Hey everyone. I know what you are all thinking, "Didn't he say he will finish Search for the Dwarven Ring before he will start his any other stories?" And the answer is yes. Dragon Age is one of my favorite video game franchises and this story has been running through my head like crazy. So here for your enjoyment is the story of how the Champions came to power.

P.S. I will be switching between the story and Varric and Cassandra's interrogation semi-frequently. I will put I.R.and a line to show whenever it is part of the interrogation, and a just line when it is time for the story again. Enjoy.

The Escape

I.R.

Two guards were walking through a dimly lit hallway carrying an unconscious dwarf in their arms. Normally things were quiet, but things have been getting crazy as of late. Every day they found themselves bringing in more witnesses for their boss. They did not know what she was wanting but she was not going to give up no matter how many witnesses they had brought in. This witness they were bringing was different. The dwarf's name was Varric, a regular at the local Hanged Man tavern and the kind of person that would say anything for gold and for the sake of hearing his own voice, but that did not matter. He wore a leather suit with a low, wide collar that went to the lower part of his chest. His blond hair was tied into a small ponytail and, unlike most dwarfs, he did not have a beard, which made him easy to spot. They reached the end of the hallway and entered a room lite by only a candle. The two guards shoved Varric into a chair, then walked out of the room.

Varric rubbed his head, "I've had gentler invitations."

Once he said that a woman in dark armor with Andraste's Sun on its chest came from the darkness. She was reading from a thick book. "My name is Cassandra Pentaghast, Seeker of the Chantry." She closed the book.

"And what is it that you are seeking?"

"The Champions."

Varric checked to see what he still had on him, "Which ones?"

She started towards Varric and threw the book at him, "You know why am here!" She slides a dagger close to his throat. "Start talking, dwarf, I hear that you're good at it." Cassandra then takes the dagger and stabs the book, the blade going through the pages with ease.

"What do you want to hear?" Varric said as he looked at the pages of the book, rubbing his hand on the Hawke family emblem, two birds intertwined facing each other, the dagger went still in it.

"Everything, start from the beginning."

The Champions, Bethany and Carver Hawke, were going through the remains of their old home in Lothering. Just as they were leaving, darkspawn attacked. They were horrible creatures, twisted and corrupted from when they entered the Golden City as human and carried their taint with them. The two killed the darkspawn with no problem, then Bethany noticed something on one.

"These are scouts. We will have to fight them sooner or later." She said to her twin brother.

"Then we make our stand here." As he said this, the rest of the darkspawn. There must have been at least 30 of them, but they were no match for the Champions; all that they had to do was look at the monsters and they were dead, but more kept coming

Soon after Bethany walked to her brother, "We can't keep this up forever."

"Hopefully they run out of reinforcements first."

Not long after, the beginning of the first wave arrived. Bethany pulled her staff back out, "May I show them the dangers of magic?"

Carver pulled out his great sword, "Next wave, sister." Wasting no time, he ran towards the darkspawn and sliced through them like soft butter. The rest of the wave came and this time it could have been and easy 50. Things were going smoothly until they noticed that the ground underneath them was trembling. An ogre entered the battle field. It must have easily been twelve feet tall and had large horns half of its height. Both of the twins noticed this monstrosity and went straight for it. Bethany launched a fire ball at the ogre's feet that brought it to its hands and knees, then, Carver charged towards the ogre and chopped its head clean off.

But not even the death of a beast as mighty as an ogre would dissuade the darkspawn. They just kept coming, taunting the Champions in their damned language.

"There are too many of them." Bethany said, trying to look for a way out, but there was none too be seen without going through the army of darkspawn. Then right when things could not get worst, it did. A mighty dragon, the Archdemon, leader of the darkspawn; revealed itself on a nearby cliff. It roared and flew down from its perch, then used its fire breath to kill its victims, the Champions.

I.R.

"Bullshit!" Cassandra interrupted in a fury, "That not what happened!"

"Is that not according to the stories you've heard, Seeker?"

"I'm not interested in stories; I want the truth."

"And what makes you think I know anything?"

Cassandra charged towards Varric, "Don't lie to me! You knew them even before they became the Champions!"

Varric put his hands in the air, "And even if I did, I don't know where they are know."

Cassandra turned her back to him, "Do you have any idea what is at stake here?"

"Let me guess. Your precious Chantry is falling to pieces, bringing the rest of the world to the brink of war."

"If you can't tell me where they are, then tell me everything you know."

"And you're not afraid that I'll make it all up as I go?"

"Not at all."

Varric sat back in his chair and put his hands together, "Then you'll need to hear the whole story."

The Blight had been unleashed on to Ferelden. Darkspawn poured from the Wilds and clashed with the king's army at the ruins of Ostagar. The battle was a disaster. The king was betrayed by his most trusted general. Unprecedented, the darkspawn moved north to Lothering, and many innocents were slain. The Champions' family barely made it out alive.

They were fleeing in a small gorge, with the darkspawn right on their heels. Their mother tripped on a loose rock. To the rescue, Bethany turned around and launched a fireball at the monsters, leaving behind a flame of wall to keep more darkspawn from coming. Carver and their older brother Garrett took care of any that got through the wall.

"I think that's all of them." Carver said once the carnage was over.

"For the moment." Bethany said, trying to catch her breath.

"Maker save us. We lost it all. Everything your father and I worked for." Their mother said looking back at Lothering, which was being destroyed as they spoke.

"I know how much Lothering meant to you, Mother, but we must keep moving." Garrett said to his mother.

"Yes, I know."

"We should have done something sooner." Bethany said, turning towards Carver, "Why did we wait so long?"

"Why are you looking at me? I've been running sense Ostagar." Carver spat at his sister.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I don't think the Blight will sit around while you two sit around and point finger at." Garrett said while looking back at the darkspawn that were lining up at the fire.

"Please, listen to your brother."

"Then let's go," Carver said to his siblings, "Lead on."

So the Champions and their family ran down the gorge. The fire wall behind them went dim, and other darkspawn were waiting for them. They fought until the last darkspawn was dead. Bethany roasting, Carver slicing, and Garrett attacking their minds with his magic; their one priority was making sure that their mother was safe. Once all was said and done, they ran, but Bethany was still unsure about one thing.

"Wait, where are we going?" She asked.

"Away from the darkspawn. Where else?" Carver answered profoundly.

"And then where? We can't just wander endlessly."

Garrett jumped into the conversation, "Honestly, anywhere with no darkspawn sounds goods right about now."

Then their mother made a fate changing decision, "We could go to Kirkwall."

"Are you sure?" Garrett asked.

"There are a lot of templars in Kirkwall, mother." Bethany told her mother out of concern.

"I know that, but we still have family there… and an estate. We will be safe there."

Bethany sighed, not going to take this any further, "Then we will need to go to Gwaren and take ship."

"Assuming that we survive that long." Carver said, memories of Ostagar still fresh in his head.

They continued going along the path until they ran into another batch of darkspawn, but this time they were not alone. There was also a couple fighting for their lives. The first was a women with raid hair, everyday clothing, and a head band. The second was a templar. A darkspawn snuck up behind the templar and sliced a whole clean through the back of his armor. He went down dropping his sword and shield. The woman tackled the darkspawn that got the templar. She kept punching them before grabbing her sword. "You will not have him." She said right before slitting the monsters throat. She then picked up the Templars shield and got the templar back on his feet. "They will not take you." She said to him as they started to come closer. "Not while I draw breath." And she was right. She fought and killed any darkspawn that came remotely close to the Templar. Then all of the monsters were dead.

"Quit squirming Wesley. You'll make it worse." The woman told the templar

"Apostates. Keep your distance." Wesley said, after noticing Bethany's and Garrett's magic in action.

"Well the Maker has a sense of humor… Darkspawn and now a templar. I thought that they all abandoned Lothering." Bethany said sarcastically.

"The 'spawn are obvious in their intent, but a mage is always a mystery. The Order dictates…" He walked closer to Garrett. "The Order dictates…"

The woman held Wesley's shoulder, "Dear, they saved us. The Maker will understand." And just like that, Wesley backed off. "My name is Aveline Vellen. This is my husband Sir Wesley. May we come with you? We will have a better chance of getting out of this one alive."

Garrett was unconvinced, "You're quick to offer allegiance."

"Another blade between us and the darkspawn. Yes please." Carver added.

Bethany turned to her brother, "The nice templar has postponed his hunt for illegal mages. Best that we don't agitate him."

Sir Wesley replied to her, "My duty is clear, but that… is for another day..."

"Okay then, but know this templar. I will be keeping an eye on you." Garrett warned the templar.

"And I to same to you. It is to be expected in these circumstances." Wesley replied.

Aveline walked into the group, "You should also know that if we are to head north, we will be going the wrong way. The bulk of the horde is up there,"

"Then we are trapped. The wilds are to the south and that's not an option." Carver pointed out.

"If our options are south or die, I'll take my chances with south." Garrett said then started moving.

Together they fought through branches of the horde, even taking down a darkspawn mage. They came across many dead refugees that were trying to run away from the horde, only to be slain by it. Everything came to a climax when they reached the top of a large hill. They ran into a large portion of the horde. They fought for their lives, wave after wave. Things were going smoothly until they noticed that the ground underneath them was trembling. An ogre entered the battle field, and it was coming straight for the Champions' mother. Garrett got in between the two, "Stay away from my mother." He tried to attack its mind, however, the damned thing didn't have much of a brain to attack in the first place. The ogre roared then grabbed Garrett, slammed him against the ground, then threw him across the battlefield. Both of the twins saw what happened and went straight for the ogre. Bethany launched a fire ball at the ogre's feet that brought it to its hands and knees, then, Carver charged towards the ogre and stabbed its heart.

When everything looked clear, The Champions and Aveline went to Garrett's body where their mother was sitting their holding his body. "Garrett, come on. The fighting's over."

Aveline knelt by her and looked at Garrett's body, "I'm sorry, Mistress, your son is dead."

"No! They will not take my son away from me"

Sir Wesley walked over, "May I condone your son's soul to the Maker?" He put his hand over his heart, "Ashes we were. Ashes we are. Maker give this boy a place by your side."

Carver place a hand on his mother's shoulder, "At least Father will have some company now."

"Where were you, Carver? He was you older brother. How could you let him charge off like that?"

Bethany put her hand on her mother's other shoulder, "Mother, Garrett wouldn't want us to stay here and greive over him. He would want us to be safe."

"You…you're right."

Aveline looked behind them and drew her sword, "Damn it, they are back."

The darkspawn came and did not stop coming, taunting the Champions in their damned language.

"There are too many of them." Bethany said, trying to look for a way out, but there was none too be seen without going through the army of darkspawn. Then right when things could not get worst, it did. A mighty dragon revealed itself on a nearby cliff. It roared and flew down from its perch, then used its fire breath to kill its victims, the darkspawn. It killed most of them instantaneously, and those that weren't fled. Then the dragon transformed itself into and old but undoubtedly powerful woman.

She walked towards the Champions with one of the dead darkspawn in her hand, dragging it in her wake. "Well, well, what have we here? We use to not get many visitors in the Wilds, but know now it seems that we get them by the dozens." Sir Wesley collapsed near Garrett, his veins were as black as sin.

Carver got his sword ready, "Stay back, I will not let you hurt anyone."

"Let me? As if you could stop me if I were to? Hahaha" the woman taunted him.

"But how can we know if we can trust you? We don't know who… or what you are." Bethany asked, not knowing to expect as an answer.

Aveline looked up, "I know what she is, a Witch of the Wilds."

"Some call me that, yes, they also call me Flemeth, Asha'bellanar, an 'old hag that talks too much'. Call me what you will."

Carver lowered his sword, "Okay then, Flemeth, why are you here?"

"I just witnessed the most curious sight, a might ogre vanquished. Who could have accomplished such a feat? But now my curiosity is sated and I will be on my way."

"You can't just leave us here." Bethany called out before Flemeth was able to transform back into a dragon.

"Oh I can't? Tell me, where is it that you were planning on going?"

"Kirkwall, we have family there." Carver said.

"My, that's a long voyage that you plan. Will your king miss you?"

"King Calain was betrayed. I have nothing left for me here."

"Well then." She turned around and mumbled to herself, "Is it fate, or is it simply chance. I can never decide." She turned around and faced the Champions, "I will take you and your company to Gwaren for you to take ship to Kirkwall. If that is what you want."

"Okay, there has got to be a catch." Bethany mumbled a little too loudly.

"Ha, there's always a catch. Life is a catch. I suggest that you catch it before it gets away. In Kirkwall, you will find a pack of Dalish elves. Give this amulet to their keeper, Marethari. Do as she says and any debt between us will be paid in full."

"Sounds simple enough." Both of the twins said at the same time.

"But first, there is something that needs to be taken care of first." She walked towards Sir Wesley.

Aveline got up in Wesley's defense, "No, do not touch him!"

"What has been done to your man is within his blood already."

"You're wrong."

"My love." Wesley mumbled to Aveline. "The corruption is seeping through me. It is a slow death. Please."

"He is your husband. We can't make the decision for you." Bethany softly spoke.

Carver knelt next to Aveline. "If it makes it better, Aveline, I'll do it for you. But only if you want me to."

"N…No. I will do it." As she said that, Wesley grabbed his spare dagger and held it at a kink in his armor. Aveline looked into his eyes in then forced the dagger through.

"Without an end, there can be no beginning." Flemeth said as she started to turn back into her dragon form

I.R.

"Flemeth." Cassandra interrupted.

"I thought that might interest you."

"Do you expect me to believe that a myth swooped in and saved the Champions?"

"Come on now Seeker, do I need to recite the tale of the Warden as well?"

"No, I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised to hear of her involvement."

"I like my version better too."

"Did she send somebody with the Champions?"

"In a matter of speaking."

"Continue then, but if you say that the Champions flew to Kirkwall on a dragon…"

"Nothing so fanciful, I can assure you."