Dark dreams haunt my sleep. Not darkspawn dreams, not any longer, not archdemon claws raking at my mind. That is only a memory, a terrible memory that will forever plague my mind unless I take Tom up on his offer. This, however, is a whole different flavor of nightmare. Shadows clinging to the walls, blood oozing upwards between cracks in the stone. Eerily red glowing runes along the floor, filled with the blood of fresh sacrifices. Elven slaves, their throats ritually cut, men in Tevinter robes standing over them. Power swirling all around, tingling at my skin. I'm one of the magisters? Why am I a Tevinter magister? Why am I participating in this atrocity?
I wake with a startled gasp. That's not the first time I've had a dream like that over the past few years since arriving in Kirkwall, but it's never been quite so vivid before.
Tom always said that the Veil is weak in Kirkwall. That's why he'd really wanted to set up shop here in the first place. More powerful magic can be accomplished here than other places where the Veil is stronger, much like around Hogwarts. He speculated that there's probably an actual node somewhere under the city, but we haven't found it yet.
Unfortunately, I think that the Veil is weak because something horrible happened in the city's past, not simply because a lot of magic has been used here. A kind of darkness permeates the city, making it very easy to fall into blood and shadows.
I sigh softly, get up and get dressed. It's still dark out, just after two in the morning, but I'm not getting anymore sleep tonight, I don't think. I quietly slip out of my room and check in on Kirlin and Raven. They're both fast asleep for the moment, elven woman and elven child snoozing peacefully in their beds. If they've had any nightmares, they don't give any sign of it.
Without waking anyone, I head out the door of the Hawke estate and into the cool night air of Hightown. I definitely need some air, I think.
However, without entirely realizing it, I find my feet wandering down the stairs and into Lowtown, and then further down into the shadowy recesses of Darktown. Even beyond there, I meander into forgotten tunnels where no one lives, pushing aside rubble and forcing open hatches along the way. I don't think I would have ever found the place if it weren't for the dreams I keep having, showing me the way.
As I move aside a final rotting door, I come upon light in the darkness beneath the city. Thirteen candles flickering in a circle on the floor.
And yet, despite the light, it's dark in a way the eyes cannot entirely perceive. Shadows cling to the walls. Shadows cling to my very soul. Reaching at me, prying at me like clawed fingers.
"Ah. So you came. Not many come down here," says a voice from ahead. Out from the far doorway steps Suzcecoz Ilawi.
"Suzcecoz..." I murmur, staggering and trying to steady myself against the wall. "What are you doing here?"
"Making use of the node, of course," Suzy says. "Have you ever felt such a powerful convergence of dark energy before? It's glorious!" She beams wildly.
"It's... intoxicating," I say quietly. My head is spinning and my vision blurring, and I can barely stay upright. While I'm no stranger to the whispers of demons, here they seem to press in from all sides. My heart pounds like thunder.
Suzy looks at me for a long moment, and then laughs. "I would have expected even a mortal dark mage should be able to handle this better."
"I'm not a dark wizard, nor a blood mage," I reply. "I mean, I use those sorts of powers, but I don't define myself by that!"
"You don't need to focus solely on something to embrace it properly," Suzy says. "No, you... you hesitate. You are afraid. You stand at the edge, at the threshold, afraid of the price of power, don't you."
"Don't talk to me about fear," I mutter, letting out a heavy breath and leaning my back against the wall.
"I think you fear changing your existence more than you do losing it," Suzy says.
"You don't know anything about me," I growl softly.
"If I'm wrong, then prove it to me," Suzy says with a snort. "Quit melting just from being in a dark magic node."
"I don't need to prove anything to you." I do, however, straighten and push away the whispers with a force of will. She does have a point. I'm a damned mage, and not some wilting Circle apprentice that won't even succeed their Harrowing.
"Feel the power here. Let it flow through you and make you strong..." Suzy giggles at that. "Oh, I sound ridiculous saying that, don't I. What kind of a cliched villain am I?"
"You said it, not me." I snort softly. "So what are you doing with the node, anyway?"
"Interested in my experiments, are you?" Suzy grins at me. "I've been experimenting with Soul and Time Magic, if you must know. In fact, I'll tell you all about it... for a price."
"What price?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her.
"Oh, not much... I just want a bit of blood." She looks at me wickedly. "Your blood."
There's times that I don't entirely appreciate having dragon's blood, and this is one of them. At least it's less than obvious to most people that I'm effectively a winged, scaly lizard on the inside.
"I don't trust you, Suzcecoz," I say, giving her a hard look.
"Fine," Suzy says. "How about I throw you a bone, as a show of good faith?" She licks her lips. "You don't need the Nexus. You never needed the Nexus. That's not what lets you travel through time. You can go wherever, whenever you want, without it, provided you know how to do so. The Nexus just provided a boost to compensate for your lack of skill with using your own power. Now, are you satisfied?"
I stare at her for several long moments, gaping a little. That doesn't help in knowing how, but to know that it's even possible is incredible. "How did you find this out?"
"I'm not the best of the Elkandu for no reason," Suzy says. "I may not be have the most raw power, but I think about things and experiment and try to figure out how things actually work."
"Suzcecoz..." I whisper, and take in a deep breath. "I do not fear the price. I will do anything and pay any price..."
"Now that's what I like to hear," Suzy says with a grin.
Is it the temptation of power? A promise that I cannot say no to? Whispers I cannot ignore, offers I cannot refuse? I don't know, but this place has quickly come from being disquieting to thrilling.
I step forward, into the circle of candles in the center of the room, and the runes on the floor flare to life with golden light that belies their darker nature. Motes of energy swirl around Suzcecoz, vibrant fiery gold. It seems a strange color for a demon to have as her magical signature.
"Kneel," Suzcecoz says, and I drop to my knees. She brings forth a runed knife, takes my left hand, and slices open my wrist. Blood pours out onto the floor, and power rushes through my veins like molten lava, like lightning. The runes glow blindingly when my blood strikes them.
My head spins. Light-headed. Screaming. Pain. Agony. Blue... yellow... white...
I wake in my bed and sit bolt upright with a gasp. Still feeling weak, I stagger to my feet and into the hallway.
Raven is screaming. Kirlin picks her up and tries to comfort her.
"Lexen?" Tom says, coming out into the hallway and putting a hand on my shoulder to steady me. "Lexen, what happened? What the fuck happened?"
"I found the node under the city," I hiss softly in Parseltongue. "Suzcecoz was there..."
"There was a massive surge of dark magic," Tom says. "What did you do down there? What did she do?"
"I let her... take my blood," I hiss. "For a ritual..."
"You let her sacrifice you?" Tom says incredulously. "I'm the only one who is allowed to sacrifice you!"
"Sorry," I say sheepishly. "She tempted me with power and knowledge!"
"Oh," Tom says. "Well, that's understandable, then."
Ketojan emerges from his own room and approaches us. "You felt it too, I take it? The magic surge?"
"Fuck," I mutter. "Did every mage in Kirkwall feel that?"
"It is very likely," Tom replies with a frown.
"Did you do something, Lexen?" Ketojan asks.
"Sort of..." I say tentatively.
Ketojan cocks his head at me and frowns as well.
"Raven is upset," Kirlin says with a sigh, stepping out along with us, holding the three-year-old girl in her arms.
"Oh..." Merrill says as she comes out of the woodwork as well. "So it wasn't just me. I have to wonder sometimes, you know, whether everyone can really see or feel all the things that I do or not. You did all feel it, too, didn't you?"
"Yes, Merrill," Tom says with strained patience, glancing over at more people poking their heads out as well. "Go back to sleep, everyone, if you can. Except for Lexen and Ketojan. You're with me."
Kirlin sighs. "I'll try to calm the little one down. Take Rispy with you, too."
Tom nods. "Good idea. Dwarves are naturally resistant to magic, after all. Ketojan, go wake Rispy." The kossith nods and walks off.
"What's going on here, son?" Malcolm asks.
"Don't worry about it, father," Tom says. "We'll check it out."
"I should go with you, as well," Malcolm says.
"We'll be fine," Tom insists.
"That sort of energy... there's a demon loose in the city," Malcolm murmurs. "A powerful one, no doubt about it."
"We've faced demons before, Father," Tom says. He tries his best to hide it, but he's worried. As much as he might play up being 'evil' sometimes, he really does want to keep his family out of harm's way as much as possible. I don't think he would really let the world burn if they were still in it.
"I don't know that this is even necessary," I say, but my train of thought is quickly silenced by a hard look from Tom.
"Is there trouble?" Rispy asks as he returns with Ketojan. Does he sleep in his armor or something? He was up and ready to go so fast you'd think there's an army at our doorstep.
"Father," Tom says, looking fiercely at Malcolm. "Please stay here and let us take care of this. If there's danger, someone needs to protect Bethany and Mother."
Malcolm considers this for a moment, and then nods tersely. "Be careful out there, son."
My group heads out of the house and into the chill Kirkwall night. There's a tenseness in the air, like a shadow hanging over the city, a sense of worry and fear.
"So, somebody mind explaining what's going on?" Rispy asks. "We will get to fight something, won't we? You better not have woken me up in the middle of the night if we don't get to fight anything."
"The dwarf is grumpy," Ketojan mutters. "Did I interrupt a nice dream?"
Rispy snorts softly. "Dwarves don't dream. Not unless they're Grey Wardens, anyway. And those dreams aren't nice."
"There's a powerful, dangerous abomination doing something underneath the city," Tom says. "Do you know what she was intending to do, Lexen?"
I shake my head. "She didn't say, aside from that she was experimenting."
"Whatever she's doing, it can't be good," Tom says, peering at me intently. "You don't appear to have acquired any new bonds, at least."
"I should hope not," I say with a scowl.
"Show us where this node was," Tom says. "Lead the way."
I nod, and make my way back down toward the dark recesses beneath Kirkwall. As we're crossing Lowtown, however, a patrol of templars intercepts us.
"You there!" the squad leader says. "Have you noticed any unusual magical activity tonight?"
"No, serah," Tom replies.
"Huh, what a motley group," one of the templars mutters. "Two humans, a dwarf, and an ox-man."
"Quiet," the leader tells him, then looks back to us. "Where were you lot going at this time of night? No, it's not my problem if you're thugs looking to rob someone. We're looking for mages tonight. The city guard can take care of common thieves."
"Well, I'm certainly no mage," Rispy says. "I'm a dwarf!"
"Can we go now?" Tom says impatiently. "It's been a long night, and I'd like to get a drink at the Hanged Man."
"Carry on," the templar leader says. "But if you see anything suspicious, anything involving mages, come find a templar immediately."
"Of course, serah," Tom says, and they walk away.
Once the templars are out of sight, Ketojan murmurs, "Very alert, those templars."
"They are dangerous to us and we should be cautious around them, nonetheless," I say. "I will not make the mistake of underestimating my enemies, especially when they can strip from me everything that makes me alive."
"True," Ketojan says. "Better to have my tongue cut out than to be made Tranquil, from what you have described to me."
He's come a long way from the Qunari mage who blindly followed and barely thought about what he was doing. It hasn't always been easy adjusting, but I'm proud of him, really.
I lead the group down the path I'd traversed before, down through Darktown and into long forgotten, unoccupied tunnels far beneath Kirkwall. The closer we draw to the node, the more intense the feeling of dark energy coursing around us, like something alive. Pulsing like a heartbeat. It's almost as if it's breathing.
I'm not just imagining things. These tunnels aren't as deserted as they were before. Dark figures, snarling and flailing, swarm out of the shadows to attack us. Without hesitation, I let out a storm of lightning to strike them down before they can reach us.
"What the fuck?" Rispy murmurs as he goes to take a closer look at one of the corpses. "These are darkspawn! Not quite like any I've ever seen before, but they're darkspawn, alright."
"What did she do?" I hiss, and shake my head. I pull out my wand and say, "Expecto Patronum!" Only a quickly stifled wisp of light emerges, however.
"Too much dark power here," Tom says. "It's smothering any attempts at light magic."
"Rispy," I say, turning to the dwarf. "Go find Duncan. Muster up any Grey Wardens who might happen to be around. I don't know how many darkspawn might be running around down here, but I don't want to take the chance."
Rispy nods tersely. "Will do." He parts ways with us and goes to hurry back toward the surface.
The three of us press on, blasting our way through darkspawn as we go. Destructive magic certainly isn't hindered by the saturation of dark energy here - it's stronger, if anything, and tugs at my soul urging me to burn. I keep a tight control on myself, however. I don't want to bring down the city by mistake if I lose my head here.
Ketojan grits his teeth and rumbles, "I will not submit to you, demons..."
"You okay?" I ask.
"It is... difficult to maintain control here," Ketojan replies.
"If you can't handle it, then go back," I say. "I don't need you turning into an abomination in front of me."
Ketojan steels his eyes and continues on. "I will not submit. No one is the master of me but me."
I nod to him tersely, and we move on, lightning the tunnels up with flame and lightning as we descend into the bowels of Kirkwall.
We reach the node, all lit up with unnatural golden light, pulsating outward like a small sun under the earth. It's too bright, and I can't make out what's in the center of it, but even as I squint into the light, another group of dark silhouettes cut into it.
Tom drops the darkspawn with a volley of quick curses. "The Veil is so thin here as to be nonexistent," he says softly.
"Are the darkspawn coming from the Fade?" I wonder, staggering a little against the waves of unbridled energy rippling through the world around me.
"Not just the Fade..." Tom breathes, stepping boldly into the node as though unaffected by it.
Beside me, Ketojan steadies himself against a wall, but he still refuses to retreat or back down even in the face of this tainted light. I step up behind Tom, pushing through the almost tangible waves of raw energy.
"It's... it's the Black City," Tom utters.
Before us, the node opens up a portal across the Fade straight into the streets of the Black City. Spiring, dark formations curve along the streets, and black runes run along the ground. I realize in an instant exactly what I am looking at. I'd know this place anywhere, even if the sky is sickly yellow instead of purple, and even if the streets are black instead of glowing cyan. I haven't spent a lot of actual time there, but I go there every time I reset. I still see Sedder's face in my dreams sometimes...
It's Torn Elkandu. Not the one from home, but it looks like the Black City is this universe's equivalent of Torn Elkandu.
"More darkspawn," Ketojan says, the oncoming wave of the foul creatures breaking me out from my thoughts.
I pass through the portal with a shudder, as though dipping into icy cold water and molten lava, charged with electricity. That's definitely not normal. Most portals I've seen, you might not even notice the moment you crossed over to the other side.
We bring magic to bear against the darkspawn, but there are so many of them, pouring out from the center of the city. If this were the other Torn Elkandu, I'd think that would be where the Nexus was. Could it be the same here? Perhaps the darkspawn aren't even originally from this world at all...
"You should not have followed me here," Suzcecoz says from ahead of us.
She's in her demonic form, standing against a black, corrupted structure that is unmistakably a Nexus. Mist and light swirls within the eight obelisks, giving flashes of someplace else.
"Suzcecoz, what are you doing?" I ask.
"Attempting to recalibrate this damned Nexus so that it stops spitting out darkspawn, for starters," Suzy says. "It's annoying. So shut up and let me work, or give me a hand here."
I stare at her for a moment, then gesture to Tom and Ketojan, and head over to assist with the Nexus. I don't really know what's going on, but halting the flood of darkspawn would be a good start. If this Nexus is anything like the one in Torn Elkandu, it might take hours to stabilize it again after it has become unstable. On the other hand, if it were like that one, why would it have been locked open to wherever the darkspawn are coming from?
Tom, Suzy, and I work on the Nexus while Ketojan blasts any darkspawn that come through. There's so much magic flowing through this place that it makes my hair stand on end. I lose track of time as we work, concentrating and trying not to let my thoughts drift back to wondering what's going on back in Kirkwall and if people are worrying about us.
Finally, the Nexus flickers for a moment, and the glowing mist between it wisps away into nothingness. The black tide has been stemmed.
"About time," Suzy says, then turns her attention to us. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you came, Stormseeker, nor that your bondmate came with you, but I'm surprised that the kossith came with you."
Ketojan gives her a hard look, but says nothing.
Tom looks to the sky, and glances around the area. "I'm noting a distinct lack of a Maker here."
"Don't say it," Suzy says, wincing.
"Why not?" Tom wonders.
"Because the last thing I need is a deity like Shazmar showing up here."
"Who?" Tom asks.
"Hi!" says a bright child's voice. Hovering three feet above the ground is an elven boy, perhaps five years old.
"Fuck," Suzy mutters. "Go away, Shazmar! You're not even supposed to be here."
"Am I to believe that the Maker is a small elf child?" Ketojan asks, looking critically at the boy.
"Nah, nah," Shazmar says, waving his hand absently. "He's not here right now. He's such a fuddy-duddy. But that's okay. You get me, instead!"
"Shazmar, you are the primary cause of alcoholism amongst Elkandu," Suzy says. "The second being Time Magic."
Tom blinks at the two of them, and says quietly to me, "I have no idea what is going on now. Are your people typically like this?"
"I wouldn't know," I reply. "Although I'll concur about Time Magic causing alcoholism."
"So are the Qunari wrong about this also?" Ketojan asks. "The gods truly exist?"
"Of course we exist," Shazmar says indignantly, then laughs. Several brightly colored balls appear in his hands, and he juggles them casually.
"Much as we might wish they didn't," Suzy says with a groan, turning away from the godly boy with a shake of her head. "Anyway. Thanks for the help. I'm taking over the universe now, so tata."
Before I can respond, the Nexus flares to life, and Tom, Ketojan and I suddenly find ourselves back in the Hawke estate in Kirkwall.
I blink slowly, then mutter, "Fuck."