Tales From Thedas: Dragon Age One Shots

Time Rift

He'd been battling demons alone for a good twenty minutes when he heard the door to the Chantry open on rusty hinges. Pausing to catch his breath as he smacked a rage demon in the head with his staff, he looked over his shoulder to see a strikingly attractive man enter, followed by three others close on his heels.

As a twisting of magic roiled through the room, he snapped out of his staring and called out over his shoulder. "Good. You're finally here. Help me close this thing would you?"

Without waiting for a response, he turned back to face the next wave of demons which flooded the Chantry. Tossing out a fireball and freezing several wraiths with a flick of his wrist, he watched as the nameless Herald disappeared in a cloud of smoke only to reappear beside him, dual blades slicing into a fear demon which bore down on them both.

As the demon fell, the Herald held Dorian's gaze with eyes the colour of grass and wood. It was such an odd, out of place thing for him to notice he blinked to clear his vision. As the next wave of demons fazed into the room, the Herald winked at him, flashing him a smile as he disappeared into another cloud of smoke.

Dorian felt his jaw hang open at the unexpected gesture but had no time to reflect on it as a wraith hit him with a ball of ice magic. His fingers stinging from the impact, he hit it with a bolt of lightning and was about to follow with a fireball when the Herald appeared between him and the wraith and he swallowed down the mana he'd called up to avoid hitting him.

He blinked, feeling as though he had a bad case of heartburn with  the surge of mana he'd conjured as the Herald disappeared again.  Kaffas, the man was fast and, he thought absently, maybe a little reckless too. He turned back to the centre of the room and used the build up of mana to take out the remaining demons.

The Herald materialized from a cloud of smoke directly beneath the rift. A growling sound came from the pulsing green glow  above him and after casting Dorian a mischievous smile, he raised his left hand and green power surged from it into the tear above him.

Dorian could feel the pull of the Fade on his skin as the Herald poured power into the tear, the pin pricks of raw energy raising the hair on his arms. With a roar of power from the Fade, the Herald pulled his arm back and the rift snapped closed. Bits of leftover green fade bits fell from the sky, only to disappear before hitting the ground.

The Herald dropped his arm and turned to him, his eyes locking on his, surprising him with it's intensity but not before Dorian caught the surreptitious shake the  Herald gave his wrist. Interesting, he thought as the Herald crossed the room to him. The mark or whatever it was on the man's hand bothered him, yet it was clear he was keeping it to himself and he was very curious to know why.

"Fascinating." He said, trying to ignore the strange look the Herald was giving him. "How does that work exactly?" When he didn't answer, Dorian covered his interest in him with a laugh. "You don't even know do you? You just wiggle your fingers and poof, rift closes."

"I was expecting to see Felix here." The rich baritone of the man's voice momentarily stole his breath. It felt like a sensual caress, filled with promise and mystery and he was shocked by the effect it had on him.

"He'll be along shortly." He finally managed to croak, his voice strong despite his sudden inner turmoil.

"Are you the one who sent the note?"

"Yes, that was me. Felix was supposed to give you the note and then meet us here."

"And just who are you?"

"Ah, getting ahead of myself again I see. My name is Dorian Pavus, most recently of Minrathous. How do you do?"
----xxx----

Introductions and intentions taken care of with the Herald, he was twenty yards into the forest behind the Chantry when he stopped dead. He smacked his hand to his forehead in a gesture of self-recrimination, realizing the Herald hadn't told him his name.