Chapter Seven, I try to make up for not having a joke title in the last chapter by making a larger chapter…
I don't have a beta so this is bound to have several grammatical screw-ups, maybe Grammarly will hopefully rectify this.
Also, I like to do the swearing of words.
There's an actual authors note at the end of the chapter to explain some things.
Duncan turned to the group of men as they approached him, "So you return from the wilds, Have you been successful?"
Alims made his eyes widen in an overdramatic show of fear as he rapidly patted down the many pockets that where stitched into his robes, "I knew I was forgetting something." He said sheepishly.
The four men didn't laugh as they stared at the elf. "Yeah, we have them." Alim sighed in defeat pulling the vials from his bag.
Duncan nodded. "Good, I've had the circle mages preparing, with the blood you've retrieved we can begin the joining."
Alim turned to Alistair and asked the only other person who would likely end up surviving the next forty-eight hours. "Should we bring up the sneaky witch thief?"
Alistar rolled his eyes, "There was a woman at the tower, and her mother had the scrolls," He paused to gather his thoughts, "They were both very… odd."
"Where they wilder folk?" The senior Warden asked with a raised brow.
Alistair shrugged "I don't think so, they might be apostates"
Duncan frowned, "I know you were once a templar Alistar, but Chantry business is not ours. We have the scrolls, let us focus on the joining."
"I'm ready when everyone else is." Alim said nonchalantly, as if he wasn't about to risk his life.
Duncan gave a small smile, "Excellent, you will need that courage to face what comes next."
"Courage?" Daveth asked voice dripping in worry, "How much Danger are we in?"
"I will not lie," Duncan said sadly, "We grey wardens pay a heavy price to become what we are"
'Possibly dying from Darkspawn blood, Any fight with Darkspawn, The whole Archdemon bullshit that I'll ignore, the whole 'not supposed to have political power' shit that I'll also ignore, fertility I think…' Alim continued on with various other things that Grey Wardens had to give up.
"Fate may decree that you pay your price now rather than later." Duncan said gravely.
Alim pretended to be worried, "Is that the reason the joining is so secret?"
"If only such secrecy were unnecessary and all understood the necessity of such sacrifice," Duncan said in an almost mournful tone,"Sadly that will never be so."
'And yet were having this conversation in the middle of a busy camp' Alim mentally snarked.
"Let's go then," Daveth said nervously, "I'm anxious to see this joining now."
"I agree, let's have it done." Jory nodded.
"Then let us begin." Duncan said with a small smile before turning to Alistar, "Alistair, take them to the old temple"
As the group of four briskly strolled through the camp Alim poked Jory in the side, earning the balding man's attention.
"Just a new kinda bear." The young elf said, trying to reassure the man. Jory's brows narrowed in confusion for a moment before realization dawned on his face.
The man nodded, and set his face into a look of grim determination.
'Oh yeah, "Had the Mages preparing" my ass.' Alim griped mentally after the four men had been standing in the crumbling remains of some temple for twenty or so minutes.
"The more I hear about this joining, the less I like it." Jory said as his confidence waned as they waited for Duncan.
"Are you blubbering again." Daveth said frustratedly.
Jory sneared, "Why all these damn tests, have I not earned my place?"
"Maybe it's tradition," Daveth sneared, "Maybe they're just trying to annoy you?"
Alim sighed, "Both of you, calm your tits. These guys are a legendary group, of course they're going to be a bit choosy."
"I only know that my wife is in highever with a child on the way, if they had warned me…" Jory paused, "It just doesn't seem fair."
"Would you have come if they'd warned you?" Daveth pointed out, logically "Maybe that's why they don't. The wardens do what they must right?"
"Including sacrificing us?" Jory indignantly asked.
"I'd Sacrifice a lot more if I knew it would end the blight." Daveth said solemnly.
"I have to agree with Daveth, Jory." Alim chimed, "The Wardens seem to place a big emphasis on sacrifice, maybe they will only let those in who are willing to do so?"
"You saw those darkspawn tonight, wouldn't you die to protect your pretty wife from them?" Daveth pointed out.
"I ehm…" Jory stuttered, scrambling for words.
"Maybe you'll die tonight, Maybe we'll all die, If nobody stops the darkspawn we'll die for sure." Daveth said wisely.
"I just never faced a foe I could not engage with my blade." Jory said nervously.
"At last we come to the joining," Duncan said while he walked past the group, Alim moved next to Jory and tried to silently reassure the man.
"The Grey Wardens were founded during the first blight, when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation." Duncan continued focussed on the task before him, stopping before a stone table, "So it was that the first Grey Wardens drank of Darkspawn blood and mastered their taint."
"were going to drink the blood… of those creatures?" Jory asked turning a little green around the collar.
Duncan looked at the man solemnly, "As the first Grey Wardens did before us, as we did before you. This is the source of our power and our victory."
"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 added on.
"Sounds like there's something to be gained here, lets get on with it then" Alim said, still trying to reassure Jory.
'I swear to god if you pussy out and die I'm going to be pissed.' Alim thought to himself.
"We speak only a few words prior to the joining, but these words have been said since the first." Duncan said with a deep breath "Alistair if you would."
Alistair took a deep breath, "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 parish," Alim caught Jory's eye and tried to silently reassure him, "know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten and that one day… we shall join you."
'God that was too fuckin serious.'
"Daveth, step forward." Duncan commanded, handing the cup to the thief who took a gulp of the tainted blood within.
As soon as the cup had left his hands he started to choke, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell to the ground convulsing.
"Makers Breath!" Jory cried as he took a step back, Alim placed a firm hand on the taller mans shoulder to off some sense of comfort. Alim started focusing his magic for a back-up plan.
"I am sorry Daveth." Duncan said as David's dying gasps slowly faded. "Step forward Jory."
Jory looked at the darker man in fear. "But I have a wife," He tried to object, reaching for his sword.
He soon found he couldn't.
Alim stepped in front of the paralyzed man as leftover mana faded from his fingers, "Jory, calm the fuck down."
Jory tried to speak but found he couldn't, "You were about to make a terrible decision," Alim said, Jory glared at the man.
"Oh, cut the bullshit." Alim returned the glare, "I know for a fact that their a chance that we can survive drinking that blood, whereas if you try to fight your way out of here you'll leave your pretty wife all alone to raise you kid."
Realization dawned in Jory's eyes, though fear was still the dominant emotion.
Alim sighed, "Alright, just to prove to you how confident I am in my survival, I'll drink the blood."
Alim turned to Duncan who had been watching the events unfold, "That is okay, right?" The older man nodded.
"The spell should wear off in a few minutes, or when I die." Alim said motioning for Duncan to bring him the blood cup, "Whichever comes first."
'Over the gums and all that junk.' Alim thought as he tipped the contents of the goblet into his mouth.
The moment the cup left his hand, a migraine like none Alim had ever experienced before pierced his skull with a constant soft whispering of dark things echoing through his mind.
Alim felt some type of power course through his veins as his eyes clouded white, Visions of a fierce dragon covered in rotten scarred flesh entered his head with the soft enjambment of a corrupted melody screeched at him from beyond the fringes of his perception, sung by countless tainted souls.
Luckily the vision soon faded as he found himself on his back staring up at the night sky and two very concerned human faces.
"It is finished, Welcome." Duncan said in a neutral tone.
"Where's Jory," Alim asked looking around the old ruins. He didn't have long to wonder as he spotted the man face down, thankfully not in a pool of his own blood.
Alistair frowned at the look on Alims face, "Two more deaths, In my joining only one of us died. But it was… horrible, I'm glad at least one of you made it through."
Duncan helped the young elf on to his feet, "How do you feel?"
"That was a pain in the ass." Alim said, more than a little pissed off that his investment into Jory didn't work out. The elf made a mental note to look into his wife and child when the blight blew over.
"Did you have dreams?" Alistair asked, "I had terrible dreams after my joining."
"Such dreams come when you begin to sense the darkspawn as we all do," Duncan offered "that and many other things can be explained in the months to come."
Alistair looked up after a moment, "Before I forget, there is one last part to your joining, we take some of that blood and put in a pendant, something to remind us of those who didn't make it this far."
The blond moved off to fill the pendant as Duncan moved over to Alim and placed a hand on the brunettes shoulder, "Take some time, when your ready I'd like you to accompany me to a meeting with the king."
Alim rubbed a hand over his face as he stared at the pendant Alistair placed in his hand, "Alright, I'll be down their in a moment." He said weakly, both from emotion and physical strain.
Duncan nodded sympathetically, "The meeting is to the west, down the stairs. Please attend as soon as your able."
Alim sat on a fallen pillar as he turned his senses to his body. He noticed a soft hum seemed to resonate in just beyond his hearing, and a soft flow of burning muck in his veins. If he were to hazard a guess it was probably the taint.
Again the elf sighed rolling the pendant roll in his fingers, he really felt bad about Jory's and, to an extent, Daveth's fates but there was little he could do about it now, and he had done his best at the time.
'At least Jory died honorably' Alim thought bitterly as he placed the pendant around his neck. The elf rose from his seat and activate his Stone Armor and Spell Wisp spells, taking some modicum of pride in noticing that they caused him significantly less strain to maintain. The elf looked at both mens corpses, and grabbed Jory's greatsword.
'Add this to the list of shit I need to do.' Alim thought as he wrapped the blade, a gift to give to the mans wife assuming she survived the blight.
"Loghain, my decision is final, I will stand by the Grey Wardens in this assault," Alim heard the King declared as the young elf approached the war table.
Loghain's frown deepened, "You risk too much Kalin, the darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing hero on the frontlines!"
"If that's the case, perhaps we should wait for the Orlesian forces to join us after all" Cahlin shot back.
Loghain looked like he was about to have a stroke, "I must repeat my protest to your fool notion that we need the Orlesians to defend ourselves." He growled through clenched teeth.
King Cahlin looked genuinely angry now, "It is not a fool notion, Our arguments with the Orlesians are a thing of the past and you will remember who is king."
Loghain's eyes darkened. "How fortunate Marik did not live to see his son ready to hand Ferelden over to those who enslaved us for a century."
'Oh so this is the moment Loghain decided to revolt.' Alim thought to himself.
Cahlin smirked, "Then our current forces will have to suffice, won't they?" The King turned to the local leading Grey Warden "Duncan, are your men ready for battle?"
"They are your majesty." Duncan confirmed with a bow of his head.
King Cahlin turned to the young elf "And this is the recruit I met earlier on the road, I understand congratulations are in order." He said with a smile.
Alim gave a bow to the dead man walking, "Many thanks, your majesty." He said in a false grateful tone.
King Cahlin smiled harder, "Every free Warden is needed now, you should be honored to join their ranks."
'More like lucky to join their ranks' Alim thought snarkily to himself, 'wait, that still doesn't work.'
"Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing Cahlin, we must attend to reality." Loghain said in a tone that totally didn't foreshadow any betrayal or plans of usurpation.
'The only reason you're able to get away with being that ominous is because everyone here is an idiot, except for me, and your history. But you are right sadly.' Alim thought as he glanced at Loghain from the corner of his eye.
King Cahlin sighed at the older mans borderline threat, "Fine, speak your strategy." He leaned over the table, "The Grey Wardens and I draw the darkspawn into charging out lines and then?"
Loghain joined the king in leaning over the table, "You will alert the tower to light the beacon, signaling my men to charge-"
"To flank the Darkspawn, I remember." The King interrupted, causing a vein to pulse angrily on Loghain's wrinkled brow, "This is the Tower of Azshara in the ruins, yes?"
"Well who should light this beacon?" The King asked looking up from the map to the older man.
"I have a few men stationed there, it's not a dangerous task but it is vital." Loghain said in a strained tone.
King Cahlin leaned back from the table and looked to Duncan, "Then we should send our best, Send Alistair and the new Grey Warden to make sure it's done."
"Alright." Alim said, only half paying attention.
"See, glory for everyone!" Cahlin said turning to Loghain, like a kid seeking approval of an un-attentive parent.
Loghain sighed again. "You rely on these Grey Wardens too much, is that truly wise?"
King Cahlin frowned as they returned to the topic, "Enough of your conspiracy theories Loghain, Grey Wardens battle the blight no matter where they're from." He said matter of factly, as if Wardens themselves where free of corruption.
"Your majesty, you should consider the possibility of the Archdemon appearing." Duncan interjected.
"There have been no signs of any dragons in the wilds" Loghain declared glaring at the Grey Warden.
"Isn't that what your men are here for Duncan?" King Cahlin asked less hostile about the topic than his general.
Duncan frowned as his warning fell on deaf ears. "I… Yes your Majesty."
"Your Majesty the tower and its beacon are unnecessary, the circle of magi-" Balding Mage #2319-b inserted himself in the conversation as Angry Chantry lady™ #162-x followed the mage around the table.
"We will not trust any lives to your spells Mage." Angry Chantry lady™ #162-x spat the title out like a slur, "Save them for the darkspawn."
Loghain looked like he was close to killing the both of them on the spot, "Enough, this plan will suffice. The Grey Wardens will light the beacon." He begrudgingly declared.
"Thank you Loghain, I cannot wait for that glorious moment!" The king sounded more like a giddy school boy, "The Grey Wardens battle aside the king of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil."
"Yes Cahlin, a Glorious moment for us all." Loghain ominously said, causing Alim to wonder just how oblivious everyone around him was at the killing intent practically radiating off the man.
Some small plan nitpicking later the Alim totally understood and totally didn't ignore, the Elf found himself back in front of Duncans Bonfire.
Duncan looked to the newest Grey Warden, "You heard the plan, You and Alistair will go to the tower of Ishal and ensure the beacon is lit."
Alistair's eyes widened in surprise "What?" he all but shouted, "I won't be in the battle?"
Duncan turned to the bastard prince, "This is by the king's personal request Alistair, if the beacon is not lit, Tern Loghain's men won't know when to charge." He tried to console in a fatherly manner.
"So he needs two Grey Wardens standing up there holding the torch just in case right?" Alistair snarked in an offended tone.
Alim decided to try and get some early brownie points with the local blonde, "He's right, we should be in the battle."
"That is not your choice," Duncan said, starting to sound frustrated, "If King Cahlin wishes for Grey Wardens to make sure the beacon is lit, then Grey Wardens will be there." He scolded both Wardens. "we must do whatever it takes to destroy the darkspawn, exciting or no."
Alistair sighed "I get it, I get it. Just so you know, if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Rimmer gold I'm drawing the line, Darkspawn or no,"
"You've got some odd ideas about the king." Alim gently picked on the blonde.
"I'll have you know I look rather fetching in a dress." Alistair defended himself in a mock offended tone.
Duncan made a noise that was something between a grunt and groan of regret, "The tower is on the other side of the gorge from the Kings camp," He started trying to shift the conversation to a more serious topic, "the way we came when we arrived, you'll need to cross the gorge and head through the gate and up to the tower entrance from the top you'll overlook the entire valley."
"When do we light the beacon?" Alim asked. 'Timing is important after all.
"We will signal you when the time is right," He turned to the blonde Grey Warden "Alistair will know what to look for."
"May we partake in the battle afterwards?" Alim asked trying not to sound like a bloodthirsty mage.
Duncan frowned softly, "Stay with the Terns men, and guard the tower, if you are needed we will send word."
"And if an Archdemon appears?" Alim continued to push just for the fun of it.
Alistair turned to the elf, "We soil our drawers, that's what"
Duncan's frown deepened, "If it does leave it to us, I want no heroics from either of you."
"So when this party starting?" The Mage looked at the old man.
Duncan relaxed as the elvish mage seemed to become more focused on his mission, "The battle is about to begin, once I leave move quickly. You'll have less than an hour."
"Joy." Alim mumbled under his breath.
"Then I must join the others, from here you two are on your own." Duncan Paused. "Remember, you are both Grey Wardens, I expect you to be worthy of that title."
"Duncan…" The man said softly, "May the Maker watch over you."
Duncan gave a soft smile, "May he watch over us all." He said before he walked off.
'At least they left on good terms.' Alim thought as he watched the darker man walk away.
"Hey Alistair, quick pit stop first." Alim said walking towards the mages chest that didn't hold really anything important, but the items would earn some decent coin later.
"Are you stealing?" Alistair asked as Alim crouched over the no longer guarded chest.
"No," Alim said like a child who was caught with their hand in a cookie jar, "I have a key."
"I thought this chest held items for the mages to use, though?" Alistair asked unconvinced.
"I am a mage." Alim said as he transferred the contents of the chest into his backpack. He looked up as a flash of lightning illuminated the sky, and heavy rain drops started to fall from the sky, "We need to get moving."
"Let's cross the bridge and get to the Tower of Ishal!" Alistair shouted over the roaring rain as the two stood at the end of the ancient stone bridge.
The two sprinted across the bridge as the battle started beneath their feet, the duo ignoring the shouts of war.
Twice in their short journey they were almost hit by burning masses smashing into the bridge, destroying ballista in the process and peppering the duo in splinters. The two made the journey safely though.
"You… Your Grey Wardens, aren't you?" Nameless Guard #323-h37 almost begged as he gasped for breath, "The tower, it's been taken!" He shouted with fear in his eyes.
"What are you talking about man, Taken how?" Alistair demanded an explanation
Nameless Guard #323-h37 looked up at the tower as he started explaining, "The Darkspawn came up through the lower chambers they're everywhere, most of our men are dead!"
Alistair set his jaw in grim determination, "Then we have to get to the beacon and light it ourselves!"
Nameless Guard #323-h37 and Nameless Guard #949-r942 shared a look as the fell in line behind Alim and Alistair.
The group had barely traveled twenty feet when they were forced to watch two soldiers be ripped apart by a group of Darkspawn, five melee and two archers to be more precise.
Alim felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach as he watched the Darkspawn rip into the fallen soldiers corpses, cannibalising the dead right before their eyes. Luckily for him, certain schools of magic affected his mental state, The primal school of earth's effect slowing down how he processes his emotions, so He had some time before he was hit by shock or anything like that.
Also watching one of the tainted beasts head scattering into bits of gore from a stone fist gave the elf some cold comfort in the matter. The other six swiftly fell under the assault of blade, magic, and crossbow bolt.
Alim swiftly checked over the bodies of the darkspawn, earning some weak health politics, coin, and some gems out of the ordeal.
And that's how it went on, up until the group finally found themselves in the tower.
The towers entrance was filled with smoke, flame, and Darkspawn, "Watch for traps!" Alim shouted as he tried to aim an Arcane bolt at the Darkspawn Emissary. Sadly his warning came to late as Nameless Guard #949-r942 stepped on the trip wire and triggered the explosive trap.
Alim had been far enough away that shrapnel had bounced off his stone-like skin, but Nameless Guard #949-r942 had been near the center of the explosion and flung away from the group.
Alistair leaped forward to cover his short term allies recovery and managed to literally disarm a Darkspawn genlock and behead a second one.
With some help from his fellow Nameless Guard, Nameless Guard #949-r942 was back on his feet with the contents of a lesser health poultice flowing down his throat.
As the two melee warriors fought off the remaining Darkspawn, Alim and the Crossbow soldier took shots at the Emissary.
Soon the room was filled with the soft crackling of fire and the gasps of three warriors. Alim took the time that the men took to catch her breath to scavenge the room for loot, finding little except for a locked chest.
'Time to put my lockpicking skills to the test.' Alim thought as he raised the tip of his staff to the lock and shot a Stone fist into the lock, shattering it. 'Noice.'
Once the group was ready to advance, they advanced forward, entering the room where the Darkspawn had broken through the foundation were three genlocks where waiting, and the sound of battle brought in another small group of darkspawn.
They fought on, Alim taking every opportunity to loot and scavenge that he could, while trying his best to support the two knights who fought up close.
"Makers breath" Alistair said out of breath as they reached the top of the stairs leading to the second floor, "What are the darkspawn doing ahead of the rest of the Horde." He took a deep breath, "There wasn't supposed to be any resistance here."
"Have you tried telling them their in the wrong place?" Alim said snarkily trying to lighten the mood.
"Right, because this is all just a big misunderstanding." Alistair rolled with the sarcasm, "We'll laugh about this later!"
"At any rate we need to hurry, we need to get up to the top of the tower and light the signal fire in time. Tern Loghain will be waiting for the signal" He said focusing on the task before them.
The group marched forward, checking the side rooms and fighting off the darkspawn in their and gaining access to the arms and weapons within,
Beyond that was where the larger weapons and arms such as ballista where stored, and it was flooded with darkspawn.
"Cover me!" Alim shouted as he blitzed past several darkspawn, earning a few glancing blows as he moved for a ballista, realization flared in Alistair's eyes as he tried to move the two other guards to the side and out of the way of the deadly weapons.
"Hey Ass-buts!" Alim shouted earning the Darkspawns attention, "Hasta La Vista baby," He shouted as he fired the weapon of war, knocking several Darkspawn to the ground and even penetrating a few of them.
Alistair took the opportunity to swoop in and end several of the downed tainted beasts. The two Grey Wardens had taken out enough Darkspawn in their combined effort to make the remaining beasts far more manageable.
The three men took a little longer to catch their breath now, the last half hour of fighting and running was starting to catch up with them.
"We're halfway there, boys." Alim tried to encourage the soldiers as he looted the fallen beasts for any goodies they had on them.
The group charged on, barging through what was once quarters for the guard, but where now infested by Darkspawn. The room after that being where they stored the Mabari, which Alim promptly let free to help murder the invading Darkspawn.
With the help of the dogs the four men were able to make it up to the top of the tower in half the time.
The four men and three dogs charged to the top of the stairs and were met with the gruesome sight of a hunched over Ogre sloppily crunching away at some dead man, bringing the men to a halt at the sight.
The sound of the dogs growling seemed to alert the towering mass of tainted muscle, causing it to turn its dull gaze upon the group of men.
'Fuck that's huge.' Alim thought as the beast pulled itself up to its full height.
"Dodge!" Alim shouted as the ogre roared and charged at the group of men.
One of the dogs was to slow and was reduced to paste as the Ogre crashed into the wall, stunning it. Alim took the opportunity to cast Weakness on the stunned Ogre as Alistair, the guards, and the dogs all focused on the beast.
The guard with the Crossbow backed away from the Ogre as he peppered its head with Bolts, and the dogs took the opportunity to rend the toughened flesh around the beasts ankles.
The Ogre didn't take to kindly to having his ankles nibbled on and started to grasp after the war puppies, and managed to get both in its hands and smashed them together like a toddler with toy cars.
Alistair and the other Nameless Guard where on guard now as they took potshots at the raging beasts sides.
The sword and shield Nameless guard managed to thrust his sword between two ribs on the Ogres torso, inflicting massive pain to the lumbering oaf but robbing the guard of his one weapon.
Now disarmed and under the intimidating gaze of the giant the guard froze, all but easy pickings for the Ogre as it picked the man up and bit his head off in a shower of gore and viscera.
The Crossbow guard screamed in anguish as he fired a bolt into the behemoths eye, drawing its attention in on it.
The beast charged and the guard was able to get one last lucky shot before he was sent to the Maker, stealing the Ogres sight as it stole his life.
Alim saw an opportunity and took it, launching an Arcane bolt at the back of the beast from the other side of the room. The beast turned and charged in the direction it thought the blast came from.
'Gotta time this correctly,' Alim thought as he prepared his spell.
When the beast had reached the center of the room Alim launched a Stone fist at the beasts head, stunning it, allowing Alistair the opportunity to leap on the beast, going from its knee, to the sword buried in the beasts flesh, up to its head where his own blade found its home, the tip of the sword poking out from the back of the beasts head.
"Light the beacon!" Alim shouted as he jogged towards the fallen behemoth.
Alistair ripped the blade from the monsters head and sprinted towards the kindle to alert the army to make its move.
While Alistair was doing that, Alim began to fervently search the Ogres person for any loot, netting a rune before he felt an arrow pierce his shoulder and completely pass through.
The shock, combined with the stress and exhaustion of the night caused Alim to pass out, his sight fading rapidly as he watched the approaching horde of Darkspawn.
'Any time now Mythal,' Was Alims last thought as his sight faded completely.
Alim slowly sat up, pain piercing through the mist that hung in his mind and squeezing a his of pain out of him.
The second thing he noticed was he was almost completely nude, with only his undergarments protecting his decency.
The third thing he noticed was the pretty girl in the room.
"Ah, your eyes finally open."Morrigan said as she turned to the elf, "Mother shall be pleased." She moved to stand by the bedside, and between alim and the door.
"Where the actual hell am I." Alim said unable to process his surroundings even with his quickly clearing mind.
"Back in the wilds of course," Morrigan said not very helpfully, "I am Morrigan, lest you have forgotten and I have just bandaged your wounds."
Alim looked at the fresh bandages on him the mist in his head blowing away in almost an instance. "You are welcome, by the way." Morrigan said in a slightly snobbish tone. "How does your memory fare?"
"Do you remember mother's rescue?" Morrigan asked drawing out the word 'do'.
"No, the fuck happened with Loghain?" Alim said, slightly stuck in his false ignorance.
'I should probably come clean to someone at some point.' The elf thought to himself.
"The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field, the Darkspawn won your battle, those he abandoned were massacred." Morrigan paused as she tried to find the right words for her thoughts, probably struggling from lack of socialization. "Your friend is not taking it well"
'Of course not, Duncan's dead… closest thing to a father the man had.' Alim thought to him.
"You mean Alistair?" The elf asked in false hope.
"The suspicious dim-witted one who was with you before, Yes" She smiled like a Cheshire cat. 'I bet you worked all morning on that.'
Morrigan smoothed her features, "He is outside by the fire, Mother asked to see you when you awoke."
"Where the hell are my pants?" Alim grumbled as he painfully pulled himself from the bed.
Morrigan pointed to the chest at the end of the bed as she turned and returned to her book shelf.
Alim had to shield his eyes as they adjust to the rising sun, spotting Alistair looking over a body of water. 'This man has no right to look this attractive.'
Flemeth turned as Alim approached "See, here is your fellow Grey Warden," Alim half-heartedly threw up some Jazz hands with a blank look on his face. The old woman ignored the elf's eccentricity "You worry too much young man."
Alistair looked at the elf with tears welling in his eyes. "You… You're alive." His voice was hoarse as he gave a sad chuckle "I thought you were dead for sure."
"It's going to take a lot more than an arrow to the shoulder to take me down," Alim joked, 'Yeah, I'd need one to the knee to end my adventure.' He thought, "Plus Morrigan's mother helped."
"If it wasn't for Morrigan's mother, we'd be dead on the top of that tower," Alistair said in the same horse tone.
"Do not talk about me as if I am not present lad." Said old hermit scolded.
Alistair turned to the woman and stammered out "I didn't mean… but what do we call you, you've never told us your name"
"Names are pretty, but useless." Flemeth said almost pretentious as Alims thought something about the number of names she must of had, "The Chasind folk call me Flemeth, I suppose it will do."
Alistair almost swallowed his tongue, "The Flemeth?" He asked awe struck, "From the legends?"
"Daveth was right, your the witch of the wilds aren't you?" he accused under his breath.
"And what does that mean?" She said not having a single fuck to give. "I know a bit of magic and it has served you both well, has it not?"
'A bit my ass.' Alim thought. "So, what caused you to want to save us?"
"Well, we cannot have all the Grey Wardens dying at once can we?" Flemeth chuckled darkly, "Someone has to deal with these darkspawn, it has always been the Grey Wardens duty to unite the lands against the blight" She turned to Alim, "Or did that change when I wasn't looking?"
"Loghain did his damndest to break the land if you ask me," Alim grumbled.
"It doesn't make any sense, Why would he do it," Alistair asked.
'The man's got a justified sense of xenophobia to the Orlesians, The previous king was an absolute ass, He's earned his title more than enough, still probably screwed in the head from his best friends disappearance… I could go on.' Alim thought.
"Now that is a good question," Flemeth put on a sympathetic face, "Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature, perhaps he believes the blight is an army he can outmaneuver, perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat."
"The Archdemon," Alistair hissed in anger.
"You know, no-one's bothered to tell me what an Archdemon is." Alim chose to be a smart ass with that little fact.
Flemeth turned to the elf. "It is said that long ago the Maker sent the old gods of the ancient Tevinter Imperium to slumber in prisons deep beneath the surface, an Archdemon is an old god awakened and tainted by darkspawn."
"Believe it or not, history says it's a fearsome and immortal thing, and only fools ignore history." The old hag said sagely.
"What do you think the Tern could hope to gain by betraying the king?" Alim asked the room.
"The throne?" Alistair chimed, "He's the Queen's father, still, I can't see how he'll get away with murder."
"You speak as if he would be the first king to gain his throne that way, grow up boy." Flemeth roughly scolded much to Alistair's displeasure.
'Technically Maric did the same, but the previous king before him was an asshole of epic proportions.' Alim thought.
"If Earl Eamon knew what he did he would never stand for it, the lands meet would never stand for it, there would be civil war!" The blonde spat angrily.
"Your referring to the Earl of Redcliffe?" The elf pushed the conversation along.
"I suppose," A thought stuck Alistair, "Earl Eamon wasn't at Ostagar, He still has all his men!" A light sparked in his eye's "And he was Kalin's uncle, I know him!"
Alistair started to build hope within himself as he continued his verbal train of thought "He's a good man, respected in the lands meet, Of course!"
"We could go to Red Cliff and appeal to him for help!" Alistair all but shouted.
"We're going to need more than just an Earl to fight Loghain and the Blight." Alim said enjoying Alistair get all fired up and passionate.
The light that sparkled in Alistair's eyes grew brighter "Of course, the treaties!"
'You mean those valuable items that we got earlier and seemed to have a lot of emphasis on are actually useful!" Alim decided not to voice his thoughts.
"Grey Wardens can command aid from Dwarves, Elves, Mages and other places, they're obligated to help us during the blight!" Alistair continued on without knowing the discouraging thoughts of Alims head.
Flemeth decided to reinsert herself in the conversation "I may be old,"
'That's an understatement,'
"But Dwarves, Elves, Mages this Earl and who knows what else, This sounds like an army to me." Flemeth encouraged.
"So can we do this?" Alistair asked as he turned to Alim, his self-confidence cracking. "Go to Redcliffe and these other places and build an army?"
'You were doing so well man.' Alim thought "It's definitely possible, I'd dare to even say… a high probability. I mean, we are Grey Wardens." The elf vocalized.
"So you are set then, Ready to be Grey Wardens?" Flemeth asked.
"Could you offer any more help?" Alim asked while turning to her, "There's no such thing as being too prepared."
"Now that you mention it, I do have one more thing to offer," Flemeth said, her sentence isn't given enough time to be ominous before Morrigan struts on scene.
"The stew is bubbling mother dear, shall we have two guests for the eve," The witch turned to the two Grey Wardens, "or none."
"The Grey Wardens are leaving shortly girl, and you will be joining them." Flemeth said, dropping the news with the casualness of a comment on the weather.
"Such a shame," Morrigan said disingenuously, not processing her mother's sentence completely,
"What!" She almost shouted as she wiped her head to face her mother, who looked rather smug.
"You heard me girl, the last time I looked you had ears" Flemeth said with a mocking laugh.
"I think this is an excellent idea," Alim said in a half sarcastic tone. Deeply excited to have his waifu join him.
"Have I no say in this!" Morrigan all but shouted.
'Do any of us have any real choices in life.' Alim thought, 'In this life of causality built hundreds of thousands of years in the making only for some insignificant event that will be forgotten in a few decades time.'
"You have been itching to get out of the wilds for years, here is your chance," Flemeth explained to her daughter before she turned to the Wardens, "As for you Wardens, consider this repayment for your lives."
'How about you twist my arm a little harder.' Alim thought. "How long have you been planning this?"
"Pardon me, but I had the impression that you two needed assistance, whatever the form," Flemeth said as she crossed her arms and leaned back.
"Not too look a gift horse in the mouth," Alistair started awkwardly, "But won't this add to our problems?"
"Outside of the wilds, She's an apostate." Alistair pointed out when the three mages turned to him.
"IF you do not wish help from us illegal mages young man," Flemeth says in an almost threatening tone, "Perhaps I should have left you on that tower."
"Point taken," Alistair begrudgingly submit.
"Mother, this is not how I wanted this, I'm not even ready." Morrigan starts to flounder slightly.
"You must be ready, alone these two must unite Ferelden against the Darkspawn," Flemeth explained softly to her daughter.
'Are you sure she didn't mean her luggage?' Alim thought.
"They need you Morrigan," Flemeth continued," without you, they will surely fail and all will perish under the blight, even I"
'Just because your right doesn't mean you have to say it.' Alim whine.
"I… understand," Morrigan reluctantly agreed.
"And you Wardens, do you understand?" Flemeth said turning to them, "I give you that which I value above all in this world, I do this because you must succeed."
'Yes, your entrusting us with your next vessel so one of us can knock-it up and you can have the power of an old god.' Alim mentally thought, 'just cause I know your manipulating me into doing it won't stop me from doing it though.'
"I understand," Alim said.
"Allow me to get my things if you please," Morrigan said tiredly before turning around and going off to do just that.
Alim suddenly found himself facing into the forest as Alistair leaned close to him and whispered, "Are we really bringing an apostate with us?"
"Yes," Alim whispered back, "You had your chance to raise a complaint and you didn't, plus Grey Wardens are the least picky group you'll find on Thedas."
Alim looked over his shoulder at the amused Flemeth, "Besides, do you want to be the one to tell her no?" He asked gesturing at the hag with his head.
Alistair looked over at the now smug Flemeth and paled slightly, admitting defeat as he pulled back.
Morrigan struts out of the shack, looking bitter about her situation, "I am at your disposal Grey Wardens, I suggest a village north of the wilds as our first destination, it is not far and you will find much you need there." Her eyes narrowed, "Or if you prefer I shall simply be your silent guide, The choice is yours."
"I'd prefer you voice your thoughts actually," Alim said trying to be nice at least.
Flemeth laughed at the comment and said, "You may regret that choice, young man." in a mocking tone.
Morrigan sighed, "Farewell mother, do not forget the stew on the fire, I would hate to return to a burned down hut."
"Bah!" The old women scoffed, "'Tis far more likely you will return to see this entire area, along with my hut, swallowed up by the blight"
"I-I… All I meant was…" Morrigan stutters.
"Yes I know, do try to have fun dear." Flemeth said as she switched into a more caring mode.
'I think she'll have a bit more than fun.' Alim thought, 'No! Bad dirty thoughts!'
With that, the group began the journey for the nearest village, Lothering.
Over the course of the next day of travel, Alim internally debated the pros and cons of letting Alistair and Morrigan in on his… situation.
'If I let them know than I could have them help me move some pieces into place,' He thought,
'but then again, they could just worsen the butterfly effect.'
Back and forth the elf went, finally deciding he would wait until he recruited Barkspawn to decide.
'At least my spells seem to create less of a strain, Mana pools must be deepening.'
It was the evening of the second day of travel when something actually happened.
The faint sound of barking and leaves rustling brought the trio to a halt, a familiar Mabari sprinted down the dirt road, heading straight for the group.
Alim smiled as he kneeled down to meet the war dog, which barked loudly and ran in a small circle, turning to face the group of Darkspawn that had been following it.
The head of the Darkspawn party ran a clawed finger across its neck as it staired Alim directly in the eye.
"Prepare for battle!" Alim shouted redundantly, as the group was in the midst of doing just that.
The trio of bipeds with the addition of the furry beast quickly cut down the nine darkspawn.
The Mabari sneezed as it pawed its way up to Alim, coming to a stop where it sat on the ground and wagged its tail and panted happily.
"Those Darkspawn didn't hurt you, boy, did they?" Alim asked in the stereotypical lovey-dovey voice that was characteristic of dog owners and rubbed his hands all over the dog.
"I think he was out there looking for you. He's… Chosen you." Alistair said, "Mabari are like that. They call it imprinting."
"Does this mean we're going to have this mangy beast following us about now?" Morrigan asked not expecting an answer, "Wonderful."
"He's not Mangy!" Alistair joined in on the baby talk as he scratched the top of the dogs head.
"You want him?" Alim asked, having no intention of giving the dog away.
"Me?" The Grey Warden asked in surprise, "I don't want a dog, I can barely take care of myself."
"So many comments come to mind I cannot even begin to choose…" Morrigan mocked.
"At any rate, he must remember you helping him back at Ostagar. You're imprinted." Alistair explained with a chuckle. "Lucky you."
"Your right," Alim piped up happily, "He's mine now." The dog gave a happy bark at the claim.
"How odd. We now have a dog and Alistair is till the dumbest one in the party." Morrigan said taking the opportunity to insult the blonde.
'Welp, time to make a decision.' Alim thought as he pulled himself up.
"Either of you know how to flip a coin?" Alim asked turning to the two surprised companions.
"Yes..." Alistair said slowly.
"I know of it." Morrigan surprised.
"Cool," Alim pulled a copper piece from his pouch, "Heads, Tails, Catch." Alim pointed to the respected parts of the coin before flipping the coin to Alistair, who fumbled to catch the coin.
"Alistair flip the coin, Morrigan try and call it," Alim ordered.
'If Morrigan calls it correctly I'll explain everything.' Alim thought to himself.
Alistair flipped the coin, catching it in his left hand and slamming it onto the back of his right, keeping it covered the entire time.
"Heads." Morrigan declared confidently.
Alistair slowly uncovered the coin as Alim intently watched on.
"Its…"
So that's what it's like writing a cliffhanger. Huh.
So I feel this would be the best time to explain somethings.
First off, Sorry for this chapter is late.
Second off, Up until now I've cut pretty close to the actual story of the games, more so than I probably should if I'm being honest to myself. But I've seen little reason to change things without cause, In the coming chapters I there will be massive amounts of change it's just going to take some time to unfold.
I have plans to make full stories for each game from this franchise and have decently long term plans especially with my version of the Grey Warden.
If anyone has any criticism for me I would love to hear it, and I will try to take it to heart. Hell, I jumped what would be 3-4 updates into one chapter to push things along all because of one review.
Which kind of raises a question; should I focus on making larger chapters that are more likely to move the story in larger steps at the cost of update rate, or stick to my smaller chapters that are more likely to be posted quicker.
I'm going to focus on my other stories "BreakDown" for a little bit to give this some time to sit.