Chapter 3
Chance Meeting
Laisa means Lost Soul and Haleir means Snow Fox. Both names are from the Project Elvhen
I honestly hated this chapter so much when I first uploaded it because my editor friend at the time complained about how the combat went and that I should fix it. After looking it over today, it seems right to me now. Perhaps I will write better fight scenes in the future but this will generally stay as is. It's one way to show how the combat of the Tera girls is different compared to the Dragon Age people.
The song featured in this chapter is Radical Dreamers from Chrono Cross sung by Erutan
Thedas. The Planasene Forest. 9:15 Dragon. Twenty-six years ago.
A young elven woman hummed to herself, her hands weaving a small grass basket in her lap as she sat next to the calm river. Her hair was braided over a shoulder, flowers of crystal grace delicately hidden amongst the golden locks. Cyren, her halla, nuzzled her face lovingly as she continued in her melodic tune.
I hid that trembling light in my young hands
I've traveled this far, wandering the abyss of time
I continued to search for you, though I know not even your name
I wanted to hand over to you just one single feeling
Times catches deep in its arms both love and pain
And erases them, but I remember them
And always will
The faint hints when she tried to concentrate on her lost memories showed that she had learned these songs with a group of five other children-but their faces were lost. One of these children had taught them these songs, she remembered. Oh, if only she could recall the words and the faces of her unknown friends! The one who taught them to sing…something about them, was different from those friends of hers, even as she tried
The sound of rustling in the brush drew the woman's attention from her work by the riverside, The white deer-like creature raising its head in slight alarm. Out from the bushes, appeared an elven man with a staff in his hand. The markings of the elven god June were upon his face.
"Oh Haleir. Aneth ara!" The woman spoke, rising to meet her dear friend and First to their Keeper. The man had always been a good friend to the her, even when much of the clan shunned her for her strange manners and origin.
"Lethallin. I've been looking for you. It was not hard, as all I had to do was follow the sound of your voice." Laisa flushed at her friend's words. Haleir raised his hand to pet Cyren's muzzle. The halla then left the two elves to graze on a nearby patch of grass.
Haleir shifted nervously, looking at the ground while fussing with his white hair. "The Keeper has been talking with me. He says I am of age to be looking for a wife soon to help uphold the clan's numbers."
Laisa turned her attention from her friend to gather elfroot in her newly woven basket. "And who has caught your fancy then to be your betrothed? You and Lanaya have been close as of late. Even Keeper Zathrian had noted that you two would make a lovely couple." She giggled. She had a slight crush on her friend but she was worried about the fact that the two were so different that she was too embarrassed to open up her feelings to him. If him bonding with the other mage would make him happy-it was good enough for her.
"Lanaya... is just a friend to me. The one I wish to bond with...is you." The elven woman froze, quickly turning back to her friend, her eyebrows raised in surprise. Haleir stared at her, his face beet red. In his hand, he held out a round moonstone attached to a necklace cord. "Ar lath ma, ma vhenan."
Lasia stared back in shock for a long, painfully awkward, silent moment. Immediately, Haleir turned to go, shoving the necklace in his side-pouch. "I, ir abelas! I shouldn't have been so forward! Forgive me Lethallin!"
Haleir stopped in his attempts to flee when Laisa's hand gently landed on his arm, holding him in place. Looking back at his friend, he saw her other hand clutched to her chest, a streak shade of dark pink across her face.
"Did you...did you really mean it…?" She murmured, her voice becoming choked as tears formed around her eyes. "Are...are you sure…?" Her body began to shake in shame.
Haleir dropped his staff and grabbed her by both of her shoulders, raising his fingertips to brush away her tears. "Laisa! What's wrong? Did I-"
"No. It's not you. It's me." Laisa interjected. She turned her head away from his gaze, the basket forgotten besides them. "I just...I'm an outcast to most of the clan. I don't even have Vallaslin-you would be better off with a Dalish elf, someone of your kin. A TRUE Dalish-not someone like me! I-" She stiffened as Haleir embraced her.
"I don't care. I've always loved you, Laisa. Vallaslin or no Vallaslin, you have always been a wonderful person to me."
"But what about the Keeper? Does he not object?" Tears continued to fall from her face.
Haleir chuckled. "Zathrian and I may have...argued a for a little bit before I came here...let's just say that one of the aravals needs mending thanks to the scorch marks." Seeing Laisa join in his laughter made his eyes brighten. "He eventually conceded in the end." Holding her back at arm's length, he wiped more of her tears away.
The elven woman smiled gently through the water in her eyes as she looked back at her friend. "Yes. That is my answer."
Haleir took the moonstone necklace out from his pouch and placed it in Laisa's open palm, leaving his hand there. The two gazed at one another, holding each other's hand.
A gust of wind blew through the tree's leaves; Cyren continued to graze on their patch of grass while the elves drew together in a kiss.
Present day
The Pride demon charged at Quen and the girl in his lap. On instinct, Quen held the mysterious girl close with his right arm, in hopes of shielding her from the impact.
He noticed the white-haired girl snapped her head up in his direction, leaping to her feet. Swiftly, she was beside Quen, pulling him and the other girl out of the path of the Pride demon, a black mist trailing after the three of them.
Quen's body was filled with a sudden unnerving chill as the girl's clawed gauntlets gripped him tightly on his arm. "Erune. You alright?" The white-haired girl asked under her steel mask as they landed safely away. While she had grabbed Quen, she had managed to pick up the other girl's staff on the ground along the way.
The blue-haired girl looked back at the older girl, nodding while taking the staff in her hands, and got up off of Quen. When the older girl released her hold on Quen, the fearful chill slowly left his body.
The Breach pulsated again, shooting out more green beams. From the lights, a flood of spiny, clawed shapes that Quen recognized as Fade demons flowed into the crater of the temple. A nearby growl told the others that the Pride demon had gotten back up and was already aiming for the soldiers, who, upon Cassandra and Leliana's cries, began to fight back.
"Erune! Zyllian!" The rabbit-eared girl ran over to the two, followed by the squirrel girl holding her giant axe (Creators, that axe looked heavy, how was that small girl able to carry such a weapon so easily?).
"I'm okay." The blue haired girl (Erune was it?) reassured the other girls.
Suddenly, the rabbit haired girl whipped her arm over her shoulder as if she was reaching for an arrow in a quiver. A swirl of light traced up her arm, forming a long projectile. She quickly lifted her bow up, more light circling around her arm as she drew it back. A flight of magic arrows fired forth, hitting a Lesser demon that was aimed at Cassandra, the arrows vanishing shortly after impact to expose gaping wounds. Cassandra was stunned by the girl's strange weapon, but nodded before going back to fighting.
Quen stared back, shocked at the sight of the girls, whose ears and tails twitched authentically.
Solas ran up to Quen, helping him to his feet, handing him his daggers. "We must clear the demons out of this place to seal the Breach!"
"Oi sis," Quen and Solas looked at the squirrel girl, a wide, toothy grin spread across her face. "Should we help these peeps out?"
"Of course." The rabbit girl said. "Zyllian, you handle the creatures that are continuing to come forth, draw their attention from the rest of us." Upon her orders, the demonic-looking girl with the steel mask nodded, diving away into the fray with her scythes trailing behind her. The rabbit eared girl turned to the squirrel girl with an axe, pointing at the Pride demon. "Eruno, you handle the big one, keep it distracted."
"Right!" The fluffy squirrel tail flicked in delight as the girl ran towards the Pride demon that had cornered one of the archer soldiers. As she dragged her axe behind her, faint streams of redness began to cover its surface at a rapid rate. "OI BIG GUY!" The Pride demon turned. "TAKE THIS!" Grounding her heel in the dirt, she swung her axe, the heavy blade slamming into its body. The Pride demon's clawed hands grabbed in surprise at the thing that managed to pierce its thick hide. "Tch!" She spat, annoyed.
"Erune." Eirai summoned more magic light around her arms and her weapon. "I'm going to need a mana boost, cover me." The energy flowed and scattered about her hands as she wove an unfamiliar pattern in the air. Nodding, Erune held her staff out, a glyph appearing under the rabbit girl's feet. As a group of Wraiths snaked their way towards the two girls, she quickly flicked her wrist out at each of the wisps, bolts of light knocking each of them back, a few more scorch marks to their name.
The demonic girl, Zyllian, leaped into the middle of a group of Rage demons, the purple smoke left as remnants from where she was before. The beady eyes of the bubbling, molten figures snapped to the girl.
Her scythes whipped out, slicing limbs clean off. Evading another blow, she swung her arms, the blades flying out until the limit of their chain. As she spun her body around, the blades danced around her. Quickly retracting the blades now covered in darkened blood, she flipped backward in a purple smoke out of the way of a Rage demon's fire strike.
The cat girl almost felt the Despair demon behind her as her attention was distracted. Quen ran towards her, thrusting his daggers into the cloaked monster's back. Erune turned just in time to let out a little squeak when she realized the gravity of the situation. Her eyes widened suddenly. "Look out!"
Quen hissed as a Terror demon took a deep swipe at him from the side, leaving a deep gash on his stomach. He fell back, clutching his side while Varric fired a couple bolts from afar to take out the demon. Drawing his hand away slightly, he could see hints of his sliced intestines through the open wound. He grit his teeth as sharp pain sizzled from the acid from the Terror demon's claws.
"Shit. Frosty!" Varric ran to Quen. The dwarf reached back for a potion.
"Wait!" Varric paused as the cat girl rushed over, her staff still outstretched to keep channeling the glyph under the rabbit girl's feet. Summoning a light blue aura with her free hand, she focused the magic on Quen's wound, her eyes closed in concentration.
Quen felt himself slipping away from reality as the blood flowed out of his body - then he didn't feel anything but the reassuring presence of the cat girl and her aura. The fading of the aura left him energized; he glanced at his side to confirm that he was whole once again. "Thanks." Quen gasped in relief. Readying his crossbow, Varric went back to the fight as soon as he saw Quen fit enough to stand on his own.
By now, the horde of demons had been reduced by half. Leliana helped guide the injured soldiers back from the monsters' continuing onslaught. Once again, the Breach convulsed, summoning a second Pride demon amidst a group of warriors. The beast let out a haunting laugh, sparks of purple energy erupting from its body, burning the soldiers that were too close to it.
The rabbit girl swore between her teeth as she noticed the newest challenger to the fight. "ERUNO!" She aimed her bow at the squirrel girl, who stood in front of the first large monster. The glyphs around her feet began to flicker as her drawstring arm glowed rapidly.
Eruno wheeled aside, the tips of her hair slightly singed as the projectile flew Pride demon was struck, its massive body staggering. The arrow rapidly pulsed, exploding seconds later, black blood spraying around. Soon after, the creature fell over, its hulking body shattering into green dust when its hide connected with the rubble.
The cat girl began to sway, a bead of sweat rolling down her brow. Quen caught her just in time as she fell; the rabbit girl ran to the two of them. "Erune, what's wrong?"
Erune panted. "My magic...isn't as strong here...I needed to use more mana...I'm almost depleted…I'm sorry Eirai..."
Eirai shook her head. "It's okay. Just stay back then. I'll take care of you." Quen handed the younger of the two to the older one. The rabbit girl readied her weapon and fired a few shots at the demons that were aiming for the other soldiers. The cat girl stayed a close distance to her, keeping a watchful eye on the battle. Once Quen saw that the two were fine, he went back to help the others fighting.
The second Pride demon roared, its massive body swaying side to side. It immediately went straight for Cassandra. She was forced backward as the creature collided with her shield, her stance wavering at the onslaught.
Letting out a battle cry, Eruno leapt in the air, swinging the axe down on the Pride demon's shoulder. The beast howled, thrashing around in anger. It flung the squirrel girl aside before turning its attention to Eruno, preparing to pummel its hulking body into the small girl.
Her tail flicking in annoyance, Eruno slammed her axe head first into the ground. A translucent barrier surrounded the front of her. As the demon's body ricocheted off the shield, Cassandra saw this as an opening and thrust her blade in the demon's back hide.
Solas shot a blast of ice magic, creating a wall of icicle stalagmites that slowed the approach of the fiery Rage demons. With a swing of his staff, the rubble behind him was flung towards a Despair demon, knocking it to the ground. Zyllian threw out her sickle to the monster on the ground, using the chain to pull herself to it to finish it off.
The Pride demon countered, bashing its armored arm into Cassandra's shield, causing her to fall to her knees from the surprise attack. As it lifted its massive claws to swipe down at the woman, Eruno jumped in between the two of them, setting up another barrier with her axe once again, protecting the lady Seeker.
Varric released a series of arrows at the Pride demon to draw its attention away from Eruno while the scythe-wielding girl rushed forward, whipping the chains of her blades around the enemy, immobilizing the large creature.
"Now!" Cassandra shouted to Quen. The elf jumped on the Pride demon's back. Raising his daggers above his head, he slammed the short blades between the plating of the hide on its neck. Quen slipped off just in time as the massive monster fell face-first into the ground before dispersing into green mist which was sucked back into the rift.
Panting, he took a moment to assess his surroundings. The soldiers had taken out the rest of the stragglers. The four strange-looking girls had grouped back together and were looking at him and his hand as they whispered amongst themselves.
Solas was by the Quen's side soon after. "We must close it now." The mage gestured to the glowing mark. Nodding, Quen raised his arm to the Breach, concentrating with the mark. The scar on his hand immediately reacted, shooting out a green bolt at the Rift.
Unlike the previous times Quen had closed the smaller rifts on his way up the mountain, the pain that came with this one was ten times worse. His throat burned as he tried to scream, green bolts of electricity visibly spasming across his body. He felt as though his whole body was being turned inside out and set aflame. The veins and nerves bulged up under his skin, threatening to burst through. The constant shocks through his body caused his heart to pound against his chest at a rapid rate. His eyes stung as tears fell down his cheeks from the intense pain.
This is it. He thought. This is how I'm going to die.
Suddenly, he felt a pair of small hands cover his own with the pulsing mark. The aching pain began to subside.
xoxoxo
"Sis, you think that elf is the one whom the 'God' was talking about?" Eruno wiped a smudge of soot from her cheek.
"The glowing scar on his hand is similar to the rift in the sky." Eirai noted. "And the other elf referred to him to 'close the Breach'. The white-haired elf is probably the one we are looking for."
"Can he close the rifts is the question…" Zyllian muttered with a hint of a scoff in her voice.
The four Elins watched as the elf lift his glowing arm toward the Breach. The rift countered, forcing the elf to his knees and cry out in pain. Green sparks surrounded him, causing the bald elf to move back in alarm.
"It's hurting him…" Erune whispered. She watched as the black haired woman and the stocky short man looked at one another, unsure what to do. The bald elf tried to get close but the constant electricity formed a barricade around the white-haired elf, blocking his approach. The Priestess's heart clenched as the pained screams echoed through the crater of the burnt ruins.
It pained the young Elin to see those distress. Her healing magic tickled on her fingertips in hopes to reach and try to at least ease the hurt the elf was going through.
Her body was already exhausted of using up most of her mana, but she felt a need to try and help.
She couldn't lose another one. She had lost too many people when she was right there.
A woman's voice suddenly spoke out to her.
Please. Help him.
"Erune?" The Priestess's twin sister looked at her curiously. Erune's eyes glazed over as if they were in a trance. She dropped her staff and ran towards the elf encased in the barrier of green electricity. She ignored her sisters yelling out her name as she moved her feet as quickly as she could.
The moment her hand touched the barrier, the shocks around the elf carried over to her. The fur of her cat ears and tail puffed out in alarm from the sparks. The Elin wanted to draw back as her cat ears flattened against her head, but the woman's voice urged her onward.
Please.
Pushing her small body through the immense power, she made her way to the elf. Gathering up what little magic she had left in her hands, she placed them on the elf's left hand which was blazing with green light, and let her magic flow freely to heal him.
xoxoxo
Everyone stood in amazement as one of the strange girls managed to break through the barrier made by the rift that surrounded Quen. She had struggled against the magic from the Fade but was able to touch the elf's hand with the mark. As soon as a soft blue light surrounded their hands with a soothing hum, the green sparks began to cease.
The mark on Quen's hand shot out once again at the Breach, this time fighting back as the Fade rift tried to counter. The Breach spasmed from the energy, the edges of the large green scar quivering as it folded in on itself. The crystals drew back into the Fade. As soon as the scar shrunk to a thin line, it let out one final blast of energy, knocking everyone surrounding it to their knees.
Quen and the girl gasped in shock as the pulse from the Breach pulled back, the two blacking out and collapsing onto the ground with the girl's hands still on the elf's.
The Rift was quiet, but the scar remained in the sky, the presence of green mist faintly radiating from the line in the air.
Cassandra ran to the two and knelt, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw Quen was still breathing. Her head turned as she heard the other three mysterious girls run over to tend to the fourth one at the elf's side.
Drawing her blade, she pointed it at the girls. "Who and what are you?" She demanded.
The rabbit girl had pulled the cat girl close to her and narrowed her eyes at Cassandra's blade. As she spoke, her voice held the air of a military commander like the Lady Seeker herself.
"We are Elins. We are from the world of Arborea. Your Breach and Rifts have made their way into our world and we were sent to help close them here."
Cassandra's eyes widened with the rest of the soldiers in the crater. Many voices arose as the men began talking amongst themselves while staring at the girls-no, Elins. Leliana quirked her eyebrow, still holding her bow hesitantly in her hands. Varric murmured something about what a twist this whole set of circumstances was while Solas seemed to be in deep thought with himself.
"Cassandra?" Leliana's voice broke the woman's daze of taking in this immense information. "What should do you suggest what we do with them?"
Cassandra sheathed her sword, keeping her eye on the 'Elins'. "Arrest them." Nodding, the Nightingale and the rest of her men locked their arrows on the four. The Elin with the squirrel tail began to protest when the white haired demonic one put her hand on the other's shoulder and told her to stand down. "Take them back to Haven. We'll decide what to do with them once he wakes up." She gestured to Quen's unconscious body and called for her soldiers to pick up the elf.
As the Elins were ushered away, the Seeker looked back to Solas who was looking at the Breach. "Solas?" She called out to the mage.
"The Breach has been sealed, but not closed. We must inform Quen when he awakes."
Cassandra swore under her breath. She had hoped that Quen's mark would be able to fix the issue immediately, but he had only managed to stop the chaos temporarily-with the help of the Elin girl. "What do you make of the events that had just occurred here?"
Solas brought his hand to his chin in thought. "The Breach connecting to other worlds...how is that possible…? Already the fact that Rifts to the Fade have opened up extensively-but bridging elsewhere…?" Shaking his head, he turned to the Seeker. "I will need to ask those 'Elins' what more they know of. Whatever the case, they seem to have come here willingly and helped us in the fight."
Varric spoke up. "Which leads to my question: Why did you detain them Lady Seeker?"
The Seeker looked away from the mage and the dwarf. "We do not know who they are and it is best that we keep an eye on them until they can give us answers."
The dwarf shrugged. "Alright then, Seeker. But they didn't seem to want to hurt us. They even saved Frosty."
"Nevertheless, we must take precautions." Leliana reminded the others. Leaning in close to Cassandra, the Nightingale whispered to the Seeker. "I'll inform Commander Cullen of the news."
"The Chantry is a mess right now, Thedas is in chaos, and now, this?" Cassandra murmured under her breath. "Most Holy had confided to me of another solution if the Conclave failed. We must look into it. If we are to stem the tide of any more oncoming conflict, we must establish order."
xoxoxo
The door slammed open, but the soulless slaves didn't flinch and continued in their tasks. Two figures stormed through, a tall mage covered in diseased flesh with red crystals protruding from parts of his body. He was followed by a large horned man with grey skin and large pointed ears. The horned man's armor had veins filled with the dust of the same red rock that covered the other man. In his hand, he carried a large staff embedded with the crimson crystals.
The magister threw down a large round orb on the work table, scattering aside bloodied tools and such. "That DAMN elf!" He swore aloud.
Frowning, the horned man began to speak. "Elder One-"
"SILENCE!" The magister interjected, his mouth curled into a snarl. "You let that elf and his companions get in with the others!" His massive clawed hands gripped the orb. "I expected better from you…"
The horned man's yellow eyes narrowed in disgust. So what if the man before was one of the ones whom his ancestors told of? He would not be treated in such a way by some ancient being. He had earned his right to his place in power and would not be treated like a mere apprentice. "Merely an uncalculated part-the elf that is." The horned man spat. With a flick of his wrist, one of the slaves with glassy eyes brought him a cup of wine. As he took a long drink, he looked back at the other man. "Well, now what will you do?"
The orb on the table barely flickered in the magister's hands. "The orb's power is gone...we must wait and see what happens...and should we find a moment of opportunity...we will take it. For now…" The man looked back at the horned being. "How goes the Venatori in Tevinter?"
The horned man smiled his sharp teeth back. "Your blood mages certainly have a talent - I'll give them that. One of them, Gereon Alexius, shows great promise in some plans for a device he had been working on before he joined us. Perhaps you would be interested? I heard he wishes to play with time, something about saving a son of his…"