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Lavellan jumped off the ladder and stood in the ring of moonlight that shown into the tunnel. “You lead. I always get turned around underground,” Varric said with annoyance. Lavellan’s shoulders drooped at the comment and dread hovered around the edges of his mind. “Is it just me, or did the temperature plunge as we stepped inside?” Dorian stated in a voice that echoed ominously throughout the chamber. Lavellan clenched his fists and lit the nearest torch with a look. He could feel his back knotting up already with dread. He looked towards the tunnel but could only see about three feet from where he stood. He could hear the wailing of something further down the tunnel. Water trickle noises bounced all around them, making it difficult to pinpoint directions. Even with his elven eyes and ears, he couldn’t see much more than or understand where noises were coming from any better than his human and dwarven companions.
He walked slowly forward lighting every torch they neared. The space between each torch was like walking through molasses – fear clenching his heart and speeding up his breath. He turned a corner and almost screamed as he walked right through one of the spirits that floated around the tunnels. He knew his companions saw him jerk back violently, but he didn’t think anyone saw the fire sprout from his fingers as it would have blended right in with the spirit’s flame-like appearance. It took every ounce of self-control Lavellan had not to sprint into the cavern ahead to the moonlight that spilled down like the waterfall it followed.
Reaching the lit area, he paused, looking up at the moon through the gaping hole in the ceiling. “Where do you think this comes out?” he asked to buy himself a few more seconds of relief.
“Who knows? I doubt it matters unless you just want to know so we don’t fall into it when we’re on the surface,” Varric chuckled.
“We should keep moving Inquisitor,” Cassandra stated firmly as she bored holes with her eyes into a spirit that wafted up and down the bridge.
“Uncomfortable, Seeker?” Dorian drawled with a smirk.
Cassandra tugged her eyes away to glare menacingly at Dorian. “Of course I am not. There is just no point in lingering here.”
“Of course, pardon me.” Dorian’s smirk only grew wider.
Cassandra just looked away with a huff of annoyance. Lavellan sighed and continued down the bridge, trying not to be too obvious that he was going out of his way to walk in the lit spots rather than the shadowy center. They turned down a side tunnel, leaving the moonlight behind. Luckily there was luminescent moss around which helped Lavellan keep the outer appearance of calm. At least until some screech echoed towards them and part of the ceiling fell in front of him.
Lavellan jerked back violently with a gasp. His boot hit a stone and, if not for Dorian, he would have ended up on the ground. Dorian managed to catch him the arms and held on until he got his feet under him again. “S-sorry. I-it just startled me.” Lavellan tried to keep his voice steady and his ragged breathing a quiet as possible, but he avoided looking at his triage. He could feel his wide eyes and knew fear was plastered all over his face. Fear caused his blood to pool towards his center, leaving him feeling overheated under his armor, yet cold around his head, arms, and feet. Dorian just stared at him for a second before saying, “No apologies needed. Catching handsome men in my arms is one of my favorite hobbies.” Varric chortled while Cassandra let out a disgusted snort.
Lavellan did take off at a run when they neared the next well-lit area, using the undead there as an excuse. No one said anything as he looted all the corpses, looking through them thoroughly. When his breathing returned to normal they turned down a short side passage. Lavellan could tell it was a dead end by the light at the end of it and would use any excuse to come back to the lit cavern. But when they reached the back of the tunnel, he felt his stomach roil.
“Bodies? Were people living down here when Old Crestwood flooded?” Lavellan looked around in horror.
“Claw marks on the walls.” Dorian sighed. “Best not to think about it too much.”
Suddenly the fear and horror mixing together became too much. Lavellan stumbled backward, one hand at his mouth and the other around his stomach. He lurched out of the side passage using Fade Step to get him to the nearest torch before his stomach’s contents made the return trip. He heard Dorian ask Varric and Cassandra to check the side passage for loot before coming after him. The Tevinter’s soft leather boots crunched up to his side. A hand came to rest on his forehead as he crouched, shivering on the cavern floor. It felt so warm that Lavellan thought for a moment it might burn him.
“Kaffas1! You’re freezing! Why didn’t you say something was wrong amatus2?” Dorian asked, his voice like a calming balm to Lavellan’s ears.
Lavellan raised a shaky hand to gently push Dorian away. “I’m fine, Ma vhenan3,” he whispered as he rose from his knees to lean against a stalagmite. He felt woozy and he desperately wanted out of here, but he was the Inquisitor and people relied on him. He had to be fine. But Dorian wasn’t going to let it go so easily.
“You’ve been jumpy since we climbed down the ladder to get here. I saw you almost torch that spirit, though I doubt the others did. Something has you spooked. I thought maybe it was the cave, but we’ve been in caves before and you were fine. What in the world could possibly…,” Dorian’s face shifted to an expression of epiphany. “The dark. It’s the dark. I’ve never seen you waste so much magic just lighting a simple torch when you can use a tinder box, and you’ve lit every torch you’ve seen with magic as soon as you’ve spotted it since we got down here. The way you picked your steps though the lit areas. Even the way you dashed in here to the nearest light source rather than the nearest clear spot to get sick. You’re terrified of the dark, aren’t you?”
Lavellan scrunched his eyes closed and hung his head with shame. “Yes, I am. Is that what you want to hear, Dorian? The great Herald of Andraste is terrified of the dark.” Lavellan gripped his upper arms so hard he could feel his armor bleeding him. “I didn’t say anything for that reason. The great Herald of Andraste is supposed to be fearless; the embodiment of what everyone strives to be. No weaknesses.” He let out a disgusted sigh. “And it’s almost never a problem anyways. Elves have better eyes and ears than most so ‘dark’ usually isn’t very dark. But then we have to come down here, where there is no light whatsoever and tons of rock over our heads. Even I cannot see in this darkness!”
Dorian gently pulled Lavellan’s hands from their death grip and raised them to rest just below his jawline on each side of his face. Lavellan felt the Fade stir and suddenly warmth seeped into him where Dorian’s hands rested on his own. Dorian stepped forward, still holding Lavellan’s hand’s on his neck, and placed his forehead against the other’s. “I’m sorry amatus. I didn’t know. If it is this bad however, I’m sure the others…”
Lavellan cut him off. “No. I’ll be fine. I would have been fine, but those bodies… they…” He let out a deep sigh. “I just wasn’t braced for it.” Lavellan gently pulled away from Dorian and straighten his back with a deep breath as he saw Varric and Cassandra turn out of the passage. He gave Dorian’s hand a subtle squeeze of what he hoped would be construed as appreciation and a small smile as he walked towards the others.
“Nothing much in there worth taking, your Inquisitorialness,” Varric stated with a wink. Lavellan nodded, grateful that Varric wasn’t going to push the matter. Cassandra just placed a hand on his shoulder for a moment with a nod. It seemed she wasn’t going to say anything either. It was better they thought him upset about the horrors of the other room anyways.
They climbed down another bridge and into another dark tunnel. After a minute or two walking, Lavellan heard a scuffle behind him. “Fasta vass4! That’s it!” Suddenly quite of bit of the tunnel ahead and behind was lit brightly by floating spheres of flame. “I refuse to stub my toe on another fucking rock just because you three are determined to walk in the damned dark!” Dorian turned to glare at a now chuckling Varric. “Is this going to be a problem?” he asked very pointedly.
“Don’t look at me, Sparkles,” Varric said with a straight face. “I told you I don’t like caves.”
“You are going to announce our presence here to the entire area!” Cassandra said unhappily.
“No more than my cursing every time I kick something will!” Dorian stared her down. “And I am only lighting up the area I can see.”
Cassandra let out a disgruntled breath, “I suppose you may have a point.”
Dorian turned his glare on Lavellan. “And you? Are we going to have an issue?” he said sarcastically.
Lavellan just dropped his eyes with a smile. “I’ve learned not to argue with you, Ma vhenan.”
Dorian let out a pleased noise with a nod and stalked of down the tunnel. Lavellan fell in beside him. Behind him he could hear Cassandra muttering.
“Surely this isn’t necessary. We were doing just fine until…”
“Just let it go, Seeker. This is one you won’t win,” Varric chuckled and shook his head.
Lavellan brushed his fingers across Dorian’s as they walked side by side with a small smile. “Ma serannas5,” he whispered.
“I didn’t do it for you. As I said, I was tired of tripping,” Dorian reply softly, a smile playing at his lips.
“Oh, of course…” Lavellan replied with a smile.
……………………………………………..
Eventually they reach a tunnel that opened up into a dwarven ruin.
“The whole area is still lit up! Remarkable!” Dorian exclaims with wonder, his flame spheres going out. They walk through a few corridors, fighting demons and undead as they went. By the time they reach the Fade Rift that plagued Crestwood, Lavellan has relaxed again. After fighting off a few waves of Wraiths, Shades, and Terror and Rage demons, Lavellan is able to close the rift. “Let’s tell the mayor.”
They backtrack and walk through a stone archway into a side room. The ceiling was around fifty feet high with a crystal at the top to light the room. There was a giant statue of a dwarf in armor to the right and a series of columns along the left side section off the area they stood in. But most concerning was the pool of water in the center. It was black as pitch, and yet oddly reflective of all the light in the room. “Wonder how deep it goes?” Varric said. He stooped forward and grabbed a rock. Before he could toss it in though, Lavellan had grabbed his arm.
“Don’t,” he spoke softly but with an edge of command. He didn’t even look at Varric, just stared at the pool with sharp eyes. “Don’t disturb the water.” Lavellan’s three companions followed his eyes across the pool. Almost hidden by some fallen rocks at the opposite corner of the water was a pile of bones.
“Well that could have been bad,” Varric looked a little pale.
They crossed over the middle hall into an area almost the mirror image of the first. In this room however, Lavellan spotted an Elven Relic on the opposite side of the dark water. “Let’s go around,” he said quietly. Something in this area was unnerving them all, subconsciously causing them to move and speak more quietly. When they reached the door perpendicular to the Relic, Lavellan said, “Wait here. I won’t be more than a minute.”
Lavellan hopped over the fallen rubble at the corner of the water. A ripple broke the calm of the surface as he activated the Relic. Lavellan jerked to look out at the water thinking he’d heard a noise, watching the fog hovering over the pool for a moment. He moved quickly back to the corner of the room, balancing gracefully on the rubble until one rock shifted. Lavellan went down hard, dropping his staff and sliding on the slick rock-face straight into the water. It was only about knee deep but as soon as his foot hit the water, something wrapped itself around his ankle and yanked him down. He heard Dorian scream his name before his head went under. “SAREVAS, NO!
Lavellan scrabbled at the pool bottom, thrashing his legs, trying to stop whatever yanked him towards the center. He could feel his fingertips splitting open against the jagged rocks. Suddenly the thing grasping his leg changed direction and Lavellan felt his legs being dragged down a hole. He threw an arm out of the water hoping beyond hope that someone would grab him. Then he was yanked under. A second later, and through a stroke of pure luck, Lavellan’s armor caught on a patch of rocks. He stopped scrambling and went for his boot knife, pulling it out just as tentacles started wrapping around his torso and neck. He flailed out as the thing squeezed and pulled, trying to pry him off the rock. Lavellan’s lungs burned for air and he knew he had moments. He sawed at the tentacle on his arm. The creature released him with a scream that seemed to reverberate through his head. Lavellan reached behind him, trying to undo the catch in the armor. His arms had no strength left though. And with one last thought, “Am I really going to die in the dark?” he lost consciousness.
……………………………………………..
Dorian dove towards the water as he watched Lavellan dragged under. He only just reached the edge of the pool when the thrashing reached the middle, Lavellan’s arm rose out of the water, and then nothing. He waded in as quickly as he could, Cassandra close behind and Varric at the edge of the water. When his staff reached the hole, he threw it at Cassandra and dove to his hands and knees under the water. Reaching over the edge he grabbed around. He almost yelled in joy when his hand grabbed the back of Lavellan’s armor. He pulled, but the elf was stuck on something. Dorian jerked back out of the water. “Be ready!” he yelled, then crossed his arms and stepped into the hole.
Once under the water, Dorian lit some Veil Fire in his hand so he could see. He reached behind the elf, trying to take no notice of Lavellan’s lack of response. When something tried for his legs he sent an Energy Barrage down the hole. A little more magic and the rock behind Lavellan was melted. Dorian grabbed the elf by his collar and used the rock-face to pull them both out of the water. He gasped for air. “Get out of the water! Now!”
The three of them just got out when the center of the pool exploded upwards and tentacles flew into the air. Varric hit four of them in quick succession with bolts and Cassandra swiped at any that got too close. Dorian lit a Wall of Fire at the edge of the pool, and with a final screech the monster disappeared back under the water. Varric yelled, “What the hell was that?!”
Dorian dropped to his knees beside Lavellan and started chest compressions. He pinched Lavellan’s nose and pressed his lips over the elf’s. Lavellan arched, gagging and spitting up water. He opened his eyes, gulping down air as fast as he could. “Dorian?” he whispered before his eyes rolled back into his head. Dorian lowered his head to the ground, trying to catch his own breath. “Festis bei umo canavarum6,” he whispered as he lay there next to his lover. After a few seconds, he stood and looked at Cassandra and Varric. Not having the energy to use his usual snark, he plainly asked, “Can either of you carry the staffs? I’ll carry Lavellan, but we are getting out of here. Now.”
The two just stared at him a moment. He was soaking wet, his hair flat, his mustache pointing down, looking completely miserable. Varric’s face twitched for a moment as he tried not to break out in laughter. But a snort turned into a chortle, which turned into a full belly laugh. Cassandra started laughing as well and even Dorian had to smile. Everything was okay. Lavellan was okay. “If either of you try to tell anyone I looked anything but perfect when you tell this story, by the Maker I swear you will regret it,” he said as he wrung out some of the cloth he wore.
Varric ended up strapping the staffs to his back and Dorian heaved Lavellan over his shoulder. “You’re stronger than you look Sparkles,” Varric said in a surprised voice.
“Just because I don’t have bulging muscles like those barbaric sword-wielders – my pardon Cassandra – doesn’t mean I’m weak. And if you ever watched real mages spar, you’d know there is a lot of muscle-work involved. Having said that, I will admit that if he weren’t an elf and if he wore more metal armor, I wouldn’t be able to lift him without taking something off. Not that I’m not tempted, mind you.” Suddenly there was a gush of fresh air, and they turned into a new room. Dorian’s smile was gone in the blink of an eye. “Venhedis7, you must be joking…” Dorian’s eyes followed the ladder in the middle of the room up through the ceiling with a disgusted groan. Varric started laughing.