Okay, so let me start off by saying that I have just finished reading Dragon Age: The Calling, and I have to say I was dissatisfied with how it ended. The book itself is good and it really drew me into the story, but the ending was… well, not the best, in my opinion. No offense to the writer, David Gaider. So, I decided to write a story that ends the way I want it to, because after all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about.

Now, before you ask: no, I am not changing the ending of the story, The Calling; this story is about what happens after Inquisition takes place, not long after the main storyline of the game, but obviously before Trespasser. However, I am going to be changing the storyline of the comic books a bit.

Now, enough of my rant, let's get to it!

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Fiona was in the Deep Roads with Maric and a few other Grey Wardens. She had snuck off from the camp they had set up after having a nightmare and not being able to fall back asleep. She was sitting with Maric and ended up telling him about her time as a slave and how she found her way to the circle, and then the Grey Wardens; afterwards, there was silence.

They sat there on the cloak, staring out together into the shadows. Finally, it was Maric who spoke. "My mother was killed in front of me," He said, quietly. "I had to become the leader of her rebellion, something I felt completely unprepared for."

"You don't need to tell me this," She murmured.

"No, I do." He looked at her, his expression grim. "There was an elven woman named Katriel. A spy from Orlais that I fell in love with, and she with me. She saved my life, and yet when I found out what she was, I didn't give her a chance. I killed her."

"I didn't know about that."

He chuckled ruefully. "You must be the only one."

"Was she… the one in your dream?"

He nodded. "I would have done anything to take back that day. Yet I couldn't. I had to go on, because Ferelden needed me. I married a woman who was in love with my best friend, because Ferelden needed me. And when she died I kept going, despite the fact that everything in my life felt empty, because Ferelden needed me." He looked at her again, his eyes sad. "Everything was because Ferelden needed me."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Everyone has nightmares, Fiona."

She felt Maric take her hand, and he squeezed it. She was drawn to him almost magnetically, and found herself leaning to give him a tentative kiss. She pulled away only a fraction afterwards. He looked as surprised as she did, though not displeased.

Then she leaned in again, more urgently, and their kiss had passion. She felt him breathing against her, and accepted his arms as they closed around her.

She wanted this. She wanted to be with a good man, and forget for just for a moment about where they were, and what had happened to them. She needed a moment's solace, and she suspected he did, too. Pulling away from the heat of his touch, she tugged desperately at her chain mail, undoing the leather straps that held it down. She pulled at the padded undershirt, sighing with relief as she finally got it off.

Maric hesitated. "Fiona, I… perhaps we shouldn't…"

She ignored him, reaching over and undoing the straps that held his breastplate in place. He seemed pained, struggling with himself despite his obvious desire. "But what about the others?"

"I don't care."

"But… here?"

"Forget where we are." She pulled the breastplate over his head and he let her, staring helplessly. When it was done, she started working on the straps for his pauldrons, and after a moment's hesitation he began to help. They tugged and pulled and twisted until slowly they got his bulky, heavy armor off.

She untied his stained and soiled undershirt and removed it, unveiling bare skin. He was covered in bruises and cuts, as no doubt was she. His eyes were locked on her with an intensity that threatened to burn her up. The King was a handsome man; she had to give him that. But not all handsome men were also bad men.

"Are you certain?" He whispered, his breathing husky. "There are… bad memories for me down here. I don't know if…"

"Shhhhh," Fiona hushed him quietly, putting a finger to his lips. He stopped and looked at her with such an ache of loneliness it almost broke her heart. She slowly stroked his cheek. "I am tired of pain. So tired. Aren't you?"

His answer came as he leaned in, his kiss gentle as if he thought her fragile. And then another followed, and then another.

'Damned be the darkness,' she thought.

She let the light of the staff extinguish.

Suddenly, Fiona bolted upright and looked around the room; she was back in her quarters at the top of the mage tower in Skyhold. When she realized it had only been a dream, she plopped down on her back on the bed with a deep, sad sigh. Tears started forming in her eyes, and she just let them out rather than try to wipe them away, and she was grateful that she had her own quarters so that no one would see her like this and ask her what was wrong. This was a topic she did not want to discuss with anyone. She turned over so that she could bury her face into her pillow as she sobbed quietly. These dreams had been haunting her sleep for about a month now, and they were always dreams about her past with Maric. 'Why do I keep dreaming of Maric? Why now? He's been dead for more than 15 years…' She asked herself. 'And I hadn't seen him since long before that.'

It was true, Fiona hadn't seen Maric since she introduced him to their newborn son, Alistair. Alistair… that was another topic she didn't want to discuss. Only a few people ever knew that Fiona was Alistair's mother, not some servant girl from Redcliffe. That included Duncan, Loghain, Cailan, Eamon, and Teagan, and three out of those five people were now dead.

Fiona just sighed after she had calmed down a bit and decided to try and get her mind off things. So, she walked into the washroom that was connected to her room and poured some water from the pitcher into the basin and dunked a washcloth in, which she then proceeded to wash her face with. After doing so, she left the washroom and got dressed in her enchanter's robe before leaving to go for a walk around Skyhold and try to clear her mind. About 20 minutes into her walk, she ran into Snow Trevelyan talking to Cullen on the battlements.

Snow was the Inquisitor and a woman who Fiona had great admiration for. She didn't know a lot about her background, only that she came from a noble family in the Free Marches. She owed Snow her life since she was the one who freed her and the other mages from servitude to the Venatori, and even made them free allies afterwards, saying that she fully supported mage freedom. Despite that, she had managed to win over Cullen's heart who was an ex-templar and had made no secret of his hatred and distrust of mages in the past.

"Hi Fiona." Snow greeted with a smile when she spotted her walk over.

"Good morning, Inquisitor." She greeted back politely.

Snow frowned, and her violet-colored eyes showed concern as she got a closer look at Fiona. "Are you okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Your eyes are slightly puffy and red. Have you been crying?"

'Fuck!' Fiona thought and tried to quickly think of something to say before simply going with, "Yes, I'm fine. I just… had a sad dream, that's all." She wasn't entirely lying.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine. Really." She insisted, but since she got the feeling that Snow wasn't going to let this go, she looked down at the courtyard below to see if she could find anything to change the subject to. As it turned out, she did. "Say, who's that woman with your spymaster?"

Snow looked down and saw Leliana sitting on the stone wall that separated the upper courtyard from the lower one with a woman wearing a long sleeved reddish-purple dress with a matching cape that was lined with fur. She had a mabari sitting on the other side of her, wearing some black leather dog armor and a fancy collar. She and Leliana were making music and singing to their own songs. Snow then answered Fiona's question, "Oh, that's Queen Azariah! She and Leliana are old friends!"

"Queen Azariah…" Fiona looked rather shocked. "King Alistair's wife?"

"The very same!"

"Also known as the "Hero of Ferelden"." Cullen chimed in.

Snow nodded in agreement with Cullen, and then looked back at Fiona and saw her still looking at Azariah, as if she were inspecting her. "Fiona," When she looked back at her, Snow added, "Would you like me to introduce you to her?"

"No." Fiona replied rather quickly. "No, that's okay."

"Come on. I promise you, she's nice." Snow insisted and led Fiona and Cullen down the steps and up the group of people that started to surround Leliana and Azariah to watch. Leliana was playing her lute as she sang, and Azariah had a small drum to play along as she sang, too. After they completed that song, the whole crowd cheered and asked for another one.

"Oh, I don't know." Leliana teased to them. "Azariah, what do you think?"

"I think a few more won't kill me." Azariah laughed, and the two started playing another song.

After playing a few different songs, the two of them stopped and people started leaving, and Snow walked over to them. "That was great, you two! I enjoyed it!"

"Thanks!" Azariah replied.

"We weren't expecting to attract a crowd," Leliana added. "But it was fun!"

"Sure looked like it!" Snow laughed, and then looked back at Fiona, and motioned her forward. "By the way, Azariah, I want to introduce you to Fiona."

"Fiona? Grand Enchanter Fiona?" Azariah asked, but didn't wait for an answer before she continued, "I've heard of you. You were the leader of the mage rebellion and the one who let a magister take over Redcliffe."

"Yes," Fiona lowered her head a bit, ashamed. "Not exactly something I'm proud of…"

"I wasn't judging." Azariah said nicely. "We all do crazy things when we're desperate, and Snow came along to stop it, didn't she?"

"You're far more understanding about it than your husband was." Dorian chimed in.

Suddenly, the mabari that was with Azariah stood up and walked over to Fiona, and sniffed her a bit, then looked up at her and panted as his short tail wagged. Fiona hesitated a bit at first, after all, spending time in Ferelden, she had heard about the ferociousness of the breed, but she pat his head and he just kept wagging his tail.

Azariah chuckled as she watched this, "He likes you!"

Fiona smiled and kneeled to his level and continued petting him. "He is very cute." He barked happily at that comment. "What's his name?"

"Tucker, his name is Tucker. I got him from a breeder in Highever for my birthday."

"How long have you had him?" Cullen asked.

"For a little over eleven years now, he was only nine weeks old when I got him."

Snow spoke up. "Wait, so does that mean he was with you during the Blight?"

"Yes. He's been with me through everything, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon!" She said happily and pet his lower back, which made him scratch instinctively and he lost his balance because his leg was in the air and just sat down, which made everyone laugh in amusement.

"So, where is Alistair?" Snow asked changing the subject. "I thought he would've arrived with you."

"He couldn't. Ferelden is still a mess, and he had to stay behind for a few more days to deal with it, but he sent word that he was on his way, and he should be here by sometime tonight." Azariah looked at Fiona and suggested, "Maybe you two should talk when he gets here."

"No… it's too late for that…" Fiona sighed, a look of sadness on her face, and when she saw them all looking at her with confusion, she just turned and walked away.

"What was that about?" Dorian asked.

"I don't know." Snow answered. "I just realized that every time the subject of Alistair comes up, she gets this forlorn look on her face, almost like talking about him upsets her."

When Leliana heard Azariah let out a hum in thought, she looked at her and asked, "Do you want me to look into it?"

"No, that's alright. I am going to go talk to her, though." Azariah stood up and followed Fiona's path, up the stairs into the great hall and through the door that led out to the garden with Tucker right behind her. She then noticed Fiona sitting on the steps of the gazebo and walked over. "May I sit?"

Fiona looked up, almost seeming startled that she was there, but then nodded, gesturing to the spot next to her, "Of course, Your Majesty."

"Azariah, please." She corrected her as she sat down. Instead of beating around the bush, Azariah thought it would be best if she just got straight to the point. "So, Snow told me that every time Alistair's name comes up in conversation, you seem upset. Why is that, I wonder?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why is it that whenever someone says "I don't want to talk about it", they really mean "mind your own damn business"?"

"Probably because that is what they mean." Fiona replied with a shrug, staring off into the distance, not really looking at any one thing. "Sorry, Azariah, this is just not something I want to discuss."

"Fair enough. I won't pry, then."

That night, Fiona was once again asleep in her bed…

Fiona was in a dark and dingy room that had no doors or windows and was on fire. The flames looked and felt so real that she swore she could actually get burnt if she got too close to them. Strangely, though, the smoke had no effect on her and the fire itself did not appear to be spreading. She found a spot on the wall that wasn't on fire and started pounding on it, "Help! Someone! Anyone!" She cried out.

"Fiona!" A deep but comforting voice called back to her, and she froze in place. She knew that voice anywhere, but it couldn't be…

"Maric?!" She looked around frantically and finally spotted him in a room adjacent to the one she was in, which was separated from hers by a wall of flames. "Maric!"

"Fiona!" He called back as he spotted her also. "I knew!" He said, excitedly, but he had to shout as the sounds from the burning fire and crackling wood were nearly deafening. "I just knew that if I kept trying, I'd be able to get into contact with you eventually!"

"What? Get into contact with me?" She asked confused.

"You've been having dreams about me recently, haven't you? That was me, trying to reach out to you, but I could never make myself say what I really wanted to, because I was stuck saying everything I did in those memories!"

"Maric… I-" She stopped and took a step back. "Wait! This is impossible! You can't be here!" She shook her head frantically. "You're dead!"

"Fiona, you may be dreaming, but I promise you that this is really me!" Maric pleaded. "I can't maintain this connection to you forever, though, so you need to listen to me! I didn't die! I've been held as a prisoner in Tevinter for the last fifteen years!"

"You're lying!" She shouted. "You're not really Maric! You're some kind of demon trying to trick me into… something!"

"Fiona…" He sighed, genuinely looking upset that she didn't believe him. He tried to quickly think of something that would convince her, and finally got an idea. "Fiona, do you remember the night before you left for Weisshaupt with Duncan after we got back to Denerim?!"

"Yes…"

"You told me that you loved me, for the first time! You said that you were praying we'd see each other again! Then, I told you that-"

She finished for him as she looked at him with tears in her eyes, "You told me that you loved me too, and that you still wished that I could somehow stay in Denerim with you… and that you wanted to marry me."

"Yes! Yes!" Maric said, happy that she had remembered.

A few tears fell, "Maric… you're really alive!"

He smiled, but before he could say anything, he heard something and turned around to notice that his side of the dream was quickly shattering into pieces. "Fiona, I can't hold this dream connection together any longer!"

"What? No!" She pleaded, "Maric, please don't go!" She tried to reach through the wall of flames separating them, but quickly recoiled when it burned her arm.

"I'm sorry!" He cried, "I love you!"

"Maric!" Fiona woke up yelling. She looked around frantically, like she had that morning, her chest rising and falling rapidly with her heavy panting. Once again, she found herself in her room. She slowly calmed down and tried to think the whole dream through logically. 'That dream was… far more real than any dream I've ever had before…' She thought to herself, and happened to look down at her arm and saw the burn. She touched it gently and it burned as she did, causing her to flinch, but then she realized, "Wait! That was no dream! It was real! Maric's alive!" She quickly jumped out of bed and got bandages to wrap around her arm before rushing out and went to go look for Snow.

Meanwhile, Snow was with Cullen, Azariah, Tucker, Luna Hawke, Bethany, and Fenris in Cullen's office. After getting Varric's letters, Fenris and Bethany had gone to Weisshaupt Fortress together and came back to Skyhold yesterday, with Luna.

All of them watched as Azariah paced back and forth across the floor anxiously. "Calm down, Azariah." Luna spoke up. "You're fretting over nothing. I'm sure Alistair is alright. Besides, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."

"I can't help it. I just have this sickening feeling that something is very wrong. He should have been here by now…"

Snow walked over and gently placed her hand on Azariah's shoulder, "Everything is going to be alright, Azariah, you'll see. He'll be here soon, and you'll see that Luna's right."

Suddenly, the door to the office burst open and Fiona ran in before stopping by the side of Cullen's desk, placing both her hands on it, trying to catch her breath after running all the way there. "Inquisitor, I have a… whew!"

"Slow down, Fiona, take a moment to breathe."

"But I-"

"Breathe!" She ordered, and Fiona took a few slow, deep breaths before she was ready to speak in a normal voice.

"Okay." She sighed. "I know this is going to sound completely crazy, but I…" She paused to think about what to say, and Snow took that opportunity to give her a strange look and reply to what she'd said.

"Fiona, remember that you're talking to the woman who traveled physically through the Fade, twice. The woman who traveled into the future in Redcliffe and saw what would've happened if the Inquisition hadn't stopped Corypheus. The woman who finally was able to put an end to both him and his pet dragon. Trust me, nothing will ever sound crazy to me anymore."

"Point taken."

"What happened to your arm?" Cullen suddenly asked after noticing the bandages.

"I'm getting to that right now. I just had a dream where I was in a burning room and Maric was in it."

"Wait, you have a dream about Maric?" Azariah asked, intrigued by that.

"That's just it! It wasn't a dream, not really!" She took off the bandages and showed them all the burn on her arm. "I tried to reach through the flames to grab him, but got burned, and when I woke up… well, here it is! My dream was real, and I know that he's still alive!"

Everyone in the room looked at Fiona oddly and exchanged glances with each other. Then Luna spoke up, "Okay, while I agree with Snow about the fact that nothing should sound crazy to any of us anymore… I call bullshit on that one."

"I have to agree." Azariah added. "Maric has been dead for fifteen years."

"Yeah. I mean, how can you be sure it wasn't just a demon from the Fade trying to trick you?"

"I had a feeling none of you would believe me, but I know that I'm right! Maric is out there somewhere and I am going to find him!"

"Do you even know where to start?" Cullen asked.

"In my vision, he said he was being held prisoner in Tevinter, but… beyond that, I don't know." Her face grew determined. "But I am going to find out and I am going to rescue him!"

Before anyone could say anything else, another person walked into the room, and they all turned to see Morrigan walk in.

"Doesn't anyone knock anymore?" Cullen said, irritably.

"Apologies Commander." Morrigan replied sarcastically. "But Azariah asked me to go scout out the mountains and see if I could find any trace of her husband."

"And?" Azariah asked urgently.

Morrigan sighed and answered, "I found his carriage not too far from here, but all his guards are dead… and he's gone."

"Gone?! What do you mean he's gone?!"

"Do you mean he's dead, too?" Snow asked.

"No, if he were dead, I would have said "he's dead". I mean, gone. Just…" She snapped her fingers, "Vanished."

"Dammit!" Azariah said, worriedly. "I knew something bad had happened!" She walked over to the coat rack and flung her cape back over her shoulders and pulled her hood up. "Morrigan, can you take me back to where his carriage is?"

"I can, but what is it you expect to find? I already scoured the area."

"I don't know, just something!" She left the room with Morrigan and Tucker trailing right behind her, and everyone exchanged looks once again before following them.

After heading down to stables and saddling up their horses, they all followed Morrigan out into the mountain passes as she flew overhead in her crow form, and Tucker ran alongside Azariah's horse the whole way. Once Morrigan spotted the carriage again, she flew down and led them right to it, and as soon they all arrived, Azariah jumped off her Anderfel Courser, Caramel, and ran over. The carriage was tipped over and on fire, and the bodies of some royal guards were littered around it. "No! No, no, no!" She said, clearly panicking.

"It definitely looks like the carriage was attacked…" Snow commented. "But by what… or who?"

"Look around!" Azariah ordered.

"There's nothing to find, I already told you that I've scouted the entire area." Morrigan replied.

"Then what's this?" Fiona asked as she picked up a piece of parchment off the ground, the edges of it frayed.

"I figured that it belonged to one of the guards here, or even Alistair."

Azariah took the parchment from Fiona and looked at it more closely. The words were too runny to make out, but she did notice something. "There's a partial seal here, but I don't recognize it. Hm…" She hummed. "Leliana might know."

"What if it turns out to be nothing?" Morrigan asked.

"Then, I'll come back." Azariah got back onto her horse. "Stay here and continue looking."

"Fine, but I have to ask… since when has becoming queen made you so bossy?" Luna asked.

"I apologize if I am acting bossy, but my husband is missing, and I'm not in the best mood."

"She's right." Snow chimed in. "So, leave her alone."

Luna rolled her eyes. "It was just a joke. Sheesh…"

Azariah rode off back to Skyhold, with Tucker once again following her, as the rest of them began searching for any other clues.

Roughly an hour later, Azariah and Tucker came back, and she got off her horse once again. Snow asked, "Did you find out anything?"

"Leliana didn't know what the seal was, either, but as luck would have it, I ran into your friend, Dorian."

"What would Dorian know about it?"

"He recognized the type of parchment this was and when I handed it to him, he recognized the seal, too. It's the seal used by a man named Aurelian Titus and his servants."

"Shit!" Fenris said, which drew everyone's attention.

"Know him, Fenris?" Luna asked.

"I met him once when I was still Danarius's slave. There are rumors that he worships the Old Gods and that he killed Archon Davan in 9:29." He looked back at Azariah. "If he's somehow involved with your husband's disappearance, then he's in serious danger."

All the color seemed to drain from Azariah's face in panic. "I have to get to Tevinter, then! Now!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Morrigan cried and stepped in front of her friend to stop her. "Hold on! You can't just drop everything and head to Tevinter! How do you think the magisters would even react to the Queen of Ferelden showing up unannounced?"

"She has a point." Fenris said. "You can't just stroll right into the country and start asking questions. They'll kill you; it won't matter who you are."

"Then what am I supposed to do? I can't just sit on my ass doing nothing!"

"No one is suggesting that, either," Luna walked over. "But this will require discretion."

"You're right…"

"Azariah, wait!" Fiona spoke up. "If you're going to Tevinter, then let me come with you! I have to go to Tevinter, too, remember?"

"If we're heading to Tevinter, we need to figure out how we're getting there." Luna spoke up.

"We? You're coming now, too?"

"Yes. You're my friend, and I'm certainly not about to let you two have all the fun!"

"You're not going without me!" Fenris said to his girlfriend sternly.

"You want to go to Tevinter? But I thought you said you would never go back."

"I don't want to, but I am not letting you leave me behind again, definitely not if you're going there!"

After they all agreed that they were all going to go, Luna got an idea. "We're going to need a ship to get us there… and I have just the one in mind!" She smirked.

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I thought I'd leave you all with a bit of suspense, but don't worry, I'll be updating again soon! Let me know what you all think, and if you like it, feel free to favorite it or follow it, or both! Lol!

So, I did a bit of editing to this chapter and will with the others as well! Hope you enjoy the few changes.

See you all in the next chapter!