#cullenxlavellan

[sapphireangelbunny]

The Lost Halla - Prologue (on Wattpad)

 https://www.wattpad.com/1349988252-the-lost-halla-prologue?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=SapphireAngelBunny 

 Kayla never felt at home anywhere, even among her loving dalish clan. Her keeper sends her to investigate the Conclave. A gathering of mages and templars in a last test for peace. Kayla is thrown into the mess when the Temple of Sacred Ashes explodes, killing everyone inside but her. 

Note: This is the tale of my kayla lavallen through out the story of Dragon Age Inquisition I don't own the characters that are based on the Dragon Age Inquisition video game, all credit to Bioware and their respective owners.

[sapphirebunnyart]

Love transcends worlds. 💕 Mermay part 2! This time with Kayla as a blue sea dragon axolotl and Cullen being the human that falls in love with her. ----- Commissions are open, link in bio! See full wips by supporting me on my kofi membership for as little as $1 a month https://ko-fi.com/sapphireangelbunny

[browniejeane]

Got hit with some fucking CullenxLavellan brain rot recently. And now I wanna write a 5+1 of them. What is my idea? Fucking..."5 times Cullen walked in on the Inquisitor bathing, and 1 time he didn't." IDC if nobody reads it. I just need to get it out of my brain before Veilguard drops.

[greypetrel]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you @theluckywizard for the tag! It's been fun to compile :3

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 6

2. what’s your total ao3 word count? 356,534 (from last October. It's higher since I haven't upload a lot of ficlets I wrote here, oops)(But! it's my AO3 birthday, yeeeeh!)

3. what fandoms do you write for? Dragon Age, there's a crossover with LOTR/Silmarillion. I don't know if I'll ever write anything solely on Tolkien lore, I tend to reason per OCs in stories and I feel slightly bad in treating other's characters as my own.

4. what are your top five fics by kudos? - Home Was Never On The Ground (CullenxLavellan, long fic)(also known as Monster Fic) - She of Many Names (CullenxLavellan, a Dragon Age and LOTR - crossover) - The Night Before First Day (Some CullenxLavellan but very on the sidelines. it's Solas acting as Santa. And it rhymes.) - One For the Road (FenrisxLavellan, Angst is over 9000, 2 chapters.) - Death and All of His Friends (HawkexMerrillxIsabela, I'll get on with it but everything is on hold because I want to get Monster fic done before the year ends)

5. do you respond to comments? Oh yes, of course! Jumping on my seat and being very happy about it. I'm wordy, so chances are that comments will be answered with more lore.

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Death and All of His Friends, right now.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? The Night Before First Day.

8. do you get hate on fics? Not that I know of. The worst hate I got in the fandom were some assholes who commented on an adoribull fanart here on Tumblr. I didn't want to learn how to say "F*ggot" in Russian, but I did. They didn't expect me to understand and reply in Russian, and they never got back.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? … Tried to. I'm self-conscious about my writing, so it never got posted. I don't know if it ever will. It was just to see if I could, but for now I'd rather keep it personal.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written? Yes! I love making connections between things and fiction and see similarities and who inspired some others. I have She of Many Names, which is a Dragon Age with Lord of the Rings crossover. There's some Silmarillion, but as long as highlighting characters background goes. A person on Instagram commented on one artwork of my Lavellan (miss cinnamon "I cry if you tell me that there are kittens under the rain" roll) asking me if she was Sauron. I laughed so art imagining her as an evil overlady that I HAD TO write it. "It's all a big misunderstanding".

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? I haven't, but I'd love to!

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship? You'll pry HawkexMerrillxIsabela from my cold, dead hands. HawkexFenris has the best ANGST. FaramirxEowyn. Been there since I was 10, will probably die on that hill. I see the fascination of Solavellan, but Cullavellan is there above, of course. And, MaharielxMorrigan. I am surely forgetting something, but it's one case of "I am asked what's my favourite movie and suddenly my brain thinks we never saw ONE movie in our life".

OH OH OH EnjolrasxGrantaire. I SAID IT.

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I have another chapter half blorted down for One For the Road but I'm not feeling it. It's sliding towards a triangle and it's losing all the appeal to me.

16. what are your writing strengths? Oh shit, that's difficult ahahahahahah. As above, I'm self conscious about my prose. I'll try, tho.

Dialogue (been writing my own comics for years, those are just dialogue. I have exercise on that, ahahahah)

… angsty, emotional scenes?

People crying. watches Aisling

17. what are your writing weaknesses? Language and mispellings. English is not my first language, and as every person who speaks more than one, I have a very confused brain. I re-read my own writing again but there's always something missing. I also tend to write prose without a precise plan: I started writing fanfiction after YEARS of not writing prose after some comments that caught me in a moment when I was particularly fragile and convinced me my prose was never going to be ok. In order to ease me back into it, I started writing Monster Fic purposefully without a plan of action or a plotline not to stress myself too much and convince my brain it's just a hobby to relax. It worked, but in long fics I prefer having plans, I read it again and I think it shows that there's little planning ahead. When synthesis ability was being distributed, I was trying to pet a dog.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? Uh, English not being my first language counts? xD Beside that: I wrote some SIMPLE lines in wannabe-Latin, some words here and there in French. If it's something long, tho, I'm against it. Personal preference, I'd rather have my readers understand what's being said if it's important, rather than showing that I know more than one language. Personal preference, I also tend not to like movies that are all done in dead languages that nobody speaks, with subtitle. Glad the writer can master ancient Latin, here's a cookie, now what.

19. first fandom you wrote for? … Inuyasha in middle school. I drew small comics for my friends over it. And, I drew a parody comic of the Iliad in my first year of high school, which is the first fandom with a COMPLETED fic.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written? … Still with the difficult questions AHAHAHAHAHAH. These two because I got to use friends' blorbos and I was so nervous but also had the best of times: - Three Cards Trick [ Maria Hawke becomes the official third Science Sibling. They adopt a skeleton. ] - Saving Grace [ Aisling as a companion for Kerry Hawke in DA2. She refuses to pay for elfroot, but will find a way to acquire "some" from the Templars. ]

- Could be Worse. [ Mahariel, Morrigan, and Aisling becomes Ghost Hunters in modern time New York. It should have been a scam. ] I live for quotations and it set my head on fire and it's yet another modern AU I'll get back to sooner or later.

- Death and all of His Friends. [ Raina Hawke, human disaster but mildly successfull trash raccoon, fucks up royally at the end of Act 2.] Originally prompted by salsedine but I'm linking the polished AO3 version. Raina Hawke won the lottery of having issues similar to mine, and writing her has always some form of therapy. But I did it, I like the three parts, and I completed it and posted it anyway.

- Not the Years but the Mileage. [ Booby traps in the Temple of Mythal. Cullen breaks stuff that should be in a museum. ] And this one because again, quotings. Arbor Wilds (that mission is flawed, but the environment? Not.). And that piece of dialogue where Aisling can't talk and Cullen just understands her mumbling.

- Something Fishy. [ Raina and Garrett Hawke, loyal knights at the court of the Red King of Amaranthine, gets sent on a... Fishy mission.] This was probably the funniest to write, and nothing. I thrive in angst or in absurd crack fics, and this by now is my peak crack.

... I wrote for years and I hope it was remotely interesting.

TAGGING BACK: @shivunin @ndostairlyrium @heniareth @oxygenforthewicked @rosella-writes @scribbledquillz @star--nymph @zenstrike and YOU who are reading.

[eryniell]

My Lavellan ranger - Dragon Age Inquisition

[suck-on-a-fire-ball]

Blueberries

This is what happens when I eat blueberries and see my purple lips in the mirror and suddenly find myself wishing Cullen could kiss it away...

Cullen’s thumb moving along her bottom lip - not yet painted blood red. It made her feel as though she was stood in front of him naked, and yet he didn’t mind, still letting his thumb touch her lip. She had to fight the urge not to purse her lips and kiss his thumb; not to let her desires get the better of her. 

If this was the aftermath of eating blueberries... then Luthien would eat blueberries every minute of the hour. 

❀❀❀❀❀

Spring time had finally arrived at Skyhold. Birds were flying overhead, making little nests in the trees of the courtyard and in the various attics, high up in the towers of the magnificent castle. 

Their chirps woke Inquisitor Luthien Lavellan up each morning now, and it made her smile. It reminded her of home - of her time sleeping under the starlit skies with her clan. 

With spring, though, came not only birds and warmer winds, but also berries. Luthien always made sure to spare some time for berry picking in the mornings before the daily war table meetings. Of course there was no forest nearby that would give her the chance to go properly picking those juicy little things, but the courtyard were filled with surprisingly many bushes of various sorts. And Luthien had been quick to see that some of these were berry bushes. 

During one of these mornings, Luthien found herself not to be alone. This was odd, because the castle didn’t dully wake up until an hour later. Of course there would be servants already at work, and some guards sleepily making their way through the last hour or two of their night shifts, and the occasional Cole watching her in his normal, crouched fashion - peeking at her from under his large hat. But no one else would usually be present. That morning, Cullen was. 

He had appeared quite suddenly, standing a little ways away from her. Her elven ears had picked up on the clang of his armour with each footstep he took, recognizing it without having needed to glance his way... she would recognize his footsteps anywhere, with or without that armour on. 

But he had not approached her. He had just... stayed. And watched. A bit like Cole would, though... with a less creepy “why would you be picking their babies” look on his face. Instead... he looked enamored, golden eyes watching her every move, her every flick of the wrist as she picked and picked and picked. 

Until she couldn’t take it anymore - too hot and bothered to be able to be watched by this man. So, holding her little basket of blueberries, Luthien stood and approached him. For some reason, Cullen seemed taken aback, as though he had been stealthy and she shouldn't have noticed his presence. Without a word, Luthien held out the basket to him. 

He blinked. 

A soft giggle passed her lips. They weren’t painted blood red as usual, having not spent time on getting ready for the day yet. She was just there before him, wearing her nightgown and a robe over it, hair still braided back, slightly tousled and messy from a good night’s sleep. 

Green eyes blinked up at him: “Do you want to try some, Commander?” 

“I...” 

Whatever words he wanted to say faded away either from his lips or his mind. She noted this happened after he looked back at her. And much to her surprise, a gloved hand reached out and grasped the basket she was holding. His hand had brushed against hers, and her fingers tightened its hold on the braided twigs of the handle. She wished his hand hadn’t missed...

“I would love to,” he finally said, his free hand dipping down into the basket’s content. 

As he ate some, Luthien found herself staring at his lips movement. In order to distract herself, she quickly dipped her hand into the basket too and filled her mouth with some berries. 

There was a silence as the two munched away. Neither were uncomfortable, but both were glancing down at the others’ lips continuously. 

“You...” Cullen swallowed and pointed at her. She blinked in confusion. “You have some...” 

Tilting her head, Luthien remained staring at him in confusion. 

“You have some...” Though he seemed unable to speak the words. Placing the end of his glove between his teeth, he slid his hand out. The glove fell to the grass by their feet. Naked fingers reached out to her lips. 

And upon the touch, both let go of the basket. It too fell down, spreading blueberries everywhere - though neither noticed. 

Both stared as Cullen cupped her cheek, letting his thumb brush along her bottom lip so slowly it turned sensual. Luthien had to fight the urge to purse her lips and kiss his thumb. “Your lip is purple...” They almost looked terrified as they stared, their breaths hitching as though a single exhale would blow this fragile moment away. Luthien was worried this moment would end too soon, and Cullen was worried she would flinch away.

And perhaps she would have, had this been any other man. 

“Blueberries do that...” she breathed, completely lost in the feeling of his touch. 

“Do I have it?” he asked, urging her to glance down at his lips. The shift of her gaze made his hand shift, almost holding a tighter grip. 

“Not yet...” she whispered. 

“A-Are you asking me for a kiss?” he breathed. 

She didn’t say anything. She had, but if he had thought she had meant the blueberries, she wouldn’t have said any different either. She was just relieved he had caught on. 

When he captured her lips, the kiss felt sweet. Sweet because of the taste of blueberries, and sweet because of his ever so gentle nature. Her hand grasped his wrist, holding it steady against her cheek and loving the feeling of being completely engulfed in Cullen when he placed his other hand carefully on her waist. 

They stopped the kiss whilst their lips were still against each other, pulling away so slowly it felt like neither were. Their breaths still entangled, both stared at each other, staying in that position.

“I come here every morning...” breathed Luthien against his lips. 

“Then I shall be here every morning too...” 

Luthien smiled. Spring was a time for new beginnings, as the birds building nests showed. The prospect of a morning kiss every day was a new beginning for them... 

And standing there, still in the aftermath of their first morning kiss, both already longed for their next one. 

[sratsome-jack]

He was a human, she was an elf. Can I make it anymore obvious?

He was a templar, she was a mage. What more can I say?

[cimooch]

I edited my last fanart of DA:Inquisition to somewhat matched my current style. I did this a while ago but forgot to upload it here, so here it is.

[psyoni]

Cullen and Lauren Lavellan by Agregor

My OC Lauren Lavellan and Cullen From Dragon Age: Inquisition Cullen Romance I still practicing a new style.

[moonmythology]

What it Feels Like to Be Human --Chapter 3: A Dalish Promise

Synopsis: Athdhea Lavellan always wanted to find out what it means to be human. Becoming the Herald of Andraste taught her to be careful of what one wishes for. So far away from home, she finds herself drawn towards her Commander, despite their differences, and a mysterious elf, who has always been in her dreams. CullenxLavellanxSolas.

Chapter Overview: Cullen and Athdhea disagree about either allying with the mages or the templars. While they may not see eye to eye, Athdhea makes him a promise--a promise that she fulfills in a way that he does not expect.

This fic is also in fanfiction.net and AO3

"For the last time: you cannot go to the mages!" shouted Cullen. "You're letting your emotions keep you from making rational decisions."

"And I am telling you: the Templars will not be an option!" Athdhea snapped back.

"You cannot blame the deaths of your Mother and Father on all Templars! Some of us chose this life for noble reasons. Not all of us killed your parents!"

"No, but that does not make me feel any better, Commander!"

The rest of the room stayed back in shock. This is the first time that he's seen her raise her voice. As she met his gaze, she made it clear to him that she was not backing out.

"We're done here. I leave for Redcliffe tomorrow. Stay or follow me: I don't care."

Upon leaving, she slammed the door loudly behind him. Leliana and Josephine followed quietly. Cassandra stayed, watching Cullen pace the room furiously.

"How could she be so stubborn?!" he fumed. "She's driving the Inquisition to th ground with this."

"The mages are not a terrible option, Commander," argued Cassandra. "Their magic is equally powerful to seal the Breach."

He snarled, "Their magic! Their magic started this mess at Kirkwall in the first place."

He heard Cassandra roar, and the next thing he knew, he felt her grab him hard on the shoulders, glaring at him as she pinned him to the wall. "You're being unreasonable too! Just remember that everyone in this fight has scars."

A sigh escaped his lips. Cassandra was right. He was being too hard on the Herald, on Athdhea. After all, she did just find out that she lost her parents because of the actions of some of the members of the Order. And Meredith was one of them. The same Meredith he served at Kirkwall. The same Meredith he turned against when she went insane.

Perhaps she did have the right to be mad at him, and he hated that feeling.

Lying on his bed, he tossed and turned. Ever since she came back from the Storm Coast, she's been actively avoiding him. Not only was she skipping sword training, but she kept meetings short when he was present. The last thing he wanted was her thinking ill of him. It was a feeling that he could not understand.

Then he knew what he had to do. He had to apologize. Quickly, he got his coat and his boots. Never mind that they were not completely laced. He just had to go. As he opened the door, he came face to face with a pair of purple eyes—her eyes.

"I…" she muttered awkwardly, "I was going to knock."

He eyes her curiously. It looked like she rushed there too. She was a fur coat, and possibly not much underneath. Maker, this was not boding well. "I…was on my way to find you."

"Well, I am here." She shrugged in defeat. "I…may I come in?"

"NO!" he protested abruptly. Of course, he would not admit to anyone that he did imagine her in such an attire, in his room.

"Okay. Maybe I should just go—"

"NO!" Trying to avoid her puzzled gaze, he continued, "That is, I…maybe we should just head to the bonfire instead."

The large fire right in front of the Chantry rose high above, as they sat beside each other. As the fire lit her gentle features—her eyes, her nose, her lips—he knew that he could not stay mad at her for very long.

"I'm sorry," she began. "I realize I took out my feelings on you, and that was cruel of me. You obviously did not kill my parents, and I know you left the Templars for the Inquisition, because you wanted to right the exact mistakes that both Mages and the Templars made. I know you're a good man, and I've misjudged you."

"Did Cassandra put you up to this?"

"No, I came because I knew I was wrong, and I want apologize."

"Funny," he said with a serious look on his face, "Cassandra said almost the same thing to me."

He again tried to avoid her eyes, which he felt was curiously studying his features.

"Cassandra told me that everyone has scars in this fight. And she was right. You were not the only one who was emotional in that room. And I'm sorry too."

The bonfire crackled before them. For a moment, his eyes were lost on the embers dancing. He's seen fires like this before, bigger more destructive ones…on Ferelden, on Kirkwall.

As if reading his mind, she said, "I heard stories about Kirkwall. I heard about the mage who blew up the Chantry, how the First Enchanter became an abomination, and how the Knight Commander went mad. Experiencing all of that must have been—"

"I should have seen through Meredith sooner…" he interrupted. "It's…not a subject that I would prefer to think about at the moment…"

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "And since, we're making confessions…I have another one to make."

"What?" This time he was really interested.

"I…" she started. "I confess that there's another reason why I wanted to approach the mages..."

Oh Maker, stop torturing me and spit it out already!

"I want to find someone."

"To find someone?" he repeated. Trying not to sound interested, he took a bite of a dry apple that he had in his coat pocket. "Who?"

"My first love…"

He nearly choked on the apple piece when he heard that. If she was trying to make him jealous, it was working. "What? Are you serious?"

"A little. I mean, he did save my life once. I feel indebted, attached to him. If that's not love, I don't know what that is."

"You know very little of love then."

"And as far as you have told me, neither do you. I bet you barely have any experience…"

He scoffed. "Oh, you'll be surprised."

"Anyway, I do want to find him-that man in my dreams. Because I can't shake the feeling that he's just nearby. Maybe if I try, I would find him."

"You don't even know if he's real. For all you know, maybe you just imagined him because what happened to you and your family was beyond terrible…"

"I know he's real."

"Maybe you've been reading too much of Varric's romances."

"Oh yes," she teased. "I can see the title of that novel he will probably write about me now printed in huge letters: 'Destiny Finds' You by Varric Tehras. Honestly, I do want to read that."

"Why are you telling me this anyway?" he asked, a little annoyed.

"I'm telling you this because I want you to know why I am doing what I do. Like you, I am doing this so I could find a part of myself. Maybe if I find it, everything would be so much better."

He examined her for a while. There was nothing in her eyes that told him that she was lying.

"And I want to make you a promise," she said. Without warning, she slipped a green ring on his left ring finger. He could tell that it had magic.

"What in the Maker's name is this?" His eyes furrowed as he examined it.

She replied matter-of-factly, "It's a promise ring."

Blood instantly rushed to his cheeks. He heard of such rings from the Dalish. From what he heard, elves gave them to each other as engagement rings.

"And before you get any ideas," she stipulated, "I'm giving this to you because of this promise to you." Clearing her throat, she continued. "I swear, by Mythal, all-Mother and Goddess of Justice, to whom I have given my allegiance to, to instigate peace in this endless war. I swear after we recruit the mages and close the Breach in the sky that we will go to the Templars and broker peace. And I will never stop until justice is done…on both sides."

He stared in amazement. "Do you mean that?"

"I do," she answered. "And this ring will keep you alive until I keep my promise."

He believed it, and that was enough.

Days passed after she left, and there was no word from Redcliffe. When the reports finally came, they indicated that she was coming back with an army of mages in tow. The report included intelligence of a plot to assassinate Empress Celine, and something about "the Elder One" who was mentioned to be behind everything. However, what upset him the most was the fact that despite these mages allying with a Tevinter magister—one that necessitated the King of Ferelden to exile them—she recruited these mages as allies.

So after all that talk about Justice, she could not keep her promise after all.

Even after she returned to Haven, he could not find it in him to see her. One morning, as he was heading out for a training exercise, he found her sitting by his doorstep, obviously waiting for him. Upon seeing him, she quickly stood up and anxiously approached him.

"Cullen, I—"

"Herald," he said, slightly mocking. "Congratulations on recruiting the mages. It was definitely a job well done. Justice well served."

"I know you're mad and I can explain—"

His steps quickened, and she desperately followed. He did not want to see her. Why couldn't she just go away? "There is nothing to explain. You just proved that you are light on your promise. You talk of justice? You just set hundreds of apostates loose across Thedas—apostates who swore their allegiance to Tevinter. So congratulations on keeping the peace."

"They had no choice!" she shouted.

Her voice stopped him in his tracks.

"There is no justice in conscripting mages who allied themselves with Tevinter because they were desperate, because there was little help. And we were almost too late. There is no justice in punishing those who have already been oppressed!"

This he could not take anymore. She had no idea of the dreams he suffered through every night, all because of magic, because of mages. Turning to face her, he argued, "You think mages are the only ones here who are oppressed. Many of us have also known oppression because of magic!"

"I'm sorry." For a moment, he swore that he could see tears forming in her eyes as she said those words. But he could not look at her. Not anymore.

He felt the ring seemingly burn in his hand because of his disappointment. But for some reason, he could not find it in him to throw it away.

No time was wasted on the ritual. Within days, they assembled all the mages who helped Athdhea channel the unexplained power of the Mark. Soon, the large rift above the sky at the Temple Ruins of Sacred Ashes is gone.

They did it. The Inquisition won, or so they thought.

A storm brewed on the mountains nearby. Despite this, the celebrations in Haven are at full swing. Cullen spied her speaking with the new mage from Tevinter, Dorian. She was laughing, and it looked like she greatly enjoyed his company. For a moment, she met his eyes, but he quickly broke his gaze. He could not bear to see her.

He was above to leave the celebrations when the bells started clanging wildly.

"Commander!" the watchman shouted. "Massive forces coming fast!"

His hand tightly gripped his sword. A massive force was marching. Who? How? Why?

"What banner?"

"None, sir! None!"

None? His mind started processing the situation. They have been caught unawares. If there was an army marching on them, Leliana's scouts would have given some warning. But there was no time to think about that now.

"Sound the alarm!" he barked as he ran to the gates.

He quickly organized his lieutenants, and called everyone to run to the safety of the town walls. She came, staff in hand, and he quickly brief her about the situation.

A loud banging from the gates sounded.

"I can't come in unless you open!" a voice called from the other side of the gates.

She nodded towards him, and he drew his sword, ready to face anything beyond the gate. The gates opened to reveal a Templar falling to his knees. A boy emerged behind him, daggers drawn and dripping with blood.

"I am Cole," the boy said. "I came to warn you. To help. People are coming to hurt you. You probably already knew."

Everything about the situation is strange but this boy looked even stranger. His polite manner and tone contradicted the bloody daggers and the dead Templars around him.

Athdhea frantically approached the boy and demanded, "What is this? What is going on?!"

"The Templars have come to kill you," Cole replied quietly.

Cullen could not believe his ears. "Templars?! Is this the Order's response to our talks with the mages? Attacking blindly?"

How is this happening? He living among Templars, and he was a Templar. How all of this even possible? Numerous questions raced in his mind.

"The Red Templars went to the Elder One," Cole replied cryptically. "You know him. He knows you. You took his mages."

He pointed to a spot in the hill where two figures emerged—a very large man, or monster with red lyrium spikes jutting out of its body, and another man—someone he knew—the disfigured form of his old friend Samson. It couldn't be.

"He's very angry that you took his mages," Cole pointed out.

"Cullen!" Athdhea desperately called. "Give me a plan. Anything!"

For a moment, he could not look at her. With everything that was happening, she was right. If everything he was seeing was true, the Templars have become truly corrupt. Then he spotted the trebuchets, which his soldiers calibrated merely days ago. Hardening his voice, he replied, "Haven is no fortress. If we are to withstand this monster, we must control the battle." Pointing to the trebuchets, he said, "Get out there and hit that force with everything you can."

She nodded. Suddenly, they were fighting together.

To the mages, he raised his voice, "Mages! You have sanction to engage them. That there is Samson and he will not make it easy. Use your barriers to protect yourselves and the soldiers. Keep your distance and only use ranged attacks." Drawing his sword, he called, "Inquisition! With the Herald! For your lives! For all of us!"

The small army behind him roared in response. Athdhea nodded to him before she charged with Cassandra, the Iron Bull, Varric and the rest of her party towards the trebuchets.

At first, the plan worked. The trebuchets were giving them the advantage, burying hundreds of the Elder One's army. It looked like they had a chance. Then without warning, a dragon swooped setting the trebuchets and the town in flames.

There goes hope.

He managed to regroup the few that were left inside the Chantry. When she and her part managed to make it back to the Chantry before the doors closed, he managed to feel some relief. She was safe for now.

"Our position here is not good," he said as soon as she came. No doubt she was expecting a report. "That dragon stole back any time you might have earned us."

Then Cole, who was tending to the gravely wounded Chancelor Roderick, spoke up, "I've seen an Archdemon. I was in the Fade, but it looked like that."

An archdemon. Wonderful.

"I don't care what it looks like!" Cullen shouted back. "It cut a path for that army. They'll kill everyone in Haven!"

"The Elder One doesn't care about the village," Cole pointed out. "He only wants the Herald."

"Then he can have me!" Athdhea declared.

No! There has to be another way. He thought.

"Cullen, at Redcliffe I saw the future," she said. "I don't want to live in any future where none of you would have the chance to fight back. If this can give you a chance…"

Cole shook his head. "It won't save them. He wants to kill you. No one else matters but he'll crush them, kill them anyway. I don't like him."

"You don't like—" Seriously, what is wrong with this boy? Cullen's mind tried to come up with solutions, but none came. "There are no tactics to make this survivable. The only thing that slowed them was the avalanche. We could turn the remaining trebuchet, cause one last slide."

"We're overrun!" she argued. "To hit the Enemy we'd bury Haven."

"We're dying, but we can decide how," his voice softening. "Many don't get that chance."

That was that truth that he knew. They were dying, but at least it could be in their own terms, together.

"Yes, that!" Cole's voice interrupted. "Chancellor Roderick can help. He wants to say it before he dies."

The old man was bleeding, so Cole had to help him up. His voice struggled for breath as he spoke, "There is a path. You wouldn't know it, unless you've made the summer pilgrimage as I have. The people can escape…She must have shown me…Andraste must have shown me so I could tell you…"

Athdhea turned to him. "What are you saying Chancellor?"

"It was whim that I walked the path. I did not mean to start—it was overgrown. Now, with so many in the Conclave dead, to be the only one who remembers…I don't know Herald. If this simple memory can save us, this could be more than mere accident. You could be more."

The Chancellor, with his dying words, in the end he did believe. But that was not time to think about that.

"What about it Cullen?" Athdhea asked. "Will it work?"

"Possibly, if he shows us the path. But what of your escape?"

She turned away. Then he knew, she wasn't planning on coming back. Then meeting his eyes, she forced a weak smile. "I guess I will be fulfilling my promise after all."

No, not like this.

"Perhaps you can surprise it? Find a way?" His jaw clenched. He could not lose her. Not like this.

She took both his hands and gazed up at him. "I'm going to face him. And the Templars. It's the only way. You know this. Justice will be done."

"If I knew that it would come to this, I would not have—"

"Shhh…it's all in the past. Will you take care of the future for me, Cullen?"

He nodded, but he could not meet her eyes.

"Please tell Keeper Deshanna, that I hunted well. And my sister…tell her I love her. And that silver brush that she tried to steal from me ages ago...she can have it."

He was never good at goodbyes. He never wanted to say them, because there was still so much he wanted to tell her. "Athdhea, I—"

The walls and the ground shook, interrupting him. Maybe it was best that she did not know. Just before she released his hands, he felt her light lips graze his cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Then she let go. He took one last look at her as she and her party charged outside the doors. He wanted to follow her, but duty took him elsewhere. It was the only thing that kept him from running to her.

The passage that Roderick directed them to was cold, dank and dark. Some of his soldiers managed to salvage some supplies, and carry some of the wounded. The trek took some time, and he knew that she was trying to bide time for them as long as she could. At last, he felt the cold wind again as they made it out of the narrow passage on the far end of the mountain. They were safe for now. He ordered an archer to light a flare. If she sees it, maybe, just maybe…she could make it out.

"Commander!" cried Rylen, his scope lowered, pointing below.

Before he could reach Rylen, the last trebuchet fired. Like a massive river, the snow rushed downwards, burying almost everything down below. The roar of the snow and sliding rocks filled his ears. The dragon swooped past and took off into the darkness.

When the avalanche seemed to be over, he wondered, did she survive? In the distance, eight figures emerged in the snow—Cassandra, Varric, Solas, Dorian, Vivienne, the Iron Bull, Blackwall, and Sera.

"Cullen!" Cassandra called as she ran towards them.

"What happened?" he inquired. "The Herald…did she?"

Cassandra sadly shook her head. "She sent us away…I'm sorry, Cullen."

She's gone, and he could not believe it.

"She's still alive!" Solas contended. "Send a search party after her, Commander."

Then Rylen approached, pointing out, "Commander, enemy forces could still be in the area. We have to move."

He wanted to listen to the elf, but Rylen also had a point. Leliana gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "She did what she could to bide us some time. Do not let her sacrifice be in vain."

He did not want to leave, but duty commanded him to. And if she was truly gone, he owed her as much as to protect the people she tried to protect. Steeling his voice, he regretfully gave the order move out.

He lost her. But he also realized that he wanted her—not despite their differences—but because of them. When they disagreed, he always found himself questioning everything he believed to be true. Everything she said always made him examine himself, and think about how he could be a better person.

And he was never able to tell her that.

A/N: Of course he will be able to tell her. Because SPOILERS: she's alive. But we all know that.

One thing about CullenxInquisitor fics that I know where the Inquisitor is a mage, the mage templar debate is often there to create sexual tension. While there may be that here, I mostly wanted to focus on the ideological tension here. Because I do think falling in love is about meeting minds. Blame that on Shakespeare.

This fic is also in fanfiction.net and AO3

Next up: "A Wolf in the Distance." I guess I'll be writing in Solas' POV after all. :)

[onesparrow]

accidents of faith and nature

Cullen Rutherford/Ariadne Lavellan | 2.1k | Rated M

They do not discuss their childhoods. Cullen knows there’s rumours about where he and his siblings came from, some closer to the truth than others. He does wonder sometimes, if Ari would believe him if he told her that they fell out of a wardrobe and into this world. 

He doesn’t tell her. He takes comfort in the fact that Ari has her own secrets, that she and her brother spend as much time whispering in the corner of libraries as he and Mia do. It makes him feel more comfortable with the secrets that he’s holding.

They tell each other the important things, Cullen reassures himself as he trails his fingers down Ari’s spine as she sleeps. The future is what matters.

The prequel to the Narnia AU I’ve been working on. 

[sketchedhallows]

Asha, Cullen, and their sweet pup Rook. 💕 I thought about taking this one farther and filling in the scenery but I just sort of ran out of motivation 😅 Nevertheless I am happy with it. #dragonage #dragonageinquisition #procreateart #lineart #cullenrutherford #cullenxlavellan #cullenxinquisitor #smallartaccount #artstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CPV0YGfjm96/?utm_medium=tumblr

[inquizies]

[debinthedas]

❤

[greypetrel]

Songfic Tag Game

Rules: Pick a song to accompany each of your fics or as many as you like. This might be the fic's inspiration or just pure vibes that you'd like to share with readers. Tag as many people as fics you feature (or do as you please!)

Ok this is a great game, thank you @theluckywizard for tagging me! :D

As usuals, forcing myself to stop at one song is a lot but let's try it.

Tagging: @shivunin @ndostairlyrium @zenstrike @star--nymph @melisusthewee @dreadfutures @spainkitty and YOU who are reading!

Home was never on the ground (friendly known as Monster fic) [Completed, 39 chapters, 313k words || CullenxLavellan, a mixture of anthological drabbles]

Thus Always to Tyrants - The Oh, Hellos ( Spotify | Youtube )

2. She of Many Names (crossover, LOTRxDragon Age) [ Ongoing, 59,268 words, 21 chapters ongoing

Now I'm Ready, I'm Ready Now - Daniel Hart ( Spotify | Youtube ) (All that soundtrack, but I had to choose one. I'm very normal about this movie.)

3. Death and All of His Friends [ Ongoing, 9112 words for 2 chapters || Female Hawke x Merrill x Isabela ]

Death and All of His Friends - Coldplay ( Spotify | Youtube )

4. DadWolf AU (still unnamed and still not published, but there are some snippets here around. Modern AU, No Corypheus in Inquisition fic) [ Random snippets aroudn my blog || A very very platonic Solas&Lavellan, CullenxLavellan, DorianxIronBull, implied and there if you want to see them but won't ever get explicited SolasxVarric ]

Again - YUI ( Spotify - Youtube ) (it could change but for now it's fitting. The anime it comes from is a welcome reference this time.)

Some one shots under the cut!

Rolling a Wave (Aka the Whale AU, inspired VAGUELY by Moby Dick) [ On going/On Hyatus - 2137 words || CullenxLavellan || Fully historical, no magic ] L'Oceano Oilalà - Vinicio Capossela ( Spotify | Youtube )

No One Else Left Behind [ One shot, 4524 words || Female Mahariel & Anders ] Fox hunt - Sierra Ferrell ( Spotify | Youtube )

The Only Possible Choice [ One shot, 3371 words || Female Mahariel x Morrigan, reference to Female Mahariel x Alistair ] Kamikaze - Susanne Sundfør ( Spotify | Youtube )

One for the Road [ Concluded for now, but I have a half idea of rewriting the second chapter and adding a third, 11952 words || Female Lavellan x Fenris ] Morning Elvis - Florence + The Machine ( Spotify - Youtube )

[mahr94]

Cullavellan Week - Day 3

Partners in battle