A/N: I have written, re-written, and re-written this chapter like crazy, but it's finally going up! The song "Flames" by Vast was pretty much on replay while I was writing the end of it. Thank you for reading!
Solitary- Run
"How could you?" The woman rounded on her as she stood, eyes on the ground before her, her hands tied behind her back. She could hear the woman sobbing.
"It was magic, Miss. We've sent for the Templars to come for her," the guard next to Elina answered.
The woman asked through tears, "Why? Why would you do this?"
Elina couldn't look up. She couldn't see the bodies again. She couldn't see what she'd done. She'd already cried herself dry. She felt empty. Hollow.
"Answer me!" The woman grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "You murdered my son! Why?" She was shaking, and Elina still couldn't make herself meet the woman's eyes.
The guard stepped between them, and Elina stumbled back, her bound hands not helping her balance. She fell to the ground, not registering any pain.
"You killed my little boy!" The woman screamed, the guard holding her back as she tried to lunge at Elina. "You monster!"
Elina bowed her head. She was nothing less than a monster. The children weren't teasing her any more. They were dead. And she had killed them.
She had tried telling the guards through panicked breaths that she hadn't meant to hurt them. She didn't know what she'd done.
"Monster!"
Elina jolted awake, her heart racing in her chest. She gasped for breath, covered in sweat. The nightmare was nothing more than a memory, though for Elina, memories were far worse than nightmares.
She sat up slowly, her arms wrapping around herself.
The dream had been so vivid. It had taken her back to Kirkwall, far from where she was now, in Wynne's quarters. The room was being used as a place to temporarily hold Elina, and Wynne had moved to the Enchanter's dormitories for the night. Anders had been taken away somewhere else as well, leaving Elina alone in the darkness.
The moonlight only illuminated enough of the room for shadows to loom, and Elina swallowed hard as she clambered to her knees and moved to the window. She rested her head against the window, the cool glass pressed against her skin. She'd sworn to herself never to use her magic to hurt anyone. But she'd almost killed Michael, and nearly taken more lives again today. She was losing her resolve, growing desperate.
Elina let out a deep breath, fogging the window for a moment. Michael had called her a monster, and it wasn't the first time.
She shouldn't have been able to bring Anders back from the dead. It was impossible. It should be impossible. And she'd almost killed Wynne and Greagoir in the process. She thought she'd been in control, but she was so close to collapsing part of the tower—and who knew how much damage that would've caused?
Everything had happened so quickly over the last few days, she hadn't stopped to consider anything other than Anders surviving, and solitary ending. But she'd allowed her magic to grow stronger, nearly losing control. Elina sat back on the mattress, drawing her knees to her chest. She didn't want to sleep again if she was only going to remember.
Greagoir waited as the Templars gathered in the library. It was past curfew for the mages, and he was sure his men were tired and displeased that he had called them together. But they stood at attention before him, waiting.
The Knight-Commander looked at the faces he knew well, and it pained him to wonder which of those in front of him had been responsible for different abuses of the mages.
"Templars," Greagoir said, drawing any distracted eyes to him. "I have called you here tonight to remind you of your duties. When you joined the order, you took vows to serve and protect. You are loyal, and dedicated. But there is something that you need to understand that may have been forgotten after your years of serving."
Damian watched the Knight-Commander with anger. Michael, his friend, loyal and dedicated, had been disgraced by the Knight-Commander. Dragged out of the tower and expelled from the Order. It was madness.
"You serve to protect the people of Ferelden. And those people include the mages, who are your charges." Greagoir's voice turned cold as he felt the atmosphere shift in the library. Questioning stares turned into frustrated glares. How had it come to this? "It has come to my attention that good men, the Templars under my command, have had their perceptions of this warped. The mages here are under your protection. They should look to you with trust. I know there is no friendship or even kinship here among mages and Templars, but I will not tolerate abuses."
Damian fumed, his hands curling into angry fists. He felt Jayden beside him tense as well. They had expected this. After Jayden had dragged Michael out of the Circle under the Knight-Commander's orders, he had come to Damian with his concerns. The Knight-Commander was growing soft toward the mages. He was taking their side instead of supporting his own men.
Greagoir looked sharply at the Templars before him. "I am aware of the growing discontent among the mages, as well. And I will not tolerate their rule-breaking either. Those who do not keep the peace in this tower, mages and Templars alike, will not have their actions excused. There is a precarious balance we must keep—we serve the Maker, and we protect his people. I will deal with the mages who have threatened the safety of others. The Apprentice Anders, I'm sure you are well aware of the situation, will be returned to solitary. But if there are any actions by the Templars that are unjust, I will be swift in my punishment."
Jayden looked at Damian from the corner of his eye. The Knight-Commander was truly compromised by the mages. After the Apprentice Anders had caused so much trouble, broken so many rules, he was to be simply returned, untouched to solitary, where he would no doubt continue to threaten the safety of others.
"And the Apprentice Elina?" It was Seth who spoke up now, present during Michael's ranting before he was thrown out of the tower. "She is a danger, Knight-Commander."
Greagoir had a growing headache, and his patience was wearing thin. He was constantly questioned by the mages, by his own men, and even by himself. "She will be under strict supervision."
"We heard what happened earlier today, Knight-Commander," Damian said harshly, his temper finally letting his tongue loose. "She could've brought down the tower—killed all of us and let the mages free."
"You know very well her intention if you've heard the rumors," the Knight-Commander snapped. "This is not a witch-hunt, and I will not allow it to become one."
Damian clenched his jaw tightly, keeping himself quiet. The Knight-Commander was wrapped around that apprentice's little finger.
"Every person in this tower will be under strict watch from now on. If you suspect a Templar of abuse, or a mage of dangerous intent, you will come to me. Is that understood?" The Knight-Commander barked.
"Yes, Ser!" The Templars responded in kind, saluting smartly.
"Dismissed," Greagoir said, feeling more than exhausted. He had now angered some of his own men. The First Enchanter and many of the other mages would be furious with him for returning Anders to solitary. There was no way to keep everyone in the tower happy. But he was the Knight-Commander, and his job wasn't to avoid stepping on toes. It was to keep people safe.
Damian had already amassed a small group of Templars in the hall as they walked out of earshot from the others, to a staircase in the shadows.
"You were right, Seth. He's been completely taken by the mage's persuasion." Damian felt his heart pounding in his chest, accelerated by his anger.
"And the apprentice is still a danger to us all." Jayden put in. "Michael swore that she would bring about our destruction. He said her voice changed when she nearly killed him. There must be a demon working inside of her."
Seth frowned. "We would've been able to detect it. She can't be possessed fully."
"Maybe she made a deal with it. Only calls upon it in times of need." Jayden suggested darkly. "A blood mage."
The newest recruit, Cullen, approached them, his eyebrows knit together with an expression of concern on his face. Jayden signaled for them to fall quiet, and they waited until he passed them before speaking again.
"Even that one is like the Knight-Commander. The mages have him convinced that they're harmless. He defended Apprentice Elina." Seth growled. "But I haven't forgotten how dangerous mages are." He still remembered every detail of the apostate's face. How could he forget the woman who murdered his sister? One mage the Templars didn't catch in time. Their negligence had cost his innocent sister her life. His eyes were burning as he looked at his friends. "We can't let this threat remain."
"The Knight-Commander won't listen to us. And if we try anything, he'll have us kicked out of the Order like Michael." Damian answered, shifting his weight, moving from one stair to another, his adrenaline still coursing through his veins. "But we can't just do nothing."
Jayden frowned. "We can force the demon out. The Knight-Commander won't be able to dispute it then. He'll have to admit that Michael was correct."
"We can't just take a demon as a prisoner. It will fight us to the end." The quiet Templar, Adam, spoke up.
"Then we bring the demonic ashes back to the Knight-Commander ourselves." Seth hissed. "If he won't do what's right, then we're left with no choice. The apprentice is a danger to all of us. My sister died because the Templars couldn't do their job—they failed to kill a mage who would go on to become a murderer. We can't let that happen again."
The others nodded grimly. "It's our responsibility," Adam said softly. "We serve and protect. And the apprentice is a danger."
Seth's mouth twisted. "A monster."
Anders had been asleep when the Templars grabbed him from his room, dragging him down the hallway. He didn't know what was happening, if Greagoir had finally decided to just kill him and be done with it, or throw him back in solitary for good. But he realized they were not headed anywhere near solitary, but to Wynne's room. To Elina.
The door swung open, light pouring into the room and jarring Elina from her thoughts. She had been resting her chin on her knees, her thoughts circling for hours. Her head jerked up, and she blinked, eyes adjusting.
"Stop your struggling," one voice was growling.
The source of light was a torch, carried by one of the Templars coming into the room.
Elina quickly stepped down from the mattress, mind whirling as she tried to understand the scene before her. There were four Templars, and two were half carrying someone else—
"Anders." Elina breathed, her eyes growing wide with panic.
Anders fought the grip on his arms as he realized what the Templars were intending to do. They were going to do something to Elina. Maker knew what. "Elina!" Anders tried to wrench himself away from the Templars. "Get out of here!"
She didn't move. She recognized them all. The one placing the torch in a sconce was in solitary with Michael the day she'd gone to see Anders. The two holding Anders were the ones who had dragged Michael out of the tower. And the last was a soft-spoken man she knew as Adam. "Has Greagoir made his judgment?" Elina asked, trying to keep any fear out of her voice.
"The Knight-Commander has refused to see you for what you are." The Templar, Damian, answered her vehemently. The light from the torch danced across the room, throwing shadows across the floor. "You have twisted his mind, convinced him you're not the abomination you are."
Elina's eyes flicked to Anders, who was still straining, trying to break free. "I haven't done anything." Elina answered quickly. "But if it is me you want, then you can have me. Just let Anders go."
"No," Anders snarled, but Jayden swiftly punched him in the stomach, and Anders dropped to his knees coughing, not in any shape to be fighting back.
"We need him," Damian answered, stepping closer to Elina. "I haven't forgotten your little display in solitary—the way you two tried to protect each other."
Elina clenched her jaw. "And why? What can hurting us accomplish?" Her breath was picking up as she began to panic. They weren't sent by the Knight-Commander, and they obviously had no qualms about hurting Anders.
It was Adam who spoke up from where he stood at the door. "Can you explain how you brought someone back to life?" He asked. "Or how, despite Michael using his Templar abilities, you were able to cast spells and overwhelm him?"
"I…" Elina shook her head, desperation creeping into her voice. "I don't know. I swear I don't know."
"This is pointless, Adam. We're going to have to force it out of her." Damian snapped, striding forward toward Elina. The apprentice tried to step away from him, taking steps backward until she ran into the wall and Damian grabbed her wrist, dragging her across the room. "We know you've made deals with a demon. Michael tried to warn the Knight-Commander, but he wouldn't listen."
"A demon?" The apprentice gasped. Her eyes were over bright, pretty pink lips parted. Damian could see how easy it would be to fall prey to her act of innocence. She acted vulnerable, desperate, scared.
"Then smite her to see if your theory is correct!" Anders shouted. He tried to get to his feet but was forced back down to the floor. "If she's possessed, you'll know right away." The Templars were insane. Paranoid to the extent they would suspect Elina of being an abomination just because she was powerful.
One of the Templars holding Anders snarled, "Making deals with demons doesn't mean she's possessed. It hasn't taken control of her body yet. It just lurks in the corners of her mind, helping her from the fade."
"You're insane!" Anders roared, and then he found a knee in his back, pushing him completely down against the floor, his face pressed against the stone.
Elina's face had gone completely white. Her heart was racing in her chest. "Let him go, please. Don't hurt him." She said quickly, hands shaking. She couldn't think.
"Here's what we're going to do. You let the demon come out fully. Stop hiding it. Or we force it out of you." Damian's grip on her wrist was cutting off all circulation to her hand, her wrist bruising under his armored cutch. "So if you don't want your lover to suffer, you'll show yourself for what you really are."
"Don't listen to them." Anders groaned as the Templars dragged him into a sitting position. One drew his sword, holding it at Anders' neck.
Elina's breath came in short bursts. Anders was going to be hurt. Because of her. If she wasn't close to him, if he had never become close with her, he wouldn't be in this situation. It was all because of her, and her magic.
"Please, I am begging you."
The words caught Damian off his guard, the apprentice looking at him with eyes filling with tears. Her lips were trembling, so much fear in her face. She was terrified.
Then Elina was thrown to the floor as Damian shoved her away. "You truly are an excellent actress. I can see how the Knight-Commander would be fooled." Damian nodded to Jayden. "Break his arm first. It'll make him squirm less if we have to cut off his hand."
"No!" Elina pushed herself back to her feet, panic completely taking over her mind. Damian grabbed her around the waist and hauled her away from Anders. She blindly kicked. She needed to call upon her magic. She needed to stop them from hurting him. She began gathering the energy around her. Stop them, stop them, stop them.
"Stupid girl," Damian snarled in her ear, and then lights exploded before her eyes, pain ripping through her mind. It was gone. She sagged in Damian's arms. "Do it, Seth."
The Templar still holding Anders nodded, and Anders squeezed his eyes shut as he was pushed back to the ground. Then there was an audible crunch, pressure on his left arm. And then he felt it.
Elina heard Anders cry out, though the room before her was nothing but a blur. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. Her mind was consumed by fog, leaving her swimming through a dark abyss.
Fight back. They're hurting him. Fight.
Damian still held her against him, and her vision began to focus.
Anders was a heap on the ground that the Templars stood over. There was no one coming for them. Even if someone tried, Adam stood by the door. The guard that had been outside the room must've abandoned them.
"Nothing. It's not enough," Damian said sharply. The apprentice had stopped struggling.
Jayden hesitated. "What if the demon doesn't come out? The Knight-Commander will have us thrown out."
"I have no doubt that she'll reveal herself soon enough." Seth answered roughly. He twisted the apprentice's arm, and Anders groaned.
"Elina's made no deals with demons," Anders managed to say. "You're not going to find anything inside of her."
Seth drew his own sword and pressed it into the apprentice's back. "I will riddle him with holes if I have to prove it, but I will not allow this abomination to continue to put lives at risk."
Abomination. Monster. Murderer.
Elina felt her knees give out beneath her, and Damian allowed her to crumple to the floor.
Was it a demon? Elina felt the room spin around her. The Templars all watching her, Anders with a sword in his back. She questioned it herself. Was it a demon that gave her this much power?
"Show yourself!" Seth yelled, driving his sword into the apprentice below him.
His eyes were crazed, wide with anger and resolve.
The sound Anders made sucked the air from Elina's lungs. She dragged herself
across the stone as Seth yanked his sword back. She couldn't form words, just wanted to get to Anders.
Stop them. Protect him.
Then she could feel it. Her magic coming back. Trickling toward her. She was on her hands and knees, not even feeling the tears streaming down her face. She was closer to Anders now, and the Templar was pointing a sword an inch from her face. She could see blood on the back of Anders' robes now, his breathing shallow, rattling.
She struggled to her feet, swaying as she stood.
They will kill him. Kill them before they get the chance.
More magic. She knew the signs now. She knew what she was capable of. She looked again at the man holding the sword above her. Her whole body shook. "Please stop this. I only ask that you let him go."
Maybe she was an abomination. Maybe she should let them kill her. To make this nightmare end. It would be justice. She'd murdered those children years ago.
But she wouldn't let them kill Anders.
The Templar's face simply grimaced at her, full of so much hate it made her feel sick to see it. "If you love him so much, save him. Let the demon out. If you don't, I'll kill him. And then see what other friend I can bring in next. The apprentice who follows you around- Jowan? We can get him next."
"No," Elina squeezed her eyes shut. They were all in danger because of her.
She didn't know how, but she tried to summon a demon. Her breathing came in bursts as she desperately shouted to the corners of her mind to be possessed. She wanted to leave the door open. Anders was bleeding out in front of her, Jowan would be next.
But there was no demon that came in. No change in presence. There was something that was protecting her.
If she couldn't call out a demon, Anders would die. Jowan would be next. She called the magic to her, and it came easily.
"Do you feel that?" Jayden asked, looking at Seth as the apprentice before him went completely still.
"I thought you smited her!" Seth turned to Damian, though he kept his sword at the apprentice's throat.
Damian hurried toward them. "I did! She had no magic left. It can't be-"
"Just kill me and don't hurt them." The apprentice rasped, her voice broken. She could feel Anders' life slipping away before her. Even with the magic she gathered, she didn't know if it would be enough to save him. But she couldn't lose him again.
"Step away from him," Seth shouted, fear creeping over him as he felt magic move through the room, amassing around the apprentice. "I swear, I'll just kill him now if you don't show yourself."
There was no demon to show him. It was the magic that left her with currents running over her skin, protecting her. She just needed to move to Anders. She just had to reach out to him.
Anders coughed, and she opened her eyes to see red spreading over his robes. He was dying. "I have to protect him. I have to protect them." Elina said. It was her voice. Her voice with power behind it. The magic she suppressed because she feared it. And she could decide what to do with it now. She moved the barrier away from herself, to her hands. To do what she did best. To heal.
She stepped toward Anders, and Seth lunged, his sword sinking through her skin, plunging through her side.
The apprentice fell away from the blade, crumpling to the floor next to Anders, as Seth stood over her, his sword now stained red. He dropped his weapon, metal clattering on the floor as he backed away from it.
"What did you do?" Adam asked, horrified.
It hurt Elina to breathe, to move, but she managed to reach her hand out to Anders, fingers grasping at his arm. She willed the magic in her hands to Anders, feeling all warmth drain from her body as she did so.
"The magic's leaving." Jayden said.
Adam felt sick. "There is no demon. Maker, what have we done? You stabbed her, Seth!"
"Greagoir will have our heads for this. It won't be expulsion." Seth's voice was low.
Anders felt his eyes open slowly. He'd been somewhere dark. And he saw Elina in front of him. Her face was pale. She was lying on the floor next to him.
"We'll have to kill them. We can say they were trying to escape." Damian's voice reached Anders.
"Elina," Anders whispered. She was healing him, giving him her mana, the sun shining on him in the dark tower room. He could feel his arm mending itself, the throbbing in his back dissipate. Then he saw her eyes dimming, looked down and saw blood staining her robes. "Maker, no." Anders pleaded as her hand fell away from him. He couldn't feel any pain. She'd saved him. Again.
"Quickly, we have to end them now," one of the Templars ordered.
"No. No more of this," another said weakly.
"Leave them to bleed out, then. We'll tell Greagoir now that we had no choice but to stab them when we caught them running in the hall. Hurry." Another said.
They hadn't realized Anders was no longer dying, fear overtaking them as they rushed out of the room.
Anders pushed himself up, pulling Elina to him, holding her in his arms. She was bleeding out. Her eyes were the palest blue he'd ever seen. "You're safe," she breathed. "Jowan's safe."
He tried giving her magic back. He put his hands over the wound in her side and pressed, forcing the bleeding to stop, for skin to knit itself together. "You're safe, too." He couldn't heal it completely. He needed to get her to someone with stronger magic.
"I was so scared of hurting someone, but I didn't." Elina mumbled, her eyelashes fluttering as she struggled to stay awake. "Do you think it will snow soon?" She asked softly. "I really want to feel the snow again." She convulsed, and Anders had no magic left to give.
Anders cradled her, pulling her into his lap. The bleeding had slowed, his hands covered in red. "You will. We can stand at our window this winter."
Rain slapped against the window, the only sound in the now silent room.
"I don't think I'll be able to stand. I can't feel my legs." Elina choked, and Anders pressed his lips against her hair.
He stood slowly, holding her to his chest. She gasped in pain at the movement. "We're going to see the rain again- to feel it. You're going to be fine." Anders answered thickly, feeling wetness on his cheeks.
"It's cold," Elina's voice was barely audible, tilting her face into his chest.
Anders moved to the door, trying not to jostle the girl in his arms. "We'll get you warmed up. You'll be fine." If he said it enough, it had to be true.
She let out a tiny sigh. "I used to be afraid of leaving from where the Templars weren't watching. That I would hurt someone. But I know I won't now."
"You'd never hurt anyone, Elina," Anders pushed the door open, making it into the abandoned hallway. He didn't care if someone heard them. They would have to kill him to stop him now. He had to get to the First Enchanter. He was the best healer in the tower. He could fix this. He could save Elina.
"I did. But I swore I never would again. And I haven't. And I still managed to keep you safe." Elina was struggling to speak now. She was growing weaker.
Anders was on the stairs now. He had to save her. "Stay with me, Elina."
"You're the one who promised not to leave," Elina looked up at him, a crooked smile on her lips. "I never said that I wouldn't."
"Don't you dare," Anders made it to the top of the stair well. If she was heavy in his arms, if his muscles were protesting, he didn't notice.
"You should feel the rain again, Anders. And the snow. Not from the window. Not in the tower." Elina lifted her hand, pain flashing across her face as she did so. She let her fingers drift across his cheek.
"We both will. We'll run away." Anders was pleading with her, begging her to survive.
Her hand fell away.
"Elina. No." Anders didn't stop—couldn't. He made it to the First Enchanter's door, kicked it. It wouldn't open. He kicked again. "Help!" He shouted, Elina motionless in his arms. "Help her!"
He sank to the ground, sobbing. "We're going to run away. We'll go to the Free Marches. We'll live together." He kissed her forehead, her nose. "I'll ask you to marry me. We'll leave all of this behind. Just us."
She didn't answer him. He was crying so hard he couldn't breathe. Every part of him hurt. His lungs burned. He wanted to run with her. To run far away. Run to anywhere that wasn't here.
But she was gone.
