Her eyes closed in pain, her body enveloped in what felt like liquid fire. Never before had she ever been exposed to Lyrium. It was in this moment that she never wanted to relive this experience again. The Templar's of this circle knew of her lack of experience with the substance, and decided to take precautions. Her arms jerked in pain, her voice cracking as she screamed in pain. Solas's heart felt like it was breaking watching her buckle over in body slumped on the ground as her arms were chained to the floor. But her body's reaction to the substance was terrifying.
She'd spasm in twitches on the floor, her body convulsing as the lyrium flowed through her veins. The mages around her looking in fear at the girls feral screams, her hands clawing at the floor. The Harrowing was different for everyone, and it seemed to her, that it would be the very death of her.
The mages around her chanted, their staves glowing as her head lolled side to side, looking about at the Templar's surrounding her. Her back jerked, her posture becoming painfully straight. Her hair had fallen from its braid, her curls surrounding her face like overgrown vines. Her face was bathed in sweat, her eyes looked like they hadn't slept in days. The mages kept chanting, the lyrium and magic flowing through them as she sobbed quietly, tears stinging the backs of her eye, threatening to appear.
The chant grew louder as she seemed to snarl, her hands digging into the floor, gazing about at the mages. As if an abomination was growing inside of her, or Trevelyan blood had shapeshifters in it. Solas had no clue, this dream, this memory was nothing of the sweetness that he had encountered before. But instead a different sense of intimacy, a knowledge of her Harrowing. A traditional secret, and a practice that had rarely been seen, let alone known outside the circle. But he stood there, as if he was there all those years ago.
Solas walked through the memory, setting himself in front of Anara. Her hands still clawing at the floor. His hand reached out, hoping to feel the warmth of her hand like he did earlier that day, but was met with a visage instead. His hand seamlessly passing through, as if he was touching a ghost. Memories, he had to remember were much different in the fade compared to dreams. It was a fact that he seemed to forget about in her presence. In the presence of a human let alone, a human that he seemed to grow attached to, as each day he spent in her presence and each night in her memories.
As the mages reached their crescendo, arms held out to Anara she gave out one more strangled cry into the empty air above her.
The Harrowing had finally begun.
Solas stood there, unable to follow this part of her memory into her trials in the fade. He watched the mages concentrate, bringing forth her own demon, pride.
The Templar's knew of her pride and thought it best to be her demon to face. She was a Trevelyan, her family steeped in pride and loyalty. But her time in the circle had made her unruly, and disloyal to the Chantry. It was her pride that stopped her progression, and it was her pride that they felt would be the end of her.
The Templar's prepared themselves for the possibility of a failed Harrowing. The Knight-Commander stepping forward, unsheathing his blade, preparing to strike a killing blow just in case. Her hands clenched, eyes closed, head tilted back and mouth open. He imagined her mouth becoming unbearably dry from the feeling. He could imagine her cough as her neck came back to it's support, the muscles stretched uncomfortably thin. He could hear her breath slow, her heart no longer beating outside of her chest.
The Knight-Commander looked at the Templar's gathered around. As he raised his sword, prepared to end her life, he took the duty into his hands. Fearing the consequences that would unfold for his less prepared soldiers.
Time felt like it was a snails pace, she must've been in there for an hour. A few of the mages whispering, if she had truly fallen prey to a pride demon they all would've known by now. But instead she remained silent. Breath still escaping her body as if in a trance, she must've been fighting it, or else why would she still be here?
Solas scanned the crowds, memorizing faces, and the feel of this place. It was bright, at the very top of the tower. It seemed to make sense in a Harrowing, in case someone fell prey to a demon, less of a chance for structural damage to the tower. He then turned his attention to the Knight-Commander, who still stood there prepared to make his move. He watched his eyes, his sense of superiority over the mages is what kept him grounded. It seemed that Anara was the bane to his existence, causing fractures to appear in his group of men. More seemingly concerned for the treatment of mages, and their sense of independence. That he could feel in the man's gaze as he stared at her, what better way to defeat our enemy then through a Harrowing?
The man seemed to have an unbridled dislike for Anara, but at the same time, he saw something else within those eyes. Perhaps the very same thing that Solas could feel within himself when in sight of her. An unbridled sense of lust, he hated the woman that much he could tell. But in his position of power, he surmised that her constant questioning and actions burned a rage in him that felt like passion. He could see the man burying his hands in her hair, claiming her mouth as he took her on the floor, damn the people around him.
Just that thought alone and Solas hated him. An intensifying dislike began to spread through his stomach as the Knight-Commander took a step closer to Anara. Her mouth still open, and eyes still closed, her mind lost in the fade. He settled down on his knees, closer still, his breath hitting her ear as Solas leaned in listening, "By the maker, you better come back or I will fuck you in front of all of these people."
Solas could feel his teeth grit, almost wishing this was a dream, there would be some things that he wished to do to this Knight-Commander. He felt overprotective now, almost feeling like he was trying to shield her from the world around them. From the Templar's, from the mages, only to have the world have him and her, and no one else to ruin it.
Solas heard a breath escape her lips, words out of reach. There was a groan in her voice, like she was coming back finally from the fade. The mages seemed panicked as they rushed themselves, trying once again to focus with lyrium as they unshackled her from the fade.
Her head flew forward and her body collapsed, feeling the stone against her face, her body trying to stave off the burning from her first taste of lyrium. The Knight-Commander stood over her, blade drawn again. "Who are you?" He said, prepared for the wrong answer.
"Anara," She coughed, her hands still struggling in the chains. "Anara Trevelyan, and there is no way, YOU are fucking me." She wiped the spittle from her mouth as she raised herself back up, her back uncomfortable and in pain as she adjusted to her new position. "I await your judgement, Knight-Commander." Her eyes met his as he nodded to the Templar's, they sheathed their blades, standing down.
"I judge that you are without an abomination. You have passed your Harrowing, rabbit." He reached down grabbing her by the chin, "But you are not free from me."
He sneered, feeling proud of himself as he allowed the mages to stay, going over Anara with their magic, ensuring that she healed properly, "Anara.." One of the mages spoke, trying to hand her a lyrium flask, "Take it, you'll feel much better."
She swatted the bottle away from her, the persons arm recoiling in pain, "I will not, I would rather starve, or die then to feel that ever again."
Solas felt some strange well of pride come up through his body. The Harrowing he knew was never an easy experience for any mage. But he was glad to know that she had pulled through her pride and came out of it as unscathed as possible.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she faded from consciousness, The Harrowing was much more exhausting than she realized. Solas stood there, watching her body being carried off by the senior mages of the circle. The door to the Harrowing closed behind them.
He sat there in the dark, unknowing of how to keep approaching the nights. Does he continue to dwell in her dreams, hoping to find some mysterious answer? Or does he move on and try to seek answers in the real world? Does he continue his fascination and pining for the woman that laid only a house away from him? He had no real answer, to his questions, just more questions replacing them. There was not much else that he felt he could seek in her mind. But he began to feel as if he was being watched, followed almost now that he seemed to be the only inhabitant of The Fade now. He wandered through the area, feeling a set of eyes upon him, his mind wondered what it was as he reflexively reached for his staff.
"Who is there?" He braced the staff in front of him, prepared for the ensnarement of a demon. But instead heard steps walking across the stone.
"Do you enjoy the dreams of mortals?" A voice seductive, and rich, nearing his body.
"I'm seeking answers in the Fade." He spoke, justifying his presence.
"Oh, I know what you've sought in the Fade." The voice continued, "Do you, Desire her?" The focus on the words, made it clear. He had been found by a desire demon.
"Begone demon." Solas spat, a flare of his magic echoing outwards around him. The demon hissed back.
"You do desire her, I saw you. " Her hand stretched out to Solas's face. Burning through his magic. Her eyes looked into his fingers touching his face. " Do you want to hear her voice? Taste her lips? Feel her under you?" The demon hovered around Solas, her hand reaching over his shoulder, hands grazing down his chest. " I can give you that. Make her yours, and awaken her from her sleep. Or do you want to stay here, forever in her memories?"
Solas hated himself, in his lust he attracted the attention of a desire demon. Giving him promises that he knew were lies, but oh how sweet those lies would be.
"You don't believe me, I understand. But instead, let me show you what I promise." Her voice purring in his ear, as her hand left his chest, twisting the fade around them. Her mind had invaded his, pulling Anara from his memory.
"Solas.." Her voice rang to him, that sweet smile playing upon her lips. The cold of Haven reddening her cheeks, her hair left loose. Those loose brown curls framing her face, the sun freckles across her nose and her brown eyes shone in the moonlight.
She closed the distance between them, her hands reaching out to his. Solas reveled at how warm her hands were, how soft they felt, despite all her years in the circle. Solas felt a sense of completion feeling her hands in his. Her fingers began to link in between his, closing her fingers around his hand, her smile gentle and warm.
He pulled his hands from her fingers, struggling with his mind about what was in front of him. Was she real? Was she here? She wasn't, he could swear. He was just in her memories, watching her Harrowing, watching her face twist in pain as her body fought possession. He could've sworn he saw that, he swore he did….
His mind had wandered, unknowing of who it was that was truly in front of him. "Solas?" A meek voice called out, looking him back in the eyes. "Are you alright?" Her hand reached for his head, her warm fingers pressing against his temple. His eyes closed, lost in the feeling of her skin.
His lips quivered as he spoke, feeling the warmth of her body come closer to his, "Ma vhenan.." He felt the words escape his lips without a second thought, his arms wrapping around her hips, the feel of her back in the mages robes as she closed her distance. He felt her nose rub on his, a light chuckle in her voice.
"Ma lath.." The words whispered from her lips, the feel of those words tingling through his body. Her lips brushed gently against his, a shy kiss, quick and pure in itself. One lacking the passion and need that he had become so accustomed to in his nights as of lately. The woman in his arms was warm and inviting, her kiss stopping as she pulled away. Her warm smile tugging at the corner of her lips as her body turned.
Solas shook his head, grabbing her arm, pulling her back into his grasp. " More." He whispered, pulling her in, his lips meeting hers more savagely. Her breath hitched in surprise as his tongue stroked her bottom lip, fingers running up her back. The mage robes she wore only hindering his need to touch her skin completely.
Her gasp turned to a moan as his tongue stroke again, asking for entrance. He wished so much to feel her body pressed against him. He could feel himself groan as she opened her mouth, allowing him entrance as his tongue stroked against hers. He could feel the sparks from their kiss, the pooling of their magic coming together. His hands grasped at her body, her moans becoming more heated as his hand ran down her back, settling on her backside. "mmmmhm." Her words failed her as she pulled away, Solas's other hand tangling in her hair, pulling her head back as his lips captured the nape of her neck. "Solas" she moaned as his teeth nipped her neck. "Solas, we're...there's people…"
His feet shuffled across the ground, pushing her backwards until her body met the hard wall of the house he occupied. " I don't care." he growled into the nape of her neck, his lips meeting her burning flesh. Adan had turned his candles overlong ago, and there was no torches lit in the area. But the idea of someone seeing him with her, like he had seen with the Templar only spurred him on.
"Solas…" He heard her beg, her back against the wall, her hands caught up in his robes. His hand ran down her backside, pulling a leg free, hooking it over his hip. His hand ran down her leg, pulling up the skirt of her mage robe, exposing her leg to the elements. She gasped at the cold, feeling it creep up her body and through her clothes. Solas was beginning to become lost in the feel of it all, her skin burned under his touch, her moans sweet music to his ears as his free hand had become lost in her robes, trying to find a way to release her from the layers.
"I want to feel you.." He muttered into her skin, her head rolled back hitting the wall as his lips moved down across her collarbone. His manhood grew hard from the feel of her skin alone, but he felt that at this moment he was about to explode. His hands had found their way under her robes. One hand touching her small clothes, his fingers touching the wetness that pooled, sticking to his fingers. His other hand finding his way through the lacing in her top. His hand kneading her breast as his lips met hers again. He could feel her body quake under his touch, as if she was naked in the snow before him.
Her hands moved across his body, digging themselves underneath his robes, feeling his skin against her hands. He groaned in her mouth, his teeth biting her bottom lip as she cried out, just enough to be pleasurable. He growled, feral and deep as his hand moved away from her small clothes, his hand no longer enough. He pressed his body against hers, his manhood grinding against her womanhood, their heat threatening to burn them alive.
His hands grabbed a hold of her hips, her leg now wrapping around him, pressing for more contact. Solas groaned at the feel of her body, and how her hands had wandered his back, her gasps filled with encouragement for his movement. His hands gripped her hips and he ground himself against her, feeling her back arch against his body. Her breath began to quicken, as Solas buried his teeth into her shoulder, remembering what how her body arched, how it quivered. He knew she was close, so close that he began to growls again, his hips grinding harder against her, his breath quickening, his pace losing all control.
He wanted her, more than anything. To be buried deep within her, to feel her clench around him, as she reached her pinnacle. But all the feelings he had were laid out before him, all of his aggression and lust was in his movements, now grinding fully against her small clothes, the wetness seeping in through his britches, the slickness on his manhood only spurred him to seek his completion with her.
Her voice chanted his name, her lips wet and bruised from his savage kisses. Her neck covered in small raised marks from the newly formed hickeys and bruises along her neck. She gasped, and moaned, her leg pressing him further, his voice encouraging him. Her breasts heaved as her back arched again, so close to the edge of infinity she felt, her voice losing all concept of speech. "Sol...Solas...I..I...I'm…" Her head thrashed as he sped up his pace, his completion just as close as he breathed heavily in her ear.
"Ma vhenan..Ma...Vhenan.." His hand grabbed hers, holding it above her head as his lips met hers one last time. He reached the abyss and began to fall into eternity as he groaned out her name in the air, his head thrown back as he felt his seed come forth. He had heard his name escape her lips as she found completion with him. The sticky mess between them didn't bother them as Solas rested his head on hers, closing his eyes. Listening to her breathing slow, her heart beat find itself again. He was complete in her arms, even if he wasn't in her body.
The warmth of her body began to disappear as Solas found himself on the ground, faced with only the stone of the fade. His hand inside his britches, covered in his seed. He tensed, sensing now what he had done. He heard that same voice purr behind him, touching his now exposed chest.
"See what I can give you? See the very power that I have?" The desire demon pressed her body against Solas's back. "But I admit, I enjoyed watching you claim your desire for your own." His mind filled with that seductive voice. " You want her. You desire her. Then claim her, as you did here. Make the deal, and she will be yours."
He felt a twinge of embarrassment as he pulled his hand from his britches, still covered in his seed. The desire demon hovered around him, grabbing his hand, "THIS, is your desire, think of the woman who gave you such pleasure." The demon ran her tongue across his hand, drawing in some of Solas's seed. "You cannot deny me my due." Solas jerked his hand from her grasp, wiping the taint of the demon from his hand, and in it the desire she held over him.
"Away demon, I am not some simple prey." Solas stepped back, hand turning to his staff.
"Oh, " The demon shifted in the fade, pressed against Sola's chest, hand running through his opened robe. " But you are…" Her tongue ran along his earlobe, as her free hands touched his bare skin. Solas felt like the demon was trying to enter him, possess him. Her touches were rough, but experienced, knowing how to draw the most out of a victim. " You, cannot deny me.."
Solas's mind felt lost, his body losing control again as he felt the demon trying to claim him. His mind tried to fight his desire, his lust and need for the human Anara. His mind pushed the demon from him, as he fought to suppress his desires. The demon won't win this round. Solas stepped back again, knowing now his limit to the fade, and retreating from it into the physical realm.
His body jerked as he awoken on his bed, his eyes facing the far wall of the house. His body pained and sore, from his trip, his desire spurred on in the light of day, but in the fade he felt he needed to keep himself in check. He feared after thought, if he attracted a desire demon, should he fear Anara being possessed?
He shook his head, not believing the idea of a demon possessing something through projected memories. It seemed that the circle mage had no presence in the fade these past few nights. But instead her presence was felt elsewhere in himself. In a way where he began to doubt and question his own beliefs of everything in the world.
Why a human...Why?
Because humans he thought, were feral compared to elves. The Dalish were so based on tradition, the City elves so oppressed. But humans, were free to their desires and to their hearts and free to the lust and anger that consumed them. But it felt now that, that was what he wanted.
He wanted her rage, her lust, and most of all, her heart more than anything, and it felt so out of reach for him that it burned in him like an insatiable ache.
But these were thoughts that would only haunt his mind. He desperately tried to rally himself, to rise from the depths of his bed to try again, in this new day to see if she was alive after day three.
Solas had regained himself, looking for new clothes. Something less, obvious to what he experienced in the fade. He settled himself once again, preparing to open the door to Haven until he heard the scuffles and a few choice curses from Adan that caused Solas to panic. He opened the door, prepared to see Cassandra there with men ready to take the mages away.
But instead all he saw was the blonde hair, and furred shoulders of Commander Cullen. In his arms, the still and limp body of Anra. Adan ran out the door, curses leaving his lips easily as he tried to follow the Commander, stopped a few feet after the door by his men. Adan continued to call him whatever flowed into his mind. Solas watched as Cullen carried her, like her body weighed nothing. Her arms limp and hanging as he buried her head up into the furs on his shoulders, trying to keep her warm.
As he strode off towards the Chantry Solas began to panic, crossing the distance to Adan.
"Solas, I'm sorry, I tried. But Commander Cullen said,"
"Where is he taking her? She isn't even conscious!" Solas spat in contempt for the Ex-Templar.
"Seeker Pentaghast ordered it Solas. It is beyond our control." Adan seemed to reside himself to fate, looking downward.
"To the void with control!" His arm seemed to flare with magic as his emotions were raised. He suddenly went back to thinking about the fade. Should he have made the deal with the desire demon? Would it have been better to let her reside in his body? Would it have changed anything? He suddenly wished to go back to it all, throw himself at her mercy and beg. But only resisted when he thought more.
No.
It wouldn't have helped. But he finally resided to the fact that he will not be out of control in this situation. His body tensed as he realized what he had to do, and as the Chantry doors closed behind Commander Cullen he knew then what to do.