A/N: Please note that while this follows the events of DA:I, I am not sticking to the dialogue 100%. I'm also not going into too much detail about the missions involved except for the major, irreversible decisions. We all know what happens and can play the game if we want to relive those. I have to give credit for the in-game dialog to the Tumblr blog "Dragon Age Transcripts." Goodness knows I don't have the patience to capture every bit of dialogue or conversation prompt.
Most chapters are also not going to be this long (I think, no promises). Hell, I don't even know if I'll continue this. The idea gripped me and wouldn't let go, so I cranked this out tonight.
Chapter One
Immortality
"I cannot stop the thought of running in the dark
Coming up a which way sign.
All good truants must decide."
—"Immortality," Pearl Jam
Katerina awoke with a shout, desperate to get away from the horrors chasing her. Panic tore at her throat when she couldn't move. The familiar rasp of metal and leather only spurred her desperation to escape, to flee and hide somewhere she won't be found. Cold iron kept her hands still and anchored her to the floor where her aching knees screamed.
Sudden pain—blinding, hot, and verdant—flared in her left hand. She forgot about the guards surrounding her, ready to strike. All she knew was pain.
The door flew open with a thud and two women who couldn't be more different approached. The dark, scarred woman barreled directly at Katerina while the hooded redhead circled the perimeter, watching and waiting.
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you," the dark woman growled. "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead—except for you."
Katerina blinked, shaken by the news. Destroyed—how could that be? And how did she have no memory of that? She'd been there, joined the mages there. She remembered trekking through the wilderness, hiding her staff, and dodging other mages and templars alike. She remembered hearing of the gathering intended to end the war between those factions and turning herself to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. She remembered arriving and searching for familiar faces and finding none—the heart wrenching disappointment, the weight of grief and loneliness. She could recall glimpsing the Divine with the envoys for the Grand Enchanter and Lord Seeker, but nothing else.
It was all frustratingly empty until…
The green glow on her hand drew her gaze again. She quickly surmised that she was the scapegoat—the shackles said it all and that damning glow, now a muted emerald, couldn't possibly help. "You think I'm responsible?"
"Explain this!" The scarred woman practically snarled as she grabbed the manacles and held Katerina's glowing hand aloft. The thing flared again, bright and sickening, bringing a fresh wave of pain.
"I… can't," she gasped. Her arm was on fire, burning her from within like lightning.
"What do you mean 'you can't?'" The lovely, scarred face was contorted in a mocking sneer as she dropped the manacles.
Katerina barely caught herself in time to stop her head from smacking the cold stone floor. Her heart quailed—it didn't matter how honest she was. Her lack of memory and the mark on her hand was more than enough to damn her. "I don't know what that is or how it got there."
"You're lying." The dark-haired warrior reared back to strike the bound mage, the sigil of the Seekers embossed on her chest plate flashed in the dim light.
She flinched, eyes closed and braced for the impact that never came. Stormy eyes opened cautiously to see the hooded woman standing over her, the warrior's gloved fist easily caught in her hands.
"We need her, Cassandra." The cool, clipped voice seemed to curb the dark woman's—Cassandra's temper.
"I can't believe it. All those people… dead." Katerina didn't realize she'd spoken aloud. She was still reeling from the news. How much needless death had she witnessed these last months? She'd come to the Conclave, in part to represent the mages as a daughter of a family respected by mages and templars alike, only to find more death and destruction.
The redhead's attention flashed back to her prisoner then, her features sharpening as she focused on the bound mage before her. "Do you remember what happened? How this began?"
She searched for something—anything—to grasp onto. "I… I remember running. Things—" she suppressed a shudder at those nameless, faceless horrors clicking and chittering behind her "—were chasing me. And then…" She had a flash of a warm, bright light calling to her. It had been soothing, a balm in that dark place swirling with nightmares. "A woman?"
The redhead's eyes widened in surprise at that. Even the four guards shifted in surprise. "A woman?"
Still talking slowly, searching for any memory or information, Katerina added, "She reached out to me, but…"
She trailed uselessly off as the weak memory faded away, like water rushing through parted fingers. Eyes squeezed shut in resignation. That was everything she had. There was nothing more to add. Her usefulness had officially expired. Katerina was certain she'd be executed, held up as the convenient patsy for whatever story was being passed around. Maybe she had been involved—even she didn't know. Killing countless people with no forethought didn't sound like her, and she didn't feel possessed. But that didn't matter now.
"Go to the forward camp, Leliana," the Seeker said, voice rueful. "I'll take her to the rift."
Nodding with silent understanding, the other woman disappeared silently through the prison door. Katerina was alone with the warrior and guards. Was this it? Was this how she was to die?
Her lungs tightened with despair, heart crying out in a silent, desperate plea for mercy. She couldn't have done this, she simply couldn't. It all seemed so hopeless. Something bristled in her then, a stubborn voice refusing to be cowed. It sounded suspiciously like her father when it spat, 'You are a Trevelyan—if you go to your death, do so with your chin up and defiance in your gaze.'
With a steadying breath, Katerina did as that voice commanded and raised her chin defiantly at her captor. She was proud when her voice didn't waver, instead sounding coolly curious. "What did happen?"
"It will be easier to show you." Cassandra tugged her to her feet and let the cold iron shackles fall to the floor with a loud clatter.
Ignoring the screaming muscles in her legs, Katerina took the opportunity to inspect the glowing mark on her hand more closely. It was strange, like a knot of vines on her palm that bled into the veins visible under her ivory skin. She'd never seen anything like it.
Her wrists were roughly held together by a guard and it took all of her control to quell the heat that instinctively pooled in her fingertips at the unwanted touch. Cassandra replaced the manacles with coarse rope that bit at the tender flesh of her wrists as she was roughly bound.
"It's a little tight," she groused, flexing her fingers as the blood flow was cut off by the new binding. Not surprisingly, her complaint fell on deaf ears.
She was forced outside into the biting cold, stumbling after Cassandra with the guards on all sides. Her head swam with the movement and her legs were weak. How long had she been unconscious? The doors of the chantry were thrown open and Katerina flinched back from the too-bright sky. It was blinding after the darkness of the dungeon.
After a moment, she forced herself to look up for any hint of the time. Instead, she saw a swirl of clouds circling the eye of a hurricane. Except there was no storm, only a familiar, sickening green light pulsing with lightning. Debris floated in the eye of the storm, large enough to see from so far away. It was all so wrong.
Katerina's stomach lurched as she stared at the nauseating sight, every instinct shouting at her to run as far and as fast as she could away from that thing. Instead, she steeled herself and schooled her expression as best she could. This was not natural; she could feel that much through her connection to the Fade. Nothing in her extensive training or research could tell her what this was.
"We call it the Breach," Cassandra explained, ignoring the people gathering around them and their angry mutters. "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It's not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave."
An explosion. That's what had happened. It explained the debris circling the pulsing green eye—it was the remainder of the Temple of Sacred Ashes. "An explosion can do that?"
The Seeker's voice was tight as she responded, "This one did. Unless we act, the Breach may grow until it swallows the world."
Lightning flashed over the face of the Breach and it sent tendrils of that sickeningly green arcing through the sky. An answering lance of pain shot through the mage's arm and she collapsed with a cry under the weight of her pain. When she looked back at the sky, the Breach seemed to loom slightly larger.
Cassandra knelt to hoist the mage back to her feet. "Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads." Katerina looked down at her hand and saw the matching unnatural green tendrils now licking past her wrist. The Seeker continued, "It is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."
"You said it may be the key. To doing what?"
"To closing the Breach," Cassandra explained gruffly. "Whether that is possible is something we shall discover shortly. It is our only chance, however. And yours."
Katerina met the woman's dark gaze defiantly, brow furrowing as her hands clenched into fists. She could clearly hear what was left unsaid and the remainders of her pride rankled and hissed at it. "You still think I did this to myself."
The Seeker simply shrugged and marched her forward. "Not intentionally. Something clearly went wrong."
"And if you're wrong? What if I'm not responsible?" she challenged.
"Someone is, and you are the only suspect." Cassandra drew her to a halt near the gates to the little village. "You wish to prove your innocence? This is the only way."
She stared back up at the swirling mass of wrongness that was slowly eating the sky. There was only one way forward that didn't see her executed or rotting in a dungeon for the rest of her too-short days. She'd probably still die, but at least she might clear her name—and her family's—this way.
"I understand," Katerina said softly, nodding determinedly. If her fate was to die today, she'd at least die trying to help.
"Then…?" the cautious hope in the Seeker's previously stern tone had the mage blinking with surprise.
"I'll do what I can." She swallowed down the lump of emotion threatening to choke her. "Whatever it takes."
Villagers had gathered around the two women where they stood, their angry mutters turning to a thrashing, barely contained ire threatening to break over Katerina and dash her to pieces on the rocky shore of their blame and hatred. Some were content to glower at the young woman or shout curses at her. Others spat at her and gripped their makeshift weapons tighter.
Katerina wanted to shrink away from their fear and anger, but that stubborn voice insisted she meet their rage head-on. If she was going to die for them, they may as well remember her as a woman standing tall and trudging forward to do the right thing. It was better than being painted as a mouse after her demise.
"They have decided your guilt," Cassandra said unnecessarily. "They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia."
"The Divine is dead?" she gasped, head whipping around to stare at the Seeker.
"Everyone in the negotiations is. Except you." The warrior gestured for the gates to open, revealing the frozen, snowy expanse beyond. A frozen lake reflected the wrongness of the sky, preventing anyone escaping the reminder of the chaos beyond the walls of the town. "The envoys from the mages and templars, their entourages, the servants—all dead."
The guards fell back, preventing the buzzing mob of villagers from following as the Seeker pulled her prisoner down the frozen, muddy path around the lake. "We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves, as Most Holy did. Until the Breach is sealed."
Katerina's heart stopped as the warrior pulled a dagger from her belt. She was bound and defenseless, her magic useless with her hands tied, and staring down the glinting steel. Had all the Seeker's talk truly been just that?
"There will be a trial. I can promise no more." She cut the ropes binding Katerina's hands, tucking the blade away as the raven-haired mage rubbed her wrists and warily eyed the Seeker. "Come, it is not far."
Cassandra moved away, her long, muscled legs carrying her further down the path at a trot, leaving Katerina staring after her. She could escape into the forest stretching out around her. The elements wouldn't kill her, not with her mastery of them, but starvation, fauna, or a hunting party might. And Cassandra had said the mark was killing her. Maybe it was true, or maybe it was a tactic to ensure her cooperation. Katerina had no way of knowing. She sent a longing glance at the shadowy forest before running to catch up with the Seeker. She'd given her word to help. She'd been raised to be as good as her word; going back on it now would be a betrayal of herself.
"Where are you taking me?" the mage asked when she drew even with the Seeker.
"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach."
With that vague answer, the two women lapsed into silence and hurried forward. They soon came upon a stone bridge that led to a final gate. The bridge was congested with soldiers, some wounded and moaning in pain while others lay unnaturally still and silent. Katerina's heart broke at the sight of one man curled as small as he could make himself, rocking to and fro while someone in Chantry robes recited the Chant of Light. The dead outnumbered the living.
Katerina shook herself and hurried forward. She'd be no good to the survivors if she focused on that now. Forcing it out of her mind, she narrowed in on Cassandra's back as she ordered the gates open.
The path became muddy, trodden earth once more and sloped upwards as the pair charged past the bridge. The air stung Katerina's lungs as she trotted after the warrior who seemed unbothered by the frigid, biting cold. They were utterly alone in the wilderness surrounding the town—Haven, Cassandra had called it. It was almost like her time spent slipping through the Ferelden wilderness in search of other mages. She'd been alone then, flitting from one shadow to the next, as she sought the familiar crackle of magic. All she had to go on were her father's teachings about survival and vague directions to a village called Redcliffe. It had been a long, harrowing journey, but she'd eventually made it, just as she was determined to make it as far as she could now.
They passed makeshift barricades and exhausted, haunted soldiers fleeing in past them towards the bridge. The path was lined with debris and the dead, mages and templars alike silent and wan in their demise. She didn't dare look to closely lest she recognize one of them.
Her fingers ached with cold as they neared the top of the hill, but Katerina didn't want to risk summoning the familiar heat to warm herself. The Seeker may very well take the rush of magic as a threat and run her through without a thought. She was just resigning herself to the biting cold when the mark flared and she crumpled again with the pain of it.
Once it passed, the Seeker offered a hand to help the mage to her feet and they both examined the green lines stretching further up her forearm. Katerina's arm throbbed, leaden and heavy in the wake of the shooting fire brought on by the Breach. She wiggled her fingers experimentally, wincing in discomfort as she watched them move but felt only a remnant of the burn.
"The pulses are coming faster now. The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear—the more demons we face." Cassandra's face was tight with concern, her lips pursed tight like she was holding back a shout of frustration.
"How did I survive the blast?" Katerina finally asked, eyes drawn up to the hole in the sky. No one should have walked out of that alive, much less whole.
Cassandra paused, watching the mage warily before she replied. "They said you… stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you'll see soon enough."
She didn't want to see. If it was enough to have the hardened Seeker on edge, Katerina wasn't certain she could handle it. Everything she knew of war she'd learned in these last months on the run, dodging skirmishes and as many people as she could. She'd been sheltered, living the quiet life of a daughter of a noble house before she showed signed of magic. Then she'd been shipped to the Circle of Ostwick where she'd led the quiet life of a scholar. She studied magic, practiced her control and meditated, and had been well on her way to a court appointment and an otherwise soft life. The rebellion had thrown her utterly off the path set out by her mentor and her parents. Katerina still wasn't sure how she felt about that.
The women rounded on another bridge that crossed a frozen river before the path wound down into what she could only presume was the valley the Seeker had mentioned. Soldiers were milling about it and a wagon piled high with weapons and supplies was at the center of their activity. The shouting turned panicked at some point, but it was hard to hear over the sudden crackling, deafening whoosh of something careening toward them. Looking up, Katerina saw the meteor rocketing to the bridge and began sprinting after the Seeker. She and Cassandra were more than halfway across and dodging the soldiers when the world exploded around them.
Her stomach roiled as the ground disappeared from beneath her feet before the sickening weightlessness of falling hit. Katerina's eyes were squeezed tightly shut against the rubble and pebbles raining against her face and she moved to cover her head.
When she thudded back against the ground, all of the air rushed from her lungs and she was left gasping uselessly like a fish out of water. The ice bit at her skin through her robes. Another meteor erupted from the Breach, and Katerina was helpless but to watch as it struck the ice before them. She desperately sucked in a breath like a starving man would suck down food and forced herself up as something began bubbling and oozing forth from the pool of black and that same bright, unnatural green where the meteor struck.
"Stay behind me," Cassandra bit out, the ring of metal echoing in the frozen gulley as she drew her sword. She charged at the shade that emerged from the crash site, dodging its sharp, shadowy claws, striking and dodging like a fox after a snake.
Another bubbling pool appeared behind the Seeker and Katerina watched as another shade began clawing its way out of the foul substance. She could smell the acrid scent of sulfur and lightning as it rose up.
"Cassandra…" she called warningly, backing slowly away from the newly risen demon.
The Seeker either didn't hear her or didn't care—Katerina was on her own. She cast about for some weapon, a thick tree branch, anything to keep the demon at bay. She summoned a flame to dance over her palm, ready to launch fireballs at the thing—a little unreliable, but it would have to do—before blinking in surprise. A staff had fallen to the ground behind her, so convenient she could have been dreaming.
Leaping into action as the shade came steadily closer, she grabbed the staff and quickly threw a series of fireballs at the demon. It shrieked its displeasure and rushed closer, only to be encased in a shell of ice.
With a quick huff, Katerina whispered a quick incantation and whirled her stave at the thick ice beneath the shade. It erupted in a controlled explosion, its agonized shriek melting away with its inky body as if it had never even existed.
Cassandra's shade quickly followed suit as the Seeker ran it through, and the mage felt herself sag against the staff with relief. "It's over."
The Seeker whirled on the mage then, sword glinting in the weak sunlight as she pointed it at Katerina's chest. "Drop your weapon," she commanded. "Now."
"A demon attacked me," she reasoned, adjusting her grip on the staff and watching the Seeker warily. Her heart hammered against her chest as she stared the defensive woman down. "What was I supposed to do?"
"You don't need to fight," Cassandra bit out, her sword never wavering.
"Are you saying it won't happen again?" Katerina nearly laughed at the absurdity of the situation but choked it down. The Seeker would almost assuredly run her down if she thought the mage mad.
Cassandra begrudgingly sheathed her weapon, the frown deepening as she sagged under the undeniable truth of the mage's argument. "You're right. I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenseless."
She reached into her belt pouch with a sigh and said almost to herself, "I should remember that you agreed to come willingly. Here." The scarred warrior pressed something cold and hard into the mage's free hand. "Take these potions. You may need them."
Katerina examined the smooth flasks containing silvery lyrium and a darker potion. A quick sniff told her it was an elfroot decoction meant to quickly clot any bleeding and mitigate the pain. The flasks looked like glass, but she could feel the enchantment on them—they were sturdy and well made. Light enough to be carried easily but magicked to be durable, perfect for moving fast and fighting through Maker knows what. She tucked them into her own belt purse, notably empty after her time in the Chantry dungeon, and looked up to see Cassandra waiting further up the frozen river.
The banks were too steep to climb, so the only way forward was over the ice. They moved as quickly as they could, battling sturdy shades and wispy wraiths as they went. It seemed like there were new demons appearing every few steps—there was no way around, no way to evade them. She bit down and flung spells as quickly as she could, wards on herself and the Seeker and freezing those demons she couldn't quite launch flames at. Every scene they came upon was either frozen and white or on fire. No homestead was left untouched and demons roamed freely. It seemed like they fought their way through for hours, but it couldn't have been more than one hour at most, before they finally caught a break and spied a way off the icy river.
The stairs were cut into the steep cliffside and slippery with frost, but safe enough for now. The sounds of shouting and casting echoed over the snowy expanse, mingling with inhuman shrieks as the two women neared the top of the stairs. They peaked out, seeing only another destroyed bridge and burning wagons, and continued toward the sounds of battle.
"We're getting close to the rift," Cassandra said as they trudged through the snow towards a short stone wall.
"Who's fighting?"
"You'll see—we must help them." With that, the Seeker leapt over the wall and joined in a few soldiers against a horde of demons.
A writhing, shimmering tear of that same unearthly green flickered and danced in the air over the scene, casting the fighters in its abnormal glow. An elf and a dwarf stood on the fringes of the fight, casting frosty spells and bolts at the swarm of demons while the human soldiers did their best to hold the aberrations at bay. Cassandra threw herself into the fray without a second thought, her sword flashing as she hacked and swung at the nightmarish figures.
Katerina set a protective barrier around the Seeker and the soldiers near her before setting runes on the ground before her and the others working on the margins of the fight. If any demon crossed her runes, they'd be immediately engulfed in a wall of flame. Defenses in place, she quickly set about launching attacks at the demons that tried flanking the soldiers, forcing them back and preventing the humans from being surrounded.
It was over almost before it began. The soldiers slumped wearily beneath the rift, eyeing it warily like it was going to spit more demons out at any moment. For all Katerina knew, it would.
The elf grabbed her arm then, yanking her toward the glowing rift and holding the marked hand toward the tear in the sky. "Quickly, before more come through!"
A rush of power, tingling but not painful, flooded through her arm. It was a bolt of green light that flew from her hand to the rift, connecting her to it as if the tear were a kite and the rush of power its string. She was powerless but to act as a conduit for this power, watching as it burst forth to mend the sky.
Her arm fell limp by her side when it was over, and she could only stare between her hand and the tall, bald elf. The quiet burst as the rift faded away signaled to all nearby that that tear was gone for good, and the soldiers cheered in relief.
"What did you do?" she asked the lanky elf, watching as he sized her up.
"I did nothing," he replied, nodding at the young mage. "The credit is yours."
"At least this is good for something," Katerina joked, jerking her chin at her left hand. She flexed her fingers as sensation began trickling back into them.
"Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand," he said, leaning on his staff. His face was sharp and focused as he took her in, examining and making mental notes as if she were a new species. "I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach's wake—and it seems I was correct."
The surviving soldiers disappeared down the road toward Haven with a salute to the Seeker, and Cassandra joined them then. She wiped her blade on her pants before sheathing. "Meaning it could also close the Breach itself."
"Possibly." The elf shrugged at the Seeker and his shoulders tensed at her approach. He cast another glance at Katerina, measuring her before he allowed himself a small smile. "It seems you hold the key to our salvation."
"Good to know!" a rough voice said from behind the young mage. The dwarf strode up then, slinging his crossbow over his shoulder. "Here I thought we'd be ass-deep in demons forever. Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong."
An unladylike snort escaped Katerina as he threw a wink at the Seeker who scowled in response. Charmed despite the strange situation, she introduced herself to them. "Katerina Trevelyan—technically a lady turned apostate, and—apparently—an unwitting savior. Nice to meet you."
"You may reconsider that stance in time," the elf muttered good-humoredly.
"I'm sure we'll become great friends in the valley, Solas," Varric tossed back, clearly unbothered by the elf's retort and the Seeker's obvious distaste for him.
Cassandra was already shaking her head at that. "Absolutely not. Your help is appreciated, Varric, but—"
"Have you been down there lately, Seeker?" he cut her off, his tone brooking no argument. "Your soldiers aren't in control anymore. You need me."
That set off fresh bickering between the two of them. Katerina watched for a moment, slumping against her staff wearily before giving up. She didn't really care who went where—she just wanted to try closing the Breach so she could sleep. Her eyes drifted shut as she stood waiting for direction, only snapping open when a hand dropped on her shoulder.
"I'm Solas, if there are to be introductions," the elf said softly. His gaze sharpened as he watched her weary face. "I'm pleased to see you still live."
"Thank you…?"
Varric interrupted then, his interest in arguing with the warrior having waned. "He means, 'I kept the mark from killing you while you slept.'"
Katerina's eyes widened in surprise as she turned back to the elf. It was true then—the mark really was killing her. "You seem to know a great deal about it all."
"Like you, Solas is an apostate," Cassandra told her, scowl still firmly in place. She swished water about her mouth before spitting it out, handing the skin to Katerina.
She sipped the water slowly, relishing the fresh water after exerting herself against the demons. She was certain to listen to everything, eager to know all that happened while she slept.
"Technically all mages are now apostates. Some became apostates willingly, others by necessity," Solas opined before turning to explain himself to Katerina. "My travels have allowed me to learn much of the Fade, far beyond the experience of any Circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I can give with the Breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed regardless of origin."
Katerina passed the skin to Varric before responding, weighing the questions running through her mind before settling on the safest one. "And what will you do once this is over?"
"One hopes that those in power will remember who helped and who did not." Solas's lips quirked in the shadow of a smile and he snuck a glance at the surly Seeker before continuing in a more serious vein. "Cassandra, you should know: the magic involved here is unlike any I have ever seen. Your prisoner is a mage, but I find it difficult to imagine any mage possessing such power."
"Understood. We must get to the forward camp quickly. Come." Cassandra glanced at the sun and turned abruptly. She led the small party forward, jumping over a ruined stone wall and jogging down the snowy riverbank. "This way—the road ahead is blocked."
They moved as quickly as the powdery snow would allow, moving ever close to the breach. The path was steep and narrow, dropping off into a ravine on one side. Katerina forced herself to only look at the next step, unwilling to let her gaze wander over the edge. Her fingers began tingling as they approached even ground, warning her before Solas's shout could.
"Demons ahead!" the elvhen mage said, loud enough for the party to hear.
They fought another swarm of demons on the frozen river near two abandoned homes. Flames flickered from one, the crackling of the house disintegrating and falling echoing over the scene. The roof crashed in as the dispensed with the last demon and carried on past the frozen waterfall and cave.
Katerina had to look away from the broken body lying where the demons had been.
"So I take it you're from the Free Marches?" Varric asked conversationally as they moved through the wintry countryside.
"Oh?"
"Accent. I'm from Kirkwall, but you're from… further east, maybe?" he asked, brow furrowed as he tried to place her accent.
"That's quite the ear you have," Katerina teased with a smile.
"I'm all kinds of impressive," the dwarf said, pointedly ignoring the Seeker's derisive snort from her position leading them.
"I'm from Ostwick—" she was saying when the mark flared again, sending her reeling with a pained hiss. Katerina clutched the marked hand to her breast, as if that would stop it from spreading further. Her back landed heavily against the rough bark, the evergreen the only thing keeping her upright as the fire lanced ever higher up her arm.
"Shit, are you alright?" Varric exclaimed, his eyes wide with a mix of surprise and concern.
"It's the Breach—I can feel it growing," she explained breathlessly as the mark subsided once more.
"I suggest we hurry," Solas suggested, staring up at the growing chasm in the sky. "My magic cannot stop the mark from growing further."
They reached a set of stone stairs and began the ascent with Katerina walking with Cassandra at the front and her fellow apostate at the rear. She could feel the elf analyzing her every move, studying and dissecting the mark's effect on her. It was unnerving like she was a rat in a cage, awaiting some effect from the concoctions administered by the Tranquil. All that was missing was a quill so he could scribble his notes.
Varric distracted her from her discomfort, his rough accent easily breaking the silence. "So… are you innocent?"
"I don't remember what happened," Katerina shrugged. It was mostly true, though she didn't feel like sharing the snippets about being chased by things she couldn't identify. She didn't even know where they'd chased her to—the Temple of Sacred Ashes, or what was left of it, was in the sky and Cassandra said she'd fallen out of a rift. She could have been anywhere. Her head swam with questions that no one had answers to, so she just swallowed them down like she'd done with everything else that day.
"That'll get you every time," Varric was saying. "Should have spun a story."
"That's what you would have done." The distaste was obvious in Cassandra's tone as she led them along the path, head on a constant swivel.
"It's more believable and less prone to result in a premature execution."
Solas huffed quietly from his position at the rear, drawing their party to a halt near the top of the narrow stair. He hushed Cassandra with a finger to the lips and he listened.
Katerina did the same, hearing nothing, not even birdsong or the rustle of wildlife in the brush. It was too quiet. Then, she heard it. The soft hissing, like fingers rasping over silk but wrong somehow. The numb, tingle of her fingers was all the confirmation she needed.
"Rift ahead," she said, ignoring the elf's surprised glance her way. Let him think what he liked—she'd survived on her own long enough to trust her senses. She stole the last few steps to the end of the stairs and snuck a glance out past the boulder that provided a last bit of cover. She couldn't see the rift, but there were demons milling in their way. With a few gestures, a protective barrier was set and she nodded. "Let's go."
Cassandra led the charge, throwing herself headlong into the fray against the demons, keeping their attention as she slashed and shouted curses at them. Varric launched a volley of arrows that exploded on contact and the demons shrieked with pain. The two mages easily kept the demons from flanking Cassandra, driving them back and wrecking damage with their spells. It became easier to fall into the rhythm, lobbing attacks and setting runes in turns.
When the demons disintegrated, they regrouped and caught their breath. It was quiet for now, safe enough to take a moment.
"I hope Leliana made it through all this," Cassandra worried before downing a flask of the elfroot potion. She winced, washing the bitter taste away with a careful swig of water.
"She's resourceful, Seeker," Varric said, almost soothing.
"We'll see for ourselves soon. We're almost at the forward camp," Solas said, spurring them onwards.
They faced more carnage and fire, more demons pouring from a rift. The demons nearly overran the soldiers who cried for help. They launched themselves into the fight, careful to hit only the shades and wraiths. Katerina nearly hit her limit, quickly tossing back a few sips of a lyrium potion to regain her energy so she could keep going.
Her bones were heavy with exhaustion, but she couldn't stop now. She was the only one who could do something about the holes in the sky. It didn't matter how tired she was, her work wasn't done yet. Gritting her teeth, she fought on until there was a lull in the demons. With a grunt, Katerina thrust her hand up toward the rift and willed it shut. That same warmth enveloped her arm, not at all unpleasant, and it collapsed in on itself, leaving only the unblemished sky in its wake.
Cassandra immediately began barking orders at the soldiers and had the gates creaking open, but the younger mage simply couldn't do more than blink owlishly. She felt weak, almost unusually so. Drained. That was it, she felt drained.
Each new rift that she waved her hand at sapped more and more of her energy. The constant fighting didn't help. Maybe she just didn't have the stamina to do this. She wasn't a soldier or a fighter by any means. Sure, she could defend herself with the staff if she overtaxed her magic, but that wasn't the same. Blackness tinted the edges of her vision and she stumbled into Solas as exhaustion gripped her.
"We're clear for the moment," he said, helping hold her up. "Well done."
He and Varric helped her forward through the gate to the spot where Cassandra and the hooded woman from earlier—Leliana—bickered with a man in Chantry robes. They deposited her against the thick stone railing lining the bridge, even going so far as to press the lyrium potion into her hand again.
"Drink," Solas commanded gently. "You'll need your strength for whatever comes next."
She did as ordered, too tired to do otherwise. As the lyrium took effect, her vision cleared and she was able to pay attention to the argument happening nearby. It was contentious, that much was certain. Katerina hoisted herself up, drawing closer to her unlikely companions as they listened in.
"We must prepare the soldiers!" that same clipped voice from earlier cried.
"We will do no such thing," a man argued back, slamming his fist against the thick wooden table lined with maps and papers.
"The prisoner must get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes," Leliana argued back, not backing down in the face of the Chantry brother's fury. "It is our only chance!"
"You have already caused enough trouble without resorting to this exercise in futility." He looked pleased with himself, clearly thinking the redhead had been put soundly in her place.
"I have caused trouble?" Leliana's face darkened, her foxlike features furrowing into a snarl. Something flashed in her gaze that had a shiver running down Katerina's spine. This was not a woman to cross.
"You, Cassandra, the Most Holy—" the man listed, counting off the troublesome women on his gnarled fingers. "Haven't you all done enough already?"
"You are not in command here," the hooded woman spat, shoulders tight as the four newcomers approached.
"Ah! Here they come," the man sneered, rounding the table to glower at Katerina.
She supposed she'd have to get used to that sort of welcome—it seemed she was almost universally blamed for causing this mess, however little she actually believed herself responsible.
"You made it!" Relief was evident in Leliana's voice as she turned to face Cassandra. "Chancellor Roderick, this is—"
"I know who she is," he sneered, eyes never straying from the raven-haired mage before him. "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution."
No one moved to lay a finger on Katerina, much to her relief. The Chancellor's clear disdain for her and his status as the highest-ranking member of the Chantry present had left her nervous. She doubted she needed to be free to close the Breach—it would be simple enough to slap her in irons, wave her hand at the tear in the sky, and then cut her head off.
But no. No one even drew closer to her. Instead, Cassandra rounded on the Chancellor, trading insult for insult, as the infighting resumed. No one was in charge, it seemed. There was no order, no direction. It even appeared that the Seeker forgot about the tear in the sky until Katerina cleared her throat.
"Isn't closing the Breach the more pressing issue?" she interrupted, moving forward and drawing the squabblers' attention.
"You brought this on us in the first place," Chancellor Roderick spat. "Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless."
Anger flared through Katerina, cutting a sharp path through her persistent weariness. She hadn't come all this way, fought so hard, only to stop now. Her fingers tightened on her staff, drawing a nervous glance from the holy man.
"We can stop this before it's too late," Cassandra said, glancing at the young mage too before refocusing.
"How?" he asked incredulously. "You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers."
That set off a new round of arguing about which route to take: the mountain pass or the more direct one. Leliana and Cassandra debated the need for safety or the need for haste, and the Chancellor still interrupted to bemoan the futility of their situation. Their voices blurred together, forming a dull hum that echoed about Katerina's skull as she swayed.
A ringing silence soon followed and she came out of her stupor enough to realize that all eyes were on her. "What?"
Roderick threw up his hands in defeat, his expression shouting of her uselessness.
"You hold the mark. How do you think we should proceed?" the Seeker asked, her dark eyes watching the mage closely.
The girl's face was so wan it was practically gray. Cassandra could only assume the mark was draining the life out of her as it grew, steadily marching further up her arm. It was imperative they reach the temple, and soon. She feared the mage wouldn't make it through a longer, if safer, route. But she held her tongue, leaving the decision in the other woman's hands. It was her life on the line—it only seemed fair that she make this decision.
"Now you're asking me what I think?" Katerina spluttered, bewildered at this turn of events. She'd written herself off—the mark was a convenient tool on an inconvenient host. What did it matter what the host thought? It was the mark that mattered.
"You have the mark," Solas chirped, seemingly unfazed by the situation.
"And you are the one we must keep alive," Cassandra added bluntly. "Since we cannot agree on our own…"
"I say we charge," Katerina said after a long moment. She was too tired to take the mountain road, and she wasn't certain she'd live long enough to see it through to the end. "I won't survive long enough for your trial. Whatever happens, happens."
Cassandra immediately turned and began issuing orders. Soldiers amassed, grabbing weapons and falling into order under the Seeker's watchful eye. Leliana fell back with the archers, making sure there were enough arrows to fill each quill and even grabbing a bow of her own. The flurry of action surrounded the young mage—even Solas and Varric were caught up in it, grabbing potions and Varric restocking his crossbow bolts—and she was frozen in the middle of it all. Had she really just called a military maneuver?
Her hands grasped the edge of the table as her knees nearly buckled. Another shock ran through her left arm, but she was too drained to react beyond the effort to stay upright. The green tendrils must reach nearly to her elbow at this point, vying ever closer to her heart as the Breach ate away at the sky.
The next thing she knew, they were marching. Soldiers were lined on one side, archers on the other while Cassandra led the mages and dwarf ahead of them all. She knew that Enchanter Lydia would have her head if she were alive to see it, but Katerina used the staff as a walking stick. There was no way she could move without the additional support at this point. She was simply too weak.
The path was lined with burning debris, rubble strewn every which way from the explosion. Chantry sisters tended to the wounded as they neared a makeshift command center, and the sounds of fighting grew steadily closer. It was more of the same, really, only now ash rained down around them with the snow. The entire scene was gray and smelled of blood and fire.
Up more stairs—was there no end to the stairs? Katerina wondered—and through a stone archway, the sounds of fighting grew stronger. Solas drew her to a halt as the soldiers readied themselves.
"Be wary—another Fade rift." He watched her carefully, his mouth twisting ruefully. "Here, a little more lyrium. You need your wits about you."
She swallowed the silvery liquid with a wince, feeling it start to fight the effects of the mark. Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, Katerina stole a glimpse through the archway. Soldiers fought for their lives against the seemingly endless hordes of demons spilling from the rift. It was the worst one yet.
Without a word, she tapped Cassandra's shoulder. It was all the signal the Seeker needed as she charged into battle beside the young mage. She flung up a barrier at the edge of the fighting to shield herself and pass some protection on to those that passed through it and began setting her mines under pockets of demons. Flames erupted, carefully aimed and never once singing the human soldiers.
A soldier crumpled nearby, revealing a shade with blood on its nightmarish talons. Katerina began launching her fireballs at it, but the thing was tricky. It dodged her shots and quickly broke free when she tried freezing it in place. A fire mine quickly did it in, and she turned her attention back to the heart of the battle. It was nearly over, but one tricky shade was quickly advancing on a man's turned back. With a grunt of effort, the mage set a mine under the shade that she prayed wouldn't singe the man it was fast approaching.
The resulting explosion did away with the final demon, and the man—all blond hair and dark furs—whipped around to find the culprit. His dark scowl landed on her, but then she raised her left hand to seal the rift. That anger was quickly replaced with something akin to awe—shock, maybe—and he quickly issued a few quiet orders before approaching.
She instantly knew he was a templar, even if she couldn't see the insignia on his chest plate. They all moved the same way: every movement had purpose, no twitch was wasted, and every stride was sure. She knew it from the way his eyes narrowed at her, immediately pegging her as a mage. That his guard went up and eyes shuttered upon that realization was all the confirmation she needed. Katerina felt her own hackles rise in response—she was no fonder of templars than this man seemed to be of mages.
"Sealed, as before," Solas was saying, apparently oblivious to his companion's tension. "You're becoming quite proficient at this."
"Let's just hope it works on the big one," Varric reminded them, salvaging what bolts he could from the ground.
"Lady Cassandra," the blond man called. He was altogether too chipper after a fight. "You managed to close the rift? Well done."
Cassandra waved him away, gesturing instead to Katerina. "Do not congratulate me, Commander. This is the prisoner's doing."
She bristled at that. Even after everything they'd fought through today, everything she'd learned and her quickly impending end, she was still just 'the prisoner.' Varric reached out to pat her arm reassuringly. Katerina smiled gratefully at him. At least someone might remember her name after all this was over.
"Is it?" The commander looked her over appraisingly, though his expression never flickered. "I hope they're right about you. We've lost a lot of people getting you here."
"You're not the only one hoping that," Katerina said, injecting some humor into her voice. It was better than hissing and spitting at the templar. "But I'll try my best."
"That's all we ask," the towering blond man replied, his voice warming the tiniest bit at her humor. Katerina might have imagined it though for how quickly he turned back to business. "The way to the temple should be clear."
"Then we'd best move quickly." Cassandra directed the soldiers into the temple with a single gesture. "Give us time, Commander."
"Maker watch over you—for all our sakes."
His gaze lingered on the marked young woman for a beat, measuring and weighing. He turned away in a flash, and it was Katerina's turn to watch him. He slung an injured soldier's arm over his shoulder and helped the young fighter hobble away, but even then she couldn't bring herself to look away.
Her senses were on high alert now that she knew there were templars about. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Never again would she willingly turn her back on a templar. Not after what she'd seen at the Circle. Every nerve in her body screamed that he'd run her through the first chance he got, just like she'd seen his order do before. If she was going to die today, it would be a more noble death. The kind her family would be proud of, not gutted from behind like a debtor in a city gutter.
That in mind, she forced herself to stand tall as she entered the temple. The world swam as she walked, but Katerina refused to lean on her staff now. No, she would do this with dignity.
The temple was a charred, desecrated tomb. Scorched corpses contorted on the floor, their mouths still open in silent screams. Some still burned. One hallway survived the blast, filled with the dead, but the heart of the temple was gone. Icy wind rushed around them, teasing Katerina's dark curls with its chill fingers. Above them all, so high that she wasn't even sure it was still a tear in their sky, hung the Breach.
"The Breach is a long way up," Varric hedged, his comment lost as Leliana appeared behind them. Cassandra rushed over to her and they quickly had soldiers falling into order. Archers spread along the walls and the rest fell away to the ground below. Their footsteps disturbed the rubble, kicking pebbles and shoving bricks as they went along.
Katerina heard none of it as she craned her neck back to look at the massive, swirling tear in the sky. It was an ugly thing, gaping and endlessly moving above her. Almost indiscernible in that stormy green mess was another rift tickling the statue in the center of the ruins. Her stomach knotted around itself. How was she supposed to close this when just standing was a battle in and of itself?
She took another cautious sip of lyrium, fearful of overdoing it lest she fall prey to its more addictive qualities. Though becoming an addict would require she live past today. That seemed less and less likely by the minute. Katerina huffed quietly to herself, amused despite her dark thoughts.
Cassandra appeared beside her then. "This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?"
"I'm assuming you have a plan to get me up there," was her blasé reply.
Solas responded for the Seeker. "This rift was the first and it is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach."
"Then let's find a way down." Cassandra led them around the archers who stood ready, dodging the fallen rubble and boulders made of the temple wreckage. Glowing red lyrium shards sprouted from the floor.
She could hear her companions talking distantly about it. She could hear the voices echoing about the temple as she drew nearer to the rift. None of it registered, instead bouncing about her head as it surrounded them. Every step was an effort. The lyrium had done all it could, now she simply needed to close the rift and…
A flash of light blinded her before ghostly images, too large to be more than an echo of the past, flickered above them. A dark figure, faceless and cruel, held the Divine hostage with a sinister red glow while Katerina's image interrupted. The images flickered and nearly faded out as they moved, the dark figure's eyes flaring the same red as the Divine's bindings. He ordered Katerina's death as the Divine shouted for her to run before it all disappeared in another white flash.
Cassandra rounded on her then, her nostrils flaring as she spat question after question at the weakened mage. "You were there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…? Is this vision true? What are we seeing?"
"I don't remember," Katerina replied feebly, voice trembling with effort. She wracked her mind for any trace of the scene they'd just witnessed, nearly howling when she came up empty.
"Echoes of what happened here. The Fade bleeds into this place," Solas explained, moving to shield the human mage from the Seeker's driving need for answers. "The rift is not sealed, but it is closed—albeit temporarily."
He quickly explained that the mark could probably reopen it and then seal it once more, safely and surely. Demons were sure to follow. Cassandra latched onto that—the ability to actively do something instead of grasping at straws—and it was another rush of activity. Everyone dropped down, except the archers and Varric, and Katerina raised her hand to open.
It was all a blur from there; fighting, shouting, dodging, and simply not dying. The biggest demon she'd ever seen thundered about, whips of pure lightning cracking about, and nothing made a dent in it except…. She discovered she could disrupt the rift, draining its energy and sending the demon to its knees. Katerina took advantage of that, despite the parts of herself she felt fading away every time she connected with the rift.
Blackness encroached on her vision once more, the black spots dancing with bright flares of light and color as she watched the demons melt away into nothingness. Somewhere far away, she noted pain in her knees.
'I fell,' she thought distantly, raising her glowing hand once more. And then… Nothingness.