𓊆𝓝𝓸𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓚𝓲𝓻𝓴𝔀𝓪𝓵𝓵𓊇 ᯓᡣ𐭩 𝓒𝓾𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓷 𝓡𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓭

1 𓊆𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓬𝓵𝓪𝓿𝓮𓊇

A bright light.

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A woman.

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Then nothing.
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Blood, rushing angrily through my head, causing a dull ache, all but worsened by the ringing in my ears, my eyes flutter open, seeing my hands bound in chains, a sparking green light, pangs through my hand, though it isn't painful, only like a current, I look around, trying to remember what had happened here, 'the Conclave' I thought, my vision is bleary still, when suddenly a door swings open, I realize then that I had been surrounded by guards, but why? I'd committed no crime, two women approach me, one slightly taller than the other. The shorter of the two circles me where I sit still on the floor, before leaning down.
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"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now" she said, her accent clearly Nevarran, "The Conclave is destroyed, all who attended now dead, except for you" she finished, blame evident in her tone, "You think I'm responsible?" I said, finding the notion absurd, i'd only attended for the sake of my clan. She grabbed my arm rather harshly and yanked it up by my face, "Explain this then." and as if on queue, the sparking current flashed again, "I-I can't" I said, growing more tense now, "No? What do you mean you can't?" She said, questioning me further, "Look, I don't know what that is, let alone how it got the-" I explained, gasping as she grabbed me by the shoulders, "You're lying!" Thankfully her accomplice pushed her off of me, "We need her Cassandra" nothing her name, the gravity of the situation now dawning on me, "All those people... Gone" suddenly the taller, ginger woman spoke in a muddled Orlesian accent, "Do you remember what happened? How this all began?" She said, clearly the calmer of the two, I tried to recall, and then a flash, a hand reaching out to me, a woman. "I remember running, being chased .. and... A-A woman" I said, remembering more as I spoke, "A woman?" She said, "Yes.. she was reaching out to me, I think, and then-" cut off by Cassandra once again, "Go to the foot camp Leliana, I will bring her to the Rift." She said.

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'Rift?'

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She uncuffed my hands, tying them with rope instead, and as i looked down, i saw green tendrils, faint but there, swirling out from within in my palm, touching my finger to them, i asked, "What's happening.." my eyes lifted to Cassandra, hers softened ever so slightly, "It.. would be easier to show you."

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Standing, slowly recuperating, I follow her, down a long corridor, large wooden doors opening ahead, my eyes not yet accustomed to the light, I lift my left arm to shield them, only for it to spark wildly, but my attention was lost, looking past my palm, I see what had to have been The Rift, a monstrous storm, bright green and swirling, lay over the mountains, it seemed to inhale the very sky, sparks just like the ones residing in my palm shooting out of it wildly, my thoughts only broken by Cassandra, "We've been calling it the Breach, it's a massive rift into the world of Demons, it grows larger each hour, it's not the only rift, only the largest, caused by the explosion at the Conclave"

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"An explosion caused that?" I said, never having heard of such a thing, "This one did, unless we do something, it could grow large enough to consume the very world" just then, a surge shot through my arm, the mark flaring again, green and bright, i yelp out in pain, falling to my knees, as it ripples out, "Each time the rift expands, your mark spreads.. it is killing you" she says, "It may be the key to stopping all of this, we lash out like the sky, but now we must think beyond ourselves, as Justinia did." She cut my bindings, and I sooth my wrists, looking up to the Breach again, before turning to her, "I'll do what I can"

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We jogged up the trail, making a good pace, rubble and bodies littered throughout our path, suddenly, green sparks everywhere, falling from the very sky, if i ever had to describe the end of the world, it wouldn't be far off from this, icy cold air harsh on my lungs, snow sticking to my hair and lashes, suddenly a pulse echoed throughout the sky, and down my arm, I stumbled down, staring down at my palm again, the light sparking out, the tendrils more apparent than before. Cassandra caught up to me, helping me up, "The pulses happen more quickly now." She said, getting me to my feet, as we continued, crossing a bridge, I heard a soldier shouting, "Look out!" I'd barely begun to lift my eyes, when suddenly another projectile came hurdling towards us, breaking the bridge, falling with the rubble of the stones, I groaned as I finally stopped moving, Cassandra already up, "Stay behind me!" She shouted, as I realize a monster had appeared, she unsheathed her sword, positioned between the demon and i, looking around for something to defend myself with, luckily spotting a simple bow, with a few arrows, 'Telamdys' I thought, I readied my bow arm, firing an arrow towards its head, first time for everything, though I could've gone without fighting demons, the arrow pierced it, and it let out a horrible screech, a whistling sound, particles fading off of it, sucked back up into the sky, from where it came I suppose. Cassandra shouted, slicing it's arm clean off, and it lead out a splitting cry, suddenly knocking her to the ground, and her sword to far away from her, it loomed over her, i quickly notched two arrows, aiming them at the back of its head and chest, I let go, and watched them fly forward, sinking deep into the monster, it howled in pain, wailing around as it faded from existence. Looking around, ensuring we were safe, I hear Cassandra's footsteps, "It's over no-" "Drop your weapon, now." She said, "I was defending myself!" Was my reply "You don't need to fight" "Is that to say it won't happen again? Need I remind you I saved your life." I said, her brows remained furrowed, but she closed her eyes, sheathing her sword and sighing, "You're right, I can't expect you to remain defenseless.. I should remember you came willingly." She said, as we continued our journey to the breach.
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