Chapter Text
The smoke swirled menacingly beneath the door as Andriya took a step away from the laboratory. It snaked near her feet before it slithered back behind the frame. In her mind the door seemed to glow as it held back the fire. She couldn’t hear anything, all of her senses seemed to be empty. Andy wasn’t sure what to do now. She thought she could hear someone say her name but her mind was too busy to comprehend it.
What had she done?
“Trevelyan!” The voice cut clear, she jumped back as the face of the templar finally came into focus.
The older man searched her for a moment, his blue eyes hunted for answers in hers, “Are you alright?”
Andy looked passed him, he had to be able to smell the smoke, she couldn’t lie for much longer. Everything had to be destroyed, she had to make sure. She closed her eyes and felt her mouth move but she wasn’t sure she spoke.
“Is that...smoke?” he asked, he turned his attention to the lab door. Andy watched silently as the second templar approached the door. She should warn him. She was supposed to tell him. She just needed time, just a little more time.
“Fire.” She whispered as she watched the templar reach for the door. He wouldn’t be able to feel the heat through his armor. It was as if time slowed, the other templar turned to watch his partner, he opened his mouth to stop him, but the younger man, he pulled the door open.
It was smoke and shadows, before she and the templar was pushed back from the gust of air, the flames licked her side and her face. She could smell her hair on fire and copper. All of her senses came back to her at once, she could hear the templar scream as he tried to pull of his half melted helmet, the flames roared from the room, boots thundered past her as more templars rushed to help. Andy reached for the fallen templar and pulled him away from the flames as his face melted around him. He only whimpered now, shock silencing him before death.
Andy looked up as the templars barked orders at one another, it was strange to see such mass chaos from the men and women who were supposed to exert absolute control over the mages.
“Andriya!” someone shouted at her, the first enchanter appeared, she pulled Andy aside as mages joined the templars in drowning the flames, “What happened?”
Andy felt her head shake, “I don’t know.”
“Was there anyone in there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think Andriya!” Lydia snarled, “What happened in there? How did this start?”
Andy stared into the pale eyes of the powerful mage, “I don’t know,” she lied.
For a moment, Andy wondered if her lie failed, a look of absolute rage crossed Lydia’s face, she looked back to the fire and to Andy before pushing the young woman away to help the templars. Andy fell into the stone wall, she sunk to the ground, the young templar had died, she stared at his charred face and melted torso. Everything had fallen apart.
It took Andy days before she went back into the ruined lab. The templars and several professors had gone through the room, but nothing was salvageable. All of Enchanter Edward’s research was lost. There had been someone in there, a tranquil, Andy had cried more at his service than at the templar’s. Both Redrick and Lydia had marked Andy’s reactions as shock, and hadn’t questioned her further about the fire.
Andy stood in the blackened room, she could visualize everything where it was supposed to be. The desk, where her notes had been, was nothing more than charred wood. The chestplate that was on a mannequin, was crumpled metal, a remelted pile of ore that was worth nothing now. She had told Lydia that she had spent the day layering spells into the armor, and had left. She returned after dinner to find smoke under the door. That’s when the templar had opened it. For now, that seemed to appease everyone.
“Apprentice?” a voice asked from the hall. Andy looked up, she wiped the tears from her cheeks before she met Enchanter Edward’s eyes.
“Professor?” She forced herself to say.
Edward rubbed his bald head as he stepped into the room, “It’s all gone, isn’t it?” He said to her as well as himself, “All of our research.”
Andy didn’t trust herself to speak, so she nodded. Edward elven eyes watched her carefully, “Did nothing survive? Even a doodle?”
Andy swallowed hard, “All of it.” It hurt her throat to admit it, “We have nothing.”
Edward sighed and kicked at a scrap of debris, “So we start over. From the beginning.”
“No!” Andy snapped. She blinked at the harshness in her voice, “No,” she repeated softer, “I can’t.”
“We can’t give up apprentice. This is a small hiccup. We can overcome. And when we reach this point again...we can avoid this. It’s not over.”
“It is!” Andy turned to her professor aware of the tears on her face, “The magic of the golems is lost. Forever! Two people are dead because of this!”
“It was an accident!” Edward stepped closer to her, “It was a horrible accident. And we will never allow it to happen again. We will add safe guards, we will be careful. Remember our goal, Andriya; we remake the golems, the dwarves defeat the darkspawn, and we end all blights.” Edward gave a small smile, “We’re not even wardens but we will be remembered as such.”
Andy looked down at him and shook her head, “I have enough blood on my hands.” She finally said, “I won’t add anyone else to the fire.”
She turned from the lab and walked away, she would do everything she could to forget this.
“You are a coward to give up!”
His voice stopped Andy in her tracks, she turned back to her professor, they studied each other for a moment as he gracefully stepped around the debris and up to her, “We are mages, Andy.” His eyes burned with passion, “We are not wild dogs to be set loose during war and rechained when the battle is over. We can prove to all of Thedas, we are heroes.”
“I am not a hero.” Andy said, she could not stop the shudder in her voice.