Prologue: Betrayal
Chapter 10: Unleashing the Logosha ; A Gift
Author Note: Hello everyone. You've probably seen the various changes in the format I've been writing in. Namely, the small pieces of information such as days, times, and chapter numbers. It's around this part in the story that it will break off into different sections, hence the new Chapter 10 name which is: Unleashing the Logosha ; A Gift. I've decided to leave the small details like the time and day, etc, in the actual story itself. The main thing I'd like to bring your attention to is the way the chapters will be named from here on out. A general rule to clarify is this, if you see ; anywhere after 'Chapter ?:' that means that there are two or more different groups focused on in this chapter. More or less, what I'd usually do for say a mini-chapter, is now being crushed into one chapter (neatly). I hope you understand what I mean here, timeskips which I've done few of already, are pretty much going to be nonexistent except for a few special occasions. The grey line you see will now mark the beginning of the second half of the chapter and/or OOC information divides (like this one below). kthxbai, enjoy!
*The chapter divides will usually be filled with information happening elsewhere, to further describe what's happening
"I don't know, Natia. I'm still not overly fond of the surface." Duran said as he and his companion traveled across the bridge to get back to the tavern.
The female dwarf simply shrugged, "It's not too bad. I just don't fully trust the peoples up here. They think they're bigger than us 'wee' dwarves. Sodding idiots."
"Aye." Duran replied with a short chuckle.
Just as the two of them got off of the bridge Duran spotted a small dark purple orb floating in the middle of the air. It was placed between them and the tavern, meaning there was no way around it. There was, but he had a feeling attempting to do so would only get the both of them hurt. Sure enough the orb pulsed and due to its actions a shockwave erupted from it. Duran quickly tackled Natia to the ground and allowed the wave of kinetic energy to pass by. The orb had now expanded into a fairly large portal with a pure black center. The sounds of screaming seemed to be heard from the portal, along with the loud clanging of armor.
Soon large Hurlocks marched through, clad in twisted plate armor. Each of them looking angered and ready to kill. Duran slowly got up off of Natia and readied his sword whilst Natia did the same, though with her daggers.
"Damn! Whatever that was, it trashed the tavern! I hope everyone is okay!" Duran said loudly as he examined the ruins that had once been the tavern.
Natia looked behind them briefly before shaking her head, "No way back. The bridge collapsed."
"The water isn't that deep." Duran chuckled before charging ahead, the Logosha in his sight.
The Logosha had the same idea whilst a few stayed behind to protect their portal. Whatever the Darkspawn were doing, everyone knew it had to be of ill intent. The guards of the village along with the Templars, well, they couldn't be relied on. Only the Recruits were able to defend the village from these creatures. At least for now, how hard could it be? Duran had killed countless of Darkspawn in the Deep Roads before, as had Natia. He had to remember Shadow's lessons, however, these had to be the Logosha he spoke of. There were no other explanations for how Darkspawn conjured a portal directly in the center of a village.
"Kill them all! Burn everything! Forget the fallen." A Darkspawn General said, it's voice calm yet booming, as it stepped through the portal with one of their Emissaries.
"They can talk?! Great! Just what we need, intelligent sodding Darkspawn!" Duran roared before clashing with a Logosha.
The warrior he had fought was unlike anything he had experienced whilst fighting the Darkspawn. Usually he could take them out without issue. This one, however, it knew what it was doing. It was strong, fast, and well trained. Where did these damned things come from? How had he never encountered them before? Just to make matters worse, something was sapping his strength but he couldn't figure out what! Soon the rest of the recruits arrived and Duran had the stress taken off of him. Whatever was sapping his strength suddenly stopped as soon as Natia rapidly stabbed the Logosha Duran was holding back.
"Where is that Warden-Commander?! Duncan?!" Natia called out, "Wasn't 'e supposed to be here by now?!"
"He will on arrive this day, young Brosca!" Daylen called out before firing a bolt of electricity straight at a charging Logosha warrior, frying it. "But I cannot guarantee when! For now, target that Emissary. I sense it is the only thing keeping their portal open!"
Indeed the Emissary was keeping the portal open. The only issue with getting to it was the fact that the Logosha were defending it with their lives. Already they had invaded Lothering with alarming speed. Fires had already begun to blaze and a lot of the Logosha had pushed passed the pathetic defense that were the recruits, and moved further into the village. Lothering may not fall completely on that day, but it'd be damaged severely. None of the recruits were under a false illusion of success, however, and each knew that without Duncan or a true Grey Warden, they'd all perish. They had never fought Darkspawn such as those there at that very moment. But from the sounds of it, the current Grey Wardens have. Why did Shadow have to go down to Ostagar? That was the question that flooded all of their minds.
"Protect the Chantry at all costs!" They heard a distant Templar call out, "It cannot fall! Fight with all you have!"
The Logosha General let out a sickening laugh, "All Logosha, target the Chantry. Do not attack another structure until it is burnt to the ground! Capture the defenseless, kill the rest. Leave these Grey Wardens to me."
"How in the bloody 'ell are we supposed to take on that bastard?!" Natia asked under her breath before quickly evading one of the warriors' attacks.
The female dwarf did not see what she had stepped into. Having evaded one of the warriors' attacks sent her straight into range of the massive mace the Logosha General carried. The General had predicted that course of action and soon the dwarf felt sharp metal slam into her back, sending her flying three yards back and crashing into the ruins of the bridge.
"Natia!" Duran roared before charging the Hurlock General, his sword being lit aflame by Daylen's enchantment.
The forsaken Aeducan cut through three lesser Hurlocks before arriving at the General. He narrowly avoided a collision with the mace and retaliated by swinging his sword straight into the General's side. The creature let out a hiss more of amusement than pain, and grabbed onto the sword before the dwarf could rip it out and plant it somewhere else. Duran felt a spiked fist slam into the side of his head which knocked him to the ground and severely impaired his vision. The enchantment on his sword faded and the General ripped the weapon out of his side. He saw Neria and whipped the sword at her, but Daylen had seen the General's move.
"Must I do everything on my own?" Daylen huffed before sending a strong gust of wind towards the sword, sending it straight back to the General.
That managed to catch the Hurlock off of his guard. The sword soared through the air, its target once more being the General. Luckily for the Darkspawn, the Emissary blasted the sword away and into the water.
"You cannot survive this, Grey Wardens." The Logosha General said as he marched slowly towards Daylen.
Neria was unable to assist her mentor, the Emissary had channeled intense electricity directly into her from its fingertips. Her body seized up and intense pain shot through her as she collapsed to the ground. She had been bested and soon she would be a corpse on the cold ground of Lothering. Daylen refused to be bested and when he saw that Neria was under attack, he quickly rushed into the relentless arc of lightning. Thankfully he was much more experienced and powerful than Neria, and due to his raw power and experience he balled up the electricity and sent it flying back to the Logosha Emissary. This act had not been foreseen by the Emissary and immediately it experienced the effects of its own power. Electricity flowed all around it, eventually consuming its entire body. Very few things could survive such an attack, even if it were from their own hands. This was no different for the Emissary. It had no protection against magic, it's entire focus was split between keeping the portal open and aiding the offensive. The portal collapsed with a similar blast as to when it opened, though this one was much more powerful and leveled all but the Logosha.
Daylen had the wind knocked out of him as he hit the ground, hard. He slowly looked over to where the Emissary had been and saw the sprawled out and charred remains of the creature. Darkspawn were not pushovers. The Logosha? They sure made the main horde look like they were. The elderly mage knew that he had no chance in fighting back now. He was exhausted, that blast having leeched all stamina from him. His vision was blurry, but not a single one of his comrades got up. The Hurlock General seemed to have gotten a chuckle out of seeing the pained expression on the man's weathered face.
"It seems that your friends have fallen in battle, human." It taunted as it took large and prideful steps towards the weakened mage who was in a vulnerable position on his back. "Your civilizations will burn and we will have dominance over this world. Humor me with your last words, I wish to hear them so I have a joke to tell my warriors when we drink from your skulls."
Daylen's rather rapid breathing calmed down as the oxygen returned to his lungs without issue. "You will... never... succeed. There will always be one of us standing... to kill your masters, and you!" He choked out before his vision cleared and he saw the General looking down at him with eyes of blood-red hatred.
"Bold words from a man who could protect neither his apprentice nor his friends. Your civilization's extinction is here." The General said before taking his mace and raising it high above his head, powering up an execution attack.
"I don't think so..." A young yet strong elvish voice growled before the General felt and saw a sword get slammed up through his armpit, carving its way around before exiting his body and leaving his arm barely upon his shoulder.
The General let out a loud roar as he dropped the massive mace that he wielded with one hand. For any human, and perhaps even a Qunari, it would have required two hands to successfully wield. It landed on the ground with a thud, Darrian narrowly avoiding a run in with it as he tore his sword out and retreated behind the Darkspawn. With its arm barely hanging onto its body and utterly useless to it now, the General used its other hand to grab onto the mace again, tearing it from its self-created crater. It roared as it glared at the young elf who had successfully landed a crippling blow on his arm. Rage was rapidly filling the General's veins, and his fuse was burning down rapidly.
He and Elissa had arrived only a moment after the portal had been destroyed. Whilst they split up, Elissa heading to the Chantry and Darrian to find the other recruits, they had found even stronger persons of note along the road. Somehow Duncan and his final recruit found their way to Lothering faster than expected. Then again, Ser Gilmore and Duncan were given horses whilst Elissa and Darrian had a head start on foot. Ser Gilmore was at Elissa's side. Where Duncan went, well, Darrian hadn't any idea. He sort of vanished sometime between them arriving at Lothering and engaging in the Logosha. So far Darrian was not impressed with the infamous group. The Darkspawn seemed almost like those men he and Elissa fought before, Arl Howe's men. The General then let out a loud roar and charged the elf.
Darrian needed to be careful. Whilst he hadn't witnessed the effects of the mace first hand, he saw the downed group of his fellow recruits. Whether by mace or other means, he knew the Hurlock before him was not to be played around with. He hadn't expected the Darkspawn to act so soon. Duncan made it seem like they had plenty of time to prepare and head to Ostagar, though at the same time he made sure that they all knew the Darkspawn would be there soon enough. The elf decided to favor defensive motions, holding off on doing his normal offensive approach. The Logosha were not to be trifled with, and only a fool would think they could overpower such relentless monsters.
Smoke choked the air around them like a fog of death. Towering pillars of dark smoke also rose high up into the sky, making the once clear blue sky darken like the moods of everyone experiencing the sacking of Lothering. That is what it was. A sacking. Half of the small village was burnt to the ground, the tavern barely standing had caved in on itself and the small stream that passed through the village ran a sickly mixture of red and black. Mixed blood of the Logosha and humans who had given their lives in the village. Darrian would have asked where the Arl was, but there were only two viable possibilities. Either he ran up north to hide behind tall walls, or he had gone south to fight the Darkspawn threat. Whichever he had done, it did not matter. Lothering was nearly destroyed by the Logosha. This would be no normal Blight. Everyone knew that, even Duncan acknowledged it. The Logosha were never open with their offensive attacks. Never. Throughout all of known history, there had been little to no mention of them. The only way Duncan found out about them was during an expedition into the Deep Roads. Having heard their chants brought up an opportunity to look it up, and they were mentioned once in the Grey Warden writings of old. Hermits. That's what they were described as. Hermit outcasts of the Darkspawn who followed a human female of immense magical power over all else, even the Archdemon.
Several minutes had passed since the General went into a rampage, and large holes now decorated the ground due to his mace's heavy and unnatural impact. The General had slowly been tiring out and Darrian now switched his stance. He resumed his initial attack and even began to force the General back, a strategy the elf had formed during the rage of the Darkspawn. It had created holes in the ground where the mace had struck the earth. His plan soon left the realm of thoughts and into the realm of action. The General hissed as it tripped and fell onto its back. Before it could move to defend itself, or even use the mace to keep the elf at bay, Darrian had jumped in for the kill. His blade sunk deep within the head of the General, piercing the earth beneath its head, quite obviously sending the Darkspawn back into the abyss where it belonged.
Then the unexpected happened. The Darkspawn's mouth opened and a loud guttural roar was heard before a kinetic burst of raw and visibly dark energy burst from the very body of the General. This sent Darrian flying off of the General, harshly landing a few feet away and on his back. The young elvish man could not move. Whilst he knew he had been breathing, it did not feel like it. In fact, he felt as if he were suffocating despite knowing for a fact that he was getting enough air. His vision darkened before the world completely vanished from his sight. Battle fatigue. Half of the village was now cleared of all Darkspawn threat thanks to the Warden recruits, unless more came over from the opposite side. That was very unlikely, though, given the fact that those who had moved on the orders of their General to attack the Chantry were now surrounded by Templars, adventurers, Elissa, Ser Gilmore, peasants, and Duncan.
The Logosha had begun the battle, and they would also see it finished in the worst imaginable way for them. Failure. Defeat. Death. There was no slaughtering the Templars now that the Warden-Commander had arrived. These Logosha, whilst strong, were nothing like their higher ranks. All but known to them, the Logosha that had been dispatched to raze the village were actually a distraction. A mere symbol to strike fear in the hearts of the refugees who had fled to Lothering from various areas within the darkening Ferelden. A message; no one could hope to escape the Logosha. Those within Lothering were doomed to die ever since they had been handpicked by Gruk. They were picked because they would do significant damage, but were not entirely necessary. They had little accomplishments under their belts and thus Gruk chose them for the suicidal attack on Lothering.
The defenders of the village cut them all down within the Chantry courtyard. Not a single one had made it to the religious building that housed the refugees as well as the women and children of Lothering. Fires had, however. The men of the village were called to fight off the invaders, only because at the time they assumed there would have been a lot more. Duncan had the opportunity to capture the last kill. A Logosha Berserker attempted to go into a rage, but the Warden-Commander decapitated him before he had the chance. Duncan slowly looked about the wreckage, wiping some of the blood and sweat from his forehead.
"Warden!" Ser Maron, a Templar of the Chantry called over to Duncan as he rushed to the Warden-Commander.
"Yes?" Duncan asked as he examined the fallen, awaiting to hear what the Templar had wanted.
The man was breathing heavily, he was no doubt the first Templar to engage in combat with the Logosha. "Your recruits Ser, they're all over on the other side of the bridge, nearest to the tavern where the Darkspawn came from. They're all knocked on the ground and unresponsive, I see no movement from any of them."
All three of them, Duncan, Gilmore, and Elissa heard this. "Thank you for alerting me to this." Duncan replied before he and the two others rushed towards the opposite side of the village.
They crossed the small stream that was more like a cocktail of blood due to the bodies that had fallen around it and bled into it. It was freezing and tainted. That was all any of them knew. That, and when they hit dry ground again it was a godsend. Elissa saw the unconscious Darrian and rushed over to him specifically whilst Ser Gilmore and Duncan moved from recruit to recruit, checking for heartbeats. The recruits would need to be patched up and prepared for the worst. Duncan could sense the Darkspawn presence in the south growing even more than it had been. The Fifth Blight was about to be unleashed. On top of that, the Logosha were just beginning to show themselves to the world as a whole.
"Where is Brosca?" Duncan spoke grimly before spotting a hunched over figure within the stream, rushing over to it.
"We have sensed the outcome of the attack on Lothering, High Warchief. Would you wish to know what has become of the human village?" Hyferax, the Hierarch of Intelligence spoke.
The Darkspawn was wearing black robes with bloodstained linen wraps wrapping around his head and covering his eyes in an 'X' like fashion. Each of the two diagonal strips covered one of his eyes. His lips were black and his complexion even more pale than the normal Darkspawn. Dark tendrils covered across his face much like a corruption. The Logosha were not pretty sights, the most visually appeasing of them being Gruk himself. But, Hyferax was disturbing as far looks went. Had a human seen him they would no doubt need psychological aid lest they fall into insanity. That was the terrifying truth about the Hierarch of Intelligence's power. He was farseeing and much like a fatal omen, driving the fair races to insanity just by catching a glimpse of him.
"Only the basics, Hierarch. I've no need for details on a mission intentionally picked for failure." Gruk replied with a sigh, looking over at the Commanding Ledge where several Logosha workers had begun repairing his broken throne.
Hyferax nodded slowly, "Lothering is partly in ruin. Our Emissary and General, however, have died and the humans now seek to clean up the grunts. Thankfully, before their downfall, the Emissary and General had taken out most of the Grey Warden recruits. Only two remain."
A dark and chilling grin spread across Gruk's face. The simple and pleased grin turned into maniacal laughter. The Grey Wardens had lost so much, so soon? That was too good! Surely they had not even attempted to examine their recruits like they normally do? Oh, how the Dark Mother would love to hear the news of their success. Now the Grey Wardens were in trouble. The main Darkspawn horde was only one more day away, literally. When the night washes over the surface, the Darkspawn will push into Ostagar and wipe out any who get in their way of northern Ferelden.
"Good! Return to your hole and pass this word unto the Dark Mother, she will be pleased." The Warchief ordered with another hearty and twisted laugh.
In the back of his mind Gruk had wondered what the Dark Mother had planned. They had openly defied the Archdemon. Now they were enemies, the Archdemon would have it no other way. Every Logosha warrior knew this. The young, the old, all of them knew. They also sought similar goals as each other, which meant that running into the Archdemon and its forces would be even more likely. That was bad. Nevertheless, the High Warchief watched the Hierarch leave the medical hut in order to carry out his orders. Gruk hoped the Dark Mother was safe. Her plan required her to go into unfriendly territory in order to... make friends?
Lord Aedan Cousland oversaw the patrols, reconstruction, and recruitment in the main hall of Castle Cousland. He assumed the position of his late father by taking control of the forces remaining in Highever. Whether it was politically seen as legitimate or not, the young and brilliant man did not care. Right now his house needed to survive, to regain its strength and bring the Howe family to justice. All of them. They had done the unthinkable, and since Arl Howe had killed his family, the young Lord deemed it only fitting that he returned the favor. With the help of the surviving Aldous and the soothing words of Mother Mallol to guide him, Aedan was confident in his abilities to keep Castle Cousland and Highever under control. As he wrote a letter to Bann Loren, he thought about those who had fallen.
Nan, someone who had raised him and kept him fed his entire life. She was someone he and his siblings could always count on, and wished she were around to give him her advice which was always full of wisdom. Dairren. Indeed had the son of Lady Landra and Bann Loren fell in battle. He was a good man and a great friend to Aedan. They had often sparred together in order to test each other and prepare for whatever was to become of them. Oren... how could someone kill a defenseless child? His blood boiled at the memory that had forever been burned into his mind. Oriana, his beautiful sister-in-law... dead. He had to stop thinking on all he had lost. At least Lady Landra was still alive, though mourning her son. Soon the large doors to the main hall were pushed open and a large patrol came marching in with two women with iron shackles around their wrists. He recognized one, but not the other.
"Lord Cousland! We ran across these two in our patrol. As per your orders we captured them and brought them here. Apparently the ashen haired one kidnapped the snake's daughter." A Sergeant stated before having the two prisoners move forward and kneel before Aedan.
He put the quill back into the inkwell and stood up, pushing his chair into the desk before walking over to the prisoners. Their heads were down and they were staring at the floor, or rather, the plate boots Aedan wore. The Lord of Highever examined them, and indeed one had white, ashen hair whilst the other had a more dull black hair.
"I've brought you a present, Lord Cousland..." The ashen-haired woman said with a cool and soothing voice.
"Identify yourselves." Aedan ordered, completely ignoring the woman's statement.
The woman who had spoken before simply looked up at him, her unnatural purple eyes looking up and into his. She was young, younger than her hair color would suggest. Everything about her seemed fabricated. Her hair, her eyes, even her voice seemed too peaceful for his liking. Yet, despite him being skeptical about her, something about the mysterious woman seemingly pulled him in. Intrigued him. Nevertheless, she was now his prisoner and he would have to decide what to do with her.
"My name is Ysil, my Lord." She replied with a sly grin upon her face.
Aedan nodded briefly, an odd and foreign name. It hadn't been one he had heard of before, but, it seemed fitting for her. Never before had he seen a woman with ashen hair and purple eyes, either. He then turned his attention to the silent woman. He knew very well who she was. She was quite the boon, in fact.
"Delilah Howe... Isn't this just the most opportune time for you to come strolling into my lands." The Lord said as he crossed his arms.
The girl began to sob, fearing what may become of her in the care of the angered Cousland. "P-Please, Aedan... I have had nothing to do with my father and his decisions! I tried to warn him against it, but he wouldn't listen to me!"
"Silence." Aedan growled, shutting the woman up as he motioned for a few guards to approach.
Four of his guards marched up to him and stopped, awaiting his orders. "Release Lady Ysil. It is obvious to me that she is not our enemy, yet. Take Lady Delilah to the dungeons, make sure it is a nice yet well secured cell. I will interrogate her later when I have time, and get to the bottom of everything."
"Yes, Lord Cousland." The guards said before carrying out his orders.
One of them retrieved the iron shackles from Ysil's wrists whilst the other three grabbed Delilah and dragged her off to the dungeons to await interrogation. Indeed, it was obvious to Aedan that he was acting harshly and arguably impulsively. The urge to free Ysil drowned out anything else, however, so he had went with his gut and did so. The rather beautiful woman had brought him Delilah Howe, after all. No agent of Howe would do something like that so soon after an attempted takeover which resulted in the death of most of Aedan's family and friends. Aedan spoke no words to Ysil, not until he found himself seated at his desk again.
"So, Lady Ysil. What brings you to Highever? It is no longer a peaceful land, and is very much the opposite. War is brewing in multiple locations, and I fear that you have stumbled into it now." Aedan spoke before taking the quill from the inkwell to resume writing.
The woman smiled before wandering up to the desk, knowing that she was being watched by all of the guards in the main hall. "Actually, that was my intention, my Lord." She stated, "For a long time I've wanted to get to meet you, and to help you in whatever it was you may need. I'm skilled in many things, and knowing that Howe had hurt you by taking away things you loved... I decided to help you do the same, even if it's only one of his family members."
Something seemed familiar about her voice, but Aedan couldn't quite put his finger on it. The overall tone and complexity it had chilled... That's it!
"You've spoken to me before, haven't you, Ysil? You're the disembodied voice that was there within my home." He stated, slowly looking up at her with eyes both angered and curious. "You are the one who killed my family?"
The woman nodded slowly, "That was me, but no... I didn't kill your family. I was merely referring to having captured the Howe girl. I know who did kill your family though, Arl Howe is working with the Darkspawn via some weird... tainted person. I believe their kind are referred to as Ghouls."
Aedan felt his chest and throat tighten. He knew Howe was a relentless and evil bastard, but to work with the Darkspawn? Who in their right mind would do such a thing? That could only ever end horribly. This was a rather urgent matter, and he would have to warn Duncan. Damn, why did the Warden-Commander have to leave so soon? He would wait before sending a letter to Duncan. For now, he had to make sure Iona and Lady Landra were alright.
"Lady Ysil, you may stay in the Castle for a day. You will be able to find food, drink, and a warm bed in the tavern. I want you gone by dawn, understood?" Aedan ordered before signing the piece of parchment, rolling it up, and sealing it.
The woman smiled and bowed, "Yes, thank you, my Lord."
"Dismissed." Aedan said and she slowly turned around and retraced her steps, heading to the entrance to the main hall, whilst Aedan himself left the main hall to find the two women.
An hour had passed before Lady Landra had left with a wagon carrying her son's body and a handful of guards to escort her home. It was the afternoon and the sun was just about to be within the middle of its descent. Iona had decided to stay with Aedan due to their connection, and she knew that he would need someone to rely upon in the days to come. She may not have been a noble, she may not have been a fighter, but she was rather knowledgeable. The elvish woman was just happy that Aedan had accepted her. After all, she was an elf commoner whilst he was a human noble. A Lord of a castle, of an entire piece of Ferelden. Such things would prove to be dangerous, given what most people thought about the elves. Especially in Ferelden.
In her time alone whilst Aedan was working with his advisers and dealing with the ever persistent woman named Ysil, she had cleaned the Lord's room. It had been messy from the struggle that took place during the very early stages of the failed invasion. It was hard work, but she wouldn't be sleeping in a bloodied up and broken room. She highly doubted Aedan would either. She was just finishing up the bed when she felt arms wrap around her, catching her off of her guard and making her jump slightly as she looked back at the perpetrator. It was Aedan who had a weak yet somewhat happy smile on his face. He placed a brief kiss upon her cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder, still embracing her as she placed one of her hands over his.
"I'm glad you've decided to stay... I will need someone to help rule with me." He said happily, enjoying the warmth they were sharing with each other.
Iona let out a soft sigh, "You know that I can't... I'm an elf. The repercussions-"
"Repercussions be damned, I care about you Iona. No amount of human politics will change that. I'm sick of your people constantly being considered lesser despite the fact we all bleed the same, and face the same damned threats. Rule with me... and perhaps together we can bring about a new age. An age where your people are not seen as lesser." He interjected in a stern voice, one that sounded as much irritated as it did protective.
"I... I don't know how to rule, but if you will teach me... okay." The rather shy she-elf replied as she bit her lip.
"Of course... in order to learn, one must first experience." Aedan said as he placed his hand on her cheek, turning her head slightly to face him so that he could place a kiss upon her soft and warm lips.
From the tavern the Dark Mother watched the exchange between Aedan and Iona. She frowned and shook her head at the sight and sound. It sickened her greatly to see such things. There was only one person he could ever rule with that she would accept. Herself.
"That's no good, young Cousland." She spoke aloud, not that he would be able to hear her from the shadow realm. "Not only is she right about the human political repercussions, but the repercussions of getting on my bad side. I'd better work fast before I lose you..."
That was the Dark Mother's goal. That was Ysil's goal. To capture Aedan's heart so that together they could rule over the Logosha, and given time, Ferelden. She had witnessed Aedan's tactical mind, his natural power, and his undeniable intelligence. If he had not been in the castle, the outcome of the invasion would have been very different and a lot more people would have died. Though, she had to admit that he had a good taste in who to love. She could sense the elf's legitimacy. 'Iona' truly adored him nearly as much as he adored her. She trusted him, as he did her. She was a weak link. Unlike herself, the Dark Mother, Iona couldn't fight. She couldn't do anything other than be there for when he needed a shoulder to lean on. The elf was pathetic.
The Dark Mother's eyes shot open as she sat cross-legged on her bed. A portal had opened directly in the center of her room and soon a Logosha grunt appeared. It bowed before her briefly, straightening up and looking her in the eyes.
"Dark Mother, the Hierarchs have wished me to bring word to you of the progress at Lothering." It said hastily.
She smiled and nodded at her minion, "Speak."
"The village is in ruins, though the small force that was sent to do so has been wiped out by the Templars and Warden-Commander. Only two Warden recruits remain, the others have been bested in combat." The grunt spoke with a twisted smile on its face.
"Good... tell the High Warchief that I am most pleased, and would like him to gather a force on the shore nearest here. I plan to have the Cousland boy with us within the next few days." She ordered the creature.
The grunt saluted her and gave her a crisp 'Yes, Mother' before heading back through the portal which dispersed peacefully. She knew the group would have to avoid being seen by the patrols. Otherwise a battle would break out and all hopes to get Aedan on her side would fail. That elf girl would get in her way, though. She was a problem that needed to be eliminated in order to further her plans. If only she were a spirit. Possession would have been much easier than assassination. Wait... she had just realized what she was dealing with. Oh yes... humans, creatures of desire. She wouldn't be needing his complete and utter loyalty. Nor would she be needing to rule with him. He could become her pawn, and perhaps even one day he would fall into a position to give her a successor should she die.
'Grunt...' She said to the Logosha messenger she had spoken to just moments before through the connection all Logosha shared with her. '...Disregard my order. Simply tell Gruk that I applaud his work and wish for him to wait for my further command.'