I hopped down the library stairs easily, a tune on my tongue and a book from the library in my hand. Leliana had just informed me that her efforts to protect my clan were a success. I was still worried about the fact that a Duke had been behind the attacks, but my mind was at ease knowing Clan Lavellan was safe.

"Aneth ara!" I chimed, expecting Solas to be working on his murals again.

Instead, I found him in the lone chair in the room, sipping a cup of tea disdainfully. A grimace marred his face and his ears twitched with displeasure.

"What in the world are you drinking that has you making that face?" I teased.

"Tea," Solas hissed as he wiped his mouth. "It is disgusting."

"Did you make it wrong? My Keeper always said the right cup of tea can soothe any ill."

"I dislike it because it is tea, not because of the way it was made."

Solas seemed more grim than usual. I plopped myself down on the table before him and swung my legs carelessly. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

He placed his tea cup on the table, a pensive look etched across his face. "My friend…"

When he didn't continue I prodded him with my foot. "Your friend…what?"

"I think they are in trouble. No, I know they are."

"How do you know?"

"I heard their screams."

The playfulness left my body in one breath and I asked, "What do you mean? Where did you hear these screams?"

"In the Fade. I'm worried, Lathellen." His usually calm, steady voice was tinged with concern.

"Do you know where we can find them?"

Solas sat up and rifled through the papers on the table. Finally, he handed me one and pointed to a circled spot. "Here, I marked it when I awoke."

"Get ready," I said as I hopped off of the table. "I'll go get Bull and Varric. I think I saw them in the courtyard. We can move out as soon as everyone is dressed and armed."

"Lavellan," Solas grabbed the crook of my elbow and pulled me in for a quick kiss. "Thank you."

"We are near where I heard my friend's cries," Solas announced as we marched through the Exalted Plains.

The area was the closest thing to home that I had experienced in quite a while. Seeing halla roam the grassy plains was bringing warmth to my heart. The area, however, was also infested with demons and bandits who might as well be demons.

Bull and Varric had been more than willing to accompany us and, for the most part, they were keeping their jabs and jeers to a minimum.

I glanced to my right, taking in Solas's quiet and determined stride. His brow was slightly furrowed and his lips pursed, his jaw ticking with impatience.

"What is your friend like?" I asked as we walked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"They are my oldest friend. We share wisdom often in the Fade. They are timid, but determined. Humble, yet wise beyond understanding. I admire them."

I nodded and bit my lip before asking, "Do you think someone summoned them for a purpose?"

"I can only guess. My friend will happily debate philosophy with you, but they aren't good for much in the physical world."

"I think there's a path up there," I noted. "I'll climb up that ledge and see what is ahead."

Solas nodded and Bull helped me onto the first lip of the ledge. It took a few minutes for me to scramble over the terrain. Finally, I hefted myself up and over the last rock, squinting against the daylight to see below. My breath hitched. Not good.

Below us was a circle of mages all using magic to keep a Pride demon at bay. The demon lifted back its head and roared. The mages scattered in response, giving up on trying to subdue the creature.

"Solas, don't–"

He was already beside me before I could stop him.

"Fenedhis lasa," he cursed. "They turned my friend into a demon!"

"I'm sorry, Solas. That's a Pride demon. If we get too close, it could hurt someone." I said as Varric and the Iron Bull approached.

"It was a spirit of wisdom," Solas hissed angrily.

"That is a demon," Bull said with his usual candor.

Solas whipped around to face the enormous qunari, "A spirit becomes a demon when denied its purpose. I bet you anything that they captured it and forced it to do something so out of alignment with its original purpose that it turned into that thing! A spirit of wisdom avoids bloodshed and instead seeks out knowledge. Making it kill or injure would easily turn it into…that!"

Bull looked unfazed at the elf yelling at him, but I felt certain tempers would explode soon. I put my hands up placatingly, "Hold on a moment. Do you see those stones around the…spirit? That's what is forcing your friend here, right?"

The stones were irregular in shape and didn't suit the natural environment around it. That meant they could only be magical in nature and were likely man-made.

Solas's face lightened as the realization struck. "You mean to break them and return my friend to its original state?"

I nodded before turning to the others. "Varric, don't let the mages who did the summoning escape. We will go down there and try to free the spirit," I ordered, already hopping from the rock and making my way down to the circle. Solas was sprinting behind me and I felt certain I was going to see him explode if we didn't free his friend.

As we approached, a mage with a beard tried to stop us, but Solas blasted him back and away. I sucked in a breath at the suddenness of it and followed him to the first pillar of magic stone. I tested the durability with a quick jab of my knife. I wasn't going to be able to do much without help.

"Bull," I yelled over my shoulder. "I'll distract the spirit. You and Solas focus only on these pillars. Understood?"

In response, Bull shattered the pillar beside him gleefully. "This is going to be fun."

Distracting the spirit-turned-demon was the job I had assigned myself, but I wasn't excited about it. Playing bait was never my favorite tactic when I was learning to fight. But I was quick and agile. I had enough stamina to keep this creature focused…unless I was hit. Then it would be a different story.

"Just can't get hit," I muttered to myself as I readied my stance.

I kept myself light on my feet, so that when the creature inevitably charged at me, I easily dodged to the side. A whip of lightning whizzed out from the demon's palm and the air crackled with the static of it. I pulled free my weapons, trying to appear menacing to keep the focus on me. The creature's teeth dripped with drool and its fingers twitched slightly. Noticing the movement, I dashed to the side just in time to avoid the lash of lightning it flung at me.

I dropped to my knees, barely dodging a lash of the whip.

"Lighter on your feet, Boss!" Bull cried, smashing another pillar to smithereens.

"I'm trying!" I shouted back, rolling across the dirt to escape the demon's clawed foot as it stomped down on the area I had been.

We did this dance for what seemed like forever, the spirit rushing me and me dodging by the skin of my teeth. Finally, Solas shouted that there was only one pillar left and only then did I allow myself to feel like this was a possibility.

I had assumed too soon.

One clawed hand caught me in the side and I felt the sting of skin tearing. It wasn't a major wound, however, so I leapt to the side and kept my focus on the demon once more.

"No, stop! That thing will kill us all!" the bearded mage screamed.

"Keep going!" I demanded. "Shoot them if they try to stop us, Varric."

I pressed a hand to my side, feeling sticky blood coat my fingers. I couldn't feel the pain any longer though as adrenaline pumped through my body.

One more, I chanted inwardly.

I watched for any minute movement that would give away the demon's plans. Thankfully, demons were rather simple and easy to read. The ground shook as the Pride demon rampaged toward me, swinging its meaty palms in an attempt to catch me once more. I ducked under its massive legs and rolled across the dirt to get away.

The sounds of exploding rock preceded the demon tossing back its head with one final scream. Its figure shrank down until a shimmering spirit was all that remained. They were on their knees, tears of green streaming down their face as they looked to the sky.

"Are you alright?" I asked softly.

The spirit took in my bleeding torso and said, "Did I do that? I am sorry."

"Lethallen!" Solas shouted, running to the side of his friend. He took in the state of the spirit and grimly pressed his lips into a firm line.

"Ir abelas," he said finally.

"Tel'abelas. I am myself again thanks to you," the spirit replied with a shake of its head. "Please help me once more. Guide me into death."

Solas's jaw muscle ticked again, but he nodded his assent. He placed out his hand and a soft light–like mist–drifted from his hands. The spirit's form began to shift and sputter before finally winking out entirely.

"What just happened? Did we win or not?" Iron Bull quipped.

"Please, we just needed to be safe from the bandits! We were dying!" the mage cried from behind us.

Solas's eyes burned like liquid fire as he whipped around to face the mage. "So you killed another!" Solas raged.

"It was a demon!"

"Not before you summoned it!"

"Well, we needed it to be…tougher and it wouldn't do what we wanted. So we bound it and ordered it to help us."

"You mean you ordered it to kill!"

This was getting nowhere. If anything, it was making matters worse. So I spoke up, "Bull, can you get the Chargers here to gather them up?"

"Can do, Boss," Iron Bull responded.

"What do you mean?' Solas demanded, facing me with fury twisting his features.

"We will take them back to Skyhold," I replied, my tone wary of where this was headed.

"You think a slap on the wrist will make them stop?!" Solas shouted.

I stumbled over my words, just now realizing that I had seen many sides to Solas but never this level of anger.

"Solas," I tried. "We can imprison them now and decide what to do with them later. When tempers are not as…heated."

"You mean to imprison them?!" he screamed incredulously. "Because what they did was to a spirit, not a person?!"

I raised my hands placatingly. "No, Solas. That's not why."

"Why are you so upset?" Bull snapped.

"You do not understand! None of you understand!" Solas insisted.

"Then help me understand," I whispered.

"I cannot," his voice broke.

"I just want your council when you're more clear-headed," I tried.

"I am clear-headed. These fools do not deserve to live after what they did!"

"There's no reasoning with you when you're angry like this!" I snapped, finally finding my own anger. "Your friend didn't deserve this. But killing these mages doesn't bring them back. You're using your anger instead of your logic to cast judgements."

"Anger? You think this is anger? What I possess is rage."

"Call it what you will, but it's not what your friend would have wanted."

"You…you pretend to know what they would want," he sputtered.

"You said it was a spirit of wisdom. You said it possessed no thoughts or cares for battles or bloodshed. So yes, I believe your friend would have wanted you to act wisely rather than rashly."

"You…" Solas let out a strangled sound like he was warring with himself. "Fenedhis lasa. You are right."

I huffed out a breath of indignation, but said nothing.

"Ma melava halani. Ma serannas," he replied weakly, as if his anger leaving him had depleted him of energy too. "I need some time…to think."

He was speaking more elven than usual. I thought it odd, but did not comment. "Of course. We will take the mages back and decide their fate together when you are ready."

"I need time," he blurted as he stepped away from all of us. "I will meet you back at Skyhold."

I looked out the window every chance I got, hoping to catch a glimpse of a broody elf walking among the keep. I couldn't help myself. The only broody elf roaming these halls, however, was me.

I sighed my way through the war council and couldn't focus on my books no matter how much I tried. Nothing was distracting me. Nothing could distract me.

Had I made the right decision? It felt like it. Even though it had so deeply angered someone I cared about, I felt that the decision I made was correct at the time. I couldn't let my feelings for Solas sway my judgement. He was the one acting rashly and carelessly.

I didn't blame him though. He watched a close friend disappear in front of him because of someone else's stupidity. His anger was justified, his actions would not have been.

"I need air," I grumbled to no one.

I stepped outside of the keep and looked down into the courtyard near the gate where Cole was usually helping the injured. I leaned over the stone and watched the people–my people–mill about.

And then Solas was there, walking through the gates with a grim look on his face. I tripped over myself running down the stairs to get to him and a hand reached out of nowhere to catch me. I looked up into Cole's face and smiled at the young man. "Thank you, Cole."

"You are right to go to him. He is hurting."

I nodded and straightened myself, walking down the stairs more deliberately this time around. When I had finally met him in the yard, I was breathing a little heavy from nerves. I opened my mouth to speak and words failed me for a moment. Finally, I sighed and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I will survive. But it hurts," he answered honestly.

"You…you came back."

"Did you think I would not?" he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"I had hoped you would. But I thought there was a chance you might not."

"You did everything you could to help. It wouldn't be right to abandon you now."

I bit my lip, but the worst of my nerves were soothed. "Where did you go?"

"Where I love. I found a quiet spot and went to sleep. I visited the place in the Fade where my friend used to be"

"What happened back there? Did your friend…die?"

"Spirits return to the Fade. Their energies can reform something new there."

"If they form something new, doesn't that mean your friend could come back."

"No, my friend is gone. Even if a new entity forms there, it likely won't remember me. How are you feeling? Has your wound been attended to?"

I nodded and found what I truly wanted to say, "Solas, please don't go alone next time. We are here for you. We can mourn with you."

"It's…been a long time since I could trust someone," he said as he bowed his head. 'I will have to work on it. If you have a moment later, I would like to speak with you. And…Lethallen, thank you."