AO3 Link: Journey of the Pathfinder
Summary:
Thedas was already torn by wars, yet the most terrible things that would shake the very foundation of this world had yet to happen. When Luthiel, First of the Dalish Clan Lavellan, was sent by her Keeper to the Peace Talk between Templars and Mages, she had not imagined that her journey would bring her to the very foundation of magic itself, nor that she would brush with the fate of all the People.
Chapter 1/Prologue: The Golden Halla
The wheel of events that will shake the very foundation of this world itself had been set in motion.
In her dream, she saw the Golden Halla. It was standing at what the middle of what seemed to be a courtyard in an overgrowned ruin. Its body gleaming under the sunlight that entered through the archway. Its large eyes look at her with an intensity and understanding that she had never expected from a normal beast.
At first none of them move. Then, slowly, the Halla nudged its head toward her, as if asking her to mount on its back, which she did. At once, it sprang to a run and their surrounding change. They passed through another ruin, this time fire still burning in it and corpses littered its floor. The Halla kept running and their surrounding kept changing. They went across a village in the mountain, then an old fortress sitting on a land so dry with no trees nor grass, a building grand with intricate decorations she had never seen before, and through a forest so old that no one had wandered for many ages.
There, it suddenly broke to a pause in front of what seemed to be a gate of an ancient ruin. She can sense the magic that was weaved around this place. Very old, and very powerful. She could hear the whispers of ancient voices from the inside, a glimpse of events and emotions that happened at the place once. She could see the outline of two person within, and felt the strong echo of magic resonated from them.
The Halla turned its head to look at her meaningfully. Then, everything faded into an absolute darkness.
***
“Da’len, wake up!”
Luthiel opened her eyes and studied her surroundings. She was lying under an old tree in the forest, not far from where Clan Lavellan had set up their camp. Keeper Deshanna was sitting beside her, looking worried.
“Are you alright, Da’len?” The Keeper was looking into her eyes searchingly. Luthiel nodded, still feeling confused on what she saw in her dream.
“I… had a very weird dream, Keeper,” said the younger elf. “I saw a golden Halla. It could see me and asked me to mount on it, and showed me places I had never seen before.”
The Keeper sat in silence for a long moment. When she finally spoke, Luthiel could hear sadness in her voice. “I know, Da’len. I saw the Golden Halla too in my dreams.” The older elf looked at her in the eyes. “The Halla nudged to you, Da'len, then asked you to go with her. Then both of you are gone.”
“You… you saw the Halla too, Keeper?” Luthiel asked confusedly, surprised. The Keeper was no Dreamer, she would not be able to enter another’s dreams. “Keeper, this is the first time that any being had recognized my present in my dreams, in the Beyond, that others can see me there.” Suddenly she felt afraid.
The Keeper put a hand on Luthiel’s shoulder, calming her. “I know, Da’len. You have magic within you that we can only imagine from what the old tales about the Ancients told us. You are no Dreamer, yet you can enter the Beyond in full consciousness during your sleep. There, you are invisible to both spirits and demons and other beings. You can see them, hear their whispers and feel their emotions. You can find paths to places there. You are very sensitive to the presence of any spirit or demon at this side or at the Beyond. And you do not draw your magical power from the Fade” The Keeper shook her head, “You wield your magic unlike any other. Your gift is unusual, Da’len.”
For a while, none of them speaks. Luthiel’s magic had been a source of confusion for her Keeper, and even for the other Dalish mages they had encountered during the Arlath’ven a few years ago.
“Had I told you about the day you came to us, Da’len?” The Keeper was now watching her closely. Luthiel nodded. Everyone in the Clan had told her the story. About how they found her as a very young child, barely able to walk, abandoned alone in the forest. How a Golden Halla was protecting and watching over her when the Clan arrived. How her magical abilities had already manifested even then. “A Golden Halla brought you to us. Now she might come to show you your destiny. Or at least, that is what I believe,” said the Keeper.
“Old tales told us that a Golden Halla, the Hanal’Ghilan, will appear to show us a path during times of dire needs. The days to come will be dark for all of us, for all the People. The shemlens are warring each other now, and I can hear the echos of ancient magics awaken. Something terrible is about to happen, Da’len.”
Luthiel nodded once again. The talks of wars among shemlen Mages and their Templar Order had reached the ears of Clan Lavellan. Their scouts heard that a peace meeting was to be held south in a month, far at the south. The Keeper had talked to all the Clan about sending a spy to keep an eye on the situation for a while now.
“Initially, I had planned to send one of our hunters for this task. But now I can see things more clearly. I am sending you to go there yourself, Da’len. You are my First, I hope that one day you will take my place as Keeper of this clan. However, it seems that your fate is not only tied to this Clan, but to all the People.”
Retour en haut
