Sorry for the delay. School just started and between faculty meetings and general malaise I haven't been able to wrap my brain around my story. I hope to update more regularly!
Chapter 16: Rescued
Delia's eyes began to open slowly. As the world around her began to come into focus, she realized that she was in a small room lying on a bed with worn but warm blankets tucked around her. Looking around, she found that she was not alone in the room. A dark haired woman, wearing strange and very revealing clothes was placing a book on a shelf. The woman turned around, and noticed that Delia was watching her.
She raised an eyebrow before she spoke. "Ah, your eyes finally open. Mother shall be pleased."
Delia cleared her throat. "Err… yes. Where am I?"
"You are in the Korcari Wilds. I am Morrigan, and I have just bandaged your wounds. You are welcome, by the way. How does your memory fare? Do you remember Mother's rescue?"
Delia frowned. "She rescued me? You mean from the Tower?"
"Mother managed to save you and your friends, though 'twas a close call. What is important is that you live. The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The darkspawn won your battle. Those he abandoned were massacred. Your friend… he is not taking it well"
"Neither am I! This is horrible!" Tears came unbidden to her eyes.
Morrigan nodded slightly. "Of that I have no doubt. Your friend has been inconsolable since Mother told him the news. He is outside by the fire. Mother asked to see you when you awoke."
"Were my injuries severe?"
"Yes, but I expect that you shall be fine. The darkspawn did nothing Mother could not heal."
Fear crept into Delia's eyes. "What about Aeden and Alistair? Are they alright?"
Morrigan waved her hand in a dismissive way. "Both are well now, after recovering from their injuries. The dark haired man sits quietly by the fire. The other man, well I suppose it would be unkind to say he is being childish."
Delia's eyes darkened in protection. "Very unkind! Those men were his friends!"
"And you think they would encourage his blubbering? If so, they are not the sort of Grey Wardens the legends note." Morrigan snorted in disgust.
Delia suddenly felt a need to see Alistair. She was very worried about him. Not wanting to argue with the woman who had been taking care of her, she instead started to put on her clothes.
"Thank you for helping me, Morrigan."
Morrigan was flustered. "I… you are welcome, though Mother did most of the work. I am no healer."
"I will go then," Delia said as she started to walk to the door.
"I will stay and make something to eat," was Morrigan's reply as Delia walked out.
The morning air was crisp and clean. Delia noticed Aeden sitting at the fire as Morrigan had described, with Dusty lying at his feet. Looking around, she finally saw Alistair. He was looking out over the lake, his eyes lost in his own thoughts. An older woman stood near him.
"See? Here is your companion. You worry too much, young man," the old woman calmly said, looking at Alistair.
He slowly turned around. Seeing Delia, the look on his face softened.
"You… you're alive! I thought you were dead for sure."
Delia smiled and gently put her hand on his arm. "I'm not, thanks to you and Morrigan's mother."
"This doesn't seem real. If it weren't for Morrigan's mother we would all be dead on top of the tower."
The old woman glowered at him. "Do not talk about me as if I am not present, lad."
Alistair looked at her. "I didn't mean… but what do we call you? You never told us your name."
"Names are pretty but useless. The Chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose that will do."
Alistair was surprised. "The Flemeth from legends? Daveth was right – you are the Witch of the Wilds aren't you?"
"And what does that mean? I know a bit of magic, and it has served you well, has it not?" Flemeth's eyes passed back and forth between Alistair and Aeden. "It has always been the Grey Wardens' duty to unite the lands against the Blight. Or did that change when I wasn't looking?"
Aeden stood up with a huff. "The land is hardly united, thanks to Logain."
"That doesn't make any sense. Why would he do it?" He looked at Aeden in disbelief.
Flemeth interjected, "Now that is a good question. Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature. Perhaps he believes the Blight is an army he can outmaneuver. Perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat."
"The archdemon," Alistair said firmly.
Aeden looked at him. "Then we need to find this archdemon."
"By ourselves? No Grey Warden has ever defeated a Blight without the army of a half-dozen nations at his back. Not to mention I don't know how."
Flemeth looked at him questioningly. "How to kill the archdemon or how to raise an army? It seems to me those are two different questions, hmmm? Have the Wardens no allies these days?"
Alistair looked confused. "I… I don't know. Duncan said that the Grey Wardens of Orlais had been called. And Arl Eamon would never stand for this, surely."
Delia looked at him, startled. "Arl Eamon? The Arl of Redcliffe?"
As Alistair and Aeden continued to talk about possible allies and using the Grey Warden treaties, Delia sank down and sat on a nearby boulder. She hadn't thought that she would have a need to go to Redcliffe. What would be the reaction of the Arl and his family to see her again? If only her father didn't always cause such problems in the Landsmeet, she might feel more comfortable meeting with the nobles of Fereldan. Somehow she would have to deal with the members of the Guerrin family, and overcome the embarrassment her father caused her the last time she saw them.
She sat there, consumed by her thoughts longer than she realized. Dusty had walked over to her and nudged her hand with his nose. Looking up, she noticed Alistair and Aeden had collected their packs and seemed to be ready to leave. Just then, Morrigan joined them, a pack on her back as well. Delia frowned seeing the dark haired mage joining the group. There was something about her that Delia just didn't trust, and her intuition usually didn't prove to be wrong. She decided that she would have to find a reason to touch the woman in order to attempt to discern her true intentions.
Alistair walked over to her and offered his hand to assist her to stand. She smiled at him and accepted his hand. He smiled back.
"Delia, allow me to carry your pack for you, at least for a while. You still seem a bit weak, and you need to recover."
"Thank you, Alistair. I appreciate that very much."
Hearing Aeden say that they should be underway, they said goodbye to Flemeth and followed behind Morrigan. From what she said, the group expected to arrive at a small town named Lothering within a few hours. There they could purchase needed supplies for the longer journey to Redcliffe.
As they walked along, Delia grew concerned about Alistair. He was not his normal, jovial self. The loss of the Wardens and especially Duncan must be more than he could bear. She reached over and took his hand in hers, and looked at his face without saying anything. He looked back at her, and giving her a sad smile he squeezed her hand gently. They walked hand in hand for the rest of the trip.
Just outside the town, the group found themselves accosted by bandits. Aeden tried to convince the criminals to leave, but they foolishly believed they could easily defeat the travelers. Alistair pushed Delia back to avoid the battle, and the Wardens easily defeated the thieves quickly.
As they continued to the outskirts of the town, Alistair cleared his throat.
"Well there it is. Lothering. Pretty as a painting."
Morrigan sneered at him. "So you have finally decided to rejoin us, have you? Falling on your blade in grief seemed like too much trouble, I take it?"
He glared back at her. "Is my being upset so hard to understand? Have you never lost someone important to you? Just what would you do if your mother died?"
She chuckled and answered, "Before or after I stopped laughing?"
"Right. Creepy. Forget I asked."
Delia snapped at her. "Leave him alone, Morrigan."
Nearly whining, Morrigan answered her. "But how can I? He is right there, speaking; eyes wide like those of a brainless calf."
Deciding to ignore the apostate, Alistair took Aeden aside to plan their travels. Delia looked at the mage. She seemed pleased with herself that she had successfully tormented Alistair, and Delia couldn't understand why. It seemed inconceivable that this woman had no compassion for someone who had just lost the people he considered his family! Why did she seem to relish his pain?
Once the Wardens agreed to a plan, the party walked into the center of town and entered the Chantry. After speaking to Ser Bryant, the Templar in charge, they learned that Logain had declared the Grey Wardens traitors and they were responsible for the king's death. Luckily for the Wardens, the Templar did not believe that they would turn on the king and he tried to be as helpful as possible. He was able to provide a few healing potions and pointed them to the Chantry board for some work possibilities.
As they walked through the town, Aeden noticed the tavern. "Why don't we stop for something to eat and then take care of the Chantry requests?"
The group unanimously agreed that food would be good, so they headed to the tavern. Outside the door there was a villager who was looking very unhappy. Aeden, being the unofficial group leader, spoke to the man and learned that Logain left some soldiers behind to arrest any remaining Grey Wardens. The soldiers were causing trouble in the tavern, picking fights with people at random just to bully the townsfolk.
Aeden led the group into the tavern, and immediately the soldiers stood and approached them.
"Well, look what we have here, men. I think we've just been blessed," the commander sneered at the wardens.
Alistair whispered into Delia's ear, "Uh-oh, Logain's men. This can't be good."
"Didn't we spend all morning looking for a man of this very description? And everyone said they hadn't seen him? It seems we were lied to."
A woman walked up behind Aeden. She had red hair and wore the robes of a Chantry Initiate. In a quiet, yet firm manner the woman tried to diffuse the situation.
"Gentlemen, surely there is no need for trouble. These are no doubt simply more poor souls seeking refuge."
"They're more than that. Now stay out of our way, Sister. You protect these traitors; you'll get the same as them."
Aeden stepped in front of the Sister protectively. "Let's talk about this before it gets out of hand."
Sadly she smiled at him. "I doubt they would listen. He blindly follows his master's command."
The commander snapped back. "I am not the blind one! I served at Ostagar where the teryn saved us from the Grey Warden's treachery. I serve him gladly!" He looked at his men. "Enough talk, take the Warden into custody. Kill the sister and anyone else who gets in the way."
The soldiers nodded. "Right, let's make this quick."
Immediately the sister began to fight against the soldiers. Aeden stepped in front of her to protect her with his shield. Morrigan cast a spell to stun the commander as Alistair began to pommel him with his shield. Dusty took out one of the soldiers quickly and then jumped on the commander. The commander's eyes were wide with fear as the mabari attempted to get a vice grip on his throat.
"All right, you've won! We surrender."
The sister put her hand on Aeden's shoulder. "Good. They've learned their lesson and we can all stop fighting now."
As the sister helped the commander to his feet, Aeden stood in front of him, menacingly. "Take a message to Logain."
"Wh-what do you want me to tell him?" the commander cowered.
"Tell him the Grey Wardens know what really happened."
"I'll tell him, right away," the commander stammered as he rushed his remaining men out of the tavern with all haste.
Delia checked the wardens for injuries. Luckily for the group, all they suffered from were minor cuts, so they were able to conserve their healing potions. The sister was no worse off as Aeden was able to protect her from the worst of the onslaught. As she used a poultice on the sister's arm to heal the one significant cut she suffered, Delia took the opportunity to put her hand on the sister's shoulder.
"A very young child, watching the death of a woman… could that be her mother? A girl of perhaps ten years dancing in front of an elderly lady as she claps her hands in amusement…the elderly lady in a coffin… A young woman, sneaking through a seemingly abandoned house with two companions and stealing something, could it be documents? Captured by soldiers and torture… escape… the Chant of Light… This woman has truly suffered greatly. What of her heart – her purpose? She seems to be mostly honest, but there is a part of her that wishes to boast of great deeds. What an interesting person! She could be someone worth getting to know better."
The sister smiled at Delia, grateful for the healing poultice. Aeden looked at the sister and frowned. Something troubled him about this woman, but he didn't know what it was. He was going to get to the bottom of her intervention. Why would she attempt to fight heavily armed warriors when she only was clothed in a robe? How in the Maker's name could an Initiate fight as well as she did? This was going to be interesting.