Semper Ignarus

"No! You can't ask me to do this! Haven't we done enough?!" Ser Jory's voice was quavering as he nervously stepped back from Duncan. Erik and Elisa watched on in silence as the Warden Commander closed in on the frightened knight – his teeth clenched and knuckles white. Alistair was trying to look away without making it obvious and Celestine was twirling the braid of hair again while chewing her lower lip, every fibre in her body seemed to be screaming for her to run.

This is suicide! Just look at how Daveth writhed on the floor before becoming so still. They are poisoning you! What makes you think you'll survive? Skinny thing that you are. All the others are physical powerhouses and even that was not enough to save the thief. This is why the joining is such a secret – they murder people! Run! Get away!

But despite the internal urgings, the mage didn't move, her eyes locked on the scene before her.

"I have a wife with child!" Ser Jory pleaded, drawing his sword in desperation.

Those that could see Duncan's eyes knew that he was disgusted with himself for what he was about to do. "I am sorry," he said quietly.

Despite his advanced years he moved faster than Celestine's eyes could follow. Letting go of the silver chalice with one hand he drew a dagger and stepped in close to the massive man – too close for him to be able to wield his massive blade. Not pausing, even after seeing the look of shock on Ser Jory's face, he plunged the dagger deep into his gut. The giant dropped his blade as the fatal wound sapped him of all strength. With a whimper he fell to the ground, dead.

Duncan turned to the others, regret plain on his face, but he did not re-sheath his now blood-coated blade. "The Joining cannot be forfeited." His tone held no apology.

Elisa nodded sharply and stepped forward. She guided the chalice to her lips and sipped from the vile contents. Unlike Daveth, she did not start choking; instead her eyes rolled back and her knees gave out. Erik reached out to catch his sister, gently guiding her to the floor.

"Elisa Cousland, you are now a Grey Warden," Duncan intoned before turning to Erik. The other twin nodded and also brought the cup to his lips, drinking from it. His eyes rolled back as his sister's had, but he did not fall to the floor.

"Erik Cousland, you are now a Grey Warden."

The Warden-Commander then moved to Celestine. Her every instinct was still screaming for her to run, but at the same time her feet refused to move. Duncan brought the chalice to her lips and she used a shaking hand to tip it.

The toxic contents burned as they spilled over her tongue. She gagged as they reached the back of her throat and swallowed as soon as she could bring herself to. Bile rose up to meet the darkspawn blood, but Celestine forced herself to keep it down even as the world swam before her eyes. Her last thought before everything went black was: Who set my hand alight?

~o~

Celestine opened her eyes. Her first thoughts were confused: Where was she? Who was she? Why was she so cold? Then memory trickled back in. She had been together with the other recruits. Images of Daveth choking filled her mind, Duncan gracefully moving in to kill Jory, Elisa's and Erik's drinking and then her own. How the vile liquid had burned down her gullet and…the archdemon!

Visions of a great black dragon had filled her mind as soon as she had fallen unconscious, hordes of darkspawn marching through a chasm of unimaginable size below it. So the rumours were true…. No, the Grey Wardens were right. This was a Blight. Flemeth's words rang in the Circle mage's mind; "This is just the beginning."

Finally she stirred, groaning. Her head was pounding behind her eyes and in the recesses of her mind there was a distinctive crawling sensation.

"Ah, you're awake. Good." It took Celestine's mind a moment to recognise the voice – Duncan.

She grabbed onto an arm that was offered and winced as she was hauled up. She started tipping forward, but the one who had helped her up caught her. Celestine kicked herself for being so clumsy as she tried to gather her strength to stand.

"I'm okay, thanks," she mumbled and the arms let go. She wavered for a moment, but found that she could stand again. Looking back she saw that it had been Alistair who had caught her. He nervously scratched the back of his neck when he noticed her watching him.

Elisa was watching them with a half-smile from where she was sitting on the floor next to her brother. Erik was still standing where he had been after drinking from the chalice with his eye's whites showing.

"Err, has he been standing like this since…?" Celestine asked, pointing to Erik.

"Yep," Elisa answered.

"Wow."

Alistair nodded. "A true bulwark. I think he actually passed out like both of you did, just that his body seems to be trained so well as to keep standing unless he consciously demands it not to."

As if on cue, the Cousland twin snorted, his eyes snapping forward. "Water," he croaked, "or anything to drink but that blighted stuff."

Duncan passed him a bottle and the man took a long draught from it. Wiping lips, he handed it back. "Mmm, not bad. But I don't think I've ever had a drink like that before."

Duncan smiled knowingly. "Still better than the first." He returned the bottle to wherever he had pulled it from. "A Warden tradition. We keep a bottle on us and just refill it from whatever we can – the character can vary quite a bit from Warden to Warden depending on where we travel and what is on hand."

"Maker, Duncan let you drink from his…" Alistair breathed, eyes wide in amazement.

Duncan laughed, "I've never seen someone who remained on their feet after drinking from the chalice. This group has been the most…interesting." His tone turned sombre as he looked to where Daveth and Jory's bodies were laid, a white and blue checked pennant covering them from sight.

"I'll say," Alistair pointing towards his armour. "That's the last time I try to catch a fainting mage."

Celestine gasped as she noticed the scorch marks that covered the splint-mail plates across his arms and chest. "Was that me?!"

He nodded, grinning wryly. Elisa laughed. "Yet you didn't hesitate to catch her not two minutes ago. Smooth."

He flushed. "That was completely different! I think…hold on, I need to think."

Elisa laughed again as Celestine watched Alistair with a soft smile.

"Sister, this is hardly the time to make him squirm," Erik admonished.

"Ah yes, sorry - morbid face mode on."

"Elisa…."

"Fine," she dragged the word out in exasperation.

Appropriate mood restored, Alistair nodded and pulled three silver pendants from a pouch. "We call these Warden's Promise. Some of the leftover blood from the Joining is trapped inside the crystal so that we will always remember those who sacrificed themselves to combat the Blight, especially those who died at each of our Joinings." He handed a pendant to each of the new Wardens and they solemnly accepted them, hanging them from their necks.

"You should all go get some rest," Duncan advised, "The air is heavy with the promise of blood."

He turned to Erik. "May I ask that you attend the King's council with me? In your brother's stead. We will need the best strategic minds to prepare for what is to come."

The Cousland twin nodded, following Duncan towards the long table that had been set up in a cathedral-like ruin as the others returned to the Warden's pavilion - part of them happy that they had endured, part of them mourning the deaths of two men whom they had only met the day prior.

~o~

"So you just slaughtered everyone in the estate?" Celestine asked – eyes wide.

"Pretty much. It was either that or let myself and my friends be raped. Seemed like the best solution then," Kallian answered nonchalantly, shrugging. The city elf had recounted how she had ended up being recruited by the Wardens – saved from the hangman's noose very much like Daveth had been. "Besides, they killed my fiancé. Letting people go around doing that as they please would be very bad for my marital status."

"Hehe, thass me girl," Faren said, chuckling, and he patted the elf heartily on the shoulder. Luckily she was sitting on one of the cots while he was standing next to her so that he could reach that high.

"What about you, Faren?" Elisa asked, curious. Most of the Wardens were sitting around the large bonfire in front of their tent, maintaining equipment, eating, meditating or just chatting amiably.

"'M a Duster from the shit-poor in Orzammar," the gruff dwarf began recounting. "Me, my sis 'n a good mate had this whole plan for getting into the noble district. She was gonna try and get a tyke off the old king's youngest and wham, immediate lift outta the squalor." Faren took a swig from a hip-flask that contained some vile-smelling liquid before continuing, "Problem was, we didn have the gold to make her look all nice and pretty. So we worked together with the Carta – bunch o' no good nug-humping cut-throats. Plan went to hell 'course; Carta leader was a prick – ended up joining a Proving under a fake name and got stuck in a cell. Fought m' way out – killed the Carta boss 'n was picked up by the Wardens afore the city guard could lop m' miserable 'ead off." He took another swig from the flask.

"Well, now I know why you two work so well together," Alistair commented, "Same story, different place… almost."

"That's it, me 'n my knife-ear."

"Uh-uh," Kallian objected, "Me and my doorstop."

Celestine looked at the two, shaking her head. "You two, partners in crime. Thedas wouldn't be able to take it."

"Not our problem," both elf and dwarf responded in unison.

"Well, the Wardens sure are different from what I expected," Celestine said as she looked around the fire. "Peasants, murderers, thieves, apostates, freeholders, knights, nobles…" she shook her head, "It's as if the order is meant to represent every facet of life – everyone is so different."

"Bah, it's nothing so romantic," Faren dismissed, his large hand waving in the air as if to dispel the idea. "Everyone here is the same; they will do whatever it takes to get what they want. Be it right, wrong, corrupt, noble or otherwise," he grinned, "even our lives are used as bargaining chips."

"Well, I think both are true," Kallian stated, her tone making it fact.

Then two figures emerged from the shadows around the fire. The Wardens hailed the return of their commander and Erik moved to sit down beside his sister. He sighed heavily as all those in the group looked to him questioningly. "Alright, alright. I'll tell you what'll happen in a bit. Just let me grab something to eat."