BioWare owns all except what I made up. : )
So we have our Kai and Zev back together again. The daring duo, I can't tell you how happy it made me to write that chapter. And the funeral is over, but there is still a little issue with the Scath, the natives versus the ex-Crows. What will Kai have to do, or will she have to do anything? The Scath may have a solution on their own with the help of a certain witch from the Kocari Wilds who knows blood magic. This is where the shout out to NightHunter MGS comes in for giving me the idea. Kai needs to make sure what is left of the villagers and Anora's men who are left get to the banns and arls. And she needs to visit the hermit as she promised before she heads back to the safe house near Denerim. She has her own Scath from Antiva to meet, including our friend Zaeed. And she needs to meet with one Master Ignacio, all coming up. The epic saga continues. And a little moment with Alistair, how would you feel if you knew they were in danger but could only watch helplessly from the Fade?
Thank you all for the wonderful personal emails, the alerts, and favorites, the ideas, and most especially for the reviews. They feed the muse, whenever I feel stuck, or nervous that about what I am writing, I reread them, so, really, a big dose of gratitude to those who take the time to review. You all don't realize how much that really helps. 50 chapters, and counting, OH MY, and all because of you! HUGS!
Oh and sorry about the delay, yes, NightHunter MGS will have to declare vendetta against me, I and a friggin' raid on my Alliance characters on WoW, since it was a bunch of under geared alts (save me the talented druid tree) it took three hours rather than an hour and a half, UGH! But I too have Horde characters that run with my hubbie's. Oh and I cannot wait for the Worgen, I love werewolves. And thank you for the compliments in your review. WOW! You make me blush like Alistair! : ) You got it, my friend, I hope you enjoyed your inspiration for this one with the Scath.
Blessings!
Kai was swimming in a pool while the moon made the water sparkle like white diamonds, dancing on the waves created by the small waterfall coursing over the rocks from above. She could smell grass and night blooming flowers and fragrant trees, she could even hear night birds and crickets. Kai was treading water lazily looking at the moon, white and full, just beyond The Black City hovering in the star filled sky.
She felt him as she always did, even before any physical contact, the meeting of the other half of her soul, where everything in her just lifted and sighed. She felt Alistair's warm body through cool water as he put his chest into her back and his arms encircled her holding her up. He was able to stand on the bottom as he was a good foot and half taller than she was. She felt his face burrow into her neck. She lay her head back on his broad shoulder while her arms encircled his around her waist. She was just relaxing when she realized he wasn't kissing her as he would usually be doing at this moment, those few precious moments they stole with each other in the dream side of the Fade. And she realized that her shoulder was very wet and getting wetter, "Ali, what's wrong?" She heard a sob, and she broke away so she could face him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders, "Love, what is the matter?"
He just looked at her and then down again, with tears running down his cheeks, "I thought they were dead too, and I...I kept expecting them to show up here., my mother and the twins. And then you, and that bitch, Erys, fighting, and all I could think was that our children would grow up without you. They would never learn about, or from, their beautiful, strong, resourceful mother, and they would never see me through your eyes. And I am stuck here. I can't help you or protect you or them!" He started sobbing in earnest now, and it struck her, as it never had before, how really courageous he was. She'd always known he was, even when he didn't, but his strength was even more formidable than she'd recognized.
To know what was going on and be able to do nothing but be a bystander. He could withdraw, to be sure, and had done so, but he must have felt compelled to watch when she was in danger, or they were, and that he'd had to watch while not being able to protect her or them. Protecting is what Alistair did best, it was one of his defining personality traits, and being a shield warrior only enhanced and refined it. She then realized that what she thought of as a sacrifice for her, going back from the Fade, from death, had been even more of a sacrifice for him stuck behind there.
She felt tears filling her own eyes in response, her heart hurt for him, "Oh, my love, I have done you such a great disservice." She stroked his hair and beloved face, "I kept thinking I had to sacrifice and go back, I had to stop Anora, I had to try and save Ferelden, I had to bear the Theirin line. But you are the true hero, now as when you slew the Archdemon to stop the Blight." She flooded his face with kisses, "You are the hero, not me, you support me, you love me, you watch and can't be there with your shield to bash the bad people, throwing them to the ground like you used to. I never thought how much it must hurt you not to be able to do so, I have been so selfish. You were so wrong, you are stronger than me, so much stronger." She smiled at him while stroking his cheek, "I am so sorry, mi' gra, my beloved, my heart, I am so very, very sorry. I love you so much, more than ever, more every day, when I look Fi and Duncan, I see you. Andraste's flaming knickers, how was I fortunate enough to share a soul with one such as you?" She tried to brush away his tears.
"Clean living?" he asked, giving her a wobbly version of his lopsided smile. She grinned back at him while stroking his cheek, "I am just glad all of them are there for you. They all help keep you safe and sane, especially Zevran. I never thought that after you woke him up, after trying to kill us, I would be grateful you wanted him along, but I am. He watches out for you and them, I know he will protect all of you, he turned out to be as good a person as you told me he was. I am glad you are good friends again. And I love you too, Kai, so much." He touched his lips to hers lightly.
"You do realize that this usurping the little viper, Anora, is still going to be dangerous. And I will have to deal with her little sycophants afterwards as well?" She grasped his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes, "I can't help that what I do is risky, sometimes very risky."
"I know, I just needed to get that off my chest, and I can't tell your mother, she goes apoplectic. I do tell your father, but then your mother grills the both of us. I talk to Duncan about you, but you know him, he's stoic and calm and has the utmost confidence in you. His calm makes me feel like an over-reactive horse's ass, he could always do that, you know, when I got scared about something, like taking the new recruits out to the Kocari Wilds. So, I really don't have anyone I can just let go about it all with." He smiled his lopsided smile at her, "So that leaves you, isn't that lovely? Come to the dream side of the Fade, see The Black City, and have a grown man cry on your shoulder, meh! Makes going to sleep to dream worth it doesn't it?" His big hands were wrapped under her legs and were positioned in an enticing way, which made it worth it to her.
She laughed at his sarcastic tone and rubbed the end of his nose with hers, "Come to the dream side of the Fade, and meet the other half of my soul, the better half, by far. Meet with the man who gave me those two beautiful children, the man who is so good and so kind, and who got stuck with me. The Poor sod." She smiled at him while looking at his handsome face, "I can think of only one reason to come back to this realm over and over again, and his name would be Alfred, no, Albert?" She snickered at him while batting her eyelashes, "No, wait I'll remember his name in just a moment, hold on."
"Oh, you are just full of cheek, and evil, did I mention evil?" He started tickling her ribs and then he dunked her under the water. She responded by swimming under the surface and grabbing him by the ankles and pulling him under with her. They tussled like children, dunking and splashing each other. It ended with Kai pulling him under yet again, whereupon he grabbed her and their lips met under the water as they broke the surface.
"You are a bloody selkie in the water, lucky thing I'm already dead or you could easily drown me."
"Hm, drowning is not what I had in mind at all for you, but I have heard that it can be almost like dying when it is done right, and we always do it right." She gave him a cocky grin.
"Really-y" his lips claimed hers, making her head spin as his kisses always did.
She felt her whole body just vibrating, and the water felt warm around them. Alistair leaned her up against the smooth rock wall behind the waterfall, water sluicing down his muscled shoulders. His lips were tracing their way down her neck leaving trails of fire, as he freed one hand to caress her breasts, causing her to quiver with pleasure.
She nibbled and bit his muscled shoulder only to slick it away with her tongue. Her own hands were roaming down his abdomen, skimming over his muscled stomach and even lower, causing him to moan against her neck before his mouth devoured hers again. She opened for him and he filled her, body, heart, and soul. She closed on him and wrapped her legs around him, as one of his muscular arms braced against the rock wall behind them. As always she felt like her lungs were going to give out in one last gasp, and her heart would explode. Her body just released in one intense sensual overload, as their lips met and their breaths mingled. He gasped against her lips as she felt his own body convulse and release, echoing her own.
"See, I told you" her breath was coming out in little pants. She kissed his face ending with her lips on his. His own mouth responded as his weight pressed her against the rock keeping her upright so he could cup her face with his hands. She had one arm wrapped around his broad shoulders and the other fisting her hand in his wet hair, wondering about starting round two, when she felt herself being pulled out of the Fade.
Sod it, as always the change was jarring when she had to leave him, and it left her feeling as desolate as she had felt on top of Fort Drakon when she cradled him in her lap. The pain of it was so sharp and strong, it always left her gasping, and the emptiness was so deep she thought the entire universe could fit inside of it. Not to mention the ache of a physical body that was denied the action that her soul was having in the Fade. It was like dreaming about eating a feast and waking to a growling, empty stomach.
It was with tear filled eyes that she looked on the reason for her waking. Fiona had come in quietly with the twins who were making little fussing noises, the noises they made before they started their full throated howl about the unfairness of their situation – no food, diaper dirty, no Mommy, or just because. Kai wiped away the tears and smiled at Fiona, who put a finger to her lips and pointed to Zev who was still fast asleep. Kai nodded and sat up carefully so she could take them and get them fed. Fiona grabbed a chair and sat down to watch Kai and the twins.
Kai loved looking at them, they looked like her, she supposed, maybe a little. Others said they did, but all she ever saw, even as they had gotten older, was how much they looked like Alistair and even Fergus, her father, and her mother. She loved that she saw all of her loved ones in them, it helped fill the emptiness of their being in the Fade, or in Fergus's case, the separation brought about by distance and circumstance.
She and Fiona got them burped and changed, she really just wanted to sit and play with them today, but she had so much to do, as always. Oh for a day where all she had to do was spend time being Mommy. She was looking forward to Winter again when the snows might allow her to do just that. Here she was, just over the long, cold snows, and she wanted them back again, she gave a mental head shake. She hugged them and kissed them and put them back on the bed next to Zev while she went around the makeshift curtain Zev put up last night to see about clothes. He mentioned that he had been given some when he had left the first aid tent last night, she only hoped he had meant more than just a shift, otherwise she was going to have to put back on the filthy bloody clothes from yesterday, she was not relishing that.
She found a stack of clothing lying on a chair next to the table, with two sets of leggings and cotton shirts. Poor Zev was going to be cold in the thin tunic, the spring air still had a little of the Winter's bite in it. Kai got dressed and pulled on her muddy and blood splattered boots from yesterday. Her intent was to find the armory tent, provided it had not been blown up, and get her Scath armor on. She expected her two Scath sent out to Bann Loren with the message from 'The Silver Griffon' back today, and she needed to address what happened with Erys before too much time had passed, and again offer them the opportunity to leave the Scath if they felt they could not trust her as the Scathach to lead. She would not blame them, and they were free so it was an option to leave.
Kai went back to hug Fiona and kiss the twins again, "If you want to leave them with whomever is watching the children, please do. I know they may need you to do more healing in the first aid tents today, I know Lanaya is hoping to get all those wounded healed enough to travel." Kai whispered to her.
"No need to whisper, my dear ladies," Zev's voice came from behind her, "I assure you I am already awake." Zev sat up and put out a finger for Fi, whose little face had lit up and started smiling at him the minute he moved. She obliged, taking his finger in her little fist and trying to shove it into her mouth, Duncan burbled at him, so Zev stroked his little belly.
"Sorry, Zev, I hope we didn't wake you, I was just getting dressed to go see about getting my Scath armor on. I need to speak to them all when the others get back from Bann Loren's, I need to address what happened with Erys, and I want to at least look like a leader, even if I haven't proved to be much of one." Kai clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to control her emotions. Maker, this was a wound that would take a long time to recover from. She doubted it would be any different for her Scath, "I need to reiterate that we are a family and that we have to trust one another, I need to let them know they are free to leave if they feel they can't, trust each other or me, that is. I know that might cost us in numbers, but I won't have them staying because they have no choice, I am not Vimaro!" Kai spoke that last bit a little more forcefully than she intended. The worry and fear burst out of her before she could lock it down again.
"Indeed you are not, my dear friend, you are as far from Vimaro as the moon is from a fleck of dirt." Zev smiled at her.
"Thanks, Zev, be that as it may, I need to talk to them. Then, if any still stay with me, I need to have them send word to the banns, arls, and my brother about more people joining them. That means more shelter and more mouths to feed. I am just glad we got that money from the mercenaries, it will help." Kai sighed, "So, I am off, If I find out that our armor hasn't been destroyed, would you like me to bring yours?"
"No, my friend, give me a moment, and I will dress and join you. We can buckle each other up and see to rounding up the Scath."
Kai laughed at him, "Buckle each other up sounds like a euphemism, my devious friend, I'll wait." He laughed with her, gave her a little salute and went behind the curtain. Kai sat herself on his side of the bed feeling his lingering body heat. Fiona looked at her and smiled, cocking an eyebrow towards the curtain were Zev was dressing. Kai just smiled and shrugged.
Fiona's smile got wider, and she nodded back. Kai sat and listened to the twins' little baby chortles and chirps that sounded like real conversations while she cooed at them.
Zev came around the curtain, "If you are ready, my dear Grey Warden?" He grinned at the mage, "Fiona, it is always a pleasure to see you, a man surrounded by such beautiful women is far too lucky indeed." With that he started towards the door of the tent.
"Did he just hit on my mother?" Alistair's voice asked in mock surprise, "No one is safe, the rascal." And she heard him laugh in her ear, "Love you."
"Love you too, Albert" Kai gave him a mental smirk.
"Ugh", but she could hear his grin.
Kai followed Zev, and she counted all of them lucky, the armory tent hadn't been hit. That would have been expensive indeed. It would also have meant repairing the armor they stripped from Erys and wearing it instead. Kai was grateful that emotional stress was something she could avoid.
She and Zev grabbed their armor and helped each other get strapped in. She decided to strap on the two black steel daggers that had been made by a casteless dwarven smith Oghren knew who worked near Lake Calenhad. He and his family had made all of their Scath weapons, tools, and armor. And unlike a lot of merchants, he really did give it to them a discount, as he was a supporter of the cause. He made Kai's Scath daggers and given them as a gift, refusing the money Kai tried to press on him. He'd handed her a wavy dagger he called "Amhran Bran," or "raven's song." But his eyes had sparkled with pride when he presented her the second dagger, shaped like a sickle, which he called "Dubhsgaelach" or "black moon." He had told her he was inspired by her Scath symbol. Kai also grabbed a small leather pouch for some of the ashes from Lelyth's funeral pyre, Kai intended for her siblings to have something to remember her by.
They made their way outside, and Kai went down to the still slightly smoking ashes, she bent down next to the pile that held Lelyth and put a handful of ashes into the pouch. The rest she let be blown off her fingers by the wind, she looked down, and they were colored gray as the sky had been just yesterday, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Zev just put his hand on her shoulder in comfort while she looked at a sky which had suddenly become blurry.
She was trying to collect herself when she heard Naseel's voice behind her, "Scathach!" Kai turned to see not only Naseel, but all of her Scath including the two whom she had sent to Bann Loren's, as well as Morrigan. Morrigan, Kai wondered what that was about, "Scathach, we need to speak to you. We..."
"If this is about Erys and my poor judgment, I have been meaning to speak to you all. I know I did not do well by you, in fact, I failed you, and in one of the worst ways. But I..." It was Naseel's turn to cut her off.
"Scathach, you did not fail us, it is we who were Crows who failed you. We should have been watching each other more closely, we knew our former master, we were taught to compete, to take, to be ruthless. Erys learned at his hand, too, we should have been our own watchdogs. So, we have come up with something all of us have agreed to, to prove our loyalty and to ensure another Erys is not amongst us." Naseel bid the entire Scath, Fereldan and Crow alike, stand before her. She waved her hand and they all opened their shirts at the top to reveal a dark blue, woad vallaslin – a skin tattoo or "blood writing" as the Dalish called it. All had three crescent moons with the triple knot in the middle, and all had the motto 'dileas go deo' in the crescents, their skin had a red irritation around the vallaslin, showing they had just gotten them. The tattoos rested above their hearts, "It is more than it seems, Scathach, we asked your witch friend here to make a blood magic spell on the ink. If any of us should betray you or our fellow Scath, then we forfeit our lives, the ink has a poison that will be released upon any act that forsakes you, our cause, our group, or each other." Kai could only look down the line at her Scath. "All who join will be asked to get this writing on their skin. Those who refuse may not join, but may walk away."
"'Tis a brilliant piece of magic, if I do say so myself, sister." Morrigan's golden eyes glowed with amusement as her lips curved slightly, "Though 'twas they who came up with the idea all on their own, 'twas simple enough to make the ink they requested. That and one of the elves who paints skin made it a reality. And never fear, I have been writing my own grimoire, so any mage may learn this magic."
"And those of us who are able to paint or draw will learn from the Dalish how to makes this vallaslin." Naseel grinned at her. Kai felt more tears forming in her eyes, but tears of pride and a humble gratitude this time.
She brushed the tears away and smiled broadly at them, "Well then, I suppose your Scathach had best get herself to the elf that does this, I need my own vallaslin."