Inan'abelas // DAI; Solas

Inan'abelas

I wonder what's past the sky?

She's never had the pleasure of knowing. She had heard of the Fade, but she had never seen it. She had heard of Uthenera, but that was only in ancient tales. Oh, how she wished she could dream. No one understood why she couldn't. She was an elf, after all? And an elven mage? She just couldn't see past the darkness after her eyes closed. She wanted to explore the ancient stories the Fade held for her there, and as much as she prayed to the Creators to answer her wishes, those wishes were never granted.

The marvels, the mysteries... they greatly intrigued the young elven mage. She prayed again she she sat at the edge of the cliff, the soft air blowing past her eyelids. A hand flew to tuck a stray lock of black hair that had loosened from behind her ear back where it belonged. Her eyes gently fixated on the green hues floating against the midnight blue, and she tried to desperately to ignore the blasted chill slowly creeping up her arms and legs.

"Lethallan! Ashinne!" A panicked voice suddenly called out to her, followed by the rapid crunching of dirt beneath running feet.

"Tamet?" Ashinne vocally wondered, turning her head to face the embodiment of the quickly approaching footsteps.

"As-" Only a few letters of her name were able to be repeated before the arrow found the back of Tamet's head, his limp body falling hard against the rough ground.

Ashinne bit her lip as she stared, fighting the strong urge to scream his name in terror into the night. Whoever had fired the arrow was most certainly still near, and there was still the slim chance that they hadn't caught sight of the trembling elven maiden staring at the dead body of her falon.

She whispered a short prayer of death for Tamet's sake, her fingers grazing over the twisted branches of her vallaslin that just barely caressed the edges of her cheeks. 

Falon'Din enasal enaste...

She trudged with great caution toward the body seeping with red, her green eyes focused on the leaves of the trees overhead. Any sight of movement within the leaves, and Ashinne would take no hesitation in running for her dear life. However, the leaves were as still as stones.

She heard screams in the distance, and the second she moved her eyes she saw the trees burst into flames.

Cahel, Keeper Sorwen, Mava, Yanet, Pailen...

She could hear each and every individual scream, and could attest to whom each one belonged to. Her feet began to move with a sharp passion, her heels crushing thousands of pine needles as they rushed against the bed of the forest. There was no preventing her from jumping straight into the fire, into the thick cloud of smoke lingering through the veils of the many trees surrounding her camp. Her home.

Ashinne's eyes burned. She could only hear the painful sounds of metal against metal and the flicking of a bowstring releasing an arrow into the cloud. Such sounds were deadly, and signified that Falon'Din would certainly be near soon. So much death she couldn't see surrounded her. She only saw shadows. Figmentations.

This isn't happening. This isn't real.

The shadow of a soldier appeared in her left peripheral, and Ashinne immediately ducked and sprinted from the blazing camp as far and fast as her legs could take her.

"Ashinne!"

It was the hahren. Her mentor, Cahel. He was the one that gave her the books that granted her indomitable knowledge, and set her on the path she had continued to walk until this very day, at this very moment. Yet she felt no desire to go back. She couldn't. Not when her own life could be wasted at the hands of some foolish soldier. But the others that were trapped in the smoke, were their lives worthless compared to hers? Of course not, but Ashinne was not a fighter. She took the path of flight most often, fleeing from harm at any given chance. Even as a young child, Ashinne steered clear of trouble. She remained studious, always remaining out of sight to study her books or sketch the halla.

And now was no different. When she eventually discovered that there would be no easy way out, she continued to push through the ring of flames. The smell of singed hair and flesh enveloped her nostrils, the pads of her feet stinging as they dashed against the uneven flooring. She could feel fire on her face.

Ashinne ran east past the camp's entrance, past the gated villa, past the rocky slope she slid down so often as a young da'len. It was all a distant memory, now. She ran until she could no longer see the sails of the mighty aravel poking from the top of the treeline, the haunting words of an endangered Cahel reverberating through her mind.

"Harellan! Fen'Harel ma halam!"

A traitor she was now deemed for fleeing her clan as it was being set ablaze by an unknown force? She'd rather go back now than continue on through the Graves, her desire to fling her body into the searing fire greater than the pain she felt from the skins on her feet peeling away as she trudged through the sand lining the river. There were no words to describe how much despair Ashinne was in.

As she peered into the soft waters on the river, she stared her ash-stricken complexion in the face. Those green eyes were so... unfamiliar, so full of sorrow that was typically unusual of the elven mage. They welled up with hot, troublesome tears that washed away the ash in dingy lines down her face, the murky tears falling in large droplets onto her clenched hands. Her fingers gripped the damp sand, the small particles digging into her nails.

Ashinne stared at her mirrored self in the water with displeasure, her eyes trailing over Falon'Din's marking with a rushed mental prayer. She splashed at the stream with fury, her reflection rippling angrily against the slowly flowing rush of water. The soft pattering of footsteps across the small length of the river got her attention, however.

A sensible-sized mass of dark fur stood before her, glaring at Ashinne's expression of anguish with pride. The creature's face was strong, its eyes undoubtedly watching her with either hunger or curiosity. It's like Cahel's curse had struck meaning in the heavens, and was now here to lay siege on the helpless elven maiden kneeling before it.

"What? Did Cahel's curse come true? Are you here to grant me misfortune, Dread Wolf?" She teased the creature, hints of anger lacing through the confines of her teeth.

It was then that she stared back down at her reflection in curiosity, her eyes tracing the lines of her vallaslin another time. It wasn't her first choice. The elven pantheon had been her favorite subject of study as a scholar, the stories associated with each of the Creators striking fascination within her soul with each read. When Ashinne finally came of age, she was disappointed to find out that there was no blood writing to represent the god she most favored.

The wolf ran off at the first subtle sound in the distance, its paws soaking in the icy water as it strided past her without a single care in the world. A tuft of black hair previously burnt away from the fire fell from her shoulder as she turned her head, her emerald pools watching as it trailed down the river.

Ashinne was falling apart. Not just in the mental sense, but in a physical one as well. It drained her of energy, resulting in her tired body slumping against the sand with her arms spread outward. One hand felt soft spears of grass tickling her fingertips, and the other felt damp sand resting against her peeling knuckles. A pain and a pleasure, such as nature always was. A calm before the storm.

She admired the beauty of the sky through the one opening in the treeline, drawing patterns in the stars with her imagination. So much wonder, so little knowledge about it. The Veil was a marvelous structure, able to hold back secrets of ancient civilizations and demons so hungry for the destruction of the world. If only Ashinne could walk through the Fade, she would be able to know more than she ever dreamed imaginable.

She wished for a blessing, a single chance to see what the Fade had to offer her. Her eyes grew heavy and burdensome, the stars in the sky disappearing behind closed lids.

Ashinne would not wake to see the sky break that night.

~~◇~~

Translations:

Hahren: elder
Vallaslin: blood writing
Lethallan: Casual reference used for someone with whom one is familiar
Falon: friend
Falon'Din enasal enaste: A prayer for the dead, possibly "Falon'Din's blessing/favor."
Da'len: child
Harellan: trickster, traitor to one's kin
Fen'Harel ma halam: Dread Wolf ends you