Sorry about last week. It's been crazy around here. I see no issue with going back to the weekly update.

I have changed things. People who know the game may remember that Duncan says when you get to Ostagar that the next battle is in two days. That does not happen however. I have changed that to what he says being true. Just so ya'll know.

I kept listening to the new song from Maroon 5 ft. Rozzi Crane called Come Away To The Water. Youtube it. It makes the whole chapter much darker, and that's how I think I'd like you guys to experience it.

Bioware Owns All

Induction

"The more I hear about this Joining the less I like it," Jory whined, not surprising anyone.

"Are you blubbering again?" Daveth asked, clearly annoyed.

The both of them had given me a headache. It was interesting how my respect for the both of them had been bouncing up and down all day. Right now it was at its lowest point for Jory. I agreed with Daveth.

"Why all these damn tests?" Jory continued. "Have I not earned my place?"

"Maybe its tradition, maybe they're just trying to annoy you?"

"I know it's working," I managed to croak out. I was getting painfully nervous, and my stomach was not cooperating.

"I only know that my wife is in Highever with a child on the way. If they had warned me I…" the knight paused. "It just doesn't seem fair."

"Would you have come if they had? Maybe that's why don't. The Wardens do what they must, right?" the rouge looked at me with a worried look.

"Including sacrificing us?"

My head started to spin, so I leaned against a wall for support.

"I would sacrifice a lot more if it would end the Blight," Daveth's voice had become soft, and everyone believed him.

"Don't be a coward. He isn't and he couldn't look at that woman without acting like a child," I whispered to myself.

"I've just never faced a foe I could not engage with my blade," Ser Jory snorted.

Alistair was suddenly next to me. "You okay? You're really pale."

"Am I? I guess I just need to get this over with."

He didn't look convinced, but gave me an awkward pat on the shoulder.

Duncan entered the hall and we all stood in a circle. "At last, we come to the Joining. The Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation. So it was that the first Grey Wardens drank of darkspawn blood, and mastered their taint."

Jory's eyes must have doubled in size. "We're going to drink the blood of those…those creatures!"

The faces of the decaying monsters played through my mind, the dark liquid covering them. My stomach protested again.

"As the first Grey Wardens before us. As we did before you," the commander gestured to Alistair. "This, is the source of our power, and our victory."

"Those who survive the joining become immune to the taint," Alistair added. "We can sense it in the darkspawn, and use it to slay the archdemon."

"Those who survive," I echoed lamely. "That's on hell of a catch."

No one commented on my strange sentence. Instead, Duncan continued gravely.

"Not all who drink the blood will survive. And those who do are forever changed. This is why the Joining is a secret. It is the price we pay. We speak only a few words prior to the Joining, but these words have been said since the first. Alistair, if you would."

The young Warden bowed his head and spoke solemnly. The words echoed in my head, full of power and hiding meaning at the time I could not comprehend.

Join us brothers and sisters.

Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant.

Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn.

And should you perish, know that your sacrifice shall not be forgotten.

And that one day, we shall join you."

Duncan bowed his head and gently lifted a chalice from the only table in the ruin, the putrid smell washing over us.

"Daveth, step forward," Duncan commanded.

Daveth exchanged a look with me. It could not have lasted more than a second but it felt like an eternity.

Please. Let him live. I can't do this.

Duncan gave him the cup and he drank deeply. I felt rooted to the spot, at first I thought he was going to make it out of the woods with no problem. But then he started choking.

He fell to the floor, wheezing, struggling for air, and then collapsed.

Get up Daveth! Please get up!

"Maker's Breath," I heard Jory gasp.

"I am sorry Daveth," Duncan said sadly. "Step forward Jory."

"But I have a wife. A child. Had I known," the knight stammered.

Duncan's darkening voice made me tear my face away from Daveth's body. "There is no turning back." He could not have sounded more terrifying if he had shouted.

"No you ask too much!" Jory unsheathed his sword, Duncan mirroring him. Jory gave a few wild swings but Duncan blocked them easily and shoved his sword into Jory's abdomen.

"I am sorry," Duncan murmured as the knights body fell to the floor. I jumped as it gave a loud thud, the sound loud in the ruin.

The Warden Commander walked to me. I don't think I could have moved if I wanted to. Everything was happening so fast.

Don't be a coward.

"But the Joining is not yet complete. You are called upon to submit yourself to the taint, for the greater good."

I took the chalice and brought it to my lips, the smell filling my nose. It took every ounce of control I had not to gag or throw the cup down in disgust. I drank a small amount, choking it down, before the cup was taken from me.

I don't remember much, what I do remember are images of a green sky and the whispers of dark beings. There was a great roar and I felt my bones shaking from the sound, the great buffet of wings makinf it impossible to move.

When I did wake, I was unsurprised to find myself face down on the stone floor. I rolled over slowly with a groan. Duncan and Alistair looked down at me with relief.

"It is finished," Duncan spoke first. "Welcome."

"Two more deaths," Alistair commented grimly. "Only one of us died at my Joining, but it was, horrible. I'm glad at least one of you made it."

I attempted to get up, only to fall back down again from unsteady knees. I waved both of their outstretched hands away and got up with more success.

"How do you feel?" Duncan inquired.

"No worse than a hangover," I said, wincing at the fire light spilling through from the camp on the other side of the walls.

"Did you have dreams?" Alistair asked. "I had terrible dreams after my Joining."

"Such dreams come when we sense the darkspawn," Duncan explained as I nodded in agreement.

"There's one more part to the Joining," Alistair smiled grimly at my expression. "Don't worry, we just put some of the darkspawn blood into a locket and wear it to remember the people who didn't make it this far." He handed me an amulet.

The locket itself was about the size of a golf ball, though it was more flat. It was plain silver, with the exception of a small engraving of a griffin on the front. I thanked him and hung it around my neck. The metal was oddly warm against my skin.

I noticed that the bodies of the others had been removed and asked Duncan about it.

"You were out for a considerable amount of time. The bodies are going to be sent back to their respective homes. Did you want to say goodbye?"

I thought I had, but the image of Daveth's cold body was too much and I shook my head.

"Come then, it is time you met the other Wardens."

It was midnight by the time we got to the Grey Warden's section of camp. I was worried because I didn't have a tent, but Duncan informed me that there was already one set up for me.

There was twenty-three Grey Wardens to meet. All of them men. All of them staring at me, some with intrigue, others with something a bit more friendlier air than I was comfortable with.

"Well ain't she a welcome sight!" one of the more younger, burlier men roared. He had obviously been drinking and stumbled right over to see me. In my fear, I backed into Alistair.

"Leave her alone!" Alistair said sharply.

"Darius," Duncan warned a bit more calmly. "You will remember your boundaries." Darius just snorted and sat back down.

I didn't spend too much time with my new found family. I was tired so Alistair rescued me from all the unwelcome questions and led me to my tent. He then bade me goodnight.

Other than a bed roll, my tent was empty. Though I could barely keep my eyes open, I set up a trip wire at the entrance for good measure.

One can never be to careful.