Finding Home (Completed)

Chapter XIV

She washed a cloaking spell over herself as she emerged on the other side of the portal. The sky was dark, the air filled with thousands of tiny snow flakes. The waves sloshed against the side of the wharf and the odd gull could be heard in the distance. The docks were clear from what she could see, but walking around alone, openly armed in Val Royeaux with the country on the verge of civil war, would not be wise. If her calculations were correct, Felix would be leaving for home tomorrow at midday, when Gereon and Livia arrived from Hossberg to make the trip home for the winter holidays.

She could have opened the portal closer to the university, but she had never seen the city in the winter and she needed time to breathe after Denerim. She could feel Urthemiel inside her chest, pulsing like a second heartbeat, just out of time with her own. She hadn't known what to expect, what was she going to do, ask Solas? She was successfully suppressing him up until this point, but now she needed a moment.

She settled down onto a crate and leaned forward, elbows on her knees, face in her hands. Taking a few deep breaths, she relaxed and let go. Visions danced through mind, memories, history, spells, power, old power. She kept herself calm and focused her magic to absorb the new surge of power. She was waging a battle of sheer will inside her mind. The God was pressing hard for control, she stood and called on the anchor, stepping into the fade. A ringing grew in her ears as she drew on the raw power, reaching a deafening volume.

Pushing the sound from her mind, she continued to draw on the fade, hoarding the power until she felt she would burst from the pressure. The fade began to ripple around her, warped images shifting and twisting. In an instant she called a barrier and released her power. A burst of light pulsed outward, flexing the barrier to its limits before shattering. The scattered pieces of light hovered, motionless for a moment before the air started to swirl. A loud pop rang out as the magic imploded on itself, slamming back together and flowing into her body with a force that disintegrated the barrier and sent her flying backwards.

Gasping for breath, she lay there for a time, blinking up at the fade green sky. Her entire body ached, but her magic was already flowing healing into her. Urthemiel had gone quiet, tucked away and contained, a sigh of relief washed over her as she wrestled her body into a sitting position. "Well, let's not do that again." she grumbled to herself as she climbed to her feet. Recasting her cloaking spell, she once again called on the anchor and stepped back out of the fade into the crisp winter air of Val Royeaux.

She adjusted the buckles on her armour and checked that her weapons we're still securely fastened before pressing forward. The air was still and with the freshly fallen snow, she left footprints in her wake. A flick of her fingers conjured a slight wind, disturbing the freshly fallen snow and hiding any signs that she had been there. She wandered the market for a time, staring up at the high rooftops and their gleaming peaks. Relishing in the silence as she walked, she ran her fingers lightly over the distinctly Orlesian design of the statues in the courtyard.

She stayed there for a time, letting herself be engulfed by the feeling of serenity. A sigh escaped her lips and she knew the time to press forward had come. With one last look over her shoulder, she left the courtyard and headed for the University Of Orlais. It was a grand building, tower like in its appearance, with carved lion heads fastened securely at the base of each stretching steeple. Orlesian banners proudly hung in perfect intervals, painted splashes of bright colour across the front of the building where they gently swayed in the wind. She climbed the wide stone staircase leading to the massive wooden doors, pushing her way into the building.

The halls were quiet, not quite silent, but nearly. With Wintersend approaching many of the students had already departed to be with the families for the holidays. The first door she came to was locked, peaking through the window, she saw that it seemed to be the main office. She lit her brands for a moment and phased through the door before letting them go quiet again. She shifted through the papers spread across the desk, finding what she sought. She opened the manifest and ran a finger down the page searching for Felix's name. Felix Alexius, room 237.