Two days later, we were cresting the hill that separated us from the city of Redcliffe. Alistair had been quiet since the fight with Zevran, which had me wondering what was on his mind, but I didn't push. He would open up when he was ready; most people were that way.
"Ah, there's, uh, something I probably should have said before now." He began, fidgeting.
I waited silently, eyes on him. Leliana and Morrigan exchanged looks. Surprisingly enough, they had gotten along extremely well. Sten, of course, stared off in to the distance, pretending we weren't stopping, I'd wager. He'd made a comment under his breath last night about how we should be fighting the darkspawn, not going to save some noble. Wynne and Zevran were being weird. More accurately, Zevran was hitting on Wynne, who was blushing like a schoolgirl and enjoying the harmless attention. She would tell him to stop, that she was old enough to be his grandmother, but her protests were only halfhearted. It was obvious they were just having a bit of fun.
"Well, you see, I-You remember I said I was raised by dogs?"
"Yes. Flying dogs, if I recall correctly."
"The truth is…. I was raised by the Arl. Arl Eamon." He ran a hand through his hair, nervous energy rolling off him in waves, "My father was King Maric. I'm a bastard. Of Maric."
I waited, wondering if I was supposed to react or not. What did it matter?
"The Arl took me in, as a favor to my father, and raised me. Until his new wife, Arlessa Isolde, made him send me off to the Chantry. So. There you have it." He peered at me anxiously.
Frowning, my brows drew together, "Why…. Am I supposed to say something now?"
He blinked at me, his jaw dropping.
"I don't think it matters. It doesn't affect anything, does it?" my tone confused.
"I…. No, I guess it doesn't. I just…. I didn't want it to be a surprise when we got to Redcliffe castle."
"Oh, is that all?" I waved it off, continuing along the road.
The others fell in to step behind us, Morrigan smirking, "You will still have to cook. No special treatment, your highness."
"That wasn't nice, Morri." I chastised her absentmindedly, still curious as to why he'd been so worried about telling us his heritage. Then it dawned on me, and I stopped short, "Oh."
"Are you alright?" my fellow rogue touched my shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts.
Eyeing Alistair, I tapped my chin. Tilted my head slightly. Narrowed my eyes.
"What?" he chuckled nervously, wringing his hands, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"That makes you candidate, doesn't it? Is that why you didn't want to say anything? Because you're worried we'll try to convince you to take the throne?" I mused aloud.
He held up his hands, "There is no way I'll ever be convinced! I'm a bastard. There's no proof of Maric being my father, in the first place. It would be labeled as heresy as soon as anyone opened their mouth to suggest it. No, no, no, no, no, no!"
"Calm down." I took a step back, "I was just puzzling it out. I didn't mean to upset you."
"We should continue on, princeling." Morrigan covered her mouth, "I mean, what?"
I sighed and pushed on, ignoring the bickering that ensued. It wasn't long before Redcliffe was in sight, the bridge connecting it with the rest of Ferelden only a few dozen paces away.
"Are you here to help us?" a scrawny man with a bow at his back ran toward us, breathing hard.
"What's wrong?" Alistair demanded, hurrying his steps.
"You don't know? Does anyone even know what's happening here?" the man moaned.
"We can't help unless you tell us what's going on." My tone soothing as we walked with him to the city square.
"There are things, evil creatures, which attack after the sun goes down. They come from the castle and nothing seems to kill them."
"What are they?" I asked softly.
"Corpses."
My companions and I, save Sten, exchanged looks, Seraphine whining. I patted her on the head, hoping to calm her.
The city of Redcliffe looked terrible. Burned out buildings, collapsed walkways. People hiding out in the Chantry, which seemed to be the only building not affected by the swarms every night.
"Murdock, ho! These travelers say no one has any idea of the plight we face!" the man called out to a larger fellow who was barking orders at passersby as we walked down a steep hill to reach the heart of the town.
"What?" the other man exclaimed, "What are you talking about, Tomas?"
Alistair stepped forward, "We've come to see the Arl. We had no clue about what's been happening here."
I wandered off on my own, leaving them to discuss helping out and what not.
Walking back the way we'd come, I took the path that veered off to the left at the top of the hill and found myself standing in front of a tavern. A glance over my shoulder made me frown; the tavern was quite the distance away. I wondered what made them build it so far from any of the other buildings.
Poking my head inside, I heard a group of men complaining about how they still had to pay for their ale. They were facing horrors at night that made nightmares seem like daydreams in comparison, and Lloyd had the nerve to keep charging them for their drinks? Oh, it was just so unfair. Frowning to myself, I walked up to the man behind the bar, assuming he was the bar keep, and asked about the town.
"Well, I'm not sure if I should tell you, little lady. You might want to get your folks and tell them you need to leave." He eyed me, "Dangerous to be here at night, corpses coming down from the castle from sun down to sun up."
"That doesn't sound good." I muttered, "Thank you, though, for telling me. I appreciate you not sugar coating the truth." I smiled up at him.
He puffed up, grinning back, "I'm happy to help, missy."
I bit my lip, pulling out my coin purse and counting out several sovereigns, "Here. It's the least I can do, ser. Will this cover everyone's next drinks?"
"This…." Mouth agape, he stuttered, "This will take care of them for the night and some of tomorrow. Where did you get all that?"
"My family is," I paused, pretending to concentrate, "affluent." I beamed when I finished. Fake pride lit up my face.
"Drinks are on this little lady tonight!" Lloyd announced, his words met by a raucous cacophony of cheers.
With that, I slipped outside, knowing I probably shouldn't have just given the men, who would be fighting for their lives in a matter of hours, free license to drink to their hearts' content.
Wasting time before the sun set, I wandered around. Surveying the land. Looking for anything that could point to why corpses were walking around killing people. Aside from finding a few barrels of oil in a store room and a boy about my age in a closet, I came up empty handed. Well, for clues. The boy, once I had convinced him to come out, had told me about a sword that was in a locked safe upstairs. It had been in the family for generations and was supposedly the best weapon ever made in all of Thedas. I'd very much doubted it, but I'd opted to convince him to part ways it easily enough. For something that had been so important to him, he'd run away from the safety of the Chantry to get, he gave it up with little resistance. Or, rather, the key to the safe. One gave way to the other, so it didn't matter.
Once I had the belt for it around my waist, I went in search of Alistair and the others. He could use this sword, certainly. It was a handsome one-handed blade of steel with intricate designs spanning the whole of it.
I spied him as soon as I entered the Chantry; he was talking to a tall, slightly older looking man at the end of the long aisle. Before I could reach him, though, an older girl darted in front of me, her face red with excitement. She couldn't have been more than sixteen.
"You! You're the one who found my brother! Bevin told me about you!" she cried out, her hands grasping mine and pulling them out in front of me.
"Oh. Yes." I blinked at her, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. She had drawn the attention of everyone in the building.
"Thank you so much! I was so worried about him!" she squeezed my hands, "Is there any way, anything I can do, to thank you? There must be something!" she insisted when I shook my head, wanting nothing more than to end this conversation.
"Er, okay. What's your name?"
"Oh, my apologies! I am Kaitlyn." Letting my hands go, she curtsied.
Edging around her, I forced a smile, "It was nice meeting you, Kaitlyn, but I really didn't do much. I just talked to him, is all. Oh. I found your family's blade and-"
"Keep it! It's the least I can do!"
"Right. Thank you."
She nodded her head enthusiastically.
Taking that as my chance, I spun on my heel and darted to Alistair.
"Here." I removed the sword belt, holding it out, "I thought you could use this."
He grinned, taking it from me, "Alright. Thanks."
I shrugged, eyeing the man he had been talking to.
"This is Bann Teagan. Bann Teagan, meet Anastasia." Alistair did introductions while tying the belt around his waist.
"Hello." We said simultaneously. His cheeks reddened. I giggled.
"You are the other Grey Warden, correct?"
I nodded, "Yes, ser."
He looked me up and down, "So young."
"Age doesn't guarantee wisdom." The murmur held a small amount of defiance to it.
"That is all too true. My apologies, my lady." He offered a smile, which I returned.
Alistair spoke, then, but I was hit with a sudden wave of vertigo; a vision was coming. I had no time to explain or make any excuses, though hopefully Alistair could make some kind of excuse. He seemed to be getting used to my sudden bouts of prophesy. Mumbling something, I bolted from the Chantry and ran to the water front. Sat with my back against one of the pier support posts and closed my eyes.
Bann Teagan stood steadfast at the end of a long walkway, Kaitlyn trembling from happiness as she slowly made her way toward him. Their eyes locked on each other, all else forgotten. The Bann in a suit, the young woman wearing a white dress. I knew, without quite understanding how, that it was set in Denerim, the capital of Ferelden.
The scene changed without warning; Bann Teagan staring at a different woman, everything about him screaming apathy. The other woman, the one wearing the dress now, had the stink of aristocracy all around her. This was an arranged marriage.
What was I supposed to do? Maybe I could convince Kaitlyn to go to Denerim; even though the Bann lived near Redcliffe and they had probably already met, I couldn't shake the notion that Kaitlyn had to go to the capital for them to fall in love. Why did it matter, though? I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, and opened my eyes.
"Are you alright, young one?" Morrigan's golden eyes studied me coolly.
I swallowed hard, my throat feeling like a desert, "I…. Yes. I am alright, now. There were a few moments of dizziness, but it has passed."
The chances Morrigan already knew were high, seeing as she'd be there the first time I'd had a vision after becoming a Warden, but she didn't broach the subject.
"Good. It wouldn't do for you to be ill at the present." The mage put her back to me, "Come along, then. We need to speak with Ser Perth to make sure the townsfolk are prepared for tonight's attack."
I could practically hear her rolling her eyes, "You don't want to help them?"
"It is not a matter of want; I will be forced to regardless of what I wish simply because you and yours are offering aid." Walking side by side, we slowly made our way up the hill and followed the right path.
Standing in a group by the windmill that sat on the cliff's edge, several knights were gathered. Talking amongst themselves. Along with our travel companions.
Alistair nodded slightly at us, his eyes briefly flickering over my small form before settling back on the knight directly in front of him.
Ser Perth, I imagined.
"Would there was a way to stem the flow of the horrors."
"There's a few oil drums in a store room back yonder." I pointed behind us.
The man's expression shifted instantly, thrilled at the news, "Truly? We could plan a trap here, cutting them off and felling a great many of them with the fire. Where exactly are they?"
"The store. I assumed it was the only actual store in the town. It's just over there." I pinpointed the building, showing him.
"Thank you. Surely the Maker smiled upon us, when He sent you all to Redcliffe." He gestured for the other knights, yelling for them to go get those barrels.
"Now, we wait." He smiled genuinely in what had probably been days, maybe weeks, "Rest well, friends. Tonight, we fight."
...
With the nightfall came the horrors. Shambling corpses, well, shambled from the castle. They fought like demons; every time we thought we'd taken one down, it would simply stand back up. Even with the fire raging between us and them, they pushed forward relentlessly. If something didn't give soon, we would die here.
A few hours in to the fight, we stumbled across a solution; Sten's greatsword swung in a large arc, coming down to behead one of the monsters. It didn't get up again. He shouted for us to take the heads of our enemies, and we followed his order.
I kept myself back, consciously making an effort to not "throw myself at the enemy, quite literally."
"The square is being overrun! They need help!" Tomas yelled, running up the hill.
I darted toward the town center, leaving the others to catch up. The townsfolk needed help, and they needed it now. The two warriors would be encumbered from their heavy armors. Even Morrigan, with her light robes, might not make it before someone died. Leliana and Seraphine had the possibility of racing alongside me, but I was quicker. The only one who kept up, was Zevran.
The scene that met my eyes when I got there, was just…. Corpses were on top of people, clawing at them. Trying to eat their flesh. I snatched a bow from someone lying on the ground, ignoring the moans of the fallen man I'd taken it from, and fired several arrows in quick succession.
The force from the speeding bolts was enough to send knock the corpses off their victims. Giving the people enough time to get to their feet.
"Take their heads! Aim for their heads!" I shouted, moving to stand in front of the wounded. My eyes on the enemies in front of me, I reached deep within myself and tapped in to the magic that yearned to break free. Sent a steady thread of energy to heal the ones I protected. Let loose arrow after arrow, bringing every single beast around me to the ground, where they waited to be beheaded.
Easy.
The assassin flitted around me, daggers in hand. I had actually forgotten he was with me.
Alistair reached us a handful of seconds later, taking his position in front of the healthy townies that were still fighting. Between the three of us, they didn't have anything to fend off.
The night seemed so short, yet so incredibly long at the same time.
As quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. The sun had risen and, to everyone's surprise, not a single person had been lost. Everyone had made it through the night.