Dragon Age: The Ferelden Chronicles

Chapter Twelve

Varia stumbled backward into the first solid object she could find, her breath coming out in rapid, shallow gasps. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she struggled to open her pack, her body sliding a bit down the trunk of the tree she was leaning against when she started to lose her footing.

"Here, drink this," Alistair instructed her, holding out a full vial of lyrium potion toward her. She attempted to take it from him, but the tremors were so bad that she dropped it to the ground at her feet. Alistair picked the vial up and uncapped it himself, then went to her and helped her drink the bright blue liquid within. The moment she swallowed the first bit down, she immediately started to feel better and by the time she had finished it she was no longer weak and struggling to stand – she was furious.

"What in the Maker's bloody name were you thinking?!" she yelled at Daveth, taking all three of her companions by surprise. Obviously, they hadn't expected a small elven woman to be able to shout so loudly. "You almost got me killed!"

"I was just checkin' out the info from this letter I found on the corpse of one of the soldiers back at the darkspawn camp," Daveth explained, having the decency to at least look remorseful for what he'd done. "I swear, I didn't know that thing was gonna pop out like that."

"Give me that," Varia demanded, going to him and snatching the faded parchment from him. Her eyes quickly skimmed over the words, and when she had finished reading the short passage she crumpled the page in her hand and shoved it against the rogue's chest.

"You idiot! Don't you know that in any sort of story where a spirit exists in the world of the living, it's more often than not a demon?" She berated him, her jaw clenched in fury. "Demons crave mages, Daveth! They need us in order to keep a foothold in the mortal plane. While you were fighting it, it was trying to possess me! I had to deplete all of my mana just to keep it at bay while also protecting the three of you!"

"But I thought demons could only take possession of a mage in the Fade," Alistair asked, cautiously approaching her.

"Normally, yes," she confirmed, glaring at Daveth for a moment longer before turning her head to address him. "It's likely some blood mage called it out of the Fade, though, and it ended up tied to that spot. Who knows how long it was actually there, biding its time? And in that time, it was slowly building up its power, growing stronger with each passing year. When Daveth released it and it felt my magic... It immediately focused upon me. I could feel it, Alistair. I could feel its power like sick fingers trying to claw their way into my very soul."

"I truly am sorry, Varia," Daveth apologized, scuffing his feet about like a little boy who was being scolded by his mother. "I honestly didn't know any of what you just said about mages and demons and all that. If I had, I'd never have done it."

"That's good to hear," Jory remarked. "Don't need anyone who would intentionally put one of his own in danger. Where I come from, we call people like that 'traitor' and hang them in the square for all to see."

"What's important is that everyone is safe, right?" Alistair asked, looking warily between the rogue and the mage. "Daveth... do try to be more careful, though. No more wandering off without an adult."