"Here."
Cassandra jogged up to Talyn and handed her a bow and quiver. It was a simple bow, the pale wood smooth and worn down with use. It was an upgrade from the one Talyn had abandoned at the rift. Talyn nodded in thanks.
They stood at the entrance to the mountain pass, the biting wind blowing Talyn's long hair every which way. When Cassandra rejoined the group, they started walking up the narrow path, each side of it lined with massive, ice covered rocks. The further up the mountain they went, the darker it seemed to become, as if the mountain was sucking the life out of the living things that walked it's treacherous paths.
There was no time to talk. They moved as fast as the snow would let them. Talyn's lungs burned as the icy air stabbed her throat and froze her insides. With each passing moment, she felt herself growing more weak. The mark was sapping all her energy like a parasite, leaving Talyn with nothing but a husk of what she was.
Solas was by her side, ever so watchful, as if he was afraid she would turn to dust and fly away with the wind. Whenever Talyn stumbled, Solas caught her.
His words echoed in her head. "You should be dead."
"You don't have to help me." Talyn said, fighting to make her voice steady and strong.
"I know." He said, and yet he wouldn't leave her still.
They came upon the entrance into an ancient temple, it's caved in roof creaking dangerously as the sky started to rain it's frozen tears once more. On the ground in front of the entrance, the bodies of soldiers with armor nearly matching Cassandra's were sprawled about, blood pooling underneath their bodies.
Talyn had her bow in her hand, an arrow already in its place. Everyone else followed suit.
Cassandra met everyone's eyes. "Be ready." She warned them.
"Is there a rift?" Cassandra asked quietly.
Leiliana gave her a look that said "does it look like I know?"
They entered the ruins cautiously, each member of the party on alert for the demons that slaughtered the scouts. In the silence, there was the crackling sound of a fire echoing off the temple walls, but there was no smoke to show the existence of one. Talyn's mark started to burn. But it didn't give off the pain that she had been experiencing all day. It was a pleasant burn, one that warmed her and pulled her by some unknown force.
But then a crack of thunder from above sent Talyn to her knees, her bow clattering gracelessly to the stone. Pain shot through her arm, fraying her nerves, making it impossible to stand. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed through the pain. She could hear voices, but they were muffled, like she was trying to hear them under water.
Cool fingers brushed her forehead, tucked her hair behind her pointed ear. She heard a whisper in a familiar language in her ear, felt someone's hand grasp hers, the one that was burning. The pain stopped almost as soon as it had begun.
She opened her eyes and met a pair of brilliant silver eyes set in a handsome, Elvhen face.
"Are you alright?" Solas asked her.
She nodded. It was all she could do.
Solas helped her to her feet, and handed her the bow. She nodded in thanks and took it from him, knocking an arrow into the bow. The others were staring at her with similar worry.
"I'm fine." Talyn managed to say to them.
They continued their descent into the ruins, deep down where the darkness consumed them.
"Did anyone bother to bring a torch?" Varric asked.
The darkness was unnerving Talyn. She wished they had brought light, so that they would know what enemies awaited them in the darkness. Moments after she thought this, Talyn's skin lit up like fireflies. The markings glowed in the darkness, giving light where once there was none. She had to stop herself from stopping in the middle of that long tunnel to admire herself. She had no idea how she was doing it. Even Varric whistled low.
"Fenris couldn't do that." He said to no one in particular.
She was called to the front of the group, so her light could guide them through the dark. And still, that sizzling sound sounded throughout the halls.
"Cassandra, are you sure we're supposed to be in here?" Leiliana asked her.
"Yeah, Seeker, this place is giving me the heebie jeebies." Varric chimed in.
"We are supposed to go through the ruins. We are almost to the Temple of Sacred Ashes, just bear the darkness for a bit longer." Cassandra told them.
Soon, there was a light at the end of what seemed to be a long tunnel. Talyn sighed in relief, her heart lifting at the thought that they were almost out of the ruins.
Then, the sound grew louder.
Pop! Crack! Pop!
The source of the crackling grew nearer, and the mark on Talyn's hand seemed to burn more intensely, pulling Talyn along. With each step closer to the sound the tension in the group seemed to grow. As they reached the light, it took on a sickly green color, like the color on her hand.
Like the Breach in the sky.
A deep, inhuman growl came from behind them. They all whirled around to see one of the largest Rage demons Talyn had ever seen, it's molten skin glowing a bright red, it's mouth opened wide, it's eyes burning with rage. It swiped at Solas, but he neatly dodged the attack, and sent an ice spike in it's direction.
Cassandra let out a war cry and charged, with Leiliana not far behind her, while Talyn and Varric raised their weapons and let the sky rain fire. The intensity of the pleasant burn Talyn had been feeling grew, until it was no longer pleasant, just uncomfortable. Soon, the rage demon was dead, and Talyn ran quickly to the rift, shutting it with one gesture from her Marked hand before anymore could come out of it. As the rift closed, the burn in her hand disappeared.
"The demons are becoming stronger." Solas pointed out. "We must hurry and get to the Breach, before we cannot fight them."
"Let's hurry!" Cassandra commanded, and they started to run.
Soon, Talyn was breathing the fresh, crisp air of the mountain, the wind freezing her face. They stood at the top of a path that descended down the mountain, and from here Talyn could see the ruins of what was once a very large building, the stone and wood still smoldering from whatever burned it to the ground.
Soon, they entered the ruins of what was the Temple of Sacred Ashes.
Ashes still floated in the air, and with every step she made clouds of ash puffed at her feet. All around her, Talyn saw the burned bodies of the innocents caught in the explosion, their arms raised to their charred faces as if they could protect themselves from the fire and the debris. The sheer terror and pain etched on their petrified faces was enough to force Talyn to look away. It was as silent as a graveyard.
No. Not a graveyard. A tomb.
Cassandra and Leiliana exchanged mournful glances. But no one said a word. It was like they couldn't. Like the temple not only took the lives of the stone corpses surrounding the him, but the voices of the living.
The Breach was high in the sky, connected only by a very large rift that hovered above the ground. Giant shards of a red crystal came up from the ground, as if they grew there like trees. There was something strange about the red crystals. Talyn's body seemed to react to it, the lyrium she could see on her hands started to change color, into a light purple.
Talyn jerked away from the lyrium, moving to the other side of Solas to put some distance between her and the red crystals. Her markings returned to their original, lightning blue color.
"Seeker, that's red lyrium." Varric said in a hushed whisper.
"I know, Varric." Cassandra responded.
"But what is it doing here?! Stay away from the stuff, it's evil." Varric warned everyone.
Talyn seconded that.
"I hope you have a plan to get me up there." Talyn gestured towards the Breach.
"We don't need to get you in the sky." Solas explained. "This rift is the first, and it is directly tied to the Breach. We close this rift, we close the Breach. But it seems that it was improperly closed the first time. We need to re-open it, and close it again."
"That means demons. Get ready." Cassandra instructed the soldiers.
"Can you do this?" Solas asked softly in Talyn's ear.
"I'm fine." Talyn replied in a quiet tone, although she knew she wasn't fine. It took everything she had to pull back on her bowstring. She had no idea how she carried on this far.
He didn't look convinced. "Stay by my side, lethallan."
They went to move to the center of the temple, where the rift was.
"Bring forth the sacrifice." A deep, booming voice thundered above them. Talyn put a hand to her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut. The voice caused her pain.
"Who was that?" Cassandra turned to look at Solas.
"Presumably, the one who caused the Breach, Seeker." He replied. "Talyn, are you alright?"
"My head..." Talyn hissed in pain.
Solas was immediately focused on Talyn. He placed two fingers on her forehead, and his cool magic helped eased Talyn's pain.
"Someone, help me!"
Cassandra and Leiliana gasped.
"The Divine!" Leiliana exclaimed.
There was a sound, like a crack of thunder, and then a thud that echoed throughout the area, and then a confused, angry, familiar voice rang out.
"Where am I? What's going on here?"
Cassandra turned her wide-eyed gaze on Talyn. "That's you! Tell me, what happened?!"
"I don't remember." Talyn spat at her. "I've already told you, I remember nothing up until this morning!"
"Run! Warn the others!" The Divine begged of Talyn.
"Kill the elf!" That dark voice commanded.
"The Divine called to you for help..." Cassandra said in disbelief.
"I told you I was innocent."
They reached the rift.
"What do I do?" Talyn asked Solas.
"Just hold out your hand, like you do when you close a rift."
Talyn approached it, and held out her hand, feeling the pulling sensation that came with her Mark, and that uncomfortable, but not painful burn. She could feel the Breach, she could feel its pulse, like it had a heart. It was like she was connected to it, like she was the Breach. It's very essence was her own, her heartbeat even slowed to match the pulse of the Breach.
With a gesture, she reopened the rift. The rift opened with an explosion of green fire, sending Talyn flying backwards and hitting the cold stone of what was once a staircase. Demons poured out of the rift, and fight began.
Talyn jumped back to her feet, letting loose arrows as fast as she could. Shades, wraiths, rage demons, they all came flying out of the rift and setting themselves loose on the world. The roars, the cries of war, and the clashing of steel bounced off of the crumbling stone walls.
It seemed, for a moment, that the demons were outnumbered. The battle was beginning to look like it would be a quick one.
But then the ground shook, toppling a column, and a deep, booming cry sounded, one that shook the very sky. A purple hand with long, deadly black claws that glinted dangerously in the green light of the rift reached out and gripped the edge of the rift, pulling itself into the world of men.
"By Andraste's tits!" Varric swore loudly.
Talyn stood there, transfixed that the monstrous beast that stood before them. Its mouth had razor sharp teeth, and spikes sprouted from its head and down it's spine. It stood nearly as tall as the very temple they were fighting in.
"A pride demon!" Solas shouted. "Talyn! Go to the rift!"
Talyn heard him but couldn't process what he was saying. All she could do was stare at the beast that was stalking it's way towards her, his very footsteps shaking the earth. Her grip on her bow grew lax.
She jumped as Solas grabbed her wrist and nearly dragged her towards the rift, shoving her hand in the green flames.
The world suddenly stopped. Talyn ripped her hand from Solas' grasp. The demons had all stopped, as if they were stunned. The pride demon just stood there, staring blankly ahead of it.
"Hurry, we only have a few moments!" Solas called out.
The soldiers cut down the stunned demons. Just like Solas predicted, a few moments later the demons started to come back to life. Talyn held her hand out to the rift once more, and they stopped moving.
She saw black dots swim across her vision, but she kept at it, every time the demons sprang back to life and started to attack them, she stunned them once more. It took a few times, but the demons, including the pride demon, lay scattered on the floor.
Using the last of Talyn's strength, she waved her hand, feeling the tugging of the rift end at last as it disappeared.
Everything went black.