Lucanis’ eyes flutter and his mind reels. Getting back on his feet, he draws his dagger and blade, preparing for an attack. His heart beats rapidly as he scans the terrain, fearing the worst.

  A constant downpour of ash burns his eyes. A heavy cloud of smoke that lingers in the air burns his throat. In the distance, great plumes of flame erupt, casting an orange glow through his field of vision. Impacts are felt from a distance and the ground shakes, emanating a low rumble.

  Through the sound of fire and rumbling rock, a harrowing scream is heard that Lucanis recognizes. “Taash.”

  Ghilan’nain was dead, but the cost was too high. Harding was killed, Bellara was stolen, and now Rook.. No. Focus. Find the target.

  “Lace!” Taash screams, ripping through blight flesh. Tears stream down their face.

  Davrin helps Emmrich back on his feet. As the assassin searches by, the necromancer calls out. “Lucanis! I’m glad you’re alright!”

  “Where’s Rook?” Davrin asks.

  “I don’t know,” Lucanis replies, vaulting over a fallen pillar.

  “What?” Davrin shouts back.

  “I don’t know!” Lucanis snaps in turn. He continues walking, scanning the environment the best he could. “WHERE IS HE? WHERE ROOK GO? WHERE IS OUR ROOK?”

  The assassin’s ears perk up at the sound of coughing. He looks around and focuses through the tremors and shouting. Through the fog, he sees some rubble shift, then hears a few sharp coughs.

  “Rook!” Lucanis shouts, running to the pile. Kicking off debris, he grabs the hand and pulls, wrenching out Neve from her entrapment. What relief he felt for Neve being alive was drowned by disappointment.

  “NOT ROOK! NOT ROOK! Quiet Spite!” It was no use. Spite ranted and raved, searching all over and cursing Lucanis for being tethered to him. Each time Spite reached the border of their connection, a hot leash whipped them back together.

  “Neve!” Lucanis shouts, pulling her up. “Did you see where Rook went? Where did he go?”

  “Solas,” Neve manages to say before going into a coughing fit. She stumbles to the side, grabbing onto Lucanis for support. That’s when he realizes her prosthetic was broken.

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  Lucanis furrows his brow. “What about Solas? What did he do?”

  “I saw him- cough- He stepped out of the Fade.. Threw Rook into it. Before Elgar’nan started throwing fireballs all over the place.”

  A thunderous explosion erupts from above and a column of flame stretches down to the center of the island. Wind rips through them, clearing the space of smoke.

  “We need to go!” Emmrich shouts, grabbing hold of Lucanis’ shoulder.

  “NOT BEFORE WE FIND ROOK!”

  Emmrich grips his side and coughs. “Spite.. Rook’s not here. If we can get back to the lighthouse, we can try to reach him from there.”

  The column of flame glows brighter and begins to expand.

  “We’re leaving!” Lucanis shouts, more to Spite than anyone else. He pulls Neve’s arm over his shoulder and they begin shuffling quickly across the courtyard.

  “LACE!” Taash was still going at it, trying to push Davrin and Assan away.

  “Taash, we got to go!” Davrin shouts, pulling on the Qunari’s arm. Assan cries in agreement, leaping and pushing Taash with his front legs.

  Their pleas fell on deaf ears, but Taash’s tear filled eyes were soon cleared by a growing wall of flame. They choke on the hot air and stumble back, following Davrin’s tugs.

  The heat becomes unbearable as the cyclone gets larger, swallowing the ruins more and more. They run for it, like rats fleeing flood water. No destination in mind, just the simple guiding instinct to survive.

  “Sorry Neve!” Taash shouts, picking the mage up and tossing her over their shoulder.

  Neve protests little, exhausted from the experience.

  The team retreats back the way they came, dodging fire and brimstone and the massive claws of Elgar'nan's archdemon. As they slide down a collapsed wall, something bright catches their eyes ahead.

  An emerald light stretches just beyond a cliff and splits open. A rift leading into the fade.

  “Through there!” Emmrich shouts, gasping for air.

  “We don’t know where it goes!” Davrin argues.

  “It’s not like we have options!” Taash argues back, “Jump!”

  Leaping off the cliff, the team phases through the rift and into the open fade. A flicker of flame and the breath of an archdemon brushes the back of their necks, then the rift snaps shut.

  For a moment, they fall into the void, then, to their surprise, they land roughly on the Caretaker’s vessel.

  Lucanis and Davrin land on their feet, Emmrich lands on his face, Taash and Neve almost tumble off the opposite side. They would have fallen off completely if Assan hadn’t flown over and tackled them back into the boat.

  A stunned silence lingered over them as they processed what happened. They lost Harding. They lost Bellara. They lost Rook.

  As the Caretaker sped them through the fade back to the lighthouse, barely a word was spoken. Taash sat at the front, facing no one and weeping in silence. Davrin checked over Assan, nursing every singed feather. Emmrich and Neve, despite their exhaustion, spoke at length about how to get Rook back.

  Lucanis kept an ear on the conversation, but most of it was drowned out by Spite’s shouting and swearing. He looked in the direction they were speeding away from and dreads to consider the worst. “Rook..”