She didn't dream.
But every once in awhile she would wake up with her cheek pressed against a wooden floor, her wrists and ankles bound and a cloth tied around her mouth. She couldn't see anything but the flickering of torches and giant shards of red crystals. The only reason she knew she was in a cart was because a wheel hit a rock hard enough to make her bounce in the air, only to crash back onto the wood.
She was never conscious for long. Something in the shadows would stir, she'd feel a sharp pain, and then her dreamless sleep would take over again. So she had no way of knowing how much time had gone by.
When she woke up for the final time, she kept her eyes closed and remained as still as she could. This time, she was no longer in a cart. She was laying face down on rough stone.
Her eyes had been closed for so long that it was hard to keep them that way. Her head was pounding with the darkness. But she knew that if they saw she was awake, she would be put out again.
And just as she had that thought, she heard someone talk.
"Is the Imposter still out?"
That voice sounded vaguely familiar.
"Yes, Lord Seeker."
She thought back to Val Royeaux. The man who had hit that Chantry Mother, and refused Talyn's help.
"However..."
"What is it?" The Lord Seeker sneered menacingly.
"Are you sure it's wise to keep them all together like that, Lord Seeker?"
Talyn opened her eyes a fraction of an inch. She saw a familiar horned shadow slumped against the bars of the cage. She immediately shut her eyes again.
At least Bull was alive. What about the others?
"As long as the Imposter is asleep, they won't escape."
There was a pause, and then he started to talk again.
"I've heard rumors in the Fade of a creature like the Imposter. An elf that shines like a star, who betrayed her mistress for a wolf."
The blood froze in her veins.
How did he know that?
"But there have been other stories of her in this world. Rasdalalen they call her. Do you know what that word means?"
"No, Lord Seeker."
" In this world's sad excuse of what passes for elvish, it means assassin. But in the Old World, it meant soulless. I wonder which version of the word fits her the most."
" Lord Seeker... How do you know all of this?"
"None of your business!" He snapped.
She heard a cry of pain, and then whoever the Lord Seeker was talking to started to whimper. When their footsteps started to fade, she opened her eyes.
And found Iron Bull staring at her.
His blue eye searched the area, and then he grabbed the cloth keeping Talyn from talking and pulled it down.
"We're in the Arbor Wilds." He said in a hushed voice. "They're taking us to Corypheus. Fenris and I will be locked in red lyrium cages in the morning, and you're going straight to the big guy."
"How did this happen?" She whispered.
Bull's face darkened with anger. "They ambushed us. They were probably following us for hours before they made their move. They took you and Fenris out first, then me. I think Krem and the others are okay. I didn't see them in any of the cages, or on the ground."
"Where is Fenris?"
"He's behind you. They hit him with more darts than the rest of us."
"So, we need to get out of here before morning."
"Yes, but we can't do anything until Fenris wakes up."
Unless we abandon him.
The thought had crept into her mind before she could stop herself. But there was no way she could do that to Fenris. So it was out of the question.
"When he wakes up, what are we going to do?"
"I'm going to pick the lock and we're gonna sneak out of here. I'm sure it'll be easier with you and Fenris, with your super hearing and all."
So, all they had to do was wait for Fenris to wake up. Easier said than done, because there was no way of knowing when he would wake.
"What was the Lord Seeker talking about just then?"
She pulled off her response perfectly.
She rolled her eyes, and said, "I have no idea. The red lyrium is probably affecting his mind."
And yet, Bull couldn't hide his suspicion from her. Not completely, because she knew him too well. If she wasn't careful, he would figure out who and what she was. He was smart enough to do it, with the proper motivation. She had to admit that she didn't know much about the Qun, but she was positive that there was nothing within his beliefs that would deter him from making the connections between between Talyn and the fairy tale version of Rasdalalen.
She decided to distract him, and felt guilty for it.
"Bull, are you... okay?"
His face fell with sorrow.
"No." He answered her honestly.
Then he pulled the cloth over her mouth again, ending the conversation. He resumed his slumped position against the bars.
Hours crawled by, and yet there was still no sign of Fenris waking up. She would have been worried that he was dead, but she could hear his strong, even breathing. He was so deep into sleep that not even an earthquake would wake him.
She heard the singing of a wolf. She could feel the rage his howl carried, and she had to fight not to smile at the sound of it.
Solas. Of course he would come for her. The moment he couldn't find her dreaming in the Fade, he must have known that something happened to them.
With her keen ears, she could follow his movement through the camp. She heard the startled shouts that were cut off as quickly as they started. She could hear teeth ripping through flesh, the clanking of armor hitting rocks as the bodies crashed to the ground.
And then, from the shadows that surrounded them she heard the familiar sound of bones breaking and reforming themselves as Solas went from the wolf to his elvish self.
Solas stepped into the faint firelight that came from the torch hanging off the bars of their cage. His eyes were two orbs of moonlight, his face and the front of his robes were red with blood. In his hand he had a key, and he used it to open the door.
He walked right by Bull, who was on his feet at this point, and went straight to Talyn. Quickly, he undid the ropes that bound her and lifted her into his arms. She jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and inhaled that comforting smell of cedar trees and elfroot.
"You're here." Her words were muffled.
He squeezed her, and whispered in her ear, "I will always find you."
"Okay you two, reunion's over. Solas, how are my Chargers?"
Solas gently put Talyn on her feet, and turned to answer Bull's question.
"They're alive. They sent a raven to Skyhold telling us that you were abducted. Cassandra, Cullen, Morrigan and the others made their way to the temple, and your Chargers and I came here to rescue you."
He continued, "we must hurry. The temple isn't far from here, and last time we had contact with Cullen he said they were being attacked."
"Fenris is still sleeping." Bull pointed out.
She watched Solas make his way to the otherside of the cage, and kneel down in front of Fenris. He put a hand on his forehead, and two fingers on his neck. A warm glow emitted from his hands, and then Fenris' eyes opened. They narrowed immediately at the sight of Solas.
"Welcome back to the world of the living." Solas said. He stood up straight and offered a hand to the elf.
Fenris shoved his hand away and crawled to his feet.
"What the hell happened?" His gravelly voice was thick with sleep and anger.
"No time to lose, we'll explain on the way." Talyn told him.
They ran before anyone noticed the carnage Solas had left. On the outskirts of the Red Templar camp, she saw the familiar faces of Bull's Chargers.
"It's good to see you alive, Chief." Krem greeted Bull.
"Yeah, lets hurry up and find our people before Dorian loses his mind." Bull replied.
Talyn seconded that.
Solas had been right, the camp wasn't far from the temple ruins. They arrived at their destination as the morning sun started shine in the clear sky. Their path started to line with mossy rocks, and elfroot leaves and fiery embriums stuck out between the cracks in the rock walls. Plants finding life where they aren't supposed to was a sign of a place where powerful magic lingered.
Talyn had yet to recognize where they were. A thousand years could change a lot, but the sight of tbose plants was proof enough that where they were going was the real deal.
The path opened up to a clearing flooded with water. The rocks had muffled the noise well, but now that they were out of the path Talyn could clearly hear the sounds of war. Up ahead she saw the deep crimson of red Templars battling her soldiers.
She picked up an abandoned sword that was laying in the wet grass and charged head first into the thick of the battle. She didn't see him, but she always felt that Solas was near. She didn't see where the others went.
Eventually she saw a different streak of red against dark metal. She fought her way to Cullen and stood back to back with him.
"Inquisitor!" Cullen's smile was bright. "I'm happy to see that you're safe."
Talyn shoved her sword through a Templar's gut and barked out a laugh.
"Yes, I am so safe in the middle of a battlefield!"
He returned her laugh. "This entire army would rather die than let a blade cut you, Inquisitor! This is the safest place for you!"
As if to prove a point, a soldier wearing the insignia of the Inquisition cut down a Templar directly to her left, and another did the same on the right. They both have her a respectful nod before returning to the fight.
Together, they fought their way to the temple. Once they had the chance they broke away from the fight and made a break for it.
And once they were in front of the doors, she understoogad where they were.
The doors were as tall as a giant and wider than a building. And elegantly carved onto it's service was a massive dragon. It's wingspan took up the width of the doors. It held a sword in one of it's claws, and on the other it held a scale. The dragon was blindfolded.
Lady Justice.
Mythal.
"Solas..." She whispered.
"I know." He said low in her ear. "The Wellspring."
And then she saw a sight that sent her into a panic. Solas gripped her arm to stop her from leaping forward.
Corypheus was standing in front of the doors, shouting at his men that was trying to break the door down. He was just as tall and disturbing as he had been the first time Talyn saw him, but that wasn't what she was terrified of.
She saw Cassandra sneaking up behind him. She wanted to call out, to tell her to stop being an idiot. But if she did that, she would also alert Corypheus to their presence.
So she watched helplessly as Cassandra walked right up to Corypheus and drove her sword into his back.
At the same time, arrows whistled through the air and planted themselves in the heads of the Templars banging on the door.
"YES!" Talyn shouted in victory. She couldn't believe it. Cassandra had actually done it.
Varric ran out into view, his crossbow Bianca in his hands. At the sight of Talyn, he exclaimes happily, "Firefly! You're alive!"
"I'm immortal, Varric!" Talyn said with a grin. "I can't die!"
She was only half-joking.
But everyone laughed like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard.
This was amazing. Everything was going to be alright. They were done. Corypheus was finished.
Then she noticed that one of the bodies was starting to twitch. She started to make her way to it to make sure that it was definitely dead, but then she heard a sickening, fleshy sound.
Blood spurted from the body like a fountain, and she saw a black, clawed hand reach out of it. Corypheus crawled out of the body like he was clawing his way out of the depths of hell.
Dread filled her soul.
His scarred face was grinning wickedly, but when he saw Talyn it twisted with anger.
"No!" She heard him shout.
He disappeared in a black cloud of smoke.
Thank you Luniawolfe and Darknessdawns for pointing out those typos for me! I do know that Loghain actually wasn't Cailan's uncle, but I was recently playing Origins and I think Cailan refers to him as "uncle" so I think my scattered brain got confused. And yes, Hawke originally WAS going to be female but I figured since Talyn was a girl that I'd switch it up a bit and make Hawke a guy, so I guess I missed a few pronouns, lol!
The only typo that I actually did on purpose was the Kocari Wilds. I know that's where the Blight actually started but in this version I made it start in the Arbor Wilds, because Talyn hates Mythal, and no one in the story knows it yet but Morrigan is Mythal's daughter, so Talyn distrusts her. Originally they were going to have a huge argument about Morrigan going with, and Talyn was only going to let her go if she was absolutely essential. But, I'm so friggin close to finally finishing this story that I changed my mind and sped it up a bit.
WE ARE ALMOST DONE WITH BOOK ONE. I think I can get this all out in about three or four chapters.
So when I finish the next few chapters I'm going to go back and fix the mistakes, and I'm definitely checking out that youtube channel, thanks Lunia!
And thank you all for still reading this story! I know it's been awhile, but my goal is to have this finished by the end of the year so we can start fresh with the sequel! I'm so happy you guys are enjoying it.