To start off...
The Clear and Easy Path is not Always the Best One
Alistair looked down at the pouch he was carrying and found himself in amazement. Inside was a pinch of ashes from the Sacred Urn of Andraste. He alone touched the Urn to remove that small pinch, and now carried it with him so he could help save Arl Eamon’s life. With him were Leliana, the Orlesian bard, Morrigan the apostate witch, and Sten the Quanari. Only Leliana was as awestruck as he when they stood in from of the Urn. Sten and Morrigan were nonplussed, and even annoyed that they group had come through all of the tests and cultists that inhabited Haven just for a pinch of dust. But he didn’t care, he knew the true value of what they carried, and the importance it meant to ending the blight. And now they were heading back to their camp at the base of the mountain.
The village of Haven lay just ahead about half way down the mountain. Dan had wanted Alistair to take the small group up to Haven and scout around. He was glad Dan had done that, but also sorry that things had worked out like they had and his friend was not present when they saw the Urn. The villagers at first just seemed a strange folk, and their beliefs a little skewed considering they had male priests instead of the traditional female ones that presided over the rest of Thedas. They were somewhat friendly at first in at least they had not driven the small party of four away at first glance. However, when they had discovered the bodies of Redcliffe knights, the villagers attacked them almost immediately. They weren’t much for fighting, but it did change Alistair’s plans immensely after they found Brother Genitivi imprisoned in the chantry library. They immediately proceeded to the temple near the summit, and had to fight their way through more cultists. The high dragon the cultists believed to be Andraste was no small feat either, and in the end he killed the dragon while Sten, Morrigan, and Leliana had weakened it during a prolonged battle.
As the four came closer to the village, Sten pointed out movement ahead that should not have been there. Proceeding cautiously, the small group crouched near a small outcropping of rocks along the path. Suddenly they were assaulted by arrows and small stones. Leliana peaked through a small crack to access their attackers.
“They’re children!” she shouted.
“Children? I don’t remember seeing any except the one with the finger bone,” replied Morrigan.
“I would guess about one hundred, perhaps more,” the bard answered back. “Most armed with bows.”
Alistair crawled to the edge of the outcropping that had become their shield, and as he peered down the path an arrow just missed his head. Another lodged in the crack Leliana had looking through causing her to fall backwards.
“They are apparently well practiced, and mean to keep us from leaving.” Sten crouched nearest the mountain face. His size limited his positioning, and he could not safely peer down the path. Morrigan stayed back as well since she had little or no armor on.
“I’ll say,” Alistair said between breaths. “That last one was too close. Are you alright, Leliana?”
“I’m ok. But I am not sure that was an intentional shot.” Another arrow passed through that hole she was looking through. She looked at Alistair as the arrow bounced up the path behind them. “Ok. On second thought, maybe it was.”
Alistair chanced another peak, and ducked back under cover as another arrow whizzed by his ear. “They are either all children or really skinny dwarves. And I don’t remember there being that many dwarves on the entire surface of Thedas.”
“Wonderful,” Morrigan sarcastically remarked. “So, fearless leader, what do we do now?”
“Give me a moment.”
“We should rush them. Children with weapons are still an enemy to be faced.” Sten’s remark made the other three look at him angrily.
“You can’t possibly mean to run down there and kill children?” queried Leliana.
“It would solve our current problem. If they chose to fight us, then Sten is right.”
Alistair turned his attention to Morrigan after her last remark. “I am not about to attack children.”
“And why not? It’s either we fight them and survive, or we stay here pinned down.”
“They’re children!”
“It’s either us or them, and I say us!”
“No!”
Sten began to stand up. “If you will not, then I will do it. This only delays us from facing the archdemon, and we have suffered too many delays.”
“Sit down,” Alistair said as he brought the tip of sword to Sten’s throat. Leliana and Morrigan looked at the two men in horror. “I swear I will run you through if you even think about going down there to butcher children. I wasn’t at the farmstead in Lothering to stop you then, but I can damn well stop you here.”
Sten relented and sat back down. Alistair kept his sword ready, and chanced another peak. The children below had staged themselves at strategic locations around the path leading into Haven. Alistair could not believe the tact they were using. It was like they were full grown soldiers waiting in ambush. These children posed more of a threat than he realized. Another arrow narrowly missed his head, and he ducked back behind the outcropping. He had to think of something, and fast before they ran out of daylight. He was sure the kids below would have no trouble sneaking up on them in the dark especially with their familiarity with the terrain.
“Did you and Dan have a signal or some other type of plan in case we did not return to camp after a certain amount of time?” Alistair looked and it was Morrigan who asked the question.
“We did. I would have you send a fireball into the sky in case we had serious problems.”
‘Then why didn’t you say so?” she asked and acted as if to begin a spell.
“It won’t work at this height. We’re too far away for him to see it.”
Morrigan stopped her spell, and sat back down. The four of them resigned to figuring out a way past the children. But as they discussed their options, Sten grew impatient. He again tried to stand up stating he would do what the others chose not to. Alistair faced off with the Quanari again, and as the two men about came to blows, Leliana pointed to the edge of the cliff nearby the path ran alongside. The other three looked to where she pointed, and blonde hair began emerging from the edge. The kept vigil as the hair continued to pointed ears, brown eyes, and then to the sly grin of the elven assassin Zevran. He looked down the path towards Haven, heaved himself upwards, and bounded across the open space to the outcropping to join the others. Several arrows littered the open space left behind him.
“So, the little munchkins have you trapped all the way up here.” It was a statement.
“Did you climb all the way up here just to state the obvious?” asked Morrigan.
“Oh, sure, mock me. I could always climb back down and leave you here.”
“No…please…Zevran…she is just being stubborn.” Leliana shot Morrigan a glare, and turned her attention back to Zevran. “Did Dan send you up here?”
“Funny thing…we were down at camp, and soon all of these kids came down the path from Haven. They saw us…started shouting…and some shot arrows at us. Dan charged up the hill yelling, and Lakota was with him barking all the way. The kids turned and ran back up the path. He came back and got me, and we decided to see what had happened up here. When we got to the village, all of the kids started running up the mountain, and then just stopped and started shooting arrows at us. Lakota barked some more, but they were not scared enough this time to run away. So I climbed up here to see what the kids were scared of, and I find you up here hiding behind a pile of rocks.”
“So they’re just scared children?” Leliana asked.
“Scared and cornered,” replied Zevran. “They have entrenched themselves. If I had not seen with my own eyes I would have thought them a well trained army. But no, they are just scared kids caught in a corner.”
“Then we should go down and scare them some more,” remarked Sten.
“Normally I would say yes, but not this time,” replied the elf. “A cornered cat is most dangerous. And these are cornered. Had they not found us first, I would say scaring them into fleeing would be easy. But now, they have already fled, and thus are not knowing which direction to turn. No, my large friend, you would only end up in a fight and forced into killing them, and even I would not do such a thing to children.”
Alistair looked at him, “So what would you suggest?”
“Well, as it would happen, while I was climbing up here I happened across a path that goes around this area. It is a little more overgrown and more dangerous to traverse than this one, but it is another way around. I am figuring it was an older path used by these people long ago, and abandoned after they made this much easier and safer path.”
“So how do we get to the other path?”
“We will need to go back up this one about another four hundred yards, climb down about thirty feet, and then we’ll be at the path. I doubt the kids even know it’s there.”
“That’s all well and good, but if you haven’t noticed…we’re pinned down here,” stated Alistair.
“Ah…but we have a mage. Morrigan, would you happen to know a spell that would put a wall of fire, ice, or cloud between us and them?”
“I can, but I need to see where I am placing said wall of flame.”
“Hmmm…well…let me think here.” Zevran closed his eyes, and spread his arms out in front of him, and then above his head. Leliana and Alistair exchanged glances, and Sten cursed that yet another mage was in their party. Zevran opened his eyes, and brought his hand back down. “Well, I have no idea if that worked.”
“What?” the other four asked in unison. And their attention was turned to a wolf bounding down the path behind them. It looked at the elf who only nodded, and then it darted down the pathway towards the kids below. There was screaming and arrows flying towards the wolf which it darted back and forth avoiding the missiles.
“Is that real?” Alistair asked. “Or magical?”
“I am not sure,” replied Zevran. “It is something I learned from a Dalish woman. I was not even sure it had worked as I have only tried it once before and failed. But quickly, Morrigan cast your spell, the wolf will not long last against those arrows.”
Morrigan stood and cast her spell causing a wall of flame to emerge several yards ahead of them down the path. The five stood and quickly bounded up the path and around the corner, and behind them they could hear the yelp of the wolf as the children’s arrows finally hit their mark. Leliana said a silent prayer for the wolf that had afforded them their escape. Zevran led them to the ledge he had mentioned, and they strapped their gear tightly and made the climb down to the ledge below. It was barely wide enough for two to walk abreast, and at one point when they were below the village the path narrowed enough they had to traverse single file with their backs against the cliff wall. When they came back up towards the bottom of the path, they made another twenty foot climb back up to the newer path they had used earlier that day. To the surprise of the other four, it came out just above their camp. They headed to it while Zevran raced back up the mountain towards Haven to retrieve Dan and Lakota from where he had left them before. By nightfall they were all back in camp, and for safety’s sake decided to travel down the road for a few hours before resetting camp for the night.
Dan and Alistair walked the perimeter making sure they were in a safe location and that the kids from Haven had not followed them. As they walked, Alistair showed the pouch to Dan.
“Amazing. You got to see and touch the Urn of Sacred Ashes?” asked Dan.
“Yep. And the tests to get there…grueling.”
“I’m glad Leliana was with you. She would have been beside herself if she had missed that.”
“You should have seen her face. She was excited and stunned and…”
“I get the idea, Alistair. I also heard about what happened between you and Sten.”
“Who told you that?”
“Leliana, Morrigan, and Zevran all three did,” replied Dan. “You did the right thing. I would have done the same if it had been me up there instead of you.”
“You don’t trust him, do you.” Alistair stated.
“I only trust three people.”
“Only three? Who, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“You, Leliana, and Morrigan. The others I don’t know well enough yet.”
“You trust Morrigan?”
“Yes, I do,” Dan replied. “You don’t like her, do you.”
“Besides the fact that she is a complete and utter ****…no…I don’t like her at all.”
“And you don’t find her the least bit attractive?”
Alistair stopped. “Oh, sure, she’s beautiful…like some scary…beautiful…thing.”
“Like a springtime thunderstorm?”
“Yes….but more scary…and eeeeeviiiil.”
Dan grinned and placed his hand on Alistair’s shoulder. “You want her bad.”
“Like hell!”
“Ok, fine. But just try to get along at least. You don’t have to like her…just work with her.”
“But she wanted to go with Sten!”
“Yeah…to ****** you off.”
“She…what?”
“She said that to ****** you off. Granted it was a poor time to choose to mess with your head, but she was hardly going to run down that path to slaughter children.”
“Seeeee…a complete and utter ****!”
Dan turned to walk to his tent. “You want her bad, alright. Maybe not now, maybe not before we end the blight, but mark my words…you want her so bad you can taste it.”
“Never happen.”
“You know what they say,” chuckled Dan.
“What’s that?”
“Famous last words.”
“Never happen.”
Dan looked back at his friend, “Funny thing is…she said the same things about you. You two have it bad I tell you.” And he turned and continued walking back towards his tent.
Alistair stood there a few more moments and glanced towards Morrigan at her tent. She was busy doing something he could not see. “Nope,” he said to himself, “will never happen.”
Retour en haut
:lol:
Ah well, it took only 65 chapter to reach that...yay go me, lol. 
