Song birds happily chirped to the yellow light of day, skipping along the branches as they trilled joyful melodies. Rays of gold broke through the forest canopy like fingers tickling the earth's surface, illuminating the forest with its warmth, giving life to the plants and animals that called it home. A light breeze flowed through the trees, carrying with it the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle. It was a delightfully cool breath that kept the forest at a pleasant temperature.

Delani sucked in a deep breath through her nose, letting her eyes slide shut as she enjoyed the peacefulness of it all. What a lovely forest, what a lovely day, it was so nice to catch a reprieve from all the fighting and war. A smile fanned over her lips and she slowly opened her eyes. Tilting her head back, she stared at the warm light as it caressed its way through the leaf covered branches.

Laughing in delight, she looked around at the perfection that surrounded her. Butterflies and bees rode the wind currents and landed on nearby flowers, whose petals were dotted by dew drops. Her bare feet were embraced by cool moss and dry leaves. It was a curious contradiction that tickled her toes and made her smile brighter. What a wonderful place. Why did she not recognize this forest? Surely she had seen it before.

A feeling of contentment vibrated through her, a lighthearted energy filling her with peace. And still, despite the perfection of it all, there was a nagging feeling persistent in the back of her mind. Whispers of urgency picked at her sense of calm, pinching her with impatience. Delani brushed the feeling away. She had endured enough fighting and war to last a lifetime, she wanted to enjoy this peace for as long as she could. Maybe even forever. She couldn't remember what was so worth fighting for anyway.

Him.

The sharp pain of that thought was like a knife in her heart and Delani was quick to shove it away. She could not understand the senses of loss, panic, or urgency that had overcome her with the thought, and she didn't want to. Not while she was here. Not when this forest was too perfect for feelings such as those.

Her attention was pulled up at the sound of twigs softly snapping in half. Some distance away, standing amidst a bed of blood lotus was a stag more handsome than she had ever seen. His coat was a reddened mahogany and flecked with gold, covering strong muscles that shifted and tightened as he came to a stop at the edge of the trees. Antlers branched out from his skull, thick and strong, beautiful and threatening. They were weapons and a work of art all in one. The deer's eyes were blacker, deeper, stronger than obsidian, constellations and the cosmos hidden in their depths. There was an otherworldly intelligence to the creature, an understanding that needed no language.

They stared at one another for a moment, Delani in amazement, the stag in curiosity. The beast's nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, catching her scent. His ears twitched, waving back and forth as though it were trying to make sense of her. All Delani could do was gawk at the marvelous creature. He was a gorgeous beast, strong and stunning, and she didn't want to do anything to scare him off.

When he let out a heavy exhale and shook himself out, she grinned at the grace of him. The stag looked Delani in the eyes and held her gaze for a moment. She could feel him searching her, reading her, peering into the very depths of her soul. Satisfied with whatever it was he found, the stag turned around and started the way he came. He peered back at her, his desires clear in his bottomless black eyes.

Come.

He started to leave and Delani followed after him. There was something about the stag that drew her in, that evoked her trust. He was a friend and he meant her no harm. Where he went, she would follow. They strolled between the trees for a little while, the deer quietly guiding her through the brush and Delani contentedly trailing behind him.

The stag ducked his head under some low hanging branches, keeping his antlers from getting caught in the leaves, and entered the clearing just past the wall of greenery. Delani moved the branches and stepped underneath them, welcoming the warmth of the undulated daylight. She had to lift her arm to block the sudden brightness of the sunlight. Blinking until her eyes adjusted, when she lowered her arm it was to intake a sharp, surprised breath.

A man stood center in the clearing, stroking the stag's neck as the two shared a silent communication. He was taller than her by several inches, with the muscle structure of a hunter who was not yet out of his prime. His skin was dark like wet cherrywood, smattered with constellations of freckles on every exposed plane of skin. Hair red like fire was braided away from his face, giving a clear view of the crimson colored vallaslin honorific to the goddess Andruil. Chestnut colored eyes parted from the stag's obsidian gaze and moved to where Delani stood frozen at the tree line. A smile carved his lips, crinkling the corners of his eyes, and her heart lurched at the staggering familiarity of it.

Confusion, fear, elation, trepidation, joy, a whirlwind of emotions stormed through her as she held the male elf's gaze. Her knees were knocking with the force of her shaking legs. She tried to take a step forward, a single breathless word spilling past her parted lips, "Papae," before she fell to her knees. Tears welled before her eyes, disbelief swallowing her to her entirety as she stared unblinkingly at her father.

The stag huffed, words without language communicated to her father before he left them both in the clearing. Her father's gaze was on Delani as the deer departed, not breaking eye contact for a moment. The grin on his lips was wide, paternal, proud, as he said, "Da'mi."

He started for her and Delani picked herself off of the ground. Without a thought to how this was possible, Delani's only concern was relearning the feel and smell of the man she had thought lost to her forever. She ran into her father's ready arms and buried her face in his chest. Squeezing her arms around his neck, Delani breathed him in and the tears finally fell from her eyes. He smelled of pine and wood polish, the familiarity of it tore her in two. Creators, she had missed that smell.

"Da'mi, emma asha. Ma da'enansal." He murmured into her hair, holding her just as tightly as she was holding him. Her father was a rock, an anchor, securing her to him as she weathered the torrent of emotions storming inside of her. His strong hands rubbed her back and brushed through her hair, he touched her with a fatherly affection that she had missed beyond description.

"Papae," she started, finally managing to grapple use of her tongue enough to formulate language. Pulling slightly away from him, Delani searched his soft brown eyes as she stammered, "I-I don't— How is this… you're supposed to be… I saw you… I held you as you…"

Realization and understanding finally dawned upon her. Delani's gaze moved from her father's face and back onto the forest that encompassed them. The tall trees reached toward the heavens with leafy fingers hungry for its warmth. Never in her life had she ever stepped foot in a forest so perfect, and she had walked through many lovely woods. The temperature was too perfect, the light too pure, the forest too peaceful. Nature was beautiful, but she was deadlier still. Delani knew that well enough to recognize that such perfection could not exist in the realm of the living. Suddenly Delani could see the perfection for what it truly was.

When she returned her attention to her father it was to find his light brown eyes sympathetic to her realization. She searched his face as she asked, "A-am I… dead?"

He nodded slowly, cupping her cheeks in his hands and answered, "Yes, da'mi, you are dead." Seeing the fear and panic start to take shape in his daughter's eyes like storm clouds, he added, "Though, whether or not you remain that way is up to you."

Delani inspected her father's features, searching his warm and loving eyes; eyes she had missed so much that it hurt, eyes that haunted her dreams and reminded her of her single greatest failure. "What does that mean?" she asked, not understanding.

If she was dead then that was the end of it. How many times had she begged Falon'din to return her father to her? How many times had she consulted the gods, requesting that they trade her life for his? Her prayers had been met by silence. Dead was dead, there was no coming back from it.

The look he gave her was encouraging. "I will explain everything," his smile grew with a mirth she remembered well. "But first I want to look at my beautiful daughter."

Grabbing her by the shoulders, he looked at her from head to toe, taking in her every detail and his grin grew wider with pride and paternal adoration. "My, how you have grown," he observed with a tremble in his voice.

She looked down at herself, wondering how different she must look to him. While he looked exactly how she remembered. He was the strong man she had always thought him to be, indomitable, resilient, a laugh at the ready hiding just under his surface. He looked just as he had the day fate had stolen him from her, the day she had lost him to her own foolishness.

Tears pricked at her sinuses and Delani clenched her hands into tight fists. Sniffing back the upheaval of emotion, she replied, "And you're not as tall as I remember you being, old man."

He laughed and the sound made her heart jump with nostalgic joy. Happily regarding his daughter, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her back into his embrace. Delani nuzzled herself against him, feeling like a little girl all over again. He had always been her world, that did not stop being true with his passing.

"I have missed you, ma da'mi." When he pulled away the smile was smaller on his lips, the warmth was still there but the mirth had faded a bit. Softly he said, "I have been watching over you, emma da'asha, and it pains me to see how much you have suffered because of my memory."

"No," she vigorously shook her head, denying his words as false. "Not because of your memory," Delani corrected him, "because of my failure."

His eyes sharpened in scolding. It was a look that she had earned on occasion while growing up, an expression that had always been so effective in causing her to immediately stop exactly what she was doing, and never do it again. But she had spent everyday for more than a decade blaming herself for losing her father. It was reflex now, instinct, and not so easily forgotten.

"You did not fail me, Delani," he stated, chestnut colored eyes insisting that she listen. "You must put the thought from your mind. I lived my life for as long as I had it. I laughed and I loved, and it was glorious. But some of us are not meant to live as long as others. My time was short, but it was long enough to witness you grow into a mighty woman."

He cupped her cheek in his hand and thumbed over her vallaslin, staring at his daughter with adoration in his eyes, he said, "I passed with the knowledge that you had all that you needed to be the proud woman your mother and I raised you to be. You were a huntress beyond comparison, and you were fierce in every aspect. When I left my body it was knowing that you would be able to take care of yourself, and that the world would tremble at your feet." He smiled. "I always knew that you would change the world, da'mi, but now I see that it had taken losing me to set you on your path."

Gnawing on her bottom lip to keep her chin from trembling, Delani shook her head and stood her ground against the waves of emotion that crashed against her. A part of her refused to believe that her father's death was part of a greater plan, that in order for her to achieve her destiny he needed to have died. Another, smaller yet insistent part of her knew that if he had lived she likely would not have found her way to the Inquisition nor her place within it. She had never asked to be Inquisitor, she had never wanted to be called Herald of Andraste, but she had adopted her titles and their roles. It was part of who she was now, and she could not imagine herself any other way.

"That does not make losing you any easier."

His smile turned sympathetic and he combed her hair out of her face like he used to do when she was a little girl. "You never lost me, Delani." The warmth of his voice could compete with the sun's. She could hear his love for her when he spoke. "I am a part of you." He pressed the tips of his fingers to her brow, explaining, "I live in your memories and in your heart, just as I always have and always will."

When he removed his fingers from the center of her forehead, Delani opened her eyes and wiped away the tears that fell free with the motion. Her father tucked his fingers under her chin and raised her face so that she might meet his gaze. Smiling down at her, his eyes sparkled as he instructed her to, "Tell me about this shemlan whom you have gifted with my knife."

Another sharp pain cut through her, stabbing her in the heart. Delani was dead. She had died without getting the chance to tell him exactly how much she cared for him. Returning her father's smile, she said, "His name is Cullen, and I think that you would have liked him if you had ever gotten the chance to meet him."

Her father arched an eyebrow, the smile that was on his lips was happy and supportive. "He must mean a great deal to you for you to give him that knife."

She nodded without a second's hesitation nor an inkling of shame. "He does," Delani agreed, more certain of that than she had ever been about anything in her entire life.

His smile grew. "Do you love him," he asked, a hopeful note in his tone.

"Very much so," Delani admitted, feeling blood rush to her cheeks with the words. The truth of them resonated through her, ringing through her bones and sparkling like stars in her bloodstream. Smile widening, she reaffirmed, "I love him with all of my heart."

Chestnut colored eyes glittered with pride and happiness. The look he gave her made it clear how much those words, and the truth behind them, meant to him. All he had ever wanted for his daughter was for her to be happy, for her to find love, and now she had.

"Then you cannot stay here, da'mi."

The sound of leaves crunching pulled both of their attention to the edge of the clearing. Standing at the tree line was the obsidian eyed stag. He was regarding them with cautious interest as though he were waiting for something to happen. The deer's gaze moved to her father and the two of them spoke in wordless conversation, understanding passing between them through eye contact alone.

An impatient huff sounded from the stag and her father nodded in understanding. Refocusing on Delani, he stated, "You are dead, but not entirely. The threads of your soul are still tethered to your worldly vessel, waiting to either be ripped or repaired. The decision to return is yours to make."

He looked back at the stag for a moment before returning his attention to her. "Go back, da'mi. Finish what you started." He smiled, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. His tone was gentle with love as he continued, "Tell this Cullen that you love him, and know that your happiness is mine as well. The Beyond is not ready to claim your soul, and I am not ready for you to join me when you have so much life left to live."

Delani nodded. She would go back, she would happily do as her father had instructed. Smiling at the first man she had ever loved, she whispered, "Ma ar'lath, papae."

"Ma ar'lath, da'mi," he returned before pressing a kiss to her brow. When he released her he took a step backwards, backtracking to where the stag stood waiting at the clearing's edge. Without moving his gaze from hers, he said, "Promise me something, emma da'asha."

"Anything."

"Forgive yourself for what happened to me. It is time that you let me find peace in your memories and in your heart." The look in his light brown eyes was pleading. This was his one request. "When you leave this place, leave your blame behind with you."

She could not deny him his request when he asked with such fervor, or when he looked at her like that. Delani bowed her head and assured him, "I will, papae. I promise."

A grateful smile curled his lips and she could feel the force of his pride on her surface. Nodding in gratitude, he said, "You must go now." He was standing at the stag's side and the beast turned to leave. Before he followed the deer's steps he gave her one last smile and left with the words, "Go, and know that I am so proud of you."

His words filled her with joy and love. She had ached after them for years, missed hearing them the way flora missed the heat of spring during an especially bitter winter. She watched him leave the clearing until he disappeared under the shadow of the thick forest canopy.

Delani stood alone in the forest clearing, looking for how she would find her way back to her body. When no trail made itself known to her, she searched the heavens above and felt the answer in her core. If she did not want to return she would stay here forever. She would truly die, and that was not something that Delani was prepared to do.

She shut her eyes and relished in the feeling of the sun's warmth on her cheeks. Delani recalled all that awaited her in the realm of the living. There was a war on in Orlais. The Empress's life was in danger. The Venatori were reaping havoc anywhere and everywhere that they could. An ancient Tevinter Darkspawn Magister wanted to regress the whole of Thedas back a thousand years. Her clan still needed the protection that she could only offer them as Inquisitor. And, most importantly of all, Cullen still didn't know how much she loved him.

Her chest tightened at the thought of him. The memory of his golden eyes filled her with longing. She had gone too long without gazing into those amber depths already, she could not endure the rest of eternity without seeing them again. Delani loved how they shined when he smiled, how they would glitter with amusement and tighten with the force of his smile. His smile. Her heart fluttered with the memory of it. She remembered how much she adored that scar that scratched down the corner of his mouth. She remembered how his lips felt against hers, how he always managed to pull the very breath from her lungs.

Suddenly Delani couldn't breathe. Her eyes shot open only to find that the forest had disappeared around her, vanished into nothingness. Delani was enveloped in a blackness that had no end. It was a void, a lightless chasm that sucked the oxygen from her lungs. She grasped at her throat, trying to find breath but her limbs were stiff at her sides. Delani was helpless, struggling to breathe while also trying to regain control of her body. She was stuck. She was going to die all over again.

A bolt of energy surged through her, causing her body to convulse with the power of it. She felt like she were being viciously syphoned through a funnel before her senses came crashing down on her all at once. A gasp tore through her, and the feeling of oxygen finally expanding her lungs was nearly unbearable. The metallic taste of blood was thick in her mouth. Pain thrummed loudly through her body, aching, pulsing. Sound was muted, as though she were underwater and straining to hear. It took several seconds for her to be able to hear anything over the ringing in her ears.

"—fucking idiot!" A loud male voice broke through the fog, sounding angry, panicked even. Cold fingers pressed to Delani's neck and a sigh of relief momentarily joined the voice's anger. After the breath had passed, the voice spoke again. "How would we collect a ransom if she's dead, you blasted fool?"

A second voice spoke out, sounding raspy and dejected. "The knife ear tried to kill me!" he shouted back in his own defense.

"Better you than her. No one would pay a single copper for your sorry ass."

Delani felt her head being lifted off of the ground and tilted back. A second later water flooded her mouth and rushed into her lungs. She jolted upright with a cough, forcing the liquid from her lungs. As her body heaved, gasping for breath, a rough hand patted her back to help her find oxygen. Once her coughing fit had subsided, Delani blinked her eyes into focus to find herself in a forest clearing shadowed by night. There was chill in the air, the cold Ferelden nights were getting worse with the quick approach of winter.

She took a second to gather her wits. What was the last thing she could remember? Delani had cut out of the ropes that had bound her, and she'd gone through the bandit camp killing each bandit one by one. She had disposed of a majority of them before stepping up to Wayne. Wayne. Her attention ripped over her shoulder to the five bandits that were staring down at her.

The tall one standing behind Ayden McGregor was regarding her with hatred in his bloodshot eyes. It was a hatred she knew well. Fire sparked inside of her and with it came a burst of energy that could only exist during the mindlessness of rage. She shot up and launched herself at the shemlan, aiming to finish what she had started.

Wayne had killed her. The bastard had actually killed her! He had put his disgusting hands around her neck and he had squeezed until she'd stopped breathing. She would see him repaid for his kindness. He had taken her life and so she would take his. But Wayne would not be fortunate enough to find his way back from the dead; she would make sure of it.

Ayden McGregor intercepted her, grabbing her by the shoulders before turning her around, and throwing her face first down on the ground. Delani grunted when the weight of two men fell on top of her. One held her down, while the other bound her wrists to her elbows behind her back. She would not be cutting herself free this time, they were making sure of it.

"Now, now, Inquisitor," Ayden said when his henchmen finally had her properly secured. They pulled her onto her knees and turned her back around to face their mage leader before they finally released her.

There was a smile on Ayden's face when he asked, "Is that the proper way to thank the man that just saved your life?"

"He killed me," she spat, her voice rough from the damage Wayne had done to her. She glared at the shemlan still standing behind Ayden. Delani would get her vengeance, if not now, later. But she would make Wayne pay.

"Not him," Ayden returned with a careless grin. Jabbing his thumb into his chest, he clarified, "I was talking about me. If not for my magic you'd still be dead, and I'd be broke."

She pulled her lip back into a sneer but her anger was no longer the animal that it had been moments ago. Exhaustion was creeping up on her and Delani slacked on her knees. She didn't have the energy to fight them. Nearly dying had left her drained and what energy she'd had reserved was spent on trying to attack Wayne. Now that her efforts had been thwarted all Delani could do was resign herself to complacency for the rest of the night. After she'd had some rest she would fight these cowards with renewed vigor.

When Delani's body hunched forward, the fight visibly drained from her, the smile in Ayden's voice grew. "I don't think she'll cause us anymore problems tonight, men. But just to be sure," his amusement was accompanied by wickedness, "you men should thank her for what she did to our friends."

Tension filled the air and Delani had only the briefest of seconds to prepare herself before her stomach was met with the full momentum of a steel-toed boot. She doubled over, gasping for breath while simultaneously dry heaving, and still their attack continued. When her cheeks was crushed under the weight of a bandit's boot, she wondered if perhaps she should have remained dead. How ludicrous for Ayden to revive her only to have her men beat her to death shortly after.

"Commander—"

"Did you bring the trackers?" he asked before Leliana had a chance to say whatever it was she had been about to say.

The spy master bowed her head and moved to the side, allowing a small group of elves to enter the war room.

Cullen was standing at the war table, his weight purchased on his fists as he inspected the map below. Standing at his side was the same pale boy who had destroyed his world and given it back to him all in the same night. Cole had come to his quarters to share Delani's death with Cullen. It had been the single worst thing he had ever endured in his entire life. Cullen would have preferred to have been tortured by demons than to ever have to experience that pain ever again. Then, a minute or so later, Cole had been sucked back into Delani's mind, experiencing her revival alongside her and restoring Cullen with the hope that he would see her again, hold her again, feel her warmth against him.

He had experienced what it was to lose Delani. Cullen had had his heart ripped out of his chest, had felt it shatter like glass. He'd felt the hollowness that had started to creep through him like a shadow, swallowing up anything that was good left inside him. Cullen had experienced unbearable, incomparable, indescribable pain, and he refused to feel it ever again.

They would not wait until first light to go after Delani. They were going to go after her now. Cullen would not go another night without her in his arms. He refused to go through another day with her in danger, in pain, suffering while he sat back and waited for the most opportune time to act. Thanks to Cole they knew where she was now. He had done nothing for too long already. Cullen had lost her once, he would not lose her again.

Leliana and the elven trackers approached the war table, awaiting Cullen to explain what it was that they were all doing here before even the sun dared show its light. Regarding them with all of the authority his title granted him, Cullen started, "We know where the Inquisitor is," only for Leliana to interrupt him.

"How is this possible?" she asked, her eyes darkened by the shadow of her hood. The spy master did not like that he knew something before she did, but now was not the time.

Gesturing toward Cole, Cullen gave her the short version of the story. "Whoever has her now is hurting Del— Lady Lavellan. Cole can feel her suffering and has been able to pinpoint her location on the map." The revelation was not at all a surprising one, as they had witnessed the boy do it before when searching for the binding necklace.

The boy's eyes went wide and his chapped lips parted, and Cullen braced himself for what he knew was to come. "Bones broken, blood tastes like copper in my mouth. The coin is heavy, is this luck? Creators I can't tell. Make it stop hurting." He blinked and returned to the conversation. "I want to help," Cole stated, needlessly explaining his presence in the room.

Cullen grit his teeth, his fists tightened and he knew that, if they were not covered by the leather of his gloves, his knuckles would be ghostly white. When he found Delani he would make who ever had taken her pay for what they'd done. He was going to make them wish that they had never been born, and he was going to relish in their suffering. Cullen was going to teach them that the price of harming the woman he loved was not one that any living being should have been willing to pay.

Sucking in one deep breath after the other, when he looked up to meet Leliana's gaze it was for her to nod for Cullen to continue with the meeting. She understood his anger and she understood his urgency. He could go on without anymore interruptions.

"We know where the Inquisitor is, and we are going to go after her now." Pointing down at the map, to the location where Cole had earlier marked, he said, "The bandits were headed to the Storm Coast, but did not make it far. They are only a few leagues from the original attack and if we leave now we will be able to better track them once we are closer to their location."

He pulled free one of Delani's tunics and thumbed over the fabric. Cullen closed his eyes as he remembered what she had looked like while wearing it, how the color had made her sea green eyes shine brighter. He would see those eyes again, and he would not leave anything to chance. When he held the garment out, one of the elven trackers stepped up and accepted it from him.

Cullen explained, "That tunic is the last thing she wore before she left. It is heavy with her scent. Give it to your hounds once we've reached the marked location." Looking around at the faces surrounding him, he asked, "Do you have any questions?"

Heads shook and he let out a breath of relief. "Then let's get moving. There is no time to waste." He pushed himself off of the war table and rounded the room. Shoving the door open, Cullen was glad to hear the group following closely behind him.

Leliana appeared beside him, giving him a sidelong glance as she carefully assessed his outward appearance. "The Inquisitor and her team were ambushed before. We should assume that there are still many bandits holding her captive. Are you going to take a squadron of your men as well?"

He nodded once. "Of course," Cullen answered her. The situation might have been a painful one, but it had not left him without reason. "One of my lieutenants will be leading a squad of men that will follow after us."

"You will not be leading them?" she asked, an eyebrow arched, but there was no surprise in her voice or in her gaze.

When they found Delani, he would be there. Cullen refused to lag behind for any reason at all. Without meeting Leliana's gaze, he answered, "Blackwall and Solas will accompany me and the the trackers. If there is a large number of bandits holding Delani captive we will be prepared to engage them."

Leliana walked with him until the entrance of the main hall. He started down the steps and she lingered at the top of the stairs. "Bring her home, Commander."

Without looking over his shoulder, Cullen assured her, "I will not return without her," and hurried down the rest of the steps.

Not stopping once, Cullen was grateful to find that Blackwall had prepared Delilah for him. Both the Grey Warden and the Apostate were ready to leave on Cullen's command and, as soon as he was situated on his mount, he gave the order for them to move. The three of them, and the small group of trackers with a few hunting hounds, raced out of Skyhold. His soldiers were following behind, but their numbers were larger so they would move a bit slower. Delani could not afford for him to be slowed down by anything.

He pushed Delilah to her limits and only slowed when the mare threatened to collapse. As soon as she and the other mounts had caught their breath they were moving again. The sun had finally found its way over the horizon and, if the sun was up, that probably meant that the bandits were on the move again. Cullen refused to allow the distance between him and Delani to grow any larger. There would be no more stops until the hounds had Delani's scent and she was back in his arms.

Snow capped mountains eventually receded into forest covered terrain. For hours they rode, more carefully now that the trees filtered them through the wood. For leagues they journeyed, proceeding at a hurried pace, rushing through the passing scenery until Cullen was so close to finding Delani that he could feel it in his bones.

When at last they reached the location marked on their maps, they came to a halt. Two of the trackers descended from their mounts and readied the hounds. They pulled Delani's tunic from their pack and offered it to the dogs. Black noses wiggled as the hounds took in her scent, immediately their snouts met the ground, searching for the owner of the smell.

The dogs strained against their leashes, having caught Delani's scent they were eager to find the source. The tracker looked up at Cullen and nodded. When Cullen returned the gesture the entire group started to move. They continued through the forest, following the dogs as they led them to where Delani was being held against her will.

Cullen had to temper out his hope with protective doubt. He wanted to hold Delani again, he needed to bring her home, but he also needed to prepare his heart for the worst. If she somehow didn't make it between now and when he found her, he had to be prepared to deal with that pain. He no longer had the privilege of privacy as he had had before. If he found Delani and she was dead, he would have to keep himself composed enough to at least manage the situation. Somehow Cullen doubted that any amount of preparation would make him able to withstand the loss of her a second time. The first had been impossible enough.

The closer that they got the more excited the dogs became. Their tails were wagging and their noses wet with excitement. The trees thinned and the hounds led them out into a forest clearing, the sight of which pulled the breath right out of Cullen's lungs.

Bodies were strewn about, looking as though they were sleeping if not for the pools of blood that stained the forest floor. It was a slaughter, and Cullen felt a sense of dread amass in his gut. Had the bandits been attacked by another group of bandits? Had someone else taken Delani? Was she in even more danger now?

"Maker's breath," he sighed, scanning the camp in search of any sign of Delani, fearing that she would be one of the bodies drained of blood. To no one in particular, he asked, "What happened here?"

The trackers set out to work, their hounds sniffing the camp, tails still wagging with excitement. The scent trail did not appear to end here. Delani was on the move, but before they went after her, Cullen needed to know what he was about to be stepping in to.

He, Solas, and Blackwall waited at the tree line for a few minutes as the trackers assessed the corpse littered campground. Cullen's teeth were starting to ache from the pressure of him grinding them. There was little worse than just sitting around, waiting for someone to provide him with information that he couldn't collect himself. Actually, that was untrue. There were many things that were significantly worse; losing Delani, for example, had been the single worst thing to have ever happened to him.

Just as his patience was about to near its end, one of the trackers approached him. They stood beside Cullen's mount, staring up at him with what looked like admiration and surprise in his eyes. When the elf explained the situation to Cullen and the others, he realized that the sentiments were for Delani.

"The bandits were attacked, but not by an outside force," the tracker started. "Judging by the footprints, it appears as though the Inquisitor killed these men, one by one, while they slept."

Cullen's eyes widened as he looked over the clearing one more time. Delani had done all of this? He should not have been as surprised as he was. She was a fierce creature, and she would have been infuriated by her capture and her treatment. It should have come as no surprise to him that she was capable of this and so much more.

"How many bandits are left?" he asked, returning his attention to the tracker standing on the ground below.

"Five," the elf easily answered. His expression tightened with distaste when he made his next observation. "They will be traveling slowly. The Inquisitor is being made to walk and her footprints suggest that her ankle is twisted."

His lip curled with fury. Delani had killed a majority of the men herself, but he would see that the few that remained were properly punished for what they'd done to her. For every injury that Delani had sustained in their possession they would be repaid ten fold.

Tightening his fist around the leather of Delilah's reins, he bit out past clenched teeth, "Can you tell how much of a lead they have on us?"

The elf glanced back at his fellow trackers, looking for something before bringing his gaze back onto Cullen. "The campfire's ashes are cold. They have a few hours on us but, as I said, they are making the Lady Herald walk. Her injuries will be slowing them down significantly. We should be able to catch up rather quickly."

Cullen nodded curtly, accepting the report as satisfactory before ordering the man to, "Lead the way. We've already learned everything that we needed. I refuse to waste any more time."

Crossing an arm over his chest in salute, the elf left Cullen to go speak to the other trackers. Cullen watched impatiently as they gathered the hounds and prepared them to move again. His stomach was uneasy and his heart was beating manically in his chest. They were close to finding Delani. If she could hold out just a little bit longer, he would bring her back home.

I'm coming for you, ma atishan. Hold on just a little bit longer.

When they started moving again he was grateful for the hurried pace of their galloping mounts. Even the horses understood his urgency. The small group cut through the trees, the distance between them and Delani was waning under racing hooves as dirt a leaves upturned beneath them.

It did not take long for the trackers to slow the group down, warning Cullen that they were close. Both Solas and Blackwall were fidgety with anxiety. They wanted to find Delani as badly as he did, they were just as worried for her. Delani belonged to every single one of them, she was their friend, their leader, she was the Inquisitor and none of them were prepared to lose her.

They came to a stop and the group dismounted. Cullen secured Delilah's reins on a low hanging branch before joining the trackers with their ready dogs. Solas and Blackwall were ready beside him, the mage's staff was gripped tightly in his hand, and the Grey Warden's sword and shield were drawn. Both were prepared for a fight should the bandits decide not to surrender peacefully; a large part of Cullen hoped that it would be the case.

Following the lead of overly excited hounds, the group combed through the forest. After only a few minutes of carefully and quietly picking through the forest in search of tracks, they finally stepped into the sound of an ongoing argument.

"—blasted knife ear is unconscious again."

Cullen's heart lurched. He followed one of the trackers to some nearby shrubbery and crouched behind it. From their position they could clearly see the five bandits. Two were standing over Delani's body, and the other three were shuffling their feet some distance away as they awaited their next instructions. His focus stayed on Delani. One of the bandits was blocking her from his view, but Cullen could see that her medium leather armor was caked in blood and dirt. The fire of outrage burned molten in his blood.

"At this rate it'll be years before we reach the storm coast."

One of the men combed their hair back. He had an air of authority about him and Cullen could wager that he was the leader of the small group. Casually rolling his shoulders, he replied, "Well, pick her up. My magic will not be able to wake her this time. We'll carry her until we have to make camp again."

Lip pulling back into a snarl, Cullen growled at the very thought of any of these brigands laying a hand on her. He looked at Blackwall and Solas, who were kneeling beside him, and ordered them to, "Keep the mage alive. Kill everyone else." When he then glanced at the tracker it was to see that the elf already had his bow strung and ready. The elf nodded at Cullen, letting him know that he and the others were ready for whatever would come next.

Cullen stood from behind the shrub and cut through it, Solas and Blackwall were behind him as he stepped into the conversation. The bandits turned in surprise to face the intruders, but the slack of their jaws was the only reaction they were permitted before one was shot through his open mouth with an arrow. Solas unleashed a bolt of lightning from his palm and Blackwall ran his sword through one of the bandits that reacted fast enough to pull free a blade and charge toward them.

As the others dealt with the handful of bandits, Cullen went to Delani. His heart broke in his chest at the sight of her. Falling to his knees, he collected her from the ground and pulled her to his chest. All he could do was stare down at her for a moment. Pain and fury sweltered in side of him. Delani's face was black and blue with angry bruises, and swollen to the point she was hardly recognizable. There was a gash along the right side of her face that ran from her brow to her cheek and the blood was still dry on her skin. Her lip was split open. Her nose was bent. And her neck was marked by bruises left behind by large male hands that had wrung it too tightly.

Waves of heartache crashed through him, the tide ripping him under the water and drowning him in guilt and anger. The woman he loved had been abused. She'd been beaten bloody and had even died. She was motionless in his arms. If it wasn't for the rasping sound of her breathing, he might have thought that she was dead. Cullen hadn't protected her. She'd been stolen from him and he had been helpless to do anything. He had failed her.

Tears started to well before his eyes, blurring her bloody face from him. The weight of his failure was too much. Cullen blinked and his tears fell onto her cheeks. Pressing his forehead to hers, he held her tightly as he allowed his relief of her being alive to overshadow everything else he was feeling. Delani was alive. She was in his arms, and he would never let her go again.

Voice thick with emotion, he whispered, "I've got you. You are safe now, ma atishan. I'm sorry that it took me so long to find you."