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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
- 5
- 6
- 7
At nightfall they set up camp. Duncan set up the tents, hunted down two rabbits, and built the fire pit. Kitsune made the flame, skinned and gutted the rabbits, then roasted them on a spit. “What is Ostagar like?”, she asked Duncan after he had eaten the rest of the second rabbit.   She forced herself to eat one of their legs but she was in no mood to eat.
“Oh, now I won’t ruin the surprise”, he said. “I will tell you one thing though. There are not many elves. Or woman. Or mages for that matter.”
She looked into the dancing flames of the fire. “Oh.”
“Was it hard being an elf in the Circle?”
She thought of how the other apprentices had teased her when she was young, how some of the Templars would refer to her as ‘elf’ instead of ‘mage’. How Cullen wanted her to stop hiding her pointed ears under her hair. “Sometimes”, she tucked silver tendrils behind her ears.
Duncan watched her through the fire, the flames made his gold earring shine. “The Templar…”, he started. “Cullen, was his name.”
The rabbit churned in her stomach at the mention of him. “Yes.”
“He was kind to you. Does he love you?”
Her eyes began to blur, she swallowed the knot in her throat but it wouldn’t go away, “I… he told me once.” Her voice cracked. “I told him once”
Duncan straightened his posture. “What Greagoir did to the two of you… was barbaric.”
The tears fell against her will, “I know.” She wiped them away with the back of her hand, “Thank you for taking the blame.”
The Grey Warden shook his head, “The Templar did what was right. The Chantry would’ve never seen it that way. I merely provided Cullen with justice.”
It was time for a change, she thought. This was her life now, she could start over new. She stared into the fire. Ostagar could be a chance for her to be stronger and put the Circle behind her. Put Greagoir behind her. Cullen… she could put him behind her.
She hardly spoke during their trip to Ostagar. She admired the beautiful Hinterlands from atop Bailey. She pondered what her new life was going to be like. Duncan helped her down from Bailey’s saddle when they came to a great stone bridge. “Welcome to Ostagar.”
They walked across the bridge. Kitsune was overwhelmed by all of the sights and sounds of the army at the end of the bridge. There were all types of people; men, a few women, warriors, and rogues. Large tents were to the east and dogs barked from every direction. Two men walked towards them when they got to the end of the bridge. “Ser Duncan”, a young blonde man, clad in golden armour approached them with open arms. “I am pleased to see that you have returned. And with a mage at that.” He held out his hand to Kitsune.
She went to take it until the other man with black hair and silver armour said, “The elf should bow to her king.”
She blinked up at the blonde man. This was the King of Ferelden. Cailen. “My apologies, your Highness”, she bowed deeper than she had ever bowed to the First Enchanter.
“Now, now Loghain”, the King said. “I will be fighting alongside the Grey Wardens. I am not above them.” She stood up slowly. The King’s hand still waited for hers. Reluctantly she put out hers, he took it shaking it firmly. “What is your name mage?”
“Kitsune, your Highness.”
“Well Kitsune, let me be the first to thank you for joining our cause. We could always use more mages.”
The man he called Loghain rolled his eyes.
“Thank you, your Highness”, she bowed her head as Duncan led her further into the camp. He went on to explain that the King and Loghain (his advisor and father-in-law) were not seeing eye to eye recently.
“They have never really agreed on much”, Duncan said. “But I fear that now is the worst time to fight amongst ourselves.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Anyway I have some things to tend to. Why don’t you get familiar with the camp?” He started to walk away, “Oh, find Alistair if you can. You’ll know him when you find him… he’s odd.”
Odd?   She would keep an eye out for him. Ostagar was large, there were many people. She walked around for a bit, exploring the place, memorizing where everything was. She walked passed a man who was dunking a bright red sword in a basin of water. Steam went up into the air like a large cloud. “You there, elf!”, he called to her.
She thought it immensely rude that a stranger would call her ‘elf’. She stopped to stare at him.
“You deaf, elf?”
“No”, she said louder than she intended.
“Where is the package I asked you to deliver?”
He was obviously confused. “You did not ask me to deliver a package. I do not know who you are.”
The man raised an eyebrow, “You aren’t the messenger are you?”
“That is how you would speak to him? With such disrespect?”
“Well I…”, the man looked away from her.
She sighed and disregarded his ignorance. She hadn’t been here that long enough to already be sick of the way people reacted to her but she was very annoyed. Kitsune walked up stairs that seemed to lead to nowhere but ruins. Surprisingly, there were two men talking or more like arguing.
“I am very sorry, ser but the revered Mother herself has asked me to deliver this message. I am but a lowly messenger. No match for a powerful mage such as yourself.” The man speaking smiled a sarcastic half smile.
“Watch your tongue Grey Warden”, the other man threatened.
“And here I thought we were getting along so well. I was even going to name one of my children after you, the grumpy one.” His smile grew wider. Kitsune covered her laugh with her hand. The sarcastic man looked in her direction, spotting her immediately. The mage stormed off angrily and the other man walked toward her. She put her hands at her sides. “At least someone found that amusing. You know the one good thing about a Blight is how it brings people together.”
   They studied each other for a moment. He was very tall, a little taller than Cullen. He had red hair and stubble was spread across his face. She thought his attitude was a bit odd. Certainly there was nothing good about a Blight. She smiled up at him, “Alistair?”
   He looked puzzled, “I don’t know you do I?”
   She shook her head, “No, but Duncan said I would know you when I saw you.”
   He sighed and smiled, “He was right I suppose. You must be the new recruit, Kitsune, right?”
   Now she had a puzzled look on her face, “How did you-”
   “Duncan sent a raven with a letter all about you before you two left the Circle.”
   All about her? Did that include the reason she was here? “I see”, she said. “It is nice to meet you.”
   He put a leather hand out, “It’s definitely nice to meet you, m’lady.”
   She shook his hand, it was warm through the leather. “Why is that?” She hadn’t really meant to ask that but she noticed not too many people enjoyed her presence.
   He shrugged, “There aren’t too many girls in the Grey Wardens. Or mages. Or-”, he stopped and looked at her ears.
   “Elves”, she finished for him.
   He drew in a long breath, “Now, I was going to say silver haired individuals. It’s a unique color for someone who’s so young.” She stood confused for a moment. No one had ever commented on the color of her hair. Only the shape of her ears. “I suppose you get that a lot though.”
   “I, uh… no, actually”, she said. She had always thought her hair was quite pretty.
   “Well I think more people should have silver hair!”, He ran a hand through his short hair. “How do you think I would look with it?”
   She giggled at the thought. “Wonderful.”
   “That’s what I like to hear”, he laughed. “You haven’t met the rest of our group have you?”
   "Group?" Duncan hadn't mentioned anyone other than Alistair.
   "Ser Jory and the cutthroat Daveth. They’re also new recruits. Well then," he put a hand out in front of himself. "Let’s go collect them."
   She followed Alistair through Ostagar, not well however. She found herself distracted by the over stimulation. There was a woman shouting a prayer she was somewhat familiar with. She stopped to stare but felt uncomfortable when others around her began to stare at her. There was a large fenced area not far from there that she stopped at as well. “They are so, cute”, she said somewhat unaware that Alistair was just then meeting back up with her.
   Alistair laughed, “Yeah, if you think bloodthirsty, flea ridden, mutts are cute. They would be at the top of the list.”
   She stared at him through grey slits. “Maybe I find that to be adorable.”
   “I think you might not know what cute is.”
   “And you would?”, she asked as she stuck her slender hand through the space in the wooden fence.
   “Don’t!”, he shouted as one of the hounds came up to her. “Mabari hounds are vicious beasts.”
   The dog sniffed her hand, then licked it. She pulled it away, it dripped with drool. “You were saying, Alistair?” She wiped her hand on the end of her robes. “Just because they are trained to kill does not mean that is all they do. Sometimes they just want to be loved.” This reminded her of someone. Someone who was trained to hunt mages, but loved one instead.
   “Hey there, elf”, a man standing next to the kennels greeted her.
   She glared at him, Alistair spoke for her. “This is no elf, ser. This lady is a Grey Warden recruit.”
   “My apologies, Wardens”, he quickly nodded to them. “I meant no offense. I just saw the way that Mabari responded to you and thought that you could help me out.”
   Her face softened, “How can I help?”
   “Well you see miss, that hound swallowed darkspawn blood. He will probably be dead by morning if I don’t manage to muzzle the poor thing.” The man gestured toward a pile of torn up muzzles. “Maybe you could get in there and give it a try?”
   “What?! No?! She can’t do that!”
   “I’ll try it”, she agreed.
   “You will do no such thing!”, Alistair exclaimed nervously.
   “If I cannot muzzle a dog. How could I ever hope to kill a darkspawn?”, she took a new muzzle from the Kennel Master. He unlocked the gate for her.
   The dog barked at first. Kitsune remained unflinching despite the racing of her heart. He snapped at her when she tried to put the muzzle on his face. She tried again, he whined but she managed to tighten it around his head. “It will be alright, Mabari”, she patted him on the head.
   “Great job”, said the Kennel Master. “I’ll be able to give him his medicine now. You should come back in a day or two and see if he imprints on you. His old master is in the Fade now.”
   “Imprint?”, she didn’t know what that meant.
   “It means he would become your faithful companion. He’d fight for you to his death.”, Alistair interjected.
   To his death, she repeated to herself. “Let us hope that it would never come to that. I will come back”, she smiled at the Kennel Master.
   “We really should be going”, Alistair grabbed the back of her arm and pulled her away from the kennels. “We need to find Ser Jory and Daveth and report back to Duncan.”
   “Fine”, she said as she pulled her arm free. She followed Alistair, she even tried matching his long strides. “I would be able to follow you better if you slowed down, you know.” She called from behind him. “How do you know I am still following you?”
   He stopped and turned to her, “Because you walk very loudly for someone who wears robes and not armour.”
   “I-”, she started.
   “You should work on that”, he said with a smile.
   She practiced walking quietly while they searched for the rest of the group.
   “Daveth,” Alistair called out to a tan man with a short beard and two daggers strapped to his back.
   “Alistair”, the man responded. “Is it time to report to Duncan already?”
   “Yes, follow us.”
   “Us?”, he asked then looked to Kitsune who was following Alistair so closely she was almost blocked out of view by his large build. “Oh! Our fourth companion is a-”
   “A woman, yes.” Alistair said impatiently.
   “Well… actually I was going to say-”
   “Silver haired? Yes, we have already discussed that haven’t we Kitsune?”, Alistair stepped to the side.
   Kitsune glared at Daveth. Had no one ever seen an elf before? This was getting ridiculous. “It is nice to meet you,” she gave her hand to Daveth with no trace of her annoyance in her voice or on her face.
   “Same”, he said as he shook it. “Well I guess we best be off then?”
   “We must find Ser Jory and then we can speak with Duncan.”, Alistair led the way. Kitsune practiced walking quietly. She focused on the bobbing sword and shield on Alistair’s back to keep her strides in time with his. She used her light weight to her advantages.
   They found Ser Jory near a Chanting man. He too almost called out the obviousness that was her race but Alistair smoothly deflected it. They went to Duncan who was standing next to a large fire in the middle of Ostagar.
   “Alistair”, he greeted him. “I see everyone has made it. Very well then”, he looked between the four of them as he spoke. “As part of officially becoming Grey Wardens you must go through a series of trials.” She heard Daveth mumble something under his breath. “The first of which is to enter the Kocari Wilds.”
   “The Wilds?”, Daveth spoke up. “You mean where the Witch lives? You want us to go in there?”
   “A witch?”, Jory questioned. “I thought we were fighting Darkspawn?”
   “We are fighting Darkspawn it’s just-”, Alistair sighed. Duncan shook his head and Kitsune giggled to herself.
   Their mission was simple. Go into the Wilds, fill three vials with Darkspawn blood (one for each of the new recruits) then find some documents left behind by earlier Grey Wardens.
   Kitsune had never killed anything before, the concept was still very new to her. But something in the dark recesses of her mind was kind of excited about it.
   “You don’t talk much do you?”, Daveth asked her as they walked through the Wilds.
“Only when she’s talking about dogs.”, Alistair chimed in.
Kitsune laughed when Daveth rolled his eyes.
“We’ve been walking forever without a sign of anything”, Jory complained. “I’m beginning to think
these Darkspawn are all made up.”
Alistair who had been leading, stopped abruptly. The rest of them followed. “Ser Jory, I don’t care what you think. I know there are Darkspawn in these Wilds. I have killed them and they have killed many Grey Wardens.” His demeanor was much different. This must be one thing he took very seriously. “As a Grey Warden we have the ability to sense Darkspawn.”
“Not wolves though?”, Kitsune asked. He raised a questioning eyebrow when she pulled her staff from her back. She shot an Arcane Bolt at one of the wolves running up on Alistair. It whimpered and rolled into the dirt. “Wolves, Alistair”, she said cooly.
Daveth and Jory readied their weapons as the rest of the wolf pack charged them. Blood splattered them all as the men cut, stabbed, and sliced at the wolves. Alistair had joined in the fight as well, standing with his shield between the mage and the alpha wolf. She used Winter’s Grasp on the alpha. In its frozen state, Alistair sliced the wolf’s head off. The four of them caught their breath and sheathed their weapons. “No, Grey Wardens cannot sense wolves.” Alistair's cheeks turned pink.
She smiled gently at the embarrassed warrior. “Do not fret, Warden. You have a mage on your side now.”
“You know, why do I get the feeling that you’re being sarcastic?”
“I would never”, she chided. “That is your forte. I am the silent one.”
Daveth cleared his throat, “Can we get going? I don’t want to stay here and wait for more of those to
show up. Or something worse.”
“Right”, Alistair led them deeper into the Wilds. Kitsune continued her practice. She felt that she was improving with her stealth.   “Stop”, Alistair halted. “Darkspawn”, he whispered. They hid in the brush nearby.
Kitsune poked her head out, just enough to see. The creatures were revolting. They smelled like blood and death, they looked like monsters from a nightmare. Their teeth protruded out of their mouths, their skin was green and oily. A firm grip on her silver hair made her scream out in pain. So much for stealth. “Let go!”, she struggled against the fiend holding her.
“Dammit”, she heard Alistair curse. Then the hand tumbled to the ground, immediately she felt blood dripping down her face. She grabbed for her staff. Daveth and Jory had already jumped out of the brush and were hacking away at the Darkspawn. “Kitsune!” Alistair called for her. He had his shield held in the air, stopping the blows from the one handed monster. “Sword!” She looked around the brush. His sword must have been taken from him after he cut her free from the enemy's grasp.
She found the sword a few feet away, it was much heavier than it looked. She wrapped both of her hands around the blade and let the warmth flow from her belly. Within moments the sword was drenched in red flames. “Alistair!”, she ran towards the Grey Warden. She tossed the sword into the air, he caught it briefly by its flaming point and before it could burn through his gloves threw it into the monster’s face. The Darkspawn slumped to its knees and fell onto its back. Alistair tore the flaming sword from its face with a sickening sound. The other Darkspawn had been killed by Jory and Daveth. Alistair pulled three vials from a pouch he kept at his waist.
“Take these and fill them with blood”, he handed one to each of the men but kept one for himself. “Come here”, he said to Kitsune. She complied. He pulled the cork from the small vial with his teeth and ran a hand through her hair. She didn’t move as he collected the blood from her hair and put it in the vial. “There we are.” He handed her the vial. “We wouldn’t want your hair to get stained now would we?” He unhooked the water canteen from his waist. “Close your mouth. You don’t want to swallow any blood.” She closed her mouth and her eyes. She shivered as water and blood flowed down her head and face. “All done.”
She wiped her face on her robes. “Thank you”, she said as she wrung the remain liquids out of her hair.
Daveth and Jory returned with their vials full. “We’ve got the vials. All that’s left is to get the papers”, said Jory.
None of them really knew what the papers were for exactly but they would retrieve them anyway. There were a few more Darkspawn lurking around the Wilds. Each time they were attacked Kitsune stood a reasonable distance away from the creatures. Her spells proved to be extremely effective against the monsters. She had even managed to freeze several Darkspawn before they could attack Ser Jory.
They came to the old ruins that had been left behind by the Grey Wardens before them. Alistair found an old chest and smashed it open with sword. To his dismay it was empty. “I don’t understand… Duncan wouldn’t have lied to us”, he said as he stared at the splintered wood of the chest.
“I have a terrible feeling”, Jory said. “Like we’re being watched.”
No one disagreed with him.
   “‘Tis this?” A cold voice came from the bushes near the ruins. “A group of thieves or maybe you are survivors of the Darkspawn’s rampage through the Wilds?” A woman with yellow eyes, black hair, and very little clothing stepped from behind the bushes.
   “S-She’s the witch of the Wilds!”, Daveth stuttered. “I told you a witch lived here.”
“Calm down, Daveth”, Alistair said. “Don’t speak to her.”
The woman had a staff strapped to her back. Kitsune had never seen a apostate before and was intrigued by the woman. “What is your name?”, she asked.
“Don’t”, Alistair said through gritted.
“She might turn us into toads”, said Ser Jory.
Kitsune laughed loudly at this, “If she were going to do that why would she have shown herself?” She
looked to the apostate, “She must have something to tell us?”
Alistair sighed and shook his head. “If we’re all turned into swamp animals I’ll blame you.”
She ignored him, “My name is Kitsune. Who are you?”
The woman smiled a dark smile. “Morrigan. I see your women are not as dumb as your men, Grey Warden”, she said to Alistair.
“How did you know we were Wardens?”, Kitsune asked before Alistair could say anything to offend Morrigan.
“There have been a few of you recently. You are trying to cleanse this area of the Darkspawn’s taint, no?”
She nodded. “We were looking for something in this chest.   Do you know what happened to it?”
Morrigan sighed and took a moment to answer. “My mother has what you seek.”
“Your mother?”, Alistair asked.
“I would take you to her if you like”, she ignored Alistair completely.
“Yes, thank you”, Kitsune smiled.
The five of them made their way deeper into the Wilds. There were no darkspawn, but that didn’t keep her from being uncomfortable and alert as they made their way through the swamp.
- 5
- 6
- 7
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The Mage and the Templars