A/N: Sorry for the late update! DX

It's another longish chapter, at least :)

It's been almost six months already! Wow! I can't believe it's been so long! And I wouldn't come this far if not for you, my dear reader! :D

All the faves, follows, reviews, PMs, the watchs on DeviantART... They really meant the world to me. It helps me to keep going, because I know you're with me.

So, I wish to give an special thanks to everyone that gave me constructive feedbacks along the last months, or that gave me support in some way.

Rohh Lael, wintryone, Bleeding Black Blades, Sasukefan1029, Verpine, Kayle5, jnybot, Luckrecia, JordanMathias, braindead212 and the Anonymous guests... Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

Enjoy!

P.S: This mark (- x -) will work exactly like the lines - it will change the scenes too, however, it will not change the POV. :)

Also, I'm working on the artworks again, finally. The chapter 15 cover is already on my DeviantART - check the link on my profile :)

After I'm done with everything, I will post them on their respective chapters ;)

Chapter 23

Monster

.

Mahariel

Andruil - my protector, my guide …

I put my fate in your hands when I held my bow for the first time, and since then, I have never questioned your means or your ways. I have always strongly believed that you had a bigger plan, one that involved every obscure or implausible event that happened in my life - something beyond my comprehension. All that left was belief in your will, and to have faith that better days would come.

But honestly, I can not see where we we're going.

I knew the plan. I knew what we were supposed to do. Even so, I could not see any future in our actions. Stopping the Blight seemed so far away ... And to be honest, I was not sure If I understood what was happening. I mean, the group itself. They were ... Atypical, if not to say strange. In that short time, I had realized some things.

For me, Kallian is undoubtedly the most patient person I've ever met.

The Shemlen known as Noah - Or rather Grumpy, since it suited him better with his scowls and his acid mood - was extremely rude, always disdainful and blatantly provocative in every situation. And instead of putting him back in his place, Kallian always put a smile on her face, a mocking tone in her voice and responded to him the same way.

And the weirdest part was that no one seemed to care at all!

It was a routine. Just the fact that he called her 'Elf', his voice filled with presumption, would have be enough reason for me to crave an arrow in the middle of his forehead. But she just did not care, and that was what I did not understand. She accepted his rudeness, but she did what she wanted to, anyway. Then, why did she put up with him?

And he also did not react, either. They seemed to be used to each other.

Not to mention that she spoke with that Shemlen called Alistair, just as if he was like her- a member of the clan. He once tried to approach me during one of the nights we made camp. Logically, I made it clear that I did not want him around, and since then, he's never tried to talk to me alone again.

But, despite having a questionable means of dealing with humans, you could see that she was a good person.

The day she saved me, she gave me half of the food and water she had with her, as well as her money, without expecting anything in return. And it was out of kindness that I decided to interfere when they were planning the course of their journey. I would never reveal the location of my brothers and sisters, if I knew that it would cause them trouble. If it would bring harm to them.

As for the rest, what left to me was to have faith, and fulfill the oath that I made to Da'shal, however stupid and crazy it was.

Anyway, we just arrived in Lothering. The city was in chaos - filled with humans and elves who had fled for their lives, scattered around the town and in makeshift tents at the edges of the city. There were many soldiers around, probably coming from Ostagar, and also a lot of merchants too, most busy arranging their belongings inside covered wagons.

Kallian suddenly stopped when we reached the heart of the city, turning to us soon after. She looked at everyone, from head to toe, before ruling.

"Before we do anything," she said, after making sure that everyone was listening. "As much as I want to eat something warm and take a bath, I have to consider our priorities first." She shifted the weight between her feet, taking a brief look around before continuing, and then to the sky. Dark, heavy greyish clouds stained the orange rays of the sun. "There are still a few hours before the evening, yet I saw some merchants already closing their shops." She paused, looking at each of us again. I did not know what she intended by doing this, but it was a very common practice of hers, from what I had noticed so far. She never spoke without a good look at who she was dealing with. While she merely appeared to be paying attention, it looked like she let herself get lost for a few seconds inside her own world before speaking, as if considering something or trying to see something beyond what her eyes showed.

It may even be my imagination, but one thing I was certain: she always briefly paused before speaking.

"What I suggest," she continued. "Is that we should go to the merchants and buy new armor first, because you two are pitiful." She pointed to Grumpy and Alistair. "Supplies, camping equipment, and whatever you consider necessary, as soon as possible, before the rain reaches us. We can look for a Inn or a place to sleep after that."

"I dunno..." Alistair said, scratching his chin. "I see no problem with doing all that in the reverse order."

"Were you born without a brain, or did you remove it for fun?" Grumpy interrupted. "Pay attention to me for a moment, fool creature: If you look closely, you'll see that most carts and clusters probably belong to the caravans, which means that they are just passing through. Nobody wants to be here when the Blight arrives. If this is true, and I am pretty sure that it is, half the people you are seeing now will be no longer here in the morning. Once they are gone, only the Maker will know where to find them."

"Like I said, it's only a suggestion," Da'shal said, crossing her arms. "Everyone knows their own needs best. However, I don't think it's wise to lose the opportunity to buy supplies. Especially because, by the amount of refugees who are scattered throughout the city, I think it might be very hard to find anything left for us to buy."

"Okay ..." Alistair said, defeated. "But I'm not sure about the part where we separate ... There's a bounty on our heads, you know ... Wouldn't that leave us vulnerable?"

"Quite the opposite, actually," said Kallian, watching a soldier who passed by us from the corner of her eye. "In my experience, I can say that the Guards, in general, are predictable to some extent. After a while, most people fail to see the other's features. Few are those who don't allow routine and comfort to influence their judgment, and look at real people instead of signs. Usually it's the opposite - they assemble a cast with the features and compare it until they find someone compatible. If it doesn't fit, they simply move on to another one, without really seeing who the person was."

"I see nothing wrong so far," said Grumpy. I didn't quite understand where she was going either, but I kept silent.

"Look around, Grumpy," she said, drawing a circle in the air in front of her with her finger. "There have more refugees than space in this town - people of all shapes, sizes and kinds. They are looking for a group, and only a few of them will care to search each person, one by one. We will go unnoticed if we split up and if we run into any trouble, it will be easier to lose them in a crowd.

Really ... The plan was good. And the expressions of others, they also thought the same.

"Not bad, elf," Grumpy said nodding. "We'll meet here in an hour, then. Try not to do anything stupid."

"Same to you, Grumpy, same to you..." Da'shal said, and her only answer was a bestial growl coming from his throat, and a feral look that gave me shivers, before he turned his back to us, like he always does.

I nodded, like all the others, before going out to look for supplies.

Noah

It didn't take more than twenty minutes to resolve my issues. I bought some new canteens and food from a dishonest merchant, who I almost kicked to death when I found out that he was overpricing his goods to earn money off the misery of the others. But of course he changed his mind after I applied a bit of persuasion, if you know what I mean.

I bought a backpack, a bedroll and a few sets of clothing from a man who was desperate to earn the money and get his family out of that dirty hole, but hadn't known how he would manage to do it. I paid more than he charged me, but the smile of happiness on his face was worth every silver spent.

As the for the armor ... I won't lie that I liked the one Duncan had given me. The point is that there hadn't retained much of its old form for me to still call it an armor. To be honest ... The only thing that was close to be called that was the shoulder pad, which the dog was now using as a toy.

Shaw-Shaw. Bah.

Just thinking about this name made me want to vomit.

I wore my new armor with a bit of disgust because of the excess of metal. Before I could resolve this challenge, however, I heard something different - a muffled cry, almost completely engulfed by the sounds of a fight. I know it wasn't my problem, but my legs didn't seem to care, as they were walking on their own.

I found an elf child sitting in a small, dark alley, hidden between the crates, crying, hugging his knees. His short, black hair fell carelessly over his brown eyes, which were red because of the tears that were rolling down his cheeks in an endless stream.

He seemed to be no more than eight years old.

"Hey," I called gently , lowering myself near him. He flinched, shrinking himself even more between the crates. "What happened?"

The boy gave a long sniff, wiping his eyes before replying, with probably the bravest face he could find to hide his sadness, "Don't talk to me, human. My mother said I shouldn't talk to your kind."

Elves, I sighed, fighting the urge to curse. I didn't want to do that in front of him, he was just a kid.

"So, there's no problem, then. I'm not human," I said, giving him my best reassuring smile. "I'm just me."

"You look like one," The boy said puzzled, though in a less defensive stance.

"And you seem to be a good boy." I reached out to him. "What is your name?"

"Nihael," he answered, accepting my hand. "Have you seen my mommy? She left and never returned." He tried to wipe the tears away with his little dirty hands, but they kept falling as he spoke. "I'm scared ..."

"And where is your father?" I unrolled the bandages wrapped around my wrists, and used them to clean his face. He didn't complain.

"He died a long, long time ago," the boy replied, suddenly holding my hands tightly. "I don't have anyone else. Please... Please take me back to my mother!"

That killed me.

He was scared, alone for I don't know how long, asking for help that never came. I knew this heartache ... Lost, feeling helpless and hopeless and yet unable to do anything other than sink more and more in our own pain.

No... Nobody deserves to live the hell I'm living. Nobody should go through this.

If the mother of this boy was alive, I would find her, whatever it took.

"Hey," I said, wiping the tears from the boy's eyes. "I'll look for your mother, but you'll have to promise me something." I pushed the hair from away from his face. "I know you're scared, but you'll have to be strong." He nodded, sniffling one last time, before forcing a determined look. He was trying, and that was good. "You'll wait for me at the Chantry, along with the sisters and out of trouble. Stay there until I get back, okay?"

"How..." The boy started, and I saw the distrust return to his eyes. "How will I know that you're telling me the truth?"

I could say that it was a promise, but only the Maker knows how many times he was fooled by these words before, so I had to think of another way to give him the assurance he needed. I didn't have much time to think about it, however, because if I took too long, he wouldn't believe in me.

The perfect answer came when I looked at my bare hand.

"Here," I said, putting my bandage on his palm, before closing his little hand.

"What's this?" He asked, slightly confused, looking at the outworn piece of cloth.

"I use this to train, so it helps me to get stronger," I said, resting my hand over his head. "I will leave it with you, okay?" I smiled. "Can you take care of it for me until I come back with your mom?"

"Aye!" Nihael exclaimed, running off towards the Chantry. Before entering, he looked at me one last time, holding my bandages tightly. All I could do was nod before watching him enter the building safely.

Right.

As much as I was a good observer, I was no ranger. I needed help if I wanted to find his mother quickly.

My first thought was the witch. But she didn't seem like the type who enjoyed good deeds. The elf was good at running and jumping, but I didn't think that she is good at finding people.

The stupid one? Not even if it was my last option. Not to mention that I'm sure he wouldn't be able to find his own underwear in the middle of a pile of socks.

The dog would be the most obvious choice, but I had nothing with her smell for him to track. My only option was...

Oh, shit.

Mahariel

Not that I like to talk to humans, but it was necessary. I did not need much besides arrows, food and a bedroll. The rest I had in my backpack.

It was very interesting to observe their behavior. Every man for himself. Groups of people more and more isolated from each other, trying to take advantage of others who, sometimes, had as much or less than they, instead of coming together to help each other. There was such indifference, such lack of concern gathered in one place, which made me really think about what they were doing - living or surviving.

The Keeper said humans were different not only by their ears and height, but from the paths of their hearts. Their concrete walls isolated them, not only from the rest of the world, but from themselves. As much as they were together, they did not truly know their own neighbors. And even worse - they spread their frustrations among themselves, not only against the other races. They destroyed everything they touched. And the cycle of destruction and selfishness was so strong that even in a time of great threat like this, they were unable to unite.

I did not think it was possible. I thought that the Keeper had been exaggerating, perhaps, or that she'd referred only to a small portion of humanity. But now that I could see it with my own eyes ... It all made sense. I saw a guard shoot a man just because he was asking for help. I saw a merchant, whose bag was full of money, refusing to give a piece of fruit to a hungry kid. I saw a different soldier, with one of those helmets that looked more like a bucket, and a sword on his chestplate, almost running over a mother and her two children while going down the road with his horse.

That was what Da'shal was fighting for?

"Hey, tree hugger ..." I was standing alone in a corner, away from the others, leaning against a pillar, when I heard a voice calling me. I turned to answer, already prepared with an arrow in my bow, aiming in Grumpy's direction. I knew his voice very well - it was always strong and husky, almost wild. It gave me chills every time he spoke.

"Stay away!" I exclaimed, letting my stance making it clear that if he took one more step, I would shoot him. My hands were a little shaky, but I was praying he would not notice.

I... was afraid of him.

"Look, I don't have time for this," he said, taking a long step toward me. He caught my bow, holding the arrow together, so he could move it out of his way. Perhaps the tremor had increased because I saw his eyes hovering over my hands before returning to my face.

Why did he have to be so tall? Damn, he was fast.

"Let it go!" I growled, trying to pull the bow from his hands. He released it without offering resistance, but remained close to me to make it sure that I could not use it again.

"The thing is, I need you to find someone," he said, crossing his arms.

"I will not do anything for you, Shemlen!" I growled back, moving a few steps back. I prepared the bow, keeping it down, but he gave no hint of moving again.

"It's not for me," he said, as if stating the obvious. "It is the mother of a little boy. She went out of town for a while, and might be injured or dying. I need you to find her, as soon as possible."

"It's not my problem," I said, increasing the distance between us. If the humans could not solve their own problems, why should I get involved?

"No, it's not," he stated the obvious again. "But the kid is alone, and everyone around him is too busy with their own lives to worry about the problems of a child. It's not their problem. It's not my problem. It's not your problem," he said, uncrossing his arms. "It's not anyone's problem but his, and that is the problem."

I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came.

"If you don't want to help me, great. Hopefully, you will able to sleep knowing that a child may have been orphaned because of you."

Son of a bitch!

"Okay," I snorted, defeated. To condemn a child to be alone in the middle of this chaos was the same thing as giving him a death sentence. "What are we looking for?"

- x -

It took a while to scan the outskirts of Lothering, but we were making progress. At least I was sure that all the traces we found were cold. They couldn't have been what we were looking for, since they were recent. The last option was the river, which was full of tracks.

I was taking too long, I knew that, but it was because I was angry.

Very much so.

This human ... He wanted to turn me into the villain of the story, using the speech that Da'shal applied on him to me. But of course, let the elf die. Now, since it's a human kid, then it is logical that he will strive to save him. Hypocrite.

If I refused, I would be like him. As much as I wanted to be away from him, as much as I wanted to refuse, I could not. It was a child we were talking about. He was not to blame, and I knew that fate would not be merciful to him.

To be honest ... The human God seemed to be kind of sadistic, to abandon his creation to be destroyed like this. It was a petty and bad thought, but I saw no other logical explanation for the inconsistency I'd seen in so little time.

"Any news?" His hoarse voice echoed near my ear. That made me almost fall to the ground with fright. He stared at me suspiciously, but I just shook my head, rolling my eyes.

I hate his presence.

I was keeping a healthy distance between us, but sometimes it was impossible not to approach him, at least a little. Like now, where he stopped a few steps from me, leaning down to see the footprints that I was studying.

"Dwarf," I replied, heading for the next track without looking at it. I could not get it out of my head that he could still hurt me.

"And this?" He asked me, crouching near a footprint which was apparently fresh. "The mud is still soft."

"No."

When he saw that I did not pay much attention to what he'd said, he frowned, still down near the footprint. "You will not even bother to come over here and check?

I crossed my arms and repeat my previous answer. "No."

"Are you afraid of me?" He asked me bluntly, catching me by surprise.

I swallowed hard before answering, "This is not our trail."

"You're afraid of me." This time it was not a question. He stood, still staring at me in that way that gave me chills: Head down and frowning, with his eyes covered by strands of his brown hair that hung just above his eyes. It was scary. Times like this, I didn't know if he was a man or a beast.

"These are elvhen footprints," I said, looking away. "It's not what we're looking for."

"I will not hurt you," Grumpy said, trying to get closer. My answer was an arrow in the ground, just inches from his feet.

"You left me to die, you hypocrite human..." I couldn't avoid the hurt tone in my voice when I spoke. "Saving this child will not diminish your sins ... You're a monster," I growled. "I want you to go away!"

He stared at me like that again, animalistic and more serious than before, if that was possible. For a moment I thought he was going to attack me.

"Right." He growled through clenched teeth, before going in the opposite direction. When I saw him walk away, I did not quite understand. Maybe it was just that - an act to relieve his consciousness.

Still, I could not hide my curiosity. "Giving up already?"

"I'm following the trail." He replied dryly.

"I told you this is an elvhen footprint... Elf." So, he wasn't just hypocrite but also stupid as well?

"That's exactly who I'm looking for."

After his response, two things happened. First, I was surprised. It was human nature to be destructive and treacherous, so how was this possible? Was he really helping an elvhen child? It made no sense. The second wave of thoughts, however, were overwhelming enough to negate the facts above.

Anger.

He was doing for a stranger more than he attempted to do to save my life - someone who was destined to be part of his group from the very beginning. There's no other explanation - it was personal. Wonderful. Seeing him having compassion for the elvhen was supposed to change my opinion towards him for the better, but the effect was exactly the opposite: I could not feel more repulsion for him than I was feeling now.

Anyway, nothing left for me but to remain silent.

Noah

The blonde elf was silent for a long time.

Then, I was right after all. She was really afraid of me. I should not have expect less, but even so, it shocked me a bit.

I'm not a murderer. Definitely I am not the bad guy ... Am I?

No, definitely not. But she ... She thought so. She was afraid of me.

Fear.

Maker ... How did this girl see me, after all? Some sort of hangman? A bandit? ... I do not know, I ...

I'm not the bad guy. And I had to prove it to her, somehow …

I don't know why I cared about how she saw me. I never cared about what the others thought, so why would I start now?

Perhaps because for the others, I was not the villain. And to be the villain meant I was like ... just like Howe …

I definitely had to prove her wrong. And I'd do it tonight.

I didn't quite know how yet, but I would make her change her mind, no matter what.

Mahariel

We found the woman.

She was scared, with her ankle broken, cornered by some wolves. She was grateful when we arrived, even more when Grumpy told her about her son. He carefully held the woman up in his arms, with a friendly expression on his face so atypical for him, that I had my doubts whether it was the same person.

When we made it back to the Chantry, the sisters received us pretty well, and soon they were making sure that the woman's wound would be treated as quickly as possible. I just stood in the corner, watching the boy reconciling with his mother, leaning against the wall. I had been involved more than I was planning to be, but even so I followed him here to see if there was anything suspicious behind his good deeds.

To my surprise, he left the scene without asking anything in return.

When we were at the door, however, that was when the biggest surprise happened.

"Noah!" The boy screamed, jumping high enough to grab Noah's neck.

That's not a very common scene, you see, an elvhen child embracing a human.

Less common still is to see the human embracing the child with so much affection, caressing his head as the little one touched his forehead against his broad shoulder.

"Thank you ..." Nihael whispered, eyes closed with his head still touching Noah's skin. Grumpy's answer? A beautiful and sincere smile.

I was kind of paralyzed by the scene. More so when the boy reached his tiny hand in my direction, looking at me uncertainly. My hand moved on its own, and before I could realize, I was stroking his hair.

"Thank you too, pretty lady..." Nihael said, grinning from ear to ear.

I returned the smile with the same intensity, satisfied with his happiness. I could not help myself.

What I also could not help was my eyes meeting Grumpy's after he'd put Nihael down. It was so ... sweet and serene, especially with the last vestiges of that smile on his face - the corners slightly bent, his relaxed expression...

"I'm not the bad guy ..." He whispered so low that I do not know if he said that to me or to himself. For a moment, I saw a small glimpse of something else mixed with the brightness of his eyes. Sadness, perhaps?

Words cannot change the past, however.

"I do not care," was all I said before leaving, and couldn't stop the slight tremor in my voice. I could only hope that Grumpy didn't notice I was lying.

*Click* :D