Inan'abelas // DAI; Solas

Origins

"The Devil asked me how I knew my way around the walls of Hell. I told him I did not need a map for the darkness I know so well."

-t.m.t

~~◇~~

"Tel'ithast tarsul Fen'Harel, da'len. Is elana odhea geal," Her mother scorned her, scooping the small elven child up into her lithe, yet strong arms.

"But mamae," Ashinne whined, yanking at her mother's braid. It would have been far too complex for her mother to explain to her who, if not what, the Dread Wolf was to a child as small and naïve as herself. She knew that now.

"Be patient, da'len. You will learn soon."

But she did not want to wait. Ashinne, even in childhood, had the utmost curiosity about anything and everything that surrounded her. How did trees grow? Why did Saerean love his wife so much? Why can't the clan just get water from the spring? Her mind always swam with so many questions. It was hard to keep track of them all.

"I can't wait mamae," She whined once again, pleading to her parent with her eyes.

Ashinne's mother sat her down in the gravel nearby to the aravels, and proceeded to sit cross-legged in front of her.

"There are things in this world more deadly than the wolves in the forest, da'len. We must stay far away from them."

The child pursed her lips into a pout in an attempt to try and understand what her mother had meant.

"But babae said the wolf is supposed to protect us."

"He is, da'len. But it is not for good reasons."

Ashinne tilted her head to the side. Such an innocent child, she was.

"He tricked our gods. Falon'Din, Dirthamen, Elgar'nan, Mythal, June, Andruil, Sylaise, Ghilan'nain... all were locked away forever. The wolf is meant to drive the bad spirits away. Be wary, love, and never look him in the eyes."

"But the wolf is just a statue, mamae."

Ashinne thought her mother could not have looked more beautiful than in the moment that followed. She threw her head back and laughed such a heartwarming laugh, her long braid flung over her shoulder, her youthful face stained with delight.

"You are right, love."

~~◇~~

The next day, Ashinne didn't wake until an hour before noon. Once she realized that the sunlight pouring in through the curtains was much too little, she jumped from her bedsheets and ran outside as fast as her legs would carry her. Dark clouds loomed above Skyhold-- a sure sign of an oncoming rainstorm.

Nurses were ushering their patients inside tents, merchants were either packing up or covering the roofs of their stalls with waterproof tarps, and several soldiers on ground level were desperately trying to find cover without straying too far from their posts. Ashinne, however, was running right out into the open courtyard wearing nothing but her maid's uniform and a thin cloak. She embraced the arrival of the first few droplets that fell from the brooding sky, spinning so that the bottom of her long skirt fluttered from her legs in a circular pattern.

She did not care how silly she may have looked, or about how many pairs of eyes were trained upon the elven maid in the middle of the courtyard spinning so fast that they feared she would vomit.