Prepare for Battle

Ciara followed the others out the Chantry, but Alistair paused in front of a sobbing teenager and began speaking to her quietly. Ciara didn't stop though, he'd catch up, so she trailed behind Narascha and Torph, while Shale and Sten grumbled and complained.

"They all look so sad and squishy."

"This is foolish."

"I will hit the pair of you I swear to the Ancestors," Narascha cursed. "So stop your whining."

"Why are there people hiding inside the Chantry?" Sten scowled.

"The helpless women, children and elderly?" Torph snorted. "Don't think they're gonna be much help."

"Yeah, how dare they not fight," Narascha teased.

"Bloody hell." The man who had been talking to Teagan earlier stared wide eyed at her, much to Ciara's surprise. "You're up? I thought you would have passed out!"

"There's no time for that," Ciara said. "Bann Teagan said we should speak to you about the defences, Mayor Murdock."

"The same man who is going to hide in the Chantry," Sten grumbled.

"We told him to." Murdock glared. "We can't risk him getting killed."

"No qunari would ever cower from their foes. Not the women, the elderly or the children. They would fight to the death," Sten argued.

"Well we're not qunari..." Murdock looked rather nervous now. "I'm not going to ask those poor people to fight monsters."

"For the love of-" Narascha rolled her eyes. "Torph, do me a favour and go see what traps you can set up. Shale, get excited, we're about to go to war against a lot of undead fuckers you get to punch. It's going to be amazing! Sten, stop arguing with everyone before I lose my mind. I do not have Duncan's patience for this bitching."

"Got it, Princess," Torph cackled as he walked off.

"Again, what can we do to help?" Ciara asked.

.::.

Narascha frowned at the doorway she and Ciara stood before. Nobody had answered her knocks, but Narascha had expected that. Mayor Murdock had told them a dwarf by the name of Dwyn was hiding in his house with his two thugs and refused to fight. She was about to get persuasive with some threats, but if they were lucky Ciara could get his ass out to fight with her charm. Although looking that pale from blood loss probably cut that charm down a fair bit.

"You sure you don't need a nap before this?" Narascha asked.

"There's no time and we both know that."

"We wouldn't blame you."

Ciara raised a brow, and she looked completely and utterly bemused. Narascha chuckled and shrugged.

"Alright, just don't faint on me. Now, you lock picking this open or do I boot it down?"

"Apparently I look exhausted so go ahead and boot it down," Ciara said dryly.

Narascha grinned. "Sure thing."

With a good, strong kick Narascha booted down the door with a cheer. That earned a few alarmed cries, but Narascha ignored them and walked in.

"Sorry about the door," Narascha said. "But you weren't answering."

"Apology accepted." Dwyn said dryly, which she found hilarious. "The name's Dwyn, pleased to meet you. Now get out."

"I'm told you've not been offering your aid for Murdock?" Narascha asked.

"Yeah, so what? Why do I have to die for these guys?" Dwyn scowled.

"Because like it or not you chose to live here," Ciara said. "If you don't fight tonight and the villagers survive they will never forgive you or forget. They'll probably riot and maybe even try to kill you."

"And I should be scared of a bunch of puny humans?"

"No, you should be scared of the Grey Wardens currently helping them," Ciara said sharply. "Right now our order isn't playing neutral and you don't want to get on the bad side of it. We need Arl Eamon to help us defeat the Blight and I will do anything, kill anyone, to succeed because I am a Grey Warden. So do you really want to get on my bad side?"

Narascha shrugged. "What she said. Besides you fight with us and we'll put in a good word for you to the Arl. He'll owe you one."

Dwyn remained silent for a time, contemplating as he eyed them both. He stared hard at the axe on Narascha's back, thoughtful, before sighing.

"Fine." Dwyn scowled. "But you better be out there tonight. All of you." He then smirked at Ciara. "And you're pretty ballsy for a human. I was expecting the threat from the fellow dwarf." He eyed her, and there was a puzzled glimmer in his eyes. "Do I know you?"

"Nope," Narascha said immediately.

"Huh, you look familiar," Dwyn muttered. "Anyway me and my boys will be out there tonight. I expect a good reward after this."

"I'm sure we'll find something that suits you." Ciara smiled.

.::.

Torph whistled to himself as he and the knights dragged the barrels of oil up to the stairwell dug into the mountainside. Well, the knights were doing all the heavy lifting. Torph was just directing them. The princess was going to love this! They were going to set all those undead fuckers on fire and he was going to make up so many traps. It would be beautiful and chaotic. He could see it now, fire and explosions and swinging blades, with him safely behind them all, up high on top of the windmill.

This was actually going to be pretty fun. Just as long as there wasn't thousands of them like it had been back in Ostagar with the darkspawn. His only problem now would be Alistair if he learned that Torph threatened a Chantry lady into 'blessing' some necklaces for the knights. Alistair would do his whole speech about Grey Wardens and 'heroes' and yada yada. Sometimes people just needed to shut up and do what they were told. He was a Grey Warden saving their village. They should be fucking grateful that he and the others were helping out at all.

They were supposed to be dealing with the Blight after all.

The Blight, fucking hell, Torph never thought he'd have to deal with a Blight. He never thought he'd have to fight darkspawn either, but look where he ended up. It was amazing being a Grey Warden. Nobody knew what the mark on his face meant topside. They might be after his bounty, sure, but Grey Wardens were still respected.

It was brilliant, and he was excited to go back to Orzammar and terrify the locals with his status. It would be hilarious. If he was lucky maybe he could even freak out Narascha's traitorous asshole of a brother. He could tell Nara about it. She'd get a kick out of it right?

Torph frowned. He didn't get why Alistair was so desperate to protect Redcliffe. Sure he was raised here, but in the stables with the horses right? Why the hell was he so attached? It was messed up.

"I do not understand."

Torph jumped. When the hell did Sten get here?

"What's up, big guy?" Torph asked.

"Why are we defending this village? It's not our priority."

"Yeah, but Alistair has spoken."

"Why is he leading us?"

"Because he got picked." Torph shrugged. "Guy's gotta learn, especially after that whole 'I'm royal' thing he dumped on us."

"Why does his blood mean that he is royal?" Sten frowned. "I didn't understand it for Narascha-"

"Yeah but you don't get how she's a woman whose a warrior either," Torph said dryly. "Which is fucked up by the way. She's terrifying and could probably murder all of us."

"Narascha is a fierce warrior, but that is not a woman's role."

"Bullshit," Torph scoffed. "You've seen otherwise."

Sten grumbled. "That is true."

"She's a murdering machine. Just as good as one of my explosives!" Torph grinned. "Which are going to look so beautiful tonight. They are going to murder so many undead bastards."

"You seem excited."

"I am," Torph admitted. "My traps are beautiful and because we're usually the ones on the move I don't get the time to set them up like this. I'm so excited to see everything blow up!"

"And here I thought you might have been the reasonable one in regards to defending the village."

"Eh, does it matter? Alistair's decided and he's the boss for this quest of ours. We're gonna listen to him otherwise we'll just get to listen to a lot of bitching and moaning," Torph complained. "People are complicated, I know you're into the whole 'people have roles' and yada yada but if I followed that I'd have starved in a ditch back in Orzammar. Narascha would be giving birth to murderous babies with tiny axes to go stab darkspawn with. Alistair would be a drooling Templar and Ciara would be a yammering priestess like that Chantry lady I just threatened earlier. I mean shit, can you really imagine that?"

"I can see Alistair as a drooling Templar." Sten smirked, but the amusement faded from his eyes as they stared out over Redcliffe. "I could not imagine the rest of it. No. The Grey Wardens are all warriors, female or not."

"You're damn right they are."

.::.

Ciara gingerly pressed a hand to her throbbing shoulder as Narascha bullied Owen into opening the door to let them inside. That Revenant better be dead, Ciara swore if it wasn't after she blew up the courtyard she'd be furious. If only Myra was here she could have healed this wound. It would have made things far easier. By the Maker she missed Myra. It was hard not having seen her in so long. She would have probably grown taller by now. Ciara smiled at the thought.

"Who are you?" Owen frowned.

"We're Grey Wardens. I'm Narascha and this is Ciara," Narascha introduced them with a kind smile. "We need your help."

"A Grey Warden is it?" Owen laughed bitterly. "It takes all sorts."

"Rude," Narascha huffed.

"You're wearing mismatched armour that barely fits you and you're complaining?" Owen scoffed, waving a hand. "You look like cheap shit."

"Again, rude." Narascha scowled.

"We need you to help the militia." Ciara interrupted them.

Owen eyed her. "You're injured."

"Yeah, if you heard that explosion earlier from the castle then that was her fighting a Revenant," Narascha laughed. "She won that fight too."

"Hopefully I did."

Owen paled. "A Revenant? Then there's no way somebody could still be alive up there... There is no hope..."

"It was out in the courtyard," Ciara said softly. "Murdock said you refused to help because of your daughter. She's in the castle, isn't she?"

Owen deflated. "My baby girl, Valena, is one of the Arlessa's maids and she's trapped up there. Murdock won't send anybody!"

"There's no one skilled enough in this village to sneak in there and bring her out safely," Ciara said. "If she has hidden herself sending in someone would only endanger her."

Owen flinched. "But if she's stuck in there-"

"She has a greater chance of survival until we can get in there," Ciara said.

Owen startled. "You're going in there?"

"We are?" Narascha blinked.

"Of course we are," Ciara said. "We need Arl Eamon to sort out our spiralling political situation with Teyrn Loghain. Cobian cannot fix it. Teyrn Loghain thinks he is still a child, but Arl Eamon is not."

"You really think we're going to live past the night?" Owen asked weakly.

"Yes." Ciara smiled. "I believe in my companions and my fellow Grey Wardens. We cannot afford to fall here after all. Not with the Blight marching upon us all."

"Maybe it's the drink talking, but you sound like you believe that," Owen slurred.

"I do, and if you do the repairs for Murdock and his men, and craft Narascha a proper set of armour where she won't look like 'cheap shit' as you called her, then I'll personally look for your daughter. I won't leave any room unchecked. I will look everywhere until I find her," Ciara said firmly, holding out her blood stained hand. Stained with her blood. "Deal?"

Owen shakily smiled. "Deal. Find my daughter and bring her home."

Ciara shook his hand. "Thank you, Owen, for trusting me with this. I'll do my best."

"Go tell Murdock he'll have his bloody armour and weapons fixed." Owen eyed Narascha. "And you we're gonna get all fitted out for properly. Let me take your measurements and let's see if we survive the night. If we do this can be your present for tomorrow."

"Thank you, Owen. I look forward to seeing you work." Narascha smiled. "And to finally get a pair of shoes that fit me."

.::.

Torph breathed in the stench of the tavern and grinned. Alcohol was just what they needed before such a big fight. Sten didn't seem to agree with the scowls he was getting, but fuck that. Torph happily trotted into the bar. He'd be giving out his shit to the fighters for free since they were protecting his ass, it was only decent. They did that back home for the Grey Wardens after all. They always got free drinks.

"Another doomed soul coming to drown their souls I see?" A red headed woman greeted him quietly at the door. "You'd have to take it up with Lloyd. He's got a tight grip on the drinks at the moment. I'm just here to keep everyone from a mutiny."

Torph frowned. "A mutiny? Why?"

"He's a greasy pig who is charging anyone he can despite all that's going on right now," she said, eyeing Lloyd distastefully. "If I didn't need this job so badly..."

Fuck. All he could see was Rica. Rica working a horrible jobs with handsy bastards who had no right to touch her. Whose hands should all have been cut off with touching her without consent.

Bloody red headed women exploiting his emotional weaknesses. He just wanted a drink.

"Why are you not in the Chantry with the other women?" Sten asked. "Are you both fighting tonight?"

"Fighting? No!" Red gasped. "No, Lloyd will lock himself up in the cellar tonight and I'll have to run to the Chantry before they board up the doors."

Torph frowned. "He makes you run there last minute?"

Red shifted. "Yes..."

"Give me a second," Torph growled, turning away. "Oi, Lloyd was it?"

Lloyd glared at him. "What? You here to buy a drink?"

"Nah, see I think you owe a lot of people a favour or two for being a piece of shit. So I'm going to give you two options, either you fight tonight with the others you've been charging here or I use you as bait on one of my traps. Probably an exploding one," Torph threatened. "And if you think I won't I'll be having the qunari dragging you there kicking and screaming."

Sten nodded. "Yes, he should be fighting with the others."

"See, Sten agrees with me." Torph grinned.

"That's murder!"

"No, that's using you as bait," Torph said, idly drawing a dagger. "Stabbing you with this would be murder."

Lloyd paled. "Y-You wouldn't dare-"

"I'm a Grey Warden. I currently have a bounty on my head and don't give two shits about your blood on my hands," Torph said coldly. "So you're going to be out there tonight, doesn't matter if you're fighting or you're a delicious piece of chunky meat for the undead to chew on as bait."

"Fine! Bloody hell I'll be out there tonight!" Lloyd cried.

"Good, also the drinks are free," Torph ordered. "Starting with two for me!"

The militia cheered.

"I doubt getting them all drunk was your best idea," Sten grumbled.

"Better than pissing themselves out of terror," Torph said, snatching his drinks from Lloyd. He approached Red. "Well, Red, if you're lucky he'll die tonight and you'll get the tavern."

Red blinked at him. "Wait, you want me to have the tavern?"

"Yep."

"I... I don't know what to say..."

"Make sure Grey Wardens always get free drinks," Torph said, and eyed her. "And don't let another guy treat you like dirt. Don't let anyone treat you like you're shit."

If only he could do the same thing for Rica... Torph shook off the thoughts. Nah, she's saved herself. She found herself a good guy, and if he wasn't a good guy when Torph got there then he'd just murder the bastard instead. Challenge the fucker of whatever. Torph was sure he could take some uppity sob, and if not, he'd set Shale or Narascha on them.

"I'm Bella," she said shakily, smiling broadly. "Thank you for this, Grey Warden. I don't know how to repay you."

"Like I said, free drinks," Torph grunted. "And I'm Torph Brosca."

"Women are the ones who should own businesses anyway," Sten said. "This is much better."

Torph snorted. "At least you're happier now then. Cheers, big guy." Torph raised his tankard Sten's way, but paused at the elf in the corner of the room, hidden in the shadows. "Well he looks perfectly normal, huh? An armoured elf without Dalish markings is an odd sight, and I ain't even from around here."

"A spy," Sten growled.

"Let's see what he's spying on then." Torph winked and approached the table. "Hey, buddy-"

"I'm not looking for company right now."

"Just here to look suspicious, right?"

"I-I'm not acting suspicious!" Elfy stammered.

Torph snorted. "Because that was convincing."

"Look I don't know you or what you want, but I was told to-" Elfy froze. "I mean just leave me alone!"

Torph and Sten shared a look. Sten looked like he had just been stabbed and the thought made Torph cackle.

"You're a funny elf." Torph took out his hand axe and stabbed it into the counter, earning a strangled yelp. He had only just avoided cutting off elfy's fingers. "Talk now before I take a finger or two."

"J-Just because you're a Grey Warden doesn't mean you can go around threatening people!" Elfy cried.

"No, it just means I don't give a fuck if I do or not," Torph growled. "Do you know what I was before I was a Grey Warden, elfy? I was apart of the Carta and honestly cutting off fingers was a big part of my job, as well as other body parts."

"Interesting," Sten mused. "I thought you were just a lazy, uninspiring dwarf."

"That is me in a nutshell." Torph grinned, then glared daggers at the elf. "Talk, elfy."

"This is more than I bargained for!" Elfy cried. "Okay, don't hurt me, I'll tell you. Just don't do anything. I was paid to watch the castle and see if anything changed. They never said anything about those monsters and I've been unable to report back because of that. I have a letter and everything-"

"Gimme." Torph snatched it out his shaking hand, blinked at it, shook his head and passed it to Sten. "I'm not the best at reading."

Sten raised a brow but glanced over the letter. "He isn't lying."

"Nice, and guess what you'll be doing tonight, elfy?" Torph grinned.

"Y-Yes?"

"Fighting like us. Congratulations!" Torph cheered. "See you on the battlefield tonight, buddies!"

He shook his tankard at both elfy and Llyod and walked out.

"You're drinking two of those?" Sten frowned.

"Nah, one's for Nara. She's a bit stressed," Torph said cheerily. "And we dwarves love alcohol."

"I don't understand your relationship," Sten admitted.

Torph faltered. "You know what the mark on my face means, right?"

He stared up at Sten who tilted his head, frowning thoughtfully.

"I do not."

"It means in Orzammar that I'm no better than the dirt that I walk on. I wasn't supposed to be born, none of us who bare this mark should have. We're nothing." Torph clenched his fists. "My best friend and my sister were the only ones who thought I was more than that. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought someone with a caste like Narascha would acknowledge me. By all rights she should hate me. That's what most dwarves would do, but the first thing the Princess of fucking Orzammar did was joke with me."

Sten nodded. "She thought of you as more than what most people thought you were worth."

"Yeah." Torph smirked, trying to push back the soft, sappy feeling of friendship that burned in his chest. "Adorable, huh?"

"She believes you are worth honouring in her own way," Sten mused. "It is admirable, even if I do not see why just yet."

Torph raised a brow. "Just yet huh? I suppose that's hopeful then."

"You have changed my opinion of you slightly after your display in the tavern," Sten said. "I am curious to see what you do next."

"Drinking is my next plan." Torph spotted Narascha in the distance and beamed. "Princess!"

He waved the tankards at her and she lit up.

"Good find, Torph!" Narascha laughed.

"What have you been up to then?" he asked.

"I got Dwyn to fight for us and Ciara got Owen, the blacksmith, to work on repairing armour again. He's making me a set too. I just got finished getting my measurements done."

"You're getting a set too?" Torph blinked. "Surprised he's got enough time for that."

"He says it will be my present if we all survive the night." Narascha grinned. "So we're going to have to commit a lot of murder on these guys, because I want a pair of boots that fit me tomorrow!"

Torph laughed. "Hell yeah, Nara. Let's kick some ass."