Chapter 2: The Mysterious Girl
"May I ask where we are headed?" Clint asked, sitting down against a tree. It was noon, and the sun wasn't letting up; they were both drenched in sweat, tired and thirsty. It had been a few days since Jane had helped Clint, and she still didn't know what to make of him. The first day he had been almost silent, his replies short and blunt. The next day, he was the complete opposite; asking her questions about herself, what she knew about mages, her occupation before the last grey warden died. She thought it was driving her insane at first, but slowly she started to enjoy it; it was nice to be able to talk to another human being, having been alone for over a month.
"Right now, Lake Calenhad." She replied, following his lead and sitting down. She hated sweating too much, and it didn't help that it made her shirt stick to her breasts; she had caught Clint glancing a couple of times, but she didn't point it out. "After that?" He asked, drawing her attention again. He seemed smart, but he asked too many questions. She decided to tell him anyway.
"Well…I was training to become a scientist and research ways to destroy the arch demon. I got to explore their research center, and I heard a rumor of a great machine that they were developing. It was said that it used the magic energy from the fade. I don't know more than that, but if they completed it…"
"That it might still be working, and we can use it to destroy the arch demon and maybe the Darkspawn as well." He finished for her, smiling. "That's the best idea I've heard since everything went to crap. Better than just wandering around, waiting for the Darkspawn to find us."
She nodded, glad that he was smart enough to figure it out; she had always been smart, but some of her friends from high school were just downright ignorant. She pulled out her water bottle, taking a long drink before putting it away, feeling refreshed. "Exactly. You're actually pretty smart Clint."
He chuckled, taking a drink of water himself. "Well, when everyone hates you, you don't have many options. I chose to educate myself to pass time, and read many books. I taught myself how to read and write, though my hand writing is horrible"
She smiled. His jokes were horrible, but it was better than the endless silence she had been used to. She randomly thought of Carl and shuddered, wishing she could forget. Clint must have noticed her reaction, because he asked, "Everything okay?"
She nodded, pushing Carl out of her mind. "Yes, I'm fine. Before I ran into you, I had helped out a kid named Carl. But the Darkspawn had captured his sister, and when he ran out to help her…"
He nodded. "I understand. Darkspawn are terrifying creatures, and seeing them alone is enough to bring nightmarea, let alone seeing a kid killed by one. You have my sympathy." He paused; he looked like he was debating something, and then shook his head to himself.
"What?" She asked, letting her curiosity get the better of her. He didn't respond, and she thought he wasn't going to tell her when he suddenly said, "Well, as a mage, I have a close connection to the fade. If you are having a nightmare, I could enter your dream and dispel the negative thoughts…but I thought it was a silly idea."
She mulled it over. Clint, entering her dreams and battling all of it's evils like a night in shining armor…She blushed, realizing what she was thinking, and shook her head, hoping he didn't see. "No, it's fine; I have to get over it myself."
She noticed her was smiling at her. Damn. She thought; he did see it. She waited to see if he would tease her because of it, but he simply got up, saying, "We should continue. The city of Ferenhine isn't far off, and I would like to get there before night time."
She blinked, surprised that he didn't say anything, then simply nodded, getting up and following him. She still didn't know what to think of him….but he wasn't a bad guy so far.
.
They arrived at Ferenhine just as the sun was setting, glad to see it gone; it was just now starting to cool off. But she also didn't mind seeing the sun; wherever the horde of Darkspawn goes, a huge dark cloud follows, blocking out the sun. If you can see the sun, then the horde wasn't nearby yet. There were still many of small packs of them running around and killing everything in sight, but it was the horde that was the real threat.
They walked into the city, keeping their guard up as they went. As they walked through, they saw nothing but empty buildings and random cars scattered about the place. She was about to start searching through them when she saw a light in the distance; it looked like it was coming from the center of town.
"Should we check it out?" Clint asked from behind her, making her jump. She glared at him, making him smile. "Yes, but go slow and stay to the shadows of the buildings; we have no idea what is down there."
He nodded, and they proceeded towards the light, sticking to the walls. Clint wasn't very quiet, but that couldn't be helped. The light slowly grew closer, and they started to hear voices; good, meant humans and not darkspawn. When they got close enough to hear what they were saying, Jane signaled for him to stop. Once he did, she slowly peeked around the corner of the building.
She saw a group of about 9 people surrounding a figure in the middle. All of the people were armed to the teeth; assault rifles, shotguns, she even saw one with a sniper rifle strapped to his back. They were all wearing jackets with a lit torch on the back, showing that they were part of the last light group. She looked more closely at the figure in the middle, and gasped as she saw it looked like a young girl, 17 years old at the most. She was the farthest from the light, her body nearly covered in shadow. Oddly, the small girl was smiling; being surrounded by people with guns didn't seem to faze her in the slightest.
"Did you get lost little one?" A tall woman said, wielding a submachine gun. The little girl said nothing; just stood there and smiled creepily, as if nothing was wrong. She felt Clint peek out of the corner next to her. A man with an assault rifle walked towards the little girl. "Come with us little girl, this is no place for one as young as you to be at night." He said, grabbing her arm.
Jane went to move forward, not able to help herself; she had heard nothing but bad things about the Last Light, and didn't want this young girl caught up in it. But she felt Clint grab her belt, pulling her back and hissing, "Are you crazy? There are too many; you would only get killed. You can't save them all."
She turned and glared at him, prepared to argue, until she saw his eyes grow wide. She followed his gaze, and her eyes grew wide as well.
The man who had grabbed the little girl gaped, eyes wide as he looked down at his chest and saw her hand sticking through it. Jane looked at the girl, and gasped at the sight; she was still smiling that creepy smile, but her eyes had changed. They were blood red, blood dripping down her arm. She swiftly pulled it out, splattering her face with blood as the man fell, dying. Jane noticed that her nails were long and sharp, and completely drenched in blood. She licked her fingers and smiled.
The rest of the group had frozen with surprise, then leapt into action, raising their guns. Jane, still horrified at the sight, closed her eyes, waiting for them to mow her down with bullets. But after a few seconds of silence, she opened her eyes.
The entire group stood there, frozen with their guns still raised. She looked at their faces; each one had a look of pure terror, as if they all saw their greatest fear at the same time. She saw a few of them shaking, as if trying to move but unable to. The girl giggled, raising her hand face down, fingers spread apart. Just as Jane was trying to figure out why all of them were acting this way, the girls hand glowed, similar to Clint's, and a light shot out of each finger, as fast as a bullet. She watched in horror as the lights hit 5 of the people. Unlike Clint's magic, who had made the mans chest explode, these lights shot straight through the peoples chests, right where their hearts would be, making blood spray from their backs as they all fell to the ground, dead.
Jane felt her blood run cold, fear shooting through her as the girl giggled again as if someone told a joke. She turned to the remaining three, tilting her head as if she was pondering a question. All three of the remaining people were shaking, and she saw one of them had pissed themselves. The girl focused on this man, slowly walking towards him. As she got close, he started crying, suddenly able to move and falling to his knees.
"Please, let me live. I-I didn't do anything to you." He begged, tears flowing down his face. The little girl walked right up to him, moving more into the light, and as she smiled Jane saw that her teeth were sharp, animal like. She reached her hands out, cupping the crying mans face, and spoke for the first time, her voice sounding too innocent.
"Foolish man, that doesn't matter." She spoke softly, Jane barely being able to hear her, and the mans eyes grew wide as she stabbed her fingers under his chin with one hand, and before Jane's eyes tore his bottom jaw off. He howled, clutching his face, blood spraying from where his jaw should have been. She grabbed his head, keeping him still, and ruthlessly rammed his jawbone into his skull with inhuman force, killing him.
She giggled with delight, pushing his body over and turning towards the other 2; she was a scary sight, eyes red, smiling with her sharp teeth, covered from head to toe in blood. She walked until she was standing a foot away from the last 2, who were shaking so much they could have been having seizures. She tilted her head again, thinking, and closed her eyes. The 2 people, one the girl who spoke earlier, staggered backwards, as if they were being held up by unseen hands. They stood there, not knowing what to do, then they both did something different; the woman turned around and bolted, running for her life, as the man roared, pulling out a knife and running at the small girl.
The small girls smile only grew wider as the tall man ran at her. He stabbed at her, aiming for her throat, and he almost reached it. Then the small girl moved faster than Jane believed she could, catching his wrist with her left hand, the knife no more than an inch from her throat. The man struggled, putting all his weight into his arm, and didn't budge her at all.
"You were so close; you have to be faster than that." The little girl said, twisting the mans arm hard, making him bend over. She kept twisting, making the man fall to his knees and scream in agony as she twisted beyond his arms limit. Jane heard a horrifying snap as his arm broke, the knife falling from his hand. He clutched his arm, screaming loudly as the small girl slowly bent over, retrieving the knife. She grabbed his head, forced it back, and sunk the knife into his throat, cutting along his throat and ripping it out. More blood than Jane had ever seen sprayed out, hitting the girl full in the face and blinding her as the man fell to the ground and quickly bled to death, making a nasty gurgling sound then going silent. The small girl rubbed her eyes until she could see, licking the blood off of her lips, then quickly turned her head, staring straight at Jane.
Jane froze, and felt more terror than she had ever felt in her entire life; it grabbed her body, making her unable to move, and she suddenly understood why the group had been unable to do anything; it was like when you froze in fear, only it doesn't end. She thought her heart was going to explode as the girl tilted her head, only making it worse. Then it suddenly ended, making Jane fall on her butt, panting as if she ran a mile. The little girl giggled and turned around, simply skipping away as if she was late for school. Jane watched her until she disappeared around a building, and then realized she had been holding her breath. She breathed out, almost not believing what she just saw.
"What the fuck was that?" She heard Clint say. She turned, seeing him holding his chest, leaning against the building, panting and sweating just like her. She slowly got back to her feet, shaking slightly. She couldn't speak yet; she was still feeling traces of that endless fear. She didn't know what it was, but she hoped she never saw it again.
"I suggest we don't wait for her to come back; let's get the hell out of here." Clint said, shivering. She couldn't have agreed more. As they were walking away, she heard Clint say, "It looks like we now have more than just the Darkspawn to worry about."
.
.
"May I ask a question?" Kasey asked him shyly, making him look at her with an eyebrow raised. It has been almost a week, and he was pretty sure they were almost to the bridge he was looking for. He planned on crossing it, getting to the other side of the lake. It was a risk in itself; it was easy to ambush someone on a bridge. Get people on both sides of it, and their was no where to run. But it was easier to him then crossing the entire lake with a boat. Kasey had been quiet most of the way, telling him her name and not much else. It didn't bother him at all; he wasn't much of a talker anyway.
"Go ahead." He said, not knowing why she asked; this wasn't high school. She hesitated, and for a second he thought she wasn't going to ask. But she gathered up her courage and said, "Why are we going around the lake? Wouldn't it be easier to cross the lake, and faster?"
He was wondering when she was going to ask that. "Yes it would, but let me ask you a question; this entire time, have you seen a boat to use?"
She opened her mouth to respond, then stopped herself, thinking about it. They continued walking, and after awhile he saw her shake her head.
"Exactly. I don't know about you, but I can't swim the entire lake. So this is our only option."
She nodded, having her question answered. They walked for 10 minutes in an awkward silence, and then Steven couldn't handle it anymore. "You know, you don't have to be silent. We can talk if you want. I know you must have a few questions you want to ask."
She didn't respond right away. They walked for a few more minutes before she finally asked, "So…your last name is Hawke. Are you descended from THE Hawke?"
A very common question for him. "Yes, I am descended from the Champion of Kirkwall."
She was quiet for a few seconds, then said, "That's surprising. I thought you would be more…"
He stopped, giving her a look. "More what, woman?"
She responded faster this time, becoming more confident. "Well…more heroic. Like a knight I guess."
He raised an eyebrow. "And what do I seem like?"
She looked away, blushing a bit, and said, "Well…you seem kind of like an asshole."
He laughed, making her jump in surprise. "You described me perfectly. See, that wasn't so hard." He shook his head, still chuckling. "You can speak your mind. I don't bite."
This time she raised an eyebrow at him. "You sure?"
He grinned at her, surprising her again; he didn't smile often. "Positive. Unless you want me to." With that he walked off, leaving her to ponder the meaning of his words."
.
He sighed in relief when they finally came in sight of the bridge. It was a few hours later, and the sun was starting to set. They had been walking for hours straight with no breaks, and his feet were starting to hurt. For once, he was thinking of calling it a night early as they approached the bridge. He looked in all directions, seeing nothing. Normally he would be thrilled about this, but he also didn't see any animals; he didn't see anything for that matter. The Darkspawn hadn't reached this far yet, so there should be some signs of life, especially with the lack of people, but it was an empty silence. He couldn't explain it, but he had a bad feeling deep in his gut, and he usually listened to them. He debated not crossing the bridge until the next day, but found it foolish; they had some daylight left, and he was going to use it.
He started walking across the bridge, his feet tapping against the wood. He heard Kasey following him as he kept looking around, trying to find any signs of anyone hidden on the opposite shore. About halfway he decided they would run into no trouble, and increased his pace, hearing a groan of complaint from Kasey. The bridge was sturdy and didn't move at all, which was a relief.
Right as he stepped off of the bridge, instead of feeling better, his bad feeling grew worse; it was getting the feeling of someone watching you times 10. He looked around; they were in a clearing, very open with no buildings, just the road leading onward. As he swept his vision across the clearing, he spotted a figure sitting in the grass. The sun had set until it was nearly behind the horizon, and the figure was cast in shadows; he couldn't see anything defining. He was going to forget about it and walk on, but Kasey saw it as well. "Do you see that Steven? I think someone is there."
"Ya, I see them. What of it?"
"Well…they could be hurt or something. Shouldn't we go and check?"
He looked at her. "If they were hurt, they would have called out to us by now. Leave them be."
But to his surprise she put a defiant look on her face. Oh here we go. "Well, I'm going to go see if they are ok." She said, and walked off. He gaped at her, wondering where she got the sudden burst of courage from. I almost miss when she was shy and listened. He sighed, following her.
As they got closer, he could see more defining features; it looked like a girl, or a boy with long hair. But as they got closer, his bad feeling grew worse, until it felt like his stomach was hurting. When they were about 10 feet away, He suddenly felt like he was in trouble; his fight or flight response was kicking in, and he didn't like it.
"Kasey, stop." He said, wondering why she wasn't feeling it as well; he pushed it off as a Hawke thing. She turned towards him. "But we are almost there. Why should I-"
"Stop, and don't move." He said in his soldier's voice. She noticed it, stopping, but kept giving him that defiant look. He walked forward until he was between Kasey and the girl and yelled out, "Hey, are you ok?"
The girl slowly looked up, opening her eyes, and he felt his blood go cold; her eyes were fucking blood red, and when she smiled he saw her teeth were sharp like a wolfs. He raised his shotgun, prepared to defend himself, when he felt a great terror grab him; he felt fear he had never felt before grasp him like a hand around his heart. He froze, confused as to why he was feeling this, then he started to get angry. Why am I feeling afraid of this little girl? I'm not afraid of anything. He felt his anger grow until it rivaled the fear, making his blood boil instead, and he broke free of the fears grasp, staggering forward. He glared at the girl, who had stood up, her smile growing even wider.
"Kasey, I want you to get away from here." He said, but when he turned to look at her, she was just standing there, shaking and looking like she was seeing her deepest fear. "She can't move." An innocent voice hit his ear, making him slowly turn back to the girl.
"You are interesting; you should be frozen with fear as she is. Yet instead you glare at me in anger." The small girl said, staying exactly where she was. He continued glaring at her, the barrel of his gun aimed right at her. "How did you break free?" She asked, tilting her head, which would have been cute if it wasn't for the creepy smile.
"There was nothing to break free from; I fear nothing." He said, glaring right into her red eyes. He didn't understand what she was, but that didn't mean he had to fear her. She laughed as if he said something funny. "Really? You are an interesting human." She said, repeating what she said.
"What do you want? Release my friend." He demanded, putting his finger onto the trigger of his gun. The girl giggled, ignoring him completely and saying "Lets have some fun." She raised her hand, and his eyes grew wide as her hand started to glow.
He reacted quickly, jumping back and pulling Kasey to the ground as a light erupted form her hand, shooting straight towards him. He felt it pass over his head, and felt the heat from it as it passed. In an instant he was on his feet again, aiming at her, but her hand glowed again, and he dodged to the side, barely avoiding another fire bolt from her hand. He raised his gun again, but again she shot, and he had to dodge again. He was getting aggravated, not finding any gaps for him to fire his gun. Finally, after dodging another one, he roared, running straight at her.
She aimed at him and shot again, but instead of dodging to the side, he slid down, sliding under the fire bolt. He swung his gun up, sure that he would get her this time, but his hopes were dashed when her hand came up, catching his gun before it got to her. He tried to push it, but it didn't budge; this girl was a lot stronger and faster than she looked.
He looked up at her, the girl smiling as she had him completely at her mercy. She raised her glowing hand, putting it about a foot away from his face, close enough for him to feel the heat from it. He waited for her to end it, and then the heat suddenly stopped. She lowered her hand, still smiling.
"You are very interesting. No human has lasted this long without dying. For that, I think I will let you live this time." She said, letting go of the barrel of his gun and turning away from him. He had never felt more confused in his life; he had been defeated by this young woman, and was allowed to live? He felt angry again, and as she was walking away yelled "What the fuck? That's it?"
She turned back to him, and her only response was to giggle as she walked away. He got up, debating whether to shoot her from behind, and decided that it probably wouldn't work; she wouldn't turn her back to him so easily if she didn't feel confident that he couldn't kill her. He spit as she disappeared from his sight, pissed that he had been totally defeated and confused at all that had happened. He turned and started walking back to Kasey, who was sitting in the grass, panting and sweating.
"You alright?" He asked as he got close to her, holding his hand out and helping her up. She was still shaking, but she slowly nodded. "Ya, I think so. What…was that?"
He looked back at where the girl had been, shaking his head. "I have no idea, but next time we meet, I'll kill her." Then he glared at her.
"You just had to check, huh."