Tower and Rose

            “Get away from him, you bitch!” Marlana snarled as she slammed into the woman that Alistair had been talking to.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” He yelled. “That’s my sister!” Wondering when and how she’d gotten into his sister’s home without anyone knowing, the templar paused trying to figure out how to handle this without anyone getting killed. Not wanting to hurt Marlana, he tried to interpose himself between the two women, but doubled over in agony when he got kneed in the groin by one of them as they tumbled furiously in unarmed combat.
Were it any other women, he’d be seriously flattered that they were fighting over him. Once he got over the agony of his bruised manhood of course.
But as it was, one of those women was his sister while the other… Well the other was a sister in a different sense. Or he was going to keep telling himself that until he believed it.

Then Marlana managed to knock Goldanna down on her ass and drew her blades.

            When he saw the desire demon stand up where his sister had fallen, its furious red eyes fixed on Marlana, all pain was forgotten under the wave of sickened horror that swept over him. Then Goldanna’s supposed children shifted into undead things and started to swarm the slight woman, he drew sword and shield as he waded in to save his friend. He got to her just in time to put his more heavily armored form between her and their weapons. Since she’d made short work of the demon, it didn’t take long for the two of them to finish up the rest as they automatically fell into established fighting patterns.

            Staring at the wreckage, he realized that something seemed…off about the place. As if the edges were a little blurred and his head felt heavy as if just recovered from a long illness.

            “Name of the Maker, Marlana. What’s going on? Why did I think that…thing was my sister?” There were equal parts of disgust and panic in his tone and voice.

            She grimly sheathed her swords and decided now was not the time to ask about this sister, “You do remember the Tower, right? Where we were having a fine time cleaning out the place of demons, abominations and maker knows what else?”

            He scrunched up his face as he tried to remember what she was talking about. “Yeeees. I do. Now. But this doesn’t look like the tower…”

            “Because we’re in the Fade, we got trapped by a sloth demon.”

            “A sloth…” Suddenly his form began to shimmer and blur, “Hey! Wait! Where are you going?” Then he was gone. She sincerely hoped it meant she freed him and that she didn’t have to go drag his sorry butt out of some other section of the demon’s domain. Pinching the bridge of her nose she turned to the odd rune-covered pedestal which was the only solid looking thing in the place. Even though she’d used such things several times before since she’d been trapped in this series of nightmares, she was still a little nervous about using such things.

            Magic wasn’t for the likes of her, oh she had no problem using enchanted arms and armor, such things just were, they didn’t react any differently to her touch than those that weren’t enchanted. But the pedestal, she could feel it react to her, feel the swirl of power around her mind and soul. And she really, really disliked the slithering feeling in her mind as the magical map of the place rose up behind her eyes.

            Wanting to be done with the thing, she chose the next location. A sickening sideways shift and she was in a…Chantry? Frowning she studied the surroundings, it was indeed a Chantry, if one as insubstantial as mist with flowing, wavering walls. Not just any Chantry, either. The one in Lothering where Leliana had spent the last few years of her life. Cautiously, Marlana quietly crept down the aisle between the pews, there was no one that she could see, but she felt…something. Because it was the Fade she wasn’t surprised when it seemed to take a long time to get up to the altar. There was Leliana deep in prayer, beside her stood what appeared to be a revered mother. But not the one she remembered from Lothering.

            Another demon.

            She figured this one was going to require some sort of tact on her part since she and the bard didn’t know each other as well as she did her fellow Grey Warden. Of course, Marlana was still somewhat flustered over her reaction to the demon that had imprisoned Alistair. What had fueled her sudden fear and rage wasn’t a sisterly sort of feeling. But she decided she would think about that later, when she didn’t have a demon deciding to eat her or not.

            “Thank the Maker, you’re all right, Leliana.”

            The bard frowned at her in confusion, “I’m sorry, have we met?”

            Marlana’s stomach sank in fear, they’d managed to suppress or wipe out Leliana’s memory.

            The fake cleric frowned at her and spoke in a rusty voice, “Do not disturb the child, for she needs peace and quiet.”

            “Leliana, don’t you remember me? I’m Marlana, the Grey Warden you chose to help?”

            Was that a glimmer of memory in those pale eyes?

            “Don’t you remember the dream that you told me about? The one about the Blight?”

            The demon began to shift uncomfortably, tried to redirect Leliana with the supposed peace of this place. Privately the Warden thought it felt more like the peace of the grave than a refuge, but she knew she wasn’t seeing what Leliana was. Or maybe Leliana was finally starting to wake up as she clearly began to struggle with the situation.

            Either way, the demon chose to shed its illusion as it attacked Marlana, the two woman made short work of it. The Warden didn’t have a chance to explain the situation before she disappeared the way Alistair did before her. She knew when the damn pedestal appeared, she could feel it. What was being in this place for so long doing to her? There’d been wells of energy she’d encountered that left her feeling different afterwards, faster, stronger, more alert. Was she still herself? Or was the demon slowly changing her, slowly getting into her mind?

            Irritated at herself, she stalked over to the pedestal to free her last companion.

            She surveyed the most recent “island” of the Fade and groaned. A combination of graveyard and battlefield. Cute. It seemed so much more fake than the previous two domains. Had her actions weakened the beast who ruled this area? Or was Wynne just that gullible? The elderly mage still seemed fairly sharp, but this was like out of some silly childhood ghost story. Tired and just done with the whole ridiculous situation, she forsake her usual quiet gliding through shadows and just stomped her way to where she thought she saw a figure. The corner of her mouth crooked up in a wry grin, apparently she’d been spending too much time around Sten and Alistair if she was giving up on the subtle option.

            Seeing the bodies of slain children on the ground gave her pause, as did Wynne’s evident grief. Marlana tried the gentle tact, but as the mage continued to be morose, gave the woman a good shake. Not hard enough to hurt her, but enough to shock her into back into more clearheaded thought. As she finally got through to the healer, the demons masquerading as the dead children helped her by standing up and begging for Wynne to stay.

            Like the other two, Wynne quickly disappeared, even faster than Leliana.

            Grinding her teeth against the awful sensation of all the domains of her captor shifting and locking into place, Marlana used the pedestal to finally force the issue.

            The new battlefield was an open plain with little dips and crevasses, nothing as detailed or convoluted as the previous places had been. A feral smile barred her teeth. Good, she had weakened the thing. And there it was, sitting out in the open waiting for her. It was time to finally finish this. Either to destroy the thing to truly free all the trapped souls, or die in the process, her soul finally freed from its pain. She didn’t aspire to the Maker’s side as most of the faithful did, unlike most, oblivion sounded the sweetest reward so she wouldn’t have to face the dead spirits of her loved ones. She hoped she’d freed Alistair enough so that there would be at least one Warden to stop the Blight.

            She stalked up to the demon, who offered to make her much happier. Rather than give it a verbal response, she hauled off and slugged it. At its bellow of shock and rage, she felt the “island” shift and more presences appeared as she drew her swords to battle the very angry demon. Too angry to feel despair, she knew her companions had been drawn here, but figured she could deal with them later. Fortunately, they either recognized her, or recognized the demon for what it was since they quickly joined in the fray.

            Though Alistair did everything he could to try to get the demon’s attention focused on him so that they could use their usual tactics, nothing worked. Instead it continued to rain attacks down upon Marlana who simply continued to slam back into the thing. Her blades flashing faster than they had before, almost inhumanly so, yet they still moved with all the customary grace and skill of their wielder. Form after form the demon assumed, but still it battled its primary foe who would not back down.

As the last of its power bled away, it gasped out, “What manner of creature are you, mortal?”

            As her blades slammed down into its center, draining the last dregs of its strength, she spoke coldly, “A Grey Warden.”

            They woke stiff and sore upon the cold stone floor of the Tower where the demon had ambushed them. After assuring herself that the other three would be fine, the silver-haired woman walked over to the corpse of the man clad in robes. With tender fingers, she closed his eyes while whispering a benediction, “Farewell Niall, chance met friend, may you find peace in the Maker’s embrace.” Then she scooped up the ancient scroll that had fallen by the dead mage and handed it to Wynne. Who studied it for a moment and nodded, “Yes, it is simple enough to use, even for one who isn’t a mage. I think it be best for you, Alistair or Leliana to use it because if I am in the middle of a spell I won’t be able to use the activation phrase.”

            Both the templar and bard just stared at their leader who threw up her hands, “Fine, fine. I’ll use it.” At least Wynne was right about her being able to use it, so she rolled the scroll back up and shoved it into her belt. Being back into the “real” world made Marlana feel more herself, though she found herself rather uncomfortably aware of how close Alistair was as he took up her right flank the way he always did. And it wasn’t even exceptionally close, he was at his usual distance, close enough to shield her if necessary, but far enough to let her still be able to maneuver.

Not for the first time she wondered, why was he so protective of her? Oh, he went to help any of their other allies if they were in trouble, but she always seemed to be the first one he thought of. Silly girl, she mocked herself, you’re the only other Grey Warden that’s in Ferelden, of course he’s going to protect you. It’s out of memory for Duncan, not because of what be there between the two of you.

Feeling eyes on her, she shifted her glance in that direction to see Alistair studying her thoughtfully with his warm, golden brown eyes. He flushed a bit for some reason and looked away. Neither noticed the way Wynne and Leliana studied them, then exchanged glances, though Leliana was amused, Wynne was a bit more concerned.

What they found in the next room they did not expect at all. A small pack? Herd? Clutch? Of dragonlings. Hungry dragonlings. They were quick to dispatch, but it was clear they’d been confined in that room for some time as evidenced by some rather fragrant piles. One of which the slightly oblivious warrior was about to step in, and as Marlana started to yell out, he did. And proceeded to slide in it, right into and on top of the much smaller woman next to him. She wasn’t which was worse. The feel of being smothered by metal or the stench of what her friend had just stepped in. Panic at being pinned down  had almost overcome her good sense when Alistair finally managed to lever himself up and off without hurting her any more than she already was.

Like a true gentleman, he offered her the hand that wasn’t covered in muck to help her to her feet like he did in Ostagar. Only it was different, other than the dragon shit, it was his attitude as he helped her stand, the not quite goofy grin he gave her or the way his hand had lingered on hers for just the briefest moment. Unsettled, Marlana gave him a shy smile before making a slight production of making sure she hadn’t lost anything, especially the Litany they needed so desperately against Uldred’s pet bloodmages.

Thankfully for everyone’s sense of smell and what little dignity Alistair still possessed, they found a ready supply of water to wash the muck off his armor. They were still laughing about it when they encountered the templar held captive behind a glowing wall of energy. They’d all tried being understanding to the man, but he just kept getting more and more hysterical as they tried to talk to him. Exhausted, at the end of her short supply of patience, Marlana rubbed her temples then announced she was going up to deal with the bloodmages with or without the others. She refused to acknowledge Cullen’s shrill demands that she slaughter them all. Privately she wondered if the man hadn’t been affected by the rogue mages after all.

What they came in to was the worst thing they’d seen thus far in the Tower. A mage, screaming in pain and terror, held by brilliant bands of lightning wielded by a pair of abominations standing before a slight, bald man with sharp features who looked more like a clerk than bloodmage. Marlana couldn’t hear what the one mage was saying to the one being tortured, but she wasn’t going to wait. Swiftly she drew her weapons and began to run towards the horrific tableau, shouting out the command to activate the Litany. But she was too late.

Sickened she watched as the captive’s flesh twisted, then flowed in ways flesh should never move, with strange bulges appearing as the mage was taken over by a demon and turned into an abomination. But she didn’t stop until she slammed into a wall of force, which didn’t last long when Alistair made a strange gesture with his sword hand and a blazing circle of light swept out from around him purging the area of unfriendly spells. Determined not to let them corrupt any more mages, she went for the weasely little clerk figuring him to be Uldred from Wynne’s description. He laughed mockingly at her as his form shifted and twisted.

It was massive, and ugly, and for a brief moment she thought someone had taken an ogre magnified its size 3 fold then painted it in garish colors. She directed Leliana to take out the abominations furthest from their location while she went after the closest one. Alistair had already engaged the beast while Wynne began frantically casting everything from protective spells to the odd bolt of magic. It was a long brutal fight with a thing that used magic as easily as its massive claws and horns. But in the end it was indeed the Litany that saved them from the worst of the demon’s powers.

The next few hours went by in an exhausted haze for Marlana as decisions were made and ancient pacts renewed. Apparently while most of her consciousness went elsewhere, she kept herself together to still do what she needed to as she made arrangements for much needed supplies. And best of all enough horses to mount her entire group, including a steed massive enough to carry Sten easily. Hoping that she didn’t offend Irving, First Enchanter and leader of the Circle, nor Knight-Commander Greigor, she opted to return across the lake to the inn at the docks for a much needed rest.

Before she could sleep, she desperately needed to eat. She could live with the nightmares that came from being a Grey Warden, in fact when those were her only nightmares she actually got some decent rest, unlike the nights when she dreamed of her family. She could live with the fact she only had thirty years at the most. Being able to sense the Darkspawn and not being affected by their disease were probably the only useful things she could think of being a Grey Warden, though supposedly they had other powers. Not that even Alistair knew what they were. But the fact that galled her the most about being a Warden was the amount of food she needed to consume.

The rest of their party had already retired by the time the two Wardens had finally sated their empty stomachs. Debating if she had the energy to haul herself to her room or if she could just sleep right where she sat, Marlana watched with bemused eyes as Alistair fiddled with his mug of ale. He sighed, “Look about earlier –“

“I’m really sorry I didn’t warn you sooner about the dragon muck.”

His generous laugh made gave her a fluttering sensation in her abdomen, “No, no, I’m not mad about it at all. If you could’ve seen your face when I skidded into you, absolutely priceless.”

She couldn’t help but quietly chuckle with him. Then he sobered, “It’s when we were in the Fade and you got me away from that demon…” Alistair took a gulp from his mug before continuing, “I.” He hesitated as if about to say something, then changed his mind, “I hope you won’t say anything about how easily fooled I was.”

Marlana couldn’t help but frown in confusion at him. “You, Wynne and Leliana were all taken in equally. Besides, I thought you knew me better than that. I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I’d like to think we’re at least friends.”

His expression brightened, “Oh, we are. It’s just…” She waited patiently sipping her wine and wondering what was going on in that complicated male mind as his expression changed and closed. Oh, she knew their assorted friends and companions would laugh at hearing the word complicated to describe the warrior that was sitting before her, but there were depths and sides to his personality that… intrigued her.

Finally, he shook his head in frustration before reaching into a pouch on his belt and held out a deep red rose in the palm of his hand. “Here, look at this. Do you know what this is?”

She stared stupidly at him for a moment, wondering if she was still caught in that demon’s trap, or she’d fallen asleep in her chair after all, “Is that a trick question?”

He grinned, “Yes, absolutely. I’m trying to trick you. Is it working? Aw, I just about had you, didn’t I?”

“Oh yes. You’re a wily one.”

His voice deepened, “Nefarious even. Muahahaha”, he ruined that evil laugh with a faint cough causing her to smile and for the first time he saw the faintest hint of a dimple in her cheek.

“I picked it in Lothering. I remember thinking, ‘How could something so beautiful exist in a place with so much despair and ugliness?’ I probably should have left it alone, but I couldn’t. The Darkspawn would come and their taint would just destroy it. So I’ve had it ever since.”

She considered the flower in his hand and figured he must have had some sort of preservation enchantment placed on that pouch considering the flower was in near perfect condition. “That’s a nice sentiment.”

“I thought that I might… give it to you, actually. In a lot of ways, I think the same thing when I look at you.”

Despite herself, Marlana could feel herself blushing at the compliment. Oh, she’d been complimented on her looks in the past, but never in such a sweet manner, “Thank you, Alistair. That’s a lovely thought.”

The warrior’s expression saddened, “I’m glad you like it. I was just thinking… here I am doing all this complaining, and you haven’t exactly been having a good time of it yourself. You’ve had none of the good experience of being a Grey Warden since your Joining, not a word of thanks or congratulations. It’s all been death and fighting and tragedy. I thought maybe I could say something. Tell you what a rare and wonderful thing you are to find amidst all this… darkness.”

As he finished speaking, he held the rose by its stem out to Marlana who could feel her cheeks turning bright red even as she slowly reached out to take the flower from him. Just as her fingers started to curl around it, he lightly touched her hand with his empty one, holding her hand between both of his for just a moment. Speechless she smiled up at him, brilliant blue eyes sparkling as they gazed into his and he could feel her pulse speed just a little in her wrist. Smiling warmly back, he let her hand go, but slowly and a little reluctantly.

“I’m glad you like it.” His hands made a nervous, twisting gesture, “Now if we could move right on past this awkward, embarrassing stage and get right to the steamy bits, I’d appreciate it.”

She laughed and decided to play along, wondering how badly she could make him blush, “Sounds good. Off with the armor, then!”

He laughed, “Bluff Called! Damn! She saw right through me!” Then more nervously, “I’ll be… in my room. Until the blushing stops. Just be, uh, safe. You know how it is.”

Marlana couldn’t help grinning at his hasty retreat and bid his back a good night. Then the smile faded as she looked down at the rose and carefully stroked one velvet soft petal with a fingertip and wondered.