Dragon Age: Semper ad Meliora

Doom Upon All the World

And so is the Golden City blackened
With each step you take in my Hall.
Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting.
You have brought Sin to Heaven
And doom upon all the world.
- Threnodies 8:13

Skyhold, Ferelden, August 9:42 Dragon

The Inquisition had an army. They had the support of nearly the entirety of southern Thedas. They had, depending on who you asked, the Maker's divine blessing upon their cause.

Now they also had a dragon.

Corypheus had nothing.

Grey Wardens – freed from his influence. Red Templars – destroyed. Venatori – scattered to the winds.

This was it. They had him.

If only they could find him.

Idhren crumpled up the last scouting report in a hefty stack and threw it onto the floor. Every hand they could spare was out looking for a sign of the magister, and every one of them kept coming up empty.

"How hard could it possibly be to find an ancient, giant darkspawn and his blighted dragon?" Idhren snapped in frustration.

They were so close.

So fucking close. He could end this. Today if he wanted. All they had to do was find their quarry. "Where could he possibly be hiding?"

"The Deep Roads," Leliana pointed out unhelpfully. They were both hunched over her desk in the rookery, ready to act the second any word came. But nothing came. "They are vast, and many areas remain unexplored. And it would be reasonable to assume darkspawn are no threat to him."

That didn't make Idhren feel any better. "He could hole up down there forever and we might never find him." He scowled down at the table and all the papers scattered over it. He really wanted to just thrown them all onto the floor, but somehow he restrained himself. "I hate this!"

As though in response to his mood, the Anchor suddenly flared in his palm, sending a burning spike of pain straight up his arm. Green light sprung from his flesh like fire, flickering and spitting and casting the table in its eerie glow. He couldn't quite contain the cry of surprise and pain that escaped his throat as a strangled yelp.

"Inquisitor?" Leliana shot to her feet in alarm.

Idhren grit his teeth and pulled himself back under control. This pain was not new to him. He felt it every time he closed a rift, every time he used the mark in any way. But what was causing it to react now? There were no rifts anywhere near Skyhold, and while his innate magic occasionally reacted to heightened emotions, the Anchor had never done such a thing. "I don't know what's--," he started to say, but his words were cut off and drowned out by a sudden booming sound, like thunder echoing through the mountains. The tower shook from the force of it, scattering the papers on the table and rattling candle stands.

The ravens in their cages began to caw and screech. Startled exclamations floated up from the library.

"What in the world?" Leliana exclaimed, her voice muffled by the ringing in Idhren's ears. And then her eyes caught the window and she froze.

Idhren followed her gaze. And realized that the green glow suffusing the immediate area was not entirely because of the Anchor.

"Shit," he swore under his breath. Moving so quickly that he knocked over his chair, Idhren made for the nearest door out to the parapets. He threw it open and raced out, eyes on the sky as soon as it was visible. Cloudy and green and all too familiar. "Fucking shit," he swore again, racing several paces around the curve of the tower to get a better look.