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The air in the Deep Roads was cold, and the chilling draft did nothing to help the shivering Inquisitor. Despite the numerous layers he donned, Lysandre could not help but feel cold. The dark atmosphere and occasional noises did nothing to ease his anxieties.
He glanced over at the Tevinter mage standing next to him, taking his gloomy atmosphere in stride and holding his head high as usual. Dorian practically radiated confidence, as per his usual. A trait Lysandre seemed to lack. His hand slipped into his pocket and he played around with the sylvanwood ring he intended on giving to Dorian as soon as he had the chance. The two had discussed marriage a month prior, and he had finally decided that it was the perfect time. Though he was far too shy to follow through with it. Lysandre sighed through his nose and turned his gaze forward again, following the torch lit pathway through the stone caverns.
Dorian took notice of this and glanced down at Lysandre with a worried expression. He hesitantly grabbed the elf’s hand and intertwined their fingers, catching his attention.
“Amatus, are you alright?” Dorian said in a hushed tone, trying not to alert the others. Luckily, Sera and Cassandra had immersed themselves in their own conversation, so they paid the two no mind.
“I suppose so.” Lys muttered.
“Now now, I know that tone. Something’s wrong.”
“It’s nothing, Dorian. Don’t worry about it.” He gripped the mage’s hand slightly.
Dorian sighed. “If you insist. Though I’ll be certain to ask about it later.”
Lysandre’s eyes widened slightly at his statement and he pursed his lips, anxiety swelling in his chest at the thought of giving Dorian the ring. Their group trekked forward, avoiding the piles of rubble and debris scattering the ground. He glanced nervously at the edge of the pathway, and at the deep chasm below. It had to be at least a thousand feet drop. He shuddered slightly. That had to be his least favorite part about travelling in the Deep Roads: the constant threat of death. It was not as if he didn’t always have his life at risk, but it seemed much more likely that he’d die in the Deep Roads at the hands of some darkspawn than those of an assassin.
The Inquisitor led his small group of friends through the pathways of the Deep Roads, occasionally glancing at the edge of the path.
It did not take long for darkspawn to appear, leaping out around the group and growling menacingly. Lysandre sprung into action, trading Dorian’s hand for his trusted daggers and lunging at the hurlock behind Cassandra. Sera began firing a volley of arrows, taking out the darkspawn archers with ease. Cassandra let out a battle cry as she hacked away at the darkspawn’s leader. Dorian’s spells shot past them, setting three of the hellish creatures aflame. Lysandre and the now dead darkspawn fell to the ground and he tore the daggers from the corpse, turning to swipe at the creatures behind him.
Sera cried out as a darkspawn hit her arm with its sword. Lysandre sprinted to her side and knocked the sword out of the creature’s hands before embedding his dagger in its neck. It shrieked before falling to the ground. He pulled out the blade and quickly looked to Sera, who was downing a health potion. He nodded, glad to see she was alright, before turning to the remaining creatures.
He was so engrossed in his fight that he did not notice the darkspawn kick Dorian’s back and send him flying over the edge. Cassandra, on the other hand, did.
“Dorian!” The Nevarran cried out as she swiftly killed the darkspawn in front of her and the one that had kicked the Tevinter.
Lysandre’s eyes widened and his world froze for a brief moment. Everything was slowed as he swiftly turned around and rushed to the edge of the pathway, looking down at Dorian. He was dangling on the side of the cliff with one hand on a small ledge, looking up at Cassandra and Lysandre.
“Vhenan, hold on! We’ll get you back up, I promise!” Lysandre’s voice was panicked as he reached a hand down to grab his lover.
Dorian dropped his staff and tried to pull himself up to reach Lysandre.
“Amatus, I can’t reach you.” His voice cracked with fear.
Cassandra leaned over the edge and offered down both hands to Dorian, a panicked look on her face as well.
“Dorian, just hold on! Take my hands!” She cried, trying desperately to reach her friend. However, he was just out of her grasp.
Dorian’s breathing quickened as he glanced down at the abyss below. His head snapped back up and he met Lysandre’s eyes.
“Lysandre, please! Help me up!” He said, fingers beginning to tremble.
His other hand reached up and grabbed the ledge, and he pulled himself up to try and catch Cassandra’s hands. However, he missed and fell back, falling further down for a moment before he caught another ledge. Tears had begun to fall from Lysandre’s eyes, which he blinked away quickly.
“Try to climb up!” Sera yelled, balancing on her hands and knees at the edge of the cliff.
“I- I don’t know if I can!” Dorian called up.
“Just try, vhenan!” Lysandre said, looking at Dorian with a pleading expression. A thought struck him, and he turned to Cassandra.
“Cassie, you and Sera grab my legs and lower me down, then we’ll all pull him up!” He yelled. Cassandra and Sera nodded and grabbed his ankles as he climbed over the side of the cliff and was lowered down.
“Lysandre, I- I don’t know how much longer I can hang here.” Dorian called.
“Don’t worry, Dorian; we’ll get you out of here!” Lysandre yelled, reaching his hands out to Dorian. “Grab on, we’ll pull you up!”
Dorian hesitated for a moment. He knew Lysandre wasn’t the strongest in the world, even with Sera and Cassandra pulling him back. He could drop Dorian, and Dorian could end up accidentally pulling him down with him. However, the fear of imminent death was enough of a push to reach up towards the small elf and grab onto his hand.
Lysandre called back to Sera and Cassandra and the two began to use all of their strength to pull the two up. Lysandre alone was enough weight for them to handle, but Dorian along with him was a challenge. The two heaved with all their strength, Sera audibly grunting. Dorian and Lysandre held on tightly to each other’s wrists while maintaining eye contact.
“Lysandre…!” Dorian said, voice breaking.
“I’m right here, Dorian, just hold on!” Lysandre called reassuringly, glancing back at the two women pulling at his legs.
Lysandre was most of the way over the cliff, with only his arms and Dorian left dangling. They set him down on the ground and swiftly moved up, each taking one of Dorian’s arms and heaving him back up.
“Almost there, vhenan!” Lysandre grunted, using all his might to bring Dorian back up to the pathway.
Once his arms had come up over the edge, Dorian was able to hoist himself up onto the stone path. The group backed far away from the edge as Lysandre embraced Dorian’s trembling form, clutching to the fabric of his robes and burying his face in his shoulder.
“Don’t- don’t you ever do that again, you here?!” Lysandre said, voice muffled by the robes.
Dorian tightly squeezed the smaller elf. “I won’t, oh Maker. I don’t plan on doing that again.”
“You better not, yeah?” panted Sera, who was doubled over trying to catch her breath. “You’re too fat for us to hold.”
“Sera!” Cassandra scolded, also out of breath. “Be nice. He could have died.”
“But he didn’t.” Lysandre said. “Now let’s get out of these wretched Deep Roads before anything else happens. The mission can wait.”