Chapter 3: The City of Chains pt1
The Blightlands-9:30 Dragon
Ericks crossed his arms. "You'll help us, just like that? I smell a catch"
The witch smirked. "But of course, life is a catch and something you should catch while you can"
Bethany gave a worried frown. "Maybe we shouldn't trust her. I don't even know what she is"
Aveline came forward and frowned. "But I do…she's the Witch of the Wilds" The rest of the group's eyes went wide. Everyone in Thedas knew of the Witch of the Wilds, a powerful apostate mage described as long-lived or even immortal. She was known to be a trickster and incredibly vengeful, there were many stories of her destroying a person or group for wronging her or out of sheer boredom. There were also stories of the witch assisting great figures from legends but that always came with a price.
"Some call me that. Also Flemeth, Asha'bellanar, an 'old hag who talks too much'" the witch said with a chuckle. "Does it matter? I offer you this: I will get your group past the horde in exchange for a favor"
"And this favor is?" Ericks asked.
"A simple delivery to a place not far out of your way. Would you do this for a 'Witch of the Wilds?'"
Ericks look back at the group. "What does everyone else thinks?"
Wesley frowned. "Almost nothing good come from dealing with a Witch of Wilds" he said. "We should…" All of the sudden, it was hard to breathe for the Templar. His heart was pounding incredibly hard and his vision became blurry. Wesley then fell with a thud.
"Wesley!" Aveline ran to her husband and held him in her arms. "Darling, what is wrong?!" Aveline gasped as she saw Wesley's veins turn black, his eyes were greyed over and dark splotches covered his body. It was all the symptoms of Taint.
"Maker….it…it burns!"
"We need to do something! Bethany, I need your magic to heal him!" Aveline said desperately.
Before Bethany could act, the witch came forward and Aveline guarded her husband closely. "There is nothing you can do for the man" Flemeth said simply. "Not unless you have a Grey Warden in your company, and I see none here"
"No, no! I said I drag him out if I had to, and I mean it"
"Brother, with Ser Wesley injured there's no way we make the journey" Bethany said. "I don't trust this woman but we may not have a choice"
"Agreed" Ericks turned to Flemeth. "If I agree with this, how much trouble will this delivery be, exactly?"
"As much trouble as my saving your lives not five minutes ago"
"Humph, point taken"
The witch chuckled. "If you knew my daughter, you'd know how seldom I hear that"
"Roast some more darkspawn; I'll do anything you want"
"Once you are where you need to be, my charity will be at an end" Flemeth said. "Near the city of Kirkwall lives a clan of Dalish elves" She then took out a silver amulet marked with engravings of a dragon and gave it to Ericks. "Deliver this amulet to their Keeper, Marethari, do as she asks with it and any debt between us is paid in full"
"Now before we go, there is another matter to attend to…" Flemeth turned her attention to Wesley and Aveline. The warrior frowned and got between the witch and her husband.
"No! You leave him be!"
"Such fierce dedication to your vows, a rare trait in this world" Flemeth said. "But your man's fate has been sealed"
"You lie!" Aveline yelled angrily.
"My…love…" Wesley said weakly. Aveline came to her husband's side and he grasped her hand, it was so cold to the touch. Tears fell from her face. "She's…right, I can… feel the...corruption inside of me…"
"How much time…?"
"Not long now, if I am any judge" Flemeth said.
"Aveline…listen to me" Wesley said.
The warrior shook her head strongly. "You can't ask me this! I won't!"
"Please, the corruption is a slow death. I can't…"
Ericks came to Aveline. "If you want, I can take this burden off of you"
"Thank you but I…I should carry this burden" Aveline choked. "It's…my duty as his wife" Wesley with his last breath told his beloved wife to be strong and that he would always love her. He got a dagger from his belt, it was a dagger engraved with an image of Andraste…all templars were given this once they completed their trials along with their first draft of lyrium. It was only fitting that Wesley would want to meet his end with the item that symbolizes his proudest achievement. He pointed it to his chest and with some reluctance…Aveline grasped her husband's hand and plunged the dagger into his heart. With a gasp, Wesley was gone; Aveline went and closed his lifeless eyes. Flemeth came up behind her.
"Without an end, there can be no peace" She then walked away and looked at Ericks. "It never gets easier. Your struggles have only just begun"
Unknown-9:40 Dragon
Cassandra frowned. "Flemeth"
Varric nodded. "Thought that would get your attention"
Cassandra placed her hands behind her back and circled his seat. "A myth swooped out of the Wilds to save the Champion?" She shook her head. "You expect me to believe this horseshit?"
"Come now, Seeker, surely you've heard about the tale of Hero of Ferelden" She's heard about it, how the lives of the Hero of Ferelden and the future king of Ferelden were saved by Flemeth at Ostagar. She didn't believe it at first but now she wasn't so sure that they were mere stories but Cassandra had to wonder though: what was the Witch of the Wilds planning to involve herself with the Champion of Kirkwall also?
"Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised to hear of her involvement"
The dwarf gave a smug smirked. "Yeah, I liked my version better, too"
Cassandra scoffed. "What else aren't you telling me, then? Did she send someone with the Champion?"
"Eh…you could say that"
"So it's true. Continue then, but if you tell me they all flew to Kirkwall on a dragon…"
"Heh and I thought I had a vivid imagination"
The witch kept her end of the bargain and got them to Gwaren, where they took ship. They sailed north across the Waking Sea, lashed and battered by terrible storms...they saw many ships and their people claimed by the sea. For two weeks they were in that dark hold with very little food or water, packed in with the fearful and the desperate. And then there it was: Kirkwall, the City of Chains. Back when it was still part of the Imperium, slaves used to come from all over Thedas to work the quarries. Now it's a free city and I use the word very loosely. Between those black cliffs and you'll see what the slaves of old saw: the giant statues that gloried their suffering and the Gallows, welcoming you. That is where their ship landed with all the rest.-Tales of Varric Tethras
The City of Kirkwall-9:30 Dragon
The ships came to port, after everything that happened out at sea the passengers were happy to see a land once again. Once they got released, they were met with old friends or family. Ericks and the rest of the group were the last off the boats and found a huge crowd people…they were angry and shouting at the guards near the gate. Aveline went to get some answers "What is happening here?"
"The bastards aren't letting anyone into the city" he said angrily.
"What? That can't be!" Leandra said. "Why?"
"Concerns for security, they said" the man said.
"Security? We're just fleeing for our lives!" Bethany said.
Aveline shook her head. "And from the looks of it, they would throw us all back to the wolves" she said disgusted. "Unbelievable"
Ericks crossed his arms. "I'm only surprised they let us dock" he said. "So…any plans? I would love to hear one right now"
"We need to find my brother, Gamlen. Our family has always been well regarded in Kirkwall." Leandra said. Before Leandra married Ericks and Bethany's father and took the name Hawke, she was the eldest child of the esteemed Amell family, a noble family whose bloodline dates back to the Exalted Age. So influential were the Amell family that the heads of the family were considered worthy candidates to rule Kirkwall as Viscount although a number scandals have tainted the family in recent years. "He can do something, I'm sure of it!"
"Let's hope he received your letter" Bethany said.
"The guards seem to be reporting to that man in front, perhaps we should speak to him" The group headed to the front of the crowd where the guards were holding back the refugees. A man with short brown hair clad in brown and gray armor walked up. He had a look of distain on his face as if he was looking at vermin and not people.
"Get back to the crowd, you lot. Trying to bully your way through won't get you into Kirkwall any faster!"
"But you do intend to let us in?" Aveline asked.
"Ha! We have enough poor of our own in the Free Marches. We don't need you refugees piling up here like a middens heap" he said. "If it were up to me, I'd bar the gates and let you bother someone else with your begging"
"But it's not. Some of you lot might have legitimate business in the city" the guard said. "So Knight-Commander Meredith want us to sort you all out. Most of you are getting right back on your ships, though"
Ericks snorted. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but the darkspawn were more hospitable"
"Knight-Commander is a Templar title, why would a city guardsman answer to the Templars?" Aveline asked. The guard's attitude then completely changed, gone was the arrogant and cruel guardsman and in his place was a very fearful man. The Knight-Commander was not someone to cross.
"We…don't answer to her…but she's the power in Kirkwall" he said. "Don't know what would happen if the viscount went against something she wanted…but he's sure never taken that chance"
"Thrilling…look there must be someone I can talk to" Ericks said. "Preferably someone who don't have the manners of nug shit"
The guardsman glared at Ericks but retained his composure. He will be run off like most of the others soon. "Humph, always the same story" he said. "You want in, talk to Captain Ewald. I'm only here to keep you refuse from climbing the walls" The group went pass the guardsman into the port. Close to the gates there were a group of men in armor surrounding a red hair man in heavy armor, things looked tense. From the look of the men's armor, they were men from King Cailan's army…deserters.
"What do you want? Money? I can pay you"
The captain sighed. "All the gold in Thedas won't make the city any larger"
"Let us through, you flaming blighter! We're not staying in this pit"
"Then get back on your ship and leave. Kirkwall has no more room for refugees"
"The ship's already gone! We paid good coin to get here!"
The captain sighed, his patience was wearing thin. "You and half of Ferelden. There's nothing I can do! The city is full!"
"Surely there's extra room for the pretty people?" Ericks asked.
The guard captain crossed his arms. "Keeping my neck away from Meredith's blade is far more attractive than any of you lot, I can assure you" he said. "We've been letting you people in for months, you're too late. There is no more room"
"Ser, we have family here. Doesn't that mean anything?" Bethany asked.
"I've heard claims like that a thousand times, trust me" the captain said. "We'll find some ships to take you back to Ferelden…eventually. Until then, you stay here"
"If you find our uncle, Gamlen Amell, you might just have a few less refugees bothering you"
The captain brow rose. "Gamlen, I know that name…
"He's a nobleman here in the city, our family has an estate" Leandra said. The captain almost started to laugh, that was unexpected. "I'm sorry?"
"Apologizes, but a nobleman? The only Gamlen I know is a weasel who couldn't rub two coppers together" Ericks and Bethany looked at their mother and Leandra defensively claimed what she said about their family being nobles is true. Of course, its been years since she was in Kirkwall. "He comes back; I'll bring you to him. But I don't have time to…"
"What?! You letting these people in?!" The deserter leader asked in outrage.
"I didn't say anything about…"
"We've been in this pit for four days! They just got here!" The deserters took out their weapons. "That's it! We're carving our way out of here. Men!" The gate soon became a battlefield.
No escape from trouble! Next Time! As always Review and Comment!
