Fiona, leader of the rebel mages, and others were somewhat opposed to the request. Many viewed the Harrowing as a cruelty inflicted by the Templars on them, though others maintained it was a necessary test, and if a mage wished to undergo one then who were they to say no. Arrangements were made, lyrium prepared and soon enough Ash slipped away into the fade to confront the demon that had plagued him for so long.
Ash felt as if he had barely closed his eyes when he woke up again. He was in the fade, yet it felt different from being in a dream. It was a difficult feeling to describe. One of wonder and curiousity, tinged with worry. He really was here. Now the demon could actually hurt him. He looked around, wondering exactly where he was, and sighed to himself.
Here goes nothing, I guess.
The sights before him were at once familiar and foreign, he had seen glimpses of this realm many times in his waking dreams. A rumbling voice, no longer heard within his head but echoing all around him, was heard.
"So you have come," the voice said "I was hoping this could be avoided, I have never wished to claim your being by force."
"But you did wish to claim my being," Ash said, bitterly. He had stopped in his steps for the briefest moment, but anger pushed him forwards. It certainly wasn't his fault the demon did this, forcing him against the wall and lamenting when he tried to get out of this.
"I merely wished to see the world beyond this realm, to touch the physical, to stand upon stones that lie still and are not cast into a maelstrom by some unknowing dreamer," the voice hissed "In exchange I offered you help, guidance, guidance you sought in a time of struggle and yet you blame me for this?"
"You brought me into that time of struggle," Ash hissed back, feeling his hands shake as the demon spoke. He took a moment to just try to breathe calmly.
"Hadn't it been for you... I could have been home. Safe. Did you ever consider just asking me if I'd let you borrow my body for a little while? If you had just, I don't know, proven I could trust you, I might have done it. Do you feel the slightest guilt over forcing a child to make a choice, and then punishing him every day over that mistake? No? Then yes, I do blame you, because you knew what would happen. I did not."
There was a lengthy sigh hissing like wind around him, the ground beneath his feet began to shudder and before him an ethereal form took shape. Spines emerged from its flesh, its long thick limbs ended in jagged claws. Eyes were placed unevenly across its shoulders and in place of a head it had only the remains of a lower jaw filled with pointed teeth and a long tongue sliding among them. A second, wider mouth rested on its wobbling stomach. Neither mouth moved as it spoke.
"It seems this impasse is irreconcilable, a shame."
At once it lifted one limb and simply pointed at Ash, immediately he felt a great weight on him as the demon directed the force of its will at him.
Ash tried to get away, but whatever the demon did followed him. He felt heavy. However, he forced himself forwards, trying to wield magic. He imagined lightning, a bolt firing from the strange, blurry sky, but held it back. Not yet.
"You're wrong. This can be solved. You can leave. Or you can undo what you've done to me, and stay the fuck away when I tell you to. If not... well, I will kill you if you don't leave me alone, that's not going to change."
"You think to come to my realm and make demands of me?" the sloth demon let out a rumbling laugh "you are not so mighty as you think you are. But never you worry, you will find peace here, a restful slumber at last doesn't that sound nice?"
Ash frowned, not letting go of that image in his head.
imagine the lightning.
"Slumber? You'll just kill me, or everything that makes me, well, me. Besides, doesn't this just work out perfectly for you? I bet it was all part of that plan of yours."
"What makes you you? Has not your life brought you such strife?" the demon said "surely rest would be better, more comfortable."
"I don't want to disappear. You call it a rest, but it would be death to me. Best case scenario, I would just never wake up again. Worst case scenario... I'd have to know that you were using my body to harm people. How is that a good thing?" He sighed, feeling a bit of doubt. Could he beat the demon? Would it be better to simply talk?
Talking makes me safe. For now.
Besides, he still felt as if he had a lot to say.
"I hate you. I wish you would just disappear, and I have done so repeatedly. You make me so angry, the way you tricked, and how you taunt me... I loathe it all. However... you've helped me, even if your intention was just to trick me. You've kept me company when I was alone. Find someone else to bother, and I'll spare you. It sounds stupid, it is bloody stupid. But there. That's your chance. Take it."
"You are not in a position to make demands little Ashtalan," the demon said "you talk and bargain to buy time, but that time is up."
Again it raised its clawed limbs and again Ash felt a large weight pressing down on him, steadily sapping his strength, making him feel ever more tired.
Ash imagined the lightning striking. He had used magic in his dreams before, but this was different. He probably had to use it more like he would in the waking world. Letting the bolt hit the demon -or at least hoping it would- he spoke one more time. Even if it hit, he doubted it would be enough to take the demon out. "Fine, no bargaining. But one question; Why me? Why not someone easier to trick? Surely I'm not that special."
The demon paused, catching Ash's lightning and casting it aside, leaving a smoking mark in the earth where it struck. Smoke rose as well from the demon's claw but it was hard to tell if it had been dealt any real damage.
"No, I didn't see anything special about you," the demon said "save perhaps for potential, all you need is a little guidance, that's all I've ever sought to give you."
"Controlling my body is not guidance," Ash said, worried about the fact that the attack didn't seem to have done much. How could it have caught it? Had it seen it coming? He hastily made his expression more neutral when he noticed that he had been wrinkling his forehead, worridly. He reminded himself of that even if the demon could take over his body, Kari was out there, watching over him.
Besides, it kept talking. I should prepare something as we talk.
"If all you had done was give me guidance, we wouldn't be here. You know that."
In the back of his mind, he tried to figure out which spell would be best.
"Everything I have done has been to prepare you better, to train you," the demon said "And it has worked, you have lived through every challenge you have faced, alas that it ends now."
The weight increased ever so slightly, or perhaps his strength was waning.
"No. You haven't made me live through the challenges, I have fought my way through them. You're just a parasite." As he said it, he used life drain, aiming to both do damage to the demon and gain some new strength himself.
This time the attack was not so easily resisted, the demon hissed in anger and pain at the theft. It gave no more words but the mouth on its stomach opened, there was a trembling intake of breath and then it exhaled fire at him.
Ash dodged, though he thought he could feel the warmth on his skin. The fire would have hurt had he been just a tiny bit slower. "Is that all you have?" he asked, and sent a bolt towards the demon.
The demon swatted the lightning bolt aside as though it was an annoying fly and then began moving towards him with increasing speed, the earth seeming to shake with each step.
Why is the lightning not working?
Ash asked himself. He stopped for a brief moment as he saw the demon come closer, and instinctively he used blood wound, hoping it would make it slow down, hurt a little. Make the demon back off. He still had questions, things he needed to know, but if he hadn't gotten a lot of genuine answers, then Ash doubted he would get some now.
The demon stumbled under the effects of Ash's spell, a cough from its lower mouth sent a splatter of dark red blood onto the ground. But then it grinned at him.
"Enough," it said, blood still dripping between its teeth.
It raised both hands and Ash felt the full force of its will pressing on him, the raw force of its mana contested against his own.
Ash had no idea how to deal with this, but he put his hands to his head. It felt like it was where it was pressing the most. Raw mana, trying to break him down. And he returned the favour, pressing against. No spell, no nothing, just his mana trying to overtake the demon's. It was draining, and it didn't seem to do much but keep less pressure off his body.
"Go away," he muttered, trying to reach for the inner reserves of his mana, pushing the demon's mana away. His vision went a little blurry, Ash hadn't dealt with raw mana before. It was difficult to not have anything to channel it into. Frustrated, he repeated the words, and added another statement. "Go away. J--just leave!" he yelled, and released as much mana as he could without collapsing.
The demon's assault waved as Ash forced his own mana back against it and then as he drew on his deepest reserves it broke. The surge of power it had been exerting on him was reversed and the demon's own mana seemed to burn up within it. The demon stumbled backwards, strength seeming to depart its flabby limbs, its skin becoming ashen in color.
"I-impossible," it stammered.
Ash couldn't stand as tall as he would have liked to after spending that much energy, but he still made his way over to the demon, quite happy about the way it had turned out. He knew that if he risked collapsing, he could release one more spell, one that would kill the demon. Hopefully.
"It is very possible," he said, and looked it over. It was a pathetic sight right now. With a heavy breath, he continued. "And now your torment of me ends. Anything you'd like to say? Sorry, perhaps?"
"This is... not... the end," the demon said, its body crumbling into ash and dust. At once Ash felt its influence from him lifted and he began to wake.
"Is that it?" he asked himself, as he felt the fade around him change. Or perhaps it was simply him leaving. The demon had turned into ash, though. More dead than that was difficult to get. "Yes. It must be, I can't feel it anymore. It's gone. It's... over." He smiled brightly. "It's over!"
The others gathered to witness and perform the harrowing began to disperse as it became clear that it had been a success. At least one of the few Templars who had remained with the Inquisition clapped him on the shoulder to congratulate him on being brave enough to submit himself to the test before departing. Soon enough the chamber was empty save for Ash and Kari.
