Hello everyone!

Thanks for continuing thus far with Sophi's story! I hope that the last chapter wasn't too boring, but here is where things kind of begin to pick up. Thank you for being so patient!


Dhaveira mentioned that we would be diverging from the road soon to weave through the forests to find the location that the scouts had found. I didn't think that it would be so long on the road there, I had thought that it would be a few hours. Not a three-day trek through forests and down dirt roads.

Dhaveira had also mentioned at the time that the roads would likely get busier until we get to the point where we will leave them. Apparently, she hadn't been lying. In the past few hours I had seen more people than I had since I was torn from my home.

I guess that I hadn't thought about the people that surely inhabit this place through all the running for my life and recovering from near-death experiences. I thought that maybe seeing other people would help me feel better, maybe that seeing people living in this world would give me hope. Hope that Arry has survived to this point. Hope that I can survive. And most of all, hope that we could get back home. To where we belong.

The only thing I feel seeing all these people, however, is a growing emptiness. A hollow deep inside gnawing at me, threatening to tear me apart from the inside out. All these people belong here, have families, homes and people who know them and care about them. The more people I see here the more I realize just how alone Arry and I are in this place.

The truth hits me in the gut and despite the sun actually warmly shining for a moment through the seemingly unrelenting rain, I feel colder than ever. I feel the cold settling around me, surrounding me like a cloud.

I let my mind wander, trying to coax it away from the brink of depression. I watch who walks by, most giving our group sidelong glances and making a sort of bubble around us as we travel down the road. Being on the road for even just a little while makes it obvious as to why they prefer to stick to the smaller forest routes. It is made especially obvious when the sidelong glances are then accompanied with slurs and nasty remarks. One of the most common slurs that I hear with my now seemingly enhanced hearing is "knife ear." My hand moves up to my ear, exploring the new shape, each ridge different than I remember. All of it coming to a distinctive point instead of a curve, bringing sense to the slur.

Although I don't find myself connecting to that culture. Before we left the camp I learnt a fair bit about Dalish beliefs. From my understanding, however fragmented it may be, Dalish culture involves a lot of forest business and honouring their old gods. Most of the names are long and complicated so I only remember a couple at the best of times.

Dhaveira and Ilyriane are my most consistent companions, with Himsulem not far ahead of us. Marron walks up with Himsulem usually with Arethen following behind us. I hadn't thought of it right away but the more I look at this arrangement I realize that I am near the center and that the rest of them move with almost perfect synchrony. I wonder how long it took for them to be able to know to move together like that.

It seems like a long time before we find where to leave the road but I imagine that my sore feet are just making it seem like more time. I follow closely behind Ilyriane with Dhaveira right behind me. Maybe it's just some kind of paranoia created and nurtured by this place but I do my best to only step in Ilyriane's footsteps. Although after a while I find myself relaxing and taking in the beautiful scenery. The path takes us looping are trees and copses of trees that are thicker than the rest. After seeing a tree so old that it would take a large team of people to reach around its colossal trunk. I look up and find it appears that its branches don't seem to have an end.

A snap of the branches to our left has my head snapping in that direction to see what made the sound. Fear invades my mind filling every corner it can reach my eyes darting between the trunks around me. Feeling alone, I reach for the heavy metal blade that Himsulem insisted I carry on the left side of my hips. A hand on my shoulder causes me to jolt away, but I turn only to see Himsulem there.

"If we need to depend on your skills we will be in a difficult situation indeed." He spoke quietly, almost a whisper before he smiled. And he had told me before that I had been improving really quickly. Jeez. He put a finger to his lips and pointed in the direction that the snapping sound had come from.

I turn to look where he pointed, I squint into the trees my gaze flitting between the trunks trying to spot whatever it was that everyone else had now stopped to watch. I start to turn my head to ask what we are looking at when a gleam of white catches my eyes about a hundred meters through the trees.

I turn back to focus on the source of the gleam to see some deer through the woods. Wait… I squint into the forest, my eyes having improved since my change, those aren't deer. Not exactly. I shift my position to get a better look when a couple stride through the trees not more than fifty meters away from the tree we stopped under. The others mutter something in elvhen that I don't understand.

The deer having gleaming, almost pearlescent white coats with lovely curling and undulating white antlers. They stride over the underbrush of the dense forest silently with what I would describe as near impossible grace.

The others make gestures of respect towards the small herd of deer-like creatures as we quietly watch them from a distance. And for a moment, I was able to let go of all of my worries and problems. I could just exist; live and move on. But every moment must pass, so did this one. I tried to hold on to the feeling of ease that I had enjoyed but it was already gone.

We ended up setting up camp there while Marron and Arethen went to hunt and forage for food to eat that night. The thought settled in my mind to ask them what kinds of food can be foraged here. I mean at home I know the look of most of the wild berry bushes that are okay to eat from but for all I know I could come across something that looks like a raspberry but truthfully be some kind of horribly poisonous berry that could kill just by licking it. Which is an undesirable course of action.

Ilyriane and Dhaveira showed me how to set up the tents this time and after we finished Himsulem arrived with some wood to make a small fire. Around the fire Ilyriane explained to me that the creatures we saw earlier were halla, which are sacred to the Dalish people. There is a goddess that they worship, Ghilan'nain who is the mother of the halla and in the legend of her origin she had been suffering horribly at the hands of a hunter so another of the gods turned her into the first halla.

Over the time of our trip Ilyriane had not only aided in teaching me more of sword use and technique. I had still been learning quickly, even I am noticing that this is the fastest I have ever learned anything before. There was one point where I had been going to clean and tend the swords and I had held two at the same time I had experimented with how they felt, one in each hand, but I had let the moment pass so that I wouldn't be caught dawdling with the cleaning. But I hadn't forgotten how it felt to have two of the long swords. Each day the maintenance routine of the swords and other equipment became easier and each day I got a bit quicker at the chore. Himsulem has been making sure to not let me forget how important tending your weapons is, "A dull, rusty blade will do you about as much good as a twig." Everyday. But it makes sense, it's the same way you need to keep a vehicle in good repair by keeping up with regular maintenance. Although I don't know if that's really a good comparison as I never did keep up with vehicle maintenance. The bittersweet thought of "Now it isn't a problem," floated through my mind. Yep, I am pretty sure the most sophisticated vehicle here is a fancy carriage.

Dhaveira, who knows the most truth about my situation, has continued to teach me how to exercise greater control over my magic. She keeps talking about the Fade. If I remember right that was the first place Arry and I had landed after the explosion, that freakish nightmare landscape. Dhaveira explained that the Fade is more or less where magic is derived from. She mentioned that a mage's capabilities are directly connected to how easily they can access the Fade. She says that everyone dreams in the Fade, except Dwarves; who consequently can't use magic. We also discovered that despite my evident magical abilities I don't seem to enter the Fade to dream, thank God. Nonetheless it hasn't stopped Dhaveira from trying to get me there, which hasn't worked yet. To which I also say, "Thank God."

Dhaveira has also been showing the maps they have of the area, with the help of the twins. They sort of share the responsibility of teaching me more and more everyday, about Fereldan, Orlais and the other areas of Thedas ending with Tevinter at the top of the map. The clan's camp is nearest to a city called Amaranthine but the location we are trying to get to is about half way between the clan's location and a place called Highever. On the map, it's shown that the two cities are on the coast of the Waking Sea but Amaranthine is closer to the edge, nearer to the ocean to the east. North of the Waking Sea is a place called the Free Marches. She teaches me also on the currency used by the countries. I still don't have it quite straight, I remember there are bronze, silver and gold coins that are generally worth the same between the two larger southern countries, Fereldan and Orlais. At times it just seems like so much to learn, but when I think about it I realize that it just seems like a lot because it is the kind of stuff that you learn growing up in a place. It's everything I already know about my home but need to learn about this place.

Home. The thought still causes my chest to tighten. The best I can tell is that it has been roughly one month since… Well, since my life got blown to smithereens and I landed in this hell hole of death and danger. Things will be better once I find Arry, we'll figure out a way back and then we will be safe at home. We won't have to fear what might be behind the next corner or what's lurking in the shadows.

Once Marron and Arethen are back the fire is ready for the small hare-like creatures they found, called fennecs I think. They also found a berry bush that was ripe with sweet red fruit.

Dhaveira and Ilyriane spoke more about the halla we had seen earlier. The subject seemed to bring about something of reverence in the whole lot of them. I had never been very religious in my life. My father's side of the family were Christian, not the kind you hear about in the news like Westboro but rather the congregation had always been very accepting of new ways of thought. In fact, I heard recently that the newest minister encourages people of all faiths and backgrounds to attend any ceremony or Sunday service. The subject of the "Elven Pantheon" as they call it, brings out a devoutness I had never seen in my family. I find it nice to see that there are people who have faith in something here. Everyone should have that option available in their life, regardless of whether it is faith in science or a deity. The choice to believe in something is a significant decision. Faith can be a powerful thing no matter where it is directed.

They share stories while the food is cooked and continue to do so while we eat. The meat tasting somewhere between chicken and beef. I hadn't ever had any hunted food before so I couldn't compare it to deer, rabbit or any other game animal. With the stories I find myself content to listen, any story I try to tell would need some serious editing and even then any meaning or point would get lost.

After the meal, Himsulem and Ilyriane insisted on more training. They were determined to wear me right out. At least there has been the satisfaction of actually learning something every time they train me. This time after they left me I even tried to see how it would feel to wield two swords at the same time. It felt nearly natural but I would have to figure out how to wield both accurately and smoothly. It would take time. By the end of training I was left so exhausted I was sure I would get a good sleep.

However, that night, scenes of Arry greeting me and scenes of finding her dead took turns playing out in my dreams. While the slightest sounds of the night forest waking me with ease.


I look up at the sky, another dismal day. Not wet really but the sky looks about ready to open up and dump buckets of rain on us. The more I see of the Storm Coast, the more I relate it to Vancouver Island and the coast of British Colombia. The weather and landscape are insanely similar, as well as the vegetation that grows here. I spot a patch of little purple flowers that look similar but not quite the same as a bunch of tiny pansies.

Arethen comes up to us and pulls Himsulem and Ilyriane aside to say something. We had been waiting to hear from him and Marron for about an hour now. Once we got closer to the destination the two of them went further ahead to scout the area to make sure that we wouldn't be walking into any surprises, meaning traps or people waiting for someone to come back to that spot. They chatted for a minute or two before Arethen walks back the way he came. Ilyriane beckons Dhaveira and I over to them.

"We are going to head over to where the convoy of the slavers was last seen." Ilyriane says, with something of a grimness to her voice. Himsulem won't even look this way. "Himsulem is going to lead and I am going to following behind you. We suggest to try avoid making too much noise, we haven't caught anyone's attention yet and I would rather it stay that way." I nod to acknowledge her.

Himsulem starts us off with a brisk walk where I only look down to make I don't misstep along the way and cause unnecessary racket. I keep close enough to Dhaveira to see where she steps in front of me but I try not to get too much closer than that so that I can react if she stops. Before too long we slow down to near a crawl and then he stops us altogether. Could it really be that dangerous? Who could possibly be this far off the beaten paths and roads? But hey, I'm just some ignorant city girl. Never even went camping too far from civilization, despite Arry's insistence that it's so much better to camp in the middle of nowhere. "Right, whatever you say Arry. I won't be going anywhere that is so far that no one can hear the screams." Would always be my response and she would always roll her eyes at my distaste for camping. I look forward to having some light again, I feel like everyone is usually so serious and I haven't even made any jokes for what feels like forever, despite the fact that back home I could hardly go one conversation without some kind of humour. But for now, my own mind is the only audience to any humour it comes up with.

I miss how we could always just understand what the other was meaning without having to say very much. One of us could say a single statement and the other would just know what was meant by it, sometimes even a single word or sound could elicit the response the other was looking for.

Lost in thought I bump into a crouched Dhaveira who is waiting to see a signal from her husband. I wave my apologies. Apparently now was really not the time. Internal sigh, so as to keep the silence. She stands up and moves forward, meeting Himsulem a few steps away from us.

Dhaveira turns to Ilyriane and I, "Marron and Arethen say that the area is clear so we should be fine to walk the rest of the way, but we should talk not more than needed." Oh? I thought that we would have to get quieter now if we were approaching the place. Shouldn't there be a whole bunch of those Tevinter people like there were with me? I shudder remembering the place I woke up after being whipped, the stench of charred flesh that burned itself onto my memory. Well, we would have to be quiet unless… A vision of dead bodies everywhere burnt and smouldering comes to mind, one of them with the silver locket she always wore, blackened and destroyed. My heart rate picks up speed. Please don't let that be the case. Arry has to be alive. I know it. She can't be dead, she just can't.

After a couple of minutes walking the forest around us began to give way, thinning out into a meadow. The smell hit first. The familiar scent of burnt flesh, causing nausea to roll over me as I try to mask my face with the travelling robes I have on. I see them moving further into desolate meadow, I try to follow but my legs won't work. I don't want to see. I can't look. My vision gets blurry and my eyes burn from the tears. I focus on the ground in front of me.

No. What if Arry is over there and needs help? Am I just going to stand here? Unable to go forward because of the possibility of… No. She has to be alive.

I take a step forward, my motions feel mechanical and stiff, but I have to keep going. The memories of how Arry took care of the both of us while my leg healed. I can not give up on her. I look up to move further into the clearing.

Arethen, Himsulem and Ilyriane are speaking on the other side of an area with taller grass so I make my way over to them. The noxious odor gets stronger as I near them and as I get around the tall grass I see why. The three of them are standing around a blackened mound. I wonder what it is until I see limbs sticking out at weird angles from around the edges of the pile. People. Bodies. Bodies that had been piled one on top of the other and set fire.

"It looks like the work of people who have done it before or maybe even professionals. Mercenaries of a sort perhaps." Himsulem observes as Ilyriane looks from the pile to my face, which I am sure is wearing a mix of horror and disgust, where her face wears expressions of sympathy. She can tell I have never seen anything like it before. Although, I suppose that that fact is obvious to anyone who had been exposed to this kind of carnage before.

I look to the ground to see that there are brownish coppery stains all over the dry ground. Any rain that had fallen wasn't enough to cleanse the area of the bloodletting that had occurred. Noticing a splatter further from the rest I let my legs carry me to follow it, despite the feeling in my gut telling me to stay with the others.

What I could see of the trail lead me to the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing from where we entered. I could see the discolouration on the bark of the trees, one in the shape of a hand. Reminded of when I stumbled through the forest after I had woken up surrounded by people burnt to unrecognizability. I have flashes of the memories as I follow the blood trail further into the thickening forest. A hand print there, a smear across the leaves of a bush and a splotched stain on the ground next to the bush. Eventually I could smell the stench of a decaying body, which I recognize due to an unfortunate death of an older woman at my apartment that went unnoticed for more than a week.

Finally, I find where the person perished; the reek stronger as I approach it. The body is slumped against the trunk of a large tree. One leg crossed the foot under the straight leg, head slumped to the side with the right hand on the lap and the left fallen to the ground. A morbid curiosity lured me to look a bit closer, I cover my face with the sleeve of my travel cloak to reduce the stench. It looks as if animals had gotten to it before it began to rot. Whoever it was, I doubt anyone would be able to recognize it now, even they had been close family.

I stand up right, I can hear the others calling "Gaelea." It had taken me a moment to realize that they had been referring to me, with the "Sophi" part missing from the beginning making the name almost sound foreign.

As I straighten, I look at the body, pity wells up inside me for the poor soul who died here; alone, cold and probably slowly. My eyes travel the area around the body and a glinting on the ground next to the open hand catches my gaze. I kneel down to get a closer look. When that fails, I reach my right hand to the ground luckily it had fallen far enough away that I didn't have to touch the body. I grasp a cold piece of metal from the grass. A chain clinks as I lift it up and stand again. I hear the rustling of the others approaching as I open my hand to reveal a silver locket.

My hands go numb. My heart races. I know this locket. I raise my left hand and flinch when I touch the cold surface. Looking at the chain only confirms my deepest fear as I find brown hair tangled on the chain near the clasp. The pounding of my breaking heart, seeming to be pumping not blood but pain and sorrow. My knees give out. I finger the hair, seeing that there are blue and green strands mixed in with the brown. No one here has blue and green hair.

Except Arry.

The whole world goes quiet as I look back to the body. Stiff, cold. Alone.

Dead.

I clutch the locket to my chest as the pain sears through my body. It boils up and escapes.

I scream my pain into the cold, empty and dark forest.

Now, like her, I am alone.


Time passing no longer mattered. I let Himsulem and Dhaveira pull me away from the body. Arryn's body. Tears burn at my eyes, I let them pass.

Gazing endlessly at the locket. I was too late. She died. Slowly from bleeding out. Afraid of the evil in this twisted world. Alone, because I never came to find her.

I open it again. It only confirms that it was hers. The outside, her family's coat-of-arms. The inside, another coat-of-arms with a Latin motto "In bello, victoria. In pacem, vigilantia. In mortem, sacrificium." Arry had once said it was from a very long time ago that the locket had been passed down to the eldest daughter for centuries, all the way to her. The other section of the inside. Her full name "Arryn Eliza Mauntelle." She hates… Hated her middle name. Her birthday is there as well, August 1, 1991.

I close my eyes wishing everything away. I don't deserve to live anymore. I failed the only friend I have here. I deserve to die. Alone and scared. And slowly. I deserve no better a life than what she had lived. Maybe if I am lucky this horrible world will choose to take me next. I look up at the dismal grey sky. Roiling and undulating like waves on the ocean. Suiting of my mood, but Arry deserves a beautiful sunny day as a farewell.

I curl my knees up to my chest, put the locket close to my heart and hug myself tightly. Perhaps it will help keep me together, but I can feel pieces of me slipping away. The most important pieces. I grip tighter and tighter until Dhaveira comes and grabs my hands away from my arms. I can hear her voice but the words aren't reaching me. Everything is so far away. I don't know why Dhaveira came over.

Oh. There's blood on my fingers. I guess I had been gripping myself so forcefully that my nails had dug into my arms a little. Dhaveira kneels next to me and wipes up the blood. She doesn't look at my face though.

Looking out towards the forest, the day fades to night and they set up camp. I stare into the fire for a while before I lay down.

I allow the all-consuming darkness to fill me. There is nothing now. I am in a horrible world. Trapped with no way home. My family, unreachable. My only true friend… Gone forever.

I fall asleep with the images of the dancing fire before me. Proving how insignificant I and my suffering truly are.

A figure in a black cloak. It reaches out to me, hand gnarled and boney, but it offers sanctuary from this place.

Its voice cold and shrill. It says it can end my suffering. End this horrible, tearing pain. Take me home. I just need to let it in.

Okay.