TW: Animal death in this chapter.

Ellana followed the spirit out of the room, not knowing what the polite thing was in this situation. Should she ask it questions or would that be rude? Was not talking rude? How did one approach a rare opportunity such as this?

"So," Ellana cleared her throat, "where are we going?"

"We'll stop here." It swirled to her in a wispy way; they stopped in what seemed to be a common room a few doors down from where they were.

Ellana finally got a good look at the being – it was both wonderful and horrifying. Wonderfully horrifying?

The part that bothered her the most was not knowing where to look; the spirit had depressions of where a mouth, nose, and eyes would go, but it was unnerving to essentially look at nothing.

"Are you going to explain automatically, or do I need to ask questions?" Ellana probed.

"That eluvian is tainted with a form of Blight sickness, and has been so for many, many years. The mirror was lost to time and the taint only festered and waits for anything it can spread the taint to."

"Then why did I…hear voices? See images?"

"I am not fully aware of how Blight sickness works, and I do not wish to provide false information."

Ellana dithered with her response. That almost seemed to be the end of the conversation, so what now?

To her relief, the spirit spoke again. "I brought you away from the mirror so you may rest for a few moments."

Now that her adrenaline wore off, Ellana felt the harsh sting of sleep deprivation heavy on her eyelids, and the ache of sore muscles. It would be best for her to sit down and center herself for a few minutes.

The room was dusty and covered in a fine layer of dirt, but like the rest of the underground portion, it was better preserved than the upper levels. Through the grime that clung to every surface, colorful painted patterns imbedded with gems curled across white marble walls.

Ellana took off her pack and plopped down on a nearby chaise lounge. Forgetting that everything was buried under a good layer of dust, it all puffed up when the chair was disturbed by her weight on it. She sneezed quite a few times, losing count. When it stopped, she went to wipe the dust and dirt that clung to her face, but only succeeded in caking it on more.

She closed her eyes and tried to forget where she was and the situation. Just for these few moments she would not let her mind run away from her.

"What else is there?" Ellana finally said.

"There is no way out at this level. The areas that allow and bring in air are not large enough for you to fit or climb through."

Okay, maybe a few more moments of ignoring it all.

The spirit continued, "And I want inform you that there may not be much time before animals are drawn to you once more. The only safe way for you to leave will be through the mirror."

"The mirror that you just removed me from? Elaborate, please."

"You may be able to transfer the affliction the mirror has onto another living thing. If you manage to do so, the eluvian would possibly be safe to travel through."

The words may, manage, and possibly did not inspire any confidence in Ellana. This was final punishment for her curiosity – to be mangled and eaten by Fade-touched spiders, and she was just providing them a bit of a hunt first.

She should have just opened the store and done light research. Perhaps even enrolled at a small university. Something other than risking her well-being that eventually led to this mess.

But there was no use dwelling on the what ifs. What was done was done and now more than ever, Ellana had people depending on her, depending on her hand. For all the selfish regret that may have lingered within her, it felt great to be a part of history-altering discoveries. To be doing something extraordinary with her life.

And that was what she had to focus on.

"All right, what do I have to do?" Ellana held her gaze on the spirit's wraithy frame.

"First you must find a creature to transfer the sickness to."

And right then, as if comically timed, the recognizable squeaking of a nug sounded nearby.

"….Is there any other way? You are the Spirit of Wisdom, I'm open to any idea. Anything," Ellana replied with hesitation. Anything but having to sacrifice that cute nug. Granted, she hadn't seen the nug yet, but they were all cute. And there was no doubt in her mind that this would inevitably be the most adorable one she'd ever see, because of course it would be. That was how these things apparently worked.

"The ratio of your success is already low. You may also take the risk and wait for your companions to rescue you, but there is a significant chance that the structure of these ruins may collapse."

Spiders, collapsing architecture, having to sacrifice a nug…maybe witnessing history wasn't that great of a thing, after all.

Ellana took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and exhaled. She could do this, she was going to do this. Do what needed to be done now, process the emotions later. That was probably unhealthy, but things needed to get done and she didn't want to be eaten by roaming arachnids.

She opened her backpack and unwrapped one of the sticks of jerky she packed. "This needs to be done," Ellana whispered to herself.

Ellana walked very slowly to where she heard the squeaking and whistled. With the anchor lighting the floor and waving the jerky in her right hand, she tried to find the nug.

And there it was, munching on some weeds, as adorable as she imagined. "Creators above," she cursed.

Ellana kneeled and the nug warily crawled to her and began nibbling on the jerky. She gently scooped up the small animal and returned to where the spirit was.

"What now?"

"We return to the room."

She shifted herself to hold the nug with one hand, the nug being oddly calm, and grabbed her pack with her free hand.

They left the room and traveled down the hall once more. Moments before, she was rummaging around the lower level of these ruins, amazed at what she found. Now, Ellana just wanted to leave and forget she ever came here.

As they got closer, the luring whispers crawled to her once more, its tantalizing speech pulling at her to do what the mirror bid.

The group stood outside where the eluvian was contained and stared at the mirror in front of them. Well, nothing was accomplished with staring at something, so Ellana went in. And once again, she was on the dais before it. Those voices were so loud, they were attempting to overwhelm her once more. Overwhelm her with sensations so foreign, yet familiar.

"Continue to ignore it. All it whispers are empty words," the spirit warned.

"This nug is going to die, isn't it," Ellana said while petting the unknowing animal.

"Yes, there is no cure for this sickness. It corrupts all it touches."

Ellana held the nug closer to her chest, and the nug in response chewed at her sleeve, as it had finished the jerky. "What do I need to do."

The spirit floated to her. "This has never been done before, so I am not entirely sure. But what I can tell you is that the energy from your hand, the eluvian and the sickness within it, they are all connected. Try to draw the Blight sickness with your left hand and transfer it to the animal."

Ellana placed the animal down and grabbed a piece of, now stale, bread to distract it. With false confidence, she raised her left hand allowed its energy to surge. She closed her eyes and focused on those whispers–

Touch the mirror and see what lies beyond it.

We have been waiting so long in this city, waiting for you to come by, dear Ellana.

Our city awaits you; we await you.

Come now, child. You are so close to understanding it all.

Through those words, through the images the mirror forced her to see, Ellana could feel that thrum of magic akin to what she wielded. She felt the slight ripple of the Veil that bordered the waking world from the Fade.

She was drawn to the eluvian and the eluvian was drawn to her, they were the same.

Ellana opened her eyes and felt a small trickle of sweat slide down her face. There was a mild breathlessness about her, a manifestation of her exertion.

Slowly, that poisoning red and black tint withdrew itself from the eluvian and reached toward Ellana. As it did so, she swore she could feel eagerness emanating from the corruption; it was more than ready to take her as its new host.

Those sickening colors merged with the green from the anchor.

"Now, you must pass it on to the animal!" the spirit declared.

"I'm so sorry, little guy," Ellana said as she lowered herself to the nug's level. With her face turned away and eyes tightly shut, she scooped it up and pressed her left hand to the nug's abdomen.

It squirmed and cried, but she held her hand firmly.

"It is done," the spirit told her.

Ellana sputtered out the breath she was holding and became aware that her arms were heavier than before.

With gentle motions, she placed the limp nug on the stone floor. It had to be done, it had to be done.

And it was done.

She spun away from the animal, her back to the spirit. Her voice broke as she asked, "Is it safe for me to pass through, now?"

"Yes. You will enter the Crossroads, and through there, try to find another active eluvian," the spirit noted Ellana's hesitance, "I cannot follow you, so you must go on your own. Keep track of where you are and do not get lost."

"Inspiring words, truly," Ellana replied bitingly. "But thank you for your help. At least I have a chance." She put her bag on again and strode to the imposing mirror that was now silent.

Without a final backward glance or letting the spirit have a chance to reply, Ellana stepped through the glass.

That guilt of leaving so hastily, the guilt at taking an animal's life were instantly leavened by what awaited her on the other side. Bright, lurid color flooded her vision. It was beautiful – no, it was enchanting. The towering trees placed between eluvians bloomed with pink blossoms, and their petals gently fell. The ground was of brickwork but were intricately carved with various flowering deigns. But this initial grandeur of the Crossroads eventually faded to show its hidden nature. Those trees were dry and cracking along the bark, and its branches were weak enough to snap. Ellana took a few steps forward, and the ground was uneven and bumpy, its stones eroded and coming apart.

She turned her head to survey it all but hissed and squinted when the light reflecting from the eluvians hit her eyes.

"So, the spirit said not to get lost," she sighed. Far easier said than to actually do.

Ellana put her backpack on a nearby boulder and dug through it. She mentally took count of how many rations she had left, and fruitlessly tried to turn on her phone again. With an embarrassing shake of her head, she put her phone back in the bag. She tried to turn on her phone here. Even if it did turn on, there was no way she could do much with it.

What was this place, anyway? Was it the Fade or somehow inside the Veil? All so confusing. This magic and elf stuff was getting all too complicated, even for her.

Eventually, Ellana pulled a pearlescent shawl looted from the ruins. Running a hand across the silken fabric, her fingers grazed over the embroidered swirls and Elvhen lettering. It was both a gorgeous piece of clothing and a valuable artifact.

Oh well. Nothing was more valuable than Ellana's need to find a working eluvian to stay alive. With the small pocketknife she had tucked away in the bag, she crudely cut long pieces of fabric.

This what they did in movies and books, right? Tie strips of cloth on trees to mark their way? Then again, getting lost in a forest was one thing and being lost inside of the Fade was another. There were no guides, nothing that could prepare for a situation such as this.

On the other hand, perhaps this could be something that she could capitalize on.

How to survive your trip to the Fade

From an underground rendezvous to exploring the vast Unknown

Or perhaps:

My hand turned green and now I'm lost, and I don't know what to do

Those were all very valid titles for the best-selling book that Varric would undoubtedly fund for her. Yes, this was all plausible. And Dorian could handle the publicity affairs, Merrill could be her manager, and Sera…Ellana would find a place for Sera, no doubt.

They were why Ellana was cutting the shawl. So many people were depending on her and waiting on her. Beyond the bubble she had created in Val Royeaux, she had family and friends waiting back at Clan Lavellan. And if she got through this whole ordeal, the amount of knowledge of the Elvhen she would bring back would be worth it.

Yet, there was still a small part of her that wanted to just quit. This was gradually beginning to be too much for her. The saying, "be careful what you wish for" certainly rang true for Ellana. She wanted magic and to explore? Well, she got it. That was for sure.

Ellana stuffed the things she took out of her backpack and held onto the pieces of fabric and the pocketknife.

It didn't feel likely that she'd run into anything here, aside from those weird trees, there seemed to be a lack of life here.

Unless…there were spirits that would fight her? Demons? Comforting to know that they are real now. Because if they were real…then the pantheon, they must be as well. Right? She was raised with a belief in them, not that she always strictly followed it, but it was different to have it suddenly be so palpable.

Ellana added these new worries to her ever-growing list, just another thing for her to dread. When she was safe, it would probably be important to schedule in an existential crisis.

So, with that, she tied her first strip of cloth to a tree near the eluvian she just exited from. After she did this, Ellana walked a few steps away to examine how it looked.

Not bad, but would it be enough? She only had cut eight strips of fabric but could possibly cut a few more from those eight. The problem was that Ellana needed the strips to be a certain length to ensure she'd spot them from a distance.

As she took a look at her full hands, the idea to mark the ground hit her. Ellana would have to do it sparingly as the knife would grow dull with each use, but at least that made another method for her to rely one. And if all else failed, she could leave a trail of whatever she had in her backpack.

Ellana made a diagonal slash in the grey, eroded stone beneath her. So be it, that and the shawl had to be enough. In this vast, vivid landscape, Ellana randomly chose a direction. There were two outcomes she decided there would be – finding an active mirror and not finding one. It didn't matter where she headed off to first, she only needed to start.

The eluvians weren't in formal rows or columns, instead they were scattered across the land with no particular order. At least no order that Ellana could deduce, so her plan was to do section by section. And when she ran out of cloth to tie, she'd retrace her steps and untie previous strips to use them again. She decided that when it was time to do this, she'd mark the bark of the tree she removed the strip from. It was convoluted, but it was all Ellana could come up with.

An active mirror would be easy to spot, and that was what Ellana held onto. Through this throng of inactive, dull eluvians, a glowing active one would be noticeable.

Ellana sighed. Even though she knew dull ones did nothing, she still felt the need to at least touch the glass of each one she passed. Just in case, obviously. She had no way of knowing what all this of capable of.

Mirror after mirror she touched, and none responded. This journey was proving to be mind-numbing and boring. Well, she was possibly the first person to set foot here in who knew how long, but the novelty was starting to wear off. It was weird to be experiencing so many firsts, not just personally but for Thedas.

Through this solo adventure, Ellana's mind wandered to various subjects to alleviate said boredom. The thoughts that stuck in her mind were the logistics of it all.

Was this place in the Fade, and if not, then where was it? Was it between the Fade and her world? If the latter was the case, what did that even mean? That it was some sort of pocket dimension?

In the hollow of the Crossroads, Ellana's laugh clearly echoed. Maybe by her somehow ending up in this place she could end up with a prize in physics. She'd love to see academics collectively lose their minds at this discovery. How many theories would be invalidated? Even Morrigan and Merrill who both specialized in this area, did not have concrete proof or experience of something like this.

And what did this mean for other planets? Did the Fade extend across the universe, and the Veil along with it? And if not, why was Thedas special in that regard? That existential crisis came earlier than scheduled, it seemed.

A milky mist began to encircle her ankles and creep up her legs, distracting from her attempt to somehow quantify reality.

This portion of the Crossroads was different from whence she came, its coloring was drab in comparison with dull silvers and purples, and there were absolutely no signs of life. The pink-blossomed trees had slowly tapered off until there were none, and they were replaced by tall, iron man-made trees with branches that curved high into a globe-like formation. How very eerie.

Ellana had three strips of cloth left and quickly dulling knife. Should she continue forward or retreat for the time being?

A minor pang of hunger struck to her surprise. People can get hungry in the Crossroads! What a discovery.

With a look to the left and to the right, it was a swift decision to take her break elsewhere.

She turned back and began retracing her steps, entering the more welcoming portion of the Crossroads. A few paces ahead and there would be a slash–

Only that there wasn't one.

"Damn it!" Ellana yelled. She wasn't lost as she could still see the strips she tied to trees in the distance, but it didn't make this any less infuriating.

To prove what she was thinking, Ellana made a haphazard slash in the ground once again. This time, she stood and waited.

Seconds then minutes ticked by. Eventually, the edges of the mar filled in until it was no more. While the Crossroads were somehow falling apart, as evident by erosion and its general appearance, an outside influence could not affect the structure of the place.

She calmed herself, this was just a minor setback. That's all.

Ellana locked the knife and decided it was best to keep going instead of taking a snack break. The Crossroads appeared to be the same as when she arrived, but Ellana did not want to take the chance if nighttime was possible. Her markers would only visible if she had light. If the sun here set, she'd completely lose her bearings.

After walking, a bit of her dragging her feet, and more walking, Ellana still hadn't found an active mirror and she was far hungrier than before.

How much time had passed? She was in this gloomy section of the Crossroads for what must had been at least a few hours.

Ellana put her weight against a nearby boulder. If she got hungry here, and knew she'd need to use the restroom soon, it was definitely certain that people could die here as well.

What happened to a body here? Did it just stay in an awkward non-decaying stasis? That would be a plus to dying here, in any case.

She could picture it clearly – in some unknown year, a group would finally find their way here and traverse these new lands. And then, as though she'd merely gone to sleep, they'd find her body and bring it back to be scientifically analyzed and dissected.

Ah, even after her death she'd still be a subject of study and wonder.

Through the foggy, smoky haze, dull rays of light broke through.

An active eluvian? But she'd already been in that section and touched all the mirrors! She'd used all of her strips of cloth, and Ellana could somewhat make out where she'd tied them.

It didn't matter if she'd already been there; Ellana ran blindly toward those rays. Maybe these mirrors were on timers? She was not going to squander this chance, possibly the only chance, she could have.

The hammering of Ellana's heart seemed like it shook that foggy mist around her, giving just enough clarity to see. As soon she spotted the eluvian, she ran in without a single thought.