Fen'Harel sat warming himself by the camp fire near the foot of the mountain. If he looked up he could just see the peak of the Temple of Sacred Ashes, where history was writing itself out as he sat there. Mages and Templars gathered at the conclave. He didn't really care much about the events though. He was focused. He was waiting. He had practically given his orb to that tainted Tevinter Magister, and then he had followed the pull of the orb here, to this event. Now he just needed the power hungry Magister to activate it, and then he could go retrieve it from his dead, grasping fingers. That was the plan anyway. He scowled at the flames, hating that when he had awoken from Uthenera he had been weak and his people had all but been destroyed. The original plan, when he had locked up the Pantheon, was to save the People. Not to leave them to be nomads and slaves to the Shemlen.

He sighed heavily and ran his hands over his head. As soon as he had his orb, and his power back, he would be able to fix things. He could start restoring the Elves to a semblance of the great culture they had been, and should still be. That had made him start considering releasing the Pantheon. He wasn't sure yet what his brilliant plan was going to entail. He had had very good reason for putting those 'gods' behind a locked door.

Fen'Harel felt the familiar tug of the orb on his senses, the very essence of who he was. The orb was being activated. He opened his eyes and smiled.

The sky tore open with a loud explosion. Fen'Harel stood abruptly, wincing as he felt the gash through the veil tingling on his skin, looking at the exploding ruin of the Temple, where debris was still falling from the sky. He put up a barrier that allowed the smaller chunks of rock and ash to slide to the ground around him. He could feel it from here. The Fade had been torn apart. Sundered. And it was radiating with his magic, but twisted.

He snarled, furious. What had that stupid Magister done? He could see that his plans would have to wait. He needed to get closer to the tear to see if he could heal it. Somehow calm the magic, or call it back to himself. In the old days he would have been confident, but without his normal power he was concerned it would not be enough. He knew from exploration of the Fade that the only way to get so close was to go through Haven, the shem city. He gathered his things and started on the path that would lead him to that small village full of scrambling frightened humans.

"Who are you?" the guard lowered his pike at Fen'Harel in an intimidating fashion, threatening to skewer him. Fen'Harel fought the urge to smirk. If only this Shemlen knew who he was really threatening.

Fen'Harel put up his hands in an innocent gesture of surrender and peace. He had devised a new name for himself while walking here, sure that it would be requested of him. He couldn't very well go by Fen'Harel anymore. Even these humans would find that suspicious, much less any elf in the area. He would go by pride, for pride was all he had left anymore.

"I am Solas. I came to see if I could lend my assistance." He gestured at the hole in the sky and leaned pointedly on his staff. Humans didn't seem to like mages these days.

The guard blanched a little, noticing his staff and realizing he was an apostate. Keeping a close eye on Solas, he turned to the man next to him.

"Go get the Seeker."

As the other guard trotted away, the first man righted his spear cautiously, still on edge in front of a strange mage.

"I'll need you to relinquish your weapons until the Seeker tells me otherwise."

Solas sighed quietly in irritation, but handed over his staff. He carried no other weapons on his person. His magic was always enough. The guard eyed him, as though expecting him to have a knife at his belt as well. When he was satisfied that Solas was unarmed, he turned and leaned his staff against the gate directly behind him.

"Alright, just stay here, the Seeker should be here shortly." He gestured to a spot beside the gate. Solas sighed and leaned against the posts that made up the entry to this gated area of the city. He watched as soldiers and villagers ran back and forth in a barely organized fashion, gathering belongings and planning defenses. He settled in to wait again.

Several hours later a human woman, with short dark hair and wearing some kind of Chantry armor with an eye on it, was approaching swiftly with the guard who had ran off to get 'the Seeker'. Solas stood there hiding the look of irritation on his face at being kept waiting for so long. The woman eyed at him closely as she approached. The guard speaking quietly to her, pointed at his staff, which was still leaning on the wall, and she glanced at it before stomping over to him with a scowl on her face.

"I understand that you are an apostate." She had a heavy accent which was laced with distrust. "You say you came to try to help?"

Solas spoke calmly through his own irritation. "Yes, if I can. I am an expert on all subjects related to Fade and I thought that might be useful in these circumstances." Again he gestured at the sky like she needed a reminder of the situation.

She sneered at his casual response. She whirled around and grabbed his staff from the wall.

"Follow me." She barked at him as she was already walking away quickly. He followed behind keeping pace with her quick steps with his long ones. After they had made it a little further into the city she flipped around and pointed a finger at his chest, with an aggressive snarl on her face.

"If you were somehow involved in this, or if you are somehow tricking us, mage," she said it like it was a grave insult, "I will kill you in a way more horrific than you can imagine."

Solas stared at her. It was going to be strange to have people standing up to him and threatening him like he was not someone to be feared. He was used to people cowering before him, or at least deference. These threats made him want to raise his hackles and threaten her back, or act on his building anger. But he calmed himself and nodded at her, keeping his face as smooth as stone.

"I understand, Seeker. But I can assure you I was not involved in any way."

She seemed to consider his words, nodded and turned again to lead him forward through a village, which was transforming into a military fort as more soldiers moved about than villagers.

"We have a prisoner that I want you to see, if you really are an expert in the Fade." He had a flicker a thought that they had caught the Tevinter Magister and he could reclaim his orb right then and be done with these humans. But she continued, extinguishing that hope. "Do you speak any elven?"

He hesitated at the odd question. "Some." he admitted, implying that it wasn't actually his first language.

She nodded. "When the Temple exploded..." she hesitated and sorrow rippled across her features but she crushed it, clenching her jaw. "We went to investigate as things settled, to find any survivors. While we were searching a rift in the fade was opened and a woman fell out of the fade." Solas stared at her for a moment.

"Physically?"

"Yes," the seeker replied. "She fell, physically, out of the Fade. She was unconscious and she remains so. We cannot wake her to question her, but she keeps speaking the same words in elvish and we need to know what she is saying. If it has any bearing on what happened here. She is our prime suspect for this tear in the Fade... and the destruction of the conclave." The Seeker led him to a Chantry building at the back of the village, pushing open the heavy wooden doors. She marched up the middle aisle as sisters and clerks in chantry garb milled uselessly about the halls. She turned and opened a doorway to the left that opened to a downward staircase into the dark lower levels.

"Why is she a suspect?" He wondered. Falling physically out of the Fade was pretty suspicious- how any mortal had survived something like that was unknown- but it didn't imply guilt to him right away.

"She is... marked. You should go see for yourself." The Seeker gestured at the door at the end of the hall, obviously a prison cell, guarded by another human. He walked to the door, which the guard opened for him, and looked inside. There manacled to a post in the center of the room, was an elf. She was very small, almost childlike in stature. Thin and fragile looking, especially passed out on the floor. As he watched, her hand flickered with bright green light and her body convulsed in pain. He could feel the "mark" as the Seeker had called it. It was his magic, stuck to this poor child. He grimaced as she convulsed again, moaning in her unconscious pain.

"The mark expands each time the Rift expands. We need to find a way to stop it and wake her up. She has a lot to answer for." The seeker glared at the girl on the floor and then pulled the door closed, shutting Solas in with the other elf. Through the bars, she said, "I will come back for you later, see what you can find out." Turning to the guard, she said, "Don't let him out until I come back."

Solas sighed and moved towards the limp girl. He observed what her could of her. She had long red hair that was splayed everywhere, covering her face with the red tangles. He knelt down beside her and moved her hair out of her face to see her more clearly. The vallaslin for Mythal was tattooed in a swirling brown across her lightly freckled skin. So she was Dalish. He pulled her hands forward gently in their manacles and studied them, trying to look past the mark that was glowing and pulsing at him. He saw callouses on her fingers that would fit perfectly with the string of a bow. But also when he touched her he felt her own spark of magic. He sighed again.

"Magic will not help them to believe your innocence, Da'len." He spoke to the non-responsive girl with pity.

He dropped her other hand and looked more closely at the sparking mark of his magic on her palm. He didn't see much. It was just there, buried deep in a jagged scar that cut across her hand. He rubbed a thumb over the gash and she gasped in pain.

"Be strong." She had whispered in elven, her voice raspy and breaking. She whispered it several more times before her whispers faded into mumbling and then silence. He shifted from his kneeling position to be fully sitting in front of her, thinking. How had this happened? He had never heard of any foreign magic being embedded in a mortals skin before. His thinking just drove him in circles.

Finally, he decided to try to withdraw it from her hand. It was his magic, it should respond to his pull. He placed his hand gently on hers and gently tugged at the mark. She screamed then, and he stopped immediately, attempting to hold her still against her thrashing. If he killed this elf, the Seeker would undoubtedly kill him in retribution. Or at least try. And that would be counter-productive to what they were all trying to accomplish here. The guard banged his armored fist against the bars of the door, clanging loudly.

"What are you doing in there, knife-ear?" Solas scowled at the derogatory term, but just replied calmly. "I am only trying to wake her. I apologize for disturbing you."

The guard grumbled something about mages and elves under his breath. Solas ignored him.

Studying the girl revealed little else to Solas. She was covered in small cuts and bruises, but nothing major. He noticed one cut that was already healing into a scar on her throat, as though someone had tried to slice it, but that was a few days old. Most of her smaller injuries could be contributed to the explosion at the Temple. She was stirring and whispering still, but not opening her eyes, and her words that she mumbled were mostly all the same thing- "Be strong."- but otherwise she said nothing else.

After a while of studying her he decided that he would go into the Fade and look for her. As an unconscious mage there was a chance the reason she wasn't waking was because she was being held in the Fade by a demon attempting to take over her spirit. He didn't want to go into the Fade in this cell and risk the Seeker coming in and throwing him in a cell of his own to avoid more problems from 'the mage'. So he would wait until tonight and with his normal sleep he would search for her. He spent the rest of his time, while waiting for the Seeker to return, attempting to put the elf at ease. He cast healing spells over her body attempting to give her some relief, even from small pains, and he applied a salve to the welts already forming where the manacles continued to cut into her when she convulsed.

Just as he was finishing up, he heard the door open behind him. He turned and saw the Seeker and a man holding some potions and bandages.

The Seeker entered the room, saying, "Adan, this is the mage I spoke of. He volunteered to help." The Seeker glanced at him. "What is your name? I didn't catch it earlier."

"Solas." He replied, failing to mention that she had never asked his name to miss it.

Adan looked at Solas and nodded. "Well, I'm glad a mage is here. This is beyond me." He spoke almost bitterly. The Seeker looked annoyed at his tone, but Adan continued, "I'm not a healer. I'm just an alchemist. I don't know half of what I'm doing trying to heal her." He had moved closer, and knelt next to Solas and the girl.

Adan noticed the cuts and bruises were mostly healed, and he looked at Solas and nodded in silent thanks. Solas inclined his head. The Seeker seemed to notice the healing as well. She caught his eye and gave a head jerk toward the door and turned on her heel. Solas stood and followed her. Once they were out in the hallway, she turned her eyes on him. She glared at him for a moment, attempting to be intimidating, and maybe she was used to that kind of fearful reaction from others. She got no such reaction out of him. Solas just stood there with a stoic look on his face as he watched her. Her dislike of him intensified almost visibly.

"What have you discovered?" She questioned.

Solas considered holding back information from her, but decided against it and told her what he had seen and heard. He only left out that he had attempted to withdraw the magic to himself and had failed, and that he believed she could be trapped in the Fade and would be going to look for her as soon as he found an opportunity to lie down safely and sleep. The Seeker now knew that the girl was a mage and all other pieces of information he had observed while healing her.

The Seeker narrowed her eyes at him, like she suspected duplicity and lies, but said, "Thank you. We do appreciate your help." She rubbed her face and she suddenly looked so exhausted as to fall over. He was feeling weary himself.

"Is there a place I can stay? Or should I find my camp outside of the village?" Solas asked.

She raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment, sighing. "We do have several smaller houses from villagers fleeing, that you could stay in. I would place you near Adan. He may need your help with the elf, and you did come to us willingly." She led him out of the Chantry and into the snowy light of Haven. He had walked this place in the Fade when he had first come to this area and he knew its dark and bloody history. She led him to a small group of houses that were clustered together in a small half circle and she pointed at the center house.

"That is Adan's workshop, for his potions. You should stay here." She gestured at the house to the right of Adan's.

He inclined his head in thanks to the Seeker and turned to go inside, closing the door behind him. It was a small cottage without much in it, but at least it was warm and dry. He lit the fire easily with a wave of his hand, and then set out his own blankets on the cot that was nestled against the wall. He sat on the makeshift bed and rubbed his neck. His mind was still turning from the idea that his magic had stuck itself onto a mortal. Sighing he laid back, casting a ward in front of the door so he would be awoken if someone entered, and he let himself slip into the Fade.

Solas opened his eyes to the amorphous and familiar view of the fade. He turned his mind to turn to Haven and the village materialized in front of him, the Fade following his whims. He didn't need to see the village to find her spirit but it would make it easier since he didn't know her personally. The Haven that was before him was a conglomeration of the past a present. The stones sang of the blood that had been spilt here by the residents when the Hero of Ferelden visited. The shadow of that dark past was overlaid by the lives of the busy people who had inhabited this village more recently. Solas focused on today, covering the past with a clearer focus on the current state of Haven. It was a perfect reflection of Haven as it was currently without the people and soldiers bustling around. He walked out of his new residence and out into the snow. He looked up at the sky where the breach was pulsing and pulling. It was like being in a lake held back by a dam, but the dam had a giant hole in it, pulling water and changing currents till it spewed everything into the world beyond. It put his teeth on edge.

He walked toward the Chantry building through the silent paths of the village, opening the door with a thought, and moving into the softly lit darkness there. Solas moved toward the passageway that went down below the Chantry and walked down the stairs. He moved to approach the barred door at the end of the hallway where the elf's physical body was being held. Hopefully her spirit had stayed as well and not wandered off. He shifted through the door into the cell and saw the girl there. She was crouched on the floor, where her unconscious body was in the world, clutching at her hand with her back to him. He could see her shaking from here. Solas took a step forward when she sensed him behind her. Her head shot up, flipping around on her feet, and she glared at him with bright green eyes, her stance lying about the pain she was feeling.

"Are you another demon? Be gone!" She turned away, possibly to ignore any temptations a demon might have for her. He knew she must have faced other demons so far for her to say 'another'.

He stepped towards her to speak and as he moved he felt the Fade ripple around him as the Rift in the sky pulsed and grew wider. She screamed and fell to her knees again holding her hand to her chest and leaning forward to put her forehead on the ground. Solas felt pity for her, as he watched her fight the pain his magic had caused her. He moved forward cautiously to kneel in front of her, trying not to startle, and he grabbed her shoulders gently.

"I am not a demon. But you don't know me. I am a mage. I'm trying to help you, but you need to wake up." She shook her head and turned her face from him, tears pricking her eyes as she gasped against the pain again.

"I do not know you demon, and I will not fall prey to your words." She said this with as much hatred as she could muster. He smiled a little at her determination.

"If I were a demon, why would I appear like this, as a stranger?" He held his hands out peacefully. "I would appear as your friend or lover. Someone you trust."

She blinked at him, hesitating in her normal response, and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the rift growing again. The pain took her breath away and her eyes lost their focus as turned all her attention to the pain. When the Rift had calmed again and she could speak, she hid her face in her hands.

"I have tried," she gasped, "I cannot wake up." Solas heard defeat in her voice as she mumbled into her hands.

He sat back on his heels. Solas needed her to wake up. He had to know what had happened to his orb and she was the only one who was at the event, who seemed to have answers. But Solas knew she wouldn't tell him in the Fade, where he might be a demon tricking her. He tried to think of an encouragement for her, someone he didn't know at all.

"Be strong." He whispered to her in elven, repeating the words she had spoken in the world. Her eyes peeked through her fingers to look at him, and he stared into her vibrant emerald green eyes, trying to give her some strength from his words. "Be strong, Da'len."

At his words Solas saw her resolve harden in her eyes. He smiled softly at her and then left her in the Fade.

Solas sat up in his cot and rubbed his hand over his head. He was playing with an idea. A mark like that couldn't have been accidental, too much magic would be involved to tie it to someone else physically. It must have a purpose, an intent. It definitely came from his orb, it radiated his magic, but why would a Tevinter Magister put that kind of a mark on an elf? It could have been to torture her, but it was obviously tied to the Rift in the sky. There are simpler ways to entice great lasting pain if torture was the goal. The most logical conclusion, since it was tied to the rift, was that it was a key to that lock. Maybe it had been opened while she was in the Fade physically from the other side? If it was a key from his orb though, how did it get on her? By accident? Had the Magister meant it for himself? He turned these thoughts in his head for a while before he came to the conclusion that, whether accident or not, if it was a key, then it could close the door. Of course, she would need to be awake to do anything. It was their best hope of healing the Rift.

Solas stood and left his little house to go find the Seeker and tell her his suspicions. If he was going to help them, he might as well really help them. After all, he wanted to close the Rift as well. As he walked out of his door, he saw a dur'genlen sitting on a barrel outside his house watching him. The dwarf waived him over.

"I heard there was an apostate elf who volunteered to help and I wasn't sure I believed it. You've got guts coming here." he chuckled. "I probably wouldn't have done that with the Seeker ready to string up anyone who looks at her funny."

Solas smirked a little. "Yes she does rather seem to hate mages." He studied the dwarf. He had blond hair tied back away from his face which was surprisingly beardless, though stubble shadowed his cheeks. He had his coat open to the weather to show off his chest and the hair that grew there. His blue eyes were studying Solas in return.

"Whats your name?" The dwarf spoke with a cheerful lilt in his voice.

"Solas."

"I'm Varric Tethras, Business man, storyteller, and handsome rouge." He grinned at Solas who smiled at his dramatic introduction. He hadn't met any of the dur'genlen since waking up from Uthenera, but he had seen them in the Fade as he had wandered. They seemed to be holding on to their old ways and traditions as much as possible, but this dwarf was obviously different.

"Have you seen the girl yet?" Varric asked, his voice tinged with pity for her, and when Solas nodded, "Do you think she'll be ok? She is such a small thing to be wrapped up in all this."

Solas lifted his shoulder in a slight shrug. "She is not doing well, but I have hopes that she will pull through." He was thinking of the determination shining through her green eyes in the Fade.

Varric looked towards the chantry. "Yeah, poor thing. Well, it looks like something is happening with the big folks." He chuckled at his own joke as he gestured to the small crowd forming, and hopped off the barrel to walk over to them. Solas walked slightly behind him, following.

The Seeker was standing with a group of humans who were arguing heatedly. Varric and Solas walked slowly over to join them, the Seeker, a burly blond man with a heavy fur coat over his armor and a Templar sword at his hip, a woman who wore chain mail and had a hood drawn over her hair, and an elderly man dressed in Chantry garb.

As he approached he heard their topic of conversation was on the girl in the dungeon.

"We need to take her to Val Royueax to be tried!" said the priest, who was so angry he was red in the face.

"What good would that do now?" The woman in the hood spoke, her voice was soft and accented. "The Divine is dead and there is no leadership in the chantry. There is no one to judge her if we did take her there."

The old man glared at her and he was about to retort, when the Seeker noticed Solas and Varric, and interrupted him.

"Hold a moment. This is Solas, he is the apostate who has been helping to heal the prisoner, the expert on the Fade." She rolled her eyes a little at the introduction, and Solas smirked. She pointed to each person around the circle, introducing them. "This is Commander Cullen, Leliana, and Chancellor Roderick. It seems you have met our resident dwarf." Varric winked at the Seeker and she rolled her eyes again.

Solas nodded at each of them as they were introduced, and they eyed him speculatively with emotions ranging on their faces from rage- from Roderick- to curiosity- from Leliana. Solas also didn't point out that the Seeker had not given her own name yet. But he was content to call her Seeker for the rest of their acquaintance if needed.

Leliana spoke first. "What do you think, Solas?"

That was a heavy question. Solas answered slowly but with certainty, "I do not think that she is the one who opened the breach." Roderick threw up his hands with exasperation.

"Of course, he would say that. He is an elf and a mage. For all we know he is working with her." He glared at Solas with hatred.

Varric rolled his eyes and contributed to the conversation. "If you assume that, your prison would be full of elves. And yet I can think of a million other places for a guilty mage to be and none of them are even close to Haven. Why would he come here, of all places, if he was involved in this?"

Roderick let out another exasperated sigh. "Maybe that's why. Because even being here implies his innocence. I don't know but I'm sure the reasons are endless." He turned and stomped away, still fuming.

Solas looked at Varric. "Thank you."

Varric nodded, smiling, "No problem." He was a very good natured dwarf.

Leliana chuckled at that and turned her attention back to Solas. "What makes you think she is not responsible?" She continued the conversation as if Roderick had not commented at all.

Solas explained. "She is a mage, but she would need more power than is possible in order to create this kind of Rift. Plus she is barely staying alive with that mark. Why would she do that to herself?"

Leliana thought for a moment. "It could have been an accident. A play for power gone wrong? And maybe it wasn't just her, it could have been several mages working together."

Solas nodded unable to give his primary reason for not believing that was the case. "You could be right. I suppose we wont really know for sure until she wakes up. But I do have a theory about the Rift." The group eyed him closely. "I believe her mark may be able to close it."

They all shifted slightly, considering, the new idea settling. But Solas continued before they could comment.

"I want to test a rift with some magic of my own to see if there are any other options that don't rely on her waking up, but her mark is obviously connected to the Rift, and if it was meant as a means of controlling it then she would be able to close it as well."

Commander Cullen shook his head. "That seems a stretch, but its the best idea we've got so far. We can have some guards take you to one of the smaller rifts if you want to try to close it yourself, but realize they are pouring out demons."

"I think its a good idea." Leliana nodded. "We can have you test the rift while we try to figure out if there are any other options. I did want to ask you first though, Solas. Have you been told what we saw when she fell out of the Fade?"

Solas quirked an eyebrow at her and shook his head.

"None of us saw it directly, but the men who found her said that when she fell out of the Fade, there was a glowing woman standing behind her, reaching out. Some are saying it was a demon, while some are saying it was Andraste. Since you are an expert," She smirked a little, not quite mocking him, but close. "Do you have any idea what that could have been?"

Solas searched his memory of the spirits he met but none of them were necessarily glowing women. He shook his head. "Without having seen it myself, I wouldn't hazard a guess." But he very much doubted it was Andraste.

Leliana nodded. As they were speaking a scout ran up to the Commander, got his attention and spoke quietly to him before running back to whatever post he had abandoned to report.

Cullen turned to Solas, "There is a smaller rift opening up by the bridge." He gestured the way the guard had come and gone. "We need to send some men out there to help fend off the demons. You can join them if you wish."

Solas nodded and turned to the Seeker. "I am going to need my staff for this magic, Seeker." She scowled at him, reluctant to return his weapon.

Varric laughed, "Oh stop it, Cassandra. You want to figure out a way to close this rift right?"

The Seeker, who he now knew was called Cassandra, had shifted her glare to Varric who just smirked at her. She turned and wandered off angrily, hopefully to get his staff.

Leliana shook her head. "You may not want to push your luck with her, Varric. She is still very angry at you."

Varric chuckled a little darkly, but nodded. Solas wondered what had caused such animosity between the dwarf and the human. Cassandra came back after a few moments holding his staff and a large crossbow.

"Bianca!" Varric exclaimed, he dashed over and took the crossbow from her, staring at it affectionately. Cassandra tossed the staff at Solas and he caught it smoothly.

"Both of you can go. Varric can help keep our men alive." Cassandra said grudgingly, crossing her arms. Cullen called over a group of five men, armed heavily with swords and shields. He spoke clearly and confidently, the aura of a military leader in his every word and gesture. Solas could respect that.

"I need you men to head to the new rift near the bridge. This mage, Solas, is going with you. He is going to be attempting to close the rift. Is that a problem for anyone?" Cullen eyed the men. He was giving them a way out if they were uncomfortable with magic, but his eyes also said that it would be unacceptable. Most of them shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Solas in apprehension, but no one said anything.

"Good," Cullen said, turning to Solas still holding his air of command, "You will follow them to the rift, and then you are in command from there. They will defend you as you try you spells. Take care of my men." He said that last bit with a silent threat behind it, and he walked away gesturing to Leliana to follow him, and directing others to different tasks as only a commander can.

Solas looked at the soldiers he was now in command of, and then glanced down at Varric, who was looking at him, grinning.

"Well, lets go Chuckles. We don't have all day." Solas raised an eyebrow at his strange nickname.

"What? You don't like chuckles?" Varric laughed at his disgruntled face, "It suits you. I mean you are laughing all the time." Varric laughed again at his own joke. Solas shook his head but smiled slightly. They headed out toward the region where the rift was waiting for them.

The rift was not responding to Solas like he hoped it would. Of course, without his normal power he was able to do less than half of what he would have done. When they had first approached and eliminated the wisps and shades surrounding the tear, it had just pulsed and spewed out more. As they had eliminated spirits, Solas had worked to cast different spells at the rift, attempting to heal the tear. Varric was moving through the demons quickly, using a rogues speed, and firing arrows everywhere in succession. He seemed to like to let the shades get close enough to Solas to make him stop his spell and turn in distraction, and that's when an arrow would sprout from the demon's eye and they would dissolve as they died. Solas gave Varric an annoyed look, and he grinned back evilly, but after that the demons didn't get so close, and Solas was able to focus.

After what seemed like hours fighting, as more and more shades poured out of the fade, the men retreated to just over the hill so they could catch their breath. Solas assessed the condition of the men around him. One of the soldiers had a bleeding cut on his face from a clawed hand that had caught him, but the rest seemed relatively unharmed. Varric was panting next to him, trying to catch his breath.

Varric said, "We have to do something different. This obviously isn't working at all."

Solas nodded. "I have one more spell I want to try. But it will take some time to build up." Varric nodded and they settled for a moment, the soldiers watching the spirits roam beneath the rift, and Varric just watching Solas prepare, building magic in his palms with his eyes closed.

His preparation was mostly mental. He gathered his magic around him and began to weave it into a spell, muttering under his breath in elven. When he was ready, he opened his eyes and he nodded at Varric, who gave a soft whistle to the soldiers, and jerked his thumb towards the rift. They all jumped out of their hiding and charged forward, yelling, as Solas cast his last spell that might work, though he didn't have much hope for it at this point. The rift had barely reacted to him at all, which was very frustrating.

As the spell was cast towards it, the rift seemed to tighten momentarily and Solas held his breath, but then it exploded again and more spirits were pouring out. Solas sighed as he began to fight in earnest among his companions. His failure to impact the rift, though expected, was very frustrating, especially when it was his magic pulsing there in the air.

As they fought Solas heard a war cry and turned to see Seeker Cassandra charging into the fray, cutting shades in two as she passed. Varric laughed at her as he shot more deadly darts into enemies. Solas also saw several shades burst into flames and die as they screamed. Turning, curious where the new fire magic was coming from, he saw the elf girl wielding a staff. She looked like she was barely on her feet, but her eyes sparkled with the same determination he had seen in the Fade. Her hair was now tied out of the way and she wore armor that clearly was to big to be hers. He smiled in relief, glad to see that she had woken up. He needed to trigger her mark to somehow close the Fade.

As they were finishing off the last of the shades, Solas ran over to the girl and grabbed her wrist, turning her palm with the mark towards the rift. She stared at him as he approached, not recalling him from their interaction in the Fade. As he moved her hand her he yelled, "Quickly! Before more come through!"

He nudged the mark with his own magic and felt it flare and connect to the rift. She cried out and tried to jerk away from him in shock but he held her wrist tightly, but so did the rift. After just a few seconds, the rift pulled in on itself and she instinctively jerked her arm back from the rift, pulling on the threads that held it open. It snapped shut as it released her.

The girl staggered, and Solas held her arm steady until she was ready to stand on her own again. Her ragged breath coming in gasps. She turned her green eyes on him.

"What did you do?"