Chapter 12

"Brenna, I want you to stay here." Tristan said, pulling Brenna aside from the others.

"Why? I want to go with you." Brenna complained.

"No, it's too dangerous." Tristan sternly replied.

Brenna sighed. "You know I can take care of myself."

Loki came up to them then, rolling on the ground, whining to be rubbed.

"Take Loki and go with Eleri into the forest to find the rest of the elves. Gather them together and do what you can for them." Tristan said. His voice had the authority and command one would expect from a Commander.

"I see there is no use in arguing with you. I will do as you say." Brenna relented. Satisfied, Tristan turned away, but Brenna caught his arm. "Be careful."

Smiling, Tristan gently brushed her arm away. "You… you stay safe." With that, Tristan rejoined Melisende and Ronan by the edge of the forest. He glanced at Ronan who was staring blankly off into the forest.

"Ronan," Tristan said. Ronan did not shift his attention from the forest. Frustrated, Tristan was about to open his mouth again, but then noticed a slight but definite movement in the forest. Ronan stood up then and turned to Tristan.

"Ash will show us the way." Ronan said with a contemptuous glare before quickly disappearing into the shadows of the forest.

Tristan frowned. "Ash?"

"His wolf." Melisende explained as she brushed by him, following Ronan.

"Oh, that wolf." Tristan muttered to himself as he pushed away a branch and stepped into the forest.

…

Ronan did not look back to see if the Grey Wardens were following him. He concentrated on following Ash through the winding paths of the overgrown forest. He would find his clan and he would see the blood of the Tevinter slavers on his sword. Nan, vengeance, would be his. It was the only thought that kept him sane at the moment. If he thought about his parents, if he imagined the worst, then his fury might change direction. Tristan would be better off keeping his distance if that happened.

As they made their way deeper into the forest, a thick fog appeared, making it harder for them to tell where they were going. The thickness of the undergrowth made it hard to believe that anybody had passed through these parts ever, especially a whole group of people. But Ash was following Rhys's trail. Rhys was alone. He had probably stayed well away from the slavers while keeping an eye on them.

Finally, Ronan stopped. He had lost track of Ash. He glanced behind him and saw nothing but the thick fog. Where was Melisende? Tristan? He turned around in a circle searching his surroundings. The fog made it near impossible to see anything. A few trees stood ominously in his view, standing guard at the edge of his vision. The forest was silent, the wind had ceased. The only sound Ronan heard was the sound of his slow and steady breathing. He broke the silence with a whistle for Ash.

Nothing happened.

An eerie feeling crept upon Ronan. He expected at any moment to see Falon'Din emerge from the fog, guiding the dead to the Beyond. The dead being his clan… or was Falon'Din coming for him? Or perhaps this was a nightmare. Perhaps Fen'Harel was playing a cruel trick on him. He would wake up and everything would be back to normal…

A raven soared through the mist. His great black wings stretched out elegantly as he drifted toward Ronan. The bird was confused, lost in the fog. He cawed once and then vanished back into the invisible sky.

Ronan backed away slowly, his nerves unsettled by the raven. The god Dirthamen had wandered aimlessly in search of his brother Falon'Din. The ravens, Fear and Deceit had taunted him, telling him he would fade away, that his brother had abandoned him. Ronan shook away the feeling. It was just a raven. It was just a story. He was not lost…

But Ronan no longer knew which way was forward and which way was backward, the fog had become so thick. As he continued to walk backwards, away from the flight of the raven, he bumped into something. "Aneth ara!" he exclaimed in surprise, turning around and drawing his sword in one swift movement.

"Ronan!" that something called out in equal surprise. It was Tristan. Ronan lowered his sword, but only a little. He had to admit, he was relieved to have found his brother, but at the same time was worried for Melisende for she was not with Tristan.

"Where is Melisende?" he asked.

Tristan shrugged, but with worry visible on his face, replied, "I don't know. It's impossible to see."

"Can't you do something about this fog?" Ronan asked, remembering the fact that his brother was a mage.

Tristan shook his head. "The spells I know would only make it worse, I think."

They both stood on guard as the fog refused to budge.

"I don't like this. There are darkspawn nearby, I can feel it. We need to find Melisende." Tristan said quietly.

Ronan looked at Tristan in surprise. "Darkspawn? I thought you killed them all…"

Ronan was stunned to silence as a loud roar cut through the air. He looked around him in confusion. It had seemed to come from every direction. He was about to run off on one path when Tristan grabbed at his cloak, pulling him back in the opposite way.

"No, it is over there." Tristan warned quietly.

"What is?" Ronan asked in frustration. Another roar startled him. This time Tristan took off, pulling Ronan with him.

They ran through the fog. They might as well have been blind, for they could not see more than three steps ahead of them. They nearly ran right into several trees. And then just when Ronan thought they were getting closer to the roars, they stumbled down a small hill, branches and rocks cutting and tearing through his cloak. Better that than his skin. When they came to a stop, Ronan by ramming into Tristan's back, they realized that the fog only hung over this low clearing, creating a sort of dome of clarity. They were finally able to see. And what they saw made them scramble up and stand ready to fight.

Melisende came running toward them, a sword in each hand. Behind her came an ogre – the source of the loud roars. Ronan was shocked at the size of the monster. He had never really seen one before. However were they going to kill it? He was worried for Melisende – the ogre was catching up to her. Then Ronan heard the hissing of several arrows flying through the air. They landed on the ogre.

The ogre stopped, pulling the arrows out of his neck. Melisende reached Tristan and Ronan, out of breath, but no worse for wear. Relieved, Ronan turned his attention back to the ogre. Where did the arrows come from? He didn't have any time to contemplate further as the ogre furiously picked up a boulder and launched it towards them.

"Get down!" Tristan yelled, pushing Ronan to the ground. The boulder flew over their heads and landed behind them, bursting into many pieces, which rained down hard onto their heads.

The ogre wasted no time. He came charging toward them, intent on running them down. They got up quickly. Ronan watched as Tristan sent a lightning bolt hurtling towards the ogre. It hit the ogre, who grunted loudly and stopped running. But it did not knock down the ogre.

Despite his fury with the man, Ronan grinned at Tristan. "Now that, that was awesome."

"It's not over yet." Tristan warned, but grinned back nonetheless.

Melisende took it upon herself to charge toward the ogre. Ronan watched in amazement as she jumped into the air and twisted around, each of her swords creating a slash on the ogre's chest. The ogre was angry now. As Melisende landed on the ground, she had to roll away quickly as the ogre pounded on the ground, causing the earth to shake. Catching his balance, Ronan decided it was time for him to join in on the fun.

He ran toward the ogre, his sword pointing directly at the ugly creature. Letting out a war cry, Ronan swung at the ogre's arm, which had come down to sweep away Ronan, but instead was now squirting out gore on the ground as Ronan's sword connected. Ronan stabbed at the ogre's arm again. The ogre lifted his arms in the air in fury and let out a deafening cry. He found himself being lifted off the ground as the ogre did this – his sword was stuck in the ogre's arm. The ogre waved his arm in an attempt to get Ronan off and was about to grab him with his free arm, when Ronan glimpsed a wave of cold energy flying toward the ogre.

"Ronan, let go!" Melisende called out from the ground.

As the wave hit the ogre, his body started to slowly freeze, from his free arm, to his head, to his torso, down his legs, and now coming towards the arm Ronan was stuck to. There was no way he was leaving his sword to freeze. Quickly, he swung his legs up onto the arm, pushed his legs onto the arm and at the same time pulled with all his might. The sword came loose, just as the arm was freezing over and Ronan fell to the ground with a thud.

As Ronan looked up, the ogre shattered into a million little pieces as a stone fist struck his frozen body. Ronan ducked under his cloak as the pieces hit him. When that stopped, he looked up to find Melisende extending a hand toward him. He took it and she pulled him up.

"Thank the Maker you guys came when you did." Melisende said as Ronan brushed off his cloak. They turned toward Tristan who looked a little drained.

"Everyone alright?" Tristan asked.

"Yes." Melisende replied gratefully. "Though I thought I was going to be run down by that thing. What stopped him?"

Ronan remembered the arrows flying through the air. He glanced toward the trees where the ogre had come from. Squinting, he walked over to them slowly. He caught sight of a green cloak hanging off a lower branch. "Rhys!" he called out.

The few leaves left on the top branches rustled and fell to the ground. The fog was still thick that high up but eventually a leg and then the rest of him came into view. A dark haired elf came climbing down, a bow and quiver attached to his back. He grabbed at his cloak before jumping down onto the ground in front of Ronan. He smiled in relief.

"Ronan! Thank the gods you have returned!" the elf said, taking Ronan's arm in greeting.

"So this is Rhys?" Tristan asked, though it was obviously Eleri's husband.

"The Grey Warden?" Rhys looked surprised to see Tristan. "No wonder that ogre had no chance."

Ronan frowned. Did Rhys not just see what Ronan had done, too? In any case, this was not the time for competition. "Did you track the slavers?"

Rhys nodded, a look of sorrow on his face. "I would have done more, Ronan, I swear. But I was alone. They have our hunters tied up, beaten. They could do nothing either. The mage leading them, he is very powerful."

"It's alright Rhys. Where did they go?" Ronan prodded impatiently.

"They went into a cave. I didn't follow…" Rhys admitted with shame.

"So there is a cave nearby?" Tristan asked curiously.

Rhys nodded.

"That must be where the ogre came from." Melisende said.

"Take us to the cave, Rhys." Ronan demanded.

"The Grey Warden is helping us?" Rhys asked before making a move.

Ronan sighed. "Yes."

"Great. Now we have a powerful mage on our side." Rhys enthusiastically replied, glancing at Tristan with hope.

Ronan rolled his eyes. He tapped Rhys on the back of the head. "Just take us to the cave." Halla turd, Ronan thought as his cousin led them back into the fog.

…

This time they stayed close, not wanting to get separated again in the heavy mist. Rhys led them to the cave, which opened up in front of them like a giant's mouth. Vines hung from the top, resembling hands clutching at the mouth, forcing it open. The cave was dark and ominous.

"This is it?" Ronan asked Rhys.

"Yes." Rhys replied.

Peering into the darkness, Melisende shuddered. "I don't blame you for not going in there."
"Oh, but I did. But I turned back when I saw how deep it went. Then I heard that ogre shuffling around." Rhys admitted.

"Why would the slavers risk taking everyone through a cave full of darkspawn?" Ronan wondered aloud.

"I thought it odd myself." Rhys answered.

Tristan clutched at his head in thought. Something was nagging at him. He closed his eyes and listened to his thoughts. Every so often, if he tried hard enough, he could get a glimpse of what the darkspawn were doing. He could see through their eyes. He saw them then. They were huddled in a group, peering at a group of people – the slavers and the elves, Tristan realized. The darkspawn watched angrily as the group split up in two. They wanted to attack, but held back. One group went ahead while the other stayed put, for the moment. The Qunari mercenaries wore glowing necklaces around their neck. The darkspawn were afraid of these.

"Tristan?" Melisende's voice broke through his thoughts. He blinked back to reality. "Are you alright?"

"The darkspawn won't attack them, at least. Us, they might. The clan is divided in two groups. One is close by. If we go in now we can reach them." Tristan explained.

Ronan and Rhys regarded Tristan with curiousity. How did he know that? But Melisende seemed to understand and readily agreed with him.

"Then let's go." Ronan grunted.

…

Melisende took deep breaths as they made their way down the steep caverns. She never liked the underground. She tried not to think of all the earth above them, about how it could all come crashing down on them and suffocate them. But it was hard. This was not the Deep Roads, she reminded herself. That, however, did nothing to comfort her. The Deep Roads at least were made by dwarves. These caverns, they were carved out of the earth naturally. There was no stone purposely holding them up. She shuddered and shuffled forward. Then she stopped.

"You alright?" Ronan asked as he brushed by her. He paused his own stride to look over her. Tristan and Rhys were ahead. Tristan had made a torch and it was the only light in the dark cavern.

"I'm fine." Melisende lied.

"Really? 'Cause I feel like we're about to be squashed by the earth." Ronan whispered with a grin. He took her hand and gave her palm a squeeze. "Come on, let's go, before we're stuck in the dark."

Ronan moved forward. Knowing she was not alone in her feelings, she followed, and Ronan released her hand. Strange, she was hoping he wouldn't let go. Ugh, you are not a child to be led through the dark by hand, she chastised herself as they caught up to Tristan and Rhys.

"I am a Grey Warden." Melisende whispered to herself. She might as well get used to the fact that she would venture underground a lot. She already had, but it never got any easier.

Tristan halted them suddenly. Melisende knew that look. They were about to be attacked. In her worry, she had failed to sense the darkspawn presence. Tristan drew his sword. He had no armour on and Melisende worried for him. He should stay in the back and cast spells. But she had no time to point out her worry, for a dozen or so darkspawn came out of the darkness, brandishing their monstrous swords and axes and uttering their awful cries.

Tristan blocked and parried many erratic swings. The darkspawn were not skilled at all. They were desperate. They were stragglers, humiliated by their defeats. They knew they were in the presence of Grey Wardens and seemed to gravitate mostly toward Tristan and Melisende, intent on revenge. That was just as well, Melisende would have it no other way.

She was swarmed by a few hurlocks and genlocks. She twirled around in a swift flurry, hacking off a few hurlock heads. And then she blocked the swings of the smaller genlocks, kicked at them to trip them and then stabbed them to death.

She glanced around her, taking in the small skirmish. Tristan was effortlessly fighting off a small group of the monsters. Ronan held his own against a few, bashing them with his shield and then hacking at them with his sword, decapitating one large hurlock with a horned helmet. Rhys hovered at the edge of the battle, picking off targets with his longbow. It was quickly over.

"Darkspawn… there's no end to these creatures." Melisende said with disgust as she took in the carnage.

"In peace, vigilance." Tristan recited part of the Grey Warden motto to Melisende as he picked up the torch and moved on. She followed closely, not wanting to be left behind in the dark.

…

A little while later, Tristan turned back with a look of warning to the others. "Quiet now, we are close. See the glow?" he motioned ahead in the distance. His followers squinted and nodded as they noticed. Ronan made a move to go on ahead of the others, but Tristan held him back.

"Nothing brash, Ronan. If we play this carefully, we can ambush them. If we don't, we may put many lives in danger." Tristan warned him.

Ronan scowled and brushed Tristan off. "Do you think I am stupid?"

"No, but you are eager and inexperienced. You have to trust me here." Tristan explained with slight annoyance. He really hoped that Ronan would see it his way. He knew Ronan was angry with him, but for everyone's sake, he hoped the churl would put these things aside for now.

Ronan crossed his arms in consternation. He seemed to hesitate.

"Cousin, I think we should trust the Grey Warden. No offense to you, but he does have a point…" Rhys offered.

Ronan sent an icy glare towards Rhys. "Fine. Lead the way."

"Remember, stay quiet and we can surprise them." Tristan sent one last warning before moving on. But first, he snuffed out his torch. He kept to the shadows, motioning for the others to do the same. When they came nearer to the glow of the slavers torchlight, he halted the group. They were at a corner, hidden. He peered around the corner.

The slavers – mostly Qunari mercenaries with a few Tevinter soldiers here and there – guarded a group of elves, mostly very young and very old elves. No mages at least he noted with satisfaction. Tristan was, however, disappointed to see that Siofra was not among the captives. She must be with the other group, the one that went ahead. Why was this group stopped? Were they going to weed out the "useless" elves? That was what it looked like to Tristan. He realized that that was the reason the clan had been separated. They had to act quickly. Ronan craned over Tristan's shoulder to see. Tristan shook his head in annoyance and pushed him back.

"The bastards…" Ronan muttered. Tristan sucked in his breath. Had Ronan realized what he had? Had the slavers heard him? It didn't matter for Ronan ran ahead, evading Tristan's grip.

Fool! Tristan thought as he had no choice but to follow, charging into a battle that could have been planned and carried out in a better way than this.

"Elgar'nan, guide my blade!" Ronan yelled, kissed his sword, and then ran straight for the nearest Qunari mercenary. The mercenary looked up in surprise, but then smiled with glee as he saw it was only a puny elf running at him. Tristan cursed his brother's foolishness. Had he never seen a Qunari fight?

"Ar tu na'lin emma mi!" Ronan yelled as he swung his sword toward the Qunari. The Qunari blocked it easily and countered swiftly for a giant. Ronan, too, was swift and ducked as the greatsword came flying towards his head.

"Throwing all caution to the wind?" Melisende mused next to Tristan. "That reminds me of someone a few years back…" she sent Tristan a knowing look and then joined the battle, picking out one of the Tevinter soldiers to do battle with. Tristan shook his head. Maker help me.

Catching sight of a Tevinter soldier on the far side, raising his sword toward a captive elf, threatening to bring it down, Tristan quickly gathered his wits about him and sent a fireball flying through the air to hit the soldier. He crumpled down in a burning heap.

"Wow, nice shot!" Rhys said by his side. "Oh, having a mage on our side is going to be so much fun!"

Tristan couldn't help but smile. People usually feared his magic. It was nice to be appreciated for once. He watched as Rhys made his way to the captives, cutting their bonds with a knife. He turned to glance at Ronan, who was still dueling with the Qunari. Melisende had moved on to another foe. Neither needed his help at the moment. Besides, a Qunari walked calmly toward him, a sneer on his face. Tristan readied his sword and blocked the first swing the giant took at him. The giant was strong. It took all of Tristan's strength to push him back. The Qunari came at him again, aiming for Tristan's torso. Tristan jumped back, but the Qunari's greatsword was long and it managed to cut a slash across his torso. The Qunari laughed.

Tristan looked at the cut, superficial at least, and then looked back at the Qunari. Alright, forget the sword on sword fight. I am not wearing any armor. This giant has the upper hand right now. He won't be laughing for long. Tristan summoned up another fireball and sent it towards the Qunari, who fell back in pain, burning, and no longer laughing. Tristan looked down upon him and stabbed him through the chest to put him out of his misery.

He looked around him. Ronan had managed to take down the Qunari he had been fighting and was now sparring with a Tevinter soldier. The rage boiled visibly out of Ronan and he danced around his opponent in a blur, cutting him down. He moved on to another soldier and skillfully took that one down. Impressed, Tristan could do nothing but stare, until he was attacked himself. He fought the man off easily.

Finally, their foes were few in number. Melisende stood exhausted over a pile of bodies, covered in blood. Rhys, now that he had freed the captives, picked off one more slaver and then lowered his bow. They all stared at Ronan who never once stopped to take a breath. He cut down the last of the Tevinter soldiers in a rage. Surely, Elgar'nan had answered Ronan's prayer and was guiding his blade, so furious and elegant he looked, Tristan thought.

The last Tevinter soldier threw his weapons to the ground and begged for mercy before Ronan's feet. Ronan did not pause, did not hesitate as he decapitated the man. At long last, it was over. Ronan at last seemed to take a breath. He looked at the captives, covered in blood, and then he turned his gaze toward Tristan and grinned triumphantly.

Tristan frowned. Luck was on your side today. That's all it was.

…

Melisende wiped the blood and gore off of her face and body. She wished she had a bucket of water, to dump it all over her head. But this would have to do for now.

She saw the disappointment on Ronan's face as he realized that his mother and father were not among these captives. He wandered among the captives, talking to each of them. They were a bunch of elders and toddlers. Melisende assumed that the Tevinters had decided they were useless, being too old or young to do hard labour and probably would have killed them if they had not come in time. She wondered what Tristan had up his sleeves now. Would the elves follow them, or would Tristan send them back?

Her question was answered when she saw Tristan pull off a few of the glowing necklaces from the dead Qunari. He wandered over to Rhys and handed it over.

She became distracted when Ronan sat down by her. "My mother is still alive." He said.

"That is good news." Melisende replied.

"Yes, but they tell me it is only because my father has been able to hide her illness from the slavers." Ronan said halfheartedly.

"We will find them soon." Melisende reassured him. Tristan joined them at that moment.

"I'm sending Rhys back with these elves. They should be safe. We've killed most of the darkspawn, and those necklaces, they will protect them from the others." Tristan explained.

"We should leave soon." Ronan said, arising and then trotting off to be alone. Melisende wondered if she should follow him, but decided against it. She didn't, after all, really know what to say to him. She could reassure him a thousand times over that everything would be alright, but she knew from personal experience that statements like that would only fall on deaf ears until everything actually was "alright".