Chapter 7: The Awakening

The Joining was the most terrifying and exhilarating experience of my life. I drank the darkspawn blood, feeling a surge of pain and power coursing through my veins. I saw visions of the past and the future, of the old gods and the archdemons, of the Grey Wardens and the Blights. I heard voices in my head, whispering and screaming, tempting and taunting.

I felt myself dying and living, falling and rising, losing and gaining.

I woke up in a tent, surrounded by Duncan and the other Wardens. They told me I had survived the Joining, that I was one of them now. They congratulated me, hugged me, praised me.

They also told me something else. Something incredible. Something impossible.

They told me I had awakened to magic.

They explained that it was a rare and mysterious phenomenon, that only a few Wardens had ever experienced it. They said that it was a gift and a curse, that it could give me great power and great danger. They said that it was a sign and a prophecy, that it could mean something important for the Blight and for Thedas.

They asked me if I could use it. If I could control it. If I could understand it.

I looked at my hands, feeling a new energy and a new potential. I thought of the darkspawn blood, the source of my magic and my connection. I felt curiosity, excitement, awe.

But I also felt fear, confusion, doubt.

I shook my head. I said no. I needed help.