The Mage That He Would Forever Hold Dear (CullenxInquisitor Fanfic)

-17- Loosing Control

A soft click of Faiths tongue could be heard as she pulled the reins in her hands to lead the horse towards a small path through an area of dense forest. Her small group following closely behind her. Dorian, Varric and Bull has come along with her to the Hinterlands in search of a few apostates that had been causing trouble with some of the towns people. Several accounts had claimed that spells and wards had been cast in the town that were harming crops and making animals go wild along with lure hungry wolves or even demons from the breach towards cattle or homesteads.

The group had just finished questioning the town people and were currently headed towards one of the dens where the apostates had been last seen. Faith was nervous about the whole ordeal, She her self having been an apostate for a good portion of her life. The struggles they faced were jarring and she knew what if felt like to be hunted down by every Templar or towns folk that though them self mighty enough to slaughter innocence just because they were outcasts. She knew what happened when Mages were backed into a corner, the same out come as a wild animal or Mabari being cornered.

Her mind wandered as her horse cantered along the path, it's nostrils flaring every so often as it huffed in boredom. She remembered how Cullen had taken her into his arms and kissed her passionately and sadly when she had told him she was headed to the Hinterlands for a while and she didn't know when she would be returning. Deep down she knew he had wanted to beg her not to go, to stay with him and never leave his side; but that was silly. She was the Inquisitor, it was part of the job to head out and help the different nations that would hopefully pull together and help their cause, strengthening them as a whole to be able to defeat the demons and their leader Corepheus. But in her own little fantasy she wished she could run away with him, from all this madness and build their own little cabin on a square of land; make their own home and fill it with their own children. She wanted to live happily ever after with him, but that was a far cry away with the Demons and Dark spawn that still managed to crawl up from the deep roads and kill a few travellers on the roads.

"How is it that Apostates are still out in the wild like this? Not that they should abide by the Circles stupid rules, but why not build their own nation where they can live freely?" Dorian ranged to himself a little too loudly. Faith glanced back at him with a small smirk shaking her head.

"Like in Tevinter?" She replied cockily, Bull chuckling along with Varric.

"You know, if I could shoot lightening out of my finger tips, there wouldn't be many bad guys on the trails like there is now." Varric laughed as he adjusted his belt.

"I'd prefer if there were rules, maybe not as harsh as they are now, but to at least keep things in order." Bull grunted, slightly uncomfortable with the speak of magic.

"Fine, why not just lock us in a tower with a bunch of guards that can barely wield a sword and kill on first sight of magic being used. Oh wait, that's already a thing." Dorian shot back, giving Bull a look filled with daggers. Bull merely grunted in response, his dark eyes narrowing as Dorian scoffed.

"Calm down you two, no ones locking anyone up and there will be no miss use of magic." Faith replied, shooting warning looks to the both of them before her eyes landed on Varric who was scribbling notes onto a small pad of parchment. "Taking notes already?" She chimed to the Dwarf watching as he nodded and chuckled. She shook her head with a small smile before halting her horse.

Before them was a thin cave entrance, scrawny burnt and wilting trees scattered around the small clearing. Various different wards were carved into the wall of rock, along with tiny carvings hanging from the trees around them. Sliding from the saddle Faith tied her horse up to one of the trees and let her fingertips graze one of the small wooden carvings that swung in the wind. Her fingertips became warm and uncomfortable at even the slightest of touch telling her there was strong magic attached to them. She was unsure what spells had been placed but she could tell they were defensive and would do a lot of damage to her and her party members. There was a soft smell to the air around them, lavender and soot. She didn't recognize the scent and it put her on edge realizing these were mages from another continent, ones that most likely had been caught trying to cross the border and had refused to bow down to the circle of Magi.