Click to listen to Fala's lullaby as you read
Spoiler
Fala is the daughter of a topsider dwarf who took to a life of Raiding. After her mother died in the Denerim slums the little dwarfling was taken to her family in Kal'Hirol, the thaig rebuilt and reclaimed by Bhelen after the Fifth Blight.This is the story about a little girl whose little secret might lead to big things.
A high pitched voice echoed through the abandoned hallways of the thaig, the sound bouncing off the cold stone that had once been marred by the taint. The song, such as it was, jarred and undulated, the sound of the child's voice interrupted by the clinking of rocks being tossed. Tiny, coloured stones rolled down the dark corridor, clattering against the far wall. The swish-swoosh of clothes accompanied the song and the stones as well as the sound of bare feet slapping against the tiled floor.
"One, two, Darkspawn coming for you." A pause, another clattering of stones and then the thump-thump-thump sound of a small dwarf hop-hop-hopping.
"Three, four, better block those doors." The voice was excited, but also scared. She was not supposed to be in this part of the city, but she had slipped away and had found a crack in the wall that allowed her to sneak into the old part of the city. The part that had not been entirely repaired yet. Darkspawn had lived here once and the little girl wondered if she might find one that had been missed.
"Five, Six, got Daddy's lock pick." She giggled, holding fast to the tiny knife her grandpa had made her, for she was going to use it to stab genlocks!
"Seven, Eight, use a nug as bait." The sound of hopping stopped and the girl shuffled and turned, standing on one leg. Then, facing the entire long, dark hallway she did her biggest leap yet!
"Nine, Ten, gotta run again!" She screamed and laughed, running down the long corridor brandishing her knife!
After about a minute she stopped chasing imaginary genlocks and skidded to a halt. The little dwarf's eyes narrowed, her shoulders slumping and her bare feet taking her to the source of a strange light. A moment later the girl was bathed in the effulgent blue glow of a pure lyrium vein, Fala so enraptured by the sight of it she knelt before it and reached out her little hand to touch it. Cocking her head to the side she smiled. What was that song she could hear?
"Lyrium sings..." She whispered, remembering what her daddy had told her. He had thought that only dwarves with stone sense could hear it, but since he was a surfacer he should not be able to. Something about the Kader bloodline was sensitive to lyrium though and Fala thought that perhaps this was why she could hear it like her daddy and granddaddy could? Giggling she went to touch it and the closer she got the louder the song became, the melody filling her mind and soothing her soul.
This was not the first time she had heard the singing. Fala heard a gentler tune every single day. Even now as she knelt before the blue lyrium she hummed the song, smiling as she stroked the warm stone. It calmed her for it reminded her of her daddy. Whenever she had the bracelet he gave her she heard the tune and she thought of him. It made her happy.
At first Fala did not realise that the ground was shaking. She was not used to the underground yet and the sensitivity to the stone was not a part of her as it was her kin. It was not until the lyrium vein cracked, before she got to touch it, that the girl quickly got to her feet and looked around her, an expression of panic upon her face. She turned to run back to her family but no sooner had she started off back down the hallway the wall cracked and crumbled and exploded! Through the gap stepped a glowing rock creature that towered over the tiny dwarf child! Fala screamed but she had enough courage to hold her knife out before her.
The rock wraith did not move though, it stood before her waited, cocking its head to the side, mimicking the child's earlier stance, the creature seemingly listening. Fala was like her father in many ways, but she did not run away yet, she had more bravery then her daddy though she did not know it. She waved her knife at it and screamed again when its head moved to follow her blade. Realising it was the knife the thing was looking at she smiled a little, making the rock wraith move left and right. Then she had an idea! At the moment it was blocking her way but if she tossed the knife aside then in might follow it!
So, the little girl did just that and for a moment its head turned and she started to clap triumphantly, but the very next second it was looking at her again and she started to feel afraid once more.
"Go away!" She yelled, cowering behind one of the fallen pieces of wall.
When it did not move she started to cry, her voice distressed and afraid, her entire body shaking.
As she backed away the wraith moved towards her, forcing Fala to turn and run! The sound of its pursuit was terrifying and she knew, she just knew her short little legs could not outrun the gargantuan!
Luckily for Fala Kader she did not have to run far, for at the end of the hallway many armoured dwarves appeared! She spotted the emblem of House Kader and she screamed, running into their ranks! The dwarves charged at the wraith and though Fala heard the sounds of battle she was soon taken far from harm. Before long the girl was back in the safety of her grandpa's house and wrapped up in the blankets of her bed. After many hugs and telling's off she had been left with her cousin, Danae, who sat by the fire and slept.
Fala felt safe now.
Fala still heard the song and as she stared at the bracelet around her wrist, the same hand that had once clutched her knife and bared it against an ancient rock wraith, she heard the voice of her daddy.
"Keep it secret my Fala. Keep this safe." He had said as he handed her the present.
"Why secret, daddy?" She had asked.
"Because it is special, like my little Fala." He had said. "And I know no one will look for it here." He had said to himself, though she had heard him mutter it.
As Fala fell asleep she hummed the lullaby again, the song filling her sleeping mind and soothing a heart that missed her beloved father.
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