A/N Hey Everybody! I'm finally back! For realz! My college year just ended and now I'm completely focused on putting out at least two chapters of Drifter's journey per week! :D

As per usual; Read, Review, and Enjoy!


Forests be forests, I've wandered through my share of woodlands over the ages, but this one takes all others by storm and only leaves twigs in its wake!

I stare up and up and up until I almost fall backwards from my near vertical stare. "By the Dread Wolf himself this place is huge!"

Erianne rolls her eyes and kicks aside another fallen branch in annoyance, "It's a forest Darien, I thought you lived in a forest?"

I cringe and barely hide it as I turn with shock and awe to spot a waterfall beyond the branches, "Not really, I lived in a swamp. I haven't seen a tree this tall in twenty years!"

Well... I've seen some, but Darien hasn't. Or is it I haven't while he did? Who-? Oh what the fuck I'll just assume both of us haven't and call it a day.

Erianne shakes her head at me as Wynne and Zevran cautiously step off the worn path.

The Dalish and animals have created dozens of them to create a usable reference for traversing the harsh environment.

Well, I just surprised myself again.

They tumble into the small clearing as Erianne decides to use the open area as a temporary staging site. She pulls the fragile map Zathrian gave us out of her pack and unrolls it on a flat rock nearby, "Ok, so according to this map-"

I tune it out, struck in awe at the... familiarity of the place. The trees, the breeze, the senses and smells and... everything is so familiar for some reason. Unfortunately my mind drifts to the last time I was lost in a forest, years ago during an... initiation of a sort. I swallow in discomfort as I remember the poisonous landscape, the darkened paths, the... deadly battles. I sigh, "Once again I'm stuck on a world hazardous to my health." I mutter darkly.

I blink a few times to get my eyes from watering and nearly scream in shock as a thousand shadows shift and mold into warriors of old. Spectral warriors, both Human and Elven fighting each other in a war ages old. I shiver at the chilling breeze on the wind and notice Erianne walking through a few of them as she leads Wynne and Zevran further into the thick brush.

Oh... this isn't good... the Veil is thinner than I expected.

I avoid as many of them as I can, worried the effect they might have on my magic. A flash of light shines off a ghostly sword as a human beheads an elven child and screams, "For the Glory of the Master!" Before falling to twenty arrows as they pierce his thick armor with ease.

I pause for a moment and shiver as I feel the Veil thinning more and more by the second with every spectral death on the field of battle. My breath speeds up as I hear their souls screaming from beyond the Veil, their continued suffering due to some sort of object I can't imagine. Something happened to force them to stay.

"Darien hurry up!"

I jump in shock at Erianne's voice and rush ahead only to stop immediately as I find a warrior huddled over something small, upon further inspection I find him looting an unarmed Elven child that was caught in the crossfire and riddled with arrows. "Oh by the Creators..." I blanch as I look closer and see one pierced the child's eyeball and it was oozing out of the bloody socket.

War is beyond sickening... oh gods... if I hadn't survived over a hundred battle fields like this one I would have said this was immoral, but by the Creators this is about as normal as it can get here.

I worriedly step back over to the group, one word escaping my lips as I do, "Abelas..." (sorrow)


Erianne curses the blasted forest as she trips on another branch and barely catches herself on the trunk of the devilish tree it belonged to. She wrinkles her nose in annoyance and groans as she swats away an annoying butterfly trying to land on her face. "I hate the forest..." She mutters before stepping into a cloud of gnats and sputters as she spits out a few she inhaled. "Ah!" She shouts as she throws herself forward blindly and directly into a pool of mud. She gasps in surprise before Zevran's sharp bark of laughter makes her growls as she chucks mud off of herself. "I hate forests!" She calls from the pit of mud below them.

Zevran smirks as he sees her annoyed face, "Come now my dear Grey Warden, this is simply a walk INTO the forest. We have yet to come across anything worth killing, or at least dangerous enough to threaten us."

She spits and blanches as she tastes a mix of dung and mud on her tongue.

"Hahahahaha!" He shakes his head at her grimace.

She in turn scowls at him, her person still caked with mud and... other things.

"It's like watching a stubborn child try to dive into a shallow pond!"

He laughs again as Wynne steps up to the edge to see what has happened. She tsks in disapproval while a shadow of a smile betrays her seriousness.

I rush forward as quickly as I can, and upon spotting Erianne, "Fenedhis! Erianne are you alright?!" I call in surprise.

She coughs as she accidentally snorts in some mud and blanches at the taste, "NO!" She shouts angrily.

I struggle to keep myself from smiling before I feel something behind me and whip around to find a large ball of fur stumbling up the trail. "What the hell?"

The fur shifts and turns towards my voice...

Oh. My. Gods.

"Fenedhis!" I swear loudly, "Wynne, I need some help with this!" I call as I grab my staff and ready myself.

She looks at my seriousness and frowns before looking at where I was looking and gasping, "Oh dear..."

"What is-?" Zevran stops himself as he catches it too as Erianne struggles to move in the thick mud. "Braska!"

"What?" She shouts back, "What's happening?" trying to yank herself forwards by trying unsuccessfully to swim.

"Don't move!" We all chorus in a panic as the ball of fur rears back and roars it's distinct roar.

She stops and looks up to blink in surprise as she finally realizes what's happening, "Oh shit." She aptly puts.

At that exact second a chorus of howls echo out through the forest, sending chills down all our spines. I stare at the bear in front of us as I imagine Erianne's eyes nearly doubling in size from pure fear. I swallow as I hold back a string of Qunari curses and growl in frustration at the situation. "Son of a whore!" Is all I let out of the chain as the brown bear charges. I reach out, casting immolate at my feet as we all dive out of its path.

It roars as it nearly charges into the pool of mud, skidding to a stop just before it reaches the edge.

I ignite the rune, blasting apart the nearby twigs and igniting not only the bear's tough hide, but the surrounding brush as well.

"Yes?" Zevran cheekily replies, referring to the whore part probably.

I glare at him, "NOT NOW ZEVRAN!"

He cringes as more howls echo through the trees and the bear charges again, this time focused on Wynne. "Right, right."

Wynne brings up a glyph of repulsion a little too late and she's tackled by the massive animal.

"Wynne!"

Zevran quickly takes his daggers and jumps onto of the bear's back, stabbing it in an attempt to save Wynne. It surprisingly works as the bear rears back again, tossing him off and allowing Wynne to crawl away as I continue to snap shards of Fade Ice at it.

It turns to me as one shard pierces the soft spot behind its left shoulder, it's furious eyes bearing down at me.

Oh shit.

It jumps up and smashes the ground at my feet with both claws just before I can cast my barrier. The force of the impact throws be backwards and into a tree, cornering me as it goes to bite my head right off.

It doesn't get the chance as an arrow pierces it's right eye, forcing it to groan in pain and back up to regroup. I look to my left and see Erianne is somehow fighting while covered from head to toe in thick mud. "Thanks!"

She ignores me and continues to fire at the bear. Wynne and Zevran joins her with their own attacks. Zevran rushing its face, cutting thin lines across the tough hide and stabbing the joints whenever he can. I join in with a small cluster of Fade Flames behind the bear, cornering it. Wynne focuses on keeping Zevran's defenses boosted with barriers and buffers.

It doesn't take much longer before the bear staggers under the weight of its injuries and allows Zevran's short sword to run through it's already blinded right eye and into the brain, killing it indefinitely.

Everyone breathes a moment of relief as everyone relaxes a bit. I don't rest however, questions flooding my mind.

Why did it attack? How did it seem to know our most vulnerable and valuable members? Was it stalking us the entire time?

I juggle these questions back and forth, trying to formulate an answer or at least a theory beyond 'the Fade is tricky'.

"Darien?" Erianne pants out.

I look up at her and see she's frightened, "What?" I'm put on full alert again.

She just stares at me in shock, her eyes the size of dinner plates before I see a mass of light brown fur lift up from behind her, "Erianne!" I shout as the werewolf's claws swing down and slice across her back.

"Ah!" She screams as she's whipped around from the force of the impact and thrown to the side to land against a tree on her stomach. I stare in absolute shock at the four heavily bleeding cuts dug deeply through her leather armor and into her back. Erianne isn't moving.

A distinctive howl turns my attention on the werewolf that did the deed, "Come brothers and sisters, drive the intruders from the forest!" It shouts out, displaying his long bloodied claws at me.

I feel numbness in my chest as I just stand there in shock for a moment, allowing Zevran to rush forwards in a fury of knives that has Swiftrunner on the defense, blocking with his claws. Two more werewolves appear and attack Zevran from the sides, stressing his skills.

Wynne rushes up to my side and grabs my shoulder, "Wake up!" I shake my shock off and center myself. We snap our staffs in flourishes after magical flourish as the battle turns into a haze adrenaline. Bashing spell after spell at the cursed man-wolves, we fight for our lives until Swiftrunner screams out in pain and backs up, "Retreat! Retreat into the forest's heart!"

Zevran manages to toss a dagger into the skull of one of the lesser werewolves, killing it as the other two flee into the forest and out of sight. "Run you flee-bitten dogs!" He shouts in a rage.

I wipe my brow of the sweat that gathered there and point at Erianne as I lean on my staff for balance, "Check on Erianne Wynne, I need to rest."

She immediately rushes over to Erianne's side and examines her using her magic.

I groan and nearly collapse onto the ground, panting from how exhausting my magic is on my body and mind. "How is she? Will she live?" I ask numbly while Zevran circles the area, making sure no-one else was going to surprise us.

Wynne looks over at me with a blank face and my heart drops.

"Wynne, is she...?" I trail off.

No...

She just stares at me before a light cough comes from Erianne and we all breath a sigh of relief. "Calm, Erianne, stay calm." Wynne tells Eri as she tries to roll over but ends up screaming in pain. "Hold still, you lost a lot of blood." Wynne puts her pack down next to her and digs around inside.

I lift myself up and stagger over, "Can she move?"

Wynne shakes her head, "Not if I can't find my- ah!" She lifts out a broken flash and sighs, "Maker, such bad luck today."

As quickly as I can, I sit down and pull my pack off, "What do you need?"

"I need a salve and healing potion, maybe a stamina reserve if you have one."

I hand her each of the ones she asked for. "Anything else?" I ask worriedly, watching as Erianne starts drifting back asleep.

Wynne taps Eri's cheek multiple times and she shocks back awake, groaning at her pain, "Stay awake dear, or you may never wake back up." Wynne says worriedly.

Eri nods weakly and accepts every one of Wynne's instruction as she struggles to drink the potions.

I uncork a Lyrium potion and down an ounce of it to regain some of my strength, waiting for the verdict.

Wynne sighs after rubbing the salve into Eri's wounds, "We need to take her armor off to properly treat the wound.

"Ok." I stand up weakly, going for her buckles.

Wynne shakes her head, "No, we can't do that here, the forest has proven too dangerous already."

I nod in agreement, "We can get her back to the Dalish, they'll take care of her."

Wynne nods in agreement and sighs is relief that the wounds have stopped bleeding.

Zevran and Wynne each take one of Erianne's arms around their shoulders and we start are long trek back to the Dalish camp.


Throughout the afternoon I lead us out of the forest, my mind still reeling at how close Erianne is from death every moment longer it takes to get back to the Dalish.

If she died...

I close my eyes for a moment and try to imagine how pissed Alistair would be, how many people wound turn against me if she died, if the WARDEN died. "Who would end the blight?"

"What was that Darien?" Zevran asks from behind me.

I turn to them, leaning against my staff as I say, "We'll be back before night."

He nods in agreement while looking up at the evening sky. "That's good."

I sigh at my quick save and keep us moving along the path.


After another hour or two, I round a small bend in the path and see the entrance to the Dalish camp, "We're back!" I shout in a small panic. I look along the road and see Leliana pacing by the entrance, "Leli!" I shout just as I trip and fall to the ground, "Oh..."

"Darien!" She runs over and helps me back up.

Before she can ask what's wrong I say, "Erianne needs help, go get Zathrian!"

As much as I distrust the Bloodmage, we need his help.

She looks behind us, "Erianne's hurt? How-?"

I cut her off, "Just go!"

She nods and runs off as two Dalish sentries run up to us, "Darien, we saw your approach and warned the Keeper, he's waiting by his Aravel."

"Ma serannas." I breath as Zevran and Wynne help Erianne over to Zathrian's Aravel.

I lose my balance and fall again, the sentries catch me this time, "I... need to rest as well."

"Atisha falon, mala-falon (peace friend, your friends) set up a small camp just outside of ours, I believe they have set up tents for rest." The male sentry states kindly as he and the female both help me through the camp.

"Ma serannas Lethallin, Lethallan, mir'lin-" (Thank you both, but my blood-) I try to say, but the female sentry cuts me off.

"Na sa na harillen." She says with a smile. (No one is in opposition.) "My name is Reva."

"And I am Morkannanilamalin, or Mor for short." He says quickly.

I blink at him and laugh a bit, "Mala mamae nuvenin somnia'vir da'len mahvir." (Your mother needs to dream about her children's future.)

He rolls his eyes, "Ma mamae nuvenin Arlathan."

Reva and I laugh for a while at the comment.

Mor and Reva calm me down by focusing the conversation on themselves and not on the situation. I learn that Reva grew up in Lothering and came to the Dalish after her mother and father were killed during a bandit raid. Morkannanilamalin was apparently named after four of his ancestors, Kanna who escaped from Tevinter during the Imperium days and ended up in Antiva and running with the crows, Nila who worked as a tanner's apprentice in Antiva for her whole childhood before traveling to Orlais and dying giving birth to Malin, who was adopted by the Dalish as they passed Nila's caravan while patrolling the Dales, and now because of a slave record in Tevinter and a small conversation with an archivist is Antiva, Morkannanilamalin can prove that his bloodline extends to the times before the Dales.

"Mana." (That's a long time ago) I comment after he finishes his story and we're almost to our destination.

He laughs and nods, "Dareth Shiral Lethallin."

I stand on my own as I spot Alistair running over, "Dareth Shiral Reva, Morkana- Morkannanilamalin."

He laughs again at my pronunciation and waves as they both run back to their own camp.

Nice people.

"What the- why are you back already?" Alistair asks over my shoulder.

I turn around and shuffle past him, ignoring his question as I sit down on a stump, sighing as I finally get to rest.

He stands on front of me, arms crossed over his plated chest, "Where is Erianne?" He demands angrily.

I sigh in exasperation, "Alistair, Erianne's been injured-"

"WHAT?!"

I cringe at his voice and my eyes widen as he grabs my robes and pulls my face to his, "What did you do?" he asks with such fury I fear for my life.

I just stare at him in shock that he's accusing me of hurting Erianne.

"He did nothing!" We both look towards the Dalish camp and see Zevran walking over, his face creased with anger. He points a finger at me and shouts, "He did nothing to stop the werewolves from cutting her down!"

I stare in absolute shock at Zevran as he blames me for everything that's happened.

"He did not!" Leliana comes out from behind Zevran and glares at both of them, "Let go of him Alistair he has been through enough!"

Alistair wrinkles his nose and shoves me back, stomping up to Zevran, "Where's Erianne?" He asks desperately.

"Back at the Keeper's tent." He explains tiredly.

"Thank you." Alistair glares at me once more before running off towards the Dalish camp.

I look at Leliana and she ignores my eye as Morrigan and Sten step out of their own tents, "What tis happening that we are shouting this late in the evening?" She asks before finding me sitting by the fire, scratched up and weakened.

She blinks in surprise as Sten walks up to me directly, "Are you injured?" he asks plainly.

I look up at him in slight surprise, "N-no."

"Are you ill?"

"No."

"What happened?" He asks with his stoic purple eyes burrowing into my skull.

I sigh and run a slightly bloody hand down my face, "We were ambushed by a bear."

Morrigan and Leliana look to Zevran and he nods.

I continue, "We took it down relatively well, but it gave the werewolves the distraction they needed to attack."

Zevran shakes his head, "The Grey Warden was caked with mud from tripping into a pool of it and couldn't move.

"She should have been more careful." Sten criticizes.

"Indeed, if she hadn't been so clumsy, she would not have been covered in muck." Morrigan comments dryly.

"Darien just stood there and watched as a werewolf cut her down!" Zevran shouts furiously, glaring at me.

I shake my head, "No, I didn't, I just-" He cuts me off.

"You froze and now we lost another Warden!" I wince at his tone.

"Calm down Zevran, your temper is not helping us figure this out." Lelianna rationalizes.

"Indeed, I doubt the foolishness of our fearless leader is his fault alone." Morrigan adds as she looks at Zevran critically.

"What are you saying?" He strikes back.

She rolls her eyes, "Oh nothing at all, it just impresses me that you have yet to tell us why YOU did not act to save the Warden."

He deflates slightly, "Although I like that you are impressed by myself, witch, I still believe that he knew what was going to happen and refused to act."

"How?"

We all turn to Sten.

"What?" Zevran asks in confusion.

Sten reiterates, "How is he responsible?"

I look up at the stoic giant and then to Zevran who seems honestly surprised he asked. "Because he did not act!"

Sten folds his arms, "He refused to attack the werewolves?"

Zevran blinks, "No, he attacked, but only after-!"

"Did he give all he could in battle?"

"Well, he nearly passed out from exhaustion afterward-"

"Then he did not cause the Warden's current state. He is at no more fault than Leliana." Sten turns away from us all and walks back to his tent, leaving us in a much more civilized-

"Braska!" Zevran throws up his hands and stomps away towards the treeline.

Probably to cool off, or plot my assassination.

Leliana sighs. "Maker, what happened out there?" She steps over and sits down on the log on my right.

Morrigan steps a bit closer and stand to my left, "I agree, we need to get to the bottom of this crisis before that fool Alistair uses it as an excuse to do more harm."

Leliana scoffs, "You actually agree? Or are you here to swoon over his injuries and get him into your bedroll?" She accuses.

I blink and look at Leli with wide eyes, "Uh..."

"How dare you accuse me of foul play you miserable minstrel!" Morrigan shouts back.

"Mori-" I'm cut off again.

Leliana smirks with a scowl on her face, "And so the evil witch of the wilds comes to insult the poor Chantry girl in hopes to scare her away. Why don't you just realize that he's with me and go back to your swamp."

"You-!"

"Fenedhis! Vadhedan! Basra! Braska, Imekari!" Shouting at the top of my lungs, I finish while panting and glare at both of them as I stand.

"Brother this-"

"Shut up!" I point at Morrigan to sit down on the stump and she glares for a second before she sees my expression and sits, huffing as she does.

Neither of them look at each other but both fold their arms and frown, waiting for me to speak. "You two are acting like Da'len!"

Leliana states, "She's the one-" While Morrigan states, "There are-"

"Fenedhis!" They shut up and pout again. "I have had enough of you two fighting!" They each go to refute me and I cut them off, "Don't take me for a simple fool!" Leliana stays quiet.

Morrigan smirks, "Tis amusing-"

"Sister I am asking you to listen."

She scowls at me, but stays quiet.

I lean more on my staff as my legs start to give, "I have a choice to make,"

"Darien-"

"Brother-"

"I HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE!" Both of them wince at my voice. I look at both of them, "It's MY choice who I want to be with, not yours." They both look at me directly. "Stop fighting over it! We're here to stop the Blight not screw around!" They both stare at me. "Right...?" I glare at each of them.

"Yes."

"Sure."

I nod to them, "Good, now hug and apologize."

They look at each other with disdain.

For the love of-

"Do you want me to get Sten?" I threaten.

They both look at me in surprise before shaking their heads.

"No."

"I would rather not."

I indicate for them to get on with it.

Morrigan sighs, "Brother is this necessary?"

Leliana holds out her arms reluctantly, "Are you scared swamp witch?"

Morrigan whips around and glares at her, "You festering-"

"Atisha! Now hug and apologize before I pass out." I blink my hazy vision away to see both of them looking at me with concern. "Go on."

They both sigh and grumble a bit before hugging briefly.

"Sorry."

"Apologies."

I smile through a wince as pain shoots up my spine, "Good, now would you both help me to my tent. I wasn't kidding about the passing out bit." I stagger forwards and they catch each of my arms.

"Maker, what happened to you?" Leliana breaths as she sees the claw marks on my right legging.

"Tis from the bear I assume?"

Probably caught my leg when it smashed the ground at my feet.

I nod to them as they lay me down on my cot, which isn't where I like it, and start unbuckling my leggings, "Hey, hey what's happening?" I ask tiredly.

"We need to dress the wound Darien." Leli comments warmly.

"We've both already seen you naked brother, tis not a concern of privacy, but of recovery." Morrigan adds, smirking down at me.

"Wait, you've..." Leliana asks as they pull my leggings off and start cleaning the wound, my head is searing with pain for some reason.

"Yes, have you not...?" Morrigan arches an eyebrow and looks at both of us for a moment before laughing at our expressions, "And here I was worried that t'was a competition I could not win!" She laughs again as Leliana blushes.

"Shut up Morrigan..." Leliana mutters just as I pass out.


A pounding in my ears slowly brings me back, the smell of darkness-

My eyes shoot open as I remember that smell, "Pause?" I sit up and turn my head around to find nothing but darkness surrounds me. I rest my hands under me and cringe as the freezing cold stone- no, metal, burns into my skin. I look around again, "Where am I?" I ask as I stand up, seeing nothing but darkness surrounding me. I cast a green burst of fade flames in my palm and look around in the low light, seeing some piles of rubble, but nothing else discernible. "Am I in the Fade?"

A sharp rumbling hits my ears and suddenly a black archway appears in front of me. I sigh in relief as I recognize the architecture and throw some fade flames into the center to activate the portal. One flash of thought later and I'm standing near some tall white crystal spires, my surroundings looking even more wicked than ever before, and a lot less blurry than I remember. "I am definitely in the Fade." My words echo off the pillars and into the distant green sky.

I wander for moments, maybe years, maybe seconds before I come across a solid black wall, I approach it carefully, feeling out with my fade tethers to find it wasn't even solid, just shifting. I reach out and press against it, shocked that it is indeed solid.

"Is it solid because you made it? Or do you simply THINK it's solid?"

I whip my head around and around, trying to find the source of the familiar voice. Finding none I suppress the shiver down my spine and walk through the wall as if it isn't even there, keeping in my mind the thought of transparency. "Well that worked." I look down the dark corridor in front of me and frown at the darkness before flicking my hand and turning on all the torches lighting the walls.

"Thoughts are binding here..."

I shiver at the whisper just over my shoulder and jump around, "Show yourself!" Nothing is there, as before.

Oh man this is creepy as all hell...

I turn around and follow the corridor to another portal, this time I activate it and it turns into swirling wisps of blue energy. I frown before stepping through...


I gasp awake and cough out the water still trapped in my lungs as I roll onto my side. "Oh..."

"Good, he's finally awake."

"Well, I told you he would."

"He's not strong yet, not in the mind."

"Yet."

"Yes I suppose you are right."

"Hmm."

I blink and roll over to find a man and a woman watching me carefully. "Um... hi?"

"Another greeting? Strange one isn't he?" The woman states calmly.

"Yes, quite uninterested in anything but our sudden appearance." The man responds.

"What should we do? Where should we do? What should we go? All fine questions." She looks at me.

"And yet none are answered as quickly as the 'how'." He retorts quickly.

"And what IS the how brother?" She looks at him and smiles as they share a silent conversation for a moment.

I stare at the two in complete confusion, "What the hell?"

"What the hell? What a strange thing to say." She says.

"Also not even in the proper context."

"What IN the hell?"

"There you are."

I blink slowly, rubbing my eyes to make sure I'm not seeing shit. "Who are you two?" I ask with uncertainty.

The man tilts his head, "Another strange question."

"Indeed." She lifts a finger, "It is not the 'who' so much as 'what' we are that should concern you."

I frown deeply in suspicion, "Demons?"

They smile and laugh, "Not in the slightest." The man replies.

"He must have found the trick," She says happily.

"not the trap." He finishes and smiles at me.

"How fortunate." She looks at her... brother and they both look at me, seemingly waiting.

I stand up and look around us to find we're inside a... lab?

"There he is." The man declares.

"I thought it might take an hour." The woman states.

"Not with two heads in the same mind."

"Yes."

"Indeed."

I stare at them again, "What do you mean by 'two heads'?"

She takes a step forward, "Two heads,"

He does as well, "one mind."
She folds her hands in front of herself, "One thought,"

He does the same, "two memories."

I stare at them again, trying to make some sense of what the flipping shit is happening inside my head. "I'm two people in one body?" Are they talking about Darien's spirit and my spirit? "I- I already know that." I look at them in even more confusion.

He points behind me and I look to find the fade surrounding my vision, my small alcove with the candle and chair sitting near my bookshelf. "What the-" I turn back and all I see is the fade. "-hell just happened?" I look around again and again, but can't find any way they could have gone, or left or- I throw up my arms in frustration, "FUCK IT!"

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. "Gods my head hurts..." I stagger forwards and brace myself on my chair, panting at the pounding in my head. It grows until all I can think about is the buzzing. I open my eyes and I stare into the darkness in shock. Then a bright star bursts into existence on the horizon, but its black, surrounded by dark wisps of power. It grows as I stare and its oily tendrils reach out to grab me before retreating to show a bright day, the birds chirping, the sun shining, the leaves on the trees green and lush with color.

"Wow..." I breath in amazement.

I look over the rolling plains with awe before the sun sets and the angry red glow burns the fields to ash, the dark tendrils ripping the trees from the ground and tossing them into the air to burst into flames. I step back in shock as a black figure covers the red star as it stalks towards me, the ground shaking with every one of its steps.

I low rumbling wraps around my ears and the figure speaks, it's eyes glowing so red my body freezes on the spot, "You are a parasite..." It growls just before reaching out and flashing into a dragon, the black monstrosity barreling towards me so quickly my mind can't react as it reaches down and bites the top of my body clean off. I barely hear the screeching laughter of the figure as the darkness consumes the world...


"AH!" I wake up to my own shouts and screams and don't register they're my own until someone shakes me out of it.

I shiver from the fear of the night terror and sit up, trying to escape the destruction, "Hey! HEY!" I stop as I hear a familiar voice and look over to find Wynne staring back at me. "Take it easy." I fall back down onto my cot and cover my sweaty face with my hands.

I try my dry and cracked throat, "Wha-?" But cough from the sudden fire in my neck. Wynne presses a waterskin to my lips and I drink greedily, nearly choking on the water a few times before finishing the entire thing. "Oh, by the Dread Wolf-" COUGH "What happened?" I ask tiredly.

She looks at me worriedly, "Well, you passed out from exhaustion and blood loss." Her eyes burrow into my skull, "Which you should have told us about before walking through a forest with an open wound."

I cringe at her tone, "Erianne was the priority." I try to justify.

She narrows her eyes and thins her lips, "You fell into a mild coma. I half expected it to be a few weeks before you woke up. Do you even realize how close to death you were?"

I stare at her worriedly. "No..."

"Don't worry, its only been twenty four hours. After that... disaster in the forest." She shakes her head, "Maker that was a tragedy."

I sigh in relief and fall back against the cot again, my visions still swirling around in my head.

"Erianne is safe Darien, thanks to you."

I look up at her blankly, "Wha-" I burst out into another coughing fit.

"Shh... don't speak, just rest, whatever you went through took a lot out of you." I take her advice and fall back into my dream-world as she dabs my sweaty brow with a wet rag.


A/N Review if you wish, for I will keep writing because I love it. :) Next chapter coming in two days! If it doesn't, all of you have permission to blow up my private message box.