WHY DID THIS CHAPTER END UP BEING 22 PAGES I DIDN’T INTEND THAT

Warning: this chapter contains some NSFW-type touching. Clothes remain on but there is still touching.

It seems I’m sort of out of the rut I got into with the last chapter, which is great, because you’re still going to have to wait for the next chapter for Our Romantic Hero. Except that the first half of this chapter went really fast, and then the second half was a slog and seriously I don’t know how it ended up being so long, it was just supposed to be a “and this happened next” chapter. Ugh. Also no Cullen (I haven’t played the mage origin yet) because he doesn’t register on my consciousness as significant. I know he’s a party member in DAI. That doesn’t make an appearance here terribly significant, especially since I’m not planning to do a DAI fic. I’m not even going to do a DA2 fic. If it has a dialogue wheel? Forget it. Characters who use a dialogue wheel aren’t *my* characters. That doesn’t mean they’re not great fun to play (Roy Hawke! Roy Hawke! Roy Hawke!) but it’s less interesting to write about them.

I’ve received a couple comments how how much Liz looks like me. I have to say, it’s kind of true, now that I think about it.. She is a much more attractive version of me with blue-grey eyes, shaped eyebrows, a smaller nose, and a face more heart-shaped than round. Also, because I draw on personal experiences to give her more realistic mannerisms in some ways, she acts a lot like an idealized version of me as well. : P I guess it’s true what they say, artists can only recreate themselves…

I’d like to finish this story before September. Probably won’t happen but I’ll at least get a good chunk of it done. When I am done, I’ll be able to cross a big project off my list! …And then I can write the Noir version. : P Which will hopefully be shorter, but knowing me, it won’t be… This one’s already over 58,000 words and I’m only a quarter of the way through.

Some music I found through a Youtube video that was of assistance in writing (the music, not the video… the video was of assistance in procrastinating : P ). And some other music. And some other other music. Any music to do with dead people was used with the desire demon/Templar fight. Also damn the Uldred fight took me an hour to write.

Previous chapter: Redcliffe; next chapter: Ostagar

 

The Circle Tower

It took them two days travel to make it to the Circle Tower from Redcliffe. They were slowed by Alistair’s leg; less so by Sten’s arm, but still Leliana fussed over it – it was a deep wound, and while Bann Teagan gave them good poultices, there was no healing magic to be found and so the giant had to bear with it. He did so in silence.

Elizabeth led them on as fast as she dared, however. She was afraid of what might happen at Redcliffe in their absence and her stomach was constantly nervous about it. It seemed forever before the impossibly tall spire of Kinloch Hold – also known as the Circle Tower – rose over the hills before them, on the morning of the second day.

The Circle Tower was the home of all mages in Ferelden. The ability to use magic was feared, not because of its own destructive potential, but because an unwary mage could be taken over by a demon from the Fade. So they were all imprisoned in the Tower, watched perpetually by Knights Templar who could nullify magic and destroy fallen mages. Yet the king of Ferelden could call on them in times of need, such as the Blight. While Elizabeth’s main goal was to heal Connor, she could not deny she had hopes of securing her alliance at the same time.

The Tower was isolated from the shore; at one time the Imperial Highway had leapt across the lake to the Tower in a series of great arches, but the bridge had collapsed in the middle a long time ago. So the only way across was via ferryboat, and it was not a large one. A tiny village huddled on the shore by the docks under the shadow of the highway, with an inn – The Spoiled Princess – and a few other buildings to support travelers.

When they arrived, she turned to her companions. “Sten, I don’t expect this will be physically arduous, but I’d like you to remain here and rest. Morrigan, if you would stay with him… I don’t think the Templars would approve of you and I want to be as fast as possible.”

“That’s an understatement,” Alistair muttered and Morrigan smirked.

“Have it your way,” she only said.

Sten nodded. “I have a task of my own to do in this area.”

Elizabeth looked at him curiously but did not press him. The Qunari turned away, Morrigan’s diminutive figure trailing him.

The others, Alistiar, Leliana, and Huan, followed Elizabeth to the docks.

“Hoi,” said the Templar guarding the docks. “No one’s allowed across!”

“Why not?” Elizabeth said, taken aback. “I thought the Circle Tower allowed at least visitors and diplomats.”

“Not today they don’t,” said the knight. “No one’s allowed in or out of the Tower right now.”

“Why?” Alistair demanded, drawing himself up.

“Dunno. But why don’t you go take a room at the Spoiled Princess and I’ll come get you when they allow people again? If they ever do,” he added under his breath.

“Here now, that won’t do!” Alistair said furiously – and yet Elizabeth had the feeling that he was playing a part. “Do you know who this lady is? We’ve come a long way to speak to Knight-Commander Gregoire. He’s expecting us.”

Elizabeth tried not to let her face show her confusion and apprehension. “Indeed, I have many things to discuss with the Knight-Commander and the First Enchanter. They would be angry that you delayed us.”

The poor knight looked even more confused and worried than she felt. “Er… well… He didn’t say anything, but… I don’t want to get in trouble! I’ll take you to the Tower. They’ll know what to do with you.”

In silence they paddled across the lake. The sky was cloudy, and further out into the lake it appeared downright stormy. Elizabeth hoped it wasn’t a portent.

“Here you are,” said the knight when they reached the far side. “I hope everything goes well!”

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Alistair said grandly, and they ascended the winding stair in the cliffside until they reached the front door.

Elizabeth swallowed. “This is madness.”

Leliana winked at her. “The worst they can do is throw us out. But I think you can convince them not to.”

“She’s exactly right,” Alistair said. “Be bold!” He pushed open the gate.

All talk ceased in the first chamber of the Tower as they entered; all eyes fixed on them. Not a good start, Elizabeth thought, but followed Alistair’s subtle gestures to an older, grizzled warrior. “You are Knight-Commander Gregoire?”

“Who are you?” demanded the warrior without answering her question. “Why are you here? We’re dealing with a very delicate situation here. You must leave for your own safety!”

“I am Elizabeth of the Grey Wardens, and these are my companions. I seek for the mages to answer their ancient treaty with the Grey Wardens in order to defeat the Blight,” Elizabeth said, as bold as Alistair had encouraged her to be. She could look Gregoire in the eye; she did not have to be too intimidated by him. “Beyond that, I seek their immediate aid to rescue a possessed child.”

Gregoire’s face drew down into even more of a frown than he had been wearing previously and he sighed impatiently. “I am weary of the Grey Warden’s ceaseless need for men to fight the darkspawn… but it is their right. But you came here on a fool’s errand. The Templars can spare no men, and Circle of Mages no longer exists.”

“Why? What’s happened?” Alistair asked.

“We’re not entirely sure,” Gregoire admitted. “But the upper levels are crawling with abominations and demons. It’s doubtful whether any mages are still alive besides the apprentices and a few others we rescued.” He gestured to one side of the Tower’s antechamber, where several dozen people in robes were huddled; most of them looked like they were in shock. “We’re debating whether or not to declare the Circle disbanded and purge the Tower with the Rite of Annulment.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Surely there is something less… permanent that can be done to solve it.”

“Any mages in there are probably already dead anyway,” Alistair said to her.

“And what would you have me do?” the Knight-Commander demanded. “I don’t have enough knights here to search for survivors, let alone fight all the demons.”

“Surely some mages still live. They must have fought back.”

“You are clearly ignorant of those… monstrosities,” Gregoire said. “It is too painful to hope for survivors and find… nothing.” His voice broke, and for an instant, Elizabeth saw he cared about the Tower and its inhabitants more than he would like to let on.

Elizabeth straightened up. “Perhaps I am ignorant as you say. But we will go into the Tower. I’d like to ascertain the situation for myself.”

Gregoire frowned. “Why should I let you?”

“Because we are the last Grey Wardens in Ferelden, and I would risk much to see the Blight ended,” Elizabeth answered. “Give us a few hours to see what we can do.”

“We may not have a few hours,” Gregoire said. “It won’t be long before we have demons attacking our last barriers.” He hesitated briefly “You can go in, Warden Elizabeth, and I will wait as long as I can before giving final orders.”

Elizabeth bowed her head briefly. “Thank you, ser.”

Gregoire led them to a great arched gate, closed, locked, and magically sealed. “Let them in.”

“Yes, ser.”

“You understand of course that I cannot let you out again unless you can prove that the Tower is safe,” the Knight-Commander warned them as his subordinates opened the gate for them. “And the only way I will believe you is if First Enchanter Irving himself stands at this gate and says it is so.”

“I understand,” Elizabeth said and strode through the gate; the others followed her. It shut behind them again with surprisingly little noise.

The light in the hall was dim; the torches that lit it appeared to be magical, and some of them were not lit. There seemed to be a lot of blood on the floor, some of it making trails towards the room they had just come from – some of the mages had been wounded before they were rescued, she guessed. The rooms to her right appeared to be dorm rooms, and they looked as if something had overturned them completely. She continued on steadily down the hall, heart pounding, wondering when she would see the first abomination.

Instead, she saw a steady blue glow from a doorway. She approached it and found that it was another barrier. She wondered if she could touch it. Beyond the barrier, she saw a few more mages, some of them very young and huddled together with frightened faces. They weren’t more than Connor’s age, and she grimaced in sympathy. There were a few older mages as well, including…

“Wynne?” she said.

The silver-haired mage from Ostagar looked up from comforting a young apprentice and smiled at her. “Elizabeth Cousland! What brings you to this awful place?”

“I need your help,” Elizabeth said. “Can you let us in?”

For a moment Wynne looked guarded, and Elizabeth wondered if she suspected them of being demons – or Templars trying to trap them. But she nodded and came to unseal the door and let them in. “If Gregoire let you in, then I suppose I can trust you. Ah, Alistair, you survived as well. And who is this young lady?”

“I am Leliana, ma’am,” Leliana said politely.

“She joined us in Lothering,” Elizabeth said. “I am glad to see you survived as well, Wynne.”

“Yes, yes, some of us got away. Poor King Cailan. If only that wretched Loghain had held his word. But what do you need my help with, dear? It seems rather that I might need your help, getting these young ones to the rendevous.”

“Knight-Commander Gregoire said he won’t let us out until we find First Enchanter Irving,” Alistair said. “Wynne, have you seen him?”

Wynne looked troubled. “Not since the meeting we had with all the senior mages that ended in such disaster. Uldred – you may remember him, he was also at Ostagar – wanted us to join with Loghain; apparently Loghain promised mages more freedom from the Chantry. When his suggestion was rejected, he attacked us all! He had some followers – blood mages! I fear he has become an abomination, and I haven’t the least idea what became of Irving.”

“So that was the start of all this,” Alistair said grimly.

“We must fix it,” Leliana said. “Please, Lady Wynne, how do we do so?”

“I don’t know,” Wynne said. “It was all I could do to get down to the first floor and protect these little ones. But if you are determined to go upstairs and see what can be done, then I will come with you. I am sure Gregoire is trying to decide whether or not to use the Rite of Annulment. You may have bought us a little time with your arrival, at least. Let us put it to good use! I will not lose the Circle to one man’s pride and stupidity!” She turned to the two other adult mages. “Petra, Kinnon, watch the children and don’t let anything get through the barrier. We shall be as quick as we can.”

“Wynne…” said the one named Petra. “You were so badly hurt earlier. Shouldn’t I come with you?”

“I’ll be fine,” Wynne said. “These others need your protection more. These are good people, Petra. Just keep the children safe.”

“You were hurt?” Elizabeth asked anxiously.

“I said I’m fine,” Wynne said gently. “Let us go.”

Wynne led the way to the second barrier, letting it down for the group, and putting it up again. “If we kill all the demons on our way, none will get past to threaten the children in the first place… Alistair! You have a limp. What happened?”

“Er… We had a fight with some undead at Redcliffe,” Alistair said. “Elizabeth got nicked as well, and Sten, who we left outside.”

Wynne clicked her tongue and tapped Alistair’s leg with her staff. “Let me see to that. How did you come to be fighting undead?”

Elizabeth watched her heal Alistair’s injured leg with amazement. Morrigan had never used healing magic, and to Elizabeth it appeared quite miraculous. It felt miraculous too, when Wynne came to her and healed her hand and her cheek. She had been wondering somewhat vainly if she would have an ugly scar, but when she passed her hand over it, she felt nothing.

Together, she and Alistair told their tale, with Leliana putting in helpful words here and there. Huan trotted beside them and grinned.

“So you need aid for this boy as soon as possible,” Wynne summarized when they were done, “and then you need the Tower’s help in fighting the Blight. Of course we will help you – if we still live. We would owe you a great debt!”

“Thank you, Wynne,” Elizabeth said. “That takes a weight from my mind.”

“Of course, I am not Irving,” Wynne said. “He would make the final decision. But we’ve been friends for many years, and I think he would agree with me. But you travel with an apostate… Is she quite… sane?”

“She hasn’t turned into an abomination yet,” Alistair said dubiously.

“She’s got quite a fashion sense,” Leliana said brightly.

“I think I like her,” Elizabeth said. “She’s strong-minded, but most of her abrasiveness comes from never having lived with anyone but her mother. I believe she is actually good. Just… oh, she would not like me to call her uncivilized.”

“At least in the Tower we learn manners,” Wynne agreed, smiling. “We might not all like each other, but it’s more than only one person for company. Well, well, we’ll just have to get along, won’t we?”

They had come to the stairs to the second level, and Wynne gestured for quiet. “We should not be taken by surprise here.”

“I’ll go first,” Leliana said. “They’ll have a job to catch me even if they spot me.”

Wynne was right, and they had their first battle. The abominations were as monstrous as Gregoire had implied – they wore the clothes of mages, but their flesh had… melted, and bubbled, and stretched into bizarre, hulking shapes. They fought as fiercely as the undead, with magic and with long, rending claws. Elizabeth was so unsettled she felt herself hard-pressed and if she had been alone she soon would have been overwhelmed, even without factoring in her inexperience and shaking nerves. But the others were with her, although the other two young people seemed equally disturbed at the sight.

They found a few other survivors, some Tranquil, and some of Uldred’s blood mages – who surrendered after a thorough beating. Elizabeth spared them on the condition that they join in fighting the Blight.

In one room she saw a large black book titled “Flemeth” and while the others pressed on, slid it into her pack. It looked to be full of spells from her quick glance; perhaps Morrigan would like it.

As they climbed the tower, the very walls became increasingly covered in bloated, pulsating flesh. “The Veil has been torn,” Wynne said. “If we can defeat Uldred, then that, at least, will vanish.” Elizabeth hoped so; it squished horribly under her boots and the pools of blood everywhere were nauseating.

When they were near the top, they began to meet not only abominations, but demons and possessed Templars as well. Some of the demons took the forms of incredibly beautiful naked women with lavender skin and graceful horns, and some of them took the forms of great plumes of molten stone. Elizabeth hadn’t even known that stone could melt.

They were on the second-highest floor, with no sign of Irving, when they heard voices and came upon a strange tableau in one of the side rooms.

“What are we having for dinner tonight, my love?” said the voice of a man. He sounded hoarse, but otherwise completely at home, unconcerned, apparently not aware of the state of the Tower around him.

“Roast boar,” said a woman’s voice, a beautiful smooth voice with a dark echo so like to Connor’s. “And candied yams. Your favourite, isn’t it?” Leliana crept to the door to spy in, and her eyes widened. She beckoned to them, and they joined her as quietly as they could.

“It looks delicious. I am so spoiled! Ah, here are the children! How were your lessons today, pets? What did you learn, my son?”

A Templar was standing in the middle of a large, tattered bedroom, staring into the eyes of one of the beautiful female demons. Neither he nor the demon noticed the five of them peering around the edge of the doorway. Elizabeth’s hands flew to her mouth as the corpse of another Templar sat up and turned his sightless gaze in the direction of the living Templar.

“Mother praised my penmanship, but she raps my knuckles if the letters aren’t formed correctly,” said the dead Templar with the voice of a rather whiny-sounding child. But this voice, too, had an echo.

“Oh, Edgar,” Wynne murmured. “How dare they do this to you?”

“It’s very important to be able to write well,” said the Templar. “And you, my dearest daughter?”

“I practiced the harp!” squeaked a sweet-sounding girl’s voice from another animated corpse. “And I helped with supper!”

“Thank you very much,” said the Templar. “It is delicious. Every day I spend with you, my beloved family, is better than the last!”

“Isn’t our life perfect, my love?”

“It is all perfect,” said the knight, sounding a little dazed.

Wynne pushed past them, storming into the room with her fists clenched around her staff. “How dare you!? In Andraste’s name, let him go this instant!”

“What is that sound?” asked the Templar, his eyes searching the room as if he didn’t see them.

“It is only someone at the door,” the desire demon answered him, stroking his armoured chest. “Why don’t you tuck the children into bed while I see who it is?”

“All right. Don’t be long, my love, the children will want to kiss you goodnight.”

“I will be but a moment,” said she, and turned to Wynne and the others who had joined her, clutching their weapons nervously. “You are intruding upon a loving, intimate moment, and I detest interruptions. Why do you disturb our happy life?”

“There’s nothing loving or intimate going on here,” Wynne sputtered. “Release him from your spells!”

“Happiness is bewitching,” the demon purred, drawing a hand sensuously over her flawless lavender skin from her belly to her breast. “There is a certain power in all things that mortals crave. I have only given him what he has always wanted: a wife, a home, a loving family to tend to, rather than be stuck in this dreary tower for the rest of his life. What is the harm in that?”

“I… suppose she has a point…” Leliana said slowly.

“Absolutely not!” Wynne said. “His happiness is an illusion, a cruel lie!”

“All emotion is intangible. His happiness is as real as anything else.”

“But normally it is caused by real things,” Elizabeth said. “Real people and events. He has no say in this fabrication.”

“Exactly,” Wynne and Alistair agreed.

The demon circled to a spot behind the Templar, resting her hands affectionately and possessively on his shoulders. “So is it better to live a sweet lie, or a long, lonely, miserable truth? You would seem to chose unreasonably. It is not only to please him that I give him this life. We are equal partners. I make him happy, and through him, experience what it is to be mortal.”

“She’s only feeding off his emotions and taking away his will,” Wynne said. “It’s better to end this.”

“An unholy parasite,” Leliana cried, setting an arrow to her string.

“Our spirits are joined,” cried the demon in her turn, tightening her grip on the knight. “If you kill one of us, you must kill the other. I am his wife and his children, and he will defend me to the death if need be.” Her voice softened. “I want nothing from you, and you could not want anything from me. Why not leave us in peace to be happy together?”

“We can do nothing for him,” Wynne said, “but once she has drained him and cast his corpse aside, she will come for others. I am sorry it must come to this, but we must destroy them.”

“I understand,” Elizabeth said, and charged.

“Help! Help!” wailed the demon to the Templar in her ‘wife’ voice. “Bandits!”

Elizabeth was almost on them, Huan at her heels, but the Templar was well-trained and his sword was already in his hand. Elizabeth wondered what he saw in his trance, as she attacked and was blocked. “Leliana! Wynne! Keep the demon occupied!” To her horror, the two Templar corpses were also rising and drawing weapons, and a glance around showed more bodies were beginning to move; they were badly outnumbered. The best thing to do would be to kill the demon first, but with this many meat shields, that was going to be difficult.

Especially when the demon snatched Leliana’s arrows out of the air and dodged Wynne’s flying hefty chunk of stone like smoke in the wind. But while it was watching them, it couldn’t cast spells so easily. She hoped.

She dodged a pommel strike from the knight’s sword, bashed a zombie away with her shield, and feinted low. The knight followed her and she flipped the sword up to bash his nose with the pommel as he had tried to do for her. His head went back, momentarily stunned, and she kicked him backwards. But a zombie came in from her right side and slashed her down the side; she cried out in surprise and anticipated pain, but magic flashed and the blow was cushioned before it ever struck her. She felt a sting along her arm, but nothing was bleeding.

She tried to counterattack, but the knight had recovered, blood streaming from his nose, and swiped at her head. She ducked and felt blows on her shield from the other side. Then suddenly they stopped as Alistair destroyed the corpse attacking her left. “Here!” he cried. “Trade you!” He took on the knight as she went to attack the zombie on her right.

Huan had taken out at least two of the other corpses, and now he was attacking the demon itself. Leliana, not wanting to shoot him by accident, had switched to shooting zombies, and with her help Elizabeth did not find it difficult to defeat the one she was fighting. Alistair was still sparring with the knight; they were pretty much evenly matched.

Huan howled, and Elizabeth whirled to see he had been flung across the room, his fur dark and shiny with blood. “Don’t you hurt my dog!” she shouted and charged the demon. It dodged her and she staggered a little too far, feeling claws rake her armour over her back left shoulder. Her armour held, though the sound sent a shudder down her spine, and she spun around, seeking to hit the demon with either sword or shield, anything to injure it or slow it down even.

To her surprise, her desperate flailing connected, and the demon made a noise of surprise, pain, and frustration. Elizabeth didn’t stop to think about it but flung herself again at her opponent, attacking again and again. The demon was slower now, for whatever reason, and her skin looked oddly textured. She blocked Elizabeth’s strikes with her claws, but she was wearing down quickly. Elizabeth took a chance and stabbed her through the chest. The demon gave a wailing gurgle and slid to the floor.

The Templar was still fighting, but Alistair was beginning to have the upper hand. “What do we do with this one?” he shouted back to Wynne.

“I do not think he can be saved,” she answered. “Even if you were to take him prisoner…”

“Saved!? Saved!? You murder my wife and children and tell me you want to save me?!?”

“My apologies,” Alistair grunted, and killed him before Elizabeth could object.

What was done was done. She did not doubt Wynne, she only wondered what would have happened if they did take him prisoner…

Wynne tended their injuries again, beginning with Huan, and Elizabeth looked around the room. There was nothing they needed there. “Wynne, where do we go next?”

“The central room of this floor will have the stairs to the top floor and the Harrowing Chamber,” Wynne said.

“Harrowing Chamber?” Leliana asked,

“I heard something about that,” Alistair said. “It’s some kind of test for new mages, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Wynne said. “An apprentice mage is sent into the Fade, to see if they can resist temptation from the demons. They are never younger than 16, but they are told nothing of it beforehand – they must rely on their training to complete their trial, not hints, since no two demons will offer the same temptation.”

“If they pass, they become mages,” Elizabeth guessed, and Wynne nodded. “If they fail?”

“If they succumb to the demon, the Templars standing by will know. Unfortunately, there is no mercy for a mage who fails their Harrowing. They would be permanently scarred, and easy prey for a second possession. The only hope for your possessed boy is that it does not have full hold over his mind, and that is not because he is not fully-trained or too young… Only that his spirit has not fully left his body to make room for the demon. It is pure luck. Or the Maker’s grace.”

“I am grateful to both, then,” Elizabeth said. “I suppose Mage Uldred must be using that chamber for his own nefarious purpose.”

“It’s the last place both Irving and Uldred could be,” Wynne agreed. “I am finished here. Let us continue.”

Elizabeth nodded and led the way to the door of the central chamber, pushing it open.

A tall figure turned at their approach – an abomination with sad eyes peering out of a melted, swollen, twisted face. But before she could charge into battle, it held up a hand, and she felt suddenly sluggish, as if it were not worth it to drag herself over there to fight. She was too tired even to snarl.

“Oh look,” said the abomination dully. “Visitors. I’d entertain you, but… so much effort involved.”

“A demon of Sloth,” Wynne gasped, clutching her staff to stay upright.

“I don’t need entertainment,” Elizabeth managed to say. “I need to get past you.”

“And you’re going to cause more violence, aren’t you? I hate a ruckus. Isn’t there enough violence in the world? Wouldn’t you like… a break from it all? It’s only what you deserve… Just for a couple of hours, perhaps…? The world will go on without you…”

“I don’t have a couple of hours!” Elizabeth would have liked to shout. But her whole body was so heavy, collapsing to the floor in the weight of her armour. She could hear Alistair go over with a sleepy “Whoa…”

“Resist!” Wynne tried to exhort them, but Elizabeth’s eyelids were burning lead weights and she could not hear if Wynne said anything else…

 

Elizabeth woke from her nap on the highest tower of Castle Highever. Or had she really been sleeping? Perhaps she had only been daydreaming. Perhaps she was still daydreaming – everything felt misty, somehow.

“Wakey wakey, my lady,” came a cheerful man’s voice from beside her, and she turned her head to see Ser Gilmore, waving for her attention. She smiled faintly at him. They were sitting together on the parapet, apple cores in their hands, just as they were… at… a time ago. She couldn’t remember why their situation struck a chord with her. It must not be that important.

“How goes it?” she asked.

“All the better for your asking,” he said, and winked. She chuckled.

But something bothered her. “Wasn’t… I was… fighting… I am supposed to be fighting. Aren’t I?”

“Who are you supposed to be fighting, my lady?” Gilmore asked, a crease of concern appearing between his eyebrows. “There isn’t a tournament scheduled until after the harvest.”

“Harvest…?” It did appear to be high summer, with all the fields stretching out golden around Highever Castle Town, a few miles away and hazy with distance. “No… I was fighting… monsters…”

“Oh, the Blight! Of course!” Gilmore said easily. “I’m so disappointed I didn’t get picked to be a Grey Warden, but it’s been fun taking care of the castle with you. But it wasn’t actually even a Blight, remember? Your father and brother are due to arrive any day now.”

“Oh good,” she said. “I must pester them for tales of all the glorious deeds I missed out on.”

“You didn’t miss out on all of them, remember?”

She frowned, concentrating. Yes, that was right, she… “We defeated Arl Howe’s treacherous attack together, that’s right. Father had to rest up from his injuries, and I thought he might let me go in his stead after all, but…” It was all how she remembered it, but there was something not quite right about it. If she and Gilmore had defeated Arl Howe’s attack, why did it inspire such a feeling of grief and horror in her?

“My lady?” Gilmore said, drawing her attention again. “I was fancying a walk down to the stream to the southwest. Would you like to have a picnic there?”

“Why not?” she agreed, and swung around to the floor of the tower.

She wasn’t sure exactly how she got down the tower and out to the stream, but what was important was that she arrived there, and Gilmore was setting out a clean cloth and she had a basket of food – presumably begged from Nan, or commanded, jestingly, since she was playing at being Teyrna.

She set the things down and sat, feeling a little disoriented, though she couldn’t say why. “Are you sure the Blight’s over?”

“Quite sure, my lady,” Gilmore said, glancing up at her and smiling.

She frowned at the back of her right hand. It looked normal, being smooth and white on the back, calloused from sword-play on the palm. But there was something… a line of fire in her memories… “I remember being in armour… fighting monsters… I’m sure of it!”

Gilmore frowned, perplexed. “Perhaps you mean the bandits we drove back last month?” She considered this, but before she could agree or disagree, Gilmore slid behind her. “It’s stress, perhaps. Have you been sleeping well? Would you like a shoulder massage?” His long fingers were already on her shoulders, and her head slumped forward; it felt very nice. Tension she hadn’t known was there began to drain from her upper back.

“I don’t think I have been sleeping well,” she said, although she couldn’t actually remember. But she was sure of it somehow.

“That must be the cause of it,” said Gilmore’s voice, low and close to her right ear. She shivered. Now his arms were wrapping around her. “You’re going to stay here with me, right?” His words were both plea and statement of fact. Her mind was too foggy to answer and her arms hung limp at her sides. His right hand moved up to hold her breasts, and her head sagged back against his broad shoulder. She felt his lips on her neck and couldn’t hold back a moan. “Stay with me,” he said in between kisses, his voice grower more deep and husky. “I will take care of you. You will be happy with me.” His right hand – he had such large hands – was pressing more firmly against her breasts, squeezing them, massaging them; his left hand slid lower and lower, and her breath came shorter as he did, until his fingers slipped between her legs and brushed against a place she had never been touched by another. Even through her dress it sent a jolt through her. She had not really explored that place herself, either – fear of discovery, even by Huan, had stopped her every time. And now Gilmore was-

She stiffened, even though her whole body was throbbing at his touch, especially between her legs. He paused in his assault on her neck. “What’s wrong, Elizabeth?”

That confirmed it for her. She struggled against him, and taking him by surprise, she tore away from his sensuous embrace and staggered to her feet. “How dare you!”

“I don’t understand,” he protested, but the look in his eyes did not ring true.

“How dare you! How dare you touch him! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” she screamed, almost tearing at her hair in anger and frustration. “Don’t you dare despoil the memories of my closest friend!” He had called her by her name alone once in his whole life – when he said goodbye to her for the last time. And he would never have touched her like that, not without asking her first.

The demon with Gilmore’s face sat back. “Isn’t this what you want? Your family alive and well, the world at peace, and an adoring lover to bring you pleasures you’ve never known? I only want to make you happy, in exchange for such a little thing…”

“Oh, shove it!” Elizabeth shrieked, past caring about ladylike bearing. She seized the sword that lay on the grass beside them and yanked it from the sheath, charging at the horrible creature that mocked her with her dead friend.

Still his form did not change, but with a terrible snarl that she had never seen on the true Gilmore’s face, he charged her back, appearing to summon a sword and shield out of thin air for his own use.

She should have been frightened; it was a demon, with a face that should have unsettled her, with powers she couldn’t understand. But she was furious, and her mind was finally alert, and her blood pounded through her veins and told her to fight until this obscenity was destroyed or she breathed her last.

“You can’t deny you want to be touched,” the demon said, even as they fought. “You enjoyed it. You’ve always had a dark curiosity about such things. Your innocence is only an illusion to your companions.”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up! It’s not relevant!” She blocked his sword and sidestepped his shield; this creature was even stronger than the true Gilmore, and underneath her anger she was beginning to be afraid. He pressed his advantage, and she backed away, angling so she would not become trapped by the stream. She was definitely on the defensive now, and he seemed to effortlessly block all her counterattacks.

And he still had the leisure to talk. “And your family? Don’t you miss them? Don’t you wish the world was at peace?”

“I will not live a lie! Get away from me!” She knocked his sword away with all her strength and control and swung, and his head rolled to the ground.

The body began to disappear immediately, for which she was thankful – already the sight of Gilmore’s red-haired severed head was etched into her memory, even though it wasn’t truly him. When it had gone, when she believed she was alone, she fell to her knees wearily and cried.

She cried for quite a while, shaken and grieving. When she finally recovered herself, she remembered her mission. She had to find a way out of this illusion and get back to the Circle Tower. She dried her face and looked around

An odd pedestal, made of gleaming, twisted black metal, stood nearby. It glowed with a strange light. She stood and peered down at it, utterly confused. A blue-purple-white glow illuminated one of many small circles joined with lines, and one of the lines also glowed, joining the circle to another circle.

Should she poke the glowing circle? Should she poke one of the dark circles? Or should she avoid it entirely?

If this place was an illusion, trying to walk out of it would be fruitless. She had to try something.

She touched a random dark circle, bracing herself, and nothing happened. She tried the glowing circle, bracing even more, and nothing happened. She touched the dark circle next to the glowing line, and had barely time to gasp as she felt a strange yank that seemed to be from inside her.

She shook her head, disoriented, and found she was in a completely different landscape – indistinct, sepia-toned, and filled with brambles. The sky was black but the horizon glowed. Small glowing objects floated through the air and she could see stone ruins in the distance. She also noticed she was again in her armour, with her father’s sword at her side and her shield at her back. It comforted her.

She struggled through the thicket to a more open place and found another human. He was dressed like a mage, a rather straggly mop of dark hair on his head, his eyes dull and unfocused, but he appeared alive. “Hello?” she managed.

“Hello,” he said, without interest. “It’s been a while since I’ve had any visitors.”

“How long, exactly?”

“I’m not sure… I don’t know how long I’ve been here.”

“What’s your name?”

The man frowned vaguely. “…I’m not sure. Nathan? Nylon?”

“My name is Elizabeth,” said she. “Where are we? What is this place?”

His gaze focused slightly. “This is the Fade, where everyone comes to dream. Mages can come here with their minds awake, but I’m not sure how we got here. You’re not even a mage. I am, but I don’t remember.”

“I have no idea how I got here,” Elizabeth said. “But I have to get out. I have to stop Uldred, and save the Circle Tower, and save Connor Guerrin, and Ferelden… I have a lot to do. I can’t stay here.”

“You do have a lot to do,” said the man. “Uldred… that sounds familiar. I had… there was something I had to do… for him? No, to stop him. He’s bad, right?”

“I think so,” Elizabeth said.

“It’ll come to me,” said the man placidly. “You have so much energy. It’s kind of nice, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

“You should come with me,” Elizabeth said.

“No,” said the man. “I’m too tired. I was told there was a way off this island, but the only way to get to it is to turn into a mouse.”

“You’re a mage,” Elizabeth said. “Why can’t you just turn into a mouse?”

He gestured helplessly. “It doesn’t work that way. You should sit with me. It’s nice here.”

“You sound like the Sloth demon,” Elizabeth said warily. “I’ll look for this way out. Why did you call it an island?”

The mage gestured to a cliff a little ways away. “See for yourself.”

Elizabeth went and looked and gasped. The rock she was standing on was floating in a great void. Below her was an abyss as black as the sky above.

But if they were in the Fade, what would happen if she jumped off? She had no idea how the Fade worked, but surely she wouldn’t die.

It was a bad idea while she still had other options, she decided. She waved to the mage and set off along a trail through a narrow canyon.

She wasn’t sure how far she wandered, but it was definitely out of sight or sound of the apathetic mage when she came across some sort of gate. She stepped through and nothing happened, so she continued up the hill that appeared before her.

She heard a squeak and paused. “Is something there?”

“Yes…” said a little voice. “Me.”

She looked around until she saw movement near her feet.

It was well that Elizabeth wasn’t the sort to startle at mice, or she might have jumped and accidentally crushed it. “What are you? Are you a demon?”

“No,” said the mouse. “I’m a mouse.”

“I can see that,” Elizabeth said. “But I never met a talking mouse before.”

“That’s true,” said the mouse. “But this is the Fade, where mortals go to dream… oh, forget it, I can’t do that sort of mystery crap, not as a mouse, anyway.”

Elizabeth blinked. “So what are you?”

“I’m a mage,” sighed the mouse. “I found the mouse form, but I can’t change back, and I can’t find the mousehole to leave this island, and I’m so tired…”

“So there really is a mousehole to live this place,” Elizabeth said.

“Only this island,” said the mouse-mage. “To leave the Fade entirely, you have to defeat the Sloth demon that holds us all prisoner. And he’s really well guarded. I’ll show you… have you seen any Fade pedestals around?”

Elizabeth thought back to the one in the Highever illusion. “I think so. Glowing spots and lines?”

“Yes. He’s in the one in the centre. Around him are five lesser demons to guard him, and to break down his barrier, you have to defeat all five of them. I know there are other islands in his domain, but those five are the important ones.”

“Huh,” Elizabeth said, and thought about it. “So I can defeat them with my sword?”

“I think so,” said the mouse. “But you won’t get anywhere without the power to change into a mouse.”

“Why not?” Elizabeth complained. “I have nothing against magic, but I don’t want to use it myself…”

“It’s only while you’re here,” the mouse said apologetically. “I’ll give you the power. You still have strength, you’ll be able to change back. I… I don’t think I’m getting out, anyway.”

“Don’t be silly,” Elizabeth said. “I’m getting everyone out.”

“It’s too late for me,” said the mouse. “I’ve been here a very long time. Even longer than Niall, and he’s been here… a long time. I can’t tell time in here. But… even if I got out, the Templars would kill me… if my body was even still alive.”

Elizabeth swallowed. “You mean our bodies can die if…”

“There’s no soul in them for long enough,” the mouse said, and nodded. “I wish you luck, and… I wish I could remember my name so I could tell you to say goodbye for me. But with Uldred’s violence… I’m not the only one…”

“Goodbye?” Elizabeth said. “I don’t understand-”

“Thanks for your help,” the mouse said, a bit desperately. “Please succeed.” A flash of light shot from the small fuzzy body and hit Elizabeth square in the chest, and the mouse fell over, dead.

“…I’ll try,” Elizabeth said quietly. “I will do my best.” The mouse vanished.

How would she use this power? She reached to where the light had hit her and thought of small furry creatures, and to her surprise, it worked.

She was a three-inch long mouse with a tail that quivered nervously behind her. Her whiskers quivered nervously, and when she tried to walk forward, it turned into a nervous scamper.

Could she change back? She remembered herself as a human, herself, woman, Cousland, Elizabeth, and she resumed her own form with a blink. It was a little tiring, and she resolved not to do that unless she really had to.

She went back to the other mage. He was waiting for her with a placid smile.

“I remembered my name,” he said as she approached. “It’s Niall.”

“The mouse said something about you,” she said.

“You met him?”

“He… he died. He gave me his power and died.”

“That’s great! That you can turn into a mouse. Not that he died.”

“Do you know his name?”

“No… But I remembered something else, too.”

“What is it?”

“Irving sent me on a special mission to get him something.”

She waited expectantly.

“Um… I don’t remember what it was yet. But it was the thing to help stop Uldred.”

“I see,” she said. “I’m going to keep exploring. You keep thinking, and if you remember anything else, tell it to me the next time I come back. I promise I will come back.”

“Okay,” he said, and went back to staring at the sky. She wondered if it would really do any good.

It seemed to take forever, but after much tedious searching she did find a crack in a stone wall that led to a new area, and she crept through in mouse-form. On the other side was another pedestal, but a new circle-line combination was lit up.

She explored as she could, helping a couple spirits of living people and gaining new forms that would let her pass different obstacles – she could transform into a flaming skeletal corpse to pass barriers of flame, and into a withered spirit that could pass through ghostly doors, and into a stone giant that could smash through medium-sized obstacles in her path. She had defeated a couple demons, but not all five yet. Now she understood how the map worked and it was much easier for her to get around the little corner of the Fade that this particular Sloth demon ruled.

It was nice that things seemed to stay in roughly the same place and orientation, unlike the the landscapes in the dreams she had in the waking world. She often encountered demons, whom she engaged cautiously – she was very conscious that she did not have a team at her back as she normally did, and this was their home ground. They were stronger here than in the waking world.

 

She was on one of the outermost islands when she thought she heard a familiar voice.

“Wynne?”

“I failed them,” Wynne sighed, a sigh with a sob in it. “I failed them. Maker forgive me.”

“You haven’t failed yet,” Elizabeth called, trying to find her way to Wynne. “We’re still fighting.”

“They’re all dead,” Wynne sighed, and Elizabeth finally found her in a little hollow of the island, surrounded by the bodies of mages. Wynne cradled the body of a young elf apprentice, slowly weeping. “They died and I did nothing.”

Elizabeth came to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Wynne, we’re in the Fade. How do we get out?”

“The Fade? No, this is real. I can feel it, see it, smell it. Death surrounds us. Can you not see it?”

“I cannot see what you see,” Elizabeth said.

“Why was I spared, if not to help them? What use is my life now that I have failed in this task that was given to me? No. Leave me to my grief. I must bury these poor little ones, scatter their ashes to the four winds, and mourn them until I too am dead.”

“Wynne, it’s a trick. They tried to keep me here with illusions. I don’t know what you’re seeing, but it’s just a trick of the Fade. And demons, I suppose.”

Wynne recoiled from her. “Your blatent disregard for the souls of the dead strikes me as being utterly inappropriate.”

Elizabeth drew back, hurt. “It’s… I need your help, Wynne, and I need you to… to try to remember how you got here.”

“I don’t see how this will accomplish anything,” Wynne snapped. “Why must you make things more painful? Where were you when this happened, anyway? I trusted you and you weren’t there!”

Elizabeth inhaled her pain. Wynne was not herself in this situation. “Please, just… one more time.”

“All right,” Wynne said impatiently, and looked away, thinking. Then she closed her eyes. “Strange, it is… difficult to focus. It’s almost as if something is preventing me from concentrating. I have never had such trouble…” She looked around at the dead bodies. “Perhaps if I walk around a bit, I will find it easier. I will come back and honour them later.”

“I will walk with you,” Elizabeth said. “If that’s all right.”

But the corpse nearest to her sat up. “Don’t leave us alone, Wynne!”

And another one. “Please, Wynne, we don’t want to be alone!”

Wynne dropped the corpse on her lap, apparently aware enough to break the rest of the illusion. “Holy Maker! Stay away, foul creature!”

“Wyyyynne,” they chanted, reaching out their arms to her. “Come sleep in the comforting embrace of the earth. Don’t fight so. You belong here with us.”

Still disoriented, Wynne took shelter beside Elizabeth. “They are… demons!”

“I had to defeat one to escape my prison,” Elizabeth said. “Let us defeat these together!”

These demons used the skills of the forms they had taken, and Elizabeth was wary of their magic, not knowing what power it might have in the Fade. There were five of them, but Wynne’s magic was stronger than theirs, and Elizabeth, dodging and weaving, closed with one and slashed it across the chest. It collapsed and disappeared. She whirled and slammed another one with her shield, cutting short some kind of icy spell, and followed it up with a decapitation.

Wynne had blasted one with a rock projectile, and was defending herself against another with a magical shield. Sickly green light played harmlessly over the surface of it, and then Wynne thrust her staff in its direction with a forceful grunt, and it turned to stone.

But the last one was creeping up behind her. “Look out!” Elizabeth shouted, and Wynne spun around and knocked it in the head with her staff and it staggered long enough for her to cast a bolt of light into its chest.

“Is it over? Thank the Maker you found me,” Wynne said, and gave Elizabeth a hug.

“Are you all right?” Elizabeth asked. “They did not harm you before I got here?”

“I’m fine,” Wynne said. “Wait, what is happening?” She had begun to fade away.

“Wynne!” Elizabeth cried, but in another moment, the elderly woman had vanished completely.

Elizabeth blinked, anxious, but hoping that meant she had freed the soul of her friend. If it was only a trick of the dream-logic of this place… well, she would be punching some demons quite hard in the face with her sword soon.

 

Elizabeth found Leliana next, almost completely by accident – the red-haired archer appeared in her Chantry robes, kneeling in the corner of a small open space on an island, and an altar and a old-looking woman dressed as a Chantry Mother beside her. The whole scene was eerily silent.

“Leliana,” Elizabeth called in a low voice, but Leliana gave no sign that she heard her. Elizabeth drew closer and discovered that Leliana was not completely silent but was in fact praying under her breath.

The woman on Leliana’s other side motioned her away with a sharp gesture. “I beg you, do not disturb the girl’s meditations.”

Elizabeth ignored her, for she assumed the woman was a demon in disguise again. “Leliana!”

Leliana’s muttered mantras stuttered to a halt. “Blessed are… I… what… who are you?”

“It’s only an impudent girl, dear Leliana. Continue and I shall send her away.”

“Leliana, listen to me,” Elizabeth began.

Leliana frowned at her and turned to the woman. “Revered Mother, I do not know this person. How does she know my name?”

“That is why I will send her away,” the woman said soothingly.

“Leliana!” Elizabeth said, more strongly. “We are friends in waking life. My name is Elizabeth. Things are not what they seem here.”

Leliana shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The woman stood and came to block Elizabeth. “Please, do not vex her. She needs quiet and solitude, to calm her mind and heal her heart. We gave her aid when she was lost. We have showed her the way and now she is one of us.”

Elizabeth’s face darkened, not liking the tone of those words. But instead of challenging the demon, she asked her friend: “Is this what your life was like before you joined me?”

“I am happy here,” Leliana said simply. “This is all I ever wanted.”

“But…” Elizabeth cast around. “Don’t you remember why you left?”

Leliana put her head on one side and slowly stood to join them. “There is… something familiar about you, and… I… find myself trusting you, strange as that may seem.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I have not led you wrong yet. Will you not come with me again?”

“Do not,” said the demon. “This is your home, your refuge! Would you leave the comfort of this place behind, to go with this death-dealing warrior woman? She will lead you to your doom. Stay, and know peace.”

Leliana hesitated, looking from one to the other. Then she smiled – but at Elizabeth. “There is no need. I carry the peace of the Chantry in my heart always.”

“Then…” Elizabeth said in disappointment.

“You have chosen wisely,” said the demon, smiling kindly at Leliana.

“No,” Leliana said. “I meant there is no need for me to stay. I am going with you, Elizabeth. I do indeed now remember you.

“You are going nowhere, girl!” snapped the demon, lunging at Leliana, who neatly sidestepped.

“You have no power over her!” Elizabeth cried. “She is free!”

“No! She is ours, now, and forever!” The demon’s form metamorphosed, growing claws and distending its jaw to reveal needle-sharp teeth. Only showing the slightest sign of surprise and alarm with the tilt of her elegant eyebrows, Leliana drew her bow from nowhere and shot it in the head.

“Leliana! Are you all right?” Elizabeth said, hurrying to her side. She checked her over but there was no sign of harm.

“I am perfectly fine,” Leliana said calmly. “She was a demon, wasn’t she? When I realized who you were, I thought she might be, considering our recent history. I had hoped to leave amicably, even though she was a demon. Where are we?”

“We are in the Fade,” Elizabeth said. “I found Wynne, but she vanished again. I hope she’s all right.”

“So do I,” Leliana said, putting a hand to her head. “My head feels so heavy… as if I’ve just woken up from a troubled sleep. Wait… What!?” She, too, was beginning to vanish.

“If you see Wynne, tell her I’m all right!” Elizabeth had time to call before her friend disappeared entirely.

 

Alistair she heard before she saw him, laughing freely. Clearly his illusion was something quite pleasant. She came across him in another little hollow, with a small fire with a pot beside it, several wooden stools, a woman cooking and several children playing, and Huan. Alistair was sitting on one of the stools with Huan’s head on his knee, patting his head, but her dog was snoozing.

“Oh, hey!” Alistair cried, looking up and seeing her. “It’s great to see you again! I was just thinking about you, isn’t that a marvellous coincidence?” He had the widest of goofy grins on his face, and at his enthusiasm, Huan stirred. But when the dog saw Elizabeth, he got up and immediately bounded to her, almost knocking her down and slobbering all over her face like he was a puppy again.

“Easy there,” Elizabeth said. “Down, boy. I’m happy to see you too.”

“Yeah, he just showed up, and that’s why I was thinking about you. Did you send him on ahead?” Alistair asked, standing and coming to greet her, folding her in a familiar hug that left her quite confused about how long they had known each other. “There’s someone really important that I want to introduce you to, so don’t freak out, okay?”

Elizabeth blinked. “Your wife? And children? Is this the future?”

The woman smirked and shook a spoon at her chidingly, and Alistair giggled and blushed. “No, no, no. This is my sister! Goldanna! I’ve told you about her, right?”

“Er, no, but I’m glad to hear it…”

“These are her children. There are more about somewhere. We’re a big happy family, united at long last! Aren’t you excited?”

“You seem very happy here,” Elizabeth said diplomatically, feeling bad that she had to crush this dream. Huan wagged his tail, slapping it against a nearby pillar of rock. Elizabeth wondered if he thought it was the wall of the house in the illusion or something of the sort.

“I am,” Alistair said, nodding enthusiastically. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life! I thought being a Grey Warden would make me happy, but it didn’t. This does.”

“I for one am overjoyed to have my little brother back,” called ‘Goldanna’ from where she was stirring the pot – a pot that gave no scent of food from what Elizabeth could tell. “Not letting him out of my sight again!”

“Well,” Elizabeth said, thinking fast, “I was wondering if you’d like to come with me on a quick adventure, for old times’ sake.”

“Well, I shouldn’t,” Alistair said. “But would you stay for supper? It’s all right if she stays for supper, right, Goldanna?”

“Of course it is,” the woman said. “I was about to suggest it myself.”

“Oh, do stay,” Alistair said, clasping his hands and putting on his puppy-dog eyes. “She’s a wonderful cook. Maybe she’ll make mince pie! You can, can’t you?” Huan seconded that with a bark.

“Of course I can,” the woman said. “Eat your vegetables first, though.”

Elizabeth hesitated, then shook her head. The sooner she could get Alistair free of his dream, the better for his mind. “I can’t. And neither can you. I need you to come with me, Alistair. It’s really important.”

Alistair, too, hesitated. “You’re acting kind of strangely. You… look worried. I… I just can’t. I know it’s important, whatever it is, but… we beat the Blight, didn’t we? Surely I’ve earned a bit more downtime just to be with my family?”

“Alistair,” Elizabeth said, dropping the act and letting all of her anxiety out, “please, please, try to remember how you got here, what you did today. Just that much, and then you can decide whether or not to come with me.”

“O-okay, if it’ll make you happy. Let’s see, today I… that’s funny… it’s all kind of fuzzy.”

“Alistair, come have some tea,” the woman called, holding out a beautiful teacup that appeared out of nowhere.

“Hang on,” Alistair said. “I will, in just a moment, but I have to… Yes, this doesn’t make sense. The last thing I really remember – at least, that I remember doing with you – is we were at the Circle Tower, and it was under attack from demons, and… I don’t remember how we won.”

“We haven’t won yet,” Elizabeth said. “We’re still fighting. It’s still that day. We’re in the Fade.”

“This is a dream? B-but it’s so real…”

“Alistair,” said the woman warningly, shooting dagger glances at Elizabeth. “Don’t forget to wash up before supper.”

“No,” Alistair said. “Sorry, Goldanna, but something doesn’t feel right here. I… think I have to go.”

“No!” screamed the demon. “You are ours, and I’ll rather see you dead than free!”

“Maker’s breath!” Alistair exclaimed, and Huan began barking furiously, as the demon picked up a huge meat cleaver and came at them. The scattered children seized other kitchen knives and followed her.

Elizabeth had her armour and her sword and shield, but Alistair currently had nothing. “Get behind me!”

“But-”

“Don’t be stupid! Huan, watch yourself!” Alistair obediently took up a place at her back, leaving Elizabeth to deal with the demons unobstructed. Huan swerved to the right, flanking the child-form demons; their knives cut at him as he leapt on them, but they were all glancing blows from what Elizabeth could see.

Elizabeth had to deal with the Goldanna demon herself. She had the benefit of reach, but even as she considered that, the cleaver lengthed into an implement at least as long as her sword. This demon was not as strong with fighting as it was with deception, however, and Elizabeth and Huan managed to clean up without much difficulty.

“G-goldanna…” Alistair said. “How could I not have seen it earlier? It was… too perfect.”

“We were all taken in,” Elizabeth said gently. “Wynne, Leliana, I too…”

“Yes, well… please don’t tell everyone just how easily fooled I was.”

“All right,” Elizabeth said, smiling.

“Where are Wynne and Leliana?”

“They disappeared. I think you will, too. If you see them, take care of them, all right?”

“Wait, they – what’s happening? Elizabeth, I don’t want to disappear – ah! Your dog-!”

Huan snuffled, panicking at the sight of his paws turning transparent.

“I think you’ll be fine,” Elizabeth tried to reassure them, and herself. “I’ll see you later once I defeat the demon!”

“Be careful!” was the last thing Alistair managed to say before he faded completely.

 

Against what felt like all odds, Elizabeth defeated all five of the demons shielding the Sloth demon. As she returned to Niall one last time, she wondered if she would have the strength left to defeat the Sloth demon itself. She wanted to rest, to just sit down beside Niall for a few minutes… but she knew that this place itself was trying to suck her energy from her, and that if she sat down, she might never stand up again.

Niall seemed much more sober than the last time she had spoken to him. “Hello.”

“Hello,” she said. “I’m almost done here, I think.”

“I can feel it,” Niall said. “You defeated the guardian demons. Sloth is free for you to strike.”

“Good,” Elizabeth said. “I’m very tired.”

“Don’t sit down.”

“I won’t.”

“Good. What was your name again?”

“Elizabeth. And you’re Niall.”

“Yes, I remember that bit… I remembered more, too. Listen: it’s important. Irving was sending me to get the Litany of Adralla. It protects against mental possession by blood mages. It’s probably still on my body in the real world.”

“That’s good,” Elizabeth said. “You can come with us once I get us all out of here. The others in my group all disappeared after I freed them, is that normal?”

“I couldn’t say, but it’s the Fade. If they’re not under the control of demons, they’re probably all right. But no, I can’t come with you.”

“Why not?” she asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“I’ve been here too long. I can feel that too. You helped a bit, but there isn’t enough of me left to go back to my body. For you, it will have been only a nap. For me… the demon has been feeding off me, using my life to fuel the nightmares of this place. You returned me to myself, but there’s almost nothing left.”

“No, that can’t be true,” Elizabeth said, upset. “You’ve helped me so much…”

Niall smiled. “I did almost nothing for you, really. I’ve been so preoccupied with my own story I can’t really help you with yours except to give you the Litany. I’m sorry I can’t save the Circle. But you still can.”

“You’ve done more than that,” Elizabeth objected. “It was comforting to have someone to talk to here.”

They both paused for a moment.

“So when you get out,” Niall began,” take the Litany. It will help you against Uldred. All you have to do is read it at the right moment, you don’t even have to be a mage.”

“All right,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll make sure you are remembered.”

Niall suddenly looked very tired, but calm, and not in the vacant way he’d had when Elizabeth had first arrived. “Thanks for letting me go to meet the Maker with… with some dignity. …Good luck.”

Elizabeth couldn’t think of anything to say, so she bowed and walked off in the direction of the Fade pedestal.

She tried to pinch herself once she reached it; it would do her no good to fight the strongest demon here with this lack of focus. But she barely felt the pinch. That was probably a bad thing. Instead, she squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and went through the Fade to Sloth’s lair.

There was one being awaiting her, a tall wraith-like figure who did not appear the way she thought a demon of Sloth would appear. But then, a demon could take whatever form it pleased, couldn’t it?

“What have we here?” Sloth greeted her with its slow, almost jovial voice. “A rebellious minion? An escaped slave? You do have some gall.” It chuckled and circled her; she turned to keep facing it. “But playtime is over. It’s time to go back now.”

“At least my friends are free,” Elizabeth retorted, feeling her sword’s weight in her hand.

The demon laughed again. “You really think so? None of you can leave my domain without defeating me, and I think you’ll find that impossible. But why don’t you just go back quietly? I promise I’ll do better this time. I’ll make you much happier.”

“No,” Elizabeth said. “You gave me pain, not happiness. And you gave Wynne grief! I would rather live my own life in the real world.”

“Even though it will be short, and hard? Full of heartbreak, and agony, and betrayal?”

“Yes!” She jumped at the demon, fighting the sluggishness of her body, the burn in her dream-muscles, and attacked.

The demon was as slippery as the desire demon they had fought earlier; it kept drawing back from her and changing forms. Sometimes it took the shape of a demonic ogre, even more hideous than the darkspawn ogre she had fought on the Tower of Ishal, sometimes it took on that of a Rage demon, searing heat and molten stone, sometimes a lean, sinewy creature that darted and slashed with horrible claws, and sometimes the tall wraith-like figure, that cast spells at her like a mage while floating menacingly towards her.

But she could change forms as well – the mouse form would do her no good, but as a mobile statue, she could withstand a blow from even the ogre, and as a spirit, she could deflect spells and even cast some of her own.

One by one, its forms fell and it could no longer use them. She crushed the ogre in statue form, tore the molten form apart in her own burning form, and battled the sinewy creature in her own form until she slashed it to pieces.

So it came down to the wraith form against her spirit form. She was losing strength quickly, and spells in this form did not come easily to her. She cast a freezing spell at the demon, but was immediately hit with some sort of spell she had never seen before – she was immobilized, trapped behind shining bars of light, and it felt like the air or perhaps her life itself was being crushed out of her. She gasped for air, trying to move, to claw at the bars of the prison, but she couldn’t even manage that.

“So here it is,” the demon said, moving close to her. “Would you like to go back yet? Look how generous I am! You’ve tried to kill me, and indeed you’ve come farther than anyone has in history, but I’m still willing to put you back in your dream – swiftly, painlessly, completely free of charge.”

“Nnngh,” was all she could manage.

“Naturally, I will be using you for my next source of energy, so it’s a pity you used up so much of it already. That isn’t a renewable resource, you know!”

“’Tis,” she choked out. “When free.”

The demon clucked. “Shows what you know. But your friends haven’t been using up their energy much… It’s unlikely they’ll be able to escape again without your help. I haven’t known anyone to escape on their own before. You’re quite remarkable. But anyway, what do you say? Must we continue this pointless, tiring conflict? You’ll feel much better when you stop, I promise you.”

“D-don’t…”

“Don’t what?” It leaned in close so its face was almost touching the bars.

“D-d-don’t touch… my friends!” Elizabeth dragged one hand up through sheer force of will and shot a weak ice spell into its face.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to break the demon’s concentration. She fell to the ground, gasping, and changed back into her own form. It was easier to fight in, even though the demon towered over her by several feet.

She hacked at it and kept hacking. It roared in anger and tried to freeze her, tried to imprison her again, but it was difficult for it when she kept swinging. As long as she kept it off-balance, it wouldn’t be able to get another spell off. She could imagine Gilmore’s voice in her ear, giving her sparring advice as he had so many times before-

She choked, sliced her sword horizontally through the partly-ethereal body, and was rewarded by the demon screaming as it fell in two pieces to and through the ground.

Immediately she felt like the world was becoming completely indistinct, turning grey and hazy around her, and felt panic – what if she, too, had been here too long and was dying?

 

She woke on the cold stone floor of the Circle Tower, Huan nudging her face insistently.

She pushed his nose away. “All right, all right, I’m awake.” It was so hard to push herself up even to a sitting position. Next to her, Alistair was grunting sleepily. Leliana was already sitting up, but Wynne was just beginning to stir.

Before her lay the body of the abomination that had once held the Sloth demon, and at its feet lay Niall, still and dead. She crawled towards him and closed his eyes gently. In one hand he still clutched a scroll; she pulled it loose and unrolled it.

“What’s that?” Leliana asked, crawling towards her.

“It’s called the Litany of Adralla, and Niall said it would help us fight Uldred.”

Wynne had sat up. “That’s for defending against mental possession by blood mages.”

“That’s how he explained it to me,” Elizabeth said. “He said to read it at the right moment, even if you’re not a mage, and it would… help.”

“I think I know what to do,” Wynne said. “If you give it to me, I will know when to use it.”

“Oh, would you?” Elizabeth said in relief. “Thank you. That makes me much less worried.”

Alistair had finally sat up. “Um, congratulations on getting us out of there. That can’t have been easy.”

Elizabeth used Huan’s bulk to help herself to her feet. “Thank you. I think I’m recovering. How about you?”

“I… might need a minute. And I didn’t work nearly as hard as you…”

“You’re also older than she is,” Leliana said slyly.

“Oh, speak for yourself,” Alistair retorted.

Wynne cleared her throat pointedly, already standing, and they all laughed. It was nice to let some of the tension out, and they were in good spirits as they ascended to the last floor.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, their mood became grim and businesslike again. Wynne took the lead, and stopped at the top of the stairs, peeking out cautiously and trying not to be seen. After a moment she invited the others to join her.

Something horrible was happening, that much Elizabeth could tell from the sounds and the flashing blue light. What she saw was worse. A mage was suspended in a shell of crackling blue light, flanked by two abominations. Another man, presumably Uldred, was standing in front of him, holding the mage’s head in his hands as the captive groaned in pain.

“Do you accept the gift I offer?” asked Uldred, and the light abruptly vanished, the man fell to the floor, and now Uldred and the two abominations channeled more blue lightning through their hands and into his body. The mage arched his back and screamed, but in a few seconds the screams became hoarse and gurgling. The light stopped again, and a third abomination stood to join the other two.

Uldred turned to one side of the room, and Elizabeth saw several more mages there, bound with ropes.

“Irving!” Wynne cried. “We must stop him, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth nodded and ran out of hiding to block Uldred. Her heart pounded in her chest; she had her friends with her, but these enemies were terrifying. “Stop right there!”

“I bid you welcome, intruder,” Uldred said, sounding amused. “How can I disobey when you say that in such a commanding voice?”

Elizabeth did not answer, only trying to control her breathing.

“I must say I am impressed that you’re still alive. However, I must assume that means you killed all my servants. Ah well, they are probably better off dying in the service to their betters than living with the terrible responsibility of independence. A mage is a larval form, you see, of something greater. Your Chantry vilifies this, when in fact here we will reach our true potential!” He gestured to Irving. “Look at them. The Chantry has them convinced, and so they deny themselves the opportunity to become something glorious.”

“Can you stop him monologuing, please?” Alistair whispered. “My head’s starting to hurt with all the nonsense.”

“There’s nothing glorious about what you’ve become, Uldred,” Wynne snapped, her staff ready to attack. “You have been swallowed up entirely by a Pride demon.”

Uldred shrugged. “I could give you this gift too, Wynne, you and all mages. It would be so much better for everyone if you just accepted it. But some people can be so stubborn.”

“I don’t suppose I can talk you into giving up, either,” Elizabeth said. “I think we shall have to do this the hard way.”

“So be it,” Uldred said. “It will only make my victory all the sweeter.” He flung his head back, stretched his arms towards the ceiling, and transformed into a beast larger than the ogre from the Tower of Ishal and uglier than the Sloth demon ogre. Elizabeth’s eyes widened in alarm and she had just time to dive out of the way of a blow from the monster. The abominations attacked as well, and for a moment, the only thing she could focus on was staying alive.

“Wynne! How do we fight this!?”

“Defeat the abominations first,” Wynne called, having backed away to a safe distance to cast spells from. “Keep him on the run. I will take care of the Litany.”

“Right. Huan! With me! Leliana, distract Uldred! Alistair, take the other abomination!”

Leliana began to run, turning to shoot an arrow and then run again. Uldred followed her across the room, but Elizabeth knew he would turn back to them soon when he couldn’t catch her. They needed to finish the abominations before then. That was easier said than done; while they seemed to have limited or no magic left, despite being a combination of mage and demon, they were big and strong and seemed to feel no pain. They had discovered it before, but they hadn’t had to fight three at once and Elizabeth was nervous despite having Huan beside her.

The floor shook, and Elizabeth looked over to see Uldred charging like a bull at Leliana, who neatly skipped out of his path with a yelp before firing another arrow into his shoulder.

Huan barked and Elizabeth reacted instinctively, hitting out with her shield. The abomination staggered back, and she let Huan reach up to drag it down while she turned to the other one.

A blue light began to swirl around one of the captive mages, who began to wriggle, panicked. But Wynne’s voice rose in a brief chant, and the light faded away. Elizabeth breathed a short sigh of relief. The Litany worked.

The floor rumbled again, and Leliana shouted a breathless warning – too late. Elizabeth was thrown to the floor by an immense blow and trampled, crushed half to death. She would have shrieked, but the breath had been knocked out of her and all she could do was cough in agony. She heard Alistair shout and Huan howl, and then Wynne was at her side, soothing the pain, knitting the bones and torn flesh together, helping her up, but then Wynne had to leave her to read the Litany again.

Elizabeth gulped air into her lungs, taking stock of the situation. Alistair had finished his abomination, and had turned to fight Uldred. Huan and Leliana were fighting the last abomination…

Wynne gasped, and Elizabeth looked over to see her trapped… in shining bars of light. Elizabeth gritted her teeth in anger and charged. She had no clear plan in mind, no real strategy to defeat the demon, just to distract it enough to release Wynne. If they couldn’t, Wynne might die… and Uldred would continue to transform mages into abominations.

“Whoa!” Alistair said as she ran past him. “Let’s talk about this-!”

“Any suggestions!?” she shot back, thudding shield-first into the monster’s leg. “Wynne is going to die!”

“Oh, in that case… Leliana! Let me take care of that thing for you! Elizabeth needs you!”

Leliana came running, knelt on one knee for added stability, and loosed an arrow at the creature’s head. It shook it off and tried to punch Elizabeth, who jumped away, tripped, accidentally dodging a second blow, and rolled to her feet again.

The blue light began to form again, and Elizabeth almost despaired – but then Leliana’s clear voice rang out, and the light faded.

“What- how-”

“I’m a bard,” Leliana said, smiling. “If I hear a thing, I can repeat it perfectly. Keep fighting! We can do it!”

Elizabeth shot a glance at Wynne. The elderly woman looked like she was on the edge of passing out. The thought alone drove her forward again, even though she knew she had little chance of killing the demon. The wounds it had taken were insignificant so far.

“Here!” Alistair shouted, trotting over to them, Huan at his heels. “Elizabeth, we have to coordinate. If we can get its head in striking range…”

It lowered its head, and for a moment Alistair gave a shout of triumph – before it blew a blast of fire over all of them. Elizabeth and Alistair ducked, saved a bit by their armour, but Huan howled and Leliana ran to him, trying to smother the flames that burned in his fur.

“Come on, come on, come on,” Alistair growled, straightening up and slashing at the demon’s throat and face. The demon simply swung and picked him up with a massive fist. Elizabeth’s follow-up attack glanced off its hide.

“You’re finished!” came a shout from the other side of the room, and a massive rock hurtled past Elizabeth to smack the monster in the face. Alistair fell to the ground, landed on his feet, and as the monster swayed, stabbed it in the throat. Blood gushed over him and he stumbled back as it collapsed at his feet.

Elizabeth turned. “Wynne! You’re all right!”

“That suicide attack was quite effective in loosening my prison,” Wynne said, still panting. “I wish you hadn’t had to do it, but thank you.” She raised her staff and healed them all at once.

They took a moment to collect themselves, still breathing hard. Then Wynne rushed over to where Irving lay bound, and untied him.

“Maker, I’m too old for this,” Irving said in a creaky, gravelly voice as she helped him to his feet. Leliana hurried to help untie the other captive mages.

“Are you all right?” Wynne asked.

“I’ve… been better. I am thankful to be alive, however. I suppose that is your doing, isn’t it, Wynne?”

“I had a lot of help,” Wynne said, gesturing to Elizabeth and the others. Elizabeth bowed her head politely. Only then did she notice her armour was in extremely poor condition. Plates were hanging loose, or heavily dented, and some of the chain mail had been torn. She would have to see if it could be fixed once they got back to Redcliffe.

“The Circle owes all of you a debt we can never repay,” Irving said to them. “But we should go downstairs. Is the rest of the Tower safe?”

“It is as safe as I can tell,” Wynne said. “We were searching for you, and we looked in every room I could think of. There might be a few places but I think we shall be a match for any leftover demons now.”

“We should let the Templars know as soon as possible,” Elizabeth said. “Knight-Commander Gregoire will not accept the Tower is safe until he hears that you are alive. He said he would give us as long as he could but he was preparing the Rite of Annulment when I first entered here and I am not entirely certain how long ago that was.”

Irving nodded. “I’ll need you to assist me down the stairs.” He began to shuffle in their direction. “Curse whoever insisted the Circle be housed in a tower…”

“Leliana, can you go on ahead with Huan and tell Gregoire to wait for us?” Elizabeth said. “I wouldn’t want to be late by only a few minutes.”

“As you say!” Leliana cried cheerfully, and with the dog bounding at her side, set off down the stairs at a run.

“Easier than climbing up,” Alistair said, still sounding tired from the fight. “Here, ser, my arm.”

 

They arrived at the sealed door not too long after, and on hearing Irving’s voice, Gregoire opened the gates. The group had taken the other surviving mages with them, and now they gratefully flooded into the room with the Templars, where they were checked over by other mages for injury or perhaps other things.

“Irving!” Gregoire said. “I did not expect to see you alive again. Maker be praised.”

“It is over, Gregoire,” Irving said. “Uldred is dead.”

Another Templar stepped up, one who had been inspecting the newly arrived mages. “Uldred tortured these mages, hoping to break their wills and turn them into abominations. We don’t know how many have turned.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” scoffed Irving with the authority of decades.

“Of course he’ll say that, he might be a blood mage!” the Templar insisted. “Don’t you know what they did!? I won’t let the Circle fall a second time!”

“I am the Knight-Commander here, not you,” Gregoire said sternly, and the Templar subsided. “Irving was not turned. I believe order has been restored to the Circle.”

“We will rebuild,” Irving said. “The Circle will go on, and we will learn from this tragedy and be strengthened by it.”

“Well, it seems you have won back the Tower,” Gregoire said to Elizabeth. “I thank you for insisting on being allowed in. You have proven yourself a friend of both the Circle and the Templars. I regret now that I did not offer you more help, but I can make up for that now. Irving, did this young lady explain her mission to you?”

“No.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I am one of the last Grey Wardens in Ferelden. Just before the battle at Ostagar, my companion Alistair and I recovered ancient Warden treaties for aid in the time of a Blight. One of them was signed by the First Enchanter of the Circle Tower.”

“I see,” Irving said, and traded a look with Gregoire.

“My first duty is to guard the mages,” Gregoire said. “However, they are free to assist you, and we shall be with them if and when they do so. For now, I would like to undertake an official sweep of the Tower. I will leave you to it.” He hesitated. “And Irving? It is good to have you back.”

“I’m sure we’ll be at each other’s throats again in no time,” Irving said with a twinkle in his eye.

Gregoire smirked slightly, and then bowed and marched away, calling for Templars to join him.

“Now, young lady – Grey Warden, let’s see what we can do for you,” Irving said. “Surely we can get a couple of chairs around here? Do you have this treaty with you?”

“I do,” Elizabeth said. “There is another matter, a more time-sensitive one, that I want to speak to you about.”

“Please, go ahead.” A small folding table and two mismatched chairs were set up at the side of the room for them, and they sat.

Elizabeth showed him the treaty, and then told him about Connor, and waited for his reaction.

“So Jowan survived,” Irving said, and sighed. “That boy was always too impatient, too easily discouraged. While I’m glad to hear he is alive, he hasn’t exactly landed on his feet, has he? And now the only thing that we can do for him is to make him Tranquil. Dear, dear. But the boy, young Lord Guerrin, yes, we can do what Jowan suggests. We can get a suitable group together… perhaps hire a cart from the inn, my old bones can’t walk that whole way…”

“Irving,” Wynne interrupted, “I would like to go with Elizabeth. I can help her on her way, if she will have me.”

“We do have to do a lot of walking,” Alistair said. “It’s mostly walking, in fact, mixed with the occasional bout of screaming and yelling and running and fighting.”

“Are you trying to discourage me from coming?” Wynne teased him. “Do you think I am too old?”

“Er, well, I’d love to have your healing skills with us, but… yes?”

“Oh Alistair, you are a sweetheart.” Wynne smiled sweetly as Alistair cast a suspicious eye at her. “But I will be fine. I did plenty of journeying. How did you think I got to Ostagar?”

“Well, okay, if you say so,” Alistair mumbled, and subsided.

“I give Wynne leave to travel with you if she so desires,” Irving said. “It’s far easier than trying to talk her out of it. We could use you here, but… you were never one to stay in the tower, were you? Not when there was adventure to be had elsewhere.”

Wynne smiled. “Why thank you, First Enchanter.” Irving sighed and shook his head.

“I would love to have you with us,” Elizabeth said to Wynne, and turned back to Irving. “So you will help us?”

“We shall. You should probably go ahead of us to ensure we are not attacked on the road by anyone – or anything – but rest assured we shall arrive at Redcliffe tomorrow.”

“Thank you so much,” Elizabeth said.

“And when you send us word, we shall assemble to fight the darkspawn. We can do no less for this treaty, and I would hate to survive this only to be overcome by the Blight.”

Elizabeth swallowed. She was really doing this. She had an ally to fight the darkspawn with, but the other side was that they were counting on her to win, and some of them would die whether she won or not, and that thought frightened her almost as much as the Blight did.

“There is much to be done here, first,” Irving said, “and if I am to make a journey to Redcliffe this same night, I must attend to some things. I shall see you soon, I am sure.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said. “We shall set off immediately.”

 

The ferry came across for them at a sign from one of the Templars of the Tower, and when they had arrived on shore, it immediately set out again for the Tower to await the mages and the Templars who would accompany them. There was no sign of Sten or Morrigan. It was late afternoon. Less time had passed than Elizabeth had thought.

Alistair looked around impatiently. “Do you think they ditched us?”

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” Leliana teased.

“I doubt it,” Elizabeth said. “Leliana, check at the inn. Alistair, Wynne, let’s head to the road. Perhaps they are waiting for us there. We’ll wait there for Leliana to rejoin us before continuing to search, if they’re not there.”

But when they reached the top of the hill, they heard strange, distant noises that sounded a lot like Morrigan, and they sounded like Morrigan being threatening.

“I think we had better go find out what she’s doing,” Elizabeth amended the plan. “Is that her lightning?”

They came across Sten, holding a scruffy, terrified man from escaping, while Morrigan held a crackling ball of purple lightning under his nose. “If you have lied to us… or withheld the least bit of information…”

“I told you everything I know! I swear!”

“Morrigan,” Elizabeth said, quietly but firmly, and Morrigan turned to her with a roll of her eyes. The lightning vanished with a puff.

“Don’t you start sounding like my mother. What do you want?”

“We’re ready to go. What are you doing?”

“This man owed us some information,” Morrigan said carelessly. “I suppose we’ve gotten all we can out of him.”

“Can you let him go, then?” Elizabeth said. “Has he done something wrong?”

“He took my sword, and thus my honour,” Sten spoke for the first time, gritting his teeth as he said so – but he let the man go and he scampered off with a whimper. “And sold it to a man travelling to the Frostback Mountains to trade with the dwarves.”

“I see,” Elizabeth said slowly. “We will be going there eventually but we must complete our current mission.”

“I have said I will follow you,” Sten said. “I will not break my word. It’s only a lead, anyway. It will probably come to nothing.”

“I will keep it in mind anyway,” Elizabeth said. “Let’s go back to where we’re meeting Leliana. Morrigan, Sten, this is Wynne. Wynne, these are the others I told you about; Morrigan, and Sten. Could you help Sten? He’s injured.”

“I see,” Wynne said, and fearlessly walked up to the big Qunari and healed his arm with her staff. Elizabeth wasn’t quite sure, but she thought he was impressed with the mage for that. But then he asked: “Why do you stare like that, mage?”

“I beg your pardon,” Wynne said, slightly flustered. “I’ve never seen a Qunari before.”

Sten turned away. “You can blink once in a while. I’ll still be here.”

They set out a few minutes later, hiking back the long road to Redcliffe.

And thoughts of a man’s hands across her body kept running through her thoughts…

 

Previous chapter: Redcliffe; next chapter: Ostagar