Cearbhail:
And we're moving along.
We walked for what felt like hours through the snowfall. Snow's never really been a problem for me though. I was raced in the Free Marches, far to the north of wherever the heck we were. The only problem I seemed to have with this place was the lack of available air. We must be high in the mountains or something like that. I don't have much problems with mountains either, I love to climb them. Love to climb trees too. Heck, I just like climbing. It's what I like to do for fun back home. Whenever we move to a new place, I find the nearest mountain or tree and get as high up as I can before we move on. It's… refreshing to me. A great way to get away from my brother, who is afraid of heights in a way that keeps him from following me up trees.
So, walking for hours up this one path leading to the top of the mountain was not so bad for me. Having to listen to Cassandra's retelling of events that led up to me being captured was kind of boring though. As soon as we exited the prison of some town, Cassandra looked back at me. "Welcome to Haven." As she started leading me through the town, she directed my gaze to the people of the town. There were a bunch of them just doing their thing outside, like hanging clothes on the line to dry, or smithing… or just gawking at the massive green tear in the sky.
A few eyes met mine, and I tried my best to smile. A few of the people shied away from looking at me; a few others were scowling at me. One kid even threw a snowball at me, hitting me on the back as we walked past them. Jeez.. what's their problem? Was it because I was an elf? Had to be. Humans hate us.
Cassandra kept quiet the whole time I had snowballs chucked at me from behind. Even as we existed Haven, I could still feel the eyes of the people at my back. Man… they really hate elves. Once we were out of their earshot, I looked over to Cassandra. "Jeez, they must hate elves."
She shook her head. "No, to them… you are already guilty. To them, you are the reason the Conclave has failed, why our Divine Justinia is dead. She was Head of the Chantry, one of the most beloved people in the whole world. The only person who could bring together the Mages and Templars, forge an alliance between the two… and now… she's dead, and so are the leaders of the Mages and Templars. Any chance for a peaceful resolution to the war is now at an end. And to the people of Haven, you're to blame."
Well… that was a lot to take in right off the back. I let myself stop to think about what that could mean as we walked through the snowy paths heading up to the giant green breach in the sky. We walked past a few smoldering piles of green smoke on the way up, and on the way, Cassandra filled me in on more and more details about the war and how it had ended with the Conclave. I had to admit, I never really paid any attention to the stuff going on outside my clan. I only ever cared about living each day and making sure everyone was moderately happy. An unhappy clan is… well… when they're the only people you talk to on a daily basis, and there's like only 20 or 30 of you… life can grow pretty unpleasant if even one person is upset with you. We try not to let things like that happen in our clans. I may hate my family… but even still, I'd never openly do anything to cause resentment in our clan.
We finally came up to a giant gate. Cassandra, after perhaps an hour of silence, turned to look at me. "The Conclave was meant to be a chance at peace between Mages and Templars. And Justinia brought their leaders together, tried to get them to end the war. And now they're dead. And You remain. Everything is uncertain, and in our uncertainty… we lash out. Like children. But, we must be better than that. We must see the bigger picture. Like She did. Divine Justinia. But until the Breach is sealed, I fear that we will continue to lash out."
The gate opened up and we walked out onto a bridge. As the gate closed behind us, I could see that we were standing on a set up camp filled with battlements and soldiers decked out in armor. This was the beginning on the military operation then? That forward camp Cassandra mentioned earlier?
Cassandra turned to face me. "There will be a trial; I can promise no more."
I nodded. "Only sounds fair… I guess."
She smirked slightly at the comment. "Very commendable. Now come." She turned around again, leading me down the bridge. "It's not far."
I looked up at the massive tear in the sky. A lot higher than I can reach, let alone shove my fist into. "Looks far."
Cassandra glanced back. "We're going to test your mark on something smaller than the Breach. See if Solas is right."
"Solas? Who's Solas?" I asked as I jogged to catch up to Cassandra.
"An elf, like you." Cassandra replied as she quickened her pace.
Solas was an elf? Was he Dalish? Or… one of the others? "Is he Dalish?"
"Does it matter?" Was her only reply. And that was the end of our conversation as we jogged up the snowy path towards the Breach. A few soldiers were running in the opposite direction, screaming about the end of the world, as well as having wives and kids… stuff like that.
As we ran up the path, I started seeing more and more destruction. Carts that were smashed and lit on fire… giant craters in the ground. And as I looked up at the sky, the skyline was only growing sicker green, green comets falling from the sky to the ground, slamming and exploding upon impact. If I was a painter, this would be the moment I would pull out my sketchpad and get to work. Too bad I suck at sketching… or painting. Any form or art, really. Wow… I really wanted to work on that now. If only I had a sketchpad.
I was jarred out of my thoughts by my hand exploding in pain. It was painful enough that I was thrown off my feet, falling onto my knees. It felt like my whole hand was tensing up on itself, twisting and splitting open, vanishing completely from the rest of my body. It's really disconcerting!
As I lied on the ground, grasping at my now slightly less painful hand, Cassandra bent down to help me up. "The pulses are becoming stronger now… quicker too." She replied to me as she picked me up. "We must hurry or there won't be enough of you left to fix the Breach."
That's a very good plan. I like this plan. If it will get rid of the thing in my hand, I'm all for destroying the Breach. Too bad it's all still theoretical.
"The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts that show up… and the more demons we face." Cassandra said as she took the front again, racing ahead of me.
I struggled to catch up. My hand was still glowing a bit, the pain a light dull throb. "Demons? What do you mean, demons?" No one said anything about demons! I mean… yeah, the rifts led to the world of demons, but no one said anything about fighting demons!
"Demons spring from the rifts; they swarm around the rifts… using the energy to sustain their lives in our world. And there are many demons between us and the Breach. I suspect we will have to fight some before we arrive." She replied, glancing back at me. "Just stay behind me and I'll keep you alive."
Great… I'm entrusting my safety to a woman that just an hour ago wanted to kill me. Then again, she wanted me to close the Breach and save the world… and then face a trial that will probably end with me dead, so… I guess in a way I'm already dead to her. Great. She just has to hold onto me until I can do the whole 'saving the world part' first. And all because I survived an explosion. Wait… how did I survive the explosion anyway?
"So... the explosion? How did I survive that?"
I looked up at Cassandra, who only shrugged. "No one knows for sure. But people claim you stepped out of a rift, fell unconscious… and that a woman was behind you, in the rift. No one knew who she was, or why she was still in the rift."
So… that would explain why everyone seems to think that I'm responsible for the explosion in the first place. I ended up in the Fade somehow… maybe… and then I miraculously appear out of the giant thing I may have made? And have this glowing thing on my hand that awfully resembles the giant thing in the sky… even reacts painfully to it? And this explosion killed not only the Chantry's leader, but the leaders of a war council striving for peace? And I'm the one stepping out of the thing responsible for ruining all that. Great… just great. No wonder I had kids pelting me with snowballs earlier. I would have gladly done the same a few years ago.
"Get back!" Cassandra screamed as she turned to slam into me. I hadn't been watching where I was going and as I snapped my eyes up, I saw that I was on a bridge. Falling from the sky was one of the massive greet comets I mentioned earlier. Cassandra managed to tackle me, shielding us both with the shield on her back as the comet exploded, the bridge surrendering to the impact. We didn't have enough time to get up, and if I could, I would have use my expert climbing ability… not to mention mediocre agility, to get myself back up the falling pieces of the bridge. But, sadly I was trapped under the gorilla woman, and incapable of leaving. So… it was because of her that both of us were trapped on the bridge as it started to collapse on itself.
As the bridge underneath us began to crumble, I felt a horrible sharp pain as we landed on something. Cassandra wrapped her arms around me as we slammed into the side of debris. "Hold on!" She screamed as we hit the jagged broken structure. I screamed out in pain as we hit, my vision darkening as the force of the impact rolled the two of us off the debris, only to continue rolling down the broken structure. I wrapped my arms around Cassandra, hoping that her protected body would act as a buffer between me and the sharp rocks surrounding me. As we hit the next round, I heard Cassandra clunk against the rock for me, only proving my instincts right in keeping myself attached to her.
There was another slam on my left side, mostly on my elbow and knee, but that was the last impact before rolling onto the icy frozen river right underneath us. I sighed as I felt cold water lapping at my sleeves. The impact of the broken bridge had shattered through the thick ice of the river. Some of the water trapped underneath was pushing its way up… the icy structure I was lying on top of was slowly starting to shatter at the edges. And… I hate to bring this up but… I can't swim. Like… at all. If I go into water deeper than my waist, I'll probably freak out and slowly let myself drown. I just can't swim.
"Shit…" I mumbled as I tried to crawl up to my hands. My elbow and knee would not have it though. They were throbbing intensely… my entire left arm shot to the point where it wouldn't stop shaking. My leg wasn't any better.
Cassandra was shaking the wooziness from her head as she started to pick herself up. "Well, that was unexpected." She spun herself off her back, pushing herself back up to her feet like it was nothing. She brushed the ice and rock off her armor before reaching down to pick up her slightly blood-glistened sword. "Blood?" She said upon inspection. She glanced at me, and I saw her eyes go a bit wide.
"What?" I asked as I looked down to my side. I felt a sharp pain earlier… and I thought it was from the debris. With the long gash in my side… I'm guessing not. "Fuck…" I mumbled again. No wonder I wasn't moving.
"Sit still." Cassandra said as she rushed up to me. There was a crack underneath her foot, and those little ice cracks continued to spread all around me. Cassandra carefully assessed her situation, looking at the ice cracks. And as she did so… I felt and heard more around me start to give. The debris from the bridge was pushing more and more on the ice, forcing some of the river to break open. I was surrounded by the debris. I'm right in the middle of an accident waiting to happen.
"Even under normal circumstances…" I looked up at Cassandra. "I can't swim. I can't even crawl right now." I heard another snap right in front of me. Another line with some water springing up. The line slowly started to spread to another line already pushing a bit of debris underwater. My entire front was freezing cold at this point… I know I can't survive this. I'm as good as dead anyway.
"Try to relax." Cassandra pleaded as she tried to slide her way up to me slowly. As she did so, I heard more and more cracks forming around me… and her weight was not helping the matters of this ice shattering. I felt more of the ice start to sink under the water, even heard a piece of debris break through the ice. Some of the weight holding me down released, which almost made me feel safe. But… more and more cracks were sliding across over to me, actually forming underneath me.
"Fuck…" I repeated.
"Just sit still." She inched forward, which sent another crack further along. A small piece of the riverbed shattered near the edge. I felt my ice shift a bit as more and more of my resting place began to break apart. When Cassandra noticed this, she waved me to her. "Try to inch your way over. Can you do that?"
I struggled to move my arms, pull myself. When I did, I felt some cracks form underneath me, but it didn't break apart. I had managed to move myself by at least an inch. Not so bad. I looked up at Cassandra, and she was nodding to me. "Yes, just like that. Keep moving forward. Another few feet and I'll be able to drag you off that sheet of ice." Sheet of ice?
I glanced around the cracks. The cracks further along touched the ones on the sides… and she was right… they were broken enough that I could see water dripping up. I was floating on a sheet of ice. A sheet of ice that was slowly breaking apart. Great. And now that I was noticing that, I was also noticing how my sheet of ice was rocking side to side. Also fantastic.
"Is there anything you can throw at me? A rope? A branch? A flotation device?" I glanced up at Cassandra.
She nodded. "I'll go grab a polearm. Be right back." Right before she turned to leave, I saw something heading right down towards us. It was another falling green meteor.
I struggled to point at it. "Behind you!" I screamed.
Cassandra turned around just in time to see the meteor crash right in front of her. As it did so, I saw some green slime climb out of the meteor. The green slime started to take form into a floating specter. Another form screamed to life as it turned into flowing lava. Flowing lava… sitting on top of a frozen sheet of ice. Demons. Great… just great. Now, not only did I have to deal with the collapsing ice river, but now we have to deal with demons… especially ones that are manifestation of fire and lava. Great.
Cassandra reached for her shield, bringing it up. "Sit tight. I'll take care of this!" She screamed a challenge as she charged into battle. She slid on the ice as she ran off, but her boots took to the ice like a champ and she skated across the lake like a seasoned professional. It was actually impressive to see her skate across the ice, sword in hand, shield protecting her front. As she charged up to the first demon, one of the green specters, she spun on her heel, slamming the ghost with her shield. With the same spin, she spun her sword right through him, cutting him in two. By the time she was finished with her spin, she was already rounding on the lava demon crawling its way to her.
And while Cassandra was busy rushing to the demon, I heard something rumbling above me. As I looked over my shoulder, I saw a huge chunk of the bridge starting to break loose. I barely had time to scream in horror as that huge chunk broke loose and fell down right on top of me. Well, not directly on top of me, but enough that when it hit, I was thrown off my sheet of ice and into the air. I felt cold water all around me, but I knew that I wasn't underwater. No… I was watching myself fall right onto a safer patch of ice. And I slammed pretty hard into it, which only made that hole in my side hurt more.
I slid for a few seconds before coming to a stop, a small wave of cold water washing overtop of me. Well, I might be cold and wet, but… at least I'm alive. I looked around for Cassandra; she was still busy dancing circles around the fiery demon, protecting herself with her shield from the fire the thing was spitting up.
I was about to flip myself over and let myself relax until I heard a moan from my right. I snapped my head around to see another of those fiery demons standing right my right side. And it was coming right to me.
I pushed myself up, or tried to. The ice was slippery from the water and it led to a face-plant on the ice. Even though I just wanted to lie there and let myself die… I knew I had to get moving or I would actually die. So I pushed myself up onto my knees, looking around for what I was going to do next. There were several weapons from the bridge washed up next to me. A sword next to a shield, a massive claymore, a bow with a quiver of arrows, two daggers, a lance, and a mage's staff. That's… that's a lot of specific weapons gathered right around me. So… I'm a hunter. I'm not too bad with a bow, but… I'm even better with my daggers.
I cast one last glance at the demon; it was moving right for me. I had no time to sit and think. I dove for the daggers, sliding against the ice, pulling myself as I slid to them. Once I reached the daggers, I scooped them up, stabbed the ice, and then pushed myself up onto my knees. I could barely walk, but I could skate. I threw myself on top of the flat shield and then dug my daggers into the ice. The ice was thicker here, thick enough that I wouldn't break through if I did this. I readied myself on the shield as I pulled myself forward. And I started skating on the shield across the river towards the demon.
As I quickly approached the demon, using my daggers as my steering device, I slipped right past him as he breathed a stream of fire at me. The heat was real; it was also nice after being soaked in freezing water for a few minutes. I almost wanted to wrap my arms around the demon and let myself dry before having to kill it. But I didn't really feel like I should take the chance. If I didn't kill this demon it might kill me. So, I had to do something to fight it. I'm pretty good at moving fast; I'm very agile. Just… just not on ice. Or with a banged-up knee. Or a wound in my side. I'm lucky I'm able to keep myself balanced on this shield.
I slid to a halt right behind the demon. I quickly turned myself around, spinning one of the daggers in my hand around as I prepared to throw it. The fiery demon was turning to face me; I had to act fast. I readied my throw and waited for the thing to turn to face me. As its head finally caught up to me, I launched my dagger right at him. I scored him in the head, just enough that it threw him back in agony. I took that as my cue and pushed myself off the shield, sprinting with all I had to the thing. My knee was a bit shaky, my limp perhaps a bit too much. And my side was screaming in pain as I pushed off… but I did it. I threw myself into the air hard enough that I crashed into the burning lava demon. And… it was satisfying. My ears felt like they were going to freeze and fall out. Now… now they felt toasty warm.
Even though I was enjoying my heater, I knew I had to kill this thing before it set me ablaze. I reached for the dagger in his head, grabbing onto it as I slid my other dagger behind its thick neck. With both daggers on each side of his head, I scissored them, cutting the demon's head clear off its shoulders. As I did so, the demon exploded into a thick green paste, slimy green paste.
I fell to my knees, happy that my immediate death was no longer approaching. I escaped the sinking platform of ice, and I escaped being burnt alive by the demon. I'm safe now.
That's when I felt a sword land on my neck. "Drop you weapons, now!" Cassandra bellowed from behind me. … Fuck.
I immediately let the knives fall from my hands, and I held my arms up in what I hope is a peaceful gesture showing respect for her position as a law keeper and cooperation with her not killing me. "Ok, ok. See? They're gone." Please don't kill me. I know I'm an elf, but seriously… please don't kill me.
"Good, now get up." Cassandra lifted her sword, putting the tip right underneath my chin. As she raised her sword, I found myself practically being lifted up by her tip. Fear of having a new chin ring will do a lot to curb any pain in your body, it would seem. As I pushed myself up, Cassandra walked forward, letting her sword brush past my face. Once she was at my back, I made certain that my hands were still very visible to her. No need for her to think that I was somehow… harassing her or doing anything that could make her feel threatened enough that she would kill me. Even though she needs me. She's a weird human. I fucking hate humans now. If they're all like her, especially those who are supposed to protect people like me, then they're nothing good.
Cassandra walked past me, still glaring me to death. "I should remember…" She glanced down at the daggers. "you volunteered to come with me. You could have run while I was fighting… yet you didn't. Go ahead, pick up your weapons. I cannot protect you, and I still need you."
Cassandra looked at my bloody wound on my side, as well as the line she drew across my face. She reached into a pocket and pulled out small bottles of healing potions. "Here, take these potions. Maker knows you'll need the strength."
She tossed me a potion and I was quick to drink it. I felt all that pain in my side quickly vanish, or at least numbed down. The pain in my knee was gone though. And so was the pain in my elbow. Good news. At least I can fight again. "Thanks." I said as I pulled the empty potion from my lips.
Cassandra only grunted in response as she started leading me up the hill. "Let's get a move on. We're still far from the rift." And with that, she took off in a slow run up the path. I took a small breath, checking my side for any bleeding. There was no hole anymore, no open wound. I had to swipe the blood around just to make sure that there wasn't one anymore, but it seemed healed. Healing potions… interesting.
"Don't just stand there." Cassandra called up from further ahead. Behind her I could see some dissolving remains of demons. "Let's get moving before we're too late."
Too late? I glanced up at the giant vortex of green energy in the sky. Yeah… too late is a bit of an understatement by now. But… if I can keep it from getting worse, then great. I rushed as I tried to catch up with her. Falling meteors of green slime were everywhere… and knowing what I just saw, each falling meteor had the potential of having demons inside it.
So, on the two of us went. We scaled up the mountain, pretty much following the frozen river. Every so often a meteor would crash down somewhere nearby and we'd fight the demons. With my newly healed body and two daggers, I was able to sprint circles around the demons, landing small but satisfying hits with each pass, slowly wearing my opponent down. And when I got them weak enough, I would throw myself at them, cutting them down with two daggers in the face. Or decapitation. I almost missed the sparring matches from back home. I trained with the few warriors we had. They wanted the extra practice… and having another guard for the clan is always welcome.
Cassandra and I fought through wave and wave of demons as we made our way up the hill. Each encounter was only in the small digits, somewhere between 2 to 4 demons per encounter. It was enough that the two of us were quick to cut our way through. I was getting a bit tired tough. Whatever wounds I had when the bridge collapsed were more-or-less healed. I was holding up just fine.
Once we got through our sixth or so wave of demons, I was starting to get a bit tired. "Are we there yet?" I couldn't believe I had to ask this question. I'm not a child!
Cassandra glanced back at me. "We're close to the rift now. I can hear the others fighting."
"Others?" What others? The soldiers we left behind? The ones that made it across the bridge?
Cassandra nodded. "You'll see them soon. Let's hurry up." She continued running up our pathway.
I watched her go. She had so much energy… and I'm barely keeping up anymore. I took a deep breath and forced myself to keep up with her, jogging up the path. My muscles were pretty tired. A good energy potion would fix that. Make my muscles stronger and refreshed. No! Bad Ellana. That's how addictions start! I know what happened to my uncle Hiirsei. He drank too many of these potions and ended up needing them to get up in the morning. I will not turn into that! Only when I'm wounded.
I glanced down at my finger. It had a ripped hang-nail on it. Ouch… that's a lot of potential pain right there. And infection. Better take a healing potion… just in case. One more won't hurt.
I reached down for the bottle, almost stopping myself from actually grabbing it. "I need it." I said to myself as I reached for the bottle. My other hand actually snatched it, keeping my hand away from the healing potion. "No… I need it." My other arm refused to let me do it though. I threw my hand away, cursing at myself before saying, "Fine! I don't need it yet."
I charged up the hill after Cassandra. As I reached the top, I could hear the screams of combat. I could hear soldiers up ahead fighting a bunch of demons. Finally, meat shields! I mean… fellow compatriots. Yeah.
I raced up the pathway, which opened up to a broken wall that led to an abandoned fort. Well, I guess it wasn't all that abandoned. It was filled with demons and soldiers fighting each other. There were a bunch of likewise dressed soldiers, but a few that stood out as well. There was a small… dwarf, I think? He had this crazy-looking crossbow with a loader that looked like an X. I wonder if that helps with the draw and release function?
There was also an elf. He was standing in the middle of the battlefield, staff in hand, manipulating those delicate energies that make up spell-craft. I watched as he spun that staff around, whipping icicles out of it like it was nothing, shooting fire out of his palm as he hit a demon on fire… and sent lightning through the ice at the remaining few demons around. Ok… I know I'm good with knives and whatnot… but… I'm sure you've caught onto my jealousy of my younger brother. The one that's training as a mage right now. I really… really wanted to be a mage. I just don't have the talent for it. And as I stood there, watching this other elf create everything out of nothing, giving a stylish smack down to the demons in the battlefield… I was getting jealous again.
"What are you waiting for?" Cassandra asked from somewhere inside the battlefield. I shook the look from my eyes as I charged into the battle, readying my daggers. I ran into the battle, slicing my dagger at the first demon I saw. And as soon as I hit it, it was killed by Cassandra. And just like that… the battle was over. I joined in that late.
There was this light that poured off of the fallen demon that stretched back to this floating green rift. Wow… it looked like the breach in the sky, only… smaller. Easier to shove my fist through. And… it was at just the right elevation for me to stick my hand in. Great! Something I can work with!
Before I could do anything though, that magical elf was already grabbing my hand, dragging me to the small rift. "Quick, before more come through!" He screamed.
"Hey… what?" I didn't have time to ask as he stuck my hand out at the rift. My hand started flaring up and I felt something ache inside. My fingers stretched out and before I knew it, I felt a connection to the rift in front of me. A light shot out of my hand, snatching the rift. I felt my hand… pull? Pull the rift close, like closing a zipper. The light continued to shoot out at the rift and then… I felt like I had to do something. So I pulled my hand away from the rift, to break the connection or something.
I did more than that. When I pulled my hand away… the whole rift exploded into energy particles. Just like that… no more small rift. So… did I just do something? I looked around the recent battlefield at the confused soldiers, to the hopeful Cassandra, to the smirking empty-faced elf. He smirked like he knew something.
"What?" I asked him. He knew something, I knew he did. "What was that?"
He only nodded. "That was me proving my theory was correct is all." He glanced at Cassandra. "I was correct. The mark on her hand can close the Breach."
Cassandra glanced at me with slightly less-angry eyes. "Good. Then the Maker has not abandoned us yet."
The Dwarf was pulling at his gloves, partially ignoring us. "Good to know. And here I thought we'd be ass-deep in demon shit before dinner."
I glanced down at the glowing mark on my hand. "How did you figure that out?" I glanced back up at the non-Dalish elf… the uncultured twit that seems to know a lot about magic for some reason.
The elf shrugged. "It is of the same esoteric material as the Breach. I theorized that its nature could conflict with the rifts, perhaps even the Breach, allowing us some amount of control over the esoteric material ourselves. With that in mind… I theorized that you could close the breaches. And I am correct, as always." He glanced back at Cassandra, tipping his head to her respectfully. "Our next move should be obvious."
Cassandra nodded. "We head to the Breach… finish what we started." She glanced past us to the giant hole in the sky. "We have a bit of a journey ahead of us. But now… we have a slight chance at fixing this." She looked at me. "If you can do this… you might just prove your own innocence." Great… I can't wait to prove I shouldn't be killed.
I looked down at my hand. This mark was still giving me weird numbing pain. I couldn't wait to get rid of it. Just a little longer, I guess. A little longer and I'll be rid of it. I'll be back to my home… or maybe somewhere else for a few weeks first in no time.
"She has nothing to prove to you." The dwarf said as he walked up. "She's already proven her innocence. Why else would she even be here?"
Cassandra scowled at the man. "If that is true, then she will have nothing to fear at her trial."
The dwarf scoffed. "Yeah… trial. I can see that going very well for an elf. Alienage or death sentence… I can't decide which is preferable at this point." He looked at me, sticking out his hand. "Varric Tethras: Rogue, storyteller, purveyor of fine cheeses. And as of late… unwelcome tagalong."
I stuck out my hand. "Um… Ellana Lavellan: huntress, potion addict, and halla rider. And as of late… unwelcome heroine." I glanced at Cassandra. She only rolled her eyes at me as I shook Varric's hand.
Cassandra only threw her shield over her shoulder. "Yes, yes, let's get all the introductions out of the way. I am Cassandra Pentaghast. I am a Seeker, a righteous woman who only wants to protect our way of life. And right now… we're wasting time on introductions."
The elf glanced at me, smirking. He bowed at me, which made me feel compelled to bow back. "Solas." He glanced at me thoughtfully. "I guess the only thing to my name at the moment is my study of the rifts." He shrugged at the rest.
I looked at every inch of Solas' face. I didn't see any signs of a vallaslin at all. No scarring remains of removal either. "So… are you Da-"
"I am an elf." Solas replied quickly. "Perhaps not one of… your kind."
"My kind?" I almost echoed him. "Don't you mean your kind as well?"
He shook his head. "No, I follow a different path, one not founded on lies and deceit."
"Deceit?" This little fucker. "Ok, you. Let's get something straight. I don't know which alienage you grew up in but-"
Cassandra groaned. "We haven't the time for this. Let's get a move on."
Varric smiled. "I don't know… I'm enjoying this. I was thinking about making some popcorn, perhaps break out a quill and paper…"
"You're not coming with us anyway, Varric." Cassandra looked back at him. "Wait… quill and paper? Which book?"
He shrugged. "Seeing these two love-birds together is making me feel creative for a romantic romp of a story."
There was a silence that stretched over Cassandra and Varric. Cassandra looked at Solas, looking at us very intently. She finally turned around, waving it off. "Take all the time you need. The Breach can wait."
Varric almost chuckled. "I don't know why that works." He shook his head. "But I won't argue with it." He nodded to us. "Please, go ahead. You have the Seeker's permission."
I looked back at Solas, who was staring right through me. "Your vallaslin… yours is that of June's." He looked at my vallaslin, my tribal blood-mark. It was a tattoo every Dalish elf gets when they grow up. You got to pick the color ink… you got to pick which tattoo you wanted. The tattoo showed a deep connection to our gods, to our heritage. We've always had vallaslin… as far as we know anyway. I picked June's. It wasn't because I felt specifically connected to June or anything… it was because I thought the design was pretty. There were two kinds of June tattoos… I went with the one that had the diamond on the forehead. I thought it was prettier. Classier. I felt more of a connection with Dirthamen… the god of secrets and knowledge. But… his vallaslin was dark and edgy… and creepy. I didn't want to wake up to that face every morning. June's was elegant and… it worked well with my face structure.
I nodded to Solas. "Yes, it's June's. I'm surprised you know that."
He nodded back. "I've spent a lot of time dwelling in the ancient ruins." Oh… so he wasn't some know-nothing prick from an alienage mocking my culture. He's a rogue elf spitting on our traditions instead. "The god of crafts. Interesting tattoo to say the least. And yet…you seem to wear it proudly."
I shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? I love the way it looks." Shit… I shouldn't have said it like that. I'm representing all my clan when I'm away. "I mean… June is a wonderful god to dedicate my life to. Why without him, we wouldn't have the weapons we use to defend ourselves with."
Solas nodded. "Perhaps, but the wars that began recorded history would have been less bloody and involved." Now… that's just a stretch. I'm sure we'd grow out our fingernails or bite each other. Nothing would stop war if someone wanted it to start. Nothing.
"Can we continue this later?" Cassandra asked. We both glanced at her to see her looking up at the sky. The Breach was pulsing again, growing larger. "If we continue to dawdle… I fear we may be too late."
Solas and I locked eyes. We both glared each other down, but I stuck out my hand for a handshake. "Truce?"
He took my hand in his. "Until we are safe anyway."
Well… that's a start. Before this is all over, I'll have him sitting in a chair getting a vallaslin of his own. Just you watch. Might have to get him drunk first but… you know. Shit happens.
Cearbhail:
So, we finally meet Solas and Varric. I'm trying to break away from the conventional conversation they always present at the beginning of the game, while still getting in all that exposition and character defining stuff. It will be hard, but I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow. Anyway... see you later?
