CHAPTER 33

It was as if the world had been pulled out from beneath Ellana's feet. At first, she felt suspended, weightless, in black nothingness, then abruptly she was pacing the familiar landscape of the Temple. In her dream the complex was a complete enclosure with a domed roof, the soaring basalt arches still somehow reminiscent of the piles of worn stones she knew in the present day. Walking around the hill, Ellana counted seven walls, each decorated with a representation of one of the elements the ancient elves had worshipped: water, fire, earth, sky, birth, entropy (or destruction), and death.

It was hard for Ellana to gain control of her heightened thoughts and emotions. Touching the wall of glyphs had transformed her. A sudden burst of memories flooded her mind, as if she had experienced them first-hand. Only, they were jumbled and fragmented. One image appeared frequently enough to stand out: a stone-carved orb, large enough that it needed two hands to hold comfortably. She couldn't recall a similar artifact from her scholarship. The whispers singing in her mind told her it was powerful and that she was meant to find it.

The images and words that flowed through her crowded out concrete sensation or thought. So she wandered; unsure if time was passing. Her bare feet touched the ground, squelching mud between her toes. But when Ellanna looked down, her pale toes were clean. Such paradoxes were common in the Fade.

Spotting none of the ghostly figures she was accustomed to seeing in the Temple enclosure, Ellana walked up for the first time. Passing through one of the open archways, she entered the enclosure. The inside was covered in thousands of small gold pieces, roughly cut, placed together to fill the interior. An oculus in the center of the ceiling revealed an ashen sky. The effect was exquisite; material made spectacle.

Ellana thought she might lay on the grass to enjoy the experience a little longer, but as her eyes adjusted to the pale iridescence of the sanctuary, she was shocked to recognize the angled form of Solas Fen'Harel intently focused on a creature in the shape of a bear. It lounged on its back, belly upturned, languid, and content.

Creeping forward, Ellana could overhear the two chatting like old friends.

"I might just have to pester you if you don't tell me where she is," Solas joked, tapping his foot lightly on the ground. Although his voice was light, she noticed his brow was furrowed in annoyance.

Was he looking for me? Ellana wondered, worried that her thoughts might echo into the open air.

"Oh, please, you are incapable of vexation," the bear answered jovially, its mouth lolling wide and quite unmoving despite its words.

"It would be a kindness-" Solas began to say, but broke off when he spotted Ellana, who stood transfixed by the odd pair.

"You...?" Ellana spurted. Drawing closer, she realized the bear's fur was not flat ebony as she had first thought; each dense strand was a rainbow prism.

"Searching for you," Solas replied, stretching his arms wide and springing forward to greet her. "I thought my friend here would know more."

"Your friend..." Ellana looked towards the bear-shaped creature again and gasped as its form shrank to a squeaking mouse, then glowed and shifted into the shimmering incorporeal form of the spirit who had beckoned her in her dreams past.

Ellana stepped backward and prepared to flee the sanctum, but Solas reached towards her and stilled her with a touch.

"It's alright," Solas assured her, "This is a spirit of wisdom."

"This is dangerous," Ellana insisted, gesturing in the direction of the spirit, trying again to walk away before she felt Solas grasp her hand.

"Let go of me!" she demanded.

"In a moment," Solas replied dryly, loosening his grip. "Wisdom has been calling to you for months. It is beginning to feel slighted."

"You are on a first-name basis with this spirit?" Ellana sputtered in disbelief. It was all too much. A suspicion flashed into her mind: this unexpected encounter with Solas was far too unlikely. A desire demon could sense her suppressed need for him and use his form to lure her. He dashed these thoughts as he gathered her into an embrace. His aura was reassuring, calming, and tinged with concern. These feelings were far too familiar and restrained to be the sensual glamor of a demon. Ellana collapsed into Solas' toned chest, and a warm sensation washed over her.

"Wisdom will not make it easy to awaken if you ignore it again," Solas murmured into her ear, before releasing her, "and you've already risked much wandering here. This is an opportunity to find another piece of our puzzle."

Ellana met his blue eyes. She didn't want to admit how much she had second-guessed her stubborn words over the last few months.

"How are you here, Solas? Why is it our puzzle now?"

"After we wake up. The Fade is not a place for explanations, only answers."

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't," Solas admitted. A sorrowful expression crossed his face, and he released her. "But listen, and you can choose what to believe."

Resigned, Ellana approached the spirit. Solas was right: usually, she could urge herself awake during a lucid dream, but here in the Temple it felt as if her brain was paralyzed in a jar of sludge. Her resolve wavered as she drew closer. The creature's face was oddly abstract and underdeveloped: outlines of two eyes, a nose, and mouth. A fog of shrill noise hung about it, ringing her eardrums. Underneath she thought she heard the crystalline intonations of a woman's voice.

"Lately, it is rare for one of your kind to visit here, Fade Reader. But, as unwilling as you may be, your visit is not so unnatural."

Stepping forward, despite herself, Ellana demanded, "What do you mean? What do you think I am?"

"One that can bridge the two worlds." The spirit shifted as if facing away from her, but she still felt the pressure of its attention.

"Do you mean by dreaming?"

"What is dreaming? Your essence is of this world, and your grip on the other is tenuous. There are no ruins here Wouldn't you rather stay?

"I don't know where 'here' is. You brought me here against my will."

"I do not bring, and I do not send. You are here, and not here, and yet the orb reaches for you, thirsts for your mana. You will not rest until you find it. It will be in all places, with you, until you find it."

Solas stepped closer at the mention of the Foci, finger raised. "Is it wise to speak of…" but the spirit quivered slightly, like a wind had passed through it, and Solas was gone with a soft whoosh.

Ellana gaped at the space where Solas had stood, but the spirit whispered, "He knows much, understands little." Glowing a little more brightly, the spirit continued, "Ask him what he knows about the orb, he hides it from you. That is unseemly in one who loves you so intensely."

"Love?"

"He understands little and keeps fewer secrets. Go to him now."

The temple melted away. Ellana woke panting on a stone floor. Her whole body was stiff and unfamiliar. It felt so heavy to be part of the waking world. She could make out the stone walls of the library, now a dull and matte gray. The dimpling of the surface made Ellana think of how many pilgrims had come before, running their hands over the walls.

"It is good to see you awake." A baritone voice announced. As her eyes came into focus she saw the face of Solas Fen'Harel staring back down at her, his hand moved to brush a few pieces of hair out of her face. Only, after spotting her frown, he pulled away, softly letting Ellana sink back to the ground.

Ellana felt no joy at seeing Solas. Quite She wanted to scream when she saw the smug look off his face. Did he think he had rescued her?

What she said seemed to have an equally chilling effect.

"Professor Fen'Harel?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you know about the orb?"