A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to the first chapter of this story! Shadow and Light will follow the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition, possibly going as far as the Trespasser DLC, so their may be spoilers ahead for those of you who have not played that far. Sometimes the story will directly parallel with events from the game, including some exact dialogue, but this will not always be the case. Rebekah and her tale have been in the making for a very long time and I am very excited to begin sharing her with you.

I have to thank my beta brightspot149 for signing onto this journey with me and making sure that I don't put out anything riddled with grammatical errors.

Prologue

In her first moments of awareness, all Rebekah could sense was a dull, aching pain. The muscles of her back and every joint of her spine screamed in agony, her knees pulsing in a slow rhythm, her legs so thoroughly asleep that she could no longer feel them beneath her.

What's happened to me?

She began to sway back and forth as consciousness returned, wincing as her muscles protested the movement after being held in the same position for so long. She blinked her eyes slowly, the dim light making it difficult to see her surroundings. She could see the manacles locked around her wrists, could feel the cold bite of the metal against the skin of her right wrist, the skin of the left betrayed nothing having lost any capabilities of feeling long ago.

She could feel the biting cold of the stones beneath her even through her thick mage robes and the air bit in her lungs as she inhaled. Beneath all of the sensory information swarming her at that one moment, was a stinging sensation on the skin of her left palm. At first, she had barely noticed it, but as she regained awareness, the light tingling had developed into a thousand pinpricks, like little insect bites.

Rebekah winced in pain, her brows furrowing, and suddenly the skin of her palm erupted in a visual cacophony of green light. A gasp of surprise escaped her lips, the stinging pain subsiding to a pulsing thrum that was equal parts painful and pleasant.

Suddenly, a door slammed open, and instinctively, Rebekah closed her hands into fists and straightened her back.

Two silhouettes were framed in the doorway. Rebekah couldn't make out much, besides the longsword swaying from the hip of the person to her right. As they passed into the ring of ground surrounded by the torchlight, Rebekah could finally make out the features of two women. It was also at that moment that she realized she had been circled by four guards, swords pointing straight at her.

Metal sang as the guards placed their swords back in their scabbards and the two women came closer, the one with the longsword circling behind her.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now?" The woman's voice was harsh, with a slight Nevarran accent. Her breath was hot on Rebekah's ear and she twisted her head away to escape the sensation.

Rebekah furrowed her brows in confusion, looking at the hooded woman in front of her for some sign of what had happened, some clue as to why she was shackled in this dungeon like a common criminal. How had she gotten here? Where was here?

"I don't underst…." Rebekeah began, but was cut off by the woman behind her as she paced.

"The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead," the woman said, matter-of-factly, her tone cold. She came back into view, her steps slow and measured, her longsword swinging back and forth as she walked. "Except for you."

"Destroyed?" Rebekah's mind was racing, her heart sinking. She had joined her fellow Enchanters and journeyed to the Conclave, but she had no concept of how long she had been in the dungeon since then.

They had arrived only a day before the official talks were to begin and Rebekah had excused herself to explore the fortress that had once held the sacred ashes of Andraste. The last thing she could remember was walking up an impressive staircase, a statue of Andraste before her.

As she raked her brain for memories of the Conclave, she began to remember something. A dream that she must have been having before waking up in the dungeon.

Her confusion was made plain in the tone of her voice. "That can't be right."

Before Rebekah could react, the woman reached forward, grasping Rebekah by the wrist and holding up the hand that had emitted that glowing green light only moments before.

And just as before, a sudden stinging sensation began to grow as a surge of green light began to emanate from her palm.

"Explain this," the woman growled, seeming to scowl at the unnatural glow before throwing the offensive appendage back at the prisoner.

"I can't," Rebekah replied after a moment, her hand tightening into a fist.

It had to be magic, that much Rebekah thought obvious, but it was nothing like her natural abilities. Rebekah had entered the Circle when she was ten and had over a decade of training in the magical arts. She knew the feel of her own magic, its capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. Whatever power was held in her palm was not natural and not hers.

"What do you mean you can't?" The woman shouted at her accusatorially, and both women began to pace in circles around Rebekah.

Rebekah's heart was crashing in her chest, her fear began to grow stronger. As with other times of strong emotion, she began to hear the whispers of the demons as they attempted to reach her through the veil and she closed her eyes to shut them out.

"I don't know what that is. Or how it got there," Rebekah replied, her tone pleading with these mystery women to believe her.

"You're lying!" Her interrogator growled, snapping forward and grasping Rebekah by her shoulders.

Rebekah could see the anger and rage in this woman's steel gray eyes, and she reflexively flinched away from the woman's touch.

It was then that the hooded woman stepped forward, touching the other woman on the shoulder and pushing her back. "We need her, Cassandra." The hooded woman said, turning briefly to look back at Rebekah and she would have sworn that she saw pity in the woman's eyes.

"Please, someone tell me what's going on," Rebekah tried to keep her voice neutral, but she couldn't stop the undertone of fear from showing in the trembling of her voice. "How was the Conclave destroyed? All of those people can't just be gone."

"You don't remember what happened?" The hooded woman asked as she came forward. Rebekah could see a hint of short red hair peeking from beneath the gray hood of the woman's cape.

"Obviously not!" Rebekah bit back, recoiling at her own harsh tone. "The last thing I remember is walking up the stairs of the Temple."

The other woman, Cassandra, came from behind Rebekah again and herded the hooded woman to the door. "Go to the forward camp, Leliana." A thrill of shock went through Rebekah as the name left the woman's lips.

Leliana, the Leliana?

They both looked back at Rebekah, eyes full of accusation. "I will take her to the rift," Cassandra said, and their eyes met. With the briefest of nods, Leliana left the room, not even sparing the prisoner a second glance.

"Can someone please tell me what happened?" The fear was quickly giving way to anger as confusion over her situation mounted.

Cassandra quickly walked forward, grasping the shackles in her hands and unlocked the manacles. As the iron clattered to the floor, Rebekah instinctively began to rub her wrists as she stood.

"It will be easier to show you."

Thank you all so much for taking the time to check out this story! Constructive criticism and feedback are always welcome, so please feel free to review if you like. I hope to get a chapter out at least once a week, but I make no promises. If you liked what you read, make sure you add this story to your alert list!

Have a great weekend!