no, no, no. No. I'm not traveling with any Seeker anywhere to do anything. Get someone else to do it."
"And here I was thinking we were getting along just wonderfully."
Ser Bryant frowned. "You're heading to the Circle with Marcus. What's the problem with taking our friend with you?"
Aedan's jaw dropped so far it nearly unhinged. "B-because she's a Seeker!" he sputtered.
"Seekers are just as human as you and I, boy," the Revered Mother said.
"Unfortunately for you," she said with an amused light in her eyes, "it looks like I'm coming along whether you like it or not." She said her thanks to Ser Bryant and the Revered Mother again before starting past Aedan for the doors. "Come, templar. We leave immediately."
Aedan glared at Ser Bryant one last time before following this strange woman from the Chantry.
