Chapter One

The Mirror

Asil was born amongst the Dalish elves- noble wanderers who refused to join the society of humans that subjugated their homeland so long ago. The Dalish travel the land in tightly-knit clans, struggling to maintain their half-forgotten lore in a human world that fears and despises them. Asil spent her time hunting with her clan-mate Tamlen in the forests, and is sometimes the case, her quarry is not always the local wildlife…

The human stumbled though the forest, glancing back over his shoulder in fear. He looked back to his path and fell to the ground at the feet of Tamlen, who held his bow taught at the man with an arrow ready to pierce his heart. Another two humans came running up behind the last but promptly came to a stop as Tamlen changed his aim.

"It's a Dalish!" one commented, as if the elf was some sort of rare find.

"And you three are somewhere you shouldn't be,"

"Let us pass, elf. You have no right to stop us!" one protested.

"No? We will see about that, won't we?"

Asil sidestepped into the clearing, her bow taught and aimed at the humans as well.

"You're just in time," Tamlen said, turning his head to face Asil while still aiming the bow,

"I found these humans lurking in the bushes. Bandits, no doubt,"

"We aren't bandits, I swear! Please don't hurt us!" one begged. The corner of Tamlen's mouth drew up in a sly smile,

"You shemlen are pathetic. It's hard to believe you ever drove us from our homeland."

"W-we've never done nothing to you Dalish! We didn't even know this forest was yours!"

Tamlen took an aggressive step forward and the men jumped backwards in fear,

"This forest isn't ours, fool. You've stumbled too close to our camp. You shems are like vermin- we can't trust you not to make mischief."

Tamlen gave a judging look at the quivering humans,

"What do you say, lethallan? What should we do with them?"

"Let's find out what they're doing here," Asil replied. Her dislike of humans was strong, but her curiosity was stronger.

"I…look…we didn't come here to be trouble. We just found a cave…" one human explained. The others piped up and agreed as try tried to get themselves out of the situation,

"Yes, a cave! With ruins like I've never seen! We thought there might be, uh…"

"Treasure?" Tamlen said, almost sounding bored, "So you're more akin to thieves than actual bandits."

Asil didn't believe the men's story. After all, she wasn't likely to believe anything any human said. They were all thieves and bandits in her eyes.

"We know this forest. There are caves, but no ruins. You lie," she said.

"Yes," Tamlen agreed, "I've never heard of ruins in these parts."

"I…I have proof!"

One of the men came stumbling forward, holding out something in his hand,

"Here…we found this just inside the entrance."

Tamlen lowered his bow while Asil kept her arrow trained on the humans. She watched Tamlen inspect the stone in his hands. She saw a bright curiosity light up in his eyes. Asil smiled. Tamlen acted tough but he was nothing more than an excited child when it came to elven artefacts.

"This stone has carvings. Is this elvish? Written elvish?"

The man picked up on Tamlen's interest,

"There's more in the ruins! We didn't get very far in, though…"

Asil still was not convinced. Elvish or not, why would the humans be so complacent?

"This sounds like a trap. Don't believe it."

"A trap? We didn't even know you elves were here! W-we were just trying to find the treasure!" the human begged. His voice was becoming desperate.

"And this is all you found?" Tamlen put the stone in his pocket and knocked another arrow with lightening speed. Asil was glad he wasn't going to buy it.

"Why didn't you look for more?" she added.

"There was a demon! It was huge, with black eyes! Thank the Maker we were able to out-run it!"

Tamlen scoffed, and looked at Asil who just rolled her eyes. Humans. They would do anything to cause trouble.

"Hm. A demon," Tamlen jeered, "Where is this cave?"

"Just off to the west, I think."

"Hmm. Well? Do you trust them Asil? Shall we let them go?"

Asil looked at Tamlen. Do you trust them? He should already know the answer to that.

"Kill two. The other will make sure no one else comes."

Fear lit up in the humans' eyes.

"Yes, one could expect no less from a shem," Tamlen agreed, using the Dalish word meaning 'human'.

Asil and Tamlen fired simultaneously. The heavy Dalish arrows pierced straight through the first two men. The other ran off, running as fast as he could.

Tamlen stepped forward and stretched his arms. His demeanour changed immediately from an aggressive territory-protective elf to his usual casual, cheery self.

"Well, shall we see if there's any truth to their story? These carvings make me curious."

Asil folded her arms. Tamlen was only two years younger than her but she still saw him as awfully reckless.

"Shouldn't we inform the keeper?" Asil suggested, referring to the keeper, or leader of their clan.

"She might be interested in these carvings, but let's see if there's anything more before we get excited."

Tamlen began to head west. Asil sighed and took off after him.

"You know they were probably lying."

"No harm in checking."

Asil sighed again. Tamlen was a sucker for elvish history and once he had found something there was little chance of changing his mind.

The two elves found the cave the humans had described nearby, and as the man had said, to the west.

"This must be the cave. I don't recall seeing this before, do you?"

"No, I don't but…"

Asil looked at Tamlen, his eyes full of curiosity and adventure and couldn't help feeling the bond she had always had with him.

"Let's check it out. But be careful."

"Come on, let's at least see what's there. How dangerous could it be?"

"Remember the last time you said that?" Asil reminded him as they entered the cave,

"Hey, that time doesn't count. That tree definitely looked like it would hold my weight."

Asil laughed.

They ventured into the cave and to Asil's surprise, there were indeed ruins inside.

"It looks like the shem was telling the truth. But these ruins look more human than elven."

As they walked through the overgrown ruins, they were attacked by some giant spiders, but that was commonplace in the area. Hardly demons, Asil thought. As Asil and Tamlen delved deeper into the ruins, they came to a hall with a statue of woman holding a spear.

"I can't believe this," Tamlen said, running up to the statue, "You recognise this statue, don't you?"

"It's worn, but it looks vaguely familiar."

Asil wasn't entirely sure what it was but Tamlen and all his knowledge of elven history seemed to know exactly.

"Back when our people loved in Arlathan, statues like these honoured the Creators. When the shems enslaved us, much of that lore was lost."

Asil inspected the statue closer,

"This looks liked human architecture…with a statue of our people."

"It's interesting. So much of our past is lost to us…"

Tamlen gave Asil a joyful look at the expression of her interest in elven history. It had never been a subject she was fascinated about, but she was willing to be for Tamlen.

As the pair delved deeper into the ruins, the air became cold and silent. Lighting from holes that lead to the surface were sparse, giving the place a dark, mystic feel.

"This place makes me nervous," Tamlen confided as they crept though the dark.

"Then talk, if that will calm you down."

"I suppose so…hey, weren't you supposed to be assisting Master Varathorn today? How did you end up coming with me?" Tamlen asked. Asil shifted slightly, as she did when she was a little nervous,

"I wanted to be with you, of course."

"I…though that might be the case. I'm glad."

There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment before Tamlen broke it,

"Let's just find whatever's here and get out. We can talk later."

Down in what seemed the deepest part of the ruin, a decorative door blocked the way. Asil cautiously opened it and quickly drew her bow at the sight of what was inside. It looked like a bear, but not like any bear she had seen before. It seemed almost as if its flesh was falling away from its body and it was covered in spikes. It was also a lot stronger than any bear Asil had hunted before. Asil wondered if it was the demon the men had seen. Finally, the two managed to kill the beast.

"By the Creator, what was that thing?" Tamlen asked, shocked and panting from the hard fight with the beast.

"I have no idea."

Tamlen turned around to face the centrepiece of the room. It was a large mirror, framed with stone yet the reflective surface was anything but. It was slightly opaque.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Tamlen said in awe as he inspected the mirror, "I wonder what the writing says."

"Do not touch the glass, probably."

Tamlen laughed, "Not that we'd leave a fingerprint on it. See how clean it is? Not a single smudge or crack."

Asil did have to admit, asides from the strange opaqueness of the mirror, it was in perfect condition. Strange, seeing as everything else in the ruin had almost crumbled to dust. Tamlen continued to examine the writing,

"I wonder what this writing is for? Maybe this isn't…"

Tamlen's attention was suddenly diverted.

"Hey, did you see that?" he said.

"See what?"

"I think something moved inside the mirror."

Asil had a bad feeling about the mirror. She didn't know why, but she felt that it was bad news.

"Get away from it, Tamlen…"

Protective as she was, Asil threw an arm out in front of Tamlen.

"Hold on, I just want to know what it is," he said, pushing forward like a child, "Don't you see it? There it is again!"

"Can you feel that?" he asked. Asil could definitely feel something. The room had grown cold and it felt as if something was watching them.

"I think it knows we're here. I just need to take a closer look…"

Tamlen walked up close to the mirror and Asil reluctantly followed. She didn't look at the mirror, but kept her eyes fixed on Tamlen. The nervous feeling in her gut was growing. Tamlen gazed into the mirror as if there was something to see other than his own reflection.

"It's…showing me places…I can see…some kind of city…underground?"

Tamlen reached out and gently touched the mirror,

"Tamlen…"

He looked back at Asil, eyes wide,

"And..there's a great blackness…" he continued, looking back at the mirror. Asil took a glance at the mirror herself. It's surface now seemed to glow with a faint purple light.

"Tamlen, please…"

"It…it saw me!"

The surface of the mirror began to crackle like lightning and glowed white,

"Asil…I can't look away!"

"TAMLEN!"

Asil shouted at the young elf, pulling on his arm. Suddenly, the mirror seemed to erupt with light and Asil was blown backwards. She felt herself hit the ground hard and everything went black.