Cold water splashing on Talyn brought her from the world of dreams. She gasped, sitting up and turning her head to see the culprit. A tall woman with short, dark hair and a scar across her cheek was staring at her with dark, narrowed eyes.
"Who are you?!" The woman demanded.
Talyn pulled back the threadbare blanket that had been covering her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her eyes widened at the sight of the pale blue swirls that adorned her bare legs and arms. She didn't have time to process what they were doing on her body though.
"Well? Answer me!" The woman shouted.
Talyn pushed her hair from her forehead and rubbed her temples, squeezing her eyes shut.
"F..." Why couldn't she remember her own name?
"Ff?" When Talyn opened her eyes, she saw the dark haired woman leaning forward, her face in Talyn's. "Fff what? Spit it out!"
"T-Talyn?" She said it like a question, her voice cracking with panic at the realization that she couldn't remember anything from before she was rudely woken up.
Suddenly, there was the sound of thunder and searing pain burned her hand, the burning sensation shooting up her arm. Talyn cried out in pain, falling to her knees on the floor, her right hand clutching her left. With wide eyes she looked down at her palm, and saw a bright green, jagged mark that shimmered dangerously with magic.
The dark haired woman bent down and grabbed Talyn's marked hand. "Explain this." She demanded.
"I can't." Talyn responded, flexing her marked hand, hoping to shake out the pain.
"What happened at the Temple of Sacred Ashes?"
"I don't know. I can't remember."
"You're lying!" The woman growled, lunging for Talyn. Talyn flinched, raising her hands to protect her face from whatever the woman was about to do.
A hand shot out from the shadows, holding onto the woman's armored shoulder. "Cassandra, we need her."
Talyn hadn't even seen the woman in the corner of the room, her face shrouded by the hood of her cloak, only a pale red braid peeking out from beneath it. The same eye adorned both her cloak and Cassandra's armor.
Cassandra looked at her, and sighed. "You're right, Leiliana. As always."
Cassandra turned back to Talyn. "Moments after the Temple of Sacred Ashes explodes, you step out of a rift with that mark on your hand. What else are we supposed to think, other than that you're the one who caused the explosion? The one who killed Divine Justinia and everyone who attended the Conclave?"
Talyn stood to her feet, and looked up at the tall round eared woman, right in her dark, angry eyes. "I'm telling you the truth! I didn't do this. If anything, I'm a victim. Whatever happened in that temple erased my memories!"
Another crack of thunder ensued, and that same, throbbing pain burned her hand and arm, causing her to fall to her knees again. The mark started to glow, and expand on her hand just a bit more.
She saw Cassandra and Leiliana exchange a look. "Go to the forward camp, Leiliana. I will take the prisoner to the rift."
"This 'prisoner' has a name." Talyn hissed.
Leiliana nodded, and left the room. Cassandra turned back to Talyn with that same distrustful glare. She walked to a table in the corner of the room and picked up something leather. She tossed it at Talyn, and she caught it. It was leather armor.
But it didn't seem to look like regular leather armor. It was the deepest shade of black, so dark that it seemed to suck all the light in the room. There were no other markings, no insignia or design. Along with the armor, Cassandra tossed a matching mask, one that was supposed to cover the bottom half of her face.
"You were wearing that when you stepped out of the rift. The healer had to take it off of you to heal your wounds. Put it on."
Talyn stared at the ebony armor for a moment, hoping for a spark of familiarity. But there was none. She set the armor on the bed and took off the nightgown she was wearing. She couldn't help her smug satisfaction when Cassandra blushed and averted her gaze.
There was a full-length mirror leaning against one of the walls. When Talyn caught a glimpse of her appearance, she gasped.
The pale blue swirls she had seen on her legs and arms were all over her body. They ran up her toned stomach, over her breasts, her shoulders, up her neck and even framed her face. She turned to look at her back, where there were indeed more pale blue marks.
That wasn't all that surprised her, though. She was beautiful. Long, pale golden hair cascaded down her back and shoulders to her waist. Her eyes were the color of the sky, and angled like a cat's. She had high cheekbones, full lips, and her pointed ears that slightly stuck out of her hair were adorned with several golden earrings.
It was as she had been sculpted by an artist. Blessed by a god.
She heard Cassandra scoff. "Stop staring at yourself and get dressed, we have no time to lose."
Talyn shot a glare at her captor and did as she was told. She fumbled with the armor, causing Cassandra to sigh and cross the room to help her. She said something rude about how one shouldn't wear armor if they couldn't put it on by themselves, which made Talyn's face beet red.
Roughly, Cassandra tied Talyn's hands together with rope. She didn't protest, mostly because Cassandra was right. She was a prisoner. Whatever happened now was out of her control.
"It's just until we enter the valley." Cassandra explained. "It will make the people feel safe."
Cassandra led Talyn through what looked to be a temple, and out into the world.
The first thing Talyn saw was a nightmare in the sky.