Nostariel saw the last of the patients off for the day, afterwards raising her arms towards the ceiling and sighing when she heardâand feltâseveral of her vertebrae pop back into proper alignment. She was glad all her time with Amalia had made her more aware of her own bodily condition; ironically enough, being a healer didnât mean she could always tell when she needed to fix something about her own body. Treading lightly to the front of the shop, she moved the door half-open, just enough to grab her mail and bring it back inside, waving briefly to Aurora, who was using the unseasonably warm day to prep the clinicâs front garden for spring, tilling the soil and pulling the dead weeds left over from the early part of winter.
She had a letter from Sarra, which was niceâsheâd set that aside to answer later. The rest of it appeared to be uninteresting, but the last thing was more official-looking than most of what she received. At first, she wondered if it might not be from Stroud; she hadnât expected him to get back to her quite so soon, but he was usually quite prompt. The seal wasnât a Warden one, though. Rather than blue, it appeared to be a bright red, a sigil pressed into it that she didnât recognize.
After opening it and scanning it over, she wondered if someone might not have intended to send this to Lucien rather than herselfâit seemed like the kind of job one would give to a mercenary company, save that it was penned in great haste. Perhaps sheâd received it simply because she was a Warden, known for being able to act quickly and without any sort of authorization from local government? Well, she supposed it didnât really matter why Lord Reginald Thaddeus Spincter had sent it to her rather than someone else; the important part was that she could, and would, assist. Perhaps not alone, though.
Since the matter was of some urgency, Nostariel buckled on her leathers immediately, taking up her motherâs staff in one hand and slinging Oathkeeper over her back, along with a quiver of arrows. Locking up behind herself this time, she approached her friend. âAurora? I donât suppose I could have the rest of your afternoon, could I? I just received this letter from a nobleman of some kind. He claims his daughterâs been kidnapped and taken out to the Coast by bandits. It seems urgent, so I was going to go see if I could find her now.â
Aurora straightened and brushed the sweat from her brow, leaning against the hoe in her hands as she listened to Nostariel. "Are they expecting a ransom?" she asked with a slight downturn of her lip. She then shrugged, as she figured that it didn't really matter in the end. Whatever they was expecting, it probably certainly wasn't a pair of mages. She swung the hoe over her shoulder and let it rest there and placed her other hand on her hip. "Doesn't matter," she said, waving off the previous comment, "I had nothing else planned today, and these weeds will keep another day," she added, suspiciously eyeing the one at her feet.
"To the Coast then?"
Nostariel nodded, and the two of them were off at a brisk pace. She still wasnât sure what kind of father sent a letter to a complete stranger instead of going to the guard or mercenaries, but hopefully theyâd be fast enough to help the manâs daughter in any case. As they were passing outside the city limits, Nostariel ventured a question, keeping her eyes on the landscape for any telltale signs of the bandits they were looking for. âIs Pike still with you?â Of course, by âyou,â she referred to the underground generally, but Aurora was in charge of the group, to some degree. âI recall something about him coming to the clinic to help, but he hasnât shown up.â Not that she minded, if it wasnât something he wanted to do or felt safe enough doing. She was simply checking to make sure.
There was a long sigh before she answered, and when she did it was clear that she was having difficulties putting it the politest way she could. "He is, but he's a... handful," Aurora said, shaking her head. "I'm not surprised, he's too wound up being angry to try and make things better by actually helping," she added. He had been among the mages that were present when a few of them, including Milly, had been tranquiled by a rogue sect of Templars. Such an experience had soured his view on not only the Templars, but even those sympathetic to them, at least, that's what Aurora figured.
It wasn't only that, however. "He also doesn't like to listen. He'll hear what you have to say and then continue on like you didn't say anything. He doesn't even try to absorb the lessons we teach," she continued, rubbing her brow. Instead of learning the control and focus she preached, he wanted to be a better mage by learning more powerful spells-- something Aurora decided wasn't in his best interests.
"I'm worried for him, but I'm more worried for the other mages. He was in the Circle, and he was one of the first mages I found for the Underground. They look up to him and... I just don't know. He's growing more and more hostile by the day. I'm worried he'll do something foolish"
Aurora grew grim and shook her head, clearly at a loss for what she should do about him. "If he keeps this up, I won't have a choice. I'll have to let him go. I would hate to do it, but I have more people to look after than just him. I have to think of the rest. If he was to do something rash and lead the Templars back to us... It wasn't supposed to be this difficult," She said with a dry chuckle. Oh no, she was to gather a few of the mages, teach them how to defend and control themselves so that the Templars wouldn't have to do it for them. Warn them against the dangers of letting themselves to succumb to the demons, and teach them how to be strong. Not look after one man like he was an unruly child.
"That's my life, but you probably have your own worries. Like planning for a wedding," Aurora said with a coy smile. "Well, how about it? Nervous? Anxious? Giddy?" she asked with a laugh.
Nostariel smiled slightly, her expression still tinged with a little worry for Auroraâs situation. Then again, she knew that her friend had better people to ask advice from then her, if she were really in need of it. So Nostariel endeavored to be sympathetic as possible, while giving Aurora her space to make the decision. The change of topic, she accepted easily enough, though not before she paused at one of the many forking paths on the coast, and chose to take them deeper in, away from the water itself. âItâs⊠well, thereâs not a lot to it, really. Itâs not like weâre nobles. Honestly, the Chantry wonât even recognize it. There wonât be any official documentation or anything, butâŠâ She sighed ruefully, and her smile softened.
âBut it will matter to us, and thatâs the important thing. ActuallyâŠâ She trailed off for a moment, turning momentarily as if to study Aurora. âIâve been thinking that my half the wedding party should wear shades of blue or green. Which would you prefer?â
"Hmm," Aurora hummed, shifting the shoulder the hoe occupied. It was no staff by any means, but it'd hurt all the same if a bandit or two was struck by it. "Personally? Let's see. Blue would pop more because of this," she said, using her free hand to press against her crimson hair, "But then again, I think green would match my eyes. Maybe green? The only one who should pop is you," she said with a smile. "It is your day, after all. If you wanted me in dotted stripes, I'd do it," she said with a chuckle, "Though afterwards we'd have to have a discussion about your tastes."
Nostariel laughed softly, crinkles forming at the corners of her eyes. âIf you say so.â
The conversation, however, was cut short when they came across something that Nostariel, at least, had not thought to see. There was a woman there, bound at the hands and feet, but surrounded by what appeared to be dead bandits. Nostarielâs eyes went wide, and she approached the scene carefully, kneeling beside the woman. âOrlanna?â The woman, of middle height and with dark brown hair, nodded several times, stopped from speaking by what looked to be a gag.
Nostariel made sort work of that, and Orlanna released a relieved sigh when it was gone. âOh, thank you very much. I wasnât sure how I was going to get out of this all.â She smiled gratefully, seeming rather less afraid than Nostariel would have guessed sheâd be.
âForgive me for asking, but⊠what exactly happened here?â It was clear enough that Orlanna hadnât killed the bandits. Actually⊠it looked a lot like theyâd killed one another.
âIt was a man. He came to me in a dream.â Orlanna sounded vaguely starstruck, and for a moment, Nostariel wondered if her time in captivity had gone to her head. âHe said not to worry, that everything would be all right. Feynriel, his name was. And when I woke up, all the bandits were dead.â Nostariel had basically stopped listening after the name Feynriel, her eyes wide. Could it really beâŠ?
"Feynriel?" Aurora repeated, similarly in surprise. She shifted from the woman to take another look at the bandits that lay dead around them. If it was truly his doing then... "Shh," Aurora hushed as she held up a hand. Once quietened, the distant sound of jiggling metal and dull thumps of feet hitting the sand could be heard over the ambient din of the Coast. "Friends of theirs?" Aurora asked, nodding toward the dead bandits. Flipping the hoe off of her shoulder and letting the back of the bladed edge rest against the sand, Aurora turned toward Orlanna and gestured toward Nostariel, "Stay behind her."
Soon the first of the other bandits crested the ridge that led toward them. Aurora shifted to her right and thrust her hand forward, a lightning bolt shot through the air and struck the first bandit unlucky enough to fall within her sights, as well as those near enough to be caught in its arc. It wasn't immediately fatal, but it would stun those few long enough for her to close the distance. She darted off to the side to allow Nostariel an unimpeded sightline, the hoe trailing behind her and her free hand still crackling with electricity.
While Aurora might have decided to conduct the dayâs fighting with the assistance of gardening implements, Nostariel decided to keep her own choices a little more conventional. Since the staff was already in her hand, she led with that, launching a large burst of ice for the left flank of the incoming bandits, taking a few steps forward so as to give herself room to move around while still shielding Orlanna from anything incoming. Fortunately, it looked like the archers among the group were few.
One her spell hit the ground, a frost wall bloomed where it had hit, ensnaring the legs of several of the bandits and preventing any of the others from spreading out in that direction. Keeping them grouped up would make them easier for Aurora to manage, and Nostariel took to singling out those whoâd remained behind, with the intent of shooting arrows from the high ground. Swinging the staff outwards, she let fly a quick succession of fireballs from the ends, disrupting the first of the three as he tried to take aim. The second and third took a chain lightning to the chest and side, respectively.
The backside of Aurora's hoe struck hard against the torso of the first bandit, crumpling him into himself. She brought it back up in time to catch the sword of the next bandit, and let it slide the length of the haft until it caught against the blade, and then buried that blade into the sand. With his sword and arm momentarily occupied, she took a step forward and took her hand off of the hoe and drove an electrified fist into his chest. The shock caused his heart to skip a beat or two and locked him up, causing him to stiffen and fall backward.
Aurora proceeded to rip the hoe out of the sand and swing it overhead to drive the back of it into the shoulder of the next one. A pop and a yelp of pain followed, likely due the breakage of the collar bone. The bandit dropped her weapon out of pain and was helpless as Aurora dropped low and rose with an electric uppercut to the solar plexus, dropping her as well. The next bandit saw all of it happen and was ready when Aurora turned toward him. She barely had enough time to throw the hoe up to block the incoming mace, though it did little more than slow the brunt of it as the hoe snapped in half, leaving her to tip backward in order to escape being brained by it.
Tossing the broke hoe away, Aurora flicked both hands and engulfed them both in a arcing light as her hair began to stand on end due to the stored electrical charge.
It didnât take much longer than another minute or so for the rest of the bandits to fall under the combined onslaught of two experienced mages, and by the end of it, Orlanna was looking faintly green. Then again, Nostariel supposed sheâd been through a lot. Dusting off her hands, the Grey Warden smiled gently at the younger woman. âAre you all right?â
Orlanna, admirably enough, straightened her posture and nodded. âYes. Yes, I think so. Thank you both. I just⊠well, I wish I could thank Feynriel, too. Do you think that if I dream again, I could see him?â
Nostariel pursed her lips together, considering the answer for a while. âIâm not sure, but I suspect that if he knew you wanted to thank him, he would find you again. As it happens, I know Feynriel, so⊠if you would perhaps like to write him a letter, Iâll do my best to see that it gets to him.â It shouldnât be too hard to locate him, if she used the right connections to do it. Heâd written her once, about half a year ago, but she wasnât sure if the return address was still correct, considering she hadnât heard from him since. Either way, it was nice to know that he was learning to make use of his peculiar abilities. She wondered if there were any other dreamers in Tevinter. Perhaps there were still one or two; if so, he was likely getting the best instruction possible.
âThat would be wonderful!â Orlanna smiled broadly, and Nostariel nodded.
âAll right. In that case, letâs get you back to Kirkwall. Your family will want to know that youâre safe.â
"A shame the same could not be said about this guy," Aurora said, walking up with the two pieces of the hoe in her hands. "You think... Her father would be kind enough to replace it?" she asked tentatively.
She had a letter from Sarra, which was niceâsheâd set that aside to answer later. The rest of it appeared to be uninteresting, but the last thing was more official-looking than most of what she received. At first, she wondered if it might not be from Stroud; she hadnât expected him to get back to her quite so soon, but he was usually quite prompt. The seal wasnât a Warden one, though. Rather than blue, it appeared to be a bright red, a sigil pressed into it that she didnât recognize.
After opening it and scanning it over, she wondered if someone might not have intended to send this to Lucien rather than herselfâit seemed like the kind of job one would give to a mercenary company, save that it was penned in great haste. Perhaps sheâd received it simply because she was a Warden, known for being able to act quickly and without any sort of authorization from local government? Well, she supposed it didnât really matter why Lord Reginald Thaddeus Spincter had sent it to her rather than someone else; the important part was that she could, and would, assist. Perhaps not alone, though.
Since the matter was of some urgency, Nostariel buckled on her leathers immediately, taking up her motherâs staff in one hand and slinging Oathkeeper over her back, along with a quiver of arrows. Locking up behind herself this time, she approached her friend. âAurora? I donât suppose I could have the rest of your afternoon, could I? I just received this letter from a nobleman of some kind. He claims his daughterâs been kidnapped and taken out to the Coast by bandits. It seems urgent, so I was going to go see if I could find her now.â
Aurora straightened and brushed the sweat from her brow, leaning against the hoe in her hands as she listened to Nostariel. "Are they expecting a ransom?" she asked with a slight downturn of her lip. She then shrugged, as she figured that it didn't really matter in the end. Whatever they was expecting, it probably certainly wasn't a pair of mages. She swung the hoe over her shoulder and let it rest there and placed her other hand on her hip. "Doesn't matter," she said, waving off the previous comment, "I had nothing else planned today, and these weeds will keep another day," she added, suspiciously eyeing the one at her feet.
"To the Coast then?"
Nostariel nodded, and the two of them were off at a brisk pace. She still wasnât sure what kind of father sent a letter to a complete stranger instead of going to the guard or mercenaries, but hopefully theyâd be fast enough to help the manâs daughter in any case. As they were passing outside the city limits, Nostariel ventured a question, keeping her eyes on the landscape for any telltale signs of the bandits they were looking for. âIs Pike still with you?â Of course, by âyou,â she referred to the underground generally, but Aurora was in charge of the group, to some degree. âI recall something about him coming to the clinic to help, but he hasnât shown up.â Not that she minded, if it wasnât something he wanted to do or felt safe enough doing. She was simply checking to make sure.
There was a long sigh before she answered, and when she did it was clear that she was having difficulties putting it the politest way she could. "He is, but he's a... handful," Aurora said, shaking her head. "I'm not surprised, he's too wound up being angry to try and make things better by actually helping," she added. He had been among the mages that were present when a few of them, including Milly, had been tranquiled by a rogue sect of Templars. Such an experience had soured his view on not only the Templars, but even those sympathetic to them, at least, that's what Aurora figured.
It wasn't only that, however. "He also doesn't like to listen. He'll hear what you have to say and then continue on like you didn't say anything. He doesn't even try to absorb the lessons we teach," she continued, rubbing her brow. Instead of learning the control and focus she preached, he wanted to be a better mage by learning more powerful spells-- something Aurora decided wasn't in his best interests.
"I'm worried for him, but I'm more worried for the other mages. He was in the Circle, and he was one of the first mages I found for the Underground. They look up to him and... I just don't know. He's growing more and more hostile by the day. I'm worried he'll do something foolish"
Aurora grew grim and shook her head, clearly at a loss for what she should do about him. "If he keeps this up, I won't have a choice. I'll have to let him go. I would hate to do it, but I have more people to look after than just him. I have to think of the rest. If he was to do something rash and lead the Templars back to us... It wasn't supposed to be this difficult," She said with a dry chuckle. Oh no, she was to gather a few of the mages, teach them how to defend and control themselves so that the Templars wouldn't have to do it for them. Warn them against the dangers of letting themselves to succumb to the demons, and teach them how to be strong. Not look after one man like he was an unruly child.
"That's my life, but you probably have your own worries. Like planning for a wedding," Aurora said with a coy smile. "Well, how about it? Nervous? Anxious? Giddy?" she asked with a laugh.
Nostariel smiled slightly, her expression still tinged with a little worry for Auroraâs situation. Then again, she knew that her friend had better people to ask advice from then her, if she were really in need of it. So Nostariel endeavored to be sympathetic as possible, while giving Aurora her space to make the decision. The change of topic, she accepted easily enough, though not before she paused at one of the many forking paths on the coast, and chose to take them deeper in, away from the water itself. âItâs⊠well, thereâs not a lot to it, really. Itâs not like weâre nobles. Honestly, the Chantry wonât even recognize it. There wonât be any official documentation or anything, butâŠâ She sighed ruefully, and her smile softened.
âBut it will matter to us, and thatâs the important thing. ActuallyâŠâ She trailed off for a moment, turning momentarily as if to study Aurora. âIâve been thinking that my half the wedding party should wear shades of blue or green. Which would you prefer?â
"Hmm," Aurora hummed, shifting the shoulder the hoe occupied. It was no staff by any means, but it'd hurt all the same if a bandit or two was struck by it. "Personally? Let's see. Blue would pop more because of this," she said, using her free hand to press against her crimson hair, "But then again, I think green would match my eyes. Maybe green? The only one who should pop is you," she said with a smile. "It is your day, after all. If you wanted me in dotted stripes, I'd do it," she said with a chuckle, "Though afterwards we'd have to have a discussion about your tastes."
Nostariel laughed softly, crinkles forming at the corners of her eyes. âIf you say so.â
The conversation, however, was cut short when they came across something that Nostariel, at least, had not thought to see. There was a woman there, bound at the hands and feet, but surrounded by what appeared to be dead bandits. Nostarielâs eyes went wide, and she approached the scene carefully, kneeling beside the woman. âOrlanna?â The woman, of middle height and with dark brown hair, nodded several times, stopped from speaking by what looked to be a gag.
Nostariel made sort work of that, and Orlanna released a relieved sigh when it was gone. âOh, thank you very much. I wasnât sure how I was going to get out of this all.â She smiled gratefully, seeming rather less afraid than Nostariel would have guessed sheâd be.
âForgive me for asking, but⊠what exactly happened here?â It was clear enough that Orlanna hadnât killed the bandits. Actually⊠it looked a lot like theyâd killed one another.
âIt was a man. He came to me in a dream.â Orlanna sounded vaguely starstruck, and for a moment, Nostariel wondered if her time in captivity had gone to her head. âHe said not to worry, that everything would be all right. Feynriel, his name was. And when I woke up, all the bandits were dead.â Nostariel had basically stopped listening after the name Feynriel, her eyes wide. Could it really beâŠ?
"Feynriel?" Aurora repeated, similarly in surprise. She shifted from the woman to take another look at the bandits that lay dead around them. If it was truly his doing then... "Shh," Aurora hushed as she held up a hand. Once quietened, the distant sound of jiggling metal and dull thumps of feet hitting the sand could be heard over the ambient din of the Coast. "Friends of theirs?" Aurora asked, nodding toward the dead bandits. Flipping the hoe off of her shoulder and letting the back of the bladed edge rest against the sand, Aurora turned toward Orlanna and gestured toward Nostariel, "Stay behind her."
Soon the first of the other bandits crested the ridge that led toward them. Aurora shifted to her right and thrust her hand forward, a lightning bolt shot through the air and struck the first bandit unlucky enough to fall within her sights, as well as those near enough to be caught in its arc. It wasn't immediately fatal, but it would stun those few long enough for her to close the distance. She darted off to the side to allow Nostariel an unimpeded sightline, the hoe trailing behind her and her free hand still crackling with electricity.
While Aurora might have decided to conduct the dayâs fighting with the assistance of gardening implements, Nostariel decided to keep her own choices a little more conventional. Since the staff was already in her hand, she led with that, launching a large burst of ice for the left flank of the incoming bandits, taking a few steps forward so as to give herself room to move around while still shielding Orlanna from anything incoming. Fortunately, it looked like the archers among the group were few.
One her spell hit the ground, a frost wall bloomed where it had hit, ensnaring the legs of several of the bandits and preventing any of the others from spreading out in that direction. Keeping them grouped up would make them easier for Aurora to manage, and Nostariel took to singling out those whoâd remained behind, with the intent of shooting arrows from the high ground. Swinging the staff outwards, she let fly a quick succession of fireballs from the ends, disrupting the first of the three as he tried to take aim. The second and third took a chain lightning to the chest and side, respectively.
The backside of Aurora's hoe struck hard against the torso of the first bandit, crumpling him into himself. She brought it back up in time to catch the sword of the next bandit, and let it slide the length of the haft until it caught against the blade, and then buried that blade into the sand. With his sword and arm momentarily occupied, she took a step forward and took her hand off of the hoe and drove an electrified fist into his chest. The shock caused his heart to skip a beat or two and locked him up, causing him to stiffen and fall backward.
Aurora proceeded to rip the hoe out of the sand and swing it overhead to drive the back of it into the shoulder of the next one. A pop and a yelp of pain followed, likely due the breakage of the collar bone. The bandit dropped her weapon out of pain and was helpless as Aurora dropped low and rose with an electric uppercut to the solar plexus, dropping her as well. The next bandit saw all of it happen and was ready when Aurora turned toward him. She barely had enough time to throw the hoe up to block the incoming mace, though it did little more than slow the brunt of it as the hoe snapped in half, leaving her to tip backward in order to escape being brained by it.
Tossing the broke hoe away, Aurora flicked both hands and engulfed them both in a arcing light as her hair began to stand on end due to the stored electrical charge.
It didnât take much longer than another minute or so for the rest of the bandits to fall under the combined onslaught of two experienced mages, and by the end of it, Orlanna was looking faintly green. Then again, Nostariel supposed sheâd been through a lot. Dusting off her hands, the Grey Warden smiled gently at the younger woman. âAre you all right?â
Orlanna, admirably enough, straightened her posture and nodded. âYes. Yes, I think so. Thank you both. I just⊠well, I wish I could thank Feynriel, too. Do you think that if I dream again, I could see him?â
Nostariel pursed her lips together, considering the answer for a while. âIâm not sure, but I suspect that if he knew you wanted to thank him, he would find you again. As it happens, I know Feynriel, so⊠if you would perhaps like to write him a letter, Iâll do my best to see that it gets to him.â It shouldnât be too hard to locate him, if she used the right connections to do it. Heâd written her once, about half a year ago, but she wasnât sure if the return address was still correct, considering she hadnât heard from him since. Either way, it was nice to know that he was learning to make use of his peculiar abilities. She wondered if there were any other dreamers in Tevinter. Perhaps there were still one or two; if so, he was likely getting the best instruction possible.
âThat would be wonderful!â Orlanna smiled broadly, and Nostariel nodded.
âAll right. In that case, letâs get you back to Kirkwall. Your family will want to know that youâre safe.â
"A shame the same could not be said about this guy," Aurora said, walking up with the two pieces of the hoe in her hands. "You think... Her father would be kind enough to replace it?" she asked tentatively.