Sorry about the wait, but I'm still having to deal with a lot of real life stuff and it is getting in the way of writing. I will be updating as much as I can, but sadly it will still not be every week as I had been hoping. Please forgive me and continue to enjoy. Thanks to all my followers, my beta, and my wife for all your encouragement and support. Y'all are awesome! Let me know what you guys think.
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Damien woke with a start as the dragon's roar echoed in his ears as was the usual now. Out of all the things that he had thought would wake him up in the morning, an archdemon was second to last on his list, just above the queen herself. He groaned as his body complained about rising from the bed as did his mind. As much as he did not want to get up, there things he needed to see to. He turned his feet out of bed and let out a large yawn before standing and starting to get dressed. His ribs were still sore but he could move easily and without much pain. Wynne really did know her stuff when it came to healing and protective magic. Maybe he could get her to enchant everyone's armor... or he could ask Sandal to do it. He still had a hard time believing what a diverse group had gathered around him: a qunari warrior, a mysterious Chantry sister, two dwarven merchants, three Circle mages, an apostate, a city elf accused of murder, a recently orphaned noble, a former templar, an outcast Dalish huntress, and their apostate/ thief leader. Here's hoping that when historians recorded accounts of the Blight, they tell the complete truth, otherwise no one would ever believe it.
"Damien, are you awake?" Morrigan asked opening the door.
"Much to my displeasure," Damien confirmed as he laced up his armor and strapped on his weapons.
"You should rest until you have completely healed," she scolded. Damien shook his head as he lay his hood over his hair and lifted his scarf over his nose and mouth.
"I promise I'll leave the heavy lifting and difficult chores to Alistair," Damien said placing one hand on his chest and lifting the other. Morrigan smirked. She really enjoyed torturing the former templar. Damien couldn't blame her. Before he got to know his fellow Warden, he had kept his distance simply because of the templar ring he wore. Now, it was simply good-natured fun to tease the man, well at least it was for him. Morrigan might have enjoyed it simply because she got to pick on the former templar.
"As you wish," Morrigan replied as Damien held the door open for her.
They made their way down stairs to find Alistair passed out on a table with Alyssa asleep across from him. Lyna sat at the head of the table shoveling scrambled eggs into her mouth hungrily. Damien smiled and waved the innkeeper over. Morrigan made her way out the door leaving the wardens to their meals and conversation.
"I'll take two plates of whatever you have for breakfast," Damien said sitting down at the opposite end of the table from Lyna. He glanced at the other two before leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.
"So, what happened to them?" Damien asked.
"Well, Alistair made the mistake of saying that since he had been a Warden longer, he could hold his liquor better," Lyna explained as she washed down her meal with some water.
"Fantastic. They're going to have such hang overs," Damien said rubbing his head.
"Although, Alyssa did say some interesting things last night," Lyna said setting aside her dishes. Damien could see there was something behind the young elf's eyes when she said it. There was something bothering her about whatever it was that Alyssa had said.
"Let me guess. She thought Alistair was cute or something? She was drunk. Horrible taste but drunkenness can cloud anyone's vision," Damien said as the innkeeper set two full plates of eggs, toast, sausage and ham. Damien's eyes widened as his stomach roared with anticipation.
"Not far off actually. Tell me, Commander. You said that we would travel after this Blight is over. To go and find my clan, but what then? Do you have plans for after that?" Lyna asked.
"Of course. I may not be a Commander after the Blight, but I'm still a Warden. I think traveling across Thedas looking for recruits would suit me just fine," Damien said making a tall sandwich out of the entire plate of food between two pieces of toast.
"No thoughts of settling down and having a family?" she asked.
"Not really. I mean, compared to most men of marrying age, I'm old. Probably close to ten years older. Besides, if I do survive this Blight, and I'm not certain I will, I'm only going to have a couple decades left before the taint kills me. I really don't want to father a child and leave them alone when I die. That's not fair to them or the woman who bore them," Damien said taking a bit of his meal. He had not thought about having a family before, but he did not want to leave a child without their parent like he had been. Besides, who would even want to have a child with a man who had spent his youth living on the streets and stealing to survive.
"I guess that makes sense. But you should really consider staying the Commander. I mean, Duncan did a lot of traveling and recruiting himself so that would not limit you," Lyna suggested and Damien chowed down on his meal. The youth looked up at his companion and swallowed down his food.
"Could you really see me commanding the Grey Wardens of Fereldan. I mean, I'm a thief and an apostate. You can't get much worse as far as a moral background goes. Someone who started out as a knight or a noble would probably be better," Damien responded.
"At least think about it. I know of at least three Wardens who would follow you to the depths of Hell if you asked," Lyna said standing and heading for the door.
"Considering all the things that are going wrong around us, I'm pretty sure I've already led you there," Damien said as she walked past him.
"And here we all are, still following you, proudly," the elf said before slipping out the door.
Damien sighed as he finished off his first plate of food. If there was one thing he knew for sure, the rumors about the Grey Wardens' appetites were completely true. He used to be able to last nearly three weeks without food as long as he had water, but now he ate three large meals everyday and normally still felt hungry afterward. A full stomach did feel amazing but but he was concerned about the effect that this new development would have on him in the future. If they ever ended up without supplies, would he starve faster than he use to or could he go for two or even three weeks without substantial amounts of food? It worried him.
Finishing off his breakfast, he made his way over to the bar and motioned for the innkeeper to come closer.
"Those two at the table will need a big breakfast like I did. If they don't wake up in the next hour or two, would you mind rousing them and giving them their food?" Damien asked sliding a silver across the bar.
"I certainly can," the man said accepting the money and nodding.
"I appreciate it," Damien responded as he made his way out the door.
He found a small clearing near the ruins of an old aqueduct that had once run all the way out to the Circle Tower and drew his daggers. As much as he knew he needed his rest, he could not allow himself to lose his flexibility or his speed. Even if the pain stuck around for longer, he needed to train and improve his skills. The fact that Lyna had to save him in the tower and that he only beat Uldred by severely injuring himself only proved how much he needed to improve. If they ran into seasoned troops loyal to Loghain or a large band of darkspawn, he would need to be able to hold his own. As much as he did rely on everyone in the group to fight together, he needed to make sure that he could hold his own in a fight just in case he ever needed to save the group.
He twirled the daggers around his body and he closed his eyes. He tried to picture himself as an opponent. He assumed that if he trained while picturing the act of fighting himself, he could improve both his defensive abilities as well as his attacks and counters.
He spent most of the morning practicing the motions repetitively until he could use any combination of blocking, countering, striking, and dodging in perfect rhythm. He needed his muscles to remember the motions so he could react faster. This way his muscles would know what to do and he could hone his skills and fine tune his fighting style and combine it with his magic. He had to ignore the pain in his side with each movement. Sweat rolled down his face as his breath stung his throat. He would need more practice against living opponents. Kallian would be a good sparring partner for fighting someone like him, but he would need to spar with several of his comrades if he wanted to improve his abilities against any opponent. Besides, once he had mastered the basics of fighting one on one, then he would need to learn to fight better against a group. Maker knew he would most likely end up in that kind of situation before the end of the Blight.
"Training when injured is admirable," Sten said stepping into Damien's training space with his arms crossed.
"Maybe a little stupid too, but I have to improve. I know my abilities are not good enough to inspire an army yet. The better I am, the more soldiers will want to follow me, right?" Damien asked sheathing his weapons and wiping his face with his sleeve.
"Soldiers follow out of loyalty and obligation. To lead an army, one must know your role in the world as the qunari do," Sten stated.
"I've heard of the Qun before. You're not trying to convert me are you Sten?" Damien said lowering his scarf and loosening it so he could allow some cooler air to grace his neck and face.
"All must submit to the Qun," Sten replied stoically.
"You know that not all will. No one but me decides my destiny. I have that right and so do you. You choose to follow the Qun and I accept that, but don't try to force those ideals on others. Wouldn't the Qun benefit from having only willing members follow it?" Damien asked.
"The Qun is more than that. It is order to the chaos that envelops this world," Sten responded. Damien sighed and sat down with his back against the ruins wall. He could see the lake as well as several trails through the trees and brush headed toward the banks.
He stood suddenly and drew his weapons with his eyes fixed on the woods beyond. He could sense the eyes of something on him and the twinge in his blood told him all he needed to know. The foe he was about to face were darkspawn. No doubt about it.
"Sten, call Leliana, Neria, and Daylen over here now. I looks like we're going to have some unwanted company," Damien said keeping his gaze on the woods.
"Very well," Sten said. There was something about the way that he said it that made Damien uneasy. A sorrowful feeling threaded its way through the qunari's voice. Damien wanted to ask about it, but he was more worried about the darkspawn coming so close to the tavern. Were they coming for him and the other wardens or was this just a scouting group?
Damien waited only for a moment before starting his advance on the trees. He knew he needed to wait for the others to join him but his curiosity was getting the better of him. Could he tune his senses with the taint like training his muscles? Could he figure out what kind of darkspawn and how many they were facing by the feelings that ran through his blood?
The feeling grew stronger as he took cover at the tree line. If he could just get a view of what they were up against, then he might be able to start training himself to recognize the different warnings his blood could give him.
The sound of creatures moving among the branches caught his ears as his eyes darted from spot to spot. He just needed something to give away their position. A branch moving or a bush rustling, something to tell him where they were.
His blood screamed louder and louder as the darkspawn grew ever closer. He had to figure out where they were and how many they had before his comrades arrived. Maybe if he gave them a sound to react to, but then that would give away his position.
"Damien! Where are you?" someone shouted from behind him. He glanced back to see Leliana cresting the hill. He had the distraction he needed to attract his prey and turned his attention back to the woods. He spotted a bush move as several genlocks and hurlocks led by an alpha hurlock came stomping through the brush, over a dozen of them.
"Commander!" Daylen called. Damien had to wait. If he answered now, the darkspawn would turn and confront him while he was alone. But, could he really let his comrades get attacked without any warning? None of them were wardens, they would not know the darkspawn were there until they got closer. No choice, he had to move now and get between his comrades and the darkspawn.
Damien burst from the treeline and sprinted straight for the darkspawns' path. If his assessment was right he would collide with the second hurlock in line. With his speed, he should be able to get back on his feet giving everyone else the chance to flank the entire group.
Raising his daggers, Damien watched the beasts emerge from the treeline and start to pick up speed, but Damien was already on top of them. His blades ripped through the throat of the hurlock and spun around driving his daggers through the back of a genlock's neck, separating the beast's head from his shoulder. As he tried to turn to reengage his enemy, he lost his footing and fell. Sliding into a jumble of thorny bushes, Damien lifted his arms in a desperate attempt to shield his face and eyes as the plant's barbs ripped into his clothes and flesh.
He tried to jump back to his feet again, but he was too tangled in the thorny branches to move. Like a snake constricting around his arms and legs, the thorn bushes held him still as if waiting for the darkspawn to finish him.
"Commander!" Daylen shouted a massive fire ball roared past Damien and collided with a genlock. The force threw the creature backward slamming it into a tree. Damien could hear the bones in the beast's back breaking against the tree trunk as dark, tainted blood erupted from its mouth.
"Daylen, fire wall! Leliana, cover me while I cut myself free. Sten, engage them. Neria, support us as best you can with your healing spells," Damien ordered doing his best to cut the thorns off of himself.
Daylen's spell erupted in front of him creating a blazing barrier between him and the darkspawn as he cut the thorns away from his armor and clothes.
"How deep are the cuts?" Neria asked as she cast a spell on Daylen. As she did, Daylen's fire wall seemed to grow hotter and taller. It must have been a magic restoring spell, or some kind of magical transfer between the two.
"I'll live. Nothing I haven't dealt with before," Damien answered pulling himself free of the brushes. "Daylen, dispell the fire wall!" The flames died down leaving only embers and ash in their wake almost immediately as Damien rejoined the battle.
He crossed his blades in front of him, using both his arms to block the alpha's battleaxe. The strike would probably have cleaved him in half if it had connected, however the vibration it sent through his hands and up his arms nearly knocked his blades out of reach. Damien staggered backward and sheathed one of his blades. He would have to keep his distance and use his throwing knives along with his agility to take down this opponent.
The alpha roared and tried to cut him down again, but Damien jumped back and threw a knife at the beast's hand. If he could cut off a few fingers, the darkspawn's grip would be looser and he might be able to disarm and kill it. The knife connected but it hit the beast's forearm rather than its hand.
"Damn it," Damien cursed drawing another knife. He kept moving keeping an eye on the darkspawn's feet and how much weight it was placing on each. Its arms gave away the timing of the next strike and the weight in the feet gave away which direction it would come from. Come on, Damien. Keep up with the movements. He could not afford to be distracted, but he couldn't ignore the rest of the fight either.
Suddenly, a shield blocked the next attack in front of him as Alistair leaped in front of him. The warden had his sword drawn and was quickly joined by Alyssa. Glancing back at the hill, Lyna and Morrigan were launching arrows and spells into the fray as well.
"You really didn't have to hog all the fun," Alistair joked using his shield to push the alpha back as Alyssa took over the fight.
"You know me, I have to get my exercise," Damien responded throwing the knife he had in hand into the back of a hurlock that was approaching Sten from behind. "Guard Sten's back. I'll cover Alyssa."
Alistair nodded quickly before sprinting across the battleground to Sten. Damien nodded and charged forward. He launched himself forward at full speed planting the heels of his boots into the alpha's chest. The blow knocked the creature off balance giving Alyssa enough time to sever the beast's head.
The last darkspawn fell only a few minutes after the battle had started and Damien's comrades quickly began searching them for anything useful. Darkspawn weapons fetched fair prices in villages and towns like Redcliffe. Some blacksmiths would even melt down darkspawn weapons and reforge them into arrowheads and blades to help fight the monsters.
"Familiar," Sten said using his foot to roll one of the fallen beast over.
"What do you mean?" Damien asked as he checked the thorn scraps on his arms.
"I have fought darkspawn here before," Sten said pointing to an area up the hill toward the Imperial Highway.
"When? It can't have been that long ago," Damien said rolling down his torn sleeves.
"I camped along the shore with my comrades. The darkspawn attacked from below. MY companions were cut down and I was wounded. In the midst of battle, I even dropped my sword," Sten said clenching his fist.
"Was that sword special to you?" Damien asked. The look in the qunari's eyes told him that there was something about the sword that was irreplaceable, but why?
"For the qunari, a warrior's soul rests in their blade. To replace my sword would be like replacing my arm or heart," Sten explained.
"Then we'll try and find it. You're stoic enough as it is," Damien said smiling and patting the qunari on the back.
"You would do that?" Sten asked.
"Of course. You're part of my team. I need you at your best," Damien responded.
"What in Andraste's name were you thinking?" Alistair snapped shoving Damien. Damien smiled and shoved him back.
"I was thinking there were darkspawn and I needed to kill them. Unless I'm missing something, I'm pretty sure that's my job," Damien retorted grinning from ear to ear.
"I meant, what were you doing in the thorn bushes. We don't have a spare tunic in your size," Alistair scolded.
"Oh shut up. You sound like a mother hen," Damien teased, checking his scarf to make sure the thorns had not damaged it.
Alistair laughed flapping his arms like a angry chicken before giving Damien a firm kick in the rear. "Next time, call us too. We've got each others backs, remember?"
Damien nodded and put his arm around his comrade as they made their way back over to help with the search through the enemy dead. The young commander couldn't believe how close he was getting with them and not just his fellow wardens. The others in the group were starting to feel like friends instead of comrades in arms too. He couldn't help it as a genuine smile split his lips. Maybe this rag-tag group of misfits would be his home and his family? His hand caught hold of the pendant around his neck. These people with him would never replace Lockey, Henness, and Griggs, but they were making it easier to move on and be happy with his life, even if they were in the middle a civil war and a Blight.