There and Back Again Ch. 133

"So you cast a spell you had minimal knowledge of, randomly, in hopes that it would kill me?"

He sighed. "How were you able to return?"

I growled. "I have no idea! Apparently the spell was defective, or perhaps it wore off." As he contemplated this, I asked another question that had been driving me crazy for months. "Why me?"

He shifted in his seat. "I had a vision."

It was my turn to blink. "A vis- ...you tried to kill me because of a vision? What sort of stupid, delusional..." I was indignant.

"It is occasionally possible to divine the future, if you know how to look. As I contemplated a plan to end the slaughter of my brethren-"

"By making every human undergo the Joining and then accelerating their taint? That idiotic plan?" I interrupted.

He nodded slowly, looking puzzled. "How do you know that?"

"Everyone on Ear...uh, where you sent me, knows that was your plan."

He frowned, silent until I gestured for him to go on. "My plan was interrupted by the loss of the Grey Wardens I attempted to recruit," he paused and glanced at the ghoul still holding Faren's bleeding arm, before amending, "most of them. As I looked for alternate ways to advance my plan, I had a vision. Of twins, a man and a woman, and somehow together they destroyed any chance of success. So I looked for a way to prevent it."

"What sort of imbecile are you?" I rubbed my forehead in sardonic amusement. "Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?"

He just looked confused.

"Where you sent me, there are people, philosophers and things, who have spent a lot of time thinking about the pitfalls of prophecy. For example, what if you had a prophecy that you would...I don't know..." I thought about one of my favourite movies. "That you would knock over a vase and smash it. Because of the prophecy, you spin, looking for the vase, and bump it. If you hadn't been given the prophecy, maybe you wouldn't have turned, wouldn't have bumped it. The prophecy came true because you'd been told the prophecy." I rubbed my forehead irritably. "What if the reason my brother and I stop you is because of what you did to me? To us? Without that, we might have let you go. But I can guarantee that, now, given the chance, my brother will kill you."

He gazed at me for a minute, and I imagined the cogs spinning as he considered what I'd said. Finally he waved a hand dismissively. "It no longer matters. That plan became untenable for other reasons-"

"-because it was stupid?"

He continued as if I hadn't spoken. "-and I developed a different idea."

"Ah yes, killing the Archdemons. Good job on that one – oh wait, that didn't go according to plan either, did it? Was it the Grey Wardens, as always, who did that? Pesky details. Does Utha know you started the fifth Blight?"

Faren, who had been listening intently, suddenly choked. "He started the Blight?"

I nodded. "That's right, you weren't with us yet when we talked about it. Yeah, he did. Intended to kill Urthemiel, and instead, tainted it."

"Because that wasn't at all predictable." Faren scoffed, and Utha growled at him.

"Enough," the Architect demanded. "We will speak no more about this." He stood, clearly completely offended, and it was such a human reaction that I had to bite my tongue to stifle a giggle. He stalked into Faren's cage, taking over from Utha and watching the blood collect in the jar. Faren jerked against his hold unsuccessfully.

I couldn't see how much blood they took, but they let it pour into the jar for several long minutes. Faren's colour paled, his struggle slowly losing energy, until he slumped in the chair, barely awake, breathing shallowly. Long before they were done, I was begging them to stop, worried they'd take too much – he'd already lost some blood during the battle, and I didn't know how much more his body could handle.

Finally they finished; the Architect tied a rag around the wound, as Utha bound his wrist back to the chair. She then turned and left, lugging the pot of blood with her, as the Architect offered Faren a piece of jerky pilfered from my pack. When the dwarf had taken a few listless bites and a drink from a water skin, the darkspawn offered a piece of jerky and the rest of the water skin to me through the bars and then left, but not before locking Faren's cage. The dwarf appeared to be half-asleep, mumbling incoherently as the sound of the Architect's steps receded down the hall.

I nibbled my jerky disconsolately, watching my friend warily; to my shock, once it was obvious that the darkspawn wasn't coming back, he opened his eyes and sat straighter, giving me an impish grin. Heart racing, I smiled back.

"Asshole."

His grin widened, and then he flushed slightly. "Hey, you had to seem really worried or they wouldn't have stopped."

"I swear, when I get my hands on that bastard..."

"Speaking of which, can you get us out of here?"