#.02; corvidblade

[thanflowers]

@corvidblade: ❰❰ FREE ❱❱ sender frees the receiver from restraints

        Her time in Fort Drakon is a blur of terrible indignities Elspeth is too hollowed out inside to feel. They strip her down to almost nothing and toss her in a cell, and she doesn’t have the strength to be embarrassed. They drag her out again some hours later and she knows she ought to feel afraid. 

        At some point, she must black out from the pain. There’s a rush of blazing heat and then...darkness, and the scent of charred flesh. Elspeth slips gladly into unconsciousness only to be met with gruesome visions: Cousland Castle burning down around her, the Archdemon gnashing its great teeth, blood on her hands, so much blood on her hands. 

        It’s all she knows for some time, until the sound of voices rouses her from her dreams. Ginger lashes flutter against freckled cheeks as she somehow manages to open her eyes. There’s someone picking the lock that binds her left wrist. She blinks wearily. “Zev?” For the first time since throwing down her arms at Cauthrien’s feet, she feels a glimmer of hope. “You came for me.” 

[mellysmuses]

You can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to. Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs and tag 10 people.

01. If I Ever Leave This World Alive - Flogging Molly

02. It's Not My Time - 3 Doors Down

03. Without You - Ashes Remain

04. Your Love Is My Drug - Ke$ha

05. Undefeated - Skillet

06. Falling Inside The Black - Skillet

07. Our Time Now - Plain White T's

08. Mambo No. 5 ( A Little Bit of...) - Lou Bega

09. Louder Than Thunder - The Devil Wears Prada

10. Send Me On My Way

Tagged: @too-long-without-silence @aurora-gallifreytimelady @stardateunknown @vigilflight @et-dracones @corvidblade @compassionsblade @actumagis and anyone else who wants at it!

[thanflowers]

        A wave of relief runs through her, the familiar lighthearted tone of his voice like a balm to her troubled thoughts. Of course her friends have come for her. She should have always counted on it. Elspeth smiles weakly, lifting her head to drink from his offered flagon. 

       “I think I can, if you’ll help me.” Slowly, she rises to her feet, leaning heavily on Zevran for support. Glancing down, she notices the two blackened corpses lying on the stones and grimaces. She knows what must��ve happened. The same thing that happened the night Howe’s men attacked the castle. Her magic rising to defend her when she couldn’t defend herself. 

       “Alistair was in the cell outside,” Elspeth recalls suddenly. “Is he all right?” 

This is, quite possibly, the worst case scenario. Well — that isn’t strictly true. Their Warden is alive, after all, and that absolutely counts for something. Are they bosom deep in unfriendly territory? Yes. Does Zevran have any damn clue how they’re going to get out again? No. But Elspeth is alive, and Zevran can work with that.

The lock snicks open, and he exhales a breath he is only vaguely aware he was holding in. He lowers the manacles to the ground so they don’t clatter, and promptly starts to work on the ones binding her ankles. It seemed to be overkill, in Zevran’s opinion, seeing as Elspeth barely opens her eyes until he’s picked his way through a manacle.

“Ah, Warden,” Zevran tsks, not unkindly. “You are a sight for sore eyes, blood and bruises and all. Leliana is here, also, though I fear for my life if I tell you what she it is she is doing.”

The locks around her ankles open, and Zevran eyes Elspeth’s wounds and bruised, pale skin. He wrestles out his water flagon, one of the few things he had brought with him for their excursion, and offers it to the Warden.

“You are a sight for sore eyes. A sore sight, mind you, but a sight nonetheless. Can you stand? I could carry you, but you have to promise not to wiggle.”