For a long time, we saw many sets of footsteps upon the snow, but soon we only saw one small set. "Well, this kid is definitely trying to go to the Temple." Varric said as he looked up from the ground.
"The question now is 'why?'." I responded.
Varric looked up at me and then asked, "Culprit returning to the scene of the crime?"
"Accomplice more like." I replied, "He said he needed the staff to 'find his friend'."
Varric put his hand on his chin as if deep in thought as he said, "So the kid ran to the camp, stole a staff, ran towards the Temple of Sacred Ashes to find his friend, but if that's the case...?"
"Where's the friend?" I finished for him. We both looked out towards the Temple.
"Guess there's only one way to find out." Varric said as we ventured towards the boy's destination.
The more and more we followed the footprints, the more we found that they seemed to be maneuvering as if the boy was avoiding something, but what? We soon received our answer as we heard the voices of guards nearby.
"Shit I forgot that Cassandra told Curly to post soldiers out here." Varric said under his breath.
I looked around, trying to find where the footsteps led next. "It seems like our friend learned this as well." I whispered as I pointed up the mountain.
Varric's eyes went wide with shock as he looked towards where I pointed. "Don't tell me we have to go up there?!" he hissed at me, "I heard that a whole group was sent up there a few hours ago and no one's heard back from them yet!"
Not a word passed my lips as I began to climb up the mountain side. "Maker what have I gotten myself into this time?" I heard Varric say under his breath.
When I reached the height where the footsteps ended, I could not see any more prints in the snow. I looked down and saw just how high up I actually was and felt my legs begin to feel slightly weak. I shook the thought of falling out of my head and watched as Varric finished climbing the last few set rocks and stand beside me.
"Remember to tell me the next time you want to chase someone to not join you." he said as he was trying to catch his breath. He then stood up as straight as his back would allow and said, "So, where to next Solas?"
I looked around, trying to see if there was something I was missing. If the footprints ended, then there must be a reason why. It wasn't until I leaned on my staff that I realized that I was standing on flat ground. If there was flat ground on this piece of the mountain, then that meant I must be standing on a path of some sort.
"Varric," I began, "If you were trying to avoid the guards and found yourself on a strangely flat path on a mountain, what would you do?"
Varric looked at me confused at first, but then realized where I was going with this thought and replied, "If I was young, stupid, and most likely didn't know where I was going, I would follow the path I just found as far as I could."
"Exactly, that's what everyone would expect yes? But one would also expect him to keep running past the guards if he didn't know where he was going." I said, "Also notice how there isn't any snow here, while the rest of the mountain is covered with it."
"Meaning he's knows exactly where he's going and how to avoid the guards." Varric replied, "And that either he's come this way often enough that there isn't any snow left, or, considering he is most likely a mage..."
"He melted it." I finished as I examined the ground beneath us.
Varric looked down the path and continued, "If that were the case, then I would go down the path until there was a point that I could go back down."
I looked ahead of us and replied, "And that is precisely what we are going to do."
We traveled down the path, looking for any signs of the boy climbing down, most likely more melted snow. It wasn't until Varric nudged me in the side and pointed at the ground that I saw a trail in the snow as if someone had slid down, but there were no signs of landing at the bottom of it.
"You think this is him?" I asked as I bent down towards mark.
"If not, then he got tired of melting snow." Varric said as he pointed ahead of us. He was right. The snow was toppling over the edge of the path onto the side of the mountain as it should have been this entire time.
"But there isn't a landing there." I responded as I began to scratch my head. How could one slide down and not leave a landing?
"Huh, didn't think about that." Varric said as he began to rub his chin in the same manner.
I thought as hard as I could do, then I felt the candle had been lit inside my head as I said, "Varric, I have a theory, but I need you to watch me very closely, understand?"
Varric looked over at me with a skeptical gaze, and then replied, "Whatever you say Solas."
I then walked up to the snow at the end of our path, and cast a spell that caused me to step through the snow at a higher speed than usual. When I had stopped at a certain height, I looked back at Varric and said, "Any footprints?"
The dwarf looked at me in shock as he replied, "No. Just a..."
Varric's eyes widened even more as he turned his head towards the mark on the mountain side as he whispered, "A skid mark."
I ran back down in the same manner and purposely stopped in the snow. I looked up at Varric again.
"No sign of a landing until you start walking again." he said in disbelief.
I walked back and looked down the mountain. "Which way is the Temple from our current location?" I asked.
Varric pointed out in front of us as he said, "Straight ahead from here, if I'm not mistaken."
"Then perhaps we have finally caught up to him." I said as I began to tread carefully down the mountainside, "Come on Tethras. We almost have our answers."
"I'm right behind you Chuckles." Varric replied as he followed me with just as much caution.
We kept on walking until finally we saw the Temple of Sacred Ashes in front of us...or at least what was left of it. All around we could see the pieces of the stone falling from the arches and the thousands of charred bodies upon the ground...it was a horrible sight.
"Maker's breath." Varric said under his breath, "I heard that the explosion was bad, but I wasn't expecting to find this."
The guilt began to fill my body once more as I looked around me. All of these people...all of them coming to the Conclave just because they wanted peace...and they were slaughtered by the explosion caused by my anchor. I might as well have been the one to cast the spell that killed them. I tried my best to keep a straight face, but still Varric asked me a simple question.
"You all right?" he asked.
I swallowed the air hard as I nodded my head, and said, "Come on. I'm sure that the boy isn't too much farther ahead."
I could tell that Varric didn't believe me. The look in his brown eyes had said that much. As I was about to enter the blood red tunnel in front of us, Varric grabbed my arm and yelled, "What are you not telling me? There's obviously something that's bothering you!"
"My feelings do not matter right now!" I yelled back, "What matters is that we find out what that boy is doing and why! That's the only reason why we're here!"
"Is it?" Varric asked as his eyes narrowed, "Really?"
I gave the dwarf a cold stare as I turned on my heel and ventured down the tunnel. "If you do not wish to know, then don't come. But I'm finding out what is wrong with him." I said.
As I walked down, I heard Varric say, "You want to know about the boy, or how much damage your "anchor" really caused?"
I turned and looked over at him in shock. I did not remember telling him anything about the anchor, or even that it was mine...so how did he know?
"How do you think Lelianna learned about what you said while you were unconscious? You think she just sat by the cell and listened to everything you said?" He said with his arms stretched out wide, "I knew that you were the one who attacked Curly, because I was the one who brought you by the fire to warm you up and made it look like you fell down the hill. I saw you wake up and go berserk on everyone and I was the one who suggested to Cullen to lock you up with those shackles on your hands."
Now it was all coming together. Why else would the Seeker wish for him to write a report about me? And how else would Lelianna know about what I had said?
My eyes narrowed with distrust as I looked upon the dwarf with rage. "This was your plan wasn't it? To bring me here?" I asked suspiciously.
"Isn't it obvious?" he shouted, "This is where all of this shit started happening and you're obviously the only one here who knows anything about it! Once you started muttering about how you had to get the anchor back, I knew that all of this was indirectly your doing! The fact that this was where the kid was going was completely coincidental!"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing! And here I was starting to think that perhaps I had actually made an ally. I was already thinking of the spell that could freeze him in place, but decided that that was not the wisest course of action. If he was able to trick me into believing he didn't know anything about me, then perhaps there was more information about the others back at the camp that I could use to my advantage.
Without another word, I continued down the tunnel, my anger boiling inside me as I tried to make it as if Varric wasn't following behind me.
"So what, you're not talking to me now? You were fine a second ago!" Varric said, "If you hadn't attacked Curly I wouldn't have needed a reason to tell him to..."
I stopped in my steps, having had enough of this subject. If he was afraid of me, all he had to do was say it. If he blamed me for everything that was happening, then tell me! Don't dance around the fact that you're upset about it! You see I'm upset with myself and feel guilty for my actions, so why trick me into coming here?! These were not the words that were said through my gritted teeth, however.
I turned my head and looked over my shoulder, Varric's face turning from one of anger to one of fear as I hissed, "Shut. Up."
Varric looked as if he was trying to build up all of the courage his small frame could hold as he said, "No. Not until you admit that this is all your..."
"Fine! This is all my fault! There I said it! Glad?" I yelled, my body shaking with rage, "Yes, the anchor is mine! Yes, I should have been more proactive in finding the thief who stole my research! I should have been thinking of the possibility that it could be used for evil such as this! I may as well have placed the hole there with my own hands! I know all of these things and I feel guilty every time I look at someone who now has to face the problem that they would not have needed to worry about if I had not messed up!"
I began to approach Varric, the frost of the spell I wanted to cast beginning to surround my hands. I then hissed, "And the last thing I need is some dwarf who thinks he knows exactly how to fix the problem and manipulates me into doing what it is he wants and treats me like I'm nothing more than a pawn in his game of chess!"
Tethras's expression was as hard as a stone as he looked into my eyes. "You want to hit me, fine. But it's not going to change that this is all your doing, whether you want to believe it or not." he said.
I looked into Varric's brown eyes for a moment longer. Then turned on my heel as I said something I never thought I would say, "Fen'Harel ma halam!"
I kept walking as if there was nothing left to say between us. I did not hear his footsteps following me, nor did I want to at the time. If only I had known what I was going to face in the temple.
When I had reached the fence, I looked up and saw the hole in the sky, the closest I had ever been to it. I then heard the noise that sounded like breaking glass, but it was much closer than the hole appeared. It wasn't until I heard a voice from below that I actually looked down.
"Aelin, are you in there? Can you hear me? Aelin!" the Dalish boy said as he stood in front of a giant green crystal. It kept changing its shape every time the noise of glass was made.
The strangeness of the moment hit me as I began to walk down the path to my right, the way marked with giant red crystals protruding from the walls and the ground. The sound of women singing was all around me. I tried to ignore it, but the sound was only becoming louder and louder in my head. When I had reached the end of the path, I saw the boy walk up to the crystal and stand directly beneath it.
"Aelin? Aelin can you hear me? If you're there, answer me!" he cried out.
Then the crystal made a strange sound...the sound of a young woman's voice calling out as if answering the boy. "Pelle...Pelle is that you?"
The boy's face lit up with relief as he replied, "Yes Aelin it's me! Hold on, I'll do what I can to get you out of there!"
"No Pelle don't! You'll get trapped in here too if you try!" the woman who must have been Aelin cried out.
Pelle looked up at the crystal as if he had just heard that someone had died. "But...if I can't do anything...how do I get you out?" he asked.
"Simple." Aelin said, "You don't. I do."
Pelle made the same expression as I did as he asked, "What do you mean? If you're trapped in there, how do you get out?"
As Aelin began to reply, the singing became louder in my head, drowning out all of the noise around me. The noise was so loud I could barely hear myself think. Before I knew it, I was walking towards the crystal myself so that I could actually hear the conversation that was being held in front of me. I had to know what went wrong, needed to know what went wrong!
When I had reached Pelle, he turned and almost ran into me just as he had the first time. "Oh! Who are...what are you...how did you get here?!" he asked in shock.
"I was about to ask you the same..." I began, but then the crystal crackled and I heard the girl's voice cry out, "Pelle get out of here! Something is trying to come out! I...I can't stop it!"
The girl's cry of pain was heard all through the temple as a flash of bright green light covered the entire room. I felt myself being pushed back by some powerful force straight into one of the red crystals, slamming my head in the process.
When I opened my eyes, Pelle had already disappeared and the only other thing in the room with me was a creature as large as a giant looking directly at me. The song began to play in my head once more as I tried to stand up, using my staff to support my weight.
I tried to think of a spell that could freeze the creature so I could escape, but the song was so loud! I then felt a surge of electricity flow through my body as the creature laughed maniacally. How fitting that it was a Pride Demon I had found myself up against. I tried my best to fight it, but the harder I tried the more the song sang and the more vulnerable I was making myself.
Before I realized it, the demon had me in its hand and lifted me up off of the ground by my torso. It looked me directly in the eyes as it smiled its wicked grin at me. I heard it laugh once more, but then I heard something that shocked me even more - my own insane laughter.
I then threw my arms around myself and threw my head back and began to laugh uncontrollably. What was wrong? What was happening to me?!
"Oh my! What a beautiful song!" I cried out, my mind no longer mine, "It sounds more beautiful than Sylaise singing by the hearth. OoooH I know what it sounds like! It sounds just like Mythal when she is singing UP UP UP on the balcony of her castle!"
I just kept babbling nonsense! This was certainly not the time to be reminiscing about how Mythal's voice sounded when she sang!
"Why ever not love?" a woman's voice said as another creature floated up next to me.
She was fair of face, though the left side of it was burned, and her eyes were almost like a trap that one purposefully fell into. Her dark ebony hair fell down to her ankles and her bright green eyes and fair skin were enough to make any man fall to his knees. My eyes went wide in horror as I looked upon her...it couldn't be...but...she died! I saw the others kill her! How Elgar'nan slid the dagger across her throat while the others held me back!
"What is the matter vhenan? Don't you love me anymore?" Mythal asked as her hand grazed softly across my face.
I could not find the strength to answer her. This wasn't real...or was it? My mind could no longer tell the difference between what was reality and what was an illusion.
Mythal looked as if she took pity on me as she leaned in closer to my face. "Oh ma lath," she said, "Whatever has happened to you? Usually you are bursting with joy when you see me. Have I done something to upset you?"
I then found the strength to only utter the words, "You're...dead. I...saw you die...Elgar'nan..."
My passed love looked at me in shock as she replied, "Dead? Solas have you been having those nightmares again? I told you that dreams are simply that."
She then leaned in close, placed her right hand upon my face and her left upon my chest, then whispered softly, "Dreams."
Mythal laid a kiss upon my lips, a thing I never thought that I would ever feel again as long as I lived. I then heard her voice in my mind as I began to drift off, saying, "You are merely tired ma vhenan. Rest now, and I shall see you when the dawn's light hits the horizon."
As I was about to eternally fall into my lover's arms, I could smell the breath of the Pride Demon that held me, but I did not care. As long as I died in her embrace...I was content.
Then the demon let out a cry of pain as it released me. I felt myself fall and hit the ground hard. It felt as if every bone on the right side of my body had been broken, and before I drifted off into the agony that must have surely been death, I saw a small frame running towards me, his face filled with fear and worry.
I winced as I stretched my hand out towards him, but all I could do was utter his name before all around me was pitch black.