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The Mage and the Templars	By : Nyghtlei17 Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 8458 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age or any of its characters. I do not make any money off of this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
They spent two more days in the witch’s hut in the Wilds. Morrigan’s mother Flemeth healed her wounds. When Kitsune had finally recovered from the injuries and now only tender scars remained. She packed a bag of food, water, two bed rolls, and a tent. One tent. They were leaving, heading toward Redcliffe to take the treaties to Arl Eamon as Alistair had suggested a few days before. “Do we have everything we need?”, he asked her as he adjusted the straps under his armour.
She had not forgotten the pain he caused her the other night but now was not the time to mope. “Yes, I believe we are ready to go”, she tied the pack closed and tried to lift it but it was much too heavy.
“Let me”, Alistair chuckled and lifted the large pack over his shoulder. “Here you carry this”, he said as he tossed her white oak staff to her.
She felt useless. He was carrying his sword, shield, and the pack with a week’s worth of food and water in it. She strapped the staff to her back.
Flemeth and Morrigan waited for them outside of the hut. It was almost noon but it was hard to tell in the Wilds. “So you are off then, the last two Wardens of Ostagar”, Flemeth said as they stood before her.
“Thank you, Flemeth”, Kitsune said as she bowed before her. “You have done so much for us, how can we ever repay our debate?”
A sly smile formed on the old witch’s mouth, “You can take my daughter with you.”
“What?!”, both Alistair and Morrigan said in unison.
“Mother, you can not truly mean this. What purpose could I serve these Grey Wardens?”, Morrigan looked to her mother in shock.
“These two must find away to end this Blight. Without them all will perish, even I. They need all the help they can get.” Flemeth seemed to be extremely serious about Morrigan joining them. “You have always wanted a reason to leave these Wilds, girl.”
“I-”, Morrigan began but she cut herself off. “You are right, Mother. Allow me to gather my things if you will”, the young apostate said to Kitsune.
“I have already taken the liberty of packing some things for you.”, Flemeth said as she followed her daughter into the hut.
“Do we really have to bring her along just because her mother says so?”, Alistair asked once the door had shut. “She’s an apostate!”
“We need all the help we can get, Alistair. She will be a useful ally”, Kitsune stared fiercely at him.
“If she doesn’t kill us in our sleep. What if this is all a scheme between the two witches. She sends her daughter off with the only remaining Grey Wardens and she kills us before we ever get to Redcliffe.”
He was being absolutely ridiculous now. “If they wanted to kill us why did they save us and bring us here?”
“I don’t know, they’re mages. They’re all crazy”, his eyes grew wide when he saw the look on her face. “I didn’t mean it like that.” He put both hands up in apology.
“We are all crazy?”, she repeated her voice thick with anger. “That is how you truly feel about us, is it?”
He sighed and smacked a palm to his forehead. “No, I-”
“Once we get to Redcliffe”, she was trying not to yell at him. “We will give the treaties to the Arl and I will return to the Circle.” Why would she think he would be any different? He feared mages just like all of the Templars. At least in the Circle she was among her own kind. “There is nothing left of the Grey Wardens anyway.”
Alistair didn’t speak, he just kicked at the dirt.
She wasn’t sure if she meant it but she wasn’t about to apologize.
Morrigan returned with a pack on her back and a solemn look on her face. “I am ready, Warden”, she said directly to Kitsune.
“Which way to Redcliffe?”, she asked Alistair.
“North but I’m not sure how to get out of the Wilds”, he said without looking her in the eyes.
Maybe she should apologize. He was still mourning the death of his Captain, no his friend and his King. But not now. “Morrigan?”
“I will lead us out of the Wilds. I suggest we stop at a small refugee town not far from here to stock up on supplies. I am positive we will run into wolves and darkspawn alike.”
Kitsune wasn’t sure if Morrigan was sad to be leaving her mother. She wasn’t even sure if this was the first time she had actually left home. She didn’t feel like talking right now and the look on Morrigan’s face told her not to ask.
They got out of the Wilds without being attacked by anything. Morrigan suggested that the recent Darkspawn victory must have allowed them to move on, out of the Wilds and spread further through Ferelden. They were not mindless monsters, they knew that the Grey Wardens were their main enemy and they destroyed them.
The sound of a dog barking drew Kitsune’s attention away from the cruel words she had spoken to Alistair and onto the road ahead of her. She knew that bark. “Amaterasu?”, she called out. Could he really be alive? How did he survive? “Amaterasu!”, she ran ahead of Morrigan and Alistair.
“What is she doing?”, she heard Morrigan complain.
Kitsune broke into a sprint, disregarding Alistair’s command to stop. “Ammy!” She saw the dog a few yards in front of her. His ears perked up. He turned to her and as a mangled black monster lunged for his throat. “Ammy!”, she screamed as she pulled her staff from her back and cast Winter’s Grasp on the mangled monster. It froze and Ammy scrambled to his feet and limped towards her.
“Kitsune!”, Alistair shouted from behind her.
She crouched and checked the Mabari’s throat. “It is only a scratch. You will be fine.” She patted the dog on his large head.
Alistair unsheathed his sword and shield and sliced the head off of the frozen animal. “There’ll be more. They’re Blight Wolves.”
Blight Wolves? She had never seen one before, it was terrifying. Just as Alistair had said, they heard the howls and growls of nearby wolves.
Morrigan appeared behind her. “You ran off for this mut?”
She ignored her and started preparing a fire spell. The Blight Wolves surrounded them, there were five of the horrifying beasts. She shot flames at one on her right as Morrigan shocked the two behind them, killing them instantly. Kitsune admired just how powerful the apostate was.
Alistair fought the two wolves in front of them. Before she or Morrigan could cast another spell to kill the wolf gnashing its teeth at Alistair’s shield, Amaterasu had ripped out it’s throat. Blood splattered across the Warden’s shield, armour, and face. Ammy’s face was drenched in red.
“Don’t run off like that again”, Alistair said forcefully. “You could have gotten killed.”
“If I had not have run off Ammy might be dead”, she said defensively as the dog ran over to her happily wagging his tail.
Alistair made a sound somewhat like an irritated growl, “Maker’s breath.”
She ignored him. She couldn’t just ignore the Mabari’s barks. He was hers now. She rubbed the Mabari’s blood soaked head. “How much further until we get to the town, Morrigan?”
“Twenty minutes or so. But I think it unwise to go into an unfamiliar town with half of our party covered in blood.”, Morrigan looked between Alistair and Ammy.
As if the dog understood Morrigan he began licking the blood off his mouth and nose. There was still the matter of the blood on his head. Kitsune pulled a canteen from her hip and poured water on the dog. Much like Alistair had done for her when she had Darkspawn blood in her hair. After the Mabari was cleaned, he ran over to Alistair and barked twice.
Alistair raised an eyebrow, “You are not licking me.”
Ammy barked again.
“We do not have enough water to clean you off, Alistair.” She couldn’t help but smile at the idea of Alistair being licked clean by the dog.
He sighed, “Fine!”
Immediately after being granted permission, Ammy propped himself on his hind legs and easily placed his front paws on Alistair’s shoulders and started licking the man’s face. A few licks and he was clean. Ammy cleaned his armour and shield as Alistair wiped his face with his leather gloves. When he was finished Amaterasu growled menacingly.
“T-Thank you?”, Alistair formed it as a question, unsure if that is what the dog wanted.
Ammy barked happily.
Morrigan rolled her eyes, “We now have a dog and Alistair is still the dumbest of our group.”
Kitsune laughed but Alistair’s face was set in a grimace.
“Morrigan?”, she felt like talking now hopefully the apostate did to.
The mage merely looked at her out of the corner of her yellow eyes.
“Is Flemeth actually your mother?”, she remembered the name but she could place the book it had come from.
“She is in the sense that she raised me, fed me, and cared for me”, she retorted.
“I see”, she thought carefully about her next question. “Why does she think you can help us?”
Morrigan didn’t break her strides as she said, “I can shapeshift.”
Kitsune almost tripped over her own feet. “R-really?” She knew some mages could do it and to be fighting alongside someone that could excited her. “What does it feel like? Can you shift into people? When other animals see you, do they know you are shapeshifting?”
“So many questions”, Morrigan chuckled. She proceeded to explain what it was like to change her form. “There is no better feeling than run through the Wilds as a spider or a wolf.”
“Spider?”, Alistair chimed in. “No wonder you disgust me.”
Morrigan crinkled her nose.
They came to the entrance of Lothering, there was a group of armoured men standing guard. “Highwaymen”, Alistair said under his breath as the group of seven approached.
“Oi! If you be wanting to get into town there’s a fee of 50 silver”, said the man who seemed to be the leader.
“We are sorry to disappoint you ser but we do not have much money”, Kitsune said as politely as possible. Which wasn’t true they had about ten gold between the three of them.
The man shrugged, “Fair enough, elf. We’ll accept whatever you have as payment for your toll.”
Kitsune heard Morrigan sigh and shift her weight impatiently. “Tis useless to be polite to these fools. Why not have a bit of fun?”
“For once I must agree with you, Morrigan”, Alistair said as he unsheathed his sword.
Ammy stepped from behind Kitsune, snapping violently at the group of men. “A Marbari?”, the man closes to the leader said surprised. “They’re aren’t many of those around Lothering, Boss. Maybe we should just let them pass.”
“No, they need to pay the toll just like everyone else”, he retorted.
“Let us pass and I will not have Ammy rip off your arms”, Kitsune said calmly. Amaterasu snarled at the man.
He swallowed and looked nervously between the two mages, the dog, and the warrior in a battle stance. She knew his odds of walking away from this unharmed were unlikely and she was sure he knew as well. People like him angered her. They preyed on people who were too weak to defend themselves. Just like the Templars in the Circle. They were bullies, just like Knight-Commander Greagoir. “You have to pay just like everyone else. Your dog doesn’t frighten me.”
An unfamiliar feeling washed over her. She had never killed a human but she wanted to see this man die. The other six Highwaymen looked nervous but they obeyed their boss and unsheathed and prepared their weapons. Both her and Morrigan aimed their staves and shot Arcane Bolt and poison respectively. Alistair knocked down one of the men that swung his two-handed sword dangerously close to Ammy. The marbari lunged for the leader, pouncing on his chest and snapping at his face, drool falling onto him. He held him back, pushing the flat of his blade against the dog’s chest.
Kitsune sent a wave of lightning into two archers who were a few yards away. They fell and were left unmoving, she was unsure if they were dead. Morrigan ignited the remaining three men with swords and axes. They too fell to the ground but each of them rolled around screaming violently, trying desperately to extinguish themselves. She knew Ammy was holding back. He would not attack the man until she gave him the order. With the other six men incapacitated, Kitsune stood over their leader who was still trying to keep the mabari hound off of him. “Are you still not afraid of my dog, Highwayman?”, she said cruely. This emotion she was feeling was very much unlike herself. She was always reserved and silent, she was beginning to like the new her.
“P-please”, he begged as Ammy’s drool dripped onto his face. “You can pass, you can pass! Please just let me go!”
“Let you go? So you can continue your thievery elsewhere? Preying on innocent refugees.” Kitsune watched Alistair who was watching wide eyed as she taunted the man. She wondered how he would feel if she let Ammy kill the man. Wondered, not cared.
“Please, please just let me go”, the Highwayman begged, his brown eyes were watering.
She stared down at him coldly. He was a monster, a thief, and a fraud, he had no right to live anymore. She opened her mouth to give the okay to Ammy but it was Alistair’s voice that silenced her. “Let him go.”
“Why?”, she growled at him. She had half a mind to ignore Alistair’s request.
“He can send a warning to others like him”, the look on his face was hard to interpret.
“Yes, and he can just set up his little toll again in a different town”, Morrigan chimed in.
Kitsune considered her options. “Amaterasu”, she said. The man under the dog whimpered quietly as the hounds ear perked up attentively. “Give him something to remember us by.” She watched as the mabari bit into the man’s shoulder tearing away a large chunk of flesh. His screams echoed in her ears. She didn’t flinch or even look away when the blood poured down his chest. “If I ever see you again, Highwayman, he will rip out your jugular. Tell that to everyone like you. Show them the scar as proof that I will kill them all.”
She walked away from the Highwaymen, leaving the leader to bleed and writhe in pain. He would not die so long as he got someone to tend to it quickly. That was not her concern.
They were at the entrance of the town when Alistair stopped her and pulled her to the side. Ammy tried to follow but was deterred by the fierce look on the Warden’s face. He gripped her wrist and pulled her several yards away before he spoke. “You were going to kill him weren’t you?”
“Yes”, she said plainly. She wasn’t going to waste time lying to him. “I was going to have Ammy rip his throat out.”
“What is wrong with you? We don’t just go around killing human beings!”, he shouted at her and she was sure Morrigan could hear them.
“They were rats not humans”, she argued. “They prey on desperate people who need food and shelter and they take whatever money they have! If that is not a reason to kill someone I do not know what is, Alistair."
“We have more important problems than to worry about the unjustness of a couple of Highwaymen!”, his face was set in a solid scowl. “We have a blight to stop! We can’t save every refugee in Ferelden from a toll or two. We can’t fix every problem we come across.”
“If we cannot fix every problem, then how can we end this blight? How can we say we are Grey Wardens? We are here to save the people of Ferelden not to ignore their problems and damn them along our way to the Archdemon.” She wanted to kill the Highwaymen. Maybe that was wrong but she knew Alistair would listen to reason if it was presented to him. “If we can stop people like that, then we should do it. Not ignore it and pretend that it does not exist.”
“This little lady has a fantastic mind”, said a gruff voice.
They both turned to see the eavesdropper. To their surprise there were two dwarves barely visible in the bushes near them. “Pardon?”, she said. She had never actually seen a dwarf in person. They were taller than she thought but that didn’t mean much.
The elder of the two dwarves spoke, his words coming through his big brown beard. “Saw what you did to those petty thieves. Serves them right for talking to Warden’s like that. Name’s Bodhan and this here’s my son Sandal. Say hello, Sandal.”
The younger and beardless dwarf said, “Hello!”, at his father’s command.
“What are two surface dwarves doing in Lothering?”, Alistair asked. She was definitely glad for the distraction.
“We’re merchants”, Bodhan said with much pride. He looked them both over and looked beyond them to the Mabari and Morrigan. “We sell our wares to those who have the sovereign.”
Alistair and Kitsune glanced at each other. “Why were you hiding in the brush?”, she asked.
“Well, we saw your group getting feisty with those thieves so we thought we’d watch and wait”, the dwarf concluded.
“Wait for what?”, Alistair questioned.
“People who are in a hurry tend to leave things behind.”
She understood, “So you take other’s things and sell them to make a profit.”
“They won’t be coming back for them”, he said nonchalantly.
She shrugged. Hopefully they wouldn’t come back.
“If you’ll excuse us folks, we’ll be cleaning up that mess”, the dwarf said with a smile.
After they had walked away Alistair said, “Does the other one seem… a little off to you?”
Kitsune grinned softly, “Do not be rude, Alistair.”
“What? I’m just a little curious.”
She started to walk away, “We should be going.”
His shoulders dropped, “You were right, Kitsune. What you did was the right thing. Kind of”, he smiled down at her. “That's why I follow and you lead, isn’t it?”
She smiled, “We are in this together, Alistair. Until the end.”
His brows knit together, “I thought you said you were returning to the Circle once we brought the treaties to Arl Eamon?”
She shook her head. “I was angry with you. I did not mean it.”
He tried to hide his happiness but failed, "I'm glad."
Ammy barked a few feet away from them.
She elbowed him playfully in the ribs, “Our company is growing impatient.” She laughed as she watched Ammy running circles around Morrigan who was yelling something at the Mabari.
Alistair rubbed his side. “Yeah, she might turn him into a toad.”
“Get away from me you mangy mutt”, Morrigan said to Ammy.
“He’s not mangy”, Alistair called out.
- 9
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- 11
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The Mage and the Templars