Chapter 12 – Into The Wilds
Serena had wondered why it would take days for her brother Fergus to return from his scouting mission in the Wilds. Now that she was in them, she saw why.
The Korcari Wilds were very different from the coniferous forests that covered the land north of Ostagar. There was a thick mist that seemed ever-present, covering the low hills and ruins around their small band as they left the guard station behind them.
Swampy ponds seemed to dot the landscape, causing the ground in some spots to be more mud than dirt. As Serena felt one boot sink into the soft ground, she grabbed onto the nearest thing, which happened to be Ser Jory. He took one look at her rapidly disappearing foot and heaved her up, tossing her easily a few feet away.
"Oh, thank you," she said breathlessly, leaning over to secure her boot back on. She pulled some twine from her knapsack and laced it through her boots, tightening them around her legs.
"Think nothing of it, miss," the knight replied. "You practically weigh nothing."
"Are you sure you'll be able to handle yourself around these darkspawn brutes?" Daveth asked, sidestepping the mud Serena had gotten caught in. "If a bit of mud can fell you so easily..."
"Can I help it if I'm used to the sandy northern coasts, instead of this mucky southern swamp?" Serena kicked at a fallen branch and it skittered into the nearby water. "As if it being colder wasn't bad enough, the ground is basically mud."
"Guess I'm used to it," Daveth replied, taking the lead and stepping carefully from one dry spot to the next until they reached the rockier hills beyond. "I grew up in a village 'bout a day's trip to the east. This muck is practically like home."
"So that explains it," Alistair said, grinning at Serena. "You're basically a Wilder, eh, Daveth?"
Daveth shrugged. "I haven't been back in years, actually. Struck out for the city as soon as I could outrun my pa." He flipped a short dagger in his hand idly as he spoke. "I've been in Denerim for... oh, six years now? That town's just as dirty as the next, but it's got more purses than you could imagine."
"Wait, so you're a cutpurse?" Serena asked, her tone openly suspicious.
"And a pickpocket, but, don't you worry your pretty noble head about it," Daveth said. "I'm through with all that now."
Alistair laughed. "Oh yes, I'm sure. What happened? Someone finally catch you?"
"Funny story, that," Daveth said, the dagger still flipping up and down. "I cut Duncan's purse while he was standing in a crowd in the market. He caught me, but I bolted... I'll tell you the old bugger can run! But the garrison caught me first." He sighed. "I'm a wanted man in Denerim, you see, so they were going to string me up right there..."
"What happened then?" Ser Jory asked.
"Duncan stopped them, if you can believe it! Invoked the Right of Conscription right there! I gave the garrison the finger while I was walking away. Guess Duncan saw I was quick with a blade, and since he saved my life and all, I decided to give up the life in honor of him."
"How generous of you," Serena said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, fat lot of good stealing is going to get me if we're all dead from them darkspawn, right?" Daveth said. "I'm just here to do my part now, stop the Blight and all that. I'm living on borrowed time as it is."
Serena considered this for a moment. Maybe she wasn't so different herself. If Duncan hadn't come along, she may well have died along with the rest of the castle...
"So, what about you, Ser Jory?" said Serena, turning to the stocky man. "Alistair told me you're from Redcliffe?"
"Originally I served in Arl Eamon's retinue," the knight replied, one hand on his sword as they walked. "But a few years ago, I met my sweet Helena in the north. A year ago we finally married, and Eamon allowed me to transfer to Highever to be with her. Have you heard of it?"
"Heard of Highever? My father was lord of that town," Serena said quietly.
"Ah, my Lady Cousland, I'm honored." Ser Jory bowed awkwardly. "I apologize. I didn't recognize you."
"It's quite alright," Serena replied. "We're not in Highever now. You can just called me Serena. So if you were in Highever, how did you end up getting recruited?"
"Last month Duncan visited, and the bann held a tournament to honor the Grey Wardens. I won the grand melee." The knight shrugged, as if he won tournaments all the time. "It was difficult to leave my wife, she is heavy with child now, but... Ferelden needs my blade."
Alistair nodded approvingly. "Well said, ser knight."
"What about you, my la- miss... Serena?" Ser Jory faltered. "It is interesting that we both were recruited in Highever."
"Yes, Duncan came to the castle and I..." She paused, noticing Alistair was watching her intently out of the corner of his eye. "Volunteered."
"I ain't never met a noble who'd volunteer for this," Daveth remarked, his tone skeptical. "Especially a woman."
"I suppose," Serena replied, shrugging. "It certainly seemed more exciting than learning how to embroider my name onto socks." She paused, eyeing the former thief. "How did you know I was a noble, anyway?"
Daveth shrugged. "My ma used to say if it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck... I've lived in Denerim long enough to know when somebody has something of value on them."
"Well, quack quack quack," Serena said, her voice brusque. "Although I don't have much you could steal now even if you wanted to... unless you like old lockets or books?"
"Those daggers of yours ain't no scrap metal," the stubbly rogue replied. "Them's silverite, I can tell. There's a stall in the market at the capital that sells a pair just like it. Dwarven."
"They were a gift from my father," Serena answered, pulling the daggers from her belt and spinning them in her hands. The metal flashed quickly in the sun. "They're probably worth more than my life, and I'd certainly hate for you to end up on the wrong end of them."
"Ah, point taken," Daveth said, quickly sidestepping to put the knight between them. "Of course, I'm done with all that, like I said."
Serena smirked, sheathing her daggers again. "Of course."
They moved through the wilds slowly, the ground flipping between grassy marshlands and rockier hills where the ruins of old temples stood. The whole place just gave off a feeling of foreboding.
She looked around slowly, pausing at the top of a hill. Alistair came up to stand beside her, his eyes focused on something in the distance. "Do you see that?"
"Is that...?"
The four moved forward, the ruins before them a collapsed hull of their former majesty. A tree had been felled, its roots torn right from the ground, and pushed into the crumbling side. Three bodies hung lifelessly from the downed tree, strung up roughly with bits of rope.
"Don't look," Alistair said, pushing himself in front of her, his arm out. Serena felt like she was transfixed, she couldn't look away from the bloated decaying faces above them.
"We... we ought to cut them down, right?" Jory asked, his voice faltering.
"And do what with them?" Daveth said, his eyes locked on the bodies. "We can't bury them."
"We could burn them," Serena said softly. "Make a small pyre..." She looked to Alistair, who had his eyes closed in concentration. She put a hand on his shoulder, rousing him. "What is it?"
"Darkspawn, I can... I can sense them." His mouth was set in thin line. "I think this is a trap."
Serena pulled her daggers quickly. She could see the others do the same. Daveth nocked an arrow into his bow, holding it at the ready. Right on cue, two enormous creatures came barreling down the path, rusted weapons raised.
"Flank them!" Alistair shouted, motioning for Serena and Daveth to split up. "Don't touch them if you can help it!"
The first darkspawn ran forward, its gait stilted by its own massive bulk and ill-fitting armor. The darkspawn had a green tinge to its mottled skin, and a huge mouth filled with small sharp teeth. It appeared to be smiling. Serena felt a shiver run down her spine at the sight of it.
Daveth pulled back his bow and Serena saw an arrow bury itself in the monsters semi-exposed chest. The stout darkspawn roared its displeasure, snapping the shaft right in two, the broken end still protruding from its torso. Daveth sent another arrow flying towards it, this one lodging itself in the monsters throat.
Serena moved in from the side, sliding one of her daggers into the darkspawn's back, running it through. The thing bellowed as she snapped the arrow in its throat, taking the rest and stabbing it into the creature's eye socket.
It's body jerked once on the ground and was still. Black blood seeped from its various wounds, and Serena recoiled quickly to avoid it making contact.
The second darkspawn, this one taller and more lithe than the first, crashed into Alistair, his shield pressed between them. He backed up quickly and slammed his shield into the darkspawn, knocking it to the ground. Ser Jory moved forward and sunk his sword into the stomach of the beast, black ichor staining the ground around it.
"Do you have your vial?" Alistair asked him. "Get some of this thing's blood while you can!" He pulled Ser Jory near the darkspawn corpse, and the knight fumbled, pushing a small glass vial near the gaping stomach wound.
Serena looked to Daveth, motioning that if he wanted, he could take the blood from the darkspawn they'd felled for his own vial. He nodded, pulling it from his pack and placing it at the fiend's throat. Thick sludge that passed as the creatures blood filled the tiny glass bottle slowly, despite its size. Serena watched it carefully, not noticing Alistair until he was right next to her.
"Why didn't you fill yours?" he murmured softly. "I liked the bit of improvisation with the arrow, by the way. I can see why Duncan recruited you."
"Yeah?" She shrugged, sheathing her daggers once again. "I'll get the next one." She gave him a sly look. "There's bound to be more around here."
"Yes," Alistair said, his eyes focused on the hills beyond. "I can sense them, just barely, but it's there."
"You said that before, that you can... sense them. Why is that?" He looked at Serena and she felt the intensity of his gaze. Sometimes she wondered if he wasn't trying to look through her instead of at her.
"It's the Joining," he said vaguely. "You'll see." He turned away, his hazel eyes seemed to almost cloud over, as if he was mentally blocking her out. "We need to keep moving, the Grey Warden cache should be a few hours walk yet. I'd also like to move away from these..." He indicated the hanging bodies. "...In case any more of our darkspawn friends want to try to ambush us..."
They were fifty yards from the clearing with the hanging men when they heard a man crying. Serena sprinted forward, kneeling by the prone man. Blood, presumably his own, covered the ground around him.
"Are you... can you hear me?"
"Who... is that?" The man tried to open his eyes, his head barely lifting from the ground. "Grey... Wardens...?" A tremor went through his battered body and Serena felt her stomach twist.
"Well, he's not half as dead as he looks, is he?" Alistair quipped, his eyes on the man's wounds. Serena frowned at him, placing a gentle hand on the poor man's shoulder.
"Can you tell us what happened?" she asked, hoping her voice sounded more calm than she felt.
"My s-scouting band was at-attacked by darkspawn!" the man cried, his hand reaching out and grasping at her desperately. Serena gasped at his strength as his fingers crunched her wrist against her gauntlets. "They came out of the ground... Please, h-h-help me! I've.. I've got to... return to camp..."
"I have some bandages in my pack, one minute." Alistair kneeled down beside her, all traces of mocking gone. "Here, let me..." He pried the man's hand back from her wrist, and Serena rubbed the feeling back into it. She watched as Alistair removed the man's breastplate, examining his wounds. He grabbed one end of the bandage and put it in her hand, placing it on the man's stomach. "Hold it here, these will have to be very tight."
She did as he asked, slipping her hand out and helping him wrap the vicious slash across the scout's middle. The man groaned, but Alistair's bandages appeared to be holding as he tried to stand.
"I... thank you, all of you." The scout shook his head, as if he couldn't believe his luck that he had been found alive. "I- I'm sorry, but I've got to get back. I've got to get out of here... darkspawn..." He limped away, his form becoming smaller and smaller until he disappeared behind a hill.
"Thank you," Serena whispered, her hand touching Alistair's briefly. "I know it's not our job to... to be out here to rescue people, but-"
"If it were me, I would want someone like you to come along..." Alistair answered.
"Did you hear that man?" the stocky knight interrupted. "An entire patrol of seasoned men, killed by darkspawn!" Alistair turned to the man, his shoulders set.
"Calm down, Ser Jory. We'll be fine if we're careful. We took care of those last ones quickly enough."
"Those soldiers were careful, and they were still overwhelmed! How many darkspawn can the four of us slay? A dozen? A hundred? There's an entire ARMY in these forests!"
"There are darkspawn about, but we're in no danger of walking into the bulk of the horde." Alistair's voice was calm, but Serena thought she could detect a note of exasperation.
"How do you know?" Ser Jory insisted. "I'm not a coward-"
"Could have fooled me," Daveth muttered darkly.
"-But this is foolish and reckless! We should go back."
"Overcoming these dangers is part of our test, Ser Jory," said Serena.
"And know this, all Grey Wardens can sense darkspawn. Whatever their cunning, I guarantee they won't take us by surprise." Alistair narrowed his eyes at the knight, willing him to stand down and fall in line. "That's why I'm here."
"You see, ser knight? We might die, but at least we'll be warned about it first," Daveth said, much louder this time. Serena shoved at the rogue, and he grinned at her. "What? He's being a crybaby."
The knight put his hand on the hilt of his sword, his eyes narrowed angrily. "Shut it, thief."
"I just calls them like I sees them, knighty-poo," Daveth replied, his own dark eyes flashing dangerously.
"So, if we're all done with the little pissing match here, I'd like to fill my vial of darkspawn blood sometime today," Serena said loudly, pulling a dagger and heading down the path beyond the scout. She could hear the men fall into step behind her, and they didn't have to wait long before a new group of darkspawn appeared before them.
Serena engaged the first beast quickly, dancing around the huge slashing thrusts of his rusted battleaxe. It was one of the squatter darkspawn, a random assortment of chainmail and leather straps crisscrossing his bulky green body.
Serena zeroed in on the exposed portion on his back and dodged another of his lunges, kicking out with one foot to its back and knocking the darkspawn forward to the ground. She slammed her boot down on its spine and dropped to a knee, driving her dagger deep into the base of the creature's skull. It jerked once and she quickly plunged her second dagger into the side of its neck.
She looked up to see the other three men had surrounded two trapped darkspawn archers, stabbing them relentlessly with their blades. They made quick work of the duo, returning to her side as she pulled her vial and collected the black ichor oozing from her own downed darkspawn.
"So, how about we find that cache?" she asked, her grin feeling nothing short of wild. She didn't know what it was, but something about destroying these devilish creatures helped her fight the anguish she'd felt overcome her in random moments since she had escaped the castle in Highever. Her mother and father had wished her to live, to make her mark on the world, and she would be damned if she wouldn't do her best to live up to that for them.
She owed them that much.