Chapter 71: Lost in Dreams (Neria)
Having memorized the text of the Litany, Neria left the library and ran upstairs. She saw the corpses of demons and abominations everywhere. Some of them had marks left by blades. Are the templars still resisting?
As she walked past one of the closets, heavy breathing came from it. The elf took out her staff and went to the closet.
- You can come out. All demons are dead.
- Right, - a voice from the closet came.
A male human in a mage robe climbed out of the closet and looked around.
- Maker! - he shouted. - How strong you are! You've killed them all!
- Not my job. But thank you.
- I remember you. You passed the Harrowing and joined the Grey Wardens, right? What is your name?
- Neria.
- Well, I'm Godwin. Nice to meet you.
- How did you end up in the closet?
- Well... Niall, Florian and other magicians went upstairs to fight the demons. I... was with them, but ran away when I saw the first demon. He was so creepy, I'm still scared...
- If Wynne survived, then she should be on the first floor. Godwin, go down there. I'll go upstairs.
Godwin quickly ran away, and Neria moved on. On the fourth floor, she met one of the apprentices, Sylvia, hiding in the doorway.
- Neria? Daylen was worried about you, - she said.
- Why are you here?
- It's a long story. But whatever you do, don't go near the table in the hall. The sloth demon is here.
Neria looked into the hall and saw Alistair, Sten and six mages lying near the table. On the one hand, Neria was glad that Alistair came for her. But on the other hand, this situation depressed her.
- If I touch the table, I'll end up in one of my nightmares. If I just pass by, there's no way I can save Alistair... I mean, all of them.
- I... I know another way, - Sylvia said, taking out a knife.
Neria took out her staff, thinking that Sylvia wanted to attack her.
- You will get into the Fade bypassing the nightmare. Jowan told me about this method.
- Jowan? Is this blood magic?
Sylvia did not answer the question.
- Save them. Save the Circle. And tell Daylen I'm so sorry.
The student pierced herself with a knife, and Neria lost consciousness, falling to the cold floor. She woke up already in the Fade. Neria saw a mage running away from two rage demons. She immediately saved him by freezing the demons with Winter's Grasp. The rescued mage was very happy.
- Thank you, - said the mage. - For some reason, I didn't have magic in the nightmare. But now I have it.
- My pleasure. My name is Neria, what's your name?
- My name is Florian Phineas Horatio Aldebrant, Esquire.
- Florian... what's next?
- Florian Phineas Horatio Aldebrant, Esquire. The last part is a must, dad insists.
- Is there a shorter version?
- Finn.
- Well, Finn. What's going on here?
- Have you read about the sloth demons? I have. It feeds off the laziness of its captives. First he got Niall, then me, and apparently Leland, Tamara, Zathmael and Otis got caught too. Then a stupid-looking knight and a large Qunari also got here. Of course, the two of us can kill the demon together, but in this case all of its captives will die along with it.
- Never! The two who got caught after you are my friends Alistair and Sten. And if they came here to save me, then I will never leave them.
- I see how you blushed. Do you care about one of them? I hope not the Qunari?
- It doesn't matter now. What's our plan?
- Through portals we can get into the nightmares of other prisoners. The point is to distract them from nightmares and convince them that everything that is happening to them is unreal.
- I'll take on Alistair and Sten. And you save your friends.
- Yep. As they say in such cases, see you on the other side.
Neria nodded her head and entered the portal. On another island, she saw Sten sitting with three other qunari: two warriors with spears and a crossbowman. All three, unlike Sten, had horns. Seeing Neria, Sten said:
- Shanedan.
- Who are you talking to? - the qunari with the spear asked him.
- Karashok, leave the commander alone, go and start cooking, - the crossbowman said.
- Don't order me around, Basarad, "former thing".
- Calm down! - Sten shouted to them. - Karashok, start cooking.
- Cooking? There is no food in this miserable cold country.
- Move over, we have a guest.
- We've been sitting here for six days, - said the third Qunari. - And we didn't see any signs of the blight. The Arishok was wrong. Can we go home?
- Katari is right, - Basarad added. - It's time for us to go home.
- No! - Sten shouted to both of them.
- You understand that this is all a dream, right? - Neria asked.
- Do I look like a fool? I know this is a dream. But it's a good dream.
Sten approached each of his soldiers.
- You, Karashok, were beheaded by a hurlock. You, Katari, lost your arms and bled out. And you, Basarad, went to the west. You weren't with us that night.
- Do you still want to avenge them? - Neria asked.
- Avenge them? What's the point of this? Their corpses will not enjoy revenge.
The three Qunari began to surround Sten.
- Out of my way! - he shouted. - I don't want to see you die again.
- You're not going anywhere, - Basarad said, taking out his crossbow.
Deciding to spare Sten the trouble of killing his soldiers, Neria immediately threw a Stonefist at each of them. All the Qunari turned into shadows and dispersed. Sten nodded his head and said:
- Let's go. If I'm here, then Alistair is somewhere nearby.
Neria and Sten found Alistair on the next island. He was dressed in peasant clothes and sat at the table, and Neria herself sat opposite him in a plain dress. Neria was surprised to see that Alistair's dream was about her.
- Neria? How is this possible? - Alistair asked, looking first at the real Neria, then at the fake one.
- It's a dream, - the elf answered. - You need to wake up. Do you remember why you are here?
- No, but... I'm confused.
- Darling, it's a demon, - said the fake Neria. - It's here to separate us. I know you don't want this.
- Alistair, I will prove to you that I am real, - the real Neria objected. - Ask me something.
- So, what food do I like most? - Alistair asked.
Neria did not have time to answer.
- Cheese, my dear, - said the illusion. - You really love cheese.
- I knew it too! - Neria shouted.
- Whose son am I? - Alistair continued.
- King Maric, - the real Neria answered immediately. - You wanted to forget it. You wanted to run away with someone... someone who would accept you as just Alistair, and not as Alistair Theirin... you wanted to run away with me.
Neria shed tears. Having told about his origin, Alistair tested her, he wanted to see if she could accept him with his bloodline. She couldn't.
The elf sat down next to Alistair, hugging him.
- You distanced yourself, afraid of loneliness. I left you after your confession, I thought that you would choose the crown over me. I was wrong. Let me help you. Trust me.
Alistair blinked three times and nodded his head. He was back in his armor and the fake Neria was gone.
A portal opened in front of Neria, Alistair and Sten.
- The sloth demon is waiting for us. After me! - Neria said.
After passing through the portal, all three found themselves on a large island. Finn and five other mages were with them. The sloth demon appeared in the guise of an abomination.
- Call me Rizakan, - said the demon. - Everything was so good until you came, stupid elf!
- No one deserves to be a prisoner of a demon, - Neria said.
- Return to your dreams and I will spare you. If not, then you will have a slow and painful death.
- Vinek kathas! - Sten shouted, pointing his finger at the demon.
None of the fellowe prisoners spoke the Qunari language, but all eight of them understood his words. Each of them struck a blow at the demon. Rizakan was taken by surprise and could not resist the mages and warriors. After Niall froze the demon, Stan cut it in half.
The mages cheered, but Niall did not celebrate with them.
- I... have been a prisoner for too long, - he said. - I won't be able to return to my body.
- My friend, I'm very sorry, - Finn answered him. - What can we do for you?
- Find the Litany of Adralla. Stop Uldred. That's all I want.
- I already have the Litany, - Neria said. - I learned it by heart.
- It was an honor to know you all. Thank you, friends…
Everyone except Niall returned to the real world, to the hall with the table. Finn crouched down and covered the dead Niall's eyes.
- Finn, take the others to the first floor, - Neria said. - You are all heroes, but we will go further on our own.
- As you say. And thank you for saving our lives.
The mages left. Neria turned to Alistair and Sten.
- I must apologize. I saw your dreams. This is personal and I have violated your privacy. But I couldn't save you without this.
- A real warrior has nothing to hide, - Sten said.
- My dream helped you understand me, - Alistair continued. - I would rather die than abandon you for the Fereldan throne.
Neria hugged and kissed him.
- From this moment we are together until the end, - she said. - And I will do everything possible to prevent Eamon from making you king. Now let's go. The Circle is still in danger.
Neria led the others further, wondering if they could find Daylen and Irving alive.