Chapter 47
In possession of a minimal arsenal of elemental spells at her fingertips (literally), Ellana would have to use all of her reasoning skills to maximize her grimoire. It would be difficult, as the fog had thickened while the group had hidden in the alley, and the vibration of substantial power in the air made her head ache. Snake-like tendrils of mana drifted uncomfortably against Ellana's skin.
Ellana was no stranger to dangerous situations. After all, she was an elf and a woman. When she was a child, there had been a few incidents on the Dalish reservation where land developers had threatened and bullied her clan on a regular occasion. She had also lived in some unsavory areas of Minrathous and had been stalked home more than once. Now, even as a full-time professor in Val Royeaux, she was often called slurs on public transit.
None of those circumstances compared to what Ellana saw as she followed behind Blackwall and Solas, weaving their way through the smog to search for the binding circle.
"It can't be far from where the demon appears," Solas had explained. "There is only so much of a range."
Every few steps, the group would have to weave through a pile of burning detritus carefully. When Ellana spotted a few gasping Orlesians with mangled limbs laying on the ground, moaning in pain. She paused gazing down at a young woman about to offer aid, only for Solas to grab her by the hand again and lean in to whisper, "We may be the only ones who can end this, after the Inquisition will help."
As unpleasant as it was, she saw the practicality of such a stance. Healing a few bystanders would not allow them to fix the whole any faster.
Turning a corner, the group came across a large circle of salt. White chunks littered the ground, forming gigantic stalagmites every few paces. Ellena didn't have very long to examine the formation as the thundering step of the demon caused the surrounding buildings to shake, the glass in the windows vibrating in their frames, echoing out like an eerie wind chime.
"Watch out," Blackwall shouted as the demon's chain smacked against the paved street, narrowly missing Ellana by a few centimeters. Jumping to the side, she summoned a single flash of electricity that stretched out in the air like an unraveling thread, watching with satisfaction as the bolt toppled one of the anchors for the binding circle.
Ellana sprinted, weaving in and out to cast small elemental spells that caused varying degrees of damage as Blackwall smashed at the mounds with the baseball bat.
From the corner of her eye, Ellana could see Solas running, throwing globes of energy at the demon. In action, Solas seemed so unlike the stiff and aloof professor that she knew. The way his long arms moved was reminiscent of a dance. Intuition drove him as he jumped over the chain the demon belligerently swung, doing his best to guide the corrupted spirit away from the circle.
Midway through summoning what felt like her hundredth blast of electricity, Ellana was caught unaware by the whoosh of the demon readying themselves to charge in her direction. Ellena's foot tripped on a stray pipe, causing her to fall to the ground with a loud thud. Smashing against the payment, she covered her face with her hands, expecting to be torn in half the next moment.
The killing blow never landed.
Instead, all she felt was a cool puff of air passing across her skin. Surprised, she looked up to see Solas' body wedged between her and the hulking form of the demon. Both of his outstretched hands covered in blue light. A bead of sweat dripped down his temple as his mouth twisted in fierce concentration.
Rising, Ellana fought her way forward to stand next to Solas, calling on her magic, only to realize that she was unsure what spell to twist her mana into. Frozen with indecisiveness, Ellana was relieved to feel Solas' strong hand take her own, his magic commingling with hers. Closing her eyes, Ellana focused on the flow of the spell, trying to match its signature with her own.
A pulse, like a tight spring, wound in her chest as she continued to pull at the fabric of the Fade, bringing it to the surface. A barrage of attacks from the demon followed, vast blasts of dark magic hit the barrier that the two mages had summoned in unison. Her teeth chattered with each collision.
Ellana felt her resolve waiver when the demon roared, hitting its chest with a bellicose stare in her direction. Even from several large paces away, she could make the outline of two beady eyes and a snout covered in blood and ichor that dribbled down the creature's chest.
"One last push," Solas called out to her, his arm wrapping around her waist to hold her up. Drawing on her dwindling reservoir of her strength, Ellana clenched her fists, the magic pouring out of her like a geyser.
A triumphant cheer from Blackwall was a prelude to the corporal form of the demon flickering briefly before condensing into a translucent green form huddled on the ground. In the dark light, Ellana thought the spirit-shaped like a woman-resembled a glistening exoskeleton.
Breaking off his spell, Solas rushed forward, kneeling next to the spirit. Ellana followed, reluctant to get too close, trying to concentrate on the surrounding environs if Andruil surfaced. She was still near enough to hear Solas begin to speak in a tender voice to the spirit. His hands passed through the surface of the spirit's arm, hitting the rocky road.
"I am sorry, my friend," Solas lamented.
"I'm not," the spirit responded in Elvhen. "I'm happy. I'm me again."
The light of the spirit began to twinkle in the darkened neighborhood like a dying star. A car a block away or so away was aflame. It's red and orange, reflecting in a mottled pattern on the slick oil patterns of the street.
"Guide me into death," the spirit continued in a high pitch cadence that reminded Ellana of a pizzicato string arrangement. "Help me."
"As you wish," Solas said, a small shimmer of magic flashing over his fingertips, streaming over the spirit. Ellena could feel her chest tighten a bit, the sensation unpleasant, as if her magic were severed from her being. Solas must have cast dispel.
The spirit sparkled once more, before the light dissipated in a thousand directions, vanishing forever.
For a brief instant, Ellana forgot that the battle they had faced was a prologue to another, potentially much more violent one, with Andruil. Solas rose, walking over to her, his arms quickly clenching around her. There was sorrow in his grip, firm, and unrelenting.
"You did marvelously," Solas breathed into her hair, his arms tightening. The pride in his voice unmistakable.
"I heard what it said, you did help it," Ellana muttered, burying herself into his chest, startled to see blood smeared over his white button-down shirt. The droplets oxidizing in the cold air.
"We should move forward-" Solas began.
His sentence remained unfinished, interrupted by a blazing eruption of green light emanating from a globe. Ellana had to cover her face with her hands, in an effort not to be blinded. Her entire being felt fractured, as if she had been cut into tiny pieces. Fighting to stay upright, she was glad when Solas steadied her. Gazing upwards into his intense sapphire eyes, Ellena sought an explanation if there was any.
"The Veil," he screamed as ash swirled around them in a tornado, "It's been torn here."
Pulling back, Solas resolutely took her hand by the wrist, swinging her like one would in a dance, pushing it up towards the turbulent atmosphere.
"You can seal it!" He insisted. The dust spiraling around them accelerating as the rupture expanded.
Ellana faltered, not quite knowing how she would. Her magic was almost depleted.
"Picture it, and the spell will follow," Solas urged, the edge of his voice growing more desperate as the fissure grew larger and larger.
Ellana clenched her eyes shut, trying to bring an image to her mind that would solve such a thing, landing on the image of a placid lake covered in sunset. The effort earned her a single weak spark that wouldn't have lit a small candle.
"Ellena, please!" Solas said, she could feel his mana rising to the surface.
"I c-can't," Ellena answered meekly.
"You will," Solas screamed back, the lines around his eyes intensifying. "Draw your magic to mine!"
She went deeper in the lake, underneath its grimy surface, finding a song that had haunted her once when she lingered too long underwater. A burst of magic, emerald, and unabiting emerged on her palms. Solas raised her hand to the aperture of the breach, and she watched in wonderment as the air began to knit, the green brightness constricting and then wilting like a balloon until clear night was all that remained.
"W-hat?" Ellana sighed, looking down at her hands in terror. She couldn't totally comprehend what had just happened as she could feel Solas catching her again as she faded into unconsciousness.
Before the blackness took her over entirely, she swore she heard a familiar woman's voice, clear and vibrant, ringing into the empty street: "Dread Wolf."