Crunch…crunch…crunch…crunch…

Green filled her vision, floating debris drifting in and out of her line of sight. She could feel the rocks beneath her still body, cutting into her back and the backs of her thighs and shoulders. Her cheek was bleeding. It was cold here. The smell of burning flesh and hair filled the air, and screams could be heard in the distance.

Crunch…crunch…crunch…

Her body refused to respond to her commands as she tried to sit up. Her limbs were heavy, like lead, and she couldn't even hardly move a finger. Her brain was sluggish and slow, as if drugged.

Crunch…crunch…crunch…crunch…

That sound again. It was so close by. What was making that sound?

As if spellbound, her head rolled towards the sound. There were burnt corpses everywhere, obliterated stone pillars littering the ground around her. Veilfire burned where there was no source, between the cracks of cobblestones, from the eyes of the corpses, from the crumbling mountainside. It was a horrific, nightmarish landscape.

Only a few meters from her stood an enormous black wolf, its head bent over a corpse, maw open. It tenderly picked up the charred corpse, then lifted its head quickly, snapping its jaws jut. The corpse disappeared in a burst of blue-green fire, being sucked down into the wolf's gullet. Six blue eyes opened then, ablaze with ancient power. The elf let out a breath as she came to realize that she knew that shape, those eyes. The sound caught the wolf's attention, and it turned its fiery blue gaze upon her.

"Fen'Harel…" she whispered, fear gripping at her heart.

The god remained silent, but he took a step towards her, his enormous paw hardly making a sound on the stone floor. Was she dead? That could be the only explanation for the other corpses, and the Dread Wolf's presence. The deity moved closer and closer, until he was upon her. Her body still would not move, held in place by some invisible force as Fen'Harel came closer. He lowered his head to her face, his wet nose only a few centimeters from hers. Those blue eyes burned into hers.

"I've been watching you, little elf," a voice like lightening rumbled from a thousand different places, "And now it's time to wake up."

She wasn't aware she was awake until the flickering of light played on her eyelids. Cold stone chilled her cheek and shoulder, her wrists were burning. What happened? Where was she?

Groaning softly, the elf managed to crack her eyes open. Everything was dark at first, lit only by a few balls of flickering orange light. She blinked multiple times, trying to clear her vision. Eventually, the picture before her came into focus; she was in a dark, stone dungeon lit with dying torches. She could faintly make out the outline of a guard in the darkness, looking at something on a table in the nearby darkness.

With a groan, the young woman pushed herself up onto her knees, hissing in pain as he left palm stung with a hot pain. She ignored it at first, trying to get her head to stop swimming. She could hear the guards being alerted to the fact she was awake, circling her and drawing their swords, but she chose to ignore them. Instead, she forced her eyes closed again, trying to focus on steadying herself.

A flash of green and a sharp prick on her left palm caught her attention. She cracked her eyes open again, looking down at her hand. As she flipped it back over, palm side up, she noticed a long slash across the pale skin there, faintly glowing green. Then it flashed brightly, blinding and surprising her. She gasped, jerking her head back. What was that?

The door to the cell swung open, light flooding into the dark room. The girl squinted, trying to see the visitors. Two women, one in dark clothing with short hair, and the other was dressed in lilacs with a hood. Both approached her with purpose. The woman in darker armor circled around her, and the elf could feel the hair on the back of her neck prickle with the promise of danger. But she forced herself not to move, even as the woman bent down so that her lips were by the prisoner's pointed ear.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now," the woman growled, her voice lightly accented. She took to circling the elf again, "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead."

She rounded to face the kneeling woman again, a scowl on her scarred face.

"Except for you."

The young woman on the ground felt a spike of cold go through her, the shock registering on her fair face.

"Wh-what do you mean everyone is dead?" She whispered.

The dark woman, irritated, jumped forward and grabbed her by the wrist, holding her manacled hands up close to the elf's face.

"Explain this," She snarled.

An arc of green light burst from her hand, blinding her for a moment. The darker woman shoved the cursed thing away from her, and the elf let it fall back in her hand as her mind reeled.

"I-I…can't…" She admitted shakily.

"What do you mean, you can't?" The accusing woman asked, unconvinced and obviously angry.

"I don't know what that is!" the elf exclaimed, confusion and fear apparent now on her face, "Or how it got there!"

"You're lying!" The other woman spat, grabbing the tiny girl by her shirt.

The woman in purple jumped forward, grabbing her dark-clad companion by the arm and pulling her away from their trembling prisoner. The elf couldn't believe this. Everyone, dead? And they were going to blame her? Someone with no magical means of destroying so many lives?

"We need her, Cassandra," She urged, before turning back to the elf who stared at the ground in shock.

"All…all those people…?" the elf started, her voice shaking.

"Do you remember anything? How this began?" The woman in purple coaxed gently, hoping for answers.

"I remember running…" the blond of the floor responded, "Things were…chasing me. And then…a woman…?"

"A woman?" The violet-garbed woman exclaimed in disbelief.

"She reached out to me," the prisoner continued, "But then…"

It was dark after that. She couldn't remember anything other than the strange dream, and there was no way she'd reveal she had hallucinations about the trickster god of her people. They might decide she was definitely insane, and guilty. The darker of the two women, Cassandra, turned towards her companion, backing her out the door.

"Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take her to the rift," She ordered, turning back to the elf.

As soon as the woman called Leliana had left, Cassandra moved to her prisoner and began to put ropes around her wrists.

"What…what did happen?" she dared to ask her jailor.

Cassandra frowned as she unshackled her. She took her by the elbow and helped her up.

"It…will be easier to show you," the woman said with uncertainty.

As she led the small woman out, she turned back to her for a brief moment, regarding her in the dimness of the torchlight.

"What is your name?" Cassandra asked, curiosity in her voice, "I cannot just go around calling you 'elf'."

The girl finally raised her eyes to meet Cassandra's revealing their bright, vivid teal color under slim blond brows.

"Niyiritvi Lavellan," She said softly, "But everyone just calls me Niyiri."