Green lights flashing before his eyes rouse him from his rest. He blinks the bleariness away, his gaze immediately moving to his hand as green light flares from it. He's ready to question it, to question the soldiers pointing their swords at him, but the chance doesn't come. Instead, his head jerks up as the door in front of him slams open as two women walk through. The Left and Right Hands of the Divine.

Suddenly, it feels like he can't breathe.

Of course she is here. He is a prisoner, his hands clad in iron as he sits in a cell. He never thought it would come to this. No, he never imagined a situation where he would be a prisoner. One to his own mother, nonetheless. But he cannot question her, not here, not now. Familiarity between the two would lead to more questions, gossip about her relation to her own prisoner. To anyone but a select few, he is Rodney D'Marcall, a Templar recruit. Yet to those few, he is the son of Galyan D'Marcall and Cassandra Pentaghast.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now." Her voice is harsh and accusatory, yet it makes him want to cry out. "The conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead." His eyes widen at the comment, and he swallows the lump in his throat as his mother continues, "Except for you," while pointing a finger at him.

"What do you mean everyone's dead?" Rodney's voice cracks at the question, his eyes meeting his mother's. "That can't be possible," he adds, loud enough only for her to hear. But she doesn't answer, instead grabbing his left hand as it flares green again.

His eyes drop to his lap. This is an act, he reasons. She must be like this. Show no mercy. His mother is a Seeker, the Right Hand of the Divine. She must be strong in the wake of so much death.

"Explain this." She tugs at the hand and it gives off another flare.

"I can't," he admits, telling her the little that he knows about the mark. Which, suffice to say, is next to nothing. His mother is suddenly on him, hands on his shoulders as she accuses him of being a liar. He isn't, but keeps his mouth closed as Leliana steps in to separate the her from him. Was his mother still acting? Family or not, she seemed ready to cut him down right there.

No. This was not his mother - this was Seeker Pentaghast.

"We need him, Cassandra." Leliana reminds her, and he raises his head to look at the two. "Do you remember what happened? How this began?" Leliana presses as his mother approaches him again.

Rodney tells them what he remembers - being chased, running for his life, and the faint image of a woman reaching out to him. But the image is just that: faint. Cassandra then dismisses Leliana, sending her to the forward camp. Soldiers aside, it is only the two of them as the irons around his hands are undone. Well, it is some improvement.

He is led out of the cell in silence. Once the doors open and they step outside, however, Cassandra turns to look at him as his attention drifts to the green phenomenon in the sky. So much like the green that flares from his hand.

"We call it 'The Breach'. It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour." She then begins to explain what they know. It isn't much, but enough to tell him of what had happened since his imprisonment. With only a knowing glance passing between the two of them, she leads him through the jeering crowd towards the forward camp. He is her son, after all, and would do whatever was needed to seal the hole in the sky.

As they make their way past soldiers, Rodney falls to his knees as pain shoots through his body, his hand letting out another green flare. He lets out a whimper and Cassandra is kneeling in front of him, a hand on his shoulders. "Are you alright?" She asks, to which he nods as his answer. "The pulses are coming faster now. We must hurry." With a gentle squeeze to his shoulder, she helps him up.

"Thank you, mother." Rodney gives his mother a pained smile as he follows her, ignoring the pain coming from his hand.

As soon as they make it to the bridge, a piece of the Breach falls, destroying the platform and sending them to the frozen river below. In the moment it takes for him to recuperate, his mother is up and about, engaging the demons that came from the Breach. Next to him are daggers, he realizes, and he scrambles to pick them up despite the warning from her. He would not stand by while his mother fought them off. If this was his mess, then by the Maker he would help clean it up.

The fight ends quickly, and though Cassandra seems angry that he went against her orders, she nonetheless is proud. Here is her son, capable of defending himself from demons at the age of twelve. They continue on the path to the camp, getting caught up in more fights than Cassandra would have liked. Each one is more difficult than the last and when they begin to climb the stairs to an outpost, she shouts out a warning. If there was fighting up ahead, only a select few were capable of holding their own against the demons.

Together with Solas and Varric, the duo make quick use of the demons. It is only when Solas grabs Rodney's hand and thrusts it towards the rift that Cassandra tenses. While the apostate did aid in keeping Rodney alive, the mark had yet to be tested on anything in regards to the Breach. They were going in blind, hoping that it would be enough to seal the hole.

Rodney gives an incredulous look at Solas. "What did you do? There's no way I could have done that." He looks between his hand and Solas a few times before glancing back at Cassandra.

"The credits is yours. Whatever magic opened the breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand. I theorized the mark might be able to close rifts that have opened in the Breach's wakes - and it seems I was correct." Solas explained as Rodney looked back at the elf.

"Meaning it could also close the Breach itself." Cassandra cut in, walking towards the two. She and Solas began talking as Rodney looked around, taking in the surroundings. There was little else he could see but mountains of snow and trees. His attention shifted back to his mother and her companions when Varric introduced himself.

Varric Tethras. Rodney knew the name well thanks to his mother, but he made no comment about it. "It is an honor to meet you, Serah Tethras." Solas' introduction followed, and Rodney lowered his head in thanks. "I owe you my thanks, then, Serah Solas." If both were acquainted with his mother, then he would do his best to stay in their graces.

"Come, we must get to the forward camp quickly." With a nod, Rodney trails after his mother and her companions as they step over the debris. He's quiet the entire way, only making small comments under his breath as they fight. Varric's attempt to engage him in conversation is kind, but Rodney is still weary about the dwarf - especially when the topic of conversation focuses on Rodney's background.

"I grew up in the Chantry." Rodney gives no more details, dropping the conversation after that. That was all anyone needed to know, and even that wasn't the whole truth. The Chantry, and by extension, his mother, raised him while the Templars trained him as a recruit. It allowed the most time with his mother, and he would have others to care for him when she was sent to follow orders by the Divine. Any other attempts at conversation fall on deaf ears until they reach the forward camp.

As Sister Leliana, Cassandra, and Grand Cleric Roderick argue about their next step, Rodney takes another moment to look around. The forward camp was...not what he had expected. It was small, in a location that seemed more convenient than strategic, and ill-suited for its purpose. Desperate times, he reasoned.

"How do you think we should proceed?" Cassandra's voice causes him to look up at her. Eyebrows knitted together, he asks for clarification. They were asking him, of all people, for the next course of action?

"I…" He pauses, thinking about the two options. "I say we take the mountain path. If we can save that squad then it would be worth it." Oh, he felt the disapproval from his mother from just one look at her. She led the way, albeit unhappily, but he knew he had made the right decisions. Scouts were not as durable as soldiers, that much he knew from personal experience. Whereas his mother was a warrior, he was a rogue, preferring to briefly attack before retreating so the more sturdy fighters could take the lead.

And while the mountain path, and the spawn of demons that came from the rift made him uneasy, he felt confident that the right decision had been made.

Then there was the temple. Even amidst all the snow, fires still burned and the smell of burning flesh lingered in the air. Dread overcame him as Cassandra's word rung through his head, "everyone who attended is dead."

Dead.

Wearily, Rodney led them through the ruins of the temple. He kept his eyes forward, focusing on the entrance to the temple as they walked past the charred bodies. If he looked at them for even a moment, he would break down. He was a boy of twelve, after all, and his hold of his emotions could only last for so long.

Leliana and her agents were quick to catch up to them, and together they walk towards the rift responsible for the chaos. Yet once the echos of the Fade began, Rodney found himself as the center of attention again.

"I don't remember what happened!" As much as Cassandra wished to press the issue, she believed him. For the moment, at least, she would drop the subject. Once they were alone, however, they would have a long talk. But the Breach was more important. Rallying the soldiers, Cassandra held her shield at the ready as Rodney began to open the rift.

A pride demon. A pride demon came from the opened rift. With everyone's weapons at the ready, the fight began. Varric and Solas shy away from the demon as Cassandra draws its attention to her. Rodney, meanwhile, spent several moments attempting to disrupt the rift enough to harm the demon. Somehow, he was successful and the fight was over before serious damage could have been done.

He smiles, briefly, before his world goes black.