My Dear Commander

Transformation

A few weeks had passed. Cullen felt guilt as all he could think about was his worrying wife. He kept the ring close to him, fearing that it would be the only thing he could have of her before the world ended. Cullen was caged like an animal, only being fed once a day. The walls had cracks and a red light shone through them, somewhat singing to Cullen. It drove him mad, making him see the one he loved. She's dead because of me he repeated to himself, trying to get away from his visions. The visions felt nostalgic, as if he was back in the tower where blood mages infiltrated and held him hostage, trying to possess him with a demon. He was lost, hopeless. He wanted to be with her again.

He kept to the corner of the cage, curled up in a ball. He had thin, turned clothes on which were baggy and dirty and smelled like someone had just died in them. He whined, holding his head in his hands whilst he trembled. All he could see was her, her disappointment, her death, her blood curdling screams as she called out for him. He also saw his son butchered like an animal. He was so broken that he couldn't even cry, but just whined like a hurt puppy.

One of the red templars walks to the door, shoving a tray of food under it. Cullen dove at the food, devouring what little there is. He looked down on the frail blonde, almost sorry for what has happened to him. A commander walked to the cage and stared at Cullen who's unrecognisable.

"Oi, you're coming with us. No funny business or you'll be back here after we beat you to a pulp" the commander said.

The other templar got out his keys, unlocking the cage door. They both grabbed Cullen's boney arms and started to drag him. He was too weak to fight back and resist, he accepted his fate. They took him to a large hall with an altar in the middle of it. The building was damaged, huge chunks missing from the walls, moss slowly grasping the building. The cold air was sharp, making Cullen shiver. He struggled to breathe properly, hyperventilating and panicking. One of the templars struck him in the back of his head, almost knocking him out. They took off his torn clothes and put him into the red templar armour. Cullen couldn't do anything, so he had to let them.

They pushed Cullen to his knees in front of the altar, a large shard of red lyrium sat upon it. Cullen started to hear voices, songs, noises deep within his head, driving him crazier and crazier. Two templars suddenly gripped onto Cullen's face, forcing his mouth open. The commander took a piece of red lyrium then placed it on Cullen's tongue. He then pushed the shard to the back of Cullen's throat and the templars forced his mouth shut. Cullen tried to fight from their grip but was too weak, coughing as he desperately tried to get the shard out of his throat. To no avail, he finally swallowed it and sat still, tears rolling down his cheeks.

The templars let go of him and stepped back, watching him closely. He felt nothing. Suddenly, his stomach felt like it was on fire, causing him to scream in pain and curl up into a ball, clutching his stomach. The sensation quickly spread throughout his body, making him panic and scream louder. He patted his arms and torso as if to put out a fire, but there wasn't a fire visible to him. Cullen stood and looked around, spotting a crack in the wall. The beautiful snow sparkled through the crack. He tried to run to it to try and stop the burning but he fell to his knees, the pain filling him.

He felt his skin tear, making him scream louder in pain. He was helpless, nothing could help him now. His eyes began to glow red as the red lyrium shards tore through his armour. His face tore, red lyrium finding its place. His arm was fully red lyrium, looking claw like and monstrous. His last thought was the inquisitor, how he wanted to raise a family with her, marry her, die old with her... His knees buckled and he lay on the floor, the pain subsiding quickly. Cullen painted heavily, exhausted.

The templars helped Cullen to his feet, putting his arms around their neck to keep him stable. He looked at the commander, awaiting orders.

"Get some rest." He commanded.

The templars took Cullen to a room and lay him down on the bed. He quickly fell asleep, the shy adorable man he used to be disappearing.

Time pass

The inquisitor was sat at her camp, researching some ancient elven magic that she could possess. Weeks had passed since Cullen left and she'd concluded that he was dead. She blamed herself for all their deaths. She saw a page and quickly read through it, desperate to learn a spell.

"That's it! That could save us all!" She whispered to herself, eyes lighting up like a bulb.

She started to look sad at the description of the spell, "Oh... it has to be done.. to save the ones I love and the rest of this world..!"

She gathered her things and set off towards the castle. She knew a few more spells which could help her in her quest to save Orlais and the rest of the world. She was focused, ready to fight her way through the red templars and destroy the red lyrium once and for all...