Chapter 1 – Legend of the Dalish
Ari glared down her bow at the humans fleeing, she held herself focused but let her enjoyment guide her feet. She was firing at them, spurring them towards Tamlen. She smiled. Her handsome friend was so much more than just a hunting partner. In fact, she had gone against Master Varathorn to be with him for this hunt. She would face the scolding later, Tamlen was more fun than lectures anyway. He had saved her from a fate worse than death, expecting nothing in return. Besides Merrill, Tamlen had been a true friend. Naturally the handsome elf also held a physical aspect over her.
Ari herself was not bad looking. She had a very soft chin and wide jaw that was one perfect curve. Her eyes were large and wide, deep blue yet not overpowering. Her nose appeared pointed due to the tattoo rushing down the bridge, up over her forehead and subtle brow to curve away under her hair. The design was simple, etched in purple ink but it was effective in making her beautiful. Her hair was dark brown, dropping past her shoulders. Two braided locks framed her face.
The human yelped as he fell backwards, held at arrow point by Tamlen. The Elf didn't flinch as two others followed and froze, arms spinning to hold their balance. Ari couldn't help laugh as she dropped behind them, bow drawn.
"Aneth ara, Ma'vhenan" Tamlen greeted Ari with a warm smile. She couldn't help smile back as she circled around the humans to come and stand beside Tamlen.
Tamlen was considered a handsome Elf among the clan. His cheek bones were high yet masculine, his jaw strong as was his chin. He was still fine, as were all Elf folk yet he was a strong featured Elf. His nose was pointed yet it fit the hawkish look to him, making him seem ever vigilant. His lips were thin, the lines of his blood tattoos curled from the corners of his mouth in a horizontal swirly line. His forehead was covered in the curled lines, almost like a tree in their simple yet beautiful design. His rose blonde hair was short, with strings of hair constantly falling over his brow. What drew attention though were his pale blue eyes. They could be mistaken for grey at times, depending on his mood.
"What took you so long, da'mi?" he asked in a deep voice. Ari shrugged, almost loosening her arrow for the threat alone. The men all cringed.
"Hunting, da'assan" Ari replied, turning her gaze to the man on the ground. Her answer did not shock Tamlen; aside from himself she was the best Archer in the camp. Her skills with daggers were unmatched. While many Dalish were defensive, Ari simply attacked. She had no fear of injury, only the intent to kill. That made her all the more dangerous, and beautiful in her fury.
"They are Dalish!" The man cried. The fear in the faces of all three men was like sugar coated strawberries to Ari. Delicious and sweet.
"And you three are somewhere you shouldn't be" Tamlen replied with a slight growl in his voice. Ari smiled, there was the honey. His voice was smooth and deep, like honey to listen too. Yet he could be intimidating, to humans anyway. Among the Dalish he was highly desired and Ari was often met by the young Elven women with jealousy. That just made everything all the sweeter. It was a nice feeling to be considered worthy of jealousy, even if it was over her husband to be.
"Let us past Elf! You have no right to stop us!" One man challenged as the other helped the one on the ground to his feet. Ari bore her teeth in warning, her eyes narrowing as she drew back further on the string. The sound of string and wood stretching was enough to make the men flinch.
"No? We will see about that won't we?" Tamlen asked sweetly, his voice slightly higher and amused.
"Look. We aren't bandits! Please, let us go" one of the men begged. Ari couldn't help scoff in disgust as she and Tamlen stalked to a flatter position, threatening as Tamlen spoke.
"You shem are pathetic! It's hard to believe you ever drove us from our homeland"
"We haven't done nothing to you Dalish. We didn't even know this forest was yours" the men cowered on. Ari let her lips press together but she kept her eyes squinted, narrowed and glaring at her intended targets with the hunger of a huntress.
"This forest isn't ours, fool. You've stumbled too close to our camp. You shem are like vermin, we can't trust you not to make mischief. What do you say, ma'vhenan? What should we do with them?" Tamlen spoke again, keeping his tone deep and his expression aggressive.
"Kill them. If we let them live they will simply bring a mob to drive us out" Ari replied, aiming for the throat of one of the men.
"I like the sound of that, this will not take long" Tamlen lined up his shot, the men threw their hands up to shield themselves as they begged.
"Please, we didn't come here to be trouble. We just found a cave" the calmest spoke in a polite tone. Ari almost shot the man then and there, but a second piped up and drew her attention.
"Yes. A cave, with ruins like we've never seen. We thought there might be… uh…"
"Treasure? So you're more akin to thieves than actual bandits, pathetic. Let's kill them now Tamlen" Ari scoffed, she took a menacing step forwards, which made the men whimper. She half regretted when they had to die, she was enjoying their fear all too much.
"No! Please, we'll show you" one cried. Ari glared.
"We have seen no caves. You lie to save your own worthless hides!"
"No! Look. We found this" A man threw a stone to Tamlen. He loosened his bow to catch it, staring down at the white stone with golden writing on it the likes of which Ari had never seen. Tamlen's eyes went wide as he stared for a moment, disbelieving in the evidence in his hands.
"This stone… is this Elfish? Written Elfish!" Tamlen gasped, pocketing the stone and drawing his bow once more.
"There's more in the ruins. We didn't get very far in though. There was a demon! It was huge with black eyes! Thank the Maker we were able to outrun it" The men all stuttered. Ari glared. The Maker was another insult to the Dalish Elves, a false god created to drown their own gods out. The Chantry had betrayed the Elves, attacking the Dalish for not turning to the Maker and instead continuing to believe in their own gods.
"A demon" Ari scoffed, shaking her head as Tamlen twitched his ear.
"Where is this cave?" Tamlen demanded.
"To the west! There's a cave in the rock face and a huge hole inside" the man answered. Tamlen flicked his eyes to Ari.
"Well, do you believe them?" he asked. Ari seemed to think for a moment.
"I do" then she let her arrow fly.
…
The pair travelled west, the blood of three ill-fated men upon their metaphoric hands. Tamlen was immensely curious about this cave since he had seen the stone, Ari was also curious but she followed Tamlen. The two were near impossible to separate since Tamlen had saved her. Whether it had been Tamlen aiding an injured, beautiful Elf or Ari following her handsome saviour like an awe struck child. When their relationship had become romantic years later it had been an outrage, Ari may have been the bastard child of their Keeper before Marethari but she was of another clan. Still, she had been around nine when she had arrived, behind a thirteen year old Tamlen. She had been given a caretaker, Ashalle, as family. It had been true enough; honesty always from Ari's mouth had been tactless and even cruel at times.
"This must be the cave" Tamlen said excitedly, turning to face Ari with his signature smile. Ari's heart always fluttered at his smile which even reached his eyes. Something changed today however, instead of the joyful feelings she got she felt heavy, dangerous even.
"Ma'vhenan, let's be careful. Something doesn't feel right" Ari warned quietly, spinning a dagger into its place over her back. Tamlen tilted his head.
"What do you mean?" he asked. She saw the seriousness in his eyes. She felt foolish as she looked to her toes.
"My knees remain strong under your gaze" the answer was so foolish, but it was honest. There was no happy buzz from his attention, only an overwhelming sense of dread.
"Flirt" he smiled gently. His eyes widened suddenly as he spoke.
"Hey? Weren't you supposed to be assisting master Varathorn today? How did you end up stuck with me?"
"I decided to be with you, of course. I'll suffer master Varathorn later, when I grow bored of you. I expect he will be waiting some time" Ari answered, no smile on her face and nothing sultry in her voice. Tamlen noticed her seriousness and stepped forwards, pulling her forehead to his lips. Ari shuddered; it didn't feel promising or tender. It felt final.
"I'm glad. Come, let us explore this cave. The Keeper will want to know if we find anything of interest"
….
"I can't believe this" Tamlen stated in an awe struck voice. He was staring at a grey stone stature of a figure in a flowing robe, with golden wings and a staff. Ari grunted, flicking more spider innards from her blade.
"What? That this place is infested with spiders? Or that there is an old statue?" she demanded sarcastically. She had been strange since entering the cave. Tense and on edge for attack. It had been her alert state that had saved their lives when spiders dropped down on them. Ari couldn't help the rage in her blood. This place felt forced, violated and weak. Wrong…
"You recognise this statue, don't you?" Tamlen asked. He seemed to have missed the dark humour Ari displayed for him. Usually he was encouraging her to partake in jokes and foolishness; between him and Merrill they had begun to break Ari out of her shell.
"It looks like something Merrill showed me. Friend of the dead…" Ari pondered.
"Statues like these honoured the creators, when the Shems enslaved us the lore was lost" Tamlen whispered, reaching out to trace a line on the statue. His finger became black with dust as he finished a small line; it filled Ari with fury that such wonders could fall into such despair.
"This is a human ruin, yet this is a statue of our people" Ari growled. How dare Shems defile more of the Dalish history? Merrill had been fierce about discovering history, Ari fierce about her hatred for humans. The two were a bad, but strangely good combination. Tamlen sat between them both in his views; he both wanted to discover history and hated humans.
Tamlen looked like he would speak but Ari's sudden gesture for silence gave him pause. They both jumped when they saw green fog erupt from a vent before huge doors behind them. Ari was quick in binding a cloth around her mouth and nose, as was Tamlen. It was when the corpses they stumbled over rose to greet them that things got hairy.
"The dead attack us! This place is haunted!" Tamlen cried, drawing his bow and quickly firing arrows into the oncoming hoard.
"No shit" Ari replied. Her daggers were free as she drove one into the chest of a close Skeleton. With a quick flick of her other hand she beheaded the thing, wincing as the head bounced onto her foot. Still, she gave into the temptation and kicked it, straight into the hoard drawing closer. She laughed as she rushed into the hoard, swinging her daggers out to the sides as she dropped to her knee. The ground hurt, it was harsher than the forest dirt but Ari ignored the slight jarring as she continued to her feet and spun her entire body, daggers tearing through another skeleton. She turned, seeing one stalking up behind Tamlen. Trusting him to protect her she threw her daggers without a thought for her own safety. They buried themselves in the body as she ran, leaping over a corpse, landing on her shoulders and rolling to her feet. She ran to the Skeleton that had risen again and tore her daggers free, ripping it in half from her sheer fury and the brittleness of its aged bones.
By the time she turned Tamlen had handled the remaining dead that roamed the halls. He stood panting, eyes wide and frightened and hands shaking yet he remained standing. Ari held her daggers for a moment, listening for movement with her back close to Tamlen's before she was satisfied and thus sheathed her daggers. Tamlen clipped his bow back onto his back with a worried sigh of minor relief.
"Da'mi… what was that?" Tamlen asked weakly, voice shaking. Ari grinned. His nick name for her, little blade, suited her beyond the words intent. She was small, not as devastating as a sword but undeniably dangerous and easily concealed, easy to be used for murderous acts. Cold as the steel, subtle as the leather and as vicious in nature as the curve of her daggers.
"We should tell the Keeper" Ari informed. Caution was not usually her style, she was quick and deadly but foolish and pig headed. The unknown always made her feel alive, this place did not. She couldn't get over the feeling of fear she felt as her gaze turned to the door, as did Tamlen's.
"Just one more room" he informed in his athoritive, excited voice. Ari began to shake, unable to contain her weakness any longer as a whisper escaped her lips.
"Tamlen, my heart, ma'vhenan… please" she whispered before she let out a small whimper. Tamlen turned and wrapped his arms around her as she shuddered, feeling sicker by the second in this dreadful, evidently haunted place. The Veil was thin here, and she could sense the demons within. Ari had been prone to sensing magic yet she held no aptitude for it herself, which often confused and amused.
"It's alright, my love. There are no Shemlen here to harm you. I will not let harm come to you. It's just one more room then we will go back to the Keeper. You're safe here, I promise" his voice held the alpha side, but his softness and the warmth of his body grounded Ari's nightmares of human males and their chains, whips and other torturous designs no Elf could create for their cruelty.
"I love you" she smiled, removing herself from his arms and tightening her hands into fists. She took a deep breath before nodding.
"Ok. One more room"
….
Ari growled in the back of her throat, holding her daggers in shaking hands she willed to still. The bear, if it could be called that, glared at her through spiked eyelids and savage glowing eyes. Its whole back was covered in spikes, its flesh turned into a horrid colour of raw meat. The creature was twisted and corrupt. No other words came closer to its horrid description than corrupt.
The creature roared and rushed at her, already bleeding dark blood from the wounds Ari and Tamlen had inflicted. It reached her and swung a paw for her side, she twisted her daggers and drove them through the paw as the claws raked her side. She knew she should have screamed and yelped but instead she laughed, stepping back and twisting her daggers in hand. The pain in her side was almost non-existent, nerve damage she believed. Ari had an immense pain tolerance, much to many a healers annoyance. It rushed her again, this time lunging for her with a huge leap. Ari managed to spin, landing on her back as she drove her daggers up. The creature continued through the leap, tearing its stomach open and bleeding all over Ari. Her daggers finally caught on bone and were torn from her hands.
"Halam sahlin" Ari groaned, regaining her mind from a slight daze. She rested on her elbows, staring as the beast turned to face her once more. It snarled at her, although weakly, and began to lope for her once more. Ari's hand went to her boot, gripping the dagger Tamlen had made for her so long ago. She never had cause to use it as two arrows pierced the eyes of the creature and dropped it, driving her daggers deeper still for the fatal blow.
"Ma halam, beast" Tamlen growled, coming to Ari's side as his brave face faded into fear.
"By the creators. What was that?" He asked in such a shaking voice Ari held his hand, despite the blood covering her body. She shook for a moment before she managed to rise to her feet and stare Tamlen in the eye.
"You're asking me?" she panted with a laugh. Tamlen silently nodded before Ari sighed, becoming somewhat serious.
"Dead" She whispered, leaning to press her lips to his. She felt his lips brush hers so faintly a touch was not made before Tamlen turned his head to investigate the strange sound he heard, emanating from a mirror. It arched to a point, with glass that did not reflect. Two human mage statues surrounded the mirror, carved from the same stone as the stairs that led up to it.
"Stay back Tamlen. I bet the writing says 'don't touch the glass' it needs a Keeper to translate it" Ari warned, grabbing Tamlen's arm. He stepped forwards out of her grasp, enchanted by the dangerous mirror. Ari fixed it with a look of pure hatred, it was claiming Tamlen from her and it was a piece of glass. It only added to how the place felt wrong.
"Why isn't it broken like everything else? Especially with that bear lumbering in here. Did you see that? I think something moved inside the mirror" Tamlen started out calmly but soon excitement got the better of him. Ari in fact did see the movement, a purple swirl within the non-reflective glass. Perhaps a ripple. Instantly she felt a wave of nausea wash over her, she gripped Tamlen's arm once more.
"Get away from it Tamlen" she begged in a deep, warning tone. She refused to break.
"Hold on, I just want to see what it is" Tamlen said plantivly. Ari couldn't supress her anxiety as Tamlen pried her fingers from his arm and strode forwards, almost as if pulled by magic. It clicked into place as he stood before the mirror and reached out to touch it. Ari felt sick.
"It knows we're here" she whispered, suddenly afraid. She let a tear fall, her whole body trembling as she came to Tamlen's side. He was enchanted as he touched the mirror and spoke.
"It's showing me places. I can see a city. Underground? There is also, a great blackness" he mumbled onwards. Ari's mind went into overdrive of all she had heard. City. Underground. Blackness. Then she jumped to a conclusion. Death.
"It's Orzammar. Blackness… The…"
"Tamlen! Get away from it now!" She barked, suddenly furious at herself. She drew her daggers, ready to destroy the mirror if need be, but Tamlen was somehow connected to it. In horror, she realised she had lost what she loved most in this world.
"Help! I can't look away" He screamed as the magic came to life in the mirror. Ari grabbed his arm and pulled furiously, unable to break him free of the magic as she stumbled back. She herself saw the darkness, as if it had eyes. It glared at her as it slowly drew Tamlen in.
"NO!" she screamed, leaping forwards once more. The magic exploded in a brilliant ball of white that sent Ari flying into the roof of the cave, she bounced into the wall then to the floor. She never saw what hit her as a blackness of a different nature claimed her mind, body and began upon her soul.
….
She opened her eyes. It was blurred, very blurry.
Wood. She was staring at a tree perhaps. She felt a groan escape her as her head rolled, vision seeing green before she rested eyes on a thick, brown mass of hair. A bird's clever nest. Flesh surrounding a black hole with white stones embracing its edge.
"Can you hear me?" the voice boomed and shook in her ears, sounding far away and soft yet so near and loud it pierced her barriers and brought pain to her head.
The sky. Beautiful, white with clouds. Tree tops bending in the breeze.
"Creators, please. Do not take me from this. Do not let the Dread Wolf take me. Please…"
"I'm so sorry" before blackness became her view.
Warmth on her back, beneath her legs. Now against her side. Breath on her cheek, now chin as her head lolled back. No longer soft earth and leaves, metal and flesh. Cold and warm. Hard and unforgiving. So confusing. Impossible to focus. Blackness. Nothing. Now nothing.
Tamlen?