Into the Woods (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Obsession

The squawk from Morrigan, high overhead, and a startled grunt from Fenris as the elf turned his head sharply to the right came at the same time. Wulfric and Isabela froze in place, only to stumble and nearly fall on their faces as Oghren, less observant, thumped into them from behind.

Above them Morrigan dove out of sight, still uttering loud, distressed cries.

"This way," Fenris said urgently, paying no attention to the other three as they disentangled themselves from each other. "You must hurry," he added, beginning to weave his way through the trees without stopping to see if they were behind him.

"Did you hear anything?" Wulfric asked Isabela as they hurried after him.

"No, but if he did, that's good enough for me."

The forest grew more dense and dark enough that Wulfric had a hard time seeing the others. He was grateful for Fenris's strange lyrium marking and Isabela's gold jewelry, both of which caught and reflected what little light there was. Ahead of them he could begin to distinguish sounds, voices, raised in either anger or pain. It was hard to tell exactly which. He wanted to call Fenris back, to find out what the elf could hear, to prepare himself for whatever lay in front of him. His legs felt leaden as dread settled heavily on his shoulders. He wanted to get to the other side of the dark curtain of foliage ... but he didn't want to, either. Because whatever was over there was his fault. His friend had betrayed them, his son's grandmother had attacked them—his inability to protect his family had brought all these good people here and strained them to the very edge of their endurance and abilities.

Wulfric was used to the people around him honing their abilities, advancing their skills, growing better and sharper as the time went on. This reversal, brought on by the unfamiliarity of the forest and its environs and the terrible distance they all were from anything they knew, weighed on him. He could feel their weariness and increasing sense of defeat as if it were his own, and he wondered how many of them secretly wished that it was over, that whatever would happen to the child would go ahead and happen so they could all mourn and move on. He wouldn't blame them for feeling that way; in his secret heart, he thought maybe he did, too.

And then Fenris pushed through the brush, followed by Isabela. There was silence after they disappeared, abrupt and startling, and Wulfric couldn't wait any longer. He burst through the barrier and then, as his friends had before him, stopped still, transfixed by the sight before him.

Anders held Arthur's small form up in front of him. The eyes and mouth of the mage, his very skin, glowed with a blue light, making him look like an entirely different person from the friend Wulfric remembered from Amaranthine. The eyes and mouth of the boy, as well as his skin, emitted a similar light, but it was pure and white and possibly the most beautiful thing Wulfric had ever seen.

It was difficult to tear his gaze away from the beauty of the child and the terribleness of the man to take stock of the others. If it hadn't been for the habits he'd picked up during the Blight, those of automatically taking stock of his companions every time they stopped, he might not have been able to do so at all. Oghren crashing into his back as he pushed through the brush was, for once, a helpful distraction.

Wulfric's first concern was for Morrigan. His wife had reformed into her human shape. She was staring at their son, her face filled with utter devastation. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks—Morrigan, who had never wept that Wulfric had seen, not for any reason. He wanted to go to her, but he hadn't the right. Not now. Possibly not ever again if he couldn't save their child ... not after he had been responsible for the way this situation had unfolded.

Fenris and Isabela stood shoulder to shoulder. She was transfixed by the boy's light; he was glaring at Anders. The lyrium in his skin gave brief flashes as he tried to suppress his hatred of the mage and his almost palpable need to do something to end the standoff.