Chapter Text
“Warrior!”
Erren came to in a violent cataclysm of feeling and color. Her clawed hands shook and scrabbled along the ground. Mint-green hair hung matted and limp over a pale face. She gasped for breath, feeling nausea roil from head to toe.
A tentative, soft hand touched her shoulder and the sensation immediately had her jerking away violently and hurling thin bile onto the ground.
“Twelve above, what happened…”
“She’s actually back, actually alive–”
“Looks like shite though –”
“ Thancred ! Not the time!”
Erren spat the rest of the bile from her mouth and tried to take another breath. Alphinaud crouched down near her head, hand hovering uncertainly over his friend.
“May I try again?” He asked hesitantly, clearly wary of being thrown up on. The green-haired warrior coughed and shivered, managing a nod.
The welcome glow of healing magic washed over the warrior, color returning to her flesh. She took a careful breath, nausea abating, and shuffled into a seated position. After a few blinks, she furrowed her brow in confusion. “Alphinaud?”
Alphinaud’s face lit up with a small smile. “Erren! Thank the gods you are alive…”
Alisaie, who had been hovering over her brother’s shoulder nervously, couldn’t contain herself anymore, and rushed down to wrap Erren in a hug, but let her go quickly.
“What happened, Erren?” she asked desperately, taking in her friend’s haggard appearance. Eyes sunken, face thin, lips chapped, and dressed in linen rags.
“Where have you been …?” She frowned, trailing off into an uncharacteristic silence.
Erren blinked and tried to remember. Whatever had come before was hazy, dark, and cold, punctuated by red glowing lights and pain – almost like an old nightmare. Maybe it had been a nightmare? And before that … Images rushed into her head and she began to recall.
“We were in the Reach,” Erren said haltingly. “I remember fire… and fighting…?”
Thancred kneeled down next to the twins and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “If that’s the last thing you remember, friend, then we have some problems… It’s been several weeks since that day.”
Erren groaned and put a hand to her head, trying to orient herself. Stone walls, stone floors, various potted plants, and the scent of citrus furniture polish…
“How did I get to the Rising Stones?”
All three frowned and shared a look before Alphinaud spoke up. “We found you outside the door, early this morning.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Erren grimaced, wracking her brain for memories of what happened between the fight and now. Hazy memories swam through her head, sliding away like oil as she tried to examine them.
Alphinaud's face triggered a memory. Her eyes widened and she surged forward to wrap him in a hug. “He was going to hurt you, Aphinaud,” she muttered into her friend’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re alright…”
Alphinaud returned the embrace almost painfully.
“I'm fine! But what about you? You were missing for weeks! And before that, you… what do you remember about fighting Zenos? You were leading him away…" His voice turned hesitant and he withdrew to regard Erren with trepidation.
The miqo'te frowned. "I–"
A boot crushing her ribs.
A blade cutting through her chest.
A piece of the horned helmet rolling away…
Erren's eyes blew wide and she breathed hard, staring at the wall now.
Shaking hands felt under the edge of her shirt, finding a rough, puckered seam where she'd been cut nearly in two. "He bested me." She frowned. How am I alive?
"You were in rough shape when you went off to fight," Alphinaud fretted. "I shouldn't have let you go by yourself. Y'shtola could have taken care of Lyse's wound…"
"You're wrong," said Alisaie flatly. "I saw the wound. Lyse may have died without your help, Alphinaud."
The words struck some chord of familiarity and the image of Lyse falling flashed in her minds eye. Goosebumps erupted on Erren's arms as a chill crawled down her spine.
"Lyse," was all she managed to say. "Is she…?"
"She is fine now," Alphinaud assured. "Back in the Reach, believe it or not. Not fully mended, but almost good as new."
Thancred cleared his throat. "We should leave the catching up for later. Need I remind you, she has been gods-know-where for weeks and showed up on our doorstep just this side of living. We need to get her into a bed, and tend to her injuries first. Not to mention, figure out who brought her here."
The twins looked chagrined. Erren was too drained and weak to protest when Alisaie and Thancred hoisted her up and walked her down the hall to her room.
"I'm fine, I can do it on my own…"
"Shush, you."
The comfort of her feather mattress had never felt so divine. Her back was sore and felt to be out of alignment, like she'd been sleeping on rocks for the past weeks.
Alphinaud immediately started to fuss over her wounds, healing magic at the ready.
The Warrior, however, was barely able to keep her eyes open. The sudden feeling of safety and comfort pressed down like a blanket, and her brain slowed, finally able to power down from fight-or-flight mode.
Before she knew it, she was drifting off.
—
Alphinaud considered his friend with a concerned eye as her brow relaxed in sleep. In the weeks that had passed since he'd seen her last, she'd become different, not just physically but there was a strangeness to seeing her so weak that set his teeth on edge…
Thancred's hand came to rest on the boy's shoulder. "She's been through a lot, clearly."
"Disoriented and can't remember what happened since the incident… it's not good. What would cause that?"
"If I had to guess, she's been drugged the entire time," Thancred suggested. "But why they didn't just kill her, I have no clue." He released Alphinaud's shoulder with a gentle squeeze and stepped forward to kneel by the Warrior's bedside. Carefully he rolled up her shirtsleeve til it was bunched above the elbow.
Thancred hummed and beckoned the twins closer. "See?"
He pointed to a collection of purple and yellow circular bruises tracking up the soft flesh of her inner arm. "From needles. Seen this before, once or twice."
"Good heavens," Alisaie whispered.
"Luckily, if they were angling for information, she didn't exactly have anything critical." Thancred repeated the exercise with her opposite arm, revealing another set of ugly marks. "Poor kid…"
"You think they were looking for information ?" Horror was apparent in Alisaie's tone as she looked from her brother to Thancred. "They all but stomped out the rebellion! And they kept her for three weeks, dosed with gods-know-what, thinking she would, what, give up the Resistance– "
"It does make sense, in an awful way," Alphinaud conceded, hand on his chin. "Knowing that we had worked with the rebels, the Empire had no real reason to believe that we wouldn't have information on the rest of the movement. Maybe they thought that Erren was leading them?"
Angry spots of color erupted on Alisaie's cheeks as she stewed in indignation. She scowled fiercely, clenching her fists. "Damn them."
"Alphinaud, Alisaie." Thancred stood and began to arrange the Warrior more comfortably on the bed. "Do you think you could contact Y'shtola or Krile on the linkshell? We will need a more experienced healer to take a look at Erren's injuries. Krile might be able to get a sense of what happened to her, as well."
Alphinaud nodded quickly. "Of course."
"Talking is more your specialty, brother," His twin grumbled. "I suppose I'll make myself useful and find Tataru. She'll be overjoyed that Erren is back."
The twins disappeared in short order, leaving the rogue perched next to the Warrior's bedside.
After a moment of listening to the twins' footsteps going down the hall, Thancred's placid expression melted into a grim frown. He stared down at the battered and haggard Warrior of Light.
"What did they do to you?"
—
Krile arrived that evening by aetheryte, accompanied by Alphinaud.
Alphinaud quietly opened the door to Erren's room, and ushered Krile inside. "She's still asleep," he said, hands clasped tightly at his front.
Krile hopped up to stand on the footstool by the bedside. Her large eyes took in the sleeping Miqo'te, lingering on the bandages covering her torso. Slowly, she stretched small hands over the warrior's body, green healing energy illuminating her fingertips. "It looks like you did just fine, Alphinaud. She's healing well."
The glow intensified before fading and the small woman turned around, staring pensively up at the teenager. "What are you so worried about?"
Alphinaud shifted his weight, brow creasing. "When she was awake… she said she didn't remember anything from the past weeks. Erren looked so different , Krile…"
The room was quiet for a moment as Krile looked back down at the sleeping woman. "I'll try, Alphinaud," she answered his unspoken question. "But the Echo is not something I can force."
Krile's closed eyes fell into the shadow of her hood as she leaned over the bed.
The silence stretched into minutes. Finally Krile heaved a giant breath and raised her head.
"There's not much, I'm afraid," she said. "No Echo visions… like I mentioned, they can't be forced reliably. But to your earlier words… something does feel different . It's…" she frowned deeply. "It's as if there is a discordant note of music, almost – a timbre that hurts the ears… Grating…"
"Have you sensed that before?" Alphinaud rushed to ask. "When we met in the Hinterlands, perhaps?"
"No. In fact, I haven't sensed anything much from her before."
The troubled look stayed on Alphinaud's face even as they both left the room.
—
The dreams were blissfully deep, dark, and quiet.
No burning city.
No abominations.
But still a lurking presence of Other that lingered on the back of her neck like the eyes of a couerl stalking its prey.
—
Cold blue eyes, staring into her soul.
Erren gasped awake.
Her head swam and layers of colors danced until finally settling into the shapes of a familiar cool brown stone ceiling.
The cold blue eyeslingered on the back of her eyelids so she stared forward with wide eyes, taking shaky breaths until she could count the stones over her bed.
She was bundled on her bed in the room she'd claimed before the Bloody Banquet. A glass of water sat welcomingly on the side table.
Erren nearly choked on it in her haste to relieve her thirst.
Am I really here , she wondered, falling back against the pillows. Feels real enough. I feel like shit. That's real.
The empty glass rolled from her hand and her body sagged back into the sheets. Her eyelids dropped…
"How are you doing?" Thancred spoke slowly and quietly from her side. Erren inhaled sharply and flinched away from the gentle hand at her elbow.
"Seven hells! Where'd you come from?" Erren's voice could best be described as a scratchy croak. She winced and rubbed her throat with a yellow bruised hand. "Ow."
"I didn't mean to startle you," Thancred said, keeping his voice deliberately soft. "Your eyes were open, so I thought that meant you'd be awake…. Apparently not?"
Erren blinked rapidly. "Apparently not. Must have dozed off… with my eyes open?… that's new…"
Thancred leaned back on the small stool that had been pulled up to the bedside. His arms crossed over his chest and he gave the Warrior an assessing look.
Erren focused on his face and almost immediately her vision shifted into a migraine aura, edges of her sight growing dim.
Thancred watched her put a hand to her temple and hiss in pain with some concern. "How are you feeling? What hurts?"
"Head, mostly," Erren mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. "Same migraine, it's been coming and going…"
"They did a number on you," he informed her, lifting an eyebrow. "I assume you would have some questions. I didn't want to force it on you, but I thought you'd want some information."
She massaged her temples. "The camp…?"
"Mostly routed. Although some, like Lyse, stayed behind to rebuild." Thancred informed.
"Hells. " Her ears dropped down. "Rebuild? But the Garleans know they're there, now."
"There are some that think they'll be left alone for a time. Still, everyone still up there is on edge, certainly."
"I remember seeing the camp burn, and even the fight against Zenos… but I don't recall how it ended or what happened next." Her hand found the new ugly scar under the hem of her shirt and idly traced the raised edges.
Thancred's brow furrowed. "I'm not surprised you don't remember. You showed evidence of having been drugged." He leaned back, and looked at the fruit painting on the wall. "It could be a while before those memories return."
"What was it like, for you…?" Erren stared down at the sheets. "I've never asked."
"With the memories from the possession…" The Scion sighed. "It comes back in bits and pieces. The strangest things will jog my memory sometimes. It can't be forced."
Erren winced. "I'm sorry, again. I should have realized…"
"It's done," he said. "No need." His tight smile told a different story.
"Someone found me right by the door?" She finally said. "I don't remember walking anywhere."
Thancred's visible eye narrowed and he steepled his fingers. "About that. I've been asking just about everyone in Mor Dhona, trying to find anyone who saw what happened that morning…"
A muscle in his jaw clenched. "Two Imperial soldiers from the nearby castrum were seen entering the bar area, and leaving you directly outside the entrance to the Rising Stones."
Erren's stomach fell like a stone. " What?" Visions of The Waking Sands filled her head, the dead bodies she'd seen left to rot on the floors... "Just like that? Like they've known where we were the entire time?"
"Seems so. We've discussed moving bases, but decided to stay for now."
" Why ?" The Warrior's fists clenched over her sheets. "You're– we're all in danger now."
"Conrad and the other veterans of Ala Mhigo have a theory." Thancred held a hand out in pause. "They think that Zenos is more likely to retaliate if we go off-script –"
"What do you mean 'off-script'?" Erren snapped. Underneath the sheets her tail thumped. "This isn't a – a play!"
"I mean that he thinks that he has the upper hand. Given what's happened in Ala Mhigo over the past decade or so, … " He trailed off. "Well, it's like he enjoys playing this conflict as a game ."
"That sick bastard ," Erren spat. "So you think he's waiting until the moment is right? Why give him the opportunity…?"
"We won't," Thancred said firmly. "That's what we've been waiting on you for. We need a plan – and for that we need our tactician." He gave Erren a pointed look before a playful smirk lifted his lips. "Operation Archon was a success, after all… Think you have it in you again?"
Erren couldn't tell if it was determination or anger that kindled in her chest for the first time in months. The challenge set before her beckoned invitingly, a tempting distraction that she could lose herself in.
"Count me in."