Da'len

Safe and... drunk?

Avery's eyes shot open at a loud crash and a loudly whispered "piss!"

Groggily she sat up, hissing as pain shot through her left shoulder when she leaned on it. She shifted her weight to her right and looked around the room to find a lanky elf with hair that looked as if it had been cut with a butter knife. There was a broken glass and a half empty pitcher of water at her feet.

"Shit, you're awake! Sorry 'bout that. Wait! Let me go get you some new water," the elf yelled, trying to kick the broken glass under a table with a foot while mumbling to herself. "Damn Solas leaving his chair in the middle of the path, I could have broken my neck!"

"Please, stop, just... give me a second," Avery asked, clutching her throbbing head. Last thing I remember I was... I was running away from the guards after escaping my cell. But there was someone... someone caught me after I was hit with something...

"Dorian!" Avery burst out, suddenly upright and the girl jumped closer to keep her in the bed. Her eyes were wild, scanning the room to try to figure out where she was, where Dorian was.

"Woah there jumpy, calm down. If you want to see mister evil magister, I'll go get him, though I would think you'd want to see the Herald first."

"Who?" Avery asked, her head tilting to the side.

The girl's eyes widened, and she stepped back giggling and shaking her head. "You don't know?" Avery shook her head and raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. "Okay, here's the deal. My name is Sera. This freezing, mage infested town, is called Haven, the new home of the grand Inquisition."

Avery nodded hesitantly, still not sure what exactly was going on. "But why would I want to see your 'Herald'?"

Sera let out another laugh. "Oh, this is too good," she stepped closer and gripped Avery's arms to help her up. "Come on, get dressed. I'll show you."

The air outside was colder than Avery had expected, even more so since she was only wearing a large green shirt that came down to just above her knees with brown elven footwraps which were a bit too loose around her calves. Sera had offered to help her with her hair, but Avery had kindly denied, instead shoving her hair back into a loose bun.

But even with the footwraps almost coming up to her knees, she was still cold. She could feel the snow crunching between her toes as they followed a small path up a few stairs to what Sera had pointed out as the tavern, though Avery still couldn't understand why they were heading there of all places to talk to the 'Herald of Andraste'.

She could have moaned when she stepped into the heat of the tavern and felt the snow clinging to her shirt melt away. The room was almost completely filled with people drinking and talking, some huddling in front of the fireplace. There was a boom of laughter from the bar on Avery's left and she turned to see a large qunari bull sitting with his hand to his stomach as he laughed. Standing next to him and barely even reaching his waist was a ginger dwarf with a shirt that split open down his chest to reveal a patch of curling chest hair.

On the right side of the group by the bar Avery recognized Dorian laying with his head on the table as he laughed, and she was about to head closer when her eyes landed on the person sitting in the middle of the group. Shaggy brown hair and the same clothes he always wore hanging off his shoulders a bit as he lifted a tankard to his mouth.

Avery turned to Sera who was trying not to laugh at Avery's confused face. "I don't understand," she said bluntly, and Sera doubled over laughing.

"That, my dear," she said when she calmed down, "is the Herald of Andraste, Taniel Lavellan."