Years before the Fifth Blight overtook Ferelden, a Dalish clan that resided in the Korcari Wilds known as Valaris came across an infant crying as she lay in the arms of a dead elven woman.

The Keeper of the Valaris clan, Tawen, took the child in his arms and asked that his First, a young elf named Sarion, to oversee the burial of the woman. He did not recognize her, but her vallaslin he did. She worshipped Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf, and the colour of her vallaslin was as blue as the lyrium he had seen humans use. The woman and the child were from a sect of elves not belonging to a specific clan far to the north, from the forests at the base of the Frostback Mountains, that believed that Fen'Harel was the god of rebellion and not of deceit and betrayal. They believed that he had no choice but to imprison the Creators and the Forgotten Ones in order to end the war and they do not think that he was responsible for the downfall of Arlathan, believing instead that it was the fault of shemlens- the elven word for humans. They were a peaceful and secluded clan, very skilled in magik. Most of their members were mages, many of the mages being the hunters, gathers, and crafters of the the clan. What one would be doing this far south with her child only to die before reaching her destination- wherever that may have been- was beyond Tawen's imagination. His biggest concern was a proper burial for the woman and making sure that the child was cared for.

Looking down at the child, he saw she had silvery golden blonde hair and when her eyes opened as she calmed in his arms, he saw icy blue pools staring back up at him. He sensed a strong magik within her, not surprising considering where she came from, and he smiled when she reached up to touch his chin.

"You're safe, da'len. You won't be alone ever again."

Running through the woods, a young elven woman raced against a young wolf. She was winning for a short time, then the wolf pulled ahead of her. Laughing, she picked up her pace and tried to catch up.

Back in her clan's camp, the Valaris were going about their daily routines. All was quiet and peaceful until the wolf and the elven woman ran through the camp, leaping over stands and dodging their clan members, the elven woman waved to her father as they ran passed the araval.

"Be safe, Eloriel! Nanahi! Come back before sundown!" her father called as they rushed passed and continued on their race. He watched as they disappeared from sight and turned his attention behind him as someone called to him.

"Keeper Tawen?"

Tawen turned to find his First approaching. "Ah, Sarion, what is it?"

Sarion sighed and gave him the usual look he had when he lectured. "Eloriel and Nanahi are getting too spirited, Tawen. They need to reign it in before someone gets hurt."

Tawen sighed. "I know. But she's still young, she just needs to grow out of it."

Sarion turned away, sighing. "She's not a little girl any more, Tawen. She's nearly old enough to receive her vallaslin."

Tawen watched Sarion leave and sighed. 'She'll always be my little girl, Sarion.'

-x-

Having left the camp to continue their race, Eloriel and the wolf ran to the old Grey Warden ruins. They pushed to pull ahead of the other, but they ended up arriving at their destination at the same time. Panting and smiling, Eloriel ruffled the wolf's hair. "We still got it, eh Nanahi?"

Nanahi huffed and seemed to smile, but her ears perked straight up and she looked around. 'Eloriel, something's wrong.'

Eloriel looked from Nanahi as she spoke and towards the direction she was looking. The direction they had just come from. The direction of their camp. "Let's hurry back."

Nanahi nodded and followed after Eloriel as she took off back towards the camp. But neither of them were prepared for what they were going to find.

-x-

Back in the Valaris' camp, Tawen grimaced as he tried to push the broken limber off of him but he was growing weaker and weaker each minute.

"Father?!"

Tawen looked towards the sound of the voice and saw Eloriel and Nanahi searching the rubble of their camp. When she spotted him, they ran to his side and Eloriel dropped to her knees.

"Father!"

Tawen reached up to touch her cheek and smiled weakly. "I'm pleased you both are alright..."

"Father, what happened?"

"D-Darkspawn came... there were so many..." Tawen coughed, blood spurting out.

"Father, lay still. I'll heal you." Eloriel said, trying to remain calm.

"Eloriel... don't waste your energy... It's too late for me..." Tawen said. He pulled his amulet from his neck and placed it in his daughter's hand. "Take this and go... you need to survive... the Creators... they have a plan for you..."

"No, Father. I'm going to heal you and we'll get out of here together." Eloriel insisted, but her father closed her hand over the amulet.

"Go, da'len... My time has come..." Tawen said.

"Father... please don't leave me..!"

'Eloriel, we must leave. The darkspawn are still near.' Nanahi warned, sniffing the air.

Eloriel's eyes filled with tears as her father smiled. "I'm sorry, Father..."

Tawen pulled her head down and kissed her forehead before pressing his own to hers. "I am so proud of you, my dearest daughter... You've brought so much joy to my life... Be strong, live free, and never forget..."

Eloriel looked down at her father as his hand fell weakly to the ground and she saw that his eyes had closed. "F-Father...?" She listened for his heart beat, but could find none. She felt her heart aching and she cried out in grief for the loss of her clan and for the loss of her father.

Nanahi stood guard next to her mourning companion, giving her own solemn howl before nudging Eloriel to her feet. 'We must go now. The darkspawn are turning back.'

Eloriel swallowed her tears and stood, taking Tawen's amulet and placing it around her neck before stooping to grab his staff. She looked down at her father one last time. "Goodbye, Father..."

'Eloriel, now!'

Eloriel looked to Nanahi and nodded, grabbing what they could salvage along the way. They made their way as far from their ruined camp as they could and when they had reached a safe enough distance, they looked back and saw the smoke still rising thickly from the trees.

"Creators watch over them, guide them and protect them as they make their journey to your side." Eloriel said, looking to the stars as the night was taking its place in the sky. "Please forgive me for not being able to protect them."

Nanahi nudged her hand and whined a bit. 'There was nothing we could have done, Eloriel. But we must remain strong. Let's keep moving, find somewhere safe to camp away from the reach of the darkspawn.'

Eloriel nodded and tore herself away, heading north through the Korcari Wilds.

A rustle in the dark drew the attention of a group of traveller, two of them the only surviving Grey Wardens to have escaped Ostagar. One of them stood, his sword drawn, and he peered into the darkness.

"Who goes there?"

No answer came, but another rustle sounded and a wolf emerged.

One of the travellers notched an arrow, ready to fire, but she noticed something odd about the wolf as it stepped closer to the fire.

"Wait a moment, do not fire."

The archer looked to the other woman who spoke. "What is it, Morrigan?"

"I know this wolf." Morrigan said. "That is Nanahi."

The wolf's ears perked when she heard her name spoken, then looked to Morrigan and recognized her from the many trips that she had accompanied Eloriel on to see the Witch of the Wilds, Flemeth, and her daughter, Morrigan.

"But if you're here, Nanahi, then Eloriel must be with you." Morrigan said, seeing the wolf nod then look behind her as a young elven woman stumbled out of the trees. "Eloriel?"

Eloriel looked up and smiled when she saw Morrigan. "We finally found you..." She barely managed to say before slumping forward, unconscious.

"Eloriel!" Morrigan rushed forward and started to check her for wounds. She looked to Nanahi and made the connection. "What happened?"

'Darkspawn came and attacked our camp. No one else survived.'

Morrigan noticed the amulet and the staff in Eloriel's possession. "Tawen, he is..."

'Only Eloriel and I survived.'

"Morrigan?"

Morrigan looked up at the man who had called out initially. "This elf is Eloriel Valaris and a good friend. The wolf is her companion, Nanahi. They mean us no harm and Eloriel is ill; she needs healing."

He nodded and sheathed his sword. "She can have my tent for now." He walked over and bent down to scoop Eloriel into his arms. Carrying her to his tent, he gently set her down on his bed roll. Morrigan came in behind him and immediately set to work on healing Eloriel. "Will she be alright?"

"She will be fine once I break her fever and she regains her strength." Morrigan said, sighing. "She's been through much."

"Do you know what happened?"

Morrigan looked up at him for a moment. "I do, but allow me to heal her first then I will explain."

The man nodded. "Alright. I'll leave you to it." He made to stand and leave, but Eloriel instinctively reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked down at her as she said something in elvhen, but he sensed that he should stay so he sat back down and smoothed back her hair. Eloriel seemed to be having a nightmare and began to grow agitated, but the man stroked her hair and shushed her gently. "It'll be OK, Eloriel. You're safe now." Eloriel seemed to calm at the sound of his voice and returned to a peaceful state as Morrigan finished healing her.

"It will be a day or so before the fever breaks, but she will be fine." Morrigan said, standing. "We need to let her rest, Tarius."

Tarius nodded and stood, leaving the tent with Morrigan. He looked at Nanahi as she approached Morrigan, a worried look in her eyes.

"She will be fine, Nanahi." Morrigan said, reassuring the wolf.

Nanahi looked relief, gave her thanks, then pushed her way into the tent to keep an eye on Eloriel.

"How do you know that woman?" the other Grey Warden asked, looking to Morrigan.

Morrigan stood by the fire and crossed her arms. "Eloriel Valaris has been coming to trade with my mother and I for years. We became good friends not too long after she began her visits. We would run in the woods together, play tricks on the humans who wandered too close to our lands in the Wilds, trained together. She is a good person and very skilled in magik for as young as she is, even for an elf."

"So she is a mage?"

Morrigan nodded. "She is the daughter of the Keeper of her clan, Tawen. When she was an infant, Tawen and the rest of the Valaris found her crying in the arms of her dead mother. Tawen took her in and raised her as his own, beginning her training when she was only four years old. There was no one better to train her, not even my mother." She looked over at the tent where Eloriel rested. "And now she is alone..."

"What happened?" The other woman asked. "You seemed to have spoken with the wolf. Did she tell you what happened?"

Morrigan nodded. "Nanahi explained that the darkspawn came and killed everyone in their clan. She and Eloriel are the only survivors."

"Maker... that's horrible...!" The other woman said, a hand to her mouth as she looked over at the tent. "The poor dear..!"

"They're the only survivors?" The other man asked. "Maker's breath... Tarius, is there a way we can help her?"

Tarius rubbed his neck and sighed. "For now, Alistair, we let her rest." He looked to the other woman. "Leliana, can you help Morrigan look after her? She still has a fever, but I don't want Morrigan to use up too much of her magikal energy."

"Of course."

Tarius looked over at Morrigan. "Is there something else on your mind, Morrigan?"

Morrigan sighed. "The Valaris camped not far from Ostagar. We knew the darkspawn were coming, I should have warned her and Tawen to leave. Maybe then they would have survived."

Tarius looked at her. "It's not your fault, Morrigan. None of us could have known how this would have played out. At least she made it out."

"True as that may be, she is the last Valaris."