Lost treasure

9:25, 1^st day of Haring

I continue sending her my demons, waiting for the day she gets pregnant. She’s got the potential on her, and the man she has chosen, even if a shem, has the potential in him too. My demons can feel it. And the day she’s got a little one inside her, they will care for her, make sure nothing bad happens. Because I need that little one to be my next vessel, someone my blood, someone with my power, someone with my strength

 (Excerpt from Edanhor Blank’s journal, as found in Highever on 9:25, 14^th day of Haring)

Night falls over Tevinter, and everybody sleeps peacefully at the inn. Well, not everybody, since as soon as Kyle is sure Marilyn has fallen asleep, with that heavy sleep pregnant women have, he slips out of the bed and goes outside, to train under the moonlight as he uses to do. The young elf seems quiet, and once she’s asleep, her night terrors don’t seem to be the problem they are when she’s awaken in the darkness, though it is true that lately her nightmares have been increasing in frequency and intensity. Kyle is worried about that, and he has even pondered to ask for Maya’s help, but maybe it is a secondary effect of her pregnancy. He doesn’t know. He just hits his training tree with his sword until his body is sweating, muscles gleaming under the moonlight, and when he feels exhausted, he returns to the inn, getting a towel to wipe the sweat before going into their room again.

But when he gets back into the room he stops on the doorway. Mari's not in the bed, sleeping, as he expected to find her before leaving to train. He looks around confused, and soon finds her crouching on a corner of the room, eyes wide with terror, skin sweating. He lets his towel drop on the ground and runs to her place, hugs her and pats her back softly.

"Sorry!!", he says, thinking she just woke up, found out she was alone, and now she’s just suffering one of her usual terror crisis. But she doesn't react to the reassuring touch of her husband, and when he looks into her eyes, he finds that they don't even look at him, lost somewhere in the distance. Moreover, she moves her arms like trying to make something go away and mumbles "Get away! Get away from him!"

He still embraces her tight and whispers at her ear "Nothing happens, love", but she tries to push him away. "Be strong", he adds, not releasing her and stroking her hair gently. She stops struggling, but doesn't look at him, just falls down in his arms like a broken doll.

He drops a kiss on her hair, wondering if everything is over, and picks her up to bring her back to the bed. When he realizes her whole body is sweating, he wraps her carefully in the blanket. Then he sits on the bed, and cradles her, feeling that sometimes she shakes as if she was fighting inside herself

She seems to relax, but still doesn't move, nor wake up, and creepiest of all, her eyes are still open. He tries to tranquilize her kissing her between her brows and kneading her nape, but from time to time she mumbles "Don't touch him, he's mine!", and shivers a bit

"Hush, no one touches him...", he whispers, even if he doesn’t know who is him or why she shouts that, and kisses her forehead again, feeling that it is cold as ice.

He leans his head against her, his heart in a grip, and somehow he can feel other presences in the room. He narrows his eyebrows. It's nothing he can see, but he can definitely feel it. A weird feeling, which makes him move his hand to his amulet, making sure it is still there. It is like when he doesn't wear it… spirits moving nervous around them… A cold breeze, or just a chill in the spine, making him have goosebumps. He starts taking off his amulet to see those spirits again, still holding her tight with the other arm. As soon as he does it, he can see the spirits who haunted him, blurry, around them.

"Okay, what do you need?", he asks, more bothered than frightened. It’s the love of his life that is now at stake… Ghosts are the least of his worries. But somehow he knows the beings which made him chill are not these now peaceful spirits…

The elven woman shakes her head. "We're just waiting for you to lead us to Orlais”, she says, emotionless.

"We're about to go today", he says harsh. Or at least, that was the plan, he thinks.

"We can't fight against the demons. They’ve grown stronger"

"Which demons?" he asks surprised

"The demons. There are always demons. They come every night, and watch"

"Are they the ones who are haunting my wife??!!", he asks, his tone worried.

"Lately they're getting braver, they come closer"

"Why? What makes this happen?". He feels sweating again.

"We don't know. We just watch”, the elven ghosts continues. "They've always been there, since the beginning"

"If you... you know how to help my wife out of this.... "

"She always carried them with her. Like you carried us. They’re her curse, like we were yours". It is the woman’s mouth the one which seems to speak, but her voice seems the voice of all the spirits at the same time.

"Can you help, please?!!", he shouts, desperately.

"You can't fight them here", is the woman’s only reply.

"So... where??", Kyle begs. “The Fade again??"

"In their realm... The Fade, yes, as you the living ones call it. She's stuck there, fighting against them. She won't come back until she defeat them"

"Can... you help me go to that now...?” his voice nearly cracks

The spirits stop speaking for a while; they seem disturbed and start spiralling around him, like running away from something. Soon, in one of the corners he can see a shadow darker than the others.

He looks around him, wondering if the spirits have opened a door to the Fade for him, but suddenly he realizes the shadow has human shape. He addresses straight to the shadow "Who are you??", while still holding Marilyn’s unconscious body to protect her.

"Now you talk with spirits, my son?", the shadow makes a sound like a chuckle

"So what”, he replies, harsh, even bothered, recognizing soon who the voice belongs to. “Not your business…. If that can help my wife…."

The shadow is still blurry but it starts to look clearly like a hooded man. "Tsk. tsk. Those manners… And if I tell you I can help, would you trust me?"

Kyle ponders the suggestion, while the shadow takes his hood off, allowing him to see his face. As he has guessed from the beginning, Edanhor, Marilyn’s father face, reveals in front of him. The old redhaired mage’s features are winning over the young blond one whose body he’s now occupying, and that’s even more noticeable now that he’s in a kind of an astral projection.

"You can help or you will lead me to a trap?. Because as far as I know, it was you who sent them!!" Kyle shouts, looking at Edanhor angry.

"That's a risk you may take", replies Edanhor calmly. Then he gets close to the bed, still a bit transparent, not taking completely a solid shape. He makes a sign with his hand and the feeling of demons around them gets weaker, but they still are there, lurking in the shadows. "My control over them is weaker here. Maybe it is the distance", he mumbles.

"Pfftttt", Kyle hisses

"I send them only to watch... but it seems they want more..." He looks at Mari in Kyle's arms and for a moment he seems genuinely concerned.

"You fool. You use demons"

"They’re useful, and I’m good at controlling them”, is his only reply.

"You are a mage, you already know which result they bring…”

“I've tried to make her come back... But she doesn't trust me", Edanhor continues, focusing on the problem.

“WHY DO YOU STILL WANT HER?!!", he shouts

Edanhor looks at him. "I don't want her. Not her, not yet. I just need to know she's safe… Both of them, actually", he says, looking at her from toes to head. He looks at Kyle again, his eyes like embers, and the warrior embraces Mari in his arms tighter, shivering. "In this very moment we both want the same. We want her back"

"Do you?", he asks doubtful. He can’t help feeling the mage wants something more… but he can’t choose. "Well. What do I need to do to reach her?"

"Will you trust me, for once?. Or will you believe me better if I tell you she's useless for me like that... And that I regret terribly to have lost control of my demons?", Edhanor finally sighs.

"After all she’s just a tool for you" he scowls in the silence which follows.

"That you are more willing to believe, aren't you?"

"Just spit how I can go to her.." he speaks impatient

"As I said, she won't follow me...", Edanhor sighs. "She will only follow you. So I must make you go to the Fade for her".

Kyle nods, determined.

"Then give me your hand", continues Edanhor, and lends his hand at Kyle. The young man gives his to him, without hesitation. Then the mage takes a knife out. Even if it is blurry and transparent like he is, its blade is sharp and deadly when it cuts Kyle's wrists and makes his blood flood like a cloud, but the warrior just stares, without resisting. Soon, he faints…

... and wakes up in the already familiar landscape of the Fade.

Kyle steps carefully on the ground, not sure there’s real ground anyway, and turns his head around to look for any signal, or a road. He rubs his wrist, but it seems healed, as if nothing had hurt it.

"Mari!!” He shouts her name, and starts walking.

But only the echo replies to his shout, like mocking him.

Suddenly he can hear a shriek from the sky... or whatever there's in the Fade, and his faithful falcon Tim flies down to perch on his shoulder.

"Oh, what?... I thought you not…", he mumbles, while raising his hand to stroke the bird. "Do you know where she is?", he asks the falcon

The falcon looks at Kyle with ember eyes, and his beak seems to smirk.

"I will guide you to her", he says with Edanhor's voice

Kyle startles and eyes Tim. “Guide!!”, he shouts, taking his hand away of the bird as if it burnt, and pointing back to the sky.

Tim winks, and flies again, slowly, waiting for him to follow. Kyle doesn’t hesitate, and runs after the falcon, his hands fisted.

Some time later, they see a shape crouching, her red hair loose around her. She seems to be cuddling something, and hums a lullaby

"Mari!', he calls her again, while running faster to her place.

“Baby sleep, gently sleep. 

Life is long and love is deep.

Time will be sweet for thee. 

All the world to see. 

Time to look about and know. 

How the shadows come and go,

how the breeze stirs the trees, 

how the blossoms grow.“

She raises her head slowly and sees him

"Oh, Kyle, is it you? For real?”

"Who else?!", he says sighing of relief, while coming to her his arms wide, ready to shelter her.

“You came for us?". She gets up slowly, holding in her arms a shape wrapped in clothes

"Us??", he says, stopping a bit,

"Look, it's our baby!", she says happily, and gives the form to him

He stops surprised, and just takes the thing from her slowly, looking at her carefully. When he has it in his hands, she runs away from him. He has just a moment to look into the clothes and see there’s nothing inside, they're just an empty wrapping.

"You are not going to fool me!" she shouts while running, and she disappears

"Hey! Come back, Mari!", he shouts with despair, stretching his arms out at her.

Tim perches on his shoulder again. "It's going to be difficult", he sighs

Kyle runs after her quick, but she has vanished before he can barely react. "What makes her act like this?", he asks the falcon, stopping to look around him. She may have gone through a portal or something…

"She knows", is the only answer the bird gives

He tosses a bothered look at the falcon, but it flies again, trying to locate the runaway elf. Kyle follows its track, walking to where he saw him disappear, but shortly he appears from other corner and shrieks, to ask him to follow.

He just looks up and runs under the falcon’s wings, walking through the dreamlike lands until they arrive to another Fade clearing. Here Kyle shouts of anger, seeing his beloved trying to fight a group of rage demons. She jumps from here to there with her daggers, now fully dressed in her armour, but the demons dodge her, and make a circle each time narrower.

He runs to help her, with his fists clenched ready to punch, since he has not weapons in his hands. Edanhor/Tim shrieks again, and makes fall a feather in his hands. Kyle catches it, and looks at the feather

"This is the Fade, boy! This feather can be whatever you want to be!"

He looks back at the bird, barely grateful, and thinks in the shape of his sword. The feather suddenly turns into his old good sword in his hands, and he holds it tight with a smirk.

"Mari, hold on!!", he shouts swinging his sword to kill demons.

Mari has two demons at fighting distance, and there are three more trying to reach her. She seems to be dealing quite well with her two demons, so Kyle doesn’t even think, he swings and thrusts whatever demons near him, and manages to kill the one closest to him, but another sees him and turns to attack him. The warrior turns around, hits and slashes the demon. The demon fails its attack by an inch, and Kyle's sword cuts it in two. Then the third demon takes a swipe at Kyle from the back. Kyle stumbles for a moment, holds his breath at the pain, but even if the wound hurts as hell, it still allows him to fight, so he moves quickly and strikes back to the demon, slashing even crazier.

Meanwhile Mari has killed one of the demons, but the movement left her defenceless, and the second one took advantage to grab her. When Kyle turns to help her, the demon is holding her, but she's kicking and struggling at it

Kyle makes fall the demon that has hurt him under his sword as if it was only a burden in his way to help his wife, running to her side. The demon which holds Mari is trying to grab her stomach, and she's stabbing its hand like crazy. At the same time, Tim/Edanhor flies over the demon head to distract it, and attacks at its eyes.

"Release her!", he shouts, and swings his sword

The grip of the demon becomes weaker thanks to the attacks of Mari and Tim, allowing him to attack, so Kyle takes advantage to aim at the head of the demon.

He finally kills the last demon, which vanishes, and he rushes to attend Mari, trying to hug her. She hugs him back

"Are you all right?", he asks worried

"Is it you? Really?", she replies with another question, looking at him with begging eyes. "Not a demon trying to fool me?"

"Ah, you can punch me to test" he says more relieved

She punches his chest softly, without strength, while crying. "I'm scared, take me out of here!"

He pats her back at each punch. "That’s why I got here, to bring you back"

She looks at him, eyes bright with tears.

"You scared me, love", he whispers, and he raises his head back to look for Tim, who is flying around, still in falcon form. He narrows his eyebrows and asks him, still holding Mari in his arms

"Can you guide us get out of here?"

"I'm trying, but there's someone concealing the door"

Mari startles when hearing the voice

"No! It's him!", she shouts, and struggles to get away from Kyle's arms. "Release me! You're with him! Release me!"

He holds her tighter. "It's okay!! Love!!"

She bites his hands, kicks and hits to release her free. He feels the pain and tries not to groan, but doesn’t release his grip around her, caging her in his arms. "Ssshhhh, love!! Don’t be silly! It’s not good for you”

"He only wants him! Don't let him touch me!", she continues shouting, punching his chest and still trying to release herself, hysterical.

"The important thing is to take you out of here", he tries to calm her

Tim flies in circles and moves his head like saying "Tsk, tsk, tsk"

Kyle turns to Edanhor: "Are you finding the way out or just complaining there?"

"You don't understand? He won't let us out until he gets what he wants!”, Mari shouts.

Edanhor makes circles wider each time, until he flies in one direction

"I think I found it. Follow me!"

He looks at the way the falcon flies, and, ignoring her struggle, Kyle picks Marilyn up, and starts running with her. She hides her face in his neck, defeated, crying, and mumbling "It is a mistake; he leads us to a trap!"

Finally they arrive to a place where there's a shrine, but before Kyle can reach it, a figure appears in the middle. She looks exactly like Mari

"Why such a hurry? You don't need to go out so fast", she says with sickly-sweet voice.

He opens his eyes wide. “What now? A desire demon?"

"Desire? Which desire? You already have her in your arms", laughs Mari’s clone

"So this is how you deal??"

"Do you really have a desire?", she says getting close to the couple. Mari hugs him tighter, while he tries to dodge the fake elf. But she moves quicker, and takes his chin. "Tell me what it is" she says, seductively.

He gets rid of the hand of the demon, while Mari in his arms struggles to go away from her. Kyle moves his head desperately, trying to find a way to reach the shrine, with his wife in his arms, but the demon seems to be on the way, and Mari doesn’t make it easy struggling to run in opposite direction. Finally she escapes from his arms, and runs away from the demon which is too near to her taste. Then Kyle pushes the fake Mari away, but the demon doesn’t seem to mind. When she sees the real one running, her smile grows wider and creepier, and her face stops looking like Mari’s.

Kyle runs after his wife to catch her again, but the demon is faster. She vanishes, and appears just on the way the scared elf is running, so she falls in her arms without being able to avoid it, before Kyle can even try to stand between them to catch Mari.

Then before he can react properly, the fake Mari sinks her hand into the elf’s belly, as if it were made of butter.

"Get your filthy hand away from her", he shouts, punching her. But it is too late. Mari bends over herself, and the demon falls back, with a big smile, her hand closed in a fist, and a shining light escaping between her fingers.

Mari falls to the ground crying "She's got him!!!"

Tim shrieks and flies down to attack the demon too, shouting "Nooo!"

Kyle continues punching the demon. Edanhor lands on the floor and gets human shape again to help Kyle

Meanwhile, Mari is still on the ground bending over herself and crying "No.. no.. no..."

The demon jumps to a side, and moves to cast a spell to him, looking now like the Desire demon she is. He dodges. "I knew it", he spits.

"Clever boy" she scowls, trying to step back with her fist closed. She moves her hand to her own womb, and seeing it, Kyle rushes to attack her like crazy. He suddenly remembers he still has the sword, and uses it to try to chop the demon’s hand, swearing.

Edanhor shouts "Nooo!" again and sends a bolt spell, and at the same time the demon receives Kyle's sword hit. And her hand falls to the ground

Now it is the demon who shouts "Nooo!", while Mari crawls trying to get the bumping hand. Kyle considers to attack the demon and force her to shut up, stabbing her with his sword, but when the hand falls to the ground and opens, the light in it spreads and vanishes like a thousand little stars. Mari waves her own hands at the sparkles, trying to catch them, and her face grimaces in a mask of despair when she realizes they vanish without allowing her to touch them.

The demon looks at them with hate. "You fools... now it's lost forever!"

Then Kyle's sword sinks on the demon's womb, his eyes burning with fury. “Lost what?”, he says, spinning the blade into her entrails.

The demon bleeds by the mouth and collapses, until only some ashes are left.

Kyle turns back to Mari, but stops when he sees Edanhor is cuddling her and trying to comfort her, while she doesn't resist, her face hidden by her hands, her shoulders shaking at each sobbing. Kyle blinks, sighs heavily, and lets out his breath, leaving father and daughter a moment together. But Mari then raises her head, looks at him and tries to get up, with the help of Edanhor.

He walks slowly to them, trying to give them a bit more time to be alone, but she stumbles a bit, runs to his arms, and leaves Edanhor staying a bit behind them, awkwardly.

He looks at Edanhor, feeling sorry for him, and opens his arms to hug Mari. The redhaired elf falls in his arms and starts sobbing in his chest.

Edanhor looks at them for a while, and then points at the shrine. "Time to come back, unless you want to attract more demons’ attention" He walks a bit to the shrine too.

Kyle nods at Edanhor and walks to the shrine, still holding Mari by her shoulders.

"Thank you", he says after few seconds

"Don’t thank me. You’re right, I helped her for my own selfish reasons”. He glances at his daughter and if there’s a spark of fatherly love, it vanishes soon. “You won't see me again", the mage says. "At least for a while. It was my demons which caused all this… So I will retire my watch from now on. It attracted too much attention from demons I can't control. I’ll find… other ways to know about her…"

Kyle raises his eyebrow. "Be careful with what you do", he says, a mix of advice and threat.

Edanhor nods. "I need to be sure next time he's not lost for all of us", he says cryptically. “Until then, I leave her under your care”, and then he just disappears, as if he never was here.

Kyle doesn’t pay much attention to his last words. Instead, he touches the shrine, holding Mari tight, and watches everything around them vanishing, finding himself still hugging her over the bed.

Now his wrist aches, because of the wounds Edanhor made to practice his blood magic, but by the other way his back is not wounded anymore. He looks at his wrist absently, then he turns to look at his wife, and kisses her forehead lovingly. She's conscious, gripping his bare shoulder and crying. He strokes her forehead, and suddenly he realizes what’s going on. She has her other hand over her womb, and all the sheets under her are full of blood. He hurries to flip the sheet out of her, and sees her shaking, watching him do, while still sobbing.

"I've lost him...", she mumbles.

He looks at her with eyes full of terror.

"He's gone... the demon stole him..."

She sinks her face in his chest, pale and sweating.

He feels his eyes watering and his nose runny. Rubbing it, he places his hand over her tummy, and embraces her so tight, narrowing his eyes to hold the tears which start to flood them, not letting them out. He’s the one who has to be strong. He’s the one who has to comfort her, to be her support, even if his world is falling in pieces around him. He feels her pant, how her grip gets weaker, and he holds her in his arms even tighter, aware of the precious thing they have just lost, almost forgetting the strength he’s putting on the hug, until he hears her gasp. Then she releases her grip completely, falling in a mix of sleep and unconsciousness, half because of the exhaustion, half because of the loss of blood.

He sighs, sweating, and lets her lie on the bed. Then he slowly moves his hands, awkwardly, trying to clean all the blood on the sheets. He hears her sigh in dreams, but her sleep looks more healthy and natural than the one before going to the Fade, even if she sweats and seems to be feeling pain. Maybe he’ll have to wake up Lauren, especially if she continues bleeding like that.

He takes the bloodied sheets away, and cleans the mattress and all around them the best way he can, putting new blankets on the bed. Then he sits by her side, and touches softly her stomach, concerned. It is hard, tight, and she shakes at bit at his contact. Very slowly, he uses a cloth to wipe the blood on her, frowning when he reaches between her thighs. What he knows is there makes him turn his head a bit not to look.

The room seems completely normal, no presences felt… except for one. Kyle reaches his hand to his neck and remembers he took away his amulet. Cleaning all the blood seemed more important than keeping ghosts away, after all. But the feeling of being watched is just too strong and he glances back, to find the spirit of the old elven woman, staring at him

He continues his work, and sighs from time to time, trying to ignore her.

"The demons are gone", she says

He just gives her a very slight nod

She walks a bit, and he finally focuses his eyes on the spirit

"Seems you were more loved than expected", the woman says, putting her ethereal hand on Mari's belly. Kyle looks at her without understanding, then the woman smiles, and a sweet memory of sapphire blue eyes and soft long, black hair, strikes his mind like a gentle breeze…, making his heart hurt again. “I don’t want to lose Mari too”, he thinks suddenly.

"Someone sends her love", adds the old woman softly, and her hand enters Mari’s abdomen, like caressing her womb from inside, and the young elf stops sweating, while her skin starts to get a better color.

Kyle shakes his head, sighs, and mumbles an apology and a thank you prayer to the spirits. Especially to the one who, he knows now, helped them from above.

"Don't forget Orlais", the old elf whispers. Then the spirit vanishes

The loss of blood is stopped and Mari starts breathing a bit better. He continues what he was doing, cleaning her completely, tenderly, forcing himself not to think about anything else. After finishing, he washes the blood out of his hands in the water basin, and wipes them with an old cloth, leaving all the dirty clothes in a corner of the room.

Then he gets back to the bed, glad that he finally didn’t have to bother their friends for help… and not to have to explain to them what had happened, and to remember all of it again. Not now. Not so soon.

He crawls to hug her, then he brushes his lips on her face, kisses her, embraces her in his arms and closes his eyes, and only then he allows a tear fall. She moves and curls in his arms, a bit disturbed, as if she had felt him cry, and sighs half asleep.

"I'm sorry", she whispers. "I couldn’t protect him..."

"Not your fault", he whispers back

"I failed both of you..."

He can feel her tears running down her cheeks, even if he can't see her face, so he leans his face down and tries to kiss her to wipe them, his mouth bitter. He can feel her hug is tighter now that her strength is recovering. She’s always been stronger than she looks. Maybe stronger than him. He sighs. At least he’s not going to lose her too.

"Hush, sleep", he says, caressing her back gently

She nods, but continues stuck to him, her eyes wet, her head looking for shelter in the safe place under his jaw. Though she doesn’t feel safe anymore. Her most intimate treasure has been stolen, and she could do nothing. Feeling defenceless, she only can mourn. And he knows this, and his heart breaks with every tear she pours.

So he does the only thing he can do. Comforting her. Even if the Maker knows he needs as much comfort as she does, maybe more.