A Fading Shadow
Chapter 1 - The Harrowing
"The called her by many names: The Traitor, the Warden, the Hero of Ferelden or the Conqueror of the Blight. But once there was a time, when neither I nor anyone else know her as anyone else than Solana Amell, a promising and pious Apprentice. I want to tell you what I think of the rumors, that claim she is working against the chantry and fuels the resistance of the mages. Who knows a daughter of the chantry better than her mother confessor?"
Mother Elene, at the Chantry Council of Val Royeux, 9:32 Dragon.
9:30 Dragon. The Beginning of the Fifth Blight.
Ferelden Circle of Magic - Harrowing Chamber
"Your magic is a gift, but also a curse, for demons of the dream realm –the Fade—are drawn to you, and seek to use you as a gateway into this world."
Solana Amell couldn`t help but shiver as Knight Commander Greagoir looked down at her imposingly. The cool air permeating the Harrowing chamber was not helping her nerves and made her suck in a quick breath. Her eyes went over the ornate breastplate of the commander, giving him a curt nod as she stared at a point over his shoulder and hoped that her usual tactic to avoid the Templars attention would work like this too…
She could barely hide her sigh of relief as First Enchanter Irving moved up to them and said in an equally serious, but thankfully far less hostile voice, "This is why the harrowing exists. The Ritual sends you into the Fade, and there you will face a demon, armed with only your will."
Looking up into her teachers' wizened face, as his eyes bore down at her with a strictness she knew from the many hours she had spent in the small circle of chosen apprentices, Solana felt a bit more…secure. Her blue eyes looking up to him as she gave a small nod: she would make him proud:
"I am ready, First Enchanter." She said firmly and clenched her hands in the fists of her robes, the dark blue material feeling soft and well-worn to her hands and was just as soothing to her as the habit of clutching the golden sigil that closed the belts around her waist.
Of course her moment of steadiness had to be interrupted as the Templar Commander had to state another warning, this time more grim as she pierced her with his glare and said deathly serious, "Know this apprentice: if you fail, we Templars will perform our duty. You will die."
The last words were spoken with a finality that send shivers along Solana`s back and involuntary her gaze was drawn to the silent Templars, who lined the walls of the round chamber and were looking at the room impassive and impersonal.
She had been brought into the Circle as a child and she had only faint memories of her birth family…memories which had been quickly supplanted by her fellow mages as her new brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts…with Irving being the strict but nice Grandfather. The Templars were not part of their family but usually they were more like…furniture: always there in the background, always standing nearly completely immobile in classrooms and dormitories, while their helmets obscured nearly every Identity. She knew that some of them did not like mages at all, while others took their vows of taking care of them very serious not only in the punishing line of their duty…some of them were real nice. Cullen for example was quite… she did her best not to blush, this wasn`t the moment to remember the giggling and whispering the other girls had with her after the young blonde Templar had followed her through the tower like a love struck puppy.
Thankfully the First Enchanter snapped her back into the here and now as he gestured towards the middle of the chamber, a small raised stand holding a bowl with a faint blue glowing substance spread in it. Even half a room away she felt the tingling travelling over her skin as the pure undiluted sensation of raw magic washed over her senses, making her step back nervously and stroke one hand through her blonde hair, its dirty brown strains slipping through her hands.
"This is lyrium: the very essence of magic and your gateway into the Fade." The Knight Commander stated impassively and urged her to move forward and for a moment Solana nearly lost her footing and fell down.
Gateway? She thought, remembering that nearly every class she had visited warned her and other young mages about the dangers of the dream realm and how its inhabitants, the demons, thought of the Circles of Magi as a well-filled buffet, to which they only needed an invitation.
And now they wanted her to enter the Fade? Voluntary, if this was what every mage has gone through before becoming an Enchanter. It would explain why only so many of those we were sent to the harrowing returned…and why there were even some apprentices, who preferred the rite of tranquility over it.
As if sensing her questions and growing discomfort the First Enchanter spoke to her again, his voice weak and old, but carrying a strong steely undertone beneath it, while he looked right into her eyes, his hand clutching his staff making her feel her own rest heavily on her back.
"The Harrowing is a secret out of necessity, child. Every mage must go through this trial by fire. As we succeeded, so shall you." He said encouragingly, ignoring the huff from Greagoir to his left and instead continued on, "Keep your wits about you and remember the Fade is a realm of dreams. The spirits might rule it, but your will is real." He said in a firm voice, his eyes locked on her own.
They held eye contact for a long moment, before a heavy armoured hand moved through the air in an impatient wave and the glove came to a stop between the First Enchanter and his student.
"The apprentice must go through this test alone First Enchanter." The Knight Commander said disapprovingly, rather displeased at Irving for giving away that much information. With a sharp glare at the elder mage, he turned and took her in from head to toe with a scrutinizing gaze that only served to make Solana squirm more uncomfortably before he finally stated with a tone as heavy as granite, "You are ready."
The young woman looked up to the silver haired Templar, her lips forming a thin line as she kept her cool, trying her best to not cry out in panic or turn around and run. Her soft and small hands clutched the sides of her robes as she took a step forward towards the centre of the room, closer to the waiting Lyrium. She felt the eyes of both man on her back as she hesitantly raised her hand out for the blue crystals, her eyes widening as it started to glow brighter and brighter in her hand, her nostrils flaring as the dust crept into her lungs and blood…
Then her whole vision was filled with light...and then she felt her body sinking to the ground, a gasp escaping her lips as she reached out further and…
She fell onto the floor only…it wasn`t the cold stone floor she expected. Instead, her hand sunk into it slightly in and Solana felt sand slipping between her fingers. As she looked up everything was…blurred as if she was seeing through one of the lenses they used for astronomy. After a moment or two it hit her: the strange, almost alien ground, the feeling of pulsating growth all over it and the way everything seemed simply…less real than it should be.
She was in the Fade.
Slowly standing up, the young mage looked around and tried to suppress the shudder which tried to take hold of her body. Everything around her felt simply…off. But at the same time it was far too similar to a dream. A good one, one that makes you wake up refreshed in the morning and with a smile on your lips. There wasn't any reason why she should feel like that though, but the faint feeling still clung to her, as if wanting her to stay.
All people were connected to the Fade when they slept, some more consciously than others. In the end, for most of her brothers and sisters, dreams simply were more lucid than those of non-mages. One usually did know when he was dreaming and could shift the dreams a little bit and while that seemed exciting at first, too much work in the dreams could lead to demons getting drawn to your little bubble in the Fade. Sooner or later you would either say something unwise and get put down by the Templars or end up under an even worse scrutiny of the Council of Enchanters, who was just as strict when it came to signs of demonic corruption in the tower population.
But this time it was different: she was really in the Fade and not in her more private and far more personal dreams. She shuddered and looked around once more, barely controlling herself from falling down on her knees and praying to the Maker as a cloud―or whatever it is that was parting the floating mass of lands, small islands in the endless realm of the Fade―drifted away for a single moment and exposed pitch black towers and walls.
Her breath caught and she fell backwards onto her bottom again, shocked to the very bone, but at a second glance the view had disappeared, as if the small glimpse of what might have been the once most sacred and now most despoiled place had never existed.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Solana`s breath settled back to normal and she became painfully aware of her lack of staff, her hands once again closing around the belts of her robe again, wringing to do anything as she took a deep breath and stood up, taking more time to take in her surroundings this time. She seemed to stand on a small island of sorts, made out of a fusion of what seemed like ancient Tevinter architecture, a sandy stony ground of sorts and weirdly growing Fade…stuff.
She makes a face at the world in general. "Great Solana…just great." She mutters to herself as she shook her head. Reading all those volumes about the workings of the human and elven bodies, simply didn`t prepare her for, well, this! Her small anger at her teachers and the Templars for sending a healer mage like her into the Fade quickly evaporated as she took in the statue not so far away from her.
It seemed typical of her…surroundings. It looked like a statue of a magister from the Empire, but only if one did not look at the arms or head. Two sickle like appendages towered from the statues head and from its elbows down it bore another pair: lengthening the malformed arms to at least twice the length a normal arm should be.
Gulping as she remembered reading something about objects and spirits from beyond the veil, Solana took a step back and tried her best not to shiver in fear as she did a small bow, never taking her eyes off the statue: "Gr-greetings … Ser Statue?"
Her mind tumbled a bit as she tried to remember the hint…wasn`t it that one, if inexperienced with the dream realm, should greet all objects because one could never be sure if they would be a spirit…demon…or not? But the statue did not seem to be sentient, or simply wasn`t vocal about it: she looked at it for some time and finally shook her head nervously, walking over to the vase, which had somehow gotten into the Fade: "You don`t think he`s shy Madam Vase?" She said with a joking tone and felt a bit better as she gave the vase a nudge feeling her nerves calm down…
…only to nearly scream as high as her previous scream on the night Cullen dressed as a darkspawn and wanted to surprise her at the costume party as something glowed brightly from inside the vase. She tumbled backwards and her voice was only slightly less high pitched as she stammered in near panic:
"So…sorr―sorry Ms Vase! I…I didn't try to get….uhmm..too familiar?"
The words nearly tumbled over another as she scrambled away and simply looked at the vases opening that slowly dimmed down again. Looking at the dark mouth of the ceramic for another few moments, Solana slowly pushed herself up again and walked up to it, reaching out and smiling, pleasantly surprised as the light lit up again and played over her bare fingers. A soothing warmth was running along her digits and without thinking long she reached in and pulled out what seemed like two brightly growing orbs. It felt like being on the receiving end of a healing spell: or rather the build-up of one. Giving them a small unsure glance Solana finally decided and pushed them into a pocket on the right side of her belt, letting out a relieved sigh as they dimmed down again as soon as they let her hands: maybe they might help later.
Left of the vase were only some ruins with that strange nearly-Tevinter style the Fade seemed to be so fond of. Solana did climb over a few stones and took a look over the edge of the floating island she was on but quickly recoiled and staggered back as she was simply unable to see a floor and instead saw more and more and more….
She bit down. The Fade was huge. Maybe that was the reason why she found herself starting down the path, away from her small raised position, suspiciously taking a step forward and spotting another…glowing blue ball: but this one seemed not as peaceful or inanimate. Even as Solana brought up her hands it glowed brighter for a moment and she let out a painful cry as electricity arched over her, as if she had been hit by a training electric bolt.
Cursing her disinterest for offensive spells and how fascinated she had become by Senior Enchanter Wynne`s displays, Solana shot a few of the arcane bolts at the wraiths, if that was what they were. Even with her most basic spell it came down to exchanging not more than two spells before the wisp glowed a last time and fell to the ground, leaving Solana to rub her wrists nervously and trying to ignore the static coursing over her arm. Letting out a sigh she further looked over the path, trying to ignore the menacing, nearly fang like structure which grew out of the floor next to dark ferns and framed the path further towards the next wraith and…
Solana cried out in pain as the maker-damned thing shocked her with a low powered spell! Again! She gestured and more arcane bolts snapped into existence, not even draining her mana pool as the missiles hit the spirit and shattered its focus. Letting the young mage catch her breath again as she moved forward and spotted…a mouse jumping onto her shoes?
"Careful Sister! The demon!" The mouse cried in a deep male voice and Solana`s first instinct was to kick it away but…Sister?
Then the mouse's pursuer jumped into view and it was…a cat now? Bigger than one actually, and its eyes were more triangular and it's fangs sharper. While the cats in the tower were catching mice and rats this creature looked like it could go toe to toe with an mabari warhound in a battle between its agility and the hounds strength. It`s eyes glowed gold and it's body seemed to be made out of flickering shadows, giving the lynx an distinctly otherworldly look as it opened its mouth and showed a row of stark white teeth that clashed with the black of its own body. Its hind legs flexed and it got ready to pounce as a salvo of three arcane bolts hit its side, making it hiss as it was thrown backwards, rolling onto its side from where it only got up after a second or so, its ears and tail standing up as it let out a threatening hiss, both golden eyes trained onto the mouse on Solana`s feet.
Only after the shivering blonde had sent another barrage at the demonic creature, it skipped away with a last hiss, disappearing at the end of the path again, the last arcane bolts hot on its tail as it ran.
Letting out a relieved sigh Solana relaxed for a single moment and regretted it immediately as the male voice spoke up again from the mouse, "Thank you Sister! I feared that the demon would feast on me for breakfast today."
Looking down, the apprentice watched the mouse hop off her shoe and raise its head until its tiny eyes were looking upwards into her own and she trembled a little before slowly saying, "I`m Apprentice Enchanter Solana. I―take it that you are not a…demon?"
She might have shivered a little and felt justified with being nervous, but she still took some offense as the mouse let out a weary sigh and chuckled sadly.
"So they send another one? So very unprepared…did they even tell you what you are doing here?" It said instead of introducing itself, so Solana could only look down confused and answer, "I`m doing my Harrowing….and this is the Fade? So…"
She said and left the sentence open, trying to think of some answer. She had to be honest: she had no idea what she had to do, but being unable to answer a question was something she was rather uncomfortable with: she was known for knowing the most about magical theory under the apprentices after all.
"I am…" The mouse started and suddenly flashed in a bright light and where once had been a small rodent there was now a fully grown many with shaggy blonde hair that clung to his head, while two intense eyes looked back into her own and he said: "You can call me mouse."
"Mouse?" Solana repeated in barely held amazement as she stared at him and exclaimed full of curiosity: "How did you do that? I did not know any kind of magic that could―" He let her gush for a moment, before raising his hand to stall her and give himself a chance to speak.
"Sister, you are in the fade. You are only looking they you look because you think you look that way." Came his explanation in a serious tone, his voice keeping her silent as he nodded in greeting. "I was once an apprentice like you, but then I was sent here for my Harrowing and as you can see…" Mouse said mirthlessly and gestured down at himself, "…I failed. I took too long and the Templars thought I had lost and would not return. So they killed my body before something else could use it to return…and now I`m stuck here without a body to return."
Solanas eyes widened at his words and she stepped backwards in shock, gasping. "Killed? But the Templars are there to protect us…that's what the chantry sister told us! And the first Enchanter surely wouldn`t allow them to simply kill one of us, while there has been no sign of corruption!"
Mouse let out a low chuckle and shook his head, "You can believe what you want, but it still stands: you need to finish this test quickly…or you will fail the test just like me."
Bristling a little at the idea, that she of all people would fail a test, Solana crossed her arms and said with a confidence which had once again bubbled up inside of her: "I won`t fail the test! Maybe you had bad luck or your Templars were erring, but that same won`t happen to me."
The young man stared at her for a moment, before getting a wistful smile, "That had been said before, but you do not know the danger." He said growing serious again, his hands clenching as he explained. "There`s something here, contained, just for an apprentice like you." His voice became more insistent and his hand gestured around to encompass all of the little landmass that this part of the fade was made of.
His eyes bore into her as she said sternly, "You will have to face a creature, a demon, and resist it if possible. You have seen one of its servants: that stupid overgrown cat that tried to keep me from helping you."
Solana took a step forward with newfound confidence, especially before one of her peers and said with far more faith in her abilities, than she truly felt: "The spirits that got into my way till now were easily dispatched: even that creature can be killed."
Shaking his head at her declaration, Mouse said: "Those were only…echoes, faint like a shadow and born from the energy and emotions dripping into the Fade. The creature you are going to face is something else; it will be power and cunning."
Looking at her sadly, the man said, "My time might be over but you still have a chance to return. If you follow this path you will meet other spirits that could help if…if you can believe anything or anyone in this realm. I will try to follow you, but I`m too weak to do much. Let me follow you in my mouse form instead."
Before Solana could as much as raise an eyebrow or ask for his motivation to do so, the light blinded her once more and the little rodent was scurrying around her feet again. Her tries to get some words or answers out of the failed apprentice didn`t work, so she let out an annoyed huff and continued on her way, feeling slightly more secure now that she knew what her goal was. That a demon was somewhere here, on the other hand, made her nervous, more than nervous. But this was a test and the First Enchanter thought she was ready for it: she wouldn't disappoint him now.
With those thoughts she followed the path, walking over another raised part of the floor, her eyes flicking towards the empty clear circle to her right, the point where she would have to face the demon hunting her if mouse was telling the truth…but why was it not there already?
Her question was put back for the moment as she was suddenly aware of a welcome and familiar silhouette to her left, with the cry: "Ser Templar!" she hurried towards the armoured warrior. But the closer she came the slower her steps became and her spirits feel as she saw the glowing otherworldly quality the figure had. Readying her arcane bolts she crept closer. After all if mouse was an apprentice trapped in here…maybe a Templar was…
"You mages have devised a cowardly test." The figure suddenly said as she was close enough to hear it, slowly turning and presenting an armour which belonged surely to the Templar order by design…but maybe this was only her way of seeing the spirit, so she…
"Pardon?" She blurted out as the spirits first words registered. The spirit continued, unconcerned, "Better you were pitted against each other to prove your mettle with skill, than be sent unarmed against a demon."
"Pit against another? We are no warriors!" Solana protested and found herself under the cold glare of the glowing being, as it said, once again unimpressed, "That I can see, for I am Valor and unlike you, your kinds' warriors fight with me in mind."
"You are…valor?" The mage echoed, confused and earned herself another glare. "I am the spirit of Valor, of the virtue you and your fellow mortals have devised and projected into the fade." He said once again.
Keeping her breathing calm, Solana tried herself from stepping back afraid from the glare and maybe she only imagined it, but the spirit seemed to have given her an approving nod at this action. Looking around she tried to steer their…conversation towards safer waters again:
"So these…weapons are all yours?" She asked genuinely interested and pointed at the racks full of swords and maces around the figures small smithy. The armoured personification nodded with a small hint of pride and reached out, stroking along the edges of the words back:
"Indeed, those are mine and willed here by me." And with those words he flipped up one of them and showed the sharpened blade to her.
"You crafted them here, in the fade?" She asked surprised and looked around. The Fade was….immaterial, there were not materials which one could use to craft, well, anything.
"What do you think young mage? That these blades are hammered from steel? That those handles are crafted from Wood?", The visor allowed her to get a glimpse at the spirits eyes, who were looking down on her, as if she was one of the slower and dumber students in a class…and she hated it.
"No ser Valor. In the Fade, things are made from…ideas? Feelings?" She tried to say, unsure if the books she had once read over this topic were correct or not. As it happened she seemed to have said the right thing, as the spirit nodded and took one of the swords from the rack, holding it out for her to see.
"These blades of mine are willed into existence by my wish to battle, each of them yearns for nothing more than to meet the enemy in combat."The spirits voice grew fonder and its glowing hands stroked nearly gently over the sword, before he looked up and shook his head, before she could even ask her question, her intense and hopeful look on the sword seemingly having been enough. "These swords would even be effective against one such as your hunter….but if you wish for one, you shall meet and beset me valorous combat!"
Solana looked nervously at his armoured bulk and then back at her empty hands, if he could create a staff this way that would go a long way to help her. Still…she coughed to clear her throat and even as an uneasy feeling ran down her spine as she voiced her doubts, "Ser Valour…what should happen if you best me in this…duel?"
The spirit simply looked at her and stated, "Then you shall be slain by me."
The blonde mage recoiled as if hit, her hands going up: ready to cast her single offensive spell at a moment's notice as she cried out accusingly, "So you are like the demon: only that you want to murder me yourself!"
The spirit bristled…and looked at her with equal parts of confusion and anger as it snapped:
"How do you come to accuse me of being akin to that demon! I am a spirit of Valour, I exist to battle!" It cried, but Solana wouldn`t back down and replied, now with her own anger and frustration colouring her voice and once again making her boulder than she normally was, "And you want to battle me? You call me unprepared and see that I do not wield any weapon: I`m a healer not a warrior! And you call yourself a spirit of valour if your duel seems like an easy way to beat and then murder me?"
Now it was the spirits turn to recoil as if it had been slapped, its whole form flickering as if it was in conflict, Solana`s breathing stopping as the spirit went to its sword…only to let it fall to the ground as it bowed stifled with its head lowered, saying, "Your words contain truth young healer, I have acted rashly. My lust for battle is not often sated in this place. Only so many of your fellow mages seem to have any mettle and skill in my chosen craft. How can I show my good intentions?"
Surprised by the Spirits apology, Solana reached out and nearly…touched it to make it stop bowing. But a few inches away from its form, her fingers started to tingle and warm up, so she quickly pulled them back before she would get burned. After looking at him for a few moments, she tried a bit hopeful. "Maybe you would join me in battling the demon which is after me? It would be a valorous battle…" She tried, hoping that his very being might make him compel to join her for such a clash. She was only ever so disappointed as the spirit shook its head and replied, "It will be such a battle but it is your battle young mage and from what I see you are not alone in it…"
Solana looked down at his words, seeing the small form of the mouse next to her and shook her head lightly as if to say that a mouse wouldn`t be a great help. She never noticed how Valour's eyes were staring at the structure behind her back, his gaze getting answered by a pair of feline golden eyes. Instead, the mage's disappointment was mollified as she got a golden glowing staff thrust into her hands by Valour, who gestured for her to leave as he said, "Take this as a boon then healer. May you go and battle with Valour!"
She heard a small stifled laugh from Mouse as she murmured her thanks and swiftly fle…uhmm…walked away from the spirit, continuing the task and only noticing the feline form on the right of her from the corner of her eyes: twirling around and shooting another three arcane bolts at her, with the effect of getting her a loud hiss and a cry of pain as the demonic lynx tumbled out of view again.
"Unlike the spirit you seem to have more bite than bark…"
Mouse quipped from her feet and she let out a small laugh, nodding to him: "It`s only a servant…and if it was preying on someone as weak as you it can`t be that strong itself."
As she continued down the path she laughed to herself at Mouse's grumbling. Even if she was still scared of the Fade around her, things were looking up! She chirped mentally as her hands gripped her staff tighter and she walked forward, following the path which was open to her.
After a minute or two of walking through the twisted landscape that was the Fade, she heard a bark and looking down to her feet, raising an eyebrow: "I got the thing with the bite and bark Mouse…you don`t need to do these sounds."
"I`m not the one doing them…" The other apprentice said from his position on the floor and scurried behind Solana, who in turn looked up just in time to see two lean and mean looking wolves? She thought unsure to herself―running towards her: both of their body shimmering in the same translucent way the wisps had shone before.
Letting out a sharp cry of alarm, not even sure herself who she wanted to alarm, the mage raised her staff and shot her arcane bolts at the lead wolf which had its mouth opened to expose its overly sharp fangs as it let out a howl of pain as the mages attack hit it right in the chest and tore through its ethereal makeup, making it thrash as the holes inside of it expanded. The second salvo of arcane bolts finished it off, the magic countering the being and simply tearing it apart.
With sweat running down her cheeks Solana shifted her aim to the second wolf, her spells following her concentration as they aimed towards the remaining wolf: the magic bolts soaring through the air as they bent their path and tore into the side of the wolf, knocking it aside only two steps away from her, its tail waving through the floor not against it. Panting as her willpower gets ever so slowly drained by the spellwork, she brings the staff down with all her might, getting no crack, but instead a hissing sound as the idea of a weapon hits the idea of a wolf, both of them following their function: the weapon damaging and the wolf dying from such a hit. It gave her a last hunger filled glance before the staffs heavy head passed into its skull and disintegrated the wolf wherever it touched: the decapitation strike sending a wave through the wolfs body, its energies twirling around and away into nothingness.
Solana was just about to stand up and catch a breath again, as she rested her staffs end on the floor to look further towards the winding paths. "Now this wa-" She tried to say to Mouse but in this moment she heard a small howl from behind her and twirled around just in time to see two glowing eyes just before her and she stumbled backwards, falling down onto her bottom and by this barely evading the sharp fangs which closed with a brutal snap, where her face had been mere seconds ago.
Bringing her staff up she was just in time to push its mouth away from her again, the creature instead biting down around the staff and starting to pull on it, its head moving seemingly randomly in all directions as it tried to yank the weapon out of her hands. The Fade equivalent to saliva dripped into her face and she let out a disgusted sound as she tried to kick it away but the tower wasn`t the right place if one was trying to earn a muscle tone worth mentioning. There was simply not enough running in the floors under the watchful eyes of Templars, who would stop you at a moment's notice.
The beast seemed fully concentrated on yanking her staff away, maybe its creator didn`t give it much personal touch? Whatever it was, for now it seemed like the mage and the spirit wolf were trapped in an uncertain struggle, but then another howl sounded from her left and in the corner of her view she could see a second wolf dashing towards her. The sweat which made her golden strands cling to her skin and the rancid breath blowing into her face was forgotten as she looked helplessly into those glowing bright eyes that had no other emotion written into them than hunger.
So this is how it would end? She would fail her Harrowing and the Templars would kill her body before anything else could return in it…would her soul find its way to the Maker? Or would it be trapped in the fade just like Mouse? Was this how she would end?
She closed her eyes as the second wolf opened its fang filled maw and aimed for her throat. She could already imagine the way the teeth would sink into her skin and the pain would….the pain? Her eyes flew open as she stared at the grievous wound the second wolf should have inflicted but instead she found it on its back with its claws hitting after its dark assailant.
The demonic Lynx had pounced on it before it could reach the apprentice, sinking its very sharp teeth into the wolfs neck, even as it wrestled it to the ground: strong limbs hitting after another and black claws hitting wounds into the bright body of the wolf, whose glowing claws in turn sunk into the lynx body, tearing away chunks of the shadowy material of which it consisted. But the bite of the lynx was forcing the wolf down and if the spirit would have blood, its lifeblood would now be leaking out onto the floor: instead it started to wane and flicker, its brightness dimming as the lynx pulled its teeth out again, bright golden eyes staring at her blue orbs for a moment…
...and in the next she felt the weight of the second wolf being lifted of her as the lynx bit into its leg and the spirit turned around to face the sudden attack….only for Solana to reach out and nearly press her palm against the side of the wolfs head, as she send out another three arcane bolts, their magic tearing through the head of the beast and disintegrating the fades construct upon contact with her magic, blasting its pieces away like a cloud of dust.
She was seeing red, with some black spots and small stars as her vision swam and she raised her staff even before she was up once again, blasting more arcane bolts towards the demonic lynx, only stopping as the feline hightailed and she was once again alone. Shakily getting up onto her legs again, Solana leaned down and opened her mouth, retching but without something exiting her belly…after all this was the fade and bodily functions like that were not…really needed in most dreams. After what seemed like a small eternity of trying to vomit without real innards, Solana straightened again, bringing her blue sleeves up and rubbing across her eyes, trying to hide the tears of fear.
Only in this moment she understood the true peril of this test: she could die, not because of some miscast magic, or an alchemy project gone wrong: but because someone…or rather something wanted her dead! She knew that in the tower the Templars would protect them from demons and abominations if it should come so far...but in here she was in real danger, the demons and spirits were not only constant warnings or reminders from their teachers…but real beings out to get her. And she was alone without…Alone? She twirled around and cried sharply, "Mouse!"
She twirled around just in time to see the little rodent peeking out from behind a few stones further up the path and once again she saw red…but this time in anger as she ran towards it,
"You…you little coward! Where were you?!" She screeched with a betrayed cry and her staff blazed angrily as the magic bristled around her staff. Mouse showed some wisdom as he started to run with his tiny legs. While Solana was angry, she wasn`t homicidal yet, even if her potential victim seemed to stay more a mouse than a human. Hunting the failed mage over another raised land, Solana came to a halt as he did so, glaring down at his grey little back.
"You nearly left me there to die! Why didn`t you do something!" She cried out aloud and glared daggers at the little mouse and if her temper would be worse and she would have been more interested in offensive magic, there might only be a few bits of ashes left. But as she slowly seemed to calm down from the stress of nearly dying, she noticed that Mouse wasn`t looking back at her…instead his tiny body was trembling in fear….and it was not her that was scaring him.
"Mortals…..always this noisy…"
A deep and nasal voice declared with what sounded like sleepiness in its deep rumble. Solana slowly started to look up from Mouse, her gaze falling onto giant paws, bigger than her head and strong legs and forelegs, all four nearly twice as thick her own limbs and hers, of course weren`t covered in brown fur. The next thing she saw was a massive and thick body, with bone spikes sticking out of its fur. A living creature might be driven mad by the wounds something like that left, and most likely covered in blood. This was…a demon? A bears short and massive head stared drowsily towards her, with an unworldly intelligence lurking behind the beasts eyes, and more and more of those spikes….yuck. Only good that this wasn`t something she would meet on Thedas. The bears tilted its head a bit to the side and grumbled in its deep and drowsy tone.
"Still here…did you bring this little one to me as a snack?"
Solana`s eyes widened as she took a step forward, pushing Mouse behind her with her staff as she shook her head:
"You shall not have him…" She was just about to threaten something or at least throw up some bluster, but the demon simply nods and closes its eyes again. Its heavy head leaned onto its forearms and it resumed resting, leaving the flabbergasted mage staring at it. Licking her lips, Solana looked over the slowly snoring bear and said slowly, "You….are not going to try killing me…or eating my soul…or something?"
This wasn`t the way a demon should behave or something? A mage like her should be like a mouth-watering dessert for it. She just got away from a near-death experience, but this was simply strange…and interesting.
"Too much of a bother…you would try running…and I would have to hunt after you…that's not worth it. Maybe your hunter leaves some scraps…that would be enough for me."
The Sloth demon in the bear's skin grumbled tiredly and opened one eye only to let the heavy eyelid drop back into place as the mage simply stared at such…laziness! No one back in the tower could be this lazy. Even Senior Enchanter Godwin was more into hiding from duty than simply letting it pass by, which was kinda just as bad but this demon seemed rather easy to figure out.
"You are really lazy aren`t you?"She said more put off by such laziness than by the thing being a demon: only as she notices a bright light to her side she sees Mouse standing in his human form next to her, his red robes…
"He looks powerful, better not annoy him. He might be even able to teach you how to be like him…"
Solana could only wrinkle her nose as she looked at the demon and then back at Mouse as if he was a madman; like him? Should she become as lazy or something?
"Like me? I could teach you to take on my form…but I think you are still too closely bounded to your human form….the little one is a more promising student…" It said slowly and painfully sleepily, its head now ones again coming up and both eyes opening with what seems like a supreme effort. Solana tilts her head over to Mouse and asks a simple: "And?"
The man for his part simply looks surprised and then shocked, "What, me? Becoming a bear…but I`m not sure! How should I hide?"
The apprentice turned to regard him with some anger slipping once again in her worn features, as she clenched her hands around her staff, holding it with both hands as she trembled…but not in fear this time.
"Hide? Can`t you do anything else! You said you wanted to help me but where were you, when I was nearly torn apart by spirit wolves!"
Even mouse recoiled at the rather…uncharacteristic shoot of anger and even the demon reached up with its paws, mostly to cover its big ears from the shouts. Mouse for his part seemed to be shivering for the first time, leaning away from her and not meeting the eye of the blonde mage as he looked down onto the floor and a fight seemed to be raging inside of him too, before he gave a curt nod.
"I will do it…really, I won`t let you down again….I must have been in the Fade too long…it changes the way one thinks…" Seeing his stammering attempts, Solana calmed down again and gave him a small nod, her own composure returning as she turned expectantly towards the bear again. The demon meanwhile had gone back to sleep, its snout letting out hot ear in regular cycles. As if feeling the two gazes on it, the bear rumbled lazily, "Teaching is far too…taxing….you have a fine staff….why don`t you go and be…valorous."
Mouse looked back to Solana and wanted to say something…before noticing her bright red blush, which coloured her from the cut in her robes which exposed her neck, up to her ears, coughing after a moment and mouthing something which sounded like "fine staff?" She seemed to calm down again and used said staff to nudge the demon into its side. The bear opened both eyes, surprised, and looked up at her. Solana had bitten down on her cheeks and tried to stay firm even under its gaze as she said stiffly, "Mouse…the little one…wants to learn. Teach him."
"Teach him my form? Only if you best my challenge…three riddles I want you to solve."
Mouse seemed a bit conflicted, but Solana perked up and nodded eagerly: "A Quiz, easy enough!" Sure of herself after surviving through all of First Enchanters Irving's surprise quizzes in the history of magic lesson he offered. The bear gave himself a sly look as he looked up and his rumbling voice gave them the first task:
"My first riddle is this: I have seas without water coasts with no sand towns with no people mountains without land what am I?"
"A map?" Solana answered after some moments, surprise colouring her eyes and becoming more predominant as the Sloth gave her a grudging nod and started up again.
"The second riddle: I`m rarely touched, but often held. If you have wit, you will use me well."
Solana gave him a long look of disbelief…before slowly saying, "My tongue and let me guess: your third questions answers is: a dream, is it not?"
Her last words were the most unbelieving and she might have looked completely flabbergasted as the beard gave her a grudging nod at her answer for the third question. The rest that happened was a bit of a blur as she stumbled away again, only absently noticing how both Mouse and the demon glowed for a moment and she then found herself leaning against a large and brown furred normal bear, which now spoke with Mouse voice as she was lead back and past valour, towards the place the demon which would be after her might appear soon.
"See…I`m a bear!" Mouse said, almost excitedly, and she only nodded absently, before she stopped and turned to face him.
"That`s nice and all but…why was a demon using the three riddles one gets when turning nine or ten?" She said with disbelief still in her eyes as she regarded they large bear Mouse had become, only absently having seen him enjoy a taste of his new form by running forward and dispersing the two more spirit wolfs, which had attacked them on their way back by simply swatting them aside with his large paws.
The bear simply shrugged at her question, its massive shoulders sagging up and down, like a sack of potatoes with muscles and fat stuck onto it. "Maybe he got it from another apprentice?"
Nodding at this, it was making enough sense to be true in the Fade and it's not like Demons would be able to judge how hard riddles were or not…or what a map, dream or tongue were…
With a deep breath she stepped towards the small circular clearing, which had changed eerily since the last time they had passed it: bright flames, not only in the normal red and orange colour, but also in purple, were now lining its walls except from the point where they could enter.
"So this is it?" She asked with some nervousness creeping once again into her as she gripped her staff closer and put a hand on the bears furred shoulders, feeling slightly numb. Mouse only nodded heavily with his new forms head and said: "Indeed…this is where the demon should appear."
Taking a step forward, Solana raised her staff and said: "Let's do this then…"
Before her words were even finished the heat around the duo was rising and not thanks to the fire surrounding the arena. In the middle of it molten lava gathered and poured out from the very ground they were standing on, a bright salamander-like head emerging out of molten rock, and two long and clawed arms shot out of the molten puddle that was slowly expanding, but never flowing out of a certain radius. With a roar the arms pushed down against the floor and a large misshapen body, which consisted out of flowing lava was rising from the puddle, ending taller than a man but without legs, instead moving forward by tearing large gashes into the floor as it pulled itself forward towards the mages. Two eyes on the side of the elongated head were staring at her with the angrily glowing texture of molten rock and fire, as it hissed in an angry tone, its claws leaving marks on the floor around it as it hissed and made sounds similar to a kettle close to overcooking:
"So it comes to me at last. I will see the land of the living with your eyes and you will be mine with body and soul!" The demon declared and leaned forward, glaring at her malevolently as she stumbled back and tried to bring distance between herself and the fiend. She gave a quick glance to Mouse, who gave her a small nod with his beast head. Looking over to the demon she tried to smile, striking a pose with her staff stretched outwards and both hands firmly gripping it, like she had seen on the historic pictures in the Enchanters Hallways.
"Come and try it then, for I fight with Valour!" She cried and was accompanied with a roar from the bear next to her, Mouse's heavy paws striking the floor in applause as she smiled with a faint blush in her cheeks, feeling a bit silly…she was standing before a demon and sounded as if she was training for one of the theatre plays…
But it didn`t seem the demon was impressed, instead it started to glow brighter and seemed even more…angry. His eyes burning with molten rage, its long claws dripping lava to the ground as it drawled menacingly: "I shall."
But instead of attacking it twirled to face Mouse, gesturing with one claw towards Solana. "So this one is your newest offering Mouse? Another deal to be struck?" It said eagerly, its eyes tracing back towards the blonde mage, who looked at Mouse in surprise and with a hint of suspicion…as he saw it he immediately cried out defiantly to the demon, "No! I don`t need to deal with you anymore! No more Deals: I won`t hide anymore! I`m not a mouse and soon you won`t bargain with anyone!"
With this the bear let out a load roar and threw himself at the rage demon, its heat singing the brown fur and sending a nauseating smell into the air. But it wasn`t like Solana had time to smell or even think about it because as soon as the fight started and the two giants were wrestling in the middle of the arena, four more wisps…far bigger and glowing brighter than the ones she had met when entering the Fade, appeared.
So while the clash of giants was taking place in the middle of the Arena, Solana was standing her ground at the edge, her arcane bolts starting to pick up the wisps one by one, felling them with her arcane bolt. And even as their electrify cursed through her arms and numbed them for the pain that followed, she was getting weaker, her willpower draining as she had to cast spells of healing onto her fellow apprentice, whose bear form started to sport more and more bruises, burns and deep gashes from the long claws of the demon. She barely moved to the side to evade another lightning storm as her arcane bolts soared through the air and cast another part of the offending wisp out of existence, its whole wavering before it crashed down and "died".
Letting out a gasp she looked around and found herself without another wisp to aim at. Her gaze fell onto her battling bear companion….only to see him flicked aside by the demon in a powerful throw, his whole bulk thrown to the side and hitting the floor heavily multiple times, his wounds colouring the sandy ground strangely. For a being without legs the demon was frighteningly fast too.
In the blink of an eye it was before her and its bulk hit her right on, throwing her backwards as she cried out in pain, its heat making her feel as if her robes and face were close to being consumed by flames. She could barely turn to the side, her staff clutched to her chest as the long claws came down and skewered the floor next to her. The dust…or whatever passed as dust in the Fade for her, was breathed in and she coughed out, her eyes were filling with tears as the claws descended on her again, her staff raised but no bolts coming out of it, as her mana and willpower seemed to be depleted. For the second time in this test she seemed close to death…and for the second time the shadowy lynx appeared, surely to help its master in tearing her apart, even if the demon did not seem to need any such help with that right now.
But instead of coming to the demons aid, the lynx threw itself between the two of them, sinking its fangs into the demons right hand and biting down…hard. The demon for its part only let out an even angrier cry of battle, its free claw wiping the lynx aside, sending the feline flying….but it came down on all fours securely and hissed, jumping back towards the demon, which had to let go of Solana, to define itself from the dark wildcat.
But even if it was larger than a normal cat, it couldn`t go one against one with a demon, it might be able to evade one hit and another…but then the demons claws came down, their sharp tips tearing through the shadows of the lynx body. For a moment it was uplifted, trashing and crying out in pain in a disturbingly human fashion as the heat pumped through the middle of its torso, its claws and legs trashing against the demons grip. Maybe the demon wanted to make sure it wouldn't interfere again…maybe it was simply angry at the interruption…it pulled back its second claw to crush the impaled lynx head…but with a roar it was staggered and nearly pushed over by the heavily burned bear, whose fur was dark and burned in multiple places.
"Mouse!" Solana cried as she got up again, seeing the lynx lying not far away, while the bear started to wrestle with the demon once again, trying to keep it busy and away from her…while she was out of mana and without the energy to cast anymore spells. The lynx whimpered from the side and Solana looked around to it, seeing the heavily wounded lynx, its body starting to waver and loose cohesion…but one paw still moved and seemed to point at something, reaching out and quivering in pain as it whimpered more.
Following the creatures pointing Solana saw a weird vein of crystals…a familiar soft of crystal: Lyrium! She rolled onto her belly and started to move towards it, her legs hurting from the close proximity to the rage demons heat, their skin darkened or set in an angry red. Reaching out her fingertips touched one of the jugging out crystals….and magic once again streamed through her whole being as she laughed out and pushed her healing magic into her own body. Staggering up to her feet once more she saw the bear taking another step back, letting out a roar of pain as claws pushed through its thick hides again and hitting back more and more tiredly the more the cuts and bruises amounted onto another. But no more! With the newfound mana on her fingertips Solana channelled the art she was most proficient in: healing. Even as Mouses might paws locked with the demons claws once more, he was engulfed by healing magic, which was able to meld the smaller cuts and bruises even in combat, making the bear feel invigorated. With a mighty roar he pushed the demon back and started to cut into its fiery form with newfound strength, constant healing being accompanied by salvos of arcane bolts, which hammered the rage given form from the sides.
Healing was so easy in the Fade, Solana decided cheerfully as her magic flowed nearly effortlessly strengthening her ally and blasting the demon to bits as she grinned to herself and stopped the arcane bolts she was already close to launching as the demon crumbled to the floor, sinking back into the puddle of lava from which it had grown out…only for it to shimmer out of existence and cease to exist.
"We made it!" She cheered and gave Mouse a grin as he reverted back into a human form as she pointed at the demon. "We bested the test!" Solana said, pleased, and stomped her staff against the floor: looking happily as Mouse clapped to her with a grin of his own:
"Truly! It didn`t stand a chance at all: not against someone like you! A true mage! One of the few who could ever rise so far and above this test!" Mouse exclaimed proudly and Solana could feel her cheeks heating up, as her hands went down to clutch the blue of her robe, her eyes going up to reply something as something…clicked and she said, "Mouse….why are you wearing a Senior enchanters robe?" She suddenly asked, her eyes narrowing as she took a step back and clutched her staff tightly once again, the energy of the lyrium still coursing through her. Mouse for his part only looked confused and feigned ignorance as he said, "Why would that be important? I got them before the test. I mean, don`t we have more important things to do? A mage as powerful as you should be able to get us both out of here. If you could only help me to get a foothold…"
Solana recoiled, not even bothering to swipe the blonde strains in her vision, out of her face as she raised her staff once again, the weight feeling like lead in her exhausted arms as she cried:
"I`m sure about this Mouse….why do I have the feeling this demon wasn`t my real test?"
The Mouse wanted to say something but a purring interrupted his words and both of them turned to face the lynx, who had sunk onto its flank, its body starting to melt into the ground as both golden eyes stared at the fake enchanter mockingly.
"You…Fine little mage, it seemed like you and your helper got what you came for…this is the fade, you do not worry above brute force over everything….what you truly need to fear is cunning and control.",
As he spoke his voice deepened and Solana stepped back as the body burst, purple scales shoving out from underneath once human skin as the thing that played Mouse grew and grew, its arms rippling with muscles as its tone was filled with pride…in itself and its deception. Before Solana could let out another cry she was swiped up by a hand which was larger than she herself was and lifted up into the air, the staff falling from her grasp as she struggled…a tone of alarm from her left made her look over and see the mortal wounded lynx being lifted up too by the demon its tone amused as it drawled:
"You two were interesting….now remember…"
With these words he brought both hands together as if to clap, the lynx and the apprentice in each hand and as they hit…everything was bright for a moment and the construct broke as the apprentice left the Fade…but not as alone as she was when she entered it, a voice haunting her in her dreams that followed, always ending with, "True tests…..never end."
The apprentice had passed her harrowing. She had exited the Fade and no signs of corruption were found on her. As such the Templars carried her into the dorms and simply dumped her onto a bed, leaving her for the night and letting none of the other apprentices too close…after all one simply couldn`t know.
It was later in the middle of the night that the body of the mage stirred for a moment from her peaceful sleeping, a bright light shining from underneath her eyelids for a moment as they fluttered open and she quickly brought her hand up…for naught as none of the lamps around her were truly lit. Still, her hand remained up, spreading her fingers as she regarded each of them curiously, clenching her fist and a smile spread on the blondes lips as she leaned back into the pillow and whispered: "Mage Origins? It could be worse…"
Her bright gold eyes looking at the ceiling for a moment before she blinked and the orbs had returned to their normal bright blue once again, rolling back into her head as Solana Amell fainted after the grievous task that had been her Harrowing. Her passenger meanwhile joined her into the deep sleep that followed.
The young mage laid peacefully on her cot, her blanket pulled up to her shoulders and her features relaxed, as she started to sleep without worry…having yet no idea what the next days would bring.