She opened her eyes finding herself at home, at Skyhold. She could see the familiar mountains through the windows as she sat up in her bed, and that cool crisp mountain breeze caressed her as it passed through the room.
It was strange, because it looked like it should but not as it was.
It was not the same fortress, but another one. One she felt a strong belonging to.
It was with soft steps she walked down a spiral stair built out of solid marble, all her senses exploring this new fortress.
The air was filled with the distant sound of silver bells and there was a fresh smell lingering there too, as of a huge floral garden in full bloom.
There was an enormous door at the bottom of the stairs, reaching almost four times her hight and as she approached it chimed and lit up. Disregarding its own massive weight it slid open as if it had been nothing more then a sheer piece of cloth and she came out into the great hall.
She gasped as she stared up at a myriad of great chandlers and a vaulted ceiling filled with the most amazing frescos she had ever seen. She knew the motives, even if they were so far up.
It was the tale of their people. The tales of grandeur and adventure, but also responsibility and conflict.
High up there, almost invisible for the mortal eye she could see him. Painting away as always, recording, remembering and interpreting. This was his fortress. His domain and kingdom.
High up in the mountains, the place where the sky was kept back from engulfing the lands.
That was where he made his home, and rightfully so she thought.
With the ease of a wisp she joined him up there near the roof, saying nothing at first. Only watching.
He looked so serene as he mixed the colours and thought about his composition. Nothing in this world or the next made her feel so calm and happy as watching him enjoy himself.
"He was here. Looking for you," he said as he noticed her presence.
"Let him look," she replied softly and rested against one of the many pillars holding the roof up "I told him not to worry,"
The Wolf gave her a nod and placed a single stroke on the mural.
"That will displease him if he heard you say that. However I doubt he will return soon, he dislikes this realm too much,"
"You are the only one who really do enjoy it," she replied "I like it here, with you, where the currents home are strong. Elsewhere... it is bleak and rigid. They however need me, so I will reach through and help if the cause is just,"
She saw his eyebrows form a frown but he held his tongue. It was adorable she thought, that he had chosen to take their form even here. He was not one of them, he never would be and why he tried so hard to look like it was beyond her.
"Would you pass on a message for me?" she asked and he answered with a quick nod.
"Tell Daern'thal that if he continues to seek out my people and put poison in their hearts I will come for him, and I will strike every Elvhen that threaten the purity of those pledged to me. Such is my promise to them and my threat to him,"
He frowned once more and shot a quick glance towards her. It foretold that he could not just sit in silence any more;
"I ask you not to send that message to him. You will only challenge his pride, and make the sweetness of his small victories taste even sweeter when he sinks his claws into them. I also object to your view of them as yours. It need not be servitude that you offer, you could grant your help without it. I think you should,"
"That would be silly," she replied "I would be forced to intervene at the most trivial of matters, never having time to check on the others nor visit you. If they wish for such power as to wield me as they see fit then they should become as us. We are above them, and the favours I grant should be cherished because nothing they could conjure can even begin to compare. They should worship us, it is the nature of their beings to worship what they can not achieve themselves"
"Pride," he simply said turning back to the murals "Pride and a lack of empathy for this world will be the undoing of all of you. I've watched them, watched them grow and evolve. They are not your toys, not your little figurines to be pitted against each other like game pieces on a board. They are living, vibrant beings and should be free to govern themselves,"
She scoffed and looked at the mural he was painting. These beings exploring the worlds.
"Don't be silly," she said after a moment of silence "They are chaos. Govern themselves? That is a ludicrous idea, vhenan. They can't. It would just be chaos, and I can't have that,"
"Maybe it is not up to you to dictate how the world orders?" he noted and added a character that was curiously close to her chosen form in this realm "Maybe, we are not the Gods you all made them see us as?"
"Come with me," she mumbled and laid a soft hand on his shoulder "Come with me back home,"
"I am home," he replied and she sighed.
"You know what I mean. It was so long since we had some real time together, since you where your true self and not this avatar. I miss you,"
The brush stopped, and his face turned from the mural towards her. His eyes were soft and filled with a warm love, but also with rejection.
He would not come with her.
"I will take the fight with him if he protests," she said, making him smile a little.
"I do not fear his wrath. And I have missed you. I will not come with you even so. There are things I need to do, events I need to watch,"
"Watch them from our side," she mumbled and sighed, floating up in the air next to the mural "Am I not as loved as this world by you? I remember times when we spent every moment we could together. I remember times when we were everything that mattered,"
"That is the thing about time," he replied gently "It changes things. Whether you like it or not, for better and for worse,"
Her eyes told him about her objections to his tone and words. He simply shook his head and continued to paint.
"I know that. I am not a fool. I simply object to the notion giving your previous statements that it is not our duty to steer the realms in an orderly and just direction,"
"I know you do. It is in your nature to protest such notions," he answered and rose from the plank he was balancing on "And I will question, and strive to bring choice to those who have none. I think they would flourish under their leadership. They are remarkable, you would see that if you stepped in to this world and opened your mind to their possibilities,"
She left him there, if that was his mood there would be no talking to him.
As she left she heard him say;
"I will deliver your message. It will cause war though, and you know it. This is me stating my disapproval for your choice to challenge him despite knowing that,"
She went outside instead, breathing in the clear mountain air and watching the few mortals that had found their way to his fortress. He was so silly, claiming they did wrong by having worshippers. It was the nature of mortals to worship, and they were the natural choice for such devotion among mortals.
They did not want to govern themselves, they wanted guidance, leadership and rules to follow. They needed them to get peace from the chaos within their minds.
The mortals here did not see her as she went by them nor when she stopped to look at them doing whatever mortal tasks they were performing as she passed them by. Their wants and needs were clear to her, but not her concerns right now.
She took to the mountains, floating in the wind until she found a suitable spot. There, on a cliff bathing in sunlight a long the mountains side she took the form of this realm that she loved.
The dragon.
There was nothing more powerful, nor majestic, as the dragon she thought. Not in this realm. They were the apple of this creation.
Spreading her wings she swooped down the mountain and away, south. Towards her own domains here, where her followers acted out justice and order in a world ordained to chaos if no one interjected. It was against his nature to understand, but she saw this world and what it needed. It needed her, and her intervention.
Ellana woke up when Varrics arm landed on her face as he turned in his sleep. The room was dark and for a moment she was confused. She didn't understand why she was there, who that Durgen'len was nor why she was in a physical form.
It had been a dream. Just a dream. A strange very real dream.
How she missed Skyhold though. Her wonderful Skyhold. She wanted to go home, but it had to wait until the mountain passes where cleared from snow. After all, she wasn't a dragon...