The Youth of the Dalish: A Dragon Age Fan-Fiction Story

The Human

Juli stared at the white canopy as he woke. However, from the inside the roof of the tent looked orange as the early sun permeated it. He noticed that Mother was not in her cot. Where was she? He sat up on his cot, and his muscles felt hefty. They didn't ache, but he definitely felt relief having rested after all of the walking he'd done the day before. He stepped out of the tent, and he noticed Tobias and Mother just outside of it. Tobias looked tired. They were hugging— so it's official he assumed. It didn't bother Juli that Tobias and Mother were together, after all, Tobias had always been nice to him and Mother.

Cathy pulled away from Tobias as she noticed Juli coming out of the tent, "You're up." Those words came out of her as if she didn't want Juli to be awake. As if she didn't want Juli to see the human that the Keeper had been interrogating the whole morning. Tobias pulled two apples from the pouch he wore, and he offered them to Juli and Mother , "Here, you two could use something to eat. " Juli took the apple gracefully.

Despite the fact that the sun was young, everybody was awake. Everyone from the camp seemed to have formed some kind of circle. Juli was puzzled. The clan would only be huddled in a circle if there was some sort of dispute, like last night. Tobias noticed Juli was staring at the group of people behind him. He glanced at Cathy, asking if he could tell Juli about the human as if there was a reason to hide it from him. She nodded. Tobias glared at Juli, and then turned his towards the people that surrounded Omar, "We found a human last night. Omar is interrogating him right now."

A human? Juli had never seen one before. He'd heard stories form Mother; how terrible humans treated elves in the cities. How the chantry gave Templars consent to do whatever was necessary to "establish order", which usually meant incarcerating elves since the poor souls would have to steal to survive. Juli was intrigued to see the human, but at the same time he was afraid. He dreaded that everything he'd heard about humans might be true. What if they were really merciless, and prideful beasts as Mother had said? Well, he about to find out. Mother, him and Tobias walked towards the people that circled Omar. He couldn't quite see what was going on through the crowd, although he'd caught glances of someone that he didn't recognize. He walked inside the circle to have a better look at the human. The man looked Tobias' age. However, he was bald. His face had not facial hair like Tobias' or Uncle's. The man's skin was darker than anyone's in the camp. He didn't wear any kind of armor, so not a Templar. The clothes were not regal in any way. If anything, his clothes seemed ragged and dull. The man wore brown trousers and a long tunic. A merchant? A commoner maybe? Juli couldn't really tell what the human was and he felt curious to find out. Omar stood in front of the man, with his hands behind his back. Three hunters flanked the human, two man and one woman stood side by side behind the human. The woman he recognized, it was Theresa. He didn't notice it the night before, but her skin was just an extension of the sun's orange hue— she was just as tanned as Shannon. Although he did remember her half tattooed face— hard as steel. Despite the fact that he could see her tattoo clearly, he still couldn't recognize the drawing. It looked like intricate circles that overlapped each other. The other two he'd seen before around, but didn't know very well. The man to her left was blond and young. His face was thin like Shannon's. However, his skin wasn't as tanned as hers. if anything, it was paler than Juli's. The other man looked older and huskier. He bared a beard, and daggers tucked in his back. Juli noticed that the human's face was coated in blood, he also looked mortified. The plead towards Omar was clear in those eyes.

"Why should we trust you human?" Said Omar, with a voice loud enough that the whole clan could hear him.

The human was constrained to a chair, and his beady eyes gazed at Omar— imploring him.

"I told you the truth. I was chased by darkspawn, and the next thing I know, I wake up in this camp." The man said evenly.

Did he say darkspawn? Juli shuddered inside. He'd heard stories of such creatures. Mother had told him how the wicked creatures corrupted everything they touched. He'd heard of The Blight; an attempt by the darkspawn to annihilate humanity and bring back their "Old Gods." But weren't darkspawn supposed to live underground in the Deep Roads? If this man is telling the truth, then does that mean that a Blight may be upon us?