Chapter Twenty-Six

Thaig and Carta

The path to Aeducan Thaig was actually… pretty empty. Made sense as it was so close to Orzammar. We ran into a few Darkspawn here and there – and Sereda even showed us where the Grey Warden had found her after her exile.

"After we got back to Orzammar, we heard about Natia. We barely made it in time to keep her from being apprehended." Sereda commented.

I nodded, "Yeah – I know about how it went down too. She was with a guy, right? About your height with black hair done in braided rows?"

She chuckled, "Tan skin and brown eyes too. They were coming out of Janars' shop – course, it wasn't Janars' back then. I think the former owner got arrested for ties with the Carta as we were leaving for the surface."

"That was my impression of it. Janar is Dagnas' dad and boy is he going to be pissed with me once word reaches him that I helped his daughter leave. Now that she's out there, she can't come back – not in her former caste anyway."

"No – she'd have to be a merchant wearing a brand or castles."

"What about the Dwarves guarding the gate – they're outdoors and can come back in."

I glanced at Alistair and snorted, "They're warrior caste. Keeping out the visitors while this internal strife is happening can be seen as doing their duty, thus they have that pardon for viewing the Sky."

Aeducan Thaig was rather opulent. Not as bad as I'd inferred from the games. It looked as though a colony could move in as soon as the de-vegetated the area and got some Spawn Cleaning done. When we got to Lord Dace… he was surrounded by Deepstalkers.

Shale seemed to have fun stomping and squishing, at least. I was more amused than anything. Dace looked us over as we got to him after the fight.

"You pulled us from a tight spot, friend. You have my gratitude. I am Lord Anwer Dace… what's such a diverse patrol of people doing out here anyway?"

"I bring you greetings and gifts. One I took upon myself to bring to you at your daughters' behest. The second is a gift from Prince Bhelen and me."

I handed him the papers and his eyes widened as he looked them over. "I don't… these are the terms of a deal I made with lord Harrowmont, but… that cheat! He promised the same land to Helmi!"

"He is also the one who set up Sereda Aeducan for her brothers' death – which you will learn when you get to the city again."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I owe you twice now – once for my life and once for my houses' fortune."

"Oh, no need for that – I am at your service. As for the other thing – the gift – I bring you a little something to show Bhelen treats his allies well. Helmi is the only other one to have received this gift, as an apology for what Harrowmont tried to do."

I motioned Sereda forward and she handed Dace the coat of fur. He looked it over impressed. I explained the same things about it to him as I did to Helmi.

"This is a fine gift. Red Lion pelts are hard to come by. Did it trouble you much?"

"If it had, would I be here?" I gave him a sly grin. He laughed, "Truth enough, cloud-gazer. We should return now. My men need healing and I want to look into this. Do you wish to travel with us?"

"I can take care of the healing if you wish to make camp and travel after everyone has gotten a good night of rest."

He looked interested, "You have potions?"

"I'm a druid with a penchant for healing magics. I can lay a healing circle since there is nothing too serious to tend to among them."

He nodded, "I'll have to trouble you then. Make camp, people!"

I looked at my own group, "You heard the man – camp up."

Leli watched me as I cast Efflorescence. A little mushroom, bright purple with red spots, grew at once. I instructed everyone who had injuries to stand within two feet of the mushroom. I knew they were confused, but no one said a thing when Dace just nodded.

When everyone was healed, they were looking at me in a new light. Dace asked, "How does it do that?"

"It's a druidic ability – Druids are in-tuned to nature, so we rely on it for everything. Every druid can shapeshift, but there are 4 types of druid. One is called Feral – they rely more on feline forms to fight. One is called balance – they rely on moon and sun energies more than anything. Similarly, restoration druids – like me – use those forces in a healing light, but we call on the nature around us more than the skies above. As for Guardians, they rely on their Bear forms to protect their charges."

"I've never heard of such magics…" one of the men said. I smiled, "That's not surprising, is it? I'm from a land called Azeroth – not Thedas. You'll hear more about me in the city; people will be talking about a Dwarven King made of diamonds who came to my call at the gates of Orzammar."

Dace looked skeptical. I chuckled, "Uncle Magni was turned to Diamond protecting the Dwarven race in the aftermath of the Cataclysm that shook Azeroth. It worked and now he can commune with the Titan Soul of the very planet."

"Uncle… that diamond king is your uncle?" one man said.

"In many ways, yes. He took care of me when no one else wanted to."

Alistair put an arm around me. I leaned into him.

"What else can you do?"

I glanced at Dace with a smirk, "Well, I'm also a mage – unique definition in Azeroth. I can use Arcane, Frost, Water and Fire. Using the Arcane arts, I can make portals."

"Fascinating!"

"She's also a Dragon – no lie. She is actually a fucking Dragon in a people suit."

I laughed at Seredas' words, "I am. Gods you make me sound like a body snatcher, Reda. I was just born with the soul of a dragon and the body of a person – I couldn't shift to Dragon form until I got to Azeroth."

Alistair gave me a cheeky grin, "I bet you were adorable as a dragonling."

I flushed and shoved him as I sat up, "It was only for 3 years! And I was called a Whelp not a dragonling."

Daylen left out a pffft of laughter and soon everyone was laughing. I pouted, "Keep laughing and I will never show you that form."

All laughter ceased – even from Daces men. Daylen was the one to ask, "You can still take Whelp form?"

"I retain all forms. I have like… 6 variants of cat, bear, fish, bird… then there is the Dragon, spider, wolf, blighted forms… so on. You should see me as a Timber Wolf. It's a wolf made of fucking trees – I learned that from the drust bear that the Kul Tirans learn from. I have a similar stag and bear form too. My point is, if I've taken the form once, I can always do it again. But if you're going to laugh at me…"

Alistair gave me a pout, "But… I bet it's adorable…"

"Oh, all Whelps are kind of cute. And as a red dragon, I look more like a floating glass of wine, minus the glass… and a white belly."

Leliana giggled, "That does sound adorable!"

I sighed, "I want a promise – no laughing."

It was swiftly agreed to by everyone but Shale and Sten. I wasn't worried about them, though.

I shifted and flew into Alistairs lap while the now-displaced Cinder landed on his shoulder with a huff. I squawked at the Phoenix who chirped back at me. Oh, how dare he get pissy with me? I was always carrying him around – one time, I do this without waring; one!

I shot a glare at the bird who puffed his chest. When I finally shifted back, I had my hands on my hips glaring at the bird, "Your move, feather-brain."

The bird gave me a highly affronted look and shot a fire nugget at me playfully. I caught it and said, "Oh, we can fight if you want to – we gonna throw down, Sin?"

The bird pouted and cooed, huddling against Alistair. "Yeah – that's what I fucking thought."

Alistair had his lips pursed as he tried not to laugh. Leli asked, "What… just happened."

"Little asshole got pissy that I shifted with no warning. Like I haven't been lugging the damn bird around Ferelden this whole damn time. Did I complain? No! Bitch at me, why I oughta…"

Dace looked amused, "You could understand it?"

"He – and yes. I can understand any animal type that I can shift into. So… not nugs, Deepstalkers, or Bronto – but cats, dogs, birds and fish are easy enough."

"Then how do you eat them?" Leli asked. I gave her a grin, "I don't speak Cow, Druffalo or chicken. I can speak flying birds, not grounded ones. Besides – I'm too carnivorous to swap to veggies only."

"What about Pigeons?" Shale asked. The dwarves all looked at her in startled awe – never met a talking Golem before.

"Pigeons are assholes – to the extreme. Seriously, just kill them all. They likely shit on you purposely." Her eyes glowed and she said, "I like killing the birds."

"Just Leave Sin and I alive and you can kill the other ones."

"I wanted to help kill the Dragon – but I was unsure if I would hit the Beast or not by mistake."

"Well, look at that – you do enjoy Dragon Slaying." She had shot me a glare mid-sentence – best not to say she cared. She nodded, "It is a giant bird – what is not to like about squishing it?"

"I needed the bones, hide and scales… and at least a bit of blood. I wasn't too willing to scrape that off of you…"

"It would not have survived the attempt."

"That's my point."

"Good – we agree." She nodded and went back to being passive.

Leli bit her lip, "So… Tara…"

"No."

"But I did not even ask yet!"

"Sorry – the answer is still no. I'm not I the mood to sing tonight."

She pouted.

We headed back the next day. We stopped in at the Compound to collect the others. Lyna reported that no one came looking for anything. We approached Vartag in the Assembly chamber.

He smiled when he saw us, "So… Lady dace came through the Quarter on a tear – she's telling everyone who will listen what a leach and backstabber Harrowmont is. And both Helmi and Lord Dace are singing the praises of Bhelen and his Warden Ally… both were sporting coats made from Red Lion pelts and could wait to show them off. Allies have been showing their support to Bhelen since."

I shrugged, "If anyone asks, those coats were a sympathetic gesture because of the double dealing Harrowmont did. And yes, I made them myself."

"Helmi was saying as much – even showed off that it's 'reversible' to the assembly members."

I chuckled, "Yeah… I have two coats myself – not reversible, I just like the fur around the collar so it's supplemented with deer pelts. And mine have zippers, not buttons."

"Interesting – Helmi said that you had something special for Bhelen?"

"I'm ready to give it to him if he's ready to concede that we're allies."

Vartag grinned, "More than that! Family; I mean, his sister is part of your group, after all. He's half ready to put you forward as a paragon."

"If he's already half ready, maybe bring a paragon back into the fold will make that happen."

Vartag widened his eyes, "So Branka is alive."

"Yeah – but she's not who I was thinking of. Caridin is in the body of a Golem – and he's more useful that the Crazy brat who ran off after him."

"Is he? How so?"

"Branka will go completely mad when she finds that the Anvil of the Void was destroyed – without it, she can't do anything. Caridin, however, knows how to make control rods for existing Golems… I might be able to convince him to do just that."

"If you do that – bring Golems back to the fold… I think you really would be the first on Dwarven Paragon we've ever had."

I shrugged, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch – he might still try to kill himself after making the crown for the next king."

"Right – then we should get a move on."

We went back to the palace where Bhelen received us with a wide grin, "Masterful touch with the coats – I would never have thought of a condolence gift."

I nodded and motioned. Lyna came forward with a box to hand to Bhelen. He looked startled and opened it. "Oh… this is also Red Lion pelt… how many did you kill?"

"None – I was gifted two pelts by Seredas' former second, Gorim. He made it to Denerim and ended up married. The pelts aren't as valued that far east, so he was having a tough time selling them."

"These are Ceremony Robes…" he breathed as he pulled out the top part.

"Commanders' idea – I just provided the details and sizing to the leatherworker who made them. Unlike Dace and Helmi, yours was not made by the Commander." Sereda said, leaning against the wall near his desk.

"Still – Red Lion pelts are a sign of great wealth and prowess. To have a whole outfit made from it is something one doesn't think to dream of."

"Back to buissness, your highness."

He started at my form of address, but nodded, "Right. I am impressed with your work so far, Commander. Not many outsiders grasp our politics quite so quickly. Also, it was a masterful plan to frame Harrowmont for what happened before. I can't say I'm sorry, sister – we both know I'm not – but I am glad to have you back, and on my side. Commander, I'm sure you've seen…"

"Yeah, yeah – I know. The city is a slaughter house. Jarvia is taking advantage of the lawlessness. We'll take care of that, don't worry."

He smiled, "Perfect. Thank you, Lady Stormlight."

Getting to Dust Town was… well, we were stopped by the Dwarf who wanted to open a Chantry and I ran into Filda too. I told her I'd look for her son, and as for the Brother… I wanted to say no, knowing what it led to, but Leli had looked so hopeful and I was the 'Makers Chosen' so… damn. And people said Fenris had puppy eyes – he likely has nothing on the Bard.

In dust town, we had to take out some thugs who attacked without a word beforehand. I had decided that a show of power was key in Dust Town, so I let out my Scaly leather wings and used my Fire Breath Shout. It fucking worked, too. My loud roar and wings had people looking at me with fear and respect.

We found Nadezda near a miniature bonfire. I handed Sereda a sovereign and told her to ask the woman for info. I'd seen Leske, but when he saw Natia wasn't among us, he fled back into his cesspit.

I headed over to the Idle Dwarf… alone, since no one would dare to bother me now.

"Yes? Why's someone like you hanging around Dust Town so much?"

"I like the view. Do you know anything about the small bunny-pigs down here? Nugs, I think they're called."

"Nugs…? Yeah. They don't got much meat on them, but down here you can't be picky; better than nothing, right?"

"Could you catch one for me?"

"What for? You going to cook it up yourself?"

"No – my friend thinks they're cute so I was thinking of gifting her one."

"Well, yeah I could find you a nug; could even get one from outside the City. Those ones in the deeps don't eat as much garbage. Don't got a clue what they eat, but they always seem healthier – you know? Shiny coats and bright eyes. How much you giving me?"

"A whole damn gold piece upon delivery if you get a good one. I'll leave it with my Second, Lyna, at the Warden Compound for your delivery while I'm in the deeps."

"Then we're in buissness." He said and headed off at once.

I grinned as I headed back to my group. Leliana asked, "What was that about?"

"Nothing much – just making a deal. Lyna, that dwarf will come by the compound in a few days with a… delivery for me. I've promised him a Sovereign for it and that you will be there to pay it." She nodded so I handed her the gold piece which she tucked… somewhere?

We entered the run down house that used to belong to Brosca. 5 men were there and they all paled upon seeing me with the group.

I grinned sadistically, "Zevran, dear – you have my torture potions, right?"

Zev pulled out a dark blue liquid in a vial. My eyes lit up and I reached for it, "Wait! Sweet bloody stone, I don't have a death wish, topsider."

I pouted, "Oh… so you'll just hand me the finger bone, point me to the door and run off? Without going to tell Jarvia?"

"If that's what it takes to walk out of here alive – we saw what you did to those dusters. I got no wish to be one of them."

I motioned and Zev put the vial back in his pouch, much to my dismay – I really wanted to see his work in action. The man before me lowered one hand into his pocket, the other on display so I wouldn't misread it. He handed me the carved finger bone.

"Fine – off you all go then." They all rushed off.

"You look disappointed, love." Alistair noted. "I was hoping they would be difficult. I haven't gotten to try Zevs' concoction yet and it's been a while since I was allowed to torture."

"Could always use it on Howe," Aedan remarked. I nodded, "Ooh… that is fitting considering the torture he's doing to other people like Riordan and the Templar who caught Jowan…"

Alistair blanched, "He's all yours, love."

I was practically skipping as we headed to the hide out where Jarvia had her base entrance.

I motioned for the others to stay put for a moment and walked around the corner to see the bald gatekeeper. "What's the password?" he narrowed his eyes at me. I knew they had Elves and Tal-Vashoth in their ranks, so he really couldn't be sure if I was in or not.

I giggled, "Oh, I don't know… maybe… Rii-Vaaz-Zol!" I used the Soul Tear shout. The man fell in a heap, dead. His soul… still stood there and turned on his former friends. Said friends all began screaming and shouting as they charged me.

When the others came forward, just as the 'soul' was dissipating, Alistair asked, "Oh, was that your phantom one? It didn't sound like the shout…"

"Uh… No; that one was far more evil, in a sense. It kept the man from killing me, but I suppose it was cruel to make him fight his friends after he died."

Zev snorted, "Why not just kill them all at once?"

"Well my shout that indicates dead… actually weakens and slowly poisons them for a time; it doesn't kill them if they can resist. Soul Tear, a shout taught to me by Durnehviir, kills whoever is in front of me at once and yanks the soul from their body to fight for me for a few minutes."

Alistair muttered, "You know I love you right…?"

"Don't worry, I rarely use that shout to begin with. I would have just used Slow Time and killed them all before they could blink, but… I was worried what it would do to you. With the blood of a dragon, it could have no effect on you – thus, you would have worried something was wrong and come charging in."

"Oh… that is so sweet of you." Leliana cooed. I shot her a look and said, "Honestly, I don't use half my shouts for that reason or just because of moral grounds. I refuse to bend anything but Dragons to my will – even if it's only temporary – soul tear is kind of… cruel. I have no desire to summon shadow creatures – they freak me out. The list goes on. I can understand why these shouts exist – Dragons in Skyrim used to rule over the mortals, going so far as to elevate a few mortals as 'Dragon Priests' to serve them personally. Dragons were harsh, dominate, and dictators. It's why Mortal Dovahkiin created a shout – the Dragonrend – to rip a dragons' ability to fly from them. Force them to land for a time, and you can beat them."

Sten listened impassively, but I could see the hard look in his eyes, "You are saying that you could potentially force someone to do what you wish?"

"There is no potentially – I could do it. But I refuse. I didn't want to learn the shout at all – but if I didn't, I couldn't stop a Dragon Priest who was also a Dovahkiin from coming back to attempt world domination. I've only ever used it on Dragons so that I could hop a ride to places that were impossible to get to otherwise – like Mirraks hiding place; he was that Dragon Priest I mentioned."

Sten watched me wearily so I sighed and said, "In theory Sten… you could kill everyone in this group with no trouble. So why don't you? Honor is what keeps us both from doing things like that."

He nodded, "I believe you, Ataashi."

We had been walking and killing as we were talking. "Good, Sten – I would hate to kill you before you became Arishok one day."

He stiffened, "You are certain?"

"You are qualified, thanks – in part – to your time here."

"You have done more for me than I had realized."

We came upon the jail – it was empty, so we turned and headed out again. I shrugged, "I did nothing that you could not do yourself. Had you spoken to Scavenger yourself, you would have tracked Faryn who would have told you a Dwarf named Dwyn in Redcliff had your blade. I will grant that you would have killed Dwyn for your blade when he demanded payment, but there it is. Your Arishok asked what is the blight? so you would have found the remaining Wardens to help fight it. Of course all of this would have been if you had taken some initiative to escape Lothering."

"I would not have – I thought it was my atonement."

"True. But my point is – you could have done it yourself."

He nodded, "I could – but you were the one to do it. As you pointed out, could does not mean would."

"Ah – this is the last door. Jarvia is on the other side." I said.

Alistair spoke, "How do you want to do this?"

"Stay behind me – all of you. I'm exhausted and want sleep, so the sooner she's dead the better. I'm gonna roast em all."

I walked in and saw her. Jarvia was 4'4 with short brown hair, a pretty pale face and blue eyes. Leske was with her.

"So – Bhelen finally realized we're taking over the city, but he still doesn't bother to send his own men. Well, you picked the wrong side, Stranger – it doesn't matter whose king, so long as there is a Queen."

I shouted, and they all crisped – somehow, Leske was outside the blast. I said, "Sten – he is a traitor who wanted to set up a former comrade. He's yours."

Sten charged as Leske shouted for mercy. Man got cleaved in two with a single swipe.

We left though the side tunnel – and Janar was fuming. After explaining the situation, we left and headed for Bhelens room again.

We got attacked by Harrowmont supporters. After a quick report, we all went back to the compound for some sleep.