Halo: Enter the Vale Ch 12
They finally reached the large chamber they had discovered when they had first arrived.
"Ah this looks familiar, shouldn't be too long now," Varric said as they stepped put of the large corridor.
"Finally, I was beginning to get sick of the mushrooms," Merrill said, Will staying silent.
"Come on, we still have a short whiles to go before we actually are free of this accursed place, let's move," Hawke said and without another word they all set forth.
It was another couple hours before they finally stepped out into the sunlight. Merrill covered her eyes as they stepped through the threshold into the city of Kirkwall, she smiled and looked at Will as he took in a deep breath and sighed. Hawke and Varric walked ahead of them and chatted a bit, they eventually split ways and Hawke headed toward Gamlen's house while Varric made his way to the Hanged man.
"I think things are gonna get pretty interesting over the next year or so," Will said tracking Hawke as she walked away before shifting his gaze to Merrill.
"Well I guess so, but I think I'll like it to stay the same if I have to go down there again," she responded and they started forward.
"I think that makes two of us," he responded.
"You know I don't think Hawke has even visited me yet," Merrill said looking up at him.
He looked at her, "Well she's been over to talk to me, but never when you were home it would seem," he said and she looked down. She had thought that, so Hawke didn't really care about her did she. "Well look on the bright side, at least I'm still here hm?" he said nudging her a little.
She smiled she would never be alone when he was around, "I know," she said.
Joseph stopped and held up his hand to signal the other hunters to stop, they did so and he touched the track in the mud. It was nothing like he had ever seen before, a square like print with three small pointed toes in front and a big claw in back.
Fesh crouched up to him, looking around with a bow in hand, "What is it?" he asked, finally looking down and seeing the print, "oh," he said surprised.
"What do you think it is?" Joseph asked and Fesh shrugged.
"I don't know I've never seen a print like that before, I'd say it looks something like a dragon print but aren't those extinct?" he said looking at Joseph.
He shrugged, "I don't know, I've never seen one, but this is our first time going this far into the woods," he said trailing off a little as he looked around.
"We should head back," Fesh said and some of the others grumbled a bit. "Well if there is a dragon do you wanna get gobbled by it?" he snapped at them.
There was a snap somewhere to their left, "What was that?" one of them asked.
"How should I know?" Joseph snapped, drawing his bow and creeping forward toward a bush that shook slightly. "Show yourself!" he barked and he was rewarded with a call he had never heard before, it was a mix between a bark and a hiss, he tensed and looked around.
A hunter ran back screaming, but something came streaking from the bush Joseph had positioned himself in front of and hit the man square in the back of the head, a pink crystal in his head as he collapsed. It detonated a moment later and sent grey matter and skull bits splattering over the trees, Joseph cringed and backed away from the bush as it hissed.
A creature jumped out black as night, yellow eyes glowing, pink glowing crystals protruding from its right arm, grey and black feathers protruding from the back of its head. It opened its mouth and hissed, sharp curved fangs bared, it lunged forward and the last thing Joseph saw was the dark of its throat as its jaws clasped around his skull and crushed it.
It had been about a year now, Hawke has finally bought her families mansion and has became a well known noble. She still visited Will from time-to-time, often when Merrill wasn't around, but she had received comforting words from her when she had learned of Bethany's fate. She had taken a liking to the Warrior, one that one might call an unprofessional liking.
Kaelesh, the creature who had been saved by a petty elf who had enough voice to persuade a giant into bringing him back to a safe haven. He had run when he learned the time had finally come, when he knew he was no longer wanted. He had now become one of the Free Marches most famous legends, a beast of black and darkness, befouling the fate of hunters and unfortunate explorers alike.
And Merrill, the fragile elf who belonged nowhere, and wanted by no one, had found one she had fallen in love with, though she kept her secret for fear of their reaction. Always feeling safe in the shadow of a giant who cared for her like a father and a lover, never breaking the promise he had given her so long ago.
Merrill opened the door, "Hawke, what are you-," she started and then stopped herself, her surprise fading into loathing, "right, he's in the other room," she said walking away as Hawke stepped into the house. Merrill sat by and eavesdropped their conversation as Hawke stepped passed her into the room where Will sat reading a book.
"Hawke," Will said not even looking up from the book.
"Reaper," she said, Will had not told her his actual name but he had given her his squad name, Spartan sometimes just didn't sound right. "I was wondering… I was wondering of you would be willing to move in with me up at the estate?" she spat out.
Merrill tensed and her eyes widened as she kept her head pressed to the wall, Will looked up, "Sorry?" he said.
"I asked if you were wondering if you would be willing to move in with me up in Hightown back at the estate," she said. Merrill's heart sank with sadness, Hawke was so much prettier than she was, so much more talented, smarter, more skilled, almost better than her in every way.
"No I mean sorry," he said and Merrill took a moment to become absolutely confused, Hawke staying silent. "My place is here," he said plainly.
"But this is a rundown shack, in the Alienage, I understand that Merrill would be alone but it's much better up at the estate," she said pressing.
He shook his head slowly, "I made a promise to someone a long time ago, I plan on keeping that promise, sorry, thank you for the offer though," he said returning to his book.
Hawke remained still for a moment, "You can be real stubborn sometimes," she said, Merrill sat up and took a spot up at the table.
"You don't know the half of it," Will said as Hawke appeared in the door-frame, pausing at the comment, then scowling and walking to the front door and walking out.
Merrill watched and Will leaned against the door-frame, also watching, "Well I guess that could have been worse," he said, he patted her shoulder. "Hope you understand," he said turning, he knew she had heard the whole thing?
She was still a little confused, she followed, "Why didn't you go with her?" she asked him as he sat down.
"You heard why, I made a promise, I plan on keeping it," he said and she straightened, she felt like she just got hit by a bull. He had really remembered, she felt a tear in her eye, she smiled slightly and wiped it away before it could form.
"Thank you," she said, he looked up at her, he had taken his helmet off, he smiled at her again, he stood and walked over to her and pressed his head to hers.
"Merrill, I wouldn't leave you for the world," he said, she couldn't help the tears of joy as they slipped out of her eyes.
She threw her arms around his shoulders and cried her tears, "I love you," she said finally, it felt like a weight lifted from her shoulders, and he hugged her back, his strong arms lifting her to her toes, but she never felt so loved or safe or that she belonged anywhere else.
"I know, remember what I said about pages," he said with a faint smile and she nodded, her cheek buried in his hard armor.
"I do," she said remembering all those days passed when they had first met.
He pulled her away slightly and looked her in the eyes, "I think Varric and I have something you might like, let's go to the Hanged Man and I'll show you what I mean," he told her, a hand coming up and touching her cheek ever so gently.
She nodded and he wiped a tear from her cheek with a gloved thumb, she wiped away the other cheek and smiled, he nodded and picked up his helmet. "I think Hawke might be a little interested in this too if that's alright with you," he said and she nodded.
So later that day when it was getting darker they out for the Hanged Man and stepped out of the cold night air into the warm of the pub when they finally reached it. Hawke was laughing with Isabelle and Varric pushed off a wooden support and walked toward them with open arms.
"I wondered when you two were coming, now I can finally start," he said and Hawke and Isabelle broke off conversation and followed Varric, Merrill, and Will to the spot where Varric enjoyed the most. They sat around the table and Varric stoked the fire, he turned and took his seat.
Hawke was laughing a bit, "Alright Varric what was it you called us here for?" she asked merrily.
Varric looked at Will who nodded, "Just a little story I picked up," he said and he winked at Merrill, strange, she thought. "So I was sittin' at my table one night like I normally do when a man came up to me it rags and said, 'Are you the dwarf whose friends with Hawke, the one who went on that expedition and knows the giant?' 'Why yes I am, what is it you need of me?' I said to him. 'I got a real story for you,' he tells me, so I tell him I'm all ears, why turn down a good story eh?
"So he starts, 'There I was with my hunting crew, just a couple of my drinking buddies, we hears about this one legend up in the mountain, a creature that kills everything that enters its domain. Drunk as we were we wanted to kill it and hang it on out walls, so we's grab our bows and swords and head up a trail' he tells me. 'And when we're up there we spot some peculiar tracks, weird ones wit three toes in front and a big one in back. We hear this strange noise and one of my buddies gets so scared he runs, but he only gets so far before the shadows themselves pulled him into the trees.'
"Now this man I thought was just shitting on my intelligence, but I saw somethin' in his eyes that made me think different," Varric said and paused for a sip of his ale, everyone silent waiting for him to start again. "So I asked him what they did, he says, 'Well at first we didn't know what to do, we just stared at where he had disappeared, a small pool of red came unto the path and we had started to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into' he tells me.
"'So it was just me and three more of my buddies left, suddenly a pink crystal just formed in the head of the man who was standing next to me, it exploded and so did his head. I dove onto the ground and was lucky enough to have dodged the creature as it jumped from the bush and bit into another of my buddies head, it just toppled him and crushed his head with its jaws. It was just as the stories had said, it was black as night and had glowing yellow eyes, and it was almost like the darkness itself was flowing from the back of its head.
"'So I got up and ran for my life,' he told me, 'I never even looked back as I heard it finish off my other buddy, but I just ran as fast as my legs could carry me,' he finished. So I asked him if he could draw me a picture, he said he would but he couldn't draw for shit, then he got this look in his eyes and pointed. 'That' he said, 'that's it right there' and I looked back and saw this," Varric said reaching under the table and grabbing a yellow piece of parchment.
Merrill gasped aloud and no one seemed to hear her except Will, it was her drawing of Kaelesh, but he had left so long ago, she had almost forgot about him, bit he was always there in her mind she knew.
"So here we are today and I'm gonna ask you Hawke, wanna go legend hunting?" he said and Merrill's eyes widened in horror as Hawke smirked and nodded slowly.
AN: Alright I know this is one of my shorter chapters but I plan on making the next one a lot longer. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the story and please leave a review. Thanks all who have made it this far.
