He reached forward placing his open palm on the small of her back, while leaning forward. He could feel Valaineyä begin to jerk, as he whispered. “Ma ‘Vhenan.” It could not be. That touch, that voice! The world faded; never had she been dealt such an unexpected blow. She snapped to attention, pulling herself from the brink, and turned with great intent. No, it could not be. “Solas?!” There he stood, eliminated both by fire, and by moon. The clashing of the amber and pallor fit him. It was he who had loved Valaineyä, but was also he that had left. Like this clash of lights he was a contradiction, and so were the feelings Valaineyä held. Should she lash out in anger, should she embrace him? The impulses swirled together in her mind, but never coalescing into an agreement, like blending lamp oil and water, it was futile and she was frozen, in movement and speech.
“Will join me, vhalen?” He pointed to the eluvian. “Yes.” She answered still trembling. In an instant the world shifted into a kaleidoscopic surge of colours, reassembling to reveal a blue hued structure made of smooth stone, rather than the elven crossroads she had expected. The edifice was unmistakably elvish, but it was not in decay as all of the ancient monuments had been. It was flanked on either side by large vines that sprawled in all directions giving way to a lush forest shrouded in mist. “Where are we?” Velaineya asked. “This is not were Morrigan showed me before.” “She was not of the people, so no matter her desire, she could never have opened the true purpose of the Eluvian, it is much more than she will ever understand, though I do give her credit for as much as she was able to achieve. Where we are though is not easily explained.” The dappled illumination that filtered through the canopy cast a soft glow upon them both. It was not until now that Valaineya could fully take in his visage. He was no longer clad in rough cloths cobbled together. A fine gray silken brocade tunic clung tightly to his chest. His breaches mirrored the same pattern as the tunic but were of a darker cloth. This would have been much to his style if it had not been for the luxurious black wolf pelt he wore. What had been the head of the great beast almost seemed to bite into his left shoulder. It voluminously draped across to the other shoulder and trailed downward nearly touching the ground. She did not know why, but this garb seemed more fitting that the clothes of a popper she had become accustomed to him wearing. This raised more question but seemed of little consequence. “I need to know where we are, no… I where you have been.” The tremble now became more stern.He took in a deep slow breath. “Everywhere.”Valaineya held back the tears as she felt them begin to well. “That is no answer.”“But it is, I have been here, and where we are is everywhere. This is the realm of dream, the plane of truths, a place between life and death.”“This is the Fade?” She asked perplexedly at the once again changed Fade.“No, this is what those in the Fade Dream of. The Fade is a creation of the Maker, but even he was born, and this is that place, formed in the creation of all things, this is the land of the two tribes, these are the Halls of Elvhenan, and this specifically is the domain of Fen’Harel.”“The Dread Wolf? The Elvhen gods are locked away and their homes a secret, how did you find this place?” Her eyes widened. The mists had become more dense, as they stood in the open glade strangling out their visibility. It moved at a pace that almost notated sentience. The warmth of the forest had faded, Valineya’s frail garment offered little protection against the cold. Solas took Valaineya softly by the hand, noticing as she had begun to shake. His face bore the look of concern, masked only slightly with a gentle smile “Come inside, it is warm, and I have a wine that is nothing like you have ever tasted.” Solas had made this place truly his. Bold shapes merged into beautiful paintings. Large chairs covered in furs sat near a roaring fire that had been built into the pit in the centre of the room. Tables weighed heavy under the burden of books, vials, and reagents. If it had been the home of a god, it was no longer, it was the home of a mage. As she sat into one of the highbacked chairs, she slowly sank into the furs. The plushness was greater than anything that had ever caressed her skin before.The chair was large enough to fit several people and made the velvet cushions of Halamshiral no better than a knee pad to be used while cleaning some floor. Solas, now returned with a silver decanter, and was already in the process of pouring her glass. After handing it to her, he stood for a moment, she could tell by his face he was anticipation of her first taste. She raised the glass to her lips, and drank. The taste of berry mingled with jasmine and honeysuckle. A mild taste of oak floated within the crimson liquid that rolled around her tongue, but it was not just the flavour that left her stunned. As she swallowed she could feel the emotion of the drink. She could first feel the strength that was expelled to crush the fruit, then the worry that it somehow could be sub-par as is fermented, then elation as it was first released from the barrel. It had hints of laughter, mixed with tears of joy.Her face was a wash of all these feelings. “Magic Wine?”Solas smiled wryly “Elvhenan wine, the drink of the gods, I found casks of it deep within the cellars of this place.”After pouring himself a glass he sat next to her in the same seat, and took a large belt from the chalice.“Where were we?”“You have been here? You left without a word, you left everyone, you left me, why?!”He pivoted so that he could see her face, and drink of it as deeply as the wine. “I had to, what was released by the rifts, and the results from them could not be left. I had to travel to realms that no-one should ever traverse, and in doing so it would have destroyed you. It is only in the secrets that I possess that I could have hoped to survive.”“You could have told me this I would have…”“Joined me.. No. If I had told you, there would have been nothing that I could have done to stop you. I had to leave as you were awash by the victory. Do not doubt my words, what we have is real, so much so that I could risk losing you, and I still will not.” She went to speak, but could not, she knew that he was right; there was nothing that he could have said that would have torn her from his side.“I have only brought you here momentarily, for I could not go any longer without seeing your face, hearing your voice, touching your hand, hoping that you still feel the same way, as I do.”She was unable to hold back as tears once again flooded her cheeks. “I thought of you every moment, and looked for you all over Thedas. Of course I feel the same.”His hand glided over her thin gown to her shoulder and found its way to the back of her neck. He pulled her forward both, wine glasses spilled recklessly; their lips met, and from this meeting fire pulsed from their souls flowing back and forth moving faster than mouths, as they seemed to need no other air than the others own breath.
