Aedan Of Highever

by Milton Garby

  Back as Soldier's Peak...

  XoXoXo

  Within a week they found theselves back at Soldier's Peak, though the journey was much harder than it had ever been. The south was now being completely overrun by darkspawn and Loghain's armies were nowhere to be see. Well, nowhere to be seen helpful at least. They actually came upon soldiers of Loghain's trying to take a local lord's land by force when the lord and his men refused him. Aedan and his comrades assisted in killing the Mac Tir upstarts. When they made it back, all of their companions were ecstatic to see them, even Sten showed approval of their return and Shale was trying to hide her relief. Aedan handed the dragonbone and scales over to Mikael to make arms and armor for the troops and then set off to find Morrigan.

  This entire time Morrigan cooped herself in her room, waiting for Aedan's return. She heard a knock upon her door and felt a wave of relief wash over her when she saw that it was her lover that entered. She fought the urge to kiss and shower him with affection as he entered the room alive and unharmed; she had to fight the urge even harder when he presented her with her mother's true spell book.

  "Ah. Mother's real Grimoire, is it? You have my thanks, Aedan. I shall begin studying the tome immediately." She took the tome and set it down on her desk.

  "So now Flemeth is dead, now what?" Aedan asked.

  "Now I have enough time to study mother's Grimoire to find a way to prevent her from stealing my body in the future. For she will be back. One day. I have no doubt of it. And if I cannot protect myself, one day I will track her down myself and slay her in whatever body she posseses…and she will die again. And again if needs be." Morrigan explained fervently. "But…there is no need to think of such things now, is there? I have you to thank for saving me, so…let us return to the task of dealing with the darkspawn, no?"

  Aedan gently brought his hand to her face and looked at her, his blue eyes full of promise and care. "I will always protect you, Morrigan." He swore, causing her knees to grow weak and her heart beat erratically again.

  "I…there is too much that could happen in the future. For you to make such…promises." Morrigan flushed. "There is still much to done before…..There is still much to be done."

  Aedan could see that she wanted to be left alone and respected her wishes. When he was gone Morrian tossed her mother's tome away into her traveling sack. She pulled out the mirror her lover gave her and once more hugged it to her chest, and this time she let her tears flow freely down her face. She couldn't deny it or fight it anymore. Despite all her efforts and intentions, she was in love. She was in love with Aedan, and she couldn't do anything about it. She continued to weep gently at this revelation. This weakness that she had fallen prey to was only going to make what needed to be done even harder. Just thinking about it…made her heart start to break: she didn't know that was even possible.

  Werewolves, Dalish and Curses, Oh My!

  They had begun their search for the Dalish Elves. They had heard along their way around the country that there was a clan of Dalish inside the Brecilian Forest. This made Aedan worried for a number of reasons. 1: This territory was further down south where darkspawn pretty much had free reign thanks to Loghain's negligence. 2: The Dalish were considered to be merely a myth because of their ability to not be found unless they wanted to be, so going into the Brecilian and finding nothing would only waste precious time. 3: Even if they did find the free elves, they may not have the numbers the Wardens need to combat the Blight or even want to send their own to die for human problems. 4: Most importantly, the Dalish may just kill them rather than lend any assistance.

  As they entered the supposed haunted forest Aedan's mind drifted back to the conversation him and Morrigan had since they left Soldier's Peak.

  Flash Back….

  Aedan sat at his desk late at night after everyone had gone to bed, overlooking the expenses and needs of his growing army. His forces were steadily growing, but he wasn't sure they were ready to combat the Blight, and Aedan didn't want to risk their numbers and supplies fighting Loghain. The constant assessing and evaluating was causing Aedan's head to hurt so much he decided to start drawing to take his mind off of the stresses of his duty. Just as he was about to set his pencil to paper there was a knock on his door. It was Morrigan. She entered his room and slowly, quietly walked up to him, her face was plastured with confusion and…regret? "I wish to ask something of you." She announced quietly and averting his eyes.

  "Oh? What about?"

  "I wish to know your opinion of…love." She finally mustered.

  This was most curious. "My opinion?"

  "You and I have been…intimate for some time. You even fought Flemeth for me without hope of reward." Morrigan explained, her hands fidgeting with each other. "I feel…anxious when I look upon you, my heart races and I feel…weak whenever I see you in danger. I detest this sense of dependency, 'tis is a weakness I abhor. If this is love then I wish to ascertain that you do not feel the same way. Please. Please, tell me 'tis so." The witch beseeched.

  Aedan couldn't understand what she was saying. She had told him once that love is a weakness, one that she refused to suffer. No doubt a lesson she learned from Flemeth's warped mind. Aedan didn't know how to respond. Did he really have such an impact on her that she was questioning her own beliefs? Did he love her? Morrigan was unlike any woman he'd ever been with; more than beautiful, she was mysterious, fierce and independant. And as much as she may have yearned for it otherwise, he couldn't bring himself to tell her falsely. "And if I do love you?"

  Her eyes became shocked and her voice became frantic. "Then we are both fools and we must do something about it." She declared as if this emotional revelation was some kind of disease. "I have allowed myself to become…too close. This a weakness for us both."

  Aedan tried bring his hand to Morrigan's face but she pulled away from him. "Love is not a weakness, Morrigan." He tried to assure her.

  "You are not listening!" She argued. "Do not be such a blind fool! I am not like other women. I am not worthy of your distraction, and you are not worthy of mine."

  "Why are you so afraid of this, Morrigan?" Aedan asked urgently.

  "Tis all so…unexpected." She admitted. "I have no experience with it. Yet I find myself…wanting it, hungering for more of it. For you." Morrigan's eyes went wide with shock at what she just said. "No. No this isn't right. This isn't what I want. I can't live like this. Please. Please, release me." She begged. "Release me, and make me believe you and I…will be grateful."

  Aedan could see the desperation in her eyes. Why did this frighten her so much? Was having love for someone truly so terrible to her. He gently took her hands into his and looked at her eyes longingly. "I...I don't want this to end, Morrigan."

  Morrigan's eyes flashed with anger and she yanked her hands out of Aedan. "You miserable, selfish bastard!" Morrigan's right hand sharply smacked angrily across Aedan's face leaving a red blemish and loud clap on his cheek. Aedan's face snapped to the side, but he didn't respond to her strike. The anger in her eyes quickly turned into sorrow. She grabbed his face and pulled it to hers, pouring all her passion and sorrow into a heartfealt kiss. When their faces separated hers was filled with even more regret. "You will regret this, and so will I." she promised sorrowfully. "And perhaps that is simply how it must be."

  She turned from him and tried to leave, but Aedan wrapped his arms around and tried to give her comfort. She let out a longing gasp as he kissed her neck longingly. "No matter what happens, Morrigan." He whispered into his lover's ear. "I will never regret loving you."

  Morrigan's eyes were now on the verge of weeping but she couldn't let her weakness be seen by him. "If…if only I could feel the same." She released herself from his loving arms and quickly ran out of her love's room, weeping tears of sorrow and regret as she went. Morrigan couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye the same way again.

  Back to the Present….

  Ever since then Morrigan had been avoiding him, no
t speaking to him but kept her barbed tongue pointed towards everyone else.

  They had been searching for at least two days now and still found nothing. Aedan went as far as calling out to the Dalish saying that they were in need of assistance but to no avail. On the third day they continued their search and traveled further into the forest than they had intended. That was when they appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, the Dalish Elves! Aedan could scarcely believe it. They just appeared so suddenly, like apparitions, as if from the forest itself had hidden them, and they were all armed. Now if they could sneak up on them like this, Aedan wanted to see how well they could sneak up on darkspawn.

  "Stop right there, outsider!" said the blonde elf in charge. "The Dalish have camped in this spot. I suggest you go elsewhere, and quickly." Her tone was not only threatening, it was promising.

  Aedan noticed that all the Dalish elves had intricate tattoos on their faces, they reminded him of the tattoos the Avvar and the Chasind use. He also noticed that there were at least 20 archers with arrows pointed at them. Aedan had no desire to fight these elves so he would have to use everything his parents taught him of diplomacy.

  "Actually, we've been looking for the Dalish Elves." Alistair admitted.

  "I find that hard to believe." The same elf said skeptically. "What business could our clan have with a group like yours?"

  "We are Grey Wardens and we have come here for the Dalish to uphold the treaties they signed with our Order for assistance in times of a Blight." Aedan said authoritively.

  "Grey Wardens? But…. How do I know that what you are saying is true?" The elf questioned.

  "How many people actually come to you and say they're Wardens?" Aedan snorted.

  "That's true, Mithra, it wouldn't help these…people much by pretending something there not. Especially when they claim to be Wardens." A fellow Dalish pointed out.

  "You raise an interesting point, lethalan." Mithra confirmed and turned back towards Aedan's company. "I will let our Keeper speak to you. In the camp I suggest you keep to your best behavior and know that our arrows are still trained on you."

  As they entered the camp Aedan saw what a marvel the Dalish were. Their "camp" for lack of a better word was more akin to a large community rather than a small tribe. Their wagons, called Aravels, were flagged with their clan's banner on what looked like sails on top of them. Were these capable of floating on water? Towards the back of the camp were the mythical white stags of the Dalish, the Halla. Aedan had hunted plenty of deer but these Halla were much larger than deer and looked strong and capable enough to carry a rider on their backs. He also noticed that they had intricately formed antlers. Aedan read in a book once that the Halla were companions of the Dalish people just as the Mabari were for the Fereldan people, or as the Griffons originally once were for the Ortho tribesman of the Anderfels.

  Mithra lead them through the camp until they reached who Aedan guessed was their leader. A tall man for an elf, even taller than some humans, infact he stood a foot taller than Aedan. He was an old elf, but it was impossible to determine his age with the lack of wrinkles on his face, and his bald head lacked any greying hairs. But Aedan could feel the long years of experience and seasons that seemed to radiate off him, almost akin to the presence Wynne carried. There was an air of authority around him, but not like that of a commander or leader, but more that of a teacher or a priest. He noticed all the other elves had a way of looking at him, like most children would look at their father.

  "Hmm, I see we have guests." The old elf asked in an intrigued but neutral tone. All of a sudden Dane lunged out and begun barking and snarling furiously at the old mage. "Hmph! And I see they have brought a hound with them. As if we haven't had enough of our fair share of these wreteched animals." The elder elf scoffed.

  "Dane, heel." Aedan called to his dog who loyally complied. That was strange. Usually Dane was very sociable, but something about this old elf made Dane very angry. Aedan took it as a sign to be wary, after all, Mabari were not known for leading their partners astray.

  "Who are these strangers, Mithra? I have precious little time for visitors today." The Keeper asked the hunter vexingly.

  "This one claims to be a Grey Warden, Zathrian." The hunter answered obediently. "I thought it would be best for you to speak with them."

  "That was wise of you, Mithra. Dareth Shiral."

  "Ma nuvenin, Keeper." And with that the young hunter took her leave.

  "Now, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Zathrian, the keeper of this clan and you are…?"

  "My name is Aedan Cousland, representing the Grey Wardens of Ferelden. A pleasure to meet you." Aedan said with as much courtesy as he could muster while giving a respectful bow.

  The keeper raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Manners? From a shemlen? Interesting. No doubt you are here to inform us of the Blight that has stricken this land, yes?"

  "Actually I have come here to request assistance combating the Blight and to see the agreement between your people and my Order is honored."

  "You are referring to the treaty we made with your Order? I figured as much. I have been aware of the Blight's corruption for sometime and have been trying to move my clan westword."

  "Does that mean you won't honor the treaties your people signed?" Aedan asked worrisome that all of this would have been a waste of time.

  "No, the Dalish are not a people who go back on their word, but I'm afraid we may not be able to lend your Order any assistance." The Keeper said in a solemn and sad voice. "Come, this will require explaning." Zathrian motioned them to follow him and he led them to a part of the camp that looked like it was under quarantine. As they went past the tents they saw dozens of elves all bloodied and wounded, lying on stretchers and makeshift cots with all the nurses tirelessly trying to tend to all of them.

  "My clan came to the Brecillian forest a month ago, we are well aware of the dangers that lie within these woods, but we did not expect the werewolves to lying in wait for us. We were…ambushed and although we drove the beasts back, many of our warriors and hunters lay dying as we speak. Even with all of our magic and healing skills we cannot save all of them."

  Aedan could scarcely believe his ears "Werewolves? Here?" he said while tracing his fingers on the winged laurel wreath adorning the shield strapped to his back.

  "Yes, there was a time when there were many in this country." The elf answered.

  "Flemeth once told me that werewolve once overran these lands, that werewolves were possessed beasts, not unlike abominations." Morrigan explained obviously intrigued.

  "I understand that the Blight must be stopped and that it is your duty to combat it, but we are in no position to help. I am sorry." Zathrian explained sincerely.

  Aedan could understand the clan's plight, however, no matter what his duty to his country demanded that he could not leave these woods without further assistance. He had to find some way to help these elves. Besides his family was raised to the status Teryn by leading successful campaigns against the werewolves. There was no way he was going to miss this opprutunity to carry on an old family tradition. "There must be some way to help your warriors. To combat this Blight we need as much help as we can get, the simplest of soldiers might make all the difference."

  "Perhaps there is a way you can help us. Within these woods there is a great wolf, Witherfang, it is from him that the curse originates. If I were to have his heart I might, perhaps, be able to cure our hunters from the affliction in there veins." The Keeper explained.

  "You said 'perhaps'." Wynne observed.

  "There is no gurantee that this is what will cure our wounded. I have sent hunters into the woods bring back Witherfang's heart themselves but they have not returned, and I cannot risk sending more of my clan. If you were to help us in this matter we would owe you greatly."

  "Enough to help the Grey Wardens stop the darkspawn?" Aedan asked.

  "Without hesitation." The Keeper confirmed.

  "Then we have an agreemen
t."

  "I cannot thank you enough, then. Please feel free to explore the camp and trade with our craftsmaster I only ask that you behave yourselves and keep that witch away from our children." Zathrian warned glaring at Morrigan.

  Morrigan looked both amused and insulted. "You speak to me in that tone when you have been offered assistance? You are either very brave or foolish."

  "You speak with both arrogance and ignorance, witch." Zathrian said the word as if it were bitter wine. "I would expect nothing less from a daughter of Asha'bellenar."

  That name, it was the Dalish name for Flemeth. It translated as "Woman of many Years". Aedan stepped in front of Morrigan defensively. "She is here to assist the Grey Wardens, I assure you she will do you or yours no harm."

  Unless you give me a reason. Morrigan thought to herself.

  Zathrian gave you her a cold hard stare then looked over to Aedan. "I'm afraid I have much to do. If you have any questions, please seek out my First, Lanaya. May the Creators speed your way." the Keeper turned from the Wardens and took his leave.

  "How will we know were to find Witherfang?" Aedan called as the Keeper walked away.

  "Watch for the white wolves." Zathrian called back. "They are his eyes and ears."

  Aedan and his companions decided to all go look around the camp and try their best not to upset these people. As Aedan went to go look for the craftsmaster a young Dalish woman approached him. She was a comely young lass with green eyes, honey blonde hair tied into two tight buns at the back of her head, and her tattoos somehow made her seem much prettier.

  "Andarin Atishan, Grey Warden." The young elf greeted politley. "I am Lanaya, Zathrian's First and I give you the welcome of our clan."

  Aedan noticed that her accent was different than the rest of the Dalish elves, as if she had to learn how to speak that way instead of growing up into it. "First? First of what?"

  "Your kind would call me an 'apprentice'. I have studied under the Keeper all my life."