Author's notes: Just a little Valentines Day special for you Cullen fan's out there – Enjoy and don't forget to review!

Abomination

The young apprentice had fallen asleep during her studies yet again. She had no interest in such things but being young it seemed normal to have an attitude like that. The fade was her friend, she commanded it to her will and without question, it obeyed. She had yet been confronted by a demon of any kind and so she had come to believe the mages had lied about them. Abominations never even crossed her mind these days; she truly believed that if someone learnt blood magic it was from some ancient lost tome or something only accessible from the dream realm- certainly not from some bimbo demoness. This power however, was never really appealing to her, of course the thought of being able to control whoever she so wished would be fun – just not fun enough for her to be branded a maleficar and killed on sight and thus never seeked the forbidden arts.

The girls slumber came to a sudden halt and not in the usual way of being scorned by her mentor either; instead she was harshly pushed out of her seat, falling to the cold hard tower floor. The impact left her hip ach as she tried to get to her feet. The screaming of her fellow apprentices filled her ears harshly. She watched as they fled from the room. She didn't understand what was happening and so, just stood there; completely unaware she should be following them.

A screech, unlike that of anything she had ever heard in her life entered the room echoing from wall to wall. The sound came from behind her. She spun around where horror instantly filled her entire body. She starred at it and it looked right back at her. She stopped breathing, stopped thinking – she was literally frozen in fear. Someone had become an abomination and it was now loose in her prison. She couldn't tell who it may have been; their skin was bubbled and stretched, cracked and bloody, an overly evil purple colour – Its eyes, blacker than any night she had witnessed; almost as if they were a portal into some horrid demon dimension. Where were the Templars the only time in her life that she had ever needed them?

The creature made the first move lunging at the young apprentice. She let out a screech, throwing her body to the side and in doing so, fell over a discarded chair. Her whole body made contact with the floor in a hard 'thud', her foot caught around the wood of the seat. She tried to get to her feet and flee but tripped over her robes instead, meeting the floor for a third time today. If only she wasn't so panicked she might have more control over her body and have gotten away by now. The creature clawed at her - she felt a sharp pain pierce her back followed by the warm sensation of blood escaping her body. She yelped in pain. Reaching out for something to defend herself with, all she found was that cursed chair that had tripped and condemned her not but a few moments ago. Rolling onto her back her gashes cringed sending more pain warnings off. With the chair now in hand the apprentice managed to defend herself from the abominations next blow, but in return the chair pinned her down. The creature screeched again letting loose its wrath. The girl threw the chair at her enemy, rolled out of the way and onto her stomach; this time when she tried to get to her feet, she succeeded. She ran for the door and the creature followed. She had clearly angered it, if it wasn't already so in the first place. She ran through the library, spinning around the corner for the stairs, where she came to a sudden forceful halt. Not looking where she was going she went crashing into sturdy cold metal – that of templar armour. The man she had fallen into had no helmet on. The girl had seen him around the tower before – she caught him watching her with great interest a few times.

"Cullen!" She screeched, not actually aware she had known his name. Next to Cullen was the Knight-Commander Greagoir and four other templars she couldn't recognize as their faces were covered with their helms.

The abomination let out another screech from the study. The six men rushed into action to perform their duty but the apprentice stopped Cullen.

"Please don't leave me!" she begged with tears in her eyes. She had expected him to ignore her plea, push her aside and help the other men but instead he stayed – he even embraced her.

"It'll be okay." He whispered in her ears and instantly, for some unknown reason, she felt safe. The young girl clung to Cullen as she heard the battle in the next room taking place. The abomination roared in pain but it just wouldn't fall. She never expected they could be so sturdy. She dreaded to think what might have happened if the templars hadn't of arrived to her aid when they did.

The girl felt weak, her vision failing, until finally her arms fell from Cullen's armour as she drifted into the darkness.

Cullen felt the apprentice become limp in his arms. Looking down he saw his metal arm was covered in fresh blood. He chocked. He didn't think to have asked if she had been hurt – his mind was only on the abomination. It can't be too late he thought; the tower was full of mages with healing abilities after all.

Cullen ran up the steps with the limp girls body in his arms calling for help. Mages gasped at the sight of the apprentice, they all had just assumed everyone had escaped from the lower level of the building, and only the creature was down there. Blood was leaving severe trails from the way they had come as the templar pushed through the gawking crowd.

"Bring her to me quickly." One of the senior mages yelled. Her face was withered with age and wisdom, her greyed hair pulled back from her face in a tight ponytail. Cullen rushed to her without question and placed the young girl on the floor in front of the mage. "It might already be too late." She said with great sadness clinging to her every word.

"I don't care – try something - anything – I wont lose her!" The templar roared. His voice mixed with that of anger and panic. The elder mage drew her staff for support and upon muttering a few words a snowy fog like substance realised from her hands floating to a rest on the injured girl in front of her.

The young apprentice awoke later that day feeling very weak indeed. Her eyes took some time to properly adjust to her surrounding. She was back in her bed in the female apprentice quarters. She groaned shifting slightly and though she was lying on her back, she only felt minor discomfort now.

"You're awake!" The voice was full of concern. The girl moved her head, blinking to clear her eyes.

"Cullen?" She whispered. He got up from the chair he'd been sitting in and made his way to the apprentices side.

"I – uh... Greagoir asked me to watch over you. A senior mage – I think her name was Wynne healed you as best as she could but you're likely to have scars." Cullen informed her. She shifted and sat up on the bed.

"I should thank you." She whispered feeling a little embarrassed. "If it wasn't for you..." she was really shocked that this templar had helped her. She was always under the impression they loved to kill mages and that after she had passed out, he would have just left her where she was to die; but he stayed with her, even now and although he said his Knight-Commander had told him to do so, he looked at her like he generally was happy she still yet lived. Cullen notified the young girl that the first enchanter wished to see her when she felt up to it, and with that, she placed a shy kiss upon her rescuers forbidden cheek before disappearing through the chamber door and out of sight.

Cullen just stood there, a little shocked – a mage brave enough to steal a kiss from a templar? He even felt himself blushing slightly. He was glad no one else had been in the room to witness the scene. He had always been enchanted by her beauty and brains. Maybe because of what had happened, she would finally realize her feeling towards him as well.