Chapter Forty-two: Dragon of Fire
As we travel on the tedium sets in once again. "I'm bored," I complain. "Maybe we should have waited for more templars after all."
"There's an Inquisition camp nearby," Dorian states. "It should be over the next rise."
"You said that on the last rise, Tevinter," I whine.
"No, I think he's right this time," Declan states, pointing ahead.
Sure enough, there's a light from a campfire ahead a ways. Of course, in the desert, distance can be a bit misleading. It takes us a good hour to reach the top of the dune where the camp is. Once we get there, I immediately hop down off my horse and stretch.
"Hello, Inquisition!" I greet the agents cheerfully.
"Long ride, we know," one of them states with a grin. "We can take care of your mounts if you want to go ahead and set up your tents."
"Perfect," Hawke says, and we start assembling our temporary sleeping quarters.
Once we get our new home for the night set up, we all gather in a circle around the fire, and eat a few trail rations.
"This is the last night we'll spend as one group," Declan states. "Cassandra, your group will head to the east in the morning. Our own destination lies north of here."
"And you're still sure about this, Firefly?" Varric asks.
"Yes," I say. "Now that I'm here, I can't wait to see her. If the sketch is anything to go from, she's going to be enormous."
"I still have trouble seeing how that's a good thing," Dorian says, shaking his head.
"Magic, Dorian. The older they get, the bigger and smarter they get, and the more magic they have. So I guess in this case bigger is better."
Declan snorts, and I grin. I feel Varric chuckle next to me.
Tenebris roughs up my hair. "That's enough out of you, imp."
Regaining his composure, Declan looks to Dorian. "Hey, any more stories about the other Ferox and her family of gods?"
"As a matter of fact, I have translated a new section. And, as we predicted before, it mentions another god with a name like the real Ferox's family."
"Which one this time?" the Iron Bull asks, leaning forward, his attention on Dorian.
Since when did Bull care about these stories? Then I realize I'd welcome anything to break up the boredom of the past few days, too.
"The third sibling, Etiam. The text had two names for him: the Wise and the Fadewalker. His name translates to "stillness", and it seems he was good with spirits from the Fade. The people write about him as some distant figure, though. There's far less information about him than there was about the other two. They mostly mention him in connection with the Creator - that's the fourth god. I suspect this Etiam might have been a somniari."
You're wrong on that on that one, Tevinter. But no need to correct him. Etiam, even when we visited Thedas more regularly, had always been emotionally distant from the people. He helped teach them, but he didn't let them get to know him at all. He just didn't see a reason to. I think about him, and his warnings. I realize I do miss Etiam. It's been weeks since I've even seen his pale blue eyes and long, pale blonde hair in the pendant. I look around at my new companions. I'm happy...but I miss my family. I wish they could be here with me, enjoying the ribbing.
Tenebris pats my arm. "I know."
"Soon," I mutter.
"Yes, soon."
In the morning we say goodbye to Declan's team. I'm a little sad to see Hawke go, but if I'm being honest with myself, I'm glad Tenebris will be there. I've been putting up a brave front, mostly for Varric's sake, but the truth is, I haven't tried to talk to a fire dragon in a long time.
The five of us ride east across the desert. The colors have changed a little with the daylight, but it still seems eerily dark. I suppose it's the color of the shifting sands here in the Hissing Wastes. When we stop for lunch, I take an empty vial from my pouch and put a little of the sand inside, studying the shade. It's...grayish, but almost a pale violet. I wonder what minerals make up this composition? Lucis probably would have been able to tell me, as tied to the natural world as he is. I'm struck by the urge to keep it. I'm not sure why, as we've been surrounded by never ending waves of the stuff, but I tuck the vial of sand into my pack anyway.
After lunch, Frederick is pestering me again about the dragon language. I've taught him basic greetings, and we practice our Draconic together. He wants to learn more, so we start on the different farewells. Varric, who already speaks a few different languages, joins our lesson.
"Excellent, Frederic. Your pronunciation is getting better."
"It is because I have a superb teacher. Truly, I believe you have missed your calling, Ferox. Perhaps you should consider instructing at the university. Although, I suppose before now, a mage probably would not have been allowed a position there, would they? There would probably be some of the the older scholars who would frown upon it, but it would be very exciting to have another draconologist on staff."
"Teach something other than magic…I've never really thought about it," I admit. "I suppose we will have to see what the Inquisition does after Corypheus is defeated."
"It's not a bad idea, Firefly," Varric comments.
"Okay, now I have a funny image of the two of us both publishing books out of Kirkwall. Mine would be non-fiction and not sell half as well as yours, of course."
He smiles. "Kirkwall, with you...yeah, I could live with that."
"We should get going," Cassandra says. "If we keep up our current pace, we will reach the temple by late this afternoon."
Already? My earlier excitement about seeing the Sandy Howler is replaced by the fear again, but I push it down. No, it's going to be alright.
I keep saying that to myself over and over in my head for the next four hours or so, but it doesn't seem to be helping. We see the trees that mark the beginning of the valley where the temple lies.
"What do we know about the temple?" I ask Cassandra.
"Very little, I'm afraid. The dragon has kept our agents from getting close enough to get a good look. But I was told it appears to be ancient Tevinter."
Great. Probably with more references to the four Tevinter gods for Dorian. We reach the top of the rise and I can hear her massive footfalls echoing off the sides of the valley.
I attempt to swallow past the lump in my throat, and I find myself hesitating. Scared or not, there's no more avoiding this. It's time.
Looking ahead, careful not to make eye contact with any of the others, I instruct them, "You're not going to want to be anywhere near me when this starts. If she's nested here, she could be defensive of her territory, and start launching fireballs. I'll have no way of knowing her demeanor until I get closer, past these trees."
"Observing nesting behavior of a rare breed would be fascinating," chatters Frederic, getting out his notes. "But you are right, probably best not to be in too close a proximity."
"Where should we wait, Firefly?" Varric asks.
"Don't go further than the treeline, and if it goes bad, you need to fall back," I say without glancing in his direction and walk forward, afraid I might lose my nerve if I look back.
"How will we know?" Cassandra asks from behind me.
The flutter in my chest keeps me from answering, but Tenebris fills in the response for me. "You'll know," he says, his voice flat. I know you disapprove, Brother, but I have to do this, for all of us.
We make it to the treeline and squat under the branches to observe the dragon for a while. Ferederic's eyes go wide with wonder.
"What a fantastic specimen," Frederic comments, scribbling away at his notes and making sketches of the dragon. "I've never seen anything like her before."
"That's because most of them died out long ago. Let's see what she does." And give me more time before I have to go over there. But, I can't deny she's a beautiful dragon. The Gamordan Stormrider might be my favorite, but the fire types often have the lightning ones on size. Her kind is nearly extinct. I haven't seen a Sandy Howler for centuries, not even through the Watcher's Well. All the more reason I need to make this work. I attempt to calm my breathing, my heart hammering in chest, drowning out other sounds. Cool logic, Ferox. I focus on observing.
Her behavior is watchful, but not fearful the way Serenade had been in the Exalted Plains. This is a powerful-looking dragon. Her body is massive; the strength in her legs could easily crush a full sized human in armor. Her dark-colored scales blend in with the encroaching shadows as the sun dips below the line of trees on the valley rim. Dark gray? No, looks more like a dark blue. Her horns are straighter than the last two dragons', slender and angled away from her face. The lining of her wings catches the fading light and almost glows in stripes of red and orange. Then I notice something.
"She's not leaving the entrance of the temple," I remark. "This isn't nesting behavior."
"No? What do you think she is doing, then?" Ferederic asks me.
"She's guarding that place. Intentionally." What in the Void is in there that could be so important to convince a dragon to guard it? It's an ancient temple. It had to have been built long before she was even born. It makes no sense.
"Do dragons even do such things?" he asks, shocked.
"Normally, I'd say no. But that's an elder dragon. They're capable of intelligence comparable to you or I. Don't underestimate her."
I sigh, standing up and stretching my legs. "Tenebris. If this goes tits-up, you know what to do."
He nods, looking worried.
I try to swallow past the lump in my throat, and walk out of the trees and into the valley. I don't bother drawing my staff, leaving it slung over my back along with my pack. I won't need it for this. Ever since we did the ritual fire magic comes easily to me. Too easily. I place my hand over my heart. Patience. Stay asleep. I don't need you for this. I stretch my hands out to my side near my hips. With a snapping motion, I move my arms upward, bending them at the elbow, and I throw the dome of fire around me. Flames rise out of the ground in a split second, and I'm surrounded by orange glow.
The fire settles in close to my flesh, the movement tickling my skin, but not burning. This must look strange to Cassandra. I wonder what she's thinking. Focus Ferox. I close my eyes. Feel the fire, embrace the fire. I rise up taller on my toes as the sheer energy of being alive shoots through me, starting at my feet, and making my head feel light. Oh, I've missed his feeling! I can't keep the wide smile off my face.
I turn back to look at my brother and nod.
I can barely hear him comment to the others, "So far, so good."
"Maker's Breath, that is what is supposed to happen?" Cassandra exclaims. I don't hear any more of what she says because I'm walking toward the dragon.
I try not to run ahead, the sheer joy of what I'm feeling spurring me forward. Careful about giving in too much, Ferox. I settle for smiling and giggling as I approach the Sandy Howler. She sees me. And waits. What? What is she doing?
I'm not sure how to interpret this change in her behavior, so I decide to try speaking. "Greetings, elder dragon. Might I speak with you?"
"Yes. I am Cinder, and I know who you are. I have been waiting for you."
"You know me, Cinder? How?"
"Mother told me. When I came of age, she gave me the sacred duty of guarding this place. She said you would come. I have waited a long time."
Why would you be waiting for me?"
"Well, not you exactly, Destroyer."
I feel a stirring in my chest. No, not now. The flames continue to lick my form, but now they surge a little higher. Sleep.
I bite my lip, nerves threatening to make my hands shake. "What do you mean?"
"You carry within you the wildfire, Ignifir...the dragon of fire."
"How do you know that?"
Ba-dump. No, damn you...sleep. You are not needed.
"Do you not recognize your own temple?"
In horror, I glance at the structure, and the pressure in my chest grows. It's true. She is familiar with this place. This is a temple to the dragon of fire...the ancient dragon Toth, the only Archdemon I had ever been able to save, by taking her soul at the moment of death into my own body.
No, I can do this. Toth, listen. We need to work together. Don't fight me on this. But I can already tell that the flames are changing. They shift from orange to blue as I feel her soul waking.
"You are home," Cinder says. "You are welcome to enter, but the others are not. Send them away."
My body starts to move against my will, turning toward the others. I can't make them out, but I know they're still among the trees. Tenebris, help! This is definitely not good. I need to get rid of my emotions, calm myself. I try to release the flames in order to reach for the cold, but she stops me.
NO. The voice resonates in my head.
Please don't do this. I try again, but I can't seem to make my body obey me. I watch in desperation as I start walking toward the others. One foot in front of the other, shaky at first, but then my body relaxes, and I know I've lost any hope of stopping the movement. I feel my body walking with a confident swagger that's unlike my usual gait. Each step spawns tiny fires that dance outward from my feet, only to burn out and die on the violet sand.
Halfway there, I see my brother standing at the edge of the clearing. He's walking toward me, and...the others are following him. No, don't. It's not safe.
The flames around me shift again, going white-hot.
"Ferox," my brother calls. "You have to fight her!"
I'm trying, brother. I think to the things that really matter: my brother wanting to stay at my side, the faces of my friends in the Inquisition, saving the world through magic, and...watching Varric writing at the desk in the middle of the night. Oh Varric. I look over and see him. I've never seen that expression on him before. Fear.
"Firefly?" he asks, taking a step toward me.
"Don't get near her," my brother tells him. "If you touch her right now, she won't mean to, but she'll kill you. Look at the ground, Varric."
I look down to see what he means. The sand under my feet is turning to glass. The flames are that hot? Shit, this isn't good at all.
"That's not Ferox right now," my brother explains.
I hear my own voice speaking, but I know it's not me. "The Darkness is right. You should all leave. I am home now."
"Let go of my sister, you bitch!" Tenebris yells.
My voice changes, and I hear both my voice and Toth's simultaneously, "THEN I WILL COVER THIS WORLD IN FLAMES AND I WILL SEE YOU ALL BURN!"
Focus. Varric, my love...writing at the desk. Publishing books together in Kirkwall. Fireflies and summer nights. Him saying the worlds "I am hopelessly in love with you" on a rainy night at the Winter Palace. No, Toth...you will not hurt the ones I love.
A tear slides down my cheek, and quickly evaporates, but my thoughts are my own for a second, and the flames die.
"Tenebris, bind me," I plead. "Please…"
"Sorry, Seeker, you're not going to like this," my brother says, unsheathing his dagger from his belt. He slashes his hand, freeing the blood, and casts the spell. I feel the invisible chains surrounding me, and I stiffen, unable to move.
I don't spare a glance for Cassandra, more focused now on what must be done.
"You know what to do," I encourage him with a nod.
He places a hand near my body and red filaments of magic trickle out of me, slowly at first, then faster, like a torrent. I scream in pain, and hear lightning crash in the distance in response. I'm grateful for the restraint right now, and after a moment, the pulling magic stops, and the binding ends.
Freed from the invisible chains, I collapse to my knees and weep, sobs wracking my body, exaggerated by having embraced the fire, my emotions still heightened. Tenebris sinks to his knees and gathers me against his chest. I let him hold me and just cry.
"That was a close one, but it's alright now, Sister. I'm here."
"Will someone tell me what in the name of the Maker just happened?" Cassandra demanded, glowering at both of us. "That was clearly blood magic, and according to you, Ferox nearly killed us?"
I look at them. Varric is watching me, brow furrowed, saying nothing. Not good. Frederic of Serault has backed far away from me into the treeline, shaking his head in disbelief. And if looks could kill, Cassandra's expression would have murdered me just now.
I sigh. "I'll explain everything."
"You had better," she says.
After a few minutes, I'm able to catch my breath enough to speak, and, with my brother's help, I get to my feet. "It has to do with ancient dragons...well, in this case, the Archdemon Toth."
"Toth?" Confusion crosses Cassandra's features. "You mean the Archdemon from the Third Blight?"
Frederic takes a step forward again. "But Toth was defeated at the Battle of Hunter Fell."
"Yes...and no," I respond. "At the moment the Grey Wardens believed they had killed her, I took her soul into my body. I wanted to save her."
"You did?" Cassandra said, her nose wrinkling in disbelief. "That was hundreds of years before you would have even been born."
"Well...I'm a bit older than I look. Magic can accomplish a lot if you know what you're doing. Our family is not like others. The humans of ancient Tevinter called us gods."
"Then the stories from Dorian's artifacts...no, you are lying." Her expression hardens again, eyes narrowing.
"Do you have a better explanation for what just happened?" I ask her.
She is quiet, frowning, but contemplative.
"What did happen, Sister? You had control over the magic at first," Tenebris points out.
"That's a fucking temple to Toth down there. Hers. Cinder, the dragon, is its ancestral guardian. She was waiting for me to show up. Toth recognized it, Tenebris, and in my surprise, she took over."
"Shit."
Varric doesn't look me in the eye, but finally speaks. He asks, "What would have happened if he hadn't stopped you?"
I can't...I can't tell him…
"I'll tell him, Ferox. It's alright. She saved Toth's soul, but it's still corrupted by the Blight. If Toth had taken her over completely just now, she would have succumbed to the corruption and Toth would have risen in her place."
"So we were seconds away from facing an Archdemon and the start of a new Blight?" Cassandra shouts.
"I'm sorry," I say, sobbing again. "I thought I could do this."
Tenebris sighs. "I've drawn what corruption out of her that I could. That's what you saw me doing. It will keep Toth at bay for now."
"Then, uh, what's going to keep that dragon at bay?" Varric asked, eyes wide, looking behind me.