Chapter 26

Ellana

The air in Tevinter was thick. Through the open windows in the hall, the dawn air weighed on Ellana like a blanket – humid and heavy, making her long for the crisp morning breezes of Ferelden. The humidity paired with the strong incense in the manor and she would have preferred the dank smell of the dungeon. At least it was cooler down there.

But Ellana knew she shouldn't be wasting time wishing for different circumstances, because Cullen was alive and there was a hope he could still get his life back. If there the smallest chance, Ellana knew she would risk anything to help him, even if he still didn't remember her fully. Even if he didn't want to remember her. She wasn't sure which was worse, the Cullen who remembered nothing or the Cullen that obviously remembered something but pretended not to have any feelings at all.

Rubbing her temples, she tried to refocus her thoughts. She shouldn't take it personally. Red lyrium was the true enemy and a formidable one at that. She could have lived with the distance he put between them, at least for a little while, but the way he tore his hand away from hers when she'd tried to reach for him…

She scrunched her eyelids together, fighting against the pinpricks of tears stinging behind her eyes. She heaved a sigh, attempting to find some semblance of control, some visage of peace. She was strong in so many ways, but not with him. He was her soft spot and the Red Templars obviously knew it. She was sure it was Corypheus who set all of this into motion. He would have spies everywhere who had likely seen them together, and knew that the best weapon to fight against her was the man she had fallen in love with.

No matter the weapon Corypheus had against her, Ellana would fight. She clenched her jaw and lengthened her stride. With Dorian's instructions, the room below the east tower was not difficult to find. Corvus must have thought it better to hide it in plain view. A grubby splintering door amidst hundreds of doors in a manor this size was likely to be overlooked every time.

Ellana glanced over her shoulder for the fifth time before reaching down to grip the iron handle. She released a long breath before turning it and pushing the door open. An uneven creak of complaint issued from the door's hinges before she slipped inside.

The presence in the room was far more stifling than the Tevinter humidity – magic. It hung about the room like curtains hanging from the ceiling and as she passed through the entry, it became more and more difficult to continue on. And what was that dull humming echoing off the stone walls? A door at the back of the room hung open and a muted red glow pulsed from somewhere deep inside.

Ellana did not want to stick around to investigate. The presence of red lyrium was enough to send her scurrying from table to shelf to table again in search of the book Dorian described. She needed to find the spellbook. Quickly, quickly, quickly. Her words were a metronome in her mind, keeping time with her hands as she patted and shuffled, checking every inch of shelf. Footsteps from the back room and she bolted to the door, careful to open it only far enough for her to skate through. The creak it gave as she closed it again barely registered over the pounding of her heart.

It was all she could do not to scream when the door swung open a second later.

The Red Templar who came through the door was as large as a great bear and much more heavily armored. "Leaving so soon?" His voice was a low crackle, like bacon popping on a skillet. His eyes reflected the red glow of his pauldrons as he peered around the open door.

She glanced over her shoulder, looking for an escape route, but there was only one way to the room below the east tower and that was through this bear of a man.

"I thought this was the store room. Mistress sent me to fetch some rags." Ellana figured evading a fight wherever possible was usually the smartest option, especially if she wanted to keep this quiet.

The man grinned, revealing a smile of broken teeth. "I'm not sure about that. The mistress isn't known for rising early."

She used what mana little she could pool together to shield her mind from him. She knew he could use smite on her, as Carroll and Cullen had, and if he did, any fight would be over before it even started. No. This time she was prepared to fight a templar.

Her instincts were right. The Templar stepped forward, hand on the hilt of his glowing red sword. "And I don't remember seeing you before."

Well so much for avoiding a fight.

The dagger Varania had given her was in her hand before the man could even draw his sword and she sidestepped toward him, plunging it toward the soft spot at the inside of his chest plate. But if the broken teeth were any indication, this man was no stranger to battle. He spun on his heel before her weapon found its mark, catching her wrist in his hand and twisting. She used what little remained of her magic to blast him back before he could break her arm, sending a shock of frost into his gut. He winced, clutching his belly as he bent forward, the wind having been knocked out of him.

She was already panting from exertion, her energy so drained to begin with, that the small spell almost crippled her. She needed to finish this now.

The man's face was distorted in pain and rage – his nose wrinkled and he huffed like an angry bull. When he charged, sword in hand, Ellana positioned herself near the stone wall and when he swung it down upon her, she sidestepped even closer to the wall. His sword rang against the stone, showering her with sparks. The impact slowed him down enough for her to get near his side and this time her knife did not miss its mark. She felt it make purchase before she sliced and twisted. He groaned, eyes burning with fury as his sword clattered to the ground.

As if summoned by the ringing steel against stone, another Red Templar rushed through the door. His eyes were sunken and his skin, pallid, but even if he hadn't seen much daylight lately, he knew enough to draw a sword and charge at her.

Stepping back to square herself to his attack, Ellana waited until she could see the reflection of the wall sconces dancing on his blade before she strafed to the side. Without magic, speed was the only advantage she had over these Templar brutes with their heavy armor and lyrium-addled minds.

Sunken Eyes glanced back at the other Templar, now on his knees in a pool of blood, before collecting himself with a quick breath and charging again. This time he focused on her movement so when she sidestepped again he was there with his sword. It would have come down on her shoulder, but she parried with her dagger, blocking most of the force of the blow. The resulting deflection sent his blade glancing down her arm. She sucked in a breath through her teeth – blood soaked through her robes, but she gripped her dagger harder, pivoting to meet his stare. When he smiled, her anger burned even hotter than the pain in her arm.

These fallen templars had lost themselves to red lyrium. As the sunken-eyed templar stood sizing her up, she could almost see Cullen looking back at her. The templars were all so vulnerable, relying on lyrium for their power. She wondered how many of them had come here looking for a way out of the misery of withdrawal, like Cullen had, and instead had ended up completely empty inside because of it. Here stood a shell of a man, she reminded herself. This man was a templar no longer.

Gripping her dagger tightly in her palm, she stalked forward. Pity, regret… these feelings had no place in battle. She had to remain in control of her emotions or end up at the sharp end of the enemy's sword.

He stepped back, readying his weapon at her approach. She made her move, a quick sprint to his left and when she was sure his sword arm was about to arc down, she pivoted to his other side, pulling a flaming sconce from the wall and hurling it at him. It bought her a half of a second, all she needed to sweep his feet from beneath him, downing him like a logger would fell a tree.

His back slapped the wood plank floors and the sound that released from his throat was a half moan, half growl that did not sound entirely human. She knew well enough that anger could be used as a weapon, and this templar was raging mad. Like baiting an angry badger, she stepped toward him, raising her lip into a smug half-smile as he rose to his knees. Ellana was ready when he lashed an impulsive hand out to strike her. She reached for his wrist, twisting his arm behind his back and raising the dagger to his throat. She hissed an order into his ear. "Where are the others?"

The only answer she received was the ominous thrumming of his red lyrium armor, pulsating, echoing in her bones.

She repeated her request, pressing the cold blade against the tender skin of his neck. "Where are the rest of the Red Templars?"

"Corvus sent for most of them a few minutes ago."

"Why?"

She couldn't imagine what they would all be doing at this time of morning besides maybe riding off to battle her. Did that mean Corvus knew she was here? Maybe the guards at the gate hadn't kept quiet after all. Had the guards sensed something wrong when she and Cullen had crossed through the gates?

The Templar shifted uncomfortably on his knees. "His scouts saw a group of attackers this morning." His breath was a wheezy gasp. "They were headed to the front gates."

Of course… Varric, Cassandra, and Cole would track her here. They knew about the Red Templar influence and after what Carroll had said about Cullen, they were smart enough to follow her here. She needed to get to the front gates. There could be dozens of Red Templars and there were only three of them. The odds were not great, unless she could gather everyone. With all of them, they would have a chance.

Having collected all the information she needed, Ellana pulled the dagger away from the Templar's neck and pounded him in the back of the head with its handle, knocking him out. She held out hope that there would be some way to free them from the hold of the Red Lyrium once she was able to get Varania the book, but they would have to wait. Besides, the look in his eyes said he might be too far gone as it is.

She strode past the first Templar, now lying crumpled in a crimson pool of his own blood, and turned the handle to the room under the east tower. This time, Ellana hoped she'd have a little more time to locate the book. She needed to gather it quickly and get back to the dungeon to meet Cullen. Get the book before someone noticed the bodies in the hall. Get the book before her friends coming from the South, would be overtaken by an army of Corvus' Red Templars.

Shuffling papers, tipping over bottles of ink, and fumbling through dusty tomes on old shelves, Ellana hardly heard the sound issuing from the doorway until it was right behind her. Her stomach dropped, her breath knocked out of her like she'd been punched in the gut – footsteps. She turned around, pulse crashing in her ears, to face the source of the sound..

A robed man with greasy dark hair stood tall in the doorway. When he spoke he placed his hands on his hips, tsking as though reprimanding an unruly child. "Now, now. Is that any way to treat such valuable instruments of science?"

She felt the man's magic curling around him, like a fog of power waiting to be collected. This was Javan Corvus.

He turned, gesturing with a finger to summon someone in the hallway. "Join us. I think you'd be interested to see who's been nosing around in my experiments."

Corvus moved further into the room to allow another shape to fill the doorway. One with broad shoulders, a familiar fur mantle, and strange glowing armor. A shape she knew well, but wished she knew better. A shape she loved, but feared in this moment because his eyes were not his. Still the color of amber, yes, but different – colder somehow. What could have changed in the span of less than an hour? What kind of hold did this mage have on him?

When those sharp amber eyes met hers, she was sure her heart stopped because the chill of his stare had frozen it solid. Maybe it would never beat again. Maybe this was what it felt like to die. And maybe she didn't care.

Because Cullen was lost to her. Again.