For once, Talyn didn't dream. There was no Solas, there was no murderous redheaded elf. Just blissful darkness. At dawn, she was the first one awake. Her mind was swimming with thoughts of the kiss her and Solas shared in the world of dreams, so she rolled up her sleeping mat and went to walk in the woods to try to clear it.

She wanted to talk to Solas about last night, but she was afraid. She knew he was a Fadewalker and that he could enter people's dreams. But was that really him in her dream, or was that just a figment of her imagination? What if he hadn't actually visited her last night and that she had made the whole thing up? It would be embarrassing if Talyn admitted that she dreamt about kissing him and it hadn't actually happened.

It was definitely a possibility that Solas didn't visit her dreams last night. There were so many times where Talyn had thought they were going to kiss though. The gardens of the Redcliffe castle. In his study when he was teaching her to dance. It felt like a moment that had been building since they first met.

She had tried to push her feelings for Solas away, to focus only on her mission to defeat Corypheus. But then he would do something, look at her in a certain way that made Talyn forget everything but the feeling of his hands in hers, or the feeling of his lips against her forehead while she was fighting for her life in the snowy wastelands of the mountain. Or he would say something cryptic that could mean multiple things, forcing Talyn to stay up all night to try and decipher his words.

And after he done or said whatever made Talyn's heart fluttery, he would shut her out. Talyn just couldn't tell if his feelings were reciprocated or not, and that was the part that scared her the most. Because at this point Talyn couldn't hide the way she felt, from herself or anyone else. And she was terrified of losing the only person that truly understood her.

As Talyn walked, she heard a sound, like a crackling fire. She stopped and tilted her head, pushing her keen ears to pick up more. It just sounded like a fire. But Talyn decided to investigate. Maybe she would get lucky and it would be a group of bandits. A good messy fight was exactly what she needed to clear her head of her pesky thoughts about Solas.

Her left hand started to burn. The Mark that made its home in her palm started to glow, and her tattoos reacted to it. It started to pull her, almost dragging her through the trees towards the source of the sound.

Oh, gods. It was a rift. Talyn had thought that when the Breach was sealed, all the rifts had been sealed as well. What was this one doing so far out in the trees?

Talyn unsheathed her sword and started to run, letting the Mark pull her in the direction of the rift.

Demons were crawling through it, gripping the frozen ground and pulling themselves into the realm of mortals. They were just lowly shades, easy enough to deal with. It only took Talyn a few moments to cut them down. But before Talyn could seal the rift more demons appeared. This time it wasn't just shades, but rage demons as well. They oozed their way towards Talyn, swinging with their molten lava arms, grazing Talyn's skin and leaving burns as they did so.

Talyn pulled her dagger out of its sheath tied to her thigh and fought with both weapons, turning into nothing but a bright blue whirlwind. She didn't have time to even stun the demons with her Mark, they all came at her too quickly. It was all she could do to keep them from killing her.

Something cold grazed her cheek before embedding itself in the rage demon she was currently fighting. She smelled fresh cedar and knew right away that it was Solas to the rescue. She felt him at her back, shooting well aimed ice spikes at the demons. She felt the tingling of a magical shield surrounding her, keeping her from harm.

"Talyn, now!" He shouted at her. Talyn turned and ran closer to the rift, slicing demons with her sword as she ran. Then she held up her hand, felt the tether between the Mark and the rift, and cut it.

The rift exploded, raining tiny green lights as it shut. What demons were left were too stunned to fight back, so the battle ended quickly.

Talyn wiped the demon blood off of her blades with her fingers and sheathed them.

She grinned at him. "Well, I'm glad you showed up."

Solas scowled at her. "What were you doing alone?"

Talyn was taken aback by his anger towards her. "I was just walking. No one else was awake…"

"So you thought it would be a good idea to go off into an unfamiliar forest alone?" He snapped.

Talyn herself was getting angry. "I can take care of myself." She snapped back at him.

Solas snorted. "Clearly you can. It's not as if I didn't find you surrounded by demons."

What was his problem? Why was he so angry? Honestly Talyn was curious, but his anger was rolling off of him and seeping into Talyn's skin, blurring the logical side of her brain. All she wanted to do was shout at him.

So she got up in his face, and said to him angrily, "I'm the gods damned Inquisitor. I can do whatever I damn well please, and if you have a problem with that you can leave!"

Then she stormed off back in the direction of the camp.

She didn't look behind her, but she knew that Solas wasn't far from her. She could feel his eyes on her as she aggressively stomped her way back to the camp. For the first time that she could remember, Talyn wasn't walking with silent feet. If there were anything dangerous lurking in the woods, they could hear her coming.

How dare he act like that, chastising her like she was a child?! And this wasn't the first time he had done it. Talyn was more capable of taking care of herself than Solas was. She had fought hundreds of monsters and men and lived. She took on a dragon and survived. She didn't need him to come to her rescue.

GODS. She was so furious with him she could feel her hands warm, and small blue flames nested in her palms. She made her hands into fists to snuff the fires out. She wanted to bash his face in so badly. Once that thought entered her mind, she winced, as if she was physically hurt. No. She didn't want to do that. She could never hurt Solas. But he was so infuriating!

Luckily the rest of the way back to the camp was uneventful. Everyone was awake at this point, and at the sight of Talyn Josephine nearly screamed. Her tan face was devoid of blood and her brown-gold eyes were Josephine was having a panic attack, Cassandra and Leiliana were reaching for their weapons.

"Are we in danger?" Cassandra asked her, completely unphased by Talyn's appearance.

"It was just a rift in the woods." Solas responded, appearing by Talyn's side.

Talyn scoffed and walked away from him.

"I handled it." She told them, her words sharper than they were intended to be. "We need to leave before any more unpleasant surprises show up."

Everyone exchanged glances. They could tell how agitated Talyn was, so they started to pack up the camp without another word. Josephine opened her mouth to say something to Talyn as she saddled her horse, but then thought better of it. She was probably going to suggest that Talyn bathed first before they left. She was completely covered with demon blood. Even her white-blonde hair had black in it.

They were on the road again an hour later. Talyn pushed her horse into a gallop, moving as far away from the carriage, and Solas, as she possibly could. Once she was a safe distance away, her horse slowed and Talyn looked around at the world around her.

Except Talyn was too irritated to appreciate the scenery.

They stopped right before entering the capital of Orlais so Talyn could wash off the dried black blood that still coated her skin. There was a secluded swimming hole that had enough trees and forest growth to block her from view. So Talyn peeled off her ebony armor and dove right in. When the icy water engulfed her, it felt like a breath of fresh air. Goosebumps formed all over her body, but the water felt amazing. It shocked Talyn, somehow washing away the black cloud that had hung over her head all day, along with the demon blood.

Talyn knelt down in the water so that it went up to her chin, and started to scrub to blood out of her hair. She closed her eyes and dunked her head.

When she resurfaced, she saw someone standing in front of her in the water. Staring at her. Someone she recognized.

It was the woman from her dream. Not the redhead, but the hideously deformed elvhen woman, the one with hatred in her emerald eyes and a black hole for a nose. Her brown hair had bald patches in it, and thin strands of it fell into the water and floated away with the current. Her cracked, bloody lips were formed into a snarl, showing broken teeth.

"This is your fault." Her voice was raspy, as if it hadn't been used in a long time.

Talyn felt the same fear that she had felt in that dream. She backed away from her.

"Go away!" Talyn cried. "Please just leave!" Her weapons were too far away to grab. She was vulnerable.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" The woman shouted, pointing at her face.

"What did I do?!" Talyn asked desperately, tears streaming down her face. "WHAT DID I DO?!"

The woman hobbled towards her, not even making a ripple in the water as she did so. Talyn kept backing away from her, but no matter how fast Talyn was, the woman seemed to be faster. Talyn was paralyzed with terror, she couldn't raise her arms to protect herself. All she could do was walk backwards.

With the speed of a striking snake, the woman covered Talyn's face and shoved her down underneath the water.

It was a dungeon, dark and dirty. She could hear the screeches of rats and the moans of the unfortunate that were trapped in this place. She was walking down the damp hall lined with cells, the chains on her wrists rattling as she moved. She was shoved, told to walk faster by a voice coming from behind her. But Talyn couldn't move her head to see who was speaking. It was like she was looking through the eyes of someone else.

But Talyn could see the blue swirls that decorated her hands, so she knew that whatever memory she was witnessing, it was her own.

The person behind her yanked on the chain, making her stop in front of a wooden door. A soldier in gold armor adorned with emerald leaves stepped into her vision. He knocked on the door and listened closely, nearly pressing his pointed ear into the door.

Talyn just stood there, silent. She felt calm, but she could also feel the dread that she was pushing down into the darkest corners of her heart. She did it so efficiently, as if she had been trained to master her emotions.

The door was opened, and the soldier shoved her inside, shutting it behind them.

The stone walls were covered in dark, dried blood. There were claw marks in the stone, white against the darkness of the walls. There were no windows, just a small hole in the corner of the room that shed any light into it. Candles were lit with blue Fade light all over the room, and there was one chair that was bolted to the floor, with a lone elf shackled to it.

Talyn felt shock, and guilt. The elf shackled to the chair was someone she knew. Someone she called friend.

"You betrayed me, ma vhenan." A familiar, cold voice came from the shadows.

Talyn felt nervous, but the Talyn from her memories was filled with a calm rage as she turned to see the woman that threatened her friend.

It was the beautiful huntress, the goddess that Talyn ran to happily in the beginning of all of her nightmares. A crown shaped from branches sat on top of her pale red hair, her face was paler than it should be, her eyes sunken in and black with madness.

Talyn could hear herself say, "I only betrayed myself, for refusing to see the truth."

"Truth?" The redhead cackled maniacally. "I'll show you some truth."

She could feel herself struggling against the magic shackles around her hands and ankles. Talyn didn't know how she knew, but the shackles were made specifically for her. The more Talyn struggled against them, the tighter they became until they were digging into her skin.

The redhead picked up a knife, and grab a fistful of the elf woman's hair, yanking her head back.

"Rasda." The woman in the chair croaked. Her terrified eyes were pleading with Talyn, begging her to save her.

"You took everything from me." The red head told Talyn. "So now you get to watch as I take everything from you."

"No." Talyn heard herself beg. "This is between you and me. She has nothing to do with this."

"This is your fault Rasdalalen. You caused this." The redhead smirked.

Talyn watched helplessly as she picked up the knife.

She stared with the woman's cheek. The red line was deep, and she could hear the woman scream.

The redhead laughed.

No matter how hard Talyn tried, she couldn't save her. She watched as the redhead cut her face until it was nearly unrecognizable. She watched her as she slowly sawed off the womans nose, causing as much pain as she could. The woman's beautiful bronze hair was torn from her scalp, her skin still attached to the clumps of hair. The blood dripped from the woman's wounds, down her neck and soaking into the dirty torn dress she wore.

"RASDAAAAA!" The woman screamed for her. "RASDA HELP ME!"

Talyn gasped for air as strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her out of the water. She was shivering uncontrollably, violent sobs tearing up her chest and throat.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Solas asked her, wrapping a cloak around her.

Talyn fell to her knees, her face in her hands. She started to rock back and forth as all of the emotions that the Talyn in her memories had suppressed came at her in full force. Guilt, shame, despair. It piled on top of her like boulders, crushing her chest.

"Shhh, it's alright Talyn." She could feel Solas' arms around her, holding her close, stopping her from her rocking.

"It's my fault!" Talyn managed to blubber out. "I didn't stop her… IT'S MY FAULT!"

"No." Solas said, almost violently. He put his hands on her cheeks and forced her to look at him. "You did everything you could."

"I'm a monster!" She cried.

"No you are not! Never say that!" He pulled her into a hug again, and this time Talyn wrapped her arms around his neck, the cloak falling off of her shoulders.

Talyn didn't know how long they sat there like that. Eventually her sobs subsided, her eyes felt puffy. When she came to her senses, she quickly grabbed the cloak that had fallen off of her and wrapped herself in it, not meeting Solas' eyes.

Without another word she grabbed her armor and walked away where Solas couldn't see her put it on.

Then they went back to their journey. When Talyn and Solas emerged from the trees, no one dared asked why it took so long. When they saw her face, they suppressed their scandalous grins. The only one who seemed to have any concern for her was Cassandra.

Talyn had no more fight in her. She didn't care that Solas stayed glued to her side for the rest of their journey. She couldn't bring herself to do anything but sit on her horse. It was a miracle that her horse knew where to go, because Talyn definitely wasn't guiding him. Her thoughts were consumed with what happened in the river.

Was she going insane? Were her memories manifesting before her very eyes? Was invading her dreams not enough?

All of that pain… and that was only a fraction of the pain Talyn had experienced. She knew that her past was saturated in pain. Suddenly, she didn't want to know what happened to her. She wanted to stay ignorant of all the pain she had to endure before coming to Haven. She didn't want to know who she was before she became the Herald of Andraste.

They arrived in the capital by the time night fell. They stayed in a little inn by the castle. Talyn, being the Inquisitor, had a room to herself. She was glad that she had the privacy of not sharing the room with Josephine, Leiliana or Cassandra. Talyn hadn't said a word since the river and she wasn't planning on saying anything until she was forced to.

She was in the Guardian Grove again, laying in the damp grass and staring up at the lightly glowing leaves of the guardian trees. She turned her head to see Solas laying next to her. He was staring at her, his arms tucked underneath his head. He had that same otherworldly look to him, his eyes an unnatural bright silver.

Talyn sat up, and started to pluck at the blades of grass. "So, that was really you last night."

"Yes." Solas responded.

"We did actually kiss…"

Solas sat up as well. "Yes, we did."

"So, is that why you were a dick to me this morning? Didn't like it?" Bitterness coated Talyn's voice.

"Quite the opposite, actually."

Normally, Talyn's face would have been a bright red, her heart pounding at his words. But tonight, in this dream, she felt nothing. Nothing but the overwhelming feeling of emptiness.

Solas picked up on that quickly. "What did you see in the river?" His voice was gentle, understanding. That made Talyn angry.

She made a strange noise, a mixture of a sigh and a growl and jumped to her feet, stomping away from him. Fireflies flew up into the sky, leaving a trail of gold behind her. He appeared out of nowhere directly in front of her, grabbing her shoulders, making her stop in her tracks.

"Talk to me, Talyn."

Talyn couldn't meet his eyes. "There's nothing to say."

"Bullshit. You were inconsolable. You still are."

Solas gently gripped her chin and forced her head up, making her meet his eyes.

"Tell me what happened."

Talyn tore herself from his grip. "You want to know what happened, Solas? I'm cursed. I'm being haunted by a woman who was tortured beyond repair. A beautiful elf who I watched be destroyed and did absolutely nothing about!"

Talyn walked away from him again. And, once more, Solas was in front of her and stopped her.

"You saw a memory?"

Tears filled Talyn's eyes. "Yeah, I did. Of that crazed redhead, whoever the fuck she is, torturing my friend. And I can't even remember her name. I don't remember the name of the woman I let die."

And then she started crying. Solas wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his chest. Her arms hung limply by her sides, but she let him hold her. She buried her face in his chest and cried until there were no more tears left in her body. And then, when her tears subsided, she still let him hold her.

Her throat thick with sorrow, she said, "the redhead called me Rasdalalen. Assassin. That's my True Name Solas, I was right all along. I've felt it in my bones since the day I woke up in Haven. I'm nothing but death hiding in elvhen skin."

Solas was quiet for awhile, thinking about what to say to her.

Then, speaking barely above a whisper, he said, "we all have blood on our hands. But the blood… it is not who we are."

His lips touched her ear. "I know who you are, Talyn. You are so much more than your memories."

"Then who am I?"

Solas tilted her chin up so she was forced to look at him. "You are my salvation."

Then he was gone.