Chapter 13:

Sylina's first reaction to the outdoors was that it was very cold. The sun was descending and there was a chill in the air she was not used to. The next thing she noticed was the green and the lake. She stared wide eyed at everything. The lake, the dock, the little boat Duncan steered her towards. She couldn't move on her own and he seemed to expect this. She just stared, open mouthed, at everything. When the boat started moving, she squeaked and grabbed the edge, sure that she was going to be thrown overboard. The ferryman chuckled and continued steering the boat.

Sylina reached over the edge of the boat and let her hand skim the water. She giggled. This can't be happening, she thought. But if this is a dream I don't want it to ever end.

She was out of the tower. She squirmed in her seat and looked back and it. It was so much larger from the outside, she decided. It loomed huge on the island. She smiled. Her hand strayed to her neck, and she felt the amulet. She had pulled it on the second Cullen had left and pushed it inside her robes so no one would see it. She felt the comfortable weight of the amulet as it hung between her breasts. Cullen's amulet, she thought with a smile.

The boat landed softly on the dock on the other side of the lake and Sylina gave the tower one final look. Duncan looked at the sky.

"We will not be able to travel far today. I had thought it was earlier." He sighed and murmured. "The tower with its few windows." He turned to her. "We will stay at the tavern here for the night and start our journey in the morning." Sylina nodded. She realized she was still grinning like an idiot and tried to stop, but every time she managed to just wipe the smile off her face it would reappear. Everything she saw made her smile. The ground, the trees, even feeling the cold wind made her smile. She had never been able to feel the wind in the tower.

She followed Duncan to the Spoiled Princess. She chuckled at the name, wondering how it got it. The first thing she noticed was how loud it was inside. She put her hands over her ears. Why was everyone shouting? She wondered if they were fighting, or if something horrible had happened and they were all talking about it. Duncan saw her and chuckled. He walked up to the barman and left her by the entrance. She just looked around, shocked. With her hands still over her ears.

Finally Duncan returned and led them to their room. It had two small beds and a window. She smiled. No stone, she thought. Will I ever get tired of not having stone around me all day every day?

She slept pitifully, her dreams waking her every few hours. Dreams of Jowan and Lily and the look of betrayal they had both given her. Dreams of the First Enchanter telling her he wanted to catch Lily red-handed. Dreams of Cullen's face as he turned from her, the sadness breaking her heart. It was a relief when Duncan rose and told her it was time to leave.

They left the tavern just as dawn was breaking. Sylina yawned and trudged after Duncan. While they were walking, he explained where they would be headed. "We are traveling south through the hinterlands to the ruins of Ostagar, on the edges of the Korcari Wilds." Sylina nodded. She had memorized a map of Ferelden when she was a child so she could put a name to the places she dreamt about. She thought of all the adventures she had had in her mind about running through the wilds with her trusty group of friends. She frowned, realizing she had forgotten most of their names. Except for Hesper. He had been her best friend in most of her daydreams as a child. He was always protecting her from evil. She realized she hadn't been paying attention to Duncan and when she turned to him he was still speaking. "...to prevent the Wilders from invading the northern lowlands."

"Mmhmm," she mumbled as they walked. Duncan looked at her and smiled.

"You did not get much sleep last night?" He asked it as a question, but she knew it was more of a statement. She nodded anyway. They walked in silence.

That night, Duncan gathered logs for a fire. He explained that they could not stay at the last village they passed because they "must keep moving to reach Ostagar as quickly as possible." Sylina only half heard him. Her feet and entire body was aching from the walk. She had done her best to keep up, but her feet were not used to walking so much and her shoes did not have the soles she needed. She sat on a log and rubbed the arch of her foot. She took off her slipper and looked at it. The seam was tearing. She sighed. It would likely not last another day.

"You need new shoes? Why didn't you say something?" Sylina looked up as Duncan appeared in the gloom of the dying sun.

"I...um...didn't want to bother you." She blushed and looked at the pile of logs he had gathered. "May I?" she asked. Duncan nodded and she cast a small fire spell to light the logs. They instantly burst into flame and Sylina inched closer.

"Tomorrow we will get you new shoes." He scoffed. "They don't even let you wear decent leather shoes." Sylina smiled. She had quickly realized that Duncan did not like the Circle or the templars, no matter how hard he had tried to keep it to himself.

He sat down on the ground near the fire and pulled out some dried beef. He handed her a stick and she took it. "What do you know of the Grey Wardens, Sylina?" he asked as he bit into the food.

She looked at him and then cast her gaze to the fire. "I know only what I read in a book once. I know that Grey Wardens fight darkspawn, they recruit people from all walks of life, and they stop at nothing to defeat the Blight. Oh and they used to ride Griffons." She smiled.

Duncan chuckled. She glanced at him and saw that he was looking at the flames, too. He shook his head. "The Chantry teaches us that it was the hubris of men that brought darkspawn into this world." He looked at her and she bit her lip and turned to look into the flames again. "The mages attempted to usurp heaven, but instead they destroyed it. They were cast out by the Maker, twisted and cursed by their own destruction. They returned as monsters, the first of the darkspawn." Duncan picked up a twig and threw it into the flames. "They became a Blight upon the lands, unstoppable and relentless. The dwarven kingdoms were the first to fall, and from the Deep Roads the darkspawn drove at us again and again until finally we neared annihilation." He sighed and looked up at the stars. Sylina looked up too, wondering if they would give him answers. "Until the Grey Wardens came. Men and women from every race, warriors and mages, barbarians and kings...the Grey Wardens sacrificed everything to stem the tide of the darkness...and prevailed." Sylina smiled. To her, Grey Wardens were legends and heroes. Duncan suddenly got up. "It has been four centuries since that victory and we have kept our vigil. We have watched and waited for the darkspawn to return." He shook his head again and turned from the fire, his voice dropping so that Sylina could barely hear it. "But those who once called us heroes...have forgotten. We are few now, and our warnings have been ignored for too long. It may even be too late..." He looked back at her. "You should sleep. We have a long walk tomorrow and we must stop and buy you proper shoes.

Sylina nodded and curled up near the fire. It was a long time before she slept and when she did, Duncan watched. He looked up at the stars and whispered: "I have seen with my own eyes what lies on the horizon." He looked back at the sleeping mage. "Maker help us all."

The next morning, Duncan woke her just as the light was beginning to creep over the hills. Sylina was surprised that she had actually slept throughout the night, but she supposed her body was so exhausted from the walk the day before that it had been too tired to dream. Sylina wondered if Duncan had slept at all. The man seemed invincible and relentless.

They walked south and Duncan bought her a pair of leather shoes in the very first village they passed through. "Thank you, I will...uh...find a way to repay you." Sylina blushed and looked down at her newly shoed feet. She had never had a coin to her name. Why would a Circle mage need money? She felt unprepared and didn't want to be an annoyance to Duncan.

"There is no need," Duncan stated simply and they continued their walk. Sylina and Duncan didn't speak much that day or the days that followed. Occasionally, Sylina would ask a question about a place; where they were, what the people were doing, what something was, and Duncan would answer, but mostly they just walked. Sylina was focused on keeping one foot in front of the other. Her entire body ached. Her sides hurt from sleeping on the ground night after night. Her feet had blisters on top of blisters. Her robes were muddied, but she refused to change them as her other robes would have only gotten dirty too. She felt miserable. Surely adventures are more glamorous than this? she thought. No story ever talks about the hero complaining of cramped backs or blisters. She sighed. She didn't want to let Duncan down. He had stretched out a hand to her and given her this chance and she wanted him to see that she was capable. Though every step hurt and she winced when she sat down that night, she did not complain. She would be strong.

"We should reach Ostagar by the afternoon tomorrow," Duncan said as he came back from gathering wood. Sylina nodded, too exhausted to speak. When Duncan had set the wood down she lit the fire. Moving her arms to cast the spell hurt and she winced.

Duncan watched her, but didn't mention it and she was grateful to him for it. "Your magic will be useful against the darkspawn," Duncan said, handing her some dried beef and bread that he had bought in the last village.

After taking a bite, Sylina looked at Duncan. "Aren't there any Grey Warden mages now?"

Duncan glanced at her then returned his gaze to the fire and stretched his hands out to it, absorbing its warmth. "There are none in Ferelden at the moment."
Sylina sighed. She had been hoping she would have a mage to talk to, or at least someone who would understand what she was going through. They were silent while they ate, both absorbed in their own thoughts. Sylina jumped when Duncan finally spoke. "Before I was Warden Commander in Ferelden, I knew a mage who was also a Grey Warden." He shook his head and Sylina watched him as a small smile appeared. "She was a remarkable woman...I don't know if I would be standing here if it wasn't for her."

Sylina smiled. "What was her name?" She was curious - what had happened to this mage Duncan spoke of? He spoke in the past tense so she wondered if the mage had died. Was she the reason he had such distaste for the Circle's workings?

"Fiona," Duncan said. A faraway look entered his eye, but he shook his head and it was gone. He nodded to her and then walked away from the fire into the night. Sylina sighed. Perhaps she had brought up painful memories for him. She curled up on the ground and sleep found her quickly.