Chapter Text
Only one foot inside the main door, and home smelled exactly the same as he had left it. After six months of chasing the Dread Wolf, the longest he had ever been away from Treviso, Cam sat heavily and began to sob.
"Cam!" Concern from Bellara, an arm across his back.
His shoulders trembled, lungs heaving as he collapsed inward. Hot tears sprang from his eyes unbidden. Curled tight, he held his lips closed between his teeth to muffle the sound, eyes screwed shut.
A gasp from a passing servant. Shouting. New voices. More shouting.
Finally, silence. When Cam looked up, still struggling to breathe, the entryway was empty, with one exception. Viago stood against the opposite wall, arms crossed. "Did you finish the contract? To stop the Dread Wolf?"
Cam snorted wetly. "Hello Viago. I missed you," he said honestly, his voice raw. He tugged off his gloves and let them fall to the tile floor, scrubbing the tears from his face.
Viago’s expression grew even more pinched. "Crows always—"
"Finish the job. Yeah." Cam fell silent. His breath hitched.
Viago crouched down. "What happened?"
Cam huffed a facsimile of a laugh and let his head thunk back against the closed door. He shut his eyes. "Varric and Harding are dead. We disrupted a massive ritual in Arlathan Forest that the Dread Wolf was planning to use to tear down the Veil. Thedas would have been overrun with demons if he’d succeeded. The Dread Wolf became trapped in a prison in the Fade when we interfered. But he used blood magic on me, and has a connection to my mind now." Cam twisted his hands together to stop them from shaking.
"I was found at the ritual site by Bellara, the Dalish girl who was with me when I got here. I was the only survivor. Bellara’s been Maker-sent; her clan healed me, and she traveled with me through the Drylands to get me here in one piece. But most importantly: two ancient elven gods were set free when the ritual failed, and they’re using the blight to destroy whole towns while regaining power."
Viago hadn’t moved and seemed to hardly be breathing. Cam soldiered on, "It’s bad, Viago. It’s really bad. The Dread Wolf told me about nature of the gods set free, and I thought he was lying, but I saw a town devoured as a sacrifice. Villagers blighted and made puppets by blood magic. Their mayor sold them out for false promises of gold. My entire team is dead, my mind is compromised, and think I might have single-handedly started the next Blight?" Cam exhaled shakily.
"But hey, the contract is definitely finished. The Dread Wolf’s plans are thwarted, and I know that for sure because he’s in my head when I sleep, and he’s very mad at me."
Tears trickled out of the corners of his eyes. He ignored them and squinted at Viago. "You cut your hair? Why’d you cut your hair?"
If Viago scowled any harder, his eyebrows would touch. "I cut it for a job."
"What did Teia have to say about it?"
"Stop it. Just, stop." They sat facing each other in silence. Viago appeared to be thinking. Cam did not.
After a few minutes, Viago sighed and straightened up. "What do you need?"
"I’m sorry," Cam said. "I need help."
A long exhale. "You will have help. Get off the floor, and give me all the information you have."
Cam stood, tucking his long hair behind pointed ears. "I’m not the only one with information; Bellara, where’d you put her?"
Viago put a gloved hand on Cam’s back and pushed him gently towards the stairs. "Teia has her. Get cleaned up and we’ll head to the Diamond."
"Is... I mean, my room..."
"Same as you left it."
The four sat around a table in the rafters of the Diamond. Teia had her Crows maintain a perimeter to guard from any listening ears. "Which is more pressing," she asked, "the two escaped gods or the one in your head?"
"The two escaped, definitely. Their names are Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain. The Evanuris. The Dread Wolf had them trapped in the Fade, but before that, they were tyrannical rulers who subjugated the elves. And I don’t think time in prison has been rehabilitative for them, given that they’re already blighting whole towns."
"I don’t know about that," Bellara interjected. "Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are bad, obviously. Extremely bad. The Nadas Dirthalen and Dread Wolf’s information matches on that, and they’re already hurting people. But for you, having Fen’Harel in your mind is also really bad. And he might… I don’t know. What if he takes you over? I know he said he couldn’t. But do we believe him?"
Cam shrugged. "Honestly, I don’t know."
Viago nodded. "So we tackle both problems at once. For the escaped gods, a contract. For the Dread Wolf…"
"I might know someone who can help," Bellara offered. "I’ve been writing to a Fade expert in Nevarra, a professor. He’s a Mortalitasi, so he’s not not a blood mage. He might have some ideas on breaking the connection."
"Good. I’m going to talk to the First Talon. Cam, stay home. Teia, please make sure he doesn’t leave."
Cam, who had been tugging a thread on his sleeve, stopped to glare at him. "Asshole."
"Cam," Viago looked very tired. "The new Talons are not all our allies, and the Houses are not aligned in fighting the occupation. The dance we weave with the other Houses and the Antaam is a dangerous one. We have plans in motion and are constantly dealing with those who would interfere. I’m bringing this to the First Talon directly. Please just stay home."
Teia chimed in, "He’s worried about you."
Viago rolled his eyes, but did not disagree.
Bellara sat on Cam’s bed, hands beneath her knees. "Sooo, this is nice. Do all Crows live together in a big house like this?"
"Not really," Cam replied, rifling through the chest at the foot of the bed, pulling out old clothing. "Most Crows have houses or apartments outside of where the family lives. I haven’t been a Crow for very long though."
Bellara raised her eyebrows. "You haven’t? But you were responsible for stopping the Dread Wolf?"
"Yeah," he sighed. "Here, I think these will fit you." He held out a pair of pants. "I wasn’t going after the Dread Wolf because of my competence. I’m a poisoner, a contract like that isn’t even my specialty. Viago sent me away with Varric because the other Crows were pissed at me. I don’t know if he expected me to actually help Varric much."
"Oooh. Thanks. How are you and Viago related?"
"He’s my Talon. The head of my House." Cam stopped picking through his clothing and frowned.
Bellara grimaced. "Sorry! I know I ask too many questions, tell me to stop if I’m being too nosy."
"No, it’s okay,” Cam smiled. “You’re fine. It’s just… Viago’s sort of complicated, for me."
"I get that,” Bellara said. "People are complicated. Especially the people we love."
When Viago summoned them the next day, he told them to come prepared to leave. "I spoke to the First Talon. This is the plan. First, Lucanis Dellamorte, Caterina’s demon of a grandson, is probably not dead."
Teia gasped and laid a hand on Viago's arm. "Lucanis is alive? How?"
"We thought he died a year ago, but Caterina says the body wasn’t him; it was a corpse altered with blood magic. She’s been keeping tabs on the Venatori. And she’s kept it quiet — there’s a rat, or many, in House Dellamorte. According to her intel, Lucanis is being kept in the Ossuary, an underwater prison."
Viago crossed his arms and addressed Cam and Bellara. "The two of you need to find a way in. If you can break him out, Caterina will give him the contract to kill the elven gods."
"When you retrieve him, leave immediately; take horses from House Cantori. Lucanis is the best Crow we have; be wary of him, but follow his lead on the contract. Get information from Bellara’s archive spirit, and get help from her professor. If the professor can't help you with the Dread Wolf, our House will extract information on blood magic from the Venatori. Since the Blight is involved in all of this, we’ll try to get in contact with the Wardens."
"If you can’t enter the Ossuary, or if Lucanis is dead or incapacitated, return here. Don’t let anyone see you. If that’s the case, I’ll take the contract myself."
Teia frowned and looked sharply at him, but said nothing.
Viago continued, "We have options. This time, contact me before you make any stupid decisions." He held three small vials out. "I’ve developed several new poisons since you were here last. Make sure to study them and add them to your daily regimen."
Cam smiled at Bellara’s confusion. "Telling me to poison myself is Viago’s love language," he joked.
Viago ignored him. "Come with me now. Caterina has had one mage working on entering the Ossuary. Hopefully, Bellara will be able to help."