Stories Untold

Chapter Twelve: Roundtable Revival


The cold was the first thing I noticed as I returned to consciousness. The second thing I noticed was something tugging on my right hand. I cracked my eyes open, but it was too damned bright! I tried again as I sat up slowly. I squinted at the leather tied around my hand and followed it up with my eyes. Jax looked down at me as though I was crazy. Horses. Go figure.

I used Jax to pull myself up off the ground and groaned in pain. I don't know what the hell happened to me, but I wish it fucking hadn't. Snow crunched under my feet and I looked up at my surroundings. I was in the mountains. The mountains of where? No fucking clue, but if the giant green hole in the sky was anything to go by, I was finally home.

"Well shit," I muttered to Jax. "This isn't good. Sundermount wasn't covered in snow. Where the hell am I? Ferelden?"

Jax snorted and shifted nervously. Right. I needed to find out where the hell I was and what the green shit in the sky was all about. Since the chances of someone seeing me were slim to none, I pulled my armor out of my bag and changed. It was cold as hell, but it was better to be cold for a bit than to be unprotected. Daggers and armor in place, I looked around to find a likely direction to set off in.

It wasn't that easy though. I could be wandering for weeks in any given direction and not find people. My best bet would be to head for the giant green hole and hope like hell I found the good guys. Maybe I'd find Varric or Hawke ass deep in that shit. Who knows?

I mounted up and steered Jax towards the hole. If I was lucky, there would be a mostly clear route to it. Knowing my luck, though, I could end up having to climb a mountain. That wasn't an option as long as Jax was with me. I kicked him into a canter and rode towards what could only be a shit storm.


Jax's feet drug through the snow behind me. He was as tired as I was, if not more. We'd been at this for days already with no end in sight. Where were the people? My feet hurt. I couldn't build a fire. Jax was trying to eat my hair, like a dick. I was hungry myself, but I was conserving my granola bars. This was a frozen version of hell. I was sure of it.

This wasn't a place for a southerner to be. I was used to warm winters and hot summers. Like in Kirkwall. If I wasn't in Ferelden, I wanted to know where the hell I was. Hawke and Merrill had often spoken of the wet and cold. I knew what it should be like.

The smell of smoke drifted past my nose, but I ignored it. I was sure I was smelling things that weren't there. Jax had other plans. He almost took the reins out of my hand trying to go towards the smell. I pulled myself up on his back. I was tired and I was sure there was something wrong with me. The gelding took this as consent and started away from the path we'd taken so far.

Nothing seemed to change, though. Snow, trees, rocks, and sky were all I could see. Jax seemed sure this was the right path and he'd never been wrong before. But... this wasn't Earth. He wasn't used to Thedas like I was. This was home to me. Well, not the snow, but you get what I mean.

I got dizzy when Jax walked over a gated bridge. The gates were open and no one was guarding them. Pretty strange for Thedas, but I'd take it. I was hoping for a friendly military camp or a town. What I got was a mixture of both. We passed the end of a building and I faintly registered that this place had walls. I heard shouting, but I expected that. Unfamiliar rider and all that shit.

Someone pulled me off Jax and I know they were talking to me, but I couldn't get past the sight of Jax being taken in another direction. I yelled for him. Tried to fight off whoever had me to get to him. Exhaustion and hunger kicked in and knocked my ass out.


I cracked my eyes open slowly. I was warm and in no hurry to find out where I was. I wasn't ready to answer questions. I thought about going back to sleep, but someone was rudely talking wherever I was.

"But who is she?" a thickly accented female voice asked. "And for that matter where did she come from?"

"The Commander said he knows her from Kirkwall," came the reply from an English sounding guy. Yep, that sealed it. I was home. "He told me she was friends with Hawke, but he doesn't know much else about her."

"Then Varric knows her?" the woman asked.

I sat up suddenly and startled them both. "Did you just say Varric? As in Varric Tethras?"

The woman arched a dark eyebrow at me. "Yes, you know him?"

"Can I see him?" I asked excitedly. "I haven't seen him in what feels like forever and I really miss him."

"Herald?" she asked the man.

"I don't see why that would be a problem," he told her. "Let the Commander know she's awake, as well. I'm sure he'll want to know."

I watched as she left, but the guy she called Herald stayed. Ah damn, here come the questions.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me.

"Like shit," I told him honestly. "My throat hurts and my head is pounding from sitting up so fast."

"The healers say that if you'd been out there much longer you could have died," he informed me. "It's a good thing you found Haven when you did."

"Jax found it," I sighed. "Is he okay? My horse, I mean."

He smiled. "He's in the stables and complains to anyone that will listen."

"Yep," I snorted. "That sounds like Jax. I love that bastard, but he's horrible sometimes. I'm Korbin, by the way."

"Hunter Trevelyan," he said. "Or the Herald of Andraste, as many tend to call me."

"Whatever that means," I laughed. "It's nice to meet you Hunter. I have the feeling we're going to be great friends and you're going to regret helping me."

"Why is that?" Hunter asked, confused.

"You'll never get rid of her, that's why."

I grinned at the dwarf as he stood in the doorway. "Varric! There you are!"

The dwarf walked into the room with a huge grin on his face. "I was wondering if you'd ever show up. This shit is just your sort of thing!"

"Yeah, well," I sighed. "You're gonna have to fill me in on the giant green hole in the sky. I don't remember that being there. Wherever the hell we are."

"Ferelden, Shorty," Varric laughed. "Try looking at a map once in a while and get your head out of the books and look at the sky from time to time. It helps."

In that one sentence Varric told me everything I needed to know. Keep my mouth shut around strangers. Pretend I know where I am. Don't fuck up. "How long has it been since the last time I saw you? The only reason I left without saying goodbye is because I didn't want to get arrested or something."

Varric sighed. "Four years, Shorty. You could have at least written."

"Sorry," I said. "It feels like it's only been a year." I hoped like hell he got what I was saying, but he didn't give anything away.

"This is what happens when you're raised by traveling dwarven merchants, Shorty," Varric laughed. "You don't stay anywhere long enough to remember days and weeks and shit like that. I'm surprised you stayed in Kirkwall so long."

I smiled. "Yeah, well I made a lot of great friends. More like family."

Just then, a few more people crowded into the room. I was glad I had my own little bubble. Varric was sitting in it, but it was still my bubble. I didn't see anyone I knew, but Varric hadn't said that anyone else was here.

"Oh look, Shorty!" Varric said in mock shock. "You have visitors. I think I'll leave so you can talk."

"Varric Tethras," I snapped. "If you leave me here by myself I'll break all your fingers so you can't write another word or pull Bianca's trigger." I glared at him for good measure.

He put his hands up in surrender. "Just joking, Shorty. I wouldn't do that to you."

I let out a sigh of relief and let myself relax. Of course he knew that would make me panic. He knew just about everything there was to know about me. "You better be," I muttered. "So, what's with the crowd?" Varric shrugged, as did Hunter. No one spoke for a while, but soon enough another face joined the crowd and she didn't leave me hanging.

"I am Mother Giselle," she said with a kind smile and a strange (read: Orlesian) accent. "How are you feeling?"

"My head, back, and throat hurt," I complained lightly. "Other than that, I'm just peachy."

She smiled brightly at me. "It is good that your humor is in tact."

"Give me a few more hours and you'll wish I'd shut up," I grinned.

"I doubt that," she said with a kind smile. "You've gathered quite the crowd."

"It's all Varric's fault," I blurted. "He's already gotten me into trouble, but no one knows it yet."

"That I do not doubt," a red headed woman said. Yet another Orlesian. "You are quite illusive, Korbin Mondshien. We hunted for you after the incident in Kirkwall, but you were no where to be found. You have eluded even myself. That is quite the feat."

I shrugged. "I disappear and reappear when I please. This just happens to be a rare accident."

She gave me a rather unhappy look. She knew I was lying. I just smiled at her in a way that told her I knew what she knew and I wasn't saying anything. That was ok. If I stayed here as long as I thought I might, she'd find out the whole truth one day.

"Don't mind Leliana," Varric laughed, dispelling the tension. "She's the Inquisition's Spymaster and before this she was the Left Hand of the Divine. Basically, a spy for the Chantry."

"Oh lovely," I muttered. "What am I getting myself into this time?"

"Well," Varric sighed. "If I could get everyone to leave I'd tell you exactly what you're getting yourself into." He shot the other people in the room a look and a few of them filtered out. Hunter stood around like he hadn't heard, but even he left after a moment. Varric closed the door into my tiny room and sat down with a sigh. "Four years is a long time to wonder if your friends are dead."

"You know I couldn't do anything to stop it," I sighed. "I didn't want to leave Thedas in the first place. That isn't home anymore and I didn't want to go back. I spent a year wishing for something I couldn't reach. I didn't go back to old habits, but I couldn't sleep. I guess it's a good thing I couldn't. I might not be here now."

"What happened?" he asked. "How did you get here?"

"I was riding Jax through the fields at night," I sighed. "Every night for a year. I always took my pack with me, because, you know, there was always a chance I would come back and I didn't want to leave it behind. A few days ago... at least, I think it was a few days ago, I was riding Jax and the world exploded in green. I found myself a few days ride from here. I followed the giant green hole in the sky. I smelled smoke after a few days, but I wasn't sure I was actually smelling it. Jax could smell it too and he tried to go towards the smell. So, I just mounted up and let him lead the way. I guess he brought me here."

"But the breach has been open for weeks," Varric said, confused.

"Time doesn't translate well between Thedas and Earth," I explained. "Remember? Flemeth told us that."

"Right," he agreed. "There was a delay between her opening the gate and you coming through. So it makes sense that there would be a delay this time. Here's what I don't get. You were here for almost seven years last time. How long passed in your world?"

I gave him a bitter smile. "A week. Seven years passed in a week. Now four years have passed in one year. It's fucking weird."

"You can say that again," Varric sighed. "Well, I'm glad you're back. I'm sure you'll be useful again. Watch out for the Qunari, though. I don't trust him."

"Ah, fuck!" I exclaimed. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I shit you not, Shorty," he laughed. "He calls himself The Iron Bull and he leads the Chargers."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Fucking lovely. I don't like Qunari. Not after the Arishok."

"I don't blame you," he said with a smile. "He's a strange one, that's for sure. He sees too much. We're going to have a hell of a time keeping your secret from him."

"Well," I pondered. "I guess I'll just have to act like I always do, huh?"

"Sounds like a plan," Varric laughed. "So, let me fill you in on what's happened..."


The healer finally let me out of my room. He said not to over do it, but I had no intention to lay around. I wanted to explore Haven. Well, I wanted to visit Jax first. He was giving the Stable Master hell. Jax was not a horse that took well you being stabled. He loved open pasture. I'd have to set him an on a lead and walk him around... like a thousand pound dog.

I could hear Jax before we even made it to the stables. Someone was yelling about getting him under control and a ton of cussing. "Oh, hell," I said, exasperated. "That bastard is getting into trouble." I took off at run towards the stables. With any luck no one would be mad at me.