Chapter One: Who am I?
Everything was cold. I turned over and I touched snow, this wasn't right. Opening my eyes, I stared up at a hole in the sky. It looked to be a green vortex.
"Over here, there's someone over here!" I looked over to my right to see a people approaching me. I tried to stand up, but my legs gave out and I landed on my knees. My head was spinning. As they approached I noticed that they were wearing armor, it almost looks to be something one would see in medieval times. "Take her back to Haven, the Spymaster would want to talk to her." Three men approached me.
Two men got on each side of me and picked me up. "Please, what is going on?" I pleaded, I could barely keep up. I started to see black dots in my vision and my mind was feeling fuzzy.
"The Spymaster will take care of you, traitor." Before everything went black, my last thought was, where am I?
There was a clanging of chains "Open the door." A feminine voice rung through the room. I found myself on a cot and just as the hinges on the door opened, I sat up. I rubbed my head feeling a nasty headache that would have rivaled any hangover. I looked up to see a woman in purple with chainmail over her figure. She had a hood over her red hair. Steal eyes met mine.
"My scouts found you by the explosion, I want to know why you were there and who you are?"
"I don't know. I am not sure how I got here." I tried to explain myself. This must be a dream, a very medieval dream. Her glare cut through me, but I stood my ground so to speak. "Where am I?"
"Haven." She stood in front of me, forcing eye contact. I felt myself at a disadvantage as I sat there and had her loom over me. "Do you not remember even your name?"
"Yes, sorry it is Ruth." I was very flustered, "Ruth Perry." Before she could say another word, a guard came in.
"She's awake," the male voice said. Without another word, the women in purple left but she gave me one more glance before leaving. The barred door shut behind them and I was left alone.
This allowed me time to think and ponder about the actions that led me to this dungeon or whatever this jail is.
I closed my eyes and tried to think.
I remembered waking up this morning or what ever day it was. Got dressed into my jeans and black long sleeve shirt, which is what I am currently wearing. I planned on walking to work since it was only two miles away from my apartment, but I never made it there I think. I don't recall making it there. The park path took me through a forest part, but it gets a little fuzzy after that.
Minutes passed, soon hours did too. With no clock or any windows, I could not tell how much time had truly pasted. Am I to stay here to rot in this cell? Eventually gave into exhaustion and fell asleep on the little cot.
I was awoken by the banging on the cell bars. A guard had come by and placed a loaf of bread with a mug of water through the bars. Realizing I was parched, I drank the water down with in a few seconds flat. The bread was hard and tough to chew, they probably kneaded it too much, but it was better than nothing.
Not soon after, the lady in purple came back but with another woman, who had short black hair. Her features where sharp and wore a serious expression that made her all that more frightening. They opened my cell and entered. I was not to be put at a disadvantage again, so I stood up and faced them on eye level.
I was sized up by their gaze and I felt my palms sweating.
"I have heard that you don't recall getting here?" the short hair woman said, with a disgusted look on her face. "You must know why you are here. The conclave has been destroyed and the rift in the sky is the evidence that someone was behind this." She paces in the small area, "Somehow you had fallen out of the rift as our Herald closed it." Her face is inches away from mine, "You claim to not know anything."
I swallow nervously before speaking. "I—I don't know anything that you are talking about. I am not truly sure where I am at besides the name of Haven." I hold my ground. "I was just on my way to work when I woke up here, in this medieval cosplay place or whatever this is."
I am grabbed by the collar of my shirt and thrown up against the wall by the short hair woman. "You tell me that you know nothing of the explosion that killed the Divine."
"Cassandra," Someone exclaimed. "I believe she is telling the truth." It was a woman of small stature with what looked like pointed ears.
"Harold, how can you be sure?" The woman, who I now know is Cassandra.
"I can just tell, also it was just two days ago that you believed that I was the guilty party." She was quick to quip back. This Herald person looked towards me. "Sorry about this, I am sure you have questions but first let's get you out of here and in to better clothing."
I was at a loss of words and just followed her out. The lady in purple and Cassandra followed behind me as we went up the stairs that took us out the dungeon.
The outside hurt me eyes and had to shield myself with my hand. Fresh air hit my lungs with a bit of chill. I looked around and it seemed that I was in the middle of some sort of village that seemed out of time. The two women behind left me and Nenril by ourselves.
"My name is Nenril.", the Herald said, looking at me.
"Ruth."
"Sorry about the treatment but there is a lot of suspicion going around."
"What country am I in? I don't feel like I am in America anymore."
"America, is that where you are from?" She looked confused, "You're in Ferelden."
It was my turn to give her a confused look. There was no country that I was aware of with a name like that. My stomach twisted with worry. Nothing was making any sense and I felt at a loss of words. Nenril noticed my distress and grabbed my hand. "We will figure out how we can help you, but before we talk anymore let's get you a bath and some clothes." She gave me a once over. I looked down and saw myself covered in dirt. Embarrassed I turned my head.
"That would be lovely."
She led me to a cabin, not letting go of my hand. "I already had a bath drawn for you. Just take some time to yourself. Clothes are on the bed." She smiled at me. I was surprised that she had already believed my innocence before even meeting me.
"Thank you." I managed to say to her.
"When you are down, come back to the Chantry," she explained, "the building that you came from but just go right to the back room with the double doors." I nodded back.
She closed the door and left me inside the cabin by myself. I will have to go along with all of this. The bath looked so inviting. Exhaling out loud, I got undressed and dropped myself into the tub that sat in the middle of the room. The water was still warm and allowed me to relax. A thought crossed my mind, and once there it did not leave. What if I am in a different world or an alternate reality? It seemed impossible, yet here I am. If true, how am I to get home?
This was not going anywhere, I dunked my head under the water. Scrubbing the dirt off of me and out of my hair, got out and dried off. The clothes that Nenril left were a pair of black leggings or something like that, and a green tunic. A red scarf sat there, which I used as a belt since the tunic was very loose around my waist. I tied a knot to the side of my hip. I did not see a hairbrush, so I used my hands to brush out my hair.
"Well that's as good as that gets," I said to myself. Time to go back to this Chantry-thing building and find Nenril.
