The chaos made everything seem as though it was happening at once. Vel screamed, getting in Damon’s way as he tried to rush out the door. Malon and Ria rolled together across the grass, tugging at each other’s hair and clothing, both too caught up in the moment to even fight effectively.
It started raining, heavy, cold droplets that pattered into the trees and dampened noise. The black clouds overhead made it seem as though night had come early, and a flash of lightning forced Damon’s eyes to readjust to the darkened world.
He was still clad only in his undershorts, with a towel over one shoulder, a fact which emphasized how quickly everything had spiraled out of control. Malon and Ria pulled back from one another, coming to stand ten or so strides apart. They were shouting at one another, but the wind had picked up, and Damon couldn’t hear a word of it until he’d closed the distance.
“This ends here!” yelled Ria, voice booming like the thunder. “I did not choose this time to arrive back by happenstance. I am at the height of my power, Malon, and I will do now what I should have done years ago.”
“Seta.” Malon clutched at her chest and shook her head, face a mask of pain. “I know how much hurt I’ve caused you, and Damon, and Vel, and so many others. I am sorry for that, but please… Know that by doing this, by even simply committing to the act, you will break more hearts than just mine.”
“You made this decision for us both!” Ria had left her spear within the tower, but she fell into a martial stance, tunic fluttering in the wind. “I take no pleasure in doing what must be done.”
Malon had recovered her poise and made no move to match Ria’s aggression. She stood, wearing a dress, braid ruffled from their earlier tumble but still intact, and simply shook her head.
“Stop this!” shouted Damon. “Ria! Aesta!”
They acted as if they couldn’t hear him, though perhaps they couldn’t in the wind and the rain. He was horrified, paralyzed, dripping wet, exposed to both the storm overhead and the storm of emotions in front.
Ria attacked first, though she commanded her tempesting through such a subtle motion of her hands to make it seem almost like an act of nature. Lightning flashed, blinding Damon, though he saw it strike Malon in the final flash of his vision.
There was a pulse of crimson at the point of impact. Malon held a single finger up, as though she was gesturing for Ria to hold on, to wait for just a moment. Her eyes glowed bright red, illuminating her face with an intense aura of frightening power.
Ria let out a savage battle cry, throwing her arms out to either side before pulling her hands back together and twisting them in a complicated motion. Lightning and thunder flashed and boomed, an incredible amount of storm energy swirling together. Enough to level an entire town through force and flames, by Damon’s estimation.
He shouted at her, more a wordless cry of horror than a command to stop. Ria brought her palms forward, directing her tempesting at Malon again. An inverted trident of lightning with dozens of prongs seemed to strike her all at once. Once more, crimson power shielded Malon, though the strength of Ria’s spell was enough to send her stumbling back.
Ria seized the opening, sprinting forward, hands balled into tight fists. Malon lashed out with crimson power, tripping her rather than attacking with the same deadly force that Ria had used.
Ria rolled, coming back to her feet with surprising swiftness. The movement put her close enough to get physical, and she twisted into a blurring roundhouse kick. Malon raised a forearm sheathed in crimson, blocking so stoutly that Ria fell backward, clutching her shin in pain.
Both women stared at one another, breathing heavy, Ria glaring, Malon looking on the verge of tears. Ria began tempesting again, and Malon summoned fire in her hands.
Damon was so tired of this nonsense. He hadn’t wanted to involve himself, or rather, his ice, fearing it might shift the encounter in a deadly direction. It seemed as though Malon and Ria were already well on their way down that path, however.
“Enough!” he boomed.
He slammed his hand down into the soggy soil, and a wall of ice shot up between the two women, slanted at an angle that blocked Ria’s lightning from above and Malon’s flames from below. He let it dissolve as soon as the spells were spent, but he wasn’t finished.
He took advantage of the attention he’d drawn, striding in between them, staring them both down with a fury born more from the situation than their individual actions. Ria was breathing heavy, and Malon was pale in the face from exerting her magic.
“This ends here and now,” he said. “I’m not going to stand here and watch the two of you try to kill each other.”
He remembered a similar moment, now years in the past, when he’d first arrived back at the farmstead and the tension between Ria and Malon had boiled over to a similar point. All he’d been able to do back then was watch from a distance and hope for the best.
He was done with watching.
Ria made a quick movement. Damon didn’t care whether it was an attack or simply an aggressive gesture. He slapped his hand into her chest hard, seizing her by the front of her tunic, and coated the bottom two thirds of her body in a stiff layer of ice. It was thin enough that, if she was willing to fall down onto the grass, she might be able to break free. It was more to emphasize his point, rather than truly hold her.
He glared at her, and she glared at him back. He looked at Malon, raising an eyebrow as though to ask if she also needed to be restrained. She gave him a curious smile, the pride hidden within it a contrast against the otherwise harrowing moment.
Damon was still only dressed in his underwear, and he had to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. He spoke slowly, looking back and forth between these two women whom he loved so very much.
“We aren’t doing this,” he said. “ I’m not doing this. Ria, quit trying to start fights. Aesta… come get me instead of trying to handle it yourself if she does. We’re a family. We work through these arguments together. Alright?”
He let the ice dissolve from Ria’s body, and instead of giving him an answer, she stomped off toward the trees. It had stopped raining, and the sun was even making a rare appearance in the sky overhead, but the mood was anything but cheery.
“I’ll talk to her,” said Damon. “Just go inside. Don’t come looking for us. If I can’t bring her back, nobody can.”
“Thank you, solas,” whispered Malon.