Nora stumbled through the smoke and chaos of the battlefield, her mind still trembling from the cosmic realm. The sword in her hand felt heavier, as though it now carried not just light, but knowledge.
Then, a voice—not spoken aloud, but resonating inside her skull—made her freeze:
“Nora… can you hear me?”
It was Solas.
She pressed a hand to her temple. “Solas? How… how are you alive? Where have you been?”
“Not alive in the way you know. I was pulled into the Weave when the Unmakers struck, forced to anchor a thread that was unraveling. The battlefield you see is only the surface, the veil over something much darker.”
Nora’s knees wobbled. “I thought you were gone…”
“I was, in a sense,” he replied, calm, grounding her in the chaos. “But the connection remains. I can reach you, even if only in fragments. You are my tether now as much as I am yours. Listen—Nora, the fracture you bear is bigger than either of us imagined. And it has drawn attention.”
Her sword pulsed in response, a subtle resonance answering his presence. She realized their telepathy wasn’t just communication—it was synchronization. Their threads intertwined across realms.
“I’m still with you,” Solas continued. “Even when the Weave threatens to consume everything, even when the Unmakers press closer. You will feel me when you falter, and I will feel you when the threads strain. We are not alone.”
Nora’s chest tightened. The battle around her had not paused, but somehow, with Solas’ voice inside her, she felt… steadier. Focused. Connected to something far larger than the war, far larger than herself.
“Do not lose the Weave, Nora,” he whispered. “It bends for you as it bends for me. Remember, every choice you make echoes beyond the battlefield. You are the fracture-point—but you are also the thread that holds.”
The whispers faded, but the connection remained, a steady pulse in her mind that she could feel even as she raised her sword and charged back toward the heart of the fighting.
And for the first time since she had stepped through the arch, she was not afraid.