Chapter 12: Long Way Home

Gamlen's House-Night

It was midnight at the Hawke residence, Bethany was tossing and turning in her cot and soon woke up. The mage sighed; she has had many nights like this since coming to Kirkwall. Even after a year here, she still didn't feel at home in Kirkwall. Bethany missed her bed back in Lothering, as well as the friends she had. She even missed the cold winters of Ferelden, something the mage never thought she would miss. Most of all she missed her peace of mind, Lothering didn't have much but it was quiet…no one was getting stab outside her family's door. And then there was the Templars, while she had to be careful back in her old life Templars didn't have a presence in Lothering outside of protecting the local chantry. Since being Kirkwall, Bethany had to watch her back every day to the point where the clatter of metal makes her jump.

The mage rubbed her eyes and got up to get some water. She went to the pantry to get a cup, when she opened it an almost empty pantry was staring at her. Despite gaining forty sovereigns from helping Fenris, they couldn't spend even a little of it due to how hard it was to get coin in this city. There have been many days where she and family went some days without food and Gamlen was no help whatsoever. Whatever little coin he gets his grubby hands on, Gamlen gambles it away not soon afterwards. Not to mention he has been voicing more and more of his disapproval frequently, Bethany wouldn't be surprised if he just decided one day to kick his own family out on the streets. They have to get on the expedition and soon.

Bethany formed ice in her hand and put it her cup. She took a sip and cringed a little…water quality wasn't exactly the best in Lowtown but it was at least better than Darktown. She finished her cup and headed back to bed until she felt something…magic. It was unlike anything she felt before, it felt old and sinister…Bethany looked back. On the table was the amulet the witch, Flemeth, gave her brother. It glowed a sickly green glow and it was almost like the amulet was whispering to her, Bethany's hair stood on end. When morning comes she going to talk to Ericks about this amulet, the soon they get rid of this thing the better she'll feel.


In time, the human empires will crumble. We have seen it happen countless times. Until then, we wait, we keep to the wild borderlands, we raise halla and build aravels and present a moving target to the humans around us. We try to keep hold of the old ways, to relearn what was forgotten.

We call to the ancient gods, although they do not answer and have not heard us since before the fall of Arlathan, so that one day they might remember us: Elgar'nan the Eldest of the Sun and He Who Overthrew His Father, Mythal the Protector, Fen'Harel the Dread Wolf, Andruil the Huntress, Falon'Din the Friend of the Dead, Dirthamen the Keeper of Secrets, Ghilan'nain the Mother of Halla, June the Master of Crafts, and Sylaise the Hearthkeeper.

We gather every ten years for the Arlathvhen, to retell the ancient stories and keep them alive. For when the human kingdoms are gone, we must be ready to teach the others what it means to be elves.—Gisharel, keeper of the Ralaferin clan of the Dalish elves

Sundermount-Dalish Camp

The next morning Bethany talked to her brother about the amulet, Ericks agreed to fulfill the witch's request. Taking the amulet out of Kirkwall was feat all of its own, as the amulet at times would glow and whisper. If the Templars found out about the amulet they would destroy on sight thing believing it to be evil…and the siblings did not want to incur the wrath of the Witch of the Wilds. Ericks asked for Anders and Fenris' help due to Aveline meeting with some of Kirkwall's officials regarding her position as the new guard captain and Varric had to attend a Merchant's Guild meeting about Bartrand's expedition. From the beginning there was tension between the mage and the elf…that made sense considering Anders was for mage rights and Fenris hated mages due to being a former slave. Luckily they kept their bile for each other confined to their verbal sparring seasons. Not long after entering the Sundermount the wildlife welcomed them in the form of giant spiders, which they made quick work of. The gang headed for the dalish camp in the north with Flemeth's amulet in tow. According to the witch the keeper Ericks would be talking to was of the Sabrae clan. Once they reached the entrance of the camp, they were stopped by two guards.

"Hold shemlen! Your kind is not welcome among the Dalish"

"Er…shemlen?" Bethany asked.

"The elven word for human" Fenris said.

"It means you're not one of the People, and you should leave" the male elf said. "Or we'll make you"

"If you can turn down the hostilities for just a bit that would be great" Ericks said dryly. "I'm just need to see someone"

The male elf frowned. "There's nothing here for any human" The female elf then spoke up.

"Wait! Silver eyes, red hair, face tattoos, he's the one" she said. "He is the one the Keeper spoke of"

"A shemlen? I thought he'd be an elf"

"Enter the camp; Keeper Marethari has been waiting for you"

"Cause trouble and you will meet our blades, stranger" The gang went inside the camp, in the middle was a campfire and standing near it was an older female elf dressed in a tan and grey robe. She looked was looking at the flames until Ericks spoke up.

"You Marethari? I was told to bring you this amulet" Ericks handed her the amulet and the keeper gazed at it and closed her eyes as the amulet started to whisper again. She then opened them and gazed at the gang.

"You are fortunate to bring this here when you did, any longer and the amulet would have unleashed a curse upon you"

"Uh, did you say curse?"

Asha'bellanar's failsafe should anything of hers fall into untrustworthy hands" the keeper said. "Andaran atish'an, travelers. Indeed, I am Keeper Marethari. Let me look at you" She came forward and held Ericks head, the rogue looked around awkwardly. "There is a light in your heart, human. Don't let it go out…you'll need it"

"Tell me how this burden fell to you, child"

"A dragon fell out of the sky, charred some darkspawn and asked me to bring you this amulet. You know, your typical Tuesday"

The Keeper chuckled lightly. "You are blessed by luck, then. I will pray that Mythal watches over your path" she then pointed to the path up the mountain. "Take the amulet to an altar at the top of the mountain; it must be given a dalish rite of the departed"

"Then return the amulet to me, do this and debt will be repaid"

"What is this rite of the departed?" Bethany asked. "Will you teach us?"

"I will send my First with you, she will see to it the ritual is done" the keeper said. "And when it is complete, I must ask you take her with you when you go" The gang looked at one another when she said that, the First was the apprentice of the Keeper…the First was taught everything the Keeper knows and when it was time would take the place of their teacher as leader of their clan. For a Keeper to let go of someone so important, something must have happened.

"You would entrust you First to a human?" Fenris asked. "You are awfully trusting for one of the Dalish…"

"Yeah, who is this First?" Ericks asked.

"Her name is Merrill and she would have taken my place as Keeper" she said. "She has chosen a different path; please guide her safely from here"

"Okay, this is a bit…odd"

"It is her wish, and I must grant it" the Keeper said. "Merrill will be waiting for you on the trail just up the mountain. Dareth shiral" The gang headed up the mountain trail where they saw a young elven girl with short brown hair in a brown and green robe adorned with fur. She was kneeling on the ground doing….something. The elf looked back and then got off the ground.

Oh! I didn't hear. You must be the one the Keeper told me about. Aneth ara" she said. "I'm so sorry; I didn't ask your name. Unless…it's not rude to ask a human their name, is it?"

"I'm Merrill. Which you probably knew already. I'm rambling, sorry"

"You're a jumpy one, aren't you?" Ericks said.

"I've never met a human before, Dalish mothers frighten their children about stories about you, you know?" Ericks raised a brow and Merrill quickly held up her hands. "Not you of course, I'm sure they don't have any tales about you…not scary ones at least" She looked at Ericks silver-blue eyes, and got lost in them…she never seen such eyes before. They were beautiful.

"Not that you're not notable enough to have a story" The elf then blushed and looked away. "I'll just shut up now"

Ericks smirked. "You'll have to work harder than that to offend me, the name's Ericks" he said. "This is my sister, Bethany and the two rays of sunshine in the back are Fenris and Anders"

"Thank you, the Keeper said you came from Ferelden. I spent most of my life there" Merrill said. "We only came north a few years ago. Have you been in the Free Marches long? Do you like it here?"

"I miss the cold and the dirt. Kirkwall isn't brown enough for me but hey, no darkspawn!"

Merrill tilted her head. "Ferelden wasn't that brown! The dirt and muck gave it character" she said. "We should go; your task is for Asha'bellanar. It's not wise to make her wait"

"Let's get this over with" The gang headed up the mountain, Merrill warned of dark things on Sundermount. The veil was incredibly thin here which meant they would possibly facing demons. One of the first things they faced was undead rising from the ground to attack them, the mages cast their spells and a flurry of fire, ice and lightning filled the air allowing Ericks and Fenris to finish the undead off and continue their path. "The Keeper didn't mention you were a mage"

Fenris crossed his arms. "I imagine it's difficult to give away something nobody wants"

"All Keepers know a bit of old magic" Merrill said. "The stories tell us that all elvhen one had the gift, but it was lost…like so many things"

"It's a Keeper's job to remember, to restore what we can"

"But don't demons possess dalish mages?" Bethany asked.

"It can happen and when it does, the clan must hunt and kill their own Keeper"

"And the Chantry do they know about your mages?"

"Oh yes, it is one of the reasons we never camp too long in one place" the elf said. "If we stay away from the cities and towns, they won't pursue us…usually but with our halla lost, my clan is now in more danger"

"You don't know how good you've got it" Anders said. "And you want to risk your freedom to come to Kirkwall?"

"If I don't go to Kirkwall, I'll be alone…a lone elf is easy prey for anyone" she said. "In the city, I can get lost in the crowd"

"You keep turning skeletons into toads for us, and we can help you set up in Kirkwall" Ericks said.

"But I never…oh right, not literally. Happy to help and thank you" Merrill said. "I've done some fighting before but it was always alone, I'll try not to hit anyone. On our side, I mean. I'm babbling again…let's go" The gang continued up the mountain.

A date with a witch! Next Time! Review and Comment!