CHAPTER THREE

"Come, da'enansal, if you are here, then there must be a reason why. In the meantime, I will assign guards to ensure you do not wander off on your own." The last part was bitten out sternly, as if to inform her of dire consequences should she decide not to heed his unspoken warning. Pharen blindly followed Fen'Harel, head down, only nodding or shaking her head when necessary. Suddenly, he stopped, causing Pharen to run into his very solid frame. He gave a small huff of annoyance; whether it was aimed at her for not paying attention or just in general, she couldn't be certain.

He had halted their tracks in front of a giant and runed obsidian door. There were two eternally howling wolf statues carved on either side of the door, veilfire spouting from their open mouths. Fen'Harel deactivated whatever locking mechanism that was holding the door shut, and he stepped away so Pharen could walk ahead of him into the chamber. "After you," he said, his head inclining toward the now-opened door.

What she saw was beyond anything she had ever imagined. The front of the room had been painted in all sorts of frescos, most depicting wolves or dragons; some others had battle scenes smeared with dark red paint over the figures in them. Toward the back of the room sat an impressive throne: one behemoth six-eyed wolf lying down on the stone floor, its ears perked forward in attention. Along its back there appeared to be spikes-no-elven ears, as if defending them from some unknown danger. The Great Wolf. She now had no doubt in her mind whose temple she was in. She also had no doubt that that very wolf stood next to her, now.

She stepped toward the throne, nearly enthralled by it, and wanting a closer inspection. She stopped in her tracks when she felt the hand at her shoulder, leading her away from the giant wolf and toward a room off to the side she hadn't even initially noticed. Fen'Harel unlocked that door as well, and once more stepped aside so she could go ahead of him. She walked inside yet another impressive room, though not nearly as large as the one she had just exited. There were yet more wolves painted on the wolves, all howling toward the ceiling, which, she now realized, was painted very much like an area in the fade. The green paint with the emerald metals in the roof nearly took her breath away.

Fen'Harel cleared his throat, drawing her attention back onto him. "This is where you will be for the remainder of your stay. Should you require anything, let the guard outside know." With that, he turned on his heel, striding away from the door. His aura was immediately replaced by that of two armor-clad sentinels, whose power she did not want to question. She had seen what they were capable of in the Temple of Mythal; their arrows never missing, and she wasn't entirely sure these two were archers. One had a longsword attached to his back, the other had no visible weapons, but she was willing to guess that he was either a mage like herself, or had a dagger or two stowed away in the skin-tight armor he was wearing.

The two sentinels nodded to her in acknowledgement before shutting and locking her inside the room Fen'Harel had given her. Pharen sighed, resigned to her fate inside the stone walls. She began to really look at her new surroundings, enthused by the frescos on the walls. She lay down on the plush red and black bed in her room and stared up at the ceiling, watching the green materials glow every now and again. She realized then that it wasn't just that they were glowing; they were moving. Just like in the fade, the eerie green haze that was always shrouding dreams was shrouding this very ceiling.

It did not take long for her to fall prey to the Fade here, watching the green haze flow like waves over the paintings on the walls. Once there, she thought she may give a try to find Solas in the Fade. Actual Solas. Preferably not Fen'Harel. That would be…awkward. She tried to envision Solas's hut in Haven; she used to always be able to find him there and they would talk all night about things he'd seen in the Fade. Once everything was in place, and she stood in the snow before his door, she reached toward it, only to find to her dismay that there was no door handle. The door would not open. Confused, she tried again to envision just the hut alone, with a faint hope that her Solas was inside.

This time she succeeded, but when she opened the door, there was nothing there. No roaring fire in the fireplace, no ancient Elvhen books scattered on the floor, and no Solas. Annoyed but not yet finished trying to find him, she bent the fade to her will once more. This time though, something told her to envision those dark woods where she had found the white wolf watching her. Pharen focused on the forest, remembering each detail quite easily, considering the difficulty she had trying to find Solas's hut.

She looked around the dark forest, and once more found the light slightly ahead of her. As she moved toward it this time, however, she tripped and fell over an upturned root in a great tree. Pharen yelped a little bit in surprise, not having that happen the last time she visited this place. She sat down, realizing her foot was indeed caught in the root, and tried to wrench it free, but it would not budge. She kept trying harder each time, trying get her foot free, but each time it seemed more difficult. Pharen was beginning to feel helpless, and felt even more so when she heard a faint growl from the woods.

She stopped struggling for a moment, listening carefully to her surroundings. Hearing nothing, and passing it off as a trick of the mind, she continued to attempt to get her foot free. Growing exhausted, and the root now trapped over her ankle, she stayed put, not willing to exert more energy than she already had. She laid back, trying to see through the canopy when she heard another growl, closer this time, followed by a howl she had heard only once before. The Great Wolf.

She sat up alertly, scanning the forest around her. Finding nothing, she gave a small huff of annoyance and lay back down on the forest floor. When she laid her head down, however, she landed on something very large and very fluffy. Oh, Creators did I really- her train of thought was cut off as she looked up into the six-eyed beast that she'd seen as Fen'Harel's throne. Pharen tried to scream, tried to get away, and remembered she couldn't.

She watched in horror as the great beast sat back on his haunches, growling and snarling at her, but not getting any closer. "Wh-what do you want with me? I d-don't mean you any harm! I-I was just trying to find S-Solas!." Pharen's voice shook as she addressed the wolf, feeling a little silly but simultaneously knowing that the wolf understood her. The growling stopped, as did the snarling, but she could still see very sharp teeth jutting out of its mouth. The monster then did something incredible. It began to actually laugh at her! She watched as the haunches turned into legs and feet, the ears turned into elven ears, and the fur changed color and shrunk down to Fen'Harel's hair.

She sat, slack-jawed, staring at the transformation. Apparently she had stared and been immersed in not-too-friendly thoughts for too long, for the Dread Wolf himself was now seated across from her on the forest floor, grinning smugly. "I thought, in the Fade, I would be able to tell if you were lying to me. Things have always been easier for me in the Fade, so I thought this would be too." He looked down at her, his eyes narrowed in deep thought. " Show me something you know from your mind."

Pharen looked at him curiously, but humored him nonetheless. She closed her eyes and screwed up her face in concentration, focusing on Haven before Corypheus attacked, seeing in her mind's eye Solas's hut once more. If Solas was truly Fen'Harel, his reaction would tell her all she needed to know, once he saw himself in the future. When she opened her eyes, the Fade had warped itself into exactly how she remembered her first stop in the Inquisition. She looked to Fen'Harel, his eyes curiously roving over the new surroundings.

"Where is this?" He asked her curiously. "You'll see," she replied cryptically. Fen'Harel furrowed his brows but said nothing in response. No sooner had she gotten the words out of her mouth than the door of the hut opened, with Solas standing in the doorway. Though Fen'Harel said nothing, the look of surprise that crossed his features could not be denied. He recognized himself. Once over the initial shock, he finally stated only one word: "Enough."

The dream faded as quickly as she had summoned it, and they were once again on the forest floor, and she was once again caught in the root trap. Looking as though he had come to a realization, Fen'Harel stood, holding his hand out to her. "Come, there is something I must show you." Pharen's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why? Where are you taking me? And besides, I can't get up anyway; my foot's stuck."

She bowed her head to him, color flushing her cheeks in embarrassment that she'd been caught by a mere root. "My apologies, da'enansal. I did not mean for it to get that…out of hand," he said, smirking. With a wave of his hand, the root released her. Pharen sputtered in disbelief. "You! You did that on purpose!" Fen'Harel's former smirk transformed into a true smile, his eyes sparkling with mirth suited to his name.

"I apologized!" He exclaimed as he helped her off the forest floor. She couldn't help but notice the way he smiled at her, reminding her very much of Solas. Pharen grinned up at him, despite herself, forgetting momentarily that he was still very much the Dread Wolf, and that she was not in the company of her lost love. "So, what did you want to show me? Nothing…awkward, I hope?"Fen'Harel extended his arm, looking at her expectantly, but saying nothing. Deciding she had no choice, she looped her arm through his as they began to walk through the forest.