So this chapter is a little non-cannon fun as well as the joining. I looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks. Leave me a review and let me know. Big thank you to my beta and thanks to everyone who is reading. Enjoy!
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Duncan sat next to Damien as the youth nibbled on a roasted rabbit leg. Damien almost laughed when he heard Duncan's belly rumble. The Warden Commander had already finished off a full pheasant and two bowls of stew. How could the man still be hungry? Damien smirked and handed what was left to the man.
"Are you sure?" Duncan asked accepting the half eaten leg.
"I'm use to eating very little. Three squares a day is a bit much for me," Damien confessed licking his fingers and wiping his hands on his britches.
"That will change," Alistair stated sitting down across the fire from them.
"I've heard stories about Wardens, but I thought they were just stories," Damien said, breaking a small piece off of a loaf of bread before tossing it over the fire to Alistair.
"After the Joining, I'm sure you will understand," Duncan said finishing off the rabbit and tossing the bone in the fire.
Damien nodded and looked blankly into the fire. The joining ritual became more and more mysterious by the second. Why did they need darkspawn blood? Duncan had said that the circle was preparing for the ritual but what did that mean. Was there magic involved in the joining?
"Damien, are you still with us?" Duncan asked as his hand woke Damien from his thoughts with a strong pat on his shoulder.
"What? Oh, sorry. Just lost in thought," Damien stated looking around. Alyssa and Lyna had joined them for the meal and Daveth was taking his seat as well. Jory appeared to be on the way.
"What's on your mind?" Alistair asked, dipping some of his bread in what appeared to be his second bowl of stew.
"The joining. Why wait? Shouldn't we go ahead with it?" Damien asked.
"Trust me. It's worth waiting until long after dinner," Alistair said finishing off his stew.
"I have to agree with Damien. Why wait? If the battle is coming tomorrow, shouldn't we do everything we can to be prepared as quickly as possible?" Alyssa asked.
"Yes, but there are still some preparations that must be finished before we can proceed. I assure all of you I want to finish the ritual as quickly as possible. We will need every Grey Warden we can get," Duncan stated.
"Then as soon as those preparations are finished, I say we get it done," Damien said. He looked around the group. All the recruits were nodding their agreement, even Jory.
"Very well. I will check on the preparations then meet all of you in the old temple. Steel yourselves. Those who survive the joining pay a heavy price," Duncan stated. He stood slowly and nodded to Damien before making his way toward the Circle of Magi camp.
"So, are we taking bets on what this ritual is?" Daveth asked with a mouthful of bread. Damien smirked and shook his head.
"I just want to know, why all these damned tests? Have we not earned our place?" Jory asked.
"Says the coward who would rather run from a darkspawn than face them," Lyna snapped, taking a long drink from her mug.
"Lyna, come on. The Wilds was the first time any of us faced a darkspawn. We were all a little scared," Damien said, looking over at the knight. As much as he agreed with Lyna's statement, it would not do them any good to cause rifts in the group. Jory might be the man at their back in the upcoming battle. He would rather have the man stay out of loyalty to the order rather than honor for himself.
"Maybe for you, shem. But I have faced darkspawn before. It's the only reason I am here," Lyna confessed wiping her hands off and setting her food aside.
"What do you mean?" Alyssa asked.
"My clan was camped in the forests south of Denerim. A fellow hunter and I were sent to scout the surrounding area when we found a cave. Inside was an ancient mirror. I don't remember what happened next, but I woke back in my camp very ill and Tamlen was nowhere to be found. When I went back to the cave with a few others, there were darkspawn everywhere. We killed as many of them as we could…" Lyna's voice trailed off as the memories drove her to tears. Alyssa slid down next to her and put her arm around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry," Damien said shortly.
"A warden named Blackwall was in the cave and told me that I was sick with the taint and if I wanted to survive, I needed to head south…here and tell the wardens he had sent me. I wanted to stay but the keeper made me leave. She said she would rather see me leave than die slowly of the taint," Lyna explained.
"So, the wardens have a cure for you?" Daveth asked.
"Something like that," Lyna answered.
"Whatever the situation, we are lucky to have you with us, Lyna. I have never seen anyone shoot the way you do. I assume you were taught by one of your clan?" Damien asked.
"Yes, I was. And you? Who taught you how to use your magic?" Lyna asked.
All eyes turned to Damien as he took a swig of water from his canteen. He sighed using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth before leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
"I learned on my own, just like everything else in my life," Damien said folding his hands.
"Were you not afraid of demons?" Alistair asked.
"I saw plenty in my dreams, but I never spoke to any. I just ran. I heard of abominations and the like before but they were just words. Templars, however, were a very real threat," Damien answered, nodding toward Alistair.
"Templars are there to protect people from magic," Jory butted in.
"Templars kill mages that don't fall in line and obey. I was not going to let that happen to me, so I stayed away from them and kept my magic a secret from everyone." Damien's hand found the wooden pendant around his neck and gripped it tight. "Even from my friends."
"I'm sorry, Damien. That must have been hard, hiding that part of yourself all this time," Alistair said taking a drink from his mug.
"At least now I can fight with my full ability and not worry about Templars," Damien said smirking.
"You should have seen him back in the old days. He could steal anything from anywhere," Daveth said ripping into another piece of bread.
"There is one thing that I couldn't steal," Damien said, throwing a rag at his friend. "I could never find you any manners." The group laughed as Daveth caught the rag and dabbed his lips with it delicately, exaggerating the motions of proper table manners.
"You won't find any with the wardens either," Alistair added. "Most of us were raised by dogs."
"That does explain the smell," Alyssa piped up.
"No that's just Alistair. He hasn't figured out he doesn't have to lick himself clean anymore," Damien joked. Alistair smiled before throwing his head back and howling like a mabari. Damien smiled as the group continued to laugh and joke with each other. Maybe this could be his new family. They were not better than Lockey, Heness, or Griggs by any means, just different. He could see himself feeling at home with these people. A brother among the ranks of the Grey Wardens.
000
The old temple loomed over them like ancient bones protruding from the ground below. Damien could hear his fellow recruits shivering in their armor against the chilly, night air as Damien sat on a ledge that had once been a window. Beneath his thick cloak and armor he was quite warm. He had endured colder nights with much less to cover him before.
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," Jory whined.
"Are you blubbering again?" Daveth teased.
"Look, my wife is in Highever with a child on the way. If I had known about all of this… It just doesn't seem fair," Jory said hanging his head.
"Makers blood, pull you head out of your arse, Jory. The Wardens do what must be done to end the Blight. That is your only duty now. Protect that pretty wife and child of yours from the darkspawn," Daveth snapped.
"Daveth, calm down," Damien said hopping down from his seat. "You too, Jory. We are all here to become Wardens. You knew what this was when you agreed to come." Damien felt a cold feeling on the back of his neck and turned to see Duncan approaching with a silver chalice. There was something very dark about it, something bordering on evil.
"At last we come to the joining. The Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity stood on the brink of annihilation. So it was when the first Wardens drank of darkspawn blood and mastered the taint," Duncan said, setting the chalice down on the table and turning to face the recruits.
"We're going to drink the blood of those… those creatures," Jory said, taking a step back.
"It makes sense. Same way assassins take poisons to build their immunity," Alyssa said rubbing her hands together.
"As the first Wardens did before us, and as we did before you. This is the source of our power and our victory," Duncan explained.
"Those who survive the joining become immune to the taint. We can sense it in the darkspawn and use it to slay the archdemon," Alistair explained. Damien crossed his arms as he listened. This was definitely more than what he signed up for, but he had come this far. There was no turning back now.
"If this is what needs to be done to become a Warden," Damien said stepping forward. "Then I volunteer to go first."
"Very well. We speak only a few words before the ritual. Alistair, if you would," Duncan said bowing his head. Damien followed suit sending up a short prayer to Andraste to forgive him to taking in such a darkness.
"Join us brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And one day, we will join you," Alistair recited reverently. Damien let out a sigh and turned to face Duncan.
"You are called to submit yourself to the taint. From this moment on, you are a Grey Warden," Duncan said handing Damien the chalice. Damien looked down into the dark burgundy liquid in the goblet. The smell filled his nostrils with a putrid scent Damien could only describe as death personified. The dark feeling swelled around him as he lifted the chalice to his lips. The metal touched his lips, frigid against his skin as he drew in a small mouthful of the blood. The taste infected his mouth with a rotting, coppery taste. He never knew anything could taste so horrible, and he had eaten three week old rotten vegetables before. Forcing himself to swallow the thick liquid, he could feel his throat fighting to keep the blood from entering his stomach, but he swallowed hard again. He could feel the taint surging through his body. Every vein, every artery, every muscle chilled and frozen at its touch before suddenly becoming burning hot. His vision failed him drowning him in darkness as he felt himself fall to the ground. Above him, materializing out of the darkness was a giant yellow and white eye surrounded by purple and black scales. The roar deafened him but there was something else hidden within the roar; a whisper that called out to him and twisted into his very bones. He couldn't understand what it said, but he knew he had to wake up. He had to get away from this demon.
Damien let out a slow breath as his eyes opened to the starlit sky above him. He could feel a definite difference in himself. The taint did not feel good or bad, just different. Like he was wearing a new set of clothing. It was still his and fit well, but did not feel quite right. He sighed and sat up. He smiled relieved that he was at least still alive. Judging from what Alistair and Duncan had said, he was lucky to even be breathing.
"It is over. Welcome brother," Duncan said stepping to his side and helping him to his feet.
"That was…" Damien started by his mouth was so dry his voice cracked and faded before he could finish. Alistair offered him a canteen and took several long drinks from it. He let out a breath before attempting to speak again. "Nothing you said prepared me for that."
"Such is the price to become a Grey Warden," Duncan said patting Damien on the back. The commander took the canteen and made his way over to Lyna as she sat up.
Damien looked around the temple and found only Lyna and himself were awake. Alyssa still lay still on the floor, but still breathed judging from the steam rising from her lips. On the other side of the temple, he spotted two wrapped forms. He looked over at Alistair as he made his way over.
He opened the first and found Jory staring up at him with cold empty eyes. Damien shook his head as he covered the knight once more. He turned to the second form and uncovered Daveth's pale face. The thief's eyes were closed and dark blood stained his lips as black veins drew a web across his skin. Damien sighed and placed his hand on his old friend's chest.
"I will remember you," Damien said. He covered Daveth up once more before turning back to the knight. Jory's face was clear of the black veins that had adorned Daveth. Why were their deaths different?
"Jory, refused to drink after Daveth died," Alistair said placing a hand on Damien's shoulder.
"So he was killed? To keep this precious secret?" Damien asked.
"He drew his blade and tried to run. Duncan had no choice," Alistair said sadly. "In my joining, only one of us died, but it was still horrible. I'm glad you three made it."
Damien secured the cover over Jory's face once more before standing and facing Alistair. "They should get a funeral with full honors," Damien said looking back at Daveth's body.
"They will," Alistair said placing his hand on Damien's shoulder.
Damien nodded and stepped past Alistair. He approached Alyssa just as her eyes fluttered open. Damien knelt next to her.
"Quite a ride, right?" Damien said as Alistair handed him a canteen for her.
"The dream… it seemed so real," Alyssa said, accepting the canteen and taking several large swallows of the cool water within.
"All will be explained in time, but for now, retire to your tents and get some rest. I will wake you in the morning. You will need your rest for the coming battle," Duncan said helping Lyna to her feet.
Damien nodded as he helped Alyssa to her feet as well. The three new wardens gave their fallen comrades one last look before taking their leave and returning to their tents.