Everybody has secrets they wish to hide from the world. Some just happen to be darker than others.
Her true name was Sal'laimen, and she was the one that the Dread Wolf forgot, thought dead, or both. That was her secret, even though she didn't know it. She didn't remember anything from before the Conclave. The rest of the world knew her as Harel. Her story does not start at the beginning. It starts at the end.
Harel awoke in a cold, dark cell. The stone underneath her drew every little bit of heat out of her body. She shivered helplessly, rattling the chains that held her in place. A soft light pierced the edge of her vision as she opened her eyes. She first spotted a torch, which was the source of the light. Then she spotted the woman looking down at her with a scowl.
"Cassandra..." The name escaped Harel's lips before she could stop it. She was a vindhru-itha, a truth-seer, and she knew what people wanted to hide most. Normally, she hides this fact to make people think that she is normal, but in her wretched and amnesic state, she let the name slip.
"How do you know my name?" Cassandra's first question didn't mask her surprise. Harel just laid her head back down on the stone. "Hurts..." Her hand was killing her, like a thousand tiny needles filled with melting acid being slowly pushed into her hand and being wriggled around mercilessly. What had happened? Who was she? All she remembered was some basic facts about the world, and that she was called Harel.
Cassandra crossed her arms. "Who are you, and why did you kill the Divine?" Harel blinked. "What?" She sat up with much effort, wincing as the chains bit into her. "What are you talking about?" Cassandra growled and lifted Harel up by her shirt roughly. "Don't play dumb with me." Harel defended herself, "I seriously don't know!" Cassandra set her down. "You blew up the Conclave, murdered the Divine, and walked out of the fade." Harel tilted her head. "The Fade? I remember no such thing. As for the Conclave, the last thing I remember was walking through the forest on my way to it." That much was true. Her only memory, besides the world facts and her name, was of a forest illuminated by the moon. She quickly came up with a story explaining why she was headed there, since she didn't know the real one. Her form was an elf, so she quickly made herself Dalish. "I was sent by my clan," she chose the first clan name to pop into her head, "clan Lavellan, to spy on the Conclave, but I don't remember anything after that." The last part was true. She had no memory of anything except her stop in the forest for a rest.
Cassandra clearly didn't believe her. However, the spy Leliana stepped in. "Cassandra, quell your anger. There are some calling her the Herald of Andraste. You'd be wise to listen to her. I believe that she doesn't remember. She has been out for a few weeks now. We need her." Cassandra sighed and turned back to Harel. "Do you at least know of the Breach?" Harel shook her head in response. Cassandra explained the state of the Breach to her, and Harel agreed to help in any way she could. It was all she could do.
Cassandra took off the metal clamps around Harel's wrists and replaced them with thick ropes. Harel winced at the ropes digging into her skin, but she didn't complain. It was certainly better than the metal that drained her warmth. She wondered why she was so cold.
It was cold outside, cold enough to make Harel's teeth chatter in her thin shirt and leggings. Her mercenary's armor had been confiscated, along with any warmth it offered. Yes, it was cold, but the looks she got were colder. These people truly believed that she had done something awful. She would just have to prove them wrong.
After a brief conversation with a guard, Harel was untied and allowed to have her armor back, for protection, since she was going to go up to the gates that led to the mountain pass and the valley, both leading to the breach. She wasn't allowed to have weapons, however, which was understandable, since they thought she was a criminal. She doubted it, but for all she knew, she could be.
They left the safety of the gates and ventured out into the cold, cold Frostback mountains. Harel looked up at the swirling sky. It was beautiful, in a dark way. Harel admired it for a moment before Cassandra barked at her to get a move on. She hurried after the warrior.
Then they came across demons: a shade and a wraith. Cassandra went after the shade, but Harel had no defense against the wraith. She looked around as it drew closer. She saw some discarded weapons nearby. She dove for the twin daggers sitting in the snow. She slashed at the wraith. With a screech, it vanished.
Then she felt cold steel at her neck. "Drop your weapons," Cassandra demanded. Harel frowned a bit. "Relax, will you? I need a way to defend myself. You cant be everywhere at once." The sword slowly moved away from her neck, but Cassandra threatened, "if I even suspect you of betrayal..." She left the threat unfinished as she sheathed her sword, but her point was clear enough. Harel gulped and nodded, putting on a show of fear, though for some reason, she wasn't scared of Cassandra.
They made their way up the mountain, then Harel spotted a glowing green light that writhed in the air and spat out demons. Some soldiers were fighting it, along with a mage and a dwarf with a crossbow. Cassandra and Harel joined them in the fight against the demons. They seemed endless, crawling out of the green tear.
The mage them grabbed Harel's wrist, and shoved her palm in the direction of the light. Harel was frozen, the pain agonizing, but as she watched, the tear closed, and the mage let go.
"What was that?!" Harel cried out once she had recovered enough to speak. The mage answered with a smooth, wise voice, "that was a rift in the fade." "How did you close it?" Harel asked. He answered, "The credit is yours. I theorized that your mark would close it, and I was correct."
Harel was astonished. Then the dwarf spoke up. "I'm Varric. It's a good thing you arrived when you did." Harel smiled a bit. "What a lovely crossbow." Varric grinned and glanced affectionately at the bow slung across his back. "Bianca and I have been through a lot together." They had a brief conversation about the bow, then the mage interrupted. "If there are to be introductions, my name is Solas." Pride? Harel thought, but kept her face neutral. She put on a polite smile. "Harel."
Cassandra bickered with Varric, which Harel found quite amusing. Then they headed off together.
They made it to the bridge, whee they met Chancellor Roderick. Immediately, Harel didn't like him. However, there were more important matters at hand. She listened quietly to the conversation about her guilt, then about which path to take to get to the Breach. Harel got a bit worried when they mentioned missing soldiers.
Then Cassandra turned to her. "What do you think?" Harel was a bit surprised. "You're asking me?" Cassandra sighed, "we can't seem to agree." Harel thought about the two options. There would be casualties in the valley either way, and that made her feel guilty, but if they took the mountain pass, there was a chance of survival for the scouts.
"Take the mountain path." Harel finally answered. Cassandra didn't seem too pleased with her answer, but she accepted it. The Chancellor seemed upset, but Harel wrote it off as him just being a cranky pain in the arse.
They headed up the mountain pass. Harel got a bit exhausted climbing all of the ladders. Of course, she went first, so she had to brush off all the snow and had to kick off the ice as she climbed. Her hands were raw from being bare from the ice by the time they finally got to the old mine shaft. She was freezing, and shivered visibly. She got a sympathetic look from Varric. "This isn't really the place for a cold-natured woman, is it?" Harel smiled with chattering teeth and shook her head. Varric patted her back and said, "you'll warm up once we get fighting again." Harel hoped so.
The mine was dark and filled with demons. Varric was right, Harel felt a bit warmer after fighting them off. They made it safely through the mine, only to find three dead soldiers. Harel knelt down, her chest twisting in pain. It was a familiar feeling, but she didn't know why. One was clutching a dagger tightly. She took it from his frozen hand and dropped one of her own in favour of it.
"There's your missing scouts," Varric commented. Cassandra said, "this isn't all of them." "The rest must be holed up ahead."
Harel wasted no time in leading the way. They soon came across the rest, fighting desperately for their lives. The small band helped the scouts fight off the demon, and Harel closed the rift.
The scout leader thanked them profusely, then Cassandra told them to get to safety. Meanwhile, Harel stared up at the rift. Solas's voice startled her. "It's quite a sight." That was a neutral comment if she ever heard one. His voice held a bit of respect for the tear in the sky, and a bit of concern. Harel nodded in agreement. "I wonder how it happened."
"There are easier ways to make something explode," Varric commented as they made their way towards the breach. Cassandra said something, but Harel was no longer paying attention. They had come to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. The sight nearly brought Harel to her knees. The bodies were frozen in time, charred into statues, the fear and agony frozen on their blackened faces forever.
"Who did this?" Harel whispered, anger burning in her gut. She clenched her fist. A hot tear ran down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away before the others could see.
She felt like she had failed someone, or something. She wasn't sure which.
They made their way to the breach, where some soldiers from the valley joined them. Solas studied the glittering rift. No demons were pouring out of it at the moment. "It's closed, albeit temporarily. We'll have to open it to seal it safely. However, opening it is bound to attract attention from the other side." Cassandra nodded and shouted orders at the soldiers to be prepared. Harel held up her left hand and opened the breach.
What came crawling out of it scared the life out of her.
A pride demon, bigger than any she had ever seen (not that she remembered seeing any), let out a deep, wicked laugh that resonated throughout the temple ruins. Several shades followed it. "Attack!" Cassandra shouted, and all at once, the demon was under fire.
Harel mostly stayed out of reach of the giant demon. She fought the shades, then went to the rift. She disrupted it, stunning the pride demon. She then slashed at it's ankles and did her best to help the fight.
She didn't expect the giant clawed hand to smack her back with enough force to fling her into the temple wall.
Surprisingly, she wasn't hurt. Winded, maybe, but not hurt. Solas glanced at her, and she realized he must have put a barrier on him. Now that she looked, everyone within range of the demon's attacks had a shimmering blue hue to them. Harel was grateful.
Once the demon was defeated, she closed the rift. However, the breach remained, but she was too exhausted to do anything about it. Her mark stopped throbbing painfully, and the last thing she heard was a gentle congratulations from a familiar wise voice.
Then she fainted into the ashes.