In Search of a Wolf - The Elves of Fen'Harel Book 1 (Dragon Age)

Bonus Chapter 2

"I..." Solas aimed to cut him off but the scout was clearly so pleased with his deduction he wouldn't stop talking.

"Master Solas works for the Inquisition. He's one of the Inquisitor's inner circle..." He prattled on, "Were there many losses in the final battles?"

Solas gave an awkward sort of reply, cursing the man for his interrogation. Sooner or later, he would realise how odd the situation was, and as one of Leiliana's people, would be reporting in.

"Will you come with us, Master Solas?" Malika asked him, and then turned to the elf, "Eagan is returning to the Inquisition and he says they will give us refuge for a time at least."

"No." Solas looked away.

"Why not? Aren't you Lavellan's friend?" The scout frowned. Yes, Solas thought with a sadness he didn't show. The persistent questions were wearing at his patience, at the fragile control he presented to contain the tide of grief and sorrow.

"That may be, but the Inquisition is no longer my concern." His voice was as cold as he had wanted it to be.

"But..."

"There's nothing left!" The pain, still raw broke through his barriers, the anger. He could not conceal it. "It's over!"

That was when the elven girl decided to be idiotic. She pushed herself up in the bed, crying out in pain as the wound strained. Immediately, her companions rushed to the bed, the scout abandoning his interrogation. As he caught her dark gaze, he wondered if that had been her intention.

"Lie down, idiot." The dwarf told her. "You were dying not an hour ago."

His movements stiff, Solas approached the bed, kneeling down at the girl's side. He laid a hand over hers. She'd hurt herself with that stunt, he could feel it. She was looking into his eyes, almost as though in a trance. He gazed back, noting the flecks of gold and green in the warm brown.

"Are there wolves here?" She blurted out.

What a strange thing to say. There were always wolves near him in the Fade, or spirits who took the form of wolves. But she, an ordinary elf couldn't possibly have seen...

"Wolves? Not on this bit of the coast." Eagan replied, a deep furrow still across his brow. He was suspicious of him now, Solas knew."Why?"

"I heard them in my dreams. It felt like they were grieving." She shook her head.

"You were in pain, kid." Malika pointed out. "No wolves here. Just a dream."

"I'm not a child." She muttered, struggling to get up again. She managed to swing her legs out of the bed.

"Yes, you are, da'len." Solas's voice was gentle with her. "You're young, and hurt and need rest. It will take days before you're ready for any kind of travel."

"I'm not a child!" She insisted, tears pricking her eyes. "I used to be an apprentice hunter, with a clan, and a family, until the war. And then everyone started dying. I had to kill...so many people, to save the people I cared about." She pushed away those memories. "Somehow, I lived, and I survived the travel to the coast. I travelled across the sea, and one of my best friends died of illness in the hold. I held his hand until he passed away. So many people died in that hot, stinking place. Then I joined a new clan. They needed a halla keeper, and they chose me, out of necessity, I suppose. I was barely twenty, but when they marked me with the vallaslin, I did not cry out." Her breathing had become painful, raw.

"I..." Solas tried to speak but she cut him off. He wanted to say that he understood, surprised by her sudden anger, her vehemence. Her eyes looked much older than her few years when he looked into them now.