So, here is the next chapter. This is more of a set up for things to come, so enjoy! =D

Despite knowing that Ellana knew his secret, Solas didn't have the courage to confront her before the group left for the Western Approach. Ellana had been treating Solas no different since that moment nearly two weeks ago. It was as if she hadn't aired his secret out into the open. It was puzzling and completely infuriating. Both Ven and Fenris hadn't left her side while she was in Skyhold. Though, Ven needed her to discuss treaties with various Dalish clans in the area for the ritual he was attempting to create and Fenris was her lover that she hadn't seen in months. It was almost as if they didn't trust her to be alone. Her dreams were no better. They were shielded by some kind of magic that Solas wasn't familiar with. It felt like a barrier, but it wasn't made of any magic he'd ever felt before. If it didn't terrify him, he would have touched it to see what it was made of. This left Solas to confront her in the waking world where she was always busy and on the move. Thus, pushing this very needed conversation off. He was vaguely hoping that she hadn't meant what she said. He'd also been planning the various ways that he could kill her in the upcoming months after they defeated Corypheous.

So, here he was in the Western Approach…Desert sand was just as awful as Solas remembered it being. It was everywhere, and it was sweltering hot. He had spent time in deserts before the fall and they were significantly easier to travel. Though, this was his first time traversing a desert without hair and much to his chagrin, Ellana had forced him to wear a hat to avoid his head burning and potential heatstroke, of course this could also be her way of getting back at him for ignoring her for the past couple of weeks while he planned her death. The hat was really just an over glorified cloth. Then again, Solas was nearly positive Ellana had cut up a pieces of her own shirts just to make sure that his health wasn't compromised. Did she really know the implication of her words to him two weeks ago?

Sera found this hilarious and enjoyed pointing out how ridiculous he looked when the…hat… would droop down slightly and cover his face.

Hours upon hours in the sun had made the entire team more than a little irritable, luckily there were more than enough Venatori for them all to take out their frustrations on. Sera was taking real pleasure in putting plenty of arrows into the magisters. Hawke wasn't too far away if their maps were correct, but the sun was setting, and they needed to find a safe spot for the night. It wasn't until they had found a small oasis that they set up camp. As soon as the sun set Solas pulled the hat off his head, barely resisting the urge to throw it onto the ground in revulsion. He was exhausted. Even though he had been building his mana for months, he still tired easily. Ellana refused to carry lyrium of any kind within the group. Her clan's mages never touched the potions, so she felt that the mages of her team shouldn't rely of them either. Solas had never tired it himself, never felt the desperate need, but sometimes he felt tempted and Solas was glad that she didn't keep them, instead she carried wasps in a jar…

"Inky, are we almost there yet?"

Speaking of annoying buzzing…

Sera groaned flopping on the ground, causing a small cloud of sand to puff into the air and right into Solas' face. The mage coughed and vainly attempted to remove some of gritty sand out of his face and mouth.

Ellana chuckled and motioned with her thumb in a vague direction north, "Yes, it's a bit before the fortress not too far in the distance."

Sera squinted into the darkness. Solas wondered if she can actually see the fortress. The archer had fantastic eyes, ones that her ancestors would be proud that she inherited.

"If you say so. Friggin sand, gets friggin everywhere. Girtty shite…" Sera grumbled, trailing off as she attempted to get comfortable.

Blackwall rolled his eyes fondly at the young elf, "Who is going to be taking first watch tonight?"

Solas held back a groan. It was technically his turn to be on the first watch tonight. Right before Solas opened his mouth Ellana sat down next to the fire, her duel blades sitting next to her.

"I will. This way I can get enough sleep to get up and get us breakfast before her grumpiness wakes up," Ellana volunteered waving the warrior away. He gave her a grateful smile. It was obvious to Solas that the human wanted to get out of his armor for a short while. The air was cool instead of sweltering and Blackwall was going to take full advantage of that.

Blackwall wandered over to his tent and within seconds his snores filled the air. They sat in silence for a while. Ellana was cleaning her blades and staring out into the distance. It was like any other night in camp. She was treating Solas no different than normal, even going so far as to sit next to him as if he hadn't created the downfall of Arlathan. Ellana turned to Solas as she picked sand out of her braid, "you're more than welcome to get some rest. You've used a lot of magic today."

Solas sighed, he hadn't thought that she noticed. Then again, she comes from a family full of mages, she more than likely has needed to watch her brother for mana drains more than once. Solas honestly needed to be more careful about showing any kind of weakness in front of her. Ellana observed everything. "You noticed?"

She rolled her eyes at the absurdity of the statement. "Of course. We've been fighting quite a lot today as well as creating barriers to protect all of us from harm. If you were anything like Ven or Dorian you would have been complaining the entire time about how tired you were," she replied with a gentle smile and a shrug. Solas had to be wrong about her knowing his secret. She wouldn't want to be around him otherwise, or her brother would have mentioned something.

She was acting far too normal.

He chuckled at the thought. Ven and Dorian were quite a pair when it came to whining over absolutely nothing. "That does sound like them."

She shooed him off. "Go enjoy the fade, Solas. We'll wake you for the final watch before dawn. We have a big day tomorrow meeting Hawke. We wouldn't want you half asleep for it."

Of course, the meeting with Hawke had been a disaster. It seemed the woman attracted them like a moth to a flame. They had arrived at their rendezvous point in record time, but both Stroud and Hawke were rushing them into a battle. It wasn't hard to see why. The Wardens were using bloodmaigc designed by Corypheous to enslave them to his will to raise a demon army.

How…overly dramatic.

Solas knew that Ellana had seen a demon army in the ruined future with Dorian, but to think that it was raised using this kind of mind control was disgusting. Bloodmagic was one thing, but human sacrifice was a little bit too close to the corrupted gods of old for Solas' liking.

The man in charge was a weak Tevinter mage. He was coward and a snake, using the Wardens as shields for himself. While Solas hated the Wardens he didn't feel they deserved to die the way they were, mindless husks being used as demon hosts to crack open the veil and be used to enter the Black City.

It struck Solas that this was a little hypnotical of him to think that way. He wanted to tear down the veil as well, but he was going to be using his own power to do so. There was no need for mindless slaves, he had spent his entire life fighting slavery…only to wake up in a world that had abandoned magic.

It was odd for him to even think that those without magic were real in this veiled world, but he couldn't imagine Ellana being sacrificed by her keeper for some kind of power, even if they thought it would bring back a god. The thought made him feel physically ill and it made him worry that his resolve for his mission was faltering.

It didn't take long for Inquisition's plan of attack to go south. The slippery magister had figured out a very basic way to manipulate the anchor, no doubt taught by his master, to manipulate Solas' magic in a way to cause Ellana pain. Solas felt his jaw clench, his mana rising to the surface. This human was going to pay for that. He was sorely tempted to break the spell himself and risk exposure. Ellana had declared her knowledge of his identity, but she hasn't told anyone else. Solas began to build his magic, but Ellana grunted and forced herself up. She brought her hand up and reversed the spell on her own causing everyone to be blasted back in the aftermath.

Solas rolled into the clay wall behind him. His back took nearly all of the impact, knocking the wind right out of him and any magic that he was going to cast was lost. His grey eyes widened as he watched Ellana take control of the wild ancient magic coursing through her with nothing but her will.

"You really shouldn't have done that," Ellana snarled, eyes blazing, hair undone from the force of the magic. She looked every inch the Dalish savage that the nobles of Skyhold feared. Her dual blades were suddenly in her hands, glowing with runes that she had been bragging about crafting with Dagna the night before. Solas scrambled to his feet, grabbing his staff. He heard the others doing the same.

In the blink of an eye she disappeared and a weak cry from one of the controlled Wardens was heard when he dropped dead of severed jugular, blood pooling quickly under the dead man. The Magister audibly squeaked and sprinted for a quick escape ordering the Wardens to attack as a distraction.

Sadly, the distraction worked.

The battle was a bloodbath. With two mages, two warriors, an archer and an assassin, there wasn't much a small group of mind controlled mages and demons could do as long as they were careful. Ellana was cutting through the demons easily with her demon-slaying duel blades. There was an enraged snarl on her face as she cut down the mind-controlled Wardens, blood splattering on her face and hair.

Comparatively, to what the group had been fighting outside out in the desert, these men were nothing special and it showed.

Solas found the whole situation ridiculous and in their haste to take down the current group of wardens the magister in charge slipped away. "Coward." Ellana spat as she wiped her dual blades clean on her pants, caring more about her weapons than about her clothing. Solas took stock of her injuries, knowing that Ellana wouldn't take care of herself. She had a few cuts on her arms that were bleeding freely, a minor burn on her leg, but nothing that needed immediate attention.

"That man needs a few arrows up his bum. Enough to make a pin cushion," Sera growled, kicking at the dirt in front of her.

"Or make him look like a Quillback." Hawke suggested with a shrug as she shouldered her staff once more. For once, Solas couldn't agree more.

Sera cackled.

Oh dear, she got an idea.

"That's a lot of arrows. I like the way you think, Hawke," Sera replied with a slightly suggestive wink and Ellana rolled her eyes.

"As lovely as talking about bums and arrows is, we still need to clear the fortress out in the north, as well as find the locations the darkspawn have been coming from. Would either of you mind helping?" Ellana asked Hawke and Stroud, dragging her sleeve over her face in a vain attempt at cleaning a rather large amount of blood right under her eye.

Stroud shook his head and Solas ground his teeth. Wasn't this the man's job? Wardens claim to want to help to stop the blight from spreading, but if it isn't for their direct benefit why not turn to bloodmagic and hiding?

Hawke on the other hand cracked her knuckles. "Anything to kill the boredom. Stroud, go on ahead. Might as well pay my tab by helping clear this fort out with you," she replied grinning, pulling her staff back out.

"That's not even going to come close to what you owe for breaking that table, and the bedpost, not to mention the all alcohol you had," Ellana told her with an exaggerated eyeroll. Solas had heard about the brawl that had broken out in the Herald's Keep.

"Eh, just put the rest on Varric's tab."

It was going to be a long walk to the fortress.

"Hawke, tell me, how many did you break a bedpost? Were you and your glowy mage bumping bits?"

Hawke grinned.

It was going to be hell walking back to Skyhold.

What did you think? I felt like this was more filler, setting up for the shit show to come in the next chapter, because, good lord, the fade sucks. The fear demon is going to have a lot to say to Solas, especially since Ellana fully understands what is being said. =3

Thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites and follows. The really make my day.

See you all next week,

Animerocker