Disclaimer: Bioware owns all, except what I most humbly create. While, at times, I will take verbatim from the game, I mostly use the events of the Dragon Age games, expansions and universe as a loose structure around which to construct my re-imagined tale. If you are looking for a strict canon piece, I have no desire to offend, and so I warn you upfront!
When reading this tale, I hope you can easily imagine it being told by the very best of storytellers in Varric (from DA:2). In my version of events, Varric meets "The Hero" (my Elissa Cousland) in Kirkwall during the time period of DA:2. I mention this only so that readers can understand his connection along the way, and so I don't have to mention and rehash it again and again as I make my way through the tale.
A/N: WARNING! NSFW material herein! And... you probably all know what that means (the Nate fans at any rate). It's the moment you've been waiting for... sort of... :P
Muse Music: Pieces by Red. I never encourage people to listen, it's not my thing. I simply put things up as kind of a vague idea just in case you're interested. However... if you really want an idea of the actual inspiration behind the feeling in the Fade sequence between Nathaniel and Elissa - then this is what actually brought it to life in my mind. Do with it what you will.
I am traveling home for the holidays in a few days, so posting may slow a bit. I will keep up as best I can, I just wanted to let you guys know!
Hugs to all my readers, writers and reviewers and to my most excellent Lady Beta, artemiskat.
Happy Reading!
-Frayed One
Chapter Ten: I Come To You In Pieces
When Nathaniel made his way to the common room the next morning, the others had already gathered and were enjoying light conversation with their breakfast – the peals of their laughter floating up from the table and over to him where he filled his plate.
When he turned to walk over to them, Elissa was tossing a hunk of bread at Anders and chuckling at something he'd said – darting out of the way with a smirk when he popped off a small bolt of electricity at her in retaliation.
"I kept a spot warm for you hot stuff…" Sigrun said, catching his eye with a wink and patting the bench next to her.
"Thanks, Sigrun – but I think I'll find another table. I'm fairly certain no one else is looking to have my company this morning." Nathaniel grumbled, starting to make his way to another spot.
"Come now, Nathaniel. We're all adults here. Sit. Eat." Elissa said, rolling her eyes and tossing another piece of bread into her mouth.
"Ah, so you've decided to be an adult today have you?" Nathaniel asked, pushing out a sharp breath as he sat down directly across from her.
"Well, one of us has to be – and as you seem to have decided to adopt the role of the petulant child this morning – I may as well play the part of Mommy for the day." Elissa retorted, sending the table snickering around her as she smirked at him.
"Mommy is it?" Nathaniel snorted, putting his elbows on the table and calling her bluff. "Tell me then, Mommy. Have I been a bad boy? Do you need to punish me further?"
"Cute. I've half a mind to call your bluff just to see what you'd do if I turned you over my knee and tanned your arrogant behind." Elissa hissed, eyes narrowed on him.
"You're welcome to try." Nathaniel chuckled, paying no mind to the complete silence of the table around them. "Though if you do, you're much more likely to find me tanning yours instead."
"Wow… is anyone else hot… and, sort of uncomfortable in a not entirely bad way…" Anders said nervously, laughing a little when neither of them stopped glaring at the other long enough to even acknowledge him or anyone else for that matter.
"I'm not nearly drunk enough for this." Oghren belched, gathering up his things and heading out with Sigrun close behind him.
"Yes, and I fancy a very cold bath all of a sudden." Anders quipped, taking his own plate and moving off to catch up to them.
Elissa went back to eating her food after that, ignoring the waves of irritation radiating off the man across the table from her. She refused to be chased out of her own Keep by him for any reason, focusing her attention on the notes in her journal instead.
Nathaniel watched her turn her eyes away from him and down to her plans for the day, scribbling something in her journal every now and then as she toyed with the ring she wore around her neck.
"Just put the ring back on, Elissa." he huffed, unable to take it anymore. She only seemed to play with the damn thing when he was around to see it. "If he left it with you, he obviously intends for you to wear it once you've made up your mind – which, clearly you've done."
Elissa turned her eyes up to his slowly, finishing off the chunk of bread she'd been chewing on and then dusting off her hands before reaching across the table and snatching the sharp little paring knife off the edge of his plate.
Nathaniel flinched back for a minute, suddenly very certain she was going to jam it somewhere he'd rather not be stabbed – but she just used it to flick through the cord around her neck, pulling it and the trinket on it free and dropping it to the wood in front of him. She stabbed the blade into the table and then sat back down and went to eating her bread.
"Well. Look at it then." Elissa said, lacing her fingers together and waiting for him to do as she'd instructed.
"I know what the Theirin crest looks like. I went to lessons the same as you. I don't need to look at it to verify what it is." Nathaniel hissed, refusing to give her the pleasure of seeing him suffer any more than he already was.
"The Theirin signet is gold." Elissa said, her words calm and even, watching his eyes dart down and note the silver of the ring in front of him – though he still made no move to pick it up. "Oh, just pick the damn thing up and look at it you prickly bastard! Honestly – what was I thinking ever falling for you?"
He picked it up then, angrily turning it over in his hand as he felt the sting of her latest jab at him. He brushed his thumb over the tarnished face of it, revealing a crest he recognized all too well.
"This is... this is mine." Nathaniel replied, stunned as he looked back up at her – thinking back on the many times he'd seen her fingering the charm beneath her armor.
"Indeed." Elissa responded, tugging loose a piece of cheese and tossing it into her mouth.
"You've been wearing this all along?" Nathaniel asked, shaking his head and trying to make sense of it.
"Why not? You still wear mine." Elissa said, watching his eyes hold hers again as he reached up to tug it out of the front of his tunic.
"I wear yours because I love you still. Because I have every intention of being with you again. But I don't understand why you have continued to wear this if you've resolved yourself to give us up without even trying. Why keep it if you're going to marry The King?" Nathaniel demanded, infuriated that she seemed intent on tossing his heart about like it was nothing more than a toy.
"The honest truth is, I don't know. I guess I've just worn it for so long, I felt incomplete without it lying there against my skin. I've tried to take it off before – but I always ended up putting it back on." Elissa shrugged, rubbing her face for a moment before looking at him once again. "But you're right. I shouldn't have it anymore. It's yours, Nathaniel. I'm giving it back."
"What if I don't want it back?" Nathaniel asked, swallowing hard as he watched her starting to gather her things to go.
"Then toss it. Melt it down. Sell it. I don't care what you do with it. It's yours to use as you see fit." Elissa replied, standing with her plate.
"Keep it." Nathaniel said, pulling the cord and ring up into his hands and handing it back over to her.
"That should be given to the woman you marry, Nathaniel." Elissa insisted, sighing at him.
"I am giving it to the woman I'll marry." Nathaniel replied, steadily holding her eyes. "I gave it to her years ago."
"You really don't intend to give up, do you?" Elissa snorted, shaking her head.
"I'll never give up. I'll never stop thinking we belong together. I'll go to my grave believing it if necessary." Nathaniel replied, watching the pain starting to flow into her eyes again. "You may not have meant it when you said forever, but I did."
She walked away after that, shaken and unsteady and wishing she'd just taken her meal in her room instead of listening to Anders and coming down.
Nathaniel had gone looking for Elissa after breakfast, knowing how badly he had shaken her with his bold admission and wanting to try and smooth things over at least a little. When he found no signs of her in the usual spots, he tracked down Sigrun and asked if she had any idea where she might have gone.
After attempting to entice him into some leisurely afternoon activities in several very inventive ways, she finally sent him off toward the throne room where Elissa was being forced by Varel to host high court.
Knowing how much Elissa hated the very idea of such ridiculous notions of nobility, and adding to that his having riled her further at breakfast – he was not surprised to find her fuming on the dais at the back of the room.
He was surprised to find Anders there as well, sauntering over to his corner with the cat Elissa had given him in tow.
"I wouldn't have expected this sort of thing to be of much interest to you, Anders." Nathaniel huffed, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back into the shadows of his corner to watch.
"Oh, I've no interest in the twisted morality of the upper crust. Certainly no one your father kept about." Anders snorted, settling in beside him. "I'm simply here to offer my support to Elissa."
On the dais Elissa did her best to appear as though she didn't want to run screaming out of the room as Varel called the court into session.
"The Warden-Commander will hear the matter of the crown against the sheepherder Alec." Varel said, and Nathaniel watched as two of the city guard led a beleaguered looking man across the hall to stand before her.
"On behalf of the crown, I submit that this man stole two bushels of grain bound for the garrison in Amaranthine." Captain Garavel strode forward to explain. "When confronted by soldiers, he confessed."
"The punishment for theft is death by either hanging or decapitation, but you already know that Commander." Varel said, watching the slow turn of her eyes up to Nathaniel who had also been brought to her for justice after stealing.
"Have you anything to say for yourself, Alec?" Elissa asked, her voice even and not at all threatening as she tried to encourage the timid man to look at her so that she could read his face.
"My sheep were slaughtered by roving packs of darkspawn and my… my family was starving." the man explained, shaking as he accepted the fact that he could quite literally be sentenced to die in a matter of moments. "I ask for mercy, your Ladyship."
"I will not punish you for seeking to protect those you love, however I cannot encourage others to ignore the law as their motives may not be as altruistic as your own." Elissa replied, watching the man turn his eyes to the floor in fear. "I will give you a compromise. Offer yourself to the service of the King's army and your life will be spared. You will also receive a stipend with which you can provide for your family."
"A-absolutely! Maker bless your soul, my Lady!" Alec replied, bowing to her many times over as he was escorted from the room.
"The next matter is of a civil nature. Lady Liza Packton is the sovereign of Teyrn's Down. She…" Varel began, before a mousy little woman stomped forward and interrupted him.
"I prefer to speak for myself, thank you." the woman snipped, glaring at Varel who did not back down until Elissa nodded that it was alright. "The former Arl, Rendon Howe, made certain promises to me. Some of these he committed to paper." She reached an arm out, waggling her fingers at a servant who handed a stack of parchment over into her hand. "I was given the right to the incomes of the southern bridge."
"Oh, Maker… this isn't going to go well." Anders mumbled, meeting Nathaniel's eyes just long enough to see him nod in agreement as Elissa took the papers that Varel transferred over into her hand.
"Why don't you tell her what part you took in Howe's conspiracies, eh Liza? Take a look in the Cousland girl's eyes and tell her how far your fingers dipped into the conspiracy to slaughter her family." Another man said, walking forward and accepting the woman's hateful glare. "I am Ser Derren, my Lady, and it is my land she seeks to claim. It was taken from me because I was one of the few nobles who stood against Teyrn Loghain."
"Arl Howe was a traitor, and as such any promises he made are void." Elissa replied, her eyes cold as she flicked the papers over into Garevel's hand without so much as a flinch at the bitter woman in front of her. "Ser Derren keeps his holding."
"Bann Esmerelle will hear of this!" Lady Packton hissed, taking a step forward before several guardsmen cut off her path and escorted her to the back of the hall.
"Who is Bann Esmerelle?" Anders asked, scooting closer to Nathaniel so he could be heard.
"One of my father's closest allies. There was rumor of an affair after my mother passed, though there was never any proof of it." Nathaniel answered, watching the angry noblewoman closely as she strode from the hall. If there were anyone likely to be fronting the effort to make an attempt on Elissa's life, it would absolutely be Esmerelle.
"Bring in Ser Temmerly the Ox." Varel called, and Nathaniel took in a surprised breath when three guards led in the man from the rear doors of the hall.
"Well he's a rather large and angry bloke then, isn't he?" Anders asked, watching a distinctly worried look cross the archer's face as he watched the hulking blonde man fight against those that led him to stand in front of Elissa.
"Temmerly has always been… entitled." Nathaniel offered by way of explanation.
The last memory he had of the man in front of him was from Elissa's sixteenth birthday party, where he'd stood on the dais in Castle Cousland's courtyard and watched as the then twenty year old Ox had ravaged her with his eyes. He had barely managed to control his temper back then, and wasn't doing much better now, watching the horrible man leer at her as he was shoved to a stop at the front of the dais.
"Ser Temmerly stands accused of a murder most foul." Varel explained, and Nathaniel watched the light of fury bloom in Elissa's eyes – fearfully waiting for what she'd decide to do once all of the facts came to light.
"You and your men came upon Ser Tamara in the dead of night and did ambush her." Captain Garavel explained, and Nathaniel watched the fury building.
"Don't do it, Elissa. Don't do it unless you have absolute proof." Nathaniel whispered, hoping against hope that she'd be reasonable.
"Don't do what? What are you freaking out about?" Anders asked, suddenly feeling exceptionally out of the loop.
"You dare too much, Captain Garavel." Temmerly snorted, holding Elissa's eyes with a smirk. "I am noble born, and will not submit to your accusations. However… if your Ladyship wishes to question me, I will gladly submit to that inquest."
"Oh, that was bad…" Anders muttered, suddenly following Nathaniel's logic.
"Stupid, stupid pig of a man…" Nathaniel said, shaking his head.
"You have been accused of murdering a woman, Ox. I would not be so willing to submit to anything I might offer were I in your shoes…" Elissa assured him, her smile bitter and vicious. "Especially since according to my soldiers you and yours were found fleeing, covered in blood still warm from its bleeding."
"There is a great deal of traffic on your roads these days, my Lady. Not all of it is human. And it's sooooo dangerous at night." Temmerly sneered, winking at her. "We were merely in a hurry to reach a nice, safe place."
"You mock this court with your denials!" Captain Garavel hissed, eliciting a glare from the nobleman.
"You have nothing, Captain!" Temmerly yelled, turning to him for a moment then back to Elissa. "Release me, Cousland. It's this common lout's word against mine."
"A lady knight is dead, Ser. I will have justice." Elissa replied, smiling as she leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs leisurely. "Behead him."
"Oh, Elissa…" Nathaniel said, hanging his head. "You've just signed your own death warrant."
"What? What does that mean?" Anders asked, looking around and half expecting someone to dash out at them at any moment.
"B-But… you can't!" Temmerly said, shocked then furious as the guards tried to drag him away from a smirking Elissa. "You've kept his son! Kept a known traitor's son alive and in your service but you're going to take my head without a scrap of proof against me!"
Elissa's eyes flashed, catching Nathaniel's – and Temmerly followed the movement, turning his head in the archer's direction and becoming even more infuriated.
"So that's what it takes then? Not to be executed for believing your family was traitorous scum that deserved what they got?" Temmerly continued, yelling louder and louder. "Take me to your bedchamber then. I guarantee I'll give you a far better roll than whatever you've gotten out of Nathaniel bloody Howe!"
Elissa was up off the chair after that, relieving a nearby guardsman of his broadsword before he even noticed her doing it and charging through the center of the room. The guards holding Temmerly staggered back, watching her swing the blade with ease though it was as long as she was tall. The next thing anyone knew a spray of blood dropped warm across the crowd as the headless body of the former nobleman dropped to the floor.
"Let that be a lesson to the rest of you. I do not tolerate traitors. If you had anything to do with the slaughter in Castle Cousland, I will find you. If you threaten my Wardens, you threaten my family, and you will be dealt with." Elissa yelled, tossing the sword to the floor with a clatter and stomping back to the dais and out into the hallway beyond. "Come for me if you must, but know that I will not go down easily. Now clear my throne room. Court is done!"
"That was not the smartest thing you've ever done." Nathaniel said, coming through the doors a few moments later with Anders trailing behind him.
"Yes, well few people these days would use smart to describe me." Elissa replied, pacing furiously as she let the realization of what she'd done sink in.
"If they weren't aiming to kill you before, they're certainly going to come after you now." Nathaniel chastised, consumed with worry when he thought about that possibility.
"I don't know." Anders added, trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe she managed to scare a few of them off. I mean… she did just behead someone with a broadsword in the middle of court. I'd imagine even your father didn't do that sort of thing in public."
"Likely not." Nathaniel replied, displeased at the reference but agreeing all the same.
"Sorry, Commander." the skittish woman assigned as her assistant said, poking her head through the door. "There's a dwarven woman out here who wishes to speak with you."
"Who? Sigrun?" Elissa asked, wondering why they wouldn't have just sent her through.
"No, miss. She's got red hair and she's very angry." the woman replied, shaking slightly as a temperamental Elissa glared at her.
"Felsi? Ugh… Oghren, what have you done now?" Elissa sighed, rolling her eyes but pushing through the doors nonetheless. "Nathaniel, go and retrieve Oghren from wherever he's passed out if you would. If he won't move, tell him the schleets have come for his pants. That'll get him up and going."
"Felsi! How wonderful to see you again!" Elissa said, plastering on her very best smile as she walked with Anders to greet the furious little woman.
"Shove it, Commander. I haven't come to exchange pleasantries with the other woman." Felsi hissed, crossing her arms and glaring up at an exceptionally surprised Elissa. "Now where is he? I know he's here so cough him up."
"I don't know what Oghren's told you, Felsi… but I assure you, our relationship is completely above board. Far, far above board." Elissa insisted, jamming her elbow into Anders' side hard when he started to laugh.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Warden. I don't think you've got some sort of elicit affair going with him – I just think he'd rather follow you about killing things than take care of his family like he should." Felsi yelled, rolling her eyes. "Now where is that big bronto tur…"
"Hang onto your beard, woman!" Oghren bellowed, staggering into the room at Nathaniel's side and lumbering to a stop in front of his angry lady friend. "If this is a conjugal visit, you should be in a better mood. You know all you have to do is ask and Oghren is happy to grease the old wheel."
"That's not a good visual…" Anders grimaced, taking Elissa's glare again and watching Nathaniel just barely stifle a laugh where he stood slightly behind them.
"Don't lay a finger on me!" Felsi yelled, stepping back when he tried to grab her. "You've done a lot of stupid things on a whim, but taking off to traipse about after your precious Warden – again!"
"I-I thought you said joining the Wardens would be hot?" Oghren said, punctuating the thought with a mighty hiccup.
"We were role playing!" Felsi replied with a sigh.
"Hmm. Hadn't thought of that one." Anders whispered, watching Elissa struggle not to laugh. "How does it work? Does the Warden get to have a poke at the Archdemon?"
"Anders!" Elissa hissed, kicking her foot back and catching Nathaniel in the shin hard enough to silence him when he couldn't contain his own laughter.
"I didn't come here on a whim, Fels – and you know it. You kicked me out." Oghren replied, pulling his hip flask off then and starting to drink as he paced.
"And that's our cue…" Elissa said, shuffling them off to the very back of the room to give the couple time to talk things out.
It was obvious things weren't going well, and it broke Elissa's heart when Felsi finally stormed out of the room leaving a beleaguered looking Oghren to collapse on a nearby stool.
"Aren't you going after her?" Elissa asked, taking a spot on the floor beside him.
"Nah, I'd just end up being hit. She's a tiny thing but she packs quite the wallop, and in that mood she'd go straight for my danglers." Oghren replied, and Elissa glared up at Nathaniel when he laughed as he and Anders came over to join them – but he just shrugged in response.
"Well, lucky for you boys I've got the cure for what ails us!" Elissa said, standing and pulling Oghren up beside her.
"Why, Commander! I didn't know you had it in you… or wanted it in you, as the case may be." Anders quipped, waggling his eyebrows at her though she simply looked confused in response. "Should we go get Sigrun and see if she wants to join?"
"Of course we're getting Sigrun… wait, join what? What are you talking about?" Elissa asked, listening to the group of them starting to chuckle and finally understanding the joke. "Wow… just, wow. That's was pretty deep in the gutter even for you." She said, shaking her head as she made her way out of The Keep to track down their missing rogue. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I was talking about killing not screwing. I'm afraid if you're looking to put anything in anyone it's going to have to be pointy things in darkspawn."
"Oh well. Maybe next time." Anders shrugged, continuing to laugh.
It hadn't taken very long to track down Sigrun, so the group had quickly gathered up their packs – prepped the horses – and hit the road for the Blackmarsh.
Anders took Oghren on his horse and Sigrun, of course, opted to ride with Nathaniel – leaving Elissa to lead the way on her own. She passed the time watching the landscape and listening to the friendly banter of the group behind her.
"Is there some great ceremony when someone joins the Legion of the Dead?" Anders asked, honestly curious about the chipper little woman who seemed so fascinated by their gloomy archer.
"Yes, it's called a funeral." Sigrun replied, looking over to him from her spot behind Nathaniel.
"Right, but is it boring and somber like a regular funeral? I mean, you're not actually burying anyone..." Anders said, watching Elissa raise an eyebrow at the truth in that thought.
"This is true. Dwarven funerals involve a great deal of ale and singing." Sigrun explained, looking to Oghren for validation but realizing she'd get none as the drunken dwarf had passed out shortly after leaving The Keep. "Then there is an orgy."
"What? You're kidding!" Nathaniel snorted, turning around to glance down at her.
"Of course I'm kidding." Sigrun chuckled, wrapping her arms around him a bit tighter and patting his chest. "Though… if you're interested I could probably get one together."
"Oh, my!" Elissa laughed, kicking her horse faster and riding ahead as she watched Nathaniel turn six shades of red over her shoulder.
"Beware. The Blackmarsh is haunted!" Anders read from a nearby signpost as Nathaniel and Elissa worked to secure the horses so they could move inside. "You know, when you said I've got the cure for what ails you I actually believed you. I should have known what you really meant was let's go explore a creepy haunted swamp."
"Do you want me to hold your hand?" Elissa said, pouting at him to hide her smirk.
"You can hold whatever part of me you like, pretty lady." Anders said, winking at her and waggling his hips, laughing when she made a yuck face and moved away.
"Father used to tell me stories about the Blackmarsh when I was younger." Nathaniel said, clearing his throat and hoping to put a stop to that conversation before he had to listen to a second more of it. "He said evil magic killed everything here. This was just before the Orlesian rebellion, so it was a great mystery at the time."
"Your father told you stories?" Elissa asked, making a placating gesture with her hands when her laughter drew a glare out of him as his temper flared.
"This was a long time ago, when we were children." Nathaniel retorted, falling into pace with the group. "He was a regular father at times, you know."
"He used to beat you for questioning him about anything, Nathaniel. I saw the bruises afterwards, long before you ever showed them to me voluntarily. You blamed it on Fergus, or Thomas or being clumsy… and you've never been clumsy." Elissa replied, shaking her head at his continued need to defend anything about that monster and storming off ahead of the group. "That man was never a regular father."
"So what was the story?" Sigrun asked, trying to keep him talking rather than storming off after Elissa and exacerbating the situation any further while Anders attempted to calm her down leaving Oghren to bring up the rear with his flask.
"They never found out what happened here. Once the monsters started to appear, the marsh was just abandoned." Nathaniel explained, watching Anders wrap an arm around her shoulders and lean in to whisper something in her ear. "I used to dream of coming to the Blackmarsh and setting things right." He thought, smiling as he remembered talking to Elissa about that very thing – years before, out on their rock above the Waking Sea. "Little boy dreams…"
"You've always wanted to be a hero then?" Sigrun said, lacing her fingers behind her back and smiling up at him. "I find that very attractive."
"You are quite persistent, Sigrun." Nathaniel chuckled, smiling back at her.
"Is it working? Am I cracking your shell?" Sigrun asked, leaning in and winking at him.
"I'm sorry, you are my very favorite dwarf – however… I'm afraid my heart belongs to another." Nathaniel answered honestly, looking up to see Elissa laughing with Anders once again and hating the fact that it was so easy for the mage to pull her out of the foul mood he always seemed to leave her in.
"Oh, I'm not looking to get into your heart." Sigrun chuckled, watching Nathaniel furrow his brow down at her. "Just your pants."
"Are all dwarves so forward?" Nathaniel choked, knowing he was blushing but unable to help it.
"Are all nobles prudes?" Sigrun replied, eying him carefully. "Wait, you aren't a eunuch are you?"
"What? No! All my parts are in order… Maker, what would have given you that idea?" Nathaniel gasped, looking at her curiously.
"It was my best guess other than… no, that can't be possible." Sigrun said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "You have done it before, haven't you?"
"What? Had sex?" Nathaniel asked, laughing a little at the look on her face. "Yes. I've lain with women in the past. It's just been a… well, a very long time actually."
"How long?" Sigrun asked, looking distinctly relieved that she wasn't corrupting a virginal mind.
"Over a decade, now that I think about it." Nathaniel replied, the number seeming insane now that he said it aloud.
"You haven't lain with anyone in ten years!" Sigrun yelped, covering her mouth quickly when she realized how well sound carried across the marsh.
"Thanks for that…" Nathaniel groused, watching Elissa's eyes go wide and Anders start to laugh especially hard up ahead.
"Sorry! I just… I mean… you're way too nice to look at not to have had offers." Sigrun said, sheepishly apologizing for having exposed the details of his non-existent sex life to the entire party.
"I had offers, I just never took any of them." Nathaniel replied, eyes hanging on Elissa who continued to glance back at him every now and again.
"And you've never…" Sigrun said, tilting her head in Elissa's direction.
"Been with Elissa? No." Nathaniel shook his head, remembering their near miss. "We came close once, many years ago… but fate conspired to prevent us from actually consummating our relationship on the physical level."
"Well that explains it then." Sigrun laughed, smiling at him.
"Explains what?" Nathaniel asked, not following.
"The sodding inferno of sexual tension you two generate!" Sigrun started laughing at that point, watching just how red the archer's face could get. "I've a good mind to lock you in a room together until you get it over with already."
"That's much more likely to result in one or both of us coming out bloody or not at all than in the afterglow you're imagining, I'm afraid." Nathaniel laughed sadly.
"So you've got a love, hate relationship? Can make for some pretty incredible sex from my experience." Sigrun smiled, winking at him and wiggling her eyebrows for good measure.
"If all I wanted from her was a tumble, that would make this a fairly easy problem to solve. Unfortunately – I want it to mean something. I wouldn't do it otherwise." Nathaniel replied, catching Elissa's eyes again and sighing when she pulled them away.
"Are you sure? I mean… what I'm hearing here is that you're in love with her but she's not feeling that love so much anymore. And you've gone ten years without having anyone because you've been so focused on having her." Sigrun said, trying her best to get the poor man to consider his options before he resolved himself to heartache. "Have you even considered the option that maybe you just need to get laid?"
"Are you suggesting we run off into the bushes and fix all my problems?" Nathaniel laughed, shaking his head at her.
"I'm not opposed, and I promise you'd like it… but I didn't mean me, necessarily." Sigrun chuckled, patting his hand.
"I know you all think I'm crazy going on the way I do, but the fact is I do love her – and I believe that we belong together. It's just this feeling I have I can't explain. It's a feeling I've always had." Nathaniel said, just watching Elissa move through the shadowy landscape ahead pulling at him in ways he couldn't begin to explain. "I desire her, very much, obviously – but the truth of the matter is if she told me we could be together, that she'd be mine tomorrow as long as we never lay together physically, I'd do it." He heard the snort of laughter from Sigrun and smirked over at her. "I'd probably explode and kill us both at some point, but I'd do it."
They both lost themselves in laughter after that. The first completely free and genuine laughter Nathaniel had allowed himself in days. It felt good to have a friend, an absurdly vulgar friend who occasionally copped a feel – but a friend nonetheless.
Elissa pressed forward to the highest point she could find, eager to get a look out across the marsh to try and determine some sort of pathway forward. The landscape was difficult to travel, with the natural condition of the marsh combining into the ethereal aspects to make a messy confusing maze. Complete with blighted creatures popping out of the shadows to menace them around every turn.
"Ooh, dragon bones!" Anders said, running over to inspect the massive skull as Elissa looked out over the swampy landscape.
"You know they aren't actually all that fun to deal with, right?" Oghren grunted, sitting down on the ruined edge of an old house to have a drink.
"They aren't all fluffy and cuddly like kittens?" Anders quipped, rolling his eyes.
"Definitely not. They're scaly and tend to set your bits on fire." Elissa replied, seeking out and finding a large mostly complete structure at the center of the marsh that appeared to be the former ruler's manor.
"You say that as though you know it personally? Has a dragon burned your bits? Do I need to have a look?" Anders smirked, prodding at her until she glared at him.
"The Archdemon lit my calf on fire, but it's all healed up now. Thanks for the offer." Elissa replied, turning back to the group and shuffling back down the hill.
"What's this? It looks like a hole in the air itself?" Nathaniel asked, walking over to touch the shimmering green fog.
"If that's what I think it is, you shouldn't touch it." Elissa called out, watching him retract his fingers just as quickly as he'd stretched them out and sending Anders over to verify what she already knew.
"The Veil is torn." Anders said, his face worried when he turned back to them. "Whatever happened here was bad enough that it sundered parts of the actual makeup of the world."
"That's what I thought." Elissa sighed, rubbing at the bridge of her nose as she hit the bottom of the hill and headed off in the direction of the manor. "This day just keeps getting better and better…"
When they reached the town square, just outside the gates to the manor's courtyard, Sigrun called her attention to the corpses of several long dead darkspawn.
"It's been dead for several days, though I can't tell you what killed it." Sigrun said, pointing to the markings on its face and neck.
"I can." Elissa replied, standing and arming herself. "Werewolves."
"Wait? Are we talking about actual werewolves? Not the tame kind like Swiftrunner?" Anders asked, looking pretty freaked out about it.
"Dastan is no longer a werewolf, regardless of what you lot call him. If he was he'd be covered in much more fur and much less clothing." Elissa replied, annoyed that they could not seem to accept the man as anything other than the cursed creature he had once been.
"So when you met him, he was naked?" Sigrun asked, interest peaked as he seemed to fit what Elissa could puzzle out to be her type. "That's a pleasant thought."
"No… when I met him he was covered in fur. When I lifted the curse, he was less furry and more… naked… which was uncomfortable for me, as you can imagine." Elissa said, knowing she was blushing and clearing her throat as she felt everyone staring at her. "And I really don't want to talk about this any longer."
"You can tell me later." Sigrun whispered with a wink.
"You could just ask him when we see him again. He's likely to just show you. He's quite comfortable in his own skin…" Elissa muttered, thankful when the werewolves actually started to pop up as they worked their way up to the manor gates.
The werewolves were a difficult batch to manage, with only Elissa and Oghren having the advantage of prior knowledge and, in Oghren's case, plate armor. Werewolves were exceptionally fast, and unlike most darkspawn – very smart. They adapted to what they fought, and learned what things were the biggest threat to them or the easiest to take out.
They set on Anders almost immediately, and Nathaniel and Sigrun found themselves both spending almost all of their time simply keeping the man alive. That left Oghren and Elissa to do most of the fighting, which – considering waves of them kept pouring in whenever they'd think they were in the clear, meant they were all very exhausted in the end.
"Remind me never to piss your werewolf off." Anders panted, leaning against the wall at her side and tossing back a lyrium potion.
"Probably a good idea not to call him a werewolf then. He's got a temper like Nathaniel's." Elissa snipped, turning away from both of them to shake at several different gates when the locks wouldn't open. "Only option is further into the marsh. None of the gates to the manor are pick-able."
The further they went into the marsh, the more numerous the tears in The Veil became. It became apparent that they were being corralled in a specific direction, and that was very unsettling to Elissa. She met Nathaniel's eyes across the group, and knew he had already picked up the same thing.
"You've noticed it too?" Nathaniel asked, falling in at her side.
"That we're being led. Absolutely." Elissa replied with a nod, pointing out the increase in the number of darkspawn corpses. "Just not sure by what yet."
At the top of the next hill, they found a large pile of darkspawn corpses and what appeared to be an abandoned campsite.
"This might have been Kristoff's camp, but if it was he's been gone for days." Nathaniel said, standing up from where he'd crouched to inspect the fire pit for any signs of life.
"Wherever he's gone, I don't think it was voluntary." Elissa said, tossing something up for Nathaniel to catch and inspect. "He wouldn't have left that behind."
It was a locket with a picture of a beautiful blonde woman inside. Nathaniel assumed, as Elissa had, that this was the wife whose letters she had found.
"From what I can make out of the tracks here, he headed off up the plateau in that direction." Nathaniel said, tucking the locket into his pack for safekeeping. "The landscape is muddy, but… the tracks are definitely there."
"You're seeing more than I am so you should lead. I can't make anything out in this muck." Elissa admitted, waving him in front of her and falling in at his shoulder as they pressed further into the hills.
At the top of the plateau Nathaniel had mentioned, they recognized the odd egg-like pods of the Children grouped in pulsing clumps around the edge.
A couple of them started to open as they passed nearby, prompting Anders into action.
"I don't think so." He huffed, popping off several fireballs and cringing when the screams and disgustingly juicy pops of the exploding Children started to sound off around them.
In the center of the clearing ahead, lay a lone body. Nathaniel saw Elissa's face drop as she recognized the Grey Warden heraldry on the nearby shield and dashed over to check the man for any signs of what might have happened to him.
"He's only been dead three or four days." Elissa said, covering her face with her hands where she crouched.
"Elissa, you couldn't have prevented this." Nathaniel insisted, knowing where her mind was already headed.
"Couldn't I? Four days! If we'd come here first…" Elissa replied, standing up and starting to pace in frustration.
"It would mean you would be back with The Mother already." A voice said, and Elissa watched as a large group of darkspawn and one talker appeared from the brush around them.
The group of Wardens armed themselves, but they were packed together too closely and could do nothing more than stand there and wait.
"The Mother told me that if I lured one of yours to this place and slayed him, you would come. And The Mother, she was right. She is always right." The talker said, pacing closer and speaking directly to Elissa.
"I have had dreams of your, Mother." Elissa replied, and she could see both Nathaniel and Anders' eyes flicker over to hers in surprise.
"And The Mother, she is having dreams of you Warden-Commander. She knows what it is that you are doing to her Children. She knows that you work with The Father to silence the song." The talker continued, grinning at her.
"I do not know who The Father is, but I silenced your song when I killed the Archdemon." Elissa insisted, wondering if whatever altered them had also driven them mad.
"That is what you believe, but the song – it calls to us still, from a new body. Only the chosen can no longer hear its beautiful music." The talker continued, pacing as he spoke.
"A new body?" Elissa asked, eyes going wide when she realized the implications. "Morrigan!"
"I do not know this Morrigan. I only know The Mother. It is she who sent me. She who wanted you to come to this place." The talker said, spreading out his arms. "I… here before you is The First." He tapped his chest and leaned in toward her. "I am bringing to you a message."
"Then deliver it before I decide to shut you up early." Elissa hissed, steeling her spine and mustering up all of the intimidation she could manage in light of their precarious situation.
"Ha! The Mother has told us of your arrogance. We almost did not believe. But here The Warden stands tossing idle threats even though she's already lost." The First chuckled, reaching for something slowly. "The Mother, she is not permitting you to further his plan. Whether you know this or not."
Elissa saw the flashes of green beginning as whatever he held traveled from behind his back, to in front of his chest. Tendrils of energy crept up his arms and reached out into the world beyond.
"Run! All of you run!" Elissa yelled, turning panicked eyes to Nathaniel and hoping that he would listen and somehow manage to convince the others to follow him.
She loosed her blades then and charged forward, making every effort to give the others what few moments she could to allow their escape.
After that, there was only the darkness.
"Nathaniel! Come back to bed! It's cold without you!" Elissa called, blankets bunched up around her from where she lay in the bed behind him.
"If I come back to bed before seeing to the fire, it's really going to be cold!" Nathaniel chuckled, tossing another log into the hearth before making his way back over to her.
"I'm sure you can come up with other ways to keep us warm." she smiled, poking a long leg out of the side of the blankets and running it up the inside of his thigh.
"Aren't you sated yet?" he smirked, leaning in to kiss against her ankle and then her knee as he made his way back underneath the blankets to join with her.
"I shall never be sated when it comes to you, my love." Elissa laughed, the sound sultry and rich from between her parted lips as he ran his hands over her body.
"Nor I when it comes to you." Nathaniel echoed, unable to contain the bliss he felt at lying with her this way, arms and legs tangled together as he covered every inch of skin he could see with feather light kisses.
He worked his way down her chest; stopping near her shoulder to be certain not to avoid the scars she held from the arrows she had taken lest she think he found them hard to look upon. But the skin there was flawless, smooth and pale as it had been in their youth.
"What's wrong?" she asked, feeling his hesitation as he ran his thumbs over the perfect skin and searched his mind to remember why he'd been certain they would be there.
"Your scars are gone?" he answered, eyes darting up to hers to find confusion.
"Scars? What scars?" Elissa questioned, brow wrinkling. "I have a scar in my thigh where Fergus got me with that practice sword years ago, but there were never any scars near my shoulder."
"There were… I know there were." Nathaniel whispered, stroking at the skin and struggling even harder for the memory. "I saw you take one of the arrows that scarred you. I was standing right there when the Hurlock let the arrow loose in Kal'Hirol."
"Hurlocks? Kal'Hirol?" she laughed, reaching out to check him for fever. "Nathaniel, are you ill?"
"I'm not ill, Elissa. Perhaps I was dreaming but…" he started, closing his eyes for a moment and trying to refocus himself. "No, it was too real. I know it happened. Which means this… this is the illusion."
"You don't think I'm real?" Elissa laughed, holding his eyes for a moment as she tugged him into the cradle of her body. "Give me a moment and I can prove to you how real I am."
"I have no doubt that you're real, or that I'd probably enjoy it while you sucked the life out of me." Nathaniel insisted, tugging himself free of her grasp. "But whatever you are, you aren't Elissa."
"You mortals. So content to languish in your own misery." the thing wearing Elissa's face said, voice changing as it gave up the ruse. "I could have offered you pleasure beyond your wildest imagination, but you would rather have the torment that this one offers you."
"I would rather have the reality than the dream, yes." he replied, looking around the false room in search of a weapon, as he'd no idea what had happened to his own. "I have lived with the dream for too long. Even if the reality is pain, it's better than a lie."
"If it is pain you desire, then it is pain I will give you." the creature hissed, tossing back the sheets and advancing on him.
He struggled against it, fighting to keep it at arm's length until he could get his hand around the hilt of the blade he'd found mounted on a nearby wall. The creature was so focused on getting at him, it didn't notice the blade pressed into its side until it was too late to do anything but scream up at him – twisting Elissa's face into a mask of pain and betrayal.
The form shifted and reformed after that, finally settling down into the body of the Desire Demon that it actually was and crumpling to the floor at his feet. Everything around him started to change soon after – fading and twisting until he was standing in the open landscape of The Fade's version of the Blackmarsh.
He looked down at himself, now fully dressed in his armor with his bow at his back, as it had been when he'd lost consciousness. Were it not for the shifting movement of the dreamscape and the demon corpse at his feet, he'd almost believe that everything had all been in his imagination.
From where he stood, he could find no signs of any of his company – but knew enough from his experience to know that wherever they were, they were likely being menaced by something similar.
Nathaniel pressed forward through the landscape of The Fade, listening to the haunting sounds of the scattered souls trapped in torment throughout the twisted dreamscape of the Blackmarsh. There was nothing for him to track here. No way of telling which direction he should go to search out those who were missing. The only thing that seemed to stick out as distinctly not a part of the actual Blackmarsh he remembered was a thick circle of trees at the base of the hill below. Something about them was distinct and very familiar.
He made his way down, watching the dreamscape shift and change as he moved further in – becoming less marsh and more forest. Eventually he found himself moving out of the tree line and into a clearing, a clearing with a large blue lagoon.
At the edge of the lagoon stood Elissa, just as she had so many times before. She'd discarded her weapons and armor in a pile on the ground and stood in her leggings and chemise, hair down loose on her shoulders, staring out over the water and waiting for whatever was to come.
"Elissa?" Nathaniel called out, easing himself closer to her just in case she turned out to be another demon in disguise.
"I half wondered who you'd choose this time." Elissa chuckled, the laughter tired and infinitely sad. "You could have just as easily gone with Alistair. Though, you've played the part of Nathaniel in this dream for so long I suppose it would be silly to change it now." She turned to him as she spoke, looking him over with a careful eye. "The upgrade is new though. You normally go for twenty year old, Nate. Did you get bored?"
"Upgrade? I-I…" he answered, starting to realize that not only did she believe him to be a demon, but she'd had this experience before – enough times not to be surprised by it at all. "Elissa, it's me. It's Nathaniel."
"Yes, yes… you're Nathaniel. Love of my life, horrible aching wound that never heals no matter how many times I try to stitch it." she sighed, walking over to him and pulling his bow loose to toss it to the ground, then taking his pack and quiver. "I know the routine. You don't have to act it out. We both know how it ends. We do this thing that we do, and then I kill you." she started to work on the buckles of his armor after that, and it dawned on him that she intended to undress him. "Now, if you don't mind, can we just skip the whole talking bit and just move onto the good parts. I could use the release and my friends aren't going to rescue themselves while I stand here chatting with you."
"Elissa, really, I'm Nathaniel." he said again, watching her roll her eyes as she got the upper half of his armor off and moved on to the lower, swallowing at the sight of her breasts as she knelt on the ground in front of him.
"My, but you're a persistent one. Alright, if it makes you feel better keep talking while I get the rest of this off." Elissa replied, shaking her head.
It only took a few more moments for her to get his lower armor off. His leathers were similar enough to her own that she was exceptionally familiar with the buckles making it very easy for her to work them loose. Once he was free of his armor, she stood again, tugging at his linen undershirt and pulling it over his head – tracing her hands over the bare skin of his chest.
"This is such a bad idea…" Nathaniel mumbled, feeling himself start to fully react to her touch, sucking in his breath when she lowered her mouth to suck at his neck as she worked on the front of his pants.
"Of course it is." she mumbled against his neck. "It's a horrible idea making any sort of deal with a desire demon. You should probably be taking advantage of my horrible lapse in judgment before I change my mind and just kill you and go off to find my friends."
Her hand dipped inside the waist of his pants after that, and he lost any ability he'd had to argue further. It was, he knew, a horrible idea. At some point Elissa was going to realize that he wasn't a demon but exactly who he'd tried to warn her he was, and then she was more likely to be angry than anything.
As he felt the last of his clothing drop to the forest floor, and watched Elissa start to strip herself down, he hoped she'd realize it before she killed him – though, knowing her temper she'd likely kill him anyway.
He kissed her then, running his hands up into her hair and tugging her body into the curve of his own. He heard her breathing amp up, the little moans and hisses when he'd run his teeth along her skin or stroke his fingertips over a particularly sensitive area as he lowered her to the ground.
She was rushing him, wrapping her strong legs around his waist and pulling him into the apex of her thighs as she slid her tongue between his lips and tugged at his hair. But this was likely to be the one and only time he was ever with her, be it in the metaphysical world of The Fade and under the guise of a demon or not, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to take his time and enjoy it.
Elissa fought him for awhile, but eventually gave in to his gentle but persistent ministrations – falling back against the earth and arching against him. He explored every inch of her body, knowing it wasn't a perfect duplicate as he'd never seen most of her unclothed – but not caring. She was still beautiful and perfect and in that moment completely his.
When he could take the anticipation of it no longer, he kissed his way back up her body – lingering above her and taking her face in his hands.
"Open your eyes." Nathaniel insisted, kissing her softly and waiting for her to obey his request.
When she did, when she'd locked her emerald eyes onto the silver of his own, he pressed forward – joining them together in every way. There was an intense wave of pleasure, and completion, and he watched it dawn on her who he actually was.
"You are no demon." Elissa sighed, biting at her lip and moaning when he started to move again.
He saw the battle waging within her then. The tug of war between desire and fury, between throwing him off her and just giving into it. He also saw it when desire won, when she simply couldn't fight it any more – taking his face in her own hands and kissing him back as he established a steady pace for them.
The Fade was not reality, and as such there was no physical climax for them to reach – no over stimulated body parts or pent up wells of desire to rush them to a conclusion. This could take as much or as little time as they wanted it to, and Nathaniel was determined to have it last as long as possible.
He moved as slowly as he could manage, holding her eyes as he ran his hands over her legs, her arms, every inch he could manage. She explored him much the same, grazing his skin with the delicate touch of her nails on his back and his chest – digging her heels into his thighs or lower back.
They didn't speak. There was no need for language. What they were doing was far beyond something as simple and mundane as sex, and even more intimate than making love. They could feel the cracks being filled in, the damage repairing, the massive scars and gaping wounds left behind by their tortured pasts and tormented present being healed as they came together after all that time.
When they finally did reach the pinnacle of whatever bliss they had been chasing, it was phenomenally powerful, an earth shattering crescendo that shook the very world around them. Elissa cried out first, eyes rolling back in her head as she arched against the ground, and Nathaniel followed soon after, pressing his lips against her shoulder in an attempt to stifle his own cry of release.
They were reluctant to separate even after, sharing lingering kisses and trailing their fingers over still bare skin. It was then that Nathaniel realized they'd both started crying somewhere along the line. Stroking a tear away from her cheek as she did the same for him. There was no need to hold any of it back, no need to pretend it wasn't there. They mourned as they lingered, accepting what they'd lost with every kiss, knowing what they'd never have with every touch.
Their lives would never be simple. They'd never simply live out the dream of perfect happiness. If they chose to travel this path together, it would always be just as likely to break them as it was to heal – and they both knew that now. They also knew, without a doubt, that what was between them was still very much alive – and very real. Whether Elissa would admit that in the clear light of day, whether she would ever say the words he wanted to hear – Nathaniel did not know, but it no longer mattered. She loved him still, and she could no longer deny that with any sort of validity.
The demons of The Fade hadn't even bothered to try to fool Anders, simply leaving him to wander about the exceptionally confusing landscape of the mirrored Blackmarsh in search of any of his missing companions.
He'd started to give up hope and simply sat down to wait for someone else to find him, when he heard Elissa cry out through a dense tree line just ahead of him.
"Well someone's having a good time…" Anders muttered, sighing as he stood. "Whelp… off to kill the desire demon and rescue the girl."
He strolled through the trees leisurely, not at all worried about a single desire demon – especially since he knew Elissa well enough at this point to understand that she'd be easy to convince of what it really was.
When he came through the forest into the center, he saw the two of them – Nathaniel and Elissa – tangled together on the ground, clothes and armor and weapons strewn about the ground nearby. He searched for any signs of demonic presence, but quickly realized that neither of them were demons – meaning he had unwittingly stumbled into something he should absolutely not be witnessing. He tried to back away, but it was too late – Nathaniel's hearing was far too good, and so he just turned his face to the side when Elissa followed his gaze over to where the mage now stood.
"Shit! Anders!" Elissa hissed, shoving the archer off of her and scrambling behind him to gather up her clothing.
Nathaniel, for his part, just pressed his face into the ground for a moment and sighed.
"Can you give us a minute?" Nathaniel asked, pulling his face back up to glance at the mage while Elissa muttered and tugged on her clothing frantically in the background.
"S-sure…" Anders replied, disappearing back out of the tree line and waiting for them in uncomfortable silence.
Nathaniel got up then, dressing himself as he watched Elissa pull back inside her shell just as quickly as she pulled back on her armor. Whatever they'd revealed to each other moments before, shoved back down to be ignored and denied once again.
"We're going to have to talk about this at some point. You do realize that?" Nathaniel asked, tossing his bow over his shoulder and falling in behind her as she stalked off in search of the mage.
She didn't reply, didn't acknowledge him at all simply pressed ahead through the forest and out to the other side where Anders waited for them. The mage stood quickly when she came barreling out of the trees, sharing a quick glare with Nathaniel when he followed shortly after.
"You know, I'm all for oiling the machine to keep all the parts working right, and Maker knows you two have been working up to this for awhile – but I find it hard to believe that either one of you thought it was a good idea to have a go at each other while we're stuck in mortal peril." Anders said, looking from one to the other and waiting for an answer.
"I thought he was a demon." Elissa offered by way of explanation.
"And what? You decided to have a tumble anyway? You're not that hard up, Elissa." Anders snorted, rolling his eyes. "At some point you had to have realized he wasn't a demon." The mage flicked his glare over to Nathaniel. "And you, I'm sure you knew the truth of it all along."
"I did try to tell her I wasn't a demon. She just wouldn't listen." Nathaniel retorted, glaring off into the dreamscape.
"You didn't try very hard." Elissa grumbled, glaring over at him and watching him flick his eyes back over to hers in irritation. "Just a couple of it's me Elissa, it's Nathaniel's and you were ready to have at it. The demons say that too you know."
"Wait! What? Are you saying you've done this before?" Anders asked, grabbing her arm and turning her toward him. "You've let a demon have you just because they wore his face?" She didn't deny it, simply stared back at him. "Elissa… that kind of thing… it messes you up inside." Anders whispered, concern eating away at his anger. "Honestly, the relationship between you two is way more twisted than I ever could have imagined."
She tugged her arm away after that, stomping ahead of them and leaving the two to glare at each other in silent rage for awhile before deciding to follow behind.
Neither Sigrun nor Oghren were being menaced by anything when the others found them. Oghren had passed out to take a nap, having finished off his flask and seen no sign of the others. Sigrun had killed whatever demons had menaced her, though she showed no desire to speak of what she had seen. Elissa was content to leave her the secret, not really wishing to talk of her own trials either.
Anders and Nathaniel continued to toss hateful glares at one another as they navigated through the spectral landscape of The Fade, pressing forward toward the manor at the town's center down in the valley ahead.
Eventually they caught back up with an equally frustrated First, the talker traveling through the confusing landscape with a collection of darkspawn drones and Children heading in the same direction as them.
"That bomb didn't really work out the way you thought it would, huh?" Elissa snorted, smirking at him as she walked down the hill to where he stood. "Your name must not come from being the first in your class, I take it."
"The Mother, she deceived me! I am betrayed!" the creature hissed, stomping around in a fury. "Now I am trapped in The Fade with you! I am the fool!"
"Then help us get back and we can take revenge together." Elissa tried, having no understanding of how they'd managed to get there and thinking their chances of getting out together were much stronger than alone.
"The Warden-Commander is wishing to join forces? Do not be making me laugh!" the creature chuckled, its milky eyes rolling back in its twisted face. "I will be finding my own path back to the real world. I do not need you to reach The Mother."
"Fine, death it is." Elissa replied, pulling free her blades and advancing on it – cut off by the waves of Children and Genlocks he sent in so that he could scurry off toward the Manor below.
They cut down the Children and darkspawn drones, pressing forward down the slope toward the town at the heart of the marsh.
"Do you really think joining forces with the darkspawn is wise?" Nathaniel asked, breaking her focus with the sound of his voice – more grating than normal to her in light of what they'd done.
"What would you suggest I do, Nathaniel? I'm open to suggestions as I've no idea how we got here and even less of a clue how to get us back." Elissa replied, marching forward without even turning to acknowledge him.
"You said you'd been in The Fade before, how did you get out then?" Nathaniel questioned, refusing to be put off by the cold air of indifference she was trying to give off to him.
"There were puzzles and a Sloth Demon that pulled us in. It was distinctly different than this. I've no idea what this even is." Elissa said, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "My best guess is that whatever The First used opened one of the tears already in The Veil and sucked us through. I've no idea how to undo that though. So, best plan I can offer is head up to that Manor and hope something there can get us out."
"Elissa, stop. Just stop a second." Nathaniel insisted, reaching over to touch her arm and drag her to a standstill.
"What? What do you want from me?" Elissa hissed, glaring up at him.
"I want you to stop pretending that we aren't meant to be together." Nathaniel retorted, glaring back at her – quickly losing the patience to reason with her as he'd originally intended.
"And I want you to let go of this ridiculous notion that what we're meant to be has any bearing on our reality!" Elissa replied, yanking her arm away. "It would appear that neither of us are destined to get what we want."
Elissa tried gate after gate into the town square, able to hear voices from within but unable to find any way inside to reach them. There was only one path left to try, winding back around the edge of the grounds and into the crumbling landscape of an old crypt.
She could hear sobbing as they came around the corner, and looked to find a woman kneeling near what appeared to be a recent grave.
"You… you're not a spirit like everyone else." the woman said, wiping away her tears and looking fearfully at the armed group approaching her. "How did you get here?"
"I could ask you the same question." Elissa replied, getting an odd feeling from the woman that made her wary. She was not at all what she seemed to be.
"This is where my grandfather's ashes are buried. I come here often." the woman replied, folding her arms over her chest. "He was the last person to stay in the Blackmarsh. Once he died, there was no one left who remembered."
"Who remembered? Remembered what?" Anders asked, moving forward to Elissa's side – absolutely certain at that point that this woman was actually a demon but willing to play along until she gave them any information she could offer.
"Remembered what happened to the village, of course. It was full of people once, but then that evil woman came and changed everything… She…" the woman continued, stopping with wide eyes and turning their attention to the skeletons rising from the nearby graves in the middle of her thought. "Oh no! They've come back again. Come, quickly! Inside the crypt!"
She ducked through the door after that, leaving them to beat down the few skeletons gathered around them before darting inside the door.
"So, we agree that's a demon, right?" Anders asked, looking around for the nods of verification from all the others.
"Absolutely. But it probably knows how to get inside the gates. We'll just kill it after we find out." Elissa replied, pressing on through the twisting halls lined with coffins to find the woman who had disappeared upon entry.
When they finally got to her, she was leaning against an old shrine – grinning at them hungrily as they made their way down the small set of stairs and into the dead end chamber where she'd led them.
"And so you came. Fell into my little trap." the woman laughed, strolling up to Elissa with a grin – running her eyes over Sigrun, Oghren and Anders and finally settling them on Nathaniel at her side. "So full of yearnings. So full of hunger."
"I didn't come here to chat, demon. I just want to know how to get into the gates that bar us from the Manor." Elissa grumbled, pulling out her swords so that the thing would understand her to be serious.
"Now, now… there's no need for violence. Not when I have so much to offer." The woman laughed, turning from Nathaniel over to her.
"There is nothing you have that we want except information." Anders insisted, happy to have both of the dwarves at his sides as both Elissa and Nathaniel seemed to be faltering at the moment.
"You, perhaps not." The woman shrugged, glancing at him for a brief second before turning back to the two in front of her – reaching out her hands to touch their faces. "But these… oh, how can you not feel it?" she smiled, running her tongue over her bottom lip as she ushered them closer together. "You've been together, here on this plane already. I can taste it on you. I can give you that feeling forever. You'll never tire, never thirst, and never hunger for anything but each other. I can give you unending carnal bliss and I would feed forever."
Anders could see them faltering, their willpower failing in the face of whatever the demon's touch was pumping into them – their resolve already weakened by their earlier encounter. Elissa's blades clattered to the floor as Nathaniel reached for her, tugging her forward into the circle of his arms again and pressing his lips against her throat.
"Not today." Anders cried, pulling the heaviest hitting spell he could muster into his hands and flinging it at the demon – sending it sailing across the room where it smacked against the wall on the other side.
It didn't kill her, but it was enough to break the spell – sending Elissa and Nathaniel staggering apart, confused and embarrassed and struggling to recover quickly enough to take out the exceptionally angry demon now advancing on them all.
When she'd finally fallen, Elissa hung her head in shame – waiting for everyone to trail out of the room and give her a moment to recover.
"Thank you, Anders. I'm sorry you had to do that." Elissa sighed; knowing he'd stayed behind though the others had gone. "I don't know what happened there. I'm usually much better at resisting."
"You really don't understand what you did choosing to join with Nathaniel like that, do you?" Anders asked, watching her eyes turn up to catch his own.
"I know what sex is, Anders." Elissa replied, rolling her eyes. "I have had it before."
"But you didn't have sex with Nathaniel, that's what I'm trying to explain to you. There are no bodies here, no physical forms to push and pull against each other." Anders continued, his face more stern and serious than she had ever seen it. "What you did was bind yourselves together on a metaphysical level. For all intensive purposes, you merged your souls. There are pieces of him inside of you now that will never go away – and vice versa. What you did was no simple rutting. It has altered you both, permanently. You can never take it back."
He watched her collapse, moving forward just fast enough to catch her before she simply folded down to the floor.
"I'm sorry, Elissa. I know you've been fighting it, and I know you are still trying to work through your feelings for The King… but if you weren't tied to Nathaniel before, you certainly are now." Anders said, stroking her hair as she started to sob against his shoulder.