- Chapter 9: The Witch of the Weyrs -
Everyone was well rested by the next morning. They had left the old man back in Seleny with a purse full of coins and set sail for the Tellari Swamps through the nation's major river. The sky was getting darker by the time they got close to the mysterious flooded area.
"We can't go any further, Captain!" a crew elf named Celso shouted from the edge of the deck.
"The waters are too shallow!" The elf was waiting for instructions from his Captain; he had sailed tirelessly, so he wiped the sweat from his tanned forehead and looked at Isabela with his dark brown eyes, his pointy ears peeking out of his unruly brown hair. Next to him and waiting for instructions as well was Anselmo, another crew elf. He was a few years older than Celso and his pale blue eyes contrasted with his dark, long hair. He had more muscle than his younger friend, probably because he had been pulling ropes on ships before Celso even knew how to walk. He too was sweating, so wearing something over his bare chest was unthinkable; some scars were visible on his back, remnants of a past we would not dare tell anyone.
Isabela mused over her thoughts for a while. Although they were in shallow waters, it was still too deep for them to swim to shore. "The row boat," she muttered to herself. "Celso, drop the anchor! Anselmo, get the row boat ready!" she shouted as she paced about the deck.
She walked towards Varric, Alistair and Elissa. Her three companions were just standing on the edge of her ship, in silence. She addressed the two men, who were both looking quite relaxed, looking over the darkened sky. "My loves, I hope you like rowing." She smiled at Elissa and put an arm over her. "It's the girls' night out, so the men will do the work."
"You know, I think Prince here should be the one rowing," Varric replied. Alistair looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and Varric noticed. "It's not as if I'm going to make any difference, with my shorter arms and all."
Isabela let out a giggle and patted the dwarf on his back. "Shorter arms is not a synonym for lesser… attributes. You can do your part of the job just fine."
"You know Rivaini, I'm not sure if that is actually a compliment or if you're just trying to convince me to do all your hard work," Varric said while looking at the taller woman with a smirk on his face. "But you won this time. Let's go."
Alistair and Elissa looked at each other and shrugged, amused by the banter between the two old friends. They hadn't spoken about what had happened the day before – they didn't need to, as they both knew it meant nothing. He had been there for her, just like in the old days; it only made their friendship – much to Alistair's disappointment – stronger. She knew she could fully trust him, just like Alistair had been doing since he met her again. Even though he was still holding on the possibility that there might be something between them, for now he was happy they were getting back on track.
The four companions stepped into the small boat and Varric pulled the ropes so that it could slowly descend to the still waters of the swamp. As soon as they got down, both Varric and Alistair grabbed a paddle and started to row. Varric seemed like he was handling his job just fine, but Alistair couldn't quite synchronize with his fellow dwarf; Varric rowed to his right side and Alistair did the same, making the boat sail in tiny circles.
"I take it you don't have much experience in rowing, do ya Prince?" Varric asked Alistair teasingly.
Elissa and Isabela were at the front of the small boat. They both giggled at Alistair's inexperience, and once they looked at him they saw him as red as a plump, juicy tomato. The young king, who was on the opposite side of the two lovely ladies and behind Varric, had never even picked up a paddle.
"You're the one who's rowing to the same side as I am!" Alistair replied, trying to regain some of his pride.
Varric rolled his eyes and tried to steer the king. "Okay, fine. Let's start again; I'll row always to the left, and you'll row always to the right. We only need to go forward. Ready?"
Alistair nodded and at the count of three from Varric, each of them stuck to his own side. Finally the boat sailed straight ahead through the still, dark waters of the swamp.
There were no more giggles or light jokes now. They traveled in silence, paying close attention to every sound that surrounded them as they sailed to the shore, as there was almost no light because of the dense vegetation and night was getting closer. The smallest cracking sound that came from deep inside the forest would make the group alert, and it took a while before their eyes adapted to the impending darkness. Flickers of light could be seen at a distance - probably fireflies. As they got closer, the temperature dropped immensely. Elissa cursed herself for leaving her trustworthy cloak in The Siren's Call.
Even if they didn't admit it, everyone in the small group had a strange feeling lodged deep in their gut. They had been in swamps, marshes and dark forests, but this place was over the top with creepiness. The air was heavy but cold, and it seemed deprived of life. The lack of light made it worst altogether.
Finally they reached shallow water and stepped out of the boat. The air smelled of fresh, wet grass with metal tones on it, probably because of all the mud they were in.
Once they all got out of the water, Isabela looked down at her dirty clothes. "Ugh, I hate swamps. They're all kinds of creepy and they mess up my clothes." She looked forward into the darkness and then to the ground. "There are some kind of tracks here."
"Animal or human?" Elissa asked, walking closer to her and looking at where she was pointing.
"Both. Though I can't tell which animal these belong to – they're far too big for a bear…"
Elissa and Alistair looked at each other with a bit of panic in their eyes. They knew that wherever there was a witch there was always a beast, and they were hoping not to find a fourth one to battle.
Isabela caught their silent conversation. "So am I correct to assume that you both know what these craters belong to?"
"We might have an idea," said Alistair, with worry spreading across his face.
Varric came closer to them, mud up to his hips. "Care to tell the peasants, your royal highness?"
The word flew out of Elissa's lips in a whisper, for fear that she could draw its attention just by saying it. "Dragons."
Isabela looked at her in shock. "Dragons? I thought they were extinct, except for that Flemeth woman!"
"When there's a Witch of the Wilds, there's a dragon nearby." Alistair unsheathed his sword and raised his large ironbark shield. It had a wolf pelt on it to protect his torso, and as he walked through the thick vegetation its gold borders reflected the faint light that came through the trees. "Follow the tracks and lead the way. Please."
"How sweet, the king asked me to do something politely!" Isabela smiled and joined her hands at the center of her chest. "If only it would have been something else in a whole other place…!"
Elissa let out a small giggle as she grabbed her sword and dagger. She had her bow and some arrows strapped to her back, so this time she was fully prepared for whatever might come – even though the lack of visibility would not let her practice her archery for the time being.
Isabela cut some vegetation with her daggers to make way, following the tracks she had seen before. They all heard a loud sound somewhere far away and stopped, ready to engage in combat. They couldn't tell where that sound came from or what in Thedas it was, so they stayed put trying to figure it out. It sounded like a thunder, but the small pieces of sky they could see remained as dark as ever.
"That sound is getting closer," Alistair stated, trepidation lingering in his voice.
Soon enough, the trees that stood in front of the party were ripped away by massive, powerful claws that belonged to a full grown High Dragon with strong, shiny purple scales. It roared and its echo spread through the entire swamp, sending birds flying away and animals scattering across the forest floor.
Isabela was the first one to attack; she jumped, wielding her daggers in order to rip apart the dragon's flesh, but it just threw her away with a swift move from its gigantic tail without her even scratching it.
"You need to run, now!" Varric shouted at Alistair while he loaded Bianca with an explosive arrow.
The king was stubborn and instead of running he tried to place himself strategically so he could strike the dragon and inflict as much damage as he could. Meanwhile, Elissa slid between the beast's gigantic legs and spiked its underbelly with her dagger. It cried in pain and with a sudden movement of its legs it threw Elissa against a tree; she hit her head and passed out immediately.
Varric was about to shoot at it when its big red eyes spotted him. The dragon lifted up its paw and locked the dwarf underneath it, rendering him unable to move.
"Elissa!" Alistair shouted as he ran to his friend's unconscious body. He took her in his arms and tried to feel her heartbeat, completely ignoring the menace that stood just a few feet away from him.
The High Dragon, however, took notice of the young king. It stretched out its neck menacingly in Alistair's direction, but then suddenly stopped. Alistair felt his blood pumping hastily through his veins, waiting hopelessly for the dragon's final blow, cursing himself for being so careless. His sword and shield were right next to him, on the ground, but he knew that as soon as he made any kind of movement the beast would strike him dead. He just stayed there, kneeling with the love of his life in his arms, who was completely unaware of what was happening. Alistair wouldn't dare to move. His eyes were locked on the dragons', waiting.
After a few silent moments during which Alistair could hear perfectly his own racing heart, the dragon finally let out a huge puff of smoke from its nostrils and just stood there, looking at him without moving.
Isabela finally stood, still shaking and covered in mud. She looked incredulously at the beast, daggers still in hand. "It's not attacking…?"
Alistair felt Elissa moving in his arms. She coughed and slowly seemed to regain her senses. The noblewoman was still a bit dizzy and the sight of a dragon so close to her made her startle in fear; she frantically started to search for her weapons and breathing heavily. Alistair put a hand on her cheek to calm her down, and she understood him by looking into his eyes. Her heartbeat slowed down, but she couldn't let go of the grip she was holding on her blades once she found them.
Alistair stood, leaving Elissa leaned on the tree, still sitting. With his sword on hand, he got closer to the dragon. "Yavana?" he tried. He knew witches could shapeshift, as he had seen with both Flemeth and Morrigan.
"No." A sleek figure came from behind the gigantic beast. It was a curvy woman with long black hair and a headdress that resembled a dragon's skull. She was holding a wooden staff with some animal's skull on top of it, and wearing a black and red corset that held a piece of red cloth that served as some kind of skirt. Her shoulder armor held a red cloak in place, and she had thigh-high leather boots. "I am Yavana."
Elissa got up, still panting. A flash of pain struck her in her head, but she maintained her position in case things went sour. She noticed Varric was not there; she scanned the area with her eyes without moving her head, and she found him below the dragon's paw. He was still breathing, which was a good thing, but he remained quiet.
Yavana caressed the dragon and spoke to it in an unknown tongue. Her last orders to it, however, were understandable by the king and his companions – "Return to the grove." The huge beast then released Varric and leapt into the sky, leaving behind it a clearing in the woods.
When Alistair's eyes finally stopped following the wild beast through the sky, they rested back on the strange woman before him. "Why didn't it kill us?" he asked, approaching the witch slowly, not trusting her enough to sheath his sword.
Yavana curled one side of her lip. "She can smell the old blood in you, Son of Kings. You have come a long way." She reached to caress his chin.
Great. Just great. Another witch that speaks in riddles. He stepped away from her once he felt her touch, as it had given him an eerie feeling throughout his entire body. Her hands were cold and her golden eyes – just like Morrigans' – showed no emotion at all. "Don't. I knew Morrigan – I certainly don't trust you."
Elissa's mind traveled back about eight years ago, when they first met Morrigan; her mother had saved them from the top of the Tower of Ishal, so they had been in debt to her – that's the reason why they had agreed on letting Morrigan tag along with them. She and Morrigan became good friends, even though the noblewoman and the witch often did not share the same opinion; Alistair, on the other hand, never trusted her and they used to pick on one another, at times with violent words. Of course their relationship only got worse when they were 'forced' to have sex with each other in order for their own plans to happen. Elissa knew this was only out of necessity and understood, even though her relationship with Alistair had ended just the night before. She missed her sometimes but she was a woman of her word, so she did not follow Morrigan because she had asked her not to.
By the time Elissa caught up with reality, Alistair had an angered look on his face and Yavana had turned the way she came from to leave them.
"Go back whence you came, Son of Kings," she said. "Nothing but misery awaits you here."
Varric still had Bianca in his hands and he promptly aimed it at the mysterious witch. "When has that stopped a cheerful bunch like us? Don't make me introduce you to Bianca."
Yavana turned around menacingly and Alistair tried to calm Varric down. "I've only come for one thing," he said as he touched the dwarf on his shoulder. He looked at Yavana and calmly added, "You freed my father from a Crow prison. Tell me why. Tell me what happened."
"Very well," the witch replied. "Follow." Yavana turned her back to them and walked back towards the dense forest.
Isabela gave Alistair a questioning look, to which he nodded. Isabela and Varric walked right behind her, while Alistair put a hand in Elissa's back to help keep her steady, as she was trembling all over.
"Are you alright?"
She was shivering, with her eyes fixed on one spot. She seemed to break her mind free from wherever it was being held captive and looked at Alistair with widened eyes for a moment, like she didn't recognize him. Elissa looked down at her fingers. They were pale white because of all the strength she had made to keep her weapons locked and combat-ready. She sheathed them near her waist and looked back at her hands in fingerless gloves. She couldn't feel her fingers, so she tried to move them to get the blood flowing again. "I'm fine, I just… got lost somewhere along the road."
Alistair looked at her from top to bottom, trying to figure out if something happened to her while he was busy speaking to that eerie witch. He didn't find anything unusual, so they started walking to meet the others. "How's your head? You hit it pretty hard back there."
Elissa lifted a hand to the back of her head. The simple movement of her hair flowing with the wind caused her discomfort, and the touch of her fingers gave her a throbbing pain through her entire skull. When she looked back at her fingers she let out a breath she was holding – at least she wasn't bleeding. "It hurts a lot, but it's not much to worry about."
"Glad to hear it," he said with a faint smile. He kept a hand on the small of her back, touching her lightly just in case she would stumble or lose consciousness. Elissa was still feeling light headed, and even though she didn't feel very comfortable with Alistair being so caring towards her, she wouldn't deny any help he could give her because she knew she had no full control over her body in that moment.
The path had been opened through the forest by Yavana – there were missing trees in peculiar places and the remaining vegetation was arranged in an unnatural way, as if it were caused by some dark magic. The little shrubs that managed to stay alive were barely so, mainly because the bits that were nearest to the path had a strange tone of brown on them.
After walking for a while in silence – except for Isabela's occasional "Ouch!" every time her bare upper leg touched a thorn – they reached a clearing. The full moon was high in the sky, which told them they had been in the woods for a few hours now. A white building rested in the center of that clearing, and the same sound that had tormented them before came back as the huge dragon extended its wings to soar and then landed on top of the construction. It had an eerie and mysterious look to it, like it was something out of a different age with many stories and secrets stored inside it.
"The Silent Grove," Yavana announced, extending her arm to present it to them. "Built after the fall of the Tevinter Imperium, by those who knew that dragons would need protection."
Varric was marveled by those white marble columns. "What would dragons need protecting from?" he asked while still looking at them.
She responded with a hiss. "The ignorance of mankind. How many heroes hunted dragons over the centuries, until almost none were left? It was nearly a tragedy for us all."
"Yes. Tragic, the thought of a land without flying monsters." Isabela kept her eyes on the beast, worried that it might suddenly change its mind and try to eat all of them.
Yavana looked back at her precious pet. "In destroying what it does not understand, mankind would destroy itself."
"You speak like you're not part of mankind." Everyone turned around at the sound of Elissa's voice; apparently she had gotten enough of her strength back to attack the witch with her words.
Yavana smiled, noticing with surprise the audacity of the fragile woman. "What I am is something you would not understand." She turned around and started walking to the Grove. "The blood of dragons is the blood of the world." She looked back to see if the trespassers were following and added, "Another subject beyond your comprehension."
Alistair had had enough of riddles and witches. He angrily grabbed Yavana's right arm, getting dangerously close to her face. "Meaning you don't understand either, but it's what your mother told you. What does any of this have to do with Maric?"
The witch broke free from the king's grasp and took a step back, but she kept calm. "Years ago, my mother saved your father's life."
"Isn't it amazing that Flemeth is constantly saving people?" Elissa interrupted. She was moody, had a bad headache, and the witch was starting to get on her nerves. "You should give her the title Healer of the Kingdom, Alistair."
Yavana lifted her chin and looked up and down at her with scorn in her eyes. "Maric was permitted to restore his kingdom and play ruler until his children were grown. But after, he was to come to me here."
"Why?" Alistair asked.
"Because I could not perform my task alone," Yavana simply said.
Just like Elissa and Alistair, Varric was losing his patience with the Witch of the Weyrs. "Believe me, I enjoy an oath-and-dragon tale as much as the next man but even I know where to cut the cryptic garbage and reach the point. What happened to his father? Did you kill King Maric?"
Yavana stared at the dwarf for a while. "I did not kill him – I cannot speak for others." She climbed the first couple of steps that led to the Grove's interior. She turned her face towards them and stopped. "Now you have all the answers anyone will ever give, so consider my advice a mercy: abandon your quest. What you seek is forever beyond your reach."
Alistair had had enough. His eyes twinkled with anger and despair as he walked towards Yavana in a menacing way, getting close to the stairs. "Enough! You brought us here – don't you dare turn away!"
Yavana was already on the last step. She turned around and whispered some words neither of the companions knew of. Suddenly Alistair was stopped by some kind of wild, living, prickly branches that erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around him, ripping through his flesh where the armor wasn't protecting it. He was forced to drop his sword and he was struggling to break free.
Elissa ran to him, weapons in hand, and started to cut off the largest branches, quickly followed by Isabela.
"I permitted this much out of respect for your father," Yavana said as she turned around and entered the building. "Take consolation in the fact that his life had meaning. Most do not."
"Neither will yours when I finish you!" shouted Elissa in anger. Either the witch didn't hear her or decided to ignore her; whatever she had done, she was now gone and the huge dragon guarded the door, preventing anyone from coming in.
Varric shouted, bringing Elissa back to reality. "Just cut him loose and let's go! That dragon looks hungry."
Author's note: Oh my, it's been one full month since I updated this story! I'm very, very sorry, but things got in the way and I had a bit of trouble with this chapter - mainly the banter between Varric and Isabela. I'm replaying Dragon Age 2, so hopefully from now on I'll be able to get into their minds, so to speak. I'll try to post more often this time!
I'd like to give a huge thanks to LyriumLove for her precious help on this chapter :)