Holy shit the Western Approach was hot. She had never experienced heat like this before. It was a literal desert! They had made it to Scout Harding's encampment around mid-afternoon and had decided to spend the rest of the day setting up and recovering. Holli wasn't the only one whose body was aching from all that time on horseback. They were all sore. Cassandra, Solas, Fenris, Bull, and Cole were hiding it well. She, Hawke, and Dorian were a little more vocal about their pain and discomfort and had been the entire trip. Varric sat in the middle of the spectrum.
Cole climbed off of Sunchaser first, raising his hands to help her down. She was pretty sure she would prefer to be on foot.
"Thanks," she told Cole.
The first thing she did was take off her hoodie. Far too hot for that. Her t-shirt, skinny jeans, and converses still weren't cool enough. The encampment was half under the shade of the cliffs, and so she went to go and sit in it. She dropped down onto a large rock, flattening herself out. She had never had a real massage before, but she imagined one would feel heavenly right about now. Was the time saved by the horses really worth the cost?
She opened her eyes when she heard someone sit beside her.
Solas looked a little uncomfortable in the heat but otherwise unruffled. The heat was a nice change from the cold, though. Even if it was too hot.
"The more you ride, the easier it will become," Solas assured her. "It's not my preferred method of travel either."
"I'm going to invent cars here, just you wait," she told him. "Cars that run on water. Or biofuel. Something. Maybe magic. Don't see why that couldn't work."
At least he knew what she was talking about, having seen them in the Fade when she'd built her city around them.
"I wish you luck on your endeavour. Personally, I quite liked the bicycle."
Holli laughed to herself at the mental picture of Solas riding around on a bicycle, a little flowery basket attached to the handlebars.
"I'll make you a bike. If I can get Master Harritt to help with the metalwork," she told him, looking up at him. "Even if he doesn't, I guess I can take up metalworking for you."
"Kind of you," he said, tone flat.
She resolved to do it. She was going to make him a bike. She had her refill pad and pens in her backpack; she'd start drawing it up. Precise blueprints for Master Harritt to make each component. The only problem she could see was rubber for the tyres. She hadn't seen any around. In her own world rubber had existed long before the Dark Ages; had they figured it out here yet? She could go back to the old-timey bikes with the leather-covered tyres. She wouldn't use the giant arse front wheel; she'd stick to a more modern design. But the big wheels helped with shock absorption. Meh, might take some trial and error, but she'd figure it out.
Dorian came and sat on the rock on her other side, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Couldn't the Wardens have picked a more palatable climate for their nefarious deeds?" He bemoaned.
"What's Tevinter like?" She asked him.
"It rains a lot," he replied. "And it can get quite humid. No good for my hair. Not a problem for some of us." He cast a pointed look in Solas's direction.
Holli had noticed these two liked to rib each other.
"I doubt that is entirely humidity's fault," Solas returned, throwing a dubious look at the top of Dorian's head, drawing an exaggerated indignant gasp from the other man.
Holli just sat there and laughed. She would have thought Solas above this kind of thing; she found it infinitely amusing that he wasn't.
"You're both pretty, ladies," Holli assured them.
"I'm aware I am. Josephine and I have started a club," Dorian said.
"The pretty ladies club?" She grinned. "Do you take tea and gossip?"
"Wine, actually."
Holli let out a dramatic sigh. "Okay, I'll join your club."
"Oh, you will, will you?" He quirked a perfectly arched brow at her.
"All right, my little layabouts," Hawke said, coming to stand in front of them. "Tents to set up. Let's not overburden Harding and her team with your laziness."
"Cassandra's already setting ours up," Holli pointed out.
Holli wasn't great with setting up the tent. She had never set up a tent in her life. And she was sure they were made to be easier in her world. Cassandra had enlisted her help once, seen how shit she was, and decided to just take care of it herself. Holli might have been a little more offended by it, and she knew she could get better at it with practice, but it was just easier to let Cassandra handle it. The woman could pitch a tent quicker and more efficiently than all the rest of them.
"I'm sure you can figure out a way to make yourself useful," Hawke told her.
"Moral support," she replied. "Go Cassandra, you're awesome!"
Holli called it across the camp, and when Cassandra looked at her, confused, Holli flashed her an encouraging smile and two thumbs up. Cassandra's eyes narrowed a moment as she tried to figure out the joke before deciding she just didn't care and continued with her task.
"Holli, that was pathetic."
"I see Fenris is pitching your tent alone," she pointed out.
Hawke turned to look at him. "Hey, Fenris!" Hawke bellowed. "You're awesome. Great work!"
"Shut up," Fenris called back in a withering tone, also continuing with his task.
"It's only cute when I do it," Holli told him. "Maybe you should have tried the thumbs up. It might have helped."
Hawke quickly reached out, ruffling her hair super hard so it was a mess and laughing when he got a strangled 'ugh' sound out of her.
"Harding has a couple of injured, go and fix them," he told her, walking off.
"Yes! My time to shine," she sang, retying her hair and setting off to ask Harding where they were.
She was getting damn good at healing, but she still hadn't managed to make it painless. Every time she tried to heal someone, she tried to figure out why it hurt and how to make it stop; so far, no success.
"Adorable little thing, isn't she?" Dorian noted.
"I suppose. I'm merely relieved she doesn't need to grow up in, and learn magic in, a Circle," Solas said.
"A Southern Circle at least; I daresay she might have done well in Tevinter with the right benefactor," he said, catching the look on Solas's face. "I'm not saying they've got it right either."
"I don't think anyone has it right," he sighed, standing up from the rock to get on with his own tasks.
-
They met up with Stroud the next day near some old ruins. There was a weird feeling in the air, that tingle she'd get in her skin just before goosebumps.
"I'm glad you made it, Hawke," Stroud said. "But was it wise to bring the child?"
"Just in case they do anything that triggers more rifts," Hawke explained. "She doesn't join the fights. She knows to keep back."
Stroud nodded but didn't look like he agreed with the idea. "I fear they've already started the ritual."
"Blood magic, I'd wager," Hawke said. "You can smell it. Well, let's go put a stop to it."
The group headed across the bridge, Holli lingering at the back. She had instructions to just leg it if things got dicey. But they had wanted her nearby if rifts got involved.
Holli frowned down at the corpses they passed, all wearing Grey Warden armour. They got up into the ruins just in time to witness a mage bind a demon.
"Inquisitor," he was greeted by the man obviously running the show. "What an unexpected pleasure. Lord Livius Erimond of Vyrantium, at your service."
"You are no Warden," Stroud spat.
"But you are," he sighed. "The one Clarel let slip. And you found the Inquisitor and his little Herald puppet and came to stop me. Shall we see how that goes? Wardens, hands up." The four mages silently obeyed; it was almost robotic. "Hands down."
"Corypheus has taken their minds," Stroud said.
"They did this to themselves. You see, the Calling had the Wardens terrified. They looked everywhere for help."
"Even Tevinter..."
"Yes. And since it was my master who put the Calling into their little heads, we in the Venatori were prepared. I went to Clarel full of sympathy, and together, we came up with a plan... Raise a demon army, march into the Deep Roads, and kill the Old Gods before they wake. Sadly for the Wardens, the binding ritual I taught their mages has a side effect. They're now my master's slaves. This was a test. Once the rest of the Wardens complete the ritual, the army will conquer Thedas."
Holy shit, he was monologuing! Holli didn't think a real-life villain would actually do it. Why were they even wasting time talking to him? Just attack. He was obviously a bad guy.
"Just release the Wardens from the binding and surrender," Hawke finally said in a tone that suggested this guy was more of an irritant than anything else. "I won't ask twice."
"Kill them," Erimond commanded.
Holli stepped back while the others engaged the Wardens and their demons. Since the Wardens were all mages, there was a lot of magic being flung about, but with her distance, she didn't draw their attention and stayed out of the line of fire.
At least until Erimond somehow found his way to her without her noticing. She felt it in her hand first, that same agony as a Breach expansion or when Corypheus tried to strip the anchor from her. She cried out, dropping down to her knees.
"The Elder One showed me how to deal with you if I happened upon you," Erimond told her. "That mark you bear? The Anchor that lets you pass safely through the veil? You stole that from my master. He's been forced to seek other ways to access the Fade. When I bring him your head, his gratitude will be –"
Holli pulled back on whatever magic he was using on her; it was like trying to pull free of a vice. The explosion of power sent a shockwave through the air, staggering them both. She landed with a graceless thud on her arse, pain shooting up her spine as she scrambled to regain her bearings.
Erimond's face darkened in frustration, but he'd managed to retain his footing. He raised his hand to try again, but an arrow struck him in the shoulder. This time he did go down. Holli looked over to see Varric watching with a fierce expression. Varric's attention was quickly taken by the other fight he was a part of. Erimond took his chance to scurry away. From her place on the ground, she watched him go, unsure if she should try and stop him. Her hand was still sparking, the power from the mark bursting and unstable. She didn't want to follow and risk him trying again, making it worse.
She got to her feet, examining her hand, trying to smother the foreign power. She wasn't sure if it had been like this after Corypheus since she'd ended up unconscious so quickly after. Maybe it had settled on its own. A particularly violent burst had her flinching away from it.
"Holli, let me see your hand." Solas was the first to arrive at her side once they'd dealt with the demons and Wardens.
She held it out for him, and he took it gently in his own. She could feel his magic sort of probing around her hand, at one point causing it to make an odd sizzle sound. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't pleasant either.
"Is this what Corypheus did to you?" Solas asked.
"I think so; it feels similar."
"It should settle on its own in time," he told her softly, letting her go.
She shook her hand out, a little worried that man might have somehow made it regress to the point it would be killing her again. A cursory glance over the others revealed they were uninjured, or at least nothing immediately bothering them.
"Let's get back to camp," Hawke said. "Figure things out from there."