The stone glittered a fiery red as Linn held it cautiously in her hands. It looked like quartz, but there was an odd magic inside of the stone. As she closed her eyes and focused on the rock, she felt warmth radiate from the stone and into her hands.
"What is that?" Zevran asked, and Linn quickly opened her eyes to see him standing closer than she'd expected.
"I don't know," Linn replied as she looked at the stone. "Did you find anything useful?"
Zevran shrugged and motioned around the empty cellar.
"Aside from a few useful plants, there isn't exactly much to find."
Linn sighed as she put the rock away. After climbing the ladder, Linn took a deep breath. The air still had the lingering scent of smoke and blood, but it was better than the stench of demon and stagnant air.
Linn took out the control rod and walked to the statue. She muttered the words and watched the statue. The golem began to shake. Linn took a step back and kept the control rod and her staff ready. The head of the golem slowly moved, followed by its arms. A fine dust sprayed into the air as the golem stretched out its arms violently before it drew itself to its full height.
The giant stone creature heaved a heavy sigh and mumbled, "I knew that the day could come when someone would find the control rod. And of course it is another mage. That is what it is, yes? Yes. Just my luck."
"Well, hello to you too," Linn replied with a wary look at the golem.
The golem's glowing eyes measured the group thoroughly before it continued as though it hadn't heard Linn, "I stood here in this spot and watched the wretched little villagers scurry around me for, oh, I have no idea how long. Many, many years."
"Oh you poor dear!" Leliana exclaimed with a small gasp. "That would be… really, really boring."
The golem seemed to be pleased by the sympathy as it continued, "I was beginning to get used to the quiet, too. Tell me, are all the villagers dead?"
"No," Linn answered. "We were able to save some of them."
"Some got away, then?" the golem asked in a disappointed tone. "How unfortunate."
Linn decided to change the subject and said, "One of the villagers called you Shale. Is that your name?"
"Perhaps," the golem answered thoughtfully. "I may have forgotten after all of the years of being called 'golem.' 'Golem, fetch me that chair.' 'Do be a good golem and squash that insipid bandit.' And let's not forget 'Golem, pick me up. I tire of walking.' It… does have the control rod, doesn't it? I am awake, so it… must…"
The golem's glowing eyes focused on the control rod in Linn's hand. Strangely enough, Linn could no longer feel any magic from the instrument.
"Maybe it's broken?" Linn muttered to herself as she took a closer look at the rod.
"I see the control rod, and yet I feel…" Shale mumbled before it took on a commanding tone. "Go on. Order me to do something."
Linn let out a little sigh and turned to the group for assistance. Sten and Leliana were more focused on the golem, but Zevran was watching her intensely.
"Okay then," Linn agreed with a small smirk at the elf. "Give Zevran a hug."
Zevran took a step back with his hands in the air, "Hmph. I don't appreciate foreign objects invading my personal space. Well, usually."
Zevran gave Linn a suggestive look. After giving him a disgusted one in return, Linn turned back to Shale to see the golem watching her in silence.
"And… nothing? I feel nothing. I feel no compulsion to carry out its command. I suppose this means the rod is… broken?" Shale asked no one in particular.
"Guess that means I can't control you. Shouldn't you be happy about that?" Linn asked, surprised by the golem's lack of reaction. Perhaps it was simply in shock.
Shale looked at the control rod as it replied, "Hmm. I suppose if I can't be commanded, this means… I have free will, yes? It is simply… what should I do? I have no memories, beyond watching this village for so long. I have no purpose… I find myself at a bit of a loss. What about it? It must have awoken me for some reason, no? What did it intend to do with me?"
"Well, to be honest, I was hoping to use you to fight darkspawn," Linn answered guiltily. "But that was before I knew you were a sentient being… I had just assumed that golems were animated rock, but now… I guess that's up to you."
"I see," Shale replied and looked away from the control rod, "Wonderful. I suppose I have two options, do I not? Go with it… or go elsewhere? I… do not even know what lies beyond this village."
"So I was told that you killed your former master…"
"Did I?" Shale asked with amusement. "I remember that I had a former master. The mage with the furry brows who poked and prodded and barked orders. Did I kill him? I hope I did kill him. Perhaps the last order he barked was, 'Golem, stop crushing my head!' Ha!"
Linn was feeling remarkably less assured about her choice to free the golem. On the one hand, it had appeared that the mage had used the control rod to abuse the golem, but on the other, the golem seemed far too happy about crushing heads for Linn's liking.
"Hey wait… I notice you don't call him 'it,'" Linn replied irritably before realizing that she had been thinking of the golem in the same way.
"Yes. I'm just funny that way," Shale answered nonchalantly as Zevran chuckled.
Linn glared at him before turning back to Shale. Leaving the golem here could be dangerous for the people of the village, and it would be handy to have an extra pair of hands when fighting whatever monsters they found next.
"What do you want to do?" Linn asked Shale with a small sigh.
Shale looked around the burning village as though deep in thought. "I watched this village for so long, unable to move or act. My memories of anything before are… vague at best. So I have no idea what I want to do. I am glad to be mobile, is that not enough?"
"You're welcome to come with me," Linn offered. "You'll be able to crush plenty of darkspawn heads if you do."
Shale agreed, "I will follow it about then… for now. And yes, I am called Shale, by the way."
"And you can call me Linn. Nice to meet you."
"This should be interesting," Shale said with amusement as Linn began to lead them out of the village.
A glittering in the distance caught her eye, and Linn walked closer to see a corpse reaching out to a small key. It was too small for a house key. It likely went to some kind of chest. Linn gestured for the others to wait as she looked around to see what the key would open. Sten and Leliana hung back to talk with Shale, but Zevran followed her.
"Are you certain that it is… a good idea to take the head-crushing golem with us?" Zevran asked as Linn checked the tall grass around the houses.
"As certain as I am that it was a good idea to not only have mercy on my would-be assassin but to take him with me as well," Linn snapped back irritably.
"Oh, forgive me. You are so wise, and who am I to question our fearless leader?" Zevran replied in a fake chipper tone.
Linn checked to make sure the others weren't watching before she pulled Zevran out of sight.
"What is your problem with me?!" Linn demanded. "If you don't like what I'm doing, fine, but you don't need to watch me like… I'm some sort of ticking time bomb."
"Some sort of what?" Zevran asked with genuine confusion.
"Like I'm dangerous. If you don't want to be here, then you can leave. I won't kill you for leaving."
"That is not why I'm watching you."
"Then why?"
"I enjoy the view," Zevran replied with an easy grin.
"Impossible," Linn whispered and walked further up the hill.
"Impossible to what?"
"You. You're impossible."
"Well, I am here… so I appear to be quite possible."
Linn rolled her eyes before she replied, "I meant… that you're just difficult to deal with."
"Oh, I have on good authority that I'm actually very easy," Zevran replied playfully.
Linn tried to hide her smile, but the smug look on Zevran's face told her that he'd noticed her amusement.
"Did you see any kind of chest around here?"
"Well, I do not want to sound rude…" Zevran said, looking at her torso meaningfully.
"Lockbox, you ass! Did you see one?"
"There may be something in the distance," Zevran replied with a frustrated sigh and pointed to a house in the distance.
Linn walked quickly to the house and found the locked chest. There wasn't much inside of the chest. Just some healing herbs and a knife.
"That knife appears to be of decent quality," Zevran mused as he looked at the knife. "Unusual for a village such as this."
Linn stood up and held out the blade's handle to him. Zevran hesitated for a moment before he took it from her hand.
"There you go… as a thanks for helping me with that demon earlier."
Zevran looked from the knife to her face in confusion.
"You are the difficult one," Zevran mused, and Linn crossed her arms and glared at him. "I meant to say… You are difficult to predict. One moment you do not like me, and the next you give me a gift."
"What can I say? I like to keep people on their toes," Linn said with a small, smug grin of her own. "Think of it as… incentive. If you want to get more things from me, then make sure that I live long enough to do so."
Zevran looked at the knife then back to her face with a question in his eyes. Linn raised a brow at him in return. With a sigh, Zevran said, "I hate to ruin this perfectly good moment, but I have to ask… For how long?"
"What?"
"How long will you be here? I heard you speaking with your mysterious partner the other night. He seemed to be ready to spirit you away."
Linn narrowed her eyes at Zevran, but he didn't seem to be trying to get under her skin. It was a genuine question. Unfortunately, it wasn't one that she had an answer for.
"Look… I don't exactly have a fixed timeline for this kind of thing. At the moment, I'm just trying to set things up so that you guys have a chance of defeating the Archdemon and darkspawn when I do leave."
"And who will be the one defeating the Archdemon? Grey Wardens aren't exactly easy to find nowadays."
"You have Alistair," Linn answered, and Zevran rolled his eyes. "What? He's been a Grey Warden longer than I have."
"You cannot have experience without age; however, you can have age without experience. Just because one has done something longer does not always mean that they are the better option."
"And I am?" Linn asked with a laugh. "Alistair is an actual warrior. I'm just… He's the better fit for a hero. Trust me on that."
"You did not have to save that girl," Zevran mused. "In fact… were it up to Alistair, would he have been able to save that boy at the castle or the girl? Or would he have simply killed them to save the others?"
"Sometimes people have to make hard decisions-"
"But you did not," Zevran interrupted her irritably. "You saved the boy even though it took far more time and work to do so, and you saved the girl even though it put you at risk."
"Yes, and by doing those things I put others at risk. If Connor had hurt people while I was at the tower…"
"But he did not. You did not leave them without assistance. I doubt that demon would have been brave enough to attack our dear swamp witch… I certainly am not. What I am saying is… It is certainly odd for someone so giving to simply leave when we need help the most."
Linn gripped the staff in her hands tightly as she felt a twist in her heart. "That's why I'm trying to set you guys up for success."
"And where will you go? Surely, the Blight is a threat no matter how far you travel."
"I-"
The sound of a snapping twig made Linn quickly turn to see Leliana, Sten, and Shale watching them with confusion.
"You had been gone for a while, and I just wanted to make sure every-" Leliana started when she was quickly interrupted by Shale.
"It already wants to leave us. How cruel. So very like a mage."
"I'm not leaving right away. Look at what you started, Zevran," Linn said quickly and gave Zevran an irritated glance. He looked rather pleased with himself, which just made her angrier.
"I thought that Grey Wardens were dutiful," Sten mused.
"I've been a Grey Warden for about a damn week! Look… I'm not going anywhere until I've made sure that you guys have support for the Blight. I'll explain everything when we get back to Redcliffe. I'd rather wait until everyone is there."
"Everyone? Or do you mean Alistair?" Zevran muttered, and Linn fought the urge to elbow him in the ribs.
"So let's start heading back. We can make camp before dark, and then we should be there by tomorrow night."
"I believe that it is simply stalling to come up with an excuse," Shale accused.
"A little bit," Linn admitted. "But it won't be an excuse. It's a long story, and I'll be thinking of a way to make it shorter. Just for you."
"A good idea," Shale replied. "I would hate to have to listen to some droning tale."
Linn looked to Leliana and Sten. Leliana seemed to be deep in thought, and Sten gave her a slight nod. After another irritated look at Zevran, Linn began to lead them out of the village. A clucking caught her attention. A lone chicken wandered by the body of a darkspawn. Linn briefly wondered if the contaminated blood would hurt the animal before she continued down the path. She hadn't heard of a darkspawn chicken, but she doubted that it could do much damage.
A shriek caught her attention, and Linn quickly turned to look at the chicken. It was gone. A mess of blood and feathers was all that remained. Linn gave Shale a measuring look, and the golem shrugged in return.
"Ah… what a wonderful crew you have assembled," Zevran muttered with glee. After rolling her eyes, Linn continued down the path.