Sera woke with a start. She had reached out in her sleep and found a cold, empty bedroll rather than the warmth she was expecting. Piss. She sat up and looked around the camp. It had been mild enough that they hadn't needed to pitch tents so she could make out the sleeping forms of Cassandra and Dorian nearby. Double piss, who's keeping watch? The wards that had been set around the small clearing glimmered at the edges of her vision, undisturbed. Sera stood slowly, grabbing her bow and quiver, still scanning the area as she moved. She had just nocked an arrow when she heard a noise that made her blood run cold. Standing as still as she could, her mind raced. Every story she'd ever heard about demons went like people fell asleep or drifted off. A song as beautiful as anything you've ever heard called out to you. Sets the trap, reels you in. Shite. As suddenly as she had heard it, though, the singing stopped. Sera frowned, the demons never stopped in the stories. Not until they had you. Slowly, she moved through the wards, down through the trees towards the stream they'd crossed earlier in the day.
She heard the singing again just as she saw her and suddenly she remembered different stories. Fairy tales heard with wide eyes back in Denerim – things she thought she'd pushed down far enough to be forgotten. Ellana's vallaslin runs across the whole of her, and though Sera had seen it before she had never seen it quite like this. Moonlit and reflected in the slow moving water so all Sera wanted was to reach out and trace her fingers along those white lines that almost glowed against pale skin. Ellana moved through the water, the song changing, speeding up as she spun, eyes closed, lost in the dance and Sera nearly broke then because she knew that song. Ellana sang it in Elvhen, but the tune was the same and she knew it in the same place that she kept the other hidden and forgotten things knotted away. She screwed her eyes shut, clenched her fists and counted backwards, shaking the thoughts from her head just as the air went quiet. Sera looked up to see Ellana standing waist deep in the black river with her back to her, frozen in the moon light. Then she started singing again. Sera swore.
"Piss right off," she said, rising from her spot behind the bushes. Ellana turned and grinned at her, but didn't stop.
"But she was so fast and quick with her bow, no one quite knew where she came from!" she sang, splashing water towards the bank where Sera stood glowering.
"I know friggin' well where she's going though," she replied, tossing her bow and quiver to the ground. She waded in until the water was at her ankles, pulled her tunic over her head and sloshed through the water towards a rapidly retreating Ellana.
"Sera was never quite the quietest girl! – hah! I'm already wet – your attacks are loud and they're joyful!" she laughed, dancing away from Sera who was grinning now as she lunged for Ellana.
"Oh, you're wet alright! I'll get you even wet-"
"Inquisitor!" a voice barked from the darkness. Ellana yelped and covered herself as best she could with her arms. Sera stepped in front of her but what little she had left on was soaked through.
"Oh for Andraste-I have found her Dorian! Sera also!" Cassandra yelled as she appeared on the riverbank where Sera had been moments before. She stood over their belongings with a face like thunder.
"First you wander off without telling anyone. Then you and Sera make enough noise to raise the dead! What on earth were you thinking? This area is not safe anymore. Get dressed. We're moving." Cassandra turned and stormed back up the hill to the campsite.
"Nothing phases her, eh?" Sera asked, turning to face Ellana.
"You almost make that sound like a challenge," she replied, smiling as Sera's fingers entwined with her own, gently pulling her hands away from her chest.
"Could be. Maybe?" she giggled. "Imagine the Lady Seeker coming back for us and finding us both naked. Doing it. In the river," she grinned, moving closer to Ellana.
"I don't envision that ending particularly well for either of you."
Ellana and Sera both shrieked, leaping apart and trying to cover themselves. Dorian stood where Cassandra had been, smirking, before turning around to allow the women some privacy as they waded back towards the bank.
"I am sorry, but Cassandra told me what she found and I just had to see it with my own eyes. This will make for quite the tale back at Skyhold. Heathen elves frolicking in the moonlight. Hah! I should save it for the Winter Palace. The nobles will shit themselves."
"Arsehole," Sera muttered as she dragged her clothes back on.
"Come now, Sera! A pre-dawn hike into the freezing mountains awaits! How did you know it was exactly what I wanted when I practically collapsed onto the ground mere hours ago?" Dorian responded, not without edge in his voice.
"Not exactly my idea of a bloody party either, yeah? You can thank the Lady Herald for that one," she nodded towards Ellana.
"Well I was enjoying myself until we were interrupted," Ellana huffed.
"Until you were interrupted!? Vishante kaffas! You deserve each other, truly."
"Shit on your own tongue. C'mon Inky, last one back to camp's a pile of nugshite!" Sera skipped away, cackling loudly as she went.
"Are you sure? It seems awfully steep," Dorian said.
"It's not that steep. Is it?" Ellana squinted at the barely discernible path that wound into the heart of the Frostback Mountains.
"It is steep. It is also likely to be very narrow and treacherous underfoot," Cassandra added.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go," Ellana started forward, but was pulled back by Cassandra.
"Inquisitor. The sun is setting and it will be dark within the hour. You and Sera might be able to skip up the mountain, but Dorian and I would need torches which would mean scrambling with one hand each which would mean an inevitable fall to our untimely deaths. You would then have to explain to Leliana that our final screams drew the attention of enemy scouts and now she has no secret passage into Orlais from Skyhold."
"Andraste's tits Seeker, made your point yeah?" said Sera.
Dorian chuckled as Cassandra snorted at the elf.
"You know, I am the Inquisitor. I could just order you to climb the mountain," Ellana grumbled.
"You wish to deal with Leliana?" Cassandra asked, incredulously. Ellana scowled off to the side, as Cassandra smirked. "She did mention a cave nearby that her scouts use for shelter. We should make sure nothing has moved in, then set up camp there," she said, hoisting her pack onto her back.
"Maker take you Ellana! Open your eyes when you are throwing fireballs!" Cassandra yelled as she rebuffed an errant spell with her shield.
Ellana opened her eyes just in time to dodge left, avoiding the attack of a giant spider. She shrieked as she doused it with more fire than was necessary, reducing it to a pile of ash. Cassandra yelled as she hacked into the final spider, which twitched before falling still.
"I would have thought a Dalish elf would be more...sanguine about spiders, given that you have lived in forests your whole life," Cassandra noted, as she wiped the grime from her sword.
Ellana shuddered and took a deep breath.
"I am the shame of my whole clan. The children used to take great joy in leaving the biggest spiders they could find in my bedroll. Their parents only made them stop when I nearly set fire to the Keeper's Aravel," she replied.
Cassandra chuckled, but Ellana noticed Sera's frown as she kneeled to pluck an arrow from one of the spider carcasses.
Later, when the bedrolls had been set out and a fire lit, the group sat in companionable silence and shared the last of their stale bread and hard cheese. No one said anything until Dorian reached into his pack and drew out a grimy bottle. Sera's eyes widened.
"You…where did you…you shit! You've been holding out on us!"
Dorian smirked.
"Yes, I thought since this was our last night in the wild we should celebrate. I found this in a little hut just outside the Plains. It's a little weathered looking, but unopened." He held the bottle up to the fire, making it clear that the bottle was still full.
Cassandra frowned.
"It could be poison, Dorian," she sat forward, reaching for the bottle. Dorian held it to his chest.
"Now now, Cassandra. I am something of a connoisseur, Sera stop snickering, and although it is not labelled the carving of the bottle itself indicates that this is a Nevarran rarity. I'm surprised you didn't recognise it," he sniffed.
"Are we going to be arseholes all night, or are we drinking?" Sera interjected.
"Finally, the voice of reason," said Ellana, handing a small knife to Dorian who took it and started to work on the seal.
Once it was open, he gave it a tentative sniff. Eyes widening at the smell, he grinned.
"Well, I hope we don't have to be up too early," he said, eyes sparkling as he took a swig. He spluttered a little as he passed the bottle to Sera. "Good grief!"
Sera snorted and made a show of taking two gulps, but started spluttering and sent most of the second down her front. Ellana grabbed for the bottle.
"Wasteful!" she exclaimed.
"Careful Ell, s'got a mean kick to it."
Ellana eyed the bottle warily, shrugged, and took a big swig. She didn't cough, but her eyes watered and she felt the liquid burn all the way down. Gasping, she offered the bottle to Cassandra who took it, and drank without reaction.
"You are all children," she said, wiping her mouth and passing the bottle back to a shocked Dorian. Sera laughed gleefully. Ellana just shook her head.
The bottle lay empty by the cooling embers of the fire. Cassandra and Dorian were asleep, snoring loudly. Sera slept on her front, drooling a little. Ellana tossed and turned, waiting for sleep that she knew was not coming. Sera started in her sleep, muttering something about fire, as her arm reached out and draped across Ellana's stomach. She smiled and shifted closer to her, as Sera's arm gave her a gentle squeeze.
"No running off tonight," she mumbled, half asleep.
"No running off tonight," Ellana agreed, leaning over and kissing her forehead gently.
Sera yawned and rubbed at her eyes. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, fidgeting with the seam of her loose trousers.
"Ell, why'd you run off last night?" she asked.
"I couldn't sleep," Ellana replied. Sera frowned at her.
"I know that. Arse. You haven't been sleeping right for ages. Since the Plains at least. Just. Look. Don't get me wrong, I know it's all 'end of the world' this, 'demons and blood magic' that and urgh! It's a lot. And I just….I know I'm not Cass or Josie with the words and right answers. But. You can talk to me, yeah?" Sera looked at Ellana, her chin resting on her knees, her shoulders hunched. Ellana sat and gently pulled Sera towards her, resting her head against her chest. Sera looked up sharply when she felt Ellana heave with a sob.
"Ell? What is it? Talk to me," she said, moving to kneel in front of Ellana, her hands cupping her cheeks. Ellana moved her hands up to hold Sera's.
"It's…it's..." She sobbed again, her lip quivering.
Sera pulled her into a fierce hug as she broke down, trying to bury the sobs in her lover's shoulder.
"What happened?"
Ellana took a shuddering breath and reached into her pack for a small, folded piece of paper and handed into to Sera. As she read it, Ellana wrapped her arms around herself, swallowing with difficulty. Sera frowned as she looked back up.
"You got this in the Plains? From Harding?" she asked.
Ellana just nodded. They'd stopped at a main camp in the Exalted Plains a week ago, where they'd received a number of notes from Scout Harding who had been helping get the place set up. Most were inconsequential. Two stood out. One confirming that Stroud and Hawke had made it back to Skyhold with the grim news about the Wardens, the other had been the note Sera held in her hands. Bandits had been harassing Clan Lavellan and there had already been casualties.
"And you've kept it to yourself for a week because?" she asked.
Ellana started crying again, dropping back onto her heels, her head bowed. Sera immediately moved to be beside her, to take the other woman in her arms.
"Aw piss, Inky, I didn't mean it like that. It's just, why keep this bottled up?"
"It's my burden Sera, it's not…"
"Shite it's not. It is. Look, you helped me with the Jennies when everyone else said it was stupid. It went tits up, "I told you so, blah blah" and you still had my back. So, I've got yours."
Ellana balled her fists.
"This is my fault Sera," she whispered, the strength gone from her voice.
"Fuck it is. S'the bandits fault. And you've got the army. So what's the plan?"
"I…I sent Leliana's scouts to help them. They'll remember them from before. But…that was a week ago. I…Sera they're my family and I don't even know if they're alive," she said, blinking back fresh tears.
"Look at me. Leliana knows her end. If anything'd gone wrong, we'd have heard. She'd send someone. But, if you want, let's go now."
Ellana blinked, her brow creased.
"What? What do you mean 'go now'?"
"Exactly what it sounds. Let's go. Back to Skyhold. Now."
"It's the middle of the night," Ellana drew in a breath, shaking her head, "Dorian and Cassandra won't be able to-"
"I'm not saying them. I'm saying us. You and me. We can manage in the dark. We'll be back by dawn and you can get your answer."
Ellana looked up at Sera, who was standing now with her hands on her hips. She wiped her eyes and rubbed at her face. She held out her hands so Sera could pull her to her feet.
"Right?"
Ellana nodded.
"Right. You leave a note for the orchestra," she gestured to Dorian and Cassandra who hadn't let up their cacophony of snores, "and I'll get our gear."
Before Sera could start, Ellana took her hand and pulled her back to face her. Closing the gap between them, she kissed her fiercely, arms wrapped around her waist a little too tight, but Sera didn't flinch, didn't move away, just returned everything Ellana gave her, deepening the kiss. Ellana gasped when they broke apart. Sera laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle.
"Right. Note. Gear. More of that later," she smiled at Ellana, who couldn't help but smile back. A little slower than usual.
When she and Dorian returned to Skyhold later that afternoon, Cassandra found Ellana in the war room. Her eyes still red with tears of relief.
