What Secrets Await

Chapter 1: The Crossroads

The day the Temple of Sacred Ashes exploded, the day the Breach appeared in the sky, all Maeva could hear from her small home in the Hinterlands was a long rumbling sound that carried through the mountains into the valley. That night, her mother relayed the gossip she'd heard in the Crossroads village about the temple blowing up and a strange green vortex appearing and growing in the sky, all this in the high mountains far west of them. It seemed that they were safe from whatever the danger was. That is until two days later when the threat reached them...

The smell of smoke reached her nose, carried from the south by the breeze. Her head turned in its direction, tapered ears aimed to listen. The late afternoon sky was almost to the point of erupting into her favorite colors, except for a stream of black smoke that rose over the trees and rocky hills. Another, bigger trail of smoke lifted up from the southwest, towards the river. She saw more and darker clouds begin to rise as they progressed to the east, towards the West Road, exactly where her home was.

She'd already dropped the fennec pelt from her hand and had taken a few steps forward. Her other hand tucked her skinning knife into its little sheath at her hip. Leaving the trap behind, she jumped onto the side of a large rock and deftly climbed up its smooth slope. She knew the area like the back of her hand, and knew that she could see the tavern where her mother cooked from the top of this particular boulder.

The wind was stronger at the top of the large rock. It whipped her dark chestnut hair into her face until she shook it free and faced the wind. Her eyes landed on the tavern rooftop; it was on fire. At first just a small corner, but while she watched it engulfed the whole roof. Her mouth dropped open. More smoke and fire lay beyond the treeline; the inn was on fire as well. Every fiber of her being tensed immediately. In a moment she was back on the ground and running towards home.

She followed the waving path as panicked shouts sounded ahead of her. And behind her, she realized.

What had just happened?

Recently she'd seen that a group of unmanaged mages were congregating in Witchwood, north of where she'd just collected that last fennec, but that was no cause for alarm in itself. Mages were supposed to be in Circles and guarded by the Templars.

Were they runaways? Did they start the fires?

These and other thoughts raced through her mind as she came upon the clearing. A scene of chaos painted the valley ahead of her. Fire rose from both buildings as well as the various trade carts that occupied the road, as per usual given that day of the week. Dozens of armed men patrolled the wooden carnage and fires as they headed further east towards the Crossroads. Some were Templars, the rest looked like mercenary or unaffiliated forces. In their wake she saw a few dark heaps on the ground and shuddered to think they might be bodies.

Fear reclaimed her and she ran towards the tavern, towards her mother. The roof was aflame as well as the walls all along the road-side of the building. A whole corner of the tavern had fallen away. As she arrived at the edge of the fire its angry heat slammed into her face. She ducked down with her head under her arms.

"Mamae! Where are you?" she shouted over the crackling blaze.

The tables and kitchen counters were burned beyond recognition save that she knew where they'd stood. She squeezed between the rear of the building and the rock wall that backed it, arriving at the other side of the tavern without nearing the large fires at the front door. Landing smoothly upon green grass just beyond the tavern, she immediately recognized her mother lying prone on the stone foundation.

"Mamae! " she cried, rushing to her side, eyes hot with tears. The sight of her creator in such a weakened state transformed her into a terrified child.