The brunette rogue/warrior stands in front of the portal that will take her to her last companion as she thinks about what happened. Nothing was ever simple when mages were involved but how could dealing with one rouge mage end up like this?
"Something doesn't feel right…" Cole mutters quietly as they step into the abandoned mansion they'd been warned about by the, small, nearby village. Apparently there were sounds, screaming and shouting, coming from the long since abandoned home. The villagers were too frightened to investigate the supposedly haunted house but when some of the people from the small town started to go missing they grew even more frightened. Some fled, most hid, but when a small group of Inquisition scouts were confronted by the few villagers brave enough to leave their homes they'd returned to Skyhold with their message and not long after the Inquisitor sent the Black Dragon to help.
For the most part the villagers were useless for information, but one older woman—with a little bit of persuading—managed to inform them of a blood mage that had stopped by the town not long before the sounds started. He had inquired about the house and had requested supplies before his true nature was discovered and he was driven out. She was certain it was this rouge mage that was behind all of this and, since no one was coming forward with any better suggestions, the group of four entered the house cautious of the mage's tricks.
"What do you feel, Cole?" The woman asks cautiously as she looks back at spirit boy. He doesn't make eye contact as usual, staring at the ground as he tries to focus.
"Something's…not right. It's…hidden. Shrouded. Like it doesn't want us to know what's hiding behind the veil…" He says in a quiet voice, frowning more than usual as if he's having trouble finding it.
"I agree with the kid, something's fishy." The Iron Bull agrees with a firm nod, his grip growing a little tighter around his weapon. The woman nods but looks forward as she continues.
"Keep listening Cole, tell me if it gets closer or we do." She says simply as she walks deeper into the house—large and once lavish—her sword already drawn. Though normally an archer, in such close quarters she'd opted for her sword and dagger over her trusty bow. Friendly fire was less a possibility and more a likelihood when crammed into a doorway trying to fight whatever was on the other side.
"It's coming from there." Cole says as the brunette gets to a branching path. There's a door to her left and a staircase to her right but it's in front of her where the blonde points, to a door under the stairs that likely led to the basement. She looks back at her three companions before nodding. Being the most quiet—next to Cole—she slips in first and heads down the stairs that lay on the other side of the door, leading down into the bowls of the earth. The staircase is winding, digging further and further into the dirt before it finally levels out to a large open room.
"I don't like this boss." Krem says quietly behind Bull, who nods in agreement.
"Be careful, Kadan." The Qunari says, his eye focusing on her before scanning the room again. They all proceeded with all of the caution they could muster but they weren't ready for what they got. How could they? A man suddenly stood before them at the opposite end of the room, flanked by two demons. Two powerful demons. Based on text the woman merc had read while in the library of Skyhold—a place she visited often—the one on the mage's left was a fear demon, his right was a sloth. Neither of them looked weak and the mage seemed to know this full well as he was smirking at the four of them.
"Well well. What an unexpected surprise! We have guests." The man says, a fairly young man, no older than late twenties, his smirk only growing. He was blonde, longer hair curling around his cheeks, and had bright blue eyes. Some might consider him fairly handsome in his boyish looks, rather innocent appearing, but the smirk on his face and the glint in his eyes told the warrior that he was not being controlled by these demons.
"A Qunari, a spirit and a couple of humans. How quaint." The man chuckles cruelly. The woman's grip on her sword tightened as she gauged the two demons looming over the man's shoulder. The two of them looked poised to strike at any moment while also appearing calm. Something wasn't right. It seemed more like they were waiting for the man to do something than the four of them.
"Come to fight me, have you? The villagers finally decided to hire someone? Well, it's to be expected. They're rather slow, but better late then never I suppose. I've been wanting for some…stronger specimens." The man says, looking them over.
"Where are the people you kidnapped?" The brunette growls, growing tired of his banter. The man smirks and glances over his shoulder at a door behind him.
"There are…people back there. They're frightened. So much pain. So much fear. It's so cold…" Cole says from behind them. The mage smirks.
"What a clever little spirit." He comments, looking at the blonde who glares at him. "Hmmm…now that I'm thinking about it, I have been wanting to test my demons and they've been oh so eager to as well. We'll wait for your reinforcements to preform my experiments. I think I'll give you to these demons!" He says almost gleefully. The entire party tenses as the two demons move suddenly for them. They charge at the creatures but are blinded by a light and their world goes black.
"There you are! Come inside!" Comes a familiar voice. The brunette looks up to see her mother standing not far from her in front of her house, the door open behind her.
"M…other…?" The woman says, having difficulty focusing. How did she get here? What was she…doing before this? The woman smiles and beckons her inside.
"Hurry up! You need to clean up before supper. You're a complete mess!" She laughs and gestures to the girl again. Still confused and dazed, the woman steps towards the house slowly. What…was she doing…what…something wasn't right…
She sees a shape loom over the shoulder of her mother and her eyes go wide before she breaks into a dead sprint. She screams for the woman to move, fight, do something, but she doesn't seem to notice. The brunette runs as hard as she can but…can't seem to get any closer. Her mother seems a fixed distance away, like no matter how hard or fast she runs her mother and the house behind her move backwards just as quickly. Tears stream down the girls' face as she sees the figure raise a dagger into the air in slow motion. She screams and cries for her mother to move, to get away, but she does nothing but smile until the dagger drives slowly into the woman's back.
"NOOOOO!" She screams as she runs even harder, her lungs and legs burning. Her mother drops like a puppet with her strings cut and the dark figure is illuminated by the light from outside. Ice explodes through the girl's body, starting from her heart and she's frozen mid step, staring with wide, tear filled, eyes at the slightly blurry figure in the doorway, dagger in hand. Rubbing the water from her eyes with a quick swipe with the back of her hand the woman stares at her mirror image in the door. While one version is wide eyed and terrified, the one standing behind the collapsed form of her mother wears a cruel grin, splatters of blood of the woman who gave birth to her only serving to highlight the demented delight in her eyes.
Without a word, twisted grin only growing, her doppelganger turns and walks further into the house, the door closing behind her as if of its own will. Jolted back into action and ripped from her shock, the woman takes off again. This time, the house doesn't move and it takes her seconds to reach the door and fling it open…just in time to see herself drive a dagger into the heart of her own father. She screams and runs for the man just as he collapses but something catches the attention of the both of them. They look over at the figure in the doorway, a young, blonde headed boy.
Her heart stops as she stares at her brother, who only stares up, confused and sleepy, at the evil version of herself. Eyes snapping to the other woman as she starts to move towards the boy, she tries to run after her, protect her brother where she couldn't protect her parents, take the blow, kill the other woman, anything! But her feet wouldn't move. They felt bolted to the floor.
Run! It's not me! Run away! She tries to scream but her vocal cords are frozen as well and she can only stare in horror as the woman who looked like her walked slowly up to her child brother.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! She screams in her head, tears streaming down her face as she tries to move, tries to scream, tries to look away. She can do nothing but watch the sharp metal drive into the heart of her little brother by her own hand.
The woman smirks and turns to look at the tormented rogue as she sobs and struggles. All at once the boy drops to the floor, the woman is freed and the doppelganger is gone. Without hesitation the brunette runs to her brother's side and falls to the floor beside him. She screams and cries for him to wake up, pressing her hand to the wound as she cradles his limp head in her arm but he doesn't move, blank eyes staring up at her with a terrified and betrayed expression. Sobbing and rocking back and forth, cradling the child, she only registers the slowly heating room when she feels something burn her upper arm.
The moment the woman looks up she gasps and jumps to her feet, still holding the child in her arms, and stares in horror at the flames beginning to engulf her house. She spins around and looks behind her at the bodies of her parents but they're both consumed by flames already.
"No!" She screams, running to the back door with her brother in her arms and bursting through the wood, splintering it with the force of her impact, sending both her and the limp form of her brother flying. The woman lands hard in the dirt, sliding for several feet before coming to a halt.
Calling her brother's name weakly, she wills herself to sit up but can't bring herself to stand as she stares in horror at the sight before her. Her house, her childhood home, is alight with flames, her mother and father trapped inside and probably already consumed by the raging fire. And her brother? Her brother had slid into the side of the house and was now alight with the flame as well, corpse now turning to ash.
"How…? Why…?" The brunette sobs as she stares at the flames, but the only answer she gets is the cold feeling of the first drop of rain on her head before it begging to pour, soaking the woman and slowly dousing the flames. The rogue can only sit there and stare as the water puts out the fire slowly, leaving only the charred, destroyed, remains of her childhood home and her only family.
Broken hearted, the woman sobs and sobs as she sits in the mud on her knees, until she can't look any more, her head dropping to look away from the horrible sight. The huge puddle of water she kneels in reflects her broken expression and tear stained face back at her and she can only stare…. until something catch her eyes. She frowns at something small and white peaking out of her shirt. With numb fingers she slowly reaches into the collar of her tunic and pulls out a necklace. She stares at the white object in her palms for a while before her eyes grow wide and she gasps. Memories of leaving her happy, healthy, family at home as she goes adventuring returns to her.
"That's right. The Mercenaries, the betrayal, the inquisition!" She fingers the dragon's tooth in her palm. "Bull." She whispers before jumping to her feet as one last memory hits her. The two demon's float into her mind; a sloth and fear demon! She scowls and looks around.
"This isn't real!" She very nearly snarls as she looks around before something catches her eye. Standing not five yards to her left is the imposter, the smirk gone from its face as it glares at her.
"YOU!" The woman snarls at her doppelganger as she draws her sword. "You're a demon imposter!" The creature gives her the slightest of cruel smirks and the woman snaps. She's on the creature before it can register her movement and her sword is buried inside of its belly.
"Fake or not, you do not harm my family." She growls as the creature stares at her with wide, lifeless, eyes before falling to the ground as she throws her off of her sword.
The woman stares for a moment before looking around. Her eyes go wide as she spots a tear in the air, like the water when it laps against a stone or stick. With only a moment's hesitation, the woman suddenly darts towards the rip and dives through it.
Tumbling to the ground the girl looks around before letting out a sight of relief. Though the fade wasn't always a pleasant place for her, this was so much better than the nightmare she came from. Eyes and mind now clear, the woman starts off down the only path that she can, weapon drawn. She knows what she needs to do next. Time to free her friends.
"No!" She hears a familiar voice call as she walks down the path. Glancing around sharply, the rogue spots a short branching path with a fade portal on the other side and darts for it, jumping inside without a moment's hesitation.
"I'm not. I'm not like you." Cole whispers, eyes and head lowered. A demon hovers over his shoulder, a slim hand on his shoulder. Before him stands Rhys, who looks horrified as he stares at Cole.
"Look at how he stares at out, how terrified he is. He knows you're a monster." The demon whispers. "He knows what you really are now." Cole shakes his head but is visibly disturbed by the words.
"I'm not a demon. I won't be a demon!" He says in a shaky voice. "I want to help. Heal the hurt!" He protects but the demon grins cruelly behind him.
"Like you helped Cole?" He breathes and the blonde goes stiff.
"How much pain was that boy in? How hurt was he? And yet you did nothing." The demon hisses the last word through his teeth. "You didn't help him."
"But…I tried to help! I was there. He wasn't alone!" He says but the demon chuckles at his weak and shaking voice.
"You didn't help him. You didn't save him." The demon gets closer to his ear. "You used him." He nearly purrs, and Cole's already big eyes grow wider.
"No!" He exclaims, looking up for the first time. He opens his mouth to protect further but can only watch in horror as Rhys backs away from him slowly.
"Monster…DEMON!" The man yells before turning and running from them, leaving the blonde stunned and shaking.
"You see? You're a demon just as I…You can't change that." He growls in his ear.
"No…" Cole breathes, barely believing the words himself.
"Yes~" The demon purrs again with a satisfied grin.
"No!" Both demon and spirit look up at the source of the voice that just yelled. The demon hisses and looks back down at Cole.
"Ignore her! You are a demon! You don't help anyone!" The creature continues to try but the spirit is suddenly yanked from the demon and pulled tight to the woman's side. Holding the boy's hand with one of her own, she grasps her sword with the other and points it straight at the demon's throat. Eyeing the creature for a moment, the woman squeezes the blonde's hand and looks down at him, not once letting up her protective stance.
"Look at me." The woman whispers as the spirit stares at the floor, eyes still wide. He doesn't seem to hear her. Still holding his hand, she lifts hers up to his chin and tilts his head up to look at her. It takes a moment but the blonde's doe eyes finally focus on her.
"This creature knows nothing. This is an illusion created by the sloth and fear demons outside. We are trapped in the fade because of them. None of this is real." She tries to reason, but the terrified and conflicted expression on Cole's face remains.
"I could become one of them…" He says quietly, earning his hand a near painful squeeze.
"No! You couldn't! You're not like that. You're kind. You want to help people. We want to do the same. And right now there are others who need your help. Remember Bull? Krem? They were with us when we got shoved in here. They believe in you just as I do, just like pretty much everyone in the inquisition. And right now they need our help." She coaxes.
"But what if I can't help them…Cole, he-" But the brunette interrupts.
"You helped Cole. What were his last words? You've told them to me before." Cole stares up at her.
"'Thank…you…'" He says almost hesitantly. The woman nods.
"Yes. You help people. Demons don't you're not going to become one of them. You're not one of them. This is only an illusion." She says and the light seems to come to the spirit's eyes before they narrow and turn to focus on the demon who hisses.
"Damn you!" The creature hisses at the woman, ducking under her sword before she can drive it into his throat and lashing out with his claws and clipping her arm before bouncing off of her armor. The warrior jumps back as Cole lunges forward and draws his twin daggers, slashing the both of them across the demon's exposed chest, creating deep gashes in the creature and giving the woman time to recover and step forward, spinning around and slicing the demon's head off in one clean stroke.
The head bounces off the creature's shoulder and falls to the ground about the same time as the body as both spirit and human straighten.
"Thank you…" Cole says gently as he looks back at her. The woman opens her mouth to reply but shuts it quickly, eyes going wide as the boy's body starts to grow translucent.
"Cole…be careful. I'll follow soon." She says gently as she takes his hand gently, knowing that the spirit is being released from the confines of the demons' trap. The hand disappears from her grasp seconds later and she stares at the place where he once stood before turning and leaving. Now to save the other two.
-
Stepping back onto the path outside the portal, the brunette is a little startled to see a figure standing before her. She doesn't recognize the man shaded in darkness, half transparent. Reaching for her sword, body tense, she stops when the man holds up a hand.
"I am not here to harm you." The man says, voice laced with this otherworldly echo. Though the man was certainly strange, she didn't feel any malice coming from him, nor did her gut tell her to fear this man.
"Why are you here then?" The woman asks as she straightens and releases the hilt of her sword.
"You need to know how to leave, how to get out of this place." He says. The woman tilts her head.
"Don't I just free my friends? And then disappear as Cole did?" She asks, but the man shakes his head solemnly. Her heart sinks.
"I am afraid your path is not so simple. Since you woke of your own accord you cannot leave so easily." He states, making her frown.
"That hardly seems fair." She grumbles under her breath, making the man chuckle almost humorlessly.
"No, I suppose not, but it is still the truth." He says.
"Then how do I leave?" She asks, shifting her weight onto her other foot. The man doesn't speak for a moment.
"There are four demons that guard seals that protect those that would keep you here." His words sound almost cryptic, but the brunette seems to understand.
"The Fear and Sloth demons." She says slowly, the image of those two powerful demons flanking the blood mage drifts into her mind. Can she really beat them?
"Yes." The man pulls her from her thoughts. "You must defeat the both of them before you are allowed to leave." He states.
"And my allies?" She asks hesitantly.
"They will not be able to join you but they will be freed when you defeat the demons tormenting them, as you did with your spirit friend." He states softly, seeming to try and break the news to her gently.
"But I won't be able to follow them…?" It doesn't sound much like a question as she looks at the path before him. Out of the corner of her eye she sees the man shake his head.
"Not as they leave. You must defeat the two demons before you are permitted to leave." She looks up at him slowly.
"And if I don't defeat them?" She asks, looking up at him.
"Then you will be trapped here in your own living hell till your body withers away in the outside world then you will likely become a manner of demon not dissimilar to the ones you face now." His voice is almost monotone as he says this but there's a hint of sympathy for her. The woman takes in a deep breath before nodding softly.
"I understand. Thank you." She states and the man nods.
"Be careful." He states before he fades and disappears silently. Though she does not know the man, she thanks him mentally for the information before walking back onto the main path and continuing down it.
Time seems different here. While the brunette feels like she's been walking for hours she's fairly certain it's only been ten or twenty minutes before she finally spots another branching path. This path is slightly longer than the one she took to get to Cole but at the end sits a portal as his did.
"Don't!" She hears a familiar voice shout and her feet are taking her down the path at a brisk clip before she can even think about it or hesitate.
"Krem!" She calls, though she doubts the man can hear her on the other side of the portal, before running inside.
The vint stares in horror at the men surrounding him, a mixture of disgust and rage in their eyes. Before him, protective as he always has been, stands Bull, glaring at the others.
"Why pretend? No matter what you do you will never be a man!" Comes a voice from the crowd.
"I'm not pretending! It's who I am." Krem protests yet again, head throbbing as he tries to figure out why he was in this situation in the first place.
"Liar! You're just hiding! You cannot be a woman so you pretend to be a man!" Comes another call, Krem glares in the direction of the voice.
"Knock it off! Krem is more of a man then the likes of you!" The Iron Bull defends, getting pissed. Something whizzes through the air suddenly and smashes the Qunari in the head. Though it leaves a clear mark it only seems to piss the dragon horned man off.
"Stop defending her!" Several of them shout before something else sails through the air and buries itself in Bull's shoulder, who grunts in pain but stands firm in front of the vint.
"Is that the best you got!?" He calls with a roar, as he yanks the knife from his shoulder and throws it to the ground. A short grunt of pain echoes through the dark room again as Bull falls to one knee, an arrow embedded in his thigh.
"Boss!" Krem calls, trying to move to help the Qunari but his body doesn't respond.
"I don't need your help. Just stay back there." The Iron Bull growls as he stands. Krem frowns but clutches his head as trying to understand why he feels Bull is acting strange only furthers the pain in his temple.
"I don't need protecting, Bull! Let me help! We've faced worse!" The vint calls but Bull glares back at him with one eye.
"No. I can't let a girl get hurt." Krem's eyes go wide.
This is wrong. He thinks as his head throbs. But why? What am I missing?!
"You can't fight." Comes a voice in Krem's ear and the fog thickens in his head. "You're a woman. You can never change that. And every day that you lie to yourself and others people will get hurt." The brunette shakes his head, gripping his hair as he fights the pain to find his clarity. Something was wrong.
"This can't be-"
"Real?" The voice interrupts. "It's very real. What you do, what you pass for, is a lie." The thing hisses.
"The truth is-"
"Krem!" Comes a higher woman's voice that rings a bell in the Vint's mind. He looks up abruptly.
"Krem!" Comes the voice again. His eyes dart around, looking for the source of the voice. Unable see anything, the brunette struggles to move and follow the sound. He stops and stares, eyes wide, as Bull ripples like the reflection in a pond before a figure steps through him and comes to a halt in front of him.
"Black Dragon." He breathes as he stares at the armored woman in front of him. He straightens as the clouds in his mind start to clear. She smiles softly and nods.
"NO!" Hisses a voice in the vint's ear and the rogue before him grows serious.
"Move!" She calls and quick reflexes allow the man to dive to the left as the woman draws her sword and slashes at the demon that had been standing unnoticed behind him. The creature disappears before her blow can hit and the woman swears.
"Krem!" She calls without looking and the man draws his own weapon and puts his broad back to hers without hesitation. Both watch with sharp eyes for any sign of the creature.
"Here!" The vint calls just as he moves to swing at the creature. Based on the lack sounds of impact, the woman assumes the creature disappeared again.
"Here!" The dragon calls as she attacks the suddenly appearing form of the demon, only to press herself back against her partner as the creature disappears without a hit.
"Wait…listen." She hears the vint say quietly. Their breathing slows at the same time as they focus on the sounds. They can hear each other's heartbeats and the sound of their soft breathing. But under that there's a faint swishing sound, like a soft breeze. Both of them close their eyes and listen carefully. It's going in circles. Stalking around in the dark for them, slowly getting closer till….
"THERE!" They both shout as they both lash out. The back of Krem's hammer smashes into the hidden figure of the demon and throws it towards the black dragon, who easily drives her sword between it's ribs, glancing off a few while buried inside it's flesh and cracking them before protruding out the other side, blood and bits of lung clinging to her sword. The demon can only manage a gurgled gasp before it collapses heavily against the weapon. The girl lets it fall before retching her sword from its body and turning to look at Kerm.
"Damned thing. Thought this was real." Krem mutters in his usually, if slightly more annoyed, tone. The woman shakes her head.
"Fear and sloth demon. Trapped in your living nightmare." The woman explains with a sigh.
"Never did like demons." The man mutters again, looking down at the demon before looking up at her. Her smirk suddenly falls as she stares at him. Glancing down at himself he's a bit surprised to notice that he can see through his own hands and see the fading image of his weapon's handle below it.
"It's okay. It just means you're leaving the fade and going back to the real world." She says gently, a sad smile on her face. The vint scowls at his hands and looks up at her. Seeing that she's not doing the same he gets a little worried.
"What about you?" He asks urgently. She shakes her head.
"I'm trapped here still. But you have to go." She says gently. The man shakes his head and tries to walk towards her but his legs feel too heavy to move.
"No. I'm not leaving you to fight this alone! I'm not leaving you here." He says firmly as he struggles against the weight of his own limbs, trying to fight the call back to the real world.
"You don't have a choice." She says gently, her sad smile wavering a little as she watches her friend struggle.
"You'd better get out of this or I'm coming back in for you!" The man threatens just before the last of him blinks away. The woman lets out a pathetic laugh as tears fall down her cheeks. The thought of that being the last time she sees Krem makes the woman's heart squeeze in her chest.
"Focus." She mutters to herself as she scrubs her eyes before turning and walking back out of the room, each step reminding her what might become of her and what lies ahead. With each step…she feels something dark stir in her heart.
And here she stands. No noise comes from this portal she stands before now, which worries her. There are only two paths this time and one door is sealed so the portal before her must be the last of her companions. Something feels so wrong and stirs the darkness somewhat in her heart. Not willing to give into her fear—particularly give who lays behind the portal—the woman takes a breath and steps through.
Blinded momentarily, the brunette has barely enough time to duck as her eyes focus and spot the flying form headed towards her. With a sharp gasp, she drops and the figure flies over her, flying through the portal she'd just come from. Wide eyed, she looks in the direction the body came from. Her eyes go wide and her heart grows cold when she sees the source.
Standing, slightly hunched, in the middle of a foggy field surrounded by several figures—ones without colors or defining features—was Bull. But…something was wrong. His sweaty, exposed, back—which was facing her—was heaving and shaking. That wasn't unusual, as she'd often seen him after sex, fighting, and training and he was not so different, but something was wrong. Something wild and cruel rolled off of him in waves and seemed to seep into her very bones and turn them to ice. Standing slowly, she slowly tried to approach her heaving lover, still some yards away.
The woman jumps when she hears the man roar and slam his fist into one of the figures surrounding him. The thing collapses before standing again slowly just as two of its companions jump at the Qunari. The huge man spins around and slams the back of his trunk like arm into the two creatures, sending them flying and turning him to face her. He doesn't seem to notice her but the gasp of fear she lets out when she sees him makes his attention snap to her.
Madness.
In Bull's single eye she sees nothing but wild, cruel, madness in its depths. The blood dripping from the man's lips certainly doesn't help the crazed look. Paling a little, the woman straightens. The man just stares at her, not seeming to recognize her.
"B-Bull?" She calls to him, but he just continues to stare. Her eyes dart to his left and right as the shades seem to dance around the edge of some unseen circle surrounding the Qunari, stepping in tauntingly every few seconds, almost stimulating the bloodlust in the merc's eyes. At that thought, something dark tightens around her heart and embeds itself in it, refusing to let go. She feels a sudden rage directed towards the shades that taunt her lover.
She's distracted from her dark thoughts and rage, however, when the huge Qunari takes a step towards her and she suddenly feels a wild madness wash over her like a powerful wave, clearly now the focus of these feelings. Bull stares at her with dark eyes, pupils nearly devouring the color in his eyes as he stalks towards her. Unable to help herself, the woman takes a step back for each step forward he takes.
"Bull! Listen to me! This isn't you! You aren't Tal' Vashoth!" She calls to him as she slowly retreats. He doesn't seem affected by her words and continues to advance.
"Remember the Chargers! Remember Krem! The Inquisition!" She continues to try almost futilely, anything to get him to remember who he was and what he was doing. But he doesn't seem phased.
"Don't you remember me?!" She jumps as her back hits a tree, looking back at it before looking forward at Bull who's slowly closing the gap, eye dancing with dark madness and pleasure at her current position.
"You call me Kadan! Remember? This is fake! I am real!" She stares up at the man who now stands before her and towers easily over her shorter frame. She almost sees something in his eyes and her heart swells, before going suddenly cold as he suddenly lashes out and grabs her by her throat. She gasps and grabs his huge, strong, hand, trying desperately to tear it off as she's lifted into the air. Her feet leave the ground as he holds her up with relative ease as she gasps for breath. Her hand inches towards her sword but hesitates before grasping his hand again. She can't do it. She can't hurt him even as her eyesight starts to fade and go fuzzy at the edges.
"B-Bull….please…" She gasps out as she feels her toes start to tingle from lack of air. But his grip doesn't loosen. Her slowly oxygen starving mind struggles to find something, anything to get him to go back to normal; to release her and to be released from this living hell. She can only think of one word.
"Poppies." She utters her safe word, one long since drilled into the both of them. In her vision, almost gone, she sees the Qunari's eye wide before the fog fades all at once and he releases her with a grunt of surprise. The woman falls to the ground and drops to a knee, gripping the ground as she sucks in precious air like a man dying of thirst, her body trembling.
"Kadan." Bull breathes as he takes a knee before her and grabs her by her shoulders, pulling her to his huge muscle bound chest and envelops her in his trunk like arms. The woman's eyes close as she sinks gratefully into that familiar warmth, the scent of him filling her nose and easing her tension. The moment is short lived, however, when the girl opens her eyes and spots something over the Qunari's shoulder that she hadn't noticed before.
"Bull! Behind you!" She barks as jerks away from him. Knowing his partner well, both on the field and in the bedroom, he understands her tone of voice before she can even finish and shoves her onto her back, covering her as his demon attacks from behind, managing only to clip the one eyed merc's back with it's claws.
Bull sits up and throws a backhanded punch at the creature to drive it away as the human pulls herself up off the ground. The two of them stand abruptly, the brunette drawing her sword as she faces the demon…only to find that it wasn't there. Or, at least, it didn't appear to be. Being a rogue, and a damned good archer, the woman's sharp eyes caught the shimmer of light to Bull's right.
"Bull! Punch right!" She orders him, which the Qunari follows without hesitation, his fist connecting with the chest of the invisible demon, sending it back several yards before it jumps to its feet. Keen eyes lose the creature for a second before catching it again…almost directly in front of her.
"Bull!" She yells as her free arm goes up to defend herself. The Ben-hassrath spy's quick reflexes and sharp eyes catch the creature and his hand lashes out with the same speed it did to catch her throat. This time, it grabs the demon's face in one giant hand, holding it there.
"Kill it!" He barks, which she doesn't hesitate to do, her entire body tingling as something in her very soul is filled with bloodlust for this demon that would torture her love, giving her a speed and strength she didn't realize she had, driving her sword into the middle of the demon's ribcage and smashing through bone and flesh till it's buried to the hilt in the creature's body.
For a long moment, there is nothing but silence as echoes of the sickening sound slowly die out. Slowly straightening—the tendrils of that strange darkness inside of her slowly going dormant once again—the woman pulls her sword out of the body, with great effort, and Bull releases it, letting it collapse in a heap on the ground.
She can feel the eyes of her love staring down at her for a moment before he takes her hip and pulls her close, kissing her firmly, desperately, apologetically. The woman returns the kiss with some passion before pulling away and staring up at him, eyes watering, knowing what has to happen next.
"I'm sorry. I don't know…." She shakes her head to stop him.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. It wasn't real." She says before glancing down at him and frowning.
"You…get to go back to the real world, Bull." She says quietly, smiling up at him even as tears start to slip down her cheeks. The Qunari looks down at his body and sees it start to fade. His lover steps back away from him and he struggles to reach out for her again.
"You're coming with me." He states firmly but she shakes her head.
"I can't, Bull." She says quietly, voice breaking a little in the middle of the sentence. He struggles all the harder, fighting tooth and nail just to reach out to her.
"Then I'll stay! I'm not leaving you here, Kadan!" He nearly shouts as he reaches out to her with nearly invisible hands. She only gives him a heart breaking, trembling, smile through her tears.
"You can leave." She says in a 'cheerful' tone. "Go. I must stay."
"Kadan!" He yells before he's gone entirely. With Bull gone the weight of all that she faces and all that has happens hit her. The last she might ever see of Bull, the last kiss she might share, the scent of him she may never experience again, all hit her like a druffalo and stir that darkness in her heart again. That feeling only feeds and grows as she thinks about the suffering he's been through living his nightmare, the same for Krem and Cole, and the feeling now fills her body. Turning, the woman, entire body tense like a tight coil, stalks towards the portal she came from, the darkness seeming to seep and pool around her with each step. Stepping out of the portal her body sings with a quiet, cruel, dark, and powerful rage. She walks back down the path she'd come towards the other portal, no longer sealed, stepping on the shade that had flown out of Bull's portal without a care or notice. Slowly, she stalked towards the door, rage building, till she stood in front of it.
Placing her hand on the door, she pushed it open coolly and stepped in the dark room. The door shut behind her with a dull thud.
The fade was silent for a few, tense, moments, before filling with the surreal screams and quails of crippling terror and mind numbing pain; the sounds of two demons meeting their fate and getting exactly what they'd dished…their own hell.
-
The landing is soft as her booted feet touch the ground with a strange grace as she returns to the living world. The mage turns from the captured forms of her companions and looks at her with a smirk already planted on his face.
"It seems you managed to slip out too! I'm…impre…" His words die in his mouth as his brain finally catches up with what his eyes were seeing. Slowly the woman stalks towards him, eyes lowered. She's covered in blood, her sword arm limp and bleeding by her side. The man's eyes go to her other hand and catch a glimpse of something in her hands before they're flung to his feet. His eyes grow wide and his blood runs cold as the heads of his two most powerful demon's roll to a stop in front of him. His doe eyes snap up to the woman who hasn't stopped slowly stalking towards him.
"S-S-S-S-Stay back!" He shrieks, stumbling back as he raises his staff to trap her as he'd done to the others. His entire body freezes in horror as he looks back at her again. Eyes no longer on the floor, deep, dark brown, now almost black, lock on the man with a calm, dark, cruel rage coiling within their depth. This isn't the fiery rage that leads to the elemental demons but a cruel evil, a promise that a fate worse than death awaited and they were focused entirely on him. Even without realizing it, the mage's spells containing the other companions drop but they can't move. They can't stop staring at the woman slowly advancing on the frozen mage, frozen just as completely as the mage even though they were further from her and not her focus.
One who was normally so gentle and kind, so full of light and smiles even on the brink of passing out, one who put the safety of her friends above all else, no longer seemed to exist in the woman that stared down the miserable blood mage. She didn't seem human any more. Demons would cower from the pure black, evil, rage that seemed to wrap around her very being like twisted snakes. With every step the blackness inside of her seemed to coil even tighter, making her company grow even more tense with every step like any second the coils would snap and a horror that could dwarf the arch demons' would claim the mage's very soul and make it suffer.
The room was dead silent except for the soft, almost nonexistent, sounds of her steps as she closed the gap. Heartbeats could be heard if one listened close enough. She was so close to the man who could only stare in horror at his eternal suffering taken shape.
Three steps till she was standing in front of him and yet no one moved.
Two steps and the whole room held their breath.
One step and heartbeats stopped.
Zero. Time seemed to stop as the woman stared down at him with those black eyes. It might have been minutes; it could have been days for all they knew. But something finally broke the silence.
"Death." Comes Cole's whisper that echoes through the silent room. The mage lets out a squeak of a whimper and the room is suddenly filled with the smell of urine and fear. The woman continues to stand in front of the man, staring him down with her black eyes as he trembles like a leaf in a hurricane, tears and snot making a mess of his face as he cries, seeming to forget how to breath as he does so. He can't move, can't fight, only stare doe eyed up at the woman's evil black powers seem to reach out an caress his very soul.
…..
"Pathetic." If possible, the man's eyes grow even wider as the woman that would be his death utters these words in a cool, dark, calmly enraged, tone. She turns her eyes from him and continues walking past him. The moment he's freed from the woman's gaze he bends over and vomits onto the ground below him, retching nearly everything inside of him onto the ground before his legs give out and he collapses onto the floor in a heap, landing in his own vomit and urine.
Paying no mind to the sad display going on behind her, the woman walks to the door the man had gestured to earlier and opens it, walking inside and to the cage filled with terrified people. She grabs the keys off of the table as she passes and unlocks the door without a word, pulling the door open and looking down.
"Go." Is the only monotone word to leave her mouth and they don't have to be told twice, crying both fearful and happy tears as they run out of the room and past the convulsing husk of a human on the floor, seeking their freedom upstairs. The three other companions wait at the door as woman turns again, eyes back on the floor as she walks steadily towards them. She pauses in the doorway as the three step aside—all utterly silent—to let her through.
"Let's go." She says quietly before walking past them towards the stairs. They watch her back as she walks away and see the darkness slowly, very slowly, start to fade from her. They all look at each other, making a silent pack never to speak of this to her before following, Bull leading the way.
She's silent as she climbs the stairs steadily and makes her way outside. She pauses the moment her feet hit the grass and she just stands there. The others watch her for a moment, looking at each other again before turning their gaze back to her. Her back is still to them and her head is still bowed as she stands there. It's quiet around them again, nothing but the steady drip dripof the blood from her arm sliding down her fingers and falling to the grass meeting their ears. Bull frowns as he sees her like this and steps forward, slowly reaching towards her, ready to bring it back at any sudden movement on her part.
"Kadan…" He calls to her gently. That seems to do something as she slowly turns her head to look up at him. Her eyes are back to normal and the tension leaves the bodies of all three of her companions in a breath at the sight of the normal browns filled with a mixture of emotions. She stares up at Bull before her eyes suddenly grow dull.
"Bull…" She breaths before she suddenly collapses like a puppet whose strings were cut. The merc reaches out with brilliant speed and catches her in an arm before she can hit the ground, pulling her up. His eye quickly locks on the woman's shoulder to see it dislocated with a large, bloody, gaping wound.
Cursing he picks the girl up in both arms and strides to the village for a healer, the unconscious woman in his arms.
They arrive at the closest thing the town has to a healer and the old herbal expert tends to the woman's wounds and lets her rest, Bull and Cole remaining with the girl as Krem goes to report what happened to the scouts to get the information back to the Inquisition.
Though the wounds were deep and dangerous, the black dragon, asleep on the bed, looked relieved and relaxes. The blood mage was dead and her black rage was no longer emanating from her.
If only for now, she merely slept.
She slept a calm, dreamless, sleep.