CHAPTER EIGHT

"Announce us."

The guards did not reply to Myra. Cassandra and Solas eyed them warily. Myra widened her posture.

"The Magister's invitation was for Mistress Lavellan and no one else," a man said as he walked down the steps of the hall. He motioned to Myra's companions. "You lot, wait here."

"I suppose the Magister will just have to come to us, then," Myra drawled. Her gaze sharpened. "If they can't enter, I won't either."

The man eyed the three of them. He clicked his tongue a couple times, then sighed. "This way."

He led them deeper into Redcliffe Castle. The guards followed behind them. Adrenaline rushed through Myra's veins. She could feel their hostility from behind their strange, horned masks; she sensed that this was enemy territory.

They came to the throne room where guards stood on either side of them, ready to defend their magister. Alexius sat on the throne, his son, Felix, at his side. He seemed relaxed. He knew he had the upperhand, or at least thought he did. Myra closed her eyes, hoping Dorian and Leliana's agents were disabling his trap effectively.

"My Lord, the agents of the Inquisition have arrived," the man said. He left them in the throne room. Myra's gaze turned to Alexius. She glanced to Felix, whose expression was polite, but his eyes were anxious. He gave the smallest nod to Myra, minute and undetectable to everyone but her. She remembered to breathe.

"My friend!" Alexius stood from his throne. "It's so good to see you again." He was armed, as were her companions. "And your…associates, of course." He smiled, no…smirked. "I'm sure we can work out some arrangement that is equitable to all parties."

Grand Enchanter Fiona stepped out of the shadows into the torchlight. "Are we mages to have no voice in deciding our fates?"

"Fiona," Alexius scolded her as if she were a child. "You would not have turned your followers over to my care if you did not trust me with their lives."

As if she had a choice, Myra thought. "If the Grand Enchanter wants to be a part of these talks," she smiled at Fiona, "then I welcome her as a guest of the Inquisition."

Fiona smiled back and nodded deeply. "Thank you."

Alexius turned from them. Felix looked at him, then glanced at Myra, his expression worried. Myra maintained a cool composure. The fireplace behind the throne crackled ominously, and the room felt cold.

Alexius sat in his throne. "The Inquisition needs mages to close the Breach, and I have them." He rested his chin in his hand. "So, what shall you offer in exchange?"

Myra smirked a bit. "Before we get to that, I wanted to discuss something, if you don't mind."

Alexius's expression remained pleasant. "Of course, certainly."

Myra began to pace, taking the stage. "When I came to Redcliffe to meet with the Grand Enchanter, I saw something fascinating outside the gates."

"Oh?" Alexius feigned interest.

"Yes, a magic that distorted time itself."

"How curious." He shifted in his seat.

"My thoughts exactly. Personally, I'd never heard of such a magic existing, have you, Grand Enchanter?"

Fiona shook her head. "No, not since—" She cut herself short.

"Yes, Fiona?" Myra gave her a look. Play along. We are safe.

"Not since…the magister arrived."

Alexius's gaze narrowed. "What are you insinuating?"

Felix piped up. His voice was quiet but still echoed through the room. "She knows everything, father."

Alexius's gaze shot to his son. "Felix, what have you done?"

"We made sure to disarm your trap before we came in," Myra gave an innocent smile. "I hope you don't mind."

"I have yet to see your cleverness." Alexius grunted as he stood up. "You walk into my stronghold with your stolen mark—a gift you don't even understand—and think you're in control?" He pointed an accusatory finger at her. The Venatori guards stirred, they were preparing.

"You're nothing but a mistake," Alexius said.

"Who killed the Divine?" Myra called.

"It was the Elder One's moment, and you were unworthy even to stand in his presence."

"Father, listen to yourself." Felix placed a hand on his shoulder that Alexius shrugged off. "Do you know what you sound like?"

"He sounds exactly like the sort of villainous cliché everyone expects us to be." Dorian sauntered in from the shadows. The guards drew their swords, but Alexius signaled them to stand down.

"Dorian, I gave you a chance to be a part of this. You turned me down. The Elder One has power you wouldn't believe. He will raise the Imperium from its own ashes…"

"Who is the Elder One?" Myra said. Dorian stepped in front of her. His hands twitched. He was ready to fight.

"Soon, he will become a god," Alexius said. "He will make the world bow to mages once more. We will rule form the Boeric Ocean to the Frozen Seas."

Fiona snarled. "You can't involve my people in this!"

"Alexius," Dorian stepped towards him. "This is exactly what you and I talked about never wanting to happen! Why would you support this?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Myra saw a Ventori guard fall to an arrow in his chest. Alexius turned away, unaware, ashamed.

"Stop it, father," Felix begged. "Give up the Venatori. Let the southern mages fight the Breach, and let's go home."

"No! It's the only way, Felix. He can save you."

"Save me?"

"There is a way. The Elder One promised. If I undo the mistake at the Temple…"

"I'm going to die. You need to accept that."

"Seize them, Venatori. The Elder One demands this woman's life!"

The smell of blood filled the air as the Inquisition agents cut the Venatori guards' throats all-at-once. The Inquisition agents took the places of the Venatori.

Myra smirked, taking a step forward. "Your men are dead, Alexius." But Dorian held her back from fully approaching him . His hand was on his staff.

"You…are a mistake!" Alexius hissed. Something was in his hand: an amulet. "You never should have existed!"

The amulet shone a bright blue as he channeled his magic through. Myra could feel a massive shift in energy, the amulet as a focus.

"No!" Dorian cried. He shot Alexius with his staff. The magister flew backwards, but it was too late. The Rift had already opened, but this one felt different, felt strange.

The Rift pulled her in. Solas and Cassandra screamed her name. She felt herself being stretched and warped, morphed into a shape that would make her fit. Fit how? Fit where? No, fit when.

When Myra dropped out of the Rift, she fell into water.

"Blood of the Elder One!"

She looked over and saw Venatori guards rushing after her, their swords drawn. To her left, Dorian gave his head a good shake before stumbling up. Finding her footing, wobbly, but functional, a rush of adrenaline carried her through the fight until the guards had fallen in defeat.

With a breath of reprieve, Myra could finally look around. Water flooded the dungeon from the ceiling. Wooden barrels floated in the knee-deep pool. Red lyrium jutted out of the walls. Massive, massive crystals of red lyrium.

"Displacement, interesting." Myra turned to see Dorian's hand on his chin. "It's probably not what Alexius intended. The Rift must have moved us…to what? The closest confluence of arcane energy?"

Myra shook her head. "From what I can tell, we're still in the castle."

"Let's see," Dorian crouched down, studying some papers on the ground. "If we're still in the castle, it isn't…oh!" He slapped his forehead. "Of course! It's not simply where—it's when!" He shot up, but stumbled a bit. Myra helped him maintain his balance.

"Alexius used the amulet as a focus," Myra said.

"And it moved us through time," Dorian said.

"Forward? Backwards? How far?" Myra's head spun. She knew Alexius worked on wildly unstable magic that disrupted the natural flow of time, but to achieve time travel itself!

"Those are excellent questions." Dorian clapped her on the back. "We'll have to find out, won't we?" His expression turned somber. He waded ahead through the water to the guards' corpses and grabbed something from one of them. Looking back to Myra, he jingled the key out of the dungeon. "Let's look around, see where the Rift took us. Then we can figure out how to get back…if we can."

"Let's try and find the others," Myra said.

They began exploring the castle, making their way up through the dungeons. All the prisoners they came across seemed to have lost their minds, their voices distorted, glowing an eerie red color, as bright as the red lyrium consuming the castle. It all put Myra on edge, but not as much as the haunting recitation of the Chant coming from behind the closed door before them.

"The light shall lead her safely through the paths of this world and into the next."

Myra opened the door. Another room full of cells. Cassandra sat in the one closest to the door. She did not notice them at first, rocking back and forth, continuing to recite the Chant.

"For She who trusts in the Maker, Fire is Her water."

Dorian pulled out the key and began to unlock the door.

Cassandra gasped. "You've returned to us!" She shot up, but stumbled, catching herself on the walls of her cell. "Can it be? Has Andraste given us another chance?"

"Who is it, Cassandra?" A distorted, but familiar voice called.

"The Herald! The Herald of Andraste has returned to us!"

"Shhh, keep your voices down," Myra murmured.

"Vhenan, dar'lath da'len! (Heart, beloved child!)"

As Dorian finished freeing Cassandra, Myra took the key and headed to Solas's cell. He already stood, his hands wrapped around the bars, his forehead resting between them.

"Ma tel'glandival inan. (I do not believe my eyes.)" He reached through the bars and caressed her face. "We saw you die!"

"The spell Alexius cast displaced us in time. We just got here, so to speak," Dorian said. He and Cassandra approached.

Myra opened the cell door. Solas bolted from his imprisonment and swept her into his arms. He dipped her low as he kissed her with a passion she had never felt before. It was fueled by desperation and hope. In her confusion, Myra did nothing. He ended the kiss and held her close. "Forgive me…absence fosters fondness."

"Are you going to tell her, Solas?" Cassandra said, the hint of a smile on her face.

"Perhaps it is inappropriate…"

"What does your heart tell you?"

Myra watched the exchange, her confusion growing as Solas caressed her cheek and gently guided her gaze back to him. "Ar lath ma. It has been a year of waiting, and that is all I wanted to tell you."

"A year?" Dorian cried.

"Harvestmere, 9:42 Dragon," Cassandra said.

Myra gently grabbed Solas's hand and lowered it from its caress. "Solas, ir abelas. I don't know what to say. It's been minutes since you wouldn't even speak to me."

"A childish ploy, one I would dare not repeat." Solas looked down and frowned. "Ir abelas, vhenan, for any pain I caused you."

"He's been praying for this chance." Cassandra sighed happily. "I have too."

Myra kissed his hand. "Ma serraanas, lethallin."

He smiled for a moment. Then, his expression turned serious. "If the spell Alexius cast displaced you in time, can you reverse the process?"

"An army of demons swept across Thedas," Cassandra said. "Led by the Elder One himself. Empress Celene was murdered, throwing Orlais into chaos."

"We can obviate these events. It might not be too late!"

Cassandra tossed Solas his staff. She refitted her armor over herself. She had to tighten the buckles several notches, her form frail compared to what it used to be. Solas's hands shook as he held his weapon.

"You two look…bad." Myra channeled healing magic to her hands. "Is there anything I can do?"

"There is nothing," Cassandra said.

"We are dying, but no matter," Solas lowered her hands.

They heard shouting above them and the heavy footsteps of armed guards.

"They must be here somewhere!"

"Find them!"

"Quickly," Solas pulled Myra out the door. The others followed. "I heard the guards saying Alexius barricaded himself in the throne room. If you can undo this, they all can be saved!"

They fought their way through the castle, through guards and demons alike. The Veil was so fractured that Rifts spawned everywhere, leading to a slow crawl through the fortress. If it was difficult for them, she couldn't imagine what life was like for those with less combat training than her and her companions. The world truly seemed to be falling apart after a mere year of her absence, a thought that frightened her. As if enough didn't rest on my shoulders already. Red lyrium growing out of the walls and infecting people, an army of demons that ravaged the land, Empress Celene murdered and Orlais thrown into chaos? The consequences of failing terrified her.

They could hear Leliana's screams as they tortured her on the floor above. Myra waited outside the door, trying to bide her time for any useful information, but Leliana's screaming became too much for her heart to handle. She kicked down the door and readied her staff, but Leliana used the distraction to wrap her legs around the guard and suffocate him.

"I'm so sorry, Leliana." She searched the guard for a key and freed her from her chains. Myra barely recognized the Spymaster, her face wrinkled and eyes heavy from a year of torture. "You're safe now."

"Forget 'safe.' If you came back from the dead, you need to do better than 'safe.'" She shoved past Myra and Dorian, grabbing her weapons from a cache on the other side of the room. Myra felt her heart sink. The reality of the situation overcame her…guilt bubbled in her stomach.

"You…aren't curious how we got here?" Dorian asked.

"No," Leliana said.

"Alexius sent us into the future. This, his victory, his Elder One—it was never meant to be."

"Leliana, I'm so sorry for what you and everyone have suffered," Myra said. "I will do everything in my power to fix—"

"And mages always wonder why people fear them…No one should have this power."

"Leliana…" Myra stepped towards her.

Leliana pointed a finger at her. "Enough. You all think this is some pretend future that will never happen, but it was real. I suffered. The whole world suffered." She turned her back. "Alexius will suffer as we have."

"If we find Alexius, we can reverse the spell," Dorian added, but Leliana did not seem to care, fastening her quiver to her back with cold determination.

"Let's go," she said. She led them out the door. Myra's only held gaze with the floor as they journeyed deeper into the castle.

They found Alexius in the throne room, holding a strange creature on a leash. Leliana grabbed the creature and threatened to kill it, and Alexius's distress signaled to Myra this is what Felix had become. When Leliana killed the creature that was Felix, Alexius became enraged and tried to kill Myra and her party. Despite his use of Rift magic, Myra and her party managed to defeat him quickly.

The castle walls shook upon Alexius's defeat as the Elder One's armies drew near.

"I need an hour to figure out Alexius's spell," Dorian said.

"We'll hold the outer door," Solas said. "When they get past us, it will be your turn."

"No!" Myra ran to Cassandra and Solas, blocking the door. "I can't let you kill yourselves for me, there must be another way."

"Look at us," Leliana said, pushing her aside. "We're already dead." She turned to Cassandra and Solas who both nodded and left. Leliana stationed herself in front of the door. "You have as much time as I have arrows."

An hour passed. Myra acted as Dorian's springboard as he finicked and finagled with this and that idea until he finally found a spell that worked. He and Myra combined their magics to reverse the spell Alexius had cast. The portal began to form before them. At that moment, an ogre kicked down the door. It threw Cassandra's and Solas's corpses inside, their eyes dull and lifeless. Leliana began her onslaught.

"Though darkness closes, I am shielded by flame. Andraste guide me. Maker, take me to your side."

A Ventori soldier stabbed Leliana. She smacked him with her bow then kneed another one in the stomach. A demon grabbed her by the throat. An archer shot her with arrows.

Myra moved to defend her, but Dorian held her back. "You move, and we all die!" She allowed herself to be pulled back to the portal, watching in horror as her Spymaster, the same Spymaster that treated her to bottles of wine her first week in Haven, fell before her eyes.

Dorian pulled her through the portal. They stepped through.

Before them stood the throne room, just as they'd left it. Cassandra and Solas stood with amazement as they stepped back out through a portal.

"You'll have to do better than that," Dorian said with a smirk.

Alexius sunk to his knees.

Myra smacked him with the end of her staff. As he fell to the ground, groaning in pain, Myra spat on him and headed out past the guards. "I've seen the future, and I won't let that happen. You're done here."

The Inquisition soldiers saluted her as she passed.

"Lethallan?" Myra stood outside Solas's tent. When there was no response, she poked her head in to see if he was there. He laid in his cot, his eyes opened as though she'd just awoken him. "Forgive me…may I have a moment?"

"If you must."

Myra heard the fire crackle outside. Cassandra's sharpened her sword in even strokes. Dorian turned the pages of his book. As she crept inside the tent, she couldn't help but feel unwelcome. "Just…I was hoping…"

Solas sighed and did not look at her.

"I needed…"

He said nothing.

Myra's heart sank. "Why won't you even look at me?"

"You have Warden Blackwall for such trivialities."

Cassandra's sword sharpening stopped. The fire hissed in hunger. Dorian cursed and fed the flames.

Myra's face burned. "Really? That's what this is about?" Her words fumbled in her mouth, tongue twisted in anger. "He's not even—"

"Out."

"What?"

"Leave at once!"

Myra left the tent, cursing his name under her breath. She kicked woodchips into the fire, much to Dorian's distaste, before settling down onto a stump, fuming. A lump formed in her throat. Cassandra and Dorian pointedly feigned ignorance, but Myra knew they knew. The air was thick with tension.

She stood up suddenly and stared into the fire for long moments. Cassandra sharpened her sword. The campfire crackled. Their horses whinnied. None of them cared, none of them fucking cared that her world was crumbling beneath her.

"I heard the yelling," Cassandra finally said. Myra looked behind her, eyes welling up. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat but it was too large. Her gaze turned upward to the starry sky.

"Please don't tell me you're going to cry." Dorian looked up from his book. "Maker's Breath, you're going to cry, aren't you?"

He sounded just like her Keeper. She bit her lip hard trying to retain what little dignity she had left.

"Quiet," Cassandra scolded Dorian. "Your glibness does you no credit."

"Your hothead does as little for you," Dorian scoffed.

Cassandra rolled her eyes, then turned to Myra. "Walk with me?"

Myra nodded and followed her into the woods.