As far as human controlled lands the Brecilian Woods were by far the best place Draug had ever stayed. Ever since the Hero of Ferelden had solved the Werewolf issue all those years ago, it had become increasingly peaceful. Of course the shems often gave his clan more headaches than they were worth but with the help of Lanaya the clan was able to avoid any violent disputes over land or hunting rights. It would have been harder had the new human king and queen not granted the Dalish lands in the Korcari Wilds to have as a permanent residence but it was better than nothing. The game there was not as bad one would imagine it to be but he and a few others still preferred the warmth of the forest over the mushy ground in the swamp-like Wilds. Occasionally someone would give grief about getting land that had so thoroughly been infested with Darkspawn that they thought it was subtle attempt to be rid of the Dalish. Having served with the army during the Battle of Denerim and seeing the Darkspawn flee in such number that he ran out of arrows, Draug doubted the remaining creatures would put up much of a fight. There were a few stragglers, yes, but his clan had proven to be more than capable of warding off the creatures and the diseases they carried for years now.
Unfortunately neither Darkspawn or the need for hunting game were the reasons he was this far out. Yesterday his sister had a heated argument with Lanaya about some ruins located in the Brecilian Woods. While anything related to the past of his kind was always interesting Draug made it a point to never involve himself whenever the Keeper and her new First disagreed about things. Family was one thing but choosing sides between two female mages, especially one that had barely seen fourteen winters, was not something he could rest easy about. The last time he sided with the Keeper his sister had frozen his hands together during his sleep. Now his dear sister had decided to run off and even then Lanaya had to be convinced to divulge where Romen could have gone on the condition that if her trail led into the ruins to not follow. If she did all he was technically allowed to do was either return or wait for her to come out. Not exactly the most brotherly thing to do, the Keeper was just trying to keep everyone safe, but Romen was his sister and it would take more than an ruin to halt Draug from finding his kin.
In the very least Fen had volunteered himself to aid in tracking down the wayward First. He was a young hunter, still enough of a child to have his voice crack every now again, but man enough to earn his vallaslin and to become a Hunter. In the dim light of the Brecilian Woods Fen's red markings were barely visible on his tan face. Had he had hair that reached beyond his ears then perhaps they would have been shadowed but he was always one to complain about how the wind tussled with his hair when it was longer. Draug by contrast was relatively pale with shoulder length black hair that he had to keep tucked behind his ears in case his darker vallaslin was not enough to set him apart from the shems and the flat ears. Likewise, Fen was ever the adventurous one and often darted around the trail Romen left behind as he called out her name while Draug kept himself silently on track lest his sister believe he was angry with her. She should have known better than that by now, Draug just had a naturally deeper voice than most of the other males and had only pulled her hair once. Whether he pulled it so hard that it became red or if that was her natural hair color was an entirely different debate.
"Draug, what exactly did you hear between Keeper Lanaya and your sister anyway?", Piped Fen out of nowhere. This had been the first time Fen had actually talked to Draug since they left the safety of the clan. Glancing over to see the younger elf gracefully walking on a fallen tree with his bow still shouldered. Having been so young during the rougher years of their clan Draug was much more vigilant with an arrow already notched.
"Besides something about the fact it involved ruins? Nothing, why? Did she use language she shouldn't have again?", he replied whilst keeping his eyes high enough to see the trail without running into a tree. A thumping sound followed by a light huff caused Draug to raise his head once again, only to see that Fen was now walking side by side with him.
"So you didn't hear the good part? For a Hunter you never had an ear for important things." One of Draugs eyebrows subconsciously rose, indicating that Fen should get on with what he had to say or stop feeding his own curiosity. Once he turned his gaze back to the trail Draug could hear the other elf take a deep breath, preparing for a longer than necessary conversation in all likelihood.
"Well, apparently these ruins might be from the days of the Elvhenan or something. It was not until a few years ago when one of our sister clans made camp nearby it did we ever discover it. Apparently two of their hunters decided to explore it after frightening off some looters. Once inside they were attacked by all kinds of evil creatures and corrupted animals. One of them wanted to turn back but the other, Galem or something, wanted to find out what could have been so great that some shem looters would risk going in there at all after the initial creatures they encountered. After getting past some millennial old traps they found an artifact left behind by our people and that it was still working. The Galem guy decided to go look at when some dark magic knocked out the survivor. When they woke up the survivor told the Keeper what happened and then-"
Fen was cut short by Draug suddenly raising his hand in front of his chest to get him to stop moving. At first the younger of the pair thought it was because his elder did not want to know how the tale ended or was simply going to tell him to shut up until he followed Draug's gaze. Before the two was a cave opening and despite the darkness within Fen could see that it actually led to the interior of some kind of building. This must have been the ruin the Keeper and the First had been talking about and as if to confirm his suspicions he could see an elfroot they commonly used for medicine neatly tucked between a crack in the wall. Draug remained silent for a characteristically long amount of time before he started walking towards the opening, notching his arrow once again as he called out over his shoulder. "You can wait here or tell the Keeper I went after her. If the Lanaya believed this was dangerous then there isn't any need to risk your life as well."
Draug's bare feet had just touched the spine chillingly cold floor of the ruins when he heard Fen's lighter footsteps rush up to him. Before long the younger elf was in front of him, wielding two Dar'Misus in the ever shrinking space. "We are part of the same clan lethallin. Creatures or no you can't expect me to stand aside when you and the First walk into danger."
Despite Fen's attempt to deepen his voice it still cracked when he mouthed creatures. The bravado did not go unnoticed and when the younger of the Hunters looked back Draug smiled and nodded with approval. "The three of us will be eating venison around the campfire in to time, telling exaggerated tales of our findings for the whole clan. Just tread lightly for me."
With a curt nod Fen continued to walk in front of Draug, though at a slower pace, and was eventually side by side with him. At first the light gave way to total darkness but in time light filleted through cracks in the ceiling and walls, giving the ruin a foreboding presence. Both of the hunters made as little noise as possible and even Draug held his breath at times whenever he saw a shadow flicker in the corner of his eye. Though it took some time for him to register, Draug realized they were walking in what was the first of probably many hallways and that they would have to quicken their pace to find Romen. Without so much as a warning Fel yelled out, "Romen where are you?"
Draug knew the boy had nothing but good intentions but the following silence made it seem as if they had just walked into the middle of shem assembly with their pants down. The fact nothing happened after and that there was no response was even worse. Something was off, way off. As they approached the doorway Fen sprinted towards it and after poking his head through it to make sure it was clear he ventured even further away from Draug. "The coast is clear. Nothing here but a few spider webs and bones."
As if to prove it was actually safe Fen lowered his stance and casually walked backwards into the room, examining the walls in front of him. "You know, I think there might be some pictures carved into the stone. You should really take a look at this as we get…what are you doing?"
Draug knew he did not have enough time to talk and to act so he went for the latter. Raising his bow, he pulled back on the arrow as he felt the tension increase in his weapon. He knew it was too damn easy and he just hoped that Fen would shut up and get out of the way for once. As he released the arrow that was all he could think about. Just for Fel to shut up and get out of the way.
Just this once.