Chapter 12: The Wilds
That evening Duncan and Alistair joined the group of recruits for dinner around the camp fire. As they ate their meal, Duncan took the opportunity to describe their task for the following morning.
"Tomorrow after you have eaten breakfast, the five of you will be going into the Korcari Wilds to perform two tasks. The first is to obtain vials of darkspawn blood. You need one for each recruit."
Aeden's eyes narrowed. "What do we need darkspawn blood for?"
Duncan raised an eyebrow. "For the Joining itself. I'll explain more when you return."
"And what's the second task?" asked Jory.
"There was once a Grey Warden archive in the Wilds, abandoned long ago when we could no longer afford to sustain such remote outposts. It has recently come to our attention that some scrolls have been left behind, magically sealed to protect them. Alistair, I want you to retrieve these scrolls if you can."
"What kind of scrolls are these?" Alistair questioned.
"Old treaties, if you're curious. They were once considered merely formalities. With so many forgetting their commitments to us, I suspect it would be a good idea to have something to remind them with."
Alistair nodded. "Find the archive and four vials of blood. Got it."
Duncan looked at him as if he were a proud father. "Watch after your charges, Alistair. Return quickly and safely."
"We will."
"Then may the Maker watch over your path. I will see you when you return. Right now I think that you should each get a good night's sleep."
The recruits retired for the night in the tent. It was a bit strange for Delia to be in a tent with all the men, even though her section was separated by the hanging sheets. The men were teasing each other as they readied for sleep. Of course, Daveth was trying to convince the other men that he was especially attractive to women.
Aeden threw a glove at him. "We all saw how you went about trying to get the attention of every woman in the camp! Maker's breath, but you were a one man destruction team when it came to the reputation of the wardens!"
Jory laughed. "Aye, I'm glad I already have my wife waiting for me. After the way you preened about camp I would be surprised if any warden could have any sort of conversation with any woman within twenty miles of here!"
"Yeah, you both are just jealous." He raised his head toward the sheet separating them from Delia. "Delia likes me, don't you sweetie? I know you can't resist me." He grinned luridly.
Delia laughed loudly. "You, Daveth? You haven't a clue as to how to treat a woman. Too bad too. You're nice enough looking, but your mouth gets in your way."
He put his hand over his heart and looked wounded. "Oh, my lady, you hurt me! I can't tell you how your words 'ave cut me to the quick!"
The three men were laughing until Alistair cut them off. "All right, all right. We need to get an early start tomorrow, so let's get to sleep. Aeden, maybe your mabari should keep watch over Delia to keep Mr. Wonderful over here from sleepwalking her way."
Dusty barked in agreement, walked to the sheet between the spaces and lay down. He then pointedly looked at Daveth and growled a warning.
"Don't look at me, beastie, I won't do anything unless she invites me, I promise."
"Don't hold your breath, Daveth. You would have to beg me for years if you were the last man in Ferelden. Good night, boys."
All the recruits chuckled as they said their goodnights, and then settled into their bedrolls. Delia tried to sleep, but couldn't stop thinking about her losses. Soon the tent was filled with the sound of muffled snores, and she found the sound strangely soothing. She was lulled into sleep by the noise of the men, and luck would have it she had no bad dreams.
When the sun rose the next morning, Delia put on her armor and went outside to begin her practice routine. Just because they had a mission didn't mean that she would stop working. Duncan joined her before the others woke up.
"Delia, I'm surprised to see you out here. I thought you would try to get some extra sleep before going out to the Wilds."
"I promised I would work hard, Duncan. I never will let you down on that promise. If anything, I'm worried about today's mission and I want to be certain that I am as prepared as I can be."
"You will be fine, my dear. You have proven your worth tenfold, and I have every faith that where you still have weaknesses you will continue growing as a fighter. Believe in yourself."
Alistair and the other recruits woke and soon they were at the camp fire. Aeden and Jory went to the mess tent to get food for the group and then they enjoyed breakfast over easy conversation. As soon as they finished, Duncan wished them well and sent them to the Wilds, keeping Dusty with him at camp.
The guard at the gate warned the group that even though they were Grey Wardens to be very careful. The Korcari Wilds were a very dangerous place, and they were reminded to take nothing for granted. It felt ominous watching the heavy gate close behind them. Delia was nervous. She had no idea what to expect and had never seen a live darkspawn.
As they walked along the path, they found the corpse of an adventurer. According to a note in his pocket, he was trying to bring the Chant of Light to the Chasind folk who lived in the Wilds. The reason why he died was quickly evident, as a pack of wolves came from seemingly nowhere. The men fought valiantly against the beasts, and Delia stayed back, keeping her eyes out for anything unexpected. Suddenly she noticed a wolf coming out of the woods behind Alistair. She screamed a warning and threw herself on the wolf, stabbing both daggers into its chest. She fell to the ground on top of the now dead animal, but before she could get to her feet another, larger wolf jumped onto her back and started to tear through her leather armor and into her back.
Her screams of agony made Alistair spin around, and he swung his blade with all his might at the pack leader. The animal was decapitated, and Alistair rushed to Delia's side. He pushed the carcass off of her back and yelled at Aeden to get healing poultices from his pack. Delia was going into shock, and she was losing consciousness.
Alistair packed the poultices into the wound and bandaged it as well as he could. "We need to get her back to camp immediately. She needs healing or she'll die!" He gently rolled her over and picked her up. Aeden collected her blades as well as Alistair's sword, and the four men rushed back to Ostagar. Alistair ignored the looks from the soldiers as they passed their camp fires and went straight to her cot in the warden tent. He carefully placed her on the cot with her back up. As he set to work to clean the wound, he sent Daveth and Jory to find Duncan and a healing mage. Aeden retrieved hot water and fresh poultices and bandages.
Alistair carefully removed her armor, and realized that he needed to cut off her tunic in order to get the wound cleaned properly. "Maker forgive me. I'm only doing this for her sake. Please save her." Carefully he cut the tunic and pushed it to her sides. Aeden brought a basin of water in and handed clean cloth to Alistair. Carefully he cleaned the wound, but what he discovered in the process disturbed him more than the wolf's bites. There were scars on her back. Someone had whipped this girl and hadn't had the wounds healed by a healer. The lines crisscrossed her lower back. Tears formed in his eyes. He thought he understood now what she meant that they had somewhat similar backgrounds, but Maker's breath he never had that kind of brutality committed to him!
Duncan hurried in, followed by an elderly mage. She smiled at Alistair.
"You have done a good job so far, warden. Now it is time for me to take over," she spoke warmly.
"Will she be alright, Healer?" He looked lost, as if he would never recover himself.
"I will do everything in my power. Now, you best be going young man. Come back later and check on her. I will not leave her side."
Duncan brought Alistair and Aeden to the camp fire where Daveth and Jory were waiting. "The four of you must complete your mission without Delia. She will not be a part of your Joining Ritual; however we will have one for her after the battle once she has had time to recover from this attack. Right now you four must concentrate on the task at hand. I promise you that the mage, Wynne, is the best healer I have known, and she and I will watch over Delia as if she were our own daughter. Be extra careful out there and come back quickly and safely."
The men nodded and headed back into the wilds. Duncan sadly watched them go, and wearily sat in front of the fire. Dusty sat next to him, looked him in the eye and whined.
"Dusty, sometimes I think that the mabari are far more intelligent than any human. Do you think that I did the wrong thing sending her out with the others? Do you think she was ready?"
The mabari gave a short bark of agreement.
"I don't know, my friend. Maybe I rushed her. Maybe I allowed her enthusiasm as well as her desperation to sway my sense. All I can do now is pray that the Maker will take pity on her."
Wynne worked on her charge very carefully. Knitting together bites was always a challenge, and she was horrified when she noticed the old scars. This girl would be a challenge indeed! Carefully she weaved her magic, sending sutures of blue white energy through the edges of the wound. When she had the wolf bite healing in a way she deemed suitable, Wynne tackled the old scars. She couldn't rid the girl of them completely, but at least they would only be a shadow of what they were. "At least she will come out of this a little bit better for the wear."
Slowly over the course of the day, the mage worked her magic. Midday, Delia began to waken.
"Well, welcome back, dear. My name is Wynne, and I am here to heal you."
Delia's throat was dry, and she could barely speak. "What of the others? Are they alright? Did they survive the wolves?"
"Yes they did. Alistair carried you back and started your healing. They have been sent back into the Wilds to complete your mission. Let's see how you fare if we roll you over and sit you up. You should be healed enough at this point."
Wynne carefully helped her as she moved her aching body to a sitting position. Delia's head was propped up on pillows, and although she was sore, the skin had healed over.
"You will need a day or so to fully recover, but soon you will be right as rain. Do you feel up to speaking to Duncan? He is waiting outside."
Delia sadly nodded. "May I have some water first?"
"Of course." Wynne poured a glass of water and handed it to her. "Let me get Duncan. I will leave you with him for a little while so that I can get a late lunch. I will be back soon." She smiled warmly at Delia and then walked out.
Duncan was pacing in front of the fire and walked to Wynne's side as soon as he saw her.
"How is she, Wynne?"
Wynne was taken aback by the concern in his eyes. She had known Duncan for many years, and he was not someone who worried excessively. Warriors knew that soldiers get injured or killed every day. They can't afford to be overly sentimental.
"She will be fine, Duncan. Right now she needs rest so that the magic can finish her healing. She's awake, if you'd like to speak to her."
His eyes brightened. "Yes, I'll go in now."
"Good. I'm going to take the opportunity to get some food and check on my apprentices. I will be back soon." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't second guess yourself, Duncan. You have to make tough decisions every day, and sometimes things don't go the way you plan. Delia will be fine."
"Easier said than done, my friend. I believed she was ready for battle, and yet I nearly had her killed. I wonder if I am losing my touch at knowing my soldiers' abilities. Ah, well, what's done is done. We must move forward. I will see you later." With that, he entered the tent, unsure what he would say to his fragile recruit.