Faithful
Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast was in a foul mood.
Admittedly many people in the Inquisition and outside of it didn't think she had any other moods but foul. That was not true. She knew joy and hope and so many others. But it was so hard to feel them at times. Especially when the Herald had left her in Skyhold to go do battle in the Arbor Wilds. She knew that someone had to hold down the fort. With Cullen gone, someone had to manage the military side of the Inquisition for those left here. It had fallen to lots and she had lost. She still thought Varric had rigged it. Somehow. After everything he had done and not done, she was always suspicious of him. Regardless, there was work to be done and she was trying.
"Cassandra." Leliana's voice preceded the spymaster into the large room that adjoined the war room and Cassandra looked up from the pile of paperwork she had been perusing. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I am doing, Leliana?" The Seeker demanded as she pushed back from the desk for a moment. "I am suffocating!" Leliana just looked at her and Cassandra flushed little. "Bad enough that the Herald took everyone but me to the Arbor Wilds, but now... Paperwork!"
"Cassandra." The former Left Hand of the Divine shook her head very slowly. "We have clerks for that. Clerks you have terrorized."
"I did not!" The Right Hand of the Divine said sharply. Then she stared down at the desk and all of its assorted stuff. "Did I?" Her voice was smaller. Leliana nodded and Cassandra slumped in her chair, putting her face in her hands. "Maker! I want to be there! Not here!"
"That is obvious." Leliana was fighting a smile as Cassandra groaned. "Cassandra, you are many things. A bureaucrat is not one of them." She shook her head. "I get that you are bored. But scaring the clerks does not make them work faster." Cassandra just growled and Leliana smiled wider. "Lo and behold... I come bearing hope for you." She held out a parchment that Cassandra eyed as if it were venomous. This was Leliana after all. Her pranks and jokes were the stuff of legend both fair and foul. "The Herald asked you to keep an eye on everything? Well, we may have a situation developing in the Hinterlands. The Arl of Redcliffe has asked for any Templars we might have available."
"What kind of situation?" Cassandra asked suspiciously, not reaching for the parchment that Leliana dangled in front of her. As always, it was just out of her reach. They had played this game many times before and Cassandra would not fall for it this time. No! If she knew the spymaster, the page was either in some esoteric code or blank. If the Seeker managed to get hold of it, not that such would be easy as fast as Leliana moved, it wouldn't do Cassandra any good. This was just one of Leliana's small games. One that drove Cassandra absolutely up the wall at times. Which is why Leliana did it and wore the same grin as always when she did. That said? Cassandra had to admit, Leliana had been calmer since the Herald had talked to her. After whatever had happened in that small cloister in Valence the pair had gone to. Neither would speak of it. But a funny Leliana was good. The spymaster had frankly scared the Seeker on occasion with her coldblooded tactics and almost inhuman level of detachment from horrible acts. Now? The former Left Hand of the Divine was more the woman that Cassandra knew and liked. Well, liked most of the time.
"You don't want this?" Leliana waved the parchment at Cassandra who did not rise to the bait.
"Leliana, please?" Cassandra was not quite begging and the spymaster stared at the Seeker for a moment.
"I am sorry, Cassandra." Leliana said, her face mortified. "I feel... off these days. My burdens are lesser than they were. I think I had forgotten what happiness was." She bowed her head. "You have been a good friend."
"Most of the time." Cassandra said with a grin that Leliana shared. Leliana nodded and the parchment vanished.
"The Arl of Redcliffe sends word that a dragon was sighted in the vicinity." Leliana was no nonsense now. All business. Cassandra sat bolt upright at that and the spymaster nodded with a small frown. "Another."
"Maker, that is just what we need!" Cassandra snarled. "They were getting back on their feet after the last one. What kind of dragon?"
"That is the odd part." Leliana's frown became a grimace. "There has only been one sighting. There is no damage to be found and he says that the scales that have been found are black."
"Black?" Cassandra stared at her friend, wondering for a moment if Leliana was playing another joke, but no. The spymaster was all too serious about this. Then again, just as Cassandra had, Leliana had faced down dragons herself. She understood.
"That is what he says." Leliana shook her head. "Ever since I decoded the message, I have had Frederic searching the archives for dragon colors. But so far... Nothing like that has been seen. He is a bit excited to be the first to research such." Cassandra nodded to that with a small chuckle. Frederic was a bit off at times, but a better scholar on dragon lore, Cassandra had never seen.
"Not even the Archdemon?" Cassandra wished she could claw the words back as soon as she said them as Leliana's face went blank. The Seeker hated asking that. Leliana had been in Denerim when the Grey Warden had cut down the Archdemon, ending the Fifth Blight. He had died in the process. Most knew that the Grey Warden had been a good friend of Leliana's and Cassandra knew he had been far more than a friend. She had actually held Leliana a couple of times after the other had woken from nightmares of that. Then again, Leliana had done the same for her. One reason they were such good friends, shared memories of horror had bonded them in ways that had nothing to do with erotica.
"No." Leliana turned and walked to a window, but from her expression, she did not see the magnificent view outside. Her voice was small, sad. "The Archdemon was... purplish. Maybe a dark shade of blue or..." She shook her head. "Not black." She gave herself a shake.
"I am sorry." Cassandra said quickly.
"He wouldn't want me moping." Leliana was sad, but firmer. "I like to think he would be proud of me. Of what we have done. Bringing order back to the world even with the mess the Grey Wardens got themselves into at Adamant." She turned back to Cassandra and gave her friend a wan smile. "Anyway... Arl Teagan has offered to send a scale to us. It is too big to send via bird, so it will have to come by messenger."
"We should look into this." Cassandra said, back on firm ground. "But... Why did he ask for Templars? We do not have many and most of those are deployed with the army. A dragon can be handled by a well trained and equipped team. Most of the time." She qualified.
"He says that the single witness who saw the dragon also saw a mage in black robes." Leliana said quietly and Cassandra hissed. "From the description? An elf and not anyone we know."
"There are lot of mages who have not been accounted for." Cassandra said slowly, looking at the desk. Some of the papers regarded mages who had disappeared. "I know there was something about the Hinterlands in here somewhere." She reached for the papers, but Leliana laid her hands on the desk and Cassandra looked at her.
"Cassandra, this is not you." Leliana was gentle, but firm. "You are not a clerk. Thank the Maker you will never be a clerk." Cassandra smiled at that and nodded. "You can go."
"I..." Cassandra felt torn. "The Herald asked me to watch this place." She might dislike it, but Cassandra Pentaghast knew duty all too well.
"She left you here knowing she could trust you to handle anything that came up." Leliana was not smiling now. "Something has."
"You just want me out of your way to do nefarious deeds." Cassandra accused, sort of in play ad sort of not. This was Leliana after all. For her part, Leliana smiled.
"Actually, I want you out so the clerks can come back." The spymaster retorted. "You made a bunch of them wet themselves, Cassandra." The Seeker shook her head but then sighed.
"How many Templars would be available?" The Seeker asked, mind whirling. "I know Belinda is out on patrol."
"Three have passed Ser's basic training." Leliana replied without hesitation. Cassandra frowned and Leliana nodded. "It is not ideal, but hopefully, it isn't an actual maleficarum."
"We cannot plan for that, Leliana." Cassandra reminded her sharply and the spymaster nodded. This was Cassandra's area of expertise. "We have to plan for the worst. Have all be initiated?" Leliana nodded, her face a mask and Cassandra grimaced. "Yes, I know. It is not pretty. It never is pretty, especially when they get withdrawal like Cullen. But we need them. Now more than ever."
"I cannot argue that." Leliana was sad, but she understood. Did she ever!. "But I do not like it."
"If you liked such things..." Cassandra was more forceful than she had planned, so she moderated her tone. "You wouldn't be the woman I call 'friend'." She shook herself. "No wild parties while I am gone." She declared.
"Cassandra!" Leliana said, her hands on her cheeks in perfect fake bewilderment. "Would we do such things?"
"Yes." The Seeker said severely, but then smiled as Leliana did. "It is good to see you smile again, Leliana."
"It feels odd still." Leliana said with a shrug. "But Evelyn won't let me mope." Cassandra looked at the spymaster and Leliana looked mulish. The Seeker shook her head. "And no, Cassandra."
"Part of me almost wishes you would." Cassandra said quietly as she rose and picked up her sword to attach to her belt. Swords and high backed chairs did not work very well. "I do not like seeing you suffer."
"I am not ready, Cassandra." Leliana's tone was barely a whisper. "I may never be. Things have...changed recently but... I am not ready."
"Maker knows I should be the last person to give such advice." Cassandra said with a sigh as she settled her armor in place with the skill of long practice. "I wonder when Varric will write my...foibles into one of his stories."
"He won't." Leliana said softly as the Seeker froze as she reached for her cloak. Cassandra looked at her friend and Leliana's smile was evil. "He won't."
"What have you done now, Leliana?" Cassandra asked, a bit worried. No one sane got on Lady Nightingale's bad side! They still told stories in hushed whispers throughout Orlais about some of what she had done to people who had wronged her. Scary thing? Most of the stories were true!
"Cassandra, he understands." The former bard turned spymaster said with a shrug. "He knows about romantic problems. And no, I won't elaborate. He has a right to secrets as long as they do not threaten Thedas."
"Lying to me in Kirkwall..." Cassandra growled. She broke off as Leliana coughed.
"...saved his skin, Cassandra." The spymaster finished the sentence with a glower. "He was protecting his friend. Would you have done less?"
"Gah!" The Seeker growled something vile under her breath but then shook her head. "I do not think I can forgive him for that. For sitting there and spinning that whole story to make me let him go."
"You did stab his book, Cassandra." Leliana reminded her gently and the Seeker slumped a bit. "Go on, get to Redcliffe. Find out what is going on. If you need help, send word."
"With only three recent graduates..." Cassandra mused as she started for the door. "We may need help either way. See if Belinda's patrol can sweep that area next in case we need backup." Leliana nodded. "I cannot believe I am about to say this, but I hope it is just a dragon. A dragon we can handle. Maleficarum?" She shrugged.
"I know." Leliana shuddered a bit and nodded. "Good luck."
"No parties." Cassandra said firmly as she walked out the door. "I will check the books when I get back." Then she was gone.
Leliana sighed deeply as she stared at the desk. Then she walked to the window and cracked it a little. When she spoke it was a bit louder, but aimed to avoid Cassandra's ears.
"Josie? Cancel the party. Cassandra is going to check…"
Hinterlands mountains
She was suffocating. She was encased in something that she could not budge no matter how she tried, how she fought. Warm wetness was seeping all over her. It burned, but...it also felt...good? She felt pain in her neck, pain in her wrists and thighs. Something was burrowing into her stomach and that did not hurt. It should have with everything else. She knew it should hurt. But... All she could do was scream, but nothing came out. Something was in her mouth and she could not get it out no matter how she fought. She was dying. But slowly. So slowly.
Edris! Wake up! A familiar voice snapped in her mind and she jerked up into a sitting position, her heart racing. The aftermath of a loud roar echoed across the stillness that surrounded them. She held herself tight, her robes thin comfort against the biting mountain air. The blanket she used fell away as she fought to keep from crying out. Easy... easy...
Something solid and warm was behind her now as she shuddered. A huge claw came into her view and settled in front of her. Protecting her. She grabbed it with both hands and held on tight despite the fact that the inner edge of the claw was insanely sharp and her hands started to bleed.
Let go, Edris. You are hurting yourself. The voice was firm and she released the claw, wrapping her still bleeding hands around herself. Calm, Calm. Easy, You are here. You are safe.
"Every night, Julisa." The elf stammered out. "Every single night. I cannot... I have to sleep sometime. I cannot..."
Shh... little one. The other said gently. It is okay. They are just nightmares. And what are nightmares?
"Dreams are subconscious images made real in the Fade for people who are asleep." The elf said weakly. "Or so I was taught. Mages have bit more control. Or...I did..." To her horror, she started to cry. "Julisa... Help!"
I will. The mental voice spoke again. With me. 'Blessed be the Maker...'
Edris stammered out the Chant with her friend. By the third verse, she was calmer, her racing heart slowing to acceptable levels.
"I am losing my mind, Julisa." Edris said weakly when they finished the third verse and her friend did not continue. "I cannot keep this up. You may be able to go without sleep. I cannot. Leave me."
You know that is not going to happen. The other said sharply. Her rumble of disapproval shook the mountainside. We are bound together, you and I. If you die, so do I. Edris swallowed hard and the other continued, her tone moderating. You need help, Edris and I cannot give it to you. You need to go elsewhere.
"We cannot trust anyone." Edris protested. "The hunters will find me. If they find me, then they will find you too. You know what they will do. I am tired, Julisa. So tired."
I know. The sadness and compassion in the other's tone had Edris relaxing a little. You have one more potion, use it.
"No!" Edris protested. "We need that for emergencies!" The potion would put her into a stasis of sorts for a full day, but the ingredients were expensive and hard to come by. It was very restful.
This is an emergency. The other retorted.
Both went still as the night seemed to come alive in front of them. Julisa immediately reared back, her head lowering in readiness. But the female form that was walking towards them showed no fear. She was old, that woman, but she moved well. She wore armor on her legs and an odd pointed tiara or circlet of some kind. Everything about her spoke 'power'. Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized the pair.
"This I did not expect." The woman said slowly. "Even now, the world can still surprise me. Go figure."
"Who are you?" Edris tried to make her tone sharp, but all she managed was a croak.
"Who? Who is but the form, following the function of what. And what I am is an old woman who talks too much." The old woman said with a small frown. "You are a mess, girl." She wasn't talking to Edris! Julisa went still but did not move or comment. "Who did this to you?" Edris did not move. Indeed, she couldn't now. "Ah..." The old woman groaned and then went to one knee in front of the shivering elf. "You obviously didn't do this, elf. This travesty."
Don't hurt her! Julisa commanded, her rumble a basso warning.
"I won't." The old woman replied and both elf and dragon went still as the old woman replied to the silent communication. "Oh yes, I know how to speak that way." She said with a smile as she cupped Edris' cheek. The smile faded. "You are dying, girl." Edris managed a nod.
"I know." The elf said through chattering teeth. "Can you save Julisa?"
"Julisa?" The old woman asked, to all appearances incredulous.
She thought I needed a name. The dragon said with a snarl. Don't hurt her!
"I said I won't and I won't." The old woman's tone held more than a bit of bite now. Why was there a hint of 'dragon' about her? She wasn't one. Was she? "I know what it is to be young, stupid and betrayed. It has been a long time, but I remember it."
She was not stupid! The dragon's anger trumpeted across the mountain. She was brave! Even as they were killing her by inches, she was brave!
"There is a very thin line between bravery and stupidity." The old woman's hand was glowing now as it touched Edris' cheek. Glowing with power, but not in any bad way. A green. The color of life, of new leaves, of fresh grass. "I probably shouldn't do this. As far as I can tell, you are both doomed by whatever monsters on two legs did this to you." Her power was flowing over Edris now and it felt good! "That said? I happen to think that every female deserves a chance at vengeance for hurts done to them. And who knows? Maybe you can find a way to survive. Life has an interesting way of rolling the dice at times." She smiled as Edris relaxed. "That is it, girl. Be calm. See? I haven't hurt you."
"Thank you. Who are you?" Edris' felt detached. "Really?"
"Me? I am an old woman whose time is nearly up." The odd ancient lady said with a sigh as she straightened. "What was done to you is beyond any power I know of to repair. But there are other powers in this world of ours. I have never claimed to know anything but what I don't know."
Then you are far wiser than most. Julisa said slowly, the tip of her nose coming down to touch Edris' arm who smiled as she caressed the scaled snout. The old woman smiled as well, but it was melancholy.
"Older." The woman nodded to both of the odd friends. "Not necessarily wiser. For what it is worth -not much- I wish you both well. For now? I have a lot to do before an appointment I must keep." She walked off into the night and both of the others stared as she vanished between one step and the next in a puff of dark blue smoke.
What the heck was that all about? Julisa asked for both of them. Edris?
"I feel light." The elf said with a smile. "But not the same. I am not fading. I don't know what she did but it helped. " She sat up and froze as something fell off her lap. "What the-?"
What is that? The dragon asked as Edris picked up the parcel. And where did it come from?
"It wasn't here before she touched me." Edris said with a frown as she opened it. "So she must have put it here..." She trailed off as she saw a set of brown and gold robes with a distinctive sunburst crest. "And why would she give me a Chantry robe?"
I don't know. The dragon replied uneasily. But that may let you walk among the people without scaring them like your black robe does.
"I... Maybe?" Edris swallowed hard as she held up the robe and realized it was her size.
You do need help and I cannot help you. The dragon said in the same mild tone. Maybe the Chantry can.
"And if they figure out who I was? Or worse, what happened?"
Then we are no worse off than we were when you woke.
"True."