AN: Aili is bad at being sick. Solas is an exasperated and amused nurse. Anyone wondering about the horse should check out my other story "My Kingdom for a Horse" :)
Rated: T? Pretty safe, but there is some mild cussing and a fight scene.
Disclaimer: Still poor and not working for BioWare
He almost didn't catch her the first time.
"Lemme go, Solas!" The Herald of Andraste protested with a hiss, flailing her arms as he grabbed her around her middle and physically began hauling her back towards the camp. "I'm sick of being stuck in that stupid tent all day, and I've got work to do."
"You are sick, Da'len," he reminded her with a grunt as one of her elbows caught him in the ribs, "And precisely what sort of work were you planning to get done in the middle of the night?"
"There's a rift around here," Aili said dazedly as what was left of her strength seem to leave her and she sagged heavily in his arms. "I can feel it. Makes my whole arm all tingle-buzzy, like bees. Glowy magic bees. Bzzzzzzz… And I wouldn't have to sneak out at night if you and Cassandra weren't such a pair of mother hens. So picky-pecky. Peck pick peck. "
"And you were going to fight whatever demons had come through the Veil on your own?" Solas snorted. "All while delirious with fever and drugged out of your mind?"
"I feel fine. My ankle doesn't even hurt anymore," she insisted, even as she tripped over her own feet. He pulled her back to him to stop the fall, causing her face to smack him squarely in the chest.
"You have taken too many elfroot potions," Solas informed her evenly.
"You've taken too many elfroot potions," Aili mumbled belligerently into his sweater. "I'm the First to a Keeper, Protector of Elvhen lore, and an important agent for the Inquisition; I can fight anything. I can fight dragons and demons, and whatever else. I can fight you if I have to. Bring it on! Fight me, Hahren!" She thumped a hand against his shoulder weakly.
"Is that what you told the bears?" Solas asked, his tone a mixture of exasperation and mild amusement as they finally managed to hobble back into her tent.
"It was!" Aili exclaimed as Solas guided her down onto her bedroll. "I would have beaten them too, if Cassandra hadn't gotten in the way."
"Cassandra is likely the only reason you are not lying dead in a ditch with your face mauled off," Solas reminded her sternly. "She told me you were hitting them over the head with your staff."
"Just the one!" she objected sleepily. "I was running low on mana and it was going after Varric."
"Is that how you ended up unconscious at the bottom of a ravine?" he asked, his brow furrowed in consternation.
"No, no…that was because of the bees." She explained nonchalantly, as though she were commenting on the weather as opposed to a near death experience. "My staff knocked a hive as I was riding back to camp for help and… Well, Fen'Harel doesn't like bees. So, he decided to give them a piece of his mind, and pitched me off his back in the process. Which is how I ended up down in a gully and half way in a stream."
"Your horse was the only reason we found you," Solas told her, still sounding baffled at the memory of it.
"He knows who keeps the carrots coming," she said with a drowsy smile as her eyes drifted shut.
"You are doting on a beast who actively seeks to unsaddle you at every given opportunity?" Solas asked dubiously.
"You catch more flies with honey, Hahren," she informed him in a sleepy sing-song voice.
Aili was quiet for a moment and, assuming she had fallen asleep, Solas moved to pull her blanket over her.
"Don't forget, I'm gonna fight you," she told him through a thick yawn as he tucked the covers under her chin, "but…since I'm so generous, I'm going to…rest a bit while you take some time to bolster your courage. I can be pretty scary, I know."
"Thank you, Da'len," Solas chuckled softly as he sat back, watching her as she drifted off to sleep. "I was truly afraid for my life."
The second time she was betrayed by her accomplice.
"Harellan," she accused the huge black draft horse under her breath when he stopped directly in front of Solas' tent and refused to move farther, oblivious to her friend's slight flinch at the word. "See if I slip you any treats after this."
"You are not the only one capable of bribery, Da'len," Solas informed her with a smirk, patting the horses flank and sputtering when the beast twitched its tail and smacked in directly in the face with it.
"Ha!" Aili panted breathlessly, pausing for a moment to give a violent sneeze, her face still flushed with fever, "Serves you right."
She leaned closer to the Fen'Harel's head, stroking his neck as she whispered loudly, "I don't know what he promised you, Ma falon, but I know I can do better. He's just some wandering apostate who knows a lot about the Fade, while I am the Herald of Andraste; I've got connections. Just get me out to the Fade rift and you can live in lavish horsey luxury for the rest of your days."
"Assuming, of course, that you did not die in the inevitable battle such an outing would lead to," Solas commented casually. "In which case, the animal who allowed such an incident to occur would likely be put to the sword."
Fen'Harel abruptly sat his hind quarters on the ground, sending his rider to sliding off his back and rolling onto the grass, pinning his ears back at the harsh sounds of her cursing.
"You really are a demon who came through the Veil in the shape of a horse just to torment me." Aili said hoarsely, glaring up at her mount and sneezing once more. Fen'Harel answered with a flippant snort and a flick of his long tail, whipping her sharply in the back of the head.
"Fenehdis!" She exclaimed angrily clutching the back of her skull. "May the Dread Wolf grind you into paste and spread you on his morning toast, you monster!"
"That hardly sounds appetizing," Solas noted with a wry smile.
"You're just as bad as he is!" Aili informed him with a glower. "You think I can't hear Cassandra talking to our scouts outside of my tent? The demons from that rift have been killing refugees. Why won't you lemme do my job?"
"Possibly because you still have dangerously high fever, your ankle has barely healed, and you have ingested enough elfroot to stun a bronto?" He replied with an arched brow.
"Psh, details," she said, waving a hand at him dismissively and lurching to her feet, breathing hard. "You just don't think I'm tough enough. But I am! And you aren't even brave enough to face me in a duel so I can prove it to you! You're actually frightened of me, aren't you, Hahren? Admit it!"
Her eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted, pitching forward into Solas' waiting arms.
"Completely terrified, Da'len."
There were several other attempts at escape made over the next week, each one getting progressively more and more ridiculous, including one in which Aili tried to convince him that she was Cassandra by doing a horrific impersonation of the Seeker's Nevarran accent and scowling at him as hard as she could. And when he had pointed out her obviously elven ears, she had tried to persuade Solas that she was actually him instead. He admired her tenacious spirit, even as she drove him to the point of near aggravation, but the more pressing issue was that she didn't seem to be getting any better.
"There is nothing for it, " Cassandra said with a grating sigh when he and Varric had joined her for a meeting to discuss their next course of action. "The rift here must be closed before we leave. Afterwards, we will take the Herald back to Haven for proper treatment. She will have a harder time breaking out of a locked building, if nothing else."
"I think you underestimate her, Seeker," Solas said, one corner of his mouth twitching up into a brief grin. "But I still disagree. The Herald is in no condition to fight."
"Dandelion had a heated argument with Bianca yesterday about the Chant of Light," Varric added with a grimace. "Anyone who starts accusing weaponry or religious oppression probably shouldn't be trusted to sling fire around."
"What choice do we have?" Cassandra snapped, "The people out here are all but defenseless, and the Herald is the only one who can close these tears in the Veil."
"I can do it," Aili coughed, staggering out of her tent, leaning heavily on he staff.
Solas opened his mouth to protest, but found himself silenced by the defiance in her gaze.
"I can do it, Solas," she repeated fiercely, daring him to deny it. He heaved a defeated sigh before giving her a short affirming nod.
"This is crazy talk!" Varric objected. "You'd fall on your ass if a demon so much as looked at you funny, Dandy."
"The Herald does not need to fight," Cassandra said firmly, turning to face Aili squarely. "Your only job is to seal the rift, leave the demons to us."
Aili made a face like she wanted to argue, but she apparently had enough wits about her to think better of it and settled for simply nodding her agreement.
The rift was not too far from camp, but it still took nearly all of what little strength Aili had just to stay in her saddle on the ride there.
Solas helped her down from her steed, casting a protective barrier around them as he wrapped an arm about her waist and led her to the edge of the clearing where the rift had appeared. There were already a fair amount of shades and two rage demons milling around, waiting for the next group of hapless travelers to approach.
Solas frowned. There were even more of the fiends than they had anticipated. He helped Aili prop herself against a tree, reinforcing the protective spell he had cast around her before stepping away.
"Wait here, Da'len," He instructed her. She gave him a tired smile and waved him off to join their companions.
Cassandra took point as they moved further into the clearing, drawing the demons notice. Solas blasted two shades with a spray of ice as Varric peppered a rage demon who tried to cut around a flank them with bolts from his crossbow.
There was still a single shade charging at Cassandra, and she met it head on, bashing it directly in the face with her shield, sending it staggering. It let loose a low groan of displeasure as it came back, swiping furiously with its razor sharp claws. She batted them away with her shield again, opening a path for her blade as she leapt forward to follow through, catching the creature deep in its gut. She twisted the sword savagely before yanking it free. The demon shrieked as its body dissolved, a faint hiss of magic skittering over the Seeker's skin as the Fade rift seemed to reabsorb its essence.
Meanwhile, the rage demon Varric had shot at earlier was closing in on him, flanked by another pair of shades. The rogue managed to plant a bolt in one of the lesser demon's eyes, bringing it down with a single shot, but the other two still pressed forward, herding him steadily back towards the trees. The rage demon lunged forward, snagging the dwarf in the arm with its fiery talons even has he back flipped out of range.
"A little help here?" Varric called out, panting hard and priming Bianca for another round of bolts.
"I am afraid I seem to be a bit preoccupied at the moment," Solas replied over his shoulder as he brought up a wall of ice to defend himself from the second rage demon who was baring down on him.
Cassandra charged from the other side of the field, sprinting across the muddy grass to his aid, drawing off the remaining shade with short vicious swipes of her sword. However, that still left Varric at the rage demon's mercy. He showered the creature with another hail of bolts from his crossbow, but they seemed to do little more than incite its already blistering wrath.
A spurt of flame erupted from where the mouth would be on a normal animal, aimed straight at Varric's face. He threw his arm across his head and braced himself for the scorching heat of the blast- but it never came. The dwarf blinked up at the barrier which had magically formed around him in astonishment. He glanced over at Solas to find that the elf still had his hands full with his own demon. That only left…
Aili was down on one knee and breathing hard, her right hand was held out towards him, focusing intently on maintaining the shield she has raised. Her face was bright red from exertion, and even from where he was standing, Varric could tell that she was sweating profusely.
"You're not supposed to be fighting, Dandy!" Varric shouted in concern.
"What?" Solas asked in alarm, momentarily freezing the demon in front of him and whipping around to look at her.
"You're welcome!" Aili snapped in breathless annoyance. She met Solas' gaze. "Hurry up and help him, I can't hold this long."
"Herald, you should not be-" Solas began.
"I said," Aili interjected fiercely, throwing out her left hand and casting a powerful surge of lightening at the frozen demon behind Solas, shattering it into a thousand tiny fragments, "Hurry. Up."
She dropped to all fours shortly afterwards, exhausted, as Solas' encased the final demon in a thick layer of ice. Varric quickly showered the creature in another wave of bolts from Bianca and lobbed a grenade at it for good measure. Like the monster before it, the rage demon splintered into pieces, and what was left of it was drawn back into the Fade.
Cassandra felled the final shade a few moments later, and the rift throbbed with raw magic, crackling angrily and flooding the meadow in a sickly green light. Aili gave a strangled scream, struggling with all she had left to rise to her feet, stretching out her marked hand toward the hole in the sky.
"Herald!" Cassandra barked anxiously even as Solas and Varric rushed to her side.
"I've got this!" Aili said through gritted teeth, quaking as her mark connected to the Fade and began the process of mending the wounded Veil. The rift snapped shut with a deafening boom, and for half an instant the entire party was disoriented, fighting to keep their feet. When they looked back, Aili was face down on the ground, unmoving.
"Herald!" Solas shouted, hastening to kneel beside her. Cassandra and Varric hovered behind him, shooting each other worried glances as Solas pulled her into his lap and patted her cheek firmly, attempting to rouse her. She was clammy to the touch and her tan skin was unusually pale. She wasn't breathing.
"Da'len!" Solas tried again, shaking her roughly by the shoulders. He was low on mana after the fight, if he used what he had left and it did nothing, he would be powerless to help her. Her head lolled back on her shoulders, and still her chest did not rise. He was running out of time, if she did not wake soon...
"Aili!" This time, his tone was commanding, furious, frantic. He tore the fastens open on the front of her leather armor, and did the same when he encountered the cotton shirt beneath it. He placed both hands against the bare skin of her chest and sent every last ounce of healing magic he could muster into her body in a single powerful blast.
She jerked violently in his arms before going still again, and for a moment he thought they had lost her. Then, her entire body spasmed as she rolled to one sided, wracked with coughs and sputtering.
Once she seemed to have regained her breath, Solas turned her back to him gently. Her pulse was erratic, but strong, and her fever seemed to have broken. She offered him a shaky smile.
"Put 'em up, Hahren." she whispered hoarsely. Solas gave a startled laugh of relief.
"Go easy on me, Da'len," he said softly, brushing a stray lock of pale damp hair back from her face, smiling down at her fondly. "I fear I am no match for you."
