I'm a terrible person.
No, not person, monster.
I'm horrible, awful, mean, cruel, stupid...
Merrill had a dim memory of being in the estate, lying on the floor at the foot of a bed she didn't deserve, naked and vulnerable to the world.
It was all an illusion though, she was the monster, the killer, the murderer. The predator, not the prey.
The world had shrunk though, by now there was only the memory, all else was darkness, cold and unforgiving, a mirror of blackness, an abyss she was forced to stare into.
She didn't like what stared back, yet she did it anyway.
She deserved it.
I betrayed Garrett, made demons touch him...
I nearly killed Isabela, Aveline, Maric, Varric, Anders...G-Garrett...everyone...
A-and Marethari, my Keeper, the warden of my people...
She spasmed, distant arms hugging equally distant legs, everything...dark and fading.
I butchered her!
I made demons rip her apart and feast on her blood!
I would have done it to the rest of my people too, had they stayed!
And Dhavine laughed!
Laughed...!
In the darkness, Merrill could still hear the sound, seductive, cruel and amused. Once, it had been like silvery pears, alluring, wonderful, a relief to hear, a balm on her stress and worry of the work she was doing. Now it was the opposite, a mockery, telling her just what a fool she'd been, how the demon had played Merrill like a puppet, and so wretchedly easy!
The laugh didn't end, nor did it grow, it was merely there, days of mockery, hounding Merrill's every moment.
Merrill might have killed the demon in the real world, but what was that to an immortal demon? Nothing but a shell, a toy to play with in another world. In the end, Dhavine had won. She was free, free and enjoying her being completely out of the Eluvian, of all the power she now possessed, bent on forcing other demons to her will, like all powerful ones did. And to Dhavine, years were but a flicker of nothing, she would find another fool in time, another place, another host...and the world would suffer again.
Yes, Dhavine had truly won.
And I've failed.
My clan.
My people.
My race.
Garrett.
Myself.
Everyone.
The world was, as it had for days, spinning, drawing her deeper into the dark pit of despair where nothing but demons and shadows lived, clawing at her naked soul, mocking the flickering light inside her.
My fault.
My wrong.
I'm the villain.
In the distance, there was a thumping sound.
"Hey...Daisy...?"
No.
"...you there?"
No, go away.
Merrill vaguely remembered Garrett calling for her before. How many days had he done that? How many days since he'd stopped? In the darkness, there was no time.
She hadn't answered then, she wouldn't now.
"Open up, damn it!" Aveline? The thump of a gauntleted hand striking the door certainly suggested it. "This is ridiculous...I know we promised Hawke to just, you know, wait but..."
"Daisy, I know you can hear us." Varric's mutter interrupted Aveline's frustrated growling. "Just...know that we're out here, okay? We're here and we're worried for you, okay?" A pause. "We're here for you."
No, don't, go away, all should go away.
"We won't leave."
Flee...
"We won't let you go."
I might hurt you...I might...I might k-kill you...
"We'll wait, however long it takes."
No more need to die, go away, I don't want anyone more to die...
"We love you."
Please leave...
Underneath her, the spinning world shook.
Aveline's mutter was barely audible in its wake. "What was that?"
"Huh? I didn't feel any-" Varric cursed as, again, the ground shook, enough to make even Merrill frown, the jarring feeling throwing her in a spin in her darkness. "Okay, I felt that!"
Then, a roar, distant, yet powerful enough to make Merrill hear a candlestick tumble off a nearby table.
Merrill, the world, stopped. Wh-where's Garrett? The question, so jarring, made the shadows tearing at her light stop, the pit of despair replaced by bubbling...fear.
"Hoooly...is that a dragon in the sky?!" Varric's exclamation was followed by a curse. "It's so far away though yet...Maker!"
"High Dragon!?" Aveline gasped, worry colouring her voice. "Where did it come from!? It's this close to Kirkwall!? Where is it heading!?"
He's not here, not here, he'd be speaking if he was, he's not here...
Trembling, her every limb aching, Merrill suddenly rose to her feet, not knowing what she was doing, nor caring.
"Not here, at least..." Varric grunted, then whistled a soft curse. "...it's over the Bone Pit."
Bone Pit, Bone Pit...no more need to die, I don't want anyone more to die...
Dark spots were dancing before her vision, yet she turned, her heart aching, her soul crushed, yet somehow, moving.
"The Bone Pit? But that's where..." Aveline's voice died, turning into a whisper of fright. "...oh no."
In the distance, there was another roar, the booming call enough to make the very air tremble in fright. Promising death, loss and pain, as sure as the sunrise.
No...no...please no...don't do it...
A third roar, louder, more confident, gleeful and full of power, reverberated through the air. It was a hungry roar.
...don't you dare!
Merrill's aching body moved, suddenly long strides bringing her to the door, wrenching it open even as she bit her lip, drawing blood as she cast her hearing into the fade.
"Ohhh, is that my dear Merrill...? What-"
"Shut up, Dhavine. Demons, heed me, take this blood, feed, but obey my mind!"
"You really don't learn, do-"
"I told you to shut up."
Before her, Aveline and Varric were turning away from the window they were gazing out of. Outside, the sun was blinding, yet Merrill could still see it, a silvery spot, like a star in the daylight, hovering in the sky in the distance.
Aveline, shielding her eyes, looked away. "Oh for...clothes, woman!"
Varric, however, merely stared at Merrill's face, eyes wide. "Merrill, what are you-" A distant, but growing, rattling interrupted him, making him frown in disapproval and worry. "Is that blood on your lip...?"
"Enough of this!" Aveline snapped, shaking her head. "Merrill, there's no time, there's a dragon over the Bone Pit and I think Hawke is...is that armour moving!?
Turning, Merrill jumped...and the thin leather armour rushed onto her, straps and leather strings fitting the leather over her skin as if animated with a life of their own. A moment later, the silverite chainmail rushed into her, armour cocooning around her as straps clicked into place and armoured her from head to toe.
"Staff."
Turning around, Merrill found Varric and Aveline staring at her in fright. Varric's voice lacking all the usual charm as he spoke. "Daisy, please don't do anything..."
"Out of my way." Merrill reached back, crouching low even as her staff, having hurtled all the way from the armoury, flew into her hand.
Then she was running, making Varric and Aveline jump to the side, eyes wide even before the window shattered before the elf's blazing eyes. She ran, jumped...and leaped out the window.
Behind her, Varric's voice was a distant gasp of wonder. "...stupid."
She landed in the courtyard, rolling with the impact even as a horse, having torn its way out of the stable in a fit of demon-induced madness, galloped at her. Gripping onto the mane, Merrill swung up on the beast, her mental command sending the lesser demons to the horse's hooves, speeding it up as each step became like a feather, making the horse neigh in terror even as it rushed on, running in fear at Merrill's command.
Along the streets, people barely saw more than a blur as the silverite-covered elf rode past, all she saw were wide eyes and frightened stares, equally looking at her and the distant dragon.
They were of no concern though, she was done hiding.
I'm coming, love, even if I don't deserve to.
Dhavine's chuckle was distant, yet oh so present. "Merrill, Merrill, you can't save anyone..."
"Shut up."
No one more dies.
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Her horse fell, a sudden ball of fire exploding under it, engulfing the beast, making it shriek as it crumpled to the ground.
Merrill, flying forward, turned her shoulder and slammed into the ground, rolling with the impact as best she could, narrowed eyes staring across the battlefield.
The dragon who'd almost killed Merrill hadn't even seen her. It was swooping by, a winged spear of white silver, tipped by a pair of red eyes, sweeping through the air with unmatched grace. Whizzing around it, bolts loosed from a small group on the ground mostly missed the swift monster, but those that struck merely skimmed off the scales of the monster.
And among the group...
Garrett.
Merrill breathed in deep, staring.
The man's silverite armour couldn't be mistaken, shining like a star in the light of the fires raging along the quarry. He was sitting atop a white horse, the beast rearing with every pass off the dragon as the rider struggled to control both the beast and the people surrounding him, who seemed to be growing more and more panicked by every second that passed.
She could feel it, the strange abnormality in the fade, the emptiness that a templar projected, surrounding the man.
Normally, the feeling was sickening, but as the dragon swept over the group, its fire shimmering like tiny stars as it struck the air around the man and his group without touching them, it was beautiful.
Many had died though, one of the corpses knelt not too far from her, the body nothing but charred skin and red blisters, leaning over and resting on a smoking banner lodged into the ground, the flag above still proudly flying the Hawke colours even as the pole itself slowly burnt.
The dragon, almost lazily, circled the group, then roared, suddenly diving in, like a falcon sighting its prey.
It took but a second, but then it had passed the group, swords and spears harmlessly sliding off its scales as it gripped a soldier in a claw. Ignoring his screams, the still flying dragon threw him into its mouth, swallowing the warrior whole before once more lazily turning for another pass.
Some of the soldiers around Garrett began to run even as the man, swinging his sword over his head, seemed to shout for them to rally. Above, the dragon took a deep breath, the energy of the fade gathering within its chest as it steered towards the routers.
Merrill, staring at it, saw it in its eyes; Hunger, greed, disdain for the tiny people before its might.
She saw a monster.
Spear raised, Merrill advanced.
We're kin then...
The thought was bitter, sad, angry.
...let me show you what I do with kin.
A surge of energy, the fade gathering around her with a speed she'd never managed before, drawing on the energies stored in the world, the static in the air, the very bonds holding the world together.
The lightning bolt shot out straight and true, striking the dragon just under its wing.
With a shriek of pain and surprise, the dragon was knocked off course, the creature nearly crashing into the cliffs surrounding the quarry before it righted itself, head turning left and right, trying to locate the new threat.
Here.
Again, the air crackling around her as electricity gathered around her like a cloud, Merrill hurled another lightning bolt at the beast, the bolt missing the beast by a hair as it twisted in the air, narrowing red eyes fixing on her.
Yes, here.
A third bolt shot out, raking along the dragon's spine as it with a roar of rage hurtled towards her, wings beating hard to increase speed as rage gripped it.
Come then, here!
Maw opening wide, the dragon swept down.
Merrill, spear spinning over her head, met its gaze, her breathing heavy as she let the fade curve around her feet, then up towards her legs, up, up, towards her hands, twirling energies drawing on the earth, reminding every grain of gravel and stone of when it was another place, when it was moved, when it was rock.
Come here!
With a crackling, then a crunch, the spear of solid rock breaking out of the ground before Merrill was no thin blade, it was a battering ram the size of the very dragon suddenly finding itself hurtling towards it.
With a shriek, the monster spun sideways, wings nearly getting skewerd on the giant spear before it managed to withdraw them, only to send itself crashing into the ground behind Merrill with enough impact to send her tumbling onto her side.
Roaring, blind with rage and the dust thrown up by its own fall, the dragon reared up, then ran past Merrill, clawed feet nearly crushing her in its wild rampage as it dragged its head along the ground, trying to loose something caught in its eye.
Then, it stopped, shaking its head before twisting its serpentine head, a thin trickle of blood escaping its left eye, an eye ablaze with rage as it stared at the prone elf.
Oh.
With deliberate slowness, the creature turned its entire body, eyes fixed on Merrill, sword-long teeth bared in a enraged snarl...
Then Garrett rode past it, the man shouting like a madman as his silverite blade struck, sending scales and blood flying from underneath the jaw of the dragon. Hissing in anger more than pain, the dragon tore its eyes off the elf to glower at the human riding over to its left...only for it to hiss in anger once more as the soldiers now on its right sent a shower of crossbow bolts at its face even as the ones with spears charged in a long line, screaming in terror.
A snarl of annoyance, and the dragon swept its long tail round, sending stones and men alike flying as the charge was scattered. At the same time it turned, gaze fixed on the noble reining his horse in for another mad charge.
I told you, no more die today!
The rock, still remembering when it moved, embraced by the energies of the fade, embraced Merrill's manipulations. First the tip of the spear she'd summoned from the ground broke off, then the rest, pieces the size of the elf herself, hurtled at the dragon, making it growl and pull its head away as it tried to avoid the worst of the barrage.
When it turned its head back to see its foes, Garrett was nearly on top of it, a raged cry escaping his throat as he raised his blade high. The dragon, snorting in irritation, beat its wings, gaining altitude...
Around Merrill, the fade thrashed and rocked like a sea in a storm, her rapid manipulations of its energies upsetting its balance. Come on, come on...seeds of old, dried and dead, remember life, remember growth, remember...yourself.
Shooting out from the ground, green vines, each as thick as a human's leg, lashed onto the dragon, wrapping around its legs, pulling it down, much to its surprised hiss.
A hiss turning to a cry of agony as Garrett rushed at it.
Riding under its right wing, the man thrust his sword high, piercing the leathery skin of the creature's wing before the running of his horse caused the blade to slice and cut its way down across the length of the membrane. Stark red blood gushed from the wound, following the man and his horse like a cloak of crimson.
Crying out, so loud as to shake the ground, the dragon stumbled to its left, the left wing was beating hard, the right struggling to do the same, the cut along the length making it difficult.
Then Maric was there, the snarling Mabari throwing itself at the cut, biting into one side of injury before ripping and pulling, tearing the hole wide and showering the dog in blood.
Shrieking, enraged and in pain, the dragon made its now useless wing swing wide...and Maric, a piece of wing still stuck in his jaws, flew across the quarry, growling in pain as he crashed and rolled on the ground, a shred of the dragon's wing wrapped around him like a blanket.
Then, the shrieking turning into a hiss, the dragon turned and pulled its legs hard, the vines around it snapping like it was mere grass.
Stepping in a circle, its red eyes swept over the field, at the now running soldiers, at the noble on his horse, facing it with a sword drenched in its blood, and then the little elf, also facing it with brandished weapon...its eyes calculating the greatest threat.
To Merrill's surprise, the roar of the beast was followed by it turning and barrelling straight for her, its thunderous steps not as fast as its flight, but faster than any ground-bound animal Merrill had ever seen. Vines, earth, rock!
The dragon barely slowed when another green vine erupted from the ground in front of it, its steps only slowing enough to allow it to snap its teeth around the plant and rip it right out of the ground.
The earth around it erupted like a volcano, hurling dozens upon dozens of razor-sharp rocks. The dragon strode through it all, the missiles striking it simply skimming off its white scales.
Stone, once more, erupted in front of Merrill, a wall of solid grey rock, thrice her height, a shield on which the dragon would crash into.
It didn't, it reared up, a clawed foot coming down on the wall, smashing it over, making Merrill yelp and throw herself back to avoid the falling stones as the dragon's claws ground the stone underneath them to dust.
On her back, scrambling backwards, spear and magic alike forgotten Merrill could feel the dragon's hot breath wash over her, watch every facet of its cruel face as it leant closer, eyes alight with spite and hunger for revenge. N-no one more d-dies...?
Opening its maw, the dragon took a deep breath as Merrill's wide eyes stared into a gullet filling with crackling fire.
The fade, shaking around her from her quick manipulations, now centred around the dragon, curving around it like a maelstrom...
And then, disappeared.
Groaning, the feeling of her sixth sense suddenly being blinded, Merrill still stared as the dragon's fire was suddenly extinguished mid-breath. The creature, blinking, tensed, twitching as a distant cry reached Merrill's ringing ears.
Quick as a serpent, the dragon turned, maw snapping, teeth rending and sending blood flying.
No!
Merrill screamed in horror, then gasped in relief as she found Garrett landing on one knee on the ground underneath the dragon, the man raising his shield as the blood from his horse stuck in the dragon's maw rained over him.
The dragon, however, didn't give him a chance to rise, a foreleg kicking out smashed into a silverite breastplate, sending the man flying across the quarry like he was nothing but a pebble.
No, no, no...
Moaning, her senses swimming, Merrill struggled to rise. She could barely feel the fade anymore, but what she felt was a roaring sea, thrown out of balance, untameable.
Before her, there was a cloud of dust and a whipping white tail as the dragon rushed after the human getting to his feet.
The dragon was on him in moments, teeth snapping at the air where the man had been as he with surprising speed sidestepped its lunge, his flashing blade sending sparks flying as it struck the dragon's snout.
Merrill forced her right leg up, the gravel hard under her feet, pushing hard, she stared at the fight as she slowly managed to get on her feet.
The dragon, unamused by the blow to its face, whipped its head round for another bone-crushing bite, only to yet again miss as the human jumped back, flashing shield reflecting the sun into the beast's eyes, making the noble hard to pinpoint.
Won't be enough.
Appearing on the dragon's left flank, slower than before, but still quicker than any man, Maric leapt at the dragon's unwounded wing, claws digging into thin membranes, ripping and shredding.
Hissing, annoyed more than anything, the dragon shrugged the dog off, only for the Mabari to rush at it again, barking calls echoing across the quarry as the hound lunged for the dragon's neck and face with suicidal bravery.
Not nearly enough...
Distracted by the dog, despite the way its claws merely scratched the scales of its neck, the dragon barely spotted Garrett's thrust in time. Yet it turned, like a worm wiggling away from the fisherman's hook, it made the blade merely skim off a scaly eyebrow instead of plunging into its eye.
No, no it won't work...
Merrill reached for her belt, finding the small dagger there, seemingly waiting for her. I shouldn't.
Ahead, the dragon pulled its head up high, far from the reach of the man and dog assaulting it. Then, letting loose a shrill cry of anger, its tail whipped forth.
Maric dodged the tail with a woof...and then whimpered as a clawed foot stepped onto him, pressing him into the ground like a bug, nearly squashing him whole as the dragon pressed him into the stones beneath.
I won't be a monster...not again... Merrill's hands trembled, dagger's blade lying across her palm. Crying out, Garrett rushed to his Mabari's aid, only for the dragon's second leg to smash into him, knocking him onto his back before stepping on him as well. I won't!
The pain was a distant burning feeling, but nothing compared to the pain of seeing Garrett pressed into the ground as the dragon leant closer.
"Demons, heed me..."
"Ohh, Merrill, Merrill...addicted for our power, are you...?"
"No you, Dhavine! Demons of rage, come...come!"
"Why Merrill, are you offering them a feast? That's dangerous..."
"Shut up. Demons, feed, feed, I give you blood for blood, burn it all..."
Ahead, the dragon was leaning down on the pinned Garrett, teeth dripping, eyes blazing.
Merrill's wound boiled, pumping blood searing her skin as the blood blackened and burnt.
The dragon stopped, blinking in confusion.
"Merrill, the dragon has faaar more blood than you, you stand no-"
"Shut up!" Merrill, gritting her teeth, pulled her dagger across her palm again. "Feed more, I give you more, take it, take more..."
The dragon, hissing, took a step back, feet leaving Garrett and Marric, both lying on the ground, gasping for air.
"Burn it, boil it, feed..." Merrill winced, the blood in her hand smouldering as the demons pushed through the veil, feasting on the offering even as they directed their claws upon the dragon.
The dragon coughed, shaking its head as it took another step from the noble and his dog.
"More, more, more!" Merrill, weeping in pain, felt the fire spread past her wound, past her skin, into her flesh, making the veins in her hand glow as agony wracked her every nerve.
Writhing, tail lashing mad, the dragon stumbled sideways, head swinging back and forth, as if trying to shake off something latched onto it. Its shrill cry echoed along the quarry, confused, pained, scared.
Gods, it hurts...
"Indeed, you can't beat it, you can't win. Maybe, if you had a more powerful demon..."
"Silence, Dhavine!" Merrill, breathing heavily, sunk to one knee. "More, take more, feed, kill...save him, save us..."
"You'll die, if you keep this up...is he worth it? You truly think so...?" Dhavine's laugh was like chiming peals in Merrill's ears, mocking her.
"Shut. Up." Merrill grunted the words out loud, her vision swimming as her entire arm began to glow, the veins within like rivers of fire.
Hurts...
The dragon, dragging its head through the ground like a mad dog, was wailing, inexplicable agony racking through the creature that rarely knew pain and never knew fear.
Then, raising its head, agony making its body shiver, it fixed its gaze on Merrill.
"More, more...!" Merrill's other knee gave in, the agony in her nerves growing, going deeper, gripping at her lungs and heart, ripping the very air out of her.
Ripping her very life out of her.
Roaring, shrieking, blood pouring from the corners of its eyes, the dragon trundled towards her on unsteady legs, each footstep a ground-shaking boom in Merrill's throbbing head.
"You'll die, I knew you would, all who Garrett loves will die...I know it to be true..." Dhavine purred. "You should just give up."
Growling, Merrill shook her head, then gritted her teeth. "I'm done doing what you tell me." Gasping, her knife moved, cutting along her glowing arm.
The smell of smouldering flesh deep in her nostrils, her vision dimming, Merrill barely saw the dragon, only a white mist, coming at her.
She saw the eyes though, blazing red eyes, glowering at her as they leant closer.
There was nothing but hatred in them.
It opened its maw...
And then a silver blur crashed into it.
The dragon, slow, as slow as Merrill had suddenly become, turned its head, teeth snapping for its foe.
It bit into a shield slammed into its maw, teeth grinding into metal, slowly bending...
Then its head was forced upwards by the silver blur, followed by a shower of red as a blade punched into its jaw, followed by another shower of red as the blade pulled out.
The dragon tried to pull away, jaws slowly crushing the shield in its mouth.
The blur, releasing the shield, slashed its blade over the dragon's left eye, drawing a low whimper out of it as it simply fell, a cloud of grey dust billowing around it.
Within Merrill's head, Dhavine's laugh died out.
The blur, slowly growing into focus as Merrill blinked, her head swimming, reversed the blade in his hands and raised it high.
With a groan, Garrett slammed the blade through the dragon's eye and into its skull.
The dragon didn't growl, nor whimper, it merely sighed...and went still.
No...no one dies...
Merill shook her head, exhausted, tired, drained.
Yet she couldn't help but look at Garrett, watch him release the hilt of his blade and step away from the dragon they'd just killed. Then watch him suddenly turn his head, looking at her.
She, watching every facet of his disbelieving face, smiled.
Then, suddenly, the man laughed.
Merrill, wracked by agony, somehow managed to laugh back, a hoarse and small sound as relief and amazement washed over her.
Garrett's laugh died moments later though, replaced by a strange look Merrill hadn't seen in ages.
She, her smile faltering, found her aching body shiver, her heart skipping a beat.
Then he was marching towards her even as she opened her arms.
He knelt before her, fast, hard, one hand digging into her hair, the other around her waist as her arms wrapped around his neck, her lips parting before she was even aware of what they were doing.
They kissed.
Long, hard, demanding and hungry.
And didn't stop.
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Thanks to Abydos Jackson for being such a tough little nut.