It took a while for the shock of my choice to truly sink in. By the time it had truly donned on me that I was now a Grey Warden and that I had got myself mixed up in a war against monsters, no less in a land that was not even my own, it was turning into evening.

We had buried Aedan and the other recruits while my head was still cloudy. I had not known my cousin well, but he was still my relative, and it was so unfair that his life had taken such a drastic turn. The death of his family had weighed on me more than I had expected, and I was starting to realize that the promise I had made to the young man was a folly one. I had promised to murder an Arl for the killing of a family I barely knew, going against all the teachings in my youth about honour and the evils of taking a life for revenge.

I found it interesting that in the three years since I had left my homeland, in only a span of a couple of months I had forged a deep connection to a noble family I barely knew, and had vowed to protect a province I had just entered.

I suddenly realized that defending Ferelden and upholding the Cousland name was now my duty, whether I wanted it or not.

I am unsure if I should declare myself an honourable person, or a complete and utter fool.

Alistair and I waited at the Warden camp for Duncan to return. He had left to speak with the King Cailan and the King's second, Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir. Duncan knew that we would play no part in formulating a strategy for the upcoming battle, so he gave us time to rest.

I sat on a log next to the fire, with Axel's head in my lap and the Cousland shield and family sword at my side. The dog's ears and eyes drooped as he whined quietly. He knew his master was dead.

My own sword and shield were strapped to Cael's saddle now. I felt almost... dirty... wielding the equipment. I knew that technically I shared my bloodline with the Couslands, but my particular family had left Ferelden several generations ago. It just didn't feel right. But I knew it was what Aedan would have wanted, and so I would wield the equipment in the Cousland name.

I was almost startled when I heard Alistair sit on the other side of the log. I opened one eye to look at him, and he smiled a sad smile.

He looked straight at me. "I'm sorry, Lady Ryda, I know this must be rough on you. You've gone through a lot." He handed me a thick slice of bread and I took it gratefully.

I broke off a piece and gave it to Axel. The dog licked my hand in thanks, than took the hard bread. Something told me that the sword and shield wasn't the only thing I inherited from Aedan.

"You don't need to call me that, you know," I said, taking a bite and chewing slowly.

He swallowed a piece of bread with a loud gulp. "Call you what?"

"Lady," I looked down at the hound, who was now drooling on my grieves. "I'm a Warden now, so no titles anymore, right?"

Wardens lost many things when they survived the Joining. Their last names, their rankings in the nobilities, and anything they owned other than their equipment and mounts.

I took another mouthful of bread and gave the rest to the dog. I wasn't very hungry right now.

"I don't like being called 'Lady' anyway." I finished, looking at Alistair out of the corner of my eye and brushing some slobber off my armour. "The only people who call me that are nobles, and I tend not to be very comfortable around nobles."

He smiled a bit. "Alright, alright, fair enough. So what would you like me to call you, then? Traveller? Or maybe Ser Knight?"

I laughed, thankful that he was trying to lighten the mood. "Ser works fine. Or Ryda, you could just call me that."

Will a nod, Alistair ate the rest of his bread and gave a little salute. "Ser Ryda it is then."

"Sounds good."

I continued to rest on the log as we waited for Duncan to return. I knew the other Wardens weren't far, but they had their own preparations to make. Alistair was silent as he poked at the fire. Every once and a while I would feel his eyes on me, probably sizing me up, but I didn't mind. He seemed like a good man.

Duncan arrived shortly and told us the plan that had been formulated. The Wardens and King Cailan would take the front, while Loghain and the majority of the army would stay back and wait for a signal to attack. I partially agreed with the tactic; it was simply a large-scale flanking manoeuvre, and it was the Wardens' job to take the front during a darkspawn attack. What didn't make sense was the fact that the King wanted to be at the front. I understood why I had heard stories about King Cailan wanting glory.

However, apparently two Wardens in particular wouldn't be taking the front.

"Cailan wants two Wardens to light the beacon. That is what you two will be doing."

I raised an eyebrow. I did not like this order. It's not that I wanted to bloody my sword, I just didn't think my expertise was best suited lighting a beacon in a well guarded tower.

"So he needs two Grey Wardens standing up there holding the torch. Just in case, right?" Alistair quipped in. I could tell he disliked this idea as much as I did.

Duncan nodded. "It is what the King wants, and it's an important task. I trust the two of you with it."

"I get it. We'll do it. Just so you know; if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no."

My eyebrow raised. Well that was... interesting. "I think I'd like to see that." I blurted out without thinking.

Alistair gave me a side-ways glance, "Only if you're the one wearing it. But it has to be a very pretty dress."

Duncan sighed heavily.

With a shake of my head in amusement, I looked at Duncan, getting back to the task at hand, "We'll get moving immediately, commander."

The Warden nodded. "Good luck to the both of you then." He came to me, handing me a small hip-pouch. "I want you to hold onto these, Ryda. Take care of the treaties."

I saw Alistair shift in place. "Be safe, Duncan."

"To you as well, Alistair."

And then the commander was off.

Alistair and I prepared to travel to the tower. Axel, I knew, would be coming with us. I worried a bit for the hound's safety, but there was no way I could leave him alone at camp. I strapped the Cousland sword and shield to my back, the treaty pouch to my hip, and then walked over to Cael. I double-checked that my other equipment was tied to the saddle securely, and decided not to take my helm with me.

Moving to the horse's head, I placed a hand under his chin and stroked his face. "Now boy, wait here for me. If the fight comes here, run. Look for me when it's safe."

The horse looked straight at me and nuzzled my chest in response

"Does that horse even know what you're saying?" Alistair asked, coming up behind me.

I gave the horse one more pat and quickly walked up to the man. He was fully armoured and equipped, as was I.

"He knows his commands. He's been trained for stuff like this."

Alistair turned and we started towards the tower, Axel in tow. "He must've been hard to come by, then. He's a good looking warhorse."

I nodded and smiled. "He was a gift, actually. A close friend of mine gave him to me as a going away present."

"Really? You have good friends then."

"I do indeed."

We reached the tower quickly, and to our surprise, it was not as easy to light the beacon as we thought. Darkspawn had attacked and captured the tower, and we fought our way up to the top. Now that I didn't have the recruits to occupy me, I could watch my more experienced companion in action, and was happy to see that Alistair was a good fighter. Much like myself, he used a sword and shield, bashing and slicing his way through darkspawn with a finesse only a trained warrior could have. The mage that accompanied us provided us with flaming weapons and covering magic. We eventually reached the top, relieved, our armour and skin stained with blood.

The relief was short lived, as an ogre roared a challenge as we burst through the door.

"So much for just lighting a beacon. It's never that easy."

Alistair nodded in response. "Just don't let it pick you up."

We attacked the beast as a team; Axel biting at its feet, Alistair and I slashing at its torso, and the mage casting fireballs at its face. The battle was a blur until Alistair and I shoved at the creature in unison, knocking it to the ground. An instant later the man was on its chest, his sword digging into its brain.

I rushed over to light the beacon: we had been told to wait an hour to do so, and surely it had been an hour. Stepping back from the burning fire, I sighed in relief. This task was more stressful than planned.

Alistair came up beside me, breathing heavy. "You're a pretty good fighter, Ryda. Duncan chose well."

I smiled, tapping his shield with the blunt of my sword. "You're not so bad yourself, there."

He grinned back. Our victory was short lived however, as darkspawn suddenly burst through the doors, flooding the room.

I awoke to a confined space and a pounding headache. A voice I recognised shocked me to full attention.

"You've awoken. Finally."

I looked up to see the woman who had led us to the treaties only hours before. "Morrigan? What happened? How long was I out?"

She scoffed. Only then did I realize that I was in my underclothes, and probably in her mother's hut. And that I had several new scars.

"You were atop a flaming tower, swarmed with darkspawn. 'Tis a miracle you survived at all. You have been unconscious for almost two days."

I pulled my legs over the bed, grabbing my under-armour and quickly pulling it on. I didn't like being exposed. "How... did I survive?" Suddenly a wave of fear spread over me. "Where's Alistair?"

She scoffed again. "Alistair? The blond idiot sitting outside? He is fine, better off than you. As for surviving... if you believe the stories, let's say Flemeth turned into a giant bird and plucked you and he from the tower, along with your mutt."

I sighed, relieved. Alistair – and apparently Axel – were okay. I looked at the woman. Her stare was harsh and unforgiving. "Thank you, Morrigan," her stare did not soften. "Flemeth is your mother, I assume?" She nodded. "The Flemeth?" I had heard stories about this seemingly immortal witch in the songs of bards, and I was surprised that the old woman who had given us the treaties was the same person.

"If you believe in the stories, then yes. But if you believe only in facts, then know you survived because she saved you, in some manner. Now..." she stood and went to wait by the door. "Get dressed."

After I re-armoured and re-equipped, I followed the woman outside.

Alistair greeted me with: "Am I glad you're okay. I thought I'd lost you."

I smiled. "Glad to see you too, Alistair. All well, I hope?"

He nodded, but the frown on his face told me it was not so.

Morrigan reintroduced me to her mother, and I bowed my head in thanks. She explained to us that the majority of the army had retreated shortly after the beacon was lit. My eyes narrowed. They had retreated? I asked her about the rest of the army, specifically about the front lines.

All the soldiers on the front had been killed as a result. I stood in shock as Alistair spoke, obviously infuriated. "Loghain betrayed us!" Alistair sneered through clenched teeth. "He left them to die. He left the Wardens to die."

At that point my heart sunk. Duncan was gone. The king was gone. The Wardens were gone.

We were the only ones left.

The next couple days were somewhat of a blur. I registered important events, but mostly I let my experience do the talking. I let my body fight for me, let my sense of honour guide me, and focused on the task at hand. I knew that as Wardens, we had a duty to fulfil. That duty was to face the darkspawn horde moving through Ferelden. Our best bet was to use the treaties that Duncan had left in my possession. There were three of them: one each for the Dalish Elves, the Dwarves of Orzammar, and the Circle Mages. Alistair had suggested a forth: to head to his childhood home, Redcliffe, and to ask the aid of Arl Eamon.

Flemeth had offered the services of her daughter, as the old woman too wanted to see to the end of the Blight. I had accepted, although Alistair and Morrigan had both protested. I knew that a mage would be a powerful ally. We headed to Lothering, a small village to the north, where we gained two more companions: a Chantry sister named Leliana who believed she had seen a vision telling her to join us, and a qunari man named Sten who had been caged for murder.

We also learned in Lothering that Loghain, the traitor, had place a bounty on our heads, claiming that the Wardens had betrayed the King. It made my blood boil. It meant that we'd have a lot of bounty hunters to deal with in the future.

It also meant that Loghain was now on the list of people I would indefinitely kill.

We left Lothering as soon as possible. Apparently I – although I did not want it – was appointed leader, and so decided we head for Redcliffe, as it appeared the closest destination. We headed west from Lothering at a brisk pace, stopping only to catch our breath and sleep.

We had set up camp one night on the way to Redcliffe. A pair of Dwarven merchants – a pair we had helped in Lothering – had decided to join us. Their carts proved a good way to carry equipment, and they had interesting wares, but our provisions were low and we had very little in terms of shelter and comfort. Morrigan built her own shelter, Sten went off on his own every night, and Leliana had a tent she slept in. Alistair and I had a tent that we alternated using nightly or by who was on watch shift. He had offered me the shelter several times; suggesting that he was fine sleeping outdoors, but I had turned him down each time.

He was persistent though.

"You know, you can have the tent tonight when you finish your watch," he had just built the fire up to a good blaze. We were waiting for Morrigan and Sten to come back from hunting. Leliana sat nearby singing to herself quietly, and Axel stood at the entrance of the camp, keeping watch.

"Oh no, not this again..." I rubbed my eyes. "Alistair, we've gone over this. We alternate. I had it last night, it's your turn."

He shrugged, sitting down beside me. "C'mon, I told you, I don't mind sleeping outside at all. It's good for you!"

I sighed.

I hadn't known Alistair for long, but since I began to travel with him, I had learned a couple things. He was a gentleman, for one, a good fighter, a terrible cook, and he used humour wherever he could. I'd learned that, much like myself, he liked to jest, no matter the situation. He joked when he was happy, nervous, sad, or just plain bored. We had began to develop into a pattern of jesting whenever possible, much to Morrigan's well-versed – and Sten's silent – displeasure.

He reminded me a lot of my brothers, and of the men I had trained and lived with in my youth when I was a young squire.

"How about this," I began, poking him in the side. "We alternate by week. You have it one week, and I have it another week. That way, you get to sleep outdoors for an extended period of time as you seem to desire, and I still get to feel like you're not treating me like a 'lady'." I drew the last word out, letting it sink in.

He raised a hand, defensive. This was a game he had quickly learned the correct response to. "No, no, Ser. Why would I treat a knight such as yourself in such a matter? I am doing this simply as a friend. A friendly gesture. An extension of my friendship to my fellow Warden." He tilted his head and grinned. "My very lovely fellow warden."

I rolled my eyes at the man, shaking my head in silent laughter.

"Oh please," it was Morrigan, back with supper. She stood at the other end of the fire, Sten by her side. "I'd prefer to keep my lunch, thank you."

I laughed at her comment. Alistair and Morrigan weren't the best of friends. By that, I meant they hated each other. I didn't quite trust the woman and her icy exterior, but their arguing left for some interesting commentary.

"Hey now, that was a nice compliment!" He grumbled, crossing his arms like a pouting child.

Leliana got to preparing the hares that Morrigan and Sten had captured. She was definitely the best cook of us all, had many stories to share, and wasn't half-bad with her daggers. Although I was sceptical of her when we had first met, I was glad she had joined us.

Everyone had eaten and had gone to their respective sleeping areas. I sat by the fire, as it was my turn to keep watch. Axel lay to my left, asleep and on his back, legs sticking into the air. For a purebred marbari warhound, he was quite the mutt. I looked around the surrounding area for any signs of danger, and then took a drink of tea. We didn't have much luxury, and so this bit of cheap watered down tea was wonderful. I had taken off my gauntlets to allow the heat to move through my hands and arms. It felt good.

I heard the ex-Templar shift around the tent at the side of the fire. Seconds later, with a loud sigh, he pulled the flap open and shuffled over to me, his under-armour clothing ruffled and his feet were bare. He plopped down beside me in the dirt.

"Couldn't sleep," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

I offered him the chipped mug full of tea, and he took it with a quick thanks.

"Careful, it's h-"

"Ouch!" Too late. "You're not kidding!" He blew on it before drinking again, and I chuckled quietly. He narrowed his eyes. "You're enjoying my pain, aren't you?"

I shook my head, averting my gaze. "No, of course not. Wouldn't dream of it."

He chuckled, handing me back the mug. "Yeah, sure you're not."

We sat in silence, watching the fire. I focused on nursing my tea as best I could. The man was in very close proximity to me. A little too close. I could smell him from here: smoke, sweat, iron and leather.

Oh shit... noticing that in such detail probably wasn't a good thing.

"So, uh..." he mumbled, playing with his hands and breaking the silence. "How are the dreams?"

I frowned. Ever since we had left Flemeth's hut, I had been having terrible dreams. About the darkspawn horde, about death, and about a huge evil dragon we knew as the Arch Demon.

"Still there, every night." I sighed. "I almost don't want to go to sleep."

His frown mirrored my own as he looked down at his hands. "Yeah, they're terrible. One of the greatest downsides of becoming a Grey Warden. Except for the Taint and all." A pause. "They're a little easier to deal with as time goes on. Unless we're actually facing a Blight, then, I dunno what will happen..."

He trailed off, and I stared at the flames again.

"Hey Alistair?"

"Yeah?" He turned to look at me and tilted his head.

"What were the other Grey Wardens like?"

He looked almost confused by the question. "Huh?"

"I mean, what was it like to travel with them?"

His eyes fell. He took a moment to think. "Oh... They were good companions," he grinned a little as he stared into the flame, back in happy memories. "They were a rowdy bunch at times. We used to have drinking games and wrestling matches and basically be idiots when we weren't on duty. But once we were called to attention, everyone became so professional. They were all so devoted, especially Duncan..."

His face fell. I could see the pain and sadness as he thought of Duncan. I raised a hand and placed it on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Alistair, I shouldn't have mentioned it..."

He shook his head, placing his hand on my own. "No, it's okay. I just wished that... that I could have been there to help Duncan. I wish I could have been there, at Ostagar. Maybe I could have blocked the killing blow or maybe I would have died instead of him, I don't know... He didn't have anyone. No family, no nothing."

"He had you, Alistair."

The man looked at me, a half smile on his face. His hand tightened a top my own, and I smiled back. "Thank you, Ryda."

We stayed there for a moment, just grinning at each other. I was about to make a joke mentioning how he was still holding my hand when Axel bolted awake, growling. Immediately we were at attention. I drew my sword, looking around for danger. I could hear something – branches breaking, metal on stone, harsh breathing.

And then something burst through the trees, charging forward.

The big black creature burst through the trees, charging towards us. At first, I didn't realize what it was, and brought my sword forward to defend myself. Then, in a sudden moment of clarity, I realized that it was a very large, very familiar horse. I brought my sword down an instant before the stallion came to a sliding stop mere inches in front of my chest. He nickered happy.

Alistair coughed as the dust cleared.

"Cael!" I unceremoniously dropped my sword and grabbed the horse's nose in a very excited hug, my heart nearly exploding in a sudden bout of happiness. "That'a boy!" I rubbed under his forelock, ecstatic to see my mount. After a moment, I began examining him for injury.

"What in the world?" Leliana walked up by the fire, rubbing her eyes. I saw Sten shuffle away from the corner of my vision, obviously annoyed at the intrusion.

Alistair shook his head in disbelief. "By the Maker, I want a horse like that..."

With a quick inspection of my mount, I realized two things: first and most importantly, he wasn't hurt. A little worse for wear and exhausted, but fine. The second was that my gear was gone, except for the saddle itself. That meant that my sword, shield, bow, helm, and my saddle bags were gone for good. I quickly opened the small pouch built into the saddle and sighed with relief. Well, my money was still there.

What mattered was that the horse was okay, really. I don't know what I would do without this creature. I started undoing the girth and chest leathers, and to my joy, there was very little rubbing from the straps, even though they had been on for so long.

"By the gods, I love my warhorse..."

As I busied myself with the beast, I heard Leliana chuckle and go back to bed, and Axel bounced around behind me, tongue lolling and tail wagging.

Alistair came up beside me, laughing quietly, "Seriously? You have a horse that can find you after a battle like that?"

I nodded, grinning with pride. "I told you he was well trained!"

"Hey now, I never said he wasn't! I said he was a very fine horse, didn't I?"

"Will you two SHUT UP and go to sleep!" Morrigan yelled from her own shelter. She sounded pissed.

Alistair and I looked at each other, and couldn't help but laugh.