"Alistair? Is that you? Why do I feel so light?" Thoughts were running through her head as she fell down into the raging river.

The water was icy cold and the current strong. Both Jowan and Maia fell backwards into the river, breaking the surface with a hard slam. Jowan instantaneously lost consciousness from the impact. Maia regained her awareness as though someone had given her brain a tight slap.

Her eyes flew wide open when the icy cold water engulfed her face. She knew it was the end for her as she had never learned how to swim. As she slowly sank to the bottom she saw two blurry figures in the water, motioning her to them. She blinked her eyes to focus her vision and realised it was her foster parents. "Mom, dad, I miss you so much," she reached out to them and when it seemed she was close enough, memories of her time and friends in Fereldan came flooding in. "No. There is still a lot of things I need to figure out. We cannot be together just yet. I am very sorry. I cannot die here. Not now," she apologized to them in her head and as the desire to live was renewed, her body moved on its own; flapping and kicking in a desperate attempt to get to the surface.

As she fought for her life, she saw Jowan drifting down towards the rocky bottom, his body limp, face as white as a sheet and blood steadily flowing out from the arrow wound in his arm. "Oh no, Jowan," her voice bubbling forth from her mouth.

Even though she was struggling, she knew she could not let him drown. Not after all his efforts to keep her out of harm's way. Her heavily soaked clothes and armour made it even harder for her to move but she was determined to save him. She could feel every cell in her body screaming out for oxygen as she desperately tried to swim. "Come on Maia, don't die now," she kept encouraging herself.

Jowan's robe billowed out around him, like the sails of a sunken ship. After a tough battle of will, Maia's fingertips touched the hem of his robes and she used it as leverage to pull them together. By this time, her foot was already touching the riverbed. She wrapped her arm around his neck and flailed upwards towards the surface. All this while, her limbs started to feel as heavy as lead as they grew cold and numb. "Come on Jowan, wake up," she pleaded in her mind.

She finally broke out to the surface and gasped for air. The strong current had brought them much further down the river than where they had fallen in. By a stroke of luck, a big tree branch drifted by them and Maia scrambled to hold on to it.

"Jowan, wake up!" She screamed but Jowan remained unconscious in her arm. Maia managed to hold on for dear life as they drifted along at the mercy of the raging current. It was getting hard to stay awake in the frigid waters but Maia kept wriggling her fingers and toes to keep the circulation going. She knew they had to get out from the water soon or no amount of power would bring them both to life.

She saw an opportunity as an outcropping of riverbank fast approached. Using the last of her energy, she let go of the branch and swam ashore.

Once she was able to stand in the water, she dragged Jowan's lifeless body by his hands out of the water. She slipped and dropped Jowan a few times before they were at a safe distance from the river. She collapsed from exhaustion and thanked God for blessing her with strength to stay alive. She opened her eyes and saw the clear blue sky above her, a perfect scene of calm and serenity, so unlike her ordeal just moments before.

"I wish I were back home. I would rather be working with screaming surgeons than facing murderous darkspawn." Maia lamented with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Her fingers accidentally brushed against Jowan's sodden robe and she suddenly remembered him. She shot right back up and crawled towards him. She lay her fingers on his neck to feel his pulse but it was weak and slow. "At least his heart is still beating." She let loose a sigh of relief and proceeded to check his respiration. "Oh good. He is still breathing. You're one tough man, Jowan. I wouldn't know how to revive you the way I did Alistair if you were dead." Pleased that he was still alive, she sat beside him and examined his wound.

The arrow head was still embedded in his upper arm along with a handspan of shaft, but the fletching had broken off when he fell in the water.

"I should take this out before he wakes up. Maybe the pain from me removing it could jolt his brain and regain consciousness. Either way it's a win win situation," she thought to herself. "Well Jowan, brace yourself," she informed him.

She wrapped her hands around the broken stick and used all her strength to pull it out. More blood oozed out from the open wound but Jowan remain unstirred. "I need to stop the bleeding. Oh...if only we have stitches," she groaned in frustration. She tried tearing at Jowan's robe to bandage his arm but it proved to be a challenge. She remembered her pouch; her connection to home and the scissors that held within. She quickly removed her armour and found her precious pouch in her pocket. She used the scissors and was able to cut a piece of cloth long enough to bandage him up.

"I'm sorry for cutting your nice robe up. You have more cloth than me even after I cut a small piece off." She apologized to him as she did his dressing. "I hope your platelet count is good to stop this bleeding." She prayed.

With her armour off and just her scrubs underneath, she could feel the coldness nipping at her skin. Not wanting to give up, she gathered soke dry wood and branches to start a fire. It tooked a while, multiple tries and a whole bunch of cursing but she finally managed to start a fire. She felt a huge sense of accomplishment and was so proud of herself. She sat staring into the fire thinking of all her achievements in Fereldan; she rode a horse, she rode a drake, she fought darkspawns, she mastered the bow and arrow, somehow she managed to swim and now she started a fire. Her time here was short but she had done so much more than her whole life back home.

As she was deep in thought, Jowan began to stir. He sat up suddenly with a shout, " Maia!"

She stumbled to him and helped him to sit up. "Everything is okay. Calm down and breathe."

He grabbed her hand and cradled her face, "Thank the Maker you're safe. Are you hurt?" He turned her head left and right and lifted her arms to examine for any wounds.

Maia laughed, "I am okay. I have been awake longer than you. I should be the one asking you that question. How many fingers am I holding up?" She flashed two fingers in front of him.

"Two fingers. You are holding up two fingers." He answered and hugged her. "I am so thankful that you are alive." He released her from his embrace and looked around. "Where are we?"

Maia shook her head, "I am not too sure myself. We floated quite a ways down the river."

"I guess most importantly is that we are alive," he reassured her upon seeing her worried look.

She nodded in agreement. "We need to make our way to Orzammar. I know Sarine and the rest would be heading there now."

"Out of curiosity, what is your relationship with the warden? You do not seem to be from around here. Are you from Orlais, by any chance?"

Maia smiled and stood up, "You must be famished. I know I am. What shall we do for food?"

Night had fallen and catching some fishes, they sat huddled under Jowan's robe near the fire to keep warm in silence. The moon was bright in the sky surrounded by a blanket of twinkling stars.

Maia broke the silence, "There is something I need to tell you." Jowan leaned in.

She took a deep breath and revealed everything about her from the very beginning. His eyes grew wide at the revelation. He knew there was more than meets the eye but he could not fathom the information presented to him.

"Could it be possible that you are actually from this world? The powers you wield feels ancient but familiar and your affinity with the drake plus your vision, definitely connects you to this world. Unless you have dragons in your world, which I doubt," Jowan tried to process all the information.

"It would certainly explain my lack of history but it is so improbable. But, in the words of my favourite detective ,'if you eliminate all the possibilities, even how impossible, is possible.'" She expressed.

"He sounds like a smart man, your detective," Jowan declared. "I like him." He looked pleased.

Maia chuckled, "He is. He is very good at solving crimes. I'm glad you approve of him." She smacked his shoulders playfully.

"Yea well. He is not a real person so that technically gets in my good book," Jowan grinned.

Maia couldn't understand what he had meant and creased her eyebrows.

"Well, enough of chit chat. Get some sleep. We shall travel to Orzammar in the morning," Jowan concluded.