Legacy

Author's Note: …I can't seem to stay away from this story. Gahhh! Bad Mirror, you have other things you need to be working on, like Heart of Darkness. Somebody just kill me now…

Disclaimer: Still don't own. Beka is mine though.

Warning: Nothing major in this chapter. Yay.

xxx

Origins, Chapter Three

Beka's gaze remained fixated to the fire as it spat and crackled, burning away at the wood Alistair had just added to it. Trying to block out the dog's excessive barking and Leliana's humming, she idly traced a scar on her chest through her thin tunic, thinking back on the past couple of days. Just three weeks ago she had been living in the alienage in Denerim. Now she was a traitor, falsely accused by Teyrn Loghain, and possibly one of the last two Grey Wardens left in Ferelden. Beka squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the images that flashed through her mind at that thought. It was up to her and Alistair now to defeat this archdemon that Morrigan's mother had told them about.

Morrigan…

Beka had first met the witch in the wilds. Daveth and Jory had seemed absolutely terrified of her and the old women she had introduced as her mother. The two of them lived alone in the wilds and feared nothing, despite the darkspawn threat that practically knocked at their door. It had been Flemeth who had saved them from Ostagar after the darkspawn had overwhelmed them. The easy task of lighting the beacon to signal the charge had turned into a fight for their lives against a rather nasty ogre. The beacon had been lit, Morrigan had told her, but Loghain had sounded the retreat.

He left the others to die.

Beka's eyes flickered open. It was Loghain fault – their failure at Ostagar was entirely his fault. They had had a chance against the darkspawn, hadn't they? And now he was pinning the blame upon the Grey Wardens, saying it was them who betrayed their king and left the King and his men to die.

Beka counted off the deaths in her head.

Daveth and Jory – they hadn't survived the ritual, and sometimes when she woke up after a horrible nightmare, Beka wished she hadn't survived as well. Duncan and the King, Cailan – both left to turn cold on a bloody battlefield. Beka could only assume that the Circle mage and the tower guard that had joined them on their task to light the beacon were dead, killed by the arrows the darkspawn had fired when they had swarmed through the door. Beka touched her scar again.

Alistair settling down a ways from her drew her out of her somber thoughts, and she watched as he went about the task of fixing his armor. It was oddly comforting to know that she wasn't alone in this. She hated to think about what would happen if she was the only remaining Grey Warden. It had taken everything to kill that ogre, and despite her attempts to dodge it had still managed to land a couple of kicks, knocking her off her feet and onto her backside. Ending the Blight meant defeating the archdemon, and if a stupid ogre knocked her back less than five seconds into the fight, then what chance did Beka have standing up against the archdemon?

Beka blew some hair out of her face and stretched out, her thoughts turning back to her latest dream. The dragon, huge and powerful, had haunted her dreams for the past three days. The first night it had just been Alistair, Morrigan, the dog and herself, camped out beside the Imperial Highway. Beka had tried to hide her terror, and only the dog (a Mabari war hound that she had helped back at Ostagar, who had forced its way into the group) had seemed to sense that there was something wrong with her. She had spent the rest of the night pressing her face against his neck, breathing in the smell of dog. The second night she woke to find the fire out and Alistair and Morrigan in their respective tents. They arrived in Lothering the next day, as Morrigan had suggested, buying supplies, catching up on news and rumors, and also picking up two other companions while they were at it. Leliana was a bit strange, but she meant well and she knew how to handle a blade. Sten was…

Well, Beka wasn't quite sure what to think of Sten.

The third night…the third night had been the worst. Unable to keep the tiny scream of panic back, Alistair had shaken her awake and attempted to console her as best as he could. Despite his comforting words, she couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled over her.

It had felt so real.

Alistair had said it was.

Beka jerked, blinking a couple of times, as she pushed those thoughts away. In the effort to forget about darkspawn, nightmares, and archdemons, the young elf dragged her pack towards her. At Lothering, she had stuffed all the items they had purchased into it – several poultices, and lyrium potions for Morrigan, along with some clothing. She began to sort them out into five groups so that every member of her party would be taken care of. She was searching for a missing lyrium potion – she had bought five, not four – when she found them.

There, underneath her blood stained wedding dress, were her mother's boots. She tossed the dress aside to reach them, taking them out of her pack with an astonished look on her face. She didn't remember packing them.

Father must have done it while I was saying goodbye to Shianni.

"This is lovely," Leliana said, having come up to sit beside her. She was holding her dress up, pinching the white cloth between pointer finger and thumb, avoiding the blood. "Shame that it is stained, though, yes?"

"If you like it, you can have it," Beka mumbled, tracing one of the vine patterns that adorned her mother's boots.

"But it is yours," Leliana argued, shaking her head. Beka bent leg and rested her chin upon her knee, giving a tiny shrug.

"That's not my life anymore."

"You want it to be…"

Beka was surprised by the comment, and she lifted her head to pin Leliana with a level stare. "Perhaps," she finally agreed.

xxx

Author's Note: Purely background information, and a way to introduce the first of the party members into the story.

God, Leliana scares me…so send me a review?