The voyage back to Ferelden went quicker than expected. They'd only experienced one storm for the entire time at sea, any sailor would call that dumb luck. They'd experienced so many storms in their life time and lost many good sailors in the process, the ships crew began to call the Warden's good luck charms. The Dalish continued to keep to themselves for the remainder of the journey, keeping to the cabin they'd been given instead of wandering the upper decks. 

 

The elves got the occasional visit from Yongguk and Himchan to check up on them. It turned out the two were just shaken from the previous storm, unsurprising since they lacked the ability to swim. Ever since the agreement to help they retreated into themselves and talked less with the other Warden's. The sound of the sailors cheering brought the two from what they now called their lair only to see the docks awaiting them. They shared a nervous look, knowing full well they'd still have to go back to the clan and explain that they were leaving. Before they were just going to leave without warning and let the clan believe they'd been lost or killed by the raiders but now that it was out in the open, they could say their farewells. It was the fair thing to do after all. They were still family.

 

Daehyun crept up behind the mage, smirking away to himself before he suddenly grabbed onto her hips, rewarding him with a shriek from the elf. He laughed as she smacked his arm and released her, moving to stand beside her instead, “Sorry, couldn't resist. You alright?”

 

“Aside from the heart attack you mean?.. Yeah.” She shrugged, arms wrapping around herself at the sight of her homeland. Somehow it felt alien to her now.

 

The assassin gave her a light nudge with his elbow and smiled. “Don't look so grim. You'll be home soon enough.”

 

“That's why I look.. Grim.” She mumbled. “I'm going to my death.”

 

This caught Kai's attention, “What do you mean?”

 

Keo sighed and turned her gaze down cast, studying the damage to the wood work. “I wasn't going to tell you since we were just going to run but.. Now that we need to go back.. The Keeper found me a bond mate. I was to be bonded. If I hadn't been kidnapped we would have been preparing for it. It's in two days.”

 

Daehyun quirked an eyebrow and looked at Kai who was too shocked to speak. He turned his gaze back to his friend and crossed his arms. “Bondings like marriage.. Right?”

 

“Mm. Normally we get to choose our own bond mate.. Y'know..Let it progress naturally. Kai and I are special cases though. Our elders feared we would never accept anyone so began arranging meetings with us and likely suitors. I'd turned all of mine down. It's a sign of growing up.. Like our Vallaslin. Some of the other Keeper's aren't like Merrill though.. They didn't understand. So they arranged for me to be bonded with one of Layna's hunters. Layna's one of the other Keeper's. She's strict and has a firm belief in tradition so.. Yeah.” Keo explained, looking as though she was about to be sentenced to life imprisonment. 

 

The Antivan frowned at this, “So.. You'll be forced to marry a guy you don't know or like?”

 

Kai looked to Daehyun, “No, she won't. We're leaving the clan. She would have been but I'm not letting it happen.”

 

“That's.. Not right.” He furrowed his brows. “Why would they force her into it though?”

 

Keo rubbed at the back of her neck and looked to the two. “Because.. I didn't fall for anyone naturally like I'm supposed to. Kai's younger so she'd be given another year to bond. My time just ran out. They won't be happy though.. I'm expecting the worst.”

 

Kai took Keo's hand for assurance. “It won't be like what Merrill's clan did. Although... She killed her Keeper. So, yeah! It won't be like that.”

 

“You know we're stuck in our ways though. We're so obsessed with finding our past that we forget to adjust to the new things that come along. Tradition is great and all but... Change is healthy. The older Keeper's don't agree. I won't hold my breath either way.” She muttered, squeezing Kai's hand. In truth she was more terrified of telling the Keeper's than she was facing darkspawn. 

 

Daehyun just watched the two, unsure whether to involve himself. He'd found a friend in the mage however, a best friend even, so he took her other hand and gave her an encouraging smile

.

Once the ship had docked the Warden's and elves left the sailors company. They gathered their supplies and  began the travel back to Ostagar. The two Dalish owed these Warden's everything, they'd dropped an important mission to come save them after all so swore silently to aid them in any way they could. It took two more days of travel until they were met by the bridge they'd been kidnapped at. Exhausted, Yongguk set down his great sword and took a breather on a boulder. It was only a short walk across the bridge until their next rest stop but with heavy armour it took its toll. The rest of the Warden's were quick to follow suit, minus Zelo who was still bouncing with energy. He never appeared to run out.

 

Kai laughed as Yongguk swatted at Zelo in an attempt to calm him down but the boy just stuck out his tongue and grabbed onto Kai, dancing with her in a circle to annoy the older Warden. Youngjae still hadn't spoke to Kai since the argument but he found himself smiling along to his brothers antics. Zelo grinned down at Kai and spun her out quickly, releasing her so she went stumbling towards Youngjae who reacted on instinct and caught her.

 

“Careful, Zelo!” The Orlesian scolded, knowing it had been an attempt to get them to make up. The blood mage had always been that way, once when him and Daehyun fell out he arranged for a game of cards in his tent and when he arrived it was just him and Daehyun there. He then shut them in the tent and refused to let them out until they made up. He was a kid but a good hearted one. “Sorry.” Youngjae mumbled, releasing the fellow rogue.

 

Kai nodded and stepped back, suddenly drowning in awkwardness. “Stupid me.. Stumbling into you.”

 

Youngjae gave her a pained look, “You know I never meant it like that.. Himchan told me everything by the way.. Why'd you lie to me?”

 

“In case you haven't noticed I tell you everything.” Kai grumbled, hands being shoved in her pockets grumpily. “I mean I rarely talk about my past and I just kept on talking away to you about it. I couldn't shut up! I knew I'd end up telling you and you'd try to talk me out of it.”

 

He chuckled and pulled her into a hug, “You can talk to me. I would have listened. If your reason wasn't good enough.. Then I would have talked you out of it. Only then. From what Himchan told me, it's a good reason.” He grinned.

 

Kai gave him a hug back then a playful punch to the stomach. “Good to know I have your approval.”

 

The two started laughing at how silly they'd been. The whole thing could have been avoided if they had just talked apparently. The laughter was soon interrupted by a worried looking Daehyun who pointed to the black cloud of smoke forming in the distance of the ruin. 

 

Himchan frowned and patted Yongguk who had grabbed onto his sword instantly. “Darkspawn.”

 

The two elves instantly shot off across the bridge, the Warden's having no choice but to chase after the frantic Dalish. Although they were going to leave, they had loved the clan, fear and dread took over as they ran into the camp. The wreckage was stomach turning, aravels had been set aflame and bodies littered the ground. The stench of darkspawn was thick in the air as well as burning flesh which rendered the two elves powerless. Keo covered in horror as Kai gripped onto her sibling, outraged. It wasn't enough that they haunted their thoughts. Now they attack their home. The Warden's split up instantly, searching for survivors or any darkspawn who might have fell behind.

 

Kai forced Keo to look at her instead of the mangled bodies she was staring at, “Hey! Keo! Look at me! They'll pay for this okay? We'll get them!” Kai promised, hands clasping at either side of the mages head. 

 

Keo was finding it difficult to swallow, the look on the faces of the dead made her stomach churn. The smell coming from the aravels even suggested elves had been forced inside and burnt alive. She was overwhelmed with disgust for the darkspawn and grief for her fallen clan. Now was not the time to grieve or whimper however, she removed Kai's hands from her head and only had to say one word to her sibling. “Merrill.” The two instantly grasped hands and shot off in search for their Keeper, daring to hope for her safety.

 

The Dalish were tough people, they stood a fighting chance. There was no way they could have been slaughtered so easily, not with the amount of mages in the camp. Not with all the hunters and scouts. Surely the darkspawn weren't that strong. 

 

Ash rained down on Ostagar from the burning aravels, creating thick black blankets across the corpses. Kai released Keo as they agreed to split up and sprinted off towards the archery range in hopes of finding the hunters. Keo blinked back the tears that stung at her eyes, unable to look at the faces any longer. She forced back the lump in and continued her search until the sound of a whimper caught her attention. She followed the sniffling around a corner where she was met with a bunch of heads on pikes as some kind of warning. She let out a yell of surprise and covered again, the stench horrendous. Rustling managed to distract Keo from the glazed over eyes of the severed heads long enough for her to find Lyonna pressing herself against a wall. She looked beaten and tears streamed down her face. “Lethallan!” She called gesturing her to come to her.

 

Lyonna hid away from the mage, suspecting it to be a trick of the mind. When she worked up the courage to look over her shoulder again she saw she was real after all and she threw herself into the girls arms, shaking terribly and sobbing. Keo held her friend tightly, rubbing at her back to comfort her even if it only helped a little. “Shh.. I'm here.” She assured. “I'm not going anywhere.”

 

Lyonna gripped onto her, fearful that those things would take her too. “They... Oh gods..Keo, they took them! They took the children!” She cried, “I couldn't stop them.. I tried but.. Mythal protect them.” Her failure to protect the children had doomed them to who knows what. She was sick with worry.

 

She continued to hold Lyonna but began guiding her away from the pikes, they wouldn't have been helping any. Keo led her friend to the bridge and set her down, kneeling down in front of her. “Lyonna..Listen, where are the others? Is Merrill still alive?”

 

Lyonna was clearly traumatized but she nodded to her friend, unable to stop herself from trembling. “Yes.. Yes she lives. They didn't get all of us.. They only got the slow and the hunters who fought back.. The others fled. They escaped..”

 

Keo frowned at this, she was relieved to hear others had survived but a terrible thought came to her. “How many fought back?..” Lyonna's lower lip quivered at the memory and she dropped her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face again. Anger took over her worry and Keo stood, “I'll get a Warden to come look after you.” She muttered before running back into the ruin. She'd instructed Zelo to go look after Lyonna, telling him she was hysterical from trauma. He nodded and bolted out to her while Keo stared at the wreckage once again. “They won't get away with this.” She growled as Kai approached.

 

Kai noticed Keo's trembling and was about to put a hand on her shoulder but the expression on her siblings face stopped her. Instead of comforting her she just stood beside the fuming mage and nodded. “Every damn one of those darkspawn will die, Keo, we'll find them.” Keo was rarely angry, when she was she usually stewed in silence. In fact Kai hadn't seen a time when her sibling was truly angry, she was glad too as it admittedly scared her when she was simply annoyed. A ticked off mage was one of the scariest things she had ever seen. This whole thing was unforgivable. Kai didn't completely get along with the clan but this.. She was overwhelmed with emotion. Even though she had detached herself emotionally long ago, they all came flooding back seeing the camp like this. 

 

A soft blue started to glow around Keo's hands as she scowled, “I hope those things can run fast because when I catch them they're going to wish they stayed in those ing deep roads.” 

 

Himchan jogged over, concern etching his features. “I found no one around the tower of Ishal..Uh.. Keo?” He'd seen Zelo ticked off before but Keo looked as though she was ready to rip someone to shreds or worse. Turn into an abomination. 

 

The blue hue died down when Keo flicked her hands, managing to bite back her anger. “Sorry.. It's just.. They took the children.”

 

“You'll keep in control, right?” He frowned which earned him a glare from both elves.

 

“I won't turn to a demon because I'm angry, Himchan.” She spat. “But when we catch those creatures...I'll show them what a real ing monster is.” She didn't need any demon for that.

 

Kai watched as Himchan took a step away from Keo and sighed, she felt like tearing the head off everything around her but she controlled herself for the Warden's sake. “This is more than personal now, Himchan. Those things just declared war on us. We'll hunt them to the ends of Thedas to get revenge for this.”

 

Himchan nodded grimly, leaving them to their grief. It was understandable, this was their home and no one should have endured what these elves had. 

 

“Lyonna survived. So did Merrill and a few others.” Keo mumbled, catching Kai's attention. “The darkspawn only got the slow and the few hunters who fought back. The way it sounds.. The Keeper's abandoned the weak. I'm hoping she was just too hysterical to tell me everything because I don't want to believe that any Dalish would let their kin die. Attacked by monsters or not.”

 

Kai scanned the area, taking in all the carnage and damage. “Looks like it was a sneak attack.”

 

“How can you tell?” Keo asked, gaze drifting to her sibling.

 

Dark brown eyes narrowed at the wreckage in front of her and Kai lowered to one knee to inspect the bodies. “They were slain from behind..Either running away or.. Assassinated.” She muttered before standing and leading Keo towards the aravels. “The fires were set from behind the land ships. See? One of the things dropped pieces of hay used to help the aravels catch alight.” She motioned for her sibling to look at the gates. “They are shut all the time as well, only way they'd get through those doors is if a hunter let them in. My guess is.. They found a hidden entrance and sneaked in.”

 

Keo nodded and crossed her arms. “So they were ambushed and smoked out. Because of the gates being shut tight the elves would panic and corner themselves.”

 

“Explains the pile of shredded bodies by the gates.” Kai agreed. “You said they only managed to get the slow and children, right? Then how'd the rest get out?”

 

“Over the bridge?” Keo suggested. “There's no signs of spell use. From our side anyway. So not with the Keeper's help.”

 

Kai knew she'd probably regret it but she asked anyway, “How can you tell?”

 

“You have your tricks, bro. I have mine.” Keo gestured Kai over to a green stain that bubbled on the ground near some melted corpses. “I faced one of their mages. They use horrible magic. It's not like ours, it's similar to Zelo's blood magic but it feels darker somehow. It's more acidic and poisonous by nature than the magic I use. See?” She held up her hand as it started to glow a soft blue hue. “It's a putrid green and it remains longer than mine would.”

 

Kai scrunched up her nose and ran a hand through her hair. “So.. We know they're good strategists. We now know they have horrible magic at their disposal and we know they can melt, burn, shred, dismember and have the means for kidnap. Great! Can't wait to meet the buggers and teach them what the Dalish are capable of when you piss us off.”

 

Daehyun and Youngjae watched the two from afar, they had just met up to compare their findings when they noticed the two figuring out how the attack happened. They'd make pretty decent Warden's the way they were going but they wouldn't wish it on them considering what they had to do to become them themselves.

 

Once the camp had thoroughly been searched the Warden's all gathered in the centre before joining Lyonna and Zelo outside Ostagar. Shortly after they'd all arrived they were joined by Kai and Keo. Jongup had scouted on ahead and informed the group that the darkspawn had moved on from the Korcari Wilds. Even if they still infested the woods, it would have been unwise to go after them with Lyonna there. Right now she was an emotional wreck, as one would expect. They agreed to find a safe place to camp and figure things out from there.

 

The group began yet another trek, this time away from the ruins. Yongguk led as usual followed by Himchan who had offered to carry Lyonna for half the journey. Jongup and Zelo took up centre followed by Youngjae and Daehyun who remained alert for any ambushes. The two Dalish lingered behind, watching the rear. No one questioned their decision to guard the back as they had made it clear that they were deathly serious about tracking down the darkspawn so they were left to their own thoughts as no one was willing to argue with angry Dalish elves.

 

Eventually Yongguk held up his hand and motioned for Himchan to set down Lyonna by a river, it was hidden enough by brush to be defensible if attacked but not so much that foes would be obscured from view. After all darkspawn weren't the only dangers on the road. Himchan set Lyonna down as ordered and returned to help set up the tents with the other Warden's while Keo approached her friend to comfort her. Kai had gave Lyonna a sympathetic glance, even if they didn't get along, they shared the same loss but she helped the Warden's set up camp. She still didn't like her after all.

 

Keo sat in front of the boulder, facing the running water. She didn't say anything as there wasn't anything to say, she just sat with her and listened to the sound of the river. Lyonna had shifted to sit down beside her and curled into herself, flashes of the attack still vivid in her memory. The boyish elf edged closer to the woman and wrapped her arm around her which was responded with another whimper from Lyonna who s her arms around Keo's neck, head hiding against her. “Lethallan... Please don't leave me.” She whispered, voice shaking from fright.

 

“I don't plan too.” Keo muttered lowly. Something about her had changed since Ostagar. It was unclear if it was her way of grieving or not but Keo just glared off at the distance, void of emotion. It was almost terrifying. She was almost like a tranquil but it seemed darker than that.

 

Lyonna gazed up at the elf once she'd calmed herself back down again and took in her appearance. Since she'd been taken she noticed her health had deteriorated. She had dark rings under her eyes from lack of sleep and as of now, her eyes looked so empty. It even appeared she'd lost weight which made her assume she'd been refusing food. “...Keo...Are you..”

 

Keo's grip on Lyonna tightened a little, “I learnt the hard way that monsters lurk and plot in the dark, I was kidnapped by Raiders, forced into a betrothal I didn't want, I felt a mothers heart break and rage and now my clan was slaughtered by the very monsters that hounded my sleep.” She stated blankly, eyes turning to look at the brunette. “I'm not alright. I'm tired. I'm angry. I'm grieving. I'm also worried for you. Just... I'll be fine. Just look after yourself.” 

 

Footsteps alerted Lyonna to Daehyun's approach and she shifted so her arms were now around Keo's waist, head on her shoulder. “I didn't know.. I'm sorry.”

 

“Don't.” She snapped though it lacked in hostility, merely sounding tired. “Don't baby me. I don't need your sympathy because I'll be alright. Once we catch those things.. I'll be alright.” On Daehyun's arrival Lyonna let her go and clambered up to hug onto him, her tears starting up again. Daehyun flashed Keo a quizzical look but she just brushed it off and went back to staring across the river.

 

Zelo soon came to take Lyonna away to help heal her wounds which left Daehyun with the brooding mage. He fixed his shirt and then his bangs before carefully sitting beside her. “So...”

 

“You don't need to do that.” Keo grumbled, looking at him from the corner of her eye. She could see how nervous he was. He kept fidgeting while trying to think of the right thing to say but there was nothing he could so she dismissed him. “Go see to Lyonna.”

 

Daehyun had just leant back on his hands and at her words they almost gave way due to panic, “What? Why would I go see her? There's nothing going on with her. Why would you even suggest that we.. What?” At his quick mini ramble he left himself stunned, confusion clear on his face. “Uh.. I mean we're quite good friends now, right? You can talk to me about.. Y'know.. Feelings and stuff.”

 

Keo removed her gaze from him to stare at the river, an agitated sigh escaping. “I'm fine. She isn't. Go see to her.” She stated simply, her tone flat.

 

The Antivan pursed his lips and sat up fully, edging around so he sat in front of her. “Look I ain't budging so you may as well get it out.”

 

Keo stared at the man, her eyes flickering with anger as they narrowed into a death glare.

 

Kai had went to fix up Zelo's tent since he was busy trying to heal Lyonna's injuries when a burnt Daehyun walked by her muttering angrily about moody mages while holding the singed shoulder. She looked to the direction he came then at the retreating assassin who was heading over to Zelo and scrunched her nose up. “Should'a left her.”  This was why she was afraid of Keo when she was angry. She was surprised her sibling didn't do what she normally did but then again she had never seen her this angry before. Kai was always angry normally so a little more meant nothing to her. She had been phased by the incident she just dealt with it differently. In private mostly. Truth was she wanted to rip the darkspawn limb from limb but seen as they weren't here, she stocked her rage up until she encountered them. She'd have plenty of anger for them that was for sure. For the time being though she would continue as normal. She didn't need coddling or comforting so she gave no one reason for thinking she needed it. What she needed was the darkspawn's heads on pikes. That's when she'd grieve. In battle.