I was still shaking as we approached the temple. We stopped for a bit to catch our breaths from racing up this way.
"This is where our soldiers found you," Cassandra said behind me, "you stepped out of a rift and fell unconscious."
"Huh," I muttered, looking up at the Breach.
"They said there was a woman in the rift behind you," Cassandra continued, "but no one knew who she was."
"We can worry about that later," I stated, rubbing my hands in an attempt to stop the shaking.
I took one more deep breath as Leliana came up behind us. "You're here!" she exclaimed, "Thank the Maker."
Cassandra turned to her. "Have the men take up positions around the temple," she commanded Leliana. She nodded and the redhead left to pass down orders to the soldiers.
I took one last deep breath, and attempted to relax my nervous yet rigid body. Nope, didn't work. I'm still on edge. I don't know if I can do this… what the HELL is going ooooonn?
"And now is our the chance to end this. Are you ready?", Cassandra asked as she stood beside me.
I nodded, looking up at the Breach, then the rift under it. "As ready as I can possibly be I guess…so what do I need to do?" I asked, feeling as if I may be way out of my league.
"This rift here is the first," Solas replied, "and it is the key. Seal it, and you will seal the Breach."
"Then let's get down there," Varric said. Cassandra nodded to him, leading the way into the pit.
I kept staring at the walls. There were veins of yellow-green going through the rock, and I could feel the magic emanating from it. It felt like a soft caress on my arms, like at home when my cat would rub against my arms as I was curled in ball during a panic attack. It was her way of comforting me. I missed her in that moment, but the magic had the same effect on me. My nerves were soothed, and it helped to clear my mind enough so that I could focus on that task at hand, closing an ungodly, huge rip with the sky.
"The Breach is a long way up," Varric commented.
"What the hell could've caused-" I started, when I was interrupted.
"Now is the hour of our victory," a deep, menacing voice declared, seemingly from nowhere. My skin started to crawl, and I felt like I was gonna be sick.
"What was that?" Cassandra asked.
"At a guess, the one who created the Breach," Solas stated, then looked at me in concern, "are you alright, Kristine?"
"…I'm fine," I replied after a deep breath. I noticed some strange crystal nearby, and to distract the others' attention from me, I pointed at it. "What's that?" I asked. It looked like a bent spike of glowing red material.
"That's red lyrium," Varric grumbled behind me. I glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow. "It's evil," he state,d "whatever you do, don't touch it."
"Noted," I replied, turning back around to look at my comrades. "What's Lyrium?"
"That's a more complicated question than we have time to explain," replied Cassandra.
"Ask me about it after all this is done," Varric said.
I didn't press for more information because now I could hear that same horrific voice, echoing all around me.
"Keep the sacrifice still," it commanded.
"Someone, help me!" a woman's voice cried out after it.
"That's Divine Justinia's voice!" Cassandra gasped.
"Well, that doesn't sound good," I said uneasily, as I apprehensively jumped down the ledge into the pit. Yet, this conversation sounds really familiar…
We approached the rift cautiously, as pain flared in my hand again, but this time it didn't hurt as much. Or maybe I was just getting used to it. Yay, I'm getting used to the feeling of death.
"Someone, help me!" Justinia's voice echoed again. Then…
"What the FUCK?! Where the hell am I and where is my PIZZA?!"
"That was your voice," Cassandra said in bewilderment, "Most Holy called out to you… but…" She looked up at the rift, then at me, and asked, "What's a pizza?"
I didn't have time to answer her. The rift crackled and burst, growing in size. Then, the scenery changed - half-transparent figures started to appear and gradually take a more solid form. Some towering, black shadow was standing in front of a woman wearing fancy white and red robes with a matching headdress that was similar in appearance to what a pope would wear, but instead of it coming to a point at the top, formed more of an upside down triangle. She was being held in place, slightly levitating off the ground by glowing red lights, swirling around her arms.
Another figure joined them - by dropping out of the sky and landing on their butt. I quickly recognized myself, staring up in fear at the shadow. "What the FUCK?!" the other me yelled.
"Run!" the lady yelled at me.
"We have an intruder," the shadow hissed, pointing at me, "Kill her."
Another bright flash, and the vision was gone.
"You -were- there!" Cassandra exclaimed, "Who attacked?! And the Divine, is she…? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?!"
"I don't know!" I retorted, irritated, "I don't remember any of this!" What the hell happened to me to make me forget? My stomach rumbled. I'm kind of missing my pizza right now…
"Echoes of what happened here," Solas astutely stated, "the Fade bleeds into this place." He turned to Cassandra. "This rift is not sealed," he told her, "but it is closed - albeit temporarily. With the mark it can be opened - and then sealed properly, and safely." He looked at me in concern, "However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side."
"That means demons!" Cassandra yelled at the soldiers, "stand ready!"
The soldiers started yelling at each other as they got into position to attack. I felt fear bubbling up inside me, but I refused to let it show. I put on a mask of indifference on my face, and gazed up at the rift. "Are you ready?" Cassandra asked me.
I nodded, raising my hand, though my rapidly beating heart and twisted gut told me different. Light jumped from my hand onto the rift, making my arm burn as I forced the rift open. I hope I can survive this…
With a loud BOOM! The rift exploded and a light shot out, taking form under the rift. A demon came through in the shape of a bipedal giant, towering several heads above most of the soldiers, with scales like onyx and two horns protruding straight up from its head. They looked sharp enough to skewer a victim like a steak kabob. It had several extra eyes which glared down at us with unholy fury. Its claws, sharp as razors, had lightning dancing between them.
Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Just breathe. Don't pee your pants. Don't panic. Just breathe….. Fuck!
"Now!" Cassandra called out. Archers up on the wall let their arrows fly, but the demon swatted them out of the air like they were flies and nothing more than a nuisance, and roared again.
"That is a demon of pride," Solas explained to me as he started shooting a barrage of spells at it. "Arrows don't seem to do much against it," I commented, "what should I do?"
"What do you think you should do?" Solas asked, throwing up a barrier around both of us. I looked at the others fighting the demon, then up at the rift, which had closed again.
"Use my mark," I replied, "cover me!" Solas nodded as I dodged around the soldiers and tried to stay out of the demon's sight as I approached the rift. Solas threw up another barrier around me just in case.
I raised my hand at the rift, my strength draining out of my arm again as the light bolted up from my hand to join with the energy emanating from the rift. I turned my head to look at the demon, who was currently engaged with Cassandra and some of the other soldiers. I could see Varric a ways from the demon, with Bianca aimed at the Demon's head, and let a bolt loose. It struck the demon in the eye and it bellowed with rage. It started to charge towards him!
Just then, the rift exploded, sending a blast of energy outwards towards the edges of the pit. It hit the pride demon and it was knocked down onto one knee. "Now!" Cassandra yelled, "Attack it now!"
Arrows rained down like a storm onto the pride demon, embedding themselves into the scales of the demon. I felt slightly dazed, and I was temporarily frozen in place. Cassandra and her soldiers closed in around the demon, hacking and slashing at the weak spots in the demon's hide, while from a safe distance, Solas continued his assault on the demon using simple, yet effective balls of energy cast forth from his staff. Varric stood a little ways from him, releasing bolt after bolt, until the demon rose to his feet.
"Dodge!" Yelled Cassandra, but not fast enough. The demon roared as it swept it's arm low to bash them away. Some of the soldiers got caught in the demon's arm sweeping outwards. My jaw dropped and I watched in horror. The sound of their armored bodies slamming into the wall on the other side of the pit, broke through my dazed feeling, and my mind felt clear. Holy shit, I have to help them.
I tried to run over to them, but the rift flashed brightly above me and a shade blocked my path. "More coming through the rift!" Cassandra yelled. No shit, Sherlock.
Something inside me was reacting. I could hear voices sounding off in my head, a march to a beat that I couldn't quite pick up. My body was moving on its own, picking up a discarded sword from one of the soldiers who were thrown away.
What is going on? I thought as I watched my body charge at the shade, slashing the sword, I'm not in control of my body!
I watched through my own eyes as the sword cleaved through the shade as if it were made of butter, and then I was in control again. I stepped towards the soldiers again, but I already knew I couldn't help. They were motionless, dead.
I turned around before the sight of their lifeless eyes could ingrain itself into my mind. But the knowledge of what happened sunk in. I just watched a bunch of people die, right before my eyes. I started to feel faint, but another flash caught my eye and made me jump.
The crystals were back, formed around the rift. I raised my hand once again, the searing pain ripping through my arm. The rift exploded, sending another wave of energy through the pit, hitting the pride demon and the other shade that was attacking Leliana.
The pride demon yelled and went down on one knee once again. Above us, the rift was sputtering and warping in ways I couldn't describe. "Now!" Cassandra yelled at me, "Seal it!"
I raised my aching hand, hopefully for the last time, and the light shot up from the mark to the rift. It was definitely different this time.. I started panicking as I felt my energy draining from me, beginning as a freezing burn on my palm, which spread out through my whole body. I screamed in agony. It felt as if my life was being sapped away.
Just as I thought my soul was going to be sucked away, the rift exploded, knocking everyone back, then quickly imploded and fizzled out of existence. Stars sprang up in front of my eyes as I felt the back of my head hit the ground, hard. I felt drained, way beyond exhausted. At least, finally…. that bitch…. is sealed…. I could hear Solas calling my name as I gave into the exhaustion and floated back into darkness.
Author note: Thank you to my sister for proofreading 3 and thank you all for reading 33