Legend (Dragon Age Origins)

Chapter 6: Witch Of The Wilds

"The first Blight was horrific. It last two centuries, everyone was sure that the world was ending. The Grey Wardens were first founded by a group of warriors who had dedicated their entire lives to fighting the darkspawn. When the Blight ended, a treaty was signed by three major factions in Ferelden; the Circle of Magi, the dwarves of Orzammar, and the Dalish elves. They swore that when another Blight came, they would join forces with the Wardens to defeat it."

"If these treaties are so important," Daveth said, interrupting Alistair's thrilling history lesson, "then how come they were left behind in some rotting tower?"

"They didn't just leave them there on purpose," Alistair defended. "It was expected that they would return someday, but I suppose they sort of... forgot."

"How do you forget something like that?" Dru questioned.

She held up her vial of darkspawn blood to the sun, inspecting its dark gleam. They all had one each now, drained from their recently defeated foes. Alistair held out his hand and wiggled his fingers, and Dru gently placed the vial into his palm.

"Let's get a move on. The outpost shouldn't be too far from here, and I'm getting hungry," he urged.

They begrudgingly followed him up a clumsy dirt path dug into the hillside. They had spent most of the day taking out stray hordes of darkspawn, and Dru's feet were forming blisters and her arms arching from the continuous fighting and swordplay.

The ruins of the former Grey Warden Outpost sat lonely at the top of the hill, surrounded by burnt trees and dead grass. Alistair halted them before they could get too close and knelt to the ground.

"Four darkspawn up ahead, one of them is an alpha," Alistair explained in a hushed whisper.

Daveth tried to stand to take a peek at them, but Ser Jory grabbed him by the trousers and pulled him back down.

"What's an alpha?" Dru asked.

"They command the other darkspawn," Ser Jory explained. "They're much larger, stronger and far more intelligent than the others. I suppose the darkspawn we killed were scouts sent out by this alpha."

"Okay," Alistair said, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand. "I'm going to approach from the front and draw the darkspawn's attention. Jory will flank from the right, Dru from the left."

"What about me?" Daveth whined.

"I was getting to that," Alistair said irritably. "Jory will be focused on leading the darkspawn into one cluster, which will allow Daveth to pick them off from the shelter of the ruins. Dru, I will need your help with the alpha. Think you can manage it?"

In any other situation, Dru might have been offended by his lack of confidence in her. But this was serious. She had never been in real combat before today, and there was no reason to deny the fact her skills did not match up to her fellow recruits.

"I think so," she said, then, "I'll do my best."

Alistair gave her an encouraging smile. "Good."

They stood, weapons drawn. As they crept up the hill, Ser Jory broke away to the right and Dru mimicked his actions towards the left. She urged herself to cast aside the fear that clouded her mind, focusing instead on the feel of the daggers in her hands, the solid ground beneath her feet.

The outpost tower had collapsed onto its side long ago, thick weeds now pushing through the broken pieces. Dru hunkered down behind a larger slab. She couldn't see the others, but she heard Alistair's shout as he came charging up the slope.

No further signal necessary, Dru lunged from her hiding place. Alistair stood at the top of the slope, shield raised as he dodged a blow from the alpha's hefty war axe. Ser Jory had successfully gained the attention of two of the darkspawn, but another had broken away and was headed to protect the alpha.