"This is why dreams can be such dangerous things: they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes they consume us completely." ― Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

~oOo~

I awoke to darkness.

Just like in my nightmares but worse.

I wasn't dreaming.

"Get up! We must move!" Someone started to scream and yell. The ground beneath me felt wrong. There was no ground, no energy, no life that I could feel. My brain felt hazy as I got to my feet. All around me were shadows, an energy that didn't look or feel like anything before. The hands that helped me were old. A green light shone ahead as I ran.

Then I saw spiders.

Ugly large revolting things that made hissing sounds as they chased me. The green light was a man but it was his hand that glowed the strange color. Then there was a woman, old and wise by the face I quickly saw. Both of them were afraid like I was. I staggered again and I could feel heat against my neck. I got to my feet and continued to run.

Then there was a climb.

A large steep climb that made my breath become short, making me regret not taking gym class in high school seriously or just going for a jog every now and then. Was this hell? Heaven? Some type of cursed afterlife?

No, no it can't be.

This place felt so wrong it made bumps appear on my arms and legs as I climbed higher and higher. Up-ahead I could make out the man, reaching out to this bright woman who seemed to glow in a perfect warm light.

"Run!" I heard a woman shout but as I turned towards the old woman I saw I regretted it. She was gone with in seconds as I screamed out. A light blinded me and my body was forced on the ground; the real ground that I could feel beating beneath me. I opened my eyes to see people above me, pointing something at me before the darkness over took me once more.

I'm beginning to hate the dark.

~oOo~

I woke up in a strange place. Cold, damp, and somewhere I don't even remember being in. I was laying down on the ground, sitting up painfully as I looked around to where I was. I was in a jail of some sort. Outside of the jail however there were guards. Four dressed in full armor with real looking weapons strapped to their waists.

"Bring out the prisoners! Cassandra wants to question them." Someone yelled and I was painfully dragged out of my cell to sit on my knees. The man from before with the glowing green hand was forced in the same way next to me. He started to wake, his hand reacting to him doing so. He hissed in pain so I reached over to touch his arm but found that my hands were cuffed. With what little energy I had I pressed my hand to arm, flowing some of my energy into him. His eyes opened softly and he stared at me with confusion but he nodded his head in thanks. I nodded back.

The door opened with loud bang.

Two women dressed strangely walking in, more like marched, and stood around us with pissed off faces.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now?" The woman with a painted white star on her chest said, her accent thick as she spoke. "The conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you two." She said.

Conclave? What the hell was she talking about?

The man next to me remained silent so I did the same. The woman got angry, then took man's chained hands to lift them up to his face. "Explain this." She said and his hand crackled with the green glow.

"I can't." She threw his hands down at his answer.

"What do you mean you can't? And you?!" She nudge me with her knee. "Who are you? You are not from the conclave and no one has seen you before. Where are you from?" She demanded but I couldn't talk. I would open my mouth to speak but my throat hurt too badly to speak. I shook my head for an answer.

"I don't know what that is, or how it got there and she has nothing to do with this either." The man answered.

"You're lying!" The woman grabbed him by the front with a force the rattled his chains. She's scary. She was about to hit him when a woman with a hood over her head stepped in, pushing her friend away,

"We need them, Cassandra." She spoke.

"I don't understand." Everyone turned towards the man.

"Do you remember what happened? How this began?" The woman with the hood asked. With the darkness of the jail I couldn't see their faces at all but by their voices I knew they were women.

"I remember running. Things were chasing me...us..., then a...woman?" The man turned to me and I nodded, backing up his story.

"A woman? You saw her too?" She asked me and I nodded.

"She reached out to me, but then..." He sighed, trying to remember what happened.

"Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take them to the rift." Cassandra said. Leliana? Where have I heard that name before? The hooded woman nodded and left. Cassandra then approached us, unchaining us to the floor only to bind our hands with rope.

"What did happen?" The man asked. The woman helped us to our feet.

"It will be easier to show you." She said.

We followed her through stone hallways with torch light. All I could think of was that I was misplace; somewhere I wasn't meant to be but there is this feeling in my chest that kept telling me to wait and see the outside before I made my opinion. Middle Ages? Castles? Dragons? Where the hell am I?

Then I saw the outside.

Then I knew I was royally screwed.

Part of the sky was painted a sickly green color where lighting exploded. The light of day couldn't hide the darkness that part of the sky seemed to cover. I turned to the woman and gasped. Getting a good look at her face and putting two and two together; it gave me one clear answer.

Dragon Age.

I was in a damn game.

This shouldn't be even real!

I must be dead.

"We call it 'The Breach.' It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It's not the only such rift. Just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave." Cassandra explained to us.

"An explosion can do that?" The man asked.

"This one did. Unless we act, The Breach may grow until it swallows the world." Just then the sky growled and shattered, causing the man's hand to glow brightly giving him pain that forced him to his knees. I feel to my knees beside him just as Cassandra did the same, pointing to the sky. "Each time The Breach expands, your mark spreads...and it's killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."

"I understand." The man said and I nodded my head.

"Then?"

"I'll do what I can. Whatever it takes." He said and we got to our feet. She helped the man walk seeing as his energy was low; through the crowd of people normal looking and those dressed in full armor like knights.

"They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of Haven mourn our most holy, Divine Justina, head of the Chantry. The conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and Templars. She brought their leaders together, now, they are dead." We continued to walk towards a bridge of some sort while Cassandra continued to explain the situation. "We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves. As she did. Until The Breach is sealed." She stopped us and pulled out a dagger causing my blood to run cold. "There will be a trial. I can promise no more." With that she cut our bindings free. "Come. It is not far."

"Where are you taking us?" The man asked. Now that I was able to get a good look at him I could see he was fairly handsome with dark stubble on his face, a head half shaved neatly on one side with green eyes. He looks to be around my age actually, maybe a year or two older. He somewhat reminds me of Eric.

Eric...

Amanda...

Where are they if I'm here?

"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the breach." Cassandra said as we began to run across the bridge. Great, more running! Fuck. "Open the gate! We're going into the valley." The large wooden doors opened and I pried on the inside that I wouldn't die within the first minute of coming across an ugly.

Faster we ran, running by soldiers who exclaimed it was the end of the world. I wanted to laugh. If they wanted to see the end of the world, they needed to see my world first. The closer we got the larger and more powerful the pulses happened, bringing the man to his knees more and more. Cassandra and I helped him back to his feet. She said that the bigger it got the more demons would appear and the less time to close it would shrink. The man asked how we survived and Cassandra said we stepped out of a rift then fell unconscious. There was a woman behind us but no one knows who she was.

Woman?

The old woman I saw get taken?

Or the glowing one I saw?

Cassandra was about to speak more when something collided with the bridge, shattering it, making us free fall to the ground below us. I groaned in pain as I shook the dizziness from my head. Something shot out from the sky and landed only a few feet from my face. What appeared out of the ground froze the scream in my throat.

A shade.

I knew enough of this damn game to know the first two games but this one...only Eric played it. I watched him once and it was only for a minute before Amanda and I left for the mall. The three of us grew up playing video games and the like but if I knew I would ended up here, I would have paid more attention.

"Stay behind me." Cassandra drew her sword and shield, rushing forward to attack the creature. The man and I moved back when we saw part of the ground glow green, another one of those things popping up from the ground. The man ran behind me to grab a great sword that lay conveniently behind us. Just as he reached it, the shade that appeared before, raising his claws to strike when I raised my hand, not caring if my secret would be known.

Like I said, I'd rather not die with in the first minute of stepping outside.

A burst of flame shot from my hand, throwing back the shade in a confused daze. I got to my feet and threw another before the man came up behind me to take down the shade. He and Cassandra took down another two shades, no thanks to me of course, before coming together once again. I look down at my hand and shook off the remaining flame that lingered.

Don't lose control.

Embrace it, ease into it.

It's not a curse.

But a gift.

"Drop your weapon, now!" Cassandra ordered.

"If you are going to lead me through a demon-invested valley, you'll have to thrust me." The man said, his sword raised in defense.

"Give me one reason to trust you. The both of you." She said sternly looking straight at me.

"Because our lives are on the line." I spoke up this time. The man looked at me and gave me a small smile to which I returned.

"You're right." Cassandra sighed and put her sword away. "I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenseless. I should remember that you agreed to come willingly." Cassandra then turned and began going up the path.

"You alright?" I turned towards the man who asked me the question. "You're not hurt are you?"

"No," I coughed to clear my painful throat. "I'm fine. My throat is a little sore but I'm fine."

"What's your name? I'm Jacob." He held out his hand and I shook it with a smile.

"Aleera."

"A pleasure to meet you but I wish under different circumstances." Jacob said and I laughed dryly.

"I wish this meeting was different too." I sighed. "I wish I could help better like you guys." I told him and he ruffled my hair.

"You are a mage are you not? Every mage is helpful not matter what size. Just remember to not aim at me." He said with a laugh and I opened my mouth to say something but was cut off by more monsters attacking us. More and more of them came as we neared one of the rifts. We saw people fighting, a short stubby man with a crossbow and a slightly taller man with pointed ears and a staff. Cassandra and Jacob ran in, swords drawn but I froze where I stood.

Tears fell down my face as I realized what was happening.

People were fighting.

Dying.

Everything is real.

And they think I'm a mage that can help fight.

But I'm not.

I'm just a girl misplaced in a world that's not hers.

"Aleera! Help us!" Jacob shouted at me and I just stood there. Next thing I know there's this large shade coming straight at me.

With Speed I've never seen it appeared out of thin air right before my eyes. I screamed, closing my eyes while raising my hands to hopelessly block but I was thrown back onto the cold snowy ground. I rolled a few feet before that thing charged once more. I got to my knees and stared the monster down, feeling rage boil in my blood. The fire inside raging, expanding, growing...

"Fuck off!" I screamed, throwing my hands in front of me, engulfing the monster in flame. It screamed in pain, making me smile in pleasure that I hurt the bastard. I got to my feet, my breathing heavy from over exerting myself too much. The monster fell to the ground but another quickly took it's place. I steeled myself, bringing my hands back for another burst of raw fire, aimed right at it's face. It moved just seconds before but something knocked it away from me. I looked, seeing the sort man with the crossbow smirking in my direction. "Nice shot." I called.

"Just playing the hero my lady." He mocked and I actually laughed. The short man came over by me and we stood back to back. I closed my eyes just as another shade appeared from the ground. I drew water from the snow around me, using everything I taught myself since I learned I wasn't quite normal. I turned it into a spear, plunging it right into the monsters body causing it to scream in pain as it died.

"Close the rift! Now!" Someone ordered and I felt the air become thick. I closed my eyes just as a green light exploded.I opened my eyes and the rift was closed with everyone turning around to look at me. Jacob's hand glowed green so of course he must have closed it but with everyone staring at me I wasn't too sure what was about to happen.

"What are you?" Jacob asked as he came closer towards me.

"I'm not a mage that's for sure." I told him. Their faces held suspicion, this look I've seen many times and all I wanted to do was hide in a hole somewhere.

How many years did I wish for my power to go away?

How many years did I wish I could just disappear?

To vanish?

Too many time to even recall counting the number.

And now?

I was I was even more invisible than I wished before.

~oOo~