Lots of repetitive exposition in these chapters, especially if you’ve already read My Dark-Haired Fereldan Beauty. I apologize. It’s easy to write about things I already know. On the other hand, I don’t understand all the darkspawn politics, so the exposition you get on that is suuuuper vague. I apologize for that too. Although in my defence I’ve gone back and looked at game videos and it’s super vague in the game, too. Those darkspawn aren’t too bright.
As of this chapter, I officially passed NaNoWriMo for this year. I’m going to try to keep going while I have inspiration on this story, why not? Get lots of it done now and if I run out of steam, at least I made a good start on it. (But the chapters are getting longer, help, I don’t want them to be super long)
Of course, the situation in my apartment is really starting to get dire, and I have three concerts of varying stress levels coming up, and I had Japanese take-out yesterday evening that was highly disappointing. BUT FOR SOME REASON I’M HAPPY. Guild Wars 1 and 2, maybe?
Chapter 3
“Your husband?” I asked Delilah, when Elizabeth was out of earshot.
She nodded. “His name is Albert. He’s a good man, much nicer than that stuck-up noble that Father was trying to set me up with a couple years ago.”
I raised an eyebrow. “This wouldn’t be Albert the Grocer, would it?”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a grocer, Nathaniel,” Delilah said. “And… after how Father changed…”
“He changed?” I asked, a sinking feeling in my stomach, although I already suspected.
Delilah looked at me sadly. “You really don’t know, do you? Come in. I’ll put the kettle on and tell you everything.”
I stayed at Delilah’s house for three hours. She introduced me to her husband, an honest-looking, if rather sheepish man who seemed embarrassed to meet me. Apparently they were expecting a child sometime next year.
And she did tell me everything that my father, Rendon Howe, had done to drag our name into the dirt in order to further his avarice.
I didn’t even know what to say when she was done. My father… how could he have done such things to us? All he saw, apparently, was how much more powerful and popular the Couslands were, and wanted to take it for his own by any means necessary. I knew he had been a rather strict father with little humour, but I still remembered him as a strong ruler and a voice of intelligence and reason in the Landsmeet. To think that he would sink to such things as murder and kidnapping, the torture of innocents… to try to finish wiping out the last of the Grey Wardens, while there was a Blight invading… to imprison the Queen herself…
He had flown high for a few months, almost poised to become King of Ferelden, if he’d had the treachery to do away with Loghain. If he’d had the treachery to betray the Couslands, then perhaps that was his plan, and Elizabeth had stopped him before he could achieve it. Would he have been happy then? Would he have been able to be proud of what he did to gain it? Would it have been worth it? Would I have found out? I had never even wanted to become Arl of Amaranthine, prefering instead the life of a wandering warrior, although my parents had sent me to be squired to Ser Rudolphe in the Free Marches, my mother’s very strict cousin. Who would have inherited his ill-gotten gains?
And instead Elizabeth had struck him down, justly now it seemed, not just for her family, but for many other families, for Highever, Amaranthine, and Denerim, and maybe even all of Ferelden. And my family name was forever cursed by association… I had nothing now, not even my pride in my family’s history. To be sure, my grandfather, Tarleton Howe, had been a traitor to Ferelden, but his brother, Bryce Howe, had supported the rebellion. And Tarleton’s father might even have been a Grey Warden. No family was truly free from scandal, but this… would be hard to recover from, if not impossible. Rendon Howe’s ambition had disgraced my family far worse than Tarleton Howe’s ill-placed political stances.
What was I going to do?
“I think you should try being a Grey Warden,” Delilah said gently as I slumped at her table with my head in my hands. “It’s just the sort of thing you always wished to do. And maybe you will become friends with Lady Cousland. Maybe she can help you redeem our name.”
I sighed a long sigh. “I’ll see where it leads for now. That’s all I can say.”
“What brought you to the city today?” my sister asked.
“Apparently, one of the Grey Wardens who came here from Orlais went missing. The castle was attacked by monsters on the very eve that Elizabeth arrived, and while she protected the castle, all the other Wardens went missing as well, and she hopes that in finding one, she’ll find all of them.”
“So she came here searching for clues.”
“Yes. …I should probably go and see what she found.”
Delilah rose with me. “Be careful out there, Nathaniel. I don’t want to meet you again only to have you die on me.”
I managed to smile. “You take care too, Delilah. I’ll be back. I promise.”
I met Elizabeth and her two companions in the street near the tavern. She looked serious, but not more so than usual. “Any news?”
“It seems Kristoff was investigating strange happenings in the Blackmarsh,” she said. “I’ve heard stories about the place. It’s said to be cursed, isn’t it?”
I smiled. “Ah, the Blackmarsh. If you don’t watch your step, the ground itself will slurp you up like an Antivan noodle. And if the swamp doesn’t get you, the ghosts will.”
She looked at me drily. “You say that as if I should be afraid of ghosts.”
I stopped trying to be spooky. “You do not fear spirits?”
“I’ve put a few to rest. Demons are worse.”
“I think sometime I should hear your side of the story, as told by you,” I told her. “Delilah… told me many things.” I couldn’t hide the disappointment in my face or voice.
She reached out and touched my shoulder briefly before withdrawing again. “I’m sorry, Nathaniel. You seem like a good person. I… wish the past were otherwise, for your sake.” No platitudes about how it must be difficult, no pity. I appreciated that.
“Thank you, Elizabeth,” I said. “I have a lot to think about tonight, it seems. But I do want to keep being a Grey Warden.”
Her mouth narrowed into a thin line, not directed at me, but at herself, I think. “The choice was made for you. Even if you decided you did not want to be a Grey Warden and fled to the farthest reaches of Thedas, you would eventually find yourself fighting darkspawn again. Or so I am told. But I am glad that you want to fight with me.” She lowered her head. “When I was a child, even up to the day my family was killed, I thought it would be adventurous to be a Grey Warden and I would have loved to be one. Then when the choice was taken from me… when I found out what the Joining was… I didn’t want it after all.”
“But you turned out to be the best of them all,” I told her. “It’s said that no other Warden has killed an archdemon and lived, no?”
Her face closed down completely. “That doesn’t make me better. Anyway, my point was… neither you nor I decided of our own free will to become Wardens. And for me… I had nowhere else to go. Duncan needed my strength. And that was that. But for you… I didn’t have to make you a Warden. But I did anyway, because I was angry and it seemed the best solution to my problem at the time. I shouldn’t have done it. I am sorry.”
“Do not feel guilty,” I told her firmly. “I survived, and I intend to see it through. It’s what I always wanted, in a way. And we live noble lives, defending ordinary people against monsters. I like it.”
She looked up at me, uncertain, and I suddenly remembered that she was only twenty years old. “You truly think so?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you done chit-chattin’?” Oghren called back. “The mage and I are going to be halfway back to the Keep before you two so much as make it out of the city!”
We set out for the Blackmarsh the same afternoon; Elizabeth seemed driven to find these missing Wardens and didn’t care that it would likely get too dark to search for anything. Oghren was right up with her, hoping for a fight with something, anything, and Anders seemed resigned to his fate. Although he brought the kitten along. That was probably a bad idea.
I told him so. “You probably shouldn’t have taken the kitten, Anders.”
“Oh, he’ll be fine! He can take care of himself, can’t you, Ser Pounce-a-lot? He lived through the darkspawn attack. A swamp won’t be a problem.” It was a very cute kitten, and he had already trained it to sit on his shoulder. But that didn’t mean it could take care of itself. Well, Anders would only have himself to blame if anything happened to it.
“I always prefered my mabari, Huan,” Elizabeth commented.
“Huan as in from the story?” Anders asked.
“Yes. He might not talk, but he’s just as faithful as that dog.”
“Where’s the mutt now?” Oghren asked. “Shoulda realized you didn’t have him around sooner, gettin’ in everything.”
“He’s fine,” Elizabeth said. “He’s in Denerim now, at Anora’s request.” Her eyes passed over me. “Many mabari died at Ostagar, in the Bannorn, until there were hardly any left to fight in the Battle of Denerim. Anora wants to bring their numbers back as quickly as possible.”
“Ah, he’s a lucky one! Probably eats and lazes about all day with bitches as far as the eye can see,” Oghren said, laughing.
“I would think any mabari who follows the Commander would be a gentlemanly dog,” Anders said. “But I prefer cats. Even Mister Whiskers, the Tower mouser, who was eventually possessed by a rage demon and took out three templars before he was killed.”
“Impressive,” Elizabeth said.
Oghren giggled. “You think only only gentlemen are attracted to Eliza? That dog had terrible manners, runnin’ everywhere, pissin’ everywhere, droolin’ everywhere…”
“Kind of like you, then,” Anders said.
“Yep!”
Elizabeth pointed. “That’s a large skeleton. Are there dragons here? Should we be quieter?”
“You scared, Eliza?”
She shushed him and looked to me.
I hadn’t been expecting that, but yes, I suppose I was the one with the most local knowledge. “I think that might be the remains of the Queen of the Blackmarsh, a High dragon who terrorized the area for many years. She was finally killed during the Orlesian occupation when an Orlesian baroness decided to restore order to this corner of Amaranthine. It’s said, however, that when the moon is full, the Queen of the Blackmarsh can still be seen swooping across her domain.”
“Swooping is bad,” Elizabeth murmured to herself, and I had a feeling she was quoting someone or something. “But we don’t need to fear dragons today.”
“No, I don’t think so. I do have to ask, though, what your plan is, Commander. It’s getting dark and I hope you’re not planning to search the area by night for your missing Warden.”
“No, but I have a map of where he planned to camp, and I was hoping to reach it before dark,” she said. “He was apparently looking into reports of another talking darkspawn, and strange monsters shaped like worms with faces. There’s a ruined village there. His camp is just past that, in the hills above the swamp.” She paused. “If this baroness killed the dragon to restore order, why is it in ruins?”
“That’s another story,” I said to her. “For a few years, the area grew and prospered. But dark tales grew around her, that she used blood magic, that she hired many young girls as servants who were never seen again. Eventually her subjects rose up against her and burned her mansion, but the village of Blackmarsh never recovered, eventually fading away into these ruins here.”
“I see,” she said.
I chuckled a little. “When I was a little boy, I liked to daydream of coming here and setting the place to rights. Chasing out the ghosts and defeating any evil still lurking here.”
She glanced at me with a tiny smile. “We might end up doing that yet.”
Anders pointed at something else, a place where the air… shimmered. “All right, this is getting creepy. Who’s opening tears in the Veil?”
“Is that what that is?” Oghren asked. “What does that mean?”
“They’re… portals to the Fade, where the demons and spirits live. Don’t touch them. The Veil must be thin here. Maybe why that dragon and that blood mage chose to live here.”
“In any case, we must be a little more careful,” Elizabeth said. “I think… I think there are darkspawn nearby.”
“Darkspawn, ghost dragons, tears in the Veil, regular swamp dangers… This just keeps getting better and better!” Oghren said enthusiastically.
Elizabeth hushed him. “I just want to find out what happened to Kristoff. We are not so many or so powerful that we can take on all of those things at once. Perhaps we can come back with a larger expedition at some point to make the area safe.”
Oghren grunted and shrugged.
Kristoff’s camp was right where Elizabeth had said it would be, but it looked as if no one had touched it for several days. Too, there was the corpse of a man lying face-down in the swamp, who looked as if he had been dead for several days.
Elizabeth stared at him grimly for a few moments. “We have come to a dead-end.”
“Unless there’s something in his camp that gives us other clues to talking darkspawn and things?” Anders suggested.
“I hope so,” she said, then whirled suddenly. “Weapons ready.”
The sun had set and the light was fading rapidly from the sky, but out of the fog and mist of the swamp, several large, broadshouldered figures appeared a few minutes later. There were also strange squelching sounds…
My swords were in my hands, ready to fight on Elizabeth’s order. I think she was on the verge of giving the order to attack when the lead figure raised a hand and called: “Warden-Commander!” It was a strange, deep, rasping voice.
“Who goes there?” Elizabeth replied harshly, taut as a bowstring.
“I am called The First,” said the figure, and took a couple steps closer. So did its followers, and now we were definitely surrounded by darkspawn. Darkspawn, and strange worm monsters with tiny legs and horrifying human-like faces. “We knew you would come for the corpse of this one. The Mother said so, and she is always right.” It was so strange, to see a human and a darkspawn, standing face to face and speaking. The hurlock was taller than her – was taller than me, if it came to that – but she remained unintimidated.
“Who is the Mother?” Elizabeth demanded. “What is all this?”
“It’s an ambush,” I said dryly.
“An ambush? An… attack. This is no attack. I bring to you a message. The Mother is not permitting you to further his plan. She is sending you a gift.”
“I don’t want it,” Elizabeth said, baring her teeth. “Whose plan? What are you talking about?”
“She said you might not know. But you will not refuse the gift.” The hurlock held out its hand, and in it was a swirl of sickly green light and smoke…
I came to what felt like only a few minutes later, but it was broad daylight. I scrambled to my feet, my swords still in my hands, and looked around.
Anders was the only one still up, and he was trying to wake up Elizabeth. His cat was nowhere to be seen. Oghren was still out cold. Around us were the same darkspawn that we had been speaking to a short while ago, also in various states of confusion and waking up. The landscape was the same, but different. The sky was not truly daylight, but a strange, golden glow. The land had the same general shape, but it twisted strangely under the eye. For certain, though, the ruined town and the mansion on the seashore were no longer ruined but fully built still.
Elizabeth sat up abruptly and shook her head. “What… what happened?”
“Um, I think we’re in the Fade,” Anders said. “This isn’t the real Blackmarsh. Don’t know how we got here, though. The thingumyjigger that darkspawn held must be the culprit.”
“Where’s your cat?” Elizabeth said, nodding to me and shaking Oghren urgently. The dwarf came to with spluttering and coughing.
“Oh, Ser Pounce-a-lot is far too smart to get caught in the Fade. We’ll see him when we get out.”
“I hope so,” Elizabeth said. “You! What have you done? Why did you bring us here?”
“I am betrayed!” said the talking hurlock. “She did not say we would end up here too! This was not supposed to happen!”
“I could never trust my mother either,” Oghren grunted.
“What was supposed to happen?” Elizabeth shouted.
“I will be leaving you to the Children. I will find my own way back to the world! Back to the Mother!”
“Finally, some action!” Oghren said. “Forget answers, I want to split some skulls!”
Elizabeth snarled and charged, but the talking hurlock was already rushing away from the scene, and his followers, both darkspawn and worm, were charging back, blocking her. It was quick sword-work for a while, and those worms were terrifyingly fast and moved in a way that made me shudder to see, clawing at us with teeth and claws. I was almost more threatened by them than by the darkspawn.
When there was nothing around us but dead bodies and a terrible, unnatural silence, unbroken by the sounds of wind, water, birds, or insects, we gathered ourselves, sheathing our weapons and recovering our breath.
Oghren went over to the water’s edge. “Wait, did that growly nug-humper say we were in the Fade? The Fade! That’s where humans go to dream, isn’t it?”
“So I understand,” Elizabeth said. “I’ve been here once before, before I met you. It’s fine. We’ll find a way out.”
“You don’t understand! Dwarves don’t dream! We sleep like the Stone! I’m not supposed to be here!”
Elizabeth put her hands on his shoulders. “We’ll find a way out, Oghren. At least we’re together this time. Last time I was all alone and every one of my friends vanished before me once they realized they were in a dream.”
Oghren looked up at her sullenly, but quieted. “That must have been what you call a nightmare. You’re right, Eliza. But when we get back to the real world… I’m going to tear this ‘Mother’ a new one.”
“I’ll be there with you,” she assured him. “Anders, any insight on this situation?”
“Eh, no, not really. I think our best course of action is to find whatever’s controlling this part of the Fade and ask it very nicely if it will return us to the waking world.”
“I hope it’s that straightforward,” she said, and turned to me. “Are you all right?”
She was concerned about me? “I’m fine, Commander. A little confused, but ready to fight.”
She nodded. “Then let us head for the town. Perhaps there will be someone there who can help us.”
“Preferably friendly,” Anders said. “Most of the things interested in talking to people in the Fade are demons, and we don’t want those. Hopefully we’ll be able to find a spirit instead, even though they’re less interested in humans. …And dwarves. Mortals.”
We came to the village after some walking and found it… full of people. That was unexpected. Some of them cried out in alarm when they saw us, others came towards us with their faces full of hope. “Have you come to help us? Have you come to save us from the Baroness?”
“The Baroness?” Elizabeth said slowly, with a look at me.
“Not the same Baroness who once ruled the Blackmarsh with oppression and violence?” I asked them.
One of the villagers nodded. “She did horrible things to us, stole our children, and when we finally burned her mansion, she cast one final spell that trapped us here in this grey, lifeless place.”
“We should take you to the spirit,” said another. “He’ll be able to explain a little more.”
“A spirit!” Anders said. “What kind of spirit?”
“A spirit of justice,” said the villager, her face lighting up. “He’s come to help us!”
“Indeed, I have come to help these people,” said a shining ethereal shape. My mind gave it the appearance of a man in armour with a heavy helm on his head. He had a strong, commanding voice. “In the world of mortals, they are dead, yet their spirits cannot pass on. This Baroness keeps their souls trapped here and she feeds on their torment. I watched them for a long time and seethed for their plight, and now I am here to do something about it. And who are you?”
“I am Elizabeth of the Grey Wardens,” Elizabeth said. “My companions are also Wardens. We were trapped here but not, I think, by the Baroness.”
“I do not know what a ‘Grey Warden’ is, but you seem a capable sort. Will you aid us in fighting her and defeating her once and for all?”
“Will it return us to the waking world outside of the Fade?” Elizabeth asked.
“I do not know. But if you help kill this fiend, I promise I will help you find a way out.”
Elizabeth nodded. “In that case, we agree. How do you wish us to proceed?”
“We shall break down the gate.” He turned to the villagers. “Good people, let us take the fight directly to the witch! For too long have her crimes gone unpunished! Now is the time to reclaim your freedom!”
They cheered with a roar and rushed at the gate to the mansion, hurling themselves at it, hacking at it with whatever weapons they could find, until it splintered and burst open. With another roar, they poured into the courtyard, carrying us along with them.
On a balcony on the front of the mansion there appeared a beautiful woman in elegant clothes. She was not young, but her hair was black and shining, and her lips were red. She was flanked by two pillars of what looked like ash, but they writhed and contorted in a way that suggested there was some sort of intelligence there. “All that shouting and you only just decide to barge in uninvited?”
“Foul sorceress!” cried the spirit of justice. “Let these people go and submit yourself to justice!”
“And what of my justice, hmm? These people burned my home to the ground with me within it!”
“Because you were stealing our children for the sake of your… your vanity!” cried a villager.
“You lived on my land! Your blood was mine just as your lives are now!” The Baroness spat, rage contorting her face. Her gaze swept across our little group and sharpened. “But how now? You have gained more sympathizers to your pathetic cause?”
“We are no longer alone,” the spirit of justice said. “The Veil has been crossed by strong allies! You will fall!”
“As it turns out, I am no longer alone either,” said the Baroness, and gestured elegantly. The hurlock who had fled from Elizabeth appeared at her side, grinning at us.
“I have chosen the stronger ally,” said the hurlock to Elizabeth. “Once I have defeated you, she will return me to the real world where I will tell the Mother that I am not expendable!”
“Ooh, big words,” Anders muttered.
“You ran from me before,” Elizabeth said. “Are you so foolish as to think that you can face me now with so few allies?”
“This is so tedious. Have done with them,” the Baroness said with a bored tone.
“Battle is joined!” cried the spirit of justice, charging to the balcony at the Baroness.
Horrible monsters burst from the ground – more creatures of ash and dust. Had the Baroness summoned them? Did she still have the power to do that even when fighting off a spirit? The hurlock might be tough, but she was a bit scarier. The villagers agreed, breaking ranks and fleeing back into the village as the hurlock jumped down from the balcony to stand beside the ash creatures. Well, they weren’t fighters. It wasn’t their job to deal with this.
“I’ll deal with the darkspawn!” Elizabeth shouted. “Keep those things away from me! Anders, use ice!”
“Got it!” Anders cried, and began casting. One ash monster froze solid in its place and a second ice spell shattered it, sending fragments flying everywhere.
I came face-to-face with an ash wraith. How was I going to hurt this thing? Cutting at it would not harm it, would it? But if I did nothing, it would devour me and suffocate me. I lashed out, a blurring series of almost frantic attacks to keep it away. To my surprise, it flinched and quivered, although I was sure I hadn’t actually struck anything. But ash was falling to the ground… was I damaging the spell that held it together? I dodged a swipe from a fairly solid-looking set of sharp claws and slashed again.
Oghren shot past me and chopped it in half with his giant axe, and it collapsed in a cloud of fine particles. I tried not to breathe them in and looked around for another one.
One of them had almost gotten to Elizabeth! She was locked in combat with the hurlock, and it looked much bigger than her right now, driving her back, and she had no time to spare looking around for ash monsters. I sprinted for it, shouting a challenge to it.
It turned to me and before I could block, dove on me, instantly blinding and choking me. I lashed out, but of course I couldn’t feel that I was hitting anything. My eyes were burning as if on fire, and I had probably inhaled quite a bit of ash before I managed to stop my breathing, but if I didn’t breathe soon… I was going to inhale anyway. All I could hear was the rushing of ash in my ears…
A crack of thunder, a blaze of purple-blue light, and then an explosion knocked me backwards and onto my backside. A moment later I heard a small pained grunt. Eyes blurred with tears and pain and flecks of ash, I blinked enough to look up and see – Elizabeth had turned to stab at the thing attacking me, and the thing fighting her had brought its firey two-handed sword down on her side, searing through her strange silvery armour and cutting through her side. Her eyes were unseeing and filled with agony.
“Elizabeth!” I cried, scrambling to catch her as the hurlock pulled his sword out and she fell forward. Oghren charged past us, axe whirling, and slammed into the hurlock with a wild howl.
“I got you!” Anders yelled, and a blue glow pulsed around Elizabeth, once, twice, three times. The flow of blood stopped pouring from her side and her gaze focused again, blinking, on me.
“Nathaniel?”
“Are you all right?” I asked urgently.
“I-I think so-”
“Hey, look out!” Anders yelled, and I ducked as a stream of ice shot by overhead, blasting an ash wraith looming behind us.
I pushed her to her feet and followed. “Must keep fighting, Commander!”
“Agreed!” She smashed the pillar of ice that had trapped the ash wraith and turned back to the hurlock. “You’re going to pay for that! This armour is a gift from a friend!”
“Should not have turned your back on me, then,” the hurlock rasped.
“Oh for the love of-” I began.
“Just drop dead!” Anders cried, and some kind of spell hit the hurlock, who immediately looked a lot wearier than he had a moment ago. Interesting. I didn’t know darkspawn could look weary.
Now with both Elizabeth and Oghren pressing the attack, the hurlock broke away and ran back to the balcony. “They are too much! You must be sending me back through the Veil now, before it is too late!”
The Baroness broke away from her combat with the spirit. “Oh, I’ll send you back. I’ll send them all back, just as they wish! But your life will provide the power, you failure!”
“No! Nooo!” cried the hurlock, but the Baroness raised her hands in a pulling motion, and a sickly green light burst from the hurlock’s body, surrounding us just as before…
I woke to find it was pitch black out, and rain was beating on my face as I lay in the mud in Kristoff’s camp. I curled painfully to a sitting position. I did not seem to have carried over any injuries in the Fade to the real world, but I still felt as if I had fought several rounds of wrestling with a bear – and lost.
Next to me, Elizabeth pulled herself equally stiffly to her feet. I stared. The gash in her side was gone, the blood was gone, the rent in her armour was gone.
A short distance away from both of us, Kristoff’s body flashed with a strange golden light, and then began to move. I started and almost scrambled backwards several feet. He was supposed to be dead! Did we have undead to deal with now too?
“What… Where am I?” Kristoff cried out hoarsely, raising himself to his hands and knees. “What is happening!?” He sounded so lost and confused. If it really was Kristoff, I didn’t blame him. Being dead, and then being not dead…
“No… This is the world of mortals, beyond the Veil!” Kristoff said, pushing himself shakily to his feet. He looked about ready to keel over again at any moment, his legs shaking beneath him, and his face was still drawn and desiccated. “And I am trapped in a body of flesh!”
“…Spirit of justice?” Elizabeth asked in a small, shocked voice.
“Spirit of justice!?” Anders exclaimed. “Ow, my head.”
“Yes, that… is me,” said Kristoff’s body. “But- the Baroness has also returned to this realm! Can you not feel it?”
“She has the power to do such a thing?” Elizabeth asked.
“There was once, perhaps, a mortal like her, who did not. But whatever she was once, she is now a demon of pride. She has much power – enough to even bring herself to this side of the Veil without a host body. And, somehow, to bring me as well, although I am sure that was an accident. I should not be here!”
“Well I’m glad to be back, for one,” Oghren growled. “I wasn’t supposed to be in your silly Fade either!”
“What do you suggest?” Elizabeth asked. “If she has so much power… We can’t let a pride demon loose in the Blackmarsh. In a way, we brought her here. It’s our duty to remove her before she hurts anyone.”
“But I’m so tired, and it’s dark out, and I’m cold and covered in mud,” Anders whined. “Can’t we sleep for a bit and kill her tomorrow?”
“She must not be allowed to rest for one instant!” the spirit in Kristoff’s body exclaimed. “Justice can wait no longer!”
“Then we shall fight her now,” Elizabeth said. “I would want your strength at my back, Anders, but if you are too tired…”
“No, no, I’m fine,” Anders said dejectedly. “I’ll come with you.”
There was a mewing, and Anders’ orange kitten appeared on the branch of a tree above his head.
Anders brightened up. “Ser Pounce-a-lot! I knew you were okay. Come here! Everything’s all right now.” He reached up carefully and took the cat from the tree, setting it on his shoulder as usual. “I’ll be happy to follow you, Commander.”
“Good,” she said, with a tired smile. “You… how are we to call you?”
“You don’t wanna just call him ‘hey you’ from now on?” Oghren asked.
“I am a spirit of justice,” said the spirit. “That is what I am.”
“So, Justice, then,” I said. “Is that acceptable?”
“It is.”
“Then let’s go,” Elizabeth said. “We have a demon to fight.”
Wearily, we tramped back through the swamp, in the pitch black rainy night, towards the mansion, which was brightly illuminated by… something. I couldn’t tell at this distance if it was torches or magic. I hoped it was the former. Justice did not take long to get the hang of his new arms and legs, and I hoped he remembered how to fight, too.
When we reached the mansion, the rain had stopped, and the only sign of life was the Baroness, striding up and down her courtyard, observing what the human world was like, apparently. As we marched through the mansion gate towards her, she turned to look at us with an expression of disdain. “So I was not the only one brought to this world. How very tiresome.”
“We defeated you once, demon, we shall defeat you again!” Justice cried, pointing his sword only a little shakily at the woman.
She began to laugh, a triumphant, unhinged laugh, a laugh that turned into coughing and choking. She fell to her knees, retching, and a green light burst from her eyes, welling out to encompass her whole body. When it faded, a huge creature stood in her place, almost two stories tall, jet black and craggy with about fourteen green glowing eyes.
It was laughing as she had been laughing. “You think you can defeat me, worms? I did not know I had this much power in the mortal world! I will crush you easily and go on to rule it all! Watch in fear, mortals! Watch in envy, spirits and demons!”
“You have no right to speak,” Elizabeth said. “Do not speak to me of your plan to crush us and wrest from us that which we have earned and built with sweat, blood and tears! You know nothing of mortals! We are weary, yes, confused, yes, and yet we will fight you with every bit of our strength to protect our people and our land!”
“Don’t make me laugh more,” growled the demon with amusement. “Face me, and then talk to me of your strength! But you will be dead!”
“I’ll take that bet!” Oghren roared, charging forward. Elizabeth was at his heels.
I sorely wished for my bow. I could have shot that monster in the eye – in many eyes, it had enough of them to spare. It was slow enough I could have done it.
Instead I had my twin swords. Maybe I could distract it while Elizabeth’s magical sword and Oghren’s heavy axe and Anders’ magic did all the real damage.
It was a tiring fight on top of so many other tiring fights and many hours of travel. The creature might have been slow, but it was strong, and it flung Oghren clear through a solid brick wall. If it hadn’t been for Anders, I don’t think we would have made it. But at last, as it was brought low by Anders’ magic, Elizabeth and Justice stabbed it in what might be called its face, and it slumped to the ground with a bone-shaking groan and lay still.
“So it is done,” Justice said, and Anders slumped to the ground, exhausted. His kitten nuzzled his face and he petted it absentmindedly. “For what it is worth, I have fulfilled my vow. May those poor souls rest in peace, wherever they are now.”
“What will you do?” Elizabeth asked him.
“I… do not know. I am trapped within the body of this… Grey Warden, and I cannot go back to the Fade. Nor do I wish to die, as will happen if I let go of this body.” He turned to Elizabeth. “There are memories here, memories this poor man had before he died. He was killed by that darkspawn. He… hunted darkspawn?”
“That is what Grey Wardens do,” Elizabeth said. “The darkspawn would destroy everything we build, and the Grey Wardens defend against them.”
“So that is what you were doing when you were… tricked into the Fade,” said Justice. “Mortal, I know nothing of this realm, nothing beyond these few jumbled memories. What will I do? I do not know. You seem a creature of good character. Would you advise me?”
Elizabeth looked at him for a long time. “You could come with me to Vigil’s Keep until you have a better idea of what you wish to do with your… life.”
“Very well. This body is that of a Grey Warden, and you are a Grey Warden. Shall I join your cause? To avenge this man’s death would seem a worthy goal.”
“If that is your wish,” Elizabeth said, bowing her head courteously. “Someone commanded that darkspawn. Help us defeat her, and then see what you think.”
“Very well. Then I shall go with you.”
We marched back to Vigil’s Keep, bone-weary and starving.
I was in the Great Hall the next day, contemplating the portrait of my mother that still hung there, when Elizabeth approached me from behind.
“Funny, isn’t it,” I said without turning. “Considering all the things that have been taken, it figures that this would still be here.”
“Isn’t that your mother? Lady Elaine?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, it is,” I said, turning. “What can I do for you, Commander?”
Her eyes were still fixed on the painting. “Why is it funny? It’s a nice painting.”
My lip curled. “My father hated my mother. He only dragged out this portrait when my grandmother visited – which was not often, thank goodness. I’d be paraded before her like a soldier on inspection, and every tiny flaw I had would be picked apart while Father awaited his turn.”
She looked at me then, a tiny crease appearing between her eyebrows. “Why did he hate your mother?”
I shrugged. I’d said too much. “I don’t really know. The only thing they ever agreed upon was that I should be squired to Ser Rudolphe. She’s the daughter of Arl Bryland, and you know how wealthy they are.” I grimaced. “Of course, they wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole now. I’d be as welcome there as a bad rash. Anyway… someone should take this down. I think it’s staring at me.”
“As you wish,” she said uncertainly. “I’ll have Gemmet take it down right away.”
“Did you want me for something, Commander?” I asked. Or was she just checking on me again? I’d rather she didn’t. It… made me uncomfortable, to be honest. It was kind of her, but that was the whole reason it made me uncomfortable. It was not something I was used to, or wanted – it was just so awkward. Did she not think it was awkward?
She brought a beautiful longbow from behind her back. “I found this in the cellar storage. It has the Howe crest on it, and since you said you are an archer, I thought you might want it. It’s quite fine.”
I took it from her, surprised. “I… thank you. I do believe this belonged to my great-grandfather, Padric Howe.” I smiled involuntarily. “I think he was supposed to be a Grey Warden, but my family never heard from him after he went to join.” My smiled faded. “I guess he died in the Joining.”
She looked at me with those serious blue eyes. “Then he died a Warden, Nathaniel.”
“I suppose he did. In any case, thank you. I will be able to support you in battle better with this.”
She nodded, happy, I think, and went off about her business. I decided that I had better stop staring at Mother’s portrait and went outside.
I’d just climbed the eastern wall when I heard a high-pitched squeal, almost a scream of joy, ringing through the courtyard and turned to see Elizabeth together with the soldier who delivered mail. Elizabeth had just clapped a hand to her mouth and was turning bright pink in embarrassment to her own reaction to the letter in her hand. I chuckled. News from a dear friend?
She dismissed the soldier and hurried inside.
I smelled Oghren before I heard him. “Betcha ten coppers she’s gone in there to flick the ol’ bean,” the dwarf leered with a giggle.
I shot him a look. “That’s a very… uncouth thing to say about your friend and commander.”
“Only reason she’d squeal like that is because of the elf,” Oghren said.
“I’ll take that bet,” Anders cried. “I suspect she just won the lottery. That’s the sound I’d make if that happened. Isn’t that right, Ser Pounce-a-lot?”
“Nah, it’s the elf,” Oghren said confidently.
Anders considered. “On second thought, you’re probably right. Women don’t blush like that over the lottery. Ah well. Ten coppers, was it?”
“You’re both terrible,” I told them.
Although I’d learned something interesting. Elizabeth still hadn’t told me her story. She had an elf lover, did she? And she didn’t hide it? Interesting.
I lurked around the great hall for a while after that, and sure enough, she showed up again after about an hour. She looked happy, a smile hovering on her lips and a spring in her step that threatened to turn into a skip. She was definitely in love, badly, madly in love with someone.
“So that was different,” I said to her as she entered the hall, and her confident step stumbled in surprise.
“You startled me,” she accused me.
“Sorry,” I said, with a sarcastic half-bow. “Although, you startled me earlier as well, with that scream. Good news, was it?”
Her face lit up involuntarily. “Yes. My lover has made it safely to Antiva. I wasn’t expecting him to write so soon. Although it wasn’t his safety on the voyage there that I’m chiefly concerned for, the silly man…”
“Tell me about him,” I said. “You still have told me very little of yourself. How did you meet?”
She hesitated, then laughed. “Your father sent an Antivan Crow to kill me. I knocked him down instead, and then he asked to join my group rather than go back and be killed by the Crows for failure. Then it turned out he was a complete Casanova.”
“Oh my. And you actually fell for him?” The serious noblewoman and the amorous assassin… it was difficult to imagine.
She hesitated, her smile turning wistful. “It was a difficult journey. I think it’s fair to say we fell for each other. The only reason why he isn’t at my side now is that the Crows found him again, and he left in order to destroy them.”
My eyes widened. “Well, he certainly doesn’t lack for ambition, then. Good luck to him.”
“Indeed. But he told me he is the best Crow, so… I have hopes that he will remain alive.”
“You must miss him.”
She nodded, looking into the distance. “Very much. But…” Her smile returned, broadly. “Just hearing from him makes me happy. I’ve already written a reply. I don’t know when he will receive it. I doubt he’ll be able to remain in one place for long, and having a mailing address would surely be a death sentence… but he’ll get it somehow, and then he’ll know that I’m thinking of him always too.”
How very sweet. “Good for you, then.” She hadn’t mentioned he was an elf. She must not care.
“Oh, and there’s something I should tell you about that almost slipped my mind,” she said, suddenly turning businesslike. “Tonight is the… event where all the nobles of Amaranthine come to meet me and swear their oaths of fealty, with their words if not with their hearts.”
I smirked. “Your cynicism is delightful. Do go on.”
She snorted. “That was all. I was about to ask the servants to bring in flowers.”
“Does it need flowers?” I asked, looking around at it. It did seem tidier than usual, somehow. Ambassador Cera’s runes had been removed, and the floor had been scrubbed, the rugs beaten out.
She shrugged. “Elra told me it would be nice. Anyway, you don’t have to attend. I just thought I’d tell you so that you could plan your evening.”
“But I may attend, right?”
“If you wanted to.” Her voice suggested that she couldn’t think of a reason why I’d want to.
I made another half-bow. “It would only be proper to support my new liegelady. I’ll be there.”
Darlingest Liz,
Greetings from Antiva!
The weather was good on my voyage over, and there were no delays, no pirates, nothing particularly unusual. A silly Crow did try to kill me, but that is not unusual. I dropped him in the ocean and I believe he is attempting to swim to Kirkwall currently, as well as one can do when one is missing feet. I hope it is nice where you are, although knowing Ferelden as well as I do now, I do not have high expectations.
You have not experienced any assassination attempts since I left, I hope? I would really much prefer to be where you are, my sweet. Antiva is so dull without you to brighten it. Even with the Crows trying to hunt me down, this place lacks the excitement of being at your side. I never thought that these things I once thought so fun would feel so tedious – the running, and the hiding, and the stealthy ambushing and slaying of murderous wretches. I almost prefer your style of combat, the ‘charge blindly headfirst into danger because Zevran will take care of the rest’ style of combat. I tease, my darling. Actually, I do prefer your style of combat, because I get to watch you when things aren’t too difficult. It’s impossible to find anyone with your righteous fury and solemn sweetness in this country. Ah, well. I have been busy, although I shan’t tell you with what, and I expect the Guildmaster will agree to meet me soon. Or maybe I should kill him. What do you think?
I hear the darkspawn have still not gone away? They are like houseguests who overstay their welcome, no? I am saddened you have to deal with such business without me. I must deal with the Crows, but when I return to you, not even sharp razors will be able to separate us!
Until then, you remain in my dreams. Especially the naughty ones.
Yours always,
Z.
Dearest Zevran,
So many things have already happened since we parted ways in Denerim. You are correct about the darkspawn. They were assaulting my castle when I arrived! I slew every monster I could find, and then when the dust had settled, Anora showed up with Elra and Master Wade. Then I found out that all the Grey Wardens stationed here disappeared during the attack. Forgive me if I seem to complain overly much, but it’s a bit of an unwelcome surprise to find that all the people I thought I would be able to rely on and learn from simply aren’t there – and I have to worry about them now, too. On the positive side, maybe, is that Oghren is here as well. I don’t know what happened between him and Felsi yet, but I intend to get the story from him as soon as I have two minutes to sit down with him. Don’t worry, I won’t touch a drop of his alcohol.
I have made some other new friends here. The seneschal, Varel, is a practical man and I would be at my wits end running this place without him. There was a mage here during the attack, Anders, and I have turned him into a Warden rather than let the Templars take him back to the Circle Tower. He says he escaped from it seven times, and I wanted to try to let him be free. Oh, yes, Oghren has become a Warden as well. Sadly, Mhairi did not survive. There’s also an odd situation involving a spirit of justice, who calls himself Justice, and being bonded to the deceased body of a former Warden, which I don’t understand in the slightest, but he is here at the Keep for the moment, at least.
And I have saved the oddest news for last: Rendon Howe’s son, Nathaniel, was here when I arrived, imprisoned for attempting to burglarize the keep. I turned him into a Warden as well in a fit of anger, but I think he actually likes being one. He is a much better man than his father, so please don’t worry that he will try to assassinate me – or that he will hire you to assassinate me. That was a joke, but I don’t suppose it was a very good one. I don’t think he and I trust each other much yet, but we did do some sparring, and he helped me drive out a demon in the Blackmarsh, so I think it will turn out all right. He met his sister a couple days ago, and I think she told him how awful his father was. He’s a bit crushed by the news, but at least he doesn’t hate me anymore.
Forgive the overly long letter. I’m so happy to hear from you I can’t seem to be concise. I miss you dreadfully, your wit, your laughter, your eyes, your embrace, but it would be inconvenient to have more than one assassin – you – running about the place. I don’t know about naughty dreams, but I daydream about you every moment I’m not called on to make decisions about things or to fight people. I get fewer moments than I wish, although I suppose it is good that I am busy, too.
I don’t know what you should do about the Guildmaster. Do you wish him to stop trying to kill you, or to take his place? If it were me I would stick with the first one. But you know the Crows better than I.
You might have to stab Oghren when you return, however. He makes so many inappropriate jokes about us, and threatening to kick him to the Anderfels and back only stops his tongue for so long.
Every last bit of my love,
Elizabeth