Pathways

Dawn bloomed over the skyline of the city as Aren sat on the railing of a balcony of the Chantry. While she did not like the building itself, it was a simple climb - a life living in a tower and having a very skilled rogue as a lover had not left her without skills - and had an excellent vantage point of the city.

Ever since joining the Wardens, it had become a ritual for her to rise just before the sun and watch it creep over the horizon. To her, it was proof she had made it another day, that they were on the road to success. It was something that proved there was still beauty in the world while darkness threatened to clamp its jaws down on it all.

She sighed, summoning a small flare of fire into her left palm and letting it swirl about her forearm. She was getting more worried about Zevran by the minute and did not want to wait to go find him. However, Anders had a point: if she went alone, she would be the perfect target for the Crows. They could ambush her if they were a large enough cell - which the dwarf Varric seemed to believe they are - and could use her to lure Zevran out to kill him.

Snuffing the fire in her hand out, she turned and stood on the balcony ground. She studied the rising sun for another moment before opening the stained glass window she sneaked through and entered the Chantry again. No one was in the building save the few sisters who were just stirring from the embrace of sleep. Aren crept around them until she exited the building, and was surprised to see the darker elf that was with the Champion yesterday.

"You are...the Warden Commander, yes?" he said, voice quiet. She gathered attracting attention was not a pleasant experience for him, either.

"Yes. I never caught your name, yesterday," Aren answered, voice at an equal level. She straightened her back and stepped to his side, forcing him to turn around and follow her pace if he wished to talk. "I would like to be away from the Chantry before the templars come knocking, however."

He nodded. "I am Fenris." He paced her easily, using his longer stride to keep up with her. For some reason, this annoyed her. "Despite your status, the templars are still willing to trouble you?"

She let out a small snort of sarcastic laughter. "When I'm fighting them, yes. There are few foolish enough to take me on alone. I'm nearly equal with a blade as I am with my magic, and the ones that don't recognize me generally underestimate me. But I'd still rather be careful and not be outnumbered in the open."

Fenris nodded, her words sinking in. "This Crow you are looking for. What has he done to anger the others?"

Hatred simmered in Aren's eyes when the Crows were mentioned. "He failed to kill me, then we fell in love. We slaughtered our way to the top of their ranks: the master assassin and his mage. No one dared touch us, mostly for fear of my wrath. I was called to Amaranthine and he disappeared two weeks before I left. I've been tracking him since the city burned and I found his trail here."

Fenris hummed. "Had the templars come for Hawke, I...," he paused, "...there would be nothing left of the Kirkwall order."

"It is always best to protect what is yours," Aren said. She was beginning to like the bristly elf. "Where are we headed?"

"To the Dalish camp to find your Crow."

- - - - - - - -

Aren followed closely behind Varric, Anders, Fenris, and Eldrun. The elf girl Aren had met last night had refused to come - something about a falling-out with her clan - so Anders begrudgingly accompanied them on the trek.

As they approached, the guards greeted Eldrun stiffly as usual, but froze when they noticed Aren. The archer called out to the Keeper before dropping to one knee and bowing.

"Would someone care to explain what's going on?" Eldrun asked, uneasy at the situation, looking between Aren and the guards. Varric looked slightly fascinated by the turn of events. Anders just sighed.

"Ah, our Hero of Ferelden has returned, I see," came a wizened voice. Keeper Marethari stepped between the two guards, smiling at Aren. The younger mage bowed in respect. "Rise, child, I do not hold you to our customs."

"I share your blood," Aren replied, still kneeling, "There is no reason why I should not be held to them."

Marethari smiled. "Rise, child, do not stay on your knees. You have earned the right to stand tall." At that, Aren rose, as did the two guards. "Welcome, Champion. I assume you are here about the Crow that passed through?"

"Yes," Eldrun said, confusion evident in his voice, although he refrained from voicing it. "We were contacted by another cell and asked to apprehend him."

The older mage chuckled. "I wish you luck. It is no easy task you set out for."

- - - - - - - -

Anders swore. If there was one thing he really, really hated about caves it was the waves of spiders they always seemed to run into. No matter what happened, he would always be covered head-to-toe in spider guts by the end of the battle. This is why he hated fighting at the Commander's side: although she was a force of nature in battle, an element of her own creation, she liked to inflict toxin damage just a little too much and it caused her targets to explode. He was convinced she picked ones he was fighting because it amused her.

Edlrun wiped the last of the blood out of his eyes and sighed. "No matter where we go, there are always spiders. And who used that walking bomb spell? Maker, that was a nasty piece of work."

Aren grinned. "Sorry about that. Things around me tend to explode."

Anders snorted. "Only because you make them explode. Or make a crazy, brain-addled dwarf do it for you."

"That was one time!" she defended, settling her staff back onto her back, the blue crystal atop it towering over her. "And we needed him to blast it to the void to make a barrier."

"Whatever you say, Commander," he said, rolling his eyes. "Either way you terrified Sigrun. She thought the whole place was going to collapse."

Eldrun gave them the signal to move out, and Varric kept ahead to disarm any traps, of which there were several, to no one's surprise. Aren moved separate from the rest of the group, practically dancing through the traps without setting them off and disappearing into crevices and through small tunnels, searching for Zevran. Despite being a battle mage, she had more grace than most rogues he knew, Eldrun thought. Her size allowed her to weave through enemy ranks and knock them unconscious or freeze them without their knowledge, and escape before being caught.

"Is she always this sneaky?" he asked Anders as they descended a flight of stairs into an open room. Another ting sounded as Varric disarmed another claw trap.

Anders shrugged. "Depends on her mood. She'll barrel through the front lines like a bronto, she'll dance through everything like a spirit, or she'll burn you to death with a firestorm if she feels like it. It also depends on her temper and how tired she is. Today? She's rather pissed off, I'm amazed she hasn't made anything explode yet."

A deep rumble shook the cavern, and Fenris grabbed hold of Eldrun as he nearly slipped off the stairs. Varric swore and took off toward the center, Anders right on his heels as the other two steadied themselves.

"Watch yourself, Hawke," Fenris chastised.

Eldrun grinned. "Why do that when I have my handsome elf to do that for me?" He laughed at the soft glare he received and they followed the others out into the middle to see an enraged mage surrounded by rock debris.

Aren had been hit by the leg of a varterral, had a broken arm, and was spectacularly pissed off. Anders could tell she was furious, but knew better than to go near her. Eldrun and Fenris began to head to her side when he grabbed Fenris's arm and yanked him backwards. Eldrun turned as Fenris snarled and was immediately at his side. "Anders, what are you doing?"

"Don't go near her," Anders warned, his voice a harsh whisper. "She is not a mage you want to be around when she's angry. And Fenris, stay as far away as possible."

"Why?" he demanded, annoyance evident in his voice. "She is but another mage, and I have fought alongside three for years."

Anders sighed. "She is not the type of mage you are used to fighting with. Being a Warden...has given her a level of power you would not ever expect, and I do not know how your markings will react if she does what I think she will do."

As Anders suspected, she drew a small dagger out from her side and drew a thin line of blood on her broken arm. Fenris snarled as Eldrun balked. "She's a blood mage!?" he said, shock seeping into his voice.

"Not exactly," Anders explained. This was going to go over spectacularly. "What she does is use the taint on her opponent. I've only seen her use it once, and that was a battle I never wish to go through again. The Mother was a horrible creature."

As they were talking, Aren summoned a wave of red-tinted magic, and used it to warp the defenses of the varterral. The creature screamed in agony as the taint forced its way into it, and she gave the signal for the rest of the team to attack. Anders ran forward, healing Aren as best he could while still having time to hurl a rock tomb at the varterral. Eldrun set about to using as many ice spells as he could to freeze it, and Varric and Fenris took to as many outside physical attacks as they could.

Aren fell onto her knees, weak from wielding the taint. She would never admit it, but it brought her to a state that could kill her if she used too much. She knew she let her temper get the best of her a few moments ago, and the panic roaring in the back of her mind that this varterral could have killed Zevran had her enraged against it. As she was trying to stand again, she felt arms wrap around her waist and under her knees, easily lifting her away from harm. She readied her dagger to strike when she felt soft pressure against her temple, the warm touch calming her. She looked wide-eyed up at Zevran, who smiled at her and slipped into the shadows as the others took the varterral down.

"I should stab you for just leaving like that, you know," she sighed, slipping the dagger back into its sheath. He slid down against the wall and held her against him, nuzzling into her hair and humming in response. "That's not getting you out of trouble."

"Hmm," he responded. She knew he was smiling even though she could not see him. "You cause more trouble in a few minutes than I could in a day, my dear. You are an unmatched force. Also, you lack the finesse or subtlety."

Aren snorted and the pair braced themselves as the ground shook, telling of the varterral's demise. "We should go back out."

"You are in no shape to walk," Zevran frowned.

"I've had worse," she shrugged.

"If by worse you mean fighting an Archdemon, yes," he said dryly, "and I carried you off the battlefield even then. I will do the same now."

Aren sighed, resigning herself to it as Zevran slowly stood with her never shifting in his arms. The two came into light as Eldrun and Varric were looking through the remains of the varterral. Fenris was searching the room, most likely for where Zevran was hiding, and Anders was nearly in a state of panic because of Aren's disappearance. His line of vision finally fell on Aren and Zevran and relief flooded his expression.

"Commander!" he cried out, running over to where the two were standing. Eldrun stood and turned around to watch them, as did Fenris. Varric was too occupied with trying to open a chest he found to pay attention to them at that moment. "Maker, what did you do this time?"

Zevran knelt and set her down on the ground, but remained crouched behind her as she leaned on him. Anders knelt in front of her and set to work on healing her arm. "I had to take that thing down, it pissed me off."

"Commander, you're a mage, you don't have the strength of a bronto to back you up, how many times have I had to tell you this!?" he sighed, waves of blue healing magic swimming over Aren's broken arm. "You did this in Amaranthine, and that blighted ogre nearly killed you!"

A look of alarm crossed Zevran's face. "You took on an ogre alone?" he said. He shook his head. "My dear, you are nothing short of crazy. But I would expect nothing less."

Her bone set, Aren shook her arm about as Anders leaned back on his heels. "Thank you, Anders. Zevran, you are aware of the other Crows here, yes?"

He nodded. "Yes. But they are too stupid to catch me, as you have seen."

Eldrun and Fenris had now come over, and Eldrun knelt down on one knee on Aren's other side, a wary expression on his face. Fenris stood behind him, arms crossed and glowering down at Aren. "Commander, -"

"Andraste's tits, I have a name," she said, exasperated. "I expect 'Commander' from the Wardens, but from the rest of you? I have a name. Use it."

Eldrun chuckled nervously. "Uh, alright, Aren. That...trick you did. Was that not blood magic?"

"Of course it was," Fenris spat behind him. "No mage in power has gone without using it. She is the same as the abomin-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Zevran had a knife up to his throat. "Put her in the ranks of those who use demons, and you are dead," he said, blade pressed on the jugular vein, his voice calm and even, although his eyes spoke volumes in anger. "She is more than you could ever be, and she is a better person than you could aspire to be."

Anders had caught Aren after Zevran had moved so quickly and they watched for the few tense seconds following his outburst. Eldrun was on his feet and had a ball of force magic in his hand, ready to blast Zevran to pieces.

"Get away from Fenris," he snarled, anger lacing his voice. "Now."

"Stand down!" Aren ordered, voice booming. It's a good thing she's used to yelling at Oghren, she thought. "Zevran, step away. Champion, stand down." Zevran took a step back but did not lower his blade. Eldrun snuffed the magic he held in his hand but did not change his stance. "I said, stand down." Zevran walked backwards until he was behind Aren, and Eldrun came up to Fenris's side. "Will you all stop with this? We have bigger problems to deal with than this."

"You are a blood mage," Fenris spat. "How do we know you are not possessed?"

"I'm clean," Aren sighed. "I use the taint in my blood. I have made no pact with a demon and I have slaughtered every demon that has tried to tempt me. Ask Anders or Zevran, they have both seen it many times." The two men nodded.

"I had fallen under a sloth demon," Zevran offered as explanation. "She was the only one the demon could not fool. She rescued myself, your dear king Alistair, and Wynne from it's clutches. It fooled all of us save her. I do not doubt her strength against demons." He offered his arm out to Aren and she took it, using the leverage to stand. Anders rose after her.

Eldrun nodded. "I understand that, but why would you even use that? If nothing else, it seems to drain your energy."

Aren sighed. "At first, I did not know what the consequences were. Now...I have no fear of it. My time is running out as it is."

Zevran's face hardened and Anders went pale. "Commander, what?" he stammered, stepping foward and taking her arm. "You - no!"

She nodded. "I am within three years of my Calling, if I'm guessing right. I do not have much time left, and I have no fear of using my powers to full capacity."

"The Calling?" Eldrun said, brow furrowed in concern.

"The time will come for every Warden," Aren explained, crossing her arms and leaning on her left hip. "The nightmares will come more frequently, more intense. You can feel the horde in your bones, in your soul. They claw at you. Eventually, it will drive you to suicide or you go the traditional route, and take out as many darkspawn as you can before you die in the Deep Roads."

Eldrun paled, and Fenris touched his shoulder lightly, concern in his eyes as he watched the mage. "Carver..."

"...is several years away from that, likely even close to two decades," Aren said softly. "I've met him. Last I saw him he was safe. I have been a Warden for nearly 12 years, but I knew I did not have as long as most. The taint is harshest on mages."

Anders nodded. "I feel it too. It...has not been pleasant lately."

Gravity had settled in on the discussion, but it was broken when Varric walked over to them. "So. Off to kill Crows next?"

Zevran nodded. "Best to strike soonest."