Where Fate Takes Us

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Dragon Age is property of BioWare

Author Note: I swear a plot bunny latched onto me and would not let me go until I wrote this chapter out!

Thankies to me best minion Asilyessam for betaing/proof reading behind me.

Warning: Alternate universe, yaoi parings

Chapter 1

Creeping through the dark halls, a silent figure darted from shadow to shadow. Stopping and peering around a corner, the figure watched a man in a full suit of armor with a large sword at the knight's side walk down the hallway with a lantern held high to light the knight's way. Every few steps the knight would check behind statues or open closed doors to check behind them before moving on. At one point the shadowed figure ducked back behind the corner as the knight turned around to look back the way he came. The man stared down the hall for a moment or two then turned and continued his way.

Soon the light from the knight's lantern was gone as he turned a corner and the figure listened to the footsteps move further and further away. The figure seemed to smirk and quietly slip around the corner into the hallway. The figure knew that the knight wouldn't be coming back down this hallway for a couple of hours, if at all. The Templars that guarded the tower at night sometimes fell asleep when they were supposed to be guarding the tower.

Stopping at one of the doors, the figure opened it very slowly and peeked into the room beyond it. It searched for any signs of more Templars, happy when they didn't see any. Not surprising, once everyone in the tower was asleep the Templars didn't bother guarding the room beyond the door. Glancing over a shoulder one final time to make sure there was no one to see them, the figure slipped into the room and gently shut the door behind them.

"Ahh… alone at last," The figure said very softly then walked through the room. It was a library filled with rows upon rows of bookshelves teeming with books. The figure walked over to the one of the highest shelves within the room and quickly climbed up it to sit at the top in a patch of moon light.

The figure was an Elf, a young male in his late teens. He had long silvery white hair, which seem to glow in the moonlight, and was currently unbound from the braid he kept it up in letting the silver strands frame his soft narrow face and fall in waves past his shoulders. Like any Elf, his ears were long and came to a sharp point, twitching and moving at every little sound he could hear. Elven ears were not just for show, their hearing was much better than a human's and were very sensitive.

The boy was fair skinned, not deathly pale but it was pretty clear he got little to no sun most days. His eyes were a striking crystal blue, which drew many people in at times. One of the Elf's most striking features though was the tribal like tattoos on his face; they were dark around the eyes, making them stand out even more than they already did, with little wispy lines breaking off near the bottom and sides to graze his cheeks and the corner of his eyes. On his forehead he bore two sets of slightly curved lines, one set on each side of his forehead. The tattoos could appear soft when he was relaxed or happy or sometimes gave him a fierce look when he was angry.

Many people who didn't know any better mistook the marks for the markings that the Dalish Elves, a race of wondering Elves that roamed all the lands in Thedas as they refused to bow down to the Humans and their Chantry, that they called vallaslin or blood-writing in Elven that they wore to honor those they considered their gods call the Creators. But the marks were no vallaslin and the Elven boy was no Dalish. The marks on his face were called to mokos, a personal mark that many of his tribe took somewhere on their body, not always on the face, when they reached their teens. The Elven youth had to trick a bunch of younger Templars into getting his done when he reached his 16th name day.

The teen wore a night shirt that was too large for his lean frame, falling off one shoulder and his feet were bare.

His name was Atreyu Surana and he had been a prisoner of Kinloch Hold, or as it was more commonly called the Tower of Magi or Circle Tower, for just over 10 years. He had been brought there when he was 9 years old and was now 19, his name day having just passed only a few weeks ago. Not that anyone really wished him a happy name day, Atreyu didn't speak to many people in the tower and there were even fewer he would even call friends. In fact the amount of people he would call friends here in the tower could be counted on one hand.

He hated the tower, he hated how trapped he was there. He was originally from the Korcari Wilds, living with his family and tribe deep within the forests there. But an very unfortunate series of events had led him to where he was now, starting with the murder of his father at the hands of the Templars all because the man had been what they called an Apostate, a rouge mage not a part of any circle. His father had been a shaman, a healer, and had never hurt anyone in his life unless it was to protect someone else. Atreyu had witnessed the murder while hiding in the bush where his father had told him to hide. Seeing his Ada fall… blood gushing from the wounds on his chest…. Atreyu had stupidly ran out of his hiding spot, his hands glowing with a blue light as he attempted to heal his parent. It was the first time Atreyu had ever shown he had magic, triggered by the emotional distress of seeing his father killed.

The Templars had been near enough to see and hear Atreyu and had dragged him from his father's body before he could escape. And brought him here… and now 10 years later he yearned for freedom so badly…

He was an apprentice mage in the tower, having not gone through his Harrowing as of yet, a test all mages that lived in Circles took to see if they were worthy of being a Circle Mage. Atreyu had no idea just what kind of test the Harrowing was, he just knew those who didn't pass ended up dead and those who did were forbidden to speak of it. His mentor was the First Enchanter of the tower, a man named Irving. He was a kind man and looked out for all the mages within the tower, favoring the Spirit Healers the most. Atreyu was one of his only two students, the other being Atreyu's friend Silvia Amell, or Silver as everyone called her.

Atreyu sighed softly as he looked out the high window at the top of the library, this was the closest he could get to being outside, sitting on top of these books shelves and looking out the window. Not that he could see much of anything but feeling the light from the sun, or light of the moon in this case, was better than nothing and reminded him there was more than just the cold drafty rooms of the tower in this mad world.

Sighing again Atreyu looked away from the window and looked around the library. This was his favorite place in the tower and he usually snuck into it by himself at least one night a week if he could get away with it. He liked learning different spells, was quite good at it in fact, he just didn't like the Templars, the Chantry, or being away from his people.

He had no problems seeing the library in the near darkness, like the rest of his kind Atreyu could all but see in the dark as long as he had a little bit of light. The moon light streaming through the windows was more than enough for him to see with.

'What should I look at tonight?' Atreyu thought to himself as he jumped back onto the floor, landing silently on his bare feet. He shivered a little at the cold stones then started to walk around. There were many many books in the library and it would take years to read all of them. And this wasn't even the only library within the Tower, there was a second smaller one upstairs usually used by the Circle Mages.

He wondered over to a part of the library he rarely read books from and started to pull books off the shelves, looking at them then shaking his head and putting them back. When he tugged at one book that was packed in there pretty tight, several of the books around it fell to the floor. Atreyu jumped back and pressed a hand over his chest at the sudden noise. His ears twitched and listened for anyone that might have heard the sound and were running toward the library to investigate. But Atreyu heard nothing and after a few minutes sighed in relief. He huffed and leaned down to pick up the books, placing them back on the shelf.

He nearly missed it, tucked back behind other books on the shelf and kept in the deep shadows. It was only because the moonlight glinted off the silver writing on the front that Atreyu even noticed it. Curious, Atreyu carefully pulled the book out and look it over. His eyes widened and a shiver of excitement ran through him. It was a book written in Elven! A book about shape shifting written by other, older Elves! Atreyu could not believe his luck, he had been interested in shape shifting since he was a child. Many of his tribe knew how to use the gift and he had sat in on a few of his childhood friend Morrigan's lessons with her mother.

He had hoped for years since he's magic came to him to learn the art himself but the Templars frowned on the practice and many apprentices were told shape shifting was not possible, only a child's dream. That they had any books on the subject was amazing! Or that they would leave it out for anyone to find… of course they may not even know what the book was about. Atreyu could easily read, write and speak Elven as it was his native tongue. The only other person in the tower that may know any was an older mage name Finn that Atreyu spent a little time around. The man was fascinated by Elves and was constantly badgering Atreyu to teach him Elven when they were both a lot younger.

Quickly putting the rest of the books back on the shelves, Atreyu raced over to his favorite perching spot and opened the book, eagerly reading the pages. He had to drag himself away from the book sometime later knowing he needed to return to his bed in the apprentice dorms before he was caught out of it. He held tight to the book and silently raced through the halls back to his dorm, keeping an eye out for any Templars that may catch him. But none did and the Templar that guarded the rooms at night was slumped down in the corner sleeping, his snores vibrating in the helmet he wore.

Atreyu crept to the end of his bed and opened his footlocker, hiding the book on shape shifting deep inside with his other treasures. Lying down on the very uncomfortable bed all the apprentices' slept on, Atreyu very nearly had trouble falling asleep, still very excited about his find. When he finally did sleep, he dreamed of all the different animals he could change into and what he could do with that power. It put a smile on his face that stayed there the rest of the night.

The next day Atreyu found it very hard to pay attention to his lessons, all he wanted to do was study the book so he begin working his way toward his first transformation. But he managed to pull himself together just barely and listen to what Irving had to say. If the old mage noticed that his favorite student was distracted by something the First Enchanter didn't let on he noticed. And there really wasn't that much else for Irving to teach Atreyu.

Every mage within the tower leaned toward one branch of magic or another, some even specialized in certain schools such as Spirit Healing or Force Magic though those weren't learned until after a mage went through their Harrowing. Atreyu favored the school of Primal magic, magic based around four of the elements fire, ice, electricity or stone leaning more toward fire and ice spell trees over the others. Atreyu also was quite good at arcane magic. He also learned the telekinesis tree of the school of spirit spells.

Creation, Entropy and the other branches of Spirit he wasn't so good at. He could barely case a healing spell and it was the only spell from the school for Creation he could use. The spell was just too… too human for him really and he noticed that it was a problem for the other Elven mages in the tower as well so at least he wasn't alone in that.

As for the higher specialized schools of magic…. Well Atreyu knew a spell or two of Force Magic taught to him by a Senior Enchanter from Kirkwall that took a liking to him. He thought about becoming a Combat Mage. And let's not forget Shape Shifting, if he could just learn the skill maybe he could…

"Atreyu, are you alright my boy?" Irving asked as he noticed Atreyu drifting once again.

"What?" Atreyu blinked and looked up at his mentor again. "I'm sorry First Enchanter, I don't mean to keep drifting off."

"It's quite alright," Irving assured him with a soft smile. He was very fond of Atreyu, as wild as the Elf was he was a delight to teach and Irving couldn't be prouder of his young student. Which was why he was pushing so hard for Atreyu to undertake his Harrowing, he had already sent in the paperwork for permission for Atreyu to take the test. As always, his counterpart in the Templar Knights, their Commander Greagior, wanted to argue with him about it. Irving was use to Greagior arguing with him about each mage he wanted to go through the Harrowing just because the man loved to rile him up.

"Excuse me, First Enchanter Irving," a dead sounding woman's voice said from the doorway. Atreyu shuddered when he heard the woman speak and turned around in the chair he sat on to look. It was a young human woman, only a few years older than Atreyu. Her blue eyes were very blank looking and her brown hair was cropped very short. On her forehead was the sunburst signal of the Chantry, their Cross, that marked her as one of the Tranquil. A mage that had been cut off from the Fade, a realm of dreams that existed on the other side of the Veil, that all mages drew their power from. But being made Tranquil did more than cut a mage off from their mana, it also cut them off from their emotions making it seem like they were dead inside.

As with any mage, the very idea of having to go through the Rite of Tranquility scared the shit out of Atreyu. He couldn't help but feel it would be like being trapped inside his own head as his body moved about not feeling love, hatred, sorrow… He would rather die.

The Tranquil were used around the Circles as a type of servant. They kept the tower clean, guarded the storage room where some of the magical tools were kept and because they were cut off from their magic they were able to work with Lyruim to make magical items that they sold later on to bring in some money for the tower. Lyruim was dangerous in its raw form to all beings of Thedas except the Tranquil and the Dwarves; they could only use Lyruim because they had no magic to speak of.

"Yes?" Irving asked.

"The Knight Commander is in his office requesting your presence, there is a man here wanting to speak to both of you," The Tranquil woman said. Irving hummed softly and stroked his beard then nodded.

"Whatever this is it shouldn't take long if you would wait here child?" Irving asked Atreyu.

"Yeah sure thing," Atreyu said. Irving gave him a kind smile then stood up leaving the room with the woman. Atreyu sighed in soft relief when the woman was finally gone, the Tranquil gave him the willies! Atreyu tiled his head slightly and listened with his sharp hearing if anyone else was walking toward the room. When he heard no one Atreyu leaned over the candle on Irving's desk and whispered something very softly over the flame.

The flame sputtered for a moment then flared brightly, part of the flame breaking off and forming into a little humanoid figure that was made completely out of fire. It was a fire fairy, or to be more accurate a sprite. Sprites were 'baby' spirits, within the Fade sprites looked like shapeless clouds as they had to 'grow up' into full Fade spirit. The sprite Atreyu summoned was a 'baby' elemental spirit, one of fire.

There was one class of Mage that he wanted to be and that was a Shaman just like his father and grandfather before him. While he didn't know what sort of abilities Human Shaman's had, the Shamans of his people had several different abilities, one of which was the ability to see, speak to and summon spirits of nature and of the Fade but most Shamans tended to stick to nature spirits who existed in the mortal world instead of the Fade. Atreyu being from a line of Shamans had the ability to see spirits, an ability that he kept hidden except for those he was very very close too.

He could also summon sprites, he wasn't stupid and knew to never summon a full spirit as he didn't have the control or will power to summon one. Sprites on the other hand were easy and good practice for Shamans in training. His people called the sprites of nature 'Fairies' instead of sprites and he was very good at summoning fire fairies, they were great for passing on messages and for keeping a look out.

He hadn't needed to cast the spell over the flame on the candle, he could be anywhere and summon a nature fairy, but it was easier to pull one from an already working source.

"Guard the door, warn me if you see anyone coming," Atreyu instructed the fairy softly. The fire fairy gave off little sparks then flew over to the top of the door to keep watch. Atreyu grinned as he stood up and looked around, this was the first chance that he had ever gotten to look around Irving's office in all the years there. He couldn't believe Irving had left him alone inside the room, he supposed the man trusted him but really, he should have known Atreyu's curiosity would lead him to poking around.

Some of the books appeared to be the same ones down in the libraries, he even saw a couple that he had already read before. Some others on the other hand were old books on different types of magic or history, one or two looked like they were written in Ancient Tevene. Atreyu almost wanted to sneak away a book or two to look at more closely but decided it wasn't worth the risk, he was sure Irving had a very good idea what books should be in his office.

Poking round another table filled with magical trinkets and books, Atreyu was very surprised to find books on Blood Magic.

'Why in the world would he have books on blood magic?' Atreyu wondered as he looked at the titles careful not to touch the books. Blood magic was one of the two darkest types of magic Mages could use, the other being Necromancy.

Necromancers had the ability to summon the spirits of the dead to either boost their spells or to use in attacks. Some of the more powerful could even control the bodies of the dead. It was a dark ability to be sure but it wasn't forbidden. Atreyu didn't think there were any Necromancers in the tower.

Blood Magic on the other hand was completely forbidden under Chantry rule, a Blood Mage used their own blood to power their spells instead of mana, used their blood to attack and even control minds of others. They also consorted with Demons, it wasn't unusual for some Blood Mages to turn into a demon. They could also use the blood of others in rituals, many of the Magisters of the Tevinter Imperium were known for using Blood Magic. In the past a group of Magisters had used Blood Magic to physically enter the Fade to get to a city that existed within it. There wasn't anything much known about the city, the Chantry would have everyone believe it was the golden city of their God the Maker, and when the Magisters breeched the city itself the 'Maker' cursed then with the Blight and sent them back to the Mortal world, turning the golden city black. Thus started the first ever Blight, a corruption that twisted everything it touched and brought with them the Darkspawn. If it wasn't for a group of people called the Grey Wardens, their world would be long gone by now.

Atreyu didn't know how much of the story was true, he didn't believe in the Maker after all. He respected Andraste of course; all Elves respected the woman who fought so hard to bring down the tyranny of the Imperium and freed their Elven slaves. But Atreyu didn't believe anything else the Chantry said about her or the so called Maker. And because of small handful of Mages got too big for their britches all Mages were punished for it by the Chantry. You either were a part of a circle or you needed to be killed according to them. It was utter madness and Atreyu hated it.

While he couldn't think of a single reason as to why his mentor would have books on Blood Magic, Atreyu decided it wasn't his business, he really didn't think Irving was any sort of Blood Mage. Maybe the man was keeping them in his office so the younger mages couldn't read them? He shrugged his shoulders and moved away. In the corner of the room he found at large trunk that was surprisingly unlocked. It was filled to the brim with all sorts of items that Atreyu dug through, at the bottom he found what looked like a grimoire, a hand written book of spells. He opened it to glance at it, finding the hand writing familiar but wasn't able to fully read it as the fire fairy flew over to him.

"Someone is coming," it warned. Atreyu cursed softly and put the grimoire back into the trunk and closed it, running over to the chair and dismissing the small fairy with a soft thank you. Irving came back into the room looking pensive with Greagior right behind him.

"And just who will we send to assist the king's ar-" Greagoir was saying then stopped when he noticed Atreyu sitting in the chair. "What are you doing here apprentice?" Atreyu glared at Greagoir, his ears flattening against his head like a cat.

"I asked Atreyu to wait for me here Greagoir," Irving said as he sat down in his chair. "I believe our lessons for today are over my boy, Greagoir and I have important things to discuss."

"Of course First Enchanter," Atreyu said as he stood, giving his mentor a respectful bow then quickly leaving the room.

"Irving are you sure it's wise to leave-" Atreyu heard Greagoir say before the door closed. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping by any of the Templars, Atreyu quickly walked down the hallway and headed for the stairs to go to the first floor of the tower. He wondered what the two men had been talking about before they sent him away, something about the king. Atreyu shrugged to himself and put it out of his mind, whatever it was it didn't have anything to do with him.

Entering the dorm like room where he lived, Atreyu looked around. Other than the Templar that guarded the room during the day it was mostly empty except for a couple of girls chatting by the far wall. Most everyone else were in lessons or doing their own research. The Templar was looking in the girls' direction, or at least he appeared to be it was so hard to tell with those damn helmets, and paying no attention to Atreyu what so ever. That was fine with Atreyu, he calmly opened his footlocker and removed the book he found during his late night trip into the library hiding it between the pages of another book he had inside. Tucking both books under his arm, Atreyu turned and walked right back out of the dorm room.

Unlike at night, the library was a bustle of activity during the day. There the scholars running back and forth researching this or that. One of the Enchanters were giving lessons to a group of children apprentices, another was busy teaching one of the older apprentices how to cast a certain spell. A Tranquil or two walked around keeping the library tidy or heading to one of their other duties. A Templar knight was stationed against one wall overlooking a small part of the library. Atreyu wondered just how the Templars kept from getting so bored with guard duty, it had to be dull standing around all day just waiting for one of the mages to stand up and start casting something like blood magic.

Atreyu walked past this all, making sure to make it seem like he wasn't paying very close attention to where everyone was at or what they were doing. The library had a lot of blind spots were a young Mage could slip out of a Templar's sight with ease, one of which was a back corner of the room. There was a gap between the wall and one of the bookcases, behind it was a large empty space that many of the younger mages used to hide for the Templars for a while or even to have a little 'circle quickie'.

Right now the space was free of other people, except for a pair of young Elven children.

"Ello Gary, hiding from the Templars again?" Atreyu asked with a smile as he sat down.

"Bloody Shems," the Elven child Atreyu addressed muttered with a little scowl. Gary was a young Elven boy maybe around 8 or 9 years old, no one was completely sure which it was. His short shaggy looking hair was a beautiful shade of dark auburn red with lighter highlights of red that could be seen when the light hit it. His large almond shaped eyes were a stunning shade of purple, so dark around the outside that it nearly appeared black and fleck of much lighter purple around the iris.

His name wasn't really 'Gary', it was a name the Templars gave him as they hadn't liked whatever Gary's original name had been. They did that sometimes, Atreyu knew his friend Anders name wasn't really Anders but what it was the man couldn't remember. He was called 'Anders' because he was originally from Andersfels. Gary was a Dalish Elf, or at the very least one of the parents had been a Dalish, the boy had been brought to the tower two years prior. His mother had been a Dalish while his father had been a City Elf who had ran away to join the Dalish. Or at least that was how Gary had always remembered it.

Somehow the Templars had come across Gary and his parents and upon discovering the young Elfling was a mage, had demanded the boy be turned over to the Circle of Magi. Never mind the fact Dalish didn't follow the same ideas or rules as everyone else, that they could care less about what the Chantry wanted, the Templars and their Chantry believed they had the right to boss everyone else around. From what gossip Atreyu had listened too, Gary's parents hadn't taken kindly to the demand and had tried to get their child to safety. Needless to say that hadn't worked out too well and if the boasting of one of the more racist Templars was to be believed, Gary's parents had been run through.

Atreyu had known what that was like and took Gary under his wing so to speak, acting a bit like a big brother to the boy. Gary had resisted a bit at first, after all most of the Elves in the tower were weak willed City Elves but then had eagerly latched on when he realized Atreyu was anything but weak willed. It had been a bit of a comfort to Gary to know he had someone to look out for him. Atreyu knew he missed his parents greatly though he couldn't remember them all that way and missed his clan.

"Yes, I completely agree," Atreyu said with a serious nod. "Who's your little friend?"

"I don't know his name," Gary said looking down at the young Elf plastered to his side. "The Shems brought him in today."

The little Elf looked up at Atreyu shyly and Atreyu thought he was the most adorable little thing ever. He couldn't be more than maybe 4 years old, 5 years at the most but he doubted it. The boy had black hair that fell into the most stunning and pretty eyes, they were a silver color with a ring of dark gray around the outside. There were also tears in those eyes and big fat tears rolling down chubby cheeks.

"Ohhh…" Atreyu cooed as he put his books to the side and held his arms open. "Come here da'len, let me look at you." The tiny boy looked up at Gary who nodded.

"Atreyu is really nice," Gary promised. The little boy detached himself from Gary and moved over to Atreyu climbing into his lap. Atreyu wrapped his arms around the Elfling and hummed softly.

"Poor da'len," Atreyu said softly. "You came in today?" The little Elf nodded shyly, holding up a hand where his pointer finger had been cut for his phylactery. As soon as the mages were brought to the Circle, the Templars cut them and filled a vial full of their blood to be stored. If any of them escaped and turned Apostate, the Templars would use the phylacteries to hunt the mage down using their blood to track them. The fact they would do this to a 4 year old boy was sickening, even more so when they didn't even let any of the mages heal the cut. They wanted the mages to have a scar to remind them.

"Bastards," Atreyu muttered as he held the little hand in his own. "Let's see, I'm not the best at healing but…" Atreyu concentrated and was surrounded by an aura of blue that flowed into the little boy. The boy gave a little gasp and his finger stopped hurting instantly. The gash on his finger healed up until there was nothing left. "There, all better."

The boy giggled and hugged Atreyu around the neck. Atreyu smiled and patted his back.

"You are welcome, now what's your name da'len?" Atreyu asked.

"Mummy called me Revas," the little boy said.

"Revas huh? Did you know that's Elven for 'freedom'?" Atreyu asked. Revas shook his head but still grinned. "And where is your mummy now?"

Revas frowned and laid his head on Atreyu's chest.

"Mummy tried to stop da man from taking me," Revas said as last. "He pushed his shiny stick into her and red stuff came out. Mummy was lying on the floor and didn't get up when I called her."

'Damn,' Atreyu thought with a sigh. This was become a much too common story, his father killed, both of Gary's dead and now little Revas's mother dead as well. Atreyu wondered if they just did this to Elven people or to humans as well. Did the Templars take some sort of sick pleasure in killing Elves? In people? Most did Atreyu was sure, with a scattering of Templars who truly believed they were there to guard and keep the mages safe. A very rare few. "What about your daddy then?"

"I don'ts have one. It just me and mummy," Revas said then looked at Atreyu. "When is mummy coming to get me?" Atreyu sighed and stroked Revas's cheek.

"I'm sorry cub, your mummy is gone. She's gone to the beyond," Atreyu explained softly.

"Falon'Din is watching over her now," Gary said with a nod. Atreyu smiled sadly and smoothed Revas's hair back as little tears built up in those silver eyes again.

"I want my mummy," Revas said to cry softly, his little shoulders shaking as his sobbed softly against Atreyu's chest. Atreyu sighed and held Revas close, cursing the Chantry in his mind for breaking up families and taking mothers, and fathers, from their children.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you," a voice said as a young man slid into the hiding spot, grunting a little as he pushed himself through the tight space. Atreyu looked up at the man from the shape shifting book, his other hand still stroking Revas's hair. The tiny Elf had cried himself to sleep, crying repeatedly for his mother. It broke Atreyu's heart to see someone so young like this. He had sent Gary off when the boy's stomach started to growl, telling his little 'brother' to go get something to eat. He tried to do the same with Revas but the Elfling had whined in his sleep and Atreyu decided it was better to sit there with the boy sleeping in his lap. "Have you heard the news?"

"No," Atreyu said with a shake of his head. "What news Jowan?"

Jowan was Atreyu's best friend in the tower. They were around the same age but Jowan had been at the tower longer than the Elf by two years. Jowan was a Chasind, a group of Humans that lived within the Korcari Wilds that lived in several different tribes all throughout the Wilds. For the most part, the Chasind tribes were very peaceful but there were also many who were violent to any outsiders and would often enter the main land of Ferelden and attack travelers and nearby villages. Because of this it was assumed that all Chasind tribes were violent. Jowan's tribe had been one of the former, a very peaceful tribe that had never harmed anyone. But that hadn't mattered to the Chantry, in response to an attack from another tribe the Chantry had sent a group of Templars on an 'Exalted March' on Jowan's tribe and a couple of others nearby. Jowan had been one of the very few lucky survivors but since he was a mage had been sent to the Tower.

Jowan was a handsome fellow, with shoulder length black hair and eyes a warm dark color eyes that almost looked black. He had a small scruffy beard on his chin and a bit of stubble on his cheeks. He tended to worry a bit, and had a low self esteem toward himself. Jowan actually wasn't that bad at magic, a bit clumsy at times but the man knew a few good fire spells and if backed into a corner he would set people's hair on fire. Jowan and Atreyu had met and became friends two weeks after Atreyu was brought to the tower, Jowan had saved Atreyu from two older Human mages who attempted to pick a fight with the Elf. Jowan knew Atreyu better than anyone else within the tower, they were very close.

"Several of the Senior Enchanters are leaving later this week. To head down south to fight with King Cailan's army," Jowan said as he sat down beside Atreyu, leaning back against the cool stone wall.

"But why?" Atreyu asked with a frown.

"I don't know, but the rumors flying around are that they are fighting Darkspawn," Jowan said.

"Darkspawn? On the surface?" Atreyu said in surprise. "When is the last time a Darkspawn as ever come up from the Deeproads?"

"Not for a very long time I think, at least not in the Ferelden," Jowan said. "They use to come up in the Wilds sometimes remember?"

"Yes, but I never saw that for myself, just heard about it," Atreyu said as he leaned his head back. "Hmm… I wonder if that is what Irving and Greagoir were talking about."

"What do you mean?" Jowan asked.

"Earlier today Irving left his office during our lessons, some man had come to speak to him and Greagoir. They came back talking about sending somebody somewhere and kicked me out before I learned anything else," Atreyu explained.

"What do you think this means?" Jowan asked.

"Who knows," Atreyu said with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's not like we're going to find out for ourselves."

"True," Jowan agreed with a sigh. "So who's this little fellow?"

"Revas, he was brought in today," Atreyu said as he looked down at the child in his lap. "Poor thing, they killed his mom in front of him and he doesn't really understand what they did. He's scared to death by what's going on."

"Another one?" Jowan said with a sigh coming to the same thought as Atreyu when it came to the death of mage's families. "And he's so young…"

"You know the Templars and Chantry don't care how young a mage is, if they can use magic they have to come to the Circle or they are killed," Atreyu said softly.

"This is getting out of hand," Jowan said with a shake of his head.

"I know, and if we don't do something soon, something is going to hit a breaking point. I mean the tension in this tower alone…" Atreyu said trailing off. A lot of the apprentices and younger Circle Mages, ones who hadn't been brain washed into loyal Chantry lap dogs, were getting restless. They were all tired of being beaten down and being treated as less than Human and Elven.

"Yes but what can we do?" Jowan said. Jowan knew better than Atreyu just how close to a breaking point most everyone in the tower were at. A few days ago the Senior Enchanter Uldred had approached him offering a solution to gaining their freedom at last, one that shocked Jowan to the core. The man had suggested blood magic as being the way to freedom. Had said that it could be the key to helping Jowan into being a better mage, preying on Jowan insecurities about himself. Jowan hadn't accepted but Uldred had told him to think on the idea and left the offer open. Sad thing was, Jowan was tempted and he wondered if that made him weak…

"Well… I have an idea," Atreyu said slowly. He handed the book he found to Jowan who took it and looked at curiosity.

"What is it?" Jowan asked as he traced over the letters. "Isn't this… Elvish?"

"Yes, and it's not just a list of random Elven words like some of the books on the subject, it's a book written by the Elvhen," Atreyu had a note of excitement in his voice. "Jowan this is a book on shape shifting. The ability to change one's from into another."

"How did you find it? I wouldn't think the Templars or Senior Enchanters would leave this someplace where someone could find it," Jowan said.

"I don't think they even know what it is, or that it's here even," Atreyu said. "I found it last night here in the library, it was hidden behind a bunch of other books."

"Then what is your idea?" Jowan asked.

"If I can shape shift into something small enough, maybe I can slip under the doors where the phylacteries are kept," Atreyu said. "If I can destroy them…"

"Then they can't track us," Jowan finished with wide excited eyes. "Do you really think it will work?"

"Maybe, I don't know," Atreyu said. "But we've got to try something. It's better than sitting around trapped here." Jowan nodded in agreement. Atreyu's stomach growled then waking Revas who looked around with a confused look. When he saw Jowan he shyly pressed his face against Atreyu's chest.

"You haven't eaten today have you," Jowan said with a laugh. Atreyu blushed slightly then laughed himself.

"No, I guess I better," He said as he hid the book. "And I bet my new little friend here is starving as well. Come on da'len, we're going to get some supper now. Don't be afraid, Jowan is just a giant goof."

"Gee, thanks for that," Jowan said with a roll of his eyes but a smile on his lips that said he didn't take offence to what Atreyu said. Helping his friend to stand, both teens slipped out of the hiding spot after making sure no Templars were around with the young Elven child in tow. Revas was swept up by Atreyu and placed on his hip as they headed for the dining hall.

Cullen Rutherford sighed softly and rubbed the back of his neck as he headed toward the apprentice dorms. He had been a part of the Templars at Kinloch Hold for a few weeks now, sent there straight out of his training at the Chantry. For the most part it was easy, the Mages here kept their heads down with only a few standing up for themselves. One of the Circle Mages named Anders seem to be one of the ones that caused the most problems. Not that the young Spirit Healer hurt anyone or anything of the sort, the man just had a habit of escaping the tower and having done so five times already. Another was an Elven apprentice named Atreyu who got a kick out of pranking the Templars in the tower, harmless pranks that most brushed off. It seemed there was no use in punishing the Elven youth as he was the First Enchanter's favorite and was allowed by the man to get away with the behavior. Cullen knew it drove his commander crazy but he thought the pranks were entertaining, as long as they weren't on him of course.

Cullen was in for a long night, he knew where was to be at least one Harrowing to take place and a Rite of Tranquility to be preformed. That was, if fact, why he was heading for the dorms. Greagior had ordered him to bring the apprentice Owian to have the Rite preformed on him. It was a bit sad that neither Greagior nor Irving thought Owain was strong enough to go through the Harrowing but Cullen was sure being Tranquil was better than being dead.

As he approached the rooms for the male apprentices, the blond Templar could hear arguing coming from within. Quickly drawing his sword, just in case, Cullen strode in and took stock of what was going on. One of the other Templars had their hands on one of the mages, Cullen did a double take and saw it was Atreyu, with another mage trying to pry the Templar off the Elven youth.

"Hold!" Cullen barked as he walked up and forced his fellow Templar to let go of Atreyu. "Now what is going on here?"

"This knife-ear," the Templar started to say.

"Who are you calling knife-ear shem!?" Atreyu growled in a raspy voice, rubbing at his abused neck. "I didn't do a single thing to you to justify you-"

"Look here you little-" The Templar turned back toward Atreyu but was hauled back by Cullen.

"One at a time!" Cullen shouted. He turned to Atreyu, one hand still on the other knight, and nodded. "You first."

"Revas is scared by everything that's going on and doesn't want to be alone so I told him he could sleep with me tonight," Atreyu said still rubbing his neck, Cullen wouldn't be surprised if there was a bruise there by morning.

"Revas?" Cullen asked. Atreyu nodded toward the beds and Cullen turned, surprised to see a tiny Elven child sitting on a bottom bunk looking around with wide terrified tear filled eyes. 'Maker's breath, they can be that young here?' He thought to himself.

"And I told the Elf all apprentices have to sleep in their own beds," The Templar that had been fighting with Atreyu said.

"He's four years old!" Atreyu snapped. "He doesn't have any idea what is going on, you heartless bastards already murder his mother in fro-"

"Enough!" Cullen shouted. Atreyu's mouth snapped closed with an audible click. Cullen breathed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Go and get the child ready for bed and go to sleep, I do not see any problem with him sleeping in your bed for a night or two," he said to Atreyu.

"Ma serannas," Atreyu said then turned away, picking Revas up and headed toward the wash area all the apprentices in the area shared.

"But ser!" The Templar protested. Cullen leveled him a flat glare.

"He's right, the child is too young to understand and clearly needs the comfort," Cullen said firmly. "Go back to your duty."

"Yes ser," The Templar said then left the dorm. Cullen sighed then looked out over the rest of the door, spotting the whole reason he came in by the far wall.

"Apprentice Owain, follow me," Cullen said with a wave of his hand. Owain gulped and looked around at the others then followed Cullen out.

The following week was a bustle of activity around the tower, the Senior Enchanters were arranging for their students to be taught by the younger Enchanters in the tower and were having several potions brewed for the upcoming battles.

The apprentices had also lost two of their numbers, Owain had joined the ranks of the Tranquil while another had been killed when she failed her Harrowing. Jowan mentioned that he heard it took three Templars to take the abomination the mage turned into down.

Revas had taken to following Atreyu around, Irving chuckling in amusement as the tiny Elven boy walked into his office and promptly climbed into Atreyu's lap as soon as the older Elf sat down. Atreyu at least had the good grace to look a little embarrassed though amusement shined through his crystal blue eyes.

"I see you have a little shadow," Irving said with a kind smile toward the boy.

"I'm sorry First Enchanter, I thought he had stayed with the other children," Atreyu said not sounding all that sorry.

"It's quite alright child," Irving said. "He's too young to really begin lessons as it is, I doubt he will be much of a bother. I'm afraid our lessons will have to be cut short this week, with the preparations going on."

"Am I to study on my own then?" Atreyu asked.

"Yes, that will be fine. And may I suggest that perhaps you should read up on the Fade?" Irving said with a wink and a chuckle. "I'm sure you would find it fascinating."

"Uh yeah, I'm sure I will," Atreyu said wondering if Irving had just given him a hint at something. The Fade? He had rumors that the Harrowing test had to do with the Fade somehow, was Irving telling him he might be taking his Harrowing soon? If so, Atreyu really needed to buckle down and learn the Shape Shifting skill, if he took the Harrowing and passed, his phylactery would be sent away to Denerim and he would have no chance of escaping that way. "Is that all First Enchanter?"

"Yes yes, you may go my boy," Irving said with a smile. He watched Atreyu stand up, settling the Elven child on his hip and walk out of the office. Once Atreyu was out of sight, he hurried down the hallway, he had to master this magic soon or the plan would fall apart!