Within a fracture of a moment, the darkness rattles. The hissing and shrieking become a warcry. It reminds you of how the shadows clawed their way into and out of you in the House of Hope at the mercy of Raphael’s power. Only this time, it feels one thousand times worse.
The cave walls themselves begin to shake with the rage reverberating through the bitter shadows. The wind whips around you, tossing your loose hair in all directions, prickles of ice scraping across your cheeks – so cold, you don’t feel the warmth of your blood before it freezes solid. The frequency of shrieking rises so high your ears go numb with ringing.
And then, silence.
The cave is silent as darkness and light wrestle for control. Lavender-violet light erupts from the center of the sigil, exploding through the darkness in fury and freedom. The darkness fights back, tearing through the ripples of light.
But you’ve done it. You’ve freed your lover from his corrupt, arcane bonds. This abominable magic cannot hold him any longer.
A pair of hands grabs your shoulders, fingers digging in, pulling you from the hotbed of this battle for dominance. You refuse to move at first, entranced by the swirling of darkness and light, entwined with one another and surging with raw power.
The hands yank you backwards in a swift motion. It’s Astarion, pulling you against his chest in protection. He shifts, laying you flat against the ground but keeping his body pressed close behind you, sheltering you from any stray flares of magic. One of his pale hands cradles the curve of your skull – a softer pillow than the icy stone below.
You feel the icy tendrils snake around your ankles, but a spark of light yanks them back. The magic blares behind you, seen only in the reflections of light along the walls of the cave. You don’t know how much time passes as you lay there, protected by Astarion’s body, the only shred of protection between you and the darkness.
But the darkness cannot have you; he will not allow it.
Your eyes squint shut as another blast of power rattles through the cave.
Then, finally, stillness.
Astarion shifts, keeping you close to the ground and sheltered, but turning to look over his shoulder. You remain curled on the cool floor, eyes closed and arms pressed in tight to your chest. You feel Astarion’s body sag behind you, and your heart sinks.
Could this all have been for nothing?
“Doe,” Astarion’s voice whispers, raw as if he’d been screaming. You feel your own throat strain to make a sound, as if you’d been screaming, too. “Doe.” Astarion says again, an arm gently sliding as he eases you up into a sitting position. You can’t help the searing hot tears from beading beneath your eyelids. Your breathing quickens. You refuse to look at the destruction. “Open your eyes, Doe.”
You hesitate, fear rattling through you. But there’s a firmness in his grip that sends a flutter through your heart. A certainty.
And when you open your eyes, the darkness is gone. There is no cloud of blackest night, no glittering evil whispering to you. Only silence, the plain stone walls of the cave, and–
And Gale. Nearly crumpled to the ground, chest heaving, weak and shaking. But he’s there, hand grasping at his chest. He didn’t expect to survive this.
But then, his head tilts upward, and looks across at you from beneath his brow. His warm brown eyes are filled with sorrow, but they’re his. It’s him.
Gale is home, delivered from the darkness.
'Never,' she says, her voice shaking with fear and relief and rage. 'Never do that to me again.' She crosses to him, hauls him to his feet despite her own exhaustion. He staggers and sways. She keeps him upright.
'Do you have any fucking idea what I've been through?' she whispers, hisses really, shaking so hard her knees knock together. 'You ambitious, foolish, beautiful idiot.'
She takes his hand in a crushing grip, leads him out. She looks back.
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HARDING!!!! HARDING ROMANCE!!!! and GRIFFONS AHHHHHHHHHHHH
losing my mind I might be physically ill I can't believe we finally have a trailERRRRRR
shout out to everyone who's already doing their frame-by-frame analysis for me to salivate over later
can't WAIT to get my heart broken smooching the hot warden elf also
and LUCANISSSSSSS I KNEW THAT FUCKER WASN'T DEAD
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hey i didn’t realize U had a tumblr! i really like your jeckole fic ^_^❤️ keep up the work :D
OH MY GOD I LOVE YOUR ART THANK YOU.
I literally have at least one of them open on my other monitor, or snapped to the left side of the screen, when writing like, all of that.
It's just perfect energy, I love it all so much!!!
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