C-c-c-combo! I've been gone so long that I figure I'll post a few chapters at once. Enjoy!
"Your soul is growing in power."
Radae opened his eyes to see the eerie landscape of the Fade spread out before him. Memories of what had just occured to his body flew through his mind, panic setting in. "Lilith!" he called, looking around for his demoness. She was nowhere in sight, but he wasn't alone.
"Welcome, boy." Flemeth greeted, "A little strange to fall asleep in the middle of a battle, don't you think?" She laughed, hands behind her back. She wore, surprisingly enough, the same rags he'd seen her in back at her hut.
"Flemeth!" Radae said, standing and running toward her. "Do you know if I'm dead?" It was a serious question, no matter how strange it sounded.
"You yet live, boy." Flemeth answered, "My daughter now cares for you and your friends in my hut."
"My friends... What happened?"
"Your sister and that templar managed to kill the ogre that so nearly killed you." Flemeth answered, a hint of disappointment in her voice, "Honestly, you're a mage for Maker's sake... After they slayed the ogre, they were overrun by darkspawn entering the tower, and would be dead if I hadn't rescued them."
"Thank you." Radae said, bowing to the old woman.
"No thanks needed." Flemeth replied, "All you need to do is take Morrigan with you when you leave, as promised."
"I will." He promised.
"Master!" Radae turned around to see Lilith quickly gliding over the ground towards him "Master! Get away from her!"
"But I know her." Radae stated, catching the demoness when she ran into him. "She's the one who taught me how to slip past the Veil. She's also the reason I'm alive right now."
"Master, this is the sixth Demon lord, She who devours Gluttony." Lilith said, tugging him away from the old woman.
"No, this is Flemeth." the elf insisted, "I met her a few days ago, in the Wilds. I just saw her earlier today."
"Is it not possible that I am both?" Flemeth asked. "You can't possibly think you're the only mortal with a Demon Lords soul? While your case is special, it is not the only of it's kind. In fact, there is another Demon Lord who was mortal as well."
"...So then, you knew I would be a Demon Lord? When you trained me?"
"I knew you had the potential, boy, whether or not you actually succeed had yet to be seen." Flemeth stated, "You, unlike me, have a very easy time slipping into the Fade. If you do become a Demon Lord it will significantly boost our power, as you'll be able to act as an agent in the realm of mortals."
"To help Demons possess humans." Lilith finished, eyebrows raised.
"You're a quick one." Flemeth complimented, "The Circle doesn't know as much as it likes to believe. Demons and Spirits have a bit of a war going on."
"The Demon Lords and the Spirit Lords have been warring for the Makers favor for centuries." Lilith explained, "Most Spirits and Demons keep out of it, though."
"Any Demon or Spirit under a Lords favor, however, fights." Flemeth continued, "And considering their power, that's quite a few. You see, there are only six Demon Lords, while there are seven Spirit Lords. Due to the amount each Lord has under their command, this puts us at a bit of a disadvantage. So, we've been looking for our Seventh."
"Me." Radae said, crossing his arms.
"Yes. You're the only being with a chance of becoming a Demon Lord in the near future, along with your uncanny ability to pass through the Veil. You, in turn, can assist other Demons in passing through the Veil, and assist them in possessing mortals. Every Demon that possesses a mortal has it's power boosted, effectively increasing our fighting power."
"However, there's a catch. If you die, your spirit will not continue to grow in power. It is the connection to the Eluvian Shards in your eyes that strengthens it, and if that connection is cut, your soul will be no more than that of a corrupted mortal."
"So, don't die?" Radae laughed, "I hadn't planned on it."
"Good." Flemeth smiled, "I'll be leaving you two now. You're wounds have been tended to, but you probably shouldn't wake up for a few more minutes. We were out of pain relieving herbs, you see, and the spells Morrigan used take a while to completely heal wounds." At that, Flemeth's image faded away.
"What are the chances that you'd know Lord of Gluttony?" Lilith marveled, "It's rather amazing, actually."
"Yeah, I suppose so." Radae replied, "What happened to that demon? The one we captured earlier?"
"She's... yours now." Lilith answered, "I forced some of your favor upon her, she's completely under your command."
"How can favor be forced?" the mage asked, "It doesn't really make sense."
"Well, when favor is given, the recipitent still retains the ability to say no." Lilith explained, "When favor is forced, the victim recieves physical pain when they refuse their Master. However, you'd need to capture and weaken a demon in order to force favor, which is rather time consuming, so it's generally not done."
"Wasn't she under the Spirit's favor?"
"Yes. However, all I had to do was take away the piece of her Master she had."
"Which was?" Radae asked, slightly afraid of the answer. Lilith held up a finger that didn't belong to her.
"He put some of his skin on her finger." The demoness explained, "So, I cut off her finger." It appeared to be a pinky finger. "Don't worry, I cast a spell to stop the bleeding, so now she's just missing a finger."
"Where is she now?" Radae asked, looking around.
"Over here, Master." Came a voice. Radae turned to see a figure emerging from behind a rock in the direction Lilith had come from. "Lilith had me hide, as she did not know how you would react if you saw me charging you." She spoke very carefully, as though thouroughly weighing her words before saying them. She still wore the armor from before, however her helmet had been removed. Unlike Lilith, who looked like an average Desire demon, his newest charge looked more human. She stood around five and a half feet tall, which, since Radae was taller when in the Fade, meant her head came up to his chest, like Lilith. Her hair was pitch black and hung straight down, cut short in front so it didn't hang into her eyes. Two small demon horns poked out from beneath her hair, their bright red tips standing out against the obsidian of her hair. As he'd seen earlier, her eyes were a light, piercing blue. He noticed her left hand was missing the pinky finger.
"What's your name?" Radae asked, placing his hand on her head.
"I have no name." She replied. "However, I once guided a young girl who went by Gabriella, if it pleases you."
"Then we'll call you Gabriella." The mage decided. "Now tell me, what happened to the way you talked? Where'd the 'thou' and 'knowest' stuff go?"
"My previous Master ordered all lower ranked spirits to speak in such a manner." Gabriella explained, "If it pleases you, I can speak that way once more."
"No, it was a little annoying." He answered, Lilith nodding in agreement. "You seem to be taking this very well."
"Master?"
"You've been forcibly favored by Lilith, and must now do whatever I say, yet you seem alright with it."
"I am not overjoyed, yet I am not saddened." Gabriella said, "My previous Master favored me against my will, as an experiment to see if it was possible. I wasn't happy, but I learned that trying to resist resulted in pain, so I just accepted it. Now that I am yours, I am no longer under the rule of a Spirit, which is good, yet I am still whithout my free will, which is not good."
"I'll listen to your opinions, if it makes you feel better about this." Radae offered.
Gabriella nodded, "It would, though your history of listening to subordinates opinions isn't very impressive." She added, a ghost of a smile appearing on her face.
"Hey, you know what would be good?" Lilith asked, grinning. "You should favor her for real! Break the new girl in!"
"No." Radae abruptly responded, "I want her to trust me, and doing the same thing her previous Master did wouldn't be the way to go about it."
"Appreciated." Gabriella quipped, glancing briefly at Lilith.
"She'll need to ask for it." Radae continued. The armored Demoness' gaze returned to her Master, eyebrows raised.
"I doubt that will happen."
"Yeah, Master!" Lilith pouted, "She's so stuck up, I doubt she'll ever even think about it."
"Then it won't happen." Radae stated, "Now, on to more important matters. What do you know about these Spirit and Demon Lords?"
"Not much, really." Lilith replied, "Aside from their titles and appearances, they're a mystery."
"You'd figure knowing their appearances would make them less mysterious."
"In the Fade, appearance can change with a whim. All that's known is their prefferred forms." Gabriella explained.
"What about their titles?" Radae asked.
"In order, the Demon Lords are Murder, Envy, War, Lust, Revenge, and Gluttony." Lilith answered, "It's assumed they're named after a personality trait or a special ability, but most just think they liked the words."
"And the Spirit Lords?"
"Those are Faith, Love, Peace, Truth, Selflessness, Honor, and Purity, my former Master." Gabriella said, "They've taken names after a human aspect that they admired and have sworn to uphold."
"What about Purity? Anything you can tell us about him?"
"Her, actually." Gabriella corrected, "She's the newest Spirit Lord, and the one with the least followers. This is due in part to her relatively new seat as a Lord, but it is also due to her Ideal. Purity isn't generally favored among Spirits, most admiring Justive or Love above such a trivial thing as how pure something is." Here she stopped and laughed, "It's funny. She gave me 'pure intentions', forcing me to swear my loyalty to her cause whenever questioned about it."
"That's why you seemed so adamant earlier?" Lilith asked.
"Yes. A failure to say such things usually lead to pain," Gabriella replied, "rather admiral actually. While her Ideals are that of a Spirit, her tactics and behavior are decidedly Demonic. I can't complain, it made working for her less infuriating."
"That reminds me, what kind of Demon where you before you were forcibly favored?" Radae asked.
"I think it's Desire, like me." Lilith guessed. "The way you avoid sex makes you seem a bit like a tease."
"I am a Demon of Wrath." Gabriella replied, "We are more inclined to pain than pleasure."
"I thought you disliked pain? After all, you avoided it when you were under the favor of the Purity spirit, right?" Radae questioned.
"That pain was... Different." She shuddered, "Ours is a physical pain, one that you feel in your flesh and bone. The kind that she caused was deeper. As though it was a part of my own soul rebelling against me."
"The bond of a favor is that deep?" The mage asked, amazed.
"It's why you fight so hard to protect me." Lilith replied, "It affects both sides. We feel a need to please you, and you feel a need to defend us. Hadn't you noticed?" He'd never thought about it. When he'd protected Lilith from the Spirits, it had just seemed like what he'd needed to do. But that raised another question.
"If Masters feel a need to protect their subordinates, why did that Purity Spirit send hers to be slaughtered by us?"
"Simple." Gabriella replied, "She thought you'd be easier to beat. The fact that you killed so many of her vassals is what keeps her from attacking again, for now at least." Upon seeing the look on Radae's face, the Wrath Demoness continued. "She's afraid that sending them will lead to their deaths. She cares deeply for them, and the fact that you've killed so many makes her feel less inclined to try again."
"It'll wear off eventually, though." Lilith continued, "Once the shock and sorrow of losing her vassals has faded, all that will be left is rage and a need for revenge."
"Then I'll just need to get stronger." Radae decided. "I'll start using the Eluvian pieces to learn more about spells and magic. The way I figure it, the stronger I am in my body, the stronger I'll be here."
"It will be interesting to see, at least." Gabriella said, crossing her arms. "And it'll be nice to show those Purity bastards true and beautiful pain."
"And once you're a Demon Lord, we'll move into the Black City!" Lilith cheered, "I can't wait!"
"I'm going to return to my body, try to stay out of trouble until I return." Radae ordered, already beginning to slide through the Veil and back to his body.
Radae's eyes opened slowly, thankful for the relatively low light in the room. It was rather run-down, though definitely lived in. Probably Flemeths Hut.
"About time you woke." Morrigan stated, walking in through the only door in the room. Radae sat up, surprised to find little more than aches in his back.
"You healed me?" He asked, sitting against the headboard of the bed.
"My mother and I, yes." The Witch replied, "She brought you from that Tower and told me to treat your injuries, so it is her you should thank."
"What about Alistair and Alynna? How are they."
Morrigan sighed, "As I told you before, they're outside with Mother. Unlike you, they suffered very little injuries overall, though the girl was raising quite a fuss when you arrived." Radae thanked Morrigan and threw the blankets off, revealing his scantly clad body. Other than a few bandages wrapped around his torso, all he wore were his underwear. Morrigan handed him a robe, as his other one was completely ruined, which luckily fit. A bit small, but it was better than nothing.
After clothing himself, Radae searched the room for his staff. "It was lost in the tower." Morrigan stated, seeing his eyes frantically searching the room. "Mother barely managed to grab you and your friends, she missed your staff." Radae's hands fell to his sides. That staff was a part of him, and he felt more naked than before he'd put the robes on. Plus, without it directing his mana, spellcasting would require much more concentration. The elf sighed dejectedly, vowing to return to the tower and retrieve his staff one day.
Radae walked through the huts door and into the humid air of the Wilds. In addition to it's usuall dank and rotten smell, the air smelt of death and smoke, the latter of which he could see floating up into the air from the direction of Ostagar. What had happened? Had Alistair and Alynna managed to defeat the Ogre? Had the signal fire not been lit? He turned away from the pillar of smoke to see the figures of Alistair and Alynna embracing each other.
"He's fine," Radae could hear Alistair whisper, "He'll be up soon."
"Who?" The Mage asked jokingly. Alynna's ears twitched at the sound of his voice, her body suddenly slipping from Alistairs embrace and running towards Radae. She hit him full speed, the force knocking them down to the ground. Alynna wrapped her arms around him and sobbed, her words uninteligable through her tears. Tears of joy? Sorrow? Who knew? While she put on a brave face most of the time, she had always been the emotionally fragile of the two. She clearly needed the emotional support, and who better than her twin brother?
He didn't know how long they'd been laying on the damp earth when they heard Flemeths voice. "My daughter and I spent the better part of the night healing that boy, don't go giving him a cold just as he's recovering." Alynna, who's sobbing had faded into tearless wimpering, nodded and stood, easily pulling her brother along. Once they were standing, Alynna grasped Radae's hand.
"Good." Flemeth nodded, hands clasped calmly behind her back. "Now, as you may or may not know, Ostagar has fallen, and with it, the Grey Warden army." Alistairs fists clenched, and Alynna's grip on Radae's hand increased. "You three are the only Grey Wardens left in all of Ferelden, and so it is up to you to stop this Blight."
Alistair stepped forward, "How?" He demanded, "How are we, two newly recruited Wardens and a slightly-less-new Warden, going to do that? The army is wiped out, Duncan is gone, and so is the King!" Radae could feel Alynna's muscles tense, hoping she'd be able to resist breaking down again. "And to top it off, Teyrn Loghain betrayed us and probably wants us dead!"
Wait...What? "Teyrn Loghain?" Radae asked, "That man in the steel armor who stood next to the human King?" Alynna nodded, "Why would he betray us?" The defeat at Ostagar suddenly made sense. There was no way they would've lost with the strategy Duncan had laid out, and he had no doubt that Alistair and Alynna would've been able to light the signal fire.
"Who knows?" Flemeth answered. "All that matters now is that you go and begin building an army." Alistair clenched his fists again, though this time he stayed quiet. Morrigan walked out of the hut, a few scrolls clutched in her hands.
"Here they are." The Witch announced, handing the papers to her mother.
"Here is where you begin." The old lady informed, handing the papers to Radae. "Those are the Treaties you were sent to gather yesterday."
"The Treaties?" Alistair wondered, stepping forward and grabbing one from Radae. He unfurled the scroll and read it over, his blue eyes widening. "They are! Where did you get these?" He glanced suspiciously at the two Witches.
"That doesn't matter." Flemeth stated. "I've given you the means, now it is up to you to build an army."
"Mother," Morrigan interrupted, "if there's nothing else I need to check on the stew."
"Just a minute, girl." Flemeth commanded, a smirk on her face. "I want you to go with them."
Damn. Flemeth was calling on their agreement.
"Mother, surely you jest." Morrigan asked, hands on her hips.
"You, of all people, should know that I don't make jokes." Flemeth growled, "These Wardens need all the help they can get, and you aren't needed here." Morrigan seemed as though she was about to argue, but the look in her mothers eyes stopped her. Her jaw tensed, clearly in frustration, and she turned to the Wardens.
"I suppose I'll go, if you'll have me."
Alistair placed his hand on Radae's shoulder, "I don't think that's a good idea." He warned. Alynna, though she didn't voice it, seemed to be against the idea as well.
"I want her to come." Radae lied. "She knows the terrain around here, and it can't hurt to have another Mage with us." Alistair frowned, but nodded. Alynna glanced from her brother to Morrigan and back, before nodding.
"Splendid." Morrigan growled sarcasticly. "Well, I suppose I'll be leaving then. Don't forget to take the pot off the fire or the stew will burn."
"I got along well enough before you, there's no need to remind me." Flemeth growled, "Now go. Time is of the essence."
"So, where do we go first?" Alistair asked. They'd been walking for the better part of an hour, mostly in silence. Alynna had managed to calm herself down, much to Radae's relief.
"What do the Treaties say?" He asked, walking next to his sister.
"We have the right to command help from the Elves, the Dwarves, and the Circle of Magi." The templar relpied, "We should also check in with a friend of mine, Arl Eamon. He'll know what to do better than I." Radae thought briefly on the matter before answering.
"We'll split into two groups." He said, "Morrigan and I will go straight to the Circle, you and Alynna will go through Lothering to the Elves in the Brecillian Forest." Both Alistair and Alynna protested, of course.
"I really don't think cutting our numbers in half will help!" He argued. "Strength in numbers, right?"
"I do not wish to be separated from you, brother." Alynna chimed in, "Nor do I wish for you to be alone with that Witch." Morrigan, who was leading the group, laughed at the comment.
"Yes, splitting our numbers is a risk, and I don't want to be separate from you either, sister." Radae agreed, "But time is of the essence here. I'd rather get injured because of a lack of numbers than doom all of Ferelden because we were too late to gather our armies."
"Why do you not send Alistair with the Witch?" Alynna asked, "He can neutralize magic, so it would be safer."
"I chose these pairs because they're the most practical." Radae explained, "The Circle will probably respond better to two mages, even if they're apostates. You and Alistair should go to the elves because you're both more physically oriented. Having a former First come into a neighboring clan will probably unnerve some of them, and you're the only other Dalish in our group, sister."
"Well then, why send us up through Lothering?" Alistair asked, "Why aren't you coming with us?"
"Morrigan and I are both capable of moving quickly through the wilderness. We'll take the roads when we can, but it's going to be a straight shot there."
"The forests where we Dalish live are full of giant, poisonous spiders." Alynna explained, "He wants us to go to Lothering to stock up on antidote in case we get bitten." Alistair sighed before looking back at Radae.
"Then I suppose that's how we'll do it." He agreed, "We'll meet at Arl Eamons estate afterwards, talk to him, then head up to Orzammar." Radae agreed, and the group was silent until Lothering.
LE GASP! Exposition? PLOT! WHEREISTEHPR0N?