Dragon Age Inquisition: The Legacy of Dorian Pavus

33: White Wolf

Dorian

Though he'd agreed to Nathaniel's suggestion to abstain from intimacy while in the Hissing Wastes, the tension he carried was becoming almost unbearable. Yet as much as wished for release, neither were content with mere kissing and touching. They both always wanted more, so frustrated he would have to be.

If that wasn't bad enough, he'd been having bad dreams. They'd started the second night at camp, the first night Nathaniel hadn't slept at his side. At first, he'd brushed if off as being nothing more than leftover residue from the spell he'd had cast upon him. By the second night, he'd abandoned his theory and done his best to remain cheerful and upbeat during the day, hoping it would put a stop to them.

By the third night, he'd given up any notion he had any control at all over his dreams and resigned himself to the continuation of his night terrors. What irritated him most was that upon waking, he remembered nothing but the fear. An overwhelming sense of terror whose residue became increasingly intense.

By the fifth night, he felt certain he was losing his grasp on reality. He'd tried potions, amulets and tonics in an attempt to control his dreams, all to no avail. He'd said nothing to Nathaniel though. He knew his amatus was as stressed as he was and had no desire to add to the ever-darkening circles in his lover's eyes. The man had enough to worry about without listening to Dorian complain about nightmares. And despite Nathaniel's continued, upbeat mood, he could see the strain in his eyes.

The Inquisitor was worried and with good reason. They could all feel how close they were getting to the end of all this. None of them really knew what it meant, but he knew Nathaniel feared he wouldn't be enough to stop Corypheus. He'd done what he could to assure him that if anyone could stop Corypheus, it was his amatus. Yet though he could see his words soothed him, he knew Nathaniel didn't share his confidence.

So he said nothing. Which in retrospect had probably been a mistake. They'd been in the Wastes eight days now and the nightmares had gotten worse. The previous morning he'd woke in a cold sweat, confused by his surroundings and uncertain as to how he'd gotten there. He knew it was a bad sign but still refused to say anything. They'd be out of the Wastes soon enough and with any luck the dreams would end once they returned to Skyhold.

Nathaniel

I knew Dorian was hiding something from me. I could see it in his forced smile, the strain at the corners of his eyes and how he had stopped trading witticisms with Bull and Varric. But I said nothing. The tension between us was wound tighter than a bowstring. If I pressed and he wasn't in a sharing mood, it was almost guaranteed to end in harsh words and things which couldn't be unsaid. I didn't want that, so I'd asked Bull and Varric to watch him and let me know if they discovered anything.

When Dorian disappeared into his tent, Bull stood up. In a loud voice he announced he was curious about a clump of rocks in the distance and asked if I would accompany him to check it out. I teased him, not wanting Dorian to get the wrong idea if he were listening and asked Varric to keep watch.

He nodded solemnly while Bull and I headed west to check out the rocks. He kept up his idle banter even after we reached the strange shape, proclaiming loudly that Varric should join us.

"Alright Tiny." Varric said when he joined us. "What's up? You learn something?"

"Yeah. Dorian's been having nightmares. Bad ones."

"Nightmares?" I echoed. "Do you know what they're about?"

"Not sure boss. But he was thrashing around in his tent something fierce last night. Kept saying no and then he said wolf."

"Wolf?" I repeated stupidly. "Why wolf? We haven't seen any wolves out here. In fact, I can't remember the last time we even fought wolves."

"Emprise du Lion." Varric muttered.

"Right." I frowned. "Sorry Varric." I'd forgotten about that. We'd been scouting north, just outside our second base camp when a pack of wolves had surrounded us. Varric had somehow gotten concerned by three of them and taken a bite to the arm before Cassandra and I had been able to help.

"But that's just it boss." Bull continued. "I don't think he meant wolf exactly."

"You lost me Bull."

"You know. The Wolf. The one from those Dalish stories."

I felt an icy shiver trace it's way up my spine. "You mean the Dread Wolf? Fen'Harel?"

"Yeah! That's the one."

"But why would Sparkler be dreaming about that?" Varric asked. "It doesn't make sense. We're nowhere near any elves or elven ruins here."

"It makes sense to me." I said, my tension rising. "Before all this started, Dorian was doing research on ancient elven gods. It was after he talked to Sera about what he found when he experienced that episode of lost time."

Varric nodded while Bull just looked confused.

"Lost time? When did that happen?"

"The night before we went to the elven ruins in the Emerald Graves."

"And Solas and Cole came with?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah. I remember now. You did that fake tripping thing or whatever it was. Forgot to ask you about that"

"You knew I was faking? Shit. Do you think Solas noticed?"

Bull shrugged. "Don't know boss. That guy is hard to read, even for me and I've been around all kinds of elves.

I frowned at him. "Well that was less than helpful Bull."

"Hey now! You asked. But back to this time thing - what happened?"

I told him what Sera had said and how Varric had found Dorian that morning. I'd questioned him about it, but he'd been embarrassed about the wine and brushed it off as nothing but a hangover. I hadn't accepted that, so he told me what he remembered but was adamant he was only guessing. In the end, he said he'd had a nightmare about a wolf and drank the wine to forget the fear it caused.

"So that's where you got the wolf from." Bull nodded. "But how does that connect to Solas? Just cuz Sera thought it, doesn't mean she's right. I mean, it's not like they get along but she might have said it because she doesn't like him."

"No." Varric shook his head. "I think the Inquisitor might be on to something. Solas is always going on about ancient elves. Their stories, their origins, their past glory, whatever. But I still don't know if he even likes them, hates them or just likes hearing himself talk."

"I always thought it was all three." Bull ventured.

"I suppose it doesn't matter." I sighed.

"What do you mean boss?" Bull asked.

"We have no proof of anything. Look, the only real problem here is figuring out what's causing Dorian's nightmares and making them stop."

"And just how do you propose to do that?" Varric wondered.

I frowned. I'd thought of something, but when I said Dorian's name it vanished. "I don't know Varric. I had an idea, but it's gone now." I shook myself and headed back to camp. "I'll be in the tent with Dorian. If his nightmares are getting worse, I have to be in there with him."

"Whatever it takes Boss." Bull agreed. "It sounded bad last night. Maybe with you in there if it happens again, you can wake him up or something."