In a land far from our own, there was a town nestled near the peak of an extraordinary momentous mountain. The people in this village lived in constant fear of the hills around them, as they housed a dark secret.

The people built up their small village, turning it into a castellated fortress to keep out unwanted guests. The villagers farmed, fished and lived inside this settlement, only exiting to gather more resources to repair items or to build. The darkness they were trying to prevent still seeped through holes, slowly corrupting those of impure nature. The people this darkness touched became known as darkspawn to the others in the village and were exiled for the single reason of distrust.

One such exile was a truly pure man corrupted out of grief. This man had been trying his hand at winning the heart of a beautiful woman of the village for some time, but she was swept away in moments by the river one spring from the melted snowfall the winter before. This massive loss drove the man insane, he spent days in his home before finally being pried from it, and cast out by the fearful villagers, whom of which could hear his shrieks throughout the night.

This man now roamed the hills near his hometown, a ghoul to be forever tormented by the memories of his lost love. Months passed before he was spotted again by the townsfolk, those of which had observed him wandering aimlessly through the plains. They decided to capture him to see if he had but an ounce of his humanity left within him.

Later, under the shroud of darkness they ensnared him in a trap as he wandered along the barren landscape. His emotionless face cracked with a swift look of surprise, before slowly returning to a soulless gaze. The village's plan was successful, and they brought the man into the town garrison and locked him in the stocks so that he would not flee or attempt to harm anyone.

They brought select villagers from the homes around the garrison to see him, hoping that anyone could return some feeling into his eyes, or make him speak. This process continued and day by day those who had captured him lost more and more faith that this would work. One day, soon before they were ready to stop for the day they brought in a woman from the outskirts of the settlement to attempt the process, she was shown to the corrupt man, and for a second, she swore that she saw something in his eyes, as if he recognized her.
It was only when she spoke did she see this light return in them.

The man did not speak through any process before, but during this one began to mutter, as if he was trying to communicate with her or with the others in the room watching him. They tried to put together what he was saying, but no one could piece it together coherently. As they began to walk the woman out the muttering became louder, they then lead her closer, and the muttering became quieter.

It was only when she was within reach of him did he look up and stop mumbling. He stared into her eyes for a while before something within him clicked, and he fell into sleep. The woman was then lead out of the room, and questioned on if she knew the man, to which she replied "Yes". This woman had seen the man around the village beforehand, and when she happened to notice him he would duck away or look off in another direction.

He had been the only person to ever show such interest in her. One day she saw him with another girl and this depressed her so much that she jumped over the edge of the town bridge into the raging waters below, sweeping her away. In the following months she was found, still clinging to life in a small cave off the side of the river. She was taken back to the village where she received treatment and was nursed back to health.

She, however did not see the man for which her heart had longed for so strongly before. The two had shared a bond that no one could ever take away, but now that bond was close to the breaking point as the man was inflicted by this curse. She visited the place where he was kept every day for a month on end before anyone saw what she had seen that day.

The look he gave when she spoke to him, it was getting stronger and stronger every time she came to see him. It was only after two months of these visits that he finally said anything that anyone could understand. Over time he continued to speak more and more to the group, which the villagers took as a sign of returning humanity. She made a request that night, to take him to her home, as she thought that may bring back more of the memories lost to this infection which had crept into his soul.

As he was taken there it was very different from when he was first captured, he looked around as if he recognized the buildings and townspeople he saw, and did not give out the dead gaze which he had given to them so many times before. That night, as he was put into the guest room of her house for the night, he spoke to her. He only said two words, but it was enough for her.

"Thank You."

The woman over the next few days got dreadfully sick, and the man, unable to feel or speak properly, could do very little to help her. He felt extreme concern for the first time in almost a year, and this need to help the woman fought back the impurity that had burrowed it's way deep into his soul. As she got worse, his concern grew, and the effects of the darkness faded from him, he began to regain his ability to speak, and began to express more emotions.

He stumbled to the market, fighting the effects of the darkness which was trying to reclaim his body. The people were still fearful of him as they had lost many townsfolk in the past through this curse. Thankfully the woman who ran the healing shop in the market was a forgiving and hopeful old lady.

He spoke in short sentences, trying to explain what was happening to his love, and after much struggle she understood. She gave the man one of her vials of a tonic which she had prepared to cure extreme illnesses. She gave this to the man because she knew the pain of losing someone, and did not want him to have to go through that again. He shuffled back to the woman's home after thanking the woman to the best of his ability.

He gave the woman the potion and her fever broke minutes later. He sat up with her the whole night, afraid that if he left, the illness would return. He fought off sleep all night, and finally fell asleep at the break of dawn. The woman, not knowing well what happened, woke up, confused. She had not remembered falling asleep in her bed or anything over the past two days.

She woke to see the man which she had cared for asleep in a chair beside her bed. Concerned, she took him to the guest room where she had let him sleep. Later that day, he woke, deep with fear. He rushed to the woman's room to see that she was not there. He searched the house room by room to try and find some evidence that she was still there.

Defeated, he sat on the floor before hearing the front gate open. He rushed to the window to see who was there, seeing that it was the woman he was deeply relieved. It was only then that he realized that he could finally move without restriction, he could breathe normally, and he did not feel the corruption flowing through his very being. As the woman came into the house, he greeted her with a giant hug.

She was the one who had saved him from the growing darkness within himself.