Disclaimer: I do not own Bioware, Dragon Age, nor will I gain a monetary profit in anyway from this story.
Hello, all. Sorry for the wait. Enjoy!
Chapter 3 All is Lost!
There is a great deal about the Grey Wardens that is not common knowledge. Duncan was not at liberty to discuss everything that he knew with anyone. Knowledge had it's own power. If a secret was told, then whoever heard the secret could be captured and tortured for that information. He could not bear to have his Brothers and Sister's blood on his hands. Sophia was his sister in the Grey Wardens, surviving the Joining proved that.
The whole day since she had awakened, Sophia had cried and raged at anyone in range. He and Alistair had stayed with her.
Duncan was walking towards the main Grey Warden encampment to quietly ask if the older Wardens could provide any help. Alistair stayed with her, keeping watch. There was no telling when Howe would try to finish what he started.
It seemed so long ago, when Duncan's mentor had told him about this happening. Only one Grey Warden had ever been blinded by the Joining Ceremony.
But it had changed the nature of the Blight entirely. She had changed the way to fight the Darkspawn and suffered more than any Grey Warden ever had because of it. Duncan hoped with all his heart that he had not condemned Sophia Cousland to the same fate.
Alistair had to admit it, if only to himself: he was hiding.
It was not that he considered himself a coward. There is just a time when self-preservation has to overcome pride, right?
It would be a very brave thing to do…
… leave the safety near the campfire and go back into Sophia's tent right now. To be there, when Wynne removed the spell from that dog! A vicious beast who could bite through chainmail armor as though it were cake
Speaking of cake, it's lunchtime.
Maybe bringing food to Sophia's tent could work as a sort of peace offering to the monster-on-ice. Give the dog something to eat that was not of a-formerly-belonged-to-Alistair variety.
He could appear brave by being there and if anything went wrong:
Plan A: Throw the food at the dog and hide behind Wynne.
Plan B: Run, just…run
Sophia felt the spell whiz past her and hit Bosco. It had felt like a warm breeze in the summertime. She would never see the sunlight on a warm summer day again.
Everything she would never see again kept going through her mind. Never see a beautiful painting. Never see another person's face again.
Never see someone attacking and feel that thrill and adrenaline the seconds before a fight would begin. Now, she would never even see it coming until the pain started.
Sophia could feel the panic begin to consume her again. She felt such shame at having made a scene when she found out about the blindness. While the Couslands' were known for being very outgoing and caring, they never allowed weak emotions to show in public. Crying in front of the Warden Commander, who had saved her and thought that she was worthy to join the Wardens, had only made her panic turn to hysterical crying.
Duncan and Alistair had been wonderful to her. Both had held her when these crying fits had come over her, then not mentioned it when Sophia had calmed. They had reassured her that she was now one of their own. It felt good to belong to somewhere again.
Wynne had been a source of strength as well. She had kept a heating spell on Sophia's bedroll and shooed the men out while helping her get cleaned up after she woke.
Sophia had been expecting Wynne to help her with dressing, but Wynne had sat patiently and told her about some of the antics that a former mage apprentice had gotten into.
It had taken a moment for Sophia to realize that Wynne was allowing her to get some independence back by not doing everything for her. Sophia was grateful that Wynne was not treating her as an invalid. Pity was something that Sophia was not going to accept from anyone, she decided.
Bosco's sudden moan returned her to the here and now. She reached her hand towards the sound until she felt fur. He was shivering and seemed so cold to the touch.
Sophia grabbed the blankets from her bedroll and wrapped them around her faithful friend.
"You poor boy! You are freezing. Wynne, please help him." Sophia cried.
She could feel the blankets in her hands suddenly warm; and it seemed to help Bosco. Sophie was startled when she heard a deep voice growling near her.
"Stupid woman, you could have killed me with your infernal magic. I was protecting my Sophia! You are so going to pay, old lady. I am going to take every shoe you own and chew to my heart's content! I am going to leave a Bosco-specially-made-pie in every bag you own! You will rue the day you froze me and left my Sophia defenseless you, you wicked bitty! I'll …."
The insults and plans of attack continued, becoming more impossible sounding the longer the rant continued. It took Sophia a moment to realize that the voice was coming from Bosco! Not only that, but Wynne did not seem to hear the tirade as she continued with soothing words, trying to calm the agitated beast.
"Bosco, I… can hear you! I can hear everything that you are saying. And I think that part about the potion is impossible without opposable thumbs to open the vials first." Sophia giggled.
"Sophie? Sophie, you can hear me? You can hear Me? Oh, this is wonderful! There is so much that I have been dying to tell you. It has been my dream to be able to communicate with you. This is great! Hey, why aren't you looking at me? Is something wrong?" Bosco said in a rush. It seems he was not used to waiting for someone to answer any questions he had, or even so much as to hear them.
"The Joining…it…something went wrong. It made me blind."
"Blind! You can't see anything at all? Oh, my Sophia. I will be your eyes, Love. I'll be the best guide that ever lived. If anything comes near you, I will tell you. Nothing will get by me. Yup, yup!"
This was followed by excited barking and Sophia's face was soon covered in doggie kisses.
Bosco's excitement and antics made her smile. She knew Bosco would be the best proxy-eyes that anyone could ask for. His loyalty and heart were beyond question. Listening to him talk, however, would take some getting used to. She was not sure she wanted to hear all of the mischievous thoughts that ran through that brilliant mind.
While Sophia was contemplating her future, Bosco was thinking of the past.
"Where are the those tin-plated brutes who I was rescuing you from before? I almost got through that tin coating on one of them to do some real damage." demanded Bosco.
Before Sophia could answer, Wynne's voice interrupted, sounding very concerned.
"Sophia, dear. Are you alright? You looked like you were far away for a second there."
Wynne had her hand on Sophia's forehead, checking for a temperature. Since Wynne could not understand Bosco's growl, the poor mage seemed very confused. But Wynne surely would have heard her talking to Bosco, right?
Sophia thought it best not to inform Wynne of Bosco's plan of revenge for the mage that froze him. Knowing her boy, this would be a war the bards would write stories about.
"Wynne, since you unfroze him, I can understand everything he is saying. I was answering Bosco's question." Sophia explained. She had finally found her brush and began to brush Bosco's fur.
"Child, since I unfroze your hound, you have been staring straight ahead and have not said a word. You seemed almost in a trance for a few minutes. No matter what I said, you did not answer or even seem to hear me. But you were listening to Bosco? I had heard the bond between Marabi and their humans could be extraordinary, but this…"
Wynne sounded thoughtful, as if this were an interesting puzzle being presented before her.
There was a coughing sound from outside of Sophia's tent.
"Sophia, Wynne, Can I come in?" Alistair asked and then said in a hushed voice,
"Is it safe?"
As Alistair came into the tent, Bosco moved.
Wynne saw everything and still could not believe what she was seeng.
Alistair saw Bosco charging him. He looked at Wynne for a few seconds.
He then flung the food he had been carrying and ran outside.
Bosco saw the food flying at him. He dodged out of the way, avoiding the airborne stew.
The hound flew out of the tent, in hot pursuit of his prey.
Sophia heard him roar "Get him!" This roar was answered by the other dogs in the camp, who joined the chase.
The food that Alistair had thrown had only missed the dog. Food covered everything inside of the tent, including the two women. Wynne may have been slowing down over the years, but this was a special occasion.
Duncan returned from the main Warden camp, to see something he had never thought possible.
Alistair was running for his life while removing pieces of his armor, which he was throwing behind him.
Bosco and a group of Marabi hounds were chasing Alistair, closing the distance with each step, and dodging the armor that was being tossed at them. Running behind the hounds, was Wynne.
She had, what appeared to be vegetables, stuck in her hair. Her dress was stained with stew. She was casting a spell on each piece of armor that was flying and sending it back to hit Alistair.
Duncan rolled his eyes, "I was only gone for 20 minutes!"
He then heard the most wonderful sound. A sound that he had thought he might never hear again.
Sophia Cousland was laughing.
Once the chaos stopped, everyone returned to the campfire outside of Sophia's tent.
There was a silence about the moment, that seemed to remind Sophia of a calm before the storm. The Wardens looked to Wynne, who appeared to be ready to start scolding them.
They were pleasantly surprised, however.
Wynne's stern face morphed into laughter, "That run did me a world of good. It has been years since I have run like that. I used to be quite fast before the wrinkles set in, you know. Running always gave me the best ideas. I have been thinking that there might be a way to help you, Sophia, but first let me explain the theory."
Alistair looked confused and ready to drift into a place he lovingly called "Cheese-land". It was a magical place. He created it in his mind during all of the boring lectures he suffered through as a child. When he was there, any object turned to cheese, whenever Prince Alistair would say the word "smile". The sun was always shining in Cheese-land…
On the other side of the fire, Duncan appeared to be faring much better during the impromptu lecture. He was sitting attentively on a log by the fire, watching Wynne pace back and forth. Occasionally, the beard would twitch or an eyebrow would rise to show he was listening.
He had perfected this skill of listening without truly paying attention as a child. At the end of the lecture, he would be able to recite everything that was said, should anyone ask. He would interrupt with a question if he needed further clarification, but Duncan's mind was elsewhere.
Bosco had left the area shortly after the lecture started. Sometimes, it was good to be a dog. He could leave whenever someone was talking and no one would think he was being rude.
Judging by the sudden yelling from across the encampment, Bosco was near the Quartermaster. The poor man had most likely discovered something missing, partially eaten, or just plain covered in dog drool. It seems the other people in the camp had not let the Quartermaster in on the secret of dealing with Bosco: bribe him with food.
Sophia was staring in rapt attention in the direction of Wynne's voice. Wynne had said that she had an idea on how to help Sophia. While it was absolutely fascinating to hear the theory, she began to wonder how this would help since Sophia was not a mage. Wynne, however, was in her element- teaching a student that appeared to want to learn.
" The soul of a mage is like an hourglass, sitting on a table. The sand inside of it is the mage's magic. When a mage casts a spell, the hourglass begins turning upside-down. To a mage in complete control, the sand moves in a controlled manner. To the untrained, the sand rushes into the empty chamber, and that untrained mage will run out of magic very quickly.
When there is no more sand, or magic, in the original chamber, then the mage has 3 options of restoring their magic.
They can rest. The magic will build up again naturally. Given time, the hourglass will turn back to it's original position and the balance is restored.
The second method is for the mage to drink a potion. Magic moves quickly back into the mage, or the hourglass is back at its original position. But this is often uncomfortable for the mage, to go from no magic to suddenly filled with magic.
And, lastly, there is Blood Magic."
Alistair appeared to return from his trip to Cheese-land at the last sentence.
"Blood Magic?", he stutters.
Wynne glares at Alistair, as if she knows that he has not been paying attention until now.
"The mage gets more magic from the Fade.
In other words, the mage cracks the glass of the hourglass to get more sand from the outside. Once the glass has been cracked, it cannot be repaired.
There is also no way for the mage to defend the hourglass from anything that tries to enter into it. Eventually, that crack will grow. It will get to the point where there is more inside than the hourglass can possibly hold, and it will shatter, forever. It will never look like a human soul again."
Everyone around the fire felt a chill at those words. A human soul being torn apart like that was awful to think about. Sophia, however, seemed to be confused as well.
"Wynne", Sophia began slowly, " Thank you for explaining this. I had often wondered about mages and how they performed magic. But I don't understand what this has to do with my blindness. I am a warrior, not a mage."
Instead of answering, Wynne turned to Alistair and asked, "With your templar training, you are able to detect a person who has magic, despite the fact that the person looks no different than a non-magic person, correct?"
"Yes, we can sense the magic in the area and pinpoint it to a person or object that is magical." he answered.
Alistair looked thoughtful after he answered. He was beginning to see what Wynne was really asking.
"Do you see the magic with your eyes, or do you sense it in another way?", Wynne asked.
"I'm not sure. I have always had my eyes open and been looking at where the magic is coming from, maybe….", Alistair trailed off.
Duncan, who had been quiet for most of the discussion, suddenly spoke, "It should be easy to test. Wynne could cast a spell in your direction, Alistair, and you can try to sense it, without depending on your eyes."
"Let's try it", Alistair agreed.
He was not thrilled at having a spell aimed at him. It might be a templar-thing, or an Alistair-thing. But he trusted Wynne not to hurt him, or worse, embarrass him.
Alistair hoped with all his heart that this would work. If Sophia could learn some of his Templar abilities, she could sense magic. She would still be blind, but not totally helpless. The idea of her being helpless, made him feel frightened for her and protective of her, he realized.
Bosco chose that moment to return to the campfire. He could sense that something important was taking place, and that Sophia was feeling hope again. It had been a long time since Bosco had sensed hope in her.
There was a brief moment as everyone registered that not only had Bosco returned to the campfire, but he was covered in blue paint and dragging a flag in his teeth. At the other end of the flag, there was a frayed edge dragging a boot, which looked suspiciously like Loghain's boot.
The humans, silently and unanimously, decided that they would be staying at the campfire awhile, in case there would be fallout from Bosco's "playtime".
Bosco sat next to Sophia and promised to tell her about the fun day he'd had, but was going to wait until after Wynne and Alistair were through with their game.
It looked, to Bosco, like Wynne was stalking Alistair, who sat with his eyes closed. The thrill of the hunt ran through Bosco again, as he watched.
Wynne approached Alistair quietly and then a spray of water shot out of her hand towards Alistair. Before the water could hit him in the back, he suddenly dodged to the side. The spell hit the fire and completely extinguished the flames.
"Did it work? Did it work?" Sophia desperately cried.
"I could sense you moving closer to me and then when you cast the spell, I could sense it, like a javelin was flying towards me. It worked! Sophia, I never saw Wynne or the spell, but I knew! I just knew!" Alistair said, hugging Sophia.
Duncan sighed. It had begun.
Hello? Is someone there?
Sophia knew that she was dreaming.
Since becoming blind, it was difficult to tell sometimes. The world was black with her eyes open or closed. Duncan had said that she would need to trust herself, and then her other senses would start to compensate for her eyes.
Right now, her sense of hearing seemed to be picking up a voice. The voice sounded faint, as if the person was weak or a great distance away.
Please, someone help me!
"Hello, who are you? Where are you?" Sophia cried out to that desperate plea.
I don't know. It is so dark and cold here. Please help me!
"I'll find you", Sophia promised.
"Sophie, Sophie. Wake up! The king has called a war council. The Horde is going to be attacking tonight. We need to be ready", Alistair's voice called from the outside of her tent.
Bosco grumbled a moment or two about Grey Wardens who did not know the value of sleeping. Or rather, the value of letting Bosco sleep.
Sophia Cousland began the exhausting task of getting dressed into her armor. She had spent nearly an hour before going to sleep last night practicing getting dressed.
It had been trial and error at first, before Bosco offered to help. He would let her know if the strap was a few inches to the left or if the boot was a few feet to the right. With practice, she knew that she could do it herself. It was just a matter of memorizing the feel of each piece of armor.
The last 2 pieces of armor were the most precious to her.
She attached the Sword of the Couslands to her belt. It might be awhile before it could be of use to her, but it was an old familiar friend that she would keep near.
The shield bearing the Crest of the Cousland sat in her lap. She began tracing the Crest. Doing so had always brought her courage before. She had a feeling she would need it.
"Sophia Cousland! If you do not come out of that tent immediately, I am going to tell Wynne. The way that woman can motivate a person to do something they don't want to do, she could be our secret weapon against the Darkspawn. Can you picture it? The entire horde of Darkspawn all with bowed heads, shuffling their feet as Wynne scolds them for dragging the Taint across her country." Alistair said in a mock whisper, as if fearing the Darkspawn would overhear this "national" secret.
Sophia giggled as she and Bosco emerged from the tent, ready to face the day.
It had sounded so easy, too easy.
Light the beacon at the top of the tower to signal Loghain to charge. Sophia, Bosco, and Alistair would stand at the top of the tower and their Warden family would fight the Darkspawn. The Blight would be over; and the all Wardens would be drunk around the campfire.
Nothing is ever that easy, Sophia thought.
The Tower was swarming with Darkspawn. If she could see, she knew that she would have sent the Darkspawn running back to their Archdemon Mommy. But being blind meant that she hung back, trying to be inconspicuous, and let the boys do all the work.
This feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. She could hear the fighting going on all around her. Every sword clash, shield strike, and scream was so loud. But the worst part was not knowing where the sound was coming from or who was hurt. Each noise made her flinch and duck, afraid that it was an attack against her.
Alistair and Bosco seemed to realize that Sophia was trapped in a hell of her own. During each fight, Bosco fought anything that came near her. She had to trust that if Alistair did not kill it, then Bosco would.
While fighting, Alistair began reciting a Templar meditation. At first, Sophia tried to walk towards the sound. It was like a beacon in her dark world. She then realized this might not be the best plan. If there were Darkspawn still near Alistair when she walked towards him, Sophia might be presenting herself as a target.
At the start of each fight, Alistair would begin at the same place in the meditation. By the third floor of the tower, Sophia was whispering the meditation with Alistair. It seemed to calm something inside of her. She could not see the smile on Alistair's face when he realized that he had helped her.
Alistair knew this was the end.
The huge ogre had him in a death grip. It was such a stupid way to die- crushed by an ogre. Since joining the Grey Wardens, he heard that dying in battle was the way every Warden wanted to go. At this moment, he decided, that was not how he wanted to go. No, thank you very much.
All it would take is a little more pressure before the giant hand would break his armor and squeeze the breath out of him.
If I had known it would break this soon, I would not have spent the money to have it fixed after Bosco's attack, he thought darkly.
Suddenly, he was flying through the air only to experience a painful landing a few feet away. Alistair staggered to his feet, ready to continue the fight, only to see the ogre dead.
Bosco was growling over the fallen ogre, still attacking the neck of the fallen creature. Alistair then looked past the ogre to see Sophia.
She was covered in blood. The Cousland Shield was on her arm. It seemed for a moment to be glowing, but he decided that must have been fire's light reflecting on it.
"What happened?", Alistair asked the same time that Sophia asked, "Are you alright?"
Alistair nodded, then realized that she couldn't see it. He reassured her that he was fine.
"Bosco told me that it was going to crush you in its hand. I Shield Bashed it and Bosco had a perfect opening to rip its throat out.", Sophia smirked, triumphantly.
In that moment, Alistair could see what Duncan had seen in Sophia Cousland. The proud noblewoman who had her Mother's temper and her Father's Strategic mind. He stared at her in awe for a second before remembering the mission.
"We must have missed the signal! Light the Beacon, quickly" Sophia said.
Once the beacon was lit, Alistair heard Bosco growl. He quickly reached for his weapon, ready to defend against whatever threat had Bosco on alert, but never got the chance.
Four arrows were in his back before he hit the floor and the world went black.
A/N: Reviews are always a surprise and greatly appreciated!