Chapter 1: The Grey Wardens of Ferelden
Chapter Text
It was raining heavily in Amaranthine, but Lawrien ignored that in favour of staring out towards the estate with a heavy frown. Mhairi looked confused, her brow furrowed, as she searched the main road. Lawrien had a bad feeling.
Something wasn't right here.
“We were supposed to be greeted by now,” Mhairi murmured. “Where are the other Grey Wardens?”
“Maybe they didn't wanna come out into the damn rain,” Torph groaned. “The good thing about Orzammar, since it doesn't have rain to bounce off my head.”
“Baldy,” Narascha teased.
“Shut it, Princess. Go do your nails.”
Lawrien had missed this. She had missed this so much. Lawrien was so glad that they had returned from Orzammar when they did, and Faren was back too from his travels with Zevran for a visit. Cobian had even returned from Highever to help her sort out their new keep. Loghain was stuck in Orlais now, the poor man, she had no idea how he would handle that...
Maybe burn all the Orleisans inside the base...
Cobian would probably keep her informed either way. He was still in contact with Loghain after all.
Just a shame this visit was filled with more darkspawn. Lawrien saw them chasing after a man, so she lit all six darkspawn on fire, burning them to a crisp, as Mhairi stared, slack jawed. The man skidded to a halt too, stunned, while Lawrien walked over, tugging her hood down.
“I'm Warden Commander Lawrien Amell,” she announced. “What is going on here?”
“I-I don't know,” the man stammered. “They came outta nowhere.”
“Darkspawn ambush?” Cobian frowned. “Interesting, but why did none of the Grey Wardens pick up on it before hand?”
Torph sighed. “By the Stone, dammit, fuck. I'm sick of this shit. Why does this crap always happen when we're around?”
Narascha shrugged. “We're definitely cursed.”
“All I heard was screams and people dying, and I ran out as fast as I could, but they chased me-”
“Go find out if there are any patrols on the road,” Lawrien ordered. “The rest of you? Let's go.”
“The seneschal should be here,” Mhairi said. “He was the one who sent me out to escort you here, Commander.”
“Alright, recruit, I guess we'll get our first taste of battle together,” Narascha said.
Lawrien nodded. “Stay close, this will be a big battle, Mhairi, but we've got your back.”
.::.
Torph grinned as Narascha charged in, already tearing into darkspawn in the courtyard. Faren shrugged and climbed the walkways to the walls, splitting off, as Cobian headed for the other side of the walls, while Lawrien headed straight for the estate. Torph followed after her, as darkspawn began to fall from the walkways, and Mhairi kept close to Lawrien's side.
“How did the darkspawn get so far in?” Mhairi frowned. “How did the Wardens not sense them coming?”
“Yeah, that part is weird,” Torph admitted.
Lawrien perked up, then gasped and bolted for the doorway on the stairs above. Torph watched her curiously, even as Narascha and Cobian walked in, and Faren climbed down from the beams above.
“ANDERS!” Lawrien yelled.
Torph paused. “What the fuck is an Anders?”
“Wasn't that one of their siblings?” Narascha asked.
Cobian nodded. “Yeah, Anders, Ciara, Jowan, Lawrien and Myra.”
“I think that's all of them.” Faren shrugged.
They followed after Lawrien who had said 'Anders' squeezed into a hug. Anders was squeezing her just as hard back.
“I can't believe you became the Grey Warden Commander of Ferelden!” Anders cried out. “When I heard that I almost had a heart attack, and Ciara is now the Queen of Ferelden? And Myra is an Archmage? What the hell did you three do?”
“A lot,” Lawrien laughed. “Killing Archdemons gives you perks. Speaking of which, do you want to help us take back my base?”
“Your base?”
“I'm an Arlessa now. This is my estate.” Lawrien grinned wolfishly.
“You're WHAT?!”
“Uh... what's up with the dead Templars?” Torph asked.
There were a whole group of them lying on the floor, still and no longer showing any signs of life.
“Er... I didn't do it...” Anders replied.
Narascha looked over them and grimaced. “Yeah, they are covered in claw marks. It was definitely the darkspawn unless Anders here has sharp nails.”
Anders grimaced. “I have dirty nails, but they aren't particularly sharp.”
“Yeah, well-” Narascha began, but they all froze when the sound of explosions rocked the estate around them- to be bloody honest, Torph swore this was more of a castle than an estate, what was even the difference between them all anyway? They were all fancy!
“That was loud,” Lawrien groaned.
“Can anyone else hear a crazy guy laughing?” Faren asked, his eyes narrowed.
“Nobody else has your fancy elf ears, Faren,” Torph said.
Lawrien perked up again. “Hey, wait, Oghren's here!”
“Oghren?” Narascha blinked.
Torph shrugged and followed after Lawrien. Lawrien who burned her way through darkspawn without even batting an eye. She hadn't even noticed Anders staring at her, in a mixture of awe and a little horror, as they ran through the hallways.
“Since when could you just burn darkspawn to a crisp?” Anders asked.
“I fought the Archdemon,” Lawrien reminded him. “A regular darkspawn is a piece of cake for me these days.”
“Yeah, fucking Archdemons,” Torph grumbled.
“You were protecting Myra at the time if I heard right?” Narascha raised a brow.
“Yeah, still, it was an asshole.”
“It was a difficult fight,” Cobian agreed.
By the time they got into the next room Oghren was slaughtering his way through the darkspawn with his axe. He turned, gave them a cheerful wave, and cut down the last of the darkspawn with a grin. He wandered over to them and leaned against the banister, staring down at them.
“There you lot are!” Oghren greeted them. “When these darkspawn showed up, I thought 'just you wait until Lawrien gets here. You'll all be burnt to crisp', and here you are! With the princess, duster, noble, and kid elf too.”
“Why am I still kid elf?” Faren complained.
“Yo, drunken bastard,” Torph greeted.
“Hi, Oghren.” Narascha waved.
“You all know him?” Mhairi looked astounded.
“He's an old friend,” Faren grinned, as Lawrien rushed over and hugged Oghren with a laugh.
“It's so good to see you!” Lawrien beamed, pulling back. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I'd give it a try at being a Warden,” Oghren said.
Lawrien tilted her head. “It's not something you can back out of afterwards.”
“I'm fine with that.”
Torph felt awfully suspicious at that. Wasn't he with Felsi right now? A Felsi who had a newborn baby with Oghren last Torph had heard from the rumor mill.
Eh, guess it wasn't really Torph's business, even if he was worried that Felsi would break down their door to get to Oghren... maybe that's why he wanted to join the Grey Wardens. Maybe he was hiding from Felsi?
Who knows?
All Torph knew was that he was sick of surprises, and their newest surprise was a talking darkspawn.
How wonderful.
He thought that the dying recruit Mhairi was friends with had lost the plot from blood loss, but nope. He was right.
FUCK!
They only arrived in time to save a soldier from being kicked off the wall by a darkspawn. Lawrien's glyphs caught him, and threw the man up behind them.
“The Grey Wardens,” the darkspawn said. “Capture them. The others, they may be killed.”
Capture? Why the fuck?
“Nope!” Torph shook his head. “Fuck this shit-”
“Hang on!” Lawrien yelled, and blasted at the talking darkspawn with fire.
Faren darted in and slit the throat of the one holding an older human hostage, freeing the man. Anders quickly healed him, just as Narascha cut down the other darkspawn. The talking darkspawn went flying off the roof, where he kicked the soldier off, and was impaled on the spikes below.
Fucking irony in that one. Good job, Lawrien, for her sick sense of humor.
“Commander...” the older man looked frazzled. “I... thank you for saving me...”
“Are you alright?” Lawrien asked.
“I'll be fine... thank you...”
“Mhairi, help me put out the fires,” Narascha ordered her. “Oghren, Faren, patrol the castle, make sure there are no leftover darkspawn.”
“Yes, ma'am.” Faren winked.
“Got it, Princess.”
“Why?” Torph groaned. “Talking fucking darkspawn. I had enough with just the hordes of darkspawn, never mind a talking one!”
Lawrien laughed. “It's always us that has to handle the crazy stuff, huh, Torph?”
“I hate it! I hate it so much!” Torph complained. “I want to go back to Orzammar. I'm a Paragon, they worship me now.”
Lawrien cackled.
“Don't laugh, you asshole!”
Anders sighed. “I think I'll just go start healing people.”
.::.
The trumpets blared, signalling Alistair's arrival. Faren followed the others out, grinning at the sight of Alistair. It felt so good to see him again. Okay, yes, it wasn't that long, but considering he got used to seeing Alistair everyday for just over a year, it did make Faren miss him and so many of the others more.
Ciara was with him, but oddly enough she climbed out of a carriage with Myra Amell, while Alistair climbed down from his horse. They were in well dressed travelling clothes, surrounded by guards, but of course the guards parted for them and allowed their group past. The kingsguard quickly surrounded the area, patrolling along the main road and around the carriage.
“It looks like I've arrived a bit late!” Alistair grinned. “Too bad. I rather miss the whole darkspawn killing thing.”
Faren bowed, earning a groan of despair. Cobian joined in too and the groan grew louder.
“You two, seriously? I ordered you both never to bow at me again. Cobian, you're a Cousland, you should know better than to break my orders,” Alistair lectured, but he yelped when Lawrien leapt past him with a squeal, hugging Ciara.
This hug was strangely very gentle and Faren couldn't help but stare, baffled. Myra smiled, she was standing right by Ciara's side, her expression surprisingly soft.
“You're pregnant!” Lawrien beamed.
Alistair choked. “How did you-”
“So small!” Lawrien cooed, her hand gently touching Ciara's stomach and now that Faren looked at her properly he could see a very small bump forming there. He could also see Cobian's almost wistful look and laid a hand on his shoulder to hopefully comfort him. Cobian gave him a sad smile, and patted his hand.
“It's alright, thanks though,” Cobian whispered, then raised his voice. “Congratulations, both of you. You must be excited.”
“Yes, and no,” Ciara said, sighing. “My emotions are a bit of a wreck at the moment, and the constant sickness is leaving me exhausted.”
“Have you picked any names?” Lawrien grinned. “Am I going to blush?”
Ciara snorted. “I am not inflicting your name on my child if they are a girl.”
“Awww, spoilsport.”
“Lawrien is a pretty name, but you're too chaotic,” Ciara said, smiling warmly. “But for a boy we did pick Duncan.”
Alistair took Ciara's hand and squeezed it gently, his eyes warm. “And for a girl we picked Alicia. A little random, we know, but we both thought it sounded pretty.”
Narascha smiled warmly. “Duncan is an amazing name, he would be so proud of both of you. As for you, Ciara, hopefully the sickness and exhaustion will fade soon.”
“I sure hope so,” Ciara groaned.
“Heh, you're gonna get fat,” Torph sniggered. “Ow!” he yelped, rubbing his head.
“Ass.” Narascha shook her head.
“Rude,” Ciara huffed.
“PREGNANT?!” Anders yelled.
Ciara chuckled lightly. “Yes, hello, Anders. It happens when a man and a woman lay together. It also helps that before and afterwards a powerful Spirit Healer attended to me.”
“I now have my own suite in the Royal Palace.” Myra smirked.
“I do not want to hear that!” Anders cried, torn between gaping at Ciara or at Alistair. “I was supposed to meet the guy first and threaten him about breaking your heart. You got married without me!”
Ciara chortled. “You really need to stop running away at the worst times.”
“I wanted to spill all the humiliating stories I've gathered up over the years about you at your wedding yet I didn't even get invited... Why is my sister so terrible to me?” Anders complained.
Oghren bleched. “You missed out, kid! It was a long night!”
“Forgive me your cutting in, your Majesties, but this man is dangerous!” the templar woman snarled.
Alistair blinked. “The dwarf's a bit of an arse, but-”
Anders hung his head. “She means me...”
Ciara threw Lawrien an odd look who shrugged. Ciara then sighed. “Well whatever damage he did this time I'll take care of it. What is it this time? Stolen crops? Chasing chickens? Releasing a bull? Accidentally icing someone's dog?”
“I healed that dog...” Anders grumbled. “And that bull was deadly...”
“He murdered my Templars!” the woman hissed.
Ciara looked amused, but it was Lawrien who cut in. “Lady, you must think we're stupid or something. Anders ain't stupid enough to kill Templars, never has been and never will be.”
“I would not have put it so bluntly, but yes. The Commander is correct,” Ciara interjected.
“Thankfully none of us are,” Myra mused. “It helps keep my stress levels down.”
“You never look stressed.” Anders blinked.
“It's a talent I learned from dealing with all of you.”
“Regardless, if the templar wishes to press on, which I know she does, then I will be recruiting Anders into the Grey Wardens,” Lawrien said firmly, narrowing her eyes when the templar tried to protest. “With the Right of Conscription.”
“You can't-”
“I can,” Lawrien said firmly. “Or are you challenging the Grey Wardens Right of Conscription?”
“A Grey Warden?” Anders startled. “Me?”
“Way to go, kid!” Oghren grinned.
“It will be a welcomed idea to fight alongside you again, ser mage.” Mhairi smiled warmly.
“I will allow it,” Alistair said. “Now, what is the situation here?”
“Whatever darkspawn remained have fled, Your Majesty,” the old knight said. “The Grey Wardens who arrived from Orlais either appear to be dead... or missing...”
“Missing? As in taken by the darkspawn?” Alistair startled. “Do they even do that to Grey Wardens?”
“I do not know, Your Majesty, all I know is that we cannot account for all the Grey Wardens,” the old knight said.
“I see...” Alistair's brow furrowed. “Well I am glad that you all are at the very least safe.”
“This is such a mess, Alistair!” Torph groaned. “We faced off against a talking darkspawn!”
“A what now?” Alistair blinked.
Ciara raised a brow, and shrugged when Alistair look at her. “Don't look at me,” she said. “I have no idea.”
“Yeah, a fancy one talked,” Lawrien said. “I set it on fire.”
“Then launched it off into the spikes down below.” Oghren said, jerking his head at said spikes, where the darkspawn was impaled on.
“By the Maker...” Alistair groaned. “I don't envy you all. You have quiet the task ahead of you, and with only so little Grey Wardens again...”
“Hey! What am I? Chopped nug liver?” Oghren complained. “I came here to join the Grey Wardens, and it looks like you could use the extra hands! Now where is that cup? I'll gargle and spit!”
Lawrien cackled. “Yeah!”
“Please don't spit,” Narascha groaned.
“Bah, fancy Princesses!” Oghren scoffed.
“I'll unfortunately need to take my leave, if you have everything under control here...” Alistair sighed sadly.
“I believe the estate is secure, yes. We have suffered great losses, but the darkspawn are gone and there are survivors,” the old knight said. “And oh, please excuse my manners, Commander, I am Varel, seneschal of Vigil's Keep. And I am most grateful for your timely rescue. I will be aiding you in ruling the lands of Amaranthine.”
“Thank the Maker!” Lawrien breathed out in relief.
Ciara chuckled. “I had the feeling you might have said that.”
“I wish we could stay here and help you all again, but we're supposed to be touring the bannorn and meeting the nobles at their estates to check on their repairs,” Alistair sighed. “It's no easy task, but I trust you all can handle it.”
“Please be safe on the road,” Faren said. “I know you have a lot of guards, but things are getting strange.”
“With talking darkspawn?” Alistair snorted. “No doubts about that. We will let you know when we arrive safely.”
“And if anything comes after them I will freeze it into a statue,” Myra said.
Faren gave Ciara and Alistair quick hugs, as did the others, before they left. It was sad seeing them go, but Faren understood why. They were busy now as a new royal couple. They had to keep the peace between the bannorns, and this tour of theirs would do it wonders.
“I suppose we better go and start the Joining,” Cobian mused.
“Yeah, let's go,” Narascha said.
Chapter 2: The Joining
Chapter Text
Varel thankfully knew how to do the Joining. That was a relief, because the rest of them didn't, and Narascha didn't think all of them had the mental capabilities of doing so and not shattering if one of their recruits died. Cobian had offered to do it first, but in all honesty, she wasn't entirely sure he could handle the emotional repercussions of a death of a recruit. He'd either crumble from the pain, or block it out, and that would only come to crush him later on. No, Narascha had lost men under her command before. She had watched them die. She knew how to process their deaths as a former Captain, and even Commander of Orzammar.
So she had offered, only for Varel to bring out the Joining chalice with a kind smile.
That had lifted quite the weight off of Narascha's shoulders for sure.
The bigger problem was that Lawrien was here. The empath. Their empath. Oghren was her friend, and Anders was her brother.
If either of them died...
“Lawrien, you can't be here,” Narascha insisted.
“Yes I can.” Lawrien crossed her arms stubbornly.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Torph cleared his throat. “You really shouldn't, Lawrien, not with your empath abilities. That shit is gonna suck ass either way with the Joining.”
“Oghren is my friend, and Anders is my brother. Mhairi is also a promising recruit. I want to be here as Duncan was,” Lawrien insisted, but went to Faren's side when he gestured her over, and pressed in close to him, taking his hand in hers to squeeze it tight.
Narascha sighed at the sight, then eyed Cobian, who was now reading reports and writing down notes, scribbling numbers all over them. There were letters about Vigil's Keep, the lands of Amaranthine, Denerim, Highever, and Gwaren, and that was all she caught in a brief glimpse. That was horrifying.
Really, really, horrifying.
How many places was he working on rebuilding exactly?
Faren was trying to work on the Denerim reports, but Narascha could actually see his will to live slowly crumbling away with each second that passed by.
“The time has come for the joining,” Varel began.
Oghren, Mhairi and Anders stood before him. Cobian was working at a hastily pulled over table, Torph leaned against it, while Narascha stood at Varel's side. Faren and Lawrien stood a little further away, Lawrien's hand gripping his tight.
“I shall now speak the words that have been said since the very first,” Varel continued. “Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows were we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn.”
“Except by Epona,” Torph grumbled under his breath.
Cobian kicked him, earning a strangled yelp, that made Varel pause, confused.
Narascha waved on Varel to continue, with a strained smile. They weren't supposed to talk about that. All anyone else knew was that Epona caught herself on a ledge of Fort Drakon and survived the battle that way. Nobody else knew she had actually fallen to her death and Witherfang revived her.
None of them knew how Witherfang had done that either. Epona was still trying to hunt the wolf down for answers.
And now she could ask too, because her ability to speak to animals had strengthened a lot since her death. Epona and Calenhad actually had proper conversations now.
Calenhad who was in Highever right now, training the recruits, from what Cobian said.
Narascha could just picture Calenhad chasing new soldiers around the fields, biting at their heels. She shook off the daydream when Oghren approached Varel, scowling at the Joining chalice.
“From this moment forth, Oghren, you are a Grey Warden,” Varel announced.
Oghren sneered. “What is this? The sampler size? Are you trying to say something about my height, eh?”
Varel threw Narascha an unsure look. “This is... this is the goblet we've always used...”
“We retreived it back at Ostagar during the Blight,” Cobian said. “Ciara found it if I recall correctly.”
“Yeah, we all drank from it too.” Narascha shrugged.
“Really? Bah!” Oghren scrunched his nose, but took a drink from it. He lowered the chalice down, smacking his lips, then handed it back over with a shrug. “Eh, not half bad.”
They all stared at him in stunned silence, before Narascha laughed.
“He's been drinking for so long that not even darkspawn blood phases him anymore?” Narascha chortled. “By the Ancestors, Oghren, what have you been drinking all your years exactly?”
“For fucks sake.” Torph shook his head.
“Maker help us all,” Varel sighed, even as Anders grinned and Mhiari shook her head.
Cobian chuckled, but shrugged when Varel eyed him too. “I am just as confused as you are by that, Varel,” Cobian admitted. “Even Epona passed out afterwards, and she had been tainted for months before the Joining if I remember correctly.”
Varel shook his head, but handed Anders the chalice next. “From this moment on, Anders, you are a Grey Warden,” he said, probably trying to regain some form of sanity after having dealt with Oghren.
Oghren who shrugged and sat down. “Chug it, kid!”
Anders ignored him. “So that's it? All I have to do is drink darkspawn blood?”
“That is it. Yes.”
“Well if I wake up two weeks from now bound on a ship to Rivain in nothing but my smallclothes, and a tattoo on my forehead, I'm blaming you,” Anders said, narrowing his eyes as Varel.
“That's oddly specific,” Torph snorted.
Anders eyed Lawrien, who gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. Anders nodded back and drank. The moment he handed the chalice back, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he hit the floor with a loud thump. Lawrien let out a breath of relief, almost crumbling against Faren, who grinned and hugged her tight.
“From this moment forth, Mhairi, you are a Grey Warden,” Varel said, handing her the goblet.
She took a hold of it eagerly, smiling nervously, but Narascha could see the excitement in her eyes. “I have awaited this moment,” Mhairi said softly.
Varel took the goblet back and stepped away, just as Mhairi began choking and gasping, clawing at her throat. Lawrien stiffened up completely, letting out an alarmed cry, and Faren yanked her out the room. They wouldn't get far enough away in time. Fuck, Narascha tried to calm herself, but she still was sad when Mhairi hit the ground, still choking and gasping for breath, before her desperate gasps died off, and she went still, slumping against the ground.
“How the fuck can we ever tell who will survive or not...?” Torph asked, his face fallen. “She really wanted to be a Grey Warden... she knew the consequences, and didn't shy away from them, just like Daveth...”
Narascha squeezed his shoulder gently. “Yeah...”
“I am sorry, Mhairi,” Varel said mournfully. “May the Maker watch over you now.”
“That's what happens to someone whose body can't handle the Joining...?” Oghren walked over, his face grim. “Fuck... poor girl...”
“I'll have Anders taken to a room, and I'll personally take care of Mhairi's funeral,” Varel said. “Meanwhile, there is a prisoner you might be interested in dealing with. A thief. He's been locked up for three nights and it took four Grey Wardens to take him down. He survived the darkspawn attack by throwing stones at them through the bars of his cell.”
“Huh, weird,” Torph mused.
“Faren will be with Lawrien for a while, but we could all maybe go handle that?” Narascha asked.
“I'll come too,” Cobian said, gathering his paperwork, pinning them to a clipboard. It must have made for a heavy stack. “I could use a walk.”
“Damn, Cobian, why did you take on so much work?” Torph asked, as they made their way to the dungeons.
“Fergus is swarmed in reports for Highever after what Howe did to it, and is still trying to spend time with Oren, while training up our new recruits and have the castle in running order again,” Cobian said. “Our lands also need repairs after Howe stole so much of the funding going to our towns and farmlands, so they need to be sorted, as well as over charged taxes and...” Cobian groaned. “Howe did a lot of damage to our home, and I refused to let Fergus deal with it all by himself.”
“Okay, but what about Gwaren?”
“I'm the Teryn there, remember?” Cobian chuckled. “It was destroyed by the darkspawn, so I have to oversee the rebuild. Thankfully it wasn't heavily tainted, and anything that was had been cleanesed with fire, and many lives were saved as they sailed off the moment they knew the darkspawn were coming.”
“Fuck, man, what about Denerim?”
“Faren is really bad at reports,” Cobian said, grimacing. “I couldn't stand it anymore. Lawrien is even worse, so I took hers too.”
“You're insane, noble,” Torph teased.
“This is fine, it's a sign of progress that we are rebuilding, or beginning to at any rate. The lands will slowly recover from the darkspawn, and from Howe's and Vaughan's cruelty,” Cobian said. “Then progress can be managed. Faren and Shianni are already working on rebuilding the Alienage properly with the right fundings and arguments, better than before, I had plans made too for the rebuild. I managed to settle that before I left Denerim.”
“You were in Denerim?” Torph blinked. “I thought you were in Highever.”
“I have been travelling a lot,” Cobian sighed. “As I said before, it means progress, and good progress at that, especially with Epona working on her grove down south in the lower hinterlands area. Not many dalish have gathered yet, but that will take time and resources and-” Cobian paused, one foot into the prison. “Nathaniel?”
The thief startled, looking up from his cell to stare wide eyed at Cobian. “Cobian? What in the world?”
“I would ask the same thing of you,” Cobian admitted. “Narascha, Torph, meet Nathaniel Howe, Nathaniel, meet two of my fellow Grey Wardens, Narascha Aeducan, and Torph Brosca.”
“Howe?” Torph raised a brow. “Cobian, do I need to stab him?”
“No, he's fine. He wasn't even in Ferelden at the time,” Cobian said, already looking back down at his paperwork.
“So where is the Commander of the Grey? I heard she is meant to be ten feet tall, and that lightning bolts shot out of her eyes,” Nathaniel mocked.
“I assume she shrunk in the bath,” Torph joked.
“I just imagine that the Wardens who murdered my father would have been more impressive...” Nathaniel said, a bite to his tone.
“They didn't murder him,” Cobian said, earning a startled look. “I did after he killed most of my family in the dead of night.”
Nathaniel's eyes hardened. “The Couslands were going to sell us out to the Orlesians.”
“Did your father tell you that?” Cobian raised a brow.
“How could he? A Grey Warden broke into the Arl of Denerim's estate and murdered him before I could.”
“Well then, imagine my surprise when I wake up in the middle of the night, after our men had left, marching down to Ostagar to save Ferelden from a Blight and fight alongside King Cailan, to find my former Uncle's men tearing through my home,” Cobian said, his eyes burning with cold fury. “They went to my brother's room first. Do you want to know what they found?”
Nathaniel was silent.
“They found my six year old nephew, and my sister-in-law, and tried to kill Oren. A six year old. Oriana threw herself in front of him, and the blow killed her. She died to protect him,” Cobian continued on, voice ice. “And do you know what your dear father told me afterwards when we were preparing for the Landsmeet? That he made my father watch as my mother kissed his feet, and slit her throat before he died.” Cobian tilted his head. “How do you think that made me feel?”
“Cobian...” Nathaniel's face fell.
“His death was quick, and that is all I will say on that,” Cobian said. “What I will ask you though, is if you came here to try take our lives?”
Nathaniel sighed heavily. “I came here... I thought I was going to try to kill the Warden Commander who stole my home... to lay a trap for her... but then I realised I just wanted to reclaim my family's things... It's all I have left...”
“He's telling the truth.”
Narascha jumped at that and whirled around. Lawrien stood in the doorway with Faren, Faren who looked pretty pissed as he came up to Cobian's side, and laid a steady hand on his shoulder, while Lawrien made her way to the front of them all, tilting her head at Nathaniel.
“You're the Warden Commander?” Nathaniel's brow furrowed. “You're... you're rather young...”
“Not as young as Oren was when your father tried to have him killed,” Lawrien said, eyeing Cobian. “Honestly, I don't get how anyone would have believed the Couslands could have been traitors. They are far too loyal to the Theirin's, even when it is bad for them.”
“Paperwork is not a bad thing,” Cobian protested, clutching his clipboard tighter to himself.
“You're doing Fergus', Alistair's, Faren's, mine and yours,” Lawrien reminded him.
“I enjoy it,” Cobian added, a tad defensively. “It's like being back in the library.”
Lawrien laughed, shaking her head fondly. “Alright, Cobian, tell me about Nathaniel Howe. I want to hear from you, considering you know him.”
“Not very well though, he has squired in the Free Marchers for about eight years now, serving under Ser Rodolphe,” Cobian said. “If I recall correctly, he participated in a Grand Tourney, and his archery skills were well commented on.”
“Is he the type to murder us in our sleep?” Torph asked.
Cobian raised a brow. “Given my history, I wouldn't be the best to advise on that, after what his father did to my family.”
“Look... I don't know what happened with the Couslands...” Nathaniel sighed tiredly. “But from what I hear, and you told me, Cobian, it was horrible... the entire war was... but what my father did shouldn't harm my entire family. We are pariahs now.”
“Okay, join us then,” Lawrien said. “I'll conscript you.”
“What?” Nathaniel yelped. “No, hang me first!”
Faren laughed at how shocked Nathaniel was, while Narascha couldn't help but smile. Of course Lawrien would want to recruit him. Typical.
“Nah!” Lawrien scoffed. “If I do that then I can't make you suffer my presence. You're going to become a Grey Warden, and bring honour back to your family's name, or whatever you nobles do, and I'll make you suffer for thinking about assassinating me through my antics or something. I did it to Loghain, now it's your turn.”
“I admitted I was trying to kill you,” Nathaniel said, astounded.
“Eh, that's how we met Zevran, and now he and Faren are in love.” Lawrien jerked her thumb back at Faren, who laughed sheepishly.
“She's not wrong...?” Faren grinned.
“I'll handle his Joining,” Narascha offered. “But, Lawrien, are you sure about this?”
“Yep.”
“Okay then.”
Nathaniel shook his head. “I don't... you're going to agree with her so readily? I was planning to kill her-”
“She would have been fine, trust me,” Narascha sighed. “Whatever trap you would have made? Lawrien would have somehow survived it. She's got such an insane amount of luck that it's scary. Now, c'mon, Archer boy. We're going to find Varel again. He's going to just love this.”
Chapter 3: Organising
Chapter Text
Cobian was scribbling fast on his papers, his brow furrowed in concentration, while Lawrien tilted her head at Voldrik. Anders was chilling against the wall, watching the rain fall beside them. As far as Cobian was aware, Narascha had taken Torph and Nathaniel down into the basement to go handle darkspawn trapped in the rubble by Dworkin, Voldrik's brother who loved explosives just a bit too much for Varel's liking.
Maybe Cobian's too actually, but he also worked with Lawrien, and Torph, so explosives were a given in this job.
Faren had taken over his own paperwork for Denerim again, leaving Cobian's paperwork slightly less now, and was inside trying to concentrate on it all.
"So all you need is eighty sovereigns?" Lawrien grinned. "Okay, that's easy enough."
"Hang on-" Anders choked. "What do you mean that's easy enough?"
"Lawrien kept looting bodies throughout our entire journey through the Blight," Cobian said, "Even more than that before hand. I think she has well over five hundred."
Anders choked again.
"Take one hundred just to be one the safe side," Lawrien said, grinning wolfishly. "I want my walls to be indestructiable."
"That's the spirit, Commander!" Voldrik grinned. "Good luck to anyone trying to break down these walls. HA!"
"So we're taking out of your personal funds, rather than the Keeps?" Cobian asked, writing the amount down.
"Yeah, I'll pay for it," Lawrien said.
"As for the granite, I believe the Wending Wood has a good supply of what you might be looking for, Master Voldrik. When the area has settled down, we could send out a scouting party to check on it," Cobian said, scribbling down the note as a reminder for himself to send out said scouting party.
Lawrien grinned at him. "Cobian, you are a blessing for doing all this paperwork. I'll buy you more books for your room, or send money to Gwaren to fix up more stuff."
"That would be great actually," Cobian said.
"Are you just supplying everyone now?" Anders asked, shaking his head. "I still can't get over the five hundred... where are you even keeping all that?"
"I've got spots everywhere for it, Faren told me to do that so nobody could steal all of it at once," Lawrien said. "Some is at Soldier's Peak with Levi and Avernus, some is with Myra, with the Thieves Guild, the Grey Warden estate in Orzammar-"
"She's literally been putting gold everywhere," Cobian said.
"I have about two hundred on me right now," Lawrien said cheerfully, handing Voldrik a bag of it.
"How...?" Anders squeaked.
"I'll give you some later," Lawrien said. "But I need to build a vault here to store the rest of my money in."
"We have one for the Vigil's Keep, but not your own personal one," Cobian said. "Maybe you could have one in your bedroom?"
"Maybe..." Lawrien mused. "I'll think about it."
Cobian nodded. "I've already written what we need for Wade and Herren down too. They want silverite to craft armour for our soldiers. I believe that is in the Wending Wood as well, so that would be handy to send the scouts out for that too."
"Alright, anything else we need to do out here?" Lawrien asked, then sighed. "I am sorry I'm relying so heavily on you right now, by the way, I've never built anything. I warned Alistair about this when he gave me Amaranthine, but nooooo, this was a reward for the Grey Wardens..."
Cobian laughed. "It's alright, Lawrien, thankfully I know what I'm doing, especially after working with Fergus to rebuild Highever, and myself on Gwaren. It's actually starting to become much easier for me, especially since you're willing to use your own coin to help fund rebuilds."
"You and Highever can't?" Lawrien tilted her head.
"Not after Howe took so much of it," Cobian grumbled. "Loghain had been maintaing Gwaren with his city council, but after it fell to the darkspawn, the funds aren't really there anymore, so all my personal coin is going to pay the stone masons and woodworkers to try rebuild homes and shops. The civilians are also beginning to craft again so that we can trade and make sales to bring in money again as well, but that kind of effort takes time and patience, which is difficult while my people suffer out in the cold and grow hungry from lack of food."
Lawrien grimaced. "Whatever money you need, tell me."
"Unfortunately the whole country is mostly in this state right now. Most of the northern cities are fine, if a bit overwhelmed by refugees, but the south is in a terrible state right now," Cobian explained. "Epona is helping by working on her grove for the elves, and having Denerim's Arl as an elf, and its Alienage as a Bann, has also been very good for them too, but there is so much that needs to be done."
"I'm getting a headache just listening to all that," Anders joked, with a strained smile.
Cobian smiled. "You can imagine how I feel. Now I'm going to check on Faren's progress, meanwhile could you check on Varel, see if he has anything we need to do?"
"Will do." Lawrien nodded. "Want to come along, big brother? You can help your sister save whatever is left of her sanity from politics."
Cobian chuckled as he left them.
"Not sure how much help I'd be, but I'd be happy to anyway, little sister," Anders said cheerfully.
"Yeah, I-" Lawrien went still, then cursed and bolted. "I'm going after Narascha! She's fighting ghouls!"
Anders startled. "Ghouls?"
"Nathaniel is in trouble!"
.:.
"Nathaniel!" Narascha yelled.
Torph cursed. Archer boy was getting swarmed, they were all getting swarmed. Torph punched another ghoul in the face with the butt of his hand axe, then cut down another one.
Fuck, he hadn't realised so many people had tried to hide in the basement. He hadn't realised they would have all turned into ghouls either. Fuck! He really was starting to regret coming back here. What the fuck was wrong with Ferelden?
As a Paragon in Orzammar, he had gotten used to be spoiled rotten. It was fucking awesome. His family were nobles now, Rica's son was the heir to both Aeducan's and Brosca's houses.
Fucking awesome.
It certainly amused Narascha, especially when Bhelen built a statue of both Torph and Narascha right in front of the palace. Narascha's name and deeds had long since been restored to her house.
But shit, not the time now, Nathaniel was practically getting his face clawed off by Adria. He needed to get over there. Oghren was fighting his way over, but there was so many damn ghouls. A familiar ward appeared around Adria, and she was thrown off Nathaniel and into the wall. Lawrien storming into the caves, her sword tearing through ghouls that charged her way. Anders healed the claw marks on Nathaniel's face as he shakily sat up, his eyes wide with horror, before he raised his bow and fired a few arrows at Adria, even as tears burned in his eyes. Lawrien's fire quickly swarmed the other ghouls, lightning them up, and burning them quickly into ash.
"Anders, go heal the prisoners that were in the cells, and the mabari hound," Lawrien ordered. "She was badly wounded and exhausted."
"On it." Anders nodded, running off.
"Voldrik-" Lawrien began, her brows furrowed.
"This is how humans apply their stone craft?" Voldrik's nose wrinled in disgust. "Disgraceful!" he scoffed, shaking his head. "I wager these tunnels go down deep."
"Do you think that is where the darkspawn originally came from?" Lawrien asked.
Torph went up to Nathaniel, who stared down at Adria mournfully.
"I... I'm sorry..." Torph said uneasily.
Nathaniel sighed softly. "It is not your fault. You only just arrived here today, and if I had known that people had hidden in the basements... I would have told someone..."
"Still fucking sucks..." Torph awkwardly patted his arm, then walked away back to Lawrien's side.
"Alright," Lawrien said. "Once the rubble is cleared, let us know, and we'll find a better way to keep the darkspawn out of the Keep. We can't afford to have them ambush us again."
"Very well, Warden Commander." Voldrick bowed his head.
"So..." Torph trailed off. "Good start to rebuilding the Grey Wardens, huh?"
Lawrien laughed tiredly. "Yeah, it certainly has been quite the strange way of going about it." She shook her head. "And there's only more to go from here..."
Torph frowned, then spotted a vine wrapped around Lawrien's wrist, and his eyes narrowed. "Epona...?" he whispered to her.
Lawrien nodded. "She has information on the Wending Woods."
"Guess we better go see our grumpy elf then."
Lawrien grinned. "You know she hates it when you call her that."
"Doesn't make it any less true."
"The only thing is... do I bring the recruits?" Lawrien frowned.
"Only Oghren knows about Epona out of them all." Torph grimaced.
"Yeah... oh well..." Lawrien shrugged. "She'll be in the gardens in an hour anyway."
"How the fuck does a vine tell people that?" Torph grumbled.
Lawrien grinned. "Magic."
"Yeah, yeah," Torph snorted. "So, how did you find the nobles?"
Lawrien's face scrunched up in disgust. Torph couldn't help but cackle at that. Lawrien had been forced to let the nobles swear feality to her, one by one, and while Anders had marvelled over the sight, Lawrien had looked as if she had been dying inside. She had handled it fairly well though, even if the noblewoman who liked the City of Amaranthine was pissed off with Lawrien for not focusing their guard patrols on the city, rather than the farmland.
But the city had walls, while the farms had jack shit. The farmlands were getting attacked by bandits and darkspawn. They needed the protection more.
So fuck the noble lady.
Cobian had said the same thing, well, not exactly like that, but Torph felt as if the sentiment was the same.
Chapter 4: The City of Amaranthine
Chapter Text
Narascha found Cobian sitting on the floor with the mabari's head in his lap. Anders had spent a lot of time healing her, at least her major wounds, and said she only had to rest now. She was cuddled against Cobian's legs, dozing away, while he shuffled through more paperwork. Faren was sitting beside him on his other side, writing away on his own clipboard.
“Lawrien said we should meet in the gardens,” Narascha said. “We have a old friend joining us.”
Cobian blinked. “We do?”
“Yeah, not sure how it works, but apparently Epona will be in the garden in minutes,” Narascha said, shrugging at Faren's odd looks. “I don't know how she does it.”
“She did say something about being apart of the land now last time I saw her...” Faren mused. “I didn't think she meant that quite so literally.”
“It's Epona,” Cobian pointed out.
“True,” Faren sighed.
Narascha chuckled. “Think you can ease the little lady off your lap, Cobian?”
“Give me a moment, she has been resting after all,” Cobian said, handing Faren his clipboard, before going to pet the mabari. She whined softly, but Cobian comforted her, even as he eased her head off his lap. “Good girl,” he praised. “You rest now. I'll check up on you later.”
She curled up, dozing back off, even as Cobian stood up, stretching out his back with a groan. Faren grinned and stood up too, handing him his papers back. They followed Cobian out of the study, and down the halls towards the back of the estate. It wasn't too long of a walk, and when they went out into the gardens, they found Lawrien, Torph and Oghren already there, and Epona walked out of the flowers just as Narascha stepped foot into the gardens.
“Epona!” Lawrien greeted warmly. “It's good to see you.”
“It's good to see all of you too.” Epona nodded. “You look well, even if a little harrassed.”
“More than a little,” Torph grunted. “The darkspawn aren't retreating like they're supposed to. It's a fucking mess, elf.”
Epona grimaced. “Yes, I have felt their corruption still on the lands, and their waring factions.”
“You can feel all that?” Narascha tilted her head.
“I am connected to all the lands in Ferelden now,” Epona said. “My feelings brush against everything that touches nature. The Lady of the Forest, I don't know how far her own reach was back when she was alive, but I don't think it was anything like this. Whatever Witherfang did to me, I still do not understand it. Myra tells me I feel more like a spirit than anything else, even though I still have a heart beat.”
“I hate to make the comparison... and please don't punch me for this...” Faren said, very reluctantly. “But could it be like what happened to Vaughan? He got possessed by a desire demon, and it kept him alive.”
“I have yet to need to feed the spirit if that is the case, nor can I hear it,” Epona said, her brow furrowed. “I still haven't found Witherfang either, but that is not why I came here. I came here to assist.”
“You want to help us? Aren't you building your grove in the hinterlands?” Faren asked.
“It is in progress, but there is trouble in the Wending Woods, something there stirs... and so much blood has been spilt now,” Epona said, her brow furrowed. “I can feel it soaking the ground, even as we speak... and the animals on this side of Ferelden are troubled. Their distress has been keeping me awake. I need to fix the trouble before I can return to my grove.”
Epona sighed heavily when they all shared looks.
“I'm sorry, this isn't how I wish to act,” Epona admitted. “I know I'm not entirely acting like myself these days, but it is hard to concentrate with so many voices, and so much magical energy. I do not feel like Epona Mahariel right now.”
Faren placed his hand on her arm, and pulled her into a hug. Epona breathed out heavily and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him close.
“Thank you, da'len,” Epona said softly, then pulled back, smiling fondly. “I can feel all your energies across Ferelden. It's a good feeling, but hopefully once whatever magic this is settles, I will feel more like myself again.”
“It can't be easy,” Narascha said. “A lot happened during the Blight, and things did change for us, but you of course faced the biggest change out of all of us, and none of us know how to help. I hate to say.”
“You all staying alive helps,” Epona said. “And it was nice to feel you and Torph both return from Orzammar. My reach doesn't go down there unless I really focus on the plants down there, and of those, there are hardly any.”
Epona shook her head. “No, I will concentrate now. I said there is a danger in the Wending Woods, the caravans that are being destroyed, the lives taken, and I feel it might be from the darkspawn. I can feel the taint corrupting through the lands, but it never leaves, and stays in a specific location there, but I also feel old magic, more akin to mine, which I wish to look into.”
Lawrien nodded. “Alright, then we can go there together.”
“I also feel Wynne's presense in the city of Amaranthine,” Epona said, frowning as she crossed her arms. “I do not feel Shale though. I thought they were going to Tevinter together?”
“Weird, guess we should check up on Wynne too then, see what she is up to,” Narascha said. “It would be nice to see how she is getting along.”
“It might be good to head to the city first actually,” Lawrien said. “The new captain of the guard, Ser Garevel told me how some hunters might have found a darkspawn breeding ground. Colbert... I think? Garevel didn't have a name for his friend, but he did say Colbert... I hope...” Lawrien grimaced. “I hate trying to remember all this... but yeah, Varel also said about Kristoff, a Grey Warden who was out in the field, he was probably staying in Amaranthine's city too.”
“So we can start from the city, and plan as we go along,” Cobian said, nodding. “Alright, we have some form of a plan beginning to stir, so we best get on with it. We have a lot to do.”
.::.
“Excuse me, I'll need to search your packs for smuggled goods,” the guardsman by the gate said.
Lawrien grinned. “Sure, of course.”
Faren groaned at the thought, while Epona glared daggers at Lawrien from beneath her cloak. They were going to be here for a while. The poor fool smiled warmly at that and nodded, even thanked them (that sweet, innocent man), as Lawrien lowered her pack from her shoulders. That was until another guard rushed up, shaking his head.
“What are you doing, man?” the guard asked. “Are you accusing the Commander of the Grey of smuggling?”
“I-I... but you said everyone, Constable...” the guardsmen protested.
“You are dismissed.” The constable approached them, bowing his head. “Welcome to the City of Amaranthine, Commander Amell, I apologise for the rude welcome. Smugglers and thieves have all but taken over this city.”
“Don't worry about it, I was fine handing my pack over either way,” Lawrien said, lifting up her pack again. “I'm glad to see you're all taking precautions.”
Epona sighed. “You were happy to hand it over because you put everything in there.”
Anders grinned. “She always likes to cause some form of chaos.”
Lawrien laughed. “It's not that much!”
“We only just left the Keep, and you've managed to half fill it from looting the bandits who attacked us on the way here,” Epona complained.
“The smugglers certainly do have us scrambling, Warden Commander,” the constable sighed heavily. “We could certainly use your help in this. Come speak to me later if you're interested.”
He bowed again, and left to go back to his post within the gate. They made their way into the city itself, it wasn't long before they were stopped though.
“Oi, about time you showed up,” an woman scoffed at Anders.
“Namaya? You're still here?” Anders startled.
“I keep my promises.” She handed him a note. “Here, it turns out you were right. The cache is here in Amaranthine.”
“It is?” Anders beamed. “You found it?”
“I did. Whatever you do with that information is up to you. I for one, am done dealing with mages,” Namaya said, glancing around, a little worriedly.
“I er... I guess I should thank you.” Anders smiled sheepishly.
“Damned right you should. You get caught, Anders, and I won't be helping you out again. That's all I'm saying,” Namaya said, then turned on her heel and hurried off.
Epona raised a brow at that, while Lawrien grinned. Faren watched Namaya leave, a bit worried that she sounded so wary.
“Is that a girlfriend?” Lawrien teased.
“No!” Anders yelped. “I... I suppose that requires some explanation though, and before you say girlfriend again, Lawrien, no, she's not, Namaya is a friend, she's usually a lot more welcoming than that actually... something must have went wrong... but anyway, the last time I escaped the Circle, I asked her to look into something for me.”
“Your phylactery,” Lawrien breathed out.
Anders nodded. “Yeah, you guessed it. They still have yours, mines and Myra's, and I wanted to see if there was a way to destroy them.”
“Mine is already broken, as is Jowan's,” Lawrien said. “An Antivan Crow got a loan of mine from the crown, but Ciara destroyed it when he attacked us.”
“An Antivan Crow? Jeez... glad Ciara destroyed it though, surprised she had it in her.” Anders grimaced. “I heard about Jowan from rumours on the road. I heard you let him get away from Redcliffe before the nobles could kill him themselves.”
“Or send him back to the Circle to be Tranquil, or let the mobs have him, yeah...” Lawrien sighed. “I don't know where he went to after that, and honestly, I don't want to know. As long as he's safe, I'm happy.”
Epona closed her eyes and nodded. “He is walking the roads... tired, but hopeful, with many others...”
Anders raised a brow at her. “Right... what's up with her?”
“None of us know,” Faren admitted, sighing.
“Anyway, Lawrien, it turns out the phylacteries were stored here during the Blight, and haven't all been moved back just yet. Mine is among them,” Anders said hopefully.
Lawrien's brow furrowed. “Namaya was scared of something, Anders...”
Anders frowned. “So you think it's a trap?”
“Could be, I suppose there is only one way to find out,” Lawrien admitted. “Faren, Epona, you okay helping us out?”
“Sure, even though this is highly illegal and we're supposed to be highly respectable nobility now,” Faren teased.
Lawrien laughed. “We're doing a terrible job at this.”
“That we are.” Faren patted her shoulder. “I think this was Alistair's way of having revenge on us for putting him on the throne.”
“It's working,” Lawrien groaned. “It really is.”
“So where is the phylactery storage?” Epona asked.
“The note says it is right this way,” Anders said. “And I must tell you, my dear lady, that you look absolutely amazing-”
“I am wearing a cloak to hide my body,” Epona said.
“I will admit I caught a glimpse of your leg earlier-”
Anders winced when an acorn slammed into the back of his head. Faren's jaw dropped. It had just came sailing off the ground and hit him too. Hopefully nobody else noticed that. Nobody was looking their way though, even as they continued to walk through the streets.
“I am not interested, shemlen,” Epona huffed.
“How did she...?” Anders blinked. “Aren't you an archer?”
“Yes.”
“We don't know how this works,” Lawrien admitted. “Myra and Wynne are looking into it, but so far we have no answers.”
“I have so many questions...” Anders muttered.
They followed Anders down a secluded side street, where Faren noticed that there was nobody about. It didn't even look like this side street had been distrupted in ages. That made him frown. Something wasn't right about this.
“Faren...?” Lawrien frowned at him.
“Something isn't right. Brace yourselves,” Faren whispered.
Lawrien, Anders and Epona nodded, Anders clutching his staff, just as Lawrien drew her sword.
“Since when do you use a sword?” Anders hissed, baffled.
Lawrien grinned. “Anders, I'm the Commander of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden during a Blight, if I can't surprise you with my new skills, then what was the point in joining them?”
“You were consripted, out of us three, I was the only one who wasn't,” Epona said dryly. “Actually, I think Cobian, Narascha and I are the only ones who weren't conscripted.”
Lawrien laughed. “Yeah, sure, but-” she began, then stiffened the moment Anders opened the door.
“Unlocked,” Faren whispered gravely. “They wouldn't leave it unlocked.”
“No.” Lawrien eyed Anders. “They wouldn't.”
They all stepped inside. Epona had her bow out and pointed, and Faren had his daggers drawn, only to startle at the sight of multiple templars, with the female templar from earlier who wanted to capture Anders before.
“And here I almost believed that the imfamous Anders wouldn't take the bait,” the woman said, smirking.
“Ah, yes, I suppose I should have known you would have been here,” Anders huffed.
“You made a poor choice with this one, Commander. Anders would never submit, not to us, and not to you.”
Lawrien's eyes narrowed. “You're quite determined to hunt Anders down for the templars who were murdered by darkspawn.”
“He murdered those templars, and you're covering up for him, mage,” the templar sneered.
Faren scoffed. “Oh yes, because Anders grew claws that could tear open templar armour. Maybe check the bodies, crazy lady, because those wounds were definitely not done by a mage.”
“I will see to it that this murderer does not bother anyone ever again,” the templar insisted.
“What?” Anders startled. “You can't do that. King Alistair allowed my conscription!”
“The Chantries authority supersedes the crown's in this matter. You cannot hide within the Grey Warden's ranks.”
Faren's jaw dropped. “Ser templar, you... you do know that the Grey Wardens right to conscription supersedes the Chantry's authority... yes?”
“The shemlen is an idiot,” Epona huffed. “Or has drank too much lyrium over the years.”
“It is Anders fault, it has to be Anders fault, he has escaped, year after year after year and made us chase and hunt, and they all died and its his fault,” Lawrien whispered. “Too much lyrium... headaches, feeling sick and heavy, paranoid, mind troubled... but that does not matter. I will tell you this once. Stand down,” Lawrien ordered, her eyes cold, voice sharp. “I am the Grey Warden Commander of Ferelden, Lawrien Amell, Hero of Ferelden, and I have conscripted Anders into my ranks. You will not interfere.”
“Of course you're going to protect him,” the templar scoffed. “The Grey Wardens are a haven for criminals and maleficar. I do not know how you inspire such loyalty, Anders, but you will be coming with us.”
Vines snapped up from the floor around all of the templars, and Lawrien's sword swung, cutting through the templar female's head without an ounce of hesitation, while the vines snapped the necks of the rest of them. Faren sighed and lowered his daggers, while Anders stared at Lawrien's back, slack jawed, and awe in his eyes as all the bodies hit the floor.
“I... Lawrien...” Anders began, a little stunned still, before he laughed. “I still remember you with pigtails back when we were kids... you've grown up so much...”
Lawrien laughed.
“Trust me,” Epona said. “She's still as annoying.”
Faren nodded. “And gets into just as much trouble, maybe even more now.”
Lawrien grinned. “I'm the best.”
Anders softened. “It is good to know you will still stick by your loved ones, even after all this time.”
Lawrien smiled warmly, and pulled him into a hug. “Of course, Anders, you're my big brother. I love you. Besides, with the amount of times you protected all of us from bullies when we were kids, I think it's my turn to help you out, right?”
Anders pressed a kiss to her hair. “You've become an amazing young lady, Lawrien.” He grinned. “Although I can hardly call you an adult yet. You're what? Seventeen?”
“I'l nearly nineteen, you jerk!”
“A nearly nineteen year old is the Arlessa of Amaranthine, the Hero of Ferelden, and the Commander of the Grey?” Anders stuck out his tongue. “Whoever gave you those titles is insane.”
“Lawrien gave herself the Warden Commander title, the rest was all Alistair.” Epona shrugged.
“Hey... not to be rude or anything...” Faren began. “But can we stop talking over the dead bodies with snapped necks and cut into head?”
Lawrien shrugged. “True. Let's go before the guards show up.”
“I'm pretty sure the Arlessa should not be saying that,” Anders snorted.
Epona inhaled sharply, much to their surprise. The journal... the Ranger Commander's journal was in her hands, much to everyone's surprise.
“When was the last time that appeared in your hands like that?” Lawrien frowned.
“It's been a while...” Epona admitted.
“Uh... what's up with the giant book?” Anders asked curiously.
“Bloodline stuff...” Lawrien sighed as she peered over Epona's shoulder.
'They killed her too... Nymeria's gone... and now so is Roselia... I'm not- I cannot allow this to continue. Mythal isn't doing enough. Where is the justice? I cannot believe I even think upon this, but I am going to help Solas tear it all down. Tear them all down.'
Epona's frown deepened. “...Who is Solas?”
Lawrien shook her head. “No idea.”
Chapter 5: The Wending Woods
Chapter Text
"Oi, Cobian, you're going to trip over one of us dwarves with the way you've got your nose stuck in that clipboard," Oghren complained, as Nathaniel once again adjusted Cobian from walking into a stall.
"I am going over the material funds needed for Gwaren," Cobian said. "Most of Denerim's paperwork is now done for Faren's side of things. He's been working away at it well, and mostly now I've just been checking to make sure it is all in order. Fergus' is still a bit of a mess, but between us both and Anora, it is beginning to settle-"
"Anora?" Torph scowled. "That bitch who trapped you in Fort Drakon is still around?"
Nathaniel startled. "Queen- sorry, Lady Anora locked you up in Fort Drakon?"
"Yes, with a few others," Cobian said. "She accepted Fergus' proposal, so now she is his wife-"
"Poor fucker," Torph grunted.
Cobian smiled. "None of you have ever quite forgiven her for having us arrested, huh?"
"Faren was sent back with that creepy bastard, while you, Lawrien and Ciara were imprisoned," Narascha said, scowling. "Faren was being fed on by a desire demon because of her actions, and you three could have been tortured for all we knew."
"Desire demon?" Nathaniel frowned, puzzled.
"It's a long story," Torph sighed. "All the shit we did that year is a long story."
"We better focus on the now," Narascha said. "We now know that Kristoff went off to investigate the Blackmarsh, and that the merchant's guild will pay us a good sum of money to clear off whatever is destroying their caravans. We also know the location the hunters saw the breeding grounds, so we have three places to go to. It just depends how much we wish to split up."
"No more than two groups," Cobian said. "The breeding grounds and the caravans will be our most urgent. The caravans have delayed the realms finaces and our supply storages in both the Keep and the city will begin to suffer soon enough. The breeding grounds is also an urgent problem, due to the rapid amount of darkspawn growing at the moment."
"Alright, who do you want to go where?" Narascha asked.
Cobian hummed. "Whoever goes to the breeding ground will need a healer, so Anders must go there. That will be a large battle. Oghren, Narascha, I need you to to tear it apart."
Narascha grinned. "We can do that."
"Torph, set it on fire with your explosives," Cobian ordered.
"Fuck yeah!" Torph cackled.
"Narascha, Torph, Oghren, Faren and Anders, I'll be trusting you four to rip it apart. Meanwhile Lawrien, Epona, Nathaniel and I shall go to the Wending Woods and put an end to the bandits and whatever else is destroying the caravans," Cobian said.
"Sounds good." Narascha nodded.
"Then let's get to work." Torph smirked. "I can't wait to blow shit up."
.:.
"Wynne!" Lawrien grinned. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, Lawrien, or shall I say, Warden Commander," Wynne said, smiling warmly. "I heard it is now official with all the Wardens."
"Bah, it was my title already!" Lawrien scoffed. "I'm surprised you're here. I thought you and Shale were going to Tevinter?"
Wynne sighed. "Unfortunately there has been a slight change to our plans. The College of the Magi is convening in Cumberland, and I must attend. Shale has decided to roam the countryside, I think she's hitting darkspawn at the moment."
Epona closed her eye, squeezing them shut, as if she was struggling to concentrate. Lawrien found her emotions harder to tell now, it was hard getting past all the thick forest within Epona now. There was so many branches and leaves clouding her. Lawrien shook off the thought as Epona's shoulders relaxed and she sighed softly.
"Yes, Shale is crushing darkspawn," Epona said, opening her eyes slowly.
"You're becoming a bit more used to your new abilities I see," Wynne said with a warm smile. "Are you still feeling well, Epona?"
"I am, but these abilities are still difficult to get used to," Epona admitted. "There is... so much more of me now than there ever was..."
"And have any demons tried to contact you throughout this?" Wynne asked.
"No, I have heard nothing from them," Epona said. "I... I'm not sure if they see me as a mage... or perhaps I am more of a spirit these days... I don't know..."
"Forgive me for interrupting this," Anders said, his brow furrowed. "But, Wynne, you said the Circle was having a meeting? Why?"
Wynne grimaced. "Something stirs within the fraternies."
Urgh, Circle politics. Lawrien's mind slowly went blank as Wynne talked about the different factions, and Wynne eyed her disapproving, but still with a slight smile.
"I still see you have no interest in Circle politics," Wynne teased.
"Nope."
"I can't believe this, if they pull away entirely, it will be madness," Anders complained. "I hate Chantry oversight as much as the next mage, but they can't just decide to leave."
Lawrien nodded grimly. "The mages within the Circles would not be spared. The Chantry would cull them. You and Myra would be safe as Archmages, Wynne, but everyone else would be in grave danger."
"Agreed." Wynne frowned. "I will go there and try to reason with them. I am sorry I cannot assist you anymore either, Epona. I feel guilty for leaving you and Shale without my aid."
"Do not be. I might not understandwhat you are discussing, but it sounds important to the Circle," Epona said.
"I promise, when I do arrive in Tevinter with Shale, I will find out more on what has happened to you," Wynne swore. "But first, I must head to Nevarra. Wish me luck, hopefully I shall return with good news."
"Good luck, Wynne." Lawrien claimed a quick hug, trying to calm Wynne's fears. The hug soothed them away a little bit, but she was still nervous and worried. "Is there anything we can do while we're here?"
"No. I've already sent word to my collegues in the area," Wynne said. "We're all meeting up here to travel over together, but thank you anyway."
"Stay safe, and if you need help, I'll try my best," Lawrien said. "My word might not mean much as a Grey Warden however."
"Unfortunately you'll be correct. I was hoping for Myra's assistance, as an Archmage, her word would weigh heavily, but she cannot leave Ciara at this time. Myra must stay at our Queen's side."
Lawrien grinned. "It's still weird to hear Ciara being called a Queen."
"It really is, and Myra is an Archmage too," Anders sighed. "I missed way too much."
"What is an Archmage exactly?" Nathaniel asked.
"They are free from the supervision of the Chantry and can go anywhere they like without worrying about templars," Lawrien said. "They have the same freedom as I do, pretty much. They could only be brought in if they proved a grave danger to themselves or people around them, and the evidence would need to be brought into the court that named them Archmages in the first place. A trial would be run, and then it would be deemed if the Archmage needed to be taken into custody or not."
"Are there many Archmages?" Faren asked.
"No, Myra, Lawrien and I are the only ones I know of. There are court mages, but that is also a rare position as well," Wynne said.
"That's a shame, but hopefully things will continue to improve," Faren said. "Good luck on your journey to Cumberland."
"And good luck to you all here. The darkspawn do seem to be giving you all a bit of hassle still, but I feel like that will be resolved by the time I return to Ferelden," Wynne said, chuckling softly. "Farewell, you all, stay safe."
"You too, Wynne. Goodbye." Lawrien smiled.
.:.
"Do you think this is just bandits, or darkspawn?" Nathaniel asked, as they headed deeper along the path to the Wending Woods.
Epona frowned. "There is old magic lingering in the forest. It could be sylvians, trees possessed by spirits that are attacking the caravans."
Lawrien groaned. "I hope not. That was a pain last time, unless of course the poet tree is here. He's amazing."
"You fought them before?" Nathaniel frowned.
"Back when we went to recruit the Dalish elves to help us fight against the Blight," Lawrien explained. "The forest was very angry."
"Faren hated it." Epona smirked.
It had been rather amusing.
Cobian laughed. "I thought it was a great experience. I learned so much about spirits and the dalish, at least much more than I did before."
"Where are your journals now anyway, Cobian?" Epona asked.
"I left them at Highever. They are in my room. I did say Fergus didn't have to let me have a room anymore, that Oren could claim it, but he insisted," Cobian mused.
"It must be nice for Fergus and Oren to have you back in Highever," Epona said. "They must miss you greatly."
Cobian smiled. "I miss them too, but we both have our own duties to complete."
"Even if you seem to be taking on a lot of reports from Highever," Nathaniel said, raising a brow.
"It's fine," Cobian said. "I enjoy helping our cities begin to progress again after the Blight, and once we take care of the problem with the darkspawn not falling back, Ferelden should begin to heal easier-"
"Maker help me!" a bandit cried out, running towards, his fear full of naked fear. "I've got to get away."
Epona stuck out her foot, and the bandit tripped, falling flat on his face with a scrambled yelp.
"That is one way to gain the man's attention." Nathaniel winced in sympathy.
Epona yanked the man back on to his feet by his leathers, glaring daggers at him. "Who is chasing you? Were they the ones to attack the caravans?"
"W-We heard about the attacks, but we didn't do it, I swear-" the bandit cried out.
"Of course you didn't, that is why I asked who is chasing you." Epona glowered. "Bloody shemlen."
"Epona, up there!" Lawrien pointed towards the hill above them in the road, eyes wide.
Epona dropped the shemlen who squealed and bolted the instant she released him. A burst of vines exploded out of the ground, and a dalish elf emerged from them, staring down at them, or more so, Epona. That was the old magic she felt, similiar to hers in a way, but on a much smaller scale.
Epona grimaced at the thought. What had Witherfang done to her? The damned wolf needed to give her some answers.
"I remember you from the last gathering of the clans," Velanna said, smiling. "Epona Mahariel, right? Your Keeper is Marethari, is it not?"
"Aneth ara, Velanna," Epona greeted. "It has been some time."
"You seem to be travelling with shemlen, sister... are you alright?"
"I am well, these are my fellow Grey Wardens," Epona said.
"Ah, you are a Grey Warden now? I did hear about that, but I wasn't sure if the rumors were true," Velanna said. "Be careful around these parts, Epona, there are darkspawn, and shemlen bandits."
"Are the bandits the ones who have been destroying the caravans?" Epona asked.
"I have been," Velanna said firmly. "You... you aren't working with the shemlen to stop me, are you? Have you no shame? They stole my sister and I will not rest until I have her back! Do not try to stop me."
She closed her fists and was enveloped by the branches again, disappearing once more within them. Epona grimaced at the sight, and eyed Lawrien.
"She really does believe that the merchants have her sister," Lawrien said, her brow furrowing.
"It could be that the darkspawn may have dragged her sister off and that she is blaming the wrong people," Cobian said.
"The fact that this could be happening due to a misunderstanding boils my blood," Lawrien growled lowly. "She's been killing people without checking her facts?"
Epona grimaced. "Then we'll need to look for proof and if that is the case, stop her. Let's look around the forest, see if there are any answers."
It wasn't long before they climbed the hill that Velanna had been on, and Epona's heart sank when she saw the small, blood splattered camp, her people's camp. Epona paused when she saw the weapons though. They were dumped there.
Cobian's frown deepened. "Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?"
Nathaniel nodded. "These weapons have been placed here deliberately."
"I thought darkspawn weren't supposed to be this smart without an Archdemon around..." Narascha said, her face falling. "This... this isn't going to be the start of another Blight, right?"
Epona scowled. "It better not be. I don't think I can afford to die again."
Nathaniel blinked. "Again?"
Lawrien groaned. "That's another long story..."
"We'll explain it as best as we can while we search the woods for more information," Cobian said. "But I will say this, we don't have any answers either, and that this is a secret."
Nathaniel sighed. "More Grey Warden secrets?"
"No, an Epona secret," Epona said. "If you tell anyone, I'll break you in half with my vines."
Nathaniel winced.
Chapter 6: Kal'Hirol
Chapter Text
“Those fucking stairs,” Torph complained as he released his grip on the old railings of the broken wooden stairs the moment his boot landed back on the sunken in ground.
“It looks like this part of the Deep Roads collapsed in on itself,” Narascha mused. “Do you think it was built too close to the surface?”
“Must have been,” Oghren grunted.
Faren helped Anders down the last step, who looked a little queasy at the thought of falling off the stairs. Faren who immediately brought out another letter from his pack and began reading it, even if it only gave him the urge to launch the paperwork into the Deep Roads to be forgotten.
“You're getting Cobian's new habit,” Narascha chided.
Faren squnited at the letter. “Yeah, unfortunately, but I need to get as much of this done and settled as I can before the next council meeting in Denerim. Shianni has been losing her mind over all this paperwork too, no matter how much Ciara has been trying to help her.”
“Ciara is helping her?” Narascha blinked.
She hadn't even realised the pair had met.
“Yeah, Ciara has been helping both her and me out, and now Cobian is helping me since I'm with him,” Faren said, then sighed. “The rebuilding process has been difficult.”
“I can understand that,” Narascha admitted. “Torph was announced as a Paragon, and thus now has his responsibilities as the Head of the Brosca House, which he's brought Leske into, but now the nobles are trying to throw their daughters at Torph in order for him to produce an heir for his house.”
Faren winced. “That sounds horrifying.”
“I think he's enjoying it,” Narascha chuckled. “But Bhelen has been putting more of his plans into motion too, and I think he's getting ready to find a way to disband the Assembly once I have finished being declared Paragon.”
Faren choked. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, it's going to be a good amount of chaos, which is why I'm glad we're back up here,” Narascha said. “Because while Torph is getting proposed to, I have also been in the same situation recently.”
“So why is it taking longer for you to become Paragon? Torph's approval went through quickly,” Faren asked.
“Two Paragons at the same time has never been heard of, and I was stricken from the Memories, so while the Shaperate was restorting my names and deeds, Torph was put through the process of being named Paragon. Now they're working on me, which Bhelen insisted wouldn't take more than a week when I left Orzammar.”
Faren raised a brow. “And yet you're still here? You'd be a Paragon right now, wouldn't you?”
“Probably, but I don't really care about the title,” Narascha admitted. “My house already has a Paragon after all-”
“Princess, kid, we've got company!” Oghren yelled. “Blighters are here!”
They rushed after the others, and found them attacking a group of darkspawn with a member from the Legion of the Dead? Faren blinked at that, but quickly got to work, his daggers tearing through the darkspawn with ease.
“Well... that was close...” the female dwarf breathed out. “I actually thought for a second there that I would actually join the Legion of the Dead...”
“Or become a Broodmother,” Torph muttered.
Oghren shuddered.
“That's actually true?” the woman startled. “Damn, I didn't think they actually kidnapped woman to breed them.”
“Unfortunately it is true,” Torph sighed.
“Wait!” the woman perked up. “Aren't you... I can't believe it, you really are the duster that became a Paragon. That is amazing! Torph Brosca, right? Y-You have a noble house now!”
“Aye, I recognise you, you used to work for Beraht too,” Torph said. “How's it going, duster?”
“It wasn't too bad until today,” she said, grimacing. “But the others in my squad are dead... all of them... I only narrowly got away...”
“Fuck,” Torph cursed.
Oghren whistled. “And Stone are we glad for that.”
Narascha smacked the back of his head, earning a curse. “Not the time, Oghren.”
“There's something going on in Kal'Hirol. We thought the darkspawn were breeding an army. The Legion went to investigate, but Kal'Hirol proved too much for us. It was a massacre, and now I'm... I'm the only one left...”
“Wait, all of the Legion?” Narascha frowned.
“Well... not all, but a lot of squads went in,” she said, then her eyes widened. “Wait... a-aren't you the Princess of Orzammar, N-Narascha Aeducan?”
“Well met, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is your name?”
“I'm Sigrun,” she said.
“How did you escape, Sigrun?” Faren asked.
She hesitated. “I... When I saw my friends get cut down so quickly, I got scared and fled... the darkspawn, they're smarter than before, and they struck us down so quickly... and when I saw them take the woman...”
“Bhelen was supposed to have had less women on patrol...” Narascha grimaced.
“Not so much in the Legion of the Dead,” Sigrun admitted. “We... we all laughed it off, saying it was a way to get the women back to breeding, but... it's really true... when they started taking the women alive... we all realised how true that really was...”
Narascha closed her eyes tight and breathed in heavily. Faren squeezed her shoulder gently.
“I just need to catch my breath, but as foolish as it sounds, I need to head back down in there...” Sigrun said, eyeing the dead darkspawn over her shoulder.
“Then we'll come with you,” Narascha said.
“B-But I already told you it's a death trap down there,” Sigrun protested.
“You're being accompanied by four of us who have dealt with the Blight,” Narascha said. “And a healer. We'll work better together than you going in alone. Besides, we came here to deal with these darkspawn once and for all. We won't be going back until they're dead.”
“Yeah!” Oghren grinned. “Let's kill the blighters.”
.::.
“I don't know much about Kal'Hirol, except for what the Legion told me,” Sigrun said, as they decended deeper into the cavern. “It used to be important, a place of learning for the Smith caste.”
Oghren sighed heavily. “Yeah, Branka used to complain about it not being around anymore, that we should reclaim it. A lot of knowledge was lost here, and we never got a place like it again.”
Torph patted his back. “Well maybe if we get lucky, we can grab some stuff to send back to the Shaperate on the way out.”
Oghren smirked. “You enjoying being a Paragon now?”
“Oh fuck yeah, it's hilarious to see all these nobles trying to get into my good graces,” Torph cackled. “It wasn't long ago they would have spat on me either now they want to marries their daughters off to me. The fuckers.”
“So... you and the Princess...?” Oghren eyed Narascha, who was up ahead, wandering down the path.
Torph shook his head. “We're just friends, you old perv. Don't get excited.”
“I honestly thought maybe you two were a thing,” Anders mused.
“Nope.”
“The Princess has only ever trusted you the most out of any dwarf,” Oghren said. “I thought something might have come of that.”
“Aye, and she's one of the dwarves I trust the most,” Torph said. “I'm not fucking that up by looking for something more, no matter how pretty she is. She's my friend, and a good one at that.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Oghren, not every relationship between a guy and a girl has gotta be romantic,” Torph scoffed. “She's my friend, I respect her a lot.”
They both paused when they saw Narascha and Sigrun running from further down the path, Faren on their heels. The pair of them chased after her.
“It's Jukka. He's hurt. Bad.” Sigrun held Jukka gently, cradling his face, even as the dwarf clutched his wounded chest, torn open, his breaths wheezy.
“Sig...run...?” he slurred.
Fuck, there was a long blood trail behind him. The fucker must have crawled some distance. Torph eyed Anders, but he shook his head.
“I'm sorry,” Anders whispered.
Torph nodded, as Narascha knelt down beside Sigrun.
“Yes, it's me. Lay still, try not to talk,” Sigrun said, frantically searching her pack. “I've got bandages-”
“No...” Jukka panted. “I feel my death upon me... it's sweet embrace...”
“No-” Sigrun protested.
“You must listen,” Jukka choked out. “The... the broodmothers... they are breeding an army... You... you must stop them... But... but beware the Children... they are abominations... e-even among the darkspawn...”
“W-What? What children? Whose children?” Sigrun frowned.
He choked. “F-Forgive me...” he managed out with his dying breath, and collapsed, going completely still.
Sigrun stared at him, wide eyed, before lowering her head. “Ancestors look kindly on you, brother...”
“Oghren, have you ever heard of these 'children' before?” Narascha asked, her brow furrowed.
“No, I was hoping you might have,” Oghren sighed.
“Not in all my campaigns into the Deep Roads,” Narascha murmured. “But they are abominations even among the darkspawn, that is a terrifying thought.”
Torph cursed. That was a bad sign. Two veterans of the Deep Roads, and neither of them had heard of these 'children' before.
“What the fuck did they run into?” Torph grimaced. “Shit... this is gonna suck...”
“Oghren, I'll take point, you watch our backs,” Narascha said. “We're sticking together, nobody split off.”
.::.
They didn't encounter anything on their way up to the fortress, which made Narascha wary, but she kept her footsteps cautious nevertheless, as Sigrun approached her side. The fortress was obviously were everything had gone wrong. There were bodies everywhere, bits of the Legion of the Dead scattered, and the sight made her grimace, as Faren gagged.
Rotting bodies always did make him ill, even after they had dealt with a Blight.
But what really made her neck hairs stand on end was the fact the darkspawn corpses were there, and they looked like they had been eaten.
This was bad... was this to do with those children Jukka had mentioned?
“We got this far with no bother...” Sigrun murmured. “It made us lazy, complcant, and the darkspawn took full advantage of that... they turned the thaig's old defences against us...”
“Ambush!” Oghren yelled from the back, as strange maggot like creatures spilled out of the shadows and attacked them.
They sung with the taint. They were darkspawn. Narascha cursed and tore her axe into one, even as it screeched at her.
“Fuck, they're darkspawn!” Narascha yelled. “New breed!”
“SHIT!” Oghren roared.
“It's not even a Blight!” Anders cried out. “Why would there be new forms of darkspawn?”
“This is bullshit! Freaky fucks!” Torph cursed, tossing a vial into a group of them crawling their way, and they lit up in a mass of explosions.
“Torph, Faren, one of you try to find a hidden entrance!” Narascha ordered. “We'll go around the back. Sigrun, watch their backs!”
“Will do!”
“Anders, keep us up, alright? And Oghren?”
“Yeah?” Oghren grinned.
“Let's kill some blighters!” Narascha roared.
Narascha's and Oghren's axes tear through the Children slowly, they are both bitten and their armour torn into in return, but Anders kept their wounds from bleeding with a good heal or two, right until she heard Torph's victorious yell, just as Faren's knife landed right in the face of the last of the Children.
The one that had shoved Oghren down on to his back and was about to rip into his face. So that had been very good timing on Faren's part.
Those Children were surprisingly heavy considering their maggot like bodies.
The thought made her shiver.
What the hell had created those things? Had they actually come from a broodmother like the darkspawn? That was a horrifying thought.
“Oi, Princess, Oghren, let's go!” Torph yelled.
“Yeah, yeah,” Narascha grunted, holding out a hand for Oghren, yanking him up to his feet.
“What were those things?” Faren stared at the bodies of the Children, shuddering. “They... they have... they look awful, even creepier than the darkspawn with their small faces...”
It was like they tore off a human's face and stuck it on to their bodies, or well, even worse, a baby's face, and that thought made Narascha want to hurl.
“I've never seen that shit before in my life,” Oghren complained. “Was that some new breed of fucking darkspawn?”
“I don't know, but I'll need to send a report back to Orzammar the moment we get out of here,” Narascha said, grimly. “If any of the patorls down their encounter these things without warning, they could be slaughtered.”
“Yeah, this is messed up.” Oghren took a swig from his flask. “C'mon, we better go after Torph. He and that hot, sexy girl are already inside.”
Narascha raised a brow.
“Don't look at me like that. There is enough Oghren to go around.” Oghren grinned, then grimaced as Narascha's eyes narrowed. “Fuck, Princess, that is such a judgemental look, y'know.”
“Felsi?” Narascha asked.
“Not the time to discuss that, Narascha,” Oghren grunted.
“Yeah, definitely not,” Faren shushed them. “Don't you hear the fighting?”
Narascha pressed herself back against the wall and followed after Faren as quietly as she could. They crept up to Torph and Sigrun's sides, who hid at the doorway as best as they could, while two group of darkspawn tore into each other.
“They're fighting each other?” Anders whispered. “What on earth...?”
“Press the attack! Go!” a purple clad darkspawn yelled. “The Lost is mine!”
“The Lost?” Narascha's brow furrowed. “They have names now? Not just Vanguards and Alphas?”
“I don't like this shit,” Torph cursed. “Why is it our fucking Blight that makes the darkspawn act like weirdos?”
Narascha winced. “We've had the worst luck... haven't we?”
Torph scowled. “I thought rebuilding the Grey Wardens would be easy, I thought people would be running to join after we ended the Blight, but no, instead we get all this bullshit instead...”
Faren snorted. “Yeah, you leave us to go be pampered as a Paragon while we have to all suffer through mountains of paperwork.”
Torph grinned. “Why do you think I went back to Orzammar so fast, kid?”
Faren grumbled something under his breath, Narascha couldn't hear what it was, but it only made Torph's grin widen more. Narascha couldn't help but smile at that, despite the chaos building around them. She had missed this. She had missed being above the surface in Ferelden with her friends. Yes, she had Torph in Orzammar, and Bhelen was trying to make up his betrayal to her, but Narascha would never forget it.
No, their relationship was no longer based on them being siblings. It was an alliance of equals.
But none of that mattered now, not when Ferelden was still in danger.
They had to sort out whatever was going on with the darkspawn, starting with this strange civil war they seemed to be having right now.
Hopefully the others were having a better time sorting out the caravans than they were, but in all honestly, Narascha knew none of them ever had any lucky. In fact, Alistair and Ciara were probably in just as bad of a situation, or at least as shitty with their tour. Knowing their luck they were being eaten by murderous trees right now.
It was too hopeful to think otherwise.
Chapter 7: Kidnapped
Chapter Text
"The darkspawn tricked Velanna into thinking humans kidnapped her sister," Cobian said, his eyes wide as he paced in front of the mass shemlen graves that Olaf human had spoken of, the man whose throat Nathaniel had slit to give him a mercy kill. "They aren't supposed to be able to do that. Not when the Archdemon is dead. Not unless this is another Blight. It could be possible that another Archdemon has awoken. But so soon? If that is the case Ferelden will not survive. It cannot survive a second Blight in a row, not with everything and everyone in such disarray-"
"Calm yourself, Cobian, none of us have seen the Archdemon in our dreams, nor have I heard it speak," Epona said. "Whatever is going on is serious though, and whatever leads the darkspawn now is something I cannot hear. They are no beast, like the Archdemon was, no dragon, they must be something else entirely..."
"They are watching us again," Lawrien said, her brow furrowed. "Even after we killed off their ambush."
"We need to stop Velanna and then deal with the darkspawn," Epona said. "This is only going to continue causing problems between the dalish and the humans, and I cannot have that when we've only just secured some land for my people here in Ferelden."
"If she doesn't stop...?" Cobian asked hesitantly.
"I'll kill her," Epona growled lowly, her fists clenching. "I will not jepodise everything Alistair is working for to help the elven."
Lawrien nodded. "We'll make sure she stops."
Cobian frowned. "Let's see if she's back at her camp. If we find her there, we might be able to convince her to stop."
"Good, because if she refuses too, I will break her arms and legs," Epona sneered, storming up towards the hill where the dalish camp was.
Velanna appeared on a ledge before they could even reach the hill though, her face livid.
"What are you still doing here? Leave!" she yelled.
"Velanna, you have to stop!" Lawrien said. "This wasn't done by humans-"
"I know a human crime when I see one!" Velanna yelled. "You will pay for repeating their lies."
Velanna summoned spirits into the trees, but much to Cobian's surprise, Epona raised her hand, her eyes closed, and the spirits halted. Epona's eyes glowed when she opened them, almost a deep, swirling green.
"I am the Lady of the Forest. The trees do not belong to you," Epona said, with what felt like a hundred voices whispering behind her words.
The sylvans screeched, not in anger, but in fear, and the spirits immediately retreated from them, causing the trees to still, their branches turning soft once more. Velanna stared at Epona with wide, frightened eyes, while the glow from Epona's eyes disappeared. Epona's eyes then hardened, glaring up at her, and Velanna flinched back.
"You will listen," Epona commanded, her voice cold and sharp, and Velanna went stiff. "This was not the work of humans. How could you not see that immediately? Why would the shemlens abandon their weapons by your camp? If they wished to leave a warning, the bodies of our people would have been enough. If you took the time to look into the forest, you would feel the decay all around us. The darkspawn are here. They have set you up against the shemlens."
"You said a spirit did this, Cobian?" Nathaniel whispered to him.
"Yeah."
"I am both in awe and terrified," Nathaniel admitted.
"I am too." Cobian grinned.
"Then why are you grinning?"
"Because it's Epona, and I trust her."
He saw Epona's lips twitching at that, almost a smirk.
"I was wondering why anyone would leave their weapons..." Velanna admitted, lowering her gaze. "Then that would mean... that would mean the darkspawn killed my people, and took my sister."
Lawrien scowled. "Well done, she gets it." She tossed something up to Velanna. "This was on a darkspawn."
Velanna caught it, her eyes widened. "This is Seranni's... she would never willingly part with it... our mother gave it to her before she died..." She shook her heard, the sadness in her voice immediately was shoved aside by anger. "Why would the darkspawn do this?"
Cobian grimaced. They were probably going to turn Seranni into a broodmother... but should Velanna even be told of that with how volatile she was?
"Why not?" Epona shrugged. "They are cruel creatures."
It would seem they wouldn't tell her then. At least not right now.
Velanna shook her head. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that Seranni might still be alive, and that I must go to her."
"Alright, let's go find her then," Lawrien said.
"You want to help find Seranni?" Velanna whispered, baffled, then her voice hardened. "Why?"
"Because despite all the innocent people you killed, your sister didn't do anything," Lawrien said coldly. "I won't leave her to suffer at the hands of darkspawn. Now are there any tunnels around here? Caves? Anything?"
"There is an abandoned mine some ways to the north of here," Velanna explained. "The tunnels reach far into the earth."
Epona grimaced. "I cannot reach my senses down there. No wonder I missed them."
"Be ready for anything," Lawrien said.
Velanna ignored them though and broke down the door with an earth fist, and marched right in. Lawrien sighed heavily at that.
"Is it bad when I'm not the one rushing in...?" Lawrien muttered to herself, and Cobian couldn't help but smile at that.
They cautiously followed after Velanna on the old, moldy stairs, the wood creaking beneath their feet. Epona went first, her arrow at the ready, Cobian right behind her. He followed Epona's footsteps, and was thankful that the stairs didn't give way from underneath them, despite Velanna's angry, heavy footsteps marching down in front of them. She walked a little ahead, while Epona looked around, and he kept close by her until Epona stiffened, then aimed her bow up high.
Cobian followed her gaze, as did Nathaniel's bow and Lawrien's hand, already growing a fireball in it. It might have been overkill, but then Cobian recoiled at the sight of the creature above them. A dwarf, tainted badly, her body decaying, while a much taller creature stood beside her. His face seemed to be stretched into his head piece, and his robes had a surprisingly large amount of metal decoration on them.
That was when a glyph appeared beneath their feet.
That wasn't Lawrien's glyph.
It was brimming with powerful magic, soothing and sweet, and Cobian's eyes felt suddenly heavy.
"Shh..." the creature hushed. "Sleep..."
The world blurred around him, and Cobian saw Velanna and Epona hit the floor hard, before his world went dark.
.:.
Lawrien stirred slowly. She was lying on top of something hard, like a slab of stone. It was sore, and her arm ached, as the world began to blur into view. There were cages, some with people in them? It took her a minute to focus, but she could feel...
Utha.
Utha had been Duncan's friend.
Lawrien's focused locked on to the darkspawn standing by the slab where she laid, her body too heavy to move. Utha stood next to him, decaying, rotting, and Duncan would have cried at the sight. But the darkspawn was the bigger concern...
Fuck... that was the darkspawn who Utha had wandered off with... the Architect...
Her stomach sank. He was more than that... he was far more than that... High Priest of Urthemiel... the Archdemon they had killed...
Leliana would cry right now, or try to stab the Architect... It was hard to say with Lawrien's head pounding and her eyes blurrying again.
"So you are the Warden Commander, Lawrien Amell," the Architect said softly. "Do not be afraid, your wounds have been tended to."
"You're..." Lawrien groaned, trying to move.
She needed to move.
"I apologise for what I must do," the Architect said. "I do not wish to be your enemy."
No, he only wishes to infect the world with the bloody taint and turn them all the ghouls, the very thing Duncan and King Maric fought against. The thing Utha joined.
Anger boiled in her blood, but she still couldn't move.
"But now is not the time for this..." He waved his hand above her head again. "Rest."
No. She didn't want to sleep. Lawrien tried to grab on to what strength she had, to not let the wave of exhaustion take her. What had this bastard done to her friends? Where were her friends?
"I remember her from years ago, her and Epona Mahariel," the Architect whispered. "Why are they here now? Why did the Cousland, Trevelyan or Aeducan not die when they struck down Urthemiel? I have so many questions..."
The world spun, and once again, Lawrien fell into darkness.
.:.
Epona sat crossed legged on the floor, rubbing her arm. The tall creature had taken her blood, but had hummed, confused and curious, muttering about how she was no longer a Grey Warden, and that her blood could not be used. The thought had made her smirk, but what had worried her was what he hadn't discarded her blood, right before he had made her sleep again. Now Lawrien was here too, cuddling into Epona's leg, as Cobian's head rested on Epona's thigh. She would let them rest in their drugged sleep for now, but the moment any of these darkspawn tried to take them again, Epona would use all her newfound magic to slaughter the beasts. Nathaniel was leaning against the wall, staring coldly at the door, as Velanna paced.
"I can't see Seranni in any of these cells," Velanna said, her face falling.
"They seem to be more after Grey Wardens than anyone else," Epona mused. "I'm surprised they didn't bother separating us all into different cells though."
"The beasts must be confident that they can knock us out again," Velanna growled lowly, then stared at her, then at Cobian and Lawrien. "Why do you let the shemlen use you as a pillow? Have you no dignity?"
"I will allow my friends to rest in some form of peace, Velanna," Epona said. "Why? Are you jealous, sister?"
Velanna scoffed, but crossed her arms and looked away. Epona smirked at that, chuckling softly. Cobian stirred slowly, blinking heavily, as he shifted against Epona. Epona petted his head, much to Nathaniel's apparent amusement, because he smirked at that.
"Is he your pet human?" Nathaniel teased.
"They both are," Epona chuckled, then brushed back Cobian's hair. "Are you feeling alright, Cobian?"
"Epona...?" he slurred, then squeezed his eyes shut and breathed out heavily, before carefully sitting up. "I've felt better... what happened?"
"We were all knocked out and kidnapped," Epona said. "I believe our blood has been taken too, despite how this creature has said how they cannot use my blood."
They all wore rags now, apart from Epona, her... she couldn't really call branches and leaves clothes, could she? Their armour and weapons confiscated, but she still had access to her magic, and she assumed Velanna and Lawrien would have theirs too, once Lawrien awoke.
Speaking of which, Lawrien sat up, staring into the shadows as someone tried, and failed to sneak up on them. The girl's armour was too heavy. She looked a lot like Velanna.
"Seranni!" Velanna cried out. "By the Creators, what have they done to you?"
Epona grimaced. The girl had signs of the taint brewing in her.
"They haven't done anything. I'm fine. It's not me they want," Seranni said, then eyed Lawrien, who approached the bars of the cell. "I have to get you out before something bad happens. I don't want anyone else to get hurt."
"Yes, alright." Velanna nodded. "Let me out, and I'll take you home."
"The darkspawn have your things," Seranni said, pressing a key into Lawrien's hands through the bars. "If you are quick and careful, you can get your things back and still get out."
"Seranni!" Velanna cried out. "Please-"
Seranni retreated back into the shadows, as Lawrien reached around through the bars, unlocking the door.
"Which way do we even go?" Lawrien grimaced.
Epona tested the door opposite to them, and found it led back to the room she had woken up in before. She could see the stone slab she had laid on, and saw vials of their blood in containers. Cobian was already greedily reading through the books, while Epona grabbed their blood.
She was not letting that blasted darkspawn use them.