Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age. Bioware does. Duh.
It had started like any other day. Iron Bull, Solas, and Sera had accompanied him to the Emerald Graves to help Fairbanks with the Freemen. Sera was complaining and Solas was prodding her. Mahanon had been oddly quiet and had stuck closer to Zevran than usual since their arrival. Iron Bull could easily see something was bothering the Dalish elf and was careful what he said around the Inquisitor. Sera and Solas were not.
"Our people used to be here," Solas commented.
"Pfft, you say that everywhere," Sera dismissed.
"It is more true than you want to believe."
"I bet, right? Who wants to think about stepping on dead elves?"
"Din el'vhen emma him (no direct translation for this. Best I've got is 'are my people dead')?" Solas hissed angrily.
"Oh, you felt that one," Sera grinned.
Judging from the full body flinch and how Mahanon refused to move, so had he. "It's alright, mi amor. You know Sera didn't mean to hurt you," Zevran comforted. He glared at the two elves over his shoulder. "And Solas wasn't thinking when he spoke."
The elven mage realized his mistake first and started to apologize. Sera just complained he was being "too elfy" again.
"Enough! Both of you!" The Inquisitor whirled around to face the two with fire in his eyes. He addressed Sera first. "You think this is all some joke, some story elves tell each other to feel special. You don't know or care about the Fall of the Dales and how it affected elves!" Sera opened her mouth to defend herself but Mahanon cut her off. "No. Don't speak. Don't even breathe. I don't want to hear it." Sera wisely kept quiet.
The archer turned his fury onto Solas. "And you. How dare you use the fall of my people!" Solas looked like he wanted to say something but Mahanon didn't give him a chance. "Yes. My people. Not ours. You've made your views about the Dalish quite clear. My ancestors are buried under these trees. My ancestors died to that my people can live in alienages and wander forests, unable to put down roots because Shemlen might kill them! Fenedhis, they do that anyway! Don't you dare try to claim and claim sorrow for how the people have fallen and then dismiss how they attempt to rectify that!" Mahanon was breathing heavily. Zevran wrapped and arm around his waist, a simple gesture to remind his beloved he wasn't alone. "We'll make camp here," he ordered and disappeared into the trees with Zevran.
Bull looked at the two remaining elves. "Really fucked up, you two."
They were far from camp when Mahanon finally stopped and fell to his knees at the base of a tree. Zev knelt beside him. "It's alright to not be alright, mi amor," he consoled. Tears fell from Mahanon.
"I can hear how hard the Emerald Knights fought. How they died defending the Dales during the Exalted March," he sniffled and then perked up, "and now I hear nothing."
"Amor-" Zev started but Mahanon interrupted him.
"No, Zev, listen. It's never quiet," the elf warned. The assassin listened and drew his daggers.
Red Templars and Venatori emerged from among the trees with weapons drawn. "That's the problem with hunting Dalish elves, they're normally so alert. Imagine our surprise when we spotted not one, but two Inquisition soldiers." The Venatori grinned while the Red Templars advanced.
Mahanon cursed and drew the sword he had taken to carrying since the Fallow Mire.
The two elves were greatly outnumbered but had taken out more enemies than the Venatori had predicted. The two were steadily pushing towards the camp when a Red Behemoth came bellowing in. The creature batted Zevran away and the elf was lifted off his feet and landed hidden in the bushes.
The assassin tried to get to his feet but only managed to barely lift his head. He watched through hazy vision long enough to see a Red Templar knock Mahanon unconscious and the Red Behemoth carry him off before everything went black.
It was near sunset and where had been no sign of the two elves. Fen'nas had taken to whining beside Bull. "I know, I don't like it either." Bull patted the hound. "They've been gone too long."
Zevran came staggering back to camp with a panicked expression. Everyone was already on their feet at the sight of him. "They took him." He kept repeating.
"Easy there. What happened? Who took who?" Bull asked and hoped his hunch was wrong.
"Red Templars ambushed up. They took Mahanon!"
Mahanon woke to splitting headache in a prisoner's cart. His weapons had been taken and his arms were also bound behind him. I wake up far too often in binds he mentally griped.
"Look who's awake," the Venatori from before teased. The Tevinter mage had his sword and examined the weapon carefully. "Not every soldier gets a weapon like this. If I had to guess, you are quite high up in the Inquisition's ranks."
You have no idea he thought but said nothing. The elf glared and worked at his bindings. The Venatori clearly had more experience tying elves than the Seeker but not enough to do more than slow Mahanon down. He hid this for the right moment.
"No answer? No matter. I'm sure you will by the time we get to our base. You'll be begging me to tell us everything you know."
Fen'nas had been sent to the base camp with a message stating that an Inquisition officer had been kidnapped and the Inquisitor demanded her presence at another camp. The group could only hope that Harding got the hidden message. They couldn't risk word getting out that the Inquisitor had been taken. Harding was a welcome sight on horseback followed by a few trusted agents being led by Fen'nas. "Alright, I'm here. What's wrong? Who was taken?" She saw the despair on Zevran's face and put two and two together. "Well…that's really not good. What happened?"
"Sera and Solas got on the Boss' last nerve. He left to clear his head with Zevran and they were ambushed by Venatori and Red Templars," Bull explained. "We figure they don't know who they have yet since Zev says he's still alive."
Harding nodded. "And how do you know he's alive?"
"Long story short, it's weird elf shit. Just trust that he knows where the Boss is and can find him," Bull answered.
"Alright. How does it work, do you need a map of the area?" The dwarf asked.
Zev shook his head and spoke for the first time since he had gotten back to camp. "I am pulled in his direction. The closer I am, the stronger the pull. I am not as good as Mahanon at it."
It was the dead of night when Manahon acted. The guard was on the far side of the camp with his back to the elf. The hunter pulled out his hidden lock picks and made short work of the lock. The elf mentally cheered when the door swung open and cringed when it screeched. He took off running while the Venatori and Red Templars scrambled to their feet to give chase.
Mahanon took to the trees immediately. "Mythal shala em (Mythal protect me)," he prayed as he raced along the branches. "Tel lasa esh'ala vena em (do not let them find me)." Arrows whizzed by him as he ran, forcing him to duck and dodge on the thick branches.
The elf skidded to a halt. He looked despairingly down at the river below him and the trees on the other side of the bank. "Delavir sil (stupid thought)." He backed up as far as the branch would allow and started running as fast as he could. He could hear his enemies shouting below him. He reached the end of the branch and jumped. There was a mad moment when he thought he would make it. The moment ended with an arrow buried in his side and an unpleasant numbness spreading through him. The hunter fell into the river and tried to swim but only managed uncoordinated twitches.
The Behemoth dragged him to shore where the Ventatori was waiting. The Tevinter mage angrily kicked him so hard he almost rolled back into the water. Blood dribbled out of his mouth where his teeth had cut into his cheek.
"I see it will take more than bars and rope to hold you," the Venatori observed. He made a gesture and Mahanon found himself grateful for the numbness when a war hammer was brought down on his leg.
Whatever they had used to paralyze him wore off as he was dragged back to the camp. His screams bounced off the trees as he was brought back with his broken leg dragging through the dirt.
He was thrown roughly back into the cart. The elf groaned and tried to curl up as best as his abused body could manage. The Venatori approached with mock sympathy. "If only you hadn't tried to run. Now the trip will be that much more unpleasant for you." The Venatori stopped his taunting and stared hard at the elf. He got a similar look as Dorian when he was trying to see his and Zev's bond better. The Ventari grinned. "So you're bonded! Well, we can't have the Inquisition finding you." He motioned a Red Templar over. "Cast spell purge and keep casting it," the mage ordered. The Red Templar saluted and suddenly Mahanon couldn't feel Zev. He glared up at the Venatori with all the hate he could muster.
"Judala ma i nera ra (will kill you and enjoy it)," he threatened.
"Let us hope for your sake you speak Common."
Zevran started running when he heard Mahanon's cries and nearly tripped over his own feet when his connection to the other elf was suddenly severed.
"What's wrong?" Bull asked, "why'd you stop?"
"I can't sense him anymore." Zevran tried focusing on the bond but it simply stopped, as though a wall had been thrown up between him and his partner.
"That even possible?" Harding wondered.
Solas thought about it. "In all my journeys in the Fade, I've never heard of a bond simply stopping."
"You were able to influence the bond with magic, yes? Is it possible to interfere with it?" Zevran hoped that was case; he couldn't handle even the idea of Mahanon being dead.
"You mean like Templars?" Bull clarified.
Zev nodded. "It is possible," Solas agreed, "but it would only work within a certain range and the Templar would have to keep using the ability."
The assassin nearly dropped in relief. Mahanon was alive. He just couldn't sense him anymore. He could work with that. "I will get us as close as I can and then it is simply a matter of finding Mahanon the hard way."
The Venatori had taken to gagging the elf when he started shouting to give away their position. It had worked for a little while until their prisoner had taken to throwing himself against the bars as best he could to topple the cart. Anything to slow them down.
"Dealt with mages that didn't cause as much of a fuss as him," a Red Templar complained.
The Venatori had stopped their slow progression to brew a potion. Once it was done, the mage turned to the Red Templars. "Elven slaves would sometimes get the idea to rebel against their masters. It was during one such rebellion that an experimental potion was discovered to have unique effects on elves." Mahanon watched the mage suspiciously as he approached the cage. "Back home it is called Dryadalis Perniciosa (I used latin for Tevene) but in Common it is called Elf Bane." The elf went wide eyed at the name and pushed himself to the far side of the cage. He had heard of that potion and wanted nothing to do with it. The Venatori chuckled at his reaction. "Open the cage and hold him down." Red Templars dragged the thrashing elf out and pinned him to the ground. "Open his mouth." Mahanon clenched his jaw tight but a Red Templar pulled on his broken leg and he couldn't stop the scream. Armoured hands ensured his mouth remained open. The sickly-sweet mixture was poured down his throat.
Mahanon felt the effects almost immediately. Light, sound, touch, and even smell became too much. The faintest sound pierced his ears like a demon's screech. Even with his eyes closed light made them hurt. Every smell burned his nose. There was no escape. He was thrown back into the cart but lacked the ability to even scream. He curled into himself and clutched at his head. He couldn't think beyond the pain assaulting his senses.
"Finally, some silence," a Red Templar remarked.
The Red Templar casting Spell Purge was getting lazy now that their prisoner was silent. He wasn't casting it continually and Zevran would get flashes of where Mahanon was. It was enough.
Bull drew his axe and roared as he charged at the Venatori and Red Templars, Fen'nas right beside him. Solas and Sera worked together to pick off enemies focused on Bull and the Mabari. Harding shouted at Zevran, "Get him out of there! We've got this!"
Not needing to be told twice, the blonde elf snuck over to the cart and picked the lock. He climbed in and saw that his other half had not reacted at all to his presence. Mahanon was still curled in a ball clutching his head. Zevran could sense some of the pain he was feeling. He leaned in close and smelled the other's breath. He would know that smell anywhere. Elf Bane.
The Behemoth spotted Zevran in the cart and rushed the cage, sending it rolling in his anger. The assassin grunted as he tumbled around in the cage. Mahanon barely seemed to notice.
When the cart stopped moving Zevran pulled the hunter free and laid him down at the base of a tree. He stood in front of him with his daggers drawn ready to attack any who dared hurt his other half.
Iron Bull was the first to approach the elves and took in the sight. "Elf Bane," Zev explained.
The Iron Bull winced in sympathy. "Solas get over here! Boss needs your help!"
The assassin frowned at the idea of Solas helping but knew there was no other way. The elven mage walked over and knelt by the Herald. He was confused by the Inquisitor's actions. He had never seen anything like this before but quickly hid his surprise and cast a healing spell on the leg to keep it stable until it could be set and healed properly. He also cast a powerful sleep spell and Mahanon went limp in Zev's arms.
Mahanon woke up in a cart. In his half-asleep state, he started struggling against whatever was holding him. He would not have another dose of Elf Bane.
"Easy, mi amor," Zev soothed when he saw his other half struggling, "you're safe."
"No, Zev, they got you too?" It was as he was asking that he fully woke up and realized he was in a wagon, not the cart, and what he was fighting against was a blanket. He slowly sat up and examined himself. There was a stiffness in his leg but nothing hurt. "Tell me I'm not dreaming, lath," he begged.
Zevran held him close. "You're not dreaming, amor. I'm here. You're safe."
