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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Kitsune and Alistair spent the rest of the day preparing for the battle. “There will be many Darkspawn tonight. Many different kinds as well”, Alistair said as he sharpened his longsword on a grinding wheel. Sparks flew from the iron. “Some of them can cast spells, you will take them out first.”

“What of the ones that do not cast spells?”, she kicked at the dirt.

He looked her in the face, something he had only done once before. “Stay behind me and I’ll protect you of course. Here”, he said tossing a sheathed dagger to her. “if you get surrounded you’re spells will be useless.”

She raised an eyebrow, “If I get surrounded? You mean if you fail to protect me?”

“If I die.”

He said it with such finality that she took a step back. “You will not die.”

Alistair laughed, “You don’t have to be so serious all the time. You’re much prettier when you smile.”

She smiled, “You think I am pretty?”

He wiped the blade of his sword on his tunic before placing it in its sheath. “I’d be blind if I didn’t. And you know, I can see just fine most days.”

She laughed. She wanted to say she thought he was handsome. She liked his sharp jaw line, his red hair, the crinkle he got in his nose when he didn’t like something, his amber eyes. The memory of honey eyes and warm hands on her thighs kept her mouth shut. She just stared at him and admired the way the fabric of his tunic tighten as he moved.

“What?”, he asked her when he noticed her staring. “Maker’s breath! That wasn’t too bold was it?”

She shook her head, “No I just…”, she stopped herself. Cullen was far away from her now. It was best to forget about him. Forget about his smile, the stubble on his chin. Forget about his lips on hers. Forget how hurt she was when he was in comatose. Her eyes started to water and her nostrils involuntarily flared. Before he could ask, she ran off.

She ran toward the kennels, looking for a place she could be alone. Through the tears in her eyes she saw a familiar face near the mage’s tents. She wiped her eyes and called out to the woman, “Senior Enchanter?”

Wynne looked up from the book she was reading and squinted at the girl a few feet in front of her, “Kitsune?”

Kitsune ran towards the woman and sank to her knees, wrapping her thin arms around the old woman’s waist. How could she forget? Wynne said she was joining the King’s army.

“What are you doing here, child?”, Wynne pushed Kitsune’s shoulders back enough to look at her tear stained face. “You were at the tower when I left.”

Kitsune collected herself and told Wynne everything. She told her about Cullen and Greagoir and Duncan. She told her how everything seemed to be unravelling before her. “I had to repay him, so I became a Grey Warden.”

Wynne moved loose tendrils of silver hair from the elf’s face. “That was both foolish and brave. I do believe I’ve told you that once before.”

Kitsune felt relieved. She hadn’t talked about this yet and it was the release she needed. “I know.”

“It is a miracle in itself that you survived the Joining. The Maker must have plans for you.”

“The Maker has plans for us all”, his sarcastic voice came from behind her.

“Alistair?”, Kitsune turned to see him standing tall above her and Wynne. “How long have you been standing there?”

He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, “Long enough to know why you became a Grey Warden.”

She squinted her eyes and frowned deeply, “You were eavesdropping?”

“I came to tell you Duncan had summoned us but you were talking to this mage-”

“Her name is Senior Enchanter Wynne”, Kitsune said through gritted teeth.

“You were talking to Wynne-”

“Senior Enchanter”, she interrupted him again.

“Kitsune”, Wynne said quietly. “It’s alright he doesn’t have to-”

Kitsune put her hand up, “You will show this woman more respect than you show the other mages. Myself included. How dare you eavesdrop on our conversation. If I wanted you to know the truth I would have told you.” Her face was burning with embarrassment and shame. She was broken. What Greagoir did to her and Cullen made her sick to her stomach. The tears had fully dried and now all she felt was anger.

Alistair looked hurt and apologetic when he said, “I don’t think of you any differently, Kitsune.”

She walked towards him and looked into those amber eyes that made her want to sigh. “I do not care what you think of me, Templar.” She turned to bow to Wynne, “Senior Enchanter.”

She stomped off in the direction of the Warden’s camp. She wasn’t angry at him, she was furious. Why would he do such an idiotic thing? She wasn’t ready to tell him. She wanted him to think that she wasn’t broken. With him she could try to pretend that the events in the Tower were just a bad dream in the Fade. “Kitsune?”, a hand wrapped itself around her wrist.

“Alistair, let go”, she tried to pull her wrist free but his hand was completely closed around her wrist.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.” He stopped her in front of an oak tree and pulled her under the shade of its branches. “You were upset after what I said and I came to check on you.” He leaned against the trunk of the tree and pulled her in front of him. “I saw you with”, he paused and raised an eyebrow, “Senior Enchanter Wynne and you were so upset. I just wanted to make sure it was nothing I said.”

She shook her head, “It was not your fault”, she folded her arms across her chest. It was cold under the shade of the oak.

“Good. I don’t take it back”, Alistair rubbed her arms with his hands. “I stand by it.”

“That I am prettier when I smile?”, the friction of his hands on her arms made her shiver. His hands were calloused and rough but his touch was gentle.

He nodded. “I thought you didn’t care what I think?” His hands lingered on her arms.

She wanted to be close to him. He was warm and the autumn wind was nipping at her skin. “You are the only friend I have amongst this chaos. I apologize for getting so angry with you.” She let him draw her closer to him. Her head only came up to his chest. She wanted very much to be comforted by the sound of his heart in her ears. “I did not want you to know.”

He tucked her silver hair behind her ears. “I told you it doesn’t change what I think about you. Well now I know not to disrespect any mages around you.”

She laughed.

“Honestly, I thought you were going to strike me down with my own sword”, he smiled.

She shook her head. “I would never hurt you.”

“Nor I you”, he sighed. “It hasn’t been very long but can I tell you something?”

Their eyes met as she nodded.

“I feel like I’ve known you my whole life. I feel like we’ve been best friends since we were children.”

She knew what he meant. It was so easy to trust him. They had only known each other for two days but something about him was so easy to open up to. Even if he was eavesdropping. “I know what you mean. Maybe it is the Taint. Since we are both new to the Grey Wardens we can relate to each other.”

He rested his hands at his sides, “Yeah, that must be it.”

She didn’t honestly think that. What she thought was she was lonely and Alistair filled the hole in her heart. She looked at his hands. She wanted to know what his fingers felt like between hers. She shook the thought away. No more of this.

“Maker!”, he exclaimed suddenly. “Duncan wanted to see us ages ago!” He grabbed her hand and they ran towards the war table. Their fingers weren’t intertwined, his hand cupped hers.

They were both out of breath and still holding hands when the made it to Duncan. “Took the two of you quite a while”, Duncan said with his arms folded across his chest. “Next time I expect you here sooner.”

“Yes, ser.” They said in unison. Kitsune freed her hand from his.

“You will be a vital point in our success in the battle tonight”, Duncan said. “King Cailan has requested you two to personally see this mission accomplished.”

“What is it?”, Alistair asked eagerly.

“If the horde gets too close to the southern tower, we need the two of you to light the beacon and signal for the Teryn’s man to drive the enemy forces back”, Duncan watched Alistair’s face carefully as he spoke.

Alistair laughed, a strange snorting sound. “What? Light the beacon?”

Kitsune too felt that this was much too easy a task for them. “We join the battle afterwards, then?”

“We will see but that should not be necessary”, Duncan said flatly.

“Not necessary?!”, Alistair was shouting now. “It’s a job for messanger not two Wardens who are more than ready to fight!”

“I will not argue with my King and you shall not argue with your Commander!”, Duncan was shouting too.

Alistair’s face softened almost immediately. “I’m sorry Duncan. I just don’t see how this is fair. Or smart.”

Kitsune agreed with him but remained silent as their Commander spoke, “It’s alright, Alistair.”

The young Warden sighed and ran his hair through his red hair, “Just so you know if the King asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I won’t do it.”

She lost her composure and laughed almost too hard. “I would love to see that.”

“For you maybe.” Alistair looked thoughtfully at his Commander. “Maker watch over you tonight, Duncan.”

Duncan nodded, “May he watch over us all.”
“Are you afraid?”, he asked her.

“A bit, yes.”

“Don’t be”, he elbowed her in the arm. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. Do you still have that dagger?”

She touched the small of her back where she had it hilted. “Alistair?”, she sounded nervous in her own ears.

   He didn’t speak. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Her face resting uncomfortably against his armour. “I’m sorry”, he said as he pushed them apart. “You never know, right?”

   His arms felt good wrapped around her small frame. “Do not say things like that.”

   Alistair chuckled, “It was mostly just and excuse to hug you.”

   She stared into his amber eyes, “You do not need an excuse”, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “It feels good.”

   He put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her in tighter than before, “You shouldn’t have said that. Now I’m just going to do it whenever I like. I might be hiding in the bushes while you’re have a private moment and then… SURPRISE!”, he squeezed her so tight she thought she might snap in half.

   She studied his smile, the lines on the corner of his eyes, the softness of his lips. “You are so handsome”, she whispered.

   “W-What?”, he was almost more shocked than she was. “You think I’m handsome?”, he raised his eyebrow.

   She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, “I-I…”, she felt a pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach. What about the one she left behind? No, this is my life now. I am a Grey Warden. His arms feel so safe and strong. Please do not ever let me go, Alistair. She wiggled in his arms trying to see if he would release her. “Yes”, she said flatly. She reached her hands up to cradle his face. His face was extremely hot, he must be nervous about the battle. His beard was prickly under her palms.

   “Your hands are cold”, his cheeks squished together as he spoke.

   She laughed at his pudgy face, “You look better like this”, she pushed his cheeks together and continued to laugh.

   “Wet go”, he said with his lips pursed awkwardly together. “It huwurts.”

   She laughed so hard she snorted a bit, “I am sorry”, she said as she smoothed out his face. She kept her hands on his warm face. “Promise me something.” He raised his eyebrow in response. “Promise you will not leave my side once the battle starts.”

   He hugged her tight until she felt something in her crack, “Never. Promise me you’ll stay within sight.”

   She nodded, “Always.”

   They both jumped when they heard the horn of battle.
   It started raining at some point during the battle. They stayed close to the bridge. Close enough to hear the sounds of the Darkspawn arrows whistling through the night. Close enough to see some of the Wardens and King’s Army wounded on the ground. Alistair peered past the bridge. “It’s time.”

   Alistair had armour and a shield to protect himself and Kitsune had her spells. She used a Rock Armour spell to protect herself. They crossed the bridge carefully. Avoiding arrows and various other projectiles was no easy task for the newest Warden. Alistair walked beside her protecting her with his shield. “We are almost there”, she said when Alistair barely missed an arrow.

   Suddenly there was an explosion in front of them. The two of them flew backwards and she landed on the stone bridge with such force it almost rendered her spell completely useless. Her ears were ringing and it was quite some time before she was able to inhale again. She looked behind her to see Alistair gripping his shield arm and writhing in pain. “Alistair”, she called to him. Her voice sounded muffled in her still ringing ears. She reached him with her staff and healed his arm. “Better?”

   He got to his feet and helped her up, “Let’s hurry.”

   They crossed the crumbling bridge before it was no longer traversable. She stayed close behind him, watching the the area behind him. “Wait”, she hissed. “Do you hear that?”

“What? I don’t hear anything, Kitsune”, he whispered.

Her life in the circle made her very susceptible to the sounds of silence. She put a long pale finger to her lips and pointed to the north east. Over there, she mouthed. Behind the trees.

His gaze followed her finger. He squinted and nodded.

She gathered Chain of Lightning in her staff and shot it at the Hurlock behind a tree. It growled in pain before falling to the earth and four more Darkspawn came from behind the trees. Alistair ran ahead and launched a one man attack while Kitsune shot spell after spell at the archer. This group was killed easily but they knew there would be more. They reached the stairs to the tower when Alistair said, “There’s no Darkspawn.”

He was right, she looked around and saw nothing, “Maybe they are inside”, she said pointing to the tower.

Alistair shook his head, “They shouldn’t be, they should be attacking the southern tower where Duncan and the King are.”

“We should go. We have to light the beacon,” she said as she ran up the stone stairs of the tower as he followed close behind. She put her hands on the large wooden doors when Alistair pulled her back by the waist. “What?”, she hissed.

“Let me go first. I have a shield remember”, he eased the door open and put his shield in front of him. Kitsune enhanced his sword with an ice spell before he stepped inside. She followed behind him, unaware if he could feel her hands through the armour on his back. “Be quiet”, he said as she shut the doors behind them. He pulled the dagger out of the sheath from her back. “No spells.”

No spells? She had never physically killed anything. She barely knew how to hold the dagger. She complied and followed him down the hall of the tower. She walked quietly like she had practiced in the Wilds. She held the dagger in her left hand and strapped the staff to her back. The feeling of defenselessness was a new one to her. Hopefully Alistair would make good on that promise.

They sidled against the wall when they came to the stairs leading up to the next floor. “Alistair”, she pulled on his arm guard when he started up the stairs.

“What?”, he turned to her with an impatient look on his face.

She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She didn’t want to continue up this tower. Something was wrong, it was much too quiet. “I have a bad feeling about this. I think we should find some help.”

“We don’t have time, we need to light the beacon. It’s alright. I promise.”

She let his arm go and followed him up the stairs. With every step her stomach sank deeper and deeper. The door at the top of the stairs seemed to have been opened by force but the top of the tower was completely empty. “See”, he said. “It’s empty. The beacon is right over there.”

This all seemed too easy. She had the same feeling now as she did in the library when the Abomination had gotten loose. An uneasy feeling hung in the air. Kitsune looked around the grand room.

Alistair was on the other side of the room when he turned to her and screamed, “Kitsune!”

   Her blood splattered on the nearby wall. The first arrow protruded from her left shoulder. The second in the stomach. The third in the center of her chest. She could taste warm metal on her tongue. They came in through the windows and the door behind her. There were so many Darkspawn she couldn’t see Alistair on the other side of the room. She couldn’t stand anymore. Her knees cracked against the stone floor when she fell. Maker, she thought, where is he? She searched for him and found him tangled near the center of the horde. Slashing and hacking and freezing the enemies with her ice spell. She saw the flare in his eyes as he killed each monster.

   A Genlock rushed her from the center of the horde. He ran quickly with his curved blade high in the air ready to strike her down. She gripped the dagger as tightly as she could thrust it outward. The Genlock ran into it stomach first. It slid into his body. His blood dripped down her hand. She couldn’t remove the blade. The Darkspawn fell back and remained motionless. The beacon. I have to light it. She reached for her staff, moving her arm behind her made her cry out in pain. The arrows in her torso made it painful to even breathe. Her left hand was almost too weak to grip the staff but she managed to hold it with both hands.

   A weak fire spell shot from the tip of her staff and lit the dried sticks in the base of the beacon. This got Alistair’s attention. There were several Darkspawn attacking him from every angle. He was a skilled fighter but she knew he would not last much longer. I have to help him. Maker’s breath I cannot feel my arm. She gathered a lightning spell in her stomach. Please let this save him. She shot the lightning from the tip of her staff and watched it zigzag it’s way to every Darkspawn that surrounded the Warden. She looked up to the high ceiling of the tower and wished she could see the stars of the night sky. Let me stay a little while longer. I have so much I wanted to tell him. Whether she meant Cullen or Alistair, she wasn’t sure. Maybe both. Her eyes closed before she hit the cold stone floor.
- 7
- 8
- 9
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The Mage and the Templars