Keela hesitates but a moment at the sight of him. She does not understand why he is here yet she does not care. Palms push off the ground and wobbling legs lift her to standing. She needs to hear his heartbeat, feel the air moving through his lungs. She needs him.
The pikes and swords shift down again, but it is not steel that stops her from moving forward any further. She hears the whistle before power slams down from above and forces her back to her knees. A cry flies from her mouth, more from the distress of Solas' reaction than the pain, and she pushes back with her own rift magic before he throws her flat to the ground.
"What are you doing?" she asks, heavy with confusion and frustration.
Keela knows him well enough to see the surprise strike sharp in his eyes before he recovers. It is not only his appearance and his attack that startles her but the lack of recognition in his gaze. She has become used to his aloof behavior as of late yet this is different. If he is playing the sentinels for fools for some unknown reason, it is very convincing.
"What manner of language is she speaking? Do you think she is another spy from the others?" one of them asks.
"I am not certain. Leave us for the moment and see to the wards and entrances. I would know how she managed to slip through our defenses."
She watches with interest when the sentinels bow and obey. What game has she stumbled upon now? Solas' power evaporates as the door closes behind them. Before she can attempt to stand again, he kneels down and pulls away his hood. Keela moves back, alarmed. Ropes of brown hair collect at the covered crown of his head and stream behind. Now that she looks closer, she notices the scar above his brow is missing.
"Solas?"
"How do you know me by that name?"
"What other name would I call you? I don't…what is happening?"
"My grasp of the shemlen's tongue is not as thorough as I wish it. Your use of it is perplexing. Do you not speak Elvhen to confound me further?" He gestures to her hand. "How have you come to possess the power of my orb?"
"I-your orb?" The idea of it turns everything cold inside. His orb. Surely he only misspoke. "What do you mean by your orb?"
Solas shakes his head, nose crinkling in annoyance. "Do you always answer questions with more questions? Tell me how you have come by it and where your allegiance lies. I assure you, despite what my kin have proclaimed, I have little interest in wasting more lives."
Keela's mind races with possibilities. Alexius had them believing the amulet could only work from when the Breach was created and onward, that the only reason it worked at all was because of the hole in the world. She must be in some different version of the future, but why is Solas here then?
For the first time she glances away from his face and at their surroundings. The walls are heavy stone, but there are trees growing between the mortar with bright leaves that seem to shimmer. She cannot see much beyond the solitary, small window. The air glows, not with the light from any star, but with iridescent streams of color.
She does not recognize this building, but she knows where they are. None of this makes sense. Keela shifts and feels the jawbone fall loose from the folds of her dress. "This is the Crossroads."
Solas snaps his hand around the cords of the necklace and yanks, digging it painfully into her neck and jerking her towards him. There is more than annoyance and veiled curiosity in his gaze now. There is anger and a small amount of fear.
"How do you have this! Who are you?" he demands, power building dark around his frame.
"I-"
The door bursts open and the golden soldiers file into the room. "Our defenses were secure, but there are forces approaching. We cannot linger here any longer without risk of being found."
For an instant, she thinks he might rip the bone from her neck but only releases it and grabs onto her arm instead. His touch is rough as he forces her to rise and Keela has enough wits to snatch the amulet from the ground before it is out of reach.
"We shall not linger then. Watch over her."
His embraces is traded for another and soon they are running out into the wide expanse of the Crossroads. It is different from the strange metal forest of before. There is a labyrinth of tangled bushes and masonry that continues as far as the eye can see. Water pours from a gigantic overturned cup above their heads and forms a glistening river between the lanes of ivy. There are noises, singing- birds? They sound almost too human to be animal yet too strange to be mortal.
As they escape from unknown pursuers, Keela watches sections ahead lift from the ground and move elsewhere, hears heavy groans of wood and stone, and wonders just how one can manage to escape a maze that changes. But Solas turns down corridors without hesitation at the head of their pack. It is strange to see him so commanding when he does his best to hide normally. He is the Solas she knows beneath the surface when she manages to scratch hard enough.
"Hold."
The sentinels stand still and silent at the command. Solas stares straight ahead at a portion of the forever wall with that patient, neutral expression that drives her insane when they argue. It is him, she is sure, but the joy at seeing him again is tempered by the differences all around. This is clearly not her world.
Where am I? she calls to the Vir'abelasan. The voices have grown quiet, a full orchestra weeded down to only a few, and she can almost hear the individual souls as they answer her summons.
The path of many roads in the place of our people, it answers and there is a strange feeling of wishful longing for the sights and sounds surrounding them.
Without notice, ivy and root separate like a curtain and reveal stone steps descending down. Solas gives a motion and they follow, bare feet quietly slapping against the worn surfaces. A blue, hazy light gleams up ahead and as they turn one final corner a golden edged eluvian comes into view. Their leader does not pause before striding through the surface and Keela holds her breath as she is dragged right in after him.
When she steps into the other side, the magic swarming in her veins surges beyond control and ignites. Fire and lightning burst forth, threatening to consume the very flesh it was born from. She has never felt the power so strongly before, so present that it takes no thought to grab it from source. It feels here, in the air around her, not separated by the Veil.
Her mana grows stronger, hotter, and for the first time she can feel the sting of its rage. Keela cries out at the sensation and tries to pull it back, all of it, but it has tasted freedom and yearns for more. It is too much. She will flare out, burn away, and take everyone nearby with her.
"What is wrong with her?"
"I can't control it. I don't…I-" Cool hands capture her cheeks and force her attention to Solas' blue eyes. The concern she finds there has Keela reaching out to cling to his arm in desperation. "Help me!"
"Breathe," he commands and the familiar feel of his magic dances into her skin, but there is something different to it now. The anchor twitches in her palm in time with the rhythm of his power, their songs overlapping until she cannot tell the different. Until there is no difference.
A calming wave weaves its way through her body and smothers the raging inferno within until it is a crackling fire Keela can control once more. Relief and exhaustion follow in its wake. She realizes she hasn't slept for more than a day now and slumps into Solas' embrace. He does not push her away, but the stiffness in his limbs suggests he is uncomfortable with the way her fingers bunch into his clothes.
"You really don't know who I am." The truth of it makes her feel like she has lost him all over again and she cannot fight her emotions after fighting with her power. Keela hides her face away as it contorts with pain, tears slipping through the cracks in her resolve.
There is a momentary pause, a sign he has noticed her reaction, but he mercifully ignores it. "A mystery I would see solved at your earliest convenience, but our present and pressing concern still remains. The wards I placed around your magic will last until we reach our destination. Come."
His touch is much gentler this time as he helps her to her feet. Her eyes lift towards their destination and Keela gasps at the world she has stumbled upon. She can see magic drifting through the air in currents of colors like lazy flocks of birds. In the valley below spirits of muted oranges and reds congregate like grazing cattle and pay little attention to their presence.
But it is the massive city on the horizon that draws her attention. A surrounding lake of clear, still water reflects golden spires twisting up into the sky. Some buildings are made almost entirely of crystals and the closest she can see like some sort of cathedral with a dome sparkling like a raindrop in the sun. It is nothing like anything she has ever seen, but the sight of it reminds her of something she's only ever felt, a dream her people cling to long after waking.
The place of our people, the Well of Sorrows proclaimed.Elvhenan. Their joyful voices rise together and swell inside her, stretching and consuming just as her magic did moments ago. Understanding flows and she cannot believe it, but the truth gleams and shines before her eyes. She is not in another warped version of the future, nor some parallel Thedas across time.
She is home. "Arlathan."