Despite there being an eluvian at Skyhold, Ramia had always been under strict instructions to stay away from it. Now she understood why.
The crossroads could be a dangerous place for the reckless and despite Athras' insistence, she felt more than a little uneasy every time they took floating rocks and steps to travel from one large floating building to the next.
"Watch your step…There we go." Ramia accepted the hand offered to her as they made it to what appeared to be a vestibule, the largest she had ever seen. The fountain at its centre seemed to work and despite its state of disrepair, glittered and sparkled wherever the light shone.
"What was this place?"
"By my guess, a palace of some sort perhaps? Most of the buildings here seem just as lavish." Athras scratched at his chin, clicking his fingers at a small secluded corner room and gesturing for the girls to follow. "This way, we will rest here for now." They entered the small room and found food, water and sleeping equipment. "I told you I had to secure our route, there's another one like this closer to our destination, give it another day or two." Laisa gave a long yawn, rubbing at her tired eyes and heading straight for the bed roll.
"I hadn't even realised how long we'd been travelling. Is it night already? Outside I mean." Athras bundled Laisa in some blankets, placing some dried foods by her side in case she awoke hungry. Patting the seat next to him for Ramia to join him.
"Time does move differently here, that's a given. Feel like we've been travelling for days?" Things had gone so smoothly so far, Ramia couldn't help but chuckle at his teasing tone instead of being annoyed.
"It does actually." Both were silent as they filled their bellies. Athras gazed down at the staff by Ramia's feet. Grabbing the staff and ignoring her protest he began to examine the rune inscribed on it.
"Favouring force magic are we?" Ramia snatched back her staff, tracing the runes herself. This man may have been a confidant of her mother's but she did not know him. The calmness and carefree attitude he held towards the situation rubbed her the wrong way.
"You don't like me too much do you?" His cheek rested against his knuckle as he watched Ramia stare at him with suspicion, eyes crinkling with a smile.
"I find your amusement and blasé attitude towards are situation highly suspect."
"Well you do enough being serious for all three of us."
"Has it occurred to you that a man who may as well be a god plans to destroy the world and probably has his agents within these very crossroads coming after us as we speak?" Ramia glared at the man before her, twice her age yet behaving half of hers. The outburst did not fall on deaf ears however and Athras sat closer to her, a consoling hand against hers as it strained against the wood of her staff.
"Do you think I would be given this task if I did not take it seriously da'len?" Ramia stared at the hand above her own. She trusted her mother's judgment and so far Athras had been good on his word. Whether he would be useful in a fight however would be tested soon no doubt, a small part of her could not hold back on her reservations until then.
The man, from what she could see was no stranger to battle. No mage at his age would be, she could feel how callous his hand was against her own. There was old scarring from burns along them as well. Most likely a mage who preferred fire. Athras noticed her eyes linger on said wounds.
"Yes, I was quite careless in my youth. I enjoy the flashy displays fire spells can do. I've had to learn the hard way to control it." Ramia stared at her own hands, sparking a flame of veilfire to dance between her fingertips. A bittersweet smile on her lips.
"The last time I ever conjured flame was when Solas said goodbye…" Ramia noticed the tell-tale sign of pity and quickly brushed him off before Athras could say anything. "Doesn't matter really, I do prefer force magic, like you noticed." She took another sip from her cup and bite of fruit. "I like that it can work both for attacking and defending."
"You can do that with other styles of magic."
"How so? They just seem so…Chaotic, in a sense."
Athras turns to fully face Ramia taking hold of both her hands. "What other style of magic are you best with? That you find unusable for defence?"
"Lightening I guess? It's what I'm best with, other than force." Ramia gasped as Athras caused her conjure a ball of electricity in her hands. The lightening she was sure came from her own mana but it felt more controlled, like Athras himself was directing its flow. Keeping the spell more controlled, more contained.
"How does it feel?" Ramia closed her eyes, keeping her mind focused on the spell.
"Like…I don't know. Feels like my normal lightening spells but I can feel your interference. Directing it"
"Try and hold it" Ramia panicked when Athras tried to pull his hands away, her own following his and crying 'no no no!' in a whisper. Athras chuckled bringing his hands back to hers and releasing the spell. "Come." Athras rose, lifting his staff and heading back into the vestibule. Ramia followed after him, her own staff in hand to be safe.
"What are we doing?"
"I'm going to train you."
"Train me?"
"Nothing too complicated or long-winded. We don't have the time for that, but getting better control over elements you feel less confidant with will put you at an advantage. In the long run."
Ramia spent the best part of the hour, learning to better control her lightening spells. Every time she felt she was getting close to mastering her spells, she would freeze up and the spells would spurt and cast out haphazardly into random directions.
"Again!" Ramia rolled her eyes but obeyed, summoning a spark and willing her mind to release to the line Athras had marked in front of her. Sweeping her staff with eyes closed in concentration, Ramia released the spell with as much power and control as she could. The sound a sizzling stone against the silence made her peek an eye open. Her mark hit just below the intended line but what caught her attention was the large indent within the stone floor that did hit the mark. The older mage in a state of shock.
"I didn't do that…"
"No…I did."
Athras and Ramia spun around to the source of the voice and attack. Upon the top of the grand staircase of the vestibule stood a red-headed elf, her armour echoing that of the sentinels Ramia had fought and killed so many times. Albeit hers was more intricately designed, heavier and sturdier than that of the dozens of men behind her.
"Ramia Lavellan. It is good to finally meet you. I am Drynne, more than that you need not know."
Athras manoeuvred in front of Ramia, teeth gritting and staff at the ready. The elvhen warrior who introduced herself as Drynne sneered at them both, the scar along her cheek stretching in a way that made her look much more menacing and cruel.
"I believe you have something The Dread Wolf would be pleased in." Ramia shoved Athras out of the way with fury in her eyes.
"She is not his to take!"
Drynne rolled her eyes, pulling the longsword against her back and slamming it into the ground. "Honestly between you and me it makes no difference, what I want is to see the elves returned to glory. Longer living in squalor or scurrying in the forests. Fen'harel will see it done." She swaggered down the stone steps, her blade screeching against the stone. "If it were up to me you and your mother would be killed and out of the way. I will not question why he would want you both alive…" Ramia entire body snapped with magic held at bay as she waited for Drynne's move. "But you could make this all so much easier if you co-operate."
"Su an'banal i'ma! He will not have her! Or this world!"
"Dirth'ala ma girl, for you cannot change the inevitable."
Elvhen used:
Su an'banal i'ma- To the void with you
Dirth'ala ma- May you learn