"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters."
― Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
Melia brushed out her long white hair. It was a warm night, so she wore her thin pink nightgown. She set her brush down, going to her bed to open up her mother's travel bag. Inside, she put back the journal she had been reading. She crossed her legs, pulling out the picture of her parents in their wedding attire, her mother adorned in pearls and rubies. Her father with his hand set on her mother's shoulder, clean shaven and handsome like he was in all of the likenesses Melia had seen him in.
She figured she would place the frame on her vanity, so she walked over and neatly set it next to her perfumes. She looked at the picture again, giving a slight smile.
A few maps she had set on the vanity started to slip off, Melia grabbed them before they hit the floor, making sure they were folded back in the way she had them. She turned to place them back in their proper spot when she was met with a knife to her cheek.
Before she could let out a yelp, a gloved hand roughly stopped her. They pushed her into the mirror, the glass shattering and cutting into her back.
The intruder wore a grey shemagh, his brown eyes seemingly staring into Melia's thoughts.
"Where is the key?" Her assailant asked behind his shemagh, his knife started to cut into her cheek, making Melia flinch.
When he moved his hand Melia just shook her head.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said shakily.
His hand moved to choke her, she clawed at the leather glove.
"You seek that which is forbidden. For that I must kill you." His hand squeezed harder, "I want the key."
She saw his dark eyes move down to her chest and she began to panic. She saw a flash of terror across the man's face and he pulled at her necklace. Melia grabbed one of her perfume bottles and broke it into his face.
When the man let go of her, screaming in pain, Melia tried to make a run for the door. He blindly grabbed for her, catching her hair. He pulled her to him and Melia could feel a blade at her throat, he started to cut into her skin.
There was a gunshot, and Melia could feel her attacker slide to the floor. When she opened her eyes she saw Nani standing in her doorway still holding up her pistol.
"Guess I'm a little late to the party." She smiled.
"What's going on?" Melia said hoarsely, holding her bleeding neck.
"I don't know," Nani grabbed her hand, "But they really don't like you."
She led Melia out onto the deck.
Melia could see a group of raiders, dressed the same way as her attacker. They overturned all of the supplies for the expedition, destroying her maps with fire.
"Well I never." Melia started rolling up her sleeves.
Nani held her back, shooting rapidly with her pistols at the men causing the destruction.
"Here." Nani threw a gun to Melia.
"I don't know how to…" Melia awkwardly handled the gun, unintentionally shooting a man running to stab Nani's back.
Nani looked up at Melia with wide eyes, "Holy shit." She laughed, "Let's get the Hell out of here."
Melia was suddenly overcome with panic, "The journals." She ran back to her room
"Where are you going?" Nani called after her, having to quickly fight back a raider so she could run after Melia.
She found Melia putting her father's journals in a messenger bag, taking the photo on her vanity and throwing it in with them.
"We need to go." Nani tried to hurry Melia.
"These are very important." Melia defended herself, gathering the last of her parents' research materials.
After Nani fought off another man trying to slice her head open, she grabbed Melia's arm.
"We're leaving." She said, pulling Melia along with her.
They moved quickly to get to the stern of the ship. When they reached it, they could see Alistair kicking someone into the river, and Cullen hitting a man upside the head with the back of his shotgun.
On the other side of the stern, Eshne screamed for Cullen.
Cullen turned to see her being chased by a group of attackers, Eshne fell to her knees and slid over to him while he shot the men chasing her. Eshne ended up sliding behind him. She grabbed one of her hatchets and hit a man square in the chest while Cullen loaded his shotgun.
"Thanks." He said quickly.
"No, thank you." Eshne pulled the hatchet out, she ran to Nani and Melia, the side of her head bleeding, "Nani, there's a lot of these assholes. They killed the captain and most of the crew. I don't know how long we can keep this up."
"We can't lose the ship." Melia said.
Nani and Eshne didn't say anything.
Leliana jumped down from the top deck, her left arm cut up by a deep blade.
"Oghren is ready when you are!" She yelled to Nani.
"Ready for what?" Melia demanded.
"This is like Moscow all over again." Nani muttered.
"What happened in Moscow?" Melia turned pale.
"Where's Jowan?" Eshne asked.
Nani looked around, everyone seemed to now be at the stern of the boat except for Jowan. Sten came over and pulled Melia away before Nani shot someone behind her. He threw her to Alistair. Sten rushed forward and bellowed, bowling over a growing group of raiders and forcing them over the side of the ship.
"That is a scary man." Alistair said.
"Can you swim, Lady Mahariel?" Eshne called to Melia.
"Well of course I…"
Alistair grabbed Melia up and they jumped into the water before Melia could get another word out.
"I'll go look for Jowan" Nani yelled to Eshne, "If I'm not back in three minutes tell Oghren to Fourth of July this bitch."
Nani ran before Eshne could object to the plan. She went below deck first.
She had little time to let her eyes adjust to the dimly lit room. All around she could see more of the raiders, they were holding Jowan over a crate, ready to cut off his head. Nani got a running start, using a beam on the ceiling to help her lift up and kick a man into the one holding the very large sword. The blade landed right in front of Jowan's nose. He gave a shriek.
Nani shot the man running for Jowan, punching another one that was about to stab her.
"Jowan, go!" She yelled.
"I can't!" He said.
Nani saw him dodging the swings from a very large man dressed in the same dark robes as the others.
"For the love of…" Nani started.
She flipped herself over the crate that had the sword embedded in it. Nani pulled it out and jumped on the man trying to kill Jowan.
The first chance he got, Jowan ran for the stairs. Nani struggled with the large man, he threw her to the ground. She rolled to her side before he stabbed into the floor. When he got stuck, Nani kicked him in the groin. He fell to the ground howling, giving Nani enough time to run after Jowan.
When Nani reached the top deck, she could see Jowan swimming towards the others, who were now almost to the shore.
"Shit." Nani said right as the explosions began.
"Nani!" Eshne screamed.
She started running from the shore, wading into the water. Cullen pulled her back. Eshne kicked and screamed while he held her.
"That's my sister!" Eshne yelled.
"I know," Cullen pulled to into him, he stroked her hair why she cried, "I know…"
Everyone stood on the beach, watching the ship burn.
Eshne looked at Melia, who was standing with Alistair and Sten, her eyes were watery.
"This is because of you!" Eshne screamed, "If we hadn't gone on your stupid fucking dig, Nani would still be here!" She tried to lunge for Melia, but Cullen held her back.
"I...I didn't…" Melia stuttered.
Eshne fell to the ground, taking Cullen with her, he held her while she wept.
"She doesn't mean it." Alistair told Melia, "Don't take it to heart."
"She was coming to find me." Jowan said, "If anything I should've been on that boat.
"Don't say that, Jowan," Leliana scolded him, "No one could have seen this."
The group went quiet, looking at the boat while the engines started to explode. Slowly, it fell into the waters of the Nile. The only sound that could be heard over the waves was Eshne's sobbing. Cullen had her inhaler out just in case.
"Where do we go now?" Leliana asked Melia.
"I don't know…" Melia said, her voice cracking, "I think the closest town or village would be Dashlut. I can contact the Director and we'll be back in Cairo soon enough."
Nicolai, who had been sitting in the sand and wringing out his hat, looked over at Melia, he didn't say so, but he was disappointed. He set his hat back on, scanning the river absently.
He stood up quickly, "What's that?"
Everyone looked over to where he was pointing.
They all could see something caught in the reeds and floating in the river. Eshne shot up and ran to it.
She pulled her sister out of the water, Cullen running over to help her.
"She's alive." Eshne cried.
There was a collective sigh of relief. Morrigan went to examine Nani.
"Na'Nalia, say something." Morrigan demanded, checking Nani's eyes.
Nani mumbled again, her head was bleeding. Alistair came over with a wet cloth so Morrigan could clear the blood.
"It doesn't look to be hers," Morrigan said, "Nani, say something."
"I…" Nani struggled to speak, "I can't hear you." She said loudly.
"What's wrong with her?" Eshne asked, "Morrigan!"
"The explosion must have ruptured her eardrums. I can't tell how damaged they are." Morrigan sighed.
"What's going on?" Nani yelled, "Why are you talking like that?"
Nani held her head, all she could hear was a constant white noise. She started to scream, and she couldn't hear it.
Was she screaming?
Was anyone really talking?
She removed her hands from her ears, and she could see blood. Nani started to cry.
"Oh my God…" She said.
Morrigan looked to the others, "We need to get her to the nearest village. I can't work from here."
"We have to move quickly then," Nicolai said, "It's going to get very cold."
Sten carried Nani while the group moved off of the beach.
It was a long while before anyone spoke, all they could hear was Nani writhing in pain.
"Are you alright?" Alistair asked Melia.
"Oh…" Melia sighed, "I suppose." She held her soaked bag close to her.
"Your cheek is bleeding." Alistair said.
"I'm fine."
Alistair could see a bruise forming around her neck from where her attacker violently pulled on her necklace and choked her.
"If you need anything…"
"Thank you, Alistair." Melia said, "I think I'd like to make sure Na'Nalia is alright before anything else."
"Okay." Alistair rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.
A silence fell over the group again.
Eshne kept looking back at Nani, who looked ready to fight Sten if he didn't let her down. Morrigan tried to calm her.
"She'll be alright." Cullen assured her.
"Will she?" Eshne sighed, turning back and looking at the ground as she walked.
Cullen brushed her hand, "She's a strong woman, Esh...you of all people know that."
"I suppose." Eshne rubbed her eyes.
"Hey," Cullen said, "Remember when I first came to New York?"
Eshne gave a small snicker, "I was working the desk at the Museum. And you walked it and you couldn't even talk you were so nervous."
"I saw you there and I walked back out because I didn't think I could come up with a comprehensive sentence." Cullen smirked, "Even when Redd hired Alistair and I, every time you walked into the room I could feel my throat close up. Alistair thought I was having an allergic reaction to your perfume."
Eshne laughed, "Or just girls in general."
"It's still girls in general."
Eshne could see Oghren shaking his head.
"What's the matter, Oghren?" She asked.
"Sodding young people. When I was your age and courting Branka, I just told her what I thought of her," He guffawed, "Just put a hand up her skirt, Rutherford, for god sakes."
"With all do respect, Master Kondrat," Cullen said, "Branka left you."
"Best thing to happen to me as it turns out." Oghren laughed, taking a drink out of a flask he had hidden in his shirt.
The moon was at it's highest point when they reached the city of Dashlut. There was a peaceful silence over it as they entered. Most of the citizens were already in their homes praying. Those who weren't were still walking the streets at a comfortable pace back to their homes.
Sten spoke to a local doctor about helping Morrigan with Nani, and Melia arranged for everyone to stay at a small tavern in the center of the city.
Eshne stayed with Nani and Morrigan most of the night, drifting into an uneasy sleep every now and again. Once Morrigan assured her that Nani was going to be alright, Eshne went to the room she was sharing with Leliana and Melia.
They both had been sitting on the bed when they saw Eshne come in.
"How is she?" Leliana asked.
"Morrigan said her hearing might not recover fully. But other than that Nani will be alright." Eshne said quietly.
"I'm so sorry…" Melia began.
"No…" Eshne cut her off, "I shouldn't have yelled at you. It was unfair. What matters is we're all safe."
"Perhaps," Leliana suggested, "Now that we have no clothes, we could go shopping in the morning? It would do everyone some good to have something to take our minds off of the events of the evening."
"I think that's a lovely idea." Melia said, "The least I can do is try to replace what you all lost on the ship."
Eshne thought for a moment, "Alright. I'll find something for Nani as well."
"For now, I suggest we all get a good night's sleep," Melia said, "It's been a long day."
"I agree." Eshne jumped on the bed, crawling under the blankets.
The three settled in. Melia blew out the candle and all was quiet. Eshne sighed.
"I think my tits are sunburned."