Dragon Age Inquisition: The Legacy of Dorian Pavus

73: Reunion

Dorian sighed heavily, closed his eyes and concentrated. As I watched, he disappeared from my side and I could only assume he'd been successful.

"Now it's your turn Inquisitor." Feynriel said, turning to me.

"My turn for what?"

"Become the wolf. Draw the pack into yourself. You will be the wolf Dorian believes he fears, but it is illusion. He must see past his to fully recover this part of himself."

"Alright." I nodded though I had no clue what he meant. I got down on my hands and knees and focused on becoming the wolf. A moment later the pack had disappeared and I felt heavy and warm, my vision strange as I stared at the human crouched on the tree.

"Come down now Dorian." I heard Feynriel call out, though I was finding it difficult to understand him.

I watched as the human who smelled of fear slowly climbed down the tree. I bared my teeth and growled at him, making him flinch away from me. He wreaked of sweat and a hammering heart and I wanted to attack him, make him stop making my ears twitch, but something made me hesitate.

The human approached slowly and though I could still taste his fear, it seemed to dissipate with each step he took toward me. After two more steps he was beside me, running his fingers through my fur and I panted at the human's touch. I heard a voice raised in approval, blinked and found myself transformed back into a man. I was still crouched on the ground, Dorian's fingers in my hair when I remembered myself and got to my feet.

"That was... interesting." I said, noting Dorian's smile. "Are we done here?"

"I believe that's all of them." Feynriel nodded. "Dorian? Do you feel whole again?"

Dorian frowned. "No. I think there's another piece trapped here."

"I cannot sense it." Feynriel said. "You will have to lead us."

"Alright." He nodded, heading off into some nearby trees.

When Dorian stopped at the next clearing, I was surprised to see myself standing opposite the part of Dorian still trapped here. I edged closer and I could hear his words, recognizing them from the conversation we'd had after visiting the Arbour Wilds.

"This is the piece of you that's trapped?" I asked, searching his face for understanding.

"Yes." He whispered.

"But why? Solas was influencing you for this wasn't he?"

"He was." Dorian nodded. "But I could feel how my words affected you. I wanted to call you back, apologize. But I didn't. I shrugged it off and returned to my book."

"But..." I protested, still confused.

"Inquisitor." Feynriel interrupted. "If I'm reading this right, Dorian wants this memory to change. He needs it to change in order to reclaim it."

"This memory fills me with guilt amatus." Dorian said quietly. "It doesn't matter to me that I was being controlled. All that matters is that I hurt you and I'm ashamed I didn't fight against what I said."

"Alright." I nodded, still not understanding completely how this would help. "What do I do?"

"Step into your memory self and let me say what I really wanted to say."

"Okay." I said, moving toward my memory self. When I was within touching distance, I closed my eyes and felt a tingle on my skin as I merged with Dorian's memory of me. I waited a heartbeat and though it was quick, I noted the moment when he did the same.

"I could go with you." I heard myself say.

"As much as I would enjoy that, I can't ask you to leave the Inquisition for me."

"You're not asking Dorian. I'm offering."

"And that is why I love you." He said, his face breaking into a wide grin. "I have no idea where that thought even came from. I see you conquering the world and am able to imagine anything is possible. Even saving my homeland from itself."

"There's nothing wrong with having hope Dorian."

"There is when I'm even entertaining the idea of leaving you behind." He corrected, taking a step toward me.

"But I know how important your homeland is to you."

He shook his head, his eyes filling with sadness. "It will never be more important to me than you amatus. Never. I beg of you, please forgive me for even bringing this up. I love you. I will always love you and nothing will come before my love for you again. Not ever."

"There's nothing to forgive." I said, stepping into his embrace. "But if you need to hear it, then I forgive you Dorian. I will always forgive you, never doubt that."

"Amatus." He sighed, pressing his lips to mine his kiss filled with wonder and promise.

Feynriel cleared his voice over my shoulder and Dorian pulled out of my embrace with reluctance. "I hate to interrupt, but we should go before we attract desire demons." He said.

Keeping my hand linked in Dorian's, I turned and pulled him back to where Feynriel stood waiting for us. "Do we need to go somewhere else in the Fade to leave here?" I asked.

"No." He said. "Just link hands with me like before and we can go now."

"Sounds good to me." Dorian huffed. "I think I've had enough of the Fade to last a lifetime."

----xxx----

When I next opened my eyes, Dorian was still seated across from me, his eyes filled with love and reverence. It was almost painful to see the raw feelings he was experiencing so plain on his face, but then he smiled and pulled me into a crushing embrace and I couldn't speak for how overwhelmed I was. "Oh Amatus. I've no idea what I've done to deserve you, but I thank the Maker you're here."

"You didn't do anything Dorian." I murmured into his chest, my arms tight across his back. "You were just yourself. I couldn't possibly defend against that."

"Amatus." He sighed, placing a gentle hand at the back of my neck to tilt my head towards him. "I do so adore you." He whispered, pressing a kiss to my lips.

"And I you." I assured him, pulling back a bit to take him in. "How are you feeling now? Did our trip to the Fade work?"

"I feel like myself again. Whatever Solas did, it seems to be gone now."

"Dorian's right." Feynriel agreed from where he stood near the door. "I can no longer detect any trace of the magic Solas used. The Dread Wolf's curse is gone."

"And how long before Solas retaliates?"

"That I don't know." Feynriel replied. "Though I imagine your friends would like to see you both in the meantime and I'm sure Magister Tilani will have news."

"Maeve!" Dorian exclaimed, leaving the bed. "I knew I'd not imagined seeing her earlier. Let's go Amatus, there's much we need to discuss."

~~~~~~
A/N: Jan. 14/19
Finally experiencing all of Inquisition dlc. Will be back to this after I complete the MCU story I'm writing on AO3.