Chapter Text
Dorian stepped over the mangled body of a Qunari warrior to stand beside Bull. Casting a concerned glance up at his lover he whispered, “Are you alright, Amatus?”
Bull growled softly, not bothering to spare Dorian a glance. “Magic fucking mirrors, Kadan…”
Dorian reached out, his hand curling around Bull’s forearm just as Ellana reached for the door at the end of the hall. Opening his mouth to speak, Dorian was interrupted by the distinctive roar of a dragon echoing off the stone walls.
Ellana’s strangled voice reached them a moment later. “Dragon’s breath is an actual dragon?”
“Shit,” Bull muttered, shaking off Dorian’s touch as he hurried to catch up to the pair before them.
Dorian was too far away to hear what was said next, but there was no mistaking the gruffly growled words as anything but Qunlat and Dorian threw a barrier over Varric and Ellana as the pair stepped into the room. Prepared to follow them, Dorian was surprised when Bull froze in the doorway the moment a female voice rang out.
“Inquisition! Nehraa ataashi-asaara meravas adim kata!”
Peering past Bull, Dorian saw a towering Qunari woman, horns curled back along the sides of her head, her lips twisted in a snarl. Nudging his lover, Dorian hissed, “Bull…move.”
As though she’d heard him, the woman’s eyes met Dorian’s, her lips curling up in a cruel mockery of a smile. “Hissrad! Now, please. Vinek kathas.”
Kaffas, Dorian might not know much Qunlat but ‘Hissrad’ he knew.
“Understood Ma’am,” Bull rumbled, his shoulder dropping as he shifted his weight, slamming his body into Dorian and making his head crash against the doorframe. Ears ringing, Dorian was helpless to prevent himself from crashing to the ground. Through watering eyes, Dorian watched Bull step over him and move further into the room. “Change of plans. Nothing personal…bas.”
Noooooo! Dorian could have sworn he cried the word, but if he did, no one seemed to hear him as the female Qunari stormed from the room and the battle began in earnest between Bull and his teammates.
Watching Varric loosen a bolt that caught Bull in the shoulder, Dorian fought his own instinct to cast a fire bolt at the dwarf in return. Frozen in place, he watched Ellana pull her daggers and begin creeping up on Bull from his left side. Clenching his jaw so tight his teeth ached, he forced himself to remain silent as one of his best friends attempted to kill his lover.
Just as she reached striking distance, Bull spun, the shaft of his huge maul catching her in the ribs, his momentum throwing her forward over the short railing to the floor below.
Struggling to his feet, Dorian watched a bolt pierce Bull’s side, his head swinging to once again focus on Varric who leaped over the railing and down to the floor below, trying to gain some distance. Stumbling forward, Dorian grabbed Bull’s arm and finally finding his voice pleaded, “Please, Bull, don’t do this. She can’t make you do this.”
For a second, Bull’s expression softened, the hint of a smile curling his lip. “You’re a good man, Dorian,” he said. Then his expression hardened. “-But you don’t know shit.”
Shaking Dorian off as though he were a flea, Bull followed the other two over the railing, landing hard with his mace in front of him. Dorian watched him stalk toward Ellana, still laying winded on the ground. Bull raised his mace over his head as Varric loaded another bolt in his crossbow. “Do something, Sparkler!”
“BULL!” Dorian shouted, watching the mace begin to swing down towards Ellana and then, suddenly, Bull was thrown to the side, crashing through the scaffolding there and bringing it down on his head. It was only after Varric shouted ‘that’s the way’ that Dorian realized his hands were raised in a force position.
“Vishante kaffas,” he whispered, watching Ellana sit up and shake her head before rolling to her feet just as Bull emerged from the pile of broken timber with a feral growl. No, not Bull, he can’t be Bull or I’ll never…Hissrad. He’s Hissrad now.
Mind made up, Dorian joined the fight in earnest. He and Varric attacked from a distance while Ellana danced around Hissrad, keeping a step ahead of his mace. Familiar as they were with each other’s fighting style, the battle took longer than Dorian would have liked and he began feeling the pull of a decreasing mana pool just as Hissrad dodged one of Varric’s bolts only to miss Ellana as she rolled in low and sliced his right hamstring.
Hissrad screamed, stumbling as his good leg buckled, the mace toppling from his fingertips, catching Ellana in the shoulder as it fell. She cried out and Hissrad looked back just as Varric sent a bolt through his chest. Gasping, a spray of blood escaped Hissrad as he looked down at Ellana, “Tricky Bas.”
Time seemed to freeze as Dorian watched Ellana flip her dagger, holding it by the blade in a move he knew meant she was about to end it even as Varric knocked another bolt in his crossbow. Blood soaking through those hideous pants of his, Hissrad turned his attention away from both of them to look at Dorian, his expression softening and for a second Dorian saw him again, not Hissrad but Bull. Winking in that horrible way of his, he reached for the hand axe at his belt.
“Nooooooo,” Dorian cried, his fingers flying as he traced the spell, words falling from his lips and then he could feel the spell connect, could feel exactly how much life force Bull still had within as he began to siphon it to himself.
Ellana brought her arm back.
Varric brought the crossbow up.
Faster. Faster.
Dorian continued muttering, demanding more from the spell, feeling even the tiny nick he’d made shaving heal as he drained everything Bull had to give. Ellana released her dagger and Varric his bolt but they were too late, Bull’s body was already crumpling to the ground, his half of the dragon tooth amulet hitting the hard stone floor and cracking in half.
The silence was so complete Dorian swore he could feel his own heart breaking as the three of them stared at their fallen companion.
“Can’t believe Bull turned on us,” Varric said, moving to help Ellana get to her feet. “He’s a better liar than I gave him credit for.”
“The Iron Bull must have been so proud of himself,” Dorian muttered, making his way to them on stilted legs. “Kadan,” he snorted, laughing bitterly.
Approaching Bull, Ellana shrugged her injured shoulder, testing the damage. “I still don’t understand how he could fight beside us for years and just…” she broke off with a growl as the sound of another dragon roar reached them. “Come on. Let’s move.”