In Search of a Wolf - The Elves of Fen'Harel Book 1 (Dragon Age)

Darvaarad

Darvaarad was the Qunari term for a magical quarantine site. Solas had explained that they were managed by the Ben-Hassrath, and led by Viddasala. They were investigating a variety of things, Laisa saw, as she and Solas passed through. This was the place the Viddasala had escaped to, and where the Inquisition would follow next. There were more eluvians than she had ever imagined, in piles, many smashed but others active. "What a waste!" Solas said angrily, "So many pathways destroyed to satisfy their curiosity."

They walked with steady, even footsteps through the night across the torch-lit bridge to the sprawling keep. With Solas's powers, no one noticed them.

Ancient elven statues were clumped inside locked rooms with murals. There were ocularum, those strange devices made from the skulls of Tranquil mages, and astrariums. There was even, to her horror, chunks of red lyrium, stored there for study. "What is all this for?" Laisa asked.

"It's a stockpile." Solas glanced around, "Knowledge and power all in one convenient place. This is how they've opened so many eluvians." He paused, "I'd say that this is a base for their spies too. And from the snatches of qunlat I've heard, I'd say that they're making gaatlock here."

There was a sudden flurry of shouts. "Lavellan's here." Laisa said, "I hear fighting." Blades clanged, cutting through the still air. On an unspoken agreement, they drifted closer together, hearing the Inquisitor scream out in pain, the mark on her hand flaring.

"Oh, shit." Varric said, "That...can't be good. You alright?"

"We should hurry." Her voice was strained.

"She's dying." Solas muttered.

"You seem awfully concerned about Lavellan." Laisa said with the tiniest pang of jealousy. "Why don't you just explain everything to her?"

"Because she'd be obliged to try and stop me." Solas turned away, "You know that. But she was my friend and ally for a time. I came to respect and value her greatly."

"You never had feelings for her?" Laisa asked.

"Where's this coming from?" Solas was frowning at her.

She laughed, "Vhenan, with an immortal life, I know you will have loved before, perhaps many times. I wouldn't blame you. I just...wondered. It was clear that she missed you greatly, even with her attachment to the Commander."

"Perhaps right at the start. She intrigued me, her power and her forthright nature. There was a little back and forth flirtation that never progressed to anything more. I knew we could never have a future with my obligations and my secrets."

"We've made a go of it." Laisa pointed out, "Despite your many objections."

"That is because you are extraordinary, da'mi. Shall we go on?"

Inside the keep, it was quiet. Once more, no one noticed them wandering through. Barrels of gaatlock were stocked everywhere, many of them with primers. It was like living inside a lethal weapon, Laisa thought uneasily. One slip, and the room would blow. She perused a document for workers. The Qunari seemed to believe that by destroying the leadership of the southern states and converting the populace to the Qun, they were saving the people, from war and bloodshed. And destroying their freedom, Laisa thought bitterly. It also talked about a specimen.

"A specimen?" Laisa's forehead creased with a frown, "I'd laugh if Dragon's Breath involved an actual dragon." A roar resounded from deeper inside the keep. She paled as Solas gave her a look. "I was kidding!"

"You had to say it!"

"It was a joke!" She hesitated, before running to catch him up. "It's not really a dragon, is it? Is it?"

"I think your assumption was correct." They started to run, pushing open a set of double doors. The dragon lay several chambers beyond. It was beautiful, striking and savage. Scales of numerous colors shone in the torchlight: purples and greens and oranges, dusky blues on the underside of vast leathery wings. It was chained and trapped. Clearly restless, it struggled and snapped.

"Combine no more than one part ataashi venom with an equal amount of deathroot..." Laisa read aloud from a document, willing her shaking hands to calm.

"Ataashi?" Solas wondered aloud.

"It's the dragon." She replied, "They're using the venom." Laisa realized, "They use it to make the explosives. What should we do?"

"Lavellan will find her way here and shut it down." Solas declared confidently. "We leave it for her to sort."

"I feel sorry for it." Laisa said, a little sadly, staring at the magnificent beast in its chains.

"Agents of Fen'Harel!" A voice shouted. The Viddasala stood atop a flight of stairs. A group of Qunari warriors stood before her, weapons aimed squarely at the two elves. "This is the end for you."

"What makes you say that?" Solas asked calmly.

"We know who you are, Solas, even if we do not recognize your companion." The Viddasala said, "We know the master you both serve." Solas and Laisa glanced at one another. She was trying not to smile. "You have foiled enough of our plans."

"And now we will finish destroying you." Laisa told her, "The Inquisition have already arrived. It won't take them long to reach this place and destroy this place as we lead the way."

"The South will fall!" The Viddasala insisted, "You cannot stop this!"

"We already have." Solas told her. "It's over."

"I will save the world from poisons like you." She shook her head, a manic energy in her eyes, "You are abominations! Chaos follows in your wake."

"Heard it all before..." Laisa rolled her eyes. "Are you done?"

"Kill them!"

The Qunari soldiers lunged but they were no match for Solas. He raised his arm and a barrel of gaatlok exploded, the fire spreading with the power of his magic between the elves and the qunari. Smoke billowed, thick and black and choking. Laisa doubled over, coughing. Solas grabbed her arm, "Come on, we'll draw them off, give the Inquisitor more of a fighting chance."

They ran for the portcullis, mercifully slightly open. The dragon hissed and writhed in its chains but didn't spot them amid the thick smoke spreading from Solas's spell. Laisa ducked as a scaled tail whooshed over her head, whipping up a wind that sent her hair flying. Her heart was beating at a thousand miles an hour and despite the danger, she'd never felt so invincible, or so alive.

"Get those fires out!" The Viddasala barked. "Protect the beast! We still need it. Where are the agents? Kill them! Nehraa Qun!"

Someone shouted and an arrow whizzed past her ear, embedding itself in the wall beyond her. Solas turned and waved a hand, the smoke intensifying. The gate was closing, the sound of the creaking metal grating against her ears. She pushed her legs to move faster, her lungs burning until she and Solas slid, skidding across the floor and under. The gate banged shut behind them.

"Ashkost say hissra!" Someone behind them hissed, more arrows blindly shooting out from the smoke.

"Solas!" Laisa cried out as she glanced behind her, throwing her weight into him. The arrow shot right past where his head would have been as they landed in a crumpled heap on the ground. "All the magic in the world couldn't have saved you from an arrow in the brain." She said breathlessly.

"Ma serannas, da'len." They untangled themselves. She leapt up, putting out her hand to pull him up. With a small smile, Solas clasped her hand and she hauled him to his feet. "Time to lead them away." He laughed, running across the bridge towards the next eluvian. Laisa rolled her eyes and followed disappearing into the light.