Author's note: This Part will concentrate a little more on Edward and Nereid talking, and gloss over the Tower of Ishal sequence, which Dragon Age players should be well and truly familiar with. That might make it a little shorter than the previous two chapters.

Part 3

Nereid opened her eyes and looked around blearily. She was back in her tent, pitched over in the Grey Warden section of the King's camp. Someone had thrown a blanket across her and taken her boots off, which she could see near the tent flap. Sitting up, she felt a gnawing hunger as she stretched. She rolled out of the bed and pulled on her boots. Sticking her head outside of the tent, she noticed that the camp was very quiet. It seemed to be about midday, judging from the shadows on the ground. She crawled out of the tent and caught a whiff of a delightful savoury smell.

Following the source of the cooking smell, she saw Edward kneeling down near a fire. He had set up a pot and a skillet, and was occasionally swirling the skillet around to stop his bacon from sticking. He'd found some bread and sliced up a couple of pieces, which were sitting close by. Nereid, not wanting to startle the big man, cleared her throat with an "ahem!".

Edward half turned and smiled when he saw the elf. "Nereid! You're a sight for sore eyes" he said.

Nereid darted forwards and wrapped her arms around the big human. "Oh Edward, I'm so happy you're alive!"

Edward rubbed her back with his free arm, soothing the elf. "We're both alive, Nereid. Poor Jory and Daveth didn't make it." He hugged the elf, just a couple of friends who had both had a close brush with death.

Neried sniffed and then sighed. She hadn't known the two men for more than a day, but that still didn't mean she wasn't upset that they were both dead.

Edward gave her a gentle squeeze. "Let's get you something to eat, then we can honour our friends' passing."

Nereid let go of Edward and sat down by the fire. Edward pulled off the bacon and made a big sandwich, then sliced it in half and passed half to Nereid. Munching contentedly on the savoury food, she watched as Edward threw a few more rashers back into the pan. Edward sat up and joined the elf, enjoying his sandwich. After making a second sandwich and sharing it as before, Edward found a couple of apples and passed one to Nereid. While she crunched on the apple, he diced up some more bacon and threw it into the pot which he had near the edge of the fire.

"Edward, have you seen Alistair or Duncan?"

"I saw Duncan when I woke up"

"How long ago was that?"

"About an hour and a half ago. I woke up about an hour before you did."

"Do you know what they did with Daveth and Jory's bodies?"

"I didn't ask. I still can't believe Duncan killed Jory. He should have knocked him out or something."

"Yes what a waste" agreed Nereid.

"On the other hand I didn't think that Jory would pull his sword like he did" said Edward, sighing.

"I'll miss them, I think."

"Yeah, me too."

Nereid chucked her apple core into the fire, watching it blacken and shrivel.

"Nereid, do you feel any better today, since the Joining?" asked Edward.

Nereid pondered this, before nodding her head. "I do, yes. At first I thought it was the same, but that must have just been hunger pangs. The Joining must have cured me like Duncan said it would."

"That's good. This Joining seems to make me feel hungry though. I'll have to talk to Duncan or Alistair and see if that's normal."

"There might be other things they haven't told us, do you think?"

"For sure. We seem to have joined a very secretive bunch" said Edward, grinning at Nereid.

"What do you think we will be doing now?" asked Nereid.

"I guess the next battle will be fought tonight. Look up there - those clouds coming in means it'll probably rain as well. Great. Fighting in the rain is hard work" muttered Edward.

"Do you think we'll be in the battle?" asked Nereid.

"I'm not sure. I don't expect they'd put us up front as new Wardens, but I'm sure we'll see some action wherever we are. I heard from Duncan when we were coming here that Loghain has planned this battle along with the King, so we'll all have something to keep us busy."

"Who's Loghain?"

"General Loghain MacTir, Hero of the River Dane. A living legend and very sound tactician by all accounts."

"Did you fight with him when you were in the army?"

"No, we were a separate smaller unit based out of Denerim. We all knew about Loghain though, we grew up on stories of his adventures with King Maric when I was in the army."

Nereid thought about this new information and stretched, flicking her long blonde hair back while arching her back. "I'd love a bath" she murmurred.

Edward looked at his elven friend and smiled. "I've got some water boiling over there" he said, pointing at a fire close by. "You can have a hot wash at least. Sorry but its' the best we can manage here."

"Well you should talk to this Loghain or the King and get them to move the battle back to your place, where the amenities are better" laughed Nereid.

"I'll help you move some water to your tent, you'll have some privacy there" said Edward, getting up. He offered his hand to Nereid, who allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She found a bucket and half filled it with cold water, while Edward filled another bucket with hot water and brought it over to her tent. He excused himself when Nereid went inside and went back to his fire.

Alistair and Duncan had been collecting equipment for the other Grey Wardens, and seeing to the pyres for Daveth and Jory. Duncan had noted that Jory's wife would receive a small pension from the Wardens, as if Jory had fallen in the line of duty, which technically he had. "Alistair, we need to discuss these new recruits. In particular Edward."

Alistair grunted while walking beside Duncan, carrying some breastplates which had been fixed.

"There are two reasons I recruited him. First his skill in battle, which you saw in the wilds. What was your impression?"

Alistair stopped and let one of the breastplates drop to the ground with a clang. Duncan picked it up, seeing as his friend was overburdened. "He fights very well. He plans well. There's not much more to say, he's what you would expect from someone his rank in the army."

"What of his use of the other recruits?" asked Duncan, walking back towards the Warden camp with Alistair beside him.

"Oh yes, of course. He would have the elf shoot while he and I engaged in the middle, with Daveth and Jory cleaning up the edges. Textbook stuff."

"And they followed him. You followed him?" said Duncan, driving his point home.

Alistair thought and said "well... I suppose I did. Its' like he assumed command. Hmm. I didn't think about it at the time, but I was following his orders too."

"What of the darkspawn blood?"

"He had a backup plan in case we couldn't collect it all. Something to do with draining the corpses like a butcher."

"You can see the second reason I chose him is his thinking on the field. His career was made in a guerilla campaign, so he would have had to be flexible."

"He's a good recruit, you have chosen well. I'm glad he's survived."

"I can see that he'll make a formidable Warden. Once we are done here at Ostagar I want him training with the Orlesian Wardens with an aim to be a commander."

"What? Ahead of me?" cried Alistair.

"No, in addition to you. After the battle we will work out the details. We will need to discuss the archdemon with all of the Wardens. Some of you will be sent up for advanced training and some will move to recruiting" concluded Duncan.

After dropping the repaired armour back with the regular Wardens, Alistair and Duncan went to find their newest charges. They saw Edward was sharpening a sword while Nereid was using some leather strapping to weave a net. Her hair was damp, and it appeared that the recruits had been up and busy for a while.

"Good afternoon, Edward; Nereid" said Duncan.

"How long have you been up?" asked Alistair.

"About three hours. We've just been cleaning our armour and weapons" said Edward.

"The King and Loghain will be having a meeting in about an hour, and I want you two to accompany me there. This is a request from the King" said Duncan.

"I've got some questions, if you've got time, Duncan" said Edward.

"Certainly. I wanted to talk to both of you now that you are Wardens."

"I keep getting hungry. Is this normal?" asked Edward.

"It is. You will find that it can be managed, but Wardens in general eat a great deal more once they have taken the Joining. We suspect it is something to do with fighting the taint within us. You will notice that your skin will be warmer too, as your body burns off the food."

"Are there any other things that change?" asked Nereid.

Duncan looked at Alistair and sighed. May as well tell them the bad news now. Edward would probably be able to handle it, but the elf is so young... and female!

"There are two other major changes" started Duncan.

"Bad news, I take it?" said Edward, who had noticed the looks between Alistair and Duncan.

"You have changed your body to resist the taint. But ultimately, the taint will win out. Within two or three decades, you will succumb to the taint. At that time, you will have intense nightmares which tell you your time is close at hand. Traditionally, Wardens have left for Orzammar to die in battle with the darkspawn there."

"Why Orzammar?" asked Edward.

"The darkspawn breed in the tunnels below the dwarven kingdoms. There are always darkspawn to fight there" said Duncan, simply.

"So we only have twenty or thirty years of life left?" cried Nereid. "This is no cure, it's only a respite!"

"I can see why you keep that quiet, Duncan" said Edward, frowning.

"What's the other change?" spat Nereid.

"It is almost impossible for Grey Wardens to sire children" said Duncan.

"Oh this just gets better. I'm barren now?" asked Nereid.

"And I'm shooting blanks?" asked Edward.

"No, not really" said Alistair. "We haven't invented guns yet, so you won't be shooting blanks" he added.

Nereid stormed off to her tent. Edward watched her, then turned to Duncan. "That's a lot to take in in one go, Duncan. We have a battle to focus on, but now she'll be distracted."

"You asked" replied Duncan.

Edward sighed. "Duncan, knowing what is coming up, don't you think that just deflecting the question would have been a better idea? Its' too late now, but really that was one of the dumbest things I have seen for quite a while."

Alistair looked on in shock as his mentor cringed, knowing Edward was telling the truth.

"Look, you asked the question, you can't complain if you didn't like the answer" said Alistair, trying to defend Duncan.

Edward looked at Alistair, his eyes like flint. "Alistair, you told me before that you hadn't fought in the main battles. You had months to get used to what Duncan just told us. You're as green a recruit as Nereid is. You don't want distractions when you are in a fight. Look at what happened to Jory - when he was worrying about his wife he was uncoordinated. Once we calmed him down and got him focused, he was fine. Point is, you've basically taken away everything Nereid has to live for. I don't want a suicidal elf fighting alongside me."

Duncan spoke up "I apologise... you are correct, and I should have waited until after the battle."

"Alright. I'll talk to Nereid. We'll be at your meeting" said Edward, going over to Nereid's tent. He glared at the Wardens before entering.

"That.. didn't go too well, Duncan" said Alistair.

Duncan nodded and stomped off to his own tent, while Alistair idly poked a few sticks into the fire.

Edward looked at Nereid, who had curled up into a ball on her bedroll, facing away from the tent flap. "Nereid?" he asked, entering the tent. Nereid rolled over, her eyes reddened and wet. She looked up at Edward and said "come to cheer me up?"

Edward sat down and looked at her. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it."

Nereid nodded.

Edward continued, "I was looking forward to having children some day."

Nereid sniffed, saying "so was I. As part of the clan, children are encouraged and welcomed."

"Was Tamlen the one you wanted as the father?" asked Edward.

"No, Tamlen was like a brother to me, but I was hoping Fenarel would be the father" said Nereid. "It all seems so long ago now."

Nereid looked over at her human friend and asked "what was your wife like?"

Edward stared at her before saying "Lisa was one of a kind. A wonderful woman, strong and healthy. She loved life and when she fell pregnant, well I thought this was my own slice of heaven. She had long hair like yours, but hers was a chestnut colour. Her eyes were bright blue, like yours."

"What was the child?"

"A son. We were going to call him Andrew" said Edward.

"Do you still miss her?"

"Yeah. At first it was hard, but after a few weeks I began working again, mainly to keep my mind occupied. Eventually the bad dreams stopped and things started to get back in order. I would still sometimes think I'd see her. Like a curtain blowing in the wind, or catching a smell from her clothes. But time has a great way of healing."

"Thanks, Edward" said Nereid.

"What for?" he asked.

"I do feel better. You've been able to get over something like that" said Nereid. She rolled up onto her knees and straightened her hair, pulling the blonde locks back into a ponytail.

"Let's see what this King has in store for us, and worry about the rest tomorrow" said Edward with a grin.

"Take things one step at a time, you mean" said Nereid.

"Exactly."