a small note: i made a couple of little changes to the first chapters, including switching the anchor from saradaar's left hand to her right. i know it's not canon, but it works better for me, personally and thematically.

Ch. 4: ready or... well, you'd better be ready

In which I finally finish the prologue

The aftermath of closing the rift was... difficult. The scouting party had lost four members, a full half of their number, and it showed in their slumped shoulders and shaking hands. They were bruised and exhausted and heartsick, and they probably wouldn't be getting rest any time soon.

"Head back through the mines and to the forward camp," Cassandra ordered. "The way should be clear."

Their leader looked like she might argue for a moment, but one glare from the Seeker nipped that bit of rebellion at the bud.

We didn't watch them go, opting to move out at the same time as the scouts. We were getting close now; I could feel the magnetic pull of the Breach constantly, and let me tell you– that is a hella distracting sensation. Almost distracting enough to keep my mind off of how we were going to get down the mountain.

I won't describe to you exactly how much of a pathetic mess I turned in to when faced with going down a sheer cliff face. Suffice it to say that Cassandra was suitably disgusted with me by the time we hit solid ground.

The path ahead was straightforward enough, but I couldn't stop myself from gawking at the huge spikes of rock jutting from the ground in the valley below. If they had been in the game, I hadn't noticed them while playing. At least they kept my mind off of the massive hole in the sky. Speaking of–

"So holes in the fade don't just accidentally happen, right?" That was Varric, of course, trotting along to keep up with Cassandra's easy stride (I rather felt like I was taking an ambling stroll through a park; I had to consciously slow down to keep from leaving the rest of the party in the dust. Damn short people).

"If enough magic is brought to bear, it is possible." Solas sounded like he might be winding up for a lecture on magical theory, which I would be all for... once we were safely back at Haven.

"But there are easier ways to make things explode." Luckily, we had Varric to deflect Solas away from going all academia on our asses.

"That is true."

Cassandra cut off the conversation, probably annoyed with the lack of focus. We (well, I (and Jesus fucking Christ who thought it was a good idea to give me this kind of responsibility?)) had a breach to close. "We will consider how this happened once the immediate danger is past."

The ruins of the Temple, once we reached them, were blasted with soot, and the exposed stone pulsed with fade magic. But all of that paled to the horror of the smell. So far, I've only set demons on fire, and demons, being fade constructs, don't smell like much. But people– god, I don't know how many people died in the explosion at the Conclave, but the smell of charred flesh and hair clung to the temple sickeningly. It was all I could do to breathe through my mouth and not gag.

"The Temple of Sacred Ashes," Solas said, voice hushed as we picked our way across cracked stone and rubble. In a sort of furious haze, my eyes stinging with tears, I wondered how much he actually cared about the people who died here, if he even gave a shit that his actions led to this–

No. That line of thought wasn't productive; it could, in fact, be actively harmful to working with him and surviving this day. I could assign blame and figure out precisely how I felt about ancient Elvhen gods later, but for now, I had to avoid getting lost in recriminations. Enough terrible things had happened in this place.

"That is where you walked out of the Fade and our soldiers found you." Cassandra sounded... brittle, wounded, and I glanced over at her. Despite her tone, or perhaps because of it, her face was set in hard lines, lips pursed and brow furrowed. That was not a face that invited sympathy. "They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was."

We crossed the courtyard in silence after that. I was determined to just put one foot in front of the other and not look at the corpses flung about like rag dolls, so I focused on one point on the wall opposite me and charged towards it with single minded determination.

We rounded a bend, skirting a few smoldering corpses, which I carefully ignored, and there it was.

"It's a long way up," said Varric. Solas hummed an agreement as Cassandra strode forward to meet Leliana.

"You're here. Thank the Maker." Leliana's people were already moving out, taking up strategic positions in cover with sight lines on the rift. "Cullen is keeping the demons off of our backs, but we need to finish this quickly."

Cassandra gave a short nod and turned back to me. "This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," I said, tightening my grip on my staff. I wasn't ready. Not. At. All.

Cassandra graced me with a grim smile and gestured for me to lead the way. "Then let's find a way down, and be careful."

The horizon was darkening rapidly as we circled the courtyard, the sun having dropped below the mountains sometime when I wasn't watching, but the green of the Breach was sufficient to light our way.

"Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice."

Corypheus' voice was. Horrific. I don't know if that was caused by the taint in him, or perhaps a lingering effect from the red lyrium that we passed, or if the nightmare demon (oh no oh shit hawke what am I going to do? later, think about it later) had this much influence over the waking world. Whatever the reason, that voice echoed off the stone and pressed into my ears until I thought the drums might shatter.

"What are we hearing?" Even Cassandra seemed shaken, and I... empathized with that, even if I wished she could remain a sturdy rock in the current.

"At a guess: the person who created the Breach." Solas, so careful to avoid the damning truth without voicing an outright lie. And he sounded so reasonable, the perfect mix of confusion and sincerity.

We rounded a corner of the courtyard, and were confronted with way more red lyrium than I would ever be comfortable with. "For the record," I said, skirting a pulsating nodule. "Everything about this day has sucked."

A long moment of silence, as they contemplated that, and then Varric said, "You know this stuff is red lyrium, Seeker." His face was twisted, just a little, though whether in fear or loathing I couldn't tell.

"I see it, Varric."

"But what's it doing here?"

"Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the temple, corrupted it." As Solas spoke, I had a sudden, horrible flash of the worst case scenario in Thedas' future. Solas, ancient Elvhen god with all of Mythal's power in addition to his own, corrupted by the Blight. That… would make sense thematically. In all three games, the main villain was blighted in one way or another: the arch-demon, Meredith, Corypheus.

I edged even farther from the lyrium.

Varric scoffed. "It's evil. Whatever you do, don't touch it." No need to tell me that, but please, do instill in Solas the importance of not messing with evil red stuff.

"Keep the sacrifice still."

"Someone help me!"

"That is Divine Justinia!" Her hand gripped my arm and I turned back to her, dreading–

"What the hell?" Huh. That actually does sound like me. Maybe an octave deeper, but otherwise spot on.

"That was your voice! Most Holy called out to you, but–" Her grip on my arm tightened convulsively and she hauled me down to her eye level.

"Run while you can! Warn them!"

"We have an intruder. Slay the qunari."

"You were there. Who attacked? Is the Divine– is she? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?" Cassandra's eyes burned with her need to know what had happened, and even as those questions tumbled from her lips, I steeled myself to lie.

"I don't remember any of this," I said, frustrated. I can't tell you, was what I really wanted to say. Cassandra released me with a long sigh and put one hand over her eyes as if to wipe away the last few moments.

"Echoes of what happened here," Solas murmured. I turned towards him, felt Cassandra do the same behind me, and I could feel... something rising in the air, a light-heavy presence of... was it magic? It was vastly different from the pull of the Breach. Solas's magic, maybe, and it felt like the shift in barometric pressure as a storm rolls in. How was he doing that? Did no one else feel it? "The Fade bleeds into this place. This rift is not sealed, but it is closed... albeit temporarily. I believe that with the mark the rift can be opened, and then sealed properly and safely. However, this will attract attention from the other side."

"That means demons! Stand ready." Cassandra had evidently pulled herself together. She jumped down from the walkway we stood on and gestured for us to follow her. The magic that had transfixed me dissipated (note to self: get a handle on that shit), and I could breathe again. Well, breathe, and hastily scramble off the ledge under Cassandra's disapproving stare.

"Okay," I said. "Let's do this."

I firmly stretched my arm out towards the Breach, which connected eagerly to my hand. Open, I thought. And it did. Easily, as if that was the state it wanted to be in all the time. I wrenched my hand back from the connection with a crackling tear, just as a massive pride demon fell from the sky. It had to be about 14 feet tall, the size of a small house, and I was faced, for the first time since I woke up this morning, with acute, primal terror. I have never seen a living thing that big before. It could step on me, and I'd be dead forever. It could grab me and eat me, and I'd be dead forever. It could impale me on its claws, and I'd be dead forever. Jurassic Park was always a stupid idea, but if this is what it felt like to stare down a Tyrannosaurus rex, fuck. I couldn't even gather the coherence to finish that thought.

Someone elbowed me in the gut, and I came back to myself. I was shaking, adrenaline maybe, but at least I was mobile again. Cassandra was already waling away at the thing's legs, but it just ignored her, swatting at her like a fly. Armor, I thought. I need to– and the anchor crackled to life. I shoved power and will down the connection, and the Breach surged. The pride demon dropped to its knee, and I followed, but now Cassandra's sword was drawing blood– black, viscous stuff that sizzled and dissipated before it touched the ground.

I spent the next few moments backing frantically away from the demon as it regained its feet, and then summoned up the biggest fireball I possibly could and sent it hurling into its face. It looked at me. Oops. I lunged behind a wall just before a massive ball of lightning hit the ground where I had been standing. "Cover is the better part of valor," I said to myself, and peeked back out at the pitched battle. Leliana's archers had rallied and were peppering the demon with arrows, though it didn't look like many were penetrating very deep. I looked up. The rift had gone back to that dark, roiling mess, so I reconnected it to the anchor. Another surge and– damnit. Shades, both focused on me and closing in fast. I shot fire at the nearest one, and then swung my staff as hard as I could at its head. It was still coming, so I did the sensible thing and ran the other way, lobbing fireballs behind me. Lucky for me, I was much faster that the demons, and I also had the ability to hide behind archers and attack from there. I doubt I made any friends there, but hey, I'm alive.

With the shades gone, I was able to go back to messing with the rift. Rinse and repeat.

I don't know how long we fought. Time gets weird when you're powered only by adrenaline. I guess it was just a few minutes of bravely running away from demons and stopping only to send an incapacitating surge through the anchor. The Breach was– well, I couldn't say it was weakening, it was too immense for that to even feel like a possibility. But the pride demon could barely move now, and, well. We all know how this scene goes.

Cassandra's voice thundered across the courtyard, frantic and hoarse. "Now! Seal the rift! Do it!" She had the pride demon down on its back and was hacking at the vulnerable stomach. The rift above her was roiling, condensing down to a single point, and I grasped at it. Close, I thought. It would not. Close, close close CLOSE CLOSE. Something was happening around me, familiar voices, the press of bodies too close to my personal bubble, but I ignored it. If I could just get this damn thing to–

The pressure was gone. I closed my eyes in relief, and fell. I don't remember hitting the ground, just dark shapes moving about, and indistinct words. I blacked out.