Tamlen and I travel a short distance on the path the shems had described when a noise ahead breaks the silence. Tamlen glances at me and I shrug but keep my left hand at the ready on the pummel of my sword. We round the corner of the path slowly, in a slight crouch, to see two rather large pure white wolves attacking a Halla. The larger of the two stood off to the side, the poor Halla didn't stand a chance. As the smaller wolf lands the killing blow, they sense our approach and whirl around to attack us. The warning growls they release raise the hair on my neck and the fresh blood of the Halla dripping from their white muzzles make them appear even fiercer. I pull out my sword and drop my bow, I'm an excellent shot but I prefer to be up close when fighting. I was born with a warrior's heart according to Keeper Marethari. Tamlen and I developed a system from early childhood and after many years of practice had perfected it; I take the forward attack while he provides cover fire.
I slide slightly to the left bringing my sword up, as the smaller wolf leaps and graze its left side. The beast stumbles as it lands and I turn to face it. The wolf, snarling, charges towards me again and jumps. I drop to the ground and roll underneath it, only to find the larger wolf charging straight for me. As the smaller wolf lands, Tamlen fires an arrow into its shoulder, gravely wounded it falls to the ground. As Tamlen finishes off that wolf, I barely have enough time to roll toward the right as the jaws of the larger beast close on the air where my calf had been. Tamlen notches another arrow and releases with the fluidity that only comes from years of practice. His arrow finds and wounds the left side of the beast just as I rise again and slice off its head.
"I don't think… I've seen them that… aggressive before," I say trying to catch my breath, "I mean I know they were probably hungry but a wound should have driven them off."
"That's true but we have seen more aggressive ones around so I wouldn't worry much about it, besides you have me to protect you," Tamlen says with a wicked grin and winks. I reach over and punch him in the arm but still laugh and shake my head.
"Oh yes the fearless Tamlen shall protect me. When he can barely aim his bow," I say.
Tamlen pretends to be hurt by my words but then strikes a pose with his arrow as his sword and claims boldly, "Well we can't all be as good as the mighty Dain, now can we?!" We both laugh as he slices the air with his "sword". I pull my dagger from my boot and walk towards the two wolves' carcass's.
"Come on we can use the hides back at camp."
After skinning the wolves, we prepare a travois to take the Halla back to our clan's herder Elora, for a proper burial. For the moment we place it off to the side of the path.
Wiping my hands in the grass I stand and bow my head in a short prayer, "Falon'din will guide you." Somberly we continue on our journey.
It is mid-morning when Tamlen points to an opening in a hill to a cave. "I don't remember seeing this here. Do you?"
The opening of the cave was strange, almost as if something had dug it out from the inside. "No, I don't. We should probably check it out, but carefully." I say as I unsheathe my sword and he silently notches an arrow. We begin to slowly pick our way into the cave.
As we walk down the dirt floor begins to turn to stone. "It looks like the shems were telling the truth," he says in awe as the dirt slowly begins to turn into stone, "but it appears to be a human ruin not..."
Suddenly two massive spiders drop from the ceiling cutting short his assessment. I unsheathe my sword and stand between them and Tamlen. My stance solid but my mind was not. Fucking spiders, Of course it just had to be spiders. What the hell! Why are they so big! Fuck, ok you can do this, deep breath. The largest is just barley shorter than I am, its legs every bit as big as my thigh. It was surprising how little noise they made, being so large I expected to hear small thuds as they stalk toward us, however, I hear no sound as they raise each hairy leg. My attention snaps from the beasts' legs to the large fangs protruding from its open mouth as it screeches at us. With no more hesitation I charge. I angle my body so as I bring my sword down in an arc I strip the first spider of its left two legs. I use the momentum to slide to the next spider and this time get three of the its right legs, off balance it falls to the floor with a surprisingly loud thud. I risk a glance at the first spider and see Tamlen firing his arrows at rapid rate. With the loss of two legs it will take it awhile to reach him. I turn back to my query just in time to deflect a blow of its fangs. Pushing back with all my strength I bring my sword up and force it through its head. Well that was easier than I thought it would be. I take a breath and turn to check on Tamlen, only to find the spider had incased him with a shot of its web and he can't move! The spider is wobbling towards him, almost in range to attack. I can't make it in time to get between them so I have no choice, creators I wish I did, anything but this. I run full force at the spider and try to brace myself as I slam my body into the giant beast, the force of my speed and weight causing a tangle of arms and hairy legs as we come to a stop. I lay there stunned for a moment by the beasts' weight on top of me. I finally begin to focus as the spider towers above me, where is my sword? I feel around helplessly for a moment and spot it just out of reach to the right. Fuck! I continue to struggle against the beasts' massive leg that is pinning my left arm to the ground as the giant spider rises to sink its fangs into my chest. I close my eyes, preparing to die, when a perfectly aimed arrow embeds itself into the spiders head. It rises to its feet squealing in pain and drops to the ground at my feet dead.
I hear Tamlen drop his bow and come running to my side worry evident in his face, "Fenedhis, are you ok? Are you hurt?" He continued to fret until I burst out laughing hysterically at the sight he made. The spiders' web was still firmly wrapped around his head and loosely around his shoulders and waist. He looks as if he had barely enough time to free himself and pull the web off his face to aim properly.
"You look like a very bitter bride on her wedding day," I choke out between laughs.
"Glad to see you finally found some humor," He tries to sound annoyed but the relief is evident on his face. We immediately sober up as I sit up and survey the two beasts' corpses.
"Why the hell are there spiders that big? I mean seriously!" I ask as I try to wipe my hands on my armor, bloody from scraping on the rough stone floor. Tamlen helps me stand and we look at the huge beasts a little closer. Yuck, Giant spider is correct. We had heard stories of these Giant Spiders from our seasoned hunters but there weren't supposed to be any here. When we had come across any the Keeper sent the older hunters; in order to prevent casualties a firm unified strategy is needed. They hadn't found any in months. Tamlen and I survived because we have each other's backs. If we had focused on killing "our" spiders alone we would have died.
"I thought I was going to die when it caught me in its webbing," he claps me on the shoulder and looks into my eyes, "Ma Serannas, falon. I would be dead had you not tackled the beast."
"You would have done the same for me, falon." I smile as I look around the room we entered before the spiders had attacked.
Dictionary:
Atisha: Peace.
Ar lath ma, falon: I love you, friend
Ar uth halani ne: I will always help you.
Creators: Dalish Gods.
Elga'nan: God of vengeance.(Leader of the Pantheon)
Mythal: Goddess of love, patron of motherhood, and Justice
Falon'din: God of death and fortune
Dirthamen: God of knowledge, Keeper of secrets
Andruil: Goddess of the hunt
Sylaise: Goddess of domestic arts
June: God of crafts
Ghilan'nain: Goddess of navigation the Halla is her most prized of all animals, Known as mother of Halla.
Fen'Harel: The Dread Wolf (rumored to be God of Rebellion)
Da'len: little one
Dalish: Nomadic elves.
Dareth din'anshiral: safe journey of death
Elora: Clan Halla Keeper. Responsible for tending to the Halla
Falon: Friend.
Fenedhis: crap.
Ferelden: Kingdom in southeastern Thedas, Dains homeland
Halla: White deer like creature revered by the Dalish.
Halla burial: probably buried with a symbolic oaken branch and cedar branch, may also say a prayer to Falon'din or Ghilan'nain. (Credit to Rhonda Gorel for this information
Hahren: Elder.
Ir abelas: I am sorry.
Keeper Marethari: Leader of the clan, always a mage
Keepers First: keeper in training; Merrill, always a mage.
Lethallan: term used for a female one is familiar, typically reserved for kinsman.
Lethallin: term used for a male one is familiar, typically reserved for kinsman.
Lin mir lin: blood of my blood.
Ne las ma suledin, falon: You give me strength to withstand loss, friend.
Ris Nehn: little joy
Serannas: Thank you.
Shems: slang for Humans.
Tevinter Imperium: Longest existing human country in Thedas, Mage run.
Thedas: Continent all of Dragon Age is set in.
Vallaslin: blood writing tattoos
Vir Sumeil: We are close.
(I found these on wiki/Elven_Language )
(And here wiki/Dragon_Age_Wiki
(Dalish translations of some sentences I made may be rough and some may not be completely correct. If you notice any that are incorrect please let me know!)
Credit to my lovely editor and best friend Alexis White! Without whom I might not have done this story!
(I do not own Dragon Age except my own creation within the game)