Reply (unfinished)

“Warden Commander!” Sharp blue eyes pinned the figure down as they skidded to a stop before him. This town was only supposed to be a stopping point for a few hours but stirrings in his blood and a low hum in his ears had them sticking put. Darkspawns. Only they could cause that feeling. But what would they want with a town already torn apart by the war constantly going on between the Imperium and Qunari? Was it the Architect? Or the band of darkspawn that were ‘rebelling’ against him? “I know. I feel it.” It was faint which meant they had some time. Would it be enough to get the villagers to safety? Would they even leave? Or listen to a word they said to them? He had already caught a couple of side-eyed glances of distrust from the town folks. While a bit on the frustrating side, he did not blame them. They were already being disturbed by two warring factions who thought little of them to begin with. No one trusted Wardens outside of a blight and even sometimes during a blight so that was another strike against them. “Do you think it’s him?” “I do not believe so. We’ve been tracking him for some time and none of what we saw points to him. But do not let down your guard. While I do believe he’s not planning a new blight he is still a Darkspawn and we know nothing about him. Hunch feelings don’t mean anything here. Be prepared.” Was is The Architect and what Darkspawn he had cumulated since the attack on Amaranthine and Vigil Keep? Or was it another group? Could there be more going on that Kohma was not privy to? It didn’t do well to second guess himself. But if he had been wrong and he’d doomed the world with letting the Architect live then he would take the creature out himself even at the cost of his own life.

It didn’t do well to dwell on that though. Not now. He’d deal with that later. Right now he had a town to warn and Wardens to command. “Find Nathaniel. I want him to have archers put up high. This town might be war torn as it is but I will not let these people lose any more than they already have. Warn the people and send them on their way to the Chantry. Rather or not they listen is up to them. Same with this town’s guards: give them the choice to move with the rest or fight alongside us. There is a chance that it won’t be needed but as Nathaniel would say: better safe than sorry.” “Yes Warden Commander!” Now all they could do was wait. Maybe this would be nothing. Or it could be something. Would it be The Architect’s darkspawn breaking down those oak doors? Or something else? It felt weird even all these months later since the death of the Mother thinking of the Darkspawn as two different fractions when they had been one during the Fifth Blight. He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen the two different fractions that followed the Mother and the Architect. When he had been conscripted by Warden Duncan he hadn’t thought his path would lead down to this very moment. Warden Commander of the Grey Wardens….and getting ready to protect people that he did not know and was most likely looking down on him for his ears alone. He should find Nathaniel. Make sure his commands were being followed. Or he could find a place to rest his head for the battle that was already thrumming through his veins.

Sometime later it had begun to rain. While refreshing to a point it would make the battle to come harder to deal with. He ended up losing track of the time, being too busy trying to get the town’s guards to take his suggestions as just that. Suggestions. Not demands. He was almost ready to call for Nathaniel to take over when the hum in his ear grew louder. He spun, ignoring the guard behind him. They were here. They had wasted too much time. While his Wardens were ready for the attack this town and its people were not. Soon enough the shouts began. It took a single second for Kohma to find Nathaniel, their eyes locking briefly before he was moving forward. He couldn’t help but curse the fools that refused to listening, having to push himself past a few of the town’s people. “Wardens! At the ready! Do not let them to the Chantry.”