9:30 Dragon
One moment, I have the bright idea of confronting the assassin that just killed multiple guards and a mage. Next, I'm being sucked through a portal. Creators, my head hurts.
Solora stood on the docks to a location she wasn't sure of, rubbing her head slightly as the buzzing in her ears took its time subsiding. On the floor in front of her sat the amulet she had taken from the assassin. The enchanted piece of jewelry having been promptly dropped upon stumbling out of the portal.
It had barely been two minutes since both elves were just thrown into who knows where. Leaving both women extremely disorientated. The elven mage spared a glance at the elf next to her, who had seemed to find herself in a similar position to herself. Rubbing her head with a short groan at what Solora could only assume was a minor headache.
Taking a deep breath, Solora finally allowed herself to look around the area. Taking in her surroundings and trying to figure out where she was exactly. The area looked like Redcliffe, but something about it seemed off. And she wasn't referring to the lack of people outside. Moreso, what the area looked like. The last time she had been here, the area looked a lot more... Developed?
She was pulled out of her train of thought as the woman beside her finally moved. Solora turned her attention to face the assassin but found herself immediately regretting it - having come face to face with the elven woman looking absolutely livid.
"What in Andraste's name did you do!?" The woman snapped, taking a step towards Solora and forcing the dalish elf to push her back against one of the wooden poles behind her.
"It wasn't me, I didn't do anything!" Solora spoke hastily, putting both her hands up in front of her in hopes of stopping the assassins' advance on her.
The assassin in question let out a scoff, bending over and picking up the amulet that Solora had dropped at her feet. "Right. You expect me to believe you just followed me around and accidentally opened a portal right after confronting me?" Solora opened her mouth to respond, but she wasn't given much of a chance as she soon found the blade of the woman's knife pressed up against her neck. "Give me a good reason as to why I shouldn't just slit your throat now and be done with this."
"Uh, we are in a town for starters..." Solora started, not missing the raised eyebrow she received from the unnamed elf in response. "We also don't know where we are! Better to stick together until we figure that out, right?"
The assassin didn't remove the knife from Solora's neck, though she took a moment to glance around the area. "There appears to be no one in view to witness your death if I did anything." The elf started before turning her attention back to Solora again. "And I'd say we are in Redcliffe. So neither of your reasonings seem too compelling."
Solora eyed the woman nervously as the blade was pushed slightly against her neck, drawing a bit of blood from the small cut that formed. Speaking quickly, the dalish elf rushed to add to her argument. "But doesn't something seem off? You know where we are and you sound Ferelden, so I'm sure you've been here before." Fear sparked in Solora's eyes as the knife was pushed a little further onto her neck, the cut becoming a bit larger. This caused her to let out a startled squeak in response to the pain that followed. "It looks like Redcliffe, but different. Where are all the templars? The Grey Wardens? The griffon statue in the middle of town? Just look!"
Solora couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as the other elf moved the blade far enough away from her neck that it was no longer breaking the skin. The assassin took a glance around the village again, realizing that Solora was in fact correct with the observation.
"Fine, I'll bite." The assassin spoke again, moving the knife away from Solora entirely and wiping the blade against the burned and blood-speckled servant's outfit. "What do you suppose is going on here?"
"I'm not entirely sure." Solora started running her thumb along the cut now on her neck, not missing the look of irritation shot at her in response. "But I think it might have something to do with the amulet." She added quickly, hoping to stop the woman from getting upset with her again. "I can feel the magic coming off of it, it's extremely powerful. But, something about it feels off."
The assassin looked down at the amulet she was still holding in her other hand, lifting it up slightly to look at it. Said assassin, however, did not miss the dalish elf reaching for it - thus, she promptly moved it out of the mage's reach. "If that's the case, it reacted to your magic." She snapped, her eyes daring Solora to make an attempt to reach for it again - to which Solora thought better of it, letting her hand drop to her sides as the assassin continued. "And don't you think for a second that I forgot that you trying to take it from me was what led us here to begin with?"
Solora nervously averted her eyes away from the woman, knowing that she was right. It was her fault that they were sent to this... weird version of Redcliffe. The guilt that followed the revelation gnawed at the back of her mind like a starving wolf.
At the lack of a response, the woman gave a short hum in satisfaction - putting the amulet around her neck and hiding it under her clothing before looking in the direction of the village again. "Great. Now that we are on the same page, we can figure out what's going on here."
Giving the assassin a short nod, Solora walked after the woman as she had begun moving away from the Dalish elf. "I'm, uh, Solora by the way."
The assassin gave Solora a side glance, looking unimpressed. "You really shouldn't be offering your name to someone who just tried to kill you." The women pointed out.
"But, we're going to be spending quite a bit of time together, aren't we?" Solora tried to reason, a bit of a defeated look present on her face. "We should at least be on a first-name basis."
The assassin shifted her eyes away from Solora as the two began exploring the village. The area was bare in regards to people and damaged barricades littered the area. She let the silence hang between the two of them for a few moments before finally responding to the elf, still sounding quite irritated. "Fine, my name is Nela." She started, taking a moment of hesitation before continuing. "Do not take me giving you my name as an invitation to start asking me questions."
"I- I won't." Solora stuttered out, shifting her eyes nervously away from the woman - Nela - following the statement.
It was clear that it was early morning, which might explain the lack of people currently present. It did not, however, explain the amount of damage that was littering the village. Aside from the damaged barricades, blood stained the walls and ground around the village. It was clear that something had happened here. But what exactly was a mystery, something Solora found herself not entirely wanting to know the answer to.
"This looks like it was a nasty fight," Nela spoke up as she crouched to the ground to eye one of the bloodstains. "Something about this seems unnatural, Some of this blood isn't even red."
At the comment, Solora cast her eyes to where Nela was looking - realizing that she was in fact right. The mage found herself suddenly not wanting to be in the village at all.
"Maybe we should leave." Solora piped up as Nela stood back up to her feet. "It doesn't seem safe."
"Don't be stupid." The assassin snapped at Solora, shutting down the idea immediately. "We still have to figure out what's going on - maybe see if there's anyone still here that can tell us."
"Maybe the Chantry?" Solora questioned, nodding her head in the general direction of the building. "If there's anyone left here, They might be hiding out there."
Nela offered a short nod in response before making her way to the building in question.
The walk over to the Chantry wasn't long by any means - the village wasn't massive, to begin with, and the Chantry was easily one of the largest buildings present. The two elves found themselves correct in regards to anyone being at the Chantry. One guard clad in what appeared to be Redcliffe armour stood at the doors - though the guard hadn't seen the duo yet. Having noticed this, Nela moved to a stop - quickly pushing Solora behind a building so the two of them would remain out of view.
"You can't come with me," Nela spoke immediately, not missing the look of shock that came from the dalish elf in front of her.
"Why not?" Solora huffed, not too fond of the idea of staying behind.
"I can get away with being some elven servant that may have been present during whatever happened here." The assassin explained, gesturing to the clearly stained and damaged servant's clothing she was wearing. "If I'm by myself. I cannot get away with that if I have a dalish mage following after me like a lost puppy."
Solora looked almost offended at the comment, not wanting to think of herself as some helpless girl following after Nela. But it was at that, she got an idea.
"I think you forget how we met." She commented, not waiting for a response from Nela as she was engulfed in a white light. As quickly as the light appeared, it vanished - leaving a short-haired, beige cat in its place. Big green eyes stared up at Nela expectantly.
"Right, almost forgot you could do that." The elf muttered in irritation mostly to herself, rolling her eyes as she turned her attention back to the direction of the chantry. "Just stay out of my way."
Solora simply flicked her tail in response, trotting right past Nela and out into the open towards the chantry. She didn't miss the huff in annoyance that came from the women behind her as she followed after the shapeshifter.
As Nela approached the chantry, she noticed the visible look of surprise on the guard's face at the approaching elf was apparent. The man took a few steps forward to eye the slightly battered-looking Elf.
"I haven't seen you here before, especially with the attacks going on." The man spoke, the shock that had been on his face beforehand beginning to shift into a look of skepticism. "Are you from the castle?"
"I- yes," Nela spoke up, attempting to sound sure of her answer - though Solora wasn't sure how well it would go over considering Nela had little to no idea what was going on here, her newfound companion had no way of backing up the claims if he asked any specific questions.
The guard's facial expression shifted again, shock taking over his face once more as he began to question her again. "You did? Has the castle sent word?"
Nela opened her mouth with the intent to respond - but found herself effectively cut off as the man continued, not allowing her to answer his questions. "You need to speak to Bann Teagan immediately, he will want to know what's going on."
It was with that statement that the man gestured for the elf to enter the Chantry, to which Nela did so quickly. Following after the man as he led her towards the Bann. During this, the elf sent a bit of a nervous look toward Solora - who had fallen into step beside her. Luckily no one cared much for the random feline following the servant around much to the relief of both Nela and Solora.
It didn't take long for the guard to find Teagan - the man had been standing at the back of the chantry, in the middle of a hushed but heated discussion with what looked to be the revered mother... Solora could hear bits and pieces of it, enough to gather that it was undead that was attacking the village every night - but that was as much as she found herself able to piece together.
Both of them immediately fell to silence when the Guard approached them - the man giving the Bann a respectful bow and nodding to the revered mother before she walked away. Once she was gone, the man gestured to Nela who stood a few steps behind him.
"She's a servant who came from the castle ser." The guard explained, focusing his attention on Bann Teagan.
Surprise graced the banns face, the man eyeing the elven servants' dishevelled appearance for a moment before finally making eye contact with her. "Did you just get here?"
"Uh, yes ser." Nela spoke quickly, giving Bann Teagan a respectful bow as she attempted to come up with a way to further the lie without drawing any suspicion to herself.
Giving a quick dismissing nod to the guard - the man gestured for Nela to follow him into the Revered mother's office as it was currently vacant, shutting the door behind him as they both entered. Solora only just managed to slip in behind them, as the Bann paid her no attention.
"We have not heard any word from the castle since the undead started attacking a week ago." The bann explained, a worried look plastered on his face. "How is everyone in the castle faring? Is the Arl still alive? What of the arlessa and my nephew?"
From what Solora had gathered up to this point - she figured that the castle had been possibly overrun with these supposed undead that had been attacking Redcliffe. Looking up at Nela, she could tell the other elf had picked up on that information, the assassin giving a quick shake of her head at the questions.
"I do not know ser." The elf explained, doing her best to fake a look of remorse. "I escaped the castle right as the attacks started. I hadn't strayed far from Redcliffe after I did..." Nela trailed off, appearing to give herself a moment of hesitating before letting out a deep breath. "I didn't know where to go, so I figured I would test my luck trying to get into the village - I was lucky enough to get away without getting too hurt."
Bann Teagan seemed to consider this for a moment before letting out a small sigh of defeat. "Thank you for informing me..."
"Arina- My name is Arina."
Giving a short nod he continued. "Arina. It is good to see someone made it out of the castle at least." The disappointment on the man's features wasn't difficult to miss. "You are welcome to stay in the Chantry as long as you need to."
"Thank you Ser, I appreciate it." With that, the Bann gave her a nod of dismissal. Not wasting any time, the assassin and shapeshifter exitedthe office only moving to a halt after getting quite a bit of distance away from the other people in the Chantry. When they finally did stop, Solora sat down, her bright green feline eyes staring up at Nela curiously and waited for her to say something.
With a frustrated sigh, the assassin finally gave the elf-turned-cat her full attention. "Better get comfortable Solora, we're going to be here a while."
The hours that followed the arrival in Redcliffe were excruciatingly long, to say the least.
The two of them were no closer to figuring out why Redcliffe was suddenly lacking in Templars and Grey Wardens - nor were they close to figuring out what to do at the moment. Solora would often slip away from her to explore the chantry, Nela could only hope it was in some attempt to find more information - but she had no way of knowing for sure. In Solora's current form, Nela had no way of having a full conversation with her, and sneaking away to talk to her could end up looking too suspicious. Nela already had many eyes on her as those within the chantry had already heard word that she was supposedly from the castle. Honestly, she didn't care about the looks she was receiving - as long their curiosity remained larger than their distaste for elves.
They had been approaching sunset when Solora had finally found her way back to Nela. The shapeshifter lying down lazily beside Nela who had been sitting against the wall near the entrance to the building. The assassin could only guess that the cat had tired from her exploration of the chantry - or simply gave up.
It was from her spot that Nela was able to get an eyeful of a small group when they entered the chantry. For once something finally felt as though it made sense, the group consisting of two Grey Wardens (one of which being a mage), a red-headed archer, and a Mabari.
Nela didn't miss Solora raising her head curiously to eye the group. The Mabari who had been trailing behind the trio had turned his head to let out a soft growl towards the supposed feline. Solora didn't react with more than a curious head tilt at the canine's reaction to her presence.
"It's about time some Grey Wardens actually showed up." The assassin grumbled, receiving an agreeing meow from Solora - though her eyes were still locked on the group.
The two continued to watch the group silently as the guard led them to the Bann much like he had done for her. The group of them simply talked out in the open this time around, which was a surprise considering they were loud enough for those in the vicinity to hear them. It didn't take long for Nela to gather that they were going to stick around to help. It was information that managed to leave the elf somewhat perplexed as the Grey Wardens were supposed to be there anyway.
Why in Andraste's name weren't they?
The conversation between the Wardens and the Bann didn't last long, some final words from the redhead in regard to the welfare of the people within the chantry, was where the conversation seemed to end. Nela watched as the archer turned away from the group and headed towards the revered mother's office, the trio left behind turning back towards the entrance of the Chantry. The assassin glanced towards Solora, noticing the shapeshifter shifting to stand on her paws next to her. Nela's eyes widened slightly as she attempted to grab onto the cat's scruff - an action that proved pointless as the feline easily stepped out of the way of her hand.
"Solora wait-!" Nela hissed out, trying hard not to let her voice become too loud and attract any attention from the group. Nela had heard about mages being able to sense the magic coming from other mages. The last thing she wanted was for the warden-mage to notice something off about Solora and blow their cover, especially considering she had little time to try and figure out what to ask them. It became evident that Solora wasn't thinking that far ahead, however, as she easily moved towards the group - tail raised in the air confidently as she did.
Nela scrambled to her feet - moving after Solora just as she reached the group. The shapeshifter let out a loud meow at the mage-wardens feet, weaving around the brunette's legs and forcing her to a stop. The mage-turned-cats interference caused the entire group to stop as well, the warden's face furrowing in confusion as she looked down at the animal.
Before anyone could speak up about the creature - Nela quickly approached, a worried expression clear as day on her face.
"I am so sorry." Nela apologized as she bent down, pulling Solora away from the group forcefully. The sudden action earned herself a startled meow from the shapeshifter. "Sol doesn't really understand personal space."
As if intent on showing her displeasure at Nela's manhandling - Solora let out a quiet hiss, batting at the assassin with sheathed claws as she attempted to worm out of the elf's grip with little success.
"Oh don't worry about it!" The warden-mage, her green eyes seeming to almost light up in amusement. If she sensed anything off about the cat, she didn't voice it. "The circle has cats that are used for killing mice, I have a bit of a soft spot for them."
As if feeling the need to voice his displeasure at the arrival, the Mabari shouldered his way to the front of the group, letting out another growl directed at Solora. Though the warden-mage was quick to silence the animal with a quick gesture.
The rest of the other two accompanying the mage remained silent, though the amusement on both their faces gave Nela reason to relax a bit. She could most likely remove herself and Solora from this encounter with little issue.
Assuming Solora cooperated. She seemed a lot less skittish as an animal.
"I apologize for intruding, I'll leave you to your business." Nela quickly apologized, trying to give the warden a respectful bow, but failing miserably as Solora took the chance to grasp onto the fabric at her shoulders and slip out of her hold. Hopping back down onto the floor gracefully behind the assassin.
"Oh it's alright," The warden at the mage's side spoke, taking a step forward to crouch down and offer his hand to the feline. The man's tone of voice shifted as he spoke to the supposed animal like it was a toddler. "She could help us fight the undead."
Despite the mage currently being in the form of a cat, Nela could almost feel the smug look the animal shot up at the assassin before trotting over to the warrior and rubbing her head onto his hand. The action earned the shapeshifter another growl from the Mabari.
Rolling her eyes, the warden-mage looked back towards the elf and offered the woman her hand. "I'm Kara by the way," Nela took the girl's hand in a quick handshake as she continued with introductions. "The Warden coddling your cat is Alistair."
The Warden in question looked up from Solora with an expression of mock offence on his face, giving the two a childish pout as he gave the feline one last scratch behind the ears before standing back up. "It's not my fault she's cute."
"The redhead at the back of our group being surprisingly quiet is Leliana."
The woman in question offered a wave with a kind "A pleasure to meet you both."
From Kara's other side, the light brown Mabari let out a short woof. The animal demanded attention after his lack of introduction, the action making the brunette give a short giggle in amusement. "And the very intelligent mabari here is Doshiel."
An affirmative bark followed his introduction, his stub of a tail wagging fiercely behind him.
Nela took notice of the incredibly elven name the human had given her canine counterpart but gave no comment on it. Though Solora seemed to notice it as well, the shapeshifter tilting her feline head curiously at the sound of the canine's name.
Deciding that she better give some sort of introduction, Nela gave the trio a friendly smile. "Ah, my name is Arina." the assassin lied easily as she gestured towards Solora. "And her name is Sol."
"Well, Arina. It's been a pleasure," Kara started, looking down toward Solora with a smile. "And you too Sol. But we've got to go help with preparations for tonight."
Nela shifted on her feet, wondering if she should bother with the question she had sitting on the tip of her tongue. Despite not being entirely sure if the decision was wise, she knew that she had to think fast. Thus, she went through with it anyways against her better judgment.
"Of course, but before you go... Would you mind answering a question?"
Looking a little surprised, Kara gave Nela a nod in affirmation. "Of course."
"Where are the rest of the Grey Wardens?"
Both Wardens were silent for a moment, Kara's face seeming to almost pale at the mention. Alistair's expression, however, seemed to pale considerably at the question. The man answered for his friend. "Dead."
What?
A/N: Thank you so much for reading!
Ironically enough I started this chapter and finished most of it not long after posting the first chapter. I had wound up somewhat stuck towards the end as I wasn't sure If I wanted to make it longer or not. I was already about eight pages in here (nine now), so I figured this would be a good place to end off.
I hope you guys enjoyed it, and hopefully, the next chapter shouldn't take as long to come out! I'm also hoping to get a cover commissioned for this story soon!
Chapters are always posted on Ao3 first! Though this series can be found here, Archive of Our Own & Wattpad! My username remains the same on all three platforms (Constellasaur)!
Wanna chat or see what I'm up to? Check out my Dragon Age Twitter & Tumblr both under the username; "TimelessDA"