The Migration - Part 11: From A Blood Feather
A chapter with a little bit more "non-canon dialogue" Alistair. :)
Title: The Migration - Part 11: From A Blood Feather
Rating: Part 10 - T, Overall - M
Word Count: 7900+
Characters: Aedan Cousland, Kallian Tabris, Alistair, Daveth, Ser Jory
Ships: Eventually, none "on camera" just yet
Summary: AU. WIP. A retelling of the Origins storyline where more than one hero decides the fate of Ferelden. Helps to be familiar with Female City Elf and Male Human Noble origins. Part 11: It's harder to get blood from a stone than it is from a darkspawn.
Parts 1 - 10 on FanFiction.net
A/N: A knackery is just a slaughterhouse where they process the bodies of animals unfit for consumption (like horses that can no longer work) into things like glue, dog food, and fertilizer. I imagine that in Denerim where the population is high there would be a development of slaughterhouses and the like. I figured it appropriate for my Kallian's vocabulary.
Part 11: From A Blood Feather
"Darkspawn blood," Daveth said in hushed tones, "and for the Joining even. I knew my nose was twitchin' for some reason. Why you think we need a vial for each of us?"
"Been pondering that since Duncan said it," Kallian replied just as quietly. "Maybe it be a right o' passage. Like a high prig saying you can't join his crew till you come back with three purse worth from rich's row."
"Maybe," he nodded a little. "Or maybe we'll be painting the darkspawn blood on ourselves. I hear that's what some Chasind tribes do after they kill a great beast. Paint symbols on themselves to prove their worth and such."
"Thought touching that stuff were dangerous," she arched an eyebrow at him.
"Are you going to start making like 'Ser Bravery' over there?" he quirked a grin and motioned his head to Ser Jory who walked far ahead of them. "Didn't think you'd be the sort to start clucking when the fox comes by."
"Oh, cork it," she grinned. "You and me both know that this really just be to see if we shit our britches or not when we cross metal with these sods. I ain't got a gripe with that, but the old bugga's been dodgy as a snitch in a room full o' magistrates when it comes to talking about this Joining thing."
Daveth nodded again, "It's why my nose is still twitchin'. Think we can place him?"
"Duncan? Aye," Kallian responded without an ounce of hesitation. "He might be dodgy, but he ain't a conk. He'll be on the up and up with us when it comes time."
"Daveth! Kallian!"
They both looked ahead to see Aedan eying them both.
"You're falling a bit too far behind," he called back at them. "Keep up if you would, please."
Aedan continued on. Kallian and Daveth passed a slight knowing glance at one another and picked up their respective paces.
They had the task of gathering four vials of darkspawn blood. One for each of them. Alistair was along as an extra hand, an observer, and to be the one to extract the blood into the specially made vials. He had emphasized that he wasn't there to lead them and it was up to the rest of them to work together to see the task done.
Aedan ended up becoming their impromptu leader rather quickly. Kallian didn't mind it. As a matter of fact, it felt rather natural. When they came across some ravenous, starving wolves, he took charge. He likely saved she and Daveth some pain by ordering Ser Jory over to their side as some of the wolves tried to outflank them. His choices made sense, he asked things of people that didn't feel like a demand, and he didn't gripe about the situation.
Ser Jory, the knight from Highever - or Redcliffe, Kallian wasn't paying too close attention again - came up short on that last point. He seemed like an alright sort at first, but when they came across the gruesome sight of hung soldiers and remains impaled on long spears her opinion changed. Almost immediately he started talking about turning back and how unwise it was for them to be out there. Alistair gave him some reassurances, but he still seemed unconvinced. It didn't exactly endear Daveth or Kallian to the thought of Jory leading them.
Neither she nor Daveth had it in them to make like a Warden Commander. They were back alley operators, eyes on the side, and ears to the walls sorts. Not the kind to take charge in situations like this. So without even discussing it they simply started to defer to Aedan's judgments. Ser Jory followed suit not long after that.
Daveth gave Kallian a brief wink and trotted ahead to catch up with Aedan. Grinning in return at him, she kept her pace, still lagging behind a minimal distance.
She liked Daveth the moment she met him. They spoke the same language and she already felt the first budding roots of being able to conspire with him. He was a horrid flirt and Kallian only responded because it was nice harmless fun. Something she hadn't had since leaving the Alienage. They really wouldn't be able to see if it ever lead to anything until after surviving the battles to come. Till then the fun flirtations seemed to keep them both satisfied.
"Sorry, squire," Daveth said once he got along side Aedan, "just got a little busy whispering sweet nothings into each others ears. Opportunity knocking and all that."
"Not quite the time and place for that sort of thing, Daveth," Aedan replied with the hint of slightly gritted teeth in his voice.
"But it's been so quiet. Since them wolves and the poor hanging sods there hasn't been much else out here. Thought I'd fill the time a bit," he glanced back at Kallian, who coyly blew a kiss at him.
"When it's most quiet is when you need to be wary," Aedan stated. "A good deal of losing battles happen when one side is caught unawares. If you have that sort of time on your hands . . . did I overhear correctly that you were raised near the Korcari Wilds?"
"Fairly much," Daveth answered. "Been into here a couple of times before, but not a great amount and it were a while ago."
"Good enough, you can be our scout then," he motioned with a hand. "I think we're going to have to veer off this old trail we're on if we're to find any darkspawn. Get ahead of us about fifty paces or so. I'll trust you to lead us through. If you spot anything just stop and wait for us to catch up or signal us to halt."
"I think I can manage that, squire," Daveth grinned and moved on ahead of the rest of them.
Aedan didn't look back at her, but she glared at the back of his head for a good long score of moments. It was a little obvious that part of the reason Aedan sent him ahead of the group was to split he and Kallian up. It hadn't passed her notice the dislike he was showing towards Daveth the moment he met him. He wasn't letting that dislike get in the way of working with him, but still. Aedan was acting like some jealous suitor who now had a challenger for his lady's hand. Not that she thought Aedan felt that way about her.
Of course he doesn't feel that way about you. How could he? No way possible. Right? Right. She squished hard under heel the tiny feeling she suddenly felt. Not possible.
It didn't explain Aedan's behavior. Maybe he felt he did have some hold over her for all she did, despite his earlier statements. Maybe he thought he owned her somehow. Maybe Daveth looked like someone he used to know that got on his bad side once. What ever it was it was starting to irk her and Kallian decided she'd take Aedan aside later and straighten it all out. Soon.
Taking her eyes off of Aedan, they landed on Alistair who had apparently been looking at her. She couldn't quite read the look on his face, but at least it wasn't one of disgust, or scrutiny, or even anything bordering on judgmental. If anything he simply looked curious.
He offered a short, almost sheepish smile. The corner of her lip turned up in a partial smile of her own. Returning his gaze forward, Kallian got to thinking that this Alistair fellow seemed an alright sort. Then again she didn't get to speak with him as much as Aedan had. For all she knew, under the attractive, kind face was an elf hating, self-centered bigot. That was just an exaggeration, of course, but Kallian didn't want to leave any possibilities out.
Already she was missing the banter with Daveth, so she busied herself with keeping an eye on things behind them. This wasn't the back streets of Denerim, but she didn't feel inclined to be "caught unawares" either.
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Daveth crouched low and raised a hand to signal the others to stop. Alistair already knew there was a group of darkspawn ahead and he gripped the handle of his blade as his fingers started to itch. It wouldn't be long before they got to sensing him, but he needed to see how the recruits handled this.
The cutpurse came back to them quietly and uttered softly to them. Alistair noted that he was already addressing Aedan.
"Looks about eight head just around the hill there," he pointed back at it. "Camp of some sort. Definitely armed and armored. Skin didn't look natural."
"Darkspawn more than likely," Aedan said, looking back at Alistair. He only nodded to confirm his suspicions.
"I think we can take those odds," Aedan stated. "Any archers among them?"
"Only looked like one had a quiver on them."
"Good. Kallian, can you get up top that hill unseen?" Aedan pointed up at it just as the elf came up to crouch at his side.
She looked at the hill for a second then proceeded to ready the shortbow she had, "Does a Chantry Initiate get fully pissed on a full bottle o' wine?"
Alistair suppressed a snicker and he supposed that was her way of saying "yes". Aedan apparently understood, "Then get up there and wait for the blades to start clashing, take out any archers you happen to spot. After that, it's your pick."
"Not me specialty, but I'll do me best," she moved quickly and quietly ahead to make it up the hill.
"Alistair and myself up front," he said as he readied his shield. "Daveth, Jory, flank them when you can. We keep our heads under that ridge over there until we get much closer. Wait for my signal, then we charge."
As they moved forward, Alistair quickly went over in his mind what he'd observed so far.
Aedan was quickly earning his respect. Deciding on tactics seemed like second nature to him. Though there seemed to be some issue he had with Daveth, he kept his head on his shoulders enough to ignore it. He had that whole commanding presence thing going for him and the man could fight. It was probably part of his Cousland upbringing, but still the man had it together. He could definitely see why Duncan wanted to recruit him.
The cutpurse, however, he still couldn't fully understand. Daveth apparently could scout and he could use those daggers, but he couldn't see how purse stealing fit into taking down a genlock. Duncan kept telling him that it takes all sorts of skills in order to fight the darkspawn, but some skills made no sense to Alistair.
Jory, at least, could certainly handle his own in a fight. His hits were never hesitant and his movements were solid. Though that was the only shining quality Alistair could see. He knew Jory didn't enamor himself to the others when he questioned the wisdom of just the five of them venturing out into the Wilds. Alistair was half tempted to tell him that with barely two dozen Wardens in Ferelden, traveling in small groups was the norm and that he should get used to it.
Then there was the elf woman, Kallian. Duncan wasn't able to tell him much about her other than the fact that she had to be conscripted. She seemed about as good with the blades as Daveth was. Surprising for both an elf and a woman. What other skills she had, Alistair could only guess. They would be seeing how good she is with a bow in a moment.
That thought brought him back to the present and he gripped the strap of his shield a little tighter. They crouched low to move forward. Any moment now the darkspawn would sense him near, then the test could begin.
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Kallian's heart pounded in her chest and it wasn't due to fear.
She started to feel the sensation as they pressed on with Daveth scouting ahead and she watching the rear. They were looking for a fight, hunting to get a kill. It was something she wasn't quite used to and it excited her on a level she didn't know existed in her.
They were not fighting to defend, or to escape. It wasn't even for vengeance, or for riches. They were hunting to eradicate these creatures from the face of Ferelden and she felt a form of strength in it. Hunter instead of prey.
It made her feel rather quite alive.
Laying low near the top of the hill, she saw the darkspawn. From this far away they looked like any other armed soldiers. Focusing, the details started to show and she chewed on the inside of her cheek.
They were not natural. Their skin was a mottled gray-green and they lacked anything in the way of lips or noses. It was like anything that might have been cartilage in their face was taken out and all their skin was pulled tight. Some of them were small. Short and kind of stocky. Others were more man sized and she saw one had a full set of armor with odd symbols painted on it. Daveth was also incorrect. There were two that had quivers and she saw the outlines of the bows they had.
She didn't want to look too closely at what was hanging from the stone archways behind the darkspawn or what happened to be stuck on the long pikes near the fire. They'd seen the same already before. All it did was fuel the fire in her and made her want to kill as many of these things as they could. It easily got her over any notions of being too afraid to fight them or having any thoughts of fleeing the scene.
From her elevated point of view she could see the others making their way below the raised ridge. They kept themselves low and moved as quietly as large human men could in metal armor. She was fairly certain that Daveth was the only one who made no noise save for some light creaking of leather. The darkspawn should have been too far away for them to hear any quiet clanks, especially when a pair of them were- . . .
Kallian had to stop and consider it. They were making some sort of noises and shoving at one another. It was the one with the full set of armor and another who was just as big and only slightly better armored than the others. She guessed it was some sort of dispute over what one of them had in their hands. The noises they made was not really a language that she could discern. They grunted and growled more than anything else. Squinting she tried to make out what object it was. It looked to be a glove or a gauntlet, but at this distance it was difficult to fully tell.
Then, all at once she saw each and every one of them start to look around. There was absolutely nothing to signal that they do it, yet the two arguing ones dropped the object to the ground and reached for their weapons. Kallian was closer to her comrades then the darkspawn and, as far as she could tell, they did nothing to give away their position. Yet, simultaneously as if someone had shouted it out, they began to look around the whole area. She raised slightly as she saw two of them get closer and closer to the others and she knocked an arrow.
It had admittedly been a while since she had a bow in her hand. Not since her mother had shown her how to use it, as a matter of fact. She was fairly certain she remembered everything she was taught. If she forgot any of it, she was going to have to relearn it all very quickly in a second. Her heart was thrumming in her chest and she tried to breath easy and steadily for it to calm down. A heavily beating heart meant an unsteady body. An unsteady body meant for a poor shot. Kallian needed to calm herself, but the closer the two darkspawn got and the longer Aedan and the others waited, the more she tensed.
She realized with ever dawning horror that they were unaware the darkspawn were about to encroach on their position. Drawing back the arrow, she started to aim for the one closest to them. Kallian knew what her orders were, but if the others were sprung upon before they could go on the attack then they'd have to fight from lower ground or fade back into swamp water where they'd literally get bogged down. A second away from letting the arrow fly, she saw Alistair look up just as the darkspawn was beginning to look down. Without thinking about her own predicament she fired. The arrow arced through the air and glanced off the helm of the closest one to him.
It didn't cause the creature any harm, unfortunately, but it did get its attention. Snapping a look right over at her, it gave a guttural and loud roar. Next thing she knew, eight pair of darkspawn eyes were on her.
" . . . shite . . ," she drew another arrow and fired again at the one closest to reaching her.
This time the arrow hit around its exposed collar bone, the force of the arrow lurching its shoulder back. The hit didn't stop the creature's progression and Kallian grit her teeth. It was like it hadn't felt the pain at all. Drawing another arrow, her heart beat like a hammer in her chest. Panic was about to sink in.
Then with a yell and a flurry of action, Aedan and the others were upon the darkspawn, taking a good deal of them off balance as they attacked what was now their rear flank. Two of them quickly fell before the darkspawn could even turn and react to the new situation. Ser Jory cut deep into a third and it wouldn't be long before that one fell as well. The larger one with the full armor gurgled something out. She had this sense that there were words in the animalistic sounds. Almost confirming her suspicions the darkspawn moved after the "command". The three that bore swords turned towards Aedan and the others. Seeing one of the bow wielders aim for them, she swung around and aimed for it instead.
As she focused on her target she noticed the other archer taking aim at her. Screwing up her courage, she held her position. That darkspawn was not going to fire that arrow at the people she was going to have to start to rely on. Especially now that she's messed the plan up somewhat. Kallian fired her arrow just as the darkspawn fired at her. Her arrow reached its target, luckily making it fire wildly as the arrowhead shallowly pierced the thing's forearm. The arrow that was aimed at her curved too far over her head and landed somewhere behind her.
Grinning toothily, she quickly drew another arrow. These supposed monsters of death and destruction were lousy shots. Her eyes flitted over a second to the others. The third one was down, a fourth was getting caught between Aedan and Daveth's blades, and the better armored one was just engaging Alistair and Jory. Quickly she aimed again, and went for the one pulling the arrow out of its arm. She had both of the archers attention now, but their arrows kept aiming wide. She took her time to aim, her breathing calmer. Trusting Aedan and the others to do their part, she needed to do hers. Two arrows managed to make the first archer keel over, clutching to the arrow that found home in its neck.
They are not immortal.
Firing about three arrows at the second one, she only managed to nick it in the arm once before it began to charge forward. It dropped the bow, no doubt realizing it was doing it no good. That was perfectly fine by Kallian. She preferred things to be more up close and personal. Firing off one more arrow at it - again only grazing it - she cast the bow to the side and drew the two daggers at her hips. The darkspawn was smart enough to drop the bow, but not smart enough to think that coming at her while she had the higher ground might not have been the best strategy. Simply waiting at the top of the hill, she gritted her teeth as it scrambled up to reach her. The blade it bore was all jagged edges and black iron, something made more for simple hacking rather than anything with finesse.
As it neared, it lashed across with the blade, but with the poor footing it had the blade she parried barely had any bite to it. Countering quickly she slashed at it, her cut crossed along its chest. It did no more than scratch the front of the armor it wore, but the cut was not meant to damage much. The darkspawn stepped back at the quick movement, making it hesitate. In that moment Kallian got a full whiff of the thing and tried not to wretch. It smelled like an outdoor knackery in the middle of summer. A sickening sweet rotted smell as the carcasses of animals laid out in the sun. It assailed the nose and made one's insides curl. She ended up hesitating as well and it moved towards her again.
A smarter sort might of continued to back away till they were on more even ground or even try to work their way around her. This one didn't think that far ahead. It tried to attack again, exactly in the same manner. She parried and countered as before, but when his arms were wide open she snapped her leg up and kicked it square in the chest. Off balance and with shaky footing, the darkspawn tumbled backwards down the steeper side of the hill. Knowing this had to be done with quickly, she slid on her feet down the hill after it.
Just as it tried to get back up on its hands and knees, she brought both of her blades down on its back. One of them dug through the back of its collarbone, the other clanked against armor. It howled out as it fell flat, and Kallian got the impression it was more due to frustration than pain. Planting a knee firmly in the darkspawn's back, she held fast to the one that pierced its flesh and stabbed the other dagger repeatedly into the space between the front and back plating of its armor. The darkspawn's limbs flailed haplessly stab after stab. She cut at its arm once as it got in the way of her blade. Finally its howl became a gurgle and it lay still and unmoving.
They are not unbeatable.
Kallian panted after the exertion and quickly looked up to see where the others were at. They had the heavily armored darkspawn surrounded and down on one knee.
Did they get it to surrender? Do darkspawn ever surrender? The way Duncan was talking . . .
Her questions were answered swiftly as it lunged up, swinging the large two handed sword it had in a wide arc. Alistair, Aedan, and Jory easily evaded it as the strike was predictable. As the darkspawn ended its swing, Daveth was quickly at its flank as his daggers slashed and pierced hip and back. Trying to bring the sword around to attack Daveth, it was stopped by Jory's own two handed sword encountering it. Alistair quickly stepped forward once it was off balance and slammed his shield into its back. The darkspawn flailed forward only to be caught by Aedan's sword piercing right through its armor and into its gut. Daveth got it again, sliding a blade through a joint in the plating near its ribs.
There was a breath of pause as they held the darkspawn upright with their weapons. The creature convulsed as if it had a fit of the coughs, then black blood started to seep down from under its helm. Almost as one they backed away, yanking weapons free. The sword dropped from the darkspawn's hands and it wavered on its feet for a moment before finally falling backwards with an armor-clattering crunch.
"Ha!" Kallian laughed once and punched a dagger carrying fist on the body under her. They won. They had really won. She could do this.
Looking down to pull out her blade, she started slightly and quickly stood up. The blood that poured out from the side wounds she inflicted was bubbling. It was thick, black, and seemed to be seeping into the ground instead of spreading over it. The grass it was getting into contact with was withering as she watched.
"How the bloody sod are we supposed to collect that?" she murmured.
Quickly she checked herself to see if she had any of it on her. There was a small splattering on her boot and her daggers were also somewhat coated, but other than that she was generally clean of it. The blood on the boot didn't bubble and neither did the blood on the daggers.
Maybe it can only blight things that are alive? she thought, remembering something one of the many Sergeants at camp was saying about how the blood itself could taint anything.
"Kallian! Are you alright?" she looked up to see Aedan approaching.
She nodded a few times, "Right fine."
Nodding in return, he looked down a bit at the body at her feet, then at her again. His face tightened a bit. It occurred to her that she did mess up on her "orders". She certainly didn't wait for the swords to start clashing and she didn't start firing at the archers till the fight was fully on. He was likely going to get on her for that. Tell her in some officious sounding voice that she didn't follow orders and how dare she do something to mess up the strategy or some other I-am-the-leader-how-dare-you-disobey claptrap.
"Fast thinking on getting the darkspawn's attention," he said instead. "Little risky, but good call."
Kallian blinked, "Uh . . . right . . . well . . . "
The corner of his lip turned up, "You didn't waste an arrow and avoided having them get the jump on us. As I said, good call."
He walked away to leave her there a little flatfooted. Praise was not what she was expecting, especially since she really didn't think the strategy all the way through. They did survive, she supposed, and if she hadn't done as she did the situation could have been worse. Maybe she really did belong.
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Aedan took a good look around. Eight darkspawn dead and not even a mild injury suffered. He had the notion that they were highly lucky about that. If Kallian hadn't drawn their attention when she did, the darkspawn would have dropped down on them first. Aedan didn't even notice the enemy was that close until he heard the crack of her arrow bounce off its helm. Perhaps they had made too much noise when they moved and it alerted them to their presence.
Little matter now, he thought as he surveyed the area to make sure the darkspawn were fully dead and that no more were coming. The fight was won. Just have to learn again how to move more quietly in this armor . . . or more logically get armor lighter and better fit for travel.
It was halfway on their way to Ostagar that Aedan had realized he didn't exactly have the best armor on for long travel and intermittent fighting. It was a fine set and good for a long standing campaign where you had half a dozen other similarly armored men to alternate with you on the front line. This wasn't the case and his armor was wearing him down physically. He needed lighter armor like Alistair was wearing and had he been given the time after reaching Ostagar to see to it he would of. Instead he was stuck with the plate with the Cousland heraldry etched into it.
Already Jory had narrowed him down to being a member of the noble house because of it. The realization that he wasn't just Aedan of Highever, but Lord Aedan Cousland, immediately elicited a "my lord" from the Highever knight. Something which he quickly tried to quell. Luckily, Ser Jory wasn't aware of the situation in Highever and Aedan wasn't going to tell him until after the Joining, perhaps not even until after the battle. The way the man went on about his wife in Highever made it essential that Aedan say nothing, otherwise he'd end up at the least very distracted and at the worst abandoning his duty by going back to his wife. Not that it would have been the end of the world, but it would have been irresponsible of Aedan to do that to Jory.
"All of you, come over here," Alistair called out as he knelt next to the body of the last darkspawn killed.
As with the other corpse Kallian was over, this one too had black blood that bubbled as it oozed out. It was disconcerting to see and it did make him double check himself for any of the blood to be on his skin.
"You notice how this big fellow here is better armed and armored than the rest," he rapped a knuckle on its helm, "and the extra markings on his armor?"
There were acknowledging nods all around.
"This is what we refer to as a Hurlock Alpha," he went about taking the darkspawn's helm off, revealing its monstrous, bloody countenance. "They are typically smarter, tougher, and meaner than his associates. They usually lead parties like this and get the best pick of gear from whatever poor soul they happen to kill."
"Do them markin's mean anything?" Kallian asked, squatting down to take a good look at the Hurlock, partially covering her mouth and nose with a hand as she did.
"Not that we know of," he shook his head slightly, then brought his pack around to rummage into it. "From what I've been told the symbols are Ancient Tevinter in origin, but no one has been able to decipher what they mean."
"Smart enough to know and write these symbols?" Aedan said, frowning mildly. "That is somewhat disturbing."
"It may not mean much, really," he got out a protective case that held four vials in it. "They certainly don't use them to convey messages to one another." He added with something of a mutter, "They don't have need for that."
That made Aedan's eyebrows furrow. The more he was learning about the darkspawn the less he was liking. He knew they were monsters and had become myth-like in the rumors people would hear of them. Gathering in hoards and attacking with impunity, savaging simple travelers or small villages, blindly destroying everything in their path. These were the things he used to know about the darkspawn. Now they retreat, form groups around smarter and stronger ones, are capable of casting spells and can write symbols. This all indicated some way of being able to communicate and if not by messages then how? He was about to ask when Daveth spoke before he could.
"So, maybe its like wearing colors?" Daveth continued when Alistair glanced up at him questioningly. "Like gangs that get tattoos. They all wear the same and they all know what it means when they see the same symbol on a wall. I know several dozen of them that could spot a tag and know exactly who's it be, but the lot of them couldn't read a single word between them, let alone a whole book."
"Huh," Alistair paused at that. "Never thought of that possibility. Didn't think to ask it either. We'll have to ask Duncan later."
The vials that Alistair removed form the case was unlike any Aedan had ever seen before. They were made of crystal, but the topper was made of glass and formed to a needle fine point. He had removed his gauntlets and was currently rolling around in his other hand what looked like crystal made stoppers.
"But since this fellow right here is a little brighter than the others," he took one vial and one stopper in hand, setting down the rest, and looked the hurlock's neck over, "he'll be the one we get the blood from."
Kallian stood up and stepped back a bit to stand between Jory and Daveth, "He? Do all darkspawn be male? Do there be female darkspawn or do you just call the lot of them 'he'?"
Aedan blinked as Alistair pondered the question. It wasn't something that had occurred to Aedan to ask, but now that Kallian had, he had to admit to being curious, too.
"Wellll," he turned the hurlock's head slightly to expose more of its neck, then glanced at her, "they do have the . . . uh . . . appropriate bits. So calling them 'he' or 'him' or whatever male label you want to give them would be accurate. But I can't say I've ever seen a female darkspawn before. Not even certain they exist. Might be another one to ask Duncan."
Daveth chuckled once, "No wonder the darkspawn are always on a rampage. I know I'd go barmy if I was surrounded by nothing but blokes." He nudged Kallian with an elbow. "Good thing you're about, sweets."
She nudged him back, quirking a grin, and Aedan tried not to have his lip twitch. It still bothered him that he was bothered by the thought of them together and this little inappropriate display brought the thought to the forefront again. Aedan wasn't certain why the thought of them together irked him. He'd met people like Daveth before in Highever and had to admit that there were worst sorts out there than him. The issue had to be Kallian, then.
She wasn't his, that was plain. Though they didn't get off on the right foot, they'd made progress and were treating one another on far more friendlier terms. There hadn't been any overtures of wanting the friendship to go further than that from her and he'd done nothing of the sort towards her. So what was the source of it? Why is it every time he sees Daveth looking at her in "that way" that he wants to slide in between the two like a wall?
The thought struck him suddenly, like getting thrown from a horse that's dug its forelegs into the ground abruptly and you sail over its head. He wanted to block, not covet her. It wasn't a case of possession it was a case of wanting to protect her. Daveth was shady and he felt that Kallian was somehow above that. Which was mildly idiotic as the woman was shady herself. Then perhaps . . .
Perhaps it's a case of you interposing your old feelings about Oralyn onto Kallian and seeing her in a better light than others might not, all for a set of pointed ears, he mentally grumbled. Were it Oralyn had a sister just like Kallian this is exactly what you'd be doing.
Quietly breathing out a sigh through his nose, he turned his attention to what Alistair was doing again.
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Alistair found the vein he was looking for and stabbed the needle point end of the glass tube into the hurlock's neck. The vial quickly began to fill up with black fluid. He was going to have to move fast to get all four vials filled and he hoped he was fast enough for the pressure in the creature's body to hold. This was only the second time he'd done this on the body of a darkspawn. Luckily the technical side of it wasn't any different from doing it to a human or elven body. Find a vein, stick the glass into it, let the vial fill up, pull it out, snap off the topper, then quickly put the stopper in. For the darkspawn he handed the vial over to another Warden. For the humans and elves, he used to hand them over to a templar.
It was the same sort of vial they used to get the blood from a mage for their phylactery. That was a detail the recruits really didn't need to know. There were a lot of details the recruits really didn't need to know.
He wasn't about to say that withholding so much information from them didn't bother him. Part of him wanted to just let them know all of it, right here, right now. The other part of him knew the folly of that road.
Here, take a good look! This will be the very blood that you will be ingesting in a wonderful little cocktail made just for Wardens. You might die, you might live, and if you live your life is forever changed. So . . . still want to be a Warden? Sure you do! There's death and destruction to behold. It's glorious!
Alistair could only guess that the slight bitterness he was feeling was due to the notion that these four people could very well be dead by this time tomorrow. Not for dying in battle fighting darkspawn, but for a ritual the Grey Wardens have kept secret for hundreds of years. Because of it he couldn't afford to get close to them and learn more about them. It would only hurt even more if . . . when . . . they die.
His observations of them had to be factual. Were they capable of fighting darkspawn? Yes. Do they hold no prejudices towards one another and can work together? Yes. Did they keep their wits about them before, during, and after the fight? Yes.
He couldn't ask where Jory learned his effective two handed sword technique. He couldn't ask Aedan who exactly did he train under, his father or someone else. He couldn't ask Daveth if his skills were learned or self taught. He couldn't ask Kallian where she learned to fight, period. Those would all be moot questions that would mean absolutely nothing if they didn't pass the Joining.
"It is a notion all Wardens have to come to terms with, Alistair," Duncan had told him once. "But the necessity outweighs the grievous emotions, always. They have to or no Warden would ever wish to recruit anyone ever again."
A fact he had to swallow. Alistair disliked it, but he'd see it done.
"Alright, that's the fourth one," he tucked the bubbling vials back into the case one at a time. "Now we can head back and-"
"Oh Bloody Maker!"
The exclamation came from nearer the fire that the darkspawn had been lingering about. Kallian had apparently wandered away from the rest of them and had been poking around. She had dropped something when they all looked over and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand like she was about to wretch. They saw she wasn't in immediate danger and slowly came over.
"What is it, Kallian?" Aedan was the first to inquire.
Pointing at the ground behind her as she explained, she didn't turn to look at it, "I saw our big boy there arguin' over an item with another afore the fight started. Thought to take a look at what they dropped." In her voice she was obviously fighting the urge to vomit. "It ain't a glove like me thought."
Jory bent to take a look and uttered a gasp, "Oh dear, this isn't good." He looked back over at Aedan. "You might want to take a look, my lord."
Alistair winced a little wishing Jory would stop referring to Aedan as 'my lord'. Even though between the recruits it was becoming a little moot to hide it, should Jory blurt it out in front of people back at camp it could lead to unwanted explanations that shouldn't be revealed just yet. It looked like Aedan was about to correct him yet again until he looked down.
"Oh dear . . . "
That made Alistair come over as well to take a look. The object that Kallian found was a detached arm that was severed midway down the forearm. He could see how, at a distance, it could of been mistaken for a glove. Had it not been for the bright silver colored ring upon one of the fingers, Alistair doubted the darkspawn would have fought over it.
"Do you recognize the ring?" Jory questioned, looking down at the arm again.
Aedan nodded, kneeling down, "Do you?"
Jory also nodded and both of them said at the same time, "Ser Culwick."
Alistair advanced closer to them, briefly glancing at Kallian to see she was keeping herself steady by putting a hand on Daveth's shoulder. It seemed Daveth was the only one who was indifferent to the situation and he watched on with his arms crossed, waiting.
"I . . . take it you knew this fellow?" he asked Aedan and Jory.
"Ser Culwick of Redside," Aedan answered softly. "Redside is relatively close to Highever and Ser Culwick always showed up when there was a tournament or festival. He always wore this ring . . . it was a gift from his wife."
Aedan looked upward to the hanging bodies and his jaw visibly worked, "Maker, bless it . . . these are all men from Redside."
Trying to remain dispassionate, Alistair looked at the corpses. They did all wear the same symbol of a running mabari with a sword in its maw.
"Should we . . , " Jory paused as if hesitant to say what he needed to, " . . . take the ring and have it sent to his wife? Let her know?"
Aedan nodded, looking back down again, "We should. It would be the least we could do."
He could see Aedan struggling both morally and ethically with picking up the arm and trying to wiggle the ring off the finger. Then he heard Daveth audibly "tsk" and watched as he wandered over to them. Kallian remained where she was, but she looked a little better.
"Here," Daveth, with no compunctions, took the arm from Aedan, drew one of his daggers and cut the fingers off at the knuckles. Tossing the arm aside he picked up the finger that had the ring, pulled it easily off, then handed it to Aedan. "Easier that way. Dead parts tend to swell."
Both Aedan and Jory looked at him as if he just kicked a small puppy.
"Have you no respect?" Jory blurted out as the cutpurse went back to Kallian's side. "This was a man we happened to know!"
"He be a dead man you happen to know," he countered. "It's not as if he's going to use those fingers anymore."
"Daveth's the right o' it," Kallian added. "We got what we came for and we can't spend all day trying to figure out how not to damage severed limbs for a ring."
"This from a woman who was nearly retching at the sight of it not more than a minute ago?" Aedan retorted.
"Oy, you try picking something up you thought was just a glove and see how your stomach manages it," she responded.
Alistair looked back and forth. Jory and Aedan looking incensed and Daveth and Kallian looking dismissive.
Oh dear . . .
Alistair knew there were probably some moral boundaries that would differ between the four and he had to admit to being a little disappointed that Kallian seemed to not have any scruples as far as the human bodies were concerned. He was going to have to note that bit to Duncan later.
"Easy, easy," Alistair said, raising his hands to calm both sides. "Let's not argue about this here. We do need to get back to camp. It wouldn't be good if we get caught out here after sundown. So let's go. Come on."
He motioned the lot of them on. Daveth and Kallian ended up walking far ahead of the others, Jory and Aedan to Alistair's rear. He had a feeling the walk back to camp was going to be a long one.
A/N: Comments & criticism always welcome.
Title: The Migration - Part 11: From A Blood Feather
Rating: Part 10 - T, Overall - M
Word Count: 7900+
Characters: Aedan Cousland, Kallian Tabris, Alistair, Daveth, Ser Jory
Ships: Eventually, none "on camera" just yet
Summary: AU. WIP. A retelling of the Origins storyline where more than one hero decides the fate of Ferelden. Helps to be familiar with Female City Elf and Male Human Noble origins. Part 11: It's harder to get blood from a stone than it is from a darkspawn.
Parts 1 - 10 on FanFiction.net
A/N: A knackery is just a slaughterhouse where they process the bodies of animals unfit for consumption (like horses that can no longer work) into things like glue, dog food, and fertilizer. I imagine that in Denerim where the population is high there would be a development of slaughterhouses and the like. I figured it appropriate for my Kallian's vocabulary.
Part 11: From A Blood Feather
"Darkspawn blood," Daveth said in hushed tones, "and for the Joining even. I knew my nose was twitchin' for some reason. Why you think we need a vial for each of us?"
"Been pondering that since Duncan said it," Kallian replied just as quietly. "Maybe it be a right o' passage. Like a high prig saying you can't join his crew till you come back with three purse worth from rich's row."
"Maybe," he nodded a little. "Or maybe we'll be painting the darkspawn blood on ourselves. I hear that's what some Chasind tribes do after they kill a great beast. Paint symbols on themselves to prove their worth and such."
"Thought touching that stuff were dangerous," she arched an eyebrow at him.
"Are you going to start making like 'Ser Bravery' over there?" he quirked a grin and motioned his head to Ser Jory who walked far ahead of them. "Didn't think you'd be the sort to start clucking when the fox comes by."
"Oh, cork it," she grinned. "You and me both know that this really just be to see if we shit our britches or not when we cross metal with these sods. I ain't got a gripe with that, but the old bugga's been dodgy as a snitch in a room full o' magistrates when it comes to talking about this Joining thing."
Daveth nodded again, "It's why my nose is still twitchin'. Think we can place him?"
"Duncan? Aye," Kallian responded without an ounce of hesitation. "He might be dodgy, but he ain't a conk. He'll be on the up and up with us when it comes time."
"Daveth! Kallian!"
They both looked ahead to see Aedan eying them both.
"You're falling a bit too far behind," he called back at them. "Keep up if you would, please."
Aedan continued on. Kallian and Daveth passed a slight knowing glance at one another and picked up their respective paces.
They had the task of gathering four vials of darkspawn blood. One for each of them. Alistair was along as an extra hand, an observer, and to be the one to extract the blood into the specially made vials. He had emphasized that he wasn't there to lead them and it was up to the rest of them to work together to see the task done.
Aedan ended up becoming their impromptu leader rather quickly. Kallian didn't mind it. As a matter of fact, it felt rather natural. When they came across some ravenous, starving wolves, he took charge. He likely saved she and Daveth some pain by ordering Ser Jory over to their side as some of the wolves tried to outflank them. His choices made sense, he asked things of people that didn't feel like a demand, and he didn't gripe about the situation.
Ser Jory, the knight from Highever - or Redcliffe, Kallian wasn't paying too close attention again - came up short on that last point. He seemed like an alright sort at first, but when they came across the gruesome sight of hung soldiers and remains impaled on long spears her opinion changed. Almost immediately he started talking about turning back and how unwise it was for them to be out there. Alistair gave him some reassurances, but he still seemed unconvinced. It didn't exactly endear Daveth or Kallian to the thought of Jory leading them.
Neither she nor Daveth had it in them to make like a Warden Commander. They were back alley operators, eyes on the side, and ears to the walls sorts. Not the kind to take charge in situations like this. So without even discussing it they simply started to defer to Aedan's judgments. Ser Jory followed suit not long after that.
Daveth gave Kallian a brief wink and trotted ahead to catch up with Aedan. Grinning in return at him, she kept her pace, still lagging behind a minimal distance.
She liked Daveth the moment she met him. They spoke the same language and she already felt the first budding roots of being able to conspire with him. He was a horrid flirt and Kallian only responded because it was nice harmless fun. Something she hadn't had since leaving the Alienage. They really wouldn't be able to see if it ever lead to anything until after surviving the battles to come. Till then the fun flirtations seemed to keep them both satisfied.
"Sorry, squire," Daveth said once he got along side Aedan, "just got a little busy whispering sweet nothings into each others ears. Opportunity knocking and all that."
"Not quite the time and place for that sort of thing, Daveth," Aedan replied with the hint of slightly gritted teeth in his voice.
"But it's been so quiet. Since them wolves and the poor hanging sods there hasn't been much else out here. Thought I'd fill the time a bit," he glanced back at Kallian, who coyly blew a kiss at him.
"When it's most quiet is when you need to be wary," Aedan stated. "A good deal of losing battles happen when one side is caught unawares. If you have that sort of time on your hands . . . did I overhear correctly that you were raised near the Korcari Wilds?"
"Fairly much," Daveth answered. "Been into here a couple of times before, but not a great amount and it were a while ago."
"Good enough, you can be our scout then," he motioned with a hand. "I think we're going to have to veer off this old trail we're on if we're to find any darkspawn. Get ahead of us about fifty paces or so. I'll trust you to lead us through. If you spot anything just stop and wait for us to catch up or signal us to halt."
"I think I can manage that, squire," Daveth grinned and moved on ahead of the rest of them.
Aedan didn't look back at her, but she glared at the back of his head for a good long score of moments. It was a little obvious that part of the reason Aedan sent him ahead of the group was to split he and Kallian up. It hadn't passed her notice the dislike he was showing towards Daveth the moment he met him. He wasn't letting that dislike get in the way of working with him, but still. Aedan was acting like some jealous suitor who now had a challenger for his lady's hand. Not that she thought Aedan felt that way about her.
Of course he doesn't feel that way about you. How could he? No way possible. Right? Right. She squished hard under heel the tiny feeling she suddenly felt. Not possible.
It didn't explain Aedan's behavior. Maybe he felt he did have some hold over her for all she did, despite his earlier statements. Maybe he thought he owned her somehow. Maybe Daveth looked like someone he used to know that got on his bad side once. What ever it was it was starting to irk her and Kallian decided she'd take Aedan aside later and straighten it all out. Soon.
Taking her eyes off of Aedan, they landed on Alistair who had apparently been looking at her. She couldn't quite read the look on his face, but at least it wasn't one of disgust, or scrutiny, or even anything bordering on judgmental. If anything he simply looked curious.
He offered a short, almost sheepish smile. The corner of her lip turned up in a partial smile of her own. Returning his gaze forward, Kallian got to thinking that this Alistair fellow seemed an alright sort. Then again she didn't get to speak with him as much as Aedan had. For all she knew, under the attractive, kind face was an elf hating, self-centered bigot. That was just an exaggeration, of course, but Kallian didn't want to leave any possibilities out.
Already she was missing the banter with Daveth, so she busied herself with keeping an eye on things behind them. This wasn't the back streets of Denerim, but she didn't feel inclined to be "caught unawares" either.
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Daveth crouched low and raised a hand to signal the others to stop. Alistair already knew there was a group of darkspawn ahead and he gripped the handle of his blade as his fingers started to itch. It wouldn't be long before they got to sensing him, but he needed to see how the recruits handled this.
The cutpurse came back to them quietly and uttered softly to them. Alistair noted that he was already addressing Aedan.
"Looks about eight head just around the hill there," he pointed back at it. "Camp of some sort. Definitely armed and armored. Skin didn't look natural."
"Darkspawn more than likely," Aedan said, looking back at Alistair. He only nodded to confirm his suspicions.
"I think we can take those odds," Aedan stated. "Any archers among them?"
"Only looked like one had a quiver on them."
"Good. Kallian, can you get up top that hill unseen?" Aedan pointed up at it just as the elf came up to crouch at his side.
She looked at the hill for a second then proceeded to ready the shortbow she had, "Does a Chantry Initiate get fully pissed on a full bottle o' wine?"
Alistair suppressed a snicker and he supposed that was her way of saying "yes". Aedan apparently understood, "Then get up there and wait for the blades to start clashing, take out any archers you happen to spot. After that, it's your pick."
"Not me specialty, but I'll do me best," she moved quickly and quietly ahead to make it up the hill.
"Alistair and myself up front," he said as he readied his shield. "Daveth, Jory, flank them when you can. We keep our heads under that ridge over there until we get much closer. Wait for my signal, then we charge."
As they moved forward, Alistair quickly went over in his mind what he'd observed so far.
Aedan was quickly earning his respect. Deciding on tactics seemed like second nature to him. Though there seemed to be some issue he had with Daveth, he kept his head on his shoulders enough to ignore it. He had that whole commanding presence thing going for him and the man could fight. It was probably part of his Cousland upbringing, but still the man had it together. He could definitely see why Duncan wanted to recruit him.
The cutpurse, however, he still couldn't fully understand. Daveth apparently could scout and he could use those daggers, but he couldn't see how purse stealing fit into taking down a genlock. Duncan kept telling him that it takes all sorts of skills in order to fight the darkspawn, but some skills made no sense to Alistair.
Jory, at least, could certainly handle his own in a fight. His hits were never hesitant and his movements were solid. Though that was the only shining quality Alistair could see. He knew Jory didn't enamor himself to the others when he questioned the wisdom of just the five of them venturing out into the Wilds. Alistair was half tempted to tell him that with barely two dozen Wardens in Ferelden, traveling in small groups was the norm and that he should get used to it.
Then there was the elf woman, Kallian. Duncan wasn't able to tell him much about her other than the fact that she had to be conscripted. She seemed about as good with the blades as Daveth was. Surprising for both an elf and a woman. What other skills she had, Alistair could only guess. They would be seeing how good she is with a bow in a moment.
That thought brought him back to the present and he gripped the strap of his shield a little tighter. They crouched low to move forward. Any moment now the darkspawn would sense him near, then the test could begin.
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Kallian's heart pounded in her chest and it wasn't due to fear.
She started to feel the sensation as they pressed on with Daveth scouting ahead and she watching the rear. They were looking for a fight, hunting to get a kill. It was something she wasn't quite used to and it excited her on a level she didn't know existed in her.
They were not fighting to defend, or to escape. It wasn't even for vengeance, or for riches. They were hunting to eradicate these creatures from the face of Ferelden and she felt a form of strength in it. Hunter instead of prey.
It made her feel rather quite alive.
Laying low near the top of the hill, she saw the darkspawn. From this far away they looked like any other armed soldiers. Focusing, the details started to show and she chewed on the inside of her cheek.
They were not natural. Their skin was a mottled gray-green and they lacked anything in the way of lips or noses. It was like anything that might have been cartilage in their face was taken out and all their skin was pulled tight. Some of them were small. Short and kind of stocky. Others were more man sized and she saw one had a full set of armor with odd symbols painted on it. Daveth was also incorrect. There were two that had quivers and she saw the outlines of the bows they had.
She didn't want to look too closely at what was hanging from the stone archways behind the darkspawn or what happened to be stuck on the long pikes near the fire. They'd seen the same already before. All it did was fuel the fire in her and made her want to kill as many of these things as they could. It easily got her over any notions of being too afraid to fight them or having any thoughts of fleeing the scene.
From her elevated point of view she could see the others making their way below the raised ridge. They kept themselves low and moved as quietly as large human men could in metal armor. She was fairly certain that Daveth was the only one who made no noise save for some light creaking of leather. The darkspawn should have been too far away for them to hear any quiet clanks, especially when a pair of them were- . . .
Kallian had to stop and consider it. They were making some sort of noises and shoving at one another. It was the one with the full set of armor and another who was just as big and only slightly better armored than the others. She guessed it was some sort of dispute over what one of them had in their hands. The noises they made was not really a language that she could discern. They grunted and growled more than anything else. Squinting she tried to make out what object it was. It looked to be a glove or a gauntlet, but at this distance it was difficult to fully tell.
Then, all at once she saw each and every one of them start to look around. There was absolutely nothing to signal that they do it, yet the two arguing ones dropped the object to the ground and reached for their weapons. Kallian was closer to her comrades then the darkspawn and, as far as she could tell, they did nothing to give away their position. Yet, simultaneously as if someone had shouted it out, they began to look around the whole area. She raised slightly as she saw two of them get closer and closer to the others and she knocked an arrow.
It had admittedly been a while since she had a bow in her hand. Not since her mother had shown her how to use it, as a matter of fact. She was fairly certain she remembered everything she was taught. If she forgot any of it, she was going to have to relearn it all very quickly in a second. Her heart was thrumming in her chest and she tried to breath easy and steadily for it to calm down. A heavily beating heart meant an unsteady body. An unsteady body meant for a poor shot. Kallian needed to calm herself, but the closer the two darkspawn got and the longer Aedan and the others waited, the more she tensed.
She realized with ever dawning horror that they were unaware the darkspawn were about to encroach on their position. Drawing back the arrow, she started to aim for the one closest to them. Kallian knew what her orders were, but if the others were sprung upon before they could go on the attack then they'd have to fight from lower ground or fade back into swamp water where they'd literally get bogged down. A second away from letting the arrow fly, she saw Alistair look up just as the darkspawn was beginning to look down. Without thinking about her own predicament she fired. The arrow arced through the air and glanced off the helm of the closest one to him.
It didn't cause the creature any harm, unfortunately, but it did get its attention. Snapping a look right over at her, it gave a guttural and loud roar. Next thing she knew, eight pair of darkspawn eyes were on her.
" . . . shite . . ," she drew another arrow and fired again at the one closest to reaching her.
This time the arrow hit around its exposed collar bone, the force of the arrow lurching its shoulder back. The hit didn't stop the creature's progression and Kallian grit her teeth. It was like it hadn't felt the pain at all. Drawing another arrow, her heart beat like a hammer in her chest. Panic was about to sink in.
Then with a yell and a flurry of action, Aedan and the others were upon the darkspawn, taking a good deal of them off balance as they attacked what was now their rear flank. Two of them quickly fell before the darkspawn could even turn and react to the new situation. Ser Jory cut deep into a third and it wouldn't be long before that one fell as well. The larger one with the full armor gurgled something out. She had this sense that there were words in the animalistic sounds. Almost confirming her suspicions the darkspawn moved after the "command". The three that bore swords turned towards Aedan and the others. Seeing one of the bow wielders aim for them, she swung around and aimed for it instead.
As she focused on her target she noticed the other archer taking aim at her. Screwing up her courage, she held her position. That darkspawn was not going to fire that arrow at the people she was going to have to start to rely on. Especially now that she's messed the plan up somewhat. Kallian fired her arrow just as the darkspawn fired at her. Her arrow reached its target, luckily making it fire wildly as the arrowhead shallowly pierced the thing's forearm. The arrow that was aimed at her curved too far over her head and landed somewhere behind her.
Grinning toothily, she quickly drew another arrow. These supposed monsters of death and destruction were lousy shots. Her eyes flitted over a second to the others. The third one was down, a fourth was getting caught between Aedan and Daveth's blades, and the better armored one was just engaging Alistair and Jory. Quickly she aimed again, and went for the one pulling the arrow out of its arm. She had both of the archers attention now, but their arrows kept aiming wide. She took her time to aim, her breathing calmer. Trusting Aedan and the others to do their part, she needed to do hers. Two arrows managed to make the first archer keel over, clutching to the arrow that found home in its neck.
They are not immortal.
Firing about three arrows at the second one, she only managed to nick it in the arm once before it began to charge forward. It dropped the bow, no doubt realizing it was doing it no good. That was perfectly fine by Kallian. She preferred things to be more up close and personal. Firing off one more arrow at it - again only grazing it - she cast the bow to the side and drew the two daggers at her hips. The darkspawn was smart enough to drop the bow, but not smart enough to think that coming at her while she had the higher ground might not have been the best strategy. Simply waiting at the top of the hill, she gritted her teeth as it scrambled up to reach her. The blade it bore was all jagged edges and black iron, something made more for simple hacking rather than anything with finesse.
As it neared, it lashed across with the blade, but with the poor footing it had the blade she parried barely had any bite to it. Countering quickly she slashed at it, her cut crossed along its chest. It did no more than scratch the front of the armor it wore, but the cut was not meant to damage much. The darkspawn stepped back at the quick movement, making it hesitate. In that moment Kallian got a full whiff of the thing and tried not to wretch. It smelled like an outdoor knackery in the middle of summer. A sickening sweet rotted smell as the carcasses of animals laid out in the sun. It assailed the nose and made one's insides curl. She ended up hesitating as well and it moved towards her again.
A smarter sort might of continued to back away till they were on more even ground or even try to work their way around her. This one didn't think that far ahead. It tried to attack again, exactly in the same manner. She parried and countered as before, but when his arms were wide open she snapped her leg up and kicked it square in the chest. Off balance and with shaky footing, the darkspawn tumbled backwards down the steeper side of the hill. Knowing this had to be done with quickly, she slid on her feet down the hill after it.
Just as it tried to get back up on its hands and knees, she brought both of her blades down on its back. One of them dug through the back of its collarbone, the other clanked against armor. It howled out as it fell flat, and Kallian got the impression it was more due to frustration than pain. Planting a knee firmly in the darkspawn's back, she held fast to the one that pierced its flesh and stabbed the other dagger repeatedly into the space between the front and back plating of its armor. The darkspawn's limbs flailed haplessly stab after stab. She cut at its arm once as it got in the way of her blade. Finally its howl became a gurgle and it lay still and unmoving.
They are not unbeatable.
Kallian panted after the exertion and quickly looked up to see where the others were at. They had the heavily armored darkspawn surrounded and down on one knee.
Did they get it to surrender? Do darkspawn ever surrender? The way Duncan was talking . . .
Her questions were answered swiftly as it lunged up, swinging the large two handed sword it had in a wide arc. Alistair, Aedan, and Jory easily evaded it as the strike was predictable. As the darkspawn ended its swing, Daveth was quickly at its flank as his daggers slashed and pierced hip and back. Trying to bring the sword around to attack Daveth, it was stopped by Jory's own two handed sword encountering it. Alistair quickly stepped forward once it was off balance and slammed his shield into its back. The darkspawn flailed forward only to be caught by Aedan's sword piercing right through its armor and into its gut. Daveth got it again, sliding a blade through a joint in the plating near its ribs.
There was a breath of pause as they held the darkspawn upright with their weapons. The creature convulsed as if it had a fit of the coughs, then black blood started to seep down from under its helm. Almost as one they backed away, yanking weapons free. The sword dropped from the darkspawn's hands and it wavered on its feet for a moment before finally falling backwards with an armor-clattering crunch.
"Ha!" Kallian laughed once and punched a dagger carrying fist on the body under her. They won. They had really won. She could do this.
Looking down to pull out her blade, she started slightly and quickly stood up. The blood that poured out from the side wounds she inflicted was bubbling. It was thick, black, and seemed to be seeping into the ground instead of spreading over it. The grass it was getting into contact with was withering as she watched.
"How the bloody sod are we supposed to collect that?" she murmured.
Quickly she checked herself to see if she had any of it on her. There was a small splattering on her boot and her daggers were also somewhat coated, but other than that she was generally clean of it. The blood on the boot didn't bubble and neither did the blood on the daggers.
Maybe it can only blight things that are alive? she thought, remembering something one of the many Sergeants at camp was saying about how the blood itself could taint anything.
"Kallian! Are you alright?" she looked up to see Aedan approaching.
She nodded a few times, "Right fine."
Nodding in return, he looked down a bit at the body at her feet, then at her again. His face tightened a bit. It occurred to her that she did mess up on her "orders". She certainly didn't wait for the swords to start clashing and she didn't start firing at the archers till the fight was fully on. He was likely going to get on her for that. Tell her in some officious sounding voice that she didn't follow orders and how dare she do something to mess up the strategy or some other I-am-the-leader-how-dare-you-disobey claptrap.
"Fast thinking on getting the darkspawn's attention," he said instead. "Little risky, but good call."
Kallian blinked, "Uh . . . right . . . well . . . "
The corner of his lip turned up, "You didn't waste an arrow and avoided having them get the jump on us. As I said, good call."
He walked away to leave her there a little flatfooted. Praise was not what she was expecting, especially since she really didn't think the strategy all the way through. They did survive, she supposed, and if she hadn't done as she did the situation could have been worse. Maybe she really did belong.
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Aedan took a good look around. Eight darkspawn dead and not even a mild injury suffered. He had the notion that they were highly lucky about that. If Kallian hadn't drawn their attention when she did, the darkspawn would have dropped down on them first. Aedan didn't even notice the enemy was that close until he heard the crack of her arrow bounce off its helm. Perhaps they had made too much noise when they moved and it alerted them to their presence.
Little matter now, he thought as he surveyed the area to make sure the darkspawn were fully dead and that no more were coming. The fight was won. Just have to learn again how to move more quietly in this armor . . . or more logically get armor lighter and better fit for travel.
It was halfway on their way to Ostagar that Aedan had realized he didn't exactly have the best armor on for long travel and intermittent fighting. It was a fine set and good for a long standing campaign where you had half a dozen other similarly armored men to alternate with you on the front line. This wasn't the case and his armor was wearing him down physically. He needed lighter armor like Alistair was wearing and had he been given the time after reaching Ostagar to see to it he would of. Instead he was stuck with the plate with the Cousland heraldry etched into it.
Already Jory had narrowed him down to being a member of the noble house because of it. The realization that he wasn't just Aedan of Highever, but Lord Aedan Cousland, immediately elicited a "my lord" from the Highever knight. Something which he quickly tried to quell. Luckily, Ser Jory wasn't aware of the situation in Highever and Aedan wasn't going to tell him until after the Joining, perhaps not even until after the battle. The way the man went on about his wife in Highever made it essential that Aedan say nothing, otherwise he'd end up at the least very distracted and at the worst abandoning his duty by going back to his wife. Not that it would have been the end of the world, but it would have been irresponsible of Aedan to do that to Jory.
"All of you, come over here," Alistair called out as he knelt next to the body of the last darkspawn killed.
As with the other corpse Kallian was over, this one too had black blood that bubbled as it oozed out. It was disconcerting to see and it did make him double check himself for any of the blood to be on his skin.
"You notice how this big fellow here is better armed and armored than the rest," he rapped a knuckle on its helm, "and the extra markings on his armor?"
There were acknowledging nods all around.
"This is what we refer to as a Hurlock Alpha," he went about taking the darkspawn's helm off, revealing its monstrous, bloody countenance. "They are typically smarter, tougher, and meaner than his associates. They usually lead parties like this and get the best pick of gear from whatever poor soul they happen to kill."
"Do them markin's mean anything?" Kallian asked, squatting down to take a good look at the Hurlock, partially covering her mouth and nose with a hand as she did.
"Not that we know of," he shook his head slightly, then brought his pack around to rummage into it. "From what I've been told the symbols are Ancient Tevinter in origin, but no one has been able to decipher what they mean."
"Smart enough to know and write these symbols?" Aedan said, frowning mildly. "That is somewhat disturbing."
"It may not mean much, really," he got out a protective case that held four vials in it. "They certainly don't use them to convey messages to one another." He added with something of a mutter, "They don't have need for that."
That made Aedan's eyebrows furrow. The more he was learning about the darkspawn the less he was liking. He knew they were monsters and had become myth-like in the rumors people would hear of them. Gathering in hoards and attacking with impunity, savaging simple travelers or small villages, blindly destroying everything in their path. These were the things he used to know about the darkspawn. Now they retreat, form groups around smarter and stronger ones, are capable of casting spells and can write symbols. This all indicated some way of being able to communicate and if not by messages then how? He was about to ask when Daveth spoke before he could.
"So, maybe its like wearing colors?" Daveth continued when Alistair glanced up at him questioningly. "Like gangs that get tattoos. They all wear the same and they all know what it means when they see the same symbol on a wall. I know several dozen of them that could spot a tag and know exactly who's it be, but the lot of them couldn't read a single word between them, let alone a whole book."
"Huh," Alistair paused at that. "Never thought of that possibility. Didn't think to ask it either. We'll have to ask Duncan later."
The vials that Alistair removed form the case was unlike any Aedan had ever seen before. They were made of crystal, but the topper was made of glass and formed to a needle fine point. He had removed his gauntlets and was currently rolling around in his other hand what looked like crystal made stoppers.
"But since this fellow right here is a little brighter than the others," he took one vial and one stopper in hand, setting down the rest, and looked the hurlock's neck over, "he'll be the one we get the blood from."
Kallian stood up and stepped back a bit to stand between Jory and Daveth, "He? Do all darkspawn be male? Do there be female darkspawn or do you just call the lot of them 'he'?"
Aedan blinked as Alistair pondered the question. It wasn't something that had occurred to Aedan to ask, but now that Kallian had, he had to admit to being curious, too.
"Wellll," he turned the hurlock's head slightly to expose more of its neck, then glanced at her, "they do have the . . . uh . . . appropriate bits. So calling them 'he' or 'him' or whatever male label you want to give them would be accurate. But I can't say I've ever seen a female darkspawn before. Not even certain they exist. Might be another one to ask Duncan."
Daveth chuckled once, "No wonder the darkspawn are always on a rampage. I know I'd go barmy if I was surrounded by nothing but blokes." He nudged Kallian with an elbow. "Good thing you're about, sweets."
She nudged him back, quirking a grin, and Aedan tried not to have his lip twitch. It still bothered him that he was bothered by the thought of them together and this little inappropriate display brought the thought to the forefront again. Aedan wasn't certain why the thought of them together irked him. He'd met people like Daveth before in Highever and had to admit that there were worst sorts out there than him. The issue had to be Kallian, then.
She wasn't his, that was plain. Though they didn't get off on the right foot, they'd made progress and were treating one another on far more friendlier terms. There hadn't been any overtures of wanting the friendship to go further than that from her and he'd done nothing of the sort towards her. So what was the source of it? Why is it every time he sees Daveth looking at her in "that way" that he wants to slide in between the two like a wall?
The thought struck him suddenly, like getting thrown from a horse that's dug its forelegs into the ground abruptly and you sail over its head. He wanted to block, not covet her. It wasn't a case of possession it was a case of wanting to protect her. Daveth was shady and he felt that Kallian was somehow above that. Which was mildly idiotic as the woman was shady herself. Then perhaps . . .
Perhaps it's a case of you interposing your old feelings about Oralyn onto Kallian and seeing her in a better light than others might not, all for a set of pointed ears, he mentally grumbled. Were it Oralyn had a sister just like Kallian this is exactly what you'd be doing.
Quietly breathing out a sigh through his nose, he turned his attention to what Alistair was doing again.
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Alistair found the vein he was looking for and stabbed the needle point end of the glass tube into the hurlock's neck. The vial quickly began to fill up with black fluid. He was going to have to move fast to get all four vials filled and he hoped he was fast enough for the pressure in the creature's body to hold. This was only the second time he'd done this on the body of a darkspawn. Luckily the technical side of it wasn't any different from doing it to a human or elven body. Find a vein, stick the glass into it, let the vial fill up, pull it out, snap off the topper, then quickly put the stopper in. For the darkspawn he handed the vial over to another Warden. For the humans and elves, he used to hand them over to a templar.
It was the same sort of vial they used to get the blood from a mage for their phylactery. That was a detail the recruits really didn't need to know. There were a lot of details the recruits really didn't need to know.
He wasn't about to say that withholding so much information from them didn't bother him. Part of him wanted to just let them know all of it, right here, right now. The other part of him knew the folly of that road.
Here, take a good look! This will be the very blood that you will be ingesting in a wonderful little cocktail made just for Wardens. You might die, you might live, and if you live your life is forever changed. So . . . still want to be a Warden? Sure you do! There's death and destruction to behold. It's glorious!
Alistair could only guess that the slight bitterness he was feeling was due to the notion that these four people could very well be dead by this time tomorrow. Not for dying in battle fighting darkspawn, but for a ritual the Grey Wardens have kept secret for hundreds of years. Because of it he couldn't afford to get close to them and learn more about them. It would only hurt even more if . . . when . . . they die.
His observations of them had to be factual. Were they capable of fighting darkspawn? Yes. Do they hold no prejudices towards one another and can work together? Yes. Did they keep their wits about them before, during, and after the fight? Yes.
He couldn't ask where Jory learned his effective two handed sword technique. He couldn't ask Aedan who exactly did he train under, his father or someone else. He couldn't ask Daveth if his skills were learned or self taught. He couldn't ask Kallian where she learned to fight, period. Those would all be moot questions that would mean absolutely nothing if they didn't pass the Joining.
"It is a notion all Wardens have to come to terms with, Alistair," Duncan had told him once. "But the necessity outweighs the grievous emotions, always. They have to or no Warden would ever wish to recruit anyone ever again."
A fact he had to swallow. Alistair disliked it, but he'd see it done.
"Alright, that's the fourth one," he tucked the bubbling vials back into the case one at a time. "Now we can head back and-"
"Oh Bloody Maker!"
The exclamation came from nearer the fire that the darkspawn had been lingering about. Kallian had apparently wandered away from the rest of them and had been poking around. She had dropped something when they all looked over and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand like she was about to wretch. They saw she wasn't in immediate danger and slowly came over.
"What is it, Kallian?" Aedan was the first to inquire.
Pointing at the ground behind her as she explained, she didn't turn to look at it, "I saw our big boy there arguin' over an item with another afore the fight started. Thought to take a look at what they dropped." In her voice she was obviously fighting the urge to vomit. "It ain't a glove like me thought."
Jory bent to take a look and uttered a gasp, "Oh dear, this isn't good." He looked back over at Aedan. "You might want to take a look, my lord."
Alistair winced a little wishing Jory would stop referring to Aedan as 'my lord'. Even though between the recruits it was becoming a little moot to hide it, should Jory blurt it out in front of people back at camp it could lead to unwanted explanations that shouldn't be revealed just yet. It looked like Aedan was about to correct him yet again until he looked down.
"Oh dear . . . "
That made Alistair come over as well to take a look. The object that Kallian found was a detached arm that was severed midway down the forearm. He could see how, at a distance, it could of been mistaken for a glove. Had it not been for the bright silver colored ring upon one of the fingers, Alistair doubted the darkspawn would have fought over it.
"Do you recognize the ring?" Jory questioned, looking down at the arm again.
Aedan nodded, kneeling down, "Do you?"
Jory also nodded and both of them said at the same time, "Ser Culwick."
Alistair advanced closer to them, briefly glancing at Kallian to see she was keeping herself steady by putting a hand on Daveth's shoulder. It seemed Daveth was the only one who was indifferent to the situation and he watched on with his arms crossed, waiting.
"I . . . take it you knew this fellow?" he asked Aedan and Jory.
"Ser Culwick of Redside," Aedan answered softly. "Redside is relatively close to Highever and Ser Culwick always showed up when there was a tournament or festival. He always wore this ring . . . it was a gift from his wife."
Aedan looked upward to the hanging bodies and his jaw visibly worked, "Maker, bless it . . . these are all men from Redside."
Trying to remain dispassionate, Alistair looked at the corpses. They did all wear the same symbol of a running mabari with a sword in its maw.
"Should we . . , " Jory paused as if hesitant to say what he needed to, " . . . take the ring and have it sent to his wife? Let her know?"
Aedan nodded, looking back down again, "We should. It would be the least we could do."
He could see Aedan struggling both morally and ethically with picking up the arm and trying to wiggle the ring off the finger. Then he heard Daveth audibly "tsk" and watched as he wandered over to them. Kallian remained where she was, but she looked a little better.
"Here," Daveth, with no compunctions, took the arm from Aedan, drew one of his daggers and cut the fingers off at the knuckles. Tossing the arm aside he picked up the finger that had the ring, pulled it easily off, then handed it to Aedan. "Easier that way. Dead parts tend to swell."
Both Aedan and Jory looked at him as if he just kicked a small puppy.
"Have you no respect?" Jory blurted out as the cutpurse went back to Kallian's side. "This was a man we happened to know!"
"He be a dead man you happen to know," he countered. "It's not as if he's going to use those fingers anymore."
"Daveth's the right o' it," Kallian added. "We got what we came for and we can't spend all day trying to figure out how not to damage severed limbs for a ring."
"This from a woman who was nearly retching at the sight of it not more than a minute ago?" Aedan retorted.
"Oy, you try picking something up you thought was just a glove and see how your stomach manages it," she responded.
Alistair looked back and forth. Jory and Aedan looking incensed and Daveth and Kallian looking dismissive.
Oh dear . . .
Alistair knew there were probably some moral boundaries that would differ between the four and he had to admit to being a little disappointed that Kallian seemed to not have any scruples as far as the human bodies were concerned. He was going to have to note that bit to Duncan later.
"Easy, easy," Alistair said, raising his hands to calm both sides. "Let's not argue about this here. We do need to get back to camp. It wouldn't be good if we get caught out here after sundown. So let's go. Come on."
He motioned the lot of them on. Daveth and Kallian ended up walking far ahead of the others, Jory and Aedan to Alistair's rear. He had a feeling the walk back to camp was going to be a long one.
A/N: Comments & criticism always welcome.