I’ll bwing you… [Warhammer 40K]

[Boroda Orka]

The Harrowing

I have been waiting for him—waiting with equal parts apprehension and impatience. The heavy, confident footsteps of the Templar come to a halt behind me, telling me that the hour has finally arrived.

"It is time."

Ser Aivis looms over me. As always, the tall, broad-shouldered man is encased in plate armour. His helmet is tucked beneath one arm, leaving his face uncovered and almost expressionless; only the faintest lift at the corners of his mouth betrays the fact that the Templar is in a good mood.

"I am ready."

I rise and set aside the book I had been reading.

"Follow me."

The warrior nods and turns away. For the briefest instant, I catch his gaze. Sympathy. Affection. A trace of respect. Very few mages in the Tower receive such treatment from the Templars, and every one of them underwent the Harrowing long ago. I am the sole exception. That is why I knew the day of my Harrowing in advance. That is why only a single Templar came to fetch me.

I cannot say I take any particular pride in it. There is nothing remarkable about being more disciplined than the child apprentices—or even some of the full-fledged mages who have already passed their Harrowing. It is no achievement. I endured my own growing pains long ago: first in the prison-citadel of the Adeptus Arbites on a hive world whose name I can no longer recall; then during the voyage aboard a Black Ship to Holy Terra; and finally in the Scholastica Psykana.

After all that, I simply cannot bring myself to sympathise fully with the locally accursed. Whenever I hear the inhabitants of the Tower complain about the "persecution of mages," I barely manage to suppress a contemptuous smirk. The spineless sons of bitches simply do not understand how fortunate they were to be born into this world. Their living conditions are little short of paradise. They merely have nothing with which to compare them. I do. I lived through an endless war against everyone and everything, with no end in sight. Damned heretics crawling through every crack and keyhole. Bastard xenos. Revolting food. The constant chill of death breathing down one's neck—and death itself did not seem so terrible beside some of the other "prospects."

And here? Clear skies. Fresh air. Fresh food. Years of comfortable living during which no one tried to kill me, enslave me, or worm their way into my mind, whispering and coaxing me to open the door just a little wider. What more could a three-hundred-year-old psyker acolyte—who died because of his own cowardice after his Lord Inquisitor fell into the embrace of the Ruinous Powers—possibly dream of? The bastard had plunged so deeply into heresy that he was declared Extremis Diabolus and put down by the radical Inquisitors of his own faction. Naturally, once the Lord himself had fallen, his entire retinue had to be investigated as well.

I was unlucky. Spectacularly unlucky. First, by the time the Lord was executed, I had already spent four years pursuing a heretical sect across a hive world. The case did not quite fall within my Ordo's usual remit, and unfortunately, the hunt had produced no final result. Second, they sent a bastard after me whom I hated with all my soul—and he returned the sentiment in full. After a brief "investigation," I was declared a member of the very sect I had spent years hunting. Then, without ceremony, they shot me in the head.

How ironic. But I cannot claim I was entirely blameless in my own demise. The fall of an Inquisitor is nothing unusual. The fall of a psyker Inquisitor is common enough. And the fall of a radical psyker Inquisitor—which was precisely what my Lord had been—is all but inevitable. Everyone who needs to know this knows it, and prepares accordingly. Sooner or later, a fallen Inquisitor is hunted down by his own brethren or eliminated by an assassin of the Officio Assassinorum.

So yes, I was guilty. Guilty of caring too much for my Lord. That son of a bitch had once saved me. He pulled me out of a hellish mess, gave me purpose, power, and a place at his side. He freed me from most of the heavy chains that bind sanctioned psykers. And I… I could not step over my loyalty to the bastard and report him. I lied to myself, hoping that the seasoned old monster would do what he had always done—walk the razor's edge without slipping into the abyss.

Yes, it was deliberate self-deception. By the time I left on my final mission, my Lord had already fallen into the foul embrace of Chaos. Perhaps that was why I fought so hard for the assignment. Perhaps that was why I spent years pursuing the sect, hiding behind the excuse that not all of its members had yet exposed themselves, and refusing assistance from the Ordo better suited to the task. I was a coward who did not wish to betray a traitor.

I did not want to be the cause of his sentence. I did not want to return and face the truth. So, in essence, I was guilty, and the sentence carried out by an acolyte of the Ordo Malleus was entirely deserved. I was less than pleased with the identity of my executioner, but honestly, that was a trivial detail. I cannot help myself. I grin broadly, drawing frightened glances from the other apprentices in the chamber. They are afraid.

Not so much for me—we were never particularly close—but for themselves. In me, following the Templar, they see their own future. A future they fear. I fear the ritual ahead as well. The Immaterium is unpredictable and terrifying. The dangers that lurk within it for a psyker are beyond counting. Even now, I cannot be certain that my entire existence up to this very day has not been some elaborate snare laid by the Ruinous Powers. Delusions. Hallucinations. Entire worlds woven like fever dreams.

Such things are commonplace wherever the Archenemy is concerned. I have seen worse. I have read of worse. First during my service in the Astra Militarum, and later beneath the authority of the Inquisition. Those who dwell within the Warp are dangerous, deceitful, ever-changing, and unpredictable. That is precisely why no theory—however wild or illogical—can ever be dismissed outright. To be born a psyker is to forget the meaning of peace forever. The shields of will and faith must remain raised at all times…

Perhaps even beyond death. The mercy the Immaterium has shown this world—Thedas—is deeply suspicious. At first, I believed everything around me to be nothing more than the fevered delusion of a dying soul trapped by one of the Archenemy's repulsive servants. What else was I supposed to think? The last thing I saw was the yawning barrel of a heavy-calibre stub revolver. Then came a brilliant flash—the final punctuation mark of my life—as the contents of my skull painted the wall behind me.

And yet, after such an inevitable and undeniable death… This madness began. Vague images. The constant flickering of consciousness—on and off. Cycles of hunger and satiety. Distorted, muddled visions. To the limited extent that I could think at all, I assumed my soul had simply been devoured and was in the process of being digested. Then, one day, I finally became aware of myself. After several days of observation and a diligent search for signs of delusion, I concluded that I had been reborn.

Born anew upon some feudal world. As I grew older, it became clear that the Imperial Creed had yet to reach this place. I could not even begin to guess when humanity had colonised the planet. The language spoken here bore no connection whatsoever to High Gothic—the tongue of mankind from even before the Age of Strife. None. No matter which of the countless Imperial worlds I had visited in my former life, their languages had always carried at least some trace of Gothic.

It was strange. Unbelievable. Ultimately, however, it was not particularly important. Thousands upon thousands of worlds still await compliance. It was entirely plausible that the colonists who settled this planet had left Holy Terra long before High Gothic became the common tongue of mankind. What unsettled me far more was the Immaterium itself. To be honest, during the first years of my new life, I genuinely hoped that I had been born free of the psyker's curse. My mind was blissfully silent.

No whispers. No pleading voices urging me to "open the door." No temptations of power, knowledge, or dominion. No threats. I did not even attempt to draw upon the Warp. The terror that doing so might crack open that door was so overwhelming that I crushed every such thought the instant it arose. Yes, I was afraid. Afraid—and unwilling to relive my former life. I had no need for the power granted by the Immaterium. None at all. I had already had my fill of it.

To live as an ordinary man—even in a world without technology—while being the heir of a Fereldan aristocrat in the land of my birth… Oh… It was so close to an unattainable dream. To eat my fill—and eat well. To drink wine. To tumble servants in the hayloft. Then, when the time came, to inherit titles and lands. To marry and have children. To poke leisurely through the local aristocratic cesspit. Oh yes, it sounded wonderfully tempting.

As though the Emperor Himself had rewarded me for my service. But I doubt He would have chosen to reward a weak-willed traitor. In my former life, such a future could exist only in secret, wistful dreams—preferably indulged in silence, where no one could see or hear. The only worthy prospect had been to lay down my life in the name of the Imperium of Man before the Warp and its denizens breached the defences of my mind and reduced me to their spineless puppet.

It was not that I objected to dying for the Imperium. Death was inevitable in any case. But deep within me, there had always been a seditious regret that tasted of ashes and hopelessness. And envy. A deep, black envy of ordinary people whose psychic sensitivity was close to nothing. Thus the absence of those accursed whispers filled me with sheer, almost maddening joy. I lived in profound gratitude and contentment, savouring the pleasures of a simple life as fully as I could. Bliss and indulgence—those are the words that best describe my first four years of conscious existence.

I suckled eagerly at my wet nurse's breast and soiled myself freely until I learned to use a chamber pot. I devoured the local language, delighted my parents with my early speech and placid disposition, and once I learned to walk, spent entire days wandering through our castle's inner courtyard. I would lie upon the lush, fragrant grass and watch snow-white clouds drift lazily across a blue sky. Idleness. It felt as though I had not known the word for an eternity.

There were no Arbites behind my back. No commissars. No Inquisitors. Only the tutors hired by my parents, who taught me the local script and arithmetic; the servants who periodically brought me food; and, of course, my mother and father, who did their best to coax some life into their unnervingly calm five-year-old heir. The only thing that irritated me in those days was the existence of bastard xenos upon this world. Even that, however, raised certain questions. The local elves, specifically.

At first, I took them for some feral subspecies of Eldar, perhaps akin to the Exodites I had read about. Yet closer observation and careful inquiry revealed that they were closely related to humanity. Very closely. Closely enough that certain xenophiles even produced children with them. Since then, I have never quite known what to make of the creatures. On the one hand, judging by the conduct of certain specimens, they are vile xenos destined to burn in the righteous flames of promethium, all while sneeringly calling humans "shemlen."

On the other hand, their biology is so similar to ours that they can produce viable offspring with humans. Felinids, ratlings, and ogryns—despite their unsettling or grotesque appearances—are accepted and even valued within the ranks of the Militarum Auxilia. Yet I have never heard of any of them producing children with baseline humans. And the elves were only the beginning. This world also possessed dwarves who, by every description, resembled Squats, as well as the Qunari—or Kossith. No one could explain the difference between those terms to my satisfaction.

All I knew was that they had horns and despised the Tevinter Imperium, which, as I later learned, was ruled by mages. Unfortunately, my carefree days ended along with the life of one foolish mare. No, not a local woman. An actual horse—one of the ancient beasts described in historical manuscripts, native to Holy Terra in ages past and later introduced to most feudal worlds upon which fate had deposited me. I do not know exactly what happened, but afterward my father, in a fit of rage, beheaded the stablehand responsible for losing control of the animal.

At the time, I acted purely on instincts buried deep within my subconscious. There was no time to think. The mare charged straight at me, black eyes rolling with madness. Before I even understood what I was doing, I reached into the Warp with all my strength, shaped its power through fulmination, and hurled a violent electrical discharge into the beast.

Fucking Warp.

That was the first coherent thought to enter my mind several seconds later, as I stared with glazed eyes at the mare's smoking, blackened corpse. Since then, the same thought has returned to me with depressing regularity. The truth was that this world—like every other—did not look kindly upon psykers. Hardly surprising. It is difficult to feel at ease around someone who can kill you with a snap of his fingers. Worse still, should such a person lose control of his mind and soul, he may become possessed, slaughter everyone nearby—at best—and then tear open a rift into the Warp.

Or the Fade, as the Immaterium is called here. As it turned out, I was a psyker after all. A mage, in the language of Thedas. And the fate of a Fereldan mage was life in the Tower: an institution much like the Scholastica Psykana, where the gifted and accursed were instructed in both spellcraft and the disciplines of the mind. Overseeing everything was the Templar Order—something like a local counterpart to the Inquisition, its members possessing abilities faintly reminiscent of those wielded by nulls.

Oh, how I despise nulls. Lucky bastards who never have to hear the Warp's vile, maddening whispers. At the Scholastica Psykana, we used to joke that the universal hatred of nulls—a hatred even stronger than that directed at psykers—was the universe's way of balancing the scales. The soulless pricks never appreciated the joke. Thus, after that fateful encounter with the mare, every dream of a serene, gilded life befitting an aristocrat was cast aside.

My parents, though never especially fervent followers of the Chantry of Andraste, understood perfectly well what danger an untrained mage might pose. Too many people had witnessed my "little display" for them to risk secretly seeking out an apostate—a mage who lived beyond the authority of the Circle and the Chantry—to instruct me. And so, scarcely a week later, my tearful mother and grim-faced father entrusted me to a small band of Templars, who carried the former heir to a bannorn away to the Circle Tower of Ferelden.

To my considerable relief, the armoured warriors radiated no oppressive aura that deadened my senses. Their presence caused me no discomfort, nor did it send me into convulsions, foaming at the mouth, as encounters with "anti-psykers" had sometimes done in my former life. In truth, most of them proved agreeable enough. They treated me with a degree of respect. They neither struck nor mocked me. They spoke with me, and at times even attempted to offer comfort or encouragement. One Templar did insist upon calling me a beast and a spawn as though those words were my second name, but…

Pfft. I had heard far worse in my former life. The journey to the Tower was hardly pleasant, but it was tolerable—thanks in no small part to the heavy purse my father pressed into the Templars' hands with instructions to see to my comfort along the road. We lodged in roadside inns and ate plentiful, decent food. The worst of the journey was simply the travel from one night's rest to the next. In other words, it bore no resemblance whatsoever to the "pleasure" of travelling aboard a Black Ship.

The Circle Tower also proved a pleasant surprise. The mages welcomed the five-year-old newcomer warmly and pitied the child torn from his parents. The Templars who guarded the "cursed" were far from tyrants. They maintained order and discipline, but there was neither lawless cruelty nor open abuse. Some openly disliked mages, of course, yet their "hatred" most often amounted to insults, rough manners, and the occasional shove or kick. It would take more than that to disturb me. I therefore adjusted easily to my altered prospects. Comparisons between the Tower and the Scholastica Psykana did wonders for my mood, and I simply continued to live and study the ways of this new world.

The more I learned, the more cautiously hopeful I became. The Fade—the source from which the mages of this world drew their power—appeared far, far, far less dangerous than the Immaterium I had known. Mages were taught mental discipline, but their methods were nothing beside the nightmares I had endured during my training in the Imperium. The power I was "taught" to draw from the Fade was astonishingly pure, almost entirely untouched by the corruption of the Ruinous Powers.

No matter how much I practised, there was no pressure from the other side. No one hammered upon the door. No one whispered through the cracks, scraped at the threshold, or clawed at the walls—begging, bargaining, demanding to be let inside. No one promised power or the fulfilment of my every desire. Every discipline I had mastered while serving in a Lord Inquisitor's retinue still worked here—and proved far easier to wield. I simply had no intention of revealing them too soon.

Before witnesses, I displayed only the progress expected of me in the local forms of psyker craft. Compared with everything I had endured in my former life, I regarded the ceaseless complaints of my fellow "inmates" with cheerful astonishment. Life as a mage of the Tower was, in truth, a veritable sinecure. The food could not compare with the fare served in my parents' castle, but it was immeasurably better than the tasteless, corpse-like ration bars issued during my service in the Astra Militarum.

There was ample time for sleep, provided one had the sense to retire early. As for the Templars, I found common ground with them within months of my "imprisonment." Cause no trouble. Do not glare at them like a cornered beast. Remain polite. Speak with respect. Simple. Even those who made a show of spitting at the sight of me and forcing every word through clenched teeth soon ceased to pay much attention to a calm, undemanding child. Nor was life in the Circle true imprisonment.

Mages left the Tower on assignments. Some rarely, others often. Wynne, for example—the healer who instructed another boy and me in restorative magic—was forever travelling across Ferelden to offer her services to the nobility. With my knowledge of biomancy, becoming a healer would present no difficulty. For the sake of appearances, I would study the local methods, earn the proper standing, and then be on my way. From the gossip of particularly talkative mages, I also knew that certain escorting Templars did not object when their charges accepted a little private work—especially if the mage later "treated" a valiant knight of the Chantry to an evening at a reputable brothel.

And with a healer nearby, there was no need to fear unpleasant consequences. The only thing that truly grated upon me in this new life was Andrastianism. Before joining the Inquisition, I had sincerely believed in the Emperor of Mankind. Afterward, when certain truths were revealed to me, I ceased to worship Him as a god, yet my respect and admiration remained undiminished. A man should believe in only one god: Humanity itself. Every false god is an enemy and an abomination—whether one of the Ruinous Four or some vile xenos-spawned obscenity such as the Tau'va or the degenerate idols of the Eldar.

Being born into this world did nothing to alter my convictions. The more I learned of Andrastianism, the more deeply my hatred of the Immaterium's spawn took root. The Maker supposedly unleashed the Blight—a calamity that has threatened mankind for centuries—as punishment for a handful of mages trespassing within His city in the Fade. If that tale is true, then He is no Creator. He is a thrice-damned bastard. As for the Chant of Light, the collection of hymns that forms the Chantry's sacred scripture, it strikes me as nothing more than mockery and heresy.

The only Light I acknowledge is the Light borne by Humanity itself. The Light of the Imperial Truth. Had I not served as an acolyte beneath a Lord Inquisitor, I would probably have been killed here already—or, at the very least, someone would have tried. More than once in my former life, a mission had required me to pretend, to lie, and to let heretical words pass my own lips. So it was here. Within the privacy of my mind, I grimaced, made obscene gestures, and cursed the Maker and His dead bride. Outwardly, my lips offered dutiful praise to both abominations.

A day will come when I understand this world more fully and when my body has reached its proper strength. Biomancy will see to that. Then I shall make my choice: whether to remain in the Tower, idly stroking my belly, or to reveal to the natives the one true and righteous path. But that lies in the future. For now, the Harrowing awaits. Today I must face my first demon and, I hope, finally understand where I truly stand.

I must determine whether everything around me is a cunning snare of the Ruinous Powers… Or whether I have, in truth, been extraordinarily fortunate.

 

[Echo]

I usually prefer elves/mage rebellion themes in Dragon Age. But you came up with a great idea with a psyker in this world, so all his views are very understandable and honest. Watch.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Within the privacy of my mind, I grimaced, made obscene gestures, and cursed the Maker and His dead bride. Outwardly, my lips offered dutiful praise to both abominations.

Click to shrink...

The funny thing is that it probably wouldn't be hard for the Missionaria Galaxia to end up reworking the basic foundations of Andrastianism (once they have some force backing them up) into something acceptable to the Ecclesiarchy.

Andraste becomes a Living Saint, the Maker is not the Maker, of course, just the minds of people trying to grasp the God-Emperor... most of the basic tenants of Andrastianism can be easily handled as a local variant on the Imperial Cult, given that

EDIT: You have my interest, to be clear

 

[Boroda Orka]

"Listen, Greg, what about that healer of yours?"

Once the obligatory greetings and courtesies were out of the way, Robert—one of the three Templars visiting the Tower, an old acquaintance of Greagoir's and perhaps even a friend—finally broached the true purpose of their visit. Lately, this had been happening with increasing frequency.

"We lost our way."

"Night caught us nearby."

"We encountered a suspicious character and decided to stop at the Tower to make certain none of the mages had escaped."

Knight-Commander Greagoir, commander of the Templars charged with watching over the Ferelden Circle, had heard countless excuses for why his brothers needed to spend the night in the Circle Tower. Sooner or later, however, they always asked the same question. And they always placed particular emphasis on the word healer. Just as Robert had now. Each group was small—three to five men at most. Yet there were always one or two among them old enough to be called elderly.

This group was no exception. One of the visitors was a massive man with half-grey hair and a gruesome scar running across one side of his face. He might have appeared stern, had it not been for the vacant, wandering look in his eyes. His pupils dilated and contracted without reason, sweat stood out clearly upon his brow, and the muscles of his face occasionally twitched with a nervous tic. The warrior was plainly unwell. Of late, Greagoir had seen that condition more often than he cared to admit.

"Yes, Rob. He returned to the Circle a week ago," the Knight-Commander replied calmly. "Ser Bars will show you to your quarters. The healer will come after midnight."

"Thank you, my friend."

Robert exhaled in relief and gave a grateful nod to the completely grey-haired Knight-Lieutenant Bars. A Templar of such advanced years was rare enough. A Templar of such advanced years whose eyes remained clear was almost unheard of. Once the "guests" had left the Knight-Commander's office, Greagoir released a quiet sigh and tapped a measured rhythm against the surface of his desk. All this secrecy was beginning to wear on him. Sooner or later, the truth would come to light. Greagoir merely wished to postpone that day for as long as possible.

Strangely, he wished it not only for his own sake, nor even for the sake of his brothers. He was far from certain that a mage who had done so much for the Templars of Ferelden would receive the same treatment in Val Royeaux that he received here. And that the mage would be taken away was all but certain. Greagoir cast a glance through the window. Dusk was already beginning to overtake the day. He rose from his desk and headed towards the training grounds in the inner courtyard. The man he sought ought to be there by now.

As usual, the walk through the Tower's corridors brought him past several of its inhabitants: mages and his brothers of the Templar Order. There were few others within Kinloch Hold, save perhaps the Tranquil—though Greagoir still counted them among the mages. The Templars he passed greeted him with the respect customary within the Order. The mages… Greagoir sighed as he caught yet another hate-filled glance from one of the younger apprentices—a boy who had not yet undergone his Harrowing.

He did not blame the child. Youth. Foolishness. And the knowledge that, should his Harrowing go awry, a knight of the Order would cut him down without hesitation. Experience had shown that mages usually calmed, at least somewhat, after passing that turning point in their lives. It was a pity that in most cases hatred merely dulled into resentment, but little could be done about that. Few mages ever came to understand why the gifted had to be watched.

Watched.

That was the proper word. Greagoir had long since ceased to regard mages as monsters or abominations responsible for every evil in the world—at least those who lived within Kinloch Hold. Yes, long ago the mages of Tevinter had brought about the Blight. Yes, they had committed a terrible sacrilege. But were the children raised in the Tower to blame for that? Of course not. They bore no guilt. Not the apprentices. Not First Enchanter Irving. Not Senior Enchanter Wynne. Not anyone now living within the Circle.

But mages were dangerously powerful. On that point, Greagoir agreed completely—as he did with the teaching that magic existed to serve man, never to rule over him. The Knight-Commander sighed inwardly. The Tevinters had already demonstrated what could come of placing power in the hands of mages steeped in pride and excess. During their frequent—and often surprisingly candid—conversations, First Enchanter Irving had argued that the absence of strict control over mages did not necessarily end in catastrophe. Free mages managed to survive in lands beyond the Chantry's reach, did they not?

But "not necessarily," in Greagoir's opinion, was a long way from "never." Even if the Templars could not watch every mage in Thedas, they would at least watch those within the lands entrusted to them. Even setting religion aside—and some mages regarded the Chantry's teachings with suspicion, not entirely without reason—the danger remained. It was difficult to accept being named one of the world's greatest evils merely because one had been born with magical talent. Yet belief in the Maker changed nothing about the consequences.

A mage could still falter. A mage could still become possessed. And once that happened, everyone nearby would begin to pray—and to believe. Fervently. With all their hearts.

"Knight-Commander."

The Templar approaching from the direction of the training grounds greeted him respectfully. Cullen, Greagoir recalled. The young man was newly assigned and had arrived at the Ferelden Circle only the previous day, so the Knight-Commander was not entirely certain he had remembered the name correctly. The young Templar looked thoughtful and more than a little shaken, his eyes still wide with surprise. Understandable, considering whom he had apparently encountered upon the training grounds. Greagoir had long since grown accustomed to the strange mage—the young, deeply unconventional sorcerer who had grown to manhood before his eyes.

Newly arrived Templars, however, were invariably taken aback upon meeting him. Greagoir would not have been surprised to learn that some of the veterans had deliberately suggested that Cullen visit the training grounds at precisely this hour, chuckling knowingly as they sent him on his way. The mage Greagoir sought was indeed on the Templars' training grounds. The mages' practice yard lay farther away and out of direct sight—a sensible precaution. Neither the First Enchanter nor the Knight-Commander wished to discover what might happen if an "accidental" fireball landed among a group of training Templars.

Nor, for that matter, what might follow if a "stray" wave of cleansing power washed across a group of practising mages. The youth… No. Greagoir could no longer think of him as a boy. He had become a grown man, and an imposing one at that. At the moment, he was wholly absorbed in a series of physical exercises performed upon equipment intended for warriors. He wore nothing but trousers, leaving his bare torso and heavily corded musculature exposed. Another tattoo, Greagoir noted with an inward sigh as the mage performed dips upon the parallel bars.

A two-headed eagle with outstretched wings covered the breadth of his broad back. One head possessed a keen eye and gazed towards the left; the other was blind and turned towards the right. The Knight-Commander's gaze shifted to the staff resting against the nearby railing. Forged entirely from veridium, it had been Greagoir's gift to the mage. The head of the staff bore the same two-headed eagle tattooed across the sorcerer's back. In truth, however, the weapon resembled a long mace far more than any proper mage's staff.

Greagoir had seen the way Craig wielded it on the training grounds. Had the unusual young sorcerer been born without magical talent, he would have made a formidable warrior with a heavy two-handed hammer or axe in his hands. When Greagoir had voiced concern that the staff might prove too heavy, Craig had answered with a crooked grin.

"Heavy is good. Heavy means reliable. Even if the spell fails, you can still crack someone over the head with it."

After seeing the finished work of a skilled smith, Greagoir had decided that it would be in any opponent's best interests for Craig's spells never to fail. A blow to the skull from that "staff" would mean certain death.

"Craig," the Knight-Commander called.

"Ten seconds," the mage replied calmly between breaths as he moved to the horizontal bar and began another set.

Greagoir gave an approving grunt and leaned against the edge of a vaulting horse. By then, Craig was already finishing his exercise. He dropped lightly to the ground, snatched up a strip of cloth hanging nearby, and began wiping away the sweat, starting with his shaven scalp.

"Knight-Commander Greagoir. Good evening."

He greeted the Templar with a nod. For some reason, the sorcerer always addressed him by both title and name. Almost always. Greagoir corrected himself as he remembered the elves, to whom Craig rarely extended the same courtesy. With them, it was either their Circle rank or their name, never both—a habit that greatly irritated some of the sharp-eared folk.

"There is another 'petitioner' from the Order in the Tower," Greagoir said. "Could you examine him?"

"No problem."

Craig shrugged and hung the damp cloth over the bar.

"Tonight, as usual?"

"Yes. I will send someone to fetch you."

"Very well."

An ironic grin spread across Craig's face, looking more like a jagged ravine splitting stone than a proper smile.

"Just do not send the new recruit. I think he has decided I am possessed and the rest of you are too blind to notice."

"One can understand why," Greagoir replied with a thoughtful grunt, deliberately looking the mage up and down.

The man standing before him appeared to have been carved from iron and ill intentions. He stood nearly seven feet tall, with immense shoulders and a body bound in cords of hardened muscle. Tattoos covered his shoulders, chest, and now his back as well. Even his closely shaven scalp bore an intricate symbol worked into the skin with ink and pain. Only his clean-shaven face remained unmarked. It was not a pleasant face. His expression was grim, almost openly hostile, and his jaw seemed permanently clenched, as though every word had to be forced out through stone.

He spoke in much the same way, each phrase squeezed through his teeth. And his eyes… Greagoir had seen such eyes before, though neither often nor lightly. They belonged to men who had walked through fire that never ended, endured losses beyond counting, and witnessed deaths that never truly ceased. Yet Craig was not even thirty. Even so, one look at him left no doubt that he had seen the worst the world could offer and somehow remained standing. Perhaps in spite of it.

Perhaps because of it. Another mystery in a Tower already overflowing with them. Put armour on a man like that and send him onto the king's road, and he would not even need to draw a weapon. Travellers would surrender every coin and possession they owned merely to avoid provoking him.

"Was this not settled long ago?" Craig asked with a weary sigh.

In truth, he had been examined more often and more thoroughly than anyone else in Kinloch Hold. Both the Templars and the mages had watched him closely. The tattoos continued to spread. His disposition grew darker with every passing year. Yet one thing never changed. The strange mage was not possessed. Eventually, the people of Kinloch Hold had simply grown accustomed to him.

"You have cultivated a rather… unusual appearance," Greagoir remarked, spreading his hands slightly as though attempting to encompass the sheer size of him.

"It is practical," Craig grunted. "As far as I can tell, mages neglect physical training far too much. If an enemy closes to sword range—"

"What enemy, Craig?" The Knight-Commander raised an eyebrow. "A Templar?"

"Any enemy."

Another dark look passed across Craig's face.

"An abomination. A bandit. A monster. A Templar. Some damned Dalish screaming about freedom from the shemlen. Some bastard Qunari who decides a mage without his mouth sewn shut is an evil that needs killing. Anyone who wants me in the ground is my enemy."

"Hm. At least some things remain constant," Greagoir muttered. "Very well. I shall send for you—and not a novice. Good evening, Craig. And thank you."

"Have a good evening, Knight-Commander Greagoir. You are welcome… so far."

---

Tonight is a good night. Admittedly, I would have preferred several more hours of sleep, but when the Knight-Commander asks for another favour… I enter the "guest" cell where they are already waiting for me. Three Templars. Two relatively young men—possible future patients—and one older warrior, tonight's patient. This world's pariahs pay for their artificially awakened abilities with addiction, failing health, and near-certain madness of varying severity. I do not know whether I could willingly accept such a fate.

To sacrifice oneself not in battle, not in a noble death for the Emperor and Humanity, but merely to become a madman who, with sufficient ill fortune, might be unable to remove his own trousers by the end of his life… Yet this warrior still endures. I can see how much effort it costs him: the constant struggle to remain in control, as though he is dragging the fraying remnants of his sanity back from every corner of his mind with his bare hands.

Knight-Lieutenant Bars had carried himself in much the same way. An excellent soldier. A man I sincerely respect. Though Andrastian to the marrow of his bones, when he says that "magic is both the Maker's gift and His curse," he understands both halves of the sentence rather than only the latter. He treats mages fairly and without fear. Not warmly, and certainly not with open friendship—such familiarity is discouraged within the Order almost to the point of prohibition—but still far better than many men in armour manage.

Several years ago, when his mind first began to slip, I chose him as the subject upon whom to demonstrate my "progress along the healer's path." In truth, of course, it was biomancy disguised beneath the outward trappings of healing magic. The Templars did not care. Least of all Ser Bars, who gave me the first "gift" I ever received from one of their Order: a magnificent pair of boots made from deepstalker hide. The finest and most comfortable boots I have ever owned.

Five years later, they still look almost new.

"I am going to paralyse him," I tell the Templars quietly, glancing towards the bucket beside the patient.

The specialised equipment is already in place.

"If he starts thrashing, this will end badly."

The knight looks towards my escort, then gives a curt nod. No doubt they have already been warned what the procedure involves. I whisper the paralysis spell with barely moving lips, make a brief gesture, and the warrior—already seated and motionless—freezes completely. In truth, neither the words nor the gesture are necessary, but I do try not to stand out too much. Admittedly, that sounds rather absurd coming from a man with my distinctly unorthodox appearance. I sit opposite the knight, press my palms against his temples, and begin the performance intertwined with the treatment itself.

The sight within his body is familiar. Internal organs damaged by constant lyrium use. Hormonal chaos flooding his system. Swelling in certain regions of the brain—not enough to kill him, but more than sufficient to erode both sanity and quality of life. Delicate work. Precise work. Familiar work. Very well. Let us begin. First, however, I replace the fading paralysis spell with its biomantic equivalent. This should take twenty minutes or so.

---

For twenty minutes, the strange mage sat utterly motionless with his eyes closed. At first, Robert feared for his mentor. As the minutes passed, however, he gradually began to relax. One of the people dearest to him looked better with every passing moment. The older knight's gaze no longer darted frantically around the chamber. His pupils had settled to a normal size. The unnatural pallor had faded from his skin, and even his breathing had become slow and steady.

"That is it," the mage announced abruptly.

He snatched up the bucket and placed it across his patient's knees. The older knight immediately doubled over it and began to retch violently.

"That is supposed to happen," said the Templar who had escorted the mage, his voice calm and reassuring.

"Exactly."

The bald sorcerer with the strange tattoos nodded.

"Once he finishes vomiting, make him drink water. Plenty of it—enough to make him vomit again. We need to flush all the filth out of his stomach."

"Poison?" Robert asked in alarm.

"Poison. By-products of lyrium use. It is all in his stomach now, and this is the easiest way to remove it." The mage paused, then added dryly, "Besides, better he vomit now than spend the night perched on the privy like a proud eagle, terrifying the entire Tower with explosive shits."

Robert grimaced at the image and decided not to consider which possibility sounded worse.

"Will he be all right?"

"How should I know?" The mage gave him a crooked smirk. "Perhaps a bandit will stick a blade in him tomorrow. Perhaps some mad Blood Mage will cut him open. I am a healer, not a fortune-teller."

"I meant his health after the treatment," Robert clarified patiently, breathing out through his nose.

He had already been warned about the bald giant's difficult temperament.

"Ahhh. That is what you meant."

The mage's grin widened, though it did nothing to make him look friendlier.

"Liquid food for two days. Plenty of greens. Boiled meat only—poultry would be best. No lyrium for the next three days, and he will be fine. At least until he ruins his health all over again."

"Thank you, mage," Edmond said, offering a shallow bow of gratitude. "May the Maker's grace shine upon you."

"Yes, yes. You are welcome."

A flash of irritation crossed the mage's face.

"Good night, knights."

The mage left, his escort following close behind. The door had barely closed before the Templars heard their mentor burst into laughter.

"'Explosive shits!'" the older warrior wheezed between gasping breaths, his face reddened by prolonged laughter. "Void take me, I nearly drowned in my own vomit!"

"He is all right," Edmond remarked, covering part of his face with one hand.

"He truly is."

Robert exhaled in relief and placed two jugs of clean water before his mentor.

"Drink, Ser Derek."

"Perhaps I should have wine instead, eh?" The older man grinned. "That enormous ox never said anything about wine. Liquid diet. Wine is liquid, is it not?"

At the looks on his former pupils' faces, the elderly knight burst into booming laughter once more.

"Oh, stop glaring. I am joking. I am joking."

He seized one of the jugs, tipped back his head, and drank deeply. Robert turned away and allowed himself the faintest triumphant smile. His mentor truly was well if that unbearable sense of humour had already returned. To Robert and Edmond, the rough-edged old warrior was one of the dearest people in all Thedas. And not only to them. Ser Derek had trained and raised dozens of Templars over the years. His lessons had saved the lives of young knights more times than anyone could count, and whenever steel had to be drawn, he had never once remained behind.

For Robert personally, the Knight-Captain had saved his life twice. The first time, when Derek had still been only a lieutenant, he had struck the head from a maleficar who was moments away from finishing off his wounded charge. The second time, he had carried Robert to a healer across his own shoulders after two crossbow bolts struck Robert at point-blank range and their horses collapsed beneath them. That had happened only a year ago.

---

Author's Note:

*The mages and the inner courtyard: it is never made entirely clear whether the mages of the Ferelden Circle were permitted to leave the Tower itself. The Templars stationed at the doors prevent the player character from going outside, yet Duncan mentions mages walking in the courtyard. I suspect the restriction on access to open air existed mainly to avoid the need for additional game locations. In this story, therefore, Kinloch Hold has an inner courtyard where its inhabitants may walk freely. The training grounds for both mages and Templars are also situated there. During the mage origin, throwing fireballs and practising flame magic inside a library always looked more than a little absurd.

**Units of measurement will, by yet another "utterly unbelievable" coincidence—otherwise known as authorial fiat—continue to correspond to those most familiar to the author and the majority of readers.

---

Original Russian story

And for those whose patience has already failed its saving throw, the continuation can be read early on Patreon.

The translation will continue to be published here as well, only with a bit of a delay.

 

[Boroda Orka]

Duncan stood at the edge of the cliff, staring into the distance while a storm of emotions raged within him. Grief, disbelief, and horror twisted together in a strange union with relief and grim satisfaction. This was a Blight. Only minutes ago, he had still harboured doubts, sensing nothing more than a vague unease. But now, after putting down two twisted, Taint-ridden mockeries of men, the Grey Warden finally understood what his Warden senses had been whispering to him all along.

The Archdemon had awakened. Frustration… and fear. In the days ahead, mankind would face terrible upheaval and seas of blood. The only faint comfort lay in the fact that each successive Blight had been shorter than the one before it, and victory no longer demanded quite so terrible a price. Little by little, humanity had learned how to stand against the Darkspawn and the Archdemons. The First Blight had raged for nearly two centuries. The dwarves had been all but annihilated, and the enemy had ravaged almost the whole of Thedas. Every thinking race upon the continent had stood on the brink of extinction.

Only the sacrifice and heroism of the Grey Wardens had brought victory in a war that had nearly ended all life—save, of course, the Darkspawn themselves. The Second Blight had been defeated in less than a century, though victory cost the defenders tens of thousands of lives. The Third marched across Thedas with the tread of death for fifteen years, while the Fourth claimed lives for twelve. Duncan sincerely hoped that the Fifth Blight would pass… more easily than those before it.

But hopes were only hopes. Turning them into reality would require hard work. And blood. Especially considering how badly the Grey Wardens had weakened over the four centuries of peace since the last Blight. The powers that be… Duncan grimaced as though struck by a toothache. Those in power, as always, were blind and deaf to anything that did not concern their own comfort or immediate gain. The dwarves of Orzammar had warned for years that Darkspawn activity in the Deep Roads was increasing. The Grey Wardens had insisted that the Fourth Blight could not possibly be the last—that the creatures would not stop until they found another Archdemon.

But did any of that matter to kings and lords consumed by greed and the endless consolidation of power? Duncan could not understand it. How could they be so careless about something that might cost not merely lives—perhaps not even their own, nor those of their families—but the very future of their descendants? Because of the long peace, fewer and fewer recruits had joined the ranks of the Grey Wardens. The Order tried not to overuse the Right of Conscription, preferring volunteers instead.

But every year, there were fewer of those as well. Over time, the Grey Wardens' fame had faded, becoming more legend and children's tale than living truth. And the price of becoming one of them remained immeasurably high. Terrible. A sacrifice made solely so that, someday, people would not find themselves facing a Blight without the Grey Wardens. So that someone within the Order might sense the awakening of an Archdemon and warn Thedas of the danger before the creatures and their master reached their full strength—before their armies swelled into numberless hordes hungry for blood and flesh.

For four centuries, Duncan's brothers and sisters had defiled their bodies and poisoned their minds in the Joining, condemning themselves to early deaths, so that now Duncan could feel the Enemy awaken. So that he could warn the others. Thousands of great warriors had been doomed to a slow descent into madness beneath the influence of the Taint, only to descend into the Deep Roads at the end of their lives for one final battle. To die as men. To take as many of the creatures with them as they could.

A vast sacrifice. An unimaginable burden. A burden heavier than any mountain. And still, Duncan felt a certain grim relief at the beginning of a new Blight. Not because he was some mad bastard rejoicing in the deaths that would soon claim thousands of innocent people. No. But if the Blight had begun not now, but a century from now, it was entirely possible that the Grey Wardens would have remained only at Weisshaupt Fortress, the Order's ancient stronghold. Or worse—they might have vanished altogether, surviving only as an old tale in the memory of men, after the rulers of Thedas stripped them of the Right of Conscription in the belief that no new Blight would ever come.

And then… No one would have warned Thedas. The countless hordes of Darkspawn would have swept across the land unchecked, devouring the dead and dragging the living beneath the earth. Down into the darkness. Where a fate far worse than death awaited them. So perhaps this was for the best. Duncan smiled bitterly. If the Maker showed mercy, they would survive this Blight as well, and the Grey Wardens would rise from the ashes once more. And Duncan sincerely hoped that this time, when the next threat came, they would be ready.

But that was a matter for later. For now, his road led to Denerim and King Cailan Theirin. Duncan knew the young ruler well enough through his duties as Commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. In Duncan's eyes, Cailan was overly enthusiastic and far too light-hearted. But he respected the Order. And besides, the King dreamed of glory. The Grey Warden released a heavy sigh, turned away from the cliff's edge, and continued on his way. One thing was certain.

There would soon be no shortage of opportunities for glory. Nor would there be any lack of treachery, betrayal, or knives in the back. Humans… And elves. And dwarves besides. All thinking peoples were skilled in such things. In dark times, heroes always emerged as well—souls whose inner light drew worthy men and women to them and inspired greatness in others. Unfortunately, villains were no less eager to leave their mark, committing atrocities that even an Archdemon itself might never have conceived.

---

"We do not even have any proper dressmakers here! I have a new gown made, and three days later news arrives that the style has already been out of fashion in the capital for two whole months!"

A girl of about fourteen complained bitterly, pursing her lips in misery.

"Mother promised we would go to Denerim next year, but Father smiled like that again… He always smiles that broadly when he is lying!"

"Stella, now why would I lie?"

Her father smiled gently beneath his moustache, occasionally casting unreadable glances in my direction. Yes… I had been quite the surprise for my family. A nearly seven-foot-tall surprise accompanied by three Templars.

"It is simply that the road from our lands to Denerim is neither short nor easy. And besides, you and Eloise are not planning merely to see the capital. You intend to launch a full cavalry raid upon half the ateliers in the city. And the prices there…"

To my sister's credit, she neither threw a tantrum nor caused a scene. She merely let out such a HEARTRENDING sigh that even something stirred within me—in the place where a soul ought to reside. Within me. A heartless warrior. An acolyte of the ruthless Inquisition. A damned psyker. Though… Perhaps I knew why. Family. Family was… No. I could not quite find the right words for it. I barely remembered my kin from my former life. Only vague, fleeting images remained.

But the holding cells of the Adeptus Arbites? Those I remembered clearly even now. The eyes of the overseers, filled with fear and disgust in equal measure, because back then I had been dangerously unstable. An untrained psyker. An unsanctioned psyker. A damned witch. And it mattered little that I was unsanctioned only for the time being. The Ruinous Powers cared nothing for age. The journey aboard the Black Ship was impossible to forget. I remembered especially well the convulsions whenever I entered the suppression field of another bastard pariah.

Or several of them. Terrifying women, their mouths hidden behind masks, communicating through gestures and the occasional word crackling from their vox-casters. Cold, indifferent stares. The way they shoved aside, with undisguised disgust, the bodies of children and adults alike—those who had collapsed unconscious or were writhing in seizures upon the deck. I remembered the endless transfers from one hold to another so that we could never learn where we were. The wail of sirens that refused to let us sleep.

Strobing lights that made my vision swim and left me constantly nauseous. The perpetual lethargy and crushing heaviness in my skull from whatever chemicals they mixed into our food. I remembered the water. So foul, so rank with oil and metal, that it tasted as though it had been drained from the corpse of a dead servitor. Only at the Scholastica Psykana—the psyker-training institution within the Sol System—did I learn just HOW lucky I had been. It had taken me ONLY five years to reach Terra.

A voyage aboard the Black Ships could last decades. It was not unheard of for those taken aboard as children to die of old age before reaching their destination. Warp travel could go disastrously wrong. Far more often, failed psykers simply died from the appalling conditions. From misery so deep, hopeless, and bottomless that life in the underhive no longer seemed particularly terrible. I remembered well the toothless old man who traded away his sedative-laced rations in exchange for newcomers' stories of the sky.

Of grass. Of trees. Of the suns and moons of their home worlds. He would listen. And he would weep. Afterward, he would howl and claw his own face bloody with cracked fingernails. He had been taken from a feudal world aboard a Black Ship at the age of seven. That old man died quietly a week before we reached the Sol System. He haunted my nightmares for a long time afterward. I often heard his lisping voice from beyond that "little door."

Begging. Pleading to be let in. Begging me to show him the sky. Damned Immaterium. And the foul things that dwell within it. The only thing that kept us from fading away entirely was the light of Faith in the God-Emperor. On rare occasions, in small groups, we were led to the ship's beautiful chapel, adorned with majestic statues and gleaming with gold. The music we heard there was like a choir of angels. The sermons of the Ministorum priests kindled the fire of life within our hearts.

We had to live! In the name of the God-Emperor! In the name of the Imperium of Mankind! Sooner or later, each of us would have to die for them! But! Not! Now! We still had to make our own contribution to Humanity's endless struggle against the countless hosts of its enemies. We were the future astropaths whose choirs would carry voices across the galaxy. We were the future Primaris Psykers serving with the valiant regiments of the Astra Militarum.

And if our Faith proved strong, if our wills remained unbroken, if we were judged worthy— Then perhaps we might join the Inquisition and aid it in the righteous struggle against xenos, heretics, and the horrors of the Immaterium. The Emperor was a father to us all. The one who sustained us. And, at the same time, the one who expected our aid. Impossibly distant and mighty. And yet close to each of us. Loving. Watchful. Caring. The one who guarded us.

The one who protected us. My left hand seemed to move of its own accord, touching my shaved scalp where the Seal of the Seven Names had been inked into my skin. Seven names by which the Emperor of Mankind had once been known in ancient times.

"Son? Is everything all right?"

The woman beside me looked into my eyes with concern.

"Yes, Mother."

I carefully covered her small hand with my own, with a tenderness that still felt almost unfamiliar.

"I was simply lost in thought. And I am very glad that all is well with you," I added, casting an amused glance at my sister, "even despite the horror of having no proper dressmakers."

Family… I knew almost nothing about such things. But perhaps, somewhere deep inside, I had always wanted one. When I was taken to the Circle Tower, I had not yet realised that. I had given myself over entirely to hedonism, justifying it with the thought that I was still little, that I needed to eat well and sleep as much as I pleased. After I came to live among the mages, I spent most of my time thinking about my future among the local psykers.

Somehow… I simply had not thought about my family. Had not truly felt anything. It was strange, almost amusing, that this peculiar sense of belonging had nothing to do with comrades-in-arms, brothers in faith, or even accomplices in terrible crimes against humanity committed in the name of Humanity during my service as an acolyte of the Lord Inquisitor. No. It belonged to a handful of ordinary people with whom, in truth, I shared little more than four years of memory and a few dozen letters.

And yet, in that moment, I felt good. Calm. The warmth that spread through my chest when Mother recognised her son in a nearly seven-foot-tall bald brute and rushed to embrace me had come as a genuine surprise. I found a strange satisfaction in Father's approving remarks as he twisted his moustache and declared that I had grown into the very image of him—a true Airel, the sort of man who would have looked splendid in King Maric Theirin's army when he drove the Orlesians out.

I took genuine pleasure in admiring my little sister, who plainly promised to grow into a true beauty. The darling of the household understood perfectly well that everyone doted on her, and so she twisted both Father and Brother around her little finger as she pleased, recognising only Mother's authority as absolute and unquestionable. And then there was my younger brother, Geoffrey. Not as large as I was, but hardly a small lad either. He was quite serious about becoming the finest blade in Ferelden and dreamed of martial glory—thanks largely to Father, who was terribly fond of recalling his own heroic past.

And yet my visit to the family castle had been entirely spontaneous. The Knight-Captain I had treated barged into my room one day and asked outright how he could repay me.

"How should I know what a mage needs?" the man had sighed heavily when I tried to sidestep the matter with something along the lines of, "Whatever you wish to give me will do."

So after thinking for a moment, I said I would like to spend a short while as a guest in my father's house. To my surprise, barely three hours later we left the Circle to hunt an apostate mage "running around somewhere up north near the Frostback Mountains." The First Enchanter looked displeased, admittedly, but the Templars settled the matter with him. I suspected that, during my time as a healer, I had given Irving more than a few opportunities to extract something useful for the mages from the knights of the Order.

After all, Knight-Commander Greagoir was not my superior. He had to negotiate such matters with Irving somehow. But watching Senior Enchanter Uldred's face twist with rage had been even more satisfying than fondling some beauty's tits in a high-class Denerim brothel. My relations with that bald idiot—not bald by choice—were as foul as relations could possibly be. I would have to kill him when the opportunity presented itself. His rhetoric sounded far too much like an attempt to incite rebellion.

"Not dressmakers—designers!"

My sister rolled her eyes in doomed exasperation.

"We do have dressmakers, and good ones! Oh, why am I even explaining this to you? Only Mother understands me! Men! Father thinks of nothing but our lands, Jeff has nothing in his life but those bits of iron of his, and now you too, Brother! There ought to be room in one's soul for beauty!"

That men, delivered by my little sister with such indescribable contempt, was so hilarious that I nearly burst out laughing.

"My robe is expensive," I said, poking myself in the chest.

And it was. A proper healer—especially one with a functioning head on his shoulders—would never be poor. I would say nothing of Senior Enchanter Wynne; she had her own peculiarities. But I, at least, always dressed in quality clothes. And when travelling outside the Tower, I wore veridium armour as well, richly decorated with embossing. That, incidentally, had not been a "gift." I had honestly commissioned it from a skilled smith in the capital. The master craftsman had given me some very strange looks, but he accepted the commission eagerly enough.

Hardly surprising. It was unusual armour for a mage: a half-cuirass protecting chest and back, pauldrons fitted with chainmail sleeves and bracers, and greaves worn beneath the robe. The peculiar finishing touch was the helmet—light, open-faced, but designed to protect the back of the neck.

"The fabric is good," Stella admitted with an approving nod and an appraising look. "But the clothes themselves…"

Her slightly wrinkled nose said the rest. I would never wear anything so dreadful.

"Well," I said with a smile and a shrug, "it is still the uniform of the Circle of Magi, approved in Val Royeaux. Ordinary mages are required to wear it. Once I become a Senior Enchanter, I shall be sure to consult you, dear sister, regarding the future appearance of my attire."

"That would be wonderful, dear brother."

She granted me a gracious nod, while a spark of anticipation appeared in her eyes.

"And when will you become a Senior Enchanter?"

"Soon," I replied with a modest smile. "It has been six years since I attained the rank of Enchanter, after spending only two years as an ordinary mage. I am not boasting, but I am a powerful healer and a capable fighter. I have a good reputation among the Aequitarians—the fraternity of moderates and loyalists—so within the next year or two, one of the members of the Circle council will most likely put my name forward for the rank of Senior Enchanter. I also have decent relations with the knights of the Order, so I doubt Knight-Commander Greagoir will veto my candidacy."

"That is wonderful," Father said with cautious admiration.

As a bann whose northern lands bordered the Frostback Mountains, he was hardly well versed in the Circle's internal affairs. Judging by his expression, he had not understood everything I said—but his curiosity had plainly been stirred.

"Still, I have heard that the Templars and mages do not have the warmest… relations."

"They do not need to be warm," I said with a shrug. "That would even be harmful. Friendship between a mage and a knight of the Order is like friendship between a wolf and a sheepdog—undesirable and ruinous."

I decided not to elaborate on how difficult it would be for a Templar to cut the throat of a mage he considered a friend. There was no need to distress Mother or my little sister. In truth, countless stories existed of such relationships ending badly, among both mages and the knights of the Order. Tales of forbidden love were especially popular. Young sorceresses would whisper about them when no one else was listening and pity the lovers. I had always been more saddened by the fate of the children born from such forbidden passions.

The poor little buggers were hardly to blame for their parents having no brains, yet they often suffered just as much as the adults.

"Normal, professional relations are enough. Not everyone understands this, but a Templar takes no particular pleasure in spending his life watching lads with staves either. The secret is simple: cause no trouble, and perform your duty with dignity."

"Brother, you talk about the Circle the same way Father talks about the war with Orlais," Stella sighed. "'Perform your duty…'"

"My blood," Father said proudly, twisting his moustache. "The men of our line understand that duty stands above all else. Duty to Ferelden and to our family. His Majesty King Maric—may the Maker bless his soul in the hereafter—often used to say that…"

"My dear husband," Mother sighed, "not today. Your stories about how you and His Majesty kicked the Orlesians out of Ferelden are known by heart to this entire family. Even Geoffrey is bored of them now instead of listening to your speeches in rapture."

My younger brother merely spread his hands beneath Father's astonished stare and offered a modest smile.

"But Craig has not heard them yet…" the head of the family said with a sly smile.

A knock at the door interrupted him. The door opened immediately, and Knight-Lieutenant Edmond stepped into the drawing room.

"I beg your pardon for interrupting."

The knight inclined his head politely. His face was grim. His eyes even darker.

"A messenger has arrived from Denerim. He is waiting for Bann Airel downstairs. The Grey Wardens have declared the beginning of the Fifth Blight. Enchanter Craig, we must return you to the Circle Tower at once."

"Damn it…" Father whispered.

Mother and Stella went pale.

"Of course, Knight-Lieutenant Edmond. I shall go and pack my things."

I gave Mother's hand an encouraging squeeze before releasing it and rising from the sofa. We would say our proper farewells before departure.

"We will be ready in half an hour," the Templar said with a nod before leaving the room.

"Damn it!" Father repeated. "Forgive me, son. I must speak with the messenger."

"Of course. I need to pack as well."

I let Father leave first, then glanced back at the family remaining in the drawing room. Mother and Stella were pale, shaken, and frightened. My younger brother looked lost.

"Everything will be all right," I said, smiling at Mother and giving my sister a wink.

I did not know how to comfort people. Motivate them? Yes. But I doubted anyone present needed the sort of motivation I had learned from watching commissars during my service—or during my years as an acolyte of the Inquisition. Though… Perhaps that, too, would prove useful soon enough.

"War… you found me."

I whispered the words almost soundlessly beneath my breath and touched my right shoulder, where the banner of the regiment in which I had once served as an Astra Militarum psyker was tattooed into my skin.

"Well. Who could have doubted it…"

A servant approaching along the corridor recoiled and hurried aside. Only then did I realise, with some surprise, that a broad and vicious grin had crept across my face. Perhaps the men of the 27th Brimlock had been right after all when they said that war always finds a Guardsman. Or, as our commissar's favourite saying went:

"Give a man a gun, and something to shoot at will always turn up."

---

Original Russian story

If you'd like to read the full story, you can find it on Patreon

The translation will continue to be published here as well, only with a bit of a delay.

 

[dragon132]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Boroda Orka]

"And I told you! Uldred was going to be trouble!"

"Craig," Senior Enchanter Wynne said with a frown.

She disapproved whenever I became too crude or too direct.

"What? Why is it always Craig?" I asked with a crooked smile, watching Uldred puff out his chest and proclaim something to two enchanters from his Fraternity. "I was not the one who drove the Revered Mother into a white-hot fury. She looks like someone's sweet old aunt—all harmless and holy—but did you see how she ground our bald friend into the mud?"

"You can hardly boast of a luxuriant head of hair yourself," the healer replied, shaking her head reproachfully.

The faint twitch at the corners of her mouth betrayed her.

"I chose my shine of my own free will. I shave my head. Uldred, on the other hand, gleams in the sunlight by force of inevitability."

The woman failed to restrain a snort. But when her gaze returned to the subject of our conversation, she released a heavy sigh and pressed her lips together in disapproval.

"I should have gone to the Revered Mother myself," she said aloud. "Or sent you."

"No. I want no part of that particular blessing," I replied at once, neatly dodging the responsibility. "You, however—yes. You should have gone. First Enchanter Irving placed you in command of our detachment."

"Of course. It is simply that Uldred is so…"

"Arrogant, pompous, and stupid," I helpfully supplied when the elderly enchanter hesitated. "Which made it all the more important not to let the bald one speak with the Revered Mother."

"Craig, where is that famous formality of address of yours, known throughout the Tower?"

Another disapproving look followed, though there was little force behind it. Senior Enchanter Wynne already knew she had made a mistake.

"You call everyone by rank and name."

"Not everyone," I said, allowing another crooked smile to creep across my face.

That earned me even more disapproval. Yes, I enjoyed irritating elves that way—quietly and indirectly, simply by omitting either their name or their rank when addressing them. I had chosen to regard them as kin to mankind, but their pointed ears and the mannerisms of certain members of their race still irritated me beyond belief. They immediately brought to mind the arrogant Eldar and their delightful cousins from Commorragh. Damned xenos. May they all burn in the righteous flames of blazing promethium.

I had never been particularly fond of abhumans either, aside from shield-ogryns and a couple of ratlings I had known. But elves… Looking so much like those foul Eldar, they sometimes genuinely made my skin crawl.

"But as far as this particular Senior Enchanter is concerned, I have simply lost all respect for him, Senior Enchanter Wynne," I answered at last. "The man shouts at every corner about granting mages greater freedom while doing nothing whatsoever to achieve it, and now he has saddled us with one enormous, stinking pig of a problem.

"I am almost certain that from now on, any request or decision of ours will be ignored by the Chantry—if they do not begin obstructing us outright. And where the Chantry goes, the Templars follow. What possible reason was there to be rude to the Revered Mother?"

"Uldred is overly harsh, yes, but he wants what is best for mages…" Senior Enchanter Wynne began once again, turning the handle on the same old mill of excuses.

"He wanted to score points with his Libertarians," I cut in. "Look at those two mugs from his Fraternity. Any moment now they will soak their robes with admiration for their idol's courage. As though he had just freed every mage in Thedas from the Yoke of Bondage instead of creating problems for us with the Templars and the Chantry, who will now pick at every little thing we do."

The healer sighed again and said nothing. A pacifist. Had I been in her place, Uldred would already have been spitting out whichever teeth he had failed to swallow. To set up his own "brothers and sisters" like that—the very words he liked to use for mages at his little rallies. The man was thick-headed enough to drive anyone insane. Still, I had to give the bastard his due: he knew how to speak. Whenever he opened his mouth, all his little bootlickers listened as though he were handing down holy scripture.

First Enchanter Irving knew perfectly well that the bald one, despite being quite good at battle magic, was a thoroughly unpleasant piece of work—ambitious enough to shove our chief sly old bastard out of the comfortable chair of First Enchanter the moment he saw an opening. To outsiders, the two of them looked almost ready to kiss each other on the mouth. Anyone who bothered to pay attention could see what their relationship truly was. So when Irving sent Uldred here, he was probably hoping the Darkspawn might develop a taste for bald meat.

He would likely have sent only Libertarians, considering how much trouble they had been stirring lately, but neither those same "freedom-lovers" nor the other fraternities would have understood such a decision. As for Senior Enchanter Wynne, the head of the Circle Tower had not wanted to let her come here at all. Nor me, for that matter. But a healer was needed, and the old woman and I had both volunteered. She did so because she did not want one of her students sent to the front.

I did so because I could not ignore a threat to Mankind—even upon a world not yet brought into the Imperium. In the end, the First Enchanter thought it over, weighed the matter, and appointed Wynne as senior. Whether he did it simply to annoy Uldred or because he hoped the healer could keep the man from doing anything stupid, I could not say. The first part had worked. The second… Not quite. Even on the road, Uldred had done everything possible to make it clear that he considered himself the one in charge, while Wynne kept smoothing things over and letting his little displays pass.

Then, the moment we reached Ostagar, that dried-up bald peach caused a scene with the senior Chantry woman, forcing his way through sheer persistence into being the one "introduced" to the priestesses.

"Hmm… Senior Enchanter Wynne, would you like me to… have a word with him?"

I nearly added that I could simply kill him, but on reflection, the idea was not especially sound. There were only eight mages here as it was, and Wynne would hardly approve of such methods. The First Enchanter might at least have considered the proposal. The elderly healer… Not so much.

"Oh, if only Uldred knew how to listen," the woman sighed in resignation.

"I will explain it in a way that teaches him."

He would not have much choice, really. When a man is lying on the ground spitting bloody froth, his available options become rather limited. Of course, beating him bloody was not an especially good idea either. After something like that, an unpleasant spell might come flying into my back during a battle with the Darkspawn. On the other hand, I would be expecting it. And if the opportunity arose, I could always put him down myself. I very much disliked the fact that Uldred was using the Blight to gain political weight and feed his own ambitions.

Mankind faced a genuine threat, and that degenerate was thinking about influence and playing his little political games.

"No, Craig, thank you," Wynne said, giving me a grateful smile. "Still, this is my responsibility. I will manage it myself somehow."

"As you say."

I shrugged. Naturally, I wished her luck. I simply had serious doubts about her chances of success. The bald bastard did not need lectures, nor did he need to be bored into a nervous twitch. What he needed was one good, solid blow to that very bald head of his.

---

"What a vile thing. As though being filthy xenos were not enough, they are damned mutants besides," I hissed through my teeth, examining the Darkspawn corpse.

To be honest, I was not even certain what category of abomination the foulness at my feet belonged in.

"Enchanter Craig?" Ser Trad asked.

He had failed to catch my words. The man was a Knight-Corporal of the Templar Order.

"I said it is a particularly rare breed of filth," I repeated more loudly.

"That it is, Your Mageship. Ugly mugs on them, no mistake," agreed one of the soldiers from the scouting detachment.

Before the Blight, he had served in the retinue of a bann whose lands bordered this stretch of the Korcari Wilds, so he knew the area fairly well. The Chasind wilders who inhabited this cold, forested region were very fond of raiding their more civilised neighbours. The Fereldans, strangely enough, did not particularly appreciate the custom. As a result, the border lords had formed their own peculiar bands of rangers, men who hunted down those savages greedy for other people's property.

When they could find them, of course. The Chasind were very good at slipping across the border unseen and vanishing with their plunder just as quickly.

"If only it were just their mugs," the second Templar, Ser Dantan, said in support of the soldier.

He had not removed his helmet, nor had his brother, but the disgust in his voice made his opinion of the creatures perfectly clear.

"That one is a genlock," explained the Grey Warden leading our detachment as he studied the short, hideous mutant. "They are born from broodmothers made from dwarven women. And that one over there is a hurlock."

He pointed towards the taller monster.

"Born from a broodmother who was once human."

Ser Dantan swore viciously. I ground my teeth in hatred. Fucking Warp. If the Chantry was telling the truth, and this filth truly had been dragged into the world by the ancient magisters of Tevinter, then I sincerely hoped that in the next life the entire population of the Fade was taking turns on the bastards.

"All right," the Warden said. "Ready to move on?"

And so we moved. Groups of Chasind refugees were still passing through the camp at Ostagar, and the Grey Wardens had organised patrols such as ours to cut down Darkspawn scouting and hunting parties and, where possible, help the wilders fleeing the Korcari lands. The moment I learned of these sorties, I decided to join one. Sitting around the camp was not particularly entertaining, even with the spectacle of our healer eating away at Uldred's brains with a tiny spoon.

I approached the Wardens, who were only too pleased to receive magical support, and together we secured Senior Enchanter Wynne's permission easily enough. For her, the argument that I might help save people was more than sufficient. As I had expected, dealing with the Chantry proved rather more difficult. The Wardens managed to force the matter through all the same. As a condition of allowing me to leave the camp, however, the Chantry insisted that two Templars accompany us to keep watch over me.

Needless to say, two fully armoured knights who knew perfectly well how to fight were hardly an unwelcome addition. Quite the opposite. The Grey Wardens were delighted with the arrangement. So was I. They quickly assembled the rest of the party and sent us along the route. Only a few minutes ago, we had encountered our first Darkspawn. The fight had not been difficult. The Grey Warden sensed the creatures before they reached us, giving us time to prepare. The disadvantage was that the monsters sensed him as well.

Fortunately, they were stupid. They charged straight towards the Warden—and ran directly into the rest of us. One chain lightning spell from me and two arrows from our ranger later, the Darkspawn were dead.

"It may seem," the Warden said suddenly, "that fighting them is simple. It is not. Not exactly.

"A young Darkspawn alone is easy prey for any warrior with even modest training. A seasoned one is another matter. They are strong, fast, fearless, and utterly indifferent to their own deaths. Worse, the experienced ones know how to fight. They will use that skill, and they will fight to the very end—which is not always what those facing them expect.

"Outside a Blight, they gather in relatively small packs and rarely venture to the surface. The dwarves suffer most from them. For the dwarves, the war against these creatures never truly ends.

"But once the Darkspawn find one of the ancient dragons and corrupt it, creating an Archdemon… then they gather into vast hordes beneath a single will and rise beneath the light of the sun to destroy every living thing upon the surface.

"That is a Blight."

"Hmm… And what happens if they find two dragons at once?"

The Warden stared at me. For several seconds, he said nothing. Then the man visibly shuddered.

"Maker forbid," he breathed. "I do not even want to imagine it."

"It would be amusing if the Archdemons could not agree which one was in charge and ate each other," the ranger grunted without taking his eyes from our surroundings.

I laughed. So did several of the ordinary soldiers.

"You, Enchanter Craig, take the Blight far too lightly," Ser Trad said, giving me a disapproving sidelong glance while pointedly ignoring both the ranger and the soldiers.

"You are mistaken, Knight-Corporal Trad," I replied. "It is simply that I, like Ranger Rick, have no desire to drive myself into the depths of dark thoughts. He has his reasons. As for me, I am a mage. It is important that I keep my mind free from powerful emotions."

"Demons?" the Grey Warden asked absently.

"The very same."

I nodded calmly and reached out with my mind towards the eagle circling high above us, borrowing its eyes to survey the land ahead.

"Mages, by their very nature, are beacons to the inhabitants of the Fade. Strong emotions, meanwhile, are keys to the little door leading into our souls. There is no reason to make it easier for every piece of filth beyond the Veil to crawl into one's head."

Directly ahead of us, a small group of people was moving in our direction. Excellent. All we had to do to meet them was continue along the route we were already following. No need to invent some excuse to change course.

"Your Mageship, and… well… what is it like?" the same ranger asked.

"What is what like?" I replied, not understanding the question.

"Well… that. Possession."

The man looked distinctly uncomfortable. Curiosity had apparently won the argument with common sense.

"Ah. Possession. Simple enough," I said with a shrug. "A demon tempts you. If the mage gives in, that is the end of it. They become possessed. Which is why creatures of the Fade must never be trusted. That is the short version."

"And how does it tempt you?" Rick pressed.

"In different ways. It depends upon the demon. A desire demon, for example, will promise a mage whatever they want most.

"Here. Imagine that the person dearest to you in all the world has died. Do you have someone like that?"

"To be honest, I would rather not imagine it," the man said with a frown.

"You see? Even the thought is unpleasant. Now imagine that the thing scratching at the little door from the other side begins whispering that it can return what you lost.

"That you can be happy again.

"That the dead will live once more—alive, whole, and beside you.

"No Blight. Nothing standing between you. Nothing but endless happiness.

"Can you imagine it?"

The ranger did not answer. He merely gave a quick, sharp nod. A shadow passed over his face. Over most of the detachment, in fact. The Templars were harder to read. Their closed helms concealed their expressions, leaving only wary eyes glinting from within.

"But all of it is a lie," I continued. "Rot and heresy. Everything that spills from a demon's foul mouth serves one purpose—to seize the mage's body and soul.

"The only proper dialogue with creatures of the Fade is a fireball to the wretched snout.

"Or lightning.

"Or anything else the otherworldly filth finds unpleasant.

"There will be no resurrection of the dear and beloved. There will only be an illusion in which some thick-headed, weak-willed fool pisses himself with happiness because an image fashioned from his own memories stands beside him and whispers that everything is fine now. That everything will be wonderful."

I spat on the ground in disgust. For all that the Immaterium of this world was nowhere near as horrific as the one I had known before, the nature of its inhabitants remained remarkably familiar. The creatures of the Fade were different from those I had known in my former life. More primitive, perhaps. But still the same damned bastards, feeding upon the weaknesses of mortals.

"And it is the same with every creature in the Fade. A rage demon promises strength with which to tear apart the enemies you hate. A pride demon offers power beyond anything His Majesty Cailan could dream of. A sloth demon promises rest to one who is exhausted and sick of struggling.

"You understand the principle.

"Stupid shit for weak-willed whiners who cannot solve their own problems—or die with dignity like decent people."

"Uh… right," one of the soldiers muttered weakly before falling back a little and suddenly finding the surrounding landscape extremely interesting.

"If mages understand all this so well, why do abominations still appear among them?"

It seemed Ser Trad did not particularly like me. There was a thin edge of hostility beneath the supposed calm of his voice—a trace of spice almost hidden beneath the cold.

"Unfortunately, the gift of magic does not come bundled with the gift of common sense," I replied calmly, a crooked smirk on my face. "A young idiot either grows wiser or remains an idiot who happens to be older. There is no third option.

"The Circle weeds most of them out by making them Tranquil. An excellent way to distinguish former cretins and cowards from the rest of the mages. A pity some fools still manage to escape the notice of the Senior Enchanters and Templars."

"Ahem…"

Ser Dantan gave a short cough. He treated me evenly enough, though like his companion, he still watched me with caution.

"It is rare to meet a mage who does not condemn Tranquility."

"What is there to condemn?"

I borrowed the eagle's sight once again, confirming that we were about to encounter the group of Chasind.

"It is an excellent way for refuse to remain useful. Who is made Tranquil? The weak-minded and the cowardly. The first can easily surrender to demons. The second…"

I snorted.

"They are merely traitors who lack the courage to admit it. They should at least contribute something to the common cause."

"Traitors? You speak as though there is a war. Now, of course, there is the Blight, but before that everything was peaceful…"

"Ah, no, Knight Dantan," I disagreed. "For a mage, the war begins the moment the gift awakens and ends only with death.

"A war against the things of the Fade—things drooling over our bodies and souls, eager to use our own hands to spread slaughter and chaos.

"You Templars fight alongside us in that war.

"The difference is that for you it was a choice. A voluntary one. Enchanters are not granted the luxury of choosing their fate.

"But it is still a battlefield.

"And a coward is, by nature, a traitor whose proper place is on the gallows."

"That is…"

"Harsh?"

I grunted and caught the Grey Warden's gaze. They had an endless war of their own. Not against demons, perhaps, but there was little pleasant about the Darkspawn either.

"And yet it changes nothing. A mage cannot throw away his staff and run from demons screaming, 'I am afraid! I refuse to fight!'

"They are always there.

"They wait.

"They whisper.

"They tempt.

"You fight, or you die.

"There are only two alternatives to Tranquility: kill the coward, or wait until something from the other side crawls into his skin.

"Of course, one could always release him from the Circle and set him free! How does that sound? The tender-hearted would surely approve."

I laughed—sharp and vicious—beneath the startled looks of the others, then glanced sideways at Knight-Corporal Trad.

"That is unacceptable," the Templar said immediately, staring hard at me.

"I completely agree."

I nodded, smiling almost amiably.

"Because the weak-willed bastard released into the wild may eventually let some filth inside him.

"And then the real fun begins.

"One possible outcome? The creature starts murdering people and summoning its friends from the other side. Those friends begin occupying corpses.

"If fortune truly hates everyone nearby, it finds more mages—or gifted children who have not yet been taken to the Circle, perhaps because some idiot parents are hiding them.

"The number of abominations grows.

"And when enough guests from the Fade gather in one place, the Veil grows thinner, making it easier and easier for still more of them to enter our world.

"More demons—thinner Veil.

"More.

"Thinner.

"More.

"Thinner.

"Until eventually you have an army of those creatures and a hole ripped straight into the Fade.

"A wonderful prospect for some kind-hearted idiot who took pity on one cowardly mage and thereby became the executioner of dozens—perhaps hundreds—of innocent people."

"Well… damn," one of the soldiers drawled, now looking at me rather warily.

"Exactly," I grunted in satisfaction.

I had grown thoroughly sick of the whining about Tranquility back in the Circle.

They lose their emotions, the poor things.

If they ever learned about servitorisation, the entire Circle would probably start shitting itself in terror. And that was nowhere near the worst fate awaiting psykers back… Home.

"That is precisely why mages live together, far from cities, with knights of the Order standing beside them. If something happens, the other enchanters or the Templars kill the creature.

"And if that fails—if the entire Circle is… lost—then it can still be destroyed before the corruption spreads.

"There is a reliable remedy for that as well.

"It is called the Right of Annulment."

"I heard," Ranger Rick ventured after a short silence, "that among the Chasind shamans—"

"Be silent," Ser Trad cut him off sharply.

"Yes, better not," I grunted, glancing at the commoner as he hunched his shoulders. "I have heard that shamanic shit too. Whatever they told you was a lie.

"Two years ago, I took part in wiping out an entire Chasind tribe west of here. Their own tribesmen—their companions in bare-arsed savage living—were butchered by an abomination that had once been their shaman.

"The abomination raised their corpses, stuffed demons into them, and went off to 'play' across the countryside.

"So I would hesitate to call this famous 'harmony with spirits' an ideal solution."

"Someone is coming up ahead," the ranger said suddenly, peering forward with renewed alertness.

"I do not sense Darkspawn," the Grey Warden informed us, tightening his grip upon the hilt of his sword.

Good. The Chasind had disappeared from the eagle's sight beneath the canopy of a small grove. By my reckoning, they ought to emerge again at any moment.

---

Original Russian story

If you'd like to read the full story, you can find it on Patreon

The translation will continue to be published here as well, only with a bit of a delay.

 

[some one]

Eh , as a former imperial psyker the harrowing is way more mild , safe and friendly than the typical imperial sanctioning process or brutality astropathic binding and compared to being fed to the golden throne the fate of all psykers deemed unfit Tranquility is much less agonizing

he's seen and lived through much more awful conditions so to him the circle is full of weaklings complaining about their steak being too tender and their lobster too buttery

 

[Kylia Quilor]

His perspective makes sense.

He's also incorrect though. In the context of Dragon Age

 

[dragon132]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Boroda Orka]

The days at Ostagar passed usefully enough. I joined every Grey Warden sortie I could. Good men and women, all of them. Purposeful. Steady in their convictions. Faithful to their oaths. I respected that. I even had a brief little affair with one of them, working off the tension in her tent after our sorties. Fortunately, biomancy made it possible to avoid accidentally putting a little brat in the dear girl's belly.* Things were going well with the Templars too.

Remarkably well, in fact. At least for me. The armoured lads who regularly accompanied me on sorties were satisfied with our dealings and with the fact that I remained focused on destroying the creatures. Their brothers from Kinloch Hold had already told them what I thought of the Templar Order. There was no love between us, but we had established an even, healthy, professional relationship. The other mages, however… Ohhh. Not long ago, I heard Wynne swear for the first time.

The three Libertarians had been happily picking fights with both the Chantry and the Templars. Meanwhile, the other four representatives of the Circle stationed permanently in the camp were already prepared to bury the bald bastard and the rest of his Fraternity beneath the nearest spreading tree with their own hands. I suspected Uldred had some half-witted plan to recruit several more enchanters into his fraternity of "freedom-lovers." Two of us—myself and another enchanter—belonged to no fraternity at all. Wynne was a Loyalist. We also had one Neutral and one Isolationist among us.

A wonderfully mismatched little gathering. It was entirely possible that the bald bastard might have succeeded in turning most of the mages against the Templars and the Chantry through his petty provocations. His slogans were loud enough, after all, and every enchanter suffered because of them—including Uldred himself, who made an especially public performance of his own suffering. Shared hardship has a way of bringing people together. Unfortunately for him, besides the tediously proper Wynne, there was also me.

And I openly disliked the mess the Senior Enchanter was stirring up. Sowing discord among one's comrades on the eve of battle against a common enemy was a very, very stupid idea. So, since we had no commissar among us, I did my best to keep the whole thing from boiling over. Most of the time, it worked. Especially after my third sortie with the Grey Wardens, when no less than a Knight-Captain volunteered to serve as one of my escorts.

A capable man. A seasoned warrior. We found common ground remarkably quickly in our shared hatred of demons and the spawn of the Taint. In temperament, he reminded me a great deal of our old major—the one with whom I had emptied more than one bottle of amasec and whom I had treated for hangovers more times than I could count. By the time we encountered our third group of Darkspawn, the Knight-Captain had begun grumbling that I was leaving him no fun at all, and that trudging through the mud in heavy boots was both dull and thoroughly uninspiring.

So, much to the Grey Warden's displeasure, we met the fourth group of creatures in close combat. After the slaughter, the Knight-Captain removed his helmet, clicked his tongue appreciatively, and scratched at the ugly scar running across his entire face.

"You're damned handy with that stick of yours, mage," he grunted.

His grin was crooked and faintly intimidating. That made him the second Knight-Captain I could remember whose face had been decorated in such a fashion.

"Sometimes it is easier to crack a skull with a staff than with magic," I replied, matching his crooked grin.

That, in fact, was how we started talking properly. During the conversation, the man asked why the mages stationed at Ostagar had been acting up, along with this and that besides. In short, he offered to help if anything came up. I saw no reason to play coy—especially since the Knight-Captain belonged to the Revered Mother's retinue. He had grown bored sitting around the camp and had decided to get out for a while and see this peculiar healer-mage for himself.

After that, I began doing what I could to smooth things over with the Templar Order, while the knights themselves started keeping Uldred's troublemakers apart from the rest of the enchanters. I also had a talk with my own people. In the process, I knocked about five teeth out of one of the bald bastard's hangers-on. For some reason, he had decided that screaming directly into my face and spraying me with spittle was an excellent idea. I disagreed. And when that little fart of freedom moved on from calling me a "Chantry lapdog" to yapping something about my mother…

Well. I lost my temper. Wynne, of course, chewed my ear off afterward. Still worth it. I would have liked to knock Uldred around as well, but the bastard seemed to sense the danger to his precious teeth. He glared at me with pure hatred, but kept his mouth shut. In short, I was even enjoying myself. In a way. The only thing that troubled me was that during our latest sorties, the Wardens and I had stopped finding living people fleeing the Korcari Wilds.

The last group we escorted out had been a collection of addle-brained scholars studying the Chasind and their culture. Considering that these towering intellects had been wandering through the forests with only a single hunter as their guide, I—along with every other fighter in our detachment—was astonished that the idiots had not merely avoided the Darkspawn, but had somehow managed not to be murdered and robbed by the very Chasind they were studying. Even before the Blight, the Chasind could strip a traveller down to his smallclothes in the blink of an eye.

And now… The scholarly expedition had not even known there was a Blight until our detachment stumbled across them. I honestly could not tell who had been more astonished: us, by the fact that those people had somehow survived, or the "experts on Chasind culture," by the discovery that they had somehow overlooked the beginning of a Blight—and that the Korcari Wilds had already been one continuous slaughterhouse for days. Meanwhile, the army that would stand against the Blight continued to gather.

Nobles arrived with their retinues, bringing levies with them. The main body of the royal army was already in place, as was King Cailan himself, accompanied by his strategist and commander, Loghain Mac Tir—the hero of the war against Orlais. My father had always spoken very highly of the man despite his low birth. According to him, the Fereldan rebellion would never have succeeded without Loghain's strategic genius—just as it would never have succeeded without the late King Maric, who had united the nobility around himself and set an example of courage for his warriors in battle.

My father, incidentally, had brought his own retinue and was fully determined to prove that he still had some fight left in him. We even sat together in his tent a couple of times, talking over a cup or two of young but surprisingly good wine. He was practically wiping away tears, so proud was he that his eldest son had volunteered to defend Ferelden.

"Two generations of Airels will now fight side by side with the Theirins," Father said, narrowing his eyes in satisfaction as he jauntily twisted his moustache.

My younger brother was also eager to demonstrate to the Darkspawn both the sharpness of his blade and the swordsmanship of the Banns Airel. But since, should anything happen, he would be the only man of our line left, Father ordered him to remain at home and safeguard our lands. Standard practice. Had I not been a mage, my younger brother might have been here instead while I was trained as the heir. Although… No. I would have been here regardless.

A proper Guardsman of the Imperium—even a former one—cannot sit on his arse while creatures corrupted by warp-spawned filth threaten Humanity.

---

"Oh, look," our ranger guide exclaimed as we passed one of the entrances to the camp. "His Majesty King Cailan!"

"And our Commander, Duncan," Ferl—the Grey Warden leading our group that day—said with a nod towards a neatly bearded man.

"Would you look at that—two more enchantresses!" one of the soldiers said cheerfully.

I frowned the moment I made out their robes.

"Mages," Knight-Corporal Trad corrected him.

"Mages," I agreed with a nod. "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me…"

"Yes, of course."

The Warden gave an indifferent shrug. We were already back inside the army camp, and he could make his report without me. For once, I decided to skip the drink that had become our customary ritual after every sortie into the Korcari Wilds.

"We'll come along," Ser Trad informed the others.

His duty as my escort might technically have ended the moment we entered the army's encampment, but apparently habit had already taken hold.

---

The two young women—one human, one elf, both dressed in mage robes—exchanged glances once they found themselves alone.

"So, shall we go find this Alistair fellow?" the elf sighed.

"Apprentices Solona Amell and Neria Surana."

A voice came from behind them. A voice neither girl had the slightest desire to hear. At the same moment, each found herself firmly seized by one ear.

"Pray tell, how have I been blessed with the pleasure of beholding your charming faces not only here at Ostagar, but, of all things, in the robes of full-fledged mages?"

"C-c-c…"

Amell stared in wide-eyed horror at the man who had turned both girls around by their ears to face him.

"Enchanter Craig…" Neria Surana said miserably.

"I am overjoyed to see that after all of two weeks, you have not forgotten your mentor, my dears."

A crooked grin split the ugly mug of Kinloch Hold's most notorious enchanter. Both girls immediately felt phantom pain in their backsides. Corporal punishment was not encouraged in the Circle Tower. Apparently, no one had remembered to tell Craig Airel. As a result, nearly every apprentice's backside had, at least once, become acquainted with the mage's firm hand—or, more precisely, with the well-soaked switches clenched in it, which gave a distinctly unpleasant whistle just before impact.**

"We… we passed our Harrowing…" Solona whispered, apparently deciding that justification was the safest available tactic.

"Excellent news."

The enchanter gave an approving nod, his bald head and its strange tattoo gleaming in the sunlight.

"But that does not explain why you two little runts have ended up in His Majesty's army camp. I sincerely hope I am not about to hear some idiotic tale about two of my apprentices being struck senseless by the Grey Warden Commander's beauty, falling madly in love, and volunteering for his Order.

"Or did you simply decide to exchange a long, peaceful life in the Circle for a short but glorious one at war?"

"Enchanter Craig, let go…"

Neria Surana tried to meet the shemlen's gaze firmly. She lasted perhaps two seconds before lowering her eyes.

"Please…"

"We didn't mean to," Amell sniffled. "It was all Jowan and First Enchanter Irving… We had no choice…"

"Now hold on."

The man's eyebrows rose.

"What do First Enchanter Irving and Apprentice Jowan have to do with the two of you ending up here at Ostagar?"

"We'll tell you!" Solona blurted. "Ow, my ear—my ear! Mentor, let go!"

"But Duncan told us to find Alistair, one of the Grey Wardens," the elf muttered quietly, still hypnotising the toes of the enchanter's boots where they protruded beneath his robes.

"No matter. I'll take you to him."

That ravine of a smile split Enchanter Craig's face once again. To the girls' immense relief, his hands finally released their ears.

"I know the Warden. Follow me—and start talking."

---

"Craig."

A dark-haired woman in her thirties stepped out from behind a large tent. She wore light leather armour and smiled brightly at their mentor. Ahem… probably our former mentor now, Solona thought. The stranger took several quick steps towards him, rose onto her toes, and brushed a fleeting kiss across the enchanter's lips. Solona stared. Neria looked no less stunned.

"You're back early today."

"Turi."

The man gently ran his fingertips across the woman's cheek.

"Unfortunately, I'm here on business. Is Warden Alistair around?"

"Mmm… That's both a pity and a relief."

The woman smiled slyly and glanced at Neria and Solona behind the enchanter's back.

"I'm busy at the moment anyway. Alistair went up to your people."

She waved in the appropriate direction.

"The Revered Mother gave him some errand. And these are our new recruits, I take it?"

"Yes."

The girls heard Craig's teeth grind together. The attractive woman called Turi immediately took a small step back, eyebrows rising.

"Let's… talk this evening, all right? Right now, I'm… a little angry."

"I can see that," the woman said with a snort. "I don't envy whoever managed to make you grind your teeth like that."

She glanced at the girls once more, winked, and walked away with a light step to attend to her own affairs.

"That was Turi Tipti, a Grey Warden from Antiva," Craig explained briefly.

By the time the girls finished telling him their tangled story—a tale involving several betrayals and one short adventure with a tragic ending—the enchanter was in a foul mood. Both Amell and Surana therefore decided that silence was the wiser course and asked no questions. They might be Grey Warden recruits now, but when Solona briefly considered asking whether Turi was not perhaps a little old for their mentor, she felt a very real threat to her backside.

She was firmly convinced that Enchanter Craig would be deterred neither by the fact that they were no longer children, nor by their having passed their Harrowings, nor even by the Grey Wardens invoking the Right of Conscription. Recruit status or no, both of them remained well within reach of his switches. Eventually they found Alistair.

"Right…" the young man said after watching the enchanter stride away.

Then he released a long, heavy sigh.

"Duncan's in for it…"

The girls exchanged glances and nodded in perfect unison. The entire Fereldan Circle knew about Craig Airel's difficult temper. And his equally heavy hand. Solona doubted Duncan was actually about to be punched in the face. Probably. But Craig would certainly have several very carefully chosen words for him when they met.

"Well, then!"

The Grey Warden visibly brightened.

"As you've probably gathered, my name is Alistair. Come on, I'll show you around. We can talk on the way and get properly acquainted."

The girls accepted immediately. A walk would do them good. Their backsides had been in mortal danger for far too long. Enchanter Craig had always told them not to do anything stupid, not to get tangled in intrigues, and not to have anything to do with Blood Magic. Somehow, they had managed to land themselves in nearly all of it. Even Blood Magic. Albeit indirectly.

---

"This is Grey Warden business."

Duncan folded his arms across his chest, making his refusal perfectly clear.

"You, Enchanter Craig, should not even know about such matters. Who told you about the Joining?"

The bearded man cast a displeased glance towards Turi, who was also present inside the tent. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes in irritation.

"I am not given to gossip, Duncan. I did not think you held such a low opinion of me."

"Books and chronicles told me," I replied, smiling mockingly at the Warden. "The fact that some recruits die during your trial is hardly a secret. Neither is the fact that candidates for your Order go out to collect Darkspawn blood before the Joining.

"People are not idiots.

"Ten go in. Three or four come back out. The rest are carried away feet first.

"That is called logic, Commander Duncan. A useful little thing that tells me Darkspawn blood is either the Joining itself or one of its ingredients.

"And that same logic is whispering that I can see both your beard and First Enchanter Irving's sticking out of this whole damned mess with the maleficar."

"The maleficar was entirely your concern," the Warden replied without so much as raising an eyebrow.

"Except everything worked out remarkably conveniently.

"He did not decide to act before your arrival at the Circle.

"Nor after your departure.

"No. He chose the exact moment when you, Commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden, happened to visit the First Enchanter.

"During a Blight.

"For no particular reason."

I could feel my smile twisting into an angry snarl.

"And that old fossil of a First Enchanter—when the girls came to report that Jowan intended to destroy the phylactery containing his blood and flee with his idiotic Chantry initiate—instead of handing him over to the Templars or, at the very least, trying to knock some sense into him, sent two little runts who had still been apprentices only the day before to catch him in the act.

"To catch someone who, by Jowan's own admission, was suspected of practising forbidden magic!"

My fingers tightened around the shaft of my staff until the knuckles went white. I did not want to stand there trading words. I wanted to burn the face off the man before me with fulmination until nothing remained but charred flesh. How badly I missed the authority of an Inquisitorial acolyte.

"Of course," I continued, almost hissing now, "Knight-Commander Greagoir could not simply let two mages walk free after they had compromised themselves by spending time alone with a Blood Mage.

"No one could guarantee the bastard had not planted some mental command inside their heads.

"In a situation like that, only one fate awaited them.

"Tranquility.

"Greagoir simply could not take that risk.

"And then you step onto the stage, Commander.

"All dressed in white and riding a white horse like some fairy-tale prince come to rescue two foolish girls."

"Enchanter—"

"Wait."

I drew a deep breath. Then I slowly exhaled, forcing my emotions back under control. By the time I looked at Duncan again, my face had settled into a contemptuous grimace. Perfectly calm.

"You know, I could have understood it if you had invoked the Right of Conscription on adult enchanters.

"People actually capable of helping in the coming battle.

"But Irving refused to give you any, didn't he?

"The old man was afraid his authority would suffer if the Wardens took those who ACTUALLY KNOW what sort of 'long, happy, and free' life awaits them afterward.

"Intelligent, well-read, adult enchanters—people familiar with the theories surrounding the inner workings of your Order, however speculative those theories may be—would never have accepted the First Enchanter's decision quietly.

"So the two of you, a pair of bearded schemers, staged this whole farce by exploiting one Maker-forsaken maleficar and the children's naivety.

"As far as everyone else is concerned, Irving saved Amell and Surana.

"In truth, he simply provided you with two mages.

"Yes, they will most likely remain behind the lines during this battle, or at least wherever it is safest.

"But afterward, the Grey Wardens will have two promising young mages in their ranks."

"Oh, come off it, Craig," Turi snorted.

Then she glanced at the Commander. Saw his lips pressed into a thin line. Her eyebrows rose.

"Duncan, you old fox… that isn't true, is it?"

"I'll go even further, Commander Duncan.

"You asked Irving for one ENCHANTER.

"He offered you a better bargain.

"Two mages for the Order instead of one.

"They would serve longer. The First Enchanter would not lose face—in fact, he could present himself as their protector—and after the battle your Order would have two mages instead of one.

"There are already Circle enchanters here at Ostagar. One more or one less would make little difference.

"Besides, a seasoned enchanter would have to be placed somewhere dangerous, somewhere his abilities were actually needed, and there he might get himself killed.

"But put two little runts in the rear and no one will say a word.

"And once the battle is over, you are GUARANTEED to have TWO mages left."

I fell silent and stared into the man's eyes. My anger was still leaking through. I had begun repeating myself. The tent sank into a deafening, oppressive silence. No one outside could hear us. I had wrapped the place in a veil of silence before beginning this conversation. Duncan and I held each other's gaze while the tension seemed to hum in the air between us. Even Turi looked uncomfortable, judging by the way she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"I am not going to threaten you, though HE is my witness"—I raised one finger towards the heavens—"to how badly I want to reduce both you and Irving to a pair of charred husks.

"Unfortunately, no one would understand.

"And I have no intention of depriving the army of either you or myself on the eve of battle.

"But I promise you this.

"If you refuse my exceedingly modest request, I will share my conclusions with my former apprentices.

"Then you can live with two mages—assuming they survive your fucking Joining—who would dearly love nothing more than to put a lightning bolt through your back."

Another pause. I was completely calm now. Because I could already see victory in the bearded man's eyes. Blood Magic was hardly the only means of influencing another person's decisions. A biomancer could do more than boil blood. Body chemistry. Hormones. There were many ways to encourage a man towards the decision he was already considering.

"When the recruits' Joining begins, I will send for you, Enchanter Craig," the Grey Warden finally forced out.

"Excellent, Commander Duncan."

I gave him a curt nod and turned towards the exit.

"I sincerely hope you will not forget."

---

Author's Notes

*According to the wiki, Grey Wardens could not conceive children with one another, but a Warden and an ordinary person could still have a child.

**Anyone whose mind went straight to something perverted—shame on you!

(Keep going, though. Don't let me stop you. :-D)

---

Original Russian story

If you'd like to read the full story, you can find it on Patreon

The translation will continue to be published here as well, only with a bit of a delay.

 

[dragon132]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Kylia Quilor]

I'm not sure Jowan needs prompting to be an idiot about things, but it is very plausible Duncan would do that. The man is a decent person overall, but he's a Grey Warden through and through.

 

[Iridium Flare]

"You know, I could have understood it if you had invoked the Right of Conscription on adult enchanters.

"People actually capable of helping in the coming battle.

"But Irving refused to give you any, didn't he?

"The old man was afraid his authority would suffer if the Wardens took those who ACTUALLY KNOW what sort of 'long, happy, and free' life awaits them afterward.

"Intelligent, well-read, adult enchanters—people familiar with the theories surrounding the inner workings of your Order, however speculative those theories may be—would never have accepted the First Enchanter's decision quietly.

"So the two of you, a pair of bearded schemers, staged this whole farce by exploiting one Maker-forsaken maleficar and the children's naivety.

"As far as everyone else is concerned, Irving saved Amell and Surana.

"In truth, he simply provided you with two mages.

"Yes, they will most likely remain behind the lines during this battle, or at least wherever it is safest.

"But afterward, the Grey Wardens will have two promising young mages in their ranks."

Click to shrink...

Using linebreaks as punctuation makes for a horrible reading experience. There is no reason for this not to be a single intact paragraph. Example:

"You know, I could have understood it if you had invoked the Right of Conscription on adult enchanters. People actually capable of helping in the coming battle. But Irving refused to give you any, didn't he? The old man was afraid his authority would suffer if the Wardens took those who ACTUALLY KNOW what sort of 'long, happy, and free' life awaits them afterward. Intelligent, well-read, adult enchanters—people familiar with the theories surrounding the inner workings of your Order, however speculative those theories may be—would never have accepted the First Enchanter's decision quietly. So the two of you, a pair of bearded schemers, staged this whole farce by exploiting one Maker-forsaken maleficar and the children's naivety. As far as everyone else is concerned, Irving saved Amell and Surana. In truth, he simply provided you with two mages. Yes, they will most likely remain behind the lines during this battle, or at least wherever it is safest. But afterward, the Grey Wardens will have two promising young mages in their ranks."

Click to shrink...

A line break serves as an interruption. Used too often, it jars the reader out of the flow of speech.

 

[al103]

Felinids, ratlings, and ogryns—despite their unsettling or grotesque appearances—are accepted and even valued within the ranks of the Militarum Auxilia. Yet I have never heard of any of them producing children with baseline humans.

Click to shrink...

I remember half-ratling NPC for Necromunda actually. Of not exactly perfect canonicity, but it was in official dowload list.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

And in the first edition of 40k, Half-human/Half-eldar hybrids were a thing. 40k has some weird stuff lost in the back catalogue.

 

[Boroda Orka]

"We are still waiting for someone," Duncan said.

The man was calm—almost solemnly so. Even so, Neria's observant eyes could still make out a faint trace of irritation on the Commander's face. Their expedition into the Korcari Wilds in search of Darkspawn blood and the Grey Wardens' ancient treaties had left them with mixed impressions. Excitement. A sense of freedom. The fury of battle. Danger. And fear of death. It was probably only after their group returned to Ostagar that the elf truly understood what her mentor had meant about a long, peaceful life in the Circle and a brilliant but short one among the Grey Wardens. Her mentor… Enchanter Craig Airel.

Neria had complicated feelings about him. That shemlen… that human did not like elves. He made no secret of it. He spoke openly about his attitude towards them and said it straight to their faces. And yet he did it in such a way that there was almost nothing to call him out on. Neria could not remember a single occasion when Craig had cursed someone simply for not being human. Or ignored one of her questions during a lesson. Or dismissed a complaint from an elven apprentice. He corrected every student's mistakes calmly, without shouting or insults, regardless of who they were.

And yet there was that habit of his—that deliberate little display of intolerance. Neria remembered how it used to make her grind her teeth that Solona was always "Apprentice Amell" to him, while she herself was either simply "apprentice" or "Surana." A harmless little thing, perhaps, compared with the fact that in every other respect the man was entirely fair and impartial. But Maker, how it infuriated her. And yet, for all that it annoyed her, angered her, and sometimes drove her nearly mad, every apprentice—elf or human—knew that if they had a problem, Craig Airel was the one to go to.

At the very least, he would listen carefully and offer advice. He would not stand there with a vacant expression, waiting for the apprentice to stop bothering him. He would not wave them away. He would not fob them off with empty platitudes. Once, Neria had finally gathered enough courage to ask why an enchanter who had once looked her straight in the eye and said, "I cannot stand your kind," never favoured humans over elves and helped elven apprentices just as readily as human ones.

"Whether I like you or not, you and I are both part of the Circle. And when the time comes, we will fight shoulder to shoulder, as brother and sister. Brothers and sisters in His service may dislike one another, but we share the same Enemy—the accursed maleficars and the spawn of the Fade. To exterminate that filth, to defend Thedas and its ordinary humans and elves from the creatures beyond the Veil—that is our burden, our service, and our duty!

"A mentor who neglects his duty to train his younger brothers and sisters is nothing but a vile Traitor, a contemptible saboteur, a hidden Enemy deserving only merciless execution!"

That was the day Neria became truly afraid of Craig. Not of his enormous frame looming over the apprentices like a threatening cliff. Not of his fearsome mug, one any highwayman might have envied. Not even of the switches he occasionally bestowed upon them with all the generosity of his soul. What frightened her was the bright, pure hatred in his eyes. Hatred untouched by doubt. Untouched by mercy. It was then, looking into the man's eyes, that she told herself: Blood Magic—NEVER. Neria understood that if she ever became a maleficar…

All manner of rumours circulated among the apprentices—mostly idle talk—about escaping to Tevinter, an empire where mages supposedly lived well and freely and could even study the forbidden branches of the Art. Or, in her case, running away to the Dalish elves, since Tevinter was hardly a place where an elf ought to set foot. In other words… Becoming an apostate. Mages had escaped Kinloch Hold before. Admittedly, it had never ended well for the fugitives. The vial of blood kept by the Templars ensured that sooner or later, the runaway would be found.

And a squad of Templar knights would be sent after the newly minted apostate—most likely reinforced by Craig, who had already accompanied the tinheads on four such hunts. People in the Circle said all sorts of things about him because of that. Some called him a traitor. Others openly approved. Senior Enchanter Wynne, for example, said that it was only thanks to Enchanter Airel that ordinary apostates were usually returned to Kinloch Hold alive and in one piece, even if they were sometimes badly beaten. Craig would personally "neutralise" them, leaving the knights no need to draw their swords.

The Templars were, of course, under orders to return fugitives alive and unharmed whenever possible. But circumstances did not always allow for that. And there were knights among them only too happy to "overdo it a little" while apprehending a runaway mage. But when it came to those who practised Blood Magic… There had been one case when a young mage fled the Circle Tower after openly using a spell from the school of Blood. A squad of Templars set out after him, accompanied by her mentor. Two weeks later, they returned with a corpse.

A corpse burned by lightning until it was little more than charcoal, its skull flattened like a pancake. That was precisely why Blood Magic meant never. The image in Neria's mind was far too vivid: the enchanter standing before her, his face twisted with hatred and disgust, without the slightest trace of doubt or mercy, raising his staff to smash in the skull of an elf who had once been his apprentice—and had now become a filthy maleficar. And yet… She would never admit that, despite her wariness and dislike of Enchanter Craig, she wished he had been in the Tower when the whole affair with Jowan began.

Then she and Solona would never have gone to the First Enchanter. They would have taken the matter to Enchanter Airel instead. Neria would have wagered anything that he would simply have nodded, praised them for their vigilance and good sense, and sent them back to their own affairs. Jowan's situation would then have been handled entirely without their involvement. Because even the slightest suspicion of Blood Magic would have been enough for Craig to sink his teeth into the matter like a starving mabari. He would not have bothered trying to expose the Chantry initiate, as the First Enchanter had. He would not have cared about her at all.

And he would never have sent Solona and Neria to risk their lives alongside an apprentice suspected of being a maleficar. The elf sighed quietly. Had Craig—the man she disliked but respected—been in the Tower, Knight-Commander Greagoir would never have caught them, and they would not have faced Tranquility merely because Irving had wanted to score a point against the Chantry. They would be studying advanced spells now. Living in rooms of their own instead of trudging through wild lands overrun by Darkspawn and risking their lives. Still, both Neria and Solona agreed that this was better than Tranquility.

Praise be to Him, as their mentor would say, that Duncan had happened to be staying at the Circle that day and had saved them by invoking the Right of Conscription. For now, the elf could not say whether leaving the Circle had been for better or worse. On the one hand, she had finally escaped into the wider world. On the other… life in the Tower had been comfortable. Especially once she received a room of her own. Small, perhaps. But hers. She had managed to enjoy it for all of three days before the time came for Solona's Harrowing. Now there was someone who had truly been unlucky.

Solona had not even had time to move into her own room before that bastard Jowan appeared. Freedom… Even that was relative. On the one hand, a Grey Warden was no longer bound by the restrictions that kept Circle mages from breathing freely. On the other, her entire life was still one of obedience. Only now she answered not to the First Enchanter, but to the Commander of the Order in Ferelden. Just as before the Right of Conscription, she could not simply go wherever she pleased without answering to anyone else. And now, on top of everything, she was expected to fight.

In the Circle, at least, she could have chosen her own path. Theoretical research. Combat magic. Agriculture. Healing. Weather magic. All the books she could possibly need were close at hand in the library. The storerooms were full of alchemical ingredients. Magical apparatus could be obtained from the quartermaster. Anything requiring enchantment could be taken to the Tranquil. Permission was required for all of it, of course. But with a sensible justification, someone like Wynne would readily approve almost any request. Another sigh. Then Neria glanced towards her new companions. At least she seemed to have been lucky in that regard.

Well… almost, she corrected herself as her gaze fell on Alistair, who was looking uncharacteristically serious at the moment. Now there was someone she would have gladly cracked over the head with her staff. About sixty-seven times. And it had nothing to do with his having once been a Templar. It was because Alistair was… A moron and an idiot!!! Oh, how thoroughly he had driven both her and Solona mad in the Korcari Wilds.

"Why don't you hit them with chain lightning? Can't you cast a fireball either? Craig's cone of fire is at least three times bigger! You crawl along like turtles! Can't you fight with your staves, either? Oh, at this rate we'll still be messing around here when the Archdemon dies of old age."

Grrrrrr!!! Infuriating! Craig this, Craig that, Craig, Craig, Craig! Their mentor had spoiled that tinhead rotten! She and Solona had only just become full-fledged mages. How could anyone compare newly made mages with one of the finest battle enchanters in the Fereldan Circle? Craig Airel was already only a step or two away from the rank of Senior Enchanter, merely waiting for his candidacy to be placed before the Council for a vote. Stupid, incredibly, unbelievably stupid Alistair! Idiot! He himself was not fit to lick the boots of the veteran knights serving at Kinloch Hold, and Knight-Commander Greagoir would wipe the floor with him without breaking a sweat.

Solona had told Alistair exactly that to his face after the fool nearly drove both girls to trembling rage with his constant criticism and comparisons. At least he had taken offence and left them alone for a while. Neria gave an irritated snort when she caught her friend's surprised glance, then offered her a reassuring smile. It was strange, but Amell—the daughter of human nobles—had become the closest friend Neria had ever had. Solona was gentle. Kind. Impossibly sweet. Tender-hearted. They had arrived at the Fereldan Circle at almost the same time.

Both had been torn away from their parents and thrust into the unfamiliar world of the Tower, frightened by what the future might hold and surrounded by a crowd of strangers. That had drawn them together. They spent more and more time with one another, played together, and eventually became friends. Over the years, that childhood friendship became so strong that even Jowan jokingly called them sisters. Jowan… That filthy maleficar. The elf barely resisted the urge to spit in irritation. She had never particularly liked him and had tolerated him only for Solona's sake, since her friend had been attracted to him. Handsome, yes. Neria could admit that much.

But there had always been something faintly false about him. A sly, slippery quality in the way he scattered overly eager smiles around had always put her off. And then there was the whining. He was perpetually dissatisfied with everything and forever sharing his complaints with anyone nearby. Just like the Libertarians whom Jowan admired, listened to with his mouth hanging open, and hurried after whenever he caught sight of them. Their mentor Craig had named them perfectly:

"The Fraternity of Whiners."

How lucky Neria was that the vile bastard had begun an affair with that Chantry initiate. Had Jowan gone to Solona for help without mentioning that he intended to run away with another woman… The elf was not certain her friend would have come to her at all. And no, she was not offended. Much. It stung a little, of course, but those were only suspicions. Solona might well have tried to involve Neria in escaping TOGETHER with Jowan. That much was true. There was only one problem. The phylacteries containing Amell's and Surana's blood had already been removed from Kinloch Hold and sent to the Templars' repository. Ugh.

In any case, Neria had managed to persuade her friend to go to the First Enchanter. The elf had played on Solona's hurt feelings—her eyes were still wet with tears over Jowan's "betrayal"—and voiced her fear that once Mentor Craig returned, he might be sent after the fugitives. Besides, suspicions of maleficarum were no small matter. And no, she did not consider that treachery! Treachery, in her opinion, was asking a kind girl who was in love with you to help you escape when, should her involvement ever come to light, she risked being made Tranquil. Unlike that bastard Jowan, Neria was a true friend.

That was why she had taken part in the plan Irving forced upon them, sharing the danger with Solona. Back then, the girls had believed him to be a kindly old man who stood by his mages and was even willing to quarrel with Greagoir on their behalf. The young mages had trusted that they themselves were in no danger, while Jowan would, at worst, receive such a thrashing that he would be sleeping on his stomach for the next two weeks. How wrong they had been. No, at first it had all seemed like a cheerful little adventure.

Solona and Neria helped the elf Leorah, who had only recently become a Senior Enchanter, clear the storerooms of the giant spiders that had somehow bred there. In return, they obtained her signature so they could receive permission to take out a Rod of Fire, which they later used to burn through a locked door. Admittedly, they later discovered that all their effort had been unnecessary. They could simply have gone to the First Enchanter for his signature. Still, it had been fun!

Had they still been apprentices rather than full-fledged mages, Senior Enchanter Leorah would never even have considered trusting them to clear out the storeroom caves. Then came the dungeons where the apprentices' blood phylacteries were kept. The four of them made short work of the shades and golems guarding the lower levels. Solona found a couple of interesting magical artefacts. The girls left them where they had found them, admittedly, but it had still been fascinating. And educational. They even saw an ancient, cursed Tevinter statue that could speak. They did not dare converse with it for long, though.

Things like that could be extremely dangerous, and two young mages, one apprentice, and a Chantry initiate had serious doubts about their ability to deal with whatever trouble—or ancient curse—it might unleash. In the end, they reached the chamber where the apprentices' blood phylacteries were kept. Jowan smashed his own. And when they emerged from the repository, they found themselves facing… First Enchanter Irving and Knight-Commander Greagoir. To be honest, by then Neria had become almost certain that Jowan had fed Solona a pack of lies about Blood Magic and the threat of Tranquility.

The elf believed he had simply decided to run off somewhere far away with his Chantry girl and invented the whole story to prey upon kind, naïve Amell's sympathy, securing the help of a talented but trusting human girl. But Neria had been wrong. When that… maleficar drew a knife, slashed open his own arm, and unleashed the godless, filthy sorcery their mentor called Blood Magic, their cheerful, exciting adventure turned into a nightmare from some dark tale. Even the initiate—Jowan's "great love," whose name Neria had forgotten almost as soon as she introduced herself—began reciting the Chant of Light in horror. In the end, the maleficar escaped.

The Chantry initiate faced punishment from the Church. And the two young women who had only recently become full-fledged mages faced Tranquility. It was difficult to describe the utter despair that flooded their minds. Their prospects. Their plans for the future. Their hopes and dreams. All of it collapsed into an abyss of horror filled with the vile, clinging fear of the punishment that now seemed inevitable. Irving? Don't make her laugh. That old son of a crooked bitch merely mumbled something incoherent, shrinking beneath Knight-Commander Greagoir's furious glare. A maleficar was already fu—very bad!

Neria almost raised a hand to smack herself lightly on the lips out of habit. Solona disliked it when the elf swore, so Neria tried not to use such language for her friend's sake. Right, then. A maleficar inside the Tower was very bad! A maleficar escaping from the Tower was very, very bad! But a maleficar escaping from the Tower after destroying his own blood phylactery was an absolute fucking disas—well. Catastrophically bad!!! Greagoir was furious. And when the First Enchanter sheepishly bleated that he had "asked the girls to help him catch Jowan in the act," the Knight-Commander nearly had a fit.

For a moment, Neria thought his eyes might actually pop out of his head, so wide was he staring. And when the Templar started shouting, he sprayed spittle several feet around him and left everyone in the room with ringing ears. It would have been funny if it had not been so terrifying. Duncan proved to be Solona's and Neria's salvation. The Grey Warden offered them a place in his Order. The Right of Conscription allowed a Commander to take anyone under his authority and protection, whether criminal or noble. They were not suspected of practising Blood Magic.

Greagoir had reasonably concluded that a maleficar would hardly have abandoned his own accomplices. The concern was that Jowan might have planted mental compulsions in their minds that could later be used against the Circle. Because of that, the Knight-Commander agreed—almost with relief—that Duncan's proposal was the best possible outcome. The First Enchanter, incidentally, stood there with his beard puffed out so proudly that one might have thought he had personally dragged Amell and Surana out of deep shit and exposed the maleficar into the bargain. That old ass—no. There was no point correcting herself. He really was an asshole. Not merely an asshole, either. A colossal fucking asshole. And I was right to make sure Enchanter Airel focused his attention on Irving. Maybe once we defeat the Blight and he returns to the Tower, he'll give that bearded old bastard the beating he so richly deserves, the elf thought vindictively. When telling her mentor what had happened in the Circle, she had taken great care to emphasise that she and Solona had been following the First Enchanter's orders.

Not that they had decided, entirely of their own accord and with their backsides apparently doing the thinking, to help an apprentice suspected of practising a forbidden school of magic. Yes, she was a vindictive pointy-eared bitch! And a coward scared half to death besides! Craig had looked at her and Solona in SUCH A WAY that Neria was almost certain a single badly chosen word would result in those particular parts of their bodies—the ones commonly known as backsides—being subjected to a humiliating punishment. And they would be lucky if the whipping happened inside a closed tent rather than in the middle of the entire camp.

Their mentor held two beliefs as sacred truths: HE did not protect idiots. And idiocy was best driven out of the brain through the offender's arse.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Daveth asked nervously.

Neria glanced at him with a certain fondness. She liked the chatterbox. Yes, he was a thief. So what? She had been born a cursed mage. And, on top of that, a filthy elf. Daveth was cheerful, just insolent enough, just unprincipled enough, and possessed a healthy—if somewhat dark—sense of humour that Alistair could only dream of. He was also a fine shot with a bow, kept out of pointless quarrels, and had courage. Once, he had even saved Solona from becoming intimately acquainted with a genlock's filthy blade. That alone was enough for the elf to regard the thief as a decent comrade.

Besides, unlike Ser Jory, he had never once looked at her with contempt. Though… That balding fellow with the two-handed sword was not so bad either, despite the couple of frightened and disgusted looks he had cast at the mage girls when they first met. He handled that great lump of steel with plenty of skill and enthusiasm. Not quite as much enthusiasm as Mentor Craig wielded his two-handed, solid-metal club—which, for reasons known only to himself, he insisted on calling a mage's staff—but well enough. And he went into battle bravely, without showing fear. Well… without showing fear of anything he did not consider sorcery.

When they met Morrigan, Jory had clearly been frightened. And when Flemeth appeared, he had nearly fainted outright. Daveth, ignorant as he was, had looked at both the witch-mother and the witch-daughter with fear—but also with readiness to fight. Jory, on the other hand, had looked ready to bolt at any moment. She would have to teach both of them a little about witchcraft and magic. Uneducated people feared anything connected with sorcery. Neria simply did not want either of them to die through stupidity. Or, worse, get their comrades killed. Alistair, for instance, had at least received a Templar education…

And yet he was still the greatest idiot in their entire group. And that was not a compliment!

"And here I am."

Neria flinched at the voice of a man she was both glad and somewhat afraid to see.

"Oh! Daveth-the-lousy-pickpocket! Long time no see. Don't tell me you ignored my good advice after all, hmm?"

"N-n-noble Enchanter Airel!"

Daveth seemed to shrink in on himself and began to stammer in surprise.

"I-I swear, it isn't what—"

"Oh, stop looking so nervous. I'm not going to break your hands. Not now."

Mentor Craig waved one broad hand good-naturedly.

"I'm glad, lad, that your particular vice brought you here instead of to the gallows. I assume I'm right in thinking you didn't volunteer for the Wardens?"

"Er… yes, sir."

"He once tried to cut my purse in Denerim," the hulking enchanter explained amiably in response to the questioning looks from Neria, Solona, and Turi, who had arrived beside him.

Then he turned back to Daveth.

"By the way, Daveth! Do you know why I like penal troops?"

"Who?"

The thief saw Craig frown and hastily corrected himself.

"W-why?"

"Because, in order to wash away the guilt of their crimes with blood, they are the first to face the danger."

A smile of frightening anticipation spread across their mentor's face.

"Commander Duncan, you wouldn't object if my wayward friend Daveth volunteered to go first, would you?"

That isn't quite what "volunteer" means, the elf noted silently, wisely keeping the thought to herself.

---

Original Russian story

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The translation will continue to be published here as well, only with a bit of a delay.

 

[Baldrick the Wise]

Voluntolds lead the way.

 

[dragon132]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Iridium Flare]

Thank you for the formatting adjustment, I appreciate your effort. Thank you for the chapter as well.

 

[Boroda Orka]

Scary, Solona thought as Daveth, having swallowed the vile brew from the chalice, began convulsing in their mentor's hands.

"Well, now," the bald enchanter muttered with a frown, giving their comrade's limp body a slight shake where it hung from his grip.

Craig Airel held Daveth by the left arm and the back of the neck, making it look almost as though he were strangling the thief in mid-air while the man thrashed and tried to break free.

"Do not be so dramatic. It hurts, of course, but I have everything under control…"

"Haaah… Kh-kh…"

Daveth coughed up a clot of blood. It slid down his chin and smeared across his leather breastplate. Then he screamed. Terribly. Raggedly.

"Ah! A-a-a-ah! A-A-A-A-AH!!!"

Solona could not bear it any longer and seized Neria's hand. The elf, as always, stood like a rock. Yes, fear churned in her eyes as she watched the scene unfold, but she did not so much as flinch.

"Revolting," their mentor said with a grimace after Daveth vomited. "Finished?"

The thief's pupils, which had rolled almost completely beneath his eyelids, slowly returned to normal. His dazed, unfocused gaze fixed on the enchanter.

"En-En… ah… hurts… Enchanter Airel… it hurts…"

Daveth's right hand—the one from which Duncan had deftly plucked the chalice—clutched at his chest.

"Well, what did you expect?" Craig snorted and spat onto the floor.

Straight into the puddle of bloody vomit.

"Heart attack. Stroke. Burst blood vessels in the lungs. Liver nearly failed… Incidentally, I do not know what you drink instead of wine—rat-poison moonshine, perhaps—but I strongly recommend giving that filth up. You were one step away from cirrhosis. Can you stand?"

"Yes… no…"

"How wonderfully vague and inconsistent."

The enchanter frowned.

"How many fingers?"

"Three."

"Correct. Follow the thumb with your eyes. The thumb on my hand, I said—not Turi's tits, you scoundrel… Right. Good enough. Can you stand?"

"Yes… Yes, yes, I can… now…"

"Then stop hanging off me. Stand up and walk. Who is next?"

"Ser Jory."

Duncan's face might have been carved from stone, but his eyes gleamed strangely.

"Commander Duncan, I, of course… m-m-m…"

The warrior looked Craig over warily, then glanced at Daveth, who had managed barely five staggering steps before his legs gave way and he dropped heavily onto his backside.

"Is he necessary?"

"Me?"

Their mentor looked genuinely surprised after Ser Jory pointed at him.

"Not in the slightest. If you are so eager to gulp down a cocktail of assorted filth and Darkspawn blood without a healer's support, be my guest. Frankly, I no longer care. I know what to expect now, so my apprentices will not die from your Joining. They will not even come away with varicose veins."

"Ser Jory," Duncan said, closing his eyes and drawing a deep breath.

The Commander had watched Daveth's suffering with something close to hungry interest, and when Craig announced that Solona and Neria would not die, he visibly twitched, his eyes snapping open. To his credit, he regained control almost at once.

"If I were you, I would not refuse Enchanter Craig's assistance."

"Hey… friend…"

Daveth suddenly spoke. His tongue was thick and clumsy, and even turning his head towards the knight seemed to take effort.

"Brother… I mean… Ser Jory! I… I think I just died… twice. Or three times? Yeah… think it was three. So don't… don't fuck aro—don't show off. Fuck, I feel awful…"

"Lie down and rest," Craig advised him, somehow sounding almost sympathetic. "Four hours of proper sleep, and your brains should settle back into place."

"Yeah… right… Fucki—good idea…"

The thief's unfocused gaze found the enchanter.

"Thanks… won't forget…"

With that, Daveth stretched out on the floor and fell asleep before he had even finished lying down. A second later, the surrounding air shook with loud, expressive snoring.

"Well?"

Their mentor looked questioningly at the knight.

"To be honest," Ser Jory said, folding his arms across his chest, "I do not understand what all these Joinings and trials are for. First we were sent into the Wilds—but fine, at least we thinned out the creatures. But there were real witches out there! And now, for some reason, we have to drink this filth!

"And this sorcerer besides!"

"Careful with your words, Ser Jory," Craig said with a friendly smile. "You carry a weapon, but I do not call you a brigand and a murderer, do I? You have no reason to fear me. I am an enchanter of the Fereldan Circle of Magi, and one of the branches of magic I study is healing. That means I have the Chantry's permission to heal people.

"And believe me, knight, noble aristocrats pay the Circle very good gold so that 'this sorcerer' may come to them and hold their hand. So set aside your distrust of mages for a moment and let me help you not die."

"Ser Jory," Solona said before she even realised she had spoken.

She liked the honest knight. And she very, very much did not want his pregnant wife—of whom he spoke so often, and with such warmth and tender affection—to be left a widow.

"Enchanter Craig Airel is Neria's and my mentor. He is an excellent mage."

"And he cuts down Darkspawn like nobody's business," Alistair suddenly added in support. "He is also the eldest son of Bann Airel."

"Ah…"

The knight took a deep breath, unfastened the greatsword resting in its special sheath across his back, and carefully laid the weapon on the ground.

"I do not like any of this magic…"

"Like most normal people," Craig said, giving the warrior what was, astonishingly enough, an encouraging smile. "So let us get this over with quickly."

---

"Four out of four," Turi whispered in disbelief.

"Well… that has happened before, right?"

Alistair shifted from foot to foot, glancing uncertainly at the four softly snoring recruits who had just become full-fledged Grey Wardens.

"Daveth and Jory should have died," Duncan said.

He was tense now, deep in thought.

"I have witnessed more than one Joining. Their bodies were failing. Both vomited. Both coughed blood. The girls, however, endured the Joining relatively well."

"I would not say they endured it well," I said, shaking my bald head. "But yes, they would have survived. The lads, on the other hand, I had to drag back."

"Are you disappointed, Enchanter Craig?" Duncan turned his thoughtful gaze on me. "It seems your efforts were unnecessary. As it turned out, your apprentices would have survived either way."

"No. Why would I be?"

The question genuinely surprised me.

"Two fighters survived today who will go on to battle the Blight-spawned filth. Now they have a chance to die valiantly in defence of Humanity instead of pointlessly choking to death on their own vomit."

"Death or death," Alistair said with a sour smile. "Not much of a choice."

"It is a poor thing if you are not prepared to die for Humanity. Sooner or later, you will die regardless."

I shrugged indifferently.

"To croak like a coward, curled up in some hole, or to die pointlessly from poison… As for me, I would rather fall in battle defending what is dear to me, taking as many of the creatures with me as I can, His name upon my lips and the hot fire of His hatred for the Taint of the Ruinous Powers burning in my heart.

"That is an immeasurably more appealing fate. The only better one is to survive and win, so that you may go on burning the filth from the face of Thedas."

"Well, praise the Maker."

Alistair pretended to wipe sweat from his brow.

"For a moment there, Craig, I thought dying was the main motivation behind everything you do."

"Enchanter Craig," I corrected him. "Should we move them to a tent?"

"Alistair, go fetch the others," Duncan ordered, studying the sleepers once more. "This is excellent news on the eve of battle."

"Already on my way."

The former Templar nodded and immediately broke into a light run. Apparently, he too was eager to tell the others that every recruit had survived.

"Enchanter Airel."

The bearded Grey Warden fixed me with a steady look.

"I would like to invite you to join our Order."

"No."

I shook my head and smiled crookedly.

"Do not even ask, Commander Duncan."

"Hear me out, please."

It was obvious the Warden was struggling to restrain himself.

"One of the reasons our numbers remain so low is the mortality rate during the Joining. You… The Order has invited healers before. We even have enchanters of our own who practise healing. None of them could help. I will not ask what you did. Nor what kind of magic it was. For the most part, I do not care. The Blight gives me the right to use almost anything if it means victory."

"Duncan."

I deliberately dropped his title and looked the man straight in the eye.

"I understand that the Blight threatens all of Thedas. I have read the chronicles. I have seen the approximate casualty numbers—the recorded ones. And I am more than certain the true death toll was many times greater than anything written in the books. I know that only a Grey Warden who has undergone the Joining can truly kill the Archdemon.

"But Duncan, the Blight is not the only danger facing Humanity. I cannot leave the Circle. I have my own plans. My own war. One that began before this Blight. Before I was even born. And one that will continue after our victory. Even after my death. I have my own Duty."

The Grey Warden grimaced. Turi sighed in disappointment.

"I came to Ostagar as a volunteer," I continued calmly, grinning. "And I will not abandon either you or the army until we are done with this filth. When you put new recruits through the Joining, call me. I will not refuse. And when the Blight is over—when we have won—send the girls back to the Circle.

"I will teach them everything a healer needs to know so that your recruits stop dying needlessly. And no, Duncan, this is not some forbidden knowledge of accursed Blood Magic. I simply intended to reveal what I can do only after becoming a Senior Enchanter. Or after taking charge of the Fereldan Circle of Magi altogether."

"That is… generous. Thank you, Enchanter Craig. The Order will repay your—"

"Do not profane my ears with that shit, Grey Warden!"

My eye actually twitched with anger.

"Shove your gold up your arse. Or better yet, spend it on proper equipment for your warriors. If I ever start taking money from those who are dying for Humanity… May His Wrath burn me to ash. And do not make me any angrier than you already have with your games in the Tower."

"Craig…"

Turi shook her head reproachfully.

"I have been Craig since the day I was born," I growled, though I was already calming down. "Just stop these games, Commander Duncan. I understand why you pulled all that in the Circle, and I am not demanding an apology. The Wardens' position in Ferelden is shaky. The aristocratic families still remember that old, ugly business connected with your Order.

"You do not risk abusing the Right of Conscription because you do not want to destroy your already strained relationship with our kingdom. His Majesty favours you, yes. But there are other powerful people besides the monarch—people quite capable of placing obstacles in the Grey Wardens' path. I am even grateful that you did not try to drag me into the Order just now, risks be damned.

"My skills may be almost more valuable to the Grey Wardens than victory in the coming battle. I repeat: I understand you. I even respect you."

"Truly?"

Genuine surprise appeared on Duncan's face.

"I thought you placed me almost on the same level as the Darkspawn."

"You exaggerate. Yes, I did not like what you and Irving did to the girls. But I cannot deny it: taking everything from Amell and Surana, drowning them in terror, leaving them alone with despair, and then becoming their hope—turning yourself into the hero who saved their lives—was an excellent way to secure their loyalty.

"You did much the same with Daveth, did you not? Pulled him out of the noose, I imagine, after the guards caught him and he was sentenced? Ser Jory… well, that is obvious enough. He has a pregnant wife. A home of his own. Dreams of happy children. And the Blight can take all of that away from him.

"Then there is the honour and duty of a knight, who must be the first to face danger in defence of ordinary people. And no, I do not consider any of that villainy. Let thousands die so that millions may live, Commander Duncan. But these girls…"

I sighed and studied the peaceful faces of my sleeping former apprentices.

"Do you know what you SHOULD have done if you truly wanted to strengthen your Order's position in Ferelden?"

I broke the heavy silence, my voice slightly hoarse as I changed the subject.

"You should have kept silent. You should have allowed the Blight to grow stronger. Let it taste blood. Let people understand the full horror bearing down upon them. A victory Humanity reached knee-deep in the blood of murdered civilians—that is what would have raised you up. After such a victory, the Grey Wardens in Ferelden would have possessed more influence than the Chantry and the King combined.

"That is what I would have done."

"That…"

Turi stared at me in horror.

"Do you have any idea how many victims there would have been?!"

"They would not have died for nothing, but in the name of Humanity," I replied sadly, shaking my head.

"All of Thedas would have remembered the horror of the Blight. And the Grey Wardens—without whom the Archdemon cannot be killed—would no longer be some half-forgotten legend. Recruits. Weapons. Armour. Donations from the wealthy. Influence. Reputation. You could have secured all of that for your Order for several generations, Commander Duncan."

"I could not have done it," the man replied calmly.

But he looked away. He had thought about it. Thought about it—and simply lacked the will to carry the plan through.

"Horrible…" Turi whispered, covering her mouth with both hands.

It seemed our brief little affair had just ended. At the very least, she was now looking at me as though I were some bloodthirsty monster.

"You are worse than a demon…"

"I learned from the best," I whispered too softly for either of them to hear.

Then I smiled crookedly once more.

"And now, I think it is time to say goodbye. Commander Duncan. Warden Tipti. Good night. I suppose we shall speak again after tomorrow's battle."

"Good night, Enchanter Airel," Duncan said with a nod.

Turi did not say goodbye at all. Was I hurt? No. I had never considered our little fling anything serious. The woman simply did not possess the same degree of callousness that had accumulated within a three-hundred-year-old psyker whose Lord had fully lived up to the dreadful reputation of the Inquisition—and had made a point of properly preparing his acolytes. I was more than certain the Lord would have done exactly what I had described to Duncan. Perhaps something even more cynical.

More ruthless. He might, for example, have allowed the Blight to devour Ferelden entirely in order to unite the other nations of Thedas in the face of a common threat. Then, most likely, upon the ashes left after victory, he would have forged a united Human empire. After that, I imagine, he would first have set about smoking the Darkspawn out of the Deep Roads. Then hunting down and destroying the remaining sleeping dragons. And once those threats had been dealt with, the Lord would have turned his attention to the xenos. He would probably have left the city elves alone and exterminated only the Dalish.

He would have helped the dwarves bring an end to the pitiful existence of their dying people, seizing control of the lyrium supply in the process. Then, after gathering sufficient strength, he would have begun burning the Qunari from the face of Thedas. Nor would he have forgotten Andrastianism. He would simply have made the necessary corrections, bringing the Chant of Light into alignment with the fundamental dogmas of the Imperial Cult. The Emperor-Creator once walked among men, but He is, and always has been, a god. The Emperor-Creator is the one true god, regardless of whatever beliefs a man may have held before.

Heretics must be cleansed in the flames of righteous wrath. Mages must be feared. Mutants and non-humans must be hated and exterminated. Every human has their appointed place within the divine order of the Emperor-Creator. And, naturally, the authority of the Imperial government must be obeyed without question. Andraste, formerly the "Bride of the Maker," would become a Living Saint who gave her life for Humanity and the Emperor. The Golden City… That fit remarkably neatly with descriptions of the Emperor's palace upon Holy Terra—the Sanctum Imperialis.

As did the Golden Throne, upon which He carries out His endless service in the name of the Imperium's survival and Humanity's continued existence. The ancient Magisters of Tevinter would become vile worshippers of the Ruinous Powers who brought the corruption of the Warp into the world. In short, that sort of work did not usually fall within the Inquisition's remit. But we, too, knew perfectly well how the Adeptus Ministorum operated on worlds like Thedas. The Lord Inquisitor would have prepared this world to receive the Imperial Creed.

And when the ships of the Navis Imperialis finally entered orbit, they would have found a world almost ready to fall into the embrace of the Imperium of Man. A little work by the Ecclesiarchy. A demonstration of Imperial strength and might. And Thedas would have been prepared to accept its appointed ruler. And to pay the tithe. In psykers. And in recruits for the Astra Militarum alike. I stopped halfway to the Circle mages' camp and lifted my face towards the heavens. I gazed at the stars with longing. How many worlds had I stood upon, staring up into their night skies? Too many to count.

Then why did these stars feel so alien? Thedas… It was unlike any world I knew. Too calm. Too friendly. Even its dangers seemed so… Harmless? In all my years of life here, I had never once truly gone all out. Never fought in such a way that, in the Materium, death breathed cold against my face while, from the Immaterium—drawn by the power I tore from the Warp—countless creatures of Chaos stretched their twisted claws towards the light of my soul. Threatening to rip the little "door" out of me, flesh and all. Threatening to tear my very self into a thousand scraps. And the Warp itself…

The Fade here was wrong. Strange. The Black City, visible from every part of it… And no light of the Astronomican. I had never seen that light with my eyes, but once, after one particularly unpleasant scrape in the company of a scaly, three-eyed beauty from the Navis Nobilite, I had felt it. I should have felt it here as well. But there was nothing like that in the Fade. Where was I? Where the hell had I ended up, chainsword up every demon's arse? Could this world even be— I crushed the thought before it could finish forming. I did not want to give it words.

Not even in the privacy of my own mind. I must not give in. I had to keep believing in Humanity. In the Emperor. I had to keep walking the path I had chosen. If I could not feel the warm light of the Astronomican, that meant only one thing. I was too far away. Or my senses were too weak. Or the Ruinous Powers were interfering with me. Doubt is defeat. Defeat is betrayal. I would not betray again. Unfortunately, the truth remained that despite everything…

I… I had gone soft. Back then, when I had cowardly run from my fallen Lord. And here, in this life, I remained the same coward who was afraid to dirty his hands. Duncan's use of the girls enraged me. One of them was an elf, no less—so much like the accursed xenos. And still it enraged me. Yet practices like that had been perfectly ordinary in my former life. I had done the same myself. That was exactly how the Lord had acquired me for his retinue.

By pulling me out of the shit he had most likely driven me into himself, gaining not merely an acolyte, but my loyalty as well. What truly drove me over the edge was that my apprentices had come to matter to me. I could no longer look at them merely as resources to be spent for the good of the Imperium. Even revealing my abilities to the Wardens had not been part of the plan, as healing the Templars had been. I had done it because I gave in to fear for the lives of those two little brats.

"Weakling," I whispered bitterly, lifting my face once more towards the night sky.

An alien sky. Filled with unfamiliar stars. The Lord could have done it. I could not. Just as Duncan had been unable to use the Blight to its fullest advantage, I could not accept the most effective plan simply because it was also the cruellest. On the other hand… The Lord had fallen. And I had not allowed the corruption of Chaos to defile me. So I would bring to this world… What I had to bring. But I would try to make it as painless for Thedas as possible.

---

Original Russian story

If you'd like to read the full story, you can find it on Patreon

The translation will continue to be published here as well, only with a bit of a delay.

 

[dragon132]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Baldrick the Wise]

"They would not have died for nothing, but in the name of Humanity,"

Click to shrink...

[Triarii plays in the background]

 

[Boroda Orka]

"Craig? Is everything all right?" Senior Enchanter Wynne asked, casting a worried glance at the exceedingly grim… "combat healer," as he sometimes called himself.

The two of them were on their way to the war council summoned by King Cailan.

"A bad dream," the bald, powerfully built man muttered, gripping the haft of his staff more tightly.

"I never thought a simple dream could affect you so badly. Or…"

The woman did not finish. Both mages understood perfectly well what she meant.

"I do not know," Enchanter Craig said, still frowning. "With the deceptions of the Fade, you can never say for certain what is merely a dream, what is not quite a dream, and what is no dream at all. The creatures beyond the Veil are cunning. Their whispers poison the mind, and the visions those bastards send lead only to ruin."

"It sounds as though you dreamed something truly terrible," Wynne observed.

At Craig's questioning look, she smiled almost apologetically.

"You sounded as though you were reminding yourself of that. Do you want to tell me?"

"No."

The Tower mage's face turned to stone, and his gaze became as sharp as a spearpoint.

"Are you sure? I have lived rather longer than you, after all. Perhaps I might offer some advice."

"I…"

For a moment, the stone cracked. Wynne saw confusion and indecision in the face of a man who almost never allowed either to show.

"I saw HIM."

"Him?"

The enchanter blinked in surprise. Spoken in that tone, there could only be one person he meant.

"The Maker?"

"HE was sitting upon the Golden Throne, but His appearance was terrible," Craig said, his jaws tightening in anger. "It was certainly some damned delusion sent by the creatures of the Fade to shake my certainty. To lead me from the path."

"Or simply a bad dream," Wynne said with a gentle smile, carefully laying a hand on the enchanter's forearm.

She had certainly never imagined Craig could take something like this so deeply to heart. Especially since he had never appeared particularly religious.

"Or simply a bad dream," the man agreed with a curt nod. "But if some creature beyond the Veil is responsible, I will find it and erase it even from the memory of the world beneath this one. Even if I have to grovel at the feet of Knight-Commander Greagoir and First Enchanter Irving for permission to enter the Fade, I will tear every limb from the filth."

"Ahem…"

Wynne looked at him in surprise.

"Perhaps you should not attend the council after all?"

"No. Everything is fine."

Craig shook his head and exhaled forcefully.

"A moment of weakness. Nothing more."

His features smoothed almost at once. The fury vanished as though it had never existed. That was one of Craig's stranger, yet more respectable qualities: his ability to move almost instantly from intense emotion to cold, businesslike focus.

"I am counting on you," Wynne said, releasing a quiet breath of relief.

She did not want Uldred admitted to a council held by His Majesty on the eve of battle, but she herself was hardly an expert in battle magic. Not helpless, certainly. But the enchanter was counting on Craig Airel as a mage with actual experience in military affairs. Uldred was, of course, more experienced in battle magic. But the younger enchanter had already managed to take part in comparatively large-scale battles. Besides, Craig was…

More even-tempered than Uldred. Somehow. Despite his difficult, gloomy disposition. And his relations with the Templars were better than Wynne's own. The Revered Mother, for example, spoke with him quite amiably. Wynne had witnessed it herself. The detachment with which Enchanter Craig had gone into the Wilds had just returned from another sortie when they encountered the Chantrywoman strolling through the camp. She had been accompanied by a powerfully built Templar with a scar running across his face, and the knight had broken into a surprisingly good-natured smile at the sight of the enchanter.

Wynne hoped that Uldred's absence—the Revered Mother could quite literally not stomach him—and Craig's presence would help prevent any unpleasantness with the Chantry or the Templars. She only prayed that Mage Airel's foul mood would not affect the meeting ahead.

"And here are our enchanters," said a charismatic young man clad in armour richly decorated with golden patterns.

He smiled amiably. Long golden hair. Blue eyes. Before the Tower mages stood His Majesty Cailan Theirin, King of Ferelden.

"Your Majesty," the two mages said in unison, bowing before the monarch.

"No need, enchanters!"

The King waved them upright.

"I am glad you are with us, Senior Enchanter Wynne, Enchanter Craig. I am grateful to the Tower for sending us two highly skilled healers at once. And you, Craig Airel, are also an excellent warrior, or so I have been told. A pity I could not join you on your sorties!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Craig smiled. As always, the expression looked less like a smile than a ravine opening across his face.

"Do not be too disappointed. You did not miss much. Mud. Minor skirmishes. Forgive my liberty, but nothing on a kingly scale."

"Ha-ha-ha!"

King Cailan laughed heartily and slapped a hand against his breastplate.

"Indeed, when you put it that way, I feel better! Never mind. Today the scale will be fitting. I think you, like me, are looking forward to a glorious battle!"

"To defend Humanity from vile creatures and demons is the sacred duty of every faithful son and daughter of His," the enchanter said with a solemn nod. "With blade and magic. To the last drop of blood. No matter the cost."

Wynne noticed the Revered Mother's expression of complete approval. So far, at least, everything was going well.

"Excellent words, enchanter!"

The King's eyes shone.

"And what do you think of uniting the armies of Ferelden and Orlais for the coming battle?"

"Uniting?"

Craig raised an eyebrow.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I had not heard that Orlais had sent us military aid."

The enchanter noticed Teyrn Loghain, also present at the council, grimace in displeasure. Wynne knew him by sight. She had once travelled to his teyrnir to heal two dozen servants in Loghain Mac Tir's household, and it was rather difficult not to recognise the commander while standing in the camp of his own army. True, that army bore the proud name of the Royal Army. But everyone knew who Ferelden's foremost strategist was. Craig, be careful, Wynne prayed inwardly. Poor relations with the powerful Mac Tir—whose daughter, moreover, was Ferelden's queen—were something neither the Tower nor Airel himself needed.

"There is no military aid," the King said, shaking his head and casting a mildly reproachful glance towards Loghain. "I simply want your opinion. Hypothetically."

"Hmm…"

The enchanter thought for a few seconds.

"As the son of Bann Airel, who, together with your father, King Maric, kicked the Orlesians back across the passes of the Frostback Mountains"—at that, Mac Tir failed to suppress a smile—"I can barely imagine, without disgust, the boots and hooves of an Orlesian army trampling Fereldan soil."

His Majesty sighed quietly and raised his eyes towards the heavens. The Revered Mother's brows drew together. Loghain's smile, meanwhile, stretched into something very nearly resembling a triumphant snarl. Why? Why would you say that?! Wynne groaned inwardly. The Revered Mother clearly did not care for his rhetoric about Orlais either.

"But we have a Blight here, Your Majesty," Craig continued with a sigh, glancing towards the Commander of the Grey Wardens.

"This is a threat not merely to Ferelden, but to Orlais, Antiva, the Free Marches, Tevinter—to the entire world. To all Humanity. To every race and people. The Darkspawn do not care who we are or where we were born. They want to devour all of Thedas, regardless of banners and borders. So, purely hypothetically, if an Orlesian stands beside me in the battle line, I will regard him as a brother-in-arms who has come to defend Humanity against a common enemy.

"Because for anyone born beneath this sky, nothing is more important than helping Thedas rid itself of the Darkspawn Taint. Naturally, if that Orlesian does not wish to leave Fereldan soil after our victory…"

The enchanter fell silent for a moment, as though considering the matter. The King's expression warmed. So did the Revered Mother's. Even Loghain Mac Tir watched him with interest, though he still grimaced at the phrase brother-in-arms.

"If that Orlesian refuses to leave, if he proves to be a treacherous invader who means to strike Ferelden in the back at a difficult moment, then I will repeat my father's deed. Under the command of Cailan Theirin, I will kick the man of that foreign kingdom all the way back to the Frostback Mountains.

"Well… At the very least, I will try."

For two seconds, there was silence. Then it shattered beneath laughter. Both the King and Teyrn Loghain were laughing now. Even the Revered Mother, Fereldan as she was, allowed the faintest smile to touch the corners of her lips.

"I do not like the thought of Orlais on Fereldan soil," Loghain Mac Tir said once his laughter subsided, "but I understand your reasoning, young man. Cailan, why do you refuse even to consider the possibility of betrayal by those who once held Ferelden in chains?"

"Because I believe it is time we left our feud with Orlais in the past, Loghain," the King replied, shaking his head with a sad smile.

"But enough jokes. Ahead of us lies a battle we cannot afford to take lightly."

Wynne nodded along with most of those gathered and released a quiet breath. Craig had somehow escaped a difficult situation without ruining his relations with any of the powers present.

---

Cannot afford to take it lightly, you say?

I looked at our King with carefully concealed scepticism. Teyrn Loghain, meanwhile, concealed neither his scepticism nor the words Are you an idiot? written across his face in letters large enough to read from across the tent. I cannot say that a King personally leading an attack is necessarily a bad thing. But warp damn it, a ruler charging at the front of his army is an exceptional measure. Something done to inspire courage in one's soldiers. There are exceptions, of course. For example, when the ruler in question is a truly great warrior. That did not apply here.

Cailan was respected by the people, and that was about the extent of it. He possessed neither awe-inspiring martial skill nor superhuman strength. And, in my opinion, the plan itself was questionable. Which I did not fail to mention.

"The plan is absurd," I said calmly, looking the King straight in the eye. "Unworkable and completely unrealistic in execution. Your Majesty, you said we needed to be serious, and then you showed us THIS. Without a doubt, the staff officer who devised such a thing ought to be hanged. But I think it is time we discussed a proper battle plan."

You know… Sometimes, after a particularly loud shell explodes nearby, silence follows. Either because of shell shock—in which case the silence rings, as though some enormous bell has just been struck with a hammer—or because a group of green soldiers, stunned by terror, has suddenly understood just how dangerous it is to stand on the front line. Now everyone gathered around the table stared at me as though I had gone mad. Naturally. Every one of them, myself included, knew perfectly well that the plan had come from His Majesty himself. And no, I was not planning to walk to the chopping block before the battle.

From what I knew of Cailan, he would not order my head removed. Immediately.

"Explain yourself, enchanter," the King said.

As expected, he looked anything but pleased. Still, he was holding his anger in check. Young. But promising. That much was obvious even now. For a man whose authority was close to absolute, crushing down wounded pride and allowing someone who had just insulted him to speak was no small thing. The monarch simply needed time to grow up. And experience.

"The general concept raises no objections," I said, jabbing one finger at the ruins of Ostagar on the map.

"This is indeed the narrowest passage. That allows the part of the army serving as the blocking force to hold for as long as possible beneath the Darkspawn assault. The strike by the main force under Teyrn Loghain's command is also logical and correct—provided the enemy numbers reported by the Wardens are accurate, and provided we actually have enough soldiers to destroy them.

"On that front, I have neither questions nor objections. Except for the complete absence of a retreat plan in the event of defeat."

"There will be no defeat," the King said, his jaws tightening as anger flashed in his eyes. "Ferelden lies behind us. We cannot allow the Darkspawn to pass Ostagar. Even at the cost of our own lives, we will stop the Taint."

"If we were facing an army of ordinary humans, elves, dwarves, or Qunari, I might agree. But if we lose—even after destroying most of the enemy—Ferelden loses far more from the destruction of its army than the Archdemon does. The creatures replenish their numbers quickly. Humans cannot. If our armies destroy one another today, then within a year another horde will be marching towards Ferelden.

"No smaller than this one. Perhaps larger. And instead of a trained army, it will be met by green recruits."

"That will not happen," Cailan said.

He was staring at me firmly now. Grimly. With open aggression.

"The Grey Wardens will kill the Archdemon."

"What Grey Wardens?"

I remained perfectly calm, allowing no emotion to reach my face.

"All the Grey Wardens will die here. As will you."

I stabbed my finger towards Ostagar on the map.

"Along with the elite of Ferelden's warriors. It is precisely what the staff has planned for the blocking force that makes the entire scheme look like a joke to me."

"Share your thoughts with the rest of us, mage," Loghain said calmly.

There was the faintest shadow of approval in his eyes.

"Let us begin with the fact that, for reasons unknown, we intend to abandon strong positions at the narrowest point and rush forward to meet the Darkspawn. That is absurd. The logical course, both strategically and tactically, is to hold here and grind down an enemy that relies on the same method common to nearly all Darkspawn.

"A single enormous horde crashing forward."

I tapped the narrow passage.

"The creatures will die by the dozens and hundreds as they slam into a line of heavy infantry with tower shields. Spearmen should stand behind them, working over their comrades' shoulders and taking part of the charge on their spearpoints. The Ash Warriors should form the second line. Mabari are trained to fight low, beneath the guard of friendly soldiers—knocking enemies down and dragging them under the formation.

"All a shield-bearer needs to do is lift his shield for a heartbeat, and the hound can seize one of the ugly bastards by the leg. The handlers, meanwhile, will be only too happy to carve apart an enemy that has lost its footing. And behind the Ash Warriors, that is where the Long Pikes belong.

"Those lads can stab perfectly well from the third rank."

I looked around at my listeners. No one seemed particularly eager to object to my "cleverness." Loghain was watching attentively. The King had not yet tried to punch me in the face. And nobody else seemed inclined to interrupt.

"As for the Ash Warriors, this would be far better than sending the mabari—not merely dogs, but our soldiers' battle companions—straight to the slaughter. If we unleash the hounds first, as the current plan proposes, they will die. That is inevitable. The Darkspawn will not panic. They will not break. They will lose a few dozen—perhaps a hundred—and then butcher the hounds, which wear practically no armour.

"That, in turn, will demoralise their handlers, who will have watched their friends and battle companions die before the true fighting even begins. And the warriors will no longer be able to fight in the manner to which they are accustomed."

The two Ash Warriors accompanying the monarch remained motionless as statues. But their faces relaxed slightly. Handlers loved their mabari as any man might love a cherished animal. And when that affection was reinforced by respect and trust in the beast as a fellow soldier…

"Next. If we hold that formation, the line must withdraw several paces from time to time. Otherwise, the Darkspawn will eventually begin climbing over the shield wall on a mound made from their own dead. The archers should occupy high ground rather than stand directly behind our infantry. They should not loose arrows into the point of contact, where they risk killing our own people.

"Instead, they should thin out each wave as it approaches. If an ogre appears, it becomes the priority target. Behind the third line of Long Pikes, we should position a chain of Templars and Grey Wardens. Thanks to the Revered Mother's generosity, we have enough Templars for them either to break the attacks of Darkspawn Emissaries outright or at least weaken them severely.

"I have fought those things. Their magic is nowhere near the skill of a true battle enchanter."

I gave the priestess a respectful nod. The surprise had already left her face, replaced by close attention. I doubted she understood much about warfare, but she kept glancing towards the Knight-Captain beside her. The one I knew. He, incidentally, gave me an approving smile. The hint of amusement somewhere deep in his eyes was slightly unsettling. The same could be said of Loghain Mac Tir. Never mind.

"The Grey Wardens, like the archers and enchanters of the blocking force, must be ready to react quickly when ogres appear. Shrieks should remain solely the Wardens' responsibility. The archers are unlikely to hit them reliably, and the mages risk catching our own soldiers in the blast. In addition, the enchanters should be responsible for countering the Darkspawn siege engines.

"They are few and primitive, but no one wants either a boulder or a burning projectile landing on his head. So whenever possible, their shots should be knocked aside or destroyed with fireballs. Our own siege engines, taking advantage of the heights provided by Ostagar's ruins, should first target enemy catapults and trebuchets. Only once the enemy engines within range have been suppressed should they shift priority to concentrations of dangerous targets.

"Ogres. Emissaries. Shrieks, if any can be identified."

I fell silent for a few seconds and considered the plan taking shape in my own head. No. I was no great strategist. I was a psyker. But during my years of service in the 27th Brimlock, I had picked up a thing or two. The plan was hardly a work of genius. Still, in my opinion, it was a considerable improvement over Cailan's miserable let us all run forward and die nonsense.

"Because the defensive frontage is so narrow, we should still be able to maintain a small reserve. Part of it can rotate with the troops holding the line. The rest should guard our siege engines and patrol the territory under our control. We have Templars. The Darkspawn do not. But the creatures can dig tunnels.

"It would be extremely… unfortunate if some sabotage force emerged behind us. So it might also be wise to keep a small but powerful rapid-response unit ready to deal with such unpleasant surprises. To sum up: With this arrangement, we can hold far longer, giving Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir's army time to strike at the most favourable moment.

"At the same time, we avoid risking the loss of absolutely every Grey Warden—people we require for the final destruction of the Archdemon. And the blocking force itself has every chance of, if not annihilating the enemy army outright, then at least inflicting severe losses upon it."

I paused.

"P.S… Enchanter Craig Airel has finished."

For roughly ten seconds, silence settled around the map table. The King was frowning. The Revered Mother, after receiving an affirming nod from her escort, wore an expression of satisfied agreement. The Commander of the Grey Wardens nodded thoughtfully, apparently approving some conclusion of his own. Most striking of all was Ferelden's foremost strategist. Teyrn Loghain made no effort whatsoever to hide his broad, approving smile.

"Bann Airel has sired a fine pup," the army commander said, nodding gravely. "One who may yet grow into a seasoned hound. Well then, Cailan. Shall we now discuss a proper battle plan, having set aside this… 'joke' of one? We truly do not have much time before the main event begins."

---

Original Russian story

If you'd like to read the full story, you can find it on Patreon

The translation will continue to be published here as well, only with a bit of a delay.

 

[dragon132]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Baldrick the Wise]

Come to think, in such battle of attrition as he proposed, his skills as healer would be much more needed than in the death or glory charge that the king envisioned.

 

[Boroda Orka]

Battle. Combat. Meat grinder. Routine.

"He who abandons his brothers and sisters in battle is no better than the Enemy!" I roared, lashing two warriors fleeing in terror across the back with fulmination.

They flared like torches and collapsed into the mud as though cut down. No one gave me condemning looks anymore. Cowards who abandoned the formation were traitors aiding the Darkspawn. Too many good warriors had died today after being left without aid or support by weak-willed, worthless bastards like those two.

"We are human! Though prone to weakness, we have become warriors!"

The words of the Litany of Strength tore themselves from my throat almost on their own.

"Weakness here is death! But we shall crush weakness beneath the full weight of our pride!"

Rain streamed down my face. Lightning split the sky. Thunder struck like a full stop at the end of my words. I saw my brothers and sisters tighten their grips upon their weapons. Saw jaws clench. Saw men and women searching within themselves for just enough strength to keep fighting. After… How long had it been? Three hours, at least. Perhaps more. There was almost nothing left of the formation. I might have smirked at the memory of the "three lines" I had proposed during the council, had I possessed enough attention to spare. There were too many creatures. We could no longer even punish every coward who fled.

Our archers had stopped wasting arrows on them as well, obeying orders to conserve ammunition for the Darkspawn. If we survived, we would find the deserters afterward. And execute them. Shamefully. Publicly. Terribly. Loghain knew how to make a joke, yes. So did that Knight-Captain of the Templars. Or perhaps they had simply spared my pride and written off the nonsense I had said to youth and a life spent inside the Circle Tower. They had not laughed in the face of a man accustomed to… Somewhat different rules of warfare. Ferelden's strategist had simply, confidently, and without unnecessary embellishment laid out the proper defensive scheme for the narrowest point.

The Templar captain had merely hummed his approval. I had been… A little embarrassed. Probably for the best. Seeing it, King Cailan had thawed somewhat as well and stopped drilling holes into me with his offended stare. The Ash Warriors had been placed in reserve and assigned to guard the rear. Mabari, though trained to fight alongside men, had little place inside the main formation. The long pikes had been used to their fullest extent only once—to meet the first wave of creatures charging at us in mindless fury. After that, opportunities to employ them properly had become rare. The formation consisted not of three lines, but six.

Heavy shields. Strong armour. Short swords. Even then, in places, the Darkspawn pressed forward with such sheer weight that the line bent inward. Behind five ranks of infantry, shoulder to shoulder with the swordsmen of the sixth, stood the knights of the Templar Order, suppressing the spells of Darkspawn Emissaries. Some things, at least, had matched what I proposed. The archers used the fortress ruins and every scrap of high ground they could find to loose over the infantry's heads. The mages burned great concentrations of the enemy with massed spells. The Grey Wardens served as a living plug, rushing to wherever the situation became most dangerous. Shrieks. Emissaries. Ogres.

"O-O-OGRE!"

Someone shouted from somewhere to my right. A waste of oxygen. The brute was impossible to miss. It ploughed forward like a Chimera APC driven by a Chaos-blinded madman, crushing its smaller kin beneath its feet as it strained towards the already failing parody of a battle line—barely two and a half ranks of soldiers now.

"Accursed spawn of the Taint…" King Cailan growled beside me.

"One step back!" I roared.

I stepped forward and swept out my burned left hand.

"Crush the bastard!"

Arcs of Motive Force tore from my fingers. Darkspawn smoked, convulsed, and collapsed into the mud. The King and the trained infantry stepped back in perfect unison, leaving me alone beyond the line. One moment. Two. Three. The staff gathered the charge I needed. I thrust it forward. Fulmination erupted from the Aquila in a cone of lethal energy.

"Crush the Enemy!"

I continued the motion, raising the staff above my head. As it had countless times before—as it had in hundreds of battles in another life—the Aquila of the Imperium spread its wings over the battlefield to bring death to the Enemies of Humanity.

"In His name, we bring death!"

Above the eagle's twin heads, a point of light ignited. It swelled into a blinding white sphere, crackling and writhing with electrical discharges. One second. An especially vicious current tore down my arm and into the staff. The sphere shot away in a high arc towards the ogre. Impact. The creature never even had time to scream. The ball of lightning vaporised the upper half of its skull without the slightest elegance, then burst apart into branching arcs that mowed down another two dozen Darkspawn nearby. The stench of burned flesh struck my nose. Stronger than usual. Mine.

I have no idea why, but my own cooked meat always smelled especially foul.

"Mentor."

The strained voice of the young elven girl beside me was full of pain. As though she were the one being burned alive by the fulmination rather than me. Kind girl. I even felt a little ashamed of all those jokes that had never been entirely jokes. Relief washed over me when I stepped back behind the shield line and my former apprentice's hand immediately settled upon my shoulder, wrapping me in healing magic.

"Save your strength for those who actually need it, Warden Surana."

I brushed her hand aside.

"I am capable of looking after myself."

From the corner of my eye, I caught her hurt expression and saw her bite her lip. No, girl. It is not because you are an elf. Your healing is simply too weak for wounds I inflicted upon myself.

"Give me the strength to fulfil my Duty and crush those who stand in my path!"

I called to Him by force of habit as I shaped a spell of fire.

"CONE!"

Two fighters shifted aside in perfect, practised unison. I thrust the staff between them. Hungry, vicious flame poured from the Aquila and washed across the front ranks of the Darkspawn pressing forward again. Classical Thedosian magic was slower. But it was orders of magnitude more humane than the fulmination I loved so dearly. So I alternated between them whenever I could, using biomancy to repair the burns and internal damage caused by channeling the harsher power. Even so… It hurt. It stank. It was familiar. Familiar… But not entirely. I sorely missed the crackle of ionised air from volleys of Guard lasguns.

More than once, I caught myself thinking how wonderful it would be to hear the thunder of an Echon Mk III assault stubber. And the whistle of Basilisk shells sometimes seemed to linger at the very edge of my hearing, hidden beneath the roar of the creatures, the impacts, the clang and scrape of metal against flesh, and the screams of warriors.

"Cone!" Grey Warden Surana shouted hatefully beside me.

She thrust her staff between two soldiers just as I had. The elf preferred cryomancy—frost magic, as they called it here. In her hands, the cone froze the enemy rather than burning them, searing them with impossible cold and locking limbs beneath a crust of ice.

"Switch!"

Cailan's command made the first rank—momentarily free of immediate fighting—flinch into motion and exchange places with warriors catching their breath "in the rear." The other sections of the formation would repeat the manoeuvre when they had the opportunity. The King of Ferelden himself had lost his handsome longsword somewhere in the fighting and now wielded a short infantry blade. The shield on his arm, identical to those carried by the men around him, had also been picked up from the ground. There were enough corpses to choose from. The good news was that our siege engines had destroyed the Darkspawn "artillery."

The first part of the battle had been ugly. The bad news was that creatures kept appearing behind us. So far, at least, the Ash Warriors and their mabari raced from one breach to another and cut them down before they could cause too much damage. Worse still, we had lost the signal tower. The creatures had made their strongest underground breakthrough beneath its cellars. I had no idea how the Darkspawn managed to fool the Grey Wardens' senses, but there were so many of them that we were forced to turn several siege engines around and bring down part of the structure, burying the tunnels beneath tonnes of stone.

Unfortunately… Alistair and Amell had been inside the tower at the time. Good lads. Both the indomitable, occasionally infuriating former Templar and my apprentice. As far as any of us knew, they had died like true Guardsmen. They had carried out their order. The signal fire had been lit. Teyrn Loghain now knew it was time. But neither of them had emerged from the tower. Some enormous mutant bird was circling nearby, the like of which I had never even heard of. I had no time to examine it properly. Not the Archdemon. That was enough. Either some gigantic carrion bird or another creature of the Blight.

If it intended to interfere, it was too late. The beacon was burning. And I could not even form the Aquila and bow my head in memory of my battle comrades. Emperor, guard their souls in the Warp. No matter. We would honour their sacrifice with hundreds of corpses belonging to creatures offensive to His sight and to Humanity itself. And if we survived—we would drink something strong. Ha. I would not have refused a couple of shots of amasec right then, if only to grease my dry throat. It would do nothing useful to my body.

But perhaps it would dull the blunt, hollow ache left by the loss of an apprentice. Well, would you look at that. I never imagined I would grieve over some snot-nosed girl from Kinloch Hold. I really had gone soft. Gone soft…

"One step back!"

I roared and gathered my strength again. The familiar step forward. The familiar sweep of my left hand. The familiar storm of discharges tearing down the enemies before me.

"Grant me Thy righteous wrath…"

From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Cailan Theirin's face. Along with pieces of his beautiful equipment, the monarch had lost that look of reckless anticipation. That childish expectation of adventure. His face was exhausted. His gaze heavy, grim, and focused. Even in gilded armour, he somehow seemed duller. Older. Bent beneath an invisible weight. Not broken. No. Awakened. The King had stopped looking at me like some tiresome old man standing between him and his chance to demonstrate his courage. He had stopped trying to push beyond the infantry line. Now he simply did the work. Stubbornly. Jaw clenched.

With all the seriousness of a trained warrior. He might make a good commander someday. Given time. Soldiers respected those who stood shoulder to shoulder with them. Those who, despite birth or title, shared the hardships of battle on equal terms. Those who guarded their comrades' backs and trusted those same comrades to guard theirs. It seemed that today the boy—and at our first meeting, that was exactly how Cailan had struck me—had aged a full decade. I think the King finally understood what would have awaited him if that "joke" of a plan had actually been carried out.

"…and Thy furious strength. Let me become the storm…"

I gathered the charge within the staff. A powerful one. The half-open little "door" into the Immaterium generously fed me energy from the Warp-Fade. Dangerous. I could feel that on the other side, a fair number of claimants to my body and soul had already gathered. They could all rot.

"…that shall sweep away the enemies who offend Thy sight!"

The butt of my staff struck the ground. Thousands of arcs surged through it and exploded outward towards the Enemy in a hemispherical wave. Arc Half-Nova. The stench of burned flesh punched me in the nose yet again. My ears filled with the shrieks of hundreds of ugly bastards dying beneath fulmination. Good. The bad part was… I glanced down at the charred little finger of my right hand. It had fallen off. The longer I fought, the harder it became to restrain the power of the Immaterium. Both hands were completely covered in burns. Blood seeped through cracked skin burned black in places. So did ichor. And rendered fat.

Extreme weight loss, heh. Familiar, came the calm thought, carrying with it an unhealthy degree of satisfaction. I stepped back behind the shields and ignored the approving, heartening shouts of my brothers-in-arms.

"In the name of the Golden Throne, warriors of Ferelden!"

A ravine of vicious satisfaction cut across my face.

"Fight with fury, for you are the Blades of His Wrath! Fight, for your kin stand behind your backs! Kill as many as you can! Forget fear, for cowardice before the Enemy is a shame worse than death! Embrace the pain of your wounds, for it tells you that you still live! Scorn fatigue, for your Will is strong!

"Show Him the whole of your Strength! Awaken pride in His heart for His sons and daughters!"

"Enchanter, your finger just fell off," the Knight-Captain of the Templars said.

He was currently "resting," and some mad smile twisted his scarred face as he nodded towards the hand gripping my staff.

"How are you even shouting properly with hands like that?"

"Pain before my Duty is nothing," I recited by habit.

Words I had spoken thousands upon thousands of times.

"Let my blood pour from my veins. Let my flesh be scored with wounds. Let my limbs be severed. Let my skin burn and blacken. But my Faith in Him shall never weaken."

"You know, Craig…"

The Templar sighed.

"You are the most deranged mage I have ever met. And I have seen… enough of them. If they were all like you, perhaps the Templars would not even be needed. Nor the preachers… ahem."

"There will always be some degenerate who hides dreams of foul power beneath a mask of humility and loyalty," I said, shaking my head while biomancy repaired the countless injuries throughout my body.

Too much Warp energy had passed through me. How fortunate that on Thedas it was so clean. And that the creatures of the Fade were so stupid.

"Our survival is the fruit of your labours as well, Knight-Captain. Here, and in general."

"Thanks, I suppose," the Templar snorted. "But Loghain is certainly taking his time."

"There are more creatures than the Wardens reported. Far more."

I shook my head and tried to make out any hint of approaching help beyond the endless sea of mutants. Nothing. I shifted my grip on the staff, grimacing as my ring finger barely responded. Then I prepared another fire spell.

"CONE!"

---

Why?! Why? Why?..

The young elf's hands were trembling. Why had they agreed to help Jowan back then? Why had they listened to Irving? Why had they gone with the Wardens instead of staying in the Tower? They could have persuaded Greagoir. They could have! Fallen at his feet. Cried. Begged. The Knight-Commander was not a heartless bastard. They could have done it! They could! And now… Neria looked towards the ruins of the signal tower. Her lips began to tremble. Now her friend… Her only friend. The closest person in her life. Almost a sister. She was dead. Bitter tears streamed down Neria's cheeks, but the girl only clenched her jaw harder.

Do not sob. No hysterics. When the tower collapsed, burying the cursed creatures beneath it—and Alistair… and Solona… Neria had screamed. A raw, animal scream. It had felt as though an invisible red-hot spike had punched straight through her heart. Then came the emptiness. Vast. Bottomless. Filling her soul with impossible pain. She returned to herself beneath a ringing slap that nearly tore her head from her shoulders. Had the Mentor struck even a little harder, he might have broken her neck.

"Do not scream! Do not sob! Save your breath and take revenge! Revenge!"

He had snarled the words directly into her face. His eyes blazed with fury. Hatred churned within them. Anger. And pain. The realisation that the perpetually stern and cold Enchanter Craig was grieving for his dead apprentice sobered Neria more effectively than the slap. She tried to answer. There were no words. And no time. The Mentor had already turned away and resumed pouring lethal spells into the masses of Darkspawn. For several more seconds she simply stood there, dazed, touching the cheek burning from that brutal slap. Then shame came. And rage.

Snarling through her teeth, Neria began casting spell after spell into the thickest concentrations of the vile creatures. Her magic seemed pale beside the other three enchanters fighting near His Majesty. Especially beside the Mentor. He worked impossibly powerful magic far too quickly. Neria had not even known such a thing was possible. Even Senior Enchanter Wynne—who had long since fallen back behind the fighting ranks and was healing warriors almost without pause—looked like an ordinary mage beside him.

"One step back!"

Only…

"Let Thy Light fall upon the ugliness of this world!"

The enchanter's powerful, fury-filled voice rolled across the battlefield like the roar of a war horn. Neria watched in fear as the Mentor stepped forward again. Before, he had hurled lightning with a sweep of his left hand. Now the staff was in his left hand. And the sweep came from his right.

"Let it stand before Thy gaze!"

A hand that looked more like a blackened, fingerless brand than part of a living man. The fingers of his right hand had fallen away one after another until Enchanter Craig had finally switched hands. What were those horrifying spells? Why did they demand such a terrible price? Neria did not know. Perhaps that was the cost of casting them so quickly.

"And let it burn beneath that gaze which bears the flame of Judgement!"

The staff, discharges crawling along its entire length, struck the ground. A wave of lightning raced across the earth towards the Darkspawn with terrifying speed. Dozens—hundreds—of smoking creatures collapsed into the bloody mud, jerking in hideous convulsions. The enchanter took two steps back. The shields closed before him. How few of them were left… And the Mentor had burned himself again. It was already terrifying to look at his face. Skin sloughed away from it. Sometimes together with pieces of flesh. In several places, the bone of his skull showed through. His left eye had gone white three "steps" ago. It boiled, Neria Surana had realised in horror.

Enchanter Craig was giving everything he had to this battle. Killing himself. Maiming himself. All to buy the soldiers a few seconds of rest wherever he stopped.

"He is our guiding light. The ray of human hope amid a World of darkness…"

And yet, despite his horrifying appearance—despite the stench of burned flesh—HIS flesh—the man's voice remained as powerful as ever. And people listened. They wanted to listen. Some even whispered words they had heard Craig speak before. Words that had stayed with them. Neria whispered too. She had never cared much for the Chant of Light. But the Maker's protection would certainly not hurt them now. And when she repeated the words after Craig… It felt as though He truly were watching. As though He were—encouraging them? Strength seemed to return. Fear seemed to retreat.

"Though we serve Him, He is our greatest servant. And as we bow before Him, we know—He thinks only of us."

"…only of us," Neria repeated.

For a moment, she felt the surprisingly warm gaze of her mentor's single remaining eye upon her.

"When, in the darkness, we make the shadows tremble, He is always with us. In spirit. And in deed."

"…and in deed!" voices answered from every side.

"Your Majesty!"

A soldier ran towards the King, who was "resting" after another rotation. Beside Cailan, seemingly appearing from nowhere, stood the Commander of the Grey Wardens.

"Message from Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir. Retreat according to the second plan."

"What?.."

Cailan Theirin sprang to his feet and clenched the pommel of the sword in its sheath.

"How?!"

"There are too many Darkspawn! The army is bogged down in battle! Heavy losses! Teyrn Loghain's retreating units will meet you beyond Ostagar. The Teyrn asks you to make haste, Your Majesty!"

"Damn it!"

"If Loghain has begun the retreat—" the Knight-Captain of the Templars began.

"The pressure on us will increase," Cailan interrupted him.

"But how…"

The King did not finish. Neria understood anyway. How were they supposed to escape the Darkspawn with so few troops remaining? The siege crews were already here. Their ammunition was gone, and many of the machines themselves had become useless. The archers had suffered the least. The others… The girl had heard that even the Ash Warriors had taken terrible losses while crushing the Darkspawn emerging from tunnels in the rear. The moment the army abandoned its advantageous position, the creatures would descend upon them from every direction.

"I will hold them back."

The Mentor's calm, powerful voice made Neria flinch.

No!

The scream never left her mind. She bit her lip until she tasted blood. Not Enchanter Craig. The elf was no longer surprised by the emotions gripping her. It was simply… Craig Airel had been Solona's and her Mentor. Neria had so few people left who remembered the two of them together. Senior Enchanter Wynne, perhaps. But Grey Warden Surana suddenly realised that this grim man—sometimes so unpleasant in his ostentatious dislike—felt… Closer? Because to her and her frie—her sister—he had always seemed the most reliable? Because he had taken their training more seriously than any of their other mentors?

Or because they had now fought shoulder to shoulder for hours?

"No, enchanter. I cannot allow that…"

Neria could have kissed Duncan for those words.

"Commander Duncan, you will pass through the camp," Craig said.

"In my chest—Senior Enchanter Wynne knows where it is—there is a book. It is the only book inside, and there is no title on the cover. Everything you need is written there. The Senior Enchanter will help you master it. Your Majesty, if the enchanter asks questions, confirm that I bequeathed the book to both the Tower and the Grey Wardens.

"And now, I beg you. Go. Faster!"

For Neria, everything that followed dissolved into a tangled, murky whirlpool. The world erupted into motion. Commanders shouted clipped orders. The remnants of surviving units formed up. Some incomprehensible but orderly chaos unfolded around her. All against the backdrop of the infantry still holding back the Darkspawn. Men died one after another. But they held. Here and there, the flame of the Mentor's spells erupted. It seemed the enchanter simply appeared wherever he was needed most. Neria tried to help. But even burned by his own magic, Craig was faster. More effective. Wynne was somewhere farther back with the wounded. And a Shriek had gotten to the fourth enchanter…

An hour ago? Two? Someone seized Neria hard by the shoulder and dragged her backwards. She kicked. Struggled. Tried to throw off the hands and break free. Tried to go back. To help the Mentor. Then one of the Templars stepped in front of her. A gauntleted hand settled on her shoulder. All strength left her body in an instant. Magic stopped answering her. Tears of helpless rage flooded her eyes once more, blurring the bucket-shaped helm in front of her. Its visor was raised. The eyes behind it stared back at her. Regret. Bitterness.

"His apprentice," Neria heard someone say at the edge of consciousness as two soldiers dragged her away at speed.

Mentor.

Another red-hot spike punched through her heart. The emptiness inside her grew wider.

Why?!

Why did we not all stay in the Tower?!

All that nonsense about freedom and independence for mages suddenly seemed so… Stupid. Worthless. Naive. Enchanters had everything. A roof. Food. Friends. Entertainment. Money. Education. Even honour and respect. Compared with the horror that existed in the "Wide World," Kinloch Hold seemed like paradise. Why? Why had all of them been dragged here? Her. The Mentor. Solona. Behind Neria, lightning flashed. Thunder crashed. Another bolt. Again. Again. The repeated thunderclaps became deafening.

"Damn it!"

A choked voice, full of horror and awe, pulled the girl away from her thoughts.

"He could do that too? Then why not from the beginning—"

"Shut your mouth, idiot!"

An angry voice snapped back. One of the sergeants, perhaps. A ringing impact of metal against metal.

"Did you not see that magic burning him alive? He is burning for you and me right now so we can retreat! Move your hooves faster, so my lord enchanter does not die for nothing. Craig. Remember that. Craig is his name. Name your son after him if you live. And I will too, if I survive…"

Neria looked back. And froze. Lightning. Real lightning. Straight from the heavens. It struck the lone figure of the enchanter, who stood leaning upon his staff in his left hand, his ruined right arm raised towards the zenith. The lightning did not care about high ground. One bolt after another struck the stump of that raised arm. Struck a man already burning like a bonfire. It was almost impossible to look at him through the violent flicker of blinding light. But in the brief intervals between the lightning strikes, Neria could see the burning man in dreadful detail.

Arcs and discharges streamed from his staff, cutting down the Darkspawn pursuing the retreating soldiers by the hundreds.

"Faster! Faster! Move!" the commanders roared.

And amid the entire cacophony surrounding the girl—the downpour, the shouting soldiers, the pounding of boots, the thunder, and the shrieks of the creatures the Mentor was holding back—Neria still heard the clear, powerful voice of Enchanter Craig.

"And we shall cast down all who seek our ruin! For His glory! In His name!"

After those words, it seemed to Neria that the sky itself split open. Dozens of lightning bolts descended from the storm clouds. They struck the staff. Because Craig Airel… Had sunk to his knees. Helpless, Neria could only give a bitter sob and close her eyes, burning from tears and the flashes of heaven. Today she had lost a man… Whom she respected.

---

Author's Note

Motive Force means electricity.

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Original Russian story

If you'd like to read the full story, you can find it on Patreon

The translation will continue to be published here as well, only with a bit of a delay.

 

[dragon132]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[K.st0ne]

Weakest Servant of Emperor vs Most Faithful of Maker. jkjk