Chapter 32) Vanguard

Cleon POV


"Hahren, what's the difference between scouts and a vanguard?" I asked one day, after a long tale about the exalted marches that devastated the old homeland.

"A scout moves alone, to sight the area," Hahren Paivel answered absently. I had a good feeling the only reason I was even getting an answer was because he was distracted by some new text the hunter had brought back. "A vanguard, however, is the frontmost part of an army. They herald what is to come."

"Oh." I was silent for maybe thirty seconds before asking again, "so, vanguards mean war?"

"Yes, da'len. Vanguards mean war." He paused before looking at me. "Why are you asking?"

"Just curious." I smiled. "I'm going to go play now." And I escaped before he could ask more questions.


"Elspeth said we had to get more food," Layla explained as we entered the market. She held my hand to keep from getting lost and I honestly couldn't tell you who was holding on tighter. Me or her? "And… I think she also mentioned soap?"

"Soap, sun lotion, whatever medical treatments we could snag, and thread," Aiden listed off easily from in front of us. Even though he was ahead, and hooded like the rest of us, I knew his face was still in a glower from earlier, which proved handy in getting people to steer clear of us whether he intended it or not. Wasn't sure what exactly Leliana had said to make him so obviously show anger, though. Was it a sign of cracking or was it really that bad?

"You stare so much at him." I glanced to my other side where Morrigan clung like a burr. Strange. I'd expected her to not like being close to people. Maybe I was just preferable to the rest. Though I hoped she was keeping my arm so close to her breast on purpose. I didn't want to disrespect her boundaries, even unwittingly. "Are you attracted to him?" she asked me with a coy little smile. I coughed and sputtered at the thought. "No? No lust for the men?"

"I… no," I mumbled, feeling a slightly blush on my face. "I've had crushes, but no real sexual longing. Any reason you were asking?"

"Just curious on my own chances." What. "Layla, you are redder than a cardinal's breast." A quick glance proved her right. "Surely, you are not blushing over something so natural."

"I…" Layla began, eyes darting to the side. She squeaked and pressed into me as some people surged past. "It is wonderful you are confident enough to be so bold."

"Naturally." Morrigan, could you be smugger?

"H-however, I am not certain that is a conversation when w-we are looking for things in stalls?"

"She has a point," I agreed, noting we were just following Aiden aimlessly into the market. "Aiden, are you even paying attention?" There was no reply. "Lethalin?" Still nothing. "Creators, above…" I casually prodded the back of his knee with my foot, and burst into laughter at his yelp. "There we go. Lethalin, we're at the market." He blinked at me slowly before looking around. He hadn't noticed at all. "So, how are we going to work this out?"

"Ah, right, I figured we'd split up," Aiden answered after a moment, stepping back towards us three. "I wasn't sure how, of course, but that would be easiest."

"I'll go with Morrigan." I had a sneaky suspicion she wasn't done with the earlier conversation. No need to make Layla die of embarrassment. "What should we look for?"

"Medical treatments and the sun lotion." Made sense. I'd probably know more about both than Layla and Aiden, and the same to Morrigan. "Let's meet up here again at the sun height bell, right near the cage there." Worked for me. "Is… is that okay?"

"I've no objections." I glanced at the two girls, who both nodded. Morrigan even had a small smirk. "See you soon."

"Right." He passed me a small coin purse and I smiled sheepishly as I realized I'd almost forgotten about it. The Dalish so rarely used coin… "See you soon."

"See you." And Morrigan was immediately dragging me into the crowd. "You're hasty."

"The sooner we are done, the sooner we are gone," she muttered. She grimaced at some people shaking hands. "I don't get it. All the touching." Considering you had my arm firmly in an iron grip, Morrigan, I didn't think you could talk. "What's the point of it?"

"I'm told it's considered polite," I answered, hunting through the stalls for things that would be useful. "Is that a burn kit there?"

"Tis so. Let us grab it." We made our way over. "How is it polite to grab one's hand and not make it obvious what your intent is?"

"Why are you asking the Dalish elf? I know less about humans than you growing up with Asha'Bellanar." Actually, I might know more, but it was fun to tease her like this. Her scowl nearly made me laugh. "Talk to Aiden, Elspeth, or Nuada about it."

"Aiden will simper, Elspeth will give me the most technical explanation possible, and Nuada will laugh." Aiden would not simper. I couldn't fault her for thinking that about the others, though. "We're here."

"We are." Using my free hand, I picked up the burn kit, and a few poultices I saw, and handed them to the seller. He handed me a note with the amount they were all worth, and I handed him some coins I thought were enough. The fact that I got some back told me that they probably too much. Still, I had the items, and that was important. "This money makes little sense to me."

"To me as well." She giggled and helped me put up the purchases in my bag. "Another thing we have in common." Oh my. Distraction time.

"You think that's going to be all we get?" I asked. She huffed, but nodded. "Yeah, most of the medical stuff has to be gone now." We'd likely have to make our own, unless we got lucky in some shops. "We have plenty of bandages, right?" We had to. Every time we'd passed someone selling them, we'd snatched them up. "So, let's go meet the others."

"Very well." And the grip on my arm tightened as she steered me back out of the crowd. "They shan't be long, I'm sure." She grinned and leaned a little towards me. "So…"

However, my attention was caught by the man in the cage not far away and my instincts screamed at me to ask. So, ignoring Morrigan, I snagged a passing farmer by the arm. "Hey, what's the deal with him?" I asked, keeping my face angled downward. As hard as it was, we didn't need anyone throwing their lives at us. "Seems like a strange thing."

"He's being left for the darkspawn," the farmer answered easily. I felt myself pale and grow sick. The Taint… if he didn't die by the horde, then that Taint… "He murdered a whole family, down to the last child." Wha…? "Won't give a reason why. So, he's there."

"I see." I forced a smile. "Ma… thanks." No, no elvish here. A Dalish in these parts would be too suspicious.

"No worries." The farmer gave me a carefree smile and walked into the main part of the village. I watched him go, feeling myself shake. I glanced at my hand and slowly opened and closed it into a fist, reassuring myself that, yes, I could move. The Taint… that had been terrifying. Even the memory, now, made it hard to breath. They would so willingly condemn someone to such a fate? If he wasn't torn about and eaten by the darkspawn?

Even for a murderer, that was too high a punishment. There was no justice in it. What lows would shemlen not go for petty vengeance?

"To leave such locked and trapped in a cage is ridiculous." Morrigan's scoff caught me by surprise. I turned to face her, but she was looking at the man, not me. "How merciful the Chantry is, to condemn him to death without dirtying their hands directly." She rolled her eyes and looked at me. "Do you think we can get him out?"

"You're suggesting freeing him?" I asked incredulously. I couldn't help smiling slightly in confused amusement. "In broad daylight. Where everyone can see us. When we're laying low."

"Freedom is a gift all should have." She immediately got a thoughtful look on her face. "We could leave Alistair there in his place."

"Hey, be nice." She scowled. "You don't have to get along, but let's not suggest things like that."

"I suppose." She leaned towards me, a sly smile replacing the scowl. "Well, perhaps we can talk about other things."

"Liiiike…?" I had a damn good feeling considering earlier, but it was more fun to be oblivious.

Especially when Layla appeared right then, looking at us in confusion. "Is everything all right?" she asked. She looked even more confused as Morrigan scowled and I laughed. "Um…?"

"Don't worry about it," I reassured, reaching under her hood to ruffle her hair. She squeaked and pouted at me. "Is Aiden near?" In response, she pointed and I saw Aiden heading our way. "All right. Let's get back to camp then."

Morrigan and I could play the game later. When I had more time to think on whether I wanted to play or not.


We all returned and did triple checks of all the equipment we had. Alistair tested out his make-shift armor, not the best but not the worse, and pronounced it 'wonderful' even though I was relatively certain it didn't fit him perfectly. However, in our slight haste to prepare everything for leaving, we forgot to grab food for tonight. So, I volunteered to head out and pick up something. Leliana came with me.

"I must say, being around you has opened my eyes to how wrong some of the tales about the Dalish are," Leliana told me out of the blue as we approached the village again. I gave her a questioning look, wondering what prompted her to say that. "You are not at all savage." Well, that was wonderful to hear. "And I've not seen you snatch up women and children without provocation." …Wait, what?

I couldn't help but snicker at that. "Why would they say anything like that?"

"Something about needing children, I think?"

"We are quite capable of producing our own without shemlen help, thank you. Some of us highly enjoy the process." She giggled. "Besides, many of us have no want to interact with shemlen."

"That isn't good." She hummed in thought. "There's so much we can learn from each other, yes? At least dispel the misconceptions." Whoo, boy, someone was an idealist. All well and good, but there was no way that was going to happen in our lifetime. We had a higher chance of getting a homeland again. "I hear many city folk talk about how much more wonderful a simpler life would be." What. "To live so close to the earth…"

"To hunt for their food and travel until their feet ache to bring back enough to feed everyone?" My voice was dry, harsh even. "To always triple checking the aravels because they're our only protection against the rain and cold? To having to learn all the edible plants in an area because one poisonous plant could devastate everyone?" I turned to face her full on. Her eyes were wide, and her face pale. "To wonder if someone will burn down the entire forest, just to chase you out?" She ducked her head, breaking eye contact. "I loved that life. I loved it completely. I was happy. But don't you dare care it simple. It was work, hard work. Don't reduce my people to fit your simple ideas."

"I'm… I'm sorry." …I hadn't actually expected an apology. "I hadn't realized… well, you'd think I should, but I suppose… oh, I did it again." She sighed heavily, head still down. "Aiden is still mad at me for earlier." Wait, had she said something similar to this to him? No wonder he'd been pissed off enough to show it. "I had never realized how… how fetishized the elven servants I had seen were. How they were trapped just as much…" She tentatively looked up at me. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing." I was uncomfortable now. "Just… just ask. Try not to make assumptions."

"I will." She smiled, looking relieved. "Thank you for correcting me." STOP BEING WEIRD. "And do let me know if I make the same mistakes again. I'm sure there are old habits I'm not even aware of." This was so weird and… and what was that sound? "So…"

I held up my hand to cut her off, head tilting to one side automatically as I tried to identify where the sound was coming from. Soon, though, I realized it wasn't an actual sound, but rather a sense slithering through my mind. A whisper in my head. Buzzing, buzzing. I knew this. I knew this feeling. I'd heard it before. "Leliana, get the others," I ordered as I connected the dots. "Darkspawn are near." Was there way to tell how many there are?

"I'll be back as soon as possible," she promised me. She clapped me on the shoulder and bolted. I took a moment to marvel at her speed, never seeing such in a shemlen, before shaking my head and turning for the village.

But the man in the cage caught my eye, and some instinct told me to go to him. "Can you fight?" He blinked at me slowly, watching me like the hawk watches the mouse. "Can you kill things other than defenseless children and farmers?" I asked, putting a trace of mockery in my voice.

"Ah, so you do know the crime." His voice was soft, low, and carried an accent I couldn't place. "Why come to me?"

"Darkspawn are coming."

"Ah, then my atonement will be soon." He seemed completely nonchalant about it. "Leave."

"No." I leaned forward, one hand gripping the bars. "Find your atonement in a fight."

"Why?"

"I'm a Warden." His eyes widened slightly, and I pressed on, my instincts urging me to be quick. "Fight with me. The Blight…"

"…Very well." That… was easy? Wait, why did he agree so quickly. "I will follow you, Warden." Very casually, he stood and kicked open the door. He'd… been in there by choice. The whole time. "My atonement will be in the Blight." And here I hoped to all the Creators that my instincts were true and not Fen'harel playing a horrible trick on me.

"Take this." I tossed him one of my daggers. It looked almost comically small in his hands. "Return it when you find a weapon better suited to you." The whispers were louder. "We need to run." He just nodded. "Let's go."

He followed me easily, straight through the crowd of screaming people, so I was sure he could probably overtake me if he chose, if only more having longer strides. But he waited as I leapt forward to tear the throat of a darkspawn threatening two children. I almost asked what he was doing, but then he casually picked up the children, handed them to some terrified people, picked up the weapon the darkspawn had been using (a greatsword), and handed me back my dagger. "You should not weaken yourself to give strength to another," he informed me. He swung the giant sword, easily the same size as me, with one hand before nodding. "A good substitute." Oh.

I tried to think of what to say, but came up with nothing. Then, an arrow flew over my shoulder to strike another darkspawn and I turned, expecting Elspeth. To my surprise, though, it was Diana, the mage girl who'd helped us with the tents. "Your friends are delayed by the efforts to get the refugees out of the area, Warden," she told me. I wasn't surprised she'd figured it out. What other sort of idiot charges darkspawn? "I'm hoping you released the big guy, by the way. Chantry sisters are in a fit." I shrugged, not caring, and she grinned. "Well, can't say it's not funny."

"Why are you here?" I asked her. "Why not run with the others?"

"I'm not helpless." And she wore the cocky grin of someone who never had been. "So, why not help out?" Well, I couldn't fault her logic, even if it was a little simplistic. "I'll move on your orders, if you'd like. You seem like the smart sort." Really? Well, that was a shock. "So?"

"Provide covering firing for me and…" I didn't know that man's name. I turned to ask, but he'd already gone to fight a nearby darkspawn, fighting more fluidly than Aiden. "And big guy." She nodded. "Just until my group gets here, though. Then you fall back to guard the rear of the civilians."

"Sounds good to me." She grinned and drew an arrow from her quiver with a flourish. "And, yes, I'll fall back if I run out of arrows." I was half-tempted to ask about magic, but now probably wasn't a good time for that. "Stay steady."

"And you." And into the fight. With ripping through the nearest darkspawn a little too easily. What was this? I didn't remember them being this weak in Ostagar. Did I somehow get stronger? …No. No, I was sure of it. I was weak as ever. These ones just matched my weakness. Were they holding back, or were they just the clean-up crew?

I suppose it didn't matter. I had to kill them all anyway. That was the job of a hunter. And only the overconfident hunter went after the strongest unless he had no other choice. Still, it was sad how easy it was. Why couldn't it have been this easy back then? Maybe then… maybe then Shem-King Cailan and Duncan would still be alive?

"Never a dull day, huh?" Aiden was at my back. I recognized the familiar warmth. "Sorry for not getting here sooner," he told me. I just shook my head, feeling some exhaustion creeping in at the pause. "It looks like we've got them well under control, though." Yeah, even though we would all be covered in blood over it. Having lots of competent fighters and few weak enemies did wonders. "A few stragglers caught some civilians, but the templars took care of them easily." Good to know. "Diana has fallen back, with Elspeth and Leliana taking her place in covering fire." I blinked up at the sky and saw twice as many arrows as I'd expect arcing over our heads. "You good or should you fall back?"

"I'm fine," I told him. I heard him sigh. "Look, I'm better at the phrase than a certain noble who shall not be named at this time."

"Yes, yes. I'm joining Alistair."

"Where's Layla?"

"Layla is using her wards to keep the darkspawn from following the civilians." Ah. "Morrigan is nearby, casting spells. Nuada is guarding them both." Good. "Don't die. You survived Ostagar, so you can't die here."

"Same to you." And back into the fray. Spinning, twisting, lunging. Daggers biting down again and again. Blood everywhere. If it started raining, it would be almost exactly like Ostagar. But there was no rain this time. Just horridly warm sunshine laughing overhead. Was it enjoying itself? Encouraging me to call on the power of his eldest to continue destroying all these things?

With these strange, tired thoughts bouncing through my head, I hunted around for the next target, the next thing I had to kill. But I found nothing and crouched down as fatigue hit me. I still wasn't fully recovered from Ostagar, and I'd fought too hard against these things, huh? That was stupid. I could hear Hahren Paivel scolding me.

"That's the last of them for now." I looked up and saw a bloody Nuada leaning over me, eyes concerned. "You need to lean?" he asked, shifting to better offer his shoulder. I thought about waving it off, but lightheaded dizziness I experienced upon straightening made me grab onto him anyway. "I'll carry you, if you'd like."

"You can't carry me with that wound on your stomach," I pointed out. Still, it was a relief to not have my full weight on my feet.

"Oh, I'm fine."

"Like I'm believing you. Traveling on that wound with no one knowing."

"Morrigan knew; I'd have you know." And obviously hadn't done a good job keeping track of it. Which he knew. "Fine, fine. I won't hide injuries anymore, even when I'm sure it's not a big deal." THAT HAD BEEN A BIG DEAL! "Is that to your satisfaction?"

"Greatly." This time when I tried to stand up fully, my head didn't protest. "The others?"

"Confirming dead darkspawn, checking if any of the civilians attacked are still breathing and giving mercy kills, or tending to the ones who'd managed to escape." He pointed to the side, and I saw Alistair and Leliana wandering the field. Aiden wasn't far away, shaking a body. Layla, Elspeth, and Morrigan must be with the others. What about the big guy? Was he too? Diana? "I told them I'd get you." Better to ask later. I had only enough energy to focus on one thing at a time. "Where do you want to be?" Huh? Oh, for the aftermath.

"Other than bed?" That startled a laugh out of him. "Best to check those civilians. If there's the Taint…" I shuddered. "I'll mercy kill them. I know…"

"Yeah, you won't hesitate. You know better than any of us how bad it is." There was something in Nuada's wan smile, but I couldn't place it. "I'll help you with that."

"You don't need to."

"It won't be the first." And that sentence held far more than I knew he'd admit to. "Lean on me. We'll go check."

"Right."


By Mythal's grace, as I really couldn't think of any other way it could have happens, only twenty people died, including the thirteen Nuada and I had to mercy-kill. We'd run around scrambling to help all the wounded, reassure the survivors, and the like and found ourselves called before Ser Bryant all before we even had a chance to clean ourselves up. Not that all of us went. Only Nuada, Alistair, and me did. The rest went to breakdown our own camp.

"I thank you, greatly, for what you did for us," he began, facing us with a salute and tired smile. He had blood freckling his face and armor, showing he'd been in the fighting too, somewhere. "Truly, we would have lost more without you." This was all well and good, but could we go jump in a lake, at least. "However, I must ask you to leave." Huh? I mean; we were planning on doing that anyway, but…

"We know," Nuada spoke up. As usual, he had a smile on his face, looking like nothing in the world could phase him. I'd be more annoyed, but I remember how his hand had shook when killing that three-year-old who'd been too badly hurt to save, even with magic. Let him smile, if it didn't break him. "The army and bounty hunters will hear of us." Oh. Then Lothering would be overrun, with the darkspawn coming and… not good at all.

"Ser, you must get the people of Lothering out of here quickly," Alistair spoke up then. I was surprised by this, especially given how uncomfortable he looked, but he continued resolutely, even if he was talking more to the floor. "That was just the tip of the vanguard. More are coming. I can sense it." Now that I thought about it, we hadn't even faced one ogre here. "And these were just the weakest. Grunts and apprentices." Damn.

"I understand," Ser Bryant murmured. He sighed heavily. "I'll… do what I can to speed things up." Why would they stay? They'd die if they did. "Now go, quickly. And may the Maker watch over you." Yeah, the last time I heard people pray to the Maker, everyone died. The Maker didn't have the excuse of being locked up like our Creators.

Still, that was as much as a dismissal as any and, following Nuada's lead, we bowed and headed out the back without a word. When we actually exited, though, we had to stop and stare. Diana was standing there, holding a couple of packs. "This is what everyone scrounged up for you all," she explained, tossing them to Nuada, since he was closest. I was pleased to see him looking just as confused as Alistair and me. "There's an old hunting trail to the east. It runs right down the main road, but it's surrounded by the nearby forest, so you can't be seen." Perfect for setting up our next camp, then. And we'd have to rest quickly. "I told the rest of your group already. They're waiting for you at the edge of town." Ah. "Be careful." She raced off before we could even think of replies.

"You know; things like this remind me of why so many sacrifice a lot for the world," Nuada noted. He peeked inside the pack with a smile. "Scrounged up, huh? You don't scrounge up cookies." I glanced and noticed a lot of things that looked like they'd been made, quickly, for us. "Well, I'll keep this tucked away for darker times." You mean this wasn't one? "Alistair, what are you doing by that rose bush?"

"Huh?" I nearly laughed at just how awkwardly sheepish Alistiar was at getting caught. "I'm not doing anything!" he yelped, flushing. I bit the inside of my mouth hard to keep the straight face. Nuada looked like his grin was going to split his face. "I… oh, why do I bother?" He sighed and held up a very pretty rose. "The darkspawn will just destroy it, but it's lovely." He smiled softly as he looked at it. "A bright beautiful spot in the despair, you know?"

"Well, hide it in your pack," I suggested. "Morrigan might do something just to spite you."

"Don't I know it?" He sighed and tucked it carefully in his bag. "Shall we?"

I wanted a bath. "Yeah, unless Nuada has a protest?" Surprisingly, Nuada shook his head without even taking the opportunity for a joke. Well then. "Okay."

The refugees let us pass without a word. Some looked at us in fear, and others in hope. I wasn't sure which was worse. Had they jumped on our group while the three of us had been in the Chantry? I hoped not. We were all tired.

So tired, in fact, that we barely even waved when we reached the others on the outskirts, with everything all packed up. All of them looked wet. I wondered if they'd actually jumped into a lake to get the main part off, but decided it didn't really matter given how quickly we all were moving. I was surprised to see the big guy with us, though, easily carrying the bags Leliana handed to him as he walked after Aiden and Morrigan, who were leading the way now that we were all together. I know I'd said to fight the Blight for atonement, but I was surprised to see him have taken it so seriously. I didn't even give him my name, or get his.

"He's called Sten." I looked up and saw Elspeth handing me a damp cloth to wipe down with. Wonderful. My skin was beginning to crawl. A quick glance showed she'd already handed towels off to Nuada and Alistair too. "He's of the Beresaad, the Vanguard of the Qunari," she told me. What was a 'qunari'? "He says you ordered him to follow?"

"I needed help," I defended, pressing the cloth against my neck. My muscles were starting to protest the fight now, and it did little to make me not sound pouty. "He… seemed like help."

"I'm simply confirming, not judging." She had a small smile on her face. "We will have to snatch some armor for him."

"Have Leliana do it." She was probably the only one who could return at this point.

"I shall recommend that to Aiden, then." She nodded. "Are you well?"

"Not noticing anything but muscle pain yet." I shrugged. "Layla will probably scold me, but let's just get the armor and follow that path fast."

"Very well." She scampered off and I returned my gaze to the village we were leaving behind, frowning as I was overcome with the sense of panic and dread.

Despite the victory here, this village… wasn't going to survive, was it? That's how all the fights would be, until we ended the Blight. So, no more time for rest. No more time for trying to figure out what happened at Ostagar. No more time for mourning the dead. We had to move. We were the only ones left who could do something.

Right. No pressure there. Fen'harel, I hated your tricks.


Author's Note: Just a little thing that took FOREVER to write. Hints of the destruction to come. Sten joins, yay! No, I didn't make up those convos with Leliana. Reference to the Alistair romance. Made mention of how when you fight your way out of Lothering in DA2, all of the darkspawn are marked as grunts and apprentices. Morrigan making the moves on Cleon… just a little thing. That took forever to write. I'm sorry.

Next Chapter – Moving on with Layla