A/N: As promised, a chapter update within two weeks. My super hectic life is finally settling down so I'm going to update weekly from now on, though the story is almost over D:
Does anybody know where it's going? Maybe you'll have a hunch after this chapter. please R&R! thanks for reading yo!
"Behold, the lair of the Huntress." Solas stepped forward, trying to find the entrance.
Unlike the other Temples, which were made of stone and clearly crafted with dedicated hands, Andruil's Temple was a fortress created completely out of trees and vines, woven tightly together.
In spite of the situation at hand, Alina could not help but pause in awe. She could feel power emanating from within - whether it whispered from within the trees itself, or because of something darker lurking, she didn't know.
Alina looked beside her, unable to bring herself to fully gaze at the Commander, who lay still at the base of a tree. She felt a hand on her arm. She turned her head. Varric.
"We're gonna get this shit figured out." Varric kept his voice light, but Alina could feel his worry underneath. "And you know… I'm starting to think it's all connected."
"What is?" Alina asked, cocking her head as she looked at her friend.
"Your brother's murder. Cullen. The Temples. It just doesn't strike me as coincidence." Varric moved past Alina to aid Solas in his search for the Temple door, "All my life, nothing has ever been by chance. There's always some asshole somewhere, trying to mess up your life for whatever reason."
"That's reassuring." Alina remarked sarcastically.
"Don't worry, we'll find whoever is responsible. We always do. Haven't you read the stories?"
Alina watched Varric leave, knowing the heaviness in his heart was not something she could ever understand. She turned her attention back to Cullen, watching his chest rise and fall, shallowly but surely.
Cole appeared beside her, holding a wet cloth. He walked over to Cullen and wiped his forehead with care. Alina suddenly felt alarmed.
"I am helping." Cole said, turning his blank eyes to her, "Don't worry. Helping him is not killing him. Not yet."
Shivers ran down Alina' spine. But at least this meant that even this beautiful Spirit of Compassion was not yet ready to take Cullen's life to save him. Alina sighed. Cole finished tending to the Commander. He stood up and turned to Alina, his gaze penetrating all of the thoughts and worries that swirled in her mind.
"He wanted to spend his life with you, you know."
"We must save him."
"Yes, we have to help. The poison silences him but his mind, it speaks."
"What is it saying?" Alina whispered, almost inaudibly, knowing she was doing nothing but satisfying her own selfish desires in this moment.
"I need nothing more than to come back to you."
Alina's heart raced. "Will he be safe here?"
"Solas has given him a cage, protection, he will not be harmed."
"Come on!" A voice carried from behind them. Alina glanced over her shoulder to see that Solas and Varric found the entrance to the Temple, an opening in the solid forest wall that was nearly imperceptible. She raced alongside Cole, her heart pounding in her chest. This is it. I will finally have all the answers. I'll save Cullen. I'll honor my brother.
Cole and Varric stepped within the forest walls first, and as Alina made to follow, Solas stayed her, his hand upon her shoulder.
"Alina." He whispered urgently.
"Solas?" Her eyes turned to him, her heart skipping a beat as she did. She wondered if it would ever stop.
"Do you feel it? There is powerful magic, it is in the leaves, the air. But there is something sinister at its heart."
"Could it be…?"
"No. It cannot be Andruil. It is not possible." Solas responded sharply, though within, his mind whirred, attempting to connect the dots.
"We have to go. I can't stop here. Solas." Alina turned to him, desperate. She brought her hands to his broad shoulders and gazed up into his eyes, tears brimming on the edges of her own. "There are answers here. I have to find them. Please.. help me."
She was so earnest. So innocent. Solas could not bear to look away, to turn her down, now that they had come so far. He had hoped that in coming back he may shatter his idea of her perfection, to reassure himself that maybe after all, she was not so different from the others.
Solas did indeed find that she was not perfect. To his dismay, these imperfections did not change the feelings deep down in his heart. They made her more real than ever, a thought he loathed to admit he felt. But in the end, he could not deny it as he looked into her eyes: Alina was not perfect, but flawless.
"I will do my best to help you, Alina." His hand found her cheek. "I promise."
"Guys?!" Varric yelled. Alina and Solas raced to find the other two.
A giant beast loomed over them.
"It's not a beast. It's a demon." Cole warned.
The demon roared overhead. Alina had never seen anything like it - a demon in the shape of a boar, covered in a poisonous, sickly purple goo. As she gazed upwards, she noticed the goo take shape; it formed an arm, and it began to race right towards Varric.
"What is this?!" Varric cried as he released a perfectly aimed bolt from his crossbow. The hand exploded, the purple substance dissipating into the air.
The team moved briskly, their expertise in battle not lost even on an unfamiliar foe. As Solas protected his companions, his staff flinging back and forth gracefully, he called for Alina.
"Alina! Tell me, what is it you know of Andruil and the Void?"
Alina danced with her staff, shooting flames and lightning with utmost precision as the boar moved across the Temple floor.
"Andruil grew tired of hunting mere mortals and beasts! She chose to step into the Void to hunt the wicked beings of the abyss. But her forays drove her into madness, into despair."
"So you're saying it's some weird demon-thing from the Void?" Varric asked while narrowly dodging the boar's projectile arm.
"I believe it to be so."
Cole weaved in and out of the boar's attacks, his daggers at the ready. He could see the creature's pain. Every roar the others heard, to Cole was a song of sorrow, of agony. It asked for release from this world.
He closed the distance, knowing he had only one chance to hit his target: the glowing, orange eye of the demon. Cloaking himself into stealth, Cole rushed forth, light as a feather.
"Be free of your pain," he whispered, "be free of your sorrow."
The tip of his dagger found the boar's eye. A scream of pain, a cry of relief. Silence.
"Disgusting." Varric commented.
"Indeed, the beings in the void are incomprehensible to most. They are beyond our wildest nightmares." Solas paced beyond the creature's corpse. The room was beyond enormous, with only two doors - one at either end, the entrance and exit. "This is her game. Every room is a playground, a plaything. To reach the end we must defeat all of the things we encounter."
"Sounds like my idea of fun." Varric said dryly, before moving forth.
"We don't have time." Alina stated, her mind on Cullen.
"He will be safe, Alina. He has more time than you think. My healing powers are not totally subpar." Solas ushered her forward. "But considering your worry, perhaps we should not linger."
"How many rooms are there?"
"Three dungeons, one throne room." Solas answered. He then responded to the questioning looks. "My dreams in the Fade have taken me far."
Together, the four approached the door on the opposite side of the room. Alina felt her skin begin to prickle. She pushed open the door. They stepped into the space beyond.
Water. Very shallow. A lone tree in the middle of the room. Alina stepped forward.
A shadowy image materialized in front of her, taking more form as she walked forward. She began to recognize the being, quickening her step. She had to know, she had to see. Is that you?
"Alina." A voice, soft, unmistakable. It could not be anybody else. It had to be him.
"Mahanon." Her brother. Her dead, murdered, brother.
A/N: Bum bum bum! I wanted to touch just a bit on the other characters, shifting more from just Alina's worries and troubles to adding in some more pinches of the others. this story is transforming much more than i thought it would initially. please review if you likey or no likey :D thanks so much for reading everybody!