Merana's vision was blurry, but she could make out the sword sticking out of someone's back, the blood mixing with the rainwater as it trickled to the ground.
"I'm sorry it had to end this way." A familiar voice said.
Looking to at the person embracing her, she could see a faint smile through the damp clumps of hair.
"Thank you." The voice whispered.
Merana eyes snapped open from her dream. Reaching for her dagger, she stopped short when she remembered her surroundings.
The morning had brought more cold weather and a fresh layer of frost. Darran had a fire going with breakfast sizzling on a pan that he had brought. His eyes alternated between the food and the road, barely visible beyond the trees.
"You're rather loud when you're sleeping." he said. "I'd wager it makes up for your silence when you're awake."
"You are not paying me for idle conversation." she retorted.
"True enough." he replied absently. "At any rate, did you sleep well?"
"As far as you are concerned, yes." Merana shivered. "Are you part bear? How can you stand this weather?"
"I'm used to sleeping on the road." The sound of stirring wildlife caught his attention. "You'd best get moving. We have a long road ahead of us.
After both of them had warmed up, they broke camp and resumed their journey. The wind had picked up again, cutting into through their clothes.
The roads were devoid of any other travelers, and the only signs of life were the occasional wild animal they spooked that would take off running.
Upon coming to a clearing, they saw a sign that read 'Merdicole' referring to the village that rested on the hill and spread around the surrounding area. Their arrival was met with little more than confused glances, as the village seemed to be in disarray, with people wandering around with bewildered looks on their faces.
One man was standing at a high point, addressing the few who bothered to hear him out. If Merana's guess was good, the man was probably a minor noble in charge of the village and only barely passed as one, if only because of the line of poorly equipped guards protecting him from a crowd that was more confused, and not remotely interested in wasting their time and energy on the small man rambling about the "keeping peace".
His shoulders were hunched over, making his short stature all the more significant when he stepped down from his perch.
"You there, travelers." The little lord called as his meager crowd dispersed. "My name is Baron Claude Descoteaux, my land has suffered a crisis, and I find myself in need of assistance."
"Really," Merana said with mock concern. "What crisis are you facing?"
Ignoring the sarcasm, the tiny man pressed forward with his line of thought. "It appears most of my labor force has up and left. Now the entire city is in chaos."
"Your entire labor force?" Darren questioned.
"Yes, the blasted knife-ears failed to show up for their assigned duties. I sent some guards into their part of town, and everyone was gone without a trace."
Merana cringed at the idiocy of the baron, but went on pressing him for information.
"This place is smaller than Jorrae, how does it have an alienage?"
"It doesn't, but most of them tended to keep to themselves in another part of town."
"Were they 'persuaded' to do so?"
"No, they just seemed to prefer it that way." Descoteaux answered, either oblivious to the thinly veiled accusation, or was intelligent enough not to become confrontational with well-armed mercenaries, but his previous comments made the second unlikely.
"But your men found nothing regarding the disappearance?"
"No, it is if they all simply ran off into the night."
They were not getting anywhere with the baron, but they at least had a possible lead, if they could spare the time.
"I'm sorry," Merana said with her most diplomatic tone, trying to get rid of the baron before either of them decided to kill him. "But we have matters that require us elsewhere."
"Bah!" Descoteaux shouted. "Why did you bother asking me so many questions if you were not going to help?"
With that, he and his entourage of guards marched back into the directions of what was presumed to be his estate.
"You shouldn't bother with that lead." A voice said from behind. "I've already checked the slums."
Merana and Darran turned to the direction of the voice. A tall, dark-haired man stood on top of the roof, wearing dark colored clothing and a tattered, long black coat that touched his ankles, and rested his right hand on the hilt of his sword. Sliding off the roof, he made a polite bow and introduced himself. "My name is Hector."
"I'm Darran, and this is Merana."
"You say you checked the slums, what did you find?" Merana asked, dispensing with pleasantries.
"Apart from the fact that they all simply disappeared overnight, some of them seemed to have left in the middle of a meal, perhaps the late hours of the evening, and there were scattered signs of a resistance, but what was most curious was the line that encircles the entire district."
"Meaning that at least one mage is involved."
"Considering how widespread this is, I would presume there to be more."
"How many more?"
"Enough to need another sword." Hector said matter-of-factly. "You're headed to Perendale as well, are you not?"
"Why do you want to know?" Merana challenged.
"I would like to join you on the venture."
"You want to come with us? Just like that?"
"I suppose you could say I am on something of an adventure, and Perendale is where the adventure is calling me to."
"I may not be able to adequately pay for another mercenary." Darran said, scratching his head.
"Oh, I'm not looking to be hired. I offer my services free of charge."
"Really?" Merana asked, obscuring her suspicions while Darran weighed his options, finally relenting to the man's request after some internal debate and extending his hand to their new companion. "Welcome aboard."
"Much obliged." Hector replied, returning the handshake, his face maintaining his expression like a mask.
"Well, unless you have some business to attend to, let's get a move on."
Merana held her tongue, despite her misgivings about the decision. She had not intended to get as involved in her employer's investigation, but her better nature had won out over pragmatic vigilance. Now they were picking up a random passerby, making what had been a mild passing paranoia into a clanging warning bell in her skull.
It would likely be better to simply cut her loses and find some other town to hole up in if she had enough money to do so, but if she suddenly disappeared, it would raise more questions about her than she dared to risk.
Wiping most everything about the dung-hole of a town from their memories as it disappeared into the distance, the trio sped down the road.
By early the following afternoon, they had made great progress, but came to a halt when they saw a roadblock in the distance, with a wagon being held up by some Orlesian soldiers who were manning it.
"What business do you have on the road, dwarf?" the Captain interrogated as his men circled the cart menacingly.
"I already told you. I have business to conduct in the next town." The dwarf answered politely. "Is there a problem?"
"We are keeping an eye out for dissidents and traitors."
"Well, unless you're planning on buying something, I'd like it if your men to get their paws off of my wares."
The soldiers ignored her and continued to prod the wagon, looking for anything of value.
In a blur of motion, the dwarf leveled a crossbow at the nearest soldier. "Buzz off!" She warned menacingly.
The soldiers stepped back, but after the initial shock wore off, they circled around the wagon with some of them drawing their weapons.
The dwarf seemed apprehensive, knowing that the one bolt would only dissuade them as long as none of them were willing to risk death to take her out.
"That simply won't do." Hector said ominously.
"What do you intend?"
"Unless we wish to try finding another route or cutting across the terrain, it would seem prudent to dispose of this hindrance."
Before anyone could make a move, Hector approached the roadblock, hopping off his horse when he got close enough.
"I would advise against that course of action." Hector warned, smirking as he gripped the hilt of his sword.
"And what are you going to do about it?" one of the Soldiers snapped.
"Well, my sword is still clean at this point," Hector answered, letting out a small chuckle "So I think it is less a matter of what I'm going to do about this and more of what you're going to do about it."
"You dare threaten an Orlesian soldier?" The captain shouted, lashing out with his sword, but found it flying from his hand and himself crashing to the ground as Hector slashed the tendon in his right arm and the back of his kneecap.
The captain writhed in the dirt, his arm flopping aimlessly while Hector stood over him, planting his boot on his back as addressed the man's underlings. "He's bleeding, but if you get him to healer quickly enough, he might actually be able to walk again." Said Hector over the screams of the bleeding officer.
"Die!" one of the soldiers screamed as he and another soldier ran at the swordsman. With a quick series of slashes, the two soldiers found themselves laying next to their commanding officer.
"Any other takers?" Hector challenged, resting his sword on his shoulder.
Getting the hint, the soldiers picked up the wounded colleagues.
As the soldiers cleared out, Hector swung his sword to the ground, flicking off any excess blood from the long, narrow blade and wiping off the remainder with a cloth before sheathing it again. Merana and Darran trotted up, leading Hector's horse to him.
"Sorry you had to jump in like that." The dwarf apologized. "The soldiers have been gettin' rather uppity lately."
"It was no trouble." Hector replied.
The dwarf smiled and kicked the underside of the wagon. "You can come out now."
A human with age-greyed hair emerged from the covering, blinking in the sunlight.
"Why was he in there?" Darran asked.
"You don't show your opponents all of your cards, especially your aces. So sometimes he hangs in the back in case we run into…undesirable company."
"Does it always work?"
"It's gotten us some extra equipment, if that's what you're asking."
When her comment was met with an awkward silence, the dwarf went onto the next topic.
"The name's Lenli." The dwarf said, enthusiastically jabbing her thumb into her chest. "My friend over there is Garbune."
"Hello." The older man said, waving at the trio and slinking back into the cart.
"Where are you going?" Darran asked.
"Like we told that soldier, we have some business to conduct." Lenli answered. "Perendale is our next planned stop."
"That's where we are headed, as well."
"Maybe we can travel together. I doubt that those soldiers will be the only ones of their type."
Deciding to intervene, Merana pulled Darran aside. "We can't afford any more delays, and a cart would only slow us down."
"Well, you know what they say: the more the merrier."
"Yes, but you are on a mission that relies on our utmost haste, and you are paying me to get you there."
Darran bit his lip and turned to Lenli.
"I'm sorry," He said politely. "but we will have to decline your offer."
"Hey, no sweat." Lenli answered, cheerily. "We appreciate the help, but if you need to get out of here in a hurry, don't let us slow you down."
Leaving the wagon trailing behind in the dust, the rest of the day's journey was rather uneventful. As night fell, the moon bathed the landscape with its light from the cloudless sky providing ample illumination as they pressed to Andoral's Reach.
The hill overlooking the city provided a good vantage point, and with the moon shining down, they could see the sinkhole where the alienage had been as plainly as day.
"They must have come here first." said Merana.
"Or Perendale's alienage is already gone." Hector suggested.
Darran took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "Okay, we'll stay here the night." He said. "We'll check what's left of the alienage in the morning before we leave."
The city had a disconcertingly quiet air hanging about it. No one was drinking or partying in the streets and even the guards seemed focused and on edge as they kept vigilant to a threat they knew nothing about.
They found an inn close to what was left of the alienage and paid for the night. In the bar, there were workers gathered around every table, barely leaving any room for the trio to sit down at the bar.
Ordering their drinks, Merana began looking around nervously. Too many people. Too many unknowns.
Her fit of paranoia was disrupted by Darran asking one of the worker who looked to be in charge; a grizzled man with some light scars on his left cheek.
"What can you tell me about the alienage?" Darran asked.
"Not much really." The man answered. "A few of nights ago it was really quiet, then the next moment we feel the ground shaking. By the time anyone knew what was happing, the alienage had been destroyed."
"Was there anyone who saw it happen?"
"No, not that we found anyways."
"Did you find any survivors?"
"No, which is the most unsettling thing; there hardly any corpses to be found."
"What do you mean by 'hardly'?" Merana asked.
"Exactly that." The man said. "We scoured the area for a couple of days, but the only people we found were those who had been near the alienage when it had fallen and some elf-bloods, and there weren't many of those either."
"Very peculiar." Darran said to himself.
"Now if you'll excuse me," the man said, standing up to quell the growing rowdiness from the other workers. "I have some other matters to attend to."
After the bar had emptied somewhat, they migrated to a table and discussed their findings.
"I guess that confirms most of your theory, Darran." Merana said.
"Yeah, but the how and why are what I still can't figure out." He replied.
"They would not to get them out without being noticed, and teleportation is something impossible even for magic."
"Unless they used an Eluvian." Hector added.
All eyes turned to Hector.
"It's an elvish thing from back before the fall of Arlathan. It's a mirror that allowed for communication and travel across great distances." Hector explained. "Maybe someone found a way to get them working again."
"Should we be looking at the elves then?" Darran asked.
"I highly doubt that all of the city elves had a moment of realization and collectively decided to leave." Merana mused. "No, they had to have had outside influence."
"The Dalish, perhaps?"
"Unless something's changed, most Dalish elves aren't exactly rushing to save their city-dwelling cousins." said Hector.
"Another likely culprit would be Tevinter." Merana suggested. "Who else would need this many living people to anything?"
"I doubt Tevinter slavers are behind this one." Darran said as he rubbed his fingers against his temples. "But the big question is do you think the larger cities are going to be next?"
"Well, we're not going to find out by talking about it." Hector said, standing from his seat. "We need more information that involves us digging through the rubble, or finding someone who was there. "So unless someone has a solid theory, I suggest we hit the hay and rise early tomorrow."
While Hector went up the stairs to his room, Merana and Darran lingered at the table.
"I know it might be a stretch, but what if the Dalish are involved?" Darran asked.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"The man said they only found elf-bloods in the alienage proper. I'm not coming up with any other organizations that would be that picky who aren't elven, and the Dalish are the only ones who could have a reason for choosing now to make a move."
"Why do you say that?"
"Has there ever been another time when all of Thedas was this distracted when there wasn't a Blight? Orlais is on the brink of civil war, there are rumors that Tevinter is having similar issues, and to top it all off, the mages and Templars are universally getting at each other's throats, and Maker knows what all else is happening. No one seems to be paying these attacks serious attention, and there wasn't any mention of anything like this happening before."
"Tevinter slavers pick at elven communities all of the time-"
"But they've never taken a whole alienage," Darran interrupted. "Nor have they ever passed up anybody who was able bodied, and they most certainly don't go through these lengths to cover their tracks."
"You seem rather sure on the matter."
Darran sighed and leaned back into his chair. "Like Hector said, we have nothing but theories with nothing solid to back them up. Hopefully the alienage ruins will provide us some clues."
Merana wanted to ask him more questions, but decided to back off and went off to bed. The light from the windows made falling asleep difficult, leaving her to mull over her thoughts on the conversation.
Her train of thought was interrupted by a young elf girl standing in the corner. Recognizing it as a hallucination, she slapped her palm against her face and shook her head, wrapping the blankets around herself tighter. "I am becoming too invested in this mission aren't I, sis?"