BioWare owns all but what I made up. : )
So we had some of Kylon's men, Gwydion included, along with Arl Wulff all slain. Now Kai and her gang must try and make it to the Tevinter ship before it sails away. The wagons with the women and children have a three day head start, almost four. Also an old friend comes back in this one. Kai has not slept for two days by this point. And the question is, will they be on time?
SPOILER: We get to meet someone from Awakenings. Of course I take some liberties to fit them into my story. And I wanted to leave the chapter on a cliffhanger with meeting this person. I hope it works. Next chapter the ship and then Highever. : D Oh, and what Mhairi says is a take on a quote on regret from Sydney Smith. "Regret for the things we do can be tempered by time; it is regret for what we did not do that is inconsolable."
Jeanny, sweet girl, Anora will fall and hard, I promise. But we still have a few more things to do, and you are going to really, really hate her before it is all said and done. At least you will if I do my job as a storyteller right. I hope you don't mind the journey, Anora is going to get hers.
Shout out goes to Slim Warden on the BioWare forum for his story "Through Wizened Trees And Battered Road." And to Ladyamesindy for "Name Games." She is trying to kill me, I swear! Go go gadget creative writing!
Shout out to Night Hunter MGS, for ideas for this chapter. Again, my beta reader and friend, your input is so invaluable. I am so fortunate, thank you. And that brings me back to all of you who read and review, my lurkers too. Please feel free to send me ideas, even in a personal email. I can't always promise I will use them, but I never know when something you say will just fit perfectly into a chapter. : )
And thanks to GhostHunter73 and Beriathwen for putting this on favorite story. And to Ogressflesh, and Arsinoe de Blassenville, for putting the story on your alerts. : ) Your support is appreciated. And of course, lurkers you know who you are, hugs. And my reviewers, THANK YOU! Reviews keep me going, and fuel my fire. I appreciate you all. I am truly blessed. You are all so fantastic. I have the best fans! I don't know how I got so lucky, but I did. And for those of you who still review with school, with busy lives, with nice Spring weather and you could be out doing things in it; a special thanks to you all. : )
And I have been drawing pen and ink sketches of Kai, Alistair, and Zev, so far. With a Bic pen no less. I hope to have them on the forum and on deviantart as well. The forum will probably be first. I have to get hubby to hook up the scanner to my computer rather than his to put them on. I do have an account there now. I hope you will tell me what you think of my drawings as well. Hope to do more of my OCs too. So look for Gnat, Naseel, Zaeed, Rajed, et al. Just bought the USB port; hubby will hopefully have it up tomorrow so I can use the scanner and upload. : D
Blessings!
Kai and the rest all raced as fast as they could back down the coast. Shale and Sten had agreed to stay behind with two other Scath and make sure the fire burnt the bodies, cremating them, since they could not run as fast as Ceffyls and time was of the essence. The ships had several days head start on them. Sten and Shale would also gather ashes to give to the families. What was left of their families, provided Kai could get them back.
She pushed those thoughts away and concentrated on staying awake and not falling off Luna. The rocking gallop of the Ceffyl was not helping her keep her eyes open after two days of no sleep, going on three. She knew Luna was smart and could guide herself, but Luna couldn't keep her in the saddle.
They had passed West Hill again going in the opposite direction this time. They headed West away from Highever and West Hill towards the cove between the River Dane and the river that made the tail of Lake Calenhad. At one point there had been a small village called Firth Harbor. The people who had started building a harbor and town there had hoped to use it as a port for ships to come in and drop off supplies to be taken by smaller boats up the river to the lake itself or up the coast to West Hill since it sat on sheer cliffs where no harbor could be built. There was also access to the North Road so goods could be taken to Highever or Amaranthine. Also from the river and to the lake, they could take goods to Redcliffe, or to the Bannorn over land. Goods could go via River Drakon to Lothering, then could be traded on the West Road with the Dalish and taken on to Denerim. The plan was to use the cove and the River Dane as another road. Cailan had even had the cove charted for rocks so safe passage could be made by bigger ships. Kai figured that must be how the Tevinter ship knew how to sail in without becoming shipwrecked on the rocks. Anora must have provided the captain with charts. The town and port had been abandoned during the Blight. It had not been repopulated as far as Kai knew.
The narrow point of the cove where the great waterfall emptied itself into the Waking Sea made it too dangerous for large ships due to the churning waters and narrow rock bottom. The village had been built just before the first fork on the side closer to West Hill. They had built it near the river for fresh water and its access to the waterways of the River Dane. The plan was to have the ships offload their goods at the village, while the village would exchange goods from Ferelden. The goods received would be rowed up the River Dane to Lake Calenhad. Kai figured that the Tevinter ship, if still in the cove, would be just at the area of deep water near the fork of the River Dane where the waters of the cove were quieter and deeper.
Even though they were not close, and a forest and two forks of the River Dane stood between them and the bay, they could hear the sound of the great waterfall from the river of Lake Calenhad as it emptied into the cove. Kai had her group pull up as they got close to the supposedly deserted village. There were no lights showing through the trees. Zaeed and Naseel with a few other Scath had gone to scout out the village ahead. The area around the buildings was heavily forested. The villagers had only cleared what they needed to build the village and the port. With the place deserted and no humans to tend it, Nature had started to take the area back.
The rocky cliffs of the coast's edge provided a wall of seclusion and protection on the east side, and there were three huge rocky islands that made up the walls of the west side of the cove. The islands had slim narrow channels between them where the sea's tides and waves made it dangerous for any boat to try and sail. The islands themselves were nothing more than sheer cliff walls rising to flat surfaces where trees and birds could be seen. Only someone with a wish for death would ever climb those cliffs to get to their tops, provided a boat could stay put long enough down below without being dashed to pieces on the rocks. The area was especially rough if the tide was high or the season of the year was bringing in bad weather. The Waking Sea could be a harsh mistress. Maric been lost when his ship sank trying to cross the Waking Sea to the Free Marches.
Night would soon be turning to day, and she had hoped that if by some miracle the slave ship was still there, they could use the dark to their advantage. That and she hoped that by this time in the night with a few scant hours until daylight, most of the ship's crew would be asleep. After all, they were in a cove, secreted, and they had no real reason to be on alert. If the ship hadn't set sail.
Naseel returned and let them know the village was nothing but a ruin and no one was in it, though the Tevinters had used it and left it. Kai's heart started to sink – had, the past tense. Naseel must have seen the disappointment in Kai's eyes. She gave Kai's arm a squeeze. "Scathach, the ship, for whatever reason, is still sitting in the cove. It is as if they intended to set sail. They abandoned the few buildings they had been using, leaving detritus and garbage behind. Yet the ship sits in the cove still. And the prisoners are all being held in a repaired warehouse here in the village."
Naseel shrugged. "There is more to this than we could discern, Scathach. We did scout and find boats the Tevinters used to get from the village to the ship and back again. They must have taken some of the prisoners to the ship, but did not finish taking them all." Naseel showed Kai a small rag doll with button eyes. Kai grasped it, rubbing it with her fingers. "We found that in the bottom of one of the boats. We thought that they could carry a good number of us over, leaving some on shore to guard the area, after we rescue the prisoners. Those that stay behind can keep them all safe while we tend to the ship and rescue the rest there." Kai felt dizzy with relief. Maybe all was not lost after all, not a complete failure, just an enormous one. She carefully put the doll into the pouch hanging on her belt.
"Warehouse first, we check on the prisoners, and then we hit the ship. We rescue the rest. Anyone who gets in the way or is unwilling to surrender, kill them. If they surrender, take them prisoner. We will send them back on the dirtiest, nastiest, slowest ship we can find in Denerim." It took everything in her not to call for the slaughter of all of the Tevinter they met, but she had no indication that the Tevinters, slavers though they may be, were in on the slaughter at the tower. Also, she couldn't take the chance that some were doing what they were told and had no choice. Kai was, despite exhaustion and her brush with her own abyss, unwilling to kill innocents. If there were any such creatures aboard the vessel. The situation reminded her of the mage tower. She understood Cullen's behavior a little better now. "We take all supplies and anything of value that might be traded or sold to help these families and the rest of Ferelden. Remember we do the work of 'The Silver Griffon.' Then, we scuttle the ship."
The ride to Firth Harbor had helped her clear her head and rein in her own inner monster. The ride had given her time to take a closer, more detailed look at her own leviathan sitting in the deep, dark, cold ocean of her soul. Having it come so close to turning on Zev had given her pause and more cause to ensure it had its muzzle back on and its tether shortened once again. If she turned on those she loved simply because they got in the way, how was she any better than Vimaro or Concha or those soldiers? As if he were reading her mind, she felt the light stroke of Zev's fingers on her arm. She gave him a small smile. She motioned with her hands, and her Scath all vanished into the shadows which were appearing as the world become slightly lighter. They needed to work faster. The sun would be rising in less than a couple of hours.
The attack on the warehouse was anti-climactic, to say the least. Kai had been spoiling for a fight, despite reining in her abyss, if only to get the adrenaline pumping and keep her from falling asleep on her feet. But, there were only four guards, and none had been a mage. Leliana's arrows had taken out two, one of the others had been dispatched by Zaeed when he slit the man's throat. The fourth had been inside. When they had broken through the doorway, a young brunette woman with pale eyes had grabbed the man when he was looking at the door and had broken his neck with a twist and a sickening crunching noise.
Kai had Wynne, Morrigan and those of her Scath who had brought first aid supplies to circulate amongst the prisoners and assess their injuries. Kai was about to turn and leave the warehouse when the young woman who had dispatched the guard, grasped her arm. "My lady, wait. Give me a sword, and I will fight with you!"
Kai looked at the young woman's bruised yet defiant face. "How bad are your injuries?"
"Superficial, my lady. I am fit to fight, and I know where they are on the ship." Kai looked at her and nodded. She went to one of the Tevinter soldiers and took the sword off the body.
"Do you use a shield?" Kai glanced up at her. The girl nodded. Kai grabbed the shield as well and handed both to her. "Kai." She grinned at the young woman. "You may come to regret it."
"Mhairi, my lady. And I know who you are. I heard about you, and I dreamed of being a Grey Warden until you were 'killed.' And imagine my surprise when you showed up at the Alienage. I have been hoping to serve as more than just a guard at West Hill. My da' used to say that regret for the things you do get worn down by time like rock by the restless sea. But it is the regret for the things you didn't that defy time and stand eternal, mocking us. I for one, my lady, do not want to regret not trying to stop Anora when I could."
Kai stuck out her hand. "Well then, welcome to the fight Mhairi. Though you should always be careful what you wish for, no? That is what my father always said." Mhairi looked a Kai, nodded and chuckled as Kai led the way out of the door.