Thanks to Warrose, Khaotic Kal, and Jinx1983 for their reviews! You have no idea how much I appreciate them! :)
Short, but necessary chapter to the plot.
Bioware owns! :D
Chapter 3 - The Darkspawn Threat
It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die
The moment to fight, the moment to fight
To fight, to fight, to fight
To the right, to the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world from the last to the first
30 seconds to mars - This is war.
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Alistair was having a nightmare.
It wasn't the regular kind of nightmare- no. Not the one he had about the archdemon leering at him before it took him in its jaws and crushed him- though it was about darkspawn. The evil things were at the keep, killing all his Ferelden wardens. He growled and lunged at them feeling their distinct hum running through his blood. His hatred of them was fueling him to cut them down, fearless and unstoppable.
A Hurlock sneered at him, swinging an axe directly at his stomach and as Alistair felt his life's blood seeping out of the wound, his eyes opened and he found himself sweating on his bedroll, wide awake. He was on his feet immediately.
The humming was louder now that he was awake.
He ran outside and saw them. One of them had attacked the sleeping form of Teslin and had plunged a dagger into his heart then decapitated him instantly. It was doing something else to the body, but Alistair was already upon it, letting out his battle cry and alerting the others, who joined the fray immediately.
The darkspawn looked up at Alistair, realizing a moment too late that he was going to slice its head off. It held something in its hands, which was ejected forcibly from its hand the moment Alistair attacked, a shiny object that hit the ground and shattered.
There were twenty darkspawn and only six of them, but once Velanna had joined the fighting, their odds of winning grew and they hacked away only to find out after some time that they indeed had won the battle.
They also discovered how the darkspawn had arrived at their camp, when they found a large gaping hole a few feet away from Teslin's head. They stared at the hole for a few moments, but Alistair was already gone when they turned to him seeking guidance on what to do next.
They found him kneeling before the dead body of his warden. Alistair had his head bowed and was feeling damned, his guilt made it hard for him to breathe.
It was his fault that Teslin was dead, his fault for not remembering to set up teams to watch over the camp, for letting exhaustion overtake him, and not reisisting the urge to sleep.
He shed a few quiet tears for him, then they gathered some wood for a pyre and held a solemn funeral.
When it was over, the Warden Commander turned to them, his eyes steely and dark.
"Now we descend into the hole, and kill them all," he said, his voice hard and cold.
...
The darkness around them was disturbed by fires burning here and there along the wide and deep tunnel that steadily stretched onward into the darkness.
They advanced slowly and warily, for they could feel there were more darkspawn there, hiding among the shadows and deep crevices in the walls.
They were attacked once and then a second time further along the tunnel and they fought back bravely, killing more of the creatures, grimly advancing forward.
They had been walking for some time- their eyes were already used to the lack of light- when they spotted a very large campfire straight ahead. There was a group of about thirty of the creatures who seemed to be staring at something on the ground before them.
Alistair nodded at Fernan who immediately vanished, and turned to the rest, asking them silently to be on their guard. Velanna transformed into a huge corrupted spider and moved along the wall, her legs making clicking sounds in the velvety silence that oppressed them.
They attacked just as Velanna dropped her huge arachnid body on an unsuspecting genlock and sank her fangs into its chest, killing it instantly.
Oghren managed to slice two of them in half in his first attack, bellowing loudly, while Marcus and himself hacked away at the bulk of the group, dispersing them. Fernan appeared shooting fire arrows at the ones that ran off, his aim true and fast. Anders stayed close behind them all, healing where necessary.
Within minutes they had managed to slay every single one of the darkspawn. There was light further up ahead showing a distinct ascent and a hole that led up to the surface.
While they were looting the bodies, a whimper came from underneath the creatures, and Alistair called to Marcus and Anders, so that they could help him carry the bodies off whomever or whatever lay on the ground, readying themselves to attack if it were necessary.
When they were done they found themselves staring into the wild eyes of an elven girl who was dressed in Dalish leathers, muttering to herself, half in Orlesian and half in Ferelden English.
It only took them one glance to realize what had happened to her.
She had been corrupted with the Taint.
"We must perform an emergency Joining," Alistair said quietly as he looked at her beautiful face, now marred by the darkness that threatened to make her mad or turn her into a broodmother.
He pulled the necessary items from his pack and nodded at Anders, and the two of them readied the concoction quickly.
Alistair then turned to the girl.
"We are Grey Wardens. We do not wish to harm you. You have been tainted and must drink what is in the cup to save your life. It is the only thing that will help you now," he whispered kindly to her.
Her pretty little brow furrowed in thought and she found herself looking directly at Velanna, who was staring at her, a mixture of kindness, pity and something else in her features.
"Do not be afraid, Lethallin. You will survive and become a Grey Warden. It is the only way for you now," Velanna's voice was soft and pleading at the same time.
The girl nodded then.
"Join us brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be foresworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you." Alistair's voice sounded firm and unwavering and he held out the cup for her to drink.
Taking the cup into her hands, she gulped down its contents, gasping afterwards as her eyes turned white and she slumped to the ground unconscious.
"She will live," Alistair said quietly after a moment.
He stood up, and asked the others to help carry her further up ahead, directly underneath the hole that led to the surface. Some fresh air was coming up from above, and they rested there, breathing it in.
Velanna suddenly stood, looking ahead into the darkness.
"Seranni?" She whispered as her eyes glazed over, her breathing hitched.
"Velanna!" Alistair's voice, sharp and commanding.
She did not turn to him. She appeared not to have heard him.
"Seranni! Wait!" She sprinted forward, and Alistair moved to catch her arm but was too late.
In a matter of minutes, Velanna had disappeared into the darkness.
They never saw her again.
...
Leonie Caron pushed a strand of damp hair off her face as she stared at the darkspawn who were attacking the Dalish camp. They had arrived too late, it seemed and she now had to slay them all, including any surviving Dalish. She could not let the ones that had been tainted live.
"Avant!" She told her party in hushed but urgent tones and they immediately fell upon the darkspawn, weapons slashing through them like butter.
Their advance was slow, but they worked their way around the one hundred they found at the camp, and killed each and every one of them.
Leonie found some Dalish elves - men, women and two children crawling amongst the rest of the bodies feasting on their kin. They had gorged themselves but attacked when they saw her. She braced herself and fell into a defensive pose immediately her shield and sword at the ready.
Her blade fell on the first and then seemed to take up a life of its own, slashing throats, plunging into chests, and the screams of the elves burned her ears, her heart bleeding for them.
Once they were done with the grisly task of killing them all, she barked out an order to the group, grimacing slightly.
"...être détruit par le feu," She commanded quietly. And the rest burned everything to the ground, till only ashes remained.
Leonie walked away into the forest, leaving them to their task.
Only then did she allow the tears that she had kept hidden from the rest to fall.
...
A/N: I apologize profusely for killing the French language here. My French is not very good, and I used a dictionary for the two phrases above, lol. I wonder now what madness possessed me to make this fic take place in Orlais of all countries, hahaha! Next chapter up soon! :D