Into the Chaos

chapter twelve

I return to camp before everyone wake. I caught some fish before I returned for breakfast. I leave the scouts to make it this time. I gather all my things from my tent and prepare my horse.

One of the scouts offer me breakfast. I decline.

The others exit their tents and almost seem surprised to see me. They hadn't expected me to bother to come back. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Do they regret their actions, or do they think me unreliable?

I watch them from my place by my horse. They don't look guilty. Well, Varric does a little but not enough for him to look like he wants to say anything. Solas and Cassandra look utterly indifferent.

They eventually finish their food and we hit the road.

We got to the Hinterlands a day and a half later. The others spent the rest of that day resting at camp. I ran around doing small quests for people. I don't get back to camp 'til morning again.

"Herald, we are concerned for you." Solas says when he sees me walking up to camp.

"Yeah, how much have you eaten in the past three days? How much have you slept?" Varric says.

"I don't need as much sleep as you might think. Tell me when you're ready to go."

"Guess that answers that question."

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We leave about an hour later. I stay quiet for most of the short horse ride to Blackwall's cabin. We fight off bandits, he sends the villagers back to their homes. I briefly speak with him and he agrees to come with us back to Haven.

We reach the Crossroads around midday and the others stop for something to eat. While they do so, I sit against a wall and close my eyes. I hear someone walk up to me and after a minute they speak up.

"You know better than to let your guard down by now, don't you, dear Luciana?" A male voice.

I shake my head but don't respond otherwise.

"Come now. I know you better than that. And I can tell you this, stop your foolish behavior."

I don't open my eyes but reply quietly with, "It was different before. I wasn't in this position. What I decided didn't matter much."

I hear him sigh as he sits beside me. "Look at me, Luciana."

Slowly, I do as he says.

"Do you believe you made the right choice?"

"I did. The others seem to disagree with my actions."

"Since when have you cared about other's opinions?"

"Since I was the one leading them. If I don't take their thoughts into account, they may leave." I shake my head and look at the ground. "Maybe if we hadn't discussed it perhaps, they would not despise it so."

"I want you to listen to me. I told you this when you agreed to serve me, and I will tell you so again. You will feel a compulsion to carry out justice to a degree. This side effect didn't matter as much before, where your justice system had more of a handle on things, where you had a variety of options in cases such as this. Here it is not so. If you think you did what was best, believe so until you are shown otherwise." He is silent for a moment. "Tell me, what was my last order?"

"To judge those who need it."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me, did those people need to be judged?"

I look into his eyes. "Yes. They did. But I'm not like Dredd. I shouldn't be able to just do these things."

He looks at me. "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

I nod.

"With words, my dear warlock."

I look away again. "I did as you instructed. I did nothing wrong. Stop beating myself up about it."

"I know you don't fully believe what I'm telling you and this isn't an order but do eat something today, I would hate for you to die so pitifully." He fades away as the sentence finishes.

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We go to the tavern in Redcliffe after closing the rift and looking at the building by the docks with the tranquil skulls.

We talk with Fiona for a few minutes until Alexius and Felix walk in. I talk with them about mages until Felix falls over and shoves a slip of paper into my hand.

Come to the chantry. You are in danger.

When we get through the Chantry doors, Dorian is whacking shades with his staff. He turns to us, "good, you're finally here! Now, help me close this, would you?"

When we get done closing it he walks up to me, "fascinating. How does that work exactly?" He laughs a little, "you don't even know, do you? You just wiggle your fingers and, boom! Rift closes."

"Who are you?"

"Ah getting ahead of myself again, I see. Dorian of House Pavus, most recently of Minrathous. How do you do? Magister Alexius was once my mentor, so my assistance should be valuable-- as I'm sure you can imagine."

"I'm sure. You sent the note then?"

"I did. Someone had to warn you, after all."

"Danger is everywhere. Alexius stole some mages. How?"

"Alexius distorted time itself. The rift you closed here? You saw how it twisted time around itself, sped some things up, slowed others down. Soon there will be more like it, and they'll appear further and further away from Redcliffe. The magic Alexius used is wildly unstable, and it's unravelling the world."

"Why wouldn't it? Can you tell us anything else?"

"When I was still his apprentice, Alexius could never get it to work. What I don't understand is why he's doing it? Ripping time to shreds just to goin a few hundred lackeys?"

Felix walks in, "he didn't do it for them."

"Took you long enough. Is he getting suspicious?"

"No, but I shouldn't have played the illness card. I thought he'd be fussing over me all day." He turns to me, "my father's joined a cult. Tevinter supremacists'. They call themselves 'Venatori'. And I can tell you one thing; whatever he's doing for them, he's done it to get to you."

"Fun. Crazy cultists are the best." I say.

"They're obsessed with you, but I don't know why. Perhaps because you survived the Temple of Sacred Ashes?"

"They probably see me as a threat. They might even be behind the Breach. Who know? Why are you working against your father, Felix?"

"For the same reason Dorian works against him. I love my father, and I love my country. But this? Cults? Time magic? What he's doing now is madness. For his own sake, you have to stop him."

"I plan to, at any rate. We can turn knowing this is a trap into our advantage. Dorian, come to us with Haven. We can plan better there. We have a camp a little ways from the Crossroads. Can you meet us there sometime tonight?"