Prologue

Hallan Lavellan didn't know were she was. She had woken up face down on cold, hard rock, wisps of magic floating around her body like mist as she pushed herself up to her feet, looking around. It was too dark to see anything clearly, vague shadows of jagged rock in the distance, silent as the grave. Turning to look behind her, pale eyes roamed up a tall, rocky hill, were at the top was some sort of green light and...a woman?

The shape was wreathed in some form of light, making all details just meld together in the glow, but the outline was clearly female.

Being the only clear point, she pushed herself towards the strange woman, who seemed almost to be looking at her. The sound of her heavy boots crunching on the pebbles and layer of dirt was strange and foreign to her, as if she had never walked on rocky ground before. The suit of armor she wore seemed strange and heavy, so unlike the fine craftsmanship of her clan.

What had happened? She couldn't remember. She remembered hearing of the war between the Shemlem's circle mages and Templars, and her keeper sending her to the conclave to listen in on the talks that were supposed to end it. She had taken a small group of hunters with her, to help her get in to the temple in the first place. Areina and Emithas had managed to capture and tie up a Shemlen Mercinary who had wandered away from the rest of his group to take a piss, and they had taken his armor to give to Hallan. She had to wear a helmet that crushed her ears in order to hide her Vallaslin, and she had managed to slip amongst the marching group of Shemlen without notice.

That was the last she could recollect as she started to scale the steep hill towards the glowing lady, Silver-white locks falling into her face, no longer contained by the helm that had been lost somewhere. As she flipped her hair away from her eyes and scrambled slightly to get her footing, she heard a sort of scuttering behind her. Looking over her shoulder was a sight of terror to her. At least a dozen, monstrously sized spiders were scrabbling after her, their beady eyes reflecting the strange green glow that also highlighted the saliva that dripped from their mantacles.

Hallan turned and ran. It was hard, considering just how steep the hill was, and it was getting steeper. She was almost to the top, the slope having been turned into what was almost a sheer drop. She looked up at the woman, who now had her hand out towards her, ready to help. In desperation, hearing the skittering sounds getting closer and closer, she reached her hand up to the strange figure of light. A pain prickled into the left hand that was reaching forward and there was a flash of green light.

Wincing as her knees hit more rocky earth, the sudden appearance of strange, strong smell, so horrible she almost vomited. She was on her hands and knees, everything blurry as she felt her strength leave her body. She saw people, running towards her with swords, wearing strange armor that she had not seen before. Just as they reached her, the darkness overtook her vision, and she was lost.

Chapter 1; The breech

Seering, biting pain woke Hallan from her dark sleep. Her eyes blinked open to dim light, the faint flicker of a torch being her only aid. She looked down at her left hand, were it stung her like a wasp. There was a strange scar across her palm, that seemed to have a flickering green glow from it. Frowning as she turned her hand more in the heavy shackles she was locked in, the light flared brightly, momentarily lighting up the entire room, accompanied by an unbearable pain. She let out a cry and flinched away from the strange, foreign magic, wanting to get as far away from it as possible but the light faded quickly, and left her breathing heavily. She looked up at the grate above her head, tears still in her eyes from the pain of the mark.

Her knees hurt, she had been kneeling in the middle of a hard, stone floor. Her eyes darted around, taking in the metal cells, the shackles that chained her arms to the floor, and the four armed men circling her, swords all pointed at her torso. She swallowed hard, bowing her head back down to wait. She had heard stories of the brutality of human warriors to elves, and if they were at all related to the Chantry, then even more brutality would be unleashed on her if they knew of her magic. She would keep it quiet, and wait to see what happened.

Just as she was about the settle into her thoughts, the door in front of her slammed open with a loud clash, causing her to look up at who was coming in to interrogate her. Two Shemlen women stood in front of Hallan now, one was tall and dark, wearing heavy armor, short black hair framed a stern face that glared down at her. The other was smaller, but the cloak she wore over her face did nothing to make her seem any less threatening. The soldiers around them sheathed their swords and took a step back as the tall one started to circle Hallan, the cloaked one simply staring. Hallan turned her eyes down and away, not wanting to provoke the angry looking woman.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now." The thick accent was so close to her ear that she pulled away, not liking how the woman had just suddenly invaded her personal space. "The conclave was destroyed, everyone who attended is dead,...except for you."

Looking up to see the woman staring down so judgingly make Hallan queasy. She had so many questions, what did she mean? What happened? But she didn't speak. No matter what, it was clear by her words and actions that they had decided who was guilty. Hallan wouldn't give them any satisfaction, so she set her jaw and glared at the woman.

Angrily, and clearly wanting some form of response, the woman bent down and grabbed her left hand lifting it, and the entire board shackle, up in front of her face, to make her look at the sparking green energy.

"Explain this!" She barked into Hallan's face before dropping the hand painfully onto her lap. Hallan looked away for a second then back to the woman, who was starting to circle her again.

"I...can't" She replied, turning her head to keep the woman in her eye line.

"What do you mean, 'You Can't' ?!"

"I don't know what that is! Or how it got there!"

Quickly and with no hesitation, the shemlen grabbed the front of her armor in a vice-like grip, the other hand reaching towards the blade on her hip.

"You're lying!"

The hooded figure moved forward finally, grabbing onto the tall woman's arm to pull her away and speak her her, in some new accent, perhaps Orlesian?

"We need her, Cassandra!" She spoke before turning back to Hallan, as if expecting a response. Hallan swallowed down her fear and set her face back to a more firm expression.

"So...what happened now?" She asked guardedly.

"Do you remember what happened? How this bagan?" The Orlesian spoke again, a direct question.

"I remember….running." She began, not seeing how it would change anything. "Things were chasing me and then….a woman."

"A woman?"

"She reached out to me, but then…." She sighed. Not able to continue. The dark woman, Cassandra, went over to the other one and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"Go to the forward camp, Leliana, I will take her to the rift."

Leliana nodded before turning and exiting the room, leaving the door open as Casandra turned back to Hallan and knelt onto the floor in front of her, grasping both of her hands as she pulled out a key to the shackles.

Moving quickly and keeping a firm hold on Hallan, Cassandra undid the hard shackles in order to tie her wrists with a rough rope. It was silent in that room now, save for the slight shuffling and clank of metal.

"What...did happen?" She dared to ask, wanting to get a little bit more information.

"It...will be easier to show you." The warrior said as she stood up and pulled Hallan to her feet, knees groaning from having been sat on for so long. She stumbled slightly on her wobbly legs, Cassandra having to hold her arms to steady her before grasping tightly onto her shoulders and leading her out of the cells.

It wasn't a long walk out of the basement area and through the main part of the Chantry she had been imprisoned under. The smell of incense was almost sickening to her, and she was all to aware of the angry glances a few of the Shemlen sent her direction. As she approached, Cassandra made a motion to a guard at the door, who pushed it open to let the two of them through.

At first, Hallan thought she was just in some small, snowy, Shemlen village, but it didn't take long for her eyes to follow Cassandra's up towards the sky. Only it wasn't the sky. There was something strange and terrifying floating above their heads, as if a hole had been punched right through the heavens. She could feel the fade whispering around her, old memories of dreams that had scared her as a child, and became her power as an adult. The feeling that came with witnessing this unimaginable...thing...was almost to much. Her heart felt like it was about to pound out of her chest, sweat dripped down her spine, despite the frigid cold.

"We call it, The Breach." Canssandra started, catching Hallan's ear but unable to draw her eyes away from it. "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It's not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave."

Hallan whipped her head back towards the human, her eyes wide with shock.

"An explosion can do that?" She asked, her own voice sounding weak.

"This one did. Unless we act, the Breach may grow until it swallows the world."

Hallan looked down at her feet for a brief moment, to try and wrap her head around all of this, just as a flashing groan from the sky synchronised with another sharp flash and sting from the mark, almost yanking her hand up towards the exposed fade, before bringing her to her knees in pain. He did her best to grasp onto her left hand with the other, but her binding made it impossible, so she pressed it against her stomach, hoping the pressure would ease the burning.

Cassandra knelt in front of her again, to catch her eye, before speaking again.

"Each time the Breach extends, your mark spreads, and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."

Hallan stared at Cassandra for a moment before biting down on her lip, breathing heavily. Whether is was the Mark, the Shemlen, or the cold, Hallan did not think she would be alive for much longer. Even if she COULD help, what would stop them from just laying the initial blame on her anyway? Absolutely nothing.

"You...you say it may be the key. To doing what?" She asked, trying to clarify what exactly she wanted.

" Closing the Breach. Whether that's possible is something we shall discover shortly. It is our only chance, however...and yours."

Staring into the woman's eyes made her last word all too clear in meaning. If Hallan wanted ANY chance to survive, she would have to try. She sighed and looked up at the Breach again, a profound cold settling into her gut. She had been the Keeper's first, she had been trained and chosen to lead the clan after their Keeper passed on. It was always her duty to protect them. If this thing was really going to spread to the entire world, her people would be in danger, with no one to aid them.

"I understand." She said finally, not taking her eyes off of the dreaded sky.

"Then…" Cassandra started, her voice almost hopeful.

"I'll do what I can." She looked back at the Shem, determination in her large eyes. "Whatever it takes."

The harsh face of a warrior relaxed slightly to a somewhat relieved smile before vanishing again behind a mask of hard. Cassandra stood back up and pulled Hallen up by the elbow, steadying her again, and starting to walk her through the village.

As they walked, Hallan looked round her for a moment, meeting the eyes of all the humans who looked in her direction. Anger, fear, hatred, all of the things she had expected were in those eyes. Sighing slightly she looked down again, wincing at the pain in her knees as well as her hands as she could see small dark splotches soaking through the cloth of her armor. Pondering as to just how many times she had fallen on her bruised and bloodied knees that day, she listened as Cassandra spoke all the way to the gate on a large bridge.

As the gates opened and Cassandra led them through, Hallan caught the glint of metal as her captor pulled a dagger from her belt and turned to face her.

"There will be a trial. I can promise no more." She stated as she let the dagger slice through the rope on her wrists. Hallan rubbed at her skin, were it had been rubbed nearly raw between the shackles and the rope.

"Where are you taking me?" Hallan asked as Cassandra started to walk, having to follow behind slightly to hear an answer.

"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach."

Hallan glared at the back of the woman's armor, unsatisfied by her answer but deciding it best not to push the woman with the angry face and sword. And so she followed her out of the second set of gates and onto a road. It didn't take long before the Breach, and thus her mark, expanded again. Hot fire shot up her arm and down the left side of her body causing her to full-on collapse onto the road, pressing her hand between her body and the ground. Whimpering heavily. Hallan felt strong hands pull her back up and set her on her feet. Despite the pain still ebbing at her palm she looked up at Cassandra and gave a small nod. She would have no time to rest.

"The Pulses are coming faster now." Cassandra stated as they started walking again, slowly at first before turning into a brief jog, awkward for Hallan as she continued to clutch her hand tightly to her chest, trying to focus on Cassandra's words, rather than the pain. "The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face."

Demons? Elgar'nan, of course there's demons….

"How...did I survive the blast?" She asked as she shook the remaining bites of pain out of her hand and caught up to Cassandra's demanding pace.

" They said you….stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious." Cassandra explained as they approached another gate, another bridge over the frozen river. "They say a woman was in the rift behind you, no one knows who she as. Everything farther into the Valley was laid waste, including the temple of sacred ashes. I suppose you'll see for yourself soon enough."

The two of them were just starting to cross the bridge, catching the eye of some of the guards posted on the other side when a massive stone falling from the Breach slammed onto the bridge, only inches away from the two women. Hallan heard the men on the other side scream just as the ground started to crumble beneath her, causing her to fall rolling to the icy lake below them. Luckily it was solid, and Hallan was able to pull herself up just as another stone fell a few paces away, this time leaving a glowing, bubbling substance. A small flash of green and from that bubbling ooze emerged a shape. A creature she had only seen once or twice before now, a shade. Seemingly hooded, but with bits of flesh seeming to meld with what could hardly be considered cloth, the demon screeched at her, causing her blood to run cold.

"Stay behind me!" Cassandra yelled before charging forward, sword and shield already drawn. Hallan was already backing away from the fight as Cassandra slammed her shield into the shade with enough force to knock it down. The woman fought with the ferocity of a bear, letting out loud cries to draw the creature's attention.

Hallan was drawn away from the sight of Cassandra by another screech. Twisting her head around to see were the screech came from, she managed to turn right into a set of freezing cold, sharp claws. The pain shocked her as the claws dug across her face, leaving deep gathes that caused blood to pour down into her mouth. She stumbled backwards, her feet slipping on the ice and sending her crashing down onto a pile of crates that had fallen with them. Wincing and sitting up on her forearms she cursed under her breath and looked over at Cassandra, who was still distracted with her own shade. Shaking her head and looking back at the creature who was approaching her. She started to try and scramble away, already feeling the flames start to flicker from the tips of her fingers, when her hand hit something cold and metal.

Looking, down at her hand, she found that in one of those now broken crates was a staff. It looked big and rather clunky, but it would do.

Drasping onto the cold metal and standing up Hallan reared back and let a fireball slam right into the shade's face, causing it to shriek and claw at its face as its cloak caught fire. It turned and started to glide away from the mage who threw a second one at it, just in time to get a sword right through it's middle. Hallan sighed in relief. Cassandra had finished with the second and had come just in time to catch it off guard.

"It's over…." She sighed, letting the oversized staff rest in the snow momentarily as she caught her breath, wiping the streaks of blood off of her chin. Looking at Cassandra, her staff instantly came up again in a defensive motion as Cassandra had been approaching her, with her sword ready.

"Drop your weapon, now!" She barked the order at Hallan, the cold suspicion back in her eyes. Hallan narrowed her eyes at the Shemlen, already tired of this.

"A demon attacked me! What was I supposed to do?!" She shot back, her hand already tightening on the staff. Cassandra narrowed her eyes at Hallan.

"You don't need to fight." Cassandra responded coldly, a warning. Hallan shook her head.

"Are you saying it won't happen again?"

A pause. Hallan was able to see the wheels turning inside of her mind before she sighed and put away her sword.

"You're right." Cassandra said, almost apologetically. Hallan lowered her staff in response. "As a mage, you do not need a staff, but you should have one. I cannot expect you to be defenseless. I should try to remember your willingness to help."

Hallan gave her a nod before standing up straighter and relaxing her shoulders before following this strange, Shemlen woman, out into the Valley.