With a final screech, the dragon stumbled and collapsed, its huge weight making the ground shudder like an earthquake. Its last breath rumbled in that vast throat before the torso fell still at last. The shattered grove became silent.
Isileth took a moment to catch her breath, leaning on her bow for support. It had been a lengthy fight but the Vinsomer had finally fallen. Turning her face upwards, the Inquisitor let the rain wash the blood from her face before smoothing her hair down between her horns. The weird lighting the dragon had... breathed? ...on them had made her crest of hair stand up even more than usual.
Nearby, Bull was grinning widely as he flicked the gore from his massive axe. It looked like his attempt to engage Vivienne in some kind of victory banter was proving less than successful, if the mage's expression was anything to go by. The massive qunari eventually gave up, looking almost contrite. One of these days, Isileth thought, I'm going to have to figure out why he's like that around her.
Meanwhile, Sera was walking slowly towards the body of the dragon, bow still held loosely in one hand. She stopped close enough to touch it and seemed almost about to do exactly that – only to stop herself at the last moment. Then she turned around and, seeing Isileth, smiled toothily and did something that could only be described as a cross between running on the spot and some sort of jig. Only the very charitable would have called it a victory dance, but that was clearly what it was.
Isileth just stared. Sera's leather armour had been burnt in places by the dragon's lightning, she was splattered with dragon blood and who knew what else, the streaming rain had plastered her unruly hair flat against her head so her ears stuck out even more than usual... but Sera's smile and the sheer intensity of her gaze, the joy in her expression, eclipsed it all. She was a mess, as they all were, but she was magnificent.
Had anyone asked her, of course, Isileth would have been the first to admit she was somewhat biased.
"Taarsidath-an halsaam," Isileth said, quite loudly, before her brain could catch up with the rest of her and keep her mouth firmly shut.
Behind her, Bull suddenly let loose a booming laugh before making a noise that sounded like he had tried to stuff a fist into his mouth to stop it. It just ended up as a kind of sniffling sound instead that receded as he moved away, probably trying not to make it any worse.
"You sound like you've swallowed something disagreeable, darling," Vivienne asked him, following after the mercenary. "I'd hate to think we went through all that only for you to choke on a fly..."
Sera hooked her bow over one shoulder before running her fingers through her hair, trying to get the water out. It did not really work – it was still raining. She rubbed some blood off her cheek and then finally seemed to notice Isileth still watching her. Another smile, but of an entirely different kind, crept across her face.
"Something you wanted?" the elf asked lightly, the smile going a little lop-sided.
"Definitely," Isileth replied emphatically with a smile of her own. Sera sniggered and shook her head suddenly, spraying water everywhere. It left her hair sticking out in pretty much every direction.
"I just love all this nature stuff, yeah?" Sera said, her tone indicating very clearly how she really felt. She began to take slow steps towards Isileth. "At least cities have roofs. And arches. And alleyways. And..." She stopped just within arm's reach and looked up into Isileth's eyes before she spoke again. "Hot baths," she breathed, like the idea of them was some kind of holy deliverance from the cold.
"Pretty sure Skyhold has those too," Isileth murmured, reaching out to lift a drop of water from the end of Sera's nose with one finger.
"You'll make me sneeze!" the elf exclaimed, looking worried. "I don't want bogies all over you!" She laughed.
"It wouldn't be very dignified, darling," Isileth said in imitation of Vivienne, but Sera just snorted.
"Bugger dignified," she stated, as if 'dignified' was the worst thing to be, ever. "I might get them on me! I don't want them back!"
"Maybe we should go back to camp," Isileth suggested, smiling, "and out of the rain."
"Maybe..." Sera began, looking slyly thoughtful, "we should send Vivi and Bully off to get the boat ready and we can stay here and... look for more loot."
"I think we searched pretty thoroughly already," Isileth reminded her in a mock serious tone. "Where were you thinking of looking?"
"Maybe there's a... nook we haven't uncovered yet." Sera's smile, and the direction of her gaze made her thinking clear.
"I'd rather uncover out of the rain, wouldn't you?" They both looked up at the stormy sky, blinking as the rain splashed down on them and showing no signs of stopping. They looked back at each other again, smiling like cats that were about to get their catnip, when Sera suddenly shivered violently.
"Urgh! Rain down the back of my neck!" Sera twisted around one way and then the other, reaching back to try and rub at her back where the water had trickled down. Isileth tried, with some success, not to laugh.
"That settles it then," the Inquisitor announced. "Back to camp."
Isileth had to admit that tents pitched in a cave formed from basalt columns was one of the weirder places they had set up camp. It did have one advantage over the other Inquisition camps on the Coast, however – the rain was kept out completely. It also meant the fires kept the camp moderately warm, at least when the wind was not whistling around the tunnels, making an annoying wailing noise.
Bull had already mopped himself dry with a number of old blankets and moved off in search of something to drink. Vivienne was probably perched somewhere quiet reading some weighty tome on magic... or the latest Swords And Shields. Isileth chuckled at the thought of that image.
"Hey!" called a voice from the nearest tent. "Am I missing out on funny?" Sera's head poked out from the canvas flaps. Her hair had been tamed to something resembling flatness but her grin was as unruly as ever.
"Nothing really," Isileth told her, smiling. She glanced up and down the cave tunnel briefly before looking back at Sera again. Something in her expression made Sera's eyes go wide and even brought a slight redness to her cheeks, before that teasing grin swept back across her face again. The elf snatched her head back inside the tent as Isileth walked over and slipped in after her. She had to bend over a little to fit in, which helpfully brought her face closer to Sera's.
Sera had already removed her scorched armour and stood looking up at Isileth in just the under-shirt and leggings she wore underneath. She had removed the scarf she usually wore around her neck and it left her looking strangely vulnerable.
"This is cosy," Sera whispered, that hint of red still visible on her face around the grin. Moving a little closer to the taller woman, she began to undo the fasteners on the qunari's armoured coat. "What was that thing you said earlier?" she asked. "Tari-dali-hathi-whatever. What was that? Cos the look you had on you... woof."
Isileth smiled before leaning down and putting her lips next to Sera's left ear. She let them brush across it for a moment before whispering the translation to her. Sera swallowed, loudly, before smirking up at her lover with a wicked look in her eyes.
"Do I get to watch?" she asked cheekily, before sniggering. Isileth let Sera help her remove her gauntlets and then get her out of her coat, not speaking. Then she took a small knife from her belt and held it up between them. Sera looked at it for a moment before lifting her eyes back to Isileth's, frowning. "Have you gone wappy?" she asked, confused.
Isileth just smiled and carefully put the tip of the knife just under the top lace of Sera's under-shirt, blade upwards. A little pressure and the lace split in half; it was a very sharp knife, one that the Inquisitor had ordered made while exploring the path of the Assassin. She had taken a different path, in the end, but the knife was too useful not to keep. Then Isileth moved the knife blade down to the next lace. Sera stared at it for a long moment before speaking.
"If you keep that up," she said quietly but with a definite huskiness to her voice, "I won't be able to wear it later." She looked up at Isileth again, this time through her lashes, something the tall woman had found made her utterly irresistible. A half smile crept across Sera's face and the other half appeared on Isileth's lips in reply.
"Later can wait," Isileth told her softly, and cut the next lace.