Hawke never really worried about Merrill too much. She knew that the elf mage could take care of herself; sometimes. She had been cautious of her friends blood magic, hoping Merrill wouldn't fall to much temptation of the demon who offered the forbidden magic. But this time, Hawke was wondering. She hadn't heard of her in a while. Merrill usually would come to see Hawke, or Hawke would visit her for a job, that probably involved getting paid with expensive coin. The elven girl had shooed Hawke away, telling her that she needed to be alone. And when Hawke asked, she would find every way to make an excuse to stop her pondering. She did not sound like herself, with her small befuddled voice. She sounded worried, pained and scared. Like Hawke would find something out that needed not be known. But know Hawke wasn't going to let her excuses by. She gathered Fenris, now to get Anders, speed walking her way to Darktown. Fenris looked confused; he did not like Merrill much, at all, maybe a bit. Her clueless way of thinking and her adorable rambling started to grow on him, she had that effect on all of them. There was an awkward silence, their footsteps as loud as a dragon's roar in this quiet. Fenris wanted to ask Hawke of her problem, but he held back. The hour was long, yet short. Hawke pushed her way through Darktown, Fenris behind. The two reached Anders clinic. The blonde was knelt down, and a bowl of milk lay in front of him. He looked intently at the milk bowl, like he was a kitten ready to pounce on a fly trying to take some milk. But of course, he was just waiting for a little kitty friend to accompany him when he was alone. He missed Ser Pounce-a-lot. Those sodding templar's took his cat away. They tried giving him a mabari, a warhound. They said that a dog was better than a fuzzy cat. Anders hated dogs, he wanted his cat back. He wanted maybe two cats. Two cats and a kitten to teach them magic and how to hold wands and then they'd be a happy kitty family. Anders looked up and saw Hawke and Fenris hover over him. The blonde mage stood up and smiled at Hawke, not so much at Fenris. The elf glared at him and growled under his breath. The two shared jokes, insulting jokes. A game of hurt each other's feelings. No one won or lost, just, tried to get along.

"What do you need?" Anders asked.

Hawke shrugged "Have you seen Merrill out of her home lately? She won't let me inside,"

"I don't go looking for her to see what she's up to, but I can't say I have seen her walk out of that mutt house they call homes. If you need me to come and see what's up, I'm always here," the blonde smiled kindly.

"Great, that's just what I want," She exchanged a smile. "Let's go and see what our cute little blood mage is up to,"

The group strode their way to the Lowtown Alienage, it was already dark. The day went quickly. But the moment the group stood in front of the house Anders and Hawke froze. They could feel something was going on. Fenris could not sense the same thing they were, but he certainly had a sick feeling in his stomach. Fenris was the one to step forward and bring his hand to the door knob. A soft voice interrupted him.

"Please, don't open the door. Go away," It was Merrill's voice,

"Merrill, what's wrong? Get outside, Merrill!" Fenris banged his fists on the wooded door.

"No! Please, go away," Merrill squeeked, her voice dry. Has she locked herself up so long that she didn't even exit her home to get more water? Did this girl want to kill herself? Hawke stepped forward with a worried face.

"Merrill, c'mon; we're worried about you,"

"Well, I thank your concern but there's nothing wrong. Now please go," Merrill had kept the door closed with magic, Hawke and Anders attempted to dispel the magic with their spells. Something was wrong and they didn't like it. They all heard yelling from a distance, commands were thrown. The voice sounded like men, templars. The group of templars marched though and pushed the three out of the way. Merrill prepared her magic as they barged in, knocking her down she gasped wide eyed.

The cruel armored men slammed her to the ground, strongly dispelling her magic.

"Hold her hands! Keep her down!" one screamed and the others obeyed. Two templars gripped her arms, hurting her. Tears trickled down her cheeks in a desperate struggle.

"This is why, I didn't want you to see anything happen" Merrill pleaded at Hawke and the others.

"Hawke, no!" Fenris attempted a grab at her arm while Anders shot magic at the templars surrounding them.

One of the men got a spear ready at her stomach; Merrill sobbed and looked up at him with big eyes.

"This is what you get for using blood magic," he lifted the spear and Hawke cried while the others watched, shocked. Warm red blood spilled out of Merrill's stomach, she coughed the red substance all over the floor. Her eyes went dull and she collapsed; making a thump as she hit the floor. For a moment all there was, was silence. Anders anger glowed blue around him. He swore they would never take another mage away from him, he never liked Merrill, but she was still a poor girl, a mage who wanted some affection. He shot deadly spells at the men, blood splattering against him. More came, like insects.

Merrill's limp body lay covered in her blood, for only moments. Red started glowing around her eyes. The red bubbly substance swirling around her; she stood up with her hands completely red with the glowing blood. "You don't understand magic," she growled. It wasn't Merrill, it wasn't a poor girl seeking to be loved, it wasn't her. The spear still pierced through her, the blooding seeping out in to her hands, preparing the magic that would kill all the templars surrounding them. The anger out of her glowing red eyes pouring out; Anders was filled too much of him demon, Justice, to notice anything. Hawke and Fenris watched helplessly as blood splattered before them, hearing the painful screams that pierced through the sky and across Lowtown. Merrill stood there, her magic calming. No more templars seemed to come. Her eyes dimmed, the blood no longer glowing, just dripping on the floor.

Tears strolled down her cheeks once more as she realized what had happened.

Her voice only but a crackled broken whisper "Sorry,"