That morning Leric had to do one of the hardest things he had ever done. With his head and shoulders stiffly straight, he walked out of his clan's clearing with a lump in his throat. They had all come to bid him farewell and their well wishes echoed throughout the forest. He had to at least give Duncan credit for not making him sneak away in the dead of night; the man had let him say his final good byes. It is almost like I am already dead and this is a funeral procession, thought Leric as he looked over his shoulder for the last time at the people he had spent his whole life with.

"I understand your pain, but we must make it back to Ostagard as fast as we can, I do not know how long you will last." Duncan's words broke him from his mourning.

He doubted the man truly knew what it felt like to loose everything, to be forced to walk with the species he hated so much, but he kept quiet. Instead he relaxed his body and broke into a fast stride that expertly avoided the roots and rocks that bared his path. His anger swelled like a flood and he hoped that if he walked fast enough he could "accidently" loose the Shem. However he was rather surprised to see the aging warrior was having no difficulty matching the young hunter's stride.

Duncan let out a throaty laugh, "Well at this rate we will be at the King's army in no time."

Excellent, thought Leric as he rolled his eyes.

They spent the next two days traveling between forest and city trying to stay out of the reach of the darkspawn. It was on the third day of making camp that real problems started to crop up. Leric had been sitting as usual on the outskirts of camp when he noticed that he started to feel very nauseas. The stew in his hands looked disgusting to his eyes and he felt like throwing it on the dirt.

He felt dizzy and hot; he could feel rivulets of sweet pouring down his face, stinging his eyes. As Leric tried to get up, he fell suddenly as his knees gave out. He laid there unable to find the energy to move, he felt like his energy was being ripped away from him.

Duncan emerged from his hunting trip and a look of concern flashed in his eyes. He quickly set down the deer carcass and moved towards Leric, putting his hand against the sweating elf's face as he asked, "What is wrong, do you feel ill?"

"Do I feel ill, I feel like my insides are being ripped apart, is it the taint?" Leric could barely get the words out of his mouth, his tongue felt heavy and his words were slurred.

"I am afraid the taint is taking a turn for the worse since you have bee away from the keeper". Duncan propped Leric against a log and looked him in the face handing him some water. "You must drink this; if you dehydrate then you might as well give up any hope of surviving."

Even though Leric thought he could not even handle the small amount of water, he took it into his hands and let it slide down his throat. It tasted like ash and he cursed the sickness for making even the simplest of things horrible.

When Leric looked back to ask Duncan a question he saw that the man had moved off towards his tent and was packing it up, his hasty movement causing a disarray of materials. "What are you doing Shem?"

Duncan looked up from the pack he was stuffing, his face calm as ever, "There is a noble estate about half a mile from here, I happen to be friends with the Tryn and I doubt he would mind if he lent us the use of his healer."

Leric was not happy.

"So we are going to go to a rich Shem who rules these lands and beg for help? What a cowardly thing to do" try as he might Leric could put very little venom into his voice, every ounce he had was being put towards just staying conscious. That was the reason he did not respond to the verbal lashing Duncan was giving him.

"Cowardly!" The mans' face was pulled tight and he had a frown, "You are dying, and I need you for a Warden, how is asking for aide cowardly? Remember who your commander is here boy. Sometimes I think you Dalish teach the youth to be too proud and not to acknowledge when assistance is needed."

Once the camp was packed up Duncan came over to Leric and put an arm under one of his shoulders, holding his weight. As they hobbled through the low bush and into the green fields of the trynship, Duncan spoke up.

"You are to treat these people with respect, they are an honourable family. More than most." Leric was unsure whether he was supposed to hear that last part, but never the less he agreed to Duncan's terms.

"Fine I will treat these Shems with respect" Duncan came up short and in doing so tugged Leric's body towards him. They looked each other in the face, him being an inch smaller than the human.

"I do not want to hear you calling them Shems, ever." He watched the man's eyes; they were serious, like two black stones.

"Yes Duncan" he looked away from Duncan's gaze and started to limp towards the estate of a noble man.