(Jace)

A huge, spiky dragon was waiting on a blackened cliff, issuing orders. He roared them out, not talking. I wish he could understand what he's saying. Suddenly, the dragon stops, and stares right at me. Fear strikes into my heart, and I scream, but no one can hear me.

Why do I have to do this in the Fade? Fire issues from the dragon's mouth, and bathes over me. Hot, so hot... my flesh is burning. Mama, Mama, save me from the beast... please...

The dragon ripples, Fade scape changing. Everything zooms in closer, showing me the horrible detail of the dragon. A growl issues from it's mouth, and I can hear but one word echo in my head: Archdemon.

I jolt awake, sitting up from the cobblestones. I feel hot, sticky, and more terrified then when the templars came to get me. I catch my breath, and look up to Alistair and Duncan. I stood up slowly, wondering how long I'd been out. Jory and Daveth's bodies were not where they had been.

"Thank goodness one of you survived. Only one person in my Joining died," Alistair said softly. "Oh! I forgot. Here,"" Alistair pressed a pendent into my hand. I held it up so I could see it better. The pendent was the griffon that was the Grey Warden's crest, made of silver and glass. I could see that in the dim light, blood sloshed around in the glass part of the pendent. I glanced up questioningly at Alistair, "It's some of the leftover blood from the chalice. It's to remember those who didn't make it."

I nodded, clutching the pendent in my hand. The rough edges digging into my palm. Duncan cleared his throat, "The king has asked us to a meeting. It just over there, to the east. Take your time, the King is not expecting you for a while yet."

I nodded, "Thank you," I winced at how torn my throat felt. It was hoarse, but strong. Thank the Maker. I feel like a little girl. All shaky, and unsure.

Alistair left, smiling weakly at me. I wanted to sneer, but couldn't find the strength. I sighed, I'll go to the Quartermaster, sell the things we found in the Wilds, then I want a hot meal.

I sold what I could, keeping what I thought could be useful in the upcoming battle. I bought myself a backpack, and shuffled my belongings around, trying to put less stress on my shoulders. I sighed, raking a hand over my forehead, Creators, Maker... This has been a bad day.

I walked into the kitchen tent, and was immediately sat down beside a fellow Grey Warden. He was wearing thick plate mail, the Warden crest on the breastplate. He looked down at me as I devoured the stew placed in front of me, realizing I felt starving.

He laughed, "Just like Alistair! Don't worry, the hunger will fade."

I tore into the bread, wondering what was making me so damn hungry. The Warden paused, "I am Darrian."

"Jace," I mumbled in between bites.

"You're Duncan's new recruit, right? The elven mage?"

I rolled my eyes, and snapped my fingers. A bright flame sprung from my hand, and danced in the air before fizzling and dying. Darrian laughed, "That's good. We need as many mages as we can get, you guys are extremely handy."

I nodded, "Duncan said," I grabbed the tankard of ale, or mead- wasn't sure which. I downed most of it in one go.

Darrian chuckled again, and stood, "Nice to meet you, I'm sure you'll come in handy during the battle."

I smiled, feeling marginally fuller, "Thanks."

Darrian left, and I finished my meal. When I was done, I snuck by the servants, and nicked a flask of mead and a loaf of bread. I put them into my pack, and left the tent. I stretched, looking into the evening sky. The stars were appearing already, I sighed, wishing I was on my own. I shook myself internally; I could escape from the Grey Wardens later.

I walked back to the old Temple, turning left instead of right. Duncan, the King, and a man in plate armour were already there. The man in plate mail had a pinched face, with a sour expression on his face. His black hair was long, but pulled back so it wouldn't get in the way of his eyes.

I stood beside Duncan, looking at the large map spread on the table in front of me. I looked down, most of it looking like complete gibberish. Duncan looked at me, "This is Loghain."

I nodded curtly at the black haired man, meeting his narrow eyes. He sneered at me, and leaned over the map. The whispers grew more frantic; doom.. stop this...slaughter... Jace steeled himself, clenching his jaw. Shut up.

"Alright, the darkspawn will attack here. We'll meet them here. The catapults will be here, here, and here," Loghain said, pointing to the spots on the map.

"I remember. You will be over here, awaiting the signal from the Tower of Ishal."

Loghain nodded, "We have men stationed at the tower to await your signal."

"Good. You will be with your troops, and I will be on the front lines with the Wardens."

Loghain's eyes darkened, "I don't think that is a good idea, your Majesty-"

"Nonsense, I need to keep morale up, and if I do not fight, the troops will be upset."

You can stop this... One paper cut, and you can make him leave.

Jace shook his head, covering the movement by moving some of the loose strands of hair out of my eyes. I looked over at Duncan, "What do you need me to do?"

"I trust Loghain's men, but I think I should send you and Alistair to the Tower of Ishal to make sure the signal is lit," Cailan said, looking at me.

"You trust these Grey Wardens too much, Cailan," Loghain grumbled.

"I want this battle to go smoothly, I'm just being cautious."

"Of course."

Cailan turned back to me, "Can you do this?"

I blinked, I'm not going to be in the main battle? Damn, "Yes. Of course."

Cailan smiled, and nodded, "Good. I'll let you get ready. The battle will start in a few hours, our scouts are tracking the horde."

Duncan nodded, "I'll tell Alistair, don't worry about letting him know."

I nodded, "Thank you, ser," I bowed stiffly, and left.

As I walked away, I felt the tension drain from my muscles, and the voices quieted. I sighed in relief, and walked down to the Grey Warden's tent. The fire was still burning bright, with several Wardens sitting around it, talking.

A few smiled at me, and I nodded back, slipping into the tent. I can talk to them tomorrow, or after the battle. I looked around the dimly lighted tent, and found Darrian sitting on a cot, sharpening his sword. He looked up, "Hello. Resting up before the battle?"

I nodded, "Yes. Which cot?-"

"This one here," Darrian pointed to his left. I nodded, slipped off my boots, and collapsed onto the bed.

I shut my eyes, and soon fell asleep.

(LINE BREAK)

"Jace," someone was shaking my shoulder.

I cracked open an eye, head pounding, "What?" Why did I feel so bad? Had I drank too much at dinner again?

"Jace, the battle is starting. We need to get going, so we can light the signal." Oh, it's Alistair.

I sat up slowly, wincing as the pain in my head escalated. I looked around, no one was there, except Darrian, he was putting on metal plate armour. I slipped on my boots, and stood. Alistair looked worried, and was already in his armour.

Darrian strapped on an armpiece, and checked himself over. He nodded, and walked to stand in front of me, "Good luck. I doubt you will face much fighting, but this is still your first battle."

"Thank you.. Good luck to you as well," The words felt odd on my tongue, but I knew I meant them.

Darrian thought for a moment, and pressed a small coin into my hand, "Here. This is a good luck token. It was given to me before my first battle. Keep it safe."

I looked at it, it was silver, and larger than most coins, "Where did you get this?"

"My mentor, the man who recruited me. He never told me where he got it, and only laughed when I asked," Darrian clapped a massive hand on my shoulder, "Good luck," he spun on his heel and left, double checking his armour.

I spun the coin in my hand, and tucked it into my pocket, "Let's go. I assume you know the signal we're looking for to light the fire?"

Alistair nodded, "I've been briefed on everything."

We made our way through the mostly deserted camp, and toward the bridge. I looked over the edge to see torch light, and moving bodies far below. A battle was waging below.

Alistair and I raced across the bridge, avoiding the enemies' catapult fire. When we rounded a corner, we saw men battling darkspawn. There shouldn't be darkspawn here! I charged in, dagger's drawn before Alistair could even process what was going on. I slashed at the nearest darkspawn, blood splattering over my clothing. Using magic, I blasted two darkspawn away from an overwhelmed guard, who took down the remaining darkspawn, and helped one of the others.

Alistair roared out a battle cry, and I continued to slaughter the darkspawn using magic and metal. The darkspawn were soon killed, two remaining guards joined Alistair and I as we cautiously entered the first floor.

Darkspawn were milling around, and we had to fight all of them. We moved through the tower, clearing room after room of darkspawn. We cleared three floors before reaching the last one. I opened the door and felt myself feel faint, room spinning.

In the middle of the large room, was an ogre. It held a man that had been ripped in half, and appeared to be eating him. The ogre turned around, and roared at us. Spit and blood flew out of its mouth, and it dropped its kill. It crouched, and I ran to the side as fast as I could, feeling the ogre barrel past me. I turned around to see that the ogre had crushed one of the men with us, Alistair and the remaining guard had moved out of the way.

I ran toward the signal, and cast a spell at the mound of wood. It burst into flames, and I turned my attention back to the ogre. It was swinging its large hands at Alistair, who was staying close to the feet of the ogre. The other man was standing back, shooting arrows at the large head. I panted for a moment, debating about what I could do.

Kill it with fire, lest you are consumed like meat! The voices screamed.

I felt my head begin to pound, and threw a fireball at the back of the ogre. It roared in pain, and turned to me. I threw ice at it, hoping to get its attention so Alistair could kill it from behind. I kept throwing spells at it, and ran away when needed.

I felt exhausted, and was wondering if Alistair was even hitting it anymore. Bruises along my ribcage burned, and my muscles were shaking with fatigue. I could feel my mana running low, and I had no way to replenish it, unless I used it.

I was just about to swallow my pride, and dive at the thing when I saw Alistair cling to the things back, and stab it over, and over. The ogre fell, and my legs collapsed, I fell to the blood slick ground, to see Alistair repeatedly stab it over and over.

"Alistair," I croaked, weakly sitting up, "Alistair, It's dead. We-we need to help Duncan."

I looked out of the large section of the room that had fallen away, toward the direction of Loghain's troops.

They were retreating, leaving the main battlefield. I heard Alistair clunk forward, "Why are they leaving? Loghain should be helping!"

"I don't know," I pulled myself to my feet, and looked around. The voices were clambering for attention, all shouting different things at the same time, "We need to get out of here."

Fear and a sense of doom was rising in the back of my throat like bile, "We need to get out."

Alistair looked at me, and nodded numbly. We ran out of the tower, the exhausted guard following. We stumbled into the Kocari Wilds. I ran like I had never ran before, even while being chased by templars. I heard the guard fall with a grunt of pain, and increased my pace.

My foot got tangled on a root, and fell. I felt and heard my head hit a stone, and I blacked out.

(LINE BREAK)

I cracked an eye open, sure I was dead, or at least in the Fade. A blurry cabin focused in my vision, and Morrigan's face appeared, "Ah. You wake at last. Your friend will be pleased."

My tongue felt thick, "Alistair? What happened?" I slowly sat up, and regretted it immediately, I felt my magic roll around in my stomach, and I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat. I looked around, and blinked, clearing my vision.

"The man that was supposed to respond to your signal left the field. Almost all of the forces left there died, including the King."

I nodded slowly, "Are there any survivors?"

"A few. Mostly those who realized they were losing and fled. A few mages managed to get off the field, escorted by their templars."

"Good," I swung my feet over the side of the bed, and stretched. I felt the residue of powerful healing magic still in my system. I looked around, and saw a bare, small hut.

Morrigan looked at me, "You have healed well. Your belongings are in the chest at the end of the bed. I will be making some stew for dinner," She strode into another part of the cabin, leaving me alone.

I sighed, and got dressed in my robes, double checking all of my things to make sure I still had all of my belongings. I put on my robes, and jumped when a small metallic clank sounded. I looked down, and saw the coin Darrian gave me.

I picked it up, and put it back into my pocket. I shoved the mass of grief and confusion I was feeling into the back of my mind. I sighed, and walked out into the dampness of the Kocari Wilds.

Morrigan's mother and Alistair were outside, Alistair spun to face me, "You... You're alive."

I nodded, "Yes. So are you," sarcasm filled my voice.

Alistair looked hurt, "I-I just... Everyone's gone. If it weren't for Morrigan's mother, we wouldn't be alive."

"Do not talk like I am not here."

"I'm sorry, but you never said what to call you."

"Names are irrelevant. The Chasind call me Flemeth, that will have to suffice."

Alistair blinked, "Flemeth? Flemeth from the legends?"

"Yes."

I looked at her, she didn't seem all powerful. Using my senses, I cautiously used tendrils of magic to test the magic around us. The magic was ancient, and powerful. I swallowed, "Asha'belannar."

Alistair looked confused. Flemeth smiled, "Ah. You are of Dalish decent?"

"My mother was Dalish. Her clan found much of the Elvish language. She taught me all she could."

"Good. The Elvish language is amazing, but not used enough."

I nodded, "I agree."

Alistair stared at me, stunned. I rolled my eyes, ire building in my chest, "What do we do?" I asked him, "You're the senior Warden here. We need to get help, the Blight is a serious problem."

Alistair blanched, "I-I can't lead. If I do, everything will go wrong. We'll find ourselves being shipped off to Antiva with nothing but our skivvies."

I blinked.. is he being serious? I ran a hand over my forehead, pinching the bridge of my nose, "That still doesn't answer my question."

Alistair thought for a moment, "We need to stop the Blight."

"Obviously, but there are only two of us. Every other Blight has been quelled with an army!"

Alistair's face brightened, "The treaties!"

"The treaties? You gave those to Duncan."

"He gave them back just before the battle," Alistair's voice cracked, "just in case."

"What do they cover?"

"We can request aid from elves, dwarves, and mages," Alistair looked excited, "and I know the Arl of Redcliffe! Arl Eamon was Cailan's uncle! He'll help us."

"I don't know, but mages, elves, dwarves, and this Arl sounds like an army to me," Flemeth butted it.

I nodded slowly. I sighed, "Fine... We can do this."

Alistair nodded. Flemeth examined me for a minute, "I have something else to offer you, Grey Warden, if you will take it."

Morrigan came out of the hut, "The stew is bubbling on the fire. Shall we have guests for the eve, or none?"

"The Grey Wardens are leaving, and you are going with them."

"Such a- what?"

"You have been itching to get out of the Wilds for years. This is your chance to do so."

"Allow me to gather my things," Morrigan left, and returned a short time later.

"Thank you," I told Flemeth, "For saving us."

"I couldn't have all the Wardens die at once."

Morrigan stepped toward her mother, and I moved away, not wanting to interfere with the goodbye. I sighed, and Morrigan walked over to Alistair and I, "I shall be your guide. Follow me."

We walked away from Flemeth's hut, and out into the Wilds.

(LINE BREAK)
Another chapter done! Exams are starting next Tuesday (the 18th) so I may not update until after next Wednesday. After that, though, my updating should increase because of it being summer and all.