The sun was already high in the sky when Fae woke with a start. She clambered out of the tent in a hurry, expecting to find herself in the midst of a camp being packed away, but it was eerily quiet. There were sentries about, and the healers were quietly tending to the injured who were either asleep or sedated enough to give the appearance of sleep. It seemed everyone else was still asleep, as well. Fae noticed Leliana standing with her back to the camp, staring out towards the mountain range.

"I thought we'd be in a hurry to get going," Fae said, trudging through the snow. The snow crept halfway up her calf with each deliberate step. Her leather boots were sturdy enough to withstand mud and rain, but the snow had found the smallest crevices to slink in and freeze, numbing her feet almost entirely.

Leliana stared straight ahead, calculating. "We decided to let our forces get what rest they can. We have a long journey ahead of us."

"A long journey to where, exactly? We can't stay here, but we're between Ferelden, who want our mages out, and Orlais, which has the chantry, which want us out. And they're in the middle of a civil war. To get anywhere, we still have to go through one of the two."

"We needn't go so far. Solas says he knows somewhere fortified enough that we can set up operations again. He says its high up in these mountains, close to the Dales. That would make it as far west as the Frostbacks reach; it would put us in Orlais, but Celene is far too busy to protest, even if she would otherwise."

Fae glanced back at the camp. "Does Solas know the way there? Last I checked we're not even sure where we are now."

"He's offered to lead the way, but we'll make it seem like the Herald is the one who finds it."

"Of course. By divine providence, I assume?" Fae said wryly.

Leliana turned around, heading back towards the camp. "Divine providence was her surviving the destruction of Haven, and facing that Elder One. Especially if he is who, and what, he claims to be. What's a little more?"

Moving on turned out to be easier said than done. Most of the food the Inquisition had brought with them had been snatched from the chantry's stores in haste when word spread that they would be fleeing after all, and it had to be strictly rationed. This didn't do much to boost the general mood; nearly everyone who could pick up a sword or a staff had fought fiercely the night before, and those who didn't were the most vulnerable of them, including the injured and a small number of children. Transporting the injured was another matter; whatever lyrium stores they'd had (thanks to a rumoured deal done with the Carta) had been drained hours ago by exhausted healers.

The Inquisition forces had managed to bring along a total of three bronto-led wagons which had carried mostly the materials needed for building their tents. The wagons were repurposed instead to carry those in the most serious condition, while the materials were carried in arms, over shoulders or tied to people's backs. Once or twice, the entire procession had to pause when someone on the wagon died. They were given a burial, Mother Giselle would recite from the chant of light, and another injured soldier would be moved from their stretcher and onto the wagon.

Fae had kept her distance from the soldiers, so she did not know them by name, but she flinched when she recognised their faces. But any heartbreak and grief she might have felt had to be pushed down and out of the way. Until they reached this next destination, none of them were safe. And even then, she suspected, there would be a catch. What were the chances of finding another village like Haven, big enough to house the forces they already had, when the original plan was to build up their numbers?

As the long hike through the Frostbacks continued, Fae hovered near the front of the procession, watching the Herald's 'guidance to salvation' tactic play out. Ellethir would go on ahead, wait for Solas to catch up, and then they'd seemingly be caught up in their conversation, only for Ellethir to suddenly wander off on her own again. It was working, too. Fae also picked up on the conversations playing out just behind her.

"How does she know where to go?"

"She is being guided by Andraste."

"That must be why Andraste spared her, to guide Her people to safety."

Fae physically struggled to not roll her eyes. She watched Ellethir disappear from view over yet another hill, and seized the opportunity, jogging ahead to fall in line beside Solas.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked a little breathlessly. Jogging on snow was not the same as jogging on a dirt road, it turned out.

"Of course."

"This fortified place we're going to- how do you know it's there?"

Solas smiled vaguely. "I saw it in the Fade. It is an ancient fortress, having changed owners and housed a variety of inhabitants many times over the ages. None in recent memory, however."

"You see a lot of things in the Fade. Real things."

"Real in what sense? The Fade merely reflects the world, after all."

"I mean, it does, but usually when someone dreams, the things that happen aren't real. They're not things that have actually happened. The way Ellethir describes it, you go to places, and when you dream, you see the places' actual memories."

"I do," Solas acknowledged. "It is not dissimilar to your own ability, I imagine."

"The 'Seeing,'" Fae sounded it out awkwardly. "That's what Leliana calls it. But I'm awake when I do it, and it doesn't matter where I am, it just matters if I'm holding something. Do you know where it comes from? Seeing?"

Solas considered. "It may be elven in origin. The elves lost a great deal of knowledge- some of that undoubtedly included magic."

"I always thought that was probably the case, but I've never met another elf, mage or otherwise, that knew of it. Even the Dalish hadn't."

"The Dalish are hardly experts on ancient elven culture," Solas quipped, and Fae snickered.

"What, and you are?" Noticing Solas' unimpressed glare, she glanced back down at the snow. "Sorry. That was rude."

"No, forgive me, it was I who was rude. The Dalish do their best under difficult circumstances," he admitted, relenting.

Fae raised an eyebrow. "That's very considerate of you," she said suspiciously.

"The Herald is quite passionate on the subject."

"Right." Fae did a poor job of hiding the sly grin that crept across her face.

As they trekked over the crest of yet another snowy hill, the Herald was nowhere to be seen. The mountain range stretching out before them had disappeared between two tall cliffs to form an unofficial road. Just as Fae began to consider calling out and risking the concern of the rest of the procession behind her, Ellethir dropped from one of these boulders, landing gracefully in a crouch before standing up to her full height again.

"Took you long enough. I think I see it," she said eagerly.

Solas smiled. "We are close now."

It was at the peak of the next cliff that Fae saw it too. A high-walled castle, built into the mountainside.

"That's the place?" she breathed out in awe.

"Yes. Skyhold."

A/N: Stay tuned for the next section of chapters, which I'm still in the process of writing 3 Thank you for reading, and for all the kind comments so far x