A/N: Hi everyone! I suddenly find myself with a lot more time on my hands than usual, thus the reason why two stories of mine have been updated already. Yay! Enjoy the new update and feel free to leave any comments!

The Child of Stars, part III

It took them several days to reach the quaint village and along the way, they encountered a rather odd thing in the middle of the woods. Alistair, not really watching where he was going, tripped up and he would have fallen over into the crate were it not for Hadrian catching a hold of him. Unfortunately, the centre of the taller knight's weight went too far over the edge and both tumbled down the side. The clang of armor echoed loudly in the empty woods and there was an exasperated shout of 'Alistair!' emanating from down below.

The suddeness of the knights' fall prompted the two ladies to rush to the edge of the hole and the sight of two men being tangled with one another caused Leliana to laugh whole-heartedly at them. The redhead was laughing at them so hard that she almost keeled over, her slender hands clutching at her stomach.

Wynne, on the other hand, was not amused and the elderly mage tapped her foot on the rocky ground.

"Gentlemen, if you don't mind, now's not the time to be horseplaying around." She said, loudly enough for the two fumbling men at the bottom of the crate to throw her dirty looks before commencing in disentangling from one another. Wynne, so used to admonishing children and adults, ruefully shook her head at the way the two men glared at her and leaned back.

Leliana's green eyes grew big when she saw that Wynne was indeed leaving the two men behind.

"Wait! We can't leave them!"

"I'm only going to make camp," Wynne replied haughtily and the older mage kept walking until she disappeared from Leliana's sight.

"What about Alistair and Hadrian?" She shouted after Wynne left them.

"They'll be fine! The worst they'll have is a wounded pride!" Wynne's remark drew a few smart replies from the bottom and Leliana couldn't agree more. She waved the two Knights a friendly farewell and giggled as Hadrian cried out, "hey wait! Don't leave me here with this clumsy prince!"

"Why you!" Alistair jumped on Hadrian's back and his greater weight bore the pair down. Hadrian let out a yelp of surprise and his words of indignation were muffled by the gravel and the dirt.

"lempghgoh!"

"What?" Alistair teased and he placed his full weight down on the man's back, relishing in the heat emanating from his friend and lover. Another muffled words of anger and Alistair still didn't move, not until Hadrian yielded to him and finally said, "ok, ok."

Pleased with his submission, Alistair drew back and allowed Hadrian to turn over to face him. Blue eyes glared back at him, full of life and stubbornness. The way Hadrian's eyes subtly softened into something Alistair couldn't really express into words made the blonde warrior groan deep in his chest. A hand reached out to him and Alistair closed his eyes as it cupped his cheek, the thumb gently caressing his cheekbone in soothing strokes.

"Alistair..." Hadrian called out to him softly and the heavier knight leaned down, bracing his weight on his hands which were placed next to the man's torso. "I..."

Whatever Hadrian had to say next were swallowed down as Alistair pressed his lips unto his and it was as if that alone triggered something for Hadrian noticed how close Alistair was to him, how their bodies fit together perfectly. His lean frame was no match for Alistair's much larger builk and Hadrian moaned in pleasure when Alistair rested against him. He was a little distraught in seeing how easily his legs opened, to allow the other warrior into his guard as it were.

The position they were in made him go red in the face but his embarassment was immediately forgotten as Alistair unintentionally pushed against him, trying to find a better purchase. A low, guttural moan came from his throat at the contact and it made Alistair withdraw himself, their breaths mingling still.

"Uh..." Hadrian began to say and he swallowed thickly, not really liking at how intensely Alistair stared back at him. "I...think...something's poking me..."

The look on that tanned face was priceless and Alistair immediately looked down, to their armor-coveed groins. "I don't think it's me, Hadrian."

"No, silly," Hadrian replied, groaning in discomfort as he rolled away from Alistair. "Geez, whatever it is, it's hard as a-"

"A stone," Alistair finished for him and the blonde reached out for the silver stone, its size the same that of a grown man's fist.

"What? What is that?" Hadrian peered at the object being rolled aroud in Alistair's palm. It was a stone, alright, but the light shone with a brilliance that rivaled even the most precious gems imported from the dwarven kingdom of Ozammar. The edges were jagged and Hadrian was relieved to see that Alistair still wore his gauntlets. Otherwise, his love would have deep cuts in his hand. However, the stone appeared supernatural or at least not of this world. From the size of the crate, Hadrian surmised that it fell from the sky and that alone made it priceless it seems.

"I'm not quite sure but maybe it can be used as a bartering tool?" Alistair suggested.

"Whatever it is, it certainly could be worth a fortune but finds like this are rare. Wait, didn't Mikael say something about this?"

"What? That he was looking for a challenge in blacksmithing? I don't think he meant using little stones as basis for his weapons."

Alistair was given an annoyed eyeroll by Hadrian, who simply took the stone from his fellow Warden and stored it in a small leather pack at his belt. The two men spent a good half a candlelight climbing their way out of the crater before finally appearing at Wynne's camp, tired and grumpy.

"See," Wynne told Leliana as she stirred the rabbit stew in her small bowl. "I told you they'll be here."

"And dirty, too." Leliana commented. "Did you two enjoy yourselves out there?"

"Shut up, Leliana," the two man groused at her simultaneously and the redhead couldn't help but stare at them as the pair made their way to their respective tents, thoughtfully setup by hers truly.

The happy incident was days past and the four of them felt it was needed as the gloominess of the silent village bore down upon them.

The sight of blood magic sickened the two ladies upon the discovery of an altar inside one of the villages and Alistair's suggestion that it could have been used as a place to cut meat was not helpful at all.

As the foursome delved even deeper into the village, the level of creepiness just kicked up a notch. First, it was the sight of crazed villagers rushing at them with swords and axes. The first thing Hadrian said when he came upon a woman sprinting at them, a pitchfork in her hand, was, "you got to be joking! You're coming at fully-armored men with a damn pitchfork?"

"Watch your language, young man!" Wynne cried out before chanting a spell of stone. The large boulder struck down a mage not far down the way and his death caused a paralysis spell to disappear and allow Leliana to move again.

The second level of creepiness was actually seeing and hearing a mage, of all people, preach to the villagers, telling them that Andraste vowed vengeance against those who would sully her name and harm the faithful people of Haven.

"So, an actual male priest of the Chantry? Who knew?" Alistair commented cheerily as he struck down the mage that threatened to freeze Hadrian.

"Apparently, they knew," Hadrian pointed out as he sheathed his sword back into its scabbard, along with the shield of Highever. "Now, we just have to find our missing friend and get on with this crazy quest."

It was Alistair who discovered the missing Genitivi and his shout brought the other three to him. Hadrian sighed in relief that their only clue to the Sacred Ashes was alive and not badly hurt. Once he regaled the reason why they had come looking for him, Genitivi asked about his assistant, Weylon.

"I'm sorry, but someone found him first and took his place at your home."

Genitivi's head bowed then and the elder man was silent for a few moments before lifting his head and his eyes, though misty with unshed tears, were resolute and firm. "Help me up then and I shall lead you to one of the greatest discoveries of our age."

The elderly man lead them up the steep hill and then the stairs that lead them to the only entrance of the temple. He managed to open it with Erik's medallion, the only piece of jewelry found on the deceased's body, and everyone felt the temperature drop by at least twenty degrees as they stepped through the ancient doorway.

There were simply no words that could describe the splendor of the ancient hall they all walked into and even Alistair himself became speechless. The hall or what could easily have been the atrium to the temple was symmetrical, with intricate designs etched into the stoned walls and floor. The immensity of the hall made Hadrian feel insignificant and he was awed that such a thing could stand so strong against time itself. The stoned walls were smooth and the only indication that the temple was as old as the first coming of Andraste were the many shades of colour, ranging from white to even black. The further they explored, the lighter the stone became until it was pure alabaster shining forth.

The foursome had all hoped that they could just walk through the empty hallways, unhindered and free to reach their goal. Thus, they were all rendered speechless when they encountered not only crazy cultists but dragons also and there were several close calls that worried Alistair, most particular when Hadrian was right at the centre of them all.

Something had compelled him to guard and protect this man. It didn't help that these feelings intensified almost tenfold as soon as they entered the temple and once they pushed through the angry and vengeful mobs of Kolgrim, it merely increased to almost a full-blown migraine.

They had finally reached outside, panting heavily from their tiresome skirmishes with those who fought them. However, as they approached the end of the ramp, a loud screech ripped through the air and heavy rumbles echoed all around them.

"Shit! Hide!" Hadrian hissed to his friends and they all hide behind the columns that supported the backend of the temple. As soon as Hadrian pushed himself against one, another fearsome shriek could be heard, this time, it was right above them. The proximity of such a fearsome creature made them all hold their breaths in, afraid that any sound they would make would draw the creature's attention to them.

Once the thunder ceased and they all could see the dragon settle comfortably on a rocky ledge far ahead of them, the group of four slowly headed down the ramp, trying very hard not to disturb the dragon. It was not to be, thanks to Alistair's clumsiness once again and his three friends could only stare in horror as Alistair rolled down the ramp until his back hit the gong. The unnatural silence was terribly broken by the sound of Alistair hitting against the object.

"Fuck! Alistair!" Hadrian cursed angrily at his friend and he rushed to his friend, who was busy shaking his head to clear the lingering fogginess. Hadrian was so intent on reaching his friend and fervently hoping that the dragon hadn't heard their scuffle that he didn't hear his friends' shouts until it was too late. Just as he started to pull Alistair up, he saw something coming at him and then shoved Alistair down in time for him to be ruthlessly pushed away by a dragon's tail.

Alistair could only watch helplessly as the High Dragon's tail swept Hadrian as easily as if the other man was a limp doll. There was a sickening crunch when Hadrian slammed into the slope of an embankment and the blonde warrior felt his heart lurch as Hadrian slid down the slope only to lie still at the bottom.

His heart told him to go to Hadrian's side, to drag him to safety but common sense ruled out. The best thing Alistair could do was to distract the dragon to him. He grimly hardened his heart and placed his helm back, hoping to the Maker that there was some ancient protection spell left in the Warden Commander's armor.

He had no idea what came over him throughout the battle with the High Dragon. The need to protect was what drove him on, even after countless times of having brushed so close to death. He could honestly say that a dragon's mouth stunk of death and rotten meat. Of course, that was before the agony of being bitten ripped through him. He had somehow borrowed his lover's shield and it was the only barrier between him and certain death. It worked to his favor, now matter how much the dragon tried to snap its jaws close and crush him. The tongue slid wildly beneath him and Alistair had a crazy thought that the dragon was trying to swallow him whole! Oh no you don't!

He held tight to the sword in his hand and just when he almost fell into the maws of death, the warrior managed to pull his sword up in front of him and plunged it deep into the side of the dragon's throat. A horrible shriek deafened his ears and stunned the warrior enough for him to release his grasp on the weapon that delivered a fatal blow to the dragon.

The world tilted all of a sudden and Alistair's stomach seemed to have jumped up into his mouth as the dragon fell on its side, blood welling up inside with such force, it pushed Alistair out, the teeth biting deep into his sides as he rolled over and out unto the ground.

Time slipped for him and the next thing he was aware of was that same wolf peering curiously down at him. Its eyes were golden, not the familiar blue of another wolf that he had seen. It was also bigger and he wondered if maybe that he had dreamt of fighting a dragon. Instead, he fell from a wolf's bite and that would be funny, indeed. To have survived countless battles with the darkspawn and the undead, only to die from an infected bite.

You have shown great strength, Alistair Theirin, but the true test is yet to come. Sometimes, the greatest foe is not the sharp bite of a weapon but the doubt that lurks deep in the human heart.

"...damn it...Alistair!...Alistair!"

The shouts sounded so far away and Alistair just wanted to sleep, even with a wolf hovering dangerously close to him.

Sleep, Golden One, you will need it...

Alistair, for once, didn't question the order coming from a supernatural being and he no longer feared the darkness that was creeping around the edges of his vision.

-TBC-

P.S. I know the chapter is a little rushed but it would really make my day if you review! I promise that for every review I receive, it will be paid forward by reviewing other stories under my signed name, Shenko007. Thanks again! :D