The City Elf Origin - Part 2
"What was that all about?" an unfamiliar woman asked, hesitantly approaching them.
Soris laughed nervously. "I think the Arl's son started drinking too early. So, um, let's not let this ruin the big day! This is Valora, my betrothed."
The blonde woman was Nesiara then. Whoa, his dad really had went to no expense in his search. Nesiara was beautiful, she must have had plenty of proposals back in Highever, and yet she came all the way here. What did his dad do to make that happen? Well, it probably didn't matter now. She was here, and hopefully Faren could make her happy.
"And you must be Nesiara," Faren greeted, and bowed his head. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Faren. I am happy to finally get to meet you." The blonde smiled warmly.
"I'm... I'm sure the two of you have a lot to discuss," Soris said, hastily leading Valora away.
"Well here we are... Are you nervous?" his betrothed asked.
"I have to admit I am." Faren felt all jittery. This was a girl he had never met before, he could mess up so badly.
"I thought I'd stay calm but now that we're here... Now that I've met you I'm not..." Nesiara admitted, a small blush coloured her cheeks. He smiled in relief.
Faren wasn't alone in feeling like a mess then.
"Come on, cousin," Soris muttered to him, trying to catch his attention. "We should let them get ready."
"We'll see you in a bit," Valora giggled softly as she walked away. "Don't disappear on us."
"Or we'll hunt you down!" Nesiara laughed as she followed.
"Because that ain't creepy," Faren said under his breath as Soris nudge his arm. "What's wrong?"
"Don't look now but we have another problem," Soris sighed, he sounded tired.
Faren followed his gaze to where three new people stood across the centre of the alienage. There was a tall human man with dark hair wearing shiny armour. He looked a bit intimidating actually, like a real warrior. Two dwarves stood at his side, a bald male with a long, dark beard and a tattoo on his face while a sandy blonde female with a giant axe on her back stood on the other side of the human. She looked kinda scary, wearing big, heavy armour that seemed oddly unfitting.
"Do I have to go see them? The dwarf woman looks like she could tear out my spine and beat me with it," Faren complained. "I doubt they'll cause trouble anyway."
"It's our boys I'm more worried about. Wine is flowing and I don't think we want another incident."
"Then how come you can't deal with it?"
"Because they all scare me?" Soris said honestly.
Faren sighed. "Fine. Let's go talk to the scary people and hope they don't stab us. On the positive side though, if I'm murdered at least I won't have to go back to the estate tomorrow."
"Way to look on the bright side of life, cousin," Soris remarked, bemused.
"I try."
.::.
"Jeez, where did those three go?" The Princess frowned, eyes glancing over the elves' home wearily. "I'm half expecting to find Lawrien up a tree again."
"She likes to try keep Epona company," Duncan mused while Torph eyed the wooden houses. A lot of the wood was rotten and broken apart.
It was starting to remind him of Dust Town. Home sweet home. Except this was still better. At least these guys had some rights unlike his people.
"One day she's going to fall off and crack her head open. Those trees don't seem easy to climb at all." The Princess grimaced, eyeing the huge one in the middle of the Alienage as if she expected Lawrien to come flying out of it.
Honestly he'd expect the same thing from the kid at this rate. She kept doing reckless shit like climbing over fences to go into fields with those weird things called bulls then getting chased by them. Or throwing herself out of trees to try ambush Ciara or just throwing herself out of trees and into rivers and lakes. Or rolling herself down the snow covered mountains for giggles.
He was starting to wonder if she had been dropped on her head once too many times as a baby.
"Greetings." Duncan suddenly bowed, startling him into glancing over at a pair of elves approaching. "I understand congratulations are in order for your impending wedding."
The elf in the back cowered away but the kid in front of him blinked, as if seemingly surprised before bowing back, spilling long, brown hair over his shoulder. "Thank you, ser. I was just wondering if you had business here?"
"I do." Duncan's eyes were examining to kid, that gleaming look in them again. "But I believe I have already found what I was seeking."
The kid tilted his head, green eyes curious. "Then will you be leaving? The Alienage isn't the best place for humans to be. I'm sure you might seek better things in the main market?"
"I'm sorry, but I have no intention of leaving." Duncan smiled, his tone polite but also firm.
"Perhaps I can assist you then?" the kid offered.
"He keeps his composure, even when facing an unknown and armed human. A true gift, wouldn't you say, Valendrian?" Duncan said suddenly.
Who?
At Duncan's side an elf appeared, from seemingly nowhere. Torph stared at the old fucker, because what the hell? He shouldn't be that sneaky. Narascha even jumped when the guy appeared from nowhere.
Neither of them had noticed the elf.
"Where the heck did that old bastard come from?" Torph muttered to her. "He scared the shit out of me."
"He's certainly sneaky. That's for sure, duster." Nara grimaced.
"I would say the world has far more use of those who know how to stay their blades." The old bastard smiled warmly but his eyes seemed a bit wary. "It is good to see you again, my old friend. It has been far too long."
The kid elf groaned. "Ah, sorry. I had no idea you were friends."
"I was hardly forthcoming and for that I apologise." Duncan nodded, smiling reassuringly at him.
"Faren, I would like to introduce you to Duncan, Commander of the Grey Wardens here in Ferelden." The sneaky elf introduced.
"Grey Warden?" Faren blinked. "There was three others here earlier-"
"Bet they are waiting in that huge tree." Torph looked up at the tree, snorting. "The kid would love to jump out of that."
"Thankfully not," Faren said. "She was walking about the Alienage with some of the other Wardens."
"And here I was getting ready to start throwing rocks at her." Narascha chuckled. "See how long she lasted in that tree."
Torph cackled. Who knew the Princess would have a wicked streak in her.
"I have to ask. Why are you here, Duncan?" The old elf tilted his head.
Their Commander sighed. "The worst has happened. A Blight has begun. King Cailan has summoned the Grey Wardens to Ostagar to fight the Darkspawn horde alongside his armies. I am currently searching for more recruits to join us. Speaking of which, allow me to introduce to you two of my three that are currently travelling with me. This is Narascha and Torph. Narascha, Torph, this is my old friend, Valendrian."
"Hey." Torph offered a small wave.
"Greetings," the Princess said all formally, even bowing her head.
"A pleasure to meet you both." Valendrian smiled warmly at them but grimaced at Duncan. "This is rather terrible timing, Duncan. There is to be a wedding. Two in fact."
Duncan nodded. "By all means, please continue with your celebrations. I'm still seeking out my fellow Wardens anyway."
"Hopefully we find Lawrien before she breaks something. Or someone," Torph sniggered. "Hey she ain't daft enough to jump off a building right?"
Duncan only groaned, making him cackle at the distressed noise. It was glorious.
.::.
The crowd was fairly large, and Faren swore he could see some of his fellow thieves hiding within the crowd. The sight made him feel warm and soft, despite the horror that tomorrow would bring. Vaughan was going to be pissed when he woke up, but if Faren was lucky, he would be too drunk to remember any of it.
That was if Faren was extremely lucky.
He didn't pay much attention as Valendrian and Mother Boann began the ceremony. No, instead his eyes met Uncle Kerth from the shadow of Alarith's shop. Uncle had a wary look upon his face, which made Faren almost grimace, because that meant he had found out about Shianni bottling Vaughan. He offered his Uncle a tentative smile, and thankfully his Uncle nodded, a fond look upon his face.
The crowd stirred. Faren registered the confusion and worry, then fear, and tensed. Guards were pushing their way through the crowd, and from his height he could see Vaughan-
Shit.
Uncle Kerth went pale, as did his dad. Dad faltered, looked at him, then Vaughan, as if something was about to explode.
"Milord? This is... An unexpected surprise..." Mother Boann said warily.
"Sorry to interrupt, Mother, but I'm having a party!" Vaughan said, fake cheer coating his words. He stepped in behind Valora who shied away, but he merely pressed in closer against her, examining her closely. His voice turned dark. "And we're dreadfully short on female guests."
"Milord, this is a wedding!" Mother Boann snapped.
"Ha! If you want to dress up your pets and have tea parties that's your business." Vaughan sneered as he loomed over her. "But don't pretend this is a proper wedding."
Faren took the chance. Nobody was watching him. All eyes were trained on Vaughan. He grabbed Nesiara's hand and tugged her back.
"Climb down and get under the stage," he whispered. "Now."
"But the others-" she gasped.
"I'll do my best. But the less of you that are here, the easier he is to handle," Faren hissed. "Now hide."
She obeyed, just in time too. Vaughan had turned back to his little party. His voice filled with false cheer that made Faren grimace. "Now, we're here for a good time. Aren't we boys?"
Braden laughed. "Just a good time with the ladies that's all!"
"Let's take those two." Vaughan gestured to Nola and Verna who were snatched up by the guards. "The one in the tight dress... And where's the bitch that bottle me?"
Faren froze. Oh fucking no. Not Shianni.
"Over here, Lord Vaughan!" Jonaley smirked darkly as he grabbed Shianni and twisted her arms behind her back.
"Let me go you stuffed shirt son of a-" Shianni snarled, struggling frantically.
Vaughan laughed. "Oh I'll enjoy taming her!"
"Hello, my Lord." Faren stepped forward smoothly, smiling away. "I'm surprised you're back already. It was quite the tumble you took. Your head must be sore."
"Ah yes. My 'tumble'. And I assure you, my head is perfectly fine." Vaughan mused, eyes searching. "So which one is your bride, Faren?"
Faren deliberately searched about, before scratching his head. "I seem to have lost track of her."
"Left at the altar?" Vaughan threw his head back, laughing. "My poor boy, you aren't having much luck are you? Perhaps when you come into work tomorrow I'll give you a share of the spoils."
Faren's tolerance died right there and then.
"Or maybe you could go to the Pearl, my Lord," Faren said sharply. "The ladies there would enjoy getting paid for their hard work."
"How dare you-" Braden snarled, but Vaughan dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
Vaughan lowered his voice, stepping in close to lean over him. "I suggest speaking more softly towards me, Faren. I prefer prettier things, you know this."
"We both know I'm pretty." Faren smiled, but it was a smile that showed too many teeth. "But we also know our tempers always collide."
Vaughan chuckled warmly. "True."
"You prefer that though, don't you?" Faren asked softly. "We could put all this behind us."
Vaughan tilted his head, then laughed, shaking his head. His friends looked startled, but Vaughan merely lowered his voice once more. "But this is not just you and I today. I have friends to entertain."
"Drunken friends," Faren reminded dryly.
"It's a party," Vaughan teased. "But you're far too wild to play at a party, and I don't feel like dealing with that." He raised his voice, gesturing with a hand to the always eager Guard-Captain. "Guard-Captain, take care of him."
Faren twitched. The fucking asshole. The Guard-Captain lunged in, and Faren forced himself to still and take the blow. If he fought back now, it would bring about way too many questions. Faren blacked out just as Shianni screamed in fury and fear.
His heart ached at the sound.
.::.
Lawrien flinched. "Why would he do that?"
"Lawrien?" Ciara frowned, glancing over at her sister. She had been trying to keep Epona back, whispering everything that could go wrong if they intervened while the redhead raged. She had Epona pinned to the ground as Lord Vaughan strolled away, the girls screaming as they were dragged off. Faren was flung over the Guard-Captain's shoulder, limp and silent.
The screams made Ciara's blood boil.
Ciara had noticed an elven male follow after them, sticking close to the shadows. She had caught a glimpse of his face, and it was full of murderous intent. He would cause the little Lordling some trouble.
"He loves Faren." Lawrien shivered. "But not like Cullen loves Myra. It's cold and cruel and twisted and hurtful and it angers Vaughan and Faren and scares him."
"People like that don't care about just abusing one person. They want to overpower everyone," Ciara sneered "People like him should be torn down from their high horses long before they reach adulthood. It's the only way to show them true humility."
"Then we need to rescue them." Lawrien cracked her fists. "And tear him down from his high horse."
"How, Lawrien?" Ciara frowned. "We're supposed to be neutral. You know what got the Grey Wardens banned from Ferelden the last time they acted out against the nobility."
"I don't care. They need help and I refuse to leave them behind, and you're helping me."
Epona finally stilled beneath her, blinking up at Lawrien, in more disbelief than anything.
Ciara sighed. "As selfish as ever."
Lawrien grinned. "Of course."
"You will help them?" Epona frowned. "Both of you?"
"Of course. Will you help us?" Lawrien asked.
Epona smirked. "Oh definitely. I would love to put an arrow in that shemlen. Let me up, Ciara."
"The problem is that Duncan won't let us interfere, and that someone is already following after Vaughan's party," Ciara said, sliding off Epona who quickly rolled to her feet.
Lawrien nodded. "The angry guy can handle himself. I can feel it. He's strong."
Ciara sighed. "Then it's just Duncan we need to worry about. Let's find our dwarven friends, I believe I already have an idea in mind."
"That's my Ciara!" Lawrien grinned. "Already coming up with a plan."
Ciara smiled fondly. She was far too soft on her family.
.::.
"Maker keep us. Maker protect us. Maker keep us. Maker protect us-"
"Stop it. You're driving me insane."
Faren winced. That sounded like Shianni. A pissed off Shianni. He nearly groaned, because why do people keep pissing her off? She was a hot-head and made terrible decisions when angry-
He shifted, but frowned at the resistance his arms met when he tried to move.
Oh yeah. Just like the decision she had made to bottle Vaughan. Now from the sounds of it they were all kidnapped and possibly all tied up.
"Faren?" A hand brushed his hair. "Faren, are you okay?"
Faren grimaced, his head throbbed a little, but he managed to open his eyes easily enough. He laid on his side, Shianni leaning over him, eyes wide and full of terror and anger. He tried to reach up, but his arms still wouldn't move. His wrists were bound in front of him, and his arms tied to his sides. Shianni tried to untie the rope, but her hands were shaking.
"I'll be fine," he reassured, and tried to sit up.
But his legs were bound together with more rope.
Faren glowered. "I'll smother him in his sleep."
Shianni laughed weakly as she helped him sit up. "Oh thank the Maker you've come to. I was so worried."
"Are you all okay?" Faren asked, searching the room.
"We're scared but unharmed, so far," Valora said, grimacing. "They locked us in here to wait until that bastard is... 'ready for us'..."
"Nesiara isn't here..." Faren frowned. "She got away okay then?"
Shianni paused. "You managed to sneak her away?"
"When Vaughan was arguing with Mother Boann, yeah." Faren shifted, leaning against the wall, trying to reach for his tiny little dagger hidden in his hair. "Shianni-"
"Yeah." She nodded, already reaching for his hair.
"Maybe..." Verna winced, but her eyes hardened. "We'll do what they want, go home, and try to forget this ever happened. That way we won't be harmed, right?"
"Y-Yeah, it'll be worse if we resist." Valora nodded.
Faren wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell them about the blacksmith's daughter or not. How Vaughan had raped and murdered her-
He blanched just thinking about it.
A door banged, and Faren growled. "Dammit-" he cursed.
Their door slammed open, and the Guard-Captain along with all his little minions strolled in. Swords out and everything.
"Hello, wenches." The Guard-Captain smiled. "We're your escorts to Lord Vaughan's little party."
Faren smiled, a nasty smile. "Oh look, the Guard-Captain needs his sword out against a bunch of unarmed women. What did you think they were going to do? Punch you? I mean, somebody in here is deadly with a bottle, but you never supplied us with any."
Shianni flushed, but there was a flicker of delight in her eyes.
"Faren-" Valora gasped.
"I really should have taken the opportunity to gag you." The Guard-Captain scowled.
Nora sobbed. "Stay away from us!"
The Guard-Captain back handed her, knocking her right to the ground. His sword instantly pointed right at her stomach, pressing dangerously close to her skin. Faren could have avoided that easily, but Nora was an untrained girl, barely starting her adult years.
"Don't you dare-" Faren seethed.
"Nora!" Verna cried out, kneeling by her side.
"Be quiet, whore," the Guard-Captain growled. "Understand this, all you ladies are good for right now is pleasing the Lords. You are going to make sure they enjoy their night, so stop being stupid whores and behave yourselves. Although-" The Guard-Captain eyed him, grinning nastily. "He does like a bit of a struggle. Right, Faren?"
Shianni froze, before their eyes met. Faren ignored her, glowered at the Guard-Captain instead.
"I didn't think Lord Vaughan would want you to spread that around," Faren hissed.
"Faren... What?" Shianni breathed out. "He-"
Faren lunged forward and grabbed Shianni's wrist. The Guard-Captain was ordering his men to start taking the girls away.
"Shianni," Faren said urgently. "Vaughan knows you're a wildfire and Vaughan will want to break it out of you. He can't if you don't fight. He'll get bored and move on-"
The Guard-Captain dragged her away by her hair. Shianni gasped and squirmed, but he kicked the back of her leg, earning a pained cry. It broke Faren's heart, because this was Shianni, and Shianni didn't deserve this. He knew how cruel Vaughan could be, but he had never put Faren through the horror he always put his real victims through.
His bindings were checked over and then he was left alone, locked up in the damn storage room. Faren twisted, nearly breaking his arm when he reached into his boot. He couldn't get the dagger in his hair, but his boot compartment-
He bit back a pained hiss when his bruised and swollen wrists ached, but he ignored it. He was fine. When he was fine he could help people-
The blade was successfully dragged out. Faren grabbed the handle with his teeth and began sawing the rope around his wrists. The ropes were thick but soon they caved in, falling down his wrists and scattering on the floor. He quickly undid the binds around his ankles and swept to his feet.
Faren eyed his dagger, seeing his grimace within the reflection. It was just a small dagger, an emergency one. It wasn't suited to killing off an army of guards-
Faren smiled coyly. Although, there was no longer an army full of guards in the estate. Most of them were in Ostagar now. Still, him against all those guards...
But he'd do anything for his family, and Shianni was in Vaughan's claws.
Faren pressed himself just by the door when footsteps began rushing his way. The door caved in, slamming into the wall across the room, as if it had just been punched by a giant. Faren had to admit, he yelped, and barely stopped himself from stabbing the first person that rushed into the room.
Blonde hair and brown eyes. The Grey Warden with the large grin. Lawrien Amell.
"Good, you're alright." Lawrien bodily checked him over, raising his arms, feeling his sides, then his head, making him wince when she touched the bruise. "Well, apart from that..."
"What are you doing here?" Faren asked, nudging her hands away from the bruise.
"Fighting that asshole of course!"
"No, Lawrien," a tired sigh interrupted them. Both of them turned as one to stare at the brunette, Ciara, who shook her head. "We're here because the guards attacked our rookie. Epona's life was endangered."
"Oh yeah, the lie you came up with!" Lawrien grinned.
Ciara nodded. "Yes, and that is what we say to everyone."
"But we're actually here to help Faren and his friends-"
Ciara breathed in deeply, and looked as if she was questioning life itself. Faren merely rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He had no idea why two Grey Wardens were here, or well, apparently they were here to help him and the girls out, but why exactly?
They were Grey Wardens. Didn't they have better things to do?
"Just shut up and let me do the talking when someone asks us questions," Ciara ordered, shaking her head. "Faren, your Uncle is just up the hallway, we ran into him murdering guards-" Faren nearly sobbed at the thought, the damn psycho. His Uncle should know better than to run into an estate. "I've poisoned all the guards in the feasting hall and one of the servants knocked out the head chef. You have a moment to change into this-"
She put down the sack she carried, and opened it up to reveal-
The Dark Wolf's uniform. Uncle Kerth must have handed it over to her.
He stripped out of his wedding clothes and changed into the dark leathers. The scarf, about the same size as himself, was quickly wrapped round his neck, covering the lower half of his face and his shoulders.
The grey wolf masked stared up at him, but he ignored it for now. Instead he picked up his mum's daggers.
The Rose's Thorn, a gift from Uncle Kerth, and Fang, a family heirloom. Two Dragonbone daggers which he had no idea how a family of elves managed to get a hold of and keep for so long. The blades curved elegantly, runes, one of lightning, and one of fire, glowered briefly through them. He sheathed them and clipped them to his sides, before picking up the final piece.
The Dark Wolf's mask. His mum's mask.
Faren didn't place it upon his face though. Instead he clipped it to his belt. This wasn't a robbery. This was a rescue. A rescue was no place for the Dark Wolf.
Lawrien nodded, her eyes growing hard. "Let's go."
They raced down the hallways. Faren didn't flinch at the bodies lying across the floor in the feasting hall. He stepped right over them, keeping pace with Ciara. Lawrien lagged behind, but kept up well enough despite being a mage.
She had to be a mage. Like how else could that door go flying across the room and hit a wall? Either that or she was insanely strong.
Also the staff was a dead giveaway.
It was eerily quiet, but Faren understood why the moment they got to one of the guard common rooms. Bodies laid everywhere, the only guard still standing was the Guard Captain, and of course his Uncle Kerth.
"What are you?" The Captain was white as a sheet. "D-Demon!"
Uncle Kerth smirked. "Rude. I'm merely what you mean call 'The Ghost'. Leader of the Thieves Guild."
Uncle Kerth stepped forward, but the Guard Captain wailed, swinging his sword wildly. It went right through Uncle Kerth, passing through his body harmlessly. Faren almost chuckled. Ciara and Lawrien were stunned into silence.
"What in the world?" Ciara breathed out.
"I have been asking the same question ever since you left me with him!" The redhead, the angry looking one, Epona hissed. She was standing in the corner of the room, far away from his Uncle, unnerved.
"My dear Wolf." Uncle Kerth stepped back, gesturing to the Guard Captain. "Would you like some revenge?"
Revenge huh? The Guard Captain was whimpering against the wall, eyes wild, and hands shaking as they gripped his sword.
"He's going to start swinging his sword in a panic and slice me to pieces," Faren said dryly. "No thanks."
Uncle Kerth shrugged, stepped forward, and neatly cut open the Guard Captain's throat. Faren watched him slump against the wall, sliding down it to flop against the floor. Blood stained the stone floor and rug, but Faren found it difficult to muster up any sympathy.
They took Shianni.
His wild, little cousin who had followed his heels from the moment they met.
They were meant to protect each other.
A hand landed in his hair. Faren blinked, looked up at his Uncle Kerth, and softened. There was that unconditional love in his Uncle's eyes, and it left Faren feeling warm and fuzzy.
"You look so much like Adaia."
"I'm my mother's son." Faren grinned, before hardening his resolve. "I need to save Shianni."
"Got it." Uncle Kerth nodded. "Then let's go find her and the rest of the girls."
"Wait!" Lawrien cut in swiftly, her face bright with eagerness. "What was that? That was an amazing ability! How can a sword just go right through you and not cut you open?"
"Amazing? That was creepy!" Epona hissed.
Uncle Kerth snorted. "Really? You haven't guessed? You Amells aren't the only ones with a special blood trait, Lawrien Amell."
"There are more families out there with special bloodline traits?" Ciara frowned.
"Indeed. Mine become 'ghosts' to put it simply. I can allow anything I wish to pass through my body, while Miss Amell is an empath."
"But there are always downsides." Ciara narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah, I can be overwhelmed by other emotions," Lawrien said. "But I don't know your downside."
"And I'll never tell." Uncle Kerth winked.
Uncle Kerth's body grew numb. He stopped feeling the warmth of a mortal body, and it could last for days, sometimes even weeks. It made his reactions clumsier and awkward when his body should have responded to something.
His senses grew dull.
It made Faren ache to see if happen, when it did. Uncle Kerth was usually more careful about using his abilities, but apparently this wasn't one of those times.
No, he was too angry. Just as Faren was too.
He needed to have a chat with Vaughan.