Emmi's head hurt as she walked up to the park, the morning light a bit too bright for her. Honestly, she would have just stayed in bed all day, except that Fluff, the formerly abandoned mabari, had been insistent that she not.
More and more, nightmares left her tossing and turning all night, for weeks now. The nightmares felt like they were getting more and more…vivid. She still couldn't remember much of them once she was awake, but she would wake up terrified, certain that there were creatures near that shouldn't be.
She was pretty sure it was a result of that drug test, yet when she'd gone in for her last check up, they'd told her not to worry about it.
They had muttered to each other, though, and Emmi was half tempted not to go back. Something about all of this was making her uneasy.
But then, the pay was good, and she still hadn't found a new job. She needed an even better one, now that she was looking after Fluff. Despite figuring that she'd go to a good home or something, the vet had contacted her, saying that her human friend had declined the beast, and they were going to have to send her to the pound if she couldn't take her, because no one else was looking for her.
Bastards.
So she'd taken the mabari home and named her—she'd been surprised to learn the giant beast was a lady—Fluff because it made her neighbor, Orana, giggle. The beast was anything but fluffy.
Indeed, the one good thing that had come out of the tests—aside from the money—was Fluff.
Shianni had found out about what she'd done after Emmi brought Fluff home, wanting to know where she could have possibly found an abandoned mabari.
She was pissed off at her for doing something so idiotic. While Emmi pointed out that she was making money and now had a dog that the whole building loved—well, maybe three people—Shianni was still hovering every chance she got, commenting on Emmi's complexion and her energy and little things that Emmi wouldn't have noticed, worried that something might go horribly wrong.
She hadn't told Shianni about the nightmares yet, but it was just a matter of time until she found out. Then Emmi would never hear the end of it.
At least she'd have Fluff to cuddle with as she was berated.
The beast in question trotted along happily at Emmi's side, ears perked as she looked about the small square mile of land dotted with a few trees and benches along the edge of the jogging path, searching for anything of interest. Emmi had rather expected to be dragged through the park by the dog the second she saw something to chase, but she'd sat with Fluff at the park's edge on the first day and explained that she was not to go tearing off on her own.
While she wasn't sure talking to the dog actually did anything, when she was done, Fluff had let out a sharp, deep bark.
Ever since, the dog kept pace at Emmi's side as though she had been trained to do so.
The idea that a person could train a dog so thoroughly and then abandon them like this broke Emmi's heart, and so she liked to pretend that Fluff had figured this out all on her own.
Mabari were supposed to be smart, anyway.
Smart enough to keep pace, but not smart enough to let a poor, weary soul sleep.
As Emmi tilted her head back, willing her headache to go away, she glanced up toward the sky, and froze.
There were cracks in the sky overhead, jagged and bold and…endless. They crisscrossed each other, like lightning strikes frozen in motion, though they ran deeper, darker, above the clouds, breaking apart the endless blue overhead as though it was a children's jigsaw puzzle.
A tremor swept through those broken pieces, making them shudder and quake, and fracture further into smaller and smaller pieces.
Never before had she felt as though there was a weight upon her like she did now. It was all she could do not to cringe into the ground and pray that everything didn't start tumbling down.
Dear Gods, the sky was going to fall apart.
Fluff let out a soft whine, shifting her weight into Emmi's legs to get her attention.
Emmi nearly fell over, jerking her attention back to the rest of the world before looking up again.
Whatever she'd seen, it was gone.
Instead of those odd, eerie cracks, the sky was perfect and blue, dotted with a few lazy clouds that looked as benign as cotton candy.
This didn't make sense.
Even as she glanced around, looking to see if anyone else had seen it, Fluff nudged her again, and she took in a shaky breath, a bit of reason finally seeping in.
Of course no one had seen it. After all, the sky couldn't fall. It was infinite space or…something of that nature.
It went on forever, and if she wasted much more time looking at it, Fluff was going to topple her in her impatience.
Their walk was shorter than usual, as Emmi's head hurt and her heart wouldn't quite settle after what she'd seen—thought she'd seen. After all, even looking up every few seconds hadn't reconjured that horrifying image, and so she finally decided to go somewhere where looking up wouldn't matter.
Home.
As she headed into her building, a cheerful voice called out her name, and she turned to see Orana waving to her from her first-floor window. She leaned out it as Emmi and Fluff drew closer. Then, even as she started to say something, she interrupted herself, perking up and clasping her hands together. "Oh, I've something for Miss Fluff! I'll tell you in the hall."
Before Emmi could say a word, Orana was back in her apartment, hurrying off.
With a sigh, Emmi headed toward the entrance to their complex, giving Fluff a warning look. "If it's a bone, you can't eat it now."
Though the mabari let out a soft whine of disapproval, Emmi could swear the beast resolved herself to obey.
Emmi considered it would be a good distraction to see if Fluff actually followed her direction.
Orana practically greeted them at the front door, all smiles and sparkles in her eyes as she knelt in front of Fluff, reaching out and wrapping her slender arms around the mabari. Leaning her head against the elf's, Fluff snuffled her shirt and let out a happy whine.
Of all the people who had been affected by Emmi's taking in the burly creature, it seemed to help Orana the most. She was from up north and though she never talked about it, she'd been through something awful. Before Fluff, she would timidly come out of her apartment to attend building meetings or a few get togethers, but for the most part she was a shut in. She worked cleaning around the building and a few of the apartments, but rarely left the complex.
Shianni and Emmi tended to get her groceries for her.
However, Fluff…the beast brought out some innocent hope in her that had been buried deeply under years of pain and loss.
And Ghilan'nain's creations, but she loved peppering Fluff with any sort of treat or treasure she could find.
Emmi sometimes wondered if Orana alone was the reason that Fluff had gained back their weight.
As Orana finally let the great war dog go, she rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a pretty, pink bow. Even as Emmi protested, Orana clipped it onto Fluff's collar and then leaned back, letting out a squeal of delight. "Oh, it looks perfect on her, don't you think?"
Regardless of what Emmi thought, she couldn't damned well argue with either Orana's or Fluff's puppy eyes.
"You know she's a war dog."
Orana stood up delicately, brushing a few wrinkles out of her jeans. "I don't see any wars around here." Even as she stood, she was reaching to scratch behind Fluff's ears. "And every girl deserves to feel pretty sometimes."
Fluff let out a low woof of agreement, stubby tail wagging.
Even as Orana's eyes glittered, she paused, glancing back at Emmi. "Oh, before I forget…" Fluff was nudging Orana's nearest hand, and the elf continued to pet the beast while she talked. "There was a man here for you." Her fingers stilled mid-pat, and she shuddered. "Some shem. Banged on your door very loudly." She glanced down. "I should have taken a message, but…"
"It's alright, sounds like a prick anyway," Emmi offered, smiling when Orana looked up sheepishly at her, a whisper of a smile in place as she nodded.
"It was quite a racket. Stormed off after a bit, on the phone." She paused, holding her hands over her heart. "He had a symbol on his suit…what was it…? Something old. I'm sorry."
Emmi patted Orana's shoulder gently as Fluff nudged her hand to encourage more attention. "I'll go see if the ass had sense enough to leave a note, then."
Orana wished her well and then gave Fluff one last hug before heading into her apartment—as she closed the door, she waved at Fluff, that same glee from earlier in her eyes.
As they walked to their apartment, Emmi nudged Fluff playfully. "Look at you, making the world a better, brighter place."
Fluff let out a pleased ruff as she held her head a little higher, a bit more of a prance in her step.
Once in their apartment, Emmi gave Fluff her leash to put up—which the dog carried off dutifully to hang upon the hook on the coatrack that had been given specifically to her—and then emptied her pockets, pausing when she saw that she had a missed call.
The name Alistair read beneath the Missed Call, and Emmi scowled as she remembered Orana saying the man who'd scared her had left on the phone. Tired as she was, the conclusion seemed quite obvious, and she called him back with a swift vengeance.
"Hello?"
The second he picked up, she was fuming. "Were you the one who came by today?"
"I—what?"
Emmi missed the concern in his voice as she kept going. "Some shem prat came by here, making a fuss and scaring my neighbor! If it was you or one of the guys from the trials…" While they weren't overly close, she had made friends with a few of them during their weeks of passing one another—mostly thanks to Alistair's friendliness, really—though she couldn't recall telling any of them where she lived…
"Em, listen," Alistair said, voice dropping so low that she doubted human ears would have been able to hear him. "Something odd's going on. Daveth thought he was being followed the other night, and Jory hasn't answered his phone in three days. Just…it's probably nothing, but please be careful."
She felt a pang of guilt for having yelled at him so quickly. After all, in the weeks she'd known him, he'd never been anything other than a good sort.
But who else would have come looking for her? She didn't owe money to anyone, and she couldn't think of a single other reason a human would be there looking for her.
Unless they had her mixed up with another elf.
That was the most likely scenario.
"Em?"
"I'll be fine. I've got Fluff on the lookout." As soon as she said that, Fluff let out a deep bark, trotting back to her and sitting, wagging her tail when Emmi told her that Alistair was on the phone. Fluff liked him now that she was healthy. Alistair mumbled something that sounded relieved, and Emmi couldn't help a slight smile. "Is that why you called?"
"I just…I wanted to make sure you weren't missing, too." Then, without missing a beat, he laughed awkwardly. "I, uh, well. Clearly you're fine, so. I'll, uh…"
"I'll talk to you later." Fluff let out an affirmative boof, and she could practically hear Alistair's smile on the other end of the line.
"Alright. Later."
As soon as she hung up, she cursed quietly. Why hadn't she thought to ask him if he was having any weird visions, like seeing the sky ready to crumble?
She knew the others were having nightmares, so for all she knew, this was just another side effect of the tests.
Even as she eyed her phone, finger hovered over the call button, she sighed.
He was already on edge with the others. It wouldn't help anyone to add to that.
After all, it wasn't like the sky could really fall.
…-…
Slumping down into his chair, Aleeri frowned at his notepad, and then at the various equipment set up around him. Most of their materials were set up in the courtyard or the main hall of the building, as those were the most stable parts of the old castle.
There were murals in a partially collapsed rotunda that seemed a homage to the adventures of the legendary Inquisition who fought against the great Dread Wolf from Dalish lore, though, most of these images seemed to deal with more practical fights, one looking eerily like a reference to Orlesian nobility. Another portrayed what Thom thought was a darkspawn.
There were wolves, too, but none of them seemed particularly dreadful.
That alone had been worth the trip, even if they couldn't quite figure out what the murals were supposed to represent—he had a few historian friends back at the university who were cursing themselves for not being able to take time off to come out and see this place.
Even Sera was jealous. She and Dagna facetimed every night, and occasionally Dagna would come in to where Thom and Aleeri were so that the four of them could chat for a while.
This place had definitely belonged to the Inquisition, though. The windows that were still intact bore that spectacular eye with the sword behind it.
Aleeri hoped that this place could be restored, maybe even opened to the public at some point, though that wouldn't happen any time soon, and honestly, they'd probably lose a lot of the historical touches trying to rebuild it and make it stable.
The castle was beautiful though.
Unlike the odd chill that was in the air in the valley, Skyhold—they went ahead and called it that, even if it might be disproven somehow later—was warmer. The occasional gust of wind still left them wearing their coats most days, but the snow melted inside the walls and Aleeri and Dagna had been certain it was proof of magic.
Except that they couldn't find any.
They'd searched every inch of the castle that they dared, yet there were no clear signs of magic. There were a few ridiculously ancient texts that had somehow withstood the wear of time. They were in an older tongue and while they did talk of magic, they were so old that Aleeri and Dagna didn't dare flip through them too much, instead working to preserve them until they could make it back to Denerim.
There were no mysterious runes on the walls or green-glowing firelight or…anything.
Just a vague notion that something was…different here.
Well, that notion and the massive sealed door that led down to the lower chambers.
It was dwarven made, and likely inches upon inches thick. None of them had been able to get the door to budge, not even a groan to let them know their efforts were doing something.
Aleeri glanced past his equipment to the door in question. It stood at the far end of the hall. They'd put their equipment near an old fireplace, and as it was on the same wall as the door, it made inspecting anything other than the frame impossible from this angle. Even so, there was something eerie about it.
When it had just been him and Dagna, they hadn't even tried to open the door, deciding that if they were in a horror movie, that was the last thing they wanted to do. While they'd laughed it off, there was something unsettling about that damned thing.
The first thing Thom had asked when he got there was what was behind it. Dagna had merely shrugged and said, "You know how these old places work. Whoever opens the door gets cursed. We figured, since we're the leading minds on magical anomalies and the practical existence therein, it would do best if you got cursed, and we studied you."
They'd all laughed at that, though Thom had merely given them a dramatic bow and promised not to disappoint them.
The door hadn't budged, and after it went unmoving for Thom, the three of them had tried together before giving up, and Aleeri was surprised at how relieved he was that it wouldn't open.
As he turned to examine the different machines around him for any evidence that they might have detected something around them, he considered that if they didn't find any evidence here, they'd likely get the ghost hunter treatment when they got home.
Sometimes he felt like they were already there, despite the people who still claimed that the search for magic was a respectable one.
Even as he wondered if this would lead to funding cuts, he saw a flash of something dart into one of the halls opposite that sealed door, at the far end of the massive chamber.
"Thom?" He called out slowly. The figure had been too tall to be his dwarven friend, and yet, when no one responded, he still found himself calling out, "Dagna?"
When silence met him, he got out of his chair and walked slowly toward the far end of the main hall, his footfalls sounded unusually loud in his ears.
"Aleeri?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard his name called from behind him, and whirled around to see both Thom and Dagna standing there, looking surprised.
If they were both there…
Steeling himself, Aleeri turned and strode the last few yards to the hall he'd seen the shadow near, peering down it with false bravado to see an empty, crumbling hall. It led to a large room with a half rotted wooden table in the center, though parts of the ceiling had given out years ago, and none of them felt safe staying in there for long.
Of course it was empty. Even if there had been some animal or something, did he expect something moving that quickly to wait for him to happen upon it?
With a sigh, he told himself that it had just been a trick of the light or some animal made to seem far bigger than it was because of the angle and lighting and whatever else so that it wasn't nearly so foreboding.
It wasn't until he was falling asleep that night that he wondered if perhaps that was the sign they were looking for, their hint of magic.
In the morning, he was going to wander through the ruins again, and see if he couldn't find something they'd missed before.
There had to be something here. There had to be.
…-…
The door to Meredith Stannard's office swung open even as one of her knight-templars babbled some protest before drawing to an awkward silence as the owner of the footsteps he'd been chasing stopped.
Meredith finished typing up her latest report and then closed her laptop, smiling calmly at the younger, blonde woman who wore a perfectly fitting business suit standing on the other side of her desk.
"Prime Minister Anora," she greeted the younger woman with as warm a voice as she could muster, though the edges still felt sharp, even in her ears. "I was not expecting—"
"You tried to send my father nonsense about demons." Anora held out a hand and the sharply dressed elf beside her, who in turn presented the prime minister with a few papers from a folder. "It is common knowledge that my father has not been well, and you would seek to rile him up with…this!"
Meredith's gaze followed the papers as they were thrown onto her desk, the words familiar to her even without reading them all.
Loghain Mac Tir, while not quite the man he used to be, was still seen as a war hero by many in Ferelden, and more than that, he had ties with the military there, ties she'd hoped to use to her advantage.
"If not your father, perhaps you can assist me."
"Of all the gall," Anora hissed, stepping closer to the desk and leaning against it. She was used to having the power in Ferelden, of commanding respect.
Meredith glanced at her templars at the door. Both of them had their hands resting on the guns at their hips. With a slight dip of her chin, they eased up, glancing at one another and then back at her, before finally turning their attentions back to Anora and her assistant, Erlina.
Ever since the…incident nearly two months ago, the whole of the Gallows had been up in arms, overly cautious of every stranger who turned up on their doorstep, and closing themselves off from all save other templars. The Knight-Divine was expected in the next few days, and it was imperative that things be as they should for his arrival.
No doubt, her subordinates feared Anora's visit would put a hiccup in their plans.
It wouldn't.
If anything, this might save them time.
"I would reason with you here, but I can see that you are both a practical sort, so let me take you for walk…" She paused as she stepped past them and into the hall to see half a dozen guards bearing the Mac Tir sigil on their breast pocket.
The dark green of their uniforms stood in stark comparison to the grays of the templars' military gear. They'd been opting to wear heavier gear of late—particularly interceptor body armor—even if it did tire them out more than usual.
Well, it had used to.
That was before Meredith had found her way into the ancient stock rooms beneath the Gallows.
While the upper levels of the building had been redesigned to make more of a training barracks for recruits to the Order—fewer and fewer as they were becoming in recent years as the Chantry lost popularity with the younger generations—the lower levels had merely been reinforced to make sure the whole building wouldn't collapse, and many of the store rooms hadn't even been emptied.
That was where she'd found the advantage they were going to need in the upcoming months.
"Where are we going?" Anora demanded as they came to the stairs leading down.
Meredith stopped, waving a hand as several of her guards went for their weapons again and eying the young ruler. Since her husband's death, she'd done wonders with her country, even running and claiming the title of Prime Minister herself. It was impressive to see how well she was doing, though Meredith knew that she wouldn't be easy to persuade.
Not without proof.
After all, she reminded Meredith of herself. A powerful woman who didn't put up with rubbish.
"There's something I need to show you. Your guards are welcome to follow, though I would ask that they be careful."
And with that, they headed down. She saw Anora's gaze falter but once, before she had matched Meredith's pace. "You sent letters saying that there were demons running loose to my father."
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because there are." Meredith stopped in front of a large glass panel. Maker knew what the room had been used for before—likely it'd been some started project that was abandoned when the lower regions of the former Circle proved too eerie for the superstitious builders' tastes. Whatever the reason, it was a useful tool to Meredith, and she thanked the Maker for it.
Nodding to one of her templars, he took in an unsteady breath and then reached to his belt, pulling free a small vial filled with blue liquid. He gulped it down and then turned and entered the chamber beyond the glass as he flicked on the lights.
They flickered dimly, not wanting to come to life fully, but they could still see the thing hanging against the far wall in shackles.
"Who is that poor wo—" Erlina's voice cut off as the templar hit the figure with a spell interrupt.
The lights grew brighter as the figure twisted, growing taller as long horns snaked out of its head, and a longer tail seemed to grow as well. Its skin was a pale-ish purple, with darker speckles along its arms and across its scantily clad form that dark color pooling along its unnaturally long fingers and feet, and its eyes…
Its eyes were clamped shut in pain, though Meredith knew damned well what they looked like. She nodded to her templar, and he darted out of the chamber, flicking the light off and locking the door several times over before stepping back as though he still expected the beast to follow him out.
She led them back out of the former dungeon before turning to the visitors and smiling thinly. "Now that we're all on the same page, let's talk."
"It…" Erlina shivered. "It looked like an elven woman, bloodied and bruised."
Anora blinked, looking at her assistant, surprised. "I saw Cailan."
"It does that," Meredith murmured, sighing as she realized she was still going to have to explain more than she wanted to. "It takes on whatever form it thinks will make it most sympathetic to whoever is looking at it…unless its magic can be disrupted somehow." Meredith shook her head. "I always see its true form as that of a young man, but I'm told most of my soldiers see it as a young woman."
Anora glanced back, as though she might head back to get another look at the thing. "But what is it?"
"A desire demon." As Anora's gaze snapped back toward her, Meredith merely arched her brow. "If you had asked me two months ago what I thought of demons, I would have laughed you out of this building for wasting my time. However, matters have changed. That thing was one of three that attacked us two months ago. As of now we still have more questions than answers, though I'd hoped your father might be able to help me with that."
Anora stared toward the stairs leading down another moment before shaking her head. "I don't understand. My father never encountered anything like that."
"No," Meredith agreed with a curt shake of her head. "However, there is someone who has who resides in Aeonar Asylum. I was hoping to arrange a visit with him."
Anora hesitated a breath before nodding slowly. "You said there were more of those things?"
"We killed the other two, but this one keeps talking about cracks in the Veil. Keeps telling us that we won't have a leg to stand on, soon enough."
With a slow nod, Anora glanced at Erlina, who was on her phone in a breath. "When would you like to go?"
