The Dragon and the Griffon
A/N: Draco Cousland is a Warrior whom Duncan recruited from Highever. Irasabeth Tabris is a rouge Duncan found in the Elven Alienage. This is going to be the story about how these two very different people become close friends and took on the Blight with their small band of misfit allies.
A big old thanks to my beta Lisa! You are a lifesaver!
PS: Alright I'm glad you all enjoyed the saucy last chapter. Now then here we are at the discovery of what happened in the Castle Redcliff. Enjoy folks.
Chapter 8: Mages, Spirits, and Demons…oh my
Draco dropped down into the tunnels under the Castle with a small grunt. He looked around until he found a torch and lit it.
"Is it safe?" Irasabeth called from above him.
"Yeah, but it's a long drop," he said as he set the torch in a stand and looked up to the hole above him, "jump down and I'll catch you."
Alistair nodded to Irasabeth and Leliana, "you two go down first."
Irasabeth nodded as she holstered her bow and jumped down. She landed with a grunt in Draco's arms and smiled. "Nice catch."
"Like I'd ever let you fall flat on your arse, funny as it would be," Draco laughed.
Irasabeth shook her head as she got out of his arms and moved out of the way. "Your turn Leliana!" She called up and then moved around and saw the door.
The nimble redhead jumped down and landed with grace in Draco's arms. "My, my, how strong you are." She giggled.
Draco smirked at her, "all the better to catch beautiful women in my arms such as you."
"And a charmer, it is too bad that you are not on my team," she laughed.
Draco set her down with a small laugh and looked up, "alright Alistair, it's your turn!" He called up.
Alistair took a deep breath and jumped down, grunting slightly as he landed in Draco's arms. The two women shook their heads as they walked through the door to scout ahead and give the two men some alone time.
The other man smiled as he set him down, "there you go." He said with a smile as he tightened his arms around the smaller man.
Alistair blushed hotly, "um…you can let go now…"
Draco smirked, "and what if I don't want to?"
Alistair's blush deepened as he looked up at Draco, who seemed to be getting closer.
"Hey lovebirds….we have a problem!" Irasabeth yelled as she poked her head through the doorway, "dead things, and lots of them!"
The two men cursed and darted through the door to see Leliana rapidly firing arrows with her deadly accuracy. Draco darted forward and slammed into the monsters at full speed with his shield. They quickly dispatched the monsters and were ready to move on when Irasabeth stopped in front of a cell. A pale hand reached out and grabbed her wrist, making the elf scream.
"Irasabeth!" Alistair yelled as he grabbed the hand tightly.
"Wait, wait, don't hurt me!" The man in the cell cowered.
Draco put his hand on Alistair's arm, "hang on Alistair, this man is a mage."
"A mage? What is a mage doing here?"
"I was hired by Lady Isolde to tutor her son."
"Why would a mage-"
"Connor's got magical talent…doesn't he?" Irasabeth asked.
The mage nodded and proceeded to tell them the story. The four people sat stunned and Draco sighed. "Of course, it can't be a simple case of random violence and evil."
Irasabeth gave him a weary smile, "when it involves us? No."
Draco heaved a great sigh and shook his head, "well great, let me guess…Connor probably made a deal with a demon to make his dad all better, right?"
Everyone, even the mage gaped at him and he shrugged. "I read a lot of books and have a couple of friends in the Circle Tower."
"You have friends in the Circle Tower? I didn't know they were allowed to keep outside contact."
"They're not." The mage in the cell said.
Draco shrugged, "so I broke a few rules because I'm a Teyrn's son. I was also a young horny little bastard when they took a really good friend of mine to the Circle."
Alistair and the man in the cell blushed scarlet while the girls giggled. "Alright, moving on. Who are you?" Alistair said.
"Jowan. I've been down here for days, the Arlessa tortured me for days trying to find a cure for the poison I gave to the Arl, then nothing. I haven't heard anything from anyone."
"You mean you don't know? Wonderful, then there's no way that you have caused the tear in the Fade." Draco said, tapping his chin.
"Could it have been Connor? An untrained mage is a very dangerous thing." Irasabeth nodded, "it is a likely possibility."
"More than likely," Draco said, "that's got to be it."
Alistair, Leliana, and Jowan looked between the three of them and shook their heads.
"The only way to find out is if we go topside. We need to look around the castle; maybe we can find some answers." Draco said with a nod.
Irasabeth walked over to the cell and opened the door. "What are you doing?" Alistair yelped. "That man is an apostate!"
"We can use his help Alistair…"
"I'm not going to be of much help to you…"
"Just do what you can." Irasabeth said with a kind smile as she moved out of his way and looked at the others. "C'mon, we have a child to save."
As they made their way through the castle Alistair began to get a sinking feeling in his stomach; he didn't want anything bad to happen to the Arl's family. What they found when they got to the greeting room socked Alistair into realization that this was real. After a fight with possessed guards and Teagan, Draco looked at the Arlessa.
"Alright Lady Bitch-a lot, I never liked you from the moment I met you at one of my mother's salons and now I know I have good reason not to after all the shit you've put us through, you had better spill everything. Now." He barked.
Isolde looked at him with a glimpse of fear in her eyes, never having been spoken to like that by anyone. "I—I was trying to protect my son!"
Draco snarled, "you weren't trying to protect anyone but your own selfish hide, you bitch! My mother sacrificed everything for me! You just wanted to keep the arling in your possession so you endanger a young boy's life for your own greed!" He growled, taking a step closer to her, making her flinch away.
"Draco no," Alistair said, grabbing his arm, "we need to focus on Connor's safety, not her selfishness."
Draco cast another glare at her before looking to Teagan. "What can be done for Connor?"
"I-"
"I might have an answer to that." Jowan said as he walked up. "I can send someone into the fade, if the demon is fought and slain there then Connor will be free."
"But you can't send a non-mage can you?" Draco groaned as he began to pace around, "we'd have to send Morrigan."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Irasabeth asked.
"Yeah, she'd probably demand compensation of some kind," Alistair muttered, making Leliana snicker.
Draco rolled his eyes, "it's the only way. Now I know we're going to need Lyrium and lots of it-"
"That's not necessarily true. I know a way-"
"If you're talking about blood magic then forget it." Draco snapped harshly, "I will not allow anyone to use or fall prey to that."
Realization dawned on Irasabeth's face, "now I know where I've heard of you! Our hahren warned us to be on the look out for a human man in mage's clothing. You are the one who was able to destroy his phylactery with a friend and escape the tower."
"How the hell do you know that?" Alistair gaped at her.
The elf gave a sheepish smile as she rubbed the back of her head, "I'm a glutton for gossip."
Draco rolled his eyes, "guys, we don't have time for this right now."
"I will sacrifice myself, to save my son." Isolde finally spoke up.
Draco cut her a deadly glare, "don't think you can get out of this by dying. You are going to live and you are going to watch Connor go to the Circle, and probably face the worse thing in his life, all because of your one selfish act." He turned to the rest of the group, "c'mon, the Circle isn't very far from here. If we push ourselves we can get there by midnight tonight." He said as he spun around and stormed out of the castle with the other three right on his tail.
Once outside Alistair put his hand on Draco's arm. "Draco, what was that about?" He asked softly.
"I'm sorry Alistair, but I couldn't…I just…" He sighed, "Isolde rubbed me the wrong way when I first met her when Connor was just a baby. She didn't talk about him as if he were her child but her security blanket to staying a noble. It pissed me off to no end when I was a kid and it just continued to piss me off now."
"Yeah Isolde was always a bit of a selfish bitch." Alistair said with a shake of his head, "C'mon lets get going to Circle Tower."
Draco nodded as he followed Alistair down to the stable where they paid for four horses and rode to the Circle Tower…not knowing what was awaiting them both on the road and at their destination.
A/N: Well here it is! Next chapter is everyone's favorite assassin makes is debut appearance!