Chapter 2: Reprieve

"I can't feel my arms." Colbey whined, looking down at the bowl of stew on his lap, mentally willing the spoon to scoop itself and feed him so that he would not have to move in the near future. They had been working near nonstop since the charge yesterday afternoon; the charge itself had not lasted long but even hours afterward bodies were still being brought in.

"Get some rest once you are done with that. What's left I can handle; simple prep for travel back to Haven." Rheya stated, downing the remains of her tea, enjoying the effects of the caffeine as it entered her system. Fingering the large sodalite gemstone hanging from a chain around her neck, it was carved in a serpent form devouring its own tail; thumb rubbing over the scaled ridges before slipping it into the collar of her tunic. Setting her cup down on the tray next to Colbey with her own empty bowl, the Healer headed over to the wash station to clean up before heading to the next patient in line.

Soon enough they did finally run out of bodies to patch up and Rheya found herself mounted up on Nagra again. Making her way down the mountain, letting the nug find his own way down while Rheya enjoyed the solitude. Nearly two days elbows deep in someone else's blood had worn her down, she had saved many but lost more than she would have liked. Feeling their lives slip through her fingers time and time again.

"I have a bad feeling about all of this, Nagra." the Healer said with a sigh, tilting her head back to gaze at the scarred sky. "Something big is coming, I can feel it and I don't think a hole in the sky will be the worst we see before the end." The beast gave a snort and Rheya took it as agreement even though she knew full well that the beast could not comprehend what she was talking about. The woman continued speaking to the creature anyway, the Nug was after all the only one she could speak freely with and not be seen as some kind of abomination or maleficarum. One does not spend nearly a millennium of waking years traveling the lands without some form of magical entanglement; that would be frowned upon in most society in this day and age.

"I fear it might be time to check on the protections around Razikale and Lusacan. I wouldn't think the darkspawn would have enough strength to break through, not this soon after a Blight. Better to be safe than sorry though, last thing we need is hordes of Darkspawn on top of all the Demons." She said solemnly, feeling the years beginning to weigh on her. There had been eight of them at first, the Dragons of old.

Arisaari had been immune to the wear of time that was affecting his race and so he had chosen to remain awake with her when the remaining elders had decided to fashion themselves sanctuaries deep in the ground where they could sleep undisturbed, preserving themselves until a time when their magics would be safe, when they could return. The Elves too had fashioned such temples scattered around where a select few had been chosen to take the long sleep in hopes of preserving their race before their magics too could dwindle away.

Rheya and Arisaari had remained long after the Old Dragons had gone to sleep, magic running strong in them keeping the pair young and powerful as the years passed. Time had its toll on the remaining Riders and Dragons that managed to escape the destruction of Burindur, all of whom had lost a partner in the disaster. They too began to die one by one, either from physical wounds or the far deeper emotional scars left by the death of their counterparts. Rheya and her Dragon, the only remaining pair, had watched this with great sadness as they had been barely out of their apprenticeship before the war; tried to find their place in the world without the Order. After nearly four centuries the pair had decided to fashion their own sanctuary and sleep for a time. So they did and Rheya had known nothing of the changes in the waking world. As the elves were brought down and the rise of the Tevinter Imperium took their place.

She awoke nearly eight centuries later in what was known as Orothrim; alone. She still did not know what had become of Arisaari, what had caused his absence or why their bond had gone dormant while she slept. She could only search in hopes of finding some sign of him; trusting in the knowledge that their connection was merely dormant and not severed. She began traveling the lands in search of her partner; but that search was interrupted with the appearance of Dumat.

She had not known Dumat well, the Onyx dragon had been rather reserved around her; he had never made any attempt to hide his dislike of the Riders or their Order. He had been sudle about his dislike for them and those he deemed the 'lower species' because of the fact that the Pact had kept him strong. It had been a shock seeing him tainted nearly beyond recognition and leading hordes of Darkspawn across the lands. She had only been back in the waking world for a mere ten years when the First Blight struck. The next ninety years had been a struggle, Dumat's corruption had proven difficult to destroy even with a sword made from brightsteel. It took the forming of a new order to finally end the Blight. The Grey Wardens had been a mixed blessing, becoming one was first and foremost meant taking a slow poison that had a good chance of killing you right away. In exchange it gave the Wardens access to the hive mind of the horde and after many failed attempts the ability to slay the newly dubbed Archdemon for good.

Dumat's rise and death had pushed Rheya to abandon her search even longer; with the Darkspawn overrunning the Dwarven Thaigs. She had to track down each of the hibernating Dragons and increase the wards on them against the new threat. It was a slow trek from the last time she had visited, without Arisaari to fly her there. The years after that had passed in a blur of searching broken up by periodic Blights.

After Dumat had been the aquamarine, Zazikel, she had heard of the increase in the Darkspawn in the area but had not gotten there in time. Toth had been a friend, the Citrine dragon had been a troublemaker and the closest to Arisaari's age; making him the youngest of the seven. His death had been a blow to Rheya. Then had come Andoral, she had gone to the opal dragon many times along with the others and reinforced their spells keeping the Darkspawn at bay, even so it was only a matter of time before the Darspawn finally broke through.

Lastly just over ten years ago now had been Urthemiel, his once prized beautiful Amethyst scales had been corrupted and corroded into a grotesque creature that wreaked havoc on the lands of Fereldan and was brought down by the Warden-Commander.

There were but two left now; Lusacan the labradorite dragon and Razikale the only female of the seven with beautiful moonstone scales. Rheya could not let them become tainted as well, even if it meant waking them from their slumber; she had long given up hope of finding Arisaari. The pair were the last of the old ones, the last if there was going to be any rebirth of their species; if a way was found to preserve their magic.

"We may need to leave Haven soon," Rheya mused as Nagra plodded down the river side. "After the Breach is fully sealed of course, the wards should hold until then." It seemed like so often she would find herself finally settling into a place, then had to up and move again.

"I'm going to miss Rena, but maybe I will come back afterward." She doubted it but still there was a chance.

Notes

Lusacan(Night)-Western Approach Asleep

Razikale(Mystery)- Unknown Asleep

Dumat(Silence)-Tevinter (~3:95-~2:03) 98 years ago

Zazikel(Chaos/Freedom)-Anderfels (1:5-1:95) 90 years ago

Toth(Fire)-Central Thedas (3:10-3:25) 15 years ago

Andoral(Slaves)-Antiva (5:12-5:24) 12 years ago

Urthemiel(Beauty)-Southern Ferelden (5:12-5:24) 12 years ago awoke when the botched attempt to wake him resulted in the Architect tainted him.