Chapter 2

Duncan

Asil opened her eyes tentatively but the world swam around her.

"Can you hear me?" an unfamiliar voice said. She looked up and saw a human man with black hair in fine armour. He seemed to be carrying her. Asil tried to protest being carried by a shem but her mind was clouded and her vision left her again.

"I am…very sorry," she heard him say before she fell unconscious again

Asil woke again, this time she was lying down in what seemed like her Dalish camp. She lifted her head and his time the world did not spin. However, Asil felt incredibly ill. It wasn't a sickness she had felt before. Putting a hand to her head, she slowly got up and stepped outside. The bright sunlight startled her but as her vision fully returned, she saw she was indeed back at camp.

"You're awake! You've the god's own luck, Asil," said a voice nearby. It was Fenarel, another elf from the clan.

"Everyone is worried sick about you. How do you feel?"

Asil looked around and saw Tamlen was nowhere to be seen.

"Worried. Where is Tamlen?"

"We don't know. The shem who brought you here saw no sign of him."

"A human?"

Asil could not remember such an encounter. The last thing she could remember was the blinding light from the mirror…and Tamlen.

"A shem brought you back two days ago. You don't remember him?"

"I've been here two days?"

"Yes, you should have seen yourself when he brought you here. We thought you were dead. The man was a Grey Warden and appeared out of nowhere with you slung over his shoulder."

"Oh."

"You were delirious with fever. He said that he found you outside a cave in the forest unconscious and alone. He left you here and ran off again. The keeper's been using the old magic to heal you."

Asil blinked in awe. She didn't realise how bad the infliction was. She knew the mirror was bad news. Something gnawed at the back of her mind about Tamlen. She had to find him. Asil realised she hadn't said anything back to Fenarel.

"The shem was a Grey Warden?"

"So he claimed. I just wish he'd told us where that cave was. Most of the hunters are looking for it right now."

"We need to find Tamlen."

"The keeper wanted to talk to you as soon as awoke. Stay here, I'll get her."

The clan's keeper arrived moments later. She smiled a comforting smile,

"I see you are awake, da'len. It is fortunate Duncan found you when he did. I know not what dark power held you, but it nearly bled the life from you. It was difficult even for my magic to keep you alive."

"Then Tamlen could be sick as well?" Asil asked. It was strange, she thought, how that now she cared about Tamlen's well being more than ever.

"If he encountered the same thing you did, yes. The Grey Warden said he found you alone outside a cave, already stricken. Duncan thought there may have been darkspawn creatures inside the cave. Is that true?"

Asil had a deep set detestation of humans. She was not ready to believe the word of any shem.

"Why listen to anything a shemlen says?" Asil said, more aggressively than she intended.

"The Grey Wardens are an old and honourable order, da'len, and we Dalish have enough enemies. Was he correct?"

Asil thought back to the corrupted bear. Perhaps this was the darkspawn of which she spoke.

"They look like a man, but dark and tainted with evil. Perhaps you fought one in the cave and it wounded you."

Asil shook her head. She knew where this infliction came from.

"No, it was the mirror."

The keeper seemed surprised, and fearful at the same time,

"A mirror? And it caused all this? I have never heard of such a thing in all the lore we have collected."

The keeper sighed and turned away,

"I was hoping for answers when you woke, but there are only more questions. And Tamlen remains missing. He is more important than any lore in these ruins. If he is as sick as you were, his condition is grave."

"We'll find him though, won't we?"

"Duncan returned to the cave to search for darkspawn, but we cannot rely on him to look for Tamlen as well. We must go ourselves, and quickly."

"I agree."

"Do you feel well enough to show us the way, da'len? Without you we will not find it."

"I am up to it, Keeper. I feel fine," Asil lied. She could still feel a nagging sickness in herself but Tamlen was the one that needed saving now.

"I am ordering the clan to pack the camp so we can go north. Take Merrill with you to the cave. Find Tamlen if you can, but do it swiftly."

Asil nodded. She knew Merrill knew a degree of magic and also had some knowledge of arcane curiosities, such as the mirror. She was the best person to take. Asil went to find Merrill.

"Go quickly, for Tamlen's life hangs in the balance," the keeper added.

As Asil walked though the camp, she saw Hahren, the clan's storyteller telling a legend to the children of the clan. It made Asil happy to see the young elves so interested in the elven history. It seemed he was telling the tale of how the elves became slaves. It was a sad tale, but an important one. It was also the reason Asil held so much resent for humans. She imagined what the world would have been like if they had their own place to call home. If the elven homeland still existed. Hahren noticed Asil listening in,

"Ah, Asil. Do you remember what we say at the end of the legend? The oath of the Dales?"

Asil nodded. It was a line she never forgot.

"We are the Dalish, keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path. We are the last Elvhenan. Never again shall we submit."

Before Asil left, she decided to inquire about the Warden. She was still curious about them she.

"What do you know about that Grey Warden?"

"The one who brought you back? Very little. He seemed decent enough, as humans go."

Asil did have to admit, her feelings of dislike were not as strong to the Warden. After all, he had saved her life- an act most humans would never do.

"As for Grey Wardens, they're heroes without a doubt. Member of our own clan joined their ranks in ages past."

This piped up Asil's curiosity even further,

"Really? There were elves who were Grey Wardens?"

"Yes, but that was long, long ago now. You should go now, Asil. Tamlen is waiting."

Merrill found Asil before she found her. Asil was usually more observant but the sickness had sapped a lot of her energy and sense.

"The Keeper told me I'm to accompany you back to those caves," Merrill explained, "as her apprentice; I may see something you missed. But our main objective is to find Tamlen, of course."

"Let's head out now."

"Let us make haste while daylight lasts."

Asil lead Merrill to the cave. She hoped she was heading the right way, especially as she didn't remember the trip back at all. As they approached the cave, Asil heard movement in the trees nearby. She pulled out her bow and hesitantly put an arrow to the string. Merrill was about to say something when a group of creatures sprung out from the bushes. Asil shot one through the head straight away while Merrill used her magic to help subdue the other two. Asil suddenly felt sick again as she realised that they were darkspawn. When the group of grotesque creatures had been killed, Merrill stepped backwards away from them. It wasn't often she found something like this.

"What were those things? Were those darkspawn?" she asked.

"That would make sense," Asil replied. Merrill stared at the creatures,

"I've never seen anything like them! You can smell the evil on them. But where did they come from? Were they here before?"

Asil looked around. The area seemed familiar but she did not recall encountering any darkspawn before,

"Maybe the mirror has something to do with it," she deducted. No matter what, Asil felt that the mirror had been the cause of all of this and that it was linked to the darkspawn.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough. Let's hope we don't find any more of these monsters."

Asil slung her bow again and set off. But Merril didn't follow,

"What's wrong?" Asil asked.

"Are you all right? Were you hurt during the fight?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You look quite pale."

"I'm fine," Asil protested. Every moment they wasted here was a moment they could be using to find Tamlen.

"I'll keep an eye on you," Merrill said, "You've only just recovered from your illness."

"Wait, do you hear that?" Asil said, motioning for Merrill to be quiet. Merrill looked around and her face showed an expression of concern,

"No forest creatures. It's too quiet. The forest is too…still. Something's in the air…something unnatural."

Asil realised it felt as it did when they were in the cave before the mirror. This wasn't a good sign.

"Careful, I don't like this. It's the same as it felt in the cave."

"And now it's affecting the forest? Maybe that mirror unleashed some kind of sickness. That would not be good."

"That's an understatement. But we must hurry"

With renewed energy, the pair hurried to the cave. Thankfully, Asil found it again. Yet again, she entered ruins.

"So these are the ruins? Interesting?" Merrill mumbled as she inspected the area, "nothing here explains the monsters though."

"The mirror was deeper down. Perhaps we will find answer's there," Asil reasoned, "and we must find Tamlen."

"Or what's left of him. I can't imagine he's still alive with those creatures about," Merrill suggested as she walked further into the ruins. Asil's heart clutched at the thought of Tamlen being dead,

"Don't talk like that. You don't know," Asil said softly as she followed.

"You're right. We should explore further before I go on about my fears. I'm sorry."

As they crept deeper down into ruins, the pair encountered more darkspawn. They were a lot more difficult to kill than the spiders that Asil and Tamlen had fought. But Asil was glad with each darkspawn killed. It meant one less monster in the forest. Finally, they came to the room with the mirror. Asil saw a figure standing inside and hoped for a moment that it was Tamlen. But as they entered, she realised it was not. It looked like the Grey Warden, Duncan. He stood in front of the mirror but did not seem to be ensnared as Tamlen had been. He simply stood there with his arms crossed and looked as if he was trying to solve a puzzle. At the sound of footsteps, he turned around.

"So you were the ones fighting darkspawn. I thought I heard combat."

He looked to Asil,

"You're the elf I found in the forest, aren't you? I'm surprised you have recovered."

Asil spoke before she thought about her words. The sight of humans usually did that to her.

"I don't know you, human. Nor do I owe you anything."

Merrill spoke up at Asil's rude reply,

"Even if you didn't owe this human your life, a Grey Warden deserves respect."

"I…I'm sorry. It's not often I talk with a decent human," Asil apologised. She had never had great social skills, especially not with humans.

"She owes me nothing," the Warden reassured, "It was my duty to return an injured Dalish to your clan. Your people have always been allies with the Grey Wardens."

"I suppose I should at least thank you. Though most humans I meet aren't worth talking to."

"Then I should be thankful we are having this discussion. My name is Duncan, and it's a pleasure to finally meet you. The last time we spoke, you were barely conscious."

Merrill introduced herself first, and with more tact than Asil had,

"Andaren atish'an, Duncan of the Grey Wardens. I am Merrill, the keeper's apprentice."

"I am Asil Mahariel, hunter for the clan," Asil introduced reluctantly.

"Your keeper did not send you after me, did she?" Duncan asked, "I told her I would be in no danger."

"We're looking for our brother, Tamlen."

Duncan was interested in the fact that there had been another in the cave,

"So you and your friend Tamlen both entered this cave? And you saw this mirror?"

"Yes, Tamlen touched the mirror and I blacked out."

Duncan nodded thoughtfully,

"The Grey Wardens have seen artefacts like this mirror before; it is Tevinter in origin, used for communication. Over time some of them simply…break. They become filled with the same taint as the darkspawn. Tamlen's touch must have released it…"

Despite the situation, Asil felt annoyed at Tamlen. His recklessness had never done anything too serious in the past but now it seemed he had released something terrible.

"It's what made you sick. And Tamlen too, I presume."

"So I had the darkspawn plague?" Asil asked. She had heard of such a sickness before but didn't know its long term effects. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

"You have it still. And it will infect others so long as this mirror exists. Your recovery is only temporary. I can sense the sickness in you, and it is spreading. Look inside yourself and you will see."

Asil hadn't been willing to trust the human, but his words had truth to them. She knew in herself that she was not recovered.

"Perhaps there is…something to what you say,"

"Confirm it with your keeper later, if you like. For now we must deal with mirror. It is a danger."

Asil had to agree with Duncan there. She wanted to destroy the mirror and all like it. Duncan unsheathed his sword and brought it down in a mighty blow on the mirror. The glass shattered and again gave a burst of light. This time, no one was knocked down. Duncan shielded himself with his arm from burst. He looked at the remains of the mirror for a moment, making sure it was truly destroyed before turning back to the elves.

"It is done. Now, let's leave this cursed place. I must speak with the keeper immediately regarding your cure."

"What about Tamlen," Asil asked as Duncan headed to leave the room,

"There is nothing we can do."

"I'm still alive. He could be too," Asil was becoming desperate. She didn't want to believe he was dead, "I'm not leaving until we find him."

Duncan turned around and put a hand on Asil's shoulder. He looked into her eyes and Asil saw pity and sorrow in the man's eyes.

"Let me be very clear: There is nothing you can do for him. He's been tainted for three days now, unaided. Through your keeper's healing arts and your own willpower, you did not die. But Tamlen has no chance. Trust me when I say that he is gone. Now, we should return."

Duncan left, and Asil just stood there for a moment, coming to her senses,

"Lethalan?" Merrill asked sympathetically.

"Let's just go," Asil said softly. There was nothing left for them in the cave now.