Chapter 12
The Darvaarad
"I guess we're letting Merrill blow a new hole in the wall," Riona commented once a slightly lightheaded Bethany had caught up with the others at the impenetrable steel gate that Cole had predictably failed to unlock.
"I had another idea… but it probably wouldn't even work," a dejected looking Cole muttered.
"Please speak, Cole, I'm sure it's at least worth considering," Bethany smiled encouragingly at their spirit friend.
"Well… seeing as I am a spirit," Cole began hesitantly. "I could just… pass through the gate and reappear inside. Then I could use the lever and open the gate from the inside. No… no, I guess that's no good…"
"What?" Riona blinked, wide-eyed. "Of course, that would work! Please, do that, Cole!"
"Oh," was all Cole said, then fading from view as they remained by the gate, waiting for the unmistakable sound of a lever being flipped on the other side of the door and gears starting to grind, unsealing the heavy locks one by one.
"It seems that we are all guilty of continuously not accounting for the fact that Cole is a spirit in our planning," Bethany chuckled uneasily, gripping her staff as she waited for the gate to open. "Double barriers might be a good idea right about now. I'm sure we'll face a large welcoming committee waiting on us," she said, Merrill reacting instantly and bolstering the barrier spell cast by Riona.
"Or not," Riona muttered, as the gate finally opened completely to reveal a long passageway leading further into the fortress proper, but it was completely empty with nary a soul in sight. "I'm sure there's an ambush waiting for us further inside, though. There has to be."
"Well, we have the best possible scout imaginable at our disposal," Bethany smiled, looking at Cole, still standing by the lever that operated the gate. "Cole, would you mind exploring ahead and reporting back to us?" The friendly Spirit of Purpose nodded at that and disappeared yet again, leaving the three mages waiting.
"Merrill, you still look as if you would rather just blast through the place," Riona grinned, watching as the elven mage paced back and forth the small square, appearing the picture of impatience. "Don't worry, you'll still get to do that… but I'm sure you will agree that a little scouting ahead can prevent us from walking straight into some unpleasant surprises."
"I suppose so," Merrill nodded reluctantly. "But I believe we can at least drop with the pretense of subtlety."
Cole announced his return shortly thereafter, reappearing next to them, the others already expecting it and for once not being startled by his sudden emergence. "There's a locked door to the right, but it leads only to a boring storeroom," their spirit friend informed them. "Door straight ahead and the stairway down to the left eventually arrive at the same hall. It's full of angry qunari waiting for you."
"Well, then let's not make them wait," Merrill growled, striding forth into the fortress with the Hawke sisters hot on her heels, busy applying the arcane barriers to protect them from the inevitable initial barrage of spears and spells. Merrill cut the corner to the left and took a pair of steps down the wide stairway before she spotted the qunari lookouts below, shouting to warn about enemy approach. The elven mage immediately let loose with a spell before the lookouts could retreat to join their fellows downstairs where the ambush was being prepared, tendrils of the blood red lightning catching the retreating soldiers and then jumping to electrocute the entire group… and then causing a massive explosion that knocked the three mages off their feet and buried them in a thin layer of dust and rubble, a wall sconce coming loose and painfully hitting Merrill in the shoulder as she crouched on the stairs, covering her head with her hands.
"Maker! What was that?" Bethany exclaimed, once the very foundations of the impenetrable fortress had stopped shaking.
"Those were the exploding barrels of gaatlok stored in the barracks," Cole informed them helpfully. "Wait… do you want me to inform you about them in advance?"
"Yes! Maker's breath… yes, please!" Riona exclaimed emphatically, rising to her feet and dusting herself off, then giving Merrill a concerned stare when she noticed that the elf was chugging down a health potion, but the elven mage merely shook her head at Riona's stare to indicate that there was nothing to worry about.
"I'm sorry," Cole appeared a little dejected. "I forgot that gaatlok is bad for you."
"It's alright, Cole," Bethany smiled encouragingly. "Just keep us informed about any stockpiled gaatlok in advance, please," she said as the three mages and their spirit friend slowly advanced down the dust and rubble covered stairway to observe the devastation in the downstairs hall. The thick walls of the fortress appeared to have withstood the blast just fine, but the same could not be said about the contents of the hall, including the group of qunari soldiers whose charred body parts had been scattered throughout the hall, Bethany and Riona trying hard not to gag from the horrible sight of this literal slaughterhouse, rushing to quickly escape the hall through the only exit available, leading them out into yet another passageway.
"Let's wait on Cole to scout ahead before we rush into the unknown," Riona spoke hastily, placing her hand on Merrill's shoulder to stop her, the elven mage already on the move forward.
"Mhm… where is that blasted spirit?" Merrill grumbled, looking back at the hall devastated by the exploding gaatlok, Cole yet to emerge from it. "What is taking him so long?" she complained impatiently.
"Apologies," Cole appeared moments later, passing a collection of blackened parchments over to Bethany. "These were trapped under one of the dead men and spared the worst of the flames," he explained. "I thought you might want them."
"Thank you, Cole," Bethany gratefully accepted the singed notes. "Good thinking, my friend," she added with a smile, starting to browse the parchments.
"Shouldn't we be rushing ahead after the Viddasala and leave reading for later?" Merrill sighed, giving Bethany an impatient stare.
"These notes are written in common, Merrill… it will only take a moment," Bethany replied soothingly, the elven mage making no further protest at that. "They appear to be instructions for the non-qunari workers here at the Darvaarad. Just listen to this. 'The Dragon's Breath must continue regardless of some of the recent setbacks. Many are new to the Qun and have not yet learned to trust. Your worry is understandable. The rest of the world has betrayed you.'"
"Again with the Dragon's Breath," Riona muttered. "You know how literal the qunari are about everything. I wouldn't be surprised if they were talking about an actual breath of an actual living dragon."
"You just might be right about that, Ri," Bethany replied, continuing to read the notes. "'All who have been to the Darvaarad know the difficulty of maintaining the specimen for extraction for as long as we have. If we delayed Dragon's Breath, we would have to dispose of the specimen. Creating gaatlok is normally a slow process requiring much mining and careful alchemy. Venom extraction offers the only means to deliver the Dragon's Breath quickly and in large quantities. To delay the Dragon's Breath is to lose any chance of bringing peace to the South without needless suffering. The Qun demands we save the workers of the South from a bloody war and deliver them into our teaching before corruption further overtakes the land.'"
"So… they're not only conditioning a captured dragon to use it to attack the South, they're also using its blood to quickly create massive quantities of blackpowder?" Riona blinked. "What is with this fascination of extracting the blood of powerful creatures? Titan's blood, dragon's blood… where do we draw the line?"
"I guess we don't, and that’s the problem," Bethany shrugged. "Also, it seems that we now have the secret ingredient in creating gaatlok, something that everyone in the South have been wondering about for centuries. There is no way I'm going to share it with anyone, though. It's not like we need more means of mass destruction at the disposal of some of the less reasonable rulers of the South."
"I'm keeping this all to myself as well," Riona nodded. "If we make this knowledge public, there is no chance that the leaders of the South would only use it against the qunari. Sooner or later, it would be commonly used in conflicts throughout Thedas, and we can't have that."
"Of course, it also means that there is a large and probably very angry, mistreated and tortured dragon somewhere in this fortress," Bethany sighed.
"Perhaps we could unleash it on the qunari?" Merrill suggested, for once not looking very keen on her plan to simply blast everything in her path. "I'm sure it would love to snack on its captors."
"That's something to keep in mind. Good idea, Merrill," Bethany smiled at the elf, then turning her attention back to the notes. "'Others have voiced concern over the specimen. The Qun does not demand cruelty to any living being, but all creatures have a place and a duty under the Qun. The specimen serves as it must. When Dragon's Breath is complete, it will be extinguished quickly and painlessly, as when we slaughter animals for food. Allow your superiors to deal with the agents of Fen'Harel, and remember your role in service to the Qun.'"
"That must be one unhappy dragon, being drained of its blood for the glory of Qun," Riona growled. "I would love nothing else than to turn the tables and unleash it on these qunari bastards. Maybe it could eat the Viddasala alive."
"I have a more painful demise in mind for that woman," Merrill nodded with a wicked grin on her lips. "Also, it is good to hear that we have disrupted the qunari operations so much that their workers require reassurances from their superiors to restore their morale."
"Indeed, it is," Bethany smiled. "Well, that's it for the notes, so we can continue. Cole?" she called out, having to wait for a brief while for the Spirit of Purpose to reappear by their side. "What have you learned?"
"The next few passageways are free of any qunari," Cole informed them. "The corridor we're in ends in an important looking study. I think you should see it."
"Hmm, perhaps it's the Viddasala's study?" Bethany wondered. "In that case, we really should take a closer look at it," she added as the small group resumed their journey through the fortress of Darvaarad, walking down a wide set of stairs to discover that the passageway at the bottom of it widened considerably, opening to form a beautiful balcony carved out in the cliff face, offering a splendid view at the rocky cliffside below as well as providing a great vantage spot for bowmen or spear throwers. Also present on the balcony were several well beaten training dummies that appeared to have seen much use, but since they held no interest to the three mages, they moved straight past the balcony to enter the large and almost garishly decorated study, most definitely garish by qunari standards.
"Beth, I hope you won't insist on reading all of this," Merrill remarked as the three of them approached the large writing desk at the back of the study, stacks upon stacks of parchments resting on the desk.
"Perhaps not now, but I'm most certainly bringing everything I can with us for reading later," Bethany spoke before starting to stuff piles of Viddasala's papers into her backpack. "The more we can learn about the qunari plans the better."
"Agreed," Riona nodded, reaching out and patting the massive skull of a large dragon, placed on a wooden tripod and taking up almost half of the Viddasala's work space on the table. "So impractical to place it there, but I guess the qunari really do love their dragons," the older of the Hawke siblings mused.
"Yes, they love to chain them and drain them of their blood," Merrill shrugged. "That is a strange display of affection."
"Good point," Bethany nodded in agreement, then freezing for a moment as she picked up a brown leather case containing several parchments with detailed blueprints inside. Even though it was written entirely in Qunlat, Bethany immediately understood its meaning and the implications, considering the qunari did not translate the names of geographical locations and cities into Qunlat. "These are drawings of the Winter Palace… and blueprints of all the other buildings they planned to blow up like they did in Halamshiral," Bethany spoke, starting to browse through the blueprints with a heavy heart.
"Those bastards," Riona growled, noticing how thick the stack of parchments was, containing at least twenty different blueprints. "What were the other targets?"
"Seats of power throughout the South, it appears," Bethany replied, feeling a strange lightheadedness gripping her as the enormity of the qunari plans truly sank in. "The Imperial Palace in Val Royeaux, in case Celene and Briala were there. Cumberland and Nevarra City… Montsimmard… almost every city in the Free Marches. I don't see Kirkwall, though," she mused, earning a sigh of relief from Riona. "The Royal Palace of Denerim…"
"Damn it," Riona cursed. "Alistair… let's hope that he and Evangeline somehow managed to dodge the arrow. I don't want to think about the fate of Ferelden without him in charge."
"Truer words haven't been spoken," Bethany said, her heart starting to skip faster as she stared at the next blueprint. "Antiva City…"
"The palace of King Fulgeno?" Riona asked, Bethany replying with a stiff nod. "Huh… well, I guess the qunari weren't aware that he was just a decorative figurehead or else they would have hit the Merchant Princes, right?" Riona's face fell immediately when Bethany produced no reply, the older sibling reaching out to comfort her sister by placing an arm around her shoulders. "Oh, Beth… I understand that you would be worried about Josie, but think about it logically. When was the last time she had any reason to be anywhere near King Fulgeno's residence?"
"Hmm… yes, I suppose you're right," Bethany immediately perked up at her sister's appeal to reason. "Yes, she should be perfectly alright… I guess I wasn't thinking clearly. Anyway… if they have been successful in carrying out these attacks, we will return from our adventure to the South completely paralyzed by a lack of leadership."
"Maybe it won't be so bad since we know that Celene and Briala have survived to keep Orlais under control," Riona argued. "And Antiva can run perfectly fine with King Fulgeno dead and his palace in ruins. It's Ferelden that I'm most concerned about…"
"Very true," Bethany nodded, finishing stuffing the remaining parchments into her bags, then stepping around the desk to open the sole large drawer and fishing out an important looking envelope with a seal that appeared to have been broken very recently. "Hmm, what's this then?" she wondered, removing several pieces of pure white paper, covered with the calligraphic writing of the Qunlat.
"Don't tell me you can read all of that," Riona remarked, also coming to look at the letter.
"No, but I can understand a few words at least, and I know this seal," Bethany pointed at the envelope. "I've seen it many times on the reports that the Iron Bull passed to us when he was still a part of the Ben-Hassrath. It's the seal of the Triumvirate of the Qun, so I wonder what they might be writing the Viddasala about."
"Take it with us and we'll find a way to translate it later?" Riona suggested.
"Well, obviously," Bethany nodded, sparing one more glance at the parchment.
"I can already tell you how this will go down once we put a stop to the Viddasala's operation," Merrill chuckled sarcastically. "This Triumvirate will disavow all knowledge or involvement in this operation, claiming that the Viddasala was acting on her own and without their consent. They will claim that she was a rogue priest of this Ben-Hassrath and will wash their hands in innocence."
"Probably," Bethany nodded in agreement. "This letter seems to imply otherwise, though. We need someone to do a proper translation, but I'm pretty sure that the Triumvirate does know what the Viddasala is doing. However… hmm, I might be wrong about this, but it seems as if the Viddasala has been embellishing the situation in the South to receive consent from the Triumvirate, and they are expressing their… concern."
"Yes, that's the last step before cutting off their support entirely," Riona said. "We've seen it time and time again, haven't we?"
"True… anyway, I think we're done with the study," Bethany spoke, quickly sorting out her backpack before adjusting the straps and slinging it back onto her shoulders. "Cole? Where to next?" she called out to the spirit, certain that he was still lurking nearby, out of sight.
"It's a place they call the gaatlok factory, down the next passageway," Cole replied, materializing next to them. "There are many qunari. And gaatlok… lots of gaatlok. See, I remembered!" he added proudly.
"Well done, Cole," Merrill sighed, rolling her eyes a little as they set out on a light jog down the next passageway to the gaatlok producing facilities. The time for subtlety had come and passed, so the elven mage did not hesitate as she aimed an empowered stonefist spell at the large wooden gate to the gaatlok factory, knocking it off its hinges and the three mages quickly ran through, entering the factory and finding themselves in a wide hall that looked to be serving as a temporary storage facility, shelves upon shelves filled with the explosive powder lined up against the walls.
"Teth a! Bas!" one of the several qunari guards in the storage hall shouted upon their dramatic arrival, not that his fellows required a warning after the gate behind them had been trashed and splintered by Merrill's magic. The qunari immediately turned to attack the intruders, but Riona and Bethany were quick with their force magic, slowing and crushing their foes.
Merrill was still pondering whether her assistance would even be necessary in dealing with the qunari guards, when suddenly another figure emerged high above them, atop of a balcony above the storage hall, the three mages looking upwards to spot the Viddasala glaring at them with an expression of rage and disbelief contorting her determined face. "Nehraa ataashi-asaara meravas adim kata!" the woman shouted in Qunlat before retreating, while at the same time another group of qunari soldiers rushed into the hall from the only entrance to their left.
Leaving the guards already in the hall for Bethany and Riona to play with, Merrill found the new arrivals an easy prey as they barged through the narrow entrance, leaving themselves painfully exposed to her blood magic, the spell paralyzing the entire group. Still, the Saarebas at the back of the group somehow managed to quickly shrug the spell off and the familiar crackle of chain lightning now sparked around his staff, the qunari mage clearly willing to blow up their entire gaatlok supply and bury the invaders under all the rubble, even if it meant giving up his own life as a payment, tradeoff that the fanatical qunari zealots appeared glad to accept, a trait that made them such a dangerous opposition.
Knowing that any offensive spell to disable the Saarebas would take too long to cast, Merrill instead opted to raise her left arm and a radiant sphere of green glow leapt from her fingertips and surrounded the three mages with a massive arcane barrier that neither Bethany nor Riona had seen before. Still, they all felt relieved about not having to test the durability of the barrier from all the gaatlok barrels around them suddenly exploding, as Bethany at the very last moment managed to land her pull of the Abyss spell just behind the Saarebas. It did not stop him from casting the spell altogether, but by pulling the qunari mage backwards, Bethany made his staff point upwards and so instead of striking them and all the explosive barrels surrounding the three mages, the chain lightning instead traveled upwards, striking the roof of the hall and exploding all the barrels on the upper shelves. A massive shower of rubble and plaster fell upon them, but fortunately the roof itself held, and Merrill's new and improved arcane barrier easily shielded them from the falling debris. With Cole emerging to run the unpleasantly surprised Saarebas through from behind, the rest of the qunari soldiers were easy to mop up afterwards, leaving the three mages and their spirit friend free to enjoy a shorter reprieve as they took another, closer look at their surroundings.
"There's only one exit that I can see," Riona stated, glancing at the doorway surrounded by pools of blood from the qunari corpses, drained by Merrill's blood magic. "Could you scout it for us, Cole?" she turned to meet a quick nod from their helpful spirit friend.
"Look at that," Bethany exclaimed while they waited on Cole, pointing at a large window covered with iron bars in the wall opposite to the smashed gate they had arrived through. Through this barred window, they could see an even larger hall at the back of the fortress, serving as a holding pen for the captive dragon, the color of its hide a mix between sickly green and pale yellow, the great beast constantly screeching and fighting against its bonds, clearly suffering as the qunari relentlessly drained its blood to quickly produce massive quantities of gaatlok.
"It looks really angry," Riona gulped, having stared at the dragon for a while. "Let's hope we can avoid fighting that thing."
"I'm quite certain we'll have to deal with it on our way to reaching the Viddasala," Bethany sighed. "Somehow that always seems to be the case."
"No dragon is going to stop me from catching up with that crazy qunari," Merrill spoke with determination. "Besides, putting that poor beast down will be more of a mercy killing after everything the qunari have put it through."
"Not arguing that," Bethany nodded, then looking around the storage hall one more time while they continued waiting on Cole, spotting a large piece of parchment attached to one of the shelves where the gaatlok barrels were stored. She became even more interested in the note when she noticed that it was translated in common for the Viddathari workers at the factory, offering detailed instructions on how to create gaatlok primers from dragon's blood, deathroot extract and powdered silverite. "Better take this with us," she decided, removing the parchment and folding it up. "I don't want these instructions to fall into the wrong hands after we've evicted the qunari from their stronghold."
"If we are in Par Vollen, then the qunari will just reclaim the fortress sooner or later," Riona shrugged. "But sure, don't leave information like that behind. Even if we don't plan to make gaatlok ourselves, it might be important to find out everything the qunari know about it."
"Exactly what I was thinking, Ri," Bethany smiled at her sister, then turning her head to look at Cole, materializing by the doorway. "What did you find out, Cole?"
"This leads out to an open terrace," the Spirit of Purpose pointed at the doors behind him. "Then it curls around and leads back into the fortress. The qunari call that place the venom extraction chamber. That's where the dragon is. A splinter of me that can still comprehend compassion senses its overwhelming pain. Its suffering is… indescribable."
"What about the Viddasala and the qunari in this venom extraction chamber?" Merrill asked, not looking particularly concerned about the captive dragon and its suffering.
"I did not see the Viddasala, but I saw at least two dozen qunari," Cole stated. "They will make their last stand there."
"Two dozen is a lot, especially with that dragon thrown in the mix," Bethany muttered. "Who knows how the beast will react? It has no reason to think we have come to liberate it. And perhaps the qunari can exert some control over it and force the dragon to attack us. I don't fancy our chances against two dozen qunari and a dragon."
"We may have no choice in the matter," Merrill reminded them. "I'm certain we can do it," she added confidently.
"Perhaps we won’t have to," Riona said, snapping her fingers as she turned her attention back to their spirit friend. "Cole, this dragon, it is held by chains, yes?" Cole nodded swiftly. "Do you think you could free it? If there's even a chance that the dragon would turn on its qunari captors, we need to make use of it."
"Let me see," Cole said with a nod, disappearing again and leaving the three mages to observe the dragon's struggles through the barred window to the venom extraction chamber. Fortunately, they did not have to wait too long before Cole reappeared again. "Yes," the Spirit of Purpose informed them, appearing pleased. "Yes, I think I can open those large manacles while remaining unseen."
The three mages blinked, exchanging confused looks between them. "Well… then why didn't you do so?" Riona sighed, scratching her scalp in confusion.
"Oh." That was all an embarrassed looking Cole said, disappearing yet again. Less than a minute later, they all heard a massive roar from the venom extraction chamber. Through the barred window, the three mages could see the dragon rising on its hind legs for a moment, gathering its strength before letting loose with a powerful venomous breath that made many of the gathered qunari cry out from surprise and agonizing pain.
"I think they look properly distracted by now, so we should be able to get closer," Bethany stated after they had been watching and listening to the carnage in the extraction chamber for some time. At that, the three mages quickly rushed out from the storage hall and onto the terrace, then making a turn to climb a set of stairs leading back into the fortress and the venom extraction chamber. The circular hall was surrounded by a curving corridor which oversaw the hall from above and provided them with the perfect vantage point from which to observe the slaughter below, the qunari lines dwindling quickly when faced with the rage of the tortured dragon.
"They've barely scratched the thing," Riona grumbled, watching the dragon casually biting a qunari shock trooper in two, swallowing the man's torso, while at the same time sending two others flying with a powerful stinging tail swipe. "Unless they make a dent in its hide quick, we'll have to face it enraged and almost at full health."
"Or maybe not," Bethany mused, an idea quickly occurring to her. "See the large gate with those big levers behind the dragon? I bet that's how they dragged the poor beast in here… and if we could get it open, maybe the dragon might use it to escape?"
"Worth a try," Riona nodded approvingly. "I should be able to hit the lever on the far side from here, if you want me to."
"Then I'll take the one closer, but not yet… let's wait for the dragon to thin the qunari numbers some more," Bethany told her sister as they crouched behind the railing of the corridor running around the extraction chamber. "I think now would be a good moment," she spoke a while later when she could count no more than five qunari soldiers left facing the dragon, all of them injured and staggering, the two Hawke sisters then leaning out of their cover to cast their spells at the large levers sealing the gate. The applied force on the levers instantly made the gate part, providing the dragon with a path to regain its freedom, but the great beast was so enraged that at first it did not even notice the open gate, finishing the injured qunari down to the very last.
"I love my force magic," Riona grinned, looking on as the dragon reared its head searching for more qunari to kill, but instead of more prey discovering that its path to freedom was now open and the great beast started to lumber towards the open gate, limping and bleeding a little. Cries of surprise came from outside the fortress as the dragon emerged from its holding pen, letting loose with its venom breath at the qunari stationed outside before gingerly taking to its wings and flapping away.
"Come!" Merrill exclaimed, jumping over the railing and nimbly dropping down onto the ground below, the two Hawke sisters not daring to do the same in their mage robes and instead quickly ran for the closest stair leading to the circular hall below. "Hurry up! We must catch the Viddasala now before she escapes!" Merrill shouted, not looking impressed as she sped ahead, already by the gate with Bethany and Riona lagging good twenty yards behind.
With the Hawke siblings trying their best to keep up with Merrill, the trio emerged onto the highest tier of battlements around the Darvaarad, allowing them to oversee almost the entire fortress and to instantly notice a large group of qunari led by the Viddasala hastily gathering in the courtyard below, impatiently waiting as two of the Saarebas channeled their spells at a particularly large and elaborate eluvian in the courtyard.
"Parshaara!" the Viddasala swore, having noticed them high above on the battlements. "I will stop you yet, agents of Fen'Harel! You already tore the sky apart with elven magic once! I will not allow you to shatter the world as well! It is because of you that we have taken the way of the blades to bring wisdom to the South, when without your meddling we could have brought them down a gentler path!"
"What is she rambling about, Merrill?" Bethany turned to their elven friend.
"Who cares, we have her right where we want her," Merrill shrugged, taking another leap from the battlements and launching one of her spells at the tightly clustered qunari in the courtyard. The Saarebas, having successfully activated the eluvian, frantically summoned arcane barriers that absorbed the worst of Merrill's magic, but it still left several of the qunari crying out in pain and agony.
"Go! Go, quickly!" the irate Viddasala yelled, sounding almost a little panicked as she literally pushed some of her soldiers through the eluvian, then hastily following together with the Saarebas, leaving the injured behind. Moments later, Merrill's feet hit the ground near the courtyard and another spell left the tip of her staff, one of the injured qunari spearmen surrounded by swirling red mist as he began to choke before exploding in a shower of blood and gore, the blood magic empowered walking bomb annihilating all survivors near the eluvian.
"That's nasty," Bethany shuddered, together with Riona quickly rushing to find the closest stairway leading down to the courtyard, not quite daring to make the jump Merrill had cleared with ease. "Scary Merrill is being scary again."
"I bet you still find it sexy," Riona chuckled as they began to descend the stairs to the courtyard where a visibly frustrated and irritated elven mage was waiting for them.
"Perhaps I do, but I'm still not going to forget where my heart lies, Ri," Bethany replied, her memory of the vivid dream still fresh on her mind and reminding her about a certain Antivan to whom she had surrendered her heart. "That said, Merrill is not wrong about the Viddasala… we need to stop her, and we need to stop her now."
