Chapter 20: Scouting (Theron)
Theron's first scouting mission turned out to be easier than the elf himself could have imagined. During his hunting trips, he has managed to explore the Korcari Wilds far and wide. Fergus, the man put in charge of the scouts, had managed to recruit a dozen of worthy warriors. Among them, three stood out: Fergus himself, a warrior named Paedan, who deftly wielded a two-handed hammer, and the only woman in the squad, the red-haired Aveline. After traveling quite a long distance, the squad got into only one skirmish with the darkspawn and lost only two men, which was still a good result in the Wilds.
- Thank you for coming with us, Grey Warden, - said Fergus after the squad had crossed one of the Chasind villages. - Without you, we would definitely have fallen into some kind of trap.
- You're welcome, Fergus. How far do you want to go? - Theron asked.
- We'll see how it goes. We would like to find an army of darkspawn, so that there is something to tell his majesty.
Theron saw King Cailan in the camp a couple of times. He wasn't impressed. The king seemed to be a warrior to the core. The Dalish believed that someone else was clearly ruling Ferelden instead of him. If someone like Cailan became a Dalish clan keeper, then his entire clan would die in a "glorious battle" with the shemlens. However, Theron understood why Fergus and the likes of him adored their king.
Unfortunately, the squad did not have a chance to go far enough after the village. Three were killed by hurlock archers that Theron didn't have time to spot. Paedan corrected his mistake by running up to the archers and decapitating each of them in turn.
- Cousland, add five silver coins for each severed head, - he said haughtily.
Aveline walked over to him.
- Are you doing this for money? - she asked with disgust.
- And why else would I do this, lady knight? Leave all these fairy tales about the battle with the greatest evil and all that to the king, he believes in such nonsense. And to me, they're just ugly creatures that I'm paid to kill.
Theron thought that Paedan personified everything that the Dalish elves hate humans for, namely materialism and greed.
- Calm down, Paedan, - said Fergus. - Imagine what will happen if these creatures reach your hometown. My wife and son are waiting for me at home, and I dread to imagine what will happen to them if the Blight reaches Highever.
- I'm lucky that I don't have anyone anywhere, - Paedan answered.
- You don't have a conscience either, - Aveline pointed out.
Since three of the surviving warriors were wounded, and the Chasinds could not help them, Fergus made the decision to send everyone except Theron and Paedan back to Ostagar. Aveline reluctantly complied with the order and left with the other warriors.
- May the Dreadwolf not hear your steps, - Theron told them at parting.
The three scouts continued on their way and after three hours stopped on a hill. Theron shot the hurlock walking alone and climbed up the slope. Fergus and Paedan followed him.
- Oh Creators... - Theron exclaimed.
In the distance, a horde of darkspawn slowly walked. Thousands of hurlocks and genlocks, a few ghouls - corrupted humans who were once Chasinds. There were also huge horned darkspawn that Theron had never seen before.
- This horde is going to Ostagar… - said Fergus.
- We'll stop them, - Theron added. - We will...
Suddenly, some force from outside pushed the elf off the cliff, but he managed to grab the edge with one hand. Theron heard the sound of a hammer and the fall of a body to the ground.
- Arl Howe sends his regards to you, Cousland, - Pedan said to the fallen Fergus and approached Theron.
- Vile shemlen! - shouted the elf hanging on the edge.
- Nothing personal, Grey Warden, but I don't need witnesses.
Paedan swung his hammer at Theron's hand, hoping to cripple his fingers. The elf's only option was to fall off the cliff. The fall was hard, a couple of times Theron hit his right hand on the ledges of the rocks. Falling to the ground, he immediately lost consciousness.
Two hours later, Theron woke up from the fact that his face was licked by someone's tongue. He opened his eyes and saw a black mabari in front of him, the same one he had recently helped to cure. He looked into the distance and saw that the horde was no longer nearby.
- My boy! What are you doing here? - Theron asked.
The dog twirled, wagging its tail.
- You have come so far to save me, I am very grateful to you. But I need to give you a name. Hey, I've just figured it out. Among my people, there is a legend of Fen'Harel, the Dreadwolf. In one legend, Fen'Harel lost a fight to a hound like you. This dog was faithful to his master, protected him with the strength of a wolf and kept his peace even in his sleep. I will call you Fen, which means wolf in my language, in memory of that legendary battle.
The dog barked happily. Theron got to his feet and walked around the cliff with Fen in search of Fergus. There was no one upstairs, there was no corpse, no bones. Either Fergus survived the attempt on his life, or his body was taken by the darkspawn.
- Let's go, Fen. We need to get back to Ostagar.
Theron was sure that the Creators had given him a second chance, since he survived such a fall.