Chapter two: Temple of Sacred Ashes
It took Alnifena nearly a month due to the few renegade templars remaining attacking her because of her being a mage. One templar looked oddly like her uncle Cullen only younger. She did not kill any of the templars merely froze them and moved on. Her mother had chosen not to come with her, because she felt it was best if she spoke with Fen'harel alone.
In a way, Alnifena could understand why her mother felt that way. Alhannon had been sent on a different mission that she was not allowed to know just yet and it frustrated her and made her curious. But she had to stay focused on why she was all the way out in the frostbacks.
However, the one that resembled her uncle she could not abandon in a vulnerable state so with the help of her beloved white Pride of Arlathan Hart, Ronnove, she got the frozen templar to a cave and built a fire to help melt the ice. Ronnove lay on a patch of grass near the cave entrance watching the steady rain that had begun on their trek to the cave.
Alnifena focused her magic into her hands and used the flames to steadily melt the ice. The ice split down the middle suddenly and shattered allowing the templar to drop to the ground. He coughed trying to regain his breath while dropping to his knees.
Knowing he would not be a threat in his weakened condition Alnifena went to Ronnove and pulled some feed out of one of the packs and placed the feed sack over his muzzle and looped it around the first two prongs of his antlers. She then grabbed a bucket and went to the front of the cave and set it down to collect rainwater.
"What do you want from me?" the templar demanded.
Alnifena turned her head slightly curious and raised a brow at him.
"Nothing now shut up and recover your strength." she said.
She lifted the bucket and went to Ronnove and removed the feed sack and set the bucket in front of him so he could drink. While he drank she began to pack up her supplies then noticed the templar had managed to get her staff. Alnifena sighed and glared at him.
"Give me my staff or you won't like what I do to you." she spat.
"Not until you tell me why you look like the Inquisitor." came the reply.
Alnifena's glare hardened and she crossed her arms. "Not that it's your business but she is my mother and if you want to capture her you'll have a fight on your hands."
The templar sighed and passed her staff to her. He sat back against the cave wall and crossed his arms over his armor and fell asleep. Surprised Alnifena checked to make sure he was alive before tying her pack to Ronnove's saddle before leading him into the rain and climbing into the saddle. She used her magic to create a shield over the top of them and set Ronnove into a run to get away from the old battle field the cave was located in.
Once she was gone the templar opened his eyes, stood and headed out into the rain. He took a horse from the nearby stables and followed the elf at a distance. No one had come near the frostback mountains since Haven fell to Corypheus.
The elf seemed to be heading past Haven which surprised the templar, because nothing was beyond Haven except the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes.
A chill ran up Alnifena's spine, and for a moment she felt eyes on her from somewhere further away. She had to fight the urge to turn around and confront whoever was following she urged Ronnove to move faster to the temple ruins hoping to lose whoever it was following her within the temple.
She guided him through the ruins of the temple and found a secluded sheltered area and got down from Ronnove's back. Knowing he would rather stay here than enter the fade she lifted her pack from his saddle and made sure he knew to stay in the area and removed the saddle from his back.
"Don't wander to far Ronnove I'll be back as soon as possible it is not wise to linger physically in the fade." She told him.
Ronnove snorted at her and set off further up from the temple and stopped where there was grass popping up through the snow and settled down for the evening. Alnifena shook her head and lifted her left hand and opened a rift and stepped into it. Not realizing she would have more trouble in the fade than she had ever had before.
The Templar followed her into the rift and whirled around when it closed again and groaned. What did he get himself into? Turning he followed Alnifena and stopped when he saw her approach a glowing figure.
"Young one I do believe you have brought an unexpected guest." Valor informed the young elf.
Alnifena blinked and turned around and her eyes met the Templar's. She let out a groan and glared at him getting frustrated.
"Why in the name of all that is holy are you here?!" she shouted at him.
The Templar allowed a sheepish look to cross his face. He suddenly realized he shouldn't have followed her here.
"I uh decided to follow you so you didn't get hurt…" he said hoping it would appease her.
His hopes were in vain however. Her expression became even darker when he said that and he swore he saw anger radiating through her aura. Or was it just the flames that were burning the air around her? Maybe he was seeing the flames because he was in the fade, and she was angry at him? He couldn't tell he was petrified of this one mage when he had never been terrified of any mage before in his life. He could only pray that the mage didn't see fit to cut him down after allowing him to live.
"A-Also my name is Mateo…." he offered weakly praying to the Maker it appeased her.
His prayer went unanswered as her eyes narrowed and the flames seemed to grow higher. He knew from the way the spirit seemed to move further away that he was possibly going to die here today.