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[Lynn01]

Hello guys,
So it has been a while since I have uploaded anything, but I've got something I'm working on again.
I hope you all appreciate and more important, enjoy it!

Click here for the story on FanFiction.net
Click here for my art on Deviantart.com


FanFiction.net

CHAPTER 1: Chased

Aveline is a 20 year old young Lady and is already living together with her boyfriend. They recently bought a house and got a cat and are enjoying their lives together. When she walks back home from a long work day something is not right. She is being chased through the forest and get's an accident. When she wakes up she is not in the same World anymore. How did Aveline end up there? Will she find her way home or is this supposed to be a second chance? Is she able to settle in where she ended up? Will she be able to let everything go and start a new life? This is her story.

It felt like it was minus ten degrees outside. When I came out of the building I already had a thick coat on, but after a minute of walking I considered an extra scarf would do no harm, so I made a mental note to bring one the next day. In these days I wished I had a car. A warm comfortable car, which I could have used to get to work. Walking every day wasn't that horrible in the summer really. It was quite nice to walk or to go on my bicycle, but during winters I could slap myself real hard. It's not like it was a five minute walk either. It would take me a while before I was home. I was looking forward to get home, warm up, get a nice hot meal, spend some time annoying my cat and boyfriend, and play Dragon Age for an hour or two before finishing the evening behind the television. I really enjoyed the game, as I've played through it as my female Cousland character. Of course I couldn't resist marrying Alistair, he's like the cutest character in that game!

My thoughts however, now got me standing still in the middle of a silent road which went through the woods for a short while. It usually didn't take long to get out of the woods, but something was off today. I looked at my watch and noticed it was standing still. - Great.- Utterly annoyed I looked around. - Yes, this does seem like the woods  I'm used to.- With a weird feeling in my guts I moved on, and turned on my MP3 player. Maybe some good music could get my thoughts on the right track again. With the music playing, I considered looking on my phone what time it was. I automatically searched my pocket and found my phone. My eyes searched the screen and while I was trying to unlock it, it failed. - Wonderful, so not only is my watch broken, but now also my phone. - This certainly wasn't helping my mood. To make it worse, it started snowing. My feet moved faster as I was tired from this long day. The sky already started to turn dark, so I knew I had to hurry if I wanted to be out of the woods before it was completely dark. My eyes were focused on my feet, as the snow was falling in my face and kind of blurred my view. All of the sudden I bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" I said, and I looked up. All I saw was someone totally dressed in black. He, assuming it was a man, even had a hood in black. He slowly turned around and even then I could barely see his face. I stepped back a few paces, and I carefully tried to move around him to continue my journey home. While I did that, I didn't take my eyes of him, and with some hesitation I moved my sight forward again and started following the road, faster than I did before I met this man. The feeling in my gut got worse, and I looked behind only to find the man gone. - Where did he go? - When I turned my head back and again bumped into someone. This time I stayed silent and looked what he looked like. He was dressed in….black. My eyes focused on his head and noticed that he also was wearing a hood. The only thing that I could say at that moment was "How….." He turned around and I still couldn't see his face. I took a few paces back again and turned around, only to find another person standing there covered in black. - So this is how it goes eh? You have me stuck in between you two. - Adrenaline was pumping through my body as I had to find a way to get out of here. I turned around again, and noticed the exit of the woods. It was so close yet there was no way I could pass that man without him catching me.

The man behind me was now walking towards me. - The only way out was to  my right. Getting in the woods, making a huge circle and get out again while running really fast. - He was getting closer fast as well.

- Next time I should take a cab. - Without taking more time to think I sprinted into the woods. I wasn't to be violated like a doll you can just use and throw away! It was hard to run through the snow in general. It was like sand, takes tons more energy to move forward than running on a normal road. It wasn't that bad yet, as it didn't snow for very long just yet, but I couldn't linger. The woods were closing up, getting darker as I got in further. The branches were hitting my body, no matter how much I tried to push them aside. I didn't look behind me. I didn't want to see how close they were. My gut feeling lightened up a bit after ten minutes of running and I stopped. I had to decide where to go from here. I couldn't see the road anymore, but even worse I couldn't see the exit of the woods. - Great plan Ave. - Luckily I couldn't see the two black men either. My feeling told me to go left, which only led to more dark woods. I had a map drawn out in my mind, so that was the only and fastest way out of here. So I moved. This time I was just walking and looking around if I could see anything, or anyone.After a few minutes of walking in that direction my gut feeling got worse again. Something was not right, apart from the fact that I was in the woods and not the road where I should have been. I carefully looked around and didn't see anyone. I looked in front of me and I still didn't see anyone. SNAP! That sounded like someone stepped on a branch. My eyes widened and for a moment I froze. Slowly I moved my head to see if anyone was behind me. It didn't take long to see a long black hooded figure, and this was enough for me to start running. - RUN FOR YOUR LIFE AVE! - I got into part of the woods I didn't know. I couldn't recognize anything, though my thoughts weren't at what I could recognize or not, but at those men who were chasing me. I kept moving and in the distance I saw a darker area. It was like the ground moved downhill or something.

When I arrived there, I decided to evaluate quickly if this was something I could drop myself into. Wasn't it too steep? Were there no sharp things in the way even if I was about to try? It was covered like the rest of the woods. All branches, leaves and snow. So that basically gave me no information at all.I turned around to see where the black dressed men were and saw that they were closing in real fast again. They gave me the creeps, and my feet moved back. They moved back, but there was no ground to put them on. I tried to move around, but it only caused me to land on my side and to fall down. I tried to get on my back so I could steer with my feet a bit, but the second I tried I hit a log with my legs. My upper body crashed into it as a response, and my head followed. I barely even felt the pain. I just saw the world spinning around me as my body moved further. - HELP!.. - was the only thing that came out of me. And it wasn't even in speech, but only in my mind. While seeing the world spin around, I got confused. My sight started to blur, and soon after my whole world was black. The last thing I saw was a soft light in the darkness

Modifié par Lynn01, 03 mars 2011 - 01:52 .

[Lynn01]

FanFiction.net

Chapter 2: New Experiences

My mind started to wake again. Everything was still black. My head was hurting, but I couldn't quite remember why. I tried to slowly move my head to see if it would hurt more. - Ouch! Of course it would hurt more, silly girl. - A groan from the pain escaped my lips, one that I could barely hear. I could hear some sounds from my surroundings and I remembered what happened to me. I wasn't quite myself just yet, but I did remember that I was chased in woods while trying to get home. The sounds around me made me think as if someone was talking. Maybe those two men found me and wanted to finish what they started. I slowly tried to open my eyes, I had to face reality sooner or later. Everything was blurry. There were two persons sitting next to me. After a few blinks my sight cleared up more. We are in a tent? I looked to my left, where the exit was and noticed daylight. The sounds were becoming clearer as well. It was talking and it appeared they were talking to me.

"Are you all right my Lady?" the man asked. Next to the man was an older woman. She looked worried. She was dressed in the weirdest robes I had ever seen. I looked at the man again and noticed he was wearing an armor of some kind. - Where on earth am I? Who on earth are they! - My eyes had widened and I could hear the woman whisper to the man.

"She's very shocked about what has happened to her. Some rest would do her well". The man beside her nodded and the woman moved her hand towards my head and made a weird movement with it.

"No!...I…"

Somehow I couldn't keep my eyes open and felt myself drifting away. This time my world didn't turn black though. It was like I was in a second world, but a bit blurry. It confused me. This felt like a dream, but it also didn't. I never had a dream such as this one. It was like I could move and feel everything. I was back in the woods, though these were very bright. Beautiful sunlight was shining through the trees and it was summer. It was warm, a feeling I embraced. I smiled, though I still had no answer to my question. What is this place? I started to move forward, and suddenly noticed that I was wearing a dress. - WOW a very low cut dress even. - My hair was untied and was hanging around my shoulders. I could feel some sort of headpiece as well. Not like a helmet, but more like a band of some sort. I sat down in a more open area and started to enjoy the sunlight. It was a while ago since I had felt this warmth from the sun. Such great weather! I closed my eyes to absorb everything. When I opened them I saw the sky and it horrified me. It became dark red and it spread around me. Before I knew it there was only a small patch of the place I was and I was standing right on it. I heard some thunder sounds behind me which made me turn around. My eyes widened as I saw two figures standing in the distance. Within a flash they closed the distance by half. I wanted to scream, but found that I couldn't. The two figures were just like those men who chased me before. They were standing next to each other and now they both opened up their arms. - What is the meaning of this? - Suddenly I felt being pulled away. - What on earth do you want now! -

- Wow that was weird. Now where am I? - My head still hurt, though not as much as it used to and my mind seemed to be clear again as well. I opened my eyes and I noticed that I was still, or again, in a tent. This time however, nobody was with me. I let out a sigh of relief and tried to sit up. My head was protesting a little bit, but at least I could handle this. With my hands I went through my hair, to try and make it at least a bit decent. I still had my own clothes on as well, except for my coat. I looked around the room to see if maybe it was put aside. Unfortunately, I saw absolutely nothing in the tent. Apparently someone had heard me, because I saw shadows in front of the tent. It looked like the shadow of the old woman who had the weird robes on. I was indeed right, as it turned out when she came into the tent. As a response I grabbed the thin blanket that was put on me and pulled it towards my chest.

"Hello child, do not fear me. I mean you no harm" the woman said with a soft smile.

"Who are you?" I asked her in whisper.

"My name is Wynne" she told me. "We found you in the forest. You were quite hurt as you hit your head on something. Do you remember anything? ". I just kept looking at her. She looked kind enough. She looked like she really meant me no harm. I released my grip on the blanket.

"I….. I remember being chased by two men" I replied. "Ehm, if you don't mind, but… Why are you looking so weird? Same for that man? And what did you do to me when I woke up earlier? And where am I?" I blurred out. I couldn't help myself, but I needed to know. The woman chuckled.

"So many questions you have!" she put her hand on my leg, which my eyes followed. She seemed to notice as she removed it straight away.

"I do not blame you dear. When you woke up earlier, you were in a shock and therefore I let you sleep again. As for our location: we are in Ferelden, in Ostagar to be precise, and you look strange for us as well child. I do not know such clothes as the ones you're wearing so we might have to put you into something more decent after all your questions are answered." The woman said. My mind wondered off to the word Ferelden. I recognized it, though I couldn't place it just yet. - Wait stupid! Wynne, Ferelden, Ostegar, strange clothes, tents to sleep in. You are in Dragon Age! - My eyes widened.

"Is this… Dragon Age?" I asked Wynne.

"Why yes, it certainly is. I am glad we found you in….."

"Nooooo Nononononono this cannot be." I told her. I now shifted so I was sitting on my knees. "This has to be a joke and it's not a good one if I might say so. This cannot be Dragon Age. Dragon Age is a game and far from reality! Dragon Age was made up by the people at Bioware and…. And…." Wynne grabbed my shoulders and I just stared her in her eyes. This felt real. This didn't feel as a dream.

"Calm down child. Why don't you tell me your name first? That would make it easier for me to address you." Wynne said. She looked so calm. She looked slightly worried underneath that calmness though, as if I was mad.

"My name is….. Aveline" I said. "How.." -did I end up here? - "Why?..." - did I end up here? - My eyes wondered down to the blankets. I sounded crazy. Tears started to form in my eyes. If I was really in Dragon Age, there was absolutely no way home. No way to get to my boyfriend, no way to get to my cat, no way to get to something as simple as my house, no way of ever seeing those I loved again. With these thoughts in my mind, my tears started to flow and I silently sobbed.

Reality kicked in. I was stuck here all by myself and the woman who by now hugged me, trying to offer me some comfort.
--
Wynne had left about an hour ago, probably letting me try and swallow everything that I just realized. My tears had stopped by now, and I mostly thought about how I could get home. A whole conversation went on and on in my head.

- Maybe I should run through the forest again and fall on a rock or hit a tree or something. That seemed to work. I could ask these people here to chase me so we recreate the situation. Else I am stuck here forever, trying to play along in this game. In this so called World. I'll die out here. This is called Ostagar, so this is the place where they're having their battle. The Darkspawn will kill me for sure. Staying here is not an option? I don't have any fighting skills beside my bow and I don't even have my bow here! Do they expect me to stay? Do they expect me to fight and die? Do they expect me to shoot with the other ones, while I had 0 practice time with the bow itself? I doubt I could even hit anything. It hasn't got a sight. Why on earth didn't I practice more without a sight? God I can be so stupid sometimes, especially now. How do I let Dan know I'm still alive? I'm still walking the planet. Will he see me when he plays Dragon Age? Will he know that I am gone? Or is this an alternate universe where I was ported into this place and his memory of me is erased? -

Without me noticing a man was in my tent. He startled me the second I saw him. He had leather armor in his hands and put them down next to me.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. You were quite lost in your thoughts weren't you?"

"I…. Yes, I was. You're Duncan, right?" Duncan nodded.

"How are you feeling now? Wynne told me that you were quite confused about how you got here." I could see Duncan knew more than that. He knew what I said about this not being real.

"I am feeling fine I guess. I still do not understand how I got here indeed. I know you must think that I am crazy, but there is no way I can make this sound logic to you…." I sighed. I was feeling lost. Just… Lost.

"There is no need for you to explain. Maybe you'll feel better if you can walk a bit. Feel free to explore this camp for today. I do advise you not to wonder off outside the camp though, as that is quite dangerous at the moment. You can wear this armor as well." He said.

"Yes, Darkspawn and such right? …. Thank you Duncan" I stood up and changed into the armor Duncan brought before going outside. It was quite busy. Soldiers were sharpening their weapons; priests were taking care of the wounded. I walked by a camp of mages as well. I stared at them; not believing what I saw was for real. When moving on, I saw someone preaching to some soldiers, who were all kneeled. It was near Duncan, he was standing at the fire as if he was waiting on someone. I moved on and noticed a dog kennel. They had war hounds in there. - These are Mabari. - The kennel master came up to me.

"It doesn't look good for him. He's badly injured. Only a specific flower can give him a chance to be cured, but that is found in the Korcari Wilds. Hey, you're not going in to the Wilds any time soon are you?" he said.

"I'm not sure really, but I will look out for it if I do." I said. I didn't know what I was about to do next. At least, if I would have to go in there, I could try and help the Mabari.

"If you could do that please, thank you" he said to me while he put his hand on my shoulder. I nodded to him and moved on with my walk around the camp. Soon I saw someone talking to a female soldier and by the look on her face she didn't enjoy his company too much. I grinned, knowing that the man that harassed her was called Daveth. My grin faded quickly after I reminded that he was to die at the Joining. He seemed to notice me as he turned around and came walking upon me. I stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Well you're not what I thought you'd be!" he said.

"Oh? And what did you think I'd be then?" I replied. I crossed my arms awaiting his answer.

"Well, not a woman!" He grinned. - Great so they are using the same lines as in the game. -

"Anyway, we've been waiting for you, now that you're here I'd better go and see Duncan" Daveth said as he ran off. - Waiting for me? He's probably got the wrong person in his mind. - I walked on towards the area where a priestess was blessing some soldiers. She was talking about the Maker, which triggered something inside me. - Right, no God, only the Maker. - Next to the priestess I saw a warrior standing, carefully listening to what the priestess had to say. He turned around and noticed me staring.

"Oh, you must be the last recruit Duncan was talking about." He said.

"Recruit? No .. I.."

"I didn't know they allowed women to join the Grey Wardens" he interrupted. "Anyway, you must have impressed Duncan, which is good enough for me. My name is Ser Jory, I'm a knight from Highever."
- Couldn't he just shut up? He obviously had a thing against women fighting or at least he gave me that impression. -

"I am Aveline, though I think you're mistaken me for…"

"I am sorry to cut you short, but since you're here we better go and find Duncan. He must be waiting already." Ser Jory said as he quickly left. I let out a sigh. - Great, thank you very much for this enlightening conversation.- I started to wonder around camp more and found some targets. Maybe I can find a bow somewhere and practice a bit. I looked around and didn't see any weapons lying around. Only a merchant, so I walked towards him. Maybe he could help me out.

"Excuse me, but do you have a bow by any chance I could borrow?"

"I have got several actually. Wait, are you a Grey Warden recruit? I'll give you one instead, how about that! What are you looking for, 30 pounds my Lady?"

"Oh no, I'm afraid I have only practiced with 26 pounds so far, have you got a bow for that?" The merchant nodded and gave me a bow and some arrows. I thanked him and walked to the targets. The distance was enough to practice a bit and so I started. It was quite different from the bow I had at home. Indeed no extra's, only a bow. Even worse, I only had three practice months on my name, no more. Despite my lack of experience I managed to hit the target quite well. I was a fast learner in my world, so why not here uh? - Okay so here goes. Stand properly, straighten your back. Relax. Nock an arrow. Now raise your bow and aim. String on your nose, hand under your chin. Keep the string there. Aaaaand let go! - After 30 minutes of training I decided to wonder around a bit more. Maybe I could find Duncan and see what he's up to. Maybe I could help him out in any way. I pulled out my arrows and moved over to the fire where he was standing. The knights were still there I noticed, obviously all very impatient. Duncan saw that I was walking towards him, and he actually smiled. - What is there to smile about. - I frowned at Duncan.

"Hello Duncan, I am quite done with exploring camp really. Is there anything I can do for you now that I'm here?"

"Actually, I saw you shooting that bow. I think you wouldn't do so bad as a Grey Warden yourself and we need all recruits we can possibly get, of course those with skill." He said. I stared at Duncan. - Me? A Grey Warden? Losing my ability to ever get children? Dying for certain after 30 years and actually knowing this? On the other side, what was my chance on getting out of this world. I might be able to help them out. Wait. Am I actually considering this? -

Modifié par Lynn01, 22 octobre 2010 - 02:06 .

[Lynn01]

FanFiction.net

Chapter 3: Grey Wardens

"Think about it please. In the meantime, can you go and get Alistair? He should have been here by now, we're all waiting for him to continue the joining of these recruits." I looked at the recruits and noticed only Jory and Daveth were standing next to Duncan. - Where was the PC controlled recruit? - I nodded at Duncan and made my leave when he took my wrist.

"Please let me know your answer when you get back if you can. Then we can include you in this joining as well". I nodded and turned around to find this Alistair. I automatically walked into the right direction when my mind wandered off again. - He said I could think about it, but then again he didn't give me much time at all. Though if he wished, he could conscript me if I say no to him. Would he do that? Would he just conscript me to get another Warden even if I did say no? He would use whatever resource available to fight the blight. In the game he would conscript the Cousland when he or she denied becoming a Grey Warden. "The Darkspawn threat demands that I leave with a recruit". - I was now standing in front of Alistair who was having a conversation with the mage in front of him. Well had, as the mage walked of in anger.

"…..blight brings people together" he said. He was now standing in front of me. I didn't even catch the first part of his sentence. I was just looking into his eyes. - Unbelievable, I am now standing in front of Alistair. The cutest character in the game and even more unbelievable: he looks real! - I blinked a couple of times.

"Eh, sorry what?""Oh nothing!" he quickly replied back. "Wait, we haven't met have we? You are not another mage are you?" He was now frowning and I couldn't help but giggle at his face.

"Don't worry I am not, but you must be Alistair?"

"That's me, are you Duncan's new recruit? He should have brought one with him besides Ser Jory and Daveth. Have you met them already?"

"I have met both of them yes though I'm still thinking about Duncan's offer to become a Grey Warden. - It must be useless to explain I'm not a recruit Duncan brought. - He wants to know what my decision is when we get back" I smiled. "Oh my name is Aveline by the way". I could see Alistair thinking about the offer Duncan gave me. It was as if he found it weird that I still had time to decide, but that I was at Ostagar with them already. Luckily for me he let it go.

"So tell me, have you ever seen a Darkspawn before?"

"Have you?" I kind of wanted to avoid the subject, but I knew this was coming. Hopefully he wouldn't talk about this more.

"Yes though I was unprepared for how scary they were. They smell and they're ugly." Alistair looked as if he could see one in front of him now. He looked disgusted. This would be a good time to head back to Duncan and make my decision. I highly doubted I could ever go back, so why not learn a thing or two here and do some good.

"Let's get back to Duncan shall we? Before he conscripts me into the Wardens for taking too long"

Duncan had explained to the recruits what they needed to find. Alistair would be the one to stay with us as the Junior member of the Grey Wardens. Two tasks had to be fulfilled. One: get a vial each of Darkspawn blood and Two: regain the Grey Warden treaties. He then turned to me.

"Aveline, do you wish to join the Grey Wardens and help us fight in this cause?" he asked.

"I…." I looked to the other recruits. They were eager to leave. I looked at Alistair. His face was neutral though I could see him hoping I would join. Finally I looked back at Duncan again. This was it. It's now or never.

"I will Duncan" I said. I could only hope I would survive the joining itself. Or even the wilds. The PC controlled recruit would so why wouldn't I? On the other side, it wasn't like I came here in any normal way or something, anything could happen! I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. - Too many internal discussions going on here. -

I turned around and walked towards the gate which led to the Korcari Wilds. The rest of the group followed and we were given one final warning before we were actually outside the camp.It looked even larger than it did in the game. The trees were quite high and I remembered I needed to take distance as I just had a bow. I knew what came up so my instincts made me yell out:

"Wolves!" Not long after they indeed came around the corner attacking us. I was in the back with my bow, aiming  those furthest away so the rest had time to kill the ones that were nearby. Alistair was taking on some wolves on
his own. His fighting skills were quite good! Better than I noticed on the PC screen. Daveth and Jory also attacked from close by. In the distance I saw a wolf running towards Alistair. He was fast and Alistair was already occupied with other wolves. I raised my bow and aimed at his chest. The moment he jumped was the moment I shot my arrow. It landed right into its chest causing it to screech highly and fall down right in front of Alistair. Alistair swung his sword right across the chest of the wolf he was fighting and then looked back.

"Nice shot there!" I smiled at him and we continued our way through the Wilds. When we came at the ruins where the treaties had to be, we already slain quite a few Darkspawn, collected their blood in the given vials, and found the flower which I could give to the kennel master. We walked upon the chest and I sat down in front of it. With my hands I searched in every corner of the chest but of course the treaties weren't in it.

"Well Well, what have we  here?" I heard from above us. It was Morrigan. - This is silly, knowing their names before they officially know mine.- I could hear Daveth and Jory arguing and Alistair made his remarks as well. I barely heard them, so I just continued.

"My name is Aveline. Do you know who has got the treaties now?" She was startled that I was so kind to someone who was accused of being the witch of the wilds.

"Well that is a civil greeting, even here in the Wilds! Actually, 'Twas my mother. Follow me if it pleases you" I motioned for the others to follow.

"Don't worry, just come with me. This is our only way of getting the treaties back" I whispered to the others and I followed Morrigan. It didn't take long for them to decide as I heard their mumbling right behind me.I let out a sigh of relief when we were back in camp. I never knew I was so on edge all that time we were in the Wilds. We now had the treaties and Morrigan had guided us out of the Wilds to our camp. Duncan didn't have to know though so the moment we were standing at the fire near Duncan we just gave him the treaties and our vials of blood.

"Alistair, can you take them to the old ruins for the actual joining." I looked at Alistair. He nodded to Duncan and led the way. His face grew darker. He wasn't cheery anymore. He was nervous. I knew he was hoping all would survive. I grew more nervous as well. - Will I survive this? Even if the story says I will, or said even. Daveth and Jory will die. Jory due to some foolish attitude. What would I do? I can't go back now. I do not look forward being run through with a dagger either. One way or another I have to go through with this. If I die, then maybe it was just meant to be. - I could hear Jory and Daveth having an argument again.

"Will you both shut up!" I snapped. Duncan came walking towards us with the Joining cup. He put it on the table
and let Alistair say the infamous words. It was Daveth who needed to drink first. I closed my eyes, and heard him scream in agony. It seemed to take longer than I thought it would. This death was even more horrible than I could imagine. Ser Jory was next. The knight from Highever, now wanting to back out. I looked at him and shook my head. - Don't do it Jory, just drink! - He didn't see me and he grabbed for his sword. The moment he touched the hilt of his sword his fate was decided. Duncan was no unskilled fighter. All it took were a couple of hits and he pierced through Jory's gut.

"I'm sorry, but the joining is not yet complete" I heard him whisper. - He's sorry? He can't be sorry. He does what he needs to do. He needs Wardens. - I was having mixed feelings now. Duncan turned to me. He had the cup ready in his hands and held it out to me. I held my hands out to reach for the cup and noticed they were shivering. I took the cup from Duncan and looked him in the eyes. I then looked at the bodies of Jory and Daveth before I looked towards Alistair. I couldn't delay this any further. Slowly I brought the cup to my mouth and began to drink the blood. It smelled horribly and the second it reached my mouth it burned. It felt as if I just swallowed acid or something. Every single drop of blood I could feel going down my throat. Breathing became more difficult and suddenly my eyes flashed open and I saw a huge dragon. It was looking at me, roaring. It was actually seeing me. I wanted to run away, but my feet were like stone. They were heavy and not able to move. Then everything turned white before turning into a dark forest. It was like a horror movie, the images were flashing like an old movie and in the distance I saw two men dressed in black standing. With each flash they came closer. I ran, as fast as I could though my running images seemed slower than those of the two men. Eventually I was at the place where I fell down and I looked back. Everything turned black when they were very close to where I was. I now was home again. I saw Dan sitting on a chair. There was nothing around him, just Dan on a chair. His hands were in his lap and it looked like he was holding something. I was so happy I saw him again. I ran over to him and sat on my knees in front of him. I tried to touch his cheek, but I noticed something was wrong. I couldn't touch him. He didn't see me either! - Are those tears? - Suddenly I heard loud screeching and I woke up. By now my head was pounding like there was no tomorrow. I slowly tried to open my eyes.

"Welcome at the Grey Wardens, Sister" I heard Duncan say. "How are you feeling?" Before I could answer Alistair came on top of that.

"Did you have dreams? I had terrible dreams at my joining."

"These dreams come with being a Warden" Duncan explained. "There is enough time to tell you that once the upcoming battle is over".

"Oh, one last thing to finish your joining. Here" Alistair gave me a pendant with a drop of Darkspawn blood. I took it from him and put it around my neck.

"The king requires our presence when you're good to go" Duncan said.

"Why would the king require my presence if he does not know me?" I asked him. I was confused. We never met. What business would I have with the King? -I never saw the PC controlled player. Does that mean that I am supposed to be that person? - Duncan chuckled.

"Do not let the King waiting, Aveline."he said and made his leave.

"I am glad at least one of you survived" he said while he put his hand on my shoulder. I put my hand on the vial of Darkspawn blood and nodded to Alistair. I watched him as he turned around and made his way into camp. I started to walk towards the Duncan. I moved slow and looked at the sky. - This is crazy, that dream! Does Dan know I'm missing? What on earth is going on! - I stood still in between where I started walking and where I  needed to be. Everything looked so peaceful. Did I have a chance? I missed my world. I missed Dan. I missed what I had build up back home. I missed regular things, like watching movies. I missed the kind of music I was used to. I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. - There is absolutely no way back anymore. I have to go through with this. -

Modifié par Lynn01, 25 octobre 2010 - 08:13 .

[Lynn01]

FanFiction.net

Chapter 4: New beginnings

- I need to stop thinking about this as if it was a game. I am in it now, and I could get hurt or killed. I can better prepare myself for what's to come. - With this out of my system I made my way to the King. I wondered why he requested my presence as he obviously hadn't met me before, but maybe that was exactly his reason. The King was discussing his strategies with Teyrn Loghain. I walked over to Duncan and stood still next to him while watching the discussion. Finally the King turned around.

"Ah, I understand congratulations are in order. You should be honored to join the ranks of the Grey Wardens" he said.

"Thank you your majesty" I replied with giving a small courtesy.

"You rely too much on these Wardens Cailan" Teyrn Loghain interfered. This brought up a start of another discussion which luckily Loghain cut short with telling the strategies. Cailan wished for me and Alistair to go to the tower and light it as soon as Loghain would give the signal to. When the meeting was over, Duncan and I walked over to the fire where everything started. It seemed to be his comfort place as we kept meeting here. Alistair was already there and Duncan turned his attention to the both of us, informing Alistair what needed to be done. I looked at Alistair and saw he wasn't pleased with this decision. He wanted to fight with Duncan on the main field. I felt sorry for him already, but I knew it would make no difference.

"So he needs to Grey Wardens standing up there holding the torch. Just in case, right?"

"I agree with Alistair, we should be in the battle."

"It is by the Kings request Alistair."

"I get it. I get it. Just so you know, if the King ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no!" I couldn't hold back my laugh at that.

"I think I'd like to see that" I replied with a huge smile on my face. Duncan however, did not look so happy. After letting us know our final instructions we ran off towards the bridge which we had to cross to get to the tower. Everybody was ready, and awaiting the enemy. Everyone could feel the tension in the air. Duncan was on his way to the King. When I looked down I saw the King standing on the ridge. Waiting till he could see the enemy and give out his orders, waiting for Duncan to confirm that the fight would go well. Cailan, Alistair's brother. The one who was about to die quite soon, in the most horrible way I could imagine. Duncan, who soon would have to give his life while seeing, knowing, the beacon had been lit. I shook my head trying to get rid of that image, trying to focus on the battle I now had to participate in myself. Alistair took my wrist.

"We need to go, the fight is starting and we need to get up in the tower" I nodded, I could see the darkspawn coming and it wouldn't take long until the bridge was under fire. We made haste trying to get over the bridge as soon as possible. I had heard Cailan shouting his orders already and Archers were shooting their arrows. All of the sudden I heard a large 'Wooooooossshhh' sound in the sky and looked to see what was going on. I saw a huge flaming ball coming towards us and I started to run as fast as I could. Alistair who was in front of me was my beacon of where to run and what was far enough. The ball landed and knocked some soldiers down. They weren't badly injured as most saw it coming so they went straight back to do what they were doing.

"Christ, that was close…." I said in between my breaths. "Well let's get to the tower shall we?" I walked past Alistair.

"Christ? What is Christ? Aveline?" I turned around to face him.

"Oh …I ehm… It's difficult to explain" I said, and I was suddenly feeling horrible. I realized what was back home again. Before I could actually try to think of an explanation, a soldier and a man in a robe, - Mage, Aveline, he is a Mage -, coming up towards us.

"Are you Grey Wardens?" The soldier asked. We both nodded.

"The tower is lost. The Darkspawn have taken it." - Oh dear.. here we go. I have to fight now. For real. With my bow. I won't be surprised if I get killed. –

"Then we have to go and clear the whole tower" Alistair said and he shot a look at me.

"Alright, Alistair you take them on you, I'll shoot them down from a distance. Soldier you go and help Alistair with forming the front of our little team here. Ser Mage, you just do your thing I suppose?" I started moving towards the tower and we came across our first pack of Darkspawn. I still had to be careful, and every now and then one would focus itself on me, but Alistair noticed everything quick and took care of them with the Soldier, or my arrow found his head first. With this strategy we moved up into the tower and cleared the first bit. When we moved up we saw more Darkspawn. This whole tower was indeed taken.

"Where did these Darkspawn come from!" Alistair said. I looked back at him, and he actually was mad for the Darkspawn to be here, which made me giggle. When that got his attention I tried to stop.

"Alistair, weren't you complaining before you didn't get to fight?"

"Hey, you're right. I guess there is a silver lining here!" he proudly said.

"Let's go, we need to move fast if we want to be in time." Alistair nodded.

"Yes, Loghain probably already has given the signal by now." We moved further and reached the final stairs to the top floor. - This is where we need to light the beacon. - I ran up the stairs and crashed into the room, anxious to get the beacon on as we were quite late already. Before we could even spot where the beacon was, Alistair and I both stopped. There was a giant ogre standing in the middle of the room and with all we noise we made when we came in we now got its attention.

"Ooooooh my….." I whispered. - He is huge! How are we ever going to defeat him! This mage is not a healer I can tell! - I tossed some potions I had between the members of our little party and motioned for Alistair to rush in. The ogre roared as Alistair ran in, and I quickly moved to my right so I had enough room to shoot my arrows without hitting anyone. The soldier ran to the ogre to fight it in close combat as well and the mage used its spells to try and get the ogre down. My arrows barely stayed on the ogre. Its skin was tough. I could see Alistair was struggling as well to get the ogre down. I stopped shooting and whistled to the ogre to get its attention. It worked and he was now looking to me. Slowly he made his way over, and I saw Alistair thought I was crazy. I raised my bow with an already nocked arrow and aimed on his eye. - This better do some damage now. - I released it, and it landed perfectly! Right in his left eye! Now that it was focused on its pain Alistair could finish it. He jumped on the ogre and slashed his sword into its chest. The ogre fell with Alistair on top of it and I ran to them.

"Alistair, are you all right?"

"Yes, light the beacon quickly, we're late already" While the mage and soldier were catching their breaths, and Alistair pulled his sword out the ogre. I ran over to the beacon and lit it. I walked over to the window and searched for Loghain's army.

"Don't they see the beacon? They must see the beacon." Alistair ran to the window where I was standing.

"What? Look Ave! Teyrn Loghain is leaving! We've got to go help them! We need to let them know we lit the beacon."

"Loghain does know we lit the beacon Alistair." I saw Alistair making his way to the door when Darkspawn crashed in.

"For crying out loud…" Before I could finish the Darkspawn shot both me and Alistair as we were still too far away from the door. The mage and soldier however were near the Darkspawn and tried to defend themselves as the Darkspawn attacked them. The last thing I saw was that the throat of the mage was sliced through. I looked to my right out of the window. Birds, all I could see were the clouds and the birds. The pain of the arrows was too much, and I fainted.

--

A giant bird crashed into the roof of the tower, knocking away any Darkspawn that were near. At the door were the bodies of a soldier and a mage. They were not what was needed. Ignoring their corpses the bird picked up the young woman and man who were near the beacon. Careful not to push in any arrows further the bird spread its wings and made its way to leave. With a screeching sound the wings started to flap which kept the Darkspawn away as well. It had limited time as the body of the young woman wasn't moving anymore. The man did seem to stir. After a few minutes of flying it came across the Wilds where everything for these Wardens was ready. They needed to be saved, and quickly.

--

Everything moved slow. I was running through the forest. I was afraid. It was misty and two dark figures were running after me. I tripped over a root and fell down. I fell into a giant hole. My body kept falling down until I was on a huge platform. A dragon as placed in the middle and I could see all kinds of battle equipment. People were fighting the dragon and my body moved towards it as well. I tried to lift a huge sword that was next to me, but I couldn't. It was too heavy. The dragon used a fire attack on me and I burned while falling on my knees. I screamed, though I didn't make any sounds at all. Suddenly a white flash blinded me and I was now on a rock with the giant dragon. He looked at me. I looked around, but there was nobody to help me. The sky was dark and had touches of red in it as if it was tainted. I head a dark whisper. It was coming from everywhere, though I knew it must be the dragon.

"You will fail. This is our age. This is our time." I didn't know what to say. Suddenly thousands of voices were whispering all at their own speed.

" You will fail… You will fail…" I shook my head. – No, failing is not an option. –

" You will fail… You will fail… You will fail…"

"Nooooooooo!" I yelled, and sat right up in one move. My eyes were as open as they could be, and I felt I was sweating. - This was horrible. – I looked around and saw I was in a hut. – Wait, this is Morrigan's hut! –

"Ah, your eyes finally open. Mother shall be pleased. She wished to see you when you would awake" Morrigan said.

"Morrigan!"

"That is indeed my name lest you have forgotten. Do you remember anything of what happened?" she asked.

"I remember we were in a tower to light the beacon, and that we were shot"

"You do not remember that mother saved you? She turned into a giant bird and was able to save you and your fellow Warden"

"Alistair! Is he all right?"

"Yes he it, though he is being childish." I stared at Morrigan and decided not to respond on that. I checked my body if I could see traces of where the arrows went in. I felt okay enough considering what has happened.

"Were my injuries severe?" I asked.

"They were, but it was nothing mother could not heal." I was glad that I was saved by Morrigan's mother, and glad Alistair got saved as well. I remembered seeing the Mage and Soldier getting killed in the tower. I remembered looking out the window, seeing Teyrn Loghain leaving.

"The King! The Wardens….." I stared at Morrigan. Of course I already knew the answer, but I couldn't leave this unchecked.

"The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The King and the other Wardens were slaughtered." I nodded and sighed.

"Thank you for saving us Morrigan. I'd better go and see your Mother."

"I.. You are welcome, though mother did most of the work, I am no healer. I'll go and make something to eat." Morrigan turned around and worked on her stew. It smelled great and reminded me highly of how long I haven't eaten yet. – I'm starving! – After I put on my armor I walked outside. Alistair was standing near the lake, thinking of his losses no doubt. Morrigan's mother, Flemeth, was standing next to him. She turned around the second I closed the door of the hut.

"See? Your fellow Warden is awake. I told you she would be all right."

"You!" Alistair said. He quickly walked over towards me and gave me a crushing hug.

"Air!..." I whispered.

"Oh I'm sorry Aveline. You're alive! I thought I was going to be the only one left! I can't believe what has happened. I am grateful Morrigan's mother was able to save us."

"Do not speak of me as if I'm not present lad" Morrigan's mother intervened.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to….. You never told us your name?" Alistair said, now turned towards the old woman.

"The chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose that will do" she said.

"Daveth was right! You are the witch of the wilds." Alistair gasped.

"Why would Loghain do this? We must do something about him Alistair." I said, trying to change the subject into what it should be about.

"I don't know" Alistair replied back "he left them all to die, the King, Duncan…. We must bring Loghain to justice! We can go and see Arl Eamon. He is a respected man in the Landsmeet, he can help!"

"Yes, but we've also got a blight to get rid of. Aren't there any allies we can find?"

"Of course!" Alistair's face lit up "The treaties! We can demand the help of Elves, Dwarves and Magi during a blight to help the Wardens!" With our goal now in our minds we decided to use the treaties and ask for their help. Flemeth suggested Morrigan to go with us as she knew the way out of the Wilds. If we didn't want her with us after that we could tell her, otherwise Morrigan would continue to join us in our quest. Our first stop would be at Lothering. A small village, not too far away from where we were standing this very moment. After Morrigan got her things and said farewell to her mother we moved towards Lothering. This was the first real step of our journey.

Modifié par Lynn01, 25 octobre 2010 - 09:02 .

[LadyAly]

Its a wonderful written story and it deserve much more attention

It was a pleasure to read it Lynn

[Lynn01]

Thank you hun! I'm glad you like it

[Lynn01]

FanFiction.net

Chapter 5: Lothering


Our little party now made way towards Lothering. Alistair was quiet and Morrigan was only being a nuisance to him. She didn't seem to understand how it was, losing someone you cared about. We were about half way when in the distance we heard barking. I narrowed my eyes to see what was coming towards us and saw that it was a Mabari. – I thought they all died at Ostagar! – I smiled and sat down as the Mabari was now standing in front of me with its wagging tail. I stroked the dog, much to Morrigan's dismay, and noticed that he brought a group of Darkspawn.

"Good boy, let's kill these now shall we?" I said to the dog as I got my bow off my back. The dog was running towards the group of Darkspawn, and so did Alistair. The group of Darkspawn died quite fast and the dog ran towards me again. I sat down, and it started licking my face.

"Oh… ew… don't boy! Sit!"

"It looks like this dog has chosen you." Alistair said.

"Me? Don't you want him Alistair? You could be close friends I'm sure!"

"Oh no no no, that would not be a good idea. I could barely take care of myself let alone a dog. You're on your own on this one." he said while smiling.

"All right then. Welcome in our little party! Now how shall we name you huh?"

"Name him Mangy Mutt for that is what he is," Morrigan snapped. "You are not seriously considering of taking that mutt with us are you?"

"Of course I am, Morrigan. We cannot leave him out here just like that? Oh I know. We will name you Feonar!"
Feonar barked happily, agreeing to the name. I scratched him behind his ears and stood up.

"Okay let's go. It's time to reach Lothering!" The group continued making its way to Lothering. There weren't many issues on the road, and certainly not any Darkspawn apart from the group Feonar brought. When we arrived at Lothering, we saw a group standing, blocking the way. When they saw us they came walking upon us, requesting money as toll. I refused since I wasn't planning on paying them any money. They weren't pleased with my decision and attacked us. I was standing in front, which made me the first target. The leader raised his sword to hit me with, and I quickly backed up, making way for Alistair to block the attack. Feonar attacked as well and the bandits stayed focused on them. I raised my bow and shot the outside bandits first. Morrigan froze the group from the side, not hitting any of us, and electrified them. This killed the bandits.
"I really should learn close combat" I said while putting my bow on my back.

"Oh I can only teach you how to use swords, two handed or one handed." Alistair said. I nodded.

"Thank you Alistair. I'm not sure if I can wield one without falling over though. Maybe we get a companion who does use daggers, and wants to teach me that." In my mind I had the woman with bright red hair, using daggers. I would have to ask her and then I could defend myself when someone attacked me instead of back out of the close combat fight and let someone else take over. I saw the corpse of the knight who was near the edge of these roads, and I looked into his pocket for the note and the locket. After that we walked over to the stairs where Alistair seemed to be snapped out of his thoughts.

"Here it is, Lothering. Pretty as a painting!"

"Oh you have finally decided to come back to us have you? Was falling on your blade too much of an effort?" Morrigan said.

"Stop it Morrigan, give him a break." I replied back. I felt there was absolutely no need to treat him like that.

"What did you want to talk about Alistair?" I asked. When Morrigan wanted to say something again, I quickly shot her a look and she actually listened to me.

"We'll need to decide what to do. Have you looked at the treaties?" Alistair asked.

"I have. I think we should go and pay Arl Eamon a visit first and then move further from there."

"I agree. Let me know if you need directions or anything" he said. I looked at Alistair and took him away from the group.

"Do you ehm…. want to talk about Duncan?" I asked.

"You don't have to do that, you didn't know him as well as I did."

"That doesn't mean I do not mourn his loss." I said with a sad look on my face.

"I…. I'm sorry. I should have handled things better. Duncan warned me right from the beginning something like this could happen."

"There is no need to apologize."

"I think he said he was from Highever. Maybe I will go up there and put something up to remind him."

"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I can go with you."

"I'd like that. Duncan too I think. Have you lost anyone close to you? I don't mean to pry but…." Alistair's question made me think back about what I had. In a way I did lose my whole family. I lost my whole world. Everything I had built up back home.

"In a way I lost my whole family…." I said. I didn't know how to explain this. - I can't just say that I ended up at Ostagar just like that. That I was chased by two weird men, then got an accident, then was in a tent with Wynne and Duncan. -

"Oh I'm sorry… Thank you, really. It helped to talk about it, at least a little."

"No problem Alistair." I said with a smile on my face. "Now let's go shall we?" I said while passing him and leading the way. Morrigan and Feonar followed automatically. In Lothering we met an Elven family who had been robbed by the bandits on the road. I told them that those bandits were killed and they went back to try and collect their things, happy knowing that other people wouldn't have to deal with them. There was also a merchant near the Chantry, trying to ask high prices for things he bought not even a week ago from the same people. – What the blight does to these people eh? – With some persuading he agreed not to charge outrageous prices and we were quickly on our way towards the chantry. In front of it was a board, which had all kind of jobs on it. I accepted what was on it and later on talked to the guy who decided scaring everyone was a good idea. I was glad that he left quickly after my words and we went into the Chantry. It was a mess. There were people everywhere and everyone was scared. Inside I let the Templars know that the bandits were now dead and we went to Ser Donnel to let him know his friend had died on the road. He thanked us for giving him his locket and the note. He was also the one who notified us that Arl Eamon was gravely ill. Deciding we shouldn't linger too long around here we moved on towards the tavern. A surprise awaited us in the tavern though. A group of men, sent by Loghain, were waiting for us. They didn't accept to talk and it turned out into a fight where a cloister sister came to help us. After the fight was over, and we sent the men running away from Lothering, we spoke to the cloister sister.

"Those men said you were Grey Wardens no? My name is Leliana and I am coming with you!" She startled me for a second. – Wow she is direct isn't she? –

"Well, we can use all the help we can get of course. Tell me though, what makes you think we need your help?"

"As you said, because you need it and also because… the Maker told me so."

"More crazy eh?" Alistair whispered

"Okay you're in. Welcome Leliana!" I said. "Oh and you can put this on instead, that will make the fighting to easier I assume." I gave Leliana a set of leather armor we collected from our journey towards Lothering. Morrigan was not so pleased with my decision.

"Your head must be cracked worse than mother thought." She mumbled. I decided to ignore her comment and continue. Now with Leliana on our side things should even progress faster. We talked to Sten who was caged not too far away and did some quests in order to earn some money. After that Leliana talked to the Revered Mother, asking her if she could let Sten go and come with us. He would do no harm, plus I didn't want to leave him out there. She agreed and gave the keys to Leliana. When he got out we got him in some chainmail we found. It was likely that we would find something better for him soon, but this would have to do for now. When we had done all that could be done in Lothering we decided to hit the roads again. It was time we were going to set up camp and have a good night rest. When we walked up the stairs however, we heard two dwarves, scared and asking for help. They were attacked by a group of Darkspawn. Without thinking we all moved forward and killed the group. They died really fast, which wasn't a surprise considering we had a large party right now. Leliana looted the corpses while I checked some crates in the surroundings. After thanking us the dwarves decided not to come with us. They were harmless so it didn't trouble me to tell them we were Grey Wardens. We said farewell to the dwarves and made way to a good spot for camp.

In camp, after we all set up our tents, Sten made the stew. While he was working on that, Leliana taught me how to use the daggers I found. It was like I was born using them which I found quite strange as I never did. I managed to block a good number of her attacks. From the moment she attacked me I knew what to do. It was like my body responded on its own which I found quite strange. After we trained, and I was sure I could very well defend myself – I can defend myself better than I thought possible – we ate and got ready to go to sleep. Morrigan was already gone after dinner and Leliana and Sten were talking together while Alistair was busy with Feonar, fascinated on how much Feonar understood. I found myself a spot at the lake and decided to wash myself. We had met so many people today, and things had been so weird lately that my head felt full. It felt like I had too much information in there all stuffed, ready to explode if anything else would try to join. After I undressed myself I quickly walked in. The water was cold, and absolutely not what I was used to. I decided to swim back and forth and take the occasional dive. When I was in the middle of the lake I suddenly heard some sounds. I looked back to camp, trying not to splash any water as I wanted to hear if it was coming from my new party members. Suddenly I got pulled under water. I tried to keep myself up for as long as possible and tried to scream. – I have to get up again! I cannot stay under water for so long! – I felt myself weaken and I kept struggling against it. I wasn't going down like this!

I was in the forest, lying on my back. I felt something liquid on my head. When I felt on it and looked at my hand, I saw it was blood. My blood? Two men were standing over me, watching. I looked back at them and noticed that their hoods were more open. I could now actually see their face a bit. I looked at the face of the person who was at the left of me. I recognized him, wasn't he a friend of Dan? I looked at the right to the other man standing there. My eyes widened in shock. – No, this can't be. He couldn't have done that…. –

Everything got black and I was back in the water. I was still conscious and noticed I wasn't being kept down anymore and I swam up and went to shore quickly. I coughed as I did get some water in my lungs. – What was that? He couldn't really have done that to me? I saw him crying! I swear I saw him crying! – I got dressed quickly and lay down on my back, looking at the stars. My lungs still hurt a bit and I absolutely did not feel like going back to camp right now. Tears started to flow. If what just happened was real, then he had betrayed me. He had made a fool of our relationship. Something was wrong however. I knew Dan and what he had done now. It seemed like I forgot something. We had a cat had we not? I sat up and bit my lip. – Think Ave, this is silly. This was your life. You surely remember that don't you? – Everything seemed so distant.

"Hey, are you all right?" I was so deep in my thoughts that he made me jump.

"Alistair! Dear Maker, don't sneak up on me like that will you?" I said while grabbing my chest with a smile. He walked towards me and sat down next to me. – Wait, did I just say Dear Maker?" -

"Sorry" he said "but you were gone for quite a while, and we thought we heard you splashing around so I thought I'd check up on you. Are you okay?" He looked worried.

"Well.. I'm not really." I sighed "Look, there's something I need to tell you. Well, explain that is. I have got no idea how I ended up here. And I do not mean this place, but I mean this whole world. I had a whole life built up at… - That is weird. What was it called? – I was in love, but I just realized the man 'betrayed' me. We had our own place and…. What happened was that I was chased by two men in the forest. From what I could see it was the man and his friend. They wanted to hurt me and so I ran into the forest trying to escape. When I thought I got rid of them they were behind me, I tripped and I…. fell I guess." I pinched the bridge of my nose "That's when I ended up here somehow. I was in this world and Duncan and Wynne had found me I think. When I woke up Wynne made me sleep again and when I woke up again I was in Ostagar. You can guess the rest." I looked at Alistair, he seemed confused.

"Ugh, I must seem like a complete idiot. I know this seems crazy, that I seem crazy, but it's the truth. Though I do not remember everything anymore."

"You do not seem crazy Aveline. It sounds a bit weird, but you seem sincere. I am sorry about what the man did to you. If it makes you feel any better, we're grateful for your company here. I know I am." he smiled "Even though you do tend to say weird things like, what was it again, Christ? What does that mean?" he laughed.

"Let's just say that he's the Maker of that world. Thank you, Alistair. It felt good to talk about it, even though it makes no sense. Not to you, nor me even." Without thinking I hugged Alistair and stood up. Alistair did as well and we walked back to camp.

"I'll get some sleep now. Will you wake me when it's my turn to keep watch?" Alistair nodded. – Maybe I do belong here. Maybe this is for the best. All I know is that I feel quite good with what has happened… How strange that might seem. -

Modifié par Lynn01, 29 octobre 2010 - 06:58 .

[0x30A88]

Amazing, that's some quality writing you got there. The one thing that bugs me is that in your chapter 5 runs through much of lothering in just one paragraph, and as she acepted the quests on the board, she did none. Other than that, it was an amazing story and I can't wait for the next chapter.

[Lynn01]

Thank you very much! I'm glad you like it! The next chapter should be up soon.

As for the quests, I know that I indeed rushed through a bit and maybe it is indeed wise to stand still at those things a little more as well. I guess I just got overexcited while writing it haha. (I willl keep that in mind though )

[VioletTheirin]

Sorry it took me so long to read but I am loving your story. It is very original and well written and I can't wait to read more!!

[Lynn01]

You of all people should not apologize for that. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing dear,and I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

[Lynn01]

FanFiction.net

Chapter 6: Redcliffe

I was in a room, which seemed to be from my modern times. I looked around, but it was nearly empty. All but a table, a chair and Dan. – DAN! – I wanted to walk over, but I hadn't forgotten what I had seen. He was still holding something, which he now put on the table. –What is that? – That wasn't anything I owned. It was a piece of paper. It seemed like an insurance kind of paper. Was he expecting money from my accident? Out of nowhere he made a fist with his right hand and in anger smashed it on the table. – This wasn't the Dan I knew. – Suddenly everything crumbled down and an empty space appeared before I saw the Archdemon. The dragon was on a huge rock and was simply looking at me. It roared a bit, but there were no voices. Suddenly he spit out a huge fire blast which startled me and caused me to wake up with a scream.

"Bad dream eh?" I heard Alistair say.

"It seemed so real."

"It sort of is real. These dreams are part of being a Grey Warden and are supposed to be worse for those joining during a blight. Some older Wardens say they understand the Archdemon a bit, but I certainly can't."

"The dragon is the Archdemon right?"

"Not sure if it is a dragon, but is it the Archdemon yes." I nodded.

"That's one of the joys of a grey Warden along with our short lifespam." I remembered something like this. Grey Wardens would live 30 years give or take. – Now, where did I hear that? –

"Ah yes about 30 years right?" I smiled while Alistair nodded this time.

"Let's get going shall we? We're all awake now I think."

~o~

Not long after our party made way to Redcliffe. Right before we were to enter the village Alistair asked if we could talk. He walked away from the others and took me with him. Then he turned to me and revealed that his father was King Maric. It was no surprise to me and I let him know that I thought I understood why he didn't tell me before. Not long after our chat we met Tomas on the bridge. Something was very wrong in Redcliffe. Walking skeletons came from the castle each night to attack the vulnerable townsfolk. Tomas took us to the Chantry where Bann Teagan was standing and informed him that Grey Wardens had arrived.

"Thank you. Tomas, was it?" The young man nodded. Alistair seemed happy to see the man again.

"My name is Bann Teagan. Who might you be?" he asked.

"Bann Teagan! You may not remember me. The last time I saw you I was covered in mud!" Alistair told Teagan which obviously triggered something.

"Alistair? Is that you? It is so good to see you're alive!" Teagan said while taking Alistair's arm in a greeting.

"You as well, Bann Teagan. We're Grey Wardens, and we're looking for Arl Eamon."

"I wish it were under better circumstances though. My brother has fallen gravely ill and the village is under siege. We are not even sure if we will survive the next attack." Sadness filled Teagan his eyes while thinking about this.

"Why do you need my brother by the way?"

"We need his help against Loghain" I said. He now looked at me.

"Ah Loghain. I do not trust that lying bastard. I most certainly did not believe all the lies he's spreading around about the Grey Wardens. You seem familiar my lady, is it possible we have met before?" I didn't know what to say to this. – I did not know him right? How can he recognize me? – Confusion filled my mind.

"I….I'm sorry, but I do not know how Bann Teagan." I said "My name is Aveline."

"That name does ring a bell. Well, let's not discuss that here shall we. It must have been your beauty that compells me to know you." He said with a wide grin "But I am too bold my lady." My cheeks were getting hot, It was obvious I was blushing. – Why was I so sensitive to his flirting? -

"Not a problem, my Lord. We will help you tonight, after that we can discuss how to get into the castle and get to Arl Eamon." Teagan nodded and told Thomas to go and tell Murdock what had been discussed. He told us to go to Murdock and Ser Perth to arrange everything for tonight and we made our leave out of the Chantry. I could feel Teagan's eyes burning on my back. At the door we saw a young woman crying. I walked over and asked her what was wrong. After explaining it turned out her brother ran off and she couldn't find him anywhere. She explained where her house was and we reassured her we would get her brother back before we left the Chantry. When the doors closed I felt relieved. Suddenly I was pulled back by Morrigan. I looked at her, confused at why she pulled me back.

"You're not seriously considering helping these people are you? They got themselves into this, and therefore can help themselves out of it as well."

"Morrigan, why are you so against this? We cannot let these people be. They will die for sure if we do not help them."

"If you haven't noticed, there is a Blight to deal with as well. I think we should prioritize things better."

"I know you feel that way Morrigan, but we need Arl Eamon's help. We can use his army along with all those other armies of the treaties. Therefore, we must help these people." Morrigan of course did not like my answer and huffed. In the meantime Leliana, Sten, Feonar and Alistair were at Murdock, telling him what had happened. When I came to join him he told us that the Smith wouldn't make anything anymore for unknown reasons, so we went to the Smith's house. We got him to open the doors and got inside.

"EW! It smells like a brewery in here!" Leliana flapped out.

"Somebody 's been driiiiiiiiiiiinking!" Alistair responded. It turned out that the Smit his daughter was stuck in the Castle. When we promised the Smith that we would get his daughter out, he agreed into making more armor and weapons for the army. We then moved up to Ser Perth. He told us that his men were losing faith and amulets from the Revered Mother would boost their believe for that evening significantly. I told Ser Perth I'd talk to the Revered Mother. I turned around and looked at the group members.

"Guys, we've got some hours until the fight starts. I am going to talk to the Revered Mother. If you wish to go do your own thing a bit, go ahead. We'll meet here in no longer than 3 hours before we go defend Redcliffe."

"I'll go with you" Alistair said to which I nodded.

"Oh Aveline, might I take Feonar with me? I'm sure he doesn't mind?" Leliana said. Feonar barked and I took it that he wanted to go with Leliana.

"Sure, take him along. Be good to Leliana, Feonar!" I told him while scratching him on his head. Leliana walked away with Feonar and Sten. Morrigan went her own way as well. Alistair and I walked towards the Chantry again, hoping the Revered Mother would give us some amulets. Right before we went in, I stood still. Alistair looked back as he noticed it.

"Aveline? What is wrong?" I stayed silent for a minute until I cleared my throat.

"Ehm. Bann Teagan is in there." I said.

"Well yes he is. Is something wrong with him being in there?" He now stood right in front of me, looking me in my eyes. My eyes went to the floor, not facing his.

"Well. No, but ehm... what is he's going to talk to me again? I don't remember him. There is no way I can remember him, and his flirting was quite obvious as well. He was making me feel a bit uncomfortable."

"Aaaah, I understand. If it makes you feel better, I can jump in at the moment it gets awkward?" He said while lifting up my chin so I'd face him.

"I'm just being stupid right?" I said with a grin "Yes, thank you Alistair. Let's go." I could hear him chuckle behind me. We moved to the Revered Mother and I could feel Bann Teagan looking at me again. I didn't want to seem unpolite so I gave him a nod with my head and focussed on the Revered Mother. At first she didn't want to give us the amulets as they would do no good. The only thing they would do was keeping the spirit up of the men, which was exactly the arguement Alistair used to persuade her. It worked and she told me to send Ser Perth, or his men, over to collect the amulets. We thanked the Revered Mother and I didn't know I could get out of a building as fast as I did. Once outside I had to laugh real hard. Alistair got confused I could tell, but he couldn't hold his chuckle.

"I'm sorry, I know it's rude to laugh out loud like this, but this is incredibly silly. Me, not daring to look another man into the eyes only because it feels like I'm betraying something I do not have anymore." I was now standing straight up again. I looked at Alistair. He just stood there, listening to what I had to say. The thought alone made me realize he was incredibly sweet.

"Thank you for listening again Alistair. I know it makes absolutely no sense to you at all, but the fact that you listen to me is very comforting." I smiled. Not awaiting his response I moved to the shore where the boats were and Alistair was right behind me. Suddenly he grabbed my hand and turned me around to face him. He looked at me and with his free hand he put a strand of hair behind my ear. My mouth opened to say something, but no words came out. He let go of my hand for a moment and he took his pack to get something. The moment I saw it was a rose I smiled. He faced me again with the rose in his hand. He put his hand forward.

"Here, you know what this is?" he whispered.

"Well, it looks like a rose!" I replied while I took the rose from him.

"It is a rose yes. I found it in Lothering and I remember thinking how something so beautiful amongst all this could exist." He took my hand which contained the rose in his. "In a way I think exactly the same when I look at you."

"Oh Alistair. That's really sweet of you."

"I hope you like it. Or maybe this was completely wrong?" he said, fishing for the answer he wanted.

"No it's perfect! Thank you Alistair."

"Now if we can get to the hot and steamy parts straight away, I'd appreciate it."

"Off with the armor then!" I joked to Alistair. I saw his face reddening completely and chuckled.

"I'll go eh... stand right there... for my blushing to stop. You know..." Alistair quickly said and he ran off. I looked at the rose he just gave me. - There are no more Dan and I. - I told myself. Something that wasn't a lie. - I will not allow him to haunt me like that. - I smiled and put the rose carefully in my pack. I decided to first go look for the brother of the young woman in the Chantry. She was really upset and I felt it was the least I could do. I arrived at her house which was near the Chantry. The door wasn't locked so it was easy to get in. I looked around and didn't see anyone. It was a small house, but it had all they would need. I moved into the small room which was on the same level and heard some noises from the closet.

"Hello? Bevin? Can you come out please?" I asked.

"Who are you! How do you know my name!" he said while staying in there.

"My name is Aveline. Your sister sent for me to get you. She is really worried about you, you know?"

"She is? All right, I'm coming out." Carefully he opened the door to take a peak outside. After he was sure I  wouldn't hurt him, he came out.

"What were you doing in there?"

"I... I wanted to be tough, and use grandpa's sword to help and defend everything." I sat down in front of him and put my hands on his small arms.

"You know, your sister is in the Chantry and I am sure it would mean a lot to her if you would go and see her. It would make her feel better, and I'm sure you'll feel better there as well. You both will be safe there, me and my friends will help defend the village tonight all right?" The boy nodded and smiled to me. He quickly moved out and ran over to the Chantry. When I moved out the house after him, I watched the boy open the big Chantry doors. His sister couldn't be happier! She had been so worried! I closed the door behind me and took a last look at the castle.

I moved on to Ser Perth. He still needed to know that the Revered Mother had those amulets for his knights. I stopped by at the Tavern before going further and noticed an elf sitting in the corner. After talking to Bella about the elf, her boss, and somehow her worksituation, I decided to check out the elf. Nobody knew much of him, and he was here for a while already. Eventually it turned out that the elf was there to keep an eye on the Castle. Maybe he was here to check if Arl Eamon would die or not. The elf told me that Arl Howe hired him. Hearing the name gave me a horrible feeling in the guts. Ignoring the feeling as much as I could, I convinced the elf to fight along with the village that evening. He agreed as he didn't want more trouble. I turned around and saw soldiers sitting in the corner, complaining that they had to pay too much for their drinks. After a chat with the bartender he decided to show his good will and gave the rest for free, causing the soldiers to be much happier. When I finally arrived at Ser Perth I noticed that the party was there already. Alistair was not standing with the rest, obviously still trying to get over his blushing. Which caused me to chuckle again. Leliana grinned at me, and I guessed she knew what happened between me and Alistair. After telling Ser Perth that they could collect the amulets we waited until that evening. The morning after the battle, which went very well, Bann Teagan informed us to go to the mill as he had to talk to us. It wasn't long until we saw the Arlessa running towards us. Teagan decided to go with Isolde and left us with the key for the hidden passage. We moved quickly and found a mage locked up in the dungeon. His name was Jowan, and after some questioning he was the one who poisoned Arl Eamon and he revealed that Connor was showing signs and thus would be a mage. As I did not want to set him free, nor did I want to kill him, we decided to let him stay in there. The whole Castle was filled with skeletons. We fought are way through and rescued the Smith his daugther as well, who was locked up in a closet trying to avoid the creatures. As scared as she was, she was brave enough to run for her life after we told her that we came through a secret tunnel, which was mostly cleared.

When we got to the main hall, we saw Connor. Isolde was standing next to him, looking desperate and Teagan was dancing in front of Connor. He seemed possessed and it turned out he was. I didn't want to argue with the demon, I just wanted him to leave. Of course things were never that easy and the demon got everyone besides Isolde attack us. Feonar was defending me as much as he could and Alistair was nearby as well. I was fighting with my daggers, trying to make the moves I knew. Leliana was the Archer this time and stood with Morrigan far away from us. Sten was already at the other side of the room getting down the soldiers. Somehow Teagan focussed on me. - Holy ****! - He swung his sword at me and I tried to block it with my daggers. I got off balance and had to step back. Feonar bit in Teagan his anckle, but it didn't seem to harm him very much. I didn't want to kill Teagan! We were trying to save them! I tried to defend myself as best as possible for a chance to knock him out. Apparently I had left a spot open in my defense as Teagan saw his chance to lift his sword and slashed it into my stommach. As a response I dropped my daggers, of which the sound of it hitting the ground caused Alistair to look back.

"Aveline!"

Teagan took his sword back and I saw him getting frozen by Morrigan's spell and Alistair quickly knocked him out. Sten pushed his sword into the stommach of another soldier, not caring if he would die or not. Or at least it seemed that way. Isolde was standing now, knowing that the danger had passed. She looked my way, but just stood there. I fell on my knees with my hands over the wound and noticed the last soldiers were nearly down as well. I heard Alistair sitting next to me, he didn't know what to do as I saw his hands going to the wound and back away from it. I looked at Teagan, he wasn't frozen anymore and he seemed alive. I saw his chest moving up and down. I was glad that he made it through. It wasn't his fault what happened, it was the demons fault. Everything seemed to go in slowmotion, the people falling, the movements of my companions, everything. Words flashed back into my memory. - You will fail. -

Modifié par Lynn01, 04 novembre 2010 - 07:14 .

[LadyAly]

I love it Lynn. It makes my days since I'm sick

[Lynn01]

Thx LadyAly! Aww hope you get better soon! I am glad you still like it

[0x30A88]

I liked the story...but calm down, the sixth chapter leaped away too fast in my opinion. What about the promise he made to the woman by the chantry door? Aveline has played the game, thus she knows what were going to happen, but it didn't seem like it in this chapter...

Don't take me wrong, it's a nicely written story and I can't wait to read the next chapter.

[Lynn01]

You are absolutely right, thank you for pointing this out to me. When I included her in there, I did meant to search for him. Adjusted.

[Lynn01]

FanFiction.net

Chapter 7: Magic

I had enough strength to stay on my knees, but I didn't dare to look at the wound. I could barely hear that was going on around me. Only that they seemed to have found the wound and assessed how bad it was. Morrigan came over to me and pushed everyone aside. In the meantime I could see Teagan waking up and sitting down. He turned to look at what happened and saw me sitting on the floor, his eyes widening. Isolde came running up to Teagan asking if he was all right. I saw him nodding and talking to Isolde. Finally I saw a flash of white/yellow-ish  light and immidiately felt better. After a minute I realized Morrigan was talking to me.

"Aveline? Aveline! Sit still for a little longer. You shall be fine, though 'twas a nasty wound. I need to put an extra
poulice on it and it's done." I nodded to Morrigan.

"Thank you Morrigan.." I said. She looked at me, but stayed silent while putting the bandage on. Alistair came back sitting next to me.

"Dear Maker, Aveline! Do not scare me like that ever again will you!" he whispered. His hand stroke my cheek before he helped me up. I stared down and only saw the blood I lost, but not the wound. There was a puddle underneath my feet, and I felt dizzy a bit when I stood up. I looked at my hands and saw they were drenched. I was still shaking a bit. I closed my eyes for a second before I collected my daggers and walked over to Isolde and Teagan.

"We must free Connor from this demon." I started."Oh do not kill my boy please, I beg you! It was the mage. He summoned this demon! I just want to protect my son. Please!" Isolde begged.

"Is you trying to protect Connor not the reason for all of this Isolde? Aveline risked her life just now." Teagan said while looking at me.

"I normally do not suggest this, but the boy stands little chance against the demon unless being killed." Alistair said. I thought Isolde turned crazy.

"WHAT? No! Please, do not kill my Connor! Not my son, please I beg you! There must be another way!" she said. I shook my head. I was not about to kill a boy and Leliana had the same thoughts which she said out loud in response to Alistair.

"I am not going to kill Connor. There must be something else we can do. We can go to the tower for mages to go into the Fade can we not?" I said. Morrigan confirmed this. Maybe we were lucky and she would want to go and
confront the demon. I regretted not being a mage myself. I would have used everything in my power to kill that demon. It was decided. We were to go to the tower and get the mages. We had to go there anyway as one of the treaties was for them. I motioned for the others to leave the building and to set foot to camp. I looked forward to some rest. I was just about to go when I heard Teagan.

"Aveline? Might we have a word please?" I didn't turn around straight away and noticed Alistair looking at me, almost saying if I was all right with being alone with him. I nodded to him and turned to Teagan.

"Of course, Teagan. How can I help you?" Teagan dismissed everyone else who was in the room. When they all had left he turned to face me again.

"I am sorry about what I just done. I would not have forgiven myself if a kind and beautiful woman such as yourself would have died by my hand."

"There is nothing to be sorry about Teagan." I said with a frown "You weren't yourself. It was that demon and whoever goes into the Fade when we get the mages, I will ask that person to seriously pain the demon before killing it. Trust me when I say I wish I could go into the Fade myself." I saw him nodding.

"My apologies for going on about this, but I also need to say that you really do seem familiar. We have met before, I am certain of this." I just stared at Teagan.

"Bann Teagan, I assure you there is no way we could have met before. I am not from around here." I said.

"Not from Redcliffe no." Teagan started to pace, his eyes focussed on the ceiling. "I got it! You're their youngest! You're the daughter of Teyrn Cousland! Maker, how could I not see that." he said as he quickly turned around to face me.

"Eh..."

"I am so sorry for not recognizing you Lady Cousland. I should have known that their girl would grow up to such a fine young woman. I'm also very sorry for your loss." He carressed my cheek and put his hands were on my shoulders. I stepped back, causing his hands to fall down. There is no way I could be the daughter of Teyrn Cousland.

"I think there has been some mistake, Bann Teagan. I am not ..."

"No no, definately not a mistake. I know for sure now. Their daughter was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and you match that little girl perfectly. Besides the fact that you've grown older now of course. I am ashamed I did not recognize you to begin with!" I shook my head. This was getting really weird. - I don't remember being the Cousland daughter. I only remember being chased. -

"I am glad you got out in time my Lady."

"I... I need to go now Bann Teagan. We need to go to the Tower and get the mages for your nephew." I said while I turned around. He stayed silent and I moved to the door. The others were waiting for me outside and we travelled to our camp, about an hour away from Redcliffe. All that time I was silent. Bann Teagan got me confused. Maybe some rest would do me well.

~o~

The next morning we left early. We were at Lake Calenhad faster than I expected. We already could see the huge Tower from here. At our left was an inn and I could see a few Templars walking around. Moving to the docks one Templar stopped us. He had received the request not to let anybody in. He didn't even believe we were Grey Wardens, but he decided to take us there after all, afraid his boss would be upset if he wouldn't. Once inside, we only saw chaos. People were running around, and we saw a few wounded Templars.

"Are they keeping people out, or in?" I heard Alistair say. In the middle was one Templar giving orders to the rest. He was probably the one we needed so I stepped up to him. He noticed us and stopped us.

"Please, do not come further. I told him not to let anyone pass." he signed. "My name is Gregoir. The Tower is not in a state to receive guests, I'm afraid I must ask you to return."

"My name is Aveline, and we're Grey Wardens. We require the help of the mages." I told Gregoir.

"I am weary of the Grey Wardens ceaseless need for mages. The Tower is lost, as are the mages within it.  Demons have taken control."

"Surely there must be survivors in there! We will go and clear the Tower, you cannot let the mages down like this."

"It is too painful to search for survivors and find none. We already asked for Reinforcements and the Right of  Annullment so you needn't bother."

"What good will that do? Killing all the mages is not an option is it? As I said, we will go in."

"Fine, do as you please. However, I will only believe the Tower is save if First Enchanter Irving is standing before me." I nodded to Gregoir's request and our group moved in. This part of the Tower wasn't stalked as much as Gregoir said and soon we came in a room where I saw a barrier of some sort. - Magic. - There were a few mages here, trying to defend themselves. One with grey hair turned around and we recognized each other.

"Wynne!" I said. I was glad she survived.

"It's you! Grey Warden or no, do not come further. Why are you here?"

"We came asking for the help of the mages for the Blight, and for Bann Teagan's nephew, but Gregoir told us that the Tower was taken. He's asked for the Right of Annullement." I told Wynne. She shook her head.

"If we want to stop him, we need to find First Enchanter Irving. Only then will Gregoir believe the Tower is safe again."

"Then we need to move fast. I can remove the barrier once you're ready to go. I will go with you!" she said. I nodded and looked back to my party. We couldn't take everyone as people would just walk in each others way in
the small hallways. I selected Alistair and Leliana to go with me and Wynne. Sten, Feonar and Morrigan stayed behind with the mages. I turned back to Wynne.

"All right, we're ready." Wynne let down the barrier and we moved in. Clearing the Tower went quite quickly and I
even found something remarkable. It looked like a book. It was black and contained different kind of things for mages. It probably was a Grimoire. - I'll give this to Morrigan when I get the chance. - We were nearly at the upper floor when we barged in a room where a large demon was standing over a body. It turned around when we barged in, and not soon after we were all asleep.

~o~

"Aveline?" I felt someone shaking me."Aveline? Sweetheart!" I slowly opened my eyes. I looked around and noticed my cat was sitting on the bed. I obviously was back in my room. Dan was sitting next to me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You fell asleep on the sofa, so I brought you up to our room. You were in a really deep sleep. It took me a while to awake you." he said with a smile on his face.

"I did? Oh. I had the weirdest dream ever Dan!" He placed a kiss on my forehead and took my hand.

"Come, let's eat now shall we? We are getting married tomorrow so we have a lot left to do today." - Married? - I looked around and saw my dress covered in a black bag, so Dan wouldn't see it just yet.

"When are my parents going to be here?" I said. Dan turned around, looking surprised.

"Your parents? What are you talking about, Ave? You know your parents died two years ago." - Died? No, this cannot be. - I shook my head. I felt a headache coming up. Things didn't feel right. We never decided to get married in the first place. Not that I did not want to, but Dan didn't. -How come we're getting married now. How come he agreed? -

"Dan? What made you change your mind about getting married?" He took my hands into his and looked me in the eye.

"You did, love! How can I resist marrying such a beautiful woman such as yourself. From the moment I saw you I wanted to be your husband." he said while he brushed some hair out of my face.

- No. - "No!"

"No?"

"This is not real. You tricked me. You tricked me in the forest and now you're tricking me here. I will not fall for your lies!" I slapped him in his face.

"You will not get out of here Aveline. You are not meant to get out of here. You can lead the life you always wanted if you stay." it said, trying to seduce me.

"I most certainly will not. Where are my friends!"

"Your friends are beyond rescue. You will not get past me!" With this he started casting a spell. I noticed my daggers were still on me, so I grabbed them and quickly killed the demon. In the distance I saw a pedestal appear and I used it to kill the demons in the other realms, and get my friends out. When we killed the Sloth demon, Niall told us to get the Littany of his body so we could fight Uldred. He didn't come with us as his body had decayed too much for him to survive. Around me I saw Wynne, Alistair and Leliana disappear and I guessed they went back to the real world, and they would wake up now. I looked around, but I was still in the Fade. Niall, who was still standing next to me, was as surprised as I was.

"Why am I not going back? What is wrong? I saved everyone!" I felt a slight touch of panic going through my body. Suddenly everything went white, and it was so bright I couldn't see anymore. Slowly it faded into a Castle. A Castle which felt familiar. It was like I was a ghost and everything was happening in front of me. I saw an image of myself in leather armor going to Bryce Cousland, who was standing with Arl Howe. After some talking, Duncan was invited into the conversation. Next thing I knew, I was going to get my dog with Ser Gilmore and I was talking to Eleanor Cousland. Her friend was still trying to hook me up with her son. A flash later, I was standing with Fergus. He was saying goodbye to his wife and son and our parents came walking in. The whole family was now together. My brother. My mother. My father. My dog. My nephew and his mother. Not long after I was in my room, sleeping, when a guard came in. He came to inform that the Castle was under attack. I got up quickly and got dressed, but the guard was already being killed by Howe's soldiers. I saw I was getting my mother and together we went into the treasure room to try and get the Cousland sword. After succeeding in this, we went into the main hall and helped Ser Gilmore fighting of the soldiers. They went back to barging the door and we continued towards the Servants Exit. When we arrived there, after killing all of Howe's soldiers who were in the way, I saw Bryce Cousland laying on the floor. He had a large puddle of blood around him. Eleanor stayed with Bryce and I saw my image escape. I ran through the forest, and I saw two knights running after me. They had seen me escape and wanted to kill me before I got away for sure. The moment I didn't see the knights anymore I stopped, thinking I was safe. Then I heard a SNAP and my eyes widened. I slowly turned my head and I noticed a figure standing close to me. That was enough to start running again. I felt the adrenaline pomp through my body. Finally I reached a darker part in the forest and I was stopped by a steep hill. When I turned around, I saw the two knights were closing in fast and I stepped back automatically. My foot had no ground to land on though and I fell down. On my way down I hit a log with my legs which caused me body to turn and eventually I hit it with my head before falling down more. Next thing I saw were the two men watching over my body. They had removed their helmets. - I recognize them! Dan! and Dan's friend! - They obviously thought I was dead as there was blood flowing from my head, as they decided to leave. - They're just leaving me for the wolves! - Suddenly I heard a high and loud noise, which made me cover my ears. White flashes interfered what I saw and I passed out. In the end I could swear I heard a whisper saying: "You... will... remember... and ... forget."

I woke up in the Tower again. My mind had filled with memories about what happened to my family. The Couslands. Now it seemed real, I really was there when Howe betrayed father. Now I understood Bann Teagan.  he recognized me, because he really did meet me. It all came back now. Duncan never got the chance to recruit me while being in Highever, as I was gone before he was at my parents in the larder. It all made sense. I sat down and pinched the bridge of my nose. I saw the rest of my party standing over me.

"Well Aveline, you certainly took your time!" Leliana said. "What happened?"

"Ugh. I don't know Leli. I was stuck when you all left the Fade. I saw... my parents."

"Your parents?" Alistair said "So you do have parents here? I thought your parents were not from around here?"

"My parents died when Howe took over the castle. They were murdered by his hand."

"Why would Howe murder your family?" Wynne asked.

"I don't know. He had always been a friend of the Couslands"

"YOU are the last one of the Couslands? I'm so sorry... my lady!" she gasped.

"Don't. I'm a Grey Warden now. Howe will pay for what he has done." I saw Wynne nodding and Alistair now held his hand out for me to stand up.

"You must have hit your head really hard. I'm glad you remember this now." he said while placing a kiss on my forehead. "Though that story you told me still is quite weird." he chuckled.

"Yes I know. Maybe I'll get some answers for that as well though the rest makes more sense now. Let's take the Littany shall we? We still have to rescue the First Enchanter." I said and with this our party moved up to the top  floor. Defeating Uldred turned out quite well, and the Littany did it's job perfectly. No other mages were getting under Uldred's control and the First Enchanter was rescued soon after the fight.

Modifié par Lynn01, 07 novembre 2010 - 12:22 .

[Lynn01]

Warning: Rating is different for this chapter (M)

This update came up quite fast, but please know that the next one will take a bit longer as it's still "under construction" ;-) Enjoy!


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Chapter 8: Saving Connor


First Enchanter Irving promised to aid us with the Blight and help us fight Connor's demon in de Fade. He made sure he had all the mages to save Connor and left right away. Our party moved to camp to rest. The others were there as well, and I was pleased to be out of the Tower. Leliana made dinner that evening and while she was doing that, she was singing. - She has a beautiful voice! - We decided to head back to Redcliffe as soon as possible. Who knew what Connor had done while we were gone. We could only hope he didn't cause further damage. When we finished dinner, everybody went to do their own thing. I stood up and moved to the nearest lake. I walked back and forth, thinking about what happened at the Tower. About what I realized while we were there, in the Fade. If I went to sleep, I would automatically go back to the Fade. I did not want to have more of those dreams. They drove me crazy. I knew I was a Cousland. I remembered. Of course there was also the Archdemon. He, or rather it, haunted my dreams nearly every single night. I couldn't wait for it to stop. I sat down at the edge of the water and took some in my hands and splashed my face with it. - Maybe this can help me stay awake a bit longer. - as it was bright I could see every star in the sky. I looked up and smiled. - Maybe I will get my revenge. -

When we went back to Redcliffe we crossed the lands of Bann Loren. We were all quite cautious already when we heard some guards in the distance. We slowly moved up and stayed as quiet as possible. I moved forward a bit more to look over the edge what was happening. I could see a man in royal clothing standing amongst the guards. They were targeting him, pushing him around. One of the guards took his dagger out and roughly placed in his body a couple of times. The guards quickly left after that and our party rushed over to the man, who was now passed out on the floor. He already lost a lot of blood. Still, we tried to wake him to check what was going on. What would a person in royal clothes do in these lands? When we got him to wake he told us he was a friend of King Cailan. He was trusted with a key to the royal chest which was at Ostagar. He didn't have the key anymore though, so it meant we had to look for it. He remembered he hid it near a statue in Ostagar. Our next mission was set out for us. After Connor, we were to go to Ostagar and find this chest along with the body of King Cailan. He deserved more than being laid out in the middle of some abandoned battlefield. The man exhaled his last breath and went to rest. He was at the Makers side now. After paying him our respect, we moved on to Redcliffe.

I was now running. We were at Redcliffe Castle and no doubt the mages were already here. I pushed open the large doors of the Castle and came into the main hall. I was indeed right. First Enchanter Irving was standing there along with Bann Teagan, Isolde and a few other mages. They had already prepared for the ritual. I had taken along Morrigan, Wynne and Alistair with me on the last part of the journey. After checking with First Enchanter Irving what needed to be done I looked at Morrigan.

"Morrigan, could you please go into the Fade and kill this demon?" She nodded. She didn't seem too annoyed by my choice for her.

"Before you go... just... don't let this demon die too easily will you?" The mages, including Morrigan, started the ritual and it didn't take long for her body to collapse on the floor. Isolde was hanging on to Bann Teagan's arm and the mages were around Morrigan. They would stay there until she would wake up. Wynne and Alistair had taken their distance from the ritual while I was standing nearby. I just kept looking at Morrigan and wondered how her little kill-the-demon quest would go.

~o~

She didn't feel like taking too long for this mission to be completed. That pesky demon had to die, without too many games. She ignored Arl Eamon, who was standing there, yelling where his son was. She found the image of Connor a bit further away and confronted him.

"Do not play games with me demon, show yourself!" she said. The demon did not like her tone and transformed to its real form, immediately attacking her. She scoffed at the weakness of the demon as all it took to get rid of it was a lightning bolt. The demon was now gone and she moved back into the portal, which transferred her to where the demon now was again. She found Connor again, or rather the demon disquised as Connor, and confronted it one more time. This time it brought some companions, which she all froze and killed. Finally, after repeating this process two more times, she was facing the demon in its full form.

"All right. No more games. You see me in my true form now. What did you like to discuss mortal?" it said with an evil grin.

"Do not take me for a fool, demon! You are well aware you need to die for what you have done. The boy needs to be released." she said.

"Straight to the point, are we! I will not release the boy like that. We could make a deal however, I will stay away for a period of time, and will only come back long long after."

"We have no deal, demon. You nearly killed the Grey Warden. If you didn't know yet, we still need her!" Morrigan was now an inch away from the demon's face "For this alone, you'll need to die." She backed up and started casting a spell. The fight had begun. The demon disappeared every now and then and multiplied on all the platforms around Morrigan. She was easy to be found though as, as she multiplied, she left a glow around her actual self. The demon was now weak and it wouldn't take much for it to die. Morrigan rushed over and grabbed the demon by its neck.

"Ugh. I do not know why I'm taking the effort." she scoffed to herself. Slowly her hands started to glow with electricity, sending bolts in the demon. It screamed and tried to get away though it was useless. Morrigan had killed the demon and freed Connor.

~o~

Finally Morrigan woke up. It wasn't that she took her time to kill the demon, in fact she was quite fast, but everybody was eager to have it dead. Morrigan shot me a look when I helped her up. - She did what I asked? - I smiled in return and soon Isolde's voice interrupted.

"Is it over? Is my Connor free now?"

"He should be." Morrigan said. "We will have to go and see him to be certain though." With this everybody moved up to the room where Connor was. Connor was standing in Arl Eamon's room. He was standing at the wall, reading the names of the books standing there. Without a word, Isolde ran over to his side and hugged him. Connor started laughing, which we all took as a sign the demon was really gone.

"Thank you!" Isolde said. Bann Teagan explained that Connor would be going to the Tower for training once the Blight was over. He was relieved that Connor was his old self again. The only thing that was still wrong was Arl Eamon. He was still in comatose and killing the demon had not brought him back. We all agreed to continue the search of the Urn. That might be the only thing that could cure Arl Eamon. My companions had moved downstairs already when I made my way down there as well. When I came downstairs I saw Eamon's study. I decided to take a peak in there. Long live curiosity right? I noticed a bracelet with the holy symbol of Andraste on it. - This must be Alistair's. - I packed it up and moved towards the bookcase when I heard the door close. I turned around to find Bann Teagan standing against it. - Not again! -

"Lady Cousland." he started. He walked up towards me and I automatically moved back until I was standing against the wall.

"Yes, Bann Teagan?" I saw him smile and he was now very close to me. His hands were softly touching mine. I didn't want to look Bann Teagan in the eyes so I looked down.

"Your healing mage, Wynne I believe, said that your mind was cleared up again. I knew you must have remembered everything again as well. It must have been the shock of what happened which made you forget, my dear Lady." he whispered. I shook my head.

"Bann Teagan, I..." I tried to say while attempting to move away to the door. I wanted nothing more than escape from his reach. Bann Teagan stopped me however and put a finger on my lips to let me stop talking. I didn't dare to move away from him, and shot a look to the door.

"Say nothing more. You must remember as well that I always found you amazing. You being a Grey Warden does not change that. Surely you know that? We both have been flirting to each other during your visits here." Bann Teagan gently took my waist and pushed his against mine. I felt like I was sweating. I did not want this! I had feelings for Alistair, but not Bann Teagan. I remembered my acting during visits to Redcliffe in the past. I didn't know the outcome would be this though! I was young and ignorant. Bann Teagan started to kiss my neck.

"No..." I whispered. I knew he could hear it, but it didn't stop him. He closed whatever space there was between my body and the wall and I now really was stuck. Bann Teagan came up to my cheek with his kisses.

"Bann Teagan, stop. Please." I softly said. He put his forehead on mine, and I now had a desperate look on my face. Desperate to leave this room without a fuss. Who knew what would happen if I let him turn against me. I was afraid he wouldn't help us anymore when the time would come. We needed their help against the Archdemon, but I didn't want to do this in order to keep "peace".

"You don't have to worry. Nobody will come in when the door is closed. The servants know this." He continued what he was doing and I tried to get away from his touch. When he noticed me struggling he took both of my arms and put them against the wall. I could feel him harden against me. When he wanted to kiss me on my lips I moved my head away. He let one hand down and moved a bit away to attempt to put his hand in my pants. - ENOUGH! - I slapped Bann Teagan in his face and quickly moved away from him.

"I said No!" I yelled as loud as I could. Tears were now flowing out of my eyes and I ran out of the study as fast as I could. I ran past Alistair, Wynne and Morrigan, who were standing in the main hall at the fire. The guards were looking confused to each other and I ran passed them as well, through the huge front door. I nearly flew down over the stairs and ran past the gates. I kept on going and didn't stop until I nearly reached the camp. I didn't want to go in there either so I stayed near the so called river. I dropped on my knees and I felt myself shivering. - This is stupid. I nearly let him rape me. I didn't dare to move away from him. - Tears were flowing out of my eyes really fast now and I couldn't stop. I felt ashamed, scared and guilty. I could hear the other companions arriving in camp as well and chatter to each other. I tried to silence my sobbing and held my hand in front of my mouth. Finally tears had stopped flowing and I cleaned up my face. When I turned around I saw Leliana standing in front of me. I looked around to see if there were any others with her, but it appeared she was alone.

"What happened in Redcliffe, Aveline? The others told me they saw you run out of there after yelling something."

"I...well... What's the use? You probably think it's stupid anyway." I said while I turned around again.

"I promise I will not think it's stupid. It is clear that what happened affected you. You can talk to me, Aveline." she said reassuring. I sat down on the ground with my arms over my knees. - Maybe I could tell Leliana. -

"All right, but please do not tell the others what happened." she came sitting next to me and I saw her nodding.

"We saved Connor and everybody was in the main hall already when I came down. I noticed the Arl's study, and I was curious so I moved in. When I wanted to check on their bookcase I heard to door close behind me. Bann Teagan was in the room and he thought I was there to be alone with him or something. He started moving against me and starting kissing me in my neck. Eventually he pushed me against the wall and held me there. When he tried to get into my pants... I slapped him in his face and ran."

"Oh sweet Aveline! I am so sorry to hear that!" Leliana said while putting an arm around me.

"I told him several times to stop, but he just kept on going. And somehow I couldn't leave either. I was frozen in place until... he did the last thing I mentioned."

"Why would he do such a thing?" she wondered to herself. I shook my shoulders.

"All I remember from my visits to Redcliffe is that I just smiled to him. Maybe I shot him too many looks, because I do remember that even back then I found him a good looking man even though he was a bit too old for my taste. Maybe he took that as a sign that I liked him?" Leliana's arm tightened around me.

"I don't even like him that way, I do not recall I ever did. The only one I like now is... well... Alistair." I blushed. "This is silly. We need their help against the Blight though I feel like I cannot set foot in there ever again!" I sighed. "Let's go back shall we? The others must wonder where we are." I stood up, as did Leliana.

"Everything is going to be just fine. Get some rest, Aveline. I promise I won't tell anyone this." We both walked towards the camp. When we were nearly there, I grabbed Leliana's arm.

"Thank you, Leli." I said with a warm smile. I gave her a hug and moved to my tent. I absolutely did not feel like seeing anyone. They could come and wake me when it was my turn to keep watch.

~o~

Alistair looked towards the river and noticed Leliana and Aveline coming up to camp. They stopped and Aveline hugged her before moving to her tent. Alistair quickly walked to Leliana.

"What is wrong? What happened?"

"Oh Alistair. I promised not to tell. I can tell you however, that she will need some time. When she is ready, she will tell you. I am sure!" she said.

"What? Why can you not tell me what happened in Redcliffe. We were all in there! We saw her running out with tears on her face. We ran straight after her ..."

"Alistair, your concern is touching, but please do not ask me to break a promise." With this Leliana left to her own tent. All he could do was wait. Wait until she was ready to tell what happened. He was really worried about her, however. She had won a place in his heart, and it was painful to see her like this. He thought it was strange for him to feel that way. Especially as they hadn't known each other for very long. She had accepted his rose, and he knew she felt that way too. She wouldn't accept it if that wasn't the case. He wanted to comfort her. Just sit with her, put his arms around her. Keep her safe... - I want to keep her safe. -

Modifié par Lynn01, 08 novembre 2010 - 02:37 .

[Lynn01]

FanFiction.net

Chapter 9: As cold as Ice


I barely slept this night and felt like dirt. I had already washed myself, but that didn't seem to do much good. I collected my things so we could leave fast.

"Guys come on! I'm not going to wait for you to get up. I am leaving in 15 minutes!" I yelled throughout camp. I didn't feel like waiting on anyone today, nor hearing anyone for that matter. Feonar was already up and he was about the only one I could tolerate around me. I scratched him on the head and continued packing. After I had everything I tossed it aside and sat on a rock, waiting until everybody was ready. The look on my face must have been horrible as nobody dared to come close. Feonar came sitting with me and put his head on my leg. Finally everyone seemed ready, so I picked up my things and started walking. I was feeling annoyed and partly due to that I was moving fast. Feonar was doing his best to keep up with me, and never moved away from my side. My companions were far behind me when I arrived at an open area overlooking Ostagar. I sat down on my knees and I just kept staring. It looked peaceful. It was filled with snow, but it had a silence over it. Underneath all that snow, were so many memories! In the distance I could hear my companions so I stood up. It was time to face the fallen Ostagar. I let out a sigh before I turned around.

"Come on boy, it is time." I said to Feonar while stroking his head. Slowly I walked to the entrace of the camp of Ostagar and stood still. I felt something tugging within me and knew that Darkspawn were still here. Finally the others caught up with me and we walked in. It didn't take long for the first attack to begin and I started killing. It went automatically though I felt rage slowly building up inside of me. Alistair seemed to have found a piece of Cailan's armor at the leader of that group and took it with him. I barely even noticed the way we were heading, but I now found myself at the exact same place where I had the Joining. My eyes fell on something shiny on the floor. I walked over and sat down next to it. It was the Joining Chalice! I touched the chalice and stroke over the metal before picking it up. Alistair was standing next to me, looking at it as well. Without a word I gave him the chalice. Out of the two of us, he was the 'Senior Warden' and the chalice must have been of more value to him. He took the chalice from me and looked me in the eye before giving me a small smile. I nodded in response and left to find the key we were searching for.

We didn't have to walk far for that, as I saw a statue that fitted the description we received before. I looked at the ground and noticed a part was disturbed. - The key must be burried in there. - I walked over, but again felt the tugging inside of me. Darkspawn popped out of the shadows and attacked us. I focussed on the caster of the group. With my two daggers I sliced his left hand off. Before he could do anything I sliced his right hand off as well. Then I pushed my dagger in his stomach and with my other dagger I sliced open its throat. I didn't wait for it to die. I pushed its body on the ground and cut open his stommach completely. I sat next to the Darkspawn. The rest was already dead and I could hear footsteps coming my way. I quickly cleaned my face and stood up to fish out the burried key. Once retrieved, we moved towards the chest. I could see it standing from where we were, though several things were blocking the way. After another group of Darkspawn we arrived at the chest and I quickly opened it. It contained letters. They seemed important. I gave Alistair some, and he told out loud that Empress Celene was ready to hand out an army to help Ferelden. The one I was reading was slightly different. Arl Eamon had written it to King Cailan. He notified that the Queen was getting too old and still did not give him an heir. Therefore, he suggested to put aside the Queen in order to get one who could give King Cailan the heir he needed. I shook my head and folded up the letter.

I looked around. If this was the royal chest, the tents must have been close. I felt adrenaline pumping through my body again. I had left my belongings in that tent, maybe I could retrieve some! I started running back, in search of the place where my tent had been.

"Aveline? We need to go the other way. Where are you going?" I heard Alistair say. Feonar started running towards me and it wasn't for long until I found the place I searched. I sat down on the snow and touched it. There were remains of the tent under the snow which triggered me to start digging. I didn't even notice Wynne until she sat down next to me and put a hand on my back.

"It's gone." I softly said to her.

"What is gone, Aveline?" Wynne replied. Before I could answer my head started to hurt like crazy. Everything turned white and I felt dizzy. All I heard was a single high tone which continued to play in my head. It was as if I lost my hearing. I put my hands over my head, trying to ease the pain. Suddenly it was gone, and I started coughing. The rest of the party was now with me.

"Are you all right?" Leliana said.

"Yes, but... what was I doing here?" I said while I looked up.

"We don't know dear. You rushed over and started digging? I do know this is the tent you were in when you got hurt the night you ran from your Castle?" Wynne replied back. My focus went back to the snow where I had digged my way through. Even though I knew it was a useless gesture, I picked up some snow and tossed it back hard in my anger. I moved on towards the bridge. We still had to find more pieces of Cailan's armor, as Alistair now had found just two. I gasped and picked up my case as soon as I saw what was up at the middle of the bridge. Cailan his body was pierced with arrows and hung up, like a throphy. Unexpected tears started to form in my eyes, and I did my best to keep them away. I wasn't the only one who was having a hard time with seeing this though we didn't have a lot of time. We were again attacked by a group of Darkspawn. They seemed weak, as we killed them quite quickly.

"Let's kill the rest before we pay our respects to King Cailan, shall we?" I suggested while motioning towards the Tower me and Alistair were sent to.

"Forgive us, my king. When we have driven the darkspawn from their holes and bought ourselves some time, we shall return to see you to the Maker." Alistair softly said. As we moved further we came to a part where I could see weapons targetted at our group. I quickly moved to the shadows and sneaked up to the Sergeant of the group. I backstabbed him, and he turned around when I got my dagger out. - So we want to struggle eh? - He took his sword out and swung it to me sideways. I stepped back and it just missed me. I quickly moved forward and pushed my body against him, causing him to stumble back. Then I duck down and moved my feet against his leg, this time causing him to fall down. I got up and with my two daggers stabbed him in his chest. I kept on going, and going until Alistair put his hand on my back.

"Aveline." he whispered "What is wrong?" I didn't move from my position and sat with my hands on the Darkspawn. I cleaned up my eyes before I stood up.

"He's got some of Cailan's armor." I whispered back to Alistair and I moved towards the Tower which should be the last part to clear. The Darkspawn in the Tower were very weak compared to what we fought outside the Tower and we cleared it quite fast. Before we could go up further, we noticed a hole in the ground. - This must have been where the Darkspawn came through. - We moved in and killed the remaining Darkspawn along with the spiders. When we got outside we were at the part where the Darkspawn came from. With each step I moved, I had flashbacks from that night at Ostagar. I could see a flash of arrows coming my way. - This must have been what the Darkspawn saw. - At the end of the road I saw another Darkspawn. It was a caster and was now working on a spell. The next thing that caught my eye was a huge ogre with two daggers in its chest. - Are those Duncan's? -

"Alistair, Leliana, Morrigan, take the ogre. I'll go take the caster at the end with Sten and Feonar. Wynne stay in between to keep us healed." With that said I ran towards the caster and I started hitting it with all I had. - If you Darkspawn stayed away, I could rebuild Highever! If you stayed away, we didn't need to go look for an army! If you stayed away, I wouldn't have to deal with Bann Teagan's touchy hands! If you stayed away, everything would've been better! - I repeated this in my head for every single hit I gave him until he died. I felt my anger flowing away and I felt guilty for staying so silent this whole trip. From the moment I woke, I was as cold as ice to my companions here and I did not intend to. I turned around to find the ogre dead as well and I removed the daggers from its body. I looked at my companions and noticed they stared at me.

"I'm sorry for being so cold today guys. I... I had my reasons, but I realize it's not fair to take this out on you all. You have been great to me, all of you, and you deserve nothing less from me as well." I looked down to the ogre and kept my eyes on it.

"Aveline, it is alright. Really! Especially if you are now back to your nice and social self again." Leliana giggled
.
"I promise!" I said with a smile. The rest stayed quite silent, but I could see that they were more relaxed around me again. Alistair had now walked over to regain the last piece of Cailan's armor.

"There it is, the last of them." Alistair said.

"It has been a long day. By the lines around your eyes I dare say you look as old as I." Wynne said in reply.

"And if I may say so, milady, you appear to be getting younger by the day."

"Be careful who you flirt with, young man." Wynne chuckled "When you wake up beside me tomorrow morning I'll be back to reminding you of your grandmother."

"Beside you?" Alistair gasped.

"You heard what I said. It would not be the first time I woke to a younger man in my bed."

"Are all women this evil and conniving when they grow old?"

"Just me, my dear. Just me" Wynne chuckled and I couldn't help but overhear and laugh at this myself. We moved out of this area toward the body of King Cailan. He didn't deserve this at all.

"Alistair, are you alright?" Wynne said.

"Ugh! They hanged him there to rot!" Alistair said with a large frown on his face.

"He deserves a pyre. That is the last we can do" I said to them before getting Cailan down. We got him the pyre he deserved and all of us payed our respect. One more than the other. We decided not to stay around for too long and so we left to camp. Once there I was working on stew. I wasn't a great cook, but I could make a decent meal. Alistair sat next to me.

"Ah good timing dear Alistair." I said to him with a smile on my face "I must tell you something." Alistair just nodded.

"I'm not sure how you'll take this, but promise me not to take action upon what I'm going to tell you alright?"

"Ehm. Yes. Okay. I promise." Alistair said.

"You remember when we were in Redcliffe to save Connor right? Well right after we saved him and found out that Arl Eamon didn't wake up, I went to the Arl's study. I searched his desk and when I was done I walked over to their bookcase when I heard the door close. It turned out Bann Teagan was in the room and he got the wrong idea. I mean... He walked towards me and started to kiss me, he had me pinned against the wall when he wanted to do other things as well..." I said. My eyes were focussing on the stew and not Alistair. "I slapped him in the face when he wanted to... well go into... you know. That's when I sceamed out as well and I ran away."

"Oh, Aveline! I'm sorry to hear that! I had never saw that in Bann Teagan when I lived there. I wish I was there to avoid what he had done." he said. He now had my face in his hands.

"You can stay with me next time. Please do?

"Of course I will." he said "Was this the reason why you have been to cranky all day?" I nodded. "I'm sorry about that."

"No need to apologize silly! I completely understand. I'll stick with you when we need to go back to Redcliffe."
"Thank you." I smiled to him. "Also, I have found something that is yours I believe." I took out the amulet and gave it to Alistair.

"I... Oh... that's my mothers amulet? Where did you find it?"

"In the Arl's study, in Redclffe." I said.

"I thought I'd lost this due to my own stupidity" he said "I can't believe the Arl made it and kept it!"

"Perhaps you mean more to him than you think." I replied while putting my hand on his arm.

"Thank you. You remembered what I said? Normally nobody listens when I talk about something!" he said.

"Of course I remembered, Alistair. You're special to me." He took my hand in his and with his other hand gently touched my face. His fingers traced my cheek, down to my chin, and he pulled me close. I felt butterflies flying around, not willing to stop. I wanted this. His breath was now touching my lips.

"Pashaara! It is time for my watch. I will wake you when it is your turn." Sten intervened while he sat down next to me. - There goes the perfectly romantic moment, Sten! -

"Yes... Thank you, Sten." I said, holding back my chuckle. We both stood up and moved to our tents.

~o~

The next morning was a whole lot better than the day before. We decided to go to Denerim first, in search of Brother Genetivi. He should know where the urn could be. Our party was ready to go when Alistair came over.

"Look, we're going to Denerim right? Is there any chance we can go and visit someone?"

"A friend of yours?" I said in reply with a wink.

"Well not really a friend, and no, not such a friend either. It's just that... I told you about my mother and who she was right? Well... it turns out that she had another child. I have a sister, Goldanna, and after some research I found out she lives in Denerim."

"That's wonderful news Alistair! Of course we'll go visit her!" I said. Alistair seemed relieved.

"Thank you! Really! Now let's go shall we?" he said while leading the way. I was glad for Alistair though I hoped she was everything Alistair expected her to be. Despite the occasional Darkspawn attacks, our journey towards Denerim went flawless. This was the first time we would be there since Loghain announced the Wardens were traitors. Due to this, I decided it would be best if our group would be limited. Therefore, I took Alistair, Wynne and Sten with me. The others would stay behind just outside the city and set up camp there. It had been so long since I'd been to Denerim. Memories flashed back into my mind from days I was here with my family. We walked to the Market District. - Oh, Leliana would enjoy herself very much here! - We were walking around, in search of Brother Genetivi's house, when Alistair stopped me.

"This... is her house! I'm almost sure of it. Yes this is the right address! She could be inside! Could we... go and see?" Alistair suddenly was very nervous.

"Yes, let's do that."

"Will she even know who I am? Does she even know I exist? My sister. That sounds very strange. Sister. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiister. Hmm, now I'm babbling. Maybe we should go. Let's go. Let's just... go!" he said while walking into Goldanna's house. I came along with Alistair, while the others waited outside.

"Hello?" Alistair said.

"Eh? You got linen to wash? I charge three bits a bundle, you won't find better. And don't trust what that Natalia woman tells you either, she's foreign and she'll rob you blind." Goldanna said while coming up towards Alistair and me.

"Eh... I'm not here to have any wash done. My name's Alistair. I'm... well, this might sound sort of strange, but are you Goldanna? If so, I suppose I'm your brother!"

"My what? I'm Goldanna, yes... How do you know my name? What kind of tomfoolery are you folk up to?" she said with a frown.

"He's telling the truth. Listen to him." I replied to Goldanna.

"Look, our mother... She worked as a servant in Redcliffe Castle a long time ago, before she died. Do you know about that? She-"

"You!" Goldanna seemed to realize who Alistair was now. "They told me you were dead!" she continued. "They told me the babe was dead along with mother, but I knew they was lying!" She obviously was not happy at all to see Alistair. After talking a bit longer it seemed that Goldanna only wanted money, and not at all a long lost brother. We decided to leave and not give Goldanna any money. Once outside, Alistair stopped and turned to me again.

"This is the family I've been wondering about all my life? That shrew is my sister? I can't believe it." he said. "I... I guess I was expecting her to accept me without question. Isn't that what family is supposed to do? I... I feel like a complete idiot." he looked to the ground. I got closer to Alistair and held his head up with both my hands.

"Everyone is out for themselves. You should learn that."

"Yes I suppose I should. Let's go. I don't want to talk about this anymore." Alistair walked away from me towards the houses closer to the Alienage. Even though I felt bad for Alistair, we still had to find Brother Genetivi's house to cure Arl Eamon. With a sigh I started moving as well.

Modifié par Lynn01, 11 novembre 2010 - 01:13 .

[VioletTheirin]

Great chapter as always! Grrrr....I loathe Goldana and I have to write about her for Rose in 2 chapters...SO not looking forward to it. Looking forward to your next update and I hope all is well.

[Lynn01]

thank you v! She is indeed horrible haha. My next chapter will probably take a bit longer as we were busy with things for our new 8week old cat (visits and such)

[LadyAly]

very well done again Lynn

[Lynn01]

Thank you! I'm glad you still enjoy it :-)

[Gilgamesh1138]

Okay I just discovered this, please forgive me, sweetie! OMG!!! LOVE!!!! And I really like the artwork too. Fantastic! And I am with Violet, I hate Goldana (aka 'Gold Digging ****). *makes grabby hands* MOAR please!

[Lynn01]

Haha that's alright Gil! I'm glad you found it after all and like it even! Hopefully you'll stick around and enjoy the rest as well :-) If things progress today I can make the header for my next chapter and maybe even upload the story (depends on my beta too )