33. Spirals

Bree jerked upright at an ear-splitting screech and the smell of burning flesh. She muttered a curse and hastily reinforced her spell with massive jolts of electricity that forced the demon to behave itself again.

"Sorry, sorry," Bree muttered as exhaustion began clouding her mind again in the midst of people crying out in surprise and horror at the demon's near escape.

"Careful, Bree!" Alistair warned from his place safely across the room. Bree preemptively strengthened her spell so she could snap at him, but Morrigan beat her to it.

"You are not the one holding a demon captive with a complex spell for two days," Morrigan growled, and a smirk twitched across Bree's face. " 'Tis more difficult than it sounds."

"Already sounds difficult," Luka muttered from beside Bree.

"Exactly," Morrigan huffed. She drummed her fingers against Bree's leg, and Bree felt a much-needed surge of mana. "And you," she told Bree with clear irritation. "Either remain awake or allow me to simply kill the abomination and be done with this entirely unnecessary situation."

" 'S matter of pride at this point," Bree proclaimed, her eyes daring the demon to try to take advantage of this momentary distraction. It curled its lip at her but remained still.

"You risk your life for the most insipid of reasons," Morrigan hissed quietly enough that only Bree would have heard.

Bree grinned. "Yep," she whispered back cheerfully, easily thwarting the demon's attempt to throw itself against the bars. "Who'd wanna get killed by the Archdemon if you've got the chance to die at the hands of a small child?"

"Which could easily be destroyed," Morrigan urged.

"Sweet that ya care, but I'm not givin' up, even for you, Morrigan."

"Ridiculous," Morrigan seethed.

"Agreed." Bree almost laughed at the demon's newest struggle against the bars.

The demon was as tired as Bree—probably more so—and it was growing weaker by the hour. If Wynne didn't arrive soon, it was possible Bree would accidentally kill it. On the bright side, she hardly had to concentrate to keep it caged. She had been able to stand up and walk around, even eat. On the less bright side, she had been awake for nearly two days now and, even with boosts of strength and mana from Morrigan, she was desperately trying to remain thus.

"If you release me, I can—"

"Shuddup," Bree irritably interrupted the demon's exhausted, desperate plea for some sort of deal. "Maker's golden shits, did Wynne take a vacation in Orlais?" Bree shouted in frustration, and Luka snorted out a laugh before patting her consolingly on the shoulder.

Bree waited breathlessly for a few seconds for Wynne to burst through the door as though summoned, but nothing happened. She stood up with a huff and began pacing back and forth, keeping her eyes on the demon, who was glowering right back. At this point, the room was empty save for Bree, Luka, Morrigan, and Alistair. Zevran had returned to Redcliffe Village, and Leliana was off comforting Isolde in some other part of the castle. It was the four of them, just like old times, yet it felt completely different.

Bree sighed and stared at the demon, who gazed right back. "You'll get tired eventually," it hissed.

Bree rolled her eyes, biting back a reply; she knew it wasn't the best idea to start a dialogue. She could get carried away once she started chattering, and that could get dangerous.

"Dammit, this is taking so long," Bree complained as she wandered around the room to battle her desire to curl up on the ground and take a fantastic nap.

"What would happen if you imbued the bars with glyphs of paralysis?" Morrigan interjected before Bree could begin rambling on.

Bree paused and stared at Morrigan thoughtfully. She felt her eager curiosity replace her weariness, and she moved back to sit between her and Luka. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to mentally keep up her two songs while introducing a third tune with her hands. She considered her usual song for a paralysis glyph and played it slowly so the glyph appeared on the floor below the cage. It was circular and glowed a slight pale green as usual, so she bit her lip and tried to adjust the notes until they harmonized with her other songs. She grew in frustration when she kept losing her mental rhythm in the pure number of notes.

"I need my…" Bree waved a vague hand and mimed plucking at strings.

"Oh, uh…" She heard Luka rummage through her bag before she felt her little instrument alight in her hands. Immediately, she began playing melodies rather than trying to make them in her head. Even keeping up the original spells was easier with her psaltery in hand, so she was better able to focus on making this new one.

Bree was vaguely aware that everyone was watching in breathless silence, and she reveled in it. She basked in the attention as she wove the songs together until the glyph on the floor disappeared and the swirling symbols flared to life in the bars. The demon eyed the bars suspiciously and didn't move, so Bree considered this for a few seconds before allowing her spells to weaken all at once.

Savage delight entered the demon's eyes, and it rushed forwards with a cry of triumph that quickly reversed when Bree strengthened the spells at the same moment. It crashed into the electrified, glyphed bars with a screech of agony that was quickly cut off by it freezing in place. Its body shivered intermittently as sparks flickered against its skin, and its face was contorted in an unmoving expression of pain.

Bree felt Morrigan bolster her mana, and she grinned. "That's what happens when I add paralysis," she said gleefully.

"Took you long enough," Luka replied, and he puffed out a laugh.

"Whaddya mean?" Bree asked distractedly as she continued improvising little melodies just to see how they affected her current spells.

"Rabbit, it's been hours," Luka said dryly, and Bree blinked. It had felt like minutes to her, but she suddenly realized that her legs were cramped, her wrists sore, and her fingers raw.

"Oh," Bree said, deciding to ignore her discomfort to keep experimenting.

"You have created an incredibly complex spell," Morrigan said, and she sounded pleased, even smug. "That is an impressive feat."

"I'm a badass," Bree acknowledged humbly.

"This is all well and good," Alistair's unwanted voice broke through, "but can I remind everyone that there's still a little boy being tortured in there?"

"Can the kid even feel any of this, or is he just stuck somewhere in the Fade or something?" Bree wondered aloud.

"Wait, you don't know?" Alistair asked in shock. "You're a mage!"

"Do you know?"

"Uh… no. No, I actually haven't considered it," was the vaguely shameful reply.

"But you're a templar!" Bree gasped dramatically.

"Sure, but… you're a mage," Alistair repeated eloquently. "I guess I thought mages were constantly under attack by evil demons."

Bree rolled her eyes with a deep sigh. "Lesson time, Alistair," she said. "The Chantry is a stable filled with infinite druffalo manure futilely mucked by a buncha naïve stable boys doing the drudge work while the fearmongering ranchers collect their wages."

"Uhh…"

"Most spirits are just weird little philosophers that are frankly more irritating than dangerous, and the minority are corrupted Fade-things trying to eat humans and such. Most of those demons are too pussy to even attack if you just tell them to fuck off."

"Huh."

"Yep, so I honestly know fuck-all about demons and haven't even met one who tried to attack me."

"That's… not what I learned," Alistair said uncomfortably

"Chantry propaganda to make murderous soldiers backed by Divine power," Bree snapped in reply, and she could feel anger surfacing. "Since all mages are liars, though, and the Chantry is the source of all truth, no one wants to hear this."

"I… guess… thanks for telling me?" Alistair said with clear awkwardness.

Bree rolled her eyes. "A pleasure. Any of it useful for defeating this demon?'"

"Er, no. Not really," Alistair admitted.

"Mmhm. So let's save any more of these teachable moments for some other time."

"Right," Alistair said awkwardly. "I'll just shut up. Like usual."

Bree huffed and kept playing, keeping an eye on how her three spells were modified, as well as how much mana she expended. She was determined to perfect this to maximize effectiveness and efficiency. Morrigan added suggestions and comments as she watched critically, and Bree was delighted at how brilliant she was at spotting the best combinations of magic. Even Luka chimed in a few times. He didn't necessarily understand the magic behind it, but he was adept at spotting the slightest changes in the demon's expressions and reactions.

It was in the midst of these discussions that the door behind Bree opened. She startled, but the demon was far too drained to even attempt a struggle.

"I have arrived with the Circle mages," Wynne's unwanted voice proclaimed, and Bree felt a flash of disappointment that her fun would soon be over. That was tempered, however, by her pure relief at the thought of imminent sleep.

"Thank the Maker," Alistair breathed, and Bree heard him scramble to his feet. "I don't think Connor will last much longer."

"Oh dear," Wynne murmured, and the sound of footsteps and quiet conversation followed as a pack of tittering Circle mages toddled into the room as well. "That entrapment seems… excessive."

"Oi, you're not the one who's been keeping a demon in a cage for two days," Bree snapped irritably before Morrigan could this time. "Don't judge the methods and just be glad everyone's alive."

"I… fine, fine," Wynne said briskly, and the sounds of more murmuring mages and dragging of equipment filled the room.

"Fuckin' finally," Bree muttered as monotone chanting filled the air, and the room grew charged with strong magic. "Ugh, Circle magic is boring as the Chant itself," Bree muttered to Morrigan, and she hummed her agreement. "It's like they hate using magic."

"Yes, they likely do," Morrigan scoffed in reply. "Circle mages are weak, unimaginative, and lack curiosity as well as the mental faculties to pursue it."

"Dumbasses."

"…Eloquent as usual."

"You think it's endearing," Bree retorted. "Admit it."

"Nonsense," was the scathing reply.

"Mmhm."

"You two are so cute I might vomit," Luka drawled as they all watched the demon shudder and shake.

Bree slowly dropped her spell, and the demon was far too preoccupied with being banished to notice. She yawned widely as she finally allowed her deep exhaustion to dominate her thoughts. With a soft sigh of anticipation, Bree tipped over so her head was nestled in Morrigan's lap, and she drifted into sleep before Morrigan could voice a single complaint.