Sorry for the delay with this one! I had it down on a notebook and my laptop didn't cooperate when I had to type it - and then my sisters dragged me to watch movies with them, and then, partials and assignments long overdue! Oh my, what a crazy few weeks! It didn't really help that this chapter refused to be cut - and that is not counting that a good chunk had to be rewritten because evernote got into the habit of not saving my progress sometimes...

While I was editing I remembered just how full and complete the spell trees felt in Origins, and now I don't have the time to go back for a mage playthrough so... There is that. There is also the fact that I seem to have an enjoyment for writing people who are in a disturbed mental state - at best - that is not very healthy.

Thanks for your comments - and patience - and I hope you enjoy this!

Stargazer

11th Verse - Striving

Going back to sleep was out of question, as was lighting a fire.

I sat across from the two people invading my refuge, tension uncomfortably clashing with relief and another whole myriad of feelings I didn't even what to think about. Like how well my quest for civilization would fare if there were men walking openly in plate armor...

The feel of the Veil being manipulated called back my attention, and it wasn't long before the woman had managed to conjure some sort of green light orb that floated until it was in the middle of the clearing, radiating a soft heat that I didn't realize I needed until I felt it. I shivered despite that, trying to deduce if the mist of magical presence would be enough to hide its shine from the outside but I decided against questioning her.

It was in my best interest not to anger the only other enhanced human I had found thus far in my life.

The man whispered at his companion in the weird language of them and this time I didn't even bother to try and identify it - unless some of them lent me a mobile with internet or some alien universal translator I would be as lost as I was then. She answered in the same tongue, and though she did so in a different tone, almost conciliatory compared to his rather brusque one I had the distinct impression they were talking about me - practically confirmed when in the next round of words the man waved at my direction.

Despite the fact that it was rude of them to speak in a language they evidently knew I couldn't understand at least they weren't trying to harm me in any way and that soothed my frayed nerves quite a lot. Once fright was out of the equation - and I definitely decided to ignore the welling anger, no sense in alienating them or getting myself all worked up for nothing - I focused on my curiosity instead. Honestly, they were some of the weirdest people I had ever seen, and that was counting the bandit-wannabe and a mountain of cheap cosplays.

They both wore cloaks atop leather chestpieces, the man had pants and the lady a skirt. He carried a set of weird-looking daggers and the aforementioned bow, while she had some sort of polearm as her only means of defense - though in the dim lighting it looked more like a simple branch. From under their hoods, their piercing eyes shone with unnatural intensity, all framed by long tresses and a glowing skin whose color I couldn't hope to identify with all the interference. I tried to peek discretely for the pointed ears I thought I'd seen but they kept moving away from my line of sight. Shrugging mentally and turning my attention from them I began instead to try and deduce how in the seven circles of purgatory could a green light orb emit the soft waves of heat that so inconspicuously warmed me.

I was about to prod it with my own 'magical senses' when the woman turned and directed a pointed look at me.

"Do not perform magic yet, they are still too close."

I frowned at her words. "You already did it, if they were to find us they would have already."

She seemed to shrug at that. "True, but I'm an adult and you are a lone child. You can't have yet the same control of the ways of the Fade as I do."

I almost huffed in consternation. In which world was she older than me? She looked my age, if not younger, and even though I couldn't argue about the control without more information I definitely could go against her age argument. Still, that wasn't the point right now. They seemed to be the sanest people I had seen in a long while, and we were in the 21st century - and if there were something media had taught me was that in this times nobody, not even government experiments or out-of-time soldiers, went anywhere without a cell-phone handy.

"Would you happen to have your mobile with you?"

This time even the dim-light couldn't hide the way she frowned, and I could almost feel her companion's eyes piercing straight to my bones. My eyes focused as if drawn by a force stronger than gravity, on the way his hand tightened on the grip of his bow or how his other hand tapped restlessly against his tight. Memories sharp and bright of how I had felt when attacked by that bandit came to me in a rush, undoing all my relaxation and forcing me to think in how would I fare against two opponents now: one who definitely would be better at archery and melee than I was, and the other who shared the same powers I did. I could almost feel my heart fall the moment I rationalized that this time I wouldn't have any form of advantage on my side...

A sharp, if quiet, call from the woman brought me back to my state, only to realize I was hyperventilating and that she had gotten close - closer than I felt comfortable with even though they both were probably proficient distance fighters. I scrambled back while my hands the comforting touch of the handle of my knife. She stopped in her steps and her face changed slightly before she backed slightly and, slowly, took her polearm from her back. I felt my muscles tense even more and my fist closed on my weapon before she left it in the ground, and I was about to let go and try to relax when I caught sight of a very familiar movement in the periphery of my visual field. Tightening the grip on my blade I went to duck and call forth the energy from the Fade, no longer a doubt in my mind with respect to the threat they represented - and then I felt the throbbing in my veins disappear and the energy I had gathered dissipate.

Fear toppled over like a wave and it was like that fucking dream all over again. She jumped at me and I unsheathed my knife, desperate to defend myself now that I couldn't even feel the energy beyond the Veil - this wasn't a dream, however, and my already poor martial skills were rendered useless in what I felt like a second when she grabbed me on a hold. Her hood fell then, and her pointed ears cut sharply between the strands of reddish hair. I buckled and thrashed under her but it was of no use, no matter what I did I couldn't dislodge myself from her and that only made my logical thoughts to flee faster. I could hear her whisper in her strange language again, and before I could even think I felt the energy from the Fade encase my limbs and force them to stay in position.

Cutting through the haze of fear and anger were then her golden eyes straight in my face. Her voice was low and angry.

"Stupid lan! We have done nothing to you! And you!" She said, turning to her partner. "Don't be so fast to jump into conclusions! One would think the shem is not the only child in this clearing!"

I growled, feeling the return of the telltale ache in my nerves, but before I could even think of casting some sort of counterspell she turned back at me and with a raised hand nullified me again. This time the sound that came from my throat carried an anguish that made my eyes burn. Had I come this far only to fall by the hands of a fellow Tolkien fan? It took much more than a simple lapse in reasoning to undergo surgery to have elven ears after all, traumatic backstory or not. I closed my eyes, not wishing for them to see me this undone and feeling a pit open deep in my chest, and then...

And then nothing but a soft caress on my immobilized cheek.

I opened my eyes again to see a kind and soft smile directed at me - and that was all that was needed for me to finally lost it. I ended up hugging her to my chest and crying all over her shoulder, all the despair and bad thoughts and solitude of the last few weeks pouring out of me at that simple gesture. My sobs turned even worse when her hands began to softly stroke my back. She just felt so thin and delicate between my arms, so human, and I hadn't realized how much I needed to simply hug another human-being up until that point.

At that time I didn't honestly care if they gave me up to some lab to experiment or if they killed me later, all I wanted was for that woman to keep hugging me and stroking my back and keep murmuring soft words in that language of hers. I wanted to empty all of my grievances on her and have her - or anyone really - tell me it was all going to be okay, that I would be home soon and that all of this would be nothing but a bad dream that I would soon enough forget about. Of course, the reprieve didn't last long, because as soon as my mind calmed enough I realized I was hugging a stranger I had considered a threat a few minutes ago and I stiffened. She backed a bit, now softly stroking my arms in a gesture so familiar that I couldn't help but relax again. Her voice was the gentlest thing I'd heard in a long time then.

"Feel better now?" I nodded and backed a bit more, feeling uncomfortable and trying to trample on all the accusing thoughts swimming through my head. She simply smiled. "I understand that you can be afraid, being so young and a mage alone on the road, but I have to ask you that you trust me for a bit," she then pointed with her thumb towards the man at her back, "don't mind this felasil here, he has no social skills."

The man simply huffed and put the bow that had caused all this trouble away, staying away himself too, as if knowing that if he got close I might react badly again - a point I was still debating with myself over. For the first time in the night, he spoke with a voice that was incredibly mellow for a man who seemed as paranoid as me.

"You're too soft. One of those days it will badly for you."

She snorted as if it was a tired argument between them. "It did end well enough for you, 'Ma'isha." When he said nothing and simply stood there, looking at us she turned and smiled back at me. "I'm sorry if he made you feel threatened, his paranoia knows no bounds. My name is Ellana, and you da'lan?"

I blinked and debated whether or not to trust her with my true name - would that give her and hers some way to track me down? I didn't even know if my name was all that common! Tired of all this endless paranoia, and deciding that as long as I didn't volunteer my surname everything would be relatively fine, I answered.

"I'm Marianna."

She smiled again, an elementary-school teacher's smile that did as much to put me at ease as her polearm lying on the ground still.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Marianna. My falon here is Shielan, and even though he is paranoid he is a good man." She paused for a bit. "I've got to ask though, what is one so young doing alone in the wilderness? Where are your parents?"

A different kind of anger from the burning one I had experienced so much from lately swelled up. This one had been familiar to my teenage self, and I couldn't help but take on a petulant stance.

"I'm not a kid, I am an adult and living pretty well by myself until the world went mad all of sudden!" Her smiled gained a knowing tilt and I gave up, deciding to proceed with my own line of questioning - starting for the most important one that would undoubtedly diminish my earlier comment. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"

She answered after a long stare. "We are by the Minanter, somewhere between Starkhaven and Ansburg. Go up north and you'll find the Green Dales and the vineyards of Antiva."

I frowned, none of the names sounded familiar and I was quite with how wide the river was I was bound to have studied about it - and remember it - if it was in America. Did that mean that I had somehow been taken not only out of my cozy apartment but also out of my fucking country without me noticing? I winced at the thought of having to find civilization only to find a consulate where I could finally ask for help - and that was if I wasn't caught in some experimental lab first...

Or perhaps this was simply the Mississippi and these weird people who had elven ears had given it another name for their role-playing game. After all, I would win nothing for becoming even more preoccupied than I already was and there was no way to tell which was which... or was it?

"I'm sorry but for some reason, the names aren't ringing any bells. Would you happen to have a map?"

She smiled sadly. "We can't afford to own them, they are priced commodities by the nobles in the area, but come morning I can draw in the ground a good imitation."

I thought I heard the man behind her snicker in amusement, but I was feeling my hope dwindle. How long could I last until I ran out of arrows to fish or will to face an enemy? And even if for some strange twist of fate I managed to withstand everything else what would I do come winter without a roof and central heat to keep me alive? What if the river froze? What if a pack of wolves was to jump at the chance of a lone human? I shook my head, trying to drive all those bad thoughts away.

"Which is the closest city? Would I be able to get a map there?" A map and a phone if it was possible, as it was more than evident that either this people didn't have an idea of what a mobile was or wouldn't volunteer their own - for some reason.

For the first time in the night the man, Shielan, spoke to me.

"Are your parents Tevinter Magisters by any chance?"

I frowned, thinking of the weird wording of the questions.

"They have Masters, but none of them of Tevinter." Whatever that was. "What does this have to do with anything anyway?"

He gave a smile that was all teeth. "If you go to any of the main cities in the Free Marches - or any populated place in the South for what is worth - without the right kind of political backing you'll soon find yourself at the tender mercies of the Templars."

So there were Templars now too... What was next in this madness? Assassins jumping out of rooftops to air-kill them? Golden metal orbs able to control human minds? A shudder went down my back, better not think about the possibilities that could bring.

"I understand why trained soldiers would be a threat for a lone woman on the road, but surely this power I've come to hold will be of any use against them."

He stiffened then, and the woman closer to me turned her head slightly to the side, allowing the moonlight to shine on the clear tattoos on her face.

"It is because of the magic we hold, da'lan, that they are so dangerous to us." Said Ellana. "They can not only take away your ability to cast, but some of them can also set aflame the lyrium in our veins. You would win nothing but an early grave - or a lifetime of slaving away in a Circle - if you fight them."

My heart stuttered in my chest and I could feel my eyes widen. The more I heard, the more I thought I had managed to be trapped in some kind of weird social experiment, something worthy of Vault Tech. Every new obstacle seemed designed to test my limits and what I'd do: had I crossed those knights without first meeting these elves I would have fought them and undoubtedly lost. Again the familiar flare of anger swelling in my chest at the thought of needlessly dying, of all my life and dreams and work wasted just because of something I had no control over - a wild feeling that made a small part of me reluctant of forging on ahead, while another, bigger, wilder and louder told me that there was no going back now anyway, that collateral damage was a fact of life and that I would be better off cutting my own throat right then and there than trying to play the goodie-two-shoes only to end up in the same place in the end.

I looked at them, this woman with the kind and mysterious gaze and the man alongside her, always vigilant and wary. Had they once been like me? Trapped here, alone and confused and without a friend in sight? I deduced that not unless there was something in the air that made people forget, otherwise they would be more helpful. Was this a conspiration then? A place governments had hidden away from public knowledge? Perhaps I had time traveled somehow, and ended up in a past long lost... Everything seemed possible at the time.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the dimming of the heating orb and the man closing into us.

"We will camp with you for the night and talk some more in the morning. It will be safer for us to be together, don't you agree?" Said Ellana.

I couldn't do anything else but nod, as there was no reasonable reason for me to deny them and their aid even though I really didn't want strangers so close to me. We all accommodated ourselves on different sides, I by my things and the dead remains of my fire, while they sat across from me against the trunk of the tree.

I could feel the wards the woman cast, subtle and somehow stronger than my own - which was to be expected -, before resting against her companion and falling asleep. Shielan's gaze rested on me as much as it guarded the perimeter, and I had the impression that with my surging paranoia I wouldn't really be able to sleep, but in the end, when anger and fear and confusion ebbed away I was left an empty shell with only tiredness to fill it.

And so, the only thing left to do was to close my eyes, sleep, and wait for the best in the morning.