"All right, Eleanor. Walk with me a moment."

The woman dutifully caught up with Elissa, doing her best to match her long stride. Elissa asked her questions as they headed to the now-quiet battlefield. "I presume our friends in the colorful metal suits were here looking for you?"

"Yes, Ser. They … they found my brother. He was trying to slow them down to let me get away."

Elissa nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that." She put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "You were not from the Circle, then?"

"No, Ser. Until very recently, we'd been able to hide our talents from the Chantry. But we were discovered and he fought them. So that I could escape." She put one hand on her stomach, an unconscious move that gave everything away.

Elissa nodded. Then she closed her eyes, and sighed before opening them again. I can't hand her over. I can't do that to her baby. "What you do now is up to you. I won't stop you if you decide to run."

The woman came to an abrupt stop. She looked at Elissa with huge eyes filled with gratitude. "Th-thank you, Ser." She started to tear up, but controlled herself and straightened. "I can do a little healing, Ser. I will stay long enough to do what I can to help."

Interesting. "Thank you. I appreciate that." Elissa knelt down and started taking off helmets and looking for injuries.

There were a lot of wounded and dead there, so it took some time to get through them. Even with their large supply of poultices and Anders' expertise, Elissa was very glad to have Eleanor's help. She watched out of the corner of her eye to see the woman work.

Eleanor was methodical and fast. She would go to a person, check to see if she could help, do what she could for that person, and then move on. Elissa mentally noted that Eleanor did not skip over the Templar bodies either; she spent just as much time and attention on those as she did the others. She's got character.

When all was said and done, all but two templars had died. The two remaining were unconscious. Nearly all the men without heraldry were dead as well. All of Bann Loren's men who were not dead had already fled, and Highever actually had not lost too many men, although many were seriously wounded. Zevran had divested the suspected Crow of all weapons and armor and had trussed him up nicely, bringing him to the side of the road where he would be questioned upon awakening.

It was getting very dark, so they decided to make camp there as best they could. They built several small fires for the wounded soldiers and set up a makeshift infirmary on one side of the road, near the Wardens' camp, and they dragged all the dead to the other side of the camp to burn in the morning. Where they could find some form of identification or jewelry, they saved it, categorizing it by what type of body it was found on, and got it ready to transport where it needed to go.

Elissa was busy directing everyone when she heard a quiet cough behind her. She turned to see Eleanor, who was busy looking at the ground.

"I … I should be on my way, Ser." She looked over to where the templars were recuperating. "I just wanted to thank you for this chance."

Elissa nodded in welcome and looked at her carefully. She's dead on her feet and I'll bet she hasn't eaten all day. "Listen," she started. "Those templars aren't going to wake up before morning, and even then they won't be mobile for at least a day or two. Why don't you take dinner with us and get a decent night's rest before you start running again? You'll still be able to get away and you can hide in one of our tents if they awaken."

Eleanor looked at her nervously and shifted her feet. "I … don't know if it's a good idea. If you hide me they could come after you, too ..." her voice dropped off.

Elissa chuckled. The sound surprised Eleanor greatly. "Well, actually they can't touch me if we handle this right," Elissa said. "I'm the commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. I'll talk to them and see if we can arrange something. If worst comes to worst, I can conscript you."

Eleanor's eyes widened. "You're … but that means ..." Elissa nodded, at which point Eleanor dropped to one knee. "My lady!"

"That's truly not necessary. Please, just call me Elissa." She helped the mage to her feet. "But you do need to rest and eat. You need to keep your strength up, no matter what happens, for both your sakes." She looked at the mage meaningfully.

Eleanor gasped. "How did you know?" She looked down at her nearly flat stomach. "Is it that obvious?"

Elissa shrugged. "Not really. I notice things." She changed the subject. "Listen, I know for a fact that we have an extra tent. Please go to the tall dark-haired man by the fire; his name is Nathaniel. Tell him that I'm asking him to set up the tent for you and that you can have a change of clothing from my pack. Go get cleaned up and by then we'll have figured out food." She waved off the woman's thanks and sent her off while she went to check on Anders.

"How are you holding up?" she asked quietly.

He looked tired, but he was still bandaging and casting. "I'm faring well enough. I'll be able to stop soon and get some rest." He inclined his head toward the fire where Eleanor and Nathaniel were now standing. "How is our little mage friend?"

"She's exhausted. I'm having her stay at camp with us for the night. She needs food and sleep. If she wants to run in the morning, she can, but for tonight she'll be safe."

Anders paused, then looked up at Elissa. He looked like he was very relieved. "Thank you. You know how much it means to me that you're doing this for her."

Elissa put a hand on Anders' shoulder. "It's my pleasure. We might have to fight again when the templars are well enough to talk to, so make sure you get some rest tonight."

"Understood." Anders finished bandaging the soldier lying in front of him and stood up. "Let's get something to eat."