What awaited them at Vigil's Keep was not what Zeriah had expected. She could see the smoke as they rounded the bend, and her brow furrowed. Her blood hummed violently, alerting her to the darkspawn that were nearby. She glanced at her friends and fellow wardens, whose faces were confused. It hit her that they had never felt what it was like to be close to a darkspawn since becoming wardens.
"What in all the hells is that?" Delnan asked, rubbing at his arms. Zeriah's mouth tightened in a grim expression.
"You are sensing darkspawn for the first time, gentlemen. Ready yourselves." she ordered. Weapons were drawn, and as they came around the corner they saw the beasts attacking a lone soldier. Zeriah did not hesitate to charge the corrupt creatures. They felt her approaching and turned, their black saliva dripping down their rotted skin. They roared and charged the group, leaving the soldier to attack the Wardens. The darkspawn didn't stand a chance. The small group was cut down before they truly realized what was happening. After it was over, the soldier truly looked at his rescuers.
"You...you're the Warden Commander!" he breathed. Zeriah nodded.
"I am, good man. What has happened here?" she asked. He looked her up and down with a slight look of disbelief.
"You're shorter than I expected." he pointed out. Her glare looked as though it could have turned him to ice instantly.
"What. Happened. Here." she repeated. The soldier paled before sputtering out a nervous story. A few hours before, everything had been normal, but as the sun reached the middle of the sky, blackness had poured out of the earth. All the visiting Wardens and most of the soldiers had been brutally cut down by the beasts, and he had barely made it out alive.
"Does anyone live? Does Varel live?" Mhairi asked worriedly. The soldier shrugged.
"Last I saw he was alive, but he was headed to the top of the keep. That was over an hour ago." he said. Zeriah nodded.
"Run toward Denerim and see if you can intercept the King. Tell him I will be here longer than initially planned." she said. The soldier bowed awkwardly before stumbling off in the direction they had just come from. Zeriah's gaze shifted to Mhairi. The quiet soldier had fought with impressive skill in their short battle. "You aren't a common escort." she mused. Mhairi blushed prettily. She managed to look girlish even though she tried to put on the face of a stern warrior.
"I am actually here as one of your new recruits, Commander. I have been trained to fight as long as I can remember." she said. Zeriah's heart sank slightly. The Joining was nothing to be trifled with, and every time she heard the word 'recruit' it reminded her of her own Joining, and that of Traven and Delnan. Two had died in hers, and Traven had been close to death in his. There were no fond memories tied to the ceremony for Zeriah Cousland.
"I'm happy to have you, Mhairi. Let's keep going, hopefully we'll find survivors." she said.
Fighting their way through the Keep was not easy, and so far they had found no living person within the stone walls. Traven glanced over at Mhairi. She was a plain looking girl, with wide blue eyes and light brown hair. She had a sort of childish innocence about her until you saw her fight. She was a whirlwind on the battlefield, and Traven could see that she was dedicated to eradicating the darkspawn threat. Leliana had been like that: so passionate about her cause that, when she got to work towards it, she became an entirely different person. He smiled softly. He and Leliana had had a fond goodbye before she headed off to Orlais to assist the empress. He was glad they had the chance to part as friends. His smile became a frown instantly. Thinking of Leliana always led to thinking of...her. That was something that he could not bear. He did not even realize that they had entered a room that actually had a living person inside.
"Err...I didn't do it." a cheeky, familiar voice said. Traven peered over the top of everyone's heads to look at the speaker.
"Anders? Anders is that you?" he asked, recognizing the blonde mage. Anders squinted at him and smiled.
"Senior Enchanter Amell, what a pleasure it is to see you!" he cheered. Traven rolled his blue eyes.
"Anders, I'm clearly not with the Circle anymore, so you can just call me Traven. Please." he drawled. His old friend chuckled.
"Well pardon me if I'm a little hesitant. As you can see, I've been escorted here by a wonderful pair of Templars who, unfortunately, met their untimely demise whilst facing the darkspawn. Tragic, really." he said, gesturing to the dead Templars on the ground. Anders' brown eyes flicked over to Zeriah and he grinned appreciatively. "Now, who is this pretty little thing? If I were caught by you, sweetness, I wouldn't be so upset about it." he said, practically drooling. Zeriah just arched an eyebrow.
"I am Zeriah Cousland, Commander of the Grey and Queen of Ferelden." she replied drily. Anders blanched and the lecherous grin fell off his face. Traven nearly laughed at that. The blonde mage recovered quickly, however, and gave her a bow.
"They call me Anders, escape artist extraordinaire." he said smoothly. Traven rolled his eyes.
"No one calls you that." he murmured. Anders shot him a glare, but Traven didn't react.
"So you're an apostate?" Zeriah asked. Anders shrugged.
"Some would call me that." he admitted. Zeriah glanced at Traven, who shrugged.
"You should probably come with us. You might die otherwise." she said, brushing past the mage. Anders glanced up at Traven as he approached.
"Is she always like that?" he asked in wonder. Traven looked at Zeriah's back for a moment and shrugged.
"Pretty much." he said. Anders followed behind him.
"What happened to you, Trav?" he asked after a while. Traven froze, memories of an amber-eyed witch, with pale skin and raven hair, flashing through his mind. It was like a dagger to the heart.
"Nothing." he finally choked out. Anders' eyebrow raised slowly in a disbelieving expression.
"That was convincing." he quipped. Traven shook his head.
"It's nothing." he repeated, charging ahead to walk beside Zeriah instead. He caught Mhairi watching him as he passed, and her cheeks blushed a rosy color before she turned away. He shook his head. Poor girl. She had no idea that there was no more room in his heart for that kind of love. Twice he had been in love. Twice he had had the kind of love the bards sang of. And twice they had been taken away, one by death and the other by her own design. He didn't have anything left to give. He scratched at his beard and Zeriah nudged him in the side.
"We have darkspawn to take care of." she said casually. He smiled fondly at her. Zeriah was one of the few people who could still get him to smile. She usually didn't have to try. The group continued their way through the Keep, killing any darkspawn they came across. They heard a familiar drunken roar before they entered one of the rooms, and Traven was surprised when he saw what was on the other side of the door.
"Oghren?" Traven asked. The red-headed dwarf belched in greeting.
"I thought I heard the screams of the dying. Good to see you again, Warden." he said, addressing Zeriah.
"What are you doing here, friend?" she asked. Oghren straightened his posture, making him taller than the human warden.
"I want to join the order." he said simply. Zeriah stared at him for a long time.
"Are you sure, Oghren? It's not a decision to make lightly." she asked. Oghren looked at her, and for the first time since he'd known him his eyes looked clear instead of glassy with drink.
"I've never been more sure, warden." he promised. She nodded.
"All right then. We need all the help we can get." she agreed.
"I don't know that he'll be much help." Mhairi muttered. Oghren turned his attention to her.
"Well, well, if it isn't the new recruit with the great rack." he said approvingly. Traven rolled his eyes. Breasts and alcohol were all the man thought about, it seemed.
"A dwarf that smells like a brewery? How original." Anders commented. Oghren stepped over to him.
"A mage comedian? Don't those usually die young?" he retorted. Delnan sighed.
"Can we just get a move on?" the quiet dwarf said. Zeriah nodded in agreement.
"We need to find out what has happened here." she said, heading through yet another doorway. Traven looked down at Delnan and nodded. He liked the dwarf. He never pried, but he always seemed to know everything that was going on. They had gone through the Joining together, and since then he felt a sort of kinship toward Delnan. The mossy eyed dwarf also knew the pain of losing love. His was a story of star-crossed lovers. A casteless dwarf who fell in love with the woman who became queen of Orzammar understood heartbreak, even if he had been the one to end things.
"Maker's Breath! Rowland!" Mhairi cried, pulling Traven from his reverie. He looked up to see a terribly wounded man slumped against the wall.
"Mhairi...Commander? Thank the Maker you've arrived." he wheezed. Zeriah crouched down beside him.
"It's all right, Rowland. Can you tell me what happened? Is Varel alive?" she asked in her soothing voice. Rowland winced as he clutched at the wound in his side. Traven could see it from where he stood. Most of his insides were falling to the floor. He glanced at Anders, who was frowning. Traven's fellow mage knew that he would be able to do nothing for the man, and he had studied healing more intensely than any other subject.
"Last I saw he was headed to the roof. There...there is a darkspawn...a darkspawn that can speak. Commander I'm not crazy, it spoke as if it were human." he whimpered. Zeriah nodded while Traven looked at Delnan. The dwarf had the same hesitant expression as his own.
"I believe you, Rowland." she said quietly. Rowland nodded toward Mhairi.
"Take care of her for me, will you?" he asked. Traven noticed that the young recruit had tears streaming down her face.
"No, Rowland, you'll be all right. We have two mages here! They can help! Can't they?" she cried. Traven closed his blue eyes, but Anders answered before he could.
"Even if our magic was enough to heal the wound in his side, his blood is full of the darkspawn corruption. He would die a more painful death if we healed him." the blonde said. Traven saw Mhairi shaking her head.
"The Joining could help him!" she pleaded. Zeriah smiled sadly.
"Mhairi, in his state he would not be strong enough to survive the Joining. Even people who are in good health die because of it." she explained. Mhairi took Rowland's hand and squeezed it, trying to hold back her tears.
"It's all right, Mhairi. Survive the Joining for me." he coughed. She nodded, and Traven felt as though he were intruding by watching the moment.
"I will. Goodbye, Rowland." she whispered. He smiled and his hand went limp. Mhairi let out a whimper and Traven had to fight the urge to comfort her. Zeriah put an arm around the girl's shoulders, saving him from his impulse.
"I'm sorry, Mhairi. I know what it is like to lose those that are close to you." she said softly. Traven closed his eyes. From the small warden, that sentence was an extreme understatement. Her entire family had been brutally murdered by Arl Howe in an attempt for power. Zeriah Cousland-Theirin had lost nearly everything, and she still managed to build herself back up.
"We should find Varel." the recruit said suddenly, standing quickly. Zeriah took point again and the group headed for the rooftop. Traven glanced at Mhairi, whose plain features held a cold determination. He almost pitied anyone who stood in her way.
"It has ended, just as he foretold." a demonic voice said. Traven's eyes widened as a darkspawn kicked a soldier square in the chest, knocking him off the roof of the keep. The darkspawn turned, and Traven noticed a human who was being held against another darkspawn, a blade at his neck.
"Be taking this one gently. We are wishing no more death than is necessary." the darkspawn said. Traven looked at Zeriah, whose pretty features were infuriated.
"Necessary? As if your kind has ever done anything else." the human spat. Traven guessed that this was the seneschal they had been searching for. The darkspawn arched an eyebrow, a strange action for a creature that looked as though it was decaying where it stood.
"You think you know of our kind, human?" it asked. "It is understandable. But that will soon be changed." Varel scoffed at the beast.
"Others will come, creature. They will stop you." he growled. The darkspawn looked up and noticed the group standing there.
"It seems your words be true. More than you are guessing." it grumbled. Anders looked like he wanted to clap with delight.
"It is talking!" he said sarcastically. Oghren grunted.
"Well, let's shut it up already!" he yelled. Varel noticed Zeriah and relaxed slightly.
"Commander." he breathed.
"Capture the Grey Wardens. These others may be killed." the darkspawn crooned. Traven gave his bladed staff an experimental spin.
"You can certainly try." he growled. He would never let them take Zeriah alive. He knew what darkspawn did to women, and he would die before he let that happen to her. The battle was not easy. Unlike most darkspawn, the one that could speak was able to understand battle tactics. It did not charge blindly like the rest of its brethren, instead parrying and defending itself as though studying the way that they fought.
Other darkspawn surged from doorways, keeping everyone occupied while Zeriah faced off with the talking beast. Traven called lightning from the sky, loving the feel of it flowing through his body. Being in control of a wild element was the only thing that made him feel alive anymore. Darkspawn crackled as he shot the spell through his fingertips, dying instantly and leaving behind the smell of burning flesh.
He turned in time to see Zeriah knocked to her knees, the talking darkspawn's blade raised over her head. Time slowed, and it took him a moment to realize that Anders had cast a spell, and he had been caught in the middle of it. He fought to make his limbs move faster to no avail. He began to summon a blend of ice and lightning, he could feel it slowly moving through his body. The darkspawn's blade fell every so slowly toward Zeriah, whose movements were equally slow as she tried to move away. Traven felt the power prepare to surge out of him just as time snapped back to normal. His spell flew out of his hands and struck the darkspawn in the chest, knocking it back and away from Zeriah. Traven raced to her side, helping her to her feet before twirling his staff and stabbing it into the darkspawn's blackened heart. Zeriah was breathing heavily as she stared at the darkspawn corpse. She smiled weakly at him.
"Thanks Trav. If I had died, Alistair would be pissed." she joked, but the attempt at humor was flimsy. Traven could see the terror and relief in her green eyes. He played along however, for her sake.
"And we all know he would blame it on me and then I would never hear the end of it." he replied. Her smile became more genuine and grateful and he couldn't help but return it.
"Commander, thank you for your most timely intervention." Varel said, approaching. Zeriah nodded at the man.
"Of course. You must be Varel." she said. The grizzled old man nodded, absently running a hand through his silver-gray hair.
"I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, Commander." he admitted. She sighed.
"Just Zeriah, if you please. What happened here, Varel?" she asked. The old man closed his eyes at the memory.
"Everything was fine, when suddenly darkspawn just burst forth from one of the buildings in the keep. All of the Wardens were killed or dragged off, and the rest of us didn't stand a chance. I would say at least half of my men are dead now. Shame." he replied, shaking his head. Zeriah nodded.
"We need to find anyone who is still alive and get this place back in order." she decided. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of horns trumpeting nearby. The king had officially arrived.