"Come to me," said a voice out in the distant darkness. It was slow, desirous and enticing.
"Come to me," it said once again, only louder this time.
Solona Amell was looking in every direction but she could only see vast stretches of twisted trees and strange terrain. It was the Fade, the one place where demons roamed free, preying upon the weak and weary. She was dreaming, but something was not right. These strange dreams had begun about a week or so ago. Demons called, but never showed themselves. At first it was a rage demon, trying to inspire anger, distrust and anguish; then it was a sloth demon, singing the praises of a blissful dreamless sleep and now it was a desire demon, beckoning, calling out and seeking to lure its target with promises of unimaginable pleasure. But they were not calling out to her. Solona was certain. If she was their target, then they would have shown themselves and would have attempted to converse with her and trap her. She only ever heard voices, distant echoes trying to proposition someone. Whenever she dreamt she could see no other dreamer in the fade, yet, the fact that she heard these voices without ever seeing the demons in their true form suggested that she was not the one they were after. Then, to whom were they calling out?
She walked further trying to find the source of the voices. She decided that the game had to end. Either the demon would die for attempting to play tricks on her, or she would end up becoming an abomination. The latter was less likely, considering that Solona was a harrowed mage, strong willed and well versed in the ways of the demons. All the senior mages in the Circle Tower of Ferelden held her in high regard. She was intelligent, knowledgeable and she had become very powerful over the past months of fighting darkspawn, wild beasts and men.
The voice grew louder as she walked along the meandering path in the Fade. She was confident that she would find the demon and teach it a thing or two about disturbing her while she slept. When she was finally at the source - the place where the voices were loudest, there were no signs of a demon. She continued to wait and watch but the voice had stopped. Instead, the place was now engulfed in an eerie silence. Solona looked around and prepared herself for the demon and for the ensuing battle but nothing happened. She sighed; irritated that she had walked all the way to the source only to find the demon in hiding once more. Just as she turned around to leave, a number of arms reached out of nowhere and grabbed her. She was startled and she struggled, trying to break free. She tried to use her magic, to cast a few spells in order to make her escape, but to no avail. Her arms were bound either side of her. Spell casting was impossible.
"You are here now. You belong to us!"
Solona saw demons - not just a demon, but demons - emerge from the shadows, all kinds of them, holding her and grinning evilly at her.
"We knew you would come and now we shall have you." They said as they stepped towards her.
"No!" cried Solona, trying harder to free herself from their clutches.
"No!" She wriggled but the demons were inches away from her.
"NO!" She screamed one last time before the demons would rip her apart, tearing her to shreds.
With a jerk Solona awoke. She was alive and in one piece. It took her a few moments to realize that she was on her bedroll, in her tent. A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she raised a hand to her face only to find it and the rest of her body drenched in sweat. The dream was unnerving and for the first time after her harrowing, she was afraid of the Fade. Never before, not even in her previous dreams had the demons attacked her or attempted to kill her. Too many questions swirled in her head but it was pointless to try and answer the questions in the dead of night, she thought. A drink of water would calm her down and she would go back to sleep.
Solona looked around to find a small flask filled with water and as she tried to get to the water, she realized that she wasn't alone. A heavy thing was wrapped around her just below her chest, an arm. She turned around to see Alistair snuggled right next to her. It was certainly not unusual for him to be with her at nights. Still, for the past weeks it was almost as if he had permanently moved into her tent. His own tent was just for show. Even his belongings had moved in along with her things. Carefully Solona tried to lift his arm and get the water, but his grip tightened followed by a low groan. A few moments later she tried again and this time he did not feel her leave. The water was cool and she felt better with just a few sips. Thoughts of the nightmare were set aside and she approached her bed again.
A few minutes passed and she was still awake. No matter how hard she tried to sleep, she was terrified of going to back into the Fade.
"Useless," she said to herself and decided to go sit by the campfire. Dressed in a simple linen dress, she stepped out. The fire flickered with a hypnotic rhythm and no one was around. It was cool, quiet and she was all alone. It was perfect for some contemplation, she thought, until she was interrupted.
"What's the matter, my dear warden? Is Alistair making you unhappy?" The elven assassin said in his usual Antivan accent.
"Hello Zevran," Solona said, still seated by the fire. She had not seen him and neither had she sensed his presence. The Antivan Crow was known for his stealth and with good reason. He was exceptional at the art of concealment. So much so, that sometimes Solona wondered how she managed to survive the ambush he'd laid for them.
Zevran had decided to emerge from the shadows and he came before Solona. With a smile he was greeted and he took a seat right next to her.
"So? Tell me, my dear, did the Chantry boy upset you? Or have you come to the realization that you need someone with a fiery flavor to satisfy you?"
At first Solona would feel extremely uncomfortable around Zevran. He would always be staring at her with an expression enough to set her ablaze with embarrassment. His comments, 'suggestions' and ideas were much too explicit to her liking. However, over time she had grown accustomed to his ways and his phrases would make her laugh. This instance was no exception. With a slight laugh she looked at him and said, "No Zevran. The 'Chantry boy' and I are very happy together. It's just…"
The elf continued to watch as Solona's expression changed from a pleasant smile to a serious one. Her eyes grew distant and thoughtful. He could gather that it was no small matter.
"What is it then? Crows are trained to keep secrets, you know." He urged Solona to tell him what was bothering her so much.
"I just had a nightmare that's all." She spoke, all the while her eyes searching for something in the fire.
"Surely it was more than just a nightmare. You, my dear, are not one to be disturbed because of one dream."
Solona found herself at a loss of words. How could she explain what she'd gone through? What would she say - that demons chased her in the Fade and that they had threatened to kill her? Wasn't that supposed to be a common affair for mages? There was no way that she could tell anyone of the nightmare without making a complete fool of herself.
"I assure you it was just a nightmare and I couldn't sleep afterwards, that's all. There was nothing left to do and so I thought I'd sit by the fire or may be do some stargazing." Solona managed to evade any further questions by smiling and looking up at the sky. Zevran, though unconvinced, decided not to prod and they both stared up at the vast open ocean of stars.
The sun had just risen and the weather was mildly warm and humid. Alistair was trying his best to sleep for a little while longer, but a mosquito continued to pester him. He put his arm to his side, hoping to find his lady love, but only to have it fall to the ground with a low thud. He opened his eyes and Solona was nowhere to be found. Slightly irked at the mosquito and Solona's absence, he decided to get up. One sword in either hand and dressed only in his breeches, he stepped out for his regular practice.
He felt refreshed as he took in the morning air. The faint hint of dew on the grass and gentle sun rays welcomed him outside. A few glances at the others' tents showed that he was the first one awake, as usual. Just as he was about to leave for his practice something white caught his eye. When he searched for it, he could see some form of cloth fluttering by the campfire. He walked closer and saw that it was Solona, with a white linen dress, sound asleep.
"There you are," he said and a smile formed on his lips. He dropped his swords and decided to go to Solona. As he moved closer it became obvious that Solona was breathing heavily, was covered in sweat and was shivering.
Alistair thought that she was perhaps having another dream of the archdemon and tried to wake her.
"Solona, love, wake up," he said and touched her arm. She did not respond.
"My dear, get up. We have to leave in a little while." But Solona was still writhing.
"Oh Maker," Alistair muttered to himself and decided to take her back to the tent. The ground was too hard and uncomfortable, he reckoned. Just as he slid his hands in place to lift her off, she started mumbling.
"No!" she squirmed, "No!"
Alistair tried to wake one last time since her convulsions seemed to have worsened.
"NO! Keep away! Keep your hands off me!" Solona shrieked, her eyes suddenly wide open and terror stricken.
"Solona, dear, it's me!" Alistair said as he held her tightly by the shoulders, "Solona!" It was the first time that he had seen her dark brown eyes filled with fear. This was unlike any other time that he had seen her dream of the archdemon.
Solona was disoriented but her surroundings came into focus very soon. She realized that Alistair was holding her and it was morning. She also realized that she had seen that same nightmare the second time in one night. She was certainly worried but she had finally regained her senses.
"Maker's breath woman, you know I was trained as a templar but I thought that wouldn't come between us! You wound me greatly." Alistair jested in an attempt to calm her down. He knew that Solona enjoyed his jokes. She would either respond with an appreciative laugh or would throw a smart comeback right at him. He awaited a reply, trying to confirm that she was well.
"Once a templar, always a templar. I can never trust you," she murmured in a voice barely louder than a whisper and put her arms around him.
Solona felt Alistair's embrace, firm and protective, like a shield that would safeguard her from any demons on the face of Thedas. She buried her head deep in his chest but no matter how hard she tried, the dreams and the fade were gnawing away at her mind.
Forcefully she pushed aside those thoughts. "We should hurry, Redcliffe awaits," she said and left. She had a lot of things to accomplish before they could set off. Any more dilly-dallying and thoughts of her nightmares would make her frightfully stiff.
Author Notes: Hi everyone and thanks for reading. I hope to make this fanfiction into something nice and long. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I do while writing it.
Warning: This story has spoilers about the game DA Origins and Awakening.