A Candle in the Darkness (A Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfiction)

Just Kill His Dragon

30 Bloomingtide, 9:42

They gathered in the War Room early the next day to go over the reports from the battlefield. Leliana greeted Antonia with a warm hug. "My friend, I am glad to see you up and about—you pushed yourself very hard."

Antonia had a dim recollection of Leliana being one of the people who showed up with a tray of food while she was helping the wounded. "I had reasons."

"So I heard. We must improve our battlefield communication, clearly—such unsubstantiated rumors are disturbing to the whole army. A significant number of the forward troops thought our Commander was lost, and it caused problems with morale."

"I'll say," Antonia muttered, and Cullen reached for her hand. Her left hand, where the opposing pulls of the hated pulse of the Anchor and the beautiful shine of her engagement ring were a constant reminder of the balancing act her mind and heart had to perform.

"Congratulations, as well," Leliana said. "Now .. to work."

Cullen nodded. "As we all know, we won the battle, although not easily. I'm told by those who were closer to the Temple that when you went through that mirror, Corypheus and his Archdemon fled the field, although no one appears to know why." He glanced at Morrigan.

"What he wanted was no longer within the Temple," she said, as though that should have been obvious.

"Perhaps. What I found most interesting was that he made no attempt to sway the course of the battle, but I wonder if he had spent so long trying to get into the Temple that he could no longer have helped his forces by that point."

Josephine looked at the two of them, frowning. "Then ... Corypheus is finished."

"If he is wise, he will hide and rebuild his strength before he attacks again," Leliana said.

Antonia didn't think Corypheus was feeling particularly wise. She had foiled his plans again; he was very, very angry with her.

Morrigan appeared to agree with her assessment. With narrowed eyes, she looked at Leliana. "He will not hide."

"Do you think he will attack us directly, at Skyhold?" Antonia asked. The thought made her sick to her stomach. Haven had been bad enough, but Skyhold was her home; she loved it as she had loved nowhere else she had ever lived. She couldn't bear to see Corypheus destroy it.

"Not necessarily." Morrigan's eyes were surprisingly kind as she turned to Antonia, perhaps understanding her feeling for Skyhold. "But neither will he remain idle. You know that, Inquisitor. You saw him."

"Yes."

"And how could you have such insight into his plans?" Leliana asked Morrigan suspiciously.

"The Well of Sorrows held many voices, and they speak to me now from across the ages."

Leliana apparently hadn't heard that part of the tale, and she glanced at Antonia in shock that she didn't disguise quite quickly enough. Antonia couldn't help but be amused by Morrigan's superior tone; she had suspected all along that the worst immediate consequence of allowing Morrigan to absorb the wisdom of the Well was that the witch would be insufferable afterward.

"They hold wisdom, secrets I never dreamed possible," Morrigan continued, slightly less boastfully. There was a hint of wonder in her tone, as if even her own expectations had been exceeded by the experience. "But even they fear what Corypheus has become."

"He's not a god; not yet," Antonia said. "Is he?"

"Not yet," Morrigan confirmed. "He is both powerful and immortal ... but he has a weakness."