ONE

"-cannot be reached at this time. Please leave your message after the tone."

BEEP.

"Hey, its me, again. You know, your best friend? The one you were supposed to pick up over an hour ago? Stranded in the rain? Please pick up your fucking phone, Drew."

I slammed my thumb on the red button, huffing and pulling my pleather jacket tighter around my body, trying to shield myself from the berating wind and rain. Another flash of light and I mentally began to count to prepare myself. 1… 2… 3… 4….

CRASH!
I still jumped at the thunder, cursing my own jumpiness under my breath. A shiver overtook me as a car passed by. It was late. Far too late to be standing outside by myself, in the middle of a storm. My ride home, however, was nowhere to be seen. I glance back at the bar, wondering if I should just go back inside, try to get ahold of Drew from inside. A flash of the bartender's hungry eyes raking up and down my body sent me tensely looking back down the road, watching for signs of the green jeep that belonged to my very late friend.

I may as well have left my skin behind as I jumped and yelped, another lightning strike sending me into a panic. I could swear that that one had only been meters from me. I stumbled down the sidewalk a ways, dazed and more than a bit frightened. Another flash, all around me. The crashing filling my ears, rattling my bones, scorching my core. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt. It burned.

I was only aware of the screaming when the crash ended and the burning abruptly stopped. Only the burning in my throat brought me aware of the fact that I had been the one screaming. At some point I had ended up on my knees, arms still hugging my own body tightly. I squeezed my eyes open before they flew open wider.

Instead of seeing 27th Street, I was greeted with trees. Dark, looming trees and a damp wetness seeping into my jeans from the dewy grass I was sat on. I squeezed my eyes shut once more, trying to blink the image of the trees away, to blink myself back to where I was supposed to be. I peeked open an eye, only to still see the trees surrounding me. I huffed, pushing a hand into the soft, moist ground. A resounding squelch followed as I pulled my hand up and out of the wet ground. I took in the surrounding wetlands, wishing away whatever predicament I had gotten myself into. Alright, Arissa, you're a psychology major, I reminded myself. What's going on? How do you explain this away?

I wracked my brain, trying to figure how I could possibly be one place and then suddenly another. I lifted a heel that had sunk deep into the ground with far too much effort. Losing time. It wasn't unheard of. People blacking out and waking up with no clue where they were or how much time had passed. I cursed the $40 I had wasted on these stupid shoes and began to yank one off my foot as the other heel began to sink again. In my effort to undo the latch on the strap, I skewed my balance backwards and fell, landing promptly on my backside, grunting at the impact.

"Not… worth… forty… fucking… dollars!"

I finally tug off the second heel, letting out a "HAH!" of victory. I contemplate the shoes for a moment before tossing them to the side and leaving them on the ground as I stand once more. I glance around at my surroundings once more, only affronted with endless trees.

"Right. Okay. So. Pick a direction and walk."

Figure, if I walk one direction for awhile, I'm bound to find something. At least, the end of the forest. Eventually.

My legs shook with the effort to take another step. How long had I been walking? I couldn't tell anymore. I wasn't even sure if I was still headed in the same direction I had initially chosen. The dark had long since turned to dawn and now it was somewhere in the next day. How many hours had it been? How far had I gone? Everything looked the same in this forest. A noise pulled me out of my slight trance. A crack, a twig or a branch breaking. A sound, one I hadn't yet been greeted with in this still, wet place.

I stilled in my movements, unsure how to react to the noise. A person, maybe, if I was lucky, but more likely it was an animal. There had been no animals thus far, signalling to my brain that I should be fearful. Stillness and silence likely meant a predator, a dangerous one. As if on cue, movement came from the brush, a sort of growling and spitting following suit. I could see a figure in the shadows of the trees, though it almost looked human, not something that should be making such sounds. I felt myself still planted in my spot, unable to force my body to move. I looked down to my feet urging them onward mentally. Something shone up at me, markings glowing in a circular formation. It looked almost familiar, but still strange and foreign. My stupor over the glowing markings was broken when another growl signalled, this time much closer than before.

Dread wrenched my gut at the sight before me. Sunken cheeks around a sharp, yellow and brown maw of teeth. Flesh wrinkled and dry, forming around bone and sinewy muscle. Beady eyes, locked onto me, a hungry, terrible grin between cracked brown lips. The stench of filth and rot hit me abruptly, raising bile in my throat. I would almost tell myself this was a zombie, all those horror movies come to life, if it was for the spark of intelligence behind those horrible black eyes that devoured my shape. A thump of the wooden staff in its hand and a great spitting howl into the air, its long sunken face tilting upwards to echo the noise better.

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to not be here, in this moment, any longer. I didn't feel any sort of pain immediately. Instead, I heard the clanging of metal, shouts of anger and frustration. I peeked an eye open, before frantically looking around. People, real people, surrounded me. With swords. Fighting back the zombie-like creatures. Clad in armor, like that of a medieval knight or something one might find at a renaissance fair. One of the creatures fell against me as one of the warriors struck them, the impact knocking the breath out of me. My mouth fell open as I gasped for air, the bitter, metallic tang of blood greeting me. I coughed and sputtered as a sour, disgusting taste affronted my tongue. I spat and gagged, but I could feel the taste slide down my throat. A dry heave assaulted my stomach, but to no avail to rid myself of the vile blood of the beast that I had consumed. Disgust overwhelmed me, but with a start I realized I was finally able to move once more. I stood up, stumbling away from the fighting as best I could. Cold, sharp fingers gripped my shoulders, a hard impact hitting my head and back. I turn up to look behind me, fear curdling my stomach. Relief swells as I realize its only one of the warriors, not the terrifying creatures that had erupted from the trees around me.

"Stay behind me," the muffled voice from behind the helmet commanded. I nodded and obeyed, following him closely as him and his company carved a path through the creatures, leading me through the trees and eventually, to a path. I didn't intend to cling so closely to the man's back, but I did, a hand resting against his metal-clad shoulder all the while we clambered forward.

"We have a mission we must complete," the gruff, muffled voice informed me. We had stopped, finally free of the thick trees and beasts within. I looked up to the helmet, the small window allowing me to look into the dark eyes. "I cannot guarantee your safety unless you stay with us. The darkspawn linger in the shadows still, and the only safe place will be within the walls of Ostagar."

"Darkspawn?" I repeated numbly, feeling my head begin to swim. I knew the word, but couldn't place its meaning. The name Ostagar set my brain on fire as I began to piece together the events, the sights. I knew this story, knew these creatures, this world. Although, it was all quite different and unrecognizable when brought to life rather than on a screen. It couldn't be right, but when the helmets began to come off, I recognized three of the faces immediately. Two I couldn't quite remember the names of, but one I immediately recognized as Alistair, my chosen in-game romance. My savior, however, I did not recognize. Numbly, I wondered if this was Cousland? He was certainly human, and he wielded a sword and shield, not a staff. Cousland, then, I assumed.

"The monsters that were ready to carry you off," a dark brow quirked quizzically, eyeing me with curiosity. "You've never seen one before, then?"

I shook my head, still feeling a bit numb and shell-shocked. This couldn't be real, but then again, I considered, I may as well go along for the ride. "No, never," I stated quietly, eyes darting across the faces of the men.

"All the more reason you must stay with us then," he stated simply, using a hand on my shoulder to guide me ahead of him as he replaced his helmet upon his head. "Stay safe, avoid the taint and the blight. We have to complete this mission."

Avoid the taint… I stopped mid-step and he almost barreled into me. I could almost palpably feel the color draining from my face as I realized with dread what had happened. "I have the taint." It was a numb statement, a dull realization.

"How do you know? The blood-" It was Alistair's voice, distinctly recognizable to my ears, even in this state.

"It got in my mouth," I responded, hands gathering into my hair, all gathered on top of my head. A small curse from Alistair, echoing inside his helmet.

"We'll still bring her with us," the man who I assumed to be Cousland stated with conviction. "Duncan will know how to proceed."

Alistair gave a nod of agreement, though I could feel the gravity of pity radiating off of the men.

"Your mission," I began, swallowing thickly. "What is it?"

It was Alistair who answered this time, preventing the others from saying too much, I would assume. "Grey Warden business. We are to retrieve some items from a ruin, then return back. Its not far now, we should be headed back to Ostagar soon."

"I see." So they were only in the beginnings of it all, gathering the blood and the documents, which mean they had yet to meet Morrigan and Flemeth. I knew what was to come, yet fear and uncertainty still mingled into my gut as we pressed forward, a dull ache beginning to swell in my head between my eyes. Was this the blight sickness, beginning to pull me to the hands of the Archdemon? Was I fated to become a ghoul? Or would the darkspawn sense me and come for me, to take to me to become a broodmother? I shiver crawled down my spine at the thought, remembering the horrible rendering. How would it look in actuality?

Not my first choice of story to write, but simply the only type I can actually motivate myself to write at the moment. Definitely a guilty pleasure of mine and something I want to at least try to do well if I'm going to do it. I am, for the most part, making up most of it as I go along, though I do have a vague, general game plan. If you made it this far, thanks for the read! Comment if you wanna, it is encouraging, but lurking and reading is fine as well.