Turns out, wandering aimlessly through a desolate wasteland is a lot less fun than it sounds. Not that I expected much, but still. The sun—if you could even call that angry orange blob in the sky a sun—was baking me alive. I could feel my brain slowly turning into scrambled eggs inside my skull. My throat felt like sandpaper, and every step I took sent jolts of pain shooting through my body.
I'd been walking for what felt like hours, and so far, my grand expedition had led me to exactly jack squat. No water, no shelter, and definitely no answers. Just more rocks, more dirt, and more of that faint, sulfurous smell that made my nose twitch every few seconds.
"Great. I survived a freaky wolf and a bunch of homicidal scavengers just to die of thirst," I muttered, stumbling over another rock. "This just keeps getting better and better."
I took a deep breath and forced myself to keep moving. Complaining wasn't going to help, and standing still was a surefire way to end up as buzzard chow. Not that I'd seen any buzzards around, but with my luck, they'd show up the second I stopped moving.
As I trudged along, I noticed the ground starting to slope downward. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but at least it was different. I followed the incline, my feet slipping and sliding on loose gravel. The air was cooler here, and as I rounded a bend, I saw it—a narrow ravine cutting through the landscape like a deep wound. At the bottom, I caught a glimmer of something—water.
"Oh, thank God," I breathed, practically tripping over myself as I scrambled down the rocky slope. The closer I got, the clearer it became—a small trickle of water seeping out from between two rocks, forming a tiny pool. It wasn't much, but right now, it looked like a freaking oasis.
I dropped to my knees beside the pool, scooping up a handful of water and bringing it to my lips. It was warm and tasted like dirt, but I didn't care. It was water. Glorious, life-saving water. I drank greedily, feeling it soothe my parched throat and cool my overheated body. For a moment, I allowed myself to just sit there, enjoying the simple pleasure of not dying of dehydration.
That's when I saw it—the first sign of trouble. Just a few feet away, partially hidden behind a boulder, was a dark stain on the ground. I squinted, trying to make it out. Blood. Dried, but recent. I looked around, my heart rate picking up again. There were more stains, leading away from the pool and deeper into the ravine.
"Because nothing can ever just be simple, can it?" I muttered, pushing myself to my feet. I should've known better than to think I'd get a break. I followed the trail, keeping my movements slow and careful, my senses on high alert. The ravine was narrow, the walls closing in on either side, making me feel like I was walking into a trap.
The blood trail led me around another bend, and that's when I saw them—a group of four… people? No, not people. They were bigger, stockier, with skin that looked almost like stone—dark gray, cracked, and rough. They looked like they'd been through hell and back, their clothes torn, and their bodies covered in cuts and bruises. Two of them were lying motionless on the ground, while the other two—one male and one female—were slumped against the ravine wall, breathing heavily.
I hesitated. These weren't like the scavengers I'd encountered earlier. They were something else. Something different. And they were hurt—badly. I glanced around, checking for any signs of an ambush or a trap, but saw nothing. Just the ravine, the trickle of water, and the battered remains of whatever fight had gone down here.
I took a cautious step forward. "Hey," I called out, keeping my voice low but firm. "You guys okay?"
The male looked up, his eyes narrowing at me. "Stay… stay back," he rasped, his voice thick with pain. He tried to lift a crude stone axe, but his arm trembled and fell back to his side.
"I'm not here to hurt you," I said, raising my hands. "Just… trying to help. You look like you could use it."
The female, who had been slumped against the wall with her eyes closed, slowly opened them. Her gaze was sharp, piercing, despite the pain etched across her face. "Who… who are you?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"That's a good question," I replied, offering a half-smile. "I'd tell you if I knew. Let's just say I'm the guy who didn't die fighting a wolf and some scavengers today, and I'd like to keep that streak going. What happened here?"
The male glared at me, but the female seemed to relax just a fraction. "Ambushed," she said, wincing as she tried to sit up straighter. "We were ambushed by… a raiding party. Took the ore… left us for dead."
"Raiding party?" I repeated, trying to wrap my head around what I was hearing. "Who would do this? And… what are you, exactly?" I immediately regretted my wording. "I mean, not like in a bad way or anything—I just don't know anything about this place. Or, you know… anything at all."
She looked at me for a moment, as if deciding whether to answer. "We're Orek'Tor," she said finally. "Miners. They attacked us for our haul."
I nodded, pretending like I knew what that meant. "Okay, Orek'Tor. Got it. Look, let me take a look at your injuries. I'm not a doctor, but I think I can help. If you'll let me?"
The male grunted, clearly not thrilled about the idea, but he didn't stop me. I took a closer look at their wounds—deep cuts, nasty bruises, and a few broken bones from the looks of it. I wasn't sure how I knew what to do, but my brain seemed to flash with images and instructions, like snippets of some medical training I didn't remember getting. It was like my mind was flipping through a first aid manual on fast forward.
I tore a strip from my already ragged shirt and started wrapping it around a particularly nasty gash on the male's arm. He winced but didn't pull away. "Okay, so you're miners," I said, trying to keep them talking. "What were you mining for?"
"Precious minerals," the female replied, her voice still weak. "For the forge… and the clans. I'm Kara. Kara Stonefist," she added, nodding toward the male. "That's Varric."
"Nice to meet you, Kara," I said, offering a small, awkward smile as I tightened the makeshift bandage. "Though I wish it were under better circumstances."
She chuckled weakly, a faint smile tugging at her lips despite the pain. "You… you speak strangely," she said, her eyes studying me closely. "Not like anyone I've ever heard before."
I paused, unsure how to respond. I didn't know how people usually talked here, or anywhere, really. "Yeah, I'm… still figuring things out," I said slowly, realizing how true that was. "To be honest, I don't even know where here is."
Kara's expression softened a bit, though her eyes remained cautious. "You're not from around here, are you?" she asked, her voice less accusatory and more curious now.
I hesitated, unsure how to respond. "Yeah, I guess I'm a little out of place," I said carefully. "Truth is, I don't even know where I am… or how I got here. One minute, I'm waking up face-down in the dirt, and the next, I'm patching up strangers in a place that feels like the world's worst camping trip."
Kara's expression softened a bit, though her eyes remained wary. "You're not from these lands, then," she said, more a statement than a question.
I shook my head. "I don't think so. I don't remember anything—who I am, where I'm from… even this place." I gestured vaguely at the ravine around us. "It's all a blank."
Varric, the male miner, grunted in pain, shifting uncomfortably against the ravine wall. I glanced over at him, then at the two motionless figures nearby. "And… what about them?" I asked hesitantly, already fearing the answer.
Kara's face fell, and she shook her head. "Gone," she said softly, her voice barely more than a whisper. "There's… nothing you can do for them."
I nodded, feeling a pang of sorrow even though I had no connection to these people. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Varric grunted, his expression darkening. "Sorry doesn't bring back the dead," he muttered, his tone bitter but not directed at me. "And it won't stop whoever did this from coming back."
I finished tying off the bandage on his arm and sat back on my heels, looking between the two of them. "I know I'm just some stranger who stumbled into your mess, but I can help you get somewhere safer," I offered. "Do you think you can walk?"
Kara nodded, her face set with determination despite her obvious pain. "We can manage," she said, accepting my hand as I helped her to her feet. Varric was slower to rise, but he managed with my help. Together, we started making our way back toward the trickle of water.
"Thank you," Kara said after a few moments of silence. "For… for helping us. You didn't have to."
"Yeah, well," I replied, glancing around warily as we moved. "I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do, but leaving people to die doesn't seem right. Feels like the wrong kind of first impression, you know?"
Kara gave me a sidelong look, a hint of a smile playing at her lips. "A good heart," she said quietly. "Not many of those left around here."
I shrugged, feeling a strange mix of pride and uncertainty. Maybe I didn't know who I was or where I came from, but maybe that didn't matter. I knew what felt right, and that would have to be enough for now.