A dark blue sky filled with stars cast the night. Erick brought Theresa and Patrick back on one of the horses the Templars galloped in. The firm woman had a gash in her forehead. She'd had lost so much blood that, even though her skin tone was almost brown, she looked white from the lack of blood. On the other hand, Patrick didn't have a single scratch on him as, Juli assumed, Theresa defended the human with her life. Why? It's not that Juli wanted harm for the human, but he had to admit, that most Dalish elves would not care that much for the life of a human. However, the human did prove to be useful on their short trek to the Circle of Magi. He brought a brown bag filled with crafting materials.
When Theresa saw the Templars, the woman kicked one of them right in the jaw. Blood drizzled from his mouth. The woman wanted to beat him more, however, her exhaustion was too great. After the kick, Theresa fell backwards— that kick took all of the energy she had left. No one made any effort to stop her. Juli noticed that she kicked the same Templar that Erick shot in the leg with the arrow. Juli was impressed and scared by the fact that the bearded Templar was still alive after all that.
Everyone gathered around a small fire that emitted a yellow glow across everyone's face. Omar and Quinn sat across from each other, the level of trust between the two was obvious. One mage baring a black robe, and the other a white one. It was like looking at two great pillars; one white and one black, balancing the evil and good in the world. Everyone peered at the two as the pair talked with such camaraderie, "how did you get through my invisibility spell?" It was hard to tell if Omar complemented Quinn or he was only asking.
"Have you forgotten who taught you everything you know?" Quinn asked with a grin.
"Fair enough." The keeper's face wrinkled into a serious one. Omar tilted his head, pointing to the Templars that were now gagged by a rope and not a magical ring, "they know the whereabouts of this witch?"
"More than likely. You know that the Chantry will keep everything between them and their precious Templars." Omar's partner turned his attention toward Juli, "We will get your mother, I promise."
So much had happened that Juli had almost forgotten that Cathy had been taken by darkspawn. He nodded. He didn't know what to do, he was out of arrows. So going to on his own to get Mother would be useless. He felt frustrated and livid that Omar wasn't doing anything about it. He abruptly leapt to his feet, "Please. Mother or Tobias cannot die. " His voice was muffled.
Everyone looked at Juli, and as if his sorrow had been contagious, everyone lowered their heads and got lost in thought. The whole clan had gone through so much. Losing their home, facing the darkspawn, losing Nicholas, being accosted by Templars. If that wasn't enough, Kurl, someone whom they loved and respected, was training an army of darkspawn with who knows what intentions. However, they all knew that the darkspawn, when they were on the surface, only had one goal: start a Blight. At this point Thedas had survived five Blights, however, at a great cost. In the past, the black plague would spread at an exponential rate, eventually bringing to the surface their "Old Gods." These Gods are manifested upon the world as dragons tainted by darkspawn corruption. Just like the darkspawn, these dragons, or archdemons, will corrupt and eliminate everything on their path.
"Omar tells me that you had a dream about your Mother being captured?" Quinn asked evenly.
Why does everybody keep asking me about the stupid nightmares? His face involuntarily contorted as flashes of the terrible dream came about: Mother shackled…Father…turned into a darkspawn and torturing Mother…the cold long talon on his face.
With the face Juli made, Quinn knew Juli did not enjoy remembering the "dream." "I apologize if it makes you uncomfortable. It's just…" Quinn softened his tone, "It's just we could really use any information on these darkspawn…"
Juli snapped. "If it'll help you get Mother back, then I'll tell you about this nightmare, and even the other ones." Juli couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth, however, he was willing to do anything for Mother's sake.
Omar seemed to be taken aback by this, as Juli never told him about these other nightmares.
Quinn nodded solemnly. "Was the witch in any of these nightmares, by any chance?"
For a moment, silence lingered in the air. A silence punctuated by the crackle of the burning twigs. Juli took a heavy breath, trying to bear the image of the psychotic witch, "In the first one, she laughed at me…" He swallowed hard, "she laughed at me while I cried for Father after he died."
The silence filled the camp again and the crackle of the twigs got louder. All eyes peered at Juli with empathy. Quinn and Omar looked at him with fascination. They looked at him as if he were lecturing them on a very hard subject. He hesitated to keep going and his eyes glanced at Doreen, as if he didn't want her here for what came next. Please Doreen, cover your ears, cover your ears. He waited, as if his incantations will make Doreen deaf for the next two minutes. Nevertheless, the chant did not work as she was still attentive— waiting for him to divulge the details of his second nightmare. "In the second one…" his eyes glanced at Doreen once more, "I was riding a horse." Everyone's face was unreadable, however, he could feel the bewilderment they went through. Even to him, the "riding a horse nightmare" sounded like the beginning of a joke. Yet, he knew that this nightmare was nowhere near a joke. He fixed his eyes on Doreen, "Everything was dark and I just galloped through. I was wearing armor." He cocked his head, regarding the Templars,"I had a sword and protective shiny armor, like a Templar. I never have control in these nightmares." He turned to Quinn and he nodded, as if he expected this, "Then, after riding for a while, I saw a girl sitting near a tree." His eyes turned to Doreen. "She looked exactly like you."
Doreen's eyes went wide. Those green beautiful emeralds on her eye sockets sparkled with wonder.
"I got off the horse. Then I walked up to the girl. I lifted the sword, involuntarily." His eyes pleaded Doreen for forgiveness, "Then I killed her." Juli saw how her face turned into a grimace.
"Doreen that wasn't Juli in his nightmare." Omar quickly said. Trying to appease her.
She nodded slowly. However, Juli could see the sparkle of her eyes obscured— she looked a bit dreadful, Juli thought.
The fascinated mages were still waiting for him to finish the telling of his ordeals. These two have issues. "After that, she started laughing. Just like the witch in the first nightmare."
The confusion in all of the faces was obvious. Even Quinn and Omar looked at each other, as if one looked for the explanation of this on the other. They turned back to Juli.
He went on with his third ordeal, "Then earlier today, I'm in front of Mother. We were both chained to the wall." He was trying his best to prepare to tell them about Father being a darkspawn, as he still didn't want to believe that Father called Mother all of those names. And even tortured her. His face contorted, "A darkspawn that looked exactly like Father kept us both prisoners. He then said that if I want to see Mother alive again, I'll have to go to him by myself." His eyes fixated on Omar as he said that last word.
"I didn't let you go because it's dangerous that you go by yourself. Let alone, without the appropriate training. And for now, Cathy is safe. I can feel her presence."
Quinn chimed in, "Omar is right. It sounds that we're dealing with some kind of demon that, somehow, has conjured itself into your Father. And because of that, we need to show you how to not let this thing posses you."
Juli was still perplexed by what Omar said: "…feel her presence." His eyes looked quizzically at the keeper, "How can you feel her presence?"
"It's more than that kid." Quinn interjected once more, "You see, in order to protect the clan the keeper will cast a protective spell on every member that will make him or her immune to any demon doings."
Wasn't this mage from the Circle of Magi? How does he know so much about Dalish clans, let alone things about the keeper Juli hadn't known until now.
Omar nodded, reassuring Quinn's claim. The keeper adjusted himself on the log he was sitting on, "Since we have time, we need to train you in the meantime. And you too." He regarded Doreen, "You both need to know how to defend yourself against demons. We're going to need all the help we can get."
"You plan to take an army of darkspawn by yourselves? You're nuts." Patrick interjected.
Quinn gave him a sneer, it looked almost sinister, "Of course not. We have some friends that will help us."
Everyone was puzzled by Quinn, except Omar, whose face was a blend of dread and excitement, "You don't mean?"
"I do mean my friend. The Grey Wardens will help us on our quest."
