Chapter 55: Night Terrors pt1

Greetings,

I hope this letter finds you well. I've often thought of you in these past three years. Without your kindness, my Feynriel would have been long-since sold to slavers. Instead, he has thrived and begun to master his magic. But now his nightmares have caught up with him, and neither the Keeper nor the first enchanter knows how to help. I don't know where else to turn.

Please, come to my home in the alienage. I will be waiting to speak with you. Thank you again for the compassion you have shown Feynriel in the past.

Sincerely yours,

Arianni

Varteral Hunting Ground-Then

"Oy, there's no need to hide" Ericks said. "It's safe, the Keeper sent us" The elf peeked his head over cover.

"The Keeper?" he asked. "Praise Andras…I mean the Creators. I thought I'd never get out of…" He walked out of his cover to the gang but then froze when he saw Merrill. "Merrill?"

"Aneth ara, Pol. Are you hurt?"

Pol's eyes went wide as he slowly walked back. For some reason, he was afraid of Merrill. "Stay back! What do you want from me?"

"P-Pol. What's wrong? I…I'm here to help…"

"Stay back! Don't touch me!"

"Merrill couldn't hurt you if she tried. At worst, she might make frowny faces" Ericks said trying to calm things.

"She'll do worse than hurt me! Don't you know what she is?" Pol then ran away back into the vaterral's lair. "Creators, help me! Someone, please!"

"Pol, no!" Merrill said. "We have to catch him. Hurry!"


Merril's House-Kirkwall Alienage

Merrill sat in a chair with her head buried in her hands; next to her on the table was the arulin'holm. It had been days since she gotten the ancient elven tool, but she haven't been working on the eluvian like she wanted. The elf was held back by bad memories…memories that made her doubt her mission. "Quite the long face you have" Merrill looked up and saw Ericks.

"Oh, Ericks…come in" Merrill said. "Just been thinking…am I crazy?" Ericks sat in a chair in front of her.

"That question came out of nowhere…."

"I thought getting the arulin'holm would fix everything…the mirror would work and everything would be right again" Merrill then sighed. "But I keep think of Pol's face, everyone that I care for thinks I'm a monster"

"It's hard to imagine someone more lovable than you" Ericks said.

Merrill gave a small smile. "That's so untrue, I can think of someone" she said. "I…you've been so good to me, someday I'll make this up to you"

"You don't have to, I'm helping you because I want to, remember?" The elf and the rogue then heard a knock at the door. It was Anders.

"Hawke, she's here"

"Who's here?" Merrill asked.

"Remember Arianni? I received a letter from her" Ericks said. "It's about her son" Ericks and Merrill came outside to meet with Isabela and Anders. Fenris, Aveline, Varric and Sebastian were also there…this must have been big for Ericks to call everyone together. They walked towards a very worried Arianni.

"You answered my letter, thank you" she said. "You did so much for my Feynriel already, but…" Arianni gave a distressed sigh. "I visited him among the People, but he turned me away. I know the demons still plague him"

"And now they've taken him! Two days ago, Feynriel went into a nightmare and hasn't returned" According to Marethari, Feynriel is near death, he was still breathing but that was all she could say. Arianni contacted the Keeper to perform an ancient ritual that might help her son, but she needed more people to assist her, preferably someone Feynriel trust to enter the Fade to free him so the worried mother contacted Ericks.

"The Fade's pretty new to me, but I'll do everything I can for the boy"

"Thank you, you have been so kind to us. Feynriel thinks of you as a true friend" Arianni said. "Marethari will be coming soon to preforming the ritual; I have Feynriel's childhood things here to help anchor him"

"Frolic through dreams? Sounds like an experience. I'm game" Isabela said.

"The Fade is not a fun place…trust me on this" Anders said. Merrill said nothing but the look on her face said it all…she was hurt that the Keeper, someone she saw as a mother would delve into the ancient magicks of their ancestors for the sake of this half-breed, instead of her and her cause. In that moment, Merrill truly felt alone. The gang saw the elves starting to gather near the stair entrance as Marethari entered the alienage. The city elves bowed to the Keeper; despite not seeing eye to eye at times with the Dalish…they were still one people. She walked towards the vhenadahl and was greeted by the azure flame at its base, a gesture of welcoming shared by the city and Dalish elves for people of great importance. Marethari turned towards Arianni and the gang. Her eyes met with Merrill's and the young elf just turn her head…still there was too much friction between teacher and student.

They entered Arianni's home. "I came quickly, Arianni. I did not wish to tell you by letter how grave the situation is" the Keeper said. "Your son is no ordinary mage, he is…a dreamer"

Fenris' eyes went wide. "A somniari?! In this day and age?!"

"You know about this, Fenris?" Ericks asked.

"A mage capable of entering the Fade at will, no lyrium or blood magic required" he said. "There are many stories about them in Tevinter, the major noble families are said to trace their bloodlines back to these mages"

Marethari nodded. "And Feynriel is the first in two ages to survive" A talented dreamer can shape the Fade and affect the dreams of sleeping people, killing or driving them mad. Some can dream in forgotten ruins to uncover secrets long forgotten by witnessing spirits re-enact the history of a place. Admittedly though, the account of the dream may be biased depending on whose perspective the spirit chooses to emulate. However, dreamers attract demons and most prove too frail of mind to survive a demonic possession. As a result, dreamers are rare. The very presence of demons is painful to dreamers, as they are particularly sensitive to them.

"So what does this ritual entails?"

"The elves of the Dales were experts in the somniari arts. They could even help those with no power enter the Fade" The Keeper said. "I have done my best to recreate the ritual; we will use the Feyriel's childhood home as a focus to draw him back through the Veil"

"The demon that holds the boy will do everything in it's power to keep Feynriel in its custody" she said. "Demons may manifest outside to attack me, and if the ritual is undone whoever is inside the Fade will be trapped there forever"

"So we have guard duty out here, fine by me…don't know how much help I'd be to you in there" Varric said.

"I don't know about this…the Golden city was corrupted by entering the Fade" Sebastian said. "We could end up making things worse"

"No pressure then…send me in" Ericks said.

"I told you he was amazing!" Arianni said.

"On that I agree, now Arianni if you'll please excuse us. We must prepare" Arianni nodded and waited outside with Varric and Sebastian. Fenris and Aveline took their positions at the side while Isabela, Merrill and Anders took their positions. "Hawke…there is more I must tell you that is not for her ears"

"It's much worse than you've been saying…"

"Indeed and the danger may not come from what you think" the Keeper said. "It's rare but if a dreamer were to survive possession, the abomination that would come about would be near unstoppable"

"We cannot allow this happen to Feynriel" she said. "If you cannot save the boy from the demons, you must kill him yourself"

Ericks frowned. "Kill him?"

Marethari nodded. "A death in the Fade will make him what your Circle calls Tranquil. He will be no threat after" she said. "Can you do this?"

"I'm hoping it won't come to that, but if it does…"

"I am sorry for putting you in this situation"

"Don't worry about it…I'm used to doing dirty work" The gang was in the center of the room.

"This is the point of no return, tread carefully for all will face temptation" the Keeper said.

"I never give into temptation" Isabella said.

"I worry what a journey to the Fade might bring out in me…Anders said.

"Let us get this over with…" Merrill said.

"Let us begin" The world turned to black.


The first known human dreamer was Thalsian. He came from the Neromenian tribes and claimed that he ventured to the Realms of the Gods where the Old God Dumat taught him blood magic. The Old Gods are said to have taught many members of the Neromenian tribes magic and over time, the Neromenian dreamers become both priests and kings.

There are stories of ancient Tevinter magisters who were able fend off rivals by haunting or killing them in their dreams. Adralla, the mage who invented the litany, is also known to have found a defense against dreamers.

It is said that the First Blight and the birth of darkspawn crippled the Dreamers: for the first time in thousands of years, they could no longer hear the voices of their gods. Over the next hundred years, fewer and fewer mages with the Dreamers' abilities were found in Tevinter. Attempts to breed the ability proved futile, and the resultant mages proved weak of power and frail of mind. Some believe that true Dreamers could still be found in Dalish clans, though they were few and far between even there.-From the Notes of First Enchanter Aemilius Celsius of the Imperial Circle of Magi of Vyrantium 5:44 Exalted

The Fade

The gang was walking through the halls made up of Feyrnriel's dreams, it felt like they were still back in Kirkwall but everything in their head was telling them that something was not right. "I had not thought to return in such a way" The others looked back at Anders and saw that he was not home…Justice has taken over once again. However this time, the spirit was calm and at ease due to being back home in the Fade, the gang kept their guard up nonetheless in case Justice had any other ideas. "It is good to feel the breath of the Fade again, not the empty air of your world"

"Justice…always such a 'pleasure' to see you" Ericks said sarcastically. The spirit walked forward leading the way.

"Come. I sense the boy's mind straining. We will not have much time"

"So are we sure we want to do this while Anders is 'out for lunch'?" Isabela asked.

"Not like we have much choice…we're stuck here until we kill the demon" the rogue said. "Let's just hope Justice stays in a good mood for once" Once the gang got out of the hallway, the area changed into the Gallows.

"Is this the Templar Hall? What an awful thing to dream about…" Merrill gasped.

Ericks sighed. "Can't say I'm surprised, so many mages hate themselves because the Chantry teaches them that they are cursed monsters to be feared" he said. "It ain't right…no one should feel worthless because of how they were born" The gang continued forward until they reached the courtyard. A demon slithered towards them but did not attack…always a bad sign.

"Well…it's rare to see two forgotten magicks in one day" it said. "A slow place the Fade is usually, not many surprises. I wasn't sure I'd like this one…but it has potential"

"A demon of sloth. It exists to make men forget their purpose and their pride…do not relax around it!" Justice said.

"It would seem they are more wary of you then me, spirit of justice" the demon said. "Call me Torpor, I have a proposition that might interest you" Ericks just took out his daggers.

"How about…no"

"Suit yourself" The demon attacked.

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