Note: I've decided that, for every chapter that is directly related to a main quest in the actual game, I'll give that chapter the respective name of that in-game quest, this one being the first. Enjoy!

Maker forgive me.

"Fire the flare!"

An archer immediately heeds my roaring command and fires a flaming arrow into the dark evening sky.

We all stand in silence, waiting for some sign that our plan had successfully worked.

Not a single sound emanates from us, the silence only broken by the howling blizzard winds.

My teeth chatter loudly, and I nearly bite my tongue in my tense state.

Maker, I plead. Please, Maker.

Let her live.

"I shouldn't have left her," Cassandra says, more so to herself than to anyone else, I suspect.

I swallow back a fresh surge of fear, determined to remain positive.

Just as I am about to lose the last shred of hope, just as my knees start to buckle beneath my weight, we see an avalanche slide down the mountain in the distance.

She saw the signal.

She has fired the trebuchet.

She's alive.

Everyone around me breathes a collective sigh of relief.

One that is quickly followed by a collective gasp of horror.

In the distance, right above Haven, we see the silhouette of a dragon, barely visible in the blizzard, flying away in the opposite direction.

We are all frozen in our places, no one daring to take a breath. My heart is pounding loudly and rapidly in my chest, fear flooding me as though coursing through my veins.

I had only been this terrified once before.

I almost broke, then. That fear almost ruined me.

But fearing for one's own life pales in comparison to fearing for the life of another.

The life of a person so dear to you, the thought of losing them itself is enough to paralyse you.

"Commander," Leliana softly addresses me. "Cullen, we must keep going."

I barely hear her.

My eyes are fixed on the distant mountain, where the Inquisition was housed not a few hours ago.

Where she stayed to buy us all enough time to escape.

"Cullen," Cassandra's firm voice says. I feel someone gently place their hand on my shoulder, but I haven't the vaguest idea who it is.

"Cullen, we must move," Cassandra's voice continues.

My eyes move to her face, her expression stern yet morose.

I swallow and nod silently, feeling my entire body trembling in my armour.

I mustn't break now.

I can't.

"Prepare to move," I call out with an audible tremble in my voice. I continue to stare at the mountain, willing her to appear with all my might.

Then somehow, despite the numbness that has taken over me, I manage to turn away from the mountain and slowly start to walk ahead of the surviving members of the Inquisition.

"Solas is scouting ahead," Leliana informs me. "We will set up camp once we are at a safe enough distance and we will wait for her, Cullen."

I walk on in silence, fixing my eyes on Solas' silhouette in the near distance.

Maker protect her, I repeat over and over to myself, the cold winds stinging the skin on my exposed face.

Maker watch over her.

After what seems like an hour of continuous walking, Solas finally stops and surveys a valley blocked off from the blizzard by the mountain walls surrounding it.

"This area will suffice," he tells us. "It will shield us from the blizzard as we wait."

The survivors immediately start lighting fires and setting up camp. I refuse to venture away any further than the entrance to the valley, where I would be able to see her approaching from a distance.

I shiver violently in my armour as I keep watch, but I am too scared to leave my post to bring wood for a fire in case she appears while I am gone.

So I will bear the cold.

I've borne far worse before.

I pace around like a madman, my eyes never wandering away from the arc of her approach.

I jump and nearly draw my sword when I hear a sudden sound emanate from right behind me.

"Cassandra was beginning to worry you would freeze to death," Solas tells me calmly, having just used his magic to light a fire.

"I… thank you," I reply gratefully as the warmth washes over me.

He joins me at my post, his eyes scanning the scene before him.

"The blizzard grows stronger," he murmurs. A surge of panic instantly grips at me.

"I shouldn't have left her alone," I say, guilt and self-hatred rapidly replacing the panic that had consumed me. "I should have stayed with her and helped."

"The people need you, Commander," Solas responds. "Apart from her, they trust no one else to lead them as much as they trust you."

I shake my head, refusing to listen to him.

"Morale is an important thing," Solas continues. I can feel his eyes on me, but I refuse to focus on anywhere but the approach. "Can you imagine what would have transpired if the Inquisition lost you both? Your forces would falter without their Commander, and everything the Herald has done would have been in vain."

"Any sign of her?" I hear Cassandra ask from behind us.

"No," I reply. "Not yet."

With each passing minute, I feel myself losing hope, and with it, my sanity.

"I'll never forgive myself if something happened to her," I say, my voice trembling as I fight back the desperation threatening to take hold of me.

"It was her plan, Commander," Cassandra reminds me.

"And I shouldn't have agreed to it!" I yell out, my voice echoing across the valley.

"Wait," Solas interrupts us. "I see something in the distance!"

"Where?" I ask frantically, taking a few steps forward.

My eyes widen when I finally see a figure a short distance away.

"There!" I yell out, breaking into a sprint towards her. "It's her!"

"Thank the Maker!" I hear Cassandra's relief close behind me.

As soon as she sees us, as soon as she realises she's safe, she falls to her knees, her head hanging low. I slide down to my knees and pick her up, holding her firmly against me.

"Cullen?" she asks weakly, barely able to open her eyes. Her lips are alarmingly blue.

"I'm here," I whisper, pressing my cheek against her forehead. "You're safe."

I feel her body go limp in my arms and hear her sigh as she slips into unconsciousness.

She is alive.

Those three words blissfully play repeatedly in my mind as I sit alone by a distant fire, watching her talk to Solas in a secluded area of the camp.

It also seems as though a smile has permanently been plastered onto my features.

I have had worse things happen to my face, however, so I think I shall manage if that were the case.

I take a spoonful of the soup I have on my lap, relishing the warmth that spreads all the way to my fingertips.

I had a bit of a spat with the other advisors about our next move while Trevelyan rested, so I am not so inclined on spending my downtime in their company, hence the seclusion.

As well as the fact that I am rather enjoying the chance of observing her without being caught in the act.

So I observe, barely aware of my surroundings as I relish the joy of seeing her alive and well before me.

A short while later, I see her walk away from Solas and make her way back to the main camp. Solas himself remains at their spot, standing close to the blue flames he conjured and looking out ahead into the darkness of the night.

"She is wondering where you are."

I jump, spilling some soup onto the snow by my feet.

Maker!

"I'm sorry!" a pale, young man in an oversized hat exclaims. "I didn't mean to frighten you!"

"Cole," I say, taking a deep breath to calm myself down.

"I'm sorry," the young man repeats sincerely.

I look up at him, standing right beside me where no one stood only a few seconds ago.

"Where in the Maker's name did you come from?" I ask, anger quickly replacing my shock.

"I was right there," he replies innocently. "You just didn't see me. People usually don't see me. Or they forget."

I sigh, quickly regretting my anger.

I don't even know the boy—or where he came from—but he warned us about the battle in Haven and has only helped us so far.

"What do you mean by 'forget'?" I ask.

"She's coming," he says, completely ignoring my question as though he hadn't heard it. And in the blink of an eye, he's gone.

Before I even have time to make sense of what had just transpired, I hear footsteps advancing towards me.

"There you are."

I look up, freezing momentarily when I see Lady Trevelyan smiling down at me.

"My lady," I breathe, quickly setting aside my soup and standing up.

"What are you doing here all on your own?" she asks, her eyes sweeping the area.

"Oh, uhh," I resort to the automatic neck rub as I attempt to gather my thoughts. "I just needed some time to think. About our next course of action, that is."

"Oh, am I interrupting you?" she asks guiltily.

"No!" I quickly exclaim. "No, of course not."

"Good," she says softly, her beautiful face instantly relaxing back into a smile. "Well, as it happens, Solas and I have been discussing just that."

"Oh?"

"Yes," she plops down onto the log I was sitting on and warms her hands by the fire. "Would you like to learn of it as you finish your dinner?"

I almost forgot about the discarded soup bowl by my feet.

I sit down next to her, taking care to keep a respectable distance between us.

"Solas thinks we should move further north," she begins. I feel a smile creep up on my lips as I watch the shadows cast by the flames play around her face. "He thinks he may have an idea for a new place we could set up in."

I find myself mesmerized by the way her lips move as she speaks.

Soft, full lips.

No longer blue but pink and warm in the firelight.

"I think it's our best hope," she continues, completely oblivious to my staring. "Don't you?"

She turns away from the fire and looks at me, smiling when she catches me watching her.

"I—yes, I do," I quickly stammer in response, internally cursing myself as I start to feel my face flush. "We don't have the luxury of mulling over other options, in any case."

"My thoughts exactly," she smiles.

I could kiss her.

I could so easily kiss her.

And no one would know.

"Cole told me," she says softly, her eyes roaming over my face.

"Told you what?"

"That you stood alone in the cold, waiting for me for hours."

I swallow audibly.

"I couldn't live with myself if something had happened to you," I reply.

She smiles, her hair falling over her face as she looks down.

"Thank you," she murmurs. "I…I'm relieved that you—I mean—so many made it out alive."

Maker, did she just stammer?

"As am I," I respond softly, feeling the familiar inner warmth that floods me whenever I am near her.

She looks up at me, but does not utter a word. Then, as abruptly as Cole had disappeared, she stands up, breaking the tension that had begun to build up between us.

"I'd best get some more rest," she says. "Goodnight, Commander."

She turns to walk away, but I quickly get up after her.

"You stayed behind," I say, stopping her in her tracks. "You could have—"

I pause, unable to bring myself to even think of the word.

"I will not allow the events at Haven to happen again," I tell her gravely. "You have my word."

Her eyes widen slightly and her eyebrows rise, clearly surprised by my solemn promise. She smiles and nods before departing towards the main camp.

As I stand there and watch her walk away, one thing becomes crystal clear to me.

I feel it settle into me, into my very flesh and bones.

I am falling for her.

Harder and faster than I ever imagined possible.

And it is far too late to do anything about it now.