DA:I Long Night

Help me

Her eyes opened as her heart raced, a desperate gasp for breath filled her lungs as she found herself in a dimly lit room. Her muscles ached as she moved her arm, each muscle straining as she raised it up covering her eyes with her forearm. Damn she thought to herself as she took a few deep breaths hoping to calm her nerves.

Everything was so new, she had barely began to accept her own freedom, struggling to just find a place of her own and now she found herself in the center of the Inquisition. As if it had read her mind, the mark in her hand flared up illuminating the room in a hazy green. Even with all the years of studying in the Circle, her body had yet to learn how to master this strange power nor had she learned to cope with the pain that it sent through her veins when it flared to life. She did her best to try to understand the power it held and to keep her burden to herself. The fact that she couldn’t even remember how she came to bare the mark was frustrating enough without the fact that the only tales told of such a thing were based on the old tales of legends.

Balling her hand into a fist she forced the mark to calm. With a tired yawn she pushed herself up, she didn’t have to look outside to know it was the middle of the night. She hadn’t been able to sleep through the entire night in days. She had felt like it were weeks but she was sure her mind had been trying to guilt her into sleeping more. With a quiet sigh, she ran her hand through her raven hair before pulling the different sections apart and weaving them into a loose braid as she always did. Finally she rolled her hair into a tight bun pinning it in place with a single decorative pin. She didn’t bother with putting on her armor, instead she opted for just a simple robe to keep out the cold before she slid on some simple shoes and headed out into Haven.

Looking up into the night sky she frowned, even the stars seemed to be tainted with the green light emanating from the breach.  Quietly she walked around Haven with no goal in mind, just the hope that the cold night air would help clear her head and let her to fall back asleep. At night Haven was quiet, peaceful. She could almost forget that she was a traitor, presumed guilty of killing the Divine Justinia and all those at the Conclave just a short time ago. Since then, she had closed the rift sealing up the breach from releasing demons into the world, instantly changing her image to the people. They now called her the Herald of Andraste, placing a weight on her shoulders that she herself did not even believe. Using the strange magic drained her enough as she could still feel her body trying to adapt to the energy it required, but the weight of everyone’s expectations exhausted her.

Quietly she sat down on the steps leaning against the stone wall. The Herald of Andraste? she questioned to herself. Me? I don’t even believe in the damn Maker… she thought as she shook her head, wrapping her arms around her waist.

“So Aylin, now that Cassandra’s out of earshot, are you holding up all right?” a familiar voice called into the dark. “I mean, you go from the most wanted criminal in Thedas to joining the armies of the faithful… Most people would have spread that our a little more,” Varric offered as he sat down beside her

“Oh, Varric… Did I wake you?-I’m sorry,” Aylin started as she looked over to the dwarf sitting beside her. “I don’t even want to think about how many lives were lost on that mountaintop,” she said with a sigh.

“A lot of good men and women didn’t make it out of there. For days now, we’ve been staring at the breach, watching demons and Maker-knows-what fall out of it. ‘Bad for morale’ would be an understatement. I still can’t believe anyone was in there and lived,” Varric admitted quietly as he looked into her silvery eyes.

“Varric… If it was that bad, why did you stay? Cassandra said you were free to go,” Aylin asked curiously as she looked over to see him turn to her.

“I like to think I’m as selfish and irresponsible as the next guy, but this… Thousands of people died on that mountain. I was almost one of them. And now there’s a hole in the sky. Even I can’t walk away and just leave that to sort itself out,” Varric admitted solemnly.

“It’s pure luck that I escaped,” Aylin admitted as she looked back up to the broken night sky.

“Good luck or bad?” Varric asked thoughtfully. “You may want to consider running at the first opportunity. I’ve written enough tragedies to recognize where this is going,” he added as he stood up. “Heroes are everywhere. I’ve seen that. But the hole in the sky? That’s beyond heroes, we’re going to need a miracle,” he finished as he placed a comforting hand on Aylin’s shoulder before turning and walking back to his quarters.

All those people… and I couldn’t even seal the breach she thought as she looked back up to the sky. It used to be the sky was the only comfort I had… but now… she thought sadly as she stood up, brushing herself off and headed back to her own quarters. I have to find a way she thought with a final glance back up to the sky before heading back to bed.