Notes:
Hello everyone! First of all sorry for not posting the chapter sooner, but my PC crashed and took everything with it! All my outlines for this chapter and future ones, gone, lost in cyber space.
This chapter is the Arbor Wilds at last. There will be revelations and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you all for your reviews and for putting this fic into your list of favorites, you all rock! Many thanks also to my wonderful beta, LadyDarksbane, who is ALWAYS there for me!
Leave a comment if you want! I always love hearing from you! :D
…
Since Cullen had left in the afternoon with his army, Beatrix had nothing left to do except sharpen her daggers and ready her armor in preparation of what was to come. She also had a bow made previously just in case the enemy was too far away. Dagna had enchanted the bow so that it gave her a health and stamina boost when in use. Once again, Beatrix felt grateful to her instructors who had taught her the proper use of daggers and a bow. Without all she had learned, she would have surely died by now.
Soon, it was time for the evening meal. She sat at the head of the table, oblivious to the chatter all around her, smiling every now and then to one of her companions. She left the table after she was done, urging them all to get a good night's sleep. Then, she walked straight to her quarters, her mind on a long hot bath and early night.
She tried not to think about Cullen or miss him too much, but the truth was that she did. When she finally fell asleep after much tossing and turning it was to find herself in a place she thought she wouldn't return to, unless she was badly injured.
The leaves and green grass swayed lazily in the warm breeze as the sun shone down, making her feel happy and calm. She sat, her gaze on the trees and stream that ran through, the sand sparkling white on the bank where the sun rays fell. She sat where she always sat and waited.
Sure enough, the Lady in White appeared, smiling at her as Beatrix stood up.
"Why am I here? I haven't been injured," Beatrix asked, tilting her head to one side as she looked at her curiously.
"No," the Lady simply replied. "But you needed to be calm. What awaits you requires you to be calm. I am here to grant you some peace, so that you do not fail."
"Why haven't you appeared before? I required more peace back then."
"Yes," the Lady nodded with a smile. "I did not wish to frighten you before. I have always been with you. Even before you arrived at Haven. And then the one you love was with you. Now he is not."
Beatrix frowned, turning her head slightly as she remembered her goodbye to Cullen, feeling his kiss on her lips once again.
"He will be alright," the Lady said in a quiet voice. "You both will be fighting together soon, as you well know."
"One of us will be badly injured, right?" Beatrix commented, turning to fix her eyes on the Lady. "This is why I need to be calm."
"Know this: I cannot tell you exactly what lies ahead. But I can tell you that you are strong, and that is what will matter."
"You don't wish to tell me what lies ahead," Beatrix said angrily. "I didn't ask for this life. I never wanted to be the Inquisitor."
"No, you did not. You will have what you wish for and more, but not as soon as you would like."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The Lady did not reply. Her yellow eyes scanned the beauty around her and she turned, fixing them upon Beatrix.
"You need to wake now. You will not forget what was spoken here."
"Wait!" Beatrix called after her as the Lady turned and walked away. "Why can't you give me a straight answer?"
She jolted awake and sat up in her huge bed, panting. Outside the first rays of the sun touched the darkness, peeking through her balcony windows. Cullen's side of the bed was neat and orderly, just as it had to be, for he was marching to the Arbor Wilds and not with her.
She felt like crying. Even so, she quickly stood and readied herself for the journey ahead, all the while praying to the Maker to keep him safe from harm. The Lady's words echoed in her head, making her dread the Arbor Wilds far more than she had previously.
When she finally hurried down the stairs to meet with her inner circle she was confused and worried, her stomach twisted into knots at what lay ahead for them all. Maker help her if anything happened to the man she loved, for she didn't think she would survive long enough without him. Even so, she was the Inquisitor, and she had to kill Corypheus.
She had to kill Corypheus and she would.
In mere moments, she realized this was what she needed as soon as she felt the anger coursing through her veins. She smiled at her companions and took her horse by the reins, leading him out of the stables.
This was what she had to focus on because it made her appear calm and confident as she mounted her steed and held up a hand to the rest, prompting them to do the same. This was what was she had to focus on because it gave her the strength to chat normally to Cassandra as they all crossed the bridge towards the outer gate, smiling at Dorian who picked up the pace to ride along by her side.
Her fear gradually vanished the more she held on to her anger – held on to her desire to rip evil from the face of Thedas forever.
This was what she had to focus on because she no longer dreaded what was to come, because she WELCOMED what was to come: she had to kill Corypheus and she WANTED to do this.
And for the moment, it was enough.
…
Everyone that had to be in the Arbor Wilds was there by the time Beatrix and her Inner Circle arrived. Josephine, who had marched ahead with Cullen and his armies was talking to Empress Celene, who had traveled with her army. Beatrix talked for a moment with them both then joined her companions. She asked some of them to fight their way to the Commander's soldiers, to help in any way they could. Beatrix then turned to Morrigan, Solas, Cassandra and Varric, asking them to come with her. Cole would be around both parties to lend his aid wherever needed.
They fought their way across the terrain, which was full of trees and rocky hills covered in moss. The fight in itself wasn't hard at the beginning, but as they moved deeper into the wild forest, they discovered to their dismay that they were also fighting elves – rogue elves that fought like trained assassins.
"Wait!" Varric called behind Beatrix, who was currently in stealth. "Who called in the creepy elf assassin army?" One of his arrows killed an elf instantly, while Cassandra turned slightly and decapitated another one.
"This may be the reason why so many haven't returned from the Wilds," Morrigan mused, turning around in a complete circle continuously to avoid being stabbed in the back.
"Well, that certainly makes me feel so much better," Varric promptly shot back at the witch, who ignored him completely, freezing an elf that had just appeared behind Varric, who turned and muttered his thanks to the dark-haired mage.
Beatrix quickly reappeared behind the frozen elf and brought her daggers so hard upon him, the elf shattered instantly into pieces.
"Who knows if that was the last one? We much watch our step," Cassandra urged them all as they continued on their trek.
Presently they arrived at a chokepoint where the vegetation cleared a bit, showing pieces of broken bridges over a shallow river. Beatrix soon spotted Cullen and some of his men fighting templars across the river and she broke into a run, while Solas quickly cast an arcane shield over her to keep her from immediate harm. The rest joined the fray very quickly, unwilling to leave Beatrix alone in the face of danger – even though she wasn't alone, since Cullen now was fighting back to back with her, his soldiers also defending them.
There were a couple of red templar monsters that attacked, no longer recognizable as human, since the red lyrium shot out of their bodies as spikes and they were so unbelievably tall. Their faces bore no human features and they could not speak, only let out growls and roars that thundered across the area. Beatrix knew these behemoths were vulnerable to the cold and she shouted at her mages to cast ice cold spells repeatedly so that the melee fighters could get closer to them and bring them down.
When the fight ended, Cullen brought his arms around Beatrix and held her close, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Beatrix gradually disentangled herself from him and looked up into his eyes with a dazzling smile that made his pulse quicken.
"Could we skip the romance?" Varric said in a loud voice. "We'll be late to the party if we don't!"
Cullen scowled at the dwarf who winked at him with a wolfish grin. "Right," the Commander said, blushing slightly. "the gates to the temple are over there, Inquisitor. I will see you through this."
"What do you mean?" Beatrix asked, knowing full well what his answer was going to be.
"I'm coming with you," Cullen said briskly. "This is NOT open for discussion, love." Pausing only to smile at Barris who was standing right next to him he spoke. "Barris, you are in charge now. See that the men get some water, and wait for the rest here. I may need you later."
"Yes, Commander," Barris replied immediately, bowing his head respectfully as he gave out orders.
"Well! I don't think you even gave me time to protest!" Beatrix said, her eyes slightly widened with surprise.
"I know," Cullen replied with a smirk.
"Gotta hand it to you, Curly. You're becoming smooth," Varric commented with a grin. Cullen grinned back at the dwarf, looking pleased with himself.
"Shall we proceed?" Morrigan added with an annoyed huff. "lest the trees swallow us up whole?"
Nobody replied to that and they all followed Morrigan to a wide arc that looked like the entrance to a tunnel. They soon discovered this was not the case, as there was a golden door they opened into a hallway that was vibrantly green because of all the vegetation. This hallway rapidly led them to an open courtyard of sorts. They stopped in their tracks at this point, for Beatrix was gesturing at them to be quiet, as they approached a wide balcony that overlooked the courtyard. There were voices coming from that area that told them the red templars were already inside the elven structure.
They stopped and Beatrix froze when she heard a voice saying, "They still think to oppose us, Master." That voice! She had heard it before, but this voice was…wrong! It felt wrong – terribly wrong!
Corypheus's voice boomed in reply. "These are but remnants. They will not keep me from the Well of Sorrows."
Well of Sorrows? Beatrix chanced a look at Morrigan who gestured she had no idea what they were talking about. But it was when she managed to peek down into the courtyard over the railing that she felt her head start to spin. Cullen caught her in his arms, one of his hands immediately covering her mouth, stopping her from uttering the cry that died in her throat as pain laced through her heart.
The red templar who had been speaking to Corypheus, the man who was calling the creature 'Master', was none other than Beatrix's brother, Andras. And that was not the worst thing. The armor he was wearing was a brilliant red in several places, red lyrium spikes shooting from the chestpiece and pauldrons. An eerie red glow emanated from the red lyrium, pulsating menacingly. Her brother was wearing what surely must have been Samson's armor.
At once, the images of the Lady in White filled Beatrix's head, her words echoing clearly in her mind as she remembered each and every syllable spoken.
What awaits you requires you to be calm. I am here to grant you some peace, so that you do not fail.
This was what the Lady meant when she told Beatrix she had to be strong. This was what lay ahead.
Her brother was Corypheus's fucking general. Her brother had replaced Samson. In an instant she realized that she was going to have to kill her own brother to win this bloody battle. Anguish and sadness gripped her and were it not for Cullen who was holding her closely, she would have fainted dead away.
Instead, she remembered the Lady in White and suddenly stood straight, turning slightly to look up at her Commander. His tender look filled her with a warmth that gave her the strength she needed to focus on what lay ahead. Instead of feeling like she was dying, she felt calm and strangely composed.
But she knew deep down inside that before this was done, she would surely die a hundred deaths and it didn't matter.
Because Cullen would be there to bring her back to life.
…
Corypheus had died, disintegrated into nothing. And before their very eyes a dead warden suddenly shook and stood, turning into Corypheus. The horror was once again alive. They had run across the bridge followed closely by his pet dragon who had made an appearance. The very same one that had attacked at Adamant. The same one that had killed so many at Haven.
They had fought red templars while her brother had pressed onwards, slipping away from their grasp each and every time. Each and every time Beatrix had felt she couldn't go on. And each and every time, Cullen had squeezed her hand, or touched her shoulder, so that she could go on, knowing she was not alone.
So they had ventured deeper into the temple. They had solved puzzles, and met Abelas, the elf that commanded elven soldiers who were all sworn to Mythal. They kept the temple safe. They kept invaders out. They would NOT let anyone reach the Well of Sorrows and they would die protecting it.
Abelas offered them an alliance of sorts. He would see them safely reach their enemy. After they fought and killed all the red templars, they would leave and never return. Abelas was confident his elven soldiers would kill the remaining enemies and the Well would be safe from the invaders.
But Corypheus and his red templar army were not just anyone. They were a force that slowly, but surely, were killing every single ancient elven warrior that fought to drive them away. In the end, Abelas himself had run off to save the temple or destroy it to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Morrigan had shapeshifted into a bird to follow the elf, leaving Beatrix and her group behind with a guide that would take them through secret passages to where her brother and his army of red templars were fighting.
When they finally arrived, Beatrix felt weak in the knees as she stood in front of the doors that led to all the fighting. She felt sickened at the thought of confronting her brother.
Behind her and very close, Cullen cleared his throat.
"Love, I'm right here."
Beatrix turned to face him, feeling a lump in her throat that would not go away. "I don't think I can go on," she said in a small voice.
"You don't have to go on, love," Cullen whispered, pulling her into a tight embrace, rocking her slightly. The feeling of utter despair eased a little. Her teammates stood close to her, offering her their silent companionship. "We can take him down without you."
"We'll go in and kick his ass, Buttercup," Varric said patting her arm. Cassandra on the other hand, said nothing, but anger flashed in those brown eyes, concern in them every time she stole a glance at Beatrix.
"Inquisitor," Solas said simply. "We are here."
The images of the Lady in White suddenly invaded her thoughts and once again she remembered her words.
"I can never thank you all enough," Beatrix said, disentangling herself from Cullen's arms, feeling once again the strength that she thought she had lost. "But I have to see this through." She paused and looked up into Cullen's amber eyes, smiling. "And yes, I'm sure, my love."
"Then let us see this done," Cullen replied, opening the double doors in front of them.
…
The fighting proved to be a bit more difficult this time, for there were shadow templars, red lyrium monsters that flitted in and out of the shadows and attacked while in stealth.
In and out of the shadows they danced, their attacks deadlier for they used red lyrium as weapons. As soon as these were dispatched, the remaining templars fell quite easily.
They soon reached a room that had a circular staircase leading down. From this vantage point they could clearly see a round pool, shimmering in the distance. This was clearly The Well of Sorrows. Directly behind it, Beatrix saw an Eluvian. Morrigan had been right about that after all.
They went down the stairs, and came to a stop. The area was teeming with red templars, but Beatrix's eyes were on her brother, who was trying to find a way up the circular area that held the Well.
"Andras!" she shouted, advancing a few steps while Cullen and the rest adopted a defensive stance by her side, their weapons at the ready.
"Ah, dear sweet sister," Andras purred turning to face her. Beatrix gasped. His eyes were a bloody red color and red lyrium spikes shot out from the sides of his face. "Come to face your death at last?"
"Why have you done this Andras? Why did you…"
But Andras cut her off, taking a step towards her. "It was ALWAYS YOU, wasn't it sister? You GENEROUSLY gave me titles and land and I couldn't compete with that, until I became a templar and had father's approval at last. But see, that templar was weak! I AM STRONG now! Stronger than YOU! I will show father that I serve the real Maker! I will show them WHO is the best one! Not you, the scholar, the witty one, the one doing everything for everyone, BUT ME! ME! I WILL BE MORE! They will finally see they chose poorly!"
Beatrix shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. Cullen got closer. "Don't trust what he says, love, he has been taken by the red lyrium madness."
"Ah, the grand lover, willing to die for his love? Like you DIED during the avalanche at Haven?" Andras burst out laughing. "I said I would kill you then, so it's time to fulfill my promise!"
"Stand back, monster. You are NOT her brother," Cullen snarled angrily.
"You must learn to keep your pets on a leash, Bea," Andras boomed, giving a short bark of a laugh. "See here my armor! Look upon it and cringe! THIS will keep me safe. I will not die here today. But you all will. I am Corypheus's general. I am his vessel!"
"How are you a vessel?" Beatrix asked in a quiet voice taking a step forward. "What are you here to do?"
"What does a vessel do, sister?" Andras sneered stepping closer to her. Cullen noted with alarm that they were getting too close for comfort and stepped forward as well, ready to shield Beatrix with himself if necessary. "I will take the secrets of the Well, and bring them to my Master. He will rule as a true god from the Heavens!"
"You are insane," Beatrix hissed, now but a few steps away. "And how exactly will that red lyrium keep you safe, brother? How safe will you be when all the power you have can be suddenly stripped away?"
She quickly took out the rune Dagna had made and held it out. The rune pulsated madly and Andras's eyes widened. Suddenly there was a small explosion and Andras fell to his knees. The red lyrium coming out of his chest was gone, as were the spikes from the sides of his face and pauldrons. Andras panted on the floor heavily, and looked directly at her as he stood, his countenance angry and twisted.
"You'll pay for that!" he screamed, rushing forward, unsheathing his greatsword as he did. "Kill them!" he roared out to the rest of the templars in the room. His greatsword met Cullen's sword, and he laughed as he spun in a circle, while Cullen took the blows with his shield.
More ancient elven warriors appeared to help with the fight. One of them carrying a great axe executed a mighty blow directly at Andras, which made him fall back and give a shout of anger. But Beatrix's brother leapt up and quickly joined the fray again.
For a short while, it looked like the templars would win, but then the battle took a turn when shadowy elven rogue assassins joined the fray. In mere minutes, they were pushing the remaining templars back to the waterfall and the ones still left standing were suddenly not attacking, but fighting for their lives.
Beatrix, Cullen and Cassandra cornered Andras and the general merely kept laughing, growing in size as he stunned them with a blow to the stone floor. Soon he was towering above them all, and Beatrix disappeared into the shadows, trying to surprise him from behind.
But it was her brother she was fighting, and he knew all her moves. All at once he turned, taking Cullen in a death grip and pinning the Commander of the Inquisition to his chestpiece, cackling merrily as he did so. Beatrix reappeared, rushing towards them both and coming to a stop right in front of them.
"No, Andras!" she said, pure terror in her eyes as he held Cullen tightly, his sword coming close to the Commander's neck.
Cullen struggled, putting up a fight, but was no match for the red lyrium general's strength. Just as he was about to decapitate Cullen, Cassandra stepped closer behind the distracted general. A crossbow bolt suddenly embedded itself in Andras's forehead and Cassandra swiftly brought her sword across Andras's neck, decapitating him.
…
Beatrix had fallen to her knees, feeling immense grief and anger. But there was no time to grieve. She rushed to Cullen and checked to see if he was alright. He embraced her quickly and assured her he was fine. Cassandra spotted Abelas, and she pointed to the elf.
"Abelas!" Beatrix shouted. The elf waved his hand and a staircase appeared leading upwards, directly to the Well of Sorrows. The bird that Morrigan had turned into flew up chasing him as he took the steps, two at a time. Beatrix and her team followed closely behind.
Once there, Morrigan changed back to her human form, her eyes narrowing as she stopped Abelas from walking a single step forward. The ancient elven warrior's shoulders drooped slightly and his gaze flicked from Morrigan to Beatrix a few times, before finally settling on Morrigan.
"So, the sanctum is despoiled at last," he announced sadly.
Morrigan was silenced by Beatrix, stopping the angry words the witch hurled at the ancient elven warrior standing before them. Immediately afterwards, Abelas recognized that there was a certain righteousness in Beatrix and acknowledged that she had taken the path of Mythal because she had solved the ancient elven puzzles on her way to the sanctum. This was of utmost importance to the Ancient Elven Warrior, realizing at last that his time was done.
No matter how hard she tried to convince him to stay and fight at her side, Abelas left after Solas said a few comforting words to him.
Then both Morrigan and Beatrix engaged in a discussion on who would drink from the Well. A short time afterwards however, Beatrix took a few steps back as Morrigan argued with her, suddenly finding herself teetering over the edge of the Well of Sorrows, stumbling and falling inside with a great splash.
Beatrix inadvertently swallowed some of the water as she made an effort to get up and breathe. All at once, many voices were talking to her in Elvish. Beatrix turned around in circles, trying to understand what the voices were telling her. In an instant, powerful knowledge rushed through and into her, making her sit up, coughing and panting, realizing she was safe in Cullen's arms.
"Inquisitor! I was willing to drink from the Well!" Morrigan said loudly, her eyes narrowed at her.
Cullen, in the meantime, checked Beatrix over, looking for any signs of injuries. Beatrix quickly disentangled herself from his arms and took two steps forward, feeling with immense horror that they were going to be attacked. Everyone looked closely at her as she pointed to a balcony a short distance away from where they were standing.
A gasp was heard in the group when Corypheus appeared on the balcony, looking in their direction.
The Eluvian suddenly sparked to life behind them. "Quickly! Through the mirror!" Morrigan shouted, as Cullen pulled on Beatrix, trying to enter the mirror with her to escape the Ancient Tevinter Magister.
Morrigan quickly passed through the mirror, followed by Varric and Solas. Cassandra followed closely behind and quite suddenly Cullen and Beatrix were left alone to face the monster.
"Love, please!" Cullen whispered in a strangled voice. "If we do not go through the mirror soon, Corypheus will kill us both!" But Beatrix stood in front of the mirror, frozen with horror as Corypheus propelled himself upwards and FLEW towards them. Only then did she take a few steps back, while Cullen drew his sword, eager to protect his love from harm.
At that very same moment, Corypheus reached the now empty Well of Sorrows. Suddenly, water shot up from the Well and a figure rose from the water. The figure was naked at first, but it was wrapped in a white flowing dress immediately afterwards.
"You will not touch her!" the Lady in White practically growled, facing Corypheus. "I will not let you harm her!"
Cullen gave one final tug at Beatrix's arm, and they both ran through the Eluvian, reaching the room where Morrigan's mirror was kept. All of them watched in a daze as Morrigan turned and cast a spell on the mirror, which darkened instantly.
No Corypheus: Morrigan had closed the eluvian tightly before he could even hope to reach them. They were safely back in Skyhold and by the looks of things no one had been seriously injured.
Suddenly, Beatrix cried out and moved quickly to the side of the room, vomiting violently onto the floor. Cullen rushed to her side, helping her back up again, pulling her into a tender embrace.
"My love! You're ill!" he exclaimed. "I'll get you to the healer at once."
Solas quietly left with a small smile on his face and Cassandra followed both Beatrix and Cullen out of the room, with Varric trailing behind the Seeker.
"Now that was crazy!" Varric exclaimed. "This book is going to make millions!"
…