Aedan Of Highever

by Milton Garby

  Aedan wiped a humored tear from his eye. "It's just so funny, Howe. You are so pathetic!" He mocked truthfully, "You couldn't surpass my family without being a bastard, and yet, despite everything you've done to me, everything you did to bury my houses name, I'm still here! I'm still standing!" Aedan stood before his enemy with pride and defiance. "No matter what you've done a Cousland is standing before you! And this time…there's no army, no surprises and no Loghain to hide behind. It's just you and me. And with your death I will know peace."

  "It would seem I was wrong again." Howe confirmed dismally. "You've done your family name justice, and I have no doubt your father would be proud. But if you think you can take everything I've gained after spending a life time in your father's shadow you are woefully mistaken."

  "No one touches Howe." Aedan ordered. "Kill the rest, quickly." Before Howe's apostates could tap into the Fade to activate their spells Alistair cleansed the area of mana, rendering the apostates useless. Before Howe's mages could down their lyrium potions Leliana masterfully shot them both through the mouths. Howe's bodyguards charged forward with swords, war-axes and shields. Unfortunately they charged right on to a parylization glyph Wynne had laid out, giving Sten and Oghren the perfect chance to behead them on the spot. Now Howe was all alone.

  "NO!" Howe cried angrily. "This can't be!"

  "Like I said Howe. Just you and me." Aedan set the Bear's Maul on the blood soaked ground and pulled out his hunting knife. "Now why don't you come over here and show me how you made my father beg!"

  Howe put on an almost convincing war face, but Aedan could see the fear in his eyes. Aedan's eyes, however, were filled with twisted joy and bloodlust. Howe swung his axe but Aedan caught it by the shaft. The arl whipped out a knife from his sleeve and quickly stabbed his enemy in the ribs! Howe yanked his axe out of Aedan's grip and backed away, laughing triumphantly.

  Aedan looked down at the expensive looking knife sticking out of him and casually pulled it out and tossed it to the ground. "Is that the best you've got, Howe?" Aedan asked with twisted sarcasm. "Come on, at least try to make a fight out of it! No wonder my father was always greater than you! You Howes fight like little bitches!"

  Howe swung his again, wildly and full of rage! Aedan skillfully dodged every attack, laughing at his enemy the whole time. "Stop Laughing!" Howe demanded. "I am Teryn Rendon Howe! I will not be mocked!" Howe swung at Aedan's, intent on decapitating his opponent. Aedan caught the axe by its head and wasn't even phased by the pain. Aedan gripped his hunting knife in his fist and slashed it across Howe's chest, cutting him deeply. The Warden grabbed his enemy by the neck and raised him over his head in both hands. The old man weighed almost nothing to Aedan. He brought Howe crashing down on his knee and felt his the bones of Howe's spine break and slammed him to the ground. Howe laid there screaming for a few moments as Aedan watched with that depraved look of glee in his eyes. "Maker spit on you!" Howe cursed. "I deserved…more!"

  Aedan knelt down on his crippled enemy. "Oh, but you do deserve more, Howe. And I'm going to give it to you." Aedan's grin was wide and sinister, and drooling in anticipation. And hunger. He held Howe's head in his powerful grip and turned the side of his face towards him. "All of you get out. Me and my old friend Howe have some catching up to do."

  Wynne understood that Aedan's family deserved to be avenged. But not like this. "Aedan, please." she begged. "If you kill this man like this, you'll be no better than him."

  "I can live with that." Aedan answered indifferently.

  Alistair knew Aedan deserved revenged but they still had a mission to accomplish. "Aedan, are you sure you want to do this?"

  "Killing him is my sole purpose for existing, Alistair. I must do this."

  "But we don't have that much time!" Alistair urged. "The queen is…."

  "GET! OUT!" Aedan roared one last time. Seeing that they weren't going to persuade him from this course of action they vacated the dungeon. The last thing Alistair saw of his fellow Warden before he closed the door was Aedan ripping off half of Howe's face with his teeth!

  Aedan's teeth sunk deeply into Howe's face and ever so slowly shredded the entire side of his face off. He savored the metallic taste of Howe's blood, and the shrill scream coming from Howe's eviscerated face was like music to Aedan's ears. After all the hardship, tribulation and bullshit Aedan had been through to get here made the flesh in his mouth taste all the sweeter. Aedan spat Howe's cheek out his mouth when it lost its flavor. What else could he cut off? He grabbed his hunting knife and ever so slowly sawed Howe's ear off, making him scream and sob in agony.

  Howe vainly tried to push Aedan's face to get him off, but to no avail. Instead Aedan grabbed the hand that was on his face and saw his father's ring on Howe's finger. Aedan grabbed that finger and snapped it like a chicken bone. He twisted the broken finger completely backwards ripped it right of Howe's hand, like a sausage being ripped in half. "Damn you!" Howe screamed! "Maker Damn You!"

  "The Maker's not here, Howe." Aedan answered as he rightfully placed his father's ring on his own finger. "He doesn't want to see what I'm doing to you." Aedan looked down at the pathetic little man that had caused him so much grief and decided to remind him of the lives he destroyed. Aedan tore Howe's armor and shirt off his body and set to work on him. Bryce. Eleanor. Orianna. Oren. Fergus. Old Nan. Gilmore. Mallol. Argyle. He carved all these names into Howe's skin. And then he carved the Cousland Wreath right into his forehead. "So that the souls of those you wronged will find you in the Fade!"

  Howe tried to kick and fight back but his broken back made it impossible. All he could do was scream, gnash his teeth and curse that the Maker would damn his tormentor. It was time for the bloody finish. Aedan sliced his knife down from Howe's sternum to his navel in one clean, deft stroke, causing Howe to writhe in searing agony the likes of which he never thought possible. The blood-crazed Warden grabbed his enemy by the hair and forced him to stare at his own eviscerated innards! Then Aedan speared his hand right into Howe's stomach like a lance! Howe screamed a blood curdling cry that sent Aedan's joy to new heights as he pulled out Howe's intestines right in front of his eyes. "I guess you had some guts after all, Howe." Aedan laughed.

  The Warden reached into his enemy's body one last time, twisting his hand around inside, and pulled out his prize. The last thing Howe saw before his world went completely black was Aedan Cousland chewing on his still beating heart!

  ~XoXoXo~

  The others waited outside the door as their leader inflicted his terrible vengeance on his hated enemy. Sten stood there stone-faced and callous as usual, while Zevran and Oghren's faces remained neutral. These men spent their whole lives surrounded by the horrible deaths of others, so this act of brutality was to be expected to them. Alistair tried to be as expressionless as them, but the screams coming from the other side of that door chilled his blood. He didn't know so much cruelty could exist inside a single person, but he reminded himself that this was what Howe earned. Maric acted no different to the men who betrayed Queen Rowan. Leliana knelt on the ground with her hands together praying to the Maker for forgiveness on Aedan's behalf. Wynne stood with arms folded, her face painted with distress as she tried to block at the sounds of Howe's death cries. Morrigan, however, remained completely composed and unphased by the horror inside the dungeon. But Alistair supposed that shouldn't be surprising. After being raised by Flemeth, who knows what kind of sick shit she's seen?

  After a while the screams died down and turned into the sound of wet gnashing. The door swung open and Aedan emerged from it, his face, hands and mouth were covered with blood. Morrigan noticed the look in Aedan's eyes were no longer filled with rage or sickening pleasure like they had been. Nor were they filled triumph or emptiness like some of them would have expected. Instead they were filled with a quiet relief. Like he finally overcame a great challenge and was glad that it was over. "It's done." Aedan said solemnly "Let's go. We still have a country to save."

  They all follo
wed after him out of the dungeons. But none dared to see what he had done to Howe. They didn't need the nightmares it would bring. But one question still remained. If Aedan could do this to the man who betrayed his family, what will he do to the man who betrayed his country?

  Judgment Day Part II

  The barrier finally came down and Anora opened the door. She was horrified by the gored body of a guard lying on the floor just outside the room. His face was frozen in pain and terror with his belly split open like fish. All around the hallway Howe's guards laid dead with their bodies cloven and broken. Did one man do all this? She had to be quick before someone other than her rescuers found her. Anora stripped the armor off several of the bodies that weren't too badly damaged or messy and returned to her room. Hopefully this disguise could get her to safety unseen. The armor barely fit on her small frame and the pieces threatened to slip off of her. The large helmet almost completely obscured her vision. And the smell of a man's body odor and blood didn't help that much either. There was loud pounding on the door, "Anora! The coast is clear! Come out!" Aedan's voice demanded. She emerged from the room and caught the scream that threatened to escape he mouth in her throat when saw the horrifying sight of Aedan. He looked as though he waded through an ocean of dead men. Wet blood stained his hands, washed on his face and drooled out of his mouth and carrying a massive, ugly looking battle-axe. But what was most horrifying was the string of rotted severed head looped around his neck. What in the Maker's name has he done?

  When the door opened Aedan expected to see a queen not a frightened lady in flimsy fitting armor. It was almost laughable how she was trying to pass of as soldier. "What's the meaning of this?" Aedan asked pointing at her disguise.

  "I can't afford to be seen by anyone." Anora explained. "If Howe's people see me they'll have me killed. And if my father's people find me they'll force me to return to him…where he may also have me killed. What is the meaning of this?" The queen asked repulsively pointing at the severed heads around Aedan's neck.

  "These were the loyal members of my house who served my family." Aedan answered grimly. "I will see to it they are given proper rites."

  "Ah. I see." Anora confirmed with respect. "Let us go quickly."

  As the group escorted the queen to the front door they had the unfortunate surprise and privilege to be greeted by the members of Maric's Shield, Loghain's most highly trained and loyal handpicked men, led by none other than Ser Cauthrien herself. "Warden! In the name of the regent I am placing you under arrest for murder of Teryn Howe and his men." Cauthrien stated with authority. "Surrender, and you may be shown mercy."

  "Fuck you!" Aedan spat nastily. "I don't know the meaning of any of the words 'surrender' or 'mercy', bitch!"

  Cauthrien wasn't going to back down. "I speak with the full authority of the queen, traitor! Do you dare defy that?"

  "Bah! If the queen has so much authority then why did Howe keep her prisoner here?" Aedan asked with both sarcasm and truth.

  "I highly doubt that, Warden." Cauthrien spurned. "Some of us actually value honor and duty."

  "Then why don't you ask the queen yourself about Howe's honor and duty." Aedan pointed over to the poorly disguised Anora.

  "What?" Cauthrien couldn't believe her eyes and ears.

  "Ser Cauthrien!" Anora cried as she tossed the large helmet from her head, revealing who she was. "Thank the Maker you're here! This traitor murdered Howe and now he's trying to kidnap me!"

  Now it was Aedan's turn to be surprised. Although he knew he shouldn't have been. "OH! You backstabbing bitch!"

  "Unbelievable. Take them!" Cauthrien ordered as the queen and her handmaiden tucked tail out of the building like their heels were on fire.

  "WAIT!" Aedan bade loudly. Everyone froze still. "First, I got two thing I want to say to you, Cauthrien."

  "And what's that?" The knight inquired.

  "SHALE! DANE!" Aedan called thunderously. Suddenly the runed golem and giant warhound busted through the other side of the wall, catching Cauthrien's men of guard and burying them in debris from the shattered wall. Cauthrien's legs were caught under a heavy beam, but they were unbroken. She tried to get up on her hands but came face to face with an angry, snarling mabari. Cauthrien froze in front of the sight, for there was nothing more frightening then being faced down by an angry mabari's teeth. "Dane, stand down." The Warden called. He approached Cauthrien with a look of pitied disgust in his eyes. Cauthrien would not be looked down, not by the likes of him. She yanked out the Summer Sword and vainly tried to hold it against her enemy. Aedan kicked the weapon out of Cauthrien's hands and swung the Bear's Maul at her neck. Cauthrien closed her eyes and prepared to greet the Maker.

  The axe head stopped just infront of the woman-knight's neck. Aedan's control over the weapon was absolute. Cauthrien opened her eyes and gazed up at her enemy surprisingly. Why didn't he kill her? "Your blood…isn't worthy of being on Argyle's weapon." Aedan denounced disgustedly as he kicked Cauthrien in the face, knocking her out. They left the Loghain's lackey and her men under the debris and hurried back to Eamon's estate. There was a certain someone who owed Aedan a debt.

  Back at Eamon's Estate….

  XoXoXo

  Anora and Erlina rushed frantically to Eamon's estate and found the Arl in his study. Eamon's shock and surprise was painted all over his face. "Anora? What has happened? Where are the others who went to get you?"

  "Eamon!" Anora gasped trying to catch her breath. "I may have done a terrible thing!"

  "May have? May have?" A sweet sounding voice chimed. "How can there be any doubt?" Leliana asked with her fellows all behind her. And they looked pissed.

  "Barley met, and already she's betrayed us." Morrigan remarked sarcastically. "She and my mother would get along famously. Truly."

  "I'm still waiting for a good reason not to slit her throat and toss her in the river. I still haven't heard one." Zevran threatened.

  "I say we stuff her in a box and toss her down a cliff!" Oghren added. "See what kind of splat she'll make."

  "And to think Cailan married a woman as devious as you." Wynne scolded.

  "They always said Anora is her father's daughter." Alistair reminded sarcastically. "The self-entitlement, the betrayals, the excuses. I can see the resemblance."

  "You risked your life for her help, only to have her betray you in favor of the enemy you rescued her from?" Sten observed. "Fine ruler you have here."

  "She is not our ruler." Aedan spited. "That has not yet been established."

  "Oh, thank the Maker you're alright." Eamon sighed.

  "Indeed." Anora confirmed callously. "After your tactless behavior at Howe's manor I feared you'd have been killed."

  "Oh, you were concerned?" Aedan mocked. "I'm touched. It almost makes me want to kill you even less. But not really."

  "Well, what did you expect me to do?" Anora asked incredulously. "You thoughtlessly revealed me to my father's top lieutenant who would have dragged me back to my father!"

  "So you threw us to wolves even though we were risking our necks to save you?"

  "What do you think I should have done?" Anora demanded.

  "Act like a queen!" Aedan answered angrily.

  "I know that my actions at Howe's estate haven't painted me in the best light." Anora sighed. "I'm hoping that we can move past that."

  "That depends entirely on you, Anora."

  "My father must be stopped." Anora finally declared. "I believe he has gone mad."

  "It took you this long realize that?"

  "I didn't believe it at first!" Anora defended. "But he is gripped by a paranoia so severe it prevents him from seeing sense. Everywhere he looks he sees traitors and thinks that Orlais has already infiltrated the kingdom. Even in me. I believe even now he is telling the nobles that you are dangerous and have kidnapped and are using mind control to keep me. He may even believe it himself."

  "Okay. So far it seems you're utterly useless to me and to this country." Aedan insulted.
"Can he still take the throne without you?"

  "It's possible. Even with that snake Howe dead, my father is still a legend. If he says the Grey Wardens are a threat many will believe it."

  "It is true." Eamon confirmed. "Our position in the Landsmeet is not the strongest."

  "You will need ammunition in the Landsmeet and in that regard I can help." Anora explained. "You've only just arrived in the city, but I'm not sure how much you've heard. Denerim has been in utter chaos since the war started. Many people are angry or grieving, but strangely the worst of it is in the Alienage."

  That was odd, but unsurprising. "What has been going on there?"

  "I heard something about an outbreak that has happened there, but that's not unusual. Few elves accompanied the army, so they should have little reason to be upset. Which means Howe and my father have given them reason. You must go there and find out what is happening."

  "A useful lead Anora." Eamon acknowledged. "But you could've sent this information with your maid."

  "Yes, I could have, but I was fearing for my life." Anora explained. "I had hoped you would come to my rescue because I hoped that we may join forces."

  "Oh, well that's rich." Aedan laughed. "You expect me to trust you after that stunt you pulled."

  "You will need a stronger candidate for the throne, one who can keep this country together through the Blight. You need me." Anora said with utter confidence.

  "And you think you are stronger? Your arrogance offends me." Aedan stated.

  "I have no doubt that Alistair is decent and biddable enough, but even with his blood he is no king." Anora's callous statement pissed both Aedan and Alistair off. "Do you think only I can see it? Not only that, he is a Grey Warden. It will seem like you're trying to put a Grey Warden on the throne, despite your claims. Ferelden needs a strong ruler not an untried man who doesn't even want to rule. But I am neutral party, and I'm already queen."

  "So fucking what?" Aedan shot down. "This isn't Orlais. The role of rulership doesn't fall to you just because the last ruler kicked the bucket."