9:36 - DRAGON
Jowan could barely sleep, too excited about the prospect of dragging up the old Avvar statue and finally finding the Aeonar. He only managed to doze off after midnight, long after counting his thousandth sheep.
A pair of rough hands grabbed his shoulders and shook him awake.
"Wake up!" Galel half yelled, flicking Jowan on the side of his face.
Jowan gasped, rubbing the sting out of his cheek, "Maker! What was that for?!"
"I've been trying to wake you for ages, you sleep like the dead, you know that?" Galel said, half laughing, half exasperated.
Jowan rubbed his eyes, and then yelped in excitement, "Let's get the damn thing! You still have your rope?"
Galel gestured to the rope around his waist and scoffed, "I always have my rope. Now get that sleep out of your eyes and follow me."
Goosebumps prickled up on Jowan's skin. The excitement and dread intertwining into an awful, sickening lump in his gut and the muscles in his jaw kept twitching.
This is it, finally!
He was so close to finding Lily, and Kena too of course. This whole nightmare was so close to being over.
So many years… wasted…
He felt a deep sadness thinking of how much time had passed. He looked up at Galel's back, the elf's dirty blonde hair reflected the sunlight like water. His scalp was half shaven, and Jowan thought it made him look young, from a distance, there was gray amongst the elf's hair and when he looked close enough, fine lines around his eyes and mouth too.
Funny how he never noticed that before.
"How old are you?" Jowan found himself blurting out, his curiosity always getting the better of him during their awkward silences.
Galel raised an eyebrow and ducked under a low hanging branch as they continued onward, "We measure age differently, but I suppose you could say I'm nearing forty."
Forty? Jowan hoped he'd look as young when he was that age, in fact, he hadn't properly seen himself in a mirror for some years now.
Did he have gray too? Was his skin wrinkling?
Will Lily still want me?
"How old are you?" Galel asked as they approached the lakeside, his voice tinged with amusement, "And while we're at it, what's bringing on this line of questioning?"
Jowan's face flushed red, realizing how intrusive his question might have sounded, "Oh, sorry, just thinking of how much time's passed," he took off his cloak and tunic, and began untying his boots as well, "I'm twenty-seven."
"Still a child," Galel quipped, also removing his tunic and pants. Jowan looked away, which was the way they respected each other's privacy at the circle. However, it seemed the Dalish weren't ashamed of prancing about in their small clothes.
He could've at least kept his pants on.
"Well, for humans I'm well into adulthood," Jowan protested, looking at the bark of a nearby tree, "and I'm pretty sure the other elves in the tower lived similar lifespans too."
"The Dalish claim many things that are probably myth, but we do live longer than our city brethren," Galel responded matter-of-factly, and Jowan couldn't help but wonder why. "Don't worry about time, once this is all over with, I'm sure you'll make up for it," Galel added, approaching Jowan with the rope and handing it to him, "now take this."
"Uh, sure, of course," Jowan replied, too embarrassed to continue protesting the notion he was still a child to the Dalish and trying desperately to look anywhere but at the nearly naked elf, "I'll just be… waiting here."
"You'll probably need to swim out with me, about halfway. When I tug on the rope, you pull."
"You think this is going to work?" Jowan asked, "Why don't we just use magic to move it?"
"Too risky. We must know what we're dealing with, first, before we risk magic," Galel said, "now follow me."
Jowan nodded his understanding, and the men swam out into the lake. Galel gave Jowan a thumbs up before biting the end of the rope between his teeth and diving into the murky depths.
The rope was long, but Jowan was worried it might not be long enough to reach the bottom. He treaded water, the sound of birds and small ripples bouncing around the mountains.
It was peaceful silence. Jowan admired the beauty of the distant mountains in the morning light, but with the quiet came the overthinking. He couldn't wait to beg Lily for forgiveness, but would she accept? He needed to free her from her prison, make everything right again if he could. And once if she accepted him, he wanted to show her these trees. Did she still want to retire to a farm? Where would they go with the Templars still roaming about? Even though the Warden had allowed him to escape, it didn't mean he was forgiven, King Alistair had protested at the time, before he was King of course.
Jowan knew there was still a price on his head, and the thought filled him with sadness.
A water bug skid across the surface in front of him, and the rope in his hand jerked downward.
"Hey!" Jowan yelped. He gathered his bearings and began to swim back toward the shore with the rope tight in hand. He was a poor swimmer, only learning after escaping the circle, and even though he kicked, and pulled, it felt like he wasn't moving anywhere at all.
Galel popped back to the surface, gasping for breath, "You have to pull harder!" he commanded, before diving back below without waiting for a response.
Jowan wanted to protest, he was pulling as hard as he could, but swimming and pulling a rope tied around a big lump of stone wasn't easy. Jowan kicked hard against the water, and felt himself move forward a few inches, but this was going to take all day.
He cursed, why couldn't he just use magic?
Why not!
Just then Galel resurfaced again, his tan cheeks red from exertion, "Shemlen! Get a move on it!" he yelled, exasperated. Jowan knew he must be angry. He had long stopped calling him shemlen, unless he was frustrated or perturbed.
"Alright, alright, sorry elf!" Jowan snapped back, he could also call the man names, if he wanted. Galel shook his head and dove back under the surface.
Jowan focused his magic to help propel him through the water. He wasn't sure if force magic would be useful in this situation, but it couldn't hurt to try. Besides, the statue probably wouldn't be affected by a bit of magic in the water above it.
At least he hoped so.
He focused his will, and the water around him pushed forward. He had to wrap the rope around his wrist to prevent himself losing his grip, but he was moving now, much better, the water only occasionally sloshing into his nose at the unnatural movement.
Galel seemed appeased, only surfacing every couple of minutes for air. Despite their slow progress to shore, Jowan was astounded. He was certain a human would've been out of breath by now, but Galel was still going, staying under minutes at a time.
A few more telekinetic pulses and Jowan finally felt the lake's surface under his feet. His adrenaline fueling him, he turned around and began pulling in earnest, the statue sliding up the lake's muddy floor.
Galel surfaced behind the statue, and quickly swam over to him. Once his feet hit land, they both tugged the statue the rest of the way out of the lake. The statue's bear helmeted head nearly hit Jowan in the face a few times before both Galel and Jowan collapsed onto the muddy shore, gasping for breath.
"We… did it!" Jowan wheezed, spitting out some mud.
Galel laughed, smacking Jowan on the shoulder, "Good work."
"If I had lyrium, we could've done that in half the time!" Jowan bemoaned, sitting up after finally catching his breath.
The elf closed his eyes and crossed his hands behind his head, "Well, the statue is far enough out of the water for questioning, so I'll just leave you to it."
Jowan looked at the half submerged Avvar, why did he suddenly feel sick?
It's just the nerves! Now hurry up you fool!
Jowan scrambled up and sloshed toward the statue, squatting by its head.
"Erm, hello… honorable Chieftain?"
The statue was silent.
Galel pushed himself up, his hands resting flat on the muddy ground behind him as he observed.
Jowan looked at Galel annoyed, "Why don't you help me here?"
"What do you want me to say?" Galel asked.
Jowan sighed and turned back to the statue, "I've spoken to another like you. All cryptic warnings and sad stories, but she still spoke."
The statue pulsed, and Jowan lurched back, the energy radiating from the stone was powerful, pungent.
It felt evil.
Galel had apparently felt it too, slowly rising to his feet, "Tread carefully."
Jowan swallowed hard, steeling himself, "Are you awake?"
An echoey groan escaped the stone, like an ungreased door slowly opening.
"What fool disturbs my slumber?"
"I do," Jowan replied, a bit dumbly, "I do. I need your… guidance?"
The statue groaned, "Turn me forward, so I may see the Lady of the Skies."
Galel and Jowan exchanged looks, and both men carefully began pushing the statue over, it plopped loudly on its back, the Chieftain's face just above the surface of the water.
The statue laughed.
"I can't see a thing," It groaned.
"Erm, sorry?" Jowan replied, rinsing his muddy hands off in the water.
"Why should I help a mage?" the statue hissed.
"How do you know he's a mage?" Galel asked, and Jowan could hear the curiosity in his voice.
"Who else would bother raising me up from the bottom of a lake, ha! I suppose my brother lived the rest of his life pleased with himself, the traitorous dog."
"Chief, ser, we need to find a Tevinter prison, named the Aeonar. Have you heard of it?" Jowan asked desperately, "It's urgent."
"Pah! Tevinter! Tell me, do the Magisters still rule this place? Do they still gut squealing knife eared whelps to cure their pock-marked faces?" the Chief groaned again, he seemed to be waking, his speech quickening.
"Not for many years," Galel answered bitterly, "do you know where the Aeonar is?"
"I heard the question the first time, what will you do for me? To make my help worthwhile."
Jowan and Galel exchanged concerned looks. Making a deal with an ancient, cursed Chieftain didn't sound like a good idea. But what choice did they have? They had come too far to give up now.
"What is it you need?" Jowan asked, but he dreaded the answer.
"I want to die," the statue said bluntly. "You must swear to release me from this prison, and I then I will tell you what you want to know."
"How do we release you?" Galel asked.
"The same way I was put in this damn form to begin with, imbecile."
A shiver ran down Jowan's spine, and he found himself stepping away from the statue, "Blood magic is-"
"I'll do it," Galel interjected, silencing Jowan with a look, "now tell us where the Aeonar is."
He had seen Galel do blood magic the night he saved him from Bran, but he balked at the thought of engaging in the filthy practice again. What would Lily think? How could he explain that the way he had found her was by condoning the use of the very magic that had separated them in the first place?
He silently mouthed his protests.
"Well?!" the statue yelled, its echoey voice booming loudly, sending a flock of birds fleeing.
Galel walked over and placed a rough hand on Jowan's shoulder, "Return to camp, this won't take long."
Jowan swallowed the lump in his throat, "It always comes with a price, we can't," he finally mumbled, but he felt his resolve waning.
The elf sighed, "Do you want to free your Lily or not?"
This question he knew the answer to, and his resolve was finally broken. Of course, he wanted to save Lily. He wanted to free her so badly he couldn't breathe, but with blood magic? Jowan buried his face in his hands.
"Yes," he whispered, ashamed of his own weakness.
"Then go, I'll handle this."
Stumbling away, Jowan plugged his ears and began trudging back to camp. He couldn't bear the thought of Lily staying a night longer in that hell hole, and he supposed she could hate him freely once she was out.
Or perhaps, she needn't ever know what darkness he and Galel had to bargain with for her freedom.
Yes, Jowan thought, that was best.
Lily didn't need to know. All she needed was to be free, and then he and Lily would find somewhere peaceful and quiet to live the life they always wanted. Free of blood magic and free of the circle.
He had no choice; this was the only way.
Jowan looked up at the sky and steeled himself for what was to come. He hoped that Galel would finish whatever bloody bargain he had to make quickly, and that they could both forget it ever happened.
A/N: Oh my you're still reading? Well, you rock. Just had to say that. :)