"What happened?"
"I don't know..."
Runa lay- belly down- on a cot in one of the infirmary tents, unconscious and feverish. The wounds on her back would not close not matter how much the mages tried.
Molly came running over after hearing the news. "Is she OK? What happened?"
Cullen looked at her. "I don't know. When I found her, she was barely conscious and bleeding." He looked down at the gashes on her back. "The wounds won't heal. When one heals shut, another reopens and we're right back where we started."
"Oo, nasty wounds, those are."
Cullen looked up as Dorian joined them.
"I've only seen that kind of wound once before, back home." Dorian looked at Cullen. "Has she been having issues with a demon?"
Surprised, Cullen nodded. "Since she came into her magik, a demon has haunted her. Even after she passed her Harrowing." He looked back down at Runa. "She was always under constant watch; the First Enchanter and Knight-Commander were worried that Runa would lose her fight against him."
"What can you tell me about this demon?"
"His name is Zakkon, a rage demon. He's only ever haunted her dreams and thoughts, never physical."
"Until now, it would seem."
"Excuse me, but this may help."
Cullen and the others watched as Adan handed one of the mages a small jar of salve. "What is that?"
"It's a salve I've been working on made up of several healing herbs. It's meant to stave off bleeding so that the wounds have time to heal on their own." Adan explained, watching as the mage spread the salve over Runa's wounds.
Cullen found himself releasing a breath he didn't realize he had been holding when he saw that the bleeding stopped, even when the wounds would not close.
"There, that should do it." The mage said, looking to Cullen and the others. "We'll continue to use this salve until her wounds heal, though if this is indeed the work of a demon, we need to rid her of the demon before it either kills her or finally breaks her and takes control." He stood aside as Mother Giselle and another woman bandaged her torso.
"But how?"
"There is a way, though it would be difficult." Leliana said, joining them. "During the Blight, the Hero of Ferelden saved Arl Eamon's son, Connor, from a desire demon by undergoing the same ritual used for a Harrowing. She defeated the demon within the Fade, thus freeing Connor from its clutches."
"That would require massive amounts of lyrium, Leliana." Cullen pointed out. "More than we have. And we're already scrambling to find enough to support the mages and the Templars within our ranks."
"Which is why I said it would be difficult," Leliana replied. Turning her attention to Runa, she added, "but I believe it worth the effort after everything that Runa has done for us."
"I agree, but what would that mean for Runa?" Molly asked.
"The rite itself is fairly simple. First, the apprentice enters the Fade through ritual use of lyrium. Once across the Veil, the subject must face and overcome a demon that wishes to possess the apprentice's body and enter the living realm. This involves navigating whatever challenges have been set up and seeing through whatever ruse the demon puts on. The demon itself would have been summoned by Circle mages to the same part of the Fade the apprentice enters, lured by the promise of a living body waiting for it. The Harrowing is more a test of will, common sense, and the ability to resist temptation, than one of magical ability." One of the mages present explained. "If the apprentice succeeds in resisting the demon, he or she earns the title and trappings of a mage, becoming a full member of the Circle, having proven the necessary strength of will and character to master and use magic."
"However, if the apprentice is overwhelmed by the demon or takes too long to complete the task, he or she is killed by templars, who are standing by to prevent the tragedy of an abomination." Cullen added. "One templar, who remains unidentified to the mages present, is assigned the killing blow in advance while the rest keep danger at bay and stand ready to replace the 'designated slayer' if necessary." He sighed. "I myself would have been tasked with that duty had the Hero of Ferelden failed in her Harrowing."
"What do we need, Leliana?" Molly asked, looking to the spymaster.
Runa was unconscious for much of the rest of their journey, only having very brief and minimal moments of waking. She would be disoriented each time she woke, reaching out for someone that was always by her side but she could never see who because her vision was always blurred. Whoever it was would tell her she was safe, that they were going to protect her, but their voice would be drowned out by Zakkon before darkness claimed her again. And through the darkness, came terrifying dreams.
"You will break, dear child. You are not as strong as you think you are."
Runa looked up at Zakkon as he took on yet another familiar face to torment her further. "Don't... don't use his face..."
Zakkon cackled, the armor of his facade clinking under the fur pauldrons as he slunk towards her and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him with a hand covered in a soft and worn leather glove. "You care more for this man, this Templar no less, than you realize."
Runa ripped her chin free from his grasp, tearing her gaze from the honey golden eyes bearing down on her as she tried to remind herself that it was not really him torturing her, that it was the demon.
"Now, what shall we use first this time? Ooo, how about the favorite of all Templars? Fitting to use a bit of magebane on such a pretty little mage when she's being a naughty girl."
Runa raised her gaze to the demon's table of torture tools, watching as he dipped a knife in the magebane before walking over to where he had her chained up- arms straining above her from her own weight dangling over the stone floor as he toes barely brushed through the dirt and dust below her.
"You will give in before long, Runa dear. You will surrender yourself to me."
Runa forced herself to meet the demon's gaze. "I will not break."
