Kitranna opened her eyes. She was extremely comfortable and sleepy, wrapped in a warm blanket on a very soft bed. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“You're awake!”

She blinked, and looked over to see Jowan at her bedside, looking concerned.

“Yeah...” she mumbled, and sat up.

“We were all pretty worried,” he said. “Guess even the Archdemon can't keep you down, right?”

She laughed. “S'pose not,” she said. Something itched at her mind. “When did you get here?” she asked, frowning. “The Templars...”

“Got a pardon, remember?” he nudged her shoulder. “Me and Lily both—she's still on her way back from Aeonar, but she'll be here.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would they pardon you?” she shook her head, feeling hazy. “You're a blood mage.”

“Well, I'm you're friend, aren't I? The Templars have to do what you say.”

Kitranna narrowed her eyes. Everything felt very strange. “Right, right...”

“You're still tired, I'm sure,” Jowan said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I mean, fighting an Archdemon has to be pretty tiring, doesn't it?”

“Sure...” Kitranna looked at him. “It's just I...”

“What?”

“I don't remember. I don't remember anything but...” she paused.

Jowan leaned forward. “What is it?”

“The Tower,” she breathed. “I...” she blinked, and her thoughts scattered like beads from a broken necklace.

“You should rest,” Jowan urged. “Everything's fine.”

She felt an immense urge to close her eyes and sleep again, but something whispered in her ear.

She jolted awake. “Did you hear something?” she asked.

“No...”

She looked up. Overhead, there was no ceiling, only the bottomless depths of the sky.

The walls fell away around her.

Jowan stepped back, shaking his head. “You could be happy here,” he said, his voice warping like a demon's. “You could be at peace—but you insist on—struggling--”

His face shifted and he wasn't Jowan anymore, and Kitranna felt for a weapon, the Fade offering her the handle of a long bladed knife the moment she reached for it. “Stop lying,” she snapped, and drove her knife into his chest.

He spat at her and pulled himself off her blade. When the blade was back in her hand, it turned into a mages' staff with very little difference in weight. She threw a fireball at him, which struck him in the chest, and he burst into a shower of sparks. The world dissolved around her, and the fog cleared from her head.

She was standing on an island in an endless bank of clouds. The island was strange, made up of earth and twisted trees. There were strange sculptures looming over her, images of people whom she could not recognize and yet somehow looked familiar.

“Who are you?”

She turned. A young man in mages' robes stood behind her. He had black hair which brushed the nape of his neck, and his eyes were wide and fearful.

“Are you a demon? Where did you come from?”

She blinked. She knew his face. “Niall?”

He narrowed his eyes, then recognition came to him. “Surana—you went to the Wardens...”

“I'm here now.”

“Who would have thought?” he shook his head. “Good job, getting out of that trap.”

“Where are we?” she looked around. “The Fade, right?”

He nodded.

She rubbed the back of her head. “How do we get out?”

“We don't.”

She looked at him, raising her eyebrows.

“You can try, surely,” he said. “But there are always obstacles. You will see the path, but not be able to reach it...” he looked down.

She shook her head. “There's got to be a way,” she insisted.

“This place...” he glanced overhead, at the bottomless sky. “It drains you of everything. Hope, life...”

Feeling herself grow hazy at his words, she snapped her fingers in his face. “Focus,” she said. “We need to get out of here. How can we do it?”

He caught himself, nodded. “I think...the Sloth demon houses several lesser demons on some of the...islands, I suppose you could call them,” he pointed up at the sky, at several faint shapes that floated around their own island. “I've seen them—I can feel them, leeching off of us...if we could reach them, then perhaps we could reach the Sloth demon itself...”

Kitranna nodded. “Right. We just have to figure out how to do that, then...”

“I sincerely hope you are not another demon,” came a familiar voice, and they both turned to see Morrigan walking their way. Her scarf was askew and she looked even more cross than usual.

“I'm not if you're not,” Kitranna said.

Morrigan folded her arms and scowled at Kitranna. “At last,” she said. “I have been wandering this...wasteland for some time, being pestered by visions and nonsense...” she shook her head, then glanced at Niall. “Who is this?”

“This is Niall,” Kitranna said. “Niall, this is Morrigan.”

“The mage who took the Litanny of Adralla?” Morrigan said with a slight frown.

Niall nodded. “Yes, I did that.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I...I don't know,” Niall admitted. “It feels like forever, but I really don't know.”

“Hm,” Morrigan pursed her lips. “Surana, the Sloth demon may be working through him,” she said.

“What?” Kitranna and Niall said at the same time.

“If you have been here for a long time, and you came here before us, there's a reasonable chance that the Sloth demon is feeding off of your mind and soul and working through you to get to us,” Morrigan said.

“I am not possessed!” Niall exclaimed.

“You do not have to be,” Morrigan said, rolling her eyes. “Do you honestly think that there is no middle ground between being an abomination and not being demon-touched?”

“So we can't trust him,” Kitranna said.

“Perhaps so,” Morrigan said. “What has he suggested?”

“That the Sloth demon houses some lesser demons here...” Kitranna waved around at their surroundings. “Wherever 'here' is, and that we should go after them before we go after the Sloth demon.”

Morrigan stared hard at Niall. “I think we should find our companions before we do that,” she said. “If we kill the Sloth demon while they are still trapped in dreams, they may die also.”

Kitranna looked at Niall.

“I—I didn't know that!” Niall said, growing pale. “I swear!”

“Entirely possible,” Morrigan drawled. “I would still not trust him. It is also possible the Sloth demon is feeding off of him as we speak.”

Kitranna nodded. “Right...so, we need to fetch everyone. How are we going to go about doing that?”

“With luck, Fiona and the spirit healer--”

“Wynne.”

“Will manage to free themselves, if they are halfway competent.” she furrowed her brow. “I do not think the golem will find themselves in the Fade.”

“No...” Kitranna said. “Shale was getting affected by Sloth, though, I remember.”

“'Twould be a most interesting thing, finding a golem in the Fade,” Morrigan said. “But I do not think it likely.”

“I...” Niall started. “I could..”

Kitranna waved him away. “No, that's alright.”

“You are so sure that she is not a demon?” Niall asked, gesturing in Morrigan's direction.

Morrigan snorted.

“Pretty sure,” Kitranna said. “And I can take care of myself, either way.”

“Oh...” Niall looked a bit confused. “I suppose I could...just wait here, then.”

“You do that.”

Morrigan and Kitranna walked away from him, then. “How do we get to one of the other islands?” Kitranna asked.

A door suddenly appeared before them, gleaming with a faint blue light.

“...Oh.”

“The Fade does react to your desires,” Morrigan reminded her. “Even the Fade as shaped by a demon.”

Kitranna opened the door, and they were somewhere else entirely.

The place they were in looked like the Tower, but hazy and strange and warped.

“This is different,” Kitranna said, frowning.

Morrigan nodded, her eyes narrowed.

“Are we in someone's dream, or is this another trap?” Kitranna asked.

Morrigan reached out and touched one of the walls. “I see no demons impersonating my mother,” she said. “If it is a trap, it is a different one than the ones I have encountered previously.”

“The demons looked like your mother?” Kitranna asked, curious.

Morrigan nodded. “It thought it could use motherly love to entrap me,” she curled her lips, disgusted. “I suppose it would have moved on to something else if given enough time.”

“The demon I saw looked like Jowan,” Kitranna said.

“Who?”

“A friend of mine.”

“How obnoxious.” she shook her head. “I cannot stand demons who impersonate others' form instead of taking on their own.”

“I can't say I like them much either.” the room began to move around them, shifting someone, the walls moving and changing. “Is the room...moving?”

“We should continue,” Morrigan said.

They went to a door that looked half-formed, and out into the hallway beyond.

“Now...are we looking for anything specifically?” Kitranna asked. “Do you know?”

Morrigan shook her head. “I do not.” she frowned.

“Fortunate that I do, then, is it not?” they turned and saw Fiona walking towards them, Alistair at her side. Neither of them looked very happy.

“Enchanter,” Kitranna said with a smile. “Nice to see you.”

“If you are yourself, and not a demon, that is,” Morrigan said.

Alistair rolled his eyes. “Not much of a difference between you and a demon, is there?” he said with a scowl at Morrigan.

Kitranna tilted her head to one side. “I don't feel any demons,” she said. She looked at Morrigan. “What about you?”

Morrigan shook her head.

“How did you two find each other?” Kitranna asked.

Fiona and Alistair glanced at each other.

“Fiona...rescued me,” Alistair said, rubbing the back of his head and flushing. “Not a mage and all, you know, I don't know demons...”

Morrigan snorted. “I am pleased that at least the Enchanter has a basic skillset.” she said.

“What about everyone else?” Kitranna asked. “Zevran, Leliana, Shale..?”

“Would Shale even be in the Fade?” Alistair asked. “I mean...they are a golem...”

“I don't know,” Kitranna said. “We'll just have to look for them like everyone else.”

“I'm sure Wynne will find us herself,” Fiona said. “She is a spirit healer, if I recall, she should be able to remove herself from these traps...but...”

“But what?”

Fiona pursed her lips. “Nothing. We will find her when we find her—her and the others.”

They found Leliana and Zevran in dreams of their own—not good dreams, but nightmares. Apparently they had both broken out of the pleasant dreams to accidentally become entrenched in nightmares instead. Zevran in a reenactment of some particularly nasty Crow training, Leliana watched over by a vindictive Chantry sister.

They rescued the both of them.

“Not the most enjoyable place, this,” Zevran said. His tone was light, but his expression was pinched.

Kitranna shook her head.

“Did the demons say anything...strange, to you?” Zevran asked.

“They said lots of strange things,” Kitranna said. “What do you mean?”

Zevran furrowed his brow. “It is—well, it is a dream,” he said. “But they called me—when I awoke, in the first dream, one of the demons, it called me--”

“Old blood?” Fiona asked.

“Yes!” Zevran glanced at her. “How did you know?”

“Demons call me that too,” Kitranna said. “I think it's an elf thing.”

“They didn't used to,” Fiona said. “I don't know what's changed. And if they've started doing it to non-mages...”

Zevran held up his hands. “I could not say what it meant,” he said. “Only that it occurred.”

Wynne had not managed to free herself from her own nightmare. She was trapped inside it, echoes of her dead students calling out to her. Fiona was angry.

“Get a hold of yourself!” she told the taller woman, grabbing her arms and shaking her. “You need to help us—you cannot stay here to wallow in your grief!”

Wynne tilted her head up, her expression steely. She yanked out of Fiona's hold. “Your disregard for the dead is utterly inappropriate,” she said.

Morrigan laughed, and Kitranna elbowed her.

“There is no time for this,” Morrigan sneered, folding her arms.

“I absolutely agree,” Fiona said with a scowl. “Wynne,”

With some cajoling and a large amount of anger, they snapped Wynne out of it and dealt with the demons who accosted her.

Next was Shale. They hadn't been sure Shale would appear in the Fade at all, being a golem, but they did find them, frozen in place, not accosted by demons.

After some shouting, Shale cracked and moved and came back to life, to look at them, somewhat confused.

“I am...here, but not here.” Shale narrowed their eyes, the gleam of them bright in the haziness of the Fade. “Is this a place of magic? I have never seen its like before.”

“It's magic,” Kitranna confirmed. “The Sloth demon must have gotten you, too.”

“Hmm,” Shale rumbled unhappily. “Let us go and deal with this Sloth demon, then.”

Before they did anything with the Sloth demon, they had to take care of the smaller demons that Sloth hosted. They were less powerful, less dangerous, but still needed to be found and caught.

They managed—sticking together they found it was much easier to escape any illusions placed upon them. They came across Niall again, and he ended up tagging along with them, growing stronger and less tired in his proximity to them.

Finally, only Sloth was left, at the center of the dream.

Sloth had assumed a strange and twisted shape, one that radiated exhaustion from every fiber of its being.

“Are you so sure you do not wish to stay here?” Sloth asked. “I tried to make you happy. I gave you peace.”

“That was not peace,” Wynne said. “You gave us nothing.”

Sloth chuckled. “Can't you feel what's coming, old blood?” it said, directing its attention to Kitranna. “You and your kin?”

“What does that mean?” Kitranna asked. “Demons and spirits keep saying things like that—what does it mean?”

“Can you not tell?” Sloth shook its head. “Sad, how very little you observe about your world.”

“Do not encourage it,” Morrigan said.

Sloth glanced at Morrigan. “Surely you can feel it,” Sloth said. “Old things, long dead, coming back to life.”

“I feel no such thing,” Morrigan said. “Quickly, now,” she told her companions. “Let us end this.”

“Wait,” Kitranna held out a hand, and stepped closer to the demon.

“Don't!” Wynne exclaimed.

“No, I want to know,” Kitranna said, peering at the demon.

“Demons will say anything,” Morrigan reached out and grabbed Kitranna's arm. “You know this as well as I.”

“I do, but...” Kitranna gritted her teeth.

“Ignore its lies,” Leliana said. “It seeks only to hurt us.”

Kitranna pursed her lips, and she raised her staff.

“A battle it is, then?” the Sloth demon sighed, as if disappointed. “If that is what you wish. You will learn to bow to your betters.”

The battle was long and grueling, the demon able to take on several different shapes. It looked like an enormous Pride demon one minute, a Revenant the next. Finally, however, with all of them helping, they destroyed it, just as they had destroyed the other demons.

The world began to crumble around them, everything feeling lighter all of a sudden.

“You destroyed the demon...”

They all looked to see Niall blinking as if coming out of a daze. He hadn't helped in the battle, instead standing off to one side. He wasn't a combat mage, so it made sense that he wouldn't fight.

“I had not thought it possible...” he said.

“Of course it's possible,” Kitranna said. “Come on,” she gestured to him. “You can help us get rid of Uldred and save the Tower.”

“I—I can't,” he admitted.

“What?” both Wynne and Kitranna exclaimed at once.

“Your friend was right,” Niall nodded to Morrigan. “The demon was feeding on me in order to fuel itself. It was half in and half out of the Fade, you see.”

Morrigan nodded.

“Niall, no,” Wynne said, stepping towards him. “There must be something we can do...”

Niall shook his head. “I'm sorry, Wynne,” he said. “The demon simply took too much from me. For you, this will have been an afternoon's nap. For me, it is as if I had been sleeping for months. I cannot wake from that.”

“What do we do?” Kitranna said. “What were you planning on doing with the Litany?”

“Uldred has been using blood magic,” Niall said. “The Litany can protect you. Take it from my—from my body, use it.”

“Niall...” Kitranna bit her lip, then reached out and grasped his shoulder. “...bye.”

“Goodbye, Surana,” Niall said quietly. “I wish you all luck.”

“May you find peace at the Maker's side,” Wynne whispered.

“Thank you,” Niall gave them a tiny smile. “Now go—I am sure your errand cannot wait.”

The world dissolved around them, and everything faded away.

They woke up on the stone floor of the room that the Sloth demon had been occupying.

“Well,” Zevran said. “That was a thoroughly uncomfortable experience.”

“Very odd,” Shale agreed.

“The Litany,” Kitranna said, shaking her head, which was still fuzzy with sleep. “Where's Niall--?”

“Here,” Wynne said quietly. She was crouched by Niall's body. She'd closed his eyes. In one hand she had the sheaf of paper with the Litany on it. “I have it.”

“Good,” Kitranna said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Good. We can keep moving, can't we...?”

“We should keep moving,” Fiona said.

“We should go to Irving's office,” Wynne said. “Perhaps there will be other spells to aid us there.”

So that was what they did.

Irving's office was empty. They searched the bookshelves for any magical tomes that might help against blood magic. Kitranna located several of Irving's journals, and flipped through the most recent one to see if she could find anything that might help.

She did find a reference to blood magic, in some of Irving's private journals. But it wasn't what she had wanted to see.

“I followed another apprentice through supposed secret maneuvers today, and exposed her tendency towards blood magic. The environment of the tower is such that certain modes of thought are encouraged, both for good and ill. The students think we toy with them. The truth is far more intricate and directed. Deviant traits must be exposed early, or the whole of the Circle suffers. Uldred has been very helpful in identifying the markers to look for. His skills at misdirection are admirable. I daresay that the apprentices would be shocked at his ability to manipulate them. I must organize a retreat such that the other enchanters can benefit from his skills.”

Kitranna dropped the book.

“What is it?” Leliana asked.

Kitranna curled one hand into a fist and covered her mouth with the other, backing away from the table.

“Warden...” Wynne said.

Kitranna rounded on Wynne. “Did you know?” she demanded. “Know about the—the—?”

“What?”

Kitranna picked up the book she had been reading and thrust it into Wynne's hands. “Look!” she snapped, pointing at the relevant passage. “Look here! Right here! Irving was—he was trying to--”

Wynne's eyes widened as she looked at what Kitranna had given her. “Manipulating the students,” she breathed. “Allowing for blood magic to fester here...”

“What?” Leliana exclaimed. She snatched the journal out of Wynne's hands, and Alistair and Fiona crowded in beside her. “That...that might not mean...” Leliana croaked.

Fiona's face twisted in rage. “This is vile,” she said.

“It doesn't say exactly that he encouraged blood magic, or taught it or anything,” Alistair said. “Just that he...was...being terrible.”

“How else would so many students have learned blood magic, unless they were allowed to do so?” Wynne demanded. She shook her head. “'Deviant traits must be exposed early...' he endangered everyone with these games, everyone!” she rubbed the bridge of her nose and leaned back heavily against the table. “We try everything we can to do good,” she said. “To control our magic, and he—intentionally toys with students, misdirects them--” she shook her head.

“Did you expect anything more?” Morrigan said, looking through another book. “Your masters do not wish to keep mages safe. They wish to keep you afraid, fearing your power, allowing yourselves to be corralled like cattle. This is merely another way to accomplish that aim.”

“No,” Wynne shook her head. “No, you are wrong. They are not like that. This is...this is wrong. This is a perversion of all the Circles stand for--”

Morrigan snorted. “Have your fantasies if you wish,” she said with an airy wave of her hand. “I would prefer not to.”

They found some other defenses against blood magic, not as strong as the Litany, but still useful. Then they continued on, hoping against hope that Irving was still alive.

They came to the floor right below the Harrowing chamber, where a curious violet barrier flickered in one corner. Kitranna moved forward, and realized someone was trapped inside it.

“This trick again? I know what you are...I will stay strong...” a Templar, a young man who looked haggard and wan, glanced up as they approached, then back down.

“Oh, poor lad,” Wynne said, reaching out a hand to brush the surface of the barrier. “He is exhausted—I've never seen anything like this cage.”

“Are there any demons around?” Kitranna said, looking around. “I can't feel any, but maybe one of them set this here...” she peered at the Templar, and suddenly felt sick. It was Cullen. “Oh,” she breathed. “Oh, I know you.”

“You do?” Leliana said.

“In a manner of speaking,” Kitranna said. “He was one of the Templars at my Harrowing.”

“The Harrowing?”

“The right of passage by which apprentices become Enchanters,” Fiona explained. She looked at the Templar. “He is awfully young to have been assigned that duty...” she said.

“Wonder what he's doing here?” Kitranna mused. She stepped closer. “Do you know me?” she asked him.

“Only too well,” he groaned. “They've delved deep into my thoughts...but I will stay strong...”

“Rest easy,” Wynne soothed. “Help is here.”

“There were other Templars here,” Alistair said, noting with a sigh the bodies clad in armor behind Cullen.

“You broke the others but you will not break me...” Cullen gritted. “Tempting me with the one thing I always wanted but could never have...:

Kitranna went cold.

“My—infatuation—with her, a mage of all things--”

Kitranna's stomach dropped. “I'm not a thing,” she snarled, slamming a fist against the barrier and making everyone jump. “What is the matter with you?”

“Surana!” Wynne exclaimed. “The boy has been tortured--”

“I don't care,” she said. “He wanted—he thinks I'm--” she curled her hands into fists. “He would have killed me at my Harrowing if I'd gotten it wrong, and he--” she took a deep breath. “You listen to me,” she snapped, jabbing her finger in Cullen's direction, and he looked up, startled. “You listen. I'm not a thing for you to obsess over—you understand? I'm not a vision or a dream or anything else—I'm a person.”

Cullen's eyes widened. Apparently the demons had never given him this particular vision before.

She bared her teeth. “And if you even think about laying a hand on me, I'll break your arm.” she snorted. “How's that for real? Demon wouldn't've pulled that, now would it?”

“I...” Cullen stammered. “I...”

“Pull yourself together.” Kitranna turned away. “Come on,” she snapped. “We need to move.”

“That was uncalled for,” Wynne hissed in Kitranna's ear.

“I don't care,” Kitranna snapped. “I don't want a Templar thinking he can--” she shuddered.

“Thinking he has some sort of claim to you,” Morrigan said, glancing at Cullen with a disgusted look on her face.

“There you go.”

“In my experience, Templars need to be told where their authority ends,” Fiona said, her expression more pitying. “I agree. We should move on.”

“You—you have to kill them!” Cullen exclaimed, noting that they were about to move on. “If you are real, then--”

“I do not care what you think,” Kitranna said.

Wynne and Leliana both cast one last sad look on Cullen, before they headed up the steps to the Harrowing Chamber.

“Wait!” The Templar called again. “Wait--!”

The door slammed shut behind them, cutting off his cries.

They came into a scene of horror.

They were immediately assaulted with the thick stench of rotting meat, the strange fleshy growths almost covering the floor of the Chamber. There were about ten mages bound in the center of the chamber, Irving among them.

Standing, was Uldred, flanked by several abominations.

“Ah, look what we have here. I remember you.” he looked upon Kitranna, his eyes fever-bright. “You of the old blood.”

“I--” Kitranna blinked and looked around at her companions. “There—there are other elves here, you know.”

“Yes, of course, but I don't believe in coincidences.” Uldred's abominations circled slowly, and Uldred examined them all as if they were particularly interesting beetles.

“What you have done to this place...” Wynne hissed, shaking her head.

Uldred glanced at her. “Ah, the spirit healer,” his voice dripped with disdain. “So entrenched in your ideas of what is right and wrong that you ignore the world around you. You abandon your potential for some pathetic idea of 'good.'”

“What's the point in all this?” Kitranna demanded. “The Templars are going to come with the Right of Annullment--” several of the bound mages gasped.

Uldred snorted. “They will be of no trouble,” he said. “A mage is but the larval form of something greater,” he gestured to the abominations at his side. “Your Chantry has them convinced—calls them cursed, abominations. But they have only reached their full potential.”

“They have not,” Leliana protested. “You have defiled them, cursed them--!”

“Such a change is very small compared to the change that is coming,” Uldred said. “Surely you can feel it—surely you have dreamed it, heard it in the voices of spirits, demons, dreamers and madmen and darkspawn. The Archdemon wakes, and that is merely the beginning.”

“I'm sick of this,” Kitranna hissed, her face contorting in a snarl. “I'm sick of this weird—prophetic nonsense! What are you talking about?”

“He is mad,” Wynne said. “He speaks nonsense and lies—ignore it. A demon speaks through him!”

“You have barred your mind from the world,” Uldred accused. “Some people can be so stubborn...but it does not matter.”

“It most certainly does not,” Wynne snarled, and she slammed Uldred back with a wave of raw magic, not even thinking to compose a spell.

The fight broke out in earnest. There were five abominations, including Uldred, who morphed into an enormous horror as soon as he could. The abominations were large, but Uldred was almost the size of an ogre, and he towered over all of them. All the abominations had a resistance to magic, so the non-magical members of the party were invaluable in bringing him down.

Finally Uldred was defeated, and Irving was alive, as well as several of the other mages that Ulrded had captured.

“Maker, I'm too old for this,” Irving groaned.

Wynne grabbed his arm, hauling him to his feet. “Come along,” she snapped. “You shall tell the Knight-Captain you are alive, and then you will tell me why you have allowed blood magic to grow in this Circle.”

“Wynne, I--”

“I do not want to hear it. I do not want to hear any lies, or excuses,” she brought them both to a halt and stared into his face. “You endangered this Circle,” she said. “You have endangered my charges, the other students here, the other Enchanters, with your games and your disregard for the safety of those who live here. It is by your hand this occurred.”

They went downstairs, Wynne almost at a jog, Kitranna, Fiona, Alistair and Leliana staying behind to help the other mages. Zevran and Morrigan looked as if they weren't quite sure what to do with themselves now that the fight was over, so Zevran settled on hovering near Kitranna, whereas Morrigan skulked by the wall.

They all followed Wynne downstairs, where Gregoire and the Knight-Captain were currently speaking. Gregoire had rescinded the Annulment, seeing Irving alive. Cullen had also made his way downstairs, as apparently his prison had broken when Uldred had died. He avoided Kitranna's gaze.

“Knight-Captain, First Enchanter,” Kitranna said. “The Wardens need the mages. Do we have your assistance?”

“I do not see how much assistance we can lend,” Irving admitted. “But...we will do what we can.”

“We will lend our aid as well,” Gregoire said.

“Great. Now--”

“Irving,” Wynne said. “I am leaving with the Wardens.”

“What?' Irving said. “We need--”

“The Wardens need me,” she said. “And I trust that you understand that their quest is an extremely urgent one.”

“I--” Irving looked at Wynne's stormy face, and he deflated. “If that is what you wish, then you may go.”

After Wynne made sure her charges were safe, they quickly left, no one wanting to stay in the Tower longer than was necessary. For once, they didn't stay in a camp, and instead decided instead to risk the Inn on the shores of Calenhad. At the very least, everyone needed a bath to rinse the smell of rotten meat and dead flesh off of them.

Alistair found Fiona outside, sitting next to Dog. He had his head in her lap, looking much more like a pampered lapdog than the war hound he was.

“You like Mabari too?” Alistair said.

Fiona chuckled. “I would be hard-pressed not to like this one.”

Alistair sat down on Dog's other side. “You know, Surana still just calls him Dog?”

“I know.” Fiona smiled and shook her head. The pair of them were quiet for a minute.

“I remember what you said, in the Fade--” Alistair started.

Fiona scowled and looked down. “I was hoping that you would not.”

“What?” Alistair blinked. “Why?”

“It is of no import.” she avoided his eyes. “It does not matter.”

“Of course it matters!” he exclaimed.

“Do you even recall what I said?” she snapped. “It was the Fade, in the trap of a demon. Can you even truly recall?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me.”

“That is not your sister,” Fiona insisted. She reached out for Alistair. “Alistair, listen to me--”

“What do you mean?” Alistair frowned. “Of course she is.”

“Alistair is my little brother,” the thing that looked like Goldanna said. “I'm overjoyed to have him back!” she smiled, and Fiona's lip curled in disgust.

“She is not,” Fiona said. “Alistair, wake up. We are in the Fade.”

He blinked at her, confused. “Nnoo...” he said slowly. “No, I don't think so...”

Goldanna peered at Fiona. Her face flickered for a moment, and a hand reached out to grasp Fiona's. She muttered something in Fiona's ear, and Fiona yanked her arm away.

“Alistair,” Fiona said. “This is not real.”

“Enchanter, don't say that,” Alistair said. He reached out, took her shoulder. “Come on—I thought being in the Gray Wardens would make me happy, but it didn't. This does. Maybe it will make you happy too.”

Fiona looked up at Alistair.. “She is not your sister, Alistair,” Fiona insisted.

“How can you say that?”

“I know she is not your sister because—because I have no other children!” Fiona burst out.

Alistair blinked, shook his head. “I—what?”

“I have no other children,” Fiona sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“What does it matter how many children you have?” Alistair looked extremely confused.

“Because you are the only one I have.”

Everything around them came to a standstill.

“W-what?” Alistair breathed.

“Don't interfere,” snapped a voice in Fiona's ear, and Alistair jumped.

“What was that?” he exclaimed, looking around. “Hang on a minute...this...”

“This is a dream,” Fiona said, readying a spell. “And around us are quite a lot of demons, so if you would be so kind as to pull yourself together...?”

“Yes—yes, of course--”

Then they fought the demons—when not behind a smokescreen, the demons were easy enough to dispatch.

“Enchanter—Fiona,” Alistair said, when the last demon had burst into a shower of sparks and evaporated. “Did you--?”

“We need to find the others,” Fiona said, her tone brusque. “Come on.”

“And then we found Surana and Morrigan,” Alistair finished. “Happy?”

Fiona was quiet. “That is certainly how it happened,” she muttered. “You are correct.”

“Did you mean what you said or not?” Alistair said in a rush. “Are you--?”

“Yes,” Fiona jerked her head in a nod. “Yes, I am.”

“Then why--”

“It was safer for you to be in Redcliffe when you were born,” Fiona said sharply, stroking Dog's head and still dodging Alistair's eyes. “Safer for you to be with humans than with me. And the Wardens dislike children.”

“How's that? I haven't heard that.”

“You would not have. It would never have come up. You know they cannot have children, and some were...” she trailed off. “And in the Circle--” she paused again. “It was better.”

“So...Goldanna isn't my sister, then.”

Fiona shook her head. “Unless—unless Maric had other children, which is possible, but I do not think he would.”

Alistair looked up at the sky.

“You...did you spend a lot of time, looking for Goldanna?” Fiona asked suddenly.

“A bit, yeah,” Alistair said. “I wanted to know who my mother was, so...well, I didn't know if Goldanna was my sister for sure, but I thought...she seemed like...” he sighed. “I dunno. I guess I just wanted to find any family, really.”

Fiona finally looked at him, meeting his eyes for just a moment before looking away again. “Well, I am here now. I cannot be anywhere else.”

“That's good,” he assured her. “Unless...you don't have to be with us, if you don't want—”

“No, no, it is not like that,” she said, jerking her head up. “The circumstances—it was not that--” she sighed and looked down at her hands. “I will not leave. I cannot.”

“Oh, well, that's good. Wouldn't want to be around my—around someone who didn't want to be around me,” he tried a weak grin.

“That is not it at all!” she exclaimed. “I promise I—I did not want to leave you to Eamon, but I--” her voice went quiet. “There was no other choice.”

They sat beside each other for a long moment before Alistair spoke again.

“You know what this means, right?” he elbowed her playfully and she looked around at him, scowling.

“What?”

“I'm related to an Orlesian. And here I thought I was all Ferelden.”

Fiona stared at him, then laughed.

Morrigan found Kitranna paging through one of the spellbooks she had pilfered from Irving's office. She watched her for a long moment. “You are well?” Morrigan asked eventually.

Kitranna looked up. “I'm fine,” she said. “What about you?”

“I did not appreciate the Sloth demon, but otherwise, yes, I am perfectly well.”

Kitranna frowned. “I didn't like the Sloth demon either,” she said. “Did the things it talked about make you nervous, too?”

“In what way?” Morrigan hesitated, then sat down in the chair across from the bed.

“It sounded like the kind of thing Zathrian and the Lady said, only without the wolves.”

“That it did.” Morrigan pursed her lips. She shook her head. “Flemeth spoke of omens, before we encountered one another,” she said. “But not even she could know everything.”

Kitranna sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don't know what to do about all this,” she admitted. “I just...I barely know what I'm doing now.”

“You seek to end the Blight. Or was that not made clear to you?”

Kitranna gave her a dirty look. “That's not what I meant.” she leaned her chin on her hands. “I am so tired.”

“Then perhaps it would do you well to sleep.”

“Can't sleep.”

“What could possibly be preventing you from doing so?”

“Every time I close my eyes I see...” she trailed off.

“Your brethren from the tower.” Morrigan's voice was quiet.

Kitranna looked away. “...yeah.”

“Do not think on them,” Morrigan advised swiftly. “They are gone, and you are not. You have triumphed over the demons, and achieved your goal. There is no reason to dwell on them.”

“Who will, if I won't?” Kitranna demanded. “They didn't have families—the Templars don't care. Hardly anyone else is left alive.”

“I assume those mages who are left alive will remember them. That is not your burden, it is theirs, for allowing such a thing to occur.”

Kitranna looked down. “Maybe if we'd gotten there sooner—if I hadn't dragged my feet coming here--”

“Perhaps then we may have missed Warden Fiona on the road. Or Clan Leanvunlas would have left, or been devoured by werewolves. Perhaps we ourselves would have been caught up in the demons' initial attack. It does you no good to think on these things. Focus on the goal you have yet to accomplish.”

Kitranna didn't say anything, and Morrigan sighed.

“If nothing else, you should rest now, because we must be on our way soon enough,” she said, her tone brusque. She leaned over and closed the book that Kitranna had been looking through. “I am tired. You are tired. Rest would be the best decision.”

Kitranna smiled. “Fine, fine,” she said. “If you're gonna get fussy about it...”

“I do not 'fuss,'” Morrigan said with a frown. “I merely explain the situation.”

Kitranna chuckled. “I said fine,” she waved a hand at Morrigan. She ran a hand over her head and got to her feet. “It'll be nice sleeping in an actual bed instead on the ground for once...”