DISCLAIMER: Does this thing need to be on top of every chapter? Bioware still owns everything. I mean, except EA. EA owns Bioware. That's how that works, isn't it?

Chapter 10: Home

Tamlen and Vaela returned to the Sabrae clan's campsite with Ashalle draped over Tamlen's shoulders, wounded badly. The Daedra clan had a dark reputation among even the Dalish, but no one thought they were capable of this. When Vaela ran away, the Daedra and the Sabrae both sent their hunters out in search of her, but Keeper Azulon had ulterior motives. The marching orders as the Daedra understood them were to, of course, search for and retrieve Vaela, but also secretly neutralize the threat Ashalle posed to them if she were encountered alone in the forest. Ashalle was skilled, but the Daedra were known for their brutal nature.

Hours earlier Tamlen agreed to let Vaela choose her own path as they walked in two opposite directions. Tamlen, returning the clan, silently made peace with the idea that he'd never see his best friend again until he heard her scream for his help deeper in the forest.

"Tamlen!" Vaela screamed hoping her friend would still be able to hear her. "Tamlen!" she repeated.

"Vaela!"
"Tamlen!"

"What happened, Vaela?!"

"Tamlen, it's Ashalle she's- I- something's wrong- I don't know-" Vaela was hysterical.

What was Ashalle doing out here, Tamlen thought. "She must've been looking for you," Tamlen blurted out without thinking.

"I know," Vaela sobbed. "This is my fault."

"No, it's not. Look, I'll bring her back and the Keeper can heal her."

"Tamlen, I want to come with you…"

"Are you sure?"

"Mamae… Ashalle means everything to me. I need to be there for her. I want to come home."

When Tamlen looked at Vaela he saw fear, anger, and pain in her eyes. She was always so confident and headstrong before. Had this day broken her? The truth of her parentage, the clan's lie, and now this? Could Vaela ever recover, even if Ashalle did not?

Vaela wasn't lying when she said Ashalle meant everything to her. Nothing could change what they've shared together, could it? Mother or not, Ashalle was always there for her for any matter, big or small. And now, in her greatest moment of despair Ashalle south to take the pain away from her child, as she always had.

What hurt the most was knowing that Ashalle's love for her might have cost her life.

"Tamlen," she whispered barely audibly, "we have to save her."

Tamlen nodded, "Let's go home. All of us."

A/N: I'm not gonna lie, I didn't like this chapter but this subplot needed an ending, I think. I just really wanted to get back to the present.