Nathaniel Howe - Blog Posts

day 5 of posting one lil dragon age character per day, starring the one and only Nathaniel Howe

IT'S FRIDAY ASTER!! I come begging for some Kallian Tabris & Daveth pretty please! With the prompt "(Lure) Silent beckoning of the forest" from the Eerie Vague Autumn prompts, please??? (It's always Halloween in my heart, okay LOL)

HAPPY FRIDAY NIRI AND HAPPY MARCH HALLOWEEN!!! 💖

thank you for the prompt! this was my first time writing awakening-era kallian :) not quite sure if i really filled the prompt lmao but i enjoyed it anyway! (apologies in advance.)

rated t. kallian tabris & daveth for @dadrunkwriting. 811 words. creepiness.

*

"Something's wrong," Kallian muttered, holding out her arm to stop her companions.

"It's just the Blackmarsh," Nathaniel replied, his voice low. It was an eerie place, full of fog and cricketing bugs, and they'd each fallen silent without discussion as they crossed into its boundaries.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kallian remarked, impatient as she turned to inspect him. They hadn't quite gotten used to each other yet. When Kallian looked at him, she saw his father who'd sold her people into slavery. When Nathaniel looked at her, he saw his father's murderer, the one who'd disgraced his family name.

"My... family used to tell me stories of this place," he said, stepping forward and waiting for her to carry on. "It's haunted."

"The Veil here is thin," Velanna interrupted, clutching to her staff tightly.

"Great," Kallian grumbled.

"Nothing our fearless leader can't handle," Anders grinned. She forced a smile back, but he reminded her too much of Alistair for it to be genuine. She hadn't seen him for weeks.

"Just be on your guard," she said, drawing her sword and hefting her shield into place.

Within the hour; the marshlands had separated them.

"Shit," Kallian hissed, stumbling past another tree she'd been sure was one of her Wardens. Travelling with them was incredibly different to what she was used to. They were not her friends, and they never would be. She was their Warden-Commander. Their Duncan. She'd brought them into this forsaken place, and it was her responsibility to get them out.

"Anders?" she called, suppressing the shiver that ran through her at the prospect of raising her voice. With any luck, her Wardens would be the only ones who heard her.

"Velanna?" She would have plenty to say when they did reunite, Kallian was sure of that. She reminded her of Morrigan. The thought made her grit her teeth. If her best friend hadn't run off as soon as she could, Velanna's disappointment and scathing remarks might have been a fond reminder.

"Nathaniel?" There was still no answer.

The Blackmarsh was suffocating in its darkness. The tall, willowy trees forbade moonlight, and she'd stupidly been relying on the mages for light. It had barely been something she'd needed to think about before, between Morrigan, Wynne, and Shale.

Every twig that snapped underfoot was a painful buzz at the back of her neck. She felt like she was being watched.

She missed Ciarth.

"Kallian?"

She spun around at the sound of her name. There was no one there. Her breath came quick, pluming ahead of her like campfire smoke but not half as comforting.

"Oh, you bastard," she whispered shakily, her wide eyes wildly darting from side-to-side. Demons, spirits, whatever it was... she hated it.

Kallian slowly pivoted back, ready to press on and find her group.

A scream tore through her throat without mercy. She staggered backwards, tripping over a sprawling root and landing in a heap on the wet ground.

As she'd turned, she'd been nose to nose with an impossibility.

"D-Daveth?" she whimpered, gaping in horror.

He stared at her. It wasn't him, it couldn't have been, she knew it. If not for the fact he'd died over a year ago – he wasn't smiling. Daveth was always smiling.

"Kallian," he said, and Maker, did it sound like him. She'd thought that voice was familiar.

He sounded strange, though. There was no laughter in his voice, no hint of a joke ready to go.

Dried blood drenched the lower half of his face, and his nose sat at an odd angle.

She knew it wasn't him. But for the life of her, she couldn't tear her eyes away.

"How did you do it?" he asked, standing stock still. For a moment she thought he was talking about the archdemon, and panic throbbed in her chest once again at the thought of anyone finding out about Morrigan's ritual. Of her part in it.

"Do–"

"Let me die?"

A lump stuck in her throat, and tears quickly flooded to her eyes.

"I–"

"Why didn't you help me?"

"Daveth–"

"And now you've forgotten me."

Her hand flew to her Warden's amulet. She'd scratched his name and Jory's on the back of it almost as soon as she'd gotten it.

"No," she whispered, struggling to her feet despite the sickness in her stomach threatening to spill over. This was the Gauntlet all over again.

When she stood, her sword shaking in her hand, Not-Daveth still stared at the spot she had been. His eyebrows pinched upwards, his head tilted slightly. He looked unbearably sad.

He wasn't real. Not a ghost either. Daveth was gone. She had to say something to vanquish whatever demonic magic was at work.

Kallian drew in a deep breath.

"Fuck off."

A rustle of leaves.

"Commander?"

She turned to see who it was.

When she looked back; Daveth was gone again.