Green lights burn into my eyes, stone flies ahead, above. Terror shakes me, unnatural, not right. No time to look, you need to leave. A mountain is in front, behind is more darkness and dread. A light emerges at the tip of the mass, a window, door. I race towards it, ready to escape the magic choking me, filling my chest, my head. A screech fills my ears, clicks and scuttles follow. Head turns to see…no. She's there, alive. They all are. Mother, father, Bruche… little Selene. They hate me, I killed them, my fault, those precious to me…
They run, blood staining their clothes, their hair, their skin, their eyes. You need to leave. Boots skid off the slipping rock, they fly like dragons in the night's sky, tears reach my eyes filled with a thousand emotions returning. Leather gloves reach potholes in the stone, muscles strain but don't falter from the effort, they can't climb well but they are gaining speed. Head snaps back in front once more, a silhouette reaches my eyes, human, woman, a green aura surrounds her figure. Hand extends to reach mine, straining, pushing, can see fear etched in her twitches. You need to leave… I reach my free hand, nearly touch, then pain.
Fiery hot licks of agony trace my palm, ripping skin and flesh and blood and bone into emptiness and magic swells to replace. No, not magic, get it out, make it go away. Ignore the tears, ignore the screams, ignore the pleading words, just make it go away. PLEASE… Something pushes, pulls, I cannot tell. Can finally taste the air, full of fire and death but it is not magic, not unnatural not tainted. Strength fades, legs wobble, the pain swirls everywhere but my throat is dead, dry and cracking. Vision starts to fade, wait, bodies running towards, please, don't kill me, no more magic, please, no… more…
After many hours of blurred dreams and fading words, Sehira started to wake. Pain wretched every bit of strength away and she had no weapons on her or in the sheaths mounted on both shoulders. That alone would have caused serious panic, but being in cold chains sent her into small gasps, trying to calm down as much as possible. Her eyes darted around to see her prison, the only sign of fight left in her. Men with helms and full armour that shined like the sun surrounded her with swords raised to address her… in fear? Their tense posture and a young one's shakes held no doubt for that possibility, but why? Nothing went wrong, no trouble was caused by her blade. Unless…
Sehira quickly raised her hands to check the palms, ignoring the men coming closer in response to the sudden movement, and instead focused on the mark buried in her hand. Her leather glove was nearly blown off, the strong thread once connecting the fabric and hide together now lay swinging in the slight breeze of the jailroom. Blood covered the surface with bits of charred skin still strewn over the green, pulsating, thing that nearly made her faint once again. It was rimmed with a dark green, crystal like texture that seemingly ate away at the grey skin and flesh it was imbedded in. The swirling mass was an inch thick, running the length of her palm from the middle finger. It was slightly transparent adding to the horror, making the carnage of the missing bone and flesh from whatever was now eating away her hand only just visible in the faint light. It took all of her willpower to not scream out loud at the wound, but she couldn't stop herself from breathing faster and harsher that before. With nothing to do but sit and stare, she waited for whoever held her captive and prepared to demand a removal of the scar, the mark, the thing, even if it killed her.
A creaking door soon sounded through the silence that had gathered, raising Sehira's head towards the newcomer. Two women, both human, strode into the room with an air of authority and questioning frowns. They were stepping with such speed, it was almost more terrifying than the chains. When they reached just a metre in front, one of them broke off, moving around behind with iron steps echoing in the small space.
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now." The one at front began. She must be a seeker, according to her armour choice.
Confusion wormed its way into her mind and face from the threat. They had been invited to keep the peace, it was openly declared once they'd arrived. What crime has she put me under?
"The conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead…except for you."
Sehira nearly gasped at the information now found, instead resorting to widened eyes and an open jaw, silently wishing this all to be a bad dream and waking in a ratty bedroll with dawn light reaching thought the trees.
"What do you mean?! By the Maker, they can't be dead…"
The seeker ignored the panic she was openly showing, instead darting her armoured glove towards her own, the one that was ripped apart.
"Explain this."
At that moment the mark flared to life, emitting a small burst of green light that shone upon the woman's face in an eery glow. Sehira couldn't distil the feared gasp that threatened to tear itself into panicked sobs, but the wide eyed hysterics were bubbling close to the surface and showing in her eyes.
"I…can't"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU, CAN'T!?"
"I have no idea what that thing is, I don't even know what happened!"
A blur of skin and leather snatched her shoulders with a tight grip, fingers digging deep into the cuts exposed and hitting nerves of pain. Sehira just held back a cry of pain and instead scrunched up her face and gritted her teeth against the waves of agony.
"YOU'RE LYING!"
The woman behind her quickly responded, dragging the frenzied warrior off with a calm force that shook Sehira to her core. 'We need her Cassandra' was all that she had to say to calm the warrior down. Murmurs were exchanged between them too quiet to pick up on, but Sehira wasn't trying to hear their conversation, instead having silent mumbles of fear for her men and the people they were paid to protect.
"All those people… Maker's breath, how could this happen… everyone was fine, no fights were even threatened… what didn't we see?…"
Her eyes were on the floor in a blank stare when she was slightly shaken out of the dull trance, facing the warrior woman with a calm look on her face unlike the one possessed some seconds ago.
"Please, what happened? I need to know if my friends are alright, my company..."
Cassandra's face twisted into a small frown, uncertainty rough along the edges of her eyes as she helped the weak woman up from the cracking stone. "It… it will be easier to show you."
Stable and clear-headed, she stumbled on in front of Cassandra whose hand gripped comfortably on her shoulder, in part to guide and in other to keep the suspect still. Sehira understood with respect, even thought the nerves underneath her skin hadn't. All the guards that surrounded the walkway outside stepped back with fear, some even gasping in horror, at the Qunari murderer in chains. Sehira didn't spare a thought, already expecting that sort of reaction from the ignorant humans who nearly always kept their distance. Cage after cage she passed with some unease at the lack of commotion and dead silence that covered her footsteps, but it was blocked out by the animalistic instinct of escaping the captors that would send her to death without a second glance back.
The next corner they narrowly passed soon started them towards the little doorway that had light leaking through ever crack in the rotting wood and iron. Sehira drank in the light of a freezing day, swallowed the smells of charred meats and spices mixed with damp snow and prepared to start running through whatever came in her way. A guard standing watch at the door moved to open it with shaking arms which made her bite down an eye rolling at the young man that could be mistaken for a farmer's boy, with gangly arms and a tan face underneath his stringy black hair. When he opened the rusty hinges and let in the bitter cold of the Frostbacks, Sehira prepared to run, but didn't even get a step when she saw the sky torn asunder.
The once dull grey blue colour was now smothered by a sickly green that reeked of unnaturalness, veins of dark green spiralling out of control from the massive hole in the sky. The gaping wound assaulting the previously calm day was thick with a dreadful feeling, as if emotions could kill. Rocks the size of houses tumbled in the green cloudy mess like it was dangled from an invisible string and at the sides were swampy green crystals so like the ones eating away at Sehira's flesh and blood. She could only gape at the chaos ensuing in the stormy sky, helpless in front of such a foe. Cassandra's reaction was more stable, barely containing a sad frown and instead going for a determined look that Sehira easily saw through.
"We call it the Breach. A tear in the veil leading to the fade, with demons pouring out every minute. And it's getting bigger…"
The 'Breach' gave a large sort of crackle in the silent morning, nothing too frightening, if Sehira's hand didn't suddenly react to it. Searing pain shot up in her palm with a similar crackle as the one that pierced through the air moments previous, but this one was accompanied with a cry of pain. Tiny chunks of bone were eaten away with no difficulty as the magic flowed to fill the missing pieces, entering marrow and veins and nerves… Sehira stopped thinking about it before she emptied her stomach in front of everyone, and instead held on to the shock and buried it deep.
She breathed in deeply to calm her racing mind but it was no use as nothing could calm her down after seeing this. Cassandra quickly lifted her by the arm but made sure to not cause any extra pain, a small but appreciated gesture. Just from that brief confrontation Sehira's muscles ached and a deep pressure was building in her head, making blood flow freely from her nose. She ignored the copper taste and steadied herself on the snow ridden path.
"Every time the Breach opens further, your mark spreads… and it is killing you."
Sehira tried to keep the same face, to show no fear in front of the stranger, but she was struggling to keep herself together at the new revelation. If Cassandra noticed her breaking face, she made no comment and instead led her through the crowds of scared people to the gates leading away from safety. The people may have been scared but that didn't take away their bite, hurling insults at the enemy captive and even throwing nearby rubble. The debris that did make it didn't leave any mark against her stone skin, already sharpened and strong against these sorts of assaults, but Cassandra still tried to get the crowd to stop.
They didn't listen and some brave souls even started threatening Cassandra herself, calling her an ox lover and a traitor to her people, as if she has some sort of obligation to the people that happened to share physical traits with each other. Sehira knew if she were in a similar situation, with such treatment being given to her escort, the people would be pleading to silence. So they kept walking to the guarded bridge and thankfully the crowd did not follow, letting Sehira release a held up breath of worry that didn't help in any way to the tension built up in her muscles and thoughts.
Screeches soon pierced the frenzied cries of the people as they moved further away from the camp, sounds Sehira knew all too well as the scream of a demon and their ilk from the fade, with sharper cries than the muffled ones in her dreams. Before thoughts spiralled out of control again, she threw her attention back to the bridge of stone with snow lingering in the cracks and the human, Cassandra, leading her towards the green mass in the sky. She soon slowed down at the edge of protection from the guards, pulling out a dagger and quickly slicing through the rope binding Sehira's hands together in a fluid motion.
"There will be a trial" she heard Cassandra say against the snapping wind, voice now calm and steady. "But I can promise no more."
Sehira's arms flopped to her side, weak from the time spent without food or water and from the captivity so long in motion. She rubbed at the sores gathered by metal and rope, soothing the angry skin as best as she could. Blisters were already beginning to form in the red mess and a tingly feeling soon descended into her fingers. But she was alive. She was alive and breathing and maybe useful to clean up the mess of a thousand dead. If I am to be dead soon from this mark, I may as well be useful. I can help. So Sehira set out with Cassandra, no questions asked, ready to take the enemy by its horns. Ready for it to fight back, but to be defeated against the woman with nothing more left to lose.