Author's Note: I hope you're digging this so far! You may notice the story gets a little rushed for the next few chapters. I have a lot from Awakenings to include, but since BioWare already provided us with that great story, I don't want to dwell on it too much. It's an interesting challenge to both try to skip and include so much, but I'm having fun with it :)
~No Rest for the Wicked~
Drea proudly swore her oath to the Teyrn of Highever in a modest ceremony with few of the Banns present to bear witness. The Banns in attendance were excited for the rare opportunity to be part of such an event, but disappointed that the Hero of Ferelden disappeared almost immediately after. Serving his duty, Fergus remained to entertain the Banns, but sorely wished he was able to follow after his sister.
To make up for it, he was sure to rise when the world was still dark. He was determined not to let her sneak away without getting to say goodbye. Much to his surprise, she was waiting for him just outside his room. Casually, she sat on one of the chairs in the sitting area as Arkon rested at her feet. "About time you got up," she smirked.
"Well, someone had to be respectful to the Banns," he lightly shot back.
"Not my Banns. Not my problem," she said briskly as she rose, with her studded leather armour creaking slightly in the process. Eyeing his look of distain, she laughed quietly. "But, I will feel the pain of that soon enough when I reach my arling," she assured him. Crossing the hall to him, a more serious look settled on her features. "I wanted to see you before I left Fergus because I have something to give you." Reaching to her scabbard, she pulled out the family sword and held it in her flat palms, offering it to him.
"It's the family's sword, it must not fall into Howe's hands. It should be used to sever his treacherous head," the Teyrna angrily spat as she thrust the sword into Drea's hands.
His eyes seemed to cloud when he saw what she held, and he shook his head, "No Dre, I cannot accept that."
Not giving in, she replied, "Mother gave it to me to bring justice to those that wronged us. That has been done and I think it's only right that the sword be returned home…"
Just as she promised her mother, the Cousland sword was used to slit Rendon Howe's throat. As she stood over him, watching him bleed to death, all she felt was more anger. Her family sword, dripping in his blood, was not enough to wash away the rage and it did not bring her family back. Leliana had tried to warn her that getting vengeance would solve nothing, but Drea was blinded by her hatred. In the end, Leliana was right. Dreaming of her revenge was better than getting it. Getting her revenge left her hollow…a hollowness that was only filled with more anger. The sword fulfilled it's purpose, but what was the point? They were all still gone…
Fergus argued, "It's with a Cousland now, is it not? That is where it belongs…"
Being a Warden meant she was expected to cut all ties to her former life, but she knew she could never do that. Being the Commander of the Grey, and currently the only Ferelden Warden, she doubted anyone would try to correct her ways. "I am a Cousland, yes. Which is why I'll be raiding the armoury for another weapon," she smiled. Pushing the hilt of the sword into Fergus' hand, with the family crest pointing up at him, she finished, "But that doesn't change the fact that this belongs here." Fergus finally nodded and accepted the sword.
Drea was on the road before day break with Arkon happily trotting beside her. She had refused the use of a horse, deciding that Highever needed to keep all the resources it had. As it was, she was leaving sooner than anyone expected, so there was no need to rush.
Several times she had felt the distant pull of a group of darkspawn, but decided not to stray from the main road for worry of missing the recruit. Nothing pursued her, and she had to assume that she had gone unnoticed. Other than those times of tension, her trip was a quiet one - sometimes too quiet. On her first night, she stopped with enough time to set up a proper camp for herself. It was not long before she realized it gave her far too much time to think and all she could think about was Leliana, her family, and things she just generally wanted to forget. There were many times that first night that she cursed herself for not bringing mind-numbing alcohol. She tried humming to herself, focusing on different songs she had learned - but ultimately that brought to mind the red-headed bard she had learned the songs from. She had even tried to occupy her mind with various lessons from her tutor by reciting names and dates of important historic events. That inevitably ended with her reliving the devastating moment when she found his body on the floor of the library. It was the very next day that she started the routine of walking late into the night until she was too tired to carry on and collapsing in spots just off the main road for a few hours of sleep. Her mind quickly became too hazy to carry any single thought, and that suited her fine. She just needed to keep walking and Arkon was seasoned enough to keep up. Few of her provisions required cooking, so for the most part, she was able to keep on the move. Even as she settled in this pattern, she knew it was not a smart way to travel, but she was doing far better than the messenger had. In the end, it was nothing a few good solid nights of sleep at the Vigil couldn't cure.
It was a day's travel from Vigil's Keep when she came across the recruit, Mhairi, who quickly identified her. As it turns out, Mhairi was from Denerim and lucky enough to be outside of Denerim's Palace during the victory celebration. She had not been able to hear Drea's words over the cheers of those around her, but she had gotten a good view of the speech. After expressing her excitement of meeting her in person, the pair quickly fell into silence - exhaustion on Drea's part, and worry of acting foolish on Mhairi's.
As the Vigil came into view, the gray skies finally opened up with rain. Arkon groaned, but continued to walk between the women who still carried on wordlessly. Drawing nearer to the Vigil, Mhairi began to notice it was far too quiet and finally couldn't help herself, "What is going on? Why are there no Wardens to greet us?"
Drea furrowed her eyebrows and gathered her shoulders in a shrug. Was it customary for someone to meet them? Wasn't that what the recruit was sent for? Mhairi eventually added, "Something is wrong."
No sooner had the words come from her lips when a man came bursting from the front gates, running towards them with a crazed look in his eye. "Help!" he shrieked, "They're right behind me."
As he desperately raced from the Vigil, Drea could see several genlocks in hot pursuit. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, dispersing the fog in her mind. The scene before her almost seemed to slow down as she surveyed it with sudden clarity. The genlocks were gaining on the man, and he would not be able to defend himself against their numbers. Seeing the two well-armed women, the man began running directly towards them, losing distance from the genlocks. They were closing on him quickly, and she could see he would not make it to them in time. Reading the situation the same, Arkon tore off towards the man, leaving the women behind. Her body reacted, and instantly her pack crashed to the ground as she dropped it from her shoulders. Flying past the man, Arkon snarled viciously as he smashed into the first genlock. Reaching for her weapons, Drea was already running towards the creatures as her swords cleared their sheaths. Also racing past the terrified man, her biting blades swung down into the skull of her first victim in months. Without hesitating, Arkon charged after the next genlock in line as Mhairi rushed in with her sword and shield. The unexpected, but powerful, allies renewed the man's vigor and he stopped running turning to fight his pursuers. They might not have been the well-oiled battle machine that was Drea's last group, but they managed to cut down all the darkspawn.
The three stared at each other as they stood over the bodies. "Thank the Maker you're here," the man cried. "They came out of nowhere! I…they were just everywhere."
Drea mulled on his words for a moment. Nothing added up - Grey Wardens were able to sense darkspawn, how could they have been surprised? What was worse, it occurred to her that even seeing the genlock with her own eyes, they didn't feel like darkspawn. The taint was there to be sure, but was somehow more distant. It wasn't right. She tightened her grip on her sword, her nerves showing in subtle ways. "How many Grey Wardens survived?"
The man spread his hands unknowingly as he stared into Drea's eyes. His sunken-in features mixed with his panic left him looking almost unnatural. "I…I…I think there was one right behind me. I don't know. I…I…I know there are guards patrolling the road. M…M…Maybe I can find some help," he stuttered. Drea nodded in dismissal and he quickly sprinted past them, anxious to get as far from the Vigil as he could.
"Let's go," Drea ordered firmly, "We have to make sure the Vigil is secure." Mhairi nodded in agreement. Drea couldn't help but like the recruit - she was respectful, strong, talented with her weapons, and did not hesitate to spring into battle. If any of the other recruits were like this one, there would be hope for her order.
They did not have to go very far before finding more darkspawn. Vigil guards were trying to dispatch small pockets of them just outside of the gates of the Keep. Although they volunteered to help Drea, she ordered them to regroup at the entrance instead. It gave her a secure spot to direct any survivors they came across and she was confident her group of three could secure the Vigil, room by room. After a few encounters, Drea was better able to tune into the sensation of these tainted creatures. It was an unmistakably more muted feel than the darkspawn she battled during the Blight, like they had been able to suppress the taint somehow. It was unnerving. She had also tried to sense any other Wardens, but felt nothing. That was unnerving as well - had the entire Warden unit been killed?
Finally, after the three made their way inside the Vigil, Mhairi's sense of hopelessness caught up with her. There are few things in life as upsetting as seeing the corpse of someone a person recognizes, and that's all Mhairi was faced with. Each new door opened on a new set of bodies - some mangled, some hanging from the ceiling - all people she knew. Like the attack on Highever, the grisliness of the battle did not register with Drea - she was fixated on the next step. Mhairi was not so lucky. Stopping suddenly, her chin began to quiver ever so slightly as her eyebrows creased deeply, "How could they have ambushed the Keep so effectively? It just…I didn't know they were capable of such a thing." She spoke while she stared at the hanging bodies that twisted morbidly. Her sword and shield slowly lowered as her despair made them too heavy to handle.
Silently, Drea also took a moment to observe the hanging bodies as Arkon anxiously stood beside her. Since when were the darkspawn so organized and methodical? It was another question to add to the growing pile, all of which she kept to herself. Finally, Drea sheathed a sword and clapped her free hand on Mhairi's shoulder. Forcing her to turn and look into her eyes, she spoke firmly, "Mhairi, one thing at a time. First, we have to secure the Keep. I can't do this alone and I'm going to need your help." As she spoke, she gestured to the lever for the gate that now obstructed their way. Unfortunately, the lever was in a landing through a barricaded door and they needed another way in.
"Right," Mhairi said quickly, snapping out of her trance. "I hear you Commander. You can count on me." She guided them to the opposite side of the hallway to a door that led to a connecting passage way.
As they opened they door, they felt the sudden rush of intense heat and their nostrils filled with the sickening stench of smoldering flesh. A single man, with his light coloured hair pulled into a neatly kept pony tail, spun around to face the pair as they opened the door. Behind him, a burning hurlock collapsed to the ground and the man hesitantly turned back to face the darkspawn, making sure it would stay down. Drea was quickly able to identify his robes as those of a mage, and the wisps of smoke still rising from his fingertips confirmed it. He glanced from the fallen hurlock to the bodies of the Templars lying next to it. Slowly turning back to the women, he immediately blurted, "I didn't do it…don't get me wrong, I'm not broken up about them dying to be perfectly honest. Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down…"
Arkon whined and cocked his head as he regarded the man. A look of disgust crossed Drea's face as she gestured for him to stop talking, "Wait. So…did you kill these darkspawn or not?"
"Of course. Well, they helped a little before they tragically died," he gesture to the Templars. "You may call me Anders my dear lady. I am a mage, and sadly a wanted apostate," he seemed oddly upbeat as he provided more information than Drea was looking for.
"An apostate? Here?" Mhairi's face reflected the distain in her voice.
"That is what they call someone who does not wish to be chained up, so yes, I'm an apostate. The Templars captured me and were taking me back. We stopped here for a rest and well…you know, darkspawn attacked. Could be a sign yes?" Anders raised his eyebrows in hope.
Mhairi was shaking her head, but Drea remained expressionless as she quipped, "An awfully convenient sign if you ask me. But to be honest, right now all I care about that you held your own. As you may have noticed, the situation is dire and we could really use your help."
Offering a small bow, Anders quickly agreed, "Then you have it." Mhairi opened her mouth to argue, but Anders flashed her a wide smile as he added, "I can't say I'm fond of these darkspawn. Why don't we deal with them now and we can deal with what's to happen later…later?" Even Mhari could not disagree with that. There were far more pressing concerns than coming across an apostate who was ready to help.
Anders melded with the group very naturally and proved his usefulness in a short time. After forcing their way to the gate lever, they were able to push on into the Vigil. It was soon after that Drea encountered her next surprise. Throwing open a door and quickly surveying the room, she saw someone on the other side making short work of the darskpawn that were swarming to him. As he sliced his large battle axe in front of him, he cut through the flimsy armour of a genlock and gutted it with one swing. A spray of its dark blood arched over the figure as the creature fell. The two others attacking along side the first met similar gruesome fates. Wiping their blood from his face, the figure turned around and Drea blinked in surprise. Excitedly he waved as he called out to her, 'Aha! There you are! When these darskpawn showed up, all I could think was 'Just you wait until the Commander shows up, you'll all be spitting teeth out your arse.' I followed the screaming, and sure enough, here you are. Good on ya!"
"Oghren?" Drea could hardly believe it, and yet, there stood the dwarf with the flaming red hair.
Sauntering towards her with a large grin, he casually leaned on a railing pillar. "Doubting your eyes are you? I get like that, usually after my fifth bottle or so. Thought I'd try my hand at becoming a bona fide Grey Warden."
"He was here when I left. I can't believe the Grey Warden's didn't kick him out," Mhairi snorted as she relaxed her stance slightly.
"This man has pulled me out of the clutch of death more times than I can count," Drea said sharply. She had far more to say about such disrespect, but with a glance in Mhairi's direction she saw the wince on her face. The recruit knew she spoke out of turn.
Bowing her head, Mhairi quickly replied, "Of course Commander, my apologies."
Turning back to Oghren, Drea frowned, "You know here are risks to joining the Grey Wardens…" Although she knew he would be an asset to the order, after her steady stream of losses, she wasn't eager at the thought of losing another. Arkon gave a loud bark at her side, sharing her sentiment.
The dwarf threw his head back in a hearty laugh, "Ha! There are risks to getting up in the morning! I piss on risk."
Knowing there was no point to arguing she moved on, "Well there it is then. Nothing to do now but keep going."
The number of darkspawn had grown sparse, and in the face of the devastating team, they broke as easily as waves on a rocky shore. Following the pull of the strange taint, Drea led them to the roof of the Vigil. The air felt thick, and Drea motioned for the group to duck against the wall. Having caught a glimpse around the corner first, Mhairi whispered to Drea, "They have Seneschal Varel."
As Drea inched towards the corner of the wall, she heard talking and held her breath so she could hear it all. "Be taking this one gently," a gravelly voice said. "We are wishing no more death than is necessary."
"Necessary?" Another voice rang out, presumably from the seneschal, "As if your kind has ever done anything else."
Finally Drea peeked around the edge and spotted a man on his knees with a darkspawn behind him, pressing a sword to his exposed throat. "You are thinking you know of our kind then? It is understandable, but that will soon be changed," the hoarse voice continued. It belonged to a tall darkspawn, facing the man on his knees.
Drea stifled a gasp and pressed herself back against the wall. She had to trust her eyes, but everything in her being told her it was wrong. She could not have just seen one of the mindless creatures talking. Quickly, her disciplined mind shut down all thought, leaving her to focus on saving the seneschal. If she tried to process what she had just seen, she would be paralyzed with confusion. Leaning in towards Anders she hissed, "The seneschal must be saved. Anders, on my word, I want you ready to hurl a bolt at the darkspawn holding him." Wordlessly, he nodded and began working up the energy between his fingertips.
Varel's voice carried over to the group, "Others will come creature, they will stop you!"
"It seems your words be true, more than you are guessing," the creature said as it cast its gaze towards the wall where Drea hid.
"That bastard knows we're here," Drea cursed under her breath as her heart pounded. Pushing herself away from the wall, she moved to charge. "Now Anders," she ordered as she raced forward.
"Capture the Grey Warden. The others, they may be killed," the darkspawn shouted. Drea's team hesitated in pure shock at seeing the creature speak. As the other darkspawn scrambled to charge, however, the adrenaline rush in their bodies pushed them to attack.
Seeing the others, Seneschal Varel shouted, "Commander!" As he spoke, he felt the blade at his throat suddenly jerk away. Without hesitating, he rolled to the side and onto his feet. The darkspawn that held him was violently convulsing and he could see sparks of blue arcing over its flesh. Springing forward, he pried the sword from the beast's smoldering hands and slashed its throat.
The group easily overwhelmed the darkspawn on the roof and the seneschal was only able to sink his blades into one other creature before the battle was over. Keeping a weary eye on the corpses as their dark blood pooled onto the stone floor, the seneschal finally spoke, "Commander, am I ever glad to see you. I owe you my life."
Reaching over to clasp his arm, Drea nodded firmly, "I only wish I had gotten here sooner." Being relatively sure the Vigil was secured, she felt the fight melt from her bones, and was left drained. All the exhaustion from her foolish traveling choices caught up to her, and it was all she could do to not collapse with the other bodies on the ground.
Intensely staring at the corpses on the stone, the seneschal shook his head, "Then you'd be gone too. From what I can tell, the Wardens from Orlais were taken. It…it was horrible. They were everywhere, like swarming locusts. I've never seen anything like it."
"Where did they come from?" Mhairi broke into the conversation.
Varel spread his hands, having no answer. "They did not break into the Vigil, they came from inside. I know the cellars run pretty deep…they might have found a connection to them from the Deep roads."
Tapping her fingers along her chin, Drea inwardly groaned while keeping her face neutral. The Vigil was not secured and she could not afford to rest until it was. Somehow, she'd have to find the energy to push further as giving up was not an option. Finally answering, she nodded, "That would make sense. Seneschal Varel, I apologize that I have no time for proper introductions, but until I check the cellars, we are not safe. From what I have seen, we will not survive a second attack. In the meantime…we came across a lot of survivors that we sent to the front gate. I need you to go on easy on the servants - they have gone through a traumatic time…but I need the Vigil functioning. We will need food and lodgings." Gesturing to Anders, she added, "He may have been a prisoner last night, but tonight he will be our guest."
"Yes, of course," the Seneschal replied, not flinching at the sudden barrage of commands. "I will also begin the guards disposing of the bodies."
"Excellent," Drea approved. As she wearily turned to walk from the roof, she suddenly felt a new warmth running through her veins. Her heart quickened, shrugging off its exhaustion, leaving her bursting with new energy. She spun around to face Anders, shooting him a dark look, "I did not ask you to cast on me."
Taking a step back, Anders threw his hands up in submission, "I assure you, it's out of purely selfish reasons! And I won't do it again!" Drea narrowed her eyes at him, but did not interrupt, "It's just…after seeing my astounding battle prowess, I was sure you would ask me to follow you to the cellar. And of course I have no objections my dear lady, but I would prefer not to follow someone who looks ready to faint dead away."
Drea pursed her lips together in thought. Wynne, the only other mage she really knew, would never have cast upon her without her permission but his intentions appeared to be good. Suddenly, Arkon barked and hopped beside her before bounding over to Anders. Raising her eyebrow, she looked from Arkon to Anders, losing her train of thought. "Him too?" she asked. Carefully, he nodded, unsure if that would upset her further. Arkon affectionately butted his head against Anders' leg, appreciating the mage's efforts. Finally, Drea quietly chuckled, "Well, it seems you've made a friend." Walking away she threw over her shoulder, "I hope you like rabbit carcasses in your knapsack!"
Anders started to follow her, as did the others, when her words dawned on him. Pausing he looked down at the eager mabari and back up to Drea who was still walking away, "Wait…like what?"