As her mind slowly started to regain consciousness, goosebumps formed on her body from the cold that surrounded her. Half-asleep her fingers wandered along the rough fabric of her blankets looking for the comforter that must have been pushed to the side. Why was it so damn cold in the bedroom in the first place? Did their heat go out at some point during the night?

"Keep moving, you'll regret it."

Her eyes snapped open, and she shot up. She did, in fact, regret moving when pain went through her body and spots appeared in her vision.

She hissed, "Fuck me."

"You're not my type."

She forced her eyes to focus in the direction of the voice and saw a man sitting next to her on a stool. He appeared to be wearing a dress, had a shaved head, and a huge scruffy looking beard.

"Who…"

Her voice wavered as her eyes took in the rest of the area. It was dim and gray. Most importantly it was not her bedroom. The walls were stone, and there was one thick wooden door with a small barred window. The "bed" she was on was a hard cot with a few blankets made of some type of tan wool.

The whole place was like something out of a medieval movie. Something she would see in Xena Warrior Princess. Her brows furrowed as her eyes continued to dart around the room as though she might find the answer to what was happening hidden in the dank space.

If she didn't know better, she'd swear she'd been transported out of her world or time. But that wasn't possible. This must be some bizarre movie set. A movie set run by people completely out of their minds.

She reached into her pocket and was unsurprised to find her cell gone. Fear threatened to overcome her, and she gripped the blankets trying to calm herself. Panicking would do nothing, she needed to focus, to figure out what was going on. Maybe this was some big misunderstanding.

"I need to go to a hospital. I'm sorry if I interrupted filming, but I'm hurt. I need medical care. If you'd just give me back my cell, I can call for help myself, or have my husband get me. It'll be less trouble if I…"

"Right, don't know what you're going on about, don't care. I have things to do besides sitting here listening to nonsense talk. I'm no mother hen, shouldn't even be dealing with this. Here." He placed a small vial next to her on the bed before standing. "Drink that and don't move much. Ribs'll heal in a few days; bruising will take longer. You oughta be dead. You and the other one. So, consider yourself lucky."

He started towards the door. She heard jangling and then a click before the door swung open. With a hiss, she stood as quickly as she could manage. She must have bruised her right hip badly, as well as breaking her ribs, and was unable to move fast. By the time she made it to the door and looked out the bars, beard man was already almost out of sight.

"You can't just…" the pain from her ribs at raising her voice made her voice falter but she forced her way through it, "You can't leave me here. It isn't legal. I have a right to…"

The bearded man yelled back at her, his voice echoing off the stones, "Just drink the potion girl and stop talking. You'll make the ribs worse."

The door to the dungeons shut with a thunk, and she let her forehead rest on the cold bars. She felt her heartbeat race. Her body was so tense it caused her to shake. This kind of thing didn't happen. She had jogged that trail a million times and was always careful. Now one mistake and she was some hostage.

The dungeon she was in was freezing. She had not been dressed for this level of cold. It had previously been kept at bay by the pain and confusion of what was happening. Now it started to permeate her bones and make her ache more.

"Some healer he is. You girl, you alright?" The voice was female, strong and deep. It came from one of the other cells, but she couldn't pinpoint which one.

"I...I'm alive. I guess that is something." She swallows, "It's freezing in here."

She saw a face appear in the small barred window of the door across from hers. The woman had freckles, a pixie haircut, deep red hair, and stunning violet eyes. She'd never seen violet eyes before but why not? Something more to add to the growing list of weird shit.

"The broth tastes like piss so no matter how cold you are, don't drink it. Blighters probably actually piss in it. Names Ivy. What's yours and what do they have you for?"

"I'm…" no not real names. Ivy seemed kind, but she didn't know the situation. It would be best to make something up. She needed to keep it simple. Close to her real name. It had to be something she would be able to remember. "Ella. My name is Ella. I don't know why I'm here. I remember… well, what I remember makes no sense."

"Some big green glowy thing sound about right?"

"Yeah, you saw it too?"

"Yeah, seems some of it got on my hand." Ivy lifted her left hand to the bars, wiggling her fingers. The palm glowed green.

"How is that possible?"

Ivy took her hand away from the bars, "No idea. I…"

The door swung open cutting her off. A group of soldiers came in, the clank of their armor echoing on the stone as they went to Ivy's door. They worked quickly shackling her and bringing her to the middle of the dungeon's main room. They made Ivy go down on her knees then proceeded to make a wide circle; swords pointed at Ivy.

"Overkill much?" Ivy turned to look at Ella watching through the bars and winked, "Don't worry kid. You kind of look like you could be my little sister. I've always wanted a little sister. When I get this mess cleared, I'll get you out."

Kid? She knew she looked young but honestly. Ivy looked to be in her late 20s herself. Kid was a bit extreme. She kept her mouth shut, though. Top priority was getting out of here. If Ivy could do that, she could refer to Ella however her heart desired.

"Thanks. Are you…"

The door swung open again, this time revealing two women. One was tall and fully armored, with raven hair cut short around the front and sides but the back braided and wrapped around the top. The woman had pretty enough features. The scars on her face added to her looks instead of detracting from them. The other woman was cloaked, and Sabriel could make out nothing of her.

She went ignored during their entire interrogation of Ivy. The whole thing was bizarre. She kept looking around for cameras but could find none. The only logical thing to think at this point was this wasn't a movie but that she had traveled to somewhere or sometime other than her own. Which should be possible. Perhaps she was in some strange re-enactment, and all these people were insane.

Whatever the case, they took what they were doing seriously. She learned that the raven haired woman was Cassandra and the cloaked one Leliana. They spoke of something called the Conclave being destroyed and seemed very intent on Ivy's hand, specifically the "mark" on it. If she and Ivy were brought in together, as she expected, that meant they must think there was a possibility she was involved in this conclave's destruction too. That was something towards figuring out why they had her locked up.

After several minutes of interrogating, they led Ivy out of the dungeons. Ella stood at the bars for only a moment before turning and easing her way back to sitting on her bed. The cold of the dungeon was now causing a sharp pain on her skin. In addition, her ribs and hip still ached, adding to the biting pain of the cold. Talking had made the ribs worse.

Ella picked up the vial beard man had left for her. Bringing it up to her face, she swirled the liquid around. It seemed fairly thick and was an amber in color, popping off the cork she sniffed it, wrinkling her nose at the smell. It smelled like rotten apples.

It could be poison, but if they wanted to kill her, it seemed like there was no reason to do it so subtly when they could just slice her head off. The pain in her ribs was bad enough she decided it was worth the risk. She tipped her head back, drinking the vial in one big gulp.

Luckily, it had no flavor and was oddly warm. She waited a moment half expecting to keel over dead. Instead, a hot tingling pulsed through her limbs. It made her head feel heavy; the pain numbing within a matter of seconds.

She eased down onto the cot pulling the covers up to her chin. The cold and pain felt distant now and it wasn't long before sleep took over.