Elfroot. That's it. Elfroot. (book 1)

Chapter Four

    A soft breath left Jules' lips.

His arms felt cold, but his legs were perfectly warm. What was with the weird change in temperature? What was going on?

The Temple of Sacred Ashes... That's right, he was at the temple. They fought a demon... but what happened afterwards? He tried to scan his dark memories, but found nothing. With an irritated wince, the young elf finally decided to open his eyes. His gaze was instantly met with a wooden ceiling. A reddish-orange hue filled the room, and the sound of wood crackling under heat came from nearby, telling Jules' that there was a fire lit. Still, his arms were cold.

He looked down and found the reason for his discomfort was the lack of proper clothing. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and was rather wrapped up to his neck in bandages. What...? Aside from the bandages, there was also a fur blanket draped over him. That explained why his legs were warm, but his upper body was not.

Where am I? He surveyed the room and saw he was laying near the corner of a cozy-little cabin. Bear rugs hung from the wall, and a bird cage sat in the center of the room. There were potions, books, and vegetables sitting on cabinets and shelves; along with several candles and bottles of wine. He could even hear the tweeting of birds from outside. Overall, it looked like a perfectly normal home. But why was he in it? Not that Jules was complaining, exactly. It was definitely a one-up on the previous dungeon he had woken within.

The door to the cabin opened, and a young elven woman with short brown hair walked in. At first, she was far too busy observing the rest of the room to notice Jules awake. When she did, a gasp left her lips and she dropped the wooden crate she had been carrying.

Her eyes widened with fear. "I... I didn't know you were awake!" she said. "I swear!"

Jules cocked a brow and straightened his posture. "Um... Did I miss something?" he asked. "Why are you so scared...?"

"That was wrong... I said the wrong thing, didn't I?" tears filled her eyes.

Jules blinked, "no...?"

She fell to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground. "I beg your forgiveness, and your blessing," she softly begged. "I am but a humble servant..." She lifted herself up, but didn't completely leave the ground. "They say you saved us. The Breach stopped expanding, just like that mark on your hand. It's all anyone has talked about for the last three days!"

What? His eyes widened and he looked down at his palm. Sure enough, the mark had stopped glowing, and was replaced by a single green streak across his hand. It really stopped... It doesn't hurt anymore, either! He let out a soft sigh of relief, then turned back to the elven girl. "Then the danger's gone, right? I closed it?"

"The Breach is still in the sky. That is what they say," the girl explained. She rose to her feet, nervously messing with her hands. Before Jules could get a better explanation out of her, she took a few steps back and said, "I'm certain Lady Cassandra would want to know you've waken. She said, 'at once'."

Jules cocked his head. "Where's she?" he questioned.

"In the Chantry, with the lord Chancellor," said the girl. "At once, she said!" She ran out of the room, leaving Jules alone.

The young elf sighed to himself and removed the blanket on top of him. As he suspected, he was only wearing pants, and they weren't the ones from before. What happened to my clothes? He looked around, but couldn't see any sign of them from where he sat. So he got out of the bed, only to be knocked down again by an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion. "That lady said I had been asleep for three days..." he murmured, rubbing his arms. "Why am I so tired? Did closing the Breach really take that much out of me?"