Chapter 2:


The distant smell of spring rain startled his senses, and he awakened. A cool breeze tickled his feet where the blanket had not covered, and an early sun shone dimly through the forest mist to gently light his face.

Sleep well?

Solas lay there for a while, listening to the sounds of birds and morning animals, watching the trees bend and shimmer in the wind far above him. A heavy gust would at times send a shower of leaves and branches down from the canopy and the birds would fly away in alarm, chaos for a short while, before flying back to sit in the same places as before.

What happens to the birds when you cut down the tree? Where do they go?

His stomach rumbled angrily, and Solas rolled over to find his backpack sitting on the log. He had not packed any food, and he had not believed that he had needed too. He was not staying here for long however, and he would return soon.

Solas sat up, yawning and stretching, his dreams had made him feel particularly rejuvenated, which infuriated him to no end. It was one of the two most important reasons why he travelled here, for a good night's sleep. Hopefully, this experience was merely an outlier, and not an indication of a worrying trend in the future.

War had touched nearly every part of the world by now, at some point in history, but this place, this clearing, atop a lonely, clouded peak by comparison was bloodless. It was a place where demons were all but absent, but spirits were a rarity here too, as people did not think to tred here. He'd spoken briefly to the few that remained, those spirits of wisdom and peace contemplating knowledge in solitude.

Solas sighed, shaking his head. Focus on what is here, he told himself. He listened again, closing his tired eyes to hear again the birds in the trees, the smell of rain in the distance, the breeze sweeping above and cooling him.

He stood up, placing a hand on a nearby tree, feeling the magic flowing calmly through its thick bark, around him, undisturbed. He let himself lean against it, breathing quiet, steady breaths until he was calm again.

I'll wait for you.

He'd been here for too long, despite the calm. It took him too far out of present concerns, and too far backwards towards more pleasant times. In silence, he rolled up his blanket and mat, slipped his travelling robe and backpack on, dismantling the wards with a flick of his wrist. He kicked dirt over the embers of his campfire and as tiny droplets of water floated effortlessly onto his bald head, he journeyed back along the hidden path back to the Eluvian.

Stepping through its electric blue surface, Solas emerged into a secluded corner of the Crossroads, smiling at Trust as the spirit turned its icy form towards him.

"That smile is the same one Esalavhin gives his followers," Trust murmured knowingly.

"Is it?" Solas wondered, "Are you so privy to the hidden meaning of each and every one of his smiles, Trust?"

"Indeed. He feels dirty every time he smiles like that. I would too. Like when he said he loved Milathinan, but he said the same to the woman in his bed."

Solas and Trust bent under a group of drooping vines, hiding the pathway behind them. Of course, it was not the only deterrent to the passageway. Trust turned and its icy form flashed bright, and a rather featureless wall appeared behind them. It was indistinguishable from the rest of empty courtyard they found themselves in, floating in the sky above an ocean of clouds. "Perhaps he loves them both," Solas offered.

"He doesn't."

"Ah. And he does not know which one he does love," Solas realised, stepping towards the entrance and together the two passed through the Eluvian there, arriving in a shadowed corner. The sound of singing magic and laughter bubbled from the arched passage ahead.

Trust gave him a curious look as Solas waited for the conversation to die, "I do wonder what it is you do inside that place."

"I simply sleep there, in peace," Solas replied descending the stairs from the Eluvian as Trust locked it.

Trust floated past him, "Simply sleep," it repeated, amused, "That seems an impossibility for you."

Solas easily mirrored Trust's curious expression with one of his own, "Is that a measure of tact I detect?" he said, glancing at Trust from the corner of his eye as he stepped around him.

"More than just a measure, my friend," Trust said, "Tact implies uncertainty, it opens you up, makes you believe you are in control."

Solas chuckled, "And what more do you know about this matter that you are declining to tell me."

Trust looked into his eyes, "I respect your privacy Solas, but I know people. People lie for a thousand reasons, not all of them malicious or selfish. Esalavhin smiles when he lies because he does not know which one he loves. He will be forced to betray one's love, in exchange for the other. But he knows this already. He has done it before. And not a day goes by when the look of sorrow on her face haunts him."

Solas smiled briefly, "Indeed," he glanced upwards towards the sky, curious as to the time, "Forgive me, Trust," he said, "I should return to the Ar'somniaran soon before my absence is noted."

Trust smiled fully, "It's no trouble my friend. Farewell."

Trust spun and passed through the wall to its right. Solas blinked after a long moment to find himself reading the endless inscriptions of Elvhen architecture on the wall. Only, there were other, less talented inscriptions laid out over it. He wondered if the owner of the building knew that it acted strangely because of the graffiti, or perhaps she had made the inscriptions herself, to better its performance.

His heart gratefully silent, Solas stepped out of the alley with a hood thrown over his head and back out into the sun.