“There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked, never care for anything else thereafter.” – Ernest Hemingway
The path winded down towards the base of Ostagar and it was then the full blown stench of the swamp hit them. There was no mistaking the smell of mildew, stagnant water and mud mixed in with only Maker knows. Evelyn wrinkled her nose as she looked around, “Ugh and I though Dax smelt bad after a rain storm…”
“A pretty nose like yours shouldn’t be smelling such things.” Daveth grinned gamely at her as he got his bow ready.
“Then stand over there.” Evelyn gestured ahead at a small hill, “Maybe then my nose might not be so offended.”
Jory and Alistair laughed as Daveth bah’d then moved ahead to do some tracking. His skills were more geared toward picking pockets but to pick a pocket you had to know what to look for in a target. It seemed like hours and Evelyn just rolled her eyes as she trekked ahead despite Alistair’s protests. He glanced at the others, “Women…”
“I heard that.” Evelyn called back as she knelt down and used her dagger to cut back some of the tall grass. Paw prints were in the mud but they weren’t those of a mabari. Her brow arched as she studied them closer and used her fingers to check the depth. She remembered what Fergus and her father taught her about hunting wild game. Her eyes scanned the area before she heard a faint growl. So held out her hand for the men to get ready and slowly she stood. Out of the brush came several wolves, teeth bared and from the look of them they were starving.
“Something tells me they find us tasty.” Daveth quipped as he notched an arrow on his bow and took aim. Jory held his claymore ready while Alistair readied himself with his sword and shield. Evelyn slowly backed up while holding her dagger steady. The eyes of the wolves watched her every move since she was closer to them. They were waiting for the right moment to strike. She managed to get back far enough for Alistair to tug her back by the edge of the shield she still carried on her back. Her eyes met with his as she shot him a look that told him she was fine. The men moved to shield her as the wolves began to move closer unaware that a wolf leader was taking a higher road.
Evelyn removed the shield to set it down on the ground for now. She was dusting it off before she noticed the wolf in the reflecting. Without a second thought she turned and flung her dagger at the wolf striking it’s flank as he moved to attack. The cry of the wolf signaled the others to strike. Jory swung his sword in a wide arch to catch a couple wolves off guard while Daveth let loose a few arrows from his bow before switching to his daggers. Alistair slammed his shield against a wolf that lunged at him. Evelyn had to rely on her skills using just her family’s sword for the time being. Once the last wolf fell they looked at the bodies and Evelyn felt guilt for killing them.
She moved to the body of the lead wolf and took her dagger from its side. Her hand touched its pelt before she backed away. Alistair could see that despite her tough exterior she was still a girl. He understood how she felt despite it. As Jory poked a few of the wolves to make sure they were dead Alistair checked his shield to see the teeth marks and splatters of blood on it. He thought that maybe he’d be able to get a better shield once back at camp if his made it that long. It was then he noticed that they were spending too much time dawdling.
“Come on. We’ve got vials to fill and treaties to find.” Alistair sheathed his sword and moved on.
Evelyn followed after putting the family shield back on her back. She stayed close and saw something moving on the path ahead. They all moved quickly to see it was a soldier that was crawling. He was covered in blood that looked like a mixture of his own and something else. Evelyn glanced at Alistair, “We should help him.”
“I’ve got some bandages in my pack.” He knelt down and tended to the wounded soldier.
Evelyn offered him some water and glanced at Alistair, “Should we take him back?”
“No, I can make it on my own.” The soldier said with a tinge of pain in his voice. He was helped up by Evelyn and Alistair, “I need to report in…We were jumped by those darkspawn…My comrades were killed.”
“Before you go, have you see a man named Fergus? He’d be wearing this symbol.” Evelyn turned to show the shield then looked at the soldier.
He shook his head, “Sorry, but no. I’ll be going now.” He nodded his thanks then took off towards the path they had used to get down to the Wilds.
“Fergus?” Daveth asked as he looked at Evelyn, “You lover perhaps?”
Evelyn shot him a look that could have made a man’s heart freeze before she answered him, “He’s my brother.” She said nothing more and moved ahead to see if there were other dangers like traps.
“What’s her problem?” Daveth muttered as Jory moved beside him.
Alistair watched Evelyn but spoke to them in a solemn voice, “Her family was murdered and her brother is all she has left. We’re possibly looking at the last of the Couslands.”
“So she’s out here risking her life? Not exactly smart is it?” He commented back and was given a light smack to the back of his head by Jory, “Ow! What was that for?”
“Do not disrespect Lady Cousland like that.” Jory said sternly, “It is a honor to serve beside such a family. She deserves respect.”
“Heh respect? Looks to me she could use something else but that’s just me.” Daveth grinned then hurried off before Jory could punch him.
Alistair just shook his head, “Let him go, Ser Jory. Some never understand what it is like to lose family.”
They all caught up to Evelyn who found a flower. It was pure white with a red center and held a rather lovely scent. She had picked it figuring it could be useful. It was only then Daveth chimed in, “I think one of those Ashe Warrior fellows was asking about this flower. You might be able to get some good coin for this.”
“Why would he want a flower?” Evelyn asked as she glanced at him with a raised brow.
Daveth shrugged, “I think it had something to do with the darkspawn blood and their mabari.”
She wrapped the flower in a large leaf then tucked it into her small pack before Alistair called out, “Be alert!”
“Alert?” Daveth repeated before a black arrow whistled past them. He shoved Evelyn down into the mud, “You okay?”
“I was until you shoved me into the mud.” Evelyn muttered before Daveth got up and moved for better cover. She scrambled to do the same and was nearly hit in the shoulder by an arrow as she dived for the crumbled stone wall. Her eyes glanced over to men who were trying to figure out a plan. She heard the roars of the darkspawn and the sound of their blades hitting the stone to scare them. Her eyes closed for a moment as she gathered her wits before she opened them again. She rummaged through her pack for a few vials Duncan gave her. She looked at the contents of the vials and picked two of the same color. They held an acidic liquid that would be enough to provide a distraction and possibly damage their enemy.
“What in the bloody hell is she doing?” Alistair said as he saw Evelyn sneak around the wall.
Daveth could tell what she was up to, “Oh she’s a sly one she is. I call dibs.”
“Dibs?” Ser Jory raised his brow as he held his sword ready, “How can you think of such things at a time like this?”
“One track mind my friend.” Daveth grinned as he got his daggers ready, “Besides all you talk about is your fair Helena so do you care?”
Alistair just shook his head as he watched Evelyn’s movement and prayed for her to be safe, something he rarely did.
Maker protect and guide her hand…May she find the target she seeks.
Evelyn got as close as she could before she threw the first vial against the rocks followed by the second near another set of rocks. As the vials broken a noxious gas came from them and stung the eyes of the darkspawn. They began to stumble around looking for who threw it but Evelyn managed to get out of reach. She then took a deep breath, held it then charged in to slaughter the darkspawn that had tried to ambush them. Pure adrenaline drove Evelyn to make such a fool hardy move. Her blade sliced a genlock’s head off while her dagger found the throat of another.
“Move!” Alistair ordered as he hurried to join her. His shield bashed into a darkspawn trying to stab Evelyn in the back. His shield cracked on impact and he had to discard it for now. With short swings and thrusts he was able to fight off the darkspawn that came at them. He saw Jory handling himself well despite the look of fear on his face. Daveth looked cold as he sliced his way through the darkspawn.
The fight was pure chaos and fear. It ended when a brief wind blew away the cloud and showed the damage of a Grey Warden’s blade against darkspawn. The ground was littered with six darkspawn bodies. One had his head missing thanks to Alistair and another was run through by Jory.
Evelyn gasped for air as she fell to her knees with her hands coated in darkspawn blood. Her eyes were watery as tears came down her face. Alistair looked similar to her but he helped her back up, “Use the swamp water to clean that off. Jory, Daveth…fill the vials with blood.”
“Aye, Captain.” Daveth joked as he gave a mock salute then went about getting the blood into the vials.
The pool of swamp water was close enough so Alistair could keep an eye on them while Evelyn took care to wash away the blood on her hands. She even washed her face then looked at her reflection in the water. What stared back at her was a scared girl and she knew it to be true.
What are you doing, Evie…You’re going to get yourself killed out here.
She got up and looked at Alistair. His face was splattered with blood and some tears were on his cheeks from having to deal with the distraction she made. She pulled out a handkerchief and doused it with water before offering it to him, “Here.”
He glanced at her then raised his brow, “I don’t need it.”
“You made me clean up so it’s your turn.” Evelyn put the handkerchief in his hand then went to fill a vial of blood so Jory could take his turn getting cleaned up.
Daveth went to clean up as well and looked at Alistair, “I called dibs you know…”
Alistair shook his head then wiped his face before tucking the handkerchief away in his pack. He looked at his shield and sighed, “Duncan is not going to like this.”
“Like what?” Evelyn asked as she put the cork into the vial and put it into her pack safely. She noticed the shield Alistair was looking at was badly damaged, “Oh…I see…”
Maybe I could lend him my father’s shield?
Jory rejoined them with Daveth and he saw the shield, “I think that shield has seen better days…I doubt we’ll find a replacement for it out here.”
“How do you figure? The lack of merchants give it away?” Daveth quipped and crossed his arms while keeping watch for anything unusual like more darkspawn.
Evelyn shook her head and took the shield off her back, “Here…Use this for now.”
“I can’t take that.” Alistair said softly as he looked at her.
She frowned, “But you need it and I can’t use it. I only took it to keep Howe from taking it.” She offered it to him again, “Please? I’d rather not leave you defenseless while I carry it on my back letting it be more of a hindrance and making me look like some sort of deranged turtle.”
Alistair chuckled a little at the turtle comment and smiled a bit at her, “If you insist.” He took the shield from her and for just a moment their hands touched. A familiar feeling of warmth came to him but before he could figure it out her hand was gone. She was already off with the others checking the path out. He looked at the shield before tracing the symbol then stood up to rejoin them.
They traveled further into the Wilds before coming to the ruins of the Grey Warden temple. Around it was a small darkspawn camp with one Emissary and a Hurlock Alpha. Alistair gritted his teeth seeing the odds were stacked against them. Evelyn was watching for the pathing of the darkspawn along with Daveth. She hm’d then ducked back down. With a stick she drew in the mud the layout from what she could see then began to think of a plan of attack.
Alistair looked at the sketch then saw what Evelyn did. They needed to separate the darkspawn from the Emissary and the Hurlock Alpha but the trick was how. She looked at Daveth, “You said you had to outrun Duncan right?”
“Yea…why?” Daveth didn’t like where this was going.
Evelyn took a look at what she had for vials and saw the poison. Her eyes shifted to Daveth’s bow, “Give me your arrows…And your daggers too.” They watched her as she coated the metal with the poison then used the rest on her own blades.
“Poison?” Jory asked curious.
Evelyn nodded, “Well they bleed as we do and I figure why not have the same weakness?” She looked at them, “Daveth is going to use his arrows to kill these darkspawn genlocks. There’s only two that I could see so it shouldn’t be too hard to hit them with your poison arrows. If you run out of arrows well that’s why I put the poison on your daggers.”
She watched Daveth nodded slowly with some fear in his eyes, “Once you kill them Alistair and Jory can move in to take care of the Emissary that’s pathing here.” She marked the mud with an X to show the Emissary.
“What about you?” Daveth finally asked.
“Me?” Evelyn looked innocent, “I’ll be backing you up actually.”
Alistair wasn’t too sure about the plan but knew his target was the Emissary. He’d have to work fast to defeat it and make sure his Templar skills were ready should any spells be cast. He looked at Evelyn, “You should probably come with us actually. Daveth can handle himself well enough.”
“I happen to like having her with me…” Daveth shot back and crossed his arms.
Jory just sighed, “Not this again…”
“Look the longer we bicker about this the quicker we lose the sunlight.” Evelyn reminded them and got up, “If it makes you feel better, Alistair…I’ll go with you.”
Alistair got up then looked at Daveth, “You know what to do?”
“Yea…I just wonder about that Alpha…You said they are more of the fighting sort.” Daveth replied and fiddled with the bowstring.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about him. He’s too far back to be trouble.” Alistair replied then moved down the path with Jory and Evelyn following.
Daveth made his way towards the bridge that led into the darkspawn camp and notched an arrow as he hid behind a tree. He took a deep breath and sighed, “Me and my big mouth. Well…here goes.”
In a smooth move he leaned around the tree and took aim with his bow. For a moment he held his breath before releasing the arrow. The arrow sailed through the air with great speed before striking the genlock in the head. It was a perfect shot and Daveth admired his work before the cry of the other genlock caught his attention.
“****e!” Daveth cursed as he notched another arrow quickly and shot the genlock who raised the alarm. He moved quickly towards the bridge and shot at the Emissary who had decided to join in now. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure move and it was Evelyn. She had decided on a frontal attack with Daveth and dashed over the bridge towards the Emissary with a warcry of her own. Not far behind her was Alistair and Jory. As they dashed past Daveth he just grinned then realized he was being left behind. He crossed the bridge and let the arrows fly as he took down incoming darkspawn while the trio dealt with the Emissary.
Alistair had to focus on his Templar skills while Jory and Evelyn cut away at the Emissary until he collapsed from the gashes he suffered. He seemed to be laughing at them until he finally passed on. Daveth joined them and had recollected a few arrows from the bodies of the darkspawn, “Well that didn’t go as planned now did it?”
“Plans rarely do.” Evelyn replied casually then moved on with them. They walked up a slight hill before seeing another small gathering of darkspawn made of hurlocks with the Alpha leading them. Alistair wanted to take out the archers first and Daveth obliged by letting his poisoned arrows hit their marks before the other darkspawn were scrambling towards them.
“Bloody hell! How do they find us so fast?” Daveth blurted as he switched to daggers and began to defend himself.
Jory moved to take on the Alpha who was rallying the darkspawn to fight. Alistair joined him but Evelyn stayed back to help Daveth as they fought off the hurlocks. Evelyn moved one to a tree as she used it as a shield of sorts. The hurlock roared at her as she taunted him. She took a swipe at his side with her sword and ducked the incoming swing from the hurlock. With a thud the hurlock’s sword was stuck in the trunk of the tree and with a grin Evelyn shoved the longsword into his gut. The tip of the blade stuck out the back before she twisted the blade and pulled it out.
Meanwhile Jory and Alistair were thrown back by a wave of energy from the Hurlock Alpha. Alistair forced himself up even though he was exhausted. Jory was using his sword to help himself up and he also had the full attention of the Alpha. Daveth threw his daggers into the back of the Alpha now that he was done with his own hurlock. He grinned as the daggers hit the Alpha in the left shoulder. The Alpha turned to look at Daveth then roared at him before charging his direction. Evelyn threw her own dagger hitting the thigh of the Alpha to slow him down. Jory moved quickly to slash at the Alpha’s torso now that he was distracted by the pain and poison coursing through his veins. Alistair moved in and with a quick slash the head of the Alpha flew off towards the swamp pit below.
The daggers were pulled from the body and given back to their respectful owners. Jory laughed off his fear while Daveth just seemed pleased with himself. Evelyn was emotionless and Alistair noticed. He found it odd that she shut herself off but said nothing as they all entered the ruined building. Ahead of them was a broken chest. Evelyn approached it and examined it, “Seems like someone plundered the place…”
Alistair didn’t like how this looked and was about to say something when another voice broke the silence.
"Well, well, what have we here?”
A woman’s ****ry voice turned the heads of the men but Evelyn stood up slowly and walked towards the source. The woman walked down towards them in a seductive manner and dressed in what could only be assumed were robes. Her eyes were wild as she stared directly at Evelyn and continued speaking, “Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst a corpse whose bones have been long since cleaned? Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn filled wilds of mine in search of... easy prey?"
Evelyn found the question long winded and crossed her arms as she let her blue eyes pierce into the golden eyes of the witch. She considered answering a question with a question but pushed the idea aside as she finally spoke, “I am neither…”
“She a witch of the wilds she is…” Daveth replied as she looked at Jory then to Alistair.
“Witch of the wilds is it? Such idle fancies.” She seemed to laugh off the idea as she walked past Evelyn and studied the men before standing on some rubble. Her eyes settled on Evelyn, “What brings you here?”
“Don’t answer her she looks chasind.” Alistair said to Evelyn with caution in his voice.
Evelyn glanced at him and could see that Templar training was starting to kick in for him. Her eyes shifted to the woman as she spoke again, “Oh you fear barbarians will swoop down upon you?”
“Yes…swooping is bad…”Alistair replied as his eyes narrowed at the woman.
“And what say you? Women do not scare as easily as men. Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine.” The woman put her hands on her hips as she awaited an answer.
“I am Evelyn. Pleased to meet you.” Evelyn replied and bowed her head a bit. If she knew anything about mages it was that it was best to be on their good side if possible.
“Well that is a proper civil greeting. I am Morrigan.” She smiled a bit as if pleased before she looked at the group, “What you seek is no longer here.”
“Here no longer? You stole them! You must be some sort of sneaky …witch thief!” Alistair blurted and stepped forward as if ready to hit her with some sort of Templar trick.
Evelyn held out her arm to block Alistair and looked at him calmly as she smiled to assure him it would be alright. He wasn’t sure why he backed off but he did.
Morrigan looked amused crossed her arms before Evelyn spoke to her, “Who took the treaties?”
“Twas my mother in fact.” Morrigan replied as she continued to study them like some sort of project.
“Can you take us to her?” Evelyn asked hoping this would get them out of harm’s way.
“Now that is a reasonable request. I like you.” Morrigan smirked.
Alistair grumbled then glanced at Evelyn, “I’d be careful if I were you. First it’s I like you then zap…Frog time.”
Evelyn tried not to smirk at Alistair as she joked, “Well Alistair if you get turned into a frog you can be assured that as a child I used to kiss them in hopes one would change into a Prince.”
He blinked a bit at her retort and was about to come back with a witty remark when Daveth disrupted the moment, “Are you crazy? They’ll put us in the pot they will!”
“If it’s warmer than it is out here it will be a welcome change.” Jory quipped and moved to Evelyn’s side supporting her.
“This way.” Morrigan gestured as she began to walk down a path away from the ruins. Evelyn followed without question and behind her the others fell in line. She had no idea if this was the best choice but Duncan did say he needed those treaties.
Modifié par tallon1982, 20 janvier 2010 - 09:53 .
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Thank you 
hehe....
