Orb

"Have you been here before?" Ennaly asked without turning around, taking a few steps into the centre of the altar's enclosure.

It was beautiful here, less sorrowful than the Temple of Mythal. This place wasn't crumbling away as much like some of the segments there, instead only overgrown but not destroyed. Flowers, plants, and massive trees hid this place from view until you almost stumbled upon it.

It hadn't been like that for Ennaly, however. She had felt it first, rather than seen it, uncertain if it had been magic she sensed, something from the Well, or some innate Elven connection.

Admiring the beauty around her, Ennaly turned to face Solas, knowing he would be there. He was several paces behind her, wearing one of his usual form-fitting shirts, this time with white loose sleeves. It all made so much sense, knowing what she knew now.

But this time, he hadn't altered her clothing. That was likely a thing from the past, a boundary he wouldn't cross again. This fantasy of the ancient Elves was no longer a mere fantasy, and she wasn't a part of it. It made her feel insignificant, but she supposed that she was.

"Yes," Solas replied, looking even more regal now she knew that he was. "I have been here before. I did not quite know where it was located, how to reach it, or if it had even withstood time."

"It's so beautiful," Ennaly murmured softly as she spun around to drink in her surroundings, stopping as she faced Solas again. "All the stories that you told me… Arlathan, ancient magics, everything. The places you've shown me… You all knew it."

He was more relaxed here, he always was. Perhaps the Fade felt closer to the world he had once known, and that is why his stride was more confident, why he didn't feel the need to mask all his emotions. "Some of them, yes," he replied. "But not all. I learned much from spirits in the Fade, both while I was slumbering and after I awoke, the year before I met you."

"Like Wisdom?" Ennaly asked. She'd know that was an old friend of his, but knowing his age, it hit all the more to learn of her demise. Knowing this, she could blame him even less for his outburst after they freed the spirit, where he killed the mages responsible for the summoning.

Solas averted his gaze and closed his eyes, clearly still affected by the memory. "Yes, like Wisdom."

"I'm sorry," Ennaly continued and she started to walk towards him, in the perfect centre of the circle.

"So am I." His eyes fluttered open as he sensed her approaching. "Ennaly, stop," he said when she showed no signs of keeping her distance. But she didn't. "Inquisitor!" he repeated, now raising his voice.

It made her halt instantly. "Inquisitor?" she repeated, her voice almost breaking. "Solas, please. Don't do that to me. Not knowing what I know now."

"Ennaly…" Solas continued softly, not looking her quite in the eye. "I brought you here because I thought there might be a few more words to say… Without interruptions. I want to make it clear that I do not wish to…"

He was searching for a word when Ennaly interrupted. "Don't worry, it was clear to me," she replied, trying to keep her voice steady, but failing. Her eyes misted over and she blinked away the tears. "I…" A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed it away. Mercifully, no tear tricked down.

Steeling herself, she looked up to Solas again and raised her arm in front of her. Dangling from her hand on its broken leather cord, was Solas' wolven jawbone amulet. "I only wanted to give this back to you. I know this is the Fade, but I can give it back when we're awake. I know it holds a promise, and it was wrong of me to take it."

After a few seconds of silence, Solas closed the distance between them, took her hand in his and turned it around, the amulet in her palm. "You can keep it. That promise is a part of me, even without a physical reminder."

Ennaly kept her face tilted downwards, looking at his hands rather than his eyes. His touch on hers made her think of the many times they'd danced, or the many times they had run those hands over each other's body, no boundary between them. There was a time when he only wanted her touch here, in the Fade. It had taken him a while to open up to any intimacy when awake, ironically only after they escaped being physically trapped in the Fade.

The changes fear could make in a person.

Or was it love?

She glanced up at him. "Well then, you can keep my bracelet. I know you have one of mine in your room."

He didn't say anything to confirm or deny it, but took his hands away.

Ennaly averted her eyes. "I am sorry for what Dorian said to you."

"I am not. I should never have..." He sighed, almost as if he was annoyed by himself, before he took a deep breath and looked up to her again. "It does me well to know you have friends that care for you, that will stand up to do what is best for you."

"Even despite myself?"

For a second, a faint smile flashed over his lips.

A gentle breeze pulled the stray strands of Ennaly's hair in front of her face and she tucked them behind her ears. The braids that Dorian had fashioned were still there, a little dishevelled after one and a half days. Solas' proximity was painful and desiring more distance between them, she let her feet wander, following the breeze as it swept through the enclosure.

"Humans, a Qunari, a Dwarf... even a spirit," she stated. "Who knew what unlikely friendships were awaiting me outside of the Dalish." She paused briefly to look at Solas again, still in the centre of the enclosure. "And you are the Elf I am closest with, and you aren't even fully of my kind. There might be few of you around, but there also aren't many of my kind still here."

As if she suddenly considered herself Dalish again.

Solas kept his spot, but turned around to keep facing Ennaly. "The Elves today deserve a better fate. The Inquisition is the exception in how they treat everybody."

"We do deserve a better fate," she agreed. "But our influence has already caused changes. I believe Leliana can make many more changes, if she's chosen as the next Divine."

Solas didn't reply, but a small frown on his face revealed that he thought otherwise.

"Do you not agree?" she asked, a little surprised.

"Leliana is an admirable woman. But I think her progressive ideas will not be received with the same enthusiasm by all."

The large statue of Mythal loomed over Ennaly as she sighed, having approached the actual altar. "You are probably right." She looked up at Mythal and imagined it was the real Mythal standing there with her elaborate hair, judging her. Dismissing the thought, she turned around. "Oh well. We can always start a new rebellion once the Inquisition fulfilled its purpose. I am carrying the power of the God of Rebellion, after all."

She ran her hand over one of the wolven statues and tore away some of the overgrowth.

"I met him again, you know," she continued, still working on cleaning the statue. "Fen'Harel... The night after you took my Vallaslin away. He spoke to me. He... Helped me fight away demons."

She looked around to find an expression of discomfort on his face, and almost a little fear. It was strange to see him like that and it broke her out of the memory that the Dread Wolf had once consoled her.

"Have you ever met them?" she asked Solas, curious now. "The Gods, or whatever they were? You've disregarded their divinity, but never their existence. I have met two of them now..."

He held his breath. "Ennaly..." he said, hesitant again, looking for words to say.

"Solas, I don't think you understand," she stressed, one hand on the statue, but her attention on him now. "I have so many questions for you. How different was it back then? What have you seen? How was Arlathan, really? What was the extent of your magic?"

He kept her gaze, unmoving. "I... I cannot answer your questions," he managed to say. "This is not the moment, I apologise. We must focus on what truly matters."

Her hand clenched and she turned around, annoyed and hurt that he would still deny her answers, but at the same time, she knew it was useless to argue. "Corypheus?" she asked as she faced him again.

His face was serious. "Yes, Ennaly, Corypheus."

"Will you promise me to tell me more, when we are done with him?"

His expression softened in response to her plea. "If we both survive... Then yes, I will not withhold everything forever."

She bit back a tear, but stepped closer to him. "Forever means something different to you than it does to me. You have lived many forevers already."

Without a care on how he would react, she closed the remaining distance between them. He held his arms relaxed at his side as she carefully lifted a hand and gently ran it over his shirt, appreciating its fabric in a new light. This wasn't a re-imagination of the cloth, he likely had worn this before.

Gossamer silks and fine velvets woven with Lyrium, crystals and metals.

Soft, warm, and of a quality no craftsman today could hope to achieve. If only her mother could have seen it...

"What were you, Solas? A king? An advisor? A commander? You can't have been a nobody."

She looked up at him and his expression was so very complex again, tender in her proximity, but hesitant, fearful.

And suddenly, she opened her eyes to blink at the nighttime canopy of the Arbor Wilds, disoriented about what had just happened, flat on her back on a bedroll.

Had Solas ended the dream, rather than answer her?

But a little away, Cassandra's voice whispered through the camp. She had woken Solas to take the next watch, and his awaking must have ended the dream.

Cassandra went back to her bedroll as Solas got to his feet. A glimmer of silver met Ennaly's eye as he shot her a glance. She looked at him until he turned away to walk the perimeter of their camp, keeping an eye out for disturbances. She rolled around, closed her eyes, and hoped sleep would take her again soon.

"Strange to think we'll be back in Skyhold in a few hours," Dorian said as they were clearing up their camp. They were a few hours distance away from the Eluvian, and from there they had to walk to Crossroads to find the Eluvian that would bring them back to Skyhold.

"How are you holding up?" Bull's rumbling voice asked Ennaly as he joined her in washing up the remnants of their breakfast in the nearby stream.

"I'll survive," Ennaly replied stoically, before she lowered her voice. "From what happened, I assume you… figured it out? About Solas?"

Bull flashed her a half-grin. "It was rather obvious after everything that happened at and after the temple of Mythal."

"Yeah," Ennaly sighed, glancing around to find Dorian using his magic to neaten his coat. "Did you tell Dorian?"

Bull barked a quiet laugh that turned into an affectionate smile as he gazed at his lover. "I don't intend to. Dorian is dead protective of you, and if he knows, he might do something stupid. With ages of practice, I'm not sure he'd win a confrontation with Solas, weakened powers or not."

"Yeah..." Ennaly focussed on Bull again. "You talked with Solas, after..." Her voice trailed off. "What did you discuss?"

"Just a few things," Bull said with a shrug. "That his intention to help out the Inquisition was genuine, and he didn't think it would have benefitted anyone if he was open about his age. What he told me fit in. He has been helping us out. From what I gather, you would have died from the Anchor in Haven if he hadn't healed you. No matter what Cassandra and Leliana started, it has been you and him who were instrumental in the Inquisition. Without the both of you, we wouldn't be sitting here."

Ennaly sighed again. "That just makes it harder, not easier, that I owe him my life."

"And he owes his to you."

She eyed Solas closing the belts on his backpack. How did she even feel? Confused, tired, heartbroken? She didn't know what she wanted to do if she had all the freedom in the world.

"He was honest in his feelings for you," Bull said upon seeing her expression. "I know what manipulation looks like, and that wasn't it."

"I know," Ennaly replied in a small voice, looking up to him. He had been a spy for many years, even if that was behind him. "Did you ever fall in love during a job? How did you deal with it?"

It felt a little forward to ask if he ever used manipulation to gain someone's affection, but somehow, she had a feeling the answer to that would be yes.

He flashed another half-smile, and Ennaly was certain that she couldn't figure out Bull's true emotions anyway. As opposed to Solas, he certainly must have lied a lot and knew how to hide it. "I don't think many ever found themselves in a position similar to yours," he replied evasively. "But time will make everything better. Time and distance."

Ennaly conjured a smile on her face that her heart didn't fully join. "You are right. Let's continue. I think Cullen, Leliana and Josephine would appreciate a narration of our dragon fight."

"It was glorious!" Bull exclaimed as he got to his feet.

Just after noon, they exited through Skyhold's Eluvian. It was a sunny morning, but it came accompanied by a chill in the air. Ennaly was unsure if the temperature difference from the warm jungles of the Arbor Wilds distorted her perception, or if autumn had finally settled in.

After a brief wash and change of clothing, she made her way to the war room to discuss their next steps.

"We've tamed the dragon," she declared triumphantly as the advisors were gathered. "It will come at my call when we need it to."

"This is excellent news!" Josephine exclaimed, and Cullen and Leliana agreed. "I am relieved, however, that you did not bring the dragon back to Skyhold. I do not consider it great for morale to have a giant wyrm housed in our garden."

"Bull might disagree," Ennaly replied, leaning back in her chair and appreciating the large windows of the war room. It was strange how much of a fondness she had created for Skyhold, even if she never thought it possible.

Cullen sighed. "So all that remains is to find Corypheus before he finds us. How about an ambush?"

Ennaly leaned forward again. "We know he wants to kill me. I baited him before in Haven. I can bait him again."

Cullen appeared uncertain at her suggestion, but Leliana expanded upon it. "Baiting might be difficult, but not impossible," she mused. "We cannot be seen setting this ambush, and we would need to find a suitable location. Ideally, we would need to secure permission from whatever noble owns the land, though we could simply use our influence..."

"Whatever we do, we have to keep in mind that it will take a week before our forces are back from the Arbor Wilds," Cullen added.

Ennaly got out of her chair to get a better view of the map on the table. Where would they even make an ambush? They needed to travel somewhere, not be seen by Corypheus' spies… And it couldn't be too far away.

"Haven?" she suggested, but before anyone could expand upon that idea, the room was flooded by magic, the power so strong it seemed to twist reality.

An ache unlike anything Ennaly had ever experienced overtook her as the Anchor throbbed with the pain of a thousand daggers. She cried out in agony, thinking the Anchor would rip open and consume her. As the wave of pain hit a lull, she found herself on the floor, fallen over, and opened her eyes only to be blinded as green light illuminated the chamber.

But it didn't just originate from the Anchor.

Ennaly squinted her eyes and realised that the skies outside of the tall windows were ablaze with swirling green light and static energy, the intensity almost stealing her breath away. Images flashed before her eyes of the nightmarish future she had witnessed with Dorian in Redcliffe as the Fade poured over into the waking world.

The Breach had opened again, larger than it had before, slowly ripping away at the Veil.

Her eyes were large with fear as they met Leliana's, and she couldn't shake away the gaunt face of the woman who had sacrificed herself. The face of this Leliana wasn't gaunt, and while there was fear in her eyes, it was overshadowed by determination.

"Corypheus," Ennaly managed to say. Cullen helped her get to her feet again and sat her down on a chair. The intense energy in the air tugged, warped, and pulled on the Veil, messing with her mind, her senses, her power. Was it the Anchor or the Breach?

A bout of vertigo overtook her, and without Cullen's hand on her shoulder, she would have fallen down again. Tears of pain trickled down her cheek.

"But why would he do this?" he asked in desperation.

"Seems like he baited us already," Ennaly continued, wiping away her tears. "And ambush or not, we have no choice but to follow. Either I close the Breach again, or it swallows the world."

"But that's madness!" Josephine exclaimed, her voice higher than it ever sounded. "Wouldn't it kill him as well?"

Ennaly's eyes met hers, and she realised this must be even more frightening for her. All others in the room had means of fighting back, but Josephine did not. She had to rely on the abilities of others.

"Perhaps he thinks this will make him ascend to the Godhood he seeks?" Leliana answered, and the fear and determination in her expression settled into anger and resolve.

It strengthened Ennaly's resolve. She had to bite away the pain in her hand, still engulfed in sparks, if they wanted to make a chance.

"We have no forces, and Haven is three days away," Cullen stated.

Outside the door, they could hear hurried footsteps approaching before it swung open. It was clear that everyone in Skyhold must have seen the Breach opening, must have felt some pulse of energy, mage or not.

"What is our plan?" Cassandra called out, but Ennaly was blind to everything besides Solas as their eyes connected. He ran over to grasp her hand and she didn't protest, had no other thoughts than the pain and the Breach, and those were connected.

As Solas poured magic in the Anchor to soothe it, voices spoke in Ennaly's mind, but it was so loud around her. She arched her head upwards, focussed on the sensation of Solas numbing her pain, and she listened to the whispers demanding her attention.

She started to repeat the words in Elven, unaware that nobody besides Solas could understand her, but repeated them in Common when it was met with confused blinks. "The voices of the Well tell me of an Eluvian nearby the Temple. There are branches of the Deep Roads below the mountains. We might need to fight to reach the surface, but we can reach the Breach much faster that way."

Nobody questioned the information and Leliana nodded. "There are a few scouts here at Skyhold. We can clear the way."

This was not the time for doubting or dallying around. Ennaly turned to Solas with begging eyes. "Do you know anything that can help us?"

He returned her look, solemn and sincere. "We have the information we need. We cannot kill Corypheus before we kill his dragon. I reason Corypheus will be carrying his orb, and our aim should be to obtain it. With the orb and the Anchor together, you might be able to seal the Breach for good. For all of this to happen, for us to make a chance... Your survival should be our main priority."

Ennaly kept her eyes locked on his, and some new fear entered her mind. They were all part of the same team, all aligned with the same goal, but it was only she who was able to complete this. But what if she failed, what if she messed up? What if the dragon wouldn't come? What if they couldn't kill Corypheus? What if she died before that moment and doomed everyone left on Thedas?

She needed reassurances and Solas was one of the only ones that could give it. I need you. Please, her eyes begged.

His eyes softened and he wiped away the strands of hair that stuck to her forehead with sweat, his fingers trailing her cheek before he pulled them back. It was tender, short, but a kiss could have hardly made the moment any more intimate. It was also everything time allowed. They had to gear up and leave.

And fifteen minutes later, Ennaly was leading those capable of fighting through the Eluvian. As they emerged, Cullen led the charge with Leliana and a group of soldiers to deal with the few straggling Darkspawn around.

"This must have been how Corypheus snuck up on us in Haven," Varric theorised. "The bloody Deep Roads."

It did explain how his army had moved so close without any scout detecting his approach.

"Let's return the favour, shall we?" Dorian said, but his expression didn't match his jovial tone.

And Ennaly understood why. He had seen the same future she had, but he had witnessed his lover die for them. "We reversed it once," she reassured him. "And we'll do it again, this time for good."

But none of them were prepared for what awaited them at the Temple. The party of scouts that had been in the area of Haven lay dead at the entrance, with Corypheys looming over their corpses.

"I knew you would come, pretender," he called out, making a mocking bow in Ennaly's direction.

But after the death and destruction that surrounded her, she was in no mood to entertain humour. "It ends here, Corypheus," she declared, her staff raised, magic crackling to life.

Yet none could have expected him to draw from powers greater than they knew. "And so it shall!" Corypheus almost chanted, as the earth around their feet cracked and shifted. Harding was nearby, but she fell back, and Ennaly reached out a hand to her, thinking the Deep Roads must be collapsing in on them, sweeping Harding away, but that didn't match the sensation in her stomach.

Instead, it was the other way around. Ennaly found herself rising into the air, gravity bending to the will of Corypheus. "We shall prove here, once and for all, which of us is worthy of Godhood!" he cried out.

Black wings tore through the skies, and Ennaly reached inwards, willing and praying for their own dragon to appear. She didn't know if it had worked, but she looked aside and noticed she wasn't alone. Her friends had been near when the rocks lifted into the skies, and they were ready to fight. Their presence was all she needed for the final fragment of determination.

She smiled back at Corypheus as sparks of magic gathered around her almost effortlessly. She'd always had a focus in a fight, and she was the centre of this storm. "I desire no Godhood!" she yelled back, remembering words that Solas had once spoken. "No real God needs prove themselves. Anyone who tries is either mad or lying. So which are you, Magister?"

Corypheus looked dumbstruck at her audacity, but at that moment, her call was answered. With a roar and flurry of scales and claws, their own golden dragon appeared, clashing with the black dragon as both tumbled over the edges of the floating terrain. With his dragon engaged, they could focus on wearing down Corypheus, taking care to land no killing blow before they knew for certain that his dragon was vanquished.

A chase ensued. The idea that this very morning, they had still been in the Arbor Wilds felt preposterous, like the life of another person. But after almost a year in the Inquisition, they were well adapted to fighting in a team, knew instinctively to act on openings, protect one another, and cover blind spots.

Crackling lightning, singing steel, piercing arrows, and magic that defied the boundaries of life blended together as they ascended higher on the suspended Temple ruins, in pursuit of a would-be God. And the higher their chase brought them, the more they wore him down.

But then their own golden dragon failed at her task and came crashing down to the actual earth below. But Bull laughed. "I've been wanting to kill a dragon ever since we tamed ours. This will be fun!" And minutes later, after avoiding wings, breath, and claws, he made the killing blow.

Onwards they pressed, up, up, and Dorian and Solas never strayed far for Ennaly. Now that the dragon was slain, they could reveal their full power to Corypheus. If they slayed him now, he couldn't resurrect himself. Through the sounds of clattering steel and roaring magic, the monster attempted to wear their spirits down with taunts, but his attempts were laughable, weaker even than the nightmare demon.

Rattus. Ennaly had heard enough of those. Knife-ear. Savage. Rabbit.

His weakly worded insults could hardly disguise the fact that he was wearing down, that desperation replaced his resolve. For them, it was the other way around. The longer they fought, the more victory shifted from a foolish dream to a real possibility, to a matter of time.

Yet, in a fight, all it takes is one slip-up. Bull focussed on the summoned demon in front of him, axe against tendon, when Dorian concentrated on renewing the barrier around him, rather than focussing on his own direct surroundings. He hadn't seen the terror demon right behind him, and with a surprised, heart-wrenching yell, he fell to the ground.

For a moment, time stood still, and Ennaly was deaf to the chaos around her, breath lumped in her throat, eyes locked on Dorian as he hit the ground. Yet, as the earth shook gently from the impact, the edges of his body shimmered, shifting into a purple spectre that turned towards the terror demon.

Ennaly yelled. She couldn't lose Dorian, not after all they'd done together, all that he meant to her.

"I'm with him!" Bull bellowed to her. "There's an opening, take it!"

And Ennaly, filled with rage, passed Cassandra as she slashed through the last demon. Corypheus was desperate now, and he would pay for what he had done. He had the orb raised in his hand, pulsing and glowing, red and angry, and Ennaly could feel a disturbance in the Veil as he channelled his magic through the orb.

A ripple of energy surged through the Temple plaza, knocking everyone off their feet, the air stolen from their lungs.

Despite the numb ache in her body, Ennaly scrambled to her feet. This orb that Corypheus held was the source of her Anchor, and she still had a connection to it. He might think he was the conductor, but perhaps she could force it to sing to her tune rather than his.

"Not like this!" Corypheus called out, the desperation audible in his forceful voice, almost begging. "I have walked the halls of the Golden City, crossed the ages… Dumat! Ancient ones! I beseech you! If you exist – if you ever truly existed – aid me now!"

But it sounded like the ramblings of a madman. Ennaly walked forward and held her left hand raised, the Anchor crackling with will and magic. As Corypheus spoke, green light and energy began to overtake the orb, almost against his notice. She needed a little more, just a bit…

At the edges of her vision, she saw Bull supporting Dorian. Her friend was moving, he was alive. That was all Ennaly needed. She knew in this moment that her power was enough, and that she had won. She clenched her fist, and the orb now listened to her, escaping from the Darkspawn's grasp, straight into hers. Its power crackled around her, reminiscent of lightning. She smiled, for lightning was the power she controlled.

And finally, Corypheus fell to his knees, defeated, his power sundered.

"So even now you doubt your God?" Ennaly taunted, powering the orb. "I have no doubt about mine. I spoke to them, I faced them, does that make you jealous? This orb you abused belongs to my Gods."

The orb in her hand almost gave the impression of containing emotions. It was ready, eager, strengthened by her power, the source of the Breach, and now its end. It buzzed, almost excitedly, as she raised it high and released the power. The surge that it sent to her body was a catharsis of all the pain, stress, and terror of the last year.

A beam of energy shot into the sky, green and blinding, surely visible from Skyhold.

The skies pulsed with thundering energy, and as the beam faded, the expansion and swirling of the Breach slowed down to a halt, before it spun in the opposite direction, closing. The Veil was knitting together, the skies starting to calm down.

They had succeeded.

The orb fell from Ennaly's grasp as she closed the distance between herself and the Magister kneeled on the ground. There was one thing left to do. "You wanted into the Fade?" she asked. "I can grant your wish, pretender."

Green power tugged at the corrupted body, tearing at his essence. He yelled as the force shredded him, ripping him to tiny pieces, and finally, he was no more.

Yet, with the Magister's death, the power that held the rocks suspended faded. And soon, the towers came crashing down, the rocks falling, plummeting to the ground, and Ennaly readied herself for the inevitable impact.

Ennaly opened her eyes. Her body hurt with a numb, pressing ache, rather than the pain from a bleeding wound. At least none of the fallen rocks or debris crushed her. Above, the skies were calm, and further above, a strange shimmer in the sky marked where the Breach had been. A scar, a memory of what they had prevented.

She sighed with relief.

It was over.

But a worry crept in. There was no sign of the others around her. Had they all survived?

Carefully, she got to her feet and looked around. There was nothing but debris and destruction visible to her and panic started to grow in her heart. If they had won, but her friends had died, then what was the value of their victory?

A familiar rhythm of footstep sounded behind and relief flooded over her. She turned around to see Solas walking with resolute steps to the place where she had closed the Breach, a little way away, and kneeled down.

"Solas?" she asked as she approached him. There was a strangeness emanating from him, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Something in his aura, some emotion, that he didn't keep hidden?

"The orb," he said hoarsely. He didn't meet her eyes, as if he was burdened with remorse.

Ennaly realised that the orb was broken. He cradled the two largest pieces in his palms, a scattering of fragments around. Whatever magic it once held, was gone. It was reduced to nothing more than the debris they were surrounded with.

"We did it," Ennaly said, their victory overshadowing the significance of this broken orb. "We defeated Corypheus. The Breach is closed."

Solas turned to her, his eyes full of emotion. Sorrow, guilt, loss, uncertainty. Ennaly was almost startled by the intensity in them, but as his gaze met hers, pride surfaced. "Your power truly is admirable," he started, but it was spoken in sincerity, not in praise. "This power should have killed you a year ago already, but instead, you managed to defeat a self-proclaimed God."

And yet he didn't look happy as he gazed at the broken orb in his lap.

"I am sorry," Ennaly said quietly, a little confused by him. "I knew you wanted the orb saved."

"It is not your fault." He rose to his feet and took a step towards her. "It was not supposed to happen this way."

His eyes were piercing, gliding over her features like he was committing her to memory. Ennaly stood helpless, overwhelmed by his sincerity until his gaze softened. He reached out with a few fingers and traced her features, careful, tender, deliberate, while a touch of despair entered his eyes.

Without the pair of them, the world would have ended a year ago, in this very place. Ennaly, because she interrupted the ritual and carried the Anchor, and Solas, for without him, she would have died from the power on her palm.

Fen'Harel's power.

And suddenly, with her eyes locked on Solas, it all made sense, the realisation hitting harder than the knowledge that they had won their war against Corypheus.

She had wondered if Solas had been a king, since that was how he had appeared to her. But he also claimed he never lied to her, and she believed him, even if he had withheld truths. He'd said that he'd been a slave, of sorts, and what was the one thing slaves could do?

They could rebel.

"There is more, isn't there?" she stated, feeling calm in her realisation, Solas' fingers still caressing her face. He had praised her for her wit, but it was love that blinded her, for it had taken her this long to piece together all clues.

"Whatever Abelas was for Mythal, you are for Fen'Harel."

His trailing fingers came to a halt on her cheek. Eyes that had always been so good at reflecting their surroundings were dark grey and hard to read. A mournful smile formed on his lips, a certain pride in the curl around the corners.

A heavy sense of foreboding grew into her heart, and before he could pull away, she reached out too, wanting to touch, wanting to hold, wanting to retain the one thing she could feel slipping away from her.

"Solas, don't leave. Not now."

But he took a step back, and their touch broke. Ennaly held her hand still raised, outstretched in the hope of grasping on, but her feet wouldn't move. Solas saw the plea in her eyes, took her hand in his, and kissed it gently.

The sadness in his smile increased as he pulled away, hand still held. "Ennaly, vhenan... Do not worry about the Anchor. I will be there if it proves too much." He took another step back, the touch between them now truly broken. "No matter what comes, I want you to know that what we had was real."

Ennaly kept her eyes on his, silently pleading him to stay, and he didn't move, their gaze locked.

Cassandra's voice called out from behind her. "Inquisitor? Are you alive?"

Relief entered her heart. Involuntarily, she turned around at the voice of her friend, hoping to see her, hoping to see the others, too. But the moment her eyes had left Solas to gaze upon her friends, all of them standing, she knew in her heart, that when she turned around, Solas would be gone.

She took a step in their direction. There was an awed look on their faces, relief at what they had just accomplished. It wouldn't be long before she would hug everyone with joy at their victory, wouldn't be long before Dorian would lift her from her feet with excitement if his wounds allowed him.

But before that moment, she glanced back. Like she dreaded, Solas had left. And on the place where the shards of the orb had been, the sight of a single purple flower caught her eyes.