Chapter Text
Leah drifted in the soft fog between sleep and consciousness, a dream of flight lingering at the edges of her memory. A cool breeze drifted over her. She reached for her comforter, determined to roll over and fall back asleep. When she grabbed a fistful of something tall and springy instead of the soft fabric she expected her eyes flew open.
It took a moment to focus, but once she did she was even more confused. She was lying on the ground out in a field of grass. She still wore the sweatpants and tank top she had worn to bed.
Leah sat up and wondered if she had been drinking the night before, but didn’t feel the telltale dizziness or fog. She ran a hand through her loose light blond hair to feel for any bumps or bruises, but found nothing. She felt clear-headed and alert, which turned her disorientation into distress.
She looked around in a panic, hoping to see a house or building she recognized, but there was only more grass and trees at the edge of the field.
“Fuck… fuck fuck fuck.” Leah stood up quickly to get a better look. Her mind flitted over the possibility that she had been drugged and kidnapped, but there was no one around. There were more trees to her right, grassy hills to her left, and a dirt road about a quarter mile ahead of her going from left to right, heading into a forest.
She whirled around but only saw more of the same in every direction she looked. Her heart pounded. She saw houses and some kind of castle far off in the distance.
“Oh my god, where am I?” she asked in a panic. She took a couple steps towards the hills, then hesitated and turned back around towards the trees. She began to hyperventilate. Her vision swam, so she braced her hands on her knees and forced herself to take deep breaths.
I have to stay calm, she thought to herself. I’ll figure this out. Everything will be okay.
After a few minutes she at least felt calmer, though no less worried. She looked at the road again and walked towards it. She glanced left and right to watch for cars she could flag down.
By the time she reached the road she still hadn’t seen a thing. There appeared to be tracks in the dirt, but they looked more like wheels than tires, and there were an equal amount of hoof prints and footprints interspersed with the wheel tracks.
Leah looked down the road in both directions in an attempt to see where it led. She couldn’t identify any kind of destination to the left, and the right led into the trees. She didn’t want to walk into a strange forest, but it appeared that the road curved towards a village in the distance. She decided to chance it and walked barefoot into the shade of the trees, which made the already cool air feel much colder on her bare skin.
After almost a half mile of walking she heard voices ahead.
“Hello?” Leah called out.
The voices stopped, but didn’t respond.
“I need some directions, can you help me?” She continued down the road. This is how people get axe-murdered in horror movies, she thought to herself.
She turned a corner and saw a bald man in leather armor leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest.
“Hey!” she said, as she walked towards him. “I thought I heard someone. I’m looking for the nearest town, can you—”
Before Leah could finish her question someone else jumped out from behind her and held a knife to her throat. She froze and silently cursed her lack of caution.
“Well well, what do we have here?” her attacker said in a British accent.
“Please,” Leah held her hands up, “I don’t have any money. I’m lost and need to find the nearest town.”
The bald man uncrossed his arms and approached her. “I’m not sure I believe that,” he said, his accent the same as the first man. “Everyone who travels this road has something. A few coins, some herbs, jewelry. I’ll bet if you think real hard you’ll come up with something we can take off your hands.”
“I’m telling the truth-!”
The knife dug into her neck a bit more, cutting into the skin. Leah felt a drop of blood slide down her neck. She started to tremble.
“Stubborn…” he said and clucked his tongue. “Don’t move.” He patted her down, searching for something valuable to steal. “Shit.”
“What?” the man with the knife said.
“She really doesn’t have anything.” The bald man pulled back and rubbed his chin. “That’s a shame. Now we’ve wasted all this time on you when we could have made a profit on someone else.” He jerked his head towards his companion, who pulled the blade away from her neck.
Leah choked back a sob. “Please, just let me go. I won’t say a thing to anyone.”
The bald man shook his head. “But now we’ve got to teach you a lesson.” He punched her in the gut and she doubled over, struggling to breathe through the shock. Before she could do so, he backhanded her across the face and she fell onto the dirt road.
The man with the knife laughed, and both men stood over her as she gasped.
“Please…” she begged. She was rewarded with a kick to her back and more laughter.
The men paused before the next blow could land.
“Did y’hear that?” the one with the knife said.
“Someone’s coming,” the bald man responded.
They moved to the side of the road and crouched near a boulder.
A few seconds later a horse-driven cart came around the bend. An older man with a long grey beard held the reins. As he approached a young blond teenage boy popped up from the back of the cart with a crossbow aimed right at the two men hidden alongside the road. A bolt pierced a tree inches away from their heads and they both took off into the forest.
“You missed,” the old man commented and pulled back on the reins. “Whoa, whoa. Stop there Tiny.”
“You know if I killed them the rest of those bandits would come after us,” the boy said to the old man. “This will keep them out of our way.”
He put down the crossbow and hopped from the cart in one swift movement. He jogged over to Leah. “She’s alright,” he called out. He leaned down and put one of her arms around his neck. “Come on, up you go.”
Leah leaned on the youth and worked to get her feet back under her. While lanky, the boy was stronger than he looked and was able to hold her up. She felt a wave of nausea when she was upright again, but it passed and she was able to walk over to the cart with the boy.
“You’re lucky we came along when we did, my dear,” the old man said. He reached out a hand to help her up into the front of the cart, and noticed the cut on her neck. “Yes, very lucky. That doesn’t look bad at all, but could have been much worse. Nevin, pass me one of our elfroot potions.”
Nevin dug into a box in the cart and pulled out a small vial before passing it to the old man.
“Here, drink this.” The old man handed her the potion.
Leah looked at it in confusion. “What is this?”
“Elfroot, my dear. Should help that cut, any other injuries they gave you. You never know what kind of infections you can get from bandit knives, those shiteaters.”
“Grandfather…” Nevin admonished.
He waved Nevin off. “I’m old, I can curse as much as I want. I’m sure she doesn’t mind anyway, right?” he asked Leah.
She shook her head. “No… no, they are shiteaters. But…” she took a breath and tried to collect her thoughts. “I don’t understand, what is elfroot? I’ve never heard of it. Are there any side effects, or…”
The old man and Nevin gave each other a confused look.
“You’ve… never heard of elfroot?” the old man said.
“No, why? Should I have?” Leah asked.
“Well... where are you from exactly?”
“Milwaukee,” Leah said.
The old man and Nevin gave her a blank look.
“Can’t say I’ve ever heard of it,” the old man said. “Is that in Nevarra? Rivain?”
Leah furrowed her brow and shook her head. “No… I don’t know what those places are. It’s in America. You know America, right?”
The old man still looked confused.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Leah said, half to them and half to herself. “Okay, let’s try this another way. Where are we right now? City, country, hemisphere, whatever you’ve got.”
The old man cleared his throat. “Well, I suppose the nearest city is Highever. The road leads there eventually, although it would still take at least a half a day to get there. This is all Ferelden, though.”
Leah waited, expecting more. “And? Where is Ferelden? What country? Continent?”
Nevin spoke up this time. “Ferelden is the country, miss. In the south of Thedas.”
Leah looked from him to the old man, then shook her head. “This is crazy. My geography isn’t that bad. I’ve never heard of any of these places.”
The old man spoke again. “We’re headed into the village on the other side of this forest. There’s a man there by the name of Moore who may be able to help. He’s a bit more worldly than we are. I’m afraid we’re just two simple merchants.”
Leah fiddled with the potion in her hands. “Yeah… yeah, okay. I guess that’s my best bet, find someone in the village to help,” she acquiesced.
“In the meantime, please drink that potion. You’ll feel better. I promise,” the old man said.
Leah was still a little wary after being attacked, but since the man and his grandson had saved her she decided to trust them. “Sure, okay,” she opened the vial and looked into it, then glanced at her saviors before she tossed the potion back like a shot of alcohol.
The taste wasn’t as bad as she expected. It was a little bitter, but it was subtle and soothing at the same time. She felt the pains from her beating subside, and was surprised to find nothing left of the cut on her neck.
“Wow… that felt worse than it must have been,” she said, touching the spot where the knife had drawn blood.
The old man smiled. “Good ol’ elfroot. Works like a charm. Now, let’s be off! Nevin, ready your crossbow in case those jackasses appear again.”
Nevin sighed. “Yes, grandfather.”
The old man shook the reins and Tiny the not-so-tiny horse took off once more down the road.
Leah tried to take in everything that had just happened, but it was still too much to process. She stopped forcing it and let herself be lulled by Tiny’s steady pace and the soothing sway of the tree branches in the breeze. Before she knew it they had left the forest and could see a village up ahead.
Another thirty minutes later the cart arrived at the edge of the village and the old man stopped Tiny.
“Here we are. Moore’s house is the third one on the right, down this road,” he pointed straight ahead. “But before I let you go, if you’ll accept one more gift?” He gestured to Nevin. “Pull that set of leather armor out of the sack we picked up in Lothering.”
“Grandfather, we need the coin…” Nevin protested.
“Don’t argue. She needs her life more than we need coin,” the old man insisted.
Nevin did as he was told.
The old man handed Leah a pair of leather pants with a matching chestpiece, linen undershirt and boots.
“I can’t accept this,” Leah said, as humbled by the generosity as she was confused by the style of clothing.
“Please, my dear. You’ll lose your toes without something on your feet, and you’ll lose more than a little blood without something to protect you from bandits. We can spare it.”
Leah looked down at the leather, then back up at the old man and Nevin. “Thank you. For everything. I’ll repay you before I go home. Or after. Or… what’s your name anyway?” she asked the old man.
He waved her off. “Who knows anymore. Grandfather is as good as whatever I was called before. Don’t worry about repaying me. You just promise that you’ll help someone else in need someday.”
She smiled. “I can absolutely do that.”
“Good! Hurry up and change in the back of the cart before anyone sees and then be off with you!” the old man said.
Leah blushed at the thought of changing clothes out in the open, but realized she had little choice. The old man and Nevin walked around to the front of the cart to tend to Tiny, giving her what little privacy would be available.
The pants were a little tight, and the boots a little big, but Leah felt much warmer and more comfortable than she expected. When she was finished she approached the old man and Nevin once more.
“Thank you again,” she said, smiling and shaking the old man’s hand.
“Good luck, my dear! I hope you find home again soon.”
Leah headed towards the house that Grandfather had said belonged to Moore. When she was closer, she saw a young man with long dark hair chopping wood outside.
“Excuse me, is this Moore’s house?” Leah asked.
The young man turned and she caught a glimpse of an unexpectedly long and pointed ear. He caught her surprised expression, and frowned at her. “What, like you’ve never seen an elf before?”
Leah opened her mouth to respond, but found she had no idea what to say.
“Hmph. Just go in, don’t expect me to hold the door or announce you or anything. I get paid to cut wood, that’s it.” The young man gave her look of disdain and returned to his work.
Leah was dazed. Those had to be prosthetics, right? she thought to herself. If they were, they were remarkable. She hadn’t been able to tell where his ears ended and the prosthetic began.
She knocked on the wooden door and waited.
After a couple seconds it opened, and a middle aged man with brown hair and a beard appeared. “Yes?”
“Are you Moore?” Leah asked.
“Aye, what do you want?”
Leah was a little annoyed by the brusqueness, but considered that she was a stranger knocking on his door.
“My name is Leah, I was picked up by an old man and his grandson, Nevin. They found me on the road, I’m completely lost and they thought you might be able to help me.”
Moore looked around behind her, then nodded. “Grandfather, eh? Come inside.”
“Does he actually have a name? He wouldn’t tell me.”
“If he does, I don’t know it. He’s just Grandfather. Why did he think I could help you?” Moore asked, sitting down in a chair at a desk.
“I don’t know. I woke up in this field, and I tried to ask them where we were, what city or country. But they didn’t recognize where I was from, and I didn’t recognize the place they said we were… so now I’m here. I’m lost, and I really want to get home,” Leah said.
“So where are you from?” Moore asked, leaning back in his chair.
“Milwaukee. It’s in America,” Leah said.
Moore narrowed his eyes and looked at her, just as confused as Grandfather and Nevin.
“I’m not familiar with those places,” he finally said. “This is Ferelden. In the south of Thedas. Is America in another country?”
Leah sighed, frustrated. “No, no. America is the country. Is this England or something? Everyone has a British accent…”
Moore frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know England either.”
Leah rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I have no idea where I am, and no one has any idea where I’m trying to go.”
Moore rose from his chair and walked around the desk towards the door. “I don’t think I can help you. I’m sorry.”
“No, please—” Leah reached out to stop him and he jerked back.
He looked at her strangely. “You need to leave. Now.”
“I need help, can you at least point me in the right direction? Someone else who might know more?” Leah took a step towards him.
“Stay back,” Moore commanded.
Leah shook her head in disbelief. “I just want to go home, why are you acting like I’m here to hurt you?”
“Something’s wrong. I don’t trust you. Turn around and forget you met me.”
“No!” Leah was getting angry. “This is crazy! I’m lost, and you’re sending me out there to be killed by thieves! I don’t know these roads, or these towns, and I need to find someone who can help me!”
“I’m only warning you once more. Walk out of here while you still can,” he raised his hands up towards her.
“Warning me? I got jumped on a dirt road! And saved by a horse-drawn cart carrying an old man and his grandson wielding a crossbow! Where are the cars?” Leah took another step towards Moore and he retreated in equal measure. “Where are the cities? Where are the stores, and the gas stations, and the telephones? I just want to go HOME!”
As soon as Leah said “home,” she felt a surge of electricity pulse through her. The sharpness of the pain made her drop to her knees.
“Fuck,” she gasped and clenched her teeth. The initial jolt passed, but it left a deep ache. After a moment she tried to get up. “What the hell?” She looked up at Moore and saw a crackle of blue energy in his hands. Her eyes widened, and the next second a forceful wave pushed her back, slamming her against the door.
“If you don’t leave and keep babbling this nonsense, the templars will come,” Moore said. “I don’t know if you’re an abomination, or just mad. But those places you said don’t exist. And there’s something off about you, I can sense it. I’m not going to get found out as a mage because of you. Leave now, or I will kill you.”
Leah scrambled to her feet and backed towards the door. She felt for the handle, never taking her eyes off of Moore.
Once outside, she slammed the door behind her. The pain of being shocked and thrown against the door caught up with her and she winced, almost doubling over. She breathed through the worst of it, all while trying to comprehend what she had just felt and heard. She turned and caught the eye of the “elf” she had spoken to, who smirked at her.
Despite her deep breaths she succumbed to the renewed panic threatening to burst loose, and she broke into a run. She bolted away from Moore, away from the forest, through the rest of the village and didn’t stop until she reached a clearing. She hunched over, breathing hard.
“What the fuck was that?” she said, falling to her knees and trembling in the dirt. “Where am I? Where the fuck am I?”
Leah sat and ruminated over the unfamiliar and alarming information she had received during the past day. Her mind ran in circles. She wanted it to be a dream. If it wasn’t, that meant she was somewhere very far away from home, like in some kind of children’s book. A place with magic and elves. One where it was dangerous to be a stranger. But if those stories were right, then there was a way to get back home, right? A door, a hot-air balloon, a mirror. Something.
She got to her feet and started to walk, but didn’t know what direction to go in. She walked in a circle before starting in the direction of the sun, the one familiar thing she had encountered.
Darkness came quickly, and Leah knew she had to find shelter. She saw an outcropping of rock not far away and headed towards it. It wasn’t much, but she could hide underneath for the night.
She huddled against the stone wall, barely covered by the rock above. She knew she should sleep, but every noise in the dark heightened her senses, making it impossible to rest. Even if it had been silent, Leah’s mind wouldn’t let her forget that she was trapped in some unknown place with no idea of what new danger was around the corner. She shivered violently as the dark deepened and the temperature dropped, but her conscious mind didn’t even register the cold. She kept picturing the crackling energy in Moore’s hands and feeling a knife at her throat.
Eventually the sun rose, and light filtered in under the rock. Leah still didn’t want to move, but forced herself to crawl out into the grass. She sat on her knees and looked around. The village was barely visible, and she couldn’t see another building aside from the castle in the distance.
She wondered if there was a point to heading in that direction. Would they turn her away too? Would they think she was dangerous? Would they try to kill her?
In some kind of compromise that only made sense to her terrified mind, Leah headed in a direction between the forest of bandits and knives and the castle of unknown danger. Home was the only thing driving her, despite how impossible it seemed.
Later that day her hunger and injuries caught up with her. Her muscles ached, and she was sure there were bruises from being slammed against Moore’s front door. She remembered the potion that Grandfather had given her.
“Elfroot,” she whispered. She had no idea what it looked like, but Grandfather had made it sound common, so she reasoned that it should be easy to find.
After searching the immediate area Leah found one particular plant in multiple areas. She hoped this meant it was elfroot, but knew it was a huge risk. The small dark green leaves seemed like they could mirror the shape of an elf’s ear, and the red fruit it bore was appealing to her empty stomach.
She gathered as much of the plant as she could, and brought it to a stream. She washed the plants before plucking the leaves and berries. She sat alongside the stream with them in her hand, nervous about eating strange vegetation. But she was hungry and in pain, and took the gamble. She stuffed several leaves into her mouth, followed by the fruit. It was on the tart side, but otherwise didn’t send up any red flags. Not that she knew what would. Leah had never been camping a day in her life, and had no survivalist skills. She followed the plants up with several mouthfuls of water.
When nothing bad happened right away, she decided to get up and continue moving. It was disappointing that she hadn’t felt the same relief that the potion had provided, but she considered the fact that she was eating the raw plants versus a prepared concoction. She hoped it just took longer to work.
After walking for another twenty minutes, a pain in her stomach made it very clear that she had eaten the wrong plant. A few minutes later she was vomiting up the leaves and fruits along with every ounce of water in her system. She tried to go back to the stream and drink more water when the vomiting stopped, but she continued to expel everything she imbibed. After a while, she became so disoriented that she couldn’t even remember which direction she was supposed to be walking, and went around in circles.
When she became too tired, she would sink back to her knees against a tree or a large rock and simply sit. She was sick, dehydrated, shivering and unaware of time.
When the sun set again, a part of her remembered that she needed to find someplace out of sight to rest, but the best she could find was a large tree. Sleep came for an hour here or there, but more often she would tremble and listen to animals moving around in the dark around her.
On the third day, Leah had a brief moment of clarity and realized she would die if she didn’t stop her aimless wandering. She no longer trusted herself to find food, and if the plant she ate didn’t stop making her too sick to drink water, she would die here. Away from her family, her friends, her life. She had been circling the castle off in the distance, and realized that was her best bet for help surviving. So she pointed herself towards it.
With a goal in mind, she was able to sleep for a couple of hours that night. The previous sickness along with her injuries still left her exhausted in the morning. She didn’t make much progress towards the castle.
For another full day she made her way in that direction. In the early evening of the next day she could tell that she was close, but doubted whether she would make it. She was so tired. As she stood staring at the castle, her knees buckled and she fell. Her arms shook as she tried to hold herself up, and when she raised her head her vision swam. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, lying in the grass just like her first day in Thedas. Before she lost consciousness, she swore she heard a dog barking.