The Wolf and the Halla

Don't Go

Adani was physically and mentally exhausted. The battle against Corypheus and his dragon, had been hard fought. Eventually, however, they came out victorious. She tried to catch her breath as she looked up at the sky, scarred but healed. The Breach was completely absent, and she marveled at how she had done that.

She heard the sound of moving stone and looked down to find Solas. He knelt beside the pieces of the orb, looking over them carefully. A deep frown was etched across his face. She approached carefully.

"I'm sorry about the orb. I know you wanted it saved."

He looked up to her sadly. "It is not your fault." He sat the broken pieces on the ground and stood to face her.

"There's more, isn't there?"

He frowned so deep that he seemed to age a thousand years, and when he spoke his voice held such sadness it squeezed her heart. "It was not supposed to happen this way. Whatever is to come, I want you to know that what we had was real."

She frowned, opened her mouth to speak, but was cut short by a voice shouting her name.

"Inquisitor! Are you alive?"

Adani smiled as she wandered over to the broken staircase to her left. She looked down on her friends and they all whooped and clapped. She smiled as she strode down the steps to join them in this victory.

When she looked back up to where Solas had been moments before, however, he was absent. She broke away from the crowd and back up the stairs to where he had stood moments before. The remnants of the orb still lay in the ground, but there was no trace of Solas. She looked around for any sign of him, but saw none.

...

"Inquisitor, if I may have a word please?"

"Sure." Adani turned back at the top of the stairs to look at Leliana.

"We have searched for Solas to no avail. He has simply vanished." Leliana said sadly. "It is uncertain why he would run. You two were close, how are you?"

"I don't understand why he left." Or any of the other stuff he done either. She really didn't.

"We will continue to search for him, Inquisitor."

"Thank you. I hope he can be found." She replied. Leliana nodded her head before bidding Adani a farewell and walking past her.

Some time later Adani found herself a little too tipsy and retired to her chambers. She watched from her balcony as the sun peeked up over the mountains.

"The dawn will come." She said to herself, pulling the memory of the human song to her mind. She didn't care for their beliefs, but she could get on board with uplifting music. Adani was stricken with grief, her heart twisted in her chest. Surely he would not leave without even saying goodbye. Surely he loved her more than that, at least she liked to believe so.

Where would all this leave the Inquisition? Without Corypheus, her purpose had been served, but she supposed there was still work to do. She didn't really want to go home yet, she wasn't sure where that even was anymore. She prayed it was somewhere warm, and unaffected by the remaining rifts.

Ah of course, the rifts. They were still scattered about and she was the only one who could truly close them. She supposed that she must stay, even though she wanted nothing more than to get away.

She dragged her tired body over to her bed and laid down under the cover. Her mind wandered back to not so long ago when he had said words so full of care, when he had said that no matter what happened what they had was real. She still didn't know what that meant.

When she drifted off to sleep a few seconds later, she drifted into the Fade. Anywhere was better than here, and she let herself be dragged away on the whims of wisps. See found herself in a forest somewhere. The dense trees, and smell of pine straw made her feel at home. It was warm here, the sunlight sprinkled through the trees and lit up her amber skin. She closed her eyes and soaked it up.

When she opened them, playful wisps danced about her, they led her forwards excitedly. She smiled as she danced after them, playing and jumping and twirling in such a beautiful way. Her dance only further excited the spirits and they swirled around her as she danced.

Suddenly, the wisps became aggravated, there was a presence disturbing the atmosphere. It was a searching mind, a mind focused on her, and she could feel it as well. She decided to stay in the forest, preferring the protection of the trees over the open field ahead.

She was alone now, and fear struck her irrationally so she climbed a tree and sat there silently. She controlled her breathing and watched from above as squirrels played and halla danced. The wind blew through her hair, and she noticed it was down, flowing around her shoulders in waves of red.

After awhile she left the safety of the tree and trodded through the trees carefully and silently. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a large wolf, but whenever she looked that direction, the beast was no where to be seen. It was strange, because she could even hear his footsteps off to her left, but he was not there.

Oddly, she wasn't afraid of the animal. It had a familiar presence, a presence that she recognized but couldn't place. It made her feel safe and comfortable, though it didn't make sense to her.

The whole night went by in such a fashion, and when she awoke she decided it was a strange dream and left it at that. It would not be explained until years later. For now, she had to nurse her broken heart, had to move forward even when she didn't want to. It was hard and she found it unnecessary. He could have stayed. He could have stayed and loved her and been with her, but he had left without even saying goodbye. It was a hard blow, and she didn't think she would ever get past it.

In time, she would learn to live with it. But never would she get past the love that was lost. The connection was still there, but it would never be whole again.