ACT II: Destiny and Divergence
The Aeonar was silent, calm, and if anyone had approached the gate now they wouldn't have been able to tell that a bloody, demonic battle had taken place just the night before.
Galel's eyes fluttered open, and he felt a twinge of pain at the dawn light. He had fallen uncomfortably atop Jowan's lower legs and his mind was still fuzzy from being jostled around in Despair's nightmare.
He rolled to the side, his muscles shaking with the effort, and pushed himself up. Jowan was still soundly asleep, small snores escaping him. A quick scan of the room revealed Lily and Amell, crumpled in an unconscious heap nearby.
The hall was massive. A mirror-like onyx floor, cold as ice, with walls impossibly high and arched into darkness. The walls were split with grayish, glass windows that absorbed most of the sunlight.
A small draft wafted the unmistakable stench of sulfur into the air, and then it all came flooding back to him. Memories of t he fade, a demon named Xanthe'meck, and the savior bathed in light.
"Finally awake boy?" a woman's gravelly voice pierced through the darkness.
Galel spun, startled, to face her. Had she been waiting there the whole time? He rubbed the blur out of his eyes and she came into focus.
A horned crown, burgundy dragonskin armor and those piercing yellow eyes.
He recognized her now. There was no one else who could match such a distinct description.
"Asha'bellanar," he murmured in disbelief.
The woman of many years, the witch of the wilds, or Flemeth, as he'd heard the shemlan say. She was legend amongst the Dalish, and he'd been told more than one bedtime story of her conquests and benevolence on behalf of the People.
And he'd also been warned of her ferocity against those who dared stand in her way.
But she was only a story, or so he'd convinced himself. Some of the other Dalish swore they had dealings with her, even the shemlan and Chasind believed her to be true. But Galel had never seen or heard of her, and like the other truths the Dalish claimed, he'd eventually come to believe she was yet another false creation. Just another Dalish legend drummed up to give them a false sense of importance in a world that saw them as little more than pests.
Yet, who else could have saved him from a despair demon as powerful as Xanthe'meck?
The woman's gravelly laugh jolted him from his reverie.
"It's been a long time since I've met one of the People who did not bow to me," she mused, "how interesting."
"Should I bow to a myth?" Galel managed to respond. Her face was pale, wizened, and he could see the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, "I've only heard of you in stories, but now here you are, and you seem as mortal as I."
"Smarter than you look," she said.
"Thank you for saving me," said Galel. "What have I done to earn the attention of Asha'bellanar?"
"Save you?" the woman moved beside Amell, and kneeled by the sleeping woman's head, s he used a long, clawed finger to gently shift a tuft of hair off of Amell's face.
What is she doing?
The old woman's expression was pensive, "Oh no dear boy, I haven't come here to save you."
Galel studied Amell. Her gaunt face was gray from lack of sun, and she seemed so utterly meaningless to the world that he couldn't fathom what a Dalish legend wanted with her.
He raised an eyebrow, "You came here… to save her?"
The old woman chuckled as she rose, "Does that surprise you?"
"Why?" he blurted out, curiosity getting the best of him.
"Because in another life, she would have saved us all from darkness," she mused a moment, "and perhaps she still has her part to play."
"Then why wait until now?" Galel sputtered, confused and angrily. "Why let her suffer for so long?"
"Because she changed, and so her fate changed once more."
Galel scoffed. So many of the old Dalish legends involved an arrogant deity or being making nonsensical decisions at the cost of mortal anguish. He wasn't surprised that aspect of the stories rang true.
"She was meant for greatness. As were many others, but her fate was sealed when the warden chose another," she frowned, "or so I thought. I felt her anguish, calling to me through the dark, and I was drawn here. To her."
Galel wasn't sure who the warden she was referring to was, but he remembered Amell's wails. How her body burst into flames, and the waves of misery that thrummed off of her into Despair's nightmare.
It seemed that this shemlan's pain was enough to bring a Dalish story to life, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"I gave her a nudge, but it seems a shove was in order," the old woman said. She placed a gentle hand on Amell's forehead, and then rose to her feet, "Humans tend to need a shove."
"She was an abomination, is she still-" he trailed off, gazing warily at Amell.
"She isn't possessed, and Xanthe'meck won't be troubling anyone for a long time, I suspect," the old woman chuckled quietly to herself.
"I've only heard of one mage that was saved from possession, and he was never the same after," said Galel, "she'll be vulnerable to possession again."
"She will, and she'll need a friend to keep her from succumbing to that darkness," she mused, staring pointedly at him.
"Me?" he asked, "I barely know her, but her friend will undoubtedly look after her, once he wakes."
"You're a fool to think that," the old woman said, "or perhaps you've never understood the feeling of being utterly betrayed."
Galel looked at Jowan, "He didn't betray her? I'm sorry, but I'm confused at what your getting at."
Asha'bellanar laughed, her piercing eyes turning to half-moons in amusement, "You're more naive than you look. Intention has little to do with betrayal," her expression suddenly went dark, her eyes boring a hole into his own, "betrayal is, and always will be, the dagger that cuts deepest ."
Galel broke away from her gaze and swallowed his pride. He still wasn't sure he followed the old woman's line of reasoning, but he thought it best not to argue any further.
Regardless of her reasons, it was now abundantly clear that Galel was only alive because of her timely intervention, and no matter what he felt about the mysteries of the witch's actions, she had undoubtedly saved his and all of their lives.
Am I destined to owe my life to others?
He decided to bow his head in thanks.
"Whether or not you intended, you saved my life," he said, "thank you."
"Hah! Now I see the manners I expected from Lathelgar's son."
"You know my father?" Galel asked, surprised, "But, he never-"
"You rejected the Keeper's legacy, why would he tell you something you'd have waved away as just another fairytale? And for good reason too, it's quite unbelievable," she joked.
She approached him, and he fought the urge to move away.
"There is a task you can do for me, and then I will consider your debt paid in full." The woman produced a small locket from inside her breastplate, and held it out to him.
"The task?" he asked, warily taking the locket. His palm felt a pulse of energy from inside, and it was strangely heavy for its size.
"Keep it safe, hidden . Never allow it to leave your sight," she stared directly into his eyes and under the fierceness of her yellow eyes gaze, he felt suddenly vulnerable. Exposed in a way he'd never felt before.
"And when the time is right, you must give it to her, " the woman stressed.
Galel looked at Amell again, and couldn't fathom what purpose this woman had to play in a Dalish legend's scheme, but he owed her, and he would pay.
"And how will I know when she's ready?" he asked, "I don't know her at all."
"Pah! You ask far too many questions young man," Asha'bellanar began walking to the door, "in time you will know her, and when she's ready, you'd be a fool to forget what I've asked you to do."
He pulled the locket around his neck and tucked it under his tunic, and it felt suddenly ordinary. As if he had nothing more than a lump of cheap metal pressing against his skin.
"Is that it?" he asked, "You want nothing else? Surely saving our lives is worth more than simple guard duty of your locket."
The woman laughed, "Things are rarely as simple as you think."
A/N: This is a short chapter to transfer us into ACT II, this is when things will start moving a little faster, but this story is still very much a slow build and slow burn fic. Thank you for the follows and the comments, you guys rock! :D