Disclaimer: This Fan Fiction is based on the Dragon Age universe, licensed by BioWare. I do not claim ownership of characters from the game or books.
Please don't post this anywhere else without my permission! Comments, constructive criticism and suggestions are very welcome at rainingsparrows@yahoo.com
As this is a Dragon Age fanfiction, there will be a lot of references to the games and books. I try to explain the lingo as I go, but let me know if something is left out.
This fanfiction is about original characters set in the Dragon Age universe during the third game. There will be sex between minors, adults and some minor incest. You're warned!
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Previosly:
`It really takes a lot out of you, the finish. It's really nice to do when you can't sleep, because you feel so tired after it.'
Did he dare do it? There were so many people around! Very slowly, he slid his hand down his stomach and into his undies. He was starting to get hard just from the thought of doing this! As he started to stroke his now pulsating dick, he heard other sounds in the room. In between the snoring, there was squeaking from the bunk beds and unmistakable moans. Muffled, but if he listened well enough, he could clearly hear them! This made Ethan's mind go haywire! Soon, he added to the moans with his own. He threw off the covers off him, making too much noise as he did so, but at this point he didn't really care. He felt the finish come closer and closer. He had to hold a hand over his mouth to keep himself from waking people up. His eleven-year-old body shook as two little jets of liquid shot across his belly and chest.
Exhausted, he finally felt sleep come over him. He let out a relieved sigh, but as he closed his eyes, he felt the bed shake a little and an unmistakable moan from down below! Nero was also awake it seemed, and had just finished by the sound of it.
This suspicion was confirmed when Nero whispered, "That was great... Nite, Ethan." All Ethan could do was to whisper `Nite' back, feeling his face heat up. But soon after, he drifted off to sleep—his first of many nights at Kinloch Hold.
Chapter Four: A new friend
For the next few weeks and months, Ethan tried his best get into the Kinloch Hold routine. Every morning, he woke up, hung the small chain around his neck and got dressed for the day. Twice a week, he attended classed lead by the Enchanters and some Senior Enchanters. He learned a lot of magical theory and how it worked, and even started to do some magic, under strict supervision and explanation. When he wasn't attending classes, he was reading on his own. It surprised him how easily he read now. He had been a blacksmith's apprentice, after all. Most didn't learn to read or write as a blacksmith! But his time in the chantry had given him the boost he needed, even if just a small boost.
One thing he did notice though, was that there was pretty much always a templar in every room. Wherever he went, there was at least one templar in the halls, libraries, outside the sleeping quarter doors, everywhere! The little privacy they had was at the baths and in their beds. The templars could have been a part of the decoration in the tower, the way they were lining the tower's walls, but they were even too numerous for that. He felt the hairs on his neck rise whenever he passed the templars in the halls. Silent eyes, watching them wherever they went...
The one bright spot about circle life, was the classes. The classes were challenging. The Enchanters and Senior Enchanters were strict, but fair. If someone was joking in class or didn't take an exercise seriously, the Enchanters would have a quiet word with the apprentice.
"As breath is to breathing, mana is to magic," Enchanter Nathan said as the apprentices sat around in a circle. "We draw our power from the Fade. It empowers us, but that power can turn against us at a seconds notice, unless we learn how to control it. And when we learn how to control it, we use that power to shape the reality of our world."
Ethan concentrated so hard that beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He did everything Enchanter Nathan said and let his mind tap into his reserve of mana. Slowly, a faint, blue glow emerged first from the palm of his hand, then it spread out to his fingertips. He felt the energy flow through him, more so than during his awakening! Something new had happened since he came here. Whispers at the edge of his mind whenever he tapped into the Fade...
"Alright. It looks like everyone managed to draw some mana. Good. Now, we've studied the school of Primal magic. Most see Fire as the wildest, but easiest one to create." Enchanter Nathan gestured at the lit candles in front of each apprentice, "I want each of you to strengthen the flame of the candle in front of you. Change its reality into something more. At the count of three. One... Two... Three!"
Ethan let his consciousness fade and his mind guide him. He let the power from his hands flow down to the lit flame in front of him. He gestured with his hands as if he was drawing the flame out and pushing it up and up and up.
"Ethan!" Enchanter Nathan called and Ethan snapped out of his trance. He looked at the flame in front of him, growing several feet high, roaring like wildfire. As soon as he saw what was happening, he jolted back and the flame in front of him faded and quenched out.
"That is a prime example of what I was saying," Enchanter Nathan said, giving Ethan a strict look. "Ethan drew too much mana, letting it all flow down to the flame. His mind altered the flame, making it grow wild. Had he not sealed the flow, it would have grown out of his control. Remember people, magic is dangerous, just as fire is. Anyone who forgets this truth gets burned, as one of my teachers put it to me once."
Ethan just wanted to sink into the ground and fade away. The classes was very useful though, as he soon managed to control his flow of mana better. He found the different schools of magic very interesting, but what fascinated him the most was the Fade.
He read in several different books about the Fade and what it was. It was described in a lot more detail than the simplistic model Nero had drawn for him, but the basic idea of it was the same. The Fade was basically another realm, separated from ours by the Veil. The Veil isn't a physical thing as much as a concept. The idea was to think of the Veil as a piece of cloth separating two rooms. Mages drew power from the Fade by letting their minds slip past the Veil, drawing mana.
While the Fade was another realm—the real of dreams—it also housed spirits. Some of these spirits are what shapes the dreams of humans and elves. But some of these spirits were demons, corrupted spirits who desperately want to access the real world.
The Veil could sometimes rip, continuing with the concept of it being a cloth, letting the Fade seep into our world. These rips in the Veil usually happened where the Veil was weakened by great magical power or places where there had been a lot of bloodshed. This could lead to the spirits and entering the human world. The Veil is particularly weak at night, when most people are asleep and their minds are in the Fade. The spirits and demons see the human world through the eyes of the dreamers, and though twisted and wrong as it may be at times, demons try any means to cross over, since they crave the things they don't have.
Ethan was reading about demon possession, when Nero plumped down next to him, taking a huge bite from an apple. "What'cha reading?"
"I'm reading about possession..." Ethan said, turning the page. "I want to know what it is and why..."
"It's because we're mages," a voice came from behind. Ethan and Nero both turned around and saw a boy standing behind them. He was an apprentice, like them. He had dark brown hair that looked unusually spiky in the front. He had an annoyed look in his clear grey eyes, possibly because of his oddly angular eyebrows as he looked down on the two boys.
"I'm sorry?" Ethan said, trying to sound polite, but the look this boy gave him just annoyed him.
"Demons possess mages because we can do magic. It's really quite elementary," the boy explained in a tone implying that Ethan was utterly stupid. "The Fade is the plane of dreams and spirits and demons have immense power in the fade, shaping it to their will. When people sleep, these spirits use the dreamer's memories to build dreams, but memories are imperfect. When a dream seems strange when you think about them, it's because a spirit interpreted a memory wrong or out of context. They shape the dream from what they can learn from memories, altering it as they go.
"So when a spirit or demon crosses into the waking world, they become confused when things are different from what they know and remember. Objects exist independently of how we remember them or the emotions we associate with them," the haughty boy finished.
"Soooo..." Ethan said, scratching his head, still very much confused.
"Soooo, mages are the only ones capable of altering this world to their will! Spirits and demons want to have that power, because it is all they know what to do in the Fade," the boy said with a disdainful look at Ethan. "Seriously, are you sure you should be here with your utter lack of knowledge?"
"Give it a rest, will you?" Nero said with an angry tone. "He's just been here a couple of weeks!"
"I knew that during the first week," The boy said then shrugged his shoulders. "I just thought new apprentices had more... intellect. I guess I was wrong," he said before walking away, leaving Ethan dumbfounded and Nero growling.
"I hate that kid. He is so damn condescending!" Nero snarled as the boy disappeared around the corner.
"Who was that?" Ethan asked.
"Gerald Beleren," Nero said and shook his head. "He's a year younger than me. A bit of an ass, if you ask me."
"I see what you mean... What's with him? Why did he-"
"Because he is, or was, a noble's kid I hear," Nero whispered conspiratorially, "His family lost it all during the Blight. Some of his family died during the fighting and the family fell into ruins. I guess he is just mad because they aren't rich anymore," Nero finished with a shrug.
"I see... So, they lost their noble status then?" Ethan asked carefully. Even though he couldn't really remember his parent's faces anymore, he knew that kind of loss.
"I think so. But he walks around here like he still is, so who knows."
Ethan started to notice this Gerald kid a lot more after that. He was one of the regulars at the library. He was always there, sometimes alone and other times with one of the older apprentices. Working together to master magic, Ethan thought. Gerald seemed different when he was with this older apprentice, not at all like when he first saw him. Ethan remembered Gerald as cold, arrogant and really an ass, but with this older apprentice at his side, he smiled and laughed a lot.
"Hey, Nero," Ethan asked one time when he spotted the unusual pair, "who's that other apprentice with Gerald?" Nero looked over at the two apprentices, in deep conversation over something.
"Thaaat's... Arnoud, I think his name is. One of the oldest apprentices left here."
"Left? What do you mean?"
"We're not apprentices forever, you know!" Nero said as he hit Ethan playfully on the shoulder. Ethan got a familiar warm feeling at this friendly gesture.
"Alright," he laughed and felt himself blush a little. "So when does an apprentice become a not apprentice?"
"You take a test when the Senior Enchanters think you are ready to. The Harrowing. No apprentices know what it is though."
"Really? Don't the other mages say what it is so that we can prepare for it?" Ethan asked confused. This seemed like a strange way to do things.
"No. Whenever someone asks, they just say that they can't talk about it, so I guess it's dangerous. What I do know though," he added and carefully looked around, "is that the ones that don't pass either disappear or turn up as tranquil!" he whispered.
"Really?" Ethan gasped. He knew what the tranquil were. The Rite of Tranquility was only used on mages who couldn't be trusted to take their Harrowing or who abused their powers. The tranquil walked the upper floors and handled many of the mundane tasks like cleaning, but they also handled the brewing of potions and enchanting of items. What was really creepy about them was their monotone voices and blank faces, as if they were but a husk of a person. Like the person inside was gone!
"Yeah, but every circle mage goes through the Harrowing. So I guess it's not an impossible feat."
"Even the name sounds sinister..." Ethan noted. Anything with the name `Harrowing' had to be a dangerous and terrifying task!
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Ethan sent letters to Caleb as often as he could, but the classes kept him occupied from dusk till dawn most days. Nero accompanied him as much as time permitted, but Ethan was still learning the basic principles of magic, while Nero was years ahead of Ethan.
One day as Ethan sat in one of the smaller libraries, he heard someone cry out.
"No! You're lying! Arnoud isn't..." a boy screamed his lungs out. Ethan jumped off from his seat and ran to where the screams came from. At the far and of the hall, he found Gerald on the ground. Several templars and mages stood around him, drawn by the screams.
One of the Senior Enchanters stood over him, patting Gerald on the back. "There is nothing you can do for him now. You have to move on, Gerald."
On the ground, Gerald was on his knees. His whole body was shaking as he cried. "There has to be some mistake. He can't be gone!"
"I'm so sorry, child. I know you and Arnoud were friends, but this is the life of-" the Senior Enchanter said, but before he could finish, Gerald had let out a terrifying scream. From down the hall where Ethan stood, it looked like the air around Gerald became thicker. A powerful aura surrounded Gerald and the mages and templars were blown away by a force that even Ethan could feel wash over him from where he watched. There was no doubt about it, Ethan thought. Even with his limited training, he could feel the magic radiating from Gerald.
Before any of the templars or mages could get back up on their feet, Gerald let out another scream and hammered his fists onto the stone floor beneath him. The aura around Gerald ignited and suddenly the young mage was surrounded by flame! The mages and templars all backed away as far as they could from the young mage. The templars drew their swords and the mages drew their staves, but before they could even try to stop Gerald, the flames died down and all they could hear were Gerald's heavy sobs.
"He can't be dead..." Gerald mumbled and Ethan could see the tears running down his face. "He can't be dead. He just can't. Please, please tell me he's not dead." he almost whispered, begging for it all to be some cruel lie.
One of the older mages took a step forward and approached the kneeling boy. "I am afraid he is gone, Gerald." the mage said, putting his hand on Gerald's back.
Just when Ethan thought it was all over, Gerald jumped up and sprinted down the hall. The other mages and templars seemed just as surprised. Some of the templars looked like they wanted to run after the boy, but the old mage held out his staff to block their path.
"Let him go. He didn't hurt anyone. He'll calm down soon."
"That kid almost killed us!" one of the templars shouted angrily. "He should be put in chains down in the dungeon!"
"He didn't hurt anyone," the old mage said again, this time there was some anger in his voice. "He is a child who hasn't learned to control his powers yet. He isn't an apostate or a malificar so sheath your swords!" he shouted the last word at the templars.
Ethan could feel the tension in the air. None of the templars had sheathed their swords yet and most stared at the old mage. Some looked frightened and some looked angry. Finally, the templar who looked like he was in charge sheathed his sword.
"Fine," he said, with clear spite in his words. "We'll leave him alone, but if something like that happens again, I'll put him through the rite myself!"
With that, the other templars sheathed their swords and left. The mages looked physically relieved to see them leave.
"I thought that would end badly," one of the mages sighed, taking a deep breath. "It's always a bit tense after an apprentice fails the Harrowing, but I'm very glad that another apprentice didn't have to die today."
"There is still time." The old mage said, tightening the grip of his staff. "If the news from Montsimmard is true, the situation will go from bad to worse soon."
The other mages gave each other dark glances. "You think it's true then?" one of the young mages asked with a hint of hope in his voice. "About the rite being reversible? The Grand Enchanter wouldn't have gone to the White Spire if-"
"Not here." the old mage hissed as he gave Ethan a stern glance. "Get back to your studies!" he said to Ethan, who quickly turned and hurried off.
Well out of earshot of the mages, Ethan pondered about what he had seen and heard. The templar had mentioned the rite, which could only be the Rite of Tranquility! But the mages had mentioned it being reversible... Could it?
Ethan soon left the upper library to find Nero. He had to talk to him about what he'd seen and heard, but before he could find him, he stumbled upon Gerald. The young mage sat in a corner in the grand library, by himself. He covered his face with his hands, but Ethan could see the tears still. Ethan wasn't really sure how to approach him. He barely knew Gerald!
"Gerald..." Ethan began. He sat down next to Gerald on the floor. "I'm so sorry."
"Why?" Gerald snapped and looked up at him. His face was a mix of confusion and anger. "You didn't know Arnoud! How could you possibly be sorry!?"
"Because I understand how you feel..." Ethan said truthfully. He didn't have much to offer other than that. "I know loss. I may not know the details of your relationship-" at that last word, Gerald froze and his face became pale for a second, but Ethan continued as if nothing had happened. "-but I know how it is to lose someone you care for."
"Who?" Gerald said staring at Ethan with his clear grey eyes, now swollen and red from his tears. "Who did you lose?"
"I lost both my parents, even though I don't remember them anymore," Ethan said, leaning back into the wall and staring up at the painted glass windows. "My brother and I grew up in the chantry when our parents died, after the Blight. It was rough, but we made it in the end."
"I didn't know you had a brother..." Gerald said, drying his eyes as he listened to Ethan.
"An older brother. His name is Caleb," Ethan said and felt his eyes start to sting a little. "I miss him a lot. He's the only family I have left. Other than Master Harritt, of course," he added with a laugh.
"Then I had Colin, my best friend. I don't think I'll ever see him again, or if he even wants to see me. I scared him with my awakening, you see..."
"I lost my family to the Blight as well," Gerald mumbled, but he didn't cry anymore. "My dad and eldest brothers fought in the Battle of Denerim, but they died."
Ethan wondered if he should mention what Nero had told him about Gerald's family, about their noble status going up in smoke after the Blight, but he decided not to. No reason to dig that up unless Gerald wanted to talk about it. Instead, Ethan put an arm around Gerald's shoulders and hugged him. Gerald looked confused at Ethan for a second, before he accepted the hug and leaned into it. None of the boys said anything, but they didn't need to. They had an unspoken understanding.
"I have to get to bed... I have loads to catch up on tomorrow," Gerald finally said, then he got up from the floor. He looked at Ethan and extended his hand to help him stand up. Ethan accepted the hand and as soon as he was on his feet, Gerald had pulled him in close for another hug. This one wasn't apologetic, like the one Ethan had given, but warm and friendly.
"Thank you," Gerald said with a hint of a smile on his lips before walking towards the dorms.
"You're welcome," Ethan replied as Gerald walked around the corner and out of sight.
Ethan felt a mix of joy and sadness throughout his body. He was happy that Gerald had opened up a little to him and let him in, but also sad for Gerald's loss. Losing one's best friend wasn't something he would wish on anyone!
That concludes chapter Four. I really hope you guys enjoy this series. It's quickly becoming my favorite story to write, even though it's a little difficult to write. Thanks a lot to those of you that send me comments and suggestions. They're really appreciated!
Please check out my other stories here at Nifty. Both are fanficitons like this one, set in an already existing world with original characters, referencing the canon storyline.
The Becomings of Wardens -Dragon Age (finished) : http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/becomings-of-wardens/
The Espen Norum Chronicles - Harry Potter : http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/celebrity/espen-norum-chronicles/