Red String of Fate (Dragon Age FanFic)

The Aftermath

As soon as the shades faded, Luca cooled the flames that had begun to dance around the floor. The pain in his chest had faded into a dull throb. He ignored it quite easily. Healing would come later; he needed to get to Neria.

He hurried out of the room, bounded up the stairs, and stopped at the closed door at the end of the hall. “Neria?” he called, fumbling with the knob until it became apparent that it was not working.

Hearing Luca on the other side of the door had relief rush through her, at least he sounded like he was okay, and snapped Neria back into action. She grabbed the book, flipping through the pages to make sure it was the real one before heading towards the door. She tugged on the knob again and groaned when it didn't budge.

"The door is jammed," she called out as she looked around. "I am about to go out a window and I have a feeling that will not end pretty. You think you can break it down?"

The few seconds before her response were filled with tension and worry. Luca did not even notice until he heard her voice through the door and his body slumped forward in relief.

"Move back," he said, pressing his ear to the door and listening to her footsteps fade back into the room. He took a step away from the door, settled himself into a solid stance, and then began kicking the lock of the door. It took a few blows, but eventually the lock broke from the frame and he was able to push the door aside.

Neria backed up at his request and watched as he kicked down the door. Holding the book against her chest, she felt her legs slowing give out, her energy sapping out finally and she found herself sitting on the floor as he stepped into the room.

"Over here." She greeted him from her place on the floor.

Luca did not hesitate. He rushed over to her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and did a quick sweep of her body. The way her armor was singed did not give him comfort. “You have to help me get this off, okay?”

Neria stared at him. Doing her own silent inspection of him and noticed the bright red stain of blood in two different areas. He wanted to heal her when he was bleeding. She frowned, how.could he be more.concerned over some burns when he was injured?

She started shaking her head. "You're bleeding. Bleeding comes before burns." She stated stubbornly.

He took a hold of her chin with one hand to stop her from shaking her head. “Burns come before bleeding. My cuts aren’t that deep, I assure you.” He leaned over her and began undoing the straps of her armor.

Neria slapped at his hands and groaned when she hit the burns on her palms. She was being difficult, she knew that but he was bleeding. Bleeding. Blood loss was bad and her burns were not going anywhere.

"These burns aren't going anywhere." She finally protested. "You're losing blood, that's not good." She paused for a moment and pinned him with a look. "I'll just keep fighting you and make it worse." She threatened.

Luca glared at her, putting as much heat into his stare as he could. Then he shrugged off his cloak, put his hand under his shirt, and pressed it against his wounds. As soon as he felt his flesh knitting back together, he removed his hand and wiped the blood off on his shirt. It was the quickest, lousiest healing he had ever done. It would scar, but Luca could not care less at this point.

"Will you let me heal you now?" he demanded.

Neria raised her brow but didn't argue with him anymore. There was no point keeping the argument going, he would probably pin her down to get the job done.

She untied her straps and shrugged off the top of armor, tossing it aside and setting the book next to it. She looked at him quietly and waited, a way of showing she would behave. At least for now.