Starlight falls from the sky as if it's the beginning of the end. Fires burn memories and turn hard working love to ash. Sera pulls her bowstring tight. Launching her arrow up into the air. It catches the Archdemon by surprise. "Hey! Fuckface!" Olivia calls out before smashing a bottle of smoke on the ground. She disappears into the night as a Red Templar staggers over to me. I raise Bianca, and drive the bolt into the hollow of his sternum. "Lyrium sucking motherfuckers." I curse as I follow Livi towards the last standing trebuchet.

My vision fades to green as Sparkles casts a spirit shield around us, "It won't hold for long!" He shouts to Olivia who pulls her dagger from the larynx of a Templar, his blood spraying her armor. Tainting the ground.

The ground rumbles as a large lyrium Templar rushes to me. Knocking me on my back. I get up as quickly as I can to see Livi pinned beneath a Templar. My blood boils as I pull the trigger on Bianca. Sharp as a dragons tooth I rush him in return. The blade slices through his skull, leaving it to roll down the hill from us. "I've got you, Cadash."

Livi smiles as she runs to the trebuchet. Sera and Livi turn the crank as fast as they can. The rope releases and for a moment I can breathe. I smile at her and hold her hand, but her smile changes. She pushes me away hard, "Everyone move." I look at Sparkles and Sera since we were all just as confused, "Now!" Sparkles grabs Sera's hand, pulling her towards the Frostback mountains. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the fireball, hurtling towards us. I grab Livi's hand, "Come on let's go." Pulling her behind me I suddenly feel as if the extra weight disappeared. Stopping, I looked at Olivia who stood ready, her daggers twirling in her hands. "Olivia! What are you doing? Let's go!" As I reach for her again she pushes me away, "For fuck sakes, Varric! Fucking run!" I tried reaching for her again. I'll be damned if I lose her again. A flash of light suddenly blinds me. White. Hot. And burns like a blade piercing through flesh. Olivia! My mind screams for her as I try to stand. My knees buckle as I'm pulled down to the snow. My vision blurs and I can barely make out Sparkles voice from the ringing in my ears, "Sera, help me! We have to get him to the camp."

Voices, cold in the wind. I can see Olivia's face as she leans against Branka's Paragon statue. My fingertips brush her cheek, pulling a lock of red hair out from behind her ear. "I have to head back to Kirkwall, I don't know if I'll ever see you again." Her delicate, calloused fingers run through my long hair. She traces my jawline, cheekbones...my lips. Turning to her satchel, she smiles and hands me a box, "Then take this."

Opening the box, my heart skips a beat. The iron necklace latches to an iron ring in the center. My eyes look at her, puzzled. "A ring of eternity," she answers, "my love for you is never ending."

I can feel myself tossing and turning, trying to stay in the dream, another haunting memory. A howl of cold wind awakens me as I quickly sit up. My hands and chest are sweaty. Yet I find myself holding onto the iron ring around my neck. Exhaling sharply, I curl the opening of the medical tent to the brisk air. Sera stares at me as she leans against Sparkles; who is staring at the fire, searching for answers.

Jestering to the tent beside her, I take the hint. My heart rate quickens. Did Olivia find a way? Is she okay? Is she...alive? Yanking the tent open, I can see Olivia's red hair and armor. Her head lifts up off the makeshift pillow, "Varric..." My heart strains at the sound of pain in her voice. Looking around, I grab the surgeon stool and place it beside her. My arms curl around the back of her shoulders and cradle her face. Eyes scanning her injuries. "Livi, I was so afraid you'd never come back." Shit, I was crying. Shit! She was crying. "Next time, we are going into that shit storm together, ok?" Fiercely nodding her head was her only response. I held her till she drifted off to sleep. And I swear, faintly I heard her say, "I love you, Varric."

Iron Bull looked at me with a devious smile on his lips, "So, Varric. You and Olivia go way back. Tell me about that."

I chuckled at him before sipping from my canteen, "Honestly, I first met Olivia when I was seventeen. That story she told you, completely true. I made many trips down to Orzammar with my father for about a month before we decided to stay in Kirkwall. My mother was quite overprotective of our safety." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sera slip into Olivia's tent. Bundles of Elfroot in hand. "For a while, I didn't see her again until five years before the blight hit. She showed up in Kirkwall. Making a profit off her family's lyrium trade. She was..." I trailed off for a moment. Trying not to get lost in the memory. "She was beautiful. Twenty years to my twenty-two, yet she was still a living manifestation of fire. That woman, I swear, was forged in fire."

The Iron Bull smiled at me before heading to his tent. I stared into the fire till it seemed I was alone. "Are you alright?" Angelic harmonies caress my ears from the heavens. Looking up from the fire, I see Olivia smiling at me, gently clutching her right side. "Yeah," I answer as I get up and walk to her side, "are you?"

She looks into my eyes, as if she's searching my soul. My damned soul. "Is Bianca ok?" For a moment, the question doesn't register and my Pansy ass vulnerable side slips through, "It's just a crossbow." My left hand brushes her cheek. She parts her small, mahogany lips to speak but instead I press my own to them. Silencing her snarky remark. The warmth of sunshine from the bitter cold, rises from my lips. It melts my soul and causes my leather trousers to become tight... Really fucking tight.