This Fan Fiction is based on the Dragon Age video game series trademarked by BioWare. I do not claim ownership of the characters or the world of Dragon Age. I've tried not to mess with the "official" story, so names and dates should be correct for the time period this story takes place.
This story contains sexual relations between minors and adults, and if this offends you in any way, please do not read any further. Any comments are welcome at rainingsparrows@yahoo.com
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Part II
They rode through most of the day, up the steep mountain paths of the Frostback Mountains. Daniel missed having his own horse though. His previous horse had been all new too! He'd gotten it as soon as him and Ser Aron left Denerim chasing after the apostate. They had been more templars, but the rumors of where the apostate could be had been too widespread for them to stay together for long. Daniel was new to the whole squire thing. He'd been in school under the chantry ever since he was seven years old, and from then on trained to be a templar. Weapon training, spiritual training and history were essential parts of his training. Obedience was an important part of being a templar. Taking orders, doing what you were told without hesitation. Daniel had learned from day one that apostates, rouge mages, was one of the most dangerous things to face in Thedas, even if they didn't look it. This was mostly because of the apostates urge to become possessed and become a demon. That was one of Daniel's worst fear. To stand face to face against a demon of pride, the most powerful of all demons.
The day Daniel turned 14, he'd been allowed to come to his first ever trip with the templars. He'd been assigned to Ser Aron, a middle-aged templar from Denerim. He had always been one of the nicer ones, Daniel thought. He hadn't been too rough during training and or pushed too little. So Daniel figured he was lucky to be Ser Aron's squire when they set out against the apostate. Their group had traced the apostate from Denerim to Redcliffe where the trace vanished. Ser Aron wanted to travel up alongside Lake Calenhad to search the area around the Circle Tower, since he thought that the apostate could try to find allies there. The rest of the templars didn't agree with Ser Aron though, and left for Lothering. So now Daniel and Ser Aron rode along the shores of the lake, past the docks for the circle tower and asking people along the way.
The two of them had just reached The Imperial Highway again, when they spotted a village in the distance. As it was quite late, the two of them headed towards it in hope to get some rest or food.
"Be on your guard, Daniel." Ser Aron said as they closed in on the village, "Not all apostates look like it. We have to suspect that she's blended in or is using blood magic on the populous."
Daniel just nodded as he was in a quite grim mood. They had asked around seven small villages along the lake and nothing had come even close to giving them an answer to where the apostate had gone. Now he started to wonder if they should have stayed with the rest of the templars and headed to Lothering instead. They tied up the horses just outside the village, and wandered the few hundred feet. As expected, none in the village seemed to have any idea to where the apostate could be. Another dead end. Great.
"Do you have any room for the two of us for one night? We're exhausted after a day of riding and we would really appreciate any roof you could put over our heads." Ser Aron asked the town leader, an old, bald man.
"We don't have anything other than an equipment shed to offer. We have so many sick these days that all room is taken I'm afraid." The old man said in a slow and creaking voice.
"That's more than enough." Ser Aron said and gave the old man a deep bow before turning to Daniel, "Go pick up our bedrolls and bring the horses a little closer so we can keep an eye on them easier. Hurry it up, it's going to be dark soon!" he yelled after Daniel as he'd started to run as soon as Ser Aron had finished the first sentence.
Ser Aron might be a little less harsh than the other templars, but compared to the rest of them, even the slightest kindness was a huge difference. Daniel ran as fast as he could back to the horses and brought them closer to the village, then loosened the bedrolls and Ser Aron's pack from his horse. You'd never know when he'd ask for one of his many personal effects. Most templars didn't have families as most were recruited into the Templar Order from an early age, but some volunteered in later life. Ser Aron was one of these. He was a family man and had four children in various ages. The youngest one was the same age as Daniel himself, but this didn't count against Ser Aron at all. He was an experienced warrior that had fought against the Orlaisians with king Maric eight years before and had started his templar training almost right after the conflict ended.
With his arms full of bedrolls and Ser Aron's knap-sac, Daniel wobbled back to the village and towards the smallest of all the buildings, the equipment shed.
"You brought my pack as well, good job Daniel." Ser Aron laughed and patted Daniel on the back as he entered the small shed. It was a dirty, smelled of hay and very little space. Where there wasn't a scythe or rake, there was boxes and crates.
"Will we even fit in here, ser?" Daniel asked as he looked around for room to put down their things.
"We might have to... make some room." Ser Aron said and started to move the crates over to the wall, placing them on top of each other to free up space for them. With some effort, they managed to fit their bedrolls all the way in the back of the shed, behind the tallest row of crates.
"You should get some sleep," Ser Aron said when the last crate has been placed, "We have to get up early to see if we can catch up with the other templars."
"What about you, ser?" Daniel said as he started to undress and got under the covers of his bedroll.
"I'm going to stay up a little while longer, write my report for the day. You go ahead and get some sleep." Ser Aron smiled at him.
It felt like Daniel just had closed his eyes when the screams began. At first it was only one or two, but soon the air was filled by them. Daniel sat up in the bedroll and looked confused around him. Ser Aron wasn't to be seen anywhere. The shed door had been left ajar and from the small gap, Daniel could see a flickering light from what looked like flames in the background. Daniel quickly got up and ran over to the door. Shadowy figures ran across the village, some small and some large. The smallest ones looked like women and the bigger ones had some sort of armor on. Suddenly a large figure blocked all view and the door was opened so fast that Daniel fell on his fourteen year old behind. He expected to see some sort of bandit or maybe even a demon, but it was only Ser Aron.
"Get dressed!" He whispered to Daniel as he slowly closed the door behind him. "That's Darkspawn out there!" he said in what seemed like panic. Daniel gasped. Darkspawn? On the surface?
Daniel got back up on his feet and ran over to his roll where he'd placed his leather armor before he went to sleep. He tightened all the straps from his shoulders to his boots and grabbed his trusty dagger and sword. As he turned around to say to Ser Aron that he was ready to fight, the door was ripped open again and a woman, blond and beautiful came screaming in. She didn't even make it two steps inside before strong hands pulled her out into the darkness again. From the opening in the door, came the shadowy figures, taller than any normal man. In the silhouettes from the flames, they looked like demons! But before Daniel could even shout out in surprise from the shock, Ser Aron drew his sword and plunged it in the chest the first creature. That had been a mistake. Before he could pull the blade out from the creature, two others burst into the small shed. With a growl like from a wolf, one of their blades hit Ser Aron in the side. As Ser Aron wore templar armor, which was very thick, this one swing didn't do much harm to him. Then came the second, then the third and then Ser Aron lay on the ground, bleeding.
To Daniel, it was as all sound was muted and as if Ser Aron fell in slow motion. He could see, almost in disturbing detail, the dagger that was ripped from his ribs as he fell down and the blood that dripped from the creature's dagger. His mind went blanc, and he grabbed for his sword and did as his master before him and thrust his sword into one of the creatures. He made sure not to apply too much pressure so it wouldn't get stuck, but enough to make sure he pierced the armor of the creature. Then, with all his strength, he pulled the blade from the creature's chest as he spun around, dragging it out and as soon as it sprung free from it, wove through the air with him. Mid-air, he rotated the blade, separating the last creature's head from its shoulders. It had taken maybe a five seconds, but to Daniel it had felt like an eternity. The two creatures fell to the ground, leaving Daniel the only one left standing. All of a sudden, it was as if time moved normally again. The sounds of the burning buildings outside once again filled Daniel's ears. He could even hear his own heartbeat! Realizing what he'd done, he looked down on the creatures, leaking blood from their huge wounds. He spun around and looked down at his master, who looked at him with awe.
"Are you OK, Ser Aron?" Daniel said as he kneeled down to inspect the wound.
"I-I'm fine, I think. Let us move away from the door, shall we?" Ser Aron said but as soon as he tried to get on his feet, his teen clenched and his face turned full of pain. "Ahh... Y-you have to move me, Daniel. I can't stand on my own at the moment. Behind the crates. Grab me under my arms and pull me!"
Daniel complied his master's wish and grabbed his master under his arms and with all his strength, he pulled Ser Aron behind the crates where their bedrolls still lay comfortably and almost untouched. The last couple of feet, Ser Aron managed to move himself, leaning against the wall.
"Be on the lookout, Daniel. I don't think more of them are coming this way, but just in case... be prepared, alright?" Ser Aron said with shallow breaths as he held his hands against his bleeding wound. Daniel sneaked closer to the door and peeked outside. The darkness still hindered him to see much, but he could clearly see bodies lying on the ground, but nothing out there moved.
"T-they are dead, ser." Daniel whispered and moved away from the door and back to Ser Aron.
"I suspected as much. Darkspawn don't leave survivors..." Ser Aron said before he began coughing intensely. There was only a few hours left to sunrise, and Daniel stood guard by the door till the flames outside turned into embers and the sun peeked over the tree tops. By then Daniel had a hard time keeping his eyes open, when he suddenly heard voices outside.
"Spread out and look for sign of where the Darkspawn came from and survivors." a deep man's voice said and Daniel could see someone walking towards the shed where he and Ser Aron was hiding. He quickly hid behind the door and readied his dagger. The door creaked open and someone came in.
"What the-" but that was all the person managed to say before Daniel jumped him from behind, grabbing him around the neck and pushing him to the ground. He quickly placed his dagger by the neck of what turned out to be a boy, dark haired and skinny.
"Who are you and what are you doing here? Answer me!" Daniel whispered, trying not to drag any attention from the others outside. He feared that these men could be bandits. It seemed reasonable. Scavengers looking for something to loot. Then, the boy under him made a sudden movement, throwing Daniel off balance and making him fall off the other boy's back. Daniel quickly got back up on his feet and faced his unknown enemy. The boy couldn't be much older than himself, maybe 14 or 15 years old, with dark brown eyes and brown, almost black hair. His face was concentrated as he too held a dagger ready to defend himself.
"I'll ask one more time. Who are you?!" Daniel said, this time a lot louder than he actually intended and he could hear hurried steps behind him. The boy only changed the grip of his dagger, and started to rotate around Daniel. Daniel readied himself to attack. He couldn't let him warn the others outside.
"Daniel... Stop." he heard Ser Aron say from behind the crates.
"I don't think-" Daniel started to say, as he heard the steps behind him come closer and closer.
"He didn't sound like one of those creatures Daniel. Lower your weapon." Ser Aron said, sounding very weak. Daniel lowered his dagger, followed by the boy. Moments later a bunch of people came bursting into the already crowded shed. Daniel spun around to look at the people coming.
"You are..." Daniel said as he spotted the Griffin on their armor pieces.
"Grey Wardens." The one that looked like their leader said and looked Daniel over with his dark eyes. Daniel didn't see any anger in them, but worry. Maybe it was for the boy he'd just tried to kill.
A couple of hours later, Daniel was on horseback behind the very same boy. Now not as a squire for a templar, but as a Grey Warden recruit. Not that he minded sitting behind this boy, who he now knew whose name was Simon. They had done a little talking as they rode up the mountain, but Daniel was still very tired from being on watch most of the night before, so now he used Simon's back to sleep on. Who knew that someone's back could be such a comfortable pillow? He'd gone through so much the last 12 hours that nobody could blame him for being tired. He thought back to the last words Ser Aron had told him,
"Being a hero has its price, Daniel." He had said with a voice weaker than Daniel had ever heard, "When the time comes, make sure you are prepared to pay it."
Their journey went up to the Frostback Mountains through Gherlen's Pass, the safest way to enter Orlais from Ferelden. Daniel heard Simon gasp when he caught a glimpse of the mighty gates of Orzammar when they stopped outside of what looked like a market place.
"We're going to stay a little while and stock up on supplies." Duncan said to the two youngest members of their party. "You two can look around if you want, but don't wander too far into Orzammar, understood? And not a single foot inside of Dust Town!" The two boys nodded and walked towards the enormous gates of Orzammar. The Outer Gate were bigger than any gate Daniel had ever seen in his young life and with the dwarfs standing beside it, it looked even bigger as the dwarfs were shorter than most people. They approached the one guard without a full helmet covering his face. The guard's armor looked very different than what their party had on. It was very squared and edged all over, making the dwarf look wider and bigger. Though it looked like it was hard to move in, Daniel had seen dwarf armor before in Denerim. From the little he knew, it was a lot lighter than it looked like and despite its looks, was easy to move around in. The guard just nodded when the two boys approached and they entered into a grand stone hall. In the middle of the room there was huge stone pillars holding up the ceiling. And in the middle Daniel noticed to his surprise that what looked like... floating magma streaming down, bathing the room in an almost burning yellow light. Around the room there was placed six stone statues of dwarfs, men and women. They walked slowly through the hall just looking at all the different statues. On the base of each one there was a name and a description.
"Paragon... What does that mean?" Daniel asked and looked at Simon. Simon just shrugged his shoulders and they walked to the end of the room where a smaller gate lead into the next chamber.
"Woah..." Simon burst out as soon as they entered the gate. Daniel had to agree with him. If there was a word to describe what they saw, "woah" seemed sufficient. Daniel would have to guess that this room had once been a gigantic cave that had been expanded over time and buildings, roads and bridges being built directly into the mountain. The middle of this huge cave was dominated by a huge stone pillar. This too had been used to house some sort of building. The road out to it was a wide stone bridge, and by the looks of the red'ish light underneath, it was lava down there. None of the boys said a word as they walked further in and Simon reached the stone rail and looked down.
"There is lava down there as well!" Simon shouted in surprise as he looked down, covering his face in the same red light. Daniel had a quick look over the edge as well. Streams of lava boiled and flowed far down. As he looked he noticed another walkway further down housing lower and more broken down houses. Daniel guessed that was Dust Town, the place where Orzammar's poor lived. Daniel left Simon at the bridge, who was now looking up at the higher levels of the cave, when Daniel noticed a stall and a dwarf waving him closer. Hesitantly, Daniel walked over to the dwarf, who Daniel now recognized sold armor and weapons. Amazed with what he saw, he called out for Simon, who still looked up in the middle of the bridge and as soon as he got his attention, Daniel waved him over.
"Simon! Come look!" he said and looked back at the merchandise in front of him.
"What can I help you with, young human?" The dwarf asked curiously and looked Daniel over. Without answering, Daniel noticed a blade that caught his attention. It was a longsword of what looked like steel. He reached out for it, but stopped. What if the merchant got mad at him? But the merchant just chuckled.
"Go on, Take a look at it."
Daniel reached out and took the blade in his hands. It was lighter than it looked, but heavy enough to be powerful in a swing.
"Real quality blade, that is! Have you ever handled a dwarf blade, son?" the dwarf asked Daniel quickly who just shook his head with his eyes glued to the blade in his hands.
"Shame that is. It could be yours for only 30 silver, son. The best price you'll get down here." the dwarf gave Daniel a meaningful look and probably knew how much the young templar wanted the blade.
"That's not t-t-true!" a dwarf behind them burst out. Both Daniel and Simon turned around to see another dwarf, bald and maybe even more... robust than the rest. He looked really nervous as he approached the three of them.
"What's not true Garin?" the dwarf behind the stand asked and came around to shove a thick finger into the new dwarf, Garin's chest. "Are you calling me a liar?"
"Y-y-yes I am Legnar! It's not the c-c-cheapest one down here. I have one just li-li-like that for only 26 silver in my stall." the dwarf called Garin managed to get out after a lot of stammering. Simon looked over at Daniel who were looking at the two dwarfs with much interest.
"I will let you know, Garin, that I intend to sell that young human that blade of mine for the glorious price of 25 silver. Can I then say that it's the best price down here?" The dwarf called Legnar went another step closer to Garin, making him only a few inches away from his face.
"N-n-no!" Garin said and took one step back. "I will sell my b-b-blade for 24 silver!"
"Oh, will you know? Well then, I guess I will have to sell mine for 23 then." Legnar said and took a big step towards Garin, not almost rubbing noses and definitely rubbing their rather large bellies against each other. Looking even angrier, Garin took a new step back and looked like he was struggling to get his next few words out for a few seconds before finally saying,
"OK, Legnar." he said and looked over at Daniel. "I'll sell mine for 20 silver coins." then looked back at Legnar before continuing, "Will you beat that Legnar? 20 silver coins for a steel dwarf longsword?"
Legnar looked like a fish on land, opening his mouth then closing it, like he wanted to say something before changing his mind again. Finally he shook his head and walked back the few steps to his stall again.
"I won't give my sword away. Do what you want Garin." Legnar said and gave Garin a look that made Simon shiver.
Out of words to the situation that had just happened they followed the other dwarf, Garin to another stall at the other side of the commons.
"So young h-h-h-human. 20 silver coins for a dwarf longsword. You won't get a cheaper price anywhere."
"Ummmmm..." Daniel said and looked over at Simon. Daniel didn't have any money, Simon knew that very well. Being a squire, he didn't earn very much. The little money he'd earned he had used already on his horse and little other equipment he had. So Simon knew that Daniel couldn't afford to buy the sword, even though the dwarfs had already haggled down the price ten silver coins, without them asking for it at all. So Simon made a split second decision and got up one of his gold coins saved from his time in Denerim, put in on the counter and said,
"We'll take two." then winked at Daniel.
The dwarf was taken by surprise and looked Simon over. He looked long and hard at his worn clothes and then studied the coin, tried to take a bite from it to check if it was an actual gold sovereign before nodding to Simon, pulled up another sword from a box and placed it on the counter along with the change. Daniel looked like he was in shock when Simon handed him the sword and placed his own along his back.
"W-why? I mean," he stammered and he finally looked up from his shiny, new sword, "Why did you buy me one? I can't pay you back for it!"
"You know what a gift is?" Simon grinned, patted him on the back and started walking to the main gates again. Daniel soon followed him, holding his sword in his hands as if it was made from glass.
Almost outside again, Daniel made a decision. Since he knew he couldn't pay him back for the sword, he had to at least thank Simon for it! So he grabbed hold of Simon's shoulder, turned him around and gave him a hug. Simon seemed genuinely surprised when Daniel hugged him. Maybe Simon didn't get many hugs where he came from, but Daniel had learned from the sisters in the Chantry that even the smallest act of kindness shouldn't go unnoticed. Daniel whispered "Thank you Simon." and let go of him. Before he walked ahead of Simon out the gate and back into the natural light.
"Get everything you need?" Duncan said as the two boys were back at the horses. He gave the sword on Simon's back and the one that Daniel still held with a tight grip in his hands and smiled as Simon gave him a nod and a grin.
"All we need and then some." Daniel said with a quick glance over at Simon. This could be the start of something special, Daniel thought. And maybe a lasting friendship.
That's part 2 done. I hope you guys are still reading this story of mine, one of my favorites so far. Things will heat up between our main characters soon, so just be patient! :) Again, any comments are welcome at rainingsparrows@yahoo.com