On the other side of the stream, they walked for a while, with Sisi pointing out every halla they saw on the way, and replacing her excited shouts with simply bouncing on her tiptoes and miming applause. On the lookout for more halla, she was also the first to notice the red tips of aravel sails above the cliffs.
As they approached, an otherwise unseen Dalish hunter dropped from one of these cliffs, landing in a graceful crouch before running into the camp, the outskirts of which were lined with aravels used at watchpoints and accommodation both.
The other archers remained in hiding, but the sounds of bows being drawn nearby betrayed their presence all the same. The first archer returned with an elderly man in knee-length robes that came to points like tree leaves, and a dark wooden staff in his hands.
Ellethir immediately held her hands up placatingly, and her companions followed. "Aneth ara, hahren. Dareth'an. Imara'eth ir abelas," she said.
Sisi tugged on Fae's sleeve. "What are they saying?" she whispered urgently.
"Uh, greetings, elder, we are safe, sorry for the interruption," Fae whispered back quickly, translating as Ellethir spoke with Keeper Hawen.
"Garas quenathara?" The Keeper asked.
"Why have you come?"
"Na halani sahlin."
"To help you, we have come."
"Halani? Viran se lan'aan?"
"Help? Who are these strangers?"
"We are the Inquisition," Ellethir answered, returning to the Trade tongue. "We're doing what we can to help people, and to stop a very dangerous…creature, from making things worse."
"I see," Keeper Hawen leaned on his staff and looked pointedly at the green mark on Ellethir's hand as it flashed. "We've heard reports of such a group. I was surprised to hear the shems had raised an elf as their leader. I am even more surprised to learn she is one of the People. From what clan do you hail, da'len?"
"Clan Lavellan. I was its First, until…" she held up her hand. "Fortunately, we also have a Second. It's a long story."
"I imagine so. It seems Keepers' apprentices are making a habit of disappearing," Hawen said gruffly, turning around. "But I am not so prideful as to refuse help when the Creators see fit to send it, especially in the place from which all we Dalish came. Come, be welcome."
"Ma serannas."
Hawen led them to the campfire, where large fallen logs had been arranged for seating. The fire was low, this early in the day, just hot enough to keep a large cauldron of whatever was being cooked simmering. The clan was busy; in the wide cave at the base of the camp, herders were ushering halla out of their pen to go and roam the pale yellow fields of grass. The older children were similarly being herded into their wide aravel in the centre of the camp for lessons, while the younger ones ran chasing each other in and out of the aravels. The hunters sat in small groups, re-stringing their bows and chatting, while other members of the clan washed clothes in the river.
"Still beautiful, isn't it?" Hawen smiled, sitting down beside Fae with some assistance from Ellethir. "Even with scars left by the shemlen war and all the troubles that have followed."
"What troubles you, Keeper Hawen?" Ellethir asked.
Hawen chuckled wearily. "Where do I start? The shem armies are causing rockslides, putting our people at risk, especially the hunters. They've been digging ditches that trip the halla, we've even lost one, Ghilan'nain keep him. Even worse, we've been forced to figure out a route where the aravels won't fall in and have their wheels damaged, but it's dangerous work with the shem armies on the move. We should have been gone two moons ago but here we are."
"That we could help—"
"And precisely when the clan needs them most, my First, Taven, defies my wishes and mounts an excursion to the Emerald Graves, and my Second has gone on some fool's errand without my sanction to find a relic of Dirthavaren in Sylaise's temple. Places like that are not for the People to venture in alone," he vented. "We don't even have enough People to go where we are needed, which right now is Var Bellanaris."
"Right, well—"
"If you can assist us with anything I just mentioned, I would be grateful, da'len," Hawen finished wearily, putting a hand on Ellethir's shoulder.
"I… think we can."
"The human war is over, for a start, their armies are retreating," Varric said, holding Bianca out of reach of the small band of children who seemed to be intent on climbing the dwarf to get to the crossbow.
"Leave the durgen'len alone," Hawen commanded, and the children dispersed, giggling. "Well, that's good to hear, I suppose. So long as they continue to avoid Halin'Sulahn, if not Dirthavaren altogether."
"As for the ditches, we can have our people fill them," Ellethir added. "We can also have our scouts in the Emerald Graves keep an eye out for Taven."
"What's Var Bellanaris?" Sisi asked.
"Our Eternity," Fae translated, and Keeper Hawen nodded, giving the bare-faced flat-ear an odd look.
"Indeed," he said. "It is a place where hundreds, perhaps thousands of our ancestors are buried, and where those of us who can, still lay our kin to rest. Although this land now belongs to the shemlen empire of Orlais, they have never reclaimed it. Perhaps their guilty conscience stops them. Or perhaps those uncomplimentary tales of elven curses and vengeful spirits have some use after all."
"I'd believe that," Henri muttered under his breath.
"The Veil is usually thinner around burial grounds," Solas offered, and Ellethir agreed. "If it was weakened further by the Breach, it's possible that a Fade Rift has opened nearby, which I can close," she assured Hawen. "That's what this," she presented her Anchored palm, "Does."
Hawen patted her shoulder. "Even so, stay alert, Ellethir of Clan Lavellan. You must know well that spirits are dangerous. Be mindful of the resting places of our dead, they sleep in sacred ground."
"We will."
With that, Hawen stood up, leaning against his staff to pull himself up with a slight grunt.
"Wait, Keeper, what about your Second?" Fae asked. "Could we go to this temple of Sylaise and bring him home?"
"You won't find any resistance from me, girl, if you've a mind to, although I expect he's already on his way back," Hawen grumbled. "His poor sister is beside herself with worry. The temple is on the other side of the river, to the south, but it is warded, unlike Var Bellanaris, which is even further south, on this side of the river. Creators guide your way back to us."
As Hawen walked away, Ellethir stood as well, and the others followed her lead.
"You sure it's a good idea to use Inquisition resources for this?" Varric said doubtfully when Hawen was out of earshot. "We don't technically have an alliance with the Dalish."
"Not yet, we don't," Ellethir answered with a touch of reproach. "The Inquisition's presence here is to ensure stability, and that goes for everyone, not just Orlais. A clan needs a First to be stable, so we will find their First, or let them know their First is gone and that it's time to arrange for another to be appointed."
"And if their Second is gone, too?" Fae asked cautiously.
Ellethir sighed. "Then the clan will most likely merge with the smallest of the clans at the next Arlathvhen, or the first one they can find who will take them in. It doesn't happen often. Clans travel separately to sacred places to keep them alive, but also to ensure we have resources. Hunting, wood, whatever we need."
"So let's hope at least one of their mages is alive," Claude said sadly.
"Doubt it."
"Shut up, Henri. Sorry, Inquisitor."
The Inquisitor's party followed the path back to where they had crossed at the shallow section of the river, but found there was no way up the cliffs to get to the spot Hawen had marked as the location of the temple, so they crossed back again and headed towards the short waterfall where the statue of the Dread Wolf sat.
"I thought the Dread Wolf was telling us this is the wrong way," Sisi said uncertainly, following Ellethir up the slippery rocks beside the waterfall.
"The Dread Wolf was supposed to be in league with both the Creators and the Forgotten Ones," Ellethir paused for a moment and jumped across a small ledge, making Fae's heart leap into her throat for a moment. "So, it would make sense to have him guarding one of their temples."
"Sylaise was known to have a temper," Solas added. "Sometimes fire is best when it is contained."
Ellethir hummed, thinking. "Perhaps she had some run-in with the Dread Wolf, and the statue's proximity to the temple was to…commemorate it, somehow?"
"Perhaps."
Once everyone was on the upper level of the waterfall, they shook out their wet boots and squeezed out the water that had sprayed their hair and clothes, and continued on, until they reached a cave guarded by eight-foot-tall stone elves with their arrows drawn. Judging by the huge piles of bricks on either side, it looked like the cave had been walled closed at some point, and then pulled down by time or attempted graverobbers. Possibly both. As Hawen had warned them, an arcane barrier shimmered over the now open cave entrance.
"Do you know how to dispel it, Inquisitor?" Sisi asked, reaching a hand towards it. Fae's hand darted out and caught Sisi's wrist. "Don't touch magic barriers with your bare hands," she said exasperatedly.
"Sorry…"
"It's alright. Ellethir?"
Ellethir inspected the barrier closely. A faint warmth was emanating from it. "Oh, thank the Creators," she said, relieved. "I thought it might be blood-bound, but I didn't think that would make sense, when Sylaise brings peace. And warmth. We need to feed fire with fire."
"Like with a campfire?" Claude asked.
Fae opened her palm and a small flame roared to life.
Henri shouted, jumping back from her. "Fuck! Maker's balls, what the fuck?! Warn us before you do something like that, fucking mages," he swore.
Fae genuinely looked surprised. "Sorry, sorry, I should have warned you, sorry. I think the Inquisitor means we need to channel fire into the barrier to dispel it, and we can really only do that by summoning it ourselves. Right, Ellethir?"
"Right," Ellethir, confirmed, trying to keep her expression neutral.
Varric wasn't trying at all, chuckling away to himself.
"Okay, are we ready? Ellethir? Solas?" Fae said, psyching herself up as the other elves took several steps back.
"I'll go first, when I run out of mana you go next, and then Solas after you," Ellethir instructed. She summoned a small flame to her hand, and ran her Anchored hand around in circles above it, watching the flame expand and rise with each circle. When it was the size of a dinner plate, she directed it into the centre of the barrier, and it hissed and crackled in response, consuming the flames and burning orange.
"It's working," Fae shouted over the quiet roar of the flames.
Ellethir didn't respond, concentrating. About a minute later, she was done, calling Fae closer to take over. A ball of flame appeared over each of Fae's palms, and she pushed outwards, feeding both streams of fire into the barrier. It was practically glowing by the time Solas came to take over, but still holding.
Solas took his staff and twisted it, drawing flame back from the barrier, then letting it feed on the air above before returning it to the barrier in one final push. There was a shrill pealing noise as the barrier dissipated, and the strong scent of burning, although there were no visible scorch marks left behind.
"Impressive," Ellethir beamed proudly, giving Solas a quick peck on the cheek before sauntering inside.
"Show-off," Fae rolled her eyes at him even as he allowed her to enter first to stay close by Ellethir.
The temple inside was pitch-black aside from a brazier in the centre, burning brightly.
"Is that veilfire?" Sisi asked, fascinated.
Fae frowned. "No, veilfire is green. This is normal fire."
"How can it be normal fire? With a barrier like that, how could anyone have— Oh! Maybe that boy is here after all, maybe he found that relic!"
"If he's that powerful a mage as the clan's Second, their First must be a force to be reckoned with," Ellethir murmured, running her fingers along the walls. "Aha! Found a bracket." There was a loud whoosh, and a spire of pale green flames flickered to life.
Varric took an unlit torch from his pack. "That's veilfire. Now we might have a chance at looking around. Valorin!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the chamber. "If you're here, Keeper Hawen sent us to look for you! Don't worry, we even have a Dalish First helping us, you can come out now!"
No one responded.
"Look for any other chambers," Ellethir said after a few moments of silence, returning to feeling her way across the walls.
Fae took her unlit torch and lit it with the fire from the brazier, then walked to the other side of the entrance chamber to start looking. The room felt cold, but the stone walls were warm to the touch. Then her fingers felt wood, and then she regretted it as a splinter pricked her finger. "Ach! Found a door," she hissed.
The others followed her voice, and pushed the door open. Inside was a tall statue; a base nearly as tall as Fae herself, and a great stone lizard curled up in slumber atop it.
"The salamander. For Sylaise," Ellethir explained. "A lizard born from campfire logs."
"There's something on the ground," Claude pointed. Ellethir moved her torch in the direction he pointed, and Sisi squeaked. "Is that…?" A wiry, shrunken corpse lay prone at the base of the statue. "Is that the Dalish boy?"
Ellethir knelt down. "No. These are Keeper's robes, and… this is a very old corpse."
Fae noticed the glint of something shiny near the corpse's hand. "They dropped something." She bent down to pick it up, and Ellethir's hurried warning became muffled as Fae found herself back in the entrance chamber. A woman burst through the stone door, which was now fully intact, its bricks painted with swirls of Dalish embellishments.
She was bleeding heavily, holding her side, and she used her shield to stay upright, its entire face pockmarked and battered, the heraldry barely visible under the damage. She half-stumbled into the side chamber where the salamander statue stood, and dropped to her knees. With one hand still leaning on the shield, she used her other to remove a talisman from around her neck, and held it up to the statue. "For you, sweet…Sylaise," she panted. The woman coughed, and blood dribbled down her chin. "Take…me…home."
Fae looked up at the statue as well, and found her eyes struggling to focus as it blurred before her. She closed her eyes to give them another chance to adjust, and when she opened them, her companions were surrounding her once more, looking worried. Ellethir was scowling. "You've been on sacred Dalish land before, you know better than to touch unfamiliar artifacts," she scolded.
"I touch unfamiliar artifacts all the time, now it's different because it's Dalish?" Fae protested.
"Yes."
She threw her hands up. "You are unbelievable."
"What did you see?"
"Her," Fae pointed to the corpse. "She was dying, and she offered this amulet to Sylaise, to take her home."
Ellethir looked back to the corpse. "Falon'din guide her, I hope she did go home," she said softly.
Sisi gasped. "Oh! This is Lindiranae, the Emerald Knight! This is who that boy was looking for!"
"He was looking for a relic," Claude pointed. "Is that the relic?"
"No, it's that talisman! One of the Dalish women told me, his sister, uhh, Emmala. Emmalia. Are we sure he's not here?"
"If he had been here, wouldn't he have taken the talisman?"
"Let's look around just in case? Can we, Inquisitor?"
"I was just about to suggest the same thing."
The group combed every inch of the shrine, but most of the side chambers had since caved in, and Valorin was still nowhere to be found.
"Maybe we'll find him on the way to Var Bellanaris," Varric reassured them. "Kid might've found this place, got too intimidated to test the arcane barrier and gone in search of a more accessible prize. Or maybe he tucked tail and made his way back to the camp, and we missed him."
"To Var Bellanaris, then?"