**Sorry for the wee delay. Was doing a spot of camping. Now back to our regularly-scheduled programming...**

"That is quite simply the worst plan I have ever heard," Dorian said.

Seth's only reaction was to send a pebble skipping across the lake.

"It's like a Qunari opera. Each act is worse than the one before. It starts out vaguely alarming, becomes steadily more nauseating, and finally climaxes in an explosive orgasm of awful."

Sera snort-giggled. "Orgasm."

The others, meanwhile, exchanged glances, their expressions ranging from grim to fearful to deeply concerned for the Inquisitor's mental health. Well… that last one was mostly Dorian, but that was only because he was the cleverest of the bunch.

The happy reunion of an hour ago already seemed a distant memory. Now they sat in a cluster at the edge of the lake, looking for all the world as if the Inquisition had reformed as an underground militia – literally. Nearby, the liberated prisoners roasted deep mushrooms over a small campfire, the low murmur of their voices echoing off the stone walls.

"I didn't expect you'd be overly fond of the idea," Seth said.

"I'm not overly fond of Antivan wines, Inquisitor. This is something else entirely."

"Explosive orgasms aside," Cassandra said with a wry glance in Dorian's direction, "I share the mage's concern."

"It is risky," Cullen added, putting himself solidly in the running for understatement of the year.

"It's friggin' daft, is what it is," Sera said. "I'm in."

Rainier hadn't weighed in yet; he just sat there scratching his beard. Dorian told himself this was a sign of thoughtfulness rather than a raging case of lice, but he shifted a few feet to the left, just in case. "I'd like to hear more about the position we're assaulting," the Warden said at length. "What's the layout of the site?"

Seth started to answer, but Dorian interrupted him. "Actually, I believe the layout is about to change, if it hasn't already."

"Oh?" The elf tilted his head. "Why is that?"

"Ellana, do you have the map?" She spread it out between them, and Dorian pointed to the dig site. "The Promisers are trying to reach the titan, yes? But this is at least a mile off target. Malkar doesn't actually know where it is, does he?"

"Thankfully not," Seth said. "But something tells me you think that's changed."

Dorian tried not to be distracted by the elf's gaze, but it was difficult. The look of guarded curiosity in those blue-green eyes was so familiar, so very Seth. It was one of the first things that had drawn him to the Herald of Andraste. That quiet watchfulness, absorbing everything around him. Being a man of intellectual curiosity himself, Dorian had always admired it in others, and the way the elf wore it was extremely attractive. Dorian would find himself fantasizing about having that watchful gaze on him while he demonstrated something interesting. A few of the… lesser known applications of elemental magic, say.

And speaking of fantasizing…

Dorian realized he'd been staring – and everyone was staring at him.

Where was I? Ah, yes, the end of the world.

He cleared his throat. "Yesterday, we found the corpse of a dead Legionnaire. He'd been tortured, and there was a note nearby suggesting that he'd revealed the location of something important. My guess? He gave them the Bastion of the Pure, if not the Wellspring itself."

Seth closed his eyes briefly. Cassandra pressed her lips into a grim line. Rainier scrubbed a hand over his face and said, "Balls."

"Our engineers reported that the Wellspring was sealed off years ago," Cullen pointed out. "As if it were never there."

"Nothing a bit of gaatlock won't sort out," Dorian said. "I'm guessing you didn't manage to blow their entire store, Inquisitor."

Seth shook his head. "They've still got some down at the site. It's not far from the ruins of Heidrun Thaig. If they've found that ancient lift, it will be easy enough for them to ferry the miners and what's left of the gaatlock to the site."

"Can we destroy the lift?" Cullen asked.

"If they've found it, it'll be heavily guarded," Seth said. "And if they've already ferried Varric and the others down…"

"They'll be trapped." Rainier swore under his breath. "Maker forbid anything should be easy."

"Before," Ellana said, "when you all were talking about these Sha-Brytol – you said they attacked you at every turn. Won't they attack the Promisers as well?"

Cullen sighed. "There, I'm afraid we might be the victims of our own success. The Inquisition and the Legion conducted joint patrols of that area for years afterward, mopping up the stragglers. Eventually, the Sha-Brytol were pushed out altogether. Who knows whether they even still exist?"

"Assuming Dorian is right," Cassandra said, "what does it mean for our strategy?"

"It changes nothing," Seth said. "The excavation is the main part of Malkar's operation, and it's guarded accordingly. Carta. Red Templars. Anointed. We can't just storm their position. We don't have the numbers."

"He's right," said Rainier. "We learned that lesson the hard way, and most of us ended up dead or behind bars."

"We stick with the plan," Seth said. "We might have to adjust some of the details to suit the new terrain, but the overall strategy will be the same."

"You mean the strategy where you take on the dodgiest bit all on your own?" Dorian asked coolly.

Seth met his eye again, and this time the flicker of anger was unmistakable. "It's not as if I enjoy putting myself at risk, Dorian."

"Isn't it? I wonder."

"Rrrgh, just quit, already," Sera growled. "Awkward lovers' spat – annoying. Awkward lovers' spat while we're all crammed up the arse end of the world – proper annoying. Next round earns a punch for each of you, yeah?"

"It is not a lovers' spat," Dorian said, somewhat inaccurately. "It is a rather crucial disagreement on the question of tactics."

"I'm eager to hear your suggestions, Dorian," Seth said mildly.

Ellana's gaze shifted between them, as if trying to decide whether she ought to mediate. "We all seem to agree the plan is risky. At a minimum, we should get a look at the new dig site before we commit ourselves. That seems only prudent, doesn't it?"

Seth nodded slowly. "Fair enough. It will take me most of the day, but I'll report back—"

Ellana didn't even let him finish. "Nice try, Inquisitor, but I'm coming with you." Without waiting for a reply, she sprang to her feet and grabbed her bow.

Seth hesitated, but he must have decided it would be pointless to argue, because he just sighed and reached for his pack.

"Are we sure this is the best course?" Cullen asked, looking worried. "For either of you, I mean? If the area is crawling with Red Templars and Anointed…"

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before," Seth said. Rising, he went over to where the freed prisoners were sitting and pushed a broken bit of wood through the ashes of their campfire. Ellana joined him, and the two of them rubbed soot all over their too-white skin. Then Ellana took off her cloak and handed it to her brother, and he pulled the hood up over his silver hair.

Rainier grunted, impressed. "Half invisible already."

It's the other half that worries me. Dorian knew better than to say it aloud; it would only make him sound like a petulant child.

Seth murmured something to Maggie. The wolf whined in protest, but she lowered herself onto her belly. To the rest of them, he said, "Get some sleep, if you can. We'll be back in a few hours."

And then they were gone, and all Dorian could do was sit on his arse and worry.

Again.

"Don't be too hard on him," Ellana said in elven as the glow of the campfire receded behind them.

Seth didn't respond. He was still adjusting to being a real person again. Discussing his ex with his baby sister just wasn't something he was ready for.

Alas, Ellana didn't seem to care whether he was ready or not. "He's afraid for you." Still in elven, to make sure he really heard it.

"I know."

There was a stretch of silence, as if Ellana was waiting for him to say more. When he didn't, she added, "He loves you, Seth."

"I know," he said softly.

More silence. Ellana frowned. "Creators, you're frustrating," she said, switching back to the common tongue.

He sighed. "What do you want me to say, Ellana? It's nothing new. Dorian has been afraid of losing me since the day we met. It's what came between us in the end."

"But maybe if you talked to him. Really talked, I mean. Because I did, and I got the impression that he didn't fully understand what you were going through back then. But I think he does now, and—"

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's in the past."

"So that's it? You just give up?"

"Don't." He said it mildly enough, but he cut her a sidelong look, to sear it in place. "You have no idea how hard I tried to make it work."

"I guess I don't," she said in that combative tone Seth knew only too well. It signalled the beginning of one of Ellana's famous rants, the kind you just had to wait out. He'd been weathering these storms since they were children. It was, he reflected wryly, excellent training for his future dealings with a certain hot mess of a mage.

"I don't know anything about what it takes to make a relationship like that work," she said. "How could I? I've never had what you had. I'm not sure I've even seen it before."

"What would you know about it?" he said irritably. "You weren't even there."

"Maybe not, but I had your letters. I still do. Maybe I should show them to you sometime. Refresh your memory."

Seth laughed hollowly. As though it needed refreshing. As though his memories weren't walking alongside him every day, whispering in his ear like some misguided version of Cole, forcing him to relive the hurt over and over.

"The way you wrote about him," Ellana went on. "The language you used… For the longest time I thought, whoever this Dorian person is, he couldn't possibly match that love. How could he? A human? A Tevinter? I was sure you were finally going to get a dose of your own medicine."

He growled under his breath. "Not this again. You act like I ran around breaking hearts."

"You broke your share, brother dear." When he started to argue, she cut him off. "You did, Seth, whether you meant to or not. You didn't even realize it, because it was so far removed from your own experience. You'd never had your feet swept out from under you, so how could you possibly imagine what it was like to feel that way and know that the other person wasn't there with you? I watched it happen time and again. It's not your fault – I'm not saying it is – but when I read your letters, I thought you would finally see what it was to love someone more than they love you. That Dorian would be the one to show you. But I was wrong." She shook her head. "So wrong. The way he looks at you. The way he talks about you. He's drowning in it, Seth. You both are. And I can see why. You're perfectly suited. The way you balance each other… Maybe you can't see it anymore, but—"

"I see it." Gods, sometimes it was all he could see. That only made it hurt more. "Please, Ellana, I can't do this right now."

She drew a breath, and Seth braced himself for another volley, but in the end she took pity on him and just sighed. "You're right, this isn't the time. But we're having this conversation, you and I, when this thing is done."

"I'll mark it in my schedule," he said dryly.

"You do that, Inquisitor."

Seth flicked a glance skyward. Some things never changed. Ellana had been hounding him about his relationships for as long as he could remember, and it was always the same. Whatever happened, however it ended, it was his fault. He didn't feel enough. He didn't speak enough. He didn't something the way he ought to have, and one day somebody was going to come along and break his heart, et cetera and so on. It didn't surprise him to learn that she thought – perhaps even hoped – Dorian Pavus would be the Chosen One foretold in this little prophecy of hers.

Then again, maybe he was. Maybe their meeting wasn't Fate, as Seth had once believed, but karma. His long-awaited comeuppance, served in a steaming pot of Tevinter sass.

The thought brought a wry smile to his lips.

"I just want you to be happy," Ellana piped up again, being almost as allergic to silence as Dorian. "You deserve that, after everything you've been through. And true love… that doesn't come along every day. Some people go through their whole lives without even falling in love, or if they do, it's too late, and…" She trailed off.

Seth frowned. He started to ask what she meant – and then he froze, every hunter's sense alert.

"What—?"

He grabbed her wrist and yanked her into a crouch against the wall. She started to ask another question, but he clamped a hand over her mouth. His blade flashed, poised and ready. He was distantly aware that his sister was looking at him as if he were a complete stranger, but he didn't have time to process that now. When he was sure of her silence, he released her and drew another dagger, his gaze raking the shadows as he listened.

Ellana heard it now too – a strange, rustling sound, like distant whispers tumbling off the stone. She frowned, tilting her head.

An angry red glow lit the stone at the far end of the tunnel, as if a phalanx of torches was making its way toward them. But this was no firelight. This was a red unlike any other, sickening, singing, seeping like blood into every crevice of the stone. Seth could feel its approach as a prickle along his skin; could hear it in the dissonant hum beneath the drone of a hundred wings. Once, that song had been inaudible to him. A vague threat he knew in his head but not in his heart. But seeing the effect it had on his beloved – the sweat it brought to his brow, the tiny creases of pain around his eyes – had taught Seth to listen. To hear.

Once you heard the song of red lyrium, you could never unhear it. And it was hurtling toward them at speed.

"Get down!"

He covered Ellana's body with his own just as it broke over them: a shrieking blizzard of crystalline bats bristling with blood-red shards as delicate as frost. Razor-edged wings shredded his leathers; fangs of red lyrium sought his scalp. Seth swung out blindly with his artificial hand, shattering a pair of them like glass, but they just kept coming, the hum of their crystal wings ringing inside his skull, bringing tears to his eyes.

Ellana crouched beneath him, arms folded over her head – and then she cried out, and Seth's heart froze in his chest. He swung out again, over and over, using his mechanical hand like a cudgel; shattered crystal rained down around them. And then, as suddenly as it had come upon them, it was over. The ringing receded, the sickening glow dimming as the flock moved on.

Ellana raised her head, eyes wide as she watched the roiling cloud of wings retreating down the passageway.

Seth's chest was so tight he could hardly breathe. "Let me see it."

Her gaze fell to the arm she was cradling. "It's nothing. Just a scratch—"

"Let me see it." He grabbed her arm, and there it was: not a scratch at all, but a tiny crystalline claw embedded in her flesh. He plucked it out and threw it as far away as he could, and then he brought his mouth to the pinprick of blood and sucked as if it were a snake bite.

"It's venomous?" she whispered.

Seth spat and sucked again.

"I think you… Ow!" She jerked her arm away. "Easy there, Inquisitor! Pretty sure you got it all!"

Seth grabbed her again and ran a thumb over the wound, again and again. Please. Please let it be all right…

"Seth."

Please, Creators, I can't. I can't…

"Seth." Ellana took him by the shoulders and shook him gently. She was looking at him like a stranger again. Like she was afraid. "Atish'an, isa'ma'lin. It's all right. Ma melava halani."

He blinked, and for a moment he just stared at her, as if he were waking from a dream. Then he swore a blistering oath and dropped onto his rump, pushing his hands through his hair.

Ellana started to reach for a shattered bit of wing before wisely thinking better of it. "Look at all these claws. Like little saw blades. What manner of bats are these?"

He shook his head, forcing himself to think like a real person again. "Corrupted ones. They must have been living in the cave where Malkar stores his red lyrium. Either that, or they were part of his experiments."

She shuddered. "I didn't even know that was possible."

"Neither did I." He glanced back over his shoulder. "Did you see which way they went?"

"Left at the fork. The others should be safe." She was quiet for a moment. Then: "How much would it have taken? For me to get sick, I mean?"

"I don't know, but I wasn't taking any chances."

"Do you think there might be more of them?"

"Maybe." Seth rubbed his eyes. Gods, he was tired. So tired. "I don't know."

"Fenedhis." Ellana hugged her knees to her chest, looking uncharacteristically solemn. "This world saving business is tough."

"It is," he agreed, shoving himself to his feet and offering her a hand. "And you haven't seen the half of it yet."