A/N: So, some more smut in this chapter, didn't really plan on it, it just kind of ran away on me! Anyway, since no one complained or said the last bit sucked, I did more. *still need to hide a little bit* It will also be blocked off so that those of you who don't like it can skip it. There's a tiny bit at the beginning that's not blocked off, but it's really not very much at all.
Thanks as always to those who are reading, favoriting, and following!
Special thanks to Cheecho who was nice enough to review the last chapter for me. Please R & R, it really means a lot to me to get feedback! Thanks and hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Bioware owns Dragon Age and everything related, I own Ayla and everything related to her.
Chapter 17: Finding The Dalish
When Ayla awoke the next morning, it took her a little while before she remembered just exactly where she was, and why she was so warm and comfortable. She remembered going to sleep in Alistair's tent, as her own wasn't up, and she'd fallen asleep long before he'd finished his watch, not even noticing when he'd joined her. That thought was a little disturbing for her; that wasn't something she ordinarily would have slept through. Had she really been so tired last night, or was it that her instincts that would normally have awoken her, felt that she was so completely safe with him that she didn't need to wake up?
Damn it all to the Pit, as if she needed another thing to puzzle out when it came to him. Whether he had intentionally done it when he'd arrived in the tent, or subconsciously done it in his sleep, he was completely wrapped her around now. She was on her side, her back pulled up tightly to his front, his chin resting atop her head, and one of his arms was wrapped tightly around her waist, while one of his legs was tangled in with hers. And though he was still sleeping, she could tell from the steady rhythm of his breathing and rate of his heart, he was also most definitely aroused. Which gave her the conflicting emotions of warm, comfortable, and safe, along with a steadily rising desire of her own.
She'd hoped yesterday that she would finally be rid of these conflicting emotions when it came to him. She'd almost expected to be relieved when she'd believed that he had reacted the way she'd expected him to, but she hadn't been. She had only been devastated and furious. When she'd run herself ragged and the fury had finally faded, she'd only felt numb and hollow. Eventually, she'd decided to go back, not knowing what else to do, fully expecting that they would turn her away, and maybe then she would feel relieved that she'd finally escaped from the tangle of feelings he evoked in her.
But then he'd done something she had never expected: apologized, sincerely. She'd seen it in his eyes, that he meant every word he said. The look in his eyes hadn't been the one she'd gotten used to from other people who discovered the truth about her; it was the same half-adoring, half-lustful look he'd always had for her. Then he'd been all sweet and sexy again, and well, Goddess, he'd pulled her right back into the tangled web of feelings she had for him, making the tangle even tighter if anything.
How was she supposed to fight the feelings now? She'd run out of possible methods or ways to get herself loose. Maybe . . . maybe it was just temporary. Yes, that had to be it. She'd just continue travelling with him and the others, spending time with him, enjoying herself, and eventually, these odd feelings would naturally fade away. In the meantime, she decided, she'd fully enjoy the one feeling that gave her no sense of conflict.
Experimentally, she arched her back against him and rubbed herself along his arousal, wondering if he'd wake up. Sure enough, his steady breathing hitched and the sound of his heartbeat picked up. His hand that was on her bare stomach drifted lower, and she felt the throbbing in her loins pick up as his hand brushed tantalizingly close. "Oh, Alistair, yes, right there," she gasped.
Suddenly, his hand jerked away and he was scrambling backwards away from her. She rolled over to look at him; he was sitting against the tent wall, face flaming, chest heaving, staring at her wide-eyed. "Maker, I'm sorry, Ayla," he exclaimed. "I-I didn't mean to . . ."
She bit back a sigh of disappointment. So, he hadn't wrapped himself around her intentionally, then. That was too bad, but at least his instincts proved that he wanted to. She knew it wouldn't be hard for her to seduce him right past any objections he might have, but she didn't want him to feel regret or shame later for any of it. "It's fine, Alistair. I was . . . quite comfortable, really." She winked at him as she sat up fully and stretched.
She heard him try to stifle a groan as he managed, "That's – that's good. Are you feeling all right this morning?"
She smiled. "Yes, thank you, I'm quite recovered." She was tempted to kiss him before she left the tent to get ready, but she knew it would be unfair to push him any further. He was trying so hard to hold himself back right now, and she was only in her smallclothes, since all of her other things had been in her main pack on the cart with Bodahn and she hadn't felt like trying to find them last night. Bodahn usually camped a fair distance away from their tents.
At any rate, Alistair's hazel eyes were fastened on her body right now, as though he couldn't look away, and they had that dark look in them that she so loved. She suspected that if she were to touch him right now, he'd lose all control. And it was so tempting to see what would happen, especially since he smelled so good, but . . . she sighed. She could wait, she reminded herself. "I'll go get dressed and start some breakfast."
He nodded jerkily as she grabbed her swords and made her way out of the tent. Her armor was still sitting at the entrance, along with Alistair's, though unlike her, he actually wore something underneath to keep it from chafing. She strapped her armor back on along with her swords, and made her way over to where the campfire was from last night. Aedan must have had the last watch, for he was already crouched by the fire, building it up.
He looked up as she approached and smiled slyly. "I take it Alistair must have apologized to you."
She grinned as she realized he must have seen her come out of Alistair's tent, and didn't bother to disabuse him of any notions he might have. "He did indeed." She hesitated a moment as she grabbed one of the pots nearby to begin making breakfast. "He said that you all are . . . fine with me staying?"
His smile faded as he sobered, nodding as he met her eyes. "It isn't a problem for me in the slightest. I'll tell you what I told Morrigan when she told me about her abilities: I think it sounds like a useful ability, and as far as I'm concerned, you are still a trusted companion. I've spoken to the others, and they are all fine with it. You don't need to worry."
She sighed in relief. She was glad that they all knew now, and she didn't need to hide anymore; even more, she was pleased that they had all taken it so well. She hadn't expected that anymore than she had expected Alistair to be okay with it. "Thank you, Aedan, that means a lot to me."
He shook his head, putting the finishing touches on the fire and lighting it with the tinder. "Think nothing of it. After all you've done to help us and how far we've come already, how could I possibly not trust you?"
"Thank you, all the same," she repeated firmly. "You can relax; I'll get breakfast started." She stood up, intending to head to the nearby stream to fill the pot with water. The sun was just now over the horizon, so there was plenty of early morning light to see by, and it still being summer, was decently warm even for that time of morning.
He grinned crookedly at her as he straightened up. "That's more like you don't trust me to cook something edible, right?"
"Well," Ayla shrugged, grinning back, "let's just say that I don't believe the Wardens are known for their cooking skills."
Aedan laughed, holding his hands up. "All right, I'll leave it to more capable hands."
She made her way to the nearby stream, following the sound of the rushing water, and filled the pot up. By the time she made it back to the fire, Alistair was outside the tent, strapping the last piece of his armor on. Aedan was taking down his own tent and packing up his supplies. "Good morning, Alistair." She smiled cheerfully at him as she hung the pot over the fire. She realized that she was feeling really good this morning, better even than she had in ages.
He smiled back, though he was still blushing. "Good morning. Do you need help?"
"No, no, just sit down and relax." She tossed him a chunk of cheese from the pack of food Aedan had already set down by the fire. He caught it and began to eat it as he sat down on a log by the fire, watching her put oats in the water.
He sat there watching her cook for a few moments in silence before he cleared his throat. "Do you mind if I . . . asked you a few questions about your abilities?"
She shook her head, tossing some salt in the water and stirring it in. "No, not at all, ask away. I'm sure you must be curious."
Aedan had come back over to the fire now, having packed away the last of his items, and she could hear the sounds of the others starting to stir. He sat down as well, watching her with curious eyes as she waited for Alistair's question.
"Well, Morrigan said that many warriors in your land have that ability, so I guess my biggest question would be . . . how do you all do it, if you're not mages?"
Ayla nodded slowly, trying to think of how best to put it in to words. "Yes, it's something that all the warriors in the Order can do. We undergo a ritual, much like you do, called the Kin Ritual. At the end of the ritual, the animal that is most like us, or kin to us, appears and challenges us. If we can hold our own against it in battle, the Goddess then gifts us with the ability to share its shape. We are only ever granted one shape, except in very rare cases. Anyone who wishes to join the Order must undergo and pass the Kin Ritual first, or they are not deemed worthy. I guess, in a way, it is magic, it's just not our magic, but that of the Goddess, instead."
"Hmm, fascinating," Aedan remarked, elbows on his knees as he watched her. "So how long can you stay in that shape? Morrigan can only stay changed as long as she has the magical power to do so."
"In our case, it's more like . . . lifeforce," Ayla decided. "However much power or stamina our own body can provide. The longer we stay shifted, the more exhausted we get. If we stay in the other form too long, we'd become so exhausted that we would be unable to move until we've slept for several hours. So we have to be careful how much we use it. We mostly rely on our weapons unless we're facing large amounts of enemies or need the extra burst of speed or strength provided."
"So yesterday," Alistair said slowly, studying his hands, "you used it to save me because you needed the speed?"
"Right," she nodded, smiling at him when he finally met her eyes. She could still traces of guilt in his eyes. Goddess, he was so honest! "As myself, I couldn't have reached the emissary in time. But as the panther, I'm so much faster, I was able to keep you from being hit."
"Thank you, again." He smiled at her warmly before continuing, "Do you get any interesting side effects like we do?"
"Well, there's a few," Ayla admitted, adding some more spices to the pot. "Nothing so bad as yours, I don't believe. There's the exhaustion, for one. There's also the pain that we feel every time we go through the change. With enough practice, we can shift fast enough that the pain is only brief, but it's always present. And if we don't use our powers for a long time, the pain might become so great we'd be unable to fully shift properly again. Then there's the issue of control. It can be . . . difficult, at times, to keep the animal inside us under control. We are . . . as much animal as we are human, sometimes." That was difficult for her to admit, but it was something she felt they had to know. "So if we are experiencing intense emotion, such as grief or rage, and we lose control, we might shift without even meaning to, and have no control over ourselves in the resulting change."
"That's why you left yesterday," Aedan guessed. "I saw your eyes change briefly, and Morrigan said you needed time to regain control."
"That's right," Ayla nodded in agreement, noting that Alistair looked guilty all over again. He needed to stop punishing himself about it; she had already forgiven him. "There's one more possible side effect, though I'm not sure if it's true or not. We may have reduced life spans, like you two do, since animals don't live as long as humans do. It's said to reduce more the more often we use our powers, as well, so it's another reason to be careful with them."
"How can you not be sure if that's true or not?" Alistair asked, looking confused.
She shrugged. "Well, for one, most of us die on the battlefield before we ever reach old age. Like . . . my father did. For another, it's not obvious when one of us dies if it is because of our powers or merely because it was our time. Not in the way yours is obvious, I would guess."
Alistair shook his head, his face shadowed. "No, I doubt it would be as obvious as when the taint tries to claim us." He looked up suddenly. "Is that why your hearing is so sharp?"
"Yes, that's one of the good side effects – well, most of the time." She winked at Aedan, who, for the first time since she'd met him, actually flushed, obviously realizing she was referring to him and Morrigan. "I have enhanced hearing, eyesight, and smell even without my changed form. So once we get to this Brecilian Forest, I should be able to find these Dalish elves for you without too much problem."
"Well, that's good to hear," Aedan replied, still a little red, as the others finally approached the fire. Ayla began to dish out the oats, while Aedan passed around bits of cheese and dried meat. "I would really prefer to have the Dalish on our side before we get to Denerim."
"Ah, my dear, I am pleased to see you have returned!" Zevran smiled at her as she passed him a bowl of oatmeal. "The journey would not be nearly so pleasant without you."
"Thank you, Zevran, I am glad to be back." She smiled back, glad to see that he meant it. The others all added their own greetings as well, ranging from Sten's grunt and nod to Leliana's hug, but they all seemed equally sincere in their own ways, for which she was very grateful.
"I do hope a certain idiot Templar apologized to you." Morrigan glared at Alistair, who didn't even bother to snap back at her as he usually did.
"Yes, he did," Ayla quickly intervened, "but it was as much my fault as anybody's. I didn't tell anyone before it happened, and then I overreacted to what he said. So let's just forget it about, shall we? Everything is fine now." She was pleased when Alistair looked up and smiled gratefully at her.
"Oh, very well then, if it does not bother you," Morrigan sniffed, "I will leave it alone." She went and sat next to Aedan, who whispered in her ear, "Did you know she could hear us?" to which Morrigan merely smiled and Ayla laughed, making him flush again.
"Uh, at any rate," Aedan said quickly, trying to recover his composure while everyone stared at him, "we should reach the edge of the Brecilian Forest by sometime tomorrow. Ayla says she can track the Dalish once we get there, so we should be able to locate them fairly easily. I think we should probably not bring everybody there, though, as too large a group might make them nervous. So we'll find a place in the forest to set up a base camp, and the others will stay there while Alistair and I set out with a few others. I think, at this point, I'd like to bring Ayla and Morrigan along so they can track them, and Zevran as well. Hopefully they'll be more comfortable with you."
Zevran shrugged. "I am happy to go along if you wish it, of course, but I doubt my presence would be of any help. The Dalish tend to view any elves that live among humans with more suspicion than the humans, at times."
Aedan frowned. "Well, nonetheless, I'd still like to bring you along. You said you did live among them for a short time, so you'll likely be able to help just with your knowledge alone."
"As you wish, my Warden friend," Zevran replied, turning back to his meal.
"Let's get going as soon as we can," Aedan continued. "When we arrive at the Forest, we'll find a good place to set up a base camp, and the five of us will go ahead from there. The others will stay there until we return from fulfilling the treaty."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and soon they were finished their meal, packing up the camp, and heading on their way to find the Brecilian Forest and the Dalish.
True to Aedan's word, they hit the edge of the Brecilian Forest the following day in the early afternoon. It was an impressive forest, filled with large, old trees and numerous bits of vegetation, with only a few small, winding paths cutting through it here and there. Ayla picked up an unusual smell shortly after entering the forest that she couldn't quite place. It smelled almost like the other members of the Order would, in a way, like a mixture of human and animal, yet not quite at the same time. It was more animalistic, less natural. Something about the forest itself seemed a little off, as well.
She whispered her findings to Morrigan, who agreed that something didn't seem quite right about the forest, either, but neither of them could place it. Morrigan shifted into a bird to go scouting for a good place to set up their base camp. She returned within a couple of hours, after they'd gone deeper into the forest, and lead them to the area she'd found.
Once they reached it, Ayla had to agree with her assessment; it was a spacious clearing in the midst of several large trees, with a decent sized stream nearby for washing and eating. They proceeded to set up camp, and once they'd unloaded all their extra supplies from the cart, Bodahn set off to do trading with nearby villages, saying they could come find him once their business in the forest was done.
It was Leliana's turn to begin cooking supper, so she began setting up for that, while the rest of them set up their tents and began taking turns washing up at the stream. Ayla was one of the first to take her turn, and had just finished setting up her tent when Alistair returned from his washing up, with a bouquet of wildflowers that he handed her.
"You're giving me more flowers?" She asked him, unsure of quite how to react. They hadn't had a lot of time to spend alone together since that morning in his tent, and she had the feeling he'd been semi-avoiding her at camp last night. He'd spent a lot of the night talking to the others, Aedan among them, and she hadn't been able to overhear what they were saying. She wondered what had suddenly brought this on. "What are they for?"
He shrugged, looking suddenly nervous. "Because . . . I wanted to, and . . . they're the first part of your reward."
"Oh?" She smiled. So he'd been making plans and working up to something; how interesting. "What else did you have in mind?"
He took a quick look around the campsite, making sure nobody else was nearby, before whispering in her ear, "Something . . . we'd have to do somewhere a little more private."
Goddess! When he used that husky tone on her, it sent thrills all through her body down to her toes. She couldn't wait to see what he had in mind. "Come on then." She grabbed his hand, dragging him away from the campsite again, leaving the flowers behind just outside her tent.
She found a smaller clearing a few minutes away from the camp that felt safe, and turned to look at him, her body already humming with anticipation. "Show me what you had in mind."
He looked down at her for a moment, and she could see nervousness warring with desire on his face, so she solved his problem by pressing her body flush against him. His reaction didn't disappoint; his lips crashed down on hers fiercely as his arms went around her, hands gripping her bottom firmly as he pulled her hips into his. She gasped at the sensation, her arms firmly around his neck, and finally gave in to the temptation she'd had since the first time he'd kissed her; she wrapped her legs around his waist, hooking her feet behind his back.
He moaned low in his throat when she did that, and she loved the vibrations it sent through her body, making everything in her flare with lust. He kept one hand firmly gripping her bottom, occasionally squeezing it to her delight, while the other drifted up into her hair, tangling in it and changing the angle of her head while he kissed her. He kissed her like he was starving for the taste of her, tongue dancing through her mouth, and she answered in kind; she loved the taste of him, the feel of him, this raging fire that she wanted to burn up in.
Finally, he pulled his mouth away from hers when both of them could no longer breathe, and just stood there for a second, catching his breath. "I – I want to touch you . . . everywhere, this time," he managed between deep breaths.
She met his eyes, which were almost black with desire now, and shuddered. "Well, like I'm going to say no to that," she murmured. "It might work out better down on the ground, though."
Understanding flared in his eyes as he lowered her down to the grass, and she unwrapped herself from him long enough to strip off the cotton tunic and leggings she was wearing, kicking off her boots, and unwinding her breast band as well, leaving only the bottom half of her smallclothes on. She loved the look of blazing lust on his face as his eyes travelled over her body. She was also pleased when he stripped off his tunic and kicked off his own boots without her even asking, letting her glimpse his bare chest again in the light of the setting sun, though he left his leggings on for the moment as he settled himself between her legs.
Bracing himself on one arm, he lowered his mouth to her ear, nipping lightly at her earlobe before sucking on the skin behind it. Even as he did that, his other hand ran down over her chest, lightly skimming over her breasts. She moaned, arching up into his touch as she skimmed her hands over his broad shoulders and back. She loved the feel of his rougher skin, the firmness of his muscles beneath her hands; she couldn't get enough of touching him.
He kissed his way down her throat again, being a little rougher this time than he had last time, sucking harder on the skin of her throat, nipping a little more – but she enjoyed every second of it. She couldn't keep herself from vocally expressing her pleasure, either, and he seemed encouraged by every sound she made. His hand was continuing to lightly caress her, having progressed to the outside of her leg now as his mouth continued downward. The two combined were exquisite torture.
She moved her hands down further, to his firm backside, and squeezed, delighting in the strangled groan he made against her chest when she did so. As if in retaliation, he made his way to her nipple and suckled hard, sending a bolt of lust shooting straight to her aching core. She cried out, arching her back. In response, she slid her hand around to the front and cupped his sizable erection through his leggings. He froze, and lifted his head off her breast to stare at her, eyes wide and blazing. She smirked at him before stroking it firmly.
He gasped, his hips bucking toward her, and the hand that was now cupped around her knee shot to her wrist, firmly pulling it away. "Ayla," he managed hoarsely, "don't do that."
She grinned wickedly at him. "Why not? I know you like it."
"Of course I do!" he exclaimed, flushing adorably. "But I want to . . . finish what I was doing, first. This is your reward, remember? So just let me . . . keep going."
She smiled. Goddess, he was so cute and sexy and just . . . generous. She'd never had a man so devoted to her pleasure before that he would actually stop her – twice now – from touching him. How could she refuse? "All right, keep going, and I'll leave you alone – for now." She squeezed his backside with her other hand again before adding, "Well, that area, anyway."
He chuckled lightly as he let go of her wrist. "Fair enough." His mouth descended on her again, this time switching to her other nipple, swirling his tongue around it and suckling again, gently nipping. She moaned as the sensation sent flames scorching through her body. She returned her free hand to running over his body, sometimes lightly scraping with her nails.
His hand had found its way back to her leg, but was now tracing up her inner thigh, excruciatingly slowly. Goddess, he was going to kill her. His mouth left her breast for a moment as he kissed and licked his way down her stomach, swirling his tongue in her belly button. Suddenly, his hand was cupping her through her smalls, and she shrieked at the sensation, her hips bucking against his hand.
He lifted his head, studying her. "Do you . . . want me to stop?"
"No! Are you crazy? Don't you dare!" she exclaimed.
He laughed, a very smug, male grin spreading across his face. "So . . . you like it when I do this?" He rubbed his hand against her aching center, and she gasped, squirming as she felt the coil winding tighter in her stomach. "You're so . . . wet," he added wonderingly, fingering her smalls.
She moaned. "Get them off – now!"
He quickly complied, rolling out of the way so he could slide her smalls down and off her legs, tossing them to the side. He touched her, gently, with his fingers, and she shuddered at the sensation. She felt like she was made of liquid fire now. "Please, Alistair, just . . ."
He surprised her when he slid a finger in without her even asking. She bit her lip, stifling a moan as he slid it out, then back in. He leaned down, pressing his mouth to her stomach again, and she didn't miss the fact that he was going lower as he did so. His thumb was rubbing its way through her folds as he added a second finger, and she cried out as his thumb suddenly found the nub that was the center of her pleasure. "Yes, Alistair, right there!"
She was, she had to admit, shocked when his thumb was replaced by his mouth, which began to suckle at her as he continued to slide his fingers in and out. She was now writhing in earnest, and could feel the fire burning brighter as the pressure wound tighter and tighter. It was when he added a third finger while simultaneously suckling harder that she shot straight over the edge, screaming his name as she arched against his mouth and exploded around him. He slid his fingers out, though he didn't move his mouth right away, instead gently licking as she shuddered through her aftershocks.
Eventually, he pulled his mouth away and sat up, shocking her anew – and arousing her a little again already – when he licked his fingers off. "Maker, you taste so good," he said huskily, looking at her with those dark eyes.
"Where . . . did you learn that?" she asked in shock, feeling thoroughly pleasured and languid.
"Ah, well, Aedan gave me a bit of advice," he admitted, flushing again. "I asked him what women liked, and . . . that's what he told me."
"Oh." She considered that for a moment, deciding that she owed Aedan a huge favour. She sat up. "Remind me to thank him later. Now, it's your turn."
"Oh, no, you don't have to . . ." he began, shaking his head as he scrambled backwards.
"Alistair?" she said sweetly. He stopped and looked at her. "Shut up and let me do what I want."
He froze, watching her with hungry eyes as she crawled towards him. When she was straddling his legs, she pushed him flat on his back on the grass. "Remember, you have to leave me alone until I'm done," she whispered in his ear. He shuddered underneath her.
She decided to start at the top and work her way down as well - the torture had to be equal - so she began sucking and biting at his neck, deliberately biting just hard enough to leave marks. She knew she was going to have some, so it was only fair if he did too. She made her way down his chest, roaming with her hands as well, alternating between rubbing with her hands and lightly scratching, just as her mouth alternated between sucking and biting. When she nipped at his nipples, he bucked against her, and she smiled against his chest. She continued on her way downwards, slowly but surely making her way to the waistband of his leggings.
By the time she reached his leggings, he was trembling with anticipation, hands dug into the ground to keep from touching her. She smirked up at him as she hooked her fingers underneath the waistband of both his leggings and his smalls, before pulling them down his legs and off. She was not disappointed when his erection sprang free. Goddess, he was even bigger than she'd expected, and that taut muscle of his was all over his body. Just looking at him was making her throb with longing all over again.
She ran her hands up his muscled legs, stopping with them on his hips as she braced herself above him. She smiled slyly at him before lowering her mouth over him, taking in as much as she could manage. He let out a strangled cry, and she could feel him forcibly restraining himself from bucking further into her mouth.
She swirled her tongue around his length as she knelt between his legs, cupping his balls in one hand as she stroked the rest of his shaft with the other. "Ayla!" he moaned when she oh-so-lightly scraped him with her teeth, before closing her lips around him and sucking hard. She began moving her mouth up and down his length, switching between laving him with her tongue and sucking hard.
Suddenly, his hands came up and clutched tightly, almost painfully, in her hair as though he were afraid she'd stop. Knowing that he was close, she sped up her ministrations, and he let out a strangled cry as he arched up and began to empty into her mouth. She'd taken him as far back as she could, so she swallowed his seed quite easily, not that she would have had much choice anyway as he hadn't let go of her head. When he was finally spent, he collapsed back down and let her go, his arms falling at his sides.
She lifted her head off him, hands braced on his hips again, and looked at him; he was laying there with his eyes closed, breathing deeply. He suddenly reached down, hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her up to lay across his chest. She went willingly, running a hand gently through his sandy hair. "How was that?" she asked softly. "Did you enjoy it?"
His eyes popped open, back to their normal hazel color, although dazed. "Maker, Ayla, if I'd enjoyed it any more, you would have killed me."
"Hmm, good." She smiled smugly. "Now you know how I felt."
He chuckled softly, before pulling her down for a slow, thorough, heartbreakingly tender kiss. When he pulled back slightly, she felt an unaccustomedly warm feeling blooming in her chest. Goddess, what was he doing to her? "We should get dressed and go back, before someone comes looking for us." He smiled up at her. "Aedan will have kept them busy for a little while, but it being supper time, they'll start wondering just what's going on."
She sighed regretfully. He was right, of course, but she would've been fine with staying here for a good while longer, and going again once they were both recovered. She had never enjoyed herself quite so much before. Reluctantly, she got up and began to gather up her clothes, hearing him doing the same behind her. They both dressed hurriedly, although she looked up once while putting her breastband back on to find him watching her with that hungry expression again. When he saw her looking, though, he flushed and quickly went back to pulling his tunic on.
Once they were both done, they made their way back to camp. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight, smiling down at her. One of these days, she promised herself, she was going to get him all the way over his reluctance and actually bed him properly. But this would most certainly do in the meantime.
They set off the next morning, her, Aedan, Morrigan, Zevran, and Alistair, leaving the others behind at the base camp. Surprisingly, no one had made any comments last night when they got back to camp, though Ayla was quite certain everyone knew what they had been up to. Zevran had merely smiled knowingly at her, while the others had simply pretended they hadn't noticed their absence.
This morning, however, Ayla had overheard Wynne asking Alistair before they left if he needed healing for the "wounds on his neck" which had caused Alistair to turn bright red and stammer, much to the amusement of Wynne and herself. She had been quite satisfied to see a few rather prominent bruises on his neck, and suspected she had a few as well. It was a pretty sure thing, judging by the way Alistair kept looking at her neck, his eyes darkening even as the rest of his face reddened. She wished he'd stop, because that just made her want to drag him off again and she knew they didn't have time for that.
At Aedan's request, Morrigan took her bird form again and began scouting ahead looking for possible trails and signs of the Dalish, while Ayla shifted into her panther self and began scouting as well, dashing ahead and trying to pick up a scent. The deeper she went into the forest, the more certain she became that, as usual, something wasn't right in the world of Ferelden. Her animal self was getting the feeling that it was going to be threatened by a larger predator - possibly more than one, and she wasn't quite sure she understood what that meant. Surely the Dalish couldn't pose that much of a threat?
By midday, she'd picked up the scent of elves, fairly similar at the base of it to the scent of the elves at home, or even Zevran, but at the same time slightly different. It also smelled like they had something akin to deer with them. Morrigan had also found what looked like the sight of many wagons passing through the area. She flew back to get the others, while Ayla shifted back to human and sat by a tree to wait.
It was a few hours before Morrigan brought the three men to where Ayla was, and she'd almost fallen asleep a couple of times. Finally, they arrived, and she stood up as they approached. "How far away do you think they are?" Aedan asked her.
She shrugged. "Hard to say, maybe a couple of days ahead. But something's not quite right in this forest, Aedan. Both Morrigan and I can feel it."
Aedan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It seems like we have to run into problems everywhere we go."
"Life is more exciting that way, is it not, my Warden friend?" Zevran asked, grinning.
"I think we could do with a little less excitement, personally," Alistair said dryly.
"Perhaps we should stop whining and start moving on, no?" Morrigan demanded, tapping her foot impatiently. "Else we shall never catch up to these Dalish elves of yours."
"Morrigan's right." Aedan moved forward in the direction Ayla indicated. "We'd better get going and catch up to them as soon as we can. We'll take as short of breaks as possible."
They'd packed light when leaving the base camp, only bringing some food, potions, and blankets, as well as their armor and weapons, of course, in order to be able to move faster. They didn't stop walking that night until it was fully dark, and then simply ate a quick meal and slept on the forest floor. The men had divided the watch up amongst themselves, knowing that the use of shapeshifting made both Ayla and Morrigan more tired, so the two of them got to sleep through the night, fortunately.
They were shaken awake promptly at dawn, however, and the trek began anew. Ayla was certain by now that the elves had stopped moving, and must have set up a camp somewhere. She told Aedan that it was likely they'd come across the elves sometime the next day.
As she suspected, Morrigan flew back early the next morning, informing them that she'd spotted some elven scouts patrolling the perimeter of a camp. "We should come across them within an hour or so," she informed the others.
Not long after, Ayla could hear them moving through the trees, and sidled up to Aedan to whisper, "They're starting to surround us now. We should be running into the leader any moment."
Sure enough, she heard the sound of bows being drawn as they came around a bend in the path, and an angry female elf in leather armor descended on them. Two other elves were behind her with bows drawn, but Ayla knew there were several more out of their line of sight in the trees. The female elf, clearly the leader of the guards, stalked up to Aedan and scowled. "Stop right there, outsider! The Dalish have camped in this spot. I suggest you go elsewhere."
"And there they are," she whispered to Aedan. She refrained from adding what else she'd realized – the smell of something that was both similar to a shifter and not was stronger now that they'd reached the camp. She didn't even want to know what they were going to find when they finally entered the Dalish camp.