A/N: This chapter is a monster, I'm telling you, it nearly killed me!
It also isn't very exciting but it's necessary for a lot of world building and foreshadowing of the future stories so please bear with me.
Revision date: 14/06/2018
Chapter 8: Running
By the time they saw the first sunlights, Skyhold has already been far behind them.
The chill air of the mountain cut into Evelyn's cheeks, each breath left a trail of mist, it was bitterly cold and yet she felt strangely calm within it.
Perhaps her anger has been partly burned off after a day and a half of secretly crying and seething while still playing 'Inquisitor'.
Or perhaps it was thanks to her 'training section' with Cullen's men. Given the fact that Cullen wasn't very pleased with his recruits afterward, she had to say that she must have worked out a great deal of stress on those poor men.
Even so, her mind was still reeling from the truth she has learned, at for some moments, she thought she would never find an escape.
She spent most of the morning on horse's back reading missives, signing whatever people back in Skyhold needed her to sign before attaching them to the Ravens and sent them away. The rest of the day she talked with her team on various subjects, find pleasures in thinking about anything else but him.
But on the first night when she was alone in her tent, lying on her bedroll, there was nothing else she could do but thinking of him, of what they've shared and the lies that he's spoken both as an elf and as a wolf.
She remembered the evening before Leliana's news came but after he left in which she cried her eyes out, the only thing in her mind back then was 'How could him?'
'How could he lie to her?'
'How could he lead her on like that?'
'How could he take advantage of her trust to bed her?'
'How could he? How could he? How could he?'
Those questions have burned so strongly along with her anger. But with them burned so strong, they turned to ashes just as quick and now, her head was filled with thoughts about herself instead.
'Am I that untrustworthy that he could not find it in himself to be honest with me?'
'Did I do anything that seems dishonest to him?'
'I don't truly know him as I thought, do I?'
'Maybe I am too childish so he assumed that I couldn't handle the truth.'
'But isn't the fact that I got angry at him and told him to leave instead of talking calmly a proof that I'm not mature enough anyway?'
She ran from blaming herself to blaming him and back again until she fell asleep and went to the Fade.
In there, she waited for Fen-Solas to show up and give her clues of what to do next beside thinking herself to death, but since he didn't, she ended up repeating the cycle over the next two days. Playing the Inquisitor, traveling, battling bandits and wild beasts, talking with everyone, thinking until she slept at night. Rinse and repeat.
At least, that would what happened had Cole and Varric wasn't there for her.
On the third day, Cole came to sit next to her while she was writing another letter declining some noble's proposal of marriage (the third one for today, she had to add). He didn't say anything at first, surprisingly, just simply looked at her at first before hesitantly opened his mouth, so unlike his behavior before.
"You are hurt."
"Yes, I am." There was no need to hide it, especially from Cole.
"Because of Solas?"
"Because of him."
Cole thought for a bit before continuing, "I don't understand. He is always hurting. The only times where he doesn't are when he's with you. He spent the days with you and still couldn't wait for the nights. With you, he could forget and be happy. But now, whenever you think about each other, you're both happy and hurt. How can one cause both happiness and pain to another at the same time?"
Hearing the young man said suddenly made Evelyn thought about how Solas couldn't get out of this unscratched too.
She remembered his face when he revealed his wrist to her. She remembered his sad, self-mocking smile and the way he looked so fragile, so unlike the normally stoic and prideful man he was.
She also remembered the fear she felt back when she told her Wolf the truth and the reason she held things off for so long. She remembered wanting to stay by his side for as long as possible, afraid of changes, afraid of losing what they had, but in the end, it was for his sake, even if unknowingly, that she revealed the truth.
It wasn't that different, was it?
He said that he was afraid too. He wanted things to stay the same out of fear of what changes could bring, but he still told the truth for her sake, because he wanted to protect her.
"We make each other happy because we love each other. But…" she said. "But we are also terribly selfish and afraid to lose what we have so we lied. Even if it hurt us, both of us, we still tried to hide, not knowing that by doing so, it would just make things worse."
"How do I help it so it not hurt anymore?" Cole stared at her. "I like to see you two happy. I don't want to see you sad."
"I don't know, Cole, but I believe for this pain, only he and I should deal with it. But thank you for caring about us."
Evelyn smiled sadly at the ex-spirit. Solas wasn't pleased when she and Varric made him to 'grow up', to become more human but she believed that it was a necessary thing. Cole maybe was a spirit but he was also a human now and there was room for change because it wasn't a bad thing. The fact that he was now concerned for her and Solas because he cared for them as friends instead of just following his instinct only cemented further her opinion.
'Change' wasn't a bad thing. But if only she and Solas learned it themselves sooner…
That night, she spent a long time thinking about what Solas has said and how he would feel from his perspective. She thought about how being a near-immortal with a past where lives and events came and go so slowly would affect him. She thought about what she's learned about the ancient elves.
The elves of old would spend months to celebrates and worship their gods. Their society took decades and even longer to decide and introduce new laws.
It was the same with courtship and love—couples would spend decades getting to know each other before even starting to talk about the possibility of marriage. Even just casual relationships could take weeks or even months before they could get into a more intimate bond.
For Solas, despite how hard he tried and the fact that he wanted to change and improve things for his people, must have had a troubling time trying to get used to the fast pace of this current age. Not to mention the fact that he, with his act of creating the Veil, would know better than anyone how wrong things could go when they strayed from the familiar path…
With everything he has experienced, would it be that strange for him to be scared of risking all the good things he has for some gambles that could also potentially sabotage his plan of saving his people? No, it wasn't that strange. In fact, now that she thought hard about it, she could see why he did it. Maker's breath, she probably would have done the same!
But it still wasn't enough for her to calm her anger. True, she did lie to him too, but she didn't lie about her identity as he did, just part of her final goal. But he, he not only led her to believe that 'Solas' didn't see her in that way only to come back and got close to her as Fen'Harel. Even if his attempt at being closer to her ended up making her thought that he viewed her as a sister, there was no denying that he wanted her as a woman.
In the end, deception was still deception and just because she understood his reason didn't mean that she could forgive him.
Would she ever be able to stop being angry? She still wanted to stay by his side but if she couldn't find it herself to forgive him, what would happen between them?
Before Solas, she has never had a crush on anyone, let alone serious courtship so she didn't know what one supposed to do when their lover lied to them. She didn't think she could ask others either since from what she knew, most of them were still bachelors, or not suitable to ask about such a thing unless she wanted to have a lecture about choosing a proper match than an 'apostate'.
She thought and thought until she once more fell asleep late into the night. The morning of the fourth day came and once again, the trip continued.
Until that evening, when they were just finished setting up their camp, Varric came to her, leaving Dorian and Cole fussing over the stew.
He went straight to the point. "So, You and Chuckles are having a fight, huh?"
"Am I that obvious?" she groaned, buried face in one hand.
"For your credit, your acting is pretty on point. But I've heard from Sparkler that you had some 'talk' with Chuckles and the next thing we know, we're already here ahead of the schedule." Varric shrugged.
"To be fair, I did change the departing date because we do have to go there sooner." She sighed. "But yes, I'm running away now."
"Does it make it better?" he just simply asked, and she really appreciate that he didn't touch upon on the 'why' and 'what' made her angry at Solas in the first place.
"In a way. But… even after I understand why he did it, I still can't forgive him now. I-I'm afraid, Varric. I want to return to him but with me cannot forgive him like this, will we ever be able to be happy with each other?"
Her friend thought for a bit then continued, "Do you love him?"
"I do."
"Do you think he will do what he did again?"
"No, I'm very sure that he won't."
"You said that right now you can't forgive him now?"
"Yes."
"In my books about Hawke, I didn't include details about how she and her husband got together. It isn't my rights to mention such a private thing but I supposed she'll understand," Varric scratched his head as he spoke. "Before she and Fenris were together for real, they did share something special for a while before he broke it off. Hawke was mad, really mad even though she did understand the reason or at least part of it."
"And what happened after that?"
"She remained by his side, not because she wanted him to come back but because she cared. Eventually, they learned to be together again, to work out their differences and arguments whenever they came."
"But what about his action that hurt her, did she ever forgive him in the end?"
"That, to be honest, I don't know, she wouldn't say anything to me, but I'm sure that she didn't for a long while before Danarius's death. Perhaps Hawke has forgiven him after they returned to each other, perhaps she's still angry at him about it but doesn't show. But, what I think is—" he paused as if to choose his words before continuing.
"I think, sometimes it's best to not dwell too much on forgiveness and 'what ifs'. Sometimes, it's best to focus on what you can have instead of fearing for the future or clinging to the past. You don't have to forgive him right now, you don't have to forgive him in the future, but you can at least give him a chance for your own happiness."
"For my own happiness?" Evelyn murmured, more to herself than to Varric.
"Yes. Normally, I wouldn't advise someone to come back to the one hurt them, but you love each other and you have never had a chance to obtain happiness for yourself." Varric gazed straight at her as he spoke. "And I don't mean that you should forgive him right away or let him off easy either. But…while Chuc—Solas has his faults and I do believe that he deserves your anger for whatever he did, he also clearly cares for you and you two have been friends from the beginning to make it works. If in the end, you still can't let go of your anger then you can at least say that you did try it with him."
"I guess…"
"And don't you worry, if that time comes, I'll be there to have you get revenge on him. Just like Carver's promise with his sister!" he nudged her with a wink, making her laugh. The sounds of it surprised both her and Varric because he looked at her with an expression full of astonishment.
"You know, this is the first time I've ever heard you laugh." He smiled softly.
"I did laugh before."
"They were your 'Inquisitor's laugh', not your 'Evelyn's laugh'."
She was speechless at that, realizing that Varric did notice things about her more than he let on. The bridge of her nose burned as she looked at him.
"Thank you, Varric. I'll think about it," replied Evelyn with a smile.
"Any times, Bookworm."
"Hey! Are you two done your heart-talk yet! We have an emergency here. Cole's going to make a new type of explosive if you are not fixing this right now!" Dorian yelled from his place next to their pot of dinner which, from the smell and sounds of it, was indeed becoming a danger to their camp.
"Oh, Andraste's ass, Cole, stop putting that into the pot!" Varric exclaimed, quickly ran to stop the young man from killing them all.
After a disastrous meal, that night, once again laying in her bedroll to look at that ceiling of her tent, she thought about what Varric has said.
Perhaps he was right, she didn't need to forgive Solas right away but she could at least try to work it out with her Wolf.
She thought about those moments they shared in the Fade in those long months. Where she was free to laugh and be herself, where he could tell her his life stories without fear, where they played and enjoyed each other without a care in the world.
With their truth revealed to each other, that simple happiness might no longer be possible but she wanted to believe that they could still be happy together in a different way. Even if there would be pain and sorrow just like now, she still wanted to be with him, just like she's promised. She still wanted to love him.
And she did. She still loved him so very much and the thought of it made her wanted to cry.
She wanted to be happy.
The anger was still there but now, she was overwhelming with the desire to see him, to talk, and to understand. She wanted to know more about him, about Solas and not just Fen'Harel.
For a moment, she thought about going to him in the Fade but decided not to. They didn't part on the best term last time so this time, after she's finished this mission, she would meet him face-to-face. They would talk, and they would think together to figure out what would go from here.
Then, she suddenly remembered what she's learned from Dorian about soulmates who were dreamers, and what Solas mentioned. He could feel her, didn't he? Her anger, her sadness, her joy, her love, he could feel them all.
So, with her thoughts directed to him, she channeled all of her emotions that were associated with him, hoping that he could feel them and know that despite the fact that she was angry, she still yearned for him.
"I want to be with you," Evelyn whispered as she closed her eyes, her heart this time was filled with both the images of a giant six-eyed wolf and an elf with blue eyes and a loving smile.
xxXxx
"This is definitely something I don't see every day," Dorian commented as he took in the view before him.
"Tell me about it. Wow, Merill would love to see this." Varric nodded.
Evelyn had to agree with both of them.
The small village and their Dalish camp neighbor has turned out to be a single settlement called Laleal. Most outsiders, when stumbling upon the word 'village', would simply assume that it was populated by humans with a stray few elves here and there begging or doing grunt works; but what they were seeing now was completely different from that reality.
Humans and elves were mingled with each other. The few market stalls they had here were looked after by both humans and elves with Vallaslin on their faces who joked and haggled with their buyers and each other. Children of both races ran around laughing or sharing treats, and she could see in a corner of a house, there was a couple talking affectionately to each other, the human male's hand held tightly to his elven lover. And all the elves were looking healthy with no sight of abuse or sickness.
The only thing that soured such a lovely scene was that if anyone noticed Evelyn and her group, they either looked scared or suspicious or even loathing. She guessed that people here didn't like or see much visitors since this place was so obscured that it wasn't even marked on the maps, not mentioning the mountain and forests surrounding it.
"Wonderful, isn't it?" The mayor, a human man called David with streaks of grey hair on his head, who was standing next to them along with the clan Keeper, sighed and rubbed his temple. "It's exactly because of this that we don't want too many outsiders to come and know about this place."
"I'm sorry, he meant to say why we took this long to actually asking for help from the outside," the white-haired Keeper, Rosal, explained. "Most people, humans or elves don't take kindly to the fact that we in Laleal not only live together in peace but also building families with each other. They all see it as a… betrayal."
"Some of the elves here don't have Vallaslin?" Evelyn asked when she saw an elf walked by.
"Some elves here don't really worship the elven pantheon the same way as traditional Dalish clans, some of them practice the Chant of Light like the city-born. But it's not strange for our human or elves to worship both. Even so, our humans don't wear Vallaslin, it's easier to leave for the outside world to do business when your face is clean."
"The Chantry doesn't come down and attacking you for practicing another religion?" Varric inquired, pointing at the small Chantry at the end of the street.
"We've got that covered. Everyone in the Chantry come from this village and they pay enough lips service to the main church to keep those zealots off our backs. And who would want to come to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere?" David grumbled.
"Still, it's impressive that you managed to keep this way of life—Eh, how old is this village, anyway?" Varric asked.
"Very old. Technically, our community actually has existed since the fall of Arlathan," Rosal said as he waved his hand, signaling for everyone to follow him. "When our homeland fell and be taken by the Tevinter empire, our ancestors had run away from the slaughter, carrying with them their human soulmates who refused to join the atrocities of the empire. For a long time, they wandered around until the Dales were given to the elves. With that, our people settled down in the Northern Dales. Throughout everything, we rarely associated with outside in fear that harms would fall upon our humans for being a part of a Dalish clan—if you could even call us that."
"After the second Exalt March, we all ran here deep into the mountains and forest of the South, where the humans in this village pretended to take over while hid away their elven families." David crossed his arms as they walked. "Still, many were killed or taken. Once the Orlesian army had mostly gone away, we rebuilt everything from scratches on this location. Our elves still have to leave this village every couple of years or so to search for old relics, new blood and to throw off the Templars who wanted our mages. We have quite a few of them due to being born with elven blood and soulbonds."
As the two leaders explained the history, Evelyn couldn't help but feeling her heart warmed up at the way the two men easily used the words 'our humans', 'our elves' and 'families' as if it was the most natural things in the world.
"How many people have been taken from your village?" she asked.
"Eleven," David replied. "It was almost twelve but my daughter, Helena, was able to escape thanks to her soulmate Belraj. The lad stalled those bastards long enough for her to run back to us and call for help. But when we finally got there, they've already disappeared. From the traces they left behind, Belraj definitely didn't make it easy for them. We tried to track them down but it led to one of the old ruins deep in the forest, and we couldn't come in there since it's full of traps and spots for ambush."
"It's been a week since then and many of us don't want to leave our home very far. Most of those who dare to venture into the forest now are either unbonded or blanks but they are quite a few in numbers or doing other jobs—oh, here we are."
They've arrived at David's house where his daughter was waiting at the front door. She was a small woman who looked a quite a bit younger than Evelyn, probably not under into her 20s yet. A pretty thing with short auburn hair and lovely blue eyes. But she was so pale, her face full of exhaustion and there were dark rings under her eyes.
"Dad, you're home." Helena smiled weakly before bowing her head to greet them. "You must be people from the Inquisition. I'm Helena."
They all offered her a greeting before the mayor let them into his house and presented the map of the region.
"Most of the kidnapping cases happened near the old elven ruins scattered across the forest, which is not a surprise since the soulmates of this village love them," he explained, pointing to various places on the map.
"Didn't you say that the ruins have traps?" Varric asked.
"Only the lower levels that dug deep into below are dangerous. The above floors are all clear and they look very lovely too, quite fitting for young couples to share times alone. Aside from that, it's our village's tradition for young couples to go and plant a new tree near the ruins after their first bonding. After that, they often return to take care of their tree."
"So, someone knows about your village's way of life well enough to plan attacks accordingly," Evelyn hummed. "Have anything strange happened before these events?"
"Yes, about a year ago, while our elves were all away, there was an elf came here. He doesn't have Vallaslin so we assumed him to be a city-born. He told us he was a researcher and wanted to know more about the ruins. One of the younger kid took him there a few times and the lad said that the bastard asked quite a bit about us. He stayed for a few days and left." As David recounted the events and she could hear anger rising in his voice. "Nothing happened afterward so we didn't pay much attention until Rosal and his group came back. Two months after all the soulmate couples of this year finished their bonding, they started to go missing. It's been going for nearly a month now! That bastard, I knew there's nothing good from the outside!"
"I understand." Evelyn nodded, tried not to think too much about the last part of what he said. "Helena, may I ask what happened that day to you and your soulmate? Is there anything about your attackers that leave an impression on you?"
"I—on that day, I tried to go into the forest to get some herbs for the halla. Belraj told me not to but I didn't listen! For nearly a month, I was cooped up in the village and I was worried about our tree too so I left anyway." Helena's voice started to waver at the last part and when she found the strength to continue, everyone could hear her sobs. "Belraj chased after me and dragged me back but we didn't even manage to leave the ruin when those men attacked. They were 5-6 of them, He held them off, telling me to run. If—if I've listened to him, if I didn't go there then- then he'd still—oh, Belraj!"
Helena started to cry at that, her whole body shook with each sob and Evelyn couldn't help but to step forward and hugged the girl, whispering comforting words to her. After a while, she finally calmed down enough to continue her story.
"The kidnappers, one of them can use magic. I saw him throwing a lance made from blood at us but Belraj pushed me out of the way. When I heard them shouting, they have a foreign accent… L-like your friend here." Helena pointed to Dorian.
"Well, no surprise here. The Red Scales are from the Empire, after all." Dorian just shrugged with an obvious expression on his face. "But they actually sent a blood mage here instead just normal slavers? Someone is feeling desperate for high-quality goods then."
"Hm, there are chances that they don't actually store their captives deep in the ruins but at another place. Still, we could take a look at there to track them." Evelyn nodded after thinking for a bit. "But we'd need more daylight than just an evening to do so. for all we know, the ruins could lead through from one end of the mountains to the other end."
"Yes, it's near sunset now so you start tomorrow instead," Rosal offered. "You can stay at the tavern. They only have three room for guests there but it should be enough."
"Let me take them there," Helena said, her fingers fiddled with the edge of her apron. "I'm sure they'd need to learn bit more about the ruins and the surrounding places. And I know you still need to work with uncle Rosal and our hunters."
"You sure, Helena?" David took a step forward to place his hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"I'll be okay, dad. It's just a walk in this village. And I need some fresh air, I've been staying in my room and crying for far too long."
"All right, but make sure that once you finish, you run home straight away, you hear me?"
"I know, dad, I know."
xxXxx
The tavern owner definitely didn't like them judging by the mean look the woman kept throwing at them over her shoulder. The same could be said for everyone else in the bar.
"Should we prepare for ambushes in our rooms?" Dorian leaned over to whisper to her and to be honest, she felt like it wasn't a bad idea.
"I'm so sorry. Normally, everyone here is all very friendly and kind. It's just that the disappearances of their our people really hurt them so they're very wary of outsiders now," Helena said as she walked alongside them to their rooms.
Varric laughed. "It's not the first time this happens to us so don't worry, we understand."
The rooms were spacious enough for two persons each so Evelyn decided to share with Dorian. While they were preparing their traveling items and weapons for the next days, Helena was kind enough to go and bring up their dinner to have it upstairs, which was definitely a more suitable option compared to eating in the main hall and got glare at the whole time.
"Thank you, Helena. You shouldn't have," Evelyn said, taking the tray from the mayor's daughter's hands to place it on the small table against the window.
"It's no problem, truly. I just want to help as much as I can." Helena once again fiddled with her apron. "It was my fault that Belraj got caught, and many of others are my friends so…"
Wanting to comfort the girl and yet didn't want to give her false hope, Evelyn stepped forward to put her hands on the girl's shoulder.
"Helena, I shall be honest with you. I don't know whether I can reach your soulmate and friends to save them in times. Or if I can even track the captors at all. But I promise you that as long as there is still something I can do to stop this happens to your village, I will continue to do so," she said slowly and firmly, looking straight into Helena's eyes as she did so.
Helena seemed to take aback by what she said for a moment before a small smile appeared on her lips.
"Thank you for telling me so. Even if nothing comes out from this, it's good to know that someone from the outside cares," she said, wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes.
"It seemed like it's not just because of the kidnapping that your father hates everything outside your village. And I have a feeling it's the same for everyone else here," Varric chimed in.
"Ah, I'm sorry you had to hear that." Helena sighed before sitting down on the edge of a bed. "It's just that it's been ingrained into our community for generations…"
"Hurt, fear, you remember their faces whenever they came back. Outside is bad, outside is hate, it's hurt to stay out there. They said you should stay inside so you don't get hurt." Cole started his speech from his corner but instead of saying it out loud as usual, he just whispered it this time—not loud enough for Helena to hear completely. Old habits were hard to get rid of, Evelyn supposed.
"Please don't mind him! Please, continue." Dorian waved his hand.
"Ah, yes, as my dad and uncle Rosal has explained to you all before, most of the elves in Laleal would leave once every few years to maintain their Dalish appearance. They travel to trade with other clans, finding relics and bring new blood into our community. But… every time they came back, all of them, even my friends who were excited to leave our village all told me that the outside world is a horrible place."
Helena's lips pressed into a thin line.
"They said that the humans outside oppress elves everywhere and hate magic. Belraj also said that the outside's elves are full of hatred too—the Dalish clans look down on both humans and city-elves, some clans even became bandits, and the same happens with the city-born elves. I-I don't really know if they were telling the truth or just want to stop us younger kids to leave so I want to ask… is that true? Is the outside really that bad?"
The hope and anticipation in Helena's voice were palpable and Evelyn couldn't help but let the thought of lying flash through her head, but once again, the ever-pragmatic trait in her won as she wouldn't give someone false hope just to feel better for herself.
"I'm afraid that your friends and soulmate didn't lie. There is a lot of prejudice and fighting between the races." Before Helena could react, Evelyn added, "But I do not think the world outside this village is that bad. There are good people out there too, and beautiful things can and could still happen despite all the ugliness. I and all my friends here have seen them ourselves. Besides, from what your father and Rosal said, didn't many people in this village are not original here?"
Helena frowned and thought for a bit before offering a small smile that made the corners of her eyes lifting up. "Thank you, it's heartening to know that there're hope out there. And you're right, many of the people who married and moved here were from outside and they're all so kind so it can't be that bad!"
"Speaking of marriage and moving, how do Laleal maintain your numbers of elves anyway? Elves and humans can only give birth to humans so if your elves are allowed to marry humans, shouldn't it decrease your number of elves?" Varric asked, voicing what Evelyn has been thinking this whole evening too.
"About that—if an elf and a human who aren't soulmate have a child together, that child will indeed be human, but if the parents are soulmates, it'll be different. Have you notice some people on the street have pointy ears but not long enough as the normal elf's?"
"Yes, we did," Evelyn nodded, remember a person she passed by before arriving at the tavern. He was as tall as a human male, with an equal muscular body, but his eyes were more elf-like, he has a straight nose too. And his ears were indeed pointy but almost as short as human ears.
"If the parents are soulmates, the child will be born as a true half-elf. And depends on the race of the soulmate of that half-elf that a human or an elf will be born in the future. A human soulmate with a half-elf will create humans, but an elf or half-elf soulmate will bear an elven child. And of course, non-soulmate partners, regardless of races, will give humans."
"Really? I've never heard about such things before." Dorian exclaimed excitedly while Evelyn could hear Varric murmured to himself.
"So that's why Betty looks like that."
Noting to herself to ask him about it later, Evelyn hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose that it's so rare for us to hear such things because normal humans and elves don't tend to get together, and the chances for soulmates to do that are even lower, and that doesn't account for the fact that half-elves may not get together with a soulmate that can produce a full elven child often enough to alert people about this… phenomenon."
"Yes, uncle Rosal said something similar to that. He also said that this particular quirk happens because of the strong magic in elf blood combined with the power of soulbonding. There was a lot of other things that he mentioned too but I don't understand them very much." Helena smiled shyly. "But overall, that's why we have enough elves around here despite the mixed marriages."
"But still, this only happens to soulmate couples and we all know that not everyone can or want to fall in love with their respective soulmate. If you want to maintain such a balance in population for millennia, you basically have to have a steady number of bonded couples of the right combination."
"We tend to have a dreamer once every couple of generations. That dreamer, who tends to live much longer, will be trained to become the Keeper and then use his or her power to locate the soulmates of some of the members of our community and once the clan start travelling, they will find those people to bring them back after confirming that they can trust those soulmates to live peacefully in our community."
"Makes sense." Dorian nodded. "You don't want to let anyone who hates humans or elves in your mixed village."
"Indeed. This tradition has been ongoing ever since the very first Keeper and dreamer, Datishan Manehn, who took our ancestors away from Arlathan to avoid the Tevinter empire." Laughed Helena. "Both Rosal and my dad are descended from different branches of Datishan bloodline, actually. Rosal isn't a dreamer but his grandson is, but it'd be years before my cousin could take up such a duty."
"Still, that'd be a very high number of dreamers this village has. Hm, I wonder if this was due to the constant mixing blood of soulmates, or humans and elves, or both." Evelyn murmured, various theories ran through her head, filling her with the excitement of the prospect of learning new things.
"Now, my friend. I know what that face of yours means but I think we should let dear Helena go home now," Dorian laughed, putting a hand on Evelyn's shoulder to shake her out of her trance. "It's dark already, and I don't think the mayor will be pleased with us tomorrow if his daughter comes home late."
Jerking her head to the window, she realized that he was right. It was dark enough outside. Mentally cursing herself for not noticing it sooner, she quickly stood up.
"I'm so sorry, Helena, I didn't notice—"
But the girl held up her hand."Don't be, I have fun talking with you," she laughed and Evelyn could see that the exhaustion previously in her eyes has lightened somewhat. "This is the first time I get to talk this long to visitors. It was really nice, thank you so much, lady Inquisitor!"
"It wasn't much of a conversation and more like we attacked you with questions." Evelyn huffed but couldn't help but smile along. "And please, call me Evelyn."
"Still, I mean it when I said, 'thank you', Inquisi—I mean, Evelyn." The mayor's daughter shook her head, smiling gently, before standing up and head for the door. "You should all rest now. I'm sure tomorrow will be a busy day for you."
"Let me take you home, it's not safe to go alone at night," Varric offered but the girl declined.
"No need, I don't want to bother you too much and it's just a short walk from here back to my house. I've done it hundreds of times before so please don't worry. You should have your dinner now before it gets cold completely. Diana's cooking is the best when it's hot, trust me. I'm going now, dad must be waiting for me!"
And just like she quickly left but not before exchanging some small talks with the tavern owner and other patrons.
After a delicious meal—just like Helena had said— Cole and Varric have retreated to their room, Evelyn sat next to the window, polishing the blade of her staff with a piece of oiled cloth, however, her mind was focusing on something else.
This village was basically everything she could dream of, humans and elves living and building families together as a natural thing, the acceptance of magic and religions, the children who were loved regardless of their appearance and blood.
She has many times thought about the possibility of whether humans and elves could live together in harmony but almost any times she did that, reality came to hit her in one way or another, constantly reminding her the cruel facts of this world and crushed her hope to pieces. It was hard to keep up the optimism when all you could see was bloodshed, slavery, and hatred.
The only place she could remember where humans and elves lived together without much fighting was her Circle, and they were all facing another kind of oppression.
To know that this place existed gave her hope more than anything she has ever dreamt of. Solas wanted to create a new home for his people and she knew that he would have to accept the fact that there was no way for elves to live in isolation like the Dales in the past, and this place could be a proof that such a thing was feasible. But-
"You like this place, don't you?" Dorian came to sit in front of her, his own staff in his hand.
"Yes, I've never thought I could come across something like this in my lifetime."
"Neither do I. Just to prove it that nothing is impossible, hm?" He smiled. "But I don't think it's that perfect, this village, I mean."
"I saw that too. They hate outsiders, they don't care if we have good intentions when we come here. They don't even want us to come to help until they have no other choices." Sighing, she leaned her against her fist and glanced outside, recalling the bustling street in the evening with people of two races on it.
"Ironic, isn't it? They are so accepting of each other that they reject the world, only allow a small group of people into this place once they passed the test."
"I don't blame them. If I know my home is the only place that I can live in peace, I'd hate to have strangers whom I know hate my house to come too."
"True, my friend, true."
xxXxx
"No, Helena, just no!" David shouted out loud, and Evelyn was sure his voice could be heard from the outside of this tavern. "They have our map, they can go in alone!"
"Dad, please, I can help. That map only shows the ground floor, not the first floor. And our trees have changed the surrounding quite a bit too so it's not that reliable." Helena pleaded, her hands tightened into two fists at her sides.
"Then we can let someone else in the village do it, it doesn't have to be you," her father growled, "there are no reasons it has to be you."
"I think you should listen to your father, Helena." Evelyn tried to placate the girl with gentle words. "It could be dangerous for you. If you want to do something, why not helping your dad to prepare with the hunters."
"It's should be me. Because of me, Belraj was taken so please let me do something to help. I must do something, anything or I can't live with myself, please!" she was crying for real now. "Please, dad, Evelyn, let me do this. I'll just lead them to the main ruin and the top floor, then I'll run back right away. Please!"
Her sobbing definitely worked on the father because after a few moments, he let out a sigh and said, "All right, you can go, but only to the main door, then you come back right away, okay?"
"I promised."
And there was that, in Helena's defense, when they come near the ruins, Evelyn had to admit that the surrounding area looked quite different from what was noted on the map. Several relics and structures had disappeared, replaced with various types of trees, old and young.
"It must be generations since the last time they update this," Varric commented while he looked over a spot where there should have been a large statue.
"Sorry, since everyone here knows where is where we don't really think about changing our own maps as none of us really need them," Helena said from her ahead of them before pointing toward to where they could see a small stream of water. "That stream means that we're near—come now."
This ruin was beautiful despite its state, flowers grew across broken walls, clear streams flowing through fences and pillars, statues and murals depicting stories on enormous doors, with everything here, she could understand why the young couples of Laleal love to come here this much.
Stepping into the main hall, Helena seemed to be nervous with the way she looked around and Evelyn could hear Cole whispered next to her.
"I can do this. I must do this. For him. This is wrong but I must do this. Forgive me, forgive me."
Normally this would simply confuse her but this time, her guts feeling was screaming. The next thing Evelyn knew, she was running toward Helena, screaming, "No! Helena!"
And then the floor collapsed right beneath them.
Dust, debris, and rocks blew into her face and body, leaving scratches on anywhere that didn't have armor on them. When she realized what has actually happened, they've already on another floor, and a quick lookup showed that they had fallen through a second layer and landed on the third floor or so into a narrow hall.
Scrambling to stand up, Evelyn only had enough time to realize that she only had a few scratches thanks to her usual barrier spell before men with weapons pouring out from both sides of the hall.
Quickly summoning her spells, she could see from the corner of her eyes that Varric, Dorian, and Cole were still alive and fighting, but there was blood on their bodies. And worst of all, there were enemies between her and Varric's group, separating them into two groups.
Dodging, casting, dodging, stabbing, jumping, slashing, dodging again.
It was almost like there was no end for the numbers of enemies. They were both humans and elves, and in their midst, there were walking skeletons and Shades too.
The hall was too narrow for her to use the more powerful spell out of fear they would hit her friends too so she could only employ more simple spells at great frequency. Each hit was a calculating move to deter and give her enough time to move away.
She had to find a way to make it to her companions so they could push back their opponent.
There. An empty spot where a rouge has fallen. But before she could run through it, a piercing scream was heard.
Helena.
Whipping her head back in the direction of the scream, she saw Helena struggling against a giant man in vain. Her right leg bent at an odd angle and the girl was trying to stand up on her other leg.
"No! You promised! Let me go! Let him go, please!"
Evelyn didn't have time to think about it.
Lunging herself forward, she blasted a small fireball at the brute to stagger him back without hurting Helena before creating a barrier between her and the attackers, shielding the girl behind her.
Another spell was used to temporarily treat the girl. It wouldn't heal her broken leg completely but it could dampen her pain and reinforce her leg for a while until they found more times.
"Evely—"
"Helena, listen, try to run away when you can!" Evelyn ordered firmly without looking back, most of her attention was on pushing back her foes. Far over on the other side, she could see Dorian's group gradually moved to her.
"But—" she could hear the girl behind her shuttered again but this time, it wasn't Evelyn herself interrupting.
Another large explosion suddenly came and when the dust was clear enough, she realized the path between her and Varric has been completely destroyed and covered with rocks, blocking the whole hall.
Dead end on one side and enemies on another in a narrowed place. Not knowing what happened to her friends now.
They were stuck.
No. There was still a way.
Controlling her Anchor, she created a rift near the wall that pulled her foes with great forces to it. There were screaming and cursing but she paid them no mind.
Once they have been grouped up enough to leave some space for her, she immediately released a blast to stun them all.
Taking Helena's hand, she pulled the girl along. And ran pass the group of paralyzed men.
She couldn't fight them in such a small place with no escape route but if they could go to a bigger place, there would be more chances for her to win.
They ran through the long hall, bypassing little rooms with no other leads. Scenarios rushed through her head as she moved.
She didn't have enough mana to cast various little spells for a long period, but she couldn't cast the stronger ones since they could cause the low ceiling to drop onto them or caught Helena in their blasts.
Traps might be presented but since they were still on the third floor, it could still safe enough to run around like this but it was possible that the enemies have placed new ones around here.
Should she place more glyphs on the ground? Yes, some repulse glyphs were instantly placed behind them. That should give them more times but now should she create wall ices that could block out the way and give them more times to run?
No, that would deplete all of her energy and leave her vulnerable if there were another group. Maybe she shoul-
Feeling Helena was starting to run slower and her breaths heavy, Evelyn realized she couldn't leave very far or risk hurting her companion even more.
She had to fight a spot for the next battle. Now.
Luckily, the next door led to an open hall with high ceiling and without hesitation, she dragged the girl into it.
As fast as she could, Evelyn pointed to a spot in the room while stimulatingly channeling a new trap spell.
"Hide in that corner behind that giant statue. Don't come out until—"
But she never had a chance to finish her sentence.
The moment her spell was to be released, a strong current of energy engulfed her, setting her whole body in hot white pain.
She couldn't move. It hurt. It hurt as if a Templar has just hit her with several Smites and then actually impaled her for good measure.
It hurt.
In her blurry, spinning vision, she could make out the silhouette of their pursuers pouring into the hall.
Then, she heard Helena's scream.
Pushing herself to turn over from her fetal pose on the floor, Evelyn released another mind blast to push back the enemies only to take on another onslaught of pain.
But she ignored it and the feeling of nausea that threatened to escape from her throat. Staggering to stand up, she concentrated to make another ice spell, hoping this one could freeze all of them to at least give them a chance to run.
But it never came to be because before Evelyn even managed to build up the cold, someone hit her from behind and another surge of energy exploded through her body, turning her vision black.
She was out cold before she even hit the floor.
xxXxx
She couldn't tell how long it was.
There were periods when she came out of her forced sleep and during most of them, she was either on the back of a house, being draped over like a sack of goods or in the carriage of some kinds judging by the hardwood floor that jumped up and down on the uneven roads.
The whole time, her head was covered by a small bag that only occasionally lifted up enough for her captors to shove some food or water into her mouth. Meanwhile, her wrists and ankles were restrained with enchanted shackles that sent her pulse of pain if she just even tried to control her mana.
But most of the time, though, she spent staying in the Fade, trying to call out for Solas, for him to locate her, but it was all in vain.
There was something that kept her in one spot. No matter how much she tried to use the Anchor to manipulate her surrounding, there was always an immovable barrier standing in her way, blocking all of her escape attempts.
Each time she thought she has managed to go to a new area, it always led her back to the starting point.
She wondered if her friends were still alive, if Helena was able to run away.
Eventually, the journey came to an end.
They dragged her along the stairs in some kind of building, the air of the place was heavy and humid.
There was the sound of metal doors opening before they threw her onto the floor and rip the bag from her head. Her legs and arms were still linked with chains.
She could hear someone being thrown too before all the doors were closed.
She smelled everything before she could see. The dirty smell of garbage and body odor, the smell of oiled and metal, and worst of all, the smell of rust, not from the iron bars but from blood.
Once her eyes have gotten used to the dark, Evelyn realized she wasn't alone. There were several other cells in this place, filled with people of mostly elves and humans but there were a few dwarves too.
On the left side of her cell was another that contained six people, one of which was Helena, who was sobbing in the arms of an elf with long, white hair tied into a braid, who was probably Belraj. Some elves and humans in the other cells were looking and expressing their concerns toward the couple too so Evelyn guessed that they were the other victims from Laleal.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Helena was whispering her apologies like a chant, she looked unharmed, her right leg was in some kind of clumsy cast but to be sure, Evelyn had to ask.
"Helena, are you all right? Did they hurt you?"
Like she was just broken from a trance, Helena turned to look at her with widened eyes before tears once again trailed down her dirty cheeks.
"E-Evelyn, oh Evelyn, I'm so sorry. It was all my fault. They said that night that if I do that they'd give Belraj back to me, b-but-" she choked on her words before curling up on the floor, prompting her soulmate to gather her back into his arms.
"It's okay, don't cry, it'll be all right." Offering meaningless reassurances, Evelyn once again going over what could be done in this situation. Not only now she couldn't use her magic or contact Solas through the Fade, she had to find a way to save these prisoners too.
Clumsily standing up, she walked to the bars and touched them, confirming that they too were enchanted with similar runes like the ones in her shackles, rendering all forms of magic useless.
For a moment, wariness threatened to overtake her but she shook her head to clear it out. There was no use for panic.
Turning back to sit down against the wall, she mediated her breathing.
First, she had to preserve her strength and saw what she actually had in this situation.
She spent most of her times afterward to talk with other prisoners, asking them their names and how they got caught, what they could tell about the enemies.
By counting the meals and the times the jailors came to change the torches, Evelyn was able to estimate the time passing by and it was the third day when someone different came.
It started with a strong smell of incense and flowers before a woman walked to the door of her cell and stepped in.
She was an incredible beauty with an angelic face that frame with curls of golden hair trailed down her back. Hazel eyes glittering in the dim light and red plum lips curved into a lovely smile. Her white dress was a delicate thing embroiled with gold threads into intricated flowers and symbol. It wouldn't be wrong to compare her to a goddess.
And then with a twitch of the woman's hand, Evelyn's body simply stood up on its own and frozen right on the spot.
Blood magic.
The woman took hold of her left wrist and, much to her horror, pulled the sleeve up and unravel the bandage to reveal her brown-red soulmark.
A beautiful smile appeared on the blood mage's lips as she held onto Evelyn's hand with both of her own. "I've finally met you!"
Then, she seemed to realize something before taking and step back to give a perfect bow.
"Oh my, where is my manners! Please do forgive me. I am Regina Luxianus, the soulmate of Razikale. It is a horror to finally be able to meet you, bondmate of Fen'Harel."
