Doom Upon All The World

Chapter 63: The Secrets That End Us

Solas had been harboring a secret. Maeve knows so one might saw that they have been harboring it together. There had been a conversation at which time the secret was nearly brought up in the open. Cassandra had been persistent that Solas would, without a doubt, be able to kill Gilderoy simply because he is a God. Solas simply told her that was not so. When she asked why, he made it plain that his reasons were his own. Maeve stayed stone faced the entire time. 

It pained her to see her friend at odds with her husband. She could not pick sides in this one. Or voice her concerns for either side. It would only make matters worse. But still the secret stayed hidden in their minds. Cassandra would never know. Maeve watched as Cullen ran to her. She ran to raced towards her. But there were too many of Gilderoy's soldiers. They kept getting in the way. Alistair's soldiers were children compared to these men. Just as Maeve made it out of the group of them, Gilderoy had put a sword through her. 

Maeve fell to her knees. Her heart clenched in her chest. It felt like it had been set on fire. Then she saw the arrow lodge itself in Cullen's neck. All she could do was weep. The tears came. She heard the laughter of hate, the cries of war, the shouts of death and murder coming from behind her. And when the roar of battle rang out only feet from her back, her tears, her sadness urged her on. She spun around just as the monstrosity of a man came charging her. She lifted her battleaxe and it connected with the man's blade. It sent sparks flying. The man kept pushing, forcing her down. She was on her back now, her only defense, the the long hilt of her broad ax. The man's blade comes deathly close to her face. She grits her teeth, hoping against hope that she can stop it. She takes a breath. She knows she can't. She calls out for the only thing that can stop him. 

"Solas!"

She shouts for him and he comes running. Where he had been she could not see from her position on the ground. He fade steps into view, rushing the villain atop her. The man is knocked back and immediately frozen into ice. Solas helps Maeve back to her feet. Her anger overwhelms her and she cleaves the man shaped ice cube in half with her ax. Solas grips her wrist, seeing the rage, knowing how easily it could take her. "Please, my love, not yet. There will be a time for grief." He whispers to her. He too saw Cassandra and Cullen. 

But more than that, he also saw Alistair fall. He saw Leliana chase men into the woods. He watched as they returned and the spymaster did not. He saw Morrigan transform into a bird and fly away with a sly smirk on her face, as if laughing at them. He had not seen Keiran once. The only thought that circulated his mind was whether or not the boy made it to the eluvian with the children. 

Maeve held her head high, gave a curt nod and turned to face him. "I cannot kill him as easily as I once would have. You know that. The power I drained from Mythal, because it did not belong to me, has dwindled over the years. I do not have the ability to save us, Vhenan." He whispered this to her. No tears welled in Maeve's eyes. No hurt ran up her cheeks. No pain coursed through her body.

Until it did. 

A single arrow. Its tip dipped in liquid silver, still hot as it flew through the air. Sharp and aiming directly at her. 

But even Solas' instinct could not save her. He did it as quickly as he could. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he pushed her out of the way. Instead of hitting her, the arrow stuck right into his chest. As a God, he should not be able to die. But the blood bond... it changes things. Everything. Maeve collapses next to him as he realizes that it doesn't matter who takes the arrow. It will take them both. He gasps for breath as the arrow sinks into his lung, through his back. Maeve lies in the grass next to him. Solas can see where the arrow came from. Atop the battlements, Gilderoy, bow in hand. 

Blood pours over his chest and he watches as it spews from Maeve as well. Carefully, but using the force he needs, he rips the arrow from his chest and shouts at the pain. Maeve crawls to him. He sits up as best he can, tired and losing blood quickly. He can feel it leaving him. "It is my fault, Maeve." He chokes out as he lays her over his lap, holding her tenderly. "Had I told the others that I could not kill him and why, we might have been able to come up with-" Maeve cuts him off. "Hush, Vhenan. There is nothing you could have done." When he looks down at her, dark red blood is on her lips, dribbling out of her mouth. 

"Our secrets are our downfall, Solas. But telling them, it would not have changed the inevitable fate that we faced." She mumbles through the metallic taste in her mouth. They sit like that in silence for a few moments. She sees her babies. Nicolynn and Mythalus. Brave hearted Nicolynn will try to be strong when she finds out. Poor little Mythalus will be so confused so heart broken. Tears come to her eyes at the thought of them. Who will teach him now? "Don't think about it, Vhenan." He mutters to her, brushing a tear from her cheek but smearing blood on her in the process.  

She cries fully then. "How can I not? They are our children. Our babies and they will be without parents for the rest of their lives. We will miss so much, Solas. Who will guide them? Who will care for them?" She whines into his shirt, getting yet more blood on her face. His blood. Their blood. "They will guide each other." He murmurs to her, brushing back her hair. He cannot feel the pain in his chest. He feels it trying to heal him but he won't let it. The bond won't let it. His body tells him what comes next. 

"Vhenan, do you know what happens when a God dies?" He questions. She shakes her head as she meets his eyes. They seem to glow almost. "Neither do I." Maeve almost chuckles at this but then the tears come harder. "Don't. Don't cry, Emma'lath." He saw it beginning in his hands before anything else. This part hurt. The gray color creeps into his skin, turning him rough and firm like... like stone... Maeve does not see. He takes in a breath and realizes that it too will happen to her. "Solas, what's happening?" She shows him her hands. He takes them in his own, kissing them sweetly. 

"Ar lath ma, Vhenan." He whispers to her, setting her back in his lap. She doesn't understand but it doesn't feel like death. She lets it take her. "Ar lath ma,..." She doesn't finish her sentence as the stone takes her. She freezes, forever looking up to the Dread Wolf.