The Moon, Sun and Stars Above | Prologue and Chapter 1
It ended on a battlefield.
Not in a blaze of glory, as many warriors strove for. Not like the story of the Emerald Knights; the poems which she had memorised. No, that was not how it came to be for her. It came by the hand of her love as he tore down the veil holding the world together in order to raise a kingdom which had already fallen.
By his hand, no less. Centuries before.
Half a decade she had fought him. Tooth and nail. She recalled a time she had believed he could be saved. Foolish enough to think her love for him could stay his hand. That they could be together in the world which existed then, not thousands of years ago.
He'd had an army of converts on his side. Her people, elves, who knew no better. Most were already lost or broken, and he collected them under his banner while he strived to commit a crime she could not overlook.
Months after the Inquisition had disbanded, and the Inquisitor had left for Fereldan with Commander Cullen in order to live a quiet life, for a short while - it had been her job to look for Solas.
There had been many phases to her then. Times when she was so eager to just...find him that she could barely sit still. The healers had diagnosed her with something the soldiers called post traumatic stress. Other times she could barely find the energy to eat, and couldn't be near people for fear they would try to kill her, hurt her.
After six long months of that; she had been told by her comrades that she needed to sort herself out, and so she travelled to Kirkwall. To the house Phoenix would never use but had gifted her instead. Varric had become the Viscount, and she had taken to Hawke during her time at Skyhold. Blood Mage, or no.
It was there that she had taken the time to heal, as best she could. Fenris Leto had assisted in further training her with a blade, and was competent in training a Mage to use something other than a staff - Hawke herself had a mean staff which was more or less a two handed slim sword. He had sneered at times, still haven't an adversary against all things magic, even despite the lyrium inside his own veins.
As her dreaming came back to her, instead of night terrors which would leave her sweat soaked, he was waiting. She didn't know whether it was a blessing. The sight of him...even then it had caused much pain.
Sometime later, when the group they had put together to combat the Elves who were being taken for a cause they perhaps didn't understand, she had met him again. In the flesh. Solas would not listen. No matter what she said, or how many of their past friends fell to his plans.
He would come to her as a dark wolf in her dreams. A cowards way. At first, in the early days before her trip to Kirkwall, she had run to him, and he had always disappeared. Then when the first of their companions died facing down his army, she would throw things at him and shout till it felt as if her throat would bleed.
Eventually she stopped looking at him at all. The pure agony would burn her inside, simmering to the point where she believed it would mark the fade forever in an echo.
How dare he come to her, take comfort from finding her in the dreaming when in the real world he was causing so much pain, so much suffering. The blood of the ones she cared were on his hands, along with many others.
The elves had rebelled, and though she had tried to be a shepherd for many: to keep them from joining her lovers cause, it had not been enough to stop the slaughter. City elves and Dalish alike. In the end she had no longer seen them as any different, they were all of the same blood and they were facing the death of all they knew.
Alienage's and forests where Avavels were camped were torched and burnt to the ground. Then the humans realised they were facing another enemy, one far stronger than the poor people they trapped and murdered in their homes. They'd only then turned their attentions away. By then it was too late.
She would crouch, and hide her face in her fisted, white knuckled hands. Keeping her eyes closed to the fade, and the wolf who awaited her.
The man she had known might have been in there, at some point. Might have still been in there, trapped beneath the mantle of a dead wolfs head but she couldn't...couldn't do it anymore. She had lost everything trying to save him.
Orophin was a Mage, had trained as a Necromancer, but she rarely used the gift, or curse. Instead she used blades, preferring to put herself in harms way than others.
Her ability to contact spirits through her Necromancy had been the pull which had brought them together, in the rotunda of Skyhold - a place which had been his all along. Now she wished she could fade to black when her eyes closed. She wished for the nothingness of dead-like sleep. Those murals haunted her. As did the lifeless corpses of all who had given theirs lives, willingly or not.
Orophin wanted to remember the people she'd lost in life, not how they'd looked in death but she couldn't, not being surrounded by it. There was no rest-bite for her thoughts, dreaming or awake.
They fought within a toppled forest, beneath an Elven ruin which rose from its own debris. A skeleton of stone and bone. At one time she would have looked on it with wonder, now she wanted to rip it down piece by piece with her bare hands.
"Focus," the former inquisitors voice echoed to her.
Her storm filled white eyes, flickered by silver and grey and rimmed by dark green snapped to the only person she had left in the world.
All except the wolf.
The only other surviver of clan Lavellan threw her arm forward, slicing the enemies with her arcane blade - a golden beam which cut though the red mist that surrounded them. She couldn't tell whether the air was stained through the clay at their feet, beneath the wild grass, magic or the amount of blood which had been spilled upon the land.
Orophin's eyes caught the stump of her friends left arm. Her former lover had taken that too, along with her husband. Phoenix had been inconsolable at Cullen's death, but had lingered to keep Orophin for perishing herself. Pain so intense at her failure to keep anyone safe lashed at her insides, and twisted her face.
It stole her breath as sure as any blade. Cut at her till she was raw. Till the panic threatened to push her over the knifes edge to madness.
Her shield dropped to her side, and she let her sword dangle in her grip. The blue flamed tip brushed the ground and she didn't know if she had the strength to lift it.
The pain, yes, the pain was immense.
"Don't you do this," Phoenix commanded, as she burnt an elf in golden armour to crisp before turning honeyed eyes upon her. Orophin winced: both at her friends expression, and the similarities of her eye colour to those of the ancient People.
"You keep fighting," her friends voice wavered, and she ended up shouting towards the end. Both their emotions were fried, no longer capable of functioning properly. Orophin flinched, but came back to herself in time to turn and block a hit.
All they had left was to fight to the bitter end. The others deserved no less for they had died to ensure they lived on and stopped Solas' mad plan.
Orophin had not used her powers to raise the bodies of her friends, her loved ones - she would not do that. They deserved to rest. There was no humour in making them continue the fight like puppets on strings. It was sickening.
A sword slipped past her guard and lodged itself beneath her ruined armour at the shoulder. She hissed out a breath, and stumbled. Pushing the enemy back with her shield, the blade came free with a rush of blood and she slashed her blue flamed sword across the hooded beings chest.
Ancient elves who had risen to help the him. Those who had awoken from slumber with a vengeance to find what had been lost to them.
All their efforts came to an end in but a moment.
She knew, knew as soon as the air crackled, and changed around them. Her lungs burned for breath as if they'd been tipped under water.
A shockwave rippled from inside the ruin. It burst from the top and washed down over the field. Magic burst in the back of her throat like copper, and her ears rang.
It signalled that Solas had succeeded in his plan, and that their world would die in ashes for a new one to rip from it.
Phoenix came up beside her as a wave of the destroyed veil whipped passed them. The air after it was unnaturally still, the calm before the storm.
A short second later the inquisitors magic flattered and the earth shook.
Her knees hit the dirt, and her blood thundered in her skull. It was the end. She almost couldn't believe it, a small part of her had held out even till the last seconds that he could do it. But then, she had to have known all along, she just didn't want to admit it to her stupid heart which ached and called for him.
Orophin had wondered, when the panic was too much and she could do nothing but clutch at her head; if caring for him meant she was also a monster?
They were all doomed because of her inability to act.
Phoenix cried out in her pulsing ear but she could not rise, could not lift her sword arm which had fallen limp and allowed the blade she'd carried from the start, even when the metal had shattered leaving behind half of it, to drop to the red dirt between the grass.
A light caught a gleam above, and she wondered if she would be struck down. There was a flash, and the ones surrounding her were turned to stone.
Her blood shuddered. She knew that awful power.
The smoke parted ahead, and from the ruined pillars came the man who she no longer recognised. It tore her apart inside. Her treacherous feelings still called for her to care for him, even when her mind repelled it.
Her eyes flickered over him. He wore the same golden armour of his People. The fur he draped across his shoulder was tattered, and black in places from blood new and old. His face was bloodied, and bruised.
Blue eyes which had once captivated her so sought her out among the statues he had made. She wanted to close her eyes against meeting his gaze, to press her face to the dirt and weep.
But she couldn't.
When he finally found her, she watched his face twist in a mix of emotions so overwhelming, even she could not understand it. His polite mask had fallen, shattered upon the floor like glass.
She couldn't look at him any longer.
Her face turned to her friend, and she sucked in a quick breath. With her magic flaring, the enemy tried capture her with their metal covered hands. The former inquisitor fought with a blade she'd picked up from the dead, as she attempted to keep her footing while cracks slithered their way closer.
Fury so deep it popped her ears rushed through her, and she rammed her blade into the ground to stand.
There was a roar.
Solas shifted in the corner of her eye.
She had seen the wolf before in the dreaming, but never in the waking world.
Was it because there was now no barrier between them? Her eyes widened sharply when she found his pelt was darker than she'd ever seen it, like black oil and the body of it was huge. Several lines of liquid red eyes rolled to stare at her.
The Dread Wolf.
He had become truly what his name had entailed then.
The forest floor beneath her feet finally split, and she looked to see the enemy release the inquisitor to regain their balance. Some fell into the fresh holes, their yells drowned out by the awful noise of the ground churning.
The Dread wolf made for her and horror caught in her throat and stole her breath.
No, she would not let him take her.
Death would be her choosing.
Her sword and shield clattered from her tired hands as she ran. The wolf weaved through the stone bodies but even with his ancient power, he would not reach her on time.
The dread wolf pumped it's legs, and launched towards her as she skidded to the side of the large body. It flew past her, and tried desperately to correct itself when it landed.
A strange sort of victory burst through her as she threw herself from the ledge, and landed on the separate piece of earth where the inquisitor hung by her finger nails after it had broke out from under her.
Orophin skidded on her front, and wrapped her fingers tight around her friends wrist just as she was about to fall to the darkness below.
Phoenix looked up as her weight gradually began to pull her over also. "If we die," her voice was rough from the mist, and the constant scent of death. "Then we go together."
A pang of emotion shot across her friends expression; agony, torture and regret but then became cold calm as they realised it had all come to an end. They had failed, but they could go now, to see the souls of those they loved.
Even if the grand Kingdom of Arlathan was reborn, they had no part in it. Wanted no part in it. They could not live without the people who had passed.
The inquisitor, her fiend and Lethallan, nodded, just as Orophin tipped completely off the edge.
A roar reverberated over them, but she closed her eyes to it.
It was too late.
They tumbled together, their bodies danced through the air as they spun, spiralled and plummeted below the earth.
She waited for the impending ground to meet them, the impact and then nothing.
When the two hit the hard surface of water instead, it jerked her grip on Phoenix. She sucked in a ragged breath and opened her eyes.
An imagine came to her, a dark pool which shone blue from the moonlight above as her body floated, suspended.
Red ghosted around them, seeping like ink from their skin into the darkness.
A flash of white light so bright it scorched her eyes, and a force which threatened to crack her bones came to hit her from all sides. The pressure became too much too soon, and she threw her head back to scream.
There was impact then.
Shock smothered her, and it took a few long seconds to remember that her lungs were full of water. It came out of her mouth in a rush, half bile and a half coughing fit. Feeling returned, firstly of something hard greeting her face as she lay on her front, her limbs like dead weight at her sides.
More light assaulted her crusted eye lids. When her visioned cleared enough for her to even attempt to open them, she saw the grey of smooth stone stretched out towards a lone tree.
A tree which was far larger and taller than she had ever seen. It's bark was a rich brown with glowing runes etched into its surface. Lanterns hung from the lowest branches which she had to strain to see. Thick roots of twisted bark and moss ran into the stone slaps.
The world was too bright. It felt wrong. Sickness hit her like a punch to the gut and her head spun.
It came to her then. A terrible feelings which only grew the more she thought on it. Her teeth gnashed harshly, and she struggled to breath.
Had they been brought back to the days of old?
To the glory Solas could not forget?
Movement wavered around her. She sensed it, and her body tensed exponentially. Desire to tear at her skin and hair lashed at her. The thought of her surviving, to come out the other end was unbearable.
Something touched her sluggish, numb body and rolled her over onto her back. When an elf hovered above her, she knew her fears to be true.
The woman was ethereal. Golden locks of hair framed a perfect face and fell to her hips. The dress of the woman was so intensely white that it hurt to look at and she felt more bile claw its way up her searing throat.
Others came closer. Orophin tried to get away, tears burning at the corner of her eyes as she somehow managed to fall back onto her front. When her arms refused to work, a dry cry broke from her lips.
Any progress she would have made was haltered by a hand on her shoulder, which ultimately pinned her body to the ground. Her mouth opened again, another silent cry as nothing more than a whisper came out.
They were speaking. A musical and fluid language much like the Dalish, but almost completely different. Tears broke from her sore and blood shot eyes.
Not the same. More beautiful, but far worse.
How much more could she take?
The woman's voice was high in tone, and it grated on her nerves. Lavellan recognised a word. Helani.
Help. Help? Who would they help? No, she didn't want that.
She wanted...damn it, she never wanted this! This wasn't how it was meant to be!
Her body gave out, as did her mind.
...
Important update:
I was not really happy with the way the first three chapter I uploaded went. I apologise for any annoyance caused by constant changes, but hopefully it will be for the better.
This first chapter is spell checked, as some of my mistakes were pretty noticeable.
I was not sure where I was going with this, when I started it, but now I've had time to re-evaluate and am curtain I can do better.
Thank you for your patience, and support.
Especially Levinixx - who's kind words were a light in a dark time for myself. Thank you for seeing value in my writing.
The structure of the first three chapters will stay the same, but they will be far more detailed and not as rushed.