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Chapter 15: It's Time

Vaela was led to an outpost town in Highever: Harper's Ford. During the Orlesian occupation, Tarleton Howe of Amaranthine betrayed his longtime allies, the Couslands of Highever. There's a monument commemorating the battle between the Cousland patriarch and Tarleton Howe near an iconic waterfall. Two statues faced each other, locked in eternal combat, and the Hero of Ferelden would join them soon.

"Merrill!" Vaela yelled after spotting Merrill meditating atop Tarleton's head.

"Hmm?" Merrill wondered at first who could be interrupting her meditations before she opened her eyes and saw a single elf standing on Cousland's head on the other side of the waterall. "Oh, it's you, letahllin."

"Merrill!" Vaela continued to yell.

Merrill finally arose from her meditations. She looked different from what Vaela remembered. An air of confidence surrounded her. "What? Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"You know exactly what I want!" Vaela angrily spat back at her.

Merrill sighed. "There's nothing you can say to me that I haven't already said to myself, lethallin."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not here to talk, then." Vaela responded, drawing her Twinblades.

"So that's it? You're here to kill me then?" Merrill asked.

"The Creators forgive, I don't." Five words that summed up Vaela's journey to this point. The time for talking had passed and the Hero of Ferelden knew that after today, there would only be one member of the Sabrae clan left.

She leapt across the waterfall and charged at Merrill who cast a Misdirection Hex as soon as the Warden drew her weapons. "She won't be able to touch me," Merrill thought. Indeed, the elven mage was correct. The Misdirection Hex gave Merrill a clear picture of what the Warden planned to do before even she knew how she would attack. Merrill was able to parry and dodge every move Vaela made, much to the latter's frustration.

"Damn…" Vaela thought. "She hit me with something… still, no spell lasts forev-"

"Spirit bolt!" Merrill began firing bolts of spirit energy at the Warden. "With my Hex expiring, I have to keep her on the run," the mage thought.

The Grey Warden was a master tactictian, so when Merrill suddenly became aggressive Vaela knew that it was because Merrill's earlier spell wore off. "You can't fool me," Vaela thought. "I can't afford to lose here!"

The Warden closed the difference between herself and Merrill, but the mage was again able to force her off track by launching a fireball right at her. Vaela jumped into the air to avoid the blast, but was met with a Stonefist while she was airborne.

Vaela smirked. "She's good," she thought to herself. "But not good enough!" Merrill's boulder flew right through the Warden without leaving so much as a scratch.

Vaela landed only a few feet away from Merrill, who was still going over what she had just seen Vaela do. "Pay attention," Vaela demanded. "You're in range, and you don't want to miss this!"

"You can't touch me, lehtallin." Merrill remarked.

"Flicker!" "Wrath of the Elvhen!"

The exchange was over in an instant and Merrill won the first round. The Warden's twinblades were snapped in half by nature itself.

Merrill leapt backwards to create more distance between herself and the Warden. "I hope she's done… I don't have much mana left." Merrill thought to herself.

Vaela stood up, gasping for air, feeling the results of Flicker. "When did she get this strong? It doesn't matter. This fight only ends one way and I CAN'T LOSE!"

"There's only one person in Thedas to see Starfang up close and live to tell the tale, Merrill. You won't be the second." Vaela lifted her hand and summoned her favorite weapon.

"You… you're serious aren't you? You really want to kill me?"

"It's time! Let's go!"

A/N: Merrill isn't going down without a fight! Can Vaela find a way to defeat the blood mage? Should she? Who are you rooting for?