The Awakening
A Dragon Age Fanfiction
By Bionca Femme
Disclaimer: I still own nothing.
Chapter 2: Destinies Call
Alistair and Zevran fought their way through the outer walls of the Vigil. They met little resistance just inside the outer walls, only finding a few clusters of dark spawn, all of them ganging up on lone soldiers who'd been caught up in the siege. They made short work of the monsters and every man and woman they saved directed them towards the portcullis, where supposedly the Commander was up to her eyeballs in dark spawn.
They finally made it to the inner gate and found themselves confronted with an almost painfully familiar sight. There, surrounded by almost twenty of the beasts, was an elven woman. She was wearing silverite plate armor and her helmet had been discarded, her shoulder length red hair was a stark contrast against the darkness around her, and Alistair was reminded of the rose he'd picked in Lothering after escaping Ostagar.
Sidona Andras drew back her broad sword and swung her shield in a wide arc, knocking the creatures back, allowing her a look at the newcomers. Upon seeing them she grinned and raised her sword high in the air in greeting. "Its about time you got here! Be good fellows and give me a hand, yes?"
Alistair and Zevran exchanged bemused looks and then launched themselves into the battle. Alistair quickly found himself back to back with the small woman as the creatures surrounded them. Zevran would fade in and out of view, true to his rogue abilities, avoiding detection until he was ready to strike.
The enemy was no match for them. When the last of the creatures had been felled, Alistair found himself confronted by a pair of eyes so dark brown they were almost black.
"I suppose that since you are a Grey Warden and not from Orlais, it is safe to assume that you are Alistair, no?" she inquired as she put away her weapons.
"No..." he agreed with a silly grin and then he laughed nervously when he realized what he'd said. "I mean, yes!" he corrected himself. "That's me, I'm Alistair. And this," he jerked a thumb at the ex-Crow at his side, "is Zevran."
"Charmed," Zevran smiled in his lazily seductive way.
The Commander lifted an eyebrow at the elf, clearly unimpressed. Alistair had to restrain himself from snickering. "A pleasure to meet you. As you might have already guessed, I am the new Warden-Commander. My name is Sidona. Now, gentleman, if you do not mind, would you do me the honor of helping me clear out the Vigil? I think we got the bulk of the creatures taken care of, but I believe there are more lurking within the keep. And perhaps there is something even more disturbing within," she finished with a frown.
"More disturbing than dark spawn?" Alistair mentally slapped himself for sounding so stupid.
"A dark spawn that talks, to be more specific," Sidona said archly.
"What?" Alistair's incredulous laugh was met with an impassive expression. "Wait, you're not joking are you? You're actually serious?" Alistair folded his arms over his broad chest. "How in the Maker's name is that even possible?" he frowned.
"You are asking me questions I do not have the answer to, brother. However if you will help me here, I intend on asking the creature personally." She turned to face the keep and Alistair swore he heard her say, "Suddenly, violently, and all over the place. Not necessarily in that order."
"Lead the way, Commander," Alistair said with a lifted eyebrow. The way he was finding himself looking at her was anything but...brotherly.
"So, we are going to fight our way through a very large fortress with no idea how many foes we face? Talking dark spawn? Peril at every turn? How exciting!" Zevran said with mock excitement. "After you, Warden-Commander."
They followed the Commander into the Keep's interior, and almost as soon as they entered the Vigil they were brought up short by an interesting sight. Standing there with fire blazing from his fingertips was a Mage, when the fire ceased a dark spawn fell to the ground in a crispy heap.
Alistair took in the sight and realized that among the dark spawn lay the bodies of fallen Templars. "Apostate!" he growled. "Did you murder these men?"
The Mage turned around and folded his arms, giving Alistair a slightly bored look. "Not I, the dark spawn caught us unawares, I was unshackled to help defeat these mangy beasts."
Alistair eyed the man but said nothing. Which seemed to embolden the Mage. "Don't get me wrong or anything, I'm not particularly upset about them dying," he jerked his head at a fallen templar at his feet. "Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down."
Alistair sighed heavily then looked down at the woman at his side. "We could take him with us. I possess all the abilities of a Templar," he cast the Mage a meaningful look. "If he gets out of line, I could put him down if need be."
He was startled but pleased by the warm chuckle from Sidona, "I don't believe he'll be a problem, but I thank you." She looked the Mage over calculatingly, "I require your assistance, Ser Mage."
"And you have it," Anders replied happily. And then cast Alistair a wary look. "We'll discuss what comes later...later when all these dark spawn are taken care of, yes? Until then my name is Anders, Mage and wanted apostate, at your service."
"Oh, don't you worry. We will discuss this. Make no mistake about that," Alistair assured him.
Zevran took a deep pull of air through his nose. "Ahh, I do so enjoy the smell of testosterone in the air, don't you agree, my dear?" he leaned in conspiratorially to Sidona.
Sidona's answering laugh was rich and inviting, "Personally I prefer a good duel for a woman's attentions, rather than such a display of words. But in a pinch it does tickle a lady's fancy."
"Oh?" Zevran grinned and took her by the arm, leading her away from the Mage and the former templar. "Speaking of tickling fancies, did you know that before tonight our friend Alistair had never before had his fancy tickled?"
Alistair's face turned a dark red as did his ears and his plate armor felt uncomfortably hot. A chuckle from beside him brought a scowl to his face. He turned the scowl at the source.
Ander's shrugged his shoulders, "Orlesians and Antivans. Marvelously over-sexed and absolutely atrocious gossips."
Alistair's eyebrows raised almost into his hairline. "Oh I wasn't-," he started.
"She is quite the looker, isn't she?" Anders replied with a smirk.
"And deserving of your respect," Alistair growled.
"Oh please, I saw the way you were looking at her. But alright, alright. I recognize that you've obviously called firsts on her and who am I to get in the way of a man's 'fancy'?" he grinned and then left Alistair there with the scowl still on his face.
"Lovely," Alistair muttered. "I'm going to regret this, I just know it."
When he caught up to the three they were kneeling before a wounded man in a poorly lit hallway.
"Where did it go, Gustav?" the Commander queried as Anders knelt at the man's side, presumably to see if he could be healed.
"They were heading for the east tower, Commander," he cried out in pain. "There is money that I have saved in the strong box in my chambers. Could you-," he cried out again. "Could you get it to my wife?"
"I'd rather get you to your wife," Sidona replied, her voice laced with grief.
"He's beyond healing magic, Commander. Perhaps a little whiskey for the pain?" Anders suggested.
"Do you have any?" Sidona asked.
Anders produced a small flask from a pocket in his robes and handed it to her. She placed it against Gustav's lips and he drank from it and then coughed. Not long after, the man expired.
Long moments passed and finally Alistair knelt by the Commander's side, his leaned forward slightly and found that her cheeks were wet. "Sidona," he said gently. "We'll come back for him, you have my word."
She looked up into his eyes and his breath caught in his throat. Staring back at him was the same naked grief he had felt when Lyna had taken the final blow. The same pain was mirrored in the eyes of the Warden-Commander. Gustav must have been close to her. "You are right, Alistair," she offered him a small reassuring smile. She could save her grief until later.
He offered her a hand up and she took it with a grateful nod. "When we get to this talking dark spawn, leave him to me," she ordered with a growl. "Vengeance will be mine."
Thereafter as they fought their way through the Vigil towards the East tower, Sidona fighting as if a woman possessed. There were none that could stand before her and she cut through their foes with deadly speed and accuracy. They soon found themselves face to face with their enemy.
"Be taking this one gently," the talking dark spawn dressed in purple and silver armor pointed at the Senechal who was struggling in the hurlock's grasp. "The Architect is wishing no more death than is necessary."
"Necessary?" scoffed Varel. "As if your kind has ever done anything else!"
"You are thinking you know of my kind human!" the monster gurgled. "That will soon be changed."
"Creature!" bellowed a woman's voice. There Sidona stood, fire in her eyes and the creature's death in her feral grin. "Face me, for I am your death!"
"Get them! Keep the Warden's alive!" it snarled.
"It really is talking!" exclaimed Anders excitedly.
"Yes, hooray! Can we kill it now?" snarked Alistair.
Sidona didn't waste time examining the improbability of the creature, instead she charged it with a wild rage. Luckily, the Hurlock dropped Varel who fell forwards onto his hands and knees. Alistair rushed the hurlock that had released him and made quick work of the monster. Whatever happened Varel was unarmed and Alistair was determined that no more would die that night. He took up position in front of the man and watched as Sidona, Zevran and Anders took out the talking dark spawn and its minions.
The battle ended as Sidona knocked aside the talking dark spawns weapon and spun, her dragonbone blade glinting in the moonlight, the swing ended in a spray of black blood and the dull thud of the creatures head as it fell to the stone at the elven woman's feet.
"Anders, Zev," Alistair motioned the two men over to him. "Could you look after Varel while," he cast a glance at Sidona, "while I accompany the Commander back to Gustav's body?"
"As you wish, Alistair," Zevran said while Anders was already bending down and tending to the wounds Varel had sustained before their arrival.
Alistair nodded his thanks and then made his way over to Sidona, who was still staring down at the body of the dark spawn. "Commander," he said softly.
She didn't look up at him, but replied none-the-less, "Alistair, I believe I requested that you call me Sidona, yes? Such formality does not suit you."
"Sidona," Alistair's voice was still soft but now held an apologetic tone. "I believe I promised we would go back and see to Gustav."
"Yes," Sidona nodded and then sheathed her long sword and reharnessed her shield. "Thank you."
He held out his arm, as if she were wearing a gown instead of plate armor. She gave him a thankful smile and took it.
Together they gathered up Gustav's body and she had him help her take it to where they were keeping the dead that they were able to collect during the siege. Alistair was shocked to see that only six Wardens were present amongst the dead.
"Are the others still waiting to be collected?" he asked out of confusion.
Sidona pulled off her gauntlets and sat down on a bench located in the large room the dead were being housed in. "Well, Kristoff is still in the field...there was Gustav here, all that have not been taken by the dark spawn are in this very room. So no, they are not waiting to be collected. The monsters have collected them already," she leaned forward, elbows on her knees as she dug her palms into her eyes, perhaps trying to press the after images of the carnage from them.
"Collected?" Alistair's voice cracked. "Do the dark spawn even do that?"
"Ridiculous as it sounds, it is true. I watched them take some of our dead and severely wounded with them. I would have followed, but I had all I could do, not to lose the Vigil. I am the youngest Warden-Commander in a long time, Alistair. I am being watched very closely. If I were to lose the Vigil, the First Warden would have my, how do you say? He would have my arse?" she looked to him for help finding the right expression.
Alistair laughed. "Yes, that's right! Have your arse on a plate with a side of peas. He's a squirrelly one, that First Warden!"
Sidona eyed him as if assessing whether or not he was mocking her and then her face broke out into a grin, "Clever, this is the Fereldan sense of humor, yes?"
"Don't they have them in Orlais?" Alistair teased with a smirk.
"The people of Orlais do not have a sense of humor that we are aware of, no," Sidona replied dryly.
"Cute," Alistair laughed. "And that explains a lot actually."
Sidona made no reply as her gaze had drifted downwards to the body of Gustav. For a moment Alistair was certain that she was going to start crying. "We went through our joining together," she gestured down at the body with a nod of her head.
"He was a friend, then?" Alistair sat down next to her, their plate armor making a clinking noise as they collided slightly.
She nodded. "For my part, he was not a very talkative fellow, so I know not how he felt about me. I think perhaps I did most of the talking, now that I think about it."
Alistair nodded. "Lyna was a bit like that too. She liked to ask questions, but she never really talked all that much about her own life. I never pushed her, I guess I just figured she'd talk to me when she was ready, you know? And then...well...then it was too late. But, she was a great listener."
A wistful smile crossed Sidona's full lips. "As was Gustav."
"Do you think," Alistair paused looking a bit conflicted for a moment and then continued, "do you think that maybe its not worth it? Getting to know someone, I mean? What with what we face everyday. Is it really worth all the heartache?"
He turned to look into her face, which was also turned to him. She seemed to be studying him intently.
After some time she nodded. "I believe so."
Alistair felt himself flush under her intense brown eyed gaze and hastily looked away, letting his eyes instead fall on the rows of bodies in the room. "I was planning on going to Highever, before all this. But if its alright with you, I'd like to stay and help out for awhile."
"I'd like that, thank you Alistair," she stood and pushed her hair back from her face with both hands. As she did, Alistair noticed that her bright red mop of hair had been hiding scars on her cheeks. A horizontal slash on each of her smooth cheeks stood out almost white against her tan skin. "A story for another time," she said as she let her hair fall back into place, once again hiding the sides of her face.
"I-," Alistair flushed again, only out of guilt rather than from the crush he was developing. "I'm sorry, I just...wasn't expecting that, not that you look less pretty or anything...," Alistair squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment, "I mean you don't have to tell me about it, if you don't want to. Its none of my business, really."
"Worth the heartache," Sidona replied with a smile. She did not comment on his comment that he thought she was pretty, perhaps to save him further embarrassment. "Remember?"
Alistair nodded and then cleared his throat. "Maybe we should...uh...go make sure Zevran and Anders don't burn down what's left of the keep?"
A soft chuckle and then a nod. "I suppose that would be wise."
The next day found Sidona up before dawn's light had a chance to peak over the horizon. Her night had been spent tossing and turning, the last few days replaying over and over again in a grotesque loop of memory. But before she drifted off into sleep she let her imagination wander to a certain blonde human man, a fellow Warden and former Prince. One that had felt her distress from miles away in Denerim. He was at once handsome and a little strange. Almost too shy and humble for as handsome as he was. He had none of the arrogance that she had come to expect from the human men of this country. It was true that even in Orlais, elves were treated differently, but they were not openly spat upon there as in this country. It seemed that almost as soon as she set foot on Fereldan soil the humans in this land seemed determined to make her feel less than worthy of breathing the same air as them.
Alistair Theirin, the bastard child of King Maric and half brother to King Cailan. She had met Cailan only once, and that had been when he came to visit Empress Celine. At the time she was newly recruited and stationed at the Imperial Palace. The Empress and she had quickly become the best of friends and knowing Cailan's near-worship of the Wardens, Celine had ordered her to stay throughout the meeting with the young King.
King Cailan was exuberant and handsome, and the Empress had been quite taken with him. But he was married to Queen Anora and unattainable. Despite that fact, it did not stop the Empress from showing off her "prized" Warden to the King in hopes of impressing him. Sidona had been shoved forward and introduced to the man. The King had greeted her, as if she were an old acquaintance, and then proceeded to sing the praises of her order, compliment her for rising through the ranks at such a young age and newly recruited, and then had invited her to Ferelden to meet with Duncan the Senior Warden there. A man the King seemed to think quite highly of. When Sidona learned of his death she felt quite saddened. He seemed to be a wonderful man.
Alistair himself bore a slight resemblance to the King, but that is where the similarities ended. While Alistair seemed to be fun-loving, he was also pragmatic and knew when things were serious. And even more importantly when things were too serious. He had made her smile, despite her guilt over losing Gustav. He seemed to know exactly what she needed last night and had taken over on the things that she was too weary to handle on her own. The Vigil was safe for the remainder of the night, in large part because of him. She only hoped that he was true to his word and stayed on to help her get things sorted out.
She rose, still bone-tired and a little grumpy. Regardless she pulled on a pair of trousers, shirt and leather boots, and headed down to the kitchens, where the kitchen staff supplied her with her customary mug of sweetened black coffee and a roll. Carrying these treats out to the courtyard with her, she proceeded to make the rounds. First to Voldrik, the Dwarf stone mason that arrived shortly before she was sent there by the First Warden, to make repairs at the Vigil. Rendon Howe had let many of his estates, including Vigil's Keep, fall to ruin. Thus it was up to the Wardens to repair the damage.
"I can raise eighty sovereigns in time, Voldrik. I do not believe that I can do more than that. We need to eat, after all," she replied to his request and then popped the last of her roll into her mouth and took a sip of her coffee.
"That should be enough Warden. I also need better stone. Human masons will use whatever is available," Voldrik wrinkled his bulbous nose in distaste.
"Obviously," Sidona said around her mouthful of food.
"I need granite, the blacker the better," he pressed, passing a hand over his beard, smoothing it.
Sidona sighed heavily, "If I get you this granite, will that be the end of it?"
"Of course!" Voldrik replied. "Well...probably," he conceded.
"Alright! I shall get you your granite," she groaned. She lifted her mug to her lips and drained the last of her coffee. Scowling at the empty mug she turned to head back towards the Vigil to get more when her eye caught a familiar figure conversing with Herren at the Smithy.
"Oh Wade!" she heard Herren gush. "Look who's come to visit us! Its Prince Alistair!"
"Well la-dee-dah!" Wade huffed in response. "I'm still bloody cold!"
Herren shushed his companion and returned his attention to Alistair, who at this point looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Never mind him, Sire. He's just a tad homesick. What can we do for you today?"
"Its not Sire, actually. I had to give up my claim to the throne," Alistair explained.
"Hogwash!" Herren exclaimed. "The son of King Maric will never be anything but a Prince. Blood is blood, after all!"
"Yes, well..." Alistair cleared his throat. "I wondered if you might have any broadswords for sale, perchance?"
"Oh, of course!" Herren tittered and brought out a selection of swords for him to look at.
Sidona sauntered up to Alistair's side, "Looking for a bigger blade?"
Alistair jumped as he obviously hadn't heard her approaching, "What? Well no...not a bigger one...just one that I don't have to worry about breaking." He watched as one of her auburn eyebrows lifted in response. "Um...well you see, I'm using Duncan's blade and shield...and while they're fine weapons, I would rather they were hung in a place of honor. I don't want to ruin them."
"Ah, I see," she replied. "That is very thoughtful of you."
"Is it?" he asked offhandedly as he averted his gaze from her and hefted a sword in his hand.
Sidona watched him keep his gaze on anything but her and got the feeling that if she had not caught him here, she would not have seen him for the rest of the day. "Alistair, I will need your help with something later, if you do not mind?"
Alistair's grip on the weapon on his hand slipped for the briefest moment and he recovered it quickly. The casual observer might not have noticed, but Sidona had. Having survived years of dealing with Imperial court and learning how to read people, if she had to hazard a guess she would say that Alistair was extremely attracted to her.
"Uh...sure? What do you need?" he asked.
"I have to send missives to families of the Wardens who live outside of Amaranthine. They will want to collect the possessions of their loved ones. We cannot wait any longer on the pyre," she explained.
"I...have never been very good with dealing with such things," she admitted.
"I see," he put the sword down and finally turned to face her. She felt her stomach flutter for the briefest moment and she wondered how she could have ever compared the man to King Cailan. Alistair surpassed his brother's good looks by leaps and bounds. "Why do you think that I would be any help?" he asked.
"Mmm, perhaps I should rephrase that instead?" she sighed. "I will be a bit emotional once I am done writing the letters. I do not think it would be wise for me to be alone. Varel is...well...Varel. Anders would expect some sort of 'favor'. And I thought that you might like to hear the story I promised to tell you," she fidgeted with the mug in her hands and looked down at her feet for a moment before looking back up to gauge his reaction.
For a moment he seemed to be trying to figure out if she had any ulterior motives. Finally a small smile appeared on his lips and his eyes crinkled at the sides. "So...you're saying that I'm the only one you trust?"
The question caught Sidona off guard and she opened her mouth and then shut it again. She frowned then scowled then she rubbed the bridge of her nose with a forefinger. Finally, she shrugged and her face relaxed and she smiled. "I think that I have come to have a sense of your personality. I believe you will not take advantage of my vulnerability," she teased.
Alistair studied her again for sometime and then he bowed slightly, "I would be honored, my Lady. When and where would you like me to help you this evening?"
Sidona could feel her ears heat up. Which typically happened when she blushed. "After dinner, in my sitting room?"
Alistair nodded, "I shall see you then."
Sidona returned the nod and then hurried off as fast as her little elven legs could carry her. Alistair watched her until she disappeared into the Vigil.
Herren cleared his throat causing Alistair to flush with embarrassment. Truly, he'd forgotten where he was and what he had been doing while he had watched the lovely Commander walk away. "Heh, sorry," he apologized.
"Oh, don't you worry about it," Herren leaned forward conspiratorially. "She is quite beautiful. If I were more inclined towards the fairer sex I might be gawking, too."
"G-Gawking?" Alistair stammered. "What? No, no, no...I wasn't gawking! I was just...watching to make sure she made it into the Vigil alright."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, honey," Herren smirked.
A/N: hehehe I love Wade and Herren. So funny. I hope you are all well. Let me know what you think of the Orlesian Warden thus far.
Big Thanks to Melismo as always!