Chapter 20:
They walked on in silence. Sylina occasionally looked back at Alistair, who seemed to find his feet very interesting. "I suppose it would be mean to say he is acting like a child?" Morrigan said suddenly. Sylina turned to her. Morrigan was frowning at Alistair, who didn't seem to have heard her as he was focused on the ground.
Sylina walked up beside Morrigan and looked at the woman. She was an apostate and Sylina wondered if Morrigan's training had been different from hers. No doubt it had been very different since she was raised by Flemeth. If she was the Flemeth of legend then she was an incredibly old and powerful mage who some said was maleficar. Sylina wasn't so sure anymore. Why would the Flemeth of legend have saved them then? Unless she really did just want to make sure there were Grey Wardens to stop the Blight, but Sylina doubted that had been the old woman's only motive. Finally, she sighed and glanced back at Alistair. She had never lost anyone close to her. At the tower, the only person she had been close to was Jowan. She felt guilty about Jowan and his fate, but even he was still alive so she didn't feel loss. She tried to imagine what she would feel if she lost those she loved. Her hand strayed to the chain around her neck. She decided that she would be devastated. "He lost those closest to him. It must be very hard to lose all those you love." She looked up at Morrigan and saw the woman scowl.
"You think the Grey Wardens that died would encourage this behavior? Pah. If so, they are not the Grey Wardens of legend." She frowned and sped up, leaving Sylina behind. Sylina shook her head. Something told her she would have be the peacekeeper between the two of them.
They spent hours traveling through the Wilds, with Morrigan setting a brutal pace. She wanted to reach the Hinterlands by dusk, insisting that it would have less darkspawn and therefore be a safer place to camp. Alistair stayed quiet and Sylina found her mind wandering to everything that had happened since her Harrowing. It felt like a lifetime ago, when it had been merely a few weeks, perhaps less since she didn't know how long she had been healing in the hut. She wondered where Jowan was, or if he had been captured. As her hand strayed up to the amulet around her neck she wondered what Cullen would be doing. She smiled as she imagined him going about his day, standing guard, watching the mages, perhaps even thinking of her... As the day wore on, her shoulder started to throb. The bandage with the ointment dried and started to itch. Soon, each step made her wince in pain.
Eventually, Sylina's entire body started to tire. She was still not used to walking so much and Morrigan was setting a pace faster than even Duncan had. As the hours passed, she started to stumble and tried focusing on keeping her body up and not falling to the ground. Finally, hours before it would get dark, when Sylina was sure they were out of the Wilds, she collapsed near the base of a tree, clutching her shoulder. She hadn't planned on falling, but she had tripped on a root and hadn't been able to catch herself. She was surprised when Alistair seemed to snap out of his gloom to run over to her.
"What are you doing?" Morrigan snapped, turning around when she heard Sylina go down.
"Can't you see she is exhausted?!" Alistair barked, bending down to Sylina. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Is it your shoulder?" His eyes were filled with concern.
Sylina could only nod through clenched teeth. Her hand clutching her shoulder, she leaned her head against the tree and closed her eyes for a moment.
"We need to keep moving," Morrigan stated folding her arms. "We cannot stop here. Get up."
Alistair glared up at her. "She needs rest, and we have been out of the Wilds for hours now. And I can't feel any darkspawn nearby." Alistair looked back at Sylina with concern. "We can stop here for an hour or two before moving on," he said, not looking up at Morrigan.
Sylina was grateful to Alistair and wished she could say as much, but the pain was too much. She sat for a while, Alistair sitting next to her in silence. Morrigan huffed and walked away. Sylina knew the witch would be back. She didn't know how, but she knew.
After an hour of Sylina resting against the tree and Alistair staring off into the trees, Sylina tried to rise. Alistair jumped up and helped her. She winced, but managed to stand. "I-I should be fine now...thank you." Sylina looked at the ground. She felt weak and unworthy. Surely a Grey Warden should be able to stand this kind of pain. She shouldn't be such a baby.
"We could camp here if you like, no matter what the witch says," Sylina smiled at Alistair's obvious dislike of the other woman.
"I do believe your templar is showing, my fellow Grey Warden," Sylina said, attempting to grin at him. She grimaced instead, still trying to deal with the pain her shoulder was bringing her.
Alistair chuckled, still standing close to her should she need help. "Perhaps you are right. I just don't like the idea of walking around with Flemeth's daughter. Especially since she wanted us to take her." He sighed, looking around. "I can't shake the feeling that she will be more trouble than she's worth." Sylina started to laugh, but stopped when pain ripped through her. Alistair looked down worriedly. "Shouldn't Flemeth have been able to heal that? I mean she is supposed to be powerful."
"It was her mortal wound." Morrigan appeared suddenly. "It would have killed you. Mother only healed it just in time, but mortal wounds often take time to heal, even with magic." Sylina looked up at her, frowning.
"Did I die?" she asked, fear flooding her.
Morrigan laughed. "No. Even Mother can't cure death. Your collarbone was shattered. It is not an easy fix. They are mending and if you keep the bandage on they should be healed well by tomorrow." Sylina's hand strayed to her shoulder. It felt whole to her, but she shivered at the thought of shattered bones. "Now, can we get moving?" The mage was tapping her foot and Sylina just nodded and followed her.
They walked a few more hours and Sylina noticed that the witch slowed her pace. She would have thanked her, but she was busy trying to ignore her throbbing shoulder. Alistair stayed by her side and when she faltered, his hands made sure she didn't fall. She smiled gratefully at him and couldn't have been happier when they stopped for the night. Morrigan had found a small clearing and informed them that they were done traveling for the time being. Sylina sank to the ground and watched as the witch disappeared back into the woods. She shook her head.
Alistair went to gather wood and when he came back they lit a small fire. Neither of them had any food and so they just stared at the flames. Sylina's stomach growled and she felt light-headed, but she bit back the complaints. She sighed and looked at Alistair. He just stared into the flames. She thought his eyes looked red. She turned back to the fire and spoke. "Perhaps we should try to sleep. You can rest first and I will watch and make sure we are not eaten by darkspawn." She attempted a smile, but instead just sighed.
"You are exhausted. Sleep, Sylina. I will take the first watch." Alistair was looking at her with concern. She sighed again and just nodded. She curled up on her side with her good shoulder and tried to sleep.
She felt like she had only just closed her eyes when the dream started. Darkspawn were everywhere, surrounding her, darkening the sky and the earth. She could feel them in her mind, watching her, killing, eating, speaking. Then, there was a dragon. Huge and screaming. It was screaming and the darkspawn were responding. Sylina was watching from what she felt was a distance and then suddenly she was right next to the dragon and it was staring at her. It turned its head to her and she was engulfed in purple flames.
She awoke with a start. Alistair was crouched next to her, calling out her name and shaking her. She was breathing fast, her heart racing. She tried to sit up, but was halted by her shoulder, which still hurt. Alistair attempted to help her. "Just breathe. It was only a dream," he was saying, trying to soothe her. She looked around - she was still in the clearing, the fire was dying and she saw faint light which told her it was almost morning. She had slept the whole night. Alistair sat back on his heels. "Dreams, huh?" he asked, looking at her.
Sylina looked up at him. "It was so real," she finally managed to whisper.
Alistair frowned. "Well...It is real see? What you saw...it was the darkspawn. We...feel them, their minds. Duncan once told me they share a group mind and we tap into that. It is easier in our dreams, so that is what you were seeing...their group mind." He was looking at her with concern and she felt like she could vomit. Her stomach was churning and she was glad she hadn't eaten.
"T-the dragon?" She couldn't look at him. She was shaking and she didn't want him to see the fear she knew was in her eyes.
Alistair's hand found her good shoulder and he squeezed. "The archdemon. That's how we knew this was a real Blight," he said. Sylina just nodded.
"Good, you are up. Let's leave then." Sylina looked up to see Morrigan walking out of the woods toward them. Alistair scowled at her, but Sylina stood up and put an ice spell on the flames extinguishing them.
"Yes. Let's go," Sylina said, picking up her pack and following the mage. She heard Alistair groan and get up as well. She didn't want time to think about her dreams. She wanted to walk. When they had been walking for an hour, Sylina realized that Alistair had probably not slept. He had not woken her for watch. She felt a pang of guilt and looked back at him. He looked exhausted and even from where she was standing she could see the lines under his eyes. She sighed. She would have to make it up to him somehow.
They walked for a few hours and came along a road. Morrigan informed them that following it would lead them to Lothering. Morrigan came to a sudden stop as they were walking along the road. Sylina looked up at the mage. "Something is moving." The mage grabbed her staff and Sylina copied her. She now saw something moving along the edge of the fence. It was fast and low to the ground. She heard Alistair take out his blade. "Wolves?" he asked, moving to stand beside Sylina.
Suddenly around the bend Sylina saw a dog running toward them. She sighed. No, not a dog, she thought and smiled, a Mabari.The Mabari reached them and skidded to a stop. It barked and almost looked like it was smiling up at her then turned around. Alistair groaned. "Darkspawn," he said, and Sylina saw a group of ten darkspawn running toward them.
The battle was quick and efficient. The Mabari stayed by her side and slayed several darkspawn by ripping out their throats. When it was done she turned to the Mabari and cooed, "Who's a good dog?"
"Hey, I helped too," Alistair pouted. Sylina laughed at him. She was actually feeling better. Morrigan had been right - after the first few hours, her shoulder had started to feel better, and she had been able to put her dream behind her. She had found the walking made it easy for her to take her mind off it.
Sylina looked down at the Mabari. It can't be, she thought. "I think this might be the Mabari from camp, the one I brought the flower back for," she said, kneeling down to look closer at the dog. He barked at her and went on grinning.
Alistair sheathed his sword and walked up. "Hmm, I think he's...chosen you. Mabari do that, it's called imprinting. Means they'll follow you and only you. They are supposed to be very smart you know."
"Ugh, now we are going to have a mangy beast following us around. Wonderful." Morrigan walked on, leaving the three of them behind.
"Don't listen to her, she's just bitchy," Alistair said to the dog, smiling. Sylina laughed.
"I-I have never had a pet." She looked up at Alistair, her hands still running through the dog's fur. "I don't know how to take care of him. I don't know the first thing about dogs!" She felt panic creep up and Alistair laughed.
"Did I mention that they're smart? No doubt he will be taking care of you." He bent down and patted the Mabari.
Sylina stood up and the Mabari stood next to her and looked up expectantly. She almost felt like she understood him. He was there for her. She felt warmth for the dog and smiled. "But what am I going to call you?" she asked and started walking after Morrigan. "Hesper," she decided. The dog barked happily, clearly pleased with its new name.