Hunt

Chapter 5: Head Case

Lavellan

My eyes snapped open, I wore a frown on my face. I turned to Fenryiel and asked, "Is that stuff you gave me working yet?"

"What do you feel, Lavellan?"

I gave him a look of confusion before I noticed it.

"I feel different. Lighter? Everything looks the same."

"The Fade is shaped by the world around you."

"I've been to the Fade. This is too familiar."

"Well, I guess I should tell you that we aren't exactly in the Fade. We're on the path that links the Fade to your consciousness. That's how we can get into your mind to talk to the voices. Can you feel where they are?"

"What am I looking for?"

"Not looking, listening. Listen for them."

I cocked my head to the side and closed my eyes. The whispers were easier to make out. I hadn't even realized they were there. I stood up straight and started walking towards them. My boots started making thunking noises on the stone, which didn't happen in the Fade. Then the mist that had surrounded us slowly parted for shadows of trees. Their leaves shuttered in a breeze I couldn't feel.

The mist suddenly vanished to reveal a once lovely courtyard in ruins. Ahead was a large stone building covered in ivy and rashvine. I thought it elven in origin. It felt so old. The whispers were a little louder.

"This is it. I can't see anything beyond the mist, but this ruin is it. I can feel them."

"Let's see what awaits us beyond the door then," Fenryiel murmured. I replied with a comment about curiosity and a feline before pushing open the wooden doors.

The inside of the ruin was huge. It was a huge front hall that had no ceiling. Whatever murals that might have existed were long gone, leaving only a few odd looking tiles. Dust coated the floor. I continued to the next door which revealed a large gathering room. A balcony was high up in front of me with stairs disappearing on either side.

I grabbed a railing of stairs and let out a gasp.

Soldiers stormed the stairs.

"Kill the Godblood," one cried. An elven woman flung open the doors and stepped onto the balcony with a solemn look on her face.

"Foolish children."

A flick of her wrist sent them flying through the doors. There was a patter of small feet from behind her.

"Tara! Tara," the small boy called out. The woman turned to scold him when she heard it. Feather in flight, the arrow flew fast towards him. She was swifter.

Swifts. She watched them flying above her as she lay on her own stone floor in her own blood. The enemy was gone; her people were safe. Yet as she lay dying, her power flowed to another with the Blood. The world must never go without. It would be one of those who had the purest light for they would be the most suitable home for her. Death nibbling at her life. Then it swallowed her whole.

"Are you alright," Fenryiel asked me.

I nodded. "I had a vision about... something. A Godblood? I think I know what it is. It was as if it was a title, though. It felt so real."

Lavellan. They called from the door to the balcony. They were louder now. Like a shout from far away. I walked up the stairs to the balcony and pushed the door open.

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Solas

There were no guards posted at Skyhold, or vendors on the path to the empty stables. Since the Inquisition disbanded, I did expect fewer people, but this was a ghost town. I entered in through the servants door in the kitchen. No one was scuffling around the space. Dust hung in the stale air and cobwebs decorated the corners. I was out into the hall and wandered up the stairs. I laid my hand on the door and took a deep breath.