Bioware owns Dragon Age and all the characters, I own Jaya, though...
The King's Rose
Chapter 30: Disaster!
Jaya sighed for the fiftieth time and rubbed her eyes. No matter how many times she looked at the formula, it ended the same way: exploding. Looking at the sky, she thought of her husband and kids, waiting for her and it made her work harder before she saw a familiar agent of Leliana's. She had managed to hide from her friend for a good reason, since she didn't want to draw anyone else into the danger. As she was about to leave, she nearly lost her footing as she saw the sky explode and crash in the distance. She worried if it hit anywhere in Ferelden, since she was currently west of Weisshaupt Fortress in the Anderfels.
"You alright, Jaya? You weren't harmed, were you?" A blonde mage asked, a black-haired woman popping her head in right after.
"Just a little shaken, Anders. What was that? I believe I felt something close to the Fade from that, and I'm no mage." She asked.
Anders crossed his arms. "I dunno. It felt strange. Hopefully whatever it was didn't hurt anyone."
"Well, we'll need to be careful, then. I hope Stroud found somewhere safe." Jaya said, getting up and heading outside to get a break. Nearly four years and she had only run into dead ends, and Anders, who was with, whom she was introduced to as, the Champion of Kirkwall, Melora Hawke. The three of them decided to combine their heads for her mission.
"He said he was near Crestwood in Ferelden, right? I mean, we have him looking into that weird red lyrium." Melora said as she saw another messenger arrive. "Well, there's that letter. Thanks."
"Messere, shall I tell him you will meet him if it's safe or...?" The messenger asked.
"I'll be a little busy, but, yeah. I'll keep him in the loop." Melora said, smiling.
Jaya rolled her eyes as they took their letters from the messenger, sitting down and opening hers, from her own husband.
'Dearest wife,
I hope this finds you well, Leliana said the messenger would be able to locate you. I truly wish you still would've told me, love. But, I whine, I know. Things have been very odd since you left. There was the Templars breaking away from the Chantry... Wish I could've done that. Now, mages are running around and firing spells. If it weren't for Zev, I'd be hairless right now. And then there was the explosion of the Conclave. Everyone apparently died, except for one... And that person is apparently being called the 'Herald of Andraste'. Personally, I prefer your title of 'Hero of Ferelden' myself.
The Herald also is heading something in Haven, surprisingly. I believe Zevran said they call themselves the Inquisition? Mumbo-jumbo to me. Now, by the time you read this, I'll hopefully help Teagan regain Redcliffe from those darn mages. Yes, they kicked Teagan and Kaitlyn out of Redcliffe and handed it over to a magister from Tevinter! I'll try to keep my temper in check, dear, but that angers me. We give them a safe place to be and they throw the Arl out of his own town?
Please return to me safely, love. I cannot bear the thought of the opposite.
Your loving husband,
King Alistair'
Jaya frowned. That was rude of the mages. "Anders... Can you explain why a group of rebel mages would swear loyalty to magisters and throw out a Arl?"
"What?"
"According to Alistair, they joined the magisters and threw out Arl Teagan."
"That's stupid! We mages would never do that with our freedom." Anders exclaimed.
"I know... So, whatever Grand Enchanter Fiona is thinking, she is about to deal with a very ticked off King. My husband can keep his temper in check for only so long. I have a feeling he'll throw them out of Ferelden..." Jaya explained.
"They'd deserve it, then." Melora commented. "I didn't fight an insane Knight-Commander for them to throw their freedom away! Maker's breath. They make my fight seem useless!"
"Calm down, Mel... You shouldn't work yourself up this bad... It's bad for the child." Jaya commented. "I'd know. I had twins."
"You're right. Sorry, Eli." She replied, her right hand resting on her growing waist. "I just get very ticked off whenever it comes to mages that would throw the freedom I nearly died for away."
Jaya smirked slightly. "You'll feel every emotion while pregnant, believe me. I've broken good plates when I had a mood swing."
Melora sighed. "I wasn't like this with Beth, though."
She recalled the raven-haired child she had met as well, instantly thinking of Eleanor, who'd be eight right now. The seven year old Beth Leann Hawke was a firecracker, like Melora was in her childhood, apparently. "Every pregnancy is different. Who knows, you might be carrrying twins."
"Andraste's buttcheek! I hope not. One was enough, but three?" Melora went wide-eyed and let Anders sit her down.
"Joking. Raising any more than two in this time is difficult." Jaya agreed, looking back over the notes.
"Take a little breather, Eli... You'll be dead at the rate you're working." Anders said. "Take it from your friend and healer."
"I'm so close though, Anders, I can taste it! If I can come up withsomethingto help our brothers and sisters, I'll be happy to return to Alistair and my kids. Until then, I will have to keep trying. Mind seeing about gathering up some felandris? I'm sure I saw some nearby." She asked as she and Melora went about mixing things again. "Keep within Mel's barrier, though. You know what might happen if you do. I'd rather not kill you."
Anders chuckled. "Yes, mom. Anything else?"
"Don't use that tone with me, Anders. Or I'll pop into your head." Jaya warned. A few months ago, she had found out that she was one of very few Senior Wardens to be able to enter minds of either their recruits or those close enough by, similar to what Riordan did to the darkspawn during the Blight, but with fellow Grey Wardens. She enjoyed it and wondered how Alistair would react, since he was technically six months her senior. But, he retired from the Order, something that never happens, let alone go on to rule a kingdom, with another Grey Warden as his Queen.
Melora blinked. "Eli, look at this..." She said, looking at a potion they had made a few days ago, a light pink hue now to it. "Didn't it explode when we made it?"
Jaya bolted over from her side and grinned. "It did, perhaps it stabilized in the past few days... I wonder... Maybe it'll help? What did we make it with again?"
"A few deathroot leaves, crushed, vandal aria, crushed as well... Then there was one part crystal grace... Plus a little deep mushroom.." Melora read off the ingredients, tilting her head. "It also had a little bit of lyrium, too. Though, a drop."
"Melora, I think we did it... I need to see if it works, but if it does, we may have discovered something amazing!" She twirled the Force mage around, stunning Anders.
"Do I want to know?" He asked, putting the herbs down.
"Look at this, Anders. This is one of them that exploded a few days ago!" Jaya said, moving aside to let him see.
"Hmm. That's different from the others, for sure. Perhaps we could test it on another Warden nearby? Since they respect us here." Anders suggested.
"Brilliant! I love ya, Anders!" Jaya grinned and went to get a test subject.
"She is so happy..." Melora said, smiling. "It's hard not to smile with her. Considering the past few years she rarely has had a choice to smile."
"Yeah. All those flukes led to this. Even I have no idea what this is... And I know plenty of healing and other poultices." He said.
Jaya returned with a new recruit, named Allysin, a Dalish elf warrior that was recruited in Val Royoux. "Right in here, Allysin. Please, know that you will be in good hands. Anders... Perhaps a tiny sip of that? Melora, take notes."
"Wise. Let's see." He poured a tiny bit and handed it to Allysin, Melora grabbing something to write on.
Jaya waited with baited breath as the recruit sipped the drink. Soon, though, she went wide-eyed as she felt the recruit's taint disappear from her radar. "Well... How do you feel?"
"I feel fine... Why?" Allysin asked.
"Your taint's gone!" Anders gasped, looking close to passing out, his lover writing down the discovery. "Perhaps you can still fight darkspawn? There are some nearby."
The three followed to see the effects of the concoction and saw in udder awe that the recruit seemed to not only deal heavy damage to a genlock alpha, but showed no signs of weariness. Even the blood from the enemy didn't seem to affect her. Only after a few spawn did she manage to get tired as she finally killed the hoard, with little help from the others. Jaya's smile nearly broke her face when the recruit returned.
"We... did it... We dealt with it! Is there a warden close by that's by their calling, Allysin?" She asked.
"Yeah... Our leader, Nameha, he said he heard the song a few nights now." She replied as they took their trip to a nearby camp. "Senior Warden... May I present Commander of the Grey Jaya, Warden-Constable Anders and Champion Melora Hawke?"
"Maker's Breath! Pardon my manners, ser. I've not been well lately." Nameha said, bowing. "Please, enjoy a drink or feast."
"Actually, I know you've been hearing the Calling, is that true?" Jaya asked, sitting down. "How long have you been in the Order?"
"Five years, ser."
"Ahh. Might I ask if you'd do something for me? Take a sip of this and let me know what you feel." Jaya said, motioning to Anders and Melora.
"Of course." He said, doing so. "Tis strange... I have no headache, nor do I hear a song. What is that?"
"It's something I've spent nearly five years working on. I'm looking for ways to erase the Calling from our Order, and I believe I've found it. Perhaps it'll heal the blight?" She pondered.
"You already came up with that, Jaya." Melora commented. "But this is history! The Calling won't affect Wardens now. We have the ingredients and how to make it, all thanks to you, Jaya."
"We did it, Champion. Without you and Anders, I'd still be banging my head against rocks trying to solve this puzzle." She reminded before turning to Nameha. "Are there any people sick with the blight? Or any others that have been dealing with this?"
"One of our recruits has the blight inside them after dealing with a hurlock. Bugger got a hit in and the recruit swallowed the blood." He answered, leading them to the room where there was a smell of herbs and other things. "We've tried everything for it... Perhaps that will help?"
"Can't hurt..." Jaya said, repeating the motion with the recruit, seeing Melora taking notes on how the recruit seemed to go still before sitting up slowly, confused. "I.. Wow... Andraste, we did it." She collapsed in joy, her mind reeling from how long she had planned to give to this and it finally bloomed. "Nameha, give this to the First Warden, if you see them. It must be kept top-secret from anyone outside our order. Who knows what would happen if someone got a hold of this and used it for the wrong purpose..." She scribbled the recipe, ingredients and side-effects down and handed it over. "Now, I need to find out why we fall to a Calling. Anders, I believe this is where we part ways. This is my personal mission now... I thank you for helping me."
"Any time, Eli... Just be safe and remember to only take it when it gets stronger." Anders said, handing her a potion that only she needed to block out the Calling or any emissaries. They had discovered they could create their own blocking out potion with a little sample of their blood, which they also handed a copy of over to Nameha. She took the original while Anders and Melora took copies as well, to keep them safe. "By the way, you might need to have a little chat with your husband.."
"Why?" She asked, confused now.
Hawke giggled softly. "He called you the 'old ball and chain'."
Jaya huffed and counted backwards from a hundred as she packed up. "I'll give him a piece of my mind when I do... Thanks for telling me. I wondered why my nose itched a while ago." She waved goodbye and also started planning a speech towards her love.
So, Jaya managed to find the 'cure' for the Calling, I assume the Warden might've had help somewhere down the line from either one of the companions of Awakening or even Hawke themselves, it is not known if they even do find it. For all we know, the Warden could've found the cure, but refuse to tell the Inquisitior due to how secretive it was for the Order.
~~Skittles~