Dawn Will Come

Chapter Eight

The soft touch of material was the first thing I became aware off as I began to break free from the darkness and enter the realm of consciousness once again. I could feel the dull ache in my muscles as I began to stir, trying to awaken entirely but struggling to get past the dank fog in my mind. The sounds of voices, some somewhat familiar though I was uncertain as to why and others were completely foreign to me.
"You're viewed as divine, sent by the maker, how could it be that two people hold the mark?" said a woman, "This can't be good, people can't know of her existence"
"What is she? The mark on her hand is similar but yet different to yours," said another female.
"I'm sure there is some sort of explanation to all of this," said a male
"Well you best find it and quickly," said a familiar female voice. Suddenly, the word came to mind, forcing the fog from my head and allowing me to enter consciousness fully, Inquisitor, "find out what she is and where she came from, I don't care how you find out, just do it,"
"As you wish, Inquisitor," replied the male.
"Wait! What exactly are you planning to do to get this information?" asked a familiar male.
"I'll use any means necessary,"
"You can't honestly be condoning this Inquisitor, it's wrong!"
"I agree with Cullen, you can't torture the poor kid!" said an unfamiliar male.
"I would have to disagree as well," replied a female with a strange sort of accent unlike anything I'd heard before. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before gazing upon the room that surrounded me. Water leaked through a hole in the roof whilst sticks and straw covered the majority of the stone floor, I turned my gaze to the old bed I'd been laying in to see it almost falling apart.
"We need to know, by any means necessary,"
"At least let Cullen and I try talking to her first,"
"Remember how the inquisition first treated you, Inquisitor. Remember how they questioned you, would you really wish such a thing on someone much younger than yourself"
"If I could handle it, so could she," replied the Inquisitor, her voice as cold as ice.
"And do what? Tell tall tales about your adventures Varric? Allow Cullen and I to go in and speak with her first,"
"A tall tale might be just what a young girl like her needs, just to help her relax and open up,"
"The three of you go in and try to speak with her, but if you get nothing, allow Solas and Leliana to do what must be done, understood?" replied the Inquisitor, her voice firm and seemingly doubtless to her decision.
"Thank you," replied the familiar male voice. Minutes passed and suddenly the door opened before three people entered.
"You're awake," said the woman with an unusual accent, her hair a short black and her skin holding a slight tan to it. She seemed almost surprised when she spoke, her dark eyes watching me as she pulled over the old wooden seat that appeared as though it would collapse under the weight of a child never mind her own. Regardless to how it looked, she sat down and to my surprise, it didn't collapse.
"Yes," I murmured as I attempted to move, feeling the aches within my joints and muscles as I moved. I winced as I moved the covers and moved to stand, my body growing more painful the more I moved. Beside her was a dwarf who sat on the edge of the bed, his hair as light as the sun and a gold ring in his ear. The final male to enter the room appeared very familiar to me, his eyes dark and his hair a beautiful golden colour, I gazed upon him, finding myself struggling to look away.
"You're in pain, aren't you?" replied the woman.
"Yes," briefly I paused, "guess I need to work on my landings a little," I murmured with a chuckle.
"Yes," said the dwarf, his voice sounding like the one outside who'd been referred to as Varric, "that was quite amazing what you did out there,"
"Thanks, I was supposed to learn more before I came here, but we ran short on time,"
"We, who's we?"
"Flemeth and myself, she's been teaching me... preparing me for today, since I fell"
"You fell? What do you mean by that?" asked the familiar male with a scar upon his lip.
"I fell from a rift. I had no memory of a name or where I'd come from, all I knew was that I had this strange mark upon my hand," I murmured as I gazed down to the dimly glowing blue mark, "I don't know where it came from but it was there,"
"Sounds like quite the tale, waking with absolutely no memory,"
"It's true though, I swear it," I murmured before briefly pausing yet again, "may I ask, what are your names?"
"I am Cullen, this is Cassandra and the dwarf is Varric,"
"Dwarf and writer," he corrected, making me laugh.
"I go by Dawn,"
"What a beautiful name," said Cassandra with a comforting yet slightly unnerving smile.
"Thank you," I said with a smile, "it gives me something for everyone to call me"
"I think it's very fitting," she replied, her smiling continuing to unnerve me slightly and I couldn't help but miss Flemeth, wishing that she would take the form of a dragon and miraculously appear to save me from the uncomfortable interrogation in the cramped, unkempt room.
"Why did you come here?" asked Cullen
"I came here because Flemeth told me too, I don't really know what she has planned for me but she told me to come here because yesterday I was trying to help. I was fighting the red templars and the Inquisitor came, I left quickly but she said it was time for me to come here,"
"It was you who was there?" asked Cassandra.
"Yes, it was I... at this point, I'm unsure as to what I'm supposed to be doing here or anything else, all I know is that I'm supposed to be here,"
Each of them paused and looked at one another for the longest time before Cullen spoke,
"Would you be willing to allow a friend of ours, a mage, to look at your mark?"
"I don't see a problem with it, he can take a look whenever he's ready too,"
"Thank you," he murmured before the three of them approached the door.
"Wait!" I blurted in a quick moment, catching their attention, "Will someone please stay with me? I don't want to be alone here... please"
Clearly, my question caught them all by surprise as again, they exchanged a quick glance before looking back to me. My gaze met Cullen's as he spoke, a comforting, warm smile forming upon his peach lips.
"I'll stay with you but only for a few hours," he replied causing my lips to twitch into a smile. As I gazed into his dark eyes, I couldn't help but notice a kindness to his soul that brought me a small amount of comfort in the foreign place.
"Thank you," I murmured as he approached and sat upon the edge of the bed before he nodded to Cassandra and Varric as if to tell them that it was safe to leave and quickly, the two of them left us alone, "it's much appreciated that you would stay with me,"
"It's no problem for me, there isn't much for me to do today as it is. There would be more to do if you hadn't made your appearance,"
"I guess I saved you from the boredom of work then,"
"I guess that you did," he said as he chuckled and a brief moment of silence passed between us.
"I'm sorry," I finally murmured as I remembered the pain I'd felt and seen when he'd caught me, the agonising nightmare that was his past.
"For what?"
"I don't mean to bring it up but when you caught me, I saw the pain of your past. I wanted to say sorry on behalf of the mages that did those things to you, it was unjust and cruel. None of it should have ever been done to you but I wanted to tell you what I'd seen,"
"You saw that?" he murmured, his eyes suddenly growing with sorrow. Hesitantly I moved as my smile grew soft.
"Yes but there is something I think you need to know,"
"What's that?"
"Though their hearts were corrupt with the power they held, you showed yourself to have something greater," I murmured as I touched the armour on his chest, above his heart, "a strong pure heart can bring light stronger than any darkness, that is what you have and I wanted you to know that"
"Thank you," he murmured, his voice filled with sorrow, "how could you have seen that?"
"I don't know. I'm still learning but I saw it in my head when you caught me, I also saw the light in your heart. You're a good man,"
"I think many mages may disagree"
Silence invaded the air, and in that moment, the world seemed so cold and dark.
"May I ask something without seeming too intrusive?"
"If you wish,"
"You are friends with the Inquisitor and she is a mage, do you think she would disagree?"
"I'm not too sure about that anymore. We were close until yesterday, but I think she feels very different now,"
"Well, if she doesn't agree then she is blind to the man you are,"
"I hope you're right,"