CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Please let me go with you!"
Fennec followed Myra around as she packed for the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Myra loaded her belt with elfroot and lyrium potions and threw on her ring velvet cloak. She combed through her hair with her fingers before pulling it into a tight bun, then drew her hood to help keep her ears warm. Today was especially chilly, fresh snowfall blanketing the mountains.
"No," Myra said. "It's too dangerous, Fennec."
"But…what if you don't come back?"
Myra froze as she reached for her staff. What would become of Fennec if she didn't return? No, she didn't want to think of it. "I will journey through the depths of the Fade to reach you again." She drew Fennec close and kissed her curly hair. Then, she grabbed her staff and strapped it to her back.
"Haven is not far from the Temple," Myra said as she left her cabin and headed towards the gates. Fennec jogged to catch up to her, but had trouble trudging through the fresh snow. Myra picked her up and carried her. "I'll be back tomorrow."
She saw the mages congregating by the gates. Solas, Cassandra, and Cullen watched her approach.
"Are you ready?" Cullen asked.
"Dealing with familial affairs, one moment."
Fennec pouted at Myra. "I don't want you to go. If you go, I'm coming with you!"
"Elgar'nan, child, try yelling that a little louder, I don't think the entirety of Haven heard you."
"Maker's Breath…" Cullen sighed. She saw Cassandra smile a bit. Perhaps the Seeker was reminded of herself as a child.
"Lethallan," Solas said. Myra saw him motion towards the gates. He wanted to go.
"Look, Fennec," she set the child down, placing her gently on the path peeking out from underneath the recent snowfall. She knew she had to think of something that would allow her to leave.
Suddenly, she had an idea. She glanced at Cullen and smirked. "The reason I'm not taking you," she looked Fennec in the eyes, "is because Commander Cullen has a very special mission, but it's something I can't help with, because I won't be here."
"I what?" Cullen blinked.
Fennec looked at the two of them dubiously. Cassandra snickered under her breath and Solas hid a smirk.
"Which means," Myra ignored them, "I need you to help Cullen with his special mission."
"What's the mission?" Fennec asked, feigning disinterest.
"Ohhh, it's a secret, I can't tell you. The Commander will explain after I leave."
Fennec's entire demeanor changed: her eyes brightened, her curls bouncing wildly as she twirled them in thought. "Well, I guess you can go then, if you really need my help, Myra."
"Thatta girl." Myra kissed her forehead. "I'll be back tomorrow. I want you stay extra close to Commander Cullen while I'm gone, okay?" Myra looked up at Cullen, voice dripping with subtext. "He'll protect you while you're on your mission. Understood?"
Fennec nodded. "I won't let you down!"
"I know you won't, my child." Myra gave her one last hug before leaving. "Be good while I'm gone. I'll be back tomorrow."
Cullen pulled her aside before she left. They talked under their breaths.
"I'm sorry to put you through this," she said. "But she's been following me all morning. She's worried. Please, take care of her while I'm gone."
"Just focus on closing the Breach," he said. "I'll look after Fennec."
Myra squeezed the hand he'd placed on her shoulder. "Thank you. You don't know how much I appreciate this."
He stepped back, adjusting his sword hilt. "I'm sure I can think of pay back," Cullen said with a smirk.
Myra laughed a bit. "Thank you," she said one last time, before she and her group disappeared into the Frostbacks.
"Does it trouble you?"
Myra looked up from her Mark to address Cassandra. She clenched and unclenched her hand. "No, it doesn't hurt anymore." She saw Solas look back at them and he slowed to fall in step with them.
"It is crackling more though, the closer we got to the Breach…like fanning a flame."
"We should reach the Temple soon," Solas said.
When they reached the Temple, the group's chatter came to a halt, as though someone had blanketed them with silence. The Inquisition had already done much to lay the dead to rest here, but some corpses remained, petrified, with a fresh blanket of snow atop them. Everyone treaded carefully through the snow, trying not to disturb the Temple's ruins. Myra saw Cassandra's jaw tighten as she steeled herself. She saw the corpse of one of her clansmen. She fought the urge to stray from the group to lay him to rest.
The Mark tingled. It crackled as they neared the Breach.
The Breach: the center of the chaos, where fate took a wild turn.
"Are you certain the Mark is strong enough to permanently close the Breach?" Myra murmured to Solas.
"We shall see," Solas replied rather enigmatically.
"That's not a very comforting answer."
"In theory, yes. Even if the Anchor were not strong enough on its own, the mages will amplify its power."
Cassandra fell into step with them. "We picked the best mages the rebellion had to offer. I have faith."
Myra had her doubts, but she kept that to herself.
They approached the Breach. The mages positioned themselves on the back wall. Cassandra and Solas accompanied Myra to the lower level of the ruins.
"Mages!" Cassandra called to them.
"Focus past the Herald," Solas cried. "Let her will draw from you."
Solas looked back to Myra and nodded. Myra bit her lip hard and thrust her hand upward.
The Mark crackled, and the massive Rift above their heads replied. She felt the mages' power flow through her as all of them willed the Rift closed.
It felt like pulling a slingshot, only to have it snap back. Myra flew back in the resulting blast.
"Oof!" She shakily picked herself up, but stumbled. Cassandra reached for her and helped her stand.
"You did it!" The Seeker awed. She lifted Myra's hand in the air. "Your Herald!"
The mages cheered, and with the mission accomplished, they took a moment to rest before beginning their journey to Haven.
That night, music filled the air. People danced and drank and made merry. Dorian had offered her a drink, and Myra almost accepted, but something told her not to. She felt…on edge…a certain tension filled the air, though the way everyone celebrated made her feel as though perhaps she was just being paranoid.
Cassandra approached her as she stared up at the sky from outside the Chantry.
"Solas confirms the heavens are scarred but calm. The Breach is sealed." Cassandra joined her gaze at the sky. "We've reports of lingering rifts, and many questions remain, but this was a victory. Word of your heroism has spread."
Myra scoffed. "Heroism. You know how many were involved. I just happened to be at the center."
"A strange kind of luck," Cassandra said. "I'm not sure if we need more or less."
They stood in silence for a moment. The tension in the air continued to gnaw at Myra. A blustering wind carried the smell of smoke. Probably just all the campfires. All of Haven is celebrating… The reasoning did not put her at ease.
"Something doesn't feel right," Myra said.
"No, it doesn't."
The Chantry bells began ringing. Everyone slowed to a halt, unsure of what was coming.
"Forces approaching! To arms!" Cullen cried.
Officers rounded up their dancing soldiers and ordered them to the gates. The mountainside suddenly became ablaze with the fires of war. Myra looked at Cassandra, fear radiating through her body.
"What the—we must get to the gates!" Cassandra grabbed Myra's arm and pulled her into a run.
Sera bolted out of the tavern. She ran with them. "This isn't good and it was never good." Her voice shook. Solas joined them.
"Cullen?" Even Cassandra's voice cracked as she approached the Commander.
"One watchguard reporting. It's a massive force, the bulk over the mountain."
"Under what banner?" Josephine asked.
"None," Cullen said.
"Cullen," Myra said. "Where's Fennec?"
Josephine's eyes widened. "Are you certain she's not inside the gates?"
Myra shook her head. "She left my side early on."
"Last I saw, she was with the horses."
Myra made for the gates, but Cullen grabbed her. "Let go of me! I have to find her! Fennec!"
"You can't go out there!" Cullen's hold on her tightened. "Not until we have a plan."
Myra kicked at him. "Let go of me! Fennec!"
"Hamin (Relax), da'len," Solas barked. "We will find her."
Myra's lip trembled. Fear pumped through her veins. But she stopped struggling. Cullen released her.
The gates thudded as a massive force banged on them. Soldiers moved to barricade it.
"I can't come in unless you open!" A young boy's voice cried.
Myra looked to Cullen. He nodded at the soldier, then Myra. He and Myra drew their weapons. They approached the gate and the soldier let them through.
A massive warrior approached her, only to be cut down from behind by a young, blonde assassin. Myra could sense something strange about the boy immediately. He seemed neither human, nor spirit, nor demon.
"I'm Cole," he said. "I came to warn you, to help." He leapt towards her, bandaged hands grabbing her arm. "People are coming to hurt you. You probably already know."
"What is this?" Myra said. "What's going on?"
He looked her dead in the eye, his voice, haunting. "The Templars come to kill you."
"Templars?" Cullen stomped in the snow towards him. "Is this the Order's response to our talks with the mages? Attacking blindly?"
"The Red Templars went to the Elder One," Cole said. "You know him? He knows you. You took his mages." He pointed up to the mountain. "There."
A figure stood atop the mountain, wearing strange red armor. Behind him, a monstrous creature appeared.
"I know that man…" Cullen said. "But this Elder One…"
Red lyrium jutted from the Elder One's head, fused to his very being. His face, leathery and scarred. He stood heads taller than his general, his form spindly and unnatural.
"He's very angry that you took his mages," Cole said.
"Cullen!" Myra grabbed at him. "Give me a plan! Anything!"
"Haven is no fortress," he said. "If we are to withstand this monster, we must control the battle." He pointed towards the trebuchets. "Get out there and hit that force. Use everything you can!"
He turned back to order the troops that had congregated behind them. "Mages! You have sanction to engage them!" He pointed to the figure atop the mountain. "That is Samson, he will not make this easy! Inquisition! With the Herald! For your lives! For all of us!"
Solas, Sera, and Cassandra ran to regroup with Myra.
"We need to find Fennec," she murmured.
"We have no time," Solas said. "We must focus on defending Haven."
"Piss off, Elfy!" Sera cried. "Just because she's little doesn't mean—"
"Solas is right," Cassandra conceded. "We let them take Haven, we are all lost, including the child."
Myra's mouth twisted. "We look for her as we man the trebuchets. Cullen said she was by the horses."
They defended the first trebuchet. The Templars that attacked them were monstrous and did not feel human. Red lyrium jutted from their bodies, just as it did their Elder One's. They attacked in waves. They did not seem to have the normal abilities of a Templar, as they never once attempted to dispel Myra's magic. However, they were inhumanly strong, as though their power was fed from some external force. Myra and her party cut through one after the other as the trebuchet fired at the forces approaching on the mountainside.
"They felt that!" A soldier called to them. "We'll reload—you get to the other trebuchet! It isn't firing!"
Myra stopped at the stables on the way, scanning the area for any sign of her child.
"Fennec!" Myra cried.
She waited, but all she could hear was the roar of battle. All she could see was the horses pacing restlessly, fear in their eyes. Finally, from behind the wall around the smithy, she saw a head of curls peek out.
"Myra!" Fennec clamored over the wall and buried herself in Myra's legs. "What's happening? Why is everyone yelling? Myra, I'm scared."
"I am too." She hugged her little girl.
"Herald."
Myra looked back to see Cassandra motioning her onward. She looked to Fennec, head swimming as she tried to decide what to do with her. Taking her back would leave Haven vulnerable, having one of her party take her would leave them vulnerable, and having her go alone would leave Fennec vulnerable. Finally, she lifted the child and put her back in the smithy.
"Stay here. Stay hidden. I'll come back for you."
"Myra—" Fennec began to protest, but the Herald shushed her.
"Stay here!"
Myra ran with her companions to the south trebuchet. They found it overrun with enemies and fought their way through it. Myra crewed the trebuchet and fired. A wild show of luck landed the blast near the top of the mountain. The snow shivered and fell, an ensuing avalanche consuming the Elder One's army. Myra watched the white sea of snow swallow the lights that filled the mountainside. Cheering erupted among the Inquisition soldiers.
Suddenly, the ground shook. A terrible cry echoed through the mountains. A blast of fire destroyed the trebuchet next to Myra and threw her back.
"No…it can't be…" Cassandra pulled herself up and looked to the sky.
But it was: the dragon whooshed close overhead, its enormous wings scattering ash and flame.
"We can't face it here!" Cassandra helped Myra up. "We have to…do something!"
"Everyone to the gates!" Myra cried. She grabbed Fennec from the stables and ran. The child trembled in her grasp.
"Pull back, now!" Cullen cried to the soldiers as they rushed inside Haven. He ushered her party in. "Move it, move it!"
They slammed the gates and barricaded them shut.
"We need everyone back to the Chantry!" Cullen cried. "It's the only building that might hold against…that beast!" He looked back at Myra. "At this point…just make them work for it."
"Take her," Myra handed Fennec to Cullen. She immediately clung to him, burying her face in his shoulder. "Keep her safe, I'll evacuate the townspeople."
"Good luck," he said before running off, shouting orders to head to the Chantry.
When Myra finished saving the townspeople, she led her party to the Chantry.
Chancellor Roderick ushered them inside. "Move, keep going! The Chantry is your shelter!" As soon as they had entered, the Chancellor fell in exhaustion. Myra saw the blood dripping from a gaping wound in his stomach.
Cole caught him as he fell. "He tried to stop a Templar. The blade went deep." He helped support the Chancellor to a resting place. "He's going to die."
"What a charming boy," the Chancellor drawled.
"Myra!" Fennec ran to Myra and tackled her legs in a hug, clinging to her.
"I'm here." She pet Fennec's curls.
Cullen ran to her. "Our position is not good. That dragon stole back any time you might have earned us. It's cut a path for the army. They'll kill everyone in Haven!"
"The Elder One doesn't care about the village," Cole said. "He only wants the Herald."
"I'd sacrifice myself to save Haven."
Fennec whimpered.
"Say what now?" Sera laughed nervously. "You're joking, right? 'Cause that's not funny."
"For once, Sera and I are in agreement," Solas said. "Sacrificing yourself is noble, but foolish."
"Ya heard Elfie. We're in agreement."
"I'll do what I have to," Myra said.
Cassandra put a hand on her shoulder. "And we'll support you through it."
"You can't do that!" Fennec cried. "You can't!"
The Chantry shook as the dragon gave another fearsome cry. Fennec trembled.
"There is a path," Chancellor Roderick's voice was barely audible as he drew dying breaths. "You wouldn't know it unless you'd made the summer pilgrimage, as I have. The people can escape. She must have shown me. Andraste must have shown me…so I could tell you…"
"What about it, Cullen?" Myra looked back. "Can you lead the people to safety?"
"Possibly, if he shows us the path, but what of your escape?"
Myra said nothing at first. She knelt down to Fennec. The child refused to make eye contact. "Fennec, there isn't much time. I need you to go with Cullen now."
The child allowed Cullen to pick her. She started sobbing into Cullen's shoulder.
"Perhaps, you will outsmart it," Cullen said.
"No table to slip cards under this time…"
Fennec continued to sob into Cullen's chest. "Please don't leave…"
"Da'len." Solas, quietly watching the entirety of the exchange, approached Cullen. He tilted Fennec's chin upward so she looked at him. "Do you remember when Dirthamen and Falon'Din were separated?"
"Dirthamen was brave," Fennec said.
"Remember the story."
Fennec nodded, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She looked back to Myra.
Myra kissed her forehead. "I love you, my child."
"I love you too."
Myra ran out to meet the Elder One, leaving the townspeople, her companions, and her child in fate's hands.
The trebuchet was in position, ready to fire. The dragon cried. It whooshed through the sky, circling overhead. It zeroed in on them. Myra watched in horror.
"Move, now!" she ordered.
Her party began running back to the Chantry, but they became separated by the dragon's blast. Myra tumbled to the ground. The Elder One approached her. She lifted herself to her feet. The dragon stomped to her, shaking the ground with its footsteps and fearsome cry.
"Enough!" The Elder One cried.
Myra signaled her group to go on without her.
"Pretender," The Elder One said, looming over her. "You toy with forces beyond your ken. No more."
"What are you?" Myra asked. She slowly moved towards the trebuchet. Her legs quivered as she stared at its monstrous form. "Why are you doing this?"
"Mortals beg for truth they cannot have. It is beyond what you are, what I was. Know me, know what you have pretended to be. Exalt the Elder One! The will that is Corypheus. You will kneel." His spider-like hand pointed to the ground.
"Why are you here?" Myra cried. "You haven't even asked for anything."
"I ask for nothing, because it is not in your power to give. But that will not stop me." Corypheus tightened his fist around a strange orb. It glowed red with his energy. "I am here for the Anchor. The process of removing it begins now." He extended his massive hand, spindly fingers twitching as he cast his spell.
The Mark crackled in Myra's palm. She felt it being…beckoned.
"It is your fault, 'Herald,'" He said. "You interrupted a ritual years in the planning, and instead of dying, you stole its purpose. I do not know how you survived, but what marks you as 'touched,' what you flail at rifts, I crafted to assault the very heavens."
The Mark flared, searing her skin. She felt a massive tug, as though something too big trying to fit through a space too small. It was stuck-in fast and would not move.
"And you used the Anchor to undo my work. The gall!"
Myra fought the urge to scream, knowing she needed to buy the Inquisition time to escape. She heard her Keeper's voice in her head. Breathe, da'len. The pain is tolerable. Breathe through it. Myra steeled herself, remembering that she could breathe. "Why did the Divine die?" she cried. "For this chaos?"
"The 'chaos' will empower me, and ensure we no longer beg at the feet of the invisible." He approached her and pulled her up by her arm. She tried to clench her teeth shut, but her screaming escaped.
"I once breached the Fade in the name of another," Corypheus said. "To serve Old Gods of the Empire in person. I found only chaos and corruption. Dead whispers. For a thousand years I was confused, but no more. I have gathered the will to return under no name but my own, to champion withered Tevinter and correct this blighted world. Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty."
He threw Myra into the trebuchet. It dug in upon impact. She fell.
"The Anchor is permanent," Corypheus said. "You have spoiled it with your stumbling."
Myra saw an Inquisition sword nearby and grabbed it. She stumbled to her feet, holding the unfamiliar weapon at the ready, but she had no intention to fight. She backed up against the trebuchet. I just need to fire it…
"So be it," Corypheus said. "I will begin again, find another way to give this world the nation—and god—it requires." He pointed at her. "And you. I will not suffer even an unknowing rival. You must die."
Myra eyed the crank, tight with tension, ready to fling destruction to the mountainside. She looked back to Corypheus and smirked.
"You expect me to fight, but that's not why I kept you talking."
She kicked the crank, but didn't wait to watch the rock launch into the mountainside. She heard the avalanche start, the massive sea of snow rushing to the bottom of the hill, ready to consume and destroy everything in its path. She ran. She heard the dragon cry. With a final leap she managed to jump between the broken boards of a walkway. She tumbled down into the icy earth.
The last thing she remembered, her head smashed into something. The pain overtook her. It clouded her vision. Then, she fainted.
When she awoke, the first thing she felt was her head throbbing. The next thing she noticed was she couldn't feel any of her limbs. She sat up and shivered. The wind howled through the caverns around her, chilling her to the bone. Shakily, she stood up. Her whole body ached. Looking up, she couldn't tell how far she'd fallen, as it was completely snowed in.
"That wind must be coming from somewhere," she murmured and began limping through the caverns.
The journey through the caverns passed quickly enough. Myra used the wind to guide her through the winding paths until she had made it outside.
"I have to regroup with the others," Myra murmured.
A storm blew. As loose strands of her hair whipped this way and that in the snowstorm and the icy wind bit into her skin, she wondered if perhaps she should have stayed in the caverns until the weather calmed. At times, she even considered simply lying down in the snow and letting the winter take her to the Beyond. But she refused these temptations. One thing drove her: to find the Inquisition.
"Just need to make it to camp," she murmured through numb and cracked lips. "Just get to camp."
She repeated the phrase for what felt like hours, following what little of a trail they had left. The logs of extinguished campfires got warmer as time passed, filling her with hope and spurring her onward.
"Just get to camp, just get to camp."
She finally reached one with embers still aglow. Her legs trembled beneath her. She nearly collapsed right then. But she could smell the campfires and hear chatter carried in the wind.
As she came over the top of a hill, she saw the Inquisition camp aglow.
"There, it's her!"
Cullen's voice. She'd never been so happy to hear it. She collapsed to her knees.
"Myra!" Fennec cried.
Her eyelids drooped. She could feel consciousness slipping away.
"Thank the Maker!" Cassandra cried.
She heard them trudge through the snow. As she fell, she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her.
"I have you," Cullen spoke to her through her dimming senses. "You're safe now."
"What would you have me tell them? This isn't what we asked them to do!"
Myra stirred in her sleep at the sound of Cullen's voice.
"We cannot simply ignore this!" Cassandra cried. "We must find a way!"
Myra rolled over in bed and hoped for some miracle to help her fall back asleep, but the effort bore no fruit.
"And who put you in charge?" Cullen yelled. "We need a consensus, or we have nothing!"
Myra sat up in bed and stared at the arguing advisors.
"Please," Josephine put a hand between the two of them. "We must use reason! Without infrastructure of the Inquisition, we're hobbled!"
"That can't come from nowhere!" Cullen cried.
"She didn't say it could!" Leliana yelled.
"ENOUGH!" Cassandra stomped her foot. "This is getting us nowhere!"
"Well, we're agreed on that much," Cullen said.
Mother Giselle turned to Myra and put a delicate hand on her shoulder. "Shh, you need to rest."
"They've been at it for hours," Myra drawled. She lifted herself to her feet. "Besides, I've never been much of a sleeper anyways."
She hobbled towards the group. Cassandra saw her and immediately moved to her side, helping her find a place to sit. Out of her pocket, she pulled out an old wooden pipe. Filling it with spindleweed, she snapped her fingers and lit it. The group was silent. She blew a few puffs.
"Mother Giselle says I should be sleeping," Myra began. "But I can't sleep with you all yelling like this."
"If everyone would just listen—" Cullen began, but Myra shot him a look that made him shut it.
"Stop. Talking."
Cullen's mouth snapped shut.
Myra toked on the pipe some more. She blew perfect smoke rings, just like Darrell used to.
Suddenly, she heard Mother Giselle's voice resound in a soft song.
"Shadows fall, and hope has fled
Steel your heart, the dawn will come
The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come…"
Leliana joined, then Cullen.
"The shepherd's lost and his home is far
Keep to the stars, the dawn will come"
More and more of Haven's refugees joined in. Myra set down her pipe and stood, looking at the crowd congregating.
"The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come"
Soon, all of the Inquisition joined in resounding song. As Myra listened and watched the crowd, tears filled her eyes. They were all looking at her.
"Bare your blade, and raise it high
Stand your ground, the dawn will come
The night is long, and the path is dark
Look to the sky, for one day soon
The dawn will come"
The people cheered as the song came to a finish, their hope for the future renewed. This is what faith can do to people. She understood why Fennec found comfort in the Chantry, and why the Dalish found comfort in their old tales.
She felt a hand snake along her back. She turned to see Solas beckoning her with him. "A word?"
Myra followed him to a nearby cliff. Sauntering to an old torch, he lit it with veilfire.
"The humans have not raised one of our people so high for ages beyond counting." Solas said. "Their faith is hard-won, lethallan, worthy of pride…save one detail." He looked out over the valley of snow below them. "The threat Corypheus wields? The orb he carried? It is ours."
"Ours?" Myra repeated. She looked around warily to make sure no one was eavesdropping, but he had led her far from camp.
Solas nodded. "Corypheus used the orb to open the Breach. Unlocking it must have caused the explosion that destroyed the Conclave. We must find out how he survived…" He looked to Myra. "And we must prepare for their reaction, when they learn the orb is of our people."
"Shemlen will always find a way to blame the elves," Myra spat.
"I suspect you are correct," Solas said. "It is unfortunate, but we must be above suspicion to be seen as valued allies." He reached to her a tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Faith in you is shaping this moment," his eyes flickered as they studied her features. "But it needs room to grow."
Myra flushed at his gaze. Solas gave a soft smile.
After a moment, she began to fiddle with the pipe in her hands. "Smoke?" she asked Solas.
He gave pause, but cautiously joined her. She snapped the spindleweed in the bowl alight with her fingertips. The smoke filled her lungs. When she exhaled, she passed the pipe to Solas. He took one hit before his whole face contorted.
"Something wrong?" Myra asked, taking another puff.
He exhaled the noxious fumes quickly. "I just recalled why I don't smoke."
Myra laughed. "Ir abelas, hahren. I did not know."
They sat in silence for a while, staring over the snowy expanse below them and the stars above them.
Finally, Myra spoke. "Once, you commented on how curious it was that I cared so much for Fennec after finding her outside of Redcliffe. It went beyond concern for an orphan, I adopted her, took her in as my own." The blue light of the veilfire caused shadows to dance across Myra's face. Her eyes remained concealed in the shadows, shielding her vulnerabilities that surely showed through them. "I see a lot of myself in her."
She waited for Solas to say something, perhaps cut her short of this confession, but he waited for her, patient, certain her story was not over. He was always a patient listener with her.
She toked on her pipe some more. "We've both lost those we've cared about, and it's made us scared to get close. Scared to trust." Myra crossed her arms. "I don't blame her for keeping her distance."
"She wanted to stay in Haven and wait for you," Solas said. "The Seeker thought she had lost her senses, tried to pick her up and carry her out, but she struggled so much that even the Commander could not get a hold of her. Finally, I knelt by her side and told her to remember Dirthamen." He looked to Myra and smiled a bit. "She calmed immediately and grasped my hand. We were the last to leave."
"You worried?" Myra furrowed her brow.
"We both did. But her fear consumed her. She hadn't spoken a word until you returned. Your supposed death scared her, lethallan," Solas said.
"Please, hahren, what should I do? Teach her not to fear?" Myra asked.
Solas shook his head. "No, fear provides strength, growth, compassion. No, do not teach her to run from it, teach her to conquer it, and make it her own, as Dirthamen once did." He turned towards her, and reached towards her troubled form, tucking a stray black curl behind her ear. "Lead not only by the strength of your words, but the strength of your actions. Conquer your own fears, and Fennec will follow in suit."
Myra blushed. "You know not what you ask of me." Or perhaps he did, perhaps he knew her feelings for him, and that's why he encouraged her to overcome her hesitations.
"No, you've concealed much." He dropped his hand. "I will not pressure you one way or another, but when you call me, da'len, I will come."