This chapter also takes place in Inquisition, but in Aedan's POV. It's during the time when the Inquisitor and Dorian would be looking for Leliana in Redcliffe after Alexius sent them forward in time. Warning to you though! I was close to crying when I wrote this, so feels ahead!
What has this world come to?
There are burned bodies of villagers scattered around the Chantry. Mabari lie dead with their masters, knights still clutch their swords, mothers hold their children in their arms in vain attempts to assure them everything will be all right. The stench of death hangs over Redcliffe and the Hinterlands, sickening me. I have never smelled anything so horrible. Not even Denerim was like this after the darkspawn attacked it.
"Aedan." I look away from what I see to my sister, who is clad in her black leathers with a swirling white eye painted on the front. She has the hood of her cloak up like Alistair and I, giving her a strangely frightening appearance. Her hand glows in this part of Thedas. Always lit up in the presence of the massive Fade rift hanging over Ferelden and half of Orlais. She isn't the Herald of Andraste, who I heard also had a glowing hand, but the Agent of the Maker. "We need to get moving. Come on." She beckons me after her, so I follow. Alistair appears from a building that's nothing more than a shamble of what it once was. He has his sword drawn, but the Warden weapon is quickly returned to its scabbard as he rejoins us by the docks. Elissa leads us into the village and past more piles of bodies. I grimace in disgust.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," Alistair whispers.
I look up at the sky. The Breach started in Haven, at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, and has since spread over this part of Ferelden. We had to avoid several Fade rifts to get across the lake. They dotted the shorelines like it was nothing.
"The Herald died. Corypheus got what he wanted," I mutter. "Of course this happened."
"I just wish it didn't," Alistair replies bleakly.
Elissa pauses in her sneaking to look back at the two of us. "We can't change what happened. We have to keep moving. My contact said Leliana is in the castle. If my information is good, and it usually is, she should still be here."
"I want to find her as much as you do, but I doubt that magister let her live this long," Alistair says. "This is a stupid idea, Liss. We're all that's keeping Corypheus from his goal, and yet you insist on continuing. Is Leliana worth Thedas?"
"Yes," I snap. Alistair glares at me, daring me to continue. I'm about to when Elissa tells us both to shut up and keep moving. Alistair sighs, shaking his head, and follows. I bring up the rear of the party, glancing up at the sky every now and then, hoping to get a glimpse of something other than the green glow or the black clouds. I want to see the stars again. I feel stupid and sappy for wanting it, but I do. It'll mean there's some semblance of normalcy rather than Corypheus, the Venatori, or the Red Templars.
"Stay here," Elissa whispers. "Wait for my signal." She sneaks off, sticking to the shadows the way only rogues can do, and manages to cross the bridge leading to the windmill without alerting the patrol she's headed after. Alistair and I remain crouched in place while she takes down the first black-clad man. His friend doesn't even see my sister coming, and when he's dead, she waves us after her.
I lead the way up the hill, across the bridge, and to my sister. She's standing, bronze and gold sword in hand. With the only light coming from the Breach, a strange glow emanates from the blade. It has a similar effect on the lyrium infused in it as well.
"That thing will get us caught," I say. Elissa shakes her head and tosses the weapon aside. It vanishes into thin air like it always does, and I shrug. "Do you even know where it goes?"
"Probably the Fade," Elissa says. "I've been waiting for it to drop from the Breach, but I guess not."
Elissa sighs and throws back her hood to scratch her head. Everything is black or dead, but she's managed to keep her hair the same wheat blond it has always been. Even Alistair's hair has darkened to the point of being dirty blond, or even brown, but nope, not my sister's hair. She's still a blond through and through.
The thought makes me smile. One incorruptible thing is exactly what Thedas needs to be freed from the darkspawn magister causing this.
"Let's go," Elissa says, yanking the black hood back up.
It's another quick walk to the windmill. The door is falling in on itself, but I force it in, snapping the rusted hinges effortlessly. The metal creaks slightly and the wood groans as I lean the rotted thing on the stone wall. Elissa and Alistair are already at the trapdoor I told them about. As I join them, my twin forms a ball of light in her hand, leaning down over the signet ring lock. Then she extinguishes it, squeezing her hand into a fist, and casts a spell. The air in the room suddenly gets colder (if that's even possible). When she opens her hand, she produces an exact copy of the ring I used to get into the castle years ago, but made of ice. Once she unlocks the secret entrance, she tosses the now useless item aside.
"Let me go first," I whisper, catching her hand as she reaches for the handle. "Please."
Elissa hesitates, eyes zoning out to show she's arguing with Hope. It takes a few minutes, but when they return to normal, she nods. "After you, brother."
She steps aside, so I crouch down by the trapdoor. I swing it up and drop ten feet to the musty passage below, landing with a very loud, very noticeable, clang. The noise echoes off the stone walls, but when no one questions it, I assume no one is down here. I bite back my disappointment and worry. If Leliana's not down here, she's up in the castle somewhere, meaning we'll have to look for her. I may not admit it aloud, but Alistair was right. Coming here was reckless and extremely stupid, and more than a little selfish. I talked Elissa into coming for Leliana, and by default, that means Alistair is going to tag along as well. I'm risking the fate of Thedas on saving one person.
I'm finding it hard to care.
I draw my sword, pointing it forward as I creep towards the door at the far end of the hall. I glance between cells as I pass them. Nothing more than corpses and skeletons, spiderwebs, and a strange red glow coming from the walls.
I sigh to myself, grumbling, "Of course there's red lyrium. There's always red lyrium."
"Aedan?" Elissa whispers.
"It's clear," I reply. "We got lyrium down here though. Don't touch it. It's the bad stuff."
I hear Alistair grunt as he drops down. A moment later, my sister follows. "How very eloquent, brother."
"I'm not trying for eloquent," I retort.
"Fair enough," Elissa says, walking up to my side. She's brushing dirt off her armor, muttering something to herself and Hope. "Let's get started."
I shrug my shield onto my forearm and follow her through the door as she opens it. Sure enough, the first thing the three of us see is red lyrium. Giant spikes of it jutting up from the ground and extending into the ceiling.
"They could decorate better," Elissa mumbles halfheartedly.
"Let's just find Leliana and go," Alistair says.
"Good plan," I agree. I take the lead, shouldering through an iron gate. "They changed the place. Huh. Time to get lost." I glance down at the water covering the floor before hopping into it with a slight splash. We come into an intersection, the only openings being left and right. Right leads into a small chamber that is similarly flooded to the hallway we are in. I think I see two bodies floating in the water, but I can't be sure. As I start forward, Elissa grabs my arm.
"Venatori," she says.
"Someone else is here," Alistair remarks.
"If they're killing Venatori, I'll take them as an ally," I say, tone dry and flat. Alistair nods his agreement and I start left, using the eerie glow from the red lyrium to light my way forward. My steps echo off the walls as do Alistair's, but Elissa walks along silently. The cells here are similarly decorated as the previous ones, plus some wonderful shoots of red lyrium. I take them up a staircase into a chamber with two large cells on either wall. The center of the room is dominated by a gigantic pillar of the Tainted lyrium. I frown as I step under a part connected to the wall, scraping my shoulder plate and cloak across it. I shiver, biting my tongue to resist the urge to touch it. Alistair and Elissa have similar looks of horror on their faces.
I hear shouting up ahead, quickly followed by the sounds of steel on steel. Seems our would-be allies have gotten caught.
"Move it," Elissa says.
I nod grimly, continuing on at a run. Through another hallway filled with lyrium-covered cells and up another staircase, we come out into a strangely shaped chamber. It's large, with a stone platform in the center and four mesh bridges connecting it to four smaller platforms and doors. There's also the Venatori fighting with four people, but you know, that's not important at all.
"So much for stealthy," I say, irritated.
"Stealth never was your strong point, brother," Elissa quips.
I snort before running forward, slamming into the first Venatori I lay eyes on. He stumbles back and falls within reach of a woman's sword. Her face barely registers in my mind before she moves on.
"Hey! Sis! It's that Seeker!" I shout over my shoulder. An axe sails for my head, but I duck behind my shield. The weapon bounces off harmlessly and I pop back out, driving my sword into the Venatori man's chest.
"Cassandra?" Elissa asks.
She just makes a disgusted noise.
I catch an arrow on my shield and whip, driving my sword into another's stomach. As I pull my sword free, a fireball whizzes past my face, followed by a lightning bolt in rapid succession. Another arrow flies, but I step out of the way. Instead of hitting me, it bounces harmlessly off the far wall.
"Hit the archers!" I shout. I bring my shield up to reflect another. Just as I lower it, I see a sword coming for my neck. Before I can so much as twitch, an arrow comes from my left and hits him in the chest. I glance in that direction to see an elf there, frowning, as she readies another arrow for firing. I nod my thanks and move on, following Alistair as he forces his way across the chain bridge to the platform the Venatori are defending.
On my left, I catch a flash of movement. I turn to it as a pair of daggers slip past my shield. One skims my armor and bounces off, the other tearing my shirt and nicking my belt. The stalker pulls back and begins to retreat, but I slam my shield into his abdomen and send him tumbling off the edge. I look down after him and wince. That had to hurt.
"Aedan!"
I look up to see a sword coming for my gut. Twisting, I bring my shield around and down, catching my attacker's wrist with the lip, and push up. Locked in place as he is, weaponless with a dislocated shoulder, Alistair jumps in and decapitates him. I push the body off with a foot and race after my brother-in-arms. He dispatches the first archer easily while I go for the second. The Venatori swings his recurve bow at my ankles, aiming to trip me, but from training with Elissa and Leliana, I know how to see it coming and dodge. I kick his bow away, bash him with my shield, and once he's down, drive my sword through his chest.
"Anybody need any healing potions?" a voice asks from behind. "You're all good?"
Three affirmatives sound off as Alistair and I rejoin Elissa. She's frowning as she rubs a salve into a cut on her cheek. The poultice takes hold and heals the minor wound within seconds, so she peels the dried paste off and tosses it aside. "You guys okay?" Alistair and I both nod. "Well, then time to go see who we saved." I shove my sword into my scabbard, resolving to clean it later. It'll likely only get covered in more gore anyway.
She steps past me and Alistair, headed straight for the ring of four people. By the insignia on the leader's chest, I'd assume they are Inquisition forces. Scouts at the very least, but what would they be doing here? The Inquisition all but disbanded when the Herald died.
"How is it you're alive?" Elissa demands.
The leader shrugs and looks to the mage beside him. "Dorian? Care to explain?"
"Ah yes. Long story made short, Alexius used some strange magic that threw me and the Herald forward in time."
"Yeah," the dark-haired elf says. "I didn't die. Here I am."
"Time travel magic?" I ask, confused. I can't quite wrap my head around it.
"Yes," the mage named Dorian says, his exasperation apparent. "Time travel magic."
"So...what are you doing here?" Elissa asks, interrupting before I can demand a better explanation.
"Trying to find Alexius, the magister that caused this," the elf says. "We think he can reverse this and send us back to the moment we disappeared. He had a necklace that opened a rift in the main hall and it dropped Dorian and I in the dungeons today. Dorian believes he knows how to reverse this if Alexius can't."
"Is that all? Do you know where Alexius could be?" Elissa asks.
Suddenly I'm more focused on finding this magister. If we can prevent this, I won't have to worry about Leliana much longer. That, and I have no urge to find her body somewhere.
"He's most likely in the main hall," Dorian says.
"Then let's get a move on," Elissa says. "I have a dragon to get back to killing."
She starts forward, Alistair and I moving to follow, when the Herald turns and catches my sister by the shoulder. His eyes show worry, and the set of his mouth, along with the tone of his voice, only further that emotion. "You're the Hero of Ferelden, right? Friends with Leliana?" My sister glances back at me before nodding. "The Grand Enchanter said she was here. Have you seen her?"
"We're actually here to find her," I say. I don't like how worried he is now. I feel my jealousy creeping up on me. She's been around this man for months, helping him while I was looking for a cure to the Taint.
"I hate to say it, but we should check the torture chambers," Cassandra says.
"If the Venatori have someone important to the Inquisition, that's probably where they will be," Elissa says. Why didn't I think of that? The idea of Leli going through more torture makes my skin crawl and my temper flare. I flex my hands, holding my breath, to refrain from punching something or someone. A hand on my arm snaps me to reality, and my eyes come into focus on a pair of the exact same blue eyes as my own. "We'll find her, Aedan. I promise."
I grit my teeth and nod, forcing my muscles to relax.
My sister scans my face a few times before nodding and turning back to the Herald. "I know the castle fairly well, but I don't recognize this place. We'll have to look around."
"Well, that way is the only place we haven't been yet," he says, pointing towards the doorway the Venatori had been guarding. "So...up?"
"It's a start," Elissa says. "Come on. Follow me." I pull my shield back over my shoulder and start after her. As soon as we leave the chamber, the red lyrium appears again. Elissa and I avoid getting too close to it as we follow the stairs to the main building and out of the basement. She eases the door open and I recognize where we are. The hallway before the kitchen. "Can you hear it?"
"Hear what?" I whisper. I strain my ears to listen, but hear nothing other than my own breathing.
"It sounded like screaming," she whispers.
"Do you think it was Leliana?"
"It definitely wasn't a man," Elissa replies. She starts to go down the hallway, but she freezes, holding up a hand. "Listen."
And there it is. So faint, probably only audible because of the echoing, but it's there. My muscles itch to move. That had to be her. I hate that sound so much that it's burned into my memory. It kills me every time I hear it because I know I'm not able to help her. There's no way in hell that I'd let anyone near her long enough to hurt her.
I clench my fists, growling out my frustration.
"Rift nearby," Elissa says, resuming the walk to the kitchen. She nudges the door open with her foot and jumps back, pointing her recently formed sword into the deserted room. "Clear."
"How do you know there's a rift nearby?" the Herald asks.
"Considering the fact that I'm technically an abomination, I can sense them," she explains with a shrug. "Hope is drawn to them. Not because she wants out of the Fade or anything. She's already out. Living up here." She taps her temple as she tosses her sword away.
"You're possessed?" Dorian asks. "And by a spirit of Hope? Fascinating!"
"That's not fascinating, mustache!" the female elf exclaims. "That's frigging freaky!"
"Relax, Sera," Elissa says absentmindedly. "Hope didn't hurt you when we asked for information during the Blight. She won't hurt you now."
"You remembered that?" the Herald asks.
"I remember two elves rolling around in the mud when me, Alistair, Aedan, and Leliana walked into the Alienage. And I remember hearing the name. Hope doesn't allow me to forget faces." She grimaces as she walks up to the door leading deeper into the castle. "Two. Two rifts. I think one is out in the courtyard."
"Well, let's go," the Herald says.
Elissa nods, beckoning us after her. I follow closely, Alistair on my left and the Herald on my right. The hallway is eerily quiet as we continue. The red lyrium has become less frequent as well. The only trace of it is the red glow coming from the floor. It reflects off my boots. In the back if my mind, I swear I can hear singing. I push the thought away. I don't want to entertain the possibility I could lose my mind if Dorian and the Herald don't get sent back. I ignore the question of what will happen to those of us not sent forward, but it's almost too tempting to ask.
Hearing another scream jolts me back to the present and I scowl, furious. A quick glance up at my sister shows she's just as angry as I am. I see her flash once as she struggles to keep control of Hope. I feel a twinge of guilt for bringing her here to suffer that battle, but when I hear Leliana talking, followed by a sharp cry of pain, I completely forget. I want to strangle the person hurting her.
"Easy," Alistair whispers to Elissa. She just nods. "Perhaps you should go first, Herald." The elf nods, jogging up the next staircase, and heads into the room on his left with his companions while the three of us stand down here. "Liss? Look at me, okay? Don't let Hope control you. We can't afford that right now. Do you hear me?" My sister nods once, eyes squeezed shut as if in pain.
"It's...not her," Elissa groans. "You remember what happened to Anders, how Justice split into Vengeance?"
"Don't tell me that's happening to you," I say, suddenly distracted by the idea that my sister could be losing herself to a spirit that's breaking apart.
"It's not so bad. Not...yet," she says, rubbing her forehead. "It just started a few weeks ago. Splitting headaches and a strong urge to punch anyone and everyone. If we can get them back to where they were in time, I shouldn't have this problem. It...this is from the stress. Hope is splitting into Despair because I've had to keep Thedas from being destroyed..." She groans and falls to her knees. "Maker, it hurts..." Her skin flashes white one more time before she visibly relaxes. "Ugh, that's so much better."
I'm about to help her up when someone slams into me. Arms are flung around my shoulders and a head is buried in my shoulder. As I stumble back from the weight, I inhale a lungful of her scent, and my arms tighten around her. The relief I feel is staggering, but not as much as having her pressed into my chest, safe and alive.
"Thank the Maker," I whisper into her hair. I hold her tighter, afraid it's all just a dream, and that she'll disappear if I let go.
"I thought you were dead."
Hearing her voice again, for the first time in three years, makes me smile. I can't help it. I've missed her so much that I ache everywhere. When I release her and find her eyes, my smile only widens. She returns the gesture, and that only makes it worse. I want to crush her to me and never let go. I restrain myself, however. That can wait for this to be made right. I will see the Herald through this, and the moment I can, I'll leave for Ferelden and Haven.
"I missed you too."
I notice Leliana's disappearance first. When I look to my left to see if she just moved, I see Elissa's vanished too. My sister has gotten progressively worse the farther we've gone. I thought she was going to burst at that last rift. She didn't, but the pain the struggle put her in was obvious. It was as obvious as Leliana's still is. She winces when she pulls back on her bowstring. She holds her side after each fight. But their pain doesn't seem to have stopped either of them from sneaking off to do what they do best.
I search the shadows on both walls, but see neither of them. Not until Leliana lunges and grabs Alexius' son, Felix, by the throat and puts a knife to it.
"What are you doing?!" Arin, the Herald, demands. "Let him go Leliana!"
"Why? The magister deserves to suffer as much as the people he claimed to protect! You haven't seen this world, Arin. You wouldn't understand."
As soon as Alexius has his back turned to the opposite wall, I see my sister, crouched in the corner with her sword in hand. She must've lost her battle with Hope because she's glowing now. The two of them must have planned this because Elissa dashes forward to Alexius so quickly I don't follow. One moment she's in the corner, the next she's in front of the fireplace snatching the amulet from the magister's hand. She tosses it back to Dorian and kicks the magister roughly enough that I hear his bones snap from the force. I wince at his yelp if pain. Leliana doesn't even flinch, but she releases Felix, a look of disgust on her features.
"We don't have much time," Leliana says stiffly. "Focus on getting the spell to work. We'll keep the demons back."
"They come," Elissa says. It's not her voice though. It's not even Hope's voice. She didn't lose to Hope, which would've been slightly helpful. She lost to Despair, and now I'm nervous. The look she's giving everyone is terrifying. The only person she doesn't seem to be furious with is Leliana, but the two of them look equally angry. "Start the spell, mage."
"We'll keep them out as long as we can," Cassandra says. Sera nods and follows the Seeker back outside, closing the doors behind them.
"Whatever happens, you do not look back," Leliana says to Arin. "You get out of here and don't stop until you've fixed this." The elf nods grimly. "Good luck." She turns and walks back to the lower level of the room, drawing her bow. Elissa follows, sword at the ready, so after we exchange a quick, nervous glance, Alistair and I follow.
"We're going to die," Elissa says, voice devoid of any and all emotion.
"Then we die," Alistair says.
I walk up beside Leliana, smiling reassuringly when she looks up and reveals the fear hidden in her eyes. I take her free hand in mine, squeezing as I stare ahead at the massive doors. "I will find you, Leli. I swear I will."
She squeezes my hand back. "I'll hold you to that."
I kiss the side of her head when the door bangs, whispering 'I love you' into her hair. Then I release her to draw my sword and shrug my shield into place.
I feel the air behind me shift, but force my eyes to remain locked on the shaking door.
Let them come. Let them take me.
I settle into a crouch as the doors slam open. Cassandra and Sera fall, dead, and Dorian orders the Herald to stay put. Terrors come first, but Elissa blasts them back to the Fade with her own mark. Venatori follow, weapons bared. So many...so many enemies...
I'm ready to die. I'll die for Thedas, for Ferelden.
"Blessed are the peacekeepers, champions of the just." Leliana drops the first man through the doors. He crumples, and that's the last thing I hear her say.
"If you move, everything is lost, Herald!"
And the three of us with swords run at the Venatori. I flip the first I collide with over my back with a well-placed shield bash. I run the next through with my sword. Elissa leaps past and into the thick of the fighting (literally). She blasts men back through the doors and into their allies with various spells. Others are more fortunate and fall to her sword. Those that pass her fall to Alistair and I, and those that pass us are cut down by Leliana's arrows.
But it's obvious we're being overwhelmed even now. There are far too many for even Elissa and her wild movements. There are so many that I'm taking on five men at a time. I resort to ducking and rolling more often than I usually would. Leliana's arrows come less and less frequently until they completely stop. Alistair cries out somewhere to my left. Elissa freezes entirely, and I know it's time for me to get out of the line of fire. I retreat to Leliana's side where I find her fending men off with her bow.
That's also when I see the arrow shaft that's been snapped off at her shoulder and the blood pouring from a wound on her side. She holds a hand to it when I break through to give her a respite, but without any healing potions or my sister and her healing spells, we both know that wound is going to be what does her in.
"Alistair!" As the realization of his probable death hits my sister, several Venatori implode. Literally. The crushing spell I've seen few mages cast is so powerful she catches at least ten of them with it.
I look back. The thing is almost complete. I think. I hope. Arin is staring at us in horror. His desire to help us is obvious, but I point.
"Stay there!" I pull my dagger from my belt and give it to Leliana. Terror and adrenaline is pumping through my body as I realize just how close to death I am, how close the woman in front of me is. I don't want to die. I don't want her to die. "Til death do us apart." How sick does the Maker's sense of humor need to be for this to end in the literal meaning of that statement? Very. "Together?" I wrap Leliana's fingers around the hilt of the weapon and offer the most reassuring smile I can muster. It's not much and I know it.
She inhales deeply, nodding. "Together."
Maker, this had better work.
Elissa, my sister, my first friend, my twin, cries out in pain. My heart breaks at the sound and I whip, barely catching sight of her as she falls to the ground, dead. My eyes widen, and with one look back at Leliana, I return to the fighting.
Behind me, Leliana starts repeating the Chant of Light again.
"Blessed are they who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter." A sword clips my arm and sends blood pouring down to the floor. "Blessed are the peacekeepers, the champions of the just." I drive my sword into anyone that gets close enough. "Blessed are the righteous, the lights in the shadow." An arrow pierces my shoulder and I yelp, reaching up to snap it off as soon as I can. "In their blood the Maker's will is written."
A sword slips past my guard as I block another, groaning in pain as my blood drips down my arm. The steel stabs into my abdomen. Leliana cries out my name desperately. The world spins.
The Venatori man pushes me off his sword and I fall to the ground. He steps over me, headed straight for Leliana, and all I can do is watch. I'm powerless to do anything. I hate it. I hate it all. I hate watching her back away, desperate for an opening she won't find. I hate the look of hopelessness she wears. I hate that she's terrified. I hate knowing she's about to die when I can't protect her.
I feel myself slipping. My eyes close of their own accord, leaving me with an image I'll never forget. A man closing an arm around Leliana's neck and snapping it.
I won't forget it. Ever.
It really fucking worked. Maker be praised. I'm alive! Ha!
I look down at my unharmed torso and laugh in disbelief. I'm still alive. I'm not dead! Elissa's not dead! Neither is Leliana! If I wasn't in public, I'd fucking dance, that's how happy I am.
"Ser?" The Warden beside me seems confused. "Is everything all right, ser?"
"Everything is great," I say, grinning. "Excellent, even." I get to my feet and head out of the library. He rushes to follow.
"Where are you going?"
"Home," I say.
"But you've only just returned to Weisshaupt!" he says. "The First Warden will want a report and-"
I shrug and interrupt with, "That's not my problem. Tell him if he wants that report to send an order to Ferelden. I have a promise to keep." I unconsciously pat the folded up letter in my pocket. I was meaning to head back to Ferelden to see Leliana, and the letter from her friends in the Inquisition only reinforced the idea in my mind, but I had no way of getting out of here without having permission from the First Warden. Now I don't care. I swore I would find her.
I intend to keep that promise whether I have permission to leave or not.