Chapter Forty-One: Passing Time
The journey to the Hissing Wastes will take close to three weeks I think back to the eluvian system and what the elves attempted to accomplish with it. Maybe it would have been better to have portals to travel through from the major civilizations. If I settle things with my brothers, maybe someday we can implement something similar. This "travel for a month just to get there" part is nonsense. Perhaps that can be the Inquisition's new purpose once Corypheus is defeated - to keep the world of Thedas connected.
I look up at the sky from the back of my horse. The clouds from yesterday are moving on, and by mid-morning, the sky is once again blue as we ride. I think what it must be like for dragons to be able to fly. I bet it doesn't take them a month to get somewhere and back. At least the company is good. Hawke, Dorian, and Delcan are hilarious when you put them together.
Cassandra and Frederic seem like the outsiders on this mission, but I see her making an effort to speak with him regularly, and I decide to do the same. I share with Frederic a little about how I use elemental magic and the Draconic language to speak with dragons. Once he hears that the dragons have a language, he insists on learning some of it for his research and publication. I'm glad he has something to occupy this time. I give him a few phrases as a primer to get started, but warn him that it's not safe to approach any dragons to try it without me. I see him writing notes, and it makes me happy.
Varric and I now share a tent every night and no one in the group protests. I've gotten so comfortable sleeping next to him that when he's not there in the middle of the night, it wakes me up. But I love watching him carefully penning his works. He's been writing something nearly every night lately.
Hawke lends me his copy of Hard in Hightown. It's the first I've ever read of one of Varric's books, and I have to admit, it's pretty entertaining. I can hear Varric's voice in it. It's the "bullshit" side of Varric, of course, but I like it anyway.
The good thing about a long journey is that I'm able to make a couple of side trips and still recharge the ring. I go to see Serenade again. Serenade laid her eggs successfully, and her dragonlings should be born in a matter of days. That thought is a little scary for the humans nearby, but she's agreed to keep them contained to the fens until they are a bit older.
The trip to see Miracle is a bit different, as I bring Varric with me. When I suggest we combine a trip and stop at Skyhold for a little private time, he's quick to agree.
That is, before we were standing on the side of a sheer mountain cliff outside Crestwood with the wind threatening to throw us off to our deaths.
"Miracle?" I call in Draconic. "I have someone I want you to meet."
"Okay, but I'm going to sleep soon. You should visit earlier," the dragon says.
Hm, her personality is still the same, but I think her language is improving. Good girl. I nod. "I apologize. It's hard for me to get away from the others in the daytime. This is my friend Varric, and we came to see how you are doing."
Varric turns to me when he hears his name. "What did you just tell her about me?"
"Just an introduction."
Miracle moves her massive head to study him. "He doesn't have the storm."
"No, no he doesn't. But he's nice to me."
"Okay. He'd be easy enough to eat if you want me to."
I grin. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Okay, that's more than an introduction," Varric says. "Translation, Firefly."
"She just offered to eat you if you're mean to me."
"Uh...should I be worried?" he asks.
"That depends: are you planning on being mean to me?"
Varric chuckles and shakes his head.
"What is he saying?" Miracle asks.
"I think your offer made him nervous."
"They taste better when they're nervous," she comments, and licks her lips.
I laugh. "But that's not nice, Miracle. He's here to help you."
She looks thoughtful. "Okay. Friend of Ferox can stay."
"Thank you." I lean over to Varric. "She says you can stay."
"Do I want to ask what was funny?"
"No, probably not," I admit.
I turn back to Miracle. "So are you doing well?"
"Yes," she says. "I like the mountains. No people."
I nod. "Privacy is nice."
She stumbles over the word, and I have to explain that one to her.
"Yes. I like to be alone," she responds. "But there's a drake that visits."
"Already? Are you sure you're ready for a mate?"
"What do you mean?"
Stars, now I'm explaining to a dragon where babies come from. I launch into a somewhat lengthy and awkward conversation.
"I think I will wait a bit, then," she states.
"Now what was that?" Varric asks, getting impatient. "You're acting strange."
"I'll tell you once we leave. You're going to want to be sitting down for this one."
We say our goodbyes to Miracle, and, with another twist of the ring, end up back at Skyhold. I tell Varric about Miracle's suitor, and he laughs for a good five minutes.
"I wish I had understood what you were saying. I'm picturing it now: well, when a mommy dragon and a daddy drake love each other very much…" His laugh sounds again and he can't finish the statement. My own amusement bubbles to the surface.
"Yeah, that was awkward. Speaking of…" I say, reminded, and reach into my pouch for my evening herbs. I see that this is the last of what I had made. "Shit, I'll be out after tonight. How far are we from an established Inquisition camp? I mean, before we came back here."
"A couple of days, probably. The next one should be when we first hit the Hissing Wastes."
"Okay...I'll need to restock when we get there," I say, wishing I could just walk down to the Undercroft and take what I need, but it would be hard explaining to everyone how we are back in Skyhold when we're supposed to be nearly to our destination.
"You're good for tonight, though, right?" he asks, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh yes," I confirm, my own smile conveying just what I mean.
"Ah, in that case," he states, walking toward me. I squeal a little when he picks me up in his muscled arms, and I hope no one heard it.
I cling to him and whisper furtively, "Put me down!"
"Gladly," he says, and dumps me on the bed with a laugh, crawling up to join me. I reach my arms out to welcome him. Stars, I love this dwarf.
Two days later, we ride into the Hissing Wastes. Scout Harding was right, this place is empty. The sheer nothing we've encountered for the last few hours has me exhausted already. I'm a little disappointed that we haven't ran into any varghests. As the hours stretch on, I start to think that I might rather be dragged off to a varghest nest than see more of this place. The dark sand shifts together under the hooves of our mounts and makes the ground seem almost fuzzy in the near dark of twilight.
Finally, a light ahead. Thank goodness, the Inquisition camp. No, wait, I don't see the Inquisition flag anywhere.
Declan puts a hand up, calling the company to a halt. I squint into the darkness, trying to see who is camped ahead.
"Looks like we've got red templars," he informs us, sighing. "As if the Venatori weren't bad enough."
Tenebris reins in his horse next to mine and comments, "I bet the two of us could take them out, no problem."
Iron Bull quirks an eyebrow. "Oh, you think? Why don't you two take the two on the left, and Cassandra and I will take the two on the right?"
"How did I get pulled into this?" Cassandra questions.
"Declan? Up for moderating a little competition?" I ask, grinning.
"Mages versus warriors, and I wasn't even invited?" Dorian pouts.
"Maybe we should make this more interesting...say two sovereigns?" Varric offers.
Declan whistles. "I've seen both Cassandra and Bull in a fight. I've yet to see much of Tenebris's skills, but…you know, Varric, I'll take that bet."
"Oh Declan, betting against me? I'm hurt," I tease, shaking my head in mock disappointment. "Varric, sweetheart, treat me to a drink in the next town with the Inquisitor's money?"
He grins, and nods. "And not that horrible stuff he serves at his table either," he jokes, causing me to laugh.
Hawke chuckles. "I'm staying out of this one, I like my money where it is."
"So what are the rules? Are we just talking incapacitation or a full kill? Are we being judged on speed or who makes the biggest mess?" I ask, getting into the idea.
Dorian grins. "How about a points system? One point for quickest kill, one point for the messiest, one point for the best teamwork. Most points wins."
"I'm in, but you should moderate, then, if Declan has money at stake," I state, and look to see Tenebris's nod. I turn to Dorian. "Tevinter, there's about to be so much blood you'll think you were attending a party back home." This earns me a grin from him.
"Let's do it," Bull comments, and Cassandra gives a disgusted noise, but shrugs, apparently close enough to an agreement.
Frederic looks on in interest, but doesn't say anything. He doesn't appear as entertained by this as the rest of us. I bet he's wishing he could be dragged off by the varghests now, and the thought makes me smile.
"Someone should do a countdown, keep it fair," I suggest.
"I'll do that," Hawke offers.
The four of us dismount and get into position. Tenebris and I both keep our staffs at the ready. "Lead in with Death Cloud and I'll Chain Lighting the two of them to start, okay?" I tell Tenebris. We're familiar with each other's moves. We've done this more times than I can count.
"Three, two...one!" Hawke counts down, and we immediately launch into action. Tenebris casts Death Cloud. The gray miasma settles in around just our two templars, alerting them to our presence, but causing a multitude of weakness, including a confusion that affects their aim. I run forward ahead a bit, and slam the blade of my staff into the ground. I see the blue-white lightning arc across the ground, striking the first templar, and move to the second.
Metal armor, I think with amusement. Tenebris is already following up with a secondary spell. The familiar purple tendrils curl around both men. Horror, as expected, but wait...they're not panicking.
"That didn't do much, Brother. Watch and learn," I comment, and swirl my staff above my head gathering the chill before again striking the ground. Both of them are covered in snow and frost, and are slowed, but still moving toward me.
"Hm, your spell seems a little less effective than usual, Sister...what am I supposed to be learning, exactly?" he jokes.
"Fine...fire it is. Can you use a little force magic?" A templar charges at me. I put my free hand to my head, then fling the palm outwards, knocking the templar backwards. Tenebris casts a spell behind me, knocking the other down as well.
Fire. I pull on the energy inside me, holding my staff horizontally in front of me before aiming it toward both of them. A jet of flame erupts in a cone ahead of me, engulfing both of them in flames. Now they panic, I think grinning. The flames consume them, and they never again reach their feet, the wails of their death echoing in the night.
I look over and see that Cassandra and Bull have quickly dispatched their targets, the heads now separated from the bodies. Our own opponents are charred to a crisp, smoke still filtering out of their visors, the ground scorched by lightning and fire around them. Through what can be seen through the remains of their helmets, their faces are twisted in their last moments of pain.
Looking between the two, I can't tell which side won. I look at Tenebris and shrug. We walk back to the others. Declan is smiling.
"That certainly was enlightening...or should I say en-lightning?" Declan asks, raising his eyebrows.
I groan at the pun and cock my head to the side, looking toward Dorian. "Did we win or not?"
"By my calculations...Bull and Cassandra were clearly the fastest, so they earned that point. You two had superior teamwork, gain a point...messiest kill...is a tie."
We all make sounds of complaint. "Ugh, I vote the 'Vint has to play next time and I'll stand back and look good."
"At least you admit I'm good-looking," he says, smiling.
"We should be moving on," Cassandra says. "There are probably more of these red templars in the area."
"You're right," Declan says, and we mount back up again.
I look to Tenebris, he's quiet, his head down, thinking.
"What is it, Tenebris?"
"Just thinking over what I learned about the red ones during the fight. They're tougher than normal templars. I wonder what would have happened if they'd had a chance to try to smite one of us?"
I think about that. Normal templars don't have too much of an effect against us, so I hadn't really considered it. We're too practiced with magic, and our willpower is sufficient enough to withstand such things. Throw red lyrium into the picture, however, and it might change that.
"Maybe we should let one of them try next time. You go first."
"Oh, Ferox, it's a good thing I can't reach you from here."
I laugh, still cheerful after the fight. It had only been regular magic, but it felt good, and broke up the monotony of the ride through the desert.