GOOD GODS IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME.
This story has so much more to go.
Here's another bite.
There was nothing but smoke, swirling all around me.
It was all I could see.
My lungs filled with it, making me cough. But I kept moving forward.
I saw a figure ahead of me. The smoke concealed the figure but I knew what I had to do.
The figure drew closer with as much speed as myself and as we met, my hand drew my sword.
The smoke that cloaked the figure now fell away to reveal Morrigan.
Morrigan smiled at me as I could only freeze in place and peer back at her.
Morrigan moved forward and I saw a dark shadow swell behind her; her aura growing to that of a dragon.
My body froze in place as I watched her face turn into a twisted, evil and dark being and the Morrigan shadow-thing roared into my face.
I stabbed at the twisted presence with my sword and I felt metal pierce flesh just as I felt talon pierce my flesh.
Looking down, I saw my torso now with a gaping hole and the evil presence now had a great light growing ever larger around it, engulfing us both until there was nothing but my scream.
"Detra!"
Leliana shot awake on the chair and moved towards the bed I was now thrashing about on.
My first breaths were deep and painful and my first gasp brought about a long round of coughing followed by severe throbbing from my unfamiliar stab wounds.
Trying to sit up in bed brought even more pain; everything around me seemed uncomfortable and harsh.
And then the dream came back to me.
I relived it in my head and everything came back to me.
Tears streamed from my eyes as Leliana tried to quiet me.
"Detra, are you all right? Are you in pain?"
All that was in my mind were my last words with Morrigan on the rooftop, right before she left this world.
The pain in my body paled in comparison.
"Detra...please talk to me."
Leliana touched my cheek and I leaned into it, seeing Morrigan do it over and over in my mind, feeling it was her.
Dizzy and frail, I fell away from Leliana's touch and back into the pillow, back into slumber.
"Are you sure there is nothing that you can do? I feel like she is in pain still."
Wynne stood above me on the bed, her hands up in the air.
"I've done all that I can for her, Leliana. Detra needs rest now. Her body will do the rest."
"But shouldn't we wake her up? She needs to eat and..."
"Her body knows what it needs. She will wake when she wakes. If we try to do it earlier, it could create more problems."
Leliana sighed, patience not one of her virtues.
"If you say so."
Wynne touched her shoulder.
"She will come back to you, do not worry. I thought for sure the Archdemon would be her undoing, but it seems that was not her destiny. Have faith, child. Detra will wake up when she is ready."
Leliana cast an appreciative glance at Wynne as she left the room and then her eyes settled back on me.
"Alistair, we must begin preparations for the dead. What is left of the city guard is doing the immense job of securing the city and the walls, while we here must attend to the departed and secure the trade routes. If the flow of goods stops for even just one day, many more could die. What little we were able to salvage will not support many at all if it is not supplemented."
Alistair sighed, his brain full of tasks that lay ahead.
"Are you listening to me, Alistair?" Eamon repeated.
"Yes, yes. I heard you. But...we cannot do anything about...Morrigan until Detra wakes up."
"What do you mean?"
Alistair shrugged.
"I'm not sure what Detra would want done. She should be here for the decision. We never talked about such things in detail so I ..."
"Well has she woken yet?"
"Last I heard, no, she has not."
Eamon shuffled some papers around on his desk, handing a small pile to an elf that quickly entered and exited the room.
"We can give it a little more time for her, but it cannot go unchecked. Even with preparations, the body..."
Eamon noticed the grim look spreading on Alistair's face so he chose to end there.
"Maybe you should go check on Detra. If she's awake, you will know and I'm sure she'd appreciate the visit."
Those words perked Alistair up and anything that would get him away from all the stench of responsibility was aces with him.
Alistair made his way to the kitchen as he heard his stomach growl yet again.
It had been about an hour since he'd last eaten anything so he was famished.
He was not about to take anyone's food but he just wanted a snack so he searched around for some bread or perhaps fruit.
One of Eamon's cooks appeared behind him, carrying pots and pans and spotted Alistair pawing the shelves.
The cook promptly dropped the cookware and slapped Alistair's hands away from the dry goods, chastising him.
Alistair turned around, shocked and the cook quieted right down once he saw it was Alistair.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sir! I thought you were trying to steal. We've had trouble with..."
"It's no worry. I was just looking for a little something is all."
The cook promptly made Alistair a plate with some fruit, cheese and bread and apologized again.
As he headed towards my room, gobbling off the plate, Alistair thought about how he could get used to this King-ly business after all when he spotted a familiar face and smiled.
