Dream
Solona Amell felt the cold grip of fear take hold of her body as she ascended the winding stair toward the Harrowing Chamber. Her legs felt like lead weights as she tried to drag them forward, her muscles not obeying her commands as the paralyzing terror seemed to send a freezing chill throughout her shivering form. She had heard the stories speaking of the horrors of the Harrowing, the rumors that the mage apprentices were sent alone to confront a demon, either destroying it or being possessed during the struggle. All of the initiates knew of those who had attempted the Harrowing and were never seen again. The more hopeful and sadly naïve believed that the Chantry would never remorselessly condemn them to death, believing mistakenly that the goodness that was the holy church of light could never be so malicious or cruel. Solona knew better, cognizant of the fact that the Chantry regarded mages as a pestilence to be cured, a corruption to be purified, a nuisance to be purged.
The great doors to the Harrowing Chamber opened with a drawn-out creak, revealing the grim faces of Knight-Commander Greagoir and First Enchanter Irving. Cullen stood near the pair, his face adopting a pained and fearful expression, most likely because of his not-so-hidden feelings toward her. Many of the female initiates liked to gossip about the two, whispering and giggling about the furtive glances and blushing looks he gave her. Solona liked Cullen as he had always been kind to the mages unlike many of the other templars who seemed to be under the impression that all of them might become abominations at any moment. Greagoir was certainly included in this category, the grizzled, old master of the tower reserving a special dislike for her, and she knew exactly why. She was too strong, her power astounding even the most experienced of the senior enchanters. While others struggled to master the most trivial of spells, she had already delved into the ancient secrets of the magisters of old, learning the forbidden arts they used to try to usurp the throne of the Maker Himself. No one knew of these surreptitious studies though, her cautious nature always taking great care to ensure that her illicit activities remained a secret.
She did not listen as Greagoir spoke some meaningless words quoted from the Chant of Light, her eyes fixed upon the vaulted ceiling, once bright frescoes painted by the long-vanished Avvars now blackened and dirtied by the smoke and ash of the torches surrounding the yawning space. "Another thing the Chantry corrupted by their unchecked fanaticism," Solona thought, frowning at the indistinguishable shapes making up the paintings.
As Irving began speaking, Solona began looking toward the other masked templars who stood vigilant in a loose circle around her. She looked into their cold eyes shadowed by steel visors, a sense of anticipation along with cruel humor projected in their gazes. She scowled, envisioning the templars laughing maniacally as they ran her through as soon as she began her Harrowing. She would not put it past Greagoir, a man who regarded mages as subhuman and thought of killing them just as he saw disposing of garbage.
Greagoir's harsh voice snapped the fearful girl out of her musings as he said, "Should you fail…we will be forced to strike you down. Do you understand?"
Solona glared at the bearded man, her eyes twin flames of hatred as she imagined the man bursting into flame. If only. "I understand," she said quickly, vowing never to allow herself to die by the blade of any templar.
Solona spun her staff around her wrist, unleashing a cone of cold that froze the rage demon as it lunged to attack her. Walking around the ice sculpture, she casually snapped its spindly arms off before shattering with a quick jab of her staff. She watched as the remains of the demon scattered around the discolored ground, the pieces melting away as Mouse squealed in excitement about her victory. She ignored the annoying, lost mage, watching as the colorless sky seemed to morph and change as bolts of lightning rose from the void below to run along the constantly shifting clouds in the sky. The atmosphere around her seemed to change suddenly, static electricity running between her fingers and the spirit staff as she observed the island around her begin to change.
Broken columns bents and contorted into impossible shapes before finally fading into dust carried along by a sudden wind. The twisted statues seemed to moan as their gaping mouths opened to reveal thousands of eyes, each darting around as if searching for the source of the calamity affecting the Fade. The ground shook as the island cracked apart, the remains connected by what looked like human muscle before these tenuous strings too frayed and snapped. The islands twisted into endless spirals descending into the abyss below, the craggy rock seeming to form endless staircases that seemed to connect to each other even though they went off in completely different directions.
The distant pieces of the Black City looked as if a wave of heat rose before it, the dark shapes distorting and turning into a wavy mirage. Each piece suddenly came together, forming a single, unified structure floating off in the distance, soaring towers emerging from the islands like newly emerged teeth of an infant. Solona's eyes widened at the chaos around her, trying to maintain her balance as everything but the area she stood upon shifted and changed. She had heard that the spirits of the Fade could reshape and reform the Fade as they saw fit, imitating the objects and structures they had perceived in mortal's dreams. She never knew that such a transformation could be on such a massive scale, however, the entire Fade seemingly coming under the will of one, single architect.
She looked to Mouse whose face betrayed no concern at the overwhelming upheaval going on around them. "Is this normal for those living in the Fade?" she wondered, her eyes scrutinizing Mouse for any sign. He betrayed nothing, his eyes continuing to look at her intently, hungrily, almost in a predatory way. "You know…you could let me go with you when you leave this place. I could finally be free!" he said enthusiastically as a tinge of fear appeared in her mind at his words.
"You had your chance Mouse. Even if I did bring you back with me, you would have no body to return to," Solona said suspiciously.
"Oh, but I would," Mouse said, his voice growing increasingly dark as he appraised her, salivating as he looked upon the woman before him. "A delicious body, one the templars would not be able to take from me. Won't you please help me…it's been so…long".
"I'm beginning to think killing the demon wasn't the true test of this Harrowing," Solona said warily, brandishing her staff at the now malevolent looking mage.
Mouse laughed maliciously, his changed voice now deep and foreboding, "You have done well mortal. The real dangers of the Fade are preconceptions... careless trust... pride. Take care mortal because true tests…never end".
Mouse had suddenly transformed into a huge, spiked demon, his fanged maw dripping with blood and saliva as his split-pupil eyes looked at her with hunger. She tried to move but found her legs rooted to the spot. Just as she began to panic, Solona felt the familiar sensation of the real world drawing her back, taking her away from the world of dreams and away from this horrid demon. A sigh of relief escaped her as the shower of light began to bathe her in golden energy, warmth beginning to penetrate into her frozen body.
Just as a sense of safety began to come over her, the perception was shattered as an unseen force severed her connection to the real world. She looked around in shock, watching as darkness began to overcome the gray atmosphere of the Fade, distant lightning striking the far off islands as thunder rumbled around her. The demon seemed surprised too as it looked around dumbly, for the first time seeming to notice the great changes that had affected the Fade since her defeat of the rage demon.
"What business do you have in my realm, mortal?" a questioning voice spoke from behind her, but when she turned to the identity the speaker, only darkness greeted her.
"Who's there? Are you another demon; is this another test?" Solona said as she struggled to keep her voice steady, paralyzing fear beginning to overcome her.
"Demons? Tests? Of what nonsense do you speak of mortal, especially considering you stand uninvited in my realm?" the voice spoke, this time sounding irritated.
"Fool! Show yourself! Be you a spirit of valor or another worthless demon of the Fade, I will allow no one to speak in my presence without first showing its face," the demon spoke, its enraged eyes darting around the deepening dark.
"Be silent. I will not have my own creations speak to me in this manner," the voice said as crimson light leapt from the darkness, surrounding the demon as it roared in anguish, its body reduced to a hazy, red cloud as it was sucked into the source of the light. "Now mortal, I believe I asked you a question".
"My Harrowing…I'm here to complete my Harrowing, to face the demon. I was going to leave, but some force pulled me back. Was it you?" Solona asked, looking around her in panic but seeing nothing in the swirling darkness.
"These words you speak…I have no knowledge of them. Mortal matters are no concern of mine, but when they interfere with my duty, it is an altogether different matter. You have a power within you…a power stolen from me. That is why I pulled you back," the voice explained as the darkness began to dissipate.
"Show yourself! I have stolen nothing from you! Stop hiding in the darkness you coward!" Solona exclaimed with a quavering voice.
"I am not hiding, I cannot hide in this world. This world is me, or once was, created from the very essence of my power," the voice spoke from behind her, causing the mage to turn around quickly. A figure towered over her, a black cape seemingly shimmering like the night sky was draped over his body, fire seeming to rise from the folds of cloth lying on the ground. He was thin and tall, his gangly limbs seemingly out of proportion with the rest of his body, his skin a chalk white. His long face bore eyes that were completely black except for twin points of blazing light serving as pupils, spiky black hair with a blue tinge rising from his head in an unkempt mess. "You see me now having finally opened your eyes, or closed them, depending upon your perspective".
Solona backed away from the man, not knowing if he was spirit, demon, or something else entirely. "What are you? You say you are the creator of the Fade…if so, you would have to be the Maker Himself!"
"What is this Fade you speak of, perhaps you speak of the world around us? This world is dream as am I, the place where mortals come to when they slumber. It is a world of my own creation where I have absolute control, or so I thought," he said gravely, casting a penetrating stare over the girl before him.
"The Fade was the first creation of the Maker, but he left it behind when He became dissatisfied with His works. If you created it…you must be the Maker, but that's impossible. They say the Maker abandoned the mortal world because of mankind's sin," Solona spoke to herself, studying the strange form of the man, spirit, god before her.
"You keep referencing this 'Maker'. There are many makers each with their own role and task. If you speak of the Creator who reigns in heaven watching over the mortals, then I am not who you are referring to. I built this realm long ago and have watched it fall to ruin during my absence. That is the only truth of this particular world. To seek out the others you will need to seek out the other Endless, though besides my older sister, none will meet you willingly," the man said.
"But the Maker reigned in the Golden City until the Tevinter mages despoiled the grand city of god, or at least that's what the Chantry tells us," Solona argued, not sure of herself.
The man looked at her as if he could not comprehend the extent of her ignorance, "The Silver City you mean…and it is not corrupted or tainted. It remains as it always was, a haven of angels, the seat of creation".
"So what are you? God, spirit, or something else entirely?" Solona asked.
"As I said, I am Dream of the Endless. I have been called many things by many peoples as time has slowly moved forward. It would not be out of the range of possibility that the mortals of the world outside gave me the name of 'Fade'. I have lived long and seen much. Like the structure of this world, nothing is unchanging, not even the immortal," Dream spoke, his eyes surveying the shifting landscape of the Dreaming.
"And why did you say I stole something from you? I've never met you. I've never been to the Fade before," the mage questioned, staring in wonder at the figure before her.
"You have taken power that rightfully belongs to me as have many of your brethren in the outside world. It seems that mortals will never cease to grasp at what they cannot fathom and certainly cannot control," Dream said as he removed a pure-white hand from his cloak. "Now I will regain what has been taken".
His palm glowed with hidden power as Dream placed it on Solona's forehead, excruciating pain running through her body as tendrils of power sucked the magic from her writhing form. The pain only lasted an instant as she collapsed to the ground, only catching another glimpse of the man as vision left her eyes.
Solona rose from her cot suddenly, her panicked breaths filling the air as she placed her hands on her forehead, searching for the source that felt like it was drawing her soul in. Strong hands forced her down, and as she tried to struggle from the iron grip, her eyes met the cold eyes of a helmeted templar. "Release her!" a forceful voice called out. "I have many questions I wish her to answer".
Solona looked to the source of the voice, her eyes meeting the calculating eyes of the Knight-Commander. He stood with the First Enchanter, the elderly man's face grave as he looked upon the shaking, sweating form of his most promising pupil. "Solona…are you alright?" Irving said with concern. "No Harrowing has ever gone quite like yours before".
"And that is exactly why we are here," Greagoir spat with contempt. "The ritual ended with your body going rigid before you began screaming like some kind of monstrous creature. Red light surrounded you, and we prepared to slay your corrupted form, but the convulsions ended just as soon as they began. You collapsed and have been moved into confinement lest you prove to be a danger. Tell me…what happened in the Fade?"
Solona looked at him in confusion, trying to gather her thoughts, "I collapsed after my Harrowing…how, why?"
Greagoir grew increasingly annoyed as she tried to remember what happened in the Fade, "That is exactly why we brought you here. Tread carefully mage, you are under suspicion of harboring a demon. We are prepared to end your life if you refuse to cooperate".
"I don't really remember…I defeated the demon, and then something destroyed the pride demon," Solona said, trying to clear her clouded mind.
"Something? What?" Greagoir said in exasperation.
"I remember…he said…that he was the creator of the Fade, the embodiment of the world of dreams," she said slowly, the memories slowing coming back to her.
"What blasphemy is this? The Maker created the Fade before he moved on to construct this world," the Knight-Commander said aghast. "You claim you met the Maker in the Fade? Surely even you Irving can see that she has become at best unhinged and at worse possessed by a malevolent demon".
"What do you mean child? Who did you meet in the Fade, certainly not the Maker, maybe a spirit perhaps?" Irving questioned, his brow furrowed as he studied the recovering girl.
"He said he wasn't the Maker…he is Dream of the Endless, creator and ruler of the Fade. He said I had stolen something from him, and he took it back…there was so much pain," Solona said as she hugged her legs close to her body.
"He took what from you exactly?" Irving questioned.
"The power to draw from the Fade…his power," Solona said as she raised a hand, muttering a basic incantation as the templars leveled their weapons at her. Nothing happened. No tongue of flame rose from her palm, no magical energy surrounded her body.
"Maker's breath…she's lost the power to control magic. Now I know why she felt so strange…there's no evidence of magic within her at all," Greagoir said incredulously.
"Is it possible," Irving began with some hesitation, "that she really…"
Greagoir cut him off with a quick motion of his hand, "The Maker has left this world. Despite the ravings of this addled girl, there is no way she met our Lord and Creator. I will contact her reverence in Denerim and determine if there are any records or precedent speaking to this peculiar occurrence. The girl is not to be without guards when she leaves her room, and I will tolerate no rumormongering. Any mention of the Maker in connection with this incident will be considered blasphemy and punished accordingly".
As Greagoir left, Irving turned to Solona and studied her intently, "Can you tell me anything about what happened in the Fade? Can you explain it more clearly?"
"He was like a man only more…somehow. The Fade changed at his whim, the Black City became whole, demons were expunged. Go to the Fade and you will see. That's all I can say," Solona said, trying to explain her experience as simply as possible.
Irving looked at her with concern, but Solona knew the First Enchanter did not believe her, his expression more a result of fear that she may have been tainted by something in the Fade than from any real worry for her well-being. "You have been through quite an ordeal…try to rest and we will speak of this more at a later date".
Solona listened to Irving and slept, but her sleep was like the eternal rest of the dead, completely uninterrupted by the vibrant dreams that had once connected her mind to the Fade. Eventually she began moving around the tower again though always accompanied by templar guards poised to slay her should she show any sign of turning. Despite Greagoir's ban, rumors of her experience in the fade had spread throughout the apprentices and enchanters of the Circle, whispers of how she had encountered the Maker and how in His mercy He had saved her from the curse of magic. Everywhere she passed the eyes of the other mages were on her, some in wonder, some suspicious, and some envious. Even when she was alone in her room she felt a pair of eyes watching her, eyes like twin deep, dark pools with gems of glowing light submerged deep below the surface of each.
Although she slept serenely after her Harrowing, she increasingly felt worn down and exhausted, like she never received enough rest. Even the sleeping spells from the enchanters could not alleviate the overwhelming sense of tiredness she felt weighing on her mind, and she knew that many of the most experienced of the mages in the Circle were questioning what could be done for her. The cruelest of the Templars had made sure she was listening when they conversed in dark tones about inquisitors from the Chantry being sent to examine her, laughing as they spoke of her potential execution as a heretic or a lifetime of confinement in the mage's prison where maleficar and the falsely accused were left to be ripped apart by the abominations the Chantry kept as pets.
As she sat dozing in the pews of the tower chantry, one of the few places the sentinels constantly keeping watch over her begrudgingly let her be, a young girl approached her, face filled with nervousness but also what she thought looked like hopefulness. She vaguely recognized her from some of her classes, a quiet and mousy girl who never stood out and spent an inordinate amount of time praying in this vey room. "Excuse me, you are Solona Amell, am I right? The…the one who they say met the Maker in the Fade?" she stammered.
Solona frowned at her, wondering what the girl wanted with her, "Yes, I'm Solona. You do realize the Knight-Commander has attached a significant punishment for speaking just such words, don't you?"
"Yes…but I need to speak to you about it. Our magic…it is a curse you see, an evil stigma we have been marked with. I have prayed to the Maker always to save me from my curse to no avail, but if He has granted His mercy to you, perhaps He will look kindly on the rest of us," she said with a fire in her eyes bordering on obsession.
"Ah, a religious fanatic…I see," Solona thought to herself, inwardly sighing at having to deal with such a fool. "I didn't meet the Maker in the Fade, those are just rumors. I really don't know what I met, but he took my power from me, claiming it was stolen from him long ago".
"But who could it have been then? The Maker created everything including the Fade. Magic stems from Him and is punishment for our shared sins. Please, I need to know how you managed to cleanse the magic from your soul. I don't want to carry this evil around with me…" the girl said before she was wrenched away by an angry templar.
"The Knight-Commander has made clear that any discussion of this mage's Harrowing will be seen as blasphemy and punished accordingly!" he raged as he twisted her arm around as she cried out in pain.
"You're hurting her! She didn't do anything, leave her alone!" Solona exclaimed before a swift, gauntleted backhand knocked her to the ground.
She placed a hand on her face in shock, looking at the blood from her split-lip coloring her palm a crimson red. "Be silent heretic," the cruel templar spoke. "Your punishment will come later".
As he reached for a short dagger on his belt, the girl pleaded and begged for mercy, struggling to apologize as the spasms of sobs shook she slight form. Solona glowered at the larger man, her body moving faster than her mind could keep up as she stopped him from plunging the dagger into the tearful girl's chest, "I won't let you kill her you murderous bastard!" she screamed as all thought of the stupidity of her actions disappeared from her mind.
She felt a pain in the back of her head as her vision blurred, the ground speedily approaching as she collapsed to the ground. She vaguely saw another templar standing above her, his shield spattered with her blood from the savage blow to her head. Her mind swam with disconnected images and thoughts, her anger at the templars mixed with sadness at her impending demise and a small sense of relief that she would finally be free. Now she could finally rest for eternity.
"It seems my absence from my realm has caused more damage in the world of mortals than I expected," a familiar voice spoke. Solona saw a blurry, dark shape approach the templars and place its outstretched hands on their heads, sending them collapsing to the ground. As she struggled to clear her vision, she saw two bright stars looking straight into her eyes as the figure knelt beside her, his presence seemingly bringing her back to consciousness and reducing the pain she felt in the back of her skull.
When her vision cleared completely, she was looking into the bottomless pools of his eyes, the twin stars focused upon hers as he studied her intently. He pulled Solona to her feet, shifting the constantly changing cloak around himself as Solona looked to all the people in the chantry, now slumped over asleep. "You…you're the one from the Fade," Solona said as she regained her bearings.
"Yes, I believed that by sequestering the small part of my power within you, I would be returning you to your proper place in things. It seems that despite my intentions mortal, I have unwittingly increased your personal difficulty substantially," the man spoke, looking upon the sleeping girl Solona had tried to save with great interest.
"Then what are you going to do? Are you going to restore my power to me?" Solona asked.
"Not your power. Mortals were never meant to wield the power of my station, to take for their own something that is beyond their capability to control. This world has become too closely connected with the Dreaming so that my creations can easily pass from my realm to the world of mortals. They are causing damage to this world, damage that will take time to repair, but I have time. For the Endless, time is something my siblings and I have in abundance. I thought I should inform you of this if for nothing else the trouble I caused you," Dream spoke as he studied the girl, placing a hand on her chest as his eyes flashed as bright as the sun.
"What did you do to her?" Solona asked accusingly, taking a threatening step forward.
The same thing I did to you…what she desired if her dreams are to be believed," Dream answered, the flames on his cloak shifting in appearance to shapes almost like mournful faces. The man turned away from the unconscious girl, parting the very fabric of space as he stepped into another world before Solona reached out and grabbed a handful of the strange cloth of his cloak.
"You're just going to leave, just like that? What are we supposed to do when the templars find me with those two, huh," she said, pointing at the sleeping forms of her attackers. "They'll kill us you know!"
"And what would you have me do, mortal?" the man asked, looking back at her with his penetrating gaze.
"Take us somewhere, someplace away from here. Far away," Solona asked, not really knowing where she wanted to go.
"As you wish," he answered, darkness suddenly surrounding her before a cascade of images strange and fantastic surrounded her. She could not focus on the torrent of images taking every shape, color, and form as they traveled through the Dreaming before she felt her feet land on solid ground.
She looked around her, seeing huge, glittering towers rise all around her, crowds of people milling about unconcerned with the wondrous buildings standing around them. "Where are we?" she said in disbelief, as her eyes traveled over the vast expanse of the city before her.
"Somewhere far away," Dream said. "I bid you farewell, mortal. Perhaps this world will be more kind to you than your old one".
No one seemed to notice him as the personification of dream ripped open a portal and stepped through it, the hole in creation lasting only a second before disappearing entirely. The girl at her feet stirred, her eyes slowly opening as she looked around herself in confusion. "Where are we?" she said in fear and wonder as she beheld the spires of light before her. "I though the templars would kill us for sure. I prayed to the Maker to save us, but…I despaired for a second at the end, believing He would not turn His gaze to us".
"Well…maybe your prayers were answered, by someone at least," Solona said thoughtfully before she pulled the girl along as they walked out into the night of a new world.
A/N: I thought it would be interesting if characters from Dragon Age, who come from a world where the god is presumably absent, met godlike beings from another world. I thought about writing a story with each member of the Endless with a different origin, but I don't know at the moment how that would really work. I think I am still going to do a story involving Death, but I don't know about the other Endless at the moment. I hope you like it.