She woke to shouts and confusion. Most of them were in her own head. Cassandra pushed her way into her tent, practically assaulting her night guard. Her mouth formed angry words, but Evelyn couldn't hear them. The voices in her head were loud and insistent and commanded all of her attention.
The Eluvian, little one, Mythal ordered. You must get to the mirror. He suffers. A flash of Solas, restrained and bloody.
The Inquisitor laughed darkly. Yes, the Eluvian. The truth lies within it, but only for you. Come alone, Evelyn.
A new voice, familiar, frantic. No! Leave me. Smash it. This will end for you, just leave! Solas's desperation flooded through her, crashing her to pieces inside. She fought to hold on to her sense of self, to who she was. His essence wound through her and clutched at her will, trying to change it, to turn her from her purpose. The anchor howled in her hand and a Rift opened in the tent as she struggled to escape him, but he was everywhere inside her with terrible strength. Demons, the ones who'd watched her, poured through the Veil, and her guards drew swords. She tried to grab her own daggers but her muscles tightened, and she could do nothing but sink to the ground and hold on.
Blades slashed around her. The tent exploded in fire as Dorian's voice came, strong and precise. Cole slid past her, wraithlike, cutting into the intruders silently before slipping away. Arrows and bolts found tender places with deadly accuracy. A guard fell beside her, dead. Cassandra fought her way to Evelyn's side and grabbed her face. "Close it!" she screamed, and Evelyn stared at her without seeing. Her agency left her, and she felt blank inside. Solas, she tried to think. We're in danger.
His desire bore down, unrelenting. Promise me you'll go, he demanded. Promi - A heavy hand struck him, and he vanished. She gasped and raised her hand, sending all the power she could to close what she'd opened. It shuddered and bucked under her hand but it sealed. She jumped up, daggers in hand, and attacked the remaining monsters in unthinking fury. Before long, they lay dead, evaporating, and the groans of the wounded were the only sounds that remained in her ruined tent.
She stood for a long moment and breathed, vibrating uncontrollably. Whether in fear or rage even she didn't know. He'd tried to magic her mind, control her! But he was hurt, bleeding and alone. Her thoughts raced. She didn't know what to do, and she needed to know. She always knew. The mirror, whispered the Inquisitor. Her head snapped around. Yes. She moved towards the camp's center, swearing when she stumbled over the body of the guard. She had no time for grief.
A hand grabbed her. Cassandra's eyes looked at her furiously. "What were you thinking, Inquisitor? How can you be so reckless again and again?"
"It was a dream, I was -" She stopped. "I don't have time for this, Cassandra. Let go!" With the last she wrenched her arm away and ran. She dropped her weapons, afraid she might use them and step over a line she could never re-cross. She felt fragile inside, pieces still shifting out of alignment. Her friends pursued, yelling at the guards to stop her. She forced her hand to open the Veil, just a fraction, just enough to crack the air around her and keep them at distance. Demons threw themselves against the thinning Fade, but she held fast against them. She saw the mirror ahead and sped up.
Abelas stood next to it, flanked by Rina and Hurel, calm and waiting. If he felt fear at the Fade's kaleidoscope around her, he didn't show it. He inclined his head to her. "Inquisitor."
"How do I get through this?" she asked. She made it more command than question. "You said you knew the words to open it."
He raised his eyebrows. "But you don't know where it leads."
"I know my friend is there. I need to go after him."
Varric tried to grab her arm, jerked back at the energy pouring off her. "You can't go in there! Are you crazy? You could end up anywhere!"
"Solas is in there," she yelled at him. "He's dying! And he's mine, do you understand? You're all mine, and none of you is ever going to die!" Memories in her mind. All of their faces, pale and cold on battlefields before jerking awake at a healer's touch. The agony of seeing one fall in front of her. Holding them so close to her heart that they broke it. Blackwall's face as she sent him to the Wardens. Murderer, banished, but alive. He was hers. The Nightmare Demon had shown her retreating backs, their abandonment as she failed them one by one. That was the fear she'd kept locked away from them then, but now it was death, death, always death at her hands.
"Solas is happy," Cole whispered, and she wanted to strike him.
Abelas was ruthlessly gentle. "I do not know the words, Inquisitor. Its key is a secret to all but Mythal, and the full hymn of the Wolf is also unknown to any of us."
She clenched her fists. "Then what am I supposed to do?" she demanded. Her eyes widened. "Cole knows. You said he knew the words."
"That is correct," he said. "I suppose he would be able to open it." She'd started to turn, but something in his voice pulled her back. He wasn't prepared, and she saw a dark flash of triumph in his eyes before he could cover it.
Time slowed to a crawl, and her pieces slid around and locked into place. She stepped towards him. "Why is the key of Mythal a secret to her most loyal protectors? Why can you sense her, but not find her? Is she hiding from you?" Another memory. "Why did she warn me against you?"
He smiled. "Did she? How risky of her. And still you allowed me to join you, which only shows you are wiser than most of your kind. My Lord truly understood your heart."
"I don't understand."
"Clearly," he said, "but he will explain all. My master finally holds his prize and the truth you seek. The truth of your friends' betrayals of you, all this time."
Iron Bull growled. Sera nocked an arrow. "Oi. Speak sense, you." Abelas conjured a ward around the three elves, and the loosed arrow struck it and bounced away. He laughed.
"Your friends seem to wish you to remain in ignorance, Inquisitor."
"But you were protectors in the Temple, her closest guard. How could she have chosen people so disloyal in ignorance?"
"Why do warriors in a temple mean they are guarding it? Because they tell you so?" He stood straighter. "We are the most loyal of all in Arlathan, the bringers of justice. And Mythal's wrongs against the Elvhen were great. We went to her shrine and found her noble protectors, poured them into the Well. The Well of Sorrows, as it was, but whose sorrows? Her guardians grieved indeed when they paid for their crimes. We searched and waited, but Mythal escaped her justice for centuries, hiding in a way we could not see. You stripped her of that last remaining protection when you took the Well, and now My Lord has found her at last. Your friend, your solas, he has betrayed her a final time. I am sorry to have deceived you, but he could not know the truth. It is not so easy to trick a trickster, as Elgar'nan knows."
Throughout his explanation, Evelyn thought furiously, trying to find the right path. At his words, she stopped. "The god of vengeance? That's who you serve?"
"God of justice, to the innocent. He was only called vengeance by wrongdoers, quick one," he said. "He was betrayed by his own kind, those who have led you and manipulated you to their own ends. And he has chosen you above all but his own. He knows what you suffer. He will grant you the justice you need. He will give you back your self. But you must go through the mirror. You must release him to set the world right."
She hesitated, unsure. Her companions protested around her, but their voices were muted through the curtain of The Fade.
His voice floated to her softly. "Don't you want to know who bestowed the orb that branded you?"
Hurel moved, a dagger in his hand. Abelas fell without a sound, and Rina followed. Neither had time to react. The protective barrier vanished, and Cassandra rushed to grab him. He dropped the knife willingly. He spoke to her in words of quiet shame. "Enough words from the past. The time of the Elvhen is no more, and your people do not deserve the justice Elgar'nan would dispense. You and your friends have shown worth. I've walked here enough to know that more death is only more, not better. I trust in your wisdom to make things right, not simply just." He paused. "Don't follow Elgar'nan. Save your friend. Save Mythal. They are the gentle spirits we need. Forgiveness is the greatest justice."
His words decided her. She rounded on Cole. "Say the words. The hymn that's a key, that you used on the path. Say them!"
He cowered. Sera, of all people, stepped up to shield him from her temper. "Solas is happy," he whispered again. "He doesn't want this."
"I'm the Inquisitor. I'll say what is and isn't wanted. He's hurting. He needs help. Help him!" He flinched, and she felt ashamed. She lowered her voice. "Help me, then. Please, Cole. Feel my pain. You can help me. Please." She tried to send him her anguish.
Cassandra started to say something, but Cole was already speaking with closed eyes. The elven words tumbled out of him and made the mirror shimmer. Evelyn looked at the group. "None of you follow me, do you understand? It's too dangerous. This is my fight."
"Screw that, boss," Iron Bull said. "We protect you, wherever you go." Dorian nodded.
"Not here. Let me go. If I don't return, you have to keep this all going. You have tell Leliana. She'll know what to do. You have to tell Cullen." She lost her breath. She pleaded with Dorian, who stared at her with mutinous eyes. "You have to tell him."
Sera and Cassandra drew their weapons and moved to follow her. Varric flanked her other side. Cole stopped speaking and the mirror opened.
"Forgive me," she said. She quickly tore through the Veil. More demons appeared. Her friends spun to fight them, collapsing into formation as naturally as breathing. She stepped through and reached behind her, closing the tear as quickly as she could. They can manage that many. No one will be hurt. She didn't know if she believed her own words or not, but she had no choice. She turned to see a large circular room, with stone walls reaching higher than she could see. They were covered with elven runes. In the center Solas lolled, bound to a chair by his hands and feet. His face was bruised and blood dripped from a dozen wounds. She rushed towards him and knelt.
"Fen'Harel, our guest has arrived! Welcome, Evelyn. Such a pleasure to see you from the outside," the voice of the Inquisitor boomed.
She whirled and saw a tall elf, more muscular and broad than any she'd seen, standing beside the mirror. He grinned. "Yes, you recognize my words. I'm sorry I had to make you think they were your own. I'm Elgar'nan, Father of Arlathan. But excuse me. I don't want us to be interrupted."
He swung his fist. The Eluvian shattered.