I sat up quickly, gasping for air. What was that thing? I looked around me and found I was back in my tent, my armor removed. After pulling myself together, I pulled the covers away and redressed. As I left my tent, I saw Alistair sitting by the fire, He looked up at me and smiled. "Glad you're awake." I sat down on the log next to him. "How do you feel?"

I couldn't speak. I was afraid that if I did, whatever contents of my stomach had wouldn't stay down there long. All I could do to reply was moan, and placed my head between my knees. I felt a large hand on my back, rubbing in circles. "Did you have dreams?" I nodded. "I had terrible dreams after my Joining. Though, only one of us died."

I mustered enough strength to ask him, my head still between my legs, "Why did Duncan kill Jory? Why couldn't he just let him leave?"

"Becoming a Warden means sacrifice, and he was not ready to sacrifice anything. And no one is allowed to know what the Joining entails, except for us. Do you think people would join willingly if they knew about the ritual beforehand?"

I moaned. "Probably not."

The two of us were silent for a moment, the only sound was the crackle of the fire. Alistair's hand was still rubbing my back. My stomach had finally settled enough that I could sit upright. I took in and let out a deep breath. "Thanks."

"No problem." He wrapped his huge arm around my shoulders. "I went through the same thing. Oh, and there's one more part to your joining." I had to choke down my vomit after he said that. "Don't worry," he chuckled. "You don't have to swallow anymore blood." He reached into one of his belt pouches and brought out a pendant. "This is for you." I took it and studied it. It was a simple pendant, round with a glass gem in it's center, and words surrounding it. They read, 'In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice." I looked at the gem again and noticed it was hallow and had some sort of liquid inside.

"That's the blood of those who didn't make it," Alistair explained. "To remind us of their sacrifice."

I took the cord of it and placed it around my neck, right next to my mother's pendant. "So, now what?" I asked.

"Now, we need to find Duncan. The battle's about to start."

I froze. "I thought the assault was tomorrow?"

"It is tomorrow," Alistair replied. "You've been out for almost a day."

A day? It only felt like five minutes. Well, I suppose that's what happens when you faint. "So, I'm going to live?"

Alistair nodded. "As long as you don't die in battle."

I rolled my eyes. "You said we need to find Duncan, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We soon left and found Duncan waiting for us by the bridge that crossed the gorge to the other half of Ostagar. "Welcome to the Wardens, Darrian," he greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better," I admitted. "But I'm ready to fight."

"Well, hopefully, you and Alistair won't have to."

"What?!" Alistair cried out. "I thought we were joining the battle with you!"

"Actually, the King has asked that you two be chosen for a special task."

"But-"

"What special task?" I cut Alistair off.

Duncan turned and pointed to one of the towers across the bridge. "The King will be leading the main charge and Loghain's men will close in behind the hoard. I need you two to go to the top of that tower and light the signal when we're ready. Loghain won't charge until that signal is lit. Understood?"

"But, Duncan?" Alistair pleaded.

Duncan gave him a dark glare. "Alistair, that is an order."

I spoke up before Alistair could. "Understood, Ser."

"Good. Now, I must return to the King before-"

"INCOMING!" a voice cried out from behind Duncan. Suddenly, a ball of stone and flame hit the bridge, leaving behind rubble an bodies, and the splinters of one of our own ballistae. The battle had started.

Duncan handed me a torch and started off in a different direction. "Go!"

"Wait!" Alistair called out. "Duncan!" But it was too late. Duncan had already disappeared down the stairs to the bottom of the gorge.

"Alistair," I said, laying a hand on his arm. "We have to go."

He looked down at me and nodded, reluctantly. The two of us started crossing the bridge. I took a quick peek over the edge and saw thousands upon thousands of Darkspawn fighting our soldiers. On the bridge itself, there were dozens of men loading and firing the great ballistae and catapults down at the hoard. Suddenly, right in front of us, one of the darkspawn ammunition hit the bridge, sending debris everywhere. The impact sent me flying to the side of the bridge, where part of the bridge was missing. I was now tettering on the edge, trying to keep myself from falling off. I thought I would make it, but then the bridge shook from another impact so violently I fell.