Chapter Text
"Words spoken by Calith"
"Bold words mean Elvish"
Italics in sentences are Elvish words
____________________________
A long time ago I lived among the towering spires made of crystal, among the Ancient Elvhen. I was one of the slaves in the beginning. Under the watchful eyes of many, with the Vallaslin of Dirthamen, 'God' of Secrets, and coincidently, knowledge. It was with knowledge and time I ended up mastering my own magic and becoming greater than most. Could've been a 'God' myself, but they were quite adamant about being the only ones, the ruling Evanuris. At first I was lost, unknowing in what I was becoming. I found out almost at the end. My power wasn't enough against the Evanuris, and despite Mythal, the only kind one of them, I was forced into an eternity of a being not of myself, but of one of the 'Gods' themselves... A wolf.
I was sleeping for a while, it was by chance that a human woke me. It was a forest, one I recognized vaguely, in a confused haze I turned on the unfortunate human and killed them. I wandered in the forest, searching for a familiar path, even an Eluvian, I found nothing. I was scared and confused in a place I could not recognize. I found myself among a new world that I was against. There was no spirits wandering, I found out why when I slept.
"The fade... I am unfamiliar with this"
The fade was something new, the veil itself new. I assumed something bad had happened in the end that caused this, something that I wish I knew. It was around the time of the Tevinter Empire, after the fall of my home, the great City of Ar'lath'an.
Many years later I trot through the familiar Brecillian forest, my destination is one I normally stray from, a rather large clearing that allows one to see through the trees around them. The scent and sounds of Dalish piquing my interest, as always. It distressed me knowing that my once proud people were brought to this.
"Can we go yet?!" a young child cries in excitement, jumping up and down in time with their friend. I snort softly and lay nearby, watching the two children. A woman softly chastises the two. "Ashalle!" The second child whines, stopping their jumping. The child then puts on a pouty face, eyes pleading to the older elf.
'Ah. Ashalle, so this is the Sabrae Clan. Been a while.' I think and perk my ears, shifting to the other members, learning names and such. I watch until the two children I was watching at the start, come into the forest. I follow them, the two so far more interesting than the rest of the clan.
"Castien, look what I found." Tamlen, the first child, says, showing a bright colored pebble to the other child. Castien grabs the pebble from his open palm, analyzing it.
"It's really bright, I wonder if it was left by someone..." Castien comments and pockets the pebble. Tamlen nods and smiles before retrieving two long sticks, and hands one to Castien. I tilt my head in curiosity as I watch the two mock fight. I fight off a laugh and pace around the area to a small ledge that has a bunch of vines covering it, making my way over I hide behind the wall of vines and watch the two from there. For some time the two play among the stream, enough to distract me from paying attention to the rest of the forest.
"Look! Two little elves." a chuckle escapes a man who is joined by three others. I immediately turn my attention to them, eyes flickering between the two boys and the four humans. Castien and Tamlen point the sticks at them, fright appearing in their eyes.
"W-what do you want?" Castien attempts to demand, I move closer to him, my vision focusing on the men. The four men begin to surround them, grinning.
"Why should we tell you? You nothing but filthy knife ears!" one of them exclaims, all of them laughing as they come closer. My eyes catch flashes of metal, simple iron swords and daggers, in the hands of the humans. The comment irritates me, enough that I blow my cover and growl at them. All eyes shift to my hiding spot, the kids trembling now, I huff and move closer, staying hidden. The humans didn't seem to take kindly to the growling and one swung at me, the others going for the unprotected elves. I bark out a warning and move past the closest human, lunging at the one closest to Tamlen.
"Fucking Mutt!" one cries as I clamp onto the human's arm, putting as much force as I can and hearing the crunch of bone. The cries of pain from him quickly cease as his head slams against a tree, knocking him out. I snarl at another as screams erupt from Castien, a dagger cutting across his cheek. 'Humans!' I growl and go for another throat, anger changing my vision. The colors around shift to Greys as the humans become larger, brighter targets. The Yellow among the grey making it easier for me to keep them from the light and navy blues that make up Tamlen and Castien. Sabrae Warriors soon join and help get rid of the humans. As soon as they show up I inspect the two for any other wounds. Tamlen watches me with interest, while Castien watches with surprise and slight fright. I ignore the looks as I fret, upset with myself.
"I should've payed more attention. This is my fault that they even got in danger!" I whine, sitting down and shaking my head. Tamlen slowly comes closer, holding his hand out. I blink, his tan skin appearing as I calm and pay attention to his actions. When I don't do anything he smiles and places a hand on my head, I flinch in shock and lower my ears.
"Thank you Fen." Tamlen whispers and I bark in reply. Once the humans are dealt with the Elves turn their attention to me, whispering among themselves. I stay next to Castien and Tamlen, ending up following to the camp. I stayed with them until night fell, then I left, saying silent goodbyes as I headed back into my own sanctuary.
For years I continued visiting the Sabrae Clan whenever they were in the forest, watching out for more threats to make up for my small mistake. Tamlen and Castien grew up and became great hunters, getting vallaslin and heading into the forest alone, forgoing my help from the years past. Then they came upon a cave and the turn of their lives shifted.
"Tamlen, shouldn't we go back and tell them? It's probably smarter." Castien commented, a plead in his voice as the two young men lingered in the mouth of the cave the humans pointed out. I huff in agreement at the two.
"Should listen to Castien, I am getting a bad feeling from this place." I bark at Tamlen, standing farthest from the cave. Tamlen merely rolls his eyes at Castien. He starts to walk into the cave with a shrug.
"We can look for a bit, really. What's the point in telling someone if it turns out to be nothing?" he points out, ignoring us as I growl at him in annoyance.
'This is going to lead to someone's death. Da'len.' I shake my fur and follow into the cave, ears and eyes on high alert, Castien letting out a groan as he follows the both of us. Searching the beginning of the ruins inside the cave, the two share a conversation while I pay attention to the statues, I soon stop however as we get deeper into the ruins, the feeling of dread increasing the further we go in. The three of us deal with many undead, and spiders until we came across the main point of the ruins.
"Whoa. What is that?" Castien mumbles aloud, approaching the object in the middle of the room, I let out a heavy breath, green eyes wide as I stared in horror at what had become of the mirror. In the middle of the room, a Eluvian sits, tainted and giving off sickly waves. My eyes flicker around the room, the dead bear, the skeletons.
'What happened here? ...They really need to leave. Now.' I think and bark loudly at the two. Tamlen ignores me, Castien glancing at me and frowning.
"We should leave Tamlen." Castien says desperately, moving towards his best friend. I bark again, trotting towards the Elf to tug him away from the mirror. He continues to ignore us, going closer to the mirror, saying something about 'something moved' which only makes me more frantic as I try my hardest to pull him away, whimpers escaping me.
"Tamlen. Please!" Castien yells, grabbing at his friend as something erupts, throwing us all back. I hear them collide with the ground but I couldn't see, the light provided disappearing. Slowly, I pick myself up and after a moments hesitation I dart out of the ruins, dodging around corners and large pieces of debris. The feeling in my gut not fading as worry sets in and I race faster to the outside world, when I reach the mouth of the cave I switch my vision, fading the colors to the background as I focus on bright colors among grey. I follow the first one I see, a flaming red color.
"Hey! Hey help!" I cry to the person, a human who looks at me in surprise, a human female next to him, and a mabari nearby. I spin around in a circle, again and again. Luckily the human is smart and follows me as I lead them to the cave and I hope that it is not too late for the two boys I have grown so fond of.
___________________
Fen - Wolf
Da'len - Little Child