Always & Again

XIV

Adamant Fortress. Solas wished that he could see the formidable structure as it once had been – a bulwark against the darkness, standing against the chaos. Such things would only be found in the Fade now, he feared, and instead it was chaos, buckling under the weight of the darkness. The ancient stone walls shook underneath their feet, trembling against the Inquisition forces as they broke upon the fortress's walls like river rapids.

Lavellan moved through the fray with a determination that Solas had never seen in her before, carving her way through the numbers that opposed them as though she were trying to get the battle over with as quickly as possible. Sadly, he understood. The Wardens were heroes throughout Thedas, their order alone had stood against the darkspawn threat for centuries and to see them now reduced to a pawn in Corypheus's grand scheme… it was not a fate that the Grey Wardens deserved.

She spared those that she could, told them to fall back to safety, the Inquisition was not there for them, after all, but were seeking the one who orchestrated their downfall. The warriors understood, laid down their weapons with thanks, but the mages… whoever they had been before the binding ritual had all but been erased the moment they had shed their blood to bind their demons.

Solas felt a very real, tangible fear slide down his spine when they reached the main courtyard. He could feel the gargantuan demon pressing against the rift that caught the fabric of the Veil like a knot, stretching it nearly to the point of ripping. They had barely made it in time - another few moments later and they would have been facing something far worse than a handful of Pride and Rage demons.

Lavellan's voice, usually so resonate and sure, was trembling as she begged Clarel not to go through with the ritual. "Please," she hollered, "the Inquisition is not here for the Wardens and I have spared those that I could! Erimond is manipulating you, this is exactly what he wants!"

"Anyone else have the feeling this is all about to go tits up?" Hawke muttered.

Solas was actually inclined to agree. The Wardens surrounding them shifted anxiously, and Solas readjusted the hold on his staff out of reflex. They could hear the battle still going on beyond the courtyard, the echoes of war cries, ringing metal, the smell of smoke rising over the walls like a cup ready to overflow. How many of the Inquisition soldiers were out there dying while Lavellan tried to reason with Clarel?

And then, irritated and impetuous, Erimond showed his hand, summoning the corrupted dragon, tipping the scales in the Inquisition's favor in regards to the Wardens. Clarel turned on Erimond, shouting to her wardens to help Lavellan as she gave chase.

Lavellan barely gave them time to catch their breath before she was bounding after Clarel and Erimond, pushing what remained of her energy into pumping her legs, skidding around corners all the while trying to avoid blasts from the dragon that seemed to be tracking her. Solas briefly wondered if what the dragon was really tracking was the anchor considering that it had not stopped pulsing since their party had stepped into the courtyard.

Erimond had run himself into a dead end, his only escape being a very long way down as they came upon Clarel closing in on him. Everything seemed to happen very slowly from that moment on between Erimond spitting vitriol, Clarel cold in her intent, and then the dragon as it landed and plucked the warden from the ground with its great jaws.

It had blocked their way back into the fortress, back to any kind of relative safety. The dragon closed on them, even as their party took tentative steps away, like mice trying to escape a cat. Solas looked around, saw hard determination in the planes of Lavellan's face, in her intense gaze. She intended to fight, Solas could practically see her strategy as she formed it… as soon as the dragon would move to snap its jaws at her, Lavellan would dart forward between its legs, trying to find a soft spot.

And she would die. Again.

Solas felt that familiar, crushing dread rise inside of him at the thought of seeing Lavellan devoured, or gored, by the dragon. He wasn't prepared to lose her, not now, not ever.

Forgive me, he silently pleaded. Solas made his decision.

He summoned his magic, tapped into a power he hadn't in ages, tried to gather whatever fragments of his ancient power that he had regained. To keep her safe and alive, he was willing to reveal himself for what he was and if Lavellan hated him afterwards… it was better than the alternative. Whatever power he had regained would be enough to take down the dragon, of that Solas was certain, but the state he would be left in… he tried not to think about it.

And then, just as Solas was preparing to cast his spell, there was a great expulsion of magic that ruptured the foundation of the stones beneath their feet. The dragon pitched forward, over their heads where it crashed against the crumbling ledge with a cry of pain that made Solas's ears ring.

They couldn't out run the stones as they fell, and it was only a matter of moments before Solas was greeted with the terrifying feeling of weightlessness as the open air embraced him.

Okay, so the reason that I haven't been updating very much lately is because I am currently without my laptop, which means that I've had to work from our desktop computer... which I hate with a passion. I hate sitting at a desk and writing, it makes me... antsy, I guess. And I feel like my writing suffers for it because to me a big part of enjoying the writing process is me being comfortable as I'm writing.

Ugh.

Review?

- Kay

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