“Valan,” she repeated, nodding her small head in understanding. “And Fedrel.” She turned to the other elf and looked him over again, still smiling. Though other children might have become shy in front of two very large and capable strangers, Aedre was not that child. In fact, now that she had their names she felt as if she had known them forever. She had no worries about bringing the two back to her village. In fact, even if they had not asked to be brought back there once they had dealt with the creature, she would have offered. These two had saved her life and so many others through their great act of kindness just now. She also had to show off what she had found to her people, and how she had helped them defeat the cruel monster. She was certainly proud.
“My home will be pleased to see you,” she confirmed with bright eyes and a nod. She was sure that trading would bring her people plenty of joy. It was not often that outsiders came to this part of the wilds. Often they would see the Dalish on their journeys through the forests, but it had been quite a while since the last caravan had passed through her village. “We do not get many visitors. We like to trade.”
Once Fedrel had started skinning the wolf, Aedre realized that she hadn’t achieved what she had set out to do that morning. “One moment!” She exclaimed, giving them another smile. “I must get the water before we will go.” She immediately gathered the bucket up once more and hurried off to the lake. With quick movements she filled it to the top, and rushed back toward the two elves. They were making fast progress on skinning the animal, and had already begun preparing to burn it.
All of a sudden the little girl was sad. As she struggled up the bank with the bucket, her steps began to slow. She came to her safe spot where she and Valan had been standing before and set down her burden. Though this animal had been sick and had threatened so many lives, she was sad that it had to pass into the other life. She watched as Fedrel worked, set in his ways as if he had done it thousands of times. And as far as Aedre knew, he had.
“Does it make you sad?” she suddenly asked, tears boiling up and stinging her eyes. There were only a few, but she wiped at her cheek as they slipped down her cheeks. Her people had been taught that when anything died, its soul would go on. It would create another being and balance out life. But as she thought of it more, the idea of leaving this world was hard. It was certainly a crisis that most children would not have to deal with until they knew better. And Aedre was a sympathetic soul; she had watched the creature alive before losing its soul and dying. It was not a simple thing for any child to have to go through, and though she had made sure to send his soul back to the spirit world, his attachment to the physical was gone. "When spirits have to leave us?"