Love and Lyrium

A World Gone Mad

Evelyn's staff spun wildly through the air, perfectly mimicking what her thoughts were doing inside her head. She'd awoken only a few hours ago in a world gone mad. Once her captors had realized she was conscious, she'd been shackled and forced to kneel on the floor of what looked like a dungeon, four swords dutifully pointed at her from all angles. When the Seekers had come to question her, one loud and brazen, the other quiet and curious, they had accused her of killing everyone who had attended the conclave. Her heart twinged again as she thought about how many people had been lost in the explosion that she had been the sole survivor of. Her left palm was itching and she stifled the inconvenience as she channeled her magic through the staff she'd grabbed when the demons started falling. Her mind raced as her fingers artfully traced sigils in the air while she whipped her staff to accommodate the movement. The Shade before her froze as the spell slammed into it. She twisted her body, dancing closer to it and used the heavy top end of the staff to smack into the frozen demon and shatter it to pieces.

Her breath came in heavy pants, misting into view before her as her eyes scanned the frozen lake on which they stood. "It's over," she sighed, dropping her arms to her sides, the staff lax in her grip.

Her ornery new friend crossed the field of battle in seconds, her sword raised toward Evelyn's chest. "Drop your weapon! Now!"

Evelyn lifted the staff, her hand gripping the wood a little more tightly even as she raised her left hand in a defensive gesture. In an attempt to lighten the mood she chuckled nervously at the sword being brandished in her direction. "Do you think I need a staff to be dangerous?"

"Is that supposed to reassure me?" The woman snarled. Her dark brown eyes narrowed in annoyance and the sword remained pointed.

"I haven't used my magic on you, yet," Evelyn reasoned, the freezing mountain winds picking up to blow her nearly white hair into her face. She watched the Seeker's face through the wisps of hair as her words sunk in. She didn't dare twitch until Cassandra realized she truly meant her no harm.

Those angry pools of brown slowly softened as Evelyn stood stark still. Finally, Cassandra let out a heavy sigh and her legs pulled together as her sword turned and was slipped into a sheathe at her hip. "You do not need a staff, but you should have one. I can not protect you and I should not expect you to be defenseless. I should also remember that you agreed to come willingly."

Evelyn let out her own sigh as she straightened her posture. Her left hand lifted automatically to brush the offending hair from her face and she was momentarily startled to see the blaze of green energy glowing on her palm. It tingled as if glad to be noticed and she glanced from it to the matching hole in the sky. The Breach, as it had been named, shimmered and pulsed with magic as it rained demons and horrors onto the land around them. Evelyn had been raised in the Circle. Until today she'd thought she knew everything there was to know about magic. Maker, had she been wrong. She returned her attention back to Cassandra who was waiting at the edge of the frozen lake, her own eyes fixed on Evelyn. Evelyn tucked her hair behind her ear and started carefully towards the water's edge, using her staff to keep from slipping on the ice. She was not dressed well for the harsh weather surrounding Haven. Ferelden was definitely much colder than the Free Marches where she'd grown up. She shuddered as she approached Cassandra, wondering how the woman wasn't cold. Her armor wasn't much more than leathers and a small cuirass. Evelyn assumed the leathers must have been fur lined.

"Here," Cassandra said when Evelyn climbed up from the lake. She offered her a belt lined with small philters full of healing elixirs. "Take these potions. Maker knows what we may face."

Evelyn thanked her and secured the belt to her waist beneath the ones that carried her Lyrium potions. She followed closely behind Cassandra, the sun every now and then glinting off the Warrior's shield when it peeked from behind the storm clouds. The valley was quiet aside from the far off sounds of fighting and the occasional deep popping sound that periodically came from the Breach. Evelyn kept glancing up at the monstrosity in the sky. Cassandra had said that the explosion at the Conclave had ripped the sky, creating a tear in the veil which was allowing the Demons from the Fade to walk Thedas unchecked. Whatever had caused the Breach was magic far beyond Evelyn's expertise. To take her mind from it's musings and the eerie quiet, she spoke to Cassandra. "Where are all of your soldiers?"