Chapter 5 - First Day
Early the next morning Alyx found herself waiting in the courtyard for the others to appear, looking every inch the Commander as she sat proudly atop of her horse, Valkyrie. Outwardly the only indication of her impatience was the subtle set of her jaw and the tapping of her long fingers against the pommel of her saddle. Inwardly she was seething
Where the bloody hell are they? I told them to be ready and waiting by the end of the morning chant, and the sisters stopped singing their prayers half an hour ago!
Valkyrie shook her head nervously and huffed, sensing her mistress's irritation. Immediately Alyx ran a hand down the roan's speckled grey neck, murmuring soothing words to calm her. She was contemplating going into the Keep after her wayward companions when the trio finally came into view. Oghren and Anders were already bickering and Nathaniel was walking several paces behind them, wearing a typical look of disgust.
"What part of 'Meet me in the courtyard at sun-up' did you three not understand?" she demanded once they were within ear shot.
Their initial response was sullen silence, followed by shuffling feet and throats being cleared. Oghren's jaw hung open, Anders rubbed at the back of his neck nervously and Nathaniel looked everywhere but directly at her. She wanted to scream in frustration. They're like a pack of small boys caught with their hands in the cookie jar! It was Oghren who had finally found the courage to respond.
"Err, sorry Commander. We were just—"
"I don't care what you were doing. When I give you an order I expect you to follow it," she replied in deceivingly soft tones.
They each mumbled their apologies, making Alyx huff in frustration. It is going to be a very, very long day, she thought as she rubbed at her temples.
"Hey, we're riding?" Anders asked, changing the topic as he spied the three mounts standing at the ready next to hers.
"We are," she said with a curt nod.
Each horse had already been tacked up and carried saddlebags filled with much needed supplies, a luxury in comparison to her travels during the blight. Alyx had handpicked each horse specifically to fit her companion's riding abilities…or lack thereof, whatever may be the case.
For Anders she had chosen a steady bay mare that wouldn't throw a half-crazed Qunari let alone a nervous mage. By the uneasy expression on his face, Alyx had guessed correctly at the level of his exposure to horses.
For Oghren she had selected a spotted pony. She had to hold back a laugh when the dwarf took one look at it and immediately went into a fit about the beast being a comment on his size.
"It'll be a shorter distance to the ground if you fall out of the saddle in a drunken stupor," Alyx explained with a shrug.
"Good point," Oghren mumbled before stiffly climbing into the saddle.
For Nathaniel she had chosen a jet-black stallion that danced enthusiastically on its long, graceful legs when he approached it.
"What's his name?" he asked.
"Sirocco," she replied softly.
"Sirocco," he repeated, rubbing a hand down the horse's glossy neck, admiration in his eyes as he inspected the beast with an experienced eye.
He expertly swung up into the saddle, allowing the stallion to shift excitedly underneath his weight. Alyx smiled to herself. She remembered that he had been an admirable rider in his youth. Sirocco was high-spirited and needed someone who could handle him properly. She believed that he had both the skill and the patience.
Before he could take the reins Sirocco sidled up to Valkyrie and playfully nudged at the other horse's nose with a soft whinny. Nathaniel looked up at Falcon and arched an eyebrow in question.
"Sirocco is Valkyrie's foal, it is only natural," she said with another shrug.
"Why would you lend me such a valuable animal?" he asked slowly, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"I did not lend him to you, Nathaniel. He is yours now."
"But—"
"Do not look a gift horse in the mouth," she replied in mock reproach, a smile finally tugging at her lips.
She waited patiently to see how he would respond, unsure of how he would take her offering. Last night as she had collected her thoughts she realized that she would be spending a great deal of time with this man, and it was best for everybody concerned if they could find some semblance of peace between them. How could she trust him to have her back…and she his…if they were to continue in this vein? She watched as his expression changed from surprise to speculation to curiosity before falling into a polite mask.
"Thank you," he muttered eventually, relieving the fear that had begun to build in her chest.
It was a small step, but an important one…or so she believed.
All four of them were in the saddle and ready to go when a shout from the gates stopped them.
"Commander! A runner approaches!" one of the guardsman shouted shortly before a small, wiry man sprinted through the gates.
Alyx dismounted as the man approached, grabbing her water skin from her saddle bag to offer to the exhausted runner. He took it gratefully, taking a moment to drink and to gather himself enough to speak.
"Thank you, my Lady. I'm right glad I caught you!" he began between deep gasps of air. "I have a letter from my master, Ser Edgar Bensley. His daughter Eileen has been taken by bandits! They demand a ransom, but it is a great sum…too great I fear for his meager income. He didn't know where else to turn."
Alyx read the note quickly, her lips pursing in thought. She nodded once before rolling the missive up and placing it inside her hip bag.
"Tell your master that I will aid him. For your trouble," she said, slipping a sovereign into the man's hand.
"T-thank you, my Lady!" the man stuttered, utter shock written across his face as he stared at the gold piece winking in his palm.
She nodded once again before turning back to her horse, swinging herself back into the saddle. With a sharp whistle she gathered the reins and kicked Valkyrie forward in one graceful movement, the others shortly following suit. Hector darted out of the keep, barking excitedly, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth as he ran to catch up with the riders.
"So…Forlorn Cove, is it?" Anders asked once they had reached the main road.
"No. We stay our course to the Trunoble Estate. Then we'll see about this kidnapping business," she answered, her face set in grim but determined lines.
"But you just said—"
"I know what I said!" she snapped, immediately shooting Anders and apologetic look. "If it's a ransom they want, they'll keep her alive; at least for the time being. Darkspawn, on the other hand, waits for no man."
Anders blinked at her response, but nodded in agreement as he allowed his horse to fall back behind hers. Snap out of it! She told herself. How will they trust you if you keep barking at them like a rabid mabari?
For the thousandth time she wished Alistair was there, keeping her steady and focused as he always had. It wasn't until he was gone that she realized how much she had depended on him. He had been her rock. Her one ray of sunshine in a world colored black by the darkspawn. No matter how bad things had gotten, he'd always been there to pull her back from the brink.
What would he say if he saw me now? She thought.
He would shoot her 'the look'; the one he normally reserved for Morrigan. Taking Lessons from the Witch now, are we? He would say, shaking his head in disappointment, and he would be right. She owed her brothers better than this.
I'll try, my love, she thought. But they're certainly not making it easy for me!
She could almost hear him chuckling at that and yearned for the sound of it, though she knew it to be impossible. Instead she heard Oghren begin to warble one of his raunchy, horribly out-of-key tunes. She couldn't help but smile at the familiar words as he sang:
In Lothering town at the sign of the plough,
There lived a nugcatcher, shall I tell you how?
He'd go a nugcatching from morning to night,
And a young fellow came for to play with his wife.
The nugcatcher jealous of this very same thing,
He hid in the wash house to see him come in,
He saw the young fellow come over the stile,
Which caused the nugcatcher so crafty to smile,
He knocked on the door and thus he did say,
"Where is your husband, good woman, I pray?"
"He's gone a-nugcatching, you need never fear,"
But little did she think the nugcatcher was near.
She went up the stairs and gave him the sign,
And the nugcatcher followed them quickly behind.
And while the young fellow was up to his frolics,
The nugcatcher caught him right fast by his bollocks.
The trap it squeezed tighter, which caused him to smile
Saying, "Here's the best nug that I've caught in a while."
"I'll make you pay dearly for tilling my hold,
And the money it'll cop you no less than ten gold."
"Ten gold," says the young fellow, "That I don't mind,
It only works out about two bits a grind"
So come all you young fellows and mind what you're at,
And don't get 'em caught in the nugcatcher's trap.
"Are you trying to alert every darkspawn within a five mile radius to our presence? Or is it just me?" Anders complained.
"Do you sense any darkspawn?" Oghren retorted, scowling at the mage.
"Well...no, but I hardly know what I'm attempting to sense now, do I?"
"You'll know," Alyx interjected.
"If we're going to have to listen to more bawdy tunes, I'd rather hear them from you, my dear Commander. Do you know of any?" Anders crooned.
"Yes."
"Brilliant! Will you sing us one, then?"
"No."
"I think you've been hangin' around Sten too long, Falcon," Oghren grunted.
"And you've been hanging around Zevran too long," she replied sweetly.
"Ha! At least the pointy-eared bastard knows his booze."
"Amongst other things," she mumbled in reply. "Shall I tell him the next time I see him that he's gained an admirer in you?"
"No! I mean—Sod it, that's not funny Falcon!" Oghren cried, his face turning nearly as red as his hair.
"Don't play with fire unless you want to get burned, son," Alyx replied in the best imitation of Oghren's voice that she could manage.
It was something he had said to Anders earlier while they were in the midst of arguing, and Alyx couldn't help but throw it back in his face. Anders was laughing so hard he nearly fell out of the saddle. Oghren, however, could only mutter colorfully under his breath. She did her best not to laugh, but couldn't help but chuckle a little, garnering an odd look from Nathaniel though he had been silent throughout the exchange.
Odd that, she thought, unsure of what to think of it.
They traveled at a steady pace, breaking midday for a brief respite. The small clearing they found was perfectly situated, offering a stream to water the horses and a fallen, moss-covered tree for them to sit upon. The others were already dismounting, but Alyx took a moment to enjoy the soft breeze playing through her hair, causing the tendrils that had come undone from her tightly coiled tresses to rise off her sweat-drenched neck. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the heavenly sensation. She had forgotten how hot armor could get in the midday sun, even leathers such as hers.
When she looked up she could see Nathaniel walking towards her, but had only a moment to wonder what he was about. Hector blocked his passage, growling deep in his throat, bearing his razor-sharp teeth menacingly as his ears flattened and the fur stood straight up on his back.
"No, Hector! Calm!" she cried, jumping down from the saddle to crouch in front of the mabari. She took Hector's massive head in both her hands and stared him straight in the eye as she spoke to him. "Nathaniel is a friend. You don't attack friends."
Nathaniel blinked, his mouth dropping open in surprise. Hector whined at her tone of voice, but she knew that he would obey her command.
"Sorry," she said, turning to Nathaniel. "Force of habit. He should accept you now."
"Force of habit?" Nathaniel repeated gravely, making her inwardly flinch.
I really said that out loud? She thought.
"I wouldn't ask if I were you," Oghren grumbled beside him.
Alyx shot the dwarf a pointed look that said, mind your own business.
What was she supposed to tell Nathaniel? That Hector was used to killing men associated with the Howe crest? That Nathaniel most likely smelled enough like his dead father to put the dog on his guard? That would go over real well, she thought. It didn't take long for her to realize that he had figured it out, at least in part. He turned to walk away, but not fast enough for her to miss the dark anger creep across his features. Unsurprisingly he chose to eat at a distance from the rest of the group, any remnants of budding camaraderie gone.
They were soon back on the road, Alyx and Hector at the front closely followed by Oghren and Anders, leaving Nathaniel to bring up the rear. At first Anders and Oghren tried to pull Nathaniel into their conversation (well Anders mostly…Oghren spent most of his time trying to pick fights with him) but they gave in when it became clear that he planned to remain taciturn. Alyx couldn't blame him and stayed silent for the most part as well, to the annoyance of their more boisterous companions.
She should be working out the darkspawn threat in the long hours of travel, but she found herself brooding over Nathaniel instead. It occurred to her that it might make things easier between them if she told him who she was and why she had been forced to kill his father.
And what a cheery conversation that would be, she thought. Hullo Nathaniel, did I forget to mention that I'm a Cousland? You might remember me as Fergus's bratty little sister…by the by, your father had my family murdered, are we even now?
Besides, she could not trust her own reaction. Though most of her anger over the events at Highever had faded once she had fulfilled her vendetta, she knew it would not take much for him to spark the flames of her temper. He had a particular talent for it.
Time passed slowly, the landscape hardly changing over the miles. Oghren was getting drunker by the hour and Anders cockier with every well-placed quip. Had she not been in such a sour mood Alyx might even enjoy their company, but the strain of the trip was already beginning to wear on her. As the sun began to dip she realized that they would be reaching their destination soon.
No sooner did she think this than the first familiar vibrations began to creep across her skin. Stiffening in the saddle, she brought Valkyrie to a halt, holding up a fist to signal the others to do the same.
"What's up, Commander?" Anders asked from behind her.
"Darkspawn, just ahead."
"I don't feel anything."
"You won't at first. Your senses will strengthen with time," she said distractedly.
"How many do you suppose—"
"A dozen, maybe more. We should walk from here," she interrupted, dismounting as she spoke.
The others followed suit, walking their mounts to the protection of a small grove of trees. She signaled for them to be silent as they continued on foot, their weapons drawn in anticipation.
There was a bend in the road ahead of them leading to a stone archway with the word "Trunoble" etched in a small wooden plaque that hung above the entrance. Directly next to the sign was a painfully familiar warning of darkspawn infestation…two bodies dangling from ropes tied around their necks. Cold fury poured into her at the sight. She knew before they even entered the estate that they arrived too late.
No! She inwardly screamed. This is not how this is supposed to go, not again…
Somewhere inside her mind the gates holding her wrath in check snapped open, coloring the world in an odd sepia tinge as she gave herself over to it. She felt the strangest calm as they entered the estate and saw the darkspawn waiting for them there. She only vaguely noticed Oghren sprint past her with an excited war cry as he swept his axe through the air like a half-crazed Chasind. Her hair stood on end when a ball of lightning rolled past her and slammed into a hurlock a few feet away. The part of her mind that was aware of this suggested that she have a long talk with Anders about working on his aim. Still she walked forward, hardly noticing the automatic movements of her arms as darkspawn charged her, falling easily beneath her blades.
She heard the ogre even before she saw it, roaring and stomping like a gigantic child having a tantrum. The ugly brute was in a wheat field just ahead of her and to her right. Hector was already circling it, nipping at its enormous ankles. Alyx gracefully vaulted the wooden fence that led into the field and whistled sharply through her teeth to get the ogre's attention. Its massive, horned head twisted towards her in reaction, followed by the rest of its body when it realized she was more of a challenge than the mabari. It snarled at her, exposing its sharp, yellow, slime-coated teeth before ducking its head in a position she knew all too well. As the ogre charged she took up a similar pose and ran straight towards it with a feral cry of her own. Before they butted heads she dropped to her knees, sliding between its legs and thrusting out with her blades as she cleared them, effectively hamstringing the ogre and dropping it to its knees with a roar. Wasting no time, Alyx jumped on its back and slit its throat before it could retaliate. She was back on the other side of the fence before the ogre even hit the ground.
The battle was nearly over now, darkspawn corpses littering the ground before her. She noticed a genlock close by that was not quite dead, flailing on the ground like an upturned beetle. She walked over to the beast and stepped down on its throat with one booted foot, twisting hard until she heard a satisfying crack that ceased its struggles. Yet another genlock was running towards her full tilt, its beady little eyes flashing as it laughed at her maliciously. She calmly stepped over the darkspawn corpse in front of her and with a brutal, practiced move she thrust both blades into the genlock's chest full to the hilt. She let the genlock dangle there sickeningly for a moment before twisting the blades even further to cause it more pain, and then pulled them free with a sharp movement that sent the genlock's body tumbling backwards into the dirt. Alyx could sense one more approaching from behind, a hurlock, or so she guessed. Without looking she flipped her swords in her hands and thrust them behind her, feeling the impact immediately as the darkspawn cried out in pain. She pulled her blades free and with a quick twirl decapitated the monster.
Silence followed but Alyx could still feel eyes on her. She turned her head to see her comrades staring at her, their expressions a strange mixture of horror, awe and confusion. She wondered why they would be looking at her like that, but with the rage still burning through her veins she didn't give it a lot of thought. The words too late still pounded in her ears as she wiped the black blood from her blades.
The bodies of the farmer and his family were scattered just outside the dooryard. It looked like they had tried to run, but were struck down before they even made it to the gate. Poor, oblivious fools, she thought sourly as she shook her head. She felt the others approach behind her, but refused to turn lest they see her haunted expression.
Why am I always too late?
"Search the bodies, darkspawn and humans alike, and then carry them all to the barn and set it ablaze. I'll search the house for anything useful," she told them in a cold, dead voice.
"You wish to strip these people of their worldly possessions…and then burn them together with the darkspawn corpses?" Nathaniel asked incredulously. Alyx snapped her head around to glare at him.
"I'm sorry that you find this all so very distasteful my Lord, but leave me give you a piece of advice," she hissed at him in fury. "Forget everything you know of what is right and wrong. Grey Wardens do what they must to protect our world from the darkspawn. It isn't always pretty, and it isn't always moral, but it is always in the best interest of Fereldan and her people."
Her outburst was met with heavy silence, her companions all wearing similar expressions of shock. Alyx struggled to keep the tears from coming, glancing up at the sky until the piercing behind her eyes receded.
"Let me know when it is done," she added finally before storming to the farmhouse, nearly yanking the door off its hinges as she entered the empty building.
She slammed the door behind her, leaning back against the smooth wood paneling as she desperately gasped for breath. When she was sure that the others didn't intend to follow, she hung her head and wept.
*Author's Note: Oghren's tune is a remix of an old folk song called "The Mole-catcher" that I found on a website dedicated to traditional bawdy tune lyrics. I reworked some of the words to fit better into the DA world, and although I couldn't find any info on whom the original lyricist was, I hope they aren't turning in their graves right now. :) Muse tunes: "The King of the Golden Hall" by Howard Shore (The Two Towers OST); "School!" by Nicholas Hooper (Half-Blood Prince OST); "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by the Smashing Pumpkins.