Chapter Text
Bellara had quickly realised this was no ordinary artifact hunt in Arlathan Forest. She had found herself trapped in a Veil bubble with no immediate way to escape on her own. She wasn’t at the panicking stage yet but she knew she had to find a way out somehow. The magic in the forest had changed and shifted in a way she couldn't immediately explain and she needed to find an answer.
As she was moving through the Veil bubble she swore she heard talking. It was a male and a female voice that she heard walking in her general direction. Bellara didn't know if they were friend or foe so she decided to take a closer look. Her plan was to watch them from inside a bush and spy on them for a period of time before revealing herself. She watched the pair easily dismantle a sentinel. After watching the brief skirmish she popped out of her hiding spot to dismantle another Sentinel that was shaping up to attack.
Up close she now got a real good look at the pair in front of her. One was a dwarf with flame red hair and the other was a human who appeared to be a mage of some kind. He had quickly pulled his staff and the dwarf was in the process of pulling an arrow from her quiver.
Bellara had noticed how the mage had positioned himself in front of the dwarf in a protective stance, although it was obvious from the dwarfs actions she didn’t need protecting. For her part Bellara tried to appear as non threatening as possible and smiled at the pair.
“Oh people, where did you come from?”
The pair looked at her and it was the man who spoke first.
“Are you Bellara, Strife sent us to find you”
Bellara looked slightly agitated “I’ve only been gone three days and the protocol is seven days”.
“The situation has changed, I’m afraid there's an emergency and we need an expert with Elvian artifacts and the veil.” The man then introduced himself as Rook and the dwarf introduced herself as Lace Harding.
Bellara again smiled at Rook and began to take in his features. She estimated he was just under 6 foot tall, with short blond hair and piercing blue eyes. His nose had a scar across it and it appeared to have been broken more than once. He was handsome though she thought to herself. He was also lean, not an ounce of excess bodyfat on him. She couldn't place his clothing so she guessed it came from one of the cities. It looked lightweight but durable. She also noticed a few tattoos on his arms and collarbone. Finally she looked at his hands, he had holstered his staff by this point but she could see his knuckles were scuffed. In her experience mages tended not to punch things but it was clear from his appearance he knew how to fight.
“We need to get out of this Veil bubble before we can do anything else” was Bellara’s matter of fact response. Rook smiled and nodded in agreement, Bellara couldn’t help but wonder, had he studied her in the way she had studied him.
As the trio walked through the forest Bellara rambled about the changes she had seen and felt in the magic of Arlathan. Rook would occasionally interject and ask questions but the pair seemed content to let Bellara talk. It was only when they encountered Dark Spawn or Sentinels that Bellara went silent. She focused on the fight and tried her best to maintain distance between herself and the enemies.
Rook on the other hand seemed to relish the up close battles. He would intentionally draw threats towards him and dispatch them with his staff. It was clear Harding was used to this as she would take positions where she could fire arrows from a safe distance. It didn't take Bellara long to see Rook was unusual for a mage. She realised he favoured fire magic as opposed to her shock magic. She hadn’t met many fire mages as typically the mages she encountered favoured the other elements or necromancy.
They had finally located the artifact when the trio were attacked in a close space by an ogre. Once again it was Rook who confronted the ogre up close and Bellara was amazed at the speed he was able to move. Bellara had never faced anything like this and the adrenaline surge she felt was incredible. Once the ogre had been defeated she even had her wits around her enough to make a quip which earned a chuckle from Rook and a smile from Harding.