Chapter 4
The Warden-Commander looked around the group. "Does anyone have any questions?"
Everyone shook their heads and turned towards the gate that led to the Korcari Wilds. As Emma passed Duncan, she noticed a large mabari hound sitting at his feet. Ah, that must be Aedan's hound, and wow, he was huge; like a small pony... just with really, really sharp teeth. She swallowed back her nervousness and approached the hound. Putting out her hand, she let him get her scent.
"Who's a good boy then?"
The mabari barked and wagged his tail, kicking up a puff of dirt. Taking that as a good sign, she reached out and stroked his ear. His fur was smooth and reminded her of a Labrador's coat.
"You're a fearsome-looking doggy." He licked her arm in agreement. Emma chuckled, then with a final pat on his head she turned and caught up with the others.
Aedan moved to her side. "I see you've been making friends with Revek."
"He's a very handsome dog, much bigger than I thought they would be." She glanced over her shoulder at Revek; the warrior dog sat proudly, his tongue hanging out to the side. All right, he looked somewhat dopey too.
"I hope you didn't tell him he looked handsome, it will just go to his head."
Emma chuckled. "No, but I did tell him he looked fearsome."
Aedan threw his hands up in despair. "That's even worse. He'll be strutting all over the place now with his chest puffed out."
She laughed as she asked, "And that's bad, is it?"
He nodded solemnly. "It is. He'll be parading in front of all the female mabari now, trying to impress them."
She threw a smirk his way. "I thought all males did that."
Aedan responded with a devastating smile. "True, my lady, but some of us do it with style."
Their chat was interrupted by the piercing howl of wolves. Emma gripped her staff between sweating palms and held it like a baseball bat. Alistair raised an eyebrow. "Is that the right way to hold your staff?"
She glared at the young Grey Warden. "Do I tell you how to hold a sword and shield?"
"Fair enough, whatever works for you."
He pulled his weapons free and took up a fighting stance. She turned her head in time to see Aedan taking hold of his daggers. Emma was far from an expert, but even she could tell that he held the blades with familiar ease. Then he moved with a speed and agility that took her breath away. Nothing in the game could have prepared her for how graceful and fluid a rogue could be. Looking past Aedan, she saw Alistair strike one wolf with his shield, before skewering it on his sharp sword. In the next breath, he'd already moved on to another wolf. Hypnotised by their movements Emma failed to notice the wolf ready to pounce until it was too late. With a powerful leap, it went for her throat. She managed to get her arm up in self-defence, then screamed as its mighty jaws clamped around her forearm. The animal crowded her so that she had no room to manoeuvre her staff. So much for that idea, although, to be fair, the plan had been to hit them before they got too close.
Abruptly the pressure on her arm vanished and she was dragged to her feet. "No time for daydreaming!" Aedan released her before jumping back into the fight.
"Thanks," she murmured in a small voice, but amid the sound of the battle, it seemed unlikely he'd heard her. This was no good! She was going to get the others killed if she couldn't hold her own. Forcing down her fear, she gripped the staff in two sweaty palms and swung it at an oncoming wolf. It let out a sharp yelp, before struggling back to its feet. She swung once more, making a solid connection with its jaw; this time, when the animal went down, it stayed down.
She moved on to the next wolf and kept going until the sound of fighting stopped. Looking around, she realised all the animals were finally dead. Panting heavily, she leaned on her staff, while sucking in some much-needed oxygen. Wow! She was really out of shape. When she looked up, she noticed everyone staring at her.
"What? Have I got entrails on me?"
Alistair stepped forward, a frown darkening his features. "You lied to Duncan! You're about as much a mage as I am!"
Emma took a step back in the face of his anger. "I never said I was a mage."
"I see, so you carry a staff around just to hit wolves over the head?"
Emma glanced up at the staff, blood dripping down the metal. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
He glared at her and then snorted with disgust. "Go back to camp, gather your things and get out. You're a liability we don't need with a big battle approaching."
She flinched at his harsh words; this wasn't how things were supposed to go.
"Easy, Alistair. She may not know magic, but she still took down a few wolves."
Emma gave Aedan a small smile, grateful for his support.
The Grey Warden turned towards him. "I know that, but would you want her covering your back during a fight?"
Emma didn't like to see Aedan struggling with his reply when it was blatantly clear what his answer should be. She stepped back towards the gate they'd just come through. "Obviously, the answer would be no. I get it."
Turning, she made her way back up the slope. Well, this dream sucked, and on top of that, her arm was throbbing from the bite. Instead of going back to the camp, she walked down to a small pond and lowered her arm, sighing as the cool water enveloped the wound. Her eyes widened as it suddenly dawned on her that if this was a dream, then she shouldn't be feeling any pain. Perhaps she was lying on her arm funny or maybe the paramedics had stuck in a needle? Still, any sort of pain would usually be enough to pull someone from their sleep. Emma wondered whether the lightning strike might have put her in a coma; not exactly a cheerful idea. Either way, the fight with the wolves proved she could be injured, and the storyline wasn't working within the normal parameters.
Emma realised with a start that she could no longer view her time in Thedas as a dream. This was her life, at least for now. Which meant she needed to learn how to protect herself. Thedas was on the cusp of a blight and things were about to get pretty hairy. In order to survive, she had to learn how to use her magic! She looked at the staff laid by her side, grimacing at the drying blood. Yeah, that was going to have to come off, or it would stink to high heaven. She dipped the staff into the water and began rubbing up and down. A picture of Aedan, standing in the water, came unbidden into her mind. Oh Maker, what she wouldn't give to be rubbing his staff! She let out a giggle; that was so bad, but such an erotic image.
With the last of the blood washed off, she got to her feet; held the staff in front of her and focused on the crystal. After five minutes, all she'd gotten for her effort were stinging eyes and the beginning of a headache. All right, this clearly wasn't the right way to go about it. She sat back down and tried to remember what the mages did in the game. Ah! The hand waving in the air. Yeah; that wasn't going to happen.
However, after trying various other means, which included rubbing the staff, holding it in various positions and different ways, slamming it on the ground, and finally kicking it, she eventually relented. Taking a deep breath, she held both hands up; one holding tightly to the staff then moved her arms around. Nothing happened. Perhaps she needed to relax and just try dancing; like at a rave. Okay, she'd never been to a rave; but she'd seen them on YouTube; how hard could it be?
Wave your hands in the air like you don't care...
Great... just great! She was pretty sure that raves didn't include music from the eighties. With a resigned sigh, she sat back down on the grass, tears pricking at her eyes. What the hell was she supposed to do? If she couldn't join Aedan and the others, there was no telling what would happen to her. She pushed back the tears and once more turned her mind to the game. There had to be something in there that could help her. She ran through the Mage origin story and suddenly she could hear the instructor teaching the apprentice.
"...you must control the fire with your will."
Emma could have kicked herself! The power was within her, not the damn staff. Remembering the odd tingling she'd gotten when reaching for the staff the first time, she tried to recreate the feeling. If she was a mage, then there was lyrium in her blood; she needed to stop thinking of this as impossible and just let it happen. Her eyes closed as she slowed her breathing and waited. It wasn't a long wait; almost immediately her skin felt alive and her blood seemed to quicken. She opened her eyes and saw the crystal glowing again. Emma centred in on the sensation, feeling the power grow, spreading within her.
Something was happening. The air crackled and shimmered around her. Without warning her body arched, her muscles tightened and her head felt ready to explode. When the moment passed, she found that her knowledge of magic and spells had increased exponentially. She wasn't sure what had just occurred; perhaps her body had been catching up on twenty years of magic lessons, or maybe it was just her magic becoming active. Either way, she felt an overwhelming relief that she now had a chance to join the others.
Instinctively, she knew which spells were instantaneous and which ones were more complicated. Deciding it would be best to try out her magic before jumping into battle, Emma summoned a flickering orange fireball. All right, this was awesome! Now, all she had to do was figure out how to get it off her hand and onto the enemy. She bounced the ball of flame a few times, but it just wobbled. Perhaps she should make a throwing motion? Pulling back her arm, she heaved the ball of fire and watched it shoot forward, stopping only when it hit a tree. With a loud shout of joy, she danced around excitedly. There was a whoosh and the tree burst into flames. Oh shit! Was there a rain spell? Belatedly she remembered the rest of the conversation from the instructor.
"...it reacts to your emotions."
Emma settled for an ice spell and breathed a sigh of relief as the fire died down. She definitely needed to work on her concentration, but at least the magic was active now. After a brief stop to pick the wildflower that would help the sick mabari back at camp, she took off in the direction of the others, eager to help.
