The smell of stew and herbs and the sound of a crackling fire woke me from the darkness, but it was a bit of a chore to pry my eyes open. It was day time, judging from how bright it was, probably late afternoon. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, but quickly regretted it. I started getting dizzy and leaned my head forward between my knees. When the room stopped spinning, I chanced a look around. I was in a small one room cottage with a fireplace on one wall with a pot of stew brewing, another bed next to mine, and a bookshelf on the far wall, with a woman organizing it...

Woman?

"I see you've finally woken up," she said, turning to face me, a book in her hands.

I tried to focus on her face, but everything started spinning again, and I put my head between my knees again.

"Easy now. You took quite the hit there."

That voice. I know it. "Morrigan?" I asked.

"Of course it's me," she said. "Who else would it be?"

I looked up at her, this time without much spinning, and saw she had moved closer to the bed. "Where are we?"

"In my mother's hut, of course."

I took a moment to think back. How did I get here? Where was Alistair? Last I remember, we were in the tower, the beacon lit, and then... darkspawn. "What happened?"

"Mother rescued you and brought you here."

"Rescued?" I looked up at her puzzlingly. "How?"

Morrigan chuckled. "She turned into a giant bird and plucked you out into the sky." I glared at her. "If you don't believe me, you can ask yourself."

"What about Alistair?"

"You mean the giant bumbling buffoon? He's outside, mourning the lost."

I froze. Lost? "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that the battle didn't go well," she said with a straight face. "And that you two are the only Grey Wardens left in Ferelden."

Wait... that meant... Duncan - Dead. The other Wardens - Dead. "What about King Cailan? Did he..?"

Morrigan shook her head. "Dead."

For a moment I couldn't breath. Without a king to rule, what would Ferelden do? And without the Grey Wardens, the only ones being Alistair and myself... Ferelden is doomed.

"Hello?" I blinked back into focus as Morrigan waved her hand in my face. "I said, my mother would like to see you, now that you're awake."

"Oh, alright." I lifted the blanket that was wrapped around my waist, then quickly threw it back on. "Where are my clothes?"

Morrigan rolled her eyes at me, and went to a trunk at the end of the bed and pulled out my leathers, that had been cleaned, mended, and folded and placed them at the foot of the bed. "If you want the armor it's in the trunk." She the went back to finish her stew. I quickly slipped into my leathers and decided to leave the armor behind. I got up and left the small hut to find Morrigan's mother.

First person I saw was Alistair. His back was turned to me and was looking out into the distance. I walked up to him and gently put a hand on his shoulder, startling him a bit. He looked at me for a moment, a sad smile on his face. "Darrian. You're awake." I nodded. "I'm so glad you're alright."

I smiled back to him. "It takes a lot more than a crumbling tower to take me down."

"Hmm." He turned back to look out to the distance. "I still can't believe it," he said, the smile wiped from his face. "They're all gone. Cailan. Duncan. Everyone. I wish..." He sighed. "I wish I could have done something."

"Hey," I tugged a bit at his shoulder, making him face me. "There was nothing either of us could have done. And Duncan wouldn't have wanted us to do anything, and you know that. He told us to stay away from the action as much as possible. He wanted us to survive for a reason."

"I know. And," he smiled at me. "I'm sorry for calling you a coward."

I nodded. "No harm done."

We stayed silent for a moment, just looking into space. "Now what?" he asked.

I looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, now what do we do? We're the only Wardens in Ferelden left. And there's still a Blight going on."

"Couldn't we ask other Wardens to come?" I asked. "Surely there are others."

Alistair nodded. "Yes, there are others. But the king already asked them to come. who knows when and if they get here?"

"Okay, so what do we do?" I asked. "Wait for them to arrive?"

"If they arrive, and if they do, it may be too late."

Someone started laughing behind us. We turned to see Morrigan's mother. "Why look on the down side when there are so many other directions to look?" She came to stand by me. "How's you're head, child?"

"I have a bit of a head ache," I said. "And I was dizzy when I first woke, but other than that if feels fine."

"Dizzy?" She asked. "Well, that certainly won't do." She brought her hands up and placed them on either side of my head. they started glowing blue and I felt a slight odd tingling. When the glow subsided , she took her hands away. There was no headache, or dizziness anymore. "Wow," I said. It was the first time that I ever had anyone use magic on me. "Thank you, it feels much better."

"Good," she said. "You're going to need that head of yours for what is to come in the futrue."

Alistair and I looked at each other, briefly before turning back to her. "'For what is to come?'"

She smirked at us. "Why, of course. You two cannot be be waiting for the other Wardens forever. You two will just have to do without them."

"But, what can we do?" I asked. "What can the two of us do against the Archdemon and a whole army of darkspawn?"

"Army?" Alistair questioned. "Wait! The Treaties!"

"What?" I asked.

"The Grey Warden Treaties! I read over them after your ritual and they're an agreement between us and the Dwarves, Dalish elves, and humans from all over Ferelden. They have a duty to help us during a Blight."

"Okay," I replied. "And what happens when they ask for confirmation from the Warden Commander?" Alistair fell silent. "They're going to want a true representative of the Grey, Al. Not a warrior, who's only joined a few months ago, and an elf." I muttered to myself, "Especially an elf."

Apparently, I didn't mutter that last part quiet enough, because Alistair bumped my head with the palm of his hand. "What is that suppose to mean?" I rubbed the spot where he hit me and looked up at him. "You're just as good as any human in a fight, if not better. You took down an Ogre! I've never seen anyone do that, not even Duncan. You give yourself too little credit."

"Yeah, well, you would too if you were looked down upon your entire life and told you were a 'worthless piece of shit' by all humans." I turned away from him, not wanting to look at him. This was not the time to be berating humans.

"I've never said anything like that," Alistair said, quietly.

I sighed. "I know. I"m sorry. Just loosing my temper a little."

"Well," the old woman cut in. "Now that that's over, why don't you two stop bickering like an old married couple and start planning. You have a Blight to stop and an army to gather."

"She's right, you know," Alistair said.

The look she gave him was almost murderous. "Don't talk about me as if I'm not here, boy."

"I apologize, but we don't even know you're name. You never told us."

She chuckled. "I am known by many names. 'Asha'bellanar.' 'Witch of the Wilds.' 'An old lady who talks too much.' But you may call me Flemeth."

"Flemeth?" Alistair questioned. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Anyway," I cut in. "Al, You've read the treaties. And you've been a Warden the longest. What do you think we should do?"

"Well," Alistair replied. "The treaty calls for the Dwarves of Orzammar, the Dalish elves of the Brecilian Forest, the mages of the Circle, and all humans throughout Ferelden. I know the Arl of Redcliff and he has enough men to start an army. We could go to him."

"And what makes you think he will listen?"

"I... I just know. Anyway, it's your call."

I was taken back by that last statement. "Me? Why me?"

"Well," Alistair started. "Because you... look like a leader?"

"A leader?" I asked. "You've got to be-" I cut myself off. There was no point in arguing, We weren't going to get anywhere. "Alright. We'll head to Redcliff first, and then figure out our next move then."

"Great!" Alistair exclaimed. "We have a plan! We should probably head out first thing. At least try to make it to Lothering before nightfall."

"Before you go," Flemeth spoke up. "I can give you something to assist you on your journey."

Just then, Morrigan came out from the small hut. "Soups ready, Mother." She looked at us. "Will it be four, or just the two of us?"

"They are leaving," Flemeth answered for us. "And you are going with them."

Alistair and I had a look of surprise written on our faces. "What?!" Morrigan exclaimed.

"You heard me, girl. You will be assisting these Wardens with their plight."

"You know," Alistair piped up. "She doesn't have to come if - OUCH!"

I grabbed him by his hair and pulled him down to my level. "Alistair, don't. We could use all the help we can get. And she's a mage who knows the wilderness, and will be able to guide us."

He thought about that for a moment. "Alright, I suppose you're right."

"Absolutely not!" We turned to see Morrigan arguing with her mother. "Why do I have to go with them?"

"Because they could use your skills, and you've been itching to get out of the Wilds for years. This is your chance."

"Ugh," Morrigan moaned. "I'll go pack my things."

"Don't bother. They're already packed." Flemeth turned to us. "You should grab your armor. And, I've made you two a little something to help you on your journey."

"Thank you, Flemeth," I said, and followed Morrigan back into the hut, Alistair at my heals.

On one of the beds , my armor had been laid out for me. Alistair helped me with the more difficult pieces. There were also three dark cloaks laid out. Each of them had a pin on the front to keep them closed. I took min, I assumed was min since it was the smallest, and wrapped it around my shoulders, and clipped it into place. Alistair and Morrigan did the same, Morrigan putting her hood up, almost concealing her face. She picked up her sack that her mother had packed for her and left the hut, the two of us following.

"Farewell, Mother," Morrigan said as she strutted herself past Flemeth. "Don't forget the stew on the fire. I would hate to return to a burnt down hut."

"Ha!" Flemeth laughed. "Tis far more likely for you to return to this entire area, along with my hut, swallowed up by the blight!"

Morrigan froze fofr a moment, but shook her head and continued on. Alistair and I started to follow her when a hand fell on my shoulder, and I turned to face Flemeth.

"Do you understand? I give you what I value above all else in this world. I do this because you must succeed!"

I bowed my head to her and replied. "I understand. And I will do everything in my power, to return her to you safely."

"You do that." And with that she turned and entered her hut, closing the door. I turned back to see Alistair and Morrigan waiting for me. I caught up to them and started our way through the Wilds. This was just the beginning of the greatest adventure of my life, and my life was changed forever.