The sun is barely peaking over the horizon when we pack up and begin heading towards Orzammar. I can feel the beginning of a pounding headache in the back of my skull and behind my eyes. I slept for less than an hour before another nightmare awoke me. I tossed and turned for the rest of the night without getting a wink of sleep. I can hardly remember the nightmare, but it installed such fear and terror that I continued to feel fear pumping through my veins hours later. I can only hope that riding will help take my mind off of things. Leliana rides up beside me on her pure scarlet steed. I offer the woman a passing glance. Her entirely leather set is tight on her and I can see her picking at it. I'll need to get her a better set soon enough.
Her whitewood bow catches my attention. And a better bow. She definitely has the worse equipment out of all of us. Wynne trots up on her white and cinnamon colored mare and smiles at me. She's wearing some ridiculous cowl, the red robes she's always worn, and my leather gauntlets and boots I gave her. I can't tell the type of staff she carries; however, she looks decently equipped. For a mage. I quickly check on the final member of our party. Duncan is nosily panting below me and occasionally attempts to turn his head in order to shower me in Mabari kisses. I reach for his ear and give him a good, hard scratching.
My Mabari wags his tail and looks up at me. Two red circles around his eyes are just part of the array of varying size circles that litter his body. I smile at my friend before pushing against the back of his neck. Duncan begins jostling forward without a care in the world. It's hard to hang on to him; I'm knocked around with every single step he takes; and my feet are almost brushing the ground. I bite my lip and awkwardly position myself so I'm almost lying horizontally along the length of his back. Finally, I get into a somewhat comfortable position. My feet are near Duncan's hindquarters while my arms are securely around his neck. Now all I have to do is rest my chin on my shoulder and use my head to steer him.
Leliana is the first to speak. "Tabris?". I grunt. "You look ridiculous.". I grunt again to show I've heard her. "You honestly look like something an Orlesion lord would hire to strut around his party to mock Fereldens.". I sigh and continue leading Duncan through the woods. I know I look stupid, but I choose to ignore Leliana. Talking to her would only lead to her trying to get me to ride a horse. I guide my Mabari through the thick underbrush that's collected beneath the tremendous towering sentinels that make up the forest we'll need to cross through to reach the Frostback Mountains. We manage along for about an hour or two before something odd happens.
A rough, hardly-used trail manages to break through the terrain. I'd intended to ride by it without a second thought, but a shem woman screaming and flailing her arms causes me to stop. I still want to ride by; however, I know Wynne and Leliana will want me to check out what's going on. I ride Duncan over and try to look less stupid than I already do. The woman's dark hair is ruffled and her peasant's clothing is messy. "Please, you have to help! Bandits have attacked!". I nod and watch her go, but don't follow. Instead, I make a comment to my team. "Not a single cut or bruised on her. And, she's rushing right back into the midst of the bandits without even seeing if I'm following her. Get your weapons out and be sure to have them trained on her.".
Wynne takes out her staff while Leliana notches an arrow in her bow. Carefully, I reach behind me and ease my tremendous silverite sword from my back. The word 'Yusaris' gleams around the handle as I silently prepare to crack some heads open. I ride Duncan forward until I see a small clearing with hills ahead of us. I slide off of my dog as my fellows do the same. Our horses are quickly tied up while Duncan bares his teeth in a fearsome snarl. I offer another piece of advice as we entire the clearing. "Be prepared to take no prisoners. These men and women deserves nothing less than death.".
The area the woman leads us to is a deep dip in two hills with ten winding paths running through the entire field. The 'helpless traveler' leads us directly into what I was fearing. A wagon is turned over while its three owners and two cows are on the ground with their throats slit. An elven man is sitting atop the wagon with two daggers he's rubbing against one another. I crane back my arm and get ready to attack. That's when ten archers hop out of the grass on top of the two hills. I scream and charge ahead. My companions erupt into a fury as I lock my visual onto the unarmed and unarmored shem that led us into this ambush. Blood begins pounding in my ears as my vision blurs.
Once again, the rage of battle pulses through me and makes me deaf and blind to anything besides my target. I see the woman's eyes and mouth both widen. Vaguely, her scream of terror reaches my ears as she seems to turn in slow motion. I begin swinging my weapon and know exactly where I want to hit her. I thrust my huge sword forward into a stabbing motion. The tip of my blade pushes the woman's spine to the side, and buries itself deep inside her chest cavity before forcing itself out the front of her body. Blood splatters me and cleanses my virgin blade in its first kill. A movement to my left causes me to swing my head around.
The elven man is jumping towards me with both his daggers above his head. I sneer and open my mouth to scream. Both of his blades collide with my shoulders, but they can't pierce my armor. The man twists his face in anger and begins trying to saw through my mail. I do the only thing I can. I yank the dead woman's body (still attached to my blade) in between us. The man yanks his daggers back and screams a challenge. "Coward!". I do my best to judge where his voice is coming from, then shove the tip of my sword in that general direction. A low, loud groan and a thump tell me I've hit my mark. I smirk and kick the dead woman's body off of my blade.
The elf is struggling to his feet, so I do the nice thing and help him back down by swinging my sword as hard as I can at his skull. A crack resounds across the battlefield as the leader falls to the ground. My blood is filled with the rage of my life and I'm struggling to breathe, but no more enemies are alive. Duncan, Wynne, and Leliana made sure of that. My bard friend is going around and slitting the throats of the wounded survivors as Wynne and my Mabari walk over to me. Duncan has a trachea is his mouth and is nibbling it. I scratch the dog behind the ear and praise him. "Good boy! Very good boy!". My dog beams and wags his tail before swallowing the trachea in one gulp.
Wynne cringes before giving me a battle report. "You distracted the most powerful of the assassins, so we were able to dispatch the rest of them easily.". I nod and look around at the carnage. Bloody bodies litter the ground and strewn limbs are everywhere. I smirk and roll my shoulders in satisfaction. Looks like I've finally become the warrior my mother told me I was destined to become. Suddenly, Leliana calls out to me. "Their leader's still alive! Want me to cut his throat before he wakes up?". I feel my face and throat heat up at the idea that I wasn't able to kill the man. I draw my blade and begin stomping over to Leliana. "Move.". My word comes out as more of a growl and the human quickly rushes away.
The elven assassin (at least, Wynne told me he's an assassin) is laying face-first in the ground with his limbs spread out. I see a rock nearby that'll do just fine. I grab the unconscious man by his hair and begin dragging him over to the stone. He grumbles and moans in pain, but doesn't wake up as I position his neck just right on the rock. I heave my sword into the air, turn my head towards the sky, and give my fellow elf a final goodbye. "Andraste, Bride of the Maker; Maker, Creator of Us All; Elgar'nan, God of Vengeance; Mythal, the Great Protector; Falon'Din, Friend of the Dead, the Guide; Dirthamen, Keeper of Secrets; Andruil, Goddess of the Hunt; Sylaise, the Hearthkeeper; June, God of the Craft; Ghilan'nain, Mother of the Halla; and Fen'Harel, The Dread Wolf.".
Leliana and Wynne nod and obviously expect me to stop. Instead, I continue. "Dumat, the Dragon of Silence; Zazikel, the Dragon of Chaos; Toth, the Dragon of Fire; Andoral, the Dragon of Slaves; Urthemiel, the Dragon of Beauty; Razikale, the Dragon of Mystery; and Lusacan, the Dragon of Night. Ancestors both mine and not my own. Ancestors and Paragons of the dwarven empire. Gods of the Qun who are unknown to me. Those who's names are forgotten and those who never claimed any name. Those who I do not know or have forgotten.". Wynne and Leliana both look confused and tired of my extended prayer, so I hurry it up.
"Hear my voice and know me. I am your child and call upon you now. Take this soul to your side, the stone, the void, or wherever you might be. Claim him and allow him to make his journey into eternity safely.". A voice below me causes me to slightly jump. "A very nice prayer. Now, may I get up?". I don't even look down. Instead, I instinctively begin moving my sword downwards. A single cry begins to ring out as the elven assassin realizes I'm about to end his life. A snick puts a solid end to his screams of terror. Blood splatters my face and several thunks ring out as the elven man's head rolls a few feet away from his body. Instantly, Duncan leaps and is upon the assassin's skull in less than a second.
Leliana and Wynne begin walking away as I wrestle the man's head from Duncan. I look upon his face and smile. Twisted in agony with his tattoo scrunched up. Damn, maybe I could get a tattoo. I make a mental note to ask the next Dalish I see if I can get one of their tattoos on my face. I'll just have to claim I want to be wild or some shit. I shake my head and get back to the business at hand. I tie the man's hair around my belt and run after my party. The elf's blood leaks down onto my leg and splatters my pelvis. I do my best to ignore it. Wynne and Leliana both look revolted at the fact I kept a trophy. Duncan just keeps trying to snap at it when he thinks I'm not looking. Overall, today was one of the best days so far.
Note: Sorry for the wait. The 4th of July is distracting me.