Ardyn had received strict instructions for her training from Elsa, but Ardyn only listened to half of it. She felt an urgent need to contribute, a need born from her ingrained servant's mentality and now amplified by her fear for Varric.
She wanted to help, and she wanted to help now. She had gone to the clan's vast library and taken every book she could find on healing. The Book Keeper frowned, his serpentine gaze wary of her frantic energy, but he denied her nothing. The entire clan had been told that she was special and should be treated as the Serpent Lord's mate. She had spent all morning reading and even prepared two different salves—a small, tangible effort to feel useful.
Now, she was in the Cave of Reflection. She sat cross-legged before one of the many reflective surfaces within the cave. Her teacher had told her facing herself would strengthen her quicker, but specifically warned her not to attempt this alone. Ardyn ignored the warning.
Ardyn focused, pushing down the shame and the fear, and within less than a heartbeat a fully bloomed deep purple hibiscus was deep within her soul. It swirled and ignited an intense spark in her spirit, and soon her mind, heart, and body were one kinetic ball of power.
The deep purple hibiscus shone in the reflection before her and a wide, blinding beam of purple light projected from her image into her very soul. She cried out in pain, a sharp, piercing sound of trauma and rebirth. Her head snapped back violently, her arms and legs spread wide, and she rose into the air as the full weight of her hidden self slammed into her consciousness.
In her mind, she began a battle that would change her forever.
Varric felt it instantly. A sharp, almost painful burst of raw amethyst energy from deep within his territory. His long, thick, almost perfectly cylindrical body slithered across the ground, churning the soil. He was attacking with his mouth, tail, body, and magic. Cobra beast-kin continually flew into the air, were knocked onto the ground, or were shattered to dust.
But he still felt when Ardyn shifted. He frowned inwardly, the distraction almost crippling him. Did she need him? Was she in danger? What was this odd change, this volatile flux, and why had he felt it so acutely? He rose up, his massive head striking the center of a large group of Cobra beast-kin; their bodies spiraled out and knocked their comrades back toward the swamps. He shoved the worry down—Elsa has protected her. She is safe. Focus.
Then they saw it. The Serpent Clan members braced as the colossal shadow moved toward them. It was not a beast-kin but a Corona Beast, a creature of ancient, volatile power, a beast thought to be extinct.
Elsa narrowed her eyes. Green mist surrounded her, and she was her ethereal self, a large, mountainous tortoise, her shell a weapon, her size dwarfing everything on the battlefield. She moved forward, primordial anger welling up in her.
This Corona Beast was kin, a snapping turtle the size of a vast mountain chain. Its shell was stacked with dozens of mountain peaks; many were snow-capped, others lined with vast, ancient forests. It moved slowly forward, a terrifying, silent threat, and its eyes were white as snow and utterly dead.
"Who feels they have the power to resurrect my kin and face me at the same time?!"
Elsa's anger rolled forward like a tsunami and crashed into the Cobra beast-kin lines, sweeping them aside like debris.
Varric smirked at his teacher's terrifying display, and then his eyes narrowed, focusing on a new threat. He watched the Cobra Empress slither through her ranks. She was not as long as Varric, but she was just as wide, and her scales shimmered with cold, dangerous gold. He exhaled, the sound a low hiss that carried across the battlefield, and all fighting stopped.
Troops moved to give way to the four titans—Varric, the Cobra Empress, Elsa, and the colossal Corona Beast—and to ensure that they were not collateral damage.
Ardyn now stood on a vast black plane, the darkness an echo of her hidden self. She was suspended in the air, not sure what she was to do. A flash of gold erupted, and she saw her purple hibiscus high in the sky—like a huge sun—but she also saw her twin, a second Ardyn, standing calmly below it.
A laugh rang out and echoed over the black plane.
"You think you're ready? You think you can conquer everything you have hidden here in this vast darkness?" The second Ardyn circled, her voice a cruel, seductive mockery of Ardyn's own. "Still, you can't look at it, and you think you can defeat it."
"I will help you, my love, my love, my love, my love."
Her eyes widened as Varric's voice echoed across the plane, the sound a silver shield against the darkness. The second Ardyn laughed again, this time more viciously.
"Do you actually think he is here with you?! Do you think he doesn't know who you are and how you see him—the vile beast-kin? He wants a pure, devoted mate, and you are rotten with shame!"
"I am ALWAYS with you. I will show you how to love beyond hurt and lie." Varric's voice pulsed with power.
The second Ardyn scoffed and moved, a purple light highlighting her mocking form. She smiled venomously. "So you acknowledge me now. But can you defeat me? Can you overcome who you are, the servant, the terrified child?"
Ardyn narrowed her eyes, and instinct took over; she took a fighting stance she had only seen once. "I will do what I have to do to be useful to him."
"Useful?! He wants your love and you pledge service." The second Ardyn moved closer, radiating contempt. "He wants your heart, and you offer your hands. Look at me! Am I a fighter!? I will defeat you with my words and you will be a small, pitiful ball crying at my feet when I am done."
Ardyn paused, the truth of the insult momentarily freezing her resolve, and a flash of dark power hit her in the stomach, knocking the air from her lungs.
The second Ardyn scoffed. "Idiot. You will never beat me. You are only good for service."