A Bond Forged in Fire Part 1
The setting sun shone on a scene of carnage. Blood and corpses were scattered about a narrow dirt road on all sides-the attackers had ambushed from every angle. The dense, verdant forest around them was strangely quiet, most animals having been scared off by the sounds of swords clanging and spells flying. Fortunately, little of the blood and none of the corpses belonged to the motley group of travelers who had just been ambushed by darkspawn.
Leliana put away her bow and looked at the young elf who was their de facto leader. He was panting from the exertion-time spent reading and training in magic at the Circle is not exactly conducive to a fit physique-and shaking like a leaf from fear. Leliana had always imagined Grey Wardens as stalwart heroes, fighting unafraid for the salvation of all mankind. The two surviving Wardens in front of her hardly matched up to that ideal.
Almost as if to prove her point, Alistair struck up a conversation with Taiyama. “Hey, Taiyama, it’s getting late. Do you think we should set up camp soon?”
“I don’t know… Why do you always make me make the decisions?” Taiyama asked.
“Well, I’m a horrible leader. Things never go right when I lead. We get lost! People die! Then next thing you know I’m stranded somewhere without any pants!”
Taiyama looked down at the ground. “Well, I’m no good at this either…”
“Well, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to fight about it.”
“Fine. I guess we should make camp, if that’s all right…”
Sten shook his head derisively and cut in to stop the pain. “We should not camp here unless you want to sleep amongst the corpses of the darkspawn.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry, I forgot…”
So these are the last two Grey Wardens in all of Ferelden, hmm?” Morrigan mused, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “My, I feel safer already.”
Alistair shot Morrigan a glare in response. Taiyama, however, only looked at the ground again and muttered an “I’m sorry…” that Leliana only barely heard. Taiyama then led the way down the road once again, all the time looking around for a suitable spot to camp.
Well, the Maker certainly works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he? Leliana thought to herself as she followed along. Alistair and Taiyama hardly seem like the types to save the world from the Blight. Still, they were the only two surviving Grey Wardens. The Maker must have saved them for a reason. I think both of them are destined for greatness. If I can help in any way, I’m sure that is the Maker’s work.
******************
It was a cold night, the kind of night that chilled you to your very core. Leliana shivered and got closer to the fire. No matter long she lived here, she could never quite get used to the cold Ferelden climate. Still, she had forgotten how much she had missed traveling. Sitting there, listening to the calls of the crickets and frogs, one could easily forget the impending Blight and civil war. Call her silly, but nights always seemed like a perfect time to lay aside one’s daily burdens and relax.
Taiyama, meanwhile, had been inside his tent, writing in his journal an account of all the horrible and wondrous things that had happened since the battle of Ostagar-this had been the first time he had been able to write in it since then. When he got to writing how he met Leliana he stopped, letting his mind wander.
How on earth did she know we needed help? How did she know where we’d be or even that we would be there in Lothering? And what was this vision she claims to have seen? Maybe she really has been sent by the Maker...
Finding his curiosity intolerable, Taiyama set aside his pen and exited his tent. He walked up beside Leliana and sat down beside her, letting the fire warm his hands for a moment before he turned to Leliana.
“Um, excuse me, Leliana…” Taiyama said softly.
Leliana looked up at him. “Yes?”
“May I talk to you for a moment?” Taiyama asked, trying to think of a way to broach the subject politely.
“What about?”
“Um… Well…about this vision of yours…”
Leliana immediately frowned. Taiyama caught flashes of hesitation and a strange one-a bit of fear. His first instinct was to apologize and back off but Leliana began speaking before he got a chance to do so.
“I knew this would come up sooner or later.” Leliana heaved a resigned sigh. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I had a dream. In it, there was this impenetrable darkness. It was so dense, so real. And there was a noise, a terrible ungodly noise. I stood on a peak and watches as the darkness consumed everything…and when the storm swallowed the last of the sun’s light, I…” Leliana shivered unconsciously-this was the most frightening part of the dream to her, the blackness devouring all of the life and nature that she loved so much, “I fell, and the darkness drew me in…”
Taiyama had been sitting glued to the spot, riveted not only by the content of the dream but also Leliana’s delivery of it. It was a few moments before he realized she had stopped speaking.
“Did you dream of the Blight…?” he asked.
“I suppose I did. That is what the dream was, no?” Leliana answered, nodding her head. “When I woke, I went to the chantry’s garden, as I always do. But that day, the rosebush in the corner had flowered… Everyone knew that bush was dead. It was grey and twisted and gnarled-the ugliest thing you ever saw-but there it was: a single, beautiful rose. It was as if the Maker stretched out His hand to say, ‘Even in the midst of this darkness, there is hope and beauty. Have faith.’”
“And this made you want to help me…?” Taiyama asked, deep in thought about the implications of this entire thing if it was true.
“In my dream, I fell or…or maybe I jumped… I’d do anything to stop the Blight. I know that we can do it. There are so many good things in the Maker’s world. How can I sit by while the Blight devours…everything?”
Taiyama thought about this for a moment. Almost immediately, a defense against these kinds of ideas-ideas that were technically heretical-popped in his mind in favor of the orthodoxy he had been taught ever since he was a child.
“The Chantry says that the Maker has left us…” Taiyama stated, sounding more like he was playing Devil’s Advocate in an argument than actually professing what he believed.
Leliana smiled knowingly. “He is still here; I hear Him in the winds and the waves, I feel Him in the sunlight that warms my skin. I believe the Maker reveals Himself in the beauty of his world to everyone who knows how to listen. I know what the Chantry says about the Maker, and what should I believe? What I feel in my heart, or what others tell me?”
“Well, I guess you should believe what feels right to you…”
“Thank you. I know what I know, and no will ever make that untrue.”
It was a curious thing, having the core of your beliefs challenged like that. Yet I couldn’t hate her or resent her for it-I couldn’t even really bring myself to disagree with her. All my life, somewhere in my soul, I felt that it was…wrong that the Maker should create this entire wondrous world filled with life, excitement, and wonder only to abandon his second children he created it for. Until that point, whenever these doubts surfaced in my mind I would always brutally repress them and think of other things, foolishly complacent in holding beliefs that ran counter to what I felt in my soul. Leliana forced me to come face-to-face with these doubts and gave me an alternative way of thinking that seemed so…so…right.
I stared at the fire for quite some time-I know not how long-lost in thought. Leliana apparently took that as a cue that the conversation was over and began tuning her lute-which I would have questioned her about had I noticed.
Leliana jumped slightly in surprise when Taiyama suddenly announced, “You know…you know, I think I agree with you.” Taiyama paused for a moment. “In fact, I’m sure I agree with you.”
Leliana smiled widely-and Taiyama noted that she looked incredibly beautiful when she did that. “Thank you, Taiyama. It’s nice to find someone who agrees with me."
Leliana put away her bow and looked at the young elf who was their de facto leader. He was panting from the exertion-time spent reading and training in magic at the Circle is not exactly conducive to a fit physique-and shaking like a leaf from fear. Leliana had always imagined Grey Wardens as stalwart heroes, fighting unafraid for the salvation of all mankind. The two surviving Wardens in front of her hardly matched up to that ideal.
Almost as if to prove her point, Alistair struck up a conversation with Taiyama. “Hey, Taiyama, it’s getting late. Do you think we should set up camp soon?”
“I don’t know… Why do you always make me make the decisions?” Taiyama asked.
“Well, I’m a horrible leader. Things never go right when I lead. We get lost! People die! Then next thing you know I’m stranded somewhere without any pants!”
Taiyama looked down at the ground. “Well, I’m no good at this either…”
“Well, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to fight about it.”
“Fine. I guess we should make camp, if that’s all right…”
Sten shook his head derisively and cut in to stop the pain. “We should not camp here unless you want to sleep amongst the corpses of the darkspawn.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry, I forgot…”
So these are the last two Grey Wardens in all of Ferelden, hmm?” Morrigan mused, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “My, I feel safer already.”
Alistair shot Morrigan a glare in response. Taiyama, however, only looked at the ground again and muttered an “I’m sorry…” that Leliana only barely heard. Taiyama then led the way down the road once again, all the time looking around for a suitable spot to camp.
Well, the Maker certainly works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he? Leliana thought to herself as she followed along. Alistair and Taiyama hardly seem like the types to save the world from the Blight. Still, they were the only two surviving Grey Wardens. The Maker must have saved them for a reason. I think both of them are destined for greatness. If I can help in any way, I’m sure that is the Maker’s work.
******************
It was a cold night, the kind of night that chilled you to your very core. Leliana shivered and got closer to the fire. No matter long she lived here, she could never quite get used to the cold Ferelden climate. Still, she had forgotten how much she had missed traveling. Sitting there, listening to the calls of the crickets and frogs, one could easily forget the impending Blight and civil war. Call her silly, but nights always seemed like a perfect time to lay aside one’s daily burdens and relax.
Taiyama, meanwhile, had been inside his tent, writing in his journal an account of all the horrible and wondrous things that had happened since the battle of Ostagar-this had been the first time he had been able to write in it since then. When he got to writing how he met Leliana he stopped, letting his mind wander.
How on earth did she know we needed help? How did she know where we’d be or even that we would be there in Lothering? And what was this vision she claims to have seen? Maybe she really has been sent by the Maker...
Finding his curiosity intolerable, Taiyama set aside his pen and exited his tent. He walked up beside Leliana and sat down beside her, letting the fire warm his hands for a moment before he turned to Leliana.
“Um, excuse me, Leliana…” Taiyama said softly.
Leliana looked up at him. “Yes?”
“May I talk to you for a moment?” Taiyama asked, trying to think of a way to broach the subject politely.
“What about?”
“Um… Well…about this vision of yours…”
Leliana immediately frowned. Taiyama caught flashes of hesitation and a strange one-a bit of fear. His first instinct was to apologize and back off but Leliana began speaking before he got a chance to do so.
“I knew this would come up sooner or later.” Leliana heaved a resigned sigh. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I had a dream. In it, there was this impenetrable darkness. It was so dense, so real. And there was a noise, a terrible ungodly noise. I stood on a peak and watches as the darkness consumed everything…and when the storm swallowed the last of the sun’s light, I…” Leliana shivered unconsciously-this was the most frightening part of the dream to her, the blackness devouring all of the life and nature that she loved so much, “I fell, and the darkness drew me in…”
Taiyama had been sitting glued to the spot, riveted not only by the content of the dream but also Leliana’s delivery of it. It was a few moments before he realized she had stopped speaking.
“Did you dream of the Blight…?” he asked.
“I suppose I did. That is what the dream was, no?” Leliana answered, nodding her head. “When I woke, I went to the chantry’s garden, as I always do. But that day, the rosebush in the corner had flowered… Everyone knew that bush was dead. It was grey and twisted and gnarled-the ugliest thing you ever saw-but there it was: a single, beautiful rose. It was as if the Maker stretched out His hand to say, ‘Even in the midst of this darkness, there is hope and beauty. Have faith.’”
“And this made you want to help me…?” Taiyama asked, deep in thought about the implications of this entire thing if it was true.
“In my dream, I fell or…or maybe I jumped… I’d do anything to stop the Blight. I know that we can do it. There are so many good things in the Maker’s world. How can I sit by while the Blight devours…everything?”
Taiyama thought about this for a moment. Almost immediately, a defense against these kinds of ideas-ideas that were technically heretical-popped in his mind in favor of the orthodoxy he had been taught ever since he was a child.
“The Chantry says that the Maker has left us…” Taiyama stated, sounding more like he was playing Devil’s Advocate in an argument than actually professing what he believed.
Leliana smiled knowingly. “He is still here; I hear Him in the winds and the waves, I feel Him in the sunlight that warms my skin. I believe the Maker reveals Himself in the beauty of his world to everyone who knows how to listen. I know what the Chantry says about the Maker, and what should I believe? What I feel in my heart, or what others tell me?”
“Well, I guess you should believe what feels right to you…”
“Thank you. I know what I know, and no will ever make that untrue.”
It was a curious thing, having the core of your beliefs challenged like that. Yet I couldn’t hate her or resent her for it-I couldn’t even really bring myself to disagree with her. All my life, somewhere in my soul, I felt that it was…wrong that the Maker should create this entire wondrous world filled with life, excitement, and wonder only to abandon his second children he created it for. Until that point, whenever these doubts surfaced in my mind I would always brutally repress them and think of other things, foolishly complacent in holding beliefs that ran counter to what I felt in my soul. Leliana forced me to come face-to-face with these doubts and gave me an alternative way of thinking that seemed so…so…right.
I stared at the fire for quite some time-I know not how long-lost in thought. Leliana apparently took that as a cue that the conversation was over and began tuning her lute-which I would have questioned her about had I noticed.
Leliana jumped slightly in surprise when Taiyama suddenly announced, “You know…you know, I think I agree with you.” Taiyama paused for a moment. “In fact, I’m sure I agree with you.”
Leliana smiled widely-and Taiyama noted that she looked incredibly beautiful when she did that. “Thank you, Taiyama. It’s nice to find someone who agrees with me."