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Of Ghouls and Broodmothers	By : Melaniem2108 Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 18850 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Dragon Age series all recognizable characters are property of Bioware and EA. I make no profit from this. If I did Tamlen and Cullen would be romanceable in the first game.

Chapter List
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Of Ghouls and Broodmothers
Chapter 2: Awaking in the Frostback Mountains.
Dalish translations at the bottom courtesy of the Dragon Age Wikia.
After finally having played Dragon Age Awakening for the first time- (About bloody time too) - it has given me a lot of inspiration for this story so I'll be writing like crazy for a while. I have two things to say about the entire dlc- First that game was awesome but unfortunately short and second the Mother.. she was fuuudged up.
Elyssa's eyes opened several times throughout the time that she had been away from her encampment. Each time was as blurry as the last, the only noticable difference between them was how she felt each time. The weather was changing drastically around her. It grew colder as the days dragged on to what must have been weeks if not months.
But between each waking moment she dreamt. She dreamed of Alistair and all of the people in her group that were more than likely trying to find her, if not they were actually following Morrigan's and Sten's suggestions to go after the troups they needed to defeat the Archdemon. But she could only hope. Each dream from the Archdemon lessened that hope slightly but she knew she had to have faith in Alistair, after all he was to be king, if a king couldn't do it, surely a Grey Warden-King could.
Her current dream was so life-like it was uncanny. Alistair and she were in a bed together in what seemed to be a glamorous bed chamber, she could catch glimpses of a gloriously green garden, filled with roses of different colours. 'Wow, we're not in a bed scroll for once.' His fingers were running along her waist, the glimmer of a small golden ring was evident on his left hand. 'If only we could stay like this.' Alistair's eyes took on a sudden look of desperation. "We can, forever, just come back to me Elyssa."
She looked up at him confused. "What are you talking about? We are together." There was no Loghain, no war and especially no Archdemon to contend with. She was content for once in her life. There was a pregnant pause between them. For some reason her words only seemed to sink Alistair into a pit of despair. "No we're not Elyssa, we're not together. Come back to me Elyssa." Elyssa. "Wake up Elyssa." Elyssa. "Wake UP Elyssa!"
Her emerald eyes burst open, taking in the person in front of her. 'Tamlen? Wait what happened? Where-?' A shiver suddenly ran down her spine, she looked down. 'Damn all my armor is back at the camp, I only have my blades. She glanced around her, there was snow all around, the only colour for ages was white. Tamlen's hair and armor stood out against the beautiful frost covering the mountain. Everything hit her like a ton of bricks. "What the, ar tu na'din! What in Andraste's name were you thinking? Strangling me? Kidnapping me?!" She shot upwards pushing Tamlen away from her causing him to land on his behind, sinking slightly into the snow.
"Where the hell are we?!" She started to stand on her feet but immediately her legs gave out from under her. Tamlen swiftly caught her in his arms. She punched against his plated chest in a futile attempt to gain some distance between her and her would-be captor. "Atisha Emma lath, Atisha." Tamlen murmured softly into her ear. She snapped upwards, her teeth reaching for any piece of flesh she could grab onto, which turned out to be his ear. He recoiled in pain, as a small piece of flesh came away under her bite. "Do not speak to me as though I am a wild halla needing to be tamed!" Blood dripped from her lips as she spoke.
"Calm, lethallan I understand you're upset." Tamlen spoke soothingly. "UPSET? That is the understatement of the Dragon Age! You kidnapped me! Stole me away from my friends. I have not seen hide nor tail of you for months now and you just expect me to just forget all of that?!" "You seemed to be-" Tamlen interrupted. "Don't give me that you seemed to before I know what I said before, but that was before you almost killed me!" She knew she was exaggerating slightly but she didn't care. "And what for? To separate me from my friends? To isolate me again? Well great job, mission accomplished. I missed you Tamlen, I loved you and you left me, I know you couldn't have helped it but I needed you and I was alone." Tears crept from her eyes. "I-I didn't have anybody, I mean I had someone when I became a Grey Warden but he died almost hours after my joining." Her breath came out as small puffs of visible white air.
"Why didn't you listen to me when I told you not to touch that mirror? I- I only ever wanted you to be safe. And I couldn't even keep you safe!" She broke down as he wrapped his arms further around her. "I'm here, lethallan, I'm not going to leave you ever again, I'm going to make sure of it this time. Nothing will keep us apart, I'll make sure of it. " She stopped and looked up at him, "What do you mean, how will you?"
"I don't know if you've noticed Elyssa but I'm not elvhen anymore." Her breath stopped, she couldn't look away from him. Now that he mentioned it he did look alot darker as if he'd been out in the sun for far too long. His hair was still the same as it had always been. And his eyes had changed colour, they were a bright green that they'd never been before, they almost looked white. "Tamlen.. What happened to you?"
His breath caught slightly, his back tensing in her embrace. He seemed torn in the desire to tell her or to keep her safe from the knowledge. "The eluvian did something to me lethallan, it changed me somehow. I've heard the word ghoul from darkspawn. It must be what I am changing into." "It tainted you too, just as Duncan said it would." Elyssa's grasp tightened around him. "And I heard them say that ghouls don't live long. Especially around other ghouls." Tamlen murmered softly, as though to himself. "Come back with me then, we can save you, we can turn you into a Grey Warden like me!" Elyssa pushed him back slightly to gaze earnestly at him. "It is too late for me, lethallan I can feel the taint inside me already, they'd kill me on sight. There's only one way we can be together."
'What how can we, he's a ghoul, I'm a grey warden. I should be killing him right now! Why am I considering this?' Her mind was racing, but the answer came to her. 'Because I still love him.' "How can we be together?" Her voice was small when she finally asked him. "Change with me." 'WHAT?! Is he crazy? Become a ghoul?' "He said so himself they don't live long with other ghouls!" "I know I did," Tamlen replied. 'Did I say that out loud?' "But they don't love each other like we do. Imagine it bellanaris, eternity together. We'd never die from old age, we'd be together, with nothing in our way."
If she was honest with herself, it was an extremely tempting offer. Eternity with Tamlen? She could live with that, only... then she would become a monster that feasted on human flesh wouldn't she? She'd be a darkspawn, something she was sworn to protect the world from. "I- I can't Tamlen. I have to go back, I have to defeat the Archdemon." He let go of her, his eyes had the look of a broken man. "But don't you remember? We swore to each other when we were younger that we'd never part. We'd never leave each others sides even if it meant forsaking all others." "But this is the world we're talking about here if I'm not there to kill the Archdemon who will? Alistair?" 'Oh my.. Alistair! I completely forgot about him! What if he's looking for me right now?! He was there when Tamlen took me away from the camp. He was calling for me.'
Tamlen's voice broke her out of her reverie. "He is a Grey Warden yes?" She nodded. "Then he can defeat the Archdemon. You have done everything for everyone, ever since we were children. It's about time you did something for yourself." For us. The words were unspoken but she knew that was what he meant. He stood and offered his hand to her. "Come with me to the Deep Roads, where we can be safe there, together." She threw a glance behind her, she could see the broad land of Ferelden from her vantage point. 'Ferelden or Tamlen?' She was torn.
Finally after a long moment of gazing into the distance, she decided. She turned and took Tamlen's hand, causing a broad smile to spread across his tanned face. He helped her to her feet and they started their long walk up the mountain towards Orzammar. But deep down she knew it wasn't a choice between Ferelden and Tamlen, it was between Alistair and Tamlen.
A/N: I was going to have Tamlen speak in broken terms like he did in the game but it was going to cut out too much of what I wanted him to express. Also I was going to have them start through Orzammar this chapter but I thought it would be better to have it end where it did with her first big decision. I apologise for no major action this chapter but there will be more in abundance in the next few chapters. This remains unbeta'd at the moment.
Dalish vocabulary translations by the people at dragonage. wikia. com /wiki /Elven_language
Ar tu na'din: I will kill you.
Atisha- peace.
Emma lath: my love.
Eluvian- mirror.
Bellanaris: eternity.
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Of Ghouls and Broodmothers