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. This story also has some gore and violence! Any comments are welcome at rainingsparrows@yahoo.com
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Previously: Daniel looked at Simon as a friend, something Simon had never experienced before. As a pickpocket, he'd never made friends, just accomplices.
"Thank you, Daniel. You're a great friend too." Simon said, feeling a lump in his throat forming. Not exchanging any more words, both boys laid down on their bedrolls and looked up at the night sky. One after the other, they fell asleep, right next to each other.
Part IV Daniel woke up early. He rustled around, stretching in his bedroll before opening his eyes. It was early dawn, judging by the light dimming over the treetops. The fire was all but embers now, causing flickering shadows on the ground. He rolled over to look at the sleeping figure next to him, Simon. Simon was on his back, with one leg peeking out from under the blanket, snoring slightly. Daniel had to smile when he saw the drool coming from the corner of his open mouth.
"You up already?" Daniel heard Saunders Ivo's deep voice say behind him. Daniel got up and saw the large man sitting on the other side of the fire, cleaning his sword.
"Yeah, I usually always wake up before anyone else." Daniel said and walked over and sat down next to Saunders Ivo.
"Me too. I've always liked to watch the sun come up." He said, looking up at the treetops. Daniel followed his gaze and had to agree, it was beautiful. In addition, he noticed the birds chippering away, how anyone could sleep through that, was beyond his understanding.
"You seem to take all of this quite well." Sanders Ivo continued, "Joining us as a recruit, and then your special circumstances."
"Yeah..." Daniel said staring into the embers, "Still doesn't feel real, you know?"
"I know." Saunders Ivo said calmly. "Joining the Grey Wardens isn't easy, even for someone who sought them out to join."
"How did you come to join the Wardens?" Daniel asked. Saunders Ivo finally stopped cleaning his sword before he too, stared into the embers. "I was a mercenary for many years. I had a whole crew of us set up in Amaranthine. One day a dwarf merchant, Kultak, wanted us to escort him and a few of his companions back to the Frostback Mountains. I guessed he was a lyrium merchant," he looked down at Daniel, "I guess you already know about the lyrium trade, you being a Templar-in-training and all."
Daniel nodded slowly. He knew that Templars used lyrium to boost their abilities and that the Chantry was very strict on regulating the trade, as lyrium is highly addictive and dangerous in the wrong hands. Apostates and Templars alike want more lyrium to feed their addiction. A huge chunk of the lyrium trade, was illegal. Mostly done by parties like the Carta and such.
"I'm not surprised. Anyway, we were almost back at Orzammar when Darkspawn attacked us. A small group, like the one you and Ser Aaron got attacked by. We weren't prepared for the monsters to attack us. We expected carta or maybe some thugs, so my men were slaughtered. Out of the ten of us that traveled from Amaranthine, only three of us survived. When we were back home again, I started to look for meaning." Saunders Ivo's eyes became dark, but Daniel thought he saw something else in his eyes. Maybe it was the embers that tricked his own eyes, but he thought Saunders Ivo's looked like they were on fire.
"I swore to kill every single one of the Darkspawn I could get my hands on, so I sought out the Grey Wardens about a year ago. I found Duncan close to Redcliffe. I joined their ranks two days later." He got on his feet and put his greatsword into the long sheath that he strapped tightly to his back, "You should wake Simon and the others up. We should be moving again soon. We have a lot of ground to cover before the day is over."
And true he was. As soon as their little group had packed up their bedrolls and tents, they kept on riding. They estimated it would take another seven days' worth of riding before reaching Montsimmard, where Daniel and Simon would be dropped off for training with the Orlesian Wardens.
They put the Frostback Mountains behind them and soon entered lands of green, with gigantic forests surrounding them. Daniel wanted to explore more of these grounds, someday. They passed through Halamshiral where they stopped quickly to stock up on supplies. Halamshiral looked different from the rest of Orlais.
"Halamshiral was built by elves." Tanyl explained to Daniel and Simon as they walked around the city, waiting for the rest of the group to finish packing supplies.
"Really?" Simon asked and started to look around at the buildings. The city was white, made from a peculiar white stone. The buildings were tall and made almost completely out from this white stone.
"It reminds me a little of... Fort Drakon, to be honest." Simon said, a little unsure.
"Hmm..." Tanyl mumbled, looking around as well. "You're right, actually. Halamshiral is an elvish word though, meaning the end of the journey', as it was founded after the Long Walk'. Do you know what that was, Simon?" Tanyl asked with a glimmer in his eyes. When Simon shook his head, Tanyl sighed.
"I'm not very surprised. It isn't not one of the most widespread tales by the Chantry. After the Andraste's uprising won over the Tevinter Imperium, she promised the elves The Dales as their new home. The elves took on `The Long Walk', and settled here, founding Halamshiral, the end of the journey."
"But-" Daniel started, "didn't Halamshiral get burned to the ground, after the Second Exalted March?"
"Well, someone knows their history!" Tanyl said, impressed. "Yes, Halamshiral was sacked by the Orlesian forces. The Winter Palace was built only a few years after the Exalted March," he said tired, "Once the great capital of the Dales... Now turned into a seasonal holiday spot for the Imperial Court."
They continued riding west, passing through Lydes and Verchiel without stopping. They still had half a days worth of riding left to Montsimmard, when they set up camp. Daniel was to have first watch with Tanyl, sitting near the edge of the camp.
"The two of you have become close." Tanyl nodded against the sleeping mass close to the burning fire, snoring lightly.
"I think Simon is as close a friend to me as any I've had during my Templar training." Daniel said. Not that he'd had that many friends to start with. Tanyl looked him over, as if he had something on his mind.
"Don't get too attached to him before the both of you have gone through your Joining." He finally said. Daniel looked up at the sharp profile of Tanyl's face.
"What do you mean?"
"Just- trust me on this, Daniel." Tanyl said in a tone that clearly said that the conversation was over, but Daniel wouldn't let that comment slide.
"No. Tell me!" He said a little louder than intended, making a few of the sleeping bodies around them shuffle around in their sleep. Tanyl gave him a long and hard look before saying anything more.
"Joining the Grey Wardens isn't like joining the Templar Order or anything else for that matter. People die becoming a Grey Warden." As soon as he said these last words, he looked like he regretted them. Daniel didn't want to ask anything else.
"I-I have to go pee." He said, getting onto his feet. Tanyl looked like was about to stop him, but said nothing. Daniel walked as silently as he could to the closest trees, where the light of the flames couldn't reach him. He let out a soft sigh as he did his business. As the liquid made audible splashes against the closest tree, he heard sounds of movement from the shadows. He looked around the tree to see if he could spot anything, but without any luck. He packed his stuff back in and took a few trying steps in between the trees. Without the flames from the camp or stars from the sky to give any light, the forest was pitch black. Daniel squinted his eyes to see further into the darkness.
There was that sound again. Something was moving out of sight. Daniel closed his eyes, like he'd learned from Katarina, and listened. Using only his hearing, he could now hear the sound of muffled footsteps, but from what... Taking a few steps back, Daniel thought he should call out for help, when a rough hand closed around his mouth. "Shhhh..." a voice whispered into his ear. The cold from a steel blade pushed against the bare skin of his neck. More movement around him, it had to be more than just the one! He heard bows being drawn and swords being unsheathed. An ambush! Daniel did the only thing he could think of, which was locating exactly where the one holding him stood, and then finding his foot. With all his strength, he stomped on the tip of the man's toes, making the man shout out in pain, and loosen his grip around Daniel's mouth. As soon as the man's grip around his mouth loosened, Daniel knocked his head back, feeling the back of his head smash into the man's nose. Not bothering to look behind him, Daniel ran towards the camp.
"Tanyl! Help!" Daniel managed to shout out as he ran out from the trees. He saw Tanyl look around and begin waking up the others. Daniel heard others behind him, shouting and swearing. A sharp pain to his left shoulder suddenly hit him, making him stumble a little, but managing to keep himself on his feet. Daniel looked over at his shoulder and saw a bleeding gash, but no arrow. No direct hit then, that was good, so he continued running. Ahead, he saw that almost the entire camp was on their feet stood ready to face who ever attacked them. Daniel finally reached the camp and jumped behind the first real cover he could find, and not a second too early! Another arrow flew right past the spot where his head would have been, had he stopped. Who in their right mind attacked Grey Wardens?! "Get ready!" he heard Sounders Ivo call out. Daniel looked over to the rest of the Wardens. Tanyl had his bow ready, taking careful aim. Katarina hid behind cover, waiting for the attackers to come closer. Duncan had his dual blades out, stone faced. Saunders Ivo stood first in line of the Wardens, his greatsword already swinging ready for battle.
"Are you alright?!" Simon said as he ran over to Daniel, carrying Daniel's shield in one hand and his blade in the other.
"I think so, only a scratch." Daniel replied as he strapped on his shield to his left arm. Now the battle began. The attacking group turned out to be highwaymen, looking for any target they could find. They were around twenty and the Wardens were only twelve, two being untrained recruits. That made it an unfair fight to say the least.
Daniel got up from behind his cover, holding his shield ready as he faced the enemy. Simon still crouched behind cover, waiting for the enemy to come to them. The first of the highwaymen came running into the camp from the front as archers rained down arrows from the sides. "Daniel, Simon, take out those archers!" Duncan shouted as he slashed down his first highwayman. "Tanyl, cover them." He shouted over to Tanyl, who was already going through his arrows taking out the highwaymen as they came running.
"Let's go." Daniel said and Simon followed him, taking cover behind Daniel's shield. A few arrows hit his shield as they went, but thankfully, none of them hit either Simon or Daniel. There were three archers up on a slope, flanking the Wardens as they fought. Simon and Daniel, covered by Tanyl, made their way up the sides behind Daniel's shield. As soon as the archers started to move away from their position, Simon ran out from the back of Daniel's shield and sprinted towards the clostest archer. The man didn't even have time to draw his dagger as Simon planted his own dagger in the man's neck.
The two other archers dropped their bows and got their own blades ready to face Daniel and Simon, losing focus on the Wardens down below. That was a big mistake, as a well-placed arrow from Tanyl, hit one of the highwaymen in the leg. Simon and Daniel used the man's scream as a distraction and rushed forward towards the two men. Simon used his momentum to knock the first of the highwaymen over, planting his dagger in the man's chest, while Daniel smashed his shield against the crippled archer's incoming blows, deflecting them to the side as he thrusted his dwarven longsword into the man's abdomen, taking down the last of the archers flanking the wardens.
A loud bang caught their attention, as flames burst out from the trees. Daniel and Simon watched in horror as fire ran from the sky over the fighting crowd below them. Out from the trees came a tall woman, grasping a long staff. With swift movements of her hand, she conjured bursts of flame that rained over the fighting Wardens from above. Daniel drew the conclusion that this was an apostate mage, probably having joined the highwaymen for easy profit. Not many can do anything against a trained mage, even with the thickest armor. Either a well trained Templar or another mage stood a chance against one. Thankfully, they had Katarina.
From their vantage point, Daniel and Simon saw Katarina swing her staff around in broad circles as strange symbols formed on the ground around her. A small shimmer covered the Wardens, deflecting the bursts of fire for a few seconds. Beams of light shot back and forth between the two mages, making the ground around the shake as their spells collided in the air. Then something seemed to change and Daniel wasn't sure why at first. The apostate had stopped her movement and had apparently called for someone, because out of the trees came a small man, limping slightly as he ran towards the apostate. In his hand he held a glimmering dagger, that he presented to the apostate. Daniel didn't really understand what was going on, so when the apostate grabbed the dagger and slit the man's throat, he actually shouted out in surprise!
As the man fell to the ground, the apostate's entire posture changed. She stood still and started chanting words, in what sounded like a different language and the ground around her started shaking. Then what looked like shimmering pearls started to rise from the corpse next to the apostate. Daniel didn't see what they were at first, but when he saw where they came from, he felt a shiver go down his spine. Pearls of blood floated into the air around the apostate, from the dead man's neck! They floated around the apostate for a few seconds, before gathering into one big cluster of dark blood, floating mid air, in front of the apostate.
"Blood magic..." Daniel almost whispered. This was even worse than he imagined. Blood magic was the ability to use blood as fuel for spells. The practice of blood magic was highly forbidden, as blood magic was connected to demons. It was said, that the first Darkspawn were Tevinter Magisters that used blood magic to enter the Golden City, the seat of the maker. Only that their arrival corrupted the Golden City, and they were cast back as Darkspawn.
It seemed that Katarina knew that they were in danger. She had also stopped casting spells and stood still, mumbeling words of her own. Even with the fighting going on around her, she didn't even flinch.
Then the apostate made her move. With a loud shout, still in the strange language, the blood floated closer to the apostate, before it hit her. Without leaving a mark on her long dress, it went into her body. It was if the air around them was on, and Daniel felt the hairs on his neck rise. The apostate was almost radiating magic, and even from this distance, Daniel and Simon could feel it on their bodies. There was no doubt about it. Whatever that was coming, was going to be big!
And right they were. The apostate opened her eyes and gave out a small laugh, before a beam of bright red light shot across the battlefield, right towards Katarina.
"No, Katarina!" Daniel and Simon shouted out in desperation as they saw the red light engulf Katarina. Sure that she was dead, Daniel fell to his knees.
"Look!" Simon suddenly shouted and Daniel looked back up. In the middle of the battlefield, a shining white ball surrounded Katarina, apparently having shielded her from the red blast! From the shimmering light that the ball, Daniel could see Katarina's smile.
With new broad swing of her staff, Katarina shot what looked like a bolt through the air and hit the apostate. The apostate was lifted several inches into the air, screaming in pain. Duncan ran forward, holding his dual blades ready. Two highwaymen tried to stop him, but he swept both weapons in a broad forward arc, hitting both of them in the sides. As he came closer to the apostate, she fell back down to the ground again and before she could locate her staff again, Duncan had caught up with her. Even though Daniel and Simon stood on the other side of the battlefield, Daniel could almost hear as the Duncan's blade went through her. As soon as the apostate fell to the ground, the flames stopped raining from the sky as well.
Daniel and Simon slid down the slope back down to the camp. Stepping over several bodies, they made their way to the middle of it, where the wardens had already started to patch each other up.
"How many dead?" Daniel heard Duncan ask Saunders Ivo.
"Only two of us, but we have several injured. Are you alright, Duncan?"
"I'm fine, nothing that a bandage won't fix. Who is dead?"
"Two of the Orlesian Wardens. Hefnar and Eva." Saunders Ivo pointed to a spot a few feet away. A dwarf man lay on the ground clearly dead. Next to him lay a woman. All the white fabric on her Warden armor had been colored red by her own blood. The rest of the Orlesian Wardens stood around the two bodies. Most had wounds and scratches, but none seemed to care much for themselves at the moment.
As Daniel and Simon approached, Duncan turned to them with worry across his face.
"Daniel, you are bleeding. Sit down and let me look."
"I'm fine, it's just a flesh wound." Daniel said as he sat down on a log as Duncan examined his shoulder.
"Hmm..." Duncan mumbled as he carefully peeled off Daniel's armor around the wound, "It looks like you're right. I can see bone though. Are you in any pain?"
"N-no, not really." Daniel said nervously. He knew that his body was too hyped up from the fighting to let him feel his injury to its full extent yet.
"What about you Simon? You're... covered in blood!" Duncan said in horror as he looked over at Simon. Daniel looked over as well, and felt a pit in his stomach when he saw the wound in Simon's side.
"I'm... bleeding." Simon said, looking shocked as he placed his hand on the wound and saw the blood covering his hands. Daniel noticed a shift in Simon's balance and ran towards him as Simon started to fall. Daniel barely managed to catch his friend before he hit the ground, holding him securely in his arms.
"Katarina!" Daniel shouted as many more came rushing to them to help, "Katarina, help!" First now Daniel noticed how pale Simon was. He must have been bleeding for a while. "Simon! Simon, wake up!"