Chapter 5
2 days later
The three had made their way through the rest of northern Ferelden with out incident and had passed the Orlesian border. The sun was setting and it was time to set up camp for the night. They reached the top of a hill and saw a campfire off in the distance. They decided to join them for the night.
As they got closer to the campsite Caleb saw a familiar wagon tied up away from the other camper's tents, "Now where have I seen this before," Caleb looked around the wagon and on the other side he saw the horse he had tied up to a tree a few days ago, "This is defiantly Gwaren's, what do you say we give our dwarven friend a surprise visit,"
They heard a noise from near the camp and turned to see Gwaren walking away from a tent with the possessions he would be stealing in hand. He walked closer to the wagon and froze when he saw the three of them standing around it, "Didn't think you'd see us again did you Gwaren?" Caleb began walking towards him.
"I heard w-what happened to you after I left, j-just terrible," He stammered out while backing up from the approaching human.
"It is terrible isn't it? You invite someone to your camp, and they turn out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing,"
"Who me?" he dropped what he was carrying making a large crash, and ran.
He was quick but no match for Caleb's speed. Caleb caught up to him and picked him up by his collar, "Please don't kill me," Gwaren almost screamed his plea.
"Kill you, why would I do that? But I do want something from you,"
"What?"
"You are going to use that wagon of yours to transport me and my companions to Val Royeaux, do that and I'll call us even, fair enough?"
"Deal," Caleb dropped Gwaren on his feet.
"Caleb," Eleanor called from the other side of the camp.
"Wha…" Caleb looked up and saw that the people at the camp were mercenaries or something, Caleb assumed that because these guys had fairly expensive weapons in hand.
"Do we have a problem here, human?" the person closest to him asked. He was a qunari and stood like a giant in front of Caleb. His white hair making him look older that he probably was.
"No, we don't, I was just retreating the dwarf and I'll be on our way after he returns what he was about to steal from you," Caleb walked away while Gwaren returned the things and tried to talk down the qunari from killing him.
The qunari let him live but forced Gwaren to leave immediately. Caleb helped get the horse tied up to the wagon, while Ser Thomas and Eleanor climbed into the back. Caleb joined Gwaren on top. They rode off on the road towards Jader.
They rode for a while and Caleb looked back into the wagon and saw the other two were asleep, "Gwaren you travel across Thedas a lot correct?" Caleb spoke softly to make sure he didn't wake the others.
"Yes, why do you ask?" Gwaren whispered back.
"How many crests do you know that have a dragon on them?"
"I only know of one, in the Free Marches there is one such crest. It belongs to the ruler of Starkhaven, the largest city in the Free Marches. I can't think of his name but it definitely would be his. Why?"
"After we go through Val Royeaux, I want you to take me to city,"
"You said I'd be done with you three if I took you to Val Royeaux,"
"You won't be taking them, just me. They'll be on their way back to Denerim,"
"Can I ask why?"
"No, I'd prefer it if you didn't. How far until we reach Jader?"
"An hour or two,"
"Let's get there, than we'll find a tavern and stay the night there,"
They arrived at the city and were let in through the gates. They hitched the wagon and the horse to a post outside the city. Caleb woke his companions and the group walked to the first tavern. Gwaren went inside to talk while the others waited outside. He emerged from the tavern a few minutes later, "Good news and bad news: Good news; they have a few rooms available, bad news; there's only three,"
"So someone is sleeping in wagon, but whom?" Ser Thomas asked while looking around.
"I'm paying for it so I get a room," Gwaren added
"Being the only lady here I get one," Eleanor claimed the second
"I'm too old to sleep in a wagon," Ser Thomas said as he snuck away to get to the third and final room.
"Wasn't too old on the way over here," Caleb mumbled to himself as he climbed into the wagon.
Caleb awoke suddenly in the middle of the night. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. He had had the dream again and though the woman didn't speak to him it was still just as hard to look at. He sat up and opened the back of the wagon to let the cool breeze roll in to cool him down. He stood to put some clothes on and hopped out of wagon. He stretched a little before walking out of the city.
He knew that there was a river close to the city that he'd seen on their way there. He walked through the forest for a little ways until he hit the river a few minutes in. He kneeled down next to it and used his hands to cup the water. He splashed some on his face to get whatever sweat was left off. He took a couple drinks and heard a noise from in the bushes on the other side of the river.
He looked up to see a wolf walk out of the bushes and up towards the water. Caleb sat on the bank of the river and watched the animal cautiously approach, "You couldn't sleep either could you fella," the animal kept watching him while it drank. Caleb sat up and watched it having a sense of peace. The animal finished and than seemed to mirror Caleb by sitting and staring back at him.
For a few minutes Caleb just watch the animal watch him. He stood up as did the wolf and as he began to walk away he looked back and the animal had crossed the river. Caleb turned around to face the animal, "What's the matter? Why don't you go back home?" Caleb knelt down and the wolf came closer and sat down in front of him, "You don't have anywhere to go back to do you?". The animal whined as if in response to his questions. Caleb rubbed the wolf's head, "Well no sense in leaving you alone out here, come on, follow me,"
Caleb and his new counterpart made their way back to the city. By the time they arrived the sun was up and the city was alive with the flow of the citizens. They arrived at the wagon where the others were waiting, "Caleb, we've got the rest of the trip…planned out…on the map, what is that?" Ser Thomas pointed to the wolf.
"This a wolf, it followed me back from my visit to the river this morning,"
"Oh, I think it's cute," Eleanor bent down to bet the animal and when she did the wolf snapped at her hand almost biting it, "It just tried to bite me," she looked at Caleb with a glare.
"I don't know what you want me to do about it; just don't try to touch it ever again," she shot Caleb another look that made him look away.
"Let's get going before more creatures show up," Gwaren hooked the horse to the wagon and got it on the road. When they were outside the city Caleb helped Eleanor up on to the wagon's seat and they were on their way.
1 day later
They group was making their way through a forest. The Imperial Highway was being rebuilt forcing them to use the side roads. Gwaren and Ser Thomas were riding on the wagon and Eleanor was sleeping in the back. She had had a nightmare the night before about her mother going to the Deep Roads. Caleb knew what it meant. He had read many books about the Grey Wardens and one thing he remembered reading about was that the side effects included a shorter life span. The Wardens instead of dying in time would go down there to die fighting Darkspawn.
Caleb had his cloak on over his armor; he and the wolf were walking to the side of the wagon. Before entering the forest they had been warned that travelers had been attacked while passing through. Gwaren had said that they should just wait for the Highway to be rebuilt but Caleb demanded that they go through anyway saying that they could handle what ever was in the forest.
Caleb had heard a couple noises but nothing other that animals. They reached a fork in the road and Ser Thomas pulled out a map to find out which way to turn. Caleb walked ahead to look down both paths when he heard footsteps from in the trees, "You guys hear that," Caleb walked closer and the wolf started to growl. Caleb looked at it, "What is it?"
As Caleb turned his head back to the trees an arrow hit him in the front of his shoulder. He fell back onto his back and blacked out when his head hit the road.
Caleb awoke a few hours tied up with the others sitting with their backs against each others. He could feel that the tip of the arrow was still in his shoulder even though the rest of the arrow had been broken off. He looked around at what was happening; they had been tied up next to the fork in the road. He looked over to the wagon; it was surrounded by their attackers. Caleb's eyesight was still coming back but he could tell that they were all elves. He looked at his tied up companions, they were still unconscious. The wolf they had picked up was nowhere in sight.
Eleanor was on Caleb's left, she was the furthest person from the road. Caleb looked over and felt some relief after seeing that she was okay just asleep. Ser Thomas was on his right and he was knocked out as well.
One of the elves walked towards them. His face was covered with tattoos that Caleb recognized were associated with the Dalish Elves. The tattoos covered scars along his face. His eyes were a dark brown color and his hair was a dark red with some grey in it. Caleb figured that he had to be in his forties or had just been aging horribly.
He walked up to Caleb a knelt to meet him eye to eye, "We have been watching you for some time human, we saw that you were warned by the other humans to avoid entering this forest. Why?" the elf hade calm tone in his voice which put Caleb at ease.
Caleb calmly responded back, "I am in a hurry to get to the Free Marches; I had no time to wait and decided just to go through this forest instead of waiting for them to fix the road,"
"The Free Marches? I knew your face looked familiar," he stood and pulled a dagger from its sheath, "You have the same face as the man that forced us from our regular home in the area you call the 'Free Marches'," he put the dagger against Caleb's throat.
"What do you mean 'same face'?" Caleb tried to stay as calm as possible but the fear in his voice was easily detectable.
"The man you humans call Diederik, the ruler of the city of Starkhaven. He declared a war against us forcing us to flee,"
"Than it appears that you and I have a common enemy," Caleb had regained his composure and now just had to avoid being killed.
"What do you mean?" the elf moved the blade from Caleb's throat.
"I'm going to Starkhaven to kill him, to save my country," Caleb answered feeling that the elf might have a similar desire.
"That man is responsible for the death of my entire clan, I wish to join you on this quest," he cut the ropes around Caleb's wrist.
Caleb and the elf stood to their feet, "My name is Caleb and if you want to travel with me I must know your name,"
"My name is Isala," he bowed and Caleb bowed back.
"How long are they going to be asleep?" Caleb looked over at the others.
"In a few moments; the potion I used isn't that potent on humans,"
"So shaking them wouldn't work?"
"It might, I never used it on a human,"
Caleb walked up to Ser Thomas and removed the glove from his hand. He reeled his hand back and than smacked Thomas square in face. The old man's body just fell to the ground still unconscious, "Didn't work," Caleb went over to Eleanor and picked her up and carried her with both arms to the wagon.
"Why did you…?" Isala looked from Ser Thomas to Caleb.
"Hit him? I've wanted to do that for a long time," Caleb set Eleanor down in the back. He than grabbed a roll of bandages. He sat next to the wagon's rear wheel and spent a good twenty minutes digging the arrow tip from out of his shoulder. By the time he was wrapping the bandage around his shoulder the others had woken up.
Isala introduced himself to Gwaren and Ser Thomas as he cut the ropes that restrained them. Ser Thomas than walked towards Caleb rubbing his head where Caleb had hit him, "Can someone please tell me why my head hurts," Caleb laughed to himself and Thomas looked over at him, "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing, you probably just hit your head while he was tying you up,"
It was than that Caleb remembered that Eleanor was still tied up, "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA HERE!" she screamed furiously from the wagon.
"Maker help me, I forgot to untie her," Caleb felt a sudden wave of fear go across his body.
"If I were you I would definitely help her sooner rather than later, remember: 'hell hath no fury like that of a woman's scorn," Ser Thomas walked away and the others seemed to distance them selves from the wagon.
Caleb stood up and slowly walked to the back of the wagon, "CALEB, UNTIE ME THIS INSTANT!"
"I will just calm down," he pulled a dagger out of one of the backpacks and cut the ropes around her wrist. She sat up and glared at him.
"Its times like this that I wonder why I travel with you," she had calmed down but she was still angry, just not yelling.
"I think it's because you love me," he said with a smile.
"Well if you love me you sure show it strangely," she smiled back and leaned towards Caleb and kissed him on the cheek.
Caleb leaned over to see past the side of the wagon, "Get ready were getting back on the road," Gwaren and Isala boarded the wagon while Caleb, Ser Thomas, and Eleanor walked beside it, and the group continued on their way.
Author's note: It will probably be a little longer than usual for the next chapter since I'll be traveling for Spring Break. Hope everyone reading it is enjoying it and stay tuned.