I am back with another chapter to the Cousland Story and I have been working on this for all night and I am impressed with this one. I left off with Alistair having doubts about our hero and he didn't like how he was treating his allies and his fellow Grey Warden. Okay, I am not going to spoil you guys and gals fun with this story with just talking about it and I am going to shut my mouth and get this story started.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 4: I am a Grey Warden

Raven was looking at the night blue sky and he felt his warhound was rubbing his head against his master's leg to his attention. Raven knew that Fang needed to be petted. He couldn't resist the look that his hound was giving him. Raven started scratching Gang behind the ear and Fang started to wagging his hind leg with excitement. Then Raven heard Jory complaining about the whole thing. Raven knew that he won't stopped having doubts about the grey wardens and about the Darkspawn.

"I don't get it." said Jory.

"Are you complaining again?" asked Daveth.

Daveth knew that he was going to be complaining again and he knew that Jory wasn't going to stop. Raven got up and he walked over to them and Fang follow his master. Raven knew that the both of them was going to be trouble and he just stayed to himself while his hound just sat next to him. Daveth was looking at him and he wanted to Raven to help him out with this and Kenshin just looked away. Daveth just sighed and he was trying to get Jory to see the real reason that the Grey Wardens are nothing but secret people.

"What with all these damn test? Have we earn our keep?" asked Jory.

"Maybe they have the right to keep things a secret because this is their order." said Daveth.

"You complain too much." said Raven

"How can you be so calm? Aren't you worry about this as well?" asked Jory

"No, because worrying in for the weak. I don't have anything else to lose" said Raven

"What are you trying to say?" asked Jory

"I am saying that you are weak. You are no warrior. but I see a coward that doesn't deserve the title to be called a warrior." said Raven.

Then Jory was shocked to hear that Raven just say that he wasn't a warrior. Jory was going to test his sword against Raven, but what Jory didn't know about Raven was that he learn a lot of different swords styles even Dalish swords styles. When Jory unsheathed his sword, he started to charged at Raven. But in a split second, Raven knocked Jory's sword and he had both of his swords pointed at Jory's throat. (Note: I am still using kenshin in this story and I am just use Raven as a cover up.)

"Try that again, I will not hesitated to kill you." said Raven

Jory was just disappointed because he was beaten by raven raven. Raven put his swords together to form one sword and he place it back into its sheath. The three of them waited in silence for Duncan and Alistair, but Alistair just looked at them and he knew that he didn't trust Raven as a brother. He was hoping that the joining would kill him. Duncan was proud of them for making this far especially Kenhsin and he was going to give them their final test. He was going to to see if either one of them to survived the joining.

"Gather around, my recruits. I am going to tell you that you all have passed the trials of becoming Grey Wardens, but all of you need to take the step by drinking the taint." said Duncan.

"We are going to drink the blood of these creatures?" asked Jory.

Raven knew that he was going to be a coward again and Raven felt that he was being watched by alistair and fang was chasing his tail. Raven just looked at the hound. Then Raven just take tapped his sword to let Alistair know that he will cut his eyes out and alistair knew that he was serious about doing it. Raven just wanted to be left alone.

"As we did before you and so did the Grey Wardens before us. We speak only the words that provide to joiin. Alistair if you will." said Duncan.

"Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And one we shall join you." said Alistair.

Then Duncan picked up the cup that was filled with Darkspawn blood and Lyrim and he was going to give it to them. Jory was just scare and he looked at Raven to see that he wasn't worried about all of this. Daveth have some doubt but he wants to become a Grey Warden and he want to prove to Raven that he wasn't weak. Duncan handled the cup to Daveth because he wanted him to be the first to submit to the taint, but Daveth wasn't worthy of becoming a Grey Warden and he died in that spot. Jory was shocked that they was going to kill them and duncan knew that it was Jory's turn to submit to the taint.

"I have a wife and child. Have I known." said Jory.

"There is no turning back, jory." said Duncan.

"No, you ask too much." said Jory.

Then Jory unsheathed his sword and he pointed it at Duncan, but Duncan knew that Jory can't leave if he denied to joining because Duncan wants to keep the joining of the Grey Wardens a secret even if it cost him to kill Jory, but Duncan just pulled out a dagger and Jory started to attack him. Then Duncan saw an opening and he brought his knife into Jory's heart. Jory had died that day and he wasn't going to see his child being born for the first time in his life.

"I am sorry. But the joining is yet complete. You were call upon to submit to the taint for the greater good." said Duncan.

Then it was Raven and he was ready to be the next person to died. He knew that his family have left him behind and he wanted to join them really bad. Once he took the last sip of the cup and his eyes turned white for a moment to see a vision of the Archdemon, but the dragon claim him wrothy of the Grey Warden and Raven woke up to see that both Duncan and Alistair standing over him. Duncan was happied to see that one of them have made it through the Joining.

"It is done, welcome to the order, brother." said Duncan.

"Two more deaths. In my joining only one of us died, but it is good that you have survived." said Alistair.

"You sound disappointed, Alistair." said Raven.

"How do you feel?" asked Duncan

"Like the bright itself was trying to take control of me." said Raven.

"Did you have dreams? I have terrible dreams after my joining." said Alistair

"It does feel that way through time you'll learn to adapt." said Duncan.

Alistair just looked at him and he just shook his head, but Raven just knew that he wasn't going let this go so easy. Then Duncan knew that Raven was going to need Alistair in the near future. Then he headed towards the meeting with King and he Raven looked at his hound to see that Fang was happy to see his master was alive and well. Raven just smiled at the hound and he petted him on the head. Then he started walking towards the meeting with the King and he saw that both the King and his general were arguing about their battle plans.

"Loghan, my descision is final. I will stand by the Grey Wardens in this assult." said Cailian

"You've risk too much, Cailian. The Darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing hero on the front lines." said Loghan.

"It's that the case then we wait for the Orlesian's forces to join us after all." said Cailian.

"I must repeat my protest for your fool notion that we need the Orlesian forces to defend ourselves." said Loghan.

"It is not a fool notion. Our argument of the Orlesian are a thing of the past and you'll remember who is king." said Cailian

"How unfortunate that Maric did not live to see his son ready to hand over Ferelden to the people who enslave us for a century." said Loghan

Raven just looked at the both of them because he never seen two grown men fight like marry couple. This was not part of the reason for him to come to the meet to hear them argue at each others throats. Duncan knew that this would not last long and Calian knew that Loghan still don't trust the Orlesians and Raven started to remember the day that he meet Leliana and he felt sad that she went back to Orlais.

"Then our current forces will have to suffice, won't they? Duncan, are your men ready for battle?" asked Calian.

"Yes they are, your majesty." said Duncan.

Calian looked at the Raven and he could tell that he have passed the joining and Raven just didn't want to be here because he don't like the idea of strategizing unleast it was on the battlefield.

"And this is the young warrior from Highever that I have saw earlier? I have understand that congratulation are in order.

"Thank you, your majesty." said Raven.

"Every Grey Wardens are needed now. You should be honor to join their ranks." said Calian.

Loghan was starting to like Raven because he knew that Calian have rely on the Grey Wardens too much. Calian just hope to fight the Archdemon and with the help of Duncan and the Grey Wardens.

"Your Fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing Calian. We must attend to reality." said Loghan.

"Fine. Speak your strategy. Then Grey Wardens and I will draw the Darkspawns to charging our line and then..." said Calian.

"You will alert the tower to light the beacon, signalling my men to charge from cover." said Loghan

"And to flank the darkspawn, I remember. This is the tower of Ishal in the ruin, yes? Who shall light the beacon." asked Calian.

They both looked the map and Calian started to think about sending both Alistair and Raven to light the beacon because he don't trust Loghan men to light the beacon.

"I have a few men stationed there. It's not a dangerous task, but it is vital." said Loghan.

"Then we send our best. Send Alistair and the new Grey Warden. to make sure that it is done." said Calian.

Raven knew that he was going to be stuck with Alistair once again and he wanted to do this himself, but he knew that Duncan would insist that Alistair should go with him. Ravn just stood there quietly and there was a mage was about to protest the revere mother stepped in to silence him and he just looked that her and he was about to argue the women.'

"Enough! This plan will suffice, the Grey Wardens will light the beacon." said Loghan.

"Thank you loghan. I cannot wait for that glorious moment. The Grey Wardens battle beside the King of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil." said Calian.

"Yes Calian, a glorious moment for us all." said Loghan.

Raven didn't like that tone from Loghan and he knew that he needed to trust on his feelings but he knows that no will believe if he see for himself. Loghan just walked off to meet up with his troops to prepare for war. Then Duncan and Rave went to their tent to explain to Alistair about the meeting and their plans to light the beacon to alert Loghan's men. Then both Duncan and Raven head to the Grey warden tents to ready for the fight. Alistar was waiting for them and he was ready to hear the news of their mission.

"So, what the king says is that you and Alistair must light the beacon which signaling Loghan's troops." said Duncan

"What? You mean I will not be on the front lines?" said Alistair.

"We need the beacon to signal Loghan's men to flank the Darkspawn and it was the king's demand that two of the grey wardens to do it." said Duncan.

Raven knew that Alistair was upset that he wanted to fight some creature and Raven walked over to his house. Terra was eating some hay and she was excited to see her master. Raven knew that it was dangerous and he took her somewhere and he needed to let her ran free without any danger. Terra just looked at her master to see that something was wrong.

"it is too dangerous for you to be here okay. Listen I want you to head some where to be safe okay. Now, run with wind my friend and I promised to find you again."

Then he smack the horse on the butt and the horse run like darkspawn was right behind her. Raven knew that she was going to die in the wild and he was going to avenge her on the darkspawn. Then he started to prepare for war against the darkpawn. Alistair looked at him and he saw that Rave have a sad look in his eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Alistair.

"I don't need you to worry about me." said Raven.

*Sigh* "Okay, I must be joining the king's army to ready the troops." said Duncan.

Then Duncan left them and Raven was using a rock to sharpen his sword and he was making sure that his weapon that is more deadly for the Darkspawn. Alistair and Raven was looking at the troops for the bridge and they both was surprised that this was going to be a good fight. Then it started to rain and fang started whining, but Raven petted him to calm him down. The darkspawn was making their way to Cailan's troops and Duncan was standing with him. Some of the troops was getting worry when they saw some of the darkpawn and they was scared out of their mind. Some of them just wanted to leave the battle, but they knew that they was going to put the entire world in danger if they choose to leave the battle. Cailan was looking that the battle plan over and over in his head while Duncan just looked at him.

"Don't worry, your Majesty. The plan will work." said Duncan.

"It will work, because the blight ends here." said Cailan.

The Darkspawn started to roar and they knew that it was going to give their prey to run away. Cailan just looked at the Horde and he saw that they have grow in numbers. There was alph that was leading the troops and the beast raise his ax to the sky and the darkspawn horde cheered. Everyone knew that this battle will be difficult for them. Then the alph Darkspawn told them to charge and the entire horde started running towards Cailan and his forces.

"Archers" said Cailan.

Then the commander of the archors told them to raise their bows and the arrows had fire on them. The commander waited until the darkspawns was in close range and he told them to release their arrow to the sky. The arrows started to rain from the heaves and it hit some of the darkspwan which some of them went down. Then some of the Darkspwan use their shield to block the attacks.

"Hounds" said Cailan

Then the kennel master was ready the war hounds for their attacks and he noticed that the darkspawns was getting closer to the ruin. The kennel master released the war hounds on the darkspawn horde and some of them took the some of the darkspawns out, but the darkspawn killed every hound that was on the battlefield. Cailan knew that it was time for the main course to step in and take care of the darkspawn.

"For Ferelden." said Cailan.

Everyone stared to charging to towards the darkspawn horde and Cailan knew that this was going to the glorious moment for Ferelden. Then the darkspawn started to send fire balls at the ruin and the fire ball hit it. Then Raven looked at the sky and he knew that this was going to war. He looked at Alistair for a moment and they both started to head towards the tower to wait for the signal. Raven and Alistair ran across the bridge to avoid the fire balls. When they made it across the bridge, they both saw a knight and a mage running from where the tower was.

"Are you two are grey warden, the tower have been taken." said the Knight

"Taken how?" said Alistair

"Darkspawn came from the tunnels from underneath the tower, sir." said Mage.

"We need to get up there and light the beacon ourselves." said Alistair.

Raven looked around to see that there was Darkspawns everywhere and he knew that they all had to fight their way through the horde. Fang started to growl at them because he was going to get his first taste of darkspawns flesh. The knight, Alistair, and Raven unsheathe their swords and the mage ignited them with fire to used against the Darkspawn. Raven started to charge towards them while Alistair and the others was right behind him. Then Raven started to cut down some of the darkspawn and Fang pounces on some of them. The mage used his magic to burn some of them while Alistair and the other knight was slicing the rest.

Raven saw some Darkspawn archers and he had no choice but to use his Cousland sword style and he took his single sword and separate it into two. He was cutting some of the incoming arrows and he jumped to where the darkspawn archers was stand at. Then he cut them down like they were nothing and he looked at his twin swords for a moment. Using his family's sword style, started to bring back old memories of his family.

"Raven, hurry. We need to get to the top of the tower." said Alistair.

Raven started running toward the door and Alistair just looked at him. They made it inside to see that the place was being overrun by Darkspawns. Alistair was starting to worry about Duncan and the forces, but Raven used his tracking skills to sense anything was still here. When he was able to get the sent and he knew that there was some Darkspawns in the tower.

"In the next room, there are some darkspawns, but there are some stairs that will lead to the rest of the tower." said Raven.

"How do you know that?" said Alistair.

"Tracking skill. There are other skill beside using the taint to sense the Darkspawn." said Raven.

Then they both heading into battle once again and Alistair was surprise to see that he was right. They took some of the darkspawns out and headed toward the next room to get to the beacon. They ran up to the second floor and Raven noticed that it was quiet. Alistair was about to walk, but Raven stopped him and he looked at Raven.

"What?" said Alistair

"Something does add up. This is too easy for us to just walk through." said Raven.

Raven grab a pebble and toss it across the floor. Then he saw rogue darkspawns coming out from the shadows and he was right again. Raven grabbed a bow and he use some arrows that he found and fire on some of them because he believed that the floor have traps. Alistair was about to assist, but Raven shot an arrow at his feet.

"Don't move, the floor have traps everywhere." said Raven

When he was done killing darkspawns, he started to removing traps that was set to go off on touch. They all were impressed that he was good at telling things. Alistair knew that he had misjudge Raven because Raven knew everything about stealth and traps.

"Now, let get to the top." said Raven.

Alistair nodded his head and they started running again. Alistair looked around to see some dead body and he didn't sense no darkspawns anywhere. They arrived at the top of the tower, but they saw some huge monster and it was Darkspawn origin. Then the beast turn around and it saw intruders. Raven knew that this was going to be challenging to fight this creature.

"Attack it legs. It can't hit us from two different direction." said Raven

They all nodded their head and they started to attack the beast with everything that they got. Then the beast tries to attack them, but Raven use his skills to dodge it's attack. He used his twin swords styles to cut the beast and he saw that it was giving them a good fight. Alistair and the others was attacking the other leg and he saw that the beast was getting tired. Raven took this moment to deliver the final blow and he started to running charging at the beast, but he jumped on the beast's chest. Then the beast went down and Raven pulled his sword out of it's chest and he brought it down in the beast mouth.

"Let light this beacon. We probably miss the signal." said Alistair.

"Right." said Raven.

Raven grabbed the torch and he looked at Alistair for a moment. He saw that Alistair was smiling at him for some odd reason. Then he toss the torch in the fireplace and the flame went up to through the tower. Loghan saw the beacon was lit and he knew that it was time to put his plan into action. He looked at his second in command and she was about to signal the troops to attack.

"Sound the retreat." said Loghan.

"But the king, shouldn't we-"

"Do not question my command. " said loghan.

"As you wish. Head out all of you."

Loghan looked at the battle field and he knew that this would happen sooner or later. Cailan's and Duncan's forces was getting kill on the front lines. Duncan was trying his best to protect Cailan, but he sense a darkspawns and he saw that it was an Ogre. Then the creature grabbed Cailan and cailan was trying his best to break free. He looked at the Ogre for a moment and the beast roar in his face. The beast crack Cailan's spine and it threw the dead body across the field. Duncan looked at his fallen king and he turn his attention back to the creature that murdered Cailan. He got up and he charged at the beast. Then he jumped on the beast chest and he started stabbing it repetitively. When the Ogre went down, Duncan was holding his side and he look at the tower for a moment. He saw that it was lit and he didn't see none of Loghan's men anywhere, but he saw an Alpha darkspawn was running toward him with an ax. At that moment, Duncan knew that it falls down to Alistair and Kenshin to stop the blight and Duncan closed his eyes to await for his death.

Raven was looking around the tower for something and he felt something touch his shoulder. He looked around to see that it was nothing and Alistair was standing at the other side looking at the dead Ogre. Then the Darkspawn came in and killed the Knight and the mage that was accompanying them. Raven started to attack some of them, but he saw that the archer was aiming at Alistair and he shielded him with his body. The archer fire its arrow at him and everything went to black.

wow, that was some chapter. Okay incase that you all was wandering about why didn't I put leliana in the last chapter and don't worry she will be in the next chapter. I hope you all like this chapter and I hope to read some good comment about it, but I will have more time to work on this story because on February, I will have a lot time because it will be my birthday period and I will have all my stories update.