CHAPTER ELEVEN (Trial of the Sentinels)
Da'fen and Pharen were nearly inseparable as weeks passed; he was used by Pharen both as a guide and as a friend as Fen'Harel's tests loomed in the coming days. Fen himself had not been seen as much, and so Da'fen and Pharen had been left to bond, consisting of playing hide and seek in the temple's courtyard. "What do you think this will all be about, hm? Should I expect some wild chase? Should I expect to be tested to my ultimate will only to be felled by a mighty hunter?" Pharen giggled to herself, while her companion gave a small woof of annoyance.
"Oh, stop it you. It'll be fine! What could possibly go wrong?" Da'fen growled as fiercely as any pup could, making her laugh and giggle. She hadn't noticed the shadow behind her, however. "Da'fen is not meant for entertainment," Fen'Harel gently chastised her. "He is meant to protect you and give you strength…" Lavellan turned slightly to face the wolf, turning her face slightly upward, and shielding her eyes from the bright sun at his shoulder.
"I know. I…well, I wanted to get to know his wolf-pup ways, so I thought I could get to know you better, vhenan, if you want me to be perfectly honest. He's not calculating and perceptive, and has not yet learned how to hunt, yet you expect of him to protect me when he doesn't know how to protect himself?" Pharen looked up at him expectantly, the pup sitting down next to her, and canting his head to the side, as if to say 'she has a point'. "That aside, he will be taught, much as you are about to be taught, ma da'enansal. Come, we have things to attend."
Fen'Harel extended his hand to her at his feet, gesturing with his fingers to take it. Once she did, he helped her to his side, leaving Da'fen ferociously growling at the shadows cast by the duo. Fen'Harel guided her inside the temple, where many sentinels kneeled in prayer around a statue dedicated to his wolf form in the main hall. She could tell the Wolf was very much excited by whatever it was that was about to happen – he was nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet. Turning to her and taking her hands in his own, he pressed a kiss to the top of each hand before allowing them to fall to her side. She was shaking in anticipation and met his cerulean gaze.
"Today, vhenan, you begin the first of two tests. This one is being given by the sentinels of this temple, as you can see. This will be a trial for both your physical strength and your will. Should you succeed, you will then be administered a second trial. Should you fail, the sentinels will strike you down." The upbeat tone he had carried before faltered at the last words. He had, in fact, given orders to his sentinels to strike her down. Fen'Harel knew she would not fail a test, his test, any test; his pride and faith in her told him so. It had been thus he had been at peace with allowing his sentinels this task.
Pharen, on the other hand, was shaking; her eyes were downcast to the robes she wore, and her heart was hammering in her chest so loud she was certain everyone in the hall could hear it. Her vhenan had given an order for his sentinels to kill her should she fail. Shifting from one foot to the other until finally seeming to come to a decision, Pharen lifted her head and met Fen'Harel's blue gaze. Squaring her shoulders, she unwaveringly stated, "I'm ready." Breaking their stares and nodding to the leader of his sentinels once, Fen turned away and strode to a separate chamber, not telling her dareth shiral. He knew she would make it. She had to.
Lavellan held her head higher when addressed by their leader. He was a tall elvhen man, sharp features that contrasted harshly with his violet eyes that seemed to peer into her very depths; depths she wasn't certain he could not read. He raised his hand and Pharen knelt down before him, eyes shut tight, and listened to him cast; the words he spoke so fluently were unfamiliar to her, their cadence both poetic and discordant. Unbeknownst to Pharen, her surroundings were beginning to change; the four walls gave way to large trees, the stone floors becoming green with grass, the existence of the elvhen sentinels before her disappearing.
The song grew to its peak, and then softened to its close, while Pharen opened her eyes to take in what was now around her. Standing to her feet, she listened closely to the sounds of the forest – but there were none. She discovered she had been kneeling in front of a statue dedicated to the Dread Wolf, in a clearing with many paths to take. Hearing nothing and uncertain of what to do, she chose a path at random and began to walk down it.
Looking ahead, she could only see the cobbled path she walked for very few feet; a black cloud seeming to come to find and greet her from further down the pathway. Upon nearly reaching her, however, the black cloud twisted and turned and took shape; a shape in which everyone should fear. The Dread Wolf. The Roamer of the Beyond. The Bringer of Nightmares. The Great Wolf. He Who Hunts Alone. Fen'Harel. A great black wolf, an aravel or two tall, its coat becoming wispy as the cloud's shape, its six crimson eyes peering at her from in front of laid-back ears and behind bared fangs. This was not her vhenan. This was something else entirely, though she still approached it, without fear.
The wolf snarled and bared its fangs, still dripping from the blood of its most recent kill. Narrowing her eyes at the great beast, she raised her hand as if to pet it. Her insides were screaming at her, her every fiber screaming at her to run, to run far away from Fen'Harel. Her hand did not falter as she drew closer to him, nor did the Wolf back down from the challenge. Pharen walked toward the Dread Wolf, and stopped mere inches from him, being able to practically feel the thundering growl emanating low in his chest. The snarling did not stop as the beast sat back on its haunches and stared at her, unblinking. Lowering her arm, but never eye contact, she challenged the Wolf without needing to speak.
"You dare attempt to treat me as a mere pup, mortal?" His voice had changed, like the sharp edge of steel meeting steel, the sound resonating throughout the forest and grating on her every nerve. Goosebumps began creeping their way up her neck as she stared him down. His hackles raised slightly, but his stance did not waver. "You put your life at the whim of a god, who would sooner see your lifeless corpse at his feet than have you alive and convolute his path!" Pharen's jaw dropped at the audacity of this creature, her left hand clenching into a fist, causing the magic there to spark uncontrollably.
"You presume to know the exact will of Fen'Harel, though I know you are not He Who Hunts Alone. The Dread Wolf I know is not so crass in his wording; he is more cunning than that. You seek to bend my will from leaving this place! Begone!" The Wolf snarled his displeasure at her raised tone, his hackles further raising along his back. Lowering his body and baring his fangs, he lunged for her, claws extended to their full length and almost shredding the fabric that covered her torso. "Forgot about the barrier, didn't you! Fen'Harel told me to always keep it up!" The beast snarled and lunged once more, forcing her backwards.
Crying out in surprise, Pharen fell back against one of the large trees behind her, writhing in pain as her back struck the trunk. Her vision flashed white in agony from her injury as she heard the low, rumbling growl from the Wolf to her right. Casting a panicked wall of fire to increase the distance, and a barrier at the last second, she struggled to crawl away from the black cloud that had taken Fen'Harel's form. Covering her head with her hands and pulling her knees inward, being mindful not to stretch her back too much, she lay on the ground and waited for him to take her. He never did.
The silence of the forest had returned, but the air seemed less oppressive than before. She struggled to her feet, her eyes darting around her immediate surroundings for some sign of the Wolf and found none. He and the cloud had vanished. Heaving a sigh of relief and allowing herself to collapse against a nearby tree trunk, she was only allowed a moment's respite before hearing a twig snap. Pharen instantly froze, her ears prickling in an attempt to pinpoint the direction from where the sound came.
Another twig snapped. Pharen lowered herself subconsciously, to try and hide from an attacker. What she saw though, was the next to the last thing she expected – a halla. A golden halla, in fact. It was Hanal'ghilan, the "Pathfinder", as the Dalish had called it, said to only come to someone when they are in great need. The golden animal canted its head to the side, as if to ask if she needed assistance; Pharen could only stare.
"Hanal'ghilan began making its way down an adjacent pathway to her own, keeping a very slow pace. Lavellan began to hobble towards it, only to fall only a few feet forward. The halla turned and came to her side, nudging her injury with a cold nose that radiated a warmth unlike she had ever known. The halla's nose pressed into her back, causing Pharen to groan in pain for a mere second before it dissipated. Confused, she turned to the beast, furrowing her brows before stretching her back out while she lay there on the ground. Her back was no longer injured.
Hanal'ghilan lowered its head, offering assistance to get up; Pharen accepted the help to realize she hadn't needed it at all. Smiling slightly, she turned to the Pathfinder who had begun to walk down the same path as before. Taking the hint, Pharen followed it along many pathways; some dark, some light, some well-travelled, others not at all. They finally came to another shrine, but the mist enveloping this part of the woods had also claimed this statue as its prize.
Pharen stepped toward the statue, kneeled before it, just as before. Several sentinels came from the mists, holding intricate staves in their hands, a glowing green orb at the head of each and every one. All of the sentinels kneeled down with her, prostrating themselves before the statue. The song from before begins to be sung by one of the sentinels, each cadence change adding another voice to the tune. After all are singing, and the final note has been sung, the shrine splits in two, revealing a pool of water and an empty jug.
She rose to her feet, grasping the jug and filling it with water before wandering waist-deep into the pool itself. Grasping the jug and taking a single sip from its depths, Pharen smashed the jug against the inside of the statue, shattering it. Walking back out on the grass, the sentinels begin chanting in a tune not unlike before, their heads still bowed in submission. She rejoined their ranks, and soon saw the world before her begin to spin uncontrollably.
She nearly lost her nerve as the trees whooshed towards her and turned into walls; the grass under her toes died and wilted away; the veilfire torches returned in the sconces along the walls. Right before her sat her Fen'Harel in his throne, his feet kicked over one side, and his head once again using the wolf to rest his head. He was smiling.
"I knew you would prevail, ma vhenan," he breathed, once she had reached him. Cupping her face in his hands, he pressed a soft and tender kiss to her lips, and twined his fingers with her own. Sighing contentedly, she pressed her forehead to his, feeling safe once more. "Your next task will not be nearly so…taxing as that. I promise." Closing her eyes and melting into his embrace, she allowed him to press a feather-light kiss to her forehead. Grasping her hand, he led her to the chamber behind the throne itself, and with a wave of his hand, the door swung open.