1 Awakening

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"What's going on" I mumbled as I slowly came to?

"Quiet prisoner" a guard sneered!

His shout snapped me out of my haze and I shivered at the implications. I noticed I was in a kneeling position shackled to the floor with a pair of iron cuffs and a feeling of dread began to grow inside me.

Why was I a prisoner? Did I get kidnapped?

Slowly I raised my head to try and get an understanding of where I was and what was happening and saw that I was in a small dimly lit stone room surround on four sides by guards wearing full suits of medieval looking armor. I couldn't help and wonder if this was kind of strange prank, but my fear prevented from trying to confirm that.

Suddenly a door opened and two women stormed into the room.

One looked like a knight wearing a silver chest plate with a strange white eye symbol painted on it and had a nasty scar going across her face while the other was an innocent looking red haired women wearing a thick blue cloak.

"ZzzTzZtZzzt" a bright green light flashed to my side and I looked to see another red haired woman kneeling next to me.

She was clutching her left hand in pain as neon green lightning flashed around her.

"Fuck" I mentally swore realizing exactly where I was and who I was looking at!

The red haired woman's chains rattled as she fought against the pain and the knight woman whom I now recognized as Cassandra marched forward and lifted her by the collar.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now! The Conclave is destroyed! And everyone who attended is dead, except for you two" she spat at him before leering at me from the corner of her eye!

"You think I did it" the woman gasped?

Cassandra sneered and lifted her hand which still crackled with lightning "Explain this!"

"I... can't" she frowned.

"What do you mean you can't" Cassandra growled!

"I mean I have absolutely no idea what that 'THING' is or where it came from" the woman stared Cassandra down.

"You're lying" Cassandra tightened her grip choking the girl!

"Stop Cassandra" Leliana grabbed the Templar and pulled her back "We need her!"

"Tch" Cassandra spat giving both of us dirty looks.

"..." The woman coughed silently as she caught her breath.

"...So what now" I asked feeling incredibly out of place.

Leliana sighed "Do either of you remember what happened? How all of this began?"

"No" I shook my head.

"I.. remember I was running from something... then darkness and a woman saved me?"

"A woman" Leliana's eyes widened slightly?

"Yes, she reached out to me but... then? Nothing I'm sorry I can't remember!"

"Hmm" Leliana hummed then looked towards me "How about you?"

I gulped feeling her eyes boring into me. As sweet and innocent as Leliana appeared I knew she was one of the most ruthless and cunning people in this world and I had absolutely zero chance of ever being able to lie to her, so I told the truth.

"I-I have no idea how I got here either I was just resting in my home when a bolt of lightning struck and everything went black, next thing I knew I'm chained up here next to sparky" I motioned towards the girl next to me.

"Fuck you" she cursed at me!

Leliana opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could get a word out the room was rocked by a massive earthquake sending bits of rock raining down from the ceiling.

"We need hurry" Cassandra roared! "Go to the forward camp Leliana they'll need your leadership! I'll take these two up to the rift!"

Leliana nodded and sprinted out of the cell without another word.

"Guards their cuffs" Cassandra ordered causing two of the guards to come forward with keys releasing the iron shackles.

"Much better" I rubbed my wrists.

"Don't get used to it" Cassandra glared before bringing out two lengths of rope.

"Way to jinx it, you bast-" the woman cursed but, was interrupted by another aftershock! "What's going on" she whispered eyeing the ceiling warily?

"It will be easier to show you" Cassandra answered while binding our arms with rope as the guards kept watch over us.

Once our hands were tied Cassandra rushed us out of the cell and through a church like building I recalled as a chantry until we finally reached outside. And even though I already knew exactly what was waiting for us the sight still took my breath away.

In the distance a massive beam of green energy pierced through the sky surrounded by a massive swirling storm that occasionally fired powerful bolts of lightning and giant meteors that shook the very earth.

"We call it The Breach" Cassandra frowned as the three of us stared up in terrified awe.

Seeing it in a videogame was one thing but, seeing it person was almost a spiritual experience, every lightning bolt pounded in my chest like a drum and I could literally feel the power in the air.

Cassandra shook herself from her stupor and continued "It's a massive rift into our world that grows larger with each passing moment. It's not the only such rift either, just the largest. And all were caused by the explosion at the conclave" She returned to glaring at us.

"An explosion can do that" the soon to be Inquisitor questioned?!

"This one did" Cassandra sneered "And unless we act, the breach will soon grow until it swallows the world."

"Then we should get going" I gulped not really wanting to be a part of this but, seeing no other way out.

"Indeed" Cassandra responded before continuing forward leaving the guards to occasionally prod at us from behind so we kept moving.

We were halfway down the hill that led to the Chantry when The Breach flashed in the distance growing visibly larger and more violent. At the same time the woman next to me collapsed to her knees as the mark on her hand shot small bolts of green lightning in all directions.

Cassandra kept a stoic face as the light faded and the woman regained herself "Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads… and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this but there isn't much time left."

The woman grunted still recovering from the pain "How could it stop this!? You say this 'Thing' may be the key, the key to what!?"

"Closing The Breach" I answered still mesmerized by the massive hole in space time sitting above me.

"Indeed" Cassandra continued "Whether that is possible or not however is something we shall discover shortly. Regardless It is our only chance as well as yours."

Without anymore delays Cassandra roughly pulled the woman to her feet and escorted us through the town as a crowd of villagers formed around us. Most of them were filthy and dressed in rags and it was easy to see from the expressions on their faces they had a bone to pick with us.

"What's up with them" them woman frowned at the dirty looks she was receiving.

"They have already decided your guilt. The people of Haven are mourning for Most Holy, Divine Justinia. The Conclave was her idea. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars, she brought their leaders together and now they are dead along with the hope for peace."

Hearing that the woman deflated.

I sighed having a idea of what the woman was feeling the moment. I didn't know much about her, hell I didn't even know her name yet, but I remembered from the game that the player character idolized Divine Justinia and not knowing whether or not she had a part in her death was probably eating her up inside.

Shaking my head I mocked myself for having the time to worry about others when I was literally moments away from being forced to fight for my life against demons and monsters. At the very least the woman I was just feeling pity for was a veteran warrior who was capable of fighting through a sea of enemies. While I was only a twenty something college student who had never been in fight in his entire life.

As I was lost in my thoughts we arrived at the village gates and were let through leaving behind the guards who had escorted us so far.

Seeing our confusion Cassandra answered "They need to stay with the village in case it is attacked, we will need to continue on by ourselves."

"We'll be killed by the first monster to cross our paths if we go out like this" the woman raged raising her arms to show the rope.

Cassandra closed her eyes for a moment as if to think before opening them with newfound resolve "We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves, as she did. Until the breach is sealed."

Removing a dagger from her hip Cassandra proceeded to cut away our bindings.

"There will be a trial. I can promise no more" she shook her head and motioned for us to follow "Come, we have little time and far to go."

I looked towards the Inquisitor to see her reaction and she just rolled her eyes and continued after Cassandra.

I let out a wry smile knowing I'd have to follow them if I wanted any chance at survival.

Even though there was nothing stopping me from running off what would I do once I did? The guards definitely wouldn't let me back into the village and I had absolutely no idea how to survive in the wild. Not to mention that the mountains around here were probably crawling with demons right now. And that was putting aside if I could even escape from Cassandra in the first place which I seriously doubted I could.

So with some hesitation I reluctantly chased after them.

"Where are you taking me" I heard the woman ask?

'Okay, cool just pretend I'm not here' I huffed not that I was going to be of much help, but it was the principle of it!

"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach" Cassandra answered "Several smaller breaches have opened up along the paths leading up the mountain. Our remaining warriors are fighting to keep things contained but, unless we can seal the rifts demons will keep pouring through."

As we continued on I thanked my lucky stars that I was in decent shape and hit the gym regularly as the rough stone road and steep mountainous terrain would have been hell if I wasn't already used to it. Though it did seem a bit too easy if I was being honest, I didn't remember being in this good of shape. But, maybe that was just my imagination.

We made decent time and I could see us nearing a large stone bridge that spanned over a frozen river.

Dozens of soldiers stood guard at the bridge and I could see them sharpening their weapons and moving supplies around already readying themselves for the next fight.

"OPEN THE GATES WE ARE HEADING INTO THE VALLEY" Cassandra yelled as everyone she passed dropped what they were doing to salute her!

As we neared the end of the bridge the massive doors were already swinging open to let us through. But, as we were nearing the exit something caught my eye.

My face turned pale as I noticed the massive row of bodies piled along the length of the bridge. I didn't notice them earlier because they were wrapped in cloth and obstructed by all the soldiers going about their business. But, now that I saw them they were impossible to ignore.

There were at least thirty bodies in all and I couldn't help but, gulp when I noticed the small pool of blood that was forming beneath the pile.

The future Inquisitor seemed to notice my reaction and sneered at me mocking my weakness.

I didn't know why but the way she was looking at me really pissed me off and I forced my fear down and confidently stepped forward through the gate.

She seemed at bit surprised by my reaction at first but, eventually scoffed and continued forward.

Looking around my newfound courage faltered slightly as I noticed the signs of battle all around and realized we were now on the front lines.

A giant spiked barricade manned by dozens of guards was set up to guard the bridge and the path leading down into the valley was lined by several upturned wagons that acted as makeshift barriers, several of which were already engulfed in flames.

Cassandra only gave a slight nod to the guard captain manning the barricade before heading out into the battleground. We quietly jogged along the river path leading deeper into the valley and I took the time to remember what exactly happened in the beginning of the game. But, whether it was because I was struck by lightning and transmigrated or because of the giant fucking sky beam in the distance my mind was fried and I basically just running on autopilot at this point.

"Boom" the beam of light in the distance surged causing the ground to shake as a shockwave knocked us all off out feet!

"Ahhh" the woman screamed as the mark on her hand flashed to life once again!

"The Pulses are coming faster now" Cassandra lifted the woman back to her feet before grimacing "The larger the Breach grows, the more Rifts appear, and the more demons we face."

"We should probably hurry up then" I wiped dirt and mud from my knees and stood up.

"Yes we should" Cassandra growled.

A moment of silence followed as we ran through the snow covered woods at an even quicker pace.

"... So how did I survive the blast" the woman eventually asked?

"They say..." Cassandra paused "You walked out of the Rift then fell unconscious, they say a woman was in the portal behind you though no one knows who she was. Everything else in the valley was laid to waste including the Temple of Sacred Ashes."

The woman stayed silent but, I could almost feel the frown on her face as she struggled to remember.

"As for him" Cassandra pointed back at me "He fell out of a large Rift that suddenly opened above the village."

"...But, there was no Rift above the village when we left a moment ago" the woman glanced at me from the corner of her eye.

"No there wasn't" Cassandra glanced back as well "Because unlike every other Rift we've seen so far the Rift above the village was only open for a moment, just long enough for him to fall out before vanishing from whence it came."

"Well that's suspicious" the woman raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed it is" Cassandra echoed "And that's not all, haven't you noticed how strange his apparel is? Have you ever seen clothes like them because I haven't."

I gulped looking down at my outfit which consisted of a pair of regular blue jeans, some sneakers, and a dark blue hoodie. And when I looked back up both women were already staring at me with fire in their eyes as if they were daring me not to keep quiet.

A cold sweat covered my body and I struggled to think of a way out of this situation when I realized something... we were standing in the middle of another bridge.

My eyes widened "Shi-" I tried to scream but, was interrupted as another green meteor fell from the sky crushing bridge and sending us tumbling onto the frozen river below.

"Ahh" I groaned in pain as my body rag dolled down the pile of rubble and onto the river! My body screamed in agony as I rolled to my side just in time to see another meteor explode onto the ice, the ice flashed for a moment and an enormous glowing red arm ripped through the ground and slammed to the ground shattering the ice around it as a massive monster made of molten lava pulled itself out from the abyss.

'Rage Demon' I froze with fear as I recalled the name of the abomination in front of me.

"Stay behind me" Cassandra shouted with her shield raised before charging the monster.

"Tch, yeah right" the red haired woman clicked her tongue before grabbing a bow and a pair of twin daggers off from a smashed open weapons crate and leaping into the fray.

I watched in stunned awe as the two women easily leapt around the demon's fiery attacks, and retaliated with pinpoint accurate arrows and slashes that left the creature howling in pain.

Unfortunately, I was broken out of my stupor as the ground in front of me flashed with a familiar light foretelling another demons arrival. Looking back towards the battle I saw that even though the red haired woman and Cassandra were easily dominating the fight the Rage Demon was showing no signs of slowing down.

I was on my own.

My fight or flight response kicked in and adrenaline coursed through my body filling me with enough strength to myself to my feet. My eyes scanned the nearby rubble for anything I could use as a weapon since my hope to survive was to fight! Because all my routes for escape were either blocked by debris or a flaming rock demon, plus I doubted I could outrun whatever eldritch horror was about to claw its way out of the Fade anyway.

Thankfully, it seemed like the bridge we were on was a rallying point for troops before the front line got pushed back because there were piles of weapons littered everywhere.

My mind raced as I tried to figure out which weapon gave me the best chance for survival! Long Swords, Short Swords, Great Swords, Spears, Daggers, Bows and Arrows there were just too many choices! But, I knew I had to decided quickly there was at most a second or two before another demon burst through the ice and ripped me to shreds!

I was about to race for a sword and shield combo a couple meters away similar to the ones Cassandra used since that seemed the safest choice but, by then it was already too late!

A creature that looked to be made of pure darkness wrapped in ragged cloth burst from the ground.

It was a Shade!

The monster let out an unearthly wail and its glowing yellow eyes instantly locked onto me as I staggered backwards.

"Raaaa" it screeched and rushed towards me gliding over the ice like a malevolent phantom!

I knew I was screwed but, as the Shade approached, and I saw its black claws glinting in the light something inside of me snapped!

I grit my teeth and threw myself forward rolling under its attack and feeling the wind from its strike rustle my hair. Rolling to my feet I felt a strange warmth start to grow in my chest before flowing down my arm and gathering in my hand. My mind went into overdrive as unknown knowledge flooded into my brain telling me exactly what I needed to do to control this strange new energy.

Not wasting a moment I finished molding the energy in my hand before letting it explode out and transform into a glowing blue sword made of pure energy.

At that exact moment the shade realized I dodged its first attack it turned lashing at me with an overhead swipe.

But, I was faster!

With my new sword I severed its arm at the elbow before the attack could connect and gave the beast a spartan kick to the chest sending it reeling back. Raising my other hand I send another flood of energy out and transformed it into a massive icicle that I sent flying into the Shade's head.

"AaAaaAaAhg" it roared in pain!

Giving me the final opening I needed as I arrived at the creatures feet moving faster than I'd ever moved before and slicing off its head in one clean stroke.