Author's Note: ENJOY! Happy Summer!
Shout out and thanks to my new follower/favorite-er NightrainRose! Also, shout out and thank to DADestined for favoriting the story! I'm glad you guys are enjoying it as much as I am!
And continued thanks to everyone else who is reading!
Chapter 18
Elena lay curled into a corner of her stone cell, nursing her injuries. The past several days had been arduous. She had been questioned thoroughly about the honestly knew very little about the Inquisition and whenever she had answered to that effect, she had been met with pain. They had started with simple slaps which then progressed into brutal beatings. After those proved unsuccessful in teaching her new information, they had moved into more creative methods. Elena took a breath and wrapped her arms tighter around her aching ribs, trying to support them. She was pretty sure they had broken a couple of them. Being captured in the Fallow Mire hadn't been an exciting time, but this was literally torturous. She spent her days waiting in the cell for the knights to come and restrain her so Samson could question and torture her. It was agonizing to sit and attempt to nurse her wounds only to have someone tear them back open or cause them to worsen.
The door to her cell opened, the tearing sound of metal shrieking against metal crashed against her ears like cats fighting. She recoiled away from it and let out an audible gasp as her sudden movement jerked her injuries harshly. The knights entered first, lifting her unceremoniously by her under arms and shackling her against the wall, arms suspended above her head. She stood on her feet, trying not to worsen the blisters around her wrists. She kept her eyes pinned to the ground, refusing to acknowledge the presence of the knights. Samson strode in front of her and lifted her face to his with a mockingly gentle touch of her chin.
"There now, my lady, aren't you happy to see me?" he queried, his voice a soft and dangerous purr in the close air of the cell.
Elena stared stonily back at him, "It is always nice when you visit."
He laughed, dropping his hand, "I'm glad you haven't lost your sense of humor. We will see if it lasts through today. I've a special treat for you." He snapped his fingers and one of the knights plopped a leather pouch into Samson's outstretched hand. He reached inside and pulled out a handful of some fine, red-black powder, "Do you know what this is? Hmm? It's powdered blood lotus, very difficult to find." He let the grains sift through his fingers back into the pouch in an almost loving manner, a wicked smirk spreading across his pallid features. He picked up another handful and let it run through his fingers as he continued, "I wonder what you'll see."
"See?" Elena's voice wavered slightly.
Samson nodded, picking up another handful which he kept in his hand, "Oh yes, it causes the most violent hallucinations if a high enough dosage is inhaled. One time, I witnessed a man try to chew his own hand off because he saw bugs burrowing under his skin. The screams were… memorable." Her eyes widened as Samson snaked one hand out and grasped the back of her head, twisting his fingers into her black hair, "Such a pity you won't tell us anything. I'd hate to drive such a beautiful creature mad." He leaned his face down to hers, she felt his breath leak over her skin. "All you have to do is tell me what I want to know and you can avoid all of this."
She swallowed hard, eyeing Samson's palm full of powder warily, "What do you want to know?"
"How does your Inquisitor get his information?"
That was an easy one. She'd answered it several times already, "The same way your master does. He uses spies."
"Who are his spies?"
This question was something she had never learned, "I don't know." She whispered, bracing herself for the inevitable.
"Lies!" Samson's hand opened and he smashed it onto her face, covering her nose and mouth with the powder. He clamped his hand tightly on her chin, forcing her to breathe through just her nose. Elena's eyes watered and she spluttered against his grip as she inhaled the powder into what felt like her very lungs. Samson removed his hand and wiped the remaining powder from his gloved hands. "What are the names of the Inquisition's spies?"
Elena coughed, and blinked rapidly, trying to clear her eyes and airways. When she wasn't quick enough with her answer, Samson lashed out, landing a hard hit on her stomach. She convulsed over his fist and coughed more violently. "I don't know!" She choked out.
"You know, and you will tell me!" Samson hissed, digging another palm full of the powder out before holding it over her mouth and nose again. This time, he didn't pull his hand away so quickly. Elena was ready and held her breath. Samson realized what was happening and stepped on the instep of her foot, causing her to breathe in in pain. "Tell me!" he demanded. She shook her head, she really didn't know! He let out a groan of frustration and pulled a knife from his belt. "If you don't tell me, I swear to the Maker that I will slit your throat here and now and be done with this charade." He pressed the tip of the knife against her throat. Elena could feel her blood begin to trickle down her neck. She gulped nervously. He pressed the knife a little harder and drug it a little ways across her skin. She didn't respond. There was nothing to say. Samson gnashed his teeth together and was about to follow through with his threat when the door burst open.
"My lord, Samson." Maddox's strange voice floated over with as much urgency as a Tranquil could muster, stopping Samson.
"What is it now?" Samson asked, obviously irritated that none of his tricks had worked and he had been interrupted in disposing of Elena's inconvenient existence.
"The Inquisitor has been spotted nearby. What would you have me do?"
He looked at Elena and rubbed his chin, knife still in-hand. "Let's make sure there's nothing for him to find here. Burn it." He turned to leave, motioning to the knights to follow him. Elena stood, shackled to the wall, and waited to see what would become of her. She was beginning to feel strange. The ache in her stomach and sides had been pushed to the back of her mind as this new feeling took over. The world warped slightly at the edges of her vision.
"Sir, what about the prisoner?" Maddox asked as Samson came level with him. Was Maddox really that tall? And wobbly? Elena's head began to feel fuzzy. She looked at her hands draping out of the shackles and grimaced. Why did her skin feel like it was boiling beneath the metal? Who had heated it up? How had she not noticed the brilliant red of the blazing metal? She began to feel panic claw at her throat. If someone didn't get her out of these shackles her hands were going to be boiled off at the wrist!
"Her? Leave her here to burn along with it all." Samson said, clapping Maddox on the shoulder, "You'll do what's necessary." The door closed with a final shriek of protest behind them. Didn't they realize she was in danger! Didn't they care? She called out to them, listening to their footsteps recede in the echoing lower levels. She screamed for help, but all she heard was the eerie sound of someone else screaming for help. She shouted over their cries, determined to be heard first. To be helped first. Her feet were on fire now, too! Soon she would be standing on nothing but her ankles, and then what? She was being devoured by fire like a log, the flames working their ways from her outermost appendages slowly to her core. She was going to die… and she didn't want to.
Erik groaned as he, his companions, and Cullen burst into the Shrine of Dumat from the courtyard. Someone had done their best to bring the ancient structure down, large chunks of stone lay scattered around, burning in puddles of dark, smelly oil. He looked to Dorian. The mage's face was as grim as Erik's heart felt. Three Red Templars came charging at them from the back of the main entrance, their war cries preceding them. Erik fired an arrow straight through the eye-slit of one of the advancing knights, sending him to the ground ruthlessly. Blackwall and Iron Bull rushed forward with Cullen to lock the other two in combat. Dorian cast spells rapidly, sending shocks of lightning arching between the two knights and even partially freezing one of them. Erik continued to rain arrows down on the attackers, but had difficulty picking his shot with three large warriors blocking his view. He strafed around, trying to flank them, but before he was able to, the three swordsmen defeated their enemies.
With the dying breath of the last Templar the shrine fell into silence. Fitting. Erik thought as they walked through the vast, alabaster hall, skirting the pools of flame. They found some listening crystals that Corypheus had used. Dorian slid them into his satchel after they listened to the information stored in them. "It seems Corypheus is questioning his faith in Dumat." Erik mused as they explored the shrine more.
"It would appear so." Dorian agreed, twirling his mustache, "That bit about calling out to Dumat and the silence that followed was especially interesting."
"Some ancient god didn't answer his crazy-ass ancient worshipper? I'd say that's a good thing." Iron Bull commented, picking through a pile of rubble with the toe of his boot.
"Well, obviously it's good! We don't want Corypheus to gain any new abilities while he's trying to conquer all of Thedas!" Dorian bristled, "It's just that the legends all say that Dumat tends to be the most giving of all the old gods in terms of answering prayers. For him to fall silent and ignore the requests of his high priest… that says something profound, doesn't it?"
"Dumat was the old god that brought about the First Blight. I agree with the Bull. Let's not look this gift horse in the mouth." Blackwall grunted.
"Can we please get back to work? Anything we learn that's extra is wonderful, but we're here to find my sister." Erik snapped, pushing open the back-most door. Behind it was another room set alight. This room differed from the hall they had just left in that it was filled with gigantic red Lyrium crystals. The spires of red material jutted from the floor like grotesque stalagmites. The Templar symbol was displayed almost mockingly on heraldry hung from the blades of crimson mineral. As they walked deeper into the room, Erik spun to see everything. The old, ebony Tevinter decorations were still in place, hidden amongst the Lyrium and Templar trappings. At the back of the room, leaning against the base of one such decoration, lay a man. He and Cullen both rushed to the man.
"Hello, Inquisitor." The man said in a strangely calm and almost cheerful voice from his position on the floor.
"You know me?" Erik asked, feeling a little more than apprehensive. Usually when he met someone knew but they already knew him it ended badly.
Cullen knelt and stated in a hushed voice, "It's Maddox. Samson's Tranquil. Something's wrong. I'll send for the healers—" He glanced between Erik and Maddox, nodding authoritatively. Erik felt the motion added a "don't worry" quality to the brief statement. Nice touch.
"That would be a waste, Knight-Captain Cullen." Maddox replied still in that same cool voice. "I drank my entire supply of blightcap essence. It won't be long now."
"You didn't have to poison yourself. We wouldn't have hurt you. We just wanted to ask you some questions." Erik admitted casting around for possible solutions to this problem. There were no apparent ways to stop the poison from spreading. He brought his eyes back to Maddox's and focused on what the Tranquil was saying.
"Yes. That is what I could not allow. I destroyed the camp with fire. We all agreed it was best. Our deaths ensured Samson had time to escape." Maddox explained it so calmly it seemed completely logical for all it was pure madness.
Cullen shook his head in disbelief, "You threw your lives away? For Samson? Why?"
Maddox turned to face the Commander and replied just as simply, "Samson saved me even before he needed me. He gave me purpose again. I… wanted to help…" With his last words Maddox's head tilted forward onto his chest and the Tranquil was gone. It was all Erik could do not to kick the bastard's body in frustration.
Erik let out a groan, holding his head in both hands and tilting it back, "I can't believe we've come all this way to rescue my sister and find out more about Samson and the one person who could have helped us went and poisoned himself!" He kicked a chunk of Lyrium across the room. It shattered against the opposite wall, sending shards of Lyrium flying outwards.
Cullen's voice cut into Erik's dark thoughts, "We should check the camp. Maddox may have missed something."
"The Commander's right, there may be some information lying around we can use." Iron Bull added slapping Erik's shoulders encouragingly sending the Inquisitor forward a couple of steps. They spread out around the room picking through the items left behind and untouched by the flames carefully.
After a few minutes Cullen piped up from his spot by a desk in the middle of the room, "Samson's left a message. For me."
"What does it say?" Erik asked, walking over to stand next to the Commander.
"'Drink enough Lyrium and its song reveals the truth. The Chantry used us. You are fighting the wrong battle. Corypheus chose me as his General and as his Vessel of power…' and other such nonsense. Does he think I'll understand? What does he know?" Cullen obliged, musing over the words. He shook his head and pocketed the note. "I'll give this to Leliana perhaps she can make sense of it." Next they found a pile of Lyrium bottles that had been licked clean. They all marveled at the amount of Lyrium Samson came into contact with each day and how high his resistance to the substance must be. Then, they found notes on Samson's unique armor and the tools Maddox had used to create and maintain it. They decided to take the tools back to Skyhold to see if Dagna could possibly use them to create something to break Samson's armor or at least weaken it when the time came.
"That seems to be everything." Blackwall sighed pushing a piece of rubble gently with his foot.
Erik shook his head, "That can't be everything. There's got to be a level we haven't seen yet… or something!" He jogged back down the length of the room and up the small flight of stairs at the back. Everyone followed behind him, telling him they had already searched there and found nothing. The only one who didn't join in the convincing was Cullen who looked anxiously in the dark corners as well. He pushed on a torch bracket and let out a startled sound as the wall in front of him slid open revealing a staircase that wound downwards and out of sight.
"Fascinating! A hidden passage! You really only ever read about these things, you know, and to think! Here we've found one in the Shrine of Dumat of all places." Dorian enthused, peeking over Erik's shoulders, "Hang on, I can get us a mage light going in a tick." He snapped his fingers and a ghostly blue light floated out from his hand and down the passageway, "Inquisitors first."
Elena groaned. Breathing was agonizing as the cold air of the cell whistled through her enflamed throat. She felt as if she had screamed every ounce of her soul from her body. It had made her weak. The blood lotus had done its job, convincing her that she was literally on fire even as Samson had closed the door behind him. She had felt the flames inside her body as well as outside. They had been so real. She could still see them; still feel their heat as they licked at her. She shuddered, leaning against her shackles fully, hoping to break them from the wall. The metal cut into her wrists cruelly, causing the delicate skin to tear and bleed. Even her blood felt molten hot as it trickled down her forearms from beneath the restraints. She whimpered as the door shrieked open, feeling the sound reverberate around the empty spaces inside her skull. A blue light filled the cell, replacing the fire with ice. She let out a sigh of relief as the icy light quenched the flames from her vision and body. She closed her eyes, thankful for the brief respite it gave her. The next thing she knew one hand had been released from the unique torture of her shackles. It dropped limply to her side, shortly followed by the other. She swayed on her feet and opened her eyes to see five Templars in the room with her.
"Did Samson change his mind?" She asked the nearest one, bumping into him.
He steadied her, "Lane, it's me. It's Erik." He told her in a voice not wholly unlike her brother's.
She scoffed, "Sure, and I'm Empress Celine."
"Really, my lady, it's us. We've come to rescue you." This Templar sounded suspiciously like Warden Blackwall.
"Elena, who do you think we are?" The Templar who sounded like her brother asked quietly.
Elena shrugged, "All you Templars look the same to me."
The five Templars looked at each other and then back at her. The Erik-Templar brought his face close to hers. He stared at her through the slit in his helmet. Elena leaned back slightly trying to avoid his scrutiny. At length, he shrugged his shoulders, "We can figure this out once we make camp. Clearly, she is not in her right mind." The Erik-Templar gripped her upper arm loosely and guided her towards the entrance where the other four Templars stood waiting. The five Templars and Elena made their way quickly out of the Shrine of Dumat. Little was said between them as they travelled through the ruined temple. Elena balked as the Erik-Templar who was guiding her lifted her onto his horse before swinging up behind her in the saddle. His arms settled around her as he picked up the reins.
"You're going to take me back to Samson…." She mumbled, gripping the horse's mane in her hands. The warmth of the animal seeped into her skin comfortingly as they cantered away from the Shrine of Dumat.
"No." He reassured her. "We can discuss this later." Elena fell silent as they rode. She really wasn't up to much conversation as the world flicked past her with the rhythmic thudding of the horse's hooves. Actually, the warmth from the animal and the Templar behind her was fast becoming unbearably hot. She squirmed in her seat and tried to distance herself from the man behind her. Unfortunately, the situation she was in made that physically impossible.
"Please, I need to get down." She told him, swallowing hard as the heat began to build again. The Templar pulled up his horse and she slithered to the ground, stumbling and falling to her hands and knees. The very ground beneath her felt as if it were boiling, or was that her blood again? She shook her head, closing her eyes tightly, trying to shake the feeling from her mind. She knew it was the Blood Lotus still enacting its terrible machinations on her brain, but that didn't cause her any relief.
One Templar lifted her face, "What did they give you?" He asked, his voice an urgent whisper.
"Dried Blood Lotus root…" She responded hoarsely, jerking her face from his hand. She heard some hushed arguments and then the Templar had his hands on either side of her face, tilting it up again, "What're you doing?" She asked trying to get her face free again.
"Fixing this." He told her simply. "This isn't going to be comfortable. I'm sorry."
"What-?" Elena's question was cut off as a bolt of lightning jolted through her skull. She felt her whole body convulse and from somewhere far from herself she heard shouts of alarm and an agonized screech. The electricity rattled through her entire being blotting out all else. Then, just as quickly as it had begun it stopped. She blinked at the Templar who held her face in his hands, trying to clear her now-blurry vision. At last he came into focus and she found herself looking at a familiar face. "Dorian!" She cried, flinging her arms around his neck.
Dorian extricated himself from her grasp and stood, "Yes, well, I'm glad to see you at least recognize us now." He helped her to her feet and turned her around, an odd expression on his face.
Elena's eyes widened as she took in the men who stood before her. Her lips trembled and she gripped at her heart. "You—you all came—"She started before she became a complete mess of tears. Erik and Cullen rushed her, wrapping her in their arms, squeezing her between their broad chests tightly. She stood there, crushed by them while the other three stood nearby, offering her pats on the back. Everyone told her comforting and welcoming things that she could hardly hear over her own words of gratitude and relief. After some time, they let her go and her tears slowed to a stop. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed hard. Everyone stood in silence, unsure of what to say next.
Cullen took charge and mounted his horse, he leaned down and reached for Elena, "Come on, Elena, let's get you home." Cullen pulled his horse up beside her and bent to help lift her onto the animal's back. Elena gripped his forearm. Erik stepped behind her and cupped his hands to give her a boost into the saddle. Working together, they managed to get her up behind Cullen's saddle. She twined her hands around his waist and rested her face against his furred mantle.
She looked down at her brother and sighed, "Yes, let's go home."
Author's Note: I hope you had fun reading this! It was fun to write! I hope everyone's summer vacations have been fun and relaxing! -Danbamina