Here is another chapter, sorry for the delay, had a spanish test to study for so I hope this is an okay =)

Happy Reading,

Leric POV

The march up weathered grey stone was silent and solemn; even the wild birds stilled their calls as the group passed them. The winds were calm for the moment and in them a certain sense of waiting prevailed. Leric didn't know if the humans could understand how nature worked like him, or whether they could feel the current of the winds, but they too were silent and looked weary.

Duncan motioned for him to move towards a long wooden table in the middle of the ruins. While he moved towards it he looked behind himself and saw the other young warden half drag half carry Fayne towards were he was standing. He could not understand why she was acting the way she was, her eyes were open and she could walk, albeit shakily, but when he saw her endless gaze he understood how, without the young man, she would fall into the ground and probably never get up again.

Catching himself staring at the Shem female, Leric quickly averted his eyes and preoccupied himself with Duncan's actions. The man's broad shoulders hid his movements, but it looked like he was mixing something inside a golden chalice. The action only lasted a couple of minutes and then Duncan turned around with the worn goblet in his hands, it was full to the brim with a deep red liquid.

"In order to become a warden, you must know your enemy from the inside out; you must take a part of them into your soul." Duncan walked up to Leric and looked the elf in the face, "You must drink the blood of the darkspawn for it is your only hope and your only chance at survival." He handed the cup over to Leric who took it in silently shaking hands.

"And If I do not drink this, what then." Leric asked as he eyed the liquid that seemed to move on its own accord.

"You will end one way or another Leric, be it by the taint you have in you now, by the taint you will subject yourself to, or by my sword through your chest." Duncan's words were ridged as steel and as cold too. Leric did not think the man was bluffing, so he brought the cup to his lips and poured down the viscous liquid. It was thick and sticky, fighting against the muscles of his throat as it burned the lining of his esophagus.

Suddenly his surroundings changed and the grey ruins morphed into an endless field of green and purple, the kind of colouring found on decayed flesh. The air was thick and had a sweetness to it that made Leric on the edge of gagging, he breathed slowly through his mouth. Besides the suffocating decay nothing lay in the emptiness, not even a starch patch of weeds.

He didn't know what compelled him to turn around and look the other way, the only way he could describe it was a pull of some sorts. No sound could be heard, so Leric was completely thrown off when behind him stood a tall figure. It was at least two heads taller than him and seemed too far bent forward at the waste. If the figure was human, it bore no similarities other than having a face, which was almost unrecognizable due to extensive decay.

A hand reached out towards him, and Leric found himself transfixed by the creatures snake like voice, "My brother come with meeeeeeeee"

The word brother quickly snapped Leric out of whatever hold had taken control of him, "I am no brother of yours!" The only person he ever considered to be a brother was now lost to the taint, lost to him. However the words seemed to have little effect on the creature, for it slid closer, its foul breath making Leric's nostril flare like that of a halla scenting a wolf.

"You are ussssssss now, do not fight usssss let it take you brother" as the figure made to grab him, Leric yelled at the top of his lungs and covered his head with his hands. However when he opened his eyes again he was no longer in the dark purple land, but at the ruins alone beside a stone wall. Was it all a dream, thought Leric as he shivered in fear, what sort of sick twist of fate has left me here?

Leric soon forgot his morbid thoughts as he saw the two wardens leaning over a body on the ground, neither seemed too worried, however they were not relaxed.

"Will she be alright Duncan?" Alistair, the blond warden, looked up.

Duncan stood to full height after retrieving the fallen chalice, and walked over to the wooden table where he placed the cup, "She will survive, just like the elf."

At the word elf, Leric ripped his gaze from Fayne's unconscious form and into the eyes of the dark human, who stood still as he gazed back at the elf. Quickly the young human half jogged half walked over to him and knelt down into a crouch, "Oh thank the maker, I was worried there that the taint would have taken you."

Leric regarded the human and mentally sneered, so another devote person who prayed to false gods, "The maker had nothing to do with this, Shem." His words seemed to have caught the man off guard, for he quickly stood and turned red.

"I, I meant no disregard Leric of the Dalish, I simply…oh well, sod it! I will go with something easier, my name is Alistair junior gray warden" the bow the man gave Leric was not returned nor were the amicable words.

"How is the woman?" Leric's question was directed to Duncan as he dismissed the younger man: this Alistar, held no importance. Though many females back in his tribe may have swooned over his red cheeks and quick smile, Leric found the qualities annoying and weak.

Duncan walked closer to the two men, "She is fine, but her battle with the taint is taking longer than yours, though I have faith in her ability to withstand it.

Fayne POV

Duncan's words were one monotonous sound that had no decipherable beginning nor an end for her. She had some understanding of where she was and what was about to happen, but it still came as a shock to her when the hot liquid knocked her out.

She had hopped then, that a restful oblivion would take over her mind, and allow her to rest without seeing her dead family's faces, but no, the unconsciousness that gripped her threw her into a memory of the past and of things yet to come. That was how her visions always worked; they started out as her own memories and then morphed into events that would happen, events that would soon become part of her memory.

Fayne found herself sitting on her old bed back in castle Highever, in a delicate green robe. The bright colour and almost nature feel of imported silk meant that this vision was going to be a strong and clear one. Even though she knew were she was, was not real, she took a moment to enjoy what she used to have, and remember the care free ways that defined her since childhood.

Looking out the tall narrow window, Fayne could see the sun setting in a mix of orange and yellow, a most breathtaking hue. However as she sat there, the colours changed from beautiful to blazing brightness that seemed unnatural and fierce, and it caused her to look away. Her door too, had the same intense colour coming from underneath it, and so with shaking hands, Fayne found herself opening it to look beyond the borders of her room. Instead of finding her hallway, Fayne was thrust into the middle of a battle field red and mushy from hours of death. A man yelled off in the distance, and his cry carried above the other din of man against beast. Fayne found that, as she made her way towards the cry, that she recognized the battle field and the creatures on it, this place was Ostagard and the beasts who were winning were darkspawn. The shock of it stilled her feet and she just stared at the carnage and at the men who had fallen.

By the time she reached the area where the screams came from, all was silent, it seemed as though people had fought in this area, but it made no sense to her when she saw no fighting figures. Only one body lay on the grass in an odd twisted fashion, and as she came closer Fayne immediately recognized the figure.

It was Duncan.

The fearless grey warden that ripped her from her home, lay at her feet drowned in a pool of his own blood. And Fayne, she knew she should have felt some remorse, but instead of that she felt for the first time in many days a feeling of happiness. No, happiness was not the word; rather it was feeling like something that rightfully should have happened did, it was justice in her eyes.

Without further examination Fayne turned her back on her dead commander and made her way around the army assessing damage and tactics. Years of tutorage from Aldus had left her with a keen eye for battle and politics, and that eye clearly identified what went amiss.

It seemed as though Logain, who Duncan said had offered support for the king's army, had quit the field and left the king to die with the other wardens. It was too much for Fayne, too much betrayal and lies, and too much death. Giving up, Fayne laid herself down on the bloodied ground and closed her eyes; she did not want to see anymore.

With a sickening rush, Fayne found her heart's beat pick up in speed and a nausea sweep into her stomach, the signs that she was coming to. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and was met with the same blazing orange that had been in the vision.

Closing her eyes again she murmured in a horse voice, "It can't be, the vision so soon has become reality?"

"Ahh I see you are awake young lady" the clear voice of a woman caused Fayne to sit up abruptly and look around with half wild eyes. It looked like that while she was out of it, the men had moved her with the sick in the camp hospital run by the mages.

"I must give you congratulations young lady on becoming the newest member of the wardens."

Fayne snapped, "Congratulations? You are congratulating me on this!" her voice rose to a starling pitch, but the gray haired mage just frowned and sat down beside her on the bed. Feeling guilty for treating her elder as such, Fayne placed her head I her hands and sighed, "You must forgive me mistress mage, I ah.., I ah,"

"It is alright dear; you have had quiet a shock to the system. Though I am curious…." Fayne looked to the older woman with an open face waiting for the question.

"You said, dear, that the vision was to become a reality. What did you mean?"

Fayne tried to school her face, but she knew she must have lost all colouring in her completion. And as she was about to practice a well rehearsed lie, she found herself dying to have someone to share the experience with and the secret with, and who better than a mage?

She slowly began telling the woman about her 'curse' as her mother called it, and how it was unreliable at best and how it haunted her dreams. The older woman looked fascinated and for the first time Fayne wondered if she had made a mistake telling this woman about her secret, something that could get her locked up or killed by the templars. Her mother often said that Fayne's ability was a slap in the face to the maker.

However when Fayne finished the older woman leaned back and got a contemplative expression, "I see, it is most unique, this ability of yours child." That was all the woman got to say before a yelling patient demanded her attention else were.

Fayne grabbed the mages hand before she got to far, "Wait. My name is Fayne, what is yours?"

"My name is Wynn, and it was a pleasure to meat you Fayne"

Although everything in her mind told Fayne that she had done the wrong thing in trusting her secret with another, she felt oddly satisfied that the woman had still treated her like a sane person and not gone running to the nearest templar. It didn't even cross Fayne's mind to tell anyone of what the vision was actually about, about how soon everyone in the place would be dead. She felt the pang of guilt for all the young men and the mages, including Wynn, who would fall, but she would sacrifice them all ten times if it meant that every time Duncan would have a painful death.

Speak of the devil and he shall come, though Fayne as she spied Duncan, Leric, and the man called Alistair, making their way towards her. She jumped up quickly and placed a steadying had on the edge of the bed.

'Excellent I see that you are awake, come with us it time I give you the orders from the king." Duncan gave her a once over and nodded as if satisfied with something he had created. And in a way Duncan had made her into one of them, that thought made her fists clench.

"Very well let us make our plans Duncan." Fayne extended her arm and fell into step beside Leric. She could not identify why she now felt comfortable around the grumpy elf, but certain calmness emanated from him, and Fayne could see how he would be a pleasant person if he could just loose all the hatred he held inside himself.

Duncan stopped in front of a large bon fire, "We have been given orders, by the king, to have you, "Duncan nodded his head to Fayne and continued, "Leric and Alistar light the signal beacon at the tower of Ishal."

"What? Duncan, you can not be serious, the king needs three wardens to light a fire?"

Duncan sighed, "These are not my orders, and they are our kings so they must be followed."

A frown creased Alistar's face, "I just can't believe-"

Leric stepped up, "It is not our place to believe, correct Duncan, just to follow orders?" It was a low jag at the older warden, but Fayne felt the need to contribute to the harassment, after all the man would be dead soon.

"I think you are right, Leric, we are no longer people but pawns to the wardens" Fayne crossed her arms and turned her back on Duncan.

"If you three petulant children are done voicing opinions that matter not, then go get ready to light the beacon, soon the battle will begin." With that Duncan stormed away from the group leaving both Leric and Fayne satisfied, but Alistar looked like a kicked dog.

A sudden chill crept into Fayne's skin causing her to convulse once and then froze all her muscles. As suddenly as it began it ended, but as the cold started to recede, so too did the surrounding scenery. It was just like one of her visions, but it had never happened when she was awake. What is happening? Fayne asked herself as she watched three people run into a tower while a battle continued to roar outside. The image changed and she was at the top of the tower watching Leric kill an ogre, and then seeing a strange mage fall to his death. Image after image came to her, and the last one was of the three of them falling to the darksapwn who had taken over the tower.

It seemed like ages to Fayne, but when her natural surroundings returned both men seemed to have not noticed what happened. Fayne was still in shock over seeing her own death that she did not even acknowledge Alistair's parting suggestion that they move closer to the tower. Only when Leric's firm grip seized her arm roughly did she snap out of the vision induced haze.

"Are you alright?" his question was simple, but Fayne found it hard to from logical words, for her mouth was dry and her lips felt swollen and useless. Again he shook her, "You know I need to know if you are too weak to fight, you are already such a liability." Leric said unkindly.

The elf's nasty expression brought clarity to her mind and with a quick tongue she uttered, "I am fine," she yanked her arm out of his grasp, "Let's go do our duty" the last word sounded dirty when she said it and the lingering wrongness of their group's situation sat uncomfortably in Fayne's chest.

The battle had begun soon after the party left for the tower. The challenging horns of the darkspawn were met with the thumping of shields and drums from the kings army. A sort of organized chaos issued after that and the group was soon the only people left in the encampment.

The closer Fayne got to the tower the harder her heart beat, the more sweat pooled on her skin, and the more she felt like fleeing. I should not be here we will all die! Her thoughts turned to images of dead men, of the arrows that would soon protrude out of her body. It seemed as though her body took control of her mind and with lightning speed she turned tail and ran into the wild forest the bordered the camp. Away, I must get away; her frantic thoughts overpowered the violent yells she was receiving from her brother in arms, from her fellow wardens. However nothing would stop her. She would run until her legs gave way and her breathing became unbearable, she would not get her revenge against Howe dead.

Sliding to the left she sidestepped Alistar's attempt at grabbing for her middle, yet at the same time she found herself almost thrust into Leric's on coming form. She fell to the ground and into a sloppy roll to avoid the lunge he made for her. Lifting her body up, Fayne sprinted with all her might farther away from her death, the trees blew past her as she jumped swerved and dived. Without looking back, Fayne made a hard sharp right turn to avoid a large birch tree, it cost her seconds for she could tell the two men were hot on her trail and that at least one of them was raised in a forest and could navigate their way around almost as well, or if not better than she.

Minutes flowed into hours and Fayne found herself amazed at the sudden stamina she possessed, I guess you can do anything if you fear for your life, she thought as she ran through a clearing, but again she had to block an attempt from one of the men to catch her. It seemed that they too could run for miles. However that last attempt at a doge left her breathless and unsteady causing her to trip on the hidden tree root. Her fall was made even harder when a body slammed into her lower back and pinned her to the ground.

"Making a run for it again princess, I tire of play cat and mouse with you" the hot breath of a panting Leric brushed against the side of her face as the man bent down to talk into her ear. His dark braid tickled her eye, so Fayne tried to raise her head to avoid it, but as she did a gauntleted had thrust her face back into the hard packed dirt. "Your cowardness sickens me, I don't even want to see your face" with that, Fayne felt him let go of her head and bind her hands behind her back. She had no energy nor will left to fight him, so she just lay in the dirt and let him finish. Even when he got off her back she stayed in her position blankly staring into nothingness, they don't understand we were going to die, you should be thanking me!

These thoughts screamed in her head, but Fayne knew that they would not understand or probably care, they only saw her now as a deserter. The young warden, Alistair, lifted her by the hands and began walking her back towards the tower of Ishal, but little did he know it was too late. The irony of the situation was simply too much for Fayne to handle and a half sob half hysterical laugh came from her lips. It must have been odd sounding because it caused both men to stop and look at her, if only for a couple of seconds and then they were off again. Her feet seemed to want to dance and she welcomed the strange detached joy to fill her emptiness for the time being, they didn't know it, but she had saved their lives and in doing so she had killed the king's army.

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