A/n I moved a chapter, I didn't realize that would constitute an update. I apologize for the confusion. I didn't have time to really do edits on this, before getting it out by the end of the day. I'll go through when I'm more ahead in writing, to do that. There will be a month between updates after this one. (10/7/2020) It will be clear as to why at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!
Dorian and Sigrun sat silently, watching the Warden weave her tale. It felt strange hearing a version of the world that neither had heard before, along with the heart wrenching emotion the Warden spoke of it. Sael'gar was the name they agreed to use for the other memories within the Warden. They were too real to be treated as anything other than another person. She was behind the emotion, the feeling of being trapped. Dorian cursed in his native tongue and Sigrun simply said 'shit.' She was the first to really grasp the telling and ask questions.
"So, let me get this straight. You are playing host to a spirit, that's been around since the Fade formed? And these Sael'gar are at least half parent to the Elves..." She paused here watching the Warden nod slowly, waiting for the shoe to drop. "Well shit." Silence felt again.
"Warden, that is a lot to believe... That would mean every Mage would have to have at least some Elf blood..." The Warden nodded again.
"The connection to the Fade is from the blood of the Sael'gar." The Warden elaborated. Both of them cursed again.
"Tevinter wouldn't accept... that would... undermine everything..." Dorian struggled with her story even more. Sigrun was weirdly accepting, nodding in a way that gave the impression that it all suddenly made sense.
"I wanna know more about this Void." Sigrun spoke, stopping Dorian's train of thought. "If it was here before, where is it now? Why was it so toxic?" The Warden frowned.
"We still see it bleeding into the world in the form of the Blight. She doesn't remember it happening, but my guess is that the Mages didn't enter the Fade, but rather the Void, and brought a part of it back with them. There is a large period of time she wasn't wake to see." Dorian rubbed his chin taking the new information in and trying to collaborate it with his knowledge of history and legend.
"The Black City could be a piece of the Fade that was fully corrupted by the Void..." Everyone was silent for a moment, trying to assimilate the idea. The Warden shifted uncomfortable with the silence, but unable to think of anything appropriate to say. Finally, Sigrun stood, never one to be idle.
"Here's what we are going to do." She eyed both Dorian and the Warden. "We are going to go home, figure out what to do about our end of the world problem, then we can revisit this world-shattering knowledge." Dorian nodded slowly and joined Sigrun standing. The Warden however remained seated, avoiding their eyes as best as she could. "Warden Commander?" Dorian looked between the two women, feeling out of place. He considered himself friends with the Warden, great friends, but he knew that Sigrun had experience with her that he would never.
"I can't leave the Titan... not until I have a firm grasp on my Will." There was nothing they could say, shock and confusion clear in their eyes.
"You must go..." Cole quietly walked out, looking down, and moving closer with caution. "He doesn't want to be followed... but..." Cole shifted uncomfortable. "It's wrong here... too many whispers...The song is wrong..." The Warden stood up and shaking her head turned to head deeping into the city and find Valta, she needed to figure this out before rushing into battle.
"Solas doesn't want to hurt people, he isn't that kind of wolf..." Cole's voice cut through the silence giving pause to the Warden, who felt her breath catch at his name.
"What do you mean Cole?..." The Warden took a deep breath and looked back at the spirit taken form. The Sael'gar dance behind her mind watching the little spirit, finding a kindred life to him. "Ma ane la'var esh'an de den." (you are similar to what they became) Dorian gasped and took a started step back.
"Wow..." Sigrun walked around her, looking thoughtfully at her face. "Don't take this the wrong way, Warden Commander, but you're glowing." Dorian moved closer as the Warden gazed at her companions. Cole moved farther away and murmured to himself, what no one else could hear. Dorian touched her face.
"You feel like you are made of magic." His voice was soft in disbelieve. Sigrun snorted, eyeing Cole and Dorian, while the Warden looked far away.
"Ar ame Sael'gar." (I am a first spirit) She answered her voice wavering, as she shook her head, and the glow vanished. "Damn it. See Cole I will lose myself if I leave now." Cole didn't move closer or farther, just continued to murmur and gaze at her. Dorian took a step back, thoughtfully look at the Warden, glow gone.
"You are speaking the truth... Magic... at least mage magic... comes from the Fade..." He took a sharp breath. "I have... I must have this Sael'gar blood..." Sigrun patted his hip, unable to reach his head or back from where she was standing.
"I don't think any less of you." Dorian laughed at Sigrun's attempt to comfort him.
"Well, my whole world view has been brought into question, not for the first time in recent history, but at least I know I will always have your friendship. I am greatly comforted."
"Varric's as well I imagine." Sigrun was smiling as well.
"Worth celebrating!" Dorian was about to ask the Warden if she had wine for such an occasion, when the ground began to quake. "OH no! Not again!" The group took cover as the whole underground began to quake. Valta came running after it had stopped and eyed each of them slowly before looking squarely at the Warden.
"Something is happening on the surface." Her voice was shaking slightly. "You need to leave." The Warden nodded; she hid her shaking hands in fists as she headed toward the beginning of the tunnels beneath the Deep Roads. The mood soured as the three followed Warrior Warden, knowing Solas was putting his plan into motion. She paused at the edge steel her resolve and left the Titan. She briefly wondered where Morrigan had gotten to, before she felt the full impact of the world. The Fade barely entered the world in the form of magic, and she could feel it calling to her, powerful and familiar.
"Warden?" Dorian spoke soft, concerned for his friend. Sigrun moved forward and nodded to her to keep moving. The Warden took a step to follow her friend, thankful for her unwavering resolve. Cole walked slightly hunched close enough to touch the Warden, but didn't.
"You are the song; let it help you." Cole's words were soft and in a strange voice.
"Isa'ma'lin." (of my blood) The Warden's voice shook, and she growled. "Cole... it will consume me." She sighed and followed Sigrun. Dorian followed, watching Cole bit his lip looking anywhere but at them. The group of four battle their way back to the surface, one tunnel at a time. The sky was a blue green, the sun high in the sky.
"Should we head to Valammar?" Dorian asked no one in particular.
"Solas." The Warden whispered eyes slightly glowing to the horizon. "We need to go there." Cole, Dorian, and Sigrun all followed as the Warden began to walk.
They came across a stand-off between what looked to be citizens of Valammar and elves. The Warden did not know if they were like Solas, or modern elves. The Valammar citizens recognized her and Dorian, but looked weary of approaching. He took the initiative and waved at the mixed-race army. The weight of the air lessened some. The Warden stayed apart as Dorian listened to the people of the city she helped make informed them of why they were there. The Warden was pleased to learn that no matter the outcome of this fight, Valammar and its sister cities would be safe from the fallout.
"Esha'lin, tel'din'esay dianaem." (Children, don't try to stop me) The Warden's skin began to glow lightly, unless someone was looking, they wouldn't notice. Dorian, Sigrun, and Cole did.
"Esha'lin? ehn ane?" (Children? Who are you?) The Elf that spoke, reminded the Warden of the Path of Fade. Abelas, he was the one who help her and Revas find and defeat the Archdemon in the strange maze.
"Sael'gar." There was a gasp from several of those around Abelas, but he looked unconvinced.
"Sael'gar ane era." (They are myth) His words made her smile, Sael'gar huffed inside her annoyed.
"M'esay." (Test me) Her tone was filled with challenge. Without sword or armor she walked into the space that separated the two groups who came together. Abelas shook his head, thoughtfully regarding the elf before him.
"Assan." (arrows) The archers around him drew their bows. The Warden continued to smile, crossing the distance to him. "Lasa dara." (release) Arrows rained down around her, and the Warden wrapped the world around her in the Fade, her Fade. The arrows changes, shifted, unable to keep their form in the new plain of existence.
"Fen'harel, ju'vena ithaem." (The Dread Wolf, will want to see me.) The Warden finished crossing and stood face to face with Abelas; Sael'gar just below the surface, ready to attack these children who would stop her. "I am also Naku, the Grey Warden and Hero of Ferelden." Abelas raised his hand and the bowmen lowered their weapons.
"Warden?" He looked across the field as Dorian, Cole, and Sigrun joined them. "You speak our language well."
"Sael'gar shares her knowledge with me." The Warden attempted to explain as briefly as she could. Abelas took the information in stride and asked one question.
"Why do you wear vallaslin Elgar'nan?" The Warden touched her face at his question. She had forgotten about the markings left on her skin by Elgar'nan when he pulled her into his prison. Titan's blood tattooed into her skin. She sighed.
"He tried to bind me as his high priest." She smiled smugly at the ancient elf. "He didn't succeed." Dorian scoffed, as the two elves watched for reactions.
"Vhalla, Sael'gar... Fen'harel ju'tel himathe isa'l." (Welcome, Sael'gar... the Dread Wolf will not change his mind.) She ignored his advice and walked pass the elves toward the Dread Wolf. "He is not alone Sael'gar, a dwarf has joined him first." She nodded a thank you and headed toward where she knew Solas to be. "Mar'falon'en min amahn." (Your friends remain here) She sighed and with a look at her friends, they remained.
The walk led to a clearing littered with abandoned stone and old markings. The ever air seemed to teem with power and magic, begging to cracking into the Fade. Solas was standing hands behind his back near a tight circle of stone, covered in what she now recognized as Elven writing. Varric was standing a few feet to his left glaring the Fen'harel with annoyance.
"Chuckles, I know you think this is the only way..." Their dialogue cut off once Solas caught sight of her and his eyes began to glow with power and the resolve to fight.
"We have company." Varric turned and his eyes widened at her presence.
"...Hero... How?"
"Be cautious, she may not be as she seems." Solas turned toward her fully and his hands moved to his side, preparing for a fight. "Who are you?" The Warden smiled, feeling relief gazing at Solas. His eyes were cold and hard, while hers were warm and soft. She took a step toward him and frowned when he took a step back and the air became charged with magic. "Ehn ane ma." His voice was calm, even as his eyes sparked with anger.
"Ar ame Dorf Sa'hn'ama. Ma'tel'din eolasa em Solas?" (I am The Grey Warden. You not know me Solas?) She began to glow, causing both Varric and Solas to take defensive posture.
"Naku, tel'din hartha'lvan." (Naku, doesn't understand elvan) She smiled looking down at her hands frowning lightly, knowing that he wouldn't trust her. Solas tensed, and she glared at him as the spell hit her and the air filled with smoke and dust.
"Fuck..." Varric gasped out as the air cleared and she remained unharmed. "What did you do to Naku!" His voice was filled with hatred.
"Ehn ane ma?" Solas snapped out his question, preparing to throw another spell.
"Sael'gar... I'm... both the Warden and Sael'gar." She shuttered as another spell hit her, and anger flooded her body. "Ar judala ma." She lashed out and filled the air with her Fade, trapping Solas and Varric inside her power. She came back to the moment when Varric gasped close to her. She looked at Solas and had to take a step back. At some point she had wrapped her hand around his throat.
"This isn't... isn't going... well... I... I... awoke Sael'gar... when he... Elgar'nan..."
"Elgar'nan is trapped in the Fade." Solas eyed her, confused and the tiniest bit hopeful.
"He reached out for Dreamers... they all are..." She growled, annoyed. "I shouldn't be here." The Warden moved as far the Fade Space allowed her.
"Where are you Chuckles?" Varric asked as the Warden closed off and curled into a ball, trying to gather herself.
"The Fade... I... It isn't quite like any Fade I've known."
"It's what it was before." Her voice was scratchy like she had screamed it raw.
"Before?" Varric asked, Solas just watched her with suspicion.
"Before the Void." She stayed in the ball, but eyed them. "Before Sael'gar entered the Void." Solas's eyes wided slightly.
"Sael'gar... are gone."
"No, I am what is left." She stood shaking. "Elgar'nan cracked my soul and she was there, waiting, sleeping, hiding."
"What is a... Sael'gar?" Varric looked between the two elves his found himself in the company of.
"The First Spirit, the original inhabitants of the Fade. Myth says they were made from the Fade itself, living Magic, and unstoppable." Solas spoke slowly, curious more than defensive.
"In the beginning, there was the Fade, The Void and the Titans..." She sat on the ground, face white and glowing as she told the story that she knew of the world. She told them of her brethren. She told them of the Void and how they bred with the creatures there. She told them of the Evanuris trapping and using the Sael'gar as power sources. She told them of the Wars with the children of the stone and the Titans. She told them everything she knew and watched as Varric's face changed into one of a strange understanding, while Solas became angry.
"The Fade is a part of this world. Thedas, the Fade, it's supposed to be connected. I separated them with the Veil." He spoke clearly and slow, drawing her eyes.
"No, the Fade was one plain, the Void, and the Titans, the others." She stood again finally. "You did not end the world of the elves, Solas, you merely changed it. Change has always happened." Solas's face twisted glaring at her.
"The World should not be sundered." She sighed at his words. "I must restore the world of the elves." He took a deep breath when she didn't response. "It is as it should be." He turned sharply preparing to tear the veil down.
"Is it? My world ended when my brethren thought the Other was better. It ended everything Sael'gar knew. Not better or worse, ma vhenan, different." Solas gasped and turned back toward her, tense.
"The elves are nothing more than slaves here."
"Elves enslaved themselves first. They were no better than Tevinter, at least they have difference to justify their mistreatment. What did the Evanuris have? Power? They were stronger, and it was stolen from my family!" her voice was full of venom. "If you remove the veil, fine this world is destroyed..." She shook her head. "Sael'gar had the power to change how she wanted." The Warden gazed at Solas from hooded eyes. "You claim to not be a God, yet you continue to act like one." Varric watched the exchange between the two. As the Warden threw Solas's arguments back at him, and Solas refused to do nothing. He felt for the moment trapped in a lover's spat.
"I won't allow Adaia to grow in a world of chaos!" The Warden choked out, her emotions suffocating her.
"Adaia?" Solas asked with an anger laced voice.
"Her daughter." Varric answered, sensing a shift in the argument. "She a few weeks old." Varric watched as Solas paled.
"I can't stop now..." His turned tense toward the circle of stone. "I'm far top along this path." The Warden felt him ripe through her Fade and tear a hold in the Veil to enter the Fade. She gazed at him, face streaked with tears. Varric said something she didn't hear, and her world went blank.
Sael'gar stops Solas? Or Not?
A/N; from this point on the world with be divided based on your choice as a reader. Every month I will post two chapters one for each world. I wanted this story to have a small element of the game; you decide. See you in a month!