"Normandy, come in. Joker? Damn…" Shepard pressed her earbud with the tip of her finger, as if that would make a voice more recognizable through the hissing static. She glanced back over her shoulder at the stone archway she had stumbled through. It didn't look anything like the device they had found on Zelos. It wasn't glowing or crackling. There was no distorted image showing through the arch, only the ruins and crumbling stones that surrounded her continuing on up the hill.
Shepard sighed and flexed her left hand to activate her omni-tool. A quick scan of the area told her that the chemical composition of the stones and earth nearby didn't match the makeup on the soil on Zelos. The rise of a small hill, the clearing the stones lay in, and the forest beyond—none of it matched the planet they had been scanning.
"Not on the same planet then," she muttered as she typed at the holographic keyboard. "If I'm on another planet in the same system, I'd be picking up something on the comm, if not the Normandy herself."
She paced in a small circle as she worked, never straying far from the place where she passed through portal. She knew Tali would be hard at work with the strange controls, trying to find a way to do… something at least. Shepard didn't know how she had stumbled through the shimmering energy field. She was usually very careful around unknown or alien tech.
"Maybe I didn't fall through. Maybe I was pulled." The idea popped suddenly into her head, followed immediately by, "But how?"
Wherever this chain of thought may have taken Shepard, it was interrupted by a scream and a shout of "Helpppp!" from the ridge behind her.
Shepard vaulted over a cluster low stones. From behind cover, she pulled her sniper rifle from its clip on her back and peered through the scope. A man and woman were fleeing along the crest of the ridge. Shepard scanned behind them until a shambling creature came into view. It was wearing a corroded metal suit and helmet which obscured its face. Its hands were black and claw like. The people were obviously terrified, all but tripping over their own feet to get away from it, and were completely defenseless. While she watched, debating quickly what to do, the creature pulled a long, wicked-looking curved blade from a sheathe at its side and pointed it at the running woman.
"Bad move, ugly," Shepard muttered. She took a deep breath and centered the creature's head in the crosshairs. The shot echoed off the trees and the hill above and the pursuing thing dropped in its tracks. The man and woman clutched each other and shrieked, frozen in place.
Shepard sighed and swung the rifle back into its clip. She rose, hopped over the stones, and jogged up the hill.
"Are you okay?" she asked when she approached the couple.
They were still huddled together, google-eyed with fright. When their only answer was more staring and whimpering, Shepard turned to inspect the creature. She nudged off its horned helmet with her boot to reveal a face crusted with blood and ooze. The lips were peeled back from pointed teeth in a grimace. Shepard crouched to get a closer look.
"I would not do that if I were you."
Shepard whirled, her hand on her sidearm. The man had come up the other side of the hill, but had already turned to address the other people. He bowed to them.
"I regret that my companions and I did not hear your calls for help sooner. You see, we are camped on the far side of the ridge." He gestured off to the right, toward the thicker part of the forest. "But I see you did not go unaided." Here he turned back to Shepard and made a bow in her direction. "Thank you for your assistance, my lady."
"Y-yes, thank ye," repeated the frightened couple hesitantly. "We'll just be on our way now, Ser. Thank ye." They got to their feet and trotted off. The woman glanced back over her shoulder at them as they went.
"Now then friend," continued the man, "perhaps you can tell me—"
"Wait just a minute," Shepard interrupted. The man stopped short a movement to sweep his long blond hair back off his brow. A puzzled expression wrinkled his tanned face. "I want to know where I am. What was that thing? Who are you?" She pointed from the stone arch and ruins below to the dead creature to the man in front of her.
He chuckled and raised his hands in front of him. "I can see you're…not from around here, yes?" He raised an arched eyebrow and looked her up and down. "But to answer your questions: You are slightly south of the town of Redcliffe, that is a darkspawn Hurlock, and I am Zevran Arainai, late of the fabulous Antiva City, now in the service of the Grey Wardens. Please try to limit your stares—I know I am a fabulous specimen." He made a low bow, spreading his arms wide. "As for any other questions, perhaps my companions would be better suited to answer them. Will you follow me to our camp? It is not far."
Shepard glanced back toward the portal she had fallen through. Tali or Garrus would think to trace her suit's energy signature if she wasn't there when they reactivated it.
With one hand still firmly on the butt of her pistol, Shepard sighed. "Okay, take me to your camp."
Thanks again to everyone who has read and favorited this story. I will continue it, but please be patient with me as I'm working on other things.