Chapter 139: The Slaver's Path

"Thank you."

Fergus blinked, not that Alim was surprised.

The elven warden shook his head.

He was not someone that offered thanks very often; usually he could find a way out of messes himself. Still, he was not unwilling to give credit where credit was due.

Fergus had likely saves lives today.

Alim would not forget that.

"Think nothing of it, warden," the noble said with a dismissive wave of a hand.

"I would not leave any of our party to die."

Alim nodded.

A good sentiment, but he suspected it was not the only reason for Fergus' timely arrival this day.

There group was still in the Alienage square, checking on the wounded and making sure that no more Tevinters were skulking around, waiting for the defenders to leave.

Kally's cousin Shianni was a force of nature, rallying the other elves to find whatever could be spared to help the injured elves recover from what had just happened. The elves that they had freed from the "quarantine" were also being tended to, but also gently questioned by Alim's allies.

They still had to find out what had happened to the rest of the people taken by these bastards over the last few weeks.

Alim caught Fergus watching Kally; she glanced up and smiled at the noble, though she still seemed a little embarrassed by the state of her home. If Fergus minded, he did not show it, right now, he only had eyes for the blond elf that he had recently begun sharing a bed with.

Alim walked up to him.

"How did you know that we were in trouble? You could not have heard about what was happening that quickly."

Fergus frowned slightly.

"You may not like this," he said, "I know that you don't like it when your orders are disobeyed."

Alim shrugged.

"Given the results, I can't really fault the reinforcements; just tell me, how did you know we needed help?"

The noble sighed.

"I paid Zevran a sovereign to follow you. He came and got me as soon as you entered that place," Fergus said pointing at the orphanage.

Alim's ears twitched with annoyance.

"Didn't Zev consider what you were offering a violation of his oath to me?"

Fergus smiled slightly.

"He said it was a gray area. He swore to be your man, but by following he ensured that you had back-up if you needed it, thus he was still protecting you, and the fact that he profited from that aid did not hurt either. "

Fergus smiled slightly.

"I was not the only one who wished to find out what was going on. Morrigan stood with me, I was a bit surprised by that, but did not deny her help. The witch has her own agendas as we both well know."

The noble shrugged.

"I was not about to deny her when our causes were so aligned."

The warden snorted at that.

Morrigan's involvement did not surprise him. She might have stepped away from her relationship with Alistair, but that did not mean that she had forgotten it entirely. As for Fergus' motivations well…

Alim frowned.

The man did not question orders, not usually, he knew when to step back when someone asked. Of course, he had other motivations now than simply aiding the wardens and seeing the Blight ended.

Personal reasons.

"I suspect that my, not to mention the group's, well-being was not your only motivation in this act Teyrn Cousland?"

Fergus pursed his lips; once again he glanced over at Kally.

"No," the man agreed.

"It was not."

Alim chuckled.

He thought so.

"Kally is not going to be pleased that you had her followed."

Fergus nodded.

"I know," he said, "But at least she is alive to be angry at me."

He shook his head.

"I was unable to save one woman that I loved warden. I will be damned before I lose another when there is at least a chance of keeping her safe."

Alim said nothing, though a hint of a smile did tug at his lips.

Kally would no doubt be both flattered and surprised to hear that Fergus said that he loved her. Such a statement did not come as a surprise to Alim, it was clear that there were sparks between the two, had been since they had pulled Kally out of that cage months ago.

The elf sighed.

He wanted to believe that love could conquer all and all that, but he was too much of a realist. The fact remained that Kally was an elven girl from the Denerim Alienage, and Fergus was likely going to be Teyrn of Highever.

That was a big chasm for any relationship.

Still, he chose to say nothing, he would not deny the two their feelings, not when everything was still up in the air. Besides, he had no room to talk.

He and Leliana were not the most likely couple either.

He gathered the others around. None of them doubted the need to pursue the slavers. A small group would remain behind to make sure that the elves here suffered no retribution from the fleeing Tevinters. The rest of them…would go hunting.

Shianni had spoken to several of the elves living near the quarantine. They admitted to having seen the Tevinters leading groups of people through under the cover of night.

Shianni had glared at the elf who told her that. He looked chagrinned and told her that he had been threatened into silence. If he even thought of saying anything, the Tevinters had said they would take him too.

Alim glared at the man with lightning in his eyes. He would not be able to lie his way out of this.

The warden would know where the Tevinters had gone.

The elf directed the warden and his allies to an old warehouse not far from the Quarantine. The human owner had not been seen for months, and the Tevinters had likely moved in unopposed. Several of the elves who had worked there described a massive open space, a place capable of holding close to a hundred people.

To Alim it sounded like a perfect place to maintain a staging area.

It was there that their group would go first.

He left Theron behind to watch over the rest of the Alienage. Wynne, Zevran, Seri, and Shayle would stay behind as well. The rest of them would pursue the Tevinters and try to save as many of the lost elves as they could, if that was even possible.

Alim's brow furrowed.

He was surprised by the size of the Tevinters operation here. Surely the foreign mages could not have accomplished so much here without help.

The question remained.

Who was behind all of this, and what did they have to gain?

Alim frowned, his ears lowered as his anger grew.

He did not know the answer to those questions, but…

…he intended to find out.

IOI

"HALT!"

Alim chuckled as they came up on the next group of Tevinters. His amusement came from the fact that all the soldiers they bumped into still seemed to believe that they had the upper hand.

The warden smiled.

He was more than happy to prove them wrong.

He raised his hands not in surrender, but as a means of getting closer to this latest group of scum operating within the Denerim Alienage.

The six Tevinters regarded the force behind him. Sten alone would have been enough to discourage most people.

"I don't suppose you gentlemen are interested in surrender?"

The leader of the Tevinters glared at him.

"Who are you people?" he demanded.

"Concerned citizens," the warden answered, "But if you need a name, you can call me the Warden Commander Alim."

The Tevinter's eyes widened.

His name had the desired effect.

"I've…I've heard of you," the soldier stammered in fear,

"Attack," he shouted in a panic, struggling to pull his blade from its sheath.

"ATTACK!"

Alim started to lower his staff, but Morrigan struck first, an arcane bolt blasted the leader in the chest, flinging him hard enough against the wall to break every bone in his body.

Alim blocked an attack from behind; he drew his sword and focused his magic through it. The blade grew hot as lightning was focused through it. He recognized that the weapon was not up to the pressures that he put on such things.

He shook his head again.

He really needed to try to locate Spellbinder. Perhaps after the Landsmeet he would be able to discover what had become of his blade when he had been captured.

The fight was over quickly, again. These Tevinters were clearly not the cream of their military crop.

Morrigan sneered at the body of the fallen leader.

"They are so poorly trained," she said nudging the fallen man's foot with her boot.

"Tis embarrassing."

Sten grunted and stepped forward.

"I have fought the imperium's forces many times," he said shaking his head.

"These are no more than common thugs."

Alim's eyes narrowed.

"They're slavers, Sten," he said checking his sword, "I'm sure they perform great against innocent people who don't know how to fight back."

Alistair glared down at one of the archers he had slain.

"This cannot go on," he said, "What these bastards are doing here…"

Leliana smiled wanly.

"The Maker surely sent us here," she said, "He would not allow such a travesty to continue."

Morrigan rolled her eyes.

"I was just starting to respect you, Leliana," she sighed, "And you had to bring your god back into all this, tis not any god that these men should fear."

The witch smirked at Alim.

"Tis the warden."

Alim shrugged.

Morrigan's support was unnecessary, but that did not mean that he did not accept it.

Sten grunted and looked down at his now clean Qunari blade.

"May we proceed, warden?" he asked, "These bas will not slay themselves after all."

Alim nodded. Sten seemed to be more comfortable now than he had been in the past months. Alim had feared that their little leadership duel had dull the Qunari's resolve.

It seemed that fighting Tevinters was just what the man had needed to get that killer instinct back.

The warden smirked.

Considering what they would face soon enough, he was glad to see it.

"The word is given Sten," he said, then turned to the others.

"Let us end this."

IOI

The Tevinters had been like rodents they soon discovered. They had actually tunneled through several of the buildings here, buildings that were built so close that a person could step from one to the other without any trouble. They had used these new paths as routes to ferry people out of the Denerim Alienage undetected.

It was clever, Alim thought...

…But not clever enough.

As they advanced they continued to encounter resistance. The group needed to shift tactics as the battlefields they found themselves on changed. In the small hallways, the long sword and or shield wielders among them took point, pushing back the Tevinters trying to stop them. In the more open areas Sten, Oghren and Carver went in first their battle ax and great swords cutting a swath through the enemy. Meanwhile he, Jowan and Morrigan stayed back, their more destructive spells were hobbled in such close quarters fighting. The mages needed to restrain themselves less the destruction they cause spread to the rest of the Alienage.

Fireballs were kept to a minimum, for obvious reasons.

None of them wanted to burn down the whole damn Alienage.

Kally and Sten were terrors when it came to dealing with these men. The Qunari had a special dislike for Tevinters in general it seemed, and Kally…well…

She had every reason to be pissed.

He father was not among those they had saved in the Quarantine. The young elf's worry had transformed into fury as she engaged the men who had likely taken him. Only Fergus' presence had kept her calm enough to continue to function as the warden needed her to.

Once again the group crossed over into another building. Alim might have been wrong, but he suspected that they were outside the Alienage now; the building's interior did not seem to have the same…ramshackle look as the ones that held the elves.

They opened the next door and saw a surprising sight…

…An armed elf holding a bow on them.

The girl was raven haired, and clad in fine armor, she was flanked by two more of the Tevinter enforcers they had been tearing through.

She glared at Alim and his allies.

"The Regent will hear of this," she spat.

Alim snorted at her statement.

"Fereldans don't take kindly to slavery," he said, "If anyone should be worried about the authorities, it should be you."

The dark haired elf sneered at him.

"You would be surprised how quickly gold can change people's ideas," she said, "We have received official approval to carry out our business here, and besides…"

The woman's sneer grew.

"What are a few elves to a shemlen ruler?"

The woman's words appalled Kally, she stepped forward, her good eye flashing with hate.

"How can you do this," she spat, "You're an elf like us?"

The Tevinter chuckled.

"Is that supposed to make us kin? I'm a loyal Tevinter and a servant of the Minrathous Circle first."

Kally looked like she was ready to fall upon the Tevinter born elf, and rip her eyes out.

Alim stood between them.

"We've dealt with your kind before, and these two…gentlemen will not stop us."

He glared at the woman; he would be lying if he said he did not share Kally's disdain for her…

…An elf willing to sell her own kind into slavery.

It was abhorrent.

He could have slain her, but that was not necessarily best. He wanted at least a few of these bastards to slink back to Tevinter, let their mage lords know that Ferelden was not easy prey.

A living witness could at times be better than sending back a corpse.

The elf continued to glare at him, but her arrogant eyes moved back and forth among Alim's allies.

She was no fool, this one, he thought.

He was pretty sure he knew what she would do.

She lowered her bow.

"I know when I'm outclassed," she said, as she began to back up.

"I will let Caladrius deal with you. When I return with the Regent's men, you will learn what happens to do-gooders who interfere with our business."

The elf slipped out of a side door, her bodyguards covering her escape.

Alim let her go.

At least that one was out of the way.

Kally glared at him; clearly she would have preferred spilling the Tevinter bitch's blood.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because she gave us interesting information," he responded, "We now know that these men are not here by accident, someone let them in here, and are profiting from it."

"Yeah," Kally growled, "that bastard Loghain."

Alistair gave him a worried look.

"What if she comes back with reinforcements Lim?"

Alim smirked.

"I seriously doubt the "the Regent" wants his soldiers to know that he has been working with slavers. That girl may find out that working with Loghain's men was not the smartest thing she could have done. By going to him for help, she has become a major loose end."

Alim smiled at Kally.

"If there is any justice in this world, it is a loose end that Loghain will simply tie up."

The elven girl smiled.

There were worse things in this world than a simple death.

Alim took a deep breath, and drank deep from a lyrium vial. He felt winded after their battles through this place. Apparently he had not recovered his full stamina yet from his stay in Fort Drakon.

Leliana gave him a worried look, but he did his best to dismiss it with a gentle smile.

He glanced down the corridor, he might have been wrong, but he thought he could hear voices coming from further down.

Perhaps it was even this Caladrius the Tevinter elf had mentioned.

Alistair, Fergus and Kally took point as they made their way down to the next door. There was still no sign of the elves that had been taken.

Alim hoped to find at least some of them still here, but if there weren't any.

His eyes narrowed dangerously, the distant rumble of thunder could be heard overhead.

The warden gripped his weapons tighter.

This Caladrius had a lot to answer for.