_
~The Joining~
_
in the safty of the grey warden, they had escaped the highever Castle.
Far in the distance, she could see the fires burning, the heavy thick smoke rising to the sky from
her childhood home. The nightsky painted in a color of red and black.
The tears pushed hard in her eyes, but she would not allow them, Her parents would not want her to cry for them.
The Grey Warden found himself still pulling the young girl along,
"Let me go!" her voice echoed against the mountain side, ringing loudly.
bouncing off the passage of which they were walking.
He threw her to the ground, the grass hitting her against the face as she softened the blow with her hands.
The gras was damp and wet,tickling against her skin.
"Keep you voice down girl! if you value your life!"
she dried the dirt from her face with the back of her hand,
"Listen! my entire family Got slaughtered down there, we could have helped them!"
The young cousland screamed on top of her loungs, the fire of vengance burning within her eyes.
Before she could blink, her flesh burned. Her voice disappeared from her mouth,
all she was left with was a blank look on her face.
Towering above her stood the Grey Warden,
she had been out of line, far out of line.
"I...i'm sorry..." she murmured, it was still all so unexplainable, Everything she had
cared for was gone, her mother...Her father...Her home.
The Warden stood quiet before her, in his eyes she could see the compassion for the situation she was in.
"I am sorry for your loose, Mairella, but I need you to stay clear. The road ahead will not be an easy one."
So it had come to this, she was to become a grey warden,it all was so unexplainable and unfamiliar.
Thought inside she felt empty and hollow, she couldnt let everything tear her down.
"...there must have been something we could have done for them..."
Her voice cracked, the sorrow still hanging on tightly to her.
Her heart was heavy, she could not believe that it had all come down to this.
The entire cousland family was gone, she was unsure of where her brother could be,
She hoped he was safe amongst his soldiers,
and that Howe's poison still hadnt reached him.
"There was nothing we could have done..."
A singel crystal clear tear trailed down her cheek as she closed her eyes tightly,
"Mother..."
"Father..."
The memory of their faces, fading in her mind,
"Maker keep them safe..." she whispered in a low husky voice.
-
They had traveled through the hinterlands, the young girl always a few steps
behind the elderly Warden.
Her heart was still heavy with the loose of her parents.
Duncan didnt talk much, he allowed her to mourn her parents,
there was no need to further rub salt into her allready deep wounds.
They were drawing closer to the camp of Ostagard,
in the far distance she could see the deep orange color lighting up the horizon,
their flickering torches waving inbetween the tall dark trees of the wild.
Duncan threw her a gaze or two over his shoulder to make sure the young cousland
was still right behind.
Her feet felt like they were dragging through heavy sand, each footstep heavier than the last.
A grey warden
Truth be told, she did not know too much,
not more than what the glorious stories from her history books.
Would she be able to forfill her duty as a warden?
Duncan had mentioned something here and there,
thougt Mairella had halfly payed attention to the elderly warden,
A secret joining, was all she had picked up from his words.
To her surprise, she saw him coming to an hault infront of her,
looking over his shoulder at her.
"Chin up girl, we'll soon be there"
She sighed deeply as every step took her closer to her
fate which was sealed in blood.
it all sounded so strange in her head, Mairella,the grey warden?
Protector of the realm.
She chuckled softly at the very thought.
The elderly Warden threw her another gaze as he heard her soft
chuckle behind his back.
she straightned her grimance,blanking out the expression on her face.
time was closing in on finally being able to find Fergus and tell
him everything that had happened at home.
Time for Vengance would soon fall upon the house of Howe.
She promised herself, she'd run her dagger across howe's Neck if it was the
last thing she did.
Revenging her bloodline,restoring order to where it was once lost.
Her heartbeat rised just thinking about it,
The calling of her name snapped her out of her thoughts,
Duncan was towering above her again, his hard brown eyes focusing
on hers.
"We're here"
The ruins of Ostagar layed deep within the Korcari wilds,
All the king's armies were gathered here,as a final stand against the darkspawn.
Mairella lifted her gaze to the sky, High above the ancient ruins,
Stood a tower tall and majestic, casting its long shadow across the king's camp.
Upon entering an nearby archway, she spotted a welcoming group,
A couple of guards and a blonde man in a shinning golden armor.
"Your Majesty"
The grey warden at her side bowed deeply,
So this was the legendary King,
The defeater of the darkspawn.
He was allot younger than Mairella had imagened him,
Not as tall either.
His blond long hair,waved in the gentle breeze,
Carried through his camp, breathing life into the forest.
In the distace she could hear the chant of light,
it soared through the chambers of her heart,
Her heart aching with sorrow over her parents and her home.
For a moment, she swallowed her pride,
She could not let her broken heart stear her emotions.
The king's approch snapped her out of her emotions,
his crystal blue eyes stared straight through her.
"Your are...Bryce Cousland's daughter, are you not?"
His voice was loud and clear, he did sound noble after all,
she told herself.
"Yes, your majesty, I am Mairella of the Couslands,"
She felt her voice breaking with her words, as she took
a deep bow before her king.
Her mouth felt dry, as if she had been dehydrated for days,
Though she had to bring forth the news from highever.
"I do,how ever, my Lord,bring news from my home" she
countinued.
There they were again, the tears, watering up her eyes,
the pain spreading from her heart and throughout her body.
She tightened her fist, clinging her pain with her hands.
"My family has been murdered, my lord..."
The words got stuck in her throat, like a bad taste in the back
of her mouth.
"By the hands of Arl Howe..."
Just his name spread like poison through her body,
Betrayer...
Murderer...
"Dead? This can not be, Duncan, is this true?"
The young King turned to his grey warden, his ice cold
gaze searching Duncan's face for answers.
"She speaks the truth, your majesty, Arl Howe attacked
the highever castle the night of which Bryce Cousland sent his
men here to you.
Only myself and The cousland daughter barly escaped with our lives."
Lowering her head, she allowed herself to let her thoughts pass,
only for a moment,she told herself.
She was not sure how she would get her revenge over Howe.
Though she knew she would not feel satisfaction before
her hands were covered in his blood, and his life fading from his eyes.
Fergus must be some where in the camp, she had to find him and quickly.
The king's voice brough her out of her thoughts, his deep blue eyes gazing
at the young girl.
"I promise that once this is over, Howe will be put to justice"
There was no need for any words, silently she bowed.
She noticed the guards notioning the king, a simple gesture of a nod
was given in the return.
King Cailen left them behind, followed up the trail by his guards,
Duncan turned to her, gesturing for her to move along.
"I will look for your brother, In the mean time I have something you must do for me.
Find Alistair, Then come see me"
Again she found herself the errend girl, it didnt matter, she wanted to get
going so she could search for her brother. Before her was a huge stone bridge,
The entrance to the king's Soldiers stood guard along its side as she passed them by.
The Wind rushed past her, brushing her against the cheek.
For a minute she allowed herself to stop and gaze upon the beautiful surroundings.
The Dark tall forest, the road carving it's way through the landscape.
It was all so breathtaking, all so overwhelming.
She gathered her thoughts as she carried on across the massive rock bridge.
The king's camp was mingling with people, Templars, Mages,Grey Wardens
All come together for a common cause.
To stop the Darkspawn and the Blight.
The young Cousland had no idea where she was going,
Wandering aimlessly around the large camp.
Atleast 3 times allready had she bumped into the Templar
who politly asked her to leave.
Duncan could have given her more to go by,
A name wouldnt help her much, unless ofcourse she started poking
everyone around the camp on the shoulder and asking their name.
She didnt see herself doing that any time soon however.
However, she could hear a conversation taking place not far away.
She couldnt clearly hear what was being said, Sneaking up closer,
She could see a mage and a young man having a very heated discussion.
The young man wore an Armor, very much like the one Duncan was wearing,
His dark hair tied back and braided.
She watched as the mage walked away, muttering under his breath.
By now the young man had noticed her, standing now far away.
"There's one good thing bout this blight you know, It brings people together"
He smiled as she came closer, She raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"Excuse me?" The cousland girl murmured,
He didnt even flinch.
"Ah well, I dont think we've met, I am Alistair."
So he was the grey warden Duncan had asked her to get, "Great" she thought to herself.
"I Am Mairella" She murmured, crossing her arms across her chest.
It could be worse, she supposed. He did seem like an ok guy.
"Oh I should have realised sooner, your the Recruit Duncan mentioned."
That Noticable,huh? She thought to herself, she could tell that people
allready knew who she were.
One of the surviving Couslands huh?
Rubbing her templates with her finger tips, she glared at Alistair.
"Glad To hear my arrival was announced, Are you done babbling?"
She shot him a cold glance as she lower her hand, his deep light blue eyes watching her.
"Oh ouch, Me-ow withdraw those claws, Ok Ok, I'm done"
Groaning she turned her back on him, marching off towards the grey warden Camp,
Alistair right on her heels.
The atmospher in the camp was tense,one could feel the coming war,
The worries, the concerns.
Who wouldnt be worried in such a situation?
In the middle of the camp, was a huge bonfire,
From a distance she could see Duncan and two other young men.
As they approched, she could tell all eyes were on her.
She assumed these were the other recruites, they didn't look like much,
though however looks could be desciving.
Duncan turned to the approching two, his face expressionless and blank.
"You found Alistair, I see."
Not exactly hard to find once you heard his loud argument with the mage.
For a moment she blanket out, their voices blurring out.
She felt as if she hadn't slept in ages, Everything of late was a blur.
The days had merged together, not showing either night or day.
She wasnt sure anymore, they had been travling for days since Highever.
The cousland Girl noticed Duncan talking, but no words escaped his lips,
She found herself studying the elderly Grey Warden.
"Mairella!"
There they were, jumping at her unexpected.
She supposed she had spaced out for a while in her own head.
under her breath she murmured an appology,
She was just so tired, what she wouldnt give for a warm comfertable bed,
Maybe also a hot meal to stop her growling stomach.
"This is Daveth and Sir Jory, your fellow recruites"
There he went again,she thought to herself, halfly paying attention to the elderly
Grey Warden.
Wander into the wilds? Find darkspawn blood? Recover some old treaties?
All in a day's work, she assured herself.
And this Alistair at the front of this group of theirs.
She told herself she had seen more leading skills from a 5 year old.
Duncan on the other hand had not seemed much concerned with it.
It didnt take them long to find their way out of the king's camp.
The forest was lifeless and colorless.
Like an old painting which had hung too long in the sun.
All the colors as if almost mixed into one.
Mairella lifted her gaze to look at the sky,
it was brownish and dull.
She had never seen anything quite like it.
Almost as if the forest around them was dying.
Alistair grabbed her attention,
his firm hand grabbing her by the shoulder.
She glared at him in the corner of her eye,
Looking at her commander in charge over her shoulder.
His gaze was focused on a dark large bush by a nearby tree,
watching closely she could see it gently moving.
"By the maker..." The cousland girl whispereed under her breath.
The sound of her blade withdrawing from her sheath, her hand
steady as she lifted the sword to an attack.
But to her surprise, out of the bushes, her massive Mabari came lounging at her.
The darn dog had followed her all the way from highever,
All the way to the wilds.
She found herself somewhat surprised that he had been able to track her down.
The cousland girl ruffled her furry friend's head, a somewhat happiness spreading
inside of her.
Her trusted companion has returned to her, safe and unharmed.
They moved along through the brownish landscape,
The swampy ground making squishy sounds beneath her feet.
it was all too quiet for a swamp, no sound of birds, only frogs being
heard in the distance.
She turned her gaze to her mabari,the large muscular dog sniffed the air and whimpered.
He dashed off infront of her, the dark dog disappearing across a tiny bridge.
That darn dog where was he off to now?
The Cousland girl set off after him, but to her surprise, she found him barking at a wounded
soldier on the ground.
He must have been attacked by something nearby, his wounds seemed pretty new.
The dark leather armor covered in blood and dirt.
"W-who goes there...?" his voice was weak and trembling, she could not imagen what the
soldier was going through. "Grey wardens?"
Alistair kneeled to the soldier, opening the small pack he was carryng,
"Hold still, I will bandage your wounds."
She watched as he wrapped up the soldier, the bright white bandages quickly soaking
up the red blood.
"Thank you, Thank you, I might make it back to camp now. Be careful there is darkspawn around."
Darkspawn, exactly what they needed.
She had never encountered nor seen a darkspawn, unsure of what exactly to expect.
She watched as the soldier limped away from her party, setting off in the direction of the king's camp.
Sir Jory wore a worried look on his face, almost as frightned by the news that they had rescieved.
Alistair assured the worried recruite that they had nothing to worry about, and that the grey wardens could
sense the darkspawn in they were anywhere nearby.
Darkspawn, how bad could it be? she thought to herself as the party moved along.
By now they found themselve quite deep within the wilds, the same eary feeling hanging
over her with every step she took.
Startled by an unknown sound from somewhere nearby, she lifted her head to see
an unknown being raising a staff to the sky, before running away from them.
Readying her sword, she sprinted as fast as her her legs could carry her, the swampy
ground giving in under her feet with each step.
Lounging herself at the tall darkspawn infront of her, the sparkles of its magic spell
Bouncing off her cousland shield.
Mairella yelled loudly as she slamed the steel shield against the darkspawns face,
To her surprise more darkspawn had showed up, but the others were all ready
busy taking care of them.
Slitting its throat, the dark almost black like spraying over her outworn leather armor,
The limp body dropping to the ground with a squishy thud.
She kneeled to the dead body, examining it closely as she nudged it with the handle
of her sword.
it was unlike anything she had ever seen before, the texture of its skin almost
leather like.
Withdrawing a vial from her pouch, she gathered as much of the blood as possible,
She helf it up against the light, it was so thick and dark no light passed through it.
The sound of moving footsteps came up behind her, It was Alistair,
in his hands he held vials identically to those of hers.
"That should cover up that part," He said with a sheepish smile upon his lips.
Standing from her kneeling position, she pushed him out of her way as she placed the
Vial back in her pouch.
She was silent, the faster she could get out of this wilderness the better.
The smell would stick with her for a while, like rotten flesh.
Sheathing her sword, she gazed to the horizon, there not far from their location,
she could see the ruins of an old tower.
Silently she headed off in the direction of the tower, she couldnt wait to get out of this swamp,
A bath would be nice the darkspawn blood wasnt exactly what she found appealing.
The Grey Warden tower had seen better days, nothing but ruins and rubble.
however there amongst the fallen tower stood a chest, the rubble around
it applied it had been there for quite some time.
Mairella kneeled at the chest, her hand reaching for its lid to reveal its content.
Empty
They had wandered through this horrible forest to find nothing?
She couldn't believe this, why send them out here if they were unsure if
its content was still there?
Startled she heard rolling gravel, looking over her shoulder she was surprised to see they were not alone
in this forsaken wilderness.
"Well, well, what have we here? Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst a corpse whose bones have been long since cleaned? Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn filled wilds of mine in search of... easy prey?" before the group stood a young woman,
her long black hair waving in the gentle breeze rushing through the forest.
The young girl was dressed in rags, could she be one of the chasined that roamed in the wilds?
She was not sure however as she had only heard some tales of the chasined people.
Mairella glanced at the woman, who slowly was approching her, one step at the time down the old sloop to the tower,
her golden hazel eyes sparkled in the low sunlight, her eyes closely focusing on the young cousland.
"We are neither, We are grey wardens...We came for something hidden in this tower." Mairella hesitated to reply.
She found the girl eying her up and down, those large hazel opals gazing at every inch of the cousland girl.
"Tis no tower no longer, The wilds have obviously claimed this desiccated corpse"
The girl passed her, her hips swaying with each movement, her black leatherskirt
dangling as she moved. Her dark hair like raven's feathers brushing against her
naked visable back. She turned to them, her eyebrow lifted into an arch in wonder.
"I have watched your progress from some time, 'Where do they go,' I wondered, 'Why are they here?' And now you distube ashes none have touched for so long, Why is that?"
Mairella found herself puzzled by the young girl infront of her, she was gorgouse, she thought
to herself, watching her slender body sway as she stood on a small hilt infront of the grey wardens.
Her arms crossed over her chest, the wind blowing gently through her dark hair.
The cousland girl stepped forth and was about to speak as Alistair pushed her aside,taking one step
ahead of her.
"Don't answer her, She looks chasin, that means others might be nearby" Mairella's elder warden, murmured, not
taking his eyes of the woman.
The woman let out a soft chuckle,placing her hands on her hips as a sheepish grin spread across her full lips.
"Do you fear barbariens will swoop down upon you?" she said, lifting her arms in a dramatic fashion above her head,
mocking the young warden.
Alistair groaned, "Yes...swoooping is bad"
Mairella had lost her train of thoughts, This girl's sudden apperance somehow had her worried,
Who was she? And what was she doing out in the middle of this dark brown forest?
The voices of her companions, turning into another blur.
She watched the girl speak, her lips moving but the voice was muted
"You there. Women do not frighten like little boys" The girl's voice called out to her,
jolting her back into reality, Determined and strong she stood before her, her hands resting on her gentle frame.
"Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine." Dumbfoundly she shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts.
"I am Mairella Cousland, A pleasure to meet you" Seriously she thought to herself, what kinda of way
was that to introduce herself. 'I am of noble blood, bow to me you chasin woman'?
She almost found herself chuckling at her own remark.
"That is a proper Civil greeting even here in the wilds" The girl chuckled softly, slipping through those full
red lips "You may call me Morrigan"
A beautiful name for a beautiful girl, however it did not explain what she was doing out here by herself in
the middle of a darkspawn infested swamp.
"We are here for the Grey Warden Documents" Mairella's voice felt like it was cracking, it was dry yet soft however.
she turned to Alistair as he argued back and forth with Morrigan, Witch here and Witch there.
Accusations flying like nilly willy.
"I will not for 'twas not I who removed them. Invoke a name that means nothing here if you wish, I am not threatened."
Morrigan bursted out, her slender arms tightly folded across her chest, Mairella has allready lost the conversation.
She turned to the young woman, her brow lowered deeply as she gazed upon the slender woman.
"then who did?" Her voice called out loud, catching the attention of the chasin woman.
"Tis was my mother infact"
"your mother? Can you take us to her?"
The young girl smirked as she pulled up her hood,the soft redish fabric, drappled over her head.
Hazel golden eyes darting in the young cousland's direction as a smile spread across her lips.
"Follow me then"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had traveled through the dull and brown swamp for quite some time,
blindlessly following the young woman they had met by the warden tower.
Her hips swaying with every movement she took.
Mairella could still hear the chitchatter behind her, Witch here and witch there.
Alistair's concern with the girl was what most an intresting matter.
However from time to time, she noticed the girl looking at her over her shoulder,
Those big hazel eyes gazing at her from under the redish hood, the strands of hair framing
her delicate face.
Without ease she made her way through the bushes and the trees, her delicate hands pushing
aside the bushes and branches in her way.
How aimlessly they followed this girl, unsure if she infact was taking them to the mother or
if they were being lead into an ambush.
But as the young cousland looked to the sky, she noticed heavy smoke emerging from a small hut
not far from them.
Morrigan had pulled down her hood, her long dark hair waving in the wind as she made her way
thought a small patch of bushes.
To Mairella and the other warden's surprise, they were met by an old woman.
"I bring you four grey wardens,mother..."
"I can see them,girl"
Morrigan had stepped up behind her mother, The old woman had proberly seen better days.
Old wrinkly, her grey hair ruffled and wild.
The young girl looked nothing like the elderly woman standing infront of the group.
"I am Mairella and we were told tha..."
The old woman interupted her, her voice sharp as her daughter's tounge.
"I know why you are here wardens, you came for your treaties, did you not?"
She didn't cut any corners did she?
The sooner they got out of there, the happier she'd be.
She wouldnt deny that the old woman made her feel a bit worried.
"Thank you for taking care of them for us"
The old woman nodded slowly to the cousland girl's words,
Eying the young girl at her side, Mairella noticed the young girl rolling her eyes at her
mother.
"Very Well, Follow me, I shall lead you out of the woods."
Morrigan had lead them to their camp, surprisingly enough, she had pulled on her hood
and vanished into the forest from which she came.
Twice Mairella had looked over her shoulder for the darkhaired girl, but she was no where to be seen.
As sudden as she had appeared, she was once again gone.
Chin up, she and her other warden's entered the king's camp.
The sky had darkned over, The Chant was no longer filling the busy camp with its prayer.
The tension was hanging in the air,heavy and thick.
Everything was closing in, the war was almost close enough to touch.
The Fear in the eyes of the soldiers passing by them as they walked towards the warden camp.
She wouldnt deny she was worried about the upcoming ritual, all this secrecy.
Was this something every warden had to pass through.
The young cousland girl stood in the background as Alistair talked to their older Warden,
Passing on the blood they had found in the wilds.
She watched as the two wardens passed words between them.
Alistair strolled towards her and the two other recruites of her group,
his face was expressionless and empty.
This was it huh, The time for her old life to end completly.
"Come..." his voice murmured, she wasnt completly sure if she was ready for this.
Though without hesitation, she followed the rest of her group closely behind.
Her two fellow recruites seemed as nervous as she felt.
There was no turning back now. this was it.
Out the outskirt of camp, they were met by Duncan, behind him on a wooden table,
Stood a large white chalic.
From her position she could not see the content of it.
Listening in closely, she heard Duncan explain the power being the grey wardens,
To drink the taint of the darkspawn.
"We speak only a few words prior to the Joining. But these words have been said since the first. Alistair, if you would? "
Her older warden's face was motionless, his gaze focused on the ground infront of him,
Blank and empty.
"Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn.
And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten... and that one day, we shall join you. "
His voice faded softly as Duncan passed the chalic Daveth,
She studied his face as he gazed deeply into the liquid in the chalic.
Clearly she could see the fear spread in his eyes as he brought his lips to the edge of the chalic.
Startled she backed off as Daveth's eyes turned to the cold of white, clawing at his own throat,
as the air disappeared.
In horror she backed off as Daveth's limp body dropped to the ground before her,
The blood flowing from the corner of his mouths.
"I'm sorry, Daveth..."
Duncan's voice was empty and hollow as he stepped backwards towards sir Jory.
"No..." the young knight pulled out his sword as he stepped backwards, "There is no glory in this"
Horrified by the events taking place before her, she watched as Duncan pulled out his dagger,
Thrusting it into Sir Jory.
His face grimanced in pain as the blood gushed from his open wound.
This was the faith of the wardens?
Drink Darkspawn blood and maybe survive?
Was this all worth it?
She looked up as Duncan stood tall and brood before her, the white chalic in his hands.
this was the moment of truth.
The smell was foul,it reaked of death, She was not sure if she was ready,
But she couldn't go back now. She had seen what had happened to Sir Jory.
Taking a deep breath, she lifted the chalic to her lips,
The liquid was thick and bitter, swirling around her mouth.
It nauseated her, her head dizzy as she released her grip on the chalic.
What was going on, she wondered, was this the end, would she meet the same faith
as her companion?
The echo of the chalic hitting the ground reached her ear as the world turned to dark.
The Cousland girl could hear voices, muttering and murmuring above her, Was she dead?
Her eyes was still heavy, not fully co operating with the rest of her,
The bitter aftertaste of the blood still hanging in her mouth.
The Headach was killing her, like a bad hangover that fully wouldnt go away.
"Urrgh..." She pushed herself from the ground, surprised to see Alistair and Duncan hanging
over her.
"Atleast one of you made it..." Alistair murmured, throwing the Grey warden Armor at her feet.
She tried to shake off the pain, she knew she didnt have time for this now.
The joining was over, she was safe. Atleast for the time being.
"Come Find me after you are ready, I have a meeting with the King. there is much to be done."
The Cousland girl chuckled to herself, Mairella the Grey, one of the Ferelden Wardens.
A few days ago this would all seem like a weird dream, something out of this world.
This was her reality now,and so was the blight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grey Warden Armor was heavy against her skin, She was not used to such
heavy material.
The Cousland armors had been made of light thick leather, Nothing like this at all.
The Sword she had been given was light and quick. Easy for combat.
She found herself studying it, watching her reflection aganst the blank surface.
The bright green opals jittering at her own reflection.
"..A warden..." she murmured to herself, sliding her newly gained sword back into
its sheat.
She was all alone by now, Duncan had left, Alistair had left, The dog, Well she wasnt entirly sure,
She wouldnt be surprised if he was hanging around the kennel with the other war dogs.
It was time to move, she could hear the distance marching of the darkspawn hords,
Closing in on their camp.
This would be a day of death.
However, it felt as if it had been nothing but death of late.
"...Mother..."
"...Father..."
She shook it out of her head, as she headed towards the grey warden camp,
Her heavy armor clinging with every step she took.
By standers watched her as she walked them by, she felt their eyes on her,
The new grey warden. A female warden none the less.
"Mairella" Duncan's powerful voice called out, snappng her out of her thuoghts.
The battle was soon upon them, The Drums far far away in the distance, heavy beats
moving closer and closer. The light of the torches moving through the trees.
The young Girl Bowed to her commander, the fire dancing upon her green opals,
as she studied his face.
"I need you and Alistair to go to the tower of Ishal and light the becon,
Signaling for the flank of the darkspawn army."
"We are not going into battle?"
The two young wardens looked at each other, uncertain of their orders,
Lapdogs for lighting a becon.
Duncan didn't move a mucle.
There was no arguing over the matter, they had to follow their orders.
The Cousland girl, nodded in agreement setting off in the direction of the tower,
Alistair close on her heels.
"Are you serious?"
Glaring at him over her shoulder, she saw him struggling to keep up with her.
Was there anything to question, they had their orders.
Was it not their duty to follow them?
As they reached the bridge, they could see the torches burning, much brighter and
closer than earlier.
The heavy marching footsteps, making its way through the forest.
Large heavy bulders soared through the sky, rock crashing against rock.
The loud scretching sound flying towards their direction.
The ground beneath them both shaking with every step of the darkspawn army.
"Let's go"
Making haste, the wardens set off across the large rock bridge, dodging arrows as they flew them by.
An arrow almost scaring her delicate face as it flew infront of her.
She couldnt even imagen how bad the conditions were down below.
the Fear their own armies would feel as the darkspawn approched.
Turning to gaze, she looked over her shoulder as she reached the other side.
"Good luck Duncan..." She murmured under her breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The old tower had seen better days as The Cousland girl and Alistair reached the
base of the tower.
Along their way they had found some darkspawn away from the hord.
Alistair had questioned her on several occation bout them, she had more answers than he did.
Gently she pushed the door to the tower open, the smell of rot and death hit her face.
The tower had long been deserter from the looks of it, mold and spiderweb.
Old blood spilled upon the stone tiles decorating the tower floor.
"Something's not right here..." She whispered, leaning towards her fellow warden,
Alistair nodded in agreement, readying his sword at his side.
With gentle steps they made their way towards the door to the second floor,
However a loud and powerful scream was heard behind them.
"That would explain the smell..."
A small Chuckle escaped his lips as he drew his sword up infront of him,
the blank shinny shield shielding him from the flying arrows.
The Cousland warden rolled her eyes, as she drew her own sword, the sound of steel
giving an familiar cling.
The Warden charged in, their blank steel clashing against that of the Darkspawn,
the stainless steel soon covered in the filthy dark blood.
The Darkspawn filth fell at her feet, She threw Alistair a gaze as she saw him finishing off his.
"We better hurry..."
The following floors were no better, what were the darkspawn allready doing in the tower?
They cut their way through the small groups of them that had found their way into the damp
old place, one dark spawn at the time.
She felt as if their smell had covered her from top to toe, again that bath would have been ever so nice.
Another pair of stairs, Soon the top must be there soon.
"The beacon should be up ahead" Her fellow warden called out, just a few more steps.
but what awaited them was far from anything they ever could imagen.
"By the maker!" Mairella explaimed as she layed her eyes upon the beast which awaited them,
Large and just as foul as any of the other darkspawn.
She readied her sword as the beast towered above her.
Smirking she charged at the ogre, sword and shield tight in hand.
The shield smashing against the muscular body of the ogre,
in a leap, she jumped at the beast's head, impaling her sword into its skull.
However the beast threw her off, sending the Cousland girl across the floor.
A mighty rawr was heard as the beast sank together into a lump on the stone floor,
Alistair was already ready to signal the beacon, as she got back up on her feet.
"Do it!" She commanded, pulling her blood covered sword from the beast's head.
The beacon burned bright as she sheated her sword.
Their job here was done, and somehow she found herself smiling at her fellow warden.
Though the glory was too soon, an arrow impaled her shoulder, sending her to her knees.
the pain spread across her body,rapidly blurrying her vision.
So this would be the place she died.
On so many occations of the passing days, where the maker could have taken her to his side,
This was the place he had choosen for her.
The world grew dark, as the pain swallowed her up.