“We have located one Gray Warden,” Josephine told Arethin, several days later.
“Only one?” Arethin raised her eyebrows. “In all Ferelden?”
Josephine inclined her head. “Only one. Now you must recall—the Ferelden Gray Wardens would have good reason to avoid us--”
Arethin shook her head. “Not if you made your Coalition alliance well-known.”
Josephine's eyes darted to Leliana's. Arethin simply sighed.
“Who's the one you found?”
“A man named Blackwall. He is assisting refugees in the Hinterlands, and some Inquisition scouts ran across him.”
“I see—well, bring him here, and we can ask him about the Calling.”
“Being a Warden, he is not exactly very likely to come when Chantry personnel ask him to,” Leliana pointed out, her tone dry.
“Then I shall ask one of the hunters to locate him,” Arethin said, irritated. “You need not emblazon the Chantry insignia across every chestplate and banner, you know.” she glanced at Barris, then Cassandra, who both flushed a bit redder.
“Then we shall do that,” Leliana said.
“In the meantime, we have heard word from Madame de Fer,” Josephine said. “She resides in the estate of one Duke Bastien,”
“Then we shall go to her, as soon as this Blackwall comes to us.”
“Very well.”
Warden Blackwall was a large, bearded man, who did not seem happy to be escorted to Haven by a pair of dwarves.
He narrowed his eyes when he looked down at Arethin. “Are you the Herald?” he demanded.
“People call me that,” Arethin said. “I never claimed the title.”
“I see.”
“Do you know where the other Wardens have gone?”
“I haven't heard anything for months," he said. "Then a pair of dwarves comes--”
“We needed to find you, and we didn't think Inquisition soldiers would really make you want to come.”
He snorted. “You thought right.”
“Tell me, are you hearing the Calling?”
He hesitated. “Why?”
“It might have something to do with this. Are you or not?”
“No.”
“Hm.” Arethin pursed her lips. “Well...then I suppose you can be on your way, Warden,” she said. “Sorry to have bothered you.”
She turned to go, but he spoke again.
“Wait a minute—you can't just drag me out here, and then--”
“There's a hole in the sky, Warden,” Arethin said. “I can do whatever I need to to close it.”
He scowled at her. “Fine—listen, perhaps—if this—maybe you need a Warden to fix this problem,” he said.
“Then I'd welcome your help, Warden.” she said.
After Blackwall arrived, Arethin soon left again to Duke Bastien's estate. She brought with her Solas, Cassandra, Sera, and Iron Bull, leaving Varric and Blackwall behind to guard Haven.
The trip there was uneventful, and it seemed that Arethin's companions had finally settled into a more comfortable way of traveling. Solas still bickered with Sera and Iron Bull, but the fights were not nearly so contentious as they had been. They had all grown more used to Sera's enthusiasm, and both Cassandra and Iron Bull were calming with their propensity to take new developments in stride.
It was when they got to the Duke's estate that things began to take a turn for the strange.
They approached the estate, but when they got close, they were blocked by a strange...obstacle, like a magical barrier, but one that was shimmering like sunlight on the surface of a lake.
“What is that?” Arethin breathed. She reached out a hand to touch the distortion, but pulled back at the last minute. It felt something like a rift, but not exactly.
“Ideas, anyone?” she looked around.
“Creepy,” Sera grimaced. “Don't touch it!”
Solas leaned in to examine it closer. “A spell made to affect the Veil in some way,” he said, a frown between his brows. “Or, if that is not the case, the spell is woven deeply into the Veil itself.”
“Can you tell the kind of magic used?” Arethin asked. “Summoning, blood magic--?”
“Blood magic would be much more destructive,” Solas said. “The Veil here is fairly intact.”
“So, that rules out both blood magic and summoning,” Arethin sighed, running a hand over her head. “No damage means no demon summoning, at least, and hopefully we can rule out any aggressive healers...”
“Aggressive healers?” Iron Bull asked.
“A Kirkwall phenomenon,” Cassandra brushed him off. “Healers who used their abilities to harm rather than heal.”
“The magic is more similar to your mark than anything else,” Solas said. “Perhaps you can use it on the field.”
“Wait,” Sera said. “Does this thing go all the way round?” she tried to peer around the field, to see if there were any breaks in it.
They rode several minutes up and down, but the field curved around the estate, unbroken. They had not the means to go over it, and it seemed to encircle the estate entirely.
“What about dug under?” Sera suggested.
Cassandra paused, and they looked at each other.
Sera snorted. “Diggin's a lot less weird than magic,” she said. “Maybe it's just like—one a'them metal things you put over roast chickens.”
They had no shovels with them, but a force spell could be used to dig a crude tunnel. Arethin tried to dig underneath the shield, but the further she dug, the more of it she encountered. After a while, she shook her head.
“It goes down at least four feet,” she said, pointing to the large hole. “And we don't really have the means to dig any more. We have to use the magic option.”
Sera groaned, and Cassandra looked distinctly displeased.
Arethin and Solas examined the field, while the others stood guard.
“You might be able to use your mark,” Solas reminded her. “If you can alter the Veil enough to alter the parameters of the spell...”
“Hm,” Arethin pursed her lips. “Well—I don't know. The way it's woven into the Veil means I might have to damage the Veil to get through.”
“You could fix it up again, though, right?” Sera piped up, shifting from foot to foot with nerves. “That's the point, innit?”
“Likely, but I just don't like causing the damage in the first place.”
“It may not damage the Veil in the same way re-opening a rift does,” Solas pointed out. “A different spell may cause it to react differently, and we can find no other way past.”
“You're sure? Maybe we've been going about this wrong.” Arethin aimed a fireball at the distortion, but it just bounced off. “Hm.” she frowned.
“What is it?” Cassandra asked.
“The spell bounced,” she said. “It rejected the energy.”
“Someone manipulated the Veil so energy is rejected rather than stopped,” Solas said. “The energy has nowhere to go, and may rebound on its caster. That is...unlike most barriers.”
“Exactly,” Arethin said. She held up her mark, and immediately noticed how the two magics had a strange similarity to them. “It is very different,” she agreed. “I wonder why that is...?”
“With the Breach having appeared, many people would have studied it, and not all for beneficial purposes,” Solas pointed out.
Arethin reached out to the barrier with her magic, the way she might to a rift, and could feel the way the spell wove itself into the Veil. If the Veil was one cloth, this spell was a cloth of a different color, but they wove together as if made for each other.
The mark could unweave it. She had no need to cut the Veil as she did with the rifts, all she needed to do was find a loose thread--
And pull--
And all of a sudden the barrier was behind them.
“Well,” Arethin said, looking over her shoulder. “I certainly didn't mean to do that.”
“What did you do?” Sera demanded, looking from where the barrier had been to where it was now. “That was weird! What was that?”
“I tried to undo it the barrier, but I don't think it liked it,” Arethin said.
“We are inside the barrier now,” Solas pointed out. “We should see if we can find this Madame de Fer.”
Cassandra faced the barrier. “Are you quite certain I could not try to break it?” she said, chewing her lip.
“No, your abilities would only strengthen the Veil,” Solas said. “They might weaken the spell, but the spell itself is strengthened by how it is interwoven with the Veil.”
Cassandra scowled, glaring at the barrier.
“Come on,” Arethin said. “We're inside, so we need to see what's happening.”
They had emerged on the edge of the estate, and before them was an enormous house surrounded by a high wall. It was a rich man's house, decorated with the traditional Orlesian gilt and statuary. Now that they looked at the windows, they could see movement, and someone watching from the top of the wall.
Whoever was on the wall got down, and they didn't see them again.
“Would anyone be expecting us?” Arethin muttered to Cassandra.
“Madame de Fer is an ally,” Cassandra said. “There should be no problems here,”
“I dunno about you, but it looks like there's a lot of problems to me,” Sera said, wrinkling her nose.
They cautiously went towards the building, when an explosion collapsed the roof on the south side.
“What in the Maker's name--?” Cassandra exclaimed, and someone came pelting out to meet them.
A man in Tevinter-style traveling clothes waved at them. He came to a halt, hands crackling with magical energy.
“Uh...Lavellan...” Sera muttered, raising an arrow to her bow. The ground all around them began to rumble, the dirt churning, and the group drew closer together.
“What's going on?” Arethin demanded of the man.
“Funny, I was going to ask you that,” the man said, as several skeletal hands began to claw their way out of the earth. A necromancer. “You have oh, a minute or so to tell me what you're doing here, or something will happen that I'm fairly sure you won't like.” his eyes slid to Arethin's marked hand, and he frowned.
“We are here for Madame de Fer and her allies,” Cassandra snapped, stepping forward, her sword out. “Who are you?”
The corpses stilled, and the man blinked. “You're—Madame de Fer knows you?”
Cassandra nodded. “We need her help. Please—where is she? What's going on?”
“That is rather a more complicated question than you might suspect,” the man sighed. “Come on—hurry, Vivienne has him occupied but it won't be long before--”
Suddenly, they found themselves back at the head of the path. The man was gone, and on the house there was no sign of damage. The dirt was unchurned, the grass whole and even.
Arethin blinked, feeling dizzy. “What just--?”
“I—I have no idea,” Cassandra said, staring around. Her sword was back in its sheath, and she grabbed its hilt, confused.
“This...is weird,” Iron Bull said, and he too grabbed for the handle of his large waraxe.
“I feel sick,” Sera groaned, and indeed she did look a little green.
Solas frowned. “We must move forward and learn what is happening,” he said. He was ashen, and his hands trembled. “That was—there was a great amount of energy tied in what just happened.”
They walked towards the house again, this time more slowly, watching everything around them. There was no sign of the explosion that had damaged the house, not even any smoke.
Again, someone emerged from the gate and raced to meet them. As he came nearer, they realized it was the same man from before.
“What's going on?” Arethin demanded as soon as he got close enough to speak to. “Who are you?”
“I am Dorian Pavus,” the man said. Like Krem, he had the sharp features and large nose of a Tevinter. His copper skin had a healthy glow but his weary expression told a different story. “But that's neither here nor there at the moment. Nor is much of anything else, actually.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Alexius just looped us again—and if you know Vivienne, then you must be friends. Come on, this way, I'll try and get in an explanation before Alexius figures out what's going on.”
“Alexius?” Arethin had to trot to keep up with Dorian, who lead them back to the house at a quick pace.
Dorian nodded. “He has a vested interest in Vivienne—Madame de Fer—and her mages. He needs them for something and he doesn't want them to be in contact with the Chantry or the rebel mages. Hence that field you see.” he glanced at the shimmering magical field overhead.
“Who is this Alexius, precisely?” Cassandra asked, her eyes narrowed.
Dorian sighed. “He is a Tevinter mage, he does many illegal things, and has a lengthy history that we can't get into right now. He is part of a cult called the Venatori, who are the real problem here.”
“What was that—thing,” Arethin said. “That—whatever it was that put us back at the beginning of the path?”
“Alexius can affect time,” Dorian explained. “He's been trying to alter events in the past--” he looked at the mark on Arethin's hand. “Possibly something to do with you, if I'm correct in understanding things. However, he can't quite manage it. He can't change the past and heading to the future seems like a fruitless endeavor for him. So, what he can do, is take about a day, and loop that period of time over and over again.”
“What do you mean 'loop' it?” Iron Bull asked.
“Ah--” Dorian waved a hand, searching for the words to explain. “As if the day were a book, and he keeps going back to the beginning because he doesn't like the ending.”
“How can he accomplish such a thing?” Cassandra demanded.
“That's one thing I don't know, but certainly wish to find out.”
“You said he cannot alter the past,” Solas interjected. “How is this phenomena any different?”
“I have a number of theories about that, but I think it's something to do with that he can affect time he already affected.” at their baffled looks, he sighed. “I would love to give a treatise on time magic, but ironically, time is something we don't have. When he finds out you're here, he'll reset everything again, and we'll have to start all over.”
“What do we do?” Arethin asked.
“We've been trying to get his amulet—the item he's been using to affect time—away from him for ages. We haven't succeeded yet, but we're trying again.”
“Ages?” Cassandra said, and frowned. “The barrier has only been up a few moments.”
“Has it? How pleasant for you. It has been much longer in here.” Dorian's tone grew dark, and they all glanced at each other.
The inside of the house was bright and pleasant, as if it had been prepared for visitors. It smelled very strongly of lyrium and smoke, and the halls that Dorian lead them down were crowded with busy mages running about.
It was in a large, central hall that a tall, beautiful woman came striding over to meet Dorian. She was several inches taller than even Cassandra, and her horned headdress gave her a few extra inches of height. She was dressed in a long, armored mage coat, and in one hand she bore a staff that looked to be made of metal, not wood. Like Arethin, she had deep brown skin, and despite the chaos around them, looked elegant and composed. Her brow was furrowed in worry, but other than that, there was no sign that she was concerned in any way.
“Dorian, did you--” her gaze landed on Cassandra. “Seeker Pentaghast...?” she said, blinking. “It is quite a pleasure to see you, but...how did you get here?”
“Everyone, this is Madame de Fer,” Dorian said. “And...I would quite like to know how you got here myself.”
“We used this,” Arethin held up her marked hand. “It can affect the Veil and it's magical, so it can affect that field around the estate.”
Dorian and Vivienne exchanged a look. Vivienne stepped forward and examined the mark, her brows knitted.
“And who exactly are you, my dear?” she asked.
“Arethin Nadur Lavellan, Dalish ambassador and the bearer of the mark,” Arethin said. “We need your help.”
“Our help?” she raised her eyebrows. “What for?”
“To...close the Breach.” Arethin frowned at her. “You are the one who contacted us.”
“Did I...?” Vivienne blinked, trying to remember. “Oh—yes, it was before the barrier went up,” she nodded. “My apologies. It was a very long time ago.”
“Not for them,” Dorian piped up. “Outside, it's only been a moment or two.”
“A moment...” Vivienne breathed, and met Arethin's eyes.
“How long has it been for you?” Arethin asked, glancing from Dorian to Vivienne.
They looked at each other.
“It is difficult to tell how long, exactly, my dear,” Vivienne said. “Some loops are shorter than others. But several years—more than five, less than ten.”
“Five years?” Cassandra mouthed. “But you have not changed—not aged!”
“Of course not,” Vivienne waved a dismissive hand. “We cannot age when time keeps looping around again.”
Arethin looked between them. “Why--”
Someone came pelting around the corner. “Madame!” an unfamiliar young mage shouted for their attention. “Ser Pavus! It's the bloody Venatori again—they saw whoever came through the field--”
“Is Alexius trying to change the field?” Dorian asked.
The mage shook her head. “Not sure what he's playing at, but the Venatori are trying to get through again! Connor broke his arm and there's still fighting--”
Vivienne and Dorian looked at each other.
“We need to get over there,” Dorian said. Around his hands and wrists blue fire started to appear, and he walked after the messenger, who lead them down the hall.
“Of course, darling,” Frost formed on Vivienne's hands, and she summoned an ethereal sword.
“Wait!” Arethin called, following behind. “Let us come too—we can help!”
“As you will,” Vivienne said. She gave them a bitter smile. “Risk is a more unusual factor than you might have understood it in the past here.”
They came to a great hall where several mages fought several other mages, but both parties were dressed distinctly differently. As soon as Dorian and Vivienne entered the hall, a drastic change came over it. The walls froze over, snow falling from the ceiling.
“Alexius,” Dorian called, and the fighting stopped. “I think you know how this will end.”
“But of course, Dorian,” an oily voice responded, and a man in a Tevinter-style hooded coat came to the front of the hostile mages. “We mean no harm. Only to get to know your new friends.” he looked at Arethin, and his eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?” Arethin demanded.
“I am Gereon Alexius, my dear lady, and I am simply attempting to rectify a spell gone wrong.”
Iron Bull snorted. “I think it's a little beyond that at this point.”
“Perhaps. That will not stop me trying to solve the problem.”
“And what is the problem? What's going on?” Arethin asked. “What is this?”
“He has kept us locked in this—prison,” Vivienne hissed. “Demanding that we join him and his idiot cult, wanting us to exalt whatever monster he declares as a god.”
“Don't be ridiculous,” Alexius said. “It was not my doing that caused this disaster. If you had cooperated with us from the start--”
“Likely they would be dead, or your slaves,” Dorian snapped. “It isn't us who essentially broke time, Alexius. You did that.”
“Would you like to explain that, incidentally?” Arethin asked.
“You are the one with the mark upon your hand,” Alexius said. “You should be able to work that out for yourself.”
Arethin was out of patience. “And how exactly might I do that?” she gritted.
Alexius sighed. “It matters little,” he said. He raised his hand, and something gleamed in it.
“Alexius, no--” Dorian began, then everything went white, and Arethin and her companions found themselves outside again.
Arethin blinked.
“Presumably, this is what Alexius has been doing the entire time that the mages have been trapped here,” Solas said. He was a bit paler than usual, but otherwise was unruffled.
“This is bloody stupid!” Sera exclaimed, stamping her foot.
“That is certainly true,” Arethin said. “Come on, we need to find Dorian and Madame de Fer again.”
They did indeed come across Dorian again, muttering curses to himself as he trudged up the hill to meet them.
“Come on,” he snapped. “Bloody Alexius—we've been trying to find a way to get around that reset of his, but every time he does it we just end up back where we started.”
“I might be able to use the mark to help,” Arethin said.
“It's possible,” Dorian agreed. “I've been trying to get a hold of his amulet, but your way might work as well.”
They hurried back into the mansion, and Dorian glared at his surroundings.
“Alexius is letting this go on a little long,” Dorian said, pursing his lips. “We haven't stopped him seeing you...why would he not reset time again?”
“He might need me to get close,” Arethin said. “Depending on what he needs the mark for.”
“If Alexius can only affect events that he has participated in, perhaps he needs you in proximity to affect you with his spell,” Solas suggested.
“In that case, we'd need to keep you away from him,” Dorian realized.
“Then how are we to get at the amulet?” Arethin demanded. “We can't spend more time here!”
“We've been working on a plan,” Dorian said as they entered the hall where they had first met Vivienne.
“Sadly, our plans have not come to fruition,” Vivienne said, striding towards them. “Perhaps you might shift the balance, my dear.”
“His magic is very powerful,” Arethin said. “We need to do something that upsets his spell in some way.”
“You might be able to change his spell if you cause damage to the Veil,” Solas said. “Blood magic or a summoning would be quick ways, but the mark is most likely the safest.”
“Damage the Veil?” Vivienne curled her lip. “Don't be ridiculous.”
“The spell is woven into the Veil,” Solas argued. “You will not be able to affect it unless you affect the Veil itself.”
“Well, we can't do anything if we aren't close enough,” Dorian said, he and Vivienne glancing at each other.
“Veil damage—if you theory is correct—by itself will not work,” Vivienne said. “One mage became desperate, and she summoned a demon with blood magic. There is Veil damage, and yet it did nothing—but she was far away from Alexius himself.”
“We need to be close enough to Alexius to affect his amulet directly,” Dorian deduced. “We've figured that much out, at least.”
“Then how are we going to get close?” Arethin asked.
“He won't listen to anything either of us say,” Dorian said, pointing to himself and Vivienne. “We've lied to him much, much too often for that to be of any use.”
“But he doesn't know us,” Iron Bull pointed out. “And if he wants to get close to Lavellan, is there any reason we couldn't walk right up to him?”
“That is not the wisest of moves one could make,” Vivienne informed him.
“It might be the only one we have. Otherwise, we're stuck here.”
Arethin chewed her lip. “Why is Alexius here, specifically?” she asked. “What made him come here, instead of Haven?”
Vivienne curled her lip. "The master that the Venatori serve needs mages,” she explained. “He cannot reach the Grand Enchanter's mages, so he came here, to us. He knew we would never allow him inside the walls, so he cut us off from the rest of the world.”
“But if he blocked you off, how did you get a message to us?” Cassandra asked.
“We sent word before he came,” Vivienne explained. “And when he arrived, we could not get any word out.”
“But the barrier only came up when we approached,” Arethin said.
Vivienne nodded. “Yes, that came later. First, he had his people surround the estate, so we couldn't get out. He had been trying to do—something—for months,” she said. “I suppose when you came, he realized his situation was untenable, and did...this.”
“He wasn't expecting your arrival. Just before you came, he got some sort of message from whoever he answers to, and then tried—whatever it was—that separated us from the rest of the world in time as well as space.” Dorian explained.
“It appears his magical reach far exceeded his grasp,” Solas said, brow furrowed. “He either overestimated his abilities, or was very desperate.”
“In that case, he'd probably want to see us very badly,” Arethin reasoned.
“I could organize a meeting,” Dorian said, then both he and Vivienne looked over Arethin's shoulder, to the other side of the room.
“Felix!” both Vivenne and Dorian exclaimed, smiling. Coming through the door on the opposite side was a young man, around Dorian's age, with a sharp-featured face and sallow skin.
“How are you?” Dorian asked, looking Felix over.
“You did not put yourself in danger coming to us, did you?” Vivienne asked.
Felix shook his head.
“Who are you?” Arethin asked.
'I'm Alexius' son,” Felix said. “I've been trying to help—I'm not part of the Venatori, but Father won't listen to me.”
“Can you help us?”
Felix nodded. “Father won't stop, but I think I can still get him to meet with you,' he said. “He won't listen to Dorian or Madame de Fer anymore, but you...he just might.”
“Alright,” Arethin nodded. “Then you must get us that meeting. We can try and take the amulet away from him then.”
They met Alexius in the huge, central hall of the suite. Arethin stood with her people on one side, as well as Dorian and Vivienne.
Felix stood by Alexius on the other side, with several other mages in Tevinter style clothing accompanying them.
“Alexius,” Arethin nodded.
“Lavellan.” Alexius smirked. “How very much I have heard of you.”
“Is that so?”
“Indeed I have. Now, my Lady, why are you here?”
“I'm here to try and make peace between your two sides,” Arethin said. “Who better than a third party?”
“Who indeed?”
“Now,” Arethin said. “Is there some way we can settle this?”
“Do you know who those two are?” Alexius demanded.
Dorian snorted and folded his arms. Vivienne did not make an outward expression of disdain, but she still radiated it as surely as if she had.
“They seem pleasant enough,” Arethin said. “Tell me—what is your quarrel?”
“Dorian was my student,” Alexius hissed, and Dorian stiffened. “We sought only to help these mages, who were thrown from the Circle and the rebel mages alike, and reach out our hand to assist them. Madame de Fer refused, and Dorian betrayed me to join them.”
“And what of the barrier?”
“An accident,” Alexius said, his voice smooth and oily. “An accident caused by Madame de Fer's own mages interfering with a spell of mine.”
“Liar,” Dorian muttered.
“Now,” Arethin said, ignoring Dorian. “I'd heard you wanted to meet me. Why?”
“I need your help,” he said.
“And what is it you need?”
“You are in possession of something very important,” Alexius said, his eyes flicking to her mark.
“Is that so?”
He inclined his head, a smile gracing his lips. "Indeed it is, my dear."
Alexius raised the amulet, and it glowed a sickly green that warped the Veil around it. Before anything could be done, Arethin grabbed at the Veil with her mark, and it tore under her hand.
The entire room tilted, and everyone staggered.
Vivienne laughed.
“It appears your spell is not working in quite the way you hoped, darling!” she called to Alexius.
Alexius raised the amulet again, sweat dripping down his forehead--
The Veil tore--
And everything went white, then dark again.
Arethin found herself knee-deep in dirty water, and spun wildly, disoriented and confused. She was in an unfamiliar room, the ceiling low, the walls windowless and made of mossy stone.
“Oh, for the love of the Maker!” Dorian exclaimed, and she spotted him on the other side of the room she now found herself in. “Where are we now?”
“The cellars,” Vivienne said, blinking. “We're in the cellars.”
“How did we get here?” Arethin asked, casting around.
Dorian shook his head.
“I suspect you disrupted Alexius' spell in a way that disrupted time,” Vivienne postulated.
“So now, on top of everything else, Alexius has displaced us in time?” Dorian threw his hands up. “This is utterly ridiculous.”
“And to think, darling, that man was once your mentor,” Vivienne shook her head.
Dorian shuddered. “Oh, Madame, don't remind me,” he said.
“How did that happen that you hate each other so much now?” Arethin wanted to know. "He even said you used to be his student, he didn't ignore it or pretend it never happened."
Dorian nodded. “He didn't used to be like this,” he said. “But...Felix caught the Blight.”
Arethin grimaced.
“Felix has reached the end of all treatment we could find. He's been prepared for months, now, but Alexius...won't let it go.”
Arethin swallowed. “Of course he wouldn't,” she muttered. “It...makes sense.”
“Does it?” he glanced at her in surprise.
She nodded. “Come,” she said. “We should keep moving.”
Dorian and Vivienne exchanged a worried look, but they slogged on regardless.
The cellars were crowded with a strange red growth, like the lyrium that had been in the temple.
“Where did this come from?” Dorian breathed, reaching out to touch a growth before Arethin slapped his hand away.
“Don't touch it!” she snapped. “It's poisonous!”
“What is it?”
“Red lyrium,” Vivienne said. “I had thought that rumors of it being hazardous were simple rumors—or, if it was a danger, it was only to those who consumed it.”
Arethin shook her head. “Queen Aeducan has had researchers on it,” she said. “It's—oh,” she said. They came across a skeleton, half-buried in the lyrium. “It grows,” she whispered. “Not like proper lyrium. This is like an infection. It takes root in a body and it grows. I've heard that it's fed with blood, and that's why it's red.”
Dorian kneeled down next to the skeleton. “When did this...no one has died down here,” he looked up at Vivienne.
“Not as of yet,” Vivienne said. She took hold of his arm and pulled him to his feet. “We do not know when we are, Dorian.”
“Yes...yes, of course.” Dorian shook himself, and they continued to explore.
The cellars seemed to have been converted to a makeshift prison, bars being haphazardly fitted in doors and cells being roughly hewn from the rock.
“These weren't there before,” Vivienne murmured, gently touching one of the bars. “There were cells, but not like this.”
Arethin's stomach twisted. “Come,” she said. “We have to find the others.”
“Of course,” Vivienne agreed.
They wandered halls empty except for the red lyrium, found many more skeletons and bodies with the stone growing out of them. However, no matter where they looked, they found nothing living, not even any guards or other Venatori. There hardly even seemed to be any rats or insects, something that troubled Arethin immensely.
Then Arethin heard singing, just on the edge of her hearing. “What's that?” she murmured.
They went towards the source of the singing.
“When wending willows...no, that's not it. When willows wander...no, stupid, stupid...” That was Sera's voice, though strangely warped and distorted.
“Sera?” Arethin peered around the corner, and spotted Sera locked in a tiny makeshift cell. “Sera!” she exclaimed, shocked.
Sera let out a horrified exclamation. “No, no, no,” she closed her eyes and pressed her hands over her ears. “You can't be here,” she croaked. “You're dead, and they don't come back!”
“Sera, it's alright,” Arethin assured her. “It's really me.”
Sera opened one eye to look at her. “Demons,” she muttered, and bit her lip. “Demons, demons...”
“Oh, for the love of—we aren't demons, and we aren't dead,” Dorian said.
“Trust me, my dear, I would know.” Vivienne added.
“How come she's here,” Arethin asked. “And not with us?'
“She must not have been caught up in the initial spell—I suppose Alexius only aimed at you, Lavellan, and then the backlash only caught myself and Madame,” Dorian said.
“What are you talking about?” Sera demanded, one eye still closed.
“Alexius displaced us in time—surely you recall him bending it when we first met?”
Sera opened both eyes now, to glare at them. “Yeah...but he stopped doin' it when he killed you.”
“Well, he did it one last time. He didn't kill us, merely displaced us...” Dorian sighed and looked around. “Probably beneficial for him, honestly.”
Arethin smashed the lock on Sera's door, and it swung outwards.
“Well...fine then. If it's magic shite, figures you'd get out in a pinch, Shiny,” Sera glared at all of them, then sighed. She stepped out, into the light, and Arethin suppressed a gasp of horror.
Sera was very gaunt, her cheekbones hollow, her skin waxy and pale from too long in darkness. Her clothes hung loosely, hinting at a body as wasted as her face. More than her emaciation, however, was the strange red gleam in her eyes, and the red lightning that flickered around her hands and head.
“What happened to you?” Arethin asked without thinking. She took Sera's chin and tilted her head back and forth, brow furrowed. “Let me see--”
“Stop it!” Sera jerked her head out of Arethin's hold.
Arethin looked at her, and Sera turned her face away.
“I ran out of arrows, makin' them pay,” she said. “I just—I just want them to hurt.”
“We can certainly do that, my dear,” Vivienne said.
“Sera, do you know where the others are?” Arethin asked.
Sera cast about the room, looking for something. She picked up a discarded longbow from the ground. “Yeah,” she said, stringing the bow with a cord she retrieved from her pocket. “Seeker and Bull should be alright, I think, still,” she said. “A few halls down.”
“And Solas?”
Sera looked at the ground.
“Sera?” Arethin's heart was in her throat.
“He should be...alive, still,” Sera shrugged the longbow over her shoulders. “Keeps makin' trouble for them. Stupid bastard, I mean—I dunno, he's smart, but he's stupid. Last I saw, he--” she sucked in a breath. “We can go look for all of them.”
“Alright. Then we'll go.”
Sera lead them through the halls, to another room full of makeshift cells. Only one of these was occupied.
“Cassandra!” Sera exclaimed, running up to one of the cells. Arethin, Dorian and Vivienne followed close behind her.
“Sera?” came Cassandra's voice, hoarse and warped, which confirmed Arethin's worries. “How did you get out? How did--”
She stopped.
“No...” she breathed.
“It's them,” Sera said. “Alexius did...somethin', I dunno, but they're here now, so I guess they're real. Helped me out, anyway.”
Cassandra simply continued to stare.
Vivienne cut the lock off with a shot of ice, and the door swung open. Cassandra hesitated before stepping out.
Cassandra was as gaunt as Sera, wasted away almost to nothing under her armor. Her dark hair had grown to her shoulders, and was dull as old velvet. Her copper skin was dull as well, grayish and too pale, as if she were ill.
Her eyes, like Sera's, gleamed with a sickening red light. She avoided their gazes.
“Cassandra...?” Arethin inquired.
“Come,” she said. “If you are real...of course you are," she looked at Sera. "Magic cannot fool you, can it?"
Sera mustered a pale grin.
Cassandra nodded. "Then we must hurry.”
“Where are Solas and Iron Bull?” Arethin asked.
“Iron Bull is near,” Cassandra said. “Solas is...down below.”
“Why is he so far away from you?”
“Told you,” Sera piped up. “He kept makin' trouble.”
“Trouble like how?”
“He attempted escape more than once,” Cassandra explained. “And he helped us try to escape as well.”
“Never worked,” Sera shook her head. “But good on ol' Baldy for tryin', I guess.” she and Cassandra went to another almost empty cell block, and lead them to Iron Bull's cell.
“Iron Bull!” Cassandra exclaimed.
“Cassandra?” came his voice, warped like the others'. “When did you get out? Sera blow something up again?”
“Nah,” Sera said. “'s more complicated than that. Look!”
Iron Bull blinked at them, his single eye glowing red like the last ember in a stove.
“You're dead,” he said. “There were burns on the ground and everything!”
“No,” Dorian said. “Alexius merely tried very hard.”
“It's them!” Sera piped up. “Gonna help us kill that prick,” she laughed, her laugh edged with slight hysteria.
“Well...” Bull sighed. “All right. Can't be much worse than this anyhow.”
Cassandra bashed the lock open. The door swung open, and Bull came out slowly.
Iron Bull was wasted, and somehow it was more unnerving on the large Qunari than it was on either Sera or Cassandra. His massive form was lessened, his bones far more prominent than they should have been.
“Right,” Dorian said. “Now we find your last companion, if he yet survives?”
“Oh—he should still be alive,” Bull said. “They just keep him pretty far away from everyone else.”
They walked into a distant corner of the cellars.
“These weren't nearly so large before,” Vivienne murmured, frowning at the walls.
“They made them larger,” Cassandra said, her tone dark. Cassandra lead them down a set of grimy, dark stairs, that were roughly hewn from the rock. The mages shuddered as they entered another room, smaller and darker than the rest. There was magebane here, coated on the bars of the tiny cells.
“Is someone there?”
“Solas!” Arethin hurried to his cell door. Solas blinked at the group of them, his eyes gleaming red in the dim light.
“You're alive,” he exclaimed, and his voice had the same strange weft and warp that the others' did. “But we saw you die!”
“Time magic,” Dorian explained as he blasted the lock off the door. “Alexius displaced us in time.”
Solas stepped outside immediately, with no question. “Can you reverse the process?” he asked, his tone urgent.
“Hopefully, yes,” Dorian said, narrowing his eyes at Solas.
“Good,” Solas nodded. “What has happened here must never come to pass.” his lips thinned into a hard line. In the light, he was as wasted as the other three, his already-sharp face almost skull-like now, his skin stretched over bones and not much else. His eyes were sunken, and would have been in shadow were it not for the gleam of red lyrium.
“You understood that, Baldy?” Sera demanded.
“Of course,” Solas said. “Come, we must move quickly.”
“No one was disputing that,” Arethin said, as they all hurried back up the stairs. Arethin, Dorian, Vivienne and Solas all breathed a sigh of relief when they were away from the magebane bars of the cell.
“Hopefully Alexius will not have realized you are here yet,” Cassandra said. “He hardly ever comes down to the cellars.” her mouth twisted.
“He claimed the main hall for himself, in our own time,” Vivienne said with a disdainful sniff. “I venture to guess that he will still be there?”
“That is where we found him when we attempted escape,” Cassandra said.
“Well, the first time,” Bull said.
“How many times have you tried to escape?” Dorian asked, eyebrows raised.
“I got out of my cell loads of times, like four, 'cos when they had servants, they liked me,” Sera said. “And two times for Cass, and three for Bull--” she gave a hoarse laugh. “And you—bloody idiot, you tried to get out what, five times?” she asked Solas. “He bit one of the guards one time, when they broke his staff, friggin' hilarious,” she told her companions, but Solas did not so much as frown. His expression did not change at all.
“It does not matter,” Cassandra snapped, her voice reverberating with red lyrium twisting. “We are leaving now.”
“Fine, fine. 'scuse me for lookin' for a bit of fun here,” Sera quieted and glared at the ground. Cassandra put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but removed it quickly.
They made their way up through the cellars, and according to Dorian and Vivienne, the whole estate seemed to have been changed and expanded.
“Yeah, we've heard them workin' on the walls and stuff,” Sera said when Dorian mentioned it. “Does my bloody head in some nights.” she paused. “When it's not all the music...”
“Music?” Dorian asked.
“Red lyrium poisoning makes you hear music,” Arethin murmured in his ear.
“Ah.”
Upstairs was no better than downstairs. They came across more bodies, some of them intact enough for Vivienne or Dorian to recognize.
Any time either Vivienne or Dorian stopped beside a body, one of the pair would take their arm and tug them onwards. Soon they both gained a hard expression to their faces.
“Alexius will pay for what he has done,” Vivienne said, her tone dark.
“But of course, my friend,” Dorian said. “When would he not have done so?”
A tiny, predatory smile graced Vivienne's face. “Quite right, my dear.”
At length, they made their way outside, and Arethin's stomach dropped.
“Creators,” she breathed, staring up at the sky.
“The Breach,” Cassandra exclaimed. “It's--”
“Everywhere,” Arethin shook her head, staring at the rolling mass in the sky. The sky was no longer blue, not anywhere, it just swirled and boiled with the terrible scar that was the Breach. The Breach crawled across the sky, spilling green and yellow clouds from the Fade, and periodic lightning flashes lit everything up. Stones floated, strange and twisted statues that were either Fade constructions or something that had been changed by proximity to the Fade.
“Without you, the damage could no longer be held back,” Solas said. “Someone has been pulling at the edges of the Breach, but it has only resulted in the Veil breaking down in a way that poisons this world and the Fade.”
“How do you know?” Arethin asked, not taking her eyes off the sky.
“I could feel it. I looked, in my dreams. This reaches even into the true Fade, into dreams.”
Arethin shuddered. “Come on,” she said. “We have to keep going.'
They went back inside, and found Leliana.
She was trapped in not a cell, but a torture chamber. They heard her before they saw her.
After they had freed her from her captor, she had no questions. She simply looked at Arethin, Dorian, and Vivienne, then went to find a bow and arrow.
“What are you doing here?” Arethin asked Leliana. She was gaunt and even paler than normal, her eyes and cheeks sunken and hollow. Fortunately she had no red lyrium tint, but that didn't seem to be too much of a benefit.
“You were lost,” Leliana said. “We needed to find you,” she shook her head, her eyes narrowing. “But all we found was this. But now you are here.”
“You're not curious as to how we got here?” Dorian asked, as Leliana cast about for a weapon.
“No.”
“We can reverse this,” Dorian tried again. “Alexius displaced us in time. We can go back and change it so that this never happened.”
Leliana snorted. “So this is all a game to you. A bad dream.” she glared at them as she picked up a bow.
“It is no such thing,” Vivienne said.
“Yes it is,” Leliana snapped. “You mean to undo it—but it can't be undone. This is real, and it happened.”
“No one ever said that it was not,” Dorian retorted. “Do you think we are unfamiliar with terrible outcomes?”
The others all gave Vivienne and Dorian measured looks.
“Neither of us have been infected with red lyrium, my dears,” Vivienne said, her gaze hard. “But we know our share of horrors. And we have lived through years of them, just as you have. You are alive. There is still hope.”
Leliana simply shook her head and pulled her hood up. “If you are to do what you wish, we must find Alexius.”
“Do you know where he is?” Arethin asked.
Leliana nodded. “Come. This way.”
She lead them through the castle. There was not another living soul, just dead corpses with lyrium grown out of them.
“Did any of my mages survive?” Vivienne asked softly.
Leliana shook her head. “We are the last. Even their soldiers, their Venatori, were dying when I last knew. That torturer was the last. Once, they had many, but now they have none.”
“Why are you the only ones left alive?” Arethin asked.
“It amuses the Elder One,” Cassandra gritted. “He can win nothing else, because Alexius has failed him, so he torments us.”
“Do you know what exactly Alexius has been trying to do?”
“No. But whatever it is, he's failing at it.”
“How can you tell?”
“This world is not a world of anyone's victory,” Solas said. “Everyone has lost. Everyone has failed.”
“Oh.”
“Think the Qunari tried to invade the south a few months back,” Bull piped up.
“They did?” Arethin exclaimed, turning to stare at him.
“It worked about as well as everything else did. The Elder One smacked it down, last I heard, but there was still a lot of fighting.”
“They were using the eluvian network,” Solas said. “Many people have tried to take advantage of it.”
Arethin narrowed her eyes. “People like who?”
Solas shrugged. “Anyone who located and sufficiently restored a mirror.”
“Is there an eluvian here? Could we use it?”
“I would suggest you not do such a thing.”
“Why not?”
“We tried.” Solas' expression was dark. “Once.”
Everyone refused to say any more on the subject.
“Who is the Elder One?” Dorian asked.
“Never seen him,” Sera said. “But he's the one in charge of everything.”
“We think he was the darkspawn from the Vimmarks,” Leliana said. “But we did not learn enough before...”
“Before what?” Vivienne said.
Leliana shook her head, and said no more on the subject.
Alexius was hidden behind an enormous door that was locked with red lyrium shards.
“Maker's breath, where did Alexius even find this?” Dorian asked, examining the door with his eyes narrowed. “He must have dragged it in from some ruin...”
“Never mind where he got it from, how do we open it?” Arethin asked.
“I suspect someone around here has the keys,” Dorian said. “Alexius still needs to eat—unless that, too, has been changed?”
He raised his eyebrows at their companions, but no one so much as cracked a smile.
“Right,” he said, turning back to the door. “Who would have the keys for this?”
It took some doing, but they finally found the keys. They were scattered throughout the building, some on bodies, some on those who were still alive.
At last, however, they opened the doors.
Alexius stood, not facing them, but facing a huge fireplace that flickered with green fire.
“I knew you would come,” Alexius said. A corpse, presumably one raised by Alexius, crouched in one corner. “I knew you weren't dead.”
“Have you ever known us to be less than absolutely persistent?” Dorian asked, he and Vivienne moving forward almost in concert.
"We could hardly let you continue to make a mess of things,” Vivienne said.
Alexius glanced over his shoulder. “It doesn't matter now. Whatever you do will have no bearing on this world.” he looked up at the ceiling. “Nothing matters. The Elder One will come, for me, for you...you cannot stop him.”
“We can try,” Arethin said.
“We created monsters of our own,” Alexius said. “But we forgot that there were monsters in these lands before any of us.” finally, he turned to face them. “There are so many terrible beasts in this world,” he said. “And we have woken all of them up.”
“What do you mean?” Arethin asked, narrowing her eyes.
Before Alexius could answer, Leliana hauled the ghoul to its feet, putting her knife to its throat.
“Felix!” Alexius put out a hand, and both Dorian and Vivienne's eyes widened.
“That's Felix?” Dorian breathed, expression first one of horror, then of shock. “Maker's breath, Alexius, what have you done?”
“He would have died!” Alexius exclaimed, and Arethin's chest tightened. “I saved him!”
“You have done no such thing,” Vivienne said, drawing her spectral sword. “You have lost your son more thoroughly than any mere death could have done.”
“Please, I'll do what you want, just let Felix go!” Alexius pleaded with Leliana, who was unmoved.
“I want the world back,” Leliana growled, and cut Felix's throat. Felix fell, and Alexius was frozen for a minute.
“No,” he breathed. “No!”
He aimed a spell, but both Vivienne and Dorian charged ahead of the rest of the group, the spell glancing off of their combined barrier. Vivienne summoned not only a sword, but a shield from her magic, and Dorian was soon completely wreathed in flames.
Vivienne reached Alexius, and she rammed her sword through his chest. He gasped, almost surprised, a spell dying in his hands.
“There,” Vivienne hissed. “I believe that we are equals, now.”
She dispersed the blade, letting Alexius fall.
“Alexius,” Dorian shook his head, his expression empty of even pity. “He lost Felix long ago, and didn't even notice.”
“What do we do now?” Arethin asked.
Dorian retrieved the amulet from Alexius' body. “Give me an hour to work out the spell, and I can send us back,” he said.
“An hour?” Leliana exclaimed.
“We don't have the time for that,” Iron Bull said. “Whatever you're doing, you need to do it now.”
“We will both do it,” Vivienne said, taking the amulet from Dorian. “Surely we can both work out the spell, my dear.”
“Of course,” Dorian said.
Something pounded on the door.
“Cast your spell,” Leliana said. “You have as much time as I have arrows.”
The others moved towards the door, and Arethin grabbed Solas' arm. “No,” she said. “I can't—I can't let you just commit suicide!”
“Look at us,” Leliana said. “We are already dead.”
“We will only live if this day never comes,” Cassandra said. She reached out and grasped Arethin's shoulder. “Please,” she said, her eyes brimming with regret and an emotion Arethin could not quite place. “Go quickly.”
“But...” Arethin covered Cassandra's hand with her own.
“This world can never come to pass,” Solas said.
The others left to guard the door, and Leliana stood in front of it, her bow at the ready.
Arethin wrenched herself away from staring at the door, to focus her attention on Vivienne and Dorian.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked.
Dorian shook his head. “Nothing—the mark might interfere,” he muttered.
“Dorian--” Vivienne started.
“I almost have it,” Dorian said. Sweat beaded on his brow and Arethin could feel the Veil warp with the effort of his casting.
Something slammed on the door, and then the entire room shuddered, dust falling from the ceiling.
“What was that?” Arethin muttered, staring up at the ceiling.
“He's coming,” Leliana muttered, drawing her bowstring back to her ear. “Be ready.”
Another slam on the door.
“Dorian--” Arethin said.
“Almost ready!”
The door banged open, and demons poured through. One threw Sera's body over the threshold, and Arethin's stomach twisted. Another dragged a still-bleeding Solas behind it, and beyond the door she could vaguely see the shapes of Cassandra and Iron Bull.
Arethin stepped forward, but Vivienne grabbed her arm.
“Though darkness closes, I am shielded by flame,” Leliana intoned, her voice a harsh crow's call.
“Dorian, hurry!” Vivienne snapped.
A black portal opened in the air, something like a doorway.
“Andraste, guide me,” Leliana hissed, landing another arrow in another demon.
Vivienne dragged Arethin towards the portal.
“Maker, take me to your side!”
The three of them barely dodged a fireball thrown by one of the demons, when the world shifted and resettled around them, and they were back where they should be.
Dorian clenched the amulet in one hand.
Alexius stepped back, startled. It was rather a shock to see him alive, but he looked different now than he had in the future.
“You need to do better than that,” Dorian growled, and fire began to lick up his hands and wrists. Vivienne drew her ethereal sword and they both advanced on Alexius.
“All this, Alexius, all this—insanity, and what was it for?” Dorian demanded. The fire around his arms was so hot it started to go white, and he radiated heat.
“A pathetic power grab,” Vivienne hissed, leaving trails of coldness in her wake. “The likes of which belong to lesser mages.”
“Enough! Don't!” Felix put himself between them and Alexius, and Vivienne and Dorian both halted.
“Felix, darling, get out of our way,” Vivienne snapped.
“No,” Felix insisted. “You have the amulet. You don't have to kill him.” he looked at his father. “They won't,” he told Alexius. “Will they?”
Alexius shook his head. “There is nothing more I can do,” he said.
Vivienne didn't let her sword spell go. “That lunatic has trapped us here for longer than I care to think,” she pointed the blade of her sword at Alexius. “If he had had his way, his actions would have doomed all of us.”
Dorian shook his head. “To kill a snake, one cuts off the head,” he said. “To kill a many-headed snake, cut off all the heads. He isn't the Alexius I once knew, Felix.”
“Both of you, stop it!” Felix demanded. “He's still my father—that counts for something, surely!”
“It does,” Arethin stepped in. “Dorian, Madame, you have the amulet. We can leave. Cassandra?” Cassandra came over, and it made Arethin relieved to see her as solid and strong as ever, with no red gleam in her eyes. “If we take him back to Haven, someone can try him for, oh, I don't know, however many crimes he's committed here.”
Cassandra nodded. “Yes, the Inquisition has that authority,” she said. “And if we do not, I am quite certain that there is someone who does.”
“There,” Arethin said. “We'll take him and put him on trial. Is everyone happy with that?”
Both Dorian and Vivienne seethed.
“No,” Dorian hissed. “No, absolutely not. We have both suffered mortal injuries at his hand--”
“Only to do everything over again,” Vivienne snarled.
“Madame de Fer, you know that I would never do anything less than just to a criminal,” Cassandra said, and the expression in Vivienne's eyes softened.
Vivienne sighed. “Very well,” she said. “He may be taken to see trial. But I will see nothing less.”
“Of course, Madame.”
“Now that that's settled, we need to talk about the original reason we came here,” Arethin said. “Cassandra said that you and your loyalist mages would be allies to the Inquisition. Is that so?”
Vivienne inclined her head. “Yes, of course. We must support the true Chantry as well as the Circle.”
“Good. Then you are formally allied with the Inquisition, and have no wish to be an independent group?”
“We are as independent as any Circle is, my dear,” Vivienne said, her eyes narrowed in curiosity. “Why do you ask?”
“The Inquisition is heading the effort to close the Breach, but they are not the only people who are doing so,” Arethin said. “The mages under Grand Enchanter Fiona have lent their aid, as well as the Dalish Coalition.”
Vivienne's face soured at the mention of the Grand Enchanter. “I see.” she said. “And this is safe, allowing apostates and rebel mages into your care?”
“They're under their own care, Madame.”
“Hm,” Vivienne tilted her head up. “Well, the loyalist mages will ally with the Inquisition, if nothing else.”
Arethin looked at Dorian. “And...what about you? What will you do, now that Alexius is dealt with?”
Dorian laughed and ran a hand through his head. “We never really got to that part, did we?”
“No, we didn't.”
“Dorian was following Alexius,” Vivienne said.
“I left Minrathous for—well, a large number of reasons, but one of which is that I knew Alexius was involved in something...very suspicious, at the least.” Dorian explained.
“So, are you with the loyalist mages, or an independent group?”
“At this point? I could hardly bear to part with my dear friend Vivienne.” he gave Vivienne a cheeky smirk and she did not roll her eyes, but radiated disdain all the same.
“Of course not,” she said, despite her disapproval.