The grating sound of a door swinging open jolted her awake. Ebris carefully tried to open her eyes then promptly gave up, her entire body protesting the small movement. Panic rose within her as she realized she was shackled to a chair. Two pairs of footsteps entered the room, slamming the door shut behind them.
Her thoughts raced. Where was she? Where was Cadan? The Temple of Ashes seemed like a faraway dream. Or perhaps she was dreaming right now.
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now."
The woman's voice was jarring. Her throbbing head screamed in agony as the words reverberated in her ears.
"The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you."
If she could laugh without setting her body aflame in spidering, paralyzing pain, she would. The voice was lying. Relief flooded her mind-this must be a dream. She tried to imagine what Cadan's face would look like when she tells him of this terrible nightmare. He would roll his eyes and ruffle her hair. Why must you always kill me in your dreams? his handsome face would feign annoyance. Heavy tears slipped onto her eyelashes, weighing them down.
A searing pain ripped through her.
She screamed. Her wrists chafed against her shackles as an unholy burn consumed her left hand. Her eyes flew open to reveal tiny beams of light coming from an otherworldly green mark in the middle of her palm. It was familiar, though she couldn't quite remember why.
"What did you do to me?" she gasped, grinding her teeth together. She glared at the armed men surrounding her. A tall woman with short, dark hair and piercing eyes-a Seeker, Ebris realized, recognizing the all-seeing eye insignia on her armor-knelt before her. She squeezed her eyes shut again, desperately clinging to the same two lines that would make all of this okay: It's just a nightmare. Soon you'll wake up. It's just a nightmare. Soon you'll wake up. It's just a nightmare. Soon you'll -
"Explain this!"
Ebris yelped as she felt her hand yanked up against her shackles.
"I don't know what that is!" she insisted. Reality crushed her, brutally shattering all hope that Cadan would come rushing in to save her. Wisps of memories that seemed unfamiliar yet somehow real came rushing back.
Darkness. Monsters behind her, chasing her, forcing her up. Tired, so tired, feet can't move, let the Void take her so long as she can sleep. Bright light. A body? Reaching out. Fingers stretched, grasping, gasping...
"You're lying!" the Seeker's dark hair brushed along her forehead, bristling like her dark, angry eyes. She strode to a table near the door where another woman in mail stood silently in the shadows, her hood hiding her eyes. The dark-haired woman grabbed something from the table.
"You had this on you when we found you," she dropped the map on Ebris' lap. It was ruined now, dark scorch marks marring the edges. Half of it was completely illegible, shredded and mangled into a withered mess. "It's a map of the Ruined Temple. What were you doing with it?"
Her stomach dropped. The map was destroyed. Cadan would kill her. Ebris, you had one job, he would pinch the bridge of his nose, exasperated. This was our only chance to save Kenver and now you've gone and mucked it up. But it would be okay because, knowing Cadan, he would have another solution, another trick up his sleeve. The hero of the day; that's just who he was.
Under no circumstances can you be caught. Cadan's words, now a distant memory, still whispered to her.
"I - I found it," she swallowed, trying to summon some belligerence, "Stole it, to be more specific. I wanted a souvenir and the map was just lying about all willy nilly on a desk, I didn't think anybody would - "
"Another lie."
The Seeker lunged at her and gripped her neck. "You will tell me the truth," she snarled. "Everybody is dead, including the Divine. The mark on your hand is connected, it has to be. What were you doing at the Conclave?"
Ebris glared up at her defiantly and spat, "Let me go."
The Seeker moved as if to hit her and she steeled her face, ready for the strike. The hooded woman emerged from the shadows. "Calm yourself, Cassandra," she said, her tone soothing. She pulled the Seeker away. "We need her."
The Seeker shook her off and stalked across the room, folding her arms across her chest. The other woman looked at Ebris with calculating eyes. Her face was hidden in shadow, save the green glows of the mark reflected in her irises.
"I know this map. I know the handwriting on the margins well. There is only one map like this in Thedas and it disappeared over a year ago," the hooded woman said. "How did you come to possess it?"
Ebris remained silent.
After a long moment, the woman tried another question: "What's your name? Why were you at the Conclave?"
"My name is Ebris of House Trevelyan in Ostwick," she answered, reluctantly. "I was at the Conclave accompanying my brother, Cadan Trevelyan, a cleric of the chantry in Ostwick. He was there to represent our family. Please, do you know if he - "
The woman cut her off, gesturing to her hand. "Do you remember what happened? How this all began?"
Thick smog fills her lungs, threatening to choke her. A dim light above what seems like stairs without an end. She hears something behind her. A rustling. Then a crack. Then a terrible screech. Her legs start running before she can look back. The light as her guide, she runs ever upwards.
"I remember running. Things were chasing me," she closed her eyes, struggling to remember. Bits and pieces were all she had, snapshots of moments, with the time between them black. A bright, soft, feminine form, a beacon, holding out her hand, beckoning. "There was.. a woman?"
Her interrogator started. "A woman?"
Ebris nodded. "She reached out to me. That's... that's all I can remember."
Cassandra stepped forward. "Go to the forward camp, Leliana," she instructed. "I will take her to the rift."
They leaned close and whispered something to each other before the hooded woman nodded and disappeared out the door. Ebris tensed as the Seeker approached her to undo her shackles.
"What did happen?" she asked, rubbing her wrists, only to have them rebound by rope. She was hauled to her feet and led toward the entrance of her prison.
"It will be easier to show you," was the Seeker's response, before pushing the doors open and leading Ebris into a changed world.
The sky mocked her, its gaping mouth guffawing irreverently. She could imagine the Maker peering through the hole, laughing at all the little people scurrying about in fear. Ominous, green tendrils of light swirled around the hole, occasionally sending great sparks crackling through the clouds.
"We call it the Breach. It is a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It is not the only such rift. Just the biggest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave."
The Breach swirled violently up above and with a thunderous crack and a flash of blinding light, it snapped away another piece of sky. Her mark flared in response, bringing her to her knees. Green lights stretched, reaching for the Breach. She made a fist, determined not to cry out in pain.
The Seeker knelt down to inspect her hand.
"Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads. And it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."
"I guess I don't really have much of a choice," Ebris sighed.
"None of us do."
As soon as she felled the last demon, the bald elf snatched her arm and dragged her over to the rift. His long, cold fingers encased her wrist and he thrust her marked hand upward. Her arm stiffened as an unfamiliar power overwhelmed her muscles. A white, hot energy surged through her body, exiting through her mark in a beam of light that latched onto the heart of the rift. Her body weakened as the mark drained her essence to counteract the rift's energy.
It was over almost as soon as it started and she collapsed into the arms of the elven mage who had grabbed her and closed the rift.
"Nice to meet you, too," she grunted, straightening herself and brushing Shade demon carcass off her cuirass. "Consider buying a girl lunch before pushing her palm-first into dangerous Fade tears."
"How barbaric of me. My sincere apologies," the elf grinned, not looking very sorry. "But it appears that my theory is correct."
"Wait, you weren't sure that this would work?"
"Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark on your hand," he explained. "That your mark might be able to close the rifts was a logical assumption and, as you can see now, correct. Just be happy we didn't test our hypothesis on the larger rift."
"But we know now that it can work," Cassandra said, showing some enthusiasm. "Her mark will be able to close the Breach itself!"
"Possibly," he replied. He gave Ebris a wry smile, "It appears you hold the key to our salvation."
"I would rather not," she mumbled under her breath. Cassandra overheard and shot her a disapproving glance.
"Good to know!" the dwarf declared, shouldering an oversized crossbow. "Here I thought we'd be ass deep in demons forever."
She raised her eyebrows at him and he gave her an elaborate bow, "Varic Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong. And say hello to Bianca," he gestured to his crossbow, "She'll be great company in the valley."
"My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions," The elf said, then added, "I am pleased to see you still live."
Ebris shared the sentiment.
As the group moved onward to the forward camp, she found herself thinking about her brother. She desperately sifted through scenarios that could lead to Cadan being alive, but the more she pondered them, the heavier her heart felt. Maker's balls, Cadan, I knew the Conclave would be a disaster. She knew her anger wouldn't bring him back, but at least it was better than the loneliness that threatened to devour her.
The next rift, she closed on her own. Solas rendered the last rage demon to ice and, with a furious yell, Cassandra bashed it with her shield, shattering it. Ebris charged forward and reached for the rift. Her mark grew brighter, pulsing with excitement as it approached the sundered veil. Lightning burst from her palm and met its target, petrifying her arm with its intensity until the rift finally disintegrated with a thunderous clap.
Solas walked up to examine her work. The rift was gone, leaving only static in its wake.
"Sealed, as before," he confirmed, holding up a hand to test the slight crackling of the air. He seemed impressed. "You are becoming quite proficient at this."
"Practice makes perfect," she smiled weakly, drained but feeling quite pleased with herself. Cassandra sheathed her sword and nodded her head in approval.
"Let's just hope it works on the big one," said Varric.
Ah yes, there was still that big, daunting Breach in the sky to deal with. Her smile faltered. The small rifts had been exhausting enough; the mark siphoned her life force violently each time she closed one. There was no doubt in her mind that a rift that big would consume her entirely, but she couldn't bring herself to tell the Seeker or the elf her concerns. It wasn't like she had any other choice.
Would they have you die to close the Breach? Cadan's voice reprimanded her cowardice. He would call her a fool with a martyr complex and he wouldn't be wrong. She bit her lip and shook the thought away.
Looking around, she realized that they had made it to the Temple's entrance. She almost didn't recognize the building with its glorious innards spilling out like guts. Around them, dead demons littered the terrace, as did the soldiers that died fighting them. Her stomach twisted.
"Lady Cassandra," a male voice called out. Ebris turned to see a group of soldiers approach them, led by a tall, well-armored man with striking fur pauldrons and golden hair. He scanned the vicinity as he addressed the Seeker. "You managed to close the rift. Well done."
"Do not congratulate me, Commander," Cassandra turned toward Ebris. "This is the prisoner's doing."
He turned his scrutinizing gaze on her and she squirmed under his appraisal. Cadan's intrusive voice barked at her: Maker's breath, were you raised in a barn? Stop slouching! She quickly lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders. She almost saluted, as she was wont to do with Cadan, but stopped herself in time and flushed a deep red.
"Is it?" The Commander sounded cynical, his voice betraying his uncertainty. She had the uncomfortable feeling that she fell short of his expectations. "I hope they're right about you. We lost a lot of people getting you here."
Guilt flooded her, followed by anger. She regarded the Commander coldly and was met with equally frosty eyes.
"You're not the only one hoping that," she muttered. She studied the disjointed bodies of their dead strewn senselessly on the stone, committing the harrowing sight to memory.
"I suppose we'll see soon enough," he said with a curt nod. He pointed the way forward. "The way to the temple should be clear. Leliana will meet you there."
None of them were prepared for the sight that greeted them in the Temple. The stench hit them first. The unmistakable acrid odor of rotting flesh combined with an overwhelming sulfurous smell.
The thick smoke burned their eyes. Thin green lava splintered the remaining halls of the Temple and red lyrium grew out of the walls, casting a red, hazy glow.
Leliana's scouts settled around the balcony; Ebris envied their high vantage point. Her stomach rumbled nervously as they ventured downward to meet the rift.
Someone help me!
She jumped. "Did you hear that?"
Before anybody could reply, her mark flared, knocking her down. A fragment of a memory assaulted her.
Shadowy figures are restraining a familiar woman. The Divine. She screams for help. A dark mass approaches, voice low and threatening. A body slumped in the corner. What's going on here? Her voice interrupts the scene. Run! Run while you still can. Warn them! The dark shadow twists toward her. He is angry. An intruder! Kill her!
She felt herself being yanked up by an angry Seeker. "That Most Holy called out to you! It was her voice!"
Ebris pushed Cassandra off her. "I don't remember any of that," she insisted. She replayed the scene in her head several times, something about it bothering her. The body in the corner. It was blurry, but she thought she could recognize the –
She screamed, clutching her hand.
"Demons! Stand ready!" Cassandra ordered. The archers above readied their bows and the soldiers accompanying them drew their swords.
A massive, spike-covered demon leapt out of the rift with a thunderous cry. Debris flew up where he landed and the stone cracked, spidering out from beneath his clawed feet. He pounded the ground twice, shaking the earth. All seven of his eyes fixed on her.
Then he charged.