Lucky Break
"It was a dark and stormy night… mmh, what should I put next?" Varric pondered as he tapped his pencil against his chin. "First of all, it is not night. Second, there is not a cloud in the sky. Why don't you try being accurate for once?" Seeker Pentaghast interjected from behind him.
"It's rude to eavesdrop. And you have no sense of dramatics. Setting the mood is very important when telling a story". The two of them continued to argue artistic licence while the Inquisitor, Nazet Aadar, and Sera were scouting ahead.
Sera looked back at the bickering pair. "Does that ever get old?" the blonde Elf asked the tall Qunari woman. "It's not nearly as entertaining after a few weeks, but if it gets the Seeker off my back I'll take it" Nazet replied, returning her attention to the pass ahead.
Sera snorted and cautiously moved ahead, keeping her eyes and ears open for any sign of danger. They had narrowly avoided an ambush earlier and, if possible, they would rather not have such a close call again.
"I think I see some tracks over here" Sera called and pointed to the tracks in question. There were footprints in the path, fairly recent by the look of them. "I think it was just one person.
They seem to have gone back and forth quite a bit. The whole area is trampled" Nazet observed as she approached the site. As she crouched down to get a closer look, Sera yelled out a warning, but the mage was not quick enough to react in time.
She felt something heavy impact with her head followed by a loud cracking noise. The force of the blow threw her to the ground onto her back, her mind reeling from the pain. She could not focus her gaze but she thought she saw Sera and Cassandra walking towards her before she passed out.
Nazet was standing in the middle of an empty field. The place felt both familiar and alien to her, as though she had been there before but couldn't remember it. She looked at her surroundings, trying to spot a landmark or a building that could tell her where she was.
As she focused, she noticed the eerie green light that suffused the place. "Aah, this is the Fade" she concluded after a moment, wondering how long she had been unconscious.
"Ah, there you are", a distorted voice spoke from behind Nazet, startling her out of her thoughts. She turned around to see a demon standing before her, although she was not familiar with this particular type yet.
It was tall and gangly and she thought she could see what looked like a mouth on the top of its head. The creature was standing in a very odd, twisted posture that reminded her of a spider. She suppressed a shudder as the creature continued to speak.
"There you are" it repeated, slowly circling Nazet, much like a predator would its prey. "Twice touched by the Fade, twice as despised for it" it went on. "Wouldn't you rather be like everyone else? Free to enjoy your life without fear of being hunted like an animal?
Don't you envy the common folk who don't have to hide what they are?" The demon's words hit closer to home than Nazet was comfortable to admit. There were times when she wished she had not been born with magic, or that she had not been at the peace meeting that left her with a strange mark on her hand.
"Begone, demon. You waste your time with me" she challenged, not entirely sure she could back up her words with actions. The twisted creature laughed. It was a hollow, raspy, horrible sound that sent shivers down her spine. "We shall see. I will be keeping an eye on you, Inquisitor, and if you falter, you will be mine" it drawled out and suddenly leapt at her.
Nazet awoke with a scream, bolting upright in the process. She felt disoriented for a moment, unsure of where she was. She squinted in an effort to see in the darkness surrounding her, but she could not make out her surroundings. The air was musty and smelled faintly of wet leather.
She could feel the rough sensation of wool under her hands and she grasped the material in her fingers. A blanket. She must be in camp then. She could hear voices chatting from outside, and light suddenly pooled in as someone parted the flaps of the tent.
"Hey, you alright in there?" Sera's voice inquired and Nazet heaved a sigh of relief. "Yes, I'm alright thank you." she reassured the Elf. "What happened?" she inquired, laying back down as she calmed down. "Short version: you triggered an obvious trap, got conked on the head and passed out.
That's about it" the thief explained, sitting down next to the Inquisitor. "Oh is that all?" Aadar asked sarcastically and covered her eyes with her arm, still feeling shaken from her encounter with the demon.
"Well, there is something else" Sera began hesitantly, which was aberrant behaviour for the Elf. The mage felt a sliver of worry coil around her stomach. "What is it?" she asked, concern slipping into her voice in spite of her efforts to control it.
Sera held up an object, but she couldn't make out what it was in the darkness. "What's that? I can't see, it's too dark", she complained, waiting for her friend to enlighten her.
"Well, you took a blow to the head. A big one. It broke off one of your horns" Sera said, holding it out to Nazet. The mage reflexively reached up to touch her head, feeling along the protrusions in her skull to assert the truth of the statement.
She would not have put it past Sera to joke about something like, but as she felt along the right side of her head, she had to accept that the Elf was indeed speaking the truth: her right horn had been broken off near the point it connected to her skull.
Part of was realized that it had probably saved her life in taking the worst of the blow, but at the same time she felt a deep sense of loss. She doubted the others would understand, but to a Qunari losing a horn was almost like losing a limb. It was an irreplaceable part of her that was just gone now.
Forlornly, she took the broken piece from Sera and grasped it in her hand. She was tempted to throw it away in rage, but decided against it. It would serve as a reminder of her carelessness.
"Couldn't you, I don't know, get it reattached or something?" Sera piped in, drawing Nazet away from her dark thoughts. She laughed softly at the suggestion. "I suppose I could, but I won't. I'll take this as a lesson learned to let you do your job next time".
Sera grinned in response. "That's right! I wouldn't have triggered that trap, and even if I had, I would have been quick enough to dodge it!" she boasted, lying down next to Nazet.
The thief reached out and gently touched the broken end of the horn on the mage's head. "You're going to look lopsided, you know. You sure you don't want it reattached?" she said as she held the horn to Nazet's head, fitting it back in place.
The Inquisitor grabbed her wrist and gently pulled Sera's hand down. "Quite sure. I would just worry about it falling off all the time" she joked, earning a giggle from the thief.
"What are you going to do with it then?" the Elf inquired, turning the horn in her hands, examining it from all angles. Nazet shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll just throw it away. It's not like I have much use for it" she explained, turning on her side to face the Elf.
Sera kept turning the horn in her hands, a thoughtful look on her face that slowly morphed into an impish grin. "It has an interesting shape, and those ridges have… potential" she said with a hint of mischief. Aadar raised an inquiring eyebrow at the blonde, wondering where she was going with this.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" Sera asked suddenly, catching the mage completely off guard. She stumbled over her words and found herself unable to articulate a proper sentence.
Sera gave her a wicked sideways glance that heralded all kinds of trouble. "I'll take that as a yes. Would you like a closer look?" she asked saucily, playing with the buttons of her tunic in an enticing manner.
Nazet face turned to fire as her mind registered what the Elf was suggesting. "Oh! Err… well, that is… Oh, Maker" she finished as Sera sat up and pulled her shirt over her head, exposing her naked back to the Inquisitor. "Not one for underwear, are you?" was all the Qunari woman could come up with as Sera turned to face her. The blonde only grinned in response as she stood up and slowly removed her trousers, showing that, indeed, she was not one for underwear.
The thief knelt down next to Nazet, her legs tantalisingly parted. "Now, let's see what we can do with this" she said as she took the broken off piece of the horn and held it between her legs, the jagged end pointing upwards.
Nazet's mind overheated as she realized what the Elf intended to do. "Hey! Those edges are sharp! You're going to hurt yourself!" she warned, but Sera paid her no mind and slowly pushed the horn inside her.
"I've had worse than little scratches down there, don't worry." she said as she continued, gently pulling the horn out and pushing it back in, a little deeper every time.
The mage's mouth went dry as she watched Sera pleasure herself, her moans sending blood rushing to her own nether regions. "Ooh, that feels nice!" the Elf moaned as she quickened her pace, reaching down with her other hand to play with her engorged clitoris.
She paused for a moment and watched as Nazet lay there, her eyes riveted on the squirming Elf. "It's not fair if you're the only one getting a show. Give me something to look at!" she commanded, resuming her motions. Nazet grabbed the edges of her shirt and dragged it up, exposing her breasts which she began to massage.
"That's more like it!" Sera said enthusiastically as she build up speed, driving the broken horn in and out with obvious delight. Aadar pinched and pulled at her nipples, her breath coming in short bursts as her pleasure increased.
The sensation combined with the sight was quickly bringing her to the brink, and she forced herself to look up into Sera's eyes to find the Elf looking down at her, her eyes glazed with lust.
"Oooh, almost… almost" Sera panted out before plunging the horn deep inside her and finally letting out a loud gasp. "Aaah, yeah." she sighed with satisfaction, and the sight was all it took for Nazet to reach her own peak and join Sera in ecstasy.
Sera lay down next to Nazet, catching her breath along with her lover. "That was nice" the Qunari said as she pulled Sera close, running her hands in the short blonde hair. The Elf smiled contentedly at her.
"You know, Nazet, I reckon you losing your horn was a lucky break".