Hi you guys! This is an older project of mine that I recently started to look at again. It's a Dragon Age fanfiction, based decades before the events of Dragon Age Origins. I love that game to bits and I hope there are fans of the game here as well as I'd really really like some input on it! This story is going to be... rather dark. Just so you're warned! And it's not the "porn" kind of story I'm afraid. At least not yet.
This Fan Fiction is based on the Dragon Age video game series trademarked by BioWare. I do not claim ownership of the characters or the world of Dragon Age. I've tried not to mess with the "official" story, so names and dates should be correct for the time period this story takes place.
This story contains sexual relations between minors and adults, and if this offends you in any way, please do not read any further. Any comments are welcome at rainingsparrows@yahoo.com
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Introduction
The year is 9:12 Dragon, and the Grey Wardens have only two years before been allowed into Ferelden again by King Maric after Sofia Dryden's rebellion 200 years earlier. The Grey Wardens still don't have an outpost in Ferelden yet, as the organization is still slowly building itself up, starting in Denerim. This is where our story begins. The story of the becoming of not one, but two Grey Wardens and their adventure.
Part I
A tiny pickpocket roamed the streets of Denerim looking for a decent mark. The young boy, brown haired and slim, quickly found one. A sturdy looking man with shiny steel armor held in place by leather straps that covered his upper body and arms stood at an armor shop talking to the merchant. Under the plate he had a chain mail with blue fabric woven in and a blue leather armor. On his back he had two swords in black sheaths. On his hips the boy noticed he had a small pouch which bounced a bit with each movement the man made. He closed his eyes to listen in. There it was, a jiggle of what sounded like coins. The boy crouched down and sneaked closer, trying not to drag any attention from the merchants or other people around. He grabbed for his small knife and cut the pouch from the man's belt, then he ran as fast as he could away from the yelling man.
"Stop that boy!" the man shouted and the yelling spread around from the merchants. Some tried to block the boy but he just slid between the open legs and continued running. Looking back to see if anyone were following, an arrow flew past two inches from his face. Really? It was only a pouch! Not wanting to get hit by an arrow, he slid into a side alley to take a shortcut to his hideout. This alley were so narrow that the boy, small as he was could barely squeeze through. On the other side he laughed from the angry yells from the grown men who were too big to fit through and had to run around the entire block to get to him. The boy chuckled and simply walked into the crowd and disappeared from view using skills he's learned over the years on the streets as a pickpocket. Safe at his hideout the boy looked through his loot from the day. Two pouched containing 4 golden pieces and 50 silver ones. This was a great catch indeed! Two golden necklaces and a jeweled ring too. Finally it was the last leather pouch from the tall armored man. The boy were very disappointed when he saw the copper pieces and a steel signet ring. Who wore steel rings?! He looked closer on the signet and noticed the Griffin. The boy knew that he should know what that was the symbol of, but nothing came to mind. He put it on his thumb as it was the only finger large enough for it to fit. Smiling for himself the boy crawled out from his hideout at the docks, under the large crates that no one ever used and walked into the city again wanting to spend some of his golden coins. Well into the market district he walked straight to the baker and got himself something to eat before he went to the jeweler to sell the necklaces and ring which he got another 3 sovereigns for. In one day he's earned 7 golden sovereigns! A new record for him. Then he tried to sell the signet ring. The jeweler took his time to study the ring before he curiously asked
"Where have you gotten this, boy? This is clearly NOT yours!"
"Of course it's mine! I found it in the street ove-"
"GUARD!" the jeweler shouted and within a second, the boy felt a strong hand around his arm.
"You found another thief for me?" the guard asked with an evil grin on his face. "Well, I guess I'll just take him with me to the dungeon for the night, huh boy?"
"Let. Me. GO!" the boy said, kicking the guard between every word.
"Ha ha ha! Let's go boy, tomorrow you're losing your hands!" he said, still with the evil grin and grabbed the collar shirt with his hand then he whispered into the boys ear "But before that we have to have some fun, won't we?" then he grabbed the boys behind and gave it a hard squeeze with his hand.
With the guard changing his grip, the boy lifted his arms and slid right out from his large shirt, grabbed the ring from the jeweler and ran as fast as he could, with the cursing guard right behind him. Not far away from the side alley, he tried changing course over there, but now another guard blocked his path and grabbed his naked arm and pushed it painfully behind the boys back. Panting behind him came the first guard still cursing.
"Fucking little rat! I'll make you pay for making me look like a fool like that!" he looked around and pointed to another alley, "Let's take him over there for a lesson shall we?" he finished winking to the guard who nodded and pushed the boy in the direction of the dark alley.
Away from view of the street the guard started beating down on the boy, striking him with their chain gloves over his naked back. The boy yelled out in pain but one of the guards came behind him and put his hand over his mouth, silencing him. The other guard landed a hard blow to the boy's stomach, knocking out all the air from his lungs. The boy fell to his knees and what felt like a wooden stick slashed over his back so the boy landed face down on the ground. Unable to breathe the boy couldn't make a sound as he felt his body being brutally beaten down by the guards. Then it stopped. No more pain. The boy thought it was finally over, when he heard the sound of the guards laughing and a belt being loosened. Thinking the worst, he opened his eyes just in time to see an armored boot swinging at his face, knocking him unconscious.
When the boy woke up hours later he was alone in a cell, naked and cold. Around him were cold stone walls and an iron bared door, leading out to a hall. The boy closed his eyes as the pain hit him all over. The wounds on his back were bleeding slightly. He also felt a deep pain in his behind as well. He cursed to himself as he figured out that they had indeed done it. He curled up and lay there sobbing when he heard a door open out in the hall. Then a pair of deep male voices. "We found it on him. He tried to sell it to one of our informants."
"As long as I have the ring again, my superiors will be happy. But I want to see the boy as well. Is it over there?"
"Yes. Why do you want to see him? He is just a pickpocket!"
"That's none of your concern. May I talk to him alone?"
"As you wish Lord Commander."
Then the sound of footsteps followed for almost an entire minute before they stopped. The boy who were still curled up in the corner of his cell looked up at the door where a familiar figure stood. The plated warrior that he'd stolen the pouch from stood there looking down on him. The light outside the cell made the warrior's face hidden to the boy who only noticed the black hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Hello again." the warrior said, "Do you know who I am?"
The boy looked down, not bothering to answer. He had nothing to lose by not answering this armored fool.
"Open the door." the man said and the sound of another pair of footsteps, followed by the sound of the lock being turned were heard before the boy looked up again. The warrior opened the door and came into the cell, crouched down and looked over the boy's body, glancing over the bleeding wounds on the back and bruised body. Now the boy could see that the face of the warrior. He had a tanned skin and deep brown eyes, much like himself. The man looked around thirty years old to the boy, with hair receding at the temples. Now the boy also noticed that the man had a beard and an ear ring. What a strange man, the boy thought.
"Sit up, please." The man said with a concerned look on his face. The boy did as he was told and sat up, leaning against the cold stone wall.
"What's your name?"
"Simon."
"Simon... My name is Duncan, I'm a Grey Warden."
Now the ring made sense to Simon. The Griffin was the emblem for the Grey Wardens of Thedas, sworn to defend the world against the Darkspawn Blights. He'd heard stories about them when roaming the streets of Denerim listening in on conversations. Sometimes information were even more valuable than gems.
"W-what do you want? I see you already have your ring back, so I don't have anything." he said and noticed the Griffin ring Duncan wore on his little finger.
"Yes, it was given back to me just before I came to see you, which brings me back to your question... I'm looking for recruits. You're too young right now to be initiated into our ranks, but from what I could see while chasing you, you possess agile skills and you're quick-witted. I would like to get you trained to one day become a Grey Warden."
"The boy is set for punishment tomorrow Lord Commander. He's just another pickpocket, there is plenty more around in the other cells for you to-" the guard outside started but were cut off by Duncan,
"I didn't ask you. Many have tried to steal from me before, but none have ever been successful, other than this boy here." Duncan said looking with anger at the guard. "I would advise you to be quiet from here on or I will silence you." then Duncan looked at Simon again and all anger was gone from his face.
"This is a one-time offer I'm afraid. I'm leaving Denerim as soon as I'm done here, and I would like you to join me Simon. Do you accept?"
"What if I don't?" the boy asked, not sure he liked the sound of being a Grey Warden. From the little he knew about them, they lived short lives!
"Then this guard here will escort me out, leaving you here in the darkness until your hearing tomorrow. Then you will most likely lose either one or both of your hands. Hands that would have been much more useful swinging a blade or a dagger. What do you say?" Duncan said, standing up and looking down on the naked boy, deep in thought.
"I accept. I like my hands quite a lot!" he said smiling faintly before painfully standing up.
"Excellent. You," Duncan turned to the guard, "I claim this boy by the right of Conscription for the Grey Wardens. Bring me his clothing and personal effects." Duncan said and the guard nodded and left the cell in a hurry.
"Right of Conscription?" Simon asked Duncan.
"The Right of Conscription is a means for our organization to get sufficient recruits. We can then demand anyone, king or criminal, to join our ranks. This is used especially when their fate is sealed in some other way. The Chantry isn't very fond of this, as we may use it on Apostates, rouge mages." he added when he noticed the confused look on Simon's face, "And as the Chantry has the say in their fate, they aren't very fond of them being set lose on the world. As you might know, the Chant of Light states that 'magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him' but the Chantry fails to see that there are worse things in this world than Apostates. It takes decades for the world to recover from a Blight, and the power from mages are an important part of stopping them." A minute later the guard came running back, holding Simon's clothing, dagger and his coin pouch. He quickly dressed, fastened his dagger on his waist then he left the cell with Duncan.
Simon followed Duncan in silence out from the dungeons and out a pair of huge wooden doors and out to daylight. It took a second for Simon to get used to the bright light, but as soon as he did, he could see the whole of Denerim. They were up at Fort Drakon, the tallest structure in Denerim. The fort itself was more like a tower, resting on top of the highest hill in Denerim.
"Do you have anyone you need to say goodbye to?" Duncan asked as they started walking again.
"I don't have anyone. I grew up alone." Simon said and shrugged his shoulders as they walked down the hill from Fort Drakon.
"Then we'll group up with my fellow Wardens and we're off to Montsimmard to join the Orlesian Wardens." Duncan finished and soon after they reached the main gates of Denerim. Three people waited for them. The first was a rather huge looking man, with a long two-handed greatsword on his back and wore the same thick armor as Duncan. The second was also a man and had scaled armor with leather along the joints. He also had a long wooden bow and looked Dalish, but Simon thought he might be a city elf as he didn't have any facial tattoos. The third one was a woman in a long colorful robe with a long white staff on her back held by straps.
"I see you found him." The Dalish said and looked suspiciously at Simon.
"I did. He'll stay with us till Orlais. At least as far as Jader, possibly Montsimmard if it comes to that." Duncan said before he turned to Simon again.
"Simon, this is Saunders Ivo, Tanyl and Katarina, my fellow Ferelden Wardens." First the human with the great-sword bowed, then the Dalish archer nodded and finally the woman with the staff gave a little wink to Simon which made him blush. Soon after the five of them walked out of the city gates, but outside Duncan had a surprise for him.
"This... Is Kramer, your new horse." Duncan said and brought a beautiful black horse over to Simon. "So far he has pretty much only been carrying equipment, but we'll spread the equipment over on the other horses as well so he can carry you as well. He's strong and very kind. You can touch him if you want to." he added when he saw the slightly frightened look on Simon's face. Very slowly, Simon reached out and put his hand on Kramer's head. The deep and dark eyes of the horse calmed Simon down slightly... He didn't seem so bad, he though. And with that they headed west on The Imperial Highway along the Coastlands.
A after almost three days riding, Simon's inner thighs hurt so bad that when they finally set camp at Lake Calenhad, Simon walked bow legged.
"You'll get used to it." Saunders Ivo said as he set up a small tent. "We have five or six more days of riding, and by the end of it you'll feel better, or worse." he said with a laugh.
"That doesn't help now!" Simon said and stroked his sore muscles before helping setting up the camp. During the ride here Simon hadn't said much, but had listened in to what the others were talking about very closely. He'd learned that they were going to Orlais to meet up with the Orlesian Warden Commander. Duncan and the other Commanders of Grey had been summoned to Weisshaupt Fortress in the Anderfels by the First Warden for some unknown reason. They set up the remaining of the tents and made a fire for the night. Simon didn't have a tent of his own, so he slept next to the fire. He'd never been this far from Denerim before. The sound from the huge lake calmed Simon and made him fall asleep much quicker than he'd normally would. He had very pleasant dreams. Dreams of wearing a fantastic plate armor and swinging a huge sword at a dragon. He was just about to deal the killing blow when he was shook awake and he heard a whisper,
"Wake up! Simon wake up!" it was Tanyl and by the tone of his voice, it was serious.
"Be on your guard... There is more than one out there." he heard Duncan say.
Simon sat up. It was still dark and the fire was burning very low. He looked around at the others and saw that all of them had their armor on. Tanyl had his bow up and scouted into the darkness while Katarina stood still with her eyes closed and listened.
"They're here." Duncan said and drew his dual swords just as something came out from the dark. Simon screamed when he saw it. It had dark green skin, no hair, a face that looked like it had hit a wall and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Its armor seemed unusually spiky and it wielded a powerful greataxe, but it was not alone. Around eleven or twelve others came out from the darkness and ran with their swords and axes raised. Simon got up and tried to run away, but he fell to the ground. The first creature caught up with him and jumped to the air and swung it's greataxe with both hands. Simon could only close his eyes and wait for the blow to hit. He heard a scream from the creature and it was thrown ten feet back, now burning. Its axe landed inches from Simon's head with a deep 'thug' as it hit the ground. It was Katarina that had saved him, slinging a fireball at the creature and now conjured ice to cover up another one, stopping it dead in its tracks. Duncan was already busy slashing away at two creatures at once while Tanyl loosened arrow after arrow to help out. Saunders Ivo stood in the middle of a ring of the creatures, maybe four or five and slashed at them with wide swings of his greatsword.
Then Simon hear a noise from behind, different than the screams and clings of swords; muffled footsteps. Simon looked to where the sound came from, but didn't see anything. Just as he grabbed for his dagger, a creature appeared almost out of thin air. This one was different than the others, more animal like. It had no steel armor or weapons, but instead had claws as long as daggers on each hand. It growled as it ran towards him, raising its claws and slashed at him. Simon managed to dodge the first one, but miss-stepped and fell on his back, again! The creature jumped on him and aimed his hands in for his throat. With all the strength he could master, Simon plunged his dagger as hard as he could up and into the creature's chest. A scream, louder than anything else around filled Simon's ears then dark, warm blood flooded down his hands from the wound in the creature. This didn't kill it however and now it looked down on Simon, growled and aimed his sharp teeth for his neck. An arrow came out from no-where and hit the creature through its head and it fell down over Simon.
"Simon?! Are you alright?" Duncan shouted as he ran over and pushed the smelly creature away from Simon.
"I-I'm fine. It's not mine." Simon said when Duncan examined the blood that covered his arms and chest.
"Not bad kid." Tanyl said as he walked over, putting an arrow back in the quiver again. "Hadn't you stuck your blade in that Shriek, I wouldn't have noticed it in time to save you." he said with a smile.
"Shriek? Is that what this- thing is?" Simon asked and looked over at the creature.
"It's one of the Darkspawn." Duncan said as he helped Simon sit up again. "All of these are. The other ones were Hurlock Darkspawn. Seems you killed the scariest one of them."
"Just a small raid party." Saunders Ivo said as he too came over, drying off his blade. The spot he had been fighting the Darkspawn looked like a massacre. Mangled body parts laying all over the ground, and now and then a burning body after Katarina's fireballs.
"Is he alright?" Katarina said as she too walked over.
"He's fine. Not many would have been able to do what he did. Shrieks can sneak up on pretty much anybody, but you managed to notice it before it had its jaw around your head." Tanyl said laughingly at Simon.
"A Shriek?!" Katarina said in shock, "And you survived? Well done! Seems like you picked a good recruit this time Duncan." she added and looked at Duncan who nodded and smiled down at Simon.
"I don't sense any others nearby right now, but we should stay on guard. Tanyl, you take first watch, then Katarina. By then it should be morning. Simon, come here. We need to get you changed out from those bloody clothes."
Duncan put his arm around the shivering Simon and led him down to the lake to get him cleaned up. Simon pulled off his garments and walked into the lake and dipped his body in the cold water. As he felt the dark blood being washed away, Simon felt a sense of pride that he'd never felt before. Everyone knew about the Darkspawn, but they were mostly a Dwarven problem in the Deep Roads. Simon had always wanted to see the Deep Roads. It was said they lead to all sorts of different Thaigs underground and that in many of those lost Thaigs, there were treasure beyond imagination. Almost all the great Dwarf cities had been lost to the Darkspawn over the years and now only two of the great cities were still standing: Orzammar and Kal-Sharok. The Dwarfs in these great Thaigs faced Darkspawn daily, but they always managed to push them back but this didn't stop the Dwarfs from having heavy losses against the Darkspawn. And knowing that he, Simon, a cut purse and pickpocket had slain a beast that killed the mighty Dwarven warriors on a daily basis was so...
"Get out from there or you'll freeze to death!"
The sound of Duncan's voice snapped Simon back to reality. He took one last dip in the water washing out the blood from his hair and walked back to shore where Duncan stood waiting with dry clothes.
"You should get some rest. We leave early tomorrow morning. The rest of us will clean up here and move the bodies." he said and turned his back as Simon got dressed again. "Move them where?"
"We will move them to a place where we can burn them. Leaving Darkspawn corpses could corrupt flesh eating animals and taint them and turn them into something just as evil as Darkspawn." Duncan said as he turned around to walk Simon back to the camp. Simon looked at his hands and where the blood from the Shriek had flowed down his arm.
"Don't worry. As long as the blood doesn't come in contact with yours, or you ingest it, you're safe." Duncan said reassuringly. The next day Simon woke up to the sound of Tanyl that tried to pack his stuffed pack with more stuff as he cursed in some unknown tongue. When he saw that Simon was awake he gave him a warm smile.
"Good morning. Sleep well?" he said as he gave his pack one last push before he gave up and started packing in another bag.
"Y-Yeah. As good as anyone could expect after..."
Tanyl looked up and noticed Simon's thoughtful face. "You did better than any of us, maybe except from Duncan expected. You should take pride in that fact. Hurry and pack up your things, we're leaving soon." and with that Simon started packing the few things he had brought with; his dagger and his spare clothes.
During the light of day, Simon could clearly see the Circle Tower in the middle of lake Calenhad. The place where all of Ferelden's mages were brought to learn to control their magic powers under the strict rule of the templars of the Chantry. They had only been riding for 20 minutes when they saw the smoke in the distance. Black and thick smoke rising in several pillars.
"Looks like..." Duncan mumbled before he suddenly forced his horse into gallop towards the smoke. The four others quickly followed Duncan through the forest. Before long they reached the outskirts of a small village. It might have been a thriving village at some time, but now the small houses were almost completely burned down. A few still stood though, but none of them were untouched. Doors were kicked in and all over the grounds lay bodies. Men, women and children.
"So this is where the Darkspawn came from." Tanyl said with disgust in his voice.
"Spread out and look for sign of where the Darkspawn came from and survivors." Duncan said and dismounted his horse, the others did the same. Simon almost threw up from the smell. Most bodies had slashing wounds, but a lot of them also had huge chunks of flesh torn from their bodies. He forced himself to look away from the mangled bodies and started to walk towards one of the few still standing houses, smaller than the other ones it could have been a shed for farming equipment. The door were half open and creaked when Simon slowly pushed it open. Inside there were more bodies, but not human. Three Darkspawn bodies lay spread on the dirt floor.
"What the-" was all Simon were able to say before someone jumped him from behind the door. He was pushed face down into the dirt and felt someone sit on his back and then he felt a cold blade push against his throat.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" a boyish voice almost whispered. "Answer me!" Simon used his reflexes to quickly roll onto his back, forcing the one on top of him to fall on the ground. He quickly stood up and pulled his small dagger to face the one threatening him. It was a boy, maybe 14 years old with short blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore a thin leather armor and wielded a dagger much like his own. He too had gotten off the ground and now faced him with anger in his face.
"I'll ask one more time. Who are you?!" The boy shouted at Simon, but Simon knew better than to answer. He changed his grip on his dagger making it easier to deflect any incoming blows.
"Daniel... Stop." a weak voice said from behind a large stack of crates. "I don't think-"
"he doesn't sound like one of those creatures Daniel. Lower your weapon." the voice said again.
The boy lowered his dagger just as the four others came running into the small shed. All of them had their weapons at the ready, but lowered them as soon as they saw the young boy. "You... you are-" the boy stammered as he looked at the emblem on Duncan's chest.
"Grey Wardens." Duncan said calmly as he put his swords back into the sheath on his back. "And who are you may I ask?"
"He is Daniel, my squire." the voice said again, weaker than last time. Daniel quickly ran to the back of the crates and the others followed. Behind the crates lay a man, a knight by the looks of him, wearing thick plated mail. On the chest it had a familiar symbol, a burning sword. Even though the armor was thick, he was bleeding from several deep cuts in his once shiny armor.
"Hold on Ser Aron. Please." Daniel said as he grabbed the knights hand. "Are you a-" Katarina asked but was cut off by Sir Aron.
"-a templar of the Chantry, yes." Sir Aron said and closed his eyes from the pain. "I came here looking for an apostate that have been seen walking around here. We were just about to leave when they came out from the dark."
"The Darkspawn." Duncan said shaking his head. "How many people were in this village?"
"Only about 20 or so. None had any military training at all and were slaughtered by the creatures. Didn't really help running from them either as they are small, but fast." Sir Aron finished and tried to sit up with the help from Daniel.
"And you and the boy, how did you end up in here?" Saunders Ivo asked as he looked on the Darkspawn corpses on the ground.
"I knew that we wouldn't be able to outrun them or fight that many of them by myself. My squire might be brave, but having a dozen of the creatures on him at once would surely kill him. So we retreated in here." he said looking around the room. "It almost worked, but one of the other villagers ran for the door here and dragged five of them with her. Two of them grabbed her and carried her off while the three last ones came in here." Sir Aron managed to say before he began coughing up blood. By the looks of it, he had already lost a lot of blood. His face was almost as pale as on the bodies outside.
"I managed to kill one of them off as soon as it entered the door," Sir Aron continued "but the two others hacked at me before I could raise my blade at them. That's when Daniel stepped in." He said and looked warmly at his squire. "He thrust his blade deep into first one and before the other last one could turn around, he had all but cut off it's head."
"Ser Aron?!" Daniel shouted and looked in horror as his master couched up more blood. "Katarina...?" Duncan said and turned to the mage.
Katarina stepped forward and crouched down next to the wounded templar. She put one of her hands on the largest of his wounds and closer her eyes. "It's... Too late." she finally said and opened her eyes. "You have lost too much blood. None of my healing can help as you have traces of the taint in your blood as well."
"I've accepted my fate long ago. I'm part happy that it weren't an appostate that took me down." Sir Aron said. "May I ask something from you Grey Warden?" He looked up at Duncan. "That you take Daniel with you. He is a very good squire and would have made a fine templar someday. May I ask he become a Grey Warden?"
"Joining our order isn't something to be considered lightly as many recruits die before they even get to join our ranks. I will not let him join, especially since he is so young." Duncan said and looked at the templar with a serious look.
"But you let me join you..?" Simon said a little hurt since this squire seemed older than him.
"You managed to sneak up on me, something not many people have and you were going to get your hands cut off Simon." Duncan said simply. "Young Daniel here have his whole future ahead of him, none of it sealed in any way like yours was."
"He's gotten military training with sword and shield." Sir Aron managed to say in between coughs.
"He is as good as any templar recruit. The only thing he hasn't been through yet is his exposure to lyrium to strengthen his powers."
"What's lyr-" Simon started but Katarina answered the question before he got to finish it.
"It's what mages draw their powers from. Pure magica. Templars use it to boost their mage hunting skills and resistance to it." she said without looking at the templar in front of her.
"Correct." Sir Aron said with a sly smile. "Which also means that Daniel isn't addicted to lyrium either, like I am. That should make him more valuable to you, Duncan." Duncan turned his eyes to Daniel, still looking on his master coughing up more and more blood.
"What say you Daniel? The life of a Grey Warden is a short, cruel life full of struggle. It's no salvation, not for anyone." "Ser Aron... I can't leave you." Daniel sobbed as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"This is your chance Daniel. You were always too good to become a templar. I wish of you to do great things in this world, and the Grey Wardens are one of the very few ones that can do great good in this world. I'm not going to last long anyway and I would go much easier to see the Maker if I know you're safe." Sir Aron said and reached out to his squires cheeks and dried his tears. Daniel nodded and finally tore his eyes away from his master and looked up at Duncan.
"If you'll have me, I want to join the Grey Wardens."
Duncan sighed and accepted the young boy's request. Finally he looked at the wounded templar on the ground. "Do you wish for us to end your pain Sir Aron? It won't be long till the taint claims your life, but I can spare you the pain of it if you'd like." Duncan asked and crouched down next to the templar. This brought a smile to the templars mouth.
"No need commander. I don't feel any pain anymore. Please take Daniel and go. If you can, will you let the Chantry of Denerim know of my death?" Duncan nodded and shook the templar's hand.
"May the Maker ease your journey." Saunders Ivo said and did a small bow towards the templar before he left the small shed. Tanyl, Katarina, Duncan and Simon soon followed leaving Daniel to say goodbye to his master. After a few minutes Daniel came out red eyed and Duncan quickly put an arm around the young boy's shoulders. They gathered up the rest of the bodies and lay them in a big pile before setting fire to them. They didn't have the time to bury 20 people. Besides, they had to burn the Darkspawn bodies anyway. The only exception they did was for Ser Aron. Katarina had been right, it didn't take long before the taint and blood loss took his life. They buried him in the middle of the village, leaving his sword to mark his grave.
"Do you have a horse?" Duncan asked Daniel. The boy was still pretty shaken up after they put his master in the ground. He dried his eyes quickly before he looked away from the hurried grave. "Y-yes. Both Ser Aron and I do... did.They should be right over there." He said and pointed over at the edge of the village. The group moved over there to look for the horses, only to find them dead.
"Well, looks like we'll have to reorganize our equipment again." Tanyl said as he sighed and walked over to their own horses on the other side of the village. After a quick redistribution of weight, Daniel was seated with Simon on Kramer. Soon they started riding again, leaving the still burning village behind them and moving away from Lake Calenhad and up towards the Frostback Mountains.
That's part one of my story. I have more, but I'd like to hear what you guys think of what I have so far? The relationship between the boys are going to evolve a lot more, especially in the nest couple of parts, but I had to introduce what kind of story this is going to be. The Dragon Age games, at least the first and third one, have a lot of deep and dark twists, something I'd like to use in this story as well. So let me know what you like and what you don't and if you have any ideas for the story, email me at rainingsparrows@yahoo.com