#[ solas: varric. ] you know what i like about you? your boundless optimism. / it's comforting that what qualities i lack; you invent.

[iniziare]

Tag drop: Solas

[elfrootaddict]

GROWING PAINS - Chapter 6/6

DESCRIPTION: Change. Growth. Hard truths. As the Inquisition’s Lady Herald, El’lana must step-up and help establish the orders’ influence. Many lessons are learnt and life-altering decisions are made. 

SERIES: Halla & Wolf

VOLUME: 4

Lana and her companions have set out east to find abandoned supply caches for the refugees of the Crossroads Village. After speaking privately with Cassandra, Lana managed to convince the Seeker that it will be imperative that they also look out for an abandoned ruin that may hopefully contain the ancient elvhen artefact Solas mentioned earlier that morning.

It has been three days since securing the Crossroads Village and the party has already found themselves to be in more life threatening situations than expected. If it’s not demons falling out of rifts, it's a group of apostates or rogue templars.

Luckily for Lana’s state of mind, she has managed to acquit herself by using only deflective barrier spells and shield wards against the mages and templars. However, when it comes to fighting demons, Lana does not and will not hold back.

So far, the day has been quite peaceful and easy. With the Inquisition making slow ripples of progress across the Hinterlands, and their reputation only preceding them, the people of the rocky countryside begin to see the strength and determination of the newly formed organisation.

The Inquisition slowly becoming the people’s rock on which they can rely upon, and Lana being the embodiment of hope in their hearts that Andraste still watches over them at the Maker’s side.

With Varric and Lana just an ear-shot ahead, Cassandra’s skeptical mind begins to wonder about the esoteric mage beside her. His dependability and bravery has been duly noted and appreciated, but she cannot rest her mind on his proclaimed life choices thus far.

“You are staring, Seeker,” murmurs Solas as he maintains his gaze on the path ahead. “Is there something you wanted?”

Slightly embarrassed and frustrated by her inability to get away with being sly, Cassandra groans softly under her breath, “I apologise, I didn’t mean to stare. I was just wondering Solas, have you always lived alone? Out in the wilderness, as an apostate?”

“For the most part.”

“Would that not be incredibly trying?”

Solas turns and offers the Seeker a sympathetic smile, “People can be trying, mankind most of all.”

“That…” murmurs Cassandra as she pauses, looking away disillusioned. “Is an excellent point.”

“You know what I like about you, chuckles?” adds Varric, turning around to regard Solas with a cheeky smile. “Your boundless optimism.”

“It’s comforting that whatever qualities I lack,” quips Solas. "You’ll invent for me, Varric.”

Lana then releases an unexpected snort of laughter as she maintains her gaze on the path ahead. Surprised by her outburst, Solas looks towards the giggling Herald ahead of him and releases a subtle smile.

“No, really,” continues Varric with his head still turned towards Solas. “Why else would an elven apostate help crazy chantry folk close a hole in the sky?”

“When you put it like that,” remarks Solas and then pauses meaningfully. “I must concede your point.”

The group then comes across a bend in the road, and Lana suddenly points towards a small hill and cries out, “Look! That might be supplies.”

“Excellent find, Herald,” remarks Cassandra. “Let us take a closer look.”

Lana and her companions walk towards the hill and once atop, they find poorly hidden boxes and crates filled with flour, wheat, vegetables and some fruit.

“These supplies must go to the village,” remarks Cassandra. “We need to mark its location.”

“Already on it,” adds Lana as she kneels to the ground, swinging her backpack to her front, and removing a map, quill and magically sealed ink pot. With the piece of parchment spread out on the ground and using her finger as a guide, Lana re-traces their movement from camp to their current location to the best of her ability. “This should be where we are... more or less,” and turns to look up at Solas. “What do you think?”

Solas leans down slightly with his arms across his back as he peers towards the map, “Hmm…” and pauses to do his own assessment. “Close. I would say just three more finger-spaces to the left.”

“Ma serannas,” remarks Lana as she adjusts her finger’s position on the map and then uses her other hand to magically unseal the ink pot beside her. Taking the quill, Lana dips it into the ink pot and scratches a neatly marked ‘X’ just above her finger. “There. Hopefully the scouts will find it.”

“They will,” remarks Cassandra looking out over land ahead of them. “Let us be off then. We still have a lot of ground to cover.”

Lana then puts everything back into her backpack just as she retrieved them, and stands to her feet, “Alright, let’s go.”

With questions still itching at the back of Cassandra’s mind however, she attempts to ask Solas another question, “I have also wondered… how did you know to approach us, Solas? The Breach opened, we were scrambling and barely had time to think… and there you were.”

“I went to see the Breach for myself,” remarks Solas casually. “I did not know you would be there.”

“You must not have been far away.”

“I was not. I’d come to hear of the Conclave, but did not want to get close.”

Cassandra turns her gaze towards Solas with a subtle, cautious frown, “Hmm... Lucky for us, then.”

As the group continue their way through the land, they suddenly reach a clearing to find a mage fighting off a demon on their own.

“We must help!” cries Lana as she immediately runs ahead of the party, who then quickly follow her lead.

As Lana reaches the fight first, she quickly connects to the Fade and draws from its magic to create a large fireball at the top of her staff. With her stance firmly planted on the ground, she swings her staff in a wide arc, and releases the fireball towards the demon that perfectly hits the perverted spirit’s center. The demon shrieks out, in what Lana can only perceive as pain, and watches it to evaporate into tiny particles of ash until nothing is left.

With the demon now destroyed, Lana and her company sheath their weapons as they approach the stranger. As they reach closer however, Lana suddenly catches her breath as she notices the stranger wearing green armour with an intricately laced pattern upon their robe, similar to hers, and the all-to-familiar vallaslin of her god, June. The beautiful earthy and subtly red in colour design starts from the forehead, travelling down the cheeks and connecting to the wing of each eye with a single stroke. And then to perfectly balance the symmetrical tattoo, begins a single line that travels from the chin down towards the neck.

Just like Tamara’s.

“Adaran athis’an,” greets the stranger looking pleasantly surprised, fulling Lana’s heart with immeasurable warmth over the simple use of the greeting her people use. “I did not expect to see another Dalish blood here.”

“Adaran athis’an,” begins Lana with a sincere smile in return. “I also did not expect to see another one of the People here. I’m El’lana Aemma, First to Keeper Deshanna of clan Lavellan, but you may call me Lana, lethallan,” and then turns around to introduce the rest of her company one by one. “This is Cassandra Pentaghast, Varric Tethras and Solas.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you all,” remarks the Dalish stranger with a smile. “My name is Mihris, First to Keeper Thelhen of clan Virnehn. By your weapons, I can see you come ready for battle. Perhaps we face a common enemy with these demons?”

“Are you fighting the demons on your own?” cries Cassandra with alarm.

“Fighting the demons is pointless,” answers Mihris with a shrug of her shoulders as she turns to regard Cassandra. “There will always be more. And I have no means of closing the rifts,” then refocuses her gaze on Lana. “But I have heard of elvhen artefacts that measure the veil, lethallan. It may tell us where new rifts may appear but I was not expecting so many demons however. I believe one of the artefacts is nearby. Can you help me reach it?”

With a wide, excited smile Lana exclaims, “Creators! I believe we are looking for the same artefact! Do you know where it is?”

“Truly? Then perhaps we were destined to cross paths. I believe it is just up the path here, behind some rubble that needs moving. Shall we investigate together?”

“Solas!” exclaims Lana with enthusiasm as she turns to meet his gaze. “That must be the place, because that sounds exactly—” but quickly manages to stop herself from mentioning that it was actually a Spirit which told Solas where to find it. “Where... we... also believe it is hidden,” and bashfully turns back around to regard Mihris. “It definitely sounds worth investigating.”

“Ma serannas,” murmurs Mihris with a respectful nod as she brings out her staff from her side to use as a walking stick. “It shouldn’t be too far ahead.”

With the party steadily following Mihris’s lead, Lana brings herself to Mihris’s right hand side. Even though Mihris may be a stranger in all sense of the word, for Lana to be around another fellow Dalish after all this time, makes her feel so comforted.

Mihris, in her green Dalish armour and vallaslin, makes Lana feel slightly less alone for the first time in months. Knowing that this encounter will most likely last only a short while, Lana begins to treasure Mihris’s company before she is the only one of her people around in a world of humans once again.

“Thank you for joining me,” murmurs Mihris as she looks out ahead. “I do not think I could have done this alone.”

“What took you away from your clan?”

Mihris pauses for a moment and sighs with a heavy heart, “They were all killed by a demon our Keeper was foolish enough to summon. I am the only survivor of clan Virnehn.”

Lana turns towards Mihris in complete shock as she can only imagine the gut wrenching pain and anguish she must be going through.

“Mihris...” murmurs Lana eventually as she hesitantly rests a gentle hand on Mihris’s shoulder. “Ir abelas, lethallan. Ar las Falon’Din enasal enaste.”

Mihris looks towards Lana with a sincere but meek smile, “Ma serannas. They have found true peace now.”

“What have you been doing since? Where will you go?”

“I was searching for another clan that would take me in when the Breach appeared. Now, I’m doing whatever I can to help with this madness.”

Then suddenly, and before Lana could offer Mihris a place to help within the Inquisition, large boulders blocking the entrance to something in the mountains ahead begin to appear through the light mist, “I believe this is the place,” announces Mihris. “But we will need to remove this rubble. We will need focused, magical energy to get by.”

Walking closer to the site, Lana notices that it isn’t fallen boulders but collapsed stone pillars, and clearly they were brought down deliberately, “Well, that won’t be a problem,” remarks Lana as she eyes the rubble carefully. “They seem to just be fallen pillars. I’ll put them back together.”

“Herald,” remarks Cassandra from behind. “Do you even possess such skill?”

Lana turns around towards Cassandra and smirks, “My Keeper and I had to move our clans aravels all across the forests, Cassandra. This is easy.”

With the rest of the party at a distance, Lana fans her arms out and draws from the Fade. Her hands begin to illuminate with bright turquoise energy, and with her stance placed firmly on the ground, she slowly lifts her arms up towards the sky causing the broken pieces of the pillars to rattle and shift back into their original positions.

“There,” remarks Lana as she places her hands upon her hips, turning towards Cassandra with a cheeky grin. “Good as—”

“Watch out!” cries Cassandra as she lunges towards Lana, placing her shield in front of them both just in time to deflect an oncoming magical attack. “Demons!”

As Lana peers above the shield, she notices two bright green wraiths within a dark room, illuminating the floor and other immediate objects closest to them as they hover above ground. Mihris immediately prepares a lighting charge on Lana’s left as Solas generates a fireball at the tip of his staff on her right.

Meanwhile Varric has managed to gain some cover behind Lana and Cassandra flank and quickly prepares Bianca for action.

Lana then casts a protective enchantment onto her companions and Mihris, and then steps out from behind Cassandra’s shield as she builds a large ball of magical energy.

With Mihris fighting the wraith closest to the entrance, Solas and Varric project a steady combination of fire and arrows at the other one further in. Meanwhile, Cassandra is standing ready with her sword and shield drawn for anything else should it come leaping out.

Following Mihris’s electric storm, Lana fires several quick spells toward the wraith as it spasms from electric shock, eventually causing it to disintegrate. And with the quick and lethal combination of fire and arrows, the second and last wraith cries in high pitch shrieks as it also disappears causing the room to fall back into pitch black darkness.

“Everyone alright?” asks Varric as he keeps Bianca ready just in case.

The group simultaneously shake their heads in agreement and cautiously walk towards the entrance, sticking to the sides.

“Wait.” whispers Lana as she picks up a stone from the ground and tosses it inside. The group then patiently waits and listens to the pebble bounce around inside before eventually settling somewhere within. After a moment of silence, Cassandra decides to enter first with her shield up and sword drawn. Following her lead is Varric, Solas, Lana and then Mihris.

With the room's darkness closing in around them, Solas illuminates the tip of his staff to help light up the entire room. To the parties surprise, the room is actually a lot smaller than they were expecting. Only having taken a few steps in, they are already in the centre of the room that soon ends with a rather large and strange statue. About two-to-three people tall, the statue is of a strong, headless man proudly holding the head of what appears to be some kind of beast. And lying on the ground directly underneath is a collection of perfectly placed skulls, and a small archway on either side leading somewhere further into the ruins.

As the rest of the group take in their surroundings, Lana begins to relax slightly and walks towards the statue and murmurs to herself, “The Veil is so thin here…” and begins to look about the room. “I wonder… ” and then spots an old handle for a torch on her immediate left.

With a wave of her hand, Lana lights the torch with green fire. Lana’s smile widens over her correct suspicion as she stands illuminated by its bright, unusual light.

“What manner of fire is that?” cries Cassandra as she hurries her way towards Lana, causing the rest of the group to slowly gather around the green flame.

“I have heard of this, but never seen it before,” murmurs Solas as he admires its beautiful, dancing colors. “It is called—“

“Veilfire,” interjects Lana as she continues to look into the flame. “It’s simply the memory of a flame that can burn in this world where the veil is thin. My Keeper and I have come across a few places like this before where this was possible.”

Cassandra looks around the group and remains unconvinced by the apparent safe nature of the magical fire.

“It is a form of sympathetic magic, Seeker,” remarks Solas as he tries to convince Cassandra. “Nothing to worry about,” and then looks around the room and notices three candles by the statue. With a wave of his hand the candles also light up with the same green flame as the torch. “See? Perfectly harmless.”

“Okay, okay,” remarks Varric lifting his hands into the air. “I think that’s enough magic fire for now.”

“Agreed.” murmurs Cassandra looking from Solas and back towards Lana who is now reaching up, standing on her toes, to take the torch off the wall. “Herald!”

“So, we’re taking the magical fire with us then?” quips Varric unimpressed.

With the torch in hand, Lana simply looks at Cassandra and Varric with a sympathetic grin and laughs. Even Solas cannot help himself but share a quick grin at their ignorance.

“Good thinking, lethallan,” remarks Mihris as she makes her way past the group and through the archway. “Show we continue?”

Following Mihris’s lead, Lana and her companions soon find themselves in a much larger room with its walls stretching up at least twenty people tall. And sprouting in the centre of the ruin, through the cracks in the ceiling, are large tree roots which have pushed some of the earth away allowing some natural light to fall through.

“More demons.” murmurs Mihris as she quickly spots them up ahead, causing Lana to quickly extinguish the magical fire.

The group huddle together, crouching down in the darkness, and prepare for a battle plan, “Okay, I see only two wraiths and two shade demons,” begins Cassandra. “Which means there are four of them and five of us. So, this should be manageable. Varric and Solas, guard my flank as I charge for the shades. Herald, you take the wraith on the left, and Mihris you take the other one on the right.”

The group simultaneously nod in agreement over the strategy and remove their staffs and weapons for another fight. With their weapons now drawn, the group slowly moves in the darkness together and stops just before reaching the beams of light from the ceiling. Lana and Mihris then split from the others and carefully make their way into position in the shadows.

After waiting for the two mages to get into position, Cassandra then lunges into a sprint as she runs towards the centre of the ruin with Varric and Solas charging behind her. Just before reaching the shade demons, Solas dispels a protective ward over the three of them as Varric fires a couple of unsuccessful arrows.

With a loud impactful thud that echoes throughout the ruin, Cassandra bashes into the closest shade demon, knocking it slightly off balance. However, she is quickly overwhelmed with the second one thrashing its claw-like fingers towards her face as she holds up her shield for protection. Luckily, Solas quickly shoots a ball of fire into its face which causes it to flail backwards and scratch at the flames engulfing its monstrous appearance.

Meanwhile, Lana decides to take the opportunity with the roots hanging from the ceiling to her advantage. She closes her eyes and connects with the Fade to create the magic she’ll use to control the vines to her will. With the earth-green magic built to a decent size in her hand, she flails the magic out towards the dangling roots and immediately feels her connection with them.

To the wraith’s demise, and the group's surprise, Lana flings the roots down towards the floating demon and wraps them around its green opaque body. Manipulating her hand’s movement, she tightens her grip on the wraith and crushes it to death. As the wraith now lies dead in her root hold, she slowly releases the tension and watches it disintegrate into thin air, as if it were never there.

Mihris then finishes her wraith off by shooting tall, razor sharp spikes of solid ice up from the ground and through the wraith, leaving it dead and impaled as it slowly disappears into nothing.

With her wraith gone, Lana looks about the room and notices all the other demons have been destroyed, too, “Well, that was rather quick” and puts away her staff to pick up the torch from the ground before running towards the centre of the room to meet with the others. The roots meanwhile go back to their original position as if they weren’t just used to crush a demon to death.

“That was a nice technique Mihris,” remarks Lana as they cross paths. “I liked those ice spikes you did before.”

“Ma serannas,” thanks Mihris as they walk towards the group together. “It’s one of my favourites. And I see your Keeper taught you well, lethallan. I am yet to master that one myself.”

“Yes, my Keeper is an excellent teacher,” concurs Lana proudly as they reach the group in the centre of the ruin. “But I wouldn’t say I’m a master at it. There is still so much I need to learn.”

“Well, you could have fooled me!” quips Varric as he folds his arms across his chest. “Maker kid, that was actually quite impressive.”

“I’ve seen that spell used before in my journeys, Herald,” remarks Solas with a gentle smile. “It is not an easy one. Varric is indeed right, that was quite impressive.”

Feeling proud but embarrassed by the unexpected praise, Lana blushes and only manages to release a soft smile.

“Now then,” begins Cassandra sheathing her sword. “Let us search for this artefact. I do not want to be in here any longer than necessary.”

“Do you know what the artefact looks like?” wonders Lana as she looks towards Mihris.

“I do.” interjects Solas just before Mihris can answer. “If I am remembering correctly, it is a fairly large, round object. It should look like a dark crystal with square-like edges prodding out from the sides.”

“Well, that’s…” remarks Lana with a perplexed expression. “Awfully specific. I can’t imagine too many things like that lying around.”

“Let us hope not.” grumbles Cassandra as she begins to cautiously search about the room, which then encourages the others to stop talking and do the same.

As the group splits up, they all quickly notice the continued choice of decor: skulls, skulls and more skulls. Also, urns. But for Lana, the site of such decrepit items does not bother or surprise her in the slightest. Throughout the Free Marches, she has come across several ruins that once belonged to her people that now look like this. However, the one thing she isn’t used to seeing on the ground often are the markings of what could only be a blood magic summoning circle.

Well, this explains the demons.

Lana then moves to the top left corner of ruin but quickly finds it hard to see. So remembering she still has the torch, she waves her hand across the top and it lights up with the same green colour as before. As she begins searching around the rubble, urns, and skulls, Lana soon finds something that isn’t the artefact, but something else entirely.

“Solas!” calls Lana from across the ruin. “Come and see this!”

Solas hurries along and with Cassandra close by, she also decides to see what all the fuss is about. Under the glow of the green fire, subtle highlights upon a large, flat stone begin to illuminate with an iridescent sparkle as the three companions carefully inspect the site.

“Incredible,” begins Solas as he leans in closer, almost touching the stone. “Bring the fire closer,” and so Lana steps further towards the glowing stone as instructed and witnesses a rune slowly come to life. It’s full imagery now crisp and clean, and Solas turns to Lana with a smile. “The veilfire must be making the rune legible.”

Having only studied runes before but never seen one in person, Lana remembers reading that one should place their hand onto the rune to absorb its knowledge and power. However, this can only be done once and never again.

“That looks like a weapon enchantment,” adds Cassandra with excitement. “This could be quite useful.”

Taking another step forward, Lana brings her free hand out and places her palm with her fingers spread out onto the stone. The colour of the rune quickly subdues to dull green and a red diamond shape soon overlays the rune, indicating that the enchantment has been used up.

“How do you feel?” wonders Solas as he looks towards Lana.

“Fine…” answers Lana as she looks at her hand. “I think—”

“Inquisition!” shouts Mihris from behind with Varric beside her. “I believe I found the artefact!”

Lana, Solas and Cassandra hurry towards Mihris and Varric, and soon find themselves standing above an object looking exactly as Solas had described.

“If we activate that crystal,” remarks Mihris looking at Lana. “It should react to the strength of the veil.”

“Are we sure activating something we don’t fully understand is a good idea?” remarks Varric appearing quite uneasy.

“This is definitely the artefact,” remarks Solas confidently. “There is no need to concern yourself, Varric.”

Varric simply shakes his head and folds his arms across his chest, “Does anyone here even know how to activate this thing properly?”

“As it so happens Master Tethras,” begins Solas as he leans down towards the artefact. “I have seen it used several times in my travels. It is a simple spell and won’t it take long at all.”

Solas lifts both hands up towards the artefact and green energy begins to swirl around his hands. He then touches the artefact and it lights up with the same magic, indicating it is now active, “Perfect. The wards are now helping to strengthen the veil,” and stands to his feet proudly. “This area should be safer for travelers now.”

“Well,” remarks Mihris with a smile. “That should prove useful,” and then bends down to pick up a golden necklace just beside the artefact. “And it seems the ancestors left something for me as well,” and brings it closer to her face for inspection before placing it around her neck.

“Let us not push our luck any further,” demands Cassandra as she starts walking away. “And get out of here.”

The group readily agrees and begins to make their way out the same way they entered. And just before reaching the entrance, Lana extinguishes the magical flame and leaves the torch behind.

With everyone back outside in one piece, Mihris turns to face Lana and her companions, “Well, I believe our alliance is concluded. Go in peace. Dareth shiral.” and turns to leave.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Solas steps forward and murmurs something to Mihris in elvish, “Ma halani. Ma Glandival. Vir Enasalin.”

Mihris looks at Solas and then down at the necklace around her chest, and then back towards the group, “I…perhaps you are right,” and takes the necklace off and hands it to him. “Here, take it.”

Solas takes the necklace and walks back to the others. As Mihris turns to leave again however, Lana runs past Solas and places her hand on Mihris’s shoulder, “You don’t have to leave. You can come with us.”

Mihris offers a sincere smile of gratitude, “Ma serannas, lethallan. While your offer is very kind, I believe I will be more useful elsewhere. May the gods watch over you in the days to come and let us hope our paths cross again one day. Mythal’enaste.”

Knowing she is not going to be able to change Mihris’s mind, Lana offers a respectful head bow, “Mythal’enaste, lethallan. Take care of yourself. Dareth shiral.”

With Mihris now almost out of sight, Lana begins to yearn for her clan as she is reminded just how much she misses her family. Meanwhile Solas is remembering how it was not that long ago that he had no choice but to neutralize one of his closest friends. Mihris might not have been the reason his friend made the decision to betray him, but her very existence reminds him of the events that lead to the day he wishes he could forget.

~~~

“Good evening, Herald,” remarks Solas as he sits down next to Lana by the campfire, holding a bowl of evening’s dinner. “It seems today was quite the success. Congratulations.”

Lana turns her gaze from the gentle, dancing flames and offers a meek, tired smile, “It appears so,” and peers over into Solas’s bowl. “What’s for dinner?”

“From what I can gather,” Solas brings his food closer to his face and inspects it with a curious eye before turning to Lana with a stern expression. “Rabbit’s foot and nug’s eyeballs.”

Lana simply stares blankly at Solas with neither one of them saying anything for a moment, “Wha—?” and then watches Solas release a small, mischievous grin. “Oh, Creators. You’re joking!”

Solas releases a soft chuckle and Lana joins him as the flames keep them warm in an otherwise cold evening.

Digging his fork into his steaming bowl, Solas manages to break off a piece of food, “It is actually roasted ram with rice,” and brings it to his mouth to eat.

“That sounds rather good actually.” murmurs Lana as she turns her gaze from Solas and back into the flames.

After swallowing, Solas notices Lana’s somber demeanor, “Is everything alright, Herald?”

Without removing her gaze, Lana brings her knees and arms up towards her chest, “I’m okay,” and turns to quickly offer a forced smile. “Thanks.”

Solas puts his bowl down and looks out towards the fire, “I am always willing to lend an ear, da’len,” and turns to look at Lana with gentle, kind eyes. “Should you need it.”

Lana buries her face into her arms, revealing only her large, lavender eyes and soft, violet vallaslin as her hair is swept to the one side, “I just miss my family.”

“I understand. Has Liliana managed to find your clan?”

“No. But I do keep writing to them as often as I can just in case she does find them.”

“She will find them.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, I don’t know that she will for certain. However, based on what her scouts have already managed to do for the Inquisition so far, I believe there is a strong possibility your clan will be found and informed of your survival. So, don’t stop writing.”

Lana turns to face Solas as she lifts her head up to offer a sincere smile before looking back at the whipping flames and crackling firewood.

“You are doing well, Herald,” continues Solas. “Given where you have come from and what you have been put through thus far, I am… pleased you have handled your position with humility and thoughtfulness. Not blundered your way with arrogance and prowess.”

“Ma serannas, Solas,” murmurs Lana and turns to meet his gaze. “That means a lot coming from you.”

“From me?”

“Yes. You have seen so much in the Fade, and you say things sometimes that makes me think you are perhaps even wiser than my Keeper. Which isn’t something I would ever say lightly.”

“Well, eh… thank you. It is good to know someone sees some value in what I have to say. It usually isn’t the case, unfortunately.”

After a quiet moment between them, Lana releases a soft smile as she stands up, “I’m going to get some dinner. Do you need anything?”

“No, thank you.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Not too far from the campfire, Varric is crafting some arrows for Bianca as Cassandra is sharpening her sword with a wet stone. As Varric finishes tying up an arrow head, he unexpectedly notices Solas’s long, lingered gaze on Lana as she walks away from the campfire before focusing back on his meal.

With a cheeky grin, Varric leans over towards Cassandra, “I think someone’s falling in love.” and makes suggestive eyes towards Solas’s direction.

Cassandra looks up from her sword, then towards Solas, then towards Lana, and then rolls her eyes before focusing back on her blade, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You know I’m always right about these things, Seeker.”

Cassandra leans in slightly and whispers, “He was just giving the Herald advice. What is romantic about that?”

“Well,” remarks Varric as he takes another arrow. “You didn’t see what I just saw.”

“Which is?”

“Love.”

Cassandra groans again as she rolls her eyes and stands to leave with her sword in hand, “Good night, Varric.” and walks away.

Varric however continues making arrows and takes one more look at Solas before shaking his head as he silently laughs amongst himself, “Maker, help him.”

Elvish to English Translations:

“Andarin A’thisan” = Greetings

“Ma halani. Ma Glandival. Vir Enasalin.” = Help me. You believe.

“Dareth Shiral” = Farewell

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 

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Halla & Wolf Series

[actual-lich-queen]

In which Varric Tetheras plays Nick Bottom for the fandom:

Varric: You know what I like about you, Chuckles? Your boundless optimism.

Solas: It's comforting that whatever qualities I lack, you'll invent for me, Varric.

Varric: No, really. Why else would an elven apostate help crazy Chantry folk close a hole in the sky?

Solas: When you put it like that, I must concede your point.