Spellbound

24. Lyrium Scars

Lavellan bound up the stairs, taking two at a time. Adrenaline thrummed through his veins and was amplified by the familiar feeling of his bow's grip in his fingers. It called to him, sung a song of praise for being unified with him. It never ached for blood, but it ached for the thrill of a good chase. Power crackled between the pair.

With a leap, he avoided the miserable remains of the door. Splinters hung from bent hinges as if a massive animal had forced its way through. Fenris' sword had left a deep scratch mark where it had slid along the wood. It was darkened around the edges and smelt of fire.

In the few seconds Lavellan had been gone, the foyer sank into chaos. Books laid strewn over the ground and lost loose pages like feathered birds. The round table was tipped over and carried a similar scar as the door as Fenris - ignited by fury - chased his past master through the room. Whatever dread that usually petrified him in place had lifted, and only raw bloodlust remained.

Fenris looked nothing like himself. His marks blazed like the stars and his teeth were bared like those of a feral dog snarling at an intruder. No thought passed behind his glowing eyes, and no technique carried in the violent swings of his two-handed sword.

Dorian stood at the tipped table and tried to make sense of the chaos. In the moment of ruckus, the Bull had been alerted, but he hesitated to storm down the stairs. The balls of fire and lightning Danarius cast through the room were a danger, not only to Fenris.

"Can we not do this in my entrance hall?" Dorian cried at Fenris and Danarius, who knocked into furniture and priceless vases on their journey of distraction. Danarius had to dodge Fenris' heavy swings, for even a single one would cleave his body through the middle. His face distorted in a grim smirk over his grey beard.

"Ah, how I missed your vigour. You lost none of your energy. What a good mutt you are to your owner. I will bring you back home, Fenris, I promise." Danarius chortled in delight while Lavellan clutched his bow tighter.

"Danarius," Fenris growled, voice inhumane as he led the massive sword as if it weighed nothing. Another risky leap, another bolt of fire that missed Fenris narrowly. Lavellan guessed that the lyrium in Fenris' veins aided his natural strength and made him a terrifying opponent.

"I hate magisters on their damn mission to turn everyone into puppets of their will," Dorian muttered under his breath. His head jerked up when The Iron Bull called his name from the gallery. The subtle grimace when another vase crashed to the obsidian floor disappeared when he spotted Bull with Goldie, the snake, in his hand. He held her far from his body, even if she didn't seem keen to bite him.

"Here ya go!" The Bull called and launched the snake. It wound through the air, hissing, before Dorian caught it around the middle with a secure hand. The animal stiffened, dangling motionlessly, and Lavellan thought the shock had killed it until he witnessed its transformation. Its body grew and lost its smooth flexibility. Where Dorian held a snake a moment ago, he now wielded a rigid staff, made of the same gold and with the bowed head of Goldie's hissing mouth at the top. His fingers wrapped around the now solid scales as nothing of the animal remained.

Goldie's eyes were a deep amethyst purple.

"Thank you, Bull," Dorian cheered most natural. At the same time, they turned in Danarius' direction when a howl, so penetrating that it seemed to reach through the worlds, sounded.

Fenris was backed into a corner, and Danarius brandished his own staff at the panting warrior. While the magister had sustained a minor gash on his upper arm, Fenris limped on one foot as he pressed into the wall to catch his breath.

Worse, however, were the demons Danarius had summoned. They came from binding circles of fire, raging, red-eyed monsters with long claws and teeth. In a flock, they went for Fenris, who cut into their foul-smelling flesh with stubborn brutality.