That You May Always Remember Me

Chapter 5

"It doesn't make sense"

"Who are you and why are you here?" she spoke again.

Alistair knew what she was capable of with a blade and that he should probably be nervous, but his body was still in shock. "I…" he attempted to respond, but what response would do?

"Wait!" Viola called, as she doubled back with Cole after realizing Alistair had fallen behind.

Elissa turned her icy stare toward the elf, though her sword remained steady at Alistair's throat. "You're not from here. What are you doing in these woods?"

Viola looked at Alistair who could only raise his eyebrows in return. He had no explanation for the situation he found himself in. "I'm the Inquisitor. We've heard there's a tear in the Veil nearby and we're here to close it."

Elissa's stare grew more curious than vicious. "You can do that?"

"Better than anyone I know," Viola answered, stretching the fingers of her left hand.

"It's surrounded by demons."

"I'm aware." The Inquisitor considered the woman closely. "I heard you've been taking care of them."

Elissa turned her dark eyes away. "Only the ones that wander too close to town. There are too many for me to take on by myself."

"Then we should work together. But first I need you to let my friend go." She nodded toward Alistair, whose mouth was still hanging open in shock.

Elissa bit her lip as she looked back at the man she had trapped. Her eyes wandered across his face desperately but suspiciously until she ultimately dropped her weapon and stepped away, giving him space to stand and gather himself. "It's this way," she said quietly and led the party off the path and into the thick of the forest.

Viola quickly fell into step beside Alistair and nudged him in his ribs. "Is that her?" she whispered.

He nodded, but couldn't match the elf's excited smile. Something was wrong. For the past ten years he'd imagined what it would be like if Elissa suddenly turned out to be alive and how that first meeting would go. He thought there would have been hugging, tears, and maybe some love making, but he never expected a death threat. He wondered if she was angry that it had taken him this long to find her, and guilt rushed over him. Surely he'd deserved the sting of her sword and the cold look in her eyes. His heart felt like it had actually been pierced as he remembered it: she looked at him like he was a stranger.

They approached a clearing as Elissa crouched low to the ground and the others followed, hiding behind the thick brush. Alistair squatted to her right and watched the numerous demons mill about the Rift. "Maker's breath…" He'd heard about the battles that occurred when the Rifts started popping up across his country and lost count of how many homes had to be temporarily evacuated and how many soldiers he'd sent out to protect the civilians, but he never actually faced the tears himself. It was one aspect of being King that he enjoyed quite a bit.

Viola laughed quietly. "Yes, I suppose this isn't a job for the faint of heart. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Alistair puffed out his chest and prayed that looking confident on the outside would make his insides stop tumbling about. "I once faced an entire Circle Tower filled with Abominations. I think I can handle this." He glanced at Elissa to see her reaction, but she had none. She watched the enemies intently.

"If we remove the demons, you can close the hole?" she whispered over the bush. Viola nodded. "Then let's get on with it."

Alistair was pleased to find that his instincts hadn't left him. He took down a wraith single-handedly and gave the killing blow to the Rage demon Cole was facing. He always kept an eye on Elissa, though. She was just as talented as he remembered, if not more so. She was quick and silent, like always, but somehow more brutal. Her tactics showed little evidence of the Teryn's daughter who was trained by one of the greatest swordsman in all of Fereldan in classical fighting techniques. Instead she fought like a barbarian who'd picked up her skills out of necessity, caring only for what moves drew the most blood and made for the shortest battle. He couldn't argue with her results, though, as he quickly realized the fight was already over.

He smiled at Elissa while wiping the sweat off his brow and thought he saw her smile back for an instant before something caught her eye. The spirit was back and slowly walking toward the two of them. It still looked like Elissa, and Alistair realized now why it didn't appear to him the way he remembered her. His eyes darted between the identical women as the spirit stood between the King and the Hero. This was the Elissa it was trying to look like, though that left a lot of questions still unanswered.

"Are you doing this?" Elissa demanded, watching the spirit and Alistair curiously and defensively.

"It's a Spirit of Compassion," Alistair began to explain before his eyes widened in realization. "You can see it?"

"Of course I can! I can see you too!"

"Oh," Cole breathed out as he stared at the spirit intently. The two seemed to be silently conversing again. "Now it makes sense."

"Care to explain?" Viola asked, but Cole shook his head.

"Later. She wants to go home. She did all she could."

Viola nodded and stepped forward, stretching her arm outward as her glowing left hand connected with the Rift. Alistair's and Elissa's eyes followed the spirit as it took the opportunity to jump through the hole just before the Inquisitor yanked her arm back and the Rift ceased to exist. The silence that followed was deafening. Alistair struggled to find the words to begin with Elissa. Should he apologize first? Tell her how much he's missed her? Ask how she survived and where she's been? As was typical, though, Elissa took action first.

"It's closed. I suppose you can all leave now."

Alistair's face and heart fell. "Leave? Elissa, it's been ten years! I don't care if you're angry, at least look at me and acknowledge the fact that I'm here, that you're still alive, that we're both alive!"

Her eyes met his and his heart felt another pierce. It was that same look, like she didn't even know who he was. "What are you talking about? Who's Elissa?"

"That's not funny. I don't know how long you've been living in the woods but don't act like…"

"I'm not acting!" she yelled, finally losing her cool, detached manner. "I don't know who you are! Or how long I've been living in the woods, not that it's any of your business…"

"You don't remember?" he asked in almost a whisper.

"I remember what it takes to survive, and I've done that for a long time without anyone's help. So please, whoever you are…" A flash of sadness crossed her face. "Just go."

That was one pierce too many as his heart shattered at the realization that those looks hadn't been out of anger. Anger he could deal with; he could find a way to convince her to forgive him. But not knowing who he was? Or even who she was? He couldn't even fathom a way to fix that.

Viola watched what should have been a joyous reunion fall apart in front of her, and knew she had to save it. "We can't leave yet!" She looked at Cole who stood next to her and went with the first idea that came to mind. He cried out and fell to the ground as she kicked the back of his knee. "Our friend is hurt! It's too far to take him back to town. You must have a camp nearby if you've been keeping tabs on the demons."

Elissa squinted at Cole, who rubbed his leg gingerly, and then at the Inquisitor. She sighed, making a mental note to watch out for the clever elf, and gestured for the group to follow her once more.

OOOOOOOOOO

Not far from where the Rift once glowed was a small clearing where Elissa had her camp. There were the remains of a fire, a thin bedroll, and a pile of poorly fletched arrows. Alistair gazed about, noting the lack of personal items, when he felt the air shift. Looking up, a pair of frightening yellow eyes met his from the shadow of the forest. He stared back, unable to move, while the eyes seemed to multiply until at least 10 pairs were staring at him. Elissa moved to his side and followed his eyeline. She giggled slightly and then let out a low whistle at which the eyes moved quickly into the clearing, revealing that they belong to a pack of wolves. Alistair's experience with such animals was violent at the best, but these beasts panted and seemingly smiled as they crowded around the Hero. One pushed its nose into her hand and she lovingly scratched behind its ear while explaining to Alistair, "They're good creatures. Just a little misunderstood."

He crossed his arms and smiled. She always did like dogs. "So that's why you're the Wolf Lady?"

"They still call me that?" She knelt and began rubbing the belly of one of the predators. "Wolves are smart. They work well with humans and listen to commands. This pack has followed me since I came to Orlais."

"And where were you before that?" he questioned.

She opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped herself. "Travelling." Looking around at the curious faces she had brought into her safe haven she shifted uncomfortably before tidying things that didn't look messy. "If you're all going to stay then we need more food." Her eyes landed on Alistair as she ordered, "Come with me."

"Me?" he asked, while the idea of being alone with her sent shivers down his spine.

"It'll be easier to catch something with more eyes." She pulled a fresh weapon out from its hiding place behind a rock and slung it across her back before stepping to the edge of the woods. Alistair looked to Viola who smiled at him enthusiastically and gestured for him to go. Following the woman he loved, he walked into the unknown.

Alistair was no hunter. His armor was heavy and he clanked and thudded with every move he made. His eyesight wasn't as good as he remembered either, and he silently acknowledged that Anora may have been right all those times she teased him for not being able to recognize a noble from across the room. Not that he would ever admit it to her. "There!" he called when he managed to spot a deer after scanning the forest from the top of a large rock. The beast darted off as his voice echoed through the trees.

Elissa laughed by his calf. "The first rule of hunting: never yell, 'There's something we can kill!' "

"I guess I'm not very good at this," he mumbled while jumping to the ground. The two of them walked in silence for a while before he stopped at a particularly large tree and hopped onto one of its sturdy protruding roots to scan the area again. He could see no life, no movement, and no sign of dinner. Turning back to continue following Elissa he found himself once again at the edge of her sword.

"Enough games. What are you?"

He swallowed hard and backed away until his rear hit the tree. "What do you mean? I'm a man." Her suspicious stare didn't falter and he felt the need to explain further. "I swear! I've got manly bits and… and bad breath and everything!"

She kept her blade held high at his weak throat. "Why didn't you go through the hole like the other one?"

"Should I have?"

"You're the same aren't you?" Her blade wavered as her eyes became more questioning. "What are you?"

"I'm human!" he yelled. "Just like you! You know me! Why don't you remember?"

She dropped her sword to her side and started pacing the forest floor. "It doesn't make sense. You look just like him."

"Like who?"

"Like the one who went through the Rift!" She lifted her sword again, though this time it was clearly an empty gesture.

"What are you talking about? She looked like you!"

"No!" she screamed. "He looked like you!"

Alistair suddenly registered that the spirit had played on both of them. "It was a spirit. They can change their appearance…"

"That doesn't explain anything!" She pushed the blade closer to him and his back pressed further into the trunk. "I was alone for so long… Then that thing… you call it a spirit… it appeared with… that face." She watched the air in front of her and frowned as her blade once again fell to the wayside. "He used to just stand around. It was weird, but it was better than this. Now you're here and you talk and claim you know me!" She pressed her lips together and looked at him like she was struggling to hold something back. "Who are you?"

He marveled at how her stare could be both terrifying and intoxicating. She was scared and confused, and he couldn't claim that he was anything different. She demanded things of him that he couldn't provide, answers that she wouldn't believe, but after a moment of staring into her midnight blue eyes he realized that he didn't care about any of that. It didn't matter that she had just held her weapon to his throat, or that she didn't know who he was. It had been a few hours since he first laid eyes on her but it only just now dawned on him: she was alive. That one insurmountable obstacle that stood in the way of his happiness was suddenly gone, and all the others were simply trivial.

His eyes continued to watch her pink lips until, for the first time in such a long time, he lost control. He leaned forward, wrapped his arms around her strong body, and kissed her passionately. To his surprise, she relaxed in his hold, her mouth slacking and her body giving in. She kissed him back until, a few moments later, her senses returned and she pulled away violently. She stared at him appalled as her muscles tightened, and Alistair knew immediately that he had made a mistake. Before he could apologize for it he felt a sharp pain as her fist found his face. The back of his head knocked into the tree and when he could see clearly he realized Elissa had vanished. Licking his mouth he found the harsh taste of blood and realized she had split his lip.