Chapter 6 Emotions Unhinged
*Warning* This chapter has graphic depictions of violence
As Clan Lavellan carried her casket, the funeral procession headed outside for the burial in the main courtyard. Once again, the group of five stood off to the side, on the opposite side as everybody else. There were many more people already in the area who had not been able to fit inside the main hall for the service.
Da'Fen watched curiously as Elessa was lowered into the hole near the wall of the front gate. The spot was perfect for her final resting place. Cullen and Cassandra escorted the boy to throw the first handful of dirt over his mother's coffin. They were trailed by Solas and Dorian and the rest of the Inquisition. The boy watched from a distance as each subsequent handful of dirt hit the beautiful box and cascaded outwards in all directions – it was both beautiful and almost hypnotic.
The line of people seemed endless, and as the hole began to fill, the finality of his mother's death began to sink in for Da'Fen. She was in a box in the ground and soon to be entombed in dirt and covered with a tree. Her body was no longer conveniently nearby, where he could walk by her and pretend that she would wake up, as it had been the past few days.
He finally realized that she would never wake up to shower him with kisses, or kiss him goodnight, or play games with him – Everything suddenly became real. Acceptance of Elessa's fate hit him with such overwhelming force that his little heart could no longer cope. He buckled to the ground speechless and gasped for oxygen as he clung desperately to Cassandra's leg with all of his might. As he finally took in enough air, he exploded with such an ear-piercing wail that it startled everybody in attendance.
As her eyes filled with tears, Cassandra bent down and gently picked up the tiny elven child, cradling him in her arms and speaking soothing words as he cried into her chest. The heart-wrenching screams emanating from Da'Fen were enough to send chills down the spines of everybody within earshot. Solas was once again in agony and completely powerless to do anything for his son. My son does not deserve this, Solas thought grievously as he once again reflected on his past decisions. He closed his eyes and desperately wished that his nightmare would end.
When it was time for the elven tree-planting ceremony, Da'Fen was still inconsolable and could not be coaxed into silence. Solas walked up to Cassandra and motioned for her to follow, as his son's cries were disrupting the entire event. When they departed, a group of five guards followed distantly behind them. The small group of three disappeared through a side door and walked out into the gardens.
Cassandra rocked Da'Fen and spoke soothing words to him while Solas gently rubbed his back. Slowly the child began to calm down, and Cassandra set him back down on his feet while Solas handed him the wooden horse. "We should probably stay another five minutes to make sure he's alright to return to the service," Cassandra announced.
When Solas glanced up to speak to her, a glint of light reflected off of something metallic and briefly caught his eye. It was a guard aiming a drawn bow directly at them! He quickly flung his arms out and put up a barrier just in time for the arrow to break over it, right in line with Da'Fen's head. Suddenly five more archers appeared on the roof above them, each wearing Skyhold uniforms.
When Solas picked up his son and turned to exit the way that they had entered, the group of five guards, who were supposed to be protecting them, drew their weapons in aggression. The three then hurried towards the main door leading to the great hall, but five more guards appeared in the doorway. They had walked into an ambush.
Out of options, Cassandra and Solas ran into the little room off to the side of the garden that housed a shrine. Their circumstances were dire, as Cassandra and Solas were completely unarmed, and the group of men would be upon them very soon. There was no way that they were making it through this alive, Cassandra thought as she began to pray. Solas set down Da'Fen and encased the room in a large barrier, the likes of which Cassandra had never seen. "Stay in here and DO NOT let him see this! Keep his eyes and ears covered at all costs," Solas screamed fiercely as he stepped outside of the doorway and morphed into a large black wolf.
To say that he was large was a major understatement; he was HUGE - the height of a druffalo, but thinner, and his rugged black hair and ears stood up on pins and needles as he let out a long and threatening growl. Cassandra shivered at the sight of his razor-sharp teeth, each the length of one of her longest fingers and dripping with ferocity.
When the first group of men charged the doorway with weapons drawn, Solas lunged and ripped out the throat of the first aggressor, sending scraps of soft flesh and tubular appendages flying through the air. The wolf's maw then quickly seized the next attacker across the ribcage and snapped the vertebrate of the spine completely in half with a loud CRACK. The speed and agility with which the wolf moved was incredible.
These men were trying to kill his son. They were the reason that Solas had lost the love of his life. They were the reason that his son was suffering and would have no mother to raise him. He felt nothing but contempt as he channeled all of his bitterness, regret, and despair into the forefront of his consciousness.
Despite his good intentions, EVERY major decision he had ever made in the past had backfired. He had failed his people, he had given his power to a lunatic, and he had failed Elessa. He would NOT make that mistake again. He would NOT lose his son. His heartbreak and anger were immeasurable, and in his primal fury, the bloodthirsty wolf became unhinged. These despicable men would die in the most gruesome manner possible, and he would feel absolutely nothing for them.
As Solas lunged at a third guard with teeth bared, he was blocked by a large shield. At the same time, a fourth man behind him dug his sword into the meaty part of the wolf's hind leg. Solas let out an intensely loud yelp as he sunk his teeth deep into the shoulder of the third guard and shook his body forcefully into a nearby stone pillar, snapping his neck and bludgeoning his head against the wall.
The ferocious wolf whipped his body around almost instantly and seized the man that had stabbed him, savagely ripping entrails from his gut as the man screamed in horror. The last attacker in the group tried to flee towards the others, but Solas jumped nearly ten yards and landed on his back, breaking bones on impact. The wolf pinned him to the ground as he viciously mauled his face and neck, leaving the corpse unrecognizable.
Solas was unrestrained. His blind rage had completely taken over, leaving him cruel, savage, and feral. Cassandra held Da'Fen close to her chest and covered his eyes and ears as she watched the gruesome scene unfold. The large beast was terrifyingly powerful and merciless, and the mortified screams of the assassins coupled with the sounds of breaking bones and tearing flesh shook her to the core.
She felt paralysis mixed with adrenaline and fear as she watched in a mesmerized state of shock. Cassandra wanted to cover her eyes and and ears, but she knew that she was the last line of defense for Da'Fen, and her vigilance was required in case someone made it past Solas.
The men on the roof almost endlessly pelted him with arrows, but he did not feel them, and most were easily shaken from his tough, furry exterior. As the rest of the attackers surrounded him, he growled ferociously. When an assailant charged him with a sword, the wolf dodged it as jaws clenched down on the man's arm and detached it completely from his body. Suddenly a blood-curdling yip came from Solas as another attacker drove a sword deep into his ribs.
He pivoted his body around in a half-circle, knocking down two men behind him as another man stabbed him in the shoulder. Though he knew he was hurt, he did not seem to feel pain, and the attacks fueled his rage even more. He let out a predatory bark as he charged the attackers and sequentially and ruthlessly slaughtered them one by one – he ripped limbs from sockets, tore eyeballs, ears, and noses from faces, he snapped bones, and he even decapitated one of the assailants. Solas never once allowed an aggressor near the doorway.
Soon all of the men on the ground were eviscerated, and with a quick leap, the wolf was on the roof and charging the first of the archers. Cassandra wished that she could cover her ears and shield herself from the terrified screams above as the dread wolf tore into them one by one and left them mangled, disemboweled, and in some cases, unrecognizable.
As her adrenaline settled into normalcy, Cassandra finally began to calm down. She looked around the shrine and the doorway outside. Blood and pieces of flesh were splattered all over her and Da'Fen, as well as the rest of the room. The ground was soaked in crimson, there were mutilated bodies everywhere, long and stringy entrails trailed from indistinguishable men, and a decapitated head lay idly right outside the doorway, still attached to a jagged piece of spinal cord.
She felt a sudden pang of nausea, and almost without warning she vomited all over the floor, still holding Da'Fen to her chest and shaking uncontrollably. His raw power and unrestrained savagery felt completely unreal to her. She knew that he was the dread wolf, but Solas had always shown such restraint and calculation in his actions. She never could have imagined that he was capable of such horrific acts.
The entire attack had occurred over the span of five minutes. Solas jumped from the roof and appeared in the doorway once again. After the wolf checked the periphery for attackers and found none, he limped toward Cassandra and Da'Fen as he let out a series of soft whimpers. He was too big to fit through the doorway, so he laid down outside and began to lick his wounded leg as he guarded the shrine.
Solas had been impaled with three arrows across the back, he was bleeding from the shoulder, his hind leg was damaged, and a sword was still lodged painfully in his chest. Cassandra hoped that he would be alright once help arrived.
Cassandra let out a deep breath and slumped down against a wall. Nobody could have prepared her for such a scene, and she was quite shaken up. "I need to keep your eyes covered, but I promise I'll take my hands away as soon as possible," she promised Da'Fen. Solas was still whining as he continued to lick his wounds.
About five minutes later, Cullen and Iron Bull approached with a dozen soldiers. Cullen was horrified by the bloody scene, and the thought that something terrible had happened to Cassandra, Solas, and Da'Fen rushed through his head. He shouted loudly and desperately as he began to run across the yard towards their location. Solas' ears perked up as he raised his head in attention, but Cassandra had not heard the shouts.
Bull and Cullen stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing the giant black creature covered in blood in front of them. Bull drew his weapon and waited for a command as Cullen slowly unsheathed his sword. They both stood there frozen as they stared into the wolf's beautiful stormy blue eyes as Cullen decided whether or not to charge the beast.
Instead Cullen got the courage to call out and was promptly answered by Cassandra. "Da'Fen and I are alright, but Solas is injured and needs help immediately," she announced urgently. Cullen yelled back, "I'm assuming that Solas is this giant wolf?" "Yes," she shouted as she walked through the doorway with Da'Fen. She couldn't wait to vacate the bloody scene.
Cullen ordered four of his soldiers to take defensive posts around the garden and sent the other eight to escort Cassandra and Da'Fen to safety. "Please find Vivienne and bring her here immediately," he ordered Iron Bull, who sheathed his weapon and ran towards the main courtyard.
Cullen was left alone as he slowly and cautiously approached the wolf. His head was as big as Cullen's entire upper torso, and he was covered in so much blood from the battle that the commander didn't know how badly he was wounded. He hoped that Solas was going to be alright.
He reached down and gently pet the top of the wolf's head as he announced, "Viv should be here soon, but in the meantime, these arrows need to come out. Give me a sign if you don't want me to do it." Solas laid his massive head on the ground next to Cullen, signaling for him to continue.
As he pulled out the first arrow, the wolf yelped softly. Cullen backed off briefly as he pulled off his long-sleeved shirt and used it to dab the blood from the wound. He repeated the step for the other two arrows. The arrow wounds were superficial and wouldn't be much of an issue, he thought.
After examining the rest of the wolf's body for injuries, he was able to find the gaping wound on Solas' shoulder. He used the same shirt to try to clean it up as best as he could while the wolf continued to whimper. Once the long-sleeved shirt was saturated with blood, Cullen ripped off his undershirt and used it on the wound.
"So this is the famous Dread Wolf," Cullen announced with a grin. "You're quite impressive." As he began to massage the wolf's head and ears, Solas nuzzled his nose into Cullen's chest. The commander smiled and began to shiver as he gently rubbed the line leading from his eyes to his snout.
Once Vivienne appeared, Cullen leaned into his ear and whispered softly, "I'm going to pull the sword out now." Solas put his head on the ground again and braced himself as Cullen wrapped his hands around the handle and dislodged the sword with a forceful pull. Solas let out a series of loud and painful yelps as Cullen hugged and consoled him.
Vivienne examined the wolf thoroughly before deciding that the sword wound on his ribs would need attention first. As she began healing it, Solas reverted back to his elven form. He was exhausted and in pain but fully conscious.
Solas looked up at Cullen, who was topless - his teeth chattering as his bare skin met the cold winter air. He couldn't believe that the commander had stayed by his side and had sacrificed his own clothes and comfort to help him, despite the things that Solas had done in the past. Additionally, Solas was a giant wolf covered in blood. Most people would have run away from him or tried to kill him. Cullen did neither.
"Thank you, Commander," Solas said gratefully. Cullen shook his head and smiled. "You saved my wife, Solas. It is I who should be thanking you," the man responded respectfully. Solas winced in slight pain as he chuckled, "Ah, so that answers the question regarding the state of your relationship with Cassandra. When were you married?" Cullen answered, "Two springs ago." Vivienne interjected. "It was a fabulous wedding. You should have been there."
"I hate to change the subject," Solas stated. "But do you mind removing my pants? I have a nasty wound on my thigh and should start healing it immediately." Cullen obliged and then excused himself to find some clothes and check on Cassandra and Da'Fen. As Cullen left, Solas shouted back, "Please send word that Cassandra and Da'Fen are alright when you get a chance."
The wound on his thigh was painful but not as bad as he had originally thought. It would take him roughly thirty minutes to mend it. The same could be said for his shoulder. Solas had a lot more power now than he did while he was in the Inquisition, but it still dwarfed in comparison to the power he once possessed in the times of ancient Arlathan.
There had been battles much worse than this in the past where he had emerged victorious and entirely unscathed. He was glad that at least now he healed a lot quicker and was able to perform healing magic more efficiently. At least he had been successful in defending Cassandra and Da'Fen, he thought.
Vivienne continued to heal Solas as she questioned, "You did all of this?" "Yes, I did not have a choice," Solas responded directly. He thought about what had transpired and realized that he did not regret any of his actions.
He was worried for Cassandra and Da'Fen, though. What if his son saw what had happened? How much did he hear? Would Cassandra ever want to face him again after seeing first-hand what he was capable of?
As she surveyed the enormity of the battlefield, Vivienne chuckled and commented, "Somebody has a rather messy clean-up job tonight." "Indeed," answered Solas, whose brow furrowed at the aloofness of her statement. She was less than three yards away from a severed head. Did the surrounding gore not bother her at all, he wondered.
Vivienne was strangely desensitized to the entire situation. She was more surprised by how quickly the healing was coming along, and she noted that Solas was significantly more powerful now than when she had first met him. She wondered what else he was capable of doing.
She never approved of his lack of a traditional upbringing away from circles, but in the five years since the circles had been abolished, she had come to see the benefits. Magic was always a means to an end, and there were far greater possibilities than she could have ever imagined. The choice was with the individual now. Accidents would always happen with or without the circles, she had finally decided.
"I'm glad you came back, Solas," Vivienne stated candidly. "This attack was carefully planned, and had you not returned when you did, there would have been many more funerals." Solas didn't quite know how to feel as he smiled uneasily and thanked her.
He was worried for Cassandra and Da'Fen but at the same time, he was comforted by her words. Vivienne was most likely correct that he had made the right decision in returning. Finally, a major decision that worked out in his favor, Solas suddenly realized. Elessa would have been pleased.