Soundtrack:
Glory to the Brave ~ Sprint Music (The Deep Roads)
"Commander." The sergeant who'd informed me about the cave-in, Maverlies, approached me in the mess hall and gave me the Warden salute. "The men cleared the rubble. You'll have to see what they found for yourself."
Justice was the first to his feet. Anders and Nathaniel immediately abandoned what was left of their breakfast. Oghren realized we were leaving by the time we were halfway to the door.
Maverlies led us to where the men had been clearing out the cave-in in the cellars. Voldrik was waiting for us. "Here we are. Look at her." Below us was an entrance to the Deep Roads.
"I knew it led to the Deep Roads," Voldrik said. "I could smell it."
"It looks safe enough to climb down and find a way to stop the Darkspawn from coming back this way."
"You stay here, Maverlies," I said. "If any sneak past us, it'll be up to you to keep them from getting into the Keep."
"Yes, Commander. Good luck."
My Wardens and I stole into the Deep Roads. After fighting various Darkspawn, Wraiths, and walking corpses, we found a door that led to the main venue of the Deep Roads.
"I think it's safe to say they're coming from here," Oghren said. "This leads to the main thoroughfare of the Deep Roads and I will venture to say this goes deeper into Darkspawn territory than we would like to be."
I nodded. "If we seal off here, I'm hoping this will keep the Darkspawn from surprising us again."
"We can only try."
I turned to the others. "Anders, Justice, go back to Maverlies and bring Voldrik and his men down here. See if they can seal this."
"Yes, Commander."
~~~
Maverlies, Voldrik, and several of the Dwarf's men arrived. I noticed Anders looking a bit on the chastised side for some reason. He was avoiding looking at Justice. I wondered what the spirit had said to the Mage.
"Commander, the Ancestors favor us indeed," Voldrik said the moment he laid eyes on the door. "This is a Dwarven barrier door." I actually liked the sound of that. "Before old Kal'Hirol fell, she nearly had it complete." He examined a piece of machinery on the wall several paces away. "Only the mechanism needs work. If only they'd had a bit more time to finish, Orzammar wouldn't be all alone." I heard the sad tone to his voice. The rise of the Darkspawn cost the Dwarves the most in both lives and territory.
"Can you finish what Kal'Hirol began?" I asked.
"Won't take me long to fix up the mechanism. Poor sods were nearly done." He immediately set to work sealing off the Deep Roads entrance while I updated Maverlies. Voldrik approached us again. "This is proper Dwarven engineering. Stand back now." We watched as several doors down the tunnel slammed shut with loud clicks. The final door we were standing in front of slowly closed and with a final loud click that echoed through the tunnels, the entrance into the Deep Roads was sealed. "That should buy us a few years, a decade if we're lucky."
"That will give us time to devise a more permanent solution," Maverlies added.
We returned to the cellars and my Wardens and I left them, thanking Maverlies and Voldrik for their help in the matter.
"Do what you wish for now," I said. "I need to learn what I can about the Wending Wood."
"Yes, Commander."
~~~
I was in the study looking for any maps of the Wending Wood and the Pilgrim's Path to help me get an idea of what to expect. I reached for a rolled map but found it was just out of my reach. Curse my Elven shortness. I stood on my tiptoes and scooted the map out of its place with my fingertips. It, and a few other maps, tumbled down, along with a larger case that seemed to have been wedged in with them. I cursed and turned away to protect my face. The case hit my shoulder before clattering to the ground. Curious, I picked it up, wondering what it was and why someone would have wedged it among the maps. I opened it and pulled out a beautiful bow. I had to admire the craftsmanship. Whoever made this knew what they were doing. This actually rivaled Master Varathorn's work, and he was the best and most advanced of the Dalish craftsmen. I studied the bow and noticed a design on the grip. I recognized the Howe crest and I just knew this had to have been Nathaniel's grandfather's bow. Rendon must have stuffed it there to hide it. I smiled to myself before placing it back into the case. I went back to the maps scattered on the floor now, returning to what I was doing before being attacked by the bow.
~~~
With the case in my hand, I went looking for Nathaniel. I found him in the practice yard, impressing several soldiers with his bow skill.
"Careful, I'm starting to think you're part Dalish," I teased after he ended up splitting an arrow in half with another. He was actually a better archer than I was. And I'd had a bow in my hand from the time I could walk without losing my balance.
He looked over at me. "Coming from one of the Dalish themselves, I'll take that as a compliment," he said with a smile.
"I have something for you." I held out the case for Nathaniel.
He looked at me curiously, before taking it and opening it. He admired the bow within and I waited. "This is a...," he trailed off. "Wait. Is this what I think it is?"
I waited, smiling.
"It is! That's the Howe crest burned into the wood right there! This is my grandfather's bow." He looked like a child on Feast Day. "Or rather, my grandfather was the last to use it. It was originally made for an ancestor during the Exalted Marches."
The Chantry loved marching on people they deemed heathens and blasphemers. They'd even had a March against the Elves at the Dales that caused our current factions, but mostly they preferred to March against the Qunari and Tevinter. Tevinter was their favorite target, though.
"This was Padric, correct?"
"Yes. I remember finding it before Father sent me off to the Free Marches. A shame for it to sit in storage."
"He actually had it hidden in the map case in the study."
"I wonder why he hid it there."
I shook my head. "No idea."
Nathaniel looked at the bow again, running a hand down the wood. "Thank you. It's good to have a part of my family's legacy again, something to be proud of."
"Everyone should know where they came from."
Nathaniel looked at me, seeming to understand what I spoke of. He gave me a smile and nodded. "Yes, they should."
~~~
As we left the Keep, Nathaniel got a jump on Anders' usual annoying game. "You seem quite attached to that cat, Anders."
"It's more that he's rather attached to me. Isn't that right, Ser Pounce-a-lot?" The cat meowed and I again wondered how the hell he came up with that name.
Nathaniel seemed to think the same. "Isn't that name a bit ridiculous?"
"What do you think I should call him? Fredrick?"
"I guess there are worst names, I suppose."
And afterward, I had to listen to Oghren and Anders banter about that cat. I mostly ignored their insult wars. They were funny at first, but now they were just annoying. Nathaniel and I spoke of the Dalish and I explained what my vallaslin meant, right down to the ritual for receiving it. Justice was curious about our gods and my father, having remembered him from the Fade.
"You were going to explain about your father, by the way," Anders piped in. "And why he appeared when we needed help."
I sighed. I'd forgotten I'd promised to explain that. "My father was Keeper of our Clan. My brother, who I named my mabari after, was his eldest child and only son. And the only one of his children to inherit his magic. When I was five, the Clan was set upon by humans, apparently. I suspect they were bandits but I will not know for sure until I speak to the current Keeper. I don't know why I was with my father and brother or what we were doing, but we were the first the humans found. They murdered my father and brother in front of me. I was told they were killed by Wild Sylvains to protect me, I presume. I remember none of it."
"An event like that will no doubt scar and traumatize a child," Nathaniel said. "I'm sorry you were forced to watch that."
"But how did he know you were in the Fade?" Anders asked. "Why did he help us? I mean two of us were humans."
"Remember me telling you I was trapped in the Fade by a Sloth Demon during Uldred's uprising?"
"Yes."
"It trapped me in a dream of my Clan. I would have never realized it, had my father not shown up. I knew he was dead and his presence gave me the awareness to fight off the demon posing as my now late best friend. He helped me and my companions at that time fight the Sloth Demon and free ourselves from the Fade. There were three humans with me then. My father's wish was for the Clans to make peace with the humans and learn from them and allow them to learn from us. His wish died with him. Until I joined the Grey Wardens. Creators, have my people reminded me of that since then."
"Why did you join?" Justice asked. "You speak of your people fondly as if you regret leaving them."
I didn't answer. I didn't exactly know how to explain that to them.
"She didn't have much of a choice," Oghren answered for me. "Leave it at that, Spirit. Some things are too painful to relive." Again, the obnoxious Dwarf had my back. The subject of my family was dropped then. Thank the Creators.